Tribes & Fera

When the continents split apart and the Garou divided themselves into tribes, three made the long walk across the ice to the Americas. These three, the self-described Pure Lands Garou, were the Uktena, Croatan, and Wendigo. Today only two remain. Middle Brother, the steadfast Croatan tribe, is gone. Yet tragic as their loss was, it was also noble. Where the Bunyip were slain by their own kin and the White Howlers fell to the Wyrm, the Croatan sacrificed themselves to banish a great evil. To this day, many Garou wish it hadn’t been necessary. If only they had lived, perhaps the Uktena and Wendigo would not be so close to the brink. If only they had had more help, perhaps the Garou Nation would still have their strength. If only they had been able to slay the Eater-of-Souls outright, the Wyrm’s strength would have been cut by a third. If only.

The Croatan earned the name “Middle Brother” not out of any sort of age-based seniority, but out of their role among the three Pure Lands tribes. The Wendigo were always angry and rash, full of the fires of youth. The cun­ ning Uktena sought wisdom, sometimes at the expense of the here and now.

The Croatan took the balanced path between the two. They were passionate but not mercurial, thoughtful but not navel-gazing.

Another aspect of the Croatan’s tribal mentality came from their elemental connection. The Croatan drew strength from the earth itself, channeled through their totem Turtle. They were solid and steadfast, not as slippery as the water-influenced Uktena and their river serpent totem, or as cold and furious as the Wendigo and their bitter wind-spirit allies. This influence had its draw­

backs, of course. The

Croatan were a

stubborn tribe, of­ ten to the point of inflexibility. When blood spilled between the Three Brothers —

and it did from time to

time — the Croatan

had their share of the

fault.

Croatan were strong believers

in the sept and

the caern. They took the concept of sacred lands more seriously than most Garou. They were also a fair­

ly practical tribe,

not much given

to poetry or fancy. They called the five auspices Trick­

ster, Shaman, Law

Giver, Songkeeper, and Warrior — some say because they found the old Garou tongue names a little too nuanced.

The Croatan’s fall came in the late 16th century, when it seemed the Apocalypse was about to come early. Eater-of-Souls (also known to the Croatan as Jipijka’m), one of the three heads of the Triatic Wyrm, had drawn so near to the physical world that it would soon physi­ cally manifest. The entire tribe gathered to fight, even as they knew that battle would not be enough. When the Eater-of-Souls broke through into the material world, the Croatan enacted a great rite to make the ultimate sacrifice. They gave themselves to the last, dealing Eater-of-Souls a vicious wound and banishing it back to the Umbra for many centuries of healing.

Yet the cost was an entire tribe. The Croatan were gone forever, for even their ancestor-spirits participated in the rite. Their Kinfolk bloodlines would merge with those of other tribes or be lost entirely. In the modern day, there are legends that perhaps a single ancestor-spirit survived, or that there is one cub of pure blood that might awaken Turtle as a tribal patron again. There’s always hope. But the Uktena elders shake their heads, and say quietly that it’s a vain hope — comforting, perhaps, but unfounded.

Appearance: In their hybrid or wolf forms, Croatan with strong Pure Breed tended to have rich dark brown coats that shone like mahogany, with a slight dark brindling or mottling along the back and hindquarters. They were otherwise a very diverse tribe, deriving as they did from an entire third of the various nations of the Pure Lands.

Kinfolk & Territory: The Croatan preferred to leave the most northern portions of the Pure Lands to the Wendigo, and never ranged as far south as the Uktena did. They favored the lands around the Mississippi and much of the North American East Coast. Stories place them alternately as staunch allies of Mound Builder societies such as Cahokia, or as the force that turned on them to destroy them — or sometimes both. They took their human Kin from a wide variety of nations, most of whom were adopted by the Uktena and Wendigo shortly after the Croatan’s disappearance.

Tribal Totem: Turtle, a mighty spirit of earth and water said to hold up the world. He taught the Croatan much about fortitude and enduring hardship, and with their loss, he fell into a slumber from which he has yet to wake. Other totems revered by the Croatan include Thunderbird, Corn Maiden, the Earth-burrowers, and the trickster Trout.

Character Creation: The Croatan were the most social of the Three Brothers, and many expressed this tendency with their Attributes and Abilities. They were a stolid, enduring tribe, and favored Traits that enhanced their resilience in one way or another, such as Survival.