Tribes & Fera

The Bunyip of Australia were a strange tribe by the reckoning of the other Garou — the protectors of a peculiar land without any wolves to its name. Some weren’t sure that they were werewolves at all. This belief led to the tragedy known as the War of Shame, when other Garou made war on the Bunyip, believing them to be no longer cousins. They have the sad distinction of being the only Lost Tribe to fall to the claws and fangs of the Garou Nation.

The Bunyip’s beginnings as a distinct tribe came when they arrived in Australia along with the first hu­ man settlers. They chose to bond as deeply as they could with the land, the better to understand and protect it. Using a strange ritual that some say they learned from the Mokolé, the Bunyip altered themselves so that they would be able to breed with the marsupial thylacines na­ tive to the land. When dingoes arrived with later waves of human settlers, the Bunyip did not embrace them as potential breeding stock; they favored the thylacine form because it was true to the land as they had found it.

For millennia they had no contact with the rest of the Garou Nation. They bartered and struggled with the spirits of the Australian Umbra, and walked alongside the aboriginal tribes. They weren’t perfect stewards, of course — like all Garou, they were subject to their Rage, and had occasional struggles with each other. But they took their role as spiritual stewards very seriously, and achieved a certain form of peace for a time.

The Bunyip established many powerful caerns in Australia. The Weaver was very weak there for a long time, allowing them to focus primarily on fighting the forces of the Wyrm. Their septs were not as permanently entrenched as was the tradition with other tribes, how­ ever. Like their human Kin, the Bunyip wandered the land to follow game — and hunt the enemy — usually roaming a far wider radius from their caerns than other Garou would find practical.

With no other Garou tribes at hand, the Bunyip established spotty truces, or at least ceasefires, with the other Changing Breeds of their land. The Mokolé and Ananasi made for dangerous neighbors, but also were willing to ignore the Bunyip as long as everyone respected each other’s territory. The Rokea off the coast largely ignored the Bunyip, and the Nagah never re­

vealed themselves. Sometimes the ceasefire would break after an isolated incident of bloodshed here and there, but neither side focused too strongly on old grudges.

Everything changed with the ar­ rival of the other Garou. When European settlers came to Australia, bringing werewolves in their ranks, war quickly broke out. Some see the hand of the Black Spiral Dancers in the War of Shame, cleverly ma­ nipulating each side against each other so that Gaia’s most experienced local defenders would be overrun. Sadly, simple preju­ dice accounts for much of the tragedy: many of the newcom­

ers couldn’t believe that the Bunyip were Garou any longer, without their wolf blood. Their internecine struggles hadn’t prepared them for the relentless fury of their newcomer cousins — and with their Kin falling prey to European migrants, it was soon evident that the war was lost.

The last surviving Bunyip wandered off into the Um­ bra rather than continue the fight and were never seen in fleshly form again. To this day, the angry spirits of the Bunyip still haunt the Australian Penumbra, striking out at luckless Garou who wander too deeply. Their totems refuse to aid the Garou Nation, but some say that Great Bunyip and the Rainbow Serpent will become patrons once more, if their forgiveness could be earned.

Appearance: The Bunyip resembled the thylacine in their “wolf” forms; they were small and lean, with smooth

coats, long and thin tails, and some striping

on their back and flanks. Their Pure Breed manifested itself in more distinct striping, and frequently as a larger frame — a throw­

back to their original size before they began breeding with the “marsupial wolves.”

Kinfolk & Territory: The Bunyip had spread across Australia and Tasmania, where they were close to their Aboriginal Kin. They bred with

thylacines rather than the dingo, and were

careful to protect small breeding populations of their animal-Kinfolk from the more ag­ gressive and stronger wild dogs that gradually supplanted them.

Tribal Totem: Bunyip, a strange water-monster with elements of mammal and reptile. The tribe also revered Ngalyod the Rainbow Serpent, the creator-spirit of the Dreamtime, and were on good terms with many other spirits of the Australian Umbra. Other of their pa­ trons included Boobook the Owl, Bougoodoogahdah the Lyrebird, I’wai the Crocodile and Tulu the Kookaburra.

Character Creation: The Bunyip were a well-rounded tribe, as they had no other tribes nearby to share duties with. They were particularly well-versed in survival skills and in dealing amicably with spirits.