Hawai'ian Islands Protectorates
Guardians of Paradise
The forces of nature are primal and unstoppable. Whether it’s the flow of lava, the sweep of the tides, or the wind of the storm, the elements are to be appeased, not scorned. Irreverence leads to exploitation, exploitation leads to corruption – and that is the threat facing even the lushest rainforests of Hawai’i today. But nature has other unstoppable forces: the Changing Breeds. Garou and other lycanthropes wage their battle of survival against the depredations of corrupting forces of the Wyrm. Hawai’i, so healthy and primeval, is the frontier of the war.
Protecting lost caerns and elemental secrets are the very meaning of life for these shapeshifters. They are all too aware that the archipelago offers little land mass and humans are always expanding. Thanks to their most enterprising efforts as well as the works of their supernatural allies, they are making strong headway into nipping human expansion into the sacred forests and mountainsides of Hawai’i. But there are still many battles to win before these islands at least can be declared one of Earth’s only true sanctuaries for nature.
Rules
The Garou obey the Litany closely because of the shortage of space on the islands, and the proximity from which they share with humanity. The hengeyokai at the sole Beast-Court on the islands feel the same way, and adhere closely to the Mandates of the Emerald Mother. As always, the most absolute rule is the maintenance of the Veil. While some natives would not mind the presence of werecreatures, and some have even proven immune to the Delirium, there are enough non-natives that a shitstorm of epic proportions would sweep the isles if Gaia’s children were exposed.
Other Shapeshifters
There are not many Garou in Hawai’i actually, and most gather at the sole sept. There are not enough in any city to form an urban sept. Bastet and Nuwisha come and go as they always do. A few Corax visit, but even the Beast-Court hosts few Tengu: the climate is a tad too warm for most wereravens. No Gurahl are known to dwell in Hawai’i, and Ananasi if any would be few and far in between. No Ratkin warrens are known to exist in any part of Hawai’i. However, Hawai’i’s many ports are host to Ronin pirate wererats on a heavy basis. The presence of Nagah and Mokolé seems limited to the hengeyokai Beast-Court, where Same-Bito also cautiously make their home. The powerful Rokea slews that swim these tropical waters make life near Hawai’i hazardous for any “Betweeners”. (See the Burning Waves Grottos TUG for the Rokea.)
Sept of Ashen Breath
In the late 1600s, European Garou joined intrepid sailors far into the Pacific. Some that visited Hawai’i opted to stay, for many were impressed by the natives’ animistic ways of life. Others saw opportunity to claim poorly guarded caerns in Gaia’s name. They found a handful of native Uktena waiting for them. Some befriended the native werewolves, others waged war.
And when the dust settled, the European Garou could lay claim to only one caern in all the isles: Malaekahana. The sorest of losers departed from Hawai’i, while those that remained returned to good terms with the native Garou. Their unity bore the Sept of Ashen Breath, so named for the volcanic nature of the islands, and the explosive tendency of the Garou to wage war on one another. A War of Rage was narrowly averted centuries ago, and these Garou will never forget again who the real enemies are.
Location
On the island of O’ahu, Malaekahana State Park lies to the northeast. This reserve is not nearly as popular as other parks, and this make it easier on the Garou to keep their privacy. South of the park lies an outpost of the Brigham Young University and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Several Kinfolk staked out these educational centers (at least the latter).
Bawn
The Garou claim all of Malaekahana as their bawn, which spans several square miles. It is mostly lush rainforest filled with endangered but legally protected wildlife. It spans to the quiet beach and emerald hills that surround the park’s basin.
Caern
In the center of the park basin rises another hill, dotted with leafy candlenut trees and colorful wildflowers. This hill is actually a dormant volcano that never was. Eons ago, magma threatened to burst out of this basin and form another volcano. The earth swelled upwards to the bursting point. But then, tectonic plates shifted slightly and magma was diverted; the eruption never happened. Now it is a hollow hill filled with the dens of the Garou and petroglyphs of ancient, reverent lore, praying for mercy and guidance from the earth. Their rituals do not go unheard, for this volcanic mound contains a Level 4 Caern of Gnosis. The Totem is Lava.
Other Landmarks
Unlike other septs, the fallen heroes are not entombed in the bawn. Instead, they are given to Pele, and their bodies are fed to the closest active volcano where they fell. The sept’s Pathstone, which links them to distant caerns like the Western Eye, is buried beneath that central mound. The spirits of lost loved ones are said to float out from the lapping sea on moonless nights, and most of the Garou avoid the beach these nights. It is an act of supreme will for the Garou to resist running into their ghostly arms and be drowned in the ocean.
Tribal Structure
Black Furies and native Uktena share dominance of this caern. There are an unusual number of Stargazers here, too. Other Garou are found in lesser numbers.
Guardians
Besides the Wolves appointed to the tasks of Guardians, the Sept of Ashen Breath can summon elemental spirits of mighty power to their aid at will. Powerful earth elementals defend the caern and water elementals rise on the Garou’s behalf near the shore. And as a last-ditch tactic, the sept’s shamans can even raise up lava elementals to fight, though they would cut a swath of destruction through the bawn as well as their enemies.
Beast-Court of the Celestial Oasis
For decades, Asians – especially Japanese – have flocked to Hawai’i. In 1980s, many Japanese businessmen purchased real estate in the islands. But since long before World War II, Far Eastern hengeyokai joined their immigrants across the Pacific and settled in Hawai’i. Some mingled into the local population, but some stayed aloof, citing friendship with the natives but maintaining their own exotic traditions. In the early 1990s, the wisest hengeyokai banded together and formed a Beast-Court – one of the first beyond the Middle Kingdom. Of course, some say Hawai’i is part of the Middle Kingdom, it’s just a very distant part.
While Kitsune and Zhong Lung dominate the gai’nan leadership, the Beast-Court is especially well-known for its Same-Bito membership. Here the weresharks swim in open defiance to their more barbaric cousins, the Rokea, many of whom would attack the “Betweeners” on sight. For centuries, the Same-Bito protected their kadugo – human Kinfolk – who dwelled in Hawai’i. Forming the Beast-Court has armed them with powerful new allies, especially their Zhong Lung patrons. And this has made this Beast-Court the last of the Emerald Sea Courts, a group of Beast-Courts founded on islands throughout the Pacific. Though often and brutally tested, nowhere are kadugo safer in the West, marking this place as an oasis for people wishing to learn their true identities and maintain harmony with their environment.
Location
Mount Haleakala stands as the world’s largest dormant volcano. It is the easterly of two dormant volcanoes that make up the island of Maui, and an isthmus connects the two volcanoes. The Court of the Celestial Oasis claims the entire park of Haleakala, and has the resources and many diverse and unique powers to back up their claim.
Bawn
A massive rainforest springs up around the conical peak and many native and endangered Hawai’ian species dwell there. A huge fence encircles almost all of park, leading down to the edge of the beach. It is purportedly to keep out wild pigs that would ravage the parklands. The park is considered an International Biosphere Reserve, and thus the hengeyokai have plenty of elbow space and nothing to fear from realtors.
Dragon Nest
Hidden at the foot of Mount Haleakala is a grove of trees whose canopy is too thick to penetrate from above. Located in this tropical copse is a hotwater geyser, proof that the earth beneath Haleakala is still active and very, very hot. For the hengeyokai, it bubbles up with chi energies that serve their needs greatly. It offers a Level 3 dragon nest of Strength, with a mighty Totem in Tiandi, Lord of Thunder and patron-spirit of the Zhong Lung and Same-Bito.
What not even the Zhong Lung of the Beast-Court know is that the Same-Bito maintain a second dragon nest – which they call a Grotto – off the shore north of Oahu. It isn’t too far out, but this cleft into the sea floor is littered with hungry oysters, some of which have spawned pearls. The Same-Bito viciously defend this place, allowing not a pearl to be stolen, for it is the source of this Grotto’s power. The name given was Shinju Tsuioku, and the Same-Bito patrol its waters diligently. It is a Level 1 Grotto of Beauty.
Other Landmarks
The Grave of Hallowed Heroes is a solemn place on the edge of the forest near the beach. Brush hides it from the notice of seafarers. The Pathstone is kept near the dragon nest, of course, embedded in a stone tiki statue’s mouth that faces a semi-circle of granite benches. The geyser (and caern heart) lies between the idol and benches.
Tribal Structure
Kitsune founded this Beast-Court with strong support from Zhong Lung, and they fill most of the courtier positions. There is an entire habatsu of Same-Bito based out of this Beast-Court called the Gekko-Ha. A couple Xing Kanmengou and Hakken also live here. All are wary of the Nagah Nest that has taken up residence to keep an eye on their hengeyokai cousins. Other hengeyokai are even more rare, but this full-bodied Beast-Court represents them all.
Guardians
Hengeyokai patrol the woods, mountain, and nearby waters. Cunning Ju-Fu illusions, thanks to the Kitsune, hide all evidence of the Changing Phantoms’ presence and home from nosy humans. Some magical traps were also laid near the dragon nest for intruders who slip by, though the traps are non-lethal and designed to capture, not kill (such as the Labyrinth Ju-Fu). On the other side of the Wall, allied Boar-spirits roam, unleashing their fearsome wrath on any trespassers into that neck of the Penumbra, including unannounced allies!
Beast-Court of the Banding Reef
In recent years, a second Beast-Court sprang up in the Hawai'i Islands region. However, this one coincides with more metaphysical concerns. An orchestrated effort by shen across the Middle Kingdom and some of their Western outposts prepares for the Sixth Age. Accordingly, spirit realms are opening certain doors to certain peoples in certain ways. A refuge to weather the Apocalypse called Nozomi was born on the Membrane (chi'n ta call it the Horizon). This realm is connected to the Middle Umbra realm of Umi, which in turn is connected to the oceans on Gaia. Those connections are Anchorheads—waygates—and therefore points of vulnerability and exploitation to the forces of Yomi and corruption. They must be guarded.
So, Umi sent for the hengeyokai, empowering them with a small but potent Dragon Nest. Though on excellent terms with the Court of the Celestial Oasis, the Banding Reef Court has its own concerns and remains aloof from the island chain's main issues. Because of its connection to Umi and Nozomi, currently Japanese hengeyokai and their Kin people this Beast-Court almost entirely. Other hengeyokai would be welcome if they applied for membership, though the secretive nature of this court means few will ever know of it.
Fortunately, Umi did not send for hengeyokai alone. It also sent for the ningyo. A host of (Japanese) merfolk built a colony in the reef waters south of Kure. They provide material assistance and additional manpower against the growing threats. Fears of Chulorviah corruption threatens the free ki of both hengeyokai Gnosis and merfolk Glamour.
Location
One would find this Court on the Kure Atoll, which is a thousand miles northeast of the last official island of the Hawai'i archipelago. It rests about 50 miles northeast of Midway. Kure was named for a Russian explorer. It takes the form of a ring of coral reefs that surrounds two islands, aptly named Green and Sand Islands. The former boasts tropical vegetation and provides refuge for a wide variety of seabird species (as well as other fauna, such as Polynesian rats and monk seals). The latter meets its name well: a bar of sand.
Kure Atoll has no human inhabitants. A team of American biologists and ecologists would visit seasonally, not just to study but help conserve, until the hengeyokai made official arrangements to "take over" their role with "Japanese scientists" following budget cuts in Washington, D.C. While scientific studies do not concern the hengeyokai much, they are doing a much better job of improving the atoll's ecological health. Because of its position in the Pacific Ocean, the Great Garbage Patch washes debris ashore frequently, threatening the coral and other animals. The hengeyokai are especially focused on cleaning that up and preventing it from becoming worse. Such refuse occasionally includes dark forces, after all—horrid bakemono mutant sea creatures, for example. (The last incident involved a jellyfish that "evolved" into a land-stalking amoebic blob.)
Additionally, the currents and the historical nature of human voyages resulted in the waters around Kure as harboring many shipwrecks. Old whaling vessels pile among sunk World War II naval vessels.
Bawn
Green Island had few functional structures left on it. It contains about 235 acres of space, much of it covered with trees and Bermuda grasses. It is 1.5 miles long and a half-mile wide. Dunes and knolls do not rise higher than 25 feet tall. The hengeyokai have since built a few newer if spartan housing for those who prefer it. Lagoons between the islands and circling reef provide most of the shelter that many of these hengeyokai, who being at least semi-aquatic, prefer. An old airstrip was restored, though only for small private planes (such as the one used to ferry in the few Hakken, Nezumi, and Kitsune of this court). There is no port. A craft would have to anchor outside the coral ring and send small landing boats.
Sand Island remains barren, though is sometimes used for marshaling up the court during Assemblies.
The coral reef forms six miles across. It encloses lagoon waters that are up to 20 feet deep. The court's aquatic hengeyokai, along with ningyo allies, frequently wade and frolick in these waters. They are warm and welcoming. The currents and chemistry of the lagoon waters between the northern circumference of the coral reef and the two islands, and the waters between the two islands, slightly vary (though are almost always tranquil and clear to the bottom). In fact, the Dragon Nest is found between the islands. However, its health is highly dependent on the coral reef ring, and thus the court's guardians (especially habatsu of Same-Bito) patrol outside the ring. In a way, the coral reef serves as an encircling wall, albeit more spiritually than physically.
Kinfolk assist with daily conservationist duties as well as ferrying of supplies (namely fresh water). A small classic Japanese inn (ryokan) was even built, called the Waystation (Chukan'eki, 中間駅). It includes an onsen hot spring that was summoned up by the hengeyokai mystics.
Dragon Nest
Between Green and Sand Islands in the south of the Atoll proper, a thin strait of lagoon water provides home to an especially vibrant nest of coral formations that even rise over the surface during low tide. A grove of veloutier trees on the beach provide cover for a Zen garden. A torii gate welcomes the way in from the island interior. This garden leads down to the beach shore, where a Shinto shrine stands. Past that, the lagoon waters lap lazily at the littoral strand and provide ready access to this coral growth. Assembly is nearly always held at dawn for the low tide and to honor Amaterasu (Helios). This young Level 1 Dragon Nest provides the power of Healing, and Seiryuu the Azure Dragon sent his totem-avatar to watch over this outpost of Umi.
Other Landmarks
No Grave of Hallowed Heroes has yet been determined as the court is still so young that no fatal casualties have yet been taken. For now, it is likely any heroes would be sent home to be buried accordingly in their home courts abroad. The Pathstone is held within the Shinto massha at the shoreline. It is key to the court's entire existence, as it does provide a direct dragon line routes into and through Umi and Nozomi.
The ningyo are openly welcome anywhere in Kure. Likewise, hengeyokai may visit their grotto colony at will.
Both the hengeyokai and their merfolk allies avoid Midway. There is too much human presence. Furthermore, the World War II naval battles resulted in many deaths of Japanese and American sailors. Most of those violent deaths created shades in the Dark Umbra, which are not true free spirits as most know ghosts, but rather what the Restless Dead call drones. These mindless drones constantly reenact their desperate battles for victory and survival. Both the Dark Kingdoms of Iron and Jade have shown interest in recruiting or at least harvesting these spirits. The living stay far from these concerns, even those few werefoxes with knowledge of the Dark Umbra.
Tribal Structure
Zhong Lung, per the order of Umi, dominate the gai'nan. They actually sent representative Middle Dragons for this purpose. Thalassa Crown Nagah accompanied, as did at least two habatsu of Same-Bito. These aquatic hengeyokai dominate the Beast-Court. To give their court its thin veneer of official conservationist capacity to the human world, the Hakken made arrangements. A few Kitsune, Nezumi, and Tengu accompanied. There are no other Garou (yet), nor other hengeyokai (Kumo would not be appreciated, of course).
Guardians
The islands themselves are the concerns of the land-borne hengeyokai. The Zhong Lung tend to focus on the inner lagoons while the Same-Bito patrol just outside the coral ring. They also lead investigations farther out into the Pacific. Nagah, mostly seasnake-bred, cover both, watching their brethren for signs of Yomi or Chulorviah corruption alike.
Special Events
Special events are annual (or more frequent) holidays or special ritual days that the main group or groups observe as a whole community. Attendance and participation is often expected of all members, and sometimes required.
Kissing the Elements
On December 1st, the Garou of the Sept of Ashen Breath honor the awesome power of their Hawai’ian home. The four elements of fire, earth, water, and wind are all represented in breathtaking natural form throughout the isles. Even member of the Sept must spend one night in reflection of each element. Playing in the ocean, standing atop a cliff with the wind in one’s fur, rolling in the mud, and gazing directly down into a volcanic caldera for hours on end are all acceptable methods of honoring this renewing ritual, which by such supplication provides the Sept with strong elemental allies.
Lantern Festival
The hengeyokai in the Beast-Court of the Celestial Oasis celebrate the Lantern Festival alongside their human kin. This festival takes place on the last day of the two week-long Chinese New Year, so therefore usually sometime in mid-February to early March. This famous festival involves the artistic construction of paper lanterns with simple to complex designs, and then their release into the water (a stream that runs through the bawn, not the ocean). The origins of this holiday are tied up with a variety of legends, and as holidays go, it’s older than Christmas. For the hengeyokai, the lanterns represent hope, good fortune, and good will to the spirits they inevitably attract. Kitsune especially enjoy this festival, and many of their lanterns are themselves magical.
“The world may be an illusion, but it should not be an impure and ugly place. Let’s keep it the way the Mother made it: beautiful.”
-- Takamon Hisashi, “Many Masks”, Regent of the Court of the Celestial Oasis
