Lunar Quarters
Desperate Times
As in any other urban center, the Changing Breeds usually do not find themselves welcome. Yet here in New Orleans survive Garou, mostly Bone Gnawers, and of course the omnipresent Ratkin. All of these shapeshifters, however, feel more edgy than even their rural counterparts. The waste laid to the city since the hurricane disasters affected these Fera more profoundly than any others. Some lost Kinfolk, others just lost what precious homes they could afford. Growing more and more furious at the humans’ callous approach to the city’s downtrodden people, these lycanthropes may be the ones that stir up riots that force change and improvement for New Orleans. But such a price of blood and destruction the city will pay to suffer such venting rage…
Rules
The Garou obey the Litany, of course. The Ratkin follow their own Litany. All of these shapeshifters pay special care to maintain the Veil, due to closely neighboring humanity. Lately, however, less care is given to relations with the Apes.
Sept of the Broken Vista
Bone Gnawers, with Glass Walker financiers and a few other Garou, cut their claim of New Orleans 170 years ago. Staking out parts of a recreational park for themselves, these urban werewolves resisted human encroachment within the city as best they could, responding viciously at times. Built upon classic Gnawer bitterness, it’s said the Sept founder was a visionary old wolf named Saul Steamstamper who hoped to build a utopian home for his kind and all their Kin. But his dreams were crushed by the cynicism of humanity and political scheming of the undead, and his home became a slummy nightmare that spawned tough, fearless soldiers and feral Gnawers indeed. To date, the lands claimed by the Sept of the Broken Vista are scary places few citizens pass by day, never mind late at night.
Location
The northwestern section of New Orleans is often referred to as Lakeview, and it’s a district overlooking Lake Pontchartrain to the north and borders the City Park to the east. The caern is actually hidden in the park, but the Sept claims the entire neighborhood as its bawn. This is hotly contested by Kindred, of course.
Bawn
Years ago, the city paved the way to keep part of New Orleans green (besides the river, heh). They built and sculpted City Park, giving plenty of lawns, trees, and hills for recreating citizens to enjoy. There are even streams and ponds aplenty here. The urban neighborhoods that the Sept considers its own are lower-middleclass, occupied mostly by the working folk of the city. The district suffered considerable flood damage during Hurricane Katrina, and many tracts of houses lay gutted and rotting to date. This only adds fuel to the fire of the Sept’s outrage.
Caern
Nestled between ponds in the north of the park lies a small wood composed mainly of birch, cypress, and willow trees. The flora has been allowed to grow wilder here, and few people bother with the site now. Indeed, Guardians keep a constant eye on this collection of tree copses, chasing away anyone who ventures too close. The trees are not the heart of the caern, but they provide ample concealment for it at least. Driven into the grassy earth stands an antique mast from some great sailing ship, preserved by magic and memories over the decades. This was the ship that Saul sailed to New Orleans on, and from its fore he looked upon what he hoped was new opportunity.
Today, the mast is immovable from the earth and is hard as rock, as if it were petrified. Here daring Garou may mount the mast and sit in the fore, gazing out through the overgrown canopy to try and recapture the vista the founder envisioned so long ago. While it rarely offers glimpses of the future, it certainly grants Garou ideas on the present, for this a Level 2 Caern of Streetwise, and Old Man Sea patronizes this place.
Other Landmarks
The Graves of Hallowed Heroes are scattered about the grove of trees near the caern center. The Pathstone, meanwhile, was embedded and now appears immovable from the petrified mast. In the neighborhoods that the Sept claims, two sites are of special interest. A private residence owned by a Glass Walker named Jacob Vintell is an expansive home dedicated to providing sanctuary to homeless people (especially the Glass Walker’s Septmates). In a secure room, the Glass Walker also keeps a trophy house, filled with all of the Sept’s various winnings, common and barbaric, from literal trophies of cheap plastic and chrome to drained and polished human (or vampiric) skulls. On the other side of Lakeview is Paulo’s Pawnshop, where this Kinfolk cuts good deals for his Garou family, especially on second-hand weapons.
Tribal Structure
Bone Gnawers dominate the Sept at every level. A couple Glass Walkers are also present, as are a few other Tribes.
Guardians
By day, the werewolf Guardians patrol in Homid form, posing as homeless folk or park rangers. By night, the Guardians assume more feral shapes, running as terrifying packs mistaken for “wild dogs”. But truthfully, the Sept does keep wild dogs in its employ, too: in the Umbra run packs of Feral Psychagonea, keeping the Shadow free of trespassers. These wild spirits demand constant observation by the Sept’s shamans to ensure their Wyld hearts aren’t deranged and fall under the sway of the Wyrm. So long as they serve the Bone Gnawers and Rat, they are fierce guardians indeed.
Warren of Deep Swamps
Most Ratkin scoff at “country mice” – wererats that care little for the challenges of urban lifestyles. But none of these city rats would dare to voice such insults to the Ratkin of the Deep Swamps. These critters seem to have been born right out of Deliverance. Bushmen and rednecks extraordinaire, these Ratkin live their lives on swamp barges, hovercrafts, and rickety bungalows out in the middle of nowhere. Almost every wererat of the Deep Swamps is a highly adaptable and skilled swimmer. They range all over the area, and some do dwell within the city. Having witnessed the ruin of their Big Easy, and the hardships that fell upon some of their Kinfolk, these Ratkin are not happy whatsoever with the city machine, and they may be the wrench that throws it completely out of gear.
Location
The heart of the Colony, however, is found south of the river and city proper in the quarter called the New Aurora District. Here sprawling resort housing dipped to all-time lows even before Hurricane Katrina swamped the quarter, due to predictions about the likelihood of a disaster. In the creeks and canals connecting to ancient sewer tunnels abundant, these Ratkin are constantly on the move from the city to the suburbs to the boonies and back again.
Nest
The heart of the Warren of Deep Swamps’ nest is in the boonies, leading outsiders to believe these wererats to be soft “country mice”. An old wooden cabin built on stilts overlooking a swampy and infested bayou far from the sight of the city resists every effort of storm surges to wash it away. Perhaps that is because no one actually lives in the cabin. Instead, the wererats maintain an elaborate liquor still, where they ferment swamp water bathed in the light of the full moon. The still itself is magical, blessed long ago by a drunk Fianna shaman. Humans may not live in this cabin, but rats run amuck here, and Ratkin and human Kin come visit the still frequently, holding celebrations of drunken revelry. The Rat King himself, a semi-retired Tunnel Runner, holds “court” here every Saturday night; apparently, he’s lured Grain into becoming his deceit’s pack totem, and she certainly seems to bless the heart of the Nest itself! (OOC: This Warren is considered a *** Colony.)
Tribal Structure
Like most of North America, only members of the Rat Race are likely to be found in this colony. These Ratkin seem especially on edge and crazy as far as visions from the Rat God are concerned. That may also explain why there are so many Freak-Aspected wererats in the city, too.
Guardians
In addition to scary bushmen-styled Kinfolk and the usual colonies of thousands of rodents, this warren has an unusual legion of defenders. Raised from the swamp through Ratkin magic, Muckgoblins take form to do battle against intruders. Only as tall as a man’s knee, they pack a nasty bite, and resemble voracious little gremlins made out of river and swamp muck and rotting foliage, and they smell awful.
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.
Po Boys Festival
While rural Garou are sniffing tree root, Bone Gnawers are surviving day to day in one of the roughest towns in the country. The Po Boys Festival has become of their favorite events, during which time Gnawers beg for leavings, steal full sandwiches off unwary tourists’ plates, or even prepare and distribute free po boy sandwiches to their fellow urban survivalists. The festival is held annually on November 10th.
The Swarming
The Ratkin of the Warren of Deep Swamps are unusual in their affection for rural life. However, once a year, they stream into the city, horrifying residents and tourists alike. And by “they”, we mean the wererats and all their kin. To date, city officials blame it on the leaky levies. The Ratkin deliberately choose the rainiest day in the rainy season of June, whenever that may fall. The Ratkin take the opportunity to a) scare the bejeezus out of humans for shits-and-giggles; b) grab stuff.
“It says ‘keep out’, stupid. You can’t read? S’alright, me neither. But I still gotta whip the tar outta ya.”
-- Hammond Uprite, “Broken Tooth”, Warder of the Sept of the Broken Vista
