Swamp Land Protectorates
Relishing the Gift of Life
The Garou, Mokolé, and all other lycanthropes of New Orleans respect the power of Gaia and the planet more than anyone else. Their reverence and protectiveness is bent towards conserving what remains of Gaia’s once-pure state. And as nature prevails, the Changing Breeds yearn to relish their lives while they last. Life is unpredictable and nature is destructive. But it is also a beautiful blessing, and they soak up the vibrancy of life. And of course, that love for life turns them into life’s fiercest protectors. They suffer none to threaten and harm the nature in which they revel and worship. Because while nature can rear its uglier face and strike back at humanity, so can its primordial protectors.
The Fera of New Orleans are broken down into five main groups. Three are covered by this TUG, the “rural” groups, which includes the Sept of Forgotten Waters, the Sunberth Wallow (a protectorate of the Mokolé), and the lost Grotto of Shattered Waves (a protectorate of the Rokea). Two “urban” groups are covered under the TUG, Lunar Quarters. Most of the shapeshifters of the New Orleans region nonetheless prize secrecy and the strength to maintain mystery over clever intriguing or maintenance of ancient oaths (save those protecting the secrets of Gaia).
Rules
Garou, Mokolé, Ratkin, Rokea, and all other shapeshifters under the sun and moon obey their Litanies strictly in this region. This does not mean they necessarily have a more conservative bent than the Changing Breeds already usually do. They are just very private folk, trusting not even one another (Wars of Rage and all).
Other Shapeshifters
In addition to Garou, Mokolé-mbembe maintain a powerful Wallow in the area. Rokea dwell offshore but wander into Lake Pontchartrain at times (which is the country’s second largest saltwater lake…it is an estuary, after all). The Ratkin keep their warren near the city. Bastet, Corax, Ananasi, and Nuwisha all pass through or hang around New Orleans in small numbers. A Nagah Nest or two of the Zuzeka Crown likely keeps tabs on the Khurah. And not all of the wilderness is swampy bayou, and a couple River Keepers and other Gurahl may call this place home. Only hengeyokai are quite rare in New Orleans, where no major Asian district has sprung up to support a gross immigration of the shen.
Sept of Forgotten Waters
For centuries, the Sept of Forgotten Waters existed as both a major doorway for traveling Garou and a first defense against enemies arriving by sea. But the arboreal parapets and hunting grounds were abandoned mysteriously by the caern’s original keepers, the Croatan. When their Tribe disappeared, so did the caern’s patron (Turtle), and all its magic power. It was a pack of Freebooters, Black Furies who seek lost glens and caerns, that stumbled across this place in the early 1800s. They rejuvenated the caern and attracted a new Totem, but could not hold the caern alone. They made a pact with migrating Fianna, and over time other Garou were drawn to the vanguard of the Sept of Forgotten Waters.
Location
Northeast of Lake Pontchartrain and almost due north of New Orleans itself lies a sprawling tangle of swamp and mosquito-infested bayou. Deep in the center of these woods lies the caern, while the werewolves run through most of the entire landscape unchecked, save when they venture too close to the lake.
Bawn
The bawn of this Sept spreads out for fifty miles in every direction, and the Garou even claim Lake Pontchartrain – though they can hardly claim it in truth, and do not even try for fear of the Mokolé. Ancient, moss-curtained trees rise up out of the soft earth. Indeed, all kinds of vegetation and animal life abound still in this rich if hot climate. This is a scary, wild place that the government warns people away from…in part because it is an environment legally protected from trespass and exploitation.
Caern
Surrounded by a seemingly impenetratable ring of willows is a patch of earth that seems drained of all life, dry as a desert. But that’s because the willows are actually all Glade Children, and they constantly draw in the moisture and nutrients of the earth to replenish their ancient mortal tree hosts. In return, they resaturate the earth beneath their roots. In each tree nests a pair of falcons, and their droppings and leftovers help fertilize the glen, too. So the dryness is quite shallow, just constant. In the center of this glen sits an ancient boulder, embedded in which is the fossil of an ancient sea tortoise.
No longer does Turtle guide this caern, however. Etched into the boulder around the fossil, complimenting and not effacing, are Garou glyphs filled with silver and blood. These glyphs summoned and honor the caern’s current patron, Falcon, who visited the caern-awakening Freebooters two centuries ago. He helps the Garou keep this place’s sense of mystery and predatory power, and they take special care of this Level 3 Caern of Wyld.
Other Landmarks
The Graves of Hallowed Heroes are located in the caern center, in fact. The Garou hold a tradition of burying their dead at the roots of these trees. The Pathstone, on the other hand, is buried underneath the fossilized boulder. The werewolves of this Sept can stake out quite a lot of land to themselves in these untouched woods. Some carve out their lairs in the hollows of old, dead trees. Others go for more ostentatious caves or mossy overhangs.
Tribal Structure
Black Furies and Fianna dominate the Sept’s leadership, but Red Talons contest that and press for a more aggressive approach to the region’s handling. Uktena also member in strong numbers here, hoping to uncover secrets of their lost Pure Land brothers.
Guardians
The defenses of the Sept of Forgotten Waters are especially dangerous. People are well warned away by their own government, so the Garou do not waste time on intruders. In addition to appointed Guardians, the shamans can raise terrifying Shamblers – essentially gorgons (Wyld-birthed “fomori”) -- from the brackish, swampy muck. These “vegatoids” possess no intellect but are terribly strong and resilient. On top of which, the best paths through the tangled brush are laced with well-hidden patches of quicksand. The Garou avoid these paths, of course, but few intruders know the danger.
Sunberth Wallow
For the past 1,500 years, Mokolé-mbembe of the Gendasi family maintained a Wallow in the midst of the bayous of Louisiana. The heart of New Orleans pulsed not on Bourbon Street but in the whisper of the river reeds and the splash of diving alligators from the shore. The Mokolé Clutch at Sunberth remembered when they called the Croatan friends, and when they helped repel European invaders. The second War of Rage that swept over so much of the Americas barely dented the Mokolé at Sunberth. The few conquistadores that dared their swamps were met with unmatched force, swift and merciless. It saddened these Mokolé greatly when the loup-garou children of Turtle vanished from the earth, and only turned this Wallow into an even more isolative nest.
Today, these weresaurians deeply resent people nosing about their business or Kinfolk, and act aggressively in defense of their people and home. With legal protection and such attitude, these Mokolé have managed to not only survive the ages, but thrive and stay one of the strongest Wallows in North America. Mokolé of the Halpatee Stream dominate the Wallow, though a couple Karna and even Unktehi dwell here. In all, a dozen weresaurians call Sunberth home. Five times as many reptilian Kin share their waters. In the nearby resort of Lake Catherine, homid Kin (mostly of Indian or Créole descent) dwell as fishermen, tour guides, and other “salt-of-the-earth” tradesmen.
Location
An island in the middle of Lake Pontchartrain known as ‘Gator Hill serves as home to the Mokolé and their Kin at Sunberth. This island is several hundred acres wide and covered in strong, sweeping trees and tall grasses. Wildlife flourishes here, too, though only that which co-exists with the dominant reptilian predators! The island is quite inaccessible by air, and only by boat can one reach the dockless shore. Of course, the island has been named off-limits by the National Park Service.
Wallow
The muddy, woodsy island surrounds a central glen only slightly shaded by cypress and birch trees. A pile of dry sandstone rocks bathe in the sunlight all day long until they seem to almost glow with bright warmth. Here the clutch basks, soak in Gnosis, worship the face of Helios, and carry out all their most vital rituals of reverence and need at this Level 4 Wallow.
Guardians
In addition to the terrifying Mokolé themselves, their ‘gator Kinfolk are nothing to deride. And beyond the Gauntlet dwell spirits of alligators loyal to the Wallow – some say ancestors of their Kin – that help keep intruders at bay. (Curiously, these spirits have never lifted a snout to stop Innocents. Such wights must be accepted tormentors sent by Gaia to punish wayward Mokolé!) Furthermore, the island is host to a number of unmapped and well-hidden quicksand traps which the Mokolé and Kin are well aware of, but trespassers would not be.
Grotto of Shattered Waves
The Rokea once kept a mighty Grotto located in the Breton Sound, east of New Orleans and north of the head of the Mississippi River. Three or four slews at a time swam near this Grotto, an entrenched cleft in the sea floor housing a piece of Oversea’s Great Woundstone (a piece of a meteorite) that the spirits say fell eons ago and smote open the land, creating what is now called the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina and Rita both stirred up massive underwater tidal waves. The Rokea keepers were forced away from their Grotto. When they returned, their home was gone. The sea floor was barren, the cleft caved in. And when they took pains to dig the trench back out, there was no sign of the woundstone fragment.
Some of the Rokea accept this as the Sea taking back what it once blessed the weresharks with, but others are unconvinced, and search tirelessly. Regardless, all of the Rokea agree on one thing: having a Grotto was nice indeed, and they want one back. So avid are they on exploring unfamiliar waters that some of the Lexcha (bull sharks) have swam into Lake Pontchartrain or even up the Mississippi. Who knows what these forays may bring?
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.
Grand Bois
The Garou of the Sept of Forgotten Waters are not dominated by Uktena houngans by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, a Voodoo rite worked its way into the Sept’s traditions long ago and has been key to their annual cycle. The festival of Grand Bois, a Voodoo loa associated with the oak tree and the health of the wilderness, involves the supplication and sacrifice to the grandest trees in the bawn to keep them strong and vigilant. In return, Glade Children help protect the entire caern. This rite is performed around December 8th to 10th: a fortnight before the winter solstice.
“Shhh? Hear that? Yes, the spirits be a’callin’. They must want you pretty bad, doncha you think? After all, they want us to bring you to them.”
-- Ozanna Bands-the-Sun, Crowning the clutch of Sunberth
