Urge Wyrm of Cvteness and Associates by Fenris Lorsrai Venerandus, The Urge Wyrm of Cvteness The Urge Wyrm of Cvteness was originally a part of the greater Urge Wyrm of Lies. It split off at the beginning of this century however with the beginnings of the cover up of how bad the world was really getting. This is the Urge Wyrm that prompts people to say that everything is fine even if their leg is being gnawed off by a wolverine. It is much concerned with self delusion and willingness to be misled. It lures people into its clutches with visions of normalcy and happiness in a dying world. It's chief method of doing this is through cvteness. Cvteness is entirely subjective. Many things that are perceived as cute are in fact quite vicious and corrupt inside. Examples of this are the Totem: the Beast of Caerbannog and any cute, yet deadly, predatory animal. This Urge Wyrm is primarily concerned with self delusion as demonstrated by cuteness, the ultimate in self delusion. It causes Homids to gloss over the unpleasant and see only the good things in a situation. Thus, it's power grows through the delusionary powers of television and now virtual reality. This Urge Wyrm is Primarily Served by the Incarna Barney and a lesser Incarna known as The Beast of Caerbannog. Barney Barney is an Incarna associated with the Urge Wyrm of Cvteness. He is the only Incarna known to have a regularly scheduled television program. Barney chiefly tries to corrupt children and generally project an air of wellness into a world gone mad. Barney was said to have been a young Glass Walker (who's name has been forgotten) who became trapped in the television subrealm when it first began to form. After many years of being trapped in the unreality within it, he grew utterly insane and more and more physically twisted until he finally became the monster on the Late Night Creepy Crawlies. It was there that the Urge Wyrm of Cvteness found him. Knowing all the ins and out of delusion, both of self and others, Barney was the perfect servant. Many powers were granted to him in addition to the tricks he had learned while living in the subrealm. He subtly manipulated Television from the background for many years, providing "wholesome" family shows that had no bearing on reality. (the Brady Bunch was his idea) Shortly before he began appearing on his own show, he reached Incarna status. Now, out in the view of the world he spreads corruption and his own version of family values. Millions of children dream of being on Barney's show and singing that now famous song with him. "I love you. You Love me. We are all Fo-mor-i. With a great big hug And a kiss from me to you Won't you spread some Cvteness too?" Barney is aided in his quest to spread cvteness by the Slightly Less Than Rainbow Colored Polka Dotted Double Helix Prancers. Also to his advantage is the cooperation of Pentex who produces many Barney (tm) products and the Polka Dotted Double Helix Prancer (tm) line of Wyrm tainted and Wyrm infested products. Barney is a marketing genius and occasionally leaves his recording studio in the Umbra to do publicity tours with the cast of Barney and Friends and miscellaneous Prancers, Fomori, Banes, and minions of the Wyrm. Every Garou dreads having the Barney tour come to town. The Slightly Less Than Rainbow Colored Polka Dotted Double Helix Prancers The Prancers were once BlacK Spirals but have turned to spreading corruption through the Cuteness Conspiracy. They serve the Urge Wyrm of Cvteness and consider there BSD cousins to be deluded fools for following the other Urge Wyrms. They see violent means of corruption as a good way to end up dead very quickly. Rather than outright combat they prefer to warp people's minds so as to get their own way. They are aided in this by the Cuteness Conspiracy who provide many of the revoltingly adorable children's shows sown every weekday afternoon. Many of these shows are actually filmed in the Umbra, hence the complete disconnection with reality. The ultimate goal of every Prancer is to be on Barney and Friends where they can serve the Urge Wyrm of Cvteness in the most direct fashion. To achieve this goal, they cultivate their cute image, clipping their fur in bizarre patterns and dying it various "happy" colors. This makes them appealing to children, their main target for corruption. Many young Glass walkers and Bonegnawers have been seduced to the Black Spiral through excessive watching of children's shows and the purchase of Pentex's line of cuddly stuffed Prancers. Who knew that cute could be so evil? The Prancer's derived their name from their popularity as the evil mutant monster in current Hollywood films and as an evil pun on the Black Spiral Dancers. Breeds: Lupus and Metis are the preferred breeds for television and film since they are inherently cuter due to their furriness. Homid have to work harder at getting good roles since they aren't as comfortable in the furry forms. Metis are particularly favored since their appearance is weakening the Veil and making the other tribes far more visible. Auspices: Ragabash and Galliard are the most favored since they are the most inherently entertaining. Theurges are most favored for any show that needs some one who is "differently abled" due to their great skill with perceiving things differently via spirits. Philodox are generally assigned to the backdrop so as to utilize their skills with judgement to make executive decisions. Ahrouns generally end as working as security for publicity tours or as villains on corny action shows such as Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. Names: Prancers generally take cute names or at least ones that inspire trust and sharing and other such "noble" qualities. example: Fluffy, Muffin, Snookums, Trust-Me, Plays-Well-With-Others, Does-What-I'm-Told, Doesn't-Play-With-Matches, Name of Any Good Disney character (no, Scar from the Lion King would be a bad choice) Habitat: Prancers are most often seen on day time children's shows. To actual encounter one in person, one would have to travel to one of the Umbral recording studios or attend one of the Prancers publicity tours. Lately they can sometimes be found entertaining at children's parties. Protectorate: Anything that appears cute, innocent, or harmless but is in fact harmful. This generally equates to them protecting children that are in the process of being corrupted. Other children are fair game however. Bane Totem: The Beast Of Caerbannog Cost: 9 The Beast of Caerbannog is the only totem known to have appeared in a film (Monty Python's The Holy Grail). It appears as an adorable white rabbit but hides are viscous spirit within. Despite the image presented by the movie, The Beast is still quite hail and hearty. The Beast grants his followers the Merit: Eidetic Memory so as to allow them to memorize their new lines quickly. He also grants his Bastards extra skill in making spectacularly unlikely combat maneuvers as befits an action movie. All blows aimed for a specific area on the opponent are at -1 difficulty. Any spectacularly outrageous combat maneuvers such as firing two arrows at once and hitting the target or throwing a scimitar across a room to impale a charging witch are at -2 difficulty. Ban: The Beast is rather vain and asks that his Bastards watch the Holy Grail at least once a year and attempt to addict as many people to the movie as possible. Forms: Homid: Prancers can be of any race but generally appear as being of slightly less than average height and tend to have big brown eyes. The hair may be dyed but is generally left alone. Crinos: Prancers lavish attention on their crinos appearance so as to make it as cute as possible and so generally clip the fur and dye it all sorts of bright colors. Properly done they appear very cute and cuddly. They may use this as a weapon against other Garou who may hesitate at the sheer cuteness of their opponent. Lupus: The fur in Lupus is generally a pale grey to medium grey. Many Prancers also dye their fur in this form so as to have distinctive marking such as cute black masks, white paws, a white tail tip, etc. Stats: Initial Willpower: 4 Initial Rage: as auspice Initial Gnosis: as breed Backgrounds: No Pure Breed Gifts: Level 1 Persuasion- as the Homid Gift Sense Wyrm- as the Metis Gift Shroud- as the Uktena Gift Cvte- roll appearance+ performance diff of opponent's Rage. Each success subtracts one success from opponent's successes on an initiative roll. If the user attacks, the Gift immediately dissipates. Level 2 Grovel- as the Metis Gift Alter Scent- as the Ragabash Gift Inner Strength- as the Stargazer gift Animal Friend- Spend a Gnosis point and roll Wits+ Animal Ken. At least two successes are needed. The user can now change animal's attitudes toward her. Hostile animals will become neutral, neutral will become friendly, and friendly will become positively ecstatic. Level 3 song of the Siren- as the Galliard Gift Chant of Morpheus- as the Children of Gaia Gift Touch of the Eel- as the Black Spiral Ragabash Gift Sheep's Clothing- as the Nuwisha Gift Level 4 Camera Eye- as the Glass walker Gift Phone Travel- as the Glass walker Gift Doppleganger- as the Glass Walker Gift Decrease Age- spend Will and roll Man+ Performance difficulty eight. Each success allows the user to decrease her apparent age by ten years. The illusion can be seen through by rolling per+ Alert difficulty 10. Level 5 Shadowplay- as the Theurge Gift Calm the Flock- as the Glass walker Gift Totem form- as the BlacK Spiral Gift Market- Spend one gnosis point and roll charisma + Subterfuge difficulty of Opponent's Willpower or difficulty 8 if being broadcast or taped. Viewers will want to be as close to the user as possible and be extreamly fervent in their hero worship. Failing that they will want something that the user uses, touches, or an object that bears the user's likeness. (hence why The Polka Dotted Double Helix Prancer (tm) line of toys from Pentex are so popular) Fetishes Teddy Bear level 2, Gnosis 6 A Prancer with a Teddy Bear Fetish can try to regain Willpower once per scene. He will gain one point for every two successes. Others may view the user as somewhat weak and all Intimidation rolls difficulty are raised by two while he bears his Teddy Bear. If the Teddy Bear is ever lost or destroyed the owner loses two Willpower points. Remote Control Level 5, Gnosis 9 A Garou using the Remote Control can point it at an object or person to slow or speed up the target, efectively putting them in slow motion or fast forward. The user needs at least two successes and the effect lasts for one turn (roughly 3 seconds) per successes after the minimum required. Kazoo Level 3, Gnosis 6 The user can use the Kazoo to attempt to manipulate the emotions of others. For every success on the activation role, one die can be added to the dice pool for Manipulating the hearers. The extra dice can be used all at once or spread out over several turns. This Fetish is most favored by Ragabash for humiliating opponents. (Picture a noble Silver Fang appear amidst a fanfare of kazoos. ) A Sample Prancer Snarf Breed: Metis Auspice: Philodox Pack: Aliens of the Week Pack totem: The Beast of Caerbannog Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2, Charisma 4, Manipulation 4, Appearance 3, Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 4 Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Empathy 1, Expression 2, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 2, Mimicry 2, Animal Ken 2, Drive 1, Performance 4, repair 2, Stealth 2, Disguise 3, Kailindo 2, Linguistics 4, Rituals 2, Science 1 Backgrounds: Totem 3, Resources 2, Allies 2, Contacts 2 Gifts: Resist pain, Create Element, Persuation, Cvte, Inner Strength Rank: 2 Rites: Rite of Talisman Dedication, Rite of Summoning Fetishes: Death rattler, Umbra phone, and a very mundane red rubber herring Image: Snarf appears as a very cute wolf. The fur is generally dyed to be reddish though at times he has been known to dye it other colors depending his mood. He appears rather slight in this form but is actually quite sturdy. In Homid, Snarf genearlly wears whatever is currently in vogue but he can afford. He has sky blue eyes in Homid but he tends to wear sunglasses so no one really sees them much. He has a nice tan and nice muscle definition but other that, doesn't seem terribly memorable. (generally billed as Boy number three or Klingon number four or something along those lines) Roleplaying Notes: You very much wish to make a name for yourself and are willing to do it the hard way, from the bottom up. You often look somewhat harried and are almost constantly on the phone talking to your contacts and agent. When not trying to clamber your way to the top of the heap you devote yourself to watching old movies, especially ones relevant to your current project. History: Snarf was born to two Prancers. His father starred as the monster in many B-movies while his mother was more concerned with the technical end of things and so never actually appeared in anything. Snarf wants to be just like his father and make a name for himslef, even if it is a bad name. He managed to get his start when he was fairly young by providing the voices for some cartoons, particualry low budget bad ones. Currently he is running with a pack known as the Aliens of the Week, a group of fairly young Prancers who are trying to move out of the children's area and into adult entertainment. Mostly they just end up in Sci-fi shows as the spare aliens or on movies as random extras. The pack is dedicated to the Beast of Caerbannog and so are starting to get themselves for hired for kung-fu style action flicks, particuarly Snarf who can act and kick ninja butt at the same time.