From: SCOTT_RICHARD Subject: Metis : The Shame of the Garou Some time ago an ancestor came to me in a dream. The glowing figure of a powerful and venerable Theurge. I had been plagued by doubts of my self-worth for many years. "There is no shame in being Metis, my son. It is one of the greatest tragedies of the Garou." "Once, Garou were free to mate and breed with other Garou, producing healthy, happy young. Love was freely and naturally expressed among all. We were plentiful and multiplied." "Then came the Great Betrayer." "Walks-In-Twilight was a Silver Fang Philodox, with much power and rank. One evening he came to the sept of the Four Moons." "There is evil in us, he said. Look!" "He had brought with him a White Howler cub with terrible deformities, and in Crinos form." "This is what will become of us if we breed with each other! We must not breed Garou with Garou, or we will be destroyed." "We had never seen such a thing. We gasped in horror as one. All our offspring were pure, well-shaped and straight-limbed. We had no reason to doubt such a mighty Garou, reknowned for his wisdom." "I have a Gift, Walks-In-Twilight said, I can help us remove this scourge. I can teach you to teach others, and we can spread the word from sept to pack to the farthest lone warrior." "We regarded him in awe, my son, I am ashamed. Come to me, he said. I will work my gift to protect you." "We went to his shelter one by one, and felt his power. His gift had changed us, but it felt good. We did not realise what had been done until too late. He sent many of our sept journeying over the next few days, to spread his word and his work. It was done." "One moon later some of us began to suspect something was wrong. We felt different, there was more tension, Garou fought with Garou over little things, we were forgetting how to love." "Wanda-Seeks-Danger, a Black Fury ahroun, was restless that night. She wandered out to look at the stars. She saw Walks-In-Twilight stealthily running into the forest, so she followed. Wanda shadowed Walks-In-Twilight with her hunter's grace for hour until he entered a cave, and she followed still." "She did not believe what she saw in the cave. Walks-In-Twilight was talking to a Black Spiral Dancer! The wyrm minion looked familiar, and she realised it was the same deformed White Howler cub she had seen with Walks-In-Twilight." "Walks-In-Twilight and the Black Spiral Dancer were starting an obscene rite, she knew it it was wrong, she could feel the taint. She watched with horrified fascination for a time as images appeared before the two rite-makers. When they began to dance a spiral she knew she must act. Images of Garou with deformities were appearing in the air between Walks-In-Twilight and the Dancer." "Wanda screamed her Rage, and charged. She was a mighty warrior, and the Dancer fell beneath her claws as she shifted to Crinos, employing her warrior Gifts. She faced Walks-In-Twilight, terror ripping at her heart. Her courage held and she spat at the betrayer." "Die, spawn of the pit. She leaped at him, but he was faster. He held her in his claws and tore at her throat. She managed to pull away from him after wounding him greatly, but she knew she was dying. Wanda struggled away from Walks-In-Twilight, running back to the sept-fires with her dying strength. She had to tell." "A young theurge was sitting by the fire and heard her screams of pain and dismay. I ran to her, her lifeblood flowing over my body." "Stop ... him... she said." "Who, sister?" I cried. "Walks-In-Twilight, he has betrayed us all to the Dancers." "Wanda died as I held her. I howled, calling my pack. We raced into the forest, following her trail of blood. We came upon the cave, we could feel the wrongness. Inside we found Walks-In-Twilight panting, blood gurgling out of his throat. Wanda was one of our mightiest warriors, and she had fought well, he had not been able to summon the strength to escape. Walks-In-Twilight had a terribly wrong glow in his eyes. He screamed and it was mind-shattering to hear. The pack sprang, we tore him to pieces, he was so weak, but it was too late. Even his death could not help us." "Wanda had interrupted the terrible rite my son, for which we may be truly thankful. You bear the burden of our terrible shame. Walks-In-Twilight had intended more than just the Metis, he was trying to make us infertile. Wanda had stopped them before they completed the rite, but there were still some effects." "We mourned her for days, but we have lived with our failure forever. Walks-In-Twilight stopped Garou from breeding with Garou. He gave us horror, and you, my son, are his legacy. You will never father children because we were not vigilant. We no longer can breed past the first generation, Garou to Garou, and we weep for ourselves still. Love was our strength, and we lost it. The Garou are dying, and there is nothing we can do about it." "However, without Wanda-Seeks-Danger we would not even have you, my son, and that would be a greater tragedy." The dream ended. I sought out our theurges and told them of what I had seen. They could not confirm the truth of it to me, but our oldest had a strange look in his eye. Not many will believe this story, but to me it is truth. The sadness is terrible to bear, I am living proof. Seeker, Children of Gaia Ragabash