(I wrote this up before White Wolf had published the White Howlers, the official origin of the Black Spiral Dancers. - Beth Bartley) MOON CIRCLE DANCERS Over a thousand years ago, the Moon Circle Dancers were a tribe of Garou who above all loved life. They fought the Wyrm when it came to them or when their aid was asked, but their primary purpose was aiding the Wyld, and though sometimes this involved fighting the Wyrm, more often for them it involved tending nature and more often still simply spreading joy. They were probably the most joyous of the tribes, and loved tales and songs and above all dancing. They had no particular emnities among the tribes, though Uktena and Moon Dancers tended to keep at a distance by mutual consent. They were closest to the Children of Gaia and the Fianna; indeed, the first permanent mixed packs were Fianna and Moon Dancers. They were not entirely taken seriously and their lack of respect was second only to the Bone Gnawers, but they were loved. In years of old, The Moon Dancers were the sole seagoing tribe; they all travelled by sea when needed, but the Moon Dancers were known to voluntarily live on boats for years on end. This is not to say they spent their lives on the ocean; the forest and plains were more central even to that tribe of Garou. But they did truly love the sea, and it was a rare Moon Dancer that did not spend years travelling on it. The Moon Dancers also loved exploring and simple adventure, and in the end this was their downfall. The Wyrm corrupted them through offers of new dances and new lands to travel beneath the ground. Not all of the tribe accepted the Wyrm's offer; in fact, most did not. But virtually all considered it, and those who did not were imprisoned while the rest thought. Then before all were done and the decision could go against the Wyrm, the corrupted killed the uncorrupted -- and the corrupted who refused to kill their bethren. And then they slew their Kinfolk, so that nothing of the tribe remained, and fled the vengeance of the other tribes to the new lands the Wyrm had promised. For whatever reason - whether Gaia's dire need, the Wyrm pressing its advantage, fate fulfilling itself, the totem making a final attempt at regaining its children of Gaia before Gaia is destroyed, or simple coincidence - a few lost cubs of the tribe have been found. In our campaign, a pack of Garou received permission from the Chicago Camarilla to establish a pack in Chicago in return for helping defend it against an assault of the Sabbat aided by the Black Spiral Dancers. Shortly after the war, Fiona (a Theurge of Fianna) and Peter (a Glass Walker Galliard) were singing in a park, and a shy nineteen-year-old wandered by. They invited her closer and spoke briefly with her, introducing themselves (her name was Laurie). Fiona recognized her as Garou, and called Ferik (Bone Gnasher Rabadash; almost unparalled at sneaking) to tell him to follow Laurie home. Meanwhile, Peter spoke with her; the conversation turned to dreams, and both her race and tribe quickly became evident. Totem: the dolphin Initial Willpower: old 3, new 5 Backgrounds: 4, which may be be spent on any but Pure Breed. However, there are conditions on many of the others. A Moon Dancer with Past Life will have memories of both Moon Circle Dancers and Black Spiral Dancers, and will probably be sorely confused. Fetishes, Rites, and Totem can only be taken if they make sense within the campaign. Mentor may certainly be taken, but the Mentor will be watching the Moon Dancer closely. (There are no conditions on Allies, Resources, Contacts, or Kinfolk. GMs should consider charging a lower price for Past Life and Mentor.) Beginning Gifts: Sense Wyrm (Metis). This does not come particularly naturally to Moon Dancers, but virtually all uncles will insist that the Moon Dancer learn Sense Wyrm as soon as possible, both because the Wyrm wishes to corrupt the Moon Dancers and because the Black Spiral Dancers wish to kill them. Wolf Form: The ancient Moon Dancer form was small, incredibly graceful white wolves with a mother-of-pearl sheen to their fur; it is no coincidence that this type of wolf is unknown today. Homid Moon Dancers will have this wolf form. Lupus Moon Dancers may have any wolf form, with a slight pearl shimmer in their fur like a very thin coating of silver. The tribe has just been rediscovered and there are no Metis Moon Dancers known. (They are expected to have the wolf-shape of the less-classic parent and the coloring of the more classic parent.) Organization: Before the destruction, Moon Dancer packs tended to have a clear leader and several clear subordinates in ranked order who led when the leader was absent -- but rank played a minimal role in anything other than chain-of-command. Now there are no packs of Moon Dancers, or even mixed packs dominated by Moon Dancer, both because there are so few Moon Dancers and because they realize this would prompt paranoia from the other Garou. When modern Moon Dancers are in contact with each other, they tend to provide emotional support for the loneliness of not fully fitting in even among the Garou, tips on where to find the most acceptance, and the like. Habitat: In olden times, the seacoast and the sea were theirs, and in they wandered in what forests they chose in return for letting all Garou wander their coasts and sea. Now, they live with whatever pack (preferably mixed and tolerant ones) will take them in; for fear of the Black Spiral Dancer's attacks and their own selves, no Moon Dancers has yet lived alone. (Most are suspicious of Moon Dancers, remembering the fate of the previous tribe. However, some will take in Moon Dancers because of that suspicion. Get of Fenris, Red Talons, and Black Furies might well take a Moon Dancer as Black Spiral Dancer bait. Fianna might be induced to take them out of the combination of BSD bait and for memories of the past alliance between the two tribes.) Protectorate: In ancient times, the sea. Now, while there are too few Moon Dancers to have a full protectorate, individual Moon Dancers tend to be most interested in combating Black Spiral Dancers and the Wyrm's corruption of people. Totem of the Dolphin: Background Cost: 8 Dolphin is joyous and speedy and rules the sea. It is also a totem of art. Its children subtract two from the difficulty of any social interaction with a creature of the sea, and add two dice to any roll involving water or speed. Unfortunately, Dolphin is associated with the fall of her former children; the pack who chooses her suffers a one-time penalty of 200 Wisdom and 200 Honor (per member). She can teach her children the lost Gifts of the Moon Circle Dancers, and they gain an extra Gift once per year which may only be chosen from these lost Gifts. She also teaches her children of art and the sea; her children gain three extra experience points per story (several sessions) which can only be applied to appropriate abilities (of the ones in Werewolf, Athetics [unless there is a separate Swimming skill], and Expression; other appropriate abilities include Music, Acrobatics, Artistic Expression, Poetic Expression [basically the same as Expression], Singing, Dancing, Fishing, Scuba, Swimming, Boat Handling, and Area Knowledge - seacoast or seas). Only Moon Circle Dancers and those packs who choose this totem are particularly close to Dolphin's children, but every child of Dolphin knows of every other child who has chosen Dolphin and can recognize one at the merest glance; this also conveys the ability to recognize lost cubs of Moon Dancers at any direct contact at any distance (this includes seeing them through lenses but not electronic equipment). The pack's association with Dolphin causes some mistrust; +1 difficulty to social rolls with other Garou until the pack has proven well its stand against the Wyrm (*after* it has chosen this totem). Ban: Dolphin asks that her few children aid each other. In addition, she insists that her fallen children be reclaimed (to Gaia, if not to Dolphin) or destroyed. Minor demand: Every child of the Dolphin who does not have Swimming (or Athletics if Swimming is not an ability in use) at 4 must devote half of their experience to Swimming/Athletics until 4 is reached. Perk: Children of the Dolphin will never become seasick. Disadvantage: Black Circle Dancers will hate known Children of the Dolphin passionately, will seek out them to attack, and in combat will attack them in preference to all others but born Moon Dancers.