byRichardE.

Dansky
Credits Special Thanks
Author: Richard E. Dansky Brian "Unwitting Victim" Petkash, for being blindsided by
Developer: Ethan Skemp the debauch.
Editor: Cary Goff Justin "Fascist Siskel" Achilli, for automatically disliking
Art Director: Aileen E. Miles movies about big, exploding, sinking boats.
Layout and Typesetting: Aileen E. Miles Chris "Metted Mixaphor" McDonough, for letting Justin
Art: Jason Felix, Anthony Hightower, Brian LeBlanc, know he couldn't be further from wrong.
Steve Prescott Mike ''Gorkamorka" Tinney, for blowing up the General
Comic Book Art: Andrew Bates, colored and lettered by Lee to save Hazzard County.
Matt Milberger Rob "Mistress Sascha" Hatch, for booking the forbidden
Cover Art: Steve Prescott delight of the Game Studio — as long as it isn't on Monday
nights.
Cover Design: Aileen E. Miles

Word from the

White Wolf Game Studio
Alright, already! We get the hint!
For those of you who bought Nuwisha and won-
dered whv it was so slim compared to Bastet, well, that
was the plan. In fact, the original plan was to put out
the Changing Breed books, one and all, as 72-page
mock Tribebooks. After all, you didn't want the re-
© 1998 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights peated material from the Players Guide, right? Bastet
reserved. Reproduction without the written permis- would be the exception to this rule, simply because
sion of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for there are nine tribes of them — impossible to cram into
the purposes of reviews, and blank character sheets, 72 pages. Everything else would be slimmed down to
which may be reproduced for personal use only. White avoid that "repeated information" bugbear.
Wolf is a registered trademark of White Wolf Publish- Well, popular demand said otherwise, and so here
ing, Inc. All rights reserved. Werewolf the Apoca- you go, Corax, and all successive Changing Breed
lypse, Corax, and The Werewolf Players Guide are Books, will be whatever size we figure is necessary to
trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights give you whatever rules you need to generate an
reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein appropriately fleshed out character, along with the
are copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc. detailed history and culture sections you've grown to
The mention of or reference to any company or love. Big and fat, just like you asked.
product in these pages is not a challenge to the trade- Happy now?
mark or copyright concerned.
This book uses the supernatural for settings, char-
acters and themes. All mystical and supernatural ele-
ments are fiction and intended for entertainment
purposes only. Reader discretion is advised.
Go on, check out White Wolf online at
http://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf
and rec.games.frp.storyteller
Double-dog dare ya.
PRINTED IN CANADA.

10 Corax
Contents 11
 There's nothing quite like the taste of a dead man's But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Way ahead of
eye. myself. You've got questions you need answered — hey, we
It's not just the flavor, though there's a good salty tang to all do, it's one of the defining traits of the species — but
aqueous humor. No, it's drinking in the secrets that the eye right now, yours are a little more pressing than most. You
saw, back when it was still part of a something living. There's want to know the important things like why do you sud-
no describing that, nor to someone who hasn't tasted those denly have wings, how did you get on top of this church,
dying sights himself. I mean, you could try, but whoever you and most importantly, how the hell are you going to get
talked to would probably look at you kind of funny. down.
Sure, it's ghoulish, but we d r i n k deep for a reason. You Am I right? Of course I'm right. I've been through this
can't possibly t h i n k we feed ourselves on eyeball cocktails, a lot of times, junior. But dig your claws in tight to that
can you? There's not enough there to keep a real bird going, cornice there, becau.se you've got a lot of listening to do,
let alone one of us. and I don't want you dropping o f f — l i t e r a l l y — before I'm
No, we do this to satisfy a soul hunger instead of a gut one. done. And when I'm done, when I've finished telling you
Think about it, junior. If we don't come along and suck those about the duty we owe to Raven and the Sun, when I've
last images out of the eyes of the dead, then those pictures are finished telling you why your little curiosity problem is
lost forever. Gone. Even the ghosts don't always remember going to get worse, and when I've finished explaining
them, and the worms, well, let's just say worms don't talk much everything else you're going to need to know to take
to our kind. And it's against our nature to let any secrets go — advantage of what you've just been given — well, then I'll
that's another thing you'll learn, kiddo. After all, you never tell you how to get down. I'm crappy at keeping secrets —
know when a tidbit's going to be useful.... hell, we all are, you included, kiddo — but I've at least got
For crying out loud, stop retching and listen. If the the stones to be able to pick the time and place to shoot my
thought of a retina hors-de-ouvre is enough to make you dial mouth off.
long-distance on the porcelain phone, then there's no way You settled in there, then? Grip nice and tight? Then
in hell you're going to be able to handle what comes next. settle down and get ready to have your ears talked off.
And we need you, kid. We need you like nobody's I love a captive audience.
business.

Introduction: The View From Above 13

 It is a hundred years and three and fifty since I came out of
the egg, but I do not forget what my father told me. Now I am
the chief of the great ravens of the Mountain. We are f e w , but
we remember still...
— J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit

Where We Came From yet, and I'd hate to see you do a full-throttle faceplant from
up here. It'd probably take the Sanitation Department
Secrets, kid. It's all about secrets. I'm going Co spill a bozos two weeks to pry your beak out of the concrete
few to you today, but the rest are up to you to discover. anyhow, and I hate to see that sort of wasted effort.
That's not to say you're not going to find them — there are
folks out there waiting to talk to you — but you'd best be The Beginning of the World
prepared to shake a tail feather when it comes time for you
In this joint, everyone's got A story of how their
to do your research. If there's one thing Gaia herself hates
spiritual great-granddaddy created the world, usually for
more than a Corax who expects answers to be handed to
their exclusive benefit. Now, after hearing the Garou and
him, it's, well, I'm not sure what it is.
the vampires and Gaia knows who else expound on how the
But that's not important. Lemme give you the basics world got made, I've just got one question:
about where we came from and who we are, and you can
How the hell do they know?
pick up the other stuff from your other teachers when you
I mean, think about it. One of the things that pisses me
find them. You will find them, you know. Spirits and
off most about the vast majority of the creatures crawling
Kinfolk and other kinds of Corax — all of them w i l l have
around on this rock is that none of them admit it if they
other things to tell you. The trick is to realise that there's
don't know something. They always have to come up w i t h
value in all of these stories, and to try to piece together a
some self-aggrandizing myth about how the whole megillah
t r u t h out of all of them that works for you. Remember:
is here for their benefit.
Treasures hide in strange places.
The thing t h a t makes this a right bitch is that any one
Geez, kid, you're not bored already, are you? Better stay
of the tales could be right, too. Mokole remember back a
awake through this part — I don't think you've q u i t e got
long time, although they ain't too talkative. But so do
the knack of the tighten-claws-when-you-sleep thing down
spirits, and all those Incarna from Luna to Fenris and on

Chapter One: An Oral History 15

down the line have waxed poetic to any shapeshifter that sometimes a cigar is only a cigar. R i i i i i i i g h t . Meanwhile,
rubbed 'em the right way. And they've all got their own the Weaver's got a definite bit of female vibe to her, while
variations on the story, and the tale gets funkier the more the Wyld — well, I wouldn't let the Wyld date anyone in
people telling it, and so on, and so on.... my family.
You see what I'm getting at? Obviously, the story the But in any case, above and beyond the usual profes-
Nuwisha tell their cubs isn't the same as the one that the sional rivalry that went on between the Weaver and Wyrm,
Ananasi tell their hatchlings. Their story isn't the same as the there was a link bit of, errr, tension. With that tension
one that the human scientists in their white lab coats tell their came all sorts of dominance questions, BS like that. Who
undergrads. And each one kinda works, kinda makes sense it got to be on top, cosmologically speaking.
you're willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Damnit! And Now, here's where Raven came in. Raven had, deserv-
because we've got so many stories, we can't know which one's edly, a rep as being a good listener. And so when the Wyrm
accurate. Sure, everyone's happy with their own personal How and Weaver had problems, they came to him to talk about
It All Came To Be, and that works for them — the Garou who's it. Now Raven is bright, but at that point he didn't have a
sure of his story can go out and do what he has to do. The Garou hell of a lot of what you'd call people skills (or primal force
who isn't sits on his tail and gets the existential Harano blues of the universe skills, or whatever) and while he came into
— and meanwhile the Wynn runs amuck. being as a sneaky-ass bastard, he still wasn't real up on the
And here we are, programmed for curiosity, hell-bent niceties of relationships. So he suggested that the Weaver
and hardwired on getting the truth out of every situation. and Wyrm take turns being dominant — Ages of Creation,
And we don't even know all the facts about this. See what Ages of Destruction, but neither lasting too long, and with
I mean about infuriaring? Yeah, thought so. both sides having stopwords and good stuff like that.
Sorry about that rant. Sometimes it gets to me. Still, all Raven even suggested that the Wyrm show what a
this leads, us to secret #1, which is How the World Got Made. good sport he was and let the Weaver run things first. The
The short version? I have no bloody idea. I wasn't there. Wyrm, who was all for the compromise because, frankly,
And seeing as I wasn't there and I don't have an eyewitness, every argument he got into with the Weaver overheated his
I'm not going to speculate. I reiterate for the young raven brain, agreed.
at the back: The world exists. For the moment, that's Whoops.
enough. Should a pressing need arise for us to uncover how The Weaver got the Wyrm good and tied up in her
the first two atoms of mud clumped together, rest assured Web, then let out one of those patented evil chuckles. Bad
we will find out. (In the meantime, the question may drive things ensued. The Wyrm called out the "Hey, Let Me The
the individual wereraven a bit crazy in his off hours, but Hell Up Already" signal, but the Weaver was having none
that's a cross we gotta bear, I guess.) of it. So the Wyrm took matters into his own coils and tore
That's a valuable lesson right there, by the way: In the his way mostly loose, and their merry little war came out in
absence of reliable information, don't speculate. You've the open. Meanwhile, the Wyld was off somewhere picking
been created as a scout, and your job is to bring back fast, its toenails, and there was nothing standing between the
accurate info. Misinformation is worse than useless; it's Wyrm and the Weaver and total destruction.
actively dangerous. That's where we come in. We were Gaia's reinforce-
That's why we don't worry TOO much about the way the ments, speed bumps in the path of the spiritual juggernaut.
world got made. I t ' l l drive ya nuts if you think too hard The Garou and the Bastet and all the rest of us, we're the
about it or ask too many people, but worse, if we start National Guard going up against Godzilla.
m a k i n g assumptions based upon unreliable sources, we run I don't like our chances, either. But remember, Tokyo's
the risk of acting on bad information. Instead, we're just still standing....
happy that the damn thing's here.

Bad Wyrm, No Biscuit Origins

Of course, one bit of prehistory that I will speculate on Youth is a disease from which we all recover.
is the Wyrm going bad. We've got enough testimonials — Dorothy Fuldheim
from various trustworthy types — like Raven himself— to Right. Here's another deep dark secret. We were the
have a pretty good idea of what went wrong. last of the Changing Breeds created, and we might be what
The sad thing is, it's not the Wyrm's fault. Not really. you'd call "second generation." We're the patch, the fix on
Mind you, that doesn't excuse item one on the list of bad the original software, and that means that occasionally
things that have happened since then, but initially, the we've got some compatibility errors with the older models.
Wyrm was more or less a victim. Another thing: Gaia's not an omnipotent, omniscient
Now, let's take a step back and think about some intro God, not in the sense in which you learned the drill in
psychology here. The Wyrm, at least as it's depicted, is a Sunday school. I mean, she created everything, including
long hard muscular Thing that likes wrecking stuff. And all forms of life, but it's almost as if she didn't recognize, in

16 Corax
a gut kind of way, that everything she'd created would have So Raven leveraged a few more goodies out of Gaia,
consequences. I mean, for one thing, a good number of the like certain protections for his children, and most impor-
critters she made were sneakier than she was — look at the t a n t l y , the ability for some of his kids to wear man and raven
way Coyote and Wolf and Spider and the rest of the skins. He claimed we needed that to get at all the secrets out
skinchanging lot kept creeping back in for second helpings there, yon see. He didn't want Gaia to miss anything
of Gaia's loving. For another, she didn't have the resources important just because it happened on the human side.
to keep track of what the things she'd created were up to — So Gaia loaded up Raven's dessert cart, possibly just to
there was too much going on ail of a sudden, if she took a make him go away and stop annoying her. She did. how-
minute to make sure that Coyote and his children were ever, tag on a little rider that's a pain in the butt to this very
behaving over here, the Gurahl made a mess over there. day. It's this: We can't shut up. Gaia thought it would be
Sure, she created Coyote (and his children) to play the nice if all her creations knew what the other ones were
part of the Trickster, but she did it too well. Coyote was the doing, so she charged Raven with spreading the word
p e r f e c t Tricksrer, focused entirely on that, so Gaia (who everywhere, not just back to her. Needless to say, this went
had umpteen-zillion other things to take care of) couldn't over as well as a yak-meat burrito, but even after Gaia saw
keep up with him. So when Coyote short-sheeted her it wasn't working out the way she'd told Raven it would, she
divine bed, had his kids whiz all over the Umbra to mark "forgot" to take the damn a impulsion to keep talking off.
their property and generally lowered the property values up It's a way or showing Raven he didn't quite get away with
where the totems live, Gaia knew that something had to be everything he thought he did, I suspect.
done. She'd created Trickster, but as an idea, you see? She Like the man says, it's not nice to fool with Mother
hadn't realized that these wonderfully ideal notions (mak- Nature.
ing the Bastet her eyes and the Mokole her memory and so
forth) had literal repercussions in the real world. Ash and Coal
Oh sure, she could have lowered the boom on the In the early days, we weren't black in bird-shape. We
Breeds, but punishment's not really her style; and besides, were snow-white, with golden eyes, it was a good look for
nothing short of destruction was going to teach some of us, I think, but like all good things, it came to an end.
those critters a lesson. And Gaia, bless her heart, wasn't It's all Helios' fault, really.For a Celesiine, he has real
quite up to destroying some of the concepts she'd created. issues with self-esteem. He was off doing something private
So she sat down, after a fashion, and thunk about the or other when Luna started doling out Gifts and presents
whole mess for a bit. The solution she came up with was and auspices to the other Changing Breeds. So when he
that she needed someone to keep an eye on what was going finally got done doing whatever he was doing, all the Garou
on for her, preferably someone who didn't have a bias or an were doing their little Lunar hora and praising Luna to the
agenda, and who would let her know what she had to worry skies — and they were damned loud about it, too.
about and what she didn't. She needed something between The thing is, they were giving thanks to Luna, not him.
an editor and an executive secretary, someone who could This put Helios in what can politely be called "a snit." More
sift through the mess o' details and let her know when accurately, he took his toys (light, heat, all that good stuff) and
something vital was going down so she would only have to went home. This little star turn, as you might expect, left the
spend her time, personally, when it really mattered. rest of the world in something of a pickle. I mean, it was dark
So she created Raven, whose job it was to serve as the and it was cold, and no plants would grow, and, well, it was just
interpreter between Gaia and her creations. She made Raven generally a bad scene. More to the point, it was going to be a
fast enough to go from place to place, to see what was terminal scene if Helios didn't come back, because even the
happening everywhere. She made his eyes sharp enough to see Gurahl were bitching about how cold it was, and that means
the smallest details, so that Raven could bring them back to we were well on our way in ice-age status. Luna was doing her
her. She gave him a taste for carrion, as a subtle reminder to the best to heat things up, but she's A) forgetful, B) easily dis-
other critters as to who was the real boss (and that they'd be tracted, and C) not real good at that sort of thing.
dead meat if they pissed her off too much). She gave him a So Raven decided something had to be done about it. He
quick wit and a ready tongue, probably so she wouldn't get had a plan, which he passed on to us, and we went off to where
bored listening to his recitals. And she made Raven bright Helios was sulking. (By the way, if it hadn't been for us, this
enough to understand what he was doing, so he could explain planet would be frozen solid, 'cause even if one of the other
Gaia's creations to her and help her understand them. breeds had doped out a plan, no way could they have gotten the
That might have been her one mistake with Raven, altitude to bring the plan to the Man. Wings are a real plus in
come to think of it. Making him smart, that is. Or maybe it this biz.). Oh, and we took one thing with us when we went
was telling Raven how smart he was that was the big boo- knock-knock-knocking on Helios' door.
boo, because once Raven doped out that Gaia needed him, A mirror.
he started extracting concessions. Let's put it this way:
So, anyway, we got there, and Helios' house was all
There's a reason he's the patron totem of all sports agents,
boarded up with a big "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the front
even if they don't know it. He's good.
Chapter One: An Oral History 17
of it. Occasionally you'd see sunbeams leaking out the win- Turns out we'd outsmarted ourselves on that one. Nor
dows, but on the whole it was pretty damn dark up there, too. only did we get roasted up close and personal, but when
That's how we knew things were serious. When Helios doesn't Helios came back to much acclamation, he decided that he
even bother to light up his own place, it's bad. wanted to hug us and squeeze us and call us George — in
We got to work, fast. The mirror got itself stationed short, to adopt us, as a personal thank you. Now, we wanted
right in front of the door, and then, in between shivers, we no part of this, but Raven pulled a fast one on us and we got
started yelling and hooting about what a great time we were suckered into i t . Basically, the bastard convinced Luna that
having now that this new sun had come along. it was better to let us go over to her bro than risk having him
Helios, poor sap, bought it hook, line and sinker. I mean, run away again — so she and Raven sold us out. In one swell
the only reason Helios had stomped off in the first place was foop, we had our auspices stripped, and that was not pleas-
because he didn't think anyone liked him, so when he heard ant. Helios made us his personal property, and with that we
us whooping it up about our new bestest solar buddy, he were taken out of the good graces of the ever-changing
flipped. More to the point, Helios came charging out the front Moon; we were stuck, as Changing Breeds go. I mean, even
door to take a look, and what do you think he saw? the Mokole have more tie to Luna than we do — and
Damn straight — he saw his own reflection. And, seeing because they were Helios' first babies, he shone on them in
as Helios isn't real ingenious as celestial bodies go, he went right all kind of ways. That's why we're all pretty much the same,
back inside and started crying. That's where the clever part when it comes to our purpose among ourselves: no warriors,
came in. We knockd on his door (careful not to stand in front bards or whatever kinda lines to break ourselves up among.
of the mirror) and made him an offer he couldn't understand. As far as I know, only the Nuwisha are in the same kind of
Basically, we hosed him. We told Helios that we had an "in" one-note boat. But they're still doing okay, and so are we.
with the powers of the universe, and that we could get him his Now, Helios wasn't what you'd call a bad guy to be
job back — but only it he came back with us right away. adopted by. I mean, Raven still had dibs, and Helios himself
He damn near broke down the door on his way out, he kept on dumping all of these Gifts on us. That means,
was that eager. We barely beat him back to the friendly incidentally, that we've got a hell of an arsenal because
neighborhoods in the Umbra, and he was so close on our Helios thought that giving us nice stuff was the way to make
tailfeathers that he burned us black, every blessed one. sure we liked h i m . It was never necessary, really, but he

18 Corax
never got the message, and we're just as happy to have the As a further precautionary measure, Raven also told us
toys. But we knew that Helios can get temperamental, and that whenever one of us ran across another, we should sit
we weren't sure if hanging around him that closely, like he down and compare notes to make sure that it anything had
wanted us to do at that point, was such a good idea. After been taken away from one, the other could teach it right
all, he'd done something stupid once. He might well do back to him. This sort of exchange program's gotten a bit
something else equally dumb, and drop it on us. wider over the years; nowadays, we gossip more and shop-
Fortunately, Raven was just as paranoid. talk less. Still, it's all in the interest of making sure we hang
onto what we know, and pass it on when the time is right.
Raven-Folk Scattering Now don't get the idea that we don't like Helios. Hell,
we love the guy. He's great. I mean, his Gifts are killer, he's
Raven may be a cocky bastard, but he's no fool. As soon as a lot more predictable than Luna and let's face it, the Moon
he'd received Helios' Gifts for his children, he turned around and isn't what you'd call a warm personality. No, we all t h i n k
called all of us together — and I mean all of us. Skinchangers, the Sun's one hell of a Celestine, and one of the reasons we
ravens, and the rare human bright enough to honor Raven usually operate in the daytime is because he's got the same
properly, we all came together to hear what Raven had to say. interest we do in shedding light on things. He's a bit more
His message was direct and to the point. He handed literal than we are, but who isn't?
out the last of the Gifts Helios had bestowed, instructed us It's just that, well, we're a paranoid kind of breed. So we
in their use, and then told us to get lost — literally. like Helios, and we respect him; we just, take precautions
You see, Raven was less than sanguine that Helios wasn't because, well, you never know. Helios has already flaked on
going to figure out how Raven had snookered him. He didn't us once; it could get kind of inconvenient it he did it again.
want the Sun stumbling onto the truth, then deciding to
punish us by taking away our Gifts. So Raven ordered us to
travel to every corner of the world as quick as we could. That
Other Realms
way, no matter what happened, there would always he some of The first man to fence in a piece of land saying "This is mine"
us hidden from Helios in the night, ones whom the Sun and who found people simple enough to believe him, was the real
couldn't touch. That's why there are Corax from Alaska to founder of civil society.
Japan, and all over Europe as well. When your head honcho — Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origins and
spirit tells you to move, you get your ass in gear and go. Bases of Inequality Among Men
 Gaia created Raven to tell her what was going on, and real hard keeping things from the Nuwisha ever since they
she didn't impose any jurisdictional boundaries on him. It decided to up and move en masse into the Umbra. (Kind of
wasn't like he was allowed to see what was going on in like seniors legging it to Florida, only more distracting.
Europe, but not in Africa — or allowed to see what was Sometimes they take some things out of your bestest, most
happening in the real world, but told that the Umbra was secret cache and leave behind something by way of pay-
off limits. And seeing as no one had ever told Raven not to ment. Freaks.) If you're ever in the Umbra and see some
go there, he went and we followed. stuff t h a t looks like chickenscratch, that's the latest Corax
Now Coyote and his kiddoes had already been to the news, traffic and weather. Pay close attention to it and
Umbra by the time we got there, and the place was kind of you'll find the fastest and safest routes to where you're going
pungent as a result. The situation had its advantages as well over there. Ignore it and you're likely to go face-first into a
as its disadvantages, though. I mean, sure, the Nuwisha had nest of Pattern Spiders.
taken a whole bunch of neat stuff, made the whole place
stink to high heaven, and left behind a mess that bore a Eggs
suspicious resemblance to mass-produced American beer. Now most of the other skinchangers — the cats and
(It's called "marking your territory." Pay careful attention the bears and the wolves and the coyotes — have a certain
to that fire hydrant down there if you need further explana- advantage in reproduction over us werebirds. It's the fact
tion.) But there was an upside. that both sides of the family tree are mammals for those
Namely, the place was such a mess that just about no guys; either way, the whole birds'n'bees process is pretty
one — and I mean no one — else wanted to visit. Can you much identical. For us, it's a little harder. If a pregnant
imagine a Silver Fang dipping his paws into the mess the Corax shifts to bird form, she's got — what? Eggs? It's a
Nuwisha left behind? Not bloody likely. So, as we could fly mess. Hell, we don't even want to think about it. That's
over the nastiest bits, we pretty much had the place to why the women, once they get preggers, don't shift. It's not
ourselves. We took advantage of it, setting up meetpoints even law, it's custom, which is a hell of a lot stronger. No
and runner routes, supply caches and hidey-holes all over one enforces it, either. There's no need. Everyone just
the place. knows.
Hell, a lot of that's still there, and we're constantly Which leads us to where you came from, metaphysi-
upgrading. Most of it's still secret, too, although it's been cally speaking. The stories go that when Raven decided to

20 Corax
take some of humanity and make them his (to go with the as they wanted — though with the approval of the potential
birds who'd already come along), he watched what the Corax' real parents, who would have to be part of the whole
other totems had done and paid careful attention. Then he ceremony.
went them one better. As you might expect, this shut everyone up real quick.
You see, Raven figured out that this is all about spirit. So that's the reason we're made as we are,and why there
Even Wolf and the rest, they didn't quite get it when they aren't so many of us. Neither the homids nor the corvids
taught their children how to perpetuate themselves; those want the line to die out, but we don't want there to be too
guys got it all mixed up with the flesh (and all the problems many of the other kind out there, either. In the meantime,
that come with that). Raven realized all that was excess we're balanced, as balanced as we can be, considering,
baggage, that all that was necessary to make a new Corax
was spirit and will. Well, spirit, will, access to the Umbra
and a few other things, but that's besides the point.
Thought and Memory
Raven took the smartest of his children and walked Just us Raven was treated to serve as a sort of spiritual
'em into the Umbra. He showed them how to take part of NSA for Gaia, individual Corax have performed similar
themselves and shape a spirit egg out of it, and how to bind functions for some of the more powerful spirits over the
it to a baby (or a chick) with a bond made from a hair (or centuries. These Corax, who have "forgotten the Sun," just
feather). And Raven told them that a Corax soul is too wander oft into the shinier bits of the Umbra. A lot of them
much to handle right off, so it has to incubate for a few years just keep going and going — rumor has it that they fade into
while the body gets ready for it. You see, he'd tried creating pure spirit and never actually die. A few, however, end up
a Corax right off the bat first, and it was a miserable failure. working directly for big spirits they run into out there, and
The raven spirit was so strong in the human kid that it tried these guys often end up coming back to Earth, sort of, kind
to fly off the table and ended up breaking its neck, while the of, on the job.
human spirit in the raven chick caused it to crawl right out Let me give you an example. You might have heard of
of the nest (which wouldn't have been so bad if the nest a guy named Odin? Tall, bearded, one eye, spoke Swedish?
hadn't been 40 feet off the ground). So Raven thought He had two ravens named Huginn and Munin (Thought
about it, and thought some more, and figured that a wait and Memory, that is). Now supposedly, Odin would sit on
period was in order. After all, a Corax soul is a hell of a lot his throne all day while Huginn and Munin flew all over the
more dangerous than a gun, and they make you wait for world, collecting into that this guy could use. They were
that. That's why he created the spirit egg — it's really a literally his thought and memory — while they were gone
time-release system so that a new Corax gets little doses of Odin was without either thought or memory, and basically
her new soul over a long enough time that it doesn't fry her just sat there staring at the wall and wondering what the
synapses. Then, when critical mass gets reached, the egg hell had happened to his depth perception. Then at the end
"cracks" and the rest of the stored spirit energy gets injected of the day, H&M would come flapping back in their own
in one big shot. That's the First Change, kiddo, explained sweet time, sit down on Odin's shoulders, and fill him in on
all technical-like. But we're getting away from the story the day's events.
here. Now this story does a pretty good job of illustrating the
With the world being the way it was, and is, Raven felt role we play in things. We're the eyes and ears of the spirit
that keeping the egg in the real world was too dangerous. world, even more so than the kitties, because we've got
You know what they say about making omelets, but these perspective, the view from the hill, whatever you want to
things are too valuable to break. If the spirit egg were to get call it. We get overviews that they don't, which is good for
broken, you see, all of that stored soul would come pouring our role. The Bastet stash secrets away for safe keeping; we
out and things would go to hell real fast. That's why Raven drag 'em out into the sunlight and shout, "Hey, Look at
decided to make the egg 100% spiritual and keep it in the this!" for the benefit of the less nosy Changing Breeds.
Umbra, tied on with that feather or hair. In the Umbra, you This is why we have always been linked to powerful
see, it's almost unbreakable. Raven explained all this to his spirits, and some of those connections have been made public.
kids on both sides, and they got sort of jumpy. Each wanted There was an Odin, though he's long gone, and he did have
to know whether eggs should be given to raven babies or two of our oldest and wisest as his advisors, Huginn and Munin,
human babies, and how many, and all of those other a mated pair. Word is that Odin granted them immortality as
pertinent details. a reward for long and faithful service, and that they're still
Raven saw this, and he knew pretty quick that unless flying around the Umbra, sun-lost. I heard from Skirts-the-
he did something, there was going to be competition Corona, who got it in a message from Johnny, who claims to
between his feathered children and his human ones. He'd have heard it from Old Roarkh, who swears up and down to
seen it with the Garou after all. He pondered a little bit, and have seen Huginn and Munin in the feather. Word is they're
then he gave the human and the raven the big decision: still watching, waiting for Odin to come back some day so they
They were both free to make as many kids of the other type can share everything they've seen.

Chapter One: An Oral History 21

The Impergium and guard. We moved our nests higher, hid our Kinfolk, moved
our treasures and valuables into hidden places in the
the War of Rage Umbra.
We could see trouble coming.
History is littered with wars that everyone knew would This loudmouth Silver Fang wouldn't let up. He pes-
never happen. tered the Ananasi, who ignored him, and the Rokea, who
- J. Enoch Powell just turned around and left, and so on down the list, u n t i l
Wars are good for business. That being said, there's he got to the big bears. Now, the Gurahl have yet to figure
nothing else that's good about them, and the War of Rage out one important thing: You cannot argue with a fanatic,
was one of the worst. It was a war about nothing, with no not now, not ever, and certainly not back then. So the
possible winner, and we all lost. The Garou had spent too Garou kept on pestering them for the really big healing
damn much time lording it over the humans, basically Gifts, and the Gurahl (who were smart, but not terribly
because the rest of us (read my lips here) did not care. good at judging consequences) kept on saying, "When you
However, the wolves mistook indifference for a mandate, grow up."
and decided that they were in charge, When they confined Well, you know what happens when you say, "No" to
their little ego trips to the monkeys, it was no problem. The a spoiled child? The kid throws a tantrum. Only in this case,
rest of us had our little Kinfolk-kraals, we did the breeding the kid was one of the high-muckety-mucks of one of the
and culture things, and everything worked out just great. most effective races of predators this planet's ever seen. So
However, something went *snap* in the brain of some he flipped out, and all of the rest of the Garou flipped out
Silver Fang somewhere, and he decided that running along with him, determined to force the secrets of life and
roughshod over the humans wasn't good enough any more. death out of the Gurahl by force. And some of the less
No, he decided they had to have the rest of us Changing brilliant strategic thinkers among the Garou decided to
Breeds under his non-opposable thumb, too. So he and his isolate the Gurahl, who were pretty kick-ass fighters, from
pack went picking a fight. They tried something with us, any potential allies. Translation: They mounted pre-emptive
but fortunately we had enough friends among the other strikes on the Mokole, the Bastet, the Ratkin, the were-
Garou so that things fizzled out there. Still, it put us on megatheriums and everyone else they could find. We
spread warnings, but no one listened.
 It was bloody. Most of the Changing Breeds were down mean, this was Raven telling us to hold back. So we did, and
before they knew what hit them. Some were decimated. it probably saved us from extinction.
Others got annihilated, as in "extinct." Once the initial Oh, as for that assignment? Near as I can tell, we only
wave of atrocity was over, the rest of the breeds got together partially failed.
as best they could and hit back, but it was too late. The Oh, one other thing: Most of the other breeds had no
momentum was going one way — irrevocably. For the idea we were Wallenberging it behind the lines. To them
critters on the losing side, it was just a matter of what they — mainly the cats, who were fighting for their lives and had
could salvage. no interest in finding anything good to say about anyone —
Our own part in the War of Rage wasn't spectacular, we were sleeping with the enemy. Never mind that there
but it was important. After the initial assault, we put our might not be too many Bastet around these days if it wasn't
heads together and came to a couple of conclusions. One, for our help — we're had guys because we didn't stand up to
the Garou war camps were off their collective rockers. Two, gel slaughtered. The Eyes of Gaia were wearing blinders —
the Garou were going to win. Three, Gaia had put the other by moving their kittens and Kinfolk out, we did more for
breeds down on Earth for a reason, and seeing them all them than they did for themselves.
wiped out now meant that we were going to be in a heap of
trouble at some indeterminate point in the future.
So we cheated. Look, there wasn't anyone in Europe,
More Recent Stuff
Asia or anywhere that knew the Umbra better than we did. You can't saycivilization don't advance... for in every war
(No, I didn't mention the Pure Lands. Shut up, kid!) So we they kill you in a new way.
started smuggling refugees — Kinfolk and wounded, mainly — Will Rogers, The Autobiography of Will Rogers
— across the Gauntlet to sale places we knew. We didn't Humans are an interesting lot. They've got tons of
mess with combat effectives— nor out business — but we secrets, very few of which matter on their own, but most of
had a feeling that if we didn't help out the civilians, no one which feed into other secrets that can get very important
wouldd. Surprisingly enough, some of the saner heads among indeed. When dealing with humans, it's easy to get caught
the werewolves helped us out, misdirecting or slowing up in the inconsequentials and lose the cogent details —
attacks so that we had rime to set up evacs. The taste for but there's so damn much going on that usually you find
slaughter, thankfully, isn't universal. your way back to something important, eventually.
At the same time, we maintained relations that were So after the Impergium fell apart, the humans started
as friendly as possible with the Garou without actively putting things together for themselves. Bear with me here;
h e l p i n g them out. To have helped the Garou in this I need to put about five millennia into a nutshell real fast,
insanity would have been bad karma, but to have lined up so the details are going to get kind of skimpy. What it comes
with the opposition, well, that would have gotten us on the down to is this: After the Impergium, Changing Breed
enemy list. So we did a little scouting, brought back a little society went downhill — fast. It was all hiding and memo-
info — nothing terribly damaging, and nothing that gave ries, trying to keep the old ways alive and sometimes just
the Garou anything resembling an unfair advantage — and basic survival Apart from politics, there was nothing going
kept the Garou from trying to climb trees and wreck nests. on — nothing except loss. We lost the Howlers and the
Ah, who am I trying to bullshit? We weren't collabo- Croatan, lost forests and the old lands, lost knowledges and
rators, but we were the next best thing. The only excuse I lost our reasons for going on.
have is this: We had inside info. At the beginning, half of Meanwhile, the humans were doing new things. Excit-
us were hell-bent to hit the werewolves back, but the Big ing things. They were getting more and more complex,
Bird himself came down and stepped on that notion. Raven coming up with advances and new ideas almost as fast as we
told us that it wasn't our time, that we weren't meant to could scout out yesterday's news.
fight this one. We — and what we saw — would be needed Is it any wonder we were drawn to them? All over the
later as witness. By doing what we could but staying out of world, new things were happening. Songs were being com-
the line of fire, by walking into the camps of Garou and posed, swords and sculptures forged, philosophies and cities
Gurahl, by getting an unbiased picture of what was going erected and then brought crashing down. I mean, it was
on, we could see a l l of what went on — and remember it. neat.
And then, when those memories were needed, when an- We ate it up. Weavertech or not, we loved watching
other War of Rage threatened, well, we'd be ready to call the humans try out new stuff. Part of it, to he honest, was
the Garou on the carpet with every damn detail of every politics. The Wyld was still off communing with its own
damn atrocity they'd perpetrated the last time. So we could bad self, and the Wyrm was getting more and more of a
warn everyone again once the memories had faded -- foothold in the Tellurian. This, we decided, was had. And
because we knew they would. if no one else was going to play, then the Weaver was going
It wasn't a great way to get us to sit down and think, but to be where we put our money — 'cause as stifling as she can
it was good enough. And you haveta consider the source. I get, she's better than the damn snake. So we were all for the

Chapter One: An Oral History 23

humans making technological advances and building big-
ger and better things to protect themselves with because,
let's face it, no one else was going to do it.

Greece
When people think about Greece, we come in a
distant second or so in the Important Bird Name Recogni-
tion Contest. Owl's got it, hands down, for hanging with
Athena and getting his face in all the pictures. That doesn't
mean we weren't there, though. You want proof? Look at
Aesop's fables. There are two, count 'em, two that star
ravens, even though one of them isn't terribly flattering.
The one that is, though, is instructive.
You know what I'm talking about, don't you? The one
about the raven who finds the pitcher with a little water
down at the bottom, so he drops pebbles into the thing until
the water rises high enough for him to get a good drink out
of it. Now that, kiddo, is literal thinking, something we
were championing way back when in the glory days of
Athens and Corinth. Taking things from a different angle.
Encouraging people to question and to reassess. Sound like
the basis of any school of Western philosophy you know?
Naaah, can't be, right? Well, you decide for yourself. The
point being, the Corax' idea of looking at things from every
possible angle was a l i v e and well in at least some parts of
Classical Greece.
Speaking of which, there are a few things you need to
know about Classical Greece. Contrary to popular belief,
the place was not full of white-bearded guys standing in
front of white-columned temples in white togas declaiming
the wisdom of the ages. Uh-uh. Even Athens, the cradle of
democracy, didn't let women or foreigners vote. Read some
Aristophanes some time; it's instructive.
But the main point I'm trying to make here is that in
the good old days, Greece was full of mountains, goats and
guys in hoplite armor trying to skewer their neighbors —
and that's i t . Communication from city to city was damn
near impossible at the best of times, deadly at the worst, and
still the news had to get through somehow.
Three guesses how. Yep, it was us. A lot of your famous
communiques in Greek history — the run from Marathon,
the news of the walls of the Piraeus — have our feather-
light touch all over them. Mind you, we didn't necessarily
make the runs for those guys, but we helped. You know,
scouting out safe routes and directing traffic, whacking
bandits along the way, things like that.
Why? Well, basically because in those days we played
favorites. The Persians and Spartans were information
control freaks while the Athenians allowed the occasional
discussion, at least. Of course, we later wised up and threw
our lot in with Alexander — an empire is a great way of
establishing reliable and safe communications networks;
you dig? Too bad it couldn't last.
The Beasts of Battle and we'd drink memories out of men's eyes. The poets saw that
we came to every battle for news and rales, and they made us
Despite the War of Rage, we've managed to maintain part of their ritual. "The fighting was now imminent, glory was at
fairly good working relationships with the Garou most of hand; the time was come when doomed men were to perish there. A
the time. It's just when they get their dudgeon up that din was upraised there: ravens wheeled about, and the eagle greedy
they're a pain in the collective ass. Most of the time, for carrion." That's beauty; that's poetry. The skalds knew we'd
though, we work well together — even our animal Kin come to record the battle, the names and visions of the fallen,
cooperate. Weird, huh? and they immortalized it. By the time the Normans came across
The best example of this is in, believe it or not, poems. Old the Channel, it was impossible to conceive of battle without us.
English ones like "The Battle of Maldon." The skalds saw us We were that much a part of the fabric of their culture. A battle
working together and immortalized it in poetry. After each without our presence lacked benediction.
battle, the eagles would seek carrion, the wolves would prowl Pity those days are gone. We could probably stop a lot
the field looking for Wyrm-foes to dispatch or trophies to take, of pointless f i g h t s simply by not showing.

TheTowerofLondon
Now there's one story about ravens that everyone, even skinny kids from the 'burbs like you, has got to be familiar
with. You know what I'm talking about here?
No. not the friggin' poem! Christ, if all we said was "Never-frackin'-more." Gaia would have put us out of our
misery ten thousand years ago. Why do you t h i n k you don't see my wereplatypi running around? 'Cause they'd he
useless, that's why — and if all we could do was yammer one word, we'd be useless, too. "What's going on with the
Ananasi!" "Nevermore." "How strong is that fomori encampment?'" "Nevermore." "Are you guys ever going to be good
for anything?'' "Awwwk. Nevermore." Fuhgeddaboutit.
No, I'm talking about the Tower of London. Back when this country actually had an educational system worthy of the
name, every kid knew how the Tower had its own flock of ravens that roosted there, and how there was a legend that if the
ravens ever left the Tower, the whole country would come crashing down. The British government's so whacked-out on this
one that even to this day the bastards clip our Kinfolk's wings to make sire they stick around. I mean, they don't think the
stories are true, but who wants to be the prime minister when it's time for empirical experimentation. Get my drift?
Well, anyway, that's the legend. Honest. Of course, the truth behind that story's a l i t t l e different. There's a whole
flock of us and our Kinfolk who hover around the Tower, but it's for two reasons. One is that, as I said, they clip the
wings of the permanent residents. (As a sort of apology, the bastards at least make sure the food is damn good. They
feed us like kings, but that's not what I call sufficient recompense.)
The second takes a little more explaining. Once upon a time, England had a king, a giant by the name of Bran. Now
after various misadventures involving wars, sacks full of badgers, cauldrons that resurrected dead guys and all sorts of fun stuff
like that, he managed to get his head cut off. As Bran was a guy after our collective heart, this setback didn't shut him
up. On the contrary, once Bran was dead he kept yammering away more than ever. So this giant detached head just sat there
spouting prophecy and one-liners, and expected his entourage to pick up the slack.
One of the things he said was that his sidekicks had to tote his noggin back to Merrie Olde Englande, bury it facing
some mystically appropriate directions, and build a tower on top of it to protect it. And Bran, being the humble talking
head t h a t he was, prophesied t h a t England would be safe as long as his head was undisturbed.
Beginning to see how the stories fit together? Good kid. We'll make something of you yet.
Bran's sidekicks did the whole wailing and moaning thing because they were losing their bestest buddy under a pile of
dirt. It says something about these guys that they preferred the company of a dead head to that of, say, their wives, but this
was back when the Brits were still in their painting-themselves-blue phase, so go figure. But while they were bitching and
moaning and dragging their feet as they went for their shovels, we saw our chance. We swooped down and started asking Bran
questions, lots of them. Questions like the secrets of the other breeds, the rules to magic, and all sorts of other goodies. And
just as Bran's band of followers came back with their construction equipment, one of us asked him about the Apocalypse.
Bran opened his mouth to answer —
— And one of his idiot henchmen threw a shovelful of dirt into i t . Before we got our answer, those guys had buried
Bran, built some piss-ant fortification on top of him. and performed a few interesting rites to inform the local gods that
it was a done deal.
Which left us waiting for our answer. And we're still waiting, damnit! That's why there are always ravens at the
Tower; we never know when Bran's going to spit the sod out from between his incisors and answer the damn question.
Mind you, it doesn't look like that's going to happen any lime soon, but we want to be there 24/7, just in case it does.
Just in case.

Chapter One: An Oral History 25

Owain Glen Dwr
Glendower, that's what they call him in the English
histories. The prince of Wales; the man who stood off
Bolinbroke and ruled undisputed from Harlech for five long
years. Some called him a wizard, because the English never
caught him. There are even a few overheated nationalists
out there who claim that Glendower's sleeping under a rock
somewhere, waiting for the moment when Wales needs
him again. It's a cute notion. but I don't buy it. What is one
outdated Celt with a rusty sword going to be able to do
against tactical air strikes and smart bombs? Not much, I
think.
But back in the days when Glendower was a going
concern, we ran with him. The English Marcher lords were
corrupt as all hell: Glendower seemed at least vaguely
concerned about the well-being of the peasants under him,
and there was all sorts of interesting magic running around
Wales that we wanted to uncover the wherefores of. So we
hooked up with Owain, him all unknowing, and became his
scouts (not to be confused with his Scots and his runners.
How do you t h i n k he was able to be one step ahead of the
English all the time? It was because his scouts could fly a
hell of a lot faster than the English cavalry could ride, and
we didn't have to worry about those nasty little bogs and
whatnot.
So with our help, Glendower kicked the English out of
Wales. ..for all of about five years. By 1409, human time, it
was all over. Glendower was on the run; his family was
captured, and the crown prince had parked his butt in
H a r l e c h . Glendower ran for another six or so years, but in
the end, he croaked.
And the moral of the story is? Don't get too arrogant
over what you can accomplish, just because you're a Corax.
The tide of history washes over big rocks as well as small
ones, and the humans do what they're gonna do with or
without our help — or hindrance. Without us, the English
might never have lost Wales — but hell, it only took them
a couple of decades to get it back for themselves.
We can divert the course ot human history for a while,
but not forever. It's more effective in the long run to
convince the humans to do it for (and to) themselves.

Viva La Industrial
Revolution
Remember how I told you we'd backed the Weaver in
early human social development? Well, right around 1800,
we realized that she was getting out of hand. I mean, p u t t i n g
fences up against the Wyrm is one thing, but she was getting
out of hand. Soot filled the sky, making it hard to fly -- or
breathe. Carrion got trampled in the muck or carted off,
m a k i n g it harder to feed on things that weren't Wyrm-
tainted. Bodies were, for the most part, carted off out of
sight, so we — and the dead — were denied that last rite.

26
Things were getting too organized, and nor in a good way. They raided caerns, wiped out Pure One packs, and did all
Sure, the new cities were rife with stories and places to sorts of other nastiness, all in the name of "progress,"
roost, but too many things that we saw were petty and Heh. Weaver seduced 'em, more or less — conned
tawdry. The visions sickened us. Children chained into them into thinking that they were "doing the right t h i n g
factories — that's too damn much order for me. and protecting what the savages couldn't." And thus began
Meanwhile, the Wyrm had snuck in the back door and the second War of Rage — only this time it was Garou
subverted the Weaver's process. Yep, everything was really versus Garou. We took our stories f r o m the first go-round,
nicely ordered on the front end — but on the back end, showed them to as many breed-types as we could — and got
toxic sludge wns pouring into the rivers and poisonous fog most of them to sit it out. Only the Garou (big surprise)
was creeping o u t . Wonderful. Hammer and tongs, Scylla were hard asses and insisted on fighting.
and Charybdis. It sucked either way, You know something? That suited us just fine. As well
Soooooo...we punted. We spread the word every- as we get along with individual Garou, we were more than
where we could as to what was going on in the cities, then happy to let them practice their atrocities on each other
pulled back to watch and keep an eye out for further this time. The only thing we made sure of was that there
incursions. I mean, by that point, it had gotten way too big would always be someone, no matter who won, to take care
for us. All we could do was cull in the big guns ,and spot for of the caerns when the dust cleared. Even if it was just a
the heavy artillery. Mind you, a lot of us took to the cities Nuwisha.
really well — Gaia knows there were secrets to find there, Oh, we also made sure that our people up in the
schemes on both sides to topple. One whole heck of a lot of Northwest got away scot free. Emissaries from the villages
us got into fields like accounting and banking, simply let both sides know that if anyone laid a paw on those
because t h i s was where the new hidden treasures were. Kinfolk communities, we'd go over to the other side with a
But a l l in a l l , it was a bad time for us. The skies weren't vengeance. And our support — or enmity — is worth a lot
worth flying in. A lot of Corax retreated to the Umbra for more than you'd suppose. We're nor great at fighting,
good, losing the Sun and saying, "Good riddance" to the though we're better than we look. But that's not important.
mud ball. It looked like the fight was over, and that we'd What is important is information. How well do you t h i n k
lost. the Wyrmcomers would have held out if we'd reported back
Of course, that could mean only one thing: Things all of their locations, all of their secrets, to the Pure Ones?
would get worse. How 'bout if we'd given the Pure Ones lifts through the
Umbra to strategic strike points, or gone in to steal appro-
The Second War of Rage priate shiny things — like guns, ammo, fetishes...?
Would have been pretty hairy, wouldn't it? Probably a
Yippie-yi-yay. Ki-yay, even. good thing we didn't do ir then. Maybe.
Now, when the Garou found their way to the Pure I dunno.
Lands, some of us went with them, mainly in the second Mind you, you're getting biased info here. My ances-
waves of colonization after the noble, brave and true types tors hitched a boat ride. I'm a carpetbagger, and so are the
(who didn't want any sneaky scouts along with them) had Corax I learned from. So I can't know what they saw back
settled in. Some of us, I say, the rest of us we re already there. then, and when I try to tell it their way, it comes out flat.
The thing is, even those of us who immigrated already I've heard the stories of the Second War of Rage from our
knew what was over there. The European Corax went with Northwest cousins, and they're a bit more acerbic about it
our K i n f o l k , but all of us true Corax had been t a l k i n g with than I am, but I don't want to go putting words into their
the ones up in the Northwest for years, decades, centuries, mouths. I can tell you this, though: The last Corax I talked
even — in the Umbra. So we knew they were there; they to from up that way had a story for me, a story about a time
knew us European types were coming, and we hashed our when a bunch of Garou outrunners blundered their way
some mutual protection deals. We also tried to warn the into a pre-declared safe zone and started getting uppity.
Uktena and Wendigo of what was on the horizon, but they The Kin who lived there put the word out, and Corax —
didn't want to hear it. After all, who trusts Trickster's word, from both sides — descended.
right? The bodies got dumped where the message would do
Why the hell does no one ever listen to us? the most good, and word of it got spread far and wide by the
So the Europeans moved west. Our Kinfolk came with time Luna had come up.
them in fits and starts— things weren't great back East for Rut remember, that's still coming from me. Much as I'd
many of them — and it took the railroads and land rush to l i k e t o say we're a l w a y s this s o l i d , h u m a n K i n
get them moving in any real numbers. Meanwhile, a lot of notwithstanding, it wouldn't he accurate. You're still not
the European Garou and their Kinfolk were going nuts. getting the whole story — but remember that it's always out
there, if you look and listen.

Chapter One: An Oral History 27

The Great War
During the Great War, flying became an important
part of human behavior for the first time. I mean, sure, the
Montgolfiers had gotten off the ground way back when, but
all humans had done with the damn things was joyride.
Okay, the Franco-Prussian War had some observational
spotting done from balloons, but that was it. No one took
the gasbags seriously, and so development of their potential
rotted.
Then those two bastards down in North Carolina had
to go and spoil it all. Airplanes, for chrissakes. Noisy,
smelly, stinky, leaky machines that flew. Not real far or real
fast at first, but they flew. Still, they were just a curiosity
u n t i l the War came along. Then everything exploded.
You see, once the War started and everyone settled
into their trenches, suddenly the bright boys in the high
commands on either side discovered that it might make
sense to know where the other guy was keeping his troops.
So they sent up balloons — which were easy targets for
planes in which the pilots were armed with pistols— which
became targets for planes with mounted machine guns.
Mind you. the early attempts to mount guns on bi-
planes were hilarious in a fatal sort of way. The wings on
things like Sopwith Camels were too damn flimsy to sup-
port the weight of the guns, so they had to be mounted right
behind the propeller. Until engineers worked out a timing
mechanism that allowed the pilot to fire in between the
propeller blades automatically, more often than not guys
were shooting their own props off.
Hilarious, you say, amusing. What does this have to do
with us?
The answer, junior, is lots. Because, for the first time
w i t h World War I, we didn't own the skies any more. We
had company, competition. And w i t h the rate of techno-
logical advancement from the start of the war to the end, we
knew that it was only going to get worse — that the humans
were never, ever going to go back to the ground. For
thousands of years, they'd been watching us with envy
because we could fly — and now they had the keys to doing
the same. We knew the skies were going to get crowded,
and sad to say, we were right. That was the beginning of the
end of our dominance of the skies. From 1916 or so on, we
had to be careful when flying. Circumspect — because
there ain't no Gift in the arsenal that's gonna save your ass
if you get sucked into a jet engine or slammed against a
plane's cockpit.
 So for the past century, we've been getting increas-
ingly paranoid up there. Yes, we're still the best there is A Corax' First Guide
when it comes to sentient critters in the air—but goddamn,
the neighborhood has gone to hell. And World War I is
to Messing With the Net
where it all started. There is absolutely nothing better on this planet
for what we do than the Internet. Never mind that
Today Digital Web and Malkavian Madness Network bullcrap
you may have heard about, I'm talking the basics here.
USENET, email, your everyday browser— they're all
(And All That Good Stuff) you need. We're talking vast free information sources
Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state. and virtual anonymity — perfect for what we do. Plus.
— Cardinal Richelieu electronic data, even it it's encrypted, is portable as all
So where does that leave us now? hell and fast to move. And you can leave all sorts of
nice toys — Trojan Horses, time bombs, good stuff like
Well, with computers for one thing. The cities are
that — behind you when you pull out Yep, the Internet
getting bigger, and it's harder and harder to tell the Wyrm
is the gift that keeps on giving.
and the Weaver apart. Personally, I think they're on the
track to combining. The Wyld's still off in the bushes Basically, the Net is everyone who can afford
somewhere, doing Gaia knows what and occasionally mut- access having their 15 minutes of fame, all at once.
tering "Help meeeee!" like David Hedison in The Fly. I That means that everyone wants their site or their post
mean, it we thought it was bad back in 1837 or whatever, to be read by as many people as possible, and that plays
how should we feel now that there's tetrofluorocarbons and right into our hands. Think about it.
bioengineered diseases and satellites coining down like Say you uncover news that a Pentex subsidiary is
acid rain? How should we feel when the other shapeshifters dumping carcinogens in a river somewhere. You can go to
are just barely starting to talk to one another again; there the local paper, but odds are the baddies have a thumb on
are fomori in the streets and in the skyscrapers, and the the editorial board in the form of ad revenue, and so that
Wyrm's getting fed by everyone from Congress to the kid on won't do any good. So where do you go? Bingo. You get an
the corner in Kowloon? account a mass access company like Hotmail or
Well, we feel kind of okay, believe it or not. Computers Geocities and you post the information through an anony-
are wonderful — great new ways to find and spill secrets. mous remailer (there are plenty — if you can't find one,
Where before we had to tell stories to a million individuals you're not trying) to as many vaguely related newsgroups
one at a time, now it's a past here and web site there, and as possible: alt.toxic.waste, alt.local.sludgy-ass-river,
all of a sudden everyone knows that Pentex is dumping alt.save.the.earth,rec.river.dumping.naughty. You get the
teratogens into Buzzards' Bay. So that's something we like idea. Anyway, you put up your post with a title like SAVE
a lot. And remote cameras with URLs? Wheeeee! THE PLANET NOW (all capitals is a must— it draws the
Netiquette freaks out of the woodwork) to all these groups
Plus, the Garou are finally getting off their asses and
and spread the word about what's going on in as lurid a
doing the Darwin Shuffle. Some of them are adapting to the
fashion as possible.
world around them, instead of pining after the good old
days of the I m p e r g i u m . They're acting instead of reacting, Now, your post isn't, going to do anything by itself.
at last. Mind you, it still looks crappy — my money's still on But what will happen, sure as Gaia made little green
that huge bastard coiling around the heart of the planet — amphibians, is that some four and twenty bozos are
but you know something? After ten thousand years of going to take offense at what you've written and write
doom'n'gloom prophecies of the Apocalypse, it's damn cross- posted responses, which will then get responded
nice to have a little hope for a change. to, and so on — with all of the responses quoting your
original message. In short, we've got lots of people hot
And besides, nobody's proved to me we're going to lose
and bothered about the bombshell you've dropped, and
yet.
some of them will be so intent on winning the argu-
ment that they'll actually get off their duffs and do
some research on the problem.
And suddenly, intelligent people all over the
world wit ha personal stake in the matter have the facts
about what's going on, and that little Pentex subsidiary
starts getting hit from all sides. Meanwhile, you don't
have to pur your butt on the line, except maybe to post
a response or two, and the job's still getting done.
It's a thing of beauty.

Chapter One: An Oral History 29

 Every night when trouble comes
You're first in line to stick your finger in.
— Simple Minds, ''Seven Deadly Sins"

One point of information before this goes any further: I'm But it brings up an important point. You've been
corvid-breed, New York raised. Learned all my humanisms getting the way I see things. If you want a broader perspec-
from a cabby who lived down Marine Park way, and I've been tive, you should go find a few other teachers and hear what
walking on two legs for a while. I'm told this means I've got a they have to say, then sit down for a bit and cross-reference.
quote-unquote' "skewed perception." To that I say, well, hell Figure out what you think is true. Me, I'm just telling you
yeah I do. You think you're gonna get the same take on matters what I've seen and heard, and it that ain't good enough to
from me that you would from a European homid, or a Tengu, get you started, pluck me and sell me to the Colonel.
or one of the laughing type's from out Northwest? Christ on a
pogo stick, even you can't be that monumentally naive.

Chapter Two: Going Through Customs 31

 Tongues
No, not for eating. You're way too literal-minded
for your own good, kiddo. No, I'm talking about lan-
guages. Since we come from around the world, we speak
a variety of human languages — you can learn anything
from Broad Scots to Japanese from another Cotax. You
just gotta find the r i g h t guy, and ask politely. You can
also gab with ordinary ravens whenever you're in Corvid,
although I gotta say that there's not as much to talk
about. That's why corvids like me latch on to human
languages — they're so much more fun.
But we've gut a universal language as well — the
corvid tongue. We all understand that from the moment
we Change. It's made up of squawks, croaks, creaks and
bad imitations, and it works a lot in kennings, like Old
English did. Hurm? Oh, a kenning is when a stock phrase
stands in for a concept. Makes it damn difficult for
eavesdroppers to understand what the hell we're talking
about, even if they can get past the basic grammar.
Right. You want an example. Ahem. "Over the
whale-road, edge-hate divides Moon's children" tells us
that a couple of packs Garou are getting set to rumble
down by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Whale-road is
the ocean, while edge-hate means fighting, and soon. It's
like when you and your two-legged friends just start
quoting lines from your favorite movies back and forth --
you all know exactly what you're talking about. Same
principle applies here. You'll pick it up; don't worry.

DrinkingEyes
A lot of people have trouble reconciling the fact that on
one wing, we're supposed to be these wacky trickster types. (I
mean, hey, it takes serious stones to pull a fast one on the Sun.)
But on the other, we're carrion-chomping beasts of plague and
desolation. Most homid-type observers don't get it. They want
to button hole us into some little high-concept niche role, like
we're wereGalapagos Finches or something.
It's two sides of the same coin, you see? Our job is to
observe, right? We're here to make sure that there's a witness to
everything that goes on. If things were the way Gaia intended,
every life, every death would have a respectful witness in us.
And while the Wyrm and the War of Rage may have bollixed
that plan up pretty good, that doesn't keep us from trying to
f u l f i l l our end of it. We still watch. We s t i l l watch, when we can,
everything. That means going into the dark places, the famines
and the genocides, the battles and the murders. That means not
flinching when we see the horrors that make the vampires and
Shadow Lords turn pale. Why? Because, goddammit, every
single corpse sprawled out on a battlefield was a life, a voice, a
unique perspective on the world, and now it's gone, gone
because some vampire needed a snack, or some Garou got a flea
up his butt, or some tin-star dictator needed to show off how big
his plumbing was, but gone — Forever.
 Someone's got to bear witness to that life. And pardon
my grammar, but that someone is — has got to be — us.
'Cause no one else w i l l do it, and even it they tried, they'd
screw it up.
Of course, bearing that kind of witness means we see
horrible, horrible things every day and every night. You
know something? It wears on you. It grinds you down. It can
drive you crazy faster than a skateboarder going down
Everest. It can wreck your head.
Which is why we have to laugh about it. If we don't, if we
can't heckle the moments of absurdity, we lose it. Raven
knows this. Raven understands. That's why Raven gave us this
sense of humor, so that we could realize that we were beak-deep
in a dead man's eye and still find a reason to go on. And yeah,
that goes for us corvids, too; we come from a fine tradition of
feasting on carrion, but it's a little sobering to find out what
kind of hopes and dreams your latest snack might have had
before, they passed on, So maybe we can't stretch our beaks into
smiles, but we chuckle with the best of 'em.
(Let's face i t ; you strip a lot of this deadly serious stuff
down, the vampires and the Wyrm and everything else, and by
itself, it's pretty damn ridiculous. I mean, think about it like
this: All of creation is being threatened by a big lizard with a
self-esteem problem? Looking at the horror in that way dimin-
ishes it, and makes it bearable for at least another day.)
I bull you no shit here: Things are that bad, and we're
in the uncomfortable position of maybe being the only ones
who know how bad things really are. The way I see i t , we've
got two choices. One, we can laugh. Two, we can drive
ourselves suicidal thinking about the ramifications of what
we know. Gaia don't approve of the latter, and if you try it,
Raven w i l l call you a wuss.
So laugh, kid. It's the only hope you h a v e .

Deep Draughts
One of the most important things we do is record the last
sights of the dying. That's why we drink eyes, kid, not because
vitreous humor tastes that good. No, when you do it right, you
can drink down the last thing that the poor bastard's eye saw.
Mind you, you have to ask the body's permission first. Don't ask
me why; that's just the way it's done. You'll learn, kid, that
certain things are just done a certain way because, well,
because they've always been done that way — and every time
some smar-ass new chick comes along and tries to modernize
procedure, everything goes to hell.
So, in any case, there's a ritual to how this goes. First
you find a body, preferably one that's not too thoroughly
decomposed. You settle down, get a good position, then ask
the corpse's permission to violate it. (That's another differ-
ence between us and crows. A crow sees a corpse as a buffet.
We realise something died to provide for us.) Then, if the
corpse gives its okay — and it's just a gut feeling, the body
doesn't sit back up and tell you that it's groovy — then you
can plunge your beak in.
 You can only drink from one of a corpse's eyes. If you
drink from the right eye, you see the good in the sucker's
death. If you drink from the left eye, the sinister one, you see
the evil. It's best to switch back and forth between corpses
— too much of either view will drive you off your rocker.
On the other hand, there are times when you need to know
the best. — or worst — in what happened, and then you
don't have a choice as to which eye you can drink out of.
We can do this for animals too, you know. And believe
me, a rat's or a dog's eye sometimes sees some pretty
interesting — and terrifying — things. Trust me, you will
never use the expression "gunned down like a dog" again
once you've seen that shotgun barrel swing into line through
another body's eyes. On the other hand, better than half
the time all you get is an image of oncoming headlights.
Gross as it sounds, we can even share memories that we
get this way. As long as a little bit of that eye's jelly is in your
stomach, you can barf it back up and feed it to another
Corax. This lets the guy getting the sloppy seconds see
exactly what you've seen. Plus, he can then pass along what
he's taken from you and share the vision with someone else.
Usually, memories can be saved for up to a week this way.
Look, I know it sounds gross, but it works, okay? We
birds have been feeding our young this way since before
there were mammals, all right, so don't get so high and
mighty about what you will and won't put in your beak.
Besides. I've seen you eat hot dogs — you want to know the
secret of what's really in them?
Heh. Didn't think so.

Procedures
The ability to drink eyes is something utterly unique to
the Corax. By the act's ritualistic nature, it's best defined as
a rite, but you never hear the Corax themselves describing it
as such. The performance of this duty is so deeply ingrained
into the Corax character that even the ever-inquisitive
raven-folk don't ask questions about it. The drinking of the
eyes just is, and that's all there is to it. Teaching a hatchling
to do so rarely takes more than five minutes.
For a Corax to drink a corpse's eye, the wereraven
must first ask the cadaver's permission -- politely. Brusque,
rude or disrespectful requests will be declined, leaving the
Corax to explain his failure to uphold his duty. A Percep-
tion + Empathy roll (difficulty 7) determines if the Corax
sees anything from his draught, or if the vision is too
obscured for him to make anything out. The more suc-
cesses obtained, the longer and clearer the vision ob-
tained is.
The Corax must do the actual drinking while in Corvid
form. The Crinos beak is a bit too large for the bird to perform
the operation with any delicacy, and if a wereraven tries it in
Homid, the gag reflex kicks in rather abruptly.
While a Corax is drinking an eye, he is totally focused
on what he is doing. This is perhaps the only time when a
Corax can be easily surprised, because the receipt of a corpse's
last vision requires complete and utter concentration.
 Inside the Eye
The body was dumped in a small field in East Orange,
nothing more than a couple of acres of weeds and broken
glass in between factories. When I found the corpse, it was
wearing just a T-shirt and briefs; the killer had stripped him
of clothes that might have telltale fibers or bloodstains. It
would be good enough to slow down human cops, sure
enough. Good thing I found him first.
The right side of the victim's face had been caved in by
whatever killed him, so I had to drink from the left. I hate
doing that, but if I was going to discover who'd wasted this
poor sap, I didn't have a choice. I looked around, but the
field was abandoned; even the local kids knew better than
to play there. Good.
I spread my coat on the ground next to the body, then
knelt down next to the victim's head. Then I whispered,
"Look, I know this isn't going to be pretty, but I need your
permission to take your eye. Let me help you rest."
I got the definite feeling he was thinking it over. Even
dead people don't like a poke in the eye, and the silence grew
and grew while I waited for a response.
Eventually, I got that old comfortable feeling in the gut
that said that the corpse was cool with the procedure. So
with a sigh, I shifted down to Corvid. It took a minute
longer than normal, probably as a result of the accrued bad
karma on that field. Raven knows how many other bodies
had been dumped there without someone like me to take
their last sights. When the process was done, I hopped up on
what was left of John Doe's nose and stuck the beak right
in.
There was a salty taste to this one, like he'd been
crying when he died. It was the left eye, so of course I got
lousy reception, but certain things were clear enough.
Things like the big sign reading Aesop Research Com-
pany on the wall behind the killer, things like the almost
palpable Wyrm-taint hovering in the background, and
things like the fact that the killer had all the hallmarks of
being fomori. If nothing else, the tentacle that smashed this
poor fool's face in was a dead giveaway.
The aqueous humor was smooth as it went down. It
would probably be the last thing to go smoothly for a long
time.
— from the journals of Raina Fader, Private In-
vestigator

Point of the Moot

There are werewolves in these streets Mawgojzeta
But you only hear me howling at the moon
— Fish, "Goldfish & Clowns"
Our moots aren't exactly what you'd t h i n k they are.
Most First Changers imagine a moot as some kind of
glorified Cub Scout jamboree. That may he what some of
the tamer Garou moots are like, but ours are a little more Coast in one swell foop. No, that's roo risky for us to
focused, less formal (We don't have ''Cracking the Bone" attempt all that often.
and "Calling the Wind" and "Marking Your Territory" and Word that a moot is going to happen gets spread, as you
all that stuff.) More business gets done. might expect, by gossip. The details are left at way stations
Well, at first, anyway. Later on, things get, well, in the Umbra, along with a mandate to spread the news, so
interesting, that word gets out to just about everyone who needs to hear.
Plus, this way we don't rely on just one messenger — the
Procedure news travels along multiple vectors. This is how we spread
Here's a big surprise: We hold our moots during the, all important news, by the way. Everyone passes it along to
daytime! Imagine that! We're creatures of the sun, and as everyone they talk to. Even if one of us gets detained,
a result, we get together while the sun is shining. You'd be derailed or — Gaia forbid — killed, the information routes
amazed at how many other boojums just can't wrap their itself around the blockage. Word gets through. Word a l -
heads around that fact. So you've always got some sneaky ways gets through.
Bone Gnawer or ugly-ass vampire creeping around your But back to brass tacks. Whoever actually is dumb
favorite tree in the middle of the night, waiting for the party enough to call the Gather (also called a Parliament, prima-
— which ain't gonna happen. It's kind of pathetic, really. rily by homids who are too anal-retentive to actually show
Oh, another thing: You always attend a moot in up) gets to play host, which consists of finding a sufficiently
Corvid form. There are no exceptions, primarily because tall tree for us to meet in. Wide is good, too — it prevents
moots are always held in the highest tree we can find. What folks from s t r a t i f y i n g by altitude too much. The host also
tree? Where? Crap, I'm getting ahead of myself. gets to serve as the Minister of the Parliament (dumb name,
Right. We very rarely call moots for one very good I know, but I didn't make this crap up. I just show up at these
reason: A moot means a lot of us in one place at one time. things for the free food, anyway), which means that he's in
This is also known all of your eggs in one basket. charge of telling everyone else to shut up so that the serious
There aren't enough of us for us to risk a Saturday Night business of talking can get done.
Massacre any more frequently than we have to. The right We open every moot with an invocation to Helios,
tree goes down and there go half the Corax on the East thanking him for allowing us to get together yet another

36 Corax
time, and for giving us the light by which we can see the
wonders of creation. Helios eats that stuff up, you know, but Crashing the Party
we actually mean every word of it. Our job, after all, is to We don't have Parliaments of our own that often.
poke at the dark places and drop a little illumination on Thar doesn't mean, however, that we don't crash
them. Without Helios' help, we're reduced to the odd everyone else's. Garou are always happy to have us at
spiritual Maglite, which isn't nearly as effective. Besides, their moots. You drop in after the formalities are out of
we are genuinely appreciative of everything he's done for the way, tell a few stories, and drink their booze in
us. Hard to believe, huh? exchange. It's a great system, and if your tidbits are
The next thing we do is offer up a prayer to Raven, good enough, you can even cadge some Renown w h i l e
asking him to watch over us. We don't actually expect that you're at it. I mean, hey, if you're tough enough to
he w i l l , though — Raven likes watching us scramble in and sashay into a Red Talon moot and tell them a bit of info
out of trouble. Mind you, if things look realty hairy — say, or a few stories they've never heard before, you've
if Wyrm-tainted squirrels climb up the tree and start as- earned whatever you can get from them.
saulting the ravens in the back rows — Raven has inter- Just make sure to tell someone what, you're doing.
vened on occasions like that. The thing is, he always does Thar ensures two things. One, it means your Renown
so in a way to make the survivors look ridiculous. gets verified. Two, it means that if worst comes to
Anyway, what happens next is Roll Call, but not in the worst, you'll be rescued.
way you'd expect. We don't call the names of the folks who But don't be afraid to experiment, kiddo. Go hunt
are actually at the Gather. I mean, if they're there, we know with the Talons as a spotter. Drink mead with the Get
they're there, right? No, we call out the names of the folks u n t i l you puke. Sing with the Fianna and run with the
who didn't show. Anyone who's recently seen one of those Nuwisha when you can, because every time you do, it
Corax spouts off, letting the rest of us know t h a t she's all gives you a little more perspective on why we're here,
right. and what we're fighting for.
And if the Minister calls out a name, and there's no
answer? Then two things happen. The first is that a murder
gets set up to go search for our missing cousin. The second
is that we get ready to mourn.
 Next is a check on all the local eggs. Each guardian gets
up and gives a status report. Hopefully, this is perfunctory.
No news is good news when it comes to eggs.
New fledglings get introduced next by parents and/or
current mentors — don't worry, I'll cover you. There's
semi-formal introductions, then some instruction, then a
quiz. That's right, a quiz. If you can't answer the questions
put to you about earlier events at the Parliament, you're in
for a world of hurt. Gotta go sit on the bottom branch if you
screw the quiz up.
Yes, sitting on the bottom branch is a bad thing. Think
about it.
Anyway, then we get into old/new business, which is
basically going around the tree sharing gossip. Depending
on how late this runs, there's also storytelling and singing,
and Renown gets slathered around at times like this.
That's why you take your Renown wherever you can
get it, kiddo. There aren't that many chances to get it, and
there's always a dozen of us yammering at once on the few
occasions when it's available. Practice shouting, that's my
advice.
Parliament can never, ever run past sundown. To do so
is disrespectful to Helios, natch. So, at every Parliament, as
soon as the sun starts heading down, we all take off and do
a circuit over whatever city we're in. We scan at the
perimeter and spiral in, falling out every damn thing we see
along the way. If things work right, we hit the center of
town at sundown on the nose, at which point the
Parliament's over.
Officially, anyway. In the real world, that's when we all
go out for a beer.

Camps
There's a big difference between social animals and
pack ones. Garou, for example, are pack animals. The
wolves may not talk to one another, but they feel naked
unless there are four or five other fur coats around. The
members of the pack may hate each other — Raven knows
I've seen it often enough — but the wolves are almost
incapable of functioning on their own.
We, on the other hand, are social animals, which
means that we need company, and often. However, the
t h i n g is, it's only company that we need — partners are
right out. Ninety-nine percent of what we do is observation
and discovery, and having too many eyes trying to focus on
the same target can mean t h a t nobody sees anything
straight.
But during down time, we love to get together to gossip
and swap info. Raven actually mandates the latter — he's
made it damn clear that we'd best share everything we learn
with the first three Corax we come across. Dissemination of
information, you see, spreading the word. Nothing gets lost
and everything; gets backed up. C'mon, you've got a computer,
kid — you know about parallel systems and redundancies.

38
 In a nutshell, then, the arrangement is this: We almost analyze it, and then reduce the place with some kinda
never work together long-term, because we drive each efficiency, but on the other hand, a lot of times a murder
other nuts when we do. Short-term, however, every Corax just devolves into a bunch of birds sitting in a tree or a
is w i l l i n g to sit down with every other over a beer or a trendy coffeehouse, bitching about who gets to be in
roadkill squirrel and swap stories. Eldest Corax goes first, charge.
then we go around the table in order. Young 'uns like you There are very, very few permanent arrangements our
are expected to shut up, listen and take notes, 'cause at the kind has come to. Some are more organized than others, to
end of the meeting, the youngest one there is expected to he honest — the Sun-Lost aren't even what you'd call
spit back, verbatim, what he's heard. Sure, it sounds harsh connected. S t i l l , there are a few of us who've taken a look
— but how else is he going to spread the word unless he can at the strength in numbers shtick and doped out how to
repeat what he's heard, exactly. Otherwise, it turns into make it work.
one big game of Whisper Down the Line, and you know
how accurate that can be. The Sun-Lost
We're in the accurate information biz, after all. Ru- These guys aren't technically a group. Sun-Lost is the
mors and garbled transitions are Nuwisha, three doors name we have for Corax who've said, "Thank you, but no"
down and follow the odd smell. to HeJios and wandered off into the Umbra full time.
However, information swap isn't the only thing we do Maybe one or two has ever come back from this sort of
when we hang out. Sometimes we... play pool, or have a few- Diaspora, but that's all. The rest hear the call of the shine
beers, or go flying over the city and leave messages on new of the Deep Umbra and... just... go. They lay down their
cars. Sometimes, we just like to have fun, you know? When responsibilities, their messages, their eggs in some cases,
things aren't life or death, we love just spending time with and they just go off into the Umbra to see what might be
one another — because we don't have to. seen.
The thing is, we like our associations to be matters of We see Sun-Lost from time to time. Occasionally the
choice, fluid things. I may like hanging out with, you for a deeps of the Umbra get to be too much, and they decide to
day or two, but after that, I'm gonna want to move on. If I take it easy in the shallows for a while. In cases like that,
get stuck to you by a shared allegiance to some totem or settle in and prepare to hear some fascinating stories. Just
other, or even by guilt, I'm going to be miserable. After all, because the Sun-Lost aren't part of the community any
we need freedom to follow our hunches, to fly wherever the more doesn't mean that they've stopped being Corax. Sun-
hell we want to go. Being tied down to a partner or, even Lost still feel the need to gossip on occasion. That's why
worse, a murder, means that my decisions have to go they come back toward home, to schmooze with Corax who
through committee. It means that I don't get to do what are more integrated into the community.
that little voice in the back of my head tells me to do. More often than not, though, we don't actually see
In short, it drives me nuts, and a nutso Corax is an Sun-Lost. We just get reports, scratched in sigils, of things
inefficient one. If I'm too damn busy staring at my navel (or they've seen. If you find a message from a Sun-Lost, boy,
the feathered equivalent) to fly, I'm not keeping an eye out you're lucky. In a case like that, you (and I mean you in
for what I'm supposed to. particular) were meant to find it. Whoever dropped that
So, we hang together, temporarily, by choice, but work story,or legend, or whatever, off wanted you and noone but
alone. We cover more ground that way, which is another you to be the first one to see it. Don't ask me why they do
advantage — there aren't enough of us left that we can things like that; they just do.
afford to waste birdpower on redundant observation. And We always know when one of the Sun-Lost dies. A
this way, each of us gets to follow our hunches, which single feather shows up at the spot were the deceased's spirit
means that no one's gut feelings get disregarded. egg hatched. No one knows how it gets there, though I
There are rare occasions when a bunch of us (bunch? suspect Wind-spirits. Whaddevah. It happens. That's why
flock? The words for this sort of thing always sound so we think Huginn and Munin are still alive, by the way. No
lame) actually do band together in some kinda semi-hemi- one's ever seen a feather for them. And yes, we know their
demi-formal arrangement. These so-called "murders" gen- hatching places.
erally form around one particular mission, and disband as Stupid question, do we know where to look. Of course,
soon as the important things get taken care of. (Yeah, the we know. We're Corax, ain't we?
technical term is an "unkindness" of ravens, but no one Among the Sun-Lost
ever remembers that. Yet another reason to resent the Malcolm, I am sure that, barring catastrophe, you will be
goddamned crows. On the other hand, we got Bela Lugosi the one to find this. You do not know me, nor should you. Suffice
in our flick; they got Iggy Pop in theirs. It all balances in the to say that I gave of myself to craft the egg that hatched he who
end.) Murders operate on the committee principle, namely, gifted you with flight. You might consider me your grandfather,
that whoever yells loudest is in charge. Mind you, an if you consider me at all.
organized squad of Corax can scout out an enemy position,

Chapter Two: Going Through Customs 39

 I have left you a trail to where a misplaced soul wanders turned cold and bloody. You can see that story all over again
lost. She is a sad little ghost, banished from her proper Umbra. every time a new raven joins the Morrigan. You can see one
You must find her and guide her to a place where she can cross light die in her eyes and a new, cold one start burning.
back to her own realm. Word is that the three have the Sight, that the wind
If you do this, she will remember you, and in a year and a tells them when the next battle of the Garou is going to be.
day, will tell you a story that will save your life. If you do not do It might be; they're always there every time the wolves take
this, then you will die eight days later. up serious arms. They always bring eagles w i t h them, too,
I, of course, will witness neither outcome. I do hope, however, to feed on the corpses after the Morrigan drinks their eyes.
that you choose the course I suggest. Farewell, Grandson. Never cross one of the Morrigan. You do, your luck
— Garnets-For-Eyes changes, and not for the better.

TheMorrigan Murder'sDaughters
Battle-crow biddies, old and dry and fierce as a u t u m n The Morrigan are scary because they're genuinely nasty,
leaves. They're found in the Old Country — ahem, "the andbecauseRaven's put his blessing of murder down on them.
Auld Sod."Sod off, I say — they scare the hell out of me. Murder's Daughters, on the other hand, are scary 'causethey're
There are only three members of the Morrtgan, and wannabes. Each and every one wants to he part of the
they serve Raven's less pleasant aspect. Whenever a Corax Morrigan some day, and they've got this fugazi notion that the
joins the Morrigan, she loses her old name and takes a new way to one of the three spots is to out-nasty the rest of the gang.
one, one of the faces of the Morrigan from legend. Bedb, It's stupid, 'cause I ain't yet seen one of the Daughters get
Nemain and Morrigu -- always the same names, ever since picked for promotion, but they keep trying.
they started writing legends down. It doesn't mutter if it's What do they do? Well, to improve their chances
your lover of 50 years who gets picked; the woman she was Murder's Daughters are always picking fights, swarming
dies the second they settle that new name on her, and all things, and generally caught up in acting antisocial. The
she lives lor from then on is battle. Daughters hang together way too much, and spend a lot of
They say. in the legends, that Morrigan and Dagda time after dark in the sorts of clubs where the vampires go.
were married once, then something happened and she Trying to be bad, yep, yep, yep. Pulling it off? Sometimes.

40 Corax
A murder of pissed-off sisters w i l l pluck out your eyes and
use 'em for marbles, and they're always looking for excuses Raven'sLaws
to be pissed off.
Oh, and it's a girls' club only. No boys allowed. It's a (With a Nod Toward Helios)
time-honored tradition dating back all the way to at least There are certain rules and regs that the entire breed lives
1952, which is the first, time anyone was gutsy enough to use by, no ifs, ands or buts. Most of these got laid down by Raven
the name in public. before he shooed us all over the planet, but a few were added
On the other hand, I'm smart enough not to argue. out of respect for Helios. The thing is, some folks might try to
A Daughter Warns: puff these things up as sacred commandments, but they're as
What are you? Some yellow-ass coward, or just a hefty much common sense as anything else. As long as you keep
variety of stupid? Look, I don't know if you've actually thought these in mind and use your head for something other than a
about this or not, but war is a fact of life. The Morrigan know neat place to put your hat, you'll do just fine.
that, and they know how to get things done about it. You wanna
come over here and tell me that I'm following a lame tradition? ThereAreNoSecrets
Come on, dipshit, something on your mind? Go ahead, say it! It's your duty to uncover every secret you can, even the
I goddamn dare ya! unpleasant ones. Left alone in the dark, secrets fester, rot
and turn into some damn unpleasant things. It's our duty to
Hermetic Order of Swift Light uncover things that others want hidden, because odds are,
This is the business arm of the Breed: basically, a bunch if someone's t a k i n g the effort to hide some information,
of guys who do their Gaia's-gossip thing for the right price. that information's dangerous. If you hear a rumor or catch
It's HQed out of Manhattan, w i t h posh offices on Madison a detail that nags at you, you had best follow up to the best
Avenue at a yearly rent that will make you puke. By of your ability or there'll be hell to pay. You never know if
tradition, there's only one actual raven in the joint, though that lead you ignore as being "too ridiculous" will turn i n t o
the rest of us can make some dough by hiring out as the thing that bites you in the ass.
freelance couriers and the like. Word is that the Corax who
runs the place has been doing some reorganization; for one Share What You Know
thing, the IPO went gangbusters. Word in the grapevine is Information does no good in a bottle. It doesn't matter if
that soon there'll be a bit more of a permanent structure, you know the three magic words that will save the world; as
not to mention some electronic backup for the gossip net. long as those words are locked in your brainbox, they're not
It's gonna be interesting seeing how it all shakes down. doing anyone any good, including yourself. Odds are you're
A Hermetic Bargains: not going to be able to do a damn thing about most of the
Oh, stop flaring your nostrils. Gaia intended us to be Her secrets you uncover, but that's not the point. After all, we're
messengers and scouts, but She can't have expected us to do it not here to take care of the messes, just to uncover them. That's
for free. Let's face it, nothing's free. Not even the benevolent why it's necessary to share what you know. Tell others, who
protection of your totems, right? So are you going to take a few deep can tell others, who can tell others who just might be able to
breaths and start bargaining, or what? do something about whatever you've stumbled over.
On a more somber note, the sooner you spread the
Chasers word over what you know, the safer you are. If you're the
Chasers are loose murders of young brats like yourself only one who knows w h a t the local Pentex subsidiary is up
who get together to play X-Files. Yep, it's real fun to go to, you're a prime target. If you tell three other Corax, who
poking after spooky stuff, ain't i t ? Just make sure that if you tell three more each, who tell a buttload of Garou, well,
join a band of Chasers, at least one of you has the brains to suddenly you're way down on the hit list priority.
keep an eye on where the exits are. Finding a nest o' Banes And if they do catch you, if word of what you found gets
is great; deciding to play "Clean Out the Nest" w i t h your out, at least you didn't die in vain.
little buddies is a one-way ticket to the Great Deep Fryer in
the Sky. Most Chaser murders break up after a year or two; TeachThemWhatThey'llLearn
that's about how long it takes for the members to realize Not everyone accepts the straight dope from us, or even
they cramp each other's styles. likes us. And sometimes, the very folks who won't listen are the
A Chaser Ruminates: very same ones you need to get information to. In that case,
That corpse isn't just the victim of your average, everyday Raven has authorized use of unnecessary and ridiculous force.
vampire, friends. Look at the discoloration around the edges of More to the point, the methods don't matter — the informa-
the wounds. That kind of pre-mortem inflammation is above rion has to get through. It doesn't matter how. It doesn't matter
and beyond the norm. I'm thinking we have a Giovanni on our if you have to get a whole pack of Garou howling for your blood
hands. Anyone care to drink an eye and verify? or if you have to make yourself look like an idiot to get a Simba
to listen — if they have to know, then it's your job to let them

Chapter Two: Going Through Customs 41

know. And you will do whatever it takes, dig, because there's
damn little more important than making sure the right info
gets to the right people.

ProtecttheEggs
This one is a no-brainer. Eggs are our future. We're too
few as is. Defend a spirit egg with everything up to, but not
including, your own life. We can't afford to lose a single one
of us, even to save another, except under the most dire of
circumstances. But a threat to an egg is intolerable. If you
see anything going after a spirit egg, cowboy the bastard.

RememberWhyYou'reHere
We're not the fighters. We're the scouts and commu-
nications officers. Yeah, it's tempting to be the one to save
the day and rescue the girl, but we're not built for that, and
trying stupid heroics is a good way to get yourself killed.
Your job is to get information and get out, preferably
without the enemy seeing you. If you do get spotted, escape
makes more sense than fighting, particularly since he can
call on more reinforcements than you can. Before you
throw a single punch, consider what you're up against and
what your odds of walking away from the fight are. Nine
times out of 10, that should be enough to send you scurrying
in the opposite direction as fast as you can go.
In the end, it's not important who gets the job done. It's
important that the job gets done, and if the job is kicking ass,
there are lots of folks out there better at it than we are.

Bear Witness
Every living soul has a story, and it's part of our mandate
to save as many of those stories as we can. That's why we drink
the eyes of the dead, after all. It's a great information source,
sure, but it's also respect, and making sure some little bit of the
corpse's story gets carried away by someone.
The other part of this rule is that you cannot turn away.
Not now, not ever. No matter how brutal or horrifying what
you're looking at might be — and I'm talking about anything
from the killing fields of Kampuchea to the worst bits of Bed-
Stuy — you have to see it all, so that when.you tell the tale, you
tell it right. To do any less is disrespectful, and dangerous.
There's no cutting comers in this business.

The Truth Matters

Partial or inaccurate information gets people killed.
You are not allowed to skimp on your observations for any
reason, from your tender sensibilities to the fact that you're
getting the heebie-jeebies. If you can't tell the story accu-
rately, if you don't have the facts, then don't tell
the story at all. Don't make things up to patch the
holes, because that always leads to disaster.

Everything'sPartoftheCycle
Don't judge anyone or anything out of context. Gaia had
a plan when she put this rock together, and everything has a
 part in it. So don't jump to Fly!
conclusions about whether
someone or something: is You've been given an
unnecessary until you figure out unimaginable gift: wings. So use
why they're doing what they're do- 'em! Fly, 'cause it's a dead cert no one else
ing, and what purpose it serves in the in your family can. Experience everything you
grand scheme of things. After all, some can. Talk to everyone you can. Learn as much as you can
day someone might just look at you, with your and look at things from as many angles as you can. Why?
beak buried in a corpse's peepers, and decide Because you can, that's why. As much fun as just getting
that you were some gross bit of vermin barely airborne is, it's also symbolic of what we're doing here. If you
worth the round of birdshot he buries in your ass to can look at a problem from another angle, say, from above, you
"protect the sanctity of the body" from your unholy have to do so. Don't let any of your talents or opportunities get
depredations. In other words, judge nor lest ye he wasted. Otherwise, why the hell did someone thing you were
judged. worth wings to begin with?

Don't Play Favorites Laugh

We owe both Helios and Raven tremendous Or you'll cry. In the middle of all of the bullshit t h a t
debts, and we show our respect every chance we get. This we have to put up with — and believe me, it's worse than
means whispering every secret we learn into the air, not to you can imagine — you have to remember that we've been
mention thanking both of them at every Parliament. Further- given some tremendous gifts. In spite of it a l l , kid, we're
more, it means recognizing that we're damn lucky to have the lucky — damn lucky. We get to fly, after all.
favor of two powers like that, and that we probably shouldn't So laugh. Look for the humor in everything, because
do anything to screw that relationship up. So demonstrate sure as spit it's there, and after drinking dead men's eyes and
proper reverence to both, kiddo. Play favorites with Helios and seeing the horrors this rock holds, you'll need it. A moment
you just might get burned. of laughter at the right time can tide you over through a bad
patch, u n t i l you can get the wind behind you again and
realize how sweet life really is.

Chapter Two: Going Through Customs 43

 Next order of business, there's something I need to get crow is an i n s u l t , and you are never, ever to take it laying
straight with you. It revolves around who — or more down. We have a fine and noble place in the order of things;
exactly what — we are. For the record, we are Corax — crows are just part of the disposal u n i t . Getting called a
known to the vulgar as wereravens. Almost as important, crow is like being an honors student and getting mistaken
however, is the definition of what we are not. Specifically: for the weird old janitor who lives in the basement and
We ain't crows. Never have been, never will be. Got it? sniffs Mr. Clean on the sly.
We don't chase scarecrows, bring killer mimes back from Now, to business. Hang on, junior, looks l i k e you're
the dead, or do anything else of that sort. We are ravens, the slipping. You've got to relax and let the claws do the work
eater of dead things' eyes, and anyone dumb enough to for you. If you try to hang on consciously, you'll just give
confuse us with those bird-brained lummoxes deserves to yourself cramps.
be our next meal. Got it? Good. 'Cause if I ever, ever catch
you confusing us with crows, I ' l l claw your eyes out myself.
Ahem. On a more dignified note, we are the senior
The Whole Wide World
species of the Corvinus, and the human scientists claim my I saw the raven, plumage pale
Kin have been on this planet since the Jurassic. No, the I saw him drink the blood of the gael
actual Jurassic, not the movie; as for your ancestors, well, Above Clach Mor the gulls will wail
they've got about a hundred million fewer orbits under — Wolfstone, "The Prophet"
their belts. Deal with it. Us corvids are the senior branch We go places none of the other Changing Breeds can.
and you're the bratty kids. That's not surprising, seeing as we have wings, and, well,
But anyway, we're the largest songbirds in the world, they don't. That means we can go places they can't go, get
and there's an old wives' tale that if you slit a raven's perspectives no one else can, and cut and run through
tongue, he can learn to talk. Anyone tries it on you, peck escape routes no one else can access. That's not a bad little
her eyes out. You can already talk, and anyone who thinks benefits package. Of course, it comes with some responsi-
that slicing your tongue in half will force you to grow bilities. We have to go look in those nooks and crannies,
interesting neural pathways should be yanked out of the and to bring the info we find there home. But, what the hey,
gene pool by the ears. it lets us know the world better than if we were just tourists,
As for the damn crows? "Lesser" members of the family, right? Right.
that's what the science books say. Getting confused w i t h a

Chapter Three: A Bird's Eye View 45

 Oh. Other note: We're everywhere. Most of the other Africa, but ravens aren't welcome. The Ananasi are strong
breeds, they've got one place or maybe two where they belong, here, too, and we stay two trees away from them.
and the rest of the world is foreign territory. Not us. You'll find Africa's a place of sadness for us, of wasted opportunity.
Raven stories everywhere from Greece to Greenland, up and There have been so many corpses these past years, so many
down both sides of the Pacific Rim, and anywhere else you deaths, and for nothing. It's no pleasure to drink the eyes of the
want to go. We're damn near universal — and we mean victims of the new plagues, or the martyrs of starvation. We
different things to different groups. That makes us hard to knew the food to save those people was in the warehouses,
pigeonhole, which makes us difficult for some folks to deal rotting, and for all the magics we've got, all the Gifts and
with. They're missing the point. There's no reason we should everything else, we couldn't do a damn thing. We've turned
only have one aspect — Trickster here, Creator there, Mistress away from those places now, out of respect, and because it hurts
of Battles in a third place, font of birdly wisdom in a fourth — too much to see. There's a down side to knowing as much as
because if you're only coming from one direction, you've only we do. It's when you know that there's an evil being committed
got one perspective. We need to see everything from all angles, (stuff that feeds the Wyrm but isn't at all Wyrm-inspired, just
so it just makes sense that we're ail over the map, literally and plain old human hatred and manifesting malice) and you can't
figuratively. Don't limit yourself by saying, "I can only fill this do anything about i t . That tears at you, junior; it tears at you
sorta role," because we're Corax! We can do every damn thing bad. And if you force yourself to watch it for too long, it'll drive
we set our minds to, and there's thousands of years of myth and you over the edge.
legend for proof. Oh, make no mistake, the Wyrm's everywhere. But you
So stop trying to buttonhole What It Means To Be A can starve it our of places if you try hard enough, if you hold off
Corax. Don't worry too much about what we are, or where on the slaughters and genocides and cruelty. But there are too
we are. It's easier and faster to try to figure our what and many places where no one cares to do that, and those are places
where we aren't. More productive, too. where the Wyrm thrives. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea, where
food rots in warehouses while babies starve? Pyramids of
Africa human skulls and the wholesale slaughter of elephants in
It's Bastet territory down here, and truth be told it can get Uganda? The Wyrm loves that stuff, and gets fat on it, and
a touch warm for as in their stomping grounds. Plus, we're not doesn't even need to encourage it most of the time because the
exactly unobtrusive there. There are a lot of carrion birds in

46 Corax
humans do it to themselves. Hell, if the Wyrm didn't exist, they Australia
would have invented him.
The English brought all the trapping of home w i t h them
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Africa is
when they came down here, including ravens, and not to
Wyrm Central, or that the folks here have any kind of
mention a half-dozen other species guaranteed to mess up the
monopoly on the sort of behavior that feeds the beast. I can
local ecology for centuries. Brilliant foresight, let me tell you.
give you examples from around the world, in stereo; atroci-
It's the same sort of foresight the new Garou showed when they
ties from Aachen to Zebulon, Ohio. It's just that the point
came in and steamrolled the Bunyip.
needs to he made, and Africa's at the start of the list.
Unfortunately, by hook or crook, we didn't actually
Asia make it down to Australia until it was pretty much too late.
Again, we knew the truth, but who's going to listen to the
Tengu territory, at least in Nippon. They're the most
damn birds? Not the Garou, not when they've got a hard-
standoffish of our kind, and with good reason. Mind you, you'll
on for wiping someone out.
always get a friendly welcome from a Tengu, but there are
But that's past tense. We're here now, and as far as things
certain things they just won't talk about with an outsider. So
go, Australia is a pretty good place to be. Basically, the "powers
if the absolutely vital discussion you need to have with a Tengu
that be" off in Europe for the vampires, the Garou, everyone
is on one of those taboo topics, well, you're screwed.
else — they all regard Australia as a pimple on the butt of the
The mainland isn't such a friendly place. Cathayans.
world, so the poor bastards that get sent here aren't exactly the
That's what I've heard the native soul-drinking vampire sorts
cream of the crop. Witness that Sabbat pack in Brisbane —
called. Those guys are absolutely everywhere, and are always
dumber than a box of rocks. I've personal watched half of 'em
looking for the main chance. The normal run-of-the-mill
screw up in a dozen cities around the world, and I can only
vamps we deal w i t h back home get chewed up and spit out by
assume the rest are as awful. However, all that means is that we
the Cathayans unless they're lucky and good. Siberia actually
can operate with relative freedom, because we're among the
isn't as had as you'd think — there are some Kinfolk there, and
baddest badasses down here.
some shared mythology that jibes with what our Kinfolk in the
Pacific Northwest know. But the further south you go, the Europe
higher the freak population gets — don't stay too long in any
place south of Ulan Bator, or you'll regret it. The Continent is someplace we all love to visit, but
not to stay. The architecture you can find is a dream —
cornices and buttresses and gargoyles, cathedrals you can
perch on for days and never get bored with the view — man,
it's gorgeous. The problem is that the people and critters are
nowhere as nice as the architecture. Everyone over there is
so territorial, from the vampires to the Garou to the
humans, for c r i - y i . You wanna explain to me how living on
one side of a particular river makes you better than the guy
on the other bank? Exactly.
We still have some strongholds on the Continent.
There's a whole colony of K i n f o l k in Greece, if you can
believe that: shades of Aesop. Germany has a few of us, but
there used to be more. Once the wall came down. there
were fewer secrets for us to uncover there. The Teuton
influence still runs north from there, though. We can still
call Scandinavia home, and a fair number of our kin live
there still. Unfortunately, it's got the ambiance of Mom
and Dad's house after you come home from college; cramped,
musty and old. It just doesn't suit us any more. Odin's dead
and gone. There's nothing here for us any more.
The basic deal on Europe is this: Most of the Breeds are
way, waaaaaay underground there. The vampire presence is
way too strong, and the remaining Garou are way too
paranoid to allow any wild cards to wander around. So we
get in, find things out, and rotate out. No one stays too long
because, frankly, it's dangerous.

Great Britain
The UK is a bit of a different issue. We've got old,
strong ties here. The Celts and the Saxons, they knew us as
patrons of battle. We're still in their art, their music, their
legends. Morrigu is still on the outside looking in, and all
three of Morrigan's faces rode with our wings. There's
respect for us here, even if people don't understand what
that respect is for. That's reason enough to stick around,
even though the weather and food are lousy, and the folks
most likely to show us proper respect are also the ones who
insist on playing CDs of bagpipe music all day and night.

MiddleEast
"I am a bird in God's garden, and I do not belong to this
dusty world."
— Hakim Conrad Archuletta, "Bird in God's Garden"
Truer words, my friend, were never spoken. The Middle
East has more of our human equivalents — reporters —
than damn near anywhere else on the planet, and we just
blend in with the flock. Unfortunately, the news out of here
is sadly repetitive. Strike, counterstrike, religious denounce-
ment— when will it end? In the meantime, there's a lot of
skullduggery going on that bears watching, just remember,
the paranoia level over there is so high as to be off the scale,
and with good reason. You have more to worry about from
the mortals than from the rest of the zoo in Damascus or Tel
Aviv, and you'd do well to remember that. If you get out of
line, a Mossad agent will cap your ass just as fast as a vampire
will, and probably with less posing.

48
North America American Southwest; we just try to give traffic reports to
whoever's in the area. There's good eating here, but a lot of
North America. Give me your tired, your hungry, your risk.
poor, your software engineers late of Hong Kong — oh
yeah, we know what's going on here. America's the biggest South America
contradiction on the planet: a hunch of paranoid stay-at-
homes who insist on being the baby-sitter for the rest of the The last War is going on here. If the Breeds lose the
Amazon, everything's all over. You like oxygen! I t ' l l get a
world, and they can't understand why the rest of the planet
hates it. S t i l l , there's opportunity here, that and plenty of hell of a lot more expensive if Pentex paves the basin. So
i n t e r e s t i n g secrets to bring to light. The risks and rewards we're down here, and our numbers are increasing, for one
simple reason. We're t r y i n g to get the cats and the lizards
are both higher here — the landscape is plenty dangerous,
and the imported wolves to work together for once. I mean,
but not so bad that you can't succeed. At the same time, the
with my own eyes, I watched a fight when three Garou, a
plots aren't as deep as in Europe, but there's plenty worth
learning. Bastet and a Mokole took on a Pentex team complete w i t h
Black Spiral Dancer — but since none of the three types
We've got a lot of K i n f o l k in protected communities
were talking to one another, two of the Garou got kakked
up and down the West Coast: Alaska, BC, Washington
before the Mokole deigned to show his face. I agree; the
state and Oregon. That strip of land is special to us, and it's
War of Rage is plenty off-pissing, but this is it. They can
one of the few things we'll fight for.
beat the crap out of the Garou later, save the damn jungle
Canada is a bit lower in the pressure department. A first.
riot in Quebec is a rush hour train in New York, and I like
the rush down here a lot better. Slowly but surely, the
States' problems are sneaking past customs, and the trouble- The Umbra
makers are heading north with them, but in the meantime None of the other breeds has the connection that we
Canada's a hell of a lot more relaxing than America. do to the Umbra. That's because, for all of their posturing
Mexico is, frankly, a mess, There are all sorts of Bane- (not to mention that good ol' Owl has seen fit to teach his
type things walking around under sunlight, out in the favorite werewolves to grow cutesy-style wings), we're the
deserts where the cops and troops don't go. There's more or only ones who can really fly. There's so much more to see
less a monster pipeline straight up from Mexico City to the than just the landscape — Pattern webs are beautiful when

Another Perspective
Our European cousins sometimes fall prey to the same things of which they accuse others. They look around and
see things they do not understand and mark those things as "Other," not to be dealt with. They miss a lot that way.
One of their worse sins is that they don't respect Raven enough. They see his Gifts and appreciate him, but that
is all. They forget that Raven brought the Sun back to the sky, and led Luna to her proper place, and placed the stars
one by one w i t h his beak. They look at their duly to observe as a calling. We know that is an act of reverence.
We stay closer to our Kinfolk than they do, human and raven both. There's much to be said for learning one place
in detail, rather than gaining impressions of many places but knowing none. We stay on the reservations mostly when
we're in the real world, but fly free in the Umbra. There is as much mystery and wonder in our inherited lands as can
be found anywhere else.
The others know to leave our Kinfolk alone. Both human and raven know us for what we are, and so we can move
among them more freely than we might among wasichu. Our stories are taught in the schools a along with the white man's
science, so that our heritage gets taken to the future with our children. And should any of our Kinfolk forget what they
once knew, we are there to remind them. After all, if Raven was kind to the naked humans he found in a clamshell,
we can do no less.
As for the Trickster, we know that face of Raven as well. Many confuse Raven with Coyote, seeing them as the
same. This is not true. Coyote catches himself in his own traps and laughs. To Coyote, the trick is what matters. Raven
makes certain only to catch others in his tricks, and to use his games to lead others to knowledge and their proper place.
A trick for its own sake is worthless to us. A trick that teaches the victim to watch where he puts his feet, lest he trip
— that is the sort of thing that Coyote does, but that Raven demands be our only trickery. Using Sky's Beneficence
to stir a Wendigo into rage against one of us, distracting him from going to a battle where he is surely doomed — that
is t h e sort of trick the Corax play. And we seek no reward and no thanks for this work that we do. We do not expect
the tricked Wendigo to ever forgive us. It is enough that he is alive to blame us for robbing him of a chance for Glory.
Perhaps next time he will look around more carefully, anticipating one of us, and instead will see the trap that awaits.

Chapter Three: A Bird's Eye View 49

you see them from a high altitude, junior. Plus, there are
stars up there, stars that the damn Garou never see, stars
that you think that you can reach if you just keep flying long
enough.... That's where the Sun-Lost go, I t h i n k , chasing
those stars. They even sing sometimes.
Now, on a more practical note, there's a lot of good
solid business to be done in the Umbra. We're the best
Umbra-runners there are. We know the fastest way from
point A to point B, not to mention all of the Realms in
between. Yep, Realms. Little chunks of Umbral real estate
with their own personalities. Most are essentially high-
concept pocket dimensions, one-note joints that can serve
as resting places, nests, traps for enemies and so forth. Most
are also essentially pointless, but you'll find ones you l i k e ,
and fast ways in and out. and that will help you set your own
trails.
Now, there's more than one Umbra. I'm sure one of your
other teachers told you all about the High, Middle, Low, Dark,
Scrambled and Sunny-Side Up Umbras. The point is, though,
that the other Breeds sort of know that there are other Umbras,
but don't much care. We, on the other hand, need to know
what's going on everywhere — and that means on all planes
of existence. So we have to haul our sorry buns everywhere
from the Sweetness and Light of the High Umbra to the bad
space opera of the Deep Umbra to the place where the dead
guys hang out—and let me tell you, some of them hate visitors.

Corax Umbral Train Markings

These marks are left by Corax to communicate
w i t h one another. The runes are scratched onto flat
surfaces so that they can be seen from above; most are
about six to nine inches in height, and unmistakable
for a n y t h i n g but what they are.

50
 So you have to prepare to go wherever the story takes you. are some bright ones here and there, but for the most part,
Thar means learning local customs—and laws of reality. If you they just don't think. I mean, if they had their shit together,
need to go info the Dark Umbra, for example, don't bring they'd stop beating the snot out of one another, gang up like
along fetishes and don't make Dead Baby jokes. If you're going a buncha big fuzzy Superfriends and kick the Wyrm's butt.
to the High Umbra, bring presents and clean yourself off. They could do it, you know. No bullshit.
The critters you're most likely to meet up there, besides But instead, they've got to whine and squabble and rip
spirits, are Nuwisha. You'll find scads more of the coyote folk each others' throats out. "Oh no, we can't let them lead the
on the other side than you will in the waking world; the fight against the Wyrm, we're so much better qualified."
Second War of Rage chased most of them off for good. Heh. Idiots. Hey guys, here's a thought — fight the war first,
Everywhere you go in the Umbra (except the sky), you're worry about the credit afterward. Capiche?
going to f i n d a Nuwisha sticking his nose into things. Other- Now, mind you, we get along just tine with these guys.
wise, the place is reasonably deserted in terms of folks from the We like them, we just recognize their limirations — most
fleshy side of things. You'll see the occasional Strider or really of which are intellectual. And some are brighter than
lost wraith, and that's about it. On the other hand, spirits are others. However, I like our chances of tricking them into
all over the place. Treat them politely and word carries. saving the world a lot better than I like their chances of
Getting a good rep among spirits is vital — they communicate figuring out how to do so on their own.
even faster than we do, and getting blacklisted by the spirits is
a shortcut to the long dirt nap. If they don't like you, the Umbra BlackFuries
will become a deathtrap, and it's only a matter of time before
Most of the other furries just don't get it. For a gang
the spirits catch you. What follows isn't pretty.
that's supposed to be all about balance, way too many of the
So be polite, don't litter, show some respect, and the Garou buy into the "nine-foot-tall man-hating castrating
Umbra can be your home away from home. All the rest is bitches" stereotype awful easily. Of course, we see what
a commentary; go and read the regs. they're up to behind the scenes — the shelters, the hot
lines, the actual honest-to-Gaia curing that they do — and
Thoughts on Others we respect that, a lot. Too bad a few of the younger ones buy
into their own publicity, that's all.
Digging deep I came across a murder
Among the roots of our spreading family tree BoneGnawers
-Fish, "MR 1470" As above, so below. We're the eye in the sky; they're
The thing you have got to understand is t h a t we watch rummaging through the city's garbage. On the whole,
everyone. Everyone. This world's full of 31 flavors of su- they're good guys, but they've been living in cities too long
pernatural critters all s k u l k i n g around pretending to hide — they've t h i n k that if they look around and look down
from one another and the poor stupid normals. Most of and don't see anyone, that no one sees them. Truth be told,
them have no idea that there's anyone else out there. We they're just like every other bunch of burned out urbanites
do, though. We know exactly who is out there, what they're 'cause they never, ever look up. So they spy on everyone
up to and how likely they are to pull it off. else, and we spy on them, and they have no freakin' idea
Why? Because that's our job. Gaia didn't say, "Oh, we're doing i t .
watch the Garou for me, would you dears, but ignore the Oh, if we see bad doggie going after long pork, we make
bloodsucking freaks, walking corpses and immortal ban- it a point to put bad doggie down. The Wyrm doesn't get
dadge salesmen." No. She told us to watch everything. So we every Bone Gnawer who disappears. We claim our share.
do. And that's why we keep tabs on the vampires and the
Changing Breeds, the wizards and the ghosts, the mummies Children of Gaia
and the foofy little changelings.
They're so nice. So very, very nice. They wander
'Course, we don't just watch. We've got opinions on
around doing nice things, saying nice things and hoping to
them all. which is the fun part. I mean, what's the point of
make the world a better place. Get a plan, kids. Do some-
being made to watch the movie of the world 24/7 from the thing big. Organise. Otherwise you're pissing into the
day you're born if you don't at least get to heckle? ocean. I mean, the Children are the nicest, sweetest,
I dunno about you, but I love to heckle. friendliest Garou you're ever going to meet, and in any
given situation they're great to have around but there's
Garou nothing past the moment there, you dig? Which is a shame.
Garou, by and large, are dumb. I mean, it's not their Fianna
fault, but even so, any culture in which butt-sniffing is as
good as a formal introduction is probably not a prime The Fianna are the best and worst of the Garou, all at
breeding ground for rocket scientists, you dig? I mean, there once. They're the self-proclaimed best at fighting dirty.

Chapter Three: A Bird's Eve View 51

d r i n k i n g , screwing, singing, storytelling and all sorts of Shadow Lords
other s t u f f — but they, more than any of the other tribes,
are too busy beating the heck out of one another to do much Deep in the fear-shadowed forests of Eastern Europe,
against the Wyrm. Let's put it this way: The English and where the thundering waterfalls careen through gorges
Irish ones are still fighting over, not Ulster which is where unseen by men since the Turks invaded -- there are a
the line gets drawn these days, but Dublin. Dublin. Even the buttload of trees for birds to sit on. These guys think they're
humans settled that one a hundred years ago. sneaky' Not so much. All sorts of politicking and maneu-
vering and impressive speeches when they think no one
So it's unofficial company policy to help these guys
else is listening, but you know what? There's something
out, particularly if they're about to do something stupid.
rotten in Moldavia. We've seen the secret files, the ones
T h e y understand us, who we are and what we do, pretty
about breeding better Bone Gnawers and other fun l i t t l e
well, and if a raven, tells a Fianna he's being a schmuck, the
experiments like that, and it's getting kind of worrisome.
Fianna usually takes it to heart. Memories of Morrigu and
all that, you know. Of course, the kicker is that the Shadow Lords like us.
They understand what we do. They respect the information
Get of Fenris we bring back. They ask intelligent questions about what
we've seen and they know not to push us too hard. We're
There are an awful lot of Get who have Raven as a always welcome at their moots, and they're always unfail-
totem, in his Huginn-and-Munin Teutonic-High-Dudgeon ingly polite to us. That's the really p a i n f u l thing — because
aspect. Because of that, and because of the memories of I have no idea how far we can take friendly relations in
Odin and years past, we get some serious respect from these telling these guys to back off and chill out. I'd hate to make
guys. That's all right; we've had a working partnership in enemies of them because we pushed too hard, but I'd hate
the creation and disposal of carrion for a long, long time.
even more to see them go over to the other side because we
We've both got long memories, and I'm told that the Get said nothing.
don't consider a party a party unless there's at least one of
It's been more than a thousand years since a tribe fell
us there to tell stories and reminisce about the "good old
to the Wyrm. These guys could be next.
days." There's a deep respect for tradition hidden inside a
frat-boy love of carnage, there, Silent Striders
Obviously, you're not going to want to argue politics
with one of Fenris' boys, because they're not much into One of the best vacations you can take is just to follow
anything except for straightforward approaches. Hell, you're a Strider on wanderfahr. Just pick one and go where she goes.
not going to want to argue anything, because it won't do any You'll see things that you never would have found by
good. But if you can stand to bite your tongue and not argue yourself. Just make sure she doesn't know you're tagging
every time a Get says something outrageous, you can get along, or all of a sudden she'll start playing coy and you
some pretty good gossip once the mead starts flowing. might as well be on a tourist bus.
Oh, one important note: Striders carry ghosts like
Glass Walkers fleas, and the ghosts can spot you in a second. Watch out for
that, and if the Strider decides to do a rhumba in the Umbra
Now these jokers have decided that they can get a
(especially the Dark ' u n ) , detach yourself from that peace
bird's eye view by building up to it. Furry vampires, that's
train in a second, son. It gets scary up there, and no sense
what t h e y are — all they need is the hemoglobin jones and
ruining your vacation with it.
they're set. Now there's nothing wrong with moderniza-
tion, and they can make data roll over and do tricks that we
can't, but enough's enough, guys. Gaia doesn't do Urban
Silver Fangs
Primitive, okay? One or the other, not both. There is nothing mote frightening than watching a
Garou foam at the mouth. Cujo's bad enough as a St.
RedTalons Bernard; make him nine feet tall and practically unkillable,
and what you're left with is A Bad Thing. Believe me, there
Animal instinct, animal cunning, and a deadly hate
is very little as freaky as watching a Silver Fang go nucking
for anything that walks on two legs -- that's what Red
Talons are made of. They just want two things from us: futz.
enemy locations and enemy numbers. Beyond that, they Now, when the Fangs are in their right minds they're
don't want to talk much. Oh, a Red Talon w i l l usually be okay guys. Smart, cunninp, tough enough to keep the
polite and point you to the latest corpse he's created, but peanut gallery types (excluding us) in their place, and good
that's about it. They're not genetically programmed for enough t o g e t e v e r y o n e lined u p t o fight t h e g o o d f i g h t - -
once in a while.
small talk.
And don't ever, ever make a dog joke around a Talon, It k i n d a makes you sad, actually. The Fangs could be so
or you'll pull back a bloody stump where that rock on the good, so important... and maybe they were, once upon a
top of your neck used to be. time. That time's gone, though, and the real tragedy is that

52 Corax
even if they knew it, there's no one who could replace
them. So they limp on, and the Garou limp on with them.
Tragic.

Stargazers
If you see a half-dozen Stargazers in a lifetime, you're
doing well. They're almost as rare as we are, and more
unobtrusive. You rarely find Stargazers in the middle of a
fight — no "Let's go kick the Wyrm in the nuts!" for these
guys. Instead, they're the Garou who t h i n k most about
consequences and repercussions, the only ones with real
vision for the long view. It's a refreshing change, you know?
The problem is, when I say rare, I mean rare. Last time
we ran an informal census, these guys clocked in at under
600 — and that includes here and in the Umbra. Problem
is that on the rare occasions when a Stargazer does get
caught in a rumble, he's still caught up in his intellectual
and philosophical ruminations. While he's s t i l l debating
the deconstructionist nature of the throat slash, a couple of
fomor have already kneecapped him and taken a chain saw
to his guts.

Uktena
We talk to them frequently, though they prefer speak-
ing to native-bred Corax than to European-bred ones.
Corvids, they don't care too much where the bird came
from.
The Uktena have a bit of our sensibility, in that they're
all over any mystical secrets they can ferret out. Mundane
stuff, they're not so interested in, but the magical side of
things? They're there with bells on. We a c t u a l l y do the
occasional cooperative project with these guys when we're
onto something good, and need muscle, or they've found
something neat but need altitude and perspective. There's
a lot of trade of info back and forth in the Pacific North-
west, especially. The rest of the t i m e , it's mutual respect at
worst.
The one snag is the whole Trickster deal. We take it
seriously, sure, but every so often an Uktena gets a burr in
his butt to try to out-Raven us — to play tricks on us before
we uncork one on him. Generally, it's the younger ones
who have that sort of problem; older and higher Rank
Uktena realize that there's a method to our madness. It's
just the kids who haven't got enough experience to realize
that no matter how artistic a practical joke they pull, we're
unlikely to appreciate it from the receiving end.

Wendigo
Sunday, Sunday. Sunday, the Wendigo and the Get of
Fenris in a steel-cage grudge match six werewolf lucha, no
holds barred.
Bleah. Yell and scream and howl all you want, Mani-
fest Destiny (as much as it sucked), happened. The land,
the sacred places, the herds — anyone with one clear eye
can see that it's history, man. Time to see what can be saved

53
and what can be earned. I wish they could be made to see I admit, I have no idea what that reason might be, but still,
that, because right now, it's like the whole tribe has a death they're part of the plan. I can't say for sure whether or not
wish. Croatan envy, you know? the Bastet have a reason for being pissed at these guys, but
war is one thing. Genocide is another. I don't ever want to
Animal Crackers hear another cat bitch about the War of Rage again, not
after watching this.
Us and the wolves ain't the only breeds out there with
multiple skins, you know? It's a freakin' zoo on the streets Ananasi
sometimes — b u t not often. There are way too few of us left:
the War of Rage and slow centuries have whittled at us like The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout — and
drinks blood like a bastard. Old Eight Eyes and company are
we're soft pine and they're extras from Sling Blade.
the femmes fatale of the Changing Breed world. They've
You know something scary? I don't think there are
been sold out to the enemy, and there's some sort of
even enough of us left (us meaning Changing Breeds as
metaphysical hostage situation, and they're really trying to
a whole: we've s t i l l got our act together, thankyouverymuch)
be good....but the phrase "bird-eating spiders" keeps leap-
to do our jobs properly. Breeds going extinct: the Mokole,
ing to mind. Sure, they're killer in a fight and for getting out
hiding in the jungles; the Ajaba, bastards though they are,
of a tight spot, but they're tied just a little too closely to the
being hunted down like dogs... err, so to speak, none of this
Wyrm for me to be completely happy schmoozing with one.
is what the marketing boys would call "positive trending."
But anyway, here's the scoop. Bastet
Ajaba You want a bird to tell you about cuts? Oh yeah, I got
yer cats r i g h t here. The Eyes of Gaia, yes. The Brain of
The hyaenas arc past tense. Forget about them. The Gaia? Not so much. So, okay, the kittycats know what's
only thing you'll see of an Ajaba is a vaguely hyaena-shaped going on right in front of them, but they've got no perspec-
blur moving thataway, fast, with a pack of Bastet right tive, see, and definitely no sense of peripheral vision.
behind.
Let me put it another way. Have you ever, ever seen a
All of which has me extremely unhappy. I mean, the cut with so much as the vaguest h i n t of something that
Ajaba got put on this rock for a reason, right? might in some way he related to some emotion that has
some diaphanous resemblance to humility? Me neither. So Nagah
the Eyes of Gaia insist on forcing their own explanation of
events on everything they see. This is not a good thing. You The snakes have style. I'll give them t h a t . They also
hire your scouts to report, not to interpret, because some- never particularly cared for any of the rest of us, particularly
thing always gets lost in that sort of transmission. not us flighty types. They're almost as devious as we are, not
to mention better at hiding, and they've got literal and
And another thing — not only do they have this
figurative poison in them. Now, at this point, the Nagah
superiority kick in where they see themselves better than
seem like they're dead, and we haven't found any proof to
the other breeds, but they've got their own little tribal
the contrary. But I figure they're way too sneaky to get
egoboo thing going, too. King of the Beasts my ass — the
killed like a bunch of amateurs, and if they wanted to play
Simba and the Shadow Lords should compare notes.
dead, they could do it. So I figure they're still at the bottom
Oh, by the way, bite your tongue if you ever hear of their rivers, where even we can't go, and they must be
Morris, Fritz and Sylvester waxing sniffly over the "loss" of hiding something really, really interesting. If you can find\
the Ceilican. For one thing, the other cats weren't sorry to out what it is — and make it out alive — you're gonna make
see the little bastards go — cat magic and insanity are a bad a name for yourself.
combo. For another, they're not dead. And we're about the
only ones who know that little tidbit, fancy that. Nuwisha
Gurahl Raven and Coyote get along just great, and if the
grownups do, there's no reason us kids shouldn't. They're a
Zzzzzzzz...Hibernation for fun and profit. Oh, I know little mote rambunctious, but that's to be expected. Way
everyone thinks that the War of Rage sent the last of the they tell it, Coyote put 'em on this mud ball to teach, and
bears off to the big honeycomb in the sky, but it's PR. There he was nice enough to give them a fun way to do so — and
are a fair number left, snoozing and snoring like bastards, they sure are dutiful kids. Tricks are t h e i r raison d'etre, their
slamming one paw down on the snooze bar on their alarm whole ball of wax, really. With us, practical jokes are
clocks every nine years. diversions or lead-ins. So they're a bit more serious about
As for what they're like when they're awake, well, you their joking, while we use jokes for more serious stuff. But
know how everyone has one big, fat jolly uncle who slips we're Frick and Frack, Heckle and Jekyll with them, and
the kids a beer when Mom and Dad aren't looking, but who that's just fine.
generally has his act thoroughly together and bulls you no
shit? That's the Gurahl in an overweight, hairy nutshell. Ratkin
Kitsune Twitchy noses and cheese underground — not my
favorite combo. The rats are into secrets in the dark, and
Gotta love a walking Hendrix riff... "*zum zum* Fox- they think that putting a roof over their heads protects
y *zum zum* Fox-y...". them from discovery. In most cases, they're even right, but
All jokes aside, the Tengu know more than I do. The not all the time. We've got a pretty good handle on their
stock line is "mischievous fox types," while my reaction is secrets — carrion eaters think alike, you know — and
"sneaky-ass predatory canines who don't mind chowing they're not half so clever as they t h i n k they are. There are
down on eggs." I'm not saying the foxes are bad people, just a lot of them down in the sewers, though. Mark my words:
that I don't trust them. I'm sure in their own way, they do One day they're going to boil up onto the streets and give
important work defending Gaia, yaddada, yaddada, yaddada. the Garou a nasty surprise.
Just as long as they do it somewhere else,
Rokea
Mokole There's only one place we can't go, and that's under-
These guys are hard to find, even for us. The rain forest water. We're ravens, not penguins, after all. So the Rokea
isn't comfortable for us, not by a long shot, and the lizards get away with a ton of stuff we know nothing — and I mean
rarely go anywhere in the Umbra that we frequent. nothing — about. Which, naturally, drives us nuts.
The War of Rage burned them, bad. The Mokole were On those rare occasions when we meet Carcharodon
never what you'd call sociable, but they had no idea what and friends, we maintain altitude and have a nice chat. The
hit them when the doggies went nuts. Let's just say they got sharks are just reflexively dangerous, and it's best not to
a little bitter as a result. What that boils down to is that they tempt them. If you can get one to open up (figuratively, that
maybe be memory of Gaia, but they're not feeling sociable is; literally, it's no problemo) then the stories they tell of
about sharing what they know. We can approach them — what they've seen down there are amazing. If not, well,
respectfully — and our relations aren't at all bad, but they Gaia didn't make us waterproof, and you have to assume it
really don't want to talk to anyone, and we respect that. was for a reason.

Chapter Three: A Bird's Eye View 55

The Miscellaneous Critters the nice ones is a chancy proposition. You never know
when someone's going to send a killer cyborg or three-
Our years, our debts and our enemies are always more headed demon after your lunch date if you spend too much
numerous than we imagine. time with mages. So stay at a safe distance, but if you do get
— Charles Nodier stuck with one as a travel companion, give him back his
Contrary to popular four-footed belief, there are beasts attitude in spades.
on this rock besides us, the Garou, the humans and Wyrm
Baddies Local 666. No one operates in a vacuum. Everyone's
Wraiths
moves have repercussions. For example: A vampire k i l l s Your average ghost is just as friendly as your average
some poor schmo on the street. No big deal, right? person, which is to say your odds of finding Casper are
Wrong. The blood bag kicks it and becomes a wraith, pretty damn low. Ghosts can see everything — one of the
and six weeks later he climbs back into his body to go wreck perks of being a stiff, I suppose — including how l i k e l y
the vampire's neighborhood. While doing so, he stomps someone is to kakk soon. However, they're all schizy as a
through some Black Fury's macrobiotic herb garden and fruitcake, not to mention really freakishly possessive about
she goes on the warpath, which pisses off her usual fae the weirdest things, so you never know what's going to set
clientele, and, well, you get the idea. It all matters. It's all one off.
connected. And we've got to keep an eye out for all of it, The bottom line is, though, that the pour bastards are
because you never know what's going to be important. dead. So if you get a chance to talk to one, do so. It's
educational, and gives you more incentive to stay alive.
Vampires And the fact that these guys can see auras, walk through
The fact that we're bestest buddies with Helios doesn't walls, and sneak into computer banks l i k e a greased gerbil,
necessarily endear us to the vampires of the world. Big all the while being desperate for anyone to talk to, well, that
surprise there, r i g h t ? The thing with vampires is that ain't a bad l i t t l e combo from where we sit.
they're even worse than the Bastet when it comes to
thinking that their plots are the only ones that matter.
Changelings
Now, those plots are complicated and convoluted and Most of the rest of the menagerie misses these guys
usually p r e t t y proactive when it comes to screwing with the entirely. Not us. When someone's got a double-sided soul,
local landscape, so you have to keep an eye out for all of the she kinda stands out. Now. even the geeks'n'freaks who can
details and hidden clauses. It's real easy to miss one little spot the fairies don't take 'em too seriously, seeing their
thing, stumble over a detail, and get some 4000-year old courts and whatnot as intrigue with training wheels. I'm
badass coming down on you for wrecking his millennia-old not so sure that's the right approach to take. Fragile magic's
plan for world conquest. worth something in this world, you know, and we're sup-
Just remember: The Sun is your friend, not theirs, and posed to report on the beautiful things, too.
if you're smart, you'll carry a little piece of him with you.
Mummies
Mages Not what you'd expect — these guys aren't dripping
Yet another bunch of bozos who see everyone else as bandages like they had an accident in a Charmin factory.
bit players in their own l i t t l e Tarantino flick. Yeah, that's Instead, they tike to sit back, watch, and then pick their
right: I was created as a reality deviant for your amusement, spots to come down like a ton of pyramid-shaped bricks. If
laughing boy — I couldn't possibly have some sort of you spot a mummy (and mind you, this is damn hard to do
purpose outside your l i t t l e white walled Yuppie Techno- because they are almost impossible to pick out of a crowd
cratic cubicle hell. Well, I don't need that crap and junior, unless they introduce themselves), something really big is
neither do you. Wizards are condescending at best, homi- about to go down. These turkeys don't mess with nickel and
cidal at worst, and usually nuts regardless. Plus, since dime stuff, so if you find one, make friends. If you can't do
they're always trying to off one another, hanging w i t h even that, at least stay close — and keep an eye on the exits.

56 Corax
 Abominations
I heard some vampire joking about Embracing one of us. Apparently, the punchline was that birds don't have
teeth, the whole image of a Rara Avis trying to bite someone's neck was funny.
Guess what? It ain't so funny. If, Gaia forbid, one of us gets Embraced, and if the Embrace takes, the poor bastard's
doomed. Not one of your long, slow angstful dooms that the vampires love so much, either. We're talking a headfirst
dive into the crapper, effective immediately. First of all. a Corax loses his connection to Helios, instantly. Next, the
Gnosis starts draining out of the schmuck like water through a sieve. Finally, because he's a Sun critter, the whole
"creature of the night" shtick provokes a fatal allergic reaction that coincides with the sun coming up, and that's even
assuming that he's even around to see dawn. Forget "the dark powers of the night." Forget the fangs and the cloaks and
the androgynous sex appeal. Getting Embraced is a death sentence. Pure and simple. There's nothing romantic about
burning to death in agony.
So if the vampires offer to make you immortal, kiddo, back away slowly, don't make eye contact and don't show
fear. Just fly. It'll be the smartest thing you ever do.

Chapter Three: A Bird's Eye View 57

 And they watching him
See his sparkling eye holds no diamond any more
— Steeleye Span, "The King and Queen of England"

Alexei watched the snow swirl around his boots, and note ran into an unintelligible mess. Disgusted, the old Corax
shivered. "I'm getting too old for this," he mumbled to himself, threw the paper away and looked around. The building around
then gave a bitter laugh. He'd been saying the same thing under the Square, even the Metropol Hotel behind him, had almost
his breath for three decades and more, and he kept on getting vanished behind veils of hurrying white. Even if the bird walked
older and older while the work stayed the same. With a shake to across the cobbles in front of him, Alexei mused, his old eyes
dislodge the snowflakes from his hat, Alexei hugged his arms to would miss the target. And that was no good, no good at all.
himself tightly for warmth and stared intently across the square. He closed his eyes and muttered a few words under his breath.
The pigeon -- that was how he always thought of them, as fat, The words were meaningless, just a mnemonic to help him with the
passive pigeons, as due to show any minute. trick he needed to work, but he'd been saying them for all these years
If everything's gone as planned, the spymaster thought to and wasn't in a mood to change now. Deep within, the old man felt
himself, I won't have to be out here much longer. Then again, something change. Satisfied, he opened his eyes.
since when have things gone according to plan? He reached a Everything was crystal clear. The stinging snow, while he
gloved hand into his pocket and extracted the note contained within. still felt its presence, was no longer a hindrance to his eyes.
It couldn't hurt to read the thing once more, that too-familiar Across the Square, he could see a taxi pull up to another hotel,
inner voice of caution warned. Sighing, Alexei complied. That inner while to the left an obviously misguided tourist couple tucked
voice had been right too many times. themselves deeper into their winter coats, and on the ground sat
"Alexei," the note read, "Ploshcad Revolutsii on the 14th, a half-crumpled note. Even with the smudging from the snow,
1700 hours. The bird will be there." That was all, a simple Alexei could easily read the words, hastily scribbled on paper.
declaration of one of the target's movements. From here, it "The bird will be there."
would be up to Alexei and his people to determine what the The bird....
pigeon was carrying, and how badly it needed to be retrieved.
Evenbefore the crack of the rifle fromabove,Alexei wasmoving
The snow blew in thicker gusts, and wet flakes spattered the throwing himself forward and to the left in a flurry of sudden motion.
fragile piece of paper. Alexei looked down, even as the ink on the Thebulletwhined against the stone even as the Coraxrolled to his feet

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 59

and sprinted forward. Another shot followed; the bullet whining plaintively as
it whizzed off into the distance. Alexei permitted himself a small grin, even
as he sprinted for the other side of the Square. The snow was fouling
the sniper's aim, that much was obvious, but the old spy was
suffering from no such problem. He zigged across the open
space, listening for another bullet that never came.
Good, Alexei thought as he sagged to a stop
behind the taxi. The sniper's probably al-
ready out of the hotel, and headed
for cover. Now, time to turn the
tables. He gave a bark of laugh-
ter, a laugh that trailed off into a
croak as a great black raven rose
stubbornly into the storm.

Prelude
Show me a congenital eavesdropper with the
instincts of a Peeping Tom and I will show you the
makings of a dramatist.
— Kenneth Tynan
As f a r back as you could remember, you
always had to know. History, science, which of
your classmates were secretly kissing another be-
hind the bleachers — the subject matter wasn't
important. What mattered, though, was that regard-
less of how inconsequential the information you sought
was, you had it. A secret kept from you could drive you
mad, while the joy of discovery, of knowing, brought you
ecstasy — until the next mystery came along...
.. .or perhaps you found yourself needing more than your
nestmates, who wondered why the antics of the monkeys on the
ground held so much more fascination for you than they did for your
brothers and sisters. One ape dropped something shiny on the ground once,
but when you went to retrieve the treasure, it burned you in a way that nothing
ever had. Startled, you dropped the piece, and watched in shock as a fellow raven
scooped it up. He flapped off, crowing about his prize while you watched in amazement,
all the while knowing that you were different. It wasn't until years later that you
understood the notion of the gold-plated earring...
... or maybe since you were born, you'd been told that you were different,
that Raven had chosen you for his own. The elders in the village let you
grow and play with the other children, but when school ended you were
always taken aside for more instruction, more teaching, more secrets.
You were told early on that you would wear bird-shape, and so you awaited your
First Change with curiosity, and not a little impatience....
There are as many preludes for a Corax character as there are Corax
themselves. Scattered across the globe, drawing equally from bird and man.
Raven's firstborn have no set pattern to their origins. The only
common thread is the need to know more than those around them.
Even from the first moments of life, the influence of the spirit egg
can be felt, pushing the soul to seek, learn and discover. Other
Corax may gather to watch the incipient fledgling, but no
assistance will be offered until the moment the spirit egg
hatches.
Until then, you're on your own — in more ways
than one.

60
TheNotionofCharacter soothe — anonymously — the worst of the new Corax'
birth pangs in the real world. Bitter experience has taught
So you wanna be aCorax, hmm? Well, let's see ifyou've got the raven-folk that the sudden appearance of a talking bird
what ittakes. Suck in that gut; straighten those feathers --preen, from the bathroom mirror is not the best way to calm a
mister, preen like you mean it -- and get one thingstraight: There's hysterical teenager who has suddenly developed feathers
no quick and easy explanation for why we getpicked to be what we and a beak. It is only after the new shifter has calmed down
are. It's not genetics; it's not Raven himself coming down and that the guardian introduces herself, and gives a t h u m b n a i l
saying, "Yo." Instead, it's the pick of women and men -- and birds sketch of explanation as to what's going on.
— who look at a baby or a sick and say, "This one's got potential. Corax don't believe in a rigid mentoring system, nor do
This one's going to beworthy of what we'regiving him." they t h i n k it's a good idea to pull new wereravens from their
You know what? They're almost always right. There's no homes and families to immerse them in Corax culture.
rhyme to it, no reason — just gut instinct. Because if there's oneAfter alt, the reasoning goes, the whole point of being a
thing we know, it's that if you're predictable, you're dead. Corax is finding; things out for yourself. Why set a bad
Playing a Corax is not for everyone. After all, Corax precedent right off the bat. With that in mind, a fledgling's
aren't great fighters, aren't universally loved, talk too much guardian takes an opportune moment, as early on as pos-
and generally tote around a lot of baggage. On the other sible, to give the new wereravena relatively brief overview
hand, Raven's Children have fascinating Gifts, some sur- of the ins and outs of Corax existence, all the while
prisingly effective dirty tricks and a knack for being in the reinforcing the notion that the fledgling needs to go out
middle of the action. and learn the details for himself.
In the end, though, all of that means nothing if you don't And so, for the first year, that's exactly what the new
have a reason for your Corax to be, well, a Corax, A Corax is Corax does. Other raven-folk do make an effort to "watch out
a ball of pure curiosity, wrapped up in barbed-wire nerves and for the new guy," but no one takes a new Corax by the beak and
tossed in the air for the pleasure of the archetypical Trickster. leads him through the ins and ours. A Corax who doesn't
Background and stats are less important in creating a Corax actively go out and find his own answers to all the questions
character than defining and grounding the intense curiosity raised by his new existence is a lousy Corax indeed.
that every Corax has at his core. Both humans and ravens are There is a m e n t o r i n g system among Raven's children,
driven by the need to see what lies below the surface; in a and it doesn't end w i t h just the first year after the Change.
Corax, this compulsion is squared and synergized. If, when Corax love to gossip, after all, and any polite request for
creating a Corax, you can look at the personality you've instruction is usually met with a hours-long lecture, com-
thrown on the page and can honestly see that character risking plete with digressions galore and a pop quiz at the end, to
everything to uncover just one more bit of information, then make sure the youngster has good memory and retention.
you've got a true Corax on your hands. Homid or corvid, New Corax are expected to find their own teachers, how-
Amerind or European or Tengu — the details don't matter. ever— no one's going to come up to them and offer to give
The urge to know is everything. All the rest is commentary. Go lessons. Among the wereravens, even the form of the
and learn every last bit of it — if you've done this right, you education is an education in and of itself.
won't be able to resist doing so anyway.
Later...
The First Year Corax never, ever stop learn ing. It's their whole purpose,
Prospective Corax are not alone. There are no lost keeping information in play instead of static and hidden.
fledgelings among the raven-folk; the process of spirit egg Corax aren't interested in territory; indeed, they prefer to he
creation is too dear for the Corax to allow even one new mobile. Some settle down physically but continue to let their
hatchling to slip through their fingers. Each spirit egg is minds wander in the endless labyrinths of finance, along the
assigned a guardian who takes her duties watching the egg Internet and elsewhere. Others f i n d the lure of the Deep
very seriously. However, once a child — or a raven — gets Umbra irresistible in the end, and eventually wing their way
tagged, Corax will make a point of dropping by to observe off into the endless twilight. Some stay solo and keep moving,
the new blood every so often, just in case. always digging for more secrets in a world reluctant to give
It's only when the spirit egg cracks wide open that them up. A few find companions they can trust and work with,
things get frantic. The screech of a new Corax spirit alerts and stay with a "pack" or some such as much as they are able,
every predator in the Umbral vicinity, meaning that if the but these are rare.
egg's guardian doesn't get back to her charge in a hurry, But Corax never stop learning, never stop seeking
there's going to be a crowd of hungry unfriendlies — secrets to uncover, and preserving testimonies of the dead.
everything from Banes to wandering Black Spiral Dancers To do so, even for an instant, would be to renounce all that
— descending upon the site of the- hatching egg. it means to be Corax. There's always more to know, after
With any luck, the guardian makes it back in time to all, and more folk to share the story with. Thank Gaia for
shepherd the spirit egg through the hatching process and to that.

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 61

Traits
Look, every day out there we trade with hustlers, deal-
makers, shysters, con-men. That's the way businesses get
started. Thta's the way this country was built
-- Hubert Allen
Folks who turn into birds — or birds who turn into
folks — just aren't natural. They can do all sorts of odd
things, after all — and if you're going to be telling a story
involving wereravens, you need a way to express how
exactly a Corax' unique weirdness functions. Fortunately,
in Werewolf: the Apocalypse, you have a perfect tool for
doing so.
Corax, obviously, don't work quite the same way that
Garou do. That's why they're in their own book, instead of
being tucked into the buck of Werewolf, after all. How-
ever, the basics of Werewolf still hold for running Corax
characters; character creation proceeds similarly with only
a few key exceptions (the lack of an auspice being one).
Points get assigned to Attributes, Abilities and so on in
exactly the same way. There are just a few differences:
• Silver does not affect Corax in any particular way.
Gold, on the other hand, does the same thing to wereravens
that silver does to the Garou.
• Corax have no auspices.
• The Delirium of the Crinos form is lessened, affect-
ing onlookers as if their Willpower were two points higher.
• The new Traits described here can be used in
conjunction with or to supersede the ones mentioned in
Werewolf.
So much for rules. Once all of the dots are scribbled
down on the character sheet, that's when the real differ-
ences between wolf and raven show up. Corax aren't
Garou. Werewolves and wereravens don't think alike,
don't act alike, and weren't created by Gaia for the same
reason. Expecting a Corax to be just a werewolf with wings
and some new Gifts is missing the point. The stats and toys
given in this chapter are nice, but in the end, they're
window dressing, ways of explaining what simply is in the
World of Darkness. It's the personality that earns the raven
his wings.

NatureandDemeanor
You can use the optional Nature and Demeanor rules
if you like (see Werewolf Players Guide), but bear in mind
that Corax tend to be relatively uncomplicated people. As
such, there's frequently similarity or even congruence be-
tween a Corax' true self and the face he puts on for the
world, Corax just don't have time to engage in deceptions
over that sort of thing. Corax are who they are, and they
frankly don't care if the rest of the world doesn't like them
— as long as the rest of the world listens.

62
Character Creation Chart
Character Creation Process Backgrounds
Step One: Character Concept See also Backgrounds, pp. 70.
— Select Nature and Demeanor • Allies: Your friends among ravens, humans and even
— Choose Breed (homid or corvid) other supernaturals
— Choose Geographic Origin (Amerind, European, • Contacts: Useful people and other critters whom
Russian, Asian) you know and can call on
Step Two: Attributes • Fetish: A magical item containing a bound spirit and
— Prioritize Attributes (7 Primary, 5 Secondary, 3 Tertiary) possessing certain powers
— Assign Physical Attributes: Strength, Stamina, Dexterity •: Kinfolk: Humans and ravens free from the Delirium
who know you for what you are; relatives and friends with
— Assign Social Attributes: Charisma, Manipulation,
Appearance a touch of the raven blood in them.
• Other People's Secrets: Something important you
— Assign Mental Attributes: Perception, Intelligence, Wits
know that you have no business knowing
Step Three: Abilities
• Past Life: Your connection to your Corax heritage
— Prioritize the three categories: Talents, Skills and
and the Legendary ravens of days gone by
Knowledges (13/9/5)
• Resources: The amount of money and other crassly
— Choose Talents, Skills and Knowledges
material goods that you own or have access to
Step Four: Select Advantages
• Rites: The number and/or potency of the rites that
— Choose Backgrounds (5) you have learned
— Choose Gifts (3 of selection given by breed) • Umbral Maps: The depth and breadth of your
— Choose Renown (2 Wisdom, 1 other) knowledge of the Umbra
Step Five: Finishing Touches
-- Record Rage (1) Gifts
— Record Gnosis (6) Breed determines (barely) the Gifts you can choose
— Record Willpower (3) from to start with.
-- Record Rank ( 1 )
— Spend Freebie Points (15)
Renown
— Pick Merits and Flaws (if desired) All Corax begin with at least 2 Wisdom Renown. They
— Add Raven's special presents (1 point each in have one other Renown point to distribute wherever they
Subterfuge, Enigmas and Dodge) wish — Wisdom, Honor or Glory.

Breed Rank
See also Breeds, pp. 64 All characters begin as Rank One.
• Corvid: You were born a raven and lived as a bird Rage,GnosisandWillpower
u n t i l your spirit egg hatched and new vistas opened to your
gaze. Now you'd never go back to the way things were. 1 Rage; 6 Gnosis; 3 Willpower.
Restricted Abilities: Computer, Law, Linguistics,
Medicine, Politics, Science
Bonus Ability: Flight 2 FreebiePointCosts
Beginning Gifts: Voice of the Mimic, Enemy Ways, Trait Cost
Word Beyond, Raven's Gleaning Attributes 5 per dot
• Homid: Raised a normal human, you were an easily Abilities 2 per dot
distracted chatterbox. The reason for this became apparent Backgrounds 1 per dot
at your First Change when you learned the truth of your Gifts 7 per dot (Level 1 only)
heritage. Rage 1 per dot
Restricted Ability: Flight
Gnosis 2 per dot
Beginning Gilts: Voice of the Mimic, Enemy Ways,
Willpower 1 per dot
Morse, Word Beyond

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 63

 Bird-born Corax tend to have their First Change after
Attributes eight to 10 months of life, and after that, live the normal
While the way you distribute the dots assigned to human span of years. This is quite a bit longer than the
your character's Attributes are, ineluctably, up to you, usual raven life span, and the added duration has been laid
there are certain basic lines that most Corax tend to at the feet of the extra vitality provided by the spirit egg.
fall along. Mental Attributes are usually primary, while Then again, maybe it's just Helios being nice.
Social and Physical duke it out for second and third Corvid-breed Corax are a trifle cliquish, sometimes
place. After all, the most important thing for a Corax finding excuses to dismiss homid Corax as airborne
is to know — everything else is just window dressing. wannabes. The bird-breeds are also more easily distracted
• Physical — Corax are simply not built for by bright objects than are their earthborn kin, but make up
Strength. If a wereraven specializes in anything Physi- for this with a keener eye and more grace in the air.
cal, it's Dexterity, which lends itself nicely to in-flight Bird-born Corax are loquacious, but more so in bird
use. Long-distance flyers and the Sun-lost often have form than in human. Most are equally at home in bird-talk
a little extra in the way of Stamina. or human speech, but claim to find the Corax tongue so
• Social — Few Corax have much in the way of much more expressive and detailed than any human lan-
Appearance per se, though more than a few do have a guage could ever be. Corvids also have less of a sense of
certain gothy, anemic appeal. Manipulation is usually personal property than do their homid cousins, and full-
a Corax' focus here, with specialties directed toward blown kleptomania is rampant — particularly theft of shiny
gossip or information-gathering. Charisma is also a things. Unfortunately, this category covers things like
favorite, for those Corax who prefer to charm rather gems, jewelry, watches and other items that humans nor-
than to trick their sources of information. mally hold pretty dear, and that means that corvids don't
• Mental -- These traits are by far the most need any help getting themselves into trouble when trying
important to a Corax. Perception is the most impor- to deal with humans.
tant, allowing a Corax to pick up pertinent details — Like lupus Garou, corvids can only purchase certain.
fast. While raw Intelligence is valued, the ability to Abilities with freebie points during character creation (see
t h i n k on one's feet is usually more of an effective the chart for specifics). They make up for this by gaining
survival characteristic. This is especially true when two free dots of Flight (see later on), and by a little more
one considers the penchant most Corax have for resistance to gold in their breed form; no Corax suffers the
getting themselves into situations where thinking fast adverse effect of gold in Homid, but corvid-breeds are able
becomes a matter of life and death. to soak damage from gold while they're in their breed form.
Of course, gold still causes aggravated damage to any Corax
in Corvid, and they still suffer Gnosis loss from contact
Breeds with gold as usual.

The r i t e for creating a new Corax takes a lot out of a Homid

would-be- parent— three permanent Gnosis, to be precise Yeah, I heard about the gig. I also heard that Roger is going
-- so it's not like there are a lot of new ones being born. to be there with a few bodyguards -- word from Roarkh is that
There is literally no way to perform the rite on the offspring they're fomori -- and that he's looking to spike the mass-brewed
of two Corax, which means that there are no metis pisswater they have coming out of the taps with some sort of
were ravens. ( N u w i s h a claim that there are no Corax metis Wyrm-based teratogenic agent -- that's from Gore, in case you
because the birds can't stop t a l k i n g long enough to climb were wondering -- that's going to smack all the kids who order
into bed, but that's just a vicious rumor.) As a result, there a brew a couple of weeks down the line, so the trail's not obvious.
arc only two breeds of Corax: homid and corvid. However, So the question is, which of the people I can talk to is most
there's no real social division along breed lines among the likely to be able to screw this whole deal up? Benjamin? He's the
Corax. Who can afford to limit one's sources of informa- big Shadow Lord who lives in the Haight, right? Good thought.
tion, after a l l ? Oh, and spread the word -- no one's going to want to miss this
party.
Corvid "He was edgy. Didn't have too many friends. Said a lot of
Trade stories? Sure! What do you want to know? I've seen strangethings, but no one around here took him too seriously."
the vampires gathering and the Garou at their moots, the secrets These are the words that have been used to describe' any
behind the silver glass of the towers and the things hidden in number of mild-mannered citizens who've flipped out and
dumpsters in alleys. I drank a dead man's eye yesterday as he lay climbed water towers while toting automatic rifles. Unfortu-
bleeding in the street, and saw -- one moment. nately, the same phrases also apply to homid Corax. Thin,
Sorry about that. Saw a new quarter in the street. It called paler than the norm, and relentlessly twitchy, human-bom
to me. Look at it shine! Corax are often misdiagnosed as having Attention Deficit

64 Corax
his order. They tend to gravitate toward jobs that grant a lot
of mobility — bicycle courier, magazine stringer, treasure
hunter and the like — and tend to rack up and lose huge
fortunes w i t h alarming frequency. (A distinct minority of
Corax go into accounting or finance. They feel that there are
better secrets — not to mention a higher information turnover
— to be found there than in any other field.) Older Corax, at
least European-bred ones, tend toward the jeans-and-T-shirt
look while young, but grow compulsively more formal as they
get older, and not a few drift into the excessive formality of
Dickensian attire.
Homid Corax aren't quite as obviously birdlike as their
corvid kin, but they're still prone to making quick, d a r t i n g
movements and to walking on the halls of their feet,
birdlike. There's often a streak of mild kleptomania among
humid Corax, who like pocketing shiny objects just 'cause
they can.
Corax are also capable of getting quite intense once
their attention is focused. A Corax whose interest has been
piqued — or whose ire has been aroused — can achieve an
almost psychotic level of focus on a particular problem until
it is solved. Cases like this are rare, thankfully, and most of
the time a homid can go back to his preferred state:
networking, gossiping and setting others on the track of the
d i r t y work that needs to be done.
There are a few differences between the European and
and more Native American Corax, of course. While Native
American Corax are aware of Raven's role as Trickster
(which they take very seriously), they also know a slightly
less publicized aspect of Raven's character — that of pro-
tector. After all, it was Raven who found some of the first
mortals, naked and huddling in a clam shell, and who
decided to take p i t y and protect them. With that in mind,
Corax from tribes, including the Tlingit and Salish tend to
form stronger with their communities than do Euro-
pean Corax, and to return or stay home more frequently.
These Corax are also more willing to fight t h a n ones of
European descent, but only in the defense of their commu-
nities or the helpless. After all, Raven himself did the same.
Corax from certain Northwest Native American commu-
nities with a high Kinfolk concentration are often i d e n t i -
fied as Corax well before the First Change. As a result, their
K i n community trains them in their potentials, and respon-
sibilities prior to the moment of t r u t h .
Homid Corax can only purchase Flight with freebie
points or experience points; they can't begin the game with
the A b i l i t y in any other way.

ThePerks
Being a Corax isn't exactly like being anyone else.
There are a few modifications that Gaia (and Raven, and
Helios) has made to the basic model to allow the raven-folk
to fulfill their jobs more efficiently. Of course, there's
always a price to pay for that sort of thing, and for each
bonus the Corax got, there's a downside. On the other
hand, ask any Corax if she'd willingly trade the positives to difficulty on any scent-related roll is increased by 2. These
get rid of the negatives and she'll laugh in your face. effects only manifest when the Corax is in non-Homid
(Then she'll probably steal your wallet, slip a dead (that is, Corvid or Crinos) form. When in Homid, a Corax'
mouse in your pocket and take off, but that's your problem. senses are human normal.
We're just talking things from the Corax perspective here,
bud.) LightBones
If you're going to fly, you'd better not be built like a
Flight middle linebacker. Big, beefy guys tend not to have good
The best part of being a wereraven is t h a t after First lift. Instead, the vast majority of Corax are whip-thin and
Change, you don't have to earn your wings. You get the corded with muscle — and have extremely light bones.
ability to fly automatically. Obviously, flight is only pos- After all, every little bit helps.
sible in Crinos and Corvid forms, but even so, that's better Of course, in Corvid form a Corax' bones are actually
than what most folks get. hollow, but even when she shifts to Crinos or Homid, her
Even without the Flight Ability (see page 68), every bones stay far lighter than is human norm. There's no
Corax is capable of flight, even if it's clumsy, basic flapping. decrease in a Corax skeleton's loadbearing capacity be-
(Note: It is assumed that every raven-breed Corax has at cause of this fact, and in the meantime, the wereraven has
least two dots' worth of Flight, seeing as they had to get a leg — or a wing — up on shifting back into a flight-
around somehow before the First Change. Homids, on the capable shape.
other hand, are an entirely different kettle of fish.) That Above and beyond the obvious advantages a lighter
includes the ability to achieve actual liftoff, as well as the skeleton gives a Corax in flight, there are a few other
knack of landing safely — something that many would-be effects. The difficulty for Athletics (and Dodge, if the
fliers sadly overlook. Storyteller deems it appropriate) rolls are reduced by 1 for
A Corax is capable of a solid hour of flying without all Corax. After all, there's less mass for them to move. The
tiring, and does not need to he taught how to do this. The flip side is that when a Corax does get clocked, he really
knowledge is instinctual. Furthermore, airborne Corax can feels it. Any sort of crushing attack on a Corax (bludgeon,
reach altitudes of up to 1000 feet. club, fists, 2x4, etc.) hits him especially hard. So hard, in
On the down side, the fact that a Corax can fly means fact, that the Corax' soak pool is reduced by one die, and for
that she pretty much has a psychological compulsion to do every Health Level of damage indicted, the Corax staggers
so. A Corax who doesn't get out for at least a good flap back two feet. (Note: This is usually the Corax' cue to shift
around the neighborhood once every few days gets nervous, forms and fly the hell away.)
edgy and i r r i t a b l e . Long-term groundings cause disorders
like depression and uncontrolled rage. Sparkly Things!
Having an eye for detail can be a good thing — unless
Altered Senses there's one particular sort of detail that you feel to com-
Gaia created the raven-folk to be her spies and infor- pelled to check out every single time. For the Corax, that
mants. Myopic spies and blurry-eyed informants tend not particular obsession comes in a b r i g h t , shiny package.
to bring back much in the way of useful information. With Simply put, Corax are utterly unable to resist checking out
that in mind. Gaia blessed the Corax with sharp vision. anything that shines, sparkles or gleams. Sometimes this is
Gaia's little present allows Corax to see things in greater good, allowing a wereraven to pick up anything from loose
and sharper detail than most creatures. Furthermore, it also change to gems to lost keys to, well, Gaia knows what.
lends itself to aerial spotting, enabling a wereraven to have Sometimes the obsession is indifferent when it compels a
a crystal-clear image of those things he sees from above. Corax to check out bits of broken glass or crumpled cello-
The problem is that Gaia likes balance. That means phane. And sometimes the obsession is very, very bad —
that there's a corresponding negative for the visual positive like when it compels a Corax to make a grab for something
that all Corax possess. In this case, it's a question of smell. made of gold, or allows an enemy to bait an irresistible trap
While wereravens aren't completely cut off from olfactory with nothing more than a piece of aluminum foil.
input, they're not bloodhounds by any stretch of the imagi- Under normal circumstances, a Corax spotting some-
nation. All but the strongest, most pungent odors slide thing shiny feels compelled to check it out, at least visually,
right past Corax. Considering what ravens eat, this is With a Manipulation + Subterfuge roll (difficulty 6), this
probably a blessing; even so, the expression of this condi- can be done without being obvious. Furthermore, a Corax
tion means that every so often the Corax miss something can make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) or bum a Will-
that a good whiff might have uncovered. power point to ignore the summons of something bright,
In game terms, this means that the difficulty on all shiny and sparky.
vision-related rolls is dropped by 2 for Corax, but the (Note: This effect crosses form and breed lines. Homids
are not immune, nor are Corax in Homid form.)

66 Corax
Blabbermouthing
Corax love to talk. Correction, they love to talk. That's
primarily due to the fact that Gaia, who didn't want the raven
kin to hold out on any pertinent details, gave the bird-folk a
compulsion to keep talking.. .and talking.. .and talking. That
means that Corax tend to be regarded as bigmouths by anyone
they're around, regardless of form or breed. This means that
often, it's hard for a Corax to get anyone to take some thing she
says seriously. ("Raina said that? Oh, she's always saying stuff like
that. Ignore her.") After a l l , if you're constantly talking, sooner
or later your conversation turns into white noise, and your
companions unconsciously tune you out. Even those who
should know better — Gurahl, Uktena and the like —
sometimes have a hard time convincing themselves that it's
worth it to separate wheat from chaff in Corax babble.
In addition, talking all of the time means that you're
always talking about something, and Corax hate to repeat
themselves. That means that sooner or later, a Corax is
going to run out of comments on the state of the Mets'
outfield, or the salmon run, or the quality of the grub put out
at the Tower, and be reduced to talking about "the impor-
tant stuff" — secrets — things that Corax shouldn't be
blabbing about to anyone but other Corax. Needless to say,
this can cause problems — a spilled secret can cause all sorts
of trouble in no time at all.
Corax, thus, are at a disadvantage (+ 1 difficulty) when
making any roll that relates to their holding t h e i r tongues,
keeping quiet, or otherwise refraining from speaking. And
yes, this includes those Willpower rolls to avoid snapping
back that last one-liner to a really big, ugly Garou whom the
rest of your pack has just managed to calm down from a fit
of homicidal mania....
Of course. Corax don't talk all of the time. If they did,
they would do a rotten job of the task Gaia's set for them.
Besides, a player who felt compelled to talk all the time
during gameplay "because it's in character" would probably
get himself throttled ( j u s t i f i a b l y ) by the rest of his gaming
group. The thing to remember is that with a Corax, it's
more a matter of not being able to stop talking once you
start, or not being able to bite your tongue on a one-liner,
or not being able to keep a secret that's really really good, or
not being able to let anyone else get the last word in.

GoldandSilver
Garou, and indeed most Changing Breeds, are crea-
tures of Luna. As a result, silver is a deadly enemy to even
the mighty Garou.
For the Corax, though, things are a litrle different.
Wereravens are completely immune to the effects of silver,
and indeed many Corax proudly wear silver jewelry. (They
do this for two reasons: because silver sparkles nicely, and
because it drives Garou crazy.) This immunity derives from
the simple fact that Corax are linked to the Sun, and not
 bird's) actual birth. Instead, through a rite enacted in the
ExistingTraits Umbra, a spirit egg gets bound into the future Corax (often
Needless to say, there are an awful lot of books a child of a Corax, but never the child of two). Eventually,
with the Werewolf: The Apocalypse logo on them this egg hatches; the young Corax undergoes First Change
out there, chock full of the sorts of Traits available to and all of the local Corax rush to the side of the fledgling
to defend her from any Umbral predators who might have
characters. With that in mind, here's a listing of a few
that might make sense to use when creating a corax heard her "birth pangs."
character Furthermore, every Corax begins with three points of
Renown. Two of these points must be put into Wisdom.
• Abilities
The third can be assigned to Wisdom, Honor or Glory at
Alertness. Dodge, Empathy, Streetwise, Subter-
player discretion.
fuge, Stealth. Survival. Enigmas, Investigation, Ritu-
als, Instruction, Mimicry, Disguise, Escapology
• Backgrounds Abilities
Allies, Contacts, Resources It was raining in New Jersey when Raina landed. Fortu-
• Merits nately, she hadn't hit the rain until the last minute; a look at the
Concentration, Eidetic Memory, Time Sense, Jack Weather Channel and a chat with some Storm-spirits had let her
of all Trades, Computer Aptitude, Luck, Favor map a flight plan that was mostly free of precipitation. For that,
• Flaws Raina was thankful. It was hard enough walking into something
Dark Secret, Overconfident, Short that was surely a trap; walking into a trap tired from a rough
flight was much, much worse, not to mention being potentially
No-Nos fatal.
She shifted, frowned, looked around and shook once,
There are also a fair number of Traits that are
reflexively. The shipping depot in front of her was deserted,
e i t h e r inappropriate or unusable for Corax characters.
closed because of a strike and too far off into the hinterlands for
There arc too many to list here, but many (Fair Glabro,
anyone to bother picketing it. Trucks sat idle and rusting in
for example) are obvious. Some of the most important
the acres of parking log while rain streaked down the windows of
banned Traits are listed below.
the main depot itself. No one was around, not even a security
• Abilities
guard. There was no sound save the swishing of the rain down
Kailindo (for Garou only, obviously) the depot's drainpipes, and a car backfiring somewhere off in the
• Merits & Flaws distance.
Berserker, Pack Mentality, Territorial, Sign of the "Gotta be a trap," Raina said to herself and marched
Wolf, Moon-Bound, Silver Tolerance, Twisted Up- straight for the depot's doors. Inside, a single light came on.
bringing, Fair Glabro, Monstrous, Wolf Years Raina saw the glow and smiled.
There are things the Corax specialize in that no
the Moon. As such, silver has no hold on Raven's children, member of any other Changing Breed can come close to
and they flaunt this fact. attempting. Flying is the obvious example, but there is a
Gold, on the other hand, is an entirely different whole slew of Abilities that the Corax have spent millennia
matter. Gold affects Corax in Corvid and Rara Avis forms perfecting and honing to a frightening degree, and teaching
the way silver affects Garou, which is to say, badly. Skin other Corax how they are done.
contact with gold causes an aggravated wound every turn, These Abilities are designed to be plugged in as addi-
w h i l e every successful attack an opponent makes with a tions to the basic Abilities available to every Corax at
gold weapon causes an aggravated wound, regardless of the character creation. Don't worry if you don't have room on
niceties of the damage roll. Furthermore, each gold item the sheet or freebie points with which to buy them; the
carried by a Corax reduces his Gnosis score by 1 until such actual Ability just represents a degree of special expertise
time as he discards the offending piece. Needless to say, and focus of study. A Corax who doesn't take Flight will
most Corax abstain from carrying any gold at all, but do still he able to get off the ground; a Corax who doesn't take
adorn themselves with silver — just in case. Gossip can still pass on a juicy rumor with the best of them.
It's just the fine points that are missed in cases like those.
Rules NewTalent:Flight
TheBasics Alone among the Changing Breeds, Corax can fly.
More than that, the wereravens love to fly, taking every
A l l Corax start with 3 Willpower, 6 Gnosis and a opportunity to spread their wings and get some altitude. A
single point of Rage. There are no metis Corax, as the Corax who doesn't excel at Flight is likely to take a lot of
process of becoming Corax is independent of a child's (or

68 Corax
flak — of the verbal kind — from his cousins u n t i l he gets Specialties: Rumormongering, Misinformation, Sift-
good at it. ing for the Truth
While all Corax have the ability to fly from Point A to
Point B w i t h o u t crash-landing along the way. Flight dem- New Knowledge: Cryptography
onstrates a wereraven's knack for serious aerial agility. You know some form of encrypting and decoding
Corax with Flight can navigate more accurately, squeeze information for transmission. Implicit in this knowledge is
through smaller spaces while airborne and perform more also an understanding of basic encryption techniques and
and more complicated acrobatic maneuvers. The talent theory. You can recognize when someone is trying to pass
also covers such related acts as pulling out of falls, landing encrypted information in front of you (usually) and have a
on precarious surfaces, and picking things up without reasonable chance, assuming you are given time and re-
landing first. sources, of cracking any code or encrypt ion scheme you are
• Novice: You can take off and land without crash- faced with. You also know at least one code (Morse,
ing too often. perhaps) that is your default method of hiding data.
•• Practiced: Trees and buildings are no obstacle. (And yes, we know this is a kludge. It's a game. Deal
••• Competent: You can weave through brambles with it.)
and skyscrapers with equal ease. • Novice: Ix-nay on the ode-cay.
• • • • Expert: No natural creature can keep up with you •• Practiced: You can crack basic ciphers.
in the air. ••• Competent: You've begun to understand the
• • • • • Master: Immelmans and barrel rolls? Blindfolded? theory behind the practice.
No problem. • • • • Expert: You know the why as well as the how of
Possessed by: Corax, and no one else who really most encryption schemes.
matters • • • • • Master: Alan Turing and you, together again,
Specialties: Combat Maneuvers, Tailing, High-Alti- Possessed by: Spies, Paranoids, NSA agents, Linguists
tude Surveillance, Dive-bombing, Aerobatics Specialties: Morse, Software encryption, Military se-
crecy, Decryption, Black Ops
New Skill: Gossip
There's tattling, there's gossip, and then there's what NewKnowledge:Navigation
the Corax do. Handled properly, Gossip is so much more Getting from Point A to Point B isn't always that easy,
than hearing a story from one person and passing it on to especially from the air. After all, when seen from above,
the next. It involves coercing additional details from infor- roads don't have route numbers, states don't have neat
mants, and earning the confidence of those who "really borders done in double-thick black lines, and there's no
aren't supposed to say anything." Gossip is also the fine art compass rose or legend reading "1 inch = 10 miles" in the
of starting and spreading rumors, and directing the flow of lower right-hand corner of the world. It's pretty easy for
informarion once it leaves your lips (or beak). Finally, there someone to get lost up there.
are always the nuances of altering information or dreaming Mind you, traveling on the ground isn't much easier,
up misinformation, so that only the words you want public and truth be told, there's more to Navigation than just
get passed along. This is a wonderful way to confound hopping in the car for a jaunt to Grandma's house. Travel
enemies, discredit rivals, and make sure that no one but you in the World of Darkness is a difficult and dangerous
knows the whole truth. business, by day or night. There are questions of finding the
Assuming, of course, that no one was practicing a best route, avoiding delays, prepping for a trip, making sure
similar sort of deception on you. there are safe places to rest up along the journey, and
• Novice: Joseph told me that Chris liked Gretchen discovering what alternate routes are available in case of
because she was cute...amateur stuff. inclement travel conditions or enemy action. Otherwise, a
•• Competent: The Walter Winchell of the school trip from one city to the next could be cut fatally short with
cafeteria. ease.
••• Practiced: You reign supreme at the office water • Novice: Over the river and through the woods...
cooler. •• Practiced: You can avoid delays whenever traveling.
• • • • Expert: You know exactly what's going on — and ••• Competent: You can plot a cross-country trek and
share some of what you know. make it comfortable,
• • • • • Master: You can drop a rumor onto the Net and • • • • Expert: Roadblocks? Bad weather? Nothing will
hear it reported back to you as the "next big thing" keep you from getting there.
within the hour. • • • • • Master: You know the fastest way to go, where to
Possessed by: Gossip Columnists, Maiden Aunts, Net stop along the way, what the weather's going to be
Bigshots

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 69

 like when you get there, and how much to tip
when you stop for coffee — ahead of time. Language
Possessed by: Corvids, Silent Striders, truckers, travel The Corax speak their own language, a guttural
agents, fugitives and harsh combination of clicks, whistles and calls
Specialties: Aerial navigation, Fast fades, Cross-coun- that's nearly impossible for anyone not of the raven-
try treks, Getaways folk to imitate. (There are a few Garou and Bastet who
have managed it, but the Corax uniformly dismiss
Backgrounds these linguistic pioneers. After all, they speak Corax
with an accent.)
Very few other creatures can understand the Corax In any case, every wereraven acquires perfect and
mind-set. The common complaint is that others — Garou, innate knowledge of the Corax tongue at the moment
h u m a n s , whoever — "just can't understand where the of First Change, when the spirit egg hatches. The
Corax is coming from." language is surprisingly versatile, and a Corax can
Those who complain in this fashion are more right paint a detailed picture of a situation or tableau in just
than they know. The Corax literally do have a perspective a few whistles and clicks. Indeed, many Corax can
that no one else on the planet shares, combining the work a Corax conversation (Wits + Linguistics, diffi-
curiosity and innovation of humanity with the nervous culty 7) into human-language conversation, passing
energy and ability to gain distance of the raven-folk. Corax vital information along under the noses of eavesdrop-
are used to seeing the whole picture from above, not from pers.
eye level, and as such, wereravens aren't always on the same
page with everyone else. scended from a line of snaggle-beaked, ragged-feathered
ravens. The Corax prefer to judge i n d i v i d u a l s on their own
Forbidden merits, and any bird who attempts to play off of his "noble
There are certain Backgrounds in Werewolf that are ancestors" is likely to find himself shunned for his arro-
unavailable to Corax. First among them is Mentor. Corax gance.
don't form a particular attachment to any other member of Finally, seeing as Corax don't run in packs of any sort,
the breed, instead flitting from teacher to teacher learning the Totem Background (devoted as it is to the good of the
what each can pass on. The society as a whole mentors each pack) doesn't make a whole lot of sense to them. Instead,
Corax to the best of its ability, and doesn't give any Raven adopts each Corax individually and, in times of
particular bird special treatment. Even Amerind and Tengu extreme need, does help out a bit in his own special way.
Corax spend some time kicking around with the rest of the The form that help takes can range from the loan of a
species, making the notion of a single mentor obsolete. temporary spirit ally to an earth-shattering act of interven-
Pure Breed is dismissed as an elitist notion by the tion to a message in a Magic 8-Ball. It all depends on what
Corax. If you're a screwup, the rest of the breed frankly sort of mood Raven's in at the time.
doesn't care that your grandfather was the spitting image of For more information on how Raven treats his chil-
what a Corax ought to be. However, it you've accomplished dren, see page 71.
something spectacular, it won't matter that you're de-
NewBackgrounds
Lineage
Unlike any other of the Changing Breeds, Corax ' Other People's Secrets
don't pass on a changing gene per se to their children. Corax know things. That's what they're all a about, after
Instead, they have spiritual as well as physical descen- all — knowing things. Furthermore, Corax have a mandate
dants, sacrificing some of their psychic energy to create from Gaia to uncover things that other folks want to keep
the next generation of wereravens. That means that hidden. A wereraven with this background is already one
lineage can be a tricky matter for a Corax whose family step ahead of the game, and has uncovered something that
may be strictly human but whose psychic heritage she has absolutely no business knowing. The secret could
bounces back and forth between homids and corvids. belong to another Corax, or it could be a tidbit about
That's not to say that Corax don't bear great another supernatural creature, it might be something relat-
respect for those who gave of themselves so that the ing to one individual, or it could be a secret relating to a race
Breed might continue, and many Corax speak with (or Breed) as a whole. It could even he the knowledge of a
pride of the deeds of the wereravens who passed along particular Gift or rite normally unavailable to Corax,
some of their Gnosis to bring them into the Corax fold. The point is, however, that a Corax with this back-
However, respect is as far as it goes; the idea is to better ground knows something she shouldn't. Other Corax will
the deeds of your predecessor, nor merely repeat them. try to coerce the secret out of her, while those whose beans
have been spilled may come looking for vengeance.
70 Corax
 Note: Someone Else's Secrets works in a fashion simi- them out from under his thumb. Mind you, it's not such a bad
lar, but not identical, to the Background: Secrets in Bastet, deal: In addition to being exempt from Raven's Ban, Corax get
Secrets, w h i l e applicable to Corax as well, has a generic their totem absolutely gratis. Furthermore, Raven grants each
connotation to it. Other People's Secrets, on the other of his feathered children one point each in Subterfuge, Enigmas
hand, has a d e f i n i t e l y nasty and d i r t y connotation to it. A and Dodge. Plus, Raven's only condition on the Corax is that
Corax w i t h this Background knows dangerous, potentially they whisper every secret they learn into the air, so that be
fatal things — this goes far beyond gossip. might hear it. After all, Raven reasons, with hollow bones,
• A small secret multiple compulsive behaviors, a community fragmented around
• • A Gift, rite or other moderately important matter the globe and a nasty habit of talking too much, the Corax
••• A mutter of life and death for someone deserve a break from somebody. Of course, even Raven will
revoke his blessings if the Corax in question screws up or proves
• • • • Not earth-shattering, but important on a city-
completely unworthy. Nothing's free.
wide scale
• • • • • Something no Corax should have a right to know
-- such as a Yava or the sleeping place of an Forms
Antediluvian Corax have three forms, one of which they try to avoid as
much as possible. While wereravens are equally at home with
Umbral Maps skin or feathers, it's when the two get mixed that things get
Corax run the Umbra as well as, if not better than, embarrassing. As such, most Bete literally have no idea what
anyone. Apart from the Nuwisha, the Corax spend more a Corax in Crinos actually looks like, and many will deny that
time in the Umbra than anyone else, and over the millen- such a form exists. For their own part, the Corax try to
nia the raven-folk have searched out routes, paths and safe encourage that rumor. Unfortunately, this policy has back-
back alleys through the Velvet Shadow. More to the point, fired; ill-informed Garou, upon seeing a Crinos Corax for the
they've communicated this knowledge and disseminated first time, have been known to mistake the Rara Avis for a new
it, meaning that chances are pretty good that any given and particularly ugly breed of fomor.
wereraven has a chance of knowing at least a few safe routes
and safe places in the Umbra. Corax with this background Form Statistics
also have a shot at knowing where the local unsafe places Crinos Corvid
are, what lives in them, and possibly, how to lure unfriendly
Str: +1 Str: -1
creatures into those places where visitors aren't welcome.
Sta: +1 Sta: +0
• One or two safe paths and a hidey-hole or two
Dex: +l Dex: +1
• • Multiple routes to frequent destinations
App: -1 App: +0
••• Knowledge of safe zones, routes practically any
Man: -2 Man: -3
where, and where not to go
• • • • M u l t i p l e sale places and hideouts, an encyclope-
Per: +3; Diff. 6 Per: +4; Diff. 6
dic knowledge of Umbral pathways and an aware- • Homid: A Corax' human form looks l i k e a normal
ness of what lives where human, though most Corax tend to he t h i n - andd sharp-
boned. Most also have jet-black hair and dark eyes. Among
• • • • • A near-perfect knowledge of the Near Umbra,
European Corax pale skin is very common, and the occa-
where to go, and what to avoid
sional albino Corax is not unknown. Among Native Ameri-

Totem can-bred Corax, thin and willowy figures are still the norm.
Black eyes are universal among all Corax, and many sport
Corax don't have pack totems. This isn't terribly surpris- ring fingers as long as their middle fingers.
ing, seeing as Corax don't run in packs. Even those rare gangs Roleplaying Notes: There's no such thing as an over-
of youngsters who hang together to terrorize an area for a year weight Corax, or even a burly one. Even the most well-
or two aren't adopted en masse by Raven — he prefers to deal muscled of the breed are whip-thin and wiry, as opposed to
w i t h his f a v o r i t e children on an individual basis. This means, bulky. A l l Corax, regardless of original breed, make ner-
among other things, that Raven adopts all Corax as his own at vous, quick gestures and rarely sit s t i l l for more than a
the instant of First Change. Furthermore, Raven really does minute or two. They t a l k incessantly, dropping hints about
like some of his kids better than others; Corax are exempt from important things that they know but never quite spill the
Raven's Ban, and as a result are free to pile up as much in the beans unless pinned down by a skilled interrogator.
way of earthly possessions as they like. • Crinos, also called Rara Avis as a Corax in-joke:
In truth, this situation irks some of the better-educated An unwieldy combination of man and bird, the Corax
Corax a bit. After all, the other Changing Breeds have a wide Crinos form is nothing to write home about unless you have
choice of totems, but not the Corax. Oh, no. Raven knows his a really depressing home. While the wereraven's form is
children too well to trust them, and definitely too well to let vaguely recognizable as humanoid (if not human), "vaguely"

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 71

 is the key word in the description. A Crinos Corax' face is
feathered, and nose and jaw fuse together to form a power-
f u l beak. Arms sprout into wings covered in oily black
feathers. The fingers, while not fully absorbed info the
wings., become gnarled and claw-like. In this form,
a Corax' hands and feet become wicked claws. This
explains why some wereravens resort to Crinos for defense
purposes. Indeed, defense and intimidation are the only
reasons Corax use this form.
While in Crinos, Corax do Strength +1 aggravated
damage with their hands and feet. Furthermore,
Corax in Crinos are capable of flight, despite the
fact that they maintain their Homid body mass.
This sort of flight is so awkward-looking that most
Corax disdain it entirely, but it can surprise the hell
out of an opponent who doesn't expect it. Further-
more, Corax in Rara Avis can use all sorts of unpleas-
ant Gifts designed expressly for combat, meaning that
the wereravens are not quite so helpless in battle as the
other Changing Breeds suppose. More than one overcon-
fident fomor has found a Razored Feather sticking out of
his eye after closing on a Corax a little too cavalierly.
Crinos Corax look ungainly while walking. They have
a peculiar rolling stride that makes them appear to be
constantly off-balance. To help with bal-
ance, a Corax will spread his wings while
advancing. This has the side effect
of making the bird appear
larger and more menacing
than he a c t u a l l y is, and also posi-
tions the Corax for a Wing Swipe.
R o l e p l a y i n g Notes:
Corax do not like being in
Crinos, not one little bit.
That means a Crinos
wereraven is going to be angry, embarrassed or
both. In this form, a Corax never stops to
socialise, chat or otherwise do anything not
related to the immediate impetus for the form
shift. A Corax shifts into Crinos for two reasons: to
fight and to intimidate. Anything else can be done
more easily and better in either Homid or Corvid.
With that in mind, a Corax pops into Crinos only in
dire necessity, does what he has to do, and gets the hell out
as soon as possible. Corax in Crinos are bad-tempered, curt
and generally unpleasant.
• Corvid (Raven): A raven with a wingspan of a full
four-and-a-half f e e t , the Corax prefer the Corvid form for
f l i g h t . Of course, in this form Corax also prefer
flight to combat, for obvious reasons. Corax
in Corvid form attack with their
beaks (Strength +1 damage).
Roleplaying Notes:
Corvid Corax are generally less
interested in getting involved w i t h
 shouldn't be the central focus of a character, but should add
Special Combat Maneuver: flavor, style and the potential for a story hook. Corax charac-
EyePluck ters can take up to seven points each of Merits and Flaws at
character creation, but no more. You can either deny your
Corax have a combat maneuver in which they can character any Merits or Flaws, or you can push the limit.
aim for an opponent's eye, attempting to spear and Characters can lose Merits or buy off Flaws throughout
pluck it out. The difficulty is 9, but the maneuver does the course of a chronicle. Both are done at Storyteller
Strength + 2damage; if five successes are scored to hit, discretion, and the removal of a Merit (or a character's
and at least two damage successes get past the soak, the triumph over a Flaw) should not be taken lightly. Remem-
victim's eye is torn out. This counts as aggravated ber, however, that just because your character starts w i t h a
damage. If a Garou does not get a Battle Scar effect Merit doesn't mean that she has divine right to keep that
from this maneuver, she can grow her eye back Merit forever.
the action than they are in report ing it, and as such it's rare Quick Learner (2 point Merit)
for a Corax in corvid form to actually to land and get
involved. Besides, grounded Corax in Corvid form are This merit allows the Corax to halve the time needed
clumsy and awkward, m a k i n g for even less incentive to to learn a new Gift, skill or lore (but not Talent). Experi-
land and waddle about. ence point cost remains the same.
While in bird-form, Corax prefer flight to fight, but if
pressed, they go for the eyes. Plus, a dive-bombing Corax
Birdseye(4pointMerit)
coming in hell-bent for leather can pack quite a wallop to A Corax with this Merit has the knack for automati-
an unsuspecting foe, and few Corax are above launching c a l l y picking the right target to follow out of a crowd. Even
this sort of sneak attack every so often. if there are 60 Garou at a moot, a Corax with this Merit has
merely to make a successful Wits + Awareness roll (diffi-
MeritsandFlaws culty 7) to pick out the proper (read: most interesting; this
can also be translated as "most important to the ongoing
Merits and Flaws describe, unsurprisingly, little character plot") target to follow. A botch on this roll sends the Corax
quirks that make your Corax unique. A Merit or a Haw in the entirely wrong direction, which can also have
interesting consequences.
Diet of Worms (1 point Flaw) Vertigo (5 point Flaw)
You have a hard time keeping your appetites straight. You can fly, but that doesn't mean you like it up there.
While in bird form, you get cravings for hamburgers and Truth be told, living makes you dizzy, nauseated and gener-
fries — neither of which will do much to keep you airborne. ally plain scared, so much so that you need to make a
Even worse, your bird appetites come through when you're Willpower roll (difficulty 6) any time you try to fly to an
in Homid, meaning that you've got unhealthy attractions altitude higher off the ground than your Homid-form
to things l i k e roadkill. Needless to say, this Flaw can cause eyebrows. Furthermore, any time you perch at a point more
certain social situations to become awkward unless you than 10 feet oft the ground, you need to make that same
make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). Willpower roll, or things get ugly. You might panic, or
perhaps you could slip and fall....
Emu (1 point Flaw)
You arc the worst sort of social outcast among the Double Draught (2 point Merit)
Corax: a bird who cannot fly. Due to some trick of fate, Most Corax can only drink from one of any given dead
you're simply unable to get airborne, meaning that you man's eyes. You have the unique knack of drinking from
spend your days in Homid and, occasionally, earthbound both, allowing you to see details more mainstream Corax
Rara Avis. The rest of the Corax regard you with pity at might miss. You get the best and worst of the corpse's death,
best, derision at worse — but never respect. Obviously, and can integrate the two to form a coherent picture, rather
w i t h o u t flight, certain Gifts and rites are beyond your than being forced to rely on one viewpoint or the other.
a b i l i t i e s , and your modes of transportation are severely
limited. Furthermore, you're likely to miss many of the Losing the Sun (4 point Flaw)
waysigns posted for your k i n d in the Umbra, as more than You've had it with the bland vistas and boring views of
half are set up to he visible only from the air. the mortal world. The mysteries of the Umbra call to you
with a siren song. Each time you step into the Umbra, you
need to make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) to prevent
yourself from just flying away to explore its mysteries. Even Breeds & Auspices
if you succeed in dragging yoursell away from the possibility Because of their ancient entanglement with Helios,
of escape, as long as you're in the Umbra you are distracted Corax don't actually have Auspices. They're creatures
(+l d i f f i c u l t y to all rolls relating to Wits, Intelligence and of the Sun, after all, not the Moon, and as such, this is
Perception).
to be expected. And, n a t u r a l l y , t h i s means that Corax
Note: Obviously, if you fail your Willpower roll, you lack Ausp ice Gifts. Furthermore, see ing as Corax don't
could derail your entire chronicle (or just lose a favorite have tribes the way that Garou or Bastet do, the
character) by vanishing into neverland. Therefore, this wereravens don't have Tribe Gifts either. That would
Flaw should only be bought with Storyteller approval, leave, in a logical world, Corax Gifts to be broken
allowing her to prepare for the eventuality of having to down by breed.
send the entire group of characters pelting off through the Unfortunately for the logical mind, there's no
Umbra to catch their wayward birdie. such luck. Gaia's l i t t l e "surprise" for the Corax has left
them utterly unable to keep from sharing the details of
BirdlikeMannerisms(1pointFlaw) their Gifts with one another, ad nauseam. So w h i l e in
You don't leave your corvid nature entirely behind the dim and distant days of the Impergium, there may
when you lose your feathers. Rather, you're prone to bird- have been Homid Gifts and Corvid Gifts among
like head motions, sudden stalking advances, standing on Raven's children; in the intervening centuries, the
one leg, and, when you think no one's looking, attempting knowledge has been cross-pollinated so many times
the human equivalent of preening. Mind you, 99.9% of the that, at this point, there are just Corax Gifts.
human population will not ascribe anything odd to you,
other than perhaps a need for certain medications, but to
that 0.1% who are in the know, you'll stand out. The Corax downplay the rumors that they have man-
aged to steal the secrets of every single Garou G i f t as well,
Guardianship (2 point Merit) and would dismiss those stories as slander except for one
thing: The stories are pretty much true. There aren't many
You've been entrusted with the guardianship of a spirit
Garou Gifts out there that the Corax haven't uncovered
egg. Only you know the location of this egg in the Umbra,
the details of. Mind you, not every Garou G i f t is suitable for
and you are its sole defender. As long as you maintain
use with the beak-and-feathers getup, but once a Corax
guardianship of the egg, you gain a point of Glory. Further-
reaches suitable levels of experience, odds are he's picked
more, you can always rouse other Corax to come to the egg's
up most of the tricks in the werewolves' book.
defense should you require assistance. On the down side, if
a spirit egg is stolen or damaged on your watch, you suffer (The sad t h i n g is, of course, that the Garou know that
a permanent loss of 3 Glory. their code has been cracked by the Corax, but they haven't
been able to uncover much more than a few Corax recipes
Strong Claws (4 point Merit) in return. It drives them nuts — and the Corax like that just
fine.)
Birds' claws contract automatically when they sleep,
A l l Corax start out with three Gifts. Corax Gifts are
allowing them to keep a grip all night long on whatever
directed toward uncovering and passing along information
perch they've achieved. You can apply that sort of grip
— and getting out alive with the latest news.
whenever you want, making it nigh-impossible to pull
something from your grasp if you really want to hang onto • Voice of the Mimic (Level One) — This Gift allows
it. If you decide that you absolutely need to keep something the Corax to imitate any sound or voice she has heard.
in your grasp, you get an extra three dice of Strength to use Voices and accents are all covered by the scope of the Gift,
if anyone tries to take the item away from you. as are machine noises, crashes, gunfire and any other noise
you can imagine. Voice of the Mimic is taught by a Mynah-
This Gift can also be used when hanging onto window
spirit.
ledges, cliffs, tree branches and so on for dear life, or when
trying to haul dangling victims buck to safety from such System: The Gift requires a Perception + Expression
perilous locales. (or Mimicry) roll, with the difficulty based on the complex-
ity of the sound. When combined with the Merit: Eidetic

Gifts Memory, the Corax can replay whole conversations with

eerie verisimilitude.
Corax have their own Gifts, taught to them by the Sun • Enemy Ways (Level One) — This is a danger sense.
in mistaken thanks for "rescuing" his position in the celes- Taught by one of Grandfather Thunder's Stormcrows,
tial hierarchy. Raven has also sweetened the pot for his Enemy Ways is more than just a heightened (and reason-
children w i t h an extensive range of Gifts to choose from, ably accurate) sense of paranoia. Instead, it provides solid
information on what immediate peril a Corax faces

Chapter four: Traits and Secrets 75

 System: The Corax, by rolling Perception + Stealth, decrypted by another Corax rolling Perception + Occult
can pick up hints as to the nature of enemies in the area. (difficulty 7).
Usually, a Corax who uses this Gift successfully can pick • Carrion's Call (Level Two) — As much as their
out the number and type of his opponents; with extreme other functions obscure the fact, the Corax still feed on —
successes, sometimes more can be learned. and are intimately linked to — death and the dead. Fur-
• Morse (Level One) — There are messages that need thermore, the Corax have a nigh-sacred duty relating to the
to move faster than any Corax can fly, and there are times corpses of the slain that demands that Raven's children be
when neither computer nor phone is a safe method of able to find the freshly slaughtered. This G i f t tells a Corax
information transfer. At times like that, a Corax still has a when a fresh corpse is nearby, and inexorably leads the
method of getting his message to his nearest fellow wereraven to the site where the body rests. This has its ups
wereraven, namely, the use of this Gift. By merely tapping and downs — clever fomor are more than happy to murder
out his message onto any hard surface and using this Gift, innocents to attract the attention of Corax with this G i f t .
a Corax can make sure that someone out there gets his After all, once Carrion's Call has been issued, the Corax
message right now — because there may not he time for a has no choice but to eventually, somehow, respond.
later. This Gift is taught by a Machine-spirit. Carrion's Call is taught by a Vulture-spirit.
System: With this Gift, the Corax can tap out a Morse System: A Corax can hear Carrion's Call by rolling
code message on any surface and, by spending a Gnosis (and Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6) and spending a point
succeed ing on a Wits + Empathy roll, difficulty 8), have the of Gnosis. The Gift's range is up to a mile, and in case of
nearest Corax hear the message clear as day. Of course, the extreme success, even further.
receiving Corax might not know Morse code, but that's the While a Corax does not need to respond to Carrion's
sort of risk you've got to take. Call immediately, he has no more than 24 hours in which
• Open Seal (Level One) — As per the Ragabash Gift. to do so or else Raven himself will punish the Corax for
• Raven's Gleaning (Level One) — Raven's Glean- dereliction of duty. This punishment takes the form of
ing takes advantage of the legendary Corax predilection for stripping the Corax of one permanent Honor Renown, as
bright, shiny objects. In essence, a value detector, the Gift the transgressor has clearly ignored honor's demands by
allows a Corax to look at a shiny object and. at a glance, refusing to heed the call.
discover whether or not it's worth picking up. Raven • Omens and Signs (Level Two) — Corax can find
himself, or a Raven-spirit acting under orders from the big symbolic portents in their surroundings without even try-
guy, teaches this Gift. ing — but this Gift helps. The world is full of omens, after
System: Raven's Gleaning costs a point of Gnosis, and all, but a Corax with this Gift knows where to look for
requires a Perception + Subterfuge roll (difficulty 5). A them. This Gift is taught by a Stormcrow,
single success merely gives a yes/no answer as to whether System: To find an omen in her surroundinps, the
the item is worth snatching. Additional successes can give Corax rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty 6). However, Corax
the Corax an idea of value, composition, craftsmanship and have to be careful not to abuse this Gift. Otherwise, they
so on. start to mistake false omens for true — proof positive that
• Scent of the True Form (Level One) — As per the the universe doesn't like to give away all of its secrets.
Philodox Gift. • Razor Feathers (Level Two) — One of the Corax'
• Truth of Gaia (Level One) — As per the Philodox few combat-related Gifts, Razor Feathers operates only
Gift. when the Corax is in Rara Avis form. Most predators aware
• Word Beyond (Level One) — When traveling of the Corax think, incorrectly, that the wereravens are
through the Umbra, Corax often fee! the need to leave easy prey. If a Corax has been taught this Gift, suddenly the
information for their fellow birds. After all, it's common odds creep a whole lot closer to even.
courtesy to inform a relative that the old safe road now leads The primary effect of Razor Feathers is to make the
right into a nest of Pattern Spiders, right? Unfortunately, feathers along the edge of the raven's wing hard and sharp
there's a dearth of writing materials in the Umbra, which as steel. The hardened feathers are strong enough to parry
means only that the Corax had to find an alternate method knives or claws, and are sharp enough to slice easily through
of leaving their missives. That's where this Gift — which unprotected flesh — or even stronger materials. Razor
allows a Corax to create a recognisable sigil out of whatever's Feathers is taught by a Steel-spirit.
handy — comes in. A spirit in service to Coyote teaches System: To access this Gift, the Corax spends a point
t h i s Gift (when he feels like it). of Gnosis and rolls Stamina (difficulty 6). The number of
System: In the Umbra, the Corax (by rolling Wits + successes indicates the number of turns that the effect
Expression, difficulty 6) can create a marker out of avail- holds. Feathers affected by the Gift take on a metallic
able materials for any other Corax who come by. The sheen, and some say they even glow softly with an eerie
number of successes indicates the complexity of the mes- white light.
sage that can be encrypted into the marker, which can be

76 Corax
 • Sky's Beneficence (Level Two) — More than one
Special Combat Maneuver: human has commented with supreme annoyance at birds'
Wing Swipe uncanny ability to deliver payloads from altitude. This
Gift, reputedly one of the first Raven granted his children,
C o r a x who know Razor Feathers have at their
allows Corax to take that aptitude and turn it into some-
disposal a unique combat maneuver that takes full
thing with more practical implications. Simply put, Sky's
advantage of the possibilities the Gift offers. Simply
Beneficence allows a Corax to drop a package of any sort
p u t , once the Gift is in effect, the Corax just drops his
(including the stereotypical) onto a target no matter how
shoulder and brings the wing around in a vicious slash,
high the altitude of the Corax. Obviously, depend upon upon
w h i c h hopefully drags the c u t t i n g edge of the Razor
the Corax' current a l t i t u d e and the size of the payload, the
Feathers across the Corax' target. With any luck, even
drop may actually damage whatever the payload lands on.
if the attack doesn't connect, the target is so busy
Any aerial spirit can teach this Gift.
spinning out of the way t h a t he's off balance for his
next attack. System: Sky's Beneficence requires nothing but a
Perception + Melee roll (difficulty 7). If this Gift is used,
A Wing Swipe requires a Dexterity + Brawl roll
the Corax automatically takes into account factors like
( d i f f i c u l t y 7), but it does Strength +3 levels of aggra-
crosswinds, precipitation and so on, meaning that the
vated damage. Furthermore, even if the attack misses,
difficulty of the roll is always 7.
the Corax' opponent must roll Dexterity (difficulty 5)
or be knocked off-balance by the assault. Off-balance The limitations on this Gift are twofold. The first is
opponents are at +1 difficulty to all rolls the next that the Corax has to be, obviously, fully airborne when
using Sky's Beneficence. In other words, Homid-form Corax
round.
need not apply. The other factor is that the Corax needs to
Successful Wing Swipes cause lengthy slashes
be able to see her target, else she will not be able to deliver
that, while not deep, do bleed profusely. The force
her payload properly. This Gift can he used in conjunction
behind a Wing Swipe is also more than sufficient to
with other Gifts, however.
perform maneuvers like c u t t i n g ropes, breaking win-
dows, slashing tires and so on. • Sky's Shadow (Level Two) -- There's little that is more
frustrating than a creeping sensation that you're being watched.
This Gift allows a Corax to bestow that feeling on the target of

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 77

her choice without necessitating that the Corax herself tail her System: The Corax, by spending a Gnosis point and
victim. Sometimes the Gift creates the shadow of a large bird rolling Perception + Occult (difficulty 8), can hear and speak
t h a t follows the target everywhere; other times, it just imbues a to a recently dead body (no more than 24 hours dead). The
sense of pure paranoia. At first glance, Sky's Shadow might not corpse's willingness to talk is determined by the number of
seem like a terribly effective Gift, but nervous men make successes, but no matter how many successes the Corax
mistakes -- and this Gift can make even the strongest-willed achieves, all he'll get is the body's mechanistic response to his
man nervous. Any bird spirit can teach this gift. questions. Odds are, the corpse's ghost is long gone.
System: The Gift implants in the target the certainty • Eyes of the Eagle (Level Three) — One of the few
that he is being watched, with the feeling lasting a day for Corax Gifts available in any form, Eyes of the Eagle allows the
each success on a Manipulation + Intimidation roll ( d i f f i - wereraven's vision to pierce fog, smoke, cloud and darkness.
culty 7). The Gift costs a point of Rage to activate. When this Gift (yet another example of Helios' largesse) is
While under the Gift's influence, the victim is con- called upon, the Corax can suddenly see through anything short
s t a n t l y aware of the shadowy eyes of unknown figures upon of a solid object. To the eye, night becomes as day, fog becomes
him. This takes away from his ability to concentrate, and transparent as air, and smoke turns clear as glass once Eyes of the
he's at +1 difficulty on all Willpower- and Mental-related Eagle is invoked. In addition, this Gift can be used to extend the
rolls as long as the Gift's effect lasts. range of a Corax' sight, which makes it useful when paired with
• Swallow's Return (Level Two) — Corax usually know Sky's Beneficence. Eagle-spirits teach this Gift.
where they're going. That's more or less part of the package System: This Gift requires the expenditure of a single
that comes with the spirit egg, after all. However, there are point of Gnosis, and a Perception + Alertness roll (diffi-
times when a Corax is too tired or too badly injured to navigates culty 6). The effect of the Gift lasts for as many minutes as
himself back home. That's when he turns to this Gift. Swallow's there are successes rolled. The expenditure of a Willpower
Return is nothing less than an autopilot, bringing the Corax point extends the effect from minutes to hours.
safely back home even while the wereraven sleeps or heals. A • Flight of the Swift (Level Three) — Ravens aren't
Swallow-spirit teaches this Gift. the fastest fliers out there. They admit this, and don't have
System: A Corax wishing to make use of this Gift must a problem with it under most circumstances. However, on
give up a point of Gnosis and trust his luck, also making a those rare occasions when a Corax finds himself chased by
Wits + Empathy roll (difficulty 6). Swallow's Return only something both airborne, faster and nastier than he is, the
brings the Corax home — no alternate destination can be Corax gets a little envious of his faster, smaller cousins.
inserted — and the definition of "home" can occasionally That's where Flight of the Swift comes in. In essence,
get a Corax in trouble. it's a set of afterburners that a Corax can hide under her
• Taking the Forgotten (Level Two) -- As per the feathers, giving her the wherewithal for an extremely
Ragabash Gift. speedy escape. A Swift-spirit teaches this Gift.
• Tongues (Level Two) — As per the Homid Gift. System: All this Gift does is allow a Corax to double
• Dark Truths (Level Three) — This Gift allows the his rate of speed. Corax normally fly at up to 35 mph, so a
Corax to uncover a secret truth or character flaw of an Corax calling upon Flight of the Swift can reach up to 70
observed subject. As you might expect, Corax love to use mph. Using Flight of the Swift requires the sacrifice of a
this Gift. There's even a game related to Dark Truths that point of Rage and a Dexterity + Flying roll (difficulty 5).
some wereravens play: One Corax uses the Gift on a mortal Multiple successes can allow a Corax to go even faster than
(in, say, a bar); the other contestants then have to try to he is supposed to go by the Gift's parameters.
wheedle that same secret out of the mark without using • Hummingbird Dart (Level Three) — This Gift is
Dark Truths. A Fly-spirit teaches this Gift. most often utilized in conjunction with Razor Feathers, in
System: To utilize Dark Truths, the Corax spends a which case it makes for a devastating weapon. Humming-
Gnosis point and rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 7). bird Dart permits a Corax to pluck one of her own feathers
With a success, the Corax acquires knowledge of one of his and throw it like (as one might guess) a dart. The feather
target's deep dark secrets. While this Gift doesn't turn loose flies straight and true, unencumbered by anything so petty
the sort of secrets that are useful in combat, it does pry loose as the laws of physics and the strictures of aerodynamics. A
all sorts of interesting blackmail material. Hummingbird-spirit teaches this Gift.
• Dead Talk (Level Three) — There are secrets you System: The Hummingbird Dart requires that the
just can't get from a dead man's eyeball. There are times Corax spend a point of Rage and then roll Dexterity +
when you need more than just a stiffs last sight. At those Melee (difficulty 5). If a Corax chooses to use this Gift after
d i f f i c u l t times, being able to hold a conversation with, or at calling for Razor Feathers, the results can be vicious. A
least get a few straight answers out of, the spirit of the Razored Hummingbird Dart is, in essence, a throwing shiv
deceased increases the Corax' information-gathering pos- that does aggravated damage, and should be treated accord-
sibilities exponentially. A Vulture-spirit teaches this Gift, ingly.
though supposedly some wraiths can teach it as well. The thrown feather Dexterity +3 dice of damage.

78 Corax
 • Larder of the Shrike (Level Three) — Shrikes are it. The understanding of the ways of the Umbra granted by
notorious for killing more than they need, then storing the this Gift halves travel time through the spirit world.
corpses for later use. Shrike-spirits can share the knowledge of • Gauntlet Runner (Level Four) — With a l l the time
the benefits that can accrue from such behavior. Essentially, the Corax spend popping in and out of the Umbra, it's no
this Gift allows the Corax to store food — and anything else, surprise that they've acquired a trick for lowering the
like, say, a corpse — in perfect condition for up to a year, so long Gauntlet and making the trip back and forth immeasurably
as the stored item is allowed to hang free in the Corax' "larder." easier. After all, when you need to get into the Umbra fast,
System: By spending a Gnosis and succeeding on a lowering the Gauntlet before you start makes life a lot
Willpower roll (difficulty 6), a Corax can use this Gift on easier. Any Wyld-spirit can teach this Gift.
a hunk of meat (or vegetables, though few Corax have System: A roll of Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 8) reduces
deigned to do so) to preserve it nearly ad infinitum for future the Gauntlet by 1 for every two successes. The area affected
use. For as long as the Gift's effect lasts, neither rot nor bloat can be up to 20 feet on a side, but no matter how successful
affects the stored items — including dead bodies. the Corax is on her roll, she must still use a reflective surface
Living items cannot be placed into a state of suspended to enter the Umbra.
animation by this Gift, which only affects dead things. • Helios' Child (Level Four) — Occasionally, the
Vampires and Risen don't fall under Larder of the Shrike's Sun deigns to lend a bit of himself to a Corax in need. This
purview either, unfortunately. present takes the form of a ball of lambent flame that
• Mynah's Touch (Level Three) — The Corax often materializes in the Corax' hand. This fire doesn't burn the
brag that they've uncovered all of the Garou's secrets. That Corax, but will ignite anything it touches (effective tem-
isn't quite accurate, but with Mynah's Touch, the Corax come perature: 1000 degrees Fahrenheit; doing damage akin to
a lot closer to achieving their boast than the Garou would like. that of a chemical fire. See Werewolf, page 197 for details).
Simply put, this Gift allows a Corax to know the details of any One of Helios' spirit-servants teaches this Gift.
Garou Gift of Level Three or below, providing that the Corax System: To summon Helios' Child, the Corax first asks
has actually seen a Garou successfully use the Gift in question. Helios for help. The Gift can be called upon at any time,
This knowledge flees the instant that the Corax actually uses day or night, but the request must be made of Helios before
the "borrowed" Gift, but in the meantime, an impressive body anything else happens. Of course, various Corax have
of knowledge is there for the taking. various definitions of what constitutes a "request," and
This Gift is only taught by Mynah-spirits. Corax theologians point to the continued workings of this
System: The use of this G i f t demands two points of Gift as proof that Helios docs in fact have a sense of humor.
Gnosis, as well as a Wits + Alertness roll (difficulty 6). If there Beyond the request, the Corax must burn two points of
are any successes, the Corax using the Gift can now pick and Gnosis and close his eyes for a brief second (and roll
choose knowledge of a single Gift from the entire list of Garou Manipulation + Subterfuge, difficulty 7). When the Corax
Gifts lower in level than he is. Naturally, the Corax must pay opens his eyes, if the Gift has functioned properly, a l i t t l e
whatever costs and make whatever rolls are associated with his piece of the sun w i l l he resting in his palrn, ready for use.
"borrowed" knowledge. The Storyteller is also free to stipulate • Vulture's Feast (Level Four) — One of the great
that certain Gifts simply cannot be duplicated by this Gift, advantages of being a carrion eater is that your dinner plate is
particularly those that are the secrets of various camps or rarely empty. There's roadkill everywhere just waiting for you
taught only by Avatars of various mighty spirits. to dig in. What happens, however, if you want something a
• Sun's Guard (Level Three) — Given to his children little fresher? After all, who knows how long that hunk of ex-
by Raven after the great misadventure with Helios, this Gifr squirrel has been hanging out in the passing lane?
serves to protect Corax from excessive heat. After all, the Vulture's Feast allows a Corax to rot flesh with a touch,
ravens got away with being burned to a crisp on the outside the regardless of whether the target meat is dead or alive.
first time; next time, the Corax might not he so lucky.... To no Obviously, this is not a Gift to he used l i g h t l y , but there are
one's surprise, an Avatar of Raven teaches this Gift. times when even the most peaceable Corax has no recourse
System: Raven's Guard costs two points of Rage, and but to turn someone's face into a mass of decaying suppu-
also demands a Stamina + Primal Urge roll (difficulty 6). ration. A V u l t u r e - s p i r i t teaches this Gift.
Each success is a turn during which the Corax is immune to System: The exercise of Vulture's Feast requires the expen-
flames literally up to and including those of the surface of diture of a Willpower point and two Gnosis. The Corax must
the sun. This includes regular flames, magickally conjured then make a successful Dexterity + Brawl roll (difficulty 5) in
fire, and even balefire. order to touch bis victim, then he must succeed on a contested
• Airt Sense (Level Four) — This is the same us the Stamina roll. If he wins, the flesh he's currently touching
spirit Charm, and can be taught by any type of spirit becomes withered, dead and rotted; the victim takes one Health
possessing that particular Charm. Level of aggravated damage for each success the Corax has left.
System: Corax using Airt Sense must spend one Gnosis Only Corax in Homid can make use of this Gift. Corax
point and roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 7) to utilize who become too fond of using Vulture's Feast are often

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 79

easily turned to the Wyrm, so anyone who gets a reputation action that any Corax should ever take lightly, and Helios
for using Vulture's Feast frequently will find himself watched himself notices if a wereraven abuses this Gift. After all,
carefully by his fellow wereravens. he's the one who teaches i t .
• Gift of Eyes (Level Five) — The Corax' duty of System: Given by Helios reluctantly (and some say, at
drinking the eyes of the slain can inflict a montage of the last m i n u t e ) to his new acquisitions, this Gift allows a
supremely horrific images upon those who tend to their Corax to sever his connection to the Sun temporarily — 10
duties. In many cases, those images are the Corax' burden, minutes for every success on a Willpower roll (difficulty 7)
to suffer with in silence. That's not always the case, how- after the expenditure of 2 points of Gnosis. If the roll is a
ever. With Gift of Eyes, a Corax can pass along a vision success, the Corax is suddenly cut off from Helios. This has
from an eye he's drunk to any non-Corax he chooses. The both positive and negative effects. On the plus side, the
image is transferred in all its glory and gore, just as the Corax is no longer vulnerable to the pernicious effects of
Corax himself first saw it. Unprepared viewers may faint or gold for the duration of the Gift's effects. On the other
scream; prepared ones may find clues or details they need in hand, for so long as the Corax is cut off from Helios, she
this glimpse of a dead man's last seconds. Raven or one of cannot use Rage.
his spirits teaches this Gift. • Portents (Level Five) — Taught by a Wind-spirit,
System: The expenditure of a pair of Gnosis points and this Gift is a sneak peek at the most important events of the
a contested Willpower roll against the intended victim are near future. There's no greater secret than what is to
what's needed to effect a Gift of Eyes. The Corax can happen, and as a result Corax will sell their own kidneys for
transfer any memory he's devoured with no distortion or a look at the future.
dilution of the image. System: The player must spend two Gnosis points and
• Moments of Eclipse (Level Five) — There are times roll Intelligence + Enigmas (difficulty 8). In addition, he
when a Corax must make a near-supreme sacrifice, volun- can nominate an area of interest (say, the f u t u r e of a local
tarily severing his connection to the Sun. The reasons for charity house or Magadon's CEO) or just try for a general
doing so are few, but always drastic. Perhaps the Corax has event. If he succeeds, the Corax can see a future event with
been chained with gold, and needs a few minutes in which clarity. Though the future is mutable, the Corax sees the
to work an escape (or else he'll die a horrible, agonizing most likely event. Any visions that follow are purely the
d e a t h ) , or maybe he needs to prove his "worth" to a gang of Storyteller's discretion.
vampires he's trying to infiltrate. Regardless, this is not an
 • Theft of Stars (Level Five) -- In some Native There goes another soda can. I hear something creaking up
American legends, Raven was responsible for placing the sun, above now -- fun boynumber three has apparently achieved the
moon and stars into he sky. However, what Raven giveth, middle shelf of the monster rack behind me. I'm gonna move
Raven can take away — or at least borrow with the help of the slowly, so my claws don't click on the concrete, and edge away
Corax. This Gift has a truly terrifying effect, rendering the from the boxes.
target completely unable to see any light derived from a natural Raven's left nut! That one scared the hell out of me. He
light source (the sun, moon or stars). Victims of this power are musta dropped a book or a box orsomething from way upthere.
reduced to stumbling around in a bizarre twilight, if not I just hope he doesn't start playing happy bombadier, because
absolute darkness. Helios' Avatar teaches this Gift, but only to he can see better than I can right now.
Corax whom the Sun trusts in its use. More noise off to the left. Getting closer, too. They're
System: A point of Willpower and a point of Rage are playing with me, thebastards. Another box just landed, closer.
needed to activate Theft of Stars, as is a contested Will- Time to pull out my ace in the hole. Time to start the chant.
power roll with the victim. If the Corax wins the roll, her Another box. He's bracketed me. His buddies are just
victim is immediately plunged into darkness, as no natural watching. Doesn't matter, not if I get enough time to do this.
l i g h t registers with h i s eyes. Artificial light (lamps, fire, Step, forward, bow, step, step and turn, arms up.
etc.) registers just fine, but who's got their lights on in the
Bastard! That one hit me. The other two are laughing and
middle of the day? The effects of Theft of Stars last a single
the one up top is whooping it up. Yeah, keeplaughing, funny boy.
hour, but that's usually more than enough.
Playing games is gonna kill ya. Youdidn't knock me out of step,
• Thieving Talons of the Magpie (Level Five) — and I'm just... about... done.
Identical to the Fifth Level Ragabash Gift, Thieving Tal-
They're notexpecting a faceful of Helios, I can tell you that
ons was taught to the Garou by the Corax. Of course, you
much. As the lightgrows, I can hear them screaming. I can smell
don't find too many Garou admitting that these days.
thesmoke.Cooked dead meat -- about as pleasant as afast-food
Rites restaurant the morningafter.
Crapola. The one up top is burning, and he's flailing
We areinvisible upon these dancing feet around on cartons of books. The whole place could go up -- I'm
We're shape and shadowless revolving to the one eternal outta here.
beat. Wonder what the firemen are going to think about the
sunlightstreaming out the windows as the placeburns. Ah well,
- Dougie MacLean. "All Together"
not my problem. Time to fly!
There's one of me and three of them, and they ain't
breathing. Plus, it's pitch dark in here -- an abandoned ware- Rites. Gotta talk about rites now, don't I? Well, a rite
house at 2 AM ain't my idea of an ideal birdcage, if you catch is like going to church, only...you never went to church?
my drift. The ceiling is 50 feet up, which is good, but there's no Err, synagogue? Sunday school?
light. Damn Leeches must have chewed on the fusebox or Atheist, h u h ? Well, let me tell you something, that's
something, 'cause I flicked the switch and there was nuthin'. gonna change.
Correction: I could hear one of 'em laughing down the middle Anyway, a rite is a ritual, a religious service, but it's got
aisle . a concrete effect tagged onto the end of it. I mean, some-
They move real quiet when they want to, you know? I hear thing happens when you finish a rite, assuming you did it,
noises, scuffles, but nothing I can pinpoint. Best guess is, err, right. Then again, you do a rite wrong, you'd better pray
though, that two of them are moving to cut off this aisle while a nothing is all that happens. There are all sorts of nasty
third climbs the pallets to one side so he can do a Jackie Chan consequences to botching a rite, most of which involve
death-from-above kind of move. some muckety-muck spirit getting all pissed at you. Things
tend to degenerate pretty quickly after that.
I'm not sure if they know I can fly, but I'm not relying on
them being that dumb. Anyway, here are the basic rites. You'll probably learn
'em as you go along. The higher the level of the rite, the
Crap. What was thatnoise? Sounded like a soda can being
more of a Big Shot you've gotta be to learn it, and the more
skiddedacross thefloor. Heh. Probably to make me think the guy
powerful it is.
is over there, when he's really over there. Right. This could get
ugly. Better shift into Crinos, just to give myself a little edge. It Pretty basic stuff, huh?
won't do much good, not against three of the bastards, but it Right. Take notes. This is important.
might buy me a second or two, and I can still fly.
Okay. Let's move down a bit this way, away from the
RiteofTalismanDedication
source of the noise. Hmmm. Footsteps squeaking down and to (Level One)
the left. One of them is whispering orders; I can't make out the We do this one exactly the same way the doggies do. Has the
words, but I take it from his tone that he's pissed at his buddies. same effect, same everything -- we just do it with more style.

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 81

Rite of the Sun's Bright Ray
(LevelTwo)
This one is proof positive Helios is our buddy. When you
do this rite, you get a heaping dose of sunshine that brightens up
wherever you are. Doesn't matter if you're underground, in a
bank vault, in the middle of Club Whiny Vampire — do this rite
and it's "Here Comes the Sun." And you know what the best
thing about the sunlight that you can conjure up with this one?
Well, yes, you can tan to it, but that's not the issue. What
matters is that this sunlight hits vampires like the real thing, baby.
You've just gotta see the look on the face of Vlad Pretentious
Dark Prince of Mount Laurel, New Jersey when you drop a "73
degrees and sunny" grenade in his lap. It's priceless.
System: This rite has no cost, as it is a symbol of Helios'
special favor toward his adopted children. All that is
required is the proper steps and chants, and then a Gnosis
roll (difficulty 1). The burrowed sunlight fills a volume 20
feet on a side, give or take a few, and lasts one hour for each
success on the Gnosis roll. The glow remains behind even
after the Corax leaves the area, which can lead to all sorts
of awkward situations.

Rite of the Fetish Egg

The Rite of the Fetish Egg is about the birds and the bees --
well, no bees -- and where new Corax come from. You see, when
two Corax love each other very much, you know what happens?
...Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We can't breed with one
another. That's why there are no Corax metis. Hell, a new
Corax doesn't even have to be the kid of an old Corax. This is
a matter of spirit, not genetics, boyo. Spirit's a lot more
important. What it can mean, though, is that you can have real
parents and spiritual ones, your flesh-and-blood folks as well as
the Corax who gave you your spirit egg.
Making a spirit egg requires some hefty investment. There's
got to be one spiritual parent from each breed, plus someone's got
to plunk some serious spiritual gas in order to create the egg and
bind it to the other half. The binding is done with a feather or a
human hair from the "parent" and ensure that the egg and the
kid/chick stay linked until such time as the kid can handle getting
a double dose of soul. If the binding breaks, it devastates the poor
kid -- autism is the usual response. The parent usually just goes
into depression; many lose the Sun right after that sort of thing.
System: The Rite of the Fetish Egg is never undertaken
lightly. For one thing, it costs three permanent Gnosis from
the parent Corax, and that price is paid regardless of
whether the rite succeeds or fails.
The Rite of the Fetish Egg can only be performed in the
Umbra, and requires one witness of the breed opposite that
of the Corax performing the rite. Creating a fetish egg takes
three hours; binding it to the soul for which it is intended
takes another one. If the rite is interrupted at any point
during this time, the Gnosis is lost and the rite fails.
This rite requires a roll against the parent Corax'
permanent Gnosis (before the donation) at a difficulty of 6.
 one are the members of the Morrigan, and they don't exactly go
ProperCareandFeeding around spouting off trade secrets. I only know a little bit about
how this one works, but that's scary enough for me.
Spirit eggs are serious business. Everyone, and I
mean everyone, wants to get their grubby little hands It seems that if the Morrigan decide they want to help one
on one. Black Spirals try to swipe 'em to take 'em back side in a battle out (usually the Fianna, in case you were
to Malfeas, Wyrm alone knows why. The damn things wondering), they haul this golden oldie out. All three fly over the
don't hatch without being tied to someone in the battle. croaking out battle-song, and it puts the fear of Morrigu
Tellurian. You haul that egg off far enough and the into whichever side the three ladies don't like. It's astonishing to
psychic tether snaps like a bungee cord tied to an watch — entire armies have broken and fled after hearing the
elephant. Mages go after the eggs, too, presumably to chants of this rite. Mind you, this one's tough to do, and the
make some kind of mystical omelet. Morrigan don't use it lightly. However, when they do uncork it,
the effects are devastating.
Let me tell you straight, kid — if you see someone
trying to five-finger discount a spirit egg, kill the System: All three of the Morrigan must be present to
bastard — instantly. We're rare, and getting rarer, and perform this rite. To enact the rite, each member of the
few of us have the necessary psychic juice to make Morrigan can spend Gnosis up to her Occult rating. For each
more than one offspring. The theft of a single egg is a point of Gnosis spent, the victims of the rite lose one die from
one.
tragedy for the entire race. We can't afford to lose even their Dice Pools so long as they remain on the field of battle
Targets can literally be reduced to zero dice by this rite.
That explains why we hide the eggs in the Umbra
as best we can. Each gets a special hiding place, and
Rite of Memory Theft (Level Four)
each gets a guardian. It's a tremendous honor to be If a fellow Corax has repeatedly acted dumber than a box
selected as the guardian for a spirit egg, kid. You've of rocks, there comes a time when you've just got to scrub out the
really made it among us if you get picked for that. inside of his head and hope the next pile of garbage he
Guardians get to check on the eggs — and the kids the accumulates between his ears is more useful. If someone does
eggs are attached to — every so often. Guardians also something really, really, really dumb, a bunch of the old-timers
get the right to round up a posse if an egg ever needs can pull this rite out of mothballs and wipe his mental hard drive
protection. — downloading all the good bits first. Whoever leads the ritual
Pray you never see it come to that, though, kid. gets the core dump from the sucker, err, target, err, object of the
Just pray. rite. Meanwhile the victim has his head pretty much wiped of
anything more complex than "Gee, pretty flowers."
Actually, I'm exaggerating a little bit. The rite takes the
Rite of Becoming (Level Two) victim back to right after First Change, meaning that there's a
The Garou do this one the same way we do as well. I'd be chance that he'll learn things properly the second time. Basic
kind of surprised if they didn't, seeing as we're the ones who motor skills, language abilities, things like that — they generally
actually taught it to them, but try to get a furry to admit that. tend to slay in place even when the rite goes really well.
System: This rite can only be cast from an Anchorhead By the way, it's a good thing this rite's only available to
domain, and requires the casting Corax to make a braid from grand poobahs of the breed. Can you imagine the hell that would
three hairs (or feathers) off her head, three pieces of copper break loose if Murder's Daughters got ahold of it?
wire and three pieces of ivory. The Corax ties the braid around System: This rite requires a small, empty wooden box,
a wrist or ankle, then invokes three words of power. Hence- preferably painted with scenes from the target's life. At
forth, the Corax can fly into the Deep Umbra. least three Corax, including the one performing the rite,
If the braid is destroyed, the Corax takes a health level of must surround the target (who, hopefully, has been sub-
damage and must make a Wits roll ( d i f f i c u l t y 6) to return to the dued or at least restrained). The box is then opened and a
Near Umbra. The Sun-Lost ceremonially destroy their braids as litany of the victim's deeds is chanted. As each event is
soon as they reach the Deep Umbra, symbolizing their accep- named, the memories of that moment fly from the Corax
tance of their new state. Corax who intend to head home tend into the box. Associated memories flee as well, until such
to be a bit more careful of theirs, but getting lost in the Deep time as the Corax' mind is emptied of everything post-First
Umbra isn't quite as unpleasant for Corax as it is for Garou. Change. Note that the rite is an all or nothing proposition;
The Background: Umbral Maps eliminates the need one cannot use this to excise only certain memories.
for any sort of roll to find one's way home, even if the braid The Corax performing the rite must then seal and crush
is destroyed. the box, at which point, all of the memories contained enter
his mind. This is not a burden to be undertaken lightly — the
Rite of Battle Blessing (Level Four) Rite of Memory Theft is only performed when a Corax has
The Rite of Battle Blessing is one of the big 'uns, but don't done something truly horrendous, and no Corax carries around
expect to learn it any time soon. The only three who know this the memories of another breed's failure or crime lightly. It's

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 83

one thing to know of another raven's missteps, another thing
entirely to make them your own.
This rite costs a point each of Gnosis, Willpower and
Rage, and lasts as long as it takes to sing all of the deeds of the
v i c t i m . The rite also calls for a contested Willpower roll
between the Corax casting the right and the target, though each
additional Corax present lowers the ritemaster's difficulty by 1
This rite can only be used on other Corax.

Renown
Give me wisdom in misfortune
Heart's ease for my distress
— Richard Thompson, "May Day Psalter"
While Garou and Corax agree on the types of Renown
they value, Corax hold Wisdom in highest esteem, no
matter what. Wereravens seek Wisdom assiduously while
sometimes forgetting to follow up on Glory or Honor.
Renown is very important to the Corax. After all,
having Renown means you're being talked about, and
perhaps the only thing Corax love more than talking is
having someone else t a l k about them — saying nice things,
preferably. With that in m i n d , Corax avidly seek Renown
from their fellows, turning the Corax compulsion to talk to
their advantage by p r a t t l i n g on incessantly about their
i n d i v i d u a l accomplishments. In a way, this serves Gaia's
purpose, because every Corax generally has a pretty good
idea of what nearly every other Corax has been up to.
Indeed, in an odd way, Corax Renown is self-reinforc-
ing. Corax exist, after all, to uncover secrets and spread
word of those secrets 'round the world. So every story told
of a Corax uncovering a secret not only adds to the Renown
of the intrepid Corax in question, but also passes the freshly
unearthed secret along. In this fashion, a Corax' Renown
can mount q u i c k l y .
As Corax are solitary creatures, wereraven Renown
tends to come from solo operations more than anything else
(though any Corax who succeeds in getting h i s breedmates
to cooperate often gets a healthy dollop of Renown as well.)

Elements of Status
While Honor and Glory are known and vaguely respect-
able concepts among the Corax, the bird-folk have learned the
hard way that many glorious and honorable actions tend to
produce dead Corax. Garou don't understand Corax Renown
and don't pretend to, but occasionally bestow Renown of their
own on Corax who have performed especially worthy services
for a pack or sept — uncovering the details of an incipient
attack, snatching (at great risk) the blueprints of a building a
pack wants to assault, and so forth. Usually this Renown is
Glory Renown, to which the reaction of a Corax so honored
is, "Err, thank you." On the other hand, once it sinks in that
a pack of Garou has given him a dollop of Renown, the Corax
is likely to go repeating the story high and low (while trying to
gain Renown from his fellow Corax, no doubt).

84
 The latter is frankly more common, as the Corax hold their
Grand Theft Auto Kinfolk in high regard. Honor is also bestowed for acts of
Well, not really, but there's a little secret I've been selflessness, particularly those performed on behalf of the
saving for last that I thought maybe, just maybe, you Corax. Then again, there's no tradition limiting that sort of
might want to know. It's simple. You know those Renown to those helping the feathered folk....
dreadfully secret rites the Garou have? The ones no The Laws of the Honorable Corax are:
one else can see on pain of death? The really, really • If you're going to do it, do it all the way. (Trying
secret ones? to do something honorable and backing out halfway
We know 'em. More to the point, we also know through is worse than not trying)
Bastet rites, Nuwisha rites, Ananasi rites, Mokole rites • Get witnesses. (The worst thing in the world is
— hell, we've stolen everyone's secrets. And they having your attempts at honor misinterpreted by those
don't have a clue we've done it. who weren't there. Keep the story straight.)
How the hell did we pull it off? I could tell ya, but • Don't do it unless you're sure. (Performing a
I'd have to bury ya. selfless action and expecting a reward isn't selfless.
What if boils down to, though, is this: If you get a Don't even try it unless you're doing what you're doing
hankering to learn a rite that's supposed to be marked for the right reasons.)
"For Cats Only," just ask around. Leave a few query
signs on the straight paths. Odds are, the info you're Glory
looking for will find you. Glory Renown is rare among the Corax, because Corax
Mind you, we don't know 'em all, but hey , that just aren't built far Glorious deeds. It's much more common for
gives us something to shoot for. What's more, some of a Corax to get someone else to do the dirty work of fighting
em just plain don't work for us — the spirits that lor him than to stand up and get into a brawl himself; more
empower a rite that's been done property sometimes sensible, too. However, on those rare occasions when a
take exception to being called by a bird they don't Corax does something worthy of Glory Renown, the whole
recall giving their number to. So you might not want breed hears about it within a matter of days — and only
to try forming your own Silver Pack for kicks — some of that can be traced to the bragging of the newly
Phoenix'll burn your balls off before you can croak out minted Glorious Corax herself
a soprano "Awk." But a lot of the more general ones, Corax give Glory Renown for getting into — and
the ones that the Garou learned from the Gurahl, who surviving — fights that absolutely have to be fought. A
learned from.. .you get the idea. Corax who goes around picking fights and winning them
Just don't show off in front of the other breeds, through creative use of Gifts isn't likely to gather much
okay? It's not polite. Glory. On the other hand, a raven-woman who has to take
out a trio of fomor guards in order to escape an office with
some stolen files — she's likely to be covered in Glory if she
Wisdom makes it out alive.
With this set of circumstances in mind, Wisdom Renown The rules of the Glorious Corax are:
is the one thing that really matters to the birds, but it's a very • Only fight when you have to. (Get into too many
Corax-specific style of wisdom the birds venerate. In fact, the scraps and the rest of the Breed will be eulogizing you.
Corax definition of Wisdom is a little muddied with Knowl- Corax aren't built to be infantry.)
edge— Corax who uncover great secrets and pass them along
• Fight to win. (If you lose, you're dead. No one will
are showered with Wisdom Renown, while those birds who
care that you fought "by the rules" at your funeral.)
prudently (or wisely) don't go digging through dangerous
• No second chances. (If you have a chance to finish
garbage are routinely dismissed from consideration.
an opponent, do it. Killing him immediately saves you from
There are three rules of Wisdom for Corax:
ever having him come back when you least expect it.)
• Get it fast. (Old information is worthless.)
• Get it accurate, (Bad information is worse than
useless.)
Rank
• Get out safely so you can tell someone. ( I f you get Seeing as it's birds who gave us the term "pecking
killed without passing the information along, who the order," it should be no surprise that Corax have a reasonably
hell cares what you found out?) stable system of Ranks. Basically, a Corax' Rank deter-
mines three things: What secrets she's let in on (meaning
Honor rites and Gifts), what order she speaks in (and by extension,
how many folks are still around and listening when it comes
Honor among the Corax is reserved for those who have
t i m e for her to speak) and where she sits at Parliament
done something to benefit the Breed as a whole, or for Kinfolk.
(more important than you'd think).

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 85

 Renown Chart Toys
Rank Glory Honor Wisdom The nature of magical trinkets available to Corax is
Oviculum 0 0 3 often limited by the fact that half the race simply doesn't
Neocornix 0 0 6 think like a tool-using species. With that being said,
1 2 however, there isn't a Corax alive who doesn't like having
Ales 8
some sort of surprise up her sleeve — or wing. As such,
Volucris 2 3 10
there's a steady market for barter of toys, gadgets and
Corvus 3 5 10
gewgaws among the Corax, who either barter information
There is a sixth, nameless Rank available to the for them or, on rarer occasions, make them. (Rumors that
creme de la creme of Corax society. Those few, legend- Corax have a predilection for stealing others' talens and
ary wereravens are known worldwide and, more impor- fetishes are merely the scurrilous slanders perpetrated by
tantly, afforded silence by the rest of the Corax com- assorted absent minded Bete who couldn't remember where
munity whenever they want to speak. they'd left their nice shiny new fetishes and needed to
blame the Corax who innocently happened to be in the
Corax Rank is generallv given by acclamation rather neighborhood at the time and... err... ahem. In any case,
than by formal ceremony. When the time is right, the it's not true.)
Corax in question simply finds a place reserved for her With that in mind, here are a few of the favorite toys
closer to the front of the Parliament and hears more and the Corax like to play with.
more potent secrets whispered in her ear. Plus, since the
raven-folk are by definition incorrigible gossips, news of Sliver of Helios
the Corax's ascent is passed along and scratched on Umbral Level 1, Gnosis 3
notes for all the winged world to see. With the connection the Corax have to the Sun, it's
Of course, any advance in Rank is subject to Helios' not surprising that on occasion, Helios lets the ravens carry
oversight. If a place is made for a Corax to advance in Rank around bits of his radiance. A Sliver of Helios is exactly
at a Parliament and the sky immediately becomes clouded that: a dagger-shaped slice of sunlight that can illuminate
over, that is taken as a sign of Helios' displeasure at the even the darkest night.
proceedings, and the advancement is immediately revoked. To use a Sliver of Helios, the Corax simply unwraps it
Furthermore, the Corax thus denied also loses a permanent (it's a good idea to keep a Sliver wrapped up, for obvious
point of Glory Renown, and will find himself gossiped reasons), at which point it illuminates a 10' by 10' area with
about and pitied by all his fellow wereravens. sunlight. Needless to say, any vampires caught within this
Needless to say, Corax can not renounce Renown. area (for some reason, the light fills a cube, not a sphere as
There's no point to it for them. one might expect) take normal damage as from sunlight.
Otherwise, however, the Sliver simply serves as a glorified,
Losing Rank and Renown very bright flashlight. It is impossible to dim the Sliver in
It's easy for a Corax to lose Renown, or even Rank. All he any way — it's an all-or-nothing type deal.
has to do is make a habit of bringing back bad information, or If anyone attempts to use a Sliver like a dagger, under
gain a rep as a lazy scout, or rely too much on what others have the mistaken impression that form follows function, the
told him and not add anything to the Breed's information stew. blade immediately shatters and the light goes out at once.
All of these take a while to circulate through the Corax rumor
mill, which means that a wereraven guilty of any of these Silver Claws
transgressions hits plenty of time — and hears plenty of Level 1, Gnosis 5
warnings — to straighten out his act. If you lose Renown
Dangerous in the extreme, Silver Claws are usually
among the Corax, odds are, you've earned it.
only worn when combat with another member of the Bete
The only thing that will get Renown stripped quickly is inevitable. While the Claws are actually made from
from a Corax (by anyone besides Raven, in any case) is to stainless steel, when a Corax cuts his palm and lets a drop
l i e to other Corax — in a worst-case scenario, about other of blood fall on each one, they suddenly transmute into
Corax. The Corax rely on their information network being purest silver.
as clean as possible. Misinformation may sneak in, but as
The Silver Claws are, in form, exactly that: a set of
long as every Corax does his best to report accurately and
wickedly hooked and serrated claws that fit over each of a
honestly, the network stays mostly pristine, and churns out
Corax' combat-form claws. At the end of a battle, the
mostly useable information. As soon as a Corax starts to lie
Claws return to their normal, inert, harmless content.
to the community, the community's reason for existing
becomes threatened. Needless to say, the Corax don't sit Supposedly, there is a variation of this fetish in which
still for that sort of thing. the claws transmute to gold instead of silver, though no

86 Corax
reputable Corax has ever seen such a thing. Gold claws sigil and painted white. Most Counterfeits are three inches
would only be useful against Mokole or other Corax, after long and an inch across, though there are no hard and fast
all, which raises disturbing questions about what sort of rules.
Corax would he twisted enough to commission or create What a Counterfeit does is ingenious. When charged
such a thing. with a point of Gnosis, a Counterfeit can morph itself to
look like any single small object to which it is touched,
Corvid'sFavor ideally, the object in question is one that the Corax has just
Level 1, Gnosis 2 stolen and needs to replace immediately.
Nothing more than a feather plucked from a corvid's The Counterfeit does not duplicate any of the func-
head and wrapped with a single strand of the bearer's hair, tions of the object it is mimicking, merely the appearance.
this fetish allows a Corax to use any Corvid-form only Gifts What that usually means is that the victim of the theft will
while in Homid. While it doesn't permit a Corax in Homid attempt to use their cell phone, or gun, or fetish, or
to fly, does grant access to those knacks that are generally whatever and get absolutely no response. At this point, the
only available to the feathered members of the family. Counterfeit reverts to its true shape, no doubt in the dismay
of its new owner.
Raven'sFace Clever Corax keep an eye on those whom they've
Level 3, Gnosis 3 slipped Counterfeits, because more than few victims have
Generally, only the Corax of the Pacific Northwest thrown the fetishes away in anger at being tricked. The wise
have access to this particular fetish, which takes the form Corax makes sure he's in a position to retrieve the aban-
of a totem pole capped with Raven's visage. When properly doned Counterfeit, which hopefully is undamaged and
prepared, the fetish can serve as a Gnosis repository, hold- ready to be used again.
ing up to 3 points of spiritual energy for each Rank of the
Corax who carved the icon. As the Corax who created the
Helios' Mirror
fetish advances in Rank, the capabilities of the totem pole Level 5, Gnosis 4
increase as well. There are only a few shards of the mirror originally
To invest Gnosis in Raven's Face, the Corax needs used to trick Helios back into the world still extant, and the
only to perch on top of pole and spend the Gnosis he Corax who possesses one is accounted lucky indeed. A
wants to store. There's no additional cost; the Gnosis fragment of Helios' Mirror is not something one carries
simply drains from the raven into the totem pole. When the around, as even the smallest is at least a foot long; usually
time comes for withdrawal, the Corax simply reverses the they are kept in homes or safe places in the Umbra.
procedure and the Gnosis flows back into him. Raven's What a chunk of the Mirror allows, however, is noth-
Face can he used by any Corax, and indeed many of these ing short of miraculous. A l l the possessor needs to do is
fetishes are set up as community Gnosis banks throughout mention a name or place, and, if that person or location is
the Northwest Corax' territory. on the daytime side of the planet, the Mirror shows the
To Corax eyes, a "charged" fetish appears to have a : requested scene. The Corax can gaze into the Mirror for as
slight heat haze around it, which is the only way Raven's long as she desires, or until the image depicted slides into
Face can be distinguished from a more mundane sort of the darkness of night. The Mirror cannot show anything on
totem pole. The Gnosis contained within these fetishes is the night side of the planet, nor can it display anyone in the
inaccessible to anyone except Corax — after all, it's kind of Umbra, but it does make an excellent too! for checking up
hard for Garou to perch. on errant Corax who haven't shown up for Parliament for
a while.
Counterfeit The Mirror can be used at any hour of the day or night,
Level 2, Gnosis 3 but only once per day. Overuse or abuse of the Mirror can
Sad to say, certain Corax have a small problem with cause the fragment to shatter.
kleptomaniacal tendencies. Many of the things the Corax The object of the Mirror's scrutiny has no idea that he
consider to be worth stealing are rare and/or valuable, is being watched, though with a successful Perception +
rendering the theft risky. With that in mind, survival- Empathy coll (difficulty 7) he does get an itchy feeling
minded Corax get their hands on a Counterfeit, which is between his shoulder blades (or the equivalent).
nothing more than a clay tablet impressed with Raven's

Chapter Four: Traits and Secrets 87

 She said, "Are you aware of the privilege you enjoy
The burden of history lies heavy on my shoulders"
We shook hands and she went on her way singing
— Runrig, "Sraidean Na Rionn-Europa (Streets of Europe)"

Read my beak, boy wonder: There is no such thing as a a feathered security cam -- and that each of us is born to get put
typical Corax. We come in all shapes, sizes and colors -- well, into that spot. Me, I dunno. I'm just here to teach you the ropes
not colors, but you get the idea, kid. Basic black and that's in it for and watch as much of this burg as I can, and the rest is just
us, but we're here not to make a fashion statement. details, you know? But take a gander at these guys. They'll give
There's a theory going around that each of us is born to a you some idea of the options.
specific roll -- that there's a specific spot that Gaia thinks needs

Appendix: The Sky-Tossed 89

BicycleCourier
Quote: Wheels, wings -- whatever. The idea gets items there faster than you do. So now, it's
is to get there fast, m'man. courier runs for the boss during the day, and for
Prelude: Thank God you grew up before more important folks at night. The money's good,
Ritalin came into vogue. You were the poster the satisfaction's better, and the fact that you're
child for Attention Deficit Disorder before any- actually making a living at this annoys the hell
one thought to put a label on it; back in those out of Mom and Dad. What more could you
days, you were just "hyper." Paying atten- ask for?
lion in class was just too damn much Concept: You're a s p e e d - f r e a k i n g
work, especially when there were so many adrenaline j u n k i e , and there's nothing you
other things to catch your eye. like better than cutting it this close to the
Needless to say, you weren't an edge. Just getting the package there on
academic superstar. Your folks worried time doesn't do it for you, you need to be
that you "wouldn't get into a good col- first, fastest, and best. Looking good is
lege" and that "your life was ruined." but important, but making other couriers look
you didn't much care — by the time it bad by comparison — now that's a kick.
became clear you weren't Ivy League Roleplaying Hints: There's no prob-
material, your spirit egg had already lem you can't accelerate away from or de-
hatched and you'd discovered that you tour around. Worst comes to worst, ditch
could fly away from all of t h a t . So when the skin and fly, brother — there's nothing
you g r a d u a t e d f r o m high school that can hold you back once you take to the
(barely), you took the money your folks skies. Speed is your t h r i l l , that and the
gave you as a graduation present, knowledge that no one out there is faster
bought a bike frame, then built your- than you. Keep an eye out for new work and
self a monster from the ground up. It trouble that might interfere with current as-
was easy to hook on as a courier with signments, but on the whole, you don't give a
a firm in town, and now you've rat's ass about the big p i c t u r e . Yeah, there's a
your choice of c u t t i n g through the war going on somewhere, but there always has
streets or the skies above them. been and there always will be. In the meantime,
It doesn't m a t t e r which you you've got a delivery to make.
choose, really— no one Equipment: R e b u i l t b i k e , Quicksilver T-
shirt, tire iron, fanny pack

90 Corax
TabloidReporter
Quote: Are you positive it wasn't Elvis, ma'am? No? Can I quote you on that?
Prelude: They had names for you back in school: Snitch, Sneak, things like that. Part of
it was because you were smaller and skinnier than the rest of the kids, and thus different.
The rest came from the fact that, well, you were a snitch and a damned good one. You
knew which boys were sneaking dirty magazines into the locker room, who was smoking
pot after gym class, who was doing whose homework — all of the things yon could turn
into a l i t t l e ready cash by a judicious application of blackmail.
One of the teachers whom you snitched to on a regular basis (only on the guys who
welshed or tried to beat you up; you had your rules) thought it might be worthwhile
to t r y to direct your tendencies, and got you onto the school paper. It clicked for you,
and from then on you wanted nothing more than to be a journalist. New York Times
columns, Pulitzers — you could see them all. You graduated and soared into
college, impressing journalism professors and turning; the campus paper into your
personal playground. Everything was going according to plan. Everything was cool.
Then you had your First Change, and everything went to hell.
After finding yourself sitting on top of the English department building
wearing a full suit of feathers, you realized that suddenly your neat little plan for
your life didn't work any more. There were other things to consider, a bigger
picture to observe. So you changed your direction. After finishing your degree, you
went straight to the newspaper tabloid rags and applied for a job. Bemused that
a graduate of a prestigious program like yours would want to work for the Weekly
Inquiring News, the editor of the first rag you hit snapped you up. Since then, it's
been nothing but Jesus in the kudzu and Elvis at the swap meet, but you're happy
— and well hidden.
Concept: You're t r o l l i n g for information on the unlikely in a sea of the
impossible. Sure, you get stories about sweet potatoes that look like the
Virgin Mary, but: every so often some valuable info comes along. Plus,
you're in a perfect position to disseminate information to the WIN's
subscriber base of Corax. Let's face it, no other tabloid services that
market niche as well as you do.
Roleplaying Hints: You've got the Socratic method like a virus —
questions, questions and more questions. There's always a crunchy truth
center you can dig out from the chocolate coating most people provide, and you
don't care if you get messy finding that one magical nugget. Some people are put off
by your abruptness; others find you refreshingly direct. As long as you get the story,
though, you don't care if people think you're an alien from the planet of the exploding
penguins — you've got priorities.
Equipment: Minirecorder, pilot PDA, lockpicks, camera

92 Corax
Corvidocentric
Quote: Come on, monkeyboy -- you're toting around so
much lard anyone watching you fly would think your bones
weren't hollow! Now give me 20 laps around the campus, and no
landing!
Prelude: You don't remember too much before the
Change hit you — your mama knew you were different, but
taught you the winged ways as best as she could. There weren't
any other Corax around the park where you nested, but there
were plenty of humans — and you got to watch them day in and
day out. You got to watch them trash the place unthinkingly. You
got to see the muggings and the rapes, the pollution and the
foulness, and you took it all in, every last detail. You didn't know
why, but you knew it was important.
When the Change finally came, everything fell into place.
Other Corax finally found you and educated you, and showed you
what it was you needed to do. You shared what you'd seen with
them, and they spread the word. Before long, the park was cleansed
They, in turn, entrusted you with a sacred duty — to train others
as you'd been trained.
However, more and more of the new Corax you saw weren't
up to your standards. They were monkeys, born and bred. So you
found yourself being extra hard on the students who came to you
with opposable thumbs. Those who broke, well, the Wyrm
would have broken them anyway. And those who survived your
training? Someday, they might even show enough merit to
overcome their species.
At least, that's what you hope. In the meantime, there's
work to do.
Concept: The business of being Gaia's eyes and ears on
the world is something you take very seriously. There's no
time for fun and games as far as you're concerned (though there
is time to purse the occasional shiny thing -- you never know
when it'll be relevant.) The monkeys have no idea what they're
doing -- damned groundhuggers, the lot — and it's up to you to get
it right.
Roleplaying Hints: If it was born a mammal, you haven't got the
time for it. Sure, you and all the other Corax have to work together
for Gaia, yaddada yaddada yaddada, but you'll he damned it you take
any lip from any fur-bearing, flea-ridden, sensitive-spot-scratching
jumped-up chimp. If anyone's going to be in charge of any joint ops, it's going
to be you, and no biped's going to get any kind of responsibility — or respect — while you're
around.
Equipment: Binoculars, notepad, bag lunch

94 Corax
BirdsofaFeather:
NotableCorax
The idea of "notable Corax" is somewhat misleading
— after all, every Corax knows about durn near every other
Corax. It's part of the job/species description. But there are
a few birds who have, by virtue of sheer audacity and s k i l l ,
managed to establish themselves as avatars of everything a
Corax should be. Stories (okay, more stories than usual) are
told about those Corax as educational exercises, songs sung
about them and occasionally independent graphic novels
w r i t t e n , just as a way to tweak the Pentex-owned major
comics company.
However, Corax are only famous as such to other
Corax. Despite the fact that the were-ravens have no real
enemies among the other Bete, despite the fact that the
Garou actively seek alliance with the Corax, and that
Corax are much more vicious fighters than anyone sus-
pects, there still are very few of them. Furthermore, a high
profile isn't conducive to effective information-gathering
— a well-known Corax ends up dead, neutralized or worse.
With that in mind, here are a few of the most notorious
Corax. You may have heard of them, but you can he sure
they've heard of you.

EinarrFlies-Like-Smoke
Contrary to the evidence presented in certain revi-
sionist history text, Leif Ericsson was not the Viking who
Herjulfson had described. The longboat was then turned
set foot on what would someday be called North America.
for home, where the crew received a hero's welcome
That honor falls to Ericsson's navigator, a corvid-breed
— except for poor Einarr, who from that day forward
Corax who adopted the human name Einarr before signing
had abuse heaped on him relentlessly for being possibly the
on with Ericsson to go a'Viking.
biggest screwup in the history of the breed. The other
(Historical Note: The first Viking to see North America
Corax never forgave poor Einarr for his change of heart,
was a trader named Bjarni Herjulfson, who got really, really
and after a few years, he adopted human form more-or-less
lost while trying to visit his father in Greenland, but he was
permanently so as to hide from the relentless derision.
in such a rush to get home that he never even disembarked
Einarr's king been in his grave, but his name lives on.
to explore the new land. He did, however, tell people what
Any time a Corax fouls something up spectacularly, he's
he had seen, inspiring Ericsson to mount a voyage. Bjarni,
referred to as a "Little Einarr." It is believed that Gaia, in
incidentally, was Corax Kinfolk and word of his little side
her mercy, kept Einarr's soul from reincarnating, simply to
trip quickly spread throughout the "family.")
spare him incarnations of abuse, because even a thousand
H a v i n g long been in contact w i t h the Corax of the
years later, the Corax haven't forgotten.
Pure Lands, Einarr originally inserted himself into Leifs
crew to steer the ship away from Newfoundland. Unfortu- EsmereldaNorthrup-Medina:CEO,the
nately, Einarr's plan to steer the ship in circles until Leif was
forced to return to Greenland hit a weather-related snag: Hermetic Society of Swift Light
Storms drove the longboat before them and Einarr had no The current head of the Hermetic Society of Swift
choice but to steer the ship to safety. Ironically, Einarr's L i g h t (since renamed Helios Overnight Services —
skill as a navigator was such that had he not been on board, NASDAQ symbol HOSer), Esmerelda has been trying to
the ship probably would have foundered and the semi- give the job away, to no avail, for the last 14 years. During
disastrous interactions between Vikings and "Skraelings" that time, she's also turned it into a highly successful,
would never have occurred. publicly traded courier service that turns an obscene profit
Einarr himself resigned himself to helping Leif out, and every year. Esmerelda herself has retired from active ser-
eventually Ericsson's expedition stopped at all three places vice, leaving all but the most vital deliveries to her human
and Kinfolk employees. On those rare occasions when The

96 Corax
 know about Esmerelda's database, but none have ever seen
it. That doesn't mean that none have tried, merely that
none have pulled it off.
Esmerelda and her husband, Ivan, have one child, a
boy named Diego. Diego's already been earmarked for the
Change, and many Corax believe that, contrary to her
protests, Esmerelda has decided that Helios Overnight will
be handed down to Diego as an inheritance. While there's
no custom specifically preventing this sort of thing, it's
never been an issue because before Esmerelda, no one's
managed to hang onto the Hermetic Society for more than
a couple of years.

RainaFader:PrivateEye
Raina's interested in the practical application of infor-
mation, more so than perhaps any other Corax. A p r i v a t e
investigator who operates out of Hartford (convenient
flights to Boston and New York — it doesn't take her more
than a couple of hours to get to either), Raina's business is
equal parts corporate espionage and divorce cases. The
former are lucrative, the latter are fun, and so she gets the
best of both worlds.
An accomplished basketball player in college, Raina is
almost six feet tall and still maintains tip-top playing
condition. (She recently had to turn down an inquiry from
the WNBA.) Her one concession to vanity is the fact that
she keeps her hair long. While this has proved to be a

Old Lady (as they respectfully call her -- when her office
door is closed) actually gets involved with the legwork,
there's something truly serious going down. Past cargoes
she's handled personally include Grand Klaives, blueprints
of Pentex corporate HQ, weapons-grade Plutonium and
other, more important things.
Now pushing 45, Esmerelda keeps herself fit enough
for active service. Her black hair is kept short, and while she
usually wears business suits, the dress code around the office
is casual — just in case. You never know when a dissatisfied
client or supernatural e n t i t y is liable to burst in, demanding
a refund. This has happened twice; the firm's offices have
relocated twice as a result.
While custom demands that only one Corax work for
the Hermetic Society at Swift Light at a time, Esmerelda
has an open-door policy to others of her breed. Further-
more, she has been known to commission freelancers and
subcontract runs to give other Corax a hand — or when she
doesn't feel like risking one of her own people.
In a sense, Helios Overnight is just a sideline for
Esmerelda. To no one's surprise, her real business is the
collection and collation of information. Every time some-
one hires (or inquires about) Helios, Esmerelda creates
an in-depth file on the client. These files are constantly
updated and cross-referenced, and some fascinating tidbits
of information have come to light that way. Most Corax
handicap on a couple of occasions. Raina has steadfastly Sparkles is part of the flock that makes the Tower of
refused to modify her "look." This "look" also means work- London its base of operations, and is universally acknowl-
ing clothes of a long black raincoat, a hat that shades her edged as the ringleader of that merry band of idiots. When
eyes, and black leather gloves; Raina herself refers to it as not showing off for tourists or dive-bombing assorted tour-
"Sam Spade goes goth," but claims that it's the only sensible guides and Beefeater guards, Sparkles also coordinates all of
choice for the unpredictable Hartford weather. the Corax of Britain into a highly disciplined (if not always
Recently, Raina's been letting the business of nailing sober) information-gathering force, and his contacts ex-
unfaithful husbands slide a little b i t , while putting in more tend up into Scotland and across the Irish Sea as well. If
and more time on the case of a baby-food manufacturer anything supernatural happens in the British Isles, Sparkles
that's been shipping tainted product to Africa as "charity." knows about it within the hour, and the Corax response (if
As one of her best informants has already been killed during one is demanded) is underway shortly thereafter.
the course of the investigation, Raina's decided that this In his native form, Sparkles is an astonishingly large
one is personal. raven. On those infrequent occasions when he switches to
Homid, Sparkles keeps his hair short and spiky, and has a
Sparkles: Watchman at the Tower series of tattoos in knotwork patterns up both arms. He's
No one knows what Sparkles' real name is. He's raven- thin, but wiry, and wears round glasses with mirrored
breed, and delights in playing to the worst stereotypes of his lenses.
kind — specifically, the corvids' legendary obsession with There are only two reasons for Sparkles to drop into
shiny objects. Legend has it that some poor fool once Homid form. (He even prefers to read the paper in bird
showed Sparkles — in Homid form for the first time -- a shape; he'll perch behind someone reading on a park bench
cartoon wherein the hero outwitted a crow who kept on and do an over-the-shoulder read.) One reason is to meet
shouting for his "Sparklies!" Apparently, Sparkles was so with one of his near-infinite information sources, most of
amused and/or appalled that he took his name from that whom would be rather disconcerted to discover they're
cinematic masterpiece, and has been going by his nom de swapping news with a bird. For these folks, Sparkles has a
animation ever since. variety of guises he'll adopt: drug dealer, band promoter,
music magazine reporter, police informant, and he'll often
go through four or five fictional identities in a single
afternoon.
The other reason Sparkles takes off the feathers is that
he's an absolute stone-cold ska fan, and if there's a good
show (or even a not-so-good one that promises an energetic
pit), he's there. He's even taken a turn or two behind the
mike, but his bands always fall apart as more pressing
business interferes with the rehearsal schedule.

AlexeiKovalenko:
Spymaster of the Evil Empire
There are only two things that Alexei Kovalenko
really, truly hates. One is his job, the other is his species.
Mind you, there are plenty of things Alexei dislikes — the
winter cold, the summer heat, the prevalence of those
arrogant Shadow Lords in Kiev these days — and he'll
complain endlessly about any and all of them to anyone
who'll listen. Indeed, Alexei's nickname among his fellow
spies and Corax is "The Cave of Winds," for he never, ever
stops moaning about the latest thorn in his side.
Alexei is a spy, you see (though he prefers the term
"information transfer facilitator"), and a very good one.
While there's no actual proof that he was connected to the
Ames or Walker spy cases, he occasionally drops details
into conversation that even the special prosecutors haven't
uncovered yet. For forty years and more, he has sat in his
 MalachiSunchaser
Though now shrinking with each generation, the
Corax Kinfolk villages in the Pacific Northwest are still
vibrant and vital. Malachi is one of those Corax who sees
to that. While bom to corvid stock, Malachi has been
spending more and more time as a human, simply to ensure
the survival of the culture that raised him. There are some
things — legal documents to sign, meetings to attend or
disrupt, and so on — that are best attended by a man instead
of a bird.
When not working to protect the fishing, land and
other rights of the Kinfolk villages, Malachi spends much
of his time in the Umbra. Popular wisdom holds that if his
work on Earth were ever done, Malachi would "forget the
sun" in a flash. Affairs of the breed, apart from those related
to the Kinfolk villages, hold less and less interest for
Malachi these days, while he speaks more and more rever-
ently of the wonders found in the Deep Umbra.
In human form, Malachi usually wears a blue work
shirt, jeans and boots. He's over six feet tall, with his hair
pulled back in a braid that snakes halfway down his back,
and features that mark him as being from the Quinault
reservation on the Olympia peninsula. Malachi is unusu-
ally taciturn for a Corax, and at Parliaments, he's quite
content to let others ramble on for days while he just notes
all the useful tidbits.

dingy little office and done his best to manipulate the

destiny of nations. Motivated not by patriotism but by
sheer intellectual fascination with the game, Alexei now
sells his services to the highest bidder. He has friends and
business associates in nearly every major intelligence agency
in the world, and all of them owe him at least one or two
favors.
The problem, as Alexei sees it, is that while he's very
good at finding things out, and very good at fulfilling Gaia's
mission for the Corax, and even very good at more mun-
dane things like avoiding getting shot by angry CIA agents,
he doesn't like doing any of them. It's just that spying (and
being a Corax) was the family business, and he was ex-
pected to follow in his father's footsteps, and, well, it's now
the turn of the millennium and what can he do?
Now nearing 70 years of age, Alexei is still spry and in
remarkably good shape. Whip-thin like all Corax, he has a
shaggy white beard that would do a turn-of-the-century
Cossack proud. Alexei's other nickname is "the Priest," as
he usually dresses in simple black and keeps himself im-
maculately groomed. The one item Alexei always carries
with him is a cane that, to no one's surprise, contains a
sword, Alexei has a variety of blades that fit the sword-
cane, at least one of which is silver.
Parting Shot someone you trust, but make sure you get something back in
return. By the same token, don't be afraid to bullshit someone
So that's the basics, kid. The rest is details. who's trying to take advantage of you. This ain't CNN, if you
Of course, details are the important things. That's know what I mean. We don't do unnecessary freebies. Fight
where the devil — or the Wyrm — lives, in the details, and only when you have to, but if you're cornered, make sure it's
it's our job to pick him out. But now you've got enough to the other guy who goes down. I don't want to have to drink your eyes
work with so that you'll know when something's out of someday.
whack.
That's it, kid. Now go to it. Keep in touch, watch your
Always trust your instincts, kiddo. If something feels back, and remember the details
wrong, it probably is wrong. Never hesitate to share info with

100 Corax