Rowan Rallies-Protests

The World of Darkness is not unlike our own. If you or I were dropped there, we would just notice that things seem a bit darker – the city is a bit more intense, the wilderness is a little bit wilder. Corruption can run deep, people can disappear. It's more dangerous, but recognisable. However, the truth is a bit more dramatic. Werewolves, vampires, mages, fae, shape shifters of every kind... they're all real, each having their own lore and history about the world they inhabit. Magic is everywhere, and for those with the skill and the knowhow, it's possible to enter the world of spirits.

Werewolves are the warriors of this setting. They believe in primal spirits, celestines, such as the earth, Gaia, the sun, Helios, and their patron god Luna , the moon, who (depending on who you ask) gave them their powers. They also believe in the Triat: the Wyld, dynamic wilderness, matter and life, the Weaver, creator of patterns and order, and the Wyrm, which destroys the work of the other two. Some say that the Wyrm was once the source of balance, but whatever the case, today that balance has shifted – man's influence has made the Weaver stronger than ever before, and the Wyrm has fallen to madness, and now seeks to destroy everything that it touches. It's against the Wyrm that the werewolves fight, against the apocalypse that it would wreck on Gaia.

But they're not a unified front: each tribe has it's own beliefs and spin on the tale. Some blame the Weaver and man entirely, others believe that the Weaver's tools can be used to their advantage. Some believe that the apocalypse will be the end of all things, others think that there will be a new world afterwards that the victors will be able to mould to their liking. And with the hunting of wolves to near extinction, werewolves are losing touch with that side of themselves, weakening them still further. With no unified front, their chances of winning the coming war are low, and they know it, and yet they still fail to find the common ground needed to come together.

Upon meeting Rowan for the first time, most people form three impressions: that they're from London, that they're obsessed with computers, and that they're gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. One of these is technically incorrect: they're only gay in the context of it being used as a catch all term to replace LGBT+ or queer, and they are, in fact, pansexual, and don't hold much truck with bothering with gender when considering potential partners.

All three aspects are fairly hard to ignore; as soon as Rowan opens their mouth you'll be hit with their east London accent, and they're proud of their working class roots and how hard their Mum worked to keep food on the table. You'll need a good excuse to try and peel them away from their precious computers: they're their hobby, their source of income, and their weapon of choice. And their queerness is such a key component of their identity, it spills out into every aspect of their life. It doesn't help that as a second generation gay they were involved in the scene as a baby; London Pride is as much home to them as the council flat that they used Right to Buy to finally give their Mum a secure place to stay when they sold their first app. Their various queer groups were a comfort to them and their mothers as they went through the questioning of childhood, their source of friendship and fun, and queerness has been the thing that's bound their pack together. It's also been a good way to funnel out the rage that being a werewolf has left them with: Rowan has never been afraid to rage against the system or stand up for what they believe in. Their mothers helped instil this in them, bringing their child up to not stand for injustice, to defend those who can't defend themselves and to act in the face of adversary. They have been attending protests since they were too young to remember, and when the deed name "Rallies-Protests" was suggested, it was obvious that they should take it. Rowan's proud of their deed name (although it took a long time for them to adjust to using it); one of their only regrets is that they can't explain it to their mothers and how that is the thing that werewolf society has chosen to honour them for.

Being a Garou – one of the werewolf warriors inspired by the moon goddess and set on the earth to protect the earth goddess – has always had to play third fiddle to Rowan's other, longer worn identities. It doesn't help that their tribe, the Glass Walkers, are so similar in concept to ideals that they have carried for a long time. A corrupt business man is using his company to wreck havoc on the environment? It doesn't take much encouragement to get Rowan to hack into his computer system and go through the data with a fine tooth comb to find that piece of evidence to send anonymously to the press. An evil spirit has been publishing the details of eco-warriors online? Rowan will program and publish a virus that'll have them begging for mercy. The only thing that took a little getting used to was extracting such violence so often, sometimes on real people infected by the source of all evil, the Wyrm. However, five years after their first change, this has just become another part of the job. Unpleasant, but necessary in the fight to protect Gaia. They still prefer to do their fighting virtually, where possible, though. Especially as, for a werewolf, they're not a good fighter in person. While still stronger than a human when transformed, they're weaker than their peers, and than the enemies that they come up against. They're also a city kid through and through, and their connection to the wilderness is severely lacking, something that most werewolves would judge them for harshly. As much as they're excited by the idea of going into the wild, with all the new exciting things to discover, the chances are high that they wouldn't survive very long. David Attenborough documentaries do not a survivor make.

Rowan was born under the influence of the waxing gibous moon, which makes them a Galliard. Galliards are the bards of Garou society, inspiring them to greatness and calling them to battle, as well as keeping traditions and lore. Rowan errs more towards the former than the latter, and was always charismatic, standing with the self confidence of one who feels justified in taking up space in the world. They can often be found in the foreground, inspiring people with their optimism and hope, even if, if given the choice, they would always back someone else for leader, and use their persuasion to help someone that they believe in lead. However, they've never been much of an academic: they survived school with okay grades, and don't have much time for any aspect of lore that pulls them away from the computer. Other tribes would find them lacking, but as a Glass Walker Galliard they fit in fairly well, boasting the skills of their sept and pack mates with computer games, video remixes and presentations about their latest deeds, explained through only the freshest memes.

And outside of all of that? Rowan is bubbly, happy go lucky, accepting and optimistic. They're always at the heart of the party, dancing through the night to exhaustion. They always see things in a positive light, they always have a kind word to say, and they are always there for a good cuddle. They're not the most perceptive person in the world, and they're not the best listener – their mind's always on the go – but that doesn't mean that they don't try, and although they have many strains on their time, they'll give it up for a friend even if it means losing out on sleep. On the flip side, they're quick to anger, and while it's usually on behalf of their friends, miscommunication and misunderstanding has directed it at friends and family before, and they're curious to a fault. Any button must be pressed, any secret must be discovered, and any new place must be explored. It's been a major cause of strife in their time, they've lost friends and an awful lot of time through it, and it's seriously hindered their progression through Garou society. They try their best to keep it under control, but it's such a compulsion that they struggle, especially with new people or in new environments. And there are a lot of new environments to discover – Rowan is a city kid who has barely left London. A couple of holidays as a child, and a couple of missions as a werewolf are all they have under their belt, but they're always looking for the chance to experience more.

Garou are werewolves who are born into their powers rather than cursed into them. They can be born from a wolf or a human mother, which determines which form they themselves are born into; this is called their breed form. They have five forms, including the one that they were born into: homid (human), glabro (wolfman), crinos (murder furry), hispo (fell wolf) and lupus (wolf), and can take any form with a moment's concentration regardless of moon status. They are not forced into transformation on the full moon, instead they are controlled by their Rage, which varies by werewolf. This Rage can be used to move at incredible speeds or to transform in the blink of an eye, or to heal oneself at the point of death, but when triggered can also cause the werewolf to lose control and transform into a murderous beast at any time, which is called frenzying. The more Rage one has, the more one can use it, but the more likely one is to frenzy.

Each form has its own advantages and weaknesses. Communication with humans is only possible in the first three, and to wolves in the last three. Garou have their own language designed around the Crinos form. Crinos is the strongest form, but the mere sight of a Crinos werewolf will cause a delirium in all humans which will cause all but the strongest willed to flee or cower in fear. In any form outside of their breed form, the Garou are quick to heal from any wound outside of a few weaknesses such as silver and fire, and they can transform into their breed form instantly.

They live in a world of spirits: the moon spirit, Luna, gave them their powers, and they fight to protect the Earth's spirit, Gaia. The surface world, the Tellurian, is one of many parallel spaces, and werewolves frequently cross the Gauntlet between it and the Umbra, the spirit world. There, they can meet and (sometimes) communicate with spirits and ask their help. Every pack has a spirit totem who will help the pack in return for the pack obeying the conditions of a ban, granting them the ability to talk to one another over distances, ability boosts, or even physically appearing to help in a fight in return for hunting or not hunting certain animals, not leaving an area, or not using cars or planes.

Spirits often teach werewolves gifts to help them in their fight. These are magical abilities that range from physical abilities, such as leaping long distances, or being able to scale building with ease, to social and mental, such as being able to persuade people with ease, or remember things in detail, to outright magical, such as causing locks to unlock, or creating alcohol from any liquid. These gifts will usually only be taught to werewolves of certain abilities: rank, auspice (moon phase they were born under) and tribe all might determine what they can or cannot learn. Additionally, spirits can be trapped, or convinced to take residency in objects by skilled werewolves, giving these objects the spirits abilities, and allowing a werewolf to then use them in return for convincing the spirit inside them; these items are then called talens of fetish.