the wings of brass [wip]

THE WINGS OF BRASS
“It is foolish to believe that the only path to walk is that of fictional purity.”

This tribe, not more than a few months old, stands as a direct mirror to the Black Spiral Dancers, a mirror that until now, no Gaian Garou has dared to achieve. Though they bear gifts resembling that of the Black Spiral Dancers, they are no corrupted monsters. They believe that decay is a necessary part of the cycle, and to reinstate the balance in the Triat, this fact must be accepted and even embraced. However, they revile destruction simply for destruction’s sake, and so they have sworn the Black Spiral Dancers as their enemies, perhaps even moreso than other tribes.

They are a hidden tribe, a quiet tribe, who dedicate themselves not to vanquishing the Defiler Wyrm, but to preserving and even bolstering the last piece of the Balance Wyrm, who rests deep at the heart of the Underworld. They seek to give a home, and redemption, to outcasts and wanderers who have otherwise been rejected or wronged by the Nation at large. This even extends to those spirits that have in the past fallen, but since been reclaimed. The Wings of Brass believe that even from their former fall can new wisdom be grown and used in the Greatest Quest.

Every Ronin cast from more stringent tribes, every disgraced Silver Fang, every impure Wendigo or Uktena, every male Black Fury, every disillusioned Red Talon, and even every would-be Black Spiral Dancer who realizes their wrongdoing, can find a home in the Wings of Brass, if they know where to look. The tribe takes in those that other tribes would not, and cares for them. Among their ranks are spurned metis, pairs of Garou lovers who wouldn’t otherwise dream of turning toward the Spiral, and even spurned Fera, and those few who have tasted the blood of a Kindred and ceased aging because of it.

The Wings of Brass as a tribe was founded by a former Glass Walker called Zora “Ears-of-Bat” Blackwood, a ghoul who was chased out of her original home city by a pack of Silent Strider assassins bent on freeing her from her twin sister’s blood. She lost trust for the Garou Nation at large after that incident, having been betrayed to the assassins by her own pack. After that, she fell into not Harano, but true depression, throwing herself before danger believing herself better off dead. The pieces of her life that assembled into the complete picture of the Wings of Brass fell into place swiftly.

After an incident where she nearly died to save two babies from a Black Spiral hive, she fell into a coma for three days. When she awoke, she spoke whispers of her purpose from Gaia, of the last piece of the Balance Wyrm in the underworld, how she had nearly fallen, but had been spared insanity for a great purpose. She chose to leave the city she had settled in alongside her family, to move to the city of St. Louis, where her husband held the title of Harpy to all Kindred. Here, during a sideways slip into the Umbra, she was approached by what would become her new Totem. Brass Dragon had heard her murmurs, which to others sounded like madness, and forged a pact with her: Seek the Balance Wyrm, and birth a tribe anew.

Those that follow her, and are patronized by Brass Dragon, speak in whispers that she might have managed to reach the center of the Underworld and meet the Balance Wyrm. She leads the tribe in quiet, never telling whether she did or did not.

The Wings of Brass do not view themselves as part of the Garou Nation. It is their leader’s belief that if they were, they would be held under scrutiny unbecoming of their mission. Anything associated with the Wyrm is bad to them, she claims, even the Balance Wyrm. Instead, they consider themselves another faction in this war, more along the lines of the Beast Courts, quietly allied but palpable in their disagreements.

Kinfolk belonging to the Wings of Brass are treated as equals, loved and cherished. It is their leader’s belief that kinfolk are as important to the cause of all Gaians as shifters are, that they are not helpless, squishy weaklings whose only purpose is to breed and stay in the kitchen. If they were, what good would the blessing of being able to touch silvered or gilded weapons really be? However, it is still the duty of the shifter to protect them – not from creatures who would do them harm, but from others, who seek to ‘reabsorb’ kinfolk into the nation.

Shifters are expected to keep close eye, rather than mindlessly destroy, when their kin loved ones are Embraced. They are expected to keep them on the path of balance and redemption rather than fall prey to their Beast or to overtly destructive sects, and to defend them from factions that would do them harm or kill them. Even those newly embraced into the Followers of Set are to be defended from their corrupt, Defiler Wyrm-serving superiors and guided onto the right path.

TOTEM: Brass Dragon

SPIRITS: Bat, [???]

GIFTS:

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Important figures-

Zora “Ears-of-Bat” Blackwood
Ragabash Elder, Homid

5 Strength - 4 Dexterity - 3 Stamina
4 Charisma - 2 Manipulation – 3 Appearance
2 Perception – 3 Intelligence – 2 Wits

Skill specialties: Athletics (Parkour), Brawl (Specific martial art: krav maga), Firearms (Shotguns), Performance (Guitar Solos), Computer (Video Editing), Strength (Vicious), Dexterity (Precise)

Rage 6 – Gnosis 7 – Willpower 9

Gifts: Plug and Play [1], City Running [1], Blur of the Milky Eye [1], Cybersenses [2], Electroshock [3], The Lasombra-Fucker [3], [level 4 Wings of Brass exclusive], [Level 5 Wings of Brass exclusive]
Disciplines: Potence [2], Thaumaturgy – Movement of the Mind [3], Fortitude [2]