Mountain Guardians

The Mountain Guardians are the youngest of the Gurahl tribes, coming into being after the werebears crossed into the Pure Lands. They learned to coexist with the Wendigo, Uktena, and even the local Bastet. They served as shamans for the native northern tribes, and sometimes lived openly with the American Indians of the southwest. Risking annihilation to cooperate with those who had hunted them in the past, they worked with the Garou to cleanse the Pure Lands of the taint of the Pattern Breaker. They withdrew en masse when the European Garou arrived, leaving nothing but legends to tell of their presence there.

Their return to fight the Soul Eater signaled their re-entry into the world. Upon their return, however, they discovered that during their absence, their grizzly bear Kin became almost extinct. Unwilling to leave their Kinfolk’s fate in the hands of those who had harmed them already, the Mountain Guardians vowed to remain, and today they fight to preserve their existing grizzly bear Kinfolk, while preparing themselves to stand with the Garou on the front lines of the Last Battles.

**Home Territories:** Once, Mountain Guardians occupied the majority of central and western North America, including Canada and Mexico. Now, most Guardians dwell in national parks and preserves, particularly in the Northern Rockies of North America. Some travel to the rest of the continent to make contact with other Gurahl, but they are loathe to be parted from their ursine Kin for long, and many make their permanent homes in Western Canada or Alaska.

**Kinfolk:** After the decimation of their traditional Kinfolk — the Native American tribes of western North America — the Guardians have begun to expand their human Kinfolk to include any who are strong enough of body and mind to brave the few-remaining wildernesses of the continent. Their new Kin are often chosen from among those who are still capable of living a hardy, outdoors life, despite the encroachment of civilization: remote northern villagers, homestead ranchers or farmers far from urban crawl, survivalists, and those who choose to live “off the grid” for one reason or another.

The endangered grizzly bears form their primary ursine breeding stock, although interbreeding with the Ice Stalker tribe’s Kin is not unheard of — sometimes with and sometimes without the permission of that tribe’s Changers. Those who are attempting to reclaim former grizzly territory sometimes seek Kinfolk among the brown or black bears that are found there now.

**Tribal Culture:** The Guardians tend toward solitary travel, coming together mostly at powwows and gatherings. They value independence, self-sufficiency, and privacy. The most competitive of the Gurahl, the Guardians’ culture revolves around challenges and competitions, emphasizing ritual combat more than any other tribe.

**Appearance:** Human-born Guardians exhibit the appearance of their human ethnic heritage, though they tend toward the high end in both height and musculature. Most ursine Guardians resemble grizzly bears (or their bear-parent, in the case of cross-tribal breeding). Whether due to genetic predisposition or selective breeding, Guardian Kinfolk are rarely petite individuals; big bones and bigger attitudes tend to run strongly within the tribe.