Mountain Guardians

*"We keep our vigil from the high places of the world. When the Apocalypse begins, we will meet it first, for we will see it coming."*

## Story of the Mountain Guardians

*Mountain Guardians tell this story of our beginnings. Other Gurahl regard it with skepticism, but don’t dare say so to our faces. At any rate, it’s a good story and it goes like this....*

*Unlike the Gurahl who crossed the land bridge into the Pure Lands so long ago, we had our origin on the North American continent. The wolves, bears, humans and Garou who made the difficult passage to a new and supposedly untouched land immediately began to spread out all over the place, naming and claiming everything they saw. The Gurahl, however, reacted differently. They took one look around and realized that their numbers were far too small for them to protect and nurture this vast new territory. Like the Garou, Ursa’s children sensed the presence of the Wyrm beneath the surface of the Pure Lands, and they realized that it would take a new kind of Gurahl to drive out or destroy the servants of the Pattern Breaker*

*The Gurahl searched far and wide to find a model for the new creature they would form. Finally, one Gurahl, a Kieh known as Slowfoot Groundshaker, thought to look up — and there he saw what he needed. Towering above his head, almost touching the vault of the sky, loomed the great western mountain ranges.*

*“We must become like the mountains,” he declared. “But how?” He placed himself into a long sleep to dream the answer to his question.*

*The world turned a few more times before Slowfoot Groundshaker received a vision of what had to be done that woke him from his slumber. While the rest of the Gurahl, who by now called themselves River Keepers, traveled toward the river valleys of the Pure Land, Slowfoot and a handful of companions who shared his vision set out to scale the treacherous and unforgiving peaks of the Rockies and the Cascades. At each mountain top they crested, one of the Gurahl entered the Umbra and sacrificed a part of his or her body to the spirits of the mountain before going to sleep for the night. (Yes, I know you must wonder how one who had just severed her hand or foot could fall asleep while consumed with great pain, but this is how the story goes, so accept that it happened!) Upon waking, the maimed Gurahl discovered that the severed part had regenerated. Furthermore, in the place where the sacrificed hand or foot had been laid as an offering, a new bear stood, heavy with cub, waiting for someone to lead it back into the world.*

*These were the first grizzly bears, and now you know why their name sounds so gruesome.*

*By the time Slowfoot and his fellow Gurahl had completed their task, they had exhausted themselves with the pain they had suffered over and over again. Many of them sought out Dens in the sides of the mountains they had climbed and entered a long period of sleep. The grizzly bears, however, settled in along the mountains. Many of their cubs, magically conceived in the Umbra, became Gurahl, similar to the River Keepers, but different in subtle ways. These new Gurahl — the first Mountain Guardians — bore within them the fierceness of the jagged mountain peaks and the inner strength that comes from enduring great pain. The molten fury that lay within the hearts of many mountains burned in their breasts, teaching them the ways of the warrior. When the new Mountain Guardians bred with the humans of the Pure Lands, claiming some of them as Kinfolk, they chose the fiercest and strongest ones to father or bear their children. This is why the Mountain Guardians, unlike many other Gurahl, do not hesitate to join in battle and so often prove successful when they do. We carry inside us the strength and anger of the mountains who helped in our birth. And so ends my story.*

## Tribal Background

The early history of the Mountain Guardians parallels that of the Pure Lands, for they had their beginning only after the Gurahl crossed the land bridge into the Americas, seeking to escape the excesses of the War of Rage. The Garou who traveled to the Pure Lands — the Uktena, Croatan and Wendigo — also felt the need to declare an end to hostilities, and while relations between werebears and werewolves never reached the point of intimacy, the Gurahl and Garou of pre-Columbian America made an effort to coexist for the good of the land they claimed as their own. In the lands where the Wendigo held sway, the Guardians walked carefully, lest they provoke the werewolves to anger. Nevertheless, among the Inuit, Athapascan and Salish peoples of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, the Guardians served as shamans and wisdom keepers. The Guardians enjoyed a greater sense of cooperation and coexistence with the Uktena and the Bastet tribes that inhabited the American West. Relations with the human tribes prospered as the Native Americans honored the Children of Bear and Wolf (among other totems) and often accepted the presence of shapechangers in their midst as evidence of the attention of the Great Spirit.

While the three Garou tribes of America labored to contain the Wyrm and bind its minions into sturdy prisons, the Guardians assisted by offering healing or spiritual resources and by scouring their chosen mountain territories for remaining traces of Wyrm-taint. For many centuries, it seemed as if the spirit of the Pure Lands had arisen to enfold human, animal and Changing Breeds in a harmonious accord.

Despite the general absence of hostilities between the Garou and the Gurahl, the Guardians — like their River Keeper brothers — found it expedient to spend much of their time in seclusion or hibernation. Better not to tempt fate, they thought

Then the Europeans came, and with them arrived the Garou most directly responsible for the War of Rage. Sensing trouble in the making, the Guardians (along with the other Gurahl in the New World) withdrew en masse. This proved a costly mistake for the Guardians and for their Kinfolk.

The war between the European and American Garou ran its course behind the scenes of the unfolding of the “taming” of the American West. The loosing of the Storm Eater finally woke many of the sleeping Guardians, who roused themselves to aid in its ultimate defeat near the end of the 19th century. When they had time to look around, the Guardians noticed that the grizzly bears they had so lovingly nurtured had almost vanished from the continent, while their human Kinfolk had either perished as victims of European greed or languished on reservations far from their rightful homes. While some Guardians succumbed to the despair of Bhernocht, a few tried to repair the damage.

Today, the Guardians occupy themselves with efforts to prevent the disappearance of the grizzly bear and with Indian rights movements designed to reclaim lands for the displaced Native American tribes who served as their Kinfolk. As the strongest and most warlike of the Gurahl, the Mountain Guardians realize that their skills as fighters may place them alongside the Garou in the front lines of the Apocalypse. To this end, they strive to hone their combat abilities as well as their protective instincts. Like the mountains that contain smoldering cauldrons of inner fire, the Guardians stoke their fury carefully against the day when they, too, must Rage.

## Home Territories

At one time, the Mountain Guardians, like their grizzly bear kin, made their homes throughout Canada, the American West and much of northern Mexico. Today, some of the Guardians reside with their bear kin within national preserves and parks. Others have traveled to different parts of the country and journeyed across both oceans to find ways to expand their Kinfolk and to extend their guardianship to other mountains of the world.

## Culture and Kinfolk

The Native American tribes of western North America once served as the primary source of human Kinfolk for the Mountain Guardians. Many of these families died out or disappeared during westward expansion of the United States in the 19th century. Recently, the Guardians have expanded their search for new Kinfolk to include a broader spectrum of racial and ethnic backgrounds, hoping to increase their numbers. Some Mountain Guardians now come from Asian-American or Hispanic American stock, while others evince their European ancestral heritage. A few Guardians have traveled to Europe and Africa, though they are reluctant to impose on populations already claimed by other equally endangered Changing Breeds. Rumors persist that the shapeshifters of Asia, who have proven inhospitable to many western Changing Breeds, do not accord visiting Gurahl the same coolness. They might even allow some interbreeding with humans in their lands. Humans who enjoy pushing their physical limits (such as mountain climbers, cavers and athletes) or who show a talent for martial skills (such as boxers, wrestlers and martial artists) attract the attention of the Mountain Guardians.

While the grizzlies of North America have long provided Kinfolk for the Mountain Guardians, their endangered status has caused the Guardians to seek ursine Kinfolk among other species of bears. Occasionally, Mountain Guardians arise from matings with polar or spectacled bears.

Much of Mountain Guardian culture revolves around contests and challenges. More competitive than most Gurahl, the Guardians frequently engage in wrestling matches, weightlifting contests and long distance races to test their prowess against other tribe members. Older Guardians often test the capabilities of their cubs by challenging them to mock battle as a way of judging both their skill and their courage.

Few Mountain Guardians know how to back down from a challenge of any kind, whether physical or mental, even when doomed to fail. Among the Guardians, winning a contest ranks as less important than putting up a good fight. In most mock combats, both winner and loser gain Renown (though the winner receives more). The effort counts almost as much as the victory.

Some Gurahl believe that the Mountain Guardians place such great emphasis on ritualized combat in order to control and channel their innate aggressive streak. A more prevalent opinion among the Guardians stresses the importance of honing battle skills for their coming battles against the Wyrm.

## Tribal Organization

Mountain Guardians tend toward solitude even more than most Gurahl, relying on occasional meetings between individuals and attendance at the important Gurahl festivals as their primary means of contact with others of their tribe. The Guardians consider the oldest active tribe member as their leader (in those rare instances which call for a tribal spokesman), but each Guardian acts independently, with the exception of cubs during their Gallivant year. Mountain Guardians prize individual initiative and self-sufficiency almost as much as they value physical and mental prowess.

## Strengths and Weaknesses

**• Strongest of the Gurahl:** Mountain Guardians have an advantage over other werebears when engaging in activities that require physical strength. (In game terms, they have a -1 difficulty to Strength-related rolls, and Feats of Strength are adjusted by one degree in the Guardian’s favor.)

**• Challenge-bound:** Guardians find it difficult to refuse to accept a challenge or a dare, even if they know they are hopelessly overmatched. A Guardian may attempt to resist this urge with a Willpower roll (difficulty 9).

## Appearance

All Mountain Guardians tend toward physical bulk, exuding a larger-than-life presence in the company of others. Guardians born into human families exhibit the physical traits of their human parentage. In Ursus form, homid Guardians usually resemble grizzly bears. Mountain Guardians who come from ursine stock resemble their parent species in Ursus form, while they generally choose their Homid appearance from observations of local humans.