Ice Stalkers

*"How can you look on the never-ending play of light and darkness that transforms snow and ice into miracles of artistic beauty and claim that we live in a barren land? Are you blind?"*

## Song of the Ice Stalkers

*Ice Stalkers often tell this story at the beginning of winter, when the endless night that claims their frozen lands for half the year brings about thoughts of darker times. Hush, listen and remember how the Stalkers’ greatest work of art saved the Gurahl from total annihilation.*

*The War of Rage was going badly for Mother Bear’s children. Hounded on every side by their treacherous near-kin, the Garou, Gaia’s first-born cried out to Ursa and the Great Mother for delivery. As if in answer to their pleas, many Gurahl had dreams and visions of a vast new land that lay just beyond the rising sun. A wide stretch of icy water separated that haven from the rest of the world, however, and the Children of Bear despaired of reaching it. Nevertheless, they trusted in their visions and set out, along with their Kinfolk — and a few Garou who, like them, were sick of fighting — to find the way to safety.*

*When the Gurahl finally reached the shore, they took one look at the expanse of dark, choppy waters laden with treacherous ice floes and lost faith.*

*“How will we reach this place that Gaia has promised us? If we try to cross the icy water, we will die of cold long before we drown.”*

*It was then that Sedna Stalks-the-Glacier, a Kojubat Gurahl known for her love of winter and her talent for crafting images made of snow, felt the loving caress of Ursa’s paw within her spirit. “I know a way,” she said, “but it will take all of you to help me bring something wonderful into being.”*

*Her confidence inspired her companions and they listened to her directions. With one heart, they began to build. As they labored, Sedna sang to the ice and snow:*

Grow strong and hard, find the spirit of stone within your substance

Ice and snow, become as sturdy stone.

*Her song calmed and fortified the icy chunks and mounds of snow. Slowly, steadily, a bridge took shape. Sedna looked at the rushing waters, and knew that unless they grew smooth and calm, the new creation would collapse from the onslaught of the waves. Again she sang, this time to the water:*

Ease your troubled fury, find the spirit of ice within your substance

Raging water, become as glassy ice.

*At the sound of her voice, the water grew calm and still, making a gentle murmur as the bridge of ice arose above it. With renewed hopes, the Gurahl continued their labor. The bridge grew longer and wider, and the refugees of the War of Rage took their first tentative steps onto the bridge, following in the footsteps of its builders. Some Gurahl had second thoughts about the precariousness of their situation, spreading their fear among the humans and bears who traveled with them. Sedna sang the third part of her song to her brothers and sisters:*

Grasp your dreams, find the spirit of the stalker within your substance

Beloved brothers and sisters, become as bold stalkers.

*Encouraged by Sedna’s song, the first Gurahl to cross the bridge from their old world to the Pure Lands took the name of Ice Stalkers, to remind them of their journey and of the singer whose music led them to safety and to a new home.*

## Tribal Background

Much of the history of the Ice Stalkers lies frozen in silence, buried in the heavy cracks of the frozen centuries and hidden under the layers of snow that cover their icy homeland.

Born in the northernmost parts of the habitable world, the Ice Stalkers jealously guarded their stark and awe-inspiring home from the Wyrm’s corruption. Some Gurahl believe the Stalkers called down the ice in the earliest times to freeze the creatures of the Pattern Breaker into immobility, making them easy prey for the werebears who hunted them and bound them. Rumors persist that beneath the frozen waters of the Arctic, Wyrm-creatures lie imprisoned in impenetrable fortresses of ice.

Those who assert that the Gurahl brought the Ice Age upon the world may not be far from the truth; the Stalkers grow silent whenever anyone suggests that they might have summoned the great walls of moving ice as a means of cleansing the earth and making the marks of the Wyrm more easily traceable against the barren whiteness of ice and snow.

The Ice Stalkers were some of the first Gurahl to travel across the land bridge (actually an ice bridge) to the Pure Lands. Finding the land not so different from the icy regions of Siberia and northern Russia, they liked what they saw and decided to go no further than the glorious frozen lands that looked so much like home.

Though the Ice Stalkers remained apart from most of early human history, they served essential roles among the Inuit and Aleut tribes of the North American Arctic as well as the Yupik peoples of Siberia. Their primary concern focused on their polar bear kin, however, strengthening the species and overseeing the balance of nature in the far north. The Stalkers kept a careful eye on the Wendigo Garou, their closest neighbors among the Changing Breeds, staying out of the paths of the fierce werewolves as much as possible and ceding to them large portions of the polar regions. Occasionally, an Ice Stalker traveled south, usually to meet with Gurahl from other tribes; thus, the Stalkers did not remain ignorant of the course of history. Their most frequent contact with humans other than the tribes that lived in the polar regions consisted of encounters with seafaring hunters, who braved the icy waters of the northern seas to hunt the great whales, seals and sea lions for their meat and skins. These confrontations often ended badly for the humans.

Later, as whalers and other sea-going hunters developed more sophisticated hunting methods and sturdier boats, the Stalkers sometimes met their match — and the animals of the northern ice suffered as a result.

Explorers and trappers arrived to stay in the 19th century. Though the Ice Stalkers did not involve themselves as a tribe in the battle against the Storm Eater, a few Stalkers joined with the River Keepers and Mountain Guardians who assisted the Garou in their efforts to contain that malevolent spirit.

The Alaskan gold rush brought an unwelcome proliferation of boom towns and mining centers to the lands under the protection of the Ice Stalkers. Although they could not stem the onslaught of new arrivals to the far north or prevent the eventual “civilization” of that part of the world, the Ice Stalkers did their part (along with the Wendigo) to make certain that the intruders paid a high price for their presence.

The discovery of oil in Alaska and the lease of lands for the development of oil fields solidified the presence not only of the Tapestry Maker but also of the Pattern Breaker. Pentex, which had quickly risen in the 20th century as the primary arm of the Wyrm in the physical world, made inroads in the far north with the construction of the Alaskan pipeline and the rise of the giant oil tankers. The damage caused by offshore oil spills, whether accidental or arranged by Pentex to provide suitable habitats for the Wyrm’s creatures, roused the Stalkers to new heights of Rage. The wrath of the Ice Stalkers soon came to equal that of the Wendigo in both intensity and violence.

Today, the Ice Stalkers work furiously to repair the damage caused by human and supernatural opportunists, and to prevent further corruption of the circumpolar regions. Stalkers also involve themselves in efforts to protect the polar bear population and preserve the culture and lifestyle of the indigenous human peoples of the far north. Although they have no contact with their Siberian kin, the Stalkers assume that their tribemates in Eurasia are doing the same.

Some Ice Stalkers believe that the first battle of the Apocalypse will take place on the periphery of civilization in the deceptive and forbidding lands of the frozen north. If that happens, the Stalkers plan to be the first to meet the Wyrm’s armies.

## Home Territories

The circumpolar regions of the far north make up the harsh and demanding homelands of the Ice Stalkers. Lately, the Stalkers have tried to expand their territories to the warmer climes of Canada and Scandinavia. One or two daring members of the Stalkers have visited Antarctica in hopes of learning what lies buried beneath the ice there, but they have made no attempt to transfer any of their Kinfolk to the southern polar regions.

## Culture and Kinfolk

The Ice Stalkers have the most homogeneous breeding stock of any of the Gurahl. Most of their ursine Kinfolk come from the polar bears, although occasionally a brown bear or grizzly’s cub grows to join the Ice Stalkers. Human Kinfolk, while still primarily drawn from the Inuit and other tribes of the far north, now come from many different ethnic groups as the Stalkers, like the other Gurahl tribes, try to grow more numerous. Currently, most Ice Stalkers come from ursine Kinfolk.

The cultural lives of the Ice Stalkers reflect their isolated existence in a land composed of ice, snow, glaciers, frozen waters and still more ice. The Stalkers excel at hunting and ice fishing. Although the Stalkers are technically omnivores, capable of eating most kinds of food, the scarcity of fruits, grains and vegetables in the Arctic forces them to take most of their nourishment from animal flesh.

Stalkers, like their polar bear kin, have highly inquisitive natures and a tendency to engage in aggressively impulsive behavior. They anger quickly, and they find many ingenious ways to express their resentment or dislike. Their curiosity seems to have no limits, and often they poke their noses into anything that piques their interest, regardless of the consequences. They make good gossips and informants, since they greet every person they meet with a thousand impertinent questions and don’t give up until they have gotten the answers. One of their own stories explains how the Stalkers got their inquisitiveness — along with their impulse to share their discoveries — from an encounter with Raven. The tales are ambiguous as to whether Raven cursed them or blessed them with this quality. Their curiosity sometimes gets the Stalkers into trouble, such as when their enthusiasm over some new discovery leads to a sudden shift into Ursus or Bjornen form in order to unearth some buried object without making certain that there are no humans nearby to witness their transformation. They rely too heavily on the Delirium and on the human knack for rationalizing away the miraculous or the supernatural to protect them — which doesn’t always work.

The Ice Stalkers have developed a strong artistic streak, even more than most Gurahl. Accustomed to wasting nothing, the Stalkers fashion intricate jewelry or useful items from the tusks and bones of the animals they kill for food. Their scrimshaw work brings them great Renown at powwows and festivals. Many Stalkers create art from their environment, sculpting ice or building huge snow statues in the frozen wastes.

## Tribal Organization

More so than most Gurahl, the Ice Stalkers gather in groups, sometimes with as many as four or five Stalkers making up a semi-permanent “family unit.” Frequently, an Ice Stalker Buri-Jaan keeps her cubs with her for two or three years, to make certain that the new Gurahl know how to survive in the treacherous Arctic lands. They congregate more than any other tribe.

## Strengths and Weaknesses

**• Artistic Ability:** The Ice Stalkers have an innate talent for making beautiful things. They receive a free dot in Crafts at character creation.

**• Insatiable Curiosity:** When confronted by a puzzle or enigma, Stalkers have a hard time resisting the urge to investigate it further. This penchant for distraction can pose a problem when more important matters require their immediate attention.

## Appearance

Most Stalkers come from polar bear stock and resemble their ursine parent; those who come from other bear species, of course, have the natural form of that type of bear. In Homid form, ursine Stalkers generally take on the appearance of the native human tribes of the far north. Human-born Stalkers look like their Kinfolk; most come from Inuit or Aleut parentage, though occasionally a Stalker’s Nordic or Slavic features testify to some other ethnic heritage. The Ursine form of homid Stalkers most often resembles the polar bear.