Jedi

Jedi are shapeshifters who change from human to wolf form—adopting many intermediary forms if they so choose. They are physically more powerful than most living creatures, and are immune to many of the ailments and diseases that plague their human and wolf cousins, but they’re still living beings and they can still die. The Jedi Order is an ancient organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force on the planet Tython, the physical form of the Wyld. Focusing on maintaining a balance within themselves to spread peace and tranquility across the galaxy. The Jedi saw the Force as three aspects; the Wyld (Creation), the Wyrm (Destruction), and the Weaver (Order). The Order's presence on Tython was distributed between 13 Caerns, each of which was presided over by a Jedi Grand Master. In order to gain mastery of a tribe in the Order, all Jedi were expected to gain renown through various trials and ascend up the order's ranks up to the Grand Master. The Order was led by a Council of Masters, consisting of the nine Temple Masters, which decided important matters and directed the Order.

## **Physical characteristics**

The Jedi (Garou) believe themselves to have been created by Gaia as her defense against the Wyrm and Weaver. They are the ultimate predators in the Galaxy of Darkness. They revere the Wyld but are also steeped in millennia old traditions. They are fighting to survive in the modern world, but cling to the old ways. Adding to their troubles is the fact that only one in ten offspring of a Jedi turns out to be Jedi themselves.

Worse still, their kin, the wolves, have been nearly hunted to extinction, leaving them with very few wolf mates. Thus they have had to make do with humans, thinning the primal instincts of the Garou so that a Homid Jedi may never have seen a forest until after his First Change. There is one way to guarantee Garou offspring, and this is to mate with another Jedi. However, due to an ancient curse laid on the Garou, any offspring produced this way are deformed and sterile, marking them as obviously different. Their birth can put the life of their mother in jeopardy. Thus the Garou need to take their chances with humans and wolves to continue the line.

The Jedi are a divided people, separated along lines of breed, auspice, and tribe. Each Garou has a breed, auspice, and tribe and this means that they are not even uniform along a single trait. A Lupus Guardian Child of Gaia is a far different creature than a Lupus Guardian Shadow Lord even though they share two traits in common. The most severe divisions are between tribes, but breeds and auspices hold different values as well, which can contribute to conflicts in ideals.

Breeds:

Homid: These are Garou who were raised in human society, and often never know their heritage until their First Change. They often have trouble dealing with the wilderness and the spirit world. They are, however, deeply knowledgeable of human society and understand most technology. Homids are the most common breed.

Metis: These are the deformed and sterile offspring of two Jedi. They are perhaps the best balanced of the breeds being equally likely to understand the wilderness or human technology. Additionally, their natural form is Crinos, the man-wolf form, granting them great battle prowess. If accepted into the pack, they have the advantage of being raised in Garou society and thus know its often quirky ins and outs. Once they were the rarest of the breeds. It's a sign of how desperate things have become that in some tribes, they are more common than Lupus.

Lupus: These are born of wolves and have a deep primal connection to Gaia. However, they are sadly out of place in the mortal world, having little understanding of mortal society. Some never even learn to speak a human language. Most hate technology and often blame humans for all that is wrong in the world.

Auspices:

Watchmen: Those born beneath the new moon are the tricksters and fools of Jedi society. They challenge the Garou's traditional ways in order to help discard traditions that are outdated. Their tricks and pranks teach wisdom and humility to those who would listen. However, most Jedi have little respect for the role of the Watchmen and consider them little more than pranksters. In addition, they also tend to be the assassins of the Jedi, using Gifts to help them remain undetected.

Counsular: Those born beneath the crescent moon are the mystics and seers of the Garou. They have a natural affinity with the spirits and can speak with them, either persuading them to join their cause or forcing them to do their bidding like sorcerers. They are often associated with healing as well.

Sentinal: Those born under the half moon are the arbitrators and judges of the Jedi They are charged with keeping the traditions of the Garou. However, they also strive for balance and harmony amidst the hot tempers of Jedi. They are often jacks of all trades and can speak with the spirits almost as well as a Counsular, yet fight just as well as an Guardian. The Sentinals are the traditional leaders of the Garou.

Keeper: Those born beneath the gibbous moon are filled with passion that bursts forth in glorious song and hot tempers. They are the warrior-bards of legend taking time out from their art to fight and from their fighting to sing rousing tales or weave intricate stories. They are often joyous and make good company.

Guardian: Those born beneath the full moon are the natural warriors of the Jedi. No Garou is incompetent at fighting, but the Guardians excel at it. They often lead the Jedi during times of war or when there are no Sentinals in the pack.

Garou have several special abilities. They heal damage incredibly fast, and can be killed by little but lightsabers or the claws and fangs of other supernaturals. They can change shapes at will and step into the Umbra, the realm of the Force. They are granted Gifts by the spirits; these are special magical abilities or spells. They are generally instantaneous effects. This can be anything from being untrackable to conjuring a fireball to the ability to speak with animals. Each Breed, Auspice, and Tribe has its own set of Gifts. Common to all Jedi are Rites, magic that requires specific things to be done to invoke them and have oft-bizarre effects. A common Rite is that which allows you to change form without shredding your clothing, while a rare and potent rite allows a group of Garou to build a caern, a gate between the physical and spirit world and a temple of the Jedi. Rites take time to learn and to enact.

Rage is a gift of madness from Luna (A moon bane made by the Dancers) that allows the Jedi to do truly horrific things. Too much Rage is extremely dangerous and will result in frenzy, a maddened state where the Garou loses all control. There are two forms of Frenzy that commonly occur: Berserk and Fox. In a Berserk frenzy, the Jedi will attack everything in sight regardless of allegiance. In a Fox Frenzy, the Garou will flee in terror and will do anything to get away. Truly horrible frenzies are known as going into the Thrall of the Wyrm. The details surrounding as to what will happen when a Jedi enters the Thrall of the Wyrm frenzy is dictated by a Garou's Breed. Thralled Homids will cannibalize fallen enemies (or packmates), Metis will do perverse and twisted sexual things to enemies and packmates (regardless of whether they are alive or dead), and Lupus will attack and destroy anything and anyone who can't defend themselves, particularly packmates. The Thrall of the Wyrm is one of the most dangerous, destructive, and twisted forms of frenzy known amongst the Garou, which may be the reason why some Jedi vent their Rage regularly, lest they endanger their allies.

Gnosis is a life force that binds and surrounds every living being in the galaxy. While all creatures have some spiritual component, Garou can consciously control and use it. Jedi are quite literally half-spirit already and Gnosis reflects how connected they are to their other half. Gnosis can't be precisely measured, but if you think of it like water, it makes comprehending the difference between a Jedi and a Mortal easier. A mortal has a cupful to last a lifetime, a Garou has access to an endlessly replenishing river.

Gnosis can be used to bribe spirits, activate fetishes (magical artifacts, typically lightsabers) and Gifts, and to enter the Umbra. Creatures without enough Gnosis generally cannot perceive or enter the Umbra.

Gnosis is a renewable, but dwindling, resource. Jedi can regain it at sacred sites, by meditating, or bargaining with spirits. Sacred sites provide Gnosis, but if they become defiled, it can corrupt the Garou, or there simply may be no more available. The water analogy works well here. They need water, but they need to protect their sources because drinking tainted water may make them sick, and if they aren't careful, their well may go dry.

The Umbra is the realm of the force, a land filled with spirits, sometimes friendly, but more often hostile in these dark days. It is divided into several layers around the galaxy like an onion. Closest is the Penumbra, the reflection of the real world. In the Penumbra, things are revealed as they are in spirit. Technological items such a computers, or even buildings, are covered in the webbing of the Weaver, while objects of the Wyrm are covered in a thin film of slime and foulness.

## **History**

In the beginning all there was, was the force. Within it, three aspects arose, the Wyrm, Weaver, and Wyld. The Wyld is raw unbridled creation. The Weaver spins reality into patterns. The Wyrm is supposed to destroy the excess order or the excess chaos. However, the Weaver went insane and tried to spin all of reality into its web, including the Wyrm. This drove the Wyrm mad so that it now seeks not to balance, but to destroy everything. The Wyrm has many agents and many faces, all bent on the utter destruction of Gaia, the Galaxy. In an effort to contain this, the wyld risked itself to seal the Wyrm in Korriban, and the Weaver spun the wyld into reality as Tython. The Wyld filled the naturally occurring wolves on tython with the mutagen known as the Force, and they became the first lupus Garou. 14 Garou were born that day, and soon the garou gene spread into a full race of Lupus Garou. Using the powers of the wyld, and learning magic through the spirits of nature, the Garou built 14 temples known as Caerns. From here the packs grew into 14 proto-tribes. They were essentially the Black Spiral Dancers and the modern 13 tribes without being called tribes. The garou grew across Tython, and due to their creation to combat the Wyrm, they began to set out and leave the planet of Tython. With no other force presence in the galaxy, and the mortals still being primitive compared to the Garou and they swiftly took over, creating “peace” but forcing the mortals in pens, separating them to their home planets and keeping them barely above the stone age. Three groups were assigned to the planets, except for the human world who left in the charge of a single group, to keep Tython well guarded. This group pushed the very limits of the force and more than any other group abused and enslaved the humans. The humans had discovered silver within the rivers of ancient Coruscant, and forged blades to fight against the enslavement. The Human overseers petitioned the other garou for more oppressive measures, and the garou approved. The human overseers destroyed the human civilization, reducing it down to the stone age, and now fearful of their own mortality, the human overseers used  the humans as experimental fodder for immortality through the force. They became selfish and fearful and their dark emotions tore the umbra in two, the spirit wilds, and the deadlands. A land of shadows and of darkness, filled with tortured souls of the early dead. The other garou saw this growing threat and demand the Human overseers stop, but they claimed that the deadlands were a blessing and that the spirits within, known as Banes, could be even more effective than spirits. Enraged, the other tribes banished the Human overseers to Korriban. The overseers looked within and decided to empower a Moon Bane, who took over the moon, and filled it with a dark energy. This cursed the garou with a deep unyielding rage, and the tribes united against the human overseers to banish them to korriban. The overseers took their slaves and hid amongst the caves of the Wyrm, a tunnel network below the surface of Korriban. The other 13 groups united as the Garou nations, naming the 13 tribes, and forming part of the litany.

* Combat the Wyrm Wherever it Dwells and Whenever it Breeds

* Respect the Territory of Another

* Accept an Honorable Surrender

* Submission to Those of Higher Station

* Respect Those of Lower Station, for all are of The Force.

* The First Share of the Kill for Greatest in Station

* Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans

* The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted

* Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness

* The Leader May Be Challenged At Any Time During Peace

Enraged, the overseers, now known as the Black Spiral Dancers, furthered their experiments, as the other tribes slowly hunted them to oblivion. The last pack of Dancers is said to have created the greatest sin in the force, The Sith. They were slaughtered for their crimes, but now the rage began to get to the tribes. They tried to hold a united front against the new threat of the sith, especially the Uktena tribe but during a moot, The leader of the Glass walkers and the Red Talons began arguing, eventually fighting each other. The moot ended early, and war broke out. Tribes swore allegiances and others proclaimed neutrality, creating the two warring factions; the True Garou Nation who preached about making vast reforms and abandoning of the old ways that caused the black spiral dancers, and the Lupus Nation who believe that the traditions were sacred and it was abandoning them that led to the Dancers. They went further, and blamed the rise of Homid garou, garou not born as wolves, but born as primitive humans when garou got a bit too friendly with those under their watch. The rise of homid only emboldened the war, and as they fought amongst themselves the mortal races each rose up against them, even the wookies began to grow and experiment against their garou masters' wishes. The garou were pushed further and further back by the True Nation and the Lupus Nation. Four tribes made up each Faction;

The True Nation:

* Silent Striders
* Get of Fenris
* Fianna
* Shadow Lords

The Lupus Nation:

* Silver Fangs
* Red Talons
* Wendigo
* Black Furies

The Uktena tribe saw the war as worthless in comparison to the growing threat of the Sith and the now formed Empire, The Star Gazers were focused on expanding the galaxy, The Children of Gaia were so appalled by the civil war, they retreated from all aspects of the Garou nation, cloistering themselves in their caern, The Bone Gnawers were playing and spying on both sides, trying to make a profit, and the Glass walkers worked with the Uktena to fight off the sith though the Walkers focused more on the empire where as the Uktena took the fight to the sith. Until in 16 AE things came to a head when the Silver fangs, red talons and Black furies attacked the Silent Striders Caern. Though the attackers were pushed back, it sent shock waves through the Nation and a moot was called with the goal of peace between the two factions. They had fallen out of practice since the garou were fully pushed back to tython. During this moot, the Silent Striders Elder Atum and the Red Talons Elder Claws His Way Back took this opportunity to bicker, each asking the other side for impossible reparations. They had dragged down a padawan each, and the Red talons padawan Stabs In The Back organized the others into a secret meeting. The 13 padawans made a pact to reach the rank of knight, and each usurp their elder and become the Tribe leaders, the plan was to enact the ritual of Cliarth, an ancient garou tradition that allows a knight to challenge a leader during war time, at the cost of their life should they fail. One by one, the elders were disposed of, and the 13 knights became the heads of the tribes. Together they established a new identity for the garou, the jedi. By uniting the tribes into one order, in the first Jedi moot, and establishing the jedi code;

There is no Rage, there is Peace.

There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge.

There is no Wyrm, only the Wyld.

There is no Chaos, only Harmony.

There is no Death, only the Umbra.

They also added two new rules to the litany:

* The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted
* Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated

This was a step, but the relationships between tribes are tense still. In the current year of 20 AE, the relationships are tense, as the wookies move to defend Cathar from an imperial fleet, and many tribes rush to help their mortal allies.

## **Character Creation**

• Step One: Character Concept Choose concept, breed, auspice, and tribe.

• Step Two: Select Attributes Prioritize the three categories: Physical, Social, Mental (7/5/3). Note that each Attribute starts with one dot before you add any. Rate Physical Traits: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina. Rate Social Traits: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance. Rate Mental Traits: Perception, Intelligence, Wits.

• Step Three: Select Abilities Prioritize the three categories: Talents, Skills, Knowledges (13/9/5). Choose Talents, Skills, Knowledges. No Ability may be higher than 3 at this stage.

• Step Four: Select Advantages Choose Backgrounds (5; selection restricted by tribe), Gifts (three, one each from breed, auspice, and tribe), Renown (by auspice).

• Step Five: Finishing Touches Record Rage (by auspice), Gnosis (by breed), Willpower (by tribe), and Rank (1; Youngling). Spend freebie points (15)