A very long time ago, the
Nuwisha taught the Garou how to step sideways into the Umbra. Many among
them still haven't decided whether it was the wisest thing they ever did
or the worst mistake they ever made. In the long run, it makes no difference.
The Nuwisha always look to the future and the present. They have little
time for the past. The Nuwisha were perhaps the very first of the changing
breeds to travel to other lands. Long before humans discovered there were
places beyond the ocean's edge, the werecoyotes were exploring the world,
and finding new ways to amuse themselves. The werecoyotes are insaitably
curious about everything and normally find humor in even the grimmest situations.
Most changing breeds are universally of the opinion that the Nuwisha were
a mistake on Gaia's part.
Thats how the Nuwisha like
them to think, in truth the Nuwisha consider themselves teachers. They
believe their sacred duty is to show the other changing breeds the error
of their ways. Realizing they are among the weaker shapeshifters, they
also tend to believe it's best to teach the others through a sort of hit
and run method.
When the War of Rage began,
the Nuwisha were unknown to most of the Garou save the Uktena, the Wendigo
and the long gone Croatan. The werecoyotes remanined unaffected by the
bloody combat. When the second War of Rage came to the pure lands, the
Nuwisha made themselves scarce. They packed what they needed and dissapeared
into the Umbra, where most remain even today. The werecoyots hid their
most powerful Caerns and gladly left the lesser for the invading Garou.
Their reasoning was simple enough: Why not let the Garou handle the task
of maintaining the Caerns, and simply make use of them as need arose? These
days the Nuwisha return to their own abandoned Caerns when they have need
of them. The Nuwisha are adept at Subterfuge, and a few of the Garou even
now when a werecoyote has been in the sept and taken advantage of the werewolves
hospitality.
Only a small number of werecoyotes
exist in the Gaia realm at any given time. They have rules about when and
where they may appear, in the physical realm but only the Nuwisha themselves
understand those rules.
First and foremost the Nuwisha
are instructors. Their methods of teaching range from practical jokes to
violent and sometimes fatal pranks, but they are instructors none the less.
In Lloyd Alexander's the Black Cauldron, one of the main characters says
that there are three principles of learning: "see much, study much, suffer
much." To the Nuwisha's method of thinking the last way is the best way,
to teach as well. Most important of all to the Nuwisha is that they never
let the people that they educate they're being taught a thing. It is part
of the Nuwisha mindset that they not take credit for any of their actions...at
least not in mixed company. Unlike the Garou, the Nuwisha have followed
only one totem always: the trickster. Whether the trickster is calling
itself coyote, the shape changer, Ti Malice, Ratatosk,
or any of a hundred other names, or all the same to the Nuwisha. The difference
comes from how they choose to follow their totem. Some Nuwisha are very
subtle in their tricks, whereas others are slightyl less subtle than a
tornado.
Quote - "You've no business laughing
at others if you can't laugh at yourself. Now put that klaive away before
I spank you with it"
Stereotypes -
-Garou: There is little more fun in the worl more funt han sending a pack of Garou chasing after their own tails. I love our cousins, I really do, but you have to admit they normally lack in social Graces. They snarl, they spit, they rip into their enemies and feed on the entrails. They lack originality. What they really need is a collective enema.
-Ananasi: I've never seen any group more determined to build their own webs and destroy their own neighbors. Never attack a werespider. They tend to stick together against anyone who's not one of them. It's okay if they kill each other, and it is obviously a family thing and interlopers aren't welcome.
-Bastet: What I love is when one
of the Bastet manages to do somehting like fall off a tree and land on
her ass. Sure as kittens are playfull, that werecat will get up with chin
held high and an "I meant to do that" look on her face.
-
Corax: Want to drive a Corax crazy?
Tin foil. It's shiny and it catches their eye from just about anywhere.
Or you can simply tell them juicey bits of gossip and then forget small
details. They'll sqwak and sqwak for hours trying to see who knows
the part you forgot to tell them.
-Gurahl: Gurahl are just the cutest things! They've got an overwhelming need to fix everything the Garou have messed up. They may be slow to anger, but you've got to move fast once you've got them riled. It's best to head toward the local werewolf pack if they decide it's time to smash something. The Gurahl can use the excercise, and the Garou need the reminder that they aren't quite as tough as they'd like to think. need amusement, for their memories are often very great burdens filled with countless sorrows.
-Ratkin: The Ratkin work hard to make sure they slow the humans and piss off the Garou. Who can't respect that? But I have respect for human weapons, too, and that doesn't mean I'd liek to have them around as freinds. You can't trust ratlings to do anythign but deceive you. It's in their nature almost as much as it is in ours. Only the motivations differ.
