The results of last years tournament: Night of the Fool's Moon (part 2)
This year's storyline: The Trickster's Smile
To any but the eyes of another
Garou, Howls-Like-Chinook looked like nothing more than another great stone
upon the ridge top. The cold mist that crept off the bare blade laid
across the Crinos’ lap and the fitful wind ruffling his mane added to the
illusion that he was one with the land. But the land did not grieve.
The death of one Garou among many was not enough to make the land weep,
but it was more than enough to break the heart of the packmates who lived
on.
In the rocky valley down
below, the object of his attention was all to clear, the little Fianna
carefully etching a new name unto the stone below. A few other Garou
sat below watching her, eyes focused on the Fianna’s claws, trying to ignore
the feel of the grieving Wendigo’s eyes boring into their backs.
Laughs-at-Apes and Blood-of-Asphalt
sat on one of the great old trees that had fallen across the glen.
Both sat thinking how they wished their sept leader was scolding them for
their antics yesterday. But the grim face of the Ragabash before
them said that scolding would never come. The actual burial had been
yesterday but the Lorekeeper wrote of the death today. A few more
strokes of her claws and the whole grim tale would be written in stone.
But her claws seemed to go ever slower as if she would weep soon enough.
Laughs-at-Apes whimpered
slightly. “Can’t she finish it soon? It is like rubbing gravel
into the wound to make it hurt more.”
Blood shushed his companion,
idly petting him like a dog, something the Talon would normally never tolerate.
“She feels the weight of Chinook’s eyes. He wants someone to blame,
someone he can hurt. We all do. But all that will come of this
is more blood if we strike now.”
“It is good you see that,
you do his memory proud. Perhaps we can avoid any more fighting between
our septs.” Sees-Through-Lies perched near the end of the log, a
scowl on his face and his hand floating near the now empty sheath where
a klaive had once hung. His septmate, Teaches-the-Young, caught the
rancor in the Ragabash’s tone.
“If nothing else, perhaps
our cubs have learned from our mistakes. They were more than willing
to leap to the aid of your sept, even if it did little good.” Teaches
smiled down fondly at his charges, the pups of the three septs sitting
together equally befuddled by what had happened. Perhaps there was
some small hope.
“Tell that to Chinook.”
Blood intoned as a mournful howl rose from the ridgetop. “Perhaps
they have learned something, but they are too young to do anything.
They might take better care of the Klaive than we would, but none could
hold it, thus why it now rests in Drinks-of-Guiness’ hands.”
Teaches tore his eyes away
from the Fianna to search for the Wendigo on the ridgetop. “I think
perhaps you are right. He will be unwilling to hear reason for awhile,
and considering the trouble the blade has been already, it may be too late
to prevent bloodshed.”
"If Dances were here he’d
listen to his tribemate.”
“Laughs, if Dances were
here, he wouldn’t be mourning.” The two sank back into morose silence
again.
“But would he listen to
a Wendigo?” Sees-Through-Lies perked up briefly, a sly glint creeping
into his eyes as he glanced at his septmate.
“Yes, but he’s not here.”
“But…” Sees glanced at his
Teaches again. “One of the cubs we brought is a Wendigo. She’s the
youngest here, but she fought bravely enough that he might listen.”
It took a moment, but a
brief glimmer of hope danced across the faces of the Garou listening.
Teaches continued his septmates thought. “If she speaks to him, perhaps
we can mend the rift between the groups. But I am not sure how.”
The Talon's sly look echoed
the one from the Child of Gaia a moment before. “If the elders found
no solution before, perhaps it is time to let the cubs decide. They
have not learned all the things we have yet, including the things that
are wrong.”
Teaches looked down at the
cubs again, looking over their faces and the confusion clearly written
there. “I don’t know… they are so young…”
Sees clapped him on the back and the Talon bared his teeth in a lupine
smile. “Trust us.”
The Fianna set crumpled
at the base of the stone, her claws chipped and cracked from the
long time spent carving, but it was done, the whole tale told…with a little
space left at the end to add on when the end truly came. Those who
were gathered to watch were starting to drift off, but Laughs-at-Apes
was creeping up to her, as if he wished to remain unseen.
“Fenris, we have a
plan.”
“Since when have you
used plans and when did you become multiple?”
The Talon scowled.
“Be serious.” Fenris scowled back at him clearly indicating she had
had enough of being serious. “No, really. We have a plan.” He jerked
his nose up towards the group on the log. “Something to keep…to keep…this…from
happening again. But we need to convince the others, and they aren’t going
to like it.”
“Mrmm…let me hear
this plan the tricksters have hatching.” Laughs told her, and a grin
spread across her face. “Oh, a fine plan indeed, Dances would approve.”
Slowly the plan spread
through the ranks, and each Ragabash smiled in turn and turned his talents
towards convincing his septmates of the wisdom of the idea. There
was some appeal to the plan, but to turn such an important decision over
to raw cubs, a risky move indeed. Only the Ragabash, contrary as
they were, could support such a thing. But up on the hill sat the
grieving Wendigo and he would be the last to hear.
Teaches-the-Young had
sat down with the youngsters and explained the situation as best he could.
He left out the part about how the decision would be made by the cubs,
suggesting merely that the talk it out and see if what they would do agreed
with what the elders had decided.
The cubs sat and argued,
looking to the older Garou for approval, but he kept his thoughts guarded
and his face blank. But deep inside, he was smiling the same smile
the Ragabash had as they went about their work.
Creates-with-Pure-Heart
looked back down the hill at the other cubs. One gave her a thumbs
up sign. What was his name again? Crazy-like-Fox? She still
wasn’t used to the names, or the tribes, or septs, or any of it really,
and here she had to go up the hill and talk to the old one that the others
were afraid of. She stroked the bone knife that hung from her belt.
She didn’t know even half of what was written on it, but it made her feel
better anyway. It reminded her of the pride that shone in Teaches-the-Young’s
eyes as he looked at all of them.
“Howls-Like-Chinook?
Sir?” No, sir wasn’t right. “Elder?”
The forest seemed
to move and come to life before her, a great set of yellow eyes locking
onto her own. “No, he is dead. Leave me be and do not call me that.”
This was going badly.
“Um, we know you’re upset…and…and we want to make sure this doesn’t happen
again. I, um, we, me and the others, I mean, have a plan.”
The Wendigo snorted
and mist drifted across the youngster’s vision so that his eyes seemed
suspended in a cloud. “So did Dances and it was broken faster than
his body.” The harsh words had a pained undertone to them.
“Oh.” She didn’t
know where to do now. Maybe she should go back down the hill and
ask for advice. No, no, they’d picked her to go and talk to the other
Wendigo. “We thought really hard about it, and it must be a good
plan because when we told it to the elders they said it was just like the
one they had. So everyone agrees.”
Chinook laughed, a
horrible barking, cracking sound that seemed like it would turn to sobbing
momentarily. “Oh, they turn the care of the sept over to raw cubs!
Are they so desperate for an answer they will listen to children?”
The cub gasped and
swallowed convulsively as she realized the truth in the words. She
suddenly felt uncertain. If even the elders didn’t know what to do,
how good could their plan possibly be? Then the older Garou set her
eyes on her, his grim face utterly serious again. “Tell me this plan
then, since no one else has one.”
She brushed her hands
over the knife again and pulled herself back up straight. “We were
thinking, me and the other cubs, I mean, that since there weren’t enough
of us at any one sept to make a pack, maybe we should make one out of all
of us. And, um since there’s some older people now who don’t have
packs either, we thought, maybe, they should make a pack out of them, to
go with the bearer of the Klaive so that no one would ever try and take
it again.”
Silence from Chinook
and his eyes faded into the forest. Silence fell and the cub scarcely dared
to breathe for fear of disturbing him. Then a faint sound from the
forest as the Wendigo finally stepped forth from where he’d stood camouflaged
for so long. Tears stained his muzzle, but there was a bright glimmer
in his eye that said they weren’t for his dead friend.
“Dear, dear child,
I have sat alone too long. Such a treasure should never have been
held by one Garou, or even one pack, or sept. A pack, yes, a Silver
Pack, yes, how could we have forgotten? None could object to that.
There will be no more blood on allies' claws. Come, come!” He
clapped her across the back and nearly sent her tumbling down the ridge.
“There is much to do, young one! So young, and yet so true, perhaps
there will be a spot for you in the pack!”
The Wendigo
laughed as he bounded down the slope. Down below
talk had already turned towards arrangements, but at Chinook’s cry, the
Ragabash, as if of one mind, all gave each other a sly, secret little smile.
Rules
Tournament legal deck construction, all tribes allowed. There will be three games played and the winner in each category is determined as described below.
For this tournament, Victory Points are being split into three categories: Glory, Honor, and Wisdom. There are five different prizes being offered, one to the top winner in each auspice category: Ragabash, Theurge, Philodox, Galliard, Ahroun. The highest ranked individual in each auspice takes the prize. (in case of a tie in rank, it is determined by who among the tied people has the most total renown)
This does NOT mean you must play an auspice deck. You can play any tribal decks under any of the auspice conditions, though some naturally gravitate towards one auspice (ex: Get to the Ahroun conditions). The only restriction on what decks may be played is that you cannot play an auspice deck and try to complete the conditions for some other auspice. (ie: you can not play a Ragabash deck and try to fulfil the Ahroun conditions)
Winning one of the three rounds will give you three additional VP to place in any category you want or to distribute any or all of them to someone you just played against. If you give VP to someone, you decide what category or categories they go into. (ex: Bob wins this round and puts one point in Glory and the other two in Honor. Example 2: Bob decides that Ralph, who he just played against, was having a really bad game, but didn't let it get to him and should be rewarded. Bob keeps 2 of his VP and gives Ralph 1 point to put in Honor) This allows decks that are lagging in one category but are winning to catch up, and lets good sports be rewarded by their fellows for playing well.
Rank is determined by taking the total VP in each category and dividing by three. This is used to determine rank. Each auspice has requirements for how much they need in each category in order to be of a specific rank. The following chart is pulled from Werewolf: the Apocalypse.
| Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | |
| Ragabash | 3 total | 7 total | 13 total | 19 total | 25 total |
| Theurge | 3 wisdom | 1 glory, 5 wisdom | 2 glory, 1 honor, 7 wisdom | 4 glory, 2 honor, 9 wisdom | 4 glory, 9 honor, 10 wisdom |
| Philodox | 3 honor | 1 glory, 4 honor, 1 wisdom | 2 glory, 6 honor, 2 wisdom | 3 glory, 8 honor, 4 wisdom | 4 glory, 10 honor, 9 wisdom |
| Galliard | 2 glory, 1 wisdom | 4 glory, 2 wisdom | 4 glory, 2 honor, 4 wisdom | 7 glory, 2 honor, 6 wisdom | 9 glory, 5 honor, 9 wisdom |
| Ahroun | 2 glory, 1 honor | 4 glory, 1 honor, 1 wisdom | 6 glory, 3 honor, 1 wisdom | 9 glory, 5 honor, 2 wisdom | 10 glory, 9 honor, 4 wisdom |
Honor
Alternate wins (Uktena and Red Talon) count as 20 Honor - "upholding
your tribal goals"
Tribe card abilities (ex: Philodox)- "upholding tribal goals"
Tribe cards bonuses to kills (ex: Fianna)- "upholding tribal goals"
Battlefields- "defending territory"
Victims (only ones you can legally kill already)- "sometimes even the
innocent need to be sacrificed
for the greater good"
Combat cards (ex: Death Kiss)- "style"
Glory
All kills not covered by Honor, including, but not limited to, Garou,
allies, non-Garou shapeshifters,
enemies, etc.
Wisdom
All other renown including, but not limited to, Gifts (ex Umbral Song),
Rites (Ex: Rite of
Leadership), Moots, Events (Ex:shooting Craps) and anything else weird
(like Puxatawney Pat's
ability)
Why, oh why, the funky format!?
The idea is to try and give this a bit more of the feel of the RPG that Rage is based on. Garou do not simply beat heads until one or the other passes out, that's dumb. If they did that, the Wyrm would have won long ago. Garou also need to demonstrate that they are cunning, knowledgable, charismatic and trustworthy. Mauling your fellow Garou demonstrates none of these. This format is designed to reward those players who like a bit more to their game than straight maiming and killing. Not that maiming and killing isn't rewarded, it just isn't the only thing...
PRIZES!!!
Ragabash
Hard carved set of bone runes in rabbit skin bag.
In process of being made, no picture available
Theurge
Because every good Theurge seems to like playing with death for some
reason...
Philodox
Set of Spirit Knowledge Cards. Beautiful set of tarot-like cards
depicting 48 different totem spirits.
Six random cards pictured here.
Galliard
Goat skin tribal drum. Hand made. This looks way cooler than the picture, but things in multiple shades of brown do not photograph well
Ahroun
Set of hand made knives with decorative carving on blades and leather sheaths. Wooden handles, probably teak. CAUTION: these are real weapons and very sharp. Large knife is 14 inches, 8 of which is the blade and a quarter inch thick. Estimated to weigh at least a pound. Smaller knife is 10 and a half inches long, five and a half of which is the blade.
These are out of black steel and will rust if not cleaned properly on a regular basis. If you win them and are uncertain how to care for them, there will be someone on hand to ask about proper knife care.
