Garou

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In the World of Darkness, the Garou are a race of werewolves. GarouMUSH is first and foremost focused on Garou and their interaction with each other. Half-spirit, half-flesh, half-wolf and half-human, Garou exist in all worlds, yet seemingly belong in none. They are Gaia's chosen defenders, and most of their supernatural activities centre around their duties. As a race, however, they are rapidly facing extinction.

Reproduction

Garou are not a true species, as they are not capable sustained reproduction with themselves. The outcome of any attempt at interbreeding are Metis, who are always deformed and sterile. Garou are dependant on their kinfolk to perpetuate their species; they are capable of mating with and as both wolves and humans. Only a small fraction of the resulting offspring, typically 1/10th, are in turn garou; the remainder are kin. Thus, this places great pressure on Garou to reproduce often so they can 'breed true.' Two kinfolk can also produce a Garou offspring, but the chances of this are much lower, 1/100th at its highest.

Most Garou do not know they are until their first change, the most frequent exception being Metis. Most are raised as a normal human or wolf would be raised within the context of their culture, and when this is not true, it's often the result of the efforts of a Garou parent trying to bend their offspring's ideology towards their tribal ideology. Finally, some time after puberty sets in the child undergoes their first change. This typically occurs between one and two years in lupus, and ten to seventeen with homids.

Political Status

Garou exist in a very stratified culture that tends, on the whole, to be very conservative, with a few very notable exceptions. All the Garou in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and parts of Asia belong to the Garou Nation, with the remainder belonging to the Beast Courts, or existing as Ronin. Within the Garou Nation, the population is further divided up into tribes. Each tribe is a collection of Garou world wide with similar ideology, culture, descent, or in one case, breed.

These tribes often hold such diametrically opposed ideologies, that conflict among them is a regular occurrence. There have been numerous wars between tribes, one of which resulted in the total annihilation of the Bunyip tribe. In places where tribes are forced to work together or coexist, an uneasy tension often remains.

Far from saving their war-like ways strictly for themselves, Garou have engaged in numerous other wars, including war upon other races of shapeshifters. The largest conflict between Garou and these other shapeshifters, called the War of Rage, was a clear victory for the Garou, and most races of shapeshifters were reduced to drastically smaller populations, or exterminated entirely. The Garou also waged a long war against humanity, for purposes of population control, called the Impergium, and have been engaged in war with the Wyrm for longer than recorded history.

Few, if any, political ties exist between the Garou Nation and the Beast Courts. There are no ties to the apolitical group known as Ronin.