Rage Across Ireland

Game Master Monsieur Orgon

As time went on, he seemed to be getting worse on both fronts: more detached and space as well as more violent when crossed. It put strain on an already unsound marriage and eventually Dad bailed. Mom took to drinking and probably some other things, which put an end to her. None of the close relatives wanted him. Dad never adopted him. After a brief, tumultuous stay in a foster home distant Irish relatives got in touch and came for him.

They got it, sort of. He was not going to be like other kids. His mind did not work that way, but he had to have some kind of education. Preferably one with a lot of physical outlets because he obviously didn't like being confined. Letting him run around the garden made things a bit more tolerable, but wasn't enough. He discovered ballet by "accident" when a few of his invisible friends told him to wander down a hall and go into this room. It was full of mirrors and he could finally see them! It was the best thing ever and over time helped him learn to function just a bit more with normal people. His friends were always giving him advice and helping from the mirrors, so maybe he even demonstrated a real gift.

Not that most of the other boys thought that was ok. He was already a target for being weird, but as everyone hit puberty and started to notice things more he became a still bigger one. Most of the time he was ok. He was fit enough and schooled enough the hard way to fend for himself and tried to stand up for the few other boys at his school who danced. He was more than a little fond of them.

His First Change hit after a recital. He and one of the boys were sneaking off for a little fun and met a larger than usual group of unfriendly boys. They didn't make it.

Or A little more Theurge-ish during his big moment at the recital, just as he was lifting one of the girls off the ground, he caught his reflection in the polished case of someone's phone in the front row. His friends were there, but with other things. Many more other things. Hungry things.

He may or may not be one of Tadhg's bastards. I like it for connecting with other PCs, but it would also make concept sense for him to be an odd Garou out.

I have both concept and build issues to resolve. Figure he's been dancing for about half his life, which argues for fairly good physicals and at least one decent social. But the stuff I see in the book mostly has theurges rely on socials and mentals. I don't mind playing non-traditional or a bit suboptimal, but if he's a theurge than I don't want him to just stink at it. :)

The rest of the story doesn't fit very well for an Ahroun. I like the ballet as a slightly unusual way to fit into the Fianna performance-oriented culture, though I suppose I could switch it up to something more like a really temperamental violinist that finally blows when someone's phone goes off during a performance.

Mechanically much simpler (he's for fighting!) but also deals with a lot heavier stuff including probably remnants of his less-than-enlightened upbringing.

Finn was raised in Roscrea by his aunt and uncle though he was watched by the Sept in the Slieve Bloom Mountains. He was introduced to the world of Garou even before his Change, being groomed for his future. A clever and quick boy, Finn learned everything he could. No one saw it coming.

His failure during the Rite of Passage was spectacular. He had been told, and trained, his whole life to know that the test would be one of strength. But, he was clever...and quick. Surely, he'd be able to think his way out of whatever it was. The Get of Fenris have had centuries to perfect their rites. Cleverness wasn't enough. He couldn't run, or think, or outsmart the rite. When his body was returned they thought him dead. His throat was torn, and half his face removed, his left eye reduced to pulp in the socket. However, he did survive and eventually healed. Mostly.

His Kin dumped him in Munster. Some few hoped that the Fianna would give him another chance. Most just wanted him to go away. It was hard to deny one of Tadgh's children the rite, even if he was a bastard and had failed another tribe's. Since the rite Finn has been remarkably unremarkable. He has worked for the Sept's Master of Rites and done a fine job. He's neither made a serious mistake nor stood out.

Goals:
1. Finn wants to figure out his place among the Fianna and find out why they accepted him. It seems random to him, but they seem to have a plan. He just doesn't understand it.
2. I'd like to see him having some hand in what seems to be the coming conflict surrounding Dublin between the Get, Fianna, and vampires. Either for good or for bad. He just seems likely to be involved in some way, though not on purpose.

Secrets:
1. I think his biggest secret is that he doesn't blame the Get of Fenris and that he doesn't understand why he's been accepted into the Fianna. He doesn't buy into the Get's worldview or anything, he's just very self-aware and understands why he failed. Not that he hides this, just that most people don't understand how he could feel this way.
2. Kenneth O'Dara has a secret reason for letting Finn go through the Rite of Passage, but he hasn't told anyone what that is yet.

People:
1. Finn's aunt and uncle aren't exactly happy with him, though they still feel a familial bond with him. He occasionally still goes home for holidays, but the welcome is lukewarm at best.
2. The Master of the Rite in Munster isn't really a mentor to Finn. The young Garou was thrust upon him by the chieftain. He allows Finn to assist in Rites, but hasn't yet taught him anything. (Though he does allow him to watch, and, if he can, pick them up on his own.)
3. I'd like to leave the ancestral enemy to you, though I was thinking more spirit than material. Perhaps a spirit that his uncle Brian upset? Or perhaps one that the Tadgh once outsmarted.

Memories and Mannerisms:
1. Finn is unnaturally self-aware to the point that most people simply don't understand his motivations. He doesn't hold grudges when other people think he should and he sees major slights where other people see things as not that big a deal.
2. He remembers the smell of blood and the feeling of it pumping out of his throat very vividly. He remembers feeling helpless fighting the Bane. Nothing he did made a difference. It was faster, it had him cornered. Everything he tried failed. He remembers being overpowered and outmatched. He remembers losing. The worst part is that he can't think of how he would have changed things to succeed.
3. Finn prefers to speak softly when given the option. He's not so much timid (though he does give that impression) as more comfortable speaking in low tones. While his vocal cords are mostly repaired from his ordeal, they're still not perfect and he has a hard time with howls or speaking loudly.

Background and Concepts:
1. Mairead was born and raised in Glasgow, one of the toughest cities in Britain, and has lived in the underworld for most of her life.
2. A combination of potential, opportunity, and need have culminated in her being a brilliant brawler and combatant.
3. She's Glaswegian through and through, in mindset and expression, despite the purest of Irish blood in her veins.
4. The moment one sees her in her Homid form, usually they draw connection to certain women carrying the dead away from battlefields.
5. She speaks her mind as much as possible, even in some borderline inconvenient times. She listens to reason, but on occasion the rage in her overwhelms, and may act impulsively.

Goals:
1. A personal goal for her is finding out more about her new place in the world. She's had live-changing moments thrust upon her twice already, and she'd like to finally be able to fit without a feeling of longing.
2. I'd quite like her to find kin-like souls, or as other people call them, friends. She's never had anyone to share things with, and talk, and having someone to open herself up to would be pretty great.

Secrets:
1. She doesn't quite understand what it is to be a Garou, and still somehow wishes she wasn't one. (I imagine her keeping it inside, since someone would've mentioned it's permanent. Someone who'd be a... mentor-like figure explaining it, would probably convince her it's not the end of the world, because it's the End of the World).
2. Someone survived the Gowanhill carnage. That individual remembers what they saw, and are out to find out what the hell happened. (I'm picking up the Pierced Veil flaw, where she doesn't provoke the Delirium in her Crinos form.)

People:
1. William O'Rahilly, a fostern Glass Walker Ahroun from the Dublin sept. A surprisingly worldly and calm individual, for an Ahroun, William serves as Mairy's mentor, and has taken it in stride, based more on improvisation and feel than tradition, much to the annoyance of some of the Fianna members in the sept.
2. Siobhan Kavanagh. Mairy's mother and someone entirely unaware of the whole werewolf situation, she's still in Glasgow, and has been told that Mairy's trying to find her father. A person who generally lands on her feet, she talks to Mairy once a week, and sometimes asks for money.
3. Sean Casey, a Get-born Garou. A smaller Get, Sean and Mairy were part of the same pack on their Rite of Passage. After goading and insulting Mairy a couple of times, for being a Fianna, a woman, and Scottish in that succession, she challenged him to a fight, which she won without leaving Homid form. Disgraced and annoyed, Sean went into a frenzy as the pack was found later, putting the rite at stake. Not accepted into the Get, unlike his several brothers, he (and some of them), are out for blood.

Memories and Manneurisms:
1. Mairy still feels the carnage when she goes to bed, if only sometimes and only abstract thoughts. However, after it, she prefers to avoid her Crinos form whenever possible.
2. She speaks with a thick Glaswegian accent, often calling both men and women 'pal'. I know some people who do that, incidentally. She also swears quite a lot.
3. Despite being a bit gruff and direct, the heritage of her father shows true, as she prefers to settle fights with words, rather than fists, and definitely rather than claws. While her tact and etiquette are sometimes lacking, her intention and passion behind it are not.

An abortion was out of the question, but neither her nor her ailing parents could afford to support a child on their own. Kathleen rushed into marriage with a nice guy she knew from church who had just gotten a job at a law firm. The Father wasn’t all that pleased to marry a woman and then baptize her son all of seven months later, but these things did happen and Kathleen took the matter seriously enough. Her new husband, Kevin Brady, seemed devoted enough to her and the child.

Pádraic was odd from birth. His eyes never seemed to focus or followed nothing at all around his nursery. For a while, they feared he was born blind. Well after other babies learned to recognize their parents’ voices and faces, Pádraic seemed indifferent or interested in other things. Sometimes he began to cry and then stopped without their doing anything. He said his first words to an empty room and didn’t speak to his parents for months after. Even when he answered them or did as they asked, his mind always seemed to be elsewhere.

Pádraic had other things on his mind. For as long as he could remember, he had invisible friends. He couldn't quite see them, but he knew they were there. They spoke to him, played with him, did funny dances. He couldn’t see, but he knew and answered back. Many things upset them, so Pádraic made sure not to do those things. When his parents did them, Pádraic became upset on his friends’ behalf. They thought he would grow out of it. A few play dates and he would have real friends, settle down, and be normal.

Pádraic never got better. He showed almost no interest in other children. He daydreamed through school. When people tried to distract him from his friends, he became angry. The other boys picking on him made him angry too. His teachers recommended special education. That gave way to a special school. Intensive therapy. Then psychotropic drugs.

The harder the outside world pressed against Pádraic and his friends, the harder he pushed back. He attacked boys that picked on him. He bit his therapist hard enough to draw blood. He threw things. And when Pádraic wasn’t acting out, he became even more lost in his own world. Sometimes he didn’t speak for weeks, except to an empty room. He turned in bizarre, sometimes disturbing pictures of his invisible friends. He told rambling, strange stories about them. He stared into mirrors for hours. Even when speaking directly to others, Pádraic’s mind followed unusual tracks that seemed to have little to do with logic.

Kathleen and Kevin’s marriage, entered into hastily, did not bear the strain well. Kevin found excuses to spend more time at work. He openly resented the money he paid to take care of Kathleen’s deranged, disabled son. He thought Pádraic would probably turn into a serial killer, which Pádraic overheard. He drifted into the room and explained in a dreamy, innocent voice how his friends wanted him to do mean things to people who hurt him.

When Pádraic was eight, Kevin took a job offer at a New York law firm. He didn’t tell anybody, instead vanishing and mailing back divorce papers. Kathleen, who was genuinely fond of Kevin still, took it hard. She was already drinking more than she should and this pushed her into harder things.. One day Pádraic woke up and found her dead. He walked over to his neighbors and told them. He was upset, but his friends promised that something good would happen soon and Pádraic knew to always trust them.

Pádraic spent two weeks in a group home and two more in a home specifically for troubled, dangerous children on a powerful collection of drugs that put him into an almost constant stupor. For once he didn’t mind the medicine, dreaming happily of a land where the moon filled the sky and he could see all his friends.

Then his family, the Stewarts, came. They hustled him off still delirious and explained as best they could to a highly-drugged eight year old that they were kin of his father -his real father- and would take care of him from now on. They understood that he was a special boy and wanted to take him to a special place where he could be safe and grow up. They talked funny, but Pádraic liked that. He explained about his invisible friends, something he had done many times, and they gave him worried looks but didn’t immediately say he was lying or imagining things.

A good thing had come, just like his friends promised. By the end of the week, Pádraic was in Cork. Everything was new and exciting, complete with new invisible friends. For about a year, Pádraic settled down into something resembling normal life. He struggled in school, but he had never been very good at it. He had no real friends, but that was normal too.

Now and then an uncle or cousin would come over. It was usually late at night, but sometimes Pádraic’s friends woke him and he heard them talking with his parents. They usually vanished by morning, but occasionally they would stay for a few days. They were always interested in Pádraic. A few even asked many questions about his invisible friends, which he was happy to answer.

The Stewart home soon had a new source of tension, though. Pádraic could run around their small garden for hours. He would do the same if they took him to a park or anywhere else with open space. The boy had more and more trouble with being confined and sitting still. He grew into far more energy than he knew what to do with. Attempts to interest him in sport failed against his inability to relate to normal children. Soon his grades began to sink still further. The school put him into the remedial class, but it didn’t help at all. They reluctantly suggested medication, which his parents rejected.

One day Pádraic was out shopping with his mother. His friends told him that he should go down an alley, so Pádraic slipped away and did. They led him through the streets of Cork and into a building off a busy street. No one noticed him as he padded through the halls, past many girls dressed in strange clothing. Pádraic heard wonderful music and heard someone speaking. He drifted over and saw a room full of mirrors. They covered both walls! Pádraic caught his reflection in them and saw his friends! He didn’t know where they were, he could really see them! Some of them moved like the boys and girls in the room did, who Pádraic barely noticed. He ran up to the mirrors in delight. Something made him do no more than wave at his friends in the mirror.

Many questions followed and it took long-suffering adults two solid hours to get Mam’s phone number out of Pádraic. He was much more interested in asking about everything that went on in the building, the clothes people wore, the way they moved. Anyway, he could never remember numbers.

Mam was very upset with Pádraic, which upset him for the first time. It took a lot of work, but he made himself focus on her long enough to explain what happened. That and a chat with the staff at the Cork City Ballet put the pieces together. It was the first activity that Pádraic showed any interest at all in, so they gave it a try.

Pádraic loved everything about ballet, especially the weird parts. When he put on his clothes and went into the classroom, it was like stepping into another world. His friends were there in the mirror, so he always felt safe. They danced with and around him. If he did something wrong, they would point it out. Sometimes he could almost feel them touching an arm or leg to help him get it just right. Dance quickly became the center of his life and he slowly even made friends with normal boys. His grades improved into the average range in most subjects except maths and science. He got back into the normal class.

For a few years everything went well enough. Pádraic settled into a mostly ordinary life. He still had his invisible friends, but his dance friends helped him learn to function around normal people. Their shared passion and close relationship eventually brought the hostile notice of other boys. Pádraic didn’t care what they said about him, but the first few at his school who tried to beat him up found out the hard way that Pádraic would be sure to end any fight they started and could be positively frightening when he did. Soon after they learned not to slag on or attack his friends in his presence too. They also learned to go through the day without their belt buckles, which Pádraic always took from defeated foes. His invisible friends told him to. The teachers made him give them back, most of the time.

Pádraic progressed rapidly in Dance. His teachers there said he had a real gift. He might be able to study in Dublin, or even further away. His parents took him on trips to the conservatories in London and Paris and he liked what he saw there. But they insisted that Pádraic must finish his normal schooling before pursuing dance outside of Cork.

About the time he was twelve, the Stewarts began explaining more things to Pádraic. They were part of a very special family with a long, important history. It wasn’t something he could talk about with outsiders, but he needed to know these things. They had a tradition of helping other special people and he would grow up to be part of that. They also explained that his father -not Anlon Steward, but his birth father- was one of the special people they had to help. Pádraic had never thought about anyone but Kevin and then Anlon as his father before, which made the whole conversation strange to him. They told him this mysterious man’s name, Tadgh Ó Dónaill, and explained that if Pádraic wanted to he could begin using the Ó Dónaill name. Pádraic had no desire to do so. Anlon was his father, even if the idea of a secret father who did great things appealed strongly.

Attempts to interest Pádraic in girls, which started as soon as he got his first pimple, went poorly. He didn’t dislike girls; some of his friends were girls, after all. More often than not, he got on better with the girls at school than most boys. But he knew from the start that his parents thought he would have some kind of other interest in them.

Pádraic had different tastes. He and some of his dance friends all felt the sparks between them and worked their way through the complicated field of jealousies and lust in a mostly healthy way. They weren’t getting any girls pregnant, so why not have some fun? Rumors got around quick, not that most of it was news for a group of boys deeply into ballet. A few times a priest at school tried to have a talk to Pádraic or one of the other boys about things, but they never got very far. A few hostile boys gave them another go and found out picking a fight with the dancers was still a bad idea. Didn’t they know that the boys trained themselves to lift up girls their own age above their heads and make it look easy?

The night of the big recital at the end of the season in his sixteenth year was Pádraic’s moment to shine. The older boys had all moved on, so he had no competition for principal dancer. It was a magical night that Pádraic and one of his dance friends intended to top off with a particularly intense makeout session. Giggling and holding hands, they slipped out the backstage door and into a crowd of drunken boys. Some were from school, others they didn’t know at all. They came at the dancers with clubs and bricks. One or two might have had knives. Pádraic’s memory gets a bit fuzzy then, until they were all torn to pieces and he sat panting in a pool of their blood.

Some of Pádraic’s uncles found him there about fifteen minutes later. They tucked him into a van, got him cleaned up, and several strong drinks in him before explaining everything. Pádraic had never suspected, but it all made perfect sense once they laid things out. He hated the thought of giving up dance more than almost anything, but what the Garou told him obviously took precedence. He thanked God, then amended and thanked Gaia, that he hadn’t caused his friend more than a horrific fright that he would soon forget.

A year of rapid training followed. Pádraic had much to learn, but for once he was an all-around able student. Gaia’s truths came to him almost like a thing he always knew. His mind naturally turned in the ways of spirits. It took more work to turn his wild, take-no-prisoners style of defending himself and friends into something that might save him against a trained foe but Pádraic enjoyed it all the same. Fighting had a lot in common with dancing when it came to coordination and strength.

Pádraic worked hard, paid attention, and prepared for his Rite of Passage more seriously than he ever had a recital. The traditions of his ancestors, remote before, now practically sang in his veins. One was that he had to give something to the spirits by throwing it into the pool at the heart of the caern to symbolize his commitment to his new tribe. Most cubs spent a year on a carving, a painting, or something like that to give. Pádraic knew from the first that he had to dance. He slaved away at a special routine that incorporated all the shapes Gaia gave to him into a thing of beauty all his own and practice for months, ignoring as always the odd looks and snickers. When the time came, he performed it under the light of the waxing moon. It culminated with his toe just touching the edge of the water and the instant it did, all memory of the dance left Pádraic forever. It hurt more than anything he’d ever done, but he knew it was right.

Background and Concept Elements
1. Pádraic is one of Tadgh Ó Dónaill’s numerous progeny, an American-turned-Irish immigrant, happily adopted and content to pursue a career in ballet until his First Change intervened.

2. Pádraic used to be extremely introverted, but since he took up dance and got normal friends and even more since his Change he’s become better at understanding people. It’s not quite intuitive, but he tries to be attentive to the emotional needs of people around him and believes strongly that it helps ground him as a person.

3. Pádraic has complicated feelings about his biological father. Anlon Stewart is obviously his real father, so far as Pádraic is concerned, but he also feels a profound connection to Tadgh despite their having never met.

4. Pádraic remains on excellent terms with his adoptive family. Living away from them at the caern was the worst hardship of his tutelage, though giving up ballet and his dance friends were close seconds. He still has regrets that it’s necessary and does what he can to integrate dance into his Garou life.

5. Pádraic has always had a strong, intuitive connection to the spirit world. Spirits were his first friends and even when not looking as he now can he still feels their presence deeply.

Goals
1. Pádraic knows he’s unlikely to find his birth mother’s or father’s spirits in the Otherworld -he strongly suspects Tadgh is dead- but he hopes to find some assurance there that he is doing right by them. The Stewarts are his real parents and Tadgh is largely a cipher, but he’s strongly taken on board the importance of his lineage and not dishonoring it.

2. I would like for Pádraic to help figure out what’s up with Tadgh’s disappearance and the strange fate that befell the sept of Oriel, because I dig setting mysteries.

Secrets
1. In his dreams, Pádraic sometimes sees himself attacking women. He doesn’t know if this is because he can’t bring himself to try fathering children to continue his line and the Garou nation, if it’s a deep aversion to his birth father’s habits, or if something uncontrollable and dangerous is inside him and he only cares for men for an extremely good reason. The dreams are always profoundly disturbing.

2. Pádraic tells everyone he found his birth mother dead. This is only technically true, though the nuance was lost on a boy of eight. He also says he remembers little of that day, but he’s always known that as a lie. He got out of bed the night of her OD to go to the bathroom. His invisible friends told him that he needed to go downstairs after. He found his mother sprawled on the floor amid her drugs, moaning in agony. His friends told him that she was dying and hurting so much because she couldn't do it herself. Pádraic had to help her. They explained how to put the needle in her hand and guide it to the right vein, then help her push the drugs inside her body. She fell silent moments later and after about ten minutes, his friends told him she had gone. For a brief moment, he felt her among them, thanking him for stopping the pain. Then she was gone again and he walked over to tell the neighbors. Pádraic still believes he did the right thing, but does his best to never think about it now.

3. Pádraic’s first adoptive father, Kevin Brady, has been corrupted by something evil since (or perhaps while) leaving his birth mother. He’s still alive and has somehow learned what became of his wayward son.

At least three people tied to Pádraic
1. Padraic’s parents are Anlon and Meeda Stewart, Fianna Kinfolk. Anlon is an Advanced Paramedic with the National Ambulance Service and occasional bad musician. Meeda, who is generally in charge at home, is an accountant working for the Diocese of Cork and Ross. Anlon is infertile, which the couple discovered only after a lengthy try at having children that left them emotionally drained and just desperate enough to fly to America at short notice and collect a strange child with a troubled history. They were mostly doting and supportive parents and are very proud that Pádraic has become a Garou and a Fianna.

2. Liam Teague is the boy who was with Pádraic when he had his First Change. He now believes that he and Pádraic had a bit too much post-performance alcohol before they went out into the alley and stumbled into some kind of drugs deal gone wrong. Pádraic explained his year of absence since then as a bout of serious post-traumatic stress that made it almost impossible for him to go out of the house or have anything to do with anything that reminded him of the incident. Both have a strong urge to resume their relationship and perhaps take things further, but the events of that night remain an obstacle in many ways.

3. Pádraic is aware of his uncle Lachtna. The thought of the Garou disgusts him for reasons he can’t quite articulate. Pádraic dislikes metis in general, but has never felt an overwhelming urge to loathe them. Though their deformities mark them as ugly and impure, a decent person shouldn’t blame them for their parents’ crime. The moment he heard Lachtna’s name, before he knew his uncle was metis, he knew it as the word for something unspeakably vile.

Three memories, mannerisms, or quirks

1. Pádraic’s spent the happier half of his life perfecting the art of dance have made a profound impression on his how he presents himself. His movements are habitually graceful and precise, even when completely spontaneous. He prefers to dress in clothing that slightly recalls his dancing clothes: tapered skinny jeans, fitted shirts, and other things that cover him decently while still permitting full freedom of movement. He strongly dislikes anything else.

2. Because of his violent dreams, Pádraic now drinks rarely and sparingly. As a youth before his First Change he often indulged with his friends, sometimes to excess.

3. Pádraic finds it difficult to look most non-Garou in the eye and so often looks just slightly to one side or slightly unfocuses his gaze. The urge fades to nothing for true intimates -he quite enjoys staring into Liam’s eyes- and he can suppress it if he has to. Pádraic rarely finds cause to do so. He’s used to people seeing him as a bit spacey and isn’t above playing the airhead for convenience.

Parents were two Theurges – both great seers who could not see what was right in front of them. Danny’s parents’ were two Children of Gaia who loved each other very much. As Homids and non-Catholics, after all they were Werewolves, who needs the Religions of humans when you know the truth of the Universe, they practiced safe sex so that they could enjoy each other. Well, the ways of the humans are filled with uncertainty, during one such uncertain moment, the condom that Patrick was wearing broke. He and Patricia thought nothing of it until her baby bump appeared. ‘

At first Patrick accused her of cheating, soon enough it was clear, that child was their own. Possibly a Metis. They considered aborting the child, until of course Patrick had a vision of the child and the deeds he would accomplish. Or at least that was what he told Patricia. They then formulated a plan, the child would be conceived and left with the Chieftain of the Munster Sept for him to do with it as he would, truth be told though they knew it was forbidden, they just could not kill their own child.

However, due to a car accident, Danny was born early, his expected due date would have made him a Theurge, instead he was born via C Section on the night of a full moon.

So it came to pass that the child was left in a basket and the parents left for the New World, the boy being left to fend for himself. Here the story would end if Kenneth O’Dara had slain the child but he did not and so we continue with our tale.

They boy named Danny Greedy so that he would not have the name of his parents was a child of the Sept, as a Metis this meant little, he was the whipping boy. Born blind but large quite large he began to rely on his other senses to get by. Numerous scraps proved that he had a warriors’ heart. Though an abomination, he began to earn a measure of respect from the members of the Sept, at least from the Fianna, the Children of Gaia considered him a blemish and interacted with him very little.

Then the visions came and the eldest of the Gaian Theurges recognized that Danny had the gift, sometimes for good and sometimes for ill both to himself and others. An odd pairing that, the visions with a Warrior of the Ahroun, often Danny’s Rage blocked the visions and sent him on the path of madness. Many fear that unattended, Danny could be susceptible to the influence of the Dancers but none voice the concern, yet.

Chloe, a Fianna Cliath has been Danny’s best friend growing up, since hitting puberty he has distanced himself from her, he fears to follow his parent’s path despite her never showing any interest in him romantically.

Despite his Blindness Danny passed the Rite of Passage, many knew he would, his strength alone is legendary so perhaps will be his deeds, his Madness…. Well the Elders hope that it will serve them and not hurt them as he is chosen for war parties.

2. Two Goals –
A) Danny wishes to perform a heroic deed that wipes away his heritage that will lead to him taking great risks, that saying a LOT for a Garou Ahroun.
B) I would like to play long enough to actually reach Rank 3 or higher!
3. Secrets –
A) Secretly, Danny is a Ghoul who has interactions with Clan Gangrel without the Sept’s permission.
B) He is not aware of the fact that his parents have returned from the US.
4. NPC Ties –
A) Chloe, Fianna, long time friend, his love interest but he believes the feeling is NOT mutual.
B) Braden. An Ahroun Homid the same age as Danny, he was the lead tormentor of the young Metis. Not an enemy per se but certainly not friendly.
C) Cullen Deepcreek, the Fianna Theurge Elder who sees promise and danger, in Danny.
D) Liam McCork - A grizzled veteran of the American Revolutionary war. He came to Ameica to escape British oppression and ended up fighting the redcoats anyway. The last 300 years have shown him how futile the revolution was; oppression still reigns in the 'land of the free,' in his bitter opinion. He returned to Ireland recently and intent on ensuring that he is left alone by the Camarilla of the Isle, has attempted to befriend a young Garou for “built-in” protection. That the young pup is a blind Metis who needed a father figure worked to his advantage that much more…
5. Memory – Danny remembers his parents leaving him at the Caern in a basket or at least he has seen visions of it. The vision has come so frequently, it almost seems like a memory now…
Mannerism – He often sniffs the air despite his lack of superhuman olfactory sense.
Quirk – Sometimes, Danny fakes visions to throw people off when they are irritating him.

Siobhan was like a person living two lives, one with the ordinary human people of planet Earth where she went to school and later college, went out roller-skating and to movies with friends. But on the other hand, she had a second life, a hidden life, where she couldn't really just date a cute guy from school, where her parents freaked out if she was out past dark and they didn't know where she was - not because they didn't trust her, but because they were worried about vampires of all things!

After college Siobhan decided she wanted to go to Ireland for the summer to learn more about her heritage and see the 'old country' as it were - and perhaps her parents hoped she might catch the eye of some powerful purebred Fianna warrior while she was there. She did, just not for the lasting relationship they'd hoped for. She met a Fianna who seduced her, though they didn't click on enough levels for her to stay and he certainly wasn't going to leave Ireland (or his wife), so the two parted ways amiably, and Siobhan finished her summer vacation and returned home.

In the fall, she found she was pregnant and told her mother what happened, but wouldn't name the father aside from the fact that he was a Fianna from Ireland. Things moved quickly and Siobhan was married to a Fianna in Boston named Patrick Connelly. Things were good for a while and her son Aiden was born in Boston twenty-one years ago. Of course, Patrick knew he wasn't the father, but the marriage was arranged and he and Siobhan did give birth to several other children as part of the marriage: Theresa, Margaret and Gavin.

Patrick tried not to treat Aiden any differently than his own children, but there were small things, and growing resentment. Aiden was told that Patrick wasn't really his father, but could never get a straight answer from his mother about who his father was. Over time, things got worse between Patrick and Aiden, even going so far as to be abusive. It started with being a little rougher, than shoving, then lashing out in anger. It was worst when Patrick drank, but there was a intervention and things got a bit better with the two mostly just avoiding each other.

Aiden, like his mother before him, knew nothing of the Garou or his heritage until he was older. His childhood had similar family gatherings and he spent a lot of time with his siblings and cousins. His favorite cousin, several times removed, was a wild spirited girl named Maeve Doyle. She had a wicked sense of humor, she was pretty, insulting, sarcastic, intelligent, and very good at lying and getting into trouble. Aiden didn't know what love was but he was in it for sure.

At first his parents were happy that their son had found someone he could relate to and be friends with that wouldn't have to be kept in the dark once secrets were revealed. But as things progressed and it became obvious that the two were heading towards a romantic relationship, so parents on both sides intervened. This necessitated explaining some things in the Garou world to them both in private conversations. Understanding, however, does not breed acceptance or emotional closure.

Things were rough for a while after that, many fights between children and parents, many harsh words and slammed doors. The final nail in the coffin was when things were fast-tracked and a marriage was announced between Maeve and a local Fianna. When Aiden suggested they run away, Maeve said they couldn't, that they owed the world and their people though it broke their hearts. They still talked and stayed in touch often at first after that, but slowly they drifted apart (or were pulled ever so gently apart by their parents).

Aiden turned inward and then to music to get over Maeve. He'd always liked listening to music, but he started to really get in to it, discovering new and different 'sounds' that bands had, and eventually started up a band of his own with some friends. They were rock, a bit of punk, rough and tumble, calling themselves 'The Red-Headed Stepchildren' but later changing it to 'Bloody Bus Fare' - privately thus named after an incident where Patrick used a roll of quarters in a sock to beat Aiden and then made the boy use the money for a bus ride. A snide comment about not spending it all in one place may have been made. In public, the band's name was attributed to getting blood on pocket change when drunk (possibly a roll of quarters in hand when punching) and then having to use it to get a ride home when too drunk to drive or call a cab.

The band earned themselves a reputation for good lyrics, enthusiastic music and rough-housing. After all, they were a bunch of young adults, full of passion and fire and ideas! More than one gig ended in a bar brawl, especially as most of them drank pretty heavily. They had a few records made locally, and most of them had arrest records as well. Unfortunately, the lead guitarist Brennan died on the same night as Aiden's first Change when they were in a car accident. The group had been drinking too much and went off the road to avoid an animal. Brennan and Aiden ended up trapped in the car which caught on fire. The pain, fear and helplessness of watching his friend literally bleeding and burning to death a few feet away triggered the Change. Aiden ripped apart the car to get free and then tried to get Brennan free but it was too late. He howled in grief.

Things were covered up thanks to the Sept's influence. Aiden was welcomed in as a Garou rather than Kinfolk, albeit a Cub, especially with the amount of Pure Breed he seemed to have (which of course brought some looks to Patrick who didn't exhibit the same amount). Aiden was brought in further to the 'secret' and taught the ways of the Garou — the Litany, stepping sideways, controlling the Change, the other Tribes, and Gifts. Everything was leading up to the Rite of Passage.

Aiden was unsure of himself and unsure of Garou society. what if he didn't WANT to be part of it? What if he didn't fit in? Doubts assailed him. Nevertheless, he wouldn't be considered an 'adult' until he passed, so he had no choice but to step up. He was put together with two other Cubs that were ready, a Metis called Ketch and a young woman called Aine. Ketch was the first Metis Aiden was AWARE that he'd met, and he wasn't sure how to treat him at first, but he honestly just treated him like he was anybody else and Ketch seemed to warm to that quickly. Aine was polite but distant to them both.

The three were given a task to find a minor fetish being guarded by an unknown spirit, and the only clue they were given was a "cave of the king near the river of snakes". Ketch said he had an idea and communed with the spirits. He said he had a feeling that they needed to go south and he would know more when they got closer.

Aiden had a van, helpful for hauling the entire band's gear around for gigs, and so they piled in and headed out. While they drove Ketch and Aine talked and shared information to narrow things down a bit. Aine pulled out her smartphone and did some searching. The two of them finished around the same time, with Aiden feeling a bit like the unhelpful a~$~&@~. Between the two of them they figured out that they were looking for "King Phillip's Cave" near Winneconnett Pond on the outskirts of Bristol County some 30 miles south of Boston.

The three of them used the time to get to know each other a bit more as well. Ketch, as a Metis, has always lived with the Sept in the Caern since his natural form was unacceptable in public. He was treated fairly well by the Sept, though more a second-class citizen than even Cubs at times. Aine on the other hand came from a rich family and she was a bored rebellious science geek. Other than being Garou, the three had little common, though Aine had heard of Aiden's band (but clearly didn't think much of their music).

They arrived, parked and hiked the short distance to the cave. However, that's when things went a little sideways - literally. There was nothing in the cave physically so they had to step in to the Umbra, and the spirit was waiting for them. It looked like a large crazy version of an owl. It hit Ketch right away and slammed him in to the ground, its clawed leg pinning him there, knocking him senseless for a moment. Aiden changed to his Crinos form as Aine attacked and was knocked back. Aiden went for its legs, trying to free Ketch or knock the thing over. He got torn up pretty good but he managed to hurt it, and hold it off long enough to get Ketch free, who promptly jumped on its back. The three worked together to bring it down, though Aiden immediately collapsed afterwards, breathing heavily. Ketch was able to heal his wounds a bit, however.

In the back of the cave was the fetish, looking like a stylized bird feather. But before they could grab it, Aine told them to stop as she noticed a warding of some kind. There were stones surrounding the feather on the pedestal it was on, arranged in a pattern. She studied it for a moment and then re-arranged them and they were able to take the feather without harm. They headed back home to the Sept and presented the feather to the Elders with a ritualized ceremony, telling the tale of how it happened (apparently confirmed by a spirit that had been sent along to watch their journey).

The three didn't feel that they were enough for a full pack - and Aine went to join the Glasswalker Tribe and a pack of people she knew there. Ketch and Aiden became good friends, however, and stayed in touch, with Aiden visiting often and even taking Ketch out a few times. During their talks about the Garou, life, society, heritage and more, Aiden began to wonder more about his father and the pure breed that he had. He thought he wanted to know more and visiting Ireland would be the only sure way to do that - which was something the Sept wasn't going to be keen on. It had been made clear they wanted him here and married to a Kinfolk not too long after the Rite of Passage. Plus he was going to have to watch Maeve with some other Fianna.

Aiden put the matchmaking off, especially with his mother having recently died (supposedly in a completely mundane car accident) it was understandable to others. The only things she left him were a key chain with a few keys and odds and ends on it, along with a letter that told him of her summer in Ireland but still didn't name who his father was, just all the Septs and places she had visited - most of Ireland!! So he made a decision - only Ketch knew his plans (and as his friend didn't tell anyone). Aiden slipped away and headed to Ireland to see what he could find out.

1) Not knowing his father's identity and wanting to find out
2) Being a bit of an outsider to Ireland
3) Song and music
4) The tug and pull between American and Ireland
5) Loves to fight
6) His mother's death was the catalyst to get him moving
7) Perhaps one of the keys on his mother's keychain is important and opens something that Werewolves/Bad Guys want
8) Red hair, pale skin, Irish features, nose has been broken at least once, knuckles that look like they are for punching, easy but slightly lopsided grin

Step 2: List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.

Goal 1: Find out who his father is (and then find his missing father)
Goal 2: I want to see Aiden grow to find his place in Garou society, and to become more comfortable in that.

Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!

1) His father is unknown to him (not sure that's good enough tho)
2) He is being followed not only by a Kinfolk or Garou from his Sept to try and get him to come back home, but the Kinfolk or Garou is a double agent informing to the Wyrm.

Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.

1) Friendly: Ketch, a Metis back at the home Sept, who went through the Rite of Passage with Aiden.
2) Friendly: Maeve, cousin several times removed, Fianna Kinfolk, married to a local Boston Fianna named Ruary. The two used to be good friends and very close, even in love.
3) Hostile: Patrick, his stepfather, a Boston Fianna. The two have not gotten along and even gotten in to fights.

Step 5: Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.

1) Aiden tends to hum and sing, even compose songs in his head, when he's nervous, fidgety or bored.
2) His mother took him out one time, they spent all day together, going to an amusement park, then a movie and dinner afterwards. It was one of the happiest days of his life, and one where he won his mother a tiny stuffed animal wolf that she thereafter kept in her purse all the time.
3) He carries an owl's feather on a necklace around his neck, and he touches it before he goes in to battle for good luck - a feather he got from his Rite of Passage.