Ananasi



The Ananasi are werespiders, one of the surviving Changing Breeds of Werewolf: The Apocalypse. They consider themselves children of Queen Ananasa, an ancient and powerful spider spirit created by the Weaver, and seek to keep true balance between the forces of the Triat, fulfilling the Weaver's original purpose.

Queen Ananasa's will is their law; she is the patron and totem of every Ananasi, though there are traitors like the Kumo who abandon her.

Blood
Having no connection to Luna, the Ananasi are one of the few Fera who do not possess Rage. Instead, like some of their spider kin, they are able to draw sustenance and supernatural power from the blood of humans and animals. They may expend the power granted by this blood to heal themselves, move with supernatural quickness, instantly change forms, create webs or to power some of their Gifts.

Health
Ananasi do not regenerate like other Fera; they either heal at the same rate as humans, or they may use the power of the blood they have ingested to heal themselves. Similarly they do not enjoy the immunity to disease that Garou and other Fera possess, though they can purge such diseases from their system with the power in their blood.

Umbral Travel
Ananasi do not step sideways to enter the Umbra; instead, they assume Crawlerling form (see below) and crawl through the strands of the web, which is how they think of the Gauntlet. Being creatures of the Weaver, they find this much easier in areas of high Weaver influence, and much more difficult in areas dominated by the Wyld or the Wyrm.

Spider Traits
Ananasi have many of the advantages of spiders. In all forms other than Homid, they possess multiple pairs of eyes and limbs; they are also able to consciously exude pheromones, making it easy to attract mates. They possess poison glands, which vary according to the species of spider they resemble, and may also spin webs in Pithus form which are tremendously strong.

Breeds
Ananasi have only two Breeds: Homid (born of one human parent) and Arachnid (born of one spider parent). Ananasi do not have 'true' metis, instead a creature born to two Ananasi parents is a separate breed called Athasaia, which are kept deep in the umbra. The Athasaia only communicate with Queen Ananasa herself and are involved in the Apocalypse. Metis do exist among the Kumo - rare, horrid beings who eat their way out of their mother's body.

Factions and Aspects
Ananasi do not have Auspices. Instead, they have nine Aspects, each representing a different role in one of the three factions. Each faction seeks to balance the forces of the Triat member it champions; the aspects approach this task in different ways. The three aspects are:


 * Myrmidon - the Warrior faction, Myrmidons fight for the Triat member they champion, though always under Queen Ananasa's guidance.
 * Viskr - the Balancers, also known as Wizards; Viskr are judges who seek to determine the best way to restore Symmetry to the Triat.
 * Wyrsta - the Questioners seek to understand their faction's member of the Triat. This sometimes put them at odds with the goals of the other members of their faction.

Each aspect has a different name in each faction, as follows:

Forms
Ananasi have only four forms:


 * Homid - human form.
 * Lilian - a human-spider hybrid form, which is not necessarily the same for each Ananasi. Some are humanoid with multiple limbs, while others have a human-like torso sprouting from the abdomen of a giant spider. It is considered a war form, and thus analogous to the Crinos form of other Fera.
 * Pithus - an enormous spider, at least half as heavy again as the werespider's human form.
 * Crawlerling - the spider form. Unique among the Fera, Ananasi do not transform into a single animal, but rather a swarm of hundreds of spiders. This makes them very difficult to kill, though if significant numbers of the swarm spiders are killed the Ananasi may lose memories, skills and mass in her other forms. This mass can be regained by consuming ordinary spiders.

Gifts and Rituals
Ananasi gifts often bolster their spider-like abilities, strengthening webs, allowing their venom to affect supernatural creatures, and so on. They learn a wide range of gifts allowing them to fulfil any of the roles Queen Ananasa may give them.

Renown
Ananasi may gain renown in three categories, which correspond to the three members of the Triat; they try to follow all three, no matter their faction, to gain a deeper understanding of the "Great Web" of existence. The categories are Cunning (for the Wyrm), Obedience (for the Weaver) and Wisdom (for the Wyld).

Rank is less important to Ananasi than the favour of Queen Ananasa, but their ranks are made apparent but subtle patterns on their skin, discernable in all forms. Each faction has a distinct pattern which becomes more complex as the werespider rises in Rank.

Relationships with the Other Breeds
Ananasi are considered bizarre and alien at best by the other Changing Breeds; in return, the Ananasi consider the other Fera (for whom they use the collective term "Ovid") beneath their notice.

Individual Ananasi

 * Abiele Dumont
 * Tomas Hogarth
 * Shantayne Piroqui

Errata
Male Lilian form gains +5 to dex and +1 to sta; Male Pithus form gains +4 to dex and +2 to sta.

The gift Mass Confusion costs one Gnosis point and one Willpower point.