Ajaba

The Ajaba are werehyenas, one of the surviving Changing Breeds of Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Their legends say that they are the African counterparts of the Garou, created to be Gaia's warriors in a continent without wolves. However, in part due to the division of roles among their genders, the Ajaba have spent much of their history bickering amongst each other. This led to conflict with the Bastet, and eventually war with the Simba, specifically those led by Black Tooth, who nearly succeeded in wiping out the Ajaba.

Since their near destruction, the Ajaba have had to rebuild their society, and much about them has changed.

Traits
The most notable trai of the Ajaba is that they are strongly divided along gender lines. Female Ajaba have generally more Rage and less Gnosis, and are the warriors; males are the mystics, with the opposite tendencies. Some amll number of Ajaba are born with inverted traits for their gender, and are seen as omens of great good or ill.

Breeds
The Ajaba Breeds are Homid (born of humans), Hyaena (born of hyenas) and Metis (born of two Ajaba). Unlike Garou Metis, those among the Ajaba are hermaphroditic. They have correspondingly moderate Rage and Gnosis, falling in between the norms for male and female Ajaba, and receive some reverence because of this.

Aspects
Before their fall, all Ajaba resembled the Gaour Ragabash Auspice. Since rebuilding their society, however, they recognise two Aspects, each of which encompasses two roles differentiated by gender:


 * Dawn - female warriors (akin to Garou Ahroun) and male storytellers (similar to Galliards)
 * Dusk - female assassins (a more violent version of Ragabash) and male mystics (like highly talented Theurges)

Forms
Ajaba forms are analagous to those of the Garou:


 * Homid - human form.
 * Anthros - near-man form.
 * Crinos - the war form; slightly smaller and less powerful than that of Garou, but also a little tougher.
 * Crocas - near-hyena form. An enormous hyena the size of a small bear.
 * Hyaenid - hyena form.

Gifts and Rituals
As befits their task as Gaia's warriors, Ajaba know much the same range of gifts as Garou. They lost the knowledge of any unique rites during their destruction, however.

Renown
The Ajaba have always recognised Cunning and Ferocity as forms of renown, but they have realised that their downfall was in part due to their recognition of Infamy. As part of their reformation, the Ajaba now recognise a form of renown called Obligation, which rewards their duty to Gaia and their own kind ina less formal way than the Honor known to other Fera.

Relationships with the Other Breeds
It was the Ajaba Kisasi who founded the Ahadi, and the Ajaba maintain generally cordial relations with the other changers of Africa, though these relations are coloured by their history with Black Tooth's tribe. They hold the Mokole in particularly high regard for their role in destroying the corrupted Simba, and still give at best a grudging respect for the Bastet of other tribes. Their only contact with Garou is through the Silent Striders, whom they respect for their martial prowess.

The Ajaba are unfamiliar with Fera not native to Africa and, like most Fera, they find it hard to understand the Ananasi.