Fera



The Fera or Changing Breeds are the races of shapechangers in the old World of Darkness.

While the Garou were created by Gaia as her fangs and claws, to keep her safe, they were not her only children. She created many other breeds of shapeshifters and gave them each a task. Some have lost their way with time, others were forced from their roles by the Garou. Some have turned to serving only one aspect of the Triat, instead of Gaia as a whole.

The Bunyip are sometimes mistakenly referred to as Fera. They are actually an extinct tribe of Garou.

The Children of Gaia, Silent Striders, Red Talons, Uktena, and Wendigo generally have the most contact with the Fera, and the most cordial relations with them. The Shadow Lords have regular contact with the Fera only through their Eastern branch, the Hakken.

Fera is the term most commonly used by the Garou themselves, to mean shapechangers of other races; other breeds have similar terms. The Garou used to use the Mokolé term Bête, but now only Garou who have contact with the Mokolé use that word.

Most Fera have at least a strong distrust of the Garou, due to the actions of the Garou during the War of Rage.

Ajaba
The Ajaba are werehyenas and Gaia's warriors in Africa, a continent without a wolf population. While the War of Rage did not reach Africa, the Ajaba were all but destroyed by infighting, their rivalry with the Bastet and, most significantly, the tyrannical Simba king, Black Tooth. The survivors were exiled from their traditional homelands. In recent years, however, the Ajaba woman Kisasi rallied the Fera of Africa and formed an alliance known as the Ahadi; together, they defeated Black Tooth and revitalised Ajaba society.

In older source material, the werehyenas were considered a Bastet tribe. In the Revised edition, they are considered a seperate type of Fera.

Ananasi
The werespiders are not children of Gaia, but rather children of Queen Ananasa, a powerful spirit child of the Weaver. They are considered alien and disturbing by other Fera, and not without reason: their animal form is a horde of creeping spiders, they possess no Rage, and they fuel their powers with blood stolen from humans. Their name is drawn from the West African trickster/god Anansi.

While "true" Ananasi serve the force of balance and harmony that the Weaver once represented, many have been corrupted by the Wyrm. These Wyrm spiders are known as Dahman in the West and Kumo (or Goblin Spiders) in the East.

Apis
Wereaurochs or "Moon-bulls", the Apis were in charge of cultivation and agriculture, and known as "The Matchmakers of Gaia." They were driven to extinction by the Garou in the War of Rage.

Bastet
The werecats have many different tribes, like the Garou, though each claims a different species of wild cat. They are obsessed with secret knowledge and are always persuing and hoarding it. Many are great magicians, others are great warriors, but they are rarely pack animals and generally work alone. Some of their tribes suffered greatly during the War of Rage.

Camazotz
The Camazotz were werebats, Gaia's nocturnal and southern hemisphere messengers, counterparts to the Corax. They were almost wiped out during the War of Rage, but none survive today as the few who lived on in South America were destroyed by the Shadow Lords who arrived with the Spanish in the 1600s.

Corax
The wereravens are Gaia's messengers, spies and scouts who patrol the skies, always on the look out for danger. They are terrible chatterboxes and will tell what they have seen to any who care to listen. They escaped persecution in the War of Rage by aiding the Garou, and maintain the most cordial relations with the werewolves of all Fera.

Grondr
The wereboars were located in Northern Europe. Their task was to cleanse land; they were called Gaia's groomers. They were driven to extinction by the Garou during the War of Rage; their ancestor-spirits fell to the Wyrm and became the monstrous Skull Pigs.

Gurahl
The werebears are Gaia's healers, tied to the Earth with a stronger bond than any other Fera. Many Garou believe the Gurahl are extinct, killed during the War of Rage when they would not give up the secret of restoring life to the dead. In truth, they entered a long sleep using a trick taught to them by the Mokolé, and have awoken in the modern world.

Hakken
Though related to the Garou as a branch of the Shadow Lords, these werewolves native to Japan underwent isolation from the rest of the world during the Edo Period along with the rest of Japanese society. During this time, they almost entirely lost their ranks of the lupus breed (as wolves in the islands of Japan were almost entirely killed off during this period), and today are almost entirely composed of homids. This imbalance has wrought considerable change on their culture, making them markedly distinct from other Garou in their practices.

Kitsune
The werefoxes are magicians and politicians, holding together the society of Eastern shapeshifters in China and Japan known as the Beast Courts.

Mokolé
The werecrocodiles remember the age of the Dragon Kings, when terrible reptiles ruled the earth. They remember everything that has ever happened and keep that knowledge to themselves, only speaking to the properly respectful. Their Crinos forms more closely resemble dinosaurs or dragons than crocodiles, sometimes leading to them being called weredragons.

Nagah
Weresnakes that originated in India. Most all of the other changing breeds believe them to be dead, but they are very much still around. Serving as the "Judges of Gaia," the Nagah fill both the role of silent and hidden judges and executioners for the Changing Breeds. Many of the Fera races believe the Nagah are extinct. Only Fera present in the Beast Courts are likely to know otherwise.

Nuwisha
The werecoyotes are Gaia's teachers, though like their totem, Old Man Coyote, they prefer to teach exclusively through pranks. Thanks to a prank they pulled on Luna, they no longer have any Rage, though they have a closer affinity with the Umbra than any other Fera.

In earlier editions their war form did not provoke the Delirium; instead mundane humans simply refuse to accept that a werecoyote in Manabozho form exists, giving them a sort of invisibility. This was known as The Trick. In the Revised edition, however, they merely induce a less severe Delirium.

Ratkin
The wererats once watched over humanity, keeping their numbers from ever becoming too great. However, the Garou usurped that role, and the Ratkin have hated them ever since. they fight firmly for the Wyld and take every opportunity to undermine technology.

Rokea
Even the sea has its protectors. The weresharks patrol the depths of the sea and are rarely seen by landdwellers.