Ursula Berensen.
Ursula Berensen Gaia’s Partisan is a Homid Gurahl born in 1923. On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland and Berensen underwent her First Change and joined the Resistance fighters.[1]
The German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, marked the beginning of World War II. On that day, Ursula Berensen, a 16-year-old native of Danzig, underwent her First Change and killed her first Nazi soldier. Filled with terror at her transformation, Ursula fled into the forest outside the city. There, she found other citizen-warriors, victims of the German invasion who had decided to fight with the only weapons they had left to them — terror and ingenuity. Ursula tried to hide her “strangeness” from her comrades, but little by little, they realized that the teenager with the fierce blue eyes and strong, well-formed body commanded the power to transform herself into a savage dealer of death. Instead of succumbing to the Delirium, however, these freedom fighters welcomed the incarnation of the ancient Bear-Mother (as they dubbed her). Ursula’s companions had other, more pressing horrors to deal with.
For two years, Ursula and her comrades harassed the German armies in Poland. Whenever they could, they rescued political prisoners, Jews, homosexuals, POWs and Gypsies from German transports bound for the labor camps. Ursula’s partisans funneled refugees out of Poland to safety.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and Ursula’s education as a Gurahl took place in her dreams. Unable to unite with her Buri-Jaan, an elderly woman named Marta who was trapped in Lithuania, Ursula still managed to receive dreams from her teacher. While her comrades slept or kept watch over their secret camp, Ursula traveled long distances in her dreams, meeting with her mentor and learning the rites and Gifts of the Gurahl.
As soon as she learned something new, Ursula found a way to use it in her private war. She discovered that she could pull her companions into the Umbra with her to hide them from the soldiers and dogs that pursued them. No one questioned the sudden appearance of a hole in the universe; they accepted it as one more miracle from their Bear-Mother.
When the war finally ended, Ursula set out in search of her Buri-Jaan, determined to thank her for her dreamlessons and for helping her save so many lives. She traveled to Lithuania just as the Iron Curtain fell across Eastern Europe and the Gauntlet closed tight, locking the Western world out of the Communist-ruled lands.
Stories of her deeds, however, circulated among Gurahl Kinfolk in Europe. Those who fought alongside her — or who escaped from Nazi-controlled lands due to her efforts — also bore witness of the bear-woman who worked good in a world filled with evil.