"Whoa, easy there! You bumped your head pretty hard on your way down.
Don't snarl at me, you overgrown ball of fur! If you hadn't fallen off that
ship, I wouldn't have had to rescue you in the first place!
     "Where are you? Land. That's all I can tell you. I don't pay much
notice of your side's tedency to name anything and everything. The water's
my home, and a better home it'll be than your precious dryness in a few
years. Gaia replaces her blood a lot faster than her flesh, even when the
Wyrm takes it.
     "Look, fuzzbutt, of course I know about the Wyrm! Why do you think I
was near that ship, anyway? For my health? Not likely! Especially not with
all the Banes surrounding it. But then, you found out about the Banes the
hard way, didn't you? Relax, Fido, those nasty little scratches you got are
gone, you can thank me later.
     "The ship? Safe. We took care of it, and its cargo will be delivered...
AFTER the Banes have been cleaned out. And no, it's not going to Pentex. It
would have been done by now if you hadn't been there to take up my time and
talents!"
     With that, the man turned and jumped impossibly high into the air. As
the startled Get of Fenris watched, a dolphin splashed down into the
glittering sea.

     Listen younglings, to the song of our past. Gaia, the Great Mother,
did give of her body to Her children, and we did make our homes upon Her
flesh, called land, and in her blood, called water. And to attend Her
health, she called the physicians, Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm. Wyld would make
the potions and salves that kept her healthy as the living things were born.
Weaver ensured that everything happened in the proper order. And Wyrm would
destroy the diseases that strove to infect her. By her side were her family,
her brother Helios and their sister Luna. Together, the five ensured Gaia's
continued health.
     But then, a plague struck. Despite the precautions they took, two of
the doctors took ill. Weaver decided that Gaia, for her own good, must be
bound and unable to move. Wyrm reversed hs role, letting in the diseases
and consuming Gaia.
     Gaia called to her siblings for aid. They conferred with Wyld, and
they reached an agreement. The strongest creatures on Gaia's body would
become an immune system in her defense. Her flesh was to be protected by
the wolf, with help from his kin on land. The waters of Gaia's blood would
be watched by the dolphins and sharks. All would be aided with the cunning
and abilities of man.
     Sadly, our brothers the sharks were tainted by Wyrm. He gave them a
thirst for blood that rivalled His own for Gaia's, and granted them immunity
to His minions, disease, as well.
     When our brothers of flesh, the wolves, turned aganst their kin, they
forgot their cousins in the sea. So we, their blood bretheren, remained
forgotten and unassailed.
     So we alone must watch over the blood of Gaia, until our ancient city
Atlantis is rebuilt and our homeland restored. One day, we hope, the seas
will be free of Wyrm's plagues, and Gaia will again know health.

Habits

     Similar to the Gurahl on land, the Cetacea are a peaceful people, dedicated
to healing. They try to stay out of the affairs of human and Garou politics as
much as possible. They only associate with humans at sea, unless they go ashore
to mate.
     They maintain their own underwater communities, usually in well-hidden
underwater grottoes, where they guard the underwater caerns they have found.
These havens have air pockets and lighting equivalent to the surface world.
These have all the materials neccessary to live comfortably as humans or
dolphins.

Character Creation

     Breed: The Cetacea know full well the perils of inbreeding. They mate with
both dolphins and humans, but never with each other. Thus, there are two breeds:
Homid and Delphin. When the Change comes upon them, Homids find themselves drawn
to the sea twenty-four hours prior to the Change taking place. This becomes an
overpowering instinct, such that they will frenzy if they cannot get there. They
also emit the Cry for as long as the instinct is present. Delphins are drawn to
the shore for a like period of time, and also emit the Cry. Homids begin with 2
Gnosis, and Delphins with 4.

     Auspice: The moon also rules the Cetacea, much as it rules the Garou. The 
Auspice is determined by the tide when the First Change occurs: those who Change
at Low Tide are the Theurges, Ebbing Tide are the Ahroun, High Tide are the
Galliards, and Flowing Tide ae the Ragabash. Rage is not the same as for Garou.
The Cetacea have a Grief rating instead of Rage. The Auspice gets one less
Grief point than it's Garou equivalent would get in Rage. Cetacea cannot frenzy.
As the Cetacea are devoted to peace, and rarely fight amongst themselves, there
are no Philodox among them.

     Tribe: There is only one tribe. All Cetacea are one people. They begin with
6 Willpower.

     Backgronds: 3. No Pure Breed, Resources, or Totem. Contacts and Allies are
sea creatures.

     Totem: All Cetacea have Dolphin as their totem. The few Garou who are
Dolphin's children often recieve aid against Pentex's aquatic operations.
 
     Rank: Instead of Glory, Cetacea gain Renown for Succor, as per the Gurahl.

     Gifts: Dolphin sees to it that her Children receive instruction in Gifts
involving sound (especially music), healing, detection, and water. Some Gifts
that originated with Cetacea follow:
-The Cry (Level One)
Gained upon the First Change, this later becomes a controllable ability. If
activated (with a Perception+Expression roll), all Cetacea in a radius of one
mile per success will be aware that someone in the direction of the sound needs
help. The Cry can also be heard by any beings in the Umbra.
-Sonar (Level 2)
No roll is neccessary. The Cetacea can "see" using hearing instead of sight in
Homid form. No benefit is gained in Delphin form.

Rituals

     These are handled in a manner similar to Gifts.

Forms:

     Homid- No changes. Most Cetacea's Homid forms are blond with blue eyes.

     Merrow- Str+3, Dex+1, Sta+2. The "Crinos" equivalent, the merrow form is
             identical to the mermaid, and is the source of such legends. It does
             not invoke the Delirium.

     Delphin- Str+1, Dex+2, Sta+1, Man-1, Cha+1. This form is indistinguishable
              from a normal dolphin.

Water:

     Cetacea must be in water to do any of the following: Step Sideways, Regenerate,
Shapeshift. Fresh water is fine for these purposes. However, if a Cetacea goes 24
hours without being immersed in sea water, they take one Health Level of aggravated
damage from dehydration.


Stereotypes:

Anansi: The children of all the Triat, yet brothers to none. Pity them, but make
        them earn your trust.

Corax: These messengers are the only land changers that remember us. 

Garou: They are the protectors of the flesh, but they forgot their role and try to be
       its rulers, instead.

Gurahl: They know the power of the healing word.

Mokole: The dinosaur kings are too few to fulfill their original function, to bridge
        the gap between flesh and blood, soil and water.

Nuwisha: The trickster has taught them to laugh, a lesson the other changers would do
         well to learn.

Ratkin: They are no longer guardians, but worse predators than the Garou.
      
Rokea: These brutes have given up defending Gaia's blood, and instead have taken
       to claiming the blood of Her children.