So you wanna play a Kinfolk eh?

Kinfolk amongst the Tribes

Black Furies: Most of the Fury kinfolk are of Greek, Italian and Turkish descent. The Black Furies pride themselves in knowing where most of their kinfolk are; the Furies encourage their kinfolk not to wander. The few lost Fury kinfolk that exist come from the breeding of Fury males that left the tribe. The Furies low numbers mean they place a high value on their kinfolk, and Fury kinfolk are often assigned important duties, up to guarding the caern itself. Note that while male Garou cannot be members of the tribe (unless they are metis), this is not true of kinfolk, and the Furies have as many male kin as female.

Some of the strongest activists for social change come from the tribe of Pegasus. While it would be easy to claim that all Fury kin are second-wave feminists with a bone to pick, it's just not true. Generally speaking, Fury kin take up their sisters' mantle of social responsibility in myriad ways. They may become lawyers, doctors or nurses to promote healing in the community and defend the weak. They may volunteer spare time at a shelter for abused children. They may become Greenpeace crusaders, seeking to protect the wild places of the world. Most Furies will be more willing to tolerate male Kinfolk than human men, though there is a disturbing tendency among more hardline Furies to treat male kin as unfeeling studs. As a tribe primarily composed of women, they do jealously defend their breeding rights to their male kin, particularly those from notable lineages.

Bone Gnawers: Because of the poverty of the Bone Gnawer tribe, they are unable to provide for their kinfolk in the traditional way. Bone
Gnawers tend to a "love them and leave them" attitude toward relationships. Thus, there are few Bone Gnawer kinfolk communities, and most of the Gnawer kinfolk would be classified as lost. The few kinfolk who regularly associate with Gnawers tend to be those closely related to a member of the tribe: brother, sisters, parents and cousins, etc.

Bone Gnawer kin are a dime a dozen. Sometimes literally. Much as the Garou of the tribe are the lowest of the low, foundlings and adoptees, so are their kin. Those with lineages that are unclear, unwanted bastards of those in power, or simply those who have been determined to be unsuitable by their former tribes often end up filtering down to the Gnawers for one reason or another. Everyone is welcome in the tribe of Rat, so long as you don't mind getting your hands dirty from time to time. It's often said that the most generous and giving kin are those of the Bone Gnawers, though a closer look at that charity indicates it might just be a result of the freeloading that so many Gnawers rely on to get through the day.

Regardless, there's hardly a better gossip network than The Barking Chain and most Gnawers, even the Metis, can count on at least one helping hand being around when they need it. The Gnawer kin who don't live on the street are often a blue-collar bunch, taking on roles from call centre lackey to assembly line worker. Perhaps most important to them, though, is the near-equal status they share with their Garou brethren. Not much point in getting all haughty about who's kin and who isn't when you're all trying to survive on a diet of Mac and cheese and stale hotdogs.

Children of Gaia: The Children of Gaia tend to value their kinfolk highly, in line with their attitudes of peaceful coexistence with mankind. The kinfolk communities the Children have strong ties and perform many important duties. They tend to be well advised of Garou activities; the Children tell more to their kinfolk than any other tribe. Unfortunately, the Children are spread thin over the world, and many of their kinfolk communities have been lost in their wanderings. The Children of Gaia cherish lost kinfolk nearly as much as they cherish lost pups.

As accepting as the Bone Gnawers, as committed to social change as the Black Furies and more open-minded than the Glass Walkers, the kin of the Children of Gaia are some of the most varied and beloved in the Garou Nation. Child of Gaia kin find themselves included in every possible aspect of Garou life that they show interest in. They are allowed to participate in many of the tribe's rituals, encouraged to seek out relationships with their fellow kin as well as Garou and permitted to speak with more freedom than most other kin could ever get away with. Their advice is often sought by the elders, and kin have heavily influenced sept policies in the past. Unicorn's children strive for unity in all ways, whether it's through hosting drum circles, running daycares or standing watch over a protest group to ensure things stay peaceful. Though it's tempting to stereotype the Children and their kin as healers and hippies, it would be vastly underestimating their passion for justice and equality to do so. A Child of Gaia kinfolk is as likely to be an FBI agent investigating child pornography as he is to be sitting in the streets of Berkley, smoking a joint and selling love beads.

Fianna: Fianna kinfolk often held an honored place in celtic society as healers and magicians. There are myths of connections between Fianna kinfolk and the ancient druids. Fianna villages also tend to be on friendly terms with the Fey. There are some who believe that the strong connection between the Fianna and the Fey came through their kinfolk rather than the Fianna Garou themselves.

In the US, Fianna kinfolk still tend to live in close communities, and with the Fianna's aid, have reached positions of some importance in the local governments. But disruptions of both Irish and English society in the last two centuries have scattered Fianna kinfolk in many of the old English colonies, and many are now lost.

It can sometimes be difficult to tell Fianna and their kin apart - perhaps the best measure is to look for scars to find the Garou. Like their cousins, Fianna kin are an impassioned people, fired by a joie de vivre that is the envy of many. Their ire is quick, their tongues are silver and their pride is great. It's a good life to be Fianna kin, so long as you can hack it through the arguments and the fights. Perhaps the greatest difficulty these kinfolk face is learning to hold their tongues in the face of the fury of their Garou relations. Fianna keep their kin close at hand-they aren't involved so often in the mystical aspects of Garou life as the kin to the Children of Gaia, but Stag's chosen people would no sooner keep their kin away from their revels and parties than they would embrace a Wyrm Howler as brother. Though it would be a stereotype to claim all Fianna kin are artists, it's not entirely untrue. Just as many, however, direct their passions to other things-medicine, politics and so on.

Get of Fenris: Get of Fenris kinfolk communities tend to be a reflection of the Get themselves: violent and unruly with a lust for life. Get kinfolk are warriors in much the same way as the Get are. The Get are more likely to allow their kinfolk to participate in battle against the Wyrm than other tribes. In Germany however, things are beginning to change. Some kinfolk wish to move forward and join the modern German state, and are growing in sophistication faster than the Get would like.

The Get also have many lost kinfolk, spread all over the world. Not only have many of their kinfolk migrated, but the Get have always considered rape to be one of the spoils of war, and many Get kinfolk result from this. This activity was particularly prevalent during the viking raids of late middle ages, and occurs on occasion even now.

It would be tempting to say that the sons and daughters of Fenris are brutal and abusive to their kin. Certainly, from the perspective of outsiders, the households of the Fenrir seem cool and detached, and every Garou knows the reputation of the 'Warrior tribe' for sheer violence. The Fenrir do not care. What goes on before the hearth is a world apart from what those who are not family see. Though the Get of Fenris do push their kin to become stronger still than those around them, they are not fools. Their kin are their succour, the only acceptable place for these great warriors to express doubt and weakness. They rival the Fianna in the depth of emotion they invest in their mates and their children, and that love and loyalty is returned. Get of Fenris kin are proud of their tribe, proud of what they are, and their stoic exteriors cover communities loyal to the death. It is wise advice never to cross the kin of the Fenrir - every member of their often tight-knit extended family will find a way to strike back at you. Perhaps more so than other tribes, the kin to the Get of Fenris favour martial pursuits, and those that will best benefit their community-those who aren't warriors strive to be excellent craftsmen.

Glass Walkers: Glass Walker kinfolk are urban like the Walkers themselves. The Glass Walkers keep tabs on their kinfolk, but make little effort to keep them together in communities. Thus, while many Walker kinfolk are known to the tribe, they act in many ways like lost kinfolk. The Walkers use their kinfolk to help them control human society, and Walker kinfolk often hold important positions in government, corporations and organized crime. Many Walker kinfolk live simple lives, however, and are just another ordinary citizens of the city. No system of tracking people is perfect, and some Walker kinfolk are lost, though not as many as you might expect.

There is but one word to describe the kin of the Glass Walkers-influence. More than any other tribe, the Glass Walkers seek and promote building relationships with kin who are influential in some way. That doesn't mean that all Glass Walker kin walk the halls of power, signing papers and shooing away underlings, it simply means that Glass Walker kin tend to be the sort of guy-who-knows-a-guy type. Cockroaches tribe loves innovation, and one of the things they love most of all are kin who can push the right buttons with the right people. The mayor may not be kin, but the Glass Walkers will almost certainly know a few clerks working in his office, and one or two of those kin might have his ear. Kin skilled in electronics, computers, social networking and other seemingly esoteric skills are welcomed with open arms into the tribe.

It's rare to find a Glass Walker kin that is without some useful skill, and rarer still to find one who isn't in the employ of someone in the tribe, doing something small but significant. If there is one downfall to being Glass Walker kin, it is that the Glass Walkers themselves tend to take over some of the duties traditionally considered to be 'kinfolk only'-roles as support staff, information brokers, direct contacts with the human world and so on.

Red Talons: The Red Talons have no human kinfolk. They tend to be protective of their lupus kinfolk, and generally live in close proximity to them. Despite what it says in the rules, Red Talons may take kinfolk as a background, but the kinfolk must be wolves.

There are no kin better guarded and accounted for than Red Talon kin. While other tribes struggle to protect and guide their wolf kin in their own way, the Talons run among them, leading packs and maintaining close ties to their territories and land. Any interference with Talon kin is met with ferocious rebuke - Griffin's children would think nothing of killing a homid who was so audacious to move among their kin without asking permission.

Shadow Lords: In the past, Shadow Lord kinfolk acted as the serfs of under the protection of the Lords. More recently, as they migrated, Shadow Lord kinfolk have set themselves up at all levels of society. Modern Shadow Lords are of two minds about their kinfolk: some of them wish to use them as tools to control society, while others want to keep them in their traditional communities where they are easier to control.

One of the secret shames of the Shadow Lords is their struggle with their kinfolk in their traditional homelands of Eastern Europe. While the Shadow Lords fought against communism (and its hidden vampiric overlords), some of their kinfolk welcomed it as a way of breaking free of Shadow Lord control. Many Shadow Lord kinfolk became important members of the communist party. Now that communism has fallen in Eastern Europe, this conflict threatens to break into open warfare as the Lords try to regain control.

Movers, shakers and manipulators. Shadow Lord kin occupy a solid standing as secondary concerns to their Garou relatives, but it's one they take quite seriously. They acknowledge the inequality of their position and thrive in the areas they are expected to succeed in. They shoulder the burden of their position gladly, because they're crystal clear on the consequences of the Garou's failure.

Many will do anything their Garou relatives ask of them, not only out of a sense of loyalty to the Garou, but to Thunder and Gaia as well. They submit, because they recognize that they are not suitable to dominate...at least not the Garou. It would be a mistake to underestimate the kin of the Shadow Lords because of their submissive behaviour to their tribe. Those that are chosen as mates and stewards by the Garou are chosen for a very good reason that isn't always obvious to those around them. Shadow Lord kin tend to be smart, and that's no accident either.

Silent Striders: While the Striders associate themselves with Egypt, most of their kinfolk are Arabic. There has long been a close connection between Strider kinfolk and Islam. Some of them go so far as to believe the Prophet himself was kinfolk. Strider kinfolk were once as nomadic, but now tend to live in close knit communities. They tend to tasks that traveling Garou cousins are unable to do. In all but the greatest of Strider caerns, most of the guardians are kinfolk and spirits.

For a tribe as dispossessed and lost as the Striders, kinfolk are an oasis. Though their non-changing kin are just as likely to take to the road as the Silent Striders themselves, the crash spaces, VW buses and tents those kin maintain are like a temporary home to the wandering Garou. The Striders have few kin that they lay official claim to, as they are generally only able to support and guide one or two at a time, if that.

Most often, those who are kin to the Striders are strongly independent nomadic types, usually found among carnival folk, Romany and Bedouin clans, bikers, runaways, explorers and other such world travellers. While Owl's children might find succour and sympathy in the arms of almost anyone's kin in their wanderings, they don't usually claim those kinfolk as their own unless that person follows after them. Some few Strider kin make permanent homes for themselves, and these places are a welcome respite from life on the road. It's in these places that the Striders most often find kin with mystical inclinations-a tribe so tied to ghosts is bound to manifest a medium or two at some point, after all.

Silver Fangs: Silver Fang kinfolk tend to hold positions of wealth and importance in human society, but are as inbred as the Fangs themselves; the Russian royal family was an inbred community of Silver Fang Garou and kinfolk. Silver Fang kinfolk are prideful of their position, considering themselves nearly the social equals of Garou outside the tribe. They have not escaped the madness that plagues the Silver Fangs, however, and their lives and communities slowly unravel. Some Russian kinfolk have migrated to America, and become lost in the process. These kinfolk have broken the cycle of inbreeding. Perhaps in them lies the greatest hope of revitalizing the tribe.

There is no Silver Fang kinfolk in the world who can't trace their bloodlines back through the ages to royalty. Though their line may have fallen from favour, every one was once or still is a noble foundation of the world's truly powerful. Nobility does not always carry riches in these modern times, a mistake many make when considering Silver Fang kin. If they are nothing else, though, the kin of the Silver Fangs are proud of their lineage. Most believe that they have truly been bred to lead (which they have, make no mistake), and they tend to act it.

Disdain for the nouveau riche abounds, even as younger Fang kin strive for success along those very lines - they view it as something they are entitled to, rather than the “American Dream” which claims such privilege should be available to everyone. A Silver Fang Kinfolk is usually a marvellous specimen, and on the rare occasions a kinfolk is inducted into the Tribe from another, it is assuredly because that kinsman or woman is a true paragon in every way.

Aside from the usual arrays of careers pursued by the aspiring rich and powerful, Silver Fang kin often find themselves drawn to archival work, genetics research and other such professions beneficial to the tribe. It should also be noted that most Silver Fang kin are groomed for the potential to become the mate to one of the Garou, and so are generally well versed in manners, stewardship and all things considered necessary to supporting their future mate. Like the Shadow Lords, they are second class citizens and they know it... but unlike the Shadow Lord kin, they view themselves as a better class of second class.

Stargazers: Stargazers are aloof from both human and Garou society; as such they have little contact with their kinfolk community. Many of their kinfolk are unaware of their special natures. The kinfolk that associate with Stargazers tend to be immediate relatives of a member of the tribe, such as siblings, cousins and parents. Stargazers rarely breed, and thus nearly all their Garou are born of kinfolk. As Eastern society is becoming more open and urban, the Stargazer kinfolk are becoming more scattered. As their kinfolk breed with more humans, the Lupus trait is being lost, and the tribe is slowly dying.

One of the smallest tribes in the Garou Nation corresponds with having one of the smallest kinfolk populations. The Stargazers are quite choosy about their kin, weighing several options against one another as they strive to find a balance between kin and Garou that will benefit both and will provide the most harmonious union. Many of the tribe have forsworn physical pleasures of any kind, which does include the act of mating, further separating the Garou from the kin. It is a delicate situation, for certain. Many of the kin to the Stargazers focus on matters of spirit and the other worlds, preferring to work on healing and contemplating the nature of their predicament over worrying about more temporal things.

Uktena: The mysterious Uktena have long sought humans with magical power as their kinfolk. Many of their kinfolk have magical talents in their own right; a few of them are even true mages. Uktena kin often help their Garou cousins in their magical workings, especially those who are more "Magely" and less spiritual in nature. Unfortunately, the Uktena occasionally get into conflict with their own kin over limited magical resources. A particularly sore spot is access to the energy of caerns. With the displacement of native tribes, some of the older groups of Uktena kinfolk have become lost, especially in Central America and Mexico. Thus, Uktena lost kinfolk are often Native American or Hispanic.

If there is a single tribe in the world that is the definition of “diverse,” it is the Uktena. Heralding from all of the dispossessed peoples of the world, the kin that the Uktena have chosen bring together a mix of cultures and mysticism that is truly incredible. The Uktena will claim any kinfolk of any heritage that isn't caucasian, due to a prejudice on the part of their totem, and as a result their kin are a global community that makes the Children of Gaia envious. The kin of the Uktena range similarly abroad in their interests, though most do have a certain affinity for fields such as sociology, anthropology, archaeology and palaeontology. Some strive to become mystics according to the traditions of their people, and such explorations are usually tolerated. As usual, the Uktena are given to rumours of bizarre rituals and potentially corrupt death-cults, rumours which the Uktena usually hotly deny.

Wendigo: Wendigo kinfolk are exclusively Native American, and often share the Wendigo's hatred of the white man. Wendigo kinfolk have been some of the strongest advocates of American Indian independence movements. They tend to live on reservations and struggle to preserve their traditional ways. So strong is this national identification that Wendigo kinfolk see themselves as Indians first and kinfolk second. If anything, their hatred of non-native Garou is more extreme then the Wendigo Garou.

Wendigo lost kinfolk tend to be natives that live in the cities of the white man, or have bred with the Wyrm Bringers. Pups of these lost kinfolk tend to accepted somewhat reluctantly, as somehow tainted with European ways. Note that some urban Wendigo kinfolk have since become Uktena kinfolk, while Uktena kinfolk herded into reservations, have since become Wendigo. Both tribes would dearly love to find some lost Croatan kinfolk, but this has yet to happen.

The proud Wendigo are a tribe divided. Perched on the brink of the modern world, they fight to preserve the Ways of their ancestors against the Wyrmcomers and wasichu that seek to corrupt and exploit them. At the same time, some recognize that their people must move forward somewhat, or else they will die. It is a tribe at war with its own identity, and that is expressed among the kin as well. The majority of Wendigo kin are of indigenous blood, though recently some of the Metis nation and even one or two distantly related caucasians have been accepted by the mighty totem of winter. Most Wendigo kin in good standing with the tribe remain on the reservations, working to help their people understand and continue to preserve the Ways. Others have gone beyond the rez, seeking out opportunities and new life to try to revitalize the old blood.

The Black Spiral Dancers

If the lot in life of the kinfolk of Gaia's people seems trying, it is nothing compared to the daily horrors the Spiral kin endure. Ill-kept, ill-used, constantly abused in terrible ways, the kin to the Wyrm's favourite Bastards are little better than animals in the eyes of their changing cousins. While most of the Gaian tribes value their kin and at least try to treat them with some modicum of respect, the Spirals rationalize that there are nine kin to every Spiral - that's a nine-body buffet of toys, food and rape-able holes. Only the truly deranged among the Spiral kin manage to achieve any level of esteem, and those often find themselves either eaten in spite of their usefulness or used in horrific experiments. Many Spiral kin create Wyrm-cults and little alcoves of Deliverance-style hell, waiting eagerly for their chance to serve their dark masters as something other than pathetic, filthy cannon fodder and snack food.