Silent Striders:

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Mysterious wanderers, tireless scouts, heralds — these are the Silent Striders. Their roots lie in Africa and the Middle East, but they can be found nearly anywhere, traveling and listening. For these wayfarers, home is the open road, and a caern or Kinfolk's house is a mere rest stop. Their feet are lightest when on a path, whether of blown sand, concrete or spirit-stuff. They explore where no werewolf— or no one — has been before. They poke their snouts in where it don't belong, and they move on if they don't find a Wyrm pit or something equally interesting. They visit caerns of many different tribes, and they have been known to consort with mages, spirits and the fae as well. Others have seen the Wyrm on the move in one aspect or another, even if they call it by a different name. Striders have even trod the paths of the dead in search of hidden knowledge from the restless spirits of those who have gone before. The scent of the Dark Umbra clings to them, adding to the eerie mystery that shrouds them.

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Although no real rivalries exist between the Striders and other tribes, many werewolves don't trust Owl's followers. Perhaps it's because Striders typically travel alone or in pairs. A lone wolf is always cause for suspicion, especially one that chooses that path. Perhaps it's because they show up unheralded, with grim news on their lips and dark omens in their eyes. Or perhaps it's the way one walks away from a conversation with a Strider with the feeling of having revealed much more than one gleaned from the enigmatic watcher. Certainly, all these reasons are valid. 

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The Striders are a tribe of many contradictions. They crave the comforts of a home or territory, but they cannot bring themselves to claim any as rightfully their own. Like other Garou, they long for the companionship of packs, but they often find themselves driven to keep to themselves — and on the road. A sept may have no notion that a Strider is in the vicinity unless she has something to tell them, and usually that takes the form of an urgent warning; the Striders have a deserved reputation as harbingers of ill omen. But it's quite true that Striders are experts at gathering information from casual conversation. Although most are quite skillful storytellers, they much prefer to listen than talk. They have a variety of ways to manipulate a speaker into going on at length until the Strider has milked him for all he knows. 

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Apart from Banes and Black Spirals, they reserve their sharpest hate for vampires. No Garou trucks with the undead if he's wise, but the Striders are the Leeches' bitter foes, although few outside the tribe know why. Tribal legend holds that long ago, the tribe fought against an army of vampires led by the dark god-monster known as Sutekh. At the final battle, Sutekh wove a mighty curse that drove them from their homeland of Egypt and scattered them to the four winds. To this day, the land of the Nile is the one land where they can find no rest. But worse still, the curse severed all contact with the ancestor-spirits of the tribe. No Striders have been able to find their forbears, even though many have searched both spirit world and Underworld for some sign.

 

Many Striders take an Egyptian name in honor of their lost heritage. As might be expected from nomads, Striders hold fewer caerns than any other tribe, and those they claim generally have a high turnover in membership. Sept members that stay for more than a season or two are usually old enough for the call of duty to drown out the call of the road. Still, as with the Wheel of Ptah sept in Casablanca, they are often located at crossroads, so tales of the road can soften loss of the road itself. Striders form many friendships, but fortunate is the friend who meets the Strider more than twice. When they do join packs of mixed tribes, they show their packmates loyalty unto death — the Striders are so few that they greatly value those truly close to them. They are likewise known for brief but intense relationships with their Kin, for you don't have time for protracted preliminaries when tomorrow will see you far away. 

 

One of the worst things anyone, Garou or Kin, can do to a Strider is bind him to a place against his will through duty or force. Sooner than later, their hearts pine for the open road once more, as many lovers have learned. A Strider whose wings have been clipped is utterly miserable, and campfire tales say that a few actually wasted away and died from being denied their freedom. It's a lonely life, and it brings a lonely death all too often. Striders rarely fall amid friends; they are simply never seen again. It is the custom that aged or infirm Striders make a final journey into the Umbra, never to return. Some hope that they will find their loved ones there at last.

 

Tribal Totem: Owl

 

Initial Willpower: 3

 

Background Restrictions: Silent Striders may not have the Ancestors or Resources Backgrounds.

 

Beginning Gifts: Sense Wyrm, Silence, Speed of Thought

 

Thoughts on other tribes:

 

Black Furies: Worthy of respect, but let them open their own doors.

 

Bone Gnawers: Homebodies, but they're alright. Especially when you have a head cold — don't smell as much.

 

Children of Gaia: A Child of Gaia caern is a fine place to fill your belly and wash the dust off. The exhortations to join their personal cause get to you after a couple of days, though.

 

Fianna: Only they have an appreciation of tales to match ours. Better still, they'd rather talk than listen. To my mind, there's no finer caern to pass a night.

 

Get of Fenris: They'd be easy to dismiss if we didn't know that when they say they're ready to die to the last to save Gaia, they mean it. There's more to the Get than meets the eye.

 

Glass Walkers: Garou are creatures of balance; the Walkers have strayed too close to the human side. They have adapted to the world, but have lost part of themselves...

 

Red Talons: ...as have the Talons. To embrace the wolf at the expense of the human only makes them more bestial than our wolf Kin.

 

Shadow Lords: If they took the energy spent trying to dethrone the Silver Fangs and used it to bring down the Wyrm, I think we'd be a lot better off.

 

Silver Fangs: They need to leave their throne rooms and take a lap or two. The fresh air will clean out those cobwebs in their heads.

 

Uktena: They are living proof that there really is such a thing as knowing too much.

 

Wendigo: Proud and noble in a way no other tribe can understand. I respect them, but I only hope they'll deign to join in when the time comes.

 

Stargazers: With such a wide world, why look inward all the time? Ah, well, they follow their path, and I follow mine.