FIANNA

They laugh louder and weep harder than any other tribe. They fight as though they've already accepted their own deaths, but do their best to live life to the fullest. They treat their foes with no mercy, and they treat their families with enduring love. They make bloodthirsty enemies, but outstanding friends. They are the Children of the Stag, the Fianna. - Tribebook: Fianna (Revised)

OVERVIEW

Grief and joy, love and war, life and death — life is a series of contradictions, and the Fianna embrace them all. The Tribe of Stag are passionate Garou who exult in the pleasures of the flesh as well as the more abstract delights of a song well-sung or a battle well-fought. Their philosophy is far from a shallow “live in the now” concept, though. The Fianna are prominent lore keepers and bards, fascinated with the history of all tribes as well as their own. Their Galliards have a particular place of honor within the tribe, but every auspice is expected to learn lessons from the past. 

FIANNA SOCIETY

The Fianna trace their origins back to Western Europe, and they prefer to adorn their weapons and fetishes with knotwork representative of “the old days.” They endure plenty of old rivalries with other European Garou that challenged their borders, as well as the Uktena and Wendigo, who were their enemies during the European migration to the Americas. The Fianna try to be generous and forgiving where these rivalries are concerned, remembering but not making too much of it — an attitude their rivals rarely share. 

Strong passions and a powerful social streak run deep within the tribe. Their mirth is powerful, their loves intense, and their despair deep and prone to falling into a tragic despair. Introverted Fianna are rare, and don’t earn much sympathy; their tribemates tend to harass them to “loosen up” and enjoy the raucous gatherings more. Metis have it much worse. Fianna tradition holds that a deformed body reflects a deformed spirit ,and treat their Metis cubs with great severity— Metis never hold positions of real authority within the tribe. It’s sadly ironic, then, that the Fianna, with all their hot-running passion and love of the romantic, are particularly prone to sin with other Garou and create these luckless children. 

The passionate, mercurial nature of the Fianna manifests itself even in their wolf-born. Fianna lupus take to art readily, though of course they prefer songs and howls above all. Some (both inside and outside the tribe) suspect that this commonality represents a dose of fae blood — there are plenty of old stories of the Fianna fighting alongside the sidhe lords of Faerie, and engaging in tragic romances with the Old Ones. 

In some ways, the Fianna consider themselves the guardians of Garou culture. They glorify the war every werewolf is born to fight, they sing tales of romance that stress the importance of clinging to one’s Kin, and they keep the stories of old victories and defeats. They leap into battle with exuberance, hoping to inspire their cousins to do the same. But even with no other tribe’s eyes upon them, the Fianna fight as ferociously as any Garou can. Yet thanks to old rivalries and quick tempers, the Fianna can be a divisive presence as easily as a unifying influence. It’s hard for them to resist a particularly well-crafted taunt, or to shake hands with a rival who’s spoken ill of or mistreated Kin. Some Garou don’t take them seriously; others aren’t able to laugh off a Fianna’s bouts of temper so easily. It’s a good thing for the tribe that they’ve practiced the silver tongue as long as they have. Certainly whatever happens, the presence of a Fianna is prone to keep things lively and interesting. 

APPEARANCE

Fianna Pure Breed manifests itself as shining red or black fur, and often surprisingly large Lupus form. Fianna often use Gifts to make their eyes glow green, and teach their cubs to howl with beautiful eloquence.

KINFOLK & TERRITORY

Although they always prefer places that remind them of “the old country,” such as rolling green hills and thick old-growth forests, Fianna can be found nearly anywhere their predominantly Celtic-descended Kinfolk have settled. Outside the British Isles, they are most common in Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the United States (particularly Appalachia). 

The Fianna are exceptionally protective of their Kinfolk — most of their bloody skirmishes with other tribes erupt over Kin issues. Their Apex Kinfolk, who are talented in the performance arts, are a source of great pride to the Fianna. Aside from their ability to earn income in the human world, they are cherished for both their talents and for an emotional depth that escapes most humans. Traditionally, their wolf Kin live in North America, save for a few hidden on protected European estates and parks.

FIANNA GIFTS

◉◎◎◎◎◎: RANK 1 FIANNA - Faerie Light (Mental Skill)

• Base Roll: 70
• Energy/Gnosis Cost: 2
• Damage: 0
• Mods: Occult, Mental Skill
• Duration: n/a
• Resist: n/a
• Permanent Affects: 
  • +1 Athletics/Reflexes

Description:
The Garou can conjure a small, bobbing sphere of light. The sphere illuminates only a three-foot area, but that is usually enough to provide the necessary light — or to lead foes into ambush. A marsh-spirit or faerie teaches this Gift.

System: 
The player spends one point of Gnosis. The light can appear anywhere within the Garou’s line of sight. It can move, bobbing along at 10 feet per turn, if bidden to do so. The light lasts for one scene, but the player can dispel it at any time.

◉◎◎◎◎◎: RANK 1 FIANNA - Hare's Leap (Buff)

• Base Roll: 60
• Energy/Gnosis Cost: 2
• Damage: 0
• Mods: Physical Skill, Athletics/Reflexes
• Duration: n/a
• Resist: No Resist
• Permanent Affects: 
  • +1 Athletics/Reflexes

Description:

The old legends relate of Garou warriors leaping over enemies and crossing rivers without getting their feet wet; this Gift is one way they did it. By invoking this Gift, the werewolf may leap incredible distances. Hare-, salmon-, frog- and cat-spirits usually teach this Gift. 

System:
The Player spends 2 points of Energy/Gnosis and makes a successful roll. The Character may now leap in any direction up to 20 meters in a single bound.

◉◉◎◎◎◎: RANK 2 FIANNA - Form Mastery (Mental Skill)

• Base Roll: 0
• Energy/Gnosis Cost: 2
• Damage: 0
• Mods: Passive
• Duration: n/a
• Resist: n/a
• Permanent Affects: 
  • +1 Physical Skill

Description:

This Gift empowers the Wyld spark that resides in all Garou, granting the character greater control over her shapeshifting abilities. A wolf-spirit teaches this Gift.System: 

This Passive ability allows the Player to spend 4 Rage Points and transform instantly to any of their forms. This Gift’s effects are permanent, requiring no roll or use of Energy/Gnosis points. As long as the Garou has 4 Rage Points available to spend, he/she/they can instantly shift to any of their forms. This action takes one action.

◉◉◉◉◎◎: RANK 4 FIANNA - Heart of the Mountain (Mental Skill)

• Base Roll: 0
• Energy/Gnosis Cost: 2
• Damage: 0
• Mods: Passive
• Duration: n/a
• Resist: n/a
• Permanent Affects: 
  • +1 Physical Skill

Description:

The werewolf becomes as untiring and eternal as the mountains, and cannot be defeated in a test of endurance. A mountain goat-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Rage point and one Willpower point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou cannot fail any task involving Stamina. Torturers can never break him; though he can’t breathe underwater and his lungs may fill with water, he will not die. The only exception to this is soaking damage. While this Gift is active, the werewolf is guaranteed to always soak at least one level of damage, but otherwise takes damage normally.

◉◉◉◉◉◎: RANK 5 FIANNA - Havgan's Healing (Mental Skill)

• Base Roll: 0
• Energy/Gnosis Cost: 2
• Damage: 0
• Mods: Passive
• Duration: n/a
• Resist: n/a
• Permanent Affects: 
  • +1 Physical Skill

Description:

Named after the foe Pwyll dueled with in the Otherworld, this powerful Gift lets wounds alternately harm and heal the Garou, giving the Fianna a critical edge in a sustained battle. A death-spirit teaches this Gift.System: To activate this Gift, the Fianna must spend two Gnosis points and concentrate for one turn. For the duration of the scene, any health levels that are not soaked alternately harm or heal the Garou. The first blow to strike the Garou injures him as normal; with the second blow, any damage that is not soaked (and the player must roll soak as  normal) instead is treated as healing. Bashing wounds heal bashing damage, lethal wounds can heal bashing or  lethal damage, and aggravated wounds heal all forms of damage. The third blow injures, the fourth heals, and so on. Wounds suffered from silver can never heal, however; they inflict damage as normal, and “use up” that blow — for instance, a Fianna wounded by silver by the fourth blow after activating this Gift takes unsoakable aggravated damage as normal, and the fifth blow will injure, not heal. (However, any aggravated damage taken on the sixth  blow and every other attack after that could heal the silver damage.) Any wounds left unhealed by the end of the scene must be healed as usual.

◉◉◉◉◉◉: RANK 6 FIANNA - Sleep of the Hero (Mental Skill)

• Base Roll: 0
• Energy/Gnosis Cost: 2
• Damage: 0
• Mods: Passive
• Duration: n/a
• Resist: n/a
• Permanent Affects: 
  • +1 Physical Skill

Description:

This powerful Gift has been invoked many times in Fianna history. When a great hero (Rank 5 or higher) ides in battle, the Fianna take the body and dedicate it to the land. This Gift forms a bond between the Fianna and the land and the spirit of the hero. The champion’s life returns, but he remains in a deep sleep, not to awaken until the Apocalypse. The target must be placed somewhere in the earth, such as a cave, or within a burial mound. During this sleep, the hero is unaffected by the elements and does not need to breathe. This Gift is taught by Fianna ancestor spirits.System: The Garou spends two points of Gnosis and rolls Intelligence + Rituals against a difficulty of 9. If she succeeds, the life comes back into the hero and he falls into a deep sleep, usually after having a chance to say a few last words. If the wielder of this Gift receives five or more successes, then the hero may awaken and return to the caern at any time of great crisis, at the Storyteller’s option.