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The Twilight Pryoi
Qualities
Rahjah's Footprints (Rank One Twilight Pryoi Gift): As the Theurge Gift: Sense Weaver (see Umbra, Revised edition). This is usually taught by Selene's spirit-servants, though sometimes by a Pattern Spider for city-dwelling cats.
Associated Attributes: The Bastet of Twilight are scholars and mystics, and often creative; their strength is reflection. They are the most stable of the Folk, and can withstand adversity as they wait to act... if they do at all. And with their penchant for patience and calculated thought, they excel at diplomacy and communication. Favored attributes are Stamina, Charisma and Intelligence. Once per day, a Mooncat can reduce the difficulty of any roll involving a favored Attribute by 1; this includes soak rolls, assuming Stamina is used in the roll.
Associated Renown: Seekers advance through Cunning more often than not, finding circumspect ways to accomplish their goals. Once per story, when the Twilight Bastet gains at least one point of Cunning Renown, the player may elect to gain one additional Cunning point.
Merits & Flaws
Only those of the Twilight Pryoi gain the benefits of the following two Merits; if the Mooncat switches to another Pryoi, she loses their benefits until she again follows the way of Twilight. However, Curious affects the character no matter what Pryoi she currently follows.
Curious (2-pt. Mental Flaw): The werecat finds it almost impossible to resist a mystery. This Flaw doesn't actually kill that many cats, but it has claimed a few, and it often makes life difficult for the rest. As the optional Uktena tribal weakness.
Quiet Resolve (2-pt. Mental Merit): When it's morning and dusk (sunrise and sunset, and the hours directly preceding and following those events), all Willpower rolls are made at -1 difficulty. However, no difficulty can be reduced below 3.
Twilight's Blessing (2-pt. Supernatural Merit): Twice per day, a Watcher can reduce the difficulty of any roll involving Stamina, Charisma or Intelligence by 1. Alternately, she can reduce the difficulty of any such roll by 2 once per day. No difficulty can be reduced below 3. Those blessed by Twilight find it difficult to switch from the Twilight Pryoi.
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I am Speak Sideways of the Qualmi tribe. (You know this of course, but you may distribute some of this to your fellow wolves and they should know my name.) I return to describe my own Pryoi, that of Twilight. As you can see those that walk by Day test one's patience; rather than "Bright," they tend to be impulsive and attention-seeking. Their nature is to act (usually violently), and this they share with those that walk by Night; Suncats commit violence in plain sight, while Shadows are violent by way of stealth. But we of the Twilight Pryoi -- Seekers, Watchers, Mooncats -- are the wisest and most reliable of my race. Let me explain how and why.
We Seekers are patient and value wisdom, restraint and observation. Take a vampire, something you might call "Wyrmspawn." A Lightbringer would openly tear it asunder while a Stalker would kill it from the shadows. However, a Watcher would observe it. Where does it go, what does it do? How does it feed? What group holds its allegiance, the subtle Camaria or the brutal Blood Sabbath? Does it have powerful allies that might seek vengeance for its death? Does it serve a greater evil that might be rooted out through its servant? Might it be directed to one's benefit, and set against its own or mutual enemies? Or is it better to leave this thing alone? When we know the answers to these questions, then we act, but not until. Much more can be accomplished when patient observation leads us to the vampire's nest where it and several of its ilk can be destroyed in one fell swoop, or when an arrangement can be made against a greater menace. (For example, you might be surprised just how many vampires work against Endron, O'Tolley's and other corporations with which my people and yours contend, and how beneficial it can be to leave them alone so they can continue undermining them.)
Offended by such devil's bargains? Welcome to the real world: one of many shades of gray. Luna is especially sacred to us, as she shifts between many phases and expresses light and darkness. Yet her essential nature remains constant. Welcome to the world of Twilight, my world.
Melodramatic, florid? Perhaps. Many Watchers are artists and storytellers, and something of that is in me I think. Some have a special affinity with the spirits, or are experts in human culture. Different avenues of study can lead two Seekers down very different paths, but both are scholars. In this, Mooncats have strong ties to Rahjah the Maker, he that names all things and gives form.
Now I shall share the observations of a Night Pryoi Bastet with whom I've had dealings. Be warned, he's not nearly as diplomatic as Chikrava or I, and not fond of your people. But I won't disrespect him by editing what he says. There's much to learn from what he says, unrefined as it might be.
The Tribes
Bagheera: Mediators within their tribe, Twilight wereleopards excel as scholars. They gather and interpret the laws of catkind, using it to police and strengthen their tribe and (to a lesser extent) other Bastet. A few Bagheera Watchers offer their wisdom to Gaia's other offspring, leaving them to act on it or not.
Balam: The most restrained of their people, Mooncat jaguars are still Gaia's fury given form... but are more likely to guide their Rage than to be guided by it. They're reclusive even for Balam, either holding isolated Den Realms or exploring new territories.
Bubasti: Though the tribe is associated with darkness, the Bubasti of the Twilight Pryoi are the truest to their tribe's stereotype: mystically inclined, scholarly and intellectual. They form all sorts of odd alliances in their pursuit of knowledge, and a given shadowcat Seeker may have ghost, vampire or mortal mystic contacts. They also interact with other Shifters (as well as a Bastet can), and the majority of Bubasti active in the Ahadi walk in the Twilight.
Celican: The faerie-cats aren't particularly stable or sane, truthfully. But the Twilight Celican are the closest one will find. They've found a sort of balance between their many natures -- man, cat, spirit, fae -- and aren't quite as prone to wild shifts in personality and mood. They're especially creative, and this might explain their relative stability: they vent their wild impulses in the form of art, song and story.
Khan: The archetypal lone weretiger is of this Pryoi, hunting alone and keeping her own council. Such Watchers are reclusive and not typically aggressive; outsiders might travel through a Khan Watcher's territory and be none the wiser unless they harm the land or somehow offend the weretiger. Those fools that do are never heard from again.
Pumonca: Twilight-stalking werepumas are more likely than others of their tribe to settle down and defend a territory. Such holdings typically lie in the borders between deep wilderness and human settlements, well-hidden while granting the Seeker access to both worlds. Still, quite a few Pumonca Seekers are wanderers. What unites them is their curiosity and penchant for observation, as well as strong ties to jamak and spirits of the land.
Qualmi: Dealing with Qualmi is difficult, especially those of the Twilight. Less generous and cheerful than Daycats of the tribe, though not as prone to deliver punitive lessons as Shadow Qualmi. Instead, they observe others with cold clarity, remaining quiet as others reveal too much of themselves only to interject with some insight or riddle now and again. (Speaks Sideways is more talkative than most Qualmi, but it's rare when a werecat has a receptive Garou audience...)
Simba: Though they have strong leadership qualities, Mooncat werelions don't often end up as the infamous warlords of their tribe -- they lack the aggression of either their Day or Night Pryoi brethren. Instead, they excel at tactics, interaction with human and lion Kinfolk, and dealings with outsiders. They have a strong presence in the Ahadi, as one might expect, though at least as many devote themselves exclusively to their tribal prides and their holdings.
Swara: All those of the Cheetah Tribe are spiritual creatures, but the Seekers among them especially. They bridge the gap between the Umbra and physical world, between those that walk as flesh and the spirits. Twilight Swara are eager students of human lore and other academic pursuits, but are likelier to be reclusive shamans and scouts than scholars.
Continue to the Night Pryoi page.
(Go to the Pryoi index or the Day Pryoi.)
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