CIOARA

By The Saint of Killers (stofkillers@earthlink.net)

Prelude

"Oh fuck. I'm dead."
-- Top Dollar, The Crow.

Life was predictable for Gerald, which was why his death had come as so much of a shock to him. Driving down I-35, humming along to that snappy new Shaniah Twain song, the last thing he would have expected was the semi that lost control on the icy road and sideswiped him. Gerald had never really bought into the Œexpect the unexpected' routine, so he barely had enough time to bleat some mindless profanity before he was dead.

A few seconds of eternity.

"Heh. It's the little things that get you down, but it's the big-ass trucks that turn you into paste, right?"

Someone was speaking to him. This someone was hidden, rather conveniently, behind an area of extremely bright light that seemed to cover all of Gerald's field of view.

"Pardon me?"

"It's a bit too late for that now."

"Am I blind?"

"No. You're just dead. These things are, however, easily confused."

"Pardon me?"

The bright light faded, leaving Gerald with nothing to look at but a rather dreary stretch of highway and a large, black bird. Birds, due to their beaks, cannot smile. Still, Gerald was pretty sure this one was grinning.

"Dead." said the bird.

Gerald considered this for some time before finally saying, "That's not terribly convenient, is it?"

The bird ruffled its feathers. It was going to be one of those days.

Genesis Rewritten

The corax are mysterious, and their cousins are no different. Ask a crow the same question twice and you'll get two different answers. Still, there are some rather popular answers to certain questions. To the question of where the cioara come from, there are several answers, all depending on who you ask and how you ask it.

A standard answer could be like this: "In the beginning, where so many stories start, God created the Heavens and the Earth. God created lots of other things too. One of God's most famous creations during the exciting times of the Creation were people. Adam and Eve then decided to do a bit of creating on their own. Soon there were two more people, Cain and Abel. "Most of us know how the story of Caine and Abel goes. When Abel's blood fed the soil and God had rebuked and banished Caine, several animals were called to help guide Abel to Heaven. The wolf was too busy eating, the cat too busy preening, and the raven too busy watching the wolf eat and the cat preen. The crow, then, got the job. We've had it ever since."

A more spiritual version holds that when the first Silver Fang died to protect Gaia, the White Crow was sent to bring him back from the Shadowlands at Gaia's request. The journey darkened the feathers of the White Crow, but she carried out Gaia's request. Gaia then gave to White Crow and all her kin the duty of making sure that all of Her children were safe in their passage to the Shadowlands.

History

For years the cioara did naught but escort the dead from the land of the living to the land of the dead. It was the coming of Charon and his obsessive need for control that changed the duty of the crows. At first there was a bitter rivalry between the factions of Ferrymen and cioara, though in time they came to accept and tolerate the presence of the other.

The cioara avoided most of the entanglements of the War of Rage, escaping into the Shadowlands when possible, pretending to be a happy corax when not. It was during this time of refuge in the Shadowlands that the function of the cioara changed from simple guides into the champions of the dead that they turned into. As Oblivion grew, they began to understand the importance of their duties in the Shadowlands. As Stygia grew, it became evident that the easy peace between the two was soon to come to an impasse.

Charon's obsession soon bloomed into madness and in his mind the cioara were not simple helpers of the dead, nor were they the bulwarks against Oblivion that they strived to be. The cioara were competitors bent on ruining his perfect nation. War was declared between Stygia and the cioara, and the results were so bad that the crows to this day say that they would have been better off facing the garou.

It took years before the cioara understood that they simply could not defeat the forces at Charon's command. Going into hiding, Charon was soon convinced that the crows had either left the Shadowlands, or had all been slaughtered. He was not far from right.

Operating in the dark, the ciora rescued infants from reaping and battled against the encroachment of Oblivion. The disappearance of Charon had little effect on their work, and to this day the Heirarchy denies their existence. Some cioara have cults of heretics that surround them as they preach the ways to transcendance, while others remain lone crows, fighting an always losing battle against Oblivion. Every cioara has his or her own methods of helping the dead, but every cioara helps.

Lexicon

Állás: Rank. They are as follows: diák, azután, három, fônök and régi.

Allat: The others of the Changing Breed.

Elutu: The name given to wraiths who have given themselves to Oblivion.

Fene: A popular, though unkind, name used for the Shadowlands.

Holló: Friendly name for a corax.

Paha vaim: The Wyrm. Also used for malfean spectres.

Práca: The duties chosen by a cioara when she becomes diák.

Sötét: A wraith's shadow.

Teledés: Oblivion.

Organization

Unlike the corax, the cioara heavily count on each other for support. Many of their rites require multiple werecrows in one place at once, and they are not terribly threatening physically. There is no true organization, though there is a Cioaran leader who is called the Rook. The Rook is always the eldest of the Cioara, and he lords over a counsel of the twenty eldest Cioara, with four elder Corax sitting amongst them. This counsel is called the Parliament, and is always the final say of any Cioara activity. Other than the Rook and his Parliament, all Cioara are equal, the only deciding factor being Rank and experience with the dead.

Umbra

The Cioara cannot step through the Gauntlet into the Umbra. Despite their spiritual ties to that which lies beyond the velvet curtain, it is not within their power to do so. Cioara can, however, reach through the Shroud and enter the Shadowlands. They do so in the same way as any other shifter reaches. A gnosis roll is made against the local Shroud, with three successes required for instantaneous delivery to the other side.

Groups

It would be inefficient to tell all of the different Heretic movements formed and lead by Cioara, but there are some that stand out.

The Marauders: These Cioara are always at least second rank, as the elders of the group say that someone soft and young shouldn't yet die. The Marauders train themselves to be warriors of incredible magnitude, pushing their physical and spiritual abilities to the brink. And then they have their first mission. Their purpose? They gather into groups and raid Sprectre Labyrinths. If a Marauder survives his first mission, he is promoted to lead the next attack. This is not a large group, and many Cioara see them all as suicidal loonies. This is, of course, because they are.

Totem

Cioara have no totem as such. Helios is noted among the cioara with both respect (as the Shadowlands has no sun) and with fear. (And not for no reason, one legend of the cioara origin tells of the crow who was set to watch over Helios' wife, Coronis, but failed to prevent her from running away with a faerie prince. Helios killed her and the crow, burning the body of his wife and smothering the ashes over the white feathers of the crow's corpse. The whole bit seems a bit hard on the crow and the wife, since it never really tells what Helios did to the elf.)

Language

The cioara communicate in the same language of chirps and warbles as the corax.

Environment

The Cioara live wherever there are dead. That's everywhere. Most major Necropoli have at least one cioara there to find the newly dead, to stave off Oblivion and to advise both Heretics and Renegades. It is interesting to note that the Cioara have a certain peace with the Queen of the Dark Kingdom of Ivory, but go to all lengths to avoid the Dark Kingdom of Jade.

Breeding

The Cioara have the same breeding restrictions as the corax, and due to these requirements, there is no such thing as a cioara metis.

Character Creation

Beginning rage and willpower are determined by práca. All cioara start with a gnosis of 5. Three gifts are chosen from the cioara's starting àllàs, two from the general section and one from the proper práca.

Forms

Homid: This is the human body. Cioara in homid form tend to be pale and gaunt., even when they are not in the Shadowlands. Basic stats, as in Werewolf.

Crinos: Str +1, Sta +1, Dex +1, App 0, Man -2, Per +3: Diff 6 Like the Corax, the Cioara disdain their Crinos form. The will use it only when they must, as it does incite Delerium, and prefer Homid when dealing with the dead. The clawed hands and feet of the Cioara do Str+1 aggravated damage. In this form jumping distance is double that stated in Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

Corone: Str -1, Dex +1, Man -3, Per +4: Diff 6 The favoured form of all cioara. Not only is it fine for stealthy bits, it is also instantly recognizable to other cioara. The lack of other birds in the Shadowlands just makes them stand out. Their beaks, in this form, do Str+1 damage, and they can fly at twice running speed.

Práca

When a cioara becomes a diák, she chooses that which is her calling in life. The way that she will, in general, serve the restless dead. They function much in the same was as an auspice, not an archtype indicative of who they must be, but a guideline as to how they may act, and what talents come naturally to them.

Sein: The sein are the most blatant of all cioara. They are the warriors, bulwarks against Oblivion. When there are spectres to be fought, Hierarchs to fend off or Renegades that get too rowdy, the sein are there to maintain control. (Rage 4, Willpower 2.)

Vezetõ: The vezetõ are those who remain steadfast in the original cioara duty, protection of enfants. They find the recently deceased before reapers can, remove their cauls and take them to safety. Or at least they try to. (Rage 3, Willpower 3.)

Tanár: - Charismatic preachers, heretic cult leaders, pastors, yogis and more. They espouse the doctrine of Transcendance, attempting to lead wraiths away from the dangerous path of Oblivion. (Rage 2, Willpower 4)

Súrol: Healers and castigators. They work directly to heal the Oblivion in a wraith's soul. They often go head-to-head against a wraith's Shadow, cleansing the taint from the inside. (Rage 1, Willpower 5.)

Gifts

Someday I will write some. Really.