By Erik Robbins (arsenal@holly.ACNS.ColoState.EDU) (29 September 1995)
'My boy, my boy! Have you never seen a dolphin transformed into a human being?'
'No, I never have seen it; I know it happens, but only from hearsay.'
'Ah! my boy, then you haven't seen anything!'
-"The Dolphins"
Herberto Sales
The Werewolf and other Tales
Long ago, as Gaia was making her children, she was being attacked by the Wyrm. Thus to protect herself and her children, she made the various tribes of the Bete. On her earth, she made the Bastet, the Kitsune, the Mokole, the Nuwisha, the Gurahl, and to lead them, the Garou. She left the areas under her earth and in the hidden places to the protection of the Ratkin and the Ananasi. In the air, the Corax and the noble Throndor flew, watching all. Then, she turned to her seas, which covered much more of her surface than the land. There, she chose the most bloodthirsty of her creatures, the shark, and made the Rokea to protect her waters. But she was unsatisfied. The Rokea, though loyal and vicious warriors, were disorganized and solitary, and none too subtle in their workings. So as an additional protection to her seas, she turned to the dolphins and gave some of them the intelligence of a human and the shapechanging ability of her protectors, and she thus created the Simo.
The Simo loved the arts of humanity, almost as much as they loved humanity itself, for they were renowned for being great seducers. They also often saved men from drowning after having been thrown off a ship, whether by disaster or by foul play. In fact, of all the Bete, the Simo best loved man, which led to there being no love lost between them and the Red Talons. For centuries, the Simo had tried to convince the Garou that the Impergium was wrong. When the War of Rage came, the Simo were one of the first targets of the Talons, while the Silver Fangs concentrated more on the Gurahl and the Throndor. But the Simo and Rokea suffered less than the other Bete, for they could retreat where others couldn't follow -- the wide open waters of Gaia's oceans. But even today, a Simo would be foolish to walk among Red Talons alone.
The Simo, unbound by the restrictions of land, also never lost contact with the Pure Lands and the Dreamtime -- with the Croatan, Wendigo, Uktena, and the Bunyip. But they understood the need for these Tribes' seclusion, and were good friends with these tribes, so the secret of these lost tribes never emerged from the mouth of any Simo. As for the Rokea...usually the only thing that passed through their mouths was food.
In addition to the above mentioned tribes, the Simo were great friends of the Fianna, the Black Furies, the Children of Gaia, the Silent Striders, and the faerie Selkies. Their relationship with the Rokea, however, was not so great. Dolphins and sharks have long been enemies, and before the War of Rage, so were the Rokea and Simo. In fact, they often attacked each other on sight. When the War of Rage came, the Simo and Rokea found themselves with common enemies. Though these two tribes both escaped relatively unscathed in the War, they realized the great danger the Garou could present to them (at least the Simo did, and managed to persuade the Rokea), so an uneasy truce was attained. As man's sojourns into the oceans became more widespread, the two tribes found yet another reason to keep their truce. After all, both their missions was to protect the oceans for the Mother, and man was more than a handful for either of them. There still are the occasional skirmishes, but these are relatively rare, and are often excused as the attacker thinking that the other was a normal dolphin or shark.
Now, as the Apocalypse draws nearer, the Simo's job grows harder. Man pours more and more waste into the ocean, dolphins are caught in tuna nets, whaling ships scour the seas, and oils spills are more and more frequent. The third sign of the Apocalypse included "the agony of the Sea as She keened, for some drunken fool had poured a lake of black death out upon her." For millennia, the Simo had believed that that part of the Pheonix Prophecy would never come true. Now they must deal with the horrible truth. In fact, there is even a small portion of the Simo who advocate the renewing of the Impergium, though most still find the idea disgusting. They believe that humanity has just been a tool, and they just need to reclaim them from the Wyrm's grip.
Organization: Like the Garou and the Simba, the Simo are highly social creatures, and are highly organized. Where the Garou have packs and the Simba have prides, the Simo have pods. They have caerns, usually on islands and along the coastline, and there is a rumor among themselves that they even have a small caern in the Amazon, carefully hidden from the Garou and Pentex. Septs, however, are very transient in membership. The important positions in the caern are filled, and any others come and go. They have a wanderlust almost as great as that of the Silent Striders.
Totem: The tribal totem of the Simo is of course, Dolphin, protector of the seas and patron of the arts. However, Simo have been known to ally with almost any totem of marine origin. Old Man Sea, Porpoise, Tin Hau, Manatee, Siren, Mermaid, Triton, Whale. Fog and Wind are also occasionally followed by a pod of Simo. There have even been rumors of one or two Simo allying with Kraken throughout the millennia, though no Simo or Rokea would admit it.
Habitat: When they aren't travelling the oceans in Delphis form, the Simo love to take the Homid form and walk among the humans. Usually, however, they like to stay along the coastal cities, or cities along wide rivers. This does not produce much of a problem however, since man has seen fit to make most of its major cities along the coast. New York, Los Angeles, Rio Dejinero, Hong Kong, Sidney, Darwin (no SeaQuest jokes), Venice, Tokyo, New Orleans. . . And the Simo can move inland just as readily as any human, and when they do, they generally take up residence next to large lakes. Perhaps a pod of Simo have been maintaining a caern in Loch Ness...
Language: The Simo speak a language of clicks and squeaks. As with the Corax language, it is tough for a non-Simo to learn. Even Simo don't try to produce it in Homid form often. They don't have any form of marks or writing of their own, for they have not the digits in animal form, and they have no place to leave any marks. They have developed their own glyph using the Garou glyph system however. (Its better than letting the Garou design one on their own).
Beginning Willpower: 5
Beginning Rage: 2
In Delphis, Simo have good eyesight and excellent hearing, with a form of echo-location similar to a bat's, but their sense of smell is a bit underdeveloped. They are swift, agile creatures who move gracefully through the water. They can keep moving for long periods of time.
Breeds: As the Garou, except Metis are not deformed and not outcast, but Simo often find more than enough humans to suffer their carnal pleasures. Love is a fleeting thing for most Simo, and they are not often exceptionally attracted to each other. Metis are rare compared to Homids and Delphis. As the Bastet, each Breed starts with one additional point of Gnosis beyond the Garou breeds.
Homid: same as Werewolf
Simo tend to be slender, athletic individuals with little to no body hair, and they have trouble growing their head hair exceptionally long.
Glabro (Near Man): Str +1, Dex +2, Sta +2, App -1, Man -0, Diff 7
In this form, the Simo are taller and a little more muscular. Their skin is unnaturally smooth, but they don't look very bestial. The hair tends to stick close to the scalp, as if oiled.
Crinos (Half-Dolphin): Str +2, Dex +2, Sta +3, App 0, Man -2, Diff 6
This form is sleek and muscular, and stands about nine feet tall. The Simo still has arms and legs, but its hands are unclawed. Its snout is filled with many sharp, pointy teeth. The hands are slender, however, and are more capable of fitting its fingers over a gun's trigger than any other Bete in this form (aside from the Ratkin). They have echo-location in this form, but it is useless in air.
Hispo (Near Dolphin): Str +1, Dex +3, Sta +3, App 0, Man -2, Diff 7
This impressive form, about fifteen feet long, can make an orca turn tail.
Delphis (Dolphin): Str +0, Dex +3, Sta +3, App 0, Man -2, Diff 6
A normal dolphin of whatever type that particular Simo is.
Sign of the Dolphin: (2 pt Flaw) Legend holds it that dolphins turned into men retain their blowholes on the top of their heads. You don't have a full hole, but you do have a strange depression, sort of like a belly button. Plus, you have absolutely no hair at all anywhere on your body. Hats are recommended.
Bio-Luminescence (Level One): As the Silver Fang Gift: Lambent Flame.
Call the Breeze (Level One): As the Wendigo Gift; The Simo use this Gift to help or hinder sailing ships.
Mother's Touch (Level One): As the Theurge Gift.
Persuasion (Level One): As the Homid Gift.
Seduction (Level One): As the Kojin Jyu-ho. For those without Caerns: "The Nine-Tail can cause humans to fall in love with him to varying degrees. In fact, many Nine-Tails use this Jyu-ho unintentionally. The Storyteller may wish to create an interesting situation by arbitrarily rolling this Jyu-ho. Roll Charisma + Subterfuge, difficulty 6, versus the target's Willpower. The number of success is the degree to which a target is enamored of the Kitsune."
Sense Wyrm (Level One): As the Theurge Gift.
Spirit Speech (Level One): As the Theurge Gift.
Thousand League Breath (Level One)
Axis Mundi (Level Two): As the Lupus Gift.
Echo-Location (Level Two): As the Black Spiral Dancer Gift: Ears of the Bat. The Simo can now use its echo-location in its human forms, and out of water.
Fish Breath (Level Two): As the Level Two Uktena Gift: Spirit of the Fish. Like Thousand League Breath, the Simo use this power to remain underwater for longer periods of time; in this case, indefinitely (as long as they continue to spend Gnosis). Being creatures of the water, they get one day per success in Crinos, Hispo and Delphis forms, instead of one hour per success.
Portents of the Waves (Level Two): As the Level Two Corax Gift: Omens & Signs.
The Thousand Tongues (Level Two)
Echoes of the Sea (Level Three)
Song of the Siren (Level Three): As the Galliard Gift.
Touch of the Eel (Level Three): As the Black Spiral Dancer Ragabash Gift.
Attunement (Level Four): As the Silent Strider Gift.
Doppleganger (Level Four): As the Glass Walker Gift.
Assimilation (Level Five): - As the Homid Gift.
Curse of Dionysis (Level Five): Legends say that DiLegends say that Dionysis changed a boatload of pirates into dolphins. The Simo claim that the Red Talons stole this Gift from them and twisted it into transforming humans into wolves, instead of dolphins. Operates as the Red Talon Gift, except that it transforms its victims into dolphins, and the Simo can reverse the effect if he wants to.onysis changed a boatload of pirates into dolphins.
Invoke the Spirits of the Storm (Level Five): As the Wendigo Gift. The Simo use this power to generate hurricanes, waterspouts, and tsunamis. They have difficulties using more land-bound effects.
Other potential Gifts: Convert some of the various levels of the vampiric disciplines Presence and Dominate into Gifts.
Bastet: They tend to stay away from the water.
Black Furies: The beauty of the Greek goddesses, with the matching anger. Don't try to seduce them, they don't take kindly to being used. Good allies, though.
Bone Gnawers: The ugly folk. We don't interact with them much, though they seem nice enough.
Bunyip: I don't think any of the tribes of Garou are forgivable for what happened to them.
Children of Gaia: They love humanity almost as much as we do, though some seem to think we love a tad too freely. Oh, well, more the loss for them.
Corax: They get around. Watchers above, they're good for information.
Fianna: Lovely bunch. Great wine, great music, great art, and great loving. Party with them if at all possible.
Get of Fenris: The Scandinavians have a long sea-going tradition; so do the Get. Aside from that, we don't have much in common with them, but that's enough to be non-hostile.
Glass Walkers: You'd think we'd get along better with the 'homid tribe.' They're just weird.
Kitsune: I like them, as far as I can tell. That's not very far, however, cause they're so damned mysterious.
Mokole: Sea crocodiles are nasty. Other than that, I don't know what to say about them.
Nuwisha: Hey, this bunch is fun. Too bad they get such a bum rap from the Garou. Of course, I think they sould be considered Garou. I mean, Bone Gnawers breed with dogs and hyenas, the Silent Striders are mostly jackals, and lets not even talk about the Bunyip, and yet coyotes are a separate Bete? Garou are strange.
Ratkin: Who? Sorry, don't do sewers.
Red Talons: I don't know who's worse, them or the Rokea. No, I do know. The Talons are worse, at least we can work with the Rokea.
Rokea: Vicious monsters. Lets not talk about them.
Shadow Lords: *shiver*
Silent Striders: They get around as much as we do. Get together with them and compare notes.
Silver Fangs: The self-proclaimed leaders of Gaia's children. Look where their leadership has brought Gaia.
Stargazers: Listen to them when you meet them. If you understand, you're a better man than me.
Uktena: I'm concerned about this bunch. Awful things are being said about them by everybody else. Can we say 'Bunyip'?
Wendigo: We used to have good relations with them, but now they look at us as 'Wyrm-comers.' I mean, we were coming to the 'New World' before they did! True, we didn't set up house, but we shouldn't be looked at as just another group of European Bete.
(The Throndor are a Bete I have in my game that I have yet to work out any details on.)