NAME: Elsa Schwartzwald

BREED: Homid

AUSPICE: Philodox

TRIBE: Get of Fenris

PACK NAME: The Wolfspiders

PACK TOTEM: Uktena (The Snake)

NATIONALITY: German (from the Black Forest region)

RANK: 2- Fostern

AGE: 22

SPECIALIZATIONS: Strength (Grip Like A Vise), Dexterity (Lightening Reflexes), Firearms (Run 'N Gun)

GIFTS: Jam Gun, Truth of Gaia, Razor Claws, Persuasion, Mindspeak, Sense Magic, Cry of the Killer

BACKGROUNDS: Allies 2 (the Sheriff and the Madame), Fetish 4 (Klaive named "Freija's Kralle")

RENOUN: Glory 2, Honor 6, Wisdom 5

RAGE: 5

GNOSIS: 3

WILLPOWER: 5

PACK STATUE: Beta

BATTLE SCARS: Claw-scars on either side of her neck & on her belly and back. (from former pack-leader) Self-inflicted scars of various Norse runes in a band around her upper left arm. Tattoo of a lion on her upper right arm.

FETISHES: Spirit Axe, Umbra Stone, "Freija's Kralle"

FLAWS: Notoriety (within the Get of southern Germany), Enemy (her old pack), Intolerance (towards abusive men), Social Stigma (woman)

COMBAT: Colt "Peacemaker", "Freija's Kralle", spirit axe

APPEARANCE: 22, 5'10" 160 lbs.

PERSONALITY: To strangers Elsa may seem quiet and observant, not talking much and keeping to herself. But once you are a friend and pack-mate, her sense of humor and determination come out. She cannot STAND Garou who take leadership of a pack by sheer brawn, intimidating the others and threatening to beat them into the dust. She only respects and gives her loyalty to pack leaders who are intelligent and cunning, as well.
As well she has developed an intolerance towards men who abuse those weaker than they are in some way, namely women, minorities, children, and animals. She will snap and come to their rescue immediately.
After being driven from her native land and fleeing to the United States, she finally found a place she could call home in San Jose, California. She earned a job as town deputy, and took that job very seriously, respecting Sheriff Martin Cooley more than any other man she'd ever met. She will not abide criminals or those who break the law. She will not overlook a crime no matter how small. She considers herself a bringer of change...someone who will clean up the town and restore the peace.

QUOTE: "It may not be Garou-business, but it is town-business, and I am the deputy."

STORY: Elsa was born in a town in the Black Forest region of Germany in 1834. The town was Garou-held comprised of Kinfolk, Garou, and human allies. Elsa's parents were Kinfolk, as was her kid-sister Gretta.
When the town pack realized Elsa was Garou, they started training her to be a warrior. She had to work especially hard to gain the Ahrouns' respect, being that she was a woman and a Philodox, but she never backed down and became very deadly with a revolver. But better yet, she was a very cool and calculating fighter. When a hot-headed warrior would run at her, time would seem to slow for her and she could easily analyze what he was about to do and quickly side-step it, or deflect his attack in a minimal amount of moves.
Elsa's calmness and talent for taking down her opponant quickly embarrassed and angered the men of her pack, but they kept their muttering to themselves-- what else could they do? She was pack...she was Get. She was even a good fighter. Then came the day that changed everything.
An especially annoying Ahroun named Brun challenged to be pack leader. Elsa hated him. He was everything that a stereotypical Get should be-- loud, stubborn, short-tempered, huge and hulking, with not much between the ears. He easily defeated the former pack leader in combat, and became the new pack leader. Elsa felt that this was a stupid way to determine a pack leader! Anyone could fight! It takes brains to successfully lead a pack and keep a village safe and thriving! Elsa could just see the town falling apart in her mind's eye, but this was how the Get chose their leaders! Survival of the strongest, rather than fittest!
Elsa couldn't stand back and let this go on. She stepped forward and gave an empassionate speech to her pack about how the Get had to change...to evolve mentally...or they wouldn't make it. She criticized almost every tennet the Get hold sacred, and then proceeded to tear down Brun so ruthlessly that he had to be restrained.
Unfortunately for Elsa, the majority of the pack DID think Brun should be leader, and even though she made good arguments, the pack didn't WANT to change. They still felt that the best fighter would make the best leader. So Brun-- encouraged by most of his packmates-- threw himself upon Elsa and Elsa had to fight for her life. She barely got away before Brun could tear her apart-- her neck, belly, and back sporting the permanant scars of that battle-- and the only reason she survived was because a small group of Get, mostly females, intervened and pulled her away.
While the Get were arguing for Elsa's life, a few of the friendly Get healed Elsa the best they could. But Brun wanted her dead, and the unfriendly Get felt Elsa was too dangerous with her progressive ideas, so they agreed that she should be executed. One of the friendly female Get slipped Elsa her fetish, a klaive dubbed, "Freija's Kralle," as well as a pack of money, clothes, and food, and told her to start running and not look back. Elsa never had a chance to say good-bye to her family. She knew how stubborn her pack was, and she knew they wouldn't stop until she was finally dead, so she left her village and ran and ran until she found a port where she booked passage on a ship to America.
On the ship, Elsa cut off all her long, platinum locks and paid a man for his Western leather pants, vest, boots, and hat to try to look like a Western teenage boy. Once she got into New York, she bought a horse, supplies, and a map. She decided she wanted to keep going as far west as she could get to put as much distance between herself and Germany, and so she drew a straight line west on the map from New York, and the line unded up at a city called San Jose in California.
She travelled west, passing through many towns and cities on her way. None of them felt right to her...a jitteriness invaded her soul the entire time until she finally hit San Jose. Something just clicked when she rode into that town...a familiarness and ease. Everyone welcomed her warmly, and soon she discovered that there was a strong, thriving pack there made up of a number of tribes.
Elsa wanted to keep a low profile and not make any trouble, so she talked the madame of the local brothel into hiring her as a bodyguard for her girls. Elsa really enjoyed her job. She loved throwing out abusive or disgusting men! It gave her a feeling of power and satisfaction! Soon her reputation for no-nonsense toughness reached the sheriff's ears, and he came by to meet this infamous woman-bodyguard. After talking with her for a time he was very impressed with her, and offered her a job as his deputy. Elsa had grown comfortable and complacent in San Jose...almost forgetting that she was hunted...and so she finally accepted this more high-profile job because she felt she could do more good in that position, and could get to know the rest of the Garou of the town better. She still tried to continue bodyguarding at the brothel at nights, but soon the madame had to hire a new bodyguard to take her place because Elsa's new responsibilities were keeping her longer and longer from the brothel.
It was during this time that Elsa met Running Creek, a Wendigo Theurge who Sheriff Cooley deputized from time to time to help he and Elsa when they were short-handed. Running Creek was quiet and no-nonsense just like Elsa, and so the two respected one another and learned to work together and enjoy their silent company.

The next month San Jose saw a lot of new-comers. A tall, dark, fancily-dressed Russian Ananasi Ahroun named Lord Christoff Nicholai arrived and built a big, fancy house right by the mines. An Uktena Ragabash named Shadow Dog tumble-weeded into town. And then a Black freed slave named George Washington arrived. The group took pity on him-- all of them fugitives of a sort-- and helped set him up with a job, and then helped protect him when a slave-driver with a false claim came looking for him.
The group decided to finally become a pack of their own, and they went through a test of cunning, intellect, and physical skills, and Shadow Dog ended of winning and becoming Pack Leader. Elsa was appointed War Leader, and Running Creek was Spiritual Leader. When they went in search of a pack totem, Uktena chose them as his. The pack chose the name "Wolfspiders" as their pack name, appropriately enough, considering Lord Christoff-- the pack Beta-- was a were-spider!
A short time after that another shape-shifting new-comer come to town-- an Englishman named Lucian Broadstreet who was a Corax, or were-raven. He, too, joined the pack as their Eyes, and after that the group was taken to the sacred waterfall at the cairn by the town elders. They stepped into the waterfall and were shown a vision. They saw that there was an ancient god of incredible evil held captive in slumber in the mountains that were being mined for gold right in San Jose. And that vision lead to a quest that would result in one of them dying for the others, and the others speeding through a portal into another time...