LEAPUS

By Mike Showel

Prelude

The air smelled of freshly baked carrot cake, and apple pie. Ryan ran by the kitchen window to get a quick peek. If she was gone he planned to sneak in and grab a slice for his backpacking trip. Mrs Kimbel wasn't the type to just let you have her cake for free; at least that's what Ryan heard. Some of the boys at school said she was the type to make a guy pimp himself before she'd give him anything, but still, her cake was the best in the county. Ryan peeped into the window, and with relieved anticipation saw his chance. He jumped the bushes and snuck his way to the door. If she wasn't in the kitchen and she wasn't in the house. Rumor had it that she even slept in the kitchen, but in the country, rumors travel pretty fast. He ran through the door and sprinted in a mad dash for the kitchen. Empty. He gave the two dishes a quick glance, then impulsively, he grabbed the entire carrot cake, and dashed back for the door. Mrs. Kimbel was there, with an odd smile that he'd never seen before. She smelled funny, dirty, maybe even a little bit tainted with something. She didn't even sound right when she spoke."Stay a while boy," her soothing voice dulled into his mind. He felt his ears tingling and his head began pulsing with a headache. It was too dark outside for anyone of his friends to be around here, and she was grinning like the rumors were true. Ryan pondered what it would be like, sex with an old woman, and then being murdered by her old man. Frantically, he dashed past her and made for the rendezvous spot the other night campers designated. "Come back!" he heard her call. It was her voice this time, for sure, but the pain in his head grew stronger. Too strong for him to listen as his body wanted him to stop. He found himself running even faster. He glanced over his shoulders and saw that she was there, but with horns, horrible, glowing red eyes and sharp claws. Ryan stumbled over a branch and fell, but she was still far away, or so he thought. When he got up she was in front of him and had him by the throat before he even knew what was happening. He felt the air rushing from in lungs. This is when the dream got weird. He felt himself get really fuzzy, and then watched as snow white fur covered his arms and body. Two huge ears fell in front of his face as she held him. He then saw razor-like claws spring from his. . . paws! He began slashing at her and she responded by thrusting her fist into his stomach. As he crumpled to the ground, he sank his teeth into her shoulder, ripping through her chest and back. When he looked up, her red eyes had dulled; then the upper half of her body fell off.

This is when Ryan woke up. His bedroom was so soothing and invitingly dark. It was quiet and peaceful. Then he smelled carrot cake. He looked down at his hands and saw creamy icing and a red splatter of . . . blood?

Description

To most, the werebunny is nothing more than a ludicrous myth, a comical tale told by Ragabashes. But the werebunnies are real, though they are neither human nor rabbit, but rather are an ancient race of shape shifters known as the leapus. They are very much like the garou and other bete and though they may appear human, they are something greater. Also, like the garou, they may shift between five forms: the homid, the glabro, the crinos, the hispo and the bunny.

	Str	Sta	Dex	App	Man	Diff
Homid	+0	+0	+0	+0	+0	7
Glabro	+2	+3	+0	+0	-2	6
Crinos	+3	+4	+2	0	-4	7
Hispo	+2	+4	+3	0	-4	6
Bunny	1	+0	+3	+0	-4	6

In homid, they appear human, except that no leapus has ever been taller than five foot eight and they all have slightly buck teeth. Unlike other shifters, even homid born leapus can regenerate in human form, though only at the rate of one health level every ten turns.

In Glabro, they appear to be slightly bunnified humans. They are covered in a light down of fuzz, and have a small bushy tail. They grow small claws, and their bucked teeth grow to four inches long and are extremely sharp. In this form they have gained around 120%-220% of their body weight in homid. They are very muscular, especially the legs.

The Crinos or raging bunny man,is a huge and ludicrous spectacle. The Leapus gains 75% in height. In other words, a 5 foot 8 homid becomes a 9 foot ten inch crinos werebunny. They also have yet another 120% to 220% weight added on to what they got in the Glabro stage. They have the head of a really huge rabbit, and they have long walrus-like tusks a foot long. They have claws on their big bunny paws, and they have very massive muscular legs. They have huge feet as well. Their feet are proportionately three times as large as normal feet at that size, and they look of course like bunny feet. In this form, they can no longer speak human, but they can communicate to all rodents easily (this is the same for the hispo and Bunny form.)

Hispo are the really big versions of the bunnies they become in their final shifting phase. This big bunny weighs as much as the crinos form and is able to move three times asfast as the normal bunny (keeping in mind that the hispo Leapus is more or less a giant rodent, and rodents tend to be pretty damn fast in the first place. A normal sized bunny could easily outrun a human, so imagine three times that speed.)

Finally there is the Bunny form. This is the only form in which the 1st level gift Rabid Bite can be used. The Leapus basically shrinks from the hispo form, and takes on the normal attributes of a normal bunny. His claws do no aggravated, or any other kind of damage, and his bite does a point of aggravated damage, only if three successes were made on attack considering it a good bite, as they are quite small in the normal bunny form. They weigh equal to a normal bunny of the type they resemble.

Unlike other Lycanthropes, Leapus cannot do partial transformations. All Leapus take aggravated damage from silver, and the claw and bites of other supernatural creatures. They are as susceptible to fire as any other Lycanthrope. Leapus also have very astute senses. It is same as for werewolves, but their hearing is twice as sensitive.

Leapus, for better or worse, do not invoke the Delerium in any form. However, when they go into Crinos, those who seem them find them to be so ludicrous that after the fact, they don't believe they really saw it. Even supernatural creatures must make a willpower check or be affected (only a difficulty of 2 though) This is because even the garou know very little about them and those who do think that people will say they are crazy if they tell anyone.

When a Leapus frenzies, it is for different reasons than the predatorial bete. First and foremost, any extreme reason to be afraid is a good reason and chance to frenzy. The second chance comes from the viewing of a clutch member killed, or beaten near death. There is no save from frenzying in this case, it's automatic.

There are three breeds of were bunny: the homid, the metis and the bunny. The homid, which are the ones born in human form with a human parent. Leapus metis are atypical though and actually have a +1 bonus to appearance and are fully accepted in werebunny society. Leapus born have little access to any kind of human education and tend to be even more ignorant than Lupus garou.

They have no litany, or much organization beyond the clutch. Leapus abide by the common rules of maintaining the Veil lest the other bete mistake them for prey. The leaders are normally the parents of the entire clutch so challenges are very rare. Clutches vary greatly in size, from three to as many as a rumored four hundred members on a California carrot farm. Clutches are normally in tune with their lapine natures and tend to live mostly underground in dug out tunnels.

Tribes

There are currently four known family lines of Leapus: The Koolugh, The Nikunti, Jaquilles and the Jones's. The Jones's tribe was once a clutch but largely in thanks to a healthy dose of luck about 600 years ago, grew into a tribe. There were once dozens of tribes, but then they were hunted down and killed by garou and humans. Now the Leapus seem to remember little of there past, focusing on the present instead.

Koolugh

The Koolugh are the African descendants of an ancient race of Leapus. They are information givers, and finders, though each for his own price unless it's personal. They have the capability to quickly grasp knowledge and soak up important information like a sponge. They are the most mystical of the leapus and undergo their first transformations when they are very young. Most Koolugh are Metis, with less than 2% being homid or bunny. Though originating in Africa, they have dispersed to the other continents in search of items that were looted from their lands by the humans and other lycanthropes. As a tribe, they have embraced the Information Age, seeking to gain as much knowledge as possible.

Totem: Pigeon
Initial Willpower: 4
Backgrounds: Cannot purchase Allies
Gifts: Speed of Thought, Rabid rabbit.

Physical: The majority of the Koolugh are of African descent, though in the past years that has been becoming less the case. In humanoid form, they are the frailest looking of the four tribes. In the bunny form they are very attractive rabbits, being exotic and pure in color. A number have even had black fur with bluish-purple highlights. In Crinos form they have the largest ears of all the tribes, standing one third higher than normal. Their fur is in little twists and curls, and many of the Koolugh have pierced the lower lobes of their crinos form ears as a sign of respect and power to the original line of Koolugh.

Territory: Because they move around a lot, Koolugh don't maintain a territory beyond their current burrow.

Quote: Granted it was we who leapt into the unknown first without looking, but do not dare mistake us for fools.

Nikunti

The Nikunti is a Native American tribe that has never left the continent. They are nearly all Metis, with the other forms making up less than 1% of their numbers. Those homids and bunnies who are born are treated much in the way that Metis are among the garou and are often put out. To the Nikunti, only Metis, who exist as leapus their entire lives are pure enough to be considered true werebunnies.

They are the most aggressive and pride themselves as being a great line of warrior. For millennia, they have fought the Wyrm and the Weaver, whom they hate equally, for their lives, homes and food sources. They scorn the use of technology, unless it can be used to defeat either of their foes.

Totem: Great Rabbit
Initial Willpower: 3
Backgrounds: They must take at least a level in Contacts
Beginning Gifts: Nikunti can either have Razor Teeth, Sense Wyrm, or they can have Camouflage, (a successful gnosis roll difficulty 4 for their fur to match the background.)

Physical: The Nikunti are mostly Native American, though the very few homids created and allowed to live can be of any background. The Nikunti are very muscular and look angry most of the time. Their eyebrows are always connected above the nose in homid. In Crinos form, they have claws that protrude four and a half inches, the strongest and sharpest of all the werebunny tribes. In Rabbit form, the Nikunti are dark brown in the summer, light brown during the fall, snow white in the winter, and black in the spring.

Territory: The Nikunti are very stable people. They find one place, and stick to it, which is partially why so few have left the continent. They are extremely protective of their lands and any intruder who dares desecrate their tribal lands sends them into a murderous frenzy.

Quote: Enjoy the days you and your Wyrm infest our lands, for when we catch you, you will live no more.

The Jones

The Jones are the most interesting histories of all the tribes. The youngest tribe, its existence is based on a long string of pure luck. 600 years ago, a human woman miraculously birthed twins, a boy and a girl, both of whom were homid Nikunti. Their first lucky break was that they were not discovered by their tribe until years later, when they were spotted battling a Black Spiral Dancer. The elders of the Nikunti sent a hunting party to grab the twins, but by then, the pair had gone into hiding. It turned out that both twins were highly precognative and had foreseen the action of the Nikunti. Though born mute, the twins were able to communicate with each other. They prepared an elaborate series of lethal traps that killed many of the hunters. When they finally were captured, the furious Nikunti put them in deep holes, leaving them with no food or water for one day for each hunter killed. For 32 days, they were left in their holes, but because of their ability to communicate mentally, maintained constant contact with one another. In desperation, they found inspiration and devised a way of peeking into the Umbra and luring physical beings to them. Though draining at first, they managed to sustain themselves. They further developed their powers and soon found a way to peak into a section of the Umbra far away, fade out past the Umbra and into a place they later called the "Meti Nexus." The Meti Nexus was a breach of reality, a place that paradoxically, didn't exist, yet they managed to step sideways into it. When the Nikunti elders came to release them from their prisons, to their surprise, the captives had vanished.

Years later, there were reports of homid Leapus with shifting fur like the Nikunti. It turned out that the twins, in an effort to protect themselves, began their own family, producing forty-seven offspring. The vengeful Nikunti tried to hunt the twins down, but when they got close, the twins merely pointed at them, closed their eyes and the hunters would find themselves back with their tribe. So, the elders sent the hunters out again, but this time, only the pelts of the hunters returned. The warning had an affect on the Nikunti and they called off their war against the twins and their kin.

Now, the twins' tribe, known simply as the Jones, are mysterious and feared. They cannot speak to tell their secrets to their enemies and they do not let many of th eother know that all in the tribe can mind speak. There are as many of them as the Nikunti, if nnot more, though their numbers are not increasing aht the rater they once were. The Jones and the Nikunti have not forgotten past wounds and hate each other passionately.

The Jones cannot enter the Umbra as do the other tribes. Instead, they travel through the Meti Nexus. From there, they can enter the Umbra, though the Gauntlet between the Nexus and the Umbra is 8. Normally, they avoid the Umbra, because the Nexus is completely free of the Weaver's influence. They can use the Meti Nexus to essentially teleport to any place their clairvoyant gaze shows them. This actually uses the Umbra as a focal point and though they don't actually use the Umbra, Umbral beings can sense the Jones's passage.

All Members of the Jones tribe are of the homid breed. They can be of anynationality, but they are all unable to have offspring of Metis or rabbit; in those forms they are sterile. All are mute as well, so almost all are taught sign language by their parents. During their First Change, their ability to use Mind Speech appears. They resemble the Nikunti in their other forms though their claws are not as sharp.

They are only beings known to be able to survive in the Meti Nexus for longer than an hour. Though they may settle down for a while, they are wanderers by nature. Unlike the Nikunti, they are not particularly bothered by the Weaver, though they hate the Wyrm with as much passion as they do the Nikunti. When they do settle down, they are very protective of their homes, much as the Nikunti protect their lands. The only territory they claim is the Meti Nexus, which is largely undisputed because they are the only ones who can survive there for long.

Tribal totem: Chimera
Initial Willpower: 5
Beginning Gifts: Sense Nikunti, Clairvoyance level one

Quote: The last guy who made our elder angry is floating in the depths of space as we speak.

Jaquilles

Said to be the first Leapus tribe, the Jaquille are also the most unusual. They always have a crazed look about them and avoid civilization whenever possible. When they do enter a city, they are usually wearing nothing but a loin cloth and carrying a silver bow and arrow, hunting something powerful. They are not impressed by mechanical devises and will not use them. They are even more intent than the Nikunti of destroying the influence of the Weaver and the Wyrm. They use guerrilla tactics to annihilate machinery and the like to stop pollution. They live mainly in the forests and jungles and are very widespread. There is at least one clutch in every country.

Tribal Totem: Diana Initial
Willpower: 4
Background: They cannot pick allies, or contacts.
Beginning gifts: Rabid Bite.

Physical: The Jaquilles are highly variable, though they all have a shade of grey fur.

Territory: The world. They consider the entire world their domain, and protect all that they can from the Wyrm.

Quote: Mukni Loeitiki Numpuki eikt (Don't ask what this says; the one who gave me this quote didn't know English, or any other language I've ever heard.

Character Creation

Use the Werewolf: The Apocalypse sourcebook for the attributes,abilities, and gifts. Here however you will find a further definition of the gifts given. Rabid Bite
Razor Teeth
Camouflage
Sense Nikunti: This ability is always on is the way that all Jones tribe Leapus can smell the Nikunti.
Clairvoyance

Jones Clairvoyance and the Midi Nexus

The Jones tribe uses the Medi Nexus to teleport and pull things to them. Before they can actually do this however, they must use their Clairvoyance ability to visualize the Object or destination. Any member of the Jones has the ability to travel through a reality disjunction within the Meti Nexus. This causes a quake in the Umbral section used as the focal point. With a Gnosis roll of difficulty 5, they can travel anywhere they can see with Clairvoyance. One success is all that is needed. They can also pull people, objects or anything hey are strong enough to carry through the Umbra or the real world into the Nexus. Thus, it is possible for a tribesman to reach through and spiritually yank whatever it sees in the Umbra or real world into the Nexus and just leave it there for an an hour and have it destroyed. Victims feel as though they are being ripped apart; garou and kindred immediately frenzy. Normal humans suffer less agony, but instead feel steadily weaker until they are drained of their lives. To pull people or things into the Meti Nexus requires a Gnosis roll (difficulty of 7) and the expenditure of a Gnosis point.

The Meti Nexus is a vivid and magnificent place to behold. It is all smooth urfaces and even has odd forms of vegetation. It can best be compared to a large meadow with beautiful, indestructible flowers. Nothing burns in the Nexus and the airs smells of strawberries (which rubs off on the Jones, which is a trait the Nikunti have used to the fullest). The Jones can maniuplat things within the Meti Nexus, causing trees to grow or produce swellings in the ground. Violent use of this power is not possible, however, for violence of any kind is impossible. It is believed that the spirit of the Twins guards the Nexus and they will expel any tribesman who tries to commit a violent act. The one exception to this rule is treatment of the Nikunti. Tribesmen are expected to either expel or trap a Nikunti within the Nexus (which will quickly lead to its death).

The Meti Nexus extends beyond the earth and some Jones have made life time spanning pilgrimages within the Meti Nexus to Mars and other fantastic places.