By Peloquin ([email protected])
We done'em wrong.
No, y'idiot, not the wolves, the other changers! See, back in the old days, when there weren't no war, we was the big fools and jesters of the European Garou an' their courts. But we were also the advisors of the Silver Fangs.
Back in the old days, we purdy much did what we felt like, not botherin' with the laws of the apes, no offense, kid, stealin' what we wanted, an' lyin' through our teeth whenever we gots ourselves caught. Unfortunately, one of the lies found a bit too fertile ground. It seems as if the Fangies was goin' crazy already back then, all that inbreedin', y'know, an' when one day one of us claimed that a Raven had stolen the local Silver Fang king's sceptre, he listened too well. An' bein' mad, he sent out a whole damn pogrom against the village where the local ravens had their place.
Of course, this didn't sit all that well with the ravens, so they fought back. And the Fangs went nuts. Sure, you could say we overestimate our own importance, but lemme tell ya this, only a few years later, the first War of Rage began. Okay, now as for where we came from, I'll tell ya later on.
Back in the Dreamtime, before the Sundering of Umbra and real world, when the skinchangers were new to the world, and the humans were a strange curiosity, it so happened that the bird known as Magpie was flying through the air above a river. This was from before magpies got their present colour, and all magpies were white.
Now, being a magpie, he was constantly scanning the ground for shiny, bright objects to adorn his nest with, but this being the Dreamtime, before the humans had really gotten started with their handiworks, there wasn't all that much to find.
And then he saw it. Down in the water, a huge, round piece of silver beckoned to him. Now, Magpie may have been one of the smartest birds around, but he still couldn't help himself when it came to shiny objects, so he swooped down, snagged the big piece of silver and took it to his nest, where he sat admiring it for hours on end.
Later that day, Luna herself came walking through the forest, seemingly looking for something. Magpie noticed this, and realized that he had stolen Luna's moondisk, the disk that she wore every night when she walked across the skies. He got real scared, and hid the moondisk as far down in his nest as he could.
As Luna approached, she noticed him trembling in his nest, and became suspicious. "Hello there, Magpie, what are you hiding?" she asked.
Magpie burred himself up, vainly trying to hide the glow of Luna's moondisk, and gave her his most innocent look. "Hiding? Why, I'm not hiding anything! I'm just sitting here, trembling because it's so cold out here in the woods! But what are you looking for?"
Luna realized that the little white bird was lying, so she just smiled at him. "Now, now, Magpie, I know you've stolen my moondisk; why don't you just give it back and I'll forget all about this!"
Magpie pretended to grow indignant, so he shook his head, hid the moondisk in his beak, and flew off. And Luna followed.
Magpie flew as fast as he could, looking for a good hiding place, and came upon a small tent, where a human sat outside. He landed near the human, and pretended he was hurt.
"Heeelp! Oh, someone please help me!"
The human felt sorry for the bird, and walked over to him. "What's wrong little bird?"
"Oh, a madwoman is hunting me; she wants to kill me, and she has already hurt my wing, see?" He hobbled around a bit, to show what he meant. The human got angry, picked up magpie and placed him in his tent.
After a while, Luna came by. "Hello, manchild, have you seen a little white bird around here?"
Magpie whispered to the human from his safe place in the tent. "That's her! That's the madwoman!"
The human picked up his spear and stood in front of his tent. "I will not let you hurt the bird! He has done nothing to you!"
Luna just gawked at the man in disbelief. And then she laughed, so hard the ground trembled. "Is that what he told you? That little thief has stolen my moondisk, and I've been trying to get it back! Come here, both of you, and I'll let you know what I think of thieves and their accomplices." Reluctantly, Magpie came out of the tent, handing the disk over. "Now, I can't let you steal and get away with it, but you have made me laugh, and that is worth something, at least. So I'm giving you this gift: From this day on, this man, and some of his descendants, shall be skinchangers, and have the ability to change into magpies! But for stealing my disk, you will from hereon be hurt by pure silver, just like most of the other skinchangers! And you, Magpie: from this day on, half your feathers will be black, to show all who recognizes it that you walk the line between lies and truth, but will never cross into either."
And that's how the Pica tribe got made, and how the magpies got their black and white shroud. What? You think Luna was cruel to that man? Hah, shows what you know.
One could think the Pica are a split tribe, but instead, they happen to be the most closely knit together tribe of all Changing Breeds. They are also a most conscientious tribe; when most European Werebeasts joined in the war on both sides, the Pica spent most of their time saving what they could. The exploits of Silverbeak Voder, the German Resistance leader who ran an entire underground railroad for Jewish refugees are but one of the many tales one could tell of the Pica tribe's deeds.
Pica: 6
In Avius form, the Pica is a huge magpie, almost as big as a raven, with the beautiful white and black feathershroud. Beak: Str+3. Claws: Str+2
In Pica, well, the little magpie becomes a highly intelligent looking magpie. Beak: Str+1. Claws: Str:+1
Since the Ritual of Spawning, the Rite that creates new Pica is so similar to the Corax Creation rite, there are no Metis.
| Form | Difficulty | Adjustments | |
| Homid | 5 | 5 | None |
| Avians | 6 | Str +1, Dex +3, Sta +1, Man -1, Appearance -1 | |
| Avius | 6 | Str -1, Dex +3, Sta -1, Man -1 | |
| Pica | 5 | Str -2, Dex +4, Sta -1, Man -1 |
Rites are, in most cases, almost identical to Corax and Garou rites.
"Oh, the Magpies are harmless."
Magi: They shine to us. If we could, we would steal them.
"Keep away from the grubby little thieves."
Fae: Ah, the Shining Folk. So few, so doomed.
"They're fun, but they lie more than a Pooka in the White House."
Black Furies: They don't want the women to equal; they want them to be superior. They're just as stupid as the Get sometimes.
"If I get my hands on that thieving little fetishsnatcher, I'll . . ."
Bone Gnawers: The true nobility of the Garou. They've understood something the others haven't. Humility.
"They're nice, and they always keep an extra chair for dinner if you're hungry."
Children of Gaia: Peaceful Garou, now there's a contradiction in terms, a bit hypocritical, but nicer than most of them, I suppose.
". . .And then, (sob) he stole my unique Rainmaker fetish.(sob)"
Fianna: They're a bit too cozy with the ravens for our taste.
"Hah! Them wee magpies tried t'steal me fam'ly recipe fer ale, but after I tweaked their beaks a little, they left . . . and then I noticed they'd stolen me purse while I tweaked 'em."
Get of Fenris: Avoid them. They're loonies. Racist loonies.
"DIE!"
Glass Walkers: Hmmm. . . I mean, we think the Weaver looks all bright and shiny too, but we don't ally with it.
"Weird. Real weird. And don't let them near the silverware. Or your carkeys. Or your safe. Or your . . ."
Red Talons: As loonie as the Get. Loonier, if that's possible.
"Pfsht.They should consider getting rid of their disgusting little monkeykin."
Shadow Lords: Creepy guys. No sense of humor. If you steal anything theirs, you might find your own friends suddenly trying to kill you.
"We have our ways of keeping them away."
Silent Striders: Nice, but have you noticed all them ghosts following them around?
"Strange little thieves. Still, they probably serve some purpose of Gaia."
Silver Fangs: How the hell can you be king of a tribal society? That's like being the President of a kingdom, totally useless! Nice name, though . . . silver.
"Don't let them in the door. And even if you do, they'll probably steal your keys and get in anyhow . . . damn birds."
Stargazers: Oh, the stars are shiny and twinkly . . . but you can't steal them, so why bother staring at them?
"Odd little birds."
Uktena: They're a bit too curious about unpleasant things for our taste, but they got neat things to steal.
"The thieves. Yes, isn't it interesting that they might be the most moral Shapeshifters of all?"
Wendigo: Big bullies, only a slight bit less loonier than the Get.
"Thieves, but they don't come to our lands, so we don't hunt them."
Corax: Ravens. We're not on speaking terms.
"Oh, the magpies . . . useless thieves."
Bastet: The cats are cats, and cats eat birds, if you catch my drift?
"They have an unwholesome interest in our Trinkets and secrets."
Nuwisha: Fun-ny! They understand us better than most!
"Hey, if Gaia had no purpose for thieves, they wouldn't exist, right?"
Mokole: Crocodiles . . . alligators . . .shiny shoes . . . shiny bags . . . shiny belts.
"Hors d'ouevres. I pick my teeth with their beaks."
Ananasi: Spiders. And people say we're weird.
"Magpies. And people say we're weird."
Rokea: Never met one.
". . ."
Gurahl: Bears. They're gone now. Damn Garou.
"Magpies . . . Somehow, that conjures up memories of a city in the mediterranean, sinking for a magpie's folly."
Others: Oh, there are some other's I've heard of, but we like the hedgehogs best. They don't try to eat us.
Windriding
Taking the Forgotten: As the Ragabash Gift.
Borrowing: (Thieving Talons of the Magpie) As some non-Corax and non-Ragabash may have suspected, this Gift was once stolen from the Magpies, and is a mere Level 3 with them. Note that non-Pica may not learn this Gift at Level 3, they have to learn the Level 5 Gift as is normal. Also, the Gift itself is rarely used, the Magpies do not like to reveal their true potential.
Silence: As the Ragabash Gift
Stealing the Moon