Adapted from forum discussions with Josh.
The Vulfen are an inhuman race of lupine beastfolk. They mainly live in the eponymous southern wastes of Vulfland. Vulfen are heavy-built creatures that most closely resemble dire wolves the size of man, with long snouts and powerful hind legs. Their armlegs are more adapted to a running gait than manipulating things; the favored locomotion of the creature is a slow bound on four legs, capable of traversing long distances.
Vulfen are intelligent yet savage, with an inborn inclination towards directness and predatory violence. They are also loyal and honorable, however, as well as sociable, just like the wolves they resemble.
As the Shadow Night recedes, so does the place Vulfen have in Near. They are not likely neighbors to humans, but would rather be rulers or slaves.
Vulfen are not known in Maldorian records from before the Year of Shadow, but according to their own legends, they’ve always been in the world, confined to the most distant south. When the Shadow Night rose and temperatures fell all over Near, Vulfen prospered in the lands suddenly inhospitable to humans. As the Southern Sea froze over, some even crossed over and staked territory in Near.
As the Shadow Night has receded, most Vulfen remain in Vulfland, the extensive swath of tundra and borderline glacier in the interior of the southern continent. They do prosper in the maritime taiga as well, but the Jošland Gorenites have largely driven them inland over the last generation. This does little to reduce their numbers: Vulfland is an enormous area, almost as large as Near itself, with plenty of room for the current Vulfen population.
Vulfen packs subsist on a diet of hunted deer and smaller animals, as well as megafauna of the far interior. Nothing threatens them in their habitat, their ferocity and intelligence makes them the match of the largest mammoth.
Despite their natural superiority, prosperity does not come easy to Vulfen packs: winters in Vulfland are harsh even with thick natural pelts, and bad hunting can lead to outright starvation. Vulfen are not accustomed to mercy in their cruel land.
Vulfen are competitively social: they put great stock to honor and face among the pack, to such a degree that they can’t quite enjoy life in isolation from a pack of worthy peers. Respect and expecting respect comes naturally to the Vulfen.
The pack itself is organized akin to a wolf pack: there is an alpha Vulfen called VALRU and perhaps some beta VAL. A particularly powerful valru is termed a RUVALRU, the master of many packs. Originally all these terms refer to kinship: “valru” is a parent, “ruvalru” a grandparent and so on.
A Vulfen will be uncertain without a clear hierarchy and will often challenge others for dominance simply to find out where he belongs. Even the scapegoat-like HAR on the lowest rung of the pack politic are happier when they know their position unequivocally.
Vulfen have become socialized to humans in different ways: most Vulfland Vulfen make use of human dexterity when it serves their needs, going so far as to capture humans into servitude as FETCHES, hand-servants. Some rogue Vulfen may adopt a human tribe in lieu of their pack, often becoming kings or even gods to the human community, depending on their reaction to the lupine. Vulfen do not need human amenities, but they easily come to enjoy cooked food, shelter and other perks of civilization.
Outside the cold and sparse Vulfland the balance between humans and the occasional Vulfen shift: a lone Vulfen finding himself deep within civilized territory often ends up hunted as a “werewolf” or captured. Such a Vulfen may be tamed and become civilized after a fashion, coming to appreciate the creature comforts that humans can offer. Being tamed is shameful for the Vulflanders, who might slay a weakling or pup unable to cope with the harsh life of Vulfland.
The lure of civilization in its different forms is a perennial source of internal conflict among Vulfen: many Vulfland valru consider it an identity issue that Vulfen are akin to the wolf and despise any sign of civilization as weakness. Others disagree, preferring to interact with humans in different ways.
A similar divided curiosity governs the way Vulfen relate to wolves, which are rare in Vulfland, outhunted by Vulfen themselves. Vulfen who would respect their primordial way of life often look up to true wolves, gladly adopting them into the pack; after all, the wolf is not conflicted by human concerns of morality. Others are shamed or angered by wolves, which to them seem like stunted, incomplete Vulfen.
Vulfen tend to scoff at religious notions – not because they do not believe in unseen forces (they have good noses, after all) or because they do not believe in spirits; it’s just that they consider themselves wolf spirits and heirs of Agarim the Father Wolf already, so they should have little to prove and less to ask from other spiritual forces. Again, some Vulfen disagree, especially when they’re forced to leave their comfortable pack life on the tundra; while a Vulfen would not be likely to stoop to worshipping other spirits, he might cooperate with them when their interests coincide.
Lacking a religious mind-set does not mean that Vulfen are entirely without spiritual experiences. They take dreams very seriously, and hold certain respect for powerful dream shamans. While they do not practice dream shamanism themselves, Vulfen dreams are important due to their relationship with the common ancestor Ru-Agarim, Father Wolf. Most Vulfen believe that their dreams are visitations to another world, one in which Agarim reminds them of his way.
Of particular import are PROPHETIC dreams, recognized as such when the same dream is shared by many Vulfen. Usually prophecies concern only one pack, but some of the most important, dealing with Agarim, are known to all packs in Vulfland.
The Vulfen vision can be savage. I’ve wrestled hard with the issue of whether Vulfen are even playable: they are like furry Nazis in so many ways that one might assume that they’d only attract players who want to play a monster.
As it happens, though, there is a trick to making this work: the Story Guide must not downplay the Vulfland environment. The harsh creatures and their unforgiving culture start to make sense when they are contrasted with the stark reality of the wastes. My impression was completely overturned when we found out in play that the Vulfen relationship to their fetches is not necessarily one of slavery – it could not be, when the land is so hostile that the Vulfen needs to support his fetch just to allow him to survive. What seems like exploitation may be cooperation necessitated by survival.
This works the other way around, too: when the Vulfen go north, they certainly start looking unnecessarily savage if they insist on the values developed on the wastes. In my mind the grand narrative here concerns the grandiose Vulfen eschatology: how does the proud creature react to realizing that the world is much larger and much more complex than he ever realized? What happens when the other people in the story find out that ultimately, only those basic Vulfen values matter?
As the name signifies, Vulfen are most common in and around Vulfland. It is their natural environment. In fact, the whole idea of Vulfland is defined by Gorenites as the lands held by the Vulfen.
Some Vulfen packs attack into Jošland during winter, stealing animals and causing trouble. This can happen all the way to the coasts, making the people vary. Low-level skirmishes between hunting parties and packs make the relationship much more hostile than it is in the actual Vulfland.
I haven’t really thought about it, but I suppose they could come over to Maldor. Perhaps they’d even prosper there.
Old Goren, in fact, is a pretty natural environment for Vulfen. I would not be surprised encountering them there.
Like ratkin, I seen to end up with folks like “Greypaw” or “Growl” with Vulfen. Why fight the inclination, anyway? The Vulfen don’t care, they probably think that names are uncivilized.
Typical Ability SPECIALIZATIONS for Vulfen include marking territory, resolving domination disputes, hunting particular animals, understanding humans, knowing their territory, running.
Typical Pool CONDITIONING for Vulfen comes to Vigor from suffering harsh winters.
Typical Ability ENHANCEMENTS for Vulfen involve Agarim’s spirit, experience, feats of strength, tricks of civilization.
Typical Ability SYNERGIES for Vulfen are to connect bestiality to everything else.
Typical Ability RETRAINING for Vulfen is to scent with reason and do everything with instinct.
Typical EQUIPMENT for Vulfen consists of their own self. Sometimes they use rugs and warps made by their fetches.
| Scent (I) |
|---|
| The character’s Ability at interpreting and modifying scents in the form of deliberate markings and natural residues. The Ability is useful for tracking, recognizing social cues and other uses where an inhumanly keen sense of smell and scent memory would be helpful. For Vulfen this is one of their primary senses, if not the most important. |
| Secret of Vulfen |
|---|
| The character has natural weapons akin to the SECRET OF NATURAL WEAPONS, and the Vulfen may use any equipment mastery Secrets with these ratings. The equipment ratings are the same for all Vulfen in the campaign, determined initially by the first character to have this Secret and added to later when characters gain better quality ratings. Vulfen have clumsy paws, and thus suffer a penalty die to all Ability checks that require manual dexterity. |
| Secret of Truthful Snout |
| The character can smell lies on other people with SCENT (I). He can even smell their true intent; on a success the player of the other character is obligated to reveal their intent if it hasn’t come up yet. |
| Cost: 1 INSTINCT |
| Secret of Psychometry |
| The character’s sense of smell is so keen that he can interpret past events to a great degree of accuracy by examining places and items and making a SCENT (I) check. Activating this Secret bestows the Vulfen with full knowledge of the events of one scene; if the particular events were not played, the Story Guide frames them as a flashback scene or cut scene. |
| Cost: 2 INSTINCT |
| Secret of Dream Prophecy |
| Vulfen are not usually dream-shamans, as the animal totems do not speak to them. However, a Vulfen with this Ability is more tuned to Agarim’s dream than the rest: the player can invoke a prophetic dream with a successful BESTIALITY (V) check; the player gets to choose the topic of the dream, while the Story Guide chooses the rest of the dream. If the check is made into an Effect, other Vulfen reminded of it have to make a successful RESIST (R) check to not remember having the same dream. Otherwise this Secret functions as the SECRET OF PROPHECY. |
| Secret of the Bite |
| The character may cause AGGRAVATED damage with his teeth, marked accordingly on the Harm track. Such Harm does not shake down and cannot be healed naturally. Additionally, the opponent has to make an immediate ENDURE (V) check after the battle against the highest level of aggravated Harm to avoid paying for and gaining the KEY OF CRIPPLE, unless he already has it. The player of the victim decides how the character is crippled by the bite. |
| Cost: 1 VIGOR per bite. |
| Secret of Animal Attraction |
| The character is a majestic beast or cuddly pet insofar as humans are concerned. He can use his BESTIALITY (V) in lieu of CHARM (I) when interacting with humans. |
| Cost: 1 INSTINCT |
| Secret of the Howl |
| When howling with BESTIALITY (V) and using MUSIC (I) in support, you can communicate complex messages in your howl, ones that are heard far away on the tundra. |
| Secret of Pack Tactics |
| Vulfen are accustomed to hunting together. When the character does, he can share Pool freely with his pack. |
| Secret of the Long Run |
| The character can make an ENDURANCE (V) check to run and not stop before reaching his destination. To interrupt the run before the destination is reached, other characters need to overcome the check result. |
| Cost: 1 VIGOR per day of running. |
| Secret of Duel Tactics |
| Vulfen resolve their disagreements with BESTIALITY (V) domination duels, both within and between packs. The character with this Secret can use other Abilities in those situations without fighting dishonorably. |
| Cost: 1 VIGOR per scene |
| Secret of Valru |
| The character is the leader of his pack. He can provide others in his pack with INSTINCT refreshments by leading them. |
| Cost: 1 INSTINCT |
| Secret of Fetch |
| The character has a fetch, a human slave. The relationship is seamless enough that the Vulfen can use his own Abilities through the fetch, thus avoiding penalties for using his hands. The fetch can also act at some distance from the Vulfen, though the players should keep in mind how difficult a lone human might find survival on the tundra. |
| Secret of Dire Vulfen |
| The character has grown into a larger, more primal beast. He now has to pay a point of REASON to use his hands at all, in addition to the penalty die. However, he may now activate any equipment mastery for his SECRET OF VULFEN with VIGOR instead of an overflow die. |
| Cost: 1 VIGOR. |
| Requirement: KEY OF AGARIM |
| Key of Civilization |
|---|
| The character is curious about civilization, perhaps wishing to find a new way of life for his people. |
| 1xp: Enjoy the benefits of civilization. |
| 2xp: Learn a new thing. |
| 5xp: Change your lifestyle to accommodate civilization. |
| Buyoff: Attack civilization. |
| Key of Agarim |
| The character idolizes a balanced animal life-style, refuting his aspect as a person. |
| 1xp: Act like an animal. |
| 3xp: Act in an inhuman way. |
| Buyoff: Accept a trapping of civilization. |
| Key of Tame Vulfen |
| The character has become tame and socialized into human community. |
| 1xp: Follow human lead. |
| 3xp: Develop a new human relationship, or change an old one. |
| Buyoff: Slay a person. |
| Key of the Pack (specify) |
| The character is attached to a pack with ties of family and honor. |
| 1xp: Cooperate with the pack. |
| 2xp: Disagree with the pack authority. |
| 5xp: Your position in the pack changes. |
| Buyoff: Leave the pack. |
| Key of the Fetch (specify) |
| The character has become responsible for a hand-servant, a human who works for him. |
| 1xp: Order the fetch about. |
| 2xp: Take care of the fetch’s needs. |
| 5xp: Your relationship changes. |
| Buyoff: Abandon the fetch. |