Borchardbriar: Furred Folk and Their Kith and Their Kin

 

BEAST WITHIN - During character creation, choose a Kith and make note of the traits in brackets. Spend a Benny to temporarily gain an Edge (you must meet the requirements) or 3 points of Racial Abilities that reflects your Kith via those traits. Beast Within lasts for a scene.


CAT - One of the most populous Furred Folk, Cats are found everywhere, you'll find them in every holdfast and the Open Road. The superstitious often accuse them of hexes and other mischief. Aloof softpaws don't give a straight answer since things just go their way. [Adaptive, Softpaw, Sharp Claws]

PANGOLIN - Down South and Far Away in the Burning Lands, the Antseers sense a malady in the North. Young Pangolin warriors journey northward to the Kingdom, landing in Clowdertown. Hungry for fame and glory they take risks trusting in their armored scales to see them through. [Vainglorious, Scaly, Long Tail]

RACCOON -Without a home of their own, the Raccoons thrive in the cracks of society. Forging close bonds of business and friendship, Raccons are less clannish than other Folk and quickly adopt those on the fringe. [Gregarious, Cleanhands, Knows A Guy]

TURTLE - All across the Kingdom, you can find hardbacks plying the Rivers on their rafts and canoes. Their transient life affords them a certain comfort and security from Reynard's horrors. Insisting that things will change, but remain the same. [Simple, Hardback, Unflappable]

BADGER - Great in girth and stature, the great lords of Stonebones belong to rival clans, each keeping ledger of slights in a Book of Sacred Grudges. Ascending to the Iron Council requires erasing a Grudge with blood. Fallen nobles offer to open their veins a pinch for food if it will clear a Grudge. [Blustering, Ironlord, Big Bones]

 MARTEN - Long and slender, the walkers were a common sight on the Open Road around Whisper helping sedentary Folk with seasonal work. Work that just doesn't happen. Their colored wagons went from long trains to armed encampments. Erecting new Pactstones and actively harassing the Watchers Above, they're playing a long game other Folk can't see.
[Mystical, Walker, Always Hungry]

MOLE - Before the Badgers came and Stonebones was even a city, the Moles burrowed throughout the Eastmarch hills. The Ironlords quickly turned them out of their tunnels before the stripmining started in earnest. Many blindeye elders fear the Pits may release sightless horrors if they go much deeper. [Secretive, Blindeye, Heavy Claws]

RODEN - An umbrella term for a fairly wide range of Folk the Roden are small, quick and always on edge. They've carved a niche tackling the most dangerous jobs. In Stonebones operating the foundries and furnaces. A dangerous place for any Beast, but there will always be more Roden. [Negligible, Roden, Quick as a Flash]

HARE - Quick footed and insular, the Hares of Sunset Hills often clashed with the Ironwood Clans in the past. After the Accord, they're combined efforts created the greatest holdfast in the Kingdom. Since then, their great numbers have gone from an asset to a liability and the Senate of Sky and Soil exclusively sent Hares and Squirrels to Borchardbriar for the Tithe. The Senate soon found itself overturned, though the founding families still retain clout with the Ruling Committee. [Altruistic, Longear, Leaps & Bounds]

SQUIRREL - Quick to fight and slow to back down, the former Ironwood Clans clutch to rusting martial traditions flaking away in their grasp. Visitors flock to the Vault each year for the Battle of Red Branch. A holiday when all eligible young Squirrels fight a vicious "King of the Hill" struggle in the boughs of Last Tree. The winner is exempt from the Tithe, though some enter Reynard's service at the opportunity to exercise their skills. [Brave, Ironwood, Battle-wise]

HEDGEHOG - Known for hospitality and high spirits, Hedgehogs are welcome anywhere. Which is good because they can be found anywhere. It's traditional that upon reaching age of majority, troupes of pricklepigs venture out into the world and fully experience it for themselves. Some love the places they visit so much that they stay, and home becomes a distant memory. [Punchy, Pricklepig, Lucky Charm]

OTTER - Where there's a waterway, there'll be Otters. Born to the river and in love with the sea, they work hard and play harder. Organized into clan-like crews, they fish and revel with no-holds-barred. [Jocular, Waterdog, Brawny]

FOXES - Few Folk have it as rough as Reynard's get. Foxes largely fled to Whisper & the Open Road rather than continue bearing the brunt of grief and rage. Their kits go to the Tithe too, but that gets missed in the outrage. In Whisper the Redtails made themselves useful to House Maugrim and received protection. That arrangement ended with the Prophet's rise and the Foxes are once more out in the cold. [Sly, Redtail, Reynard's Get]

WOLVES - The founding Folk of Whisper, they built the holdfast from the bones of the Red Rock Cult's worship sites and suppressed the Cult under the guidance of Saint Magna. All was well until Magna Maugrim returned, proclaiming a second coming of the Red Rock's Naked Gods. Salting old wounds and dismantling her namesake's handiwork. The Wolves are now in their "rightful" place at the top of the food chain. [Fierce, Howler, Terrible Jaws]

BEAVERS - Unified under St. Magna's vision, the Northern Beavers transitioned from sacrificial meals to Whisper's true architects and builders. With the recent upheaval, their gains are rapidly unraveling. Many families have already fled under cover of darkness, seeking out Mudslide, the floating city. [Industrious, Miller, Natural Swimmer]

HOGS - The bane of the southern Open Road, the Wild Sounders roam, root and rut wherever they like. Only the threat of Reynard's attention causes them to step lightly. Too much ruckus and the Fox King's war bands will pour out of Borchardbriar and raid their litters. Not to be confused with the  more congenial pinkskins. [Aggressive, Bristlehide, Iron Gullet]

OPOSSUM - Life outside the Holdfasts is dangerous for the small and squishy. The Opossum eke out a living by staying up and out of the way. Their treetop hamlets stay quiet and camouflaged, high in the boughs of tupelo trees. The only business they have below the boughs involves the breeding, care and harvesting of venomous snakes. [Shy, Wormtail, Adderproof]