Corax
Corax are one of the changing breeds. They are wereravens.
Overview
The Corax animal form is that of a Corvus Corax, and they take to their role as scouts, spies, and gossips with zeal. They are one of the few, if not the only, groups of shifters still on good terms with the Garou after the War of Rage.
Corax are well known for flying, talking (and talking, and talking...), performing practical jokes on deserving Garou, and swooping down from the sky to nab dimes and tin foil. Most of all, they have a reputation for knowing things. A fomor can't fart in Jersey without every Corax in California knowing about it. Wanderlust, wings, and the breed's well-known inability to shut up enable to Corax to report their finding to one another as well as the local Garou and other authorities. Some Corax have even bragged about being faster than the internet; while this is an obvious exaggeration, the breed survived the War of Rage by being the fastest means of communication available to Garou war parties. Corax gain renown as Ragabash Garou, though they tend to favor their particular brand of Wisdom. Glory is often neglected by the fragile Corax.
Corax do have Rage, but they rarely develop it and are not known for the kind of violent outbursts that plague the Garou. They begin life with more Gnosis than most Garou, though they are usually forced to barter favors and information for access to Caerns. While Corax are able to breed with humans or ravens, new Corax are only created by the Rite of the Fetish Egg. This ritual is very taxing to the parent and will automatically fail if attempted on the child of two Corax.
All Corax have Raven as a totem, and their bond with Helios is similar to the one shared between the Garou and Luna. They adore shiny and sparkly things, and require restraint upon encountering one to avoid snatching it.
Tengu
The Corax of the Beast Courts of the Emerald Mother are known as the Tengu and are similar in almost every respect to the Western Corax.
The Tengu share the basic traits of the Corax, like their tendency for gossip, their vulnerability to gold, and the protection of Raven and Helios. They have developed their own martial art to use when in Crinos form, mostly utilizing their beak and attacking weak spots like eyes.
The Tengu were responsible for much of the knowledge Asian hunters have about the Shen, as their drive to share information also included those humans who venerated the Emerald Mother. They also spread deliberate misinformation, so that hunters would have no knowledge of the weaknesses of the Hengeyokai.
Priests were often favorite victims of the Tengu, who enjoyed harassing the pious and trying to alter their worldview into something more to the wereravens' tastes. These practices, however, have fallen by the wayside since the dawn of the Information Age.
Breeds
Corax are either Homid or Corvid, and have no Metis breed. Socially, the differences between the two are negligible.
- Homid - Human-born Corax are similar in many respects to their Garou counterparts, though they have Corax traits rather than some of the anger-management issues typical of werewolves.
- Corvid - Raven-born Corax usually undergo their First Change after 8–10 months. They are unable to purchase several skills and knowledges except with freebies at character creation.
Forms
- Homid - A Corax in human form is said to be wearing her Homid skin. Homids are visually and physically indistinguishable from normal humans, though a Fera’s behavior may mark her as a feral, strange sort of person. They make darting movements, suddenly changing direction without warning. In addition, they have mild streak of kleptomania, and are attracted to objects that are shiny, gaudy, or glittery.
- Harpya - A Corax in Harpyia form spawned the harpy myths of old. Their legs become switch-thin, scaling over and becoming viciously clawed. Their upper bodies, especially at their shoulders and torso, sprout a fine down of black feathers; their fingers twist into needle-sharp talons. Their faces remain all-too human, as their black eyes become abyssal, seeming to swallow the light rather than reflect it.
- Rara Avus / Crinos - In Rara Avus, the Corax equivalent to Crinos form, a Corax stands as huge half-human, half-raven creature with massive wings. The Corax rarely use this form, as they find it awkward and unsettling; they call it “Rara Avus” due to how rarely they choose to be in it. Before the appearance of the Red Star, when werewolves saw the Corax in Rara Avus form, they believed the Corax to be fomori or other creatures of the Wyrm. This confusion caused more than one Corax to find herself on the other end of her allies’ claws. Fighting back has become more necessary, and while the war-form of the Corax is no longer mistaken as an enemy to be destroyed, the Corax still dislike using their Rara Avus form. She cannot be mistaken for anything but supernatural, even when seen from a distance. A non�supernatural human who sees a Corax in Rara Avus form will be impacted by Delirium, suffering confusion, memory loss, and potential madness.
- Corvus Magnus - A Corax in her Corvus Magnus form is massive raven, with the approximate mass of a large wolf. When viewed at a great distance, observers may mistake this form for a large carrion bird, but it is otherwise much too large to be natural.
- Corvid - A Corax in her Corvid form appears most often to be a large black raven. At times, they may look like other large, carrion-eating birds native to the area where the Corvid first changed. Corax in Corvid form are visually indistinguishable from normal carrion birds.
Gifts and Rituals
Corax have access to almost all Gifts in common use among the Garou, though they favor those specific to Ragabash and the Shadow Lords. As creatures of Helios, they receive some exclusive fire-and light-related gifts, as well as some specific to creatures with wings and feathers. Corax have only a few Rites not practiced by a Garou. The Rite of the Fetish Egg and Rite of Memory Theft are two of the most important of these.
