МОКОЛЕ (для общего развития, ибо не играют)
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Mokolé
From World Of Darkness Wiki
Where Are All the Dragons?
The Mokolé are a Changing Breed based on a group of reptiles. Most of these reptiles being all forms of alligators and crocodiles, however some smaller reptiles such as monitor lizards and Gila monsters have made it in the the Mokolé breeding stock. Created by Gaia and the Wyld, they are the first Changing Breed, and no matter what scale they come from they were given a task to hold above all others.
To Remember.
Acting as Gaia's memory, a Mokolé's Mnesis, their memory, shows them things that may have happened in the past century to the age in which dinosaurs roamed the earth. It isn't any wonder that they tend to mistrust, or even out right hate the Garou. For them, the days when the Eggsmashers defiled their nests and attacked them in the Wars of Rage were only a day away in their minds. After all they remember everything.
Along with the Mokolé's impressive memory, is also an even more intimidating form. For when the weresaurians under go their first change, thier Crinos or Archid as they call it, does not take but one form. But many. They Dream this form into existence, thus it gives them the claim to their rightful secondary name; Dragon-shifters.
Past
The oldest of the shapechangers doesn't have one history, but has been around long enough for Many histories to have occurred. They have seen the great world wars, but these are merely rats squabbling. They have seen the fall of Rome, witnessed the pyramids being built, saw the humans discover fire, and even claim to have a hand in the Evolutionary Process itself. There is no one way of encompassing just how much of an impact the Mokolé have had on the modern world. But the only way to understand how they have left their footprints in mankind's story is to start at the beginning...
The Age of Kings
In a time before time, these draconic descendents were not plagued with genetic madness. When dinosaurs walked the Earth in great numbers, the greatest among them were the Lizard Kings; emperors of lands that time forgot. Thee first great saurian kings were shapeshifters blessed by the Earth Mother. They did not take human form, for such a thing did not exist in these times. But they did make tools, and build civilization from nothing.
None remember this era perfectly. The collective memories of the Mokolé are reflections of a thousand Things that thrived, that died, or that never even had a chance at survival. Dreaming as dragons do, they recall creatures that walked on two legs, or four, or six, beings that fashioned objects with dexterous claws, feathered paws, and myriad clumsy scaled appendages. Worshiping the warm sun, they reverently raised towers of mud and meat to the heavens. Fearing the pale moon, they enacted strange and shamanistic rites around cold menhirs at midnight. Like the Mokolé's true forms, these tales are patchwork abominations, combining things that were, never were, and never should have been.
According to legends, the first Mokolé walked in three forms, as they still do to this day: the reptilian Devisor(Wyld) shape, the saurian Dissolver(Wyrm) shape, and the drachid Designer(Weaver) shape. A thousand different Designer shapes flourished, most with wings and articulate talons. Gaia experimented with endless combinations, as Her first-born slinked out of the genetic soup of primeval seas. Kingdoms warred to prove their superiority, destroying all evolutionary rivals, until the Lizard Kings arose from the wastelands of carrion left behind. Once dinosaurs ruled the Earth, but with the changing ages, even the Greatest Empires can fall.. and what has happened once can happen yet again.
The Age of Sleep
The sands of time have long obsurced the reasons of why the Mokolé's kingdoms fell. Perhaps the tyrannical Lizard Kings grew too proud, attracting Gaia's wrath. Maybe she grew tired of the saurian kings' oppression of lesser creatures, turning Her attention to mammalian worshipers. It may be that Gaia loved all living things, and the dinosaur emperors hated what they could not control. Masters of Mnesis-- the keepers of memories -- know that the Mokolé raised their monstrous voices to the Sun in their prayers, whiles other creatures of the Earth hid from saurian screams. The Sun did not forsake the Mokolé, but something from the stars, it is said, drastically changed the course of their evolution.
When the Old Ones passed from the world, other Changing Breeds rose to dominate the Earth. Mokolé sages believed that once the weresaurians were the only shapechangers on the planet, but as Gaia's favor changed, She created mammalian shapeshifters as well. As the sages say, Gaia made the first humans as breeding stock, so that all of the Fera could survive. The half-breed offspring served as their Kinfolk, preserving the living legacies of the Changing Breeds in their genes. The Mokolé had their Kinfolk as well, humans who had worshiped the Lizard Kings for generations. Other civilizations grew, with other beasts as rulers.. and humans as their slaves.
The many different Fera could have shared the Earth, but they warred for petty and primal reasons, contesting for territory, herds of breeding stock, or foolish pride. The most territorial shapeshifters were the Garou, werewolves who waged war against all the other fera. Mokolé who took huge and monstrous forms were easy targets for wolf packs, but those that took the form of lesser saurians and reptiles could hide in the shadowy places of the Earth. If the other Fera had allied against the Garou, these "Wars of Rage" could have been averted, but instead, it cleared the way for the rise of the werewolf tribes. By the time that Mankind waged war against the Garou, the Mokolé had become relics of an older time, their greatest history left only as memories. The Mokolé memories.
The Age of Man
Man rules now where once the Beasts ruled before. For the saurians, the only true civilizations died out millennia ago. The world of today is not made in their image, it is an abomination of a lesser race of dominates. For most of the Changing Breeds, the Apocalypse represents the end of the world, or at least the end of human civilization. But the Mokolé know: the Old Ones were, and when the cities of Men have been laid low, the Old Ones will rule again. They have no need to bring about the end of the human world -- only to wait patient and potent, for it isn't a matter of if human civilization will fall, only a matter of when. Spawning and seizing enough clutches to survive, they struggle to endure the Wyrm's depredations, the Weaver's encroachment, and the Wyld's madness. The Dragon's Dream speaks of what was, and what can be once again. The time in which the great kings will emerge from the carrion wastelands.
Organization
The descendants of the Dragon Kings have fallen. Both in their lives and in numbers. However their dreams speak to them of a world of saurian supremacy, but in the modern world it is that. A dream. Today they barely cling to existence, maintaining modest places were they can hide and spawn enough hatchings to perpetuate their race. These breeding grounds are known as Wallows, home for both human and reptilian they take.
Most wallows are places were humans and reptiles can coexist with one another: alligator farms in Florida, ruined temples to forgotten gods in India and along the Nile, riverside fishing communities in China, isolated hot springs in the Australian outback and similar locals. These are few and very hard to find. Places were human forms are never taken are almost impossible to find.
Like all intelligent life, weresaurians gather to form small, moderately social clans known as Clutches. Two clutches may harbor grudges and petty rivalries for generations, sometimes warring over slight misunderstandings. However in these times, survival is the chief of concerns, and whiles killing each other is out of the question in these times, injury and shame is enough to quell most temporary hostilities.
In an ideal world, a healthy, functioning clutch depends on the relationships between the different aspects (Ae. Auspices) of Mokolé society. In the West, this is a grouping of all seven Solar Auspices also known as a "Perfect Clutch." However, these are far from ideal times. And as the dragon-shifters are few and far in between, young weresaurians venturing out into the world are more likely to form an "Imperfect Clutch" of five auspices in their quests to change history.
Now
In the more recent years, more and more of the young have felt the urge to venture out and claim new breeding grounds. Some cautiously approach the human world in search of signs of when the Dragon's Dream will become reality. Their increased numbers and curiosity hasn't been given a blind eye of course. Other shape changers, the Garou included have taken note of this. Mokolé have long memories and are quite protective of their breeding grounds from the outside threat of their cousins. If interaction is a must, the Mokolé do it far away from their fallows. Preferably a place were they have the upper hand. As curious Garou and other shifters begin to learn more aobut the Mokolé, tensions have increaced. The young have taken to traveling wherever the Dragon's Dream takes them. And Mnesis may convince a Mokolé to side with one aspect of the Trait to help shape events, though most clutches work to try and keep a balance of some sort.
The Streams
Much like Garou Tribes, but not. Each stream hails from a particular part of the world, with its own customs and memories.
Gumagan: Stream of Fire: The only stream that is found mostly not living in water, the Gumagan originate in the deserts of Australia. They are the Umbral questers, Mnesis voyagers, and the mystics among the Mokolé, revering both Sun and Moon in equal measure.
Makara: Stream of the Wind: Mokolé of the Indian subcontinent are called Makara; two of their number are recorded in the Bhagavad-Gita. They are the stream of the wind, the monsoon that brings death and destruction, but also the rains to make the land fertile. They see themselves as Gaia’s living thinkers and preservers of such, not merely recorders of memory.
Mokolé-mbembe: The Stream of Earth: The first stream and most prolific of streams ranging from Africa, Europe and the Americas. They claim to have shepherded humanity to sentience by eating the stupid. When the Bête think of Mokolé, they most likely think of these mighty ones.
Zhong Lung: The Stream of Water:In the East, a fourth stream of Mokolé survives. They are the Zhong Lung; of all the streams, they resemble Dragons (apt the eastern ideal of a dragon) the most.
Auspices
The Mokolé differ very much so when it comes to the matter of Auspice. Among the four streams, those of Africa, the America's and Australia recognize the seven solar auspices. Whiles the other two streams living Asia and the sub-continent of India have auspices that change with the turning of the seasons.
The Seven Solar Auspices
Those of the Streams of Fire and Earth (the Gumagan and the Mokolé-mbmbe) follow the Solar Aspects. These aspects are dependent of time of day(or night), weather conditions and the ever so rare solar eclipse. Along with the different blessings that the sun and moon grant these two streams; there is a mandate that each one reminds the other Mokolé of.
Striking : The Rising Sun: Warriors, Ahroun.
Unshading : The Noonday Sun: Judges Philodox.
Warding : The Setting Sun: Protectors and Healers of Kin and Wallows.
Concealing : The Shrouded Sun: teachers, keepers of secrets,and spirit lore. Similar to Theurge.
Shining : The Midnight Sun: Pranksters, artists, poets, and riddle-makers. Very much like the Ragabash of the Garou.
Gathering : The Decorated Sun: Matchmakers, workers, busybodies, and organizers.
Crowning : Solar Eclipse: The Rare Unquestioned Leaders.
Kinfolk : The Eighth Sun: Like with all shapechangers, the dragons have both Kinfolk among humans and reptiles; and whiles they don't have Mnesis, or the ability to shape change.(duh) They are closer to their shapeshifting brothern that most of the other Fera. They are a diverse lot however. But some are kinfolk are of supernatural stock, included are: Mages and Changeling Eshu. But Whatever the scale they come from. Kinfolk are truly treasured here.