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Ian was born in small trailer park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Though both his parents (Matthew and Irene) had lived within Rainchildren territory all their lives, they knew nothing of the garou. If they had, Ian's life might have turned out differently. Ian's earliest memories are of waking in the middle of the night from horrible nightmares of being a monster that slaughtered people, animals and numerous shape shifting creatures (were cats, were ravens, were coyotes). In these dreams he ate human flesh and traveled with those who drake human blood. If Ian's parents knew of the garou, or if the garou knew of Ian, then someone would have been able to recognize Ian's for what they were and would have been able to help Ian adjust to his heritage. Unfortunately, his parents were tree-hugging, pot-smoking, hippies who attributed the nightmares to combination of an active imagination, getting into the drugs that were around the trailer, and taking his parent's ranting about how "big business is plundering the environment" too literally. As Ian got older, the nightmares changed. Not only would they happen at night, but sometimes they would happen when he was awake. At times, it would seem that would be triggered by certain places or seeing certain images. Over time, Ian discovered that the visions often included real places and events - events several hundred years ago (around the settling of the bay area by the white man). In these visions, Ian went by another name - "Kin Slayer." These visions troubled Ian greatly and he soon began to feel uncomfortable in the natural areas of the bay. To Ian, it felt like nature itself would glare at him either in anger for the past or in accusation that he would repeat these atrocities. Ian found escape in school. After graduating high school, Ian left the Santa Cruz mountains for the Valley, where he became a biology major at Stanford with the hopes of eventually becoming a doctor. Ian found the being away from the wilds lessoned the frequency and the severity of the visions/flashbacks. On the rare occasion, Ian would have visions of a different time and a different place. In this place Ian was known as "Swift Sword" and was a respected leader of his people. He could take the form of a wolf and yet he wasn't a monster like "Kin slayer" was. The first few years of college were uneventful. The visions lessoned and Ian soon rationalized them away (a side effect of troubled childhood). The summer of his junior year changed all that. One night as he was walking home from the library, he was attacked by a common mugger. Unfortunately for the mugger, Ian was not a common victim. When the man struck Ian, something in Ian just snapped. The next thing Ian knew, he was reliving one of those horrible visions - except this time it was not a vision. Ian changed into crinos and tore into the would-be mugger, tearing off chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole. Realizing what he was doing, Ian howled and ran in terror. He wandered in a stupor for quite some time (possibly a day or two) before a pack of Rainchildren caught up with him. They were passing through when they heard Ian's howl and came to aid him. When they arrived, they found the body and before they had a chance to find Ian they were caught up in "damage control". This pack explained the fact of life to Ian and asked Ian to join their tribe. Ian said yes. Ian returned with the pack to the Santa Cruz mountains. There he met with the tribal elders and explained his visions. At that moot, a Black Fury came forward and announced that their tribal lore includes tales of a Kin Slayer - a evil and powerful garou who associated with vampires and murdered garou as well as other were creatures. The Black Fury called for Ian's destruction as she thought that he was obviously wyrm tainted. The elders were divided - some agreed with the Black Fury, while others pointed to the Swift Sword ancestor as reason to spare him. Still others thought Ian should be judged by his own actions. The mystics at the group, led by Bobby Mountain River, finally suggested that a cleansing (that would last a month) followed by a test would settle the issue. The ritual was performed to negate any influence any of these 'past lives' would have on Ian and then Ian was sent to the city on a quest to kill a vampire. Ian went to the city and killed the vampire an brought its head back to the elders who then proclaimed that Ian's heart was free of corruption. This angered the Black Fury who proceeded to challenge Ian to duel. As was custom, the one challenged was free to set the terms of the challenge. Ian was furious; he couldn't believe that someone would want him dead for something he was not responsible for. He was pissed. Then an idea occurred to him. He challenged the Black Fury to a pissing contest, whoever pissed furthest would be the winner. Needless to say, Ian won the challenge, but made an enemy. Ian has spent the last year in Bobby Mountain River's pack.
Web Weaving by Argante D.H. © 1997-2005
Content Development by Argante D.H. © 1992-2005
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