Garrett Lodur
Gate-of-Oak

Sorna of the Gurahl
Rishi of the Forest Walkers
Peacemaker of the Sleuth of Two Trees

Description


Homid: ~From east of the Rhine, this stocky fellow arrives. The husky, dark-haired, maturing man boasts well-defined musculature. Chiseled features with a scarred scrape or two on his brow are often left unshaved for days. Garrett Lodur possesses a quiet reserve that mutes his heavy-stepped approach. Casual and loose-fitting attire helps blunt the weight of his advance. Khakis, loafers, and a loose peasant’s shirt are typical garb. Most notable, and difficult to disguise, is Garrett’s gaze. There lingers a hard and implacable glint to his brown eyes, as if they reflected a stalwart staunchness that never bends for the forces of change.~

OOC: Appearance 2

Arthren: ~Garrett thickens and grows even more than normal when he adopts the Arthren form. His biceps are big as some people’s heads and his feet thud with every step. His skin seems a little heavy and loose on the bone. His clothing stretches but survives the change, save his shoes that vanish. Massive and hirsute, the gruff werebear comes off like Big Foot…with an attitude.~

OOC: Appearance 0

Crinos: ~The jig is up. The façade of humanity is abandoned entirely when Gate-of-Oak rages up to his greatest mass. Over ten feet tall, with thick and dull-black fur, the Crinos Gurahl towers over most enemies. What he lacks in height, he easily accommodates in sheer power. That power is both in the beast’s mass and muscles and the passion of his unchangeable will that burns like an intangible nimbus of fire. Huge paws often grip a frightening, well-made axe made-to-size for a giant. No human head is mounted on its huge shoulders: the ursine maw of a terrible demon-bear is full of blackened teeth. Dark eyes flare with barely-kept Rage. Paler fur on his belly reveals a portrait of criss-crossed scars. This is the War-Bear, the Lawgiver, the Peacemaker. His roar flattens trees and terrifies the very soul.~

OOC: Appearance 0; Reduced Delirium

Bjornen: ~Gone is anything remotely man-like. When Garrett assumes Bjornen, he becomes the cave bear of nightmarish prehistory. A mouthful of razor teeth and claws like railroad spikes announce his terrifying purpose. He’s a natural killing machine of massive rage and primordial hunger: all teeth and claw.~

OOC: Appearance 0

Ursus: ~Lumbering across the forest floor is this black bear. He may be a little out of his normal territory, but many bears are known to wander great distances. He’s not a grizzly at least. He’s just a big, grumpy, huffy black bear aiming to avoid the nuisances of civilization while occasionally helping himself to campers’ leavings.~

OOC: Appearance 2

"Some things never change."

History


Timber

Garrett Lodur was an ancient relic from the Dark Ages. His history is history. Born 863 anno domini in a village near modern Mestia, Georgia, Garrett’s father prepared him for a life as a woodcutter. He had no siblings unusually, but that was because Garrett’s mother had apparently died in childbirth and his father never remarried.

Through his childhood, the boy developed a quiet reserve even his father noted. He learned only those tasks that a peasant lumberjack would need to know in a feudal land. Though Garrett appreciated his father’s reliability and love, the boy felt an urge to do more than this. It itched at him as he labored alongside his parent. He found himself often staring up at the stars and wondering what secrets they withheld.

Though his father was a woodcutter, he maintained healthy respect for the neighboring forest. This respect was not only ingrained in young Garrett, it was inherent. He listened with rapturous interest to his father’s folktales about the dark woods. Finally, virtually a man in this medieval age, Garrett began to wander the woods alone at night. He knew the risks even from mundane threats, like a pack of hungry wolves.

Fear & Wonder

But something called. He answered the call, peeking into old trees his father refused to cut down. Owls hooted from within the hollows and winds stirred the leaves. Then one night, at the age of 14, with only a sliver of moon in the sky, Garrett stumbled right into a bear. It reared up and roared in his face. He stumbled to the ground, his sense of wonder replaced with awe and terror. The bear fell back to its four feet and huffed, and that was when he realized the animal was just as scared of him as he was of it.

That wasn’t because he was human. It was because he was more than human. To his shock, Garrett looked down and found his own body covered in more body hair than his father, with muscles bigger than his father’s head. He had shifted defensively: his First Change only to Arthren. His reserve and inner calm was amazing indeed. The bear lumbered nearer…and transformed as well. A woman reached down with a smile and spoke onto the boy, the Cub: “I am your mother, and I will teach you now.”

The Gallivant

Thus, Garrett left behind the life of a lumberjack and joined his long lost mother in the forest. She became his Buri-Jaan, his teacher. For a year, she revealed all the ways of the Gurahl. She taught him how to live off the land. She explained that as a Forest Walker, folklore took on multiple meanings: what humans retold, what was genuinely true, and what the Gurahl retold. In such vagaries of truth, she impressed upon Garrett, would be found peace, justice, and harmony.

And her lesson would stay with Garrett throughout his life. He indulged upon the Gallivant with his mother’s blessing, exploring the world carefully through the eyes of a bear and young man. He traveled to the shores of the Black Sea and up the hills of the Caucasus Mountains. He tasted Khazar cuisine and traded tales with Vikings. His explorations and wonder returned him invariably to the woods of his childhood. There, after a test of all he learned, his mother graduated him into the full-fledged adult life of the Gurahl in 879. He transferred up to Uzmati.

There was much to do for the young werebear, she warned. As Uzmati, the young Forest Walker ventured back out to carve out his own Glade and territory and watch over the forested lands to which his Tribe was appointed. He knew the Code of Ursa well and swore to never shame his mother by breaking it. His sense of honor was impeccable, and while he was a relatively simple man, he was no fool.

In the Shadows

For though while he expected his life to pass relatively quietly, he knew much could happen. Indeed, much did happen and none of it was particularly upbeat. He traveled north and found a lovely little cave in the highlands he could call home. His mother’s protectorate bordered his, enabling them to stay close over the years. In the first couple years abroad, the adolescent Kovi established his territory and kept an eye on all of Gaia’s creatures. He let his imagination wander and he invented twists on folktales he heard as a boy from what he experienced and witnessed with new ursine eyes. He teased spirits in his land to play along with his games and playfully harassed prey animals, only to make it up to them with extra care.

Then the enemy came. Werewolves, who should not have been enemy, scoured the countryside in search of a caern. They found a forgotten grotto in the cliffs not far from Garrett’s Umbral Glade. Before these Shadow Lords established their new home, they traveled forth to conquer or destroy any possible threats. Garrett had no choice but to abandon his glade and flee. He was lethally outnumbered. His glade would be subsumed into the bawn of the caern as a sacred spot. The Gurahl met with his mother and they attended a regional Fest. There his earlier efforts earned him a promotion to the next Rank and a shift of Auspice to Kojubat for the tales he told his fellow Forest Walkers.

He would not abandon his protectorate despite the vicious reputation of the Shadow Lord werewolves. Garrett returned to that land, establishing a new glade under a huge fallen oak. He brazenly slipped unto the Garou bawn, helping keep the evil of the Pattern Breaker at bay. His assistance, though unrealized by the Garou, proved necessary. Their shamans were strangely disinterested in maintenance of Gaia’s purity. Garrett recorded what he observed, and put his deeds and the activities of the Shadow Lords to a chant and drum beat.

Khubera

When he attended his first Regalia in 882, he had many new tales to share with and perform for his fellow Forest Walkers. His reports on the Shadow Lords’ activities bothered the elders. They asked Garrett about the cave he knew was at the heart of their caern, and why the Shadow Lords that delved into it would emerge with blacker fur and more hateful eyes. This was the Voronja Cave, and it clearly demanded cautious observation. Garrett was encouraged to take up the auspice of Kieh and try to find out the source of the problem.

He returned home and carefully approached the cave in the Shadow, hiding from the caern Guardians and allied spirits. But Garrett found no spirits at all near or inside the cave. Boldly, he began to explore the cave, finding it incredibly deep, extremely dark, and devoid of all life – not even spirit life. Fear froze his blood but he slowly descended until his front paw stepped on thin air. He arrived to some crevice and within it, Garrett sensed only an absolute emptiness, a void of sheer nothingness. Not even despair. It was as if this was the edge of the universe, where nothing grew and no stars shined. He dipped his nose and inhaled deeply, but smelled only himself. Vertigo set in, threatening to cut off all sense of direction and send him plummeting over the edge. Perhaps that was what had happened to the Garou!

One of the Garou shamans ventured down to that depth. They smelled each other. In total darkness, by scent alone, they stalked and circled each other. Garrett got his sense of direction by where the werewolf wanted to go: over the edge. The Gurahl put himself between and uttered a warning growl. The werewolf snarled and answered the challenge by leaping at Garrett’s throat. A paw buffet swatted the Garou down. The Shadow Lord tried again and again. The pair tangled in their Crinos forms, ripping and gnawing at each other. Garrett refused to back down and the Shadow Lord was greedy for whatever corrupting power that pit offered. Finally, the Forest Walker snared the Garou into a bear hug and squeezed until all the fight went out of the wolf. The unconscious Garou was then dragged back up to the surface. In his powerful Crinos form, Garrett began to push and roll boulders to block off the cave.

Unfortunately, this was in the middle of a Garou caern. He was soon detected and set upon. As the Guardians began to tear into the brave werebear, a deep howl sounded from the cave. Bursting forth was a tremendous worm-like beast, thundering from the depths, swallowing one unfortunate werewolf whole. The entire Sept turned on the this mighty minion of the Pattern Breaker. And Garrett joined in, roaring mightily as his huge claws ripped into its segmented hide. A combined effort put the beast down and its massive corpse slid back down into the cave whence it came. The Shadow Lords grudgingly admired Garrett’s strength and courage, and let the Gurahl depart in peace. They sealed the cave themselves, realizing now it was filled with a gateway to evil – possibly to the dreadful realm called the Abyss.

Drago

During all these problems, Garrett never found time to pursue a life of his own: no mate, no Kin, no family. He was far too focused on the concerns to which he was commanded to address. With stalwart resolve, Garrett continued to watch over the land, sharing it peacefully with the Shadow Lords. All seemed peaceful enough that he could dare to hope for a life beyond duty. He nosed around the local villages in search of a worthy mate or at least a good companion.

Then arrived Drago Cernobogil, a voivode overlord that conquered and killed at whim. His army held the Khazars at bay, so his fief was expansive and the people fell under the shadow of his merciless rule. Soon, his bloodlust exposed him for what he was: an old and vicious vampire of the Tzimisce Clan, a spawner of monsters and legends of horror. The Shadow Lords refused to surrender their wilderness to Drago and went to war with the vampire and his army of freaks and devils.

The body count skyrocketed. Garrett soon felt compelled to join in. Already having earned the deed name Gate-of-Oak, he was a welcome sight in the battle. Single swats of his massive paws put down the lesser szlachta ghouls and he protected the bodies of wounded Garou despite the terrible injuries he often bore in return. The villages he visited were often punished, too, despite his intervention. People were kidnapped and murdered wholesale. There seemed little he could do.

Fortunately, a Regalia that year offered him (and all the Gurahl) a wonderful and unique opportunity. He was given to the Rishi Auspice, an unusual honor for such a young Gurahl. In that role, he could take advantage of his unique relationship to the Garou to try to establish a lasting peace. In return, the Forest Walkers would help the Shadow Lords fight the vampire.

The battle began by repelling the dark forces of Drago from the village and back to his castle stronghold. There the assault truly began, as werewolves and werebears Raged against the stone and spells of Drago’s evil haven. His home could not withstand the combined assault and soon his halls were painted red with the blood of his minions. Drago himself was cornered by a Garou hero and Garrett’s mother. Garrett meanwhile remained at the drawbridge, defending it alone against who would flee or try to reinforce the vampire. Few did. Instead, he heard the horror of his mother’s agonized roar. He almost abandoned his post, and did once he saw a single bat flap away from the tower. Drago escaped. Garrett raced inside to find that the Ahroun had been slain and his mother worse: she had been struck down only to be, as a cruel torment, drained of blood and changed into one of the undead: now Umfalla, an Abomination.

Death Bear

Before the surviving Garou could slay her, the Forest Walkers spirited her away quickly. Garrett prayed for a way to save his mother. She was chained down in silver and sobbed miserably from the horrible curse laid upon her. That night, he received an omen. All his life, he followed the aspect of Ursa Major. Now Mangi, the Death Bear, challenged him. He answered that challenge, swearing he would do anything to save his mother. He was drawn into Geth-Rura…and faced the Death Bear himself.

Blood and tremendous roars rocked the Umbra. No one was witness to the duel but it reverberated throughout the land, in the dreams of the Gurahl and spirits alike. Garrett fought death itself, seeming to know without being told that the true fight was will to will, not claw to claw. When it was over, Garrett received a spirit-scar in his chest and was presented with an ancient fetish war-axe. “This,” explained Mangi, “will save your mother: use it to strike down the demon that cursed her and she will be free of the Umfalla doom.”

So, alone Garrett ventured back into the wilderness. Drago’s castle had been cleansed but the vampire found a new home on the peak of a mountain. The spirits led Garrett to that place, for they found Drago as offensive as all Gaia’s children did. His foul magic had hollowed out the rock. Garrett climbed to the summit and roared a challenge that moonless night. Drago emerged and seeing but one young opponent, cackled and attacked. Garrett swung his axe and revealed its mighty power. The vampire fell to the vorpal blade in but a few fell swings, blows that separated its limbs and head from its trunk. Garrett chopped that leech up and left the bits for the sun to cook come dawn.

When he returned, with concerted efforts of the ritualists and medicine men of the Tribe, she was freed from that curse. But like all undead, to remove the “un-“ left her simply dead. Garrett mourned his mother, his Buri-Jaan, and helped bury her. What Garrett did not realize was that the powerful old vampire was not slain, and his monstrous powers reconstituted his body as a pool of blood before sunrise. That blood slithered into darkness and into torpor to regain strength.

The Long Sleep

Garrett suffered a similar fate. More deeply wounded by the deadly despair of Geth-Rura and the vampire’s horrors than any injury, he was on the edge of Bhernocht. Time was needed, the elders advised, for his mind to recover from the losses he had endured. Garrett was honored for his success against Drago, his duel against an avatar of Mangi, and for bringing the Garou and Gurahl back together – at least locally. Indeed, a peace was honored between the Shadow Lords and Gurahl of that region for over 1,000 years more. As the Children of Bear became rarer, the Garou forgot the treaty. When the Baba Yaga arose, all such treaties were forgotten. But until then, Garrett had left a great legacy behind.

So, it was with such honor that he yielded to their advice. He was put under the Rite of the Long Sleep, with the condition being that he awaken when the psychological anguish of his battles subsided. Unfortunately, that condition was not well-declared. Garrett slept in a deep underground earthen chamber far from any human ruins. He was forgotten as that council of elders perished or dispersed, and all memory of his long sleep passed into history. The lands and peoples changed radically over the centuries and still he slept a dreamless rest, completely unconscious and frozen in time.

I’m back. What’d I miss? OH, SHIT!

In 2000, he finally re-awakened. Strangely, his psyche had not fully healed but he stirred anyway. Garrett crawled from his warren in the middle of a now thin forest and gaped in absolute shock. The modern world had risen up around him. Had a Great Grandfather issued summons? Garrett was compelled to travel across the world. He stumbled in fear and wonder, but tapped his strong will and quiet watchfulness to adapt the best he could. Soon, he was flying (?!?!?!?!?) across the oceans (?!?!?!?!) to America, where he felt compelled to seek out the summoner.

There he attended his first Powwow in 2006, meeting numerous Gurahl from different Tribes and walks of life. They were both sympathetic and amazed at his story and background, and helped catch him up to modern times. He learned English soon enough and was encouraged to find his own place in the modern world on Gaia. So much had happened, he did not even know where to begin. Wide-eyed in shock, Garrett stumbled across the country in search of a new vision for a new life in a new world.



Past Life


Garrett can remember very little of his ancestors. His memory is still quite sluggish from his extremely long hibernation. When he concentrates on his own body through the talent of biorhythmics, he can tap a bit of his past lives. But mainly he recalls only a nightmare: an ancient undead monster that plagued the lands with horrible creations warped from the flesh of men and beasts. This old voivode long tortured Garrett’s homeland and he helped fight the monstrosities, but he was obliged to enter hibernation before the vampire was vanquished. He fears it still “lives” and may even remember him for daring to oppose its demonic schemes.



Battle Scars


Class: Superficial
Description: Criss-crossed marks across torso
Location: Chest, upper arms, brow
Origin: Many battles in the past from enemies with silver blades or deadly talons.
Effects: none

Fetishes


Axe of the Death Bear
Level: 5
Gnosis: 8
Origin: Garrett earned this powerful weapon from Mangi in an Umbral trial that tested his role as an arbitrator over life-and-death matters.
Description: This is a medieval battleaxe of exceptional quality. The haft appears to be ancient oak, well worn, but it is quite sturdy. The broad single-sided axe head was forged from the finest Alani steel. Ancient Gurahl glyphs were emblazoned into the axehead. The edge never dulls. The weapon, once dedicated to a wielder, expands based on his current form (Homid, Arthren, or Crinos).
Effects: 1) inflict aggravated damage; 2) if enough of a clean hit on a targeted limb is made (5 successes on a called strike to a specific limb), that limb is severed (inflicting death if the target is decapitated)
Activation: 1) A brief and quiet prayer in Gurahl to Mangi must be uttered.



Significant Other


In October of 2006, Garrett encountered Joanna Volker in a most unfortunate circumstance. Joanna was sniffed out to be lost Kinfolk – except of two breeds at once. She was Gurahl and Get of Fenris Kin. Garrett clashed with a pair of Fenrir attempting to bring Joanna into the folds of their tribe. The Garou were driven off by the unexpected and mighty werebear and Joanna brought to safety. She was flabbergasted at all she learned that night, and soon came to depend upon the reliable Gurahl for protection and comfort.

Alas, though they cared deeply for one another, to his deep dismay the Rite of True Mating did not indicate that she was a proper mate for him. It appeared that she was meant for the Fenrir after all. While she has not thrown herself to the wolves (so to speak), Garrett has reluctantly backed away from the young woman.

Joanna

Weakness
Huh?


What year is it? Gee, did Garrett ever oversleep. He's more than anachronistic, he's lost. Slowly, he's picking up where he left off (was left). But he's got centuries to catch up with and a milewide bearish stubborn streak to overcome before he can accept not only modernity, but the tragedy of his and his people's fate.

Likelihood of Corruption


Low.

Though he packs a great deal of Rage, Garrett has always been steady and firm against himself as much as others.



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