Sept of the Sleeping Green

Location: Valley Reserve, Mt Waverley (Melways 70F2)
Level: 2
Gauntlet: 4
Type: Calm, Healing
Tribal Structure: Child of Gaia controlled, strong Bonegnawer presence, some Uktena. In theory, open to all tribes.
Totems: Duck

Geography

Valley Reserve is a node of pure bushland in an otherwise entirely suburban setting. It has never been logged, cleared or used for any European use, partially due to its marshy nature, and partially due to the strong Garou presence.

Valley Reserve is a side branch of the reserves that run along Scotchman's and Gardiner's Creeks. The areas along the creek are under the mortal control of Melbourne Water, whereas Valley Reserve is officially under the control of the Department of Conservation, and maintained by Volunteer Conservation Society.

The reserve itself is part natural bushland (especially around the creek and spring) and part grass- and parkland. The definition between the two is visually blurry, but regulartorily exact - beyond a certain point, bikes and dogs are unallowed, and many areas are fenced off for "revegetation".

Bawn

The bawn reaches out beyond the Reserve, along the Scotchman's Creek reserve, from Holmesglen Nursery on Waverley Road to Warrigul Road. In addition, many houses backing onto the reserve are owned by the Sept, and many kinfolk work in areas controlled by Melbourne Water.

The Centre

The centre of the caern is calming, especially at twilight. Many native birds flit from tree to tree, adding their music to the trickle of water along the creek valley. Outside sounds, especially the ever-present lawnmowers, are muted within the bounds of the reseve, and traffic and train sounds are faint and hard to hear without effort.

However, many of the Bonegnawers find it a little... outdoorsy. The ground is boggy, even in summer, and swarms of mosquitoes can be a real problem, especially at twilight.

Landmarks

The area around the caern is used by the locals as a park and picnic area. There is also a strong presence of the scouting association in the area - two scout halls lie within Valley reserve itself, while many more are situated on land that comprises the bawn.

Throughout the day, and in summer, early night, many people can be found walking the many tracks along the edge of the creek and through the parks. The Children of Gaia encourage, but monitor this activity - more people experiencing this natural experience, the better, but too much may damage the caern.

At the southeastern end of the caern, is a small pond. Many ducks, swifts, bellbirds, ibis, rosellas and other native burds cluster around the pond, whose cool waters are inhabited by some remaining native fish, and spanned by a low bridge. This pond is not entirely natural - a jumble of rocks and rubble was place at the mouth of a preexisting set of rapids to create the pond. The sept made sure of the goodwill of all spirits before engaging in such an alteration of the native states, and still honor some of the bargains made with the native spirits in return for their cooperation.

Moving further out from the caern, the Scotchman's creek reserve sketches from Warrigul road to Holmesglen Nursery, occasionally beoming no more than a walking track, or private land. In places the reserve is 100 or more metres across - these areas are used as flood control by Melbourne Water. Bike tracks run along side the creek much of its travels, and the water course itself is slowly being returned to a more natural look from its incarnation as a stormwater drain.

Places of note along the reserve include:

• Waverley Valley Private Hospital
  Although it concerns itself primarily with elective surgery, the hospital does have a large contingent of doctors specialising in natal care, and area where some of the sept are concerned. This interest often clashes with the Sept of the Healing Fist, which regards all hospitals as its exclusive domain.

• Bleeding Rock
  At a point where the creek joins one of its minor tributaries, some of the native sandstone is stained blood red, in the silouette of a Crinos. When the creek rises in flood, this rock stains the creek for nearly a kilometer along its length. The Garou of the sept believe that this was the last place that one of the Bunyip of its original caern fought and died.

• Holmesglen Nursery - (previously Victorian Schools' Nursery)
  This huge nursery-come-school is maintained by the caern as part of its re-education programs. It has a large part in teaching ecologically sound land management to tertiary students of Holmesglen Tafe, whilst primary and high school students often come there on half day excursions.

  

• Mt Waverley Shopping Centre
  A small 'community' shopping centre, the nearby site unwittingly provides the sept with a lot of its needs. A video store, two bottle shops, a Safeway and many other shops make up the centre, sprawled to the south of the railway station. Many of the sept work in the various shops, some even owning the businesses. Every 2nd weekend of the month, there is a large craft market in the centre square.

Umbrascape

The umbrascape of the caern centre is a pristine wilderness. Huge eucalypts loom into the sky, while around them are stands of ti tree and boronia trees, often at the edge of the marshiest ground. Further uphill, grasslands wave gently in the wind. Wyrm creatures apparently cannot stand the holy feel of the caern - weaver spirits, unfortunately are unaffected.

The creek itself is the spirit Kooyongkoot (waterfowl home). The Garou have made a pact with the creek that they will try and maintain it, keep it pure and clean, in return for Kooyongkoot allowing himself to be bound by weaver spirits along much of his length for the majority of the year. Once a year, Kooyongkoot is allowed to throw off the burden of the weaver constructs and rage along his bed, unfettered. When this happens, the Realm is often severely flooded much of the creek valley length, and people can be swept away. Only the fact that the creek valley is mostly parklands and the floods cause no damage to property can the Garou let Kooyongkoot do this.

Spirits around the caern include ducks, possums, bats and kangaroos and wallabies. Sentient spirits such as turongs and bullant people have been spotted, but they rarely interact with the Garou. Glade children inhabit some of the gums closer to the caern centre, as do other naturae.

The Children of Gaia do not have a Heroes Glade - instead, bodies of deceased Garou are given to Kooyongkoot to convey to the sea. Bodies do not float along the creek, but are absorbed into the spirit of the creek. At times are great danger to the caern, Garou-shaped bodies of water have erupted from the creek to battle alongside their more material collegaues.

Beyond the caern, things return to a near-standard city umbrascape. Along the parklands, wyld energies flow along, rejuvinating the parklands. Houses start right at the edge of the parks, as soon as the land rises high enough not to be flooded - some of these houses are owned by the Sept, and others by kinfolk. North of the park, the railway appears as a high conduit of Weaver energy in the Umbra. Crossing the creek south of the caern are many high voltage power lines, running along the creek for some distance. In the umbra, these huge line glow like fluroescent globes, held up every 200 metres by a metallic giant with 8 arms.

History

For 10s of thousands of years, the Boonoorung tribe lived in the area around the caern, described as "rolling land, moderately timbered with gum and box". With the european invasion, all was to change. The area was slowly cleared for orchards as well as livestock.

Andrew McMillan was one of the first Garou in the area. He was a Child of Gaia, and spent years circa 1840 getting to know the Boonoorung tribe - he in fact wrote of their calm, fun-loving demeanor, and remained in awe of their ability to live with the land, not on it. McMillan learned the Boonoorun language, shared food and campsite, and slowly started to draw the Bunyip out of their reclusive shell. Not once on this time did McMillan attempt to step within the caern bounds.

McMillan was on the verge of being accepted by the Bunyip when the War of Tears erupted. Bunyip, learning of the rabid packs of Red Talons and Get of Fenris coming their way, came to Mc Millan and offered him the chance to leave the area. He chose to stay and try and mediate. The marauding European garou ignored him and tore into the Bunyip. McMillan's carefully controlled Rage exploded and he singlehandedly slew 6 other Garou before being killed - perversely, the Get speak of McMillan's last moments glowingly, as one of the few Children of Gaia worthy of the name of Garou.

Athough they killed the Bunyip guardians, neither the Red Talons or the Get could gain control of the caern. They eventually wandered off, killed in another meaningless battle. It wasn't for several years that other Children of Gaia, following McMillan's notes, came to the site. They were too late to prevent the degeneration of the Boonoorung. The remaining tribe, those that hadn't died of disease, sucumbed to alcoholism or been killed by Europeans were moved to a reservation in Mordialloc.

The Children of Gaia spent years rededicating the site before even attempting to reopen the caern. Their calm demeanor, combined with their kinship to McMillan, caused Duck to be favourable to them and the caern was opened.

The next 100 years were quiet for the caern. Never with a large sept, the influence of Duck and the spread of the city led to a great deal of contact between the Garou and their kinfolk.

These links were instrumental in saving the caern on several occasions as mortal hands grabbed for more land. The sept forged its links with Melbourne Water (then MMBW) and helped spread the idea of radial parks along water courses.

In the 1960's a few young Bonegnawers, following the spread of shopping centres, joined the sept. Their numbers have grown as the Children of Gaia's have fallen, but they were never very interested in running the caern. Uktena aboriginals from the Northern Territory joined the sept in the early 1980's, more to investigate a reactivated Bunyip caern than out of interest in the sept.

The Sept

Sept Leaders:Alf Sankin (Arm of the Goddess) and Melinda Cousins (Voice of the Goddess)
Caern Warder:Melinda Cousins
Master of the Rite:Tusulla
Gatekeeper:Death-From-Above
Keeper of the Land:Alf Sankin
Master of the Challenge:Snarls-at-Pedestrians

Waters of Life

Totem:
Pack Leader: Gordon Domain: Melbourne Water, kinfolk Members: Carol, James
Notes: Waters of Life have been intimately involved with the state of Melbourne's rivers and waterways for the last twenty years.

Starcatchers

Totem: Starlight
Pack Leader: John Harding, Talechaser
Domain: Alternative paradigms
Members: John Harding, Teresa Zilovic, Marianna, Dharshani Ratnayake
Notes: Starcatchers concentrates on expanding the consciousness of humanity as well as Garou. They spend a lot of their time presenting alternative outlooks to the local surbanites in ways that can accept and trying to stir a sense of wonder.

Furry Anarchy

Totem: Raven
Pack Leader: Gavin Berkeley
Domain: Youth of Mt Waverley, spirits of the suburbs.
Members:Circuit Breaker, Michael Keller, Runs through Waves, Andrew Gianakopolous, Andrea Keller, Gavin Berkeley
Notes: Furry Anarcy act as bawn guardians a lot of them time. They can be found together or individually, skating or walking along Scotchman's creek. The clash rather badly with Snarls-at-Pedestrians who thinks that the pathway should be for bikes alone. The pack makes some effort to keep the other gangs and groups of young kids from doing damage to the bawn, and has made it known that they have 'friends' if any of the others need a hand with stuff.

Harmony's Dream

Totem: Meneghwo
Pack Leader: Dave Stephensbr> Domain: Unified Garou
Members: Karen Douglas, Alyssa Wentworth, Dave Stephens, Andrew James, Kristen Lawson, Ambrose Frith.
Notes: See here for more detail.

Other Garou

Mietta Trecelli, Ground-Runs-Red

Garou

Alf Sankin, Joy of the New Dawn, Child of Gaia Homid Ragabash, Rank 4

Alf is an aging, short, bulky man, with a shock of white hair. His face crinkles easily into a smile, and he truly enjoys new experiences. He regards his auspice not so much as a Breaker of the Ways as "Finder of New Ways". Alf has a special affinity with plants and birds. In his lupus form, he is a rounded wolf, with spiky brown and black fur, now turning white.

Melinda Cousins, Cousin to all Gaia, Child of Gaia Homid Philodox, Rank 4

Melinda is around 55 years old, and can only be described as spry. She is very thin, with midlength white hair. Melinda takes it upon herself to try and extend a hair to all of Gaia, and is often found walking the streets, keeping an eye out. She has a pleasant, if a little nasal, voice. Melinda's lupus form exudes friendliness, and is aging, but supple.

Tusulla, Learns-from-mistakes, Uktena Homid Theurge, Rank 3

Tusulla comes from north Australia, originally from the Katajunga Protectorate. She came to Sleeping Green to try and investigate the existence of a friendly reopened Bunyip caern. She is not an attractive woman, having had her nose broken and never properly reset in a fight. In her lupus form, she is a golden dingo with black patches and no fur on her muzzle.

Death-from-Above, Child of Gaia Metis Ahroun, Rank 3

Death from Above gained his name from his habit of attacking Wyrmlings by moving into the Umbra and climbing a tree, then falling on them in Crinos form. In lupus he is a large grey and white wolf - despite his Metis breed, he has a high Pure Breed. In homid form, he is medium height, bulky man. His metis deformity is his eyes - in all forms the irises are red, and he has taken to wearing sunglasses a lot in homid form. Dante (as he is known when outside of Garou society) is currently involved with Sarah Michigan.

Snarls-at-Pedestrians, BoneGnawer Lupus Ahroun, Rank 3

Born as a sheep-herding dog, Snarls at Pedestrians was always fascinated by the two-legs and their wheeled contraptions. After his change, he quickly learnt to ride a bicyle, scorning motorbikes for their lack of physical interaction. He quickly became known along the tracks of Scotchman's creek as a maniac, roaring along and snarling at any in his way. Snarls at Pedestrians' lupus form is a border collie - in homid, he is a tall young man with dark hair. He is firmly within the Bluey camp of the Australian Bonegnawers.

John Harding, Talechaser, Homid Child of Gaia Galliard, Rank 2

John is the owner/co-manager of the Brassend Bookstore and Newsagency. He is about 45, weathered looking with blond hair and blue eyes. His lupus form is surprisingly small, but very agile. John has a passion for reading, and collecting stories. He encourages the customers to read stories that are as original as possible, rather than the same pap again and again. He hopes to awaken the Wyld imaginations of those who follow his advice. He is occasionally involved with kinfolk in the scout movements.

Terri (Teresa) Zilovic, Spans the Hurt, Uktena Homid Philodox, Rank 2

Terri is one of the many Aboriginal children that was forcibily adopted out from her family. She was, however, one of the lucky ones. Her family, East European migrants, raised her to be self-confidant and proud of her culture. She grew up in Melbourne, and was brought into her first change by Uktena at the Healing Fist sept, but moved to Hidden Green in order to learn more about the Garou. It is her hope that she might be sufficiently close to the Bunyip to unlock their secrets. Terri is involved in a lot of work with the Aboriginal community, and owns and runs the Highway Gallery, devoted to promoting Aboriginal art and culture. In her lupus form, she is an almost solidly black dingo, with a single yellow tuft on her tail.

Marianna, Dances the Sky, Child of Gaia Metis Theurge, Rank 2

Marianna is active in more alternative life afirming movements than she can remember at any one time. Most of her activities are based around trying to reconnect humans to the Umbra. She dabbles in wiccanism and other alternative spiritualities, herbalism, cathartism and a billion other hobbies. Her metis deformity lies in her bones - they are extremely brittle, and break easily. Her lupus form is a dark grey-white wolf, extremely thin and delicate.

Dharshani Ratnayake, Ever Beating Heart, Child of Gaia Homid Ahroun, Rank 2

Dharshani is of Sri Lankan descent, having moved to Melbourne with his parents when he was young. He is an avid drummer, spending much of his time away from the caern practicing or playing. He is part of an all percussion performance band, and is known for his extended, frenzied drum solos.

Circuit Breaker, Glasswalker Metis Theurge, Rank 2

Known as CB to the rest of her Bonegnawer pack, Circuit Breaker is an Urban primitive. She wears torn clothes and decorates herself with fragments of the city. Her name comes from the intricate IC-like tattoes which decorate her arms and upper body - in the Umbra, these talens glow with a neon light. CB's metis deformity is that in any form other than homid, she has no hair. In homid, she has a thin mohawk of dyed-red hair, and multiple piercings; her usual clothes include army pants and a tank top.

Runs through Waves, Bonegnawer Lupus Ragabash, Rank 2

Runs-through-Waves was born in the wilds of the Victorian highlands. His ancestry includes cattledogs and dingoes, and his coat is mottled black, brown, red and white. He left his native range before his First Change and headed for the ocean, called there by some urge he couldn't define. He somehow made it, and underwent his first change there. Part of the Silverfang Sept found him and took him to the Sleeping Green. His homid form is a young male of about 18, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Andrew Gianakopolous, Blackfury Metis Galliard, Rank 2

Maybe 24, Andrew is only 4' 11'', of obvious greek descent. He always wears black jeans and a t-shirt depicting some metal band. His metis flaw (short) results in his crinos form only being 6' tall. Andrew lives in a dingy flat north of the caern, where the other pack members sometimes crash.

Michael Keller, Bonegnawer Homid Ahroun, Rank 2

Michael is young (~17) with dark hair, cut long on top, shaved below. He has a tanned face and medium build. He is extremely fast and agile. He tends to be sullen, rarely smiling in company. He is never seen without his skateboard. He, Andrea and CB all live in a share house together.

Andrea Keller, Bonegnawer Homid Ahroun, Rank 2

Exactly the same size and build of Michael, Andrea is obviously related. Her hair is shoulderlength, purple, with green locks. She is more likely to smile than Michael, and has picked up a habit of touching people that she talks to intently.

Gavin Berkeley, Bonegnawer Homid Theurge, Rank 2

Gavin has a fairly light build, with pale skin and fair hair. He is fairly quiet, and has a tendency to sit back and evaluate a situation before acting - he does not react well in surprises. Gavin is only 16, the youngest non-lupus member of the pack, but has the full support of the rest of the pack. He is currently doing a Fine Arts course at TAFE, but prefers the grafitti style. He creates fetishes from his artistry. Gavin is a little sensitive about his last name - not so much pronouncing it correctly as not making an issue about the "bark" part of it. Gavin lives with his kinfolk mother. (More Info).

Karen Douglas, Homid Ahroun Silent Strider, Rank 2

Karen is a social worker, very caring, very happy to see the best in people. She works with Scratches-at-Fleas in a shelter in Collingwood. She is also due to give birth about December 1997. (More Info).

Alyssa Wentworth, Forged-in-Fire, Homid Galliard Ronin, Rank 2

Alyssa, up until her First Change, was a society bimbo. She is currently engaged to Grant Healey, and has recently dicovered he is Silver Fang kinfolk. Alyssa is currently not recognised by her tribe, the Shadowlords, because of her interactions with Grant (More Info)

Dave Stephens, Binds-the-Wyrm, Homid Theurge Silverfang, Rank 2

Dave is a good country lad, living at Halls at Monash. His family are somewhat freaked by his changing lifestyle. He is now the packleader, after challenging and defeating Ambrose. (More Info).

Kristen Lawson, Dreamwalker, Homid Ragabash Blackfury, Rank 2

A quiet, somewhat reserved person, Kristen is a recent graduate of Monash University, majoring in Computer Science and Psychology. She has a slight... dynamic... problem after a long trek in the Umbra. (More Info).

Ambrose, Homid Ragabash Child of Gaia, rank 1

A recently discovered Lost Cub, Ambrose was the leader of a group of Homids dedicated to attuning themselves to Gaia. Of late he has been adopted by Sleeping Green and is currently learning how Garou things work by spending time with Harmony's Dream. (More Info).

Glory-to-Gaia, Lupus Ahroun Get of Fenris, rank 1

Sent by the Get of Fenris tribe as a replacement for Andrew, Glory-to-Gaia is a young European wold in lupus form. In his Homid form, he is apparently about 16, with blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in all leather cloths - most of which he hunted himself. He is spending a lot of time at Red Hill, with Ambrose's eldest daughter. (More Info).

Mietta Trecelli, Metis Theurge Silver Fang, rank 2

Mietta is distantly related to Dave Stephens and was a member of a Sept in Gippsland. However, she has recently opted to move to Harmony's Dream on a permanent basis.

Ground-Runs-Red, Homid Theurge Uktena, Rank 3

Ground-Runs-Red is a temporary member of the Sept. Her duty is to tend the binding on the Thunderwyrm that arose in February, and to instruct Tusulla in how to do the same. She is aloof and often preoccupied and does not interact much with the Sept at large.

Various older Garou

Most of whom are 60+, and spend most of their time in a semi-retirement at or near the caern. Adele, Edward, Thomas, Victoria, Ann, Charles, Eileen, Gordon, Edna, Grace, Basil and Ivy.

Sarah Michigan.

Sarah owns the house in which Harmony's Dream were first all brought together. She is also a teacher at Holmesglen tafe and is involved with Dante.

Tom Cousins

Melinda's youngest son, Tom now works at Silvan reservoir.

Stuart West Works at Silvan Reservoir

Melbourne Water.

Several kinfold hold key positions in Melbourne Water, and they have considerable influence over mortal affairs.

Holmesglen Tafe and Schools Nursery.

Several of the Garou and kinfolk of the sept either go to, or teach or work at both Holmesglen and the Schools Nursery.

Andrew James, Homid Theurge Get of Fenris, Rank 0

Andrew, before his first change, was an odd-jobs guys, coasting along having fun. He was killed when Harmony's Dream were on their Rite of Passage, consumed by the fire of the Feather of the Pheonix.