Sept of Hidden Green

Caern

101 Collins Street, Map 1B, L10

Level

2

Gauntlet:

4

Type:

Plenty

Tribal structure:

Open to those inclined to city dwelling, mainly Glass Walkers and Shadow Lords.

Totem:

Moodai the Possum

Geography

The Melbourne Business District rests on a mild slope, rising primarily to the north and the east. It is a grid work of perpendicular roadways, with small one-way streets running between the major roads on an east-west line.

Bawn

The entire structure of 101 Collins Street makes up the Bawn for the Caern. However, the sept often makes use of the Hyatt Hotel next door, and thus treat the building as an extension of the effective bawn. Owing to it's location in the very heart of the city, the sept keeps a close eye on all goings-on in the Business District as a general rule.

The huge foyer with its marble facings, towering artwork, pillared corridors and splashing fountains are used to great effect by the Sept to put humans into a vaguely quiet reverent mood, and also to disconcert more rural Garou.

The Centre

The Caern has proven itself to be exceedingly hardy and adaptable to changing circumstances, as it would need to be given it's site. The present centre of the Caern is in the penthouse on the top floor of the building. The penthouse is very large and spacious, providing accommodation for the sept members. In the middle of the level is a large glass-roofed arboretum, filled with a large variety of plants in a climate controlled environment. This arboretum is the centre of the Caern.

Landmarks

The number of landmarks in the area is too large to list fully. A few of the more prominent ones are Flinders Street Station, the Bourke Street Mall, the Yarra River, the Treasury Gardens, the State Houses of Parliament, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the State Library and the Museum of Victoria.

Umbrascape

The city of Melbourne still has many of the original buildings still standing after more than a century. Thus in the umbra, many of these buildings can still be found. On other sites, old buildings long gone can be found in the place of modern skyscrapers. Some of these are faded and insubstantial, and some have faded altogether, leaving vacant blocks. As would be expected, the influence of the Weaver is strong here, and there is a impression of rigidity and timelessness. When moving through the umbrascape, Garou will feel that movement is more of an effort here, akin to wading through water This is just a mental sensation, and there is no actual impediment to movement.

In the several gardens which surround the city, the feeling of resistance falls away. However, even here the power of the weaver has extended. Most of the trees are draped with webs, and all looks fairly grimy. The umbrascape in the parks has also been subtly influenced by the muggings, assaults and drug abuse that occurs there. Minor banes often flit about, causing miscellaneous damage, and irritating Garou. Upon the ground, black silhouettes of people rest wherever someone has died, and treading upon them can cause unpleasant hallucinations.

The Umbral Caern is always carefully concealed with the Rite of the Shrouded Glen, such that from the outside the site appears to be occupied by the spirit of the previous structure. However, once inside the building, the true spirit of the Caern is revealed. The building appears as it does in the physical world, except that it almost glows with it's own radiance. Tendrils and vines reach down from the roof almost half the height of the building, entering through many windows along the way. In places the vines merge with umbral computer nets and cables, although what this may signify is not understood. The penthouse appears to be a wilderness dotted with furniture and other incongruous items. Only the arboretum remains indistinguishable from that in the physical world, at least from the inside. It is from the arboretum that the wilderness spreads into the penthouse, across the roof and down the building.

The Sept

Being placed in the middle of the city, there is little variation in the make up of the sept. Of the 18 sept members, 11 are Glass Walkers, 6 are Shadow Lords, and there is a single Children of Gaia. The members of this sept are amongst the busiest of any in the region, for their primary concern is the monitoring of human institutions for signs of Wyrm control, as well as keeping Weaver and Wyrm influence to a minimum. The leaders of the Caern concern themselves broadly with this business, with the packs being sent when corruption and control is detected.. In addition, the Caern itself must be carefully attended and monitored at all times, for being completely surrounded by the Weaver, it's constant encroachments must be continuously repelled. The sept must also watch out for Wyrm corruption, which can spring at them unexpectedly at any time.

Sept Leader: Felix Bertrand

Caern Warder: Drago Granasztoi

Master of the Rite: Stephanie Cusak

Gatekeeper: William Summers

Keeper of the Land: Robert Red-Dust-Plain

Master of the Challenge: Ion Apostolova

Packs

"The Alternative"

Elaine RDI, Asimov, Cameron Stills, Tony Cho Mi (Pack Leader), Yvonne Proven, Irena Sliviak

The Steel Hunters

Scott Rosen (Pack Leader), Adam Shergol, Ben Phillips, Follows-The-Moon, Claude Foucault, Tanya Muller

Conviction Made Flesh

Christopher Rourke, George Edwin Selwyn, Ximena Iglesias, Jana Ptaszynski, Baltazar Petrovic (Pack Leader)

Garou

Felix Bertrand

Male, Homid, Theurge, Glass Walker, Rank 4

Felix is the quintessential Glass Walker: urbane, technologically knowledgeable, highly connected and rich. Tall, impeccably dressed and in his late forties, Felix divides his time between running the sept, controlling his financial concerns, and monitoring the political and administrative scene. He has at least one house in Toorak.

Drago Granasztoi

Male, Homid, Philodox, Shadow Lord, Rank 4

Drago is occupied full time monitoring all that goes on within the caern's protectorate, and the CBD generally. With his craggy features, grey hair and steely eyes, Drago is an imposing figure to behold. He seldom leaves the caern, although he has several boltholes around Melbourne.

Stephanie Cusak

Female, Homid, Theurge, Glass Walker, Rank 3

A part-time financial analyst, Stephanie monitors the local financial sector and media for interference by the Wyrm or Pentex. Stephanie is an ordinary-looking women in her mid thirties who favours conservative attire. She lives with her husband, a Glass Walker kinfolk, and their two children, in Brighton.

William Summers

Male, Homid, Galliard, Glass Walker, Rank 3

William keeps careful track of state and federal industry, always on the look-out for Wyrm corruption. As he has several sizeable investments in such endeavours, he has slightly more motive. Bill is around thirty, has lost most of his blonde hair and wears glasses. He lives in an apartment in St Kilda.

Robert Red-Dust-Plain

Male, Metis, Ahroun, Children of Gaia, Rank 3

Robert's deformity is inescapable: his left shoulder is greatly hunched and his left arm is vestigial and useless. He spends his days lovingly tending the arboretum and studying it's umbral manifestation. Robert's Crinos form is covered with very thick grey-white fur. He lives at the caern itself.

Ion Apostolova

Male, Homid, Ahroun, Shadow Lord, Rank 3

Ion keeps busy tracking all activities of unions and organised crime. He personally exercises great influence in the criminal world. Ion is in his mid fourties. He is thin, handsome and athletic, and favours Italian suits. Ion owns a house in South Yarra, although he is rarely found there, being a great socialiser.

Christopher "Speaks with Silence" Rourke

Male, Homid, Philodox, Shadow Lord, Rank 3

Of working class backgrounds, Christopher had pulled himself up by the bootstraps into an economics degree before his First Change. Christopher has worked since then to build his own financial empire, intricately bound up with the rest of his pack and the sept. He is now without pack, as Conviction Made Flesh slowly disappeared around him. He suffered from some serious wounds during the attack on the Hive, and is still recovering.

Elaine RDI

Female, Homid, Ragabash, Glass Walker, Rank 3

Elaine is yet another Glass Walker computer whiz, who has garnered quite a reputation as a hacker called PEST (Pentex Eat Shit Tonight). An attractive women in her late twenties, Elaine entire wardrobe consists of track suit pants and a multitude of t-shirts. Elaine either lives at the Caern or crashes with friends.

Scott Rosen

Male, Homid, Ahroun, Glass Walker, Rank 2

Scott owns and reaps the rewards of a grimy but exclusive gym and fitness centre in Banana Alley. Having obviously utilised his own resources, Scott is severely pumped up, although only about average height. In his mid twenties, Scott has a dark complexion. Scott has a flat over his gym, although he often sleeps at the Caern.

Asimov

Male, Metis, Theurge, Glass Walker, Rank 2

A science fiction fan, Asimov is also a haemophiliac, rendering him more vulnerable in combat. Asimov's Crinos form is relatively thin, with blue eyes and brown fur tipped with white. Although his metis deformity does not preclude him from mixing with humans, Asimov's lack of socialisation means that he lives at the Caern.

Cameron Stills

Male, Homid, Ragabash, Glass Walker, Rank 2

Former street kid, gang member and petty criminal, Cameron is a political agitator and a fledgling back-room puller-of-strings. A dishevelled but otherwise non-descript individual, Cameron has learned the value of the right attire for the right occasion. If not staying at the Caern, Cameron could be anywhere.

Tony Cho Mi

Male, Homid, Galliard, Glass Walker, Rank 2

Tony has no concern but the defence of Gaia and the defeat of the Wyrm. All his time is directed to this end. A Malaysian man in his early twenties, Tony's handsome features are marred by a scar that destroyed his left eye: a present from a Black Spiral Dancer. Tony lives at the Caern.

Adam Shergol

Male, Homid, Theurge, Glass Walker, Rank 2

Adam has just graduated with a medical degree, but has decided not to actively pursue that field. He does volunteer work as a paramedic. Adam is in his mid twenties, an athletic individual with brown hair and a goatee who favours casual attire. Adam lives at the Caern, crashes with a pack member, or stays with his Kinfolk family.

Yvonne Proven

Female, Homid, Ahroun, Glass Walker, Rank 2

Yvonne secretly loves Tony Cho Mi, and disdains the human world for her role as Garou, destroying the Wyrm where ever it is found. Although small, Yvonne trains hard and studies martial arts. A beautiful blonde of around twenty, Yvonne lives at the Caern, although she has Kinfolk that she visits.

Ben Phillips

Male, Homid, Philodox, Glass Walker, Rank 2

Ben has recently graduated dux of Xavier College, and is "taking a year away from study" according to his unaware parents. Ben tries hard to be wise beyond his years, and sometimes succeeds. Ben still has to sneak out of his house at night, his parents being ignorant of his nature.

Follows-The-Moon

Female, Lupus, Ahroun, Shadow Lord, Rank 2

Although disdaining the human form, Follows-The-Moon studies the means by which humans control their environment and seeks to modify them for her lupus form. Follows-The-Moon is as large as she is intelligent, a hulking black and grey wolf, who lives at the Caern.

Irena Sliviak

Female, Homid, Philodox, Shadow Lord, Rank 2

Irena is distantly related to Drago Granasztoi. She is also beginning to compete with Ion Apostolova for influence over the organised crime scene, creating tensions in the sept. A stunningly beautiful Slavic woman with long black hair, Irena lives at the Caern or with one of her numerous companions.

Claude Foucault

Male, Homid, Ragabash, Shadow Lord, Rank 2

Claude regards humans as fairly inferior, and feels no need to participate in their world, although he often manipulates them to his own ends. In his early twenties, Claude is of average height, with a broad, handsome face and curly blonde hair. Claude tends to wear suits whenever possible. He lives at the Caern.

Tanya Muller

Female, Homid, Galliard, Shadow Lord, Rank 2

Tanya has great musical talent, and has a growing reputation in the independent music scene. Tanya is an attractive twenty year old, with long brown hair. She favours the ripped jeans and white T-shirt look, and always wears sunglasses. Tanya owns a house in Glen Iris.