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The Lions are a small Camp of the Fianna tribe. They have only emerged in
recent years, but they claim that they have always been there, since what they call the
Time of Shame. Some look at them with suspicion, but their record speaks well for
them. Although they are few, they have a savage strength and dogged determination
in the face of the Wyrm’s minions which has won them great renown in the short time
since they have made their existence known.
Like the Brotherhood of Herne, the Whispering Rovers and the Grandchildren
of Fionn, the Lions of Winter are as much an ethnic subgroup as a political Camp.
Almost 90% of the Camp are homid, of the rest, most are metis. They tend to be lean
and wiry, dark of hair and eye, and dark-furred in their lupine forms, and they proudly
trace their heritage to the Pictish kin of the Fallen White Howlers.

The Time of Shame

The Lions tell a story of their origins – which is fiercely, even violently, denied
by other Fianna – in a past age which they name the Time of Shame. They speak of
long wars between the Fianna and the Howlers, and the coming of the Wyrm which
ended those wars. They tell of the fall of the Howlers in the prideful descent into the
blackest of the Wyrmholes which had burned from deep within their beloved country,
and the coming of the Black Spiral Dancers. They speak also of the renewed warring
between the Garou, of the horror of the Fianna at finding the Howlers not just their
enemies, but the servants of the Wyrm. This much all the Fianna tell, but beyond this,
the Lions speak of the Shame.
According to the Lions, the Fianna set out to exterminate the Howlers’ Pictish
kinfolk, or as near as they could manage. The bloody massacres that followed in the
highlands were of a kind unseen since the ending of the Impergium, and the ancient
spirits of those hills would not cry again with such horror until the Clearances a
millennia later robbed them of so many more of their children. But worse than this
slaughter, the Fianna strayed from their purpose. Caught up in bloody rages, robbed of
every vestige of civilisation, a small but worrying number of the Fianna found
themselves succumbing to the Thrall of the Wyrm in their frenzies.
Whole packs would feast on the flesh of their fallen foes, and there was by the
end as much rape and mutilation as actual killing. Horrified, the Fianna called off the
hunt. The packs who had partaken in the harrying were subjected to brutal inquisition,
and more than a dozen were adjudged to have committed offences so foul that – even
given the extenuating circumstances of the Wyrm Thrall – the Elders had no choice
but to put them to death. It was many years before the Fianna returned to the
highlands, save to battle with the Black Spiral Dancers themselves, and none would
speak of the Time of Shame again. But secrets have a way of getting out, and bloody
bones in time will be uncovered.
The legacy of the Shame lived on, and children were born to the kin violated but
not slain by the Fianna. Occasionally, a child would be born to the Dancers who bore
the look of the old Howlers, such occurs to this day; sometimes, one would have the
look of a Fianna. But as the blood spread sometimes, just sometimes, such a child
would be lost to the Dancers. In most cases, the good fortune of the child would not
last, and in short order he would be hunted down and rounded up, if his blood did not
call him back to the glens to be taken. From the exceptions, from those that the
Dancers do not find, come the Lions.
Kin to the Fianna, bearing the blood of the Fallen Tribe, the Lions of Winter
have set for themselves a monumental task. It is their dream to one day return to the
dark places, and purge them of the Wyrm’s touch. They will cleanse their holy places
and their sacred stones, and they will return to stand tall among the mountains. Then,
they will call, and Lion will answer, and in the echo of his roar the White Howlers
will rise again. Truth be told, few enough of them believe it, but there are two facts
which the Lions hold as gospel: that their blood does call them back to the ancient
centres, and; that there is no-one else in Gaia’s realm with as much reason to hate the
Wyrm as they.

A Lion Roars:
“I know you want to go, lad. But you can’t. Over that hill is one of the bad
places, and we can’t let you go there. Now most Garou who heard a stripling like you
wanted to go to that place they’d kill you in a heartbeat, but we know better. So here’s
the pitch; join us, and one day, we’ll all go there, and clean that place out good. If
not… Well; I told you we can’t let you go there.”

Backgrounds
Most Lions have at least a few drops of Howler blood in their veins, and any
Pure Breed which they buy represents this connection. They tend to be small and
dark, with strong-boned faces, and if muscular they tend towards wiry or burly
physiques, rather than athletic.
Past Life is extremely rare, and almost invariably represents Fianna ancestors. A
Lion with Pure Breed 4 or 5, and dots in Past Life may choose to be able to contact
the spirits of ancient Howlers, and will gain great respect among the Camp for doing
so. There is a price however. Firstly, naturally no White Howler ancestor can ever
grant dots in Firearms, Drive, Security, or any skill involving post-Iron Age
technology. Secondly, any botch on the Past Life roll indicates contact with a Black
Spiral Dancer ancestor. This imparts a slight Wyrm taint on the character (although
this can be removed by a Rite of Cleansing), but more importantly alerts the
Ancestor-Spirit to the Lion’s existence, which can bring trouble down on his head if
his location is discernible.
Allies tend to be other Lions, although Contacts are less limited. Occasionally
Fetish will represent some ancient Howler artefact, but precious few of these exist
untainted and older Lions might be apt to challenge your right to possess such a
treasure. Drawn away from their homes and families (or separated from them after
escaping the Black Spiral Dancers) few young Lions have much in Resources, and
usually less in the way of Kinfolk. Some may have a Spirit Familiar, usually a lion or
a merlin spirit.

Merits and Flaws

The Lions may take any Merits and Flaws, but some are especially appropriate.
Berserker (these boys are really angry), Ancestor Ally (another Lion or even a Howler
if appropriate) and Immune to Wyrm Emanations (from lifetimes of exposure) are all
quite common, although unfortunately so are Insane Past Life (a Black Spiral
Dancer), Dark Fate (being drawn at last to the Labyrinth – Lions with this Flaw tend
to keep really quiet about it), Enemy (the Black Spiral Dancers know you’re out
there) and Short Fuse (as I say; they’re really angry). Also common – if the word can
be applied – among those with Howler Past Lives is the Flaw Intolerance: Fianna, or
more rarely Hatred: Fianna. Less understandably, the same Flaws crop up from time
to time with reference to the Shadow Lords, which is odd, considering that there is no
recorded contact between the two tribes.

Gifts
All Lions can learn the Level One Gift, Sense Wyrm, in addition to the regular
Fianna Gifts.

Totems
Most Lion packs follow – unsurprisingly – Lion. A few also follow Merlin.