Whether in the physical or Umbral realm, wereravens keep their eyes and ears open for hidden secrets and mysterious happenings to share with one another — and sometimes with their shapechanging cousins. Their fleet wings — and quick wits — can turn the tide for those who call the Corax their allies.

 

Seriously? Who writes this stuff? You’re never going to learn the real story about who you are from that hack. The only way to really understand the Corax is to get it straight from the raven’s beak… Fortunately — for you at least — I’ve got some time to spare, and I like the cut of your plumage. Grab a limb, and I’ll give you the real story about who we are and what we do.

 

History

 

So, ya want to know where we came from? Well, that’s a long story — but an interesting one. You see, we were the last Breed Gaia made. She’d wrapped up all the rest, and there was about fifteen minutes of total chaos while they all hissed and growled and postured at each other before She scattered them around the globe. Then she realized what she’d done and decided to make us. Why? So we could keep an eye on everyone else for Her, of course. You know how the littlest kid is always the one who runs to Mom with every little thing their siblings do wrong? That’s us. We’re the tattletales. She did us up just right for the job, too. You know why we can’t settle down? Cuz they’re everywhere, so we have to be, too. I mean, I like my cozy nest as well as the next bird, so to keep us from settling in, and taking the easy way out, She put wanderlust in our veins. Gave us the itchy travelling feathers. We’re built to go everywhere, see everything. No homebodies allowed. If there are secrets going on, you can bet there’s one of us, listening in, poking around, getting a gander — so to speak. And to make sure the other Changers didn’t strong arm us to keep us quiet about their blunders, She slapped us with a compulsion to talk to anyone who will slow down long enough to listen. We see something going on — we gotta spread the word. That kinda comes in handy for getting the rest of them to do their jobs, too. We notice something going on, point it out to the bears for cleanup, or the wolves for battle, and then we get to go back to doing what we do best… And what might that be? So, you know that “series of tubes” that most folks rely on these days for their informational access needs? No, I don’t mean porn — well, not just porn, anyway. The Net’s pretty much replaced newspapers, phone books, libraries — it’s where folks get the stuff they need to know. Us? We make the Net look like a buncha clay tablets with “Cleo Was Here” scrawled on them. We’re bleeding edge, eyes-in-the-sky, grade A, number one know-it-alls. That’s what we do, and we’re the best at it. We were built to get in, see what’s going on, and get the hell out so we can spread the word. Information’s no good if the messenger can’t deliver it. That’s one of the reasons we don’t really fight, in case you were wondering. Oh, we’re nasty enough in a scrap, and we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves, but the truth is we’re not built for going toe-to-toe. That’s okay, though… Fight sneaky, the way we do everything else, and you’re more likely to survive to tell a tale — or pull a prank — another day. See, that’s the other thing we’re good at… Pulling pranks. Not just to be funny (although that can be fun too). Most of the time, there’s a method to our madness, a lesson in the lemon-meringue. See, some folks just don’t listen the easy way. They think they know it all, or try to second guess why we’re sharing information with them. So, every so often, you need to set one of these bull-headed blow-hards up so he’s in a position to get what you’ve got to give. Then, once he’s wiping the banana cream pie off his face, you can tell him about the Pentex takeover that’s behind his favorite restaurant chain, or the fact that the “Kinfolk” he just boffed is doing double duty for a local Hive. You know, the stuff that hits a little too close for comfort. Oh, and speaking of close… You should know where your allegiances lie.

 

Unlike most of the other breeds, we’ve got two bosses: Raven and Helios. The Sun took an interest in us after we kinda tricked him into some stuff,

back in the old days… We showed him we were worth his attention, and got all sorts of Gifts as a thank-you. Some say it’s because we bring things into the light, but that’s neither here nor there. The other guy we work for, big surprise, is Raven. Gaia might have made us, but he gave us our spirit, our attitude, and our good looks. Everything we are, we got from him. So you owe it to yourself — and to him — to obey his laws. Find stuff. Tell people. Laugh, because the world ain’t getting any prettier. And most of all — fly. Why? Well, because you can. Once you figure that out, the rest is easy.

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Organization

 

Now, I appreciate you being all patient while I rambled on. You’re learning already. But, here’s something you gotta know: Once I finish teaching you the basics, you’re on your own. No making packs, or prides, or that kind of thing. It’s every Corax for himself, and that’s the way we like it. Now, don’t look like that. It’s not that we don’t like other raven Kin; hell, they’re the best company you can hope for. Every time you meet another one, it’s a chance to swap stories, compare notes, and have one hell of a good time. But we’re no good at forming permanent arrangements. Put five Corax in a room and you’ll get six opinions on what to
see next, and seven about how to get there. Sometimes, you’ll find gangs of Corax flying around together, mostly youngsters, but those groups never last long. Pretty soon, you lose your fledgling feathers and start to realize that you’ll cover more territory if you split up. Besides, kid — think about it. You don’t want anyone looking over your wing and telling you where to fly next, right? Even if they’re doing it with the best of intentions. Sure, we get together every once in a while to shoot the shit and exchange stories. I mean, what’s the good of gathering stories if you don’t get to tell them in front of a group every now and then? We call them Gathers — or Parliaments, for those that are feeling fancy — and that’s where we shoot the breeze, clap each other on the back when we’ve earned it by being especially smart, or upright, or brave… but mostly smart. (Corax use the same Wisdom, Honor, and Glory Renown as Garou, but especially value Wisdom. Renown is awarded — and stripped — at Parliaments.) As for specific operations, well, I can’t tell you much beyond “they exist”, because I don’t know. If you’re heading in a way that crosses winds with one of them, they’ll find you and tell you what you need to know about hooking up with them. What I can tell you, though, is that we’re everywhere. Off in the Umbra? We’re there, and some of us even like to come back. High tech, big business, politics? We’re there too. Japan? Europe? The Middle East? You name it, one of us has an eye on it. That’s another good reason to talk to all the Corax you meet, by the way. You’ll want folks to notice if you go missing, and with the sorts of stuff we poke our beaks into… Well, let’s just say that if you turn over enough stones, you’re eventually going to find more than dirt underneath one. Do your job right, and there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself in a heap of trouble soon or later. But that’s okay… we’ve got a lot of tools to help us out, these days

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CyberSpying

 

 

It used to be that if you needed to get a piece of information from one place to another, or to keep eyes on something from a distance, or dig up dirt on someone, spirits were the way to go. They can carry messages, listen in on conversations without getting noticed, or watch over an area without needing pit stops or sleep breaks. That made them pretty much the bees’ knees for those of us in the information biz. Things have changed, though, and technology has pretty much become the go-to tool for the bird-in-the-know. Any Corax is going to find a cell phone to be a near necessity for keeping on contact on the go, and if you can get your hands on one that works in the Umbra, better yet. I’ve heard there are some that go across the Gauntlet — Realm to Umbra and back — but I’ve never seen one first hand. If they do exist, they’re crazy rare and those that have them aren’t likely to give them up without complaint. Smart phones are super handy too — they’re like a phone, a mini computer, a portable camera, a GPS, a tape recorder, and a music player all rolled up into one. Yes, a music player. Quit thinking so literally! Sure, it’s nice to be able to listen to your favorite tunes wherever you go, but think outside of the box a bit. A recorder app, a playback feed, and you’ve got anything from a white-noise generator or sound effects maker to a blackmail material storage device. The possibilities are, as they say, endless. And speaking of endless, let’s not forget the web-with-no-end — the Internet! Between Facebook, Twitter, and all that jazz, almost everyone has some sort of internet presence — and online friends — these days. A couple of dummy accounts armed with stock photos and a fake bio, and suddenly I’m “friends” with whatever patsy I’m looking for more info on. If I’m lucky, he’ll keep a running dialogue with his hundred closest buddies about where he’s “checking in” for the meeting I want to listen in on. If I’m really lucky, he’ll jump on instant messaging and try to impress his new “follower” with some handy details that can be used against him. (Of course, if I’m unlucky, I might end up with pictures of his naked junk, but even those can be used for blackmail or sold off to the highest bidder — it’s gross, but hey, them’s the breaks in the info business.) If you’re not up for the eye-bleach risk, though, there’s still gold to be found on the Net. Government agencies are required to make certain files accessible to the public. So, a lot of that stuff we used to have to wing it down to the archives office to get a gander at is now available on a point-and-click basis through one website or another. Add in handy-dandy search services
like WhitePages.com and you’ve got a one-stop shopping center for info on your target, without ever leaving the comfort of your home. And that’s just the “open to the public” info — if you can get a hacker on your side, there’s almost nothing you can’t find out about someone. Debit card transaction records, ISP cookie files, internet site caches, phone and text message logs? Easy breezy, lemon-squeezy, if you know what I mean. That’s not to say that spirits still aren’t handy as hell; there’s still a lot of things that a vapor jaggling can do that a text message can’t. But these days tech is an important addition to any Corax’s toolbox, and let’s be honest — we can use all the help we can get to get the job done.

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