There are some that wonder what goes on behind the eyes of a cat, and there are some that know. These are the Bastet. Nine tribes of enigmatic shapeshifters that are born of primal spirits and raised to watch over creation.
The Bastet are a mysterious and defiant race, many thinking that the Garou are nothing more than messy, genocidal dogs that have let the violence of their own nature go to their heads. Bastet believe that they have a higher purpose: to watch over the earth, taste the shadow's wisdom and bring it back to the Moon Mother, Seline, whose blessings created the changing breeds.
They are alluring folk, the Bastet. Sensual, exotic and enigmatic. For them, learning secrets is an artform, a divine right. They are the most glamours of the changing breeds with a keen grace and just as keen senses. This beauty has an edge though, for no animal is as loved and yet as hated as a cat.
Man-sized kitties with an attitude problem? Not likely! The Bastet are supernatural folk with a passion for riddles as well as a nose for trouble and a hunger for life. While every werecat is an individual, all of them share a few common things like birth rights, powers and weaknesses.
By human standards, a Bastet can be seen as being spiteful, cruel and savage. They are more refined than their Garou cousins, but they are still wild animal-folk who are fiercely passionate and amazingly territorial. Their kinfolk and prey hunted to near extinction has these huge shapeshifters fed up with the careless ways of humans and those who step on the kitties tail are going to end up with more than a few nasty claw marks.
The Bastet come from nine different families, or tribes. Nine ancestors plus a disowned sister. There were originally 11 families. One of them is now long extinct and one disowned. The nine tribes are:
The Bagheera, werepanthers and wereleopards embodying the noblest and most ferocious sides of the Bastet.
The Balam, werejaguars that had supposedly come from two different branches of the family and who now fight for their ancestral homelands' survival.
The Bubasti, an odd family who delve into the mysteries of magic and science in an attempt to uncover a way to reverse and undo the extinction of their Kinfolk.
The Ceilicans, werecats in the truest sense. They had supposedly died off centuries ago, but they still survive, hidden in the modern world and wreathed in their own madness.
The Khan. Mighty weretigers that have sworn to battle the Asura demons. If any tribe could lead that Bastet, it would be the Khan.
The Pumonca. Roaming werecougars who keep a close, watchful eyes on the North American lands.
The Qualmi, werelynxes that confound with their enigmatic remarks, riddling demeanor and tricksters' tales.
The Simba, prideful werelions, convinced that they were born to rule the other tribes by any means, including force if needed.
The Swara, werecheetahs, the embodiment of the messanger's speed and the traveler's urge. What is unknown to most Bastet is that the Swara hide a spiritual power that few werecats can match.
There is also the Ajaba, forsaken hyena-folk who were cast out of the Tribes long ago and were more recently driven from their homeland by the Simba's scourge.
The First Twins' cubs, the Khara sabertooths, are long gone. Their legacy being the primal bridge between the modern cats and their human aspects. The Chatro form brings forth that ancient primal fear in humans that lies at the very heart of cat-terror: memory of the sabertooth tigers from the earliest days of the Impergium and the culling of the human flock to keep distructive tendancies of them at back a millenia ago.
These tribes maintain a loose social structure that's held together by common blood and common purpose. The Bastet regard themselves as "the Eyes of Seline," guardians of the Moon Goddess and the companions of the Earth Mother. To the majority of Bastet creation is a gift, one that is tempestuous, at times dangerous, but exhilarating all the same. It would be a sad cat indeed that did not enjoy their existance for all it's worth for it is passion that lies at the heart of creation, the passion of the Nyota Jamaa who forever dance and fight, keeping the universe in a constant state of motion and change.
