And now we hit the primates.
The opening fiction actually succeeds at being somewhat creepy, though that's probably because they used aye-ayes and those things give me the heebie-jeebies to begin with. The short version: scientist is with a group of local hunters, scientist sees curious aye-aye, superstitious locals shoot the aye-aye, a huge, spindly dark form destroys the scientist's lab and takes the body back in the night, giant flaming yellow eyes looking out from the dark filled with hate and grief.
The writing in this section is actually so not-shit compared to the usual I have to question what the fuck it's doing in here. Yes, there's some parts that stumble, but overall there's actually a nice collection of story fodder in here, to the point where (I thought I would never actually say this about this book) I might actually use some of it.
In fact, while reading this, I went to the index to see who wrote this, and discovered that the author also wrote the Wing-Folk breeds. I skimmed them, and all I have to say before we reach them is that she somehow managed to make were-hummingbirds fucking badasses.
Alexa Duncan, you're off the hook for now.
Back to the Royal Apes, though. The general tone is that looking at a primate is like looking in a skewed mirror for humanity, and judging by the twisted shit that humanity does to primates a lot of the time, the implications aren't pretty. For better and for worse, primates are a lot like humanity, whether it's gorillas chilling out in the forest or chimpanzees waging war on each other and devouring the babies of the losers.
Royal Apes have very few physical tells compared to other shifters, since they're so close to being humans in comparison. It's mostly minor stuff like orangutan-men with violently orange-red hair, or gorilla-men built like twelve quarterbacks. Most of their tells are behavorial, like smiles that seem like more of a threat, or preferring to be barefoot. In a touch I find kind of interesting, some shifters feel almost bald in human form due to how much hair they have in their animal form, and obsessively style and tend to "what little they have." Also, shifters with vibrantly colored animal forms like to wear loud, garish clothing.
Royal Apes can show up anywhere due to how tied they are to humanity, but have a slight preference for their natural ranges. They're omnivorous, preferring a vegetable diet except the occasions when they get an insane craving for very, very raw meat. This can either be sated by going to an all-you-can-eat buffet, or hunting down and eating somebody. This is stated with far creepier language than I'm using, basically being one of the only screwups in the chapter.
Royal Apes keep very close ties to their kin, whether animal, human, or shifter, and subject any newcomers to intense scrutiny. If you make the grade, you're kin, but if you fail, you're kept at arm's length. If you try to start shit with the shifter or their kin, praying for a quick death would be wise, because you're probably not going to get so lucky. Also, Alphas are shoehorned in once again (I've avoided mentioning this every single time because it gets really old), with one of the only other screwups in the chapter coming from the baboon habit of keeping (and abusing the females within) harems being mentioned, and said to be an example for some shifters.
quote:
Stereotypes
Man: Poor cousin! He fancies himself the ruler of the world, yet all the while the ground crumbles beneath his feet.
Mages: Parlor tricks bore me. Our own witches are far more fearsome. (This is so searingly, hilariously, flagrantly wrong that I'm tempted to make a mini-update showing how apocalyptically deadly a Mage who wants you dead can be, if there's interest.)
Vampires: What the undead do is their business, as long as they keep out of my house.
Werewolves: Any fight between us would leave each side too bloody to be worthwhile.
The first breed proper is The Hanumani Brahman. The first two breeds in this chapter are more loose social or regional ties than actual groupings of species. The Hanumani Brahman are a confederation of families from India and parts of the former British Empire that have a huge rate of turning out Royal Apes. They believe they're descended from Hanuman, a Hindu monkey-god. They put so much faith in their Royal Apes that as soon as one comes of age they instantly become the head of the household, unless one already is. The families are all insanely rich, but are slowly losing influence due to them refusing to admit any new families to the caste.
Most of the Royal Apes in the Hanumani Brahman are macaques or gibbons, or other primates native to the Indian subcontinent. Their Warforms are basically giant versions of their normal forms, and...well, there's actually a part in here that made me crack a smile.
quote:
In their wiry and ferocious War-Beast forms, they prefer to go naked or wear silk lungis or kurtas. After several spectacularly failed experiments with a Kevlar-silk hybrid armor, the elder Hanumani declared modern body armor "an unnatural contrivance." Many families still keep traditional quilted silk and leather armor, but this is mostly for show these days, much as a European noble family might keep a dusty suit of plate armor in the library.
In keeping with their snooty nobility, the Hanumani Brahman are all trained in archery from birth, and prefer to have other shifters or mercenaries get their hands dirty for them. They dress in preposterously expensive and classy clothing at all times, whether it's Italian-tailored suits or flowing silk saris. Many families directly run a shrine to Hanuman, and those that don't make frequent pilgrimages. Their upbringing makes them extremely pious and rather conservative, viewing alliances with non-Hanumani distasteful. However, younger Hanumani Brahman are starting to shake things up and go "slumming."
Mechanically, the Hanumani Brahman all have Magnificence for free. Their mechanical bonuses and penalties for their forms are interesting (albeit a bit powerful), except for a Health bonus to the Warform that is almost certainly a typo (it should be +2, but it's written as +7
). The real power comes when you remember the animal form has opposable thumbs. 
+3 Dexterity in animal form makes this frighteningly viable.
(That totally looks like a gorilla riding another one as a cavalry unit)
Next up is The Order of the Luminous Way of Sun Wukong. Christ that's a mouthful. Anyway, the writeup starts with a quick explanation of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, Great Sage Equal To Heaven, and Greatest Troll Of All Time. For those of you who haven't read Journey to the West, first off, smack yourself in the face, and second off, go read it. If you're too lazy, the extreme short version of what's relevant is that Sun Wukong is a hilariously arrogant jackass of a monkey who tries to get into the Heavens, and tears shit up when they treat him like an idiot (because he sort of is one.) Eventually, the Buddha himself comes and lays a philosophical (and somewhat literal) smackdown on Sun Wukong, dropping a mountain on top of him for 500 years as punishment for wrecking the Heavenly Kingdoms. He was released to be the bodyguard, guide, and traveling companion of Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk traveling to India to bring back the Buddhist sutras there.
The Order uses Sun Wukong's role as liason between Beast and Man as inspiration, and serve to protect beast from man, and man from beast. They murder poachers going after apes, but they also kill man-eating baboons or displace especially troublesome monkeys. Initiates to the Order must be simian shifters, and accept a life of ascetic Buddhism in the style that Sun Wukong did when freed. Interestingly, the tenets of Buddhism turn out to be great ways to stave off Harmony loss. However, if their Harmony goes too low, they end up like Sun Wukong himself before his imprisonment, violent and destructive tornadoes of chaos and dickery.
The members of the Order have rather normal human and animal forms, but their Warform is actually pretty damn awesome. In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong had a suit of golden armor, his eyes burned with gold, and he had a magic gold staff that could be any size between pin and pillar. The Order views an actual suit of golden armor as being incredibly impractical, preferring to think of their confidence and inner peace as metaphorical golden armor. Despite that, their Warforms have gold flecks in their fur, shining golden eyes, and their auras turn into searingly intense golden light to those who can see it.
Members of the Royal Apes that learn of the Order travel from all over the world to the few monasteries left that accept newcomers, and while some leave early, those that emerge at the end of their training come out as wise monks and incredibly disciplined warriors. Yes, the monasteries teach a modified form of Shaolin kung-fu to the students so they can defend themselves in the world, and the training is so ingrained, the Order's breed bonus is they are able to use Fighting Style: Kung-Fu in all their forms. Yes, this means there's the distinct possibility that fighting one of these guys means you're fighting a giant gorilla in Buddhist robes that knows kung-fu.
Like I said, I might actually USE some of this.
However, their form bonuses are slightly disappointing as it's literally a copy-paste of the Hanumani Brahman.
Next is the Abathakathi, the witch-mandrills of Africa. Superstition in remote villages of Africa means that many Changing Breeds are horribly murdered or driven out, and abathakathi (the term, not the breed) are children, usually female, who are saddled with blame for all sorts of blights and diseases due to purported sorcery. The ordinary children saddled with this title are usually killed, while those who actually are shapeshifters usually have their first change while being threatened with death. The fear, hate, and bitterness at being driven out causes the Abathakathi to actually learn the talents they were said to have, and seek revenge on Mankind, 'adopting' rape victims seeking abortions, jealous husbands and wives seeking poisons to kill their spouses' lovers, and others consumed by hate and fear. They essentially become avatars of the vicious cycle, perpetuating the same hateful myths and acts that led to them becoming what they are.
The Abathakathi breed bonus is pretty lame: "You can buy Beast Magic! But not at a discount or anything. Please disregard the other breeds earlier that get free Beast Magic."
As far as stat bonuses go, they're basically ever-so-slightly faster and tougher than other primate shifters.
In the Other Breeds, we have two (technically three) more left.
First are the Tothians and the Babi-Ahsh, baboon-shifters with innate magic. Apparently, the first baboon mated with a falling star and had two kids, whose descendants are these two groups. Tothians follow Thoth, the Egyptian god, and approach their magical nature with a scholarly, regal bent. Babi-Ahsh, meanwhile, are much more visceral and spiritual, reading entrails for hints at the future, running naked screaming at the stars, and the like. While the stat spread continues to be
, the breed gives the choice between innate Beast Magic (Tothians, Mage spells) or Spirit Gifts (Babi-Ahsh, Werewolf Gifts).Lastly are the Hugranjah, the shadow-men, the were-bigfoots. Yes, were-bigfoots. The book's unclear about whether sasquatches are their own animals with their allotted shapeshifters, or if it's just a bizarre quasi-breed. The oddly human camps with huge footprints that monster hunters find could be explained by shifters like this. They're intentionally incredibly mysterious, hanging between myth and reality, shadow and sight, here and there. Their breed bonus is an extra two successes to any successful roll based on stealth or avoiding detection (sasquatch hackers, anyone?), and the stat spreads in their forms are actually the best in the chapter for depicting large primates like gorillas or orangutans. Also, even their 'animal' form (Bigfoot; the Warform is a giant smelly Bigfoot) triggers the Delusion.
Next time: The Spinner-Kin. Or the Mage thing, if people would like.
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