word on Metis's

an article written by a great Metis Rper, with a lot of good tips on playing a metis right.

What is a metis?
by ana mizuki

Let us start with the simplest question, what -is- a metis exactly? A metis is not simply a third breed of the garou race, a metis is a creature that is not all that based on the physical world or reality. A metis is born in a form of a monster, grows in the form of a monster and possibly thinks itself in the form of a monster. A metis is a creature that some garou say shouldn’t exist, others say is a result of too much inbreeding and some assume are of the Wyrm.

A metis is also a creature that is the most tied to the Garou Nation and the ways of its chosen tribe, over any sort of human view. A metis is also disabled in some way, whether minorly or looking like a huge mess of a wolf. Adding to all this, a metis is also a sterile creature in a culture which prides itself in lineages. A hated or pitied creature, out of touch with humanity and wolves and truly fitting nowhere.

Abuse and treating it right

One thing that needs to be made clear when dealing with metis, especially one of the more traditional tribes, is abuse. Nearly all material about metis focuses on this, from the Guardians of the Caerns section to any online guide. I’m not going to repeat what is being said or how widespread the abuse is, because I feel that part of the breed has been gone over multiple times. But if you are going to play a metis, you should at least take a bit time to read up on mental and physical abuse and how it affects children raised in it. A lot of this is dark stuff, but a huge part of playing a metis is dealing with a creature that has grown up in an enviroment of hate and mistrust and trying to find its own place in this world.

Why play a metis?

So, now that the disclaimer has been given, why play a metis at all? You cannot mate, you are the outsider and you are always defective. A lot of the stuff that online games thrive on is denied from your PC.

First of all, metis -know- the Garou Nation is a very intimate way compared to homid or lupus. To metis, the spirits and rituals are as farmiliar and common as to us watching TV or going to Church is. Their heroes are garou or spirits who did something great, same way we enjoy our Hercules or Supermans. As such, a metis is also the most likely garou to hold the least illusion of a tribe’s ways. Metis often are the most critical of their tribe, while at the same time being intensly devoted to it. If you want to play a character who is very much a part of the Nation yet also aware of why it is failing, a metis is a good choice of character.

Metis is also a good way-point for those wanting to play lupus, because they still have had reasoning since birth and are part of a culture yet are feral and animalistic in a lot of ways.

It’s just a homid with extra Gnosis, right?(A.K.A acting metis)

One of the greatest pitfalls of playing a metis, is treating the breed as same as a homid who has lived in the woods/isolated. While that can affect the character, a metis grows up in crinos form. Not only does that mean they grow up in a form with a sharp nose and hearing (unless their deformity denies them this), but they also grow up with a close understanding of canine way of life without being unaware of human reasoning. Instead of thinking metis as humans who are more feral, think of them more akin to androids or other artificial life-forms in scifi, or golems in fantasy. These creatures have human reasoning from the beginning, but they also aren’t human by their way or form. A metis may understand human worries, but compared to the ever present threat of the Wyrm and the fact that humanity has (according to the garou) messed things up, they might not feel empathy towards them like a homid would.

Adding to this, most metis also grow up with clear ideas of heritage superiority and strict rank that even lupus lack. Garou have been said to be zealots, and metis often are the grand priests of this by behaviour. They have gotten a lot of shit, yet still vouch that the way of their tribe is right because at least the tribe accepts them. Most non-urrah metis grow up knowing nothing of things like equality or fairness and might even consider those concepts useless.
But considering all of this weight of abuse and cultural justifications for it, how does your average metis act? Well, thing is that out of all garou, metis vary the most in how they act. Still, I’m going to give few pointers here for two extremes a metis can be regardless of a tribe.

Self-confident metis;
-Usually knows their abilities and knows their rights in the tribe.
-Can be obsessed with making up their birth or not, typically still has some sort of need to prove themselves though.
- Isn’t afraid to seek a pack or want things for themselves.
- Maybe wants to change the system or takes pride in overcoming its hardships.

Doormat metis;
-Usually very scarred or at least somewhat physically or mentally damaged outside deformities.
-Quiet, fearing attention, but typically also very bitter.
-Either believes themselves to be the scum of the earth, or hates the fact that they are so low.
-Don’t usually follow tribal stereotypes at all.

While doormat might seem unplayable, with attention, a doormat metis has a lot of room to grow is the game dictates it so. It’s important to note that these two are extremes, most metis fall somewhere in the middle.

Rank and Metis

Most metis will reach a cliath rank easily, they are born garou raised in the culture. But rising rank and going beyond is another matter entirely. Cliaths are the footsoldiers of the Nation, once you rise in rank you become more than that. And depending on the tribe, that can be a huge no-no when dealing with metis. There are a lot of metis who never can rise above cliath due to their sept essentially stonewalling them, or denying them the chance. It’s hard to gather renown when you aren’t sung about by galliards and harder still when some septs can get very liberal with ‘Do not Suffer Thy People Your Weakness’ regarding to metis.

However, it must be said that when a metis reaches a greater rank, they are counted as that rank by the Nation and have all the priviledges that rank brings. A fostern metis is going to count as fostern and so treating one as an omega while you are a cliath, is not wise. That is why it should be assumed that most metis who are fostern or above are going to be very aware of their rights and priviledges and use them.

Tribal views

Like I said before, one of the most important things that affect how a metis will act is the tribe. Here’s a short list of how most tribes -generally- treat their metis. There can easily be differences within the tribe, but these are general philosophies.

-Allowing tribes-
Bone Gnawers
Children of Gaia
Glass Walkers
Stargazers

-Accepting tribes-
Black Furies
Silent Striders
Get of Fenris
Shadow Lords
Uktena

-Metis disliking tribes-
Red Talons
Silver Fangs
Wendigo
Fianna are the worst with the treatment of metis, often taking their dislike to very abusive levels.