Category:Rokea



Setting
The Rokea have existed for millions of years, they are enigmatic to all who dwell on the surface which they call the UnSea. They are creatures solely of the Wyld, or Kun as they call her, and as such their concern is for Sea and Kun. They suffered heavy losses protecting their caerns during the Caern Plague and the assault by underwater Fomori and aquatic Thunderwyrms. This assault hit so many of their caerns at once they simply did not have the numbers to protect all of them; most were destroyed. Combine that with their already weakened state due to pollution there was no chance for them to defend the caerns. This has led many of them to seek allies upon the Surface, or knowledge and power in places far darker than any Garou would willingly choose. They blame the Weaver for this, and they are correct in part as it is the Weaver’s chosen children, the humans, who are ultimately responsible for their predicament.

In 1955 the US tested a Nuclear Bomb off the coast of California over the water, a location that seems arbitrary but it was also the location of the Great Gam, that called the Rokea people together. The nuclear attack, as the Rokea see it, killed nearly ten thousand Rokea, leaving them only a few hundred survivors and those who were still arriving. As such a Ban went into effect disallowing the Rokea to venture onto the surface. This ban did not get lifted until after the Caern Plague, when the Red Talons gifted the Betweeners with Caern Seeds from their Great Caern, which they planted in the waters, to save the breeding grounds of the Rokea. They had one great Caern left, and as such armed with this new knowledge they began to cultivate their own Seeds, and plant them. However with so few Rokea, their focus has been on breeding and making more Rokea. Primarily the quick growing Shark Species, Hammer Heads and Bull Sharks, which make up about 70 percent of the population now. Their numbers have risen up in the last decade to about double what they were in 2012, but still nowhere near the numbers they need.

The Battle of Crescent Moon
Few Rokea participated in the Battle of Crescent Moon, those who did were Betweeners, or Tainted Consumption. These Rokea showed up as allies of the Garou Nation, as partial repayment of the Debt owed to the Red Talons and to seek knowledge they needed to help protect the Sea. They returned to the Sea with their newfound knowledge and spread it across the Rokea’s minds by Sending far and wide. The Few Same-Bito, the Betweeners of the Emerald Courts that followed by their Daimyo’s sides; Kitsune and the Dragons, fought alongside their more western cousins both learning to show each other respect after the battle by not fighting one another in duels to show who was right in action.

Grotto of Burning Waters
The last remaining Grotto in the World, Burning Waters is jealously guarded.

Leadership
Totem: Atlantic Goliath Grouper

Grotto Apex: Dimwater Prime: Deep Sea Lullaby, Of the Deeps - Fury of the Sea - Frilled Shark Darkwater Prime: Dark Eye Watches You Die, Of the Deeps - Tainted Consumption - Shortfin Mako Brightwater Prime: Razortooth, Of the Deeps - Betweeners - Great White

Commandments of the Deep
The Laws of the Rokea are simple and few, also often called the Laws of the Sea, each Rokea is expected to uphold each one, though often interpreted differently depending on who is asked.

Survive - Swim - Hunt - Spawn

Rokea Lexicon
The following terms have been adopted for use in the current chronicle. They are optional for PC use.

Spiritual

 * Sea: The oceans and seas of the world; describes both the physical ocean and the Celestine who rules it. Interchangeable with Gaia, whether they are the same Celestine is unknown.
 * Three Daughters: The undersea Triat: Kun, C'et, and Qyrl.
 * Kun: One of the Triat, the incarnation of creation and fecundity, analogous to the Wyld.
 * Qyrl: One of the Triat, the incarnation of destruction, ambition, and entropy, analogous to the Wyrm.
 * Kraken: The Beast of War
 * Charybdis: Eater of Souls, or the Great Whirlpool.
 * Bašmu: The Defiler Wyrm or a horned venomous Snake of untold size.
 * C'et: One of the Triat, the incarnation of stasis and permanence, analogous to the Weaver.
 * Leviathan (Age): A Rokea that has lived for thousands of years, often leaders of the Rokea people.
 * Long Swim: The Rite of Passage all Rokea go through, it is not given, it is a spiritual awakening followed by a journey that leads them to a Grotto.
 * Awakening: For Squamous the transition from Kadugo to Rokea is a gradual awakening of intelligence beyond what they knew as shark Pups. For Homid born it is a violent affair of Rage and Blood, usually, though it has on more than one occasion happened without the threat of Kunmind, it is a distinctly individual experience for each Rokea, even Squamous.
 * Sending: All Rokea communicate by Sending. They do not need to speak words and communicate telepathically with images, sounds, and emotions.
 * Rorqual: While most species of whale and some species of dolphin are considered sacred, not all of the species members fall into these. These are unique, a half spirit half flesh creature very much like the Rokea, but without the ability to shift. They can communicate and often make Spirit Pacts with Rokea functioning as a source of Gnosis. They are protected as if they were Kadugo, even though they are not.
 * Breakers: The Spirits of the Sea and UnSea’s meeting, the breaking waves, form a spirit that can communicate with those of UnSea and Sea equally
 * Brightwaters: The Warrior Auspice
 * Brightwater Prime - Sometimes called Qyrl’s Foe; analogous to Wyrmfoe of Garou.
 * Dimwaters: The Judge and Singer Auspice
 * Dimwater Prime - Sometimes called Senders or Judge; analogous to Tale Singer or Trutch Catcher.
 * Darkwaters: The Spiritual Auspice
 * Darkwater Prime - Sometimes called Spirit Speakers; analogous to Master of Rites.
 * Apex: The term used for the Rokea Leader of a Grotto.

Ranks

 * Leviathan: Legend (Generally one of each, Brightwater, Darkwater, Dimwater act as the Rokea’s council of leadership). All are also millions of years old.
 * Of the Deeps: Elder
 * In the Cold Sea: Athro
 * In/On the Open Sea: Adren
 * In the Shallows: Fostern
 * On the Surface: Cliath, all Rokea who finish their Long Swim make it this Rank upon their arrival at a Grotto.
 * Pup: Any freshly changed Rokea on their Long Swim to a Grotto.

Tribes

 * Karkha - White Shark - This tribe also includes their cousins, Thresher Sharks, Porbeagle Sharks, and Salmon Shark.
 * Spynha - Hammerhead - All species of Hammer Head Sharks.
 * Lexcha - Bull Shark - Bull Sharks and a handful of other Requiem sharks.
 * Galchurva - Tiger Shark - The three species of Tiger Shark and their ancestor the Megalodon.
 * Ixya - Mako - Long and Short Fin Mako sharks.
 * Mitsukurina - Goblin Shark - Goblin Sharks and Frilled Sharks of the Pacific Ocean, mostly.
 * Other Tribes have grown so small in number and so rare that the they no longer qualify as tribes and most have been adopted into another tribe over time, save for the Greenland Shark which has remained mostly isolated in the North Atlantic.

Forms

 * Long Fins: Human Form
 * Glabrus: Near Human form also called Roundback
 * Gladius: Like the Garou’s Crinos form, but Sharkman, also called Standing Jaws
 * Chasmus: True War form for Rokea, the massive shark form that causes nightmares in humans, also called Fighting Jaws
 * Squamus: Shark form, also called Swimming Jaws

General Terms

 * Oversea: Sky; the term used to describe both the physical sky and the Celestine who rules it
 * Wound, the: The sun. Sometimes called the Great Wound.
 * Oversea's Balm: Moon, sometimes simply called the Balm
 * Balm's Blood: Silver
 * UnSea: Any land
 * Dirtwalker: Derogatory term (usually) for a land-dweller
 * Kadugo: Human Rokea Kinfolk, also used as the term kin by a few
 * Kunspawn: Rokea; generally, it is only other shifters who refer to them as ‘Rokea’
 * Same-Bito (sah-may-bee-toe): Rokea; this term is used by the Emerald Courts.
 * Kunmind: Frenzy, not viewed as a bad thing. Rokea Embrace their Rage
 * Gam: Analogous to Moot, thus a Great Gam is a Tribal Moot
 * Mammal: A dirtwalker, with slightly less insult
 * Sea's Soul: The Umbra (on land, referred to as UnSea's Soul)
 * Slew: A “Pack” of Rokea
 * Small Seas: Lakes and rivers
 * Small Wounds: Old term to describe stars. Now commonly used to describe nuclear explosions
 * Undersea: The sea floor
 * Lamprey: A vampire; commonly used by Betweeners
 * Sea of Balm’s Blood: The Erebus-equivalent realm of the Rokea
 * The Ban: Refers to the ban on travel to UnSea
 * Betweener War: What the Fury of the Sea called the culling of Betweeners, which the. Betweeners call sanctioned murder
 * Turna’a Event: It was 1955, as the Dirtwalkers marked time, and the Rokea gathered to discuss unusual changes in the waters. Representatives from all regions of the Sea came together in a place called Turna’a, off the coast of a place that humans named California. Before a decision could be reached, a nuclear warhead detonated above them, slaughtering the Rokea leadership and scattering the rest of the Rokea into isolation.

Rokea Tales

 * History of the Grotto of Burning Waters