I love all the different types of Fera we have already (including the extinct species & various fan created ones) but I thought that there was an omission that I would like to see in WTA (if it hasn’t already been made somewhere & I’m just too new to realise) & that is were-goats since I feel like they could fulfill a unique role within Fera society/Gaia’s greater plan.



So here’s my pitch for Gaia’s Artisans, the Azael (were-goats)

* Breed Name: **Azael** (from Azazel Hebrew word sometimes translating to scapegoat)
* Original Role: Artisans, Bearers of Wisdom (unofficially take on the roles of the Apis)
* Renown: Cunning, Innovation, Wisdom
* Forms: Homid, Silenos (near-human), Baphomet (war form), Mallos (near-beast Italian for curly hair), Caprine (full beast)



Lore

Whilst the fact that all Apis died during the War of Rage is untrue (see cases such as the Minotaur) even fewer Fera know of their bastard offspring, save for perhaps the Mokole but even then it’s treated as mostly legend. Left unaided during the final days of the first War of Rage, despite their skills in matchmaking & continuing the survival of humans & other Fera they had neglected to continue their own kind’s existence & what few remained were either resorting to dark magics such as the rituals that would eventually birth the skin-dancers/stolen moons or resigning themselves to death. All save for a select group who had an idea so strange it could just possibly work; utilising an adapted form of the Rite of Earth’s Womb the Apis elders lead by **Pushan** (named after the Vedic god of marriages & cattle) knew that with the blessing of a Totem Spirit, fortunately Goat was willing to provide by creating a new Fera with Gaia’s permission for the spirit of the Apis to “hide” in so they could escape. This resulted in the birth of the first Azael, **Aegipan** who began the practice of keeping the spirits of the slain Fera alive & in power but never in power themselves as they were to be despised by other Fera for being the bastard children of the Apis, some extremists considering them a whole race of Metis & deemed a scapegoat doomed to wander. 



In modern times the Azael have largely managed to stay under the radar having learnt in their years of wandering across the world gaining knowledge from the similarly outcast Hollow Mages used in conjunction with their natural gifts & those borrowed from deceased Fera to create magic even Nuwisha are impressed by. Their inherited rituals to give health to ailing infants & the infertile are often misinterpreted as satanic rituals not helped by the fact they have to be in Baphomet form to activate their full potential (or the strange cosmic joke they have placed upon them where upon exiting the umbra they keep finding themselves in the middle of rituals, eventually they just learned to roll with it). They’ve learnt to lean into their role as the Fera’s scapegoat playing up their role as the false monster by making appearances in places such as Prince George in Maryland to spur the others into action against real monsters infesting the areas, content to allow the glory to pass whilst passing along their wisdom subtly (because Garou aren’t the biggest fan of “thinking outside of battle strategy”). 



Fun factoids: Much like certain Garou the Azael have also had some notable historical members in their ranks. 

Alexander the Great is theorised to be an Azael Ammon (their equivalent to Silver Fangs being the royals amongst their numbers) with his depictions on coins with his horns on display being a joke amongst his peers. He didn’t actually die from poison at all, he merely intended to fake his demise by performing a rite called the “death nap” where an Azael can temporarily pause all bodily functions and remain comatose but he was found before it wore off & awoke to find himself having to break out of his own sarcophagus.

Lord Byron was also an Azael, his so called “club foot” was actually a goat’s hoof & his poem Darkness was a subtle message in defiance of the Wyrm. 

Willem Dafoe is also an Azael. It turns out that in addition to magic, thanks to certain… gifts from the Apis they’ve also been able to procreate with great efficiency (need I remind you how it was described as “confusingly large”)



Anyway what do you think of my pitch for Were-Goats in WTA? Do they fit the lore? What would your interpretation be & is there anything you think I missed?

  
Images: Baphomet (1), A prospective glyph for the Azael (inspired by the goat horns 🤟 & Apis symbol) (2), Black Phillip/my idea for what the Mallos would look like (3), Ignatius Perrish/my interpretation of the Silenos form (4), Alexander the Great horns proof (5)

What do you think about a possible Goat-Based Fera?