Rhoda Calls-the-Barrel-Fire

Advantages:
Dirty Fighting-A life on the streets doesn’t allow for fair fights, and Rhoda has learned how to survive with the right tricks up her sleeve. Gives Rhoda +2 to Brawl and Melee
Fallen on Hard Times-To many, Rhoda is nothing more than a kind but poor woman in unfortunate circumstances, allowing her to garner sympathy and make people turn a blind eye to her activities. Gives her +1 to Stealth.
Underdog’s Bite-No one expects a warrior underneath the dirt and ragged clothes, little do they know that Rhoda is capable of a bite powerful enough to break bone.

Gifts:
Rank 3, Step 3 (Adren)

Homid

• City Running
• Staredown
• Rally Troops

Arhoun

• Rhythm of War
• Spur Claws
• Renewed Vigor
• Shatter Bone

Bone Gnawer

• Trash is Treasure
• Dead End

History:
At first glance, Rhoda appears nothing more than a woman down on her luck, kind and generous despite possessing little. Her breath always smells strongly of cheap spearmint gum and her eyes, despite their intensity, invite your sympathy. So you turn a blind eye as she scavenges for clothes or a next meal. All the while she listens, she learns, and if she catches the stench of corruption upon you, she will lead you away into the dark alleys. There you will find a blade in your face as your fangs close in on her throat.
Rhoda’s origins have always been unclear. She remembers little. Nothing of parents or a Garou parent or ancestor. Perhaps one of her parents was Ronin. It might explain a thing or two. Either way, the end result was the same. A young girl whose face was more freckles than skin found herself taken in by the Bone Gnawers, taken in by kindly Kinfolk vagrants who were willing to take on a lost child. She learned quickly how to survive a scuffle, how to take what you needed, and give what you could to those even less fortunate than you. She and her foster parents grew close, and Rhoda ever considered them her family.

It had always been up in the air as to whether young Rhoda was more likely to be Garou or kinfolk. At the age of fourteen, they all got their answer. The family had been scavenging for blankets, things to keep warm, things to give. It was getting close to Christmas, after all. What they had not anticipated was for a gang of hungry Kindred to make them their next meal. Rhoda saw fangs gleaming in the dark, dangerously close to her foster mother’s neck. Fearful for her life, the Garou awakened. Each and every Kindred was torn apart by her First Change. By sheer luck, neither of her parents were harmed. After, when Rhoda awoke, her life was forever changed. She was no longer a girl, she was an arhoun, and it soon became clear that while she did not make traditional use of her warrior auspice, she took to its advantages quickly. With her growing ability as a warrior, Rhoda could have had her pick of the tribes after her Passage. Yet it was the generosity of the Bone Gnawers that stuck in her mind, even as she weighed her other options. She could have had a camp, a Caern, not have to scuttle on the streets. Yet the more she thought, the more she realized that she could be nothing other than a Bone Gnawer. Rhoda made her choice, and became guardian of the underdogs.

Rhoda has since established a reputation among the Garou and the Bone Gnawers for both her calculating ferocity and her easy compassion. Unlike many in her tribe, Rhoda displays a sense of hope, of optimism that the underdogs will soon have their time. She believes the Gnawers are more powerful than the Garou Nation know. While many do not share her lionized perception of the world, all know that in her presence they are safe. For beneath those ragged clothes and grime is a powerful arhoun ready to fight tooth and nail to protect the lost and the downtrodden. And should you wander the streets needing sanctuary, look for the bonfire amidst the refuse. There you will find a strange woman with a blanket and a modest, if thrown-together, meal for the evening. Rhoda will be an ever vigilant guard.