Santa Cruz

The city of Santa Cruz initially was nothing more than a Spanish settlement as early as 1791. During this time, the majority of the area was home to the Ohlone tribe of Native Americans. However, with the arrival of the Spanish in the late 18th century, within five decades most of the Ohlone culture was lost and only a few small cities retain names found in the Ohlone language.

Still, even though their numbers have been diminished significantly, Native Americans still make up nearly 8 percent of the population, or just under 4,800, in Santa Cruz and the surrounding areas. Comparatively, Kokomo only has 1 percent Native American population. It can be assumed that some, if not most, of the Native Americans in Santa Cruz are connected to the remaining Wendigo and Uktena tribes in the Sept of the Raging Storm and the Sept of the Angry Earth.

Santa Cruz remained a settlement until 1866 when it was incorporated as town, 16 years after California became a state. Before this, Mexico had assumed control of the area until the Mexican-American War ended in just after 1848 and they ceded Alta California under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It has a population of just under 60,000 and has maintained steady growth, save for a small period during the 1920’s. Kokomo has a population of just under 57,000 in late 2012 after annexing Indian Heights and has had erratic growth and shrinkage for the last four decades.

The median income for a family in Santa Cruz is just over $80,000, which is about four times the federal poverty level. As this is only the median, it’s obvious from previous experience that the upper class enjoy very high incomes, with their houses on the coast being a solid indicator.

The climate of Santa Cruz is relatively stable with lows in the 60’s in January to highs in the mid 70’s in August. Winters tend to rainy and wet while summers are dry with little rainfall. Due to its proximity to the Monterey Bay, fog and overcast are typical in the night and early morning hours, providing excellent coverage for Garou to do battle.

In terms of density, Santa Cruz is only 15.8 squares miles in size, compared to 18.5 of Kokomo. This means population is more closely packed than Kokomo. Inevitably, this has led to a high crime rate. Santa Cruz has the highest property and violent crime per capita for a medium to large sized city in California. Incursions with vampires, Mages, and other Garou have likely added to this and things don’t appear to be getting any better. Santa Cruz also has the highest rate of homelessness in the region, around 9,000, or almost a seventh of the population. The influx of Bone Gnawers and Glass Walkers to the city likely increased this over the years.

Most of the recreation in Santa Cruz consists of surfing, roller derby, museums, and amusement parks. Santa Cruz is widely considered the best place in the world to surf and much recreational places like surfing schools and museums dedicated to it have sprung up. Roller Derby is also a fast growing sport with the Santa Cruz Derby Girls becoming a member of the WFTDA in 2010 and moving into the Kaiser Permanente Arena in 2013. Santa Cruz also has the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which has the oldest surviving amusement park in California, established in 1907, making it over a century old.

Santa Cruz has nearly a dozen of its own television stations including a few dedicated solely to Spanish programming. It also has six different FM radio stations and one AM radio station. Newspapers are delivered by the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the only daily newspaper in the city.

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About The Nearby Septs


As you can see above where Santa Cruz sits in relation to San Jose and San Francisco.


This map shows where Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is in relation to Santa Cruz. The woods touch the edge of the city, which is why you can get there so easily in wolf form. Highway 9 runs within 1 mile of your Sept and the cabin (marked with an X)


X1- Big Basin Redwoods State Park is the home of Sept of Three Waters.

X2 - Sept of the Angry Earth consists mainly of Red Talons in one part and Shadow Lords and Uktena in the other. Each part runs individually unless a cause binds them into acting together. It is located just south of the Sleeping Lion Sept in Nisene Marks area.

X3 – On the northern edge of Santa Cruz is the Sept of the Stone Sea. This is a level one Sept in Wilder Ranch Park and they are very peaceful with the other Garou.

X4 - The Sept of the Silver Fury resides here in the Sierra Azul Open space preserve. They are constantly battling enemies from “over the hill” in San Jose. The battles that rage here during the night are epic and have gained the respect of the other Septs who dare not stand against them in fear of losing their front lines in the war.

X5 - Sept of the Raging Storm resides in the wilderness and mountains above big Sur. Although they have not waged war on the other Septs for over 80 years, they refuse to aid the other Septs for any reason.



History of the Garou

About 200 years ago, numbers of the Fianna, Silver Fangs, Shadow lords, and Get of Fenris arrived in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Finding the area already inhabited by Wendigo and Uktena, they set about in a savage war to win the land for themselves, aided by their kinfolk and, unknowingly, by the Anglo settlers. Driving the Wendigo south, the newcomers set about establishing their Septs around powerful caerns in the mountains. Black Furies, Bone Gnawers, Children of Gaia and Stargazers soon arrived, to help in the process of building. The Children of Gaia helped put an end to the war, leaving the Wendigo to remain in the Ventana Wilderness above Big Sur. Their Caerns were splintered into fragments during the fighting creating many smaller caerns where there were once powerful ones. The European Garou divided them up equally and set to negotiating with the Wendigo and Uktena.

The Uktena, encouraged by words of peace and wisdom, settled in both areas, those that could accept the newcomers and forgive, coming back to their homes, those that could not, settling with their anger amongst the Wendigo. Long have the Garou of the coastal mountains protected their lands, preventing overdevelopment and encouraging peace and respect amongst the people and protecting the land from the Weaver sons of the Technocracy in Silicon Valley. Now, Black Spiral Dancers have appeared, though where their dark caern lies is unknown. Wyrm spawned vampires from San Jose trespass on Garou lands. In addition, Magi have begun raiding the caerns, to steal their essence, battling the garou and robbing them of their strength. Decrying the Silver Fangs and Children of Gaia have led the tribes to weakness, the Shadow Lords agitate for change while the Get of Fenris wish to seek open war. A small group of the Glass Walkers and most Bone Gnawers has left their Septs to dwell in the city, leaving the fight to found their own Septs. And now, the harvest of the War Assumption is truly sown as the Wendigo of Ventana and Big Sur, now grown strong again, lend deaf ears to any cries for help or aid. As young garou arriving in the mountains, your Rage and frustration call to you.

As has been said, the Garou are the dominant power in the region. Organized in six Septs, not counting the defection of some Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers, the caerns of the Garou were once well protected, but predation by human Magi, Black Spiral Dancers and various Wyrm spawn have put the cairns at risk. Through kinfolk and other contacts, the Garou have manipulated the creation of state and county parks around their caerns to better protect and hide them.