The Nash Family
The Nash are a Bone Gnawer family consisting of Garou and Kinfolk with a blend of those born into the family and those adopted. As a general rule they are down-to-earth, country folk - bordering on the types that are frequently part of the Hillfolk camp of the Tribe - who almost universally adopt southern American accents regardless of where they actually originated from and tend to be oddballs, cast-offs and weirdos even among the Bone Gnawers.
Nash Garou can come from any tribe but must be a Bone Gnawer upon adoption unless they are a natural born Nash. They are also known to be fiercely protective of their Kin and to take special pride in being a part of the family.
Nash Kinfolk (who frequently possess the Reputation: Bone Gnawer merit) are encouraged to take on support roles within Garou Society to which they tend to be fanatically loyal. Among the Nash, the kinfolk are given a lot of leeway when it comes to how vocal they are about their opinions with their Garou Kin.
Many Bone Gnawers, in and out of the family, and even some other Garou consider natural born Nash to be as close as a Bone Gnawer can get to being pure blood. While there's a special pride that comes with this, it doesn't make their voice any more important or valued than other Garou in most situations.
Traditions
- Adoption: As mentioned above, the Nash have a tradition of adoption. Garou who are adopted into the family must be Bone Gnawers (though the use of the version of the Rite of Adoption which is more commonly associated with the Uktena).
- Culinary Traditions: As they are a family with southern roots, there are traditional foods that the Nash have accumulated.
- Garbage Hash are hash browns with the julienned potatoes cooked in the fond of well-seasoned ground beef and scrambled eggs cooked in the still warm grease from preparing bacon; the beef, eggs, potatoes and coarsely crumbled bacon are all mixed together and topped with any blend of cheeses available. This is usually served on a slice of toast and, when possible, a dill pickle spear is served on the side.
- Nash View on Metis: The Nash have a surprisingly open-minded view on Metis compared to Garou society as a whole (described in detail below).
View on Metis
With their habit of adopting the downtrodden and outcast, the Nash family has historically had an abnormally large number of Metis members when compared to other lineages of Garou. However, it is a mark of pride among the family, that there hasn't ever been a documented case of a Metis born into the family naturally. This isn't to say that there's never been cousins marrying and mating, the Nash aren't embarrassed by facts of family history, it this has never (at least as far as there is any evidence) happened between Nash Garou.
Those Metis who accept the familial embrace of the Nash have as much opportunity to earn respect and standing as any other Garou within the family for all are equal in the eyes of Mama Rat.
History
It's hard to have a detailed history for any Bone Gnawer lineage. With the Nash family, lineage however is important. Regardless of whether you are a Nash by birth or by adoption, you are remembered. Thusly the line of Nash is told through tales spun at the campfire, as such accuracy is questionable. Still, there are a few tales that remain the same throughout time.
Birth of the Family (Late 19th and Early 20th Century
The founder of the Nash line was originally from Ireland who came over to the United States sometime between 1822 and 1833. Of unknown breed, he went by the name Owen Bryne before his secretive immigration in which he was somehow able to dodge proper procedures and remain undocumented for the entirety of his life. Because he was unable to deal with the hustle and bustle as well as the mass of people in New York City, he quickly left and travelled south, eventually settling in Arkansas, claiming territory for himself in the Ozarks.
Despite being a solitary wolf, Owen associated with the local Caern (the Sept of the Green Wood) while remaining packless for reasons he chose to keep to himself. During his time as a part of the Sept, Owen took up the Nash name in lieu of his "original" name and started a family under that name with a local woman he'd fallen in love with. After fathering three cubs on his mate Nash turned his sights on increasing the size of his nascent family.
| It's rumored that Owen was particularly vicious in a fight - quick, efficient and ruthless. Despite this, he was also known to restrain himself among his own kind and never loosing himself enough to slay a fellow Sept member. Some, however, were known to say that it was only a matter of time before he was struck down for near rabid ways.
Some believe that Owen was a Lupus and that he got though immigration without being documented by arriving with a group of kinfolk as their "pet". |
For this purpose, he began to seek out other solo Bone Gnawers, those without folks to rely on; through promises of safety and security in exchange for loyalty to him and the Nash name he pulled a number of Garou and kinfolk into a group that decades later would end up being a tight knit clan within their tribe. His efforts were written off by many other members of the Caern and Garou Nation as the actions of an eccentric even if he and his followers were useful to have around.
During Owen's time as the Nash patriarch the family prospered. By the time of the turn of the century he'd become elderly (a rarity for Garou) and the family consisted of more than half a dozen Garou and an even larger number of kinfolk. Expansion was needed so he sent his natural born offspring westward. His eldest son claimed a home in Oklahoma, not too far from the original Nash stomping rounds in Arkansas, his daughter settled near Albuquerque while his younger son joined the Sept of the Story Rock in Arizona.
Within the first decade of the twentieth century, Owen Nash sustained severe injuries in what ended up being his final battle with the Wyrm. Despite the best efforts of his followers, his aged body failed to recover from his wounds leaving him to die at home, surrounded by his adopted kin and his mate.
Go West Young Garou
Bettsy Nash, a natural born member of the family and great-granddaughter of Owen Nash, was unusual for a Nash having found herself enjoying urban environments: the sights and sounds which bothered most Garou attracted her while the piles of problems most Nash typically saw in cities, she saw opportunities. When her father tasked her to start a new branch of the family, she set out for the west coast accompanied by her pack and a bevy of kinfolk.
Despite being enamored with civilization herself, Bettsy knew that most members of her group wouldn't agree to live within the growing sprawl of Los Angeles proper. In order to compromise her desires against those of her family, she claimed land just outside the city where she and her family set up and became known for their warm, inviting and most importantly safe community.
Although able to hold her own in a fight, Bettsy's focus was on the physical and spiritual health of her family over the fighting and killing instinct the Nash had primarily been traditionally known for. Under her leadership, the Nash of LA began to grow a reputation as healers and sources of good counsel. The Nashes in LA came to be either loved or respected and came to flourish for a while despite being considered odd by more traditionally minded members of the Garou Nation in California. For a couple of decades, the southern Californian Nashes grew, producing multiple offshoots of the family around Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, Bettsy had settled too close to the encroaching city which began to threaten to engulf the Nashes land. While many in the family espouced aggressive pushback, Bettsy refused in her easy going and good-humored fashion. Content to just exist and provide aid to others, she kept her family from taking extreme efforts to fight the growth of the city resulting in the start of a gradual exodus of family members eastward.
It's unclear how and when Bettsy Nash passed away or what happened to the few Nashes who attempted to make it a go in California still. What is clear, however, is that by the turn of the twenty-first century, there was only a single Nash family left consisting of an older kinfolk and his son Valentine - after David's death in the 2010s there was only Valentine.
Timeline
- This is a partial timeline of the Nash family.
| 1930s | The Nash family came to LA lead by Bettsy Nash. Her kinfolk brother, Travis Nash (Valentine and Russel Nash’s grandfather), was part of the group accompanying her. |
| 1960s | Travis Nash's two sons (Connor and David) were born. |
| 1984 | October 29th: Connor Nash's son Russel was born. |
| May 12th: Valentine Nash is born. | |
| 1980s and 1990s | Russel and Valentine, being close in age, become close friends though Elementary and Middle School. |
| 1997 | Russel’s family moves back to the “ancestral stomping grounds” of the Nash family (the Carolinas); over the years since then he and Valentine have kept in touch. |
| Russel meets and begins dating Rachel Wagner (his future wife) during High School. | |
| 2002 | Russel "Russ" Nash joins the Marines out of High School and is sent to Afghanistan where he eventually serves with Deonte Marcus. |
| 2005 | Russ returns from Afghanistan and marries Rachel. |
| 2009 | February 18th: The metis who will be known as Giada "Gia" Nash is born. |
| early 2020s | The Nash family in LA consists of Valentine. |
