Vashon & Maury Island

The Garou Caern

So - after perusing the maps, I am not entirely sure that we can site the Garou Caern on an otherwise empty island that is close enough to Seattle to make them feel like an integrated whole.

Here is a list of Washington islands:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Washington_State_by_population_and_area

The only uninhabited island in King County appears to be Blake Island, a state park with a small marina usually reachable only by private boat or chartered tour. There is some sort of village museum - Tillicum Village - and various campgrounds.

The other option, which I kinda like, is siting the Caern on one of the inhabited islands close to Seattle. There are two: Bainbridge Island (population 20k, although this island does have highway access via a bridge to the mainland to the west. It is accessible from Seattle via ferry), or Vashon-Maury Island, which has a population of just over 10k and is accessible via ferry, only.

Both islands are kind of tony in the real world, with charming little harbor towns and shops and cafés, and both have independent bookstores (oh! to live in such a world). I like Vashon better as it is quieter and more rural. Maury Island used to be linked to Vashon only at low tide, but the Army Corps of Engineers built an isthmus to connect the two. We could demolish that isthmus for WoD purposes, so that the two are connected at low tide, but otherwise crossing from Vashon to Maury requires a swim or a boat on treacherous waters. There is apparently a factory on Vashon Island that is the world's leading producer of artificial bone (!!) called "The Bone Factory" by locals. I am sure we can do something with that. Have "The Bone Factory" acquired by Evil Corporation or somesuch.

Bainbridge looks like it might be a wee bit more charming and lively as a separate location / arts colony / place for kin/changelings/mages/others to hang out, but Vashon not only has ferry service to Seattle, it has bus service. Like, buses get on the ferry then drive around the island. hah. And it has Maury attached and ready as an ideal place for a Caern. Moreover, in researching it I discovered that Maury Island residents recently defeated the plans of a mine company (which already had a gravel mine on the island) to expand it to the largest sand/gravel mine in the US:

http://www.preserveourislands.org/

Which would make an interesting background - recently endangered Caern has defeated this company. In the WoD it likely involved physical/spiritual fights as well as influence, petitioning, et cetera, and might have resulted in the deaths of a number of Garou/kin, as well as the tightening of the web of kin influence, at least in the Islands.

But it would also make the Islands vulnerable: the enemy would know there are Garou close by, perhaps not exactly WHERE, but close.

The Caern Itself

Small, level 1 or 2 at most. I am thinking it should be either a Coggie/Silver Fang holding or a Coggie/Black Fury holding, but open to other tribes. I would also include as background the idea that there is an Uktena Caern to the north, amidst the San Juan islands of the Puget Sound, which is NOT open to all tribes - just Wendigo and Uktena and the odd Red Talon. It would be just off stage right, on the periphery. The Elders of our Caern might have a few contacts, and Uktena/Wendigo who come to our Caern might have come from there, but: 1. the place is well north (look at a map of Puget Sound, I hadn't realized how far the San Juan Islands were from Seattle, they are much closer to Victoria, BC / Bellingham, Washington. ); 2. very remote; and 3. distinctly unwelcoming. The Garou there would be a mix of Coast Salish peoples.

Speaking of the Coast Salish people, a list of tribes from the Washington State Indian Affairs office:

http://www.goia.wa.gov/Tribal-Information/Map.htm