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[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Werewolves]]
[[Category:Forsaken]]
[[Category:Hunters in Darkness]]
[[Category:Rahus]]
[[Category:Guardians of the Hidden Spring]]
[[Category:Alphas]]
''Hunter in Darkness Rahu Alpha and Ritemaster (Lodge of Harmony)''

Max is known throughout the region as a ''sulukka'', or one who performs ritual cleansings. He is [[Sarah Wu]]'s occasional mentor.
==Description==
===Hishu===
A burly Hispanic man in his late 70s with short gray hair, gray eyes, and leathery brown skin with copious scars. He wears denim shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots. When outside, he adds a cowboy hat and denim jacket. He has a perpetual scowl and a grumpy manner. His voice is gravelly with a hint of a Mexican accent.
===Urhan===
A large gray wolf with white around the muzzle and the tips of his ears and tail. Using Anybeast, he appears as a huge coyote.
==Storytelling Hints== 
Max comes off as suspicious and grumpy. He is a man who appreciates hard work and dedication and has no patience for people who want things handed to them. He doesn't do things the easy way, but how he feels they need to be done. He has an intense dislike for humanity's carelessness about the world around them and their preoccupation with diversions. Golfers are a particular source of ire for him. He doesn't drink, smoke, or take drugs and has little respect for people who pollute themselves so. He is utterly dedicated to the tenets of Harmony, though he doesn't come off as religious about them, just sees them as the way things should be. He hunts every weekend and eats only what he is able to bring home. He spends a few hours every day using Anybeast and roaming around his territory in coyote form with the pack totem.
==Stats==
*'''Mental Attributes:''' Intelligence 2, Wits 4, Resolve 5.
*'''Physical Attributes:''' Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 6.
*'''Social Attributes:''' Presence 4, Manipulation 3, Composure 5.
*'''Mental Skills:''' Academics 2, Computer 1, Crafts 3, Investigation 3, Medicine (Veterinary) 2, Occult 1, Politics 2, Science (Ecology) 3.
*'''Physical Skills:''' Athletics 3, Brawl (Urhan*) 3, Drive 2, Firearms (Rifles) 5, Larceny 1, Stealth 3*, Survival (Tracking, Urban*) 4, Weaponry 1.
*'''Social Skills:''' Animal Ken 3, Empathy 1, Expression 1, Intimidation 3, Persuasion 4, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 1.
*'''Merits:''' Contacts (Environmentalists) 1, Danger Sense 2, Fighting Style (Combat Marksmanship) 4, Fighting Style (Wolf Pack) 4, Iron Stamina 3, Languages (First Tongue, Korean, Spanish) 3, Quick Draw (Pistol), Resources 1.
*'''Primal Urge:''' 6
*'''Willpower:''' 10
*'''Harmony:''' 10
*'''Virtue:''' Fortitude
*'''Vice:''' Pride
*'''Health:''' 11
*'''Initiative:''' 9 (14 with pistol out)
*'''Defense:''' 4
*'''Speed:''' 12
*'''Essence:''' 15/3
*'''Renown:''' Cunning 3, Glory 1, Honor 1, Purity 5, Wisdom 3.
*'''Gift Lists:''' Dominance, Elemental, Father Wolf, Full Moon, Mother Luna, Nature, Stalking, Stealth, Strength, Warding, Warrior's Moon
*'''Gifts:''' (1) Call Water, Clarity, Feet of Mist, Night Sight, Speak with Beasts; (2) Anybeast, Blending, Heaven's Guidance, Manipulate Earth, Plant Growth, Ward Versus Humans; (3) Iron-Rending, Running Shadow, Technology Ward, Voice of Command; (4) Beast Ride; (5) Nature's Vengeance, Ward of Spirit Slumber.
*'''Milestone Gift:''' The Hunter's Bounty (gains one Essence per Health level from any prey animal hunted and eaten for food).
*'''Rituals:''' 5; '''Rites:''' All first through fifth-level rites in the main book and the seasonal and hunt rites, plus: (1) Rite of Fair Warning; (2) Rite of Churned Earth, Rite of the Hunter's Howl; (3) Mark of the Black Wolf, Rite of Offal; (4) Rite of Hikaon's Trail; (5) Name the Quarry.
*'''Fetishes:''' ''Cat's Suture'' (Reflexive; grants three Stamina points for five rounds when threatened with unconsciousness or death) 3, ''Gauntlet Scar'' (Extended; repairs Gauntlet damage) 3, ''Mercy Gem'' (Reflexive; spend a point of Essence twice to avoid Death Rage) 2, ''Skullbird'' (Reflexive; mimic one sound from one animal) 1, ''Sirenhowl'' (Instant; masks a howl as a siren to all but packmates) 1, ''Timbre Rattle'' (Extended, 4 successes, 15 minutes; discovers up to four resonances left at the scene in the past four months) 2, ''Vandal Spider'' (Instant; detects vandalism within the territory for eight hours) 2.
==Combat==
{| border=1
|-
|Type || Damage || Hishu || Dalu || Gauru || Urshul || Urhan || Shots || Notes
|-
|Bite|| 2 (L) || || || 11 || 10 || 9 || ||
|-
|Claw|| 1 (L) || || || 10 || 9 || || ||
|-
|Grapple || 0 (B) || 6	|| 7 || 9 || 8 || 7 || ||
|-
|H&K Mk. 23 || 3 (L) || 12 || 12 || || || 12+1 || ||
|-
|Sniper Rifle || 4 (L) || 14 || 14 || || || 10+1 || 9 again ||
|}
==Background==
Max was the son of poor migrant workers who saw his chance to become something more by joining the Army. He took well to it but his life underwent a drastic change when he underwent his First Change six months into his first deployment during the Korean War. During a firefight, he entered Gauru and killed half his unit and all of the enemy, feasting on the dead. When he recovered his senses, he found himself in a place of unparalleled beauty. While he was prepared to kill himself in grief over what he remembered of what he'd done, he was stopped by the arrival of several wolves who spoke to him in a language he could barely understand. Once he accepted they were there to help him, one changed to Hishu and was revealed to be a Korean soldier. His status was uncertain in the days to come. He was a prisoner of sorts, but was not treated poorly and was schooled in what he was. He was shown the damage the war was doing and repented his role in it. He was initiated into their Lodge and helped them to mitigate the damage where they could. At the end of the war, he was turned over to humans again to be traded back during a POW exchange and returned to the States, honorably discharged.

He settled in San Francisco near Lake Merced with many other veterans of the war and found a similar sort of damage to the local Shadow to that he had seen. At first working by himself, he claimed the area and began the slow process of cleaning it up, learning to play politics and learn how to navigate the halls of money and power in order to accomplish his goals. Over time, he drew others to his work as he became known, sort of a hero to the local Hunters in Darkness for his dedication and idealism. He has accomplished much, though the size of his pack waxes and wanes, and he is dedicated to expanding his work now that Lake Merced is on the mend. He's begun to take forays into the suburbs in the southern part of the city to deal with the displaced nature spirits and spiritual blights that have formed as the city's expanded. This DMZ has generally been considered too treacherous to claim because of its proximity to Mt. Bruno, but Max has the respect of the Predator Kings and they let him do his work without harassment.
==Renown==
*'''Purity 4:''' Cleansing the Beshilu nest after the Castro War.
*'''Purity 5:''' Max accidentally killed a Predator King scout trespassing in his territory back in '92. He took the woman's body up Mount Bruno to return her to his people, asking to take part in the funeral rite and to atone for his sin. They kept and tortured him for three days until the pack priest convinced the alpha to let him go, citing his act of purity.