Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

hunted down and torn apart or banished by Father Wolf
in order to sample its delights. Now that Father Wolf is
gone, with only the fallible Uratha to take his place, the
temptation is greater than ever.
If not for the Gauntlet, the physical world might have
been flooded by spirits long ago. As it is, most spirits can
slip through only at a locus where the Gauntlet is weak
(and even then they must be attuned to its resonance).
These limitations keep the number of spirit invaders
relatively low, but still they manage to emerge in sufficient
numbers to be a grave worry to the Uratha. A spirit cares
little for the welfare of those in the physical world, only for
what it can take and feed upon there. In this way, cynical
werewolves growl, they aren’t so different from humans.
A spirit in the physical world that has neither manifested
nor taken a host body is ephemeral: invisible and
intangible to creatures of flesh alone. Certain supernatural
powers might allow a character to detect or affect a spirit
in Twilight, however. Few spirits remain in this state for
long. Their Essence soon bleeds from them, and they will
waste away and vanish unless they find a potent wellspring
of Essence or a host to maintain them (see p. 277). Therefore,
those werewolves who seek to fulfill their obligations
to pursue balance between the worlds quickly learn to recognize
the signs of a spirit that has fled into the physical
world. When the resonance of an area begins to sharply
focus on one particular aspect, the werewolves begin to
suspect a spirit taking a hand in the physical world. When
reports of a person or animal behaving especially strangely
begin to circulate, the Uratha come to suspect the presence
of one of the Ridden.
SPIRIT CHOIRS
Spirits are divided into choirs of spirits of broadly similar
types. Spirits are aware of these affiliations from the
moment they first encounter another spirit from the same
choir. They have a similar resonance, that allows them to
feel comfortable in one another’s company. “Choir” is a
word used by werewolves to describe broad categories of
spirits, such as tree spirits, weather spirits or vehicle spirits,
but it’s almost never used by the spirits themselves, whose
language predisposes them to more prosaic descriptions
like “those of nightmare” or “the fiery ones.”
These relationships are sometimes more complex
than they appear. A rain-spirit could belong to either the
Water Choir or the Weather Choir. The exact taxonomy
isn’t usually an issue, because most rain-spirits last no
longer than the downpour that created them. For other,
longer-lived spirits, however, the dual affiliation can
be an issue. A spirit of a dry stone wall, for example, is
clearly just a carefully ordered pile of rock, so could be
part of either the Earth Choir or the Structure Choir.
Sometimes two choir courts in an area will argue over
a spirit, and sometimes the spirit itself will seek guidance
when it’s torn between two choirs and unable to
make a decision. Sometimes it may ask guidance from a
werewolf, asking the Uratha to demonstrate the vaunted
wisdom that allegedly gives them the right to police the
Shadow. Therefore, it’s all too easy for a werewolf to
get dragged into the petty and intricate dance of spirit
politics, triggered by a single decision.
SPIRIT DESCANT S
Within these choirs, there are descants of spirits,
such the Car Descant within the Vehicle Choir. These are
tighter classifications within the choirs, which also convey
a certain degree of status within the spirit world. It’s unheard
of for a Gaffling to be admitted into a descant, even
if it exemplifies that descant’s focus. A rattlesnake Gaffling
is never considered a formal member of the Rattlesnake
Descant. It’s only once a spirit has reached the conceptual
refinement of Jaggling rank that it becomes worthy of
joining a descant.
In many ways the relationship between a choir and a
descant is much like the relationship between a tribe and
its lodge. The similarity is probably not coincidental.
SPIRIT POLITICS
Spirits are creatures of rank and status. Each spirit is
aware of its place in the world, and serves in its anointed
place until such a time as it’s able to better itself by consuming
another spirit and growing more powerful. Even a
newly awakened spirit is predisposed to obey higher-ranking
spirits from its own choir. It is almost as if spirits are
striving toward a perfected form of themselves. As they
join with other spirits, they become more idealized versions
of the concepts or acts behind their creation. The
more idealized the spirit is, the more respect it garners
from other spirits like itself and even significantly weaker
spirits of other descants and choirs.
The various choirs within a region form mutually
competitive power blocks, struggling with one another
for dominance. Within these choirs, the descants
struggle for their own superiority. Within a forested area,
the Tree Choir is clearly in the ascendant, yet the various
descants of deciduous and evergreen trees struggle to
become the predominant species in the forest. The Plant
Choir is split by its own struggles as its descants seek to
make the most of the space the Tree Choir allows them.
Meanwhile, the Structure and Vehicle Choirs make
their subtle inroads, forming their own courts as human
construction activity increases.
Understanding the power blocs within the spirit
courts is as important to the werewolves as knowing a
human who’s who of their territory. What’s more, spirits
are capable of being just as devious and manipulative
with each other, within the limits of respect for spirits of
higher Rank, as humans can be. The ability to manage
two levels of politics is one of the reasons that Cahalith
and Elodoth are such important parts of any spirit-conscious
Forsaken pack.
Spirits
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