Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

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Appendix II: The Rockies
IN THE SURVIVAL OF FAVORED INDIVIDUALS AND RACES, DURING THE CONSTANTLY RECURRING
STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE, WE SEE A POWERFUL AND EVER-ACTING FORM OF SELECTION.
The Colorado Rockies showcases the diversity of
settings available to the characters in Werewolf: The
Forsaken. From austere mountains to fertile fields to raging
rivers to cavernous mines to bustling cityscapes, the
Rockies simultaneously reflects the wilds that the werewolves
once exclusively haunted and the urban hunting
grounds they now patrol.
In the World of Darkness, even more dangerous
things than bears and mountain lions stalk in the wilds.
The Forsaken roam the land, battling for territory and
defending it against those who would threaten it. They
struggle not only against each other, but against, hostile
spirit menaces, Azlu, Beshilu, the Pure and any other
threat of the myriad types that have learned to make
themselves manifest since the fall of Pangaea.
In spite of the danger, though — or perhaps because of
it — werewolves continue to come to the area to stake out
territory and reap the rewards. To make things even better,
a recent time of turmoil and its subsequent resolution has
led to a “gold rush” as new territories open up. It’s a perfect
place for a new pack to stake a claim and forge its destiny.
THEME
The theme of the Rockies setting is that of opportunity.
The balance of power has recently changed in this
region as a result of the expulsion of a dangerous idigam,
and new territories have opened up — more than the
surviving local werewolves can tend on their own. There
are spirit resources to claim and exploit, influential allies
to be made and lingering mysteries yet to solve. A primal
version of the pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit upon
which the human-controlled parts of the setting were
founded has come over the Uratha, and they come to the
Rockies bubbling over with it.
Hand in hand with the theme of opportunity is
a theme central to Werewolf itself: consequence and
responsibility. The region’s long, checkered history has
affected the spirit world in ways that the human population
can’t conceive, and the recent invasion of an escaped
idigam exacerbated some of the trouble. Now that
the werewolves have prevailed over that menace, they
must take responsibility for the wellbeing of the territories
they carve out as a result. They must defend them
against any threats that have been heretofore overshadowed
and be mindful of the consequences of any actions
they take to do so.
MOOD
The mood that many Forsaken newcomers to the
region share is one of tense anticipation. Whether the
characters are experienced werewolves who believe their
skills are necessary, young werewolves fresh from initiation
or wandering outcasts looking to start over, territory
—CHARLES DARWIN
in the Rockies offers an opportunity to prove themselves,
balanced by the threat of the unknown.
The more common and overwhelming mood of stories
set in this area, however, should be one of tension, suspicion
and wariness. Just because one major threat has been
dealt with and eliminated, for instance, that doesn’t mean
the area’s a safe and pristine paradise. The local werewolves
realize this fact, and they tread carefully when they return
to territories from which they’ve been estranged for so long.
There’s no telling what threats have gone unchecked while
the werewolves’ attention was focused elsewhere.
Furthermore, just because the area offers a great
deal of room for many werewolves to watch over a wide
variety of territories, not every territory is equally large
or desirable. Rival packs naturally try to claim the prime
territories for themselves, and when they arrive at the
same place at the same time, conflict is sure to break
out. Opposing packs might be able to make peace long
enough to deal with problems that affect both of their
territories, but how long can such an understanding last?
A pack that crosses its borders into its neighbor’s land,
ostensibly to deal with a larger threat, might just be using
that as an excuse to distract a rival in preparation for
an imminent annexation.
LOCAL HISTORY IN REVIEW
The history of human and supernatural affairs in
this region has long been a cycle of promise, opportunity,
exploration, success, decline and eventual rejuvenation.
Disparate groups go through this cycle at varying rates,
often doing so and rising to prominence at the expense
of competitors who are already in decline. Betrayal and
disappointment are common among rivals, though it’s not
unheard of for tenuous balances to be struck and to last
years beyond expectation.
EARLY HISTORY
Colorado’s recorded history begins with the French
explorer La Salle, who claimed for his nation everything
east of the Rockies that he could in 1682. Others followed
La Salle’s path, but the territory remained undeveloped
until the United States acquired it through the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803. Not long thereafter, a US Army officer
named Zebulon Pike mounted a serious American exploration
into this new territory. It remained largely the domain
of explorers and adventurers until roughly 1825 when
trapping and fur trading in the region caught on in earnest.
As American settlers drifted west, some of the blood of the
wolf was sure to come with them, and werewolves were sure
to follow in their tracks. These immigrant Uratha came
into contact with the werewolves who were already in residence,
and some degree of cultural interchange occurred