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Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

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<strong>The</strong> Iron Masters believe that if they fall behind<br />

humans technologically or socially, they are lost. <strong>The</strong><br />

natural advantages that Uratha have over humans (their<br />

great strength, spirits and magic, and the Lunacy) mean<br />

less in the face of modern technology. <strong>The</strong>y draw many<br />

of their numbers from werewolves who cared about their<br />

human lives and who still try to hold on to a portion of<br />

their mundane existences. This is both a strength and a<br />

weakness — the Iron Masters often have more resources<br />

to draw on in the form of allies or equipment, but with so<br />

many humans that they care for, it is impossible for them<br />

to protect them all.<br />

Red Wolf’s vow is, “Honor your territory in all things.”<br />

<strong>The</strong> soul of adaptation is respecting one’s circumstances<br />

and surroundings and using the good of them in clever<br />

ways. <strong>The</strong>refore, in honoring their territory and respecting<br />

the innovations of the humans who dwell therein, the Iron<br />

Masters are best able to emulate their totem’s example.<br />

STORM LORDS (IMINIR)<br />

<strong>The</strong> Storm Lords dominate the politics of the <strong>Forsaken</strong>.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y are the personification of elemental power<br />

and political ambition. <strong>The</strong> Storm Lords have no particular<br />

affinity for life in a particular part of a country or the<br />

world. <strong>The</strong> Lords have two main constituencies: those<br />

who revel in the raw power of the elements and those who<br />

revel in power over others.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Storm Lords are grim and intimidating. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />

totem, Winter Wolf, is a dour creature of blizzards and the<br />

coldest nights. <strong>The</strong> Storm Lords focus on individual goals,<br />

pack goals and tribal goals and pursue them with frightening<br />

single-mindedness. Many other <strong>Forsaken</strong> see the<br />

Storm Lords as self-righteous, ambitious politicians; the<br />

Lords feel that the other tribes simply lack focus.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Storm Lords believe that the Uratha should<br />

return to their ancient roles as masters of the world — or<br />

at least as masters of the borderlands between spirit and<br />

flesh. <strong>The</strong>ir tribal vow is, “Allow no one to witness or to<br />

tend your weakness.” <strong>The</strong> Storm Lords do truly hold the<br />

Uratha ideals close to their hearts and consider it their<br />

responsibility to lead the rest of the People in upholding<br />

those ideals. Doing so takes a firm hand and a commanding<br />

presence, though, so letting slip the slightest hint of<br />

weakness is strictly forbidden.<br />

GHOST WOLVES (THIHIRTHA NUMEA)<br />

<strong>The</strong> Ghost Wolves do not have a spirit patron collectively<br />

— they’re hardly a group at all. <strong>The</strong> term “Ghost<br />

Wolves” is really an oblique aspersion, though more a term<br />

of pity than contempt. <strong>The</strong> Thihirtha Numea have chosen<br />

to walk without the patronage or ban of a tribal totem,<br />

which affords them more freedom — at a price.<br />

Despite not being part of a tribe, Ghost Wolves are<br />

frequently allied with the Tribes of the Moon. <strong>The</strong>y desire<br />

to run in packs, and most have at least a faint desire to<br />

reclaim their birthright. Many have sworn the Oath of the<br />

Moon and count themselves squarely among the <strong>Forsaken</strong>.<br />

Those who join packs share in the esteem of their pack’s<br />

totem, so clearly there is no additional animosity between<br />

the Ghost Wolves and the spirit world itself. Other Ghost<br />

Wolves do not join packs at all, living as loners, either<br />

with small territories of their own or always on the move.<br />

Many Ghost Wolves seem to actively reject the totem<br />

spirits on their own. Some join tribes and then abandon<br />

them. Others scoff at the very idea of tribal totems. Still<br />

others say they feel as if something is missing — that there<br />

must be another totem spirit that they could ally themselves<br />

with… somewhere.<br />

CHANGING TRIBE<br />

Sometimes, a werewolf finds himself growing away<br />

from his totem and his tribe. A Blood Talon might<br />

discover that he doesn’t have the stomach for battle that<br />

he once did, or an Iron Master might grow disillusioned<br />

with humanity and its works. In such cases, the unhappy<br />

werewolf may undergo the Rite of Renunciation, formally<br />

renouncing her tribe and totem, then offering herself for<br />

initiation into another tribe. This process happens frequently<br />

enough that it isn’t seen as an unforgivable insult,<br />

but it’s still the mark of a foolish child who didn’t know<br />

her own heart.<br />

THE ENEMY<br />

Werewolves and their protectorates are under constant<br />

siege from threats both physical and ephemeral. <strong>The</strong><br />

most immediate major threats to a werewolf’s territory<br />

come from the physical. Many living and unliving beings<br />

share space with the Uratha and compete for the same<br />

resources. Most such creatures have at least a passing understanding<br />

of the spirit world, and many of them seem to<br />

be aware that nature spirits and Uratha don’t get along.<br />

<strong>The</strong> bloody feud between <strong>Forsaken</strong> and Pure is in<br />

some ways the defining conflict werewolves face. While<br />

one <strong>Forsaken</strong> pack can certainly turn on another, even<br />

fighting to kill, such battles erupt for personal reasons.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Pure Tribes, on the other hand, don’t usually get to<br />

know their <strong>Forsaken</strong> rivals before launching an attack.<br />

Driven by religious fervor and bestial fury, the Pure are<br />

arguably the most dangerous enemies the <strong>Forsaken</strong> have<br />

in the physical realm.<br />

Werewolves don’t trust the other monsters in the<br />

world, generally speaking, and said monsters don’t trust<br />

werewolves. <strong>The</strong> People don’t go through open warfare<br />

most of the time, though. Every supernatural denizen of<br />

the World of Darkness has a vested interest in secrecy,<br />

if nothing else. But everyone shares a common space in<br />

the nighttime world, on the fringes of human society. <strong>It</strong>’s<br />

a crowded niche. <strong>The</strong>y struggle over territory with these<br />

other creatures, and the Uratha struggle to make sure that<br />

their treasures — loci, fetishes and so on — remain in<br />

their own hands.<br />

Werewolves might cooperate with other members of<br />

the nighttime world in a few circumstances, though they<br />

<strong>The</strong> Enemy<br />

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