Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

— or letting it take control of them — would turn the
werewolves into the mindless monsters human legend
already believes them to be. The Uratha recognize this
potential weakness, and they hold it in check by obeying
the taboos attributed to Father Wolf and Mother Luna.
The form this vow takes is the Oath of the Moon.
The Oath of the Moon is an oath of many parts, each
one of great importance. An Uratha is given the chance
to take the Oath during her initiation into a tribe, and
therefore into the People. The exact form of the Oath varies
between tribes, as each reinforces it with an additional,
special law — a vow sworn to their totem to affirm the
tribe’s purpose.
The Oath is part religious creed and part code of
law, but the most significant aspect is that it helps fight
against the rising madness in a werewolf’s soul. By taking
the Oath, werewolves swear to abide by the principles
that balance their instinct with their rationality, their
flesh with their spirit. Each clause of the Oath represents
a potential way to lose a bit more of one’s soul. The vow
“The People Do Not Murder the People” reminds the Uratha
how easy it is to degenerate into a monster by indulging
one’s bloodlust against his siblings. The price for ignoring
the Oath of the Moon is levied from within.
Not all Forsaken swear by Luna and the Firstborn
(and certainly, none of the Pure do). Some reject the
notion of the Oath entirely, while others swear to only
a portion, choosing certain laws over others. Those who
refuse the Oath become Ghost Wolves. Without a pledge
of loyalty, the Firstborn will not accept them as children.
Some Ghost Wolves still cleave to the tenets of the Oath
in spirit without formally vowing to uphold them; others
live as they choose, and laws be damned. Those who carelessly
transgress against the ways spoken of in the Oath,
though, find themselves slipping out of balance, succumbing
to their bestial side and forgetting their true nature.
THE WOLF MUST HUNT
In the First Tongue, the first portion of the Oath
is phrased Urum Da Takus. Many of the Forsaken see
this as the first and foremost clause of the Oath because
it represents the duty inherited from their legendary
forebear and his First Pack. The Forsaken swear this portion
of the Oath first in Father Wolf’s honor, to reaffirm
their purpose and that of the Firstborn. The implication
is that as the foremost predators of both flesh and
spirit, the Forsaken must hunt their sacred prey — spirits
escaped into the physical realm, the Hosts, and other
threats to a pack’s territory.
However, this clause of the Oath also is at the heart
of many clashes between rival packs of Forsaken. If a
pack is failing to keep their enemies at bay, another pack
might claim that the first pack is “failing to hunt,” and
enter their territory with the claimed intention of doing
their jobs for them. Frequently this is a quick stab at
testing a pack’s defenses or perhaps just a formal way of
escalating an already bitter rivalry. But sometimes the
intentions are sincere — a pack sees that an infestation
of Beshilu, spirits or Ridden has grown beyond their
neighbors’ ability to control, and feels it necessary to
intervene before the other pack’s negligence causes the
situation to deteriorate further. Such an incursion usually
results in a blood feud between the two packs, regardless
of good intentions. But sometimes a brutal duel between
packs is preferable to a greater menace gaining strength
when one pack cannot keep it
Ironically, the Pure seem to hold to their own twisted
version of this portion of the Oath, though clearly not out
of any love for Mother Luna or those who honor her. The
Pure hunt as though it is their sacred duty to do so — and
the Forsaken their ordained prey.
THE PEOPLE DO NOT MURDER THE PEOPLE
Imru Nu Fir Imru. The specific phrasing of this
law goes back even to the First Tongue. It does not say
“Uratha do not kill Uratha.” It says “the People” or “the
Tribe” or “the Family.” And the verb is “murder” in the
oldest form, not “kill.” As a result of this ambiguity, no
traveling werewolf can be sure how this tenet is interpreted
from territory to territory. Some packs believe that it’s
taboo to slay wolf-blooded humans as well as Uratha, even
in the heat of battle. Others believe that a werewolf may
freely kill another one in open challenge but that secret
murder is forbidden. It’s commonly held that slaying an
already beaten but not dead foe is a clear violation of the
Oath. Once a werewolf is beaten and slowly healing, it is
murder to tear out his throat.
Judging by the ballads and oral histories the Cahalith
have maintained over thousands of years, this may be the
most violated section of the Oath. The epic Mountain and
Plain War, which dates back to the first centuries after the
fall of Rome, is the best-known piece of art that pertains
to this tenet of the Oath. Many of the Elodoth judgments
described in Mountain and Plain War serve as precedent
even today.
Elodoth argue further regarding the meaning of “the
People,” for no Forsaken werewolf is quite certain whether
this tenet includes the Pure. Some Pure werewolves
seem to adhere to a code of law that prevents them from
outright killing Forsaken, but most of them seem to have
no qualms whatsoever. Some Forsaken refrain from killing
Pure werewolves, just in case; others make a deliberate
choice not to include the Pure Tribes in this law.
THE LOW HONOR THE HIGH;
THE HIGH RESPECT THE LOW
Sih Sehe Mak; Mak Ne Sih. Werewolves can see more
clearly than humans do that humanity has dominance hierarchies
of its own. Uratha society is not a democracy. It has
never been one, nor can it ever be. To reject the demands of
one’s station is to demonstrate a dangerous hubris.
Young werewolves often argue that this law isn’t
Luna’s at all, but rather an encoding of their elders’ desire
The Oath of the Moon
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