#caern

[ceephorsshitshow]

[belated] Christmas Gift for @winterdeepelegy

Merry Crisis!

[oozeandgoo-art]

[slyandthefamilybook]

Okay. who in Alphabet Squadron gets the most

Yrica Quell: Does okay I think. She's mentioned having at least one long-term girlfriend and boyfriend, and "sharing a bunk" with a couple squadmates in Shadow Wing. She mostly has sex when she's in a bad mood

Wyl Lark: Has only had sex once, but he gets propositioned a lot. He's totally the kind of guy to only fuck when he has an intense emotional connection with the person. He's also way younger than almost anyone else in the battle group

Nath Tensent: Drowning in it. Coming in from all sides. Everyone loves a bear. He's the kind of guy you have sex with as a friend and it doesn't make things weird

Kairos: Does not fuck. Has no interest in doing so

Chass na Chadic: I think everyone assumes Chass has tons of sex because she's hot, but she has a lot of trauma that prevents her from being intimate with people, even casually. She's had sex maybe 6-7 times and hated it every time

Caern Adan: Gets zero dick. Gets negative dick. Has a force field that actively repels dick. Even IT-O won't fuck him

[legomocfodder]

Alphabet Squadron

Wyl Lark, Nath Tensent, Kairos, Caern Adan, I-TO, Yrica Quell, and Chass na Chadic

I was inspired to update these figs when Lego released the bright green mohawk piece, which is perfect for Chass

[asha-mage]

WoT S3, Episode 2 Assorted Thoughts

Camelyn opening? Morgase! Elaida! Toddler Galad! Baby Gawyn! Aughaguha!

"But that war is over now....because I won it." YEAH THAT"S MORGASE ALRIGHT

......Baryn, Asnhar and Caern are...interesting choices for this bit. I know I'm one of like nine people who liked the Succession plot in the books but this means that Morgase is directly responsible for the ascenson of three people who become HUGE headaches for Elayne later- Lir Baryn (who ices his sister here I suspect), Karind Anshar, and maybe most dangerously Naesin Caeren- the senile and unstable old man who is latter killed by his own grand daughter.

If I am remembering correctly Morgase explicitly wishes that she had not needed to pardon those three houses specifically, and all three keyly are the first supporters of House Marne during the succession war. Food for the 'future turning of the wheel' theory for sure.

Awwww yeah Elayne centric episode incomeing.

Ohhhhhh booooy. I have some THOUGHTS about this.

Galad being 'Of House Trakand' but Gawyn being 'First Prince' is some SPICY SHIT.

Everyone's side eye as Elaida waltz in, even her own Red Sisters is G O L D E N.

'Gaberil' being Prince Consort already is...interesting. I wonder if he's Rahvin still, or just a Dark Friend, or just an asshole. In theory his role is one that might be able to be stripped down from it's Forsaken or even Darkfriend parts.

Morgase vs Siuan is so so DELICIOUS.

This is what it must have been like to watch Charlemagne and the Pope get into arguments during the early middle ages.

Oh man I was holding out for Ogier singing to open the gates in the show, but I do appreciate the return of the leaf (and it is a plot point in this bit in TSR).

Ohhhh Galad. That brutal honesty in full swing still I see.

God that they convey without ANY exposition exactly what Gaebril's relationship is to the rest of the family (i.e second husband political match/awkward step dad) is so well done.

And on that note, if Gaebril IS Rahvin, it's going to be way more messed up for the Trakand's to cope with since apparently he has a decent rapport with them this time around.

RYMA YOUR OKAY AND I'M SO GLAD!

Morgase is a character they could have so easily messed up and I'm glad their doing her well. Commanding, strong headed, shrewd- but deeply loving and caring underneath it all.

I do like that their capturing Avi's mixed feelings on Rand so well so early. I'm still not sure how I feel about removing the element of their relationship where she is 'looking after him' for Elayne- as I've talked about before it's one of the load bearing pillars of their relationship. We'll see when we get to the Rings and their aftermath.

Chiad and Bain having more of a friendship with Perrin then Faile to start continues to be such a CHOICE. Man I hope Gaul is hanging around with Faiel so he can be her wingman.

Hi Alanna! You are looking....not to great girlie! And also you don't have your bestie Verin to help this time! Worrying!

Oh boy. Duel time!

I'm glad they found a way to include this scene.

Gawyn you absolute LOSER blowing a kiss to the crowd.

On the one hand, RIP Gawyn and Min's comedy duo set. On the other hand, long live Min and Mat's friendship.

Ohhhhh, no duel scene. Still really good.

God, the paranoia, the suspicion- it's all captured SO WELL

Egwene and Rand's drama continues to delight, as does the extreme pettiness of Lanfear- their really is such a simmer furious rage behind so many of her actions, she tries to cloak it constantly, but it's always their.

Oh man, Gawyn and Galad hoeing it up in the White Tower. Deeply unsafe behavior boys.

Gareth Bryne mention!

God, if Gaebril IS Rahvin, him being a evil mentor to Elayne is actually...kind of weirdly delightful to me? Rahvin is one of the flatter Forsaken in the series to be honest.

Siuan playing Mat like a fiddle is DELIGHTFUL.

"I'm no hero." HE SAID THE THING.

Morgase and Elayne's relationship is so well written, they really capture Elayne's central character conflict so well.

Ohhhhhhh. First proper look at the Wise One costume. I like it. Not quite the classic image I had in mind, but this is VERY MUCH digging this Amys.

[wyrmbringer]

A Garou Glossary

A

Anchorhead – A spirit gate between the Near and Deep Umbra. (See Membrane.)

Apocalypse – The prophesied age of destruction, the final battle against the Wyrm, and the end of Gaia. Many Garou believe this time is now.

Auspice – The phase of the moon under which a Garou is born, influencing personality and role in the pack: Ragabash (New Moon) – Trickster. Theurge (Crescent Moon) – Seer. Philodox (Half Moon) – Judge, Galliard (Gibbous Moon) – Moon Dancer, Ahroun (Full Moon) – Warrior.

B

Bane – Malevolent spirits serving the Wyrm, including Scrags, Kali, and Psychomachiae.

Bawn – The patrolled boundary surrounding a caern.

Blight – A location corrupted by the Wyrm, either in the physical world or the Umbra.

Breed – A Garou’s ancestry: Homid (human-born), Lupus (wolf-born), or Metis (born of two Garou).

C

Caern – A sacred site where Garou commune with spirits.

Celestine – The highest-ranking spirits, akin to deities. Examples include Luna (the Moon) and Helios (the Sun).

Chiminage – A debt or favor owed to spirits, often in exchange for gifts or aid.

Cliath – A young Garou of low rank.

Concolation – A grand moot where multiple tribes convene to discuss matters affecting the Garou Nation.

Concord, The – A pact ending the Impergium nearly 9,000 years ago, establishing laws still followed today.

Corruption – The destruction, decay, or debasement of life, particularly by the Wyrm’s influence.

Crinos – The war form of the Garou, a terrifying fusion of wolf and human.

D

Deep Umbra – The distant reaches of the Umbra beyond the Membrane, where reality becomes unstable.

Delirium – The madness and memory loss suffered by humans who witness a Garou in Crinos form.

Domain – A small sub-Realm within the Umbra, often connected to a greater Realm.

F

Fera – Other shapeshifters besides werewolves, most believed extinct.

Feral – Slang for a Lupus Garou.

Fomori (singular: Fomor) – Humans possessed by the Wyrm, mutated into abominable monsters.

G

Gaffling – A minor spirit, often a servant to a greater entity.

Gaia – The Earth, both physically and spiritually; the Mother Goddess of the Garou.

Garou – The werewolves’ name for themselves.

Gauntlet – The barrier between the physical world and the Umbra; strongest near technological sites, weakest at caerns.

Glabro – The near-human form of a Garou, slightly larger and more bestial.

H

Harano – A deep, soul-crushing melancholy, often caused by witnessing Gaia’s suffering.

Hispo – The near-wolf form of the Garou, resembling an enormous dire wolf.

Homid – A Garou of human ancestry; also refers to the human form of a Garou.

I

Impergium – A 3,000-year period in prehistory when Garou actively culled human populations.

Incarna – Powerful spirits beneath the Celestines in rank.

J

Jaggling – A spirit servant of an Incarna or Celestine.

K

Kenning – A mystical howl used for communication.

Kinfolk – Humans and wolves related to the Garou, immune to the Delirium but unable to shift.

Klaive – A sacred silver weapon, often a dagger or sword, imbued with spiritual power.

L

Litany – The ancient code of laws governing Garou society.

Lupus – A Garou of wolf ancestry; also refers to the Garou’s wolf form.

M

Membrane, The – The boundary between the Near and Deep Umbra, passable only through Anchorheads or the Dream Zone.

Metis – A sterile, often deformed Garou born from two werewolf parents, traditionally outcast.

Moon Bridge – A mystical portal linking two caerns, often appearing during moots.

Moot – A sacred gathering of a sept or tribe at a caern.

Mule – Slang for a Metis Garou.

N

Near Umbra – The spirit world adjacent to Earth.

P

Pack – A small group of Garou bound by a shared mission rather than blood or tribe.

Penumbra – The spirit world’s reflection of Earth, where many physical landmarks have spiritual counterparts.

Protectorate – A pack or sept’s claimed and patrolled territory.

R

Reaching – Entering the spirit world.

Realms – Stable planes of existence within the Tellurian, including Earth.

Ronin – A Garou who has been exiled or abandoned their kind, living as a “lone wolf.”

S

Sept – A community of Garou that protects and maintains a caern.

Stepping Sideways – Entering the Umbra; some elders consider this term flippant.

T

Tellurian – The entirety of existence.

Totem – A spirit representing a pack’s or tribe’s essence. Tribal totems are Incarna, while pack totems are lesser spirit avatars.

Triat, The – The three cosmic forces: Wyld – Chaos and creation. Weaver – Order and structure. Wyrm – Decay and corruption.

U

Umbra – The spirit world.

V

Veil, The – The supernatural illusion that prevents humanity from recognizing the existence of creatures like the Garou.

W

Ways, The - The culture and traditions of the Garou Nation.

Weaver, The – The cosmic force of order, technology, and rigid structure.

Wyld, The – The force of raw chaos and uncontrolled change.

Wyrm, The – The cosmic force of destruction and corruption; the Garou’s greatest enemy.

Wyrmhole – A spiritually corrupted location tainted by the Wyrm.

[choiceofgames]

New game! “Werewolf: The Apocalypse — The Book of Hungry Names” — Unleash Rage and wield spirit to heal the land and rebuild your fallen pack

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — The Book of Hungry Names is now available on Steam, iOS, and Android!

It’s 25% off until May 2nd! Furthermore, as a special offer, if you purchase "Werewolf: The Apocalypse — The Book of Hungry Names" by 11:59pm PDT on April 26th, we'll give away the "Wardens and Furies" DLC, featuring the options to play as a member of the Black Fury tribe or the Hart Warden tribe, for free.

You and your shattered werewolf pack must save the living Earth with Rage and spirit! In this interactive novel with hundreds of choices, can you defeat a Wyrm Spirit who manifests as a lie that you want to believe?

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — The Book of Hungry Names is an interactive novel by Kyle Marquis set in the World of Darkness. It's entirely text-based—1.8 million words, without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Shapeshifter. Mystic. Hero. Monster. You are a werewolf, and you are all these things. Werewolves are the living earth's last guardians, created by Gaia, given the gift of shifting between human and wolf forms, and called to stop humanity from destroying the world.

But you have failed.

Three years ago, packs of werewolves worked together as a Sept in Broad Brook, Massachusetts, battling the Wyrm, the enemy of Gaia. While other Septs fell to the Wyrm or tore themselves apart with fratricidal Rage, Broad Brook thrived. Some said they would be the ones to stop the Apocalypse.

But in one night, a Wyrm Spirit called "the Answering Tiger" destroyed the Broad Brook Sept and defiled its caern. In fact, Broad Brook had never been thriving at all. The Tiger had deceived their senses, disordered their thoughts, and turned them against one another. Where the different tribes saw trust, in truth there was resentment and growing Rage. Where the different packs saw safety, there were security flaws that could be exploited. Where they saw the Wyrm, there were innocents that they massacred, before reporting to other Septs about another glorious victory.

Their cruel pride allowed the Wyrm Spirit to deceive them, and they mostly destroyed themselves. The Answering Tiger had servants, too, monstrous Banes and fomori, and even werewolves sworn to the Wyrm. But they were only there to pick off whoever was left.

Now, the Stormcat, once the Patron Spirit of the Broad Brook Sept, has called upon you to rebuild a pack from the survivors and fight back against the Answering Tiger. In the savage woods and decaying towns of New England, you will forge your own legend.

Build Your Pack. Human and werewolf survivors haunt the woods and hide in the cities: find them to learn what happened and to rebuild the werewolf nation. But not all werewolves can be trusted: shun those wolves consumed by Rage, and pity those who have lost the Wolf and become empty shells.

Survive the Wilds. A desperate exile, shunned by those of your old pack who have abandoned their oaths to Gaia, you'll have to survive by your wits. A winter night can kill as surely as any monster: find shelter, seek allies among spirits and humans, and learn how far you'll go to survive.

Unleash Your Rage. You are one of Gaia's monsters, a living weapon, herald of horror and death. Now the Apocalypse is here: wield your Rage with savage cunning and keen discretion, or it will swallow you whole.

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; befriend or romance werewolves and humans of all genders.

• Shapeshift among five forms to slaughter your enemies, or outwit them to take what you need.

• Choose your auspice (moon-sign) and your werewolf tribe: Bone Gnawer, Child of Gaia, Glass Walker, Shadow Lord, or Silver Fang

• Claim your territory and heal the spirits there to unlock Gifts that let you summon animals, see into the past, or enter the spirit world.

Buy it now!

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

Why the Apocalypse in the title matters and how W5 fails to address it

Even if it is by this point a joke, all WoD games have a title what creature it lets you play and then one of the core elements of it.

Yet, it is odd that a werewolf game puts the end of the world as one of its most central concepts. After all, werewolves aren't really associated with the apocalypse in myths. The closest is Fenris-Ulf in Norse myths, but Fenris was a monstrous wolf, not a werewolf. Shouldn't Changing or Fury be a better descriptor?

Well, WtA's werewolves draw from older material than the movies and the focus is not on being a werewolf. The focus is on the state of the world, the way nature is being destroyed and such. In the game, being a werewolf is more akin to a spiritual guardian than a cursed being.

The Apocalypse in the title not only refers to the literal end of existence but to the little apocalypses happening every year. Species dying, people losing touch with their ancestral cultures, etc. WtA is about looking at the state of the world and feeling the horror of just how hard it is to fix it if not impossible. Never mind the sadly now very real horror of greed over care and ennui towards your fellow humans and nature.

This genuine approach and call to action has, of course, created an opposite reaction that calls WtA's tone childish. More recently, as we actually start seeing the effects of climate change, the reactions have also become ones of denial, apathy and fear of doing the wrong thing.

It is the latter that W5 shows the clearest in its depiction of the apocalypse.

The apocalypse in W5 is invisible to normal people and other supernaturals. At most, it is the fall of the garou nation as the climate change happening in the real world. Despite this, W5 is very clear about discouraging its PCs from taking action further than locally.

In effect, W5's apocalypse and what it wants the players to do about it is toothless. The game spends page space detailing what not to do, but very little on what to do and what the apocalypse looks like. Because it is afraid to take a stand, instead focusing on passive-aggressive remarks here and there.

W5, despite its blurb stating it is about striking back at pollution, isn't willing to have its PCs be eco-terrorists (though some do slip through) and actively calls direct action the wrong method.

It isn't just what W5 tells the PCs shouldn't do, it is also how much the PCs don't have to do. It's the end of the world as we know it and you can still go to McDonald's in peace. The world is lost and you still have to go to work. If we weren't told the apocalypse was raging, we'd assume it was still in the future. The game is, intentionally or unintentionally, saying that there is no need to do anything. Even if the world is ending, it won't inconvenience you.

To put things plainly, W5's apocalypse is the way it is so there won't be paid sick days for the employees. It is an end that preserves and protects the status quo.

Of course, an apocalypse that changes nothing is not really an apocalypse. Indeed, W5 wears the apocalypse label more out of legacy than any real intention of addressing it. It wants to focus on werewolf packs and caern tending, not something as serious as the fate of the world.

In fact, I'd say W5 doesn't want to be about the garou at all but instead about werewolves. It wants to be Werewolf the Fury.

[songoftrillium]

so I've been considering running a W5 game for some friends of mine who have been having a blast with our V5 campaign. We'd have to use a *severely long* list of houserules and lore to make it anything other than a massive trash fire of...well, everything that W5 is now. Unfortunately it's likely to be W5 instead of W20 due to the players bouncing off the x20 rules HARD. Any suggestions as to what gaping holes I should focus on first, rules-and-lore-wise?

I apologize for this essay of a response. In terms of the major mechanics holes to focus on, a friend of mine, Kaidan, was a game playtester that ran a number of games at Gencon, and has done the emotional labor of reading through the entire W5 corebook and identifying ways to make the game playable. For house rules, I'd start there.

The rest of this post is LONG, so buckle up and get a drink before reading on under the cut.

Regarding Gaia's Howl, which isn't addressed in the book, I'd look to the Mind's Eye Theater: Werewolf: the Apocalypse, the last corebook in OWoD that furthers the world metaplot. I believe the mark that was missed in a big way in w5 was that the Age of Apocalypse in that book more or less encompasses exactly what they were trying to achieve in terms of the worldwide destruction of caerns, the death of many old canon NPCs, and the Last Words of Gaia, which was a prophecy laid out by King Albrecht in his final moments of life while destroying the Storm Eater:

“Hope is not sundered; wake me, and a new age of harmony shall begin.”

Nuff said there. You shouldn't really need this corebook to play, but if you can find any information on the Age of Apocalypse online, I recommend using that as your kickoff point to explain how we got here.

Now, on to lore.

As the Storyteller, there are few ways around it; you'll have to read some old materials to construct your own chronicle. A little-known piece of information is that no one edition of Legacy Werewolf was ever meant to supersede the other. All the editions contain uniquely valuable information and were meant to build upon each other, requiring a holistic approach to the old materials: take what matters and use it.

I don't blame your players for balking at the old materials. The first editor that volunteered to help with my big project had never picked up a WoD book in xis life, and when he signed up I asked xim to read enough of the W20 corebook to grasp how to make a character. After struggling with the material for a week, they returned and said, "I'll be honest. That's almost a hundred pages. I'm not reading all that." And I don't blame them. And I don't know if you noticed, but W20 also includes no tools for Storytellers to construct game chronicles. Indeed, no 20th-anniversary edition book across all the splats really does. Since the writing team at PDX didn't use any book other than x20 to construct W5, that only further deepened the reality that Storytellers have been completely forgotten. All Meat, no Potatoes. For all the good content W20 includes, a broad number of items would be decidedly unfair to force players to wade through if you wanted to, and there's also so much of it. If you have yet to notice, the old books have laughably useless indexes, so researching and knowing which books to research to create a good game is incredibly complicated. So, you're right that your players shouldn't have to read any of the old stuff, and you shouldn't necessarily have to run a legacy game to provide a game of meaning.

Now, on to the stuff, you, the Storyteller, need to put together a bombastic chronicle. I have a bibliography of books across multiple editions that really get to the heart of the deepest lore and covers the full width and breadth of what the game has to offer. You don't need to read all these books, but having them gives you all the reference material to have a top-down overview of lore you can pull into your game world that you see fit.

Werewolf: the Apocalypse Storytellers Handbook (1994)This edition was published during a time when White Wolf was still establishing what the World of Darkness represented. It was drafted during 1st edition and came out shortly after the 2nd edition core rulebook came out, making it a hybrid that shares stats between both editions, including renown conversion guidelines between 1st and 2nd editions. You’ll find three essays and a section from it reprinted in this very book, but even those are just a fraction of the value this book offers Storytellers. Beyond what I carry over here, this book includes expanded Garou culture, setting, and enemies, dedicated sections on kinfolk and kami,  and a dedicated chapter on making talismans (fetishes). It even includes a dedicated section for 1st edition to 2nd edition renown conversion and a chapter dedicated to building a custom chronicle suited to your tabletop! Definite must-have and must-read.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse Storytellers Vault Style Guide (2018)Beyond a collection of well-written tales, this book includes a chapter devoted entirely to metaplot. In that way, this section serves as a roadmap towards getting a good feel on which books across which edition may best serve you. It breaks down three different approaches to Metaplot (Passive, Reactive, and Proactive), the pathos driving each edition, and following those threads, one can more easily find which books and editions are best suited to each purpose and tailor their own Storytelling library to best suit their style accordingly.

A World of Rage (2000)

This book is indispensable for learning about the world at large where the game is set. It covers every region published and really cuts out the fat in terms of delivering setting information and systems just about anywhere you’d like to set your game.

Players Guide to Garou (2003)This one’s a home run for any table. Expanded tribe societies and unique gifts? Check. Merits and flaws and expanded fetishes? Check. MOOT MECHANICS? That’s right, check. Moots are the lifeblood of Garou society, and there are structures for this! If you ever wondered what the typical phases of a moot look like, what roles different auspices play, and what your pack of players may be doing during any given time, it’s all laid out here in plain words. Even the Ragabash has (arguably the best) role to play during these events.

Guardians of the Caerns (2000)Ever wondered what exactly werewolves do all day? Wonder no longer. Guardians of the Caerns is the sourcebook of septs and caerns, detailing the sacred places and the Garou communities that guard them. It contains information on sept offices, tribal septs, caern logistics, defensive tactics--even an in-depth look at those who must grow up strictly as Garou, the crinos-born. This is the book for anyone who wants to understand what they're fighting for. 

Book of the Wyrm (1st Edition, 1993)While acknowledging the latest edition of this book, this gives a lot more specific insight into the ins-and-outs of the Urge Wyrms and Maejlin Incarna, who have taken a faceless investment in this chronicle. Understanding the ubiquity of their influence helps to understand not just these entities themselves but also their hierarchies, as they are mirrored across each of the many heads of the Wyrm.

Book of the Wyld (2001)It includes information on the naming of spirits, stats on the Nameless, information on caern abscession, and the not-so-subtle recommendation to write a chronicle surrounding the final days of an ancient caern. It offers insights into this not-understood aspect of the Triat, including many that aren’t in print in the 20th Anniversary Edition. Some enemies come from the woods, after all.

Rage Across the Heavens (1999)

Meet the Gaian Pantheon, all the celestial incarnae to be found across the Tellurian may be found across this book, including unique powers associated with them. This also includes a chronicle encompassing the emergence of the red star Anthelios, believed to be a portent of the end times.

Hearthbound (2023)

That's right, ya girl wrote a cross-edition book this year, and I highly recommend it! This is a good answer for players looking for a drop-in solution to confront the systemic issues in the lore directly in-game. The problematic features of the Garou nation were always meant to be confronted by the tabletop, and this sourcebook offers a turnkey approach to doing just that. It details many of those issues up-front and lays bare many of the not-so-pleasant aspects of the Garou Nation in plain English, including several story seeds on how to work this new tribe into any chronicle.

Lastly, on language and tabletop terminology. It's best to treat U****a and W*****o as tribes separate from the Galestalkers and Ghost Council. They are different enough that you can't easily move the names over and call them such. That said, they are named after things considered extremely inappropriate to use in a tabletop setting, so I recommend presenting them using two Conlang terms I constructed for my games. For U****a I recommend Hapil, and to rename their patron to The River Serpent. For W*****o, I recommend Kalaril, and to rename their patron to Old Windtooth.

Lastly, if you'd like to know how to scare the piss out of your players' characters, I wrote an essay on how to do just that. Good luck!

[findingtarshish]

Pwease may I have some more? 🥺 This time for Melody... and also her relationship with Mouse? How'd they meet (without destroying each other first)? I wanna know all the deets ;) TY TY

:D

SO. Surprisingly they were never really at risk of destroying each other. They met when Mel bummed a cigarette off him, flirted a lot, and ended up fucking on the hood of him van. She is a snack. and Mouse proceeds to have the weirdest trip of his life on Mage blood full of alcohol, ecstasy, and tabacco. Romance goes from there. But first, let's rewind!

Melody was originally created as a touchstone for my Tremere Harmony. The two are half-sisters and very close, though neither told the other about becoming supernaturals. As you can imagine, this caused a bit of a rift between them, and it took a little bit for them to figure things out. Melody Awakened during a protest turned riot, at her college in London when she and her college friends were being beaten to a pulp by a riot cop. This caused an epiphany in her, allowing her to see political distance as physical distance, and vice versa; she didn't realize until later that the reason that cop didn't manage to hurt her was because she was warping around him punching from every angle all at once.

For a while thereafter, melody tried to go it alone and figure out magick without tutelage, having discovered that drugs, sex, and other strong sensations heightened her power. After an overdose, coupled with Paradox-induced internal bleeding landed her in the hospital, she met Lakshmi Dhama, a mage of the Cultus Ecstasis who brought her into the fold and taught her the ways of her Paradigm. Through the bond of the Diksham, the two quickly became lovers in addition to teacher and student, and the Cult of Ecstasy tends to encourage. While in the midst of this torrid romance, Melody also joined the Dissonance Society.

Then came Spring Break 2023. Melody returned home to America along with a posse of other young Ecstatics, who had organized a wild opportunity- they'd made contact with a conclave of like minded werewolves and vampires, who were gathering in the forests near Port Clinton in a bacchanal of magic, revelry, and ecoterroristic planning. A real dance-around-the-fire-in-the-woods-while-naked sort of thing. A Devil's Sacrament, if you will. Melody was incredibly excited- her thesis was on Dracula, for god's sake! To get to meet a real vampire? Awesome!

(Melody didn't know these specifics, but the conclave was a yearly event organized by a Bahari sect called the Childer of Ceridwen, and their Hart Warden and Shadow Lord allies. The sect is based in Cardiff, in the Caern of the Eternal Garden, but has scattered adherents across Europe and the US. These Bahari believe that Lilith is an agent of the Wyld, and that she will return to slay Jehovah (the Weaver) and Caine (the Wyrm) and claim her rightful place as queen of the heavens. Their werewolf allies think this ideology is useful and encourage it so they can continue to use the sect's power to further their agenda)

So! Imagine her surprise when she arrives to the Conclave and sees her sister, naked (As was the dress code for the Bahari attendants), tattooed with a Bahari sigil, and latched onto someone's neck, drinking their blood.

An argument ensued.

After a deluge of events too long to narrate, Melody got involved with Harmony's grandsire, Ceridwen Coslett, Childe of Carna, co-founder of her sire's House, Prince of Cardiff, international financier, sustainability advocate, and werewolf ally. Melody is currently her ghoul (though she is shared between her and Ceridwen's close ally, Elizabeth Hargrove, who effectively rules Albany and is similarly a environmentalist leader) and acts as a chauffeur, using Correspondence to teleport her mistress wherever she needs to go without the SI having a clue.

Lakshmi, however, does not approve. She'd lost people to vampires before, and saw Melody consorting with them as a death sentence. Rather than protect her, Lakshmi cut ties, claiming she didn't want to care about her when she was inevitably murdered by the monster wearing her sister's face. Melody was devastated at being forced to choose between her family and her lover, especially since Lakshmi was the first person she truly loved. To make matters worse, Lakshmi began to spread rumors about her through the cult's networks, effectively ostracizing her overnight.

Melody was now truly alone. After becoming Ceridwen's ghoul, she threw herself into her arcane studies, desperate to prove to Lakshmi that she could be both a great Mage and stay true to her family.

Which brings us to the present day. Melody is the living embodiment of "live fast, die young" and lives out her days is hedonistic desperation, trying to capture that spark of sensation that will lead to Ananda and beyond that, a glimpse of the Lakashim. Mouse and the greater polycule are still trying to pull her out of that freefall, because that complete reckless disregard for her own life is going to get her killed sooner or later.

[the-art-block]

WODTOBER

Days 1 - 2 - 3 | Monster in Me - City by Night - Bloodlines

To start off this year's month of darkness, we have Bear!

A new wolf on the scene in his homecity, where his Glass Walker father is the leadership of the local Caern. His entry into the world of spirits and doomsdays has been a little rocky so far, and it's not clear yet if he can hold up under the pressure...

With W5's omission of kinfolk from the equation of Garou births, Bear has become something of a miracle-cub for having slaughtered the statistical odds of a Garou father having a Garou child.

[hpowellsmith]

Werewolf: The Apocalypse—The Book of Hungry Names will be out April 25!

There's a free demo up now!

You and your shattered werewolf pack must save the living Earth with Rage and spirit! In this interactive novel with hundreds of choices, can you defeat a Wyrm Spirit who manifests as a lie that you want to believe?

Werewolf: The Apocalypse — The Book of Hungry Names is an interactive novel by Kyle Marquis set in the World of Darkness. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Shapeshifter. Mystic. Hero. Monster. You are a werewolf, and you are all these things. Werewolves are the living earth's last guardians, created by Gaia, given the gift of shifting between human and wolf forms, and called to stop humanity from destroying the world.

But you have failed.

Three years ago, packs of werewolves worked together as a Sept in Broad Brook, Massachusetts, battling the Wyrm, the enemy of Gaia. While other Septs fell to the Wyrm or tore themselves apart with fratricidal Rage, Broad Brook thrived. Some said they would be the ones to stop the Apocalypse.

But in one night, a Wyrm Spirit called "the Answering Tiger" destroyed the Broad Brook Sept and defiled its caern. In fact, Broad Brook had never been thriving at all. The Tiger had deceived their senses, disordered their thoughts, and turned them against one another. Where the different tribes saw trust, in truth there was resentment and growing Rage. Where the different packs saw safety, there were security flaws that could be exploited. Where they saw the Wyrm, there were innocents that they massacred, before reporting to other Septs about another glorious victory.

Their cruel pride allowed the Wyrm Spirit to deceive them, and they mostly destroyed themselves. The Answering Tiger had servants, too, monstrous Banes and fomori, and even werewolves sworn to the Wyrm. But they were only there to pick off whoever was left.

Now, the Stormcat, once the Patron Spirit of the Broad Brook Sept, has called upon you to rebuild a pack from the survivors and fight back against the Answering Tiger. In the savage woods and decaying towns of New England, you will forge your own legend.

Build Your Pack. Human and werewolf survivors haunt the woods and hide in the cities: find them to learn what happened and to rebuild the werewolf nation. But not all werewolves can be trusted: shun those wolves consumed by Rage, and pity those who have lost the Wolf and become empty shells.

Survive the Wilds. A desperate exile, shunned by those of your old pack who have abandoned their oaths to Gaia, you'll have to survive by your wits. A winter night can kill as surely as any monster: find shelter, seek allies among spirits and humans, and learn how far you'll go to survive.

Unleash Your Rage. You are one of Gaia's monsters, a living weapon, herald of horror and death. Now the Apocalypse is here: wield your Rage with savage cunning and keen discretion, or it will swallow you whole.

Play as male, female, or nonbinary; befriend or romance werewolves and humans of all genders.

Shapeshift among five forms to slaughter your enemies, or outwit them to take what you need.

Choose your auspice (moon-sign) and your werewolf tribe to learn what sort of monster you are. Play as a Bone Gnawer, Child of Gaia, Glass Walker, Shadow Lord, or Silver Fang.

Claim your territory and heal the spirits there to unlock Gifts that let you summon animals, see into the past, or enter the spirit world.

Play free demo

Wishlist on Steam

Preregister on Google Play

Preorder on iOS

[oozeandgoo-art]

[slyandthefamilybook]

Caern Adan. what a weird little man

[osatokun]

the Tree of Freedom. A scene from our chronicle, from when we met and old spirit of the abandoned caern. We spent the day under it's roots and then Charlie gave the tree his eye in exchange for its help

[ventruetheurge]

I don't think I ever actually posted this one here that I remember but this is what I drew from our legacy game a while back, from a funerary session

The purpose of the session was for my White Howler PC after multiple years we put into this game to finally reunite with her father who's been missing since she was four years old and get some sort of catharsis and resolution of what has been a years-long mystery ic and ooc

In this session, because it was a funerary session, she went alone, without her pack. This normally would never happen ic, but because a player left and the other player was still not in a space to participate when we proceeded with this, it was left to me and my ST to handle the scene and get a bit of closure for the both of us for the game and my character specifically.

So what happened in canon is that she lies to her pack as they become scattered due to the encroaching and ever pressing apocalypse and its consequences, and approaches the caern/pit of Gaia's Heart alone. There she meets up with a Black Spiral Dancer named Cooper Siphon, who is her current packmate's former packmate and friend from when they served the Wyrm, a warborn/crinosborn/metis man and fellow theurge. We've engaged with him before, as he has narratively frightened my pc since they met, though he could also be assumed to be a kind of ronin himself at this point.

Despite being diametrically opposed in terms of what they believe (wyrmish/gaian) and how they go about being a theurge, the two agree to enter the Caern/Pit of Gaia's Heart alone, to find out what happened there and to try and access the energy of the ley lines beneath it and its spiritual power to stop the apocalypse. Cooper wants to use the energy to try and reset the world to an earlier state and undo all of the pain and treachery the path of fate has chosen. My pc, Celeste, born Courtney, believes strongly that the world cannot and should not be unwritten or unmade, and that the only course of action is to deal with the consequences and fix the world we currently have, even if that's impossible.

As this particular story does deal with the often fandom-dreaded concept of 'The Last White Howler' plot suggested in legacy's WH tribebook (yes ok boo and throw tomatoes), this is somewhat significant because her character is largely informed by an overwhelming loneliness that will end in tragedy- a rewrite of the world could undo the fate of the White Howlers, and create a world where she was never alone, where her father never left, etc- it could offer an alternative to all of her suffering, but it has long been a theme in this game with herself and her ronin BSD-turned-WH packmate that what she and they want is not to unmake or erase the people and undo what Black Spiral Dancers are, but to meet what became of her tribe where they are at, help them seek absolution from Gaia and pull those who no longer wish to continue from the arms of their Dance, with the grim understanding that the desire to change has to come from within, and that this is not possible for every Black Spiral Dancer.

So, they part ways. Prior to this, due to past issues with her mind being controlled by a former Sept Leader, she has acquired the gift Mindblock, which rejects attempts to control one's mind or other mental assaults, which allows her to pass through the plethora of illusory obstacles very easily- not that she knows this, because she is alone.

She walks further in until she encounters a large spiritual guardian and a man, who appears to be fighting it. She quickly joins the fight, surprised as she is, and when the creature is slain, the man who appears to be her age saunters forward to greet her. Their eyes lock and the two immediately recognize that their eyes are the same, and there is a momentary beat of mutual horror before the man looks away, and asks for her name.

Their reunion is emotional and painful, and she demands to know why he left her, why he didn't tell her of her garou nature and asks where he's been these past two decades. He leads her further into the caern, and shows her his corpse. He came to this caern 20 years ago for the same purpose, and he likewise came alone. And when he encountered the guardian, it severed the head from his shoulders, and he died.

He had a friend, or perhaps an item, in that he carried the severed skull of an ancient and powerful mage with him, who specialized in time magic. By some twist of magic and fate, perhaps through Gaia's judgement for his crimes as he was a man not born Garou, but who stole enough pelts to become one, he was sent back through time, and had been using his powers to fight through multiple historical wars, had been fighting to return to his appropriate timeline and his beloved only child, and thought he perhaps could have returned and changed his fate to undo the mistake he made. But now that they were reunited, this was clearly not meant to be.

My pc held herself and wept, with the particularly sad comment that she understood now that there truly was no one who was ever going to come for her, who was ever going to save her.

The two spoke for some time, and shared thoughts of love and regret, and she shared her death prophecies with him and told him very honestly that she didn't think he would be alone in death for very long, and she would likely soon follow, while he softly asked her to keep fighting, and told her that he wished she would have a long and happy life.

At the end of their teary meeting, he asks his daughter for an embrace that he has waited for for so long. And she gives it to him, and squeezes him tightly for a few moments before his body falls to bones.