#it was a while ago and I can't find my original writeup about it

[huntunderironskies]

Sacred and Profane: Hunters in Darkness

I originally posted this essay about Hunters in Darkness on my Twitter but finding it again is probably a nightmare at this point. Fortunately tumblr is far better for archival purposes. So, disclaimer: the actual document is really long. Like. 5K words not counting the footnote jokes, making the whole thing like 11 pages long. Apologies. I have strong feelings about them and their direction in Werewolf 2e.

Point is I realized that posting the whole thing here would be a bit excessive, especially since there are a bunch of jokes requiring formatting and footnotes that would not transfer over well to tumblr.

Anyways! For that reason I'll put a little teaser here, the first section of the essay. If you like it, the full writeup is here! I even go into game design and how to better play a Hunter in Darkness a bit. :>

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What is sacred? It's a question most people can't answer without a tautology. It's difficult even for religious scholars to define. Trust me, I’m studying it. At least it's not "what is a cult" because that's even harder. Nevertheless, here's my best attempt.

The sacred is a series of actions, place, or object meant to connect those participating to a greater power. And we can't talk about the Hunters in Darkness without talking about the sacred and how it's interpreted in werewolf society. To the Uratha, the single greatest show of devotion is the hunt. And as the corebook says, a Hunter in Darkness is never truly off the hunt. The sacred is at the core of their culture and being. You don't join unless you have at least some reverence and awe at that which is greater than yourself.

There’s a couple reasons I’d argue this. Firstly, Purity is about following the Oath above all else. It’s an ancient code that doesn’t follow human morality and doesn’t necessarily let you do what’s right. It’s what you have to do because it’s part of the tradition. It’s what your role is as a child of Father Wolf and Mother Moon. And it means abandoning both your role as spirit-being and your role as human to be the greater sum of two halves.

It’s appropriate that the Tribal prey of the Hunters in Darkness is Hosts for this reason. Yeah, I know, we call spirits little gods of the Shadow. Not all of them are. Every Host is part of a god, though. Every time you fight a Host you’re trying, while knowing you’ll almost definitely fail, to finish what your Father couldn’t millenia ago and kill an actual no-shit god. This is a grudge that’s lasted since your own gods wandered the Earth, before humans could build cities, domesticate animals, or grow crops. You’re never going to solve it, but you keep fighting it because you have to. Of course it’s nonsensical. Of course you could take a harm reductionist standpoint and deal with what’s more practical. But you don’t, because that’s not what you should do, and that’s not what lets you connect to that higher power and greater history of being Uratha.

That’s being a Hunter in Darkness. That’s what a lot of other takes on the Tribe seem to skim over. As a side note I’m going to use the phrase “holy site” often, this isn’t necessarily a mus-rah but can be. The Tribal Oath implies you can have more than one holy place on your territory (or just in general) so I’m running with that.

Anyway. Let’s explore the concept of the sacred as a defining concept of the Hunters in Darkness, but first some diversions.

You want to be a Hunter in Darkness because...

You want to get in touch with your primal side and embrace not being human anymore

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a philosophy to live by

You feel deeply connected to the world around you and can acknowledge you’re just one part of a greater whole

You believe some things are sacred or divine, and you are determined to protect them

You don’t mind doing tactics some might find unsavory to do so, because... 

Fighting fair is a human construct, and you embrace the fact you’re a wolf now

[CONTINUED HERE!]