Umbra - The Shadow

In the distant past, man, beast and spirit walked the same realm. Everything was alive from trees to mountains. Everything was connected. But Weaver grew jealous at the chaos of creation and began weaving, putting everything in its place, according to Weaver. Slowly she wove her webs, insidious strands naming things, cementing their purpose. Slowly and surely she erected a membrane between the chaos of the realm of spirit and that of physical to isolate what she saw was the enemy of order. And with only the spirits noticing, the two worlds were split and forever bound apart. The world of flesh and bone grew duller, the minds of men and beasts only reaching the world of the spirits in their dreams as the very essence of reality grew more organized, everything settling in it's place and chaos reigning only in the places of deepest wilderness, far from the now Weaver-tainted touch of mankind.

But even then, Weaver could not sever the two worlds apart from each other completely, and to this day, what happens in one world, will begin to effect the other.

Werewolves are aware of the hidden side of the World of Darkness. They interact with the spirit world, which they call the Umbra. Much of their powers are derived from this world. Garou call on spirits to teach them supernatural tricks, bind them into fetishes, or invoke them in complicated rites. But not all spirits are their allies…
The spirit world and the material world are inextricably linked. What affects one affects the other. Pollution in the physical world spreads spiritual blight in the Umbra, which in turn brings down psychic corruption on the mortals influenced by the unseen world. This dynamic is critical to both worlds, and it is the focus of the Garou’s war for the soul of Gaia.

Werewolves and the Umbra

Beyond the physical world — the world of blood, asphalt, wood, and life — lies a world of spirits and ephemera. This world, which werewolves call the Umbra, is accessible to any werewolf, but that doesn’t mean that they understand it. Everything has a spirit, and in the Umbra, spirits of wind and water mingle with the spirits of plastic and oil while spirits of anger and innovation watch from the sidelines (or, perhaps, the spirits of sidelines). The immediate Umbra is a bizarre reflection of the physical world, but one can wander deeper into this spirit landscape. The depths of the Umbra can be explored and learned, but never mapped or mastered. Woe to the werewolf pack that grows too confident.

Everything about a werewolf is a study in duality: wolf and man, city and wilderness, duty and passion, Rage and Gnosis. Rage is a werewolf’s primal fury — what drives him to victory in battle and fuels the desire to win the war against the Wyrm. It is their physical, visceral reaction to anything that even slightly upsets them, and is therefore what makes them dangerous. A werewolf is a powderkeg on the best of days, and with the planet slowly dying, coughing up disease and poison with every gasp, werewolves don’t really have good days.

Gnosis, then, is the werewolf’s faith — her appreciation for the mysteries of the world and the wonder of the spirits. It is what allows her to befriend totem spirits for her pack and learn the Gifts of the ephemeral beings of the Umbra. While not as immediately dangerous as Rage, Gnosis has its own problems. If a werewolf ignores the base for the sublime for too long, she can become lost in the Umbra, her physical side falling away until only a spirit remains.

The Gauntlet

According to the Garou, the Earth lies at the heart of the Umbra — after all, it’s Gaia’s realm. Glass Walker Theurges have spent centuries compiling and comparing charts that detail the Near Umbral Realms orbiting the Earth, just as human astronomers once compiled proof that the Earth orbits the sun.

This world of physical matter is separated from ephemeral spiritual realms by a barrier known as the Gauntlet. Surrounding Earth’s physical reality, it separates the mundane from the spiritual. Any traveler who would leave the physical world for the Umbra must cross the Gauntlet. Garou do this by passing through places where the veil is thin. This barrier between worlds makes it harder for otherworldly spirits to enter the physical world, although the most dangerous spirits are only delayed by it. When something is powerful enough to cross over from the spirit world to the physical world, the Garou must serve as Gaia’s protectors.

At times, the two worlds pull towards each other with a palpable force, but the Gauntlet keeps them isolated. It’s not a constant, however. In some places, the Gauntlet is strong enough that the physical world is spiritually dead. To the Garou, a high-tech laboratory were the laws of science are scrutinized might seem sterile and sanitized beneath its humming fluorescent lights. In other places, powerful spiritual energy courses through the physical realm, making it seem as though revelation, transcendence, or enlightenment is close at hand. Werewolves running through the depths of a thriving wilderness may feel as though they might pass through into the Umbra as easily as diving into the crystalline waters of a pure
and tranquil lake.

The forces of the Triat — the Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm — play their respective roles in this separation between the two worlds. As human civilization encroaches more on the wild and pristine places of the world, the webs of the Weaver contain the glory of the Wyld. The barrier between worlds then grows stronger, and the spirit world is pushed farther away.

In places where the Gauntlet is thin, the Garou protect the physical world by creating caerns: sacred places on Earth where the physical and spiritual worlds meet. Garou gather in caerns to enact rituals affecting their bodies and spirits. A caern is usually the easiest and most discreet place to enter the Umbra, although the world presents many alternatives to this.

Walking Between Worlds:
Some supernatural creatures, including werewolves, have learned methods of crossing the Gauntlet from the physical world into the Umbra. All Garou have this Gaia-given ability — it’s their birthright, their legacy, and an intuitive ability they inherit from the time of their First Change. However, most werewolves are unaware of this talent, and they usually don’t attempt it until an elder shows them the way. Garou call this practice “stepping sideways.”

Traveling through places where the Gauntlet is thick is virtually impossible; crossing over where the Gauntlet is thin comes as naturally as controlling one’s breathing. Spiritualists can learn more exotic methods of crossing this barrier, such as circumventing the Gauntlet entirely by traveling to the spirit world in dreams. Mages and other willworkers have their own methods for crossing the Gauntlet; in fact, packs of werewolves may encounter such visionaries on their travels.

For a Garou to attempt stepping sideways, they must find a reflective surface to gaze into, concentrating their Gnosis to see the path through Weavers webs and to slip into the other side, either from the physical world into Umbra or from the shadow to the real. Plenty of werewolves have found themselves diving into a puddle of rain water or stepping into a glass of a storefront when needs must. Crafty Garou can even carry their own pocket mirrors or other reflective surfaces, but such items are used only when other options are not available as they are not things rooted into the place and thus make the already risky attempt even more dangerous. Packs of Garou can also nominate one of their number to lead them all through, usually choosing the member of the pack with the highest Gnosis to pierce the veil.

If the attempt to cross the gauntlet is botched, a werewolf can get caught in the weavers web, never arriving on the other side, a fate that can only be reversed by their packmates seeking them in the Gauntlet. Getting caught by the Gauntlet can also be dangerous as there are predatory spirits that hunt in the Weavers web.

Theurges can also learn gifts that allow them to pierce the Gauntlet without the aid of a reflective surface, just as they are the only ones that can take non-changers with them.

Caerns

The Gauntlet is strongest in areas where civilization prospers and science is on the cutting edge, places where the rules of reality are at the most quantifiable and predictable, and locales where the landscape has been reshaped for the benefit of human beings. In places where the Gauntlet is weak, spiritual energy freely enters the mundane world. Magic is capricious and unpredictable, and spirits often defy what would be convenient or comfortable for humanity. Wondrous and mystical phenomena are possible. Garou revere these places where the Wyld is prevalent, seek them out for their greatest rituals, and sanctify them as caerns.

In the modern world, caerns are few and far between. In fact, they’re so valuable that other supernatural creatures may covet the spiritual energy contained within them. Mages and marauding spirits sometimes want to feast on (or despoil) these pure and powerful places. Garou vigilantly guard caerns, not only to preserve the undiluted essence of the Wyld, but also to sustain the Garou Nation. Unfortunately, werewolves are losing that fight. Precious few Garou caerns remain. Their cause is so desperate that some packs attempt to create urban caerns. Establishing an urban caern isn’t simply a matter of convenience; it’s perilously difficulty to do without spiritual might, and it yields only limited results. Close to the watchful eyes of vigilant humans and the urban resources of the Wyrm’s minions, urban caerns are perpetually in danger.

Some caerns are established for a specific purpose, such as healing or war. These sacred sites are inhabited by spirits attuned to the caern’s purpose, and rituals of that type are slightly easier to enact there. All powers invoked are aligned to the caern’s purpose. The most powerful caerns are also used for travel. Garou can open pathways called moon bridges that allow them to pass unseen through the Garou Nation’s network of caerns and sacred places. Though a caern’s moon bridge can be opened in the physical world, it’s usually far more discreet to open it from the spirit world on the other side of the caern’s Gauntlet.

Because the secrecy of the Veil is important to the survival of the Garou Nation, many werewolves working together at a caern can help hide (or at least cover up) spiritual activity in the physical world. Ideally, several Theurges are on hand in each sept to control and manage the spirits around a caern, and cubs and cliath find it easier to learn these same practices when elders are nearby. When important rituals or powerful rites are enacted, all the participating Garou can cross over to the spirit world there. If the local Master of the Rite wishes to conduct these ceremonies in the physical world, their ritual tasks are easier because the Gauntlet is low. This benefit is especially important in the world’s few urban caerns. Bone Gnawers and Glass Walkers specialize in variant rites for urban areas, although more traditional or old-fashioned Garou may prefer the purity and power of the wilderness instead.

The Periphery:
Although the Gauntlet is strong enough to separate the worlds of flesh and spirit, it’s not impermeable or impenetrable. In many places, especially where the Gauntlet is weaker (or “lower”), spiritual energy bleeds through into the real world. This residual energy is too weak to really benefit shapechangers, but particularly sensitive humans may notice it, even if they don’t realize what it is. Humans have used many methods to commune with the spirit world or attain a state of expanded consciousness: Occult rituals, religious rapture, psychedelic drugs, artistic reverie, the endorphin high of extreme physical activity, tantric sex, and proficient meditation all hold possibilities. Places on this side of the Gauntlet where spirit energy bleeds through are called the Periphery.

When a human being (or other sentient creature) becomes aware of her spiritual side, her consciousness drifts into the Periphery. The effects are highly subjective. Colors become brighter, senses sharpen, intuition brings sparks of unexpected insight, life becomes blissful, or the attuned mind opens to feel a connection with all things in the world. It’s brilliance; it’s madness; it’s a state of reverie cynics call delusional.

In this state of ecstasy, seemingly magical events occur. The results depend greatly on the seeker’s state of mind. Artists and spiritualists seek it fervently so they can become familiar with this rapture. Kinfolk may be vaguely aware of the Periphery’s presence, meditating on it to become more sensitive to the world of spirits. In rare cases, Kinfolk have even been able to project their presence immediately beyond the Gauntlet to carry messages to their werewolf relations. Psychically or spiritually sensitive humans can also detect its presence.

Benevolent spirits may attempt limited communion with these spiritual seekers, but Banes also look for opportunities to exploit these people. Tales abound of drug-fueled artists, writers, and musicians who sacrificed too much to attain a state of reverie, only to descend into madness and despair. The risk of spiritual and psychic contamination is always present. Most sane minds snap out of this state when it becomes too dangerous. Those dependent on drugs, however, may be unable to leave, even after their minds and souls are incapable of fully processing what they experience. Peripheral imprisonment can cause psychic shock, spiritual emptiness, dissolution, or even psychic scarring and disfigurement visible only to
supernatural beings or the spiritually aware. Charismatic cult leaders may lead an entire congregation into what seems like a state of grace, only to plunge them all into communal madness and horror. Only the most disciplined minds practiced in advanced techniques of magic and meditation have a reduced risk of this.

The highs and lows of the Periphery take many forms. They’re known by every culture, and as one would expect, Garou who pledge to protect mankind sometimes rescue seekers who have gone astray: visionaries who sought rapture and revelation, only to become victims to forces mankind was not meant to know.

The Penumbra

Just beyond the Gauntlet is the closest realm of the Spirit World, a reflection of what we call the “real world.” The Penumbra is the area of the Umbra closest to Earth. It’s the most common spiritual destination of all Garou, one where they not only fight evil spirits bent on corrupting the spirit world, but also get a glimpse behind the realm people call reality. Just as the physical world is made of physical matter, the spirit world is made of spiritual matter called ephemera.

The landscape of the Penumbra looks vaguely like the physical world on our side of the Gauntlet — a street still looks like a street, and a park looks like a park — but the only objects that appear solid and enduring correspond to those that have large amounts of spiritual energy. If a pack steps sideways in a city park, for example, the living grass and trees in the physical world will look even more vibrant and alive in their spiritual reflection in the Penumbra. Matter that has endured the passage of time also gains a spiritual representation in the Penumbra. Old trees and buildings have solid counterparts there; most newer buildings, unfinished constructions, and recent vegetation do not. If a new building is visible, it must have serious spiritual significance, such as a factory that churns out creations fueled with the Wyrm’s energy.

The forces of the Triat are more obvious in the Penumbra. Wyld-spirits thrive in natural areas where living things are healthy and strong. Weaver-spirits scuttle through places where technology is present, sometimes weaving thin webs to show where streets are paved or cables stretch from building to building. Newly-built structures may appear as faint outlines of gossamer webs, waiting for the spirits to solidify them. Cell phones, computers, and traffic lights all have their own distinct signatures. The corruption of the Wyrm is also more obvious, taking many hideous forms. Neglected graveyards fall into decay; pollution stains the spiritual landscape like a blight; places of suffering and misery appear as shadowy mockeries of their physical counterparts. Wyrm-spirits are drawn to these places, feeding and breeding until packs of werewolves cull the population.

Since the Penumbra is closer to the physical world than other realms, time and distance are roughly the same here. A Garou in New York who steps sideways into the Penumbra on the west side of Central Park, crosses its spiritual reflection to the other side, and steps sideways back into the physical world will appear on the east side (hopefully taking care not to be seen when he enters and leaves). If he runs across the park for an hour in the Penumbra and returns, an hour will have passed in the physical world. If he does this as night, he’ll see the passage of Luna, the Celestine of the Moon, overhead, and her phase will be the same as the moon’s phase in the physical world. Once in the Penumbra, the lights of the city fade away, and the stars burn with a brilliance unmatched in the physical world.

Theurges like to tell cubs that in a way, Penumbral spirits are more real than the physical matter they represent. The spirits representing an object can endure the loss of its physical body in the real world, but a physical body cannot survive the destruction of its spirit essence. If an old oak tree is chopped down in the physical world, its spiritual counterpart may linger for a long time in the Umbra, but if a living tree is destroyed in the Umbra, its physical counterpart will wither and die.

Penumbral streets and forests seem eerily empty, since most sentient creatures don’t appear in the Penumbra. Only spiritually advanced people appear here. Mages have highly developed spiritual selves called Awakened Avatars, and their Avatars are visible in the Penumbra (even though each exists in the same realm as its mage). An animal won’t appear visible in the Penumbra, but when many animals live and thrive in one place, an animal-spirit might be drawn to that locale’s reflection in the Penumbra. Spirits and spiritual places become analogies to the places they represent: as the saying goes, “as above, so below.” Garou and other shapechangers interact with this landscape in a far more immediate way: a werewolf can stand in the physical world or its reflection in the Penumbra, but he won’t be visible in both worlds. In fact, if he’s caught in the Gauntlet or passes on to more distant realms of the Spirit World, he’ll be gone from the physical and Penumbral realms entirely.

Peeking:
A Garou in the Penumbra can peer back into the physical world, but it’s not easy, and it’s not without risk. (This requires a Gnosis roll against a difficulty equal to the local Gauntlet.) If the attempt succeeds, the werewolf sees a shadowy, monochromatic version of the physical world. Seeing fine details is difficult (although it’s possible to read newsprint, a computer monitor, or facial expressions with five successes). Noises from the other side have distortion or echoes. Scent, however is unaffected; in fact, some Garou claim their sense of smell is heightened enough that they can even track prey.

While a Garou in the Penumbra is peeking into the physical world, however, she is oblivious to her surroundings in the spirit world, unless she starts taking damage (and losing Health Levels). Her pack can’t communicate with her, and her enemies can act unopposed. Her intense concentration is obvious, especially since her eyes will be glowing.

Werewolves can also peek from the Earth to the Penumbra, though it’s even more difficult. The Gnosis roll is against a difficulty of the local Gauntlet plus three, up to a difficulty of 9. However, the same dangerous distraction is evident. Fortunately, some supernatural abilities make this easier, such as the Gift: Pulse of the Invisible.

Some spirits in the Penumbra may also be able to dimly perceive events in the physical world. This requires the Charm: Peeking, although discerning fine details is as difficult for these spirits as it is for Garou (requiring the same Gnosis roll against a difficulty equal to the strength of the Gauntlet). One of the most useful applications of this is when a werewolf gathers information from a spirit tasked to observe a specific physical person or place. One of the most dangerous situations is when a Bane is tasked to perform this same activity or uses this information to stalk and corrupt an innocent victim.

The Dark Umbra

As creatures who deal with life and death on an almost daily basis, werewolves seem quite accustomed to dealing with the concept of dying. The greatest Garou heroes are said to live on in the spirit world as ancestor-spirits after they die. As surprising as it may seem, a few elders voluntarily disconnect from the physical world to live on through eternity as spirits. Some werewolves believe that they will rejoin Gaia when they pass on, or be reborn as the next generation of cubs. Others have learned to channel the spirits of their ancestors. In either case, it’s easier for a Garou to accept the thought of dying. Although a sept’s Gathering for the Departed can be a somber affair with epic displays of mourning, Garou do not dread the end of a hero’s life.

Humans have trouble achieving such equanimity. In fact, the vast majority of them have some level of dread or fear of death. Although religion can offer hope of salvation, faith in the World of Darkness is dying. Since humans can never experience the spirit world (at least, not without help from mages, werewolves, or other supernatural allies), they endlessly speculate and argue about the outcome and even the existence of the afterlife. According to some spiritualists, this dread gives shape and substance to the Dark Umbra, the underworld of creation. Just as the Penumbra is a shadow of the living world on the other side of the Gauntlet, the Dark Umbra is said to be “below” our world, forming a shadowy reflection of the world. Places of entropy, decay, suffering, and death cast enduring reflections there.

In the physical world, humans who die in tragic circumstances with unresolved passions may become trapped in a life beyond death as ghosts. For a rare few, death is actually a time of transformation: they pass over to the Dark Umbra. No heaven or hell awaits them; instead, they endure an endless purgatory until they resolve their unfinished business or are destroyed. Just as the Penumbra is a place where everything is more alive, in the Dark Umbra, shadows form where the forces of entropy and decay predominate.

Silent Striders have a few rites and rituals for entering this realm, which have gradually been shared with other tribes over time. With enough wisdom, these Garou may even lead their packs on journeys into darkness, but the spirits of the Dark Umbra know these outsiders do not belong. Entering this realm is far more difficult than stepping sideways into the Penumbra. Nonetheless, when a Garou must face the heartrending truth about a human’s untimely demise, this sinister reflection of the real world holds the hope of revelation and resolution.

The Astral Realm

The Penumbra reflects life; the Dark Umbra reflects death; the Astral Realm is separate from both of those realms. It’s a realm of the mind, constructed from ideals and pure intellect. If the Dark Umbra is said to be “below” our world, then the Astral Realm is described as being “above” it. (As dimensions that defy conventions of Earthly reality, the words “above and below” don’t fully do them justice, but no other word comes close.) Garou tell tales of this realm, but they rarely have the privilege of entering it. Although there have been sightings of Stargazers in the Astral Realm, such events are exceptional. Occultists are more familiar with stories of mages in the Astral Realm; loremasters know the tales are possible because of the willworkers’ command of Mind magic. Garou who study the mysteries of the occult know more about this, but the chances of them traveling there are remote in the extreme.

Domains

Scattered across the Penumbra are smaller pocket dimensions called Domains: zones that correspond to areas in both the physical Realm and the Near Umbra. They borrow energy and definition from their Near Umbral counterparts. From here, alternatives to reality become stranger. They deviate more from the rules of reality humans know, even as they
show aspects of reality in ways imaginative, creative, and enlightened supernatural beings can understand. Garou can enter the limited reality of a Domain from the Penumbra.

Blights are isolated cityscapes — mixed realms where the Weaver and the Wyrm are both powerful. Weaver-spirits build and maintain these metropolises in Blights, even as Wyrm-spirits corrupt and destroy them. Some Blights are mockeries or parodies of existing cities, while others are suspiciously generic. All of them have one thing in common: The natural forces of the Wyld are nearly non-existent here. Blights are sterile, empty landscapes where Wyrm and Weaver spirits race to outbreed and overpower each other. The thicker the webs and walls of ephemeral buildings and city systems get, the more enraged the spirits of the Wyrm become. Of course, when either kind of spirit is destroyed, it’s only a matter of time
before the spirit reforms to renew the endless struggle. If one side of this conflict “wins” (perhaps with the help of spirit-walking shapechangers), the Blight transforms into a spawning ground for either the Wyrm or Weaver.

Chimares are pocket realities formed by dreams. Some believe that for each dream of every sentient creature on Earth, there’s a reflection of it in a chimare; other spiritualists attest that only the most powerful dreams can become ephemeral in the Umbra. Either way, a traveler who manages to enter another person’s dream may give insights into that sentient’s mind. With enough spiritual might, a visionary may reshape the dream, alter its outcome, or influence the dreamer’s mind. A chimare can be a chilling nightmare or an idealistic paradise. Neither is real, but they’re dangerous enough to maim or kill the unprepared —or drive them mad. Mind mages are especially adept at manipulating chimares, and as such, they may act as rivals to packs of spiritually-sojourning werewolves.

Epiphs are bizarre realms that embody concepts, such as “the color blue,” “the number four,” or “the smell of cinnamon.” Garou tend to find them baffling, although Stargazers (and other werewolves with the Enigmas skill or a high Gnosis trait) may gain insights by meditating within them. A more complicated epiph may have animate spirits acting out philosophical or intellectual concepts, expanding the definition of the phrase “platonic ideal.” A traveler in an epiph could experience every variation of a concept, become a temporary expert in that concept, or even do battle against a particularly pernicious idea. All things are possible in the spirit world; some are just stranger than others. (Some werewolves attempt to regain Gnosis through meditation in an epiph; if they succeed, they not only gain temporary Gnosis, but also unexpected side effects, revelations, or even flashes of intuition.)

Glens are domains inhabited by spirits of the Wyld and suffused with pure manifestations of Gaia. A Glen is an idealized, perfect manifestation of Her natural world, at least for a particular biome. The inhabitants are typically intelligent animal-spirits or talking plant-spirits. Glens can serve as breeding grounds for Wyld-spirits, releasing them into neighboring dimensions or even the so-called “real world.” Sometimes an avatar of a Garou totem might retreat to a Glen to heal or meditate. Werewolves have been known to do the same thing — a werewolf who succumbs to the apathy and depression of Harano might retreat into the perfect surroundings of a Glen until he becomes fully spiritual and forgets his Earthly concerns entirely (see “Disconnection,” below). Red Talons (and Garou with high Primal-Urge) have an almost instinctive ability to understand and interpret events in Glens.

Hellholes are Wyrm-ridden domains that correspond to toxic waste sites, polluted areas, and places of extreme human suffering. They may be found floating in isolation between the Penumbra and Near Umbra, or they may be directly accessible from some of the most horrific toxic waste dumps, radioactive landscapes, or other spawning grounds of the Wyrm on Earth. A pack of shapechangers may be surprised when they step sideways from a hellish place on Earth and walk straight into a virulent Hellhole. Some of the most terrifying and toxic places on Earth persist as Hellholes long after they’ve been sanitized, cleansed, or fallen prey to radioactive decay on Earth.

Trods have significance to the fae, changelings, the Fianna, and their faerie relations. Many are accessible through places on Earth of significance to these capricious creatures, such as faerie rings and monoliths. Trods have a reputation for serving as hidden paths between the sacred places of the Earth, but only for those who hold the favor of the fae. Faeries and their kin may use a trod as a shortcut when traveling across the planet. However, interlopers may find themselves terribly lost, and some have become trapped in unpredictably winding paths or elaborate hedge mazes. The most distant trods border on the Near Umbra, where they reflect places on Earth that were once vital to the fae, even though they have long since passed from the physical world. If they’re even fully forgotten, they might even fade into the Deep Umbra and disappear. A particularly glib or clever Fianna may be able to gain the temporary favor of the fae while exploring, exploiting their distant ancestry long enough to travel across a trod.

Webs are areas where Weaver-spirits have thoroughly calcified and clarified an area of the Penumbra. They act as focal points for the machinations of the Mad Weaver. While Garou may risk getting caught in these webs, drained of their will (and Willpower), or enslaved by an army of spirits, spiritual heroes have been known to climb these webs to other realms in the Near Umbra dominated by the Weaver. As one would expect, Glass Walkers may find it easier to gain insights into the spirits here, possibly even controling them long enough to gain information or insights. A Web can also be a simulacra or synecdoche of a similar place in the real world. A vast and uncaring corporation or organization may have an even more elaborate campus or office within a Web. Travelers tell of employees who are so demoralized in the real world that shadows of their office drones continue to labor within a Web, even as they sleep. More cautionary tales warn of Garou who were drained of their will (or Gnosis), processed, brainwashed, and forced to labor as mindless drones in these same Weaver constructs.

Wyldlings are rarer than Hellholes or Webs, even though the Wyld-spirits within them can be exceedingly powerful. As the world dies and the Apocalypse draws nigh, Wyldlings are drifting farther from the physical world toward the Near Umbra. Nothing is stable or permanent in these chaotic realms, and capricious forces of magic unleash unpredictable effects. As one would expect, Wyldling spirits gather there. Fortunately, the natural surroundings of Glens also offer some refuge for Wyld-spirits.

The Near Umbra

Beyond Earth’s atmosphere in the physical world, man-made satellites orbit the Earth, and much farther, the Moon circles the planet as it cycles through its phases. In the spirit world, the Near Umbra lies beyond the Penumbra. The most common method of reaching it is by a Moon Bridge, a gateway that originates in a Garou caern in the physical world. Sometimes a pack may find a path to the Near Umbra by crossing a Domain that’s similar to a place in the Near Umbra the Garou are trying to reach. Spirits may also act as guardians and guides, if approached properly.

The Near Umbra is a swirling haze where many realms drift, great and small, beneath Luna’s light. Just as the moon orbits the Earth, these realms orbit the Gaian Realm, though their paths are not as limited by mere physical laws. Some werewolves travel here to petition their totems or speak to powerful spiritual entities; however, these ruling powers are as unpredictable and dangerous as they are wise. Gnosis is vital in the Near Umbra, since these realms are full of mysteries, enigmas, and hidden wisdom. Garou heroes leave the physical world they know to find revelations in strange realms, but the knowledge is never truly valuable unless they can bring it back to their septs and caerns. The physical world is a valuable frame of reference in many ways, especially for distinguishing between useful revelations and delusional bouts of madness.

There are thirteen major Near Realms circling the Earth in the Near Umbra. They’re pockets of immense spiritual power, each contained by a thin membrane. Each one feels as natural and real to spiritual travelers as the physical world feels to physical travelers. Each realm has its own “internal logic,” its own set of rules and laws for its version of “reality.” A Garou’s senses all function here (with some slight modifications), but her instincts and intellect are just as vital. There may be more major realms, but there’s no way to know what has remained
undiscovered, of course, until it’s found.

According to legend, the Near Realms where formed when powerful forces of the Triat from the distant Deep Umbra collided with the most powerful spirits of the Gaian Realm. This would explain why some Near Realms are dominated by one of the forces of the Triat, while others have been heavily influenced by spiritual forces on Earth.

The Thirteen Near Realms:
Cosmologists speak of the thirteen largest Near Realms in the Umbra; they’re allegedly strung around the Earth in the spirit world like pearls on a string. Their positions aren’t static, however, and despite the best of attempts of shapechangers who visit them repeatedly, no two journeys to them are ever exactly alike. Each realm’s internal logic and laws tend to remain the same, but what travelers find in the Umbra often depends on what they seek.

The Abyss: A tear in the fabric of creation, the Abyss is a yawning chasm that consumes everything that has been lost or abandoned. Paths snake down its cavernous walls, descending into darkness and madness. In its depths, travelers may find things long gone and things best forgotten. Some believe that at the nadir of this chasm, a ravenous maw of
the Wyrm devours and annihilates anything that falls into darkness. No one can prove this, of course, since anything that falls into the pitch-black void is never seen again.

The Aetherial Realm: The Aetherial Realm reaches across the Umbral heavens, forming the farthest expanse of the Near Umbra. Powerful Garou tend to gates called Anchorheads here, guarding gateways that lead into the endless space of the Deep Umbra. Celestines and aetherial totems manifest their avatars within the Aetherial Realm; in some ways, this dimension is a microcosm of the Deep Umbral cosmos. Helios and Luna are among the most influential Celestines here, manifesting in several different forms with different names. The apex of every Moon Bridge passes through this realm.

The Arcadia Gateway:This realm is a relic of a bygone age. It’s a spiritual reflection of the past, an emanation of the fae in the Near Umbra. The landscape is separated into kingdoms of Spring and Summer (preserved by the Seelie Court) and Autumn and Winter (conquered by the Unseelie Court). Unlike the modern world of changelings, reality here reflects a time when the Fae Folk were far more common on the Earth. Emanations imbued with fae energy act out classic tales from changeling myths and faerie tales. According to
legend, the trods through this realm once meandered towards a gateway to the fabled realm of Arcadia, but the path has long-since been lost. Some loremasters insist its destination
was an alternate manifestation of the moon; others argue that Arcadia was only an ideal too transcendental to have ever existed; a few drunken Fianna insist they’ve been there, fervently denying such claims later. In a way, the spirits here also serve as a portent of the future: A chilling Endless Winter has begun advancing across the land.

The Atrocity Realm: Millennia of suffering have created the Atrocity Realm, a nightmarish landscape where spirits relive the worst cruelties and horrors of human history. No Garou comes here for glory, only to learn from the past. Human atrocities can be more brutal or tragic than the soul-scarring events of the Impergium, a time so horrific it scarred the human psyche with the Delirium for all time. It’s said that the only way to escape this realm is to sympathize with its victims. One of the hardest ways to learn from history is to relive it in the spirit world, hopefully so the lessons learned here will never be repeated in the real world.

The Battleground: This battlefield is dedicated to warfare in all its forms. As long as people make war against each other (regardless of the euphemisms they use to describe it), the battleground steadily grows. Spiritual echoes of history’s greatest (and worst) battles live on. Travelers relive tribal conflicts in the Impergium, the conquests of the Roman Empire, Shadow Lord raids on vampire fiefdoms, two World Wars, violent subjugation in the Third World, terrorist attacks and reprisals, and operations of the First World’s twenty-first century military. Signposts and muddy trails show paths through living history. Spirits, shades, and even werewolf warriors have begun gathering around an empty battlefield in the center of the realm: the Vigard Plain. Its landscape changes, but everyone gathered believes the Apocalypse will begin there.

The CyberRealm: The war against the Weaver is fought within the glass and steel skyscrapers of the CyberRealm. As technology continues to rapidly advance, the realm is growing at a more alarming rate than any other. It’s a steadily growing reflection of a twenty-first century city, even as its periphery contains representations of archaic tech. Spirits emulating bleeding-edge technology thrive near the top of these skyscrapers. Spiritual constructs based on technology that’s growing rapidly obsolete tend to fall into the dumpsters and alleyways. In the urban squalor of the streets below, anarchists and idealists gather, driven by fears of human obsolescence. Some are brave enough to scale corporate ladders of Webs reaching towards the higher floors. Their weakest and most expendable allies spew rants that are equal parts ‘90s computer jargon and third-rate cyberpunk dialogue. Weaver-spirits labor ceaselessly in the maze of cubicles and offices ensconced in the middle; some of their computers lead to a sub-realm known as the Computer Web and various ephemeral reflections of the Internet. At the apex of skyscrapers, the Lords of the CyberRealm fight with each other for the fate of the future. Every journey here is either a farce, an anachronism,
or a glimpse into a possible future.

Erebus: Gaia’s wrath manifests in the hells of Erebus. Garou atone there for their greatest sins, writhing in rivers of liquid metal suffused with molten silver. Their tormentors stalk along the riverside: sinister broods of black or silver werewolves lumbering in their Crinos forms. These psychopomps have centuries of experience in the arts of torture, as they’re careful to make sure the wounds inflicted by the river and their pain-inflicting implements never fully heal. Visitors may pass through and learn from the errors of others… or they may choose to challenge the broods for power and temporarily take their place. An ancient Incarna named Charyss rules here, watching over the agony of her charges from a castle in
the center of a silver lake.

Flux: Energy and madness surge in this transitory realm. According to one legend, the Weaver has trapped the heart of the Wyld in this realm. Anything is possible here, and chaos is everywhere. When Garou enter the realm, the Flux Realm can be any conceivable landscape in the cosmos, but periodically, one part of that landscape will change into something vaguely similar. Every frame of reference eventually changes until the pack leaves. Every spirit in the realm is also a variant of an Engling (supplying Gnosis for those with the proper rites), but quite capable of defending itself.

The Legendary Realm: Packs traveling through this realm can experience the lives of their legendary ancestors. Most of the landscape recreates the world of the Impergium, and within it, nearly every homeland of the Garou endures. Events within the realm are not strict historical recreations, however; they may reflect tales altered over time to suit the ideals of the modern world. They may even hold shameful truths that history has never repeated. Galliards give this realm strength when they recite tales of legendary heroes.

Pangaea: Pangaea is a reflection of primal Earth, showing the world as it was before civilization, human history, and even the Impergium. It’s a time when the continents of Earth were as one, a re-creation tempered with anachronism and long-forgotten, atavistic horrors. Dinosaur kings and Mokolé shapechangers claim vast territories of Pangaea, and spirits resembling the many stages of human ancestry hunt creatures that humans never knew. Garou staying in this realm for too long disconnect from their former lives and possibly even from their genetic origins. Some begin to degenerate into more primitive species that may or may not have ever existed, gaining freakish abilities that fade when they leave.

Scar: Created during the Industrial Revolution, this realm was once built on ideals, but those dreams have turned to nightmares. In the Victorian Age, the realm was an expression of a perfect world constructed from the indefatigable engines of industry, one where every aspect of life functioned with clockwork precision. Since then, the reckless ambitions of the Mad Weaver and the inevitable corruption of the Wyrm have perverted it. Every employee’s nightmares come to life here. Fascist enforcers police the streets, and warehouses hide horrific violations of health and safety standards. In rusting factories surrounded by toxic waste and plumes of balefire, the Wyrm’s minions sacrifice spirits to create a never-ending supply of Wyrm-tainted fetishes. Most are armaments for spiritual troops, but a few survive the perilous journey to the real world. In fact, it is said that every corrupt subsidiary of the Pentex corporation that’s endured long enough has a spiritual reflection here. Every victory against the Wyrm and Weaver in the Scar increases the chances of a pack succeeding in their crusade to purge similar malefic influences from the physical world.

Summer Country: The Summer Country is now little more than a myth, as it’s been fading away for decades. Legends say the realm is a reflection of Gaia’s pure and boundless love for Her children. In ancient tales, accomplished heroes and errant aspirants were destined to find it at crucial times in their lives, turning points chosen by Gaia when they could receiving healing, peace, wisdom, and even gifts of spiritual might or insight. When Galliards recite tales of the Near Realms, they always mention the Summer Country in passing, but all their tales of travels there are old enough to have passed into history. Perhaps they should be thankful that such tales have not entirely passed from memory.

Wolfhome: This realm is a vast expanse of pristine wilderness. Answers to primal mysteries are hidden here. All werewolves arriving in Wolfhome immediately shift into Lupus form, but they cannot shift back from their wolf forms for the duration of their stay. One must master the ways of the wolf to survive. Some travelers attest it’s a realm where wolves are dominant, where the once-great cities of mankind now lie in ruins, overrun by the wilderness. Others describe it as a harsh and unforgiving realm where wolves can become prey as easily as they assume their roles as predators. Spirits resembling human hunters have been seen here, whether they’re laying traps for the unwary or hunting packs from passing helicopters. When lupus elders are angry, they send arrogant homids (or wayward lupus) to Wolfhome, not only to remind them of their lupine nature, but also to prepare them for a world that’s increasingly hostile to the Earth’s surviving population of wolves.

Malfeas, the Heart of the Wyrm

Malfeas is the rent in the fabric of the universe, where torn remnants of reality have been reshaped in the Wyrm’s own image. The more recognizable parts of the realm are twisted oarodies of the material world from throughout time, from blasted wastelands to toxic, suppurating industrial labyrinths. The lords of the Banes rule duchies here, and in a blasphemous temple the Black Spiral itself awaits its next dancer. The realm teems with all manner of Wyrm servants, from lowly Banes and luckless mortal slaves to Black Spiral Dancer champions and corrupt Incarnae. As the heart of spiritual power for the Wyrm’s legions, it is a place few Gaian Garou have seen and almost none have escaped.

The Dream Zone

The Umbra is full of surprises, and some zones defy or transcend the “normal” limitations of the Spirit World. For example, even the spiritual denizens of the farthest realms of the Near Umbra consider the Dream Zone mysterious. It’s a world of unexpected power and potent symbolism, appearing as a multifaceted gem of extraordinary beauty. It lies on the periphery, between the Near Umbra and the Deep Umbra that lies beyond it. Any Garou who seeks it takes a risky journey through dreams. Unlike a chimare, which is attuned to a single mind, the Dream Zone is built from archetypes and recurring images that recur in the dreams of all humanity. Gnosis and psychological insights can mean the difference between life and death
and never-ending torment trapped in an ever-shifting otherworldly dimension. Dreamers and travelers, beware.

The Membrane

The Membrane separates the relatively comprehensible realms of the Near Umbra from the endless enigmas of the Deep Umbra. The barrier is like the Gauntlet, but far more difficult to cross. The easiest way to enter the Deep Umbra is through a spiritual anomaly at an anchorhead (usually found within the Aetherial Realm.) Packs of elders guard these gateways, much as septs of Garou guard caerns; these packs often call on ancestor-spirits and powerful Stargazers for aid.

Some Stargazers theorize that the Deep Umbra may be accessible by means other than Anchorheads, such as the Dream Zone, but the unpredictable nature of the spirit world makes repeating these journeys difficult. Rare travelers have found ways to enter the Deep Umbra directly by powerful, lucid dreams, but this possibility is as dangerous as it is promising. Tales abound of things in the endless void, watching and waiting to enter the realm of flesh. Mages have stories of Marauders driven mad in the depths of the Deep Umbra, driven by pure chaos and the need to raid Earth for its spiritual energy. From there, the stories get stranger. Technomancers have documentation of aliens crossing the Membrane to conduct experiments on supernatural creatures, ranging from the intellectual Greys to an impossible gorilloid race called the Zigg’ralur. Suffice it to say that although all things are possible in
the Near Umbra, anything that has to be kept out of our reality by the Membrane is sufficiently insane to destroy the minds of the unprepared masses.

Deep Umbra

Beyond the membrane, Gaia’s presence is less and less perceptible in the Deep Umbra. Reality breaks down, and navigation becomes progressively more difficult. This is the home of the Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm, and it’s a challenge for even the eldest Garou. The only comforting sanctuary is the domain of Luna as she passes through the heavens. As with the Astral Realm, mages are far more prepared to deal with the horrors of this realm than werewolves are.

Like stories of the World Tree, tales of the Deep Umbra are contradictory, and have changed over time. No two journeys are exactly the same. Elder Glass Walkers have returned with tales of ships sailing through luminiferous ether; elder Shadow Lords intimidate cubs with cautionary tales of a pitch-black, deathly cold abyss where only insight can lead a troubled mind to safety; Stargazers, as one would expect, have wondrous tales of living constellations, intelligent light, extra-dimensional enigmas, and a panorama of more stars than a cub could ever witness on Earth. What a traveler seeks, she will ultimately find, if that’s a hero’s fate. If she leads a pack into her vision of the Deep Umbra, she can lead them to rapture and
revelation or to the terrors of psychic annihilation. Fates beyond the stars await beyond a werewolf’s greatest dreams and nightmares.

Disconnection

Since Garou are creatures of both flesh and spirit, they must balance their time in the physical world and spiritual world. If a werewolf spends too much time in one world, he becomes disconnected from the other. For each lunar cycle spend in the spirit world (as it waxes from new moon to full moon and wanes back to new moon), returning to the physical realm becomes more difficult (increasing the difficulty by 1). Conversely, if a Garou remains in the physical world for the same length of time, stepping sideways becomes harder (also increasing the difficulty by 1).

Staying exclusively in one realm or another for a longer time is even more perilous. After a year and a day in the Penumbra, a shapechanger gradually becomes a creature of spirit. This is complicated by the fact that the farther a werewolf travels from the physical realm, the harder it becomes to keep track of time relative to its normal passage on Earth. Especially when memories of one’s former life begins to fade, becoming a permanent part of a distant realm becomes all too easy.

For ordinary people who find themselves in the Umbra (such as those escorted with the Gift: Grasp the Beyond), the risk of disconnection is greater. Removed from reality, they will gradually forget their former lives. Over time, they become progressively more ephemeral, eventually becoming creatures of spirit. Such transmogrifications result in confused and tormented entities that don’t possess supernatural abilities; instead, they become witnesses and victims for more powerful spirits.

Umbral Travel

Many Garou believe that if you seek something in the spirit world, and you’re destined to find it, you eventually will. Heroes seek challenges, and werewolves find them in the Umbra. While any path a pack follows will lead somewhere adventurous, chances of success and survival increase when travelers know their way around the cosmos. The Umbra may be enigmatic, but some methods of Umbral navigation are relatively reliable, at least for the spirit world.

— The forces of the Triat are more obvious when you’re in the spirit world. If you’re seeking a trail to a Wyrm, Weaver, or Wyld realm, Gifts that detect or manipulate these primal forces (like Sense Wyrm and Sense Weaver) can mean the difference between a safe journey and an unexpected detour into a living nightmare.
— Spirits possess extensive knowledge of the spiritual landscape. Talk to them. Whether you negotiate, communicate or command them, they’re powerful allies. Everything ephemeral needs something in exchange for their assistance; the Garou use the word chiminage to describe gifts and favors that can motivate spirits. This could be something rare you bring into the Umbra (or from a distant realm), or it may take the form of a quest, sacrifice, performance, or act of obeisance.
— When certain spirits travel across the spirit world, they forge trails as they go. These tracks are known as airts, and many spirits have an airt sense for detecting and interpreting them. Garou have their own arsenal of abilities for interpreting these signs and clues, including insights into their own Primal-Urge and facility with Enigmas. Unfortunately, these paths are temporary; in fact, they can disappear when a Garou is following them. When a pack loses their trail, they may need to bribe another spirit that possesses the Charm: Airt Sense to help them.
— Analogies are powerful in the spirit world. A Garou seeking something distant in the Umbra should follow similar things he can see and experience around him. If you seek a realm of darkness, chase shadows. If you’re searching for a realm of the Weaver, wade into webs. If you’re reaching for the heavens, start climbing something. These methods don’t always lead to a direct path, but sometimes, the journey that involves falling a thousand miles begins with one step off a cliff.
— Some realms are connected by spirit gates. Garou who are fortunate enough to find them can walk directly through a portal/gate/sphincter/airlock/valve from one realm to the next.
Unfortunate Garou must deal with guardians at a spirit gate. Anchorheads are the most obvious example of spirit gates, since they lead from the Near Umbra to the Deep Umbra); however, in that case, the guardian at the gate may be a Garou elder or ancestor-spirit.Rumors abound of more exotic forms of Umbral travel:
— Glass Walkers tell tales of epic journeys across the Weaver’s webs, reinforcing the idea that they may be the framework for the entire Umbra;
— Shadow Lords and Uktena whisper of tunnels the Wyrm’s minions have bored and drilled through creation so spiritual armies can move unseen;
— Red Talons retell the legend about chasing a Wyld spirit, only to find it suddenly disappear or reappear later … or to realize that it’s led them on a merry chase to somewhere perilous;
— a Galliard may brush aside a velvet curtain and find herself backstage in the theater of reality;
— a Ragabash might go drinking with a werecoyote and end up riding a mysterious Ghost Train;
— a Silent Strider may track a ghost to a shortcut through the Underworld; and so on and so on and so on.

The sky is no longer the limit, especially in realms that have no sky. When traveling in the Penumbra, werewolves move as they usually do. Walking and running are the easiest methods of travel, but since the Delirium and the Veil are no longer concerns away from the watchful eyes of humanity, alternatives are possible. Some Gifts (and some fetishes and talens temporarily loaned from spirits) allow the possibility of flight. Particularly heroic travelers may find their ability to run and leap borders on the superheroic, especially if a realm is a little light on gravity. Some spirits may even carry Garou out of the Penumbra. Once that landscape is left behind, distances become less predictable and rigid. There are no maps, milestones, or directions. Following a sympathetic route becomes easier when a Garou finds a trod, Moon Path, or similar path (such as a river, a thin strand of web stretching to the heavens, a rainbow, or even a beam of sunlight). In the absence of these paths, most werewolves simply meditate on their destination and let instinct be their guide. Travel times pass without seeming rhyme or reason, although they may correspond to quantifiable concepts, such as the phases of the moon, the stanzas of a poem, the length of a ritual, the passing of a season, or even the amount of time it takes to recite dialogue from a movie.

Sustenance
Since Garou may be traveling in the spirit world for hours, days, weeks, or even the duration of an epic poem, cubs who have never made these journeys can’t help but wonder: What
do you eat when you’re in the Umbra? Natural places where the Wyld is strong have abundant supplies of spirits that look like Earthly plants and animals, but not all of them are nourishing. Granted, Near Realms that emulate variations of the natural world (such as Wolfhome and Pangaea) offer chance to hunt, farm, and kill, but hostile realms can offer the exact opposite. Don’t expect a break for tea-time when you’re being tortured in a river of molten silver.

The easiest and most dependable method of sustenance involves expending one’s own Gnosis. A Garou who hasn’t found a way to eat or drink something that resembles food or drink (or chemical food substitutes) can easily live for the equivalent of a day on one point of Gnosis. If that’s not sufficient, the Wyld includes spirits that are reservoirs of Gnosis, such as Englings or other ephemera summoned with the proper rites and Gifts. Desperation sometimes leads Garou to attempt extracting Gnosis from other spirits, but this can have unexpected results. For example, if you attempt to suck the life force out of a jackbooted stormtrooper in the Scar Realm, you might discover the spirit is an empty shell.

When none of these options are available, starvation takes about the same time as it does on Earth (when time is a factor): about four weeks or one lunar cycle. However, starvation in the Umbra doesn’t lead to death. Instead, dying of starvation is a lot like dying as a spirit: a shapechanger “discorporates” and “reforms” at a place where creation is possible. It’s a terrible way to travel (using what Glass Walker computer geeks call a “dead man’s teleport”), but the werewolf awakens with a ravenous hunger, a completely different locale, and the temptation to rage (or frenzy) when it feasts upon the first spirit it sees.

Of course, some packs try to bring food of their own or pack a lunch. That’s reliable, but certainly not the only option. A meal of cardboard provided by Bone Gnawers with the Cooking Gift can’t compete with the epicurean delights available in limitless variations of reality. Some feasts are unlike anything found on Earth.

Farther Travels: Moonlit Airts
To venture deeper into the Umbra, particularly beyond the Near Realms, a werewolf needs a moonlit airt: a Moon Path or a Moon Bridge. Journeys by Moon Bridge usually begin within a caern at an artifact called a Pathstone; the pack’s safety is increased by opening it with the proper rites. Travel by Moon Path might avoid Earthly caerns entirely: they can go just about anywhere. Nothing precludes a pack from stumbling (or flying or falling or ethereally swimming) upon a moonlit airt in the midst of their journeys.

Whether a bridge or path, these routes are safest during the time of the full moon, since they’re guarded and patrolled by spirits called Lunes. However, Lunes are a lot like many werewolves during the full moon: they can be fickle or wrathful, and they’re certainly unpredictable. If a traveler dares to step off the path, he does so at his own risk. Lunes may choose to ignore, attack, or even mischievously prank the traveler, according to whim and the phase of the moon.

Though these airts are formed from moonlight, their appearance can vary widely. During the time of the new moon, the path may be nothing more than a single shaft of light; during the full it moon, it might be a fully formed tube that whisks the pack through time and space at high speed, a slippery slope of pearlescent white, a scattering of moon dust that billows like desert sand in the wind, or none of these, having assumed a much stranger form.

In any shape, a moonlit path is formed from ephemera, which can of course be rent or torn by the claws or supernatural creatures. Just remember to keep your arms and legs inside the Moon Bridge at all times. No one tells stories of Garou who were foolish enough to tear at the substance of a Moon Bridge, for presumably, anyone dealing such a grievous insult to Luna was last seen in the spirit world and has never been seen again.