The Resolve of the Garou

Simply put, the Garou are out to save the world, fighting the forces of corruption and stasis to save what remains of nature in a dark world. Though some could call this goal one of arrogance and hubris, the immense pride of the Garou comes from many sources. Of all the shapechangers, only the Garou run in packs and no others work as well together, though strife tears at this. Even before the Impergium, the Garou were more numerous and more widely travelled, living in Gaia's splendor at almost every latitude across the globe. Finally, each Garou is one of Gaia's Chosen, the final defense from the predations of the Wyrm.

Though the goal is known, the means are are the single most continuing point of debate. The line between friend and enemy is sometimes clear, sometimes vague. Loyalties are at once well-defined, conflicting and confusing - does one follow the nature of one's Sept, Tribe, Auspice, Breed, Pack, or even oneself? Decisions are made with contemplation and anger, honor and savagery. Balance for the Changing Breed is a fleeting thing, difficult to achieve and easily lost. The Garou who walk this all-to-narrow path well are legendary, though sometimes not in their own lifetimes - many are the Garou whose wisdom, honor and glory is only recognized posthumously. Those who fail to hold their resolve fall into Harano, a deep depression that most often ends in the Garou's death, or, at worst, are lost to the Wyrm.

Whether a Garou act with quiet firmness, loud boisterousness, or be full of indecision finally leading to action, few will question her motives. Amongst the Garou, actions speak louder than thoughts or words. Each cub has the potental to be a hero, if she takes up that challenge.

Loyalty

Because they are beset on all sides by the agents of the Wyrm and Weaver, Garou have developed a militaristic culture, whether it be the glorification of blood and heroes among the Get, the secretive machinations of the Uktena, or the boardroom battles of the Glass Walkers. Indeed, the similarities of Norse, Native American and underworld cultures to those of their respective tribes is a chicken-or-the-egg question debated by Galliards and Philodox - did the Garou influence the humans, or the humans influence the Garou? But when a Bane threatens the caern, all Garou will set aside their discussions to deal with the threat.

The law of the pack is a natural order, dynamic and strong. When it fails and a pack or sept or even the Garou Nation turns on itself the results are terrible. Fortunately, this rarely happens. Almost all Garou understand their role as defenders of Gaia, and most share the same goals: Protect the Wyld, defeat the Wyrm, and harness the Weaver or else defeat it as well. The Garou know that left unchecked, the unholy combination of the Weaver and Wyrm will destroy Gaia. This is a critical difference from the difficulties faced by some of the Garou's Kin over history - the Garou face the death of their race and their culture, while the Native Americans and others faced only the destruction of their culture - certainly a fate worse than death to many of those who survived, but what of those such as the Croatan who are no more, or the White Howlers who were lost to the Wyrm and became the Black Spiral Dancers? Most Garou know that to prevent this, the Garou must work together.

However, there are disagreements over how to achieve the goals, as well as their prioritization and sometimes even re-definition of the goals themselves. The Children of Gaia advocate turning the Wyrm, not destroying it, while the Get of Fenris fight the Wyrm with such Rage that they can end up needlessly fighting themselves and others. The Red Talons seek to restore the Impergium and cull humanity so as to free their wolf brothers. Fierce fighters of the Wyrm, the Black Furies will first and foremost seek to protect the sacred Wyld places. In some cases, Garou holding extreme viewpoints will see other Garou as traitors to their cause, or vice versa. The latter is the case with the Glass Walkers, who are viewed by many Garou from rural septs as lost to the Weaver, even though they do continue the fight against the Wyrm in their dark cities. All tribes look with suspicion on the Silent Striders, who fight when they have to but otherwise move about on their own, away from pack and sept. The Fianna sometimes seem to enjoy life and family at the expense of other goals, while the Bone Gnawers seem to value survival above all else.

Each breed, auspice, tribe, sept, and pack has its own viewpoint, creating difficulties for each Garou as loyalties come into conflict. Should one work to recover a powerful fetish, or find out who has been polluting a river, or make sure that the cubs are safe? The choices are hard, and rarely is there a "right" solution. The Garou recognize this by rewarding good choices with Renown and engaging in a constant process of teaching, tutoring and learning, whether it be studying under an elder Philodox, learning a Gift from a spirit, or telling a story at a moot. The bonds created by this process are reinforced within each pack by the shared experiences and history of the Garou in the pack. The result is an implicit trust of other Garou, and an explicit trust of one's packmates.

Inherently creatures of action, Garou have their debates, make decisions, and follow through on them. The Shadow Lord knows that once he has convinced the Silver Fang that it's right to begin surveillance of a suspected Wyrm infestation that the Silver Fang will support him, if at the least because he'll be expected to do the same for the Silver Fang later or else lose Honor. Whether for selfish or noble reasons, the loyalty amongst Garou is one of the their most distinguishing features. A Garou trusts that when another Garou says she will do something, that task will be done. And that Garou trusts that having given her word that she'll complete a task, her word will be respected by other Garou and they won't butt in unless asked.

This loyalty to other Garou also extends to Kin and especially to cubs. Each tribe feels responsible for their Kin and watches out for them. Should a Kinfolk of unknown tribe become known, the tribe who found the Kin will take him or her in - there have been challenges over the rights to protect Kin when more than one Garou or tribe has claimed the honor. Cubs are the future of Garou, and Lost Cubs are especially treasured because they are gifts of Gaia to the Garou. All Garou will come to the aid of a cub, while letting a cub needlessly face danger is scandalous, causing loss of Honor and Wisdom.

Romance

Garou make for great fighters, great lovers, and lousy mates. Few manage to have any sort of romantic relationship that last more than a few months, many only have one-night stands. There are many reasons for this - duty, danger, the pack, the changing forms. As warriors for Gaia, werewolves feel a higher purpose. Though it is a Garou's duty to breed, the higher priority is to battle the Wyrm and protect the Wyld, and therefore easy for a Garou to avoid, ignore, or forget the duty to reproduce. Like police and firefighters, Garou face death on the line of duty every day, except that dangers for the Garou are much greater, the stresses on the Garou's mate (and the relationship) that much larger. The Garou fight in packs, saving each other's lives, teaching on another, performing rituals, uncovering mysteries. The bond that is created amongst the pack is one that no outside romance can truly intrude on. In the mortal world, similar stresses are seen on relationships between soldiers and mafioso on the one hand and civilians on the other. Finally, the Garou are not human or wolf, they are an amalgamation of both and few can overcome the difference.

Given the difficulties of having a relationship with a human or wolf, why bother? Generations of Galliards and human bards have sought the answer without success. It is clear that Garou will seek relationships when and where they can, just like humans and wolves. Breeding more Garou is a major part of these relationships - more than one analogy to Henry VIII and his wives exists amongst the Garou. As Garou are only born of Garou/human or Garou/wolf matings (leaving aside the metis), it is expected that Garou, male and female, will at some point seek out a human or wolf to mate with. Rarely is a Garou rejected in his or her advance, at the very least the Garou has a strong animal magnetism that will attract even the least interested, and at most/worst the Garou has the strength to get what he or she wants. Whether this coupling lasts beyond the act of intercourse depends on many factors, some Garou seek only to spread or receive seed, others seek a partner to help with the prospective child. Assuming there is a child, nine out of ten are Kin and not Garou. Many werewolves will ignore and abandon those children to the original parent or some other means such as adoption or foster parents, preferring their Garou child. Even then, many Garou pay little attention, for the demands of the pack, sept, breed, tribe and auspice are great, never mind the dangers of breaking the Veil or drawing too much attention from the Wyrm to their children. Few Garou children know of their heritage prior to their First Change, most grow up with at least one non-biological parent.

Things are a little different amongst the wolves. Normally, the alpha male of the pack mates with the alpha female and that is it. As even the youngest Garou is a match for either of the alphas, a werewolf could easily destroy the wolf pack's structure through carelessness, never mind that thoughts of bestiality exist in the minds of many city-born Garou. The fragility of the packs and the skill required to maintain them mean that the few wolf-packs left are carefully watched and sequestered by their tribes, though it is fortunate that lupus Garou are the most fecund of all Garou.

The major difference between the Garou sexes is around the issue of pregnancy. While female Garou don't lose any effectiveness in battle until their ninth month (and some formerly-chauvinistic males would say not even then after being chastised for saying otherwise), the fact that they represent two Garou, one living and one unborn, makes them precious in the eyes of many. Some female Garou accept the "protection" of others, most rebel until they feel hampered by the growing child.

The Garou who successfully bring to term Garou children receive Honor Renown for following their duty, and the renown (or infamy) of their children follows Garou parents to the end of their days. Whether a Garou wants to have a child at a particular time is sometimes moot, for Gaia's seed is strong and birth control fails more often than is comfortable.

When a Garou mates with a Garou, a metis child can result. The Litany proscription against this mating came about for two reasons: First, to ensure that Garou did not lose contact with the human and wolf parts of their nature, and second, to prevent weakness within the Garou bloodlines. Garou who mate with other Garou aren't mating with humans and wolves, while the sterile, deformed products of that mating - the metis - can't reproduce nor can they fight as well for Gaia. Never mind that sex between Garou is supposedly better than any other sort - there are rumors amongst the younger Garou of a Star Gazer Kama Sutra, to go with their practice of Kailindo, but the Star Gazers refuse to comment.

Although the Litany clearly states that metis are abhorrent, most Garou are not strangers to the temptation of intimate relationships with their Garou brothers and sisters. They attempt to respect the Litany and abhore romantic relationships from the very beginning, even homosexual ones because they distract the Garou from their mission. There are a few Garou who can understand these relationships forming - after all, the passion of the Garou and the bonds created through shared experiences are so strong that relationships deeper than friendships are almost certain to exist. Though they are more accepting of various emotions in these relationships, these understanding Garou draw the line at lust and physical passion, for metis can result. Most of the Garou involved in relationships with other Garou feel guilt for their actions, causing relationships to form and fall apart in short order, and if they're lucky there will be no lasting repercussions. There are some who feel little to no guilt, who say the rewards are worth it, that a true match amongst Garou is better than any with a wolf or human. Those unrepentant Garou usually die horrible deaths for their loves and are the subjects of many a Galliard tale.

All Garou, respect the strong bonds that exist between Garou who have fought and bled for (and with) one another. The Philodox and Ragabash are always on the lookout for Garou who take the bonds of pack, tribe, auspice and breed a step too far - those who do lose Honor and Wisdom Renown. Full of passion and rage, the Ahroun are the most guilty of these breaches, curiously followed by the Philodox, whose balance is apparently a fragile one.

No Garou will condone relationships with metis, for even though there is no fear of offspring (though most metis are capable of sex, just sterile) the relationship itself is a clear indication of distraction from following Gaia's will. This causes even more loneliness amongst the metis, because few Garou will have more than a passing interaction with them, that usually being a negative interaction in the first place.

[System: Characters who want to go at it should find an appropriate place, and let a GM know - the GM will narrate what benefits (and penalties) may apply.]

Survival

Garou are perhaps the supreme predators of the planet, with all the benefits of their lupine and human heritage as well as the powers that Gaia bestowed - multiple forms, regeneration, stepping sideways, and gifts. However, the Garou must hide lest they be hunted themselves by agents of the Weaver or Wyrm, or even humans themselves. Wolf packs are hidden away in wild places, caerns hidden from Umbral and mundane sight, and some Garou even have day jobs.

Most Garou live on the fringes of mortal society, using their wits and skills as well as the generosity of Kin and sympathizers to survive. Only in the deep woods do Garou live like wolves, hunting and eating their kill, though the occasional Bone Gnawer will make a living off of rats and other vermin. All Garou will avoid eating humans, for therein lies madness. A Garou who feasts on humans will be put to death before his taint can spread to others.

Given the basics of food, very little can harm a Garou - their robust bodies can tolerate extremes of cold and heat, are immune to many diseases, and Garou are strong & mean enough to take on most any natural beast. It is only from supernatural threats that Garou face any real danger.

Silver

One of the supernatural threats to Garou is the moon-metal, silver. In small quantities, it will cause a Garou to itch. Long-term exposure to large quantities of silver may cause madness, though that is debated amongst the Theurges. However, silver-coated weapons generally don't cause any more harm than a non-coated weapon. Some specialized preparation is necessary, and those skills are only known to a few Theurges. The work is dangerous, for a misstep could cause grave injuries. In addition, even though silver weapons can be used to great effect against Black Spiral Dancers, they can just as easily be used against other Garou - in some septs, possession of a silver weapon is even considered to be a violation of the Litany.

[System: No, Virginia, your shotgun shell filled with silver dimes won't work, and neither will your squirtgun filled with silver nitrate. Silver tableware won't do much good either. If you want a silver weapon, you need to take one away from someone who has a weapon or talk to a Garou silversmith.]