Everything

Not every inductee into the Black Spiral Dancers is a cub, unknowing of what it means to Dance. Every tribe has lost great warriors to the heart of Malfeas. The Black Spiral Dancers take a special pride in the werewolves seduced from Gaia’s path. To throw an unwitting cub into the Spiral is one thing; to convince a seasoned Garou to forsake all she knows and dance into the service of the Wyrm is something completely different. Gaia’s Fallen are the terror of all Garou. Facing down the fallen mockery of the White Howlers offers a hazy reflection of a werewolf’s soul; it’s easy to cast them off as the insane, evil monstrosities they are. Demonizing the Black Spiral Dancers lets the Garou sleep at night knowing they’ve done a service to Gaia.

Then a Garou finds someone he once knew at the other end of his klaive, and a new horror tears into his soul. The White Howlers were lost centuries ago. Their corruption is an accepted relic of a painful past. A werewolf stalking a pack of Dancers only to find his supposedly-dead mother standing as their alpha faces the Wyrm at a new level. Gaia’s fallen are clear mirrors with Wyrm-tainted edges. Once a warrior accepts that a Garou can be coaxed into the Labyrinth and Dance of her own free will, trusting others becomes more difficult.

Inside his heart lurks the most frightening possibility of all: What if he’s next?

Seemingly paradoxically, fallen Gaian Garou are more zealous than those who Danced as cubs. The typical Black Spiral Dancer lives in full ignorance of what it means to be one of Gaia’s blessed. For the Garou who used to belong to one of the thirteen tribes, however, she has known yet she chose to reject it. For whatever reason, the call of the Wyrm outweighed the call of Gaia. Many Garou try to rationalize the decision to save remnants of the lost packmate or septmate they once knew. But the truth still lingers in the air, tainting any tale they might sing. Even if the werewolf was thrown into the Labyrinth by the Black Spiral Dancers against her will, she still chose to join the Wyrm. She could have resisted; she could have chosen death. Every Garou faced with this horror must live wondering if he would be stronger than his fallen comrade.

Gaia’s fallen serve the Wyrm with a purpose unseen in many other Black Spiral Dancers. They each had a reason to fall, and no matter how unstable, that reason is all they have to explain why they allowed their souls into the Wyrm’s service. The last thing their crumbling minds can accept is that all the horrors they’ve inflicted on Gaia since they fell were to the song of the Wyrm’s laughter. The werewolves sabotage every Garou operation they can. They seek to prove that their new viewpoint is correct and the Nation is blind. A startling sense of desperation lurks underneath their motives, chewing away at what remains of their sanity. Even if one of the fallen could be saved, the weight of Harano would likely find her falling to her own claws.

The fallen offer another service to the Wyrm. They know the Garou with whom they used to run. They expose tribal, sept, and pack secrets to the Wyrm. Those that Dance find the chance to return with an opportunity not afforded any born Black Spiral Dancer. They can infiltrate the ranks of their former allies and sabotage their plans from within. The Garou are a volatile force. A spark in a strategic location can set packs, septs, and even tribes upon one another. They can leak information from the septs to the local Spirals, alerting them to allies, defensive strategies, and planned offensive efforts. A pack running into the teeth of well-prepared Wyrm-beasts is a recipe for disaster.

Commonly, the infiltrators remain undiscovered until it’s too late. They cause irreparable damage, and by the time the Garou uncover the offender, she has disappeared back into the darkness.

Why would a Gaian warrior accept the call of the Wyrm? In the end times of a seemingly lost war, a werewolf might lose faith that he can make any difference. As faith dies, his Rage still burns, lashing out at anything perceived as false hope. He begins his Dance on a mission to show the Nation how wrong they are, how Gaia is doomed, and how stupid they are to believe anything else. Other Garou become lost as they watch the Wyld thrash back against the Wyrm. Tornados, earthquakes, and tidal waves can be just as destructive as any Wyrm-fed beast. With the Wyld wreaking vengeance, and not differentiating between friend and foe, the werewolf finds herself wondering why she’s even trying.

Some werewolves simply come to hate other Garou. Mother’s Voice is one example. Once an Adren of the Children of Gaia, Mother’s Voice received her vision early in her Cliath days. She would unite her sept with another that was only miles away. But she was ill-prepared for her reception among other werewolves. She struggled with both septs until they finally waged war on one another. In one last final act of frustration and rage, Mother’s Voice threw out her allegiance with the Garou. If they wanted to destroy each other, let them.

The Wyrm heard her and accepted her into its fold. Mother’s Voice was reborn as Wedge Tooth. Now, she infiltrates septs around the country, leaking information and keeping the Garou warring amongst themselves with well-placed rumors and lies.

Having dealt with all of the tribes, Wedge Tooth has insight to offer on their flaws, failings, and potential. While many Garou harbor general fatal flaws, working specifically to a tribe’s weakness grants a better chance to corrupt them to the Father’s service. Wedge Tooth offers her observations on each tribe below.

Black Furies

If there’s one thing the Black Spiral Dancers have over most of the Garou Nation from a Fury’s perspective, it’s that we don’t care about a werewolf’s gender. Male, female, both, neither… whatever so long as the job is done and done well. Still, liberating the mind of a Fury is difficult at best. She fights for the Mother, and she will go down fighting if she must.

Most cultures within the Garou Nation, however, are patriarchal. Females have to strive longer and harder to gain respect. Find the Furies who can’t stand by and watch a woman’s subjugation. Open their eyes to the suffering of women among the Garou. When they see the other tribes’ attitudes firsthand, the Rage and desire to remake the world in their image will fill their minds. Let them think they can remake it. In their Rage, they’ll further splinter the Garou Nation, attacking their would-be allies, and, as they take the first steps of the Dance, they will see the world of the Apocalypse, one where they can stand tall and haunt the streets, enforcing their desired laws of equality.

Bone Gnawers

They readily wallow in the worst of humanity’s filth. The hearty children of Rat know how to get by and make Gaia survive in places where others won’t tread. But that also means they know where to strike to kill Her. They understand cities like no one else, and they have the greatest human relay system, the dispossessed.

The best way to get to the Bone Gnawers? Their Kinfolk. Who gives a shit about Bone Gnawer Kin? Only the Bone Gnawers. The filthy, homeless, good-for-nothing people thieving and struggling just to get a meal — the rest of the Garou Nation, with the possible exception of the Children of Gaia, won’t touch them with a ten-foot pole. Find them, and then kill them. Call the police, claiming one of them has a gun and watch the SWAT team descend. After the justice system locks their Kinfolk away — or just shoots them dead for jaywalking — the Bone Gnawers will find few Garou care. The prisons are well out of their reach out in the wilderness, and the police look after their own. The Gnawers’ Rage will well up against the Nation, and the normally don’t-give-a-fuck Bone Gnawers will be ready to Dance. A deal here, some assistance there and the Gnawer kin can be freed — or avenged — at the cost of the Gnawer’s soul.

Children of Gaia

A mess of a tribe, the problem with the Children of Gaia is that there is no stereotypical Child of Gaia. The tribe is a mishmash of everything. But everyone loves a stereotype so they all try to pin that happy-go-lucky, good-for-nothing wimpy werewolf bullshit on them. Don’t believe it. The only thing that holds true for every Child of Gaia is the mantra of the tribe — the Garou need to unite, and it’s their job to do it.

Their own mantra is their downfall. Their job is thankless, brutal, and unwanted. The Garou aren’t interested in anything except fighting the Wyrm and each other, and most of the time, they’re willing to settle for the latter. Getting them to work together is a pipe dream, and as soon as a Gaian is truly convinced of that, everything for which they’ve strived suddenly becomes meaningless. The Garou aren’t going to lose because of the Black Spiral Dancers or the Banes or the Fomori. No, the Garou are going to lose because they can’t grow the fuck up and get along. The truth is enough to drive many Gaians to the Spiral’s doors.

Fianna

Weak-willed drunkards who revel and kill almost as readily as the Get, what’s keeping the Fianna from falling more often? No other tribe sees as much of themselves in the Black Spiral Dancers; that’s what. Where other tribes can blind themselves to the Dancers being Garou, the Fianna go in eyes open every damn time. The memory of the White Howlers is still too strong and the mistakes of the Fianna too fresh for them to be easy prey for liberation.

Be indirect with Stag’s children. Above all, the Fianna enjoy feeling. Look for the forbidden romances, and the deadly bloodlust. Use their own forbidden passions to bring them shame. If that’s not an option, find their metis. The miserable brutes are treated worse than just about any other werewolf. The Fianna kick them around, spit on them, and give them all the shit jobs. Meanwhile, they’re already dancing the Spiral in their hearts. Give them their chance to climb to the top of a pecking order. The best part is that every metis fallen is just another example of why the Fianna should treat them like shit.

Get of Fenris

Rage wrapped in fur, any foolish Black Spiral would think the easiest way to lure a Get into the Black Labyrinth is through her inner fire. Many of us have tried that route, and just as many have been ripped to shreds. The Get of Fenris are masters of their Rage.

The Get have made many enemies throughout the Garou Nation. Few trust them entirely, and most do not like the brutal outlook the Get have towards life. The Get may control their Rage, but they have to prove it over and over again to gain an inch of trust from others, and that’s infuriating. The Garou stand on their pedestals, looking down on the Get for every slip. That, of course, only encourages more anger and more slips until the Get becomes the slavering beast of war the Nation believes him to be. And then it’s the Garou who get torn to shreds, not us, making it all the better.

Glass Walkers

Cockroach’s children are survivors. They learn, change, and adapt their methods faster than any other tribe. They take their fight to domains that most of us fail to understand. But they also fight a battle more fruitless than most of the Garou Nation.

Every day a Glass Walker tries to work in a system that just doesn’t care. Pentex rips open bleeding wounds all over Gaia’s flesh, the political system is in the pockets of the corporations, and most people just don’t give a shit. The Glass Walkers may be miles ahead of other Garou, but that puts them alone against the human-caused horrors they face. For every minion of the Weaver that falls, two more rise.

Lure the Glass Walkers with the power to do more. Leave fetishes in the boardrooms they cleanse, and offer them significant support — at one remove — that has a tiny price attached. What’s one tree, one werewolf, one pack if the Glass Walker can take down a major nest of Pattern Spiders? What’s one sept if an entire Pentex subsidiary collapses under the Glass Walker’s might? And what is Pentex compared to a string of new Black Spiral Dancers?

Red Talons

The Red Talons already know they’re fighting a war they cannot win. They gnash and snap at the heels of humanity, but humanity kicks them back with silver-toed boots. The other Garou try to restrain their Rage. They tell the Talons to keep their anger in check, they tell the Talons to ignore their base instincts, and they expect the Talons to obey. And so the Rage only builds as the wilderness disappears.

Who wouldn’t be fucking angry? Even your own kind, the other Garou, treat you like a dog. Sit. Stay. Behave. Every Red Talon has already started walking the Spiral, they just don’t know it yet. Every time they dream of the sound of human sinew tearing asunder, they take another step. Play to their anger; it’s all they have left. The perfect release for a Red Talon is to let the Beast-of-War run rampant as they unleash the full brunt of their Rage on humanity. And, contrary to popular belief, they aren’t stupid. They know not to lift the veil, so they’ll be careful in where and when they strike. A few dead wolves here and there, and you have a pack of potential new Black Spiral Dancers.

Shadow Lords

Everywhere a Shadow Lord looks, all he sees is failure from the other tribes. They want nothing more than to take hold of the Garou Nation in an iron fist until it submits to their authority. And they are more ruthless to their own.

The difficulty in liberating a Shadow Lord is that he understands us; he plays our games. A Lord will listen to one of us, but he’s more likely to locate the pit inadvertently revealed than he is to fall. The time to strike a Shadow Lord is when he fails. Wounded pride is dangerous, and one of Grandfather Thunder’s children bears the full weight of any misdeed. His tribe will offer no pity or understanding. Rage will boil within, and desperation to redeem his name will clear his mind for the Labyrinth. Convince him to redirect the blame by pulling others into an endless cycle of finger pointing. By dragging others down, he can stand atop them once more. With all the failure and all the squabbling, he is sure to come to hate the Garou. And if he wants to rule them, we can show him the way. He just needs to learn to Dance.

Silent Striders

The lone Silent Strider is much easier to kill than it is to liberate, but for all the work it might take to bring a Strider into our fold, the reward is well worth it. The werewolves run to and fro, passing news between septs and packs alike. A lone Strider is considered normal, and they are rarely questioned. Even if another werewolf does question her, he’ll accept evasive and enigmatic answers — it’s the Strider way. Infiltration and lies are the ex-Strider’s specialty.

Every Strider wants to return home, find her ancestors, and lift the tribal curse. A few hold out hope that they can. It’s that hope that gives the Wyrm a chance at their hearts. Lead the hopeful with well-placed rites. Let the Strider believe she is a key to relieving the tribe of one of its burdens. As the Strider performs each seemingly innocuous rite, she’ll gain a touch of taint. Each new ritual will be slightly worse than the last, but each time, she’ll find herself stepping closer to liberation from her curse.

Only too late will she realize the curse is gone because she is no longer one of Owl’s children.

Silver Fangs

A great werewolf is born. She is the pride of her parents. She grows from cub to Cliath hearing all about how she’s a born leader, she’s a queen of other Garou, it’s their duty to follow her and support her. And then she takes her first step out into the real world. The other tribes don’t listen to her, and she’s all prepped to lead a Nation that left her behind long ago.

Few Garou follow the Silver Fangs’ every beck and call. The Fangs expect obedience, but find only resistance. Everywhere the tribe looks their entire purpose is falling apart, leaving their lives with no meaning. Some fall to Harano, but others fall to Rage. A Silver Fang commonly tries to regain authority through challenges, might, and sheer force of charisma. Other Garou might placate her, and it’s perfect if they do. Expose their duplicity. Secrets and lies will enrage her faster than anything short of blatant treason. Handle Silver Fangs like the diseased and paranoid monarchs they are. They’ll fall upon the Nation with hatred, priming them for the Wyrm’s call.

Stargazers

Liberating a Stargazer is not easy. He feels he is already working towards liberation in his own way. Stargazers rarely hate, instead they seek to tame their Rage. Their methods are foreign to most. Meditation, stretches, deep breathing, and inner reflection are not natural for werewolves.

Still, a Stargazer is worth the effort. Any Stargazer we claim is a pool of insight into forces that other Garou can’t comprehend. As a former Stargazer dances farther into the Labyrinth, his keen mind can pick out fine details. The fractured nature of the Wyrm might need the abstract thinking of a Stargazer to piece it back together, and then, with the Wyrm united, the Garou will face their greatest fear. And imagine if we ever obtained even one Kailindo instructor.

To break a Stargazer, take everything from him. Destroy his kin, destroy his home, destroy his sept, destroy his pack, and make it look like other Garou tribes were at least partially responsible. Give the Stargazer a reason to hate. It will likely take everything you have, but it can be done. No Garou can be patient all the time.

Uktena

The Uktena seem all too easy, but like the Shadow Lords, they understand us, making them more difficult to tempt. The Uktena accept that they can fall, and in that acceptance, they steel themselves against the possibility. But the ways of the Wyrm are corrupting in and of themselves. Just knowing too much will allow the Wyrm to bury itself within.

The fault in the Uktena lies in her desire to understand the Wyrm. The knowledge the Uktena seeks goes beyond classification. She wants to know how the Wyrm thinks, how we think, how we enact our rituals, how we can draw power from the Hellholes and Blights. Of course she believes that she won’t be corrupted. If she knows how the Wyrm corrupts, she won’t be susceptible to its call. Corrupting an Uktena requires both patience and a willingness to share our lore with them. When she starts to understand our perspective, lead her into the Labyrinth with breadcrumbs of dark secrets. Understanding how someone thinks is the first step to accepting his perspective, and few understand us like the Uktena.

Wendigo

The Wendigo feel the world closing in upon them. Their lands are shrinking, their customs dying, and their Rage only glows brighter for it. They have few friends among the Garou Nation, and when they catch any whiff of the Wyrm, they fall on it with deadly accuracy, especially if it’s among their own tribe.

So taint them. Taint the Garou, taint their lands, and taint their kin. The hatred that wells up within will have a Wendigo clawing at everything she holds dear just to cleanse it. And when the Wendigo stands in the wreckage of her once pure home, she won’t blame herself. She’ll blame the Wyrmcomers. She’ll blame them for not showing, she’ll blame them for not being fast enough or strong enough, and she’ll blame them for bringing the Wyrm in the first place. All that fury will turn towards the Garou Nation. The Wendigo will dance the Spiral of her own accord to exact her revenge on the Garou. Indeed, they’re already halfway there.