Places

If a shapeshifter must depend on Gnosis in place of food, she burns through it at the following rates:

One point of Gnosis will keep a normal-sized shapeshifter on her feet and nourished for a week of moderate activity, including regular travel. Espe­ cially large shapeshifters must consume two points, instead, or restrict their activities to smaller forms.

Combat, demanding hunts and difficult travel can burn through one Gnosis point per day, instead, or two Gnosis points for large shapeshifters.

less in the same amount of time, simply because of their bodies’ optimization for hunting and swimming.

Spirits respect shapeshifters more than other visitors to the Umbra, whom they see as intruders at best. Shapeshifters are equal parts flesh and spirit, and their place within the Umbra is apparent to all who look upon them. To walk in the spirit world is their birthright. A human sorcerer who reaches the Penumbra to seek answers of spirits might be met with disdain or indignant annoyance. A Garou com­ mands respect, instead, as a creature born to live, fight and die in both worlds.

Technological devices function unpredictably in the Penumbra. A ritually-dedicated flashlight may accompany a Garou and even provide its light as normal — though it’s prone to flickering in areas of Wyld supremacy or at inopportune moments. It will last as long as its batteries hold out. To further power it requires bringing batteries along or else binding an appropriate spirit into it to make a fetish. Few shapeshifters require the aid of a flashlight in the Umbra, of course, with their heightened senses and many Gifts. Some, like Glass Walkers, might create such fetishes for their non-Garou allies or those werewolves who prefer Homid form. Not surprisingly, Homid-born werewolves tend to make up the bulk of the latter types.

Cell phones and radios are highly unstable even when they do function, but usually don’t work at all. Their bat­ teries may power the devices, but in the Penumbra no cell towers exist — unless awakened by Garou rites — to carry the signals. The most prominent cell towers may cast a re­ flection in the Penumbra, in which case a werewolf might be able to get a weak signal while standing nearby, but any calls made to phones in the material realm suffer from a lot of interference. The Gauntlet can be a problem here, and at its strongest prevents any signal from passing between worlds. Computers suffer from similar complications. Even

if a werewolf could bring one into the Penumbra and find a way to power it — perhaps by binding electricity-spirits to the task — it would be limited to accessing only the data on its own hard drive. Fetish computers and smartphones do work, however, powered by the bound spirit. Rumors abound of Glass Walkers who have dedicated whole server rooms and attendant computer stations, awakened their spirits and convinced spirits of electricity and information to help maintain power and data flow between realms. Most Garou laugh off the notion as a foolish one. The Glass Walkers respond that technology is an ally foolishly ignored by the Garou Nation, and that if any hope exists of restoring balance to the Triat, the Weaver must be a part of it. Some even say that Glass Walkers have conducted moots online in this fashion. Few Garou believe it, and the Red Talons consider even the thought of such things blasphemous.

Other forms of technology still work properly in the Pen­ umbra. Few are the werewolves who use guns, but a weapon brought across will function normally. A vehicle might draw the ire of Wyld-spirits with its noise and expulsion of noxious gases, but would drive as long as it had fuel and a road. Actu­ ally bringing a vehicle across the Gauntlet poses its own set of challenges, but it is theoretically possible. Bombs, chemical weapons and similar things work, although denizens of the spirit world might have their own methods of overcoming such threats — or retaliating against those who use them.

While on the surface the Penumbra resembles the mate­ rial realm, it is a place where analogies and hidden meanings become reality. The spirit world peels back the layers of truth to lay subtext bare as text. Wise werewolves know this, and experienced Umbral travelers learn to look for signs and clues beyond the obvious. Intent is a powerful force in the spirit world. Garou journeying into the Umbra on quests to fight for Gaia step into legend itself. Ancestor-spirits watch over their actions and Lunes carry word of their deeds, but the legend runs deeper than that. A werewolf seeking something follows a trail of concepts related to her quarry. If she seeks a path to the Dark Umbra or council with ghosts, finding the reflection of an old graveyard is the first step. There, hidden in long shadows and grave mist is a trail that conforms to no physical analogue, one that leads deeper into the very meaning of death itself. If she presses on, searching for the land of the dead, she will eventually reach it. Similarly, if she would find a way to reach the CyberRealm, following the webs leading from a Pattern Spider’s lair into the heart of a Penumbral metropolis will take her by gleaming silver paths to the place she seeks.

Signs exist all along the questing werewolf’s path, pointing her in the proper direction. Analogies take on life all their own. When a spirit suddenly flits across her path, its appear­ ance has significance. To a werewolf searching for an ancient

weapon, glimpsing the spirit of some creature that history has forgotten is not something to ignore. When the Penumbral winds kick up dust through which moonlight illuminates a hidden trail, that trail will in some way lead the seeker to her destination. At the very least it will lead travelers to something capable of giving them clues, from elder spirits to lost Umbral outposts or even pocket realms. In the Umbra, coincidence is anything but; everything happens for a reason, even if the reason is couched in symbols and unlikely circumstances.

Shapeshifters also shed light on this aspect of the Umbra by their very presence. Their appearance may reflect clues about their inner nature. A proud Silver Fang’s coat gleams as though illumined by moonlight even in the midst of day and her noble bearing seems taller, more impressive. A Black Fury smoldering with rage over the loss of a packmate carries a shadow that surrounds her like a storm cloud. All shape­ shifters are larger-than-life and their Penumbral appearances reflect this in small but significant ways. The higher their Rank, the more pronounced the effects. An elder warrior of the Garou strides through the Penumbra like a giant, her fur rippling in waves that form fleeting murals of the battles she’s won. Her eyes burn with the light of Luna’s fury and she resonates with the primal power of Gaia.

Some mystics take comfort in the fact that their very stories become the stuff of legend. It is almost like they were meant to hunt that particular prey, or fight that battle, or awaken that spirit. The dreams of Gaia unfold as mythic tales, the actors her children. All shapeshifters take part in the tale of Apocalypse, and none as bit players. Every meet­ ing, every rake of the claws, every song around the campfire is an important part in the history of the world. Whether anyone will remain to remember those stories is why they fight. Instinct, keen senses and deep ties to the spirit world guide the Garou on such quests. They must learn to trust their senses, and when not to trust them, for in a mirror realm of myth and legend given form not everything is as it seems.

Some areas of the Umbra reflect the overarching feeling — the resonance — of the world around them. From Blights to Hellholes, places with strong Triatic influence are partic­ ularly vulnerable to this warped influence.

Blights stand as horrific little nightmares for the Garou Nation. They’re hotbeds of struggle between the Weaver and Wyrm. Common wisdom holds that a Blight is everything that’s wrong with the city, all in a tiny little spot. But what else are Blights? They’re truth. Most of the city in the Pen­ umbra pretends to be something it’s not. It has promising variety and a coherent flow between the Triat. A Blight is a

naked, brutal honesty. It’s the city experience, filtered down into a vicious, undeniable point.

Blights are teaching moments. Blights show young Garou where the world’s going to, in a controlled little space. Blights are perfect training grounds; they serve as a live fire boot camp for urban Garou cubs, where their elders can watch training exercises from a distance in case anything goes awry.

As Garou grow in age and experience, they often become jaded. At a certain point, some see the city as a Blight all the time. These jaded Garou don’t need to peek across the Gauntlet; they see the power of the Wyrm and the Weaver vying for control everywhere. It’s not hallucination; it’s just an active and trained imagination. They become used to seeing the terrible everywhere, and begin to assume that what they see is true. In essence, Blights are the future of a Garou’s perception.