Places

These spirits take the form of a single thunderegg — a stone the size of a baseball with a nodular outer shell and a heart of crystal or agate — hidden in a difficult-to-reach spot. To complete the hunt, the Garou at the moot must work together to locate the spirit, climb sheer cliffs to reach it, and take turns trying to break it open. Once the werewolves reveal the heart of the thunderegg as a part of the ritual, they refresh their supply of Gnosis.

The population of wolves here is much smaller than in the Bale Mountains. Deforestation and encounters with humans in the small villages that dot the area have made the situation worse. Arkwasiye Pass is a ridge that connects the two highest mountains in Ethiopia — Ras Dashen and Mount Bwahit.

• Arkwasiye Caern: This caern lies in a cleft of rock just below the ridge of Arkwasiye Pass. Spirits of War and Cold are common here, but perhaps most notable are the strange Englings known as Arkwasiye Thundereggs that inhabit the area. [Level 3 Caern of Strength.]

Erta Ale: This continuously active volcano in northeast­ ern Ethiopia lies in the Afar Depression, a badland desert area. The area surrounding the volcano is below sea level. It has one or sometimes two lava lakes at the summit that occasionally overflow on the south side of the volcano. The surrounding terrain is some of the most inhospitable on Earth, a desert stripped of any soil or vegetation at all. The native humans have a legendary reputation for viciousness toward outsiders.

The Wyld exerts a powerful influence over the area. Wyldlings and capricious elementals flit around the skirts of the volcano, alternately aiding and attacking anyone they meet. Rumor has it that one of the last Vortices on Earth dwells in the Penumbra at the volcano’s summit and occasionally materializes during major eruptions.

Blue Nile: Ethiopia’s highlands are the source of the Blue Nile, beginning at the sacred spring of Gish Abbai, flowing into Lake Tana, descending 150 feet from Tis Isaat Falls, and runs 500 miles through Ethiopian gorges as deep as 4,900 feet before entering Sudan. It provides nearly two-thirds of the water that reaches Egypt.

Sadly, most of the Blue Nile caerns in the Ethiopian highlands are now defunct. While ambitious Theurges propose rebuilding these dead caerns every few years,

nothing has ever come of it. The Garou in the area are not numerous, and they face troubles enough from humans and Fera without calling down the forces of the Wyrm.

• Gish Abbai Caern: Even humans have long felt the intense power of this place, and legends claim the spring marks the spot where the first humans were driven out of Eden in the book of Genesis. Additionally, some scientific theories about the origin of the human species claim that the first homo sapiens to leave the African continent were hunter-gatherers who lived near this caern. The waters of Gish Abai have miraculous healing properties that have made this caern an irreplaceable treasure for the Garou. The caern is positively thick with spirits of Healing and Water elementals.