Places

The Anchorhead’s Realm is dark woods made up of thick-trunked trees, within which a dense patch of tangled, thorn-covered vines waits. If approached from the right direction, this mass of brambles reveals a gap that might have been forced open by the passage of animals. This is the entrance to the Anchorhead.

The Briar Patch is controlled by an exclusively lupus sept dominated by Red Talons. The Anchorhead gateway is smaller than most others, only just large enough to fit a werewolf in Lupus form. Even bulkier wolves can expect to lose some fur and blood to the thorns if they try to use this passage.

Only one constructed place exists in this small Realm. A clearing lined with claw-carved totemic idols holds the sept’s caern. Here the Garou gather to enact their rites and meet with their brethren who hope to use the gateway. From this caern the guardians can call up Moon Bridges that lead to a ghostly, cloudy forest in a valley of the Aetherial Realm.

The sept prefers no homid steps within the Realm, as they believe the ape’s presence upsets the balance of the

pathway. They have previously refused use of the Anchorhead to Garou who arrived in Homid form, or worse, refused to shift to Lupus when requested.

The shape and size of the Anchorhead tunnel makes it incredibly difficult to use in any form but Lupus. The barbed vines shift and stretch under foot. Paws can deli­ cately step between the thorns and wolves can adjust their balance across four feet, whereas other forms must crawl in the cramped space and find the thorns tearing into their flesh. The main root of the vine claws into the dirt at the foot of the entrance. This primary root is the anchor and its destruction would kill the vines and close the Anchorhead.

The Anchorhead doesn’t remain so difficult for the entire passage. The bramble entrance runs slightly downwards for a dozen yards before it reaches cool, well-trampled dirt. The journey to the exit appears to require around an hour of walking before the dirt floor ends and the thorny vines head up again. The subjective time may stretch out even longer for Garou not in Lupus form, and takes an especially long time for those in Homid.

The Deep Umbral side of the Anchorhead is almost the same as its counterpart. The sept has called on the

assistance of great Wolf spirits to protect the Anchorhead. These wolves lurk among the trees and growl threateningly at travelers but are rarely seen.

Anchorheads are the most reliable means of crossing to the Deep Umbra but they are not the only way. Beings knowledgeable of the Weaver’s ways understand that the Pattern Web connects everything except the most chaotic Wyld reaches or most corrupt Wyrm blights. Every area that has a hint of structure or form has at least a few strands of the Weaver’s influence that travelers can use as a thread to cross between worlds — if they can survive the Pattern Spiders who maintain it.

The Wyrm’s minions seldom have easy access to Anchor­ heads; they maintain few of their own and are not usually prepared to commit resources to steal a passageway every time they wish to travel. The Wyrm sometimes gifts its minions with the ability to bore tunnels through the Membrane. These decayed, corrupted tunnels require considerable energy to complete, but each breach brings the Membrane closer to its eventual destruction.

The Dream Zone can lure in characters who sleep in the Penumbra or Near Umbra. Sometimes the character has vivid dreams where she finds a door or portal. If she passes through it she enters ever more intense and chaotic dreams with more doors and more gateways. If she follows these to their end, she wakes to find her spirit floating free in the Deep Umbra. This method of travel is particularly dangerous, as it leaves her body vulnerable to anyone who finds it. A trail of thinnest silver connects her body and spirit, and anyone who finds it can use it to cross through the Membrane.

The entirety of the Astral Umbra is comprised of thoughts and concepts. Each area, structure, and item is made real by a collective consciousness thinking of those things. It is the conceptual representation of the world, filled with ideas, hopes, fears, and emotions. The Astral is not beholden to the laws of the physical realm like the other Umbrae, though it is limited by thought and imagination.

The Garou know very little about the Astral Umbra, and what they do know comes from loremasters who dwell on the notions of thought and theory. Some Uktena believe the Astral Umbra is made up of the living dreams of the world, since they often encounter it by passing through the Dream Zone. The idea has a bit of credence as ideas born of dreams do pass through the Astral. The Astral is much more than just dreams, though. Every thought, ridiculous concept, flight of fancy, complex mathematical theory or

incongruous physics problem can be found within the Astral Umbra. Stargazers tell stories that anything a werewolf can think of is in the Astral Umbra and any thought is fulfilled just by thinking it. Some Theurges spend time debating how much the thoughts from the physical realm shape the Astral Umbra and how much the thoughts and ideas within the Astral influence the minds of those in the physical realm.

What is certain is that the Astral Umbra is the least well-known area of the Umbra to the Garou, seconded only by the Deep Umbra. Most Garou have no idea how to enter the Astral Umbra to explore its depths. Umbral scholars have attempted reaching the Astral Umbra through medi­ tation and deep thought with little success. Those who have entered the Astral describe a realm exactly as they expected it to be, yet descriptions differ greatly depending on who is telling the story. The conflicting accounts lead several scholars to believe the Astral Umbra appears as each being sees it in her mind. Of course, this begs the question of if packs entering the Astral Umbra all see the same thing, or if they each experience the realm through a filter of their own expectations and perceptions.

Thoughts and concepts are made manifest in the Astral Umbra, the very idea of a thing giving it substance. When a lot of people think about a subject or idea, it has a strong presence in the Astral Umbra. Stronger thoughts can move and act on their own. Within the Astral, gods are just as powerful as mathematical concepts, and both are equally deadly.