Places

The Nuwisha do not have a homeland as such. They have Coyote’s Tunnel, though it is not tunnel shaped and Coyote rarely rests here. The entire Realm is an oval room with an enormous central table overflowing with food. The food is always fresh and gives off scents that make even the most disciplined Nuwisha — should such a creature exist — drool like a hungry dog and every werecoyote is welcome to eat to her heart’s content.

Countless doors line the room. Many Nuwisha have wasted time trying to count but no matter how they mark their start point they always seem to lose track and don’t know where to end. These failed attempts often cause disembodied laughter to float through the room.

Most of the doors are locked and forbidden to the Nuwisha, but sometimes will unlock for a specific were­ coyote and shut again to others who might follow. The Nuwisha believe this is Coyote pranking his children and hope his motives are aimed at furthering their education.

The doors that are always unlocked open to locations across the entire Umbra. Some lead to the Realms of each of the Trickster’s totems. Others link to the major Near Realms and many minor Realms. More doors lead to the Deep Umbra, the Penumbra, the Dark Umbra, the Astral and even the Dream Zone. The Nuwisha say there is a door to every Realm in the Umbra, but if this is true Coyote forbids them easy access.

The Membrane separates the Near and Deep Umbrae much as the Gauntlet separates the physical from the spiri­ tual. It is a barrier that can be seen but never reached. It is visible at the far edge of the Near Umbra as a vast ribbon of dim light; a purplish-blue that fades to black as it disappears further into the distance. Umbral travelers say it appears to grow closer, but they never reach it — it remains forever in the distance.

Most explorers don’t understand that this is the point where they have actually reached the Membrane. They feel as if they continue forward but they do not. The Membrane blocks all onward motion but doesn’t interact with any phys­ ical sense except sight. It always appears to be in the distance and cannot be touched, tasted, heard or smelled. Magical senses — including relevant Gifts and Charms — reveal the Membrane as an inviolable limit to the infinite Near Umbra, but give no other information about it.

Travelers can bypass the Membrane in several ways, but the safest and most reliable — and the one most favored by Garou — is through an Anchorhead.

The most reliable way to travel across the Membrane, Anchorheads appear as tunnels or passageways of almost any size and length. Some spontaneously-appearing, or wild, Anchorheads are so small they can only accommodate the tiniest Gafflings, while others are large enough for armies to march through. Garou stabilize Anchorheads by ritually linking them to spiritual Anchors — objects of value to the Garou ritemaster. Werewolves prefer to forge their own Anchorheads rather than stabilize wild Anchorheads. This creates a more consistent passageway with a useful size and length. Most Garou-made Anchorheads are large enough for a Crinos and take no more than a day to pass through.

Wild Anchorheads begin as near invisible holes in the Membrane; those that survive more than an hour start to form miniature Realms at their mouths. Anchorheads always feel slightly unreal as they channel the energies of both the Near and Deep Umbrae, and try to find a balance between both.

Garou are not the only beings who seek Anchorheads. Ancient, unknowable, and alien creatures in the Deep