Places

Sometimes, the fairies hold parties in Trods. Rarely, they hold them in places others can stumble upon them. Rarer still, some favored few — mostly Fianna — receive specific invitations to these parties.

Exceedingly few Garou have stories of their attendances at Trod galas. Most of these stories go from entering the Trod straight to leaving the Trod. Any memories of the party fade quickly, leaving lingering sensations the partygoer can only assume are remembrances. A guest at a fey party also emerges with newfound sensitivity and awareness. He comes out more creative, inspired, and passionate. This quickly grows destructive for him, as he’s consumed with a desire to create, to shape, and to love. This desire overwhelms ev­ erything else; duty, family, and other previously important parts of his life falls by the wayside under the weight of this creative surge. With a bit of willpower, the Garou can resist the call. But some such Garou forget to eat, forget to sleep, and wither into death shortly thereafter.

Webs are fully calcified zones of the Penumbra, where the Pattern Web runs so thick that it’s solid. They’re the Weaver’s playgrounds, where pattern spiders swarm like water in a flowing river. The Web’s Gauntlet is not a caul; it’s a steel vault door.

Webs are bridges, Webs are circuits. Webs serve as gates, ladders, or bridges to the Weaver’s deeper Umbral realms. A sufficiently powerful and motivat­ ed pack of Garou could fight through and climb the Web to reach Gaia-knows-where in the Weaver’s Near Umbral strongholds. That sounds easier than it is. Every rung of that Web grabs, sticks, pulls, stings. Every few feet, another spider attacks or another monstrosity is ready to pull a werewolf in. Just being close to the Web sucks out a Garou’s Gnosis, with the intent to render her an automaton — another cog in the machine. And in the end, all of that struggle only gets her as far as the door to an Umbral realm.

A Web’s other main purpose is that of a circuit, a free-flowing passageway for information flowing between the Weaver and Earth. Electrons flow, spiders carry, and the web reverberates with data constantly. For recon-minded Garou, Webs can provide dangerous but highly valuable information

about the Weaver’s machinations. With rerouted information and creative cryptography, Garou can suss out the Weaver’s upcoming plans and projects. Striking at its infrastructure before it’s fully installed destroys its valuable resources, and is significantly safer than attacking an established outpost.