Places

The Stargazers’ homeland is a place given to contemplate what it means to be Garou. This differs between individuals but all can find something that speaks to their inner self. Those rare few Stargazers who can’t find this inner harmony usually haven’t yet found the right part of the homeland. For some, the journey itself is the point where they find balance.

The landscape is simple and ordered. Snow-capped mountains higher than the Himalayas occupy the center of the Realm. A ring of foothills surround the base of these peaks, covered in luscious grasslands or majestic forests. Another ring surrounds the foothills in radiating patterns of steppes and plains. Beyond these are discrete climatic regions catering for the birth lands of every Stargazer; deserts sit bare next to tropical jungles, which lay beside cool-climate rainforests. Each region has shrines for meditating and challenges that train a werewolf to take full advantage of each form.

The homeland is accommodating to Stargazer needs. Most seek quiet meditation and find solitude. Garou seeking compan­ ionship find others of similar disposition. Elder mentors educating younger Stargazers is the most frequently found grouping.

At the center of the Stargazer homeland is a gateway to the Astral Umbra — a circle of rough-hewn stone atop the highest mountain peak. Within this circle snow doesn’t fall and the wind doesn’t blow. From here a Garou can see across the entire homeland and begin to appreciate the re­ lationship between the different climate zones. Meditating on this connectivity gives an understanding of the Realm’s conceptual linkages and reveals a koan hidden within — answering the koan leads to the Astral Umbra, where the werewolf swims in the sea of concepts. Her Rage and Gnosis are harmonized within her sense of self and don’t antago­ nize the native thought denizens. The journey to the Astral Umbra leaves the werewolf’s body comatose and vulnerable while her mind roams free. Chimera’s servants watch over the bodies of travelers but can do nothing to bring the Ga­ rou back should she overstay and her mindless body begin to wither. Many Stargazers have died while exploring pure conceptual thought, lost to endless contemplation of mean­ ing and oblivious to the wasting of their neglected bodies.

The homeland also has substantial crossover with the Dream Zone. It is a simple matter to slip from anywhere in the homeland to the Dream Zone through meditation or sleep.