It’s easy to pull someone’s strings once you know what they want, and Shadow Lords are the tribe of want. Usually they want to be powerful, respected, in charge, and their own tribe pushes them to grasp any advantage to succeed. We will always find Shadow Lords willing to cut deals with us to get what they want. They will always be planning to do away with us later; they will always assume we’re going to stab them in the back and figure they’re one step ahead for having figured that out.

Honestly, if they could just get over their delusions of noble struggle, they’re a lot like us. They see what they want, and reach for it with both hands. Sometimes you’ll find a Lord who can finish connecting the dots the rest of the way and see the figure they describe is the Spiral. That doesn’t make them our friends, though; if they came over to our side en masse, they’d just want to be in charge of us. So, sure, feed their ambitions whenever they seem likely to cause unrest for the other Garou, then blackmail or ruin them. We keep playing the game because it works out for us even when they think it works out for them.

Everywhere a Shadow Lord looks, all he sees is failure from the other tribes. They want nothing more than to take hold of the Garou Nation in an iron fist until it submits to their authority. And they are more ruthless to their own.

The difficulty in liberating a Shadow Lord is that he understands us; he plays our games. A Lord will listen to one of us, but he’s more likely to locate the pit inadvertently revealed than he is to fall. The time to strike a Shadow Lord is when he fails. Wounded pride is dangerous, and one of Grandfather Thunder’s children bears the full weight of any misdeed. His tribe will offer no pity or understanding. Rage will boil within, and desperation to redeem his name will clear his mind for the Labyrinth. Convince him to redirect the blame by pulling others into an endless cycle of finger pointing. By dragging others down, he can stand atop them once more. With all the failure and all the squabbling, he is sure to come to hate the Garou. And if he wants to rule them, we can show him the way. He just needs to learn to Dance.