Tribes & Fera

Fucking badass warriors like the Black Furies, but most of them without half the testicular fortitude the Furies have. They have the potential to be our worst enemies or our greatest allies. For those of you who know our history, we used to look a lot like these guys once upon a time, but when our lands were poisoned and our people raped we went apeshit and danced the Black Spiral. Guess there weren’t any bars or casinos in old Caledonia? Next time you get a hold of a Wendigo, show him a mirror, and tell him he ought to be angry about the complicity of society in his tribe becoming what it is. He ought to thank you for showing him a way down the Spiral; it’s the only way to salvage what’s left of his pride.

Not every inductee into the Black Spiral Dancers is a cub, unknowing of what it means to Dance. Every tribe has lost great warriors to the heart of Malfeas. The Black Spiral Dancers take a special pride in the werewolves seduced from Gaia’s path. To throw an unwitting cub into the Spiral is one thing; to convince a seasoned Garou to forsake all she knows and dance into the service of the Wyrm is something completely different. Gaia’s Fallen are the terror of all Garou. Facing down the fallen mockery of the White Howlers offers a hazy reflection of a werewolf’s soul; it’s easy to cast them off as the insane, evil monstrosities they are. Demonizing the Black Spiral Dancers lets the Garou sleep at night knowing they’ve done a service to Gaia.

Then a Garou finds someone he once knew at the other end of his klaive, and a new horror tears into his soul. The White Howlers were lost centuries ago. Their corruption is an accepted relic of a painful past. A werewolf stalking a pack of Dancers only to find his supposedly-dead mother standing as their alpha faces the Wyrm at a new level. Gaia’s fallen are clear mirrors with Wyrm-tainted edges. Once a warrior accepts that a Garou can be coaxed into the Labyrinth and Dance of her own free will, trusting others becomes more difficult.

Inside his heart lurks the most frightening possibility of all: What if he’s next?

Seemingly paradoxically, fallen Gaian Garou are more zealous than those who Danced as cubs. The typi­ cal Black Spiral Dancer lives in full ignorance of what it means to be one of Gaia’s blessed. For the Garou who used to belong to one of the thirteen tribes, however, she has known yet she chose to reject it. For whatever reason, the call of the Wyrm outweighed the call of Gaia. Many Garou try to rationalize the decision to save remnants of the lost packmate or septmate they once knew. But the truth still lingers in the air, tainting any tale they might sing. Even if the werewolf was thrown into the Labyrinth by the Black Spiral Dancers against her will, she still chose to join the Wyrm. She could have resisted; she could have chosen death. Every Garou faced with this horror must live wondering if he would be stronger than his fallen comrade.

Gaia’s fallen serve the Wyrm with a purpose unseen in many other Black Spiral Dancers. They each had a reason to fall, and no matter how unstable, that reason is all they have to explain why they allowed their souls into the Wyrm’s service. The last thing their crumbling minds can accept is that all the horrors they’ve inflicted on Gaia since they fell were to the song of the Wyrm’s laughter. The werewolves sabotage every Garou operation they can. They seek to prove that their new viewpoint is correct and the Nation is blind. A startling sense of desperation lurks underneath their motives, chewing away at what remains of their sanity. Even if one of the fallen could be saved, the weight of Harano would likely find her falling to her own claws.

The fallen offer another service to the Wyrm. They know the Garou with whom they used to run. They expose tribal, sept, and pack secrets to the Wyrm. Those that Dance find the chance to return with an opportunity not afforded any born Black Spiral Dancer. They can infiltrate the ranks of their former allies and sabotage their plans from within. The Garou are a volatile force. A spark in a strategic location can set packs, septs, and even tribes upon one another. They can leak informa­ tion from the septs to the local Spirals, alerting them to allies, defensive strategies, and planned offensive efforts. A pack running into the teeth of well-prepared Wyrm-beasts is a recipe for disaster.

Commonly, the infiltrators remain undiscovered until it’s too late. They cause irreparable damage, and by the time the Garou uncover the offender, she has disappeared back into the darkness.

Why would a Gaian warrior accept the call of the Wyrm? In the end times of a seemingly lost war, a were­ wolf might lose faith that he can make any difference. As faith dies, his Rage still burns, lashing out at anything

perceived as false hope. He begins his Dance on a mis­ sion to show the Nation how wrong they are, how Gaia is doomed, and how stupid they are to believe anything else. Other Garou become lost as they watch the Wyld thrash back against the Wyrm. Tornados, earthquakes, and tidal waves can be just as destructive as any Wyrm-fed beast. With the Wyld wreaking vengeance, and not differentiating between friend and foe, the werewolf finds herself wondering why she’s even trying.

Some werewolves simply come to hate other Garou. Mother’s Voice is one example. Once an Adren of the Children of Gaia, Mother’s Voice received her vision early in her Cliath days. She would unite her sept with another that was only miles away. But she was ill-prepared for her reception among other werewolves. She struggled with both septs until they finally waged war on one another. In one last final act of frustration and rage, Mother’s Voice threw out her allegiance with the Garou. If they wanted to destroy each other, let them.

The Wyrm heard her and accepted her into its fold. Mother’s Voice was reborn as Wedge Tooth. Now, she infiltrates septs around the country, leaking information and keeping the Garou warring amongst themselves with well-placed rumors and lies.

Having dealt with all of the tribes, Wedge Tooth has insight to offer on their flaws, failings, and potential. While many Garou harbor general fatal flaws, working specifically to a tribe’s weakness grants a better chance to corrupt them to the Father’s service. Wedge Tooth offers her observations on each tribe below.

The Wendigo feel the world closing in upon them. Their lands are shrinking, their customs dying, and their Rage only glows brighter for it. They have few friends among the Garou Nation, and when they catch any whiff of the Wyrm, they fall on it with deadly accuracy, especially if it’s among their own tribe.

So taint them. Taint the Garou, taint their lands, and taint their kin. The hatred that wells up within will have a Wendigo clawing at everything she holds dear just to cleanse it. And when the Wendigo stands in the wreckage of her once pure home, she won’t blame herself. She’ll blame the Wyrmcomers. She’ll blame them for not showing, she’ll blame them for not being fast enough or

strong enough, and she’ll blame them for bringing the Wyrm in the first place. All that fury will turn towards the Garou Nation. The Wendigo will dance the Spiral of her own accord to exact her revenge on the Garou. Indeed, they’re already halfway there.

By the power of the Wyrm, the mightiest of the Black Spiral Dancers have distinguished themselves as monstrous embodiments of their dark Father, becoming singular nightmares, which haunt the Garou Nation and form a picture of the Apocalypse. Listed below are some examples of what a Black Spiral may become.