A Different Take, On the Werewolf
I Recently picked up White wolves new release, "Werewolf: The Forsaken"
There is a story in the beginning of it that got me right into it. For those of you not farmilliar with White Wolf Games, WTF is a game set in modern days taken from the Werewolves point of view. They even have their own story on creation. I really enjoyed it, so I'm going to share it with you now.
Its a bit long, so get ready for a ride.
The Tale of Pangaea
This Story Is True
Everything we are and everything we were happened in Pangaea.
You already know what Pangaea was. You've heard stories of the Garden of Eden -- that's the best the humans can do trying to remember it. You catch glimpses of it in your dreams, and sometimes you smell something ---maybe a whiff of a healthy plant, or something about the scent of your prey---and you almost remember. The scents are the hardest to forget. You can't remember fully, though, can you? Nobody can. Only the first of our kind walked in Pangaea.
And they were the ones who had to destroy it.
Can you remember the scent? The world was lush and full of promise. Spirits could enter the realm of flesh easily, and animals and humans could walk into the cool spirit shadow of the world. Pangaea wasn't the joining of the continents geologists talk about, but the world in its first form. Humans and spirits shared a common language, the First Tongue. We can't remember whether Pangaea was a time, a place, or both. All we can recall is that it was glorious, and it was lost.
When Pangaea was in its full bloom, its beauty seduced the heart of the moon itself. Mother Luna----Amahan Iduth----grew enchanted with the world growing beneath her. She took the form of a woman of flesh and descended to Earth. She walked among the jungles and swam among the seas. She was the most beautiful creature in the world, and she had countless suitors The greatest and most valiant was Urfarah......and you know that name don't you? He was Father Wolf.
Pangaea was glorious, but it wasn't a world of perfect peace and gentleness. It was a hunters world. The lion still hunter the lamb; the spirit still took what it needed from the world of flesh. Death was a part of the hunters paradise, and the greatest hunter of all was Father Wolf. He was a warrior of the Shadow Realm and the muddy world of air and earth.He roamed the boundaries of the physical world, keeping everything in it's place. Spirits wandered into the world of flesh, but not far or for long. Urfarah was all too ready to give chase when a spirit overstayed it's welcome.When necessary, his teeth and claws pushed mortals and animals back into the relative safety of the flesh world if they strayed too far into the spirit world. His heart burned with supernatural strength and conviction, a ritious rage that made him unstoppable. But he was the master of that rage.He was first above us all and greater than any other.
Father Wolf loved Luna as she rode across the skies, and was overcome with love and joy when he encountered her walking through the boundaries between the spirit world and the physical.He was not alone in any of these sentiments. For her part, Luna found Father Wolf to be valiant, and wise, strong and handsome, and she loved him in return. Then knew one another and she gave him children of both spirit and flesh---the first werewolves. Although she wore a human body, Luna gave birth to the first werewolves as a litter of nine pups, a sign of their future fate.
From Luna, our ancestors gained the power to change shape, just as she changes her own shape every month. From Father Wolf they gained senses, strength and speed that were beyond those of flesh born wolves. From both parents they gained a great measure of spiritual power, for Mother Mon was Queen of the Shadow Realm and Father Wolf was Lord of the Border Marches.
After giving birth, Luna returned to the skies and Father Wolf raised the First Pack.He taught the first Uratha the ways of wolf and man, flesh and spirit. He showed them the roads from the Shadow Realm through the forest, mountain or desert into the world of flesh, down the trails to the tribal homes of men.
Father Wolf raise the first pack to aid him in his duties as guardians of the Border marches. They took to their duties and helped bring order to the spirit world and the muddy world. They were shepherds of human, animal and spirit. They culled any herd, tribe or pack that got too large or too dangerous, playing the role of first among predators.
Of course, some spirits and some tribes of humanity didn't take well to this treatment. Some fought back, and through force of numbers, magic or strength, some wouldn't die so easy. Father Wolf and his pack banished the worst to the far reaches of the spirit wilds, including mighty spirits, lesser servants of those spirits and tribes of men who worshiped dark powers and committed blasphemous crimes. Others, such as the Plague King and the Spinner Hag, opposed Father Wolf when they could and fled when they found they could not take his entire pack.
We were Lords of the dawn world. Our great strength and our ability to take different forms allowed us to dominate any man or creature. Few predators could challenge us. No prey could resist us.Even the strongest mammoths, and the fiercest predators of that era were no match for a pack of werewolves. It was a dark time to be human, but it was our age of glory, a golden age painted with the bright blood of our prey.
And like every golden age, It was doomed.
You see, it began with Father Wolf. Before our time, before the humans arose and when most spirits were still young an weak., only Father Wolf was necessary to keep the worlds in check. No spirits managed to linger overlong in the physical world or gather too much power. Father Wolf's personal power deminished a little as he brought fourth progeny both by Mother Luna and by other spirits. He was still strong and fast---for a time.
It took many, many years, more than can be counted, but gradually Father Wolf began to lose he strength and speed. His fangs began to dull, and his wisdom didn't reach as far. More spirits escaped his notice, setting up their terrible kingdoms among humans and bloating with power. When he caught these would-be-gods of suffering and gluttony, it took him longer to finnish them off. Some even escaped--lessened by the struggle, but escaped none the less. Gradually pangaea became a paradise for the spirits and for those humans who accepted their rule, and a purgatory for all the rest. Our forfathers and formothers saw this, and doubt began to gnaw at them.
And what happenes when a wolf pack begins to fail at its hunts because its alpha is too weak, too slow, too blind to lead? Either the pack dies or the alpha must be replaced. This question was the same, but the stakes were thw whole world. What happened next was a horrible thing that should not have been necessary---but it was.
Every spirit has bans---unbreakable laws that govern their very nature. A spirit of pain is forbiden from healing a living creature; a shark spirit is forbiden rest. Father Wolf was one of the most powerful spirits in creation, but even he had a ban. He felt such a strong connection to his duty that he would not close his eyes until some one could take his place. His bans strength was such that if those who could do so were to rise against him, he could not defent himself.
Of course, the ones best suited to take Father Wolfs place were his own children.
Now, tales of this time make it quite clear that Father Wolf could unsheath his claws and bore his fangs against his children in ordinary struggles for dominance. Yet if Father Wolf's pack truely desired to bring a killing blow against him, his very nature left him powerless. He could not be able to defend himself activly against such treachery, and his thick hide and powerful muscles would prove to be no more help than the wind and rain. So the only way to overthrow Father Wolf was to strike to kill.
And we slew him.
With his last breath, Father Wolf let loose a howl that shook both worlds. Humans collapsed sobbing at the sound that stired nothing but fear in their hearts. Spirits cowered in their dens, struck with terror that something could have slain the great merciless wolf spirit. They say the werewolf that struck the killing blow was himself instantly slain by the shear force and emotional weight of the howl. upon hearing the death howl of her favoured lover, Luna herself cried out in anguish and betrayal, cursing all the children she had ever borne. The curse would never be fully lifted.
It is said then, that the whole planet itself stirred.As the denizens of the Shadow Realm and the mortal creatures of the physical realm recoiled in terror, the two worlds were sundered. The earth shook, and storms lashed the land.Ice broke free from the north, and islands sank into the ocean. Pangaea was no more. After the fall, the hunters paradise was gone forever.
Forsaken
Thats why we are what we are. Thats why we're wolf and human. Thats why we're children of the Shadow Realm, but forsaken by spirit. The spirits have feared us---and most have hated us since that day.They fear and hate the thought that creatures part flesh and part ephemera now have the power to police them, and that we once had the strength to destroy the one spirit they all feared. The humans would go mad if they knew we weren't just movie Icons, but real creatures that walk among them.
We destroyed the greatest thing we ever had because it had to be done. We keep the spirit world in check, and spirits can't stand us for it. We do our best to keep humans from maiming the spirit world in turn, and humans would despise us for it if they knew. Our own brothers have turned against us, hating us for doing what they lacked the courage and compasion to do themselves. Only fickle Mother Luna and our wolf totems stand with us, but thats enough. We are The People. We are Uratha. We are the wolves that hunt in both worlds.
We are the Forsaken, and heaven help anyone that drawn down our fury.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
More info is at www.white-wolf.com
I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did.
Dig It.
There is a story in the beginning of it that got me right into it. For those of you not farmilliar with White Wolf Games, WTF is a game set in modern days taken from the Werewolves point of view. They even have their own story on creation. I really enjoyed it, so I'm going to share it with you now.
Its a bit long, so get ready for a ride.
The Tale of Pangaea
This Story Is True
Everything we are and everything we were happened in Pangaea.
You already know what Pangaea was. You've heard stories of the Garden of Eden -- that's the best the humans can do trying to remember it. You catch glimpses of it in your dreams, and sometimes you smell something ---maybe a whiff of a healthy plant, or something about the scent of your prey---and you almost remember. The scents are the hardest to forget. You can't remember fully, though, can you? Nobody can. Only the first of our kind walked in Pangaea.
And they were the ones who had to destroy it.
Can you remember the scent? The world was lush and full of promise. Spirits could enter the realm of flesh easily, and animals and humans could walk into the cool spirit shadow of the world. Pangaea wasn't the joining of the continents geologists talk about, but the world in its first form. Humans and spirits shared a common language, the First Tongue. We can't remember whether Pangaea was a time, a place, or both. All we can recall is that it was glorious, and it was lost.
When Pangaea was in its full bloom, its beauty seduced the heart of the moon itself. Mother Luna----Amahan Iduth----grew enchanted with the world growing beneath her. She took the form of a woman of flesh and descended to Earth. She walked among the jungles and swam among the seas. She was the most beautiful creature in the world, and she had countless suitors The greatest and most valiant was Urfarah......and you know that name don't you? He was Father Wolf.
Pangaea was glorious, but it wasn't a world of perfect peace and gentleness. It was a hunters world. The lion still hunter the lamb; the spirit still took what it needed from the world of flesh. Death was a part of the hunters paradise, and the greatest hunter of all was Father Wolf. He was a warrior of the Shadow Realm and the muddy world of air and earth.He roamed the boundaries of the physical world, keeping everything in it's place. Spirits wandered into the world of flesh, but not far or for long. Urfarah was all too ready to give chase when a spirit overstayed it's welcome.When necessary, his teeth and claws pushed mortals and animals back into the relative safety of the flesh world if they strayed too far into the spirit world. His heart burned with supernatural strength and conviction, a ritious rage that made him unstoppable. But he was the master of that rage.He was first above us all and greater than any other.
Father Wolf loved Luna as she rode across the skies, and was overcome with love and joy when he encountered her walking through the boundaries between the spirit world and the physical.He was not alone in any of these sentiments. For her part, Luna found Father Wolf to be valiant, and wise, strong and handsome, and she loved him in return. Then knew one another and she gave him children of both spirit and flesh---the first werewolves. Although she wore a human body, Luna gave birth to the first werewolves as a litter of nine pups, a sign of their future fate.
From Luna, our ancestors gained the power to change shape, just as she changes her own shape every month. From Father Wolf they gained senses, strength and speed that were beyond those of flesh born wolves. From both parents they gained a great measure of spiritual power, for Mother Mon was Queen of the Shadow Realm and Father Wolf was Lord of the Border Marches.
After giving birth, Luna returned to the skies and Father Wolf raised the First Pack.He taught the first Uratha the ways of wolf and man, flesh and spirit. He showed them the roads from the Shadow Realm through the forest, mountain or desert into the world of flesh, down the trails to the tribal homes of men.
Father Wolf raise the first pack to aid him in his duties as guardians of the Border marches. They took to their duties and helped bring order to the spirit world and the muddy world. They were shepherds of human, animal and spirit. They culled any herd, tribe or pack that got too large or too dangerous, playing the role of first among predators.
Of course, some spirits and some tribes of humanity didn't take well to this treatment. Some fought back, and through force of numbers, magic or strength, some wouldn't die so easy. Father Wolf and his pack banished the worst to the far reaches of the spirit wilds, including mighty spirits, lesser servants of those spirits and tribes of men who worshiped dark powers and committed blasphemous crimes. Others, such as the Plague King and the Spinner Hag, opposed Father Wolf when they could and fled when they found they could not take his entire pack.
We were Lords of the dawn world. Our great strength and our ability to take different forms allowed us to dominate any man or creature. Few predators could challenge us. No prey could resist us.Even the strongest mammoths, and the fiercest predators of that era were no match for a pack of werewolves. It was a dark time to be human, but it was our age of glory, a golden age painted with the bright blood of our prey.
And like every golden age, It was doomed.
You see, it began with Father Wolf. Before our time, before the humans arose and when most spirits were still young an weak., only Father Wolf was necessary to keep the worlds in check. No spirits managed to linger overlong in the physical world or gather too much power. Father Wolf's personal power deminished a little as he brought fourth progeny both by Mother Luna and by other spirits. He was still strong and fast---for a time.
It took many, many years, more than can be counted, but gradually Father Wolf began to lose he strength and speed. His fangs began to dull, and his wisdom didn't reach as far. More spirits escaped his notice, setting up their terrible kingdoms among humans and bloating with power. When he caught these would-be-gods of suffering and gluttony, it took him longer to finnish them off. Some even escaped--lessened by the struggle, but escaped none the less. Gradually pangaea became a paradise for the spirits and for those humans who accepted their rule, and a purgatory for all the rest. Our forfathers and formothers saw this, and doubt began to gnaw at them.
And what happenes when a wolf pack begins to fail at its hunts because its alpha is too weak, too slow, too blind to lead? Either the pack dies or the alpha must be replaced. This question was the same, but the stakes were thw whole world. What happened next was a horrible thing that should not have been necessary---but it was.
Every spirit has bans---unbreakable laws that govern their very nature. A spirit of pain is forbiden from healing a living creature; a shark spirit is forbiden rest. Father Wolf was one of the most powerful spirits in creation, but even he had a ban. He felt such a strong connection to his duty that he would not close his eyes until some one could take his place. His bans strength was such that if those who could do so were to rise against him, he could not defent himself.
Of course, the ones best suited to take Father Wolfs place were his own children.
Now, tales of this time make it quite clear that Father Wolf could unsheath his claws and bore his fangs against his children in ordinary struggles for dominance. Yet if Father Wolf's pack truely desired to bring a killing blow against him, his very nature left him powerless. He could not be able to defend himself activly against such treachery, and his thick hide and powerful muscles would prove to be no more help than the wind and rain. So the only way to overthrow Father Wolf was to strike to kill.
And we slew him.
With his last breath, Father Wolf let loose a howl that shook both worlds. Humans collapsed sobbing at the sound that stired nothing but fear in their hearts. Spirits cowered in their dens, struck with terror that something could have slain the great merciless wolf spirit. They say the werewolf that struck the killing blow was himself instantly slain by the shear force and emotional weight of the howl. upon hearing the death howl of her favoured lover, Luna herself cried out in anguish and betrayal, cursing all the children she had ever borne. The curse would never be fully lifted.
It is said then, that the whole planet itself stirred.As the denizens of the Shadow Realm and the mortal creatures of the physical realm recoiled in terror, the two worlds were sundered. The earth shook, and storms lashed the land.Ice broke free from the north, and islands sank into the ocean. Pangaea was no more. After the fall, the hunters paradise was gone forever.
Forsaken
Thats why we are what we are. Thats why we're wolf and human. Thats why we're children of the Shadow Realm, but forsaken by spirit. The spirits have feared us---and most have hated us since that day.They fear and hate the thought that creatures part flesh and part ephemera now have the power to police them, and that we once had the strength to destroy the one spirit they all feared. The humans would go mad if they knew we weren't just movie Icons, but real creatures that walk among them.
We destroyed the greatest thing we ever had because it had to be done. We keep the spirit world in check, and spirits can't stand us for it. We do our best to keep humans from maiming the spirit world in turn, and humans would despise us for it if they knew. Our own brothers have turned against us, hating us for doing what they lacked the courage and compasion to do themselves. Only fickle Mother Luna and our wolf totems stand with us, but thats enough. We are The People. We are Uratha. We are the wolves that hunt in both worlds.
We are the Forsaken, and heaven help anyone that drawn down our fury.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
More info is at www.white-wolf.com
I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did.
Dig It.
posted by Fictional Correspondant at 9:16 AM
1 comments
