Cities & Wilderness Bluesheet

Embers, a live-action role-playing game, by Embers Productions

The Cities

The cities in the world of Embers are oppressive places - even their inhabitants find them bleak, and most Garou despise them as sores on the skin of Gaia.  Though the Bone Gnawer and Glass Walker tribes, and a few other Garou, have survived and - particularly in the case of the Glass Walkers - prospered in the cities, urban areas remain largely the demesnes of the Wyrm and Weaver.  The very earth-spirits are warped and mutated by such places; at best they become strange, at worst malevolent.

It is important to understand that many werewolves are not at home here. Werewolves view the concrete wastelands in the same manner that a "civilized" human views the Amazon jungle or the Sahara Desert.  For those Garou that have adapted, however, the City is the new jungle, with allies and enemies of a different sort.  Where those of the woods see looming skyscrapers housing Wyrm-corrupted businesspersons and rusting tracts of industrial wasteland haunted by fomori, those of the city see bustling commerce and the pulsating energies of electricity and information, creating an excitement sorely missed in the slower pace of "Mother Nature."

The Garou who live in cities can be found at all ends of the economic and social spectrums, though tending to gather at one end or the other of each.  Glass Walkers, Shadow Lords, Silver Fangs and others who have adapted to city life well find themselves at the top, holding cash and power but competing with vampires and others good and ill for influence over mortal affairs.  The Bone Gnawers and others at the bottom are outsiders and outcasts, living in abandoned buildings and worse, working odd-jobs, perhaps helping out those even less fortunate than they.  All City Garou have some acceptance of the role of Weaver and Wyrm in the city, in the never-ending race by humanity to build and destroy, build and destroy.  Some City Garou have gone so far as to stop believing in the Apocalypse, instead believing that by adapting to the City, Gaia's Chosen can continue the fight against the Wyrm (though some Garou from the wilderness say they don't even do that much) and survive.  The City Garou make willing use of the tools and gadgets the servants of Weaver have created, including cars, televisions, cellphones, and email.  Even those who have a "close tie to nature" still wear their L.L. Bean Gore-tex(tm) hiking boots when heading for the "woods."   The Sept of the Zephyr's Mind, and formerly that of Salamander's Soul, are both made up of this sort of Garou.

The Wilderness

The line of demarcation between city and wilderness is relatively narrow, and once it is crossed, the human traveler finds herself in an alien land.  Beneath the strange and wondrous beauty, the wilds have long been guarded by the savage Garou and their Impergium, and thus humans instinctively fear and distrust the dark places beyond the city lights while admiring the bright ones.  Rural folk know they are not alone in the wild - superstition and stories run through the hamlets and truck stops.  City newspapers write off the occasional bizarre slayings as the deeds of serial killers and the like, but the natives know better.

Even those Garou who call the wilds home do not know all of the land's many secrets.  Indeed, the wiser Garou reiterate that some of Gaia's mysteries are better left unknown.  Gaia is not always a loving mother, and werewolves have long known that certain places in the wilds are taboo.  Garou who foolishly venture into these places often do not return; their more prudent brethren sigh and shrug.  Such is Gaia's way...

There are few Garou of the deep wilderness left, living in the wild as the werewolves did thousands of years ago.  Many are of the Black Furies, Wendigo or Red Talons tribes, though some can be found among all other tribes.  Their interactions with mortals are brief, typically to seek information or some service, or to destroy a servant of the Wyrm.  They have little truck with modern "conveniences" and will avoid Weavertools at almost any cost.  These Garou hew to the old ways the strongest, and fight harder than any other to maintain the ancient ties to the land.  The Sept of the Buried Heart used to be a sept of these Garou, but today the urban blight has spread and now they are on the front of battle.

Suburban Wasteland

Up until about fifty years ago, the boundary between city and wilderness was clear, even the farms and hamlets in the wild places were not an issue to the Garou.  The urban flight and suburban explosion has changed all that, as the rivers of concrete and asphalt are extended ever-further outwards and humans consume ever-more of Gaia's resources to live, work and play in their Wyrm and Weaver-controlled lives.  Each man is a little king in his own castle, genetically-engineered, machine-fed chicken in the pot and a minivan or SUV in the garage.  The Garou have been able to do little about this, other than to direct some development away from areas they want to protect and make sure that Kinfolk are aware of the issues in the choices they make, though more and more often Kinfolk and even some younger werewolves reject their "crunchy granola" opinions and are lost to the maw of the City.

Though not as radical as the Garou of the deep wilderness, these Garou are the most active fighters against the Wyrm, for they must deal with the conjoined Wyrm and Weaver almost daily.  When might someone tear down a sacred structure, start a new office park, or pollute a river in the middle of the night, or introduce some Wyrm-spawned toy that corrupts children?  The Garou who haunt the edges of these wastes are willing to make sacrifices and compromises, but each draws the line somewhere - in fact, one of their biggest challenges is deciding what must be fought when, for resources are few and the battles many.   Most will wear clothing of handmade, natural fibers, eat organic, free-range food, and reduce consumption of other resources in contrast to the humans around them.  They are willing to use the Weaver's artifacts when the end is judged important enough, while keeping to the old ways at other times.  Many of the Sept of the Buried Heart are this sort of Garou, though some of the younger ones are believed to have become city-fied, perhaps beyond hope of repair to those who value the woods above the city.

Wolves

Wild wolves are virtually extinct, largely relegated to zoos and breeding projects.  Except for a few scattered packs in the continental US, only in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia can they still be found in their natural habitat.  This situation is disastrous for the Garou.  Those of the lupus breed account for as little as 13% of the total Garou population - the wolf side of the werewolves' blood has been dangerously thinned.  Garou require the strength of both their human intellect and their wolf instinct if they wish to be whole.  The growing imbalance has rendered many werewolves weak in body and mind - some go insane, others succumb to the lure of the Wyrm.

It might be noted that wolves do not suffer from the Delirium; however, an enraged werewolf in Crinos form will terrify even a wolf pack.  Packs viewing such a sight usually leave their territory, never to return.  In this age of dwindling forests and encroaching towns, such a migration usually proves fatal for the wolves.

There is only one wolf pack in Massachusetts today, captive on the grounds of Wolf Valley, a research center in the northern part of the state.  A few are Kinfolk, watched by Toxin from the Sept of the Buried Heart, who works at the center.  One bright spot is that various Garou have been working to support a wolf reintroduction project in the northwestern part of the state, using wolves from wild packs near Niagara in New York.  Garou from the Sept of the Buried Heart have strongly supported the work, though it has been vociferously opposed by local farmers, homeowners and other minions of the Wyrm.  Garou from the Sept of the Zephyr's Mind have helped with their political influence on Beacon Hill in Boston.  Should Gaia smile upon the effort, the first wolves could be in place in the spring.

The Present Day

The stagnation and confusion of the modern world have affected the Garou moreso than most creatures.  Whereas in the old days there were vast expanses of wilderness and clearly defined territories, in this age of cities and factories there is simply not enough land to go around.  As the sacred sites are drained of energy by human negligence and supernatural plots, the tribes and septs must compete for mundane and spiritual resources alike.

Many Garou, afraid or tired or simply disgusted of these conflicts, turn away from their duties, seeking freedom in anonymity.  Indeed, apathy and malaise are among the Wyrm's greatest allies.  The Garou have, in large part, lost their fire.  They roll around with each other in the dirt, seeking dominance over some petty pack; desperately clutch at their ever-shrinking domains; or simply retreat to the stagnant security of tedious human existence.  Cynicism and callousness are increasingly common, and the numbers of ronin (Garou who turn away from their pack and tribe) swell with each new moon.