The Beginning and the End

Gaia, our Mother, was whole once. The forces of creation, organization and destruction were in dynamic balance, each striving for ascendance but unified in a perfect, undivided whole. It is said that Weaver mis-set her webs, trying to control the Wyld and instead ensnaring the Wyrm, causing the balance to be broken. Gaia then created the werewolves - Garou - and charged us with defending her from a Weaver without control and a Wyrm gone mad. The Four Winds gifted the Garou with the power to change forms, to channel their passion and power, and to walk amongst the spirits. Luna, Gaia's sister, gifted them with her knowledge, both a strength and a curse as the moon waxes and wanes. Thus empowered, the Garou have done their duty ever since...

Thus speaks the Silver Record, the living history of the Garou, recorded by the Garou and other witnesses. The Record is represented by glyphs that contain spirits who teach the meaning of each. No Garou knows the entire Record, and it is constantly being added to, though it is said that if enough Garou gather then the Record can be sung in full, with no gaps or lost knowledge. The Silver Record also contains the Litany, the collection of traditions, codes and laws of the Garou.

Just as the Record speaks of the beginning, it also speaks of the coming Apocalypse, for it is prophesized that the Garou will lose their battles protecting Wyld and Gaia from the predations of the Wyrm. In the Apocalypse, the Wyld will come under the sway of Wyrm and Weaver, the chaos of creation lost to a stifling entropy.

None amongst the Garou debate that times have changed, that they and the Wyld were stronger once, when Garou culled the human and other shapeshifters in the Impergium, when Wyrm had not corrupted humanity's advances into dark satanic mills spewing pollution and devastation on the world. All debate whether the end times are at hand, if so what to do, and throughout the rivalries and jealousies of millenia cause antagonism and division amongst the Changing Breed, for the fearsome power and passion of the defenders of Gaia is a two-edged blade.

Fewer Garou are born with each passing of the moon, and more die. Will you be the last of the Changing Breed, or the best? Will the Silver Record sing of your triumphs, or mourn your failures? In these twilight days, that is your geas and your curse - are you ready for the challenge?