The Litany Bluesheet

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

The Litany: The Laws of the Garou

The Litany is that part of the Silver Record that contains the traditions, codes and laws of the Garou. All Philodox are required to learn it by heart, and most Galliards know a significant portion of it. All Garou are expected to know the main tenets of the Litany, which are repeated here. Individual Septs and tribes will have their own interpretations of different parts of the Litany.

Garou shall not mate with Garou

If you produce a metis, it is sterile, cannot reproduce and therefore, is of no help in continuing the Garou line. Choose a mate who can help the Garou survive into future generations.

Refer to the Life as a Garou bluesheet for some more information on relationships amongst the Garou.

Combat the Wyrm wherever it dwells and whenever it breeds

Garou exist to fight the exceesses of the Wyrm. If you allow yourself to be drawn away from that mission, you are aiding the Wyrm and weakening us all. If you blindly attack any Wyrm-creature you encounter, you will end up dead, quick. The idea is not to die for Gaia, but rather to make those poor fools die for the Wyrm.

The Uktena prefer to learn about the Wyrm first, before attacking it.  The Black Furies prefer to make sure that what is theirs is protected before attacking.  The Bone Gnawers are oriented towards survival first, combatting the Wyrm second.  The Fianna enjoy a good fight, while the Silver Fangs lead into battle.  The Shadow Lords are opportunistic, using whatever means works out best (some would say best for them), and some Glass Walkers are convinced that the notions of Wyrm, Weaver and Wyld are outdated.  The Children of Gaia have perhaps the strangest view, believing that the Wyrm must be turned, not destroyed.  However, Ahrouns of any stripe will almost always urge offensive rather than defensive strategies.

For more information on the Wyrm, refer to the Wyrm bluesheet.

Respect the territory of another

You do not take what is yours. You do not claim protection or ownership of land that is already guarded by another Garou. This causes conflicts between Garou, which is bad for Gaia because it weakens us in our battle against the Wyrm.

Pretty much all Garou will pay lip-service to this tenet, recognizing that otherwise chaos can ensue.

The territories of the septs and packs in Embers are outlined in the available maps.

Accept an honorable surrender

We are too few in number to go about killing each other every time someone gets offended. Duels to the death only aid the Wyrm. When a fellow Garou surrenders, accept your victory graciously and go back to fighting the Wyrm.

This tenet is very important to the Silver Fangs and Uktena - in the first case, it respects their continued leadership, in the second case, it respects the law of the pack.  The Fianna understand that when a grudge is resolved, it's time to let go - even though it's very difficult for them to actually resolve any disputes.  Rarely does anyone surrender to a Bone Gnawer, so when they surrender to others it's usually at the very last moment.

For more information on challenges and results of them, please refer to the Challenges bluesheet.

Submission to those of higher station

Accept any reasonable request from someone who has been around long enough to have earned more Renown than you. You want to be respected for your deeds, so respect others for theirs.

As is expected, the Ragabash hold least to this tenet, using their role as jester/teachers to poke holes in pompous bombasity.  The Bone Gnawers generally submit, letting their elders play their reindeer games.  In this case, both the Silver Fangs and Shadow Lords strongly agree that the lessers should respect their elders.  The strong organization of the Glass Walkers requires appropriate submission from the younger Garou.

For more information, refer to the Rank and Renown bluesheet.

The first part of the kill for the greatest in station

When you are leader, it will be your right and responsibility to make the decisions concerning the spoils of war. Until then, give your leaders the rights due to them from their station and demand responsibility for their actions, or challenge them. If you serve as the leader, remember that the spoils of war should go to the Garou who can best use them to aid the whole group.

Yet again do the Shadow Lords and Silver Fangs find themselves in agreement.  Ever curious about magical things, the Uktena eagerly push to gain fetishes and the like for their mysterious studies, saying that they know best.  The Bone Gnawers don't care much, for they believe they always get screwed.  The Glass Walkers are scrupulous about distributing spoils based on merit, not political contacts.  The Philodox are drawn into more disputes over territory, fetishes, and other spoils than perhaps anything else.

Ye shall show respect for those beneath ye - all are of Gaia

Lead by example. Teach through your actions. You will not always be strong, and those you help as you climb upward will be met again on your way down.

The Silver Fangs pride themselves on holding to this tenet, yet at times it smells of overboasting as others rebel against their more dictatorial ways.  The Children of Gaia, Star Gazers and Black Furies are perhaps the best at holding to this tenet, while the Fianna are ready to respect most anyone who has at least a modicum of respect for himself.  Fianna are also the quickest to remind the elders who don't show respect - more than one Athro or Regio has found herself the subject of a challenge from a Fianna Cliath or Fostern who is feeling slighted.

For more information, refer to the Rank and Renown bluesheet.

The leader may be challenged at any time in peace;  The leader shall not be challenged at any time of war

If you feel you would make a better leader, prove it. Take the position from the current leader - but only when the pack is not endangered by the challenge.

Do not fight amongst yourselves while trying to fight the Wyrm. Do your internal fighting in private, and always show a united face to our enemies. Circumstances must be most dire before you moveagainst a leader while a threat to the group exists. If you are right in this desperate challenge, you will not be punished. If you are wrong, however, the Nation will know of your punishment, and the Galliards will sing of it for lifetimes to come.

At a basic level, if you're in a fight with a bunch of Black Spiral Dancers it's wrong to pick a fight with your pack alpha.  After the fight, sure.  But what about before, when you're planning the raid?  Is that an acceptable time?  It's a matter of debate all Garou, not just those who would lead.  Suffice it to say that so long as there is no clear, present, and active danger to the group, then it's a time of "peace" and the leader can be challenged without much fear of repercussion.  At other times, watch out.  Garou are more aware than most that leaders rule at the consent of those governed, so the better leaders and leaders-to-be will gauge the sentiment of the group they lead to see how it goes, and either offer challenges or submit based at least partially on that.

Like a pack of wolves or a strong team of humans, leadership amongst Garou is fluid and changeable.  One Garou might lead the pack during the hunt and then another lead the charge into battle, while a third ensures the lines of retreat.  A Garou may be elder of his tribe but not elder of his auspice or pack leader.  There are a number of publicly acknowledged leadership positions a Garou may take in the Sept, Caern or pack - for more information, refer to the Septs and Packs, Caerns and Rites, and Challenges bluesheets.

In some septs such as the Buried Heart, there are acknowledged leaders for times of peace and war and the leaders will change as circumstances change.  However, due to inevitable political conflicts and different philosophies and desires the handovers rarely go smoothly.

The Veil shall not be lifted

The very few times that Garou have allowed humans to know of their existence, it brought tragedy and death to many involved. We are hunted, and we serve Gaia best by turning hunters against the Wyrm rather than toward ourselves and our children.

The Children of Gaia are mostly alone in arguing that the Veil should be torn down, only joined by the Red Talons who call for the open extermination of humanity back to the levels of the Impergium thousands of years ago.  Most Garou respect the Veil, and punish those who break it with loss of Honor Renown.

Do not suffer thy people to tend thy sickness

We no longer live in a time when the old and enfeebled must go into the wood to die. Instead, they can remain active members of the tribe, and their wisdom benefits the young. However, do not make yourself a burden to your people by expecting them to take care of you. Do not fight to remain in a position you are no longer best suited to hold.

In the old days, a Garou who had a permanently debilitating injury would either commit ritual suicide or be subject to ritual execution.  Few Garou hold this thought today, though it is not uncommon for a Garou facing certain death (either a slow or quick one) to throw himself against the Wyrm for a bloody death with his jaws at the throat of the enemy.  The Shadow Lords are perhaps the most eager to invoke this tenet, as the younger Garou push aside their elders to seize power as their own elders did when they were young.

Ye shall not eat the flesh of humans

Regardless of the original reason for this part of the Litany, it has become a clear health issue. What humans eat and do in their Wyrm-tainted cities has made their meat bitter. Devouring it has made more than one Garou ill - and there is always the threat of creeping Wyrm-taint.

This tenet is pretty clear, though in times of duress it hasn't been unheard of for even a Silver Fang to take a bite now and then when other food stocks were low.

Ye shall take no action that causes the caern to be violated

If your choice of actions causes the Garou to lose one of our few remaining places of power and Gaia's strength, you will die.

Caerns are not just sacred places because the Garou say so, the Garou depend on them.  A Garou without a caern for too long will go mad or slip into Harano - this is just one of the reasons why ostracism is such a strong punishment for Garou.   Having experienced the lack of a caern at first hand, the Garou of the Zephyr's Mind and Buried Heart have a deeper understanding than most of this.  Whether through will or ignorance, woe be unto the Garou who lets a caern suffer incursion from unfriendly agents of the Wyrm, Weaver or even Wyld.