Septs and Packs Bluesheet

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

 Septs

The sept is typically the largest organizational unit of the Garou.  A powerful Silver Fang has occasionally ruled over several septs as King, though in these divided days this is rare indeed.  A sept may contain Garou from a single tribe, though it is more common for a sept to have Garou from many tribes in anywhere from one to several packs.

Each sept has a traditional set of offices held by Garou in the sept:

Sept Leader
The Sept Leader (sometimes called the Alpha) is the Garou who is ultimately in charge of the Sept and its day-to-day operations.  This position is set above all other Garou in the sept, and is a position of much respect and honor.  The Sept Leader has the right to demand obedience of all who serve the sept.

Master of the Challenge
There is typically one Master of the Challenge per sept, although septs with more than one caern may have one for each.  The Master of the Challenge has overall responsibility for all challenges occurring in the caern where Philodox Judgement is requested, especially public challenges, and either judges the outcome of challenges himself or hands over that task to a Philodox.  The Master of the Challenge also makes sure that all challenges are conducted honorably.  The decision of the Master of the Challenge can only be overturned by the unanimous vote of the crowd present, or by the entire Philodox Council, from whom the Master of the Challenge is typically named.

Elders of the Auspices
Elders of the auspices are required to watch out for the interests of their respective auspices.  The elder of an auspice can award or take away Renown from the Garou of her auspice by fiat, though again this must be announced at a moot.  The elder can also veto any other Renown awards being made to a Garou of her auspice.

Elders of the Tribes
Elders of the tribes are required to watch out for the interests of their respective tribes, and have the ability to accept new members into the tribe and to ban certain Garou from the tribe.

Elders of the Breeds
Elders of the Breeds are required to watch out for the interests of their respective breeds, and are responsible for all external liaisons with others of their breeds.  It is rare these days to have any breed elder except an Elder of the Lupus, if there is one.  The metis are not respected, while the homids are so numerous that an elder for the breed would be a sinecure.

Den Mother/Father
While all Garou of Rank are responsible for aiding the education of the cliath and cubs, the Den Mother/Father is the final authority on the their training.  She also protects the cubs during wartime, and keeps them from getting into dangerous mischief.  This is a position of much respect, for it requires much wisdom, patience and stamina.  The Den Mother/Father may assign any member of the sept to teach a particular lesson to a cliath or cub.

Packs

First among all their relations, the pack is more than a family to a Garou. Anyone who is a member of a pack will gladly risk her life to protect a packmate. A Garou must stand by her pack in all things, even when she does not completely agree with them. In fact, many Garou do not totally get along with their packmates, although they usually fall into accord when they are threatened from outside the pack.

The pack is bound together by a mystical bond. Many Garou instinctively know when a member of their pack is in danger. Over time, the bond strengthens. Packs move as one, and they often perfectly integrate themselves in any action they do. A pack of Garou soon learns to fight as if they were one, not many. In addition, a pack totem is attracted to the pack and simultaneously adopts and is adopted by that pack. This totem watches over the pack and helps it discover its purpose.

Most packs today are multitribal, and the most successful of these have most, if not all, of the auspices represented.  If a pack contains a metis, the pack will usually defend the metis from discrimination and attacks when no other Garou will. As Garou grow more powerful and higher in rank and station, they tend to live apart from the rest of their pack, even though they will be in touch constantly with one another: they are family. For many Garou, a pack is the only family left.

Not all Garou are in packs. Some are never accepted. Sometimes all the packless Garou in a sept will get together and form their own pack, but this is rare. Usually, a Garou without a pack has some problem associated with him. It is up to the sept to see that these “lone wolves” either get accepted into a pack or at least have something to bide their time. The Wyrm loves an idle Garou, and many of these “lone wolves” get turned into tools of corruption.

Forming a Pack

Many packs are formed out of a group of Garou who undergo the Rite of Passage together. The Rite of Passage is what marks a Garou’s passage from childhood to full adult status.   In other cases, a group of Garou will come together for a specific purpose or from shared values and goals.  These Garou will then perform the Rite of the Pack (a modified version of the Rite of Passage) to create their pack.  Most packs will then follow the Rite of Passage or the Pack with the Rite of the Totem, binding them more tightly together with a totem spirit.

Packs adopt a name that is appropriate to their ethics and beliefs and to the quest they believe Gaia has assigned them. For example, a pack called the “Messengers of Unity” might be interested in increasing cooperation between all Garou, or a pack called the “Ghost Runners” may be a group of spirit-warriors.

At the the conclusion of the Rites, the new pack will present itself at the next sept-wide moot and pledge themselves to on another in the Rite of Allegiance.

Adding New Members to a Pack

Sometimes, a pack will lose many of its members, and Garou will adopt new members into their pack with the Rite of the Pack.  At the next sept-wide moot, the entire pack will re-pledge themselves to one another in the Rite of Allegiance.

Disbanding a Pack

A pack may be disbanded because the purpose it came together for no longer exists, or perhaps the only surviving members of a pack are to join another.  At this time, the Rite of Release is typically performed at a moot, to release the totem spirit of the pack and the pack members from their allegiance.