Shadows Over The South Wiki

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The umbra is a dangerous place, but also full of opportunity and wonder. These house rules should help make the umbra feel more dangerous while not complicated.

What there are many realms, Garou nor fera know everything. Time and research are needed to know many parts of the realm here and even extra information that isn’t here.

Crossing over: Traveling through places where the Gauntlet is thick is virtually impossible; crossing over where the Gauntlet is thin comes as naturally as controlling one’s breathing. Spiritualists can learn more exotic methods of crossing this barrier, such as circumventing the Gauntlet entirely by traveling to the spirit world in dreams. Mages and other will workers have their own methods for crossing the Gauntlet; in fact, packs of werewolves may encounter such visionaries on their travels. System: To step sideways, a werewolf needs to meditate on a highly reflective surface, such as a clear pool of water or a mirror. When a character attempts this, roll that character’s Gnosis; the difficulty is the strength of the local Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is strongest near certain types of environments; every place on Earth has a Gauntlet rating between 2 and 9.

Gauntlet Chart

Area Difficult rating

Science Lab 9

Inner city, downtown 8

Average City street 7

Rural countryside 6

Deep wilderness 5

Urban Caren 5

Active Caren 4

Powerful Caren 3

Greatest Caren Auto

Some shapeshifters cannot attempt this or have different methods for crossing the Gauntlet. The time it takes to enter the Umbra depends on the number of successes on this Gnosis roll.

Success Shift time

Botch Caught

0 Failure (wait an hour to try again or +1 dc)

1 5 minutes

2 30 seconds

3+ Instant

If the roll is botched, the werewolf is “caught” in the Gauntlet, temporarily suspended between the mundane Realm and the Umbra. He’s held in a web the Weaver has woven until assisted by another Garou. Half of him is spiritual, and half is physical. While trapped, he’s subjected to soul-shattering visions. Although the werewolf cannot be seen or attacked by physical entities (like human beings), evil spirits wander the Gauntlet looking for trapped and vulnerable travelers. Another werewolf can attempt to free the traveler by making a successful roll to step sideways; otherwise, the Garou must wait in his shameful, dishonorable, and dangerous state for an hour before trying again. If that second roll botches, he cannot leave on his own. Until he’s rescued, he’s trapped there forever.

Garou who have learned the Theurge Gift: Pulse of the Invisible don’t need to use a reflective object when stepping sideways; they can enter at will. Even blind werewolves can enter the Umbra, as long as they know that Gift.

Werewolves in a pack may choose one among them to lead them into the Umbra; that individual makes the Gnosis roll for all of them. (It’s usually the werewolf with the highest Gnosis, who may in this instance act as the temporary alpha of the pack.) If the pack is caught, however, the shape changers can make their second at-tempts as individuals. Usually, the roll succeeds; all the pack’s members arrive at the same time. All of the pack members must be capable of stepping sideways, and they must all be willing. Garou (or other shapechangers) who are not part of the pack cannot travel with them; they must travel through on their own. However, Garou with the Theurge Gift: Grasp the Beyond can take non-Garou with them into the Umbra.

Peeking

A Garou in the Penumbra can peer back into the physical world, but it’s not easy, and it’s not without risk. (This requires a Gnosis roll against a difficulty equal to the local Gauntlet.) If the attempt succeeds, the werewolf sees a shadowy, monochromatic version of the physical world. Seeing fine details is difficult (although it’s possible to read newsprint, a computer monitor, or facial expressions with five successes). Noises from the other side have distortion or echoes. Scent, however, is unaffected; in fact, some Garou claim their sense of smell is heightened enough that they can even track prey. While a Garou in the Penumbra is peeking into the physical world, however, she is oblivious to her surroundings in the spirit world, unless she starts taking damage (and losing Health Levels). Her pack can’t communicate with her, and her enemies can act unopposed. Her intense concentration is obvious, especially since her eyes will be glowing. Werewolves can also peek from the Earth to the Penumbra, though it’s even more difficult. The Gnosis roll is against a difficulty of the local Gauntlet plus three, up to a difficulty of 9. However, the same dangerous distraction is evident. Fortunately, some supernatural abilities make this easier, such as the Gift: Pulse of the Invisible

Exploring the Umbra

When in the umbra, if there’s a group, choose a leader for the group, this should be person who knows most of the umbra. They make a perc + cosmology roll. DC is based on Distance, and where in the umbra they are going. The number of successes is how many hours they can travel before making another test. This can end early based on combat encounters, if they arrive to their destination, or they’re going to a deeper part of Umbra. Others in the group can help by making the same roll at same DC, if they succeed the DC for the leader’s roll is decreased by 1 per person that succeeds up to -3.

When walking through the umbra, there can be random encounters, the encounter can be something as small as unique spirits, to umbra storms to wyrm spirits. This is based on a luck roll, which Is 1 dice, and DC is based on the area and rolls made. Success means a good encounter, or no encounter. Failure means that the encounter could be bad, but not always. A botch is usually very bad. The St can then Ask for a second luck roll, and it’s to what extent the severity is. So, for example you get a 10 on first roll then botch second, it’ll be good, though very chaotic, or maybe no encounter at all. While a botch on first roll then a 10 on second it’ll be bad, though on lower end or perhaps none at all. This can vary based on where you are at in the umbra, as some places are far more dangerous than others.

Realms

Near Umbra

Moon paths

Moon Paths are pathways of moonlight that cross the Umbra with few set origins. They might shift from moon phase to moon phase, or even from night to night. They exist only at night, appearing as paths of silver light flecked with starry dew crisscrossing the Umbral sky. Mist often surrounds them, making it difficult to see far past the Path’s edges, though the Path itself is clear. Werewolves traveling upon Moon Paths often liken the experience to treading upon very soft and spongy ground, only without the moisture of soil or tickle of grass. Some werewolves, homids especially, find the feeling disconcert-ing, as though they are walking on clouds that will not bear their weight. A Moon Path will bear any weight upon it without stress, from the largest Crinos to even titanic Archid forms of the Mokolé — though the latter might have trouble fitting on the Path in the first place. Moon Paths are by their nature less stable and predictable than Moon Bridges. They went through the Umbra in shifting paths and rarely reach into the Aetherial Realm. Paths aren’t as heavily guarded, though Lunes do patrol them, but the Lunes themselves can pose a danger. They are capricious spirits, and their moods change as do the phases of the moon itself. Werewolves have some idea of what to expect at each moon phase, but even then, there is no guarantee when it comes to Lunes. Other spirits make of Moon Paths as well, and not all of them are friendly to the Garou. While traveling a Moon Path, packs sometimes let the werewolf whose auspice moon shines overhead take over as alpha. The auspice moon often dictates what form challenges along the path take. In these circumstances, the pack’s normal alpha might not be the best equipped to lead.

• No Moon: During the new moon, Moon Paths disappear or become nearly invisible. Using them is dangerous at this time because the Path itself might vanish beneath the traveler’s feet, and at best they are far more difficult to follow. The one benefit is that packs have less of a chance of encountering enemies along the Path, but they will be lucky to find their way to their destination and not come up short somewhere else. More than ever, travelers must rely on their own wits, senses and introspection to proceed.

• Crescent Moon: The Theurge’s moon fills Moon Paths with riddles and enigmas that challenge a pack’s wits and knowledge of spirit lore. Along the way stand various spirits, many of them Lunes, who will demand the solution to such puzzles or challenge packs to a battle of wits. The strength of one’s fury is of little help against these tests, where quick thinking and cunning prove far more valuable.

• Half-Moon: Perhaps the most dangerous time in which to travel a Moon Path is during the half-moon. During this time, spirits of the Triad vie for control over the Path. All seek to use it to reach their destinations or to deny their foes from using it. Sometimes spirits of other courts seek control of the Moon Path, forcing travelers to pay chiminage or perform some service for them in order to proceed. Cunning packs might turn these contesting forces against one another or make a temporary alliance with one side. • Gibbous Moon: During the gibbous moon, capricious spirits tend to occupy the Path. While they are not overly hostile, they do demand chiminage in the form of songs and tales, of lessons learned, deeds done, even interesting encounters (such as meeting other spirits along the Moon Path). Unsurprisingly, Cahalith are the favorites of these spirits.

• Full Moon: Hostile spirits brimming with the ire of the full moon travel the Moon Paths, looking for unwary travelers and easy prey. Lunes themselves become full of wrath at this time and difficult to interact with at length, for their Rage is nearly as potent as that of Gaia’s warriors. Sometimes the hostile spirits will drive travelers from the Moon Path; such unfortunate souls can land anywhere in the Umbra, depending on how far they walked the Path before falling.

Many forces vie for control of Moon Paths throughout all moon phases. They are an important strategic resource in a spirit world shaken by war, so control over the Paths provides a tremendous tactical advantage. Because Moon Paths are by their nature unpredictable, like spirits of the moon, the only way to know where they lead is to find out by using them, and that leads to risk and danger. Of course, no Garou worth her salt is a stranger to the dangers of the spirit world.

Other paths:

There are other paths. However, these are rare and less known to Garou and Fera and make require research to know about them, let alone find them.

Realms in Near Umbra

Dream zone:

The Dream Zone is one of the greatest domains, a realm unto itself formed by the collective dreams of humans and shapeshifters. It is a place wherein archetypes rise as real as solid earth in the waking world, where symbolism is more real than any literal meanings. On the periphery of Near Umbra and Deep Umbra, the Dream Zone lies outside the reach of Moon Bridges and even the Pattern Web. If any Spirit Gates reach the Zone, they were long ago lost to the Garou Nation.

The simplest way for a shapeshifter to reach the Dream Zone is to fall asleep within the Penumbra. Her slumbering mind reaches through the mist of thought and into Dream itself. The realm reflects the dreamer’s own dreams, of course, but so much more than that. She can press on, journeying deeper into the dreams of others and their mysteries. One of the most intimate bonds between packmates is to venture within each other’s dreams. Deeper still are the most primal archetypes of Dream and all it contains: love, death, flying free, falling and drowning, blood and fire — anything that recurs in the minds of dreaming creatures. The facets embodied through Dream have no limits, and even defy the laws of the rest of the spirit world. Anything dreamed by living things since the very first creature to draw breath appears within the Dream Zone. Shapeshifters can pursue these secrets and answers by undertaking dream quests — a journey into the depths of Dream, experiencing different facets that form a collective dream-story. These often lead from one aspect into another, such as the facet of imprisonment in cold stone and silver chains. As she moves through the dream, she might finally yank free her chains from the wall and tear it down to reveal an earthen tunnel that reeks of the grave. She runs through the tunnel as it collapses around her, burying her in the earth. As she claws her way to the surface, she finds that she stands atop a precipice, with enemies and allies filling a valley below her. They turn their gaze upward to look upon her, the wind itself hushed as though the world holds its breath. Clearly, she is feeling overwhelmed with something, perhaps a position of responsibility within the pack, tribe or sept. Further interpretations require introspection or perhaps even another venture into Dream. All things, even those a dreamer has lost or forgotten, exist within the Dream Zone. These are not like the Dark Umbral reflections of things dead and destroyed. Dreams gave them life, but they exist only in Dream. Someone visiting a lost loved one in Dream is not truly conversing with the shade or spirit of that person, but rather the facet of him that lingers within the mind of the dreamer. She could not pluck that fragment from Dream and bring it to the mortal world as a form of resurrection. Or so the sages say, but who knows? Within Dream Zone, anything is possible, if a visitor can dream it. The tales of great heroes who would challenge the impossible for love, glory and honor are as powerful an archetypal facet as anything that ever entered into Dream. Mokolé have a special relationship with Dream. Through Mnesis they remember ages of the world lost even to the legends of younger races. During their First Change, they dream into being their Archid form; these powerful forms embody primeval facets of predators and prey from during the Age of Kings. Mokolé may enter the Dream Zone through Mnesis quests even if their bodies lie in the material realm. They wander through depths of Dream that other shapeshifters cannot reach; few can, save for the wisest of magi.

The following are traits that affect garou and fera while in the Dream zone.

- To reach the dream zone you must fall asleep within the Penumbra

- Garou and Fera that “die” in the dream zone automatically wake up in the Penumbra, they are fine physically but lose a WP

- You can slip into other realms through the dream zone; however, you must find the dream shard of such realms, some are much easier than others to find. If you do, you must spend a gnosis and make a gnosis roll dc 6 and if successful you enter that realm through the dream zone. You can exit by waking up, but other rules can apply, and taint can still happen, as so can mentally powers and influences. As well you can’t physically keep objects there, you may open doors and carry objects but once you wake up you don’t have the object, as you were dreaming into the realm and not actually there. Nor can you bring others in the realm out of it this way. However this can give you clues and help plan things better and easier. Some realms can just kick you out as you enter, you wake up but don’t suffer loss of wp.

Malfeas

One domain whose very name bristles the fur of the fiercest warrior is Malfeas, realm of the Wyrm. It is a festering wound in the heart of reality, oozing the evils that gnaw the bones of the world. Everything that is wrong with the universe finds a home in Malfeas. The realm contains profane mockeries of everything that has existed in the material and spirit worlds. Vast metropolises stretch over the horizon, built along a spiral symbol representing the heart of the Wyrm. The daily grind is literal in these wicked places, where gnashing gear-teeth grind up tormented souls and sluice them into filth-encrusted sewers. The spiritual sludge vomits out into facilities that reconstitute the damned into patchwork people. Some of the “cities” are hideous organic scars in the blackened earth. Buildings with facades of quivering skin stretched taught over skeletons of yellowed bone. Glistening, organ-like towers reach into the sky to spew forth clouds of deadly gas. Anything that can shock or disgust, or that someone fears, anything that the Wyrm can twist into a sick parody, exists in the Wyrm’s realm. Nothing in Malfeas is friend to Garou. Knowledge exists here but the secrets are hazardous to a werewolf’s spirit. The most benign entities in the realm are the ephemeral fragments of once whole spirits and creatures now endlessly tormented for the Wyrm’s amusement. Bane lords rule their degenerate duchies and oversee the blasphemous rites of the Black Spiral. Dancers are forced along the Spiral until their bodies and spirits seethe with Wyrm-taint. Few forces in the universe can redeem such an unfortunate soul. Other powerful enemies of Gaia make their lairs in Malfeas. Corrupt Incarnae, the most powerful of twisted mages, deranged cultists and possessed slaves. Malfeas is the heart of the Wyrm’s power in the Umbra. It is the womb birthing evils that plague every realm. As much as every Garou would love to strike the realm from the Umbra, it is too vast and powerful. Yet some feel that the answers to defeating the Wyrm lie within the diseased skin of Malfeas. Perhaps finding a way to cleanse the realm would cure the Wyrm of its madness, even temporarily, or maybe defeating the Wyrm would utterly undo Malfeas. Some Theurges feel that even if the Wyrm was struck down, Malfeas would remain a pit of spiritual corruption, only now without an integral part of the Triad. The whole of the universe would come to decay into a Malfeas-like hell. The most radical theories say that even in its mad state, the Wyrm’s presence prevents complete cosmic dissolution by binding all that taint within its titanic form. One thing is certain: until balance is restored, Malfeas will be the center of the taint eating at the universe.

The following are traits that affect garou and fera while in the Mafleas:

- Every hour spent in Malfas you gain a level of wyrm taint that can’t be reduced until you leave the realm

- Derangement rolls and harano rolls are -1 dc due to the nature and corruption of the realm

- Derangement traits are doubled as there more active

- Summoning spirits is dangerous as all there are corrupted and tainted, major spirits will often refuse the summoning, while smaller spirits will be summoned or awakened but get corrupted. You gain a wyrm taint when this happens.

- This is the realm of corruption, as such, cleansing is harder, it’s at +2 dc, and you can’t go below 1 level of wyrm taint

Abyss:

Many realms of nightmares drift through the Umbra. Some claim to be the source of all fears; others are reflections of the worst the human heart can conjure. Realms of endless battle and coiled nests of monstrous Bane’s drift among plains dedicated to every evil a twisted mortal mind could imagine. Only Malfeas itself is regarded with more dread than the oblivion of the Abyss. The Abyss is a yawning chasm of darkness sometimes described as a tear in the fabric of creation. The darkness is bordered by a vast, craggy cliff-face, marred with countless caves and crevasses. Things that are lost find their way here to be forgotten. It falls so far that it seems bottomless, and it stretches so far across that its width appears endless. Even flight-capable Umbral travelers of great endurance and courage cannot cross the expanse to the other side. No one really knows what the Abyss is or how it came to be. Some Garou say the Abyss is where the Wyrm went mad and declared it would not stop until everything became nothing. Philosophical werewolves think it may be some necessary balance – for every place there is, there must be somewhere that isn’t. Entering the Abyss is simple. The Abyss has an affinity for those who are lost, even unknowingly. Many paths lead here although most do not advertise their destination; an unwary traveler may find herself standing at the edge of the cliff before she realizes what has occurred. One who falls from a Moon Bridge or who becomes otherwise disoriented may find themselves at the Abyss. Departing the Abyss is more difficult because most exits are found deep in the pit, closer to oblivion. The Abyss is hungry. It doesn’t want anyone to leave. It wants them to stop existing. The destructive powers of the Abyss work to destroy its own Realm. More cracks and caves lead to exits in the depths because the Abyss has degraded its structure and torn holes back to the Near Umbra. These holes appear as tributary cracks in the cliff. Many cracks are also home to Abyssal dwellers or other dangers. Characters seeking an exit may roll Rage or Gnosis (difficulty 7) each day to find a tear and escape back into the Umbra. A botch spills the character back onto the cliff face, higher up and further from escape than before. The Abyss somehow clings to characters suffering derangements or other mental conditions, such as Harano. Characters increase the difficulty of escape by 1 for each condition, to a maximum of 9.

The following are traits of the abyss:

- Time within the Abyss wears at the will of any who enter. Every hour within the Abyss causes the loss of 1 point of Willpower that cannot be regained until the character leaves the confines of the Abyss.

- Willpower can only be regained through supernatural means within the Abyss. Any character with no remaining points of Willpower finds herself instantly removed to a cave on the Iron Path, bound in madness until death or rescue claim her.

- Leaving the realm requires finding cracks and holes. Characters seeking an exit may roll Rage or Gnosis (difficulty 7) each day to find a tear and escape back into the Umbra. A botch spills the character back onto the cliff face, higher up and further from escape than before. The Abyss somehow clings to characters suffering derangements or other mental conditions, such as Harano. Characters increase the difficulty of escape by 1 for each condition, to a maximum of 9.

- There are other traits of the realm.

Atrocity

This Realm reflects the taint of the Wyrm as few others do outside of Malfeas. Many Theurges believe the psychic residue of countless acts of brutality, torture, and degradation in the physical world created the Atrocity Realm. It is all nightmares given form. Even worse, all the horrific acts the Realm’s emanations recreate reflect real events — from the massacres ordered by dictators to the personal torments of a single battered spouse. As creatures of half spirit, the atrocities perpetrated by shapeshifters stain this Realm even more than those of humans, and Garou who traveled here are often treated to exceptionally vivid scenes of the worst events of the Impergium. The Realm is a foul-smelling wasteland of corpses and blood. Every step a traveler takes leaves a bloody footprint that quickly fills with wriggling maggots, and swarms of stinging flies assail outsiders like a thousand-minute Furies sent to punish the guilty. The few structures are made of human corpses — mummified carcasses of mutilated victims arranged into walls held together with mortar made from the ashes of those burned alive, decorated with the cracked and shattered skulls of those who died at the hands of their abusers. Mountains of corpses divide the Realm into an endless maze, and a fresh scene of atrocity greets travelers around every corner. Screams, moans, and choking sobs emanate from every direction, hinting at the horrors taking place there. In some ways, the Atrocity Realm resembles the Battlefield, but it lacks the focus on struggle. Every victim in the Atrocity Realm is helpless and undeserving of the suffering visited upon him. Every victimizer is merciless if not downright sadistic. Bane larvae gather around every scene of torment, growing fat on the emotions of the emanations. The scenes in the Atrocity Realm are only reflections of events, however. Visitors who wish to end the suffering and carnage can interfere with a scene or even disrupt events before the atrocity takes place, but this is ultimately futile. Once the travelers leave, the victims and victimizers take their places again and the scene begins once more as if nothing had changed. Some Garou claim a pack can exorcise an atrocity from the Realm by avenging or rectifying the victims’ suffering in the material world — bringing the serial killer to justice, trying the dictator for war crimes, or forcing the abusive parent to acknowledge the wrongness of his actions. However, many believe such undertakings are unwise. They argue that in the time it takes to purge just one scene from the Atrocity Realm dozens more will spring up in its place. A Garou can fight the Realm more effectively by preventing the horrors from taking place in the first place. Although the ephemera of the Atrocity Realm are emanations like those of any other Realm, visitors can glean important information from the scenes of horror these shadow puppets reproduce. Events appear exactly as they did at the time of the atrocity, making it possible to investigate terrible crimes even if the perpetrator left behind no evidence that could point to her. A witness could also examine objects in the background of a scene. The visitor could study the relic that a victimizer stole from the room where he tortured and killed his victim. She could talk to eyewitnesses to the atrocity in order to learn something they knew about an unrelated topic or even rescue the victim long enough to question him about another event he remembers — if she can distract these shadow players from the horror in progress long enough to conduct such an interview. If an outsider interferes with a scene in this way, however, the Realm incorporates her into it in some way — usually as another of its potential victim.

The following are the traits of atrocity:

- The area is infested with spiritual echoes of victimizers and their victims. These spiritual echoes cannot physically cause damage to Garou; however, if a Garou dies at their hands, she is considered to have empathized with the victim and can use this act to leave the realm.

- A Garou can be injured by other shapeshifters, other visitors from the Material Realm, or any one of the banes that prowl the area. Garou can take damage from them based on the character type attacking them, and if they lose all of their health levels, they can choose to leave Atrocity and exit into the Penumbra.

- A Garou who comes to Atrocity witnesses her own crimes against others first. She may witness multiple scenes of her transgressions. During each new scene or instance of witnessing her personal crimes, a Garou must spend a point of Willpower to avoid entering fox frenzy. During each new scene while witnessing another’s crimes, she must spend a point of Willpower to avoid entering anger frenzy.

- When witnessing her own atrocities against another, a Garou can attempt to atone for her crimes. She can do this by performing the Rite of Contrition after witnessing her crime. If she does this, she regains all her spent points of Willpower, her atrocity disappears from the realm, and she is not haunted by it if she returns.

- Garou in this realm are overwhelmed by sensory information from the scent of blood and the cries of the anguished. Those who enter this realm lose their Mental Specs for the duration of the time they are in the realm.

Battlegrounds

The Battleground is the embodiment of war, struggle, and conflict. This Realm reflects every battle since Earth’s prehistory, whether its warriors are professional soldiers, desperate rebels, or criminal gangs battling over turf in a large city. Emanations and spirits engage in continual battles that reflect past conflicts in the material world. This chaotic and in many ways nightmarish Realm is a military historian’s dream. Every battle of every war plays out here from its beginning to the end, and then it resets and replays in an infinite loop. An observer can take in a perfect re-recreation of a famous battle and discover details lost in the heat and anarchy of combat — every act of cowardice, every fatal mistake, every victory won by courage, cunning, or luck. As well, the battlefields frequently overlap, creating conflicts between forces that could never have met each other in war — ancient Aztecs and Egyptians, Crusaders and warriors of Three Kingdoms of China, or Vietnam era U.S. Marines and French musketeers versus Japanese samurai and modern-day members of the Israeli Defense Force. The Battleground offers an infinite number of potential combinations. An outsider who is willing to put himself in harm’s way can even interfere with the events of a battle in an effort to change its outcome, but these are purely thought experiments and do not actually alter history — no more so than does a historical simulation strategy game. One feature of the Realm remains constant and is the starting point of every visit to the Battleground: the Signpost. Its exact form varies from visitor to visitor. Some see it as a literal signpost with wooden arrows pointing down one of the two paths that lead deeper into the Realm. Others experience it as an Egyptian obelisk with hieroglyphics or as a touch-activated computer terminal or as a pair of gargoyles that tell the outsider which battles can be found along which road. Whatever the form, however, the road only leads in two directions. The Signpost’s list of battles changes from visit to visit, and a battle that lay to the left on a previous visit may lay to the right the next. Some of the battles are inevitably famous conflicts familiar to anyone even remotely familiar with history, while a few are so obscure that even their participants would not call them by the name on the sign (or by any name at all). Shapeshifters with a high Rage quite often find their past battles listed on the Signpost.

The following are traits of battlegrounds.

- To enter the realm, you must take agg damage and spend a rag before crossing from physical into the umbra.

- While in a battle, Characters in this realm gain 1 additional point of Rage each turn on her Everyman initiative. - Characters in this realm automatically get 1 success any test to resist anger frenzy and dc is 3 here, unable to shake the overwhelming fury of the battlefields surrounding them.

- Characters in this realm cannot be killed in the traditional sense. If they die in the Battleground, they are shunted to the Material Realm and lose access to 2 gnosis. They still get a scar, and their clothes are torn and bloody.

Cyberrealm

Even the Weaver’s playground struggles to keep up with human advancement. The CyberRealm is young by Umbral standards, dating back as far as technology became commonplace among humanity. It has always represented the peak of the Weaver’s influence, embodying the excesses and greatest potential of technology. The CyberRealm’s growth surged during the Industrial Revolution along with the Scar. Where the Scar still embodies hungry, smoke-belching factories, the CyberRealm is a land of steel and glass and wires spun by the Weaver’s minions. The modern CyberRealm represents the Information Age, constantly growing in size and building shiny new structures and technology over incompatible, obsolete junk. The CyberRealm is divided into three areas. The central area is Spider City, a three-tiered manifestation of future shock and urban existence in its purest form. Beneath that, the Pit’s tunnels contain all manner of discarded trash, refuse, and what’s left of used-up spirits and intruders. Far above, sprawling out against the backdrop of a flat gray sky, the Computer Web embodies data in spiritual form. The CyberRealm is accessible through Moonlit Airts, but actually getting inside means getting past the realm’s Weaver-spirit guardians. Ananasi have a free pass and can sometimes convince the guardians to let them bring guests. Getting out is trickier. From the Micro Level, spending a Gnosis point at a juncture terminal allows for an Intelligence + Computer roll to get a shapeshifter into the Near Umbra (difficulty 8) or even the material world (difficulty 9). Rumors suggest paths out through the Pit, and some Weaver Constructs can smuggle shapeshifters out for a steep price. The Ratkin and some high-ranking Bone Gnawers are rumored to have ways of getting in and out of the Pit. Ananasi still come and go, but smuggling their guests out might take more convincing. The rare Banes in the Realm can lead travelers to pathways leading to or from the Scar — or even some darker realms for those willing to risk passing through those places.

The following are traits of cyberrealm.

- You can access it through moon light areas, also its possible to find entrances through places that are weaver in physical.

- Getting past the guards requires giving high tech to the guards or something else weaver like. Annanasi get a free pass.

- From the Micro Level, spending a Gnosis point at a juncture terminal allows for an Intelligence + Computer roll to get a shapeshifter into the Near Umbra (difficulty 8) or even the material world (difficulty 9). Rumors suggest paths out through the Pit, and some Weaver Constructs can smuggle shapeshifters out for a steep price.

- You can buy and sell things here, the main currency is Juice, which is gnosis liquidified, you’ll have to seek out those that can turn gnosis into juice and the process is painful, you gain weaver taint equal to how much gnosis turned into juice

- You can get technology that doesn’t exist, as well as cyber fetishes and cybernetics, however, getting so is a steep price and a veil breach.

Erubus

Erebus occupies a unique niche in the spirituality of the Garou. It is the embodiment of Gaia’s wrath and the purgatory of the Nation; a place both feared and revered for the punishment and purification that can be found here. When a Garou feels shame or guilt that she can’t purge any other way she may find herself drawn to Erebus for cleansing. Even the worst of the Wyrm’s taint can be burned away by the rivers of molten silver flowing through the realm. The liquid metal burns at the body while the personal attentions of Charyss’ Crinos-formed Brood work to purify the spirit. These tormentors have centuries of experience in the arts of castigation and are ideally suited to their task. The purification process is excruciating to the body and soul. It brings the Garou to the point of death but refuses to allow her that respite. Though the suffering is immense and should be maddening, Erebus is a place of healing. The pain brings with it a sense of clarity through which the werewolf can recall and experience her sins even with every nerve on fire. A three-headed, black-and-silver wolf called Cerberus greets all arrivals to Erebus’ borders. Cerberus decides who may enter the Realm and for what purpose. He interrogates her purpose; if Cerberus accepts her sincerity, she may take the silver path behind the guardian. If Cerberus doubts her intentions, he instructs her to turn and walk back into the Umbra. If she chooses to defy Cerberus and somehow overpowers or evades the guardian, she discovers this easy exit has now closed, and the only way from the Realm is found on the island at its heart. Cerberus is not infallible, but he is difficult to deceive. Someone attempting to hide his intentions must succeed at a Manipulation + Subterfuge roll, difficulty 9. If Cerberus detects a lie, he may still permit the traveler to continue, but he will inform the Brood this interloper requires penance. Despite what the deceiver may have planned, he will probably find himself forcibly thrown into the waters for punishment and the absolution of his sin.

The following are traits of Erubus:

- Those who attack Charyss or one of her Brood, except when invited to do so as part of a challenge, are immediately transported to burn in Erebus’ silver rivers.

- In this realm, aggravated damage inflicted in pursuit of penance is regenerated through the same means as lethal damage. Characters immersing themselves in the molten silver receive aggravated damage but heal an equal amount of damage in the same turn. They are in purgatory, and anguish is more important than death.

- There is no light in this realm but the glow of molten silver. Characters with the Perception specs focus lose access to any benefits of this specs.

- All Wyrm Taint can be cleansed in Erebus, including the fifth stage. Storyteller discretion determines on how long this purging takes. - Black Spiral Dancers can be cleansed in Erebus, but they lose all access to gifts and rites. They start anew, as Cubs from a tribe of their choosing.

Flux

In ancient times, matter and spirit were one, and the domains of the Wyld permeated the Gaia Realm. The laws of reality were more fluid, and those with the spiritual strength could command time and space, energy and matter simply by stretching out with the force of their will. Such radical reshaping is no longer possible in the material world, but the Wyld still rules supreme within the Flux Realm. It is a place of chaos, constant change, and infinite possibility. In spite of this, the Realm is much diminished from its former glory. The minions of the Weaver have spent centuries wrapping the Flux Realm in their orderly threads, creating an eggshell-thin layer of stability around the vast chaos of the Wyld that rages within. Outsiders find the Realm extremely disorienting. It has no fixed landmarks and is in a constant state of transformation. Vast cities appear in the blink of an eye and vanish just as quickly. Mountains rise and fall, deserts become jungles, seas stretch from horizon to horizon and then shrink to mere ponds all in the space of a few hours — or in some cases, mere seconds. The ordinary laws of nature don’t apply to the way these landscapes behave even while they exist. Sometimes water burns or mountains fly. Wyldstorms howl through the Realm, transforming everything in their path. The sun burns blue or red or black, and the stars and constellations dance and whirl in the sky or vanish entirely. Luna wields great power in the Flux Realm, but sometimes more moons join her. These alien satellites obey no astronomical laws. Some travel west to east, or north to south, or remain motionless just above the horizon. Time is not a constant here, either. A day can last weeks or end in the blink of an eye. A traveler can arrive in the Realm today and return home a week ago. The Realm’s inhabitants are no less strange than its environs. Wyld spirits and members of Bygone species that can no longer exist in the material world are among the most ordinary of these. The Chimerae, dragons, Great Beasts, and other monsters that rampage across the landscape may be unpredictable opponents whose shapes change every few heartbeats, but at least outsiders can recognize them as living things or ephemeral projections of living things. Talking stones, hyper-intelligent clouds, and hostile glaciers are considerably more disconcerting to the average traveler. The Flux Realm is hideously dangerous for non-shape-shifter travelers. The Wyld energies transform visitors into new shapes as surely as they alter the native inhabitants. While no metamorphosis in the Flux Realm is instantly fatal, being trapped in the body of a giant cockroach or transformed into a pool of quicksilver makes survival outside of the Realm highly unlikely. At the very least, it will prove a life-altering event. Garou and other shapeshifters who visit the Flux Realm might find themselves in bodies not their own, but as creatures of the Wyld these transformations are merely a temporary inconvenience.

The following are rules of the flux:

- To enter the Flux realm, a character must have either Wyld Affinity or must succeed in a simple test using her perc + Survival against a difficulty rating of 7 to locate the realm.

- A character can forcefully attempt to change the environment around her by making a simple test using her Manipulation + PU skill against a difficulty rating of 9. This may help them navigate the landscape more easily.

- Characters are able to change forms in this realm using a simple action, and they do not have to spend rage to do so.

- All characters who enter this realm are freed from any mind-controlling effects, including blood bonds and other supernatural bonds. Gifts or other powers that induce these effects do not work in Flux.

- Spirits bound into fetishes, talens and other objects or people escape in Flux, though they may willingly decide to stay within their fetish. These freed spirits return to the fetish when it leaves Flux.

The Legendary Realm

Shapeshifters exert significant influence over the Umbra as a consequence of their half-spirit natures, and the Legendary Realm is a manifestation of their songs and stories of the past deeds, great heroes, and epic battles of their kind. It is a place of myth and allegory where great heroes live on, guarding the people from barbarians and monsters. Noble figures from the tales of the Silver Record sit atop thrones of millennia ago, and the mightiest fallen heroes appear in this Elysian land where they await the Last Battle. In recent days, however, the Realm has fallen under a shadow. Where once stood a prosperous kingdom, the Midnight Land has come from Malfeas to bring ruin to the Realm’s people. Though the Legendary Realm is home to some of the Changing Breeds’ greatest heroes, the legions of the enemy are vast and insidious enough to challenge even the Silver Record’s legendary scions.

The following are attributes of this realm:

- Time passes more quickly in the Legendary realm. While years or decades may seem to pass in this realm, turning a young Garou into a grizzled elder, only days or weeks pass in the Material Realm. For each day a Garou spends in the Legendary realm, only an hour passes in the Material Realm.

- No spirit in this realm can be destroyed, as they each have an eternal role to play within their kingdoms. If they are killed, they later reform and take their places once more. Only spirits bound to fetishes or to a shapeshifter can enter this realm.

- While in this realm, all characters temporarily possess the Ancestors background at 5 dots, whether they possess this background on their sheet or not. Silent Striders do not gain this bonus.

- Unlike in some other realms, where characters can use death to open exits or experience the realm more fully, if a character dies in the Legendary realm, her death is permanent. The character is not sent to another realm, the Material Realm, or the Penumbra, but is both physically and spiritually dead. The only exception is if you are a part of the story itself, where you’ll respawn.

Pangea

The Silver Record documents Garou history farther back than the War of Rage, before the Impergium, even prior to the division of the tribes of Garou. As ancient as that prehistoric chronicle is, Gaia Herself has experienced epochs and eras. unseen by species much older than her wolves. Sprawling periods of titanic carnivores and molten landscapes, where the scale of conflict rattles the earth and shakes the sky. The Near Realm Pangaea is the mythic echo of those long-ago times, drawn from Gaia’s far-reaching memory and shaped with crude, stone tools. It’s equal parts Paleozoic and Mesozoic, indiscriminately painted with elements of a young Gaia’s primeval instability and the wholly fantastical. It’s a land of massive sauropods and monsters, where tribes of primitive near-humans seek shelter from colossal predators and clouds of searing ash. Pangaea is an incredibly biodiverse, hazardous environment. It’s an immense, unbroken landmass surrounded by a dark, restless ocean. It fosters a number of different ecoregions in close proximity: humid jungles, airy mountains, wide tundras and dense taigas. What brings greater danger to an already nuanced realm is the ever-changing landscape. While comparatively stable compared to the Flux Realm, a savannah may become a desert or a mountain range overnight, as Pangaea goes through millennia of geological changes in mere hours. The land of the realm churns and toils nearly as much as the sea, changing the face of Pangaea with grand upheavals of earth and substratum. Volcanoes erupt from the ruins of earthquake-toppled mountains, bellowing fiery ash into a sky bloated with dark clouds. Serac-spiked glaciers in the north move like ponderous ships over land and sea, leaving moraines and cirques in their wake. Pangaea is a formidable realm, but the perils are far greater than the constant geological convulsing. Creatures from as recent as ten thousand years ago, to far back as two hundred million, stalk across the same regions. Giant saurian carnivores hunt stampeding titanotheres across fragile tundra. Black pits of molten tar claim unwary predators in landscapes patrolled by the bulky precursors of wolf and badger. Scorched, volcanic wastelands stretch for untold miles, home only to the reptilian creatures tough enough to survive in flesh-searing heat. Starving pterodactyls plummet through the treetops of dense jungles to pluck screaming apes from slender branches. As much as it is a realm of tumult, Pangaea is also a font of great spiritual power. Potent caerns litter the land in great number, and a rare vitality suffuses visiting shapeshifters. The dividing line drawn between tribes evaporates for Changing Breeds in Pangaea. The Glass Walkers do not exist in Pangaea, the Red Talons are forgotten, even the Black Spiral Dancers are undefined by their tribe. Garou are simply Garou. Similarly, the Simba, Khan, and Pumonca all disparities, leaving behind only the Bastet. Pangaea recognizes few divisions, and for the duration of their stay, those who have their tribal identities sundered come to forget they ever existed.

Pangaea is not the most difficult Near Realm to enter, but the path is not without dangers. Plenty of Moon Bridges reach the Realm, but the Wyld’s influence makes them unpredictable and perilous. Banes lurk at known entrances, eager to finish off the wounded who seek Pangaea’s restorative energies. In the material world, Glens of some power provide direct access to Pangaea. On occasion, a great spirit-sauropod breaks through into reality and reaps a terrible harvest be-fore dying from the weight of its own ill-prepared existence. These Glens exist in places where the presence of man is forgotten or unknown, and the occasional human who does visit may find herself in a very strange land indeed. To leave the Realm is as simple as finding a Glen. From there, a werewolf may leave Pangaea without a roll. The Dream Zone is accessible from anywhere in Pangaea, given a deep enough sleep — though most require the powerful narcotic plants found in Pangaea to achieve a deep enough sleep.

The following are traits of Pangea.

- The benefits of the regeneration Rage effect doubles while a character is within Pangaea.

- Shifting forms is easier and faster within the natural setting of Pangaea. Shapeshifting costs only a simple action to any form other than a character’s breed form.

- In Pangaea, Garou experience a sense of utter unity, as all are of one tribe. No artificial boundary of affiliation lies between a Red Talon and a Glass Walker, a Silver Fang and a Shadow Lord, or a Get of Fenris and a Black Fury.

- You can find spirits thought to be lost or extinct, and they can teach gifts or lead the adventurous to hidden troves of materials latent with mystical energy.

- Items and material from Pangea are magical in nature, bringing them back they do have inherit magical properties.

Scar

Glass Walker historians posit the Scar’s existence began with Rome and its aqueducts. These marvels of engineering and organization cast a gleaming Realm in the kiln of human innovation. In that scenario, it wasn’t until the early days of modern industry that the Wyrm took interest in this shining proto-Scar. The Weaver’s careless plunge toward mechanization gave the Unmaker a chance to hitch its horse to Grandmother Spider’s wagon, and it did so with glee. Others claim that the Scar has always been a joint venture of the Weaver and Wyrm. Before it was a chemically poisoned cityscape, it was a coal dust-choked mining town. Before that, a plantation of sickening toil. Before that, a scorching limestone quarry. Whichever the case, the Industrial Revolution defined the Scar as it’s now known acrid smoke and endless toil. The entire Realm is a caustic look at the Garou’s failure to stop the creep of industrialization. Few Realms exist more depraved or grotesque than the Scar, and no Realm in the vast Umbra is so perfectly built to get under Garou skin. The spirit world’s most petty, Garou-baiting cruelty. The Scar is a promise co-signed by the Wyrm and Weaver: this is the future of Gaia. The vile Near Realm resembles a dirty, overcrowded cityscape. Faceless towers of black glass and steel stand like insectoid hairs from a thorax of refuse-covered parking lots. Soot-caked factory complexes belch foul smoke into the air and ooze brackish sludge into already oily rivers. The fluorescent sky is so murky with grey-green fumes that day and night are meaningless distinctions. Exhausted denizens wait in gridlocked traffic between their sixteen hours shifts at one of countless textile mills, complacently pining for the day when their hard work is noticed by callous supervisors. The streets and alleyways of the Scar overflow with hollow-eyed vagrants, worked to the bone and cast aside when the harsh rigors of factory life finally cost them their ability to work. Experiencing the Realm firsthand is dangerous enough to give packs of experienced Garou pause. Shapeshifters who visit the Realm risk becoming trapped by the dense, rusty web that makes the Scar’s spiritual membrane one of the hardest to escape in the Umbra. The weight of the noxious air hangs so heavily on a werewolf’s heart that mustering the will to fight becomes a challenge all its own. If captured by the uniformed, corporate-controlled Banes that act as the Scar’s police force, an imprisoned Garou can expect the same indentured servitude as the Realm’s malnourished spirits. Forced to labor in the miasma of the factories, even the most resolute werewolf has little chance to shake off the Scar’s overbearing complacency. If she labors too long there will be nothing left to rescue. For the employees of the Scar’s corporate giants, the drain on their spiritual well-being is absolute. They retain enough of themselves to work, but they’re only alive by technicality. These drones trudge toward the final whistle of the day, when the shifts end and they get precious few hours of sleep before the entire cycle begins anew. When she can labor no longer, a fortunate spirit is thrown to the mean streets of Scar. If she’s less lucky, she’s mulched by gruesome machinery for the last traces of her Gnosis. Getting to the Scar is almost frighteningly easy. A myriad of paths lead to the repugnant Realm, and its entrances are protected by little more than a token show of force. If anything, the Realm invites visitors. Entry is as simple as following a path to its conclusion, following a disused railroad line, or a cobbled road past brick buildings, well-lit by gas lamps. As a traveler nears the Scar, the density of the Weaver’s webbing increases exponentially. The eventual tangled latticework is the result of an absurd number of pattern-spiders. As easy as it is to enter the Realm, leaving the Scar is a feat of some cunning. The unusual thickness of the Gauntlet surrounding the Scar prevents all but the most gifted shapeshifters from stepping sideways. Failed attempts to breach the Realm’s dense membrane result in an immediate, overwhelming response from the Weaver’s frantic minions. Many Garou prefer to dream their way free of the Realm, escaping into the Dream Zone from web-filled nightmares. Unfortunately, the very nature of the Scar makes dreams of escape unlikely. The truly desperate can always take the train.

- The air in Scar is massively polluted and the buildings are dim. Characters cannot attempt challenges using the PU skill (the exception is shifting forms). Characters with the Perception attribute spec lose access to any benefits of this spec and perception merits.

- It always takes a character five turns to try to cross the Gauntlet out of Scar. Pattern spiders have heavily reinforced the Gauntlet with webbing to prevent escape.

- Spirits in this realm have no Gnosis to spare, and often attempt to scavenge it from others, even forcefully.

- Characters lose a wp and gnosis every day they are in Scar. Summer country

This is a myth, and stories are vague and inaccurate, no one knows if this realm even exists or how to enter it.

Wolfhome

Wolfhome is one of the strangers Near Realms. It’s not a pleasant place for most shapeshifters, but it’s not a microcosm of suffering and pain either. Instead, it’s a realm of humility and weakness that strips much of a shapeshifter’s powers and intellect and renders him a hunted animal. Some elders deliberately send a cub to Wolfhome to teach him a valuable lesson. Learning that lesson is the only way out; until the shapeshifter is able to understand, accept, and reconcile with his bestial nature, he may not leave the realm. Entry to the realm immediately forces all shapeshifters into their Lupus (or equivalent) forms. Garou become wolves, Corax become ravens, Ananasi become a whole swarm of spiders, and so forth. Their mentality becomes that of an animal as well, with their human thought processes suppressed. Even a Lupus-breed Garou, with her natural animal instincts, finds herself at a disadvantage when stripped of higher thought. The character’s personality and habits remain intact, though —a Get of Fenris still has her combat experiences and a Silent Strider is inclined to wander. . Not only can they not think like a human without effort, but they can’t even fully understand the ‘human’ inhabitants of Wolfhome — emanations unaware of their true nature. The things humans do are scary, bizarre, and incomprehensible to a shapeshifter in this state. Unlike the animal-spirits of Wolfhome, shapeshifters have some comprehension of the humans’ language but may have to make Intelligence rolls to understand concepts like “key to the cage door” or “laboratory.” Their own memories may become hazy and confusing as they recall basic events but lose details and context they can no longer grasp. As an optional rule, the Storyteller may remove access to the list of Abilities restricted from animal-breed characters on p. 76 of W20. The animal-spirits of the realm can communicate with each other and the shapeshifters. They act how most beings would expect them to act — foxes are cunning, rabbits are skittish, and so on. The domesticated animals of the realm, particularly the dogs, are loyal to the humans above all else and the other animals despise them for it. The wild animals of the realm — a group that now includes visiting shapeshifters — are always on the run from the human hunters. None of them can understand why they’re treated like this. All they know is that the humans chase them with flying metal whirly-monsters and hunt them with loud firesticks that deliver pain and death. Sometimes the humans capture them and put them in foul-smelling cages for ease of torturing them and making them sick. Some shapeshifters’ animal forms, like those of the Corax and Ananasi, are almost safe in the realm. Their primary concerns tend to be natural predators, cruel children, or an exterminator. A Nagah’s primary concern is staying out of the sight of the humans who will violently lash out in fear. Werewolves might, in bad light, be able to pass themselves off as huskies or German shepherds — despite how dangerous they are, the humans just aren’t that clever — and just wind up in a shelter if caught. Some shifters get it worse than others. Gurahl in bear form are prized targets for hunters in the forests and treated as dangerous threats in sight of civilization. Mokolémight be able to hide out in the sewers of the Town, but otherwise they stay in the Countryside. The realm forces Rokea into a bull shark form so they can survive in one of the freshwater lakes or rivers that circle around and feed each other without ever reaching an ocean.

The following are traits of wolfhome.

- In this realm, all shapeshifters are forced into their animal form. Garou take their Lupus form. Fera take on their equivalent form. Shapeshifters cannot change out of this form while in Wolfhome.

- Characters in this realm cannot understand human written language and have a difficult time deciphering spoken language.

- In order to use gifts in Wolfhome, a Garou must spend an additional point of Gnosis. Characters cannot use rites in Wolfhome.

- All spirits not bound to a fetish or other item cannot enter Wolfhome.

- Any Ability or merit that’s homid related is ineffective since you lack higher brain function.

- The only way to exit this realm is you must get in touch with your animal side and truly understand the bestial aspects of his nature — likely in a way you never have before. The moment at which the character has learned the object lesson and how are up to the Storyteller’s discretion, but once that moment is reached the character may leave.

- You can’t die in the realm, the realm doesn’t want you to, its purpose is to teach a lesson not kill you.