GCulture

(( work in progress ))
Garou Society
Garou Society is complex, partially because the Garou see themselves as the center of many connections. Aside from the normal bonds of family, romance and friend-ship, the Garou also have the bonds of pack, tribe and Sept. The Garou are both human and wolf, a synthesis of the two. The wolf-nature is strong, especially in society. Issues of dominance, station, territory and the pack are strongly influenced by this lupine heritage. 
The Pack
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. In these last days, every pack has a quest that it must eventually solve. This quest dominates the thoughts and actions of the 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. Sometimes, however, a pack will lose all its members except for one or two, and Garou can adopt new members into their pack with the Rite of the Pack, a modified version of the Rite of Passage.
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. 
Tradition once held that packs were to be made up only of other Garou in your Tribe, but that is no longer the case. There are so few Garou that most packs are multitribal. The most successful packs have most, if not all, of their 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.
There are many packs in a Sept. Sometimes, a pack will come to hold all the key positions in a Sept, and such Septs can be particularly strong.
The Sept
All around the world, hidden in secret places in the wilderness or hiding in the parks of cities, high atop massive skyscrapers or deep within crumbling buildings, there are places of power that the Garou recognize as sacred to Mother Gaia. These sacred places are called caerns, for they originally were piles of stones dedicated to the honored dead of the Garou. Now they are more than that. A caern serves as a gathering point for all the Garou in an area. If a moot is to be held, it will be held at a caern. If a caern is held by the Garou, most likely it will be held by a Sept. A Sept is a group of Garou who take and hold a caern against the Wyrm. Each Sept has traditional offices that are usually filled by the most capable Garou around- although in these days, it is difficult to find a competent Garou for every position. 
In addition to being a sacred place of Gaia, a caern is also a means of transportation. Garou can step into a Moon Bridge, a magical tunnel through the spirit world, and can travel long distances between caerns in the twinkling of an eye. It is possible for a Garou to travel all the way around the world without ever relying on terrestrial transportation.
Most of the powerful, ancient caerns were discovered long ago. However, there is a way to utilize spirit magic and open a brand new caern: through the Rite of Caern Building. This rite is exceedingly difficult to successfully accomplish, but the end result is another sacred strong-hold for Mother Gaia, and so it is often attempted these days- with an almost frantic frequency. Some old Ritualists worry that the Rite of Caern Building is being abused, and they seek to limit the number of new caerns that are opened.
The Sept is the main focus of all Garou society, for it is at the Sept that we see the Garou at their most social. Many Septs are ruled by a council of elders, which includes Sept members who hold positions of authority, as well as councilors from all the represented tribes in the area. Some Septs are ruled by a single tribe; some are governed by Garou from a diverse collection of tribes. Justice tends to be a local affair at a Sept: there is usually not enough time to send messengers to the nearest Silver Fang Sept to ask questions as to whether something is legal or not. The Master of the Challenge and the Sept Leader must make a decision about what is to be done about infractions against the Litany or about intersept conflicts.
The Garou are ruled as a Nation by many powerful tribal septs. Generally, the Silver Fangs hold the most power, although the Shadow Lords are continually at their heels. In effect, it is the Children of Gaia who are the most instrumental in maintaining Garou peace and keeping the Garou on an even course, going so far as to balance some of the crazy ideas that the Silver Fangs have. Many Ragabash and most of the Silent Striders serve as messengers between caerns and heralds for the great septs, and Philodox judges of respected rank follow complicated Moon Bridge "circuits" to bring Garou justice to even the farthest reaches of the world.
Septs define protectorates, areas that are under the direct protection and care of the Garou. They also define hunting territory and settle disputes between packs and individual Garou. They enforce punishment for judgments against violators of the Litany, especially those who threaten the Veil. They are the ultimate clearing-house for Renown, marking the rise and fall of Glory, Honor and Wisdom among the Garou of their Sept.
In short, without a Sept connection of some kind, a Garou has no way to gain Renown, is in danger of treading on another's territory and has no legal presence in the protectorate that the Sept claims.
Furthermore, important rites like the Rite of Accord, the Rite of the Pack, the Engling Rite and the Moot Rite are not generally available, as these virtually require the presence of many Garou and the presence of a caern at the site. In addition, many elder Garou are generally available at a Sept; it's a good place to seek a tutor for a Gift or rite that you're interested in learning.
It is traditional to announce one's presence in an area through howls or direct presence. If the Sept is threatened or otherwise in danger, the Warder may ask you to join the guardians of the Sept, if only temporarily. A Sept will often refine its particular rules of etiquette. When a Garou decides to join a Sept, she asks the Warder of the Sept to mention her name at the next Moot Rite. Usually the Galliards will use this opportunity to tell what stories they know about the Garou.
All in all, the Sept is a complicated place, full of action, intrigue, fellowship and danger. The Apocalypse focuses on the Sept as the stage on which many of your of your Mind's Eye Theater stories will be played.