Lupus

**Lupus** are a breed of Garou who was born as and raised as a wolf, which is their natural form.

## Overview

Many lupus are familiar with Gaia and bear a strong grudge towards humans for their tampering; this frequently extends to Homid Garou.

A lupus werewolf is the child of a wolf and a werewolf, or, more rarely, two Kinfolk wolves. It’s rare, though not unheard of, for multiple wolves in a litter to breed true. In modern times, though, every lupus werewolf is a blessing. The ratio of lupus to homid Garou is roughly one to eight.

Lupus, like homids, understand from childhood that they are different. Pre-Change lupus tend to be more intelligent than their packmates, though they don’t really come into their human intelligence and problem-solving skills until the Change. Once that happens, they develop the capacity for abstract thought and symbolic language, which can be either a tremendous relief or a terrifying bombardment of ideas and information. When a lupus werewolf Changes, she must go from the relatively simple concerns of being a wolf (food, water, shelter, mating) to the much more nuanced social considerations of being Garou — not to mention dealing with humanity.

Humans and wolves are both social animals, and the fact that humanity has subtle body language cues is not, in itself, too jarring. The specifics tend to be difficult, though. A wolf bares its teeth to show dominance or to initiate a challenge. Humans bare their teeth to put each other at ease or indicate pleasure. Wolves greet each other by sniffing, humans do it by making sounds and touching hands. When a human goes from one culture to another, he must learn the new culture’s customs or inevitably mark himself as an outsider. Lupus Garou are almost guaranteed to be outsiders when they enter human society. They were, after all, literally raised by wolves.

Language is a huge barrier for lupus. Wolves communicate, but even if they have what could be called “language,” it doesn’t work the way human language does. A human puts together a random assortment of sounds and assigns meaning to them, and the lupus werewolf has to learn that concept before approaching the concept of “name.” It’s no wonder, then, that lupus are cagey and nervous around homid Garou, and even more so around humans.

For all that awkwardness (and danger, when their fear is paired with a werewolf’s natural Rage), lupus bring an understanding of the natural world that homids can’t hope to understand. They don’t romanticize the wilds, they simply understand them. The wilderness doesn’t have an agenda, it simply is, and living with it means understanding its ebbs and flows. Homid Garou can learn this, but don’t have the instinct for it that lupus do

Lupus are also intensely aware that they are a dying breed. From their perspective, naturally, the humans are largely to blame, and the homids are accomplices. While a lupus may decide to join a pack with werewolves of other breeds, a few favor spending time with their own kind. Many such lupus either belong to the Red Talon tribe — known for its genocidal policies toward humans — or they at least agree with its philosophy. Even a lupus who trusts the homids in her pack may be overpowered by the call of the wild. She may trust her packmates with her very life but still feel a longing for the company of wolves.

## The Cycle

Experience begins within the womb, and all beings obtain wisdom through age, but it is the fuzzy time of youth, hardly remembered, that defines the perspective of life.

### Birth

The first memories of any wolf are scents: the scent of a mother and litter mates, the scent of warm milk, and the scent of the earth that shelters the den. A keen sense of smell is everything to a wolf, young and old. Her identity is tied to how another perceives her through a few brief sniffs. Wolves take on their scents as birthnames, but birthname is a loose term. Unlike human names, wolf names are in constant flux. An adult wolf does not smell the same as a pup. Some aspects of an individual’s scent remain the same, and for the rest of her life, her family can recognize a wolf by only her scent. Yet, throughout life, enough changes that a wolf’s name reflects everything she has been and everything she currently is. A wolf’s scent reveals a great deal about her character, her nature, and even her health and diet. It is a reminder that everything she consumes and returns to the earth is a part of who she is.

A lupus remembers little from when she lived within the den. Like human children forgetting their first years, memories fade as the cub leaves the dark and starts her sprint towards yearling. But once she steps out into the sun, a lupus will find her memories staying with her for longer periods of time. The powerful scents of the forests and the other wolves of the pack, the strange new creatures, and the bright light of the sun all overwhelm and bring immense joy to the young wolf. Pups spend their young days romping around near the den, tumbling about one another in chaotic fits of play and wrestling.

### Sensing

Hearing and sight are more important once the pup leaves the den. Homids marvel at how much they can hear and smell the first time they take their Lupus forms, but these supposedly heightened senses are normal for any lupus. The greatest difference in what a wolf hears is not how far they can hear, though that is certainly an advantage, but rather the pitches they can hear. Imagine listening to a harmonizing choir, but only being able to hear half of the parts. That is what it is like for a lupus to take Homid form. A lupus’ perception of sound is based entirely on her wolf’s sense of hearing. All the sounds of existence have an important part to play. The croak of a raven in the distance can alert a wolf to nearby prey while subtle step of a cougar’s paw on stone can mean danger for any member of the pack.

But where a wolf’s hearing and sense of smell are sharper, sight is simply different. A wolf’s vision is both better and worse depending on the given situation. A wolf is partially colorblind. Wolves do not see just in grey scale, but rather a wolf cannot distinguish between reds, oranges, and greens. They all appear as a hazy shade of yellow. Wolves can see different shades of blue, though they still see far fewer differences than a human, and shades are not nearly so vivid through lupine eyes.

But grey, on the other paw, wolven eyes reign supreme at seeing different shades of grey. As the sun sets and wolves are left with only moonlight to find their way, greys become dominant. Homids may balk at seeing as a wolf during the day, but a lupus’ night vision is far superior. A wolf has a broader field of vision, and day or night, it is easier for a wolf to detect movement than it is for a human. Where a human might flounder blind through a forest in the darkness, a wolf can easily pick her way through using scent and sight to guide her home. Prey stands no better chance against lupine senses at night than it does during the day.

### Childhood

Pups grow accustomed to their senses of smell, sight, and hearing as they explore the area around their dens. They practice scent marking and the movements that are integral aspects of the lupine language. They make their first attempts at howling, copying the adults, and learning to harmonize with one another in a chorus.

If any key difference exists between the lives of young humans and the lives of young wolves, it is this: wolves learn everything through imitation and play. Being a young wolf is a thoroughly enjoyable experience; the only exceptions are threats from outside the pack. All pack members are tolerant of the young, and the young exist outside the social structure of the pack. Litters commonly form their own hierarchy, the larger, stronger, and smarter taking over in various games and when eating. It is all in practice for their coming future as packmates.

For all the enjoyment that comes with being born a wolf, a harsher side to life follows the pups as well. The mortality rate among wolf pups is quite high, especially when compared to the mortality rate of human young. Depending on conditions, half of a litter or more could be lost before they reach their first year. While lupus are less likely to die, being generally healthier of body and mind, it still makes death as close to her as any brother or sister. By the time a lupus is going through her First Change, she already has an intricate understanding of death that eludes most humans for their entire lives. Where most humans run from death, wolves accept it as an inevitability, to be avoided if able, but to accept if needs be. Without obvious and violent death, a wolf would die of starvation. A human may not have to kill to feed himself, but a wild-born wolf never has any such option.

### Lupus Pups

Lupus are, of course, different from their littermates at birth, but not different enough that it is easy to sniff them out. As with their brothers and sisters, lupus learn about their environment through play; however, they possess greater reasoning capabilities than their siblings. A lupus is usually the alpha of the litter, but even that is not universally true, and the adult pack members show little to no favoritism towards their young born with the chance to Change. Packs give no indication that they can tell a lupus from a normal pup. If they can, it is a secret they guard from even their Garou kin.

It is also important to note that wolves are pragmatic when it comes to the survival of their litter and their pack. Adults commonly kill and consume wolf pups who show signs of mental or physical trauma. It seems harsh, but eating a sick pup increases the chance of the pack and litter to survive. In turn, the pup — who would die anyway — aids the pack’s survival through a quick and merciful death. Have wolves killed their own lupus offspring? Likely, yes. Any pup displaying outward signs of trauma through nightmares or visions is a potential threat to the pack. A werewolf might be lost, but, in turn, the pack of Kinfolk survives to have another litter another year. Whether the loss of the Garou was worth the survival of the Kinfolk is something that wolves, and even lupus Garou, don’t even stop to consider.

### Rendezvous

As wolf pups grow old enough to travel, the pack abandons the den and goes on the move to broaden its search for food. The pups follow in line, traveling miles in one day to a rendezvous point. There, they are left on their own while the pack goes to hunt game that had avoided the denning area. The rendezvous points are chances for the pups to learn more about their surroundings and the territory of the pack. Young wolves quickly learn which scents mark boundaries and start mapping their home by sight and smell while they continue to grow into their gangly bodies.

Adults bring back food still, which they regurgitate for the anxious pups. It sounds disgusting to homids, but it is the only way to feed pups once they have weaned. A wolf eats enough that, when they return to the young, they can sacrifice some of what they’ve ingested for the survival of the pups. Not only is this an efficient method of carrying food, but it also makes the meat easier to eat and digest for the pups. It is not disgusting; it is simply necessary. Full adults ensure that the young will be full as well, and then play resumes as the pups, who have spent their time resting, feel at liberty to explore under the protective gaze of their pack.

Wolves move from rendezvous point to rendezvous point throughout the rest of their first three seasons until mating time returns. These points are rarely new to the pack; they’re typically the same points from litters past and are some fair ways apart. The distance not only allows pups to become accustomed to the traveling they will need to do as adults, it also allows the adults the greatest access to prey throughout their territory. As much as humans may wish to believe in the idiocy of nature, prey animals learn where wolves den and even where territory boundaries exist. They use that information to their advantage. Once a pack is no longer tied to one spot, it becomes much easier to hunt, and movement becomes commonplace.

Before long, the young join the hunts. Through the hunts, they connect with the rest of their pack, with their brothers and their sisters, learning various strategies for taking down their prey. From ambushes to simply running animals to exhaustion, the pups must learn how to use their home terrain to their advantage if they’re going to succeed in the future, either as a member of the pack or on their own when they disperse.

### Yearling

The weight of the first year settles about the almost fully grown yearling, and strange yearnings develop within. The urge to smell the world, to find a niche among the cycles of the wilderness, and yet to stay with the family and help to raise the coming generation all swell within, fighting for dominance.

Yearling is commonly the harshest time for future Garou. A wolf who reaches her first year starts to fully develop into her own independent personality while retaining the need for companionship and the dependence inherent in the nature of the pack. Wolves tread a fine line between the self and the whole, and yearling is when a young wolf starts to define her own sense of balance between the two truths.

When a wolf nears her first year, a difficult choice lies before her. Some yearlings leave, seeking a future mate or another pack with which to run; others stay with their parents to help raise the next generation, should there be one. Throughout the winter and into the early part of spring, the ean times take their toll on all packs. Wolves eat less while a mother is denning. They cannot travel too far from the den, and they need to sacrifice some of the food ingested to the mother wolf. Yearlings find their places cementing within the hierarchy of the pack, and they find themselves taking on more roles as adults and functional members.

A lupus Garou is more likely to leave the pack at this point. The spirit within that connects her to the human world and intellect knows that more exists out among the forests and mountains, that she is different from the others even though common perception says otherwise. She leaves, seeking more like herself. The wolves, accepting of those who wish to leave, offer departing yearlings no hatred or malice.

But not all leave. Where most go, many stay with their packs for one more year, helping to raise the next litter. These lupus know best what it is to be a wolf within a pack. They learn how to operate as a unit, how to take direction, and how to act as one for a common purpose. Lupus who disperse and do not find and join another pack in their search, never truly experience being part of the whole. Pups exist outside the greater unit, as separate entities playing pack much as a human child might play hunter or vampire.

### The Pack

A lupus who stays with his birth-pack very rarely becomes the alpha. He might grow larger, stronger, smarter, or faster, but he is still young. How commonly does an adult human look to a ten or twelve-year-old or even a fifteen-year-old for advice and leadership? It does not matter if that child is stronger or even smarter. The child has not fully developed, and the same holds true for a yearling lupus. Any lupus who stays with the pack does so with the acceptance of the pack. Wolves kill trespassers, sometimes ruthlessly, and they would have no qualms doing so to one of their young if they wanted him out.

For those who do stay with the pack, life as an individual fades into a whole. The breeding female picks out a new den, and it is up to the rest of the pack, including the yearlings, to keep her healthy and fed so that she might whelp and that the new pups will survive. From the tenth month of a pack wolf’s life, the wolf learns the intricacies of hunting from his fellow packmates. After the pregnant female has chosen a den and settled in, the pack is anchored to one spot, and hunting becomes more difficult as herds move to stay out of range of the den.

Life drifts into constant travel within a day’s distance of the den; a wolf is always hungry and always looking for more food for himself and the mother back home. Being part of a pack allows a lupus to transcend himself on a continual basis, to commonly sacrifice time and effort not just for his own reward, but for the benefit of the future generations to follow. Normal wolves think about the current generation, but as a lupus continues to advance into spiritual awareness, he starts to sometimes think about the future and ponder on the past. If a young wolf ever speaks of the future beyond the direct influence of the present, a good chance exists he is a lupus just waiting to Change.

With the onset of calving season, food suddenly becomes more abundant, especially if prey is healthy and populous. The birthing season brings forth many young, and the packs of wolves, hungry from the lean times, are ready to test the young and their mothers. For all the young born to prey, many fall to the teeth of wolves. The young are slow and weak, and their mothers cannot always protect them. So, the body and blood of young prey animals become the body and blood of the wolf pups.

As bellies fill and tensions ease, as the surviving pups grow healthy and strong, the wolves of the pack relax, and play becomes an aspect of life again. Tag, wrestling, and keep-away are all part of pack life. The yearling lupus finds himself amidst the joy of simply living once more. The challenging times have passed, soon the pups will be old enough to rendezvous, and the pack will be free to make full use of its territory. Life becomes a balance of feeding the pups and the mother and romping with the young and the old. Storms come and go. The sun rises and sets. The world simply is. They do not try to understand it. It just exists.

And then summer starts to fade into fall. Prey grows fat for the coming winter and mating season. They fight for mates, sometimes injuring themselves and succumbing to the maws of predators. The pups learn to hunt, and howling choruses resonate through autumn nights. Every wolf’s howl is different, and wolves recognize one another and harmonize with each other, taking their place within the chorus. It is much like a human singing, and wolves commonly do it for no other reason than to express joy of living.

### The Dispersed

The other path a yearling might follow is that of the dispersed. A lupus, already feeling different and separate from the rest of her pack decides to turn and leave as soon as they have finished teaching her the necessities. As mentioned, wolves feel no hatred, anger, or malice towards the young wolf for leaving her pack. Wolves are allowed their own choices in this matter without judgment from her family.

Future lupus are not the only wolves who leave their pack at such an early age. While many wolves stay with their packs for another year or even longer, several strike out on their own, adventuring into a world that they are just coming to fully comprehend. Lone wolves commonly subsist off smaller prey, including pretty much anything they can catch without risking too much harm to themselves. Sometimes a lone wolf will meet with another dispersed wolf, and they will travel together, searching for territory, or simply enjoying each other’s company. Young males are occasionally even adopted into other packs. If prey is plenty and the pack is healthy, they might even be allowed to mate with another wolf of the pack, and the pack will rear two litters of pups.

The possibilities are almost endless for the adventurous who strike out on their own. If many packs exist in their area and prey is not so bountiful, dispersed wolves commonly leave, traveling hundreds of miles either on their own or with others, sometimes even with a future mate, seeking territory to mark their own. Wolves expand their range this way, and it’s very effective. Already a wolf has traveled as far as Arizona, one that was verified to not be Garou or Kinfolk. It is impossible to truly tell how far wolves have managed to spread. Of course, the Garou send out seekers, looking for packs so we might help keep them safe, but the Garou have many other duties, and their numbers are so few these days.

They listen and they hope that the packs will continue to breed, grow, and disperse successfully, despite human attempts to cull them.

A lupus who disperses commonly finds herself avoiding other wolves. If she meets one, she might stay with him for a few days, but then she’ll move on. Strong bonds form only in the rare instances where two dispersed yearling lupus meet. Such a meeting is like finding a twin or soulmate the lupus never knew she had. The wolves will cling to their similarities and the comfort and companionship they provide. Breaking such a bond is nigh impossible, and these bonds might just be the forerunners of Garou packs.

But, for the common lupus who finds herself alone, she goes her own way, meeting nature on nature’s terms but along a path of her choosing. The dispersed lupus commonly travels to the edges of wolven territory, braving trails that other wolves are hesitant to tread. Throughout the next year of the yearling’s life, different qualities of nature start to become more apparent. The relationship between predator and prey doesn’t just exist; the lupus discovers meaning and depth in the cycle. The old and young dying to feed the predators becomes more than an unpleasant fact. The necessity of death so that both wolf and prey stay strong starts to have deeper meaning.

Without the connections of a pack to distract the lupus from her mental and emotional development, she finds it easier to immerse herself in the natural world. The lupus might start to hear the spirits moving about her before she experiences her First Change, even if she is not a Theurge. The world is always speaking, and spirits are everywhere. The lupus always have their noses and ears open, and, unlike homids, lupus always trust their senses.

So, when a lupus hears or even sees a spirit, she instantly accepts what she hears and sees as true. When she catches the scent of winter on a clear summer day, she knows that the essence of winter must lurk nearby, even if it does not make sense. Whether she investigates or leaves the strange experience is all dependent on the wolf, but accepting what she smells as fact is universally lupus.

### The Law

The cycle gives birth to everything through the death of another, be it animal or plant. Prey, whether it understands or not, sacrifices its life to give hope and life to the predator. Plants sacrifice themselves in part or in whole so that prey might grow strong. The predator dies so that the plants have richer soil from which to grow.

Humans know this cycle, certainly. But, to be a lupus is to live within the cycle. Humans have stepped outside of the chain. They still affect it, but in strange ways that were never intended. Humans protect their dead in strange boxes. They bury them in parks where they suppress the growth of plants through trimming and cutting. They grow more food than they could ever hope to eat and yet leave many of their own kind to starve despite their bounty.

Wolves do kill in surplus, but they kill to prepare for lean times. Wolves cache food, leave carcasses, and after a great kill, whatever is not eaten, wolves leave for the rest of nature to claim. Ravens feed from the kills of wolf packs, as do the plants, and other predators. Wolf kills feed and shelter insects, which in turn feed surrounding wildlife that will not feed directly from the meat left behind.

Experiencing the life of a wolf gives the lupus a unique perspective from within the natural laws that govern the wild. The Wyld, Weaver, and Destroyer exist; it is a simple fact. Wolves are never sheltered from uncomfortable truths. Attempts to protect human children from these facts baffle any lupus. Why try to pretend that something does not exist? While wolves, even Kin wolves, may not understand the actual entities that form the spirit world, they see and accept the effects that they have upon existence.

When a healthy bull moose turns and runs from a wolf pack, something else is at work. The wolves do not stop to ask what it is, but a lupus might be left to wonder as the pack chases down the huge animal. Why would it ever run? Wolves are excellent at analyzing whether to try to kill prey or to leave it be. Would the risk to health and life be worth the food the animal would give? A bull moose makes for a great feast, but they are also very dangerous. When one turns to fight, wolf packs almost universally seek easier prey. But when one runs, the pack will take up the chase, dragging the magnificent animal down.

So why, why would the moose ever run? They sometimes do, and not just injured ones. As the lupus starts to analyze the aspects of nature that do not make logical sense, she starts to come to an understanding that settles deep within and fuels the breath of the spirit she carries. Something greater is at work in the world. A finer level of nature ties everything into a single mechanism that works. If the bull moose did not occasionally run, then wolves who live where moose are common prey would starve. If every large prey animal stood its ground and fought, then the population of wolves would collapse. Instead, Gaia granted prey fear, but not too much, so prey will sometimes run from the wolf. Gaia granted prey swift legs or burrows, camouflage, or ingenuity so that it might survive even if its instinct is to flee and thus feed the predator.

### The Change

The predator nature of the lupus shapes her First Change.

Humans commonly experience their First Change through fear and terror. A threat comes after them, a predator of some form, and they react in fear. Fear closes around the homid’s throat and around his mind. He loses himself entirely in the moment, doing whatever he needs to tear down that which terrifies him.

Humans are omnivores. They are — were — equal parts predator and prey. They spent an untold amount of time being culled by werewolves. Human nature is haunted by the Delirium, a reminder deep down within their basest instincts that they are not the highest being on the food chain, nor will they ever be.

And humans sometimes react like prey. They commonly scatter and run in panic when presented with a threat. They trample each other in great herds, seeking any method for escape. And then, after that threat is gone, their minds try to make them okay again. Even if they remember the events, they commonly forget the edge of fear that gripped their minds. Such is how it must be with prey. If every deer lived its entire life scared that something would eat it, they would never reproduce and there would be no more deer to eat.

The adult wolf knows no predator. As a pup, his pack defended him from predators, and as an adult, he has nothing to fear from the natural world. Blizzards and floods might harm or kill a wolf, but the wolf accepts disasters as they come; if he survives, he does not fear any repeat of the disaster. Instead, the wolf continues with life, seeking his next dinner, or chasing a playmate.

Lupus do not usually experience a First Change through fear or because of a threat, though it does happen. A hunter approaches or shoots a lupus, and in her desire to live, she leaps upon the hunter, taking a different form to tear him apart. A bear threatens the current litter, throwing a lupus into her Crinos form to protect the next generation.

But, typically, the lupus does not lose herself to the form. Blind terror is not natural to wolves. Lupus, instead, commonly experience their First Change when they simply need to do something that they cannot accomplish in their wolf skins. The bull moose that is standing its ground needs to die or the pack will starve. The pack turns to leave, but a lupus shifts into Crinos and tears the life from the moose for the survival of the pack. Any great need or desire can facilitate the First Change. The need to run faster, the need to survive a raging blizzard, the desire to move rocks that have fallen on a den in a landslide: they can all cause the lupus to take her Crinos form for the first time.

Even rarer still are the First Changes that are not caused by a need or desire, but simply brought on by a lupus being at one with nature and realizing his full potential. We may be the Warriors of Gaia, but we are also spiritual, and the lupus are the tightest connection to that spirit. Those with the greatest spiritual potential sometimes change simply because nature tells them they can and that it is time. Perhaps this is how it used to be with all breeds of werewolves, back before humans severed their close ties with Gaia.

### Realization

It is in the aftermath of the First Change when a lupus must try to understand just what has happened to her. She knows what happened was not something wrong. It happened, and nothing forced it upon her. She was simply able to change. The world is very different for a Crinos Garou than it is in Lupus form. Colors that the wolf could never before perceive suddenly spring to life, and, after whatever facilitated the First Change has passed, the lupus is usually left stunned in a world of color that she could not have imagined.

Wolves are not visual creatures. The sudden impact of seeing differently is very difficult to take in. The gift of visual acuity in return for the loss of some olfactory capabilities causes a great deal of confusion and sometimes fear. Wolves rely heavily on their sense of smell, and to suddenly lose even a portion of it leaves the lupus feeling, in human terms, partially blind. Where wolves might not feel fear, the newly shifted lupus is exposed to many emotions that are not necessary for the wolf, and yet they are necessary for Gaia’s warriors. Human emotions, thankfully, do not just crash in on the lupus mind; most wolf-born would go insane otherwise. Instead, emotions start to leak in through the folds of the lupus’ subconscious.

Newly changed lupus are rarely alone for long. Garou or Gaian spirits linger nearby to come to the aid of any wolf-born Garou. Gaia’s forces closely guard the wolf packs, watching for any potential lupus. Those who disperse usually have a spirit following them. Even with the coming Apocalypse and Garou numbers dwindling, the small population of wolves encourages the Garou to keep a tight vigil on their wolf Kinfolk. Mothers whelp around the same time every year so it is easier for local Garou and spirits to keep their watch for lupus cubs.

Lupus are normally both calm and confused when found. In their minds, they do not turn into monsters. Monsters do not exist. Wolf packs who witness a lupus’ First Change will run, but the cub knows for certain that she is not really a wolf. She knows that she does not belong with them; the loss is not so harsh on a lupus. Garou take the lupus to the nearest sept to introduce her to the culture and ways of the Garou Nation. Lupus may be easier to lead to the Garou than homids, but transcending from a wolf pack to a Garou pack is anything but simple.

### Captivity

Captivity does strange things to any animal; the wolf is no exception. Captive wolves speak and act differently. They use more verbal language than their wild Kin, and the structure of their packs tends to be rigid rather than fluid. An alpha is very insistent on being alpha, even if another would do a better job. The pack might be mostly family, but the breeding pair face no potential challengers. They do not fear a new wolf, male or female, wandering into the pack, but also, no wolves disperse unless the human captors separate the wolves themselves. Perhaps the fences harden the hierarchy. Humans force the packs to remain static, and the alpha needs to hold his dominance to keep control.

With little room to run and no need to hunt, it is easy to think that captive wolves are incapable and that any lupus born from their ranks will be equally so. Those who think that are wrong. While some wolves might be instinctually stunted, captive wolves retain much of their capabilities to hunt and kill. What they have lost is their understanding of the wild. Captive wolves might slaughter prey wantonly once released, killing far more than any wild-born pack would. Never before have they needed to restrain themselves. Never before have they had to analyze their options regarding prey. The captive only need to act upon impulses.

But still, the captives do not lose their connection to the spiritual. Lupus born in captivity understand the Weaver, the pulse of the city, the methods of humans, and the strange things humans use better than any wild-born. Radio collars, found on many wolves, attract servants of the Weaver. The servants, in turn keep an eye on the lupines. As the lupus starts to open to his spiritual senses, he sees them, comes to know them, and even starts to accept them.

Many once-captive lupus end up with either the Glass Walkers or the Bone Gnawers. The two tribes offer them what they understand: a life among the humans, with familiar scents, sights, and sounds. Red Talons seeking to liberate their captive Kin are often baffled and angry to find wolves that, in their eyes, do not act much like wolves. The taint of the Weaver lingers about them.

Still, captive wolves exposed to the wild can flourish, even if they’ve lived their entire lives within a fence. They will learn to hunt, they will find dens, and nature will welcome them back into the cycle. It will take time, but the pack will slowly lose its rigidity, falling back into the fluid flow of the Wyld.

## Becoming Garou

Septs celebrate every lupus, but after the commotion settles, a mentor must take the task of training the wolfborn in Garou culture and lore. Every lupus, if possible, needs a lupus mentor, one that understands what it’s like to be in her position and can meet her on her own comfortable terms. Lupus cubs dislike leaving their wolven forms. They like being able to smell the familiar layers of the forest. Wolf-born are comfortable not seeing every color of the rainbow.

### Life Slows Down

Stranger than two legs, stranger than being able to see a full spectrum, a cub’s relationship to time itself changes. Wolves in the wild usually only live up to eight years. The lucky live to see another four or so years before Gaia demands their return to the earth. Wolves age quickly enough that every season is significant. The urges that run through them dominate their actions and reactions lest time slip away and the wolf finds that it’s too late.

Garou, however, age like humans. The urgency of being a wolf lives in the Garou because many die young and seek to make the most of their lives. Still their perception of time is exclusively human. Garou speak of decades and centuries where wolves need no concept of such lengths of time. Garou speak of passing down culture and tradition to the next generation, of making lasting impressions, of times past that still affect today. Wolves only pass on information to the next generation that they will specifically need to survive. The idea of tradition spanning centuries is foreign to the lupine mind. Wolves act how they do because it is efficient, not for the sake of any past tradition. As habits become inefficient, wolves change and adapt to new and better ways that they then pass through generations until those methods lose efficiency.

Adjusting to a lengthening lifespan takes time. Until they adapt, lupus are more likely to desire immediate action. They are less likely to understand restraint and patience beyond waiting in ambush for the right time to strike the enemy. The desire to have pups before too many seasons slip away is also difficult to quell, and young lupus have a tendency to disappear into the packs of their Kin to seek a mate. The habit is both a blessing and a curse for the Garou. While the Garou Nation needs as many wolf-born Kin as it can get, the young lupus have barely had time to learn about who and what they are. Lupus must strike out alone to have a chance of mating successfully, and if the enemy discovers the lupus the nearby Garou might not have time to save him before he and his Kin pack fall.

Convincing a lupus to sit still long enough to learn of the dangers that exist is difficult at best, especially with the wildborn. To have a chance with the lupus cub, a mentor must first cross the most difficult barrier between lupus and sept.

### Language

Lupus begin training by learning the Garou tongue, just as homids learn the Garou tongue before they become an expert in the speech of wolves. Garou is a comfortable bridge between the two very different languages. Where humans are very vocal with many non-verbal cues, wolves rely almost entirely on non-verbal communication, including olfactory information and movement. Vocalizations, ear twitches, and body shifts of the Crinos form are much closer to lupus than they are to human, yet the arm and shoulder movements are distinctly human. As a lupus learns how to communicate in Crinos form, she starts to understand the basics of human communication.

Where Garou is not too difficult for a lupus, human languages are nigh impossible. Even languages that are supposed to be simple to learn are very strange for a wolf. Humans feel the need to categorize everything, which is silly to the wolf. Some words simply do not make sense, including many scientific names and terms but also abstract concepts loaded with cultural baggage. What is the difference between a psychopath and a patriot? Why is one form of killing all right and the other condemned? For all its difficulty, language opens the door to understanding the world from the human perspective. While most lupus will attempt to learn some of the common language of their respective territory, few attain mastery. Synonyms, connotations, and idioms are all difficult concepts, especially for young lupus who are very literal.

Worst of all, to master the human language, a lupus must spend a lot of time in Homid form, and few lupus are comfortable in their human skins, even those born in captivity. Thankfully, many non-verbal cues are instinctual. Lupus in homid form will smile when happy without thinking about it. Smiles are a natural reaction for humans in various situations. Instincts help keep lupus in their Homid forms from standing out too much in human society, but, without a great deal of practice, they still seem strange and out-of-place to anyone who bothers to pay much attention.

Wolves have their own language, of course. Not only do wolves use movements, but scent markings are also part of their communication. Homid Garou who don their wolf skins usually “shout” words when learning how to “speak” lupus. Movements are meant to be subtle, and humans are used to grandiose gestures from their own set of non-verbal cues. I also have yet to meet a homid who understands the olfactory aspect of the lupus language. When lupus try to teach homids about the different meanings of feces, many laugh. When wolf-born try to get homids to smell the feces so they can further learn, more comedy ensues. Still, it represents a barrier between man and wolf that is rarely breached entirely.

### Induction

After crossing the language barrier, even tentatively, cubs start learning about the culture of the Garou. The concept of culture is difficult for lupus to understand. Wolves have their own loose and basic culture, in a sense. Different breeds of wolves who live in different areas act in diverse ways and learn different things, but their differences are based on the adaptations they learn that are necessary to survival. Everything a wolf does makes sense for where it lives. Some wolves learn to fish, and some wolves know how to use snow as a trap where others have no need to know how to do either.

While culture is strange, a lupus can understand the necessity not to insult others and will strive to learn what he can of Garou society. It will not all make sense, and he will make mistakes, but he will not live scared of what he has become. Unlike homids, lupus do not need to rationalize everything happening to and around them before they start training. Instead, they adapt and accept the necessity to live as their own kind, lest they insult someone or tread on forbidden territory and invoke their own demise.

Wolves who stayed with their packs make the best students. They were not only learning from their parents and siblings, they were teaching the new young of the pack, helping to secure the safety of the whole, and aiding in the survival of the pups. The lupus who stayed with the pack already has had to submit to authority, follow instructions, and she knows how to sit and listen when she’s told to do so. She may not understand everything she is told or taught, but she will make the necessary adjustments to live with her new pack just as she did with her old pack.

Lupus who dispersed are more difficult, especially if they dispersed as soon as they were able. Their entire time with a pack was spent outside the true hierarchy. As soon as the lupus would have been subjected to true authority, he struck out on his own, either because of a deeper calling, or maybe even to avoid that authority. He is more likely to challenge anything that does not make sense. The dispersed lupus has a harder time understanding the concept of tradition, and usually only complies with such nonsense to keep his place within the pack and his life secure.

### Adaptations

Every lupus — and every homid for that matter — needs to adapt to survive among the Garou. Lupus and homids, however, must adapt in very different ways. Lupus find the human aspects of Garou culture difficult to understand, feeling that many of them are useless, unnecessary, and restricting. Meanwhile, wolf-born easily accept spirits, the hunt, and the necessity of breeding. Survival of the pack is paramount, and lupus come ready to sacrifice themselves for the survival if needs be.

Lupus find emotion, restraint, tradition, names, and the structure of Garou packs are all strange. It takes time for a lupus’ mind to even desire to learn things that otherwise make no sense to him. Usually, if wolves do not understand something, they avoid it. The nonsensical has no place in a pack. To keep a lupus from ignoring what he is taught, a mentor must make everything he teaches relatable. Few lupus will accept something simply because they are told it is so. A lupus must be shown that it is so, and why it is necessary that it is so. Without that guiding principal, lupus commonly forget what they are taught. If something has no purpose, then why remember it?

Species clashes cause great frustration between homid mentors and lupus cubs. Tribes with fewer lupus have a harder time keeping cubs with them as the lupus will leave to find other tribes and mentors who are easier to understand. Homid-heavy tribes like the Glass Walkers even have a challenging time luring lupus from their own Kin into their fold. Even though they have a surprisingly considerable number of Kinfolk sheltered on large tracts of land, the lupus born from the Kin still have a habit of going to other tribes.

### Gnosis

The wolf-born possess a deeper understanding of the natural and spiritual world about them. Almost all homids have been forced out of Gaia’s spiritual cycle. Many have been raised to believe only what science tells them is so, and science says that spirits cannot exist. Others still seek to control nature around them rather than becoming part of its natural flow. Some tribes debate whether the Impergium or the Weaver forced humans away from that cycle, but the result still stands. Humans, for the most part, have lost their connection with nature, and most do not even want it back.

Wolves are different, of course, and they reflect that through their connection to the spiritual world. Their connection to nature, the way of life, and the spiritual essence in all things is what fuels their very existence. Without the motion of the natural spiritual cycle, everything would collapse into a meaningless disaster where prey would live in fear every moment of their lives, would likely not breed, and would die, taking the predator with it. Plants would quickly lose their medicinal qualities, and eventually they would wither and die for want of the desire to live and provide.

Spirits are the only reason the natural world exists and works as it does. They are the breaths of life that Gaia gave to all things; spirits are the reason the desire and will to survive the harsh environment of the wild even exist.

Wolves naturally know it to be true. They accept the spirit within and without. They operate within the confines of the natural order all their lives, and that connects them to the spirit world and the ways of the spirit. With very rare exceptions, lupus are always closer to nature than homids, especially the young. Mentors do not need to teach lupus that spirits exist. Mentors do not even need to teach them how to act around spirits and how to show respect. It comes naturally.

Where normal wolves, and even lupus Kinfolk might not think of the spirit of deer as they fill their stomachs on the prey’s flesh, the future lupus thanks the deer without thinking about it. In the joy she expresses when howling, when tearing out the throat of the prey, by the very act of living, she always understands that the reason she can exist is through the sacrifice of the prey. To thank the spirits is simply an expression of that understanding.

Spirits are more likely to accept lupus than they are to accept homids. Some even visit a lupus before she goes through her First Change. The rarity of the lupus combined with the natural understanding of spirits and the spiritual way all lead to lupus being common envoys between the spirit world and the physical. Homid Theurges may be able to learn to be great, but for the lupus Theurge, greatness comes naturally.

### Gifts

As spiritual energy comes naturally to lupus, so do Gifts. Gifts are but a way of controlling the spiritual flow that continuously exists about the Garou. To teach a wolfborn a Gift, a spirit simply needs to teach her to mold that flow into desired effects. Where most homids must learn to trust the power behind Gifts, lupus accept that power’s existence and race straight into learning how to use it.

Wolf-born also bear natural respect for spirits, where many homids instinctively desire control. Lupus have no qualms about the need to learn new things. The fact that no wolf or werewolf knows everything is simple fact, and lupus spend their entire lives learning, adjusting, and adapting. Wild-born lupus do not carry the desire to force their own paths against the tides of nature, and nature spirits are prone to favoring lupus Garou over homids.

Spirits of the city are erratic and strange to the wild lupus mind, much like humans and homids. They speak in weird ways, ask for bizarre tasks, and live where most lupus do not wish to tread. Learning Gifts from any city spirit is much more difficult for a lupus than it is for a homid, even with the tighter tie the lupus bears to the spirit world.

### Kinfolk

Tight relationships with family are key to being a wolf, at least in the one to four years that the young remain with the pack. Parents and siblings dedicate much of their existence to rearing the next generation. Lupus, with their other duties, have a tougher time keeping the close familial bond, but in turn they watch their Kin from a distance. All tribes have something watching their lupus Kin, whether it be a spirit, a pack, or a sept.

The greatest problem is that lupus Kinfolk are so few. Not every wolf is Kinfolk, of course, and humans have culled the wolf population to a fraction of its prior numbers. Wolves are making a rebound, but Kin still face numerous threats. Minions of the Wyrm hunt them down, killing and kidnapping them. Garou risk their lives to rescue trapped kin, and are often successful, but they cannot replace those killed except with more litters.

Normal wolves have a difficult time with Garou. Like many animals, they sense the primal anger that fuels the werewolves and tend to avoid them. Whelping new Kinfolk with normal wolves is a daunting task at best. Wolves do not force themselves upon one another, and a female or male is not always receptive for mating. Typically, only lupus born when the moon was completely or mostly dark can mate with normal wild wolves, and many do. It is a sacred task to father or mother more Kinfolk; it’s almost as important as trying to breed more Garou.

Lupus Kinfolk are also more likely to have the spiritual blessing of Gnosis than human Kin. Teaching them Gifts can be difficult as they only have a slightly better understanding of nature than normal wolves, but it is possible. Spirits and lupus focus on teaching them Gifts that will help them hide and escape rather than fight. When faced with danger, wolves are more likely to run than they are to attack. Working with their natural impulses facilitates a better understanding of the Gifts granted to them. Spirits who watch over the packs are on a continuous lookout for any wolves who might bear Gnosis. The more wolves with the capability to save their pack, the better chance the pack will survive.

### Purpose

Perhaps the easiest adaptation for the lupus, however, is learning their higher purpose. Wolves live to survive, they live to experience the world, to find mates, to hunt prey, and to just enjoy life. They don’t need a higher purpose to feel complete. They just need to exist. A lupus, even before he changes, knows a higher order exists. With his First Change, he experiences the blessing of that higher order. When the Garou find and bring him to the nearest sept, he learns the reason that he was born upon Gaia’s surface. Only then, can a lupus feel complete; he has found his place in the world.

To protect the dying Wyld, to cut away the infection eating away at Gaia’s flesh, and to try to stave off the tide of humans swarming the world, these are true callings to the lupus’ soul. It is easy for a lupus to leave his previous life behind to answer the call of Gaia and Luna, especially since it is his duty to return to that life, to run with wolves again, and to have children.

The dispersed only leave the freedom of traveling, and even then, they often join packs that must go from place to place. The chance to do something with lasting meaning, something beyond having children, is usually a welcome change. When most wolves the lupus meets are uneasy around her and she has a tough time finding a place to stay, the sudden acceptance is enough to lure most lupus into the life of a Garou.

For the captive-born lupus, this sense of purpose is a stranger concept. Being detached from nature and living in a pen creates a sense of ennui, though wolves don’t truly understand the concept. The first fight to gain the lupus’ acceptance is to convince him that anything he does actually matters. Wild-born wolves see their effect on nature and the world daily. Captive-born see no such effects, and instead must form purposes out of life of their own accord. Perhaps that is why captive wolves have more rigid hierarchies, to stop the bored upstarts from usurping the pack.

Captive-born sense that they live in a world that is not their own, but they do not usually understand the actual problem. Because of that, infusing them with a higher purpose is more difficult. There was never a need for anything to really change in the world from which they came. There was no danger, food was handed to them, and they always lived in the same territory that was never threatened. Still, it is easier to instill the sense of purpose in captive-born lupus minds than it is for many homid minds. They still rarely see themselves as wrong, rather just different from the others. The resistance to becoming Garou is lessened by their acceptance of what they are.

## Humanity’s Edge

It takes less time for lupus to learn and accept some aspects of Garou society, such as Gifts and Gnosis, but the time it takes to learn the more human side of the culture balances their learning scale with homids. Though humanity’s touch has its place in Garou society and is even necessary, the very fact of that necessity is strange to lupus. Still, they must learn human traits along with the wolf, even among the Red Talons, for the lupus to exist within the Garou Nation. Without guidance, the lupus will likely lose herself to building emotions and her inability to communicate. Wolves will avoid her, and she will become a danger unto herself until Garou find and rescue her or until agents of the Wyrm kill her.

### Emotion

Thankfully, due to the new perspective of time forced upon a lupus, new emotions seem to form within her mind in a slow evolution of realization. Lingering sensations of sorrow and anger cement themselves within a lupus’ being over the course of a single season. The emotional changes from her First Change to her Rite of Passage seem overwhelmingly fast to a homid or even a metis, but to the lupus, a season would have been a large fraction of her normal wolf life.

Much like the new physical capabilities of being Garou, the new emotional senses are usually accepted as necessary simply for the fact that they exist. While an overwhelming sense of sorrow might seem strange to a lupus, they reason that it must serve a purpose. After the first season of being Garou, lupus are prone to strong emotional reactions. While the slow opening of his mind to deep and lasting emotions keeps a lupus sane while he is a cub, he is still unaccustomed to not only controlling emotion, but to the idea that controlling a seemingly natural impulse might be a good idea. Any sorrow weighs heavily on a cub’s heart, and his temper grows short. In turn, the levels of happiness that he experiences also grows, and a lupus commonly finds himself reveling in joy for longer periods of time than he might have as a wolf.

For another month or two, lupus experience hefty mood swings. He’ll race around with joy and a pup’s eagerness only to fall into confusion and sorrow when other Garou are unwilling to join in a game. The serious nature of being Garou carries a heavy weight that can drive even the lightest lupus mind into a quiet, sad solitude, something that his homid counterparts often can’t understand. Lupus have to find the balance between controlling their emotions and letting their emotions control them. Throughout his life, a healthy lupus knows that emotions are not terrible things, that they have their place, and even help the pack, tribe, and Garou Nation survive. Because a lupus does not balk at his emotions, he does not seek to control them like a homid commonly does. The lupus seeks to work with his feelings, and, in doing so, he commonly falls into a better and deeper understanding of the emotions that lie within, showing no shame in experiencing them.

### Rage

Being so accepting of emotions does have drawbacks, however. Where homids have a tougher time with Gnosis, lupus have a harder time understanding the need to restrain their Rage. Accepting Rage is typically an effortless process for the lupus. Learning how to utilize Rage and let it loose is not difficult or distressing as it might be for a homid. It is a gift from Luna or Gaia, and, even though many homids also see it as a curse, lupus rarely do. Instead, it is simply something that exists that can sometimes have negative impacts, like being very strong can lead to accidentally hurting or even killing a packmate or cub.

The concept of restraint challenges lupus. Wolves are used to only showing restraint in the face of their pack and, occasionally, towards their own kind. To show restraint on prey is not a mercy. Killing a deer slowly is cruel and something a wolf does not do. When faced with an enemy, lupus do not see any reason to let it live, and if Rage will help them tear down their enemy, so much the better. To frenzy, to let loose Rage, nothing should be wrong with that

Thankfully, young cubs do not easily fall to the Thrall of the Wyrm, even if they were born under the full moon. Until a lupus experiences the Thrall, he has no true understanding of how terrible Rage can be. Telling a lupus that bad things can happen when he gives himself over to something as natural as Rage makes little sense. Experiencing the Thrall is solid and real and just feels wrong. The wolf meets the enemy within, and only then does he understand that the corrupted Destroyer also lies in his own heart and spirit. While wolf-born will attempt to learn to restrain their Rage out of respect for the elders of the Garou Nation, they only understand the need for restraint if they experience a Thrall frenzy.

## To Be Garou

As a lupus cub passes his Rites of Passage, he finds himself in a world that needs his spiritual understanding. He starts settling into his position, filling what gaps he can with his lupine knowledge, instincts, and insight.

### The Pack

The strength required of Garou alphas is unsettling to most lupus. The captive-born might be used to having a single alpha, but most wild-born are not. A Garou pack has none of the fluidity of a wolf pack, and it can be difficult for lupus to adjust. Cubs and cliaths will commonly question and challenge during what many Philodox consider times of war. Militant alphas who claim a constant time of war lash out at young lupus repeatedly until they beat the wolf-born’s questioning ways out of her. Some lupus in that situation leave and find other packs or septs, but many submit to the might of their alphas, slowly losing their natural desire to test their leaders.

Whether that is for better or for worse is one of the core debates of the Garou Nation.

Narrowing down to one solid purpose of the pack gives the lupus direction, and the direct mind of the wolf finds comfort in the solidarity of the pack around one focused goal. The pack is family to the lupus, as are most wolf packs, and a lupus is far less likely to have any romantic issues among the Garou with whom she runs. The dedication to the pack and even the occasional need for a pack to disperse come naturally, as wolves form and break packs apart depending on their situations. What lupus don’t understand of the rigidity of the Garou pack is compensated by understanding the need, direction, and familial bonds that hold a pack together.

### Punishment

Perhaps the most difficult concept for lupus to accept within Garou society is that of punishment. The methods used to determine the sentence to inflict upon a werewolf are just as foreign. Wolves only have three forms of retaliation, though they can vary in gravity. A short snap with proper display is usually all that’s needed to back down a packmate. Short snaps, snarls, and growls are the most common forms of punishment used when a younger or submissive wolf has gone too far. In these cases, punishment is only used to let the victim know that what he did was not acceptable. Usually, the wolf submits and everything is fine thereafter.

If the wolf does not submit, then a fight might break out, and wolves take fights seriously. If fights broke out all the time, the pack would not survive, and so they are usually very rare. The worst form of punishment is banishment or death, where wolves are driven out of their packs. Wolves do not often kill fellow packmates; they reserve death for strange unwelcome wolves who tread into their territory. Wolves do kill other wolves for assorted reasons, it’s just not very common as wolves do not wish to chance their own deaths. That is why prey will sometimes roam the borders of wolf pack territories, retreating into opposing territory if wolves take up the chase.

All wolf justice is swift. They do not deliberate; they do not hold trials. Garou society, for minor transgressions, is much the same way. Punishment is usually swift and direct, something any lupus can appreciate and understand. For greater crimes, however, trials and tribunals are typically beyond the wolf’s understanding. Trying to decide if a Garou was right or wrong is not usually an issue for a lupus, and grey areas rarely exist. Lupus do not normally obtain the talent for twisting words to try to make something that was wrong seem right. They also rarely focus on whether something done was technically wrong by word or law and, instead, focus on the outcome of the situation. If the Garou Nation is better off for what was done, then lupus will often side with the transgressor as being in the right. If harm was done to the sept, pack, or Garou Nation due to the transgressor’s actions, no matter the reason, they will be at his throat.

### Rank and Challenge

All lupus understand the concept of alpha and rank, but the Garou categorize their ranks, define them, and expect everyone to understand and obey rank, even outside of the pack. The concept of Garou rank does not set well with the wolf-born, at least not at first. Humans needing to categorize everything and have a strong flow of hierarchy are confusing enough. Once a lupus enters a sept, she becomes part of such a system, and it commonly breeds frustration and irritation. If a lupus cliath has a better idea than a homid fostern, she will expect her voice to be heard. If the lupus has greater knowledge in tracking, she will expect the pack to submit to her while following a trail, even if she is not the alpha of the pack. Wild-born lupus believe that their experience should dictate their current role in the pack, not a ranking system based on subjective insights into a werewolf’s character.

Challenges are also difficult for many lupus to grasp. Understanding the ideal and even the need for challenges is simple, but wolves only challenge one another through might and will, and usually packs relent and allow the wolf who will best serve pack to lead, even if only temporarily. Obviously, most Garou are not the same way. Rage dictates the need for a strong alpha to direct his pack, but wisdom decrees that the alpha must also know when to relent. Sadly, not all alphas are so wise, and power and perceived threats commonly keep alphas from allowing their packs and septs to operate at maximum efficiency.

Gamecraft is the hardest concept for the young lupus, and the fact that the challenged get to choose the challenge is seen as unfair. Allowing the challenged to play to the weaknesses of their opponents makes winning more difficult, even if the lupus is in the right. Eventually lupus might get better at gamecraft, but to start, most find it confusing and strange. The best a lupus can hope for is a fair Master of the Challenge who will pick an appropriate form of game.

Lupus who are challenged typically prefer facedowns. Duels are reserved for only the direst of challenges, when the challenger could threaten the lives of other Garou. As snaps and quick shows of dominance are usually enough in the wolf pack, lupus see facedowns as the most efficient method to retain dominance. Garou are rarely hurt in facedowns, and homids cannot use their tricks to help them win. Homids, however, have a harder time accepting the facedown as an appropriate challenge and are not as likely to take the victor of a facedown as seriously as the victor of a duel or gamecraft. In turn, lupus are the same way in regard to gamecraft victors.

Duels are the only challenge where the victor is immediately respected by both sides. Sadly, it is also the challenge most likely to lead to the death of a fellow Garou, even if only by accident.

### Breeding

Lupus are very pragmatic about breeding. Like their lupine brethren, they follow their urges to fill any gaps that exist where their children will thrive. The Garou have an enormous gap when it comes to the number of lupus, and the lupus know that and accept the challenge. A wolfborn commonly seeks to breed, and breed many times throughout the course of his or her life. Male lupus will often adopt a pack, mating with his favorite female, and watching over her during the lean time of the year while she is with litter. After she has whelped and is raising the pups from within the den, he will continue to bring food to her. Male homid Garou have the luxury of being able to mate and then leave the care of the child to the mother, even if he bears a stigma for doing so. Male lupus Garou cannot do so for fear that the mother and her pack will not be able to find enough food without his help. Male lupus sometimes disappear for a few months at a time to mate.

Female lupus leave for even longer. A denning mother lupus must stay with her pups until they are fully weaned, and even then, leaving them is difficult. Pups come to know their mother more than any other member of the pack. She is their shelter, their warmth, and their source of food for weeks. After they leave the den, they still depend on her for occasional milk to supplement their diet. While the entire pack takes part in raising the pups once they leave the den, the mother is still the focus of the pack from when she becomes pregnant until the pups develop independence. She is bound to them by the laws of the mother, and a female lupus might be gone for several months and sometimes even up to a year raising a litter. Female homids are not so different from female lupus. To breed is a sacred and time-consuming task for both breeds.

If a large disconnect exists between lupus and homid views on mating, it is the hesitance of male homids to mate with lupus Kinfolk. Where female homids can only have homid children, male Garou can choose with whom they mate and, by doing so, affect the breed of their children. The Garou are not lacking in homid children, at least not when compared to lupus children. Begetting children that are of a different breed might be uncomfortable, but all Garou are of wolf and man. We are all both and yet neither. Once the change has happened, at least from the lupus standpoint, the barrier between either species is superseded. If homids were very rare, many lupus Garou would breed with human Kinfolk to fill the gap and heal the loss. The reluctance of the homids to do the same is strange and upsetting. Rumors abound of some Black Furies finding those male homids sent to other tribes to breed with lupus Kinfolk, and of Red Talons kidnapping homids of other tribes to breed with the Talons’ wolf-Kin.

Still, begetting lupine children yields more benefits. Wolf numbers are low, even if they are rebounding in many parts of the world. Kinfolk have a greater chance to survive in the wild than non-Kinfolk wolves. But, beyond that, where humans are lucky to have more than one child, wolves commonly have litters of four to six pups. Sometimes they have fewer, but sometimes they also have more. Each of those pups has the potential to be Garou. Garou born of wolves only take about two years to experience their First Change. Because of this, old-fashioned septs pressure homid Garou to breed with lupus Kinfolk. At worst, they beget more wolven Kinfolk. Such septs believe that doing so will also weaken the barrier between homid and lupus Garou.

The quickest way to increase the ranks of the Garou is through lupus Kinfolk, but as lupus numbers dwindle within the tribes, fewer Garou remain willing to regain the balance. Recognizing the disarray is easy enough, but lupus are more likely to take steps to solve the problem, even if it is uncomfortable. If homids do not step into the wolven mind, they may lose the wolf forever.

While some homids may believe that homosexuality is unique to their species, they couldn’t be more wrong. Gay wolves are not as common as their heterosexual counterparts, but they are just as accepted into wolf packs, without the bigotry displayed by many homids. Homosexual lupus likewise find great acceptance from other lupus; while their tribe may expect gay werewolves to breed, those born of wolves know that homosexual lupus are some of the fiercest warriors as they have always known they will not breed, giving them more reason to defend those who will.

## The Garou Nation

Lupus are as varied as homids, and as such, they take as easily to their born auspice as any homid. Garou commonly categorize lupus as making the finest Ahroun or Theurge. What else do the wolves do other than tear up their prey and revel in their connection to the spirit? While it is true that many lupus excel under the crescent and full moons, the breed as a whole does not favor any auspice over the other. Luna shines her blessings upon the wolf-born as widely as she does the human-born.

### Ragabash

Lupus born under the dark of the moon are the staunchest believers in the fluidity of the pack. A Ragabash is more likely to disperse from the pack, if he can, before his first year is complete. Wolves are very curious by nature, and while they do not need to have a reason for everything that happens, the budding lupus desires answers. Those few who choose or are forced to stay commonly challenge their alphas, even if the lupus is captive-born. Ironically enough, if a pre-change lupus does take over his wolf pack, chances are he was born under the new moon.

Once he has joined the Garou, he will rarely hold back out of respect for the hierarchy. Homid and metis Ragabash might eventually learn that they are allowed to do the same, but being born within rigid and lawful social structures means that they must learn that some challenging is acceptable. A wild-born lupus, on the other hand, steps into a sept as a natural questioner. His packmates allowed him to question and challenge them, even as a pup. The moment the wolves could not answer his questions to his expectations, he was allowed to leave and find answers on his own.

Captive Ragabash are even more insistent with their questions. Being raised where they could not leave their packs and where their challenges were met with fights for authority, the lupus learned to fight for their right to ask questions. They are less accepting of “Because I said so.” than normal lupus. They insist on answers, and they will challenge until they get them, or until they are forcibly subdued. But, if they are subdued, they are not above turning that upon their alphas. If she cannot give a clear answer to his question, does the alpha really deserve to lead?

### Theurge

The crescent moon ties the lupus closer to the spiritual flow of existence. Long before her First Change she finds herself at peace with the world, knowing that she has her place within it and that all things come and go as is meant to be. Few can understand what Gaia intended for the world better than a lupus Theurge. Like the Ragabash, they usually disperse from their family packs at a young age. The call of the spiritual world, a call to which even most Kinfolk wolves seem deaf, is too strong. With no one to understand her among her pack, she leaves in search of someone who does.

As they are pulled into their tribes and septs, lupus Theurges are hailed as the greatest of mystics. Rites, Gifts, and spiritual diplomacy come naturally to them. Where the wild-born find themselves at home among the wilderness septs, the captive-born are equally at home in the city. Theurges spend a great deal of their time making peace with the spirits, especially in the wilderness septs. Anger runs deep with a number of entities as their lands are threatened and the Garou numbers dwindle. Many see humans as the cause of the problem and want to place part of the blame on homids. Lupus Theurges are the natural liaisons between such spirits and the Garou, earning their trust and assistance where homids might fail.

The biggest danger for Theurge lupus is the desire to tie themselves as tightly as they can to their spiritual existence. Just as homids can become too tightly tied to the physical world, lupus, especially Theurges, have been known to disappear into the Umbra, never to return. The Garou do not know whether they ascend to a higher state of being as a spirit or simply disappear as a separate entity. Either way, another Garou is lost, and one Garou lost is one too many.

### Philodox

The half-moon blesses lupus with a sharp sense of justice, but that sense is then molded by the life of the wolf. Philodox pups are more likely to stay with their packs than they are to disperse. Littermates are also more likely to stay with a pack if a Philodox is among their ranks. They find comfort and guidance in the Philodox’s presence, especially before the First Change. Still, unless they are captive-born, Philodox pups never take over their packs. The captive-born only fight for control of their pack if alphas are too domineering and play favorites.

Upon entering Garou society, the lupus Philodox quickly learns right and wrong, and the lupus mind latches onto that with vivid clarity. They make simple judgments, not because they are incapable of complex thoughts, but because simple judgments are direct and to the point. If someone is wrong, they see no need to complicate the situation with excuses or reasons. Doing so only blurs justice and sets precedents for others to take wrong actions.

Of course, lupus Philodox find resistance to their instinctual half-moon ideals. The Litany is simple enough to learn and understand. Some things Garou do, and some things Garou don’t do. It is easy for most lupus to see right versus wrong, but homids make a habit of dwelling in gray areas. Paradoxically, in dealing out justice, many homids find the lupus lacking. Lupus are less likely punish offenders harshly for a first offense unless their actions directly endangered Garou or a caern. Instead, lupus Philodox will give swift justice, usually focused in service to the pack or sept. What lupus see as apt punishment, homids see as so-called slaps on the wrist. The homids are wrong, of course. Lupus simply believe in escalating punishments until they determine that an offender is too dangerous to be kept around. If the offender proves to be a true threat, the lupus will exile or kill him with little mercy.

### Galliard

Lupus Galliards show trivial difference from normal wolves when they are pups. They play, learn, and experience life with their littermates as any other would. The number of Galliards found among the dispersed compared with those who stayed with their packs are about equal. Reasons for their decision to stay or leave range from wanting to discover something new away from the pack to wanting to learn more about their family ties.

When most homids think of lupus Galliards, they instantly think of howling. To be sure, howling is the most natural form of expression for lupus. Galliards, as they learn the different howls of the Garou, test the limits of human language with essence and emotion. What they can convey with a howl is commonly lost on the human tongue. But the wolves of the gibbous moon are not limited to just their voices. They commonly express their auspice with movement and shadow-play. Watching a silent lupus tell out a story by dancing with firelight reminds everyone that sound is not always necessary.

Beyond storytelling, lupus Galliards play a very different role compared to their homid counterparts. Where homids immerse themselves in tales of the past and keep the old ways, lupus focus on the future. Garou know that most seers are Galliards. What they do not see is that most seers among the Galliards are lupus. As a lupus born under the gibbous moon looks to the future, Luna grants her visions and prophecies. Luna understands that her wolves find little use for the far past and, instead, gives them insights into what is yet to come.

### Ahroun

Pups of the full moon are usually bigger than the rest of their siblings. Early on, they earn their dominance over the litter. They greet the adults first, they eat first, and they watch over the rest. Like Galliards, future Ahrouns are split on whether they disperse or stay with their packs. Those who leave usually do so because they do not want to be part of the pack hierarchy. They know they are above it, but usurping one of their parents would serve no purpose. Those who stay accept the dominance of their parents and focus on protecting the pack.

Lupus born under the full moon know their purpose; they understand that they exist to fight and protect. There was never a time when they had to try to find their place in life, even as a wolf. Unless a higher-ranked Ahroun runs in her pack, a lupus will insist on leading any attack. If someone resists she will challenge him, and she will only relent if she loses the challenge. Lupus rarely hold personal grudges, however, especially against their own packmates. She will let the actions and consequences of her leaders speak for themselves.

When homids think of Ahroun lupus, the same picture tends to form in their minds: the rampaging, snarling, foaming at the mouth wolf tearing humans asunder with no mercy. That picture is human nonsense. The Ahrouns are the warriors of the breed, the primary hunters, the primary killers, but they are anything but mindless. They attack deliberately, striking enemies, and they have better control over their emotions than many of the other moons. Wolf Ahrouns are the masters of pack tactics. Where other breeds and auspices must learn how to merge many into one unit, the talent comes naturally to wolf-born Ahrouns. They always seem to know just where everyone needs to be and what everyone needs to do. Yet they must fight against the stereotype of the stupid attack dog; that alone is infuriating.

## The Tribe

Where lupus split out evenly among the auspices, the same is not true for the tribes. Lupus are more comfortable among some tribes where others are more foreign, and they naturally gravitate to those whom they understand.

### Black Furies

The Black Furies accept the lupus of their tribe as their truest connection to the Wyld. For a tribe that prides itself on its connection to said member of the Triat, that is high praise for the wolf. The lupus from the tribe will usually only breed with wild Kinfolk, not wishing to taint that connection with Weaver-tainted captive wolves. The Black Furies allow their lupus to connect to the Wyld on their own terms. Indeed, many homid Furies will emulate their lupus tribemates to deepen their own connection to the Wyld. In their Grecian homeland, the wolf population holds steady at 700, and wolves have government protection; nearby Macedonia has a wolf population of over 1000, but no legal protection.

One area where lupus have a difficult time adapting to the Fury lifestyle, however, is the lack of male tribemates. Lupus understand the need and desire for equality. The hierarchy of a wolf pack is often in continual flux, and the alpha is whoever is best at what they are currently doing, male or female. They can even understand Pegasus’ desire to lock out homid males based on human men seeking to control their female counterparts. But why this desire has expanded to include male lupus, they do not understand. Even so, they find peace as the Furies are very accepting of lupus seeking mates and leaving to raise litters of their own.

*Many lupus find adapting to the lack of male lupine tribemates difficult, but once understood, it is not so strange. The number of male lupus do not decrease because of Pegasus’ creed. The lack of males, but for the sterile metis, allows for a sole concentration on females and their roles as mothers and nurturers. We can only understand the deep connection to creation, the beauty of the Wyld that lies within the female womb, when standing apart from the male. Pegasus does no harm by not allowing male lupus into the tribe; He means no insult. He encourages female lupus to breed, and the Black Furies respect their mates. In return for our separation, we gain greater insight into everything feminine, including Gaia herself.*

*– Megaera, Black Fury Philodox*

### Bone Gnawers

Bone Gnawers are a tribe short of lupus and great of homids. Even so, lupus who do find their way to the Gnawers are not only welcome and encouraged to join the tribe, they find the Bone Gnawer life refreshing and like that which they have already lived. The lupus who find the Gnawers are usually from captive stock, whether it be from a zoo or the guarded Kin of the Glass Walkers. Many lupus who cannot come to understand the Glass Walkers end up finding their way to the Bone Gnawers.

The Bone Gnawer life of survival and adaptation comes easily to the lupus, especially the captive bred lupus. The loose structure of their packs and septs might be strange at first to captive-born, but the Bone Gnawers allow them the time they need to adjust with no qualms. Wild-born wolves do not typically do well with the city-dwelling Bone Gnawers simply because of air, light, and noise pollution. But the wild-born can find homes among the Bone Gnawers with their rural tribemates. The tribe gives no more or less expectation to lupus than they do to homids or metis, something that can come as a great relief.

*The best thing about the Bone Gnawers is they don’t judge harshly for things that are not your fault. My First Change was strange. I still age as a wolf, and I will not be here long. Most did not want me, they eyed me with suspicion. But not the Bone Gnawers, not Rat. I am not only one of them, but I am free to challenge them, and they listen. The streets may be dirty and the air choked, but I can find no better place to attack the enemy than at its roots. I am honored that the Bone Gnawers allow me to run with them.*

*– Best-of-Years, Bone Gnawer Ragabash*

### Children of Gaia

Children of Gaia favor synergy, and that ideal draws lupus to the tribe. Wolves understand that to succeed at a task a unit must work as one. Where all wolf packs follow this ideal, the Gnosis and understanding of a lupus Garou allows him to see a larger picture with greater ease. Rather than focusing on one pack or one tribe, as is a homid tendency, lupus — especially Children of Gaia lupus — focus overall of the Garou Nation and the whole of nature beyond. They understand and accept their place within the natural order and the Garou Nation. Their fight is not for one tribe to remain supreme, but for all Garou to save Gaia. While the Children of Gaia have expanded far beyond their traditional tribal homeland, only a couple of hundred wolves remain native to the near east, and their population is dwindling.

The Children of Gaia accept their few lupus as guides to the natural world. The tribe attracts both captive and wild-born lupus to their ranks, and seems to be making an effort to increase their lupus siblings. Unicorn tasks her lupus with being emissaries to the Red Talons and the few remaining lupus governed septs. They may also task themselves with seeking out new territories for dispersing wolves from expanding packs. The broader the range of wolves, the better chance they have to survive.

*It is impossible to tie the Gaians into a neat package. The Gaians, much like the Bone Gnawers, are willing to accept almost anyone into the tribe. Lupus here are as diverse as the homids. With Unicorn’s tribe, I was able to learn to channel and control my Rage. Where few would come near me, the Gaians welcomed me with open arms. Now I am the teeth and claws of Unicorn. I am the war leader of my pack, and I will tear out the throats of Unicorn’s enemies and see Gaia healed, or I will die trying. Unicorn does not balk at my ferocity, she directs it.*

*– Little Fury, Child of Gaia Ahroun*

### Fianna

Fianna attract lupus through their purity of emotion. The tribe does not typically lie about what they’re feeling, nor do they apologize; any lupus can respect that. Depth of emotion is a new concept to lupus, and the Fianna understand what it’s like to have urges tearing through the heart. No tribe is better at guiding young lupus cubs emotionally after their First Change, and they don’t teach them to repress emotions, but rather to accept them. Even homid Fianna understand howling for no reason other than pure joy. Stag’s children accept, tolerate, and even encourage random outbursts of emotion. Homids commonly seek to master the howl, which lupus take as a large token of respect. Very few lupus manage the beautiful tones that come naturally to the pure-bred Fianna wolves. Apart from small captive breeding programs, the only wolves are approximately 150 in France, recent migrants from the Italian wolf population. The tribe’s diaspora has allowed them to add a much larger number of lupus to their numbers.

Fianna septs are unique; lupus have to work against homids to be the Master of the Howl. Both breeds take the competition seriously, especially lupus, but they enjoy the challenge. Philodox lupus of the tribe readily accept their positions as matchmakers. The Fianna support breeding programs both public and secret, and wolves in Fianna homelands are exclusively Kinfolk. Humans exterminated the rest long ago. Stag expects the lupus of his tribe, especially the Philodox, to keep the wolf bloodline alive and well. The Fianna commonly request their lupus tribemates from other parts of the world to come and mate with their lupus Kin in hopes of keeping their numbers growing and their health stable.

*Being Fianna is experiencing life to its fullest. No other tribe understands the need to just experience feeling. Everything is important, every action and every breath, because it means that you are still alive and you are still able to do something more tomorrow. That is the beauty of being Fianna. It is difficult experiencing lasting emotions, especially as a cub, but the Fianna do not seek to temper emotions, but rather to live with them. Emotions are as natural as thinking; the tribe lives and breathes that fact. What better freedom could you find? In that freedom, a lupus learns to adapt and flow with her emotions.*

*– Luna’s-Cry, Fianna Galliard*

### Get of Fenris

Fenris pulls only the strongest lupus into his tribe. The Get of Fenris prize strength of muscle and will, and any lupus who appear weak are commonly ignored by the tribal totem. Even as the numbers of wolves and lupus dwindle, Fenris holds exacting standards for his lupus followers. If the Garou believe a lupus is strong enough for the tribe, that is not necessarily enough for the spirit. Due to the grueling restrictions, the Fenrir make a point of scouring the lands for the strongest wolves. They track the dispersed, luring those whom Fenris might accept to follow them to their own territories. Fenrir prize their lupus as the closest tie to their totem. Across their territories in Scandinavia and the Germanic countries, wolves number over 600, enough to provide a stable breeding stock, but low enough to be of serious concern.

Meanwhile, the lupus who do fall in with the Get of Fenris find solace in accepting the Rage within. Where many other tribes attempt to cull and temper their fury, the lupus among the Fenrir learn to harness and control it. Rage is a natural part of being Garou. It is a gift and a curse at the same time, but it is still there; the Fenrir do not deny it. If Rage exists, so exists its purpose; that is something every wolf understands. The Get’s acceptance of every part of being Garou secures many lupus to the tribe.

*It is not just a matter of being strong. It is a matter of being the best at the hunt and at knowing how to take down the enemy. It’s about determination to fight until your last breath. Lupus have to overcome their innate desire to run and survive to fight another day to rise within the tribe. It is difficult, but the greatest lupus Fenrir are revered as physical manifestations of Fenris himself. Fenris, in turn, speaks to the tribe through lupus whenever possible, an honor above all others.*

*– Shadow-of-Jupiter, Get of Fenris Philodox*

### Glass Walkers

Glass Walkers have a tough time understanding lupus and lupus have a challenging time understanding Glass Walkers. As it is, the few Glass Walkers who have access to lupus Kin tend to keep captive packs on large expanses of land. No matter how much land a Glass Walker might own, however, it is not close to the range of land a wild wolf would be able to traverse. The fact that wolves in captivity are very different from their wild brethren both aids and hinders the Glass Walkers’ attempt to include lupus in their tribe.

As far as I know, all lupus in the Glass Walker tribe are from captive Kinfolk. These Garou have a better innate understanding of humans, but, in turn, their connection to and understanding of nature can be strange when compared to that of a wild-born lupus. They better understand the workings of the Weaver than the workings of the Wyld, and they commonly do not understand the general laws of nature, not as wolves do. Glass Walkers prize their lupus as symbols that the tribe has not lost the wolf. Some Walkers even outfitted their lupus with mechanisms as a sign that the wolf could adapt to the workings of the Weaver; all have since been killed. Is a wolf who has lost the Wyld still a wolf?

*Wolves can adapt to the ways of Cockroach; thus, Glass Walker lupus have not lost the Wyld. The Weaver does not adapt. She stagnates. If any wild-born Glass Walker lupus exist out there, however, they are very few. The captive-bred have an easier time adjusting to the equipment and ideals of the tribe. The tribe celebrates every lupus recruited, but not because we are afraid we’re losing the wolf. Every Glass Walker lupus has a deep spiritual link to the Wyld with an understanding of the Weaver and yet carries the purpose of the Balance Wyrm. If we are ever to get the three in balance again, we must address all members of the Triat. Who better to do it than a Glass Walker lupus?*

*– Mends-the-Wyld, Glass Walker Theurge*

### Shadow Lords

Ruthless and dominating, the Shadow Lords keep a tight grip on their lupus Kin. They limit their Kinfolk to small tracts of land where captivity and exposure to the Lords hardens pack hierarchies. The Shadow Lords seek to keep it so, and their lupus act as emissaries to the Kinfolk packs, reminding them who the true alphas are. The Lords use the direct and often cold logic of the lupus to their advantage. Where homids can get muddled with too much thinking, the lupus commonly thinks of the simplest way to be effective, which the Shadow Lords appreciate. Wolf populations in southern and eastern Europe remain strong at over 10,000, giving the tribe a strong population of Kinfolk.

Shadow Lords are as foreign to most lupus as the Glass Walkers. Their games of politics, fear, and domination are all very human. It is rare for any lupus that is not of Shadow Lord Kin to join the tribe. Occasionally other wolves from captivity will do so, but the wild-born almost always find their way to other tribes. The captive-born find the chance to undercut alphas and rise to the top refreshing. Still, the Lords use words as weapons, and any lupus has a difficult time adapting to that. They are usually quiet and let their actions speak for themselves.

*To think that all natural wolf packs operate in similar ways is wrong. Some wolf packs, by nature, have rigid hierarchies, and the Shadow Lord Kinfolk are among them. The human side of the Lords is not all that has affected the nature of the tribe, and we will not apologize for being different from most other lupus. We are the silent hunters among the tribe. We leave the words and politics to the homids and metis. They are better at it, so why would we even try? Instead, we watch, we listen, and we kill from the shadows.*

*– Silent Claws, Shadow Lord Ahroun*

### Silent Striders

The children of Owl are elusive and strange when it comes to relation with lupus Kin. Wolves may travel a great deal, but litters tie them to one location for months, something that never sets well with any Strider. Lupus Silent Striders always have children with a wolf that is part of a larger pack for the sake of the pups. Females will usually stay only until their children are weaned; males commonly leave before the pups are even born. In their place, they ask spirits to watch over the pack in hopes that one pup might breed true.

The lupus of the Silent Striders all disperse after their first year. It takes the desire to leave the pack behind and strike a new path to fit in with the tribe. The spirit left behind accompanies the dispersing pup that it believes has the greatest chance to be lupus. After joining the tribe, lupus meld in almost effortlessly. The spark for travel already lies within. Silent Striders have similar expectations for their lupus and homid Garou. The lupus are simply messengers to places where homids would be less welcome.

*It is strange that lupus of the tribe naturally cling to the desire to travel. Where wolves seek home territory, even Silent Striders who are not purely bred never consider settling down for any longer than necessary. The hardest adaptation is for the female lupus, who yearns to travel but cannot for months if she is to bear pups. Males, in turn, often try to breed yearly if possible. Lupus who still linger near Egypt guard the remaining Kin of the tribe. Many believe that the secret to releasing the curse upon the tribe lies in the spiritual connection that our wolf Kinfolk still have with the land.*

*– Seer-of-Fire, Silent Strider Theurge*

### Silver Fangs

After Glass Walkers, Silver Fangs are in the worst shape regarding their lupus Kinfolk. Though the tribe takes utmost care to protect its wolf Kin, their determination to remain pure, to not allow other wolves to mate with their packs, slowly deteriorates the health of their wolves. Disease poses the greatest danger. The lupus Kin of the Silver Fangs are all prone to similar diseases, and the Silver Fangs are so intent on keeping their packs together that, if one gets it, they commonly all get it, and many succumb. To protect their last pure connection to the wolves, they are driving their Kin and lupus towards extinction. Would they be willing to bring fresh blood into the tribe, their Russian homeland has 30,000 wolves that could bolster their numbers, but the tribe’s insistence on tradition prevents them making use of that resource.

Lupus born of Silver Fang Kin very rarely go to another tribe unless they are not pure enough for Falcon. Silver Fangs and their spirits keep a close watch on all pups, quickly pulling any who go through their First Change from their packs. Even in the vast expanses of Siberia, the Fangs never allow their lupus Kinfolk to disperse outside of restricted areas, all to keep bloodlines pure. The tribe expects their lupus, in turn, to quickly learn rituals and tradition. They are not allowed to go through their Rites of Passage until they have an integral understanding of how the tribe works. The lupus quickly grow into their roles of leaders. They bear an uncanny ability to pierce through deliberations to the heart of matters at hand, and the Silver Fangs praise that talent. Many other lupus, however, see Silver Fang lupus as more human than wolf, a problem that plagues those who seek to lead their fellow wolf-born Garou.

*It is not that we are more human than wolf; it is that we accept both sides of our existence. Just because lupus are so few does not mean that they should try to emulate the wolf as much as possible. Garou are supposed to be a balanced whole, neither too much wolf nor too much human, and that goes for both breeds. We Silver Fangs expect lupus to learn primarily that they are not wolves. They are Garou. They are Silver Fangs. They lead not only by blood, but by example and merit. Every Silver Fang lupus knows that she must retain her rightful place through power and dedication. Those who would see such leaders fall because they do not like the Silver Fang way are foolhardy at best.*

*– Falcon’s-Vigil, Silver Fang Philodox*

### Uktena

Uktena are known for treating their lupus Kinfolk as wolves, something that appeals to all packs under their care. They may watch them, but they do not restrict them, even those that live in lower North America. Few Uktena are willing to share just how they manage to keep their Kin from falling into the maw of the Wyrm while still allowing them their freedom. Perhaps they should reconsider, however. Uktena encourage dispersion and sometimes lead dispersing wolves away from their packs to other Uktena territories. The tribe’s lupus often take older Kin who disperse as mates, and the nearby Garou will ensure that the pups are cared for, even if no Kinfolk pack is around for the job. Their tribal homelands in the southern United States and Mexico have wolf populations of around 2,000; though the animals are now extinct in Mexico.

Lupus who are born to the Uktena rarely leave the tribe. It is too open to the questions of the lupus and one of the most patient with their breed. At least one lupus mentor is usually available to assist their wolf-brothers and sisters learn the ways of the Garou. Uktena septs often have two den-parents, one lupus and one homid. Each mentor their own breed for better understanding between teacher and student. The tribe will also see to the tutelage of any lupus cub, not just those from their own stock. Lupus appreciate the opportunity to learn at their own pace, to ask questions, and to revel in their innate curiosity.

*The Uktena have also been spreading outward into the world, seeking, and hoping for ways to expand the numbers of Garou through mystical means. The Red Talons have learned to breed true with African Wild Dogs. New Kinfolk were created from nothing. While we do not seek to tread upon the territory of the African Talons, we wish to understand how it happened. The red wolf has returned to the Southwest, and while their numbers are few, they are growing. If we could make them Kin, or other wolves for that matter, the potential population for wolf and lupus alike would increase. Gaia would stand a better chance. These are answers the Uktena lupus seeks, answers to how life and spirit work and unite as one.*

*– Ash-and-Thorn, Uktena Galliard*

### Wendigo

In stark contrast to their sibling tribe, the Wendigo have only grown more reclusive. They harbor perhaps the greatest number of lupus Kin on their lands, and they do not restrict the movement of the wolf packs or dispersing individuals, but once a wolf has left Wendigo land, they count it as gone unless it returns. Maybe they let them go due to their quiet dedication to the Gaian cause, or maybe it is because they consider those who leave tainted. Still, the wolves they do keep are some of the wildest in the world. The Wendigo do not need to protect all their lupus Kin from hunters, and they have not had to repopulate the lands they protect with foreign wolves. The Uktena are curious about the affect this has on their Kinfolk, but the Wendigo do not share their secrets. The Wendigo have perhaps the largest wolf population of all tribes in their homelands. The northern United States and Canada are home to around 75,000 wolves.

Lupus of the tribe seem to take to their roles with relative ease. They never appear to be out of place and usually bear a confident air. Historically, they have been very territorial; the lupus have stayed in their homelands, and they only ventured out when the need was dire. Oddly, compared to homids, lupus are now more likely to leave their homelands behind and venture into the septs of other Garou. We are thankful for their aid, and the Uktena are happy to see their lupus brothers, but are curious as to their motives.

*I will not speak to all the actions of the tribe and why they do what they do. But to be a lupus among the Wendigo is to be tied to the last wild homelands of the wolf. Those who leave do so to protect our homelands from without rather than within. As the Corruptor encroaches on the few remaining pure lands, we have learned that it is best to defend our home from outside the borders. We know that the rest of the Garou Nation needs our assistance, and while hatred dwells deep within the heart of Wendigo, the lupus have an easier time setting it aside for the better of Gaia.*

*– Northern Lights, Wendigo Theurge*

## The Sept

Septs work for the Garou like dens work for wolf packs. The denning mother is necessary to the existence of the pack just as the caern is to the sept. It should not be surprising that lupus take especially well to the sept. Where the long speeches, politics, and traditions are human and thus strange, the base concept of the sept is very wolven. The center holds everyone together. Where the denning mother and the pups are the center of the pack, the spiritual energy of the caern is the center of the sept.

As with a pack, the sept also holds a place for everyone. Often, roles go unfulfilled due to a lack of Garou. When such a shortage exists, lupus grow restless to fill the gaps. Whether it be through breeding or scouting out potential Garou, lupus are more than happy to take up roles that homids might find demeaning or dull. Necessity demands action, and no action is too small or too insignificant for a lupus.

The tight ties that lupus have to spirits and their world heavily influence the jobs that they hold within the sept. Obviously, whenever possible, lupus hold the role of Master of the Howl. Few homids or even metis spend enough time in their Lupus forms to master the true craft of howling. While Garou in Crinos can attain great tone and volume, the subtle shifts required for perfected harmonies are lost in the war form. Try singing in Homid and then in Crinos. The same difference exists when howling in Lupus and then in Crinos.

Lupus commonly hold other positions as well, especially those tied to the land or the spirits of the area. The following holds true for most wilderness septs. In the city, the situation is obviously very different, and homids would be more likely to hold some of these roles, especially the Keeper of the Land.

### Master of the Howl

The Master of the Howl does not just go to the best voice. Most homids, at least until they experience a real howling session, do not understand everything that a howl means to a wolf or a Garou. The howl can be chilling, uplifting, and sad all at the same time. A howl is a wolf’s music. Where homids can pull emotion out of instruments, wolves pour that emotion into their voices.

Lupus septs respect the Master of the Howl more than homid septs. The wolf is charged not only with knowing the howls, but with teaching others how to harmonize. A solitary wolf can start a howl, but it’s only when the entire chorus joins in that the full effect is unleashed. Howls are a communal activity that draws a pack, a sept, a tribe together. It is a common belief among the lupus that the secret to the unification of the Garou lies within the howl. The grand Master of the Howl will rise at the Apocalypse, and the war might ride on her capabilities.

In mostly-homid septs, lupus still usually hold the position. Except for Fianna, septs without lupus mistakenly brush the position to the side as a nice, but unnecessary luxury. Lupus strive to prove them wrong. Occasionally, a lupus will settle into a sept just to fill this role until he is satisfied that the sept understands its importance. The Master of the Howl must work harder with homids to teach them the intricacies of the howl. Few positions require so much patience on the part of the wolf-born.

### Keeper of the Land

Lupus consider the Keeper of the Land to be the most sacred position within the sept. Their natural ties to the land and spirit make lupus the best candidates, and they take to their duties with ease. A lupus Keeper spends all her time within the caern or the bawn. When an enemy breaches the bawn, she will be in its last line of defense. She does not stay back because of cowardice, but rather because of necessity. After the Garou destroy the enemy, a talented Keeper is the best Garou to mend the damage. Many spirits flee, and they will only return when they feel it is safe. Keepers who already know the spirits and the land will heal a caern faster than anyone else.

It is no surprise that, as lupus numbers have disappeared, many homid and metis Garou have placed less importance on the Keeper. Some septs don’t even have an official Keeper. But any sept with a lupus has at least one, even if not by name. All lupus strive to maintain the delicate balance between the Garou and the spirit. They instinctively know that dedication to the land shows dedication to the spirit. Even in small septs, lupus will go out of their way to do little favors for the spirits, tending the lands as they see fit. No sacred sanctuary is too small.

### Den Mother/Father

If possible, most multi-tribe septs strive to have a homid den mother and a lupus den father or vice-versa. Homid den parents are far more common than their lupus counterparts, which allows lupus den parents to focus on lupus cubs, and, occasionally, metis cubs as well. Lupus take quickly to the position, as it is the job of every wolf to help train the young in a pack. They always teach by example, showing cubs what to do rather than just telling. Double standards do not exist for the lupus. Experience might be necessary for the pupil to do it well, but he will only gain it through repetition.

Lupus are better than the other breeds at training lupus cubs, but they are also very talented at training metis cubs. Homids talk too much, which is frustrating even to a metis. Lupus give specific and direct orders. They sometimes lead without even speaking. When a metis steps out of line, the lupus just gives a quick nip or snap to put her back in line, and then it is done. Just as important, lupus are intent on teaching the metis to work with their deformities and not against them. Yes, lupus understand that the deformities of the metis mark the sin that brought them into the world. But the fact is that metis exist, and they are good warriors. Gaia deserves all the warriors we can give her. Better to raise the metis to believe in themselves.

### Warder

It is not unusual for an Ahroun lupus to hold the Warder position in a wilderness sept. A few city septs even have lupus Warders. Being a Warder comes almost as naturally to a lupus as being the Keeper of the Land. Ahroun lupus have watched over other wolves for most of their lives. They have directed forces and held packs together. The greatest Ahroun lupus take their knowledge and expand it from pack to sept by becoming the Warder.

Lupus Warders usually work with a few smaller packs in larger caerns. The packs patrol the bawn of the caern, watching for intruders. They show preference for lupus packs when they can, mostly because lupus travel as wolves and rely on scent and movement more than color. It is oftentimes easier to smell something wrong than it is to see something wrong. The Warder will travel with one of the packs, both monitoring his territory and the pack. Not only will he observe all packs this way, but in times of calm, he will have the packs work together to obtain objectives.

Lupus Warders focus on cooperation more than anything else. Packs must be able to work together over great areas, especially for larger caerns, to be able to ward off threats. He efficiently solves any personality problems that arise; either the Garou submits and lets his problems go or he is not allowed to patrol.

### Master of the Rite

The Master of the Rite commonly falls to the highest ranking Theurge, regardless of breed. Lupus Masters are not afraid to meet the spirits on their own terms. Whether it be the form the spirit prefers or which side of the Gauntlet, lupus naturally cave to the desires of the spirits with greater ease and grace than homids. Lupus rarely force spirits to do anything, and in turn, the wild spirit’s relationship with lupus is much healthier than that with homids. Spirits are more likely to trust lupus immediately where homids must work to gain their trust. This is not to say that spirits are easier on lupus than they are on homids; in fact, the opposite is commonly true. Where homids have a more challenging time earning the spirit’s trust, spirits hold the lupus to higher standards than the homids. Spirits expect the homids to not understand. They expect the homids to fumble about. They also expect the lupus to be close to perfect, to answer faster, and to show more respect immediately. It is an honor to be thought of so highly, but it is also a difficult path.

In the city, however, it is often the other way around. Where lupus still have the tight spiritual connection, city spirits often feel more at ease with humans. Captive-born lupus may better understand humans than their wild-born siblings, but they are still wolves at heart. The spirits of the city sometimes balk at the Wyld within. Any lupus Master in a city sept has a great deal of work on her paws. She is constantly tested to make sure she is “city” enough to deserve the respects of the spirits.

### Elder Alpha

The Elder Alpha is the lupus term for the Sept Master. Very few lupus hold this post outside of the Red Talons. Those who do run septs deep within the wilderness where lupus are just as common, if not more so, as homids. Lupus are fair Elder Alphas, though homids find their ways harsh and abrupt. By the time a lupus is honored enough to be an Elder Alpha, she has lived within the Garou hierarchy for most of her life. Even wild-born Elder Alphas are quick to protect their authority, especially against homids and metis.

Judgments in lupus-run septs come swiftly with little in the way of a trial. They seek spiritual guidance if they cannot come to a decision, and they take the answers given by the spirits as truth. Homids might think that this is dangerous, that the spirits might lie to spite Garou they dislike, but they do not understand the relationship between the spirit and the lupus. It is one built on trust over emotion. Lupus septs are much the same. The caern comes above all. Even if two Garou hate one another, the Elder Alpha expects that they will set their hatred aside at a moment’s notice and do whatever they need to fight the Wyrm and protect the caern. Trust within a lupus sept is sacred.