Philodox

**Philodox** is one of the five Auspices under which a Garou may be born. The half moon means balance and duality, a Garou born under its influence frequently act as counselor, mediator and law-keeper to his pack.

## Overview

The Philodox is the "middle" Auspice, most moderate in Rage - Galliards and Ahroun have more, whilst Theurges and Ragabash have less. Their role reflects this - it is their duty to mediate, counsel, and keep within them a balance between the conflicting elements of the Garou. They are also keepers of the law, those who uphold the Litany. As such, they are also judges and of great importance in discerning the truth and making important decisions. Often chosen to be leaders (although most often during times of peace), they tend to carry a sense of authority about them. Within their pack, Philodox often serve as leaders, and it is their responsibility to ensure the pack acts in accordance to the Litany, and also maintains order and balance.

The most important Renown for Philodox is Honor, with Wisdom as a secondary focus. These two can take a long time to earn, so a werewolf of the half moon may take a while to increase his or her Rank. These Garou tend to occupy a number of important Sept positions, including Truthcatcher, Gatekeeper, Keeper of the Land, and Master of the Challenge. Along with Theurges, the Philodox are considered to be masters of Rites, with Punishment Rites and Rites of Accord as their focus.

Philodox of the Waxing Moon are considered to be particularly calm and fair, and supposedly make better arbitrators. Those of the Waning Moon are thought to be perfectionists and more nervous than their waxing kin, and are associated more with maintaining order and balance.

## Tribal Views

### Black Furies

As she learns, Luna steps even more away from darkness and begins to speak. She speaks of what she thought while weeping, and what she learned while questioning. The Philodox, likewise, is expected to speak fact and wisdom (one, if not both at once) and learn from what she sees and experiences.

Where the Theurge seeks answers (which lead to more questions, as we all know) the Philodox seeks truth. Of all the auspices, I think, with all respect to Symon, that Lachesis favors the half-moon. After all, law, including the Litany, is a thing of the Weaver, we can all agree. This doesn’t make it bad, so long as the law is respected in spirit as well as (or sometimes instead of) in letter. This, also, is part of the Philodox’s job: To ensure that any recriminations against “Litany-breakers” are indeed deserved. As I said earlier, every rule has an exception, and if one hasn’t been found yet, it will. While I personally can’t think of any excuse to allow a caern to be violated, someday a Garou might have a legitimate defense for such behavior. If so, it would fall upon a Philodox to decide the truth of the matter

### Bone Gnawers

Bone Gnawer Philodox understand the world of humans as well as they do the society of the Garou. Too often, other werewolves are so obsessed with hunting the Wyrm that they ignore the people its spiritual servitors prey on. While the HalfMoons are fluent in arguing the law on behalf of outcast and downtrodden Garou, they are just as passionate about justice in the human world. In their tribal moots, they mediate to make sure that democracy works properly. When the supernatural world preys upon innocents, the Philodox set aside their political concerns to pass judgment on those who would interfere with their more human interests.

### Chilren of Gaia

I remember a Stephen King short story where a well-intentioned peacemaker got a knife in the throat for his troubles. And no offence to this tribe, but that's what I fear may happen to many a Child of Gaia Philodox. They take their roles as peacemakers quite literally, ready to throw down their lives in order to keep thing all harmonious and serene. I admire their courage, but to be an effective intermediary, you've got to stay alive. Still, the Gaian Half-Moons have much renown as the best teachers among the Garou, and that deserves a lot of respect.

### Fianna

Now, yer Philodox is a druid too, but one wi’ a hard task. It’s not a job that everybody wants to do, but it needs doing all they same. We’re a passionate lot and we get a wee bit carried away from time tae time. You need someone to rein us in, but it’s a thankless task at the best o’ times. What makes it worse is that with guardianship of the law, comes guardianship of our morals. A moot can be a hard time for a Philodox. While everyone else parties, he’s watching over us to make sure we don’t get too far out o’line. We don’t want any more mules thank you very much.

The Philodox are also our matchmakers. Now, don’t get me wrong. We’re not ones for forced marriages. A good Philodox, though, can see when a couple might be compatible and will do her level best to get the two of them together. You see, the greater the passion between a couple, the greater the chance that one of their bairns will be born Garou. Too many of you other tribes don’t pay enough attention to your mates, and if they don’t feel loved, how are they going to birth wee bundles of passion like us, now?

Now, you may not believe it, but often our lupus make the best matchmakers. Maybe they can just sense compatibility on an animal level us homids miss.

### Get of Fenris

The Forseti - The Half Moon. The judges of our tribe, the Forseti remember every law, every norm, every tradition the Fenrir hold sacred. Some Garou might be content to be bookkeepers and lawmakers, but Forseti are more than this. They are judges. Traditions are important to them, but what is more important is the fact that they think, long and hard, about what is being said and done in any given situation, and they are not afraid to pass judgment on it. They give our society structure and purpose, and they remind us of why we are here and what it all means. The Skalds may inspire us, but it is the Forseti who chasten us, and remind us of who we are. Most Get find the judges to be harsh masters, but they are always fair.

### Glass Walkers

Given that Theurges get so many burdens, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Philodox get called upon to pick up a lot of the slack. Whereas Ragabash and Theurges get specific duties like “keep us on our toes,” or “deal with spirits,” Philodox get the very wideranging task of “keep us running smoothly.” Needless to say, they tend to be jacks-of-all-trades types. Some roles may sound familiar to most Garou. Philodox get the task of resolving disputes, punishing offenders and counseling troubled souls. Other roles, however, would surprise many in other tribes.

Running a decent urban caern is expensive. Security technology needs to be maintained and updated on a regular basis; supplies such as food and ammunition need to be refilled. Bills like electricity, rent, and water have to be paid, and in such a way that our enemies can’t work out where we are if they start monitoring the utility companies. This is the kind of thankless work that usually falls to the Philodox.

Likewise, remember that our “medicine men” are busy trying to refine the caern’s defense plans, so Philodox get the role of combat medics, too. It’s all part of the same basic idea of “Keep the pack a well-oiled machine.”

And of course, you’re looking at the basic preservation of the law. This would seem like a pretty simple job; after all, we Urrah must be pretty lax about keeping up with the rules, right? Well, not quite. Every sept has its own procedures, and there’s the spiritual mandates handed down by Cockroach and Gaia, and of course the laws of the Garou Nation to boot. A savvy Half-Moon had better be able to keep up with all that.

Many tend to take up other jobs as well. (If only, I suspect, to take their minds off everything that requires their attention at the caern.) This helps, since we’re kind of a non-profit organization and thus need every contribution we can get. Philodox often make sterling business managers, high-level accountants, system administrators and any other jobs with lots of variables to be juggled all at once. They get a lot of practice at it. Once you’ve worked out how to take down a discontented Ahroun all the while already thinking of ways to deter investigations into the disturbance and where the money to replace broken equipment will come from, I guess everything else would seem a little tame.

### Shadow Lords

Even beyond our tribe, our Philodox — our judges — are well known. It falls to them to weigh our souls and deeds and pass judgment on us, and to punish us if they find us wanting. Some abuse this power, using the Litany as a weapon to lash out at political rivals. Most, however, take their role quite seriously, and would sooner die than see their vision corrupted by petty ambitions. It is the vision of such individuals which keeps our tribe ideologically pure, and which makes us fit to lead the other tribes in our battle to crush the Wyrm.

Though rarely leaders, our Philodox often take on the roles of counselors and arbiters of disputes within individual packs. While they rarely exhibit the ambition typical of Theurges and Ahroun, they are nonetheless coldly efficient when it comes to judging the behavior of their packmates. It’s true that few take their role so seriously as do the Judges of Doom, but most are quite willing to cut their fellows down if they feel such individuals threaten a sept or tribe.

### Silent Striders

Philodox are expected to serve as mediators, and we’re no different. Because we travel so much, we’re often outsiders to the numerous political disputes that crop up among caerns and septs. So a lot of times, they’ll ask a newly arrived Strider Half Moon to serve as an arbitrator. The idea is that the Strider will make a judgment based on nothing more than the facts at hand. There’s one small flaw in this idea, though. The facts at hand never exist in a vacuum. There’s always a story behind each fact, so most of our Philodox tend to become pretty good detectives. Some septs get annoyed when some outsider starts poking around in their dirty laundry, but they keep asking us to arbitrate so they must not mind it too much.

The other job of the Philodox is to act as judge (and when need be, jury and executioner). Ghosts come to use wanting closure for whatever baggage they carried with them to the other side. For a lot of them, that means revenge on the people who killed them or who otherwise done them wrong. So who better to come to for vengeance than a 400 pound killing machine. Of course, ghosts are just like the living. Lots of them are liars, are exaggerating the wrongs done against them out of a need for petty revenge, or are otherwise full of shit. So most requests of that nature get forwarded to the nearest Philodox. The Half Moon will find out the truth. If the ghost has a legitimate grievance, the Strider will act on it. If not, well, we have ways of punishing the dead too.

### Silver Fangs

These philosophers are like Falcon’s wings, for they uplift us and keep us above the petty conflicts of other tribes, focusing our intent always on the greater picture. Their thoughtful ways seek compromise where others see only conflict, and they counsel necessity when others seek avoidance. A great number of our kings and queens have come from this auspice, and their reigns are noted for their longevity if not valor.

The stewards of the Sun and Moon Lodges are always Philodox. Their temperaments best suited to organizing the efforts of others, picking each for the best of his abilities rather than the honey in his words.

### Uktena

“The Lawgivers are our best mentors and teachers. Not only do they interpret the Litany and decide on punishments for crimes, they excel at building connections between us. Look at what you’ve been doing, Erishka. You’ve talked with many different kinds of Uktena, and each place you go you create a link with a new pack or sept. We Uktena have long memories, and in the days to come, we won’t forget that you shared a story with us. Since we’re so spread out in these times, such bonds are worth much,” said Kakai, with a smile.

“But back to your relationship with the Crescent Moons. The burden they have, as I said, is heavy. Many times they’ll share it with a Half Moon. As a judge, you can aid them in deciding which secrets should be spoken, and how gathered knowledge should influence the pack’s actions. A burden shared is somewhat less heavy for both who carry it.”

“Then a Half Moon is also a good listener,” Erishka mused. “I can live with that. So, what about the Songkeepers and Warriors, since we’re talking about Luna’s faces?”

### Wendigo

In these times, confined as we are in close quarters with enemies on every side, it would be all too easy to turn on each other in blind rage and weaken ourselves arguing over scraps of meat. The Philodox keeps our eyes on our enemies. The Philodox keeps the heart of the Litany, the body of our laws. Theirs is a heavy burden. Our treacherous cousins spit upon the Litany as it pleases them and yet we adhere to the letter of it for that is the way of honor. Can the Half-Moons be blamed if the injustice of the last five centuries drives them to greater leniency in matters of trivial transgression?

We trust the judgment of our Philodox, and they do not fail us. We have spent centuries cleansing our ranks of the stain of cannibalism. Who better to judge which eater of men or wolves can be reformed and which is irredeemable? The same goes for the killing of Wyrmcomers. Murder must not be countenanced, but if one of our own misjudges the fragility of one of the whites and kills them, what is that in the face of the many thousands of men women and children slain over the past five centuries? We are not soft, but neither are we needlessly harsh. Punishment and retribution are meted out as circumstances merit. Can the Wyrmcomers make that same claim? I think not.