Shadow Lords

*“Of course I have a plan. Someone needs to do the thinking around here. Now are you interested in winning this fight, or were you looking forward to a glorious face-first charge into a wall of silver bullets?"*

The strong dominate; the weak submit. This is the core of Shadow Lord philosophy. Intensely political and coldly pragmatic, the Shadow Lords practice a rigid internal hierarchy and promote an equally unforgiving value system for the Garou Nation. Their very presence is divisive. Other tribes view their manipulative tactics as a reason to distrust the Lords, or complain that anyone so ruthless is marked for eventual corruption. Some would argue that they should be cast out of the Nation entirely — but the Shadow Lords are far too valuable. Their methods are often dishonorable and sometimes cruel, but they get results.

Life among the Lords is one part oppressive and one part inspirational. Cubs are taught to fear their elders as much as revere them. But the tribe is also a meritocracy — those who have the ambition and skill to succeed will go farther than those who rely on a misguided sense of entitlement. The lupus of the tribe usually start by mastering this instinctive dominance before they begin to hone their more humanlike capacity for deception and politics. Metis begin with the deck stacked against them — but are in a unique position to begin learning the tribe’s manipulative tricks almost as soon as they can talk.

The Shadow Lords’ tribal strength is that they produce very strong, cunning champions; their elders and leaders have earned their position by constantly honing themselves. Their tribal weakness is that every Shadow Lord contends against his brethren. Those below you covet your position; those above you don’t want you coveting theirs. Their constant struggles for dominance have dealt them more than one setback in their ongoing quest for power.

This ruthless tribal philosophy has been at the tribe’s heart ever since its founding in what is now Eastern Europe. During the Impergium, they showed no mercy in culling their charges — and when the Impergium ended, they still believed it necessary that humans fear the dark. Over the years, the Shadow Lords have made all manner of alliances, only to turn on their compatriots when the opportunity and the excuse were there. Many of these alliances were even with other creatures of the night such as vampires. Of course, it’s not fashionable to be seen consorting with a Leech, even if you plan to eventually turn on it — because of course it will eventually turn on you — so the Shadow Lords aren’t seen doing so. Not if they can help it.

As ambitious and callous as they are, most Shadow Lords are still loyalists to the Gaian cause. They work to undercut and dethrone weak leaders, but a strong and cunning leader earns great loyalty from the tribe of Grandfather Thunder. They play one Garou against another, testing the loyalties of both. If someone in a sept is close to turning to the Wyrm, more often than not it’s a Shadow Lord who finds out first — and then exploits the information in the most advantageous way possible. As they reasonably point out, only the weak and corrupt have anything to fear from their investigations. The fact that it’s the Shadow Lords defining “weak” and “corrupt” does little to allay concerns. A Philodox of Grandfather Thunder rarely errs on the side of compassion.

In these dying times, though, the Shadow Lords see weakness all around them. The Silver Fangs are doddering and foolish at the time they’re needed most. The tribes are splintered and squabbling where they should be unified against the Wyrm. The authority of royal blood has failed; the calls for reconciliation have failed. Perhaps the only thing that will unite the Garou Nation is fear. If that’s what it takes — if the Garou need an iron claw to bring them together — the Shadow Lords will certainly take the opportunity when it presents itself.

## History

The Shadow Lords originated in the steppes of Eurasia, where they controlled human tribes by assuming an indispensable position within their societies that would exert no direct power, but whose word was heeded. Acting as the Betas of the Garou Nation, they supported the rule of the Silver Fangs in a similar manner, positioning themselves as their viziers and their secret henchmen, doing those deeds that would harm their reputation. The Fangs used the Shadow Lords as scapegoats for their own dark deeds, and the Shadow Lords accepted this, seeing that it would benefit the Nation if the name of the Silver Fangs would remain pure. Many Shadow Lords felt the Concord that ended the Impergium didn't address many things that were the catalyst for the Impergium to begin with, planting the first seeds of discontent within the tribe. During this time, the Shadow Lords followed their herds into Eastern Europe, where they became involved in an intense war with a local brood of Leeches calling themselves Tzimisce.

The Shadow Lords had very little involvement with the human civilizations of Antiquity, instead dwelling among the barbarians who eventually sacked Rome. Some that had traveled there as ambassadors to the Fangs found a suitable role amidst the senators. These Shadow Lords taught their brethren many of the tactics used by the Romans when the gross of their tribe arrived with the Slavs during the Great Migration and spread over Europe.

### Dark Ages

The Shadow Lords found an extreme distaste in the workings of Christianity among the humans. The institutionalism of the Church alienated people from their tribal roots, making it more difficult for the Shadow Lords to exert their influence over them, as they were used to coerce certain people to do their bidding, not whole institutions. Also, the influence of vampires rose during this age and the Shadow Lords found themselves besieged in their homelands by hordes of Wyrmspawn. Otherwise, the Dark Ages were a wonderful time to be a Shadow Lord. Focusing on Byzantium (one of its emperors, Justinian, is claimed by the tribe to be kin) and the Balkans, the Shadow Lords consolidated their hold over humanity by dividing them and keeping them confined within their rural villages.

Many Shadow Lords were impressed by the early advances of Islam and inserted themselves into its ranks, despite the loss of Kinfolk suffered at the hands of the Saracens. While they never adopted the religion for themselves, they came to admire its internal workings and chose some of the Moorish population as kin. The same held true for the Mongols, which produced some of the early Hakken.

Between 1456–1462, the Lords had a new enemy, born from their own homelands, the Impaler Prince, Vlad Țepeș, Dracula. While he enjoyed the support of the Tribe early in his reign for his advances against the Turks, he later consorted with the Tzimisce and was turned into a creature of the Wyrm himself. The Lords continued to support him, torn between protecting their Kin from the Turks and fighting the Wyrmspawn war leaders. In the end, they arranged for Dracula's imprisonment by the hands of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. The Shadow Lords claim to have killed the Impaler Prince in 1475, however, it seems that Dracula survived into the Final Nights.

### Renaissance

The Shadow Lords arranged themselves with the Turkish domination of their domains. The illusion of control over humanity, however, was finally broken and the Lords saw that the Garou had failed in their mandate to control the mortal herd.

The discovery of the New World by the Spaniards marked one of the darkest chapters of the Shadow Lords and one of the few things that inspire remorse for the entire tribe. That event was the extinction of the Camazotz. Their failure to keep Dracula in check made the tribe hasty in judgement and when they were faced with shapeshifting man-bats that practiced blood sacrifice (similar to their vampiric enemies in Europe) amidst the Wyrm taint of the Mesoamerican civilizations, they snapped. Other Fera, like the Balam and Mokolé, also faced their Rage but managed to keep themselves alive. Dark-Claw-of-Vengeance was the Shadow Lord that slaughtered the last Camazotz and its death scream echoed throughout the entire tribe, forcing even those who resided in Europe on their knees with grief, even when they did not understand the reason until much later.

The Shadow Lords also claim that the so-called Pure Lands were overrun with corruption, most visible in the Aztec Empire that was ruled in secret by a horrible abomination. The scream of the last Camazotz also reawakened an ancient Wyrm monstrosity known as the Storm-Eater that wreaked havoc in the American West. It was a Shadow Lord, Darkness Rising, who convinced the European Tribes to participate in the Rite to bind the Bane again.

### Victorian Age

Back in Europe, the Silver Fangs earned the ire of the Shadow Lords when they messed with the power structure of the Balkan states by following their Russian Kin. Infighting in the Silver Fangs, especially between House Austere Howl and House Crescent Moon, destroyed the precarious status quo the Shadow Lords had insinuated. While the Fangs managed to free the Sept of the Night Sky from Tzimisce hands, the event sparked even greater Leech influence, as many elders turned their eyes to vengeance against the werewolves and began to work against them.

The Great War sparked the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that ousted the Silver Fangs from position of mortal authority. In the eyes of many Shadow Lords, it proved that the Fangs had lost the right to rule and many began to think about taking the mantle of Alpha of the Nation for themselves.

### Modern Nights

The Second World War was a time period when the Shadow Lords were in their most distress. Banes swarmed the death-camps, humans killed each other with the Weaver's tools and the only one who prospered from the bloodshed was the Wyrm. During the Cold War, many Shadow Lords adopted the paranoid atmosphere, beginning to work as information brokers and tried to protect their Kinfolk from the purges initiated by Stalin in the occupied Balkan states. They appreciated the order the Soviets forced upon them in order to act in secrecy and found themselves a little bit off-set when the Iron Curtain crumbled.

The Shadow Lords were one of the tribes targeted by Baba Yaga and her armies. Two powerful Caerns fell into her hands and the Lords battled with her minions in order to reclaim them.

The Balkan region still aches under the influence of Banes and other Wyrmspawn that feed from the misery of the Kosovo War and the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Lords work hard to keep them in check. Their American brethren are involved in the Amazon War, but found themselves distrusted by the native Fera for their involvement in the death of the were-bats.

But the fortune of the Lords seems to be on the rise. A descendant of Dark Claw of Vengeance, Miguel Gutierrez, underwent a quest to Malfeas and the Black Spiral Labyrinth itself, where he approached Bat, the fallen patron of the Camazotz, to make amends for the crime of his ancestor. It worked and a small part of Bat's psyche has been freed from the Wyrm's influence, showing that the Shadow Lords are willing and capable of addressing their past mistakes. In Europe, a German Shadow Lord named Yuri Konietzko has risen to the position of Margrave and has begun a campaign to unite the Tribes under his rule, much to the chagrin of the Silver Fangs. As Konietzko has himself proven as more capable than any leader the Fangs have produced in the last hundred years (although Jonas Albrecht might challenge that claim), power within the Garou Nation seems to vex to the Shadow Lords, allowing them to become the Alpha of the Garou.

## Appearance

Shadow Lords with high Pure Breed often lean toward the saturnine in all forms. In Lupus form, they are notably thick and stocky, with the dark coats that reflect their tribal name.

## Kinfolk and Territory

The oldest Kinfolk families are of Eastern European stock, but the Shadow Lords are drawn to humans that demonstrate intelligence, power or excellence. They don’t coddle their Kin; they don’t breed with people (or wolves) that need it. They’re fairly opportunistic about territory, but prefer caerns in starkly beautiful settings like wildlands from a Gothic romance.

## Tribal Totem

Grandfather Thunder, a powerful stormspirit that demands a clear hierarchy. The most famous spirits of his brood are the Stormcrows, which are inextricably linked to the Shadow Lords. Grandfather Thunder has also dominated other spirits that others would find difficult to control, such as spirits of night and pain.

## Character Creation

Shadow Lords believe in being wellrounded, though they’re particularly prone to stress Mental Attributes and Manipulation. They favor a wide variety of Abilities, particularly those dealing with guile and persuasion. Allies and Mentor are discouraged Backgrounds; Shadow Lords generally prefer to hold associates at arm’s length.

**Initial Willpower:** 3

**Beginning Gifts:** Aura of Confidence, Fatal Flaw, Seizing the Edge, Shadow Weaving, Whisper Catching

## Orgnization

The leaders of the Shadow Lords are known as Alphas, referring to the "alpha" wolf that rules over wolf packs in the wild. Most, if not all Alphas, are extremely controlling, lording over their underlings with unquestioned authority. However, many Alphas take the time to engender their followers with feelings of pride and affection, for their leader, realizing that willing followers are easier to control than slaves. Alphas, however, are also not opposed to ruthlessly dispensing with a follower who asks one too many questions.

### Hakken

The Hakken are a Tribe of Hengeyokai that closely resemble Japanese Shadow Lords. Although they are as often distrusted as the Shadow Lords, they are not of the same Tribe. Unlike their western cousins, the Hakken have managed to balance the manipulations of the Shadow Lords with the honor of *bushidō*. Perhaps it is because of their willingness to protect Japan, even as their numbers shrink at an alarming rate, that the Hakken are one of the only tribes of Garou to hold any influence in the Beast Courts of Asia.

## Camps

Although the Lords consider themselves the most unified tribe in the Nation, a wide range of philosophies (and thus camps) still prosper among Grandfather Thunder’s children. Regardless of their individual paths to the summit, Shadow Lord camps all serve one ultimate goal — the ascension of their people over any who would oppose them. Power, they believe, is more respectable than personal honor; any personal power gained serves the whole of the tribe.

### Bringers of Light

The Bringers of Light seek inner strength by continually testing themselves against the taint around them. Time and time again, they seek out the temptation of the Wyrm, interacting with vampires, Black Spiral Dancers, fomori, and other Wyrmfolk. Although many have fallen while trying to embrace this camp’s tenets, the Bringers believe that the strongest (and truly worthy) do not succumb to the darkness; they overcome it.

### Children of Crow

Not all power is gained through personal aggrandizement. Children of Crow know this, and by forgoing the call of individual ambition for the sake of political expediency, they gain power by serving those more powerful than themselves. Such servants will never attain positions of personal authority. They sacrifice chances to gain power for themselves in order to serve the tribe by catching details in their environment and uncovering secrets buried in the hearts and minds of others. They use this information not only to destroy enemies of the Garou and fight the Wyrm, but to build a foundation upon which those of other Shadow Lord camps may build their towers of power.

### Judges of Doom

The Judges of Doom strike fear deep into the heart of the Garou Nation by seeking out and destroying Garou who flagrantly violate the tenets of the Litany. They pursue their agenda with ruthless zeal. Pitiless and remorseless, they show no mercy as they hunt down and destroy Garou — even entire septs — who have allowed a caern to be violated or committed some other wholesale violation of the Nation’s laws. No Litany-breakers are immune to their scrutiny and justice.

### Lords of the Summit

A Lord of the Summit will do anything to achieve power, and once he achieves it, will not sacrifice it for any reason. Invoking the Litany, Lords with authority state that since the Apocalypse is at hand, there is no longer any illusion of peace under which their rulership may be honorably challenged. These Lords hold many leadership positions within the tribe (and the Nation), where their continuous states of “martial law” promote and preserve their tyranny.

### Revolutionary Guard

This secret Shadow Lord camp consists mostly of highpowered Philodox and their Ahroun allies from around the world. They meet in secret at each Shadow Lord Grand Moot to plot the usurpation of the Silver Fangs’ rulership of the Garou Nation. The Guard command great military power, and have strong internal coordination. Though they hatch their plots in secret and carry out their actions without coordination from within the Shadow Lord hierarchy, they operate with the tacit blessing of the highest levels of tribal authority. Many high-ranking Shadow Lords aspire to join the Revolutionary Guard, and being tapped for membership is considered a tremendous honor.

### The Masks

A secret society devoted to instilling fear in their enemies, the Masks’ dedication to their dark arts is so fanatic that they purportedly practice ritualized mutilation upon themselves to inspire greater horror in their victims. Since the unknown is the playground of fear, no true Mask ever reveals their membership in the camp to outsiders, save for those who are targeted for indoctrination into their numbers.

Leadership within the tribe consistently claims to have stamped the Masks out of existence. Whether this is accurate or not remains to be seen, but Shadow Lord Galliards still sing many of their tales as a warning to others.

### The Society of Nidhogg

All Storm Lords understand the power of darkness, but none so deeply as the members of this secretive, mystic camp. So strong is their fanaticism that they claim that sunlight itself is a threat to the forces of Thunder, and seek to plunge the world into eternal darkness (the better to carry out their tribe’s rise to power unfettered by Helios’ unyielding rays). The official tribal word on this camp is that it has been eradicated due to possible associations with vampires and other creatures of the Wyrm; some believe, however, that they have merely slipped back into their beloved darkness to regroup.

## Shadow Lord Caerns

* Brooding Sky Sept, Ukraine, near Romanian border.
* Sept of the Night Sky (Rural Romania)
* Thunderstrike Sept, western foothills of the southern Ural Mountains, Russia
* Baba-Yaga Stone Caern (Baba-Yaga Stone, Pavlodar Region, Kazakstan)
* Childhood Dream Falls Caern (between Caribous Targhee National Forest and Yellowstone National Park)
* Cradle Mountain Caern (Cradle Mountain, Tasmania)
* Electric Peak Caern (Electric Peak, Yellowstone National Park)
* Sept of the Hidden Fire (near Mt. Korab, Macedonia)
* Sept of the Broken Chain (Salvador Wilfelife Management Area, New Orleans, Louisiana)

## Tribal Culture

In a group that emphasizes brains over brawn, the Shadow Lords are one of the less physical tribes, placing high emphasis on cunning and manipulation. That is not to say that they do not have their fair share of adept warriors. Power is most important of all of these, and there is no room in the Shadow Lords for showing weakness or mercy to an opponent, be it a battle of wits or of blades.

In considering their standings among the other tribes, the Lords have a particular hatred for the Silver Fangs, seeing the Garou nobility as an outdated dinosaur holding the rest back from achieving their full potential. The Shadow Lords would love to supplant the Fangs as the unquestioned leaders of the Garou, and will rarely pass up an opportunity to take their plans one step further.

### Political Culture

No other tribe knows the nature of politics like the Shadow Lords. Both within the clan and among the Garou as a whole, the Shadow Lords are constantly behind the scenes of any group or faction they have been able to get their claws into, manipulating others like puppets and pawns to get what the tribe wants and needs. While most Shadow Lords believe their works are for the greater good, particularly regarding their interpretations of the Litany, many other Garou see them as deceitful dogs who need to be kept in clear view.

### Religious Culture

The Shadow Lords are among the few tribes that are not only willing to sacrifice themselves for Gaia ( such is expected from every Garou), but also others in order to further their greater goal. Sacrifice plays an important role within the Tribe, and a Shadow Lord is expected to be willing to sacrifice anything in the cause of a given cause, himself and all of his allies included. This gives them their grim reputation among the Nation.

Shadow Lords have a reverence of lightning storms, viewing them as expressions of ther Totem. To the Shadow Lords, Gifts are spiritual birthrights, not an end in themselves. Lords who want to learn Gifts have to prove themselves worthy and considerate enough to use their Gifts in a manner befitting the Tribe.

## Stereotypes of the Other Tribes

### Black Furies

There’s more to them than just the righteous anger they broadcast. They have many irons in the fire; play to each one.

### Bone Gnawers

Impressively clever. Dangerously underrated. Considerably useful.

### Children of Gaia

Their aggression’s difficult to make use of, and they’re very sensitive about it. Still, don’t underestimate the utility of a tribe that understands the necessity of cooperation.

### Fianna

They’ll argue with any plan just for the love of argument. Let the dispute run its course, let them think they’ve won, and then get them moving against the target.

### Get of Fenris

Handle them properly, and they’re a vital part of any battle plan. Make a mistake in handling them… actually, let me just say don’t make a mistake in handling them.

### Glass Walkers

Sensible fellows who understand they don’t have many friends in the Nation, particularly pragmatic ones.

### Red Talons

Tricky to persuade and more clever than you’d expect, but fine hunters and warriors as long as you allow for a little… collateral damage.

### Silent Striders

They see and hear more than you’d want them to. Account for that.

### Silver Fangs

There will come a point where the fall of the Silver Fangs will do more to unify the tribes than their presence does. Wait.

### Stargazers

How do you deal with someone who claims to want nothing? Frustrating. At least they keep their distance when uninvited.

### Uktena

Pragmatic. Can be reasoned with. But they trust in their spirit cohorts more than in their fellow Garou, and those spirits of theirs are damnably enigmatic.

### Wendigo

They remember a great many poor bargains and bad deals. The prudent method is to offer them nothing you can’t afford to deliver.