Theurge

**Theurge** is one of the five Auspices under which a Garou may be born. The sickle-shaped crescent moon grants the gift of insight. The Theurges are the mystics of the Garou, closer than any to the Umbra and its denizens.

## Overview

Only the Ragabash start with less Rage than the Theurges do, which is just as well - many spirits avoid beings with high levels of Rage. That is the task of the Theurge - they are conduits for the spirits, explorers of the Umbra, seers and oracles. They are considered the masters of many of the powers of the Garou, including Gifts, Rites, and fetishes. They are often intuitive, mysterious, secretive, and seemingly illogical, for they adhere to the ways of the spirits.

Their mind may sometimes be too deep in the realm of the spirit, and their packmates often have to ground them back in reality - Theurges are not considered to be very practical. They are also rarely the leader of a pack, although they will often lead when in the Umbra or when dealing with spirits. Among their pack, they are often just that - guides and sources of wisdom in the realm of the Umbra, the enactor of rites, creator of Talens and fetishes, and often must play at being a medic as well. In a battle, they are more likely to serve as support compared to other Garou, but it is worth noting that even the coolest, calmest Theurges are still Garou, and burn with Rage deep within.

The most important form of Renown for those born under the crescent moon is Wisdom, with Honor as a secondary focus. Like Philodox, these two are difficult to gain quickly, and so a Theurge isn't likely to shoot up the Ranks. That said, once a Theurge is old and truly full of Wisdom, they can truly serve as an important aid to their people even if their body is not as strong as it once was, and so an old Theurge is tolerated far more than an old Ahroun, who will be expected to remove his weakness from the Garou one way or another. Sept positions that they are likely to fill include Caller of the Wyld, Keeper of the Land, and, most importantly of all, Master of the Rite. This is because rites are considered the natural domain of Theurges (and Philodox as well). This means they are apt to learn almost any rite, although they are particularly inclined toward Mystic Rites, Caern Rites, and Seasonal Rites.

Theurges of the waxing moon are considered to interact with the spirits in a more more open, charismatic manner - they often form friendships with the spirits they serve or command. Comparatively, those of the waning moon supposedly are a darker lot, and consider spirits things to be bound, dominated, and unleashed.

## Tribal Views

### Black Furies

Still fresh from her cycle of tears, Luna begins to question all of existence. Why does a cat-spirit hunt a mouse-spirit? Why does her sister Gaia turn just so? Why do the Garou war on the other Fera? No easy answers here, but those born under this face seek them anyway. The questions do not always need to be answered, often just asking them is enough.

Theurges and Ragabash both question, but in different ways. No-moons question the status quo in hopes of reaffirming it or changing it as necessary. Crescent moons, instead, ask questions out of curiosity. If the answers lead to great spiritual truths, wonderful. If they lead only to more questions or to simple answers (I remember well learning the answer to “What do bees smell like?”), then that also is learning and therefore good.

### Bone Gnawers

Bone Gnawer Theurges are masters of urban ritual, scavengers who can find the sacred world in the most desolate and decrepit parts of the big city. Many are visionaries who border on insanity, or are at least seen as mad because they view the physical world very differently than the humans around them. Wide-eyed mystics who look for spirits on street corners are often mistaken for drug addicts, former mental patients, or alcoholic bums... and sometimes they are. Just as often, they are compassionate and caring healers who call upon the spirits to aid the disadvantaged, starving, physically wounded, and spiritually scarred.

### Children of Gaia

"The Children of Gaia's Theurges embrace the ideal of spiritual healing whole-heartedly, seeking out ways to cleanse corruption from individuals and heal emotional wounds. They have connections though their totem to special spirits called Heart Guides that have insight into the emotions and potentials of an individual. Every person has a Heart Guide, and that spirit understands the path that person can find to rise up over suffering, loss and depression, It's the Gaian Theurge's responsibility to use that information to help the person in question. Now if that sounds cliched or saccharine to you, I want you to consider this:"

"I'm sure you've seen real cruelty and degradation in your life, Anjou-I know that I have. And I know that, like me, you have probably put up your emotional walls and prevented yourself from sharing the pain of others completely, because that kind of empathy would be too hard for you to bear. We all do it, consciously or not, and I'm not trying to condemn that. But I am trying to get across to you the incredible courage that it takes to do what these Theurges do, to live though others' pain with them and to share their wounding. It's messy and bloody and it hurts, and very few people are psychologically set up to give of themselves in this manner. Surely, you've seen people like that? At homeless shelters, at rape crisis centers, at police stations and even schools? And you feel just a little bit in awe of them, and very awkward, because you know that it's not in your nature to give as selflessly and completely as they do, again and again. That's what the Children of Gaia's Theurges are like. Think about that before you dismiss all Theurges as bullies, tree-huggers or dogmatics."

### Fianna

Theurges are some of the druids of the tribe. Now, don’t you be getting any ideas in yer head about men in white sheets cutting mistletoe on the solstice. You ever heard of the threefold death? Yeah, well, that’s where you kill a man in three ways simultaneously — say hanging, stabbing and whipping — before throwing him into a bog to appease the spirits. If they’re feeling nice and the sacrifice is a willing volunteer, they just might knock him out first. Sounds nasty, right? None of the honorable death in battle shite? Well, if that’s what it takes to appease a particular spirit, that’s what they’ll do. That’s the key to a Fianna Theurge — she’ll go as far as she needs to appease the spirits. They’re our allies, and they aren’t easy to deal with, but we need them. What a Theurge says goes when it comes to the Umbra and the spirits.

### Get of Fenris

The Godi - The Crescent Moon. The mystics of our tribe, the Godi serve as our link to the spirit world, to Fenris, and to the world spirit. Focused though they are on all manner of spiritual and arcane studies, they are often less proficient physically than are most Fenrir. Nevertheless, they are forced to become formidable fighters in their own right. They have to be, since they traffic with spirits that are not forgiving when it comes to weakness. Some have been known to scar themselves, best horrible minions of the Wyrm, and even pluck out one of their own eyes just to gain the favor of a particular spirit which might help them in their quest. Most Garou will give a spirit gifts and pretty words to curry its favor, but not the Godi. They track their spirits down and force them to take notice of us, to recognize our worthiness in the grand scheme of things. That is what separates them from the lesser Theurges we see within the other tribes.

It is easy to underestimate these werewolves, for they — like the Rotagar — do not fit our preconceptions of the warrior ideal. Such assumptions are dangerous, however, for they blind us to the Godi’s true strengths, and also make us less aware of the fact that they, too, are fearsome warriors. The Godi who channels his mystical talents into combat prowess is a warrior of staggering potential, so do not dismiss his abilities.

### Glass Walkers

This is where things begin to get weird to other tribes. Theurges come in all shapes and sizes in the Glass Walkers, from the most traditional to the downright quirky. On the more familiar side of the equation, you get simple modernizers who perform traditional rites with convenient alternatives. A trip to the pet store provides the cotton-tailed sacrifice most Garou have to hunt down, before burning it and making a smell. They buy Yamaha Drum kits to make fetishes out of the skin and proceed to wake the neighbors greeting Helios every morning. They’re the worst neighbors you’ve ever had. For a reason.

Then you get religious wackos. For various reasons, Glass Walker society is often deeply religiously syncretic, and nowhere is this more evident than among Theurges. Whether it’s howling the Anthem of War over the symbol of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, or performing Misogi for a Rite of Purification, these Garou take the basic elements of Gaia worship and interpret it in the context of human religion.

And finally you have Technogaianists. By using LEDs to rouse limited consciousness in REM sleep and produce lucid dreaming (or just sitting in front of a computer screen for so long that they fade into unconsciousness), they manage to find the Goddess in the computer, and the VCR, and any household appliance you’d care to name. You can’t appreciate just how flexible Gaia is until you’ve seen a Glass Walker delete a 3D rendering of a cow they worked for days on as a “sacrifice,” and then you see it work.

Theurges aren’t just the official diplomats to the spirits in the Glass Walkers. They’re expected to be leaders in crisis situations and even military commanders in a caern’s defense, especially during assaults that have a spiritual element. In short, Theurges are considered our one-stop spirit-dealing shop with a knack for getting results. A lot of responsibility rests on their shoulders, but when you look at the biographies of great Glass Walker heroes, you’ll notice a lot of the crescent moons up there.

***Bypass-Circuit, a noisy bastard, complains about his life:** Man, we always get the short end of the stick. Everyone in the tribe thinks we’re brand new, and everyone outside the tribe thinks the whole tribe is like us. Fact: We’re not new, and we’re still a minority. Sort of.*

*Most people out there tend to think of Technogaianism as something very modern, placing the birth of the movement with the creation of the early computers in the 1930s and ’40s. But a few smart people notice that for a while, a whole bunch of Technogaianists was the dominant gang in the tribe: The Iron Riders. And they were doing their bit about a century before the computer ever became a reality. Forget Babbage engines, these guys were into steam engines.*

*You don’t need a computer to see Gaia in technology; you just need any technology with moving parts. Even that’s really an artificial distinction; a klaive is technology. We’re just extending the basic principle with the times. When watermills got going, we looked for the spirits in them, and then in windmills, and firearms, then steam engines, and now in computers. Just about every tribe out there has their Technogaianists, really (except maybe the Red Talons); it’s just that we admit it freely.*

*See, when it’s all said and done, Technogaianism isn’t radically different from regular Gaianism in terms of its beliefs. There are one or two spirits we worship that others don’t, but we revere Gaia above all else, and we have a specific language for giving Her praise.*

*Natalia really doesn’t convey just how varied we are, either. I’ve seen some of us find spirits in induced REM sleep, but others have found ways to summon them with a “Find Computer” or even just a “ping” command on a PC. Others just find ways to house spirits in their computers on a longterm basis, turning their own computers into fetishes. Doing so requires an actual “house” for the spirit, though how this house is created depends strongly on the personality of the Technogaianist. The stereotypical “punk hackers” offer war spirits homes made with first-person shooter level editors, whilst more urbane types use architectural software. One guy I know is going to experiment with player-created housing in MMORPGs with intent to “infect” other players’ computers with spirits. No idea how it’ll go.*

*Technogaianism kind of happens in waves. Gets very popular, then dies off, then gets popular again. Since there are a lot of us in the Random Interrupts, I’d like to think we’re on the crest of a wave waiting to break.*

### Shadow Lords

If it can be said that Shadow Lords are obsessed with power, it can also be said that Theurges represent the core of that ambition. All of the rites and mysticism of our tribe rest in our capable claws, and we are born closer to Grandfather Thunder than any of the rest. While the Crescent Moons are relegated to supporting roles in many other Garou tribes, such is not the case with the Shadow Lords. Indeed, within our septs Theurges prove to be capable leaders more often than not, intimidating the strong with mystical power and controlling the weak with the same. One need only look at the Margrave, the greatest living Theurge of our tribe, to see how potent Garou born of this auspice can be, and how dangerous they are when roused to action.

Though we may be touched with ambition, Theurges play a central role in Shadow Lord society. We keep our brothers and sisters in touch with the Stormcrows and the rest of Grandfather Thunder’s brood, and we channel the spirits who have eyes and ears that go far beyond our own mystical and mundane talents. We are pathfinders and seekers of truth, and our power comes from our ability to show the tribe the truths that go beyond the simple concerns of the Garou. We walk the sharp sickle of Luna’s crescent, and although we may be cut, we bleed willingly for our knowledge.

### Silent Striders

Theurges are the shamans among an entire community of spirit-touched. Every one of us has a deep connection to the spirit world. But Theurges take that even further. Where the rest of us have a foot in each world, they lean more heavily to the spirit world. They see things no one else can see, and go where others fear to tread.

As Gaia’s creations, we’re naturally attuned to the Umbra and the spirits of life. As Owl’s children, we’re drawn to the Underworld and the spirits of death. Our Theurges seek mastery over life and death. Most have a haunted look in their eyes. Something that comes from being intimately familiar with what lies on the other side. They speak in riddles and cryptic statements because they know, more than anyone else, that the dead are always around us. Always watching and always listening. And they know better than any that dead men can tell tales.

### Silver Fangs

The mystics of our tribe serve as Falcon’s ears, listening careful for the whispered sounds of the spirits brushing against the walls of the worlds. In the sounds of their speech or movement, the Theurges interpret patterns of prophecy or gain insight into vexing questions. It is uncommon for Theurges to sit the throne, but those who have done so exhibited strange wisdom that many only came to understood well after their reign was over. Queen Tvarivich is a Theurge.

The shamans of the Sun and Moon Lodges are always Theurges. They serve the Celestines and their broods, ensuring that the will of the spirits is always heard in court.

### Uktena

“So when you question the Warriors, what do… ” the Half Moon began, but Kakai cut her off.

“Question the Warriors? What do you mean?”

“Well, you just said that you provoke the pack leaders, and they’re all Warriors,” replied Erishka.

The Ragabash laughed, a sound of waves lapping on the shore. “Who told you the Ali’i were always the pack leaders? Maybe that’s true in some of the Wyrmcomer tribes, but not the Uktena. In fact, it’s our Crescent Moons who are the real alphas among us. They may not say so, but behind every strong Full Moon is a wise Shaman manipulating events. They’re the ones who know the genuine truths behind the secrets that others collect. They share what’s needed and keep the rest to themselves. It’s a heavy burden being a Crescent Moon of the Uktena, make no mistake. If they speak too much, they send others to their doom. If they don’t say enough, then who knows what could be lost. Fortunately, they have your kind, the Half Moons, to help them.”

### Wendigo

Only Uktena knows the spirits of the Pure Lands better than we, and they have given their souls for that knowledge. Even they have no tongues for the spirits of the unbroken ice. The winter is our weapon. We know the names of the ice and snow. When we call the storm comes. Mighty things walk the wilds of the frozen north; things bound to our people by ancient pacts. They are potent allies and fearsome to our foes. The Yeti, the Hoary Bear, the Thing Beneath the Ice. They are cousins to our totem, friends to our people, death to all that name us enemy. Our Theurges know the songs to call them, to wake their rage and guide them to our foes. The Killing Rime, the Burning Ice and countless others are ours for the calling. Our foes fear to sleep in our lands. They know the very land rises against them at our call.

There are other things beneath the Pure Lands as well, and we know their names too: the Thousand Mouths of Famine, the Blunt Man, the Hanging Dog. Each lies bound in a magic grave, and Elder Brother watches over them. We watch over Elder Brother lest his curiosity lead him to wake our doom.