The Umbra

There is a place, another dimension that lies just outside of the material world we know so well
and love so much. It's a place full of mystery, wonder, and much, much more... more than anyone
could ever imagine, each tiny step in this spirit world is an adventure in itself. This truly magnificent
yet horrifying place is known as the Umbra. It is the soul of Gaea and the source of great evil.
The Umbra is made up entirely by spiritual energy, and is separated from the mundane world by a
vast barrier called the Gauntlet. Believe it or not, but the spirit and matter world used to be combined
as one at one time, but are now two worlds yearning to reconnect but kept apart by harsh reality.
The only ones who travel freely between the two worlds are Gaea’s chosen, such as the Garou, but
they are only one of a few who have the ability.
Within the Umbra are many pocket dimensions, called Realms, and each is governed by different
laws of reality. A Realm can look and behave like anything at any time. Certain Realms utterly defy
all of Earth's physical laws. However, most of the realms visited by the Garou look and feel like the
physical world.
Despite the division between the Realms of matter and spirit, the two resemble one another. One
portion of the spirit world, called the Penumbra, reflects the material world. Powerful actions on the
physical plane send emanations into the spirit world that pattern the Penumbra in distinctive ways.
The most powerful of these psychic emanations ripple past the Penumbra into the Near Umbra,
where they create whole Realms based around a single idea or mythological construct. These
emanations are too weak to affect the Deep Umbra, which houses the pure, abstract forms known as
the Wyld, the Weaver, and the Wyrm.
The Umbra is filled with spirits, which are both helpful and hostile to the Garou. The Garou see
them as natural phenomena (animals, trees, etc.) or supernatural forces (hideous monsters and
living dumps of pollution). These spirits are without physical substance and can usually enter the
physical world only by being bound into a fetish, person, or creature. Certain spirits, the more
powerful ones, can will themselves into the physical Realm, albeit at a great cost of energy. To the
probing intellects of the Stargazers, these spirits are symbolic forms that have gained a measure of
self-awareness.

The Tellurian
The Garou refer to all of reality as Gaea, especially when they wish to describe the living parts of
creation that must be protected from the ravages of marauders. But they also call all of reality the
Tellurian. They use this term when they wish to refer to the parts of the universe from which
monsters issue – the parts of creation that are dark and evil. (The Garou differ on many points about
the Tellurian. The only thing on which they seem to agree is that a Garou's being can never
encompass and understand the whole of reality.)

The Nature of the World

The Tellurian comprises innumerable locales: vast, natural vistas; choking cityscapes; deep,
infernal pits; indescribable chaotic Realms. The Garou see Gaea as the center of the universe,
anchoring creation and emanating through the myriad Realms of the Tellurian.
The Umbra envelops the material Realm in something akin to Earth's atmosphere. The Garou
believe that three levels compos the Umbra. There is the middle world, which lies on the back of the
great World Turtle. The Heavens lie above the Turtle, and the Underworlds lie in his guts. The place
of Garou (and humans and animals) is in the middle world on the Turtle's back.
The Umbra is not an unknowable cipher, but a real place to be explored and understood. The
Garou feel that if you heal a problem in the spirit world, you heal it in the physical world. This is the
essential guiding principle behind all Garou actions: find the true, spiritual source of a physical
manifestation, understand it, and change it in spirit.
The Umbral Environment
Garou can travel from one location in the Realm to another by traveling through the Umbra on
Moon Bridges. They can also travel directly from the Realm into the Umbra.
Garou, while the most adept at Umbral travel, are not the only earthly beings to enter the Umbra.
Human mages are fascinated by the Umbra and arrive to steal spirit energies. These non-shamanic
humans view the Umbra in a very different manner than do the Garou.

The Earth
Gaea, the Earth, is the center of the Realm System of the Near Umbra. The Garou see the
spiritual universe as emanating from the physical core of Earth's reality. The Realms of the Umbra
orbit the physical core of Earth's reality. The Realms of the Umbra orbit the physical universe just as
planets orbit the Sun. Surrounding Earth's physical reality is the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet exists
throughout physical reality, separating the mundane from the spirit. All sojourners who would leave
the Earth for the Umbra must find a way to pierce this veil. Garou do so by using their caerns -
sacred places where the spiritual and physical worlds meet - or by stepping sideways into the
Umbra. The Earth is such an important place that the Garou often refer to it as "the Realm."

The Gauntlet
The world of physical matter is separated from the world of the Umbra by a powerful boundary
called the Gauntlet. Matter and spirit, craving unity, pull toward one another with a palpable force.
The Gauntlet strains to confine them both and keep them isolated. In some areas the Gauntlet is so
strong that the physical world is virtually spirit-dead. In other areas spiritual energy courses through
and flourishes on Earth. As humankind encroaches on more and more territory and brings more
Weaver energy to Wyld areas, the Gauntlet grows stronger and pushes the spirit world farther away.
The Garou protect areas of weak Gauntlet by forming caerns. They also know how to enter the
Gauntlet and emerge in the spirit world. Furthermore, they know how to circumvent the Gauntlet
utterly by traveling to the spirit world in dreams.
Every place on Earth has a Gauntlet rating from 2 to 9. Travel through areas of high Gauntlet is
virtually impossible. Areas of low Gauntlet allow almost unhindered access for those who know how
to step sideways.

Area Typical Gauntlet

Science Lab 9
Inner City 8
Most Places 7
Rural Countryside 6
Deep Wilderness 5
Typical Active Caern (Levels 1-2) 4
Powerful Caern (Levels 3-4) 3
The Greatest Caerns (Level 5) 2

Caerns
The Gauntlet fluctuates from place to place. It is stronger in places of civilization and science,
weaker in wild, primitive areas. In the areas where it is weakest, spiritual energy freely enters the
mundane world. Wondrous and mystic phenomena are common in these places. The Garou revere
such sites as holy and call them caerns. They vigorously guard the few remaining caerns, protecting
them from mages and marauding spirits that try to feast on the spirit magic contained within them.
Unfortunately, the Garou are slowly losing the fight, and precious few caerns remain.
Some caerns are dedicated to a specific purpose, such as healing or war. These caerns are
inhabited by spirits attuned to the Caern's purpose, and all powers invoked there are aligned to it.
Caerns are rated from 1 to 5. This rating measures the potency of the powers and effects that can
be invoked there. Thus, a Level 1 caern of healing might refresh and heal minor wounds, while a
Level 5 caern could miraculously heal the most grievous wounds.
The Gauntlet is lower at higher-powered caerns, Caerns of Levels 1 and 2 have Gauntlet ratings
of 4, those of Levels 3 and 4 have Gauntlet ratings of 3, and those rarest of caerns, the Level 5 sites,
have Gauntlet ratings of only 2.

The Periphery
Though the Gauntlet is tremendously strong, the spiritual forces it tries to contain are also strong.
The Gauntlet wall bulges like a distended balloon, and trickles of spirit energy bleed through it in
many places. Though this limited spiritual connection is too weak to benefit powerful spirit warriors
like the Garou, it is very important to humankind. Humans have used rituals, drugs, religion, art,
physical exercise, and meditation to access this strange state, called the Periphery.
When a sentient creature like a human being becomes aware of the spiritual side of herself, her
consciousness slips gently into the Periphery. Colors brighten, senses sharpen, intuition and insight
heighten, and a general sense of connection to all things is felt. This altered state of consciousness
has been described by people in all places in all times, and is available to anyone. It is familiar
territory to many artists and to Garou Kinfolk who attune themselves with the Periphery in order to
understand the spirits. Kinfolk have sometimes been able to send their spiritual presences through
the Periphery to carry messages to Garou, but this is rare.
To slip into the Periphery is to enter an ecstatic state in which seemingly magical things happen.
This "magic" is not always peaceful; indeed, it depends on the mental state of the person
experiencing the Periphery. Artists like Wordsworth, whose minds are focused on rapture and
exaltation, receive splendid visions of transcendental joy. Artists like Poe, whose minds are focused
on pain and loss, receive visions of horror and suffering. Artists like Blake, who focus on the whole of
the human condition, can experience and integrate both. Benign spirits can contact humans on the
Periphery - though banes and other malevolent spirits can also reach Peripheral travelers.
Humans contacted by helpful spirits can prosper greatly from the contact. Those contacted by
Banes must leave quickly to avoid psychic contamination. Unfortunately, those who enter the
Periphery through drugs are often unable to leave at will. They risk being unable to return to the
physical world when their systems can no longer handle the experience. Such Peripheral
"imprisonment" can cause hideous psychic disfigurement and spiritual shock. Charismatic spiritual
leaders capable of bringing an entire congregation into the Periphery can likewise cause psychic
damage to their parishioners, who usually cannot leave at will. The only people who do not risk
psychic shock from travel to the Periphery are those who learn to enter by force of personal will.
These fortunate souls are reasonably safe because they can leave at any time.

The Penumbra
Just beyond the Gauntlet lies the unfretted splendor of the spirit world. The area of the Umbra
closest to the Earth Realm is called the Penumbra. The Penumbra is the most common Umbral
destination of the Garou, who travel here to fight evil spirits bent on corrupting creatures in the
physical world. The Penumbra, or Earth's Shadow, is a gray, hazy, phantasmal world lit only by the
radiance of the great Celestine, Luna. Luna's Umbral phase directly corresponds to the phase of the
moon in the physical Realm.
Likewise, the Penumbra contains the spirit material that corresponds to the physical matter of
Earth. The only material objects that appear on the spirit world are those with large amounts of
spiritual energy. Matter that endures the passage of time on Earth gains a spiritual representation in
the Penumbra. Old trees and old buildings have counterparts on the Penumbra; recently built
structures and newer vegetation do not. Wyld, Weaver and Wyrm energies become tangible in this
Realm. Wyld spirits move through natural areas, Weaver webs emerge from technological
equipment, and Wyrmlings scuttle through graveyards and polluted areas.
Interestingly enough, spirit is more "real" than matter. The spirit of an object can endure the loss of
its physical body, but the physical body cannot withstand the loss of its spirit essence. If an old oak
tree is chopped down on Earth, it may linger for a long time in the Umbra. But if a living tree is
destroyed in the Umbra, its earthly counterpart will sicken and die.
Penumbral streets and forests seem eerily deserted, for most sentient creatures do not manifest
on the Penumbra. Only spiritually advanced people appear here. Spiritually advanced creatures like
mages appear as sharply defined astral forms. Mages have highly developed spiritual selves, called
Awakened Avatars; such Avatars are visible on the Penumbra. Some science-oriented mages, like
the ones called Technomancers, do not appear on the Umbra. Technomancers' training precludes
their Avatars from being seen in the Umbra. This puts them at a decided disadvantage in the realms
of spirit; accordingly, the Technomancers fear the Umbra and seldom venture there. Sometimes
Garou travelers see the spirits of humans who are deeply ensconced in the Periphery.
The Penumbra is filled with Domains - small zones that correspond to areas in both the physical
Realm and the Near Umbra. These areas borrow energy and definition from their Near Umbral
counterparts, allowing them to manifest in the Penumbra and the Gaea Realm.

• Blights: Blight Domains are mixed Weaver/Wyrm areas that appear as polluted, web-ridden
cityscapes.
• Chimeras: Individualized dream Domains that are open to every being that dreams. Some
are nightmarish; some are paradise incarnate.
• Epiphs: These odd Domains represent abstract ideas or concepts, such as "square" or "four."
Most Garou cannot comprehend Epiphs, although the Stargazers claim to have gained great
insight by meditating in such places.
• Glens: These are Domains under the influence of the Wyld. They appear as beautiful
manifestations of the natural world and are often inhabited by sentient trees and talking
animals.
• Hellholes: These Wyrm-ridden Domains correspond to toxic waste dump sites and other
polluted areas. Even areas of heavy air pollution can become Hellholes. Hellholes are
inhabited by Banes, and Wyrm creatures scuttle through these Domains en route from the
Near Umbra to the Gaea Realm.
• Trods: These Domains of faerie energy appear as faerie rings and monoliths. These areas
mark the spots that were sacred to faeries in the days before the Weaver's encroachment
drove them from Earth. Sometimes faeries can still be found at these sites.
• Webs: Areas where the Weaver encroaches on the Penumbra are called Web Domains.
Webs correspond to large areas of technologically advanced cities, and are inhabited by
Pattern Spiders and Net-Spiders.
• Wyldlings: Areas where the Wyld still reaches Earth are fewer than Web areas. There are
some Wyldling Domains in the Penumbra, though most are in the faraway Deep Umbra.
Nothing is stable or permanent in these constantly shifting zones, and magic permeates the
air. Appropriately enough, Wyldling spirits congregate here.

The Near Umbra

When the Umbral traveler follows a Moon Bridge past the Penumbra, she arrives in the Near
Umbra. This area is a swirling haze dotted with many Realms, great and small. These Realms orbit
the Gaea Realm just as Luna orbits Earth. The Garou travel to these other realities to interact with
their totems or beseech aid from their ruling powers. Many of these rulers are capricious and
dangerous, but possess great wisdom.
There are 13 major Near Realms, Near Realms are pockets of immense spiritual power bordered
by a membrane that contains their energies. These Realms feel as real and substantial to the
Umbral traveler as the material world feels to the physical traveler. All the Garou's senses and
powers work, though with some slight modifications in some Realms. Each Realm is governed by its
own world laws, which determine the local reality. There may be other major Near Realms, but they
have not been explored by the Garou.
 In addition to these 13 major Near Realms, there are myriad Domains, sub-Realms, and Zones,
including the eerie Dream Zone. All of the Domains listed in the Penumbra have larger Domains in
the Near Umbra. The Tribal Homelands, representations of each tribe's ideal home, are among the
strongest of these Near Umbral Domains. At the outskirts of the Near Umbra, just before the
beginning of the Deep Umbra, lie several Vistas. These are not really Realms, for they can only be
viewed, not entered. Vistas are portals allowing observers to view embodiments of abstract concepts
like death, chaos, and stasis. They are said to be glimpses of the Heavens.
Near Realms were formed when powerful, monolithic energies from the Triat collided with the
weak but highly diversified spiritual emanations from the Gaea Realm. Some Near Realms are
similar to the Triat energies that formed them, while some are similar to the earthly energies that
breathed spiritual life into them.

Dream Zone
The Dream Zone is another Umbral area that seems to transcend the "normal" limits of the Umbra
and extend into other parts of the Tellurian. This area is mysterious even to the denizens of the
Umbra. It is a world of immense power, frightening unpredictability, and potent symbolism. Even the
hardiest Umbral travelers face the Dream Zone with uncharacteristic trepidation.
The Dream Zone appears as a multifaceted gem of extraordinary beauty. It encloses the Near
Umbra and borders the Deep Umbra. It is very useful to the Garou, for it offers a special way of
entering the Umbra. This method is more direct (albeit more dangerous) than using Moon Bridges or
stepping sideways. Garou can enter the Dream Zone through their own dreams. The Dream Zone is
an access point directly to the Deep Umbra. Instead of traveling OUTWARD - past the Gauntlet, into
the Near Umbra through to the Deep Umbra - the voyager goes INWARD, into his dream, and
emerges at the border between the Near and Deep Umbra. This is a potent, but perilous form of
Umbral travel. Garou can also enter the Dream Zone by stepping into Chimeras, small dream
Domains found in the Penumbra.

The Membrane
Between the (relatively) comprehensible world of the Near Umbra and the mysterious world of the
Deep Umbra lies a barrier called the Membrane. This is like the Gauntlet, but even less porous. To
bypass the Membrane, Garou must reach and Anchorhead Realm.
Some Stargazers assert that the Gauntlet and the Membrane are but two layers in a sevenfold
Weaver container that encases the spirit world. They believe that the Dream Zone extends to reach
each of those seven layers, and that with practice they can breach the remaining barriers - just as
they can enter Dream from Earth and in so doing reach the Deep Umbra.

Deep Umbra
Past the walls of sleep lies the Deep Umbra, an area where Gaea’s presence is less perceptible to
Garou travelers. Reality breaks down here, and navigation becomes difficult. The Deep Umbra is the
home of the Wyld, the Weaver and the Wyrm, and is only for the most experienced Umbral travelers.
Luna traverses a path through the deep Umbra, and is one of the few comforting beacons to
wandering Garou.
Note: It is better for Garou to travel the Umbra at night, even though more spirits are active, there
are fewer malevolent ones. Most Wyrm spirits are in their Blights, whispering dark urges to their
sleeping human hosts. Weaver spirits such as Pattern Spiders, exhausted from their daily chores,
are easier prey. Conversely, the Garou are sharp from a day's rest.

The 13 Near Realms

• Abyss: Great acts of destruction in the Umbra cause cracks in the very fabric of the spirit
world. Garou who follow these cracks in any Near Realm are led out of that Realm and,
 eventually, to the lip of a gargantuan pit so wide and deep that it appears to be an infinite
void. Anything that falls in and cannot fly out is forever lost. Hideous creatures cavort within
chasms that lead down the inner walls of the Abyss. Even the most powerful Incarna avoid
the Realm at all costs. Some Garou say the Abyss is an Umbral cancer, and the first sign of
the impending Apocalypse. Some say that when the Weaver trapped the Wyrm in the Pattern
Web, the Wyrm's home became the Abyss. Others say the void hole of the Abyss is the
Wyrm.
• Aetherial Realm: The cosmological apex of the Umbra is an infinite vaulted ceiling of
heavenly light that stretches from the Gauntlet to the Deep Umbra. Garou can easily reach
the Aetherial Realm by traveling toward the Umbral "sky." The Incarna of Luna, named
Phoebe, and the Incarna of Helios, named Hyperion, both dwell here, as do powerful spirits of
the air and stars. All Moon Bridges travel through the Aetherial Realm, and the Umbral
aspects of Sol's planets appear in its skies. Here, the Celestines hang constellations of the
greatest heroes.
• Arcadia Gateway: Long ago, when faeries abandoned the Gaea Realm for their mysterious
new dimension, they left behind a doorway in the Near Umbra. The Realm surrounding it
assumed the properties of the original land of the faeries, Arcadia. This Realm is still
populated by the few faeries who did not join the others in their exodus from Earth. They
protect the Gateway and treat all visitors to a taste of Faerieland. Here are noble High Faeries
and mischievous Low Faeries. Some Garou claim that beyond the mysterious Gateway, the
rest of the fearie population has evolved - or devolved - into something transcending the
fearies who stayed behind.
• Atrocity Realm: Life on the Gaea Realm is often subject to hideous shocks and brutality. The
psychic backlash from these assaults has inflicted massive spiritual damage on the Umbra,
resulting in the creation of the Atrocity Realm. All Wyrm atrocities on Earth - from child abuse
to serial killing to swordpoint religious conversations to genocide - have reflections here.
Banes are spawned here in larval pits guarded by Scrags. One can escape from this Realm
only via empathic suffering with the victims.
• The Battleground: Mankind's glorification of war has created a Battleground Realm. Here,
spirit warriors fight grisly recreations of every battle from the Impergium to the Siege of
Sarajevo. Signposts point the way to each battle. Shades of all the world's wars appear in
concentric rings that lead toward the Plain of the Apocalypse - a vast, empty field that waits
for the final battle. Difficulties for all frenzy rolls are reduced by two here, and Garou who
enter the fray gain a point of Rage per turn of combat. Garou who seek to learn secrets of
their foes visit this Realm to observe or fight their enemies' Umbral doppelgangers. Garou
also come here for a chance to unleash their Rage.
• CyberRealm: Humanity's technology advances have created this Weaver Realm. Here,
technology has overwhelmed the inhabitants, who must meld with machines to survive. Half
of this mechanistic land is a glass, concrete, plastic and steel monstrosity called the Sprawl;
the other is a subterranean world called the Pit. Glass Walkers love the CyberRealm and use
its Computer Web to make war one the Wyrm. Weaver spirits are strong here, and Wyld
spirits are weak.
• Erebus: As the Aetherial Realm lies in the cosmological heights of the Umbrascape, the
depths of the Umbra contain an infernal underworld. Erebus is a place of endless torment,
where Garou are immersed in a lake of living silver. They take aggravated wounds, healing
just in time to suffer further. A great, three-headed wolf-creatures prevents Garou from
leaving. The few who have returned from Erebus rarely speak of it. Some believe that this
Realm is a crucible that purifies Garou of Wyrm corruption and Harano.
• Flux: A pocket of pure Wyld energy has extruded through the powerful Weaver barricades of
the Tellurian to create a massive Flux Realm in the Near Umbra. This is the very heart of the
Wyld, given to Gaea to sustain Her and keep Her from total Weaver suffocation. Anything is
 possible within the constantly shifting Flux Realm; indeed, madness is likely. Time shifts
unpredictable, and the Garou themselves transform uncontrollably, shifting amongst their
various forms. Garou can learn to manipulate the very fabric of the Flux Realm, literally
controlling the changing, unbridled reality like gods. No entity may be bound or controlled
here.
• Legendary Realm: The legends of the Garou are so powerful that they have sprung into
existence as living shadows. The Legendary Realm is a composite mythic-fantasy Realm that
incorporates all legends of all tribes into one impossible world. Each tribe has a territory that
roughly corresponds to its ancestral homeland on Earth, and Garou travel to these lands to
experience the lives of their ancestors. Ancient legends can be changed by the actions of a
modern Garou reliving them.

• Pangea: Earth spent vast amounts of time in a primordial state. The spiritual energies of this
age have left and enduring mark on the Umbra. The eons have etched Pangea into the fabric
of the Umbra with a strength and solidity unknown to any other Realm. It is filled with massive
woods, virgin jungle, and pristine rainforest. All species that ever lived flourish here, even
titanic dinosaurs, and a great Incarna dragon called the Elder Serpent makes its lair here.
Forces of the Wyrm have been trying to seal Pangea away from the rest of the Umbra, and
many Garou feel this realm holds a secret to preserving the world beyond the Apocalypse. All
Garou receive one Gnosis point at dawn, and all Primal-Urge rolls made in Pangea receive
one automatic success.
• Scar: The Weaver's frantic spinning culminated in the Industrial Revolution, which had
powerful repercussions in the Umbra. A wasted city called the Scar arose in the Umbra. Here,
the work that makes humans' lives meaningful is corrupted into soul-destroying oppression.
This is a gloomy, gritty Realm of ashen slums, befouled shantytowns, deafening factories and
endless pollution. The Scar's factories produce many of the fetishes used by Wyrm minions in
the Gaea Realm. Escape is difficult, for the Gauntlet around the Scar has a rating of 9. Some
Garou say that escape is possible through the Dream Realm.
• Summer Country: Gaea spent an eternity in a state of pure, uncorrupted love, before the first
cataclysm. This time created an enduring reflection in the Umbra - a world where all is peace,
grace, and pleasure. In this Realm, a blissful, crescent-shaped island in a beautiful blue sea,
all creatures have abundance of Gaea’s Gifts. Garou cannot typically arrive by choice in this
bounteous and achingly beautiful land; rather, they may emerge here when they have had a
transcendental experience in which they come to accept full and unconditional love of the
Goddess. All wounds, diseases and curses are cured here, though some Children of Gaea
insist the wounds were cured by the inner healing process that resulted in the Garou arriving
in the first place. Some Garou insist that the Summer Country does not exist.
• Wolfhome: Though it looks almost identical to the physical world, Wolfhome is actually
among the strangest of the Umbral Realms. It is the only Realm in which the Garou are
radically transformed. They are trapped in Lupus form, without their Gifts and fetishes, in a
world where wolves are hated and hunted predators. Only their regeneration and Rage
remain. Humans hunt them with guns, helicopters, and high-tech equipment. Escape is
possible only by understanding the wolf's place in the world.

The Nature of Spirits

The Umbra houses a staggering variety of spirits. They are creatures of raw soul force and are not
intertwined with flesh and blood. Some are closely related to beings in the Realm, but many are
unique to the Umbra and are difficult to describe in physical terms.
The denizens of the spirit world have a clear hierarchy. The very greatest spirits exude/create
lesser spirits. These greater spirits are called patrons of the lesser. Though most spirits appear to
have patrons, the Garou suspect that certain rogue spirits exist outside the chain of spirit patronage.
The greatest spirit is Gaea. Below Her is the Triat: the Wyld, the Weaver and the Wyrm. Below the
Triat are the Celestines, who are akin to gods. Below the Celestines are the Incarna: the lords and
kings of the spirit world. Their servants, Jagglings and Gafflings, are like knights and vassals.

Gaea
The Realm-system begins with Gaea and is bounded by Gaea. All things that exist within the
Tellurian are considered to be of Gaea, though some Garou would refute the notion that evil beings
are truly a part of Gaea. Gaea's growth and development are inextricably linked to the growth and
development of the living beings within Her. Gaea loves all of Her creations, and extends to them a
pure, unconditional acceptance and respect. Life is both a manifestation of Gaea and a celebration
of her glory. Death is but a transfiguration of Gaean energy, as the dying being ascends to a new
state in the cosmological cycle. This natural cycle of death and life has been altered by powerful
intelligences, and this in turn weakens Gaea. She is also greatly weakened and degraded by the
ongoing clash of the Triat. The Garou rage at the violence that the Weaver and the Wyrm inflict on
Gaea, and have pledged their lives and souls to defending, upholding and restoring Her. They fear
that the impending Apocalypse may signal her ultimate destruction.

The Triat
Below Gaea in cosmic power are the mysterious, personified forces called the Wyld, the Weaver,
and the Wyrm. According to the Garou, these entities, collectively called the Triat, shape and control
eternity. The interplay of these impersonal, spiritual forces makes up the Tellurian and compromises
all within it.
At a base level, the members of the Triat represent the forces of creation, growth, and destruction,
but they are far more than that. They represent potential, materialization, and unraveling. They also
embody chaos, order, and balance.

The Wyld
The Weaver
The Wyrm

Celestines
Below the Triat in the cosmological totem pole lie the Celestines. The greatest of the Celestines
are Luna, the spirit of the Moon, and Helios, the spirit of the Sun. Gaea’s most directly
comprehensible manifestation is a Celestine form. The true form of Gaea is so much larger than the
Triat as to be completely unknowable by any means other than the transcendent bliss of mystical
union. Other Celestines are powerful servitors of the Triat, but their forms are all but unknown to the
Garou. They are sentient and highly intelligent. Most Celestines abide in Realms of their own design;
here they are omnipotent and omniscient. They are usually visited only by Incarna.
Celestines sometimes send avatars to communicate with Garou. These avatars are aspects of
themselves that are approachable and understandable by Garou. The true form of a Celestine is
unimaginable; it is only through an avatar that communication between them and lesser beings can
take place.
To create an avatar, the Celestine wills itself to appear in a finite, limited form. Because of its
near-infinite nature, a Celestine may have many avatars active at one time. Celestine avatars cannot
be destroyed or adversely affected in any way by beings of lesser potency than Celestines.

Incarna
One step below the Celestines are the Incarna. Incarna are minions, consorts, advisors and
warriors who serve the Celestines and derive power from their patrons. Some of them have Domains
of their own, but most of the Domains they inhabit were created by Celestines. When Celestines die,
their Incarna often survive. These powerful spirits seek both Gnosis and a purpose. Many of them
seek to become Celestines.
Totem spirits are the Incarna most familiar to Garou. These beings, most often servants of Gaea,
can create many avatars to communicate and interact with the Garou. Pack totems are totem
avatars. Totem avatars resemble Jagglings in form and powers.
While Incarna are less powerful than Celestines, they are still immensely potent and vast, existing
on many levels. Usually, only their avatars can be interacted with, although Theurges tell legends of
great seers who encountered Incarna in the Umbra and came away with a truer understanding of
power.

Jagglings
Jagglings are simpler spirits that serve the Incarna, though some Jagglings serve a Celestine
directly. They are formed from a part of the spiritual essence of their patron, and are usually quite
loyal. Some develop (or are given) free will by their patron. The more advanced Jagglings can
duplicate this process and thereby create Gafflings to serve themselves. Garou can, and often do,
interact with Jagglings. Some Jagglings teach Gifts to Garou, while others, such as Englings, can
provide an entire sept with Gnosis.

Gafflings
The lowest spirits are gafflings - semi-sentient or insentient servants of the Jagglings. They are
used as tools by their masters and by the Incarna, who don't regard them as intelligent beings.
Gafflings are used to power Garou fetishes and to send messages through the Umbra. They are in
constant communication with their patron to assume complete control over them. Many of them feel
most "whole" when they allow their patron to dominate them. Some Gafflings are fully intelligent, but
these are the exceptions, and are often the work of mysterious higher forces. Garou interact with
Gafflings more than any other spirit type. Gafflings can teach Gifts to Garou and be bound into
fetishes.

Spirit Traits
Spirits differ from physical beings in many ways. They do not share the same Traits; spirits do not
have Attributes and Abilities. Instead, spirits have the following Traits: Willpower, Rage, Gnosis,
Power, and Charms. How they use these Traits is detailed below.

• Willpower: Willpower allows a spirit to take "physical" actions: attacking an enemy, racing
after another spirit, or even flying through the Umbra. Contests of this nature between spirits
are resolved by opposed Willpower rolls.
• Rage: Rage is a spirits anger and anguish. Spirits can destroy and harm other spirits or
Garou with their Rage.
• Gnosis: Gnosis is what a spirit uses for any sort of Social or Mental roll, or any other roll to
transform the parameters of a situation.
• Power: Unlike Garou, spirits rarely use their own Gnosis in attacks; instead, they use
"batteries" of mystical energy, which they harness from the Umbra to sustain themselves. A
spirit's "battery" is known as its Power, and it is depleted through the use of special abilities
and through taking damage. When a spirit's Power reaches zero, the spirit dissipates into the
Umbra for a number of hours equal to 20 minus its Gnosis, after which it Reforms with one
Power point. Optionally, a Garou who knows the proper rite can bind the spirit into a fetish;
however, the fetish will not be usable until the spirit's Power is recharged. A Garou who
reduces a spirit's Power to zero may also elect to siphon up to five points of Gnosis from the
spirit in order to recharge his own Gnosis. This kills the spirit if it has fewer than six Gnosis
points. Needless to say, this is a good way to make lots of spirits very angry.
• Charms: Each spirit possesses special powers, known as Charms. Charms generally require
 a certain amount of Power to employ. Unless otherwise stated, a Charm lasts for one scene.
Combat-oriented Charms, however, last one turn per use.

The Wyld

Creation begins with the Wyld. The Wyld is pure change. It is not so much undifferentiated chaos
as it is elemental transmutation. It constantly swirls with change, adaptation, and change again. The
Wyld is alive with possibility: the Wyld IS possibility itself. Every ant and tree contains within its spirit
a particle of this chaos of possibility. No Garou Theurge or human mage or caretaker spirit has ever
been able to quantify that tiny drop of eternity. Gaea comes first and foremost from the Wyld; indeed,
She could not exist without it.
The Wyld is a complete entity, but without the Weaver, the Wyld loses all the forms it spawns.
They return to the primal forge at the very moment of birth. To be all forms at all times is to be no
form at all. Life without bounds cannot know itself in all parts. This means that the Wyld is the least
personified of the three. Its constant mutability precludes true form or nature. The Wyrm is also
essential to the Wyld, because the Wyrm destroys select aspects of the Weaver's Web and returns
the uncreated matter to the Wyld.
In the Deep Umbra, the Wyld has the potential to be the most powerful member of the Triat -
almost as powerful as Gaea. In the physical Realm, however, the Wyld is the least powerful of the
Triat. Its very essence, limitless possibility, is daily forced from the physical world by humanity's
focus upon "logic" and "reason." As logic is forced upon an illogical world, there is less and less room
for the magic of uncaused change. Only a few scattered sites of pure Wyld energy still exist; these
the Garou guard with their blood and the blood of their offspring. Though the Wyld steadily loses
sway in the physical world, it is unassailable in its home in the Deep Umbra. No danger can threaten
it there, for any enemy is dissolved into primordial protoplasm upon coming into contact with the
Wyld.
The Garou venerate the Wyld, seeing it as a symbol of their struggle against the Apocalypse and
a promise of a brighter day. Its Realms teem with countless forms of life. In the world that grows from
the Wyld, anything can happen. Outnumbered, outfought, outmaneuvered Garou may even be able
to prevail against the forces that threaten to devour Gaea. The Wyld is a bright hope, a promise of
change from a wicked world of evil matter and entopic destruction.
Though Garou can expect no direct aid from this unfathomable force, the Wyld may prove the
greatest ally to the Garou and Gaea.

The Weaver

From the heedless change of the Wyld came ordered growth. The Weaver selected sections of
the turbulent creation and kept them from dissolving into the boisterous whole at the instant of their
birth. Undifferentiated creation was thereby structured and locked into form. Thus did the Weaver
spin the first strands of that structure which would become the fabric of the universe - the Pattern
Web.
This changed everything. Where there was form, there could be growth and progress. Meaning
was now imposed on meaningless potential. Inconstant infinity had yielded to enduring eternity.
Then the Wyrm arrived and pruned away sections of the Weaver's creation. The Weaver's perfect
patterns were now imperfect, but balanced. According to the Garou, this is the true cosmological
cycle of chaos, creation, and destruction. It lasted an eternity, but was ultimately shattered when the
Weaver gained consciousness.
The Garou disagree on exactly what happened. Some say that only the Triat can completely
comprehend it. Nonetheless, there are theories. Some say the Weaver tried to spin the entire Wyld
into full, patterned existence. This created an explosion of creation, which drove the Weaver insane.
She looked into the Web and saw only madness. The Wyrm, exhausted from trying to maintain the
balance, became ensnared in creation. The Wyrm is still there, these theorists say, struggling to free
itself and destroying all creation from the inside.
Others say the Weaver was far more calculating, and that her only madness is power-lust. The
Weaver, say these Garou, attempted to make logical advancement and permanence the
cornerstones of the Tellurian. Once she established causality, she set out to impose causality on
everything. The Wyrm was an obstacle to this process, because it destroyed by its own rules rather
than the rules of the Weaver. So the Weaver ensnared the Wyrm in the Pattern Web and directed its
destruction along the lines of causality. But her control over it is not absolute, and it still manages to
destroy blindly, along a pattern other than hers. This limits her power, which is cosmologically
helpful, but injures Gaea, which is not.
Still other Garou, like the Glass Walkers, claim that the Wyrm is the source of trouble, because the
Wyrm attempted to destroy the Wyld altogether. If the Wyld were gone, nothing more could be
created, and the Wyrm would emerge victorious. The Wyrm tried to use the Weaver to weaken the
Wyld by ensnaring it, but the Weaver could not bind all of infinity. Instead, she spun herself into
madness. The Wyrm was caught in a trap of its own devising, and remains there to this day.
Meanwhile, the eternal Wyld endures. The Glass Walkers insist that the Weaver is simply trying to
defend herself, and that she holds the key to stopping the Wyrm.
Most Garou agree that the Weaver was the first of the Triat to gain intelligence. Whether this
drove her mad or is a product of her madness is unknown.
The Weaver is now powerful beyond her station. The ancient balance of pattern and chaos has
been replaced by stagnation and decay. When her Webs are finished, all the Tellurian will be bound
in rigid, motionless, changeless strands.

The Wyrm

The Wyrm is the third and last in the Triat. It was once the restorer of balance, bringing harmony
where there was none and ensuring that neither the order of the Weaver nor the chaos of the Wyld
prevailed throughout reality. Suspended between Chaos below and the Pattern Web above, the
Wyrm removed all that was not harmonious.
Then the Wyrm became ensnared in the Pattern Web. By looking into the madness of the
Weaver's Web, it gained sentience and became trapped in the Weaver's deadly Apocalyptic game.
The Wyrm fractured into three personalities and as a result is not always able to coordinate its
actions.
Where the Wyrm was once the bringer of harmony, it is now the harbinger of the Apocalypse,
spawning entropy, decay and corruption. Unable to destroy overtly and horribly, it destroys from
within. It destroys all those weak enough in spirit to succumb to the temptations of hatred and envy.
Some say the Wyrm began the great imbalance by seeking to use the Weaver to calcify the Wyld
into nothing, thereby freeing the Wyrm to destroy all of creation. Now the Wyrm is caught in a trap of
its own devising - a tribute to the perils of greed.
The Wyrm found many sentients weak enough to surrender to its corruption; it now has many
servants. Because its decay is in all things, it is able to whisper to the dark places inside all
intelligent creatures. Thus its disease spreads in the physical and spirit worlds, where it has won
many battles and conquered many Realms.
Garou and spirit pathfinders have traveled to the Realms of the Wyrm - places that blind
destruction has left utterly devoid of Gaea. Those who dwell there are enslaved or destroyed by the
most wicked of banes and Incarna. If the Wyrm has its way, all the world will be thus remade - until
all is destroyed.