by Lisa Fleishman (Werewolf: The Apocalypse | The Face of Rage | Columns)
The Garou Nation is in a constant state of war. Everyday they come one death closer to extinction. The Garou are a warrior society. The physiology, culture, and religion of the Garou is based on the act of war. Garou see the unimaginable and can commit atrocities in the name of saving their goddess. How does this constant stream of violence affect a Garou individual? We are going to examine the effects that the stressors of war place on the people involved with the Garou Nation.
Samuel gazed into the eyes of his lover. She was perhaps the best thing in his miserable life, and she was certainly one of the few things that made him smile. He could tell that she was troubled, and he invited her to sit with him.
"You know," she started, "I have been thinking."
"Oh yeah?" he questioned. Samuel knew where the conversation was about to go. He dreaded it, feared it, and wished that she would hold her tongue.
"We could just get out of here," she whispered as she grabbed his hand. "I don’t want to worry about you, and what could happen. I want a family with you, a life!" She pleaded.
"C’mon, we’ve talked about this before, Love. We can have those things." Samuel replied as he shifted in his seat. ‘Please don’t say it,’ he thought, ‘Don’t make me choose.’
" No we can’t! Not when you’re out doing what you do all the time!" Her faced became flushed. "You need to decide who is more important, us," she paused, "or them."
Samuel sat for a moment. He could feel the agony of his heart breaking. He stood and turned his back to her. "Been nice knowing ya, toots." Samuel never looked back as she called after him. It was better in the long run to be alone.
All things change
There once was a time when the Garou enjoyed being masters of their domains. The earth was pure and none could imagine the ravages that were to come. While they were created to be defenders by Gaia, times were comparatively peaceful to what the Garou currently face. Nonetheless, the werewolves were aggressive by nature and began to war amongst themselves and other Bete. Pride, honor, and arrogance began the slippery slope into their fall from the Eden that they inhabited. The Garou followed the laws of nature, and this sometimes made them cruel in their philosophies. In their fight to become the uncontested masters of the earth they committed acts of war that were not only horrific, but would change the course of the world forever. Entire races of Bete were exterminated, humans would come to fear and loathe the beasts who stalked them, and the Garou would hate each other. The tribes turned on each other in a fight for dominance. Bigotry would become common place as they formed different cultures and customs.
The Garou culture has many aspects, familial, political, religious, and so on. Each time that the Garou changed one part of their culture away from what they had originally been, they affected all other parts of the of the system until the tribes were completely different from one another. One of the few constants between them was their warrior tendencies. Time would prove their mistakes to one another. But as the saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. By the time that the Garou had realized that cooperation was a necessity, the Apocalypse would be upon them. Even so, the change that the Garou had so willingly embraced before that made their current culture, is difficult for them to let go. Biases still exist, old grudges are still held, and Alphas still fight to stay in control. The Garou nation not only fights a war without for their existence, but within as well. They fight for their physical survival, and their spiritual well being.
The Garou are a very militaristic society. Each member has a place and a function in the war against the Wyrm. In theory, their military nature should make them a well oiled machine, but prejudices and jealousies still exist. Individuals succumb to the calls of pride and power and this tends to work against the Garou as they fight for the greater cause. Why is it that a race that is full of people who have a common cause still have disagreements amongst themselves? Garou are still individuals. They are shaped by the experiences that they have endured, and they behave accordingly. Imagine for a moment living the life of a Garou child. From the start of your life you destiny is mapped out. Your social, physical and religious training is laid out before you. It is made very clear to you that you will not lead a ‘normal’ life because of the gift that Gaia has bestowed upon you. You are told that this gift makes you special, that you will be great some day. But, even as your elders tell you this, you witness their acts of war, their depravities, and sometimes their fall into harano or death. You grow up learning to rationalize these events, to make sense of them. You may even question your elders about the seeming incongruities that you see every day. All are of Gaia, but some are treated lesser than others in the pack. Leaders are supposed to be fair, but they act on their own wants and needs. Maybe you are told that only fittest are allowed to lead, that when you are older you will better understand the structure of the pack. So you file all of these experiences away, and eventually you become much like your elders. Or, maybe not. Maybe you end up despising the status quo and that motivates you in different ways. Maybe you have a hard time following the rules and strive for something different than what you were taught. This desire for something better may drive you away from your roots and embarrass your elders who see your actions as rash and inappropriate. Either way, by the time that you reach adult hood, you are hardened by the things that you have experienced. You find some way to cope, lest you become insane from the overload of violence, secrecy, and the nature of your own being.
Not an easy life to be sure.
And to top it all off, there is the group mentality in your species that decides what is honorable, and what is not. The needs of the individual are pushed aside in favor of the needs of the group.
The Pack
A Garou’s pack is one of the most important facets of her existence. Joining a pack is marriage of sorts. There are vows of loyalty, secrecy, and honor. A Garou’s relationship with her pack mates goes far beyond the ties of a normal relationship. The pack is family, friend, councilor, and more. A Garou’s pack is their life, and many a sad tale is told of a werewolf who was left alone when her pack was decimated. Garou who do not belong to a pack find themselves in greater danger of losing their lives. Most Garou who are not a part of a pack are either in between packs for some reason and searching for a new one, or have been ostracized from the Garou community for some indiscretion. Packs reinforce group behavior for better or worse. The lines of individuality can blur greatly as each Garou strives to meet the needs of the pack. While there are good things that come from being a member of a pack, unity, protection and so on, there can be negative aspects as well. As group behavior becomes more enforced over time, rivalries within the pack can erupt as individuals in the group have separate and opposite visions of how the pack should operate. Tempers are probably already strained if the pack is very active in the war against the Wyrm and this can exacerbate rival hostilities. Such problems can lead to infighting as individuals try to assert themselves. Despite the problems of pack life, Garou still function within them. They feel social and spiritual pressures to be a member of a group. So, what happens to a Garou who losses their pack?
In a society of war, loss is a part of the Garou existence. A Garou may fall into Harano, a serious spiritual depression. The Garou may also suffer from survivors guilt, post traumatic stress, shell shock, or a number of other mental infirmities. The result of losing ones pack due to combat is never a good thing for the surviving Garou. Because of their reliance on group behavior, it becomes doubly difficult for them to face the world alone. A Garou may question the cause, themselves, and even Gaia upon losing a pack. A surviving Garou may immediately seek out another pack or turn to their sept for support, or they may wander alone for a time, lost in their own grief. Nightmares and self doubt will surely plague a Garou who finds herself unexpectedly alone.
Collateral Damage
The minions of the Wyrm are cruel enemies, and nothing is considered sacred or out of bounds as they try to defeat the army of Gaia. They will attack families, homes, and holy places of the Garou in an effort to demoralize and destroy followers of Gaia. The Wyrm is a merciless enemy. There is no hope of reaching a truce. In the end, one side must win, and the other must lose. The Garou can suffer loses of their kin easily as the forces of the Wyrm uses, manipulates, or outright kills the family of a Garou. Depending on how close a Garou is to her kin family, such a loss can be devastating. The Garou may make a vow of vengeance, and pursue it with abandon, making them short sighted to other issues. A Garou may blame herself for her perceived failings in the matter, or she may become overly protective of what kin she has left.
The loss of a home, or even more dramatic, a caern can also send a Garou into a tail spin as a feeling of security is ripped from her. She may logically know that such a tragedy is possible, but when the reality hits it can engender feelings of despair and anger.
The Faceless Enemy
The attacks of the Wyrm aren’t always going to be as straight forward as a pack of Black Spiral Dancers knocking at a Garou’s doorstep. The Wyrm’s manipulations can be subtle, and the Garou may not always be sure where the enemy is. The constant fear of knowing that the enemy is out there, but not knowing where or when they will strike is taxing on the Garou. A Garou may become paranoid or obsessed with knowing all facets of her environment. Such fear can make a Garou controlling and cause difficulties in her relationships with others. By leaving only hints of the Wyrm’s activities, a storyteller can create a feeling of melancholy and horror as the characters scramble to uncover the master behind the puppet strings.
How can I use these elements in my game?
Werewolf is a game of horror. War is horrific. To sanitize the effects of war in a game can lead to a loss of depth. Every time that a character goes into battle, losses a loved one, or is threatened by the unknown, it changes their perspective a bit at a time. Characters should develop quirks as a result being constantly at war. Pleasure in a Garou’s life can be sparse, and their attitudes should reflect this. Perhaps characters become hardened over time, or maybe they are plagued with mental problems that they keep to themselves for fear of appearing weak to their comrades in arms. A character’s views on the war should never be the same at the end of a campaign as they were in the start. The tragedy of war should be felt by even the most enthusiastic Ahroun. Know your character, how would they react to a particular situation? Would a certain thing scar them, teach them, make them go loony? Make those decisions at the start of character creation. How will your character respond to pressure, will they harden, or will they crack? Treat the scenario of living in a warrior society as a foundation for your character rather than a window dressing, and you will add depth and richness to your game.
