pack if the Glass Walker can take down a major nest of Pattern Spiders? What’s one sept if an entire Pentex subsidiary collapses under the Glass Walker’s might? And what is Pentex compared to a string of new Black Spiral Dancers?
Red Talons
The Red Talons already know they’re fighting a war they cannot win. They gnash and snap at the heels of humanity, but humanity kicks them back with silver- toed boots. The other Garou try to restrain their Rage. They tell the Talons to keep their anger in check, they tell the Talons to ignore their base instincts, and they expect the Talons to obey. And so the Rage only builds as the wilderness disappears.
Who wouldn’t be fucking angry? Even your own kind, the other Garou, treat you like a dog. Sit. Stay. Behave. Every Red Talon has already started walking the Spiral, they just don’t know it yet. Every time they dream of the sound of human sinew tearing asunder, they take another step. Play to their anger; it’s all they have left. The perfect release for a Red Talon is to let the Beast-of- War run rampant as they unleash the full brunt of their Rage on humanity. And, contrary to popular belief, they aren’t stupid. They know not to lift the veil, so they’ll be careful in where and when they strike. A few dead wolves here and there, and you have a pack of potential new Black Spiral Dancers.
Shadow Lords
Everywhere a Shadow Lord looks, all he sees is failure from the other tribes. They want nothing more than to take hold of the Garou Nation in an iron fist until it submits to their authority. And they are more ruthless to their own.
The difficulty in liberating a Shadow Lord is that he understands us; he plays our games. A Lord will lis- ten to one of us, but he’s more likely to locate the pit inadvertently revealed than he is to fall. The time to strike a Shadow Lord is when he fails. Wounded pride is dangerous, and one of Grandfather Thunder’s children bears the full weight of any misdeed. His tribe will offer no pity or understanding. Rage will boil within, and desperation to redeem his name will clear his mind for the Labyrinth. Convince him to redirect the blame by pulling others into an endless cycle of finger pointing. By dragging others down, he can stand atop them once more. With all the failure and all the squabbling, he is sure to come to hate the Garou. And if he wants to rule them, we can show him the way. He just needs to learn to Dance.
Silent Striders
The lone Silent Strider is much easier to kill than it is to liberate, but for all the work it might take to bring a Strider into our fold, the reward is well worth it. The were- wolves run to and fro, passing news between septs and packs alike. A lone Strider is considered normal, and they are rarely questioned. Even if another werewolf does question her, he’ll accept evasive and enigmatic answers — it’s the Strider way. Infiltration and lies are the ex-Strider’s specialty.
Every Strider wants to return home, find her ancestors, and lift the tribal curse. A few hold out hope that they can. It’s that hope that gives the Wyrm a chance at their hearts. Lead the hopeful with well-placed rites. Let the Strider believe she is a key to relieving the tribe of one of its burdens. As the Strider performs each seemingly innocuous rite, she’ll gain a touch of taint. Each new ritual will be slightly worse than the last, but each time, she’ll find herself stepping closer to liberation from her curse.
Only too late will she realize the curse is gone because she is no longer one of Owl’s children.
Silver Fangs
A great werewolf is born. She is the pride of her parents. She grows from cub to Cliath hearing all about how she’s a born leader, she’s a queen of other Garou, it’s their duty to follow her and support her. And then she takes her first step out into the real world. The other tribes don’t listen to her, and she’s all prepped to lead a Nation that left her behind long ago.
Few Garou follow the Silver Fangs’ every beck and call. The Fangs expect obedience, but find only resis- tance. Everywhere the tribe looks their entire purpose is falling apart, leaving their lives with no meaning. Some fall to Harano, but others fall to Rage. A Silver Fang commonly tries to regain authority through chal- lenges, might, and sheer force of charisma. Other Garou might placate her, and it’s perfect if they do. Expose their duplicity. Secrets and lies will enrage her faster than anything short of blatant treason. Handle Silver Fangs like the diseased and paranoid monarchs they are. They’ll fall upon the Nation with hatred, priming them for the Wyrm’s call.
Stargazers
Liberating a Stargazer is not easy. He feels he is already working towards liberation in his own way. Stargazers rarely hate, instead they seek to tame their Rage. Their methods are foreign to most. Meditation, stretches, deep breathing, and inner reflection are not natural for werewolves.
Still, a Stargazer is worth the effort. Any Stargazer we claim is a pool of insight into forces that other Garou can’t comprehend. As a former Stargazer dances farther into the Labyrinth, his keen mind can pick out fine de- tails. The fractured nature of the Wyrm might need the abstract thinking of a Stargazer to piece it back together, and then, with the Wyrm united, the Garou will face their greatest fear. And imagine if we ever obtained even one Kailindo instructor.
To break a Stargazer, take everything from him. De- stroy his kin, destroy his home, destroy his sept, destroy his pack, and make it look like other Garou tribes were at least partially responsible. Give the Stargazer a reason to hate. It will likely take everything you have, but it can be done. No Garou can be patient all the time.
Uktena
The Uktena seem all too easy, but like the Shadow Lords, they understand us, making them more difficult to tempt. The Uktena accept that they can fall, and in that acceptance, they steel themselves against the pos- sibility. But the ways of the Wyrm are corrupting in and of themselves. Just knowing too much will allow the Wyrm to bury itself within.
The fault in the Uktena lies in her desire to un-
derstand the Wyrm. The knowledge the Uktena seeks goes beyond classification. She wants to know how the Wyrm thinks, how we think, how we enact our rituals, how we can draw power from the Hellholes and Blights. Of course she believes that she won’t be corrupted. If she knows how the Wyrm corrupts, she won’t be susceptible to its call. Corrupting an Uktena requires both patience and a willingness to share our lore with them. When she starts to understand our perspective, lead her into the Labyrinth with breadcrumbs of dark secrets. Understanding how someone thinks is the first step to accepting his perspective, and few understand us like the Uktena.
Wendigo
The Wendigo feel the world closing in upon them. Their lands are shrinking, their customs dying, and their Rage only glows brighter for it. They have few friends among the Garou Nation, and when they catch any whiff of the Wyrm, they fall on it with deadly accuracy, especially if it’s among their own tribe.
So taint them. Taint the Garou, taint their lands, and taint their kin. The hatred that wells up within will have a Wendigo clawing at everything she holds dear just to cleanse it. And when the Wendigo stands in the wreckage of her once pure home, she won’t blame herself. She’ll blame the Wyrmcomers. She’ll blame them for not showing, she’ll blame them for not being fast enough or
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strong enough, and she’ll blame them for bringing the Wyrm in the first place. All that fury will turn towards the Garou Nation. The Wendigo will dance the Spiral of her own accord to exact her revenge on the Garou. Indeed, they’re already halfway there.