During times of war, it falls to the alpha pack to decide and arrange punishments for transgressions against the Oath of the Moon — but only if the pack finds out. A single werewolf who shows disregard for the enemy might be protected by her packmates.
They stay quiet about her violation to protect her (and their) honor, but seek to apply a proper punish-ment. When the offense involves another pack that desires restitution, the situation escalates directly to the alpha pack for judgment.
War leaders are inclined to be lenient. While no werewolf wants to contravene the People’s con-ventions, the war needs every able body it can get.
The most typical response, as balanced by the alpha pack’s Elodoth (and woe to the alpha pack without one!), is a moderate immediate punishment or restitu-tion combined with the promise of more once the war ends. Most werewolves understand that the im-portance of the war requires some sacrifices, includ-ing satisfaction of honor. This issue might drive some werewolves from the war, but a far greater number are willing to submerge their anger for the purpose that gathered them all in the first place.
Blood feuds, as common but divisive elements of werewolf justice, are forbidden between packs engaged in the war. Packs are expected to temporar-ily forget about any baggage they carry with them into the war, and to put new ones off until the war is over. Feuds that they hold with Forsaken not taking part in the war are also given up for the duration, at least by the pack that has sworn itself to the ideal.
For werewolves not in the war, getting back at a pack busy with the war is a bad idea. A pack that tries soon finds several packs giving it ample cause to back off — at least for now.
Tribal vows, on the other hand, are left to the tribe to adjudicate and punish. Tribal elders not associ-ated with or opposed to the war may be biased. One might proscribe a penance far greater than necessary out of spite, or to prevent the punished from partici-pating. For that reason, alpha packs typically choose a ranking member of the offender’s tribe (assuming the alpha pack does not contain one) and asks her to pass judgment. Reconciliation with tribal elders who disapprove can come after the war. Punishments for breaking pack bans are likewise left to the pack.
h
armonyThough the Oath of the Moon helps keep the People in line, not just with their society but with their own dual natures, the Oath doesn’t cover every-thing. Any sin not mentioned has probably already been covered with the Oath of the Moon, starting on p. 36. Beyond their personal honor and the reactions of spirits, the People attempt to keep their Harmony ratings high in order to keep their fetishes attuned and functioning.
For a game based around war, it’s a good idea to consider changing the rules of Harmony a bit. Though the notes below discuss Harmony sins as they are, it can be rough on players to roll degeneration at least once each chapter (and probably more often). There are two ways to go with this: leave it alone (or make it stricter), to emphasize how the brutality of war can decimate a person, or lighten the load.
Left as written in the core book, Harmony can tear characters apart. War is a series of pre-forgiven killings, and there’re some things written about mur-der and respect in the Oath of the Moon somewhere.
As the story progresses, the characters are going to grow weary of the war.
Regular Shapeshifting
To keep the human and wolf within perfectly balanced, the Uratha must shapechange regularly.
Because werewolves with this level of Harmony are rare, and especially rare in wartime, this isn’t often a problem. Still, many Forsaken strive for greater bal-ance in the face of the sins they must commit. Out in the wilderness, it’s no big deal, but a city war makes things harder. It’s not feasible to change regularly when the entire war is in New York City and half the army is concentrated there — eventually, somebody’s going to notice that Urhan isn’t a dog or Dalu isn’t quite human.
Hunting for Food
Many werewolves don’t mind eating food from a market or coffee shop. They are not in great balance with their own natures. Because many werewolves involved in war will naturally be at or reach mid-low Harmony, there
may not be much call (besides personal preference) to avoid this
sin. Still, high-Harmony werewolves possess respect and can bring a great deal of legitimacy to a gathering army; the wise war leader makes an effort to appease those who try to keep in good bal-ance with their souls.
prey run away, but that’s a small price to pay for a war’s ideals.
City wars require more care. Neither a human clubbing a cat nor a wolf chasing down rats are common sights in urban areas. Too many were-wolves trying to stay at Harmony 9 might end up taking beloved pets or diminishing the stray/vermin population enough that people take notice. Maybe the SPCA starts trying to find missing animals, or the FDA launches an investigation of meatpacking plants. Either one could be trouble.
Bearing Silver Weapons
When the foes are also werewolves, the breaking of this sin becomes almost ubiquitous. When fight-ing the Pure Tribes, even more Uratha take up silver, because they’ve all heard that the dangerous metal is worse on them than it is on
us. Should a Bale Hound become
the enemy,
very
few werewolves will hesitate to take up
damn-ing arms. All werewolves will all want to hurt Bale Hounds.
Some werewolves try to skirt the issue: they might construct traps that use silver without actually bearing the weapon, but this is only a rationalization.
In such cases,
it’s necessary to consider the prey’s source and how to hunt privately. Far from civilization, it might not be a big deal. Animals are plentiful and human eyes scarce. Werewolves might be reduced to digging out voles and other small game once the more satisfying
The “Human” Side of War In the end, this is one of the sins that werewolves
— especially werewolves at war — must deal with.
Proffering Disrespect
Tempers grow short in times of need, and war is one of those times. Under many stressors at once, it is not surprising when werewolves neglect to be properly respectful to their superiors. In a war against spirits, the Uratha might easily end up treating another spirit foe, even one of greater rank, as just another enemy soldier to be cut down by a strong pack. This is failing to respect one’s prey. When warring against were-wolves, the same issue may arise. Likewise, there are often issues with younger werewolves commanding their elders. See the discussion on “The Low Honor the High; the High Respect the Low” on p. 36.
Too Much Time Alone
Because it better fits their natures (and because they would otherwise revolt), most werewolves are asked to perform tasks alongside their packs. In that way, it is as easy for a werewolf to avoid this sin as it is normally.
On occasion, it becomes necessary to send a single werewolf out alone. The mission may be so secret that only the war leader and the operative know about it, or it might require such stealth that a werewolf could only succeed alone. Spending weeks without Uratha company on important reconnaissance is enough to unbalance most werewolves just a little.
Werewolves might also suffer this sin when undercover. Sent to blend in with enemy Uratha, a werewolf might still feel so separated from those around her that she suffers from the effective lack of social contact.
Killing Human or Wolf Without Need Werewolves are already violent creatures, and the experience of war only enhances and encourages their tendencies to inflict bodily harm on others. With so many werewolves dying, why shouldn’t a few humans die also? Killing a human is one of the easiest ways to keep the Oath of the Moon intact. And with all the pain and stress of war, some werewolves lash out at humans just to take the edge off.
Collateral damage is another concern. Wolves are rarely foolish enough to get in the way when blood is being spilled and Rage fills the air, but hu-mans can be stupidly curious. Curious enough to get in the way of a Raging werewolf, even. Werewolves in Gauru, being less than discerning, are liable to tear the innocent human apart. Raging Uratha who take their fury out on buildings may kill humans by
bring-ing the place down on their heads. When werewolves are in Death Rage, humans who stick their heads out are in even more danger.
Wielding Silver Against a Werewolf
Even worse than carrying it is using it — even though one almost ensures the werewolf’s will to do the other. He might be a hero when he cuts swathes through the enemy Uratha, but his peers are unlikely to cheer him for it once they know his secret. Despite the great damage this act wreaks on a werewolf’s soul and reputation, it is still fairly common: there are fetishes and talens that invoke the power of silver against werewolves.
Torture
With great purpose comes great price. That price is paid with effort, because staging a war is no small feat, and with the soul. There will be times when an enemy has information that the alpha pack needs.
Some Gifts might have the information out of him, or certain leverage could cause him to talk, but haste is all too common in times of battle. Torture can be a quick way to get the information.
Physical torture isn’t the only way to commit this sin. Carving up the flesh of an enemy and sticking bamboo shoots under his claws are terrible acts, it’s true, but at least they’re direct. The subject can ratio-nalize them. Other forms of torture, which may not even involve physical contact, can be worse. Humilia-tion, threats and worse are all equal parts of this sin.
For some Uratha, even capture is a form of torture.
Having defeated the enemy, binding it is a humilia-tion, keeping it imprisoned is disrespect. Unable to run free or redeem himself in his eyes or the eyes of his peers, the prisoner suffers endless shame. This may be torture, depending on who it is. Spirits are less honor-bound and more direct; they are usually unharmed by captivity, as fetishes suggest. Werewolves depend more on Renown and on dominance/submission patterns that, once set, are not constantly tested: though it depends on the individual, a werewolf is more likely to chafe significantly when captured.
Murder of a Werewolf
This is another tough issue. The People might be in a war just to prove that they can defeat the enemy, but it’s far more likely that their objective also requires the death of a significant fraction of the enemy. Against some opponents, this sin won’t arise.
Fighting other werewolves, as is very likely in Were-wolf: The Forsaken, it won’t be enough to beat a foe down and let her get back up. After all, she’s a
were-wolf: she’ll be up again in a day (unless the wounds were made with silver) and fully charged for battle in a week, if she can find a locus.
To really progress in a war against other were-wolves, some of them need to die. And not every kill-ing blow can fortuitously come before the enemy lies down and stops fighting. Just because an opponent stops fighting and bares her throat (symbolically or not) doesn’t make her proof against a finishing blow, at least in war, and that is a sin.
It can’t be helped, but it can be contained to prevent too much Harmony degradation. When possible, werewolves make it a point only to kill the helpless when they are the war’s greatest enemies.
Packs trying to maintain their Harmony take lesser foes captive or release them and try to kill them in battle later. Sometimes, there’s no choice: a Raging werewolf might break an unconscious enemy over her knee, only suffering for it once the enormity of it seeps into her dulled mind.
Betraying the Pack
One might imagine that this sin is unchanged in war: the pack remains the werewolf’s fundamental so-cial unit. Most werewolves swear to the war as a pack, and they take the oath very seriously. Because they all believe so strongly, betraying the war is betrayal to the werewolf’s pack. Until the werewolf performs the Rite of Renunciation to remove himself from the war or is cast out with the Rite of Condemnation, betray-ing the war is a sin on par with betraybetray-ing his pack.
For some, the war is even more important than the pack. Uratha whose packs do not believe in the war may join alone. This may or may not count as be-trayal of the pack in the first place. These werewolves, and any who run alone normally but join the war, have no greater family than the other soldiers sworn to the same great cause. Betraying them is a sin equiva-lent to betraying the pack they do not have.
W ho and W hy
The problem with just listing some triggers that might send a bunch of werewolves off on the same sort of crusade is that each one must involve a spe-cific sort of enemy. A charge against the spirit-travel-ing mages of America isn’t gospirit-travel-ing to have the same impact as a guerrilla war against a collection of Azlu who have completely infested a city.