E VALUACIÓN DEL EFECTO DE LA APLICACIÓN DEL PROGRAMA SOBRE CADA ZONA RURAL

Underneath the shadow of willful ignorance, the prison system of the United States is a bastion of terror, pain, and degradation. Few places offer such feasting grounds for Banes — especially with the quiet consent of the public. Guards and inmates alike work out their frustrations through torture or rape, and inmates regularly fight each other in brutal battles to reach the top of a meaningless pecking order. Wardens and guards alike turn a blind eye — or take part in the depravity, offering prizes to those who do their dirty work.

Warden Gerald Simmons runs one of the worst prisons in the country. He started as a guard, choosing

STORYTELLING TIPS

The remains of Phelegma Abbey exist within a large Hellhole formed around a fracking opera- tion trying to extract shale gas from the surround- ing mountains. Though most Garou think that the federal agents burning the Abbey destroyed it, the Pretanic Order’s archives survived the fire. Now deep underground, the Order uses human sacrifice to open gateways in and out. The frack- ing operation helps to deter curious werewolves, as an open assault would completely miss the buried archives of Wyrmish lore.

The Order might kidnap Kinfolk investigat- ing the fracking operations. Souls of Kinfolk carry power, and the Laird of Demborough might start seeking more Kin for his rites. The pack would need to rescue the Kinfolk from the hands of the order before they can perform another bloody ritual — not only to save the souls of the Kin, but also to remind the Laird that Kinfolk have powerful protectors.

Alternatively, the pack might need to in- filtrate the Order to find out all they can of the Laird’s motives. Should the pack find out the order seeks to unite the Wyrm, it could try to prevent the disaster. Thankfully, the Wyrm is a volatile force; the pack could undo the Order’s work by turning the Hydra upon itself. Once they know of the Abbey’s archives, finding a way for the Wyrm to destroy them would demonstrate the enemy critically injuring itself with few Gaian deaths.

favorites among inmates to whom he would slip various goods in return for their cooperation. Gerald quickly picked out prisoners who would work with him, turning them against those who would rat him out. It started as sadistic entertainment, but Gerald started having dreams about the great power he would have if he took over the prison.

Simmons made deliberate movements through the ranks of the guards. Prisoners under his command were better behaved in public, and people assumed that they respected him. In truth, the prisoners were terrified. Gerald made a deal with an infamous inmate known only as Gold Eye. Though he spent most of his time in solitary, any time one of Gerald’s prisoners acted up he’d find Gold Eye sharing his cell for a night. Few wanted to repeat the experience

In 2011, Pentex bought out American Corrections, the small company that owned Gerald’s prison. Pentex combed through officials, overhauling management and replacing it with their own staff. Due to his excellent track record, Gerald was promoted to warden. He im- mediately started running the prison his way. He gave the worst prisoners the best accommodations as long as they helped him control the inmate population. Meanwhile, any inmate who tried to resist the system was thrown into solitary confinement or given as currency to the warden’s favorites.

As the prison’s foul touch poisoned the Um- bra, it became a hotspot for Banes. Gerald’s dreams brought him incantations and symbols of power that he inscribed on the papers of his inmates. Those he favored found themselves with strange abilities that they couldn’t quite understand, while those he hated spent their nights tormented by various horrors as their bodies warped into hideous freaks. Following symbols in his dreams, Warden Simmons started the Silver Keys. Determined to make his prison more powerful, Gerald recruited from both guards and inmates. His uncanny ability to read people led him to willing initiates, and the entire prison became a well-oiled machine of terror, feeding Banes with ritual sacrifices of body, soul, and sanity.

One prison proved too small to hold the growing cult. As others within his order grew in power, Gerald set up transfers, sending guards and prisoners alike to other Pentex-owned prisons. The cult spread, luring in more guards, wardens, and prisoners with promises of power and profit.

For Pentex, the prisons serve as seemingly bottom- less sources of humans for experiments and free labor. The soul-sucking nature of the institutions is a perfect backdrop for the creation of various fomori. Inmates locked up for victimless crimes are especially precious to Pentex, as they conduct psychological experiments on the resilience of the human psyche, and use them as lab-rats for new street-drugs.

A few members of the Board of Directors have become nervous about Gerald Simmons, though they do not yet know of the Silver Keys. A stocky, average-looking man, Gerald has dirty blond hair, brown eyes, and carries

STORYTELLING TIPS

Pentex finds it easiest to deal with annoying Kinfolk by planting evidence of heinous crimes and leaving them to the justice system. A Kinfolk caught stealing important documents makes the corporation’s job even easier. The pack will soon find that a prison is difficult to infiltrate and even harder to escape, especially when it rests on a Blight. In prisons run by members of the Silver Keys, fomori can openly wander the corridors and carry silver bullets ready to face down any werewolves attempting to break in.

The influence of the Silver Keys is also leaking out onto the streets. As prisoners are released, members of the cult try to ignite the public, calling for stricter regulations, more po- lice, and harsher penalties all in the name of a safer society. As an urban sept struggles to keep its Kinfolk safe and sway public opinion against the oppressive justice system, a pack might need to seek out members of the Keys and remove them. Of course, removing them leads to police attention, and skilled criminologists from the prison system are likely to blame the very people the Garou are trying to protect.

Prisons are commonly located in remote ar- eas where their foul spiritual presence can befoul otherwise untouched Umbra. The saturation of pure human misery would attract enough trouble for any Garou seeking to contain or destroy the new Blight. If the site has been used by the Uk- tena to contain a powerful Bane, the corruption from the prison could weaken its bindings. The pack might have to rid the prison of the Silver Keys to keep the Bane from breaking free, but even then that might not be enough. Should the werewolves decide to destroy the entire prison, the murder of so many humans — even for a perceived good — might be enough to free the Bane.

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BOOK OF THE WYRM