Werewolf: The Forsaken - Antagonists

Antagonists

In the World of Darkness, there are many dangers for the Uratha. But these rivalries rarely result in open combat, since most supernatural beings in the World of Darkness prefer to be hidden. The main threats to the Forsaken are:

• Spirits: Spirits who do not acknowledge the barrier between the worlds are the most common adversary of the Forsaken. Spirits gain sustenance by feeding on the concepts they represent. Some spirits possess humans in order to create more sustenance for themselves by manipulating their victims, others travel to the material world for the alien experiences offered by possessing a human. For example, a pain spirit might possess a child in order to inflict pain on other children in order to feed itself. Some claim the bodies of living beings outright and become some of the most dangerous foes. These Claimed are unique amalgamations of being and spirit and can bestow the claimed body with a variety of powers. Some can even warp the bodies to unknown levels and become shapeshifters themselves (e.g. some leopard-spirits possess human beings and can take on the shape of a leopard as well) or develop supernatural abilities of extraordinary power. The Forsaken's primary duty is to hunt down these wayward spirits and return them to the spirit world by any means necessary, defending humanity from their depredations. Most spirits hate the Forsaken for denying them the pleasures of the material world, which makes travel to the spirit world dangerous for them. The problem is, that the Forsaken cannot just destroy every wayward spirit because this would leave the physical world as a hollow shell or make room for even more dangerous foes.

• The Pure (Anshega): Werewolves descended from those who chose not to rise up and slay Father Wolf. They blame their Forsaken cousins for the loss of Pangaea and view the extermination of the Forsaken as a holy crusade. They are superior in number to the Forsaken, and their culture of hate and battle prowess has made them the Forsakens' most implacable enemies. The Pure have only contempt for humanity and feel no duty to defend them from spirits, which makes spirits far friendlier to them than to the Forsaken. Their only disadvantage is that Luna has not granted them her favor, which means they have no Auspices and are more susceptible to silver than the Forsaken. The Pure venerate Father Wolf but do not take on his duties. They mostly live by a "the end justifies the means"-philosophy which lets their Harmony, which is actually were precious to them, erode over time. Physically they do not differ from the Forsaken, except for the lack of Auspices. The Pure are not a uniform group, but consist of three Tribes who all follow a Firstborn of Father Wolf, who never forgave the death of their father. These Tribes are: the Fire-Touched (Izidakh) who follow Rabid Wolf with religious zeal and are the most numerous of all Tribes; the Ivory Claws (Tzuumfin) who follow Silver Wolf, are obsessed with "purity" and see themselves as the most pure werewolves and the rightful leader of the Pure; and the Predator Kings (Ninna Farakh) who follow Dire Wolf and see themselves as the top of the food chain, the ultimate predators and leave their human side behind them as far as possible.

• The Hosts: Bizarre creatures who, like the Forsaken, are a hybrid of spirit and flesh, man and animal. They are descended from powerful Pangaean spirits hunted by Father Wolf for their attacks on humanity. They escaped total destruction by splitting themselves into thousands of spirit shards, each of which inhabited an animal. These shards became the Hosts. These hosts are the Azlu (spider-monsters) and the Beshilu (rat-things). These beings strengthen or weaken the barrier between the worlds (which can have very negative side effects in both cases), as well as seek and consume more of their own kind to become stronger. When they reach a certain level of power, they may seek out a suitable human, merge with him, and evolve into a unique combination of human and animal (spider or rat). Humans are mostly tools or food for these Hosts. Apart from these main Hosts, there are other Hosts in the form of locusts, ravens, and snakes. There are possibly even more kinds of Hosts who don’t have much in common with either Azlu or Beshilu.

• The Idigam: The rarest of the Forsaken's enemies, these cthonic entities are the spirits that represent concepts that existed before the world was fully formed. The term "Idigam" means "moon banished," used to denote that these powerful spirits were exiled beyond the spirit world, possibly by Father Wolf himself. As such, they have no place in reality and exhibit powers and motives beyond comprehension. Idigam are vast and unknowable, which makes them almost impossible to confront physically. When the Idigam appeared the last time in the World of Darkness, during the 60s, they were such a threat that they lead to the few times in history that the Forsaken and the Pure had to cooperate to defeat them - and even then they did not manage to defeat all of them. Originally believed to be linked to the Abyss from Mage: the Awakening, it was revealed in Night Horrors: Wolfsbane that they are terrestrial spirits who were sealed on the physical moon, and that they stowed away on the Apollo missions to return to Earth.

• The Bale-Hounds (Azah Gadar): these Uratha devoted themselves to the Maeljin, archetypal spirits of the Seven Deadly Sins plus Violence and Deception. From their view, the world is fundamentally flawed and they want to be on the winning side. Therefore they committed themselves to the worst kind of spirits in the world and commit acts which are unspeakable and warp the place they inhabit into places of evil over time. Supposedly, the spirit who serves as an ambassador and is called Soulless Wolf is a Firstborn of Father Wolf and the Azah Gadar are the Ninth Tribe. The Azah Gadar are some of the few enemies which can bring the Forsaken and the Pure to cooperate to destroy a common foe.

• Humans: Humans can be friend or foe for the Uratha, especially those who are part supernatural themselves, since the Lunacy provokes a weaker reaction or sometimes even fails to effect them. The main threat that humans embody is the fact that they influence the spirit world more strongly than any other species, even when they are practically severed from the spirit world. Some facts about the Uratha have found their way into human culture, and the fact that such a thing was possible is very unnerving, especially since, with the help of modern weapons, even a single human can be very dangerous.

• Other Supernaturals: The Forsaken occasionally come into conflict with other supernatural denizens of the World of Darkness, like ghosts, vampires, mages, skinthieves, or the other were-beasts. However there is a difference in the relationship of the Uratha with other members of the Changing Breeds (also called beast-folk). Even when a Uratha will never see another beast-folk as an equal, there is a sort of kinship and respect that beast-folk acknowledge with one another even if they try to kill each other. Reasons for a conflict can be very different, but there is no dead set animosity towards other supernaturals. The Uratha can cooperate with other supernaturals if it is worth the effort, but prefer the presence of their own kind. Furthermore, there are other uncommon and sometimes unique beings in the World of Darkness whose motives, and therefore reasons, for conflict with the Forsaken can differ enormously from each other.