The Umbra
The Umbra is the world of spirits, torn from the world we know as the Weaver divided the worlds from one another. The further out one gets, the more ethereal and formless things become. Because of the absence of the laws of physics and directions that governs the Realm, this post will address realms in terms of how far out you travel from the comfort and familiarity of Earth itself.
Travel in the Umbra goes in three stages:
- The Penumbra (crossing the Gauntlet into a spirit shadow of the immediate world)
- The Near Umbra (slipping between worlds to explore all the different Realms)
- The Deep Umbra (pressing through the Membrane to enter a formless and indescribable world beyond)
Key Terms
General Umbral Terms
Airts: The magical paths within the spirit world (e.g., Spirit Tracks, Moon Paths, etc.).
Domain: A mini-Realm in the Umbra, usually connected to a larger Realm in the Deep Umbra.
House: A collection of Realms (see below) that have not yet pulled fully apart.*
Realms: The worlds of “solid” reality within the Tellurian. Earth is often referred to as “the Realm,” implying its primacy.
Tellurian: The whole of reality.
Penumbra
Gauntlet: The barrier between the physical world of Earth and the spirit world of the Umbra. It is strongest around technological (Weaver) places and weakest around caerns. (Represented in a white line on the map below)
Loci: A location warped by ephemeral influence in the real world.
Penumbra: “Earth’s Shadow”; the spirit world directly surrounding the physical world. Many, but not all, terrain features have reflections there.
Reaching: Traveling into the spirit world. (See also Side-Stepping)
Side-Stepping: Traveling into the spirit world. (See also Reaching)
Near Umbra
Egress: A point of passage that allows entry to the Near Umbra.*
Near Umbra: The spirit world surrounding the Gaian Realm.
Deep Umbra
Anchorhead: A spirit gate between the Near and Deep Umbra. (See Membrane.)
Deep Umbra: The aspects of the Umbra that lie outside the Membrane. Reality becomes more and more fragmentary the farther one travels from the Realm.
Membrane, The: The barrier between the Near and Deep Umbra. To breach it, an Anchorhead must be found. (Represented in a purple line on the map below)
* these terms are Pantheon-exclusives, and do not exist in standard Werewolf.
Umbra Quick Guide
The Tellurian is the term for every realm of existence: The Earth, the Umbra, the Dreaming, etc. The bulk of the Umbra is comprised of the Near Umbra, which extends into the Astral Umbra (also known as the Astral Reaches) "above" and the Dark Umbra (generally synonymous with the House of Hades) "below". These terms are very subjective, because direction has no real sense or meaning within the umbra, but as far as concepts go, these generally line up.
Penumbra
We live in the Realm, otherwise known as Earth or the material plane. Surrounding us is a sort of cosmic webbing placed there by the Weaver called the Gauntlet, which must be stepped through in order to reach the Umbra in any way shape or form. Once an individual steps through the Gauntlet, they find themselves in the Penumbra, which is a spiritual reflection of the world as we know it.
- Sidestep/Reach/Cross the Gauntlet by testing your Gnosis against the Gauntlet Rating. Retest Primal-Urge.
- Peek across the Gauntlet into the Penumbra by spending a standard action and a Gnosis.
- Peek from the Penumbra into the Realm by spending two standard actions and a Gnosis.
- While in the Penumbra, minor cosmetic alterations may be reveals, reflecting a Garou's true nature, such as a Shadow Lord seeming to exude shadow. The effect is always cosmetic and does not provide any mechanical benefits.
- Garou can spend Gnosis at a rate of 1 per week to sustain themselves while within the Penumbra.
- You may encounter Loci (metaphysically saturated locations):
- Blights are wyrm-touched loci. These often become Hellholes.
- Epiphs are thought-infested loci. These often become Webs.
- Glens are Wyld-touched loci. These often become Wyldlings.
- Chimare are dream-infested loci.
- Hellholes are Wyrm-infested loci.
- Webs are Weaver-infested loci.
- Wyldlings are Wyld-infested loci.
If one wanders the Penumbra extensively enough, they may find an Egress, or gateway into the Near Umbra on the whole. If the Gauntlet is the wall you've scaled to escape the city, an Egress is a ship to sea to escape the continent. This is not an overarching barrier, but a transitional point that allows an individual to slip out of the Penumbra and into the vastness of the Near Umbra. Once here, you cannot simply sidestep out of the Umbra, and must instead return to the Penumbra to find your way back to the Realm. Egresses are often found within Loci in the Penumbra, where the influence of the Realm is much less pronounced.
Here, the laws of the world you know cease to function. Direction loses all meaning, and distance is a humorous notion. The atmosphere is dim and vast with shining realms littering the surroundings like stars in the night, but it is far too easy to get lost trying to reach those shimmering stars. The most vast and impressive complexes within the Near Umbra are known as Houses: coalitions of multiple realms that seem to correspond with one another.
- The Near Umbra's inhabitants are primarly Jagglings and Gafflings. Incarna frequently claim territory in the Near Umbra.
- The minor cosmetic alteration of the Penumbra become even stronger, a Shadow Lord may begin to look as though he was made out of shadow
- Garou can spend Gnosis at a rate of 1 a week to sustain themselves within the Near Umbra.
- The Tribal Homelands reside in the Near Umbra.
- Vistas appear in the Near Umbra. These are realms that a Garou cannot enter, but they can view them as though looking through a picture window.
- The Astral Umbra lingers "above", and the Dark Umbra lingers "below". While considered part of the Near Umbra, these areas are not well understood and may in fact be part of the Deep Umbra. There is certainly significant bleed between the two.
- The biggest appeal of the Near Umbra is the multitude of realms within it. Many realms require specific requirements for entry, such requirements will be listed with the specific realm:
- The House of Man features The Workshop, the Legendary Realm, and the Battlegrounds.
- The House of Chaos brushes the Astral Umbra, and features the Chaos, the Primordial Realm, and the Realm of Forms.
- The House of Hades either is the Dark Umbra, or is an access point to the Dark Umbra. It features Asphodel, Tartarus, Erebus, and the Elysian Fields.
- The Cage is rumored to be where the Weaver imprisoned the Wyrm, and is known to feature Malfeas and the Atrocity Realm.
Surrounding the furthest limits of the Near Umbra is the Membrane, a virtually impassable barrier that keeps the unknowable and the known safely separated. Journeys into the Deep Umbra are said to prompt madness and cosmic terror, as this is alleged to be the true location of the Triat and the enigmatic Celestines. To enter the Deep Umbra, one must travel along the Membrane (much like the Gauntlet) and find an Anchorhead (much like an Egress). Reflecting on the Anchorhead, the garou must press through the Membrane and into a world of imposibility.
- Crossing into the Deep Umbra requires finding an Anchorhead and crossing the Membrane. To cross, a character must test their Gnosis against a difficulty of 9 for a wild Anchorhead, and 7 for a stabilized one. Primal-Urge is the retest.
- The cosmetic changes take full form, and a Garou's tribe is completely apparent. For example a Shadow Lord's coat might absorb any light that came near it, making its fur blacker than the darkest black.
- The Deep Umbra is a strange an chaotic realm, no two trips are the same and some may even drive a Garou mad. Any Derangement possessed by a PC may never reduce below 1 Derangement Trait.
- Nothing out here is known, only rumored. They say there is a race of spirit called Celestine that exists between the Triat and Incarna. They say the Triat themselves live out here. Time has no meaning. There is no way to guarantee safe passage through the Deep Umbra.