Litany

Garou glyph signifying the Litany.

The Litany is the code of laws kept by the Garou. It was codified at the end of the Impergium. The Litany's counterpart among the Black Spiral Dancers is known as the Dark Litany.

Overview

The laws of the People are ancient. Their traditions vary from tribe to tribe, but all Garou must remember and hold to the central code of law called the Litany. In its full form, it is as much an epic poem as a legal code. Chanting it in its entirety can take hours. Four times a year, the werewolves of the Fianna tribe gather in their tribal homelands to recite it in its entirety.

Many — probably most — Garou know the Litany in some form, whether verbatim as presented in this article, via a series of parables, or perhaps even as a series of lupus-scratched warning glyphs on a pile of stacked stones at the edge of the Schwarzwald. Even if they don’t know a single word of it, Garou of all but the most isolated packs surely find themselves influenced by the Litany in some capacity.

The philodoxes are great interpreters of the Litany, and it often falls to them — especially when werewolves of many packs and backgrounds come together — to render judgments upon transgressors, thus shaping the sort of social justice that informs the customs of werewolves worldwide. Galliards sing great songs of Renown gained in observation of the Litany; ragabash chide its failings with the intention of making it stronger or clearer. The Litany belongs to all Garou.

While it takes the greatest scholars to master the entirety of the Litany, most werewolves learn it in the form of its basic precepts. Each precept has a practical basis, but not all of them are universally upheld as unquestionably moral. Each tribe has its own views on right and wrong. In fact, many perceive a hypocritical gap between what Garou elders preach and what werewolves actually do. Masters of Garou law can cite dozens of examples of precedent, but as fewer cubs learn to chant the details, more argue ways to bend the rules in their favor.

Tenets

Legacy Tenets

The tenets from 1st to 20th Anniversary edition are as follows:

• Garou Shall Not Mate With Garou (see Metis)
• Combat the Wyrm Wherever it Dwells and Whenever it Breeds
• Respect the Territory of Another
• Accept an Honorable Surrender
• Submission to Those of Higher Station
• Respect Those of Lower Station, for all are of Gaia.
• The First Share of the Kill for Greatest in Station
• Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans
• The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted
• Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness
• The Leader May Be Challenged At Any Time During Peace
• The Leader May Not Be Challenged During Wartime
• Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated

5th Edition Tenets

The tenets in 5th edition are as follows:

• Combat the Wyrm Wherever It Dwells and Whenever It Thrives
• Respect the Territory of Another
• Accept an Honorable Surrender
• Submit to Those of Higher Station
• Respect Those of Lower Station, for All Are of Gaia
• The First Share of the Kill for Greatest in Station
• Eat Not the Flesh of Humans
• The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted
• The Leader May Be Challenged at Any Time During Peace
• The Leader May Not Be Challenged During Wartime
• Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated

Aside from the removal of the archaic style of the vocabulary and grammar, the only alterations made to the Litany are the removal of the tenets regarding inter-Garou breeding (due to metis no longer being canon) and the euthanasia of the elderly and infirm.

Trivia

• The various Tribebooks often included sections where a member or members of a tribe discussed and debated over the tenets of the Litany.
• Each of the Fera have their own version of Laws with tenets that they follow as well.
• Werewolf: The Forsaken has the Oath of the Moon and the Oath of Urfarah, which follow a structure somewhat similar to the Litany with different tenets.

References

• WTA: Werewolf: The Apocalypse First Edition, p. 42-45
• WTA: GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse, p. 31-34
• WTA: Werewolf: The Apocalypse Second Edition, p. 33-35
• WTA/MET: Laws of the Wild, p. 205-207
• WTWW: Werewolf: The Wild West Rulebook, p. 43-47
• WTA/MET: Laws of the Wyld West, p. 245-247
• WTA: Werewolf: The Apocalypse Revised Edition, p. 37-40
• WTA/MET: Laws of the Wild Revised Edition, p. 23-26
• DAW: Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 31-33