
Sarah Keely, Lodge of London Member
The Lodge of London is a lodge dedicated to the city of London.
The spirit patron of the Lodge of London is the City Father of London.
Overview[]
Nowhere are Britain's many scars laid barer than in the city of London. From its roots as the Roman settlement of Londinium to its place as one of the biggest cities in the world, London has suffered plague, war and fire throughout the ages. Nine million souls claim it as their home, and countless spirits dwell within the city's Shadow.
The Lodge of London is an example of a lodge bound entirely to one vast location. The lodge's membership transcends any notion of tribe or allegiance, and the werewolves within the group swear to honor the spirit of the city in return for the mighty being's aid when they call for it. A pack might take a location-spirit for its patron, but only something as sizeable as a lodge could hope to attract the attention of a city-spirit.
Werewolves of the Lodge of London are not formed into packs that are duty-bound to roam the city together. Rather, packs that claim territory in and around the city have the option of individual members joining the lodge and using their added expertise for the benefit of their own pack. Uratha bound to London itself could use the tie to the totem to intimidate spirits in negotiations and subtly remind the denizens of the Shadow just who (or rather what) is on the Forsaken's side. A lodge member might have dreams of the city's secret places, of areas that are in dire need of cleansing or would make excellent additions to the pack's hunting grounds. And any bonded werewolf can call upon the unyielding fortitude and ancient might of the city, drawing strength from a spirit that has grown and evolved for thousands of years.
It is tradition that only a single member of a pack can join the Lodge of London. With a vast alien intellect, the great spirit of the city is not an easy being to understand, and has little comprehension itself of how to relate to mortal minds. Packs that have, in the past, had several members dedicated to the totem, have suffered clashing messages and contrasting omens from the city-spirit. Despite the spirit's power, the spirit seems to have trouble differentiating between closely bound werewolves. To add to this confusion, the "City Father" (as bonded Uratha name him) has his attention dispersed over miles and miles of territory, on both sides of the Gauntlet. Any city-spirit is an entity occupied by 100,000 events every second, and the City Father is the spirit of London itself, a being that much greater in scope and power than the lesser location-spirits that make up the city's soul.
The lodge has no organization, no cohesion, no formal meetings - members even meet at truces, gatherings or battles over hunting grounds without knowing one another's allegiance to the same patron. It is a path each werewolf walks alone, bonding to the City Father and taking the strength of the union back to each pack.
The werewolves of the Lodge of London tread a fine balance. The patron itself makes few demands of its adopted children, but when it does it expects them to be answered immediately. In the case of festering Wound or an uncovered shartha nest that is violating the Gauntlet almost beyond repair, the City Father can sometimes call several werewolves at once to the deal with the threat. But this isn't a reliable summons; the alien logic of the spirit seems to have difficulty grasping the realities of conflict on such a small scale, and packs have answered the summons sent to one of their members only to find themselves gravely (even fatally) outnumbered in the past. And there is no time or set event to trigger the summons, meaning that sometimes they occur at the most inconvenient times when a pack is engaged elsewhere.
Patron: City Father of London[]
The lodge takes its marching orders from a spirit that appears to be the City Father of London - and if the patron isn't truly that dignitary, it's close enough in terms of power and influence. When the City Father demands his children's attention, his summoning comes in the form of the spirit itself temporarily Riding a human, usually by means of the Possession Numen. This "messenger" will often need to be monitored to make sure it doesn't get out of hand, though London takes no umbrage at the destruction of its possessed avatars. In truth, the city-spirit seems to forget them as soon as they are destroyed, and no stories circle through the packs about retribution for such an act "against" the totem.
These are the troubles a werewolf must face in order to reap the benefits of a bond with the city-spirit.
Joining the Lodge[]
The Lodge of London has no citywide organization, no scheduled meetings between members and no hierarchy of leadership. As a separated and scattered number of individuals tied to their own packs rather than fellow lodge members, each werewolf joins without the aid of an Uratha sponsor. It is simply matter of finding the city incarnate, and somehow convincing this vast spirit to ally with the werewolf.
Finding the spirit of the city is no easy feat. No amount of chiminage or pleading has resulted in a proven successful summons, and few spirits exist that can be bribed or bound into serving as an emissary between a werewolf and the city-spirit. Unsurprisingly, the only spirits with such an a link to London itself are location-spirits, and they are among the most alien creatures of Shadow.
Famous tourist attractions, memorials, museums, monuments and renowned buildings are all likely to have location-spirits, and London has more than its fair share of such places; the personalities of each spirit vary wildly. Dealing with them is a challenge in and of itself. Some can be approached in the Hisil and reasoned with, perhaps bribed, petitioned or coerced into carrying a message to the overarching city-spirit. These more "open" spirits might manifest for ease of interaction once the werewolf has made his intentions clear, and such a manifestation could take almost any form: from the original architect of the site or the last person to look at the area in awe to a figure on any shape, made from the materials of the location, be they wood, brick, steel or stone.
Certainly the easiest way to please a location-spirit if to make sure any nearby loci are free of Wound infection, or to generally remove potential imbalances in the Shadow nearby. Sometimes a location-spirit will be good enough to point out a problem the spirit wishes to be addressed, while others will remain silent on the subject without coercion. Other spirits are likely to be outright hostile to the Uratha, which should come as no surprise to any werewolf. An appeased and honored spirit is likely to heed the werewolf's desire. A displeased spirit might take a little more persuasion. Either way, eventually it will become clear that this is the best (and apparently the only) way to reach the city-spirit's ear. When the location-spirit does somehow "pass the message up," the Uratha can expect a wait of indeterminate length. Time is relative to the individual, and who can tell how a city judges time?
London will usually contact the werewolf between an hour and a year after the applicant has convinced the location-spirit; these is no true way to tell. Even when the contact comes, it is indirect. Subway trains wait a few seconds longer for the werewolf to get on board, elevators are that little bit faster, streetlights around the character flare into life rather than flickering in broken rhythm - all the little details about city loge become slightly less annoying, the course of the following days and nights, she can expect to find a "representative" of the city-spirit approach her, and take her oath to formalize the connection.
Those who refuse at this stage suffer no ill effects for doing so. Those who agree to the terms laid out by the city-spirit receive the benefits due every other member of the lodge.
Game Mechanics[]
Prerequisites[]
Must be a character who lives in London.
Benefits[]
Members can purchase the Rite: Eyes of the City with experience points. All Survival and Tracking rolls within the city gain +2 bonus. The werewolf gains a +1 bonus on all Negotiation rolls with all naturally occurring urban-spirits.
Rite[]
Eyes of the City: This rite mimics one of the legendary powers of the great city-spirit, allowing a werewolf to see through the eyes of any human who lives within the city limits. Ritualists might use this rite to divine the location of a hated enemy, or eavesdrop on the dealings of a loved one or contact. The werewolf has no control over the actions of the subject, and merely sees and hears what the subject senses. The images and sounds replace the character's own sense, and only revert back to normal when the magic of the rite eventually fails, or the character speaks a word of severance.
People who share close ties to the werewolf are easier to "ride" in this manner, and wolf-blooded are especially susceptible. The rite fails to function if used on supernatural creatures such as Ridden, vampires, mages and ghosts, though the rite works on wolf-blooded, acolytes and ghouls. Preforming this rite upon a friend or relative without informing her beforehand is considered rude and unworthy.
Performing the Rite: The ritualist gathers one or more items related to the subject of the rite (personal items, money recently given, etc.) and howls to the spirit of the city, pleading to be allowed to share the mortal's senses. When the city-spirit establishes the link, the werewolf must speak a First Tongue word of breaking that will sever the contract when he desires. Otherwise, the rite lasts for a number of hours equal to the ritemaster's Harmony.
Dice Pool: Harmony versus subject's Resolve
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The call to London fails; the ritualist is unable to use the rite on the same subject for another month.
Failure: The rite simply fails.
Success: Success means that the ritualist loses his senses of sight and sound, which are immediately replaced by those of the chosen human. The ritualist sees and hears everything the subject experiences, though the ritualist lacks any control over the human's actions.
Exceptional Success: The rite succeeds with twice the usual duration (Harmony x2 hours).
Suggested Modifiers
Situation/Modifier:
- Subject does not live in the city. -2
- Subject is wolf-blooded. +1
- Subject is well-known to the ritemaster. +1
- Ritemaster was born in the city. +1
- Ritemaster has lived in the city for his entire life. +1
- Ritemaster possesses an image of the subject. +1
- Ritemaster possesses an item belonging to the subject. +2
- Ritemaster possesses a hair or body part of the subject. +3
References[]
- CofD: Shadows of the UK, p. 80-84