Mary Sutton, Ithaeur member of the Lodge of Metal
The Lodge of Metal is one of the oldest extant lodges of the Iron Masters — if not the oldest.
Fierce Iron, the patron spirit of the lodge, has actually fallen a bit in prestige in recent years. Humans have found so many different elements and alloys over the years that raw iron is somewhat out of favor. This is true even for the Lodge of Metal, in which aluminum and tungsten steel are more likely to catch a metalsmith’s eye than pure iron. Nonetheless, lodge members still offer regular thanks and praise to their patron, for no true Iron Master would think to disparage the very iron that gives the tribe members their name.
Overview[]
Even as humanity moved from using found objects and shaping them into tools to creating their own from metal, so too did the idea spread amongst the Iron Masters, if the legend behind the lodge’s origin is to be believed. In particular, the use of metal weapons was to be a boon for the Uratha (albeit a mixed one, thanks to the eventual creation of silver weapons). For creatures whose life is struggle, the ability to take the humans’ idea of creating tools (and most especially weapons) is a powerful one. Indeed, the Lodge of Metal is held in high regard not just by the Iron Masters but by most of the tribes of the Uratha. Most werewolves can see the value in finely wrought weapons in their hands.
Lodge members are unusually social for the distrustful and territorial Uratha. Members of individual cliques within the lodge, such as swordsmiths, computer experts or car modders, are far enough scattered that regular correspondence through mail, phone or computer is not only possible, but positively prolific. Knowledge is shared freely, so long as spreading it isn’t going to give a neighboring pack any sort of advantage in the struggle for territory. This free communication doesn’t always go down well with other pack members who are rather suspicious of the whole thing. Close relationships with non-pack werewolves are unusual, and it’s all too easy for the rest of the pack to fret about what other information is being spread with the latest alloy ideas or component lists. However, for most packs, the benefits of having a skilled, and often innovative, engineer working for them outweigh the possible disadvantage of having a leaky ship. Still, the smart alpha will still commission the pack’s Ithaeur to force a few information-spirits to keep an eye on a lodge member’s communications.
Membership[]
For all the mix of communication and competition, members of the Lodge of Metal are still ruthless predators. Werewolves get one shot at membership, and, if they fail, that’s it. Of course, the applicant isn’t told that and, while the lodge has a reputation for a harsh admittance policy, spread by failed applicants, the lodge’s public face is so affable (in werewolf terms) that few credit the rumor. Indeed, the initial welcome by potential mentors borders on the effusive. The lodge usually offers up a range of mentors, allowing the applicant to pick and choose. The mentor works with the applicant over a number of months, helping them develop their skills, building contacts with other lodge members and sources of information and supplies.
Finally, the mentor will ask the would-be lodge member to create a lodgepiece — a masterpiece in the traditional sense, which shows off the full extent of the applicant’s skill and ingenuity. The mentor can offer no help, advice or guidance through this process. In fact, most mentors disappear entirely from the applicants’ lives until the work is done, unless the mentors’ presence, but lack of assistance, will create more pressure than their absence. This is the point when the friendly atmosphere of the lodge evaporates. While it was never entirely a lie, it is certainly played up by lodge members with the aim of creating the ultimate pressure situation for the applicant. Lodge members create greater desire for membership, and then put a nearly impossible barrier in the way. Sure, it’s ruthless and cruel, but, in the eyes of the lodge members, it’s a necessary part of werewolf existence. Once the werewolf finally summons up courage to tell their strangely silent mentor that lodgepiece is done, they are summoned to a formal meeting of as many lodge members who can be summed to one place as possible. Urban werewolves often pull strings to use large exhibition halls, or similar venues of intimidating scale, to really put the applicant on edge. Rural werewolves make use of natural features that imply the same thing — large forest clearings, natural amphitheatres on hillsides and the like. For 24 hours, the assembling lodge members greet each other, examine the lodgepiece and quite purposefully ignore the applicant. The following morning, they are dragged from their bed before dawn and brought before the assembled members of the lodge. They then ruthlessly cross-examine the applicant about their choices in building the lodgepiece, the methodology they used and what they thinks is innovative about it. This isn’t friendly discussion or helpfully questioning: this is brutal interrogation, with the intention of tearing down the applicant’s belief in their own skills and performance. Self-belief is vital to the lodge. Lodge members are going to be expected by their packmates to think up all sort of technological or metallurgical miracles under stress, and often life-or-death threats. Anyone who can’t cut it under the pressure will tarnish the name of the lodge, and dishonor Fierce Iron. That’s why applicants only get one bite at the apple — if they got two attempts, they’d be ready for it the second time, missing the point of the test. If the werewolf survives the interrogation, all well and good. The test isn’t over yet, though. The assembled lodge members will put the applicant’s lodgepiece through a destruction testing process. Human testers have no concept of the sort of damage werewolf testers can dish out on their creations. The point here is not for the lodgepiece to actually survive everything thrown at it — that would doom everyone to failure. Werewolves can find a way to destroy anything. No, the point is to find out if the lodgepiece achieves the purpose it was designed for, and if it has the robustness needed for use in the harsh life of the Uratha. If the lodgepiece performs to their satisfaction, then the applicant is given one lunar month to recreate the masterpiece (or a number of them, if the work is such that it would be impossible to recreate in a month) as their final test. If they achieves this, then the barrier that has gone up between the other lodge members and the applicant drops.
Game Mechanics[]
The following are an overview of the game mechanics.
Prerequisites[]
- Crafts •••
- Investigation ••
- Wits •••
Benefits[]
The primary benefit of becoming a member of the lodge is communication with other lodge members and the information that is shared as a result. However, their relationship with Fierce Iron grants them a real boon when creating new items. Lodge members gain three extra dice in all Craft-related rolls, and a +2 to any rolls to coerce or bribe spirits when offering chiminage lodge members crafted themselves.
Fetishes[]
FIRE HAMMER: Building things is hard, physical work, which even a werewolf in Hishu form can struggle with. The answer for members of the Lodge of Metal is the Fire Hammer, named and created in honor of the lodge’s founders. Lodge members make this fetish by binding a fire-spirit into some form of hitting implement, usually a hammer, as the name implies. When activated, the fetish boosts the owner’s Strength by two points, but only in non-combat situations. The spirit within the fetish knows its place, and that place is in work, not battle. Fire Hammers are often given to lodge members as gifts by their mentors after winning their first gathering competition.
Rites[]
RITE OF CORROSION ••••: “Sometimes you make, sometimes you just have to break,” is an old saying amongst the Lodge of Metal. Other Iron Masters often look to members of the Lodge of Metal to help them destroy things, from unwelcome buildings to fetishes used by the hosts or the Pure. This rite doesn’t destroy the object, but does highlight and enhance its weaknesses, allowing werewolves to do what they often do best.
References[]
- WTF: Lodges: The Faithful, p. 70-72
