Lodge of the Boundary Member
The Lodge of the Boundary is a Lodge of the Elodoth.
The spirit patron of the Lodge of the Boundary is Silent Jackal, the Envoy of the Dead.
Overview[]
The Half Moon is two halves divided by an edge. Several Elodoth understand that the edge is an important part of their auspice moon; it represents the boundary, the wall between flesh and spirit, or the Rage that divides werewolves and humans. A few try to embody that boundary when they take the role of judge or inquisitor, embodying the line that cleaves truth from lies.
Those Elodoth who join the Lodge of the Boundary know there's another barrier there in the Half Moon: the wall between the light, vital world of the living and the shadowed world of the dead. While many members belong to the Bone Shadows, the Lodge of the Boundary doesn't hunt for secrets. A member of the lodge is far more interested in the recently dead. The Half Moon is the envoy to the spirits, and the Lodge of the Boundary act as envoys to the dead. Most members focus on those ghosts that haunt their territory, discovering what the dead need before they can move on. A few go further in their quest to settle the affairs of the dead, travelling far to slay a ghost's enemies.
The Lodge of the Boundary isn't exactly well-known; though its Forsaken are spread across the world, only cities with close ties to death have more than one or two members in residence. Most members don't even tell their packmates they act as envoys for the dead, especially considering the strange requirements most ghosts have before they can move on. Other members explain what they do to their packs. Often, it takes several werewolves to move on a powerful and intractable ghost. One may require a complex exorcism performed by the whole pack, while another just wants to deliver one last message to her son - who died two hundred years ago.
The Lodge of the Boundary doesn't have any secret insights into what happens after death. Even after years of dealing with ghosts, members of the Lodge don't gain any special understanding. No "inner circle" watches over a werewolf's dealings with the dead. No patron spirit knows when one member of the Lodge burns a ghost's anchors. While all members should keep detailed records of those ghosts they've dealt with, and any member of the Lodge can ask to see those records, operating on the honor system is a dangerous thing. An Elodoth with a strange fixation on death may create more ghosts than he dispatches, while one who believes that he is some sort of hero to the dead may spend too long dealing with the dead rather than his fellow werewolves and spirits. While another member of the Lodge will hunt them out eventually, these werewolves can get away with a lot in the meantime.
The Lodge of the Boundary has the blessing of Silent Jackal, the Envoy of the Dead as their totem. Silent Jackal serves as an aspect of one of Death Wolf's offspring, the picker of bones and envoy of ghosts. Certainly, he has powerful connections within the Underworld, and he is the final judge on those souls the Lodge of the Boundary sent to their final reward.
Membership[]
The Lodge of the Boundary may not keep itself a secret, but its actual beliefs and practices are remarkably hard to discover. In many ways, members rely on generalizations and "common knowledge" to shield themselves from scrutiny; hidden in plain sight. Only Elodoth may join the Lodge of the Boundary.
Initiation into the lodge is one of those well-guarded secrets. The prospective member - always an Elodoth, though from any tribe - has to understand what she's dealing with: she has to find what a ties a ghost to the world and resolve it, and must be able to justify her resolution at a heartbeat's notice. She must spend six months apprenticed to another member of the Lodge of the Boundary, learning how best to communicate with ghosts and winkle out precisely what ties a ghost to the world. After a while, she learns to identify those ghosts who know what they want against those who endlessly repeat the same moment from their lives. After her time as an apprentice is over, she has to pass one last test: identifying a ghost's needs, and sending it on to wherever ghosts go. Once she's succeeded - if she succeeds - she has to justify her decision to her decision to another member of the lodge.
Game Mechanics[]
The following are an overview of the game mechanics.
Prerequisites[]
Members of the Lodge of the Boundary must have an understanding of what they're getting into by becoming the boundary between life and death (Academics •, Occult ••). Silent Jackal demands that werewolves learn about the ghosts they deal with (Investigation •).
Benefits[]
All members of the Lodge of the Boundary count Death Gifts as an affinity Gift list, and pay (new dots x4) experience points to purchase Death Gifts. Members can also use their Spirit Envoy ability on ghosts as well as spirits.
References[]
- WTF: Signs of the Moon, p. 98-99
