
Hattie Irons, Hunter in Darkness Rahu founder of the Lodge of the Empty Den or just an unnamed Lodge Member.
The Lodge of the Empty Den is a Lodge of the Hunters in Darkness.
The spirit patron of the Lodge of the Empty Den is Anguished Howl.
Overview[]
The Lodge of the Empty Den is very small, and its members meet each other only when a new Hunter is initiated. The lodge is also recent - Hattie Irons, Rahu of the Hunters in Darkness, formed the lodge a scant 10 years ago. Since then, though, the lodge has spread gradually, until one could conceivably find a member anywhere on the North American continent, and perhaps elsewhere.
The lodge is dedicated to protecting children. The members are quite willing to protect children of normal humans and even of dire enemies, for to them, a child is innocent. Lodge members place priority, however, on their own children, followed by the children of packmates, then children of mortal family, then children of friends, then children in general. Lodge members seldom have to make choices that require this kind of prioritization, but it happens occasionally.
The Lodge of the Empty Den is founded on grief and rage, and the members tend to be werewolves who have lost children or who have given up any hope of having them due to their Uratha status. The totem of the lodge is a strange, terrifying spirit known as the Anguished Howl. While Uratha outside the lodge view this spirit as a conceptual-spirit, probably of grief or rage, the lodge members know the truth. Hattie Irons disappeared into the Shadow after the tragedy, and she communed with Black Wolf directly. She begged Black Wolf to help her ease her grief, to send her to fight a foe that she had no hope of besting, even to take her throat out. But Black Wolf could not do this - the Wolf Must Hunt, and Hikaon-Ur could not send her child to her death. The mighty Firstborn did take pity on Hattie, though, and changed her into a spirit, removing her flesh half and leaving behind only Essence. Hattie Irons herself is the Anguished Howl, and she manifests only as sound and sorrow to the Meninna who choose to follow her.
Membership[]
Thus far, the only members of the Lodge of the Empty Den are Hunters in Darkness. That could possibly change, but as Hattie Irons (in her new spiritual form) is the totem spirit of the lodge, it would require a phenomenal demonstration of love for children for her to admit a member of another tribe.
Lodge members are not expected to give up any part of their pre-lodge lives. They are expected to be dedicated to their packs, tribes and families, if they have them. Lodge members must also be always watchful for children in need of protection or assistance, and mist render such aid immediately and without excuse. A member of the lodge who sees a man berating his young daughter is bound by her oath to the lodge to scare that man straight, which often means tailing him home, breaking into his hose, dragging him outside and showing him what it feels like to be bullied. And then, of course, the Uratha must check up on his children. Protecting the innocent can easily become a full-time job, but the Meninna of the lodge swear that the work is its own reward.
Joining the lodge is difficult, simply because there aren't many lodge members to be found. A werewolf who wishes to join must seek out either a member of the lodge or Anguished Howl herself in the Shadow (the home of Hattie Irons, now a burned-out shell and a powerful locus, is a good start) and petition for membership. The prospective member is then subjected to a round of questions designed to test her empathy and compassion and to test the limits of her self-control. If at any time during this questioning process the member succumbs to Rahe, even if the loss of temper provokes nothing more than a glare and a growl, the lodge rejects him. In theory, any Hunter in Darkness is eligible, but in practice only werewolves who have borne or raised children are allowed in.
After the questions, the werewolf goes on a hunt for a child who needs help. In the World of Darkness, she isn't usually long in looking. That hunt might end with the death of a child molester or with a veiled threat to a mother to take a greater interest in her son's life. Children need help of many different varieties, and sometimes that help has to come from monsters.
Game Mechanics[]
The following are an overview of the game mechanics.
Prerequisites[]
Purity •, Honor • and Empathy 3.
Benefits[]
Members of the Lodge of the Empty Den can learn Insight Gifts as though they were tribal Gifts. Lodge members also receive a +1 to all rolls made to avoid Death Rage, except if the trigger for the Rage is the death of a child. In that case, the roll receives a -3 penalty.
References[]
- WTF: Tribes of the Moon, p. 100-102