Skitter, Irraka Ghost Wolf member of the Lodge of The Grotto
Members of the Lodge of the Grotto are all-too-real bogeymen for the Uratha, a splinter group of werewolves driven underground that have since adapted to their new lot. They may make their homes in limestone caverns deep beneath ancient mountains, or they might populate long-forgotten sewers and disused subway tunnels underneath a city.
It’s not known if any one spirit oversees the Lodge of the Grotto; each warren may have its own pet god or legendary ancestor that warren members attribute with watching over “the kin.” Some of the names uncovered include Pale Rat, the Eyeless One, the Delver in the Dark and the Elder Worm.
Overview[]
The Lodge of the Grotto is a synchronous lodge; individual warrens may have originally been driven underground for a variety of reasons and adapted in parallel fashion. Some warrens may have been Forsaken and some may have been Pure, but a once-Pure warren that has remained beneath for generations may have forgotten its rites of purging auspice and become more Ghost Wolf than anything. Most Burrowers still receive the innate blessings of auspice after the First Change. Not all surface-dwelling Uratha change under the open sky when the moon is in the air, and Burrowers aren’t denied the instincts of their auspice moon for the circumstance. However, if a bloodline is separated from the sky for long enough, it may be possible that the bloodline also becomes separated from the moon itself and loses auspice entirely. If that were to happen, what other ramifications would spring from the loss of Luna’s touch? As a synchronous lodge, the Lodge of the Grotto has few universal traditions. An urban warren that lives deep in the disused tunnels carved by long-dead architects may retain more actual snippets of their original human culture, in part due to regular forays “above” to steal more necessities. A deep wilderness warren, on the other hand, may have forgotten all languages but the First Tongue. Most warrens retain the capacity to perform rites, though, and, through rites and spirit pacts, even the most savage Burrowers retain some elements of their original culture. Some even retain tribal affiliation, though this is usually true only of warrens that haven’t been underground for generations. And warrens can last for generations. The largest and best-established warrens, of course, have brought human families down with them for breeding stock. The Lodge of the Grotto is a lodge that emphasizes the frightening and claustrophobic mysteries of the earth, as well as the alienating power of isolation. Many Burrower warrens are cannibalistic, eating human flesh out of desperation as much as anything else. Only the Burrowers’ loyalty to one another keeps them from falling completely and becoming Broken Souls, but it’s a near thing for the older members of the warren. Wracked by compulsions that inevitably turn them more and more toward the darkness and away from the sky, the oldest Uratha of the Grotto are hardly Uratha at all.
Membership[]
Most Burrower warrens are hereditary. A warren might accept a newcomer into its ranks if they proved themselves loyal to the extended family, fully adopting them after a long captivity down away from the moon. Initiation rites would vary widely from warren to warren, but typically take the form of some kind of “sacred marriage” into the clan. This may or may not involve actually mating with one of the warren’s human members. The other way to join the lodge is to be present when a new warren is founded. The details of this process are lost to common knowledge; it’s easy to speculate, however, that it involves oaths sworn in utter darkness to the spirits of the underground, asking for aid in surviving down away from a world that no longer has anything to offer but pain and death.
Game Mechanics[]
The following are an overview of the game mechanics.
Prerequisites[]
Survival specialty (Underground)
Benefits[]
Burrowers are especially adept at functioning in the darkness. When attempting to locate a target in the dark, they receive +3 to all rolls made to listen or scent out their target. This bonus is in addition to any bonus dice they may get for shifting forms. Those in the Lodge of the Grotto also may purchase Grotto Gifts as an affinity list, and are more adept at deciphering knocktalk even if they don’t know the Gift.
Grotto Gifts[]
These Gifts are the blessings of those that tunnel and burrow, and assist werewolves in navigating the world underneath. These Gifts are taught by the spirits of burrowing things such as worms or moles. These Gifts can be learned by werewolves outside the Lodge of the Grotto, though only lodge members treat them as affinity Gifts.
Ratsquirm: If a werewolf with this Gift can get their head through an opening, they can wriggle the rest of their body through as well. The Ratsquirm Gift allows a werewolf to pop loose joints and temporarily collapse their ribcage in order to squeeze through spaces no other full-grown werewolf could pass.- Knocktalk: Those who would hunt the Burrowers in their own tunnels find the hunting an intimidating experience. As the hunters press deeper into the darkness, they hear short bursts of staccato rapping and tapping, echoing around them like alien birdcalls. By means of the Knocktalk Gift, a werewolf can send coded messages to those around them by tapping on stone or metal pipes, thus enabling them and their kin to coordinate devastating attacks against intruders.
- Tunnelscent: Most werewolves are able to adapt to subterranean darkness well enough, through a mix of arranging their own human-made light sources and shifting into forms with lupine senses. The truly dangerous, though, need neither of these things. The werewolf who has learned this Gift benefits from dramatically increased sense acuity while underground; even in pitch darkness they are able to navigate their surroundings by means of hearing and especially scent as accurately as if they were in broad daylight. They may fight without being subject to any of the normal penalties for fighting blind. This Gift functions only while the werewolf is underground; the Gift doesn’t work if the werewolf is above ground, whether in an enclosed area or under open sky. Sudden bright lights, loud noises or powerful odors will disorient a werewolf under the effects of this Gift. If exposed to such extreme stimuli, they must make a reflexive Wits + Survival roll to resist; such stimuli cause the werewolf to lose this Gift’s effects and take a –2 penalty to appropriate Perception rolls for five turns minus one turn per success on the Wits + Survival roll.
- Stoneburrow: Some werewolves use Elemental Gifts or mundane digging equipment to carve out underground dens. This Gift makes the process even easier. A werewolf in Dalu or Urshul form can use this Gift to grow long mole-like claws that tear easily through stone or concrete. The claws are unwieldy and not the finest for combat, but are virtually unbreakable.
- Tunnelwrath: This Gift calls on the wrath of the burrowed earth to strike down the werewolf’s enemies. Tunnels may crack and spray rocks or steam pipes may burst as the tunnel lashes out at intruders.
References[]
- WTF: Lodges: The Faithful, p. 128-131
