The Sept of the Scarred Eye was a sept predominantly composed of the tribe that would later become the Cult of Fenris, centered around a caern of the same name in the same region as the caern of Broken Stone.
History[]
around 2018 (five or so years before 2023), the caern that the sept belonged to echoed the slow death of Gaia, losing its spiritual connection to the Umbra and falling into disuse. The tragedy of the caern's death drove its defenders into hauglosk slightly ahead of the rest of their tribe. Now without a home, the sept put out a call to all nearby Garou packs to join them on a great reaving against the enemies of Gaia. They called for all loyal Garou to join them and go on the attack before any more of her sacred places could wither into nothingness. As would be the case for their tribe as a whole shortly after, they were met with little success, though a small pack from the caern of Broken Stone known as the Reavers, mostly comprised of other Wolf-followers took up arms and joined the nomadic sept.
The great glory the reavers sought never materialized. The sept's members expended their lives for no meaningful gain. And somewhere along the way, lost in the death of their comrades, denial of their complicity in any number of heinous acts, and a growing sense of futility within the group, the Fenrir’s fanaticism overcame their identity, and they turned to veneration of their Patron Spirit in its inchoate form of Fenris along with the rest of their tribe.
In the time since, other Garou packs in the region sporadically rediscovered the dead caern of the Scarred Eye on occasion, but there was little to see, and visits by other Garou were not appreciated by the remaining Fenrir in the region. After it fell dormant, an increasing number of humans came into contact with the caern’s surroundings. Local political and civic leadership learned about the unclaimed nature of the area itself, and gave it the designation of Development Copse West, turning management of its renovation over to the nascent fomor Rickard Muller. Muller used the trace amounts of spiritual energy remaining in the copse to fuel the creation of his 'meat-child' talisman, egged on by the unknowable wishes of the Bane possessing him.
Geography[]
The old site of the caern of the Scarred Eye lies at the heart of Development Copse West, a large tract of “undeveloped” woodland located in a larger nature reserve on the outskirts of a city that serves as the caern's bawn. The copse is often described as mysterious and eerie, with the thick underbrush and tangled vines giving it a wild and untamed appearance. Development Copse West has remained relatively untouched by human activity. The copse has been left to grow wild for many years, as there are no signs of any previous attempts to clear the land.
Reaching the outskirts of the copse is relatively easy, as the surrounding area has many trails and GPS reception is good. Once entered, the lingering energies of the caern interferes with electronic navigation and the undergrowth makes traversal frustrating and difficult, almost as if the copse is resisting intrusion.
Deep within the copse is a glade, a roughly circular opening in the trees about 50 meters across, which acts as the true heart of the caern. The glade is covered in tall grass, with a few smaller bushes here and there, but is otherwise easy to traverse. The glade is fully open to the sky. The trees at the edge of the glade look bare (perhaps unseasonably so) and even a bit foreboding.
Umbra[]
In the Umbra, the trees look similarly unhealthy. Most of the trees’ umbral reflections are without leaves, and there are no animal spirits in or near the glade. In the middle of the glade, where Rickard Muller sat and performed his ritual, is what appears to be the remnants of a small explosion. The reflections of the grass are simply gone, blasted away. Two meters from the center of the explosion, the spirit reflection of the grass starts again, all of it “flattened” away from the explosion. At the center of the explosion, the Umbral ground pulses slowly and ever so slightly, suggesting the beating of a heart. The heart of the previously dormant caern is now beating again — barely, and as a result of the horrific ritual, but the resonances are there, waiting to be cleansed and rededicated to Gaia.
References[]
- WTA: Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition, p. 302, 305-307
- WTA: The Deepest of Wounds, p. 4-5