Tribal Homeland

Tribal Homelands are the residences of the Ancestor-Spirits of a Tribe of Garou. The Homeland is usually part of the domain of the tribal Incarna.

While in theory any member of a Tribe can enter a homeland, only Athro and similar high-ranking members are allowed to enter without supervision from their Elders. The admission of non-tribal members varies from homeland to homeland. Garou may seek any homeland but there is a difference between arriving and being welcomed. By custom, Silent Striders may wait at the borders of any homeland to request an audience.

List of Garou Homelands

• Black Furies: The homeland of the Black Furies resembles landscapes of mythical Greece: Rocky mountains tower over numerous small islands and peninsulas that stretch into a turquoise sea. Lush forests of pines and olives, always bearing fruits, stretch over the island, along with buildings constructed in Grecian styles, although recently, buildings from all parts of the world have appeared. Numerous emanations of predators, prey and humans dwell in the homeland. All creatures live as part of nature’s cycle of predator and prey with neither side being over-hunted or dying of starvation. As of late, the Furies have finally admitted males into their homeland, which was previously inhabited exclusively by women. The Furies’ initial reaction was to hunt and kill these unwelcome additions to the homeland but Pegasus forbade it. The totem has refused to explain her reasons but Elder Furies believe she is testing her tribe.
• Bone Gnawers: The homeland of the Bone Gnawers resembles a sprawling park within a low-rent part of a city. Dumpsters overflow in the dark alleyways and are always good for a quick (and free) meal of cast-off high-fat, high-sugar junk. Fast food restaurants and cafés are open 24 hours every day and all serve cheap beer by the pitcher. Strip joints are on every block, but the canny Gnawer knows the best are found in back alleyways, by knocking on the right doors. Outside the city, a hilly expanse with light forests and fat cattle. The realm is connected to other technological domains via a subway station, which allows transportation to the Glass Walker homeland and the CyberRealm.
• Children of Gaia: The homeland of the Children of Gaia is a vast expanse of lush forests, rolling hills and bubbling streams meandering through the valleys. Humans free of the Delirium wander nomadic across the homeland, with central metropolises that reflect cleaner versions of the cities of ancient Sumer. Herds of unicorn-spirits graze the hills and every visitor gains a unicorn-anamae who guides the visitor through the realm.
• Fianna: The homeland of the Fianna is a green landscape of hills, dales and vales that look like they were drawn from the traditions of historical fantasy novels. Faeries play in the woods and stag-spirits roam the land under the guidance of Stag as the "Wild Hunt", protecting the homeland against intruders. Spontaneous celebrations are common in the homeland and tend to draw together anyone within earshot. The homeland also has a connection to the Arcadia Gateway.
• Get of Fenris: Fjords, vast expanses of tundra and cold, dark taiga, all enshrouded by perpetual winter, make up the Fenrir's homeland. Packs of ice-age megafauna, like dire wolves and mammoths, roam the land and attack any solitary werewolf. The Fenrir congregate in lodge-villages where they drink, fight, carouse and pass on the sagas of their deeds. Battles are common, but resting in a lodge restores all health and Rage.
• Glass Walkers: The homeland of the Glass Walkers is a futuristic city build in accordance with Gaian designs. High skyscrapers have dozens of open-air garden levels brimming with vegetation and the birds and animals that are naturally attracted to these plants. Each garden caters to a different ecology. Many human emanations telecommute for their employment and happily spend their lives within just a few towers. Everywhere is access to super-fast wireless networking and it is a simple matter for the population to stay connected via augmented reality and smart technologies. Those who need to travel further do so via transport tubes or non-polluting electric vehicles and maglev trains. The trains run with clockwork precision through the City on raised platforms and occasionally dip below ground into a clean and ordered subway system that connects the homeland to the CyberRealm.
• Red Talons: The Red Talon homeland is a large, unspoiled wilderness. Predators hunt unrestricted and compete with each other. Foremost are large packs of wolfs that have come to dominate the homeland. The Red Talons are only just starting to realize that the prey-emanations are dying out. Worse still, they are finding substantial numbers of dead predators who were obviously felled by wolves. In many cases nothing is left but bone and scraps, where the wolves have eaten their competitors. The only solution the Red Talons have thought of is to cull the wolf population and this is something they refuse to consider. They blame the Realm’s overpopulation on the dwindling wolf population in the physical world, reasoning that each wolf killed there results in another wolf in the homeland. In this way, the Talons sidestep criticism of their homeland, and have found yet another reason to blame humans for their woes. Wyld creatures have also appeared in the woods, which have begun to twist slightly with abundant plant growth.
• Shadow Lords: The Shadow Lords live in an area dominated by a Great Mountain, the sky perpetually shrouded by dark clouds and lightning-storms. The peaks and forests below lie in eternal shadow, where the Shadow Lords gather in castles to conspire against each other to find a way to climb the mountain. To the north is a forbidding sea where legend tells of a great kingdom of ancestor-spirits on the far shore, who gave rise to both the modern tribe and their Hakken cousins.
• Stargazers: The domain of the Stargazers is a realm designed to test all five forms of the Garou. Mountains higher than the Himalayas occupy the center of the Realm. A ring of foothills surround the base of these peaks, covered in luscious grasslands, deserts or majestic forests. Shrines accommodate to the need of any Garou's internal spiritual exercise. In the center of the realm stands a gateway to the Astral Reaches, along with hidden entryways into the Dreaming. As of late, the homeland of the Stargazers has drifted closer to the eastern Yang Realm.
• Silver Fangs: The Silver Fang's homeland is a vast expanse of territory that resembles the Russian steppes. Falcon-spirits soar through the sky, watching over any visitor and alerting Falcon of their presence. In the center of the realm stands the Castle of Heroes, a monument to the deeds of the Silver Fangs in service to the Garou Nation. Decay is taking hold of this Realm, though the Silver Fangs remain blind to it. Castle walls crumble, trees rot and hunts return with less bounty than ever before.
• Uktena: The homeland of the Uktena resembles the Pure Lands before the intrusion of the Europeans. Other portions of the realm have begun to reflect the varied heritage of the modern Uktena, resembling Japanese mountain ranges, Mongolian steppes, amazonian rainforests and African savannahs. The Uktena gathered the remnant emanations of lost Native American tribes that scattered before European expansion. Now the last ancestor spirits of these tribes dwell only in the homeland. Unique mythical creatures and heroes of Native American lore also make their homes in the Realm and trade secrets with the Uktena for continued protection. The realm has a connection to the Abyss, as well as Galunlati, where Uktena himself dwells.
• Wendigo: The Wendigo homeland is a glacial tundra of eternal winter with a gigantic Aurora Borealis across the night-sky. Blizzards howl unrelenting across the landscape, quickly wearing down anyone who cannot find one of the hidden settlements of the Wendigo. It is connected to various other Near Realms, including the Aetherial Reaches, the Legendary Realm, Pangaea and the Uktena and Croatan homelands.

In addition, the homelands of the Lost Tribes still exist hidden within the Umbra (although the White Howler homeland is corrupted) and the Silent Striders have been severed from their ancestors and homeland by the curse of Set.

• Black Spiral Dancers: The former homeland of the White Howlers has unrecognizably been twisted by the Wyrm. The air is thick with smoke and ripples with heat. A sickly green sun beats down on the surface, unblocked by any kind of ozone layer. Night brings no relief as pollutants cool and sink to the surface, causing the moon to appear fluorescent yellow through the vapors. Leaking pipes pump filth around and seem to have no purpose other than to burst and spread more toxins. Sporadic copses of fungi-caked, malformed trees spray deadly infectious spores onto the unwary. The Black Spirals themselves congregate beneath the earth, in a labyrinthine network of tunnels where they hold their rituals. The homeland is connected to Pangaea, the Arcadia Gateway, and the Aetherial Realm. A dark obsidian portal leads to the Black Spiral Labyrinth in Malfeas, while despite the best efforts of the inhabitants, a single moon bridge leads to Erebus.
• Bunyip: The home of the Bunyip cannot be reached by most modern Garou, although the Mokolé and the Yahwie have preserved ways of entry. The Realm has a diverse range of climates that includes tropical mangrove forests, deep gorges, temperate bushlands, and cool rainforests. Every land where the Bunyip made their homes and sang their songs is represented here. It is inhabited by creature of the Dreamtime as well as spirit-representations of Australia's extinct fauna.
• Croatan: The lands of the Croatan resemble North American taiga forests. The climate is permanently cool and misty, with occasional rainfalls. No emanations can be found and the whole homeland is hauntingly quiet. According to W20, Turtle sleeps in the center of the realm, occasionally shifting in his slumber.
• Silent Striders: The homeland of the Silent Striders is dominated by a gigantic river called the River of Life. Shrouded in ever-lasting night, it is otherwise made up of large silvery deserts and dominated by obelisks and similar monumental buildings inscribed with hieroglyphs. carefully aligned to highlight constellations commemorating Silent Strider heroes of old. The realm is guarded by Wepauwet, a Silent Strider who accepted the Spell of Life to act as eternal guardian of the realm.

Fera Homelands

The majority of the Fera does not enjoy the close connection to the Umbra the Werewolves have. The Bastet, Ananasi and Nagah are able to construct personal umbral domains, but these are more like extensions of their owners instead of a spiritual refuge for their breed as a whole. Only two Fera have been observed to possess a homeland.

• Corax: The homeland of the Corax is a gigantic tree with countless spreading branches filled with nooks ideally suited for nesting. Helios shines perpetually on the tree, who is connected to nearly every umbral realm, allowing the wereravens quick passage.
• Nuwisha: The homeland of the Nuwisha is referred to as Coyote's Tunnel. The entire Realm is an oval room with an enormous central table overflowing with food that never gets empty. Doors line the walls, leading to any place a Nuwisha has visited. Some of these doors are locked, but open at seemingly random times.

References

• WTA: Umbra Revised , p.89-92
• WTA: W20 Umbra: The Velvet Shadow , p.83-92