The Pure [Shunned by the Moon]

The Pure took no part in Urfarah’s murder. They blame Luna as the architect of his demise, and the Urdaga as slaves who carried out her bidding. Today the Pure see the Forsaken as mewling pups suckling at the Moon’s teat, hoping for the favor of a mad, piece-of-shit god.

The Pure reject Luna. Werewolves are proud and active, and this rejection isn’t as simple as turning their backs and refusing her worship. They developed rites to demonstrate their hatred in ways that resonate with the great predator — with blood and pain. The first and most important rite strips away Luna’s brands of servitude, the spiritual scars marking a Forsaken’s Auspice. Few are lucky enough to be rescued by the Pure before the Moon shackles the nusuzul and claims her against her will. Most are branded first in hated chains of spiritual silver and can’t wait to remove them. Luna is a possessive, unreasonable spirit, and does not relinquish her ill-gotten property easily. The specifics of how each tribe liberates a werewolf from her bonds vary, but they all share commonalities of agony, dedication, and sacrifice.

Tribe Over All

Freed from the shackles of Auspice, an Anshega’s tribe is perhaps more important than it is for Forsaken. The Forsaken view their tribe as a philosophy, something tribe-mates share in common, but that can be debated and varied according to personal desires. For the Pure, this is just one more demonstration of Forsaken decadence. Having murdered Urfarah, his fallen children pay only lip service to the inheritors of his mantle. Not so with the Pure. Tribe brings them together from across the world, binding them to common purpose and understanding. Each Anshega is an avatar of their patron Firstborn and carries forth its will into the world.

Tribal Bans and Oaths

As the Pure swear their oaths to the Firstborn, they must follow the ban imposed by the totem or suffer Harmony imbalance. In this they are no different than the Forsaken.

The Fire-Touched live by the tenet Gab Aldh’ Nunglu — let no falsehood lay unchallenged. The burdens of faith demand honesty among the tribe and it rankles the Izidakh that the world is filled with lies and deceit.

Silver Wolf demands the Ivory Claws follow Nu-ghima Zigh’esh, a concept of purity clear in First Tongue but with no single translation. Most modern Tzuumfin interpret the ban as refusing to accept any impure Uratha as family, but others see it as forbidding acceptance of any impurity, or willingness to accept anything of lesser quality. Silver Wolf appears to be satisfied if the Ivory Claw is true to her own interpretation and doesn’t accept anything less of herself.

The Predator Kings follow Dire Wolf’s edict Sehe Nu Lu’u Thim, honor nothing of human craft. Humans are prey and deserve the fate of all prey — death. That Father Wolf saw humans as anything but food rankled Dire Wolf. While killing and eating all humans would unacceptably imbalance the tribe’s Harmony, defiling or destroying anything human-made doesn’t.

The Pure have an equivalent to the Oath of the Moon that they swear to the mad totem-monarchs of the spirit courts they serve. The specifics vary between region and totem, but ultimately the core tenets match those of the Oath of the Moon. The Pure suffer just as the Forsaken do when going against the dictates of their nature; violating the Oath of the Moon is a breaking point for the Pure as well, even if they choose to call it the Oath of Urfarah.

Hunter’s Aspect

Without an Auspice, the Pure lack the hunter’s aspects of the Forsaken. This doesn’t mean they are weaker for their refusal to take the Moon’s marks. Carving away the Auspice brands leaves a void in the werewolf’s spiritual self which the Pure Firstborn saw as an opportunity to strengthen their followers and further their goals. When a Pure swears her tribal oaths, she binds herself to her chosen patron and invites the tiniest portion of its overwhelming essence to fill the wounded gaps in her spirit. In this way each Pure further expresses her patron’s nature, gaining a hunter’s aspect representative of that Firstborn. When an Anshega hunts, she is an avatar of her god.

Each Firstborn has dozens of facets to its nature. Some are commonly known and expressed by many of its followers, whereas others are practically lost and unknown to the modern-day tribe. The hunter’s aspects presented here are simply the most common among each tribe. Pure characters use the same rules as Forsaken to use hunter’s aspects. (Werewolf: The Forsaken p. 98)

Fire-Touched

The Izidakh are no less devoted than their totem. When they hunt, it is with sacred purpose and relentless energy. Most of Rabid Wolf’s followers possess one of the following hunter’s aspects.

Hunter’s Aspect: Fanatical. When Rabid Wolf hunts, the world knows devotion. The prey understands his place in the natural cycle, that his death was ordained from the moment of birth. The Anshega is simply the instrument of this truth. Resistance is meaningless, only his death has purpose. When successful, the Fanatical Aspect offers the Euphoric Condition.

Hunter’s Aspect: Frenzied. When Rabid Wolf hunts, the world knows madness. The prey flees or fights with unrestrained abandon, quickly draining his reserves. He knows that his only chance is to throw everything he has at the hunters. Too late, he realizes that the best hunters are patient, and let the prey exhaust himself before striking. When successful, the Frenzied Aspect offers the Frantic Condition.

For more on the Pure and other creatures, see Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon.