The fmpergium

The fmpergium

walk the Earth in forms of our choosing. She gifted us with the Sacred Ways, so that we could use the wisdom of the spirits to aid us. These are the first of the gifts She gave us.

“Now each of these Blessed Ones, these Changing Breeds, had a sacred trust to uphold. Those who learned the ways of Bear became Gurahl - we know that they were once great healers. The sly ones who capered with Cat became Bastet - we know of their affinity for secrets, magic and mystery.. . and of their arrogance. Those who ran with the wolves became Garou, greatest of the hunters and defenders. And after all of the Changing Breeds had been blessed, She looked down upon the last and the lowliest, the smallest and the most silent: the Ratkin, the Brothers and Sisters of the Rats.

“In those early days, rats were shy and sweet, just as they are sometimes today. They wanted nothing more than to hide and be safe, to breed and eat what they could find. And so, the Goddess taught the humans who loved the rats how to hide and stay hidden, to find food everywhere, and above all else, to be safe. The world was pure, and all was in balance, and each of the Changing Breeds knew its role in the way of all things.

“Then, as in all legends, something terrible happened, and the world was changed forever.”

The fmpergium In the shelter of a doorway, in the murky light of an alleyway, a young woman shelters a dying man. He can barely hear her, focusing only on the gentle sweetness of her voice. W m rags surround a soft face; her eyes are light blue, an unnaturally clear amre, as though they have seenfar too much. Julia crouches, pulling her down jacket closer around herself and sheltering her ward out of the rain. She wraps him in another layer of cardboard, pulls out a plastic bottle from beneath a pile of trash, and sips the cool water inside it as she drones him to skep.

As she speaks, the alleyway.. . changes. Damp cardboard becomes warm grass. Cold ruin becomes a gende breeze. Gregor hears leaves waving wer h head. A bnef thought: I must be delirious.

J&s cool hand wipes sweat from ha brow with.. . . A cool rag? A Wper tauel? Anewspaper? He can’t tell.. . . Julia‘s voice soothes him, even as the chittering madness begins to wear at his mind.. . . e . .

“Those who can remember back far enough remember the Changing Breeds as the €We; they have changed so much since then. All of them upheld their sacred tasks, for they were all supposed to be equals - much has changed since those days.

The separation of the worlds of flesh and spirit was almost nonexistent, a mere slip of a veil that could be brushed aside with a calm hand. In those days, the line between Man and Beast was gossamer-thin. Now only the wisest can remember what that world was like.

“The Wolves were supposed to protect the humans from the terrors of the night. The Gurahl tended and cared for the sacred places of the Earth, where powerful magics lay sleeping.

Cora soared through the skies; Mokol6 swam beneath cold waters, dreaming memories more ancient than even we can recall. And in this quiet world, the Brothers and Sisters of Rats the Ratkin - we had our role to play as well. We were the least and the lowliest, and so Gaia told us our duties last.

Chapter One: Ratkin Legends Because we trusted to Her so much, we were pledged to the hardest job of all.

“When werewolves failed to properly command the tribes of men, the Ratkin were supposed to go to work, swiftly and silently. If a tribe of humans grew too strong, a few stealthy wererats would help to keep the balance between the humans and the mysteries of Mother’s world. If necessary, we would steal food to keep the villages small. If we were asked to, we raided them to take what the humans shouldn’t have. A few of us would steal a tool, or a treasure, or a shiny thing that the Goddess didn’t intend the humans to have. If the Goddess bade us to, we would even take a child in the night to warn the humans of their lack of caution. They learned their place.

“And when we absolutely had to, we used a weapon that none of the other Changing Breeds fully understood: disease.

When Gaia commanded us, our mystics would unleash an unseen enemy that dispatched the weak and the wretched, sparing them their suffering. Gaia called on us to thrive in the places where the Garou failed, staying hidden and silent until we were needed. And oddly enough, the werewolves began to resent us for what we did, for what we were asked to do as part of Gaia’s plan.

“We were supposed to be the equals of the Garou, but the Wolves set themselves above all others. The Gurahl and the Corax, the Bastet and the Mokol6 - each of these children had sacred tasks, but the Garou considered themselves the watchdogs of mankind, the race from which all the Changing Breeds came.

As such, they believed they were Mother’s favored children.

“AS the proudest and strongest, they claimed that they were the greatest of Gaia’s creations. They stalked the night in packs, terrifying ail who opposed them, acting as if they were lords of the Earth.. . and in away, they were. The Wolvesthe Garou - were hunters and defenders, and they swore to defend mankind against evil. Yet in their strength, they started to rule over men, and that was the beginning of thousands years of horror. That was the beginning of a dark time the Garou do not like to remember. That was the beginning of the Impergium. e*.

Before Gregor’s eyes, a feverish vision. A mountaintop; a campfie; therisingfullmom. Monstrouscreatures--Mf-mun, halfwolf - howl in rage. Vwknt rites are performed by the light offlames.

Human slaves cower in abject servitude. A mystic in lupine reg& looks down from the mountains, regarding the camfires of his human subjects b e h . Bathed in moonlight, he lets loose a terribk h l to warn them of his anger. No one dares oppose the fiq of the night.

The moon is full, and the flock of humans cowers b e h ; they kmw that the night has teeth. Naked and cold, they gather around acarnpfire, waitingfbrtheirmters tocullthe herd. Theyarewary, fur their hds may walk among them, if they choose. Their lords may sacrifice them to their gods, if they so desire. And when the moon is full, their lords may exact their terrible rage, if they will it.

Deep in the woods, a rat runs fur cover, bolting for the safety of its buwow. Tonight, there will be fire and bloodshed, vengeance and mor. The fear of this night, and every night like it, w’U be remembered for thousands of years. The hurrur will never end. e . . suddenly, they knew we were the ones who would commit the dirtiest deeds to correct their mistakes, for we were loyal to Gaia.

“Those were desperate times. During the Impergium, some Ratkin strayed from their nests, scavenging away from the rest of the colony. When there wasn’t enough food to feed us all, either we would have to slay the weak,or the strong would scout out other places for food. To survive, some of the weaker Rats made deals with anyone who could clothe or feed them. They infiltrated human villages, seeking barter and trade. They petitioned Garou septs, offering to work with them. Assassins, thieves, whores, cutthroats - when we were desperate enough, we’d be willing to do anything. Before long, our human Kinfolk had thoroughly lnfiltrated the lowest castes of human society, waiting for the liberating call of their brothers and sisters among the rats.

“And away from the Wolves, wherever we could hide, we’d breed our swarms and form our armies. We loved Gaia, and as we became more numerous, more of us waited to answer Her call.

Secret nests hid thousands who could wear the forms of thousand rats. Our carefully hidden colonies trained legions in the sacred arts ofour kind. A few among us even scouted out the sacred sites of the Wolves as well, the caem where they made their plans for war. Our bards learned where all the Blessed Ones made their homes. They were the emissaries of our kind, learning more of the other Changing Breeds, and carefully learning their secrets, so that we could serve the Goddess better.

The ‘Criat “Humans have forgotten that time, long before the dawn of mankind’s history. Millennia before men and women gathered to build the first cities, they were little more than slaves to the Garou. The werewolves - half.men, half-beasts - could matewith and breedwithwhomever they chose. Some ran with the wolves, taking the alpha’s mate; some walked among men, selecting humans to bear orsire their brood. In building up their race, the Garou used the strongest human tribes as little more than breeding stock. While some feral humans were allowed to run free, the strongest were contained and cowed into submission. Humans don’t remember, but we do - it’s in our blood.

Listen closely, and you’ll hear the rats chittering horror stories of what happened when the world was young.

“The werewolves were filled with a furious anger, and terrible pride, and they herded humans in great masses. All of the Changing Ones could breed with beasts or men of their choosing, but the Garou seized the best breeding stock for themselves. They were more than masters, and their humans were less than slaves. The Garou considered these human tribes their flocks - little more than walking sheep. The Garou herded humans together to watch over them. Throughout the world, they formed many different tribes, and each of their human Kin - their Kinfolk - adapted to their ways.

“And when the werewolves wanted to walk among the flocks they tended, they shifted into their terrible battle forms their Crinos forms. Half man. Half wolf. Teeth and claws.

Terror in the night. Though the Goddess is not as powerful as She once was, She would later try to cleanse the human memory of the horrible recollection of this Impergium. This merciful benevolence depended on the Delirium. When humans see a werewolf in his full monstrous Crinos form, temporary insanity is the result. Men and women, being the herd creatures they are, quickly invent “mass delusions” to replace the horrific memories. Now think of the suffering the werewolves must have inflicted to create thousands of years of insanity!

“And the rest of us, we lived in terror of the Wolves. The Gurahl lumbered off into the wilderness with their mystics and healers; the Bastet lured out those who were curious and prone to mysteries, and laid down with them in their Dens. And all the other Changing Breeds found their own humans to live with and nurture. Once all the tribes had been formed, the last and the lowliest, the smallest and the most quiet scavenged for food with the Rats. Those who were desperate to survive sought out our nests and begged for food. Our children have lived on the fringes of human society ever since, living in terror of the werewolves in their midst.

“And why I am telling you all this? I am telling you, child, because the madness in my veins has infected you as well. You understand my story, don’t you? It is more than a mere fairy tale.

Soon, Gregor, you will remember it all. Blood calls to blood, and you have answered our call.. .

“One thing we learned was that there were a few beliefs all the shapechangers shared. Ifyou like.. . ifyou live.. . I will teach you more later. There are three primal forces in the world that vie for all creation: the Weaver, the Wyld and the Wyrm.

These three forces have been locked in an endless battle: they form the trinity of the Triat. Every mystic will tell this part of the story differently, so I will not speak of it overly much; it is the hardest part of the legend to relate.

“The first of these primal forces was the Weaver, she who brought structure to the world. Picture a spider web laid out across all creation. You may think of her essence as a massive spider sleeping in the center of this vast fabric of order. She lies on the webs that underlie all creation; sometimes they shake when the world stirs. Her spirits are the guardians, the monitors, the preserves of all order, stasis and conformity in the world.

“Caught within this lifeless web is the source of all life, all energy, all creation: the Wyld, that which brought life to the world. Her spiritual servitors are capricious, elemental, mysterious and indefatigable; they bring us chaos, madness, insight, creativity and the endless strength of the natural world. Their energy is so great that the Weaver continually tries to contain the limitless possibility of the Wyld, a struggle between order and chaos that never ends.

“When the world was young, there was a balance between the order and chaos, between the Weaver and the Wyld. And to keep the balance between them, there was a third force in the world. A force of corruption. A force of destruction. A force of balance. We call it the Wyrm. I will tell you more of this later, i “The Wolves were the protectors of man, and they learned to hate our kind. They lived among the strongest, while we cowered with the weak. But when the werewolves failed, Gaia called to us instead. When someone had to die, swlftly and I