Prophecies of Shadow

The Prophecies of Shadow (also named the Ten Visions) were a prophecy made during the Dark Ages by the Red Talon Songs-of-Shadows. Many believed that they were omens of the Apocalypse.

Overview

Songs-of-Shadows came from the North in the year 1200 and began to spread his prophecies among Caerns of the Red Talons, adressing Garou of every rank and urging them to warn the Garou of other tribes. The Talons held a Grand moot, where the tribal Elders agreed to spread Songs-of-Shadows warnings among the Garou Nation, while sending a sole pack into the north to investigate where the Theurge had come from. The rest of the Nation took no heed of warnings from an outsider and chided the Talons for the naivity. The pack that had traveled northwards met Songs-of-Shadows, who warned that ignoring his prophecies would only harm Gaia. He advised them to return and continue to warn. When the pack arrived at another tribal moot, the sky was lit by northern lights in strange colors, ten times. It was then that the Red Talons knew that Songs-of-Shadows had spoken the truth.

The rest of the Garou Nation would learn this after 1204. Constantinople, one of the greatest cities in the world, was attacked by crusaders. The rest of the Garou Nation remembered the warnings of the Red Talons and called for concolation to discuss it. Soon, the words of the Red Talons were examined more closely, hoping to avert further disasters.

Prophecies

Each Prophecy of Songs-of-Shadows adresses one of the ten tribes that made up the Garou Nation of the Dark Medieval.

  • Black Furies: "I saw a dying mother birth her child in lands that wept black tears. Maiden, Mother and Crone all stood by and watched the mother at the hands of a great frozen darkness - their choice echoed in the hallways of hollow footsteps on marble. When the blood on the floor dried, the death-play ended, leaving only children and their sisters to pick up the bones and ligaments and weave them back into a semblance of life. The lady of bone and sinew deserted the Furies then, leaving them to shift their faces, one to another. All must change before the Great Night falls."[1].
  • Bone Gnawers: "I saw a man reaching out begging for food, and with the same hand, he offers help. He offers his hand to all those who live below notice, to the beggars and the diseased. He offers his hand freely and forgets that his tail is visible, and that the people come for him in the night with fire in their eyes. But the man holds his other hand behind his back, and in it, he holds a black rat that he strokes and keeps safe and warm. When the poeple with fire come for him, he dropsthe rat and it scurries off into dark places, bruised and angry."[2].
  • Children of Gaia: "I saw a werewolf struggling with human clothes, trying to wear the garb of human priests. but the vestments did not fit the werewolf, and she Raged, tearing them from her body, only to regain her calm and try again. She struggled with clothers of many different colors and many different human-cities, but she could not find one that fit her. All the while, a unicorn pranced behind her, trying to catch her attention, but she would not turn from her task. All the while, the humans around her were dressed in the garb she tried to wear, but never changed them. They wore their clothes as the years wore on, until when the werewolf could finally found human-clothes that fit her, the humans were nearly naked themselves."[3].
  • Fenrir: "I saw the northern lands bathed by the bile of a black beast, and the dead humans who feast on blood tore at each other's throat in rage or in fear. And then, from the sullen, stark skies, a hanged man laughed , and I saw his red-robed rogues lurking about on sinister paths. I saw the blood of an innocent boil and as the smoke wafted across the snow, I saw a legion rise from ashes and dust, and the fate of the Fenris-wolves was signed, softly unto stone."[4].
  • Fianna: "I saw a red wolf and a black wolf, both running in the mist. They called and sang to one another, then they both became lost. As they ran, panicked, each trying to locate the other by howls and by scent, I saw other things moving in the mists with them, but I could not see them entirely. These things jumped upon both wolves, and the wolves fought the unseen things, tearing their throats out and scattering their bodies. Then, the mist cleared and both wolves were alone in a great valley, surrounded by the bodies of those they had killed, some foe, but mostly other wolves both red and black. And the wolves howled together in unison, in shame and regret over what they had done."[5].
  • Red Talons: "I saw humans, staggering sick, clutching their throats and scratching at sores. But even in their pain, they found strength to curse the wolves. But the wolves ran and hunted in the forest and outnumbered the humans. I saw so many packs of wolves and I saw great, red wolves at the edge of the forest, and they called timidly to their fellow wolves to slay the humans. But the red wolves called so meekly that none of the other wolves paid attention, even as the humans' sickness faded. And as the humans regained strength, I saw them sharpening shining blades and looking hungrily to the forest. I heard a scream as if from a great bird of prey and I knew all was lost."[6].
  • Shadow Lords: "I saw a hand reach out and grasp the night sky, and I saw each silvery star wink out one by one. Thunder roared and lightning flashed. Black armies gathered in the snowy mountains and threatened all the world with their rage until the moon's light parted the clouds and quieted the very thunder itself. Luna plucked the squirming darkness from the heart of the lightning flash and twisted it back upon itself, leaving the armies to battle each other. One shadow, however, was late to the gathering and did not fell into the trap. It continued on its way to complete its fellows' mission."[7].
  • Silent Striders: "I see a pure land that opens up before the jackals, yielding to their wandering feet. They explore it as they do all other roads, walking roads of dirt and stone, obsidian and turquoise. Into their hands fall moonlit metals and silvered fetishes, and their smiles turn to ash. They traverse new roads of steel. They see sights that blind their children's children. They step upon brilliant lines of dust and crush painted shells beneath their feet. Foul shades rise up out of the ground, and a white tide rises out of the ocean to wash away the purity of the earth. The shape of the land is forever altered."[8].
  • Silver Fangs: "I saw Falcon and I heard his voice in my mind. He gave warning of a knife that glinted in the belly of a king. Behind Falcon lay a pale pool of blood and he left red footprints on the cold and smoking ground. Forces gathered and clashed in small battles of swirling dust and silver fur. They tore apart the darkness with swords and claws, shields shattering, men dying in noble, yet pointless cause. Finally, a crown rose up above the field of battle, and all fighting stopped, until shadows consumed the moon and the crown fell into darkness."[9].
  • Warders of Men: "I saw a wolf in a great maze of stone and glass, but he was unafraid. He knew the maze completely, as he had been there when it was built, and so he had no fear of the spiders that clung to the walls and drank the blood of the humans who dwelt there. The wolf strode proudly in the streets, sure that the spiders could not see him, ignoring them and their webs. And then a great shadow in form of a cross fell upon the maze, and the ground shook, and the spiders leapt at each other and tore one another limb from limb. And the humans fought as well, and the maze burned and fell, and the wolf could do nothing but sit and howl."[10].

References

  1. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 56
  2. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 58
  3. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 60
  4. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 62
  5. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 64
  6. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 66
  7. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 68
  8. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 70
  9. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 72
  10. ↑ Dark Ages: Werewolf Rulebook, p. 74
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