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The "Alpha Tribe" of the Garou Nation, the Silver Fangs are traditional rulers and war leaders. These noble Garou are known for their physical beauty, courage, and honor. Sadly, many younger members of the tribe suffer from odd quirks - absent-mindedness, mild hallucinations, somnambulism - nothing overtly psychotic, but noticeable nevertheless. The powerful history of the tribe lays a heavy burden on the shoulders of its members, and many are too proud to ask for help. The plight of the Silver Fangs epitomizes the tragedy of the Garou in general. Although proud and outwardly strong, the Fangs suffer from diseases of the spirit and mind. Inbreeding and harano have weakened the foundation of the tribe, and although they strive to set things right, it may already be too late.
Following the discovery of the Pure Lands, many Silver Fangs headed over the Atlantic, eager to claim the New World for the Garou Nation. Struggles with the native tribes continued, but died down after the Storm Eater rose and the Tribes had to work together. The Silver Fangs were divided over the American Revolution, and began polarizing into American and European camps. Following the deterioration of monarchy after the Enlightenment, many Silver Fangs turned from outright leadership of mortals to the oligarchic lineages that influenced occurrences from behind the scenes.
In America, the paranoid and insane King Jacob Morningkill of House Wyrmfoe was killed by Lord Arkady Iceclaw, a famed Russian Silver Fang and secret Wyrm agent, who plotted to assume the throne himself. His plot was thwarted by Jonas Albrecht, exiled great grandson of Jacob Morningkill, whose years of exile among the "common" tribes had taught him humility and toughness. With the aid of his packmates, Albrecht recovered the lost Silver Crown, the tribe's greatest fetish, and used it to oust Arkady from the Oak Throne. Since his ascension, he has been a hands-on leader, and more interested in getting things done and restoring his tribe's respect among the other tribes than standing on ceremony.
House Wyrmfoe in the eastern US of Dutch and English descent. Down south, Virginia way, not too far from D.C., there’s another Wyrmfoe sept, keeping an eye on the political class, so to speak.
Unbreakable Hearth in the Pacific Northwest of Russian descent.
Rite of Breeding
Level One Mystic Rite
The rite is one of the secrets behind the Silver Fang’s unusually high levels of Pure Breed. When a Fang feels that it is time for her to start a family, she enacts this rite and asks her house’s totem to guide her to her best-matched mate. The werewolf meditates on her ancestry, using pictures, stories, photos or keepsakes and then calls to the totem for guidance. If the rite is successful, the totem grants her a vision of herself carried aloft in the talons of the totem to the home of the best prospect for a strong, worthy child. The rite does not guarantee that the prospective mate will welcome the werewolf’s advances; just that he is a good genetic and spiritual match.
Abdicate the Throne: In ancient times, Luna decreed that the ancestors of the Silver Fangs were only to rule for seven years, then step down. Arak Mamoth-Bold circumvented this decree by pledging loyalty to Falcon and Helios, with disastrous consequences.
The Alleged Boss: Type 1 or Type 3, depending on the setting. Tribes and septs are functionally autonomous. Some tribes quietly question the Silver Fang's competency as leaders.
Arranged Marriage: In many septs, Silver Fangs choose breeding partners for their human kinfolk to preserve bloodlines.
Bargain with Heaven: Some members of the Ivory Priesthood can smell a being's approaching manner of death, and then use this knowledge to avert tragedy. However, they must appease Death after doing so, or die themselves. To pacify Death, they gather secrets and artifacts from umbral realms where Death cannot tread.
Been There, Shaped History: The Silver Fangs married into many of Europe's royal families and shaped history as royal leaders.
The Chosen One: According to the revised Silver Fang tribebook, the ancestors of the Silver Fangs were alpha and beta Garou who received Luna's blessing to lead. Luna's touch gave them silver fur.
Cultural Posturing: Some Silver Fangs, such as Lord Byeli, are guilty of this. Others, such as Nightmane, acknowledge both the good and bad parts of Silver Fang history.
Dark Secret: The Garou Nation knows that madness is present in the Silver Fang tribe, but they do not know that it results from Luna's curse. Silver Fang elders do not want the other tribes to know that their lineage is cursed, because it would undermine their leadership. Even Silver Fang lore-keepers only reveal this secret to worthy kings.
Death from Above: In the Time of Judgment scenario in which the Silver Fangs fall to the Wyrm, the tribe arranges for one of Rorg's asteroids to strike Earth.
Elites Are More Glamorous: The Silver Fangs are the royal elite of the Garou nation.
Glorious Mother Russia: Of the Tsarist variety rather than the more traditional Soviet style.
Green Thumb: The level 4 gift Leshii's Boon calls upon nearby plants to attack an opponent.
Heroic Sacrifice: In Garou Saga, Yuri and Sophia Tvarivish and several of their packmates die while bringing down Sharkala, a mighty zmei (wyrm-dragon). In another version in the revised tribebook, Sophia dies and her twin Yuri is Driven to Suicide on her funeral pyre.
In Harmony with Nature: The level 5 gift Secret of Gaia grants the user exhaustive awareness of nature in their vicinity, such as the lay of the land, what animals live there, and what spirits are present in the nearby Penumbra.
Laser-Guided Karma: House Conquering Claw played a strong role in the Roman conquest of western Europe, including Get of Fenris and Fianna lands. The kinfolk of these "barbarians" later subdued the Roman Empire, driving the members of House Conquering Claw into harano and death.
Make an Example of Them: Members of the Gray Raptors camp brutalize Garou who insult or ignore the Silver Fangs' perceived right to rule.
Necromancer: Members of the Ivory Priesthood camp serve as keepers of the Secret of Death and travel among the spirits of the dead. Queen Tamara Tvarivich is a well-known Ivory Priestess.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Silver Fang history is a litany of horrifying mistakes.
When Luna awarded leadership to the ancestors of the Silver Fangs, she did so on the condition that they would lead for only seven years, then step aside. Arak Mamoth-Bold, an ancient Silver Fang king, swore fealty to Falcon and Helios in exchange for the right to rule indefinitely. This angered Luna, who decreed that any Silver Fang who ruled longer than seven years would be afflicted with madness. The tribe even has a name for these mad rulers: Moon-thralls.
Rests-the-Moon, a Silver Fang king, launched the Impergium. The Impergium afflicted non-kinfolk humans with the Delirium and created umbral disturbances that strengthened the Weaver's hold on the world.
Noble Bird of Prey: Falcon is the tribe's totem spirit.
Open Secret: According to Guardians of the Caerns, the Silver Fangs adamantly deny the existence of metis in their tribe. Silver Fangs who do have metis children go to great lengths to hide them from Garou society. However, other tribes refuse to believe that the Silver Fangs have no metis.
Reconcile the Bitter Foes: At their best, the Silver Fangs seek to unite the Garou Nation and end the internal fighting among the tribes. They succeed at this task on a small scale. In Garou Saga, Yuri and Sophia assemble a pack of Garou from diverse tribes. In the revised edition of the game, King Albrecht destroys the Seventh Generation by collaborating with other Garou and launching a coordinated attack against the cult.
Royal Blood:
Traditionalist Silver Fangs breed with those of noble lineage. In the Americas, however, Silver Fangs now breed with non-royal humans who exhibit good character, since they believe that these traits will emerge in the resulting offspring.
According to Silver Fang legend, Helios ordained the continued rule of some human rulers by family lineage in ancient times. Silver Fang Garou later bred with these humans.
Royal Inbreeding: Despite the particular dangers for werewolves.
Royally Screwed Up:
Inbreeding with European royalty has had something of a detrimental effect on the Fangs. In later editions, this tendency towards madness has been retconned away from "inbreeding" to "ancient curse from Luna," but it's still a problem.
Silver Fang kings and queens who reign for more than seven years are afflicted with madness by Luna. This madness persists even after death. Silver Fangs who consult ancestor spirits are warned to exercise caution, since some ancestors are insane and offer dubious advice.
Jacob Morningkill, a high-ranking Silver Fang leader in North America, was a raving lunatic who alienated many of his fellow Garou.
Prominent families for each house as well as the current leaders and heirs. Who is currently in charge of crescent moon? Also list conflicts of the last 20 years. Weather with the worm other tribes or internally. Game of Thrones inspiration as in War of Robert's rebellion and the iron Islands Rebellion
The Silver Fangs have seen a recent flurry of activity among their ranks - and more than a little strife. When Jonas Albrecht retrieved the Silver Crown from the dark reaches of the Umbra and crowned himself King, the ripples of this dramatic event spread throughout the tribe. More than ever, young Silver Fangs are crying out for a renewal of the tribe itself. Unfortunately for these young ones, few of them have shaken off the mental instability that plagues the long-inbred tribe. What's more, the elder Fangs in power have no desire to surrender their authority to a gaggle of ill-mannered pups, and tradition is firmly on the elders' side.
Another unfortunate problem that won't go away is the constantly circulating rumor that when the Final Battle comes, a Silver Fang will hold the banner of the Wyrm. This prophecy has brought a lot of tough attention from the other tribes, sometimes in an almost Inquisition-like form: The Judges of Doom have been seen at altogether too many Silver Fang septs of late. Besieged on all sides, many Silver Fangs are rather strongly considering a show of force to bring the other tribes back in line. Whether such action might prove successful or start an internecine civil war that could leave the Garou easy prey for the Wyrm's minions, none can say.
Appearance
Silver Fangs come primarily from aristocrats of European and Middle Eastern descent, although one noble house has established itself neatly in Asia and India. In human form, they have refined features, often with familial peculiarities such as a distinctive nose or ears. Their wolf forms are always graceful, with fur of silver or white, long jaws and full tail brushes. In any form, they usually wear some form of jewelry.
Kinfolk
The Fangs keep very detailed track of their Kin, with "pedigrees" that fill whole libraries. Their human Kin are of impeccable breeding from the nobility of the countries of Europe; Russia in particular used to be the Fangs' homeland. Money is not a prime consideration. A penniless branch of the Romanovs would be more valuable than a newly rich industrialist family descended from chicken thieves. Likewise, the tribe keeps close contact with their rare lupine Kin living on great estates, primarily in Russia and western Canada.
Organization
The Silver Fangs, not surprisingly, are monarchists of the highest degree. Each sept is ruled by a king (the term applies to both male and female Fangs), who is held to possess nothing less than a Gaia-granted Divine Right to rule. Kings are always Ahroun, and they keep officials of each other auspice in their courts. A full Silver Fang court consists of a king, two shamans (Theurges and spirit advisors), two stewards (Philodox and leaders of the sept's offensive forces), two squires (Galliards and leaders of the sept's defense) and a seneschal (a jack-of-all-trades; once traditionally Ragabash, but now more often Ahroun). Of course, dwindling numbers now mean that few Silver Fang septs have complete courts, much less courts composed of Garou best suited for the positions.
Silver Fang septs are divided into two lodges: the Lodge of the Sun and the Lodge of the Moon. The Sun Lodge deals with the human community and the outside world; the Moon Lodge has the lupus community and the spirit world as its provinces. Each lodge sends a shaman, steward and squire to the king's court, the better to retain balance.
As concerned with lineage as the Silver Fangs are, it is no surprise that they count several royal families among their ranks. There were once 13 of these great houses, but six have disappeared or died out over time. The ones that remain are Gleaming Eye, Unbreakable Hearth, Blood Red Crest, Wise Heart, Austere Howl, Wyrmfoe and Crescent Moon. Although not all Silver Fangs belong to one of these houses, it's worth noting that these seven families hold the preponderance of power in the tribe.
Tribal Weakness
Derangement
Years of inbreeding with limited flocks of Kinfolk have taken their toll on the Silver Fangs. Each Silver Fang begins play with a Derangement that can be overcome only temporarily. The character’s madness may be chosen by the player (with the Storyteller’s approval) or taken from the list below.
Amnesia - In a highly stressful and traumatic situation, you forget who you are.
Manic-Depression - You suffer from wild mood swings ranging from wild bliss to utter despair. You begin each story in one phase or the other and can switch back and forth for any number of reasons.
Multiple Personalities - There are a number of different personalities housed within your head. You may switch your name, Nature and Demeanor during times of great stress.
Obsession - You tend to latch on to someone or something and make him or it the focal point of your life.
Paranoia - You see the Wyrm’s influence in everything. Don’t the others see it, too? Perhaps they’ve been corrupted as well.
Perfection - You work hard to keep everything in your life going perfectly at all times. You use all of your energy to prevent things from going wrong and have been known to frenzy when things don’t go in your favor.
Power Madness - You are obsessed with control and dominance over others.
Regression - You tend to revert to childlike (or cublike) behavior during times of extreme stress.
Camps
Royalists
The tribe's traditionalists, the Royalists wish to return the "good old days" where all other tribes bent the knee to the Silver Fangs. For obvious reasons, the Royalists do not get along well with the Renewalists.
Renewalists
Home to the tribe's "young Turks", the Renewalists advocate the integration of new ideas and, perhaps, new blood into the tribe, to stave off stagnation. For obvious reasons, the Renewalists do not get along well with the Royalists.
Ivory Priesthood
Less a faction than the tribe's self-appointed arcane researchers, the Ivory Priests research the secrets of death and life.
Grey Raptors
Perhaps best described as an extremist sect of the Royalists, the Grey Raptors take it upon themselves to deal judgment upon those who defy the Silver Fangs.
Masters of the Seal
The tribe's most secret camp, the Masters of the Seal are thieves, dispatched to steal the most damaging and most useful secrets from the other tribes.
Houses
Clan Crescent Moon (based in Russia) - the oldest and most prestigious of Silver Fang Houses.
House Wyrmfoe (based in the United States) - the youngest of the Houses, known for its maverick and iconoclastic style.
House Unbreakable Hearth (based in the U.S. and Canada) - a respected House, with a long tradition of acting as middleman between the other tribes and the Silver Fangs.
House Wise Heart (based in the Middle East) - a mysterious and secretive House, known for dabbling in spiritual research.
House Blood Red Crest (based in southeast Asia) - one of the smaller Houses, the Blood Red Crest is suffering from low birth rates and attrition.
House Gleaming Eye (based in Europe) - this House is known for its determined investigation and persecution of Wyrm-tainted factions within the Silver Fangs, and is currently hunting down the remains of House Austere Howl.
House Austere Howl (formerly based in England) - currently a semi-renegade House, Austere Howl has been afflicted with Wyrm-taint thanks to activities of its Kinfolk, and its surviving members are trying to stay alive long enough to prove that not all members of the House have turned evil.
The houses that have fallen in the mists of time are:
House Conquering Claw - a noble warrior house of the Roman era, the Conquering Claw was eventually brought low by Rome's vampires and finally collapsed during the Renaissance.
House Winter Snow - this house, holding sway over Britain, France, and Holland, fought fiercely against the Black Spiral Dancers during the 16th century, but became drunk with power after their King discovered the Silver Crown, and attacked the Get of Fenris and Fianna. Afterwards, stricken with remorse and shame, Winter Snow fell into Harano, and eventually faded away. There are rumors of the house's ghosts lingering in the Umbra.
House Golden Sky - the pride and joy of the Silver Fangs, the Golden Sky was the epitome of what a Silver Fang was supposed to be. One of the first Kings of this house, Arak Mammoth-Bold, was the one who arranged for Falcon to become the tribal totem, and thus the house had close ties to both Falcon and Helios. Some centuries ago, the Golden Sky disappeared, probably into the Deep Umbra, with no word of their fate ever to trickle back.
The Silver Spiral - not truly a formal house, this is the catchall epithet for Silver Fangs who have fallen to the Wyrm.
The Ice Pack - these half-legendary, predominantly lupus Silver Fangs dwell in the Arctic regions, attending to their own business and their own wars against the Wyrm. They are considered almost mythical by the Garou Nation, but they occasionally make appearances at dramatic times.
The Unknown - this house's name has been stricken from all records, out of shame and guilt. It is said that this house was single-handedly responsible for wiping an entire Changing Breed from the face of Gaia.
