A terrible curse has befallen our sept. A bane that had been imprisoned for hundreds upon hundreds of years beneath our Caern was loosed by powers beyond our comprehension. Surely the End of Times is nearing, if bonds so old could become so fragile. It has been 11 months since any woman, Garou or Kinfolk, has been able to conceive a child. We fear the worst, that the spirit of decay that had been kept in check for so long released his powers upon our people in retribution for its long captivity. We are a large sept, and usually bear between seven and ten cubs each year. Yet there have been none since that bane was unleashed. It killed none when it escaped, which seemed a blessing at the time. Now it seems the bane's revenge was more insidious than we had imagined. It did not need to kill us if none of us can reproduce. In a single generation, our entire sept will be wiped out, and this caern will be vulnerable to whatever chooses to claim it. The theurges are preparing to quest for help from the spirit realm. I fear that the answer they receive will not be one to our liking.
Two weeks it has taken our theurges to return from their quest. Not all of them were able to make it back. And still, the answer we have received makes me sick to the core of my bones. No Garou or Kinfolk who was in the Caern when that bane was unleashed will ever bear offspring again..in the manner proclaimed by our Mother Gaia. The only children who will ever be born to our sept again will be metis. Indeed, the thought of it is repugnant to us, and only the direst of circumstances could ever lead a Garou of our sept to commit such an atrocity. Yet, if we are to continue, commit it we must. The theurges were able to claim one favor, if one can even call it that. Though the spirits were unable to restore our fertility, they will grant it to our metis offspring, should we choose to bear any. They would only be able to mate with other Garou, and thus only bear more metis, who are foul and unworthy in Gaia's eye, but what other choice do we have? Do we simply allow our sept to fall? Or do we break a law of the Litany, and procreate in order to have the warriors Gaia needs? A moot will be convened to discuss the issue before us, but our choices range from distasteful disastrous, either way we go.
Yesterday's moot was a fiasco. Many Garou spoke to both sides of the crisis, and all were correct. Intentionally and knowingly breaking the Litany is a crime, a grim and dismal prospect, yet allowing every bloodline of the sept to simply end could not be an option. The elders decided that those who were willing could indeed bear metis offspring without fear of retribution. Some of the werewolves of the sept attempted to leave, disgusted at the prospect, but others would not allow them to go spread the shame of our actions to others. Terrible fighting ensued until those who desired to leave were finally allowed to go. Further bloodshed seemed a folly in sight of the possible demise of the entire Chumash Tribal Sept. Still, I despair of the fate of our sept. What honor does a Garou have when he can dismiss any part of the Litany he feels is no longer important? This, I think, was the worst result the bane could have created: Garou who turn their face from the laws of their people and their Creator.
The spirits were correct: we can still bear children. A number of the females here are starting to show their pregnancies. It seems there were those who wasted no time in following the new orders set down by our Elders. I have observed six pregnant Garou, though only two of those have mates who will admit to their fatherhood. It seems a shame that only the females will be forced to live with sept's knowledge of their choice to bear metis, but such are the ways of life. We receive some small comfort, knowing that we can still pass the spark of life on to the next generation, and too, knowing that all children born will be full-blooded Garou with all the gifts entailed therein. Still, it is terrible to know that we must break the Litany in order to bear such children. Though we must treat these children with respect as they grow, it will be exceedingly difficult to do so. I know the mothers all fear the deformities their children will have to endure because of their parentage. I, too, fear for my child. I know in my heart it was wrong, but I must pass my on bloodline, for it is a noble one and worth preserving. Still, I fear the consequences of such action.
The first children in almost two years were born this morning. A pair of twins, both strong Garou, both bearing a trademark metis deformity, were born to Eye of the Moon today. She cried tears of joy and sorrow both, as did many who attended the birthing. Each of the twins had a withered arm, one right and one left. It remains to be seen if they will ever learn to work past these disfigurements, but when one is born metis, one must do what one can.
The first of wave of cubs appears to be over. Seven infant metis now crowd the sept nursery, and a miserable sight most of them are. Joy's Sorrow and Sorrow's Joy are the names given to the twin girl Ahrouns with the lame forelegs. Blind Seer was born without eyes, yet already is displaying an amazing strength of his Theurgical gifts. Gentle Biter can't seem to keep his brittle teeth from breaking, and we do not know if he will survive out his childhood. My daughter, Bared Soul hasn?t a single hair on her little body. Instead, she wears a knitted sweater to keep off the chill. She is a delicate little thing, and a favorite of the Den mothers, though I think such coddling will be detrimental to an already fragile soul. Scent of the Prey has two nubs of what are likely to ram?s horns on his forehead. Then there is Ghost, who is almost completely albino: white from ears to tail, with ice-blue eyes that may not work completely right, though we may not know the extent of that for many years. Of all the metis, only Ghost isn't blatantly ugly. Her coloring gives her a haunting beauty, though whether that remains the case as she grows to adulthood will remain to be seen.
One more metis was born this past week, though it seems that the slew of hideous deformities has made the Garou of our sept less eager to procreate. This last cub was born with a twisted spine, and it seems likely that the hump in his back will only worsen with age. I fear Mountain's Son will be the last child ever born to the Garou of this Sept. The elders sent out a call for other Garou from other septs to move here to keep it populated. Those who are now functionally sterile will remain as well, but those who inherit this caern will not be our children. Though the spirits promised continued fertility, they weren't powerful enough to deliver on that promise. It was a cruel and bitter thing to have broken the Litany, only to remain thwarted in our attempts to revive our failing caern. The children born last year are growing quickly, and making the best of the world that was given to them. Some of the adults here try to treat them with kindness, but it remains difficult to look past their twisted heritage and not see the terrible fate that we were given by the bane and by Gaia herself.
Our metis cubs continue to surprise me. I feared that their past would instill in them a certain bitterness and anger toward their fellow Garou, but they are bearing up under that pressure exceedingly well. Except, that is, for Mountain's Son. Though he doesn't have either the most of debilitating or the ugliest of the disfigurements of the metis, his heart is the most hardened as a result of his condition. The youngest of all our last cubs, he seems to bear his deformity the hardest. He is brutally vicious to Ghost, in particular, mostly because her "deformity" isn't hideous or debilitating. A point will come where she will either have to accept an Omega position among her peers, or stand up to him, Theurge to Ahroun, which will be quite difficult for her. She isn't very big, or very aggressive, but I see in her the potential to trounce Mountain's Son to pulp. It may not gain his respect, but his fear would be sufficient to keep him at bay.
Ghost has, indeed, finally asserted herself. Though not strong, she is quick and agile, and her claws are fiercely sharp. Mountain almost found himself half-blind after that skirmish, and he will watch himself more closely from now on. I doubt that their conflict is over, but she is on her way to winning free of his domineering cruelty. The other metis are also showing her a bit more respect after that display as well. It will be interesting to see how things play out with this group. To my knowledge, nothing like this situation has ever happened before. Let us hope it never has to happen again.
Ghost's ninth birthday is today. We have determined that she is colorblind, but this doesn't seem to impede her overmuch. She has been studying hard with her Theurge mentor, and has undergone her first change. Her homid and lupus forms are as pale as her crinos form, though that was to be expected. The time of trial is upon her, and she will be the first of all the Metis Generation to undergo her Rite of Passage. The others are a little nervous of her, but I think they are relieved that is her. She has grown to be the toughest of all of them, if only because of Mountain's Son's cruelty to her when they were children. She is still quiet and reserved, but has learned to defend herself immediately from any sort of threat, be it physical or emotional. Her close bond to her mother has kept her from becoming too callous, but her father was one of those too ashamed to stand forward and claim his child. Because of the new law prohibiting the parents of metis from persecution, his identity does not have to be revealed to the sept. I do not think even Ghost herself knows who he is. I have my suspicions, but they remain only that: suspicions. A child without a father is sad thing, and her life has been difficult enough, as have the lives of all the Metis Gen. Today, however, she has her first chance to prove herself a Garou to her sept, and hopefully be placed in a pack that can make good use of her immense talent as a Theurge who seems closer than most to the realm of the spirits.
Her initiation is over, and Ghost looks a little worse for the wear. In the umbra, her corporeal form appears faded, as though a portion of her body has been replaced with spirit energy. I am no Theurge, and certainly have no say in what happens in a cub's Rite of Passage, but I wonder if she didn't almost fail hers. Then again, perhaps she passed it so well she was gifted with something more. In any case, she is now Faded Ghost, with all the gifts of a full member of Garou society. Her mentor is undoubtedly very proud of his student, and I must admit that I am, as well. She and Bared Soul are very good friends, so I see her quite often under my roof, and she is like another daughter to me.
Ghost will be leaving us shortly. She needs to grow, and to do so she needs to join a pack that can teach her more than what our sept has to offer right now. A traveling pack has been staying here for the last couple of weeks, recouperating from a particularly nasty battle with the Wyrm. They have need of a Theurge, and will welcome her abilities, even with her lack of experience in battle. She will gain this quickly with this group. Either that, or she will die. Such is the life of a Werewolf in this world. I have no fear for her. This will be a wonderful experience for her, though I will miss her a great deal. I go now to wish her well, and pray that I will one day see her agai