Sit down, kid. I�m going to tell you some lies.

I call them lies because that�s how the other tribes regard them. They�re actually truths that the others will not believe. Our family is built upon these truths. We are the keepers of dark secrets, the guardians of beautiful lies that no one else would dare speak. You�ll never gain glory by espousing them, but then again, we aren�t motivated by praise, honor or glory outside our tribe � those rewards are for the shallow. We�re muckrakers, deceivers and villains, every last one of us. That�s our role in the Garou Nation, and it�s the only way we can fulfill our destiny.

Even a cynical Ragabash like me knows that. Don�t think for a moment that your only enemies are outside this sept. You�re a fool if you believe that only creatures of the Wyrm can destroy you. Some of your worst enemies � the self-righteous who would cast you out or execute you -- are right here inside your own sept. The Garou can be their own worst enemies. I�ve seen gloryhounds who would sell out their own packmates for a chance to be immortalized in sagas, prideful warriors who can only prove their worth by humiliating their septmates, and weak leaders who would sacrifice scapegoats for the sake of furthering their own power.

The Apocalypse is coming, and �trust� has no place in it. Watch yourself. Skepticism and mistrust are the best defenses you have. When the other tribes gather before the leaders of our sept, they�ll endlessly posture in their pompous ceremonies, but their moots are used to hide the deception that they practice themselves. We all know about the deception. If you want to gain respect within our tribe, you�re going to have to beat them at their own game. By our rule, that game is called politics.

The Lords have always been a master of politics. Although our role in the garou nation has changed, our skill has never diminished. The weakest members of our tribe are diplomats � mediators and counselors, advisors and facilitators who keep order in the sept. That�s how we earned out status as Lords and our privilege in the political area. The strongest of us are leaders. Over the millennia, we�ve seen what works and what doesn�t. The �honor� revered by the other tribes doesn�t work, and so we follow a different path.