Original article written by Stormwalker; edited by DarkPro ST
SOCIOLOGY OF THE PACK
The pack. It is the most fundamental unit of Garou society. Humans and wolves are both social animals, grouping together by desire and instinct. Garou, being of both human and wolf, and given their intense emotions, are even more socially inclined.
What this means is that Garou, all Garou, WANT to be in packs. It�s their nature. It�s an instinctive urge, a pull at their very souls that drives them to find and join a pack. A Garou without a pack just.... doesn�t feel right. He feels naked and alone and vulnerable. He suffers from sadness and a loneliness that only other Garou can sympathize with. She feels incomplete and weak until she is one with a pack.
A pack is basically a second family. Remember that most werewolves, after their First Change, are torn away from their original families or wolf packs, likely to never see them again. A pack gives them back that sense of family. A pack is your friends, it is your support group, and it is your fighting unit. The totem binds the pack together on a spiritual level as well, providing a connection to one another that Garou can get nowhere else. A pack is a unique form of family that can be found nowhere else. They are brothers and sisters in arms, bound by spirit.
If your Garou character is not in a pack, I can only ask: Why the heck not? Is your character ill? Is he not feeling well? Is she insane? Trust me, your werewolf wants to be in a pack. She can feel it in her heart. It�s a yearning he cannot ignore. It�s a pain that aches everyday they are without a pack! This is why being declared Ronin is such a horrid punishment to the Garou, for it becomes impossible for the Ronin to ever again join a pack.
"But my character doesn�t feel that way." you say. Bullshit, I say. In that case, your character has to be nuts or stupid, or both. There�s no excuse for a Garou not wanting to be in a pack. Any werewolf that says as much is going to be thought of as a whacko by the others. A Garou that doesn�t want a pack just isn�t right in the head.
"But what of the Silent Striders?" you ask, smugly thinking you�ve caught me off-guard. They are cursed, I retort. Forced to forever wander the world, living lives as loners. The urge is still there, though. Striders still want to be in packs. That�s why their curse is called a curse, after all. They suffer in silence.
WHERE DO YOU SIGN UP?
So, your Garou is ready to join a pack. Now how do you go about it, might you wonder? Well, you have several options.
Find an existing pack and inquire about joining. There are several packs in the New Philly area, so it is not hard to go to one of them and ask. Keep in mind, though, that existing packs may have standards and requirements that your Garou cannot meet (such as a pack restricted to certain tribes). Also packs can only be so large before they become unmanageable. A pack of 5 or 6 members has about all it can handle, so if packs are full up, you may be out of luck.
The more viable option is to start a pack of your own. Find a purpose and form a pack to fulfill that purpose, recruiting members to your cause. The purpose doesn't have to be specific or overly dramatic. Simply forming a pack for the sake of having a pack ready to go - whatever works. Simply make an announcement (preferably at a Moot) that you wish to form a pack, and then wait to see what happens.
Of course, making a pack comes at a price. Don�t expect your pack to be merely a social club. You will be expected to carry out missions for the sept. That�s what packs are for, after all - to perform missions and serve the sept. The sept needs packs, now more than ever, for the Apocalypse comes closer everyday.
LOSING A PACK-MEMBER
It�s the most heartbreaking experience a Garou can have. To lose a member of your pack is to lose a part of yourself. A part of your own soul dies when a pack-brother or -sister leaves.
To lose your entire pack, leaving only yourself alive, is tragic in the extreme. That is the start of Harano and suicide watches. A Garou can never recover from losing his whole pack. It will haunt him always.
EJECTING A PACK-MEMBER
It is no light decision to force a member to leave the pack. Such an individual must have made major transgressions against the pack: greatly disgraceful actions, putting the pack in constant danger, continually fighting with fellow pack-members, breaking numerous Litany laws... An unruly member who doesn�t even try to change his ways will quickly find himself alone. Pack brethren can be forgiving of their own, but they have their limits.
Needless to say, a Garou who betrays his pack to the Wyrm will quickly find himself dead by his pack�s claws. That is something that will break the pack's trust instantly.
A Garou who breaks the Litany or does other dishonorable things brings shame to his whole pack. Septs will hold the entire pack responsible for the actions of a criminal member. If a pack-member breaks the Litany or loses a significant amount of Renown for disgraceful actions, his packmates will lose some Renown, too. They become "guilty by association"; for they are supposed to have made sure their member would not commit such crimes. Packs are responsible for the actions of their members. This is another reason unrepentant criminal members are often expelled.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Packs are the fangs and claws of Gaia. Wolves were selected as Gaia's protectors for numerous reasons, the most important is the pack mentality. A pack of normal wolves can chase down and kill prey easily five times stronger than any single wolf. As Garou are warriors, fighting against impossible odds, the essence of the pack remains as their most powerful advantage.
Having pack-mates to rely upon provides fellowship, something the Curse makes hard to come by. A Pack is often the only family a Garou can acknowledge. A Pack provides friendship, back-up, emotional support, and an assualt force all in one. When werewolves stand united, in a pack, towards a single purpose... it can be a terrifying and beautiful thing to behold, as elegant a brutality as can ever be found in all of nature.
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