Werewolf: The Forsaken

Werewolf: The Forsaken Daily
Colorado Alphas (Friday 2/25 - Iron Soul)
Posted: 2005-02-25

This week, we head to Colorado and meet some of the key alphas in the state. The whole region is still reeling in the aftermath of a great battle.

For years, Denver was the home of a powerful malevolent spirit called Gurdilag. Only a few years ago, however, the Iron Master Max Roman returned with knowledge of Gurdilag's ban. He led a grand coalition of werewolves that defeated the mighty spirit and opened up Denver's loci to the Uratha once more. Now, various factions vie for dominance and plentiful newcomers arrive to claim territory.

MONDAY 2/21 UPDATE

Max Roman
Alpha of the Silver Syndicate

Auspice: Elodoth
Tribe: Iron Masters

Max Roman is a werewolf with many secrets, not the least of which is how he uncovered Gurdilag's ban. A general sense of his background is common knowledge around the Rockies, however. He was born to a wealthy Chicago family, among whose ancestry were several Iron Masters. He counts among his extended line of ancestors those Uratha who helped keep a powerful vampire from taking over Denver long ago. He moved to Denver himself as a young werewolf and remained there until he was driven out by Gurdilag's usurpation. He drifted back toward Chicago in defeat until a spiritual breakthrough renewed his confidence. He rebuilt his pack, the Silver Syndicate, and led it on a quest deep into the Shadow Realm where he uncovered the secret of Gurdilag's ban. He then returned to the embattled Rockies territories and forged the fractious packs of the area into a temporary but very powerful army.

Unfortunately, the crusade against Gurdilag cost his pack dearly. After the final battle, only three of the eight members of the Silver Syndicate lived to tell the tale. Roman himself still bears the scars of the battle. The pack has recently rebuilt its numbers to a certain extent, as well as its physical, economic and spiritual assets, in the hopes that it can still achieve Roman's dream of a long-term, cross-tribe alliance. Until then, the Silver Syndicate continues to build its resources, based in a high-rise office tower in downtown Denver called the Argentum Building.

TUESDAY 2/22 UPDATE

Rachel Snow
Alpha of the Echoes of Thunder

Auspice: Elodoth
Tribe: Storm Lords

Rachel Snow comes from a long and distinguished line of American Storm Lords. She originally hails from Colorado Springs, and her extended wolf-blooded family is very involved with the various defense industries that make their homes in Colorado. Rachel fervently believes in personal responsibility and hates the thought of owing anything to anyone. For years, she led expeditions into the territories surrounding Denver to perform precision strikes on the agents of Gurdilag who operated there and to keep the usurpation from spreading. Her experience and intelligence made the Echoes of Thunder invaluable to Max Roman's war effort. She strongly supported the group effort to retake Denver, which has made her refusal to back Roman's efforts to create inter-tribal alliances feel like a betrayal (from his perspective). She maintains that she never supported anything other than the conflict itself. In fact, the conflict between the Uratha who survived the battle will, in turn, make those survivors better warriors. Since the re-taking of Denver, her pack continues to seek out conflicts, and when necessary, instigate them. She has quietly encouraged both sides in conflicts and richly rewarded the victors.

WEDNESDAY 2/23 UPDATE

Obadiah Pickering
Alpha of the Pickering Family

Auspice: Ithaeur
Tribe: Bone Shadows

Obadiah Pickering is the aging patriarch of the Pickering clan, a familial line with strong wolf blood that has lived in Colorado Springs almost since the town's inception. Now in his late 80s, Obadiah still possesses an imposing presence. Though he's no longer the picture of health, he can shut down a rowdy youngster with a glare. His eye has seen beauties and horrors beyond even the imaginings of most Uratha. As a young Uratha, he traveled the world with a younger pack, seeking out hidden and forbidden places. At one such place, a Bale Hound nest in Calcutta, he lost his left eye, and the wound will never heal. He covers it with a patch when he's going to be among ordinary people (a rare occasion these days), but he leaves the darkened socket open to the air among family or other Uratha. He claims it was a fair price for putting a stop to the blasphemous events he witnessed.

Obadiah rules his family like a feudal despot, and no one in the family dares stand up to him—including the other Uratha. The human Pickerings are completely terrified of the old man. Obadiah has no patience for anyone these days and has been known to fly into a rage when a cup of coffee is spilled or some other disruption occurs. He spends most of his time alone, or with the spirits he summons from the depths of the Shadow Realm.

THURSDAY 2/24 UPDATE

Park Sun Ae
Alpha of the Three Sisters

Auspice: Ithaeur
Tribe: Bone Shadows (Lodge of Prophecy)

Park Sun Ae was born in North Korea close to a century ago, and a famine led to her family leaving her out on the rocks one night. The next morning, however, they discovered her, wrapped in warm blankets, cooing on top of a basket of food. Her family thanked every god they knew and made sure that Sun was well fed and cared for thereafter until she vanished in the night at age 14. Sun then traveled the world with her new family, a traveling pack of werewolves, until such time as she underwent her Rite of Initiation and eventually formed her own pack for the first time. By the time of Gurdilag’s defeat, she was the alpha among three female Bone Shadows. When she heard of Max Roman’s victory, she chose to travel to Denver and claim territory in the newly open city.

Park Sun Ae appears much younger than her chronological age. She rarely speaks English, preferring her native Korean. She has also gained a reputation as a prophet, though she has little patience for the werewolves who come to her pack’s territory hoping she will lay out their futures for them.

FRIDAY 2/25 UPDATE

Iron Soul
Alpha of Mountain’s Proud Children

Auspice: Elodoth
Tribe: Hunters in Darkness

It’s said that since before mankind set foot on North America, a pack of Uratha called Mountain’s Proud Children has protected an ancient locus on a mountain in what’s now the Rocky Mountain National Park. The current alpha, Iron Soul, traveled the world with a multi-tribal pack for many years, until the death of his mother, Stronger than Wind approached. As the former alpha’s health failed, Iron Soul returned to the mountain and challenged her for her position. She fought hard and bravely, but the outcome was never in doubt. After the battle, she walked with Iron Soul down into the deep caves under the mountain. There, Iron Soul learned the secrets of the locus and what purpose it serves. His mother then walked off into the Shadow Realm, never to be seen again.

Previous alphas of Mountain’s Proud Children enforced the bans of territory with deadly earnest, but today, foolish Uratha who attempt to enter their territory merely get mauled and sent home. Using the secrets Iron Soul learned in his travels around the world, the spiritual defenses of the locus are the strongest they have been in centuries.

Next Week: Into the Shadow — Next week we look at the Shadow Realm and the many spiritual forces that impact werewolves.