The Wyld One

By Timothy Toner (thanatos@interaccess.com)

Totem of Wisdom

Background Cost

8

Introduction

The Wyld continued to prance and purge across creation, vomiting forth pure potential. It ambled over the coils of the Wyrm, and skipped ahead, seconds before the Weaver had her way with its wonderful effluvience.

And then something odd. No clacking of the Weaver's jaws. No sweeping of the Wyrm's tail. For the first moment since creation, the Wyld wasn't the center of creation, the only pro-active force in the universe. Instead, the other two were off in the corner, talking.

The Wyld was pissed. What was so important that it superseded its own relentless vomiting? It shambled over to look, and peered over the shoulder of the Weaver....

And in the midst of flowing, living insanity, an idea manifested.

The Wyld was horrified, but it didn't know why. Within its mind, chaos formed into order. Random insanity transformed into cold methodology. The Wyld was dissolving and resolving into something horrifying, something the Wyld couldn't even contemplate, but soon would.

With moments to go before complete transformation, the Wyld did what it did best: it vomited. Once it spilled forth hope and the future. Now it expelled a poison that threatened to destroy everything. It rejected sanity.

Things soon returned to a modicum of normality. Well, actually, no. The Weaver was no longer nipping at the Wyld's heels, and the Wyrm seemed really preoccupied with what the Weaver was doing. Still, they weren't off in corners, talking about stuff. The Wyld was once again the center of attention.

And someplace in the Tellurian, a figure rose from a pocket of Wyld nestled in the midst of Web. It was of the Wyld, and it burned with potential. But more than that, it was Chaos cleverly stacked, aware of its nature, aware of its role in things.

It marched out into the woodlands, and regarded its kin, the unthinking animals which possessed a group intellect that spanned centuries. It had a lesson to teach the Weaver-Spawn. The sentience the Weaver had gained would come at a price. There were boundaries that the Weaver should never cross. And when the Spawn tried, It would be there, to teach that final lesson.

Fear the Wyld.

Description

The Wyld One is that sentient bit of the Wyld, who guards the boundaries between the Weaver and the Wyld, and who prevents the Weaver from going too far. It understands what has happened, and understands that a too aggressive attack on the Weaver will serve the Wyrm more than the Wyld. Instead, it seeks to educate the minions of the Weaver (the Homids) as to the danger and futility of pushing too far into the unknown. It reminds them, through acts of fear and terror, that there are some boundaries which should never be crossed. It sits lurking in dark basements, and at the edge of forests, peering back at the seeker of unknown things, the implicit danger of knowing too much. The Wyld One is quite insane, seeing all the possibilities the Wyld stands for at a single glance. At the same time, it is incredibly sane, able to glimpse an infinity of possibilities, and knowing intuitively which one the Weaver will select as its own.

The Wyld One is a harsh master. It grants knowledge, but at a terrible price. Adherents gain a 2 in Enigmas and a 2 in Primal Urge. Often, during times of great need, the Wyld One will appear, and perform a service, always in disguise. Finally, the Wyld One will drop hints toward duties it wants resolved, often in the form of Malkavians and other creatures of madness.

Ban

Adherents must know their place. The Garou who follows the Wyld One must keep to its Weaver form in the Weaver-lands (homid), and its Wyld form in the Wyld-lands (lupus). Crinos, the Wyrm form, is useful whenever the Weaver has intruded in the Wyld, or visa versa, and especially when the Wyrm has misbehaved. Those who violate the ban will one day meet the Wyld One, and learn the meaning of Boundaries.