Ahroun: The Auspice of the warrior. Full moon.
Anchorhead: A spirit gate between the near and deep Umbra. (see membrane)
Apocalypse: The age of destruction, the final cycle, the birth of death, the everlasting corruption, the end of Gaia- a word used in Garou mythology to describe the time of the final battle with the Wyrm. Many consider this time to be the present.
Auspice: The phase of the moon under which a particular Garou was born; commonly thought to determine personality, and tendencies.
Bane: Evil spirits that follow the Wyrm. There are many different kinds of banes, Scrag, Kalus, Psychomachiae, and many more.
Bawn: A boundary area around a Caern, where mortals are watched.
Blight: Ant corrupted area in either the spirit world, or physical reality.
Breed: The ancestry of a Garou, be it wolf, human, or Garou.
Caern: A sacred place; a meeting spot where the Garou can contact the spirit world.
Celestine: The greatest spirits; the closest things the Garou have to gods. Examples are
Luna (the moon), and Helios (the sun).
Concolation: A great moot, wherein many tribes gather to discuss matters that concern the nation of Garou.
Concord, the: The agreement all the tribes reached nearly 9,000 years ago, after which the Impergium was ended. The traditions thereof are still obeyed today.
Corruption: The act of destroying, devolving, or debasing life; also, the often overwhelming effects of the Wyrm’s actions. In the present age, it often specifically refers to the ecological ruins humans wreak upon the environment.
Crinos: The half-wolf, half-human form of the Garou.
Deep Umbra: The aspects of the Umbra that lie outside the membrane. Reality becomes more and more fragmentary the farther one travels from the realm.
Delirium: The madness suffered by humans who look upon a Garou in Crinos form.
Domain: A mini-realm in the Umbra, usually connected to a larger realm in the Deep Umbra.
Feral: Slang term for Lupis breed Garou.
Gaffling: A simple spirit servant of a Jaggling, Incarna, or Celestine. Gafflings are rarely sentient.
Gaia: The Earth and related realms, in both a physical, and spiritual sense; the Mother Goddess.
Galliard: The Auspice of the bard. 3/4 moon.
Garou: The term werewolves use for themselves.
Gauntlet: The barrier between the physical world, and the spirit world of the Umbra. It is strongest around the technology of the Weaver, and weakest around Caerns.
Homid: A garou of human ancestry. Occasionally used disdainfully by Ferals (.g., “That boy fights like a Homid.”).
Impergium: The 3,000 years immediately following the birth of agriculture, during which strict population quotas were maintained on all human villages by the Garou.
Incarna: A class of spirits; weaker than the Celestines, but still greater spirits by any measure.
Jaggling: A spirit servant of an Incarna, or Celestine.
Kenning: The empathic calling some Garou perform when howling.
Klaive: A fetish dagger or sword, usually of great spiritual potency, and nearly always made of silver.
Litany: The code of laws kept by the Garou.
Lupis: A Garou of wolf origin.
Membrane, the: The barrier between the near and deep Umbras. To breach it, an Anchorhead must be found. Alternatively, the Garou can travel through the Dream Zone.
Metis: The sterile and often deformed offspring of 2 Garou. Generally reviled by Garou society.
Moon-Bridge: A gate between 2 Caerns; it most often appears during moots.
Moon-Calf: Idiot, simpleton.
Mule: Slang for Metis.
Near Umbra: The spirit world surrounding the Gaia realm.
Pack: A small group of Garou bound to each other by ties of friendship, and mission. As opposed to culture.
Penumbra: “Earth’s Shadow”; the spirit world directly surrounding the physical world; many, but not all, terrain features will be the same.
Philodox: The Auspice of the judge. Half moon..
Protectorate: The territory claimed and patrolled by a pack or sept.
Ragabash: The Auspice of the trickster. New moon.
Reaching: Traveling into the spirit world.
Realms: The worlds of “solid” reality within the Tellurian. Earth is referred to as the realm, or Gaia’s realm.
Ronin: A Garou who has chosen or been forced to leave Garou society. It is a harsh fate to become a “lone wolf”.
Sept: The group of Garou who live near and tend a Caern, also a collection of packs bound together for a common goal.
Sleeper: Humans who are still unaware of the existance of the "super naturals" that share their world.
Tellurian: The whole of reality.
Theurge: The Auspice of the seer. Quarter moon.
Totem: A spirit joined to a pack or tribe, and representative of its inner nature. A tribal totem is an Incarna, while a pack totem is an Incarna avatar ( a Jaggling equivalent).
Triat, the: The Weaver, the Wyld, and the Wyrm. The trinity of cosmic forces.
Tribe: The larger community of Garou. Tribe members are often bound by similar totems, and lifestyles.
Umbra: The spirit world.
Veil, the: See delirium.
Way, the: The traditions of the Garou.
Weaver, the: Manifestation and symbol of order, and pattern. Computers, science, logic, and mathematics are examples of the Weavers influence on the material plane.
Wyld, the: Manifestation and symbol of pure change. The chaos of transmutation and elemental force.
Wyrm, the: Manifestation and symbol of evil, entropy, and decay in Garou belief. Vampires are often manifestations of the Wyrm, as are toxic waste and pollution.
Wyrmhole: A place that has been spiritually defiled by the Wyrm; invariably a location of great corruption.
The VULGAR ARGOT:
Usually used by the younger Garou.
Ape: Slang for human or homid. If the speaker wishes to indicate true contempt for their subject, they may use the word “monkey” instead.
Cadaver: A derogatory term for a Vampire.
Flock, the: All of humanity, particularly those humans form whom the Garou recruit their members.
Gremlin: A malevolent spirit.
Leech: See cadaver.
Run: A ritual hunt or revel that takes place at the conclusion of a moot.
Sheep: Humans.
Stepping Sideways: Entering the spirit world. Most elders consider this term flippant and disrespectful.
Throat: To best another in combat. Used as a verb (e.g., “I throated his sorry butt!”).
OLD FORM:
Adren: A pupil or student who learns from a mentor.
Airts: The magical paths within the spirit world (e.g., Spirit Tracks, Moon Paths, etc.).
Aisling: A journey into the spirit world.
Anamae: “Soul~friend”; most often a bond with a pack totem.
Anruth: A Garou who travels from Caern to Caern but is bound to none of them.
Athro: Teacher, Mentor.
Awen: The sacred muse, the creative impulse. Some say she is a spirit, but she has never been found. Moon Dancers periodically go on quests for her.
Brugh: Any sort of mystic place, whether a Garou Caern, or a Wyrmhole. Often a glade or cave located somewhere in the wilderness.
Charach: A Garou who sleeps with another Garou, or has done so in the past. Often used in anger.
Chiminage: Traditionally, a Sept can make a request of any Garou who uses it’s Caern; “chiminage” is the term for the request.
Cliath: A young Garou, not yet of any standing rank.
Elder: The highest rank a Garou can aspire to, without dying.
Formori: Humans who have turned to the Wyrm, and draw their power from it. They are the enemies of the Garou.
Fostern: Your pack brothers and sisters; those who are your family by choice.
Gallain: The Kinfolk of the Garou- those humans and wolves who are related to the People and are not prone to delirium, but who are not actual werewolves.
Harano: Inexplicable gloom, inexpressible longing for unnamable things, weeping for that which is not yet lost. Some say it is depression caused by contemplation of Gaia’s suffering.
-ikthya: “Of the Wyrm”; a suffix appended to a name.
Inceptor: A Garou who guides another through a rite. An Inceptor is also called a Ritemaster.
Kinain: The relationship among Garou who are related by blood through an ancestor. This term of endearment and pride is never used when referring to Metis.
Pericarp: The near Umbra around each realm.
Phoebe: An incarna of Luna, representing the moon.
Praenomen: The guardian spirit of a pack.
-rhya: “Greater in station”; a suffix appended to a name.
Urrah: Garou who live in a city; also the tainted ones.
-yuf: “Honored Equal”; a suffix appended to a name.