From: "Corwyn J. Alambar" Misty Passages Sept The Forces of Gaia in Northern California The Bay Area is nothing if not cosmopolitan. With no fewer than three major cities and a host of medium and smaller places, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that there is more than just asphalt, glass, and steel to the Bay Area. Indeed, there is much more. High in the Santa Cruz Mountains lays sections of terrain that are difficult to get to, and even more difficult to get away from. Treacherous cliffs, scrambles covered in vegetation so thick water has trouble flowing, and the insular nature of some of the people in the area hearkens more to the sparsely settled regions of the Appalachians than to a green jewel nestled in the heart of the Bay Area. This is the perfect place from which Gaia's warriors can stage their last ditch defense of the entire region from the encroaching forces of Weaver and Wyrm. But there is more to this place, a history spoken in whispers amongst the Uktena elders, of the true meaning and nature of the Misty Passages Sept. One With the Land The heart of the sept is the Caern of Lost Dreams, nestled high in a hidden valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There are few residents within sight distance, and the caern itself is invisible even to the fire watch towers that dot the region. At the heart of the caern is a small pond, crystal clear and blue even on the cloudiest of days, and even after the autumn and winter floods that are so common in the region. Garou that look upon the crystal waters can Step Sideways to another place, not really of the Umbra, but not of the normal world either. This is the only known "regular" entrance to the Maze of Dreams (qv), a magickal zone left from the time when the Umbra and the Gaian Realm were one. (Author's note: Caern stats will be posted soon, probably early next week) The rest of the primary caern grounds consist of verdant forest, tended to by the Uktena Ritemaster and his underlings. There are several small sites that they hold sacred, and examination from the nearby Umbra shows these to be nodes of the Maze of Dreams as well. Patrols in lupus form are common of the outermost area, giving the caern coverage of a rough circle nearly four miles across. The area lies in the heart of a chunk of land owned by a private interest and managed by the University of California at Santa Cruz. Strength in Unity The Uktena are the primary rulers of this sept and caern, but are not alone in their duties. Among the other tribes with members present are the Red Talons, Wendigo, Fianna, Children of Gaia, and Shadow Lords. There is also a single Stargazer, and a small pack of Silent Striders that use this caern as a base of operations. There is surprisingly little dissention amongst the members of this sept, at least in part because of their sometimes uneasy truce with a large Chantry nearby (qv). The Garou here realize that only by presenting a united front to all others can they possibly stand a chance at executing their sacred duties. With the exception of tending to the Gateway Pool, the tasks of protecting and running the Sept are chosen by a kind of participatory meritocracy - Each time someone wishes to challenge another for a position of leadership, a scenario is presented to the defender and the challenger, often on the first night of the full moon. The opponents have until the next full moon to come up with a complete solution or plan of action, and present it to the Ritemaster, who then presents both of these plans to all who care to take part. Afterwards a vote is taken, and the one who advanced the winning plan gains the office., and may not be challenged again for six months. Competition for who gets to challenge the existing officeholder next is fierce, and often takes the form of riddle contests and long, midnight planning and strategy sessions. The members of the sept realize their duty here is to protect the Gateway Pool, and to this end they have done much to protect themselves from the outside world. But as the Bay Area grows and expands, their job becomes more and more difficult, until today they realize that they are isolated, trapped deep within what would be considered enemy territory. This enjoins them to act with stealth, cunning, and slyness in a way that most Garou would find shameful. The Garou here found long ago that the heady path of the blood-lusted warrior was the quickest road to ruin. Neighborly Relations Given the proximity of the large cities of the Bay Area, as well as the location of a surprising number of magickal groups, the Misty Passages sept has more contact with other denizens of the World of Darkness than they do with their own kind. The Chantry of the Gold Coast - Not long after the treaty was signed that brought the Chantry of the Gold Coast into existence, a pact was made between the Garou and the new conclave of magi. This truce has grown stronger throughthe years, though occasionally a young, cocky mage or headstrong Garou will endanger the entire relationship, which can take months or years of negotiation to smooth over. There have recently been mumblings of the two working together even closer, each tutoring the young of the other in skills necessary to survive. The Scarlet Mansion - The operations of the Scarlet Mansion mostly do not concern the members of this Sept, given the distance and relative undesireability of each area to the other. Still, there is an unspoken feeling that those that traffic in drugs and cater to the basic impulses are only a hair's bredth from the clutches of the Wyrm. The Silver Sunset Ranch - None of the Garou know that this hospice is actually run by magi, though they sympathize with the need of the elderly and terminally ill to feel a sense of dignity and accomplishment in their waning days. Some Garou volunteer to help this group with fundraisers or major maintenance projects, such as the recent addition of a wing to the ranch residence area. The Kindred - This Sept has reasons to hate and fear the Kindred of the region far more than most. Their sept was raided once in recent memory by Melchior (qv), who sought to close off the Maze of Dreams to his wandering brother. The guardian spirit of the Caern finally fought off this ancient Kindred, and ever since the formerly open attitude of the members of this sept has grown to one of cool, barely veiled hostility. Black Spiral Dancers - The Garou here have begun investigating a number of disappearances in the Gilroy and Watsonville areas, and rumors of a satanic cult operating in both regions. They smell the Wyrm growing strong in the area around Mt. Madonna, and they fear that their mad cousins have come to their protectorate. They know nothing of the Lost Pups Hive. History The Misty Passages sept has been in existence for as long as the Garou have kept records. Legends speak of the One Who Sleeps, the spirit that causes the earthquakes of the region. The Garou barely remember the legend of the Starspear, though recently a few Garou have spoken of it while in trance with their ancestors. The Uktena know many of the secret ways and passages of the Maze of Dreams, and jealously guard this, the only secret held in the Misty Passages sept. They have been collecting information and artifacts scattered about the Maze, looking for a clue to the power of the ancient Lemurians and Atlanteans, and they believe they are on the verge of a discovery. This sept has traditionally been held by the Uktena, though with the Gold Rush in 1849, they knew that they would not be able to hold it for long. The Misty Passages sept served as one of three jump-off points for the Garou who came to California in the 1840s and 50s to fight the encroachment of mankind, and the Wyrm, on the one pristine and still powerful region. Unfortunately, fractiousness and rebellion undermined their efforts, much as it has threatened to do in the Amazon, and only the three main septs survived this failed war. Having learned the price of being insular, all three septs moved quickly to incorporate other tribes in their structures. The Uktena philodox, Tongue-Like-Water, had had a vision of the future, where the area would be covered in the hovels of man, and knew that only through cunning and wits would they survive. Taking him at his word, the current political structure of the sept was established, and it has stood the test of time, even as pressure grows from mankind. The Changing Breeds The Garou of this region have long had to deal with the Pumonca, many of whom call the mountains of California home. Cougars occasionally are seen in the mountains the the Bay Area, though this is infrequent at best. Scientists in the region are baffled as to the genetic pool from which these cougars spring, and cannot explain how they keep appearing, after vanishing for sometimes years at a time. The answer lies in the person of Himostaya, an aged Pumonca who has lived in the mountains of the Bay Area for a long, long time. Driven high into the mountains while still young by prospectors, he vowed that he and his people would never be driven out. He is a wise old man now, seen occasionally by hikers in the more remote regions, and an occasional ally of the Garou of the Misty Passages sept. Little is known about this old man, not even what tribe he is from (he is apparently full-blood Native American), yet he occasionally appears at essential Sept events, and hsa even twice visited the Chantrymaster of the neighboring Gold Coast chantry. His insights have been clear, and valuable to the decisions beng made, and soon after he makes them, he vanishes for sometimes as long as twenty years before he is seen again. It is thought that perhaps he will be driven from the mountains by the encroaching humans, and forced to become more apparent. One evening, about eight months before, a woman clothed in strange dress, half dazed and crusted with dirt and grime staggered into the caern, collapsing before the Gateway Pool. The Garou defenders, outraged at the desecration of their caern, rose up in anger. THe fight that followed was almost epic. When she was attacked, she assumed her trur form as a grizzly bear and fought the assembled wolves that tried to mob her. She took many injuries, but never collapsed, and several Garou were limping for days afterward as she took on the defenders of the caern. A standoff ensued, and only the presence of Silent-Howls, the Uktena Riteleader, kept the Gurahl from being torn to shreds. As the two sides calmed, Silent-Howls tried to determine more about the origin of this strage and new shapeshifter. After days of silent, secret discussion, Amanda Walker returned... As a full member of the sept. Almost immediately thereafter, preparations began in earnest for something - though what that something is apparently only Amanda, Silent-Howls, and Kyle, the Dreamspeaker magus from the Chantry of the Gold Coast, know. The other Garou distrust Amanda, though she has won over some of them through her plain-spoken manner and simple charm.