Editing Werewolf: The Apocalypse (section)

==The Litany==
While the laws and customs of the Garou are ancient and stretch back millennia, they are still observed to this day. The vast majority is for the Philodoxes to learn and interpret, but all Garou are required to know and observe the thirteen core tenets. Naturally, all of them have grey areas for the various factions to bicker over. These are:

* '''Garou Shall Not Mate With Garou.''' When two werewolves mate the result is a Metis, a sickly, twisted and/or insane Garou whose presence disrupts the Sept and are deformed to one degree or another. Such couples are more common between two Homid Garou; because of how they are raised they have a desire for romance and love. Unfortunately for them such pairings often result in tragedy. Back in the day Metis and their parents were killed, but in modern times more of them are spared (and more are born, too!), with many Garou seeing the hate against Metis to be unfounded prejudice. How this law pertains to same-gender relationships is matter of debate in-universe, even though such relationships are never going to result in children. Some more modern or open-minded septs (Children of Gaia, Glass Walkers and Black Furies are the usual suspects) let it slide or even rule out that these case are not violations of the Litany, while most other follow it to the letter and would punish gay Garou couples just as severely as straight ones - after all, the purpose of this law is not only to prevent Metis being born, but to tie werewolves to their Kinfolk with bonds of love and family and prevent them from going all "racial superiority" route (again).

* '''Combat the Wyrm Wherever It Dwells and Whenever It Breeds.''' The Wyrm is the main reason the world's messed up. By combating the Wyrm, the Garou hope to save the world. It ''seems'' like the easiest, most-obvious part of the Litany to follow in theory, but in practice it's a suicide run, which is why the Garou have been losing ground for millennia. How to do this is as varied an answer as their are people to ask that question.  The fun way, of course, is to find some corrupt baddies and kick the tar our of them.  However Glass Walkers are known to hack into systems and expose a person or companies dirty little secrets, and others try to teach humans how to better care of the world around them etc.

* '''Respect the Territory of Another.''' Before entering another Garou's territory, one should announce themselves first by howling their name, totem, tribe and home Sept (and sometimes lineage as well), though howling this in Central Park may not be the best idea. In turn a Garou is required to mark their territory with scratchings or scent. In modern times younger Garou argue that it'd be better to run territory communally, but many elders won't have any of it.  The more technologically-minded Garou (mainly Glass Walkers) have opted to use email, texting and phone calls to keep in contact and announce when entering another's territory. So yes, this can mean that Garou use WhatsApp. And, of course, tribes in the midst of conflicts with one another often scrape right up to the edges of this one, with notable flagrant violations being the destruction of the Bunyip, the devastation of one of North America's native tribes, and the Roman Garou fighting a civil war with the White Howlers. All three acts had horrific long-term consequences.

* '''Accept an Honorable Surrender.''' Werewolves frequently settle their differences with duels. These last until one party either dies or submits. When done so in a physical duel this is done by exposing the throat. If a warrior accepts such a surrender he gains honor for his mercy, and the loser suffers no loss. Some Garou however have a reputation to go for the throat the moment it's exposed, so some care is advised when doing this. The same goes for non-violent conflicts. And, of course, some of the more "Rah rah warrior spirit!" tribes have ''very'' narrow definitions of an "honorable" surrender.

* '''Submission to Those of Higher Station.''' Werewolves have a strict hierarchy in their society. All are expected to know their place within the sept and follow those of higher rank to a reasonable degree. Some Garou however exploit this and make unreasonable demands or act like petty tyrants just because they've got blue blood and/or grey hairs (or the Garou equivalents). Tribes like the Shadow Lords and Silver Fangs enforce this law with an iron fist, while the Bone Gnawers, Children of Gaia and Silent Striders would rather earn respect than demand it. In the middle are most of the other tribes, which struggle with the usual human organizational problems of a stagnant top full of grumpy traditionalists often failing to listen to and/or rein in the vibrant-but-inexperienced new blood in the base.

* '''The First Share of the Kill for the Greatest in Station.''' In short, the boss gets the first pick of the loot, whether it be powerful fetishes, valuable goods, or the first cut of the meat. This tends to be mostly followed, but a wise leader will know better than to hoard all the good stuff. And, of course, it interacts weirdly with some of the other rules further down.

* '''Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans.''' Despite evidence that Gaia did not intend the Garou to cruelly dominate humanity, this law rose from practical issues rather than moral constraints. Eating humans would only draw attention from them, would make Garou complacent and not hunt the Wyrm-spirits they should and makes them more susceptible to corruption by the Wyrm. Oh, and because of the preservatives in our food our flesh has become unwholesome over the last few decades. Go Pentex! The Red Talons have a particular grudge with this one and violate it at every opportunity.

* '''Respect Those Beneath Ye — All Are of Gaia.''' Aka the hippie law. Don't be a dick to other people, protect the weak, be good to your equals etc etc etc. Lupus tend to have an easier time with this law because wolves aren't complete jackasses to each other like humans. Of course, well, every tribe's got it's list of people who "don't count."

* '''The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted.''' [[Vampires]] [[Vampire: The Masquerade|have their Masquerade]], [[Mage: The Ascension|Mages have their Consensus]] and Garou have the Veil. Showing themselves to humans in their Crinos form will cause Delirium to kick in, causing fear and panic among the humans.  This helps to protect the Garou and is part of the Veil but it does not work on everyone the same way.  Most affected by the Delirium will come to think that a bear attack or something, anything, other than the truth.  Humans with a very high willpower score or a very low intelligence score often fight back or remember what happened.. thus the myth of Werewolves.  This also includes doing anything that would give away their existence such as leaving evidence, going on talk shows, getting caught by cameras etc. This would only aid the Wyrm or even cause the humans to try and hunt the Garou. They brought this one on themselves, really, with the whole War of Rage/Impergium thing. Interestingly, the Black Spiral Dancers, Wyrm corrupted werewolves, follow this as well because it would make their lives harder as well... but their methods of protect it differ vastly.

* '''Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness.''' In the old days, a Garou that could no longer function due to age, injury or wounds would be killed so that they would not burden the sept. Nowadays an aged Garou is allowed to choose their own death, sometimes having them set out on one last journey and vanishing forever. Others return to human or wolf society and dying amongst their kin. The Children of Gaia despise this law and will care for their infirm until their deaths, no matter how long it lasts or how many resources it diverts. There's also the unsavory whiff of realpolitik and authorial views around this one: one of the books notoriously features a pro-eugenics tract about the "degradation of the human stock" thanks to modern medicine that really doesn't pass the smell test.  Usefulness is another one of those things open for interpretation, often you can find an elder that may not be in the fight anymore but will still serve as a teacher, healer or spiritual leader, etc.

* '''The Leader May Be Challenged at Any Time During Peace.''' Packs are only as strong as their alphas. If one believes that they could run the pack better than the current alpha and there is no immediate threat to the pack a challenge can be issued. Sometimes alphas are too strong for any one Garou to beat, and as such will challenge them one by one until the old alpha is beaten. Some more tyrannical alphas declare a constant state of war so they can lord over their pack as they see fit, which, unfortunately, is all too easy given the whole "Wyrm preparing to destroy the planet" thing. It doesn't ''always'' have to be a physical contest, although this is highly variable with the tribe.

* '''The Leader May Not Be Challenged During Wartime.''' In battle the alpha's word is law. Breaking this law will have a Garou punished severely by pack or even sept. If a werewolf can prove however they were compelled to do so by magic, corruption, possession or that the alpha was extremely inept they can avoid punishment, but one who goes against the word of their alpha will never receive honor for it. (They may however gain Glory or Wisdom... a bad decision can cost a leader the same) See previous rules.

* '''Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated.''' Caerns are sacred to the Garou, being the wellsprings of the lifeblood of Gaia. Losing one would forever cause part of the Earth to die and diminish the power of the Garou. All Garou are in agreement that the violation of a Caern is one of the gravest sins imaginable and doing so will be punished severely, even when it was done unintentionally. Notably, the violation of all of Australia's Caerns was a huge black mark on Garou history.