Celestine
Celestine is a term used by the Fera and some Mages to describe the greatest Spirits; the closest things the Garou have to gods. Most important among these are Luna and Helios.
Overview[edit | edit source]
The Celestines are celestial spirits in the mythology of the Fera. Within the celestial hierarchy, they are just under Gaia and the Triat. Their power is equal to the ancient gods. They rule from the Shard Realms and are often worshiped by both the Garou and humans.
A Celestine’s true form is unimaginable. They are both sentient and highly intelligent. Communication and communion between Celestines and lesser beings are only possible through avatars. These avatars are aspects of themselves in guises lesser beings can understand. To create one, the Celestine merely wills itself to appear in a limited form; each Celestine is capable of maintaining multiple avatars at once. Each avatar contains a mere shard of the Celestine’s true power, although it still makes them among the most powerful beings in the spirit world.
As the name implies, Celestines dwell in the heavens. For every planet in our solar system, for every massive astronomical phenomenon, there is a spiritual presence that dwells in the spirit world, both as a manifestation in the Aetherial Realm and in the cold, inimical, and uncaring madness of the Deep Umbra. Most Celestines dwell in realms of their own creation, in which they possess limited, localized omniscience and omnipresence.
Helios and Luna are literally the sun and moon and if slain those heavenly bodies would cease to be. Apart from this pair, however, there are other different Celestines; some are avatars of a member of the Triat, while others are ancient spirits that humanity used to worship as gods, giving rise to many ancient beliefs such as Greek mythology.
Luna[edit | edit source]
Luna, also known as the Lambent Lady and Seline, is the spiritual embodiment of Earth's Moon. Notably, she is also one of the great spiritual patrons, the female alpha.
Luna herself embodies the Moon. To destroy Luna the Celestine in the Umbra would destroy the moon itself. Luna's Umbral home is in the Aetherial Realm, which may or may not blend into a Penumbral reflection of outer space. Journeying to the Umbral moon is a most serious quest in Werewolf society, but one often necessary to take. It is only from Luna that one can acquire Moonsilver and Pathstones.
Luna's character is mercurial, changing with each phase of the Moon; she generally reflects the traits of each of the Auspices of the Garou when in the appropriate phase. During the New Moon, she is a playful trickster and fond of riddles. During the crescent moon, she is a mysterious prophet. During the half moon, she is judge and counselor, a giver of sage advice. During the gibbous moon, she is a storyteller and particularly fond of song. During the full moon, she is at her most warlike. She has no set appearance, differing greatly depending upon which avatar she is appearing through. She is strongly associated with insanity.
Avatars and Servants[edit | edit source]
Luna herself is, as a Celestine, far too powerful to appear before such beings as the Garou. Instead, she appears through avatars, facets of her greater self through which she can appear. Of course, no one avatar can exactly represent Luna in all her glory. One of the most prominent of her faces is Sokhta, or Phoebe, generally considered to be a more accurate representation of Luna than some other Incarnae. Moira is another such avatar, appearing as an old woman, associated with fate and destiny.
Luna also has a variety of spirit servants to carry out her will throughout the Tellurian. The most common spirit servant of Luna is the Lune, a Jaggling spirit that waxes and wanes in power along with the lunar phases. They are capable of opening Moon bridges, and are generally well-disposed to the Garou. There are also Moonshadows, shadowy counterparts to the Lunes that can act as Anamae to beings that enter into pacts with them. Others include Blood Warriors, Great Green Cheese-spirits, the Harvester, Selene, Tythus, Falling Stars, and Strangelings.
Patronage[edit | edit source]
Luna is of deep importance to the Garou. Creation myths differ, but many cite Luna as the most direct creator of the Garou, although others say Gaia created them and Luna took over as a guide and patron. It is her ever-shifting face that determines the Auspice of a werewolf when it is born. She is also tied into their Rage; Luna is one of three beings generally listed as giving the Garou this potent spiritual weapon (along with Gaia and the Wyrm). The first sight of the moon each night replenishes a werewolf's Rage, and the phase also affects the likelihood that they will frenzy, with the greatest possibility during the full moon.
Moon bridges are one of the most significant forms of travel through the Umbra, many of them occurring between two caerns. To establish a moon bridge, each of the two caerns must have a pathstone (obtained only from Luna herself) and have performed the proper rites. They travel in large arcs through the Umbra, the top of which reaches into the Aetherial Realm itself. Moon paths are a related form of travel (most accurately, moon bridges are a specialized and more reliable form of moon path) that appear more randomly through the Umbra. Both are easiest to travel during the full moon, and incredibly difficult to cross during the new moon.
Many common gifts are taught to the Garou by Luna's spirit servants, and many of their most potent gifts can only be taught by an avatar of Luna herself. She might also be tied into their shapeshifting ability (refer to Losing the wolf). In exchange for the strengths she offers the Garou, Luna exacts a price - the werewolf's weakness to silver. This is in keeping with the Umbra of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, in which nothing is gained without something given in return, where every act is repaid in kind.
Luna acts as patron to some of the Fera as well, including the Bastet. The Bastet are not as closely tied to Luna as the Garou, and as such do not receive auspices, though they are still weak against the lunar metal. She also acts as patron to the Gurahl, Mokolé (along with Helios), Ratkin, Ajaba, and Rokea. Those last three seem to have a relatively weak connection compared to the others, but still enough to make them suffer from a weakness to silver. None of the extant Fera have such a close tie to Luna as do the Garou, that much is certain. The Mokolé remember that the Camazotz were closer to her, however. She was also a patron to the Grondr and Apis.
Helios[edit | edit source]
Helios is the embodiment of Earth's Sun. In contrast to his sister Luna, he gives his blessing only to a few selected Fera.
Helios is in most cases affiliated with aerial spirits, such as the Corax, who claim his favor, or Falcon, the tribal totem of the Silver Fangs. However, he withheld his favor to the Garou after the massacres of the War of Rage and only teaches few gifts to them - apparently, the Uktena and Wendigo hold a better standard before Helios compared to other Garou, and some sources claim the same for the Children of Gaia as well. Helios was also worshipped by the early Mokolé during the Age of Kings. He has not withdrawn his favor to them, and to this day, the weredragons honor him. Those patronized by Helios - the Corax and Mokolé - are vulnerable to gold, just as those patronized by Luna are vulnerable to silver.
The area of the Deep Umbra that houses Helios is nothing but heat and brilliant white light. Bridges made up of reddish light similar to solar flares lead across deep chasms filled with superheated atomized elements. Fire elemental Incarnae dwell here, bright and cheerful, yet charged to defend the realm against intruders. They will attack any werewolves who enter the realm, though they welcome the Corax and others who worship Helios. Any surface within Helios’s realm is too hot to stand or remain near for too long. Only flying spirits enter this area of the Deep Umbra, and travelers without the ability to fly burn up in the fire before they have a chance to realize their mistake.
There is a legend going around the Garou regarding an insane Shadow Lord known as the Nightmaster, who strides with impunity across the Abyss, destroying what he finds or recruiting it into his growing army. He is empowered by the Abyss but unable to depart. Some Garou worry that he found the secret he desired and now waits for the Apocalypse to slay and consume Helios.
