Darkness in San Diego

This account will be added to as needed. Not every detail is put in here, but major points and contributors are touched on and mentioned.

The caern was originally a Croatan (lost Pure Tribe) caern that was dormant. It was Wisdom-of-the-Earth's Elder challenge to find and revive an ancient caern. She took her pack, Howls of the Past, and her their allies with her. There were a total of five packs that went in search of this caern to revive it. During the process, three of the five packs were wiped out completely, and their closest allied pack, Gaia's Strength, lost most of their numbers. But they did succeed and they honored their fallen. They reported back to their home sept, Sept of the Western Eye in San Francisco, and Wisdom passed her challenge. They were then allowed to return and claim the sept for their own. Wisdom became the sept alpha, and the alpha of the other pack, Delivers the Mercy of Death, Athro homid Child of Gaia Ahroun, became her beta. The rest of their pack's members filled other sept positions and they named it Sept of the Howling Winds. It was meant to be a place of welcoming to all who wander, they would turn no one away.

The sept grew and thrived in their purpose, and attracted those from all walks of life. One of those Garou was a cliath homid Uktena Galliard, Jesse Steele, Man With a Thousand Faces. He would go on to be instrumental in changing not only the sept, but the Nation itself. He fell in love with the den mother, Alyssa Gonzalez, Dazzles the Young, Athro homid Children of Gaia Galliard, and the two of them decided to defy the first law of the Litany by creating a child they really wanted to have. They had no idea they were part of a prophecy that would forever change the Nation and the way metis are born, until after they conceived their child. The result was Garou becoming empowered to profess their love for other Garou, and it spread across the Nation like wildfire. The High King, Jonas Albrecht, couldn't ignore what was happening and he sent people to investigate. The result was a change in the Litany, and, at the same moot it was changed and Jesse was punished for sedition, Dazzles went into labor and had the baby. She was born in homid, the breed of her mother, and has no known deformity. Every metis born after her, was born the same way. Some believe that a curse that was upon metis had been broken, but the acts of these two Garou changed the Nation.

That isn't all that this caern has accomplished. They have also been working hard to improve relations between Garou and other shifters. A caern that was corrupted by the Wyrm was cleansed and given to Elder Bubasti, Kasiya Zaher, Snake in the Grass, to be the alpha of. He named the sept The Court of New Accord, and allows any shifter to reside there, and certain tribes of Garou. These are Uktena, Bone Gnawers, Glass Walkers, and Black Spiral Dancers. Sept members have taken this a step further and have also been working to build bridges between other amicable supernaturals, such as Changelings. This has gone well and may extend to others in the future.

The High King was also given a proposal that young Garou not be forced to choose a tribe during their Rite of Passage. Nothing in the rite says that a tribal totem needs to accept you, and your rank is attained through your auspice, not your tribe. It was passed, and now, there is a difference between Ronin (those who have been stripped of tribe and have wronged the Nation) and those who choose to remain tribeless. These tribeless Garou in good standing will be able to attain rank and have the same respect afforded to them as a Garou with a tribe. There is also a new tribe being formed, calling themselves The Wardens of the Lost, and their goal is to help Garou who are lost find their way. A rite has been created, called the Rite of Severance, that allows a Garou to sever ties with their current tribal totem amicably and retain their rank and renown. It would be up to the new tribal totem (should they choose to join a new tribe) whether or not they would be accepted into the tribe. The Warden will accept those from other tribes with their ranks and renown intact. The catch is that they do lose their previous tribe's gifts and cannot learn that tribe's secrets again.

Now, the sept has just been taken over by an Elder homid Shadow Lord Galliard, Isidora Gomez, deeded Stares Down the Devil. She named Athro Fianna Theurge, Sullivan Black deeded Poison's Embrace, and Hand of Aesir as her betas. Delivers the Mercy of Death has left the sept, and it is unknown if he will return. Stares Down the Devil will make sure the Sept of the Howling Winds remains a safe haven for all those who wander through, and a home for those who choose to stay. She, along with the help of every Theurge Fostern and above on the sept, raised the caern's power level and dismissed Glooscap as the totem and petitioned Wyvern to serve as the caern's totem. Wyvern now serves as the sept totem, and the caern type changed to Respect, even though Wyvern is a war totem, he commands great respect.

After a little while, the alpha was talked into one more shakeup of leadership and changing the caern's totem once again. She brought in Emile Rose, Dances With Freya's Grace, Homid Elder Get of Fenris Galliard, as alpha, she and Sullivan Black serve as betas. The sept totem was changed again to Fog, and Wyvern stays on as a Guardian of the caern. That hasn't been the only other shakeup, however, as more changes in the Nation have been happening as well.

The High King has stepped down as the ruling body of the Nation and a Grand Elder Council has been formed. Elders from each tribe have been invited to come claim a seat at the table (the council members are detailed in another section). Legendary Garou, Soul of Mountains, tasked two members of the sept with convincing a Black Spiral Dancer Elder to claim a seat at the table, giving them a voice as well. Those two members were Alyssa (now) Monroe, Walks Into the Light (formerly Dazzles the Young), and Grima Petrova, deeded Breath of Phoenix, who was a cub at the time. They were successful in retrieving an Elder Spiral, Alistair Camaran, to take the seat at the table. Allowing Spirals to come on sept caused a bit of a stir, and, in an effort to keep peace, Izzy. who was still alpha at the time, decided that they would be allowed to be there, but not live there. Merely allowing them on sept made some people uneasy and outright angry, and her decision is now being scrutinized, as she did not allow the other Garou to have a voice in what they wanted on their sept.

In another turn of events, a Garou known as Forges Peace, Adren Homid Get of Fenris Ahroun, convinced Camaran that joining his tribe with the Wardens of the Lost and allowing them to remain as a camp within that tribe was a good idea. This came as a shock to many, and, the Grand Elder of the Wardens, Hand of Aesir, approved the idea and brought it to the Warden himself. He gave Camaran a task. If he can cleanse a pit and rededicate it in his name, making it the first Wardens of the Lost caern, and serve as it's alpha, he would take in their tribe. As word of this spreads, the Nations reactions are mixed and it is certain that many Spirals will oppose this. As a result, the Sept of the Howling Winds is receiving threats from other septs and will come under attack.

Stay tuned for more to see how this story continues to unfold!