FAQ: Werewolf

The significance of the klaive duel derives from the rather unusual status that the weapon has in Garou society. The silver they are forged with brings both pain to the werewolf that carries the klaive and a degree of isolation from the spirit world that is so intrinsic to Garou nature. They are bound with mighty war spirits and the Garou place great importance on their heritage and history, featuring in many legends.

The Silver Fang’s legends are littered with tales of great and noble werewolves of the past who took up a klaive and with it a burden of responsibility. As the werewolf grasps his weapon, the burning of the silver tells his followers that he is willing to undergo even greater pains than they suffer for the sake of them all. Some tales suggest that their willingness to assume this burden is what earned the tribe the honorific “silver” in its name, something the Garou Nation does not bestow easily, as the names and roles of the Silver Record and Silver Pack show.

Such legends make it clear that the klaive is a symbolic object, reflecting the suffering and burden of leadership and the sacrifices it brings. The Garou instinctively recognize and respect what a werewolf is taking upon herself when she takes up a klaive and calls it her own. If she can bear it with honor, courage and wisdom, and lead others with an equal show of these attributes, she will find many flocking to her banner.

The knowledge of klaive-forging is jealously guarded and passed only from master craftsman to trusted apprentice over a period of decades. Almost without exception, these craftsmen are Kinfolk, as the risk of silver-smithing to a full-blooded werewolf is just too great. And yet, the Garou are understandably nervous about too many of their Kin knowing the secret of creating a weapon so deadly to the werewolves themselves.

When a smith starts work on a new blade, he summons one of the caern’s Theurges to his side. Remarkably, the Theurge usually obeys; such is the respect that klaive smiths demand for their skill. As the smith works, the Theurge gently coaxes the spirit of the metal into awareness, a process that hardens the blade to a strength superior to that of steel. Only a small percentage of blades emerge from the fires with both the ability to house multiple spirits and a fully aware and powerful silver-spirit. The few that do are passed to the caern’s Theurges who labor for days and nights to bind war-spirits into the blade. This is an immensely demanding and draining process; war-spirits are aggressive, argumentative and difficult to persuade, and it may take days before one agrees to enter the blade. Some klaives might carry several such spirits!

Once the klaive is finished, the spirits within Slumber until they recharge all of the fetish’s Gnosis. Only then is the weapon ready for the battlefield.

The terms of the duel are agreed upon by the two participants and the Master of the Challenge prior to the duel itself. One rule that is common to every duel is that a werewolf who frenzies is automatically declared the loser. Ceremonial Klaive duels are tests of the Garou’s skill, control, and cunning, not contests of mindless, brutal strength. There is no common standard on use of Gifts in a duel. Some werewolves hold that duels should be purely tests of martial skill, while others argue that duels are tests of a Garou’s whole prowess and as such all their talents should be brought to bear in the struggle.

Duels are normally fought to first strike, first blood, incapacity or death: First strike duels are rare, simply because few Garou consider it a sufficiently telling defeat, especially in matters serious enough to demand a klaive duel. Most Masters of the Challenge prefer a first blood duel, as it allows the winning werewolf an obvious victory yet keeps the loser fit enough (ideally) to fight and continue her duties to sept, tribe and Gaia. A werewolf who loses a fight to incapacity is likely to be out of action for much longer. Of course, some Garou are willing to settle for nothing less than the complete defeat of their enemy – or even death.

Most formal duels are fought in a circular arena about 15 meters in diameter. Half a dozen Ahroun, if available, are stationed equidistantly around the edge of the field, called a klaivaskeriste, ready to subdue one of the participants should he frenzy, thus costing himself the duel. They are also charged with preventing any interference in the duel from other parties. The caern’s Master of the Challenge usually stays within the circle adjudging the fairness of the duel, and watching for the first blood or strike, if that is the condition of the duel.

When the combatants arrive, they stand facing one another within the circle, about six or seven yards apart. Each states their full name and any honorifics they have earned as well as their version of the events that lead to the duel. The challenger always speaks first. Once both have stated their cases, the duel begins when the Master of the Challenge speaks the Garou word for “begin”: agrarek. Once the duel has started, nothing less than a full-scale invasion of the caern will stop it.