Ivory Claws

Ivory Claws
Name:	Ivory Claw
Plural:	Ivory Claws
First Tongue translation:	Tzuumfin
Nicknames:
Totem:	Hathis-Ur, the Silver Wolf
Renown:	Purity
Favoured Prey:	Those, who disrespect their lineage (the Forsaken in specific)

The Ivory Claws are one of the three Pure Tribes. They strive to become the purest among the Pure by eradicating the mongrelized bastards that have bent knee before Luna.

They focus on Gifts of Agony, Scourging, Warding and Dominance.

Culture

The Ivory Claws practice a culture of territorial xenophobia; they not only mistrust enemies and strangers but at times even their own allies. Despite this, most Ivory Claws typically overlook matters of human ethnicity. They know that their bloodline has spread far across the world and all those who are found to be Pure have a place in their Tribe.

Initaition rites often involve displays of dominance, fire, pure water and ritualistic tortures through silver in an homage to the suffering of their Totem. The tribe's lawgivers often proclaim laws of diet, behavior and clothing to the tribe, claiming that they are given to them by Silver Wolf to test the self-control of his children. Unlike the other Pure Tribes, the Ivory Claws accept no converts from the Tribes of the Moon; even their Wolf-blooded descendants are held under great scrutiny. The Ivory Claws are also the Pure tribe that are the most involved in hunting turncoats to the three Tribes, often assassinating the defector quietly and without ado.

The Tribal Oath is not one singular vow, but many guidelines that are given to them directly by Silver Wolf. The most important of them is “Call no whelp of lesser blood your brother or sister”. Others include a ban against consuming seeds, honoring Luna in any way, wearing plant fibers, allowing the living and the (un)dead to intermingle and creating abstract works of art.

Totem

The Tzuumfin follow Hathis-Ur, the proudest and most pained child of Father Wolf. The Forsaken tell a story called “The Howl of Silver Wolf’s Failure”, in which Hathis-Ur challenged Urfahrah alone, certain that he could defeat him. But Father Wolf defeated and wounded him. Silver Wolf was therefore absent when the other Firstborn killed the Great Wolf. His fury against the Forsaken is that they managed what he could not. As a result, he seeks to kill them all.

The Ivory Claws tell a very different story, in which Silver Wolf was in love with Luna. Love turned to violent hatred when she commanded her children to slay Urfahrah. Enraged, Hathis-Ur lunged for the Moon, slaying dozens of Lunes. He was eventually defeated and thrown back to the Earth. Luna cursed him by turning his coat of fur into pure silver, causing him eternal agony. Only in the vicinity of those Uratha that had not turned against Father Wolf (and by the scent of spilled blood from those traitors) was Hathis-Ur able to find a small measure of solace. In return for the service of the Ivory Claws, Silver Wolf endures the pain of his silver coat.

Territory

Of all the Pure, the Ivory Claws are the most comfortable in urban regions. They are the most likely to take on “ordinary” human jobs and try to live as part of human society. In the attempt to keep impure creatures outside their physical spheres of influence, Ivory Claws often mark their territories by forming barriers to the outside world.

Organization

The Ivory Claws pride themselves on elaborate pedigrees that prove their purity. Wolf-blooded from these families are greatly respected once they undergo the First Change. Power within the tribe passes through the blood, rather than by challenge or other nonsensical “tests of fitness” as seen in other tribes. To the Ivory Claws, the evidence that this is right and correct is obvious: If a given Ivory Claw is a strong leader, he survives to breed with humans who provide werewolf offspring. If one of those children becomes Uratha and survives to adulthood, then clearly she is strong enough to carry on her ancestor’s bloodline.

Lodges

• Blood of Kings
• Council of Eagles

References

• WTF: Lore of the Forsaken , p.48
• WTF: The Pure , p.67-85
• WTF: Werewolf: The Forsaken Second Edition , p.197