City of Shadows Mux City of Shadows Mux

The Tale of the Weapon-Hoarder

In the moments before his death, Urfarah gave their Firstborn Red Wolf a single command: "Mark well how things change." So Red Wolf stalked through Shadow and Flesh learning secrets of adaptation and survival in the strange new world he and his siblings helped to create. Yet no other beast changed so quickly or drastically as the human, nor did any other creature change the world around it so profoundly in turn.

Soft and slow as they were, humans inherited a talent for toolmaking from their hunched, hirsute forbears. Since long before the death of Father Wolf they knew the secrets of shaping stones and knapping flint to trade blows with the beasts that hunted them, as well as one another. Red Wolf knew of human weapons like the spear, adze, knife and harpoon, but these were no match for the claws and teeth of the mighty hunting beasts that preyed upon humanity still. Made from bone, wood, or flint, they crumbled away so quickly that none had the staying power of his Uratha childrens' natural weapons.

Until, that is, Red Wolf laid his eyes upon the very first bronze weapons, and he began to grow uncertain. The hardened metal crushed and sliced the bodies of his children like never before, and humanity threatened to cut past all of his expectations. Human kingdoms rose from obscurity, wielding bronze to carve their names into the memory of earth and heaven. Yet one rose above all in might, a human king called Weapon-Hoarder. He traversed the earth in might, seeking the deadliest weapons to add to his armory and distributing them to his most trusted champions. For himself Weapon-Hoarder kept a sword called Mankiller, forged of iron from a fallen star and infused with a portion of his very soul. With Mankiller in his hand, nothing of Flesh or Shadow could stand against him.

Weapon-Hoarder and his host did not build, for it was far too easy for them to simply take what they desired from all they came across. Where they passed the palaces of the mighty burned, and the tide of camp followers marching in their wake picked apart the homes of the common people until not a single grain or drop of clean water was left. Red Wolf rightly feared that such humans would grow too powerful for even the People to contain, destroying their own works and ruining their own lives until there would be precious little left of humanity to which the wolf might cleave.

So Red Wolf made his way to Weapon-Hoarder's camp, stealing in like a shade in the dead of night. He passed vigilant guards and sleeping concubines as a gentle breeze, and blew away the soul of Mankiller where it alighted upon the surface of Luna. When the Weapon-Hoarder woke, ten days had passed, and the tents of his host were abandoned. Only Red Wolf remained. Powerless, Weapon-Hoarder howled and begged for the return of his sword-soul, which Red Wolf promised to return when the world lay once again in balance. Weapon-Hoarder died shortly after, slain by his own raiders. But his desire for the prowess he once wielded gave rise to a spirit called the Coveter, who pacted with Red Wolf in hopes that his promise would one day come to fruition.

Many Iron Masters to this day make their covenant with the Coveter if they seek to unite their spirits with their chosen weapon. The Coveter teaches the ancient secret of melding weapon and spirit to his adherents, that they may go forth and hunt down the mightiest warriors humanity has to offer. The blade-wolves of the Lodge of Arms test more than their weapons against their foes, seeing their weapon as an extension of their spirits. Every duel is a very real contest of spirit against soul, with steel as their vehicle for enlightenment.