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Contents 1

By Brian Campbell and Rob Hatch

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Special ThanksBrian “Demonic Colonel Sanders” Glass, for getting

his bar stocked by the generous booze fairies.Steve “Method to my Madness” Wieck, for seeing

profitable opportunities where the rest of us saw screaming, ravening death.

Rich “That Would Be All of Us, Steve” Thomas, for not being afraid to admit to seeing screaming, ravening death instead of profitable opportunities.

Jess “Did You Know Everyone Hates You?” Heinig, for not dashing his computer against the floor every time he logs on to Usenet.

Fred “Pact With Satan” Yelk, for his damnable Wolf Blight record. You will fall!

Conrad “Goat for Azazel” Hubbard, for being the handy guy to blame every time something goes wrong with the forums.

Mike “Battle Pope” Chaney, for being, well, Battle Pope. Ave Heckler! Ave Koch!

And to the Editorial Posse, for adapting a firm “strength in numbers” policy. Still won’t get you a corner office, guys.

© 2001 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire, Vampire the Masquerade, Vampire the Dark Ages, Mage the Ascension, and World of Darkness are registered trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Werewolf the Apocalypse, Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning, Werewolf the Wild West, Mage the Sorcerers Crusade, Wraith the Great War, Umbra, Book of the Wyrm, Book of the Weaver, Rage Across the Heavens, Ghost Towns, Axis Mundi the Book of Spirits, Hengeyokai Shapeshifters of the East, Black Furies Tribebook and Book of Worlds are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.

The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

For a free White Wolf catalog call 1-800-454-WOLF.Check out White Wolf online athttp://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storyteller

CreditsAuthors: Brian Campbell and Rob HatchDeveloper: Ethan SkempEditor: Aileen E. MilesArt Director: Aileen E. MilesArt: Ron Brown, Richard Kane Ferguson, Jeff Holt, Ron SpencerCover Art: Rebecca GuayCover Design, Layout & Typesetting: Aileen E. Miles

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Contents 3

Contents

Introduction: The Velvet Shadow 4

Chapter One: Cosmology 8The basic underpinnings of the Umbra and how shapeshifters interact with it

Chapter Two: The Realms 34The Near Realms and sub-realms of the Near Umbra

Chapter Three: Spirits 96Advice on handling spirits and new spirit allies and enemies

Chapter Four: Storytelling in the Umbra 124How to tell the perfect Umbral story

Appendix 132Samp

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Introduction: The Velvet

Shadow

Callie Heart-Like-a-Fist had hated the smell of the clinic from the moment she’d walked in the door. The lights were too artificial, the angles too sharp, the surfaces too smooth — but worst of all was the smell, an antiseptic stink like ammonia gone sour. As a place of healing, it left much to be desired.

Now she stood on the clinic’s roof under a half moon, staring down through the spotlight into the main lobby. Even outside, it smelled wrong to her. God, she thought, no wonder teenage girls are afraid to come here. How the hell are they supposed to think the people here care about them as human beings when the place doesn’t look like humans are allowed inside? She shook her head. Well, Anya may be reaching the staff one step at a time, but she doesn’t have that kind of time. She needs help.

Callie took a deep breath, then shoved herself sideways, into the Gauntlet. It was like pulling herself through half-frozen water — it dragged at her, pressing down on her from all sides — but the sensation didn’t last long, and then she was through.

The half moon overhead seemed a bit dimmer; the haze of the night sky was all the more telling. A tiny speck of red caught at the corner of her eye, but she forced herself

not to look at it. Instead, she stared down at the layers of webbing under her feet, webs like gleaming cables, each one laid in perfect symmetry to the rest.

Like I figured, she thought, watching an errant glass-and-metal spider scurry along the webs. Anya’s not going to get anything done at this rate — the webs are too thick here. It’d take a crowbar to force any life, any new ideas into the people living here.

She drew in a breath, feeling the breath coalesce into bone and muscle, her clothes tightening, her already over-long arms lengthening further. I start pulling those webs apart, she grumbled to herself, and there’s no telling what happens. Maybe I make the place unstable. Maybe the walls come crashing down. She cracked her knuckles. But it’s not like I have time to try anything else.

She reached out, plucked one of the smaller spider-spirits from the web, and crushed it in her oversized fist. It was dissolving into a pixel-like mist even as she began opening her fingers again. With a sigh, she knelt down and took a long, strong cable-strand in either hand, bracing herself against the webbing rooftop.

As above — so below.She pulled.

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The Spirit WorldVirtually every culture has its stories of journeys

into the spirit world, of figures that dare to walk beyond the world as we know it. From the stories of people descending into the underworld to retrieve dead lovers to the tales of heroes who travel into the heavens to steal fire for their people, these legends are part of the human yearning for something more.

In the World of Darkness, the human connection with that “something more” has been lost. It’s a rare per-son who’s able to sense that there is something beyond the world of flesh and soil. Many humans — possibly most — don’t have much faith at all in a greater realm of existence, and live their lives accordingly. But the werewolves know.

In some old legends, wolves were described as “mes-sengers from the spirit world.” That much is true. Just as the old European legends of wolves that thirst for the blood of humans have their basis in gruesome fact, the tales of animals that walk between this world and the next also have some root in truth. This ability is a great privilege for the Garou and more than that — it’s an awesome responsibility. A werewolf must keep the health of both spirit and physical worlds in mind, because what ails one ails the other. And as the world spirals toward the final days of the Apocalypse, the spirit world has continued to worsen.

This is the plight of the Umbra.

Warriors of Both WorldsThe Umbra should be at the heart of every Werewolf

chronicle. Yes, the Garou are the warriors of Gaia, and conflict (usually bloody) is what drives a game of savage horror — but the Umbra epitomizes why the Garou fight, and how they learn to be better warriors. Not every session should involve a spirit quest, and not every plotline should revolve around a threat from the Umbra — but in the World of Darkness, werewolves are one of the few creatures who still perceive the spirit world. Nobody else is as intimately tied to the Umbra; nobody else knows better the vital blessings — or ob-scene horrors — that can pour from the other side of the Gauntlet if they’re summoned properly.

The spirit world adds an entire layer of possibilities to the Werewolf universe — and to your game. The brutal conflict key to the savage horror genre and the webs of politicking that come with any game focused on social interaction and society are certainly enough material to fuel sessions. But the Umbra adds something more — in fact, it holds so many more possibilities, it’s hard to define as a single layer at all. The Umbra is a source of more foes, true — foes that can be fought tooth and nail, or that have to be fought by trying to win the hearts of humanity. It’s also a change of backdrop for a story, or a source for more

personalities to interact socially and politically with the characters. It holds the objects of many quests, and the tools for deeply introspective, character-based stories. The Umbra can be anything — anything — for your chronicle. It just depends on what you want to get out of it.

And it’s not even as if the Umbra’s added story ele-ments replace the physical concerns of the Garou — far from it. No story should be “either-or,” either Umbral or not. If the pack goes off on a quest into the Umbra, leaving their loved ones behind, they may encounter realms or challenges along the way that mirror their earthly desires (or threaten their mortal relatives). If a pack is fighting a decidedly earthly foe, they’ll probably rely on their spirit allies or Umbral travel abilities at some point along their hunt. Werewolves are creatures of both worlds — the one’s just as vital as the other. The physical world you already know about; it’s a darker version of the one outside your window. The spirit world — well, that’s bigger. A little extra guidance is always helpful, right?

Hence, this book.

How to Use This BookUmbra isn’t a book of adventures, nor is it the

definitive guide to every portion of the spirit landscape. Instead, this book is a resource dedicated to helping the Storyteller adjudicate the obstacles and rewards of quests into the spirit world. Inside are all the building blocks necessary to start running packs through the Gauntlet and into the greater portion of reality.

If you’re a new Storyteller who’s looking for some advice on handling stories that deal with the spirit world, congratu-lations and welcome aboard; it’s our hope that you’ll find plenty here to inspire your stories for years to come. If you’re a long-time Storyteller who already owns a copy of Umbra: The Velvet Shadow, hopefully you’ll find some things worthwhile in this volume, too; things have changed in the spirit world, and not always for the better.

• Chapter One: Cosmology covers the general setup of the Umbra, from the relations and connec-tions between the Near, Dark and Deep Umbrae to the logistics of maneuvering throughout the Penumbra.

• Chapter Two: The Realms details the fourteen most prominent Near Realms, their laws and layout, as well as touching on some of the more frequented Zones and sub-realms. Each Near Realm is described in terms of geography and “laws of the realm,” although these shouldn’t be seen as absolutes; the Umbra isn’t a static place (no thanks to the Weaver’s efforts), and any amount of customization is not only possible, but encouraged.

• Chapter Three: Spirits expands on the spirit material presented in the main rulebook, from relations with the spirit world to a number of new spirits to act as allies and enemies. In particular, a spirit from each

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Introduction: The Velvet Shadow 7

of the tribal totems’ broods is offered, so that the Sto-ryteller can offer spirit allies for characters of any tribe.

• Chapter Four: Storytelling in the Umbra contains advice for the Storyteller on running Umbral stories, particularly when it comes to presenting the Umbra as something special.

• Finally, the Appendix collects virtually all the hard-and-fast rules bits from throughout the book, from new Gifts and fetishes designed for making Umbral travel easier to notable personages that packs might encounter while walking in the spirit world.

As vast as the Umbra is, it’s probably no surprise that there are several supplements available that go further than the scope of this book. Rage Across the Heavens details the Aetherial Realm with great fervor; with tons of story seeds and information on each of the Planetary Incarnae, it’s well worth a look. Book of the Weaver is particularly useful when dealing with the Weaver’s webs; Book of the Wyrm contains numer-ous Bane threats and a more detailed description of Malfeas. The out-of-print (but still handy) Werewolf: The Wild West supplement Ghost Towns is a good source of information on the Dark Umbra, particularly in crossing over Werewolf materials with Wraith: The Oblivion materials. (Speaking of which, Wraith is of course the ultimate source of ideas for the Dark

Umbra; the recent fall of the Stygian Empire is detailed in Ends of Empire, for those interested.) Axis Mundi: The Book of Spirits is likewise out of print, but full of interesting spirits that require only a little tinkering to fit into Revised rules. Book of Worlds, while heavily rooted in Mage cosmology (expect contradictions with the way things work in Werewolf), may provide some ideas for stories that range significantly farther afield.

Of course, everything we provide is rooted in another source as well — human myth. Browsing through the mythology section of your bookstore or library should give you ideas aplenty for journeys into the Underworld or spirit realm, from anthologies of Native American myths to Joseph Campbell’s works on the Hero’s Journey. Even works of fiction like Dante’s Inferno are applicable — the Inferno isn’t just about a descent into hell, it’s a satire on the Italian society of the time. Such escapades in symbolism are hard to beat.

Is this a lot of material to digest? It sure is. But we’re talking about the Umbra here. You could gather your group to play every week for years and still only scratch the surface of everything the spirit world has to offer. If you’re interested in doing other reading, it’s probably worth your while; if not, the Umbra’s certainly big and wild enough that you can devise whatever you like off the top of your head. The sky isn’t even the limit any more.

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