The Umbra is known by many names. The Velvet Shadow, the spirit world, the ephemeral realm, the “shadow” of creation. Whatever its name, the Umbra is a world that is beyond the world we know, and defies even the most basic of natural physical laws. That being said, the amount of information dealing with the Umbra itself cannot be encompassed with in this article. The physical plane is a place of static laws, where science rules with an iron fist, yet the Umbra exists simultaneously atop it, in it and through out it, but at the same time, remains apart from it.. Reflecting the very being of the physical world and influencing it ways that no mere mortals can comprehend. It is a world of dreams, mysticism, and magic.
There was a time when the World of Matter, and the World of Spirit were as one. The powers of mysticism and magic were evident everywhere. However this perfect balance was broken when the Weaver raised the Gauntlet. From one world now sprung two, the Earth and the Umbra. Over time these two slowly drifted farther and farther from each other, all the while creating smaller realms. Realms birthed from the minds of the Garou and the dreams of mankind --- as well as their nightmares. In the farthest reaches of the Umbra, Garou can see the world as it was, how it is, how it can be, and how it never was. It is truly a place were the only limit is the imagination. And whiles the Weaver and the Wyrm continue to wreck the influence on the Umbra, the Garou continue to forever quest to its farthest limits. Seeking out secrets to questions that plague them, searching for hidden lore, questing for long forgotten powerful relics, or fighting the Weaver and the Wyrm on their home turf. From the cub that takes his or her first steps in to the Penumbra to packs of elders seeking the distant shadows of other planets, the Umbra is a place for Garou to pursue great and epic quests. Along the way, heroes face the greatest horrors the mind can conceive.
Umbral Realms.
Whiles the Umbra can be separated into many different realms, sub-realms and smaller umbral pockets, to do so would be enough to drive anyone mad. Therefore there are different Umbral markers that most all Garou can recognize. The first of these are the umbral membranes. These act much like the Gauntlet does, separating each “layer” of the umbra from the other. These different layers of the umbra radiate from the physical realm.
'Soft Umbra' The wall of the Gauntlet isn't a hard structure as most Garou believe it to be. In fact it is rather porous in some parts. In these weakened sections, the spirit world may “bleed over” to the physical world. Most humans disregard the spirit world believing it does not really affect them. However the Spirit World doesn't offer the same courtesy Like a living day dream it touches and sometimes even inspires those who experience it. Yet it remains just out of reach to all but the most enlightened of human minds. Here feelings and emotions are lit with colorful hues and textures that normal reality doesn't give off. Lovers can appear to have a rosy color about them, a depressed person might have a cloudy, blueish aura around them or a rather violent man will appear with a flaming redness. Most people who have slipped into the shrug their experience off. However some artists and poets use the Periphery to gain a stronger spiritual link to their inner-selves, drawing from the strong creative energy, they produce raw expressions of the spirit world. Such expressions can have a strong effect on humanity, because they draw at humanity's subconscious. And whiles it is too weak to be a focus for Garou, Kinfolk can be easily touched by this “sub realm” of the umbra. Receiving messages, omens or even send impressions to Garou who are traveling the umbra.
'The Penumbra The Penumbra, or Shadow, is the Umbra that most any garou can recognize. When cubs talk about the Umbra, they are really talking about the Penumbra. And when it comes down to it, if you do not wish to explore the umbra any further, it is all that you need to know. The Penumbra is the closest approximation of the immediate spiritual reflection of the surrounding area. Here things are not so strange as they would be in the Far or Deep Umbra. Buildings cast their shadows, covered in pattern webs, with hundreds of pattern spiders running up and down their surfaces. A factory may glow sickly green from the toxic gases it produces. In turn places that waste products are buried maybe invisible to the eye in the physical world, but depending how long they have been there, they will start to show much quicker in the penumbra, as hoards of banes gather and feed of the suffering of the land. Places that are over grown and un-kept in the physical world may be a public eye sore to some, however in the penumbra, these places are marked by the forces of the Wyld, and are even more lush and green with life. The Penumbra also marks those whom travel to it. A Glass Walker who may be a bit untidy most of the time, will appear much cleaner and more organized. His hair slicked back, his clothes neatly pressed, his eyes even showing a steely sheen to them. A Fianna teenager may look more like a mystical lore keeper, his hair wild and brazen, Celtic knot work tattoos on his arms, and a passionate look in his eyes. The Penumbra shows things about a person that would other wise be hidden from the common looker.
The Near Umbra Not quite the Penumbra not quite the Membrane, this realm is the realm in between. Again here is were most people's understanding of the umbra breaks down. Whiles it isn't the direct shadow of the Earth, it contains not only the reflections of the physical plane, but the thirteen well known Near Realms. Theses near realms are orbiting Gaia, and are stronger than the surrounding Umbrascape. Each one is a world unto itself, with different fauna and flora, different rules and laws of physics. These places are places of highly concentrated spiritual energies, and according to legends, the Near Realms are not set places. Meaning that they have changed and evolved with the spirit world throughout the ages. Twelve of them are generally accepted by most Garou lore keepers, while the thirteenth, the Summer Country is seen most as a myth. Wishful thinking along with hopes and desires of young and old.
The Deep Umbra The strangest and most dangerous part of the Umbra, Aspects of the Umbra that are not of Gaia but are only found away from The Realm exist here. The farther one goes here, the more fragmented "reality" becomes.
