Type: Stealth (Wisdom)

Level: 3

Totem: Fog

Area: Approx. 675 acres

 Introduction

 The Caern of the Glass Hand is hidden in a cove nestled between the feet of two ridges, underneath Skyfire Bald.  It is a forgotten place, overlooked by generations of loggers and settlers, frequently unmarked even on topographic maps.  It is a place where the Mountain Smoke never dies; even in the noonday heat the mist never burns away, instead skulking in the trees until sunset.

In the half-flooded valley of the Tuckasegee River lies the tiny town optimistically named Bryson City .  Running to the northwest is Fontana Road , climbing steadily up the wall of the valley until it becomes Lakeview Road and finally North Shore Road .  Forests of hardwood and evergreen blanket the ancient mountains.  Here and there weathering or road building has left stone faces like wounds on the hills; some have been dressed by bandages of kudzu.

Near the end of the passable road are several houses owned by the Garou and their Kin, providing a first line of defense against intruders to the cove.  A few hundred yards past a fading sign naming the North Shore Road “The Road to Nowhere” stands another sign welcoming you to Great Smoky Mountains National Park , alongside a metal gate that suggests vehicles are not included in the welcome.  Away from traffic and habitation, the pavement cracks and buckles.  Grass and even saplings push through  buckled asphalt as the abandoned thoroughfare meanders through forests and over streams. Near the base of a promontory, the road is nearly blocked by boulders and scree; as it rounds the bend and heads into another cove, it nearly disintegrates into cobble-sized pieces half-hidden by grasses and flowers.  On either side of the meadow, the forest stands like a palisade against invaders.  Here the fog hovers, roils, impatient for the sun to sink below the ridge, so it may flow across the meadow and fill the valley. . .

Climbing into the sheltered cover, you see trees of a forest never knowing the touch of blade or saw.  Tulip poplars 20 feet in circumference with lightning-blasted crowns a hundred feet above the fern-covered forest floor; massive oaks, stately sycamores, beeches, white pines and dogwoods crowd out the sky.  

 Hemlocks crowd close near the chuckling Canebrake Creek, as you follow the stony path beside the stream.  As you move towards the heart of the caern, the mountain mist pushes closer, clouding sight, muffling sound, settling a damp chill over all.  In the diffuse light, it is difficult to see more than the path at your feet, yet you feel the way; a soundless pulse guides you, a thrumming that sends ripples down your flanks and up your spine. 

And now, you see the Falls: the creek pools, blocked by stones, before tumbling into space to fall a dozen feet to a larger, deeper pool below.  Five arcs of water formed the five fingers of the Creek.  In winter, the fall freezes; this was how it was seen by those who took the name Glass Hand Sept.  This is the Heart of the Caern, the most sacred place within the bawn, and you feel spirit and matter become one.  Your dual natures are more at peace here than in either world alone.

Beyond the Heart, trails run steeply upwards, past the openings made by fallen giants, past springs whose rivulets feed Canebrake Creek, and up into the light of day.  Mountain Smoke hangs back, unwilling to go farther, and the trail bursts with rhododendrons and azaleas.  On the ridgeline the shrubs grudgingly halt, leaving your feet shrouded in grass and wildflowers. At the summit you are startled to find a stone tower rising defiantly above the bald.   The native granite rests on foundations brought here from Eastern Europe , ancestral home of the Shadow Lords who once claimed this caern; the symbolism is evident.  The tower’s parapet rises 50’ from the laurel-mantled summit, peering above the oak crowns below.  The view is magnificent;  From this vantage you see the fog-shrouded forest below, the sun-dappled ridges to either side; you are eye level with hawks, vultures and ravens as they ride ridgeline thermals.  You feel the power of the caern around you, subtle as morning mist, as delicate as the first flush of leaves in spring, yet as inexorable as the mighty rivers.   This is as close to Home as you will ever know, and it is enough.

 History

In prehistoric times, the Croatan called the caern home.  When the tribe sacrificed themselves, the Uktena spread into the region and claimed the caern before it could fade in power.  During their tenure, it is said they placed within the bawn a very powerful Wyrm fetish, captured during a raid on a Black Spiral Dancer hive.  They used Fog’s powers to make it essentially disappear.  When the Europeans settled the Tuckasegee River valley, the Uktena kept the mist-shrouded cove a place of refuge; alone of the local slopes, the Canebrake Cove stood unlogged and unfarmed.  The ownership of the cove was so overlooked that the US government failed to notice, much less search out a deed, to the land.  So it was that the caern was quietly incorporated into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park .

 The secretive sept honored the totem and kept the caern secure until being overwhelmed by Black Spirals in the late 1950’s.  For nearly a decade the Wyrm-tainted Garou defiled the caern, searching for the great Wyrm fetish that was rumored to exist within its bawn, but Fog took all trace of the item into hiding with it. During their tenure in the cove, the Spirals allowed surveyors and construction crews to build a road though the lower reaches of the cove, expecting that the regular traffic of a popular thoroughfare would speed the defilement of the park.   In the mid 1960’s, three packs of Uktena laid siege to the Black Spirals, raiding the enemy and slowly bleeding away their strength until finally crushing the Wyrmish foes. Having once again purified the caern, the Uktena began isolating the holy site from the outside world.  At the same time environmental concerns were halting development of the Lakeside Road , a series of unexpected landslides combined unusually heavy frost damage and ground subsidence made continued road construction prohibitively expensive.  The parts of the road bed which passes through the caern is little more than a rocky track, with grass and clover growing through the shattered asphalt.

 As years passed, the Garou presence weakened at the caern.  Frequent battles left many casualties and no replacements.  Then in 1975 some young Shadow Lords offered to help in the caern’s defense, leaving the beleaguered defenders little choice but to accept aid.  By 1990 the Uktena had left or died off from age or battle, leaving the caern in the hands of Shadow Lords.

 Strange dreams and omens made some of the sept nervous.  One, a metis Theurge named Ghostfire, was sure the Uktena had left some of their dark magic to taint the caern.  The elders would hear none of it, however, so he took matters into his own hands.  With cunning he connived a young Uktena (from the Seven Clans Sept) to investigate a “hint of a rumor” of ancient Uktena magic.  They were discovered; the Cherokee had an “accident” and Ghostfire was banished.  But less than three years passed before darkness swept over the caern once again. 

 In December of 2000, two packs of Black Spiral Dancers attacked the caern, slaughtering the sept in a hard-fought battle. Before the wounded victors could begin celebrating, a new pack returned from its rite of passage and rampaged across the caern, slaying the scattered Spirals to the last man.  Apart from the new pack, the only survivors was the sept Beta (Celeste) and her child (who disappeared with Fog’s help), Ghostfire, and another member of the sept who is currently fighting in Europe .

 Geography and Flora

 Geography

The Glass Hand Caern is nestled in a cove valley formed where Buzzardroost Mountain and Massie Gap meet.  The trees fall away momentarily at Skyfire Bald, and then the ridge proceeds steadily upwards past several peaks and knobs until it reaches Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the Smokies, after a ten mile ridgerun.

 Within the cove, several creeks drain the watershed as tributaries to Canebrake Creek, which runs the length of the caern beginning at the north east corner of the bawn.  Clockwise they are: (west) Little Bear and Otter Branches; (northwest) Halfway Branch; (north) Fire Branch; (northeast) Canebrake Creek.  Canebrake runs down to Lake Fontana .

 Flora

The caern encompasses several rich vegetation types, made richer for the relative lack of human disturbance.  A community of white pines, tulip poplars and sweetgum lie at the base of the cove near the lake.  Deerberry, mountain laurel and bracken fern, Virginia oaks, chestnut oaks and scarlet oaks follow the rising ridgelines.  Deep within the fog-shrouded cove, mist swirls around eastern hemlocks, tulip poplars, white ashes, red maples and others, with a rich mix of herbaceous species along the ground. 

 At the peak of Skyfire Bald (above 3,000 feet), trees give way to rhododendron and laurel, which are surpassed by buckeyes and thornless blackberries, and finally to lush grasses and wildflowers.

 Spiritual Layout

It is important to realize the spiritual geography of the caern, which was codified by the Uktena when they first arrived.  As with many cultures, the eastern Uktena assign both colors and meanings to the sacred directions:

East = red = success; triumph 

 Accordingly, the layout of the caern takes these sacred points into consideration.  For example, the cemetery is on the eastern slopes of Massie Gap Ridge ­– the west side of the caern.  On the other hand, the living quarters are located on the eastern or southern sides of the caern. 

 Bawn

  The outer perimeter of the caern runs along the ridge surround the valley.  The tower on Buzzardroost Mt. sits over 1500 feet above the valley floor.  

 Living Area

  The houses of several Kinfolk lie a couple of ridges eastward, just outside the park boundary.  Within the bawn, a handful of primitive log cabins perch precariously on the western slope of Buzzardroost Mountain ; most of the Uktena dwell here.  Eastward across the ridge, the Kinfolk Jack Sharp resides in a small cabin by the chuckling Peachtree Creek.

 Medicine Lodges

  There are several newly built and consecrated log lodges.  The walls of each one bear glyphs and protective talismans; spirits swarm around to watch and guard, though they generally only enter the Green Lodge.  The Red Lodge contains weapons, talens and fetishes.  Some personal fetishes are kept in their own shrines; communal items such as Bane arrows are stored here for use by the Guardians.  The White Lodge is a sanctified storage area and “laboratory” for things of magic, from stolen tomes to fetishes.

The Blue Lodge is for storing magic of a more sinister sort – Bane fetishes, tainted objects, and the like.

The Brown Lodge is set aside for purification and healing rituals; it is of the old style of wattle and daub, built with nothing more complex than chipped stone.  The Green Lodge contains a sacred fire which is kept burning continuously; it is often used for spirit contacts and negotiations. 

 Tower

A square stone tower rises 30 feet from the ridge on the northeast edge of the bawn.  The parapet is accessible by a wooden stairway running up the inner wall, and allows a magnificent view. Originally it stood half a mile or so outside the bawn, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s as a fire tower.  Too remote to be of interest to hikers, it was abandoned and by the 1970s it had fallen into disrepair.  The Shadow Lords disassembled the structure and rebuilt it on the edge of the bawn, on a foundation of stone that included blocks quarried in Eastern Europe . It is a popular spot to perform any rituals involving the dawn or dusk, such as the Greet the Sun rite.

Graves of the Honored Fallen

On the western rise of the valley is a small clearing; dozens of stone markers dot the woods here, but the newest markers cluster around the clearing.  The oldest are lichen-covered stones marked faintly in Garou glyphs and Cherokee script; the newest are small rough boulders with words and glyphs freshly scored on their surfaces. Some are at the heads of mounds, while others (for fallen lupus) are memorials rather than grave markers.

 The recent dead include:  Silvereye (Lupus Philodox Shadow Lord Elder),  Mistwatcher (Lupus Theurge Shadow Lord Athro), Kyle Preston (Homid Ahroun Shadow Lord Adren), Lydia Preston (Homid Galliard Shadow Lord Adren), Zechariah (Homid Ragabash Shadow Lord Fostern), Benny Preston (Metis Philodox Shadow Lord Fostern), Gina Callow (Leaps the River) (Homid Ragabash Fianna 3), Flamepaw (Lupus Theurge Child of Gaia 4), ***, ***, ***, ***, Paul Turner (Homid Ahroun Shadow Lord), Laughing Snow (Lupus Ragabash Silver Fangs 2)

 Shrines

With the approval of the Council of Elders, two packs have created shrines dedicated to their totems.  As other local spirits become more familiar allies, the sept will build small shrines for them as well.

     Uktena

The Uktena shrine is located in a boulder-lined pool where Canebrake and Fire Creeks come together.   Though not very large, it is deep enough that the bottom can’t be seen even in full daylight.  Several of the boulders are inscribed with glyphs.

     Merlin

High up on the edge of the bald is a small cairn of stones about 3 feet high.  Each stone is incised with a glyph , but all glyphs face inward.  From a nearby tree, numerous small dead songbirds and insects dangle  from strings as tribute to the swift hunter spirit.

     Father Deer

Located at the southwestern edge of the bawn is small cluster of persimmons, apples, and oaks in a meadow of clover.  The trees are marked with glyphs and an carven image of a deer.  This is the shrine for Father Deer, and after every successful deerhunt a hunter comes here to thank and praise the Animal Father for his gifts.  The grateful Garou leave gifts of food here (disappearing when no one is looking), and sometimes burn sacred tobacco.  Because of the respect and honor given Deer, there always seems to be enough deer to feed the tribe.

     Wild Turkey

In an open wildflower meadow along the old roadbed, there stands a spreading oak.  The tree has several turkey feathers hanging from branches, as well as a worn slate call.

     Spirit of the Water

Near the edge of the bawn, a small pool is kept as a shrine to the water spirit.  The only sign is a glyph lightly carved into a boulder.

 Assembly Area

Near the center of the caern, where the ground begins to rise, is the social heart of the caern.  A weathered boulder roughly 4’ in each dimension sits behind a 6’ fire ring, which in turn lies in the center of a half-acre open meadow; trails leading from all corners of the caern converge here, and the earth around the ring is hard packed from generations of Garou feet.  At the eastern end of the meadow, on a platform of earth and stone, is a wood-and-earth lodge for meetings in inclement weather or when secrecy is necessary.

 Caern’s Heart

From the Assembly Area, the slope increases, so that after a thousand feet of mist-shrouded towering poplars and hemlocks, the trail has risen 300 feet.  The Heart is at a series of small waterfalls; the most notable is where the creek pools before falling in five arcs (like five fingers of water) to a shallow pebble-lined pool 15 feet across.  Moss-bearded boulders cluster around the pool and stream, and it is on these the septmembers crouch for their most sacred gatherings. Though the rush of water fills the air, all sound is oddly muted here.  

 Umbrascape

Geographically the penumbral Caern appears much as it does in the physical realm, with the mountains covered by a mantle of massive trees.  Spirits of all sorts flicker in and out of view.  The forest is riddled with paths leading off into the Near Umbra. To the east the sky occasionally flickers with aurora, as the mighty Caern of Seven Clans shows its power.  To the south is an eerie sight: a wooded valley can dimly be seen beneath the surface of the penumbral lake.

 Spirits

Nature spirits of all sorts can be found here. Spirits exemplifying enigmas, wisdom and stealth are here as well, and there is even the occasional uktena lurking around.Ancestor spirits can be summoned, although they are mostly Uktena; the Shadow Lord spirits have abandoned the caern.

The woods around  the heart are perpetually cloaked in mist, winter or summer.  When conditions are favorable, fog blankets the entire valley, burning off only when the sun rises above the ridge. 

 Entreating the totem for aid requires a Rite of Caern Opening.  This may contain several elements, but typically a softly spoken chant or song is enacted.  It is also common to whisper a secret into the pool.

Successfully enacting the Rite of Caern Opening will bestow three dots to add to Stealth or Subterfuge pools for the next 24 hours; the ritemaster may keep or distribute among those present.  Fog is strongest at dawn; at this time, treat the caern as Level 4 for the rite, but the successful ritemaster gains 4 dots instead of 3. 

 Defenses

 Physical

The wooded, mountainous terrain makes it difficult to reach the bawn except by a long, winding, potholed road, which is always watched and easily defended.  Ridge running hikers in the adjoining Great Smoky Mountains National Park are discouraged from wandering into Garou territory by strategically located thickets of rhododendron, laurel, etc.  Pitfalls, trip lines and other simple traps are placed in particularly vulnerable points of approach.

 Defenders

Most of the time at least two packs reside at the caern, though three is more common.  A pack is always on duty, patrolling or keeping watch over likely points of access. 

 The sept counts the local Corax as allies, and allow the noisy watchers to take refuge within the bawn.  In return, the wereravens keep an eye out for anything suspicious near the caern in addition to carrying messages to neighboring caerns.

 Kinfolk are helpful as well.  The only road to the caern passes by two Kin houses. Jack Sharp also spends time on guard duty, as well as setting bobby traps and ambushes along the bawn.

The entire cove is hidden in the Umbra by Rite of the Shrouded Glen, making spying from afar nearly impossible.   

Several spirits, including owl, hawk and fox spirits keep an eye out for intruders.  In likely intrusion points, spirits are bound into sticks and placed on trails or tied to tripwires (breaking when the wire is pulled); when activated, the spirits may do anything from crying an alarm to putting the intruder to sleep.

Where appropriate, the pack totems may make a appearance, helping in the defense as each is able.

Finally, the caern totem has a formidable effect in a crisis.  In times of invasion, a thick, eerie fog boils out of the caern’s heart, to cover the entire valley.  The septmembers are not appreciably affected, but the invaders have all sight and hearing Perception rolls halved.  In addition to dimmed sight and muffled hearing, the mist seems to wrap around the foes, roiling into shapes which may be mistaken for warriors or attacking spirits; this unnerves foes, who lose a die from all Willpower dice pools.

 The Surroundings

The caern is located in Swain County , a beautiful land of greenmantled mountains and whitewater rivers, protected in part from rampant development by the fact that 86% of the land is in Federal hands (including over 40% of Great Smoky Mountains National Park ).  Swain’s population is around 12,500 – including 1,145 in Bryson City, the county seat – but this number swells considerably in the summer (tourists and flatlanders escaping southern heat) and fall (tourists coming to see the autumn colors).

  Swain County is beautiful but destitute.  Per capita income is $15K, and unemployment is 12.5%. Four in ten residents lack a high school diploma, and only one in ten have any kind of advanced degree.  The area has seen a 23% growth rate in the last 10 years, and demand for scenic property has sent land prices beyond the means of most locals.

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