Oath of the Moon; a Blood Talon perspective

(by James Moody, WW2002021385)

• From the point of view of Loki, Irraka of the Lodge of Night, Blood Talon Irraka.

Most of these rules are just common sense: Don't think of them as being some great mystical code, but rather that someone boiled down the most common mistakes Uratha made, had a look for a few simple rules that would stop someone from repeating the same events again.

Some people say it's more than that. Me - it's just survival tools.

Urum Da Takus

Loosely ' The wolf must hunt'

Think about it. You know, sitting there, that part of you doesn't want to be listening to me. It wants to be running down your prey. Chasing. Hunting. Competing. Don't try to bottle it up - we're stalkers, hunters and predators: Denying it just makes certain that when it breaks out you won't be able to control it.

Some folks can channel it into more intellectual pursuits - or so they say. Hunting facts, thoughts, or challenging their minds. Not seen anyone do it properly, and if you'll take my advice, you'll just do it the usual way, and let yourself sweat it out every now and then by doing some regular hunting.

Imru Nu Fir Imru

Normally translated as 'The People shall not murder the People'.

Heh. Contentious one this, and a lot of the other speakers are going to disagree with what I have to say about this.

You've got to decide who The People are to you, and what 'Murder' means.. Your pack, without doubt, and the Forsaken goes pretty much without saying. Pure, and Ghost Wolves? That's where you have to make the call. Killing is serious business, and you shouldn't do it, whatever you decide, lightly, but who you class as your people, and what you class as murder has to be your choice... Too much Pure blood on these claws for me to say that I see killing the enemy when at war as being wrong. Remember our People were born in conflict, and in killing something that needed to die: Hesitation is for the weak - make your decision, and stick to it.

Sih Sehe Mak; Mak Ne Sih

'The Lower honour the Greater. The Greater respect to Lower.

Shut up and think about this for a second, before you start with your ' Man, I ain't respecting no dude till he respects me' crap.

We end up meeting. You end up dissing me. I end up beating the living crap out of you. One of us loses their temper. There is blood all over the walls. The Pure laugh.

We're all angry people. We've got wolf instincts, and wolves both have hierarchies, and respond to challenges. You challenge someone who's earned their scars, and it's a fight, probably quickly, and almost certainly bloodily. Didn't mean it? Then you shouldn't have thrown down. Didn't realise you were throwing down? Should have paid more attention to that honouring bit.

So, why do the High respect the Low? Same reason. I diss you, you flip, the Pure win. Not to mention... It's easy for us all to get caught up in ourselves, and forget the whole pack thing. If we don't all have guidelines on how we interact with each other, then it's easy for the Higher to get so wrapped in themselves that they wander off and fall as Zir on their own.

We're warriors. Have a look at a history book. Warrior cultures tend to have a very strong tendency to have strict guidlines on how to behave.

Ni Daha

'Respect the Hunted'

Part of you is a wolf. Part is a man. All of you is a hunter. It befits a hunter to respect that which he brings down, or he thinks himself to be above that which he guards, not part of it.

You may well have to kill, Pure, humans and Spirits. Take a moment to remember them for what they were. This isn't to say that you shouldn't do it. Or even hesitate about doing it when you need to. But that you should always remember the deed, and who it is you have killed.

Uratha Safal Thil Lu'u

The Uratha shall be with the human.

AKA - don't screw around with wolves or Uratha.

Wolves is just pointless, and the human part of you should have enough to say about that for me not to have to say more. Needless to say none of us are born wolf.

With other Uratha... I'll say this one: Technicalities count. I don't care if it is homosexual, none conceiving, or whatever. It counts. If there is a child, it will be a true monstrosity, a creation that exists to kill the People. In the other cases? Remember what Father Wolf taught us - Duty. Obligation. Pride. You swore to uphold his duties when you took this Oath. And the tale of Father Wolf also encompasses what happens when you choose to turn away from your Oath.

Nu Hu Uzu Eren

Consume neither the flesh of wolf nor man.

This I won't discuss overly. Break it and be hunted. We are both, and to do this deed is cannibalism, an insult to our Father and Mother. You might, possibly, do this accidentally. Seek help if you do, and do not hide it. People will find out, and it is possible you could be helped if people can get to you in time.

Nu Bath Githul

The herd must not know

Two reasons: Both of them are common sense.

Firstly: They outnumber us, and they have reason to fear us, and reason to react with that fear in violence. We are champions but they will overcome us.

Think it wouldn't happen? It has. Several times, once in my memory. The results are bloody on both sides.

Secondly: We are here to protect them. There is a war they know nothing about being fought around them, and if they know of it, and try to partake, they will get hurt, and end up weakening the veil. You might claim they would be useful allies. For every one that would try to help us, two will try to summon spirits. FOr every one that does help us, ten will die pointlessly trying.

Or do you think it chance that Mother Luna gifted us with touch that fades our presence from human minds?

Neither are valuable outcomes.

One addition - The Oaths we swear after the Oath of the Moon. I'm going to explain the Blood Talon Oath, and let people from other tribes explain theirs.

Offer no Surrender You Would Not Accept

Fenris doesn't want cowards, or hypocrites. To be a Blood Talon is to stand as a champion in a People of warriors. It's to stand when others flee, to fall surrounded by your fallen enemies. Fenris would prefer us to never surrender, never retreat, never give in, but knows that we are but mortal, and can not hold to such without compromising our first duty to Father Wolf. Instead he asks that we do not follow a path we would not demand from another.

If you are a Blood Talon, sworn to Fenris with blood on your claws, then you swear to offer surrender only if you would accept it if the situation was reversed. When you are offered surrender, consider more carefully than any other if you should deny it, for if you deny it, then act otherwise the Eye of the Wolf will be upon you.

Accept every surrender, and you make mockery of this Oath. It is a warrior’s oath, and one for those pledged in blood. Warriors know there is a difference between defeat and surrender, and there is no shame in being defeated, as long as you fought. If another offers surrender to you, know that by accepting you shame them, not giving them the honour of fighting for their position.

If you would know of the other Blood Talon Oaths, sworn under the pall of night, or in the field of war, then speak with me privately. Such things have no business being spoken of here.

Think that's enough of my talking -I'll let someone softer try to make a more palatable version of the rules for you. The final clause is this though: The rules exist for the protection of us, and them. Break them, and you risk endagering other people. DO that, and you're a liability.

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