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Brian Merchant wrote:
> In the borning days of the third millennium, William wrote:
>
>>I thought I knew, and then I remember that this isn't Mage. All the
>>werewolves actually see the same thing. So while "Hunts for Winter" is a
>>very unusual Werewolf Theurge, he still sees the same things all of his
>>cousins do. And werewolf religion would have the suburbs be a
>>spiritually barren place, wouldn't it? Or would there be any of the
>>fading, rotting remains of the forests and farms that used to be there?
>>A few of the oldest suburbs might be beginning to manifest in the Umbra
>>(Levittown, FI), but what about the new ones? An endless, treeless
>>wasteland?
>
>
> I don't know if this is White Wolf canon, but it's my take:
>
> Suburbia is the Weaver's great playground. It is regimented and neatly
> trimmed. All of the houses are the same (damn that Wyld for allowing
> variations in color and landscaping!). The roads are dead straight or follow
> precise curves. Dirt is frowned upon unless it is strictly controlled. People
> are contained in developments so they won't go mixing willy nilly.
Good so far.
>
> Physical decay is not allowed. Old houses are torn down and replaced with
> gleaming condos. Trash is shipped elsewhere. The messy business of getting
> electricity, gas, etc. is hidden safely underground. Compost piles are not
> allowed to offend one's delicate nose.
BWAHAHAHAH!
>
> The suburban Umbra is locked in webs of steel with Weaver spirits on constant
> patrol to root out any sign of individuality. It is a fractal hell where each
> region is precisely the same as it's neighbor. Grotesque parodies of nature
> occupy the spaces where parks are in the material world, but each blade of
> grass is precisely placed, exactly the same, and made of glass. Centers of
> commerce are much larger than other areas and have an uncanny ability to make
> you look at them. Your eyes can't seem to avoid that 5 story neon Pentex
> logo.
That's... dramatic. Impressive Umbral presence for someplace that's only
50 years old and really shouldn't register on the Umbra much at all. I
mean, suburban parks have the spiritual weight of... of something really
light.
>
> But the Wyrm gets his shot in too. The Weaver has conquered the physical
> representations in this place, but she neglected the spiritual (NPI). A
> papable sense of despair hangs over the region as artistry is turned into
> advertising slogans and dreams are molded into resume bullet points. Hope is
> dead, all that is left is aquisition.
How is that the Wyrm? Also, in the umbra any Wyrm taint should have a
clear, 'physical' manifestation.
>
> [Cue continuous loop of Rush's 'Subdivisions']
>
Inspired me to refine my own view a bit more.
Vast, dust blown plains stretche in all directions as far as you can
see. Nothing grows tall here, wood or steel. The earth is barren, though
when the sun is clear you can see the wavering ghosts of forests past
still clinging to the rare hill or gully.
Where major roads run, you can see the earth has been trampled down
under the wear of a thousand feet, while weaver spirits raise steel
fences to channel the invisible multitude. Parodies of houses, made of
spiderwebs and never more than one story tall, dot the landscape.
Occasionally a brief light, a ray of hope and health, shines through
their cobweb shutters, but more often than not nothing leaves, and from
them you can hear faint sounds as if something was choking.
The ground itself is crisscrossed by thin strands of webbing, far
sparser than in a city, but clean and ordered in geometric precision. In
the gaps between you can sometimes see scattered blades of grass, or
the stunted form of a gnarled and ancient tree. More often the dry earth
changes to a noisome, green-tinted mud that boils slowly, reaking of the
worm. Around these holes nothing grows, and all webs are streaked with
rust and black oil.
William
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