Garou can travel from one location in the Realm to another by traveling through the Umbra on Moon Bridges. They can also travel directly from the Realm into the Umbra. Garou, while the most adept at Umbral travel, are not the only earthly beings to enter the Umbra. Human mages are fascinated by the Umbra and arrive to steal spirit energies. These nonshamanic humans view the Umbra in a very different manner than do the Garou.
The Earth
Gaia, the Earth, is the center of the Realm System of the Near Umbra. The Garou see the spiritual universe as emanating from the physical core of Earth's reality. The Realms of the Umbra orbit the physical core of Earth's reality. The Realms of the Umbra orbit the physical universe just as planits orbit the Sun. Surrounding Earth's physical reality is the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet exists throughout physical reality, separating the mundane from the spirit. All sojourners who would leave the Earth for the Umbra must find a way tp pierce this veil. Garou do so by using their caerns - sacred places where the spiritual and physical worlds meet - or by stepping sideways into the Umbra. The Earth is such an important place that the Garou often refer to it as "the Realm."
The Gauntlet
The world of physical matter is separated from the world of the Umbra by a powerful boundary called the Gauntlet. Matter and spirit,craving unity, pull toward one another with a palpable force. The Gauntlet strains to conifne them both and keep them isolated. In some areas the Gauntlet is so strong that the physical world is virtually spirit-dead. In other areas spiritual energy courses through and flourishes on Earth. As humankind encroaches on more and more territory and brings more Weaver energy to Wyld areas, the Gauntlet grows stronger and pushes the spirit world farther away. The Garou protect areas of weak Gauntlet by forming caerns. They also know how to enter the Gauntlet and emerge in the spirit world. Furthermore, they know how to circumvent the Gauntlet utterly by traveling to the spirit world in dreams. Every place on Earth has a Gauntlet rating from 2 to 9. Travel through areas of high Gauntlet is virtually impossible. Areas of low Gauntlet allow almost unhindered access for those who know how to step sideways.
Area - Typical Gauntlet
Science Lab - 9
Inner city - 8
Most places - 7
Rural countryside - 6
Deep wilderness - 5
Typical active caern - 4
Powerful caern - 3
The greatest caerns - 2
Caerns
The Gauntlet fluctuates from place to place. It is stronger in places of civilization and science, weaker in wild, primitive areas. In the areas where it is weakest, spiritual energy freely enters the mundane world. Wondrous and mystic phenomena are common in these places. The Garou revere such sites as holy and call them caerns. They vigorously gaurd the few remaining caerns, protecting them from mages and marauding spirits that try to feast on the spirit magic contained within them. Unfortunately, the Garou are slowly losing the fight, and precious few caerns remain. Some caerns are dedicated to a specific purpose, such as healing or war. These caerns are inhabited by spirits attuned to the caern's purpose, and all powers invoked there are aligned to it. Caerns are rated from 1 to 5. This rating measures the potency of the powers and effects that can be invoked there. Thus, a Level 1 caern of healing might refresh and heal minor wounds, while a Level 5 caern could miraculously heal the most grievous wounds. The Gauntlet is lower at higher-powered caerns, Caerns of Levels 1 and 2 have Gauntlet ratings of 4, those of Levels 3 and 4 have Gauntlet ratings of 3, and those rarest of caerns, the Level 5 sites, have Gauntlet ratings of only 2.
The Periphery
Though the Gauntlet is tremendously strong, the spiritual forces it tries to contain are also strong. The Gauntlet wall bulges like a distended balloon, and trickles of spirit energy bleed through it in many places. Though this limited spiritual connection is too weak to benefit powerful spirit warriors like the Garou, it is very important to humankind. Humans have used rituals, drugs, religion, art, physical exercise, and meditation to access this strange state, called the Periphery.
When a sentient creature like a human being becomes aware of the spiritual side of herself, her consciousness slips gently into the Perihpery. Colors brighten, senses sharpen, intuition and insight heighten, and a general sense of connection to all things is felt. This altered state of consciosness has been described by people in all places in all times, and is available to anyone. It is familiar territroy to many artists and to Garou Kinfolk who attune themselves with the Periphery in order to understand the spirits. Kinfolk have sometimes been able to send their spiritual presences through the Periphery to carry messages to Garou, but this is rare.
To slip into the Periphery is to enter an ecstatic state in which seemingly magical things happen. This "magic" is not always peaceful; indeed, it depends on the mental state of the person experiencing the Periphery. Artists like Wordsworth, whose minds are focused on rapture and exaltation, recieve splendid visions of trnscendental joy. Artists like Poe, whose minds are focused on pain and loss, receive visions of horror and suffering. Artists like Blake, who focus on the whole of the human condition, can experience and integrate both. Benign spirits can contact humans on the Periphery - though banes and other malevolent spirits can also reach Peripheral travelers.
Humans contacted by helpful spirits can prosper greatly from the contact. Those contacted by Banes must leave quickly to avoid psychic contamination. Unfortunately, those who enter the Periphery through drugs are often unable to leave at will. They risk being unable to return to the physical world when their systems can no longer handle the experience. Such Peripheral "imprisonment" can cause hideous psychic disfigurement and spiritual shock. Charismatic spirtual leaders capable of bringing an entire congregation into the Periphery can likewise cause psychic damage to their parishioners, who usually cannot leave at will. The only people who do not risk psychic shock from travel to the Periphery are those who learn to enter by force of personal will. These fortunate souls are reasonably safe because they can leave at any time.
The Penumbra
Just beyond the Gauntlet lies the unfetted splendor of the spirit world. The area of the Umbra closest to the Earth Realm is called the Penumbra. The Penumbra is the most common Umbral destination of the Garou, who travel here to fight evil spirits bent on corrupting creatures in the physical world. The Penumbra, or Earth's Shadow, is a gray, hazy, phantasmal world lit only by the radiance of the great Celestine, Luna. Luna's Umbral phase directly corresponds to the phase of the moon in the physical Realm.
Likewise, the Penumbra contains the spirit material that corresponds to the physical matter of Earth. The only material objects that appear on the spirit world are those with large amounts of spiritual energy. Matter that endures the passage of time on Earth gains a spiritual representation in the Penumbra. Old trees and old buildings have counterparts on the Penumbra; recently built structures and newer vegetation do not. Wyld, Weaver and Wyrm energies become tangible in this Realm. Wyld spirits move through natural areas, Weaver webs emerge from technological equipment, and Wyrmlings scuttle through graveyards and polluted areas. Interestingly enough, spirit is more "real" than matter. The spirit of an object can endure the loss of its physical body, but the physical body cannot withstand the loss of its spirit essence. If an old oak tree is chopped down on Earth, it may linger for a long time in the Umbra. But if a living tree is destroyed in the Umbra, its earthly counterpart will sicken and die.
Penumbral streets and forests seem eerily deserted, for most sentient creatures do not manifest on the Penumbra. Only spiritually advanced people appear here. Spiritually advanced creatures like mages appear as sharply defined astral forms. Mages have highly developed spiritual selves, called Awakened Avatars; such Avatars are visible on the Penumbra. Some science-oriented mages, like the ones called Technomancers, do not appear on the Umbra. Technomancers' training precludes their Avatars from being seen in the Umbra. This puts them at a decided disadvantage in the realms of spirit; accordingly, the Technomancers fear the Umbra and seldom venture there. Sometimes Garou travelers see the spirits of humans who are deeply ensconced in the Periphery.
The Penumbra is filled with Domains - small zones that correspond to areas in both thephysical Realm and the Near Umbra. These areas borrow energy and definition from their Near Umbral counterparts, allowing them to manifest in the Penumbra and the Gaia Realm.
Blights: Blight Domains are mixed Weaver/Wyrm areas that appear as polluted, web-ridden cityscapes.
Chimares: Individualized dream Domains that are open to every being that dreams. Some are nightmarish; some are paradise incarnate.
Epiphs: These odd Domains represent abstract ideas or concepts, such as "square" or "four." Most Garou cannot comprehend Epiphs, although the Stargazers claim to have gained great insight by meditating in such places.
Glens: These are Domains under the influence of the Wyld. They appear as beautiful manifestations of the natural world and are often inhabited by sentient trees and talking animals.
Hellholes: These Wyrm-ridden Domains correspond to toxic waste dump sites and other polluted areas. Even areas of heavy air pollution can become Hellholes. Hellholes are inhabited by Banes, and Wyrm creatures scuttle through these Domains en route from the Near Umbra to the Gaia Realm.
Trods: These Domains of faerie energy appear as faerie rings and monoliths. These areas mark the spots that were sacred to faeries in the days before the Weaver's encroachment drove them from Earth. Sometimes faeries can still be found at these sites.
Webs: Areas where the Weaver encroaches on the Penumbra are called Web Domains. Webs correspond to large areas of technolically advanced cities, and are inhabited by Pattern Spiders and Net-Spiders.
Wyldings: Areas where the Wyld still reaches Earth are fewer than Web areas. There are some Wylding Domains in the Penumbra, though most are in the faraway Deep Umbra. Nothing is stable or permanent in these constantly shifting zones, and magic permeates the air. Appropriately enough, Wyldling spirits congregate here.
The Near Umbra
When the Umbral traveler follows a Moon Bridge past the Penumbra, she arrives in the Near Umbra. This area is a swirling haze dotted with many Realms, great and small. These Realms orbit the Gaia Realm just as Luna orbits Earth. The Garou travel to these other realities to interact with their totems or beseech aid from their ruling powers. Many of these rulers are capricious and dangerous, but possess great wisdon.
There are 13 major Near Realms, Near Realms are pockets of immense spiritual power bordered by a membrane that contains their energies. These Realms feel as real and substantial to the Umbral traveler as the material world feels to the physical traveler. All the Garou's senses and powers work, whough with some slight modifications in some Realms. Each Realm is governed by its own world laws, which determine the local reality. There may be other major Near Realms, but they have not been explored by the Garou.
In addition to these 13 major Near Realms, there are myriad Domains, sub-Realms, and Zones, including the eerie Dream Zone. All of the Domains listed in the Penumbra have larger Domains in the Near Umbra. The Tribal Homelands, representations of each tribe's ideal home, are among the strongest of these Near Umbral Domains. At the outskirts of the Near Umbra, just before the beginning of the Deep Umbra, lie several Vistas. These are not really Realms, for they can only be viewed, not entered. Vistas are portals allowing observers to view embodiments of abstract concepts like death, chaos, and stasis. They are said to be glimpses of the Heavens. Near Realms were formed when powerful, monolithic energies from the Triat collided with the weak but highly diversified spiritual emanations from the Gaia Realm. Some Near Realms are similar to the Triat energies that formed them, while some are similar to the eartjly energies that breathed spiritual life into them.
Dream Zone
The Dream Zone is another Umbral area that seems to transcend the "normal" limits of the Umbra and extend into other parts of the Tellurian. This area is mysterious even to the denizens of the Umbra. It is a world of immense power, frightening unpredictability, and potent symbolism. Even the hardiest Umbral travelers face the Dream Zone with uncharacteristic trepidation. The Dream Zone appears as a multifaced gem of extraordinary beauty. It encloses the Near Umbra and borders the Deep Umbra. It is very useful to the Garou, for it offers a special way of entering the Umbra. This method is more direct (albeit more dangerous) than using Moon Bridges or stepping sideways. Garou can enter the Dream Zone through their own dreams. The Dream Zone is an access point directly to the Deep Umbra. Instead of traveling OUTWARD - past the Gauntlet, into the Near Umbra throught to the Deep Umbra - the voyager goes INWARD, into his dream, and emerges at the border between the Near and Deep Umbra. This is a potent, but perilous form of Umbral travel. Garou can also enter the Dream Zone by stepping into Chimares, small dream Domains found in the Penumbra.
The Membrane
Between the (relatively) comprehensible world of the Near Umbra and the mysterious world of the Deep Umbra lies a barrier called the Membrane. This is like the Gauntlet, but even less porous. To bypass the Membrane, Garou must reach and Anchorhead Realm. Some Stargazers assert that the Gauntlet and the Membrane are but two layers in a sevenfold Weaver container that encases the spirit world. They believe that the Dream Zone extends to reach each of those seven layers, and that with practice they can breach the remaining barriers - juast as they can enter Dream from Earth and in so doing reach the Deep Umbra.
Deep Umbra
Past the walls of sleep lies the Deep Umbra, an area where Gaia's presence is less perceptible to Garou travelers. Reality breaks down here, and navigation becomes difficult. The Deep Umbra is the home of the Wyld, the Weaver and the Wyrm, and is only for the most experienced Umbral travelers. Luna traverses a path through the deep Umbra, and is one of the few comforting beacons to wandering Garou. Note-** It is better for garou to travel the Umbra at night, even though more spirits are active, there are fewer malevolent ones. Most Wyrm spirits are in their Blights, whispering dark urges to their sleeping human hosts. Weaver spirits such as Pattern Spiders, exhausted from their daily chores, are easier prey.Conversely, the Garou are sharp from a day's rest