[Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Ed] Observed Idigam Traits (Part III)

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

Observed Idigam Traits
(Idigam Part Three)

The following is additional information on Idigam, the chief antagonist of Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition -The Idigam Chronicle (WtF2.0) from source material from Werewolf: The Forsaken 1st Edition (WtF1.0) adapted for use in WtF2.0. The following events mentioned below are canon in our current Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen.

Sources:
- Werewolf: The Forsaken 1st Edition Corebook

- Night Horrors: Wolfsbane sourcebook for WtF1.0

Lore: Idigam Part One

Lore: Idigam Part Two

Lore: Idigam Part Three

:: (Non-Werewolf) In-Character Information requires advanced knowledge of Werewolf and Spirit lore (spec skills, and 3+ dot rating knowledge sources. Storyteller approval required::

Notes from Azazel: Having discovered even more information about the Idigam, I can easily state that they are one of the scariest things I have ever heard of.  I thought before this that the only beings who could play with creation and twist it so completely and were the Abyssals.  These creatures have no natural right to do what they do.  Even know they are noted as Shadow spirits, they break so many rules about what spirits can do and are fundamentally I have trouble calling them spirits at all, despite the literature.  Spirits of the Shadow have a natural order, the idigam don't care.  They aren't natural, despite their ancient creation in the time before the Time Before.

DOCUMENTED POWERS OF THE IDIGAM

Coalescence:

Not all idigam choose to coalesce, and fighting one that has is very different from fighting one that remains formless. An idigam that has not coalesced feels constant pressure to do so — the laws of the spirit wilds push it to choose a form. Without one, it causes a vacuum of sorts (a spirit with no physical analogy), and nature, of course, abhors a vacuum. When an idigam coalesces, its Influences, ban/bane and traits solidify. If it does not coalesce, it is harder to harm, but can do comparatively little damage (as its Essence-shaping powers don’t fully manifest outside the self without coalescence).

Form:

An Formless idigam does not keep the same form from one second to the next. Even if it doesn’t change itself in any meaningful way, it should be constantly altering the color or texture of its skin, its scent, the sounds it makes and any other facet of its appearance.

Coalesced idigam have chosen a form, but that form rarely corresponds neatly to a terrestrial creature. It might be a mass of living rock or gas, but adorned with fleshy antennae or patches of fur. It might be a swarm of tiny motes of fire, but someone unlucky enough to get close realizes that the motes are attached by impossibly thin sinew. An idigam that takes a recognizable form is also possible, but if it does, it usually mirrors something in its immediate vicinity — such as one of the werewolves confronting it.

Influences:

Formless (uncoalesced) idigam do not seem to have Influences, because they do not correspond to anything in the physical world. Coalesced idigam have Influences just as other spirits do, but their Influences don’t necessarily reflect the idigam’s physical  representation.

For example, a Gaffling bat-spirit probably only has one Influence: bats. If the spirit grows more powerful, becoming a Greater Jaggling, it might retain this single Influence, but it

might also gain a second Influence such as Fear, Darkness, Flight or even Blood (depending on the type of bat and what kinds of spirits the bat consumes).

Idigam, however, do not have physical correspondences, and so when they coalesce, their Influences stem from one of two sources — the idigam itself, or the physical site of the

coalescence. An idigam that coalesces in a forest fire might have Influences such as Fire, Destruction, Renewal, Smoke, Ash, Pain or Death. An idigam that wants revenge upon Luna and her Forsaken children could have Influences such as Revenge, Spite or even Moonlight (from the memory of the prison).

Numina & Manifestations

Most idigam are capable of Materializing, and very few can Possess or Claim living targets.

Formless idigam can change their Numina constantly. This costs five points of Essence, and the change is considered permanent (that is, the idigam can change the Numen back to what it was, but it costs another five points of Essence.  They have access to Dread Powers, Essence Shaping, Numina and may manifest traits and Gifts possessed by Uratha and the Hosts. This gives a broad range of powers the Storyteller can use to design an Idigam.

Servants: 

Easily the most horrifying thing about Gurdilag was its propensity for altering living beings (werewolves especially) and changing them into its servants. Not all idigam possess Gurdilag’s capabilities, fortunately, but most of the Moon-Banished have spiritual servants of some kind. They gather such followers in one of two ways:

First, spirits are attracted to whatever can grant them access to Essence. While many spirits are uncomfortable around idigam for the same reason they dislike werewolves (namely, they’re different and they don’t play by the rules), some spirits latch onto a particular facet of the idigam. This might be its motivation, its appearance or its bane (which means that a clever werewolf might gain a sense of how to beat an idigam by what sorts of spirits surround it). These spirits aren’t initially bound to do what the idigam commands; as they consume more of the Essence that the Moon-Banished spirit makes available to them (or generates itself), they come to identify with it. This spiritual Stockholm syndrome eventually leads to the followers being unable to separate themselves from the idigam. Their identity is bound up in its, and they lose their own banes and adopt the same one as the idigam.

The second method has the same result, but is simply faster. The idigam uses its Essence-shaping powers to change the spirit directly (see below). This could be likened to a transfusion; the spirit’s own Essence is removed, corrupted and/or replaced with that of the Idigam's. The spirit retains its shape (approximately) and capabilities, but takes on the idigam’s bane and probably some of its temperament. 

Interestingly, an idigam that works by the first method probably doesn’t gain much of a reputation among the local spirit courts, at least not until it starts doing something more overt. Spirits eat each other all the time, and lesser spirits follow greater ones around like remoras follow sharks. Idigam that use the second method, of course, terrify other spirits, and it’s not unknown for them to go running to Uratha for help. 

As for living servants, the idigam can order its servants to Claim or possess human beings (or animals, or plants, or machines). It can also shove the spirit in question into a host using Essence shaping, if it has the power to do so. The result is much the same.

Essence Shaping

All idigam, coalesced and not, have the capacity to reshape Essence. Formless idigam simply can’t turn this ability on sources of Essence outside themselves. When an idigam 

coalesces, something fundamental in its ability to perceive and interact with the world outside itself shifts, and it recognizes Essence flows all around it.

Returning to the example of Gurdilag, when Max Roman found the underground lake that led to the idigam’s downfall, he saw the world from Gurdilag’s perspective. He saw thousands of pinpricks of light, like stars in a clear night sky, some shining brighter than others. He realized with horror that the lights represented the world’s Essence, and the brighter lights were loci, powerful spirits…and werewolves. The smaller lights were human beings, their souls calling out to the idigam in the same way that the vast expanse of space might intrigue a human philosopher, explorer or profiteer.

Whether or not every idigam perceives Essence in the same way as Gurdilag is unknown, but it is true that all coalesced idigam can change Essence flows in specific ways. Below are

six expressions of Essence shaping that have been seen in previous Idigam infestations.  The ability to create Su’ur, in particular, is still extremely rare but elevates a normal Idigam into a true global threat. 

Essence-shaping powers are not Numina; they are closer to Influences, in fact. Different Moon-Banished shape Essence in different ways, but as werewolves study the spirits, they have come to believe that the different expressions of Essence shaping stem from inclination, not ability. Put a different way, Gurdilag is the only known idigam to create Su’ur, but that might be because Gurdilag was the only one that had the idea to do so. If this is true, idigam are even more dangerous than previously believed, and if two should meet, they might well “trade notes” instinctively.  Others have already stumbled onto the knowledge or were somehow able to communicate with their peers...

Known Essence Shaping Capabilities:

1. Locus Manipulation: 
The Moon-Banished finds a locus and redirects its Essence, usually into itself. Typically, this means that the locus is bled dry within a day or so, possibly as long as a week for powerful sites, but sometimes the idigam has something more insidious in mind. The spirit might poison the locus with its own Essence (this requires the expenditure of three times the locus’ rating from the idigam’s Essence pool). Thereafter, any spirit (or, potentially, werewolf) that takes Essence from the locus becomes susceptible to the idigam’s powers.  Another possibility here is that the idigam creates a web of influence using loci it has poisoned. It can check in on any locus it has tainted, and immediately know what is happening there. Servants of the idigam may use this power as well but must be within the locus’ area of influence to do so.  Finally, an idigam can extend a locus’ area of influence. Extending the area of influence allows the idigam’s servants greater mobility across the Gauntlet.

2. Essence Attack: 

The idigam is adept at altering Essence flows in living beings. All idigam can make attacks in the same manner as other spirits, but an idigam that chooses to target a foe’s Essence can make particularly devastating attacks. Usually, if an idigam can touch living target or spirit it can convert essence into horrible wounds (Aggravated Damage). This allows an idigam to kill a werewolf in moments if the werewolf can’t escape the grapple.

It might seem the werewolf could avoid this fate by spending his Essence, thus depriving the idigam of its ammunition but, horribly, the idigam can transfer Essence into the target and then convert it into wounds. The transfer is a reflexive action, and the idigam can transfer a number of Essence points up to its Rank in a turn, doing the same in Agg damage.

The idigam can do the same thing to spirits. As usual, if the spirit runs out of Corpus before it runs out of Essence, it simply discorporates and enters slumber. If it runs out of Essence first, the idigam can destroy it.  Another option, of course, is for the Idigam to consume the target’s Essence, rather than using it to harm him. This usually still requires a grapple, but the idigam can absorb Essence each turn equal to its Rank.

An idigam using this ability can also transfer Essence into a target that doesn’t normally hold it (such as a human being, an animal or even a supernatural being like a vampire or mage).

The idigam can use Essence attack by forcing Essence into the being and converting the Essence to wounds, though it’s often faster to simply attack physically.

Being infused with tainted Essence, though, is sometimes enough of an attack by itself. It isn’t bad for a werewolf or a spirit — such beings can bleed off the Essence by spending it, meaning that holding the Essence is painful and discomfiting, but ultimately only a serious problem if the subject can’t get away from the idigam. But for a vampire, mage or human being, the Essence sits, growing rancid and stagnant with each passing day. Unless the character finds a way to get rid of this Essence, he runs the risk of growing gravely ill. The symptoms vary based on the idigam in question, but skin might slough off, eyes might bleed (or change color), teeth grow continuously before falling out under their own weight, and so

on. In addition, the victim suffers one point of lethal damage per day, and this damage can only be healed through supernatural means. The disease itself cannot be cured until some way of bleeding out the Essence is discovered. Some spirits can do this, but since the Essence is tainted, many won’t risk consuming it. Rumors state that some mages can extract Essence through blood, but bleeding a sick person could easily kill him.

3. Spirit Manipulation: 
Attacking spirits is simple enough, and idigam can consume spirits for their Essence just as

ephemeral beings usually do. But the Idigam are also sometimes capable of changing one spirit into another, removing aspects of their makeup and replacing them. Often, this is as

concrete as shifting the spirit’s traits. (Attributes, Numina, and Influences). The

idigam cannot change the target spirit’s Rank in this manner though it can continually batten the spirit with Essence (see above) until its Rank increases. 

Consider: the idigam attacks the spirit of a beach, and merges its Essence with Essence stolen from a snake-spirit. The Shadow-beach changes first and most obviously; the crabs gain snake fangs, the birds grow long tails, and the beach itself changes from particles of sand to billions of snake scales. Even in the physical world, a beachcomber might pour the sand out of his shoe to find that it always curls into a serpentine pattern at his feet. If he steps on it, he might suffer a snakebite.

Ghosts, too, can be susceptible. Most idigam don’t even notice the unquiet shades, but a Moon-Banished with a particular interest in death might display this power. Ghosts are not spirits, but they do use Essence, and this allows the idigam to change them. However, their Essence does not resonate with a particular aspect of the physical world. It resonates with the anchors that the ghost leaves behind, and with the memories and emotions that keep it fettered. The idigam can play merry Hell with these concepts, changing a ghost’s anchors, allowing it to haunt whatever the idigam wishes. It can also change the ghost’s memories and goals, making the specter an extremely versatile puppet. The idigam could probably even prevent the ghost’s destruction by granting it Numina usually available only to spirits.

4. Manipulate Gauntlet: 
Idigam are capable of using Numina such as Gauntlet Breach and Reaching to affect targets in the physical world. Some idigam, though, are capable of manipulating the Gauntlet itself. The simplest and most dramatic way of doing so is to tear it open, allowing its spirit servants to enter the physical world (or its corporeal servants to enter the Shadow).

A more subtle application is to weaken or strengthen the Gauntlet. The idigam can use this application of Essence shaping before attempting to rend the Gauntlet, of course.

Finally, the Moon-Banished can reshape the Gauntlet. It can imprison targets, spirit or otherwise, in the Gauntlet by wrapping the barrier around them. Targets are trapped in the Gauntlet, and can only escape by forcing his way out. This is impossible for characters not normally capable of crossing the Gauntlet under their own power (normal human beings, for instance), but werewolves and spirits can continue to resist the power  (extended Clash of Wills against Idigam's successes) until they escape the prison.

5. Reform: 

The idigam can alter its own traits and capabilities. This uses the same system as described above for uncoalesced idigam, except that coalesced idigam don’t have quite the same measure of versatility without this specific form of Essence Shaping. The idigam can make any of the changes described under Shifting Traits and generally retains most of the Formless's ability to change and wiggle out of situations.

6. Su’ur and Other Claimed Servants: 

The idigam’s method of creating Spirit-Claimed servants is discussed above. The Idigam simply removes the target’s soul and inserts a spirit instead. Doing this usually requires that the target be incapacitated. The idigam might peel back the skin or slice the target open, or it might not alter the target’s flesh at all. It is possible for idigam to swap two humans’ souls, resulting in both of them taking on a strange hybrid personality. The idigam might insert a ghost into the living body, enabling the restless soul some freedom of movement (and probably still allowing it to use its Numina, as the target becomes “ghost-Claimed,” or dug-ús-thim, in First Tongue).

Idigam that indulge in this sort of activity can usually imprison spirits and souls in bodies or objects. The target cannot free itself, but can be freed if the prison is destroyed. The prison usually resembles a lightless patch, a small section of utter darkness and cold and may actually have substance.

BUT, WHAT ARE THEY?

The Idigam inspire terror in the hearts of werewolves, and rightly so. They are powerful, unknowable and utterly alien, but they have a kind of familiarity to them. They did, after all, spend millennia imprisoned by the Forsaken’s most powerful spiritual patron. No wonder, then, that they seem to be drawn to werewolves, whether out of revenge or curiosity. They

want to know more about their spiritual brethren.

Werewolves don’t know much about idigam. In fact, although some clever Uratha have made the connection between the idigam’s appearance in the 1969 and the moon landings, most have not. The story of Father Wolf and his banishment of the idigam to Luna’s prison is not a widely circulated one, and even when the notion does come up, werewolves tend to snicker. Idigam are from the moon? They’re aliens? Shouldn’t they be green, or at least gray, then? 

But that misses an important fact about them — they aren’t from the moon. They are terrestrial spirits; they were just banished to the moon. And that begs the question: what kind of spirits are they?

The Idigam aren’t the sorts of foes that werewolf packs can take down left and right. A pack might make a career out of killing the Pure, or Bale Hounds, or Ridden, or vampires, or any other enemy that might strike it as dangerous (or fun) to hunt. But if a pack destroys an idigam, other werewolves tell the story for years to come. Max Roman is probably the single

most famous werewolf in the world, certainly in North America, because his research allowed the Uratha to destroy one of the Moon-Banished. Other Uratha in other parts of the world have also achieved notoriety for their discoveries about the idigam.

Indeed, a Latvian Hunter in Darkness named Juris became famous for his “battles” against the idigam, despite the fact that he never actually fought one. He did, however, lead servants of the idigam away from their master by training his pack in a dizzying blend of shapeshifting and free-running through the burned-out buildings of his home city, and thus enable other werewolves to attack the Idigam successfully. An idigam is effectively

a terrible spirit god, and killing one is an epic feat, usually requiring multiple packs and a lot of casualties.

Finding out about the Idigam is hard, and destroying them is equally hard.  Despite her hand in their banishment Mother Luna and her servants are remarkably obleck about the idigam, even for them.

More Origin Theories:

THEORY: Spirits of the Primordial Ooze

Idigam did once have a physical analog. It was the moment of creation, the first time life began. But once it did, once the first unicellular organism began its swim through the stew of the nascent world, that analog was no longer present. The idigam, though, did not vanish, because that moment, that trillionto-one chance, was such a powerful occurrence that even the tiniest spirit born of it could survive its absence. And so the idigam continued on, devouring other spirits but never choosing to adopt a true nature.

The Moon-Banished, therefore, are chaotic because they encompass the possibility of creation. They are deadly because they are life. And it’s just possible that, if they were all destroyed, the possibility of life would be, too. The world might wink out of existence, or all living things might lose the ability to reproduce, leaving the world to the doom of slow decay.  Supporting this theory, there are rumors about luminaries like Max Roman and Rachel Snow, those present at the death of an Idigam are sometimes rendered infertile.  That is what happened to them.  Both there when Gurdilag died, both now unable to sire or bear children of their own.  Their ability to create life snuffed out.

Notes from Azazel: We might discover this through interaction with other, ancient spirits. A spirit of oceans, for instance, might remember its own formation and thus be able to explain the creation of the idigam. Spirits kicked up in the eruption of a volcano might, likewise, prove informative. Frankly this theory makes me wonder if the Shoggoth of the Abyss are somehow a dark reflection of Idigam.

THEORY: Alien Beings

Maybe the Idigam are from another world entirely, like the void spirits of unknown orgin emerging from deep space. Consider: meteorites impact the Earth fairly often. Surely they carry spirits with them, but rock is rock. The only way an alien spirit could survive the fall to Earth, the loss of everything that defined it (other than the stone itself, which isn’t really too different from terrestrial stone), is to lose all connections to everything physical. The idigam chose chaos to survive, but in so doing, they lost their memory. They could not remember a time when they were anything other than the formless masses that Father Wolf hunted down.

This begs the question, though: why have no new idigam arrived on Earth this way? After all, meteorites certainly haven’t stopped striking the planet. One possibility is that it takes an object of significant size to bring an idigam here (which raises some questions about, for instance, the Tunguska Blast of 1908, btw another name for the Idigam are the Tunguskans). Another possibility is that the creation of the Gauntlet prevented more of the spirits from arriving, acting as a “filter” around the planet’s Shadow. And finally, it’s just possible that the spirits have been arriving here, but have simply gone unnoticed — at least

until their banished brethren returned from exile.

Notes from Azazel: This theory is quite simple for a us to discover with a little creativity and observation.  All we would need is to be nearby when a meteorite hits Earth, bringing a new (possibly nascent) idigam with it. We can also spend some time looking into other such spirits, possibly using this information to destroy them more easily than would normally be possible. I hope this theory is wrong though, I'd hate to dream news of an upcoming

meteor shower.

THEORY: Luna’s Children

A theory that might have some favor among the Pure, but probably not among the Forsaken (at least, not out loud), is that the idigam are children of Mother Luna. Mother Luna created (or bore) them long before Father Wolf, and unlike the fickle Lunes, the idigam are pure unbridled chaos. They do not have physical analogs on Earth not because they are alien, but because they are children of chaos. Therefore, the idigam are simply idigam, completely self-contained spirits. Of course, this also makes them solipsistic sociopaths. They are incapable of understanding that the world outside them exists, much less that it matters, and everything they perceive is assumed to be a figment of their imagination.

Notes from Azazel: Getting Luna to remember the creation of the idigam, much less admit it, would be an especially heroic feat for even the greatest Awakened in the world. BUT! If she did, she might be able to recall them to her bosom, destroy them, or least grant them enough sanity to see what they are doing. Yes, some might choose to become destructive spirits — but at least, then, that’s all they would be. Discovering this origin for the idigam would require us to find a Lune or some other spirit that could identify the Moon-Banished as get of Luna. A totem for a Pure pack might be able to help, as might one of the three tribal totems of the Pure, but under what circumstances would they speak with a pack of Forsaken Uratha? If the pack could take audience with Luna directly (and keep its sanity intact), it might learn the truth.

POSSIBLE MOTIVATIONS

An idigam usually has a driving motivation, something that informs every move it makes. It’s all very well to say these creatures are alien, but if the creature is utterly incomprehensible, how do you fight it? Its actions just come off looking random. Remember that the idigam has no sense of other creatures being capable of feeling what it does — because they aren’t. Werewolves can feel pain, and maybe the idigam can, but the Uratha don’t reckon pain the same way.  What causes excruciating agony to a werewolf is simply of interest to the Idigam, because the spirit lacks the frame of reference to even understand the concept of physical pain the way a living creature does. While no one really knows what the Idigam as a whole or even one of them want, below are some possible motivations for the idigam.

1. Curiosity: 
The idigam wants to know everything it can about this odd world around it, and it doesn’t have any checks on the methods it uses. It proceeds in what might seem to be a scientific fashion, and can learn from its mistakes and past “experiments.” 

2. Revenge: 
The idigam remembers the endless night of the lunar prison, and it wants to make sure that Luna and anything remotely connected to her know that pain. This idigam might not understand how best to hurt the Uratha, but it is willing to try anything and everything in order to find out. 

3. Hunger: 

Chaos consumes everything. Everything in the universe must eventually break down. This is the “hunger” of the Moon-Banished: the ultimate expression of chaos. Such idigam might literally consume their foes, or they might alter spirits to do it for them. 

4. Loneliness: 

A billion years or more on the moon’s surface, with nothing around except stillness and silence, is enough to drive anything mad. This idigam wanted company, but don’t feel pity for it. It wanted raw material to alter and mimic, more than anything. This sort of Moon-Banished is likely to mimic werewolves at first, rather than attacking them, just because it

enjoys being around other sentient creatures. 

5. Desire to mate: 

Idigam cannot create more of their kind, and each one is effectively a race of one. The Idigam might want to ensure that its legacy lives on, or it might think it is the superlative form of “life” and therefore it should reproduce and take over. 

6. Desire for stability: 

It might seem strange, but some idigam want to be something other than what they are. They can coalesce and gain a measure of stability, but the idigam might look around at the living creatures and stable spirits of the world and long for that simplicity. Its activities are likely to focus on changing itself and then playing at being a werewolf, or a person, or an animal, or an ocean — whatever catches its attention.

BEFORE THE EAGLE LANDED

This essay posits that all idigam became active only following the moon landing in 1969, but werewolves have stories about similar monsters that date back centuries. Two  possibilities exist here: either those earlier creatures aren’t idigam, or some of the Earth-Bound became active long before the Eagle landed.

If the creatures that werewolves fought before the Moon-Banished hitched a ride back

to Earth are, in fact, idigam, the only thing that changes is that the Uratha may have some historical records (or legends, at least) to consult when facing them. A pack of Blood Talons faced off against such a spirit in Germany in the 1600s as depicted in pictographic representation of the battle, carved into ancient trees in the center of the Black Forest.  

The moon landing was a catalyst, not just the act but the metaphysical weight.  A milestone of some kind.  If the Idigam have stirred before, what other events might have allowed

one to wake? A lunar eclipse? A comet storm? A ritual on Earth, performed by moon-worshipping cultists? The moon landing might simply have allowed the weakest of the

Moon-Banished to come home. Where, then, are the strongest?

Consequences - Barrens
Some areas of the spirit world have been blasted and drained, leached of all the Essence that would ordinarily sustain a spirit ecology. These are the Barrens, areas of spiritual drought. Sometimes Barrens arise when the Gauntlet grows too thick, and the symbiotic relationship between flesh and spirit is disrupted. In other instances, a Barren may come into being as a result of thorough devastation in the Shadow itself. More than a few Barrens were spawned during the recent rampages of the idigam, when those antediluvian spirits devoured every scrap of Essence from the places they visited.

Consequences - The Suicide Pills: 

Once the stories started to leak out about what Gurdilag did to its captors, it became common practice for every member of a pack to carry a talen fashioned from a small piece of silver. Swallowed, this pill would kill a werewolf in seconds, but this would spare the Uratha from a truly horrific fate. An unknown number of these pills were created in Denver and the surrounding area during the war against Gurdilag, and comparatively few of them were ever used. Some must still exist. Carrying these pills constitutes a sin against Harmony, but after more than a decade, a few of them have been found by other beings...

LORE: THE INTERVENTION OF GAIA
There are rumors spread among only the most skilled of Ithaeur and Cahalith, that the real reason the Earthbound went into their slumber of ages was because of the combined efforts of not Father Wolf and Luna, but of Father Wolf and Gaia.  

This Story is True.

There was a final gambit the Idigam (that not been captured yet) tried in order to prevent their banishment to the Moon.  They chose to coalesce, turning their ever-shifting, quicksilver beings into something more solid, more real.  They still could not be killed by Father Wolf, they were true immortals and reformed as quickly as they were destroyed, only back into the same shape as before.

So Gaia entreated with the monsters, in council with man's mortal fears the greatest of the Beasts were crafted, Primoridal monsters of earth and flame.  Titans.  They were called the Behemoth, and they were created as foils to the natures of the coalesced.  And the Behemoth fought the Earth-Bound to a stalemate.  They couldn't be killed completely but they could not act in the world without being countered.  They hid, deep in the Earth and waited.  They could not die but they also could not live.  They entered the deathless slumber of the ages (Lovecraft much?).  The Primordials could not find them, for they hid deep in the flesh of the Mother Earth herself.  The Behemoth were so mighty that their mere presence shook the world, shattering mountains and warping the Primordial Nightmares of man and the dreaming world.  So Gaia sang to these living weapons, her children, and lulled the Titans into a slumber.

Then Father Wolf was slain.  The world was shattered in half, into the tangible and intangible.  The Dark Mother was slain, Mother Earth was reduced, man's first city fell.  The Time of Nightmares had ended.

Notes from Azazel: From this and legends like it, It's not really clear if the Behemoths are the children of Gaia, the Dark Mother, apart, together or with the Urfathar.  In fact, not really clear if Gaia and the Dark Mother are two different entities or the same one.  Popular mage cosmologists would say that the Dark Mother was a being of the Primordial Dream, maybe even the sum of Primordial Dream itself.  Gaia should be a shadow spirit, one of two Rank 10 entities in the known Tellurian (Sol Invictus being the other).  Neither of those Rank 10s are scientifically confirmed as you can't find or talk to them and live to tell about it apparently.  Well, at least if anyone has confirmed findings they aren't sharing with the common body of mage lore.  Adding further confusion, is Gaia a Celestial Spirit like the other planetary courts of the Deep Shadow or is she a Terrestrial spirit or Elemental?  All this gets confusing really quick.