Tribebook: Shadow Lords

Rating:
Summary: Thunder's Tribe!
Review: Another really good Tribebook for Werewolf's revised setting, this Tribebook does just what it's supposed to: it informs you on the Shadow Lords in the revised setting. After getting through a film-noir type fiction, we get into a brief description on just who the Shadow Lords are and why they do what they do. They're in defending the mother at any cost. No wonder they can seem treacherous and brutal. We go through a brief history of the Shadow Lords, from their distant homelands in the steppes of Central Asia to the rise of the Ottoman Empire to the fall of the Soviet Union. Some neat sidebars on things like the Mongol branch of the tribe, the troubled relations with the Silver Fangs and even actions to appease the Bat totem for the actions of Conquistador Shadow Lords long ago fill out the chapter.
The next chapter is filled with information on Shadow Lord spirituality. Stuff about Shadow Moots, views on Gaia and the Triat, stereotypes about auspices and breeds (and surprisingly not as harsh on Metis as one would expect), an overview of the litany, totems (mainly Thunder and his brood) and so forth. Of particular importance here the various camps and secret societies. All the old camps, from the Bringers of Light (who infiltrate, spy on and subvert minions of the Wyrm from within)to the Children of Crow (spies and informants) to the Judges of Doom (enforcers of justice) are mentioned. The major secret societies have all fallen far from the Lords, many being actively hunted. However, I was particularly interested in the Children of Bat, a new camp dedicated to appeasing the Bat totem. Naturally, the Shadow Lords homelands in Eastern Europe, Russia, Spain and Latin America (as well as elsewhere in the world) are explored, as well as views on other Tribes and supernatural beings (especially their hated vampire foes).
The next chapter fills us in on mechanics. Shadow Lord views on Backgrounds are approached, as well as a new Background to make up for the lack of Allies! We also get a whole lot of Tribal and Camp-specific Gifts. Alot of them are hold-overs from Werewolf: the Apocalypse and Werewolf: the Wild West re-written for the revised setting. However, there are some great new Gifts, including some taught by Bat totem. Alot of brand new Rites are also given, as well as new Totems (Crow, Typhon and Bat!) and Fetishes (including the Assassin's Klaive) and a nice new Talen to help cut down on Vampires. Theres also a couple neat Merits and Flaws in there too.
I was taken back when I looked through the back of the book, as the majority of the Shadow Lord templates are actually pretty cool! So are most of the Lords in the "famous Shadow Lords chapter". One is the founder of the Judges of Doom (and is really frightening). Another, "The Iron Maiden" was a vampire hunting metis with no physical deformity... but a terrible curse. Theres also a Shadow Lord woman struggling against both vampires AND Pentex, and a potent Theurge redeeming the Bat totem. And of course, theres the Margrave Yuri Konietzko. However, by far the coolest was a Shadow Lord based off the Beast of Gevauden! In the story it even contains an ironic twist for Jean Chastel as well.
Over all, this was an excellent book, and is well worth it for adding depth to any Werewolf game