Let Slip the Dogs of War

by Gareth-Michael Skarka
November 14, 2000

Welcome back.

Things have been solidifying significantly during the past week. I spent a great deal of time thinking about what sort of story I wanted to tell, and during the latter part of the week, it hit me.

I had been wrestling with the idea of whether to do a dark fantasy game, or a horror game: a game where the players portrayed the supernatural, or a game where they fought against it.

I decided to do both. A game where players, portraying supernatural creatures themselves, struggle against even darker forces.

I found myself drawn to the legend of the Benandanti. Historically, the Benandanti were a secret society uncovered during by the Inquisition in 16th-century Italy. In their dreams, they took the form of wolves and fought against the forces of the Devil (known as the Malandanti), to insure a good harvest for their villages. Naturally, this dream-shifting ties the Benandanti in to the werewolf legends of Europe (in fact, my first exposure to this legend was in Adam Douglas' book "The Beast Within: A History of the Werewolf").

Now, I love werewolves. They've always been the monster that has most fascinated me throughout my life. I'm talking about the immortal, can't-be-killed-except-by-silver, doomed-by-a-curse variety (I'm not a big fan of the giant furry eco-terrorist kind which seem so popular with the kids nowadays). So, what if the Benandanti didn't fight the forces of the Devil in dreams, but for real? What if their shifting into wolves was due to their being cursed with lyncanthropy? The idea of a world-wide pack of cursed werewolves who still fight for the very structure of reality against overwhelming evil appeals to me, especially on the tragic-hero front.

Originally, I had wanted to feature the symbolism of the Tarot in my game (hence the name, ARCANA) because I love mucking about with archetypes and such. At first, I thought I would have abandon this aspect, given the werewolf idea. Luckily, I happen to be with a woman who is more than able to smack me in the head and point out when I'm not seeing the forest for the trees.

"Well, the spread of the Tarot was largely attributed to the Gypsies, right?" Laura said, giving me that jeez-yer-such-a-dope look. "Yeah," says I, "The Tarot was thought to have originated in Egypt, and even the name 'Gypsy' is a bastardization of 'Egyptian'."

"And what is another name?" She prompted, seeing that I still hadn't made the connection. "Romany." I said—and then it hit me. The Romany. Gypsy Fortune Tellers. The Tarot. Werewolf Legends. Romania. Universal's "The Wolf Man". The Old Gypsy Lady. "Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night, may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright."

Duh. If it was a snake, it would've bit me.

The idea that is cooking in my head is a secret society, founded by the Romani, of werewolves who organize themselves along the lines of the archetypes of the Tarot (more on this later). They call themselves the Arcana. It is their duty to defend this realm of existence against the demonic forces that regularly assail the very pillars of reality.

I will go into much more detail on this in our next installment. As always, I welcome your comments in the forums. Sleep well, and I'll see you next Tuesday.