By Paul Strack
Jan. 1996
Domains
Occasionally a particular region will have such strong spiritual "coloration" that it will take on a different character from the rest of the Penumbra. These sites are called Domains, of which there are many different types. Usually domains reflect some great mystical power in both the physical world and the corresponding Penumbra, strong enough to warp the nature of both.
The Garou mark out Domains under the influence of the Weaver, Wyrm or (very rarely) the Wyld. These sites are particularly enfused with one type of spiritual energy. They tend to attract spirits of the appropriate type, and the corresponding place in the physical world will be touched by Statis, Entropy or Chaos (as appropriate).
Domains seem to be most visible to mystics attuned to the Living rather than Astral Umbra. Perhaps this is because Domains reflect the natural energies of a place, rather than its intellectual properties. There are a few domains that reflect on the Astral Plane. Such places tend to be tied with some strong concept or idea that germinates in the nearby physical world. An important church may create a Domain devoted to the divine in the Penumbra, while the office of a great mathematician may be surrounded by a strange concept-realm of abstract symbols and ideas.
The Shadowlands have Domains as well. These sites are usually the accumulation of large numbers of plasmic objects, gathered by wraiths from throughout the Shadowlands. Called citadels, these are the strongholds of the dead, where they gather in times of trouble.
Many mystics devote large amounts of time and energy to cleansing Domains of what they believe to be malevolent energy. This is by no means a simple task. To cleanse a Domain, a mystic must alter both the spiritual and physical worlds. It is not enough to change just one or the other, as the Echo Effect will draw the other side back to its original state. The cleansing of Domains is often complicated by the presence of spirits attuned to the local energy, who will fight to protect their home.
For more examples of Domains, see the Werewolf rules, pg. 172, or Umbra: the Velvet Shadow, pg. 106-7.
Sites of Power
As mentioned above, there are certain sites of power, places where the Gauntlet is particularly thin and these places are reflected in both the Realm and the Umbra. They go by many names, Caerns, Nodes, Haunts and Freeholds, but they all mean power. These sites are readily visible from the Penumbra, if unprotected.
Sites of power are usually associated with a particular kind of energy, through a phenomenon known as Resonance by mages. The nearby Penumbra will reflect the site's nature, and mystics tap its power more easily if they use it in a manner sympathetic to the site's Resonance. A site's energy is often most useful to one kind of supernatural creature, but most mystics look for magick wherever they can find it. Mages are particularly notorious for raiding all sorts of places of mystic power.
Because these sites of power are so important, they are rarely left unclaimed or unguarded. The inhabitants of a site will usually do their best to hide it from the questing eyes of others that would try to claim it. The Garou use the Rite of the Shrouded Glen to hide their Caerns, while mages weave elaborate wards around their Nodes. The faerie wrap their greatest Freeholds with veils of Glamour, while wraiths and spirits guard their homes with all the powers they command.
Many of these protections cloud the site's appearance in the Penumbra. There are several ways this is done. Some protections simply encourage wanderers to go elsewhere, moving them around the site. Faerie paths that twist searchers around in an impenetrable maze are one famous example of this defense.
Another method of protection creates a "bubble" over the area, with a false Penumbra in its place. In all ways, this false Penumbra replaces the actual Penumbra, but without the tell-tale signs of energy and power. Searchers can walk right over the site in the Penumbra without realizing it is beneath their feet. Only those that know the proper paths can enter the actual Penumbra attached to the site.
Some of the weaker sites are protected merely by their lack of power. A site that is weak enough will only attract the attention of supernatural creatures that are attuned to that particular kind of energy. Other mystics will dismiss the site as too weak to be of use. The weaker Haunts of wraiths and Freeholds of changelings fall into this category.