A spirit entity native to the Umbra.
Umbrood Ranks
Middle Umbra terms: Gaffling, Jaggling
From 2nd Edition forward, Mage authors emphasized the relationship between umbrood. Books state messing with a low-level umbrood will make it complain to its more powerful boss. The boss will then chase down the mage. This idea started in Werewolf: the Apocalypse. It makes sense there because werewolves are part of a family & tradition of spirits. They’re not supposed to bully weak spirits for an immediate advantage. White Wolf authors brought this idea whole-cloth into Mage because they didn’t want mage characters throwing their weight around in the Umbra. The assumption is the Umbra must be as civilized a place as modern Western countries. They don’t want a “wild West” where strong mages rise to the top. There are some problems with this. It can reduce player agency. Every Mage player is worried about offending the spirits so they don’t try anything. Also, mages aren’t part of an ancient family of spirits. High Umbra spirits aren’t identical to Middle Umbra spirits. Many spirits aren’t part of a family. The idea doesn’t fit in Mage like it does in Werewolf. As a Storyteller, I give players more freedom and allow the Umbra to be more wild.
Some umbrood always look the same. Some take on different appearances in different places or to different individuals. Those with shifting appearances still have a governing theme (like “messenger”) and often have something that lets a mage connect the different appearances (personality, desires, mode of speech).
See Anakim pg. 93 Manifesto: Transmissions from the Rogue Council
Basilisk & Zagglaaw pg. 196 Book of the Fallen are interesting ideas for Digital Web umbrood.