The Bone Shadows are keepers of secret wisdom, explorers plumbing the depths of the Shadow and of otherworlds even stranger. They understand the laws that govern those worlds, and they know the rites that allow them to punish the things that would violate them. The world has slewed out of balance since Father Wolf was slain, and the Bone Shadows constantly dance back and forth upon the scales, holding the line between the physical and the ephemeral. Other tribes confront the symptoms, but the Hirfathra Hissu strike at the source of the disease, for long ago they swore an oath: Su A Sar-Hith Sa. “Pay each spirit in kind.”
They are the hermits in the wastes, possessed of secrets that claw at the mind. They are shamans and intercessors, for the things they hunt cannot be slain by fang and claw alone. Their rites catch ghosts in bottles and bind spirits beneath mountains, and in the name of their Father they cast out angels. They speak the language of the dead and pry secrets from the lips of corpses. Their gazes pierce obfuscation and self-denial, and they see the things you love and fear above all others. They will take those secrets and twist them into a knife, pointed straight at your heart.
The Bone Shadows have a reputation for strangeness among the Forsaken, but that’s a product of their heightened understanding of the Shadow. Ephemeral beings obey laws and compulsions that seem bizarre to the outsider, but to the Bone Shadows they’re as natural and ingrained as “look both ways before you cross the street,” or “don’t bite the hand that feeds.” Taboos have power, both in their keeping and in their breaking, and the Bone Shadows know when to call on that power.
The Bone Shadows follow Kamduis-Ur, the Death Wolf. The most curious of Father Wolf’s children, she ranged deeper into the Shadow than any of her siblings. She sought out ancient spirits there, and questioned them about their doings and the ways of the hidden world. When the first Bone Shadows bound themselves to her, Death Wolf passed that secret knowledge on to them.
The Bone Shadows hunt the most dangerous prey: the spirits of the Shadow and other ephemeral beings. When spirits cross the Gauntlet to feast on the Essence of the mortal world, when toxic shades pollute the Shadow and poison loci with their foulness, when the unquiet dead rise up and choke the world with their necrotic Essence, the Bone Shadows appear with their ghost rattles and their nine-demon bags. Their howls echo in two worlds, filling the courts of city and wilderness alike with fear. When the Bone Shadows are on the hunt, spirits huddle in their dens and pray that the words on the wind don’t call their names.
The Shadow in Paradi City is extremely active despite the thickness of the Gauntlet in many places. It reflects hidden truths which the material world sometimes conceals (and vice versa). The Bone Shadows delve into these hidden places to learn. They see things, they witness beings, which have no easy correlation. The Shadow dichotomies they must constantly navigate can make them outsiders even among outsiders.
Forsaken are relative newcomers to the scene. The Shadow has been out of balance, by Uratha standards, for many hundreds of years at this point. Few spirits welcome the return of the Forsaken or will willingly cooperate. Yet they can't all be hammered into compliance as this will only cause them to resent the werewolves further. Bone Shadows extol Wisdom and knowing when to put their claws to use... and when more non-traditional solutions might be called for.
There are few natural spirits left in Paradi and the ones that do exist are nearly famished for Essence. The urban choirs are in full power and demand growth. Some theorize Paradi's very existence is related to imbalance between Flesh and Spirit, that this monolith of humanity never would have existed in the first place save for that. What's the solution then? There are no easy answers and the Forsaken are still learning about their proper role in the grand scheme of it all. Luna sends Her servants, the Lunes, regularly to 'check in' or 'assist' but they're as half-mad as He is.
Bone Shadows search deep into the Shadow as part of their oaths to Death Wolf. The things they've begun to find while only digging at the surface layers would turn back those of weaker wills. There are things buried deep within Paradi City which have no names and predate, and outlived, the cultures that first noticed their existence. Most of them slumber, for now. Learning the wards and words to keep them in slumber is a priority for many.