Mysterious Origins Few Cahalith tell stories about the great, fell spirit that spawned the Triblithu, whom most name the Blighted Queen. The tales that are told often disagree and contradict, though one thing all talespinners agree upon is that the Queen was was a most unwholesome sort of spirit, embodying disease and corruption much as the Plague King and even darker spirits of Pangaea. The Blighted Queen apparently didn't desire power or dominion. She just spread malady and infirmity wherever she went, blighting the lands of flesh and mud, tainting the lands of spirit and shadow, and laying ruin in the Border Marshes between them. Perhaps suffering wasn't an end in itself for the Blighted Queen, simply a side effect of her remaking the world a ruined bleak landscape more appropriate to her alien aesthetics. No matter what the great insect-spirit intended, her activities were an offense to Father Wolf, and so he hunted the Blighted Queen. A crafty master of stealth, however, she hid well enough to avoid Urfarah's judgment for some time. Most forms of the story agree on these general points, though beyond this they diverge. One version of the story states that Father Wolf finally caught up with the Blighted Queen in the Border Marshes and tore her asunder. However, he made the mistake of doing so where she had curdled the ground, sowing it with her tainted fertility. Wherever a piece of her or a drop of her ichor fell, a tiny reflection of the Queen formed and scuttled for cover. When Father Wolf was slain and the Wall between the worlds slammed down, the brood that formed from the Queen's flesh scattered. Those shards now seek to reunite and revive their mother's foul legacy. Another version is somewhat less popular among Uratha due to its humbling and chilling implications. It suggests Father Wolf never caught the Blighted Queen. The cunning spirit figured that while Urfarah could run down and kill one of her, he'd never kill an army of her. She somehow split into countless, minuscule versions of herself, better able to hide under the noses of those that would hunt her. This also allowed her to spread her putrid influence over much wider area, though it was diluted measurably. It's unclear whether the Queen could disperse her form and reform it at will, or if she meant to permanently form an aggregate of entities directed by a single consciousness. Whatever the case, this little trick backfired on her during the Susuru Hafarrakum: the sudden existence of the Gauntlet destroyed the single mind directing the disparate parts of the Queen, leaving mere remnants to reunite and continue the Queen's work. The fact that Triblithu don't have the near-rabid fear/hate impulse for Uratha that the Rat and Spider Hosts do lends weight to this theory -- after all, wouldn't the remains of the Blighted Queen remember and hate her murderers? Instead, the Roach Hosts appear to avoid Uratha out of sheer prudence, for the same reason any creature avoids a predator, and they don't kill werewolves except in self-defense. Of course, it's possible none of these tales are true, or all of them hold some kernel of wisdom but fail to tell the full story. With so few telling tales of the ancient progenitor of the Roach Hosts, and the disagreements between accounts, no one can say anything for certain.

The foul Triblithu, or Roach Hosts, are less common than Azlu and Beshilu and command less werewolf attention. In fact, due to their secrecy, many Uratha don't even know of them. These subtle Hosts have no reason to hunt Father Wolf's wayward children, and in fact Triblithu avoid them if at all possible. But unlike the aforementioned Hosts they don't manipulate the Gauntlet so mush as they poison it, along with the worlds on both side of the divide. The Roach Hosts' slow corruption isn't that noticeable (at least at first), but in the long run the damage they cause is probably worse that what other Hosts do. While Rat Hosts bring disease wherever they go, the sickness the Tribluthu embody is spiritual, a wholesale infection of Creation. These foul shartha contaminate everything they touch, bringing decay to the physical world and tainting the Hisil, turning once healthy areas into Shoals. Their progress is slow, taking a year or more to corrupt an apartment building, landfill or section of sewer, but are less often noticed and thus rarely stopped. And so more and more lesions break out in forgotten and neglected corners of the world, tended by methodical and patient harbingers of ruin.
Born of Filth: Most shards of the Blighted Queen live their lives as fairly typical cockroaches, though they tend to be bigger, smarter and more resilient than their mundane kin, as well as effectively immortal. Most Hosts are content to live simple lives in garbage dumps, sewers and wherever vermin like to dwell. They're safe from all but the most voracious predators, as they taste terrible (even for roaches!) and carry horrible diseases. The exception to this rule are Azlu and Beshilu, as well as other Triblithu (see below), who devour Roach Hosts with impunity. But there's plenty of territory beyond what enemy Hosts hold where untold numbers of the Blighted Queen's tiny reflections eat, breed and live as simple insects.
However, some Roach Hosts stumble upon a novel survival tactic: eat your own, and get bigger. A Triblithu that devours cockroaches grows in size and strength, which allows it to fearlessly devour even more, leading to rat-sized cockroaches out of the pages of urban legend. Many never evolve beyond this stage, at least until they stumble upon and devour another Triblithu. At this point something clicks in the monster's diminutive brain, and it begins pursuing its shartha kin to the exclusion of other prey. Each other Roach Host one eats increases its intelligence and size until it attains human mass. By this time, the driving urge to consume its relations has subsided, and it begins hunting for an appropriate human body to take. They aren't picky at all; any convenient human will do, though they're more likely to end up with vagrants, the insane, public works and utilities workers, and destitute poor that dwell in the squalor with them. Once a proper victim is found, the Host breaks into a swarm directed by its hive mind, which crawl into every orifice -- while creating many of their own. They devour the screaming victim from the inside out, finishing with the brain. The swarm then directs the nerves, organs and muscles of the body in a hideous parody of life.
At this point, the Triblithu becomes a true threat, having gained enough of the human's knowledge and memories to nominally interact with human society, or at least pass for one of them. However, there are memory and cognitive gaps that interfere with assuming that person's identity, and the Roach Host's insectile mannerisms, tastes in food, and paranoia strongly manifest in him. (The occasional twitch as a roach skitters beneath the Host's skin is also unnerving.) Even the most socially adept of the Tribluthu are disturbing and find it difficult to interact with people. However, it helps that those they usually inhabit aren't the picture of mental health and sociability to begin with. Nobody says much when Ernie the drunken bum or Bubba the sewer worker begins acting weirder than normal. Tribluthu become recluses, retreating to their homes or territories and fortifying it. They attract unevolved Roach Hosts, and feed and protect them until they mature. Sections of subway, tenements and even city blocks are thus overrun with Roach Hosts in short order.
Activity and Territory: Roach Hosts infest the worst slums, dumps, subterranean areas, docks, and similar bastions of urban decay. It so happens these are among the areas least likely to be patrolled by Uratha. The damage these creatures inflict include moldering sheet rock, rotting wood, rusting metal, an unhealthy Shadow, and abundance of hostile spirits. Of course, such things rarely stand out when surrounded by similar squalor, so they're easily overlooked unless a werewolf knows what to be alert for. With less fear of detection, Roach Hosts can afford to bide their time. They perform their work with alien patience and conviction, chewing and defecating on the Gauntlet walls and in both worlds, slowly infecting and putrefying them. While the filthy environs they frequent would appeal to Rat Hosts, their clinical and cold methods resemble that of the Azlu. Innumerable small shoals have been created by Triblithu, sometimes right under the noses of those who would defend the area from spiritual subversion. By the time the damage has been noticed, it's often too late, and the Roach Hosts have set deep, rotted roots into the area that are exceedingly difficult to extract.
Erudite, experienced or sensitive Uratha can detect anomalies in areas Roach Hosts frequent -- these creatures are subtle, but not invisible. An Irraka might notice a particular location's decay is just slightly worse than nearby areas, catch a whiff of spiritual sickness walking past a fish-packing plant, or perceive unusual patterns in the movement of a building's roaches. A scouting Ithaeur can pick out decayed and infected areas on the Zathu and in the Shadow Realm environment, or see dark spirits cavorting about the area resonant with building spiritual poison. A waste reclamation facility reports missing sanitation employees, while a landfill spreads beyond its normal boundaries. And wherever there are Roach Hosts, of course there's a significant infestation of cockroaches -- a sign that is unfortunately all but invisible in areas like dumps, sewers and certain slums.
Fighting Triblithu: Detecting the Roach Hosts or their work is just the beginning of a pack's worries, however. Then comes the monumental task of rooting out the shartha and healing the sick area. Reflecting the resilience of their more mundane counterparts, Triblithu are hard to kill. Some have survived all-out attacks from Gauru-form werewolves, being run over by garbage trucks, or even being riddled with bullets. And they have no compunctions against breaking down into a swarm of cockroaches and fleeing at the first sign of danger. They're less disposed to face Uratha than Azlu or Beshilu (no matter how strong they get), and prefer flight to fight. While not warriors, once cornered, a Triblithu's unsavory bite or touch can inflict virulent diseases, making ill-prepared packs reluctant to attack them. And once they shake a foe's trail the Triblithu hide until the threat is past, remaining dispersed until the time comes to form the gestalt again. Barring that, Roach Hosts will flee to another area and set up shop there. Paranoia and the survival instinct are paramount in Roach Host thinking; even a Tribluthu with an axe to grind against Uratha will immediately set aside those feelings when her ass is on the line. It's maddening for werewolves that wants to stop them, and the best many can hope for is playing damage control.
Redeeming the Shoals these Hosts produce is even harder than eliminating the infestation. Such areas heal very slowly, and can only recover when Triblithu aren't around to continue contaminating the area. Left alone for a few years, and defended from hithim and further Roach Host incursions, a Triblithu-created Shoal will recover after several years. Engendering positive emotions and performing special rituals in the area will assist this somewhat, though only dramatic positive events will allow quicker healing. Particularly devoted (or destitute) werewolf packs sometimes devote themselves to such injured locations, defending them and nurturing them to bring them back to health. Others desperately tend their established territories after the Roach Hosts decide to move in. Luckily sustained activity and presence by Uratha usually drives any Triblithu away, who are more pragmatic than determined.
On the physical end, the damage these foul shartha cause is tangible and permanent, as no rituals or optimism will get rid of dry rot, rust and mold. Redeeming structures can involve devoted carpentry and masonry work, as well as scrubbing the place spotless. Don't forget spraying and other pest control measures -- calcium carbonate sprinkled along the walls can work wonders. For a structure too far gone, tearing or burning it down is the only option. Landfills and dumps require clearing and a thorough cleaning of the area to guarantee the elimination of taint, though this may be impossible for all practical purposes.
Azlu and Beshilu are unintentional allies of the Uratha against the Roach Hosts. Both varieties of shartha hunt down and eat any Roach Hosts they find in their territory. No one is certain why they do this. Perhaps the other Hosts fulfill some ancient ban, are compelled by predatory urges, or are simply defending their territories. But wherever the Spider and Rat Hosts are established, it's almost guaranteed the Triblithu are nowhere in sight. Meanwhile, wherever the Roach Hosts hold ground (like Shoals), they keep the area clean from infestation by rival Hosts. (Note that very few werewolves know this, and fewer still are foolish or desperate enough to manipulate Host populations in an area so that they keep each other in check.)

Shoal Defender
Quote: "You should not have come here. Now you will stay forever." (Accompanied by a low hissing as air is forced out of bladders.)
Background: After dedicated effort on the part of Triblithu, a small corner of the world sours and curdles. Such polluted bastions attract other Hosts that gather and devour their own. The largest and most successful specimens grow ever larger and more cunning as they glut themselves, and finally take some destitute human's body for themselves, transforming it into a massive hybrid form better able to defend the Host's territory. By the time this happens, a Shoal is already long established and things have pretty well gone to hell. Such mutants are almost never encountered outside Shoals, the only places that cultivate them and allow their growth. If a locus exists in the area, a Shoal guardian can move between the worlds and defend both.
Description: An alien and horrifying anthropomorphic cockroach, just under a werewolf's Urshul form mass, covered with mottled raw flesh dotted with brown-black carapace. It sports vestigial wings and antennae, and has a face as much insect as man. Four large, spined and segmented legs support the Host's bloated abdomen; a vaguely human-like torso juts from the lower body, sporting arms with clawed hands. It smells of putrid garbage and unwholesome fluids.
Storytelling Hints: Your past is largely vague and undefined, with your first "memories" the first glimmerings of awareness from an insect's mind. You devoured enough roaches and smaller Roach Hosts to attain your current size and level of intelligence sometime last year... or maybe the year before that, you're still fuzzy on this whole "time" thing. You don't entirely appreciate sentience or have much opportunity to express it, being beholden to cold instincts and foul urges you neither understand nor question. Your entire life is crawling in darkness, killing, and bringing the abandoned factory you lair in to slow ruin. You cultivate the dark spirits that dance on the other side of the wall, though that's more the effect of your efforts than your intent.

New Aspects Apathy (●●): The Host slowly drains a victim's conviction and determination, replacing it with helplessness and numb despair. This change is one of increments and degrees, and making drastic alterations to one's personality takes time and repeated uses of this Aspect. Through use of Apathy, an enraged person can be made to feel only mild anger, then annoyance, then eventually worn down until he no longer gives a damn. This is a subtle power, and one can be reduced to indifference before he realizes it, curled up in a vermin-infested hole with open sores and not caring to leave. Triblithu use Apathy to good effect by eroding others' disgust with squalor and disease, decreasing the motivation of anyone (from Uratha to state health inspectors) to clean the mess. This helps them claim territory unopposed. The Triblithu spends one Essence and rolls Manipulation + Persuasion; the victim should be within [Essence x yards] of the Host, but needn't be touched or even be aware of the presence of the Roach Host to be affected. Uratha are allowed a resisted Composure + Primal Urge roll. Success negates a single point of Willpower from the target, though an exceptional success eliminates two Willpower. Once Willpower is completely drained, the character begins taking Attribute damage at a rate of one dot per use of the power: a dot of Resolve, then a dot of Composure, and then Resolve again, in that order. A victim can't be targeted any more than once per scene by this Numina, but recovering Willpower or Attribute dots is impossible until he victim leaves the area and doesn't return for a full 24 hours. Blight (Innate): This Numina slowly corrupts and taints the fabric of a location and the objects there. In the physical world, pipes rust, walls erode and crumble, wood warps, food goes bad, and wires dry rot and short out. In the Hisil, blood may ooze from the landscape, abstract spirits reflecting dark emotions and concepts are drawn to the area, and sense of foreboding and nauseous horror is cast over it. Like other Triblithu powers, Blight doesn't have instant and dramatic effects, and is much like gardening: laying the seeds of corruption, carefully cultivating its growth, then harvesting the crop of taint. This Aspect is less likely to attract attention than more blatant powers, which benefits Roach Hosts; however, its gradual progression can also work in favor of Uratha that discover the infestation, giving them more time to act. Use of Blight is an extended roll. One Presence + Occult roll is allowed per week, with a point of Essence spent per roll. From twenty to thirty five successes must be accumulated to turn it into a Shoal, depending on how receptive the area is to such manipulation; for instance, a crack house would turn quicker than a clean uptown office.

Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 6, Presence 1, Manipulation 1, Composure 2.
Skills: Athletics (Climbing) 4, Brawl 2, Intimidation 2, Occult 2 (Shadow), Stealth 3 (Swarm)
Merits: Danger Dense, Fast Reflexes 2, Fleet of Foot 4, Iron Stomach
Willpower: 4
Essence: 4
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Wrath
Health: 11
Initiative: 7 (with Fast Reflexes)
Defense: 3
Speed: 19 (with Fleet of Foot and species modifier 4)
Aspects: Blight, Swarm Discorporation, Breach the Barrier, Toxic Bite, Wall Climb (Aspects in italics are described in the sidebar)
Attacks: Bite [Str +2 L, die pool 7]
Armor: Carapace [2/1, Defense penalty 0]

Tenament Dweller
Quote: "Well, come in, come in! And don't mind the mess!"
Background: Some people live in abject squalor, conditions so filthy as to constitute a genuine health hazard. Many such unfortunates are so impoverished they can't help their circumstances, such as communities formed on and within refuse heaps surrounding Third World metropolises. Others suffer from mental illness that compel them to hoard. But people exist that live in filth by choice, too lazy to get off their asses and keep their living areas clean. They lay around while clothes, garbage, empty fast food boxes and assorted detritus pile up around them, creating a haven for vermin and disease. And occasionally, some of these vermin prove more cunning than the human residents, and they adopt the accumulated filth as their own...
Description: This Host has taken the body of a clinically obese and slovenly woman in her late forties with the appearance and health of a woman twenty years older than that. It wears a food-stained night-shirt and obscenely orange house slippers. The character is inactive most days: sitting, eating, flipping through channels and nodding off... though sometimes it twitches with muscular spasms, as if something was moving under its skin. On those rare occasions it moves, it does it ponderously and with a great deal of resentment, until threatened -- at this point, the swarm of cockroaches within directs its body with a surprising and almost robotic agility.
Storytelling Hints: You don't do much. You don't have to, really. The woman whose body you claimed did a wonderful job turning this place into a dump before you came along. All you had to do was lay some eggs and sow refuse heaps with "special" strains of bacteria, and now you just sit back while the whole place ripens. More and more of your Host relations come each day, attracted by the squalor, fattening on the cockroaches and each other. You manipulate your neighbors' emotions, eroding their will, making them not care about the smell, the insect infestation, or the cases of conjunctivitis popping up on your floor. Soon, with the help of your fellow Hosts, your influence will spread over all the floors of your building, already well on its way to becoming a Shoal.
Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 1, Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5, Presence 1, Manipulation 3, Composure 2.
Skills: Empathy 1, Streetwise 3, Occult (Hithim) 1, Persuasion 2, Subterfuge (pity) 2
Merits: Danger Sense, Iron Stomach
Willpower: 3
Essence: 3
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Sloth
Health: 10
Initiative: 4
Defense: 2
Speed: 9
Aspects: Blight, Apathy, Swarm Discorporation, Breach the Barrier. (Aspects in italics are described in the sidebar)