In truth, the birth of the White Equinox was in part, at least, the work of Tasha Silverblood, even if Malice Ardens is better credited for its establishment. An odd pair though they seemed, the Silver Fang and the Wendigo influenced each others' thinking considerably, even if they mutually and adamantly denied it, and this relationship eventually led to what neither one would have done independently.
When Terri Wyrmsbane Barks-at-Strangers passed away without explanation, she left in her wake a political vacuum. The Golden Hearts were, at this time, a hollow shell of a sept, drained of their youth, clinging to the remnants of their proud heritage, or such, at least, is how Malice contemptuously described their state. The process to select a successor was slow and controversial, and Malice, Terri's dutiful protege, grew increasingly impatient and spiteful as he watched the indecisive efforts to find a new leader among the sept's skeleton remains. To communicate the events in brief, he campaigned to seize the Alphaship himself, but Walks-with-Thunder, the respected Khan, whose reputation and rank by far surpassed his own, scathingly vetoed the attempt. Simultaneous to this rejection, rumours spread that Malice had allied himself with the vampires, further burying his public image in suspicious disrepute. The Ahroun bit his tongue in fury and watched through narrowed eyes of reproach.
It was then that Tasha, his most intimate friend and confidante, first suggested the alternative: abandoning his sept. This option, though, revolted Malice's pride and stung his sense of honour. To leave one's sept, in the eyes of a Garou brave, is a terrible mark of cowardice and disloyalty. But the Ragabash insisted that the dying Golden Hearts were a waste of his talents. The sept existed only in name, she argued, and there was nothing real to leave behind; moreover, there was greater honour in seeing the weakness and building a new army to replace it. Malice eventually conceded. With crestfallen sobriety, the wolf prepared himself to break with his family.
Then, in poetic irony, Walks-with-Thunder privately admitted in defeat that no other successor could be found-- only Malice could take Barks' place. Would the Wendigo agree to lead the sept? This revelation spurred a new blaze of hopes in the Pure One's heart. Perhaps he could now seize the reins and reform the broken sept. Torn again between ambitions, he sought Tasha's disapproving counsel. She urged him to decline. Although she was loyal to him personally, her stalwart hatred for the sept ran deeper. There were others like her, she insisted, who would gladly follow the Wendigo's lead, but never under the banner of the GHS.
Tasha confirmed the sad truth for Malice. He could raise no following among the former Golden Hearts. If he were going to lead, he would have to change his colours and find his loyal friends.
Defeated by Tasha's reason, the lupine announced his departure and rallied the Garou to join him. Those who came comprised a small, motley bunch, of friends, fellow Wendigo, and some who had splintered off from the Golden Heart Sept in support of Malice. Gradually, one by one, others trickled forward, Tasha happily among them. On an autumn day, as he wrote out his proclamation, the old wolfchanger thoughtfully stared out over the field before the Den, searching for the name of his sept in the native tradition. His eye swept the blanket of fresh snow covering the earth and he decided at that moment what they could call themselves. Malice declared that he and his friends would thereafter be known as the Sept of the White Equinox.
The name Malice chose recalls the image of that day when for all the world, night and day were equal, and the wilderness was painted white. "White Equinox" stands for his chivalrous pursuit of purity, balance and perfection, Triatic ideals which, even if unattainable, must always guide the Garou in their struggle against the outer and inner evils if Grandmother's world is to survive.
The most sacred symbol of authority in the sept will probably forever remain their founder's favourite weapon, the resplendent "Sword of Five Winds." This very special Grand Klaive was a gift to the warChief fashioned and tempered specifically with his arm in mind. It is an awesomely powerful fetish that harnesses the respective boons of the four worldly winds and their Umbral cousin. Unfortunately, Orenda (a Wendigo word for "power"), as he called the blade, may never be wielded in battle again. Only the most spiritually enlightened swordsman can hope to attune to it, and if the blade does not share this bond with its carrier, its natural weight and length makes it a clumsy monster. Moreover, only disciples of wind, particularly kailindorani, can fully take advantage of Orenda's gifts. Thus, because such shaman-warriors are so rare among the Garou, the famous Sword of Five Winds stays sheathed.
