Pith and Vinegar

Last time I ruminated about this project, I was stopped by some people, who declared that these new Lost already existed. Vampires were aligned to Stygia, werewolves to the Primal Wilds, Prometheans to the Aether, and so on. But this is a simplistic view at best. Changelings are explicitly forged in the Arcadian Realm and return to Earth. Vampires haven’t. Just because they’re undead and Stygia is a Realm of Death, doesn’t mean that  the two are related in any way other than the superficial. At best, vampires are a Fallen reflection of Supernal death concepts. Likewise for Prometheans; their Azoth may be a reflection of the Primal energies of the Aether, but the Created themselves do not come from the Aether and seem to have no concept of it.

Werewolves are even worse; they have their own Realm to go gallivanting off to: the Shadow.  But again, even saying the Shadow is a Fallen reflection of the Primal Wilds is specious at best, and more of a square peg-in-round hole argument from those looking to neatly slot existing supernaturals into Supernal categories. This argument may actually come from a leftover association with the Shadow as the Umbra of the old WOD. The Shadow is a bizarre, disturbing realm in which spirits live, but is not inherently opposed or antagonistic towards cities or other modern accoutrements; they simply breed a different type of spirit. The Primal Wilds, however, are exactly what the name suggests: a Realm where Nature itself rules all.

But I digress. Existing supernaturals are clearly not Supernal Lost, and any Supernal Lost are not any of the existing supernaturals… although they might possibly be mistaken for them.