Caern Rites
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Caern Rites |
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These rites are of vital importance to Gaia, for they aid in the opening, protection, and renewal of the sacred spaces dedicated to her. Without such rites, the mystical flow of Gaia's spiritual nourishment might cease, and her children, the Garou, might no longer rest themselves within her protecting bosom. Without such renewal, even the most ferocious of werewolves would grow weary of battle.
System: These rites can be performed only within a caern. The dice pool required varies with each particular rite, but the maximum number of dice used cannot exceed the ritemaster's Gnosis. Unless otherwise stated, the difficulty of such a roll is 7.
General Rites
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Level 1
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Level 2
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Level 3
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Level 4
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Level 5
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Level One
Moot Rite
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 157
Description: A moot cannot open until this rite is completed. The rite recharges the caern with Gnosis. The rite always includes a prolonged howl led by a Garou known as the Master of the Howl. The howl varies by tribe and sept, but always expresses the unique nature of the sept. All werewolves present must form a circle within the caern itself before they commence howling. Numerous variations on the basic requirements exist. The Red Talons often bite their own paws and scratch their blood into the earth, while the Uktena pass their most powerful fetish from one to another as each in turn adds her voice to the howl. However, the howl must always echo forth and the eternal circle must form.
System: The rite must be performed at least once per month to keep a caern consecrated. During the course of a moot, the participants must empower the caern with a combined total of five Gnosis Points per caern level in order to replenish it fully.
Rite of Abscission
Source: WW3113 Book of the Wyld p. 59
Description: This rite is very, very new; only in recent years have the Garou learned enough about Abscesses to be able to find a defense against their formation. Affording the caern the spiritual fortification it will need to defend itself, this rite is not only dangerous to the ritemaster, but to the caern as a whole if not performed properly and in exact detail. Ideally, the master of this rite should be the same person that opened the caern in the first place. If this is impossible, the ritemaster must call out to the spirit of the werewolf who opened the caern and ask for strength and wisdom, offering up a gift of some sort or another in trade. Normally a chalice containing a small amount of blood from each member of the caern's Garou inhabitants is a worthy sacrifice, although the carcass of a Wyrm-minion, collection of talens or a greater fetish may also suffice, depending on the nature of the caern's spirit.
After the sacrifice is made (if necessary), the ritemaster must walk from the heart of the caern to the westernmost border of the caern's bawn at sunset and back again while the moon of her auspice is in apogee. The walk is performed while reciting the litany of every werewolf who has died in the defense of the caern since its opening. When the ritemaster returns to the heart of the caern, she must call out to the caern's spirit, re-affirming her sept's dedication to the caern in her solicitation for strength.
System: In order to initiate the abscission of a caern, the character engages in a resisted, extended roll of Perception + Rituals (difficulty 7). The number of successes needed equals 10 minus the caern's level.
The character is opposed by the mounting intensity of the forces of the Wyld that seek to manifest within the caern in an effort to create a Threshold. The dice pool of the wood-be Threshold is the character's Gnosis score, while the number of success needed by the Threshold equals the character's Willpower. The first one to garner the necessary successes wins.
If the character wins the contest, the caern's spirit has heard her call and marshals its spiritual as well as physical forces and allies in defense of the caern. The results of this call to battle are left to Storyteller discretion. If the character loses the contest, however, the Wyld's forces rally to attack the caern's inhabitants and the Abscess begins to manifest completely throughout the caern; assimilating, draining, and destroying all that seek to impede its progress.
Rite of the Opened Caern
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 157
Description: Caerns are highly spiritual places and are sacred to those who create them. Each caern has a specific power associated with it, generally of a beneficial nature. Thus, there are caerns of Rage, caerns of Gnosis, Strength, Enigmas, etc. If a character is knowledgeable enough, she may tap into the caern's power and use it herself. This is commonly called "opening" a caern. Opening a caern shouldn't be attempted lightly. Caerns do not easily give up their energies, and failure to harness such power properly can result in serious damage to the Garou.
Each caern has its own requirements of the ritemaster. The ritemaster must prove herself worthy of the caern's energies. In order to open a caern of Enigmas, a Garou might walk a spiritual path while calling out the Greek myth of Persephone. To open a caern of Rage, the Garou might transform into Crinos and chant forth the litany of his ancestors who have fallen to the Wyrm. the key is forging a connection to the particular spirit of the caern.
System: To open a caern, a character engages in a resisted, extended success test of Wits + Rituals (difficulty 7). The number of successes needed equals the caern's level.
The character must overcome the caern spirit to prove herself worthy. The caern spirit uses its caern level as a dice pool. Its difficulty equals the character's Gnosis, while the number of successes needed equals the character's Willpower. The first one to garner the necessary number of successes wins.
If the character wins the test, she can add the caern's rating to her dice pool when performing actions appropriate to that caern's focus. If she loses, however, she takes wounds equal to the number of successes by which the caern beat her. A botch indicates the wounds are aggravated. These physical and spiritual wounds are the result of a backlash of spiritual energy.
See Caerns Mechanics (p. 226) for a list of caern types, their powers, and the spirits that can often be encountered near them.
Level Two
Rite of Adoration
Source: WW3806 Players Guide to the Garou p. 197
Description: This particular rite is a way in which the Garou can celebrate and honor Gaia, or other subjects important to him. It generally involves putting up a small shrine, although many caerns have only one such shrine where the local Garou and visitors pay their respects and leave tokens and sanctified symbols as they perform this rite. The Rite of Adoration has countless ways of being performed, but it has a faint resemblance to certain Buddhist practices, as the practitioner often burns incense, chants, meditates, and prays. It always includes leaving an item of personal value, which has some relevance to the subject of adoration.
System: It costs one point of Gnosis to perform this rite, but when all the Garou permanently inhabiting the caern have erected a shrine and performed this rite, the difficulty of opening the caern deceases by one. If the shrine is removed the caern loses this benefit. This rite is usually performed alone, and is thereby subject to some divergence even among the most conservative of the caern.
Level Three
Rite of the Glorious Past
Source: WW3812 Book of Auspices p. 102
Description: A caern has its own history and heritage, regardless of the Garou that currently inhabit it. Learning the history of a caern is a fascinating undertaking, and one that can take years. However, this rite allows the Garou to experience the nuances of the caern's development as a fever dream, the years passing in a few short moments.
To enact this rite, the ritemaster must draw up a map of the caern as it was when it was first founded (which may require some research by itself). This map is then burnt at the center of the caern. As the map burns, all Garou present growl quietly as the ritemaster recites the history of the caern. All werewolves present see the caern's formation and any other important details in its history as though in a dream. This rite isn't of much use for learning new history, as the information it imparts is largely expansion on what the ritemaster is already reciting, but it does grant a new appreciation for the caern and the honor of guarding it.
System: The player rolls Intelligence + Rituals. The difficulty begins at 9, lowered by one for each dot of Ancestors the ritemaster possesses. If the ritual is performed successfully, each participant receives an additional dot of Ancestors until the next dawn; this occurs even if the character isn't normally capable of possessing this Background (as the ancestors thus contacted are former guardians of the caern rather than a given character's personal forebearers). Also, this ritual "primes" the caern; the next caern rite performed therein receives a -1 difficulty.
Level Four
Rite of the Opened Bridge
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 158
Description: This rite creates a Moon Bridge, a shimmering portal serving as a mystical means of transportation between two caerns. Such moon bridges are vital links between the sacred spaces of Gaia. Once per year, a caern must renew its connection with other caerns to which it wishes to maintain Moon Bridges. This rite is always held during a moot and must be enacted simultaneously by both participating caerns.
The primary requirement to open a Moon bridge is a moongem, or pathstone as it's most often called. Pathstones are found in the Umbra and are often the objects of quests. These extraordinarily rare stones resemble flat pearls with the imprint of a wolf's paw on one side. It's possible to steal a Pathstone from a caern, but such a theft is considered blasphemous and may well result in war between two Garou septs.
The rite establishes (or reestablishes) a spiritual connection between the Pathstone of a second caern by way of the two caerns' totem spirits. At the rite's culmination, a Moon bridge opens between the two participating caerns. During this time Garou from both septs can travel between the caerns to join a wild revel. Moon bridges allow Garou to traverse distances in 1/1000th the normal time required. This rite must be renewed once every 13 moons (roughly a year).
System: The roll is Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 8 minus the level of the ritemaster's own caern). The ritemaster may spend Willpower on the roll. If her pack totem is the same as the totem of the caern, she receives a bonus of three dice to the roll. If the rite was previously unsuccessful, the difficulty level of the rite is increased by one. The ritemaster needs to obtain a number of successes equal to the target caern's level to complete the rite.
If the rite succeeds, the Moon Bridge opens immediately and the spirit-bond between the two Pathstones is established. Moon Bridges may now be opened at any time between the two caerns. The Bridges may be opened with the Rite of the Opened Caern or the Ragabash Gift of Open Moon Bridge (if performed at the caern). If the rite fails, no Moon Bridge opens, and the rite must be tried again next year. Moon Bridges to the caern may still be opened, but they aren't as safe as they might be.
If the rite botches, no Moon Bridge opens, and the Pathstone in the caern is scorched by the badly handled energies. Botching this rite often leads to another rite — the Rite of Ostracism, performed against the offending Garou.
See Caerns Mechanics (p. 226) for moon bridge distances.
Rite of the Shrouded Glen
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 158
Description: This rite causes an area within the Umbra to become invisible, so that it can't be seen from any other area of the spirit world. At least five people must participate in this ritual, and they must fast for at least three days is required to purify themselves. The Uktena, who are particularly adept at this rite, maintain that all participants must come to the rite with their bodies clad only in painted symbols representing earth, air, water, fire, and (for the ritemaster) the spirit world
System: The difficulty of this roll is the caern's Gauntlet + 4. Any participating Garou can contribute Gnosis to this rite. the Participants must spend a total of 10 Gnosis Points to make the effect permanent. Otherwise, the number of successes achieved equals the number of hours the Umbral Glen remains hidden. If the area the Garou attempt to hide is larger than the caern itself, the amount of Gnosis required increases by two for each one-mile radius the participants attempt to enshroud.
The Badger's Burrow
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 158
Description: The guardians of the caerns become so connected to their bawn that they can sense all that goes on within its boundaries. The ritemaster enacting this rite gazes intently into a bowl of water, pool of ink, mirror, or some such. At the same time, the Garou pours a small amount of witch hazel or other strongly scented astringent (such as urine) on the ground in front of her. Any other Garou watching or participating encircle the ritemaster and growl softly in the backs of their throats. Some of the younger Garou (Glass Walkers and Wendigo in particular) enhance the ritual through the use of mild psychotropic drugs, although many Garou frown upon this practice.
System: The celebrant must make a successful Perception + Rituals roll against the difficulty level below. Each success enables the ritemaster (or the caern Warder) to ask one question regarding a defined area. The difficulty varies with the size of the area. Failure indicates that the Garou sees nothing, while a botch means the Garou sees what she desires to see, regardless of the truth.
| Area | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Small Room | 5 |
| Ballroom | 6 |
| House | 7 |
| Acre of land | 8 |
| Small forest | 9 |
Level Five
Rite of Caern Building
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 158
Description: This powerful rite creates a permanent caernby drawing the spirit world and the physical world closer together. Simply reciting the rite draws the attention of the Wyrm's servitors, and actually performing the rite has been known to prove fatal. Only the most powerful and wise mystics dare lead such an undertaking.
A powerful Theurge is almost always selected to perform this most sacred of rites. Many Garou must channel their energy through a powerful leader to have even a hope of success. Whole packs have been known to die in agony of failed attempts.
Once the physical focus for the heart of the caern is chosen, the area must be cleansed of all taint in preparations for its transformation. All Garou participating in the rite must undergo a Rite of Cleansing. The ritemaster performs a series of minor rituals, meditation, and other physical preliminaries to prepare for her awesome task.
The sept must post sentries (very often the players' characters), for servants of the Wyrm almost invariably attempt to disrupt such a great rite. Only the mightiest warriors are chosen for such an assignment, and their protection is critical to the success of the rite. The leader of the rite is helpless while he chants a long litany of verses designed to draw a great spirit into the prepared caern. Although it's possible to create a specific type of caern, most leaders leave this to Gaia and accept whatever caern she grants the sept.
Time: The rite must be performed between the hours of sunset and sunrise during the waxing of the moon. Only the Black Spiral Dancers create caerns during the moon's waning.
System: The rite requires an extended roll of Wits + Rituals, although the leader may only use as many dice as she has Gnosis. The difficulty is always 8, and it is modified downward by one for every five Garou participating and spending Gnosis over and above the 13 necessary participants, and 40 successes are required. Only one roll can be attempted per hour of the ritual.
Because of the enormous amount of Gnosis is needed to create a new caern, a minimum of 13 Garou, one for each moon of the year, must participate in this rite. Regardless of the number of Garou aiding her, the ritemaster can channel such a powerful stream of Gnosis through her system only once per hour. The rite must be performed at night. Therefore, the ritemaster has only either rolls (one per hour) in which to accomplish her task in most places and at most times of the year. This limit makes success fairly unlikely. If indeed, the rite does fail, all involved suffer five wounds. These wounds are not aggravated, but they are very painful, and they always leave small teardrop-shaped scares scattered across the Garou's body. Such scars are considered marks of bravery, and these "tears of Gaia" are often highlighted by tattoos or paint and worn with pride by the Garou. The Garou say the scars are the result of Gaia crying out for her children's pain.
Once the leader scores the required number of successes, all those involved in the rite must contribute Gnosis Points — 100 are needed. If the total Gnosis available isn't 100, all those participating in the rite begin to suffer aggravated wounds. Each wound counts as three more Gnosis Points toward the total.
Botches during this rite are particularly deadly. All characters involved suffer seven health levels of damage, which means that even a Garou previously at full health becomes Incapacitated. Those Garou reduced to below Incapacitated suffer severe battle Scars (see pp. 189-190).
If the minimum number of successes is rolled (40), the caern is ranked Level One. The Gauntlet of such an area is 4, and the spirits bound into the caern will grant powers approximately equal to Level One Gifts. Every five additional successes raises the level of the caern by one, correspondingly raising the magnitude of the powers the caern grants. At Level Three the Gauntlet of the area is 3, while at Level Five it's but 2. Immediately upon the rite's successful completion, the ritemaster must sacrifice a number of permanent Gnosis Points equal to the level of the caern.
If a player's character should somehow assume the role of ritemaster and succeed, she receives three points of Glory, five points of Honor, and seven points of Wisdom. Anyone else participating in the rite receives five points of Glory and three points of Honor. This is a legendary task and should be suitably rewarded.
Tribe Rites
Below are Caern Rites for each tribe. Tribe Rites are only available to learn within your own tribe. Click to expand for details on the boxes. By clicking on the name of the tribe, you can view all of their Tribe Rites.
Black Furies
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Level Three Meandering Path (Caern) Source: WW3851 - Black Furies Revised p. 74 Description: The Freebooters represent one of the premiere groups of Garou when it comes to finding new places to open caerns. Such locations have become extremely rare in these End Times, but every few years another pack of Freebooters will call nearby Garou to open a brand-new caern. The Meandering Path rite is the primary tool in finding such prospective sites. Its use isn't easy, or rapid, but over a long period of time it helps Freebooters settle on a worthwhile location for a new caern. Finding an appropriate location for a new caern has always been difficult and time-consuming; in these days, with a high Gauntlet and the Wyrm and Weaver crowding Gaia in at all times, it's even harder. In the last few years, the Order of Our Merciful Mother camp of Black Furies has begun to develop a rite similar to this one, which works in appropriately spiritual parts of cities. The Order has approached some Freebooter Theurges for aid with the rite, and that cooperation seems to be leading down a fruitful path.
Then, spend a point of Gnosis and roll Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 9) to carefully explore this swath of land for a low enough Gauntlet and the favor of the spirits. The Garou must collect ten successes on this extended roll; each roll and Gnosis expenditure represents three days of communing with the spirits and cautiously investigating the terrain. Note that if multiple Freebooters in the same pack have this Gift, they can pool successes, but the investigation still takes a minimum of three days to complete. Once a sufficient number of successes have been gained, the Furies still must use the Rite of Caern Building (or Bearing the Caern) to actually create the Caern. This Gift simply points out the best location for such a thing to be done.
Bearing The Caern (Caern) Source: WW3851 - Black Furies Revised p. 75 Description: While Black Furies may use the Rite of Caern Building, many traditionally prefer this ritual, which ties the opening of a spiritual site in with one of Gaia's other most sacred mysteries. After the Furies discover, cleanse, and purify an appropriate area, they simply wait until an appropriate focus for the ritual is ready. The focus, called Maia during the rite, is a pregnant female who's near to tern. She can be human, Garou, or wolf — though a Garou who is heavy with a metis child is an especially inauspicious choice. The woman need not be Kinfolk, but if she isn't, she may well suffer the effects of the Delirium if any of the Furies in the rite enter a war form. In the event that the involved Garou feel that they can't wait for one of their own (or one of their Kin) to reach term, they may kidnap a likely-seeming human or wolf female to act as Maia. In the End Times, this practice is becoming distressingly common. When Maia is near labor, she's brought to the center of the caern-to-be; female Garou surround her, singing hymns to Gaia. Non-Furies may be present, but they must be female; male metis of other tribes are forbidden, though Fury male metis are allowed. A single Crone may aid the mother during labor, but no other assistance can be given: The Furies present must instead fill their hearts with love for Gaia, beseeching her to take Maia as an inspiration, and create a caern here with the child's birth. Should the rite succeed it's said that the fates of the newborn child and caern are tied for the remainder of the child's life. The newborn is forever after immune to the Delirium, even if she's neither Garou nor Kinfolk. Different septs will treat Maia and the newborn caern-child differently, particularly if the pair isn't Kinfolk. Some septs take the child from its mother to raise it in its new "soul-home," while others adopt both mother and child as honorary Kinfolk. At least one sept has let mother and child return to their ordinary lives, believing that if the child's fate is tied to the caern's, it's best for the child to live out its true destiny. Even such liberal septs, however, generally set a minor spirit or low-ranked Ragabash to keep an occasional eye on the child and check after his well-being. The circumstances of labor and delivery also hold omens for the caern itself. The most auspicious birth is a healthy and quick one, where a Garou is born to a human or wolf Maia. A non-metis Garou born to a Garou (particularly a Black Fury Maia) is also considered to be a strong omen for the caern's future. If a Garou mother gives birth to human or wolf Kin children, the caern's greatest promise lies in the distant future, after the child's death as mentioned above, if a Garou Maia is heavy with a metis, the sept of the new caern will need to work hard to receive respect from other Garou. Long, hard labor tends to suggest the influence of the Wyrm near the caern. If Maia dies in giving birth, many Theurges believe that the caern and its Garou will play an important role (for good or ill) in the coming Apocalypse. If the child is stillborn, the rite fails; the death of both Maia and child during the ritual is considered to be a profoundly bad omen for Garou participants.
If all goes well with Maia, child, and ritual, the new caern has a base level 1, with a Gauntlet of 4. Additional successes improve the caern just as with the Rite of Caern Building; additionally, Maia, if a Garou, receives an additional point of each type of Renown (giving her one Wisdom, six Glory, and four Honor Renown). |
Bone Gnawers
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Level Four Rite of the Signpost (Caern) Source: WW3852 - Bone Gnawers Revised p. 77 Description: Bone Gnawers often surround their urban homes with wards and rituals to discourage passers-by from wanting to notice what's really going on there. Through the Rite of the Signpost, a ritemaster slowly works his way around a stomping ground or urban caern, leaving signs or markings to intimidate, misdirect, or confuse ordinary people from wandering into the bawn. Trash, graffiti, dead animals, and general signs of squalor can all convince the average human that there are some darkened streets you just don't want to go down. Participating Theurges and Galliards stomp about the area as part of this rite. As shameful as it may seem, this also involves marking a few sidewalks and walls with urine and stink. As an added effect to a successful rite, humans may get lost in the area surrounding the warded area, even a few blocks away. Garou must inhabit this area at least overnight; you can't cast this on a random neighborhood just to confuse people. The rite can't be performed on an area largest than a single building or alleyway. If the warded area ever approaches the size of a city block, the wards will begin to fail. The ward must be renewed each month (for a caern) or each week (for stomping grounds). System: Enacting this rite requires one hour of activity, the expenditure of ten Gnosis (any participants may contribute to this total), and a Wits + Rituals roll (difficulty 7). Record the number of successes. A human that consciously decides to go against his better judgment and enter the area must beat the number of successes on a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). This rite can't be performed on an area where the Gauntlet is higher than 8. Level Five |
Red Talon
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Level Two Rite of Defiance (Caern) Source: WW3857 - Red Talons Revised p. 73 Description: This rite, a rite that the Talons don't mind teaching to other tribes, is commonly performed by a Red Talon Galliard when a sept suffers a setback. The sept gathers at the caern's heart and the Galliard begins the rite by recounting the sept's recent defeats. The Talons believe in facing their difficulties realistically, and it is considered proper to allow the ritemaster to finish before the next phase of the rite begins. When the ritemaster finishes his howl, the other Garou begin their own cries. The Talons howl of hope and of possibility, beginning with whichever of them has the most hope to offer. As the howls continue, others join in, until eventually the entire sept stands together, howling their defiance to the sky, their spirits rekindled. System: The player rolls Charisma + Rituals (diff 7); her character finishes her song of woe. If successful, the other Talons take up the howl, and all Garou present regain one point of temporary Willpower. If the roll is a botch, no one feels hopeful enough to begin the rite, and everyone present loses a point of Willpower (the ritemaster loses a point of temporary Wisdom).
Source: WW3857 - Red Talons Revised p. 73 Description: While Red Talons do not normally have any truck with the restless souls of dead humans, they do manage to create a fair number of ghosts. Human ghosts are capable of doing a great deal of harm to a Red Talon sept, should they put their vengeful minds to it. Leading enemies to the heart of the caern, frightening prey animals away from hunting Red Talons, and generally disrupting the harmony of the area with their very presence are all possibilities. The Red Talons developed (or learned from the Silent Striders, depending on whom one asks) this rite to drive off or forbid a human ghost from entering the bawn of a caern. Performing the Warding the Lingering Human rite requires that the ritemaster have a piece of the human's body or something that he touched in life (if this object was important to him, the rite workds even more effectively). The Talon must then stand behind the object with his back to the caern and snarl, howl, and bristle at the object. After a few minutes, the Talon grabs the object in his teeth and shakes it until it falls to pieces. The ghost is thereafter forbidden to enter the bawn of the caern without expending a great deal of energy. System: The Talon must perform the rite as described above. The player rolls Manipulation + Rituals. The difficulty is usually equal to the ghost's Willpower, but if the Talon uses an object important to the ghost in the rite, the difficulty drops by two. If the roll succeeds, the ghost cannot enter the bawn of the caern without spending one point of Willpower for each success the player achieved on the roll each day (so if the player rolls three successes, the ghost must spend three Willpower for each day she wishes to remain within the bawn). Note that this rite has no effect on the walking dead or on any other kind of spirit. |
Shadow Lords
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Level Two Murmur Rite (Caern) Source: WW3858 - Shadow Lords Revised p. 74 Description: Developed by the Lords of the Summit, this rite is one of the many ways Shadow Lords keep their activities a secret. A Lord needs to know the Murmur Rite if he plans on leading a Shadow Moot, since it is used to open the moot and keep the discussions therein private. Though normally used to mask the conversations of many werewolves, this rite can be performed with as few as two Garou. System: Each of the Garou taking part in the rite contributes one Gnosis at the ritemaster's prompting. Once the Gnosis is collected, the conversations of all of the rite's participants are masked for the duration of the scene. Any Gifts, technology, or supernatural abilities that allow an individual to eavesdrop on private discussions automatically fail. If the eavesdropper botches whatever roll she was using to try to listen in, she actually gains some piece of misinformation that serves to mask further the activities of the rite's participants.
Thunder's Blessing (Caern) Source: WW3858 - Shadow Lords Revised p. 74 Description: This rite is used to draw Grandfather Thunder's favor upon a particular caern, investing it with a portion of his great power. In addition to bolstering the Gnosis of Shadow Lords who visit the caern, the rite also allows those affiliated with the caern to call down bolts of lightning upon their enemies, so long as they are within the confines of the caern. System: Performed during a raging storm, this rite requires an extended roll of Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 8). The ritemaster must accumulate 10 successes to successfully complete the rite, and may attempt this roll only once per 15 minutes (though for every three Garou beyond the minimum required to complete the rite, the difficulty is reduced by one). If the rite is not completed in one hour, it fails, and the thunderclouds above send down bolts of lightning to punish the offending Garou (inflicting five levels of aggravated damage). If the rite is successful, however, the Garou performing the rite must give up 25 points of temporary Gnosis. Once they do so, a bit of Grandfather Thunder lingers around the caern, granting an additional point of Gnosis to all Shadow Lords so long as they remain within the caern's boundaries. |
Silent Striders
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Level Two Gathering the Wanderers (Caern) Source: WW3859 - Silent Striders Revised p. 77 Description: Even though the Silent Striders hold caerns in the far-flung places of the world, the tribe must occasionally meet in the bare wilderness, far from any well-spring of Gaia's power. The Garou present take their places in the circle as they would around the heart of a caern. As their howls reverberate, a silent call races through the Umbra, summoning an Engling into the circle to sanctify the proceedings. The Striders say that the location of one vagabond moot, where great deeds were done and great stories told, was later successfully opened as a caern by another tribe. System: The player whose character leads the rite must roll Wits + Enigmas (target 7). If successful, the Engling arrives at the center of the circle within the hour. The leader of the rite must give the Engling a point of Gnosis; also, each Garou who wishes to bring a matter before the moot must also donate a point of Gnosis. When the moot is over, the Engling returns to the Umbra without having been hunted. |
Stargazers
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Level Five Rite of the Beating Heart (Caern) Source: WW3861 - Stargazers Revised p. 75 Description: These days, Stargazer caerns are particularly vulnerable places. There is, however, a rather perilous Stargazer rite that some have learned in case their caern is threatened and beyond the ability of the guardians to protect it. With this rite, a Stargazer may take the powerful heart of the caern into her own heart and secret it away from the place so its power may be planted anew, or at least added to the strength of an already existing caern. In performing the rite, a single Stargazer must first successfully perform the Rite of the Opened Caern. Once this is complete, the werewolf must then consume some part of the land surrounding the caern -- this may be soil from the ground, water from a lake, or even pieces of brick or concrete if it's an urban caern. Finally the Stargazer must plead with the totem spirit of the caern, begging and cajoling until finally the caern heart is relinquished for a time, taken deep into the Stargazer's own still-beating organ. But this rite carries with it an exhausting price; the Stargazer who takes this burden unto herself will die soon after performing the rite, as her flesh is simply too frail to handle the potent energies that accompany a caern's own spirit. Her time to affix the caern's heart back to the flesh of the Emerald Mother is severely limited. Knowledge of this rite is exceedingly rare. System: As directed, the Stargazer must first successfully open the caern using the Rite of the Opened Caern. After consuming some part of the caern, the player must roll for the Stargazer to engage in a contest of pleas and supplications versus the caern's totem spirit. The player rolls the ritemaster's Charisma + Performance, with a difficulty of the caern's rating + 4. Even a single success allows the caern heart to be "carried" by the Stargazer, but every success increases the time the Stargazer may "carry" the caern with her. One success allows the Stargazer to hold the caern spirit within for a number of hours equal to 10 minus the caern's rating. Every success beyond the first on the roll allows for one full day to be added onto the time allowed. If the Stargazer attempts to keep the caern within past this "time limit," she takes one unsoakable aggravated level of damage per hour until she dies. If the Stargazer dies, the caern dies and cannot be recovered. "Dropping" the caern heart into a new location requires that a number of permanent Gnosis points be spent equal to the caern's rating. If the Stargazer does not have the requisite Gnosis to spend, she may take two aggravated levels per one Gnosis point missing. She must still spend at least one permanent Gnosis point in this manner, however, or the caern is not re-anchored to a new location. At any time during the "carrying" of the caern's heart, the Stargazer may simply reject the caern spirit and eject it from her form without any roll or Gnosis expenditure - but this unequivocally destroys the caern, and it may never return. |
Wendigo
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Level Two Rite of the Fire Dance (Caern) Source: WW3863 - Wendigo Revised p. 67 Description: To renew the power residing in a caern of Healing, werewolves may perform this rite, which counteracts the effects of pain and allows the cooling powers of a Water elemental or other spirit to rise further to the surface. The ritemaster should prepare a layer of burning coals, wood chips, peat, moss, or caribou droppings. The participating werewolves then dance upon the fire, howling and capering, proudly declaring their imperviousness to the searing heat. Sometimes the dancers spear their paws or feet with layers of white clay, if such can be had, to prevent burns and blisters. They can also chew the leaves of several herbs known to reduce pain. Only these worldly natural gifts of Gaia, such as plants, animals, earth, or wind, may be used to protect a dancer from being burned. Mystical aids only drain more power and so a fire dancer should never use another Gift, fetish, talen, or other rite to guard her from the fire. Wendigo believe that they should enact this rite on the night of the 13th full moon of each year. System: A fire dancer must roll her Stamina + Rituals successfully to take part in the rite without damaging herself. Together all the dancers must spend more combined Gnosis than five times the current level of the caern, in order to refresh the caern's power. The completion of this rite also earns a dancer a point of Glory Renown. It is considered particularly good luck if the ritemaster cannot keep the fires lit once the rite has begun. |
