Mason/Rites
Stone of Scorn - Level Two - The Stone of Scorn is a rock imbued with malicious spirit personifications of shame, sorrow and the like. Some septs have a permanent Stone of Scorn to which an offender is dragged, although most merely imbue a small stone with mocking energies. Starting with the ritemaster, this stone passes to each Garou present at the rite. The scorned werewolf is forced by his septmates to sit and watch. As each Garou receives the stone, he carves or paints a symbol of derision or shame onto it while telling a mocking or embarrassing tale about the offending behavior and other flaws of the scorned Garou. Moon Dancers are particularly creative in their verbal portrayals of the miscreant. This rite often lasts all night, with successive stories becoming more and more outrageous and derogatory. Once the night ends, so does the punishment, although the best stories are often whispered behind the offender's back for some time to come. Such behavior causes the Garou to lose Renown for a time.
Satire Rite - Level Three - A more serious version of the Stone of Scorn, a Satire Rite is a special song, dance and/ or drama crafted by the Half Moons and Moon Dancers for the sole purpose of ridiculing the offender. This rite is always performed at a moot while the offender sits in full view of the sept. Because the Garou keep careful oral histories, the Satire will be remembered and passed down through the ages. Any werewolf so "honored" loses much renown. Cubs snicker as they sing lewd verses from the rite, and adults will forever use some of the wittier quotes and embarassing movements from the rite when referring to the offender. While such stories are usually confined to members of the offender's own sept, Tricksters and Moon Dancers are all too happy to spread the new Satire to any Garou they encounter.
Tears of Gaia - Level Three - The Tears of Luna are said to be a foolproof way of determining the guilt of a suspected criminal. If there is ever any doubt about the guilt of the author of a serious crime such as deliberate violation of the Litany or rape or murder, this rite is involved. The suspected offender is first subject to markings on his body made by the ritemaster. Generally this mark can be in the shape of the offender's auspice glyph carved with silver and painted a silvery color. The offender is then splashed with ice-cold water, and exiled for one phase of the moon, starting with his own auspice. From that day to the next moon the offender believes that all rain that falls on him is liquid silver. The rain actually causes him harm, and he is unable to soak or heal these wounds. The wounds themselves are illusory. If the offender is innocent, he does not take any real damage from this "silver" rain, only believe that he does, but if guilty he suffers aggravated damage. Assuming he survives, the violator nonetheless suffers terribly.
Ostracism - Level Two - This rite is a fairly common punishment for lesser crimes, yet its effects can be devastating during wartime. This rite estranges the punished Garou from her tribe, sept and sometimes even her pack. The tribe will thereafter treat the individual as a nonentity. She is ignored as much as possible and forced to fend for herself for even basic needs, although no hostile actions are taken against the non-wolf (in theory at least, although some Garou have been known to injure ostracized werewolves "accidentally"). In a life-or-death situation, the tribe (friends and packmates in particular) might aid the offender, but even then only grudgingly. Otherwise, the punished Garou is ignored utterly. Garou present at this rite form a circle around the chastised werewolf ( if present) , and each participant calls out once to Gaia, then to her brethren the name of the offender, followed by the words: "Of all Gaia's children, I have no such brother/ sister." The speaker then turns widdershins to face away from the circle. Once all present have spoken, they drift away into the night.
