Bubasti

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"If there's a viper in your soul, purge it. The road we walk is treacherous enough alone." Bastet Breedbook pg.#53

Green Eyes in the Dark

The Bubasti are of Egypt. The Tribe's ancestral homeland is ever-most in their minds, and even the most far-flung shadowcat is at the beck and call of the tribe's arch-elders, the Kheper council. For centuries, the Shadowcats have been regarded as an also-ran in the ancient war between the shapechangers of Africa and the pernicious Followers of Set. When Set cursed the Bubasti and obliterated their closest Kin, many of his get thought their feline rivals defeated forever.

"Forever" is a very long time. And vampires have a nasty habit of failing to anticipate change.

** Pictures and Title all taken from Bastet Breedbook pg.# 51-53 **

Bubasti Gifts

PGttCB 70-72, Bastet 108-110

Level 1 Alms to the Poor Scholar's Friend

Level 2 Dreamspeak Spirit Barrier Mousemaze Spirit Ward

Level 3 Banish Cahlash's Brood Babel's Cure (The Many Tongues of Ptah)

Level 4 Shadowplay The Scarab's Flight

Level 5 Shadow Pack (Shadow Brethren) Deny the Hungry Spirit Wall

Bubasti Gift Details

Rank 1 Alms to the Poor - Beggars are an all-too-common feature of the Bubasti homelands. As a kindness (and perhaps as a bribe to the gods), the shadowcats developed this secret, which allows one to conjur up a small bit of food or money to give to a beggar. Naturally, the cat can use the "alms" for himself, but they taste slightly bitter and leave the palm greasy if used for selfish means. System: The player spends a point of Gnosis and rolls his Gnosis against difficulty 6. Each success creates a handful of food or cheap copper coins (no bills, silver or gold). Most Bubasti disguise this "miracle" by reaching into a sack or box before sharing this wealth. (PGttCB p70, Bastet BB p108) Scholar's Friend - A simple yet helpful Gift, this secret allows a Bubasti to read a book, scroll or tablet in any written language. This talent doesn't teach the cat any new language, nor will it help him understand esoteric concepts or missing bits of text. Even so, the ability to read anything set in front of you is a subtle yet powerful gift. System: The shadowcat spends a Gnosis point, rolls his Willpower and begins reading. The difficulty of the roll depends on the obscurity of the text. Language Difficulty Modern 5 Scholarly (Latin, Sanskrit) 6 Archaic or dead (Aramaic) 7 Common pictograms (classic Egyptian) 8 Obscure pictograms (Sigils of Mu) 9 Personal codes/lost cuneiform 10 Only one roll is allowed per reading session. The Gift lasts for one hour per success, and the cat must rest his eyes for several hours after finishing. A failed roll doesn't necessarily mean the werecat couldn't read the text; it may mean that he read it wrong. Storytellers are advised to keep the difficulty of the roll a secret, and to base the information given on the success of the roll. One success lets the cat get the general idea, while four successes or more indicate complete understanding. (PGttCB p71, Bastet BB p108) Rank 2 Dreamspeak - As the Garou Galliard Gift. (PGttCB p71) Mousemaze - An unsettling spell of confusion, this Gift disorients a target until he blunders around in a panic. Walls shift and close in, shadows lengthen, sounds drift to his ears from all corners, and familiar places seem strange and threatening. Although the magic has no real effect on the person's surroundings, his terror and confusion send him into a frenzy, making him an easy target for the werecat lurking nearby... System: The cat's player rolls Manipulation + Empathy, with the target's Willpower (or Rage, if higher) as a difficulty. Success scrambles his sense of direction and relationship. The better the roll, the more confused the target becomes. Three success or more send him into a panic; werewolves and vampires must check for frenzy; mages must make Willpower rolls or go into short Quiet; mere humans just freak out. This disorientation lasts about 15 minutes, then slowly fades. (Bastet BB p109) Spirit Ward - Called 'Spirit Barrier' in Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds - By employing the eldritch enigmas of Egypt, a Bubasti can wall an area off from spirit-traffic. No spirit can move in or out of the warded place without the cat's permission. Naturally, the stronger chaya can shred this barrier like papyrus; still, the wisest werecats can erect stronger barriers than their youngers can... System: By spending a Gnosis point and rolling her Willpower against difficulty 8, the Bubasti erects a barrier across an area no larger than 30 by 30 feet. Each success the player rolls raises the Gauntlet around the area by 1 (maximum 10) and extends it so that the barrier exists in both the material and Penumbral worlds. This irritates the spirits, and they can often tell who's to blame. The Ward lasts one day ber point of Gnosis in the Cat's permanent pool, unless some spirit destroys it, which a chaya can do by rolling its Rage against the new Gauntlet rating. Three successes or more will turn the Ward to spirit dust. (PGttCB p71, Bastet BB p109) Rank 3 Banish Cahlash's Brood - By calling upon the Father of Dark Spirits, a Bubasti may command one of his brood to depart. Of course, powerful spirits or ones bound into fetishes wont be easily dismissed; doing so may demand great rituals or even a sacrifice. Small independent elementals or banes, however, may be banished with slight effort. Calling upon Cahlash has a price: each time the werecat performs this Gift, his fur grows a deeper shade of black and his actions become more... erratic. Garou or Bastet who Sense Wyrm on him will detect the Unmaker's essence upon him until he purges himself somehow. The more spirits he banishes, the deeper the taint becomes. System: The cat's player rolls Manipulation + Enigmas and spends a Willpower point to attempt to dismiss a spirit. The difficulty is the spirit's Gnosis, or its Rage, if the latter is higher. Each success removes 3 points of the spirits Power/Essence. Getting rid of a powerful spirit might require an extended roll or two (of course, the spirit wont sit still in the meantime...). For fetishes, the difficulty is 6 + the level of the fetish, to a maximum of 10 (a level 4 fetish would be difficulty 10, as would a level 5). Sacrificing a bit of blood to Cahlash may add to the Gift's effectiveness. For every health level "spent" this way, the Bubasti lowers his difficulty by 1. The spirit isn't under any obligation to sit still during the process, and may attack the Bastet until either the werecat stops or the spirit disappears. Nala help the werecat who botches this Gift; doing so requires a frenzy check against a difficulty of 6, and failure fills the cat with Wyrm taint. Atonement isn't impossible, but ridding one's self of the dark taint often requires rigorous quests without Renown. (PGttCB p71, Bastet BB p109) The Many Tongues of Ptah - As the Homid Gift: Babel's Cure. (Bastet BB p101) Rank 4 The Scarab's Flight - By calling together the elements of her soul, a Bubasti can send them out of her body for a while. The body itself enters a deathlike trance until the Scarab returns; although it doesn't decompose, all other signs (magical and otherwise) declare that the cat has died. The flying Scarab resembles an ordinary insect unless inspected with magical senses, in which case it glows brightly. System: Manifesting a soul into the beetle shape requires a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 8) and a one-Gnosis expenditure. From there, it takes wing from some orifice or crawls away unnoticed (Perception + Alertness, difficulty 9, to spot). The body remains intact for one day per success, during which time the Scarab can reenter and resurrect the cat. After the time limit passes, the body instantly decays, even if it has been preserved some how. (Bastet BB p109) Shadowplay - As the Theurge Gift. Unlike the werewolf Gift, the Bubasti does not have to mimic the shadow's movements; once free, it can go about its business as if it were a perfect duplicate of the Bastet. Also unlike the Garou Gift, some light must be present to cast the shadow in the first place. (PGttCB p72, Bastet BB p109) Rank 5 Deny the Hungry - As the Bastet Homid Gift. (PGttCB p72, Bastet BB p102) Shadow Brethren - As the Garou Shadow Lord Gift: Shadow Pack. (PGttCB p72) Spirit Wall - One of the greatest tricks a Bubasti learns is the art of calling together minor spirits from around the area and forming them into a wailing Umbral wall. Such magics do not endear a cat to the spirits in general, but by the time she achieves this Rank, a Bubasti should have enough sense to use such a power wisely - and enough power to protect herself when she uses it at all. System: The player rolls Manipulation + Enigmas. The difficulty can range from 6 to 10, depending on how many minor spirits are nearby. This takes two turns. To shape the assembled chaya into a wall, she spends two Gnosis points and rolls a contested roll between her Willpower and the spirits' (assume a dice pool of three dice for every success the Bubasti scores on her earlier roll). If she succeeds, the resulting wall blocks spirits, imposes a Gauntlet of 10 and lasts for one turn per success on the Willpower roll. If she fails, the spirits remain unbound, unformed, and angrier than hell. (Bastet BB p109)