Difference between revisions of "Punishment Rites"
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Latest revision as of 13:50, 28 July 2021
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Punishment Rites |
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Punishment Rites levy the sanction of the tribe or sept against a transgressing werewolf. Such rites strengthen the Garou by establishing clear limits of acceptable behavior. By joining in the punishment, each Garou strengthens her commitment to the pack over the individual.
System: Punishment Rites are performed only for major transgressions or after less structured punishments fail to cause a Garou to mend her ways. The ritemaster must make a Charisma + Rituals roll (difficulty 7 unless otherwise stated). A failed rite is considered a sign from Gaia that the offending Garou's crimes are not considered significant enough to warrant such a punishment. At the Storyteller's discretion, punishment rites may fail automatically if the target is truly innocent - leading to a sure Renown loss for her accusers.
General Rites
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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 Two
Rite of Ostracism
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 162
Description: 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 the 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 Garou "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 Garou 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.
System: This punishment normally lasts from one phase of the moon to the next. It can, however, last as long as the sept or tribe leaders desire. For serious crimes the punishment may even be decreed permanent, essentially exiling the offender form her tribe. The ostracized Garou loses one point of Glory Renown, five points of Honor Renown, and one point of Wisdom Renown.
Stone of Scorn
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 162
Description: 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 site and watch. As each Garou receives the stone, he carves or paints a symbol of derision, shame, etc. onto it while telling a mocking or embarrassing tale about the offending behaviour 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 and insults are often whispered behind the offender's back for some time to come. Such behaviour causes the Garou to lose Renown for a time.
System: Standard roll. The punished Garou usually loses eight points of Honor Renown and two points of Wisdom Renown until he performs an honorable deed, thus removing the taint of scorn.
Voice of the Jackal
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 162
Description: When a werewolf's behavior has shamed not just herself, but her entire sept or tribe, then this rite may be called. When the ritemaster performs this rite, he blows a handful of dust or ashes onto the offender and speaks the following: "Because thy (cowardice/gluttony/selfishness/etc.) has proved thee to be of jackal blood, let thy voice proclaim thy true breed!" As the dust and words envelop the punished Garou, her voice changes. Thereafter, she will speak in an annoying shrill and piercing nasal whine until the ritemaster repeals the punishment.
System: Jackal-hounds, as such punished Garou are known, subtract two from all dice used in all Social rolls. They also lose two points of Glory Renown and five points of Honor Renown. The ritemaster can repeal this punishment at any time, although for particularly serious crimes it may be made permanent (and the Renown loss always remains). Certain jackal-hounds have reclaimed their true voices by completing a quest of great benefit to Gaia.
Level Three
Satire Rite
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 163
Description: 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 is 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 embarrassing movements when referring to the offender. While such stories are usually confined to members of the offender's own tribe, Tricksters and Moon Dancers are all too happy to spread the new Satire to any Garou they encounter.
System: The difficulty of this rite is the offender's current Rank + 4. If successful, the offender loses one permanent Rank level (reduce his Renown to the beginning amounts for the next lowest Rank). The Garou can earn new Renown and Rank normally. If this rite fails, the Garou loses no Rank, while a botch causes the ritemaster to lose five points of Wisdom as she becomes the object of the rite.
Tears of Luna
Source: WW3806 Players Guide to the Garou p. 199
Description: 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 a deliberate violation of the Litany or rape or murder, this rite is invoked.
The suspected offender is first subject to markings on his body made by the ritemaster. Generally this mark can be 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.
System: The one moon this trial lasts the suspected criminal cannot replenish his Gnosis. The drops of rain hitting him feels like shards of silver driving into his skin. The "silver" does one point of aggravated damage per rainfall. The suspected offender can spend Willpower to ignore the illusion for the duration of one scene, but he cannot heal any of the wounds caused by the silver rain until the trial is over.
For some reason, it always seems to rain just a little bit more when this rite is invoked.
The Hunt
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 162
Description: The Hunt is called against a werewolf who has committed a capital crime such as unwarranted murderer, yet who still retains a vestige of honor. All Garou participating in a Hunt streak their bodies with ancient symbols in paint or clay. These symbols mark the werewolves as part of a Hunting Pack, and all other Garou will make way for Hunters so marked. It is an honor to be chosen for inclusion in a Hunt. The ritemaster, or Master of the Hunt, leads the pack. The Hunt is just that; the criminal is hunted down and killed by the pack. There is no quarter given, although (for what it's worth) death exculpates the condemned Garou. Many tragic stories tell of a werewolf forced to choose between violating his word and committing a grave crime. Such Garou, so the stories go, chose to honor their word and were Hunted, but displayed such valor during their last stand that they gained much posthumous Renown.
System: This rite can be roleplayed using the tracking rules given in Chapter Six. Alternatively, it can be simulated by rolling the ritemaster's Charisma + Rituals (difficulty of the condemned's Rank + 4). Failure means that the condemned fought well and is accorded much posthumous Glory, while a botch means he eluded his Hunters and can live out his life as a Ronin.
Level Four
Rite of the Silver Death
Source: WW3812 Book of Auspices p. 80
Description: Only the Rite of Gaia's Vengeful Teeth is a worse punishment than the Rite of Silver Death. The werewolves reserve it for those who kill their own kind without provocation or lawful challenge but rather through cold, calculated murder in order to achieve some aim or goal. For example, a werewolf who kills another to steal a fetish or ascend to power would be a likely candidate to suffer this punishment... if he could be proven guilty. A lesser crime might warrant a Hunt, where the offender may at least redeem herself by dying well; but in the Silver Death there's no redemption, only further shame and humiliation. Before the assembled werewolves (at least two others) and spirits, the ritemaster recites the crime(s) of the offender. As he does so, all strength drains from the offender's body, so that she may do nothing but cower as one of the Garou (usually the ritemaster, sometimes the murdered one's pack mate or Kin) raises the klaive for the deathblow.
System: A Charisma + Rituals roll (difficulty 7) is all that's necessary to rob the offender of all strength. The doomed one can't step sideways or move from her spot. A Willpower roll (difficulty 4 + the ritemaster's successes) is necessary to stand bravely at the end; a failure costs 1 temporary Glory and 2 temporary Honor, while a botch costs twice as much (as the doomed one broke at the end and groveled most pathetically).
Rite of the Silver Forge
Source: WW3111 Umbra - (Revised) p. 135
Description: This rare punishment rite is reserved for culprits who have proven themselves to be demonstrably tainted yet who are deemed to yet have some hope of redemption. If performed correctly, this rite creates a direct link between the target and the Near Realm of Erebus; the next time the target steps sideways, she appears in Erebus rather than the Penumbra, and cannot leave until Charyss has deemed her "cleansed." This rite works only against Garou targets; non-Garou do not possess the proper connection to Erebus in the first place.
System: The rite is handled with the usual roll for a punishment rite (Charisma + Rituals, difficulty 7). The participants must know the target and must believe wholeheartedly that she is guilty of crimes against Gaia, but capable of repenting. The rite participants do not have to be in the presence of the target - all that is required is that the know the target's Garou name and be within 100 miles of the target. Upon successful completion of the rite, the ritemaster must then make a Gnosis roll (difficulty of the target's Gnosis).
If the rite is cast unjustly, the ritemaster suffers the effect instead, and must account for his lack of fair judgment in Erebus the next time he tries to enter the Umbra.
Rite of the Stolen Wolf
Source: WW3108 Werewolf Players Guide 2nd Ed p. 47
Description: This rite is usually enacted for crimes against other Garou or Kinfolk. The ritual strips a Garou of all her Rage. She thus loses the wolf and can no longer shapeshift, frenzy, gain Rage or spend it. Typically, this punishment lasts for a set amount of time depending on the crime's severity. When the rite expires, the Garou is once again able to tap her Rage - ideally having learned a valuable lesson.
System: The ritemaster cuts off a piece of the victim's fur and seals it in a box or shell. This item is then buried and cannot be reopened for a period determined by the caster. Destroying the case causes the Garou to lose the wolf permanently. No roll is required; however, preparing the receptacle takes many days and the target may not be willing to surrender the wolf.
The Rending of the Veil
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 163
Description: Sometimes known as Actaeon's Folly, this rite is used to punish a human who offends the Garou greatly. The offense does not have to be against Gaia or Her children. This rite drops the Veil, forcing a human to see and remember the Garou for the duration of an all-night hunt. The ritemaster leaves a small bag of burning dung and herbs near the sleeping victim. When the victim awakens, the Veil has been burned away from his mind. The following hunt may or may not end in the human's death. Those humans left alive are often rendered insane, their unprepared minds unable to accept the truth revealed by the rite. Some few, however, actually overcome their fear and heal. This rite is not considered a breach of the Litany.
System: The ritemaster must place the specially prepared bag of dung and herbs within 10 feet of where the victim sleeps. The bag will begin to smolder when the ritemaster performs the rite. The ritemaster does not need to be near the bag to enact the rite. Failure leaves the Veil intact. A botch causes the Garou herself to fall under the Delirium for one night.
Level Five
Gaia's Vengeful Teeth
Source: WW3801 Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 164
Description: One of the greatest punishments among the Garou, this rite is reserved for traitors, those who consort with the Wyrm or cowards whose actions (or lack thereof) cause the deaths of many others. At least five werewolves drag the traitor to a spot of hard, cracked earth and stones. The ritemaster then stabs a sharpened twig or stone into her own hand as she recites the traitor's sins against Gaia. Smearing her blood over the traitor's eyes, ears and forehead, the ritemaster cries in grief and rage. As the blood and tears drip to the hard ground, the rite takes effect. From that moment on, whatever of Gaia touches the traitor transforms into razor-sharp silver so long as it touches his flesh. Crinos hunters then chase the traitor like a dog. The ground beneath the traitor chews into his feet, and his death becomes an agonizing ordeal. The offender's name is then stricken from all histories and will be spoken only as a curse from that moment forward.
System: So long as the ritemaster's blood touches the traitor's body, the traitor cannot step sideways into the Umbra. No one survives this rite.
Rite of the Lone Wolf
Source: WW3108 Werewolf Players Guide 2nd Ed p. 47
Description: No greater punishment can be meted out than to ostracize a Garou from the sept. This rite strips the Garou of all her privileges and all her ties to sept, tribes and lineage. The Lone Wolf, or Ronin, must leave Garou society permanently. No longer welcome at any gathering, she walks her road alone. These single Garou, separated from the protection of the pack and tribe, often meet a violent end.
Many Garou choose death over banishment, but the incidence of Ronin Garou is on the rise. A Ronin may even remain with her pack, if the pack allows it. Ronin continue to gain Renown and even rank, although at a vastly slower rate. They may learn new rank Gifts from spirits or a heavily bribed mentor.
System: Only the vilest crimes ever warrant the enactment of this rite. A council of elders must decide whether the severity of the crimes require this form of punishment. Once this rite is chosen, the ritemaster ceremoniously removes all the Garou's belongings, revokes her name, leads her to the edge of the Caern and turns his back on her. No howl of mourning sounds, no tears are shed; the Garou simply no longer exists in the minds of the sept.
The Ronin Garou loses all temporary Renown. The ritemaster gains two Wisdom points but loses two temporary Honor for performing this task.
Tribe Rites
Below are Punishment 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 Four Avenge the Innocent (Punishment) Source: WW3851 - Black Furies Revised p. 77 Description: This is one of the few Garou punishment rites that are generally applied to humans, rather than other Garou. It happens, on occasion, that a human — not always a male, despite what some Furies would prefer to believe — commits a serious crime against Gaia and can't be easily slain. In other cases, the Furies would prefer not to give a violator the honor of a warrior's swift death. To these criminals, the Black Furies assign curses like Avenge the Innocent. Avenge the Innocent works simply: Once the Furies have some core element of the crime that a violator has committed — a bloodied sheet from a violent crime, an accountant's ledger from a con artist's defrauding a community, or a judge's gavel from a painfully biased divorce settlement — they take it as close as they can to the place of the crime. With these two elements in place, they don't need the criminal to be present to pass judgment on him.
Curse of the Household (Punishment) Source: WW3851 - Black Furies Revised p. 77 Description: Curse on the Household is a longer-lasting, more serious curse than Avenge the Innocent. As the name implies, the Mistress of the Rite creates a long-lasting curse that cascades down through generations of the criminal's family. This curse is largely left in the hands of the Mistress of the Rite, though there are some restrictions on it. It doesn't have a set effect. However, for a ritual of this power, it's important that the subject of the rite be physically present in such a fashion. This rite is reserved for the most heinous of criminals against the laws of Gaia: the rapist, the mass-murderer, the incestuous parent, the cannibal. The Mistress of the Rite chooses four things about the curse: How the curse will pass down the family line, when it takes effect on a particular child, its exact effect, and how the curse may be alleviated: It may pass from parent to all children, and so on down the line; or it may only "infect" the eldest child, or only males (or only females). It usually doesn't take effect right from birth; it may wait until puberty, or until marriage, or some other simple condition may bring it about. Accordingly, the curse doesn't generally kill its target outright — if it did, there would be no future generations to torment. Instead, it makes their lives unpleasant, perhaps eventually unbearable. This could be almost anything: Mild schizophrenia; regular bad luck; a plague of ghosts or malevolent minor spirits; inability to hold a regular job; a serious skin condition; or many other things.
To perform this rite, the subject must be present; the Mistress of the Rite rolls Intelligence + Expression, difficulty 8. She must achieve 3 successes on this roll; additional successes have no other effect. The Fury's player must write down the precise effects of the rite before the roll takes place; if it fails (that is, achieves 2 or fewer successes), the subject of the curse is free to leave the Fury's presence and that particular curse can't be used on him in the future. If the roll botches, the Fury who performs the rite has the curse afflicted upon her and her descendants, and the subject of the curse is forever immune to cursing rituals performed by this Fury. |
Bone Gnawers
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Level Three Rite of Man-Taint (Punishment) Source: WW3852 - Bone Gnawers Revised p. 76 Description: Bone Gnawer ritualists can reveal when a werewolf has eaten human flesh. The furtive activities of Man-Eaters have made this something of a necessity. As the Litany states, "Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans." If enacted within seven days of a transgression against this dictum of the Litany, the rite forcefully expels every chunk of human flesh consumed from the suspect's body. if the werewolf can't vomit up incriminating evidence through his mouth, the meat may ooze up out of the skin or surge out of another orifice. System: The ritemaster rolls Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 7). If the ritemaster wins the contest by at least one success, the transgression against the Litany is revealed.
Source: WW3852 - Bone Gnawers Revised p. 76 Description: Bone Gnawers hate being treated like dogs. Every Garou is a wolf at heart; even the lowest among them finds some dignity in that fact. Treating them like mangy curs infuriates and shames them to no end. This Punishment Rite is reserved for Gnawers who've acted so shamefully that even the Bone Gnawer tribe is repulsed. The criminal is bound in Lupus form, usually within the bawn of a sept. System: The ritemaster spends one Gnosis while holding a rope, chain, or leash of some kind. He then states the crime and makes a Manipulation + Law roll (difficulty 7). If the number of successes is higher than the offender's Gnosis, the offender can be trapped by the "leash." Once bound, the Garou can't be moved or handed off to someone else without freeing him. Through Gaia's grace, only one of her Philodox can hold the "leash." However, if the offender is later found innocent, the Garou who cast this rite loses 5 temporary Wisdom. Casting the rite over trivial offenses also results in a loss of Wisdom. |
Get of Fenris
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Level One The Coward's Brand (Punishment) Source: WW3855 - Get of Fenris Revised p. 81 Description: The Get of Fenris have very little use for cowards. Where other tribes are content to use punishment rites to punish cowards socially, the Get often do so physically. This rite is used to punish those whose cowardice endangered their packmates or Kin without actually causing their deaths (those cravens whose cowardice killed a packmate are more often subject to the Hunt, or worse). Although the Get primarily use this rite to punish other Fenrir -- werewolves of other tribes are not expected to live up to Fenrir's high standards -- they have been known to give the Cowards' Brand to Garou of other tribes whose cowardice endangered several Get of Fenris. As the rite begins, the ritemaster repeats a litany of names, names of Garou who lost their lives from being abandoned by cowardly packmates. She then ritually names each packmate or Kinfolk that the accused werewolf abandoned, and anoints the accused with blood drawn from each. At the conclusion of the rite, the ritemaster brands the sole of the offender's foot with a heated silver brand. The brand is permanent, an encouragement for the offender to never show his heels to his loved ones again. System: Standard roll. At the culmination of the rite, the offender takes two levels of aggravated damage, and loses five Glory and five Honor Renown. The brand cannot be removed by healing Gifts, even those that remove Battle Scars. Legend holds that a Fenrir who received the Coward's Brand managed late to atone with deeds of great valor. His reward came when Great Fenris appeared and bit off the branded foot, leaving him crippled but his honor fully restored. |
Red Talon
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Level Four Rite of the Human Mind (Punishment) Source: WW3857 - Red Talons Revised p. 77 Description: The Red Talons don't employ a wide variety of Punishment Rites. A serious offense usually merits a sentence of ostracism from the sept (or from the tribe, in extreme cases) or death. However, sometimes an offender must be disciplined severely but left alive and intact. On these occasions, the Talons employed the feared Rite of the Human Mind. All Red Talons -- indeed, all Garou -- have both a human-mind and a wolf-heart, according to the Talons. The human mind is dominant in Homid form, while the wolf-heart dominates in Lupus form. A Red Talon who relies too heavily on his human-mind, or shows mercy or compassion to a human that then comes back to bite him (as is often the case), might be subject to this rite. Any incompetence or faulty logic that the elders believe to stem from the human-mind, or relying on human babble when instinct is clearly called for, might also result in the Rite of the Human Mind being employed. To perform this rite, the ritemaster must assume Homid form, as must the accused. The ritemaster calls the accused by his name in whatever human tongue is convenient, and then changes to Lupus form and howls in derision. Any observers also take up the howl, but at no time during these howls is the accused referred to by his howl-name. When the howls die down, the accused finds himself unable to access his wolf-heart, even in Lupus form. This punishment may last for any amount of time, but the Talons usually consider it too cruel to maintain it longer than one moon. System: Roll Charisma + Rituals (diff 7). If the rite succeeds, the accused does not gain Perception bonuses while in Lupus, Hispo, or Crinos forms and is considered to have no dots in Primal-Urge for as long as the rite lasts. On lupus Garou, the attendant discomfort this brings also levies +3 to all Willpower difficulties and a -2 to initiative results for the duration of the punishment. The character thinks like a human being, even in Lupus form, and a player whose character is subjected to this rite should do her best to roleplay this experience. The Storyteller is free to impose additional penalties if she feels that the player is having too easy a time of it. |
Shadow Lords
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Level Three Calling the Storm (Punishment) Source: WW3858 - Shadow Lords Revised p. 76 Description: Given the rigors of Shadow Lord society and emphasis on goals, it is inevitable that some become corrupt and put their own selfish desires over the good of the tribe. This rite was developed to counter fallen Lords with Shadow Lord justice. When a leader within the tribe has fallen to the Wyrm, the Garou ruled by him may use an outside agent to announce his transgressions to the tribe at large. If the accusations are true, the Garou may enact this rite. Storm clouds gather above the moot, and the Garou invoking the rite gain the strength they need to destroy the one who has turned his back on Gaia. System: If the charges leveled against the corrupt Garou are true, the storm that gathers above the moot empowers those who conspire against him. The gain two points of Rage, and if they are Shadow Lords they also gain a point of Gnosis. In addition, Primal-Urge rolls are made at a difficulty two lower than normal. If the chargers are untrue, however, the gathering storm punishes the offenders, striking them with lightning that deals five levels of aggravated damage. |
Silent Striders
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Level Two Rite of the Jackdaw (Punishment) Source: WW3859 - Silent Striders Revised p. 78 Description: Silent Striders fortunate enough to parent children sometimes jokingly refer to this rite as the Rite of the Toddler. The Rite of the Jackdaw is used to punish those Garou who have broken a promise of secrecy. It causes the subject to uncontrollably tell everyone he meets about the most private and trivial matters of his life. This ritual will not cause the subject to reveal other secrets he's been sworn to keep, but it will almost certainly cause him to reveal personal information that embarrasses only him. . This rite can be rather humiliating, and many Garou who are subject to it find themselves overcome by Rage at their embarrassment. It is considered the height of dishonor to take retribution against a Garou who has used this ritual in a just fashion. Subjects who wish to avoid the rite's effects simply abandon all contact with others for a few days, which is considered to be an acceptable response. System: This rite takes ten minutes to perform. The ritemaster symbolically carves a number of open-mouth sigils into bits of wood and distributes them ritualistically around the subject of the rite (who must remain more or less still during the rite, though he doesn't necessarily have to be willing). For each success, the target suffer for one day from the effects described above. The target can expend Willpower to avoid stating some particularly odious personal secret, but Willpower so expended does not return until the rite's duration has expired. |
Silver Fangs
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Level Three Rite of the Omega Wolf (Punishment) Source: WW3860 - Silver Fangs Revised p. 79 Description: The tribe takes the failure of a pack alpha very seriously indeed. If all the members of a pack agree that their alpha has failed them catastrophically, then they may enact this rite to prevent him ever becoming a pack alpha again. The pack takes their fallen alpha and sits him on a rock. They then crown him with a mock crown and bow down in pretend obeisance to him. They then stand up and commence mocking him one by one, before tearing the crown from his head and casting him to the ground. When each member of the pack has spat or urinated on the fallen alpha, the rite is done. System: Standard Roll. The fallen alpha loses four points of Honor Renown and two points of Wisdom Renown. If he ever becomes a pack alpha again, he will lose two points of Gnosis every time the moon rises and will be unable to regain Gnosis until he relinquishes the position. |
Stargazers
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Level Four Pilgrimage of Non-Being (Punishment) Source: WW3861 - Stargazers Revised p. 79 Description: This rite is forced upon a Stargazer who has committed a grievous sin against sept or tribe. It is reserved for one who has brought deep shame to himself and others. The Stargazer's hands are bound, and he is lead over a period of months to a number of Stargazer holy places. At each caern, the offending Garou must eat ashes while the caern guardians condemn and then ignore the Stargazer. At the final caern, upon completing this grim pilgrimage, the Stargazer's entire identity and memory fall away, toppling like a house of cards that can never be rebuilt. He becomes tabula rasa, a clean slate, unable to regain the most simple and intimate of memories -- not even his own name. Most of the tribe views this rite as the utmost of punishments, but a rare few view it as a reward. Some believe that one of the highest states of being is actually a state of non-being, and they seek to have this rite performed upon them so that their souls may transcend. There is and even lesser held belief that this rite is useful for curing Harano; however, to make that worthwhile, one would have to find a way to allow the old memories and identity to resurface after the rite is completed, but as yet, nobody has come forth with a means to make that happen. System: The ritemaster must travel with the Stargazer to be punished, and must escort him to a number of caerns equal to the offender's Rage score. The punished must be taken to the very heart of each caern, where each guardian congregates, aiding in the ritual as defined above. Once this pilgrimage is completed and all caerns have been visited accordingly, the player rolls Charisma + Rituals roll (difficulty of the offender's current Rank + 4). If successful, the punished Garou loses all Renown, and must start anew. He also loses his identity and all the memories associated with it. All other Traits, however, remain the same. If this rite fails, it's assumed to be a sign from the Emerald Mother that the offending Stargazer can be redeemed by other means. A botch on this roll means that the ritemaster loses five points of Wisdom, and the offending Garou loses nothing (including his memory). |
Wendigo
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Level Two Rite of Counting Coup (Punishment) Source: WW3863 - Wendigo Revised p. 64 Description: At the new moon, the ritemaster must carve a wooden rod or wand, preferably taken from the trunk of an ash tree or a pine tree. The rod must be the length of her own forearm, from the tip of the elbow to tip of the longest claw. Into the rod, the ritemaster must carve a message of punishment, detailing either with symbols or words the transgressions of the Garou to be punished. Three eagle feathers are sometimes tied to the end of the rod, using a strip of leather or sinew. The ritemaster may keep this rod, or award it to someone who has been wronged by the werewolf in question. To complete the rite, she only needs to tap the target Garou on the shoulder or head with the rod. The taking of this coup triggers deep submission and remorse in the punished Garou, lessening their Renown, an effect that is not relieved until the next new moon. System: The ritemaster must make the standard Charisma + Rituals rolls at a difficulty of 7. The act of counting coup must take place in public. If the punished Garou is guilty, the amount of Honor Renown she loses increases by one point for every 5 witnesses. Similarly, the amount of Honor Renown awarded to the coup-giver and/or the ritemaster increases by one point for every 5 witnesses. However, if the Garou is not guilty of the deeds that have been inscribed onto the wand, it breaks when she takes the coup, and the ritemaster and the wielder of the wand suffer a loss of 1 point of Honor Renown and 1 point of Wisdom Renown.
Summon the Tupilaq (Punishment) Source: WW3863 - Wendigo Revised p. 65 Description: "The ritemaster collected the bones of a bunch of different animals: bear, seal, fish, walrus, horse, deer. Since the totem of Yellow Fang's pack was Wisagatcaq, the ritemaster added the bones of a jaybird's wings. Then he bound the pile of bones together, with sinew and fresh intestines, tying knots in an order I didn't understand, singing in a language none of us knew. He laid the entire thing onto the whole skin of a wolf that'd died of natural causes, and sewed the wolf skin shut with a needle of bone. With his bare hands, he dug a grave into the earth of the caern, which scared the piss out of anyone who hadn't already wet themselves. And then he just... threw the bundle into it. The rest of us put a rock on top of the grave and said Yellow Fang's name. We covered it up fast. Nobody wanted to see the empty wolf skin, lying there in the ground. The wrath of Great Wendigo rose, then. I could barely believe what I was seeing. I saw the curling of ice-smoke seeping out of the jumble of rocks, making the bloody heap underneath twitch, shudder, and finally crawl to its feet. With a horrifying, halting jerk, the thing awoke -- its skin was lurching and shuddering around, but I could tell the bones inside it were knitting together somehow. The abomination scrabbled to get its balance and then started off southward, unstoppably plowing through the snow, leaving an incredibly corrupt stench in its wake. I think we all threw up then, even the ritemaster. The Tupilaq was on the Hunt. Two days later, Jini Grey-Cloud found what was left of Yellow Fang, outside the cave where he had been hiding. The Tupilaq must have dragged him out. Jini never could bring herself to tell me what she saw. She told us she left him there for the crows." -- from the writings of Theodore Sha-wun-uk, Wendigo wildlife conservationist. System: The Ritemaster must ascertain, through the successful completion of another rite of punishment of a lower level, that the traitor Garou is worthy of death. Because of the horrible nature of this rite, it is generally reserved only for those who commit the worst offenses, such as eating the flesh of humans or wolves, openly ignoring an honorable surrender, or damaging or destroying a caern. The Tupilaq is summoned by assembling a group of accusers, each of whom offer their own knowledge of the trator's transgressions during the rite, either aloud or silently. The ritemaster makes his challenge, and all other participants in the rite must spend a point of Gnosis to contribute to the rite. Once the Tupilaq has been unleashed, nothing keeps it from killing its quarry. |
