Rites: Accord

Rites of Accord
Rites of accord restore a particular place or Garou to harmony and balance with Gaia. These rites purify and renew through a symbolic rebirth from Gaia’s womb.

''System: Any Garou attempting to perform a rite of accord must possess a talen, fetish, or some piece of Gaia never touched by minions of the Wyrm or by human hands. The ritemaster makes a Charisma + Rituals roll (difficulty 7 unless otherwise noted).''

Rite of Cleansing
This rite purifies a person, place or object, allowing it to be used without fear of Wyrm-taint. The most common form of this rite involves the ritemaster inscribing a circle on the earth, walking counterclockwise around the afflicted person(s) or object(s) while holding a smoldering branch or torch. She must use a branch (preferably willow or birch) dipped in pure water or snow to sprinkle the object or person cleansed. As the ritemaster does so, all Garou present release an eerie, otherworldly howl in an attempt to frighten away the corrupting influence. Ideally, this rite is performed at dawn, but may function at any time.

''System: This rite can be cast upon more than one person or object, but the ritemaster must spend one Gnosis point on each extra thing in need of cleansing. Only one success is required. The difficulty level depends on the level of taint. For instance, taint caused by a spirit might carry a difficulty of the spirit’s Gnosis. If the rite is performed at dawn, the difficulty decreases by one. This rite cannot heal wounds or damage caused by Wyrm-taint — it only removes the spiritual contamination itself. This rite cannot cleanse taint of the most innate sort, either, instead inflicting agony when performed upon a fomor, vampire, unrepentant Black Spiral Dancer or other similarly corrupt being.''

Rite of Contrition
This rite is a form of apology. The offending party uses it to prevent the enmity of spirits or Garou whom an individual has offended, or to prevent war between septs or tribes. The rite most often involves the enactor dropping to her belly and sliding forward. The ritemaster may also whine and lick his paws or hands. If performed well, however, a simple inclination of the head may suffice. To enact the rite successfully, the Garou must either give a small gift to the offended individual or, in the case of a spirit, possess some aspect of the spirit in question (for example, a clay falcon if the Garou is appealing to the totem spirit Falcon) that he pays homage to.

''System: The difficulty level of the rite equals the Rage of the target spirit or werewolf. A single success suffices for a gracious apology, but may not be enough to mend friendships or undo grievous errors. The more successes rolled, the greater the wrong that can be forgiven. Werewolves who refuse to recognize a Rite of Contrition are looked upon poorly by elders. Most spirits will always accept a well-performed rite.''

Rite of Renunciation
In this rare rite, a werewolf rejects the auspice under which he was born and chooses a new one. The Garou must perform this rite during the phase of the moon he wishes to adopt. Most commonly, water from a silver basin exposed to Luna'’s radiance is poured over the naked supplicant, washing him clean of all he once was, including all rank. He is now free to start anew as a member of his adopted auspice. Many werewolves view such a “Shifting Moon” with suspicion, especially Shadow Lords and Silver Fangs — who is the Garou, after all, to decide he knows better than Luna?

''System: A character who changes auspices must start anew at Rank 1. Although he keeps any Gifts he has already learned, he may never learn new Gifts from his old auspice no matter the instructor. However, Gifts of his adopted auspice now cost (rank x 3) experience. Variants of this rite also exist to allow Garou to renounce their tribe and join a new one — but this is counted not only as a grave insult to the abandoned tribe, but also to the tribe’'s totem. In no case can this rite be used to return a Garou to a renounced auspice or tribe.''

Rite of the Loyal Pack
A leader needs respect from those that follow him if he (and they) wish to succeed. Usually, only packs that have been working together for some time and who trust each other enough to further cement those bonds perform this rite.

The rite makes the whole pack'’s focus and commitment dependent on the pack alpha. In effect, they submit completely to him, in the hope of gaining an advantage from his commitment to working for the benefit of all. Each member of the pack must take a small item of personal significance and a length of his or her own hair and give it to the ritemaster. She then binds together all the objects using the hairs and buries the bundle within the pack’'s home caern.

''System: The ritemaster’'s player rolls Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 9 minus the pack alpha'’s Leadership). If the roll succeeds, the entire pack gains two extra points of Willpower at the beginning of each session as long as the pack alpha is acting in the best interests of the whole pack. (Note that this cannot put a character over their maximum Willpower.) However, if the alpha has not been acting in the pack’'s interests, the entire pack loses two points of Willpower at the beginning of each session. The gain or loss is entirely at the Storyteller'’s discretion. Should the pack alpha change, the rite'’s effects immediately end.''

Enchant the Forest
Everyone’s heard of enchanted forests in which the trees themselves seem aware, strange voices whisper, wicked witches roam, and goblins and fae of all manner plague the weary traveler. Though the Garou used to rule the wilds, humanity encroaches more and more on their ranges. Hundreds of years ago, Theurges developed a rite with which to frustrate such expansion. This rite, Enchant the Forest, awakens the spirits of the land and urges them to protect the Wyld. These spirits awaken and move to resist any human settlements in the area.

Springs dry out. The winter grows harsher than ever before, yet the trees are remarkably fast-growing and resilient. Food decays and rots in no time, and vermin and insects infest the area. Attempts to construct power lines fail inexplicably. On the rare occasions when cell phones are able to get any reception at all, their calls are interrupted by threatening screeches of static and disturbing whispers. Humans eventually either leave or die, and the wilderness reclaims its lost property.

The area seems haunted for years afterwards. The trees are dark and threatening, and strange sounds emanate from the woods at night. The spirits, once roused, don’t rest again for a very long time. Superstitious tales of haunted lands circulate, and many humans give the area wide berth. Unfortunately, many others may become interested — government agencies, paranormal investigators, and other supernatural beings.

The ritemaster must take a twig from a tree never seen by human eyes, make a container from the belly of an animal never hunted by humans, and fill the pouch with water from a pond never touched by mankind. He then stirs the water, pours it close to the borders of the wild woods, and calls on the spirits of nature to awaken and defend themselves. He sends messengers to the north, south, east and west, to call to the spirits there. The ritemaster must sing to the spirits for three days.

''System: Standard roll. The immediate effects of this rite last for a full year, if they are not disrupted by some sort of supernatural intervention. The area so charmed cannot exceed the farthest distance the messengers have traveled by foot in the three days. If a caern is located within five miles (8 km) of the ritual location, the difficulty is reduced by one.''

Rite of the Opened Sky
By sacrificing something of personal value and dancing a complex rain dance, the ritemaster can beckon great, purifying showers of rain to fall from the skies. This rain cleanses all Wyrm impurities, and can even heal wounds.

''System: This rite works in much the same way as the Rite of Cleansing, but can encompass an entire caern and those within it. The ritemaster expends only one point of Gnosis to cleanse an area, but for every two additional points he spends, every character within the caern heals one level of damage — even aggravated damage. The difficulty of this rite depends on the level of taint, such as a tainted spirit’s Gnosis rating. Like the Rite of Cleansing, the difficulty of this rite can also be lowered by one if performed at dawn. Beings of the Wyrm and vampires suffer excruciating pain if exposed to this rite, though they are not cleansed or genuinely damaged. To use this rite outside a caern, the ritemaster must spend ten points of Gnosis — a feat only the most potent ritemasters of the Garou are capable of.''