Rites: Minor

Minor Rites
Minor rites are the rituals that the Garou incorporate into daily living. Almost all Garou know and use at least a few such minor rites. Many werewolves develop their own unique minor rites to help them reaffirm their connection to Gaia, or to meet the Final Days with bravery and grace.

''System: Minor rites may be learned in half the time it takes to learn other rites, and generally take only a few minutes to enact. They can be purchased for half the normal Background cost of other rites (two for one point).''

Bone Rhythms
A werewolf performs this rite to honor her totem spirit. Each spirit has a different rhythm connected to it, and the Garou taps out her spirit’s rhythm with special sticks to honor it. Such “sticks” are traditionally made of bone, but they can be fashioned from any material.

''System: Any werewolf who performs this rite three times per day for at least three consecutive days gains an additional die to any one roll while in the Umbra. Once this die is used, the Garou must rebuild the energies for an additional three days before regaining the extra die.''

Breath of Gaia
During this rite the werewolf breathes deeply of the Mother’s breath — clean air — 13 times. While so breathing, she clears her mind of all things save her love of Gaia.

''System: The character must perform this rite at least once per day for one full cycle of the moon. Doing so enables her to lower the difficulty of any one healing or detection roll by two.''

Greet the Moon
This rite is an exuberant paean to Luna. During this rite, the werewolf howls an elaborate greeting at moonrise; the howl varies with the phase of the moon.

System: Performing this rite each night at moonrise for a full phase of the moon enables the character to add one die to all rolls involving social interactions with Garou of that phase’s auspice the next night the moon is in the phase in question.

Greet the Sun
Certain Children of Gaia and a few Uktena and Wendigo practice this rite. It is similar to Greet the Moon, but is performed at sunrise.

''System: The werewolf must sing Helios’s praises for nine consecutive sunrises. If the Garou does so, Helios grants his devotee an additional die when attempting to sense Wyrm creatures or Wyrm-taint, provided the werewolf continues to sing his praises daily. If even one sunrise is missed, the rite must be begun anew to restore its benefits.''

Hunting Prayer
This common rite takes many form, but always involves pausing before the start of a hunt to praise Gaia and all her creatures. In addition, the Garou selects some item to hold her prayers. The item could be anything from an old belt to a shark-tooth necklace, but the werewolf must have it with her when she hunts. If she loses the item, she must choose a new one and begin her devotions anew.

''System: If the Garou performs this rite before every hunt for three lunar months, she receives an additional die to all tracking rolls as long as she continues her pre-hunt prayers. If she neglects the prayer before even one hunt, she must begin the cycle again before she regains the bonus.''

Prayer for the Prey
A specific form of the Rite of Contrition, this rite involves the werewolf stepping sideways into the Umbra just after making a kill, in order to thank her prey’s spirit for giving its life that she might survive.

''System: The character must perform this rite upon every beast of Gaia (not including Wyrm-spawn) she slays for one full turning of the moon. Should she do so, all of her difficulty numbers drop by one when dealing with nature spirits. This bonus lasts until she kills an animal without taking time to thank the creature’s spirit.''