Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

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Appendix I: The Spirit World
• Spirits can be awakened by more powerful spirits of
the same general type. For example, a poplar-spirit could
be awoken by any tree spirit, from a pine-spirit to a oakspirit.
It couldn’t be awoken, however, by a fern-spirit or an
ivy-spirit.
• Plant-spirits are only rarely woken by major spiritual
activity in their vicinity. This occurs only when the
activity directly threatens the spirit or its physical reflection.
For example, a battle between a pack of werewolves
and a pain-spirit would not awaken the spirit of the pine
tree at the site of the conflict. If the battle took place between
the pack and someone Ridden by the pain-spirit,
however, and a member of the pack is thrown into the
tree’s trunk by the Ridden, the spirit of the tree might be
shocked into wakefulness.
THE URATHA AND SPIRIT S
Werewolves have a presence in both worlds. They,
more than any other creature, can slip between the
worlds, transforming their bodies from fleshy matter to
spiritual ephemera with ease. As children of both worlds,
they never completely leave one or the other behind. A
faint spiritual hint of a werewolf in the material world is
visible in the Shadow, while people in the physical world
feel an inexplicable touch of fear and anxiety if a werewolf
stands nearby in that place’s spiritual reflection. Yet,
neither are they really creatures of either world. In the
physical world, they feel a longing for the ebb and flow of
spirit Essence, but in the Shadow, they feel a subtle desire
to wear warm flesh and bone once more.
RANK AND RESPECT
For millennia, the spirits have hated the half-flesh
bastard cubs who set themselves up as the hunters of the
Border Marches. Those Uratha who’ve traveled to the
courts of the most powerful spirits often find themselves
greeted with hostility, even violent challenges to their
authority. But for some reason, many lesser spirits struggling
to survive act as though the werewolves have some
justification for their self-proclaimed authority. Some
Forsaken claim that they recognize that Father Wolf was
slain by those who truly were meant to take his place.
This may be true, or perhaps their fear is born from some
darker, unspoken reason.
Regardless, the spirits accord the Uratha a respect
greater than their Renown would suggest. The mere status of
being a werewolf is considered roughly equal to being a Rank
2 spirit — thus, even a new cub “outranks” a lesser Gaffling.
A werewolf gains another honorary “level of Rank” for every
eight dots of Renown she possesses, to a maximum Rank of
5. Therefore, a character with Glory •••, Honor ••, Wisdom
•• and Purity • would have an effective Rank of 3 (for her
total Renown of 8). Spirits of a Rank equal to or lower than
that of the werewolf’s honorary level will defer to the werewolf,
or at least treat her with respect as long as they’re welldisposed
toward her, or at least not actively hostile. Whatever
the werewolf race’s crimes, each individual still represents a
necessary part of the spiritual order.
Werewolf Renown Honorary Rank
0-7 Two
8-15 Three
16-23 Four
24+ Five
GIFT S
The most obvious manifestation of this respect is
the teaching of Gifts. Any spirit of equal or lesser Rank
than the werewolf can be compelled to teach a werewolf
a Gift, if the werewolf has earned the right to have it. In
game terms, this means that if a character has sufficient
experience and has hunted down the appropriate spirit
and convinced it to teach him, he may learn the required
Gift automatically. The process of actually learning a
Gift from a spirit instructor is surprisingly quick, taking
roughly one hour per dot of the Gift. Many werewolves
describe the process as being more like learning a piece
of knowledge about the universe or suddenly recalling a
long-buried memory rather than being taught how to do
something. This feeling lends credence to the belief that
Gifts are nothing less than the dispersed wisdom of Father
Wolf, left behind for those of his children’s children who
are worthy of them.
Spirits are reticent to share Gifts freely and must
always be coerced with chiminage. They have little reason
to trust one another in their predatory ecosystem, much
less these half-flesh hybrids.
GIFTS AND CHIMINAGE
Most spirits grudgingly agree to teach
werewolves the Gifts they’ve earned. Certain
Gifts, however — those specific to a lodge, or
those that are rare or of significant power — are
closely guarded by the spirits who know them.
One of the legends of the fall of Father Wolf tells
that he whispered his final secrets to those spirits
who surrounded him as he died, yet laid a geas
on them so they could teach those Gifts to his
descendants only when they proved themselves
worthy. From that day on, the spirits have been
unable to teach those Gifts without setting a
task or challenge for the werewolf, so that he
may prove his worthiness. Some won’t even
reveal that they know the Gift until a werewolf
has proven himself against a challenge he didn’t
know he was facing. This requirement that the
werewolf perform a service or quest before being
taught a Gift is known as chiminage.
The power of some of the Gifts that can be
won thus has led some werewolves to believe that
if the Uratha were able to track down all these
protected Gifts and prove themselves worthy of
them, then they might have the power of Father
Wolf in their hands. Some packs have given up