Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

282
Appendix I: The Spirit World
This move is itself counter-productive, however, as it draws
attention to the outcast, from both werewolves and the
spirit courts, both of whom will seek to hunt it down and
destroy it. Many magath in that position seek to flee across
the Gauntlet, becoming one of the Spirit-Ridden.
By their very nature, magath defy categorization, so
no choirs or descants exist for them. Sometimes groups of
magath form their own, temporary descants, for survival’s
sake. Their confused, distorted natures mean that such
alliances rarely last long, but they’re capable of creating
significant problems in the short term. The gathering of
such bizarre, unnatural creature starts to distort the physical
world in their locality, creating hybrid plants, animals
and people. Mankind tends to attribute such things to mutation
caused by radiation leaks, but the werewolves know
the truth. Some werewolves suspect that these descants
are really the gullible shock troops of the Beshilu, who use
the spiritually warping presence of these mockeries to start
to gnaw at the structure of reality prior to a full-scale invasion
of the Rat Hosts.
HITHIMU:
THE SPIRIT-RIDDEN
Not all spirits are content to stay within the chaotic
reaches of the Shadow Realm. Despite the best efforts of
the Uratha, whole sections of the spirit wilds often swing
out of balance, and spirit broods make war on one another
without Father Wolf there to adjudicate in their disputes.
Some spirits throw themselves fully into those struggles,
while others choose the path of self-preservation, fleeing
through the Gauntlet and into the material world. Spirits
cannot survive for long in that spiritually inhospitable
environment, however. To remain there for more than
a few minutes at a time, they need to find a locus for
themselves, an object they can bind with to keep themselves
in the material world. Some are forced to anchor
themselves in inanimate objects but the majority choose a
living being, a human for preference. Humans are intelligent
enough to be useful, but they lack the supernatural
powers that might interfere with the spirit’s ability to gain
control. They sink their spiritual tendrils deep into their
host, creating something that is not quite human and not
quite spirit. The werewolves know these creatures as the
Hithimu, or the Spirit-Ridden.
The Spirit-Ridden, often called just Ridden for short,
fall into one of two categories. The first is the Spirit-
Urged, or hithisu. The creatures are created when a spirit
manages to anchor itself in a person but doesn’t manage to
completely merge with its host. It’s able to direct its host,
alter her abilities and take full possession for short periods
of time. A few spirits are lucky enough to find hosts who
are spiritually compatible with themselves. The host’s
spirit and the riding spirit merge to form a completely new
being, a Spirit-Claimed or duguthim. These potent beings
are mixtures of flesh and spirit, not unlike werewolves, and
are just as capable of walking between the worlds of spirit
and flesh, the better to further their own agendas.
HITHISU: THE SPIRIT-URGED
The simplest type of Ridden is the Spirit-Urged. A
spirit has anchored itself in a person, but there’s no real
resonance between the two beings. Yet. The only control
that the riding spirit has over its host is the ability to
whisper its wants and desires into the mind of its victim.
The “voice” of the spirit isn’t actually a voice at all. The
Urged doesn’t start hearing voices ordering him to kill
people. He just starts feeling unusual urges, which probably
feel like natural moments of inspiration. He might
suddenly take up an interest in gardening that he never
had before, for example, if he’s ridden by some variety
of plant spirit. As the rider gains more control over the
host, the gardening might take an unusual bent, toward a
particular species of plant, for example. Of course, it’s the
exact same species that birthed the riding spirit.
RULES
The spirit uses the Numen: Living Fetter to make
contact. No material changes take place in the host’s
body. The riding spirit has full access to its Influence
but is unable to access its Numina. When the spirit
attempts to steer the host to do something against her
nature, judgment or best interests, make a contested
roll of the victim’s Resolve + Composure versus the
spirit’s Power + Finesse. Whoever succeeds decides what
the Urged does next.
DUGUTHIM: THE SPIRIT-CLAIMED
Spirits are naturally drawn to people who reflect their
own nature. Pain-spirits cluster around those people who
are either in pain or inflicting it. Dog-spirits often find the
proximity of people who are loyal and family-orientated
comforting, while wolf-spirits and hunters have a certain
affinity. Therefore, when a spirit propels itself across the
Gauntlet, on occasions the nearest host it can find has
a spirit that resonates with its own. A pain-spirit finds
a masochist or sadist. A gun-spirit finds a host with the
psychotic potential of a serial killer. An oak-spirit reaches
across the Gauntlet and connects with a strong, muscular
and steadfast environmental campaigner. The dog-spirit
connects with a family man on his way home, daydreaming
about his wife and kids. The two spirits reach out for
one another, intertwining and merging into a new being.
This change is rarely instantaneous. The new host
goes about her day-to-day life while her spirit becomes
something new. Initially, she might feel full of life and
energy, in a rather single-minded way. The aspects of her
personality that match the spirit come to the fore. She
feels great, but her friends begin to notice that there’s
something different about her. They ask her if she’s okay,
or maybe if she’s “feeling quite herself,” but she dismisses
them. She feels fine. Then new knowledge and memories
start seeping into her brain — events she took no part in