Ichtaca

Ichtaca was an aztec kinfolk princess of the Balam who developed the Rite of Sacred Rebirth.

Biography
Samuel Haight may have been the first Garou Kinfolk to transform himself into a werewolf, but he was not the first to undergo a metamorphosis from Kinfolk to shapeshifter. The Aztec reverence of the ferocity and cunning of the jaguar could turn to jealousy amongst the werejaguars’ Kinfolk. Envious Kinfolk watched their family members experience their First Change, and none coveted that Change more than Ichtaca, the daughter of a respected Balam leader. Gaia had blessed both of her younger brothers with the ability to Change while Ichtaca watched with growing resentment.

She dedicated her life to discovering a ritual or magic that would give her the same abilities as her brothers and father. Risking her life and sanity, she made pacts with strange entities she barely understood. Eventually, she developed a version of the Rite of Sacred Rebirth that would make her a Balam as well.

Alone, she did not stand a chance against a Balam, but she was not the only Kinfolk who coveted the ability to change shape. She gathered allies from the Kinfolk who had joined the ranks of the Jaguar Warriors, enticing them to her cause with promises that she could infuse the jaguar spirit into them as well. Their first targets were her own father and brothers, and from their skins, she started stitching the hide that she would use to grant herself their Gaia-given abilities. True to her word, once she had undergone her change, she helped others become werejaguars themselves. The ritual that Ichtaca developed works the same as the Rite of Sacred Rebirth with the same requirement that the Kinfolk slay and skin five werejaguars to become a Skin Dancer.