Great Sequoia is both a Spirit and a Locus in California.
Background[]
The Ancient Tree[]
This is an unusual sort of locus, since it's stationary (as most loci are) and yet is centered on a living thing (meaning it has a spirit of its own). The spirit within the tree is awakened when it becomes a locus, and that means this particular fount of power cannot simply be claimed - the tree must be bargained with. To gain control of the locus and drink of its power, a spirit (or, as the case may be, a werewolf pack) must gain the tree-spirit's trust and goodwill. This is difficult even for spirits, and particularly so for werewolves. Happily, most ancient tree loci are powerful enough that they're well worth the bother.
Great Sequoia Locus[]
- Rating: *****
- Resonance: Wild
Great Sequoia is a spirit as well as a locus, and some say he's actually the first tree-spirit ever born. As the years rolled by and his power grew, he changed in form to become as the sequoias are, magnificent and tall. Since his locus is bound to a spirit instead of a place, his locus is highly protected, and thus not freely accessible. Many spirits would like to control him, of course, but when an Incarna says "no" there's not much you can do about it. Great Sequoia will share his Essence with those he deems worthy, but that's a fairly select bunch; fewer than a dozen spirits receive his blessing each generation, and, while Uratha packs have managed to gain his favor in the past, they are few and part between.
Great Sequoia Spirit[]
Great Sequoia was born with the first redwood, and he has remained rooted in the ground ever since. That was a long time ago. He was ancient when humanity was a bunch of chattering apes, and, to him, the Uratha are young punks who are generally beneath his notice. Uratha don't take kindly to that, but, well, he's an Incarna, so he doesn't really care. What he does care about is his forest. If the Uratha manage to impress him, he'll at least deal with them. If they really manage to impress him, he might even let them drink a bit of his locus' Essence. But that's unlikely.
Getting Great Sequoia's attention is a matter of patience and perseverance, as well as unwavering dedication. A werewolf must prove to him that she belongs in his forest before he'll consider her worthy of his patronage, and that will take a long, long time. There are no specific benchmarks in game terms, but a healthy investment in Wisdom renown and Nature Gifts wouldn't hurt. Gaining the respect of the bulk of the forest's spirits would also help matters along enormously. But the main factor is time. It takes time to earn an Incarna's trust, and doing so in this case might be the capstone to a long and glorious chronicle.
Description[]
Great Sequoia is tall. Nobody's quite sure just how tall; his physical form is that of a giant sequoia tree, but his spirit form is - well, nobody knows. He is very tall. He is also extremely powerful and impossibly old, with gnarled branches and deep, deep roots and a trunk the size of a house. Irritating him would be unwise.
Stats[]
Rank: 5
Attributes: Power 15, Finesse 12, Resistance 15
Willpower: 30
Essence: 50 (max 50)
Initiative: 27
Defense: 15
Speed: 27 (tree)
Size: 20
Corpus: 35
Influences: Forest *****
Numina: Chorus, Elemental Mastery, Insight Mastery, Material Vision, Nature Mastery, Reaching, Weather Mastery, Wilds Sense
- Insight Mastery: Great Sequoia can use all Insight Gifts as Numina. This Numen counts as two Numina for purposes of spirit creation, and is available only to spirits of Rank 5 or higher.
- Nature Mastery: Great Sequoia can use all Nature Gifts as Numina. This Numen counts as two Numina for purposes of spirit creation, and is available only to spirits of Rank 5 or higher.
References[]
- WTF: Territories, p. 94
