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in: Fetishes, Werewolf: The Apocalypse glossary

Klaive

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Klaives are fetish daggers or swords, usually of great spiritual potency and nearly always made of silver - treasured items passed down from hero to hero among the Garou Nation.

Overview[]

A klaive is a ritual weapon of the Garou made to be used in Homid, Glabro, or Crinos form with equal ease. They are rare weapons not only because they are made of silver, but because of the spiritual traits they possess. Their manufacture and use are deadly to Garou, (and often, Kinfolk will act as klaive-smiths).

A klaive can be about as small as a Bowie knife, and a Garou who carries a klaive loses one point from his effective Gnosis rating. A War-spirit is usually bound into the klaive, allowing the weapon to inflict aggravated damage upon non-Garou foes. Without the spirit, a klaive doesn’t inflict aggravated damage. However, a Garou doesn’t need to attune a klaive that has no spirit in it. The art of klaive fighting is called Klaivaskar and is taught only within a Tribe.

Pulling a klaive on another Garou is considered a grave action, for a klaive duel is most often a duel to the death. Nonetheless, klaive duels among Garou are becoming increasingly common as the wilds dwindle and tribal friction grows.

Trivia[]

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  • First Edition referred to all Klaives as Silver Swords stats-wise until the Werewolf Players Guide (Bastet Klaive) and Umbra: The Velvet Shadow (Klaive of Electricity) in 1993. The term was in the lexicon as early as the very first rulebook (1992), but it wasn't standard until about a year later.

Gallery[]

List of Known Klaives[]

  • Balmung - A specific klaive name referenced in Hammer & Klaive.
  • Shakar: Bastet Klaive - Curved like a scimitar, Acts as the Gift: Luna's Armor.
  • Dragonblood Sabre - A specific klaive name referenced in Hammer & Klaive.
  • House Wise Heart: Maidensong - A specific klaive name referenced in Hammer & Klaive.
  • The Purifier - Dalaja Aashray Tahanee, They-Shelter-the-Roots' Klaive.
  • Wandering Thought - Antonine Teardrop's klaive.
  • Wyldburn - A specific klaive name referenced in Hammer & Klaive.
  • Silent Striders: Jambiya - Level 3, Gnosis 5 - The fetish jambiya is most often a klaive forged in a form that pays homage to the Silent Strider heritage. The blade of a jambiya is curved, but lacks the bottom point that would form the full crescent. Both edges of the blade are sharpened. Like the d'siah, it is typically used to slash with the outer edge, but the upswept point can be used to cur into the opponent with a backwards stroke. A fetish jambiya is forged from pure silver, and in larger proportions than ever created for a human wielder - roughly four inches wide at its broadest, and about eighteen inches long, though it loses some of its reach to the curve of the blade. The knife is heavy in Homid form, but a wielder with a Strength of 2 and 1 point in Melee can handle it with one hand. Because of the relatively short reach of the weapon and the skill required to wield it effectively, the difficulty to hit with a jambiya is 7. A successful strike with the fetish does Strength aggravated damage. Because of the large quantities of silver used to make the blade, the wielder's effective Gnosis rating is reduced by one while she carries the knife.
  • Telegraph Klaive - Level 3, Gnosis 5 - The Iron Riders were the first to learn that the web of connections that permeated the modern city had its own spirits, and that they enabled Garou to fight more effectively as Gaia's warriors. They were the first to create this unusual fetish, and although the means of communication have changed, the name remains. This fetish takes the symbolic form of a klaive, but is not a true weapon for use in physical combat; some are klaive-shaped necklace pendants, some are keychains, and a few Random Interrupts have encoded their telegraph klaives as softwere. The weapon contains a war-spirit just as does a regular klaive, but the spirit is not always willing to enter this unusual weapon (or rather, interpretation of the "weapon" concept). The telegraph klaive can be used to attack through the city's web: the Garou must know his target's exact location, state the means of connection (such as phone, Internet, or the sewer) and then make the roll as if he were throwing the klaive. The web of plumbing, power outlets, etc., will instantaneously carry the attack to the enemy. Bone Gnawers have savaged Black Spirals by attacking through sewer pipes, while attacks over the phone have made the reputation of many Glass Walkers. The enemy will usually be surprised (to say the least) by this attack, but may defend and soak as usual. The telegraph klaive can be reused, but it must first be physically retrieved (even if softwere, it must be downloaded from the enemy's computer firsthand). Most Garou with these fetishes are careful about how they use them, lest the enemy survive to use their own trick against them at an equally inopportune time.
  • Liam "Hunts-in-Blood" Mitchell: The Dayblade - Level 4, Gnosis 6 - The Dayblade is a specialized klaive, forged from steel instead of silver, as its intended targets are vampires, not werewolves. As such, it doesn't cause a loss of Gnosis like other klaives. The fetish holds a fire elemental gifted from Helios bound within. Through the elemental's presence the Dayblade inflicts aggravated damage on vampires and anything vulnerable to fire. The wielder can activate the blade to have it flare with blindingly bright sunlight, illuminating an area several yards around the blade and inflicting appropriate damage and panic to vampires.
  • Stephen Garrison: Klaive of Electricity - Level 4, Gnosis 5 - This is a blade of steel with an electricity elemental trapped within it. It may be used to fire lightning bolts that do five dice of damage.
  • Buries-the-Dead: Klaive of Purity - Level 4, Gnosis 7 - When activated, this fetish makes the wielder immune to mind or soul-corrupting powers for one turn per activation success, so long as the wielder is in no way breaking the Litany by her actions. It also prevents the wielder from ever succumbing to the vampiric Embrace; if this is attempted, the fetish's owner dies painlessly and the fetish shatters in a blazing nimbus of sunlight.
  • Silver Fangs: Alpha Klaive - Level 4, Gnosis 8 - The is a variation on the klaive unique to the Silver Fangs. This weapon acknowledges that sometimes good leadership is a better quality in an alpha than pure destructive power. Instead of binding a war-spirit into the blade, the blade forger uses a falcon-spirit. Instead of doing aggravated damage against all opponents, the weapon now aids the alpha in making crucial tactical and battlefield decisions, boosting his effective Leadership by two dots. The difficulty to attack with an alpha klaive is 7 as there is no war-spirit to aid the wielder, but it still inflicts Strength +2 lethal damage. Werewolves cannot soak damage from the weapon and still treat the klaive's wounds as aggravated, because it is made of silver. The bearer loses one point from his Gnosis rating while carrying the weapon.
  • Shadow Lords: Assassin's Klaive - Level 5, Gnosis 5 - The weapon of choice for Theurges who need to see rival eliminated, these bone-colored blades are also used to quickly and quietly destroy those that prove to be difficult to attack directly. Sleek and deadly, assassin's klaives are easily hidden underneath clothing, and are quite innocuous if observers don't know what to look for. The snake-spirit within the klaive allows the possessor to expend a point of Gnosis to activate one of the following abilities: surround himself with an aura of absolute silence for a scene, mask his scent for one hour, or eradicate his footprints while he walks for one day. The blade is not actually silver, but inflicts the wielder's Strength in aggravated damage, and the difficulty to soak wounds from an assassin's klaive is raised by 1.
  • Uktena: Dragon Klaive - Level 5, Gnosis 5 - This Asian klaive has its hilt shaped in the form of a dragon's maw (in honor of the Asian personification of Uktena). The wielder may use it as a normal klaive, and may also expend one of the Dragon Klaive's Gnosis to shoot fire from its hilt *five dice of aggravated damage). Once all the dragon's fire has been used, it can be replaced by bathing the klaive in clear water under Luna's light for two weeks. If even one night is missed, the whole process must be repeated.
  • Spirit Slayer - Level 6, Gnosis 6 - This Klaive has a spirit bound into it dedicated to the defense of the earthly realm from Umbral manifestations. The spirit provides the following gifts: Umbral Sight and Sideways Attack.

References[]

Werewolf: The Apocalypse Fetishes and Talens
Garou Ancestor · Apocalyptic · Artifacts · Auspice · Breed · Caern · Celestial · Claw Carvings · Cyberfetishes · Drums · General Fetishes · Klaives: Bane Klaives - Grand Klaives · Legendary · Masks · Natural · Scars/Tattoos · Softwere · Special Items · Talens · Torcs · Tribal · Umbral · WeaverTech: Hardware - Software - Wetware · Wyld · Wyrm
Kinfolk Kinfolk Fetishes · Kinfolk Talens
Fera Ahadi · Ajaba · Camazotz · Drums · Fylfot · Gurahl · Hengeyokai · Kitsune · Masks · Mokolé · Nagah: - Bindhi · Nuwisha · Rokea · Scars/Tattoos · Shiny Things · Trinkets · Toys
Fomori Wyrm
Mages, Dreamspeakers & Spirit Sphere General Fetishes · Trinkets
Fifth Edition Talismans Klaives · Legendary · Talismans · Talens
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