All of the rites found in Werewolf: The Forsaken are known to the Pure as well, although the rites often take very different form. For instance, a Pure Rite of Dedication may entail cutting one's skin in shallow patterns as a gesture of sacrifice to the spirit world, while the Pure variant of the Rite of the Spirit Brand involves spirits of fire and blood that mark the subject with scars rather than the silver marks of the Lunes. Any Pure rite meant to call a spirit is conducted in a more humble fashion, and requires greater offerings of chiminage. The Storyteller is encouraged to customize each rite to reflect the local Pure spirituality as needed; though the mechanics may remain the same, the details of performing the rite can take whatever form seems most interesting and flavorful.
First Edition[]
Rite List[]
Demonstration of Obedience: The Ivory Claws are the pioneers of this ritual, which gives the subject more power when performing other rites by virtue of his obedience to Silver Wolf's decrees. Some Fire-Touched and Predator Kings know their own variants, which require obedience to a similarly restrictive law chosen by their Firstborn patron. Few werewolves of any ilk are able to obey these laws for a long time, but some Ivory Claw ritualists and hermits are able to hold them for months if not years.- Rite of Contrition: In game mechanics terms, the Pure Tribes' Rite of Contrition is very similar to the Rite of Contrition described in Werewolf: The Forsaken.
- Rite of Penance: As discussed in Chapter Two, the Fire-Touched believe that sin can be forgiven, provided that the proper penance is performed. The Rite of Penance is one of the most important parts of the Izidakh culture, and since this rite can be performed alone, most Fire-Touched eventually learn it. With it, the Uratha can find some forgiveness for recently committed sins, no matter how intense. The rite is interesting in that it doesn't require the werewolf to seek forgiveness from the people he actually sinned against, only a more abstract for of absolution from Gurim-Ur himself. If the werewolf is seeking forgiveness from another party, he would be well-advised to perform the Rite of Contrition instead.
- Taste of the Ancestors: This rite allows a werewolf to determine something about the subject's ancestry. Specifically, she can determine whether either of the subject's parents are werewolves - and if either one is, she can determine whether either one of them is one of the Tribes of the Moon. This ritual cannot determine whether its subject is a werewolf himself, nor whether the subject will become a werewolf.
- Rite of Purgation: Living in the modern world is difficult to reconcile with a mindset that regards lying as abhorrent, particularly since the Fire-Touched believe that even presenting the notion that they are human to be a lie of sorts. Most Fire-Touched packs include one member who can perform this rite, extirpating the lies of the pack in a moment of searing pain.
- Rite of the Surrogate: The Pure know that they are in a vicious war against the Forsaken, as well as the other dark entities that stalk the night. Every war has its innocent victims, and even the warriors of purity and righteousness may violate their vows and tribal bans in the pursuit of higher justice.
- This ritual allows the Uratha who uses it to gain prior forgiveness for a Harmony sin he knows he will soon commit. This ritual certainly is not perfect; Uratha who use it may still suffer as they violate Harmony bans. But this improves the werewolves' chances of withstanding any dark tasks that confront them.
- The Ivory Claws have no specific ritual intended to alleviate the negative effects of Harmony sins already committed; Silver Wolf commands his servants to prepare for upcoming battles both physically and, using this rite, spiritually. (However, Ivory Claws may still participate in and execute other rites described in this section; it is simply the case that none of the other Harmony-related rites come to them from Silver Wolf.)
- Strip the Soul Bare: Despite the Pure's doctrine of total war, they sometimes find themselves with Forsaken prisoners or other captives. Captives can be a liability unless they possess some value to the Anshega - the captive may possess information or be useful as a bargaining chip to ensure the return of a Pure prisoner from the Forsaken.
- Prisoners with useful information cannot always be persuaded to turn that information over to Pure captors. Forsaken resist most forms of torture, and the kind of torment that the Pure can put out often inadvertently kills human captives, even those with wolf blood.
- This ritual is intended both as a sacrifice to Silver Wolf and as a tool for the Pure as they deal with captives. Strip the Soul Bare allows a werewolf ritualist to inflict horrific pain upon the rite's target and in so doing crush the target's will to resist the ritualist's demands for information. The Essence generated by the target's agony is channeled to Silver Wolf. Strip the Soul Bare also prevents the target from dying under the Ivory Claws' ministrations.
- The use of this ritual is a level-three sin against Harmony.
- Expiate the Sin: At the heart of werewolf mythology lies the belief that the Uratha committed a great sin by allowing Father Wolf to be murdered. The Forsaken suffer for the actions of their ancestors and spirit patrons; the Pure suffer for their ancestors' inaction or inability.
- Using this rite, the Pure can atone for their ancestors' status within the spirit world. Expiate the Sin also allows the Pure to reclaim part of their lost stability and peace of mind after great sins have been committed.
- The use of this ritual is a level-three sin against Harmony. This rite is therefor something of a gamble.
- Rite of the Found: The Pure prize nuzusul. If the nuzusul is abducted before his First Change, the Pure can hide him from Luna's gaze and prevent the burning of auspices. Those Pure who have never been marred by her touch are considered by many to be the pinnacle of purity within the three tribes. Thus, finding nuzusul, whatever the cost, is a priority for many packs.
- This rite allows the ritemaster to track a nuzusul as if the ritemaster has already tasted the subject's blood as the blood of the target - and then consuming the blood - the Pure can track a pre-Change werewolf per the rules of Prey's Blood. The ritemaster needn't know who the subject is, or even if one exists: if a nuzusul is within five square miles, his blood transubstantiates. (If more than one is within that range, the ritemaster gains a bonus to track whichever one is closest.)
- Rite of Purity: This rite has been with the Pure as long as any of them can remember. Some claim it has been with them since the beginning, when their first children suffered the brands of Mother Moon without realizing that she was quite so vigilant. When the ritemaster performs this rite upon a pre-Change werewolf (nuzusul), it hides him from Luna's gaze and assures that he will experience his First Change without gaining an auspice. The werewolf will never gain an auspice unless an appropriate countering rite is performed successfully. Such rites, however, are closely guarded by old Forsaken and considered quite rare.
- Offering of Blood and Silver: One of the most notorious of all Pure techniques, this rite slices away the subject's auspice. In many ways, this rite defines what it is to be Pure - while the Rite of the Found can prevent the unasked-for blessing of Luna from falling on a nuzusul, all those who are found after their First Change or recruited from the ranks of the Forsaken have undergone the Offering of Blood and Silver.
- The rite's spiritual implications are twofold. It is both a purification of the subject and (perhaps more importantly) an agonizing sacrifice to the spirits allied with the Pure. By rejecting Luna, the Anshega prove that they are no friends to the werewolves who would hunt spirits as their prey. The rite is a terrible offering, but enough to impress their patrons.
- Ritually removing the silver brans of auspice is an excruciating task. Each silver mark of Renown must be removed entirely. The process badly injures the rite's subject - in some cases the ritemaster must end the rite early in order to keep the subject alive, beginning again once the convert has healed enough to endure further punishment. The rite can be performed on oneself to some degree, though the ritemaster may have to find unusual means to accurately peel away the brands from areas he couldn't normally reach (most notably along the back). The iron will, stamina and precision needed to perform this rite on one's own flesh are nothing short of horrifying.
- The rite cannot be performed o an unwilling subject. Only through willing sacrifice can a werewolf be severed from his link with the moon. The damage inflicted by this rite cannot be healed by supernatural means such as the Rite of Healing - the offering of flesh, blood and spirit is not easily undone.
- Rite of Scorched Earth: The Pure cannot always be victorious. Sometimes the Forsaken drive the Pure back, be it through putting aside their tribal differences, working within the human world or simply good tactics. In any case, the Fire-Touched are unwilling to concede victory even when they cannot destroy their enemies, and in such times, they use the Rite of Scorched Earth.
- This rite cause the Hisil to burst into flames and burn out of control. The fire destroys spiritual buildings, kills the spirits of anything flammable (which covers almost everything outside of Elemental or Conceptual spirits, though obviously water-spirits are immune) and incinerates any Uratha foolish enough to be caught in the blaze. This includes the ritemaster, however, and so the Rite of Scorched Earth is usually performed near a locus to enable a speedy exit once the fires start.
- The spiritual fires inflict damage as though they were natural fires (see p. 180 of the World of Darkness Rulebook). At their hottest (that is, a spiritual inferno), they inflict four points of lethal damage per turn, and they inflict this damage to spirits' Corpus and Essence (meaning spirits can actually be destroyed by the fires). Most spirits, therefore, choose to flee or discorporate rather than stay and burn, though spirits that cannot travel faster than the fire are probably lost. Stopping the fires is difficult. The intervention of a powerful water-spirit is one possibility, but ordinary methods of firefighting (digging trenches, sandbagging, starting smaller fires to destroy the fuel) don't help much because of the spiritual nature of the blaze. The fire-spirits want to consume everything, and the best solution is usually to simply get out of their way.
- The fires leave the loci active, but destroy any wards or rites used to conceal or protect them. Since the fires destroy spiritual structures, a locus that takes the form of the cornerstone of a house might sit uncovered and unguarded after the fires end, meaning the pack that claims the locus must now seriously reconsider their defense strategies.
- Rite of the Final Moonrise: One of the deadliest rites known to the Uratha, Pure and Forsaken alike, the Rite of the Final Moonrise turns a werewolf into a walking weapon against his enemies. The Pure who undergoes the rite changes into a nightmare of living silver, and though he has only scant hours to live the rite's completion, he will fill those hours tearing the life from his Forsaken enemies. This rite is suicide for the werewolf who accepts it, but the reward, the Fire-touched say, is eternity in Taga Dan.
- Normally, this rite is performed when a Pure werewolf has lost a pack to the Forsaken or otherwise suffered such an injustice at their hands that his honor cannot be satisfied in any other way but to kill them all and die in the process. Once in a great while, the Fire-Touched use this rite to destroy opposition to access to a locus or holy site, but they generally are far too reverent of the rite to use it casually. And, although the Pure would never admit it, the Rite of the Final Moonrise is dangerous because it can attract Luna's attention. The Pure can howl about "Bitch Luna" all they wish, but they know how dangerous her Lune servants can be.
- The Rite of the Final Moonrise can only performed on werewolves without auspices (that is, Pure). If a Forsaken werewolf attempts to perform or accept the rite, she can expect to be brutally attacked by Lunes within moments of the rite beginning. Also, only willing werewolves can undergo the rite, and the recipient must have Purity in order for the rite to be successful.
Second Edition[]
- Flay Auspice (Wolf Rite •••): Most notorious of the dark rites of the Pure, this rite is a pact with the hateful totem spirits who rule over the Anshega. This rite is only taught to Pure werewolves.
- Infest Locus (Wolf Rite ••): This horrible curse infects a Locus with Rabid Wolf's vile Essence. Only Fire-Touched can lead this rite.
- Shadow Bridge (Wolf Rite ••••): Through sacrifice to the Shadow, this rite tears new paths through its fabric. Only Fire-Touched can lead this rite.
- Shadow Distortion (Pack Rite •••••): This rite distorts the Shadow, twisting it to the ritemater's will. Only Fire-Touched can lead this rite.
- Unleash Shadow (Pack Rite •••••): This rite sets the Shadow in dominance over the Flesh. Only Fire-Touched can lead this rite.
References[]
- WTF: The Pure, p. 121-129
- WTF: Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon, p. 20
