Everything

Many forces benefit from preventing potential Kami from claiming their Gaia-given gift. The Weaver’s unwitting servants in Developmental Neogenics Amalgamated have a geological division dedicated to exhuming what they call Aberrant Cradles — budding Kami of the soil. DNA believes them to be a possible source of the different strains of lycanthropy. The Wyrm is so enraged by the existence of Gaia’s chosen that it blesses animal fomori with a knack for finding and devouring proto-Kami. Even the Wyld’s unpredictable agents can grow jealous of Kami they smell flowering. Gorgons have been known to end the threat to their sovereignty over the natural places.

What’s more, preventing a Kami from reaching its potential leaves a great deal of spiritual energy unspent. Human, animal and plant Kami who per­ ish before their transformation are worth between 1 and 5 Gnosis when consumed, depending on how powerful Gaia intended them to be.

have an arduous and winding path before they manifest thought. It takes so much of their being to infuse with Her nourishing breath that upward of a century can pass before a Kami of soil and stone flowers with Gaia’s offered might.

Shortcuts to becoming Kami don’t exist per se, but certain energies can speed things along. Rare as they are, the presence of other Kami can help bring a nascent Kami to bud. Likewise, proximity to caerns, shapeshifters and thin spots in the Gauntlet will shave years off the welcome chrysalis.

Regardless of the kind of Kami, they need to seek a place of purity — or be one, as the case may be — for that final epiphany that brings them into their power. It must be awash in Gaia’s essence, though the location is otherwise unimportant. When a new Kami first steps into her role, brief, localized miracles herald the event. Absurd fertility among nearby plants and animals, diseases evaporating from the bodies of the ill, predators lying down with prey — events that the enemies of Gaia are unlikely to miss.

The Kami don’t have breeds or families like the fo­ mori, with whom the Kami share little more than the act of transformation. Each Kami is an individual of Gaia’s own choosing. A special person, place or thing, both hale

and pure, who knowingly accepts their new burden, even if they don’t entirely understand it. The closest thing to a Kami family are the Rorqual: massive and extremely rare whale Kami that serve as migrating caerns of the Rokea.

Being Kami isn’t a free ticket to spiritual power. They may not be suited for the front lines in the war against the Wyrm, nor do they have the infrastructure of the Garou Nation to rely on, but the Kami are far from helpless. Even a gentle blessing comes with a price. That price is a promise.

The purpose of every single Kami can be boiled down to a contract they’ve made with the Earth itself. Whether this is a task or a role, simple or complicated, active or passive, this new drive defines them. To that end, each Kami has a restriction they cannot disobey; a taboo that would cost them much of their spiritual blessing to break. In the case of Kami who aren’t self-aware without their blessing, breaking their Geasa could result in loss of one of Gaia’s chosen. These Geasa can be anything from simple prohibitions like never eat what you had no hand in preparing and travel only the means Gaia gave you to dedicated roles like prevent the opening of new shipyards that require more active intervention.

When a Kami breaks her taboo, she loses access to one or more of her Kami powers, depending on the severity of the breach. Communing with Gaia sometimes helps, though most often correcting the mistake is the only means of absolution.

Few Kami exist in the world, particularly compared to the fomori. The Kami that do exist are spread across a wide variation of species, plants and landscapes. Should a Storyteller want to create a Kami as a character, or even run a story where the players take the role of Kami, the systems presented here provide a starting point. When it comes to defining Storyteller characters, these systems can make things easier, but don’t feel restrained by the traits given here.