Gifts

Mastering the Gifts of the spirit world begins with a desire. A young Galliard wants to impress his elders by recalling every detail of an hours-long epic poem. A weathered Stargazer warrior prepares to infiltrate a neighboring sept to expose the Wyrm's corruption, and wants a leg up on their hidden evidence in the Umbra. But desire is not enough. The spirits do not give up their secrets freely, or out of the goodness of their hearts. Ancient laws govern their dealings with Gaia's chosen champions, mimicking the primal forces that govern the natural world. Something does not come from nothing, and nothing is taken without reciprocity one way or another. To keep as many allies as they can, the Garou prefer to show respect and offer chiminage for the spirits' help in their war against the Wyrm. Of course, one werewolf's idea of respect is not necessarily the same as another's, and sometimes one must coerce or even trick recalcitrant spirits into upholding their end of the bargain.

Tracking down the right spirit can be an adventure in and of itself. If the Galliard's sept elders are to summon one of the wise elephant-spirits from its Penumbral home for his benefit, he must prove himself worthy of their time. The Stargazer veteran must undertake a quest into an Epiph to hunt for an evasive Truth spirit willing to deal before

she can negotiate for its aid. Not all spirits of the same type are approachable as though they're identical, either; where one Wyldling is perfectly willing to imbue a werewolf with its magic for a pittance, another goes on the attack at the mere suggestion, and yet another makes nigh-impossible demands for its own amusement.

Those Garou who entreat spirits of the Weaver to learn Gifts do so at their own peril. While the Glass Walkers see the Weaver as a tool they can use against the Wyrm, most other Garou recognize that the spinner is just as great a threat. As such, those who do learn from the Weaver take it upon themselves to fight against it; a Garou who uses the Weaver’s tools redoubles her efforts to tear down the webs that calcify the world, as she is in part responsible for its actions.

Once a werewolf finds the right spirit, the real challenge starts. Some do their homework and present their trades up front. The Stargazer learns that a particular Epiphling is known to covet fetishes in the form of rare books, and decides to bring such a fetish along into the Penumbra to offer in exchange for knowledge. She first tries to bargain with septmates, but no one has the kind of fetish she needs. She travels to a faraway caern to barter with its elders, but they place little value on what she offers to trade and turn her down. Finally, frustrated and growing impatient, she goes tomb raiding in ancient subterranean battlegrounds to find a suitable tome. One of her packmates suffers injuries along the way, and she questions whether all this was worth it. But when the chips are down and she manages to evade death at the hands of the enemy by slipping into the Umbra where the Gauntlet should not yield, she and her pack agree: it was worth it.

Another takes part in a sacred hunt. Spirits cross the Gauntlet to possess exemplary spirits or powerful people in the physical world. By sniffing out such a creature, the werewolf drives her pack to hunt it down so that she may kill it and consume its power. A Gaffling may only provide a gift of Gnosis, while a more powerful spirit may grant a Gift in return. The hunt itself is chiminage: proving that the werewolf is a skilled enough hunter to track down creatures from the spirit world in the physical. Though they do not take place in the Umbra, such hunts often see the pack faced with symbols and challenges related to the spirit’s nature.

Sometimes, trades are not so simple; Griffin's avatars, for instance, have been known to demand werewolves offer the bones of humans who they have hunted and sacrificed before they consent to pass on their talents. Most Red Talons care nothing for these sacrifices, but Garou of other tribes may weigh the bloodshed that would result from giving the spirit what it wants against their need for the secrets it possesses. Cat spirits are notoriously unwilling to take a werewolf's need at face value, and often insist on offerings

with sentimental value to the petitioner as proof that he is serious about his request. Werewolves have given away the last tokens of their pre-Change lives, treasured favors from lovers, and beloved trophies of battle to skeptical felines in exchange for Gifts. Animal sacrifices to honor a spirit’s name are common as well, which can be as simple as hunting a rabbit in the nearby woods, or as complicated as traveling halfway across the world to find a nearly-extinct species of monkey.

Not all offerings are material things. Esoteric beings of the Near Realms and spirits of concepts may demand that the Garou give up memories, or allow them to temporarily inhabit the werewolf's mind to experience her life and emotions firsthand. Some spirits want — or can be convinced to want — simple services like companionship, a sparring match, a hunting partner, or a liaison to the material world. Others ride the werewolf’s body to carry out their own agenda, slaughtering humans responsible for defiling the material world. One legendary Galliard persuaded a servant of Raven to accept one full day and night of nonstop storytelling in exchange for its most jealously guarded Gift.

Some spirits are more difficult to shop for and not as easily predictable. The broods of spirits such as Sphinx, Boar, and Chimera are fond of forcing a petitioner to pass a test or face a challenge before they will lend their aid, ranging from solving riddles to defeating champions in battle or navigating mind-bending labyrinths to fetch prizes. Others take it a step further and demand that the Garou embark on a quest or perform a favor for them. Still others refuse to teach a werewolf anything until she convinces them she can defeat them in battle; and the consequences for proving unworthy are, at times, dire.