Items

The Rorqual and other massive animal Kami fill a strange gap between Kami of the land and their animal siblings. Too large to interact on a smaller scale and too mobile to be considered land Kami, these unusual beasts meet somewhere in the middle. As such, they can take the powers meant for either. The following are appropriate powers for the Rorqual and similarly gigantic Kami:

Animal Control, Berserker, Chameleon Col­ oration, Gaseous Form, Homogeneity, Invisibility, Sense the Unnatural, Spirit Ties, Umbral Passage, Water Breathing, Aura of Tranquility, Beast of Burden, Curse of Gaia, Heart Sense, Longevity, Plant Animation, Plant Kinship, Season’s Blessing, Shapeshifter Kin, Spirit Awakening, Spirit Kinship, Spirit Sense, Universal Tongue, Lord of the Land, Spirit Den, Wellspring.

Attributes

directly on the world around her. For Kami of the land, this generally means moving items and creatures within the boundaries of their earthly bodies. For the flora with Gaia’s blessing, if their scale doesn’t prohibit movement, they needn’t worry about such limitations. Animated plant Kami roughly the same size as a human being have no trouble moving like one. Without the protection of their idleness, they have the same defenses and Health Levels as human or animal Kami.

• Incarnate: When the Kami of the land and earth­ bound plant Kami grow truly restless, Incarnate can give them a rare respite from their isolation. The Kami creates an avatar in human or animal skin that allows them to interact on a level they were incapable of as landmarks.

System

The Kami can create a single human or an­ imal avatar with a single Kami power. She can purchase this power multiple times, either to gain different forms or to give her incarnated body gains a new Kami power. She can manifest one avatar at a time. Incarnated bodies use the Kami’s Attributes, Abilities, and other traits; their body has seven health levels. It costs 3 points of Gnosis to Incarnate. The Kami’s original body doesn’t change, but her awareness and her blessings transfer into her avatar. She can transfer her consciousness back to her original form as an instant action, her avatar crumbles to soil when she does. If her Incarnated body dies, there’s no coming back. The Kami is dead. While Incarnated, powers specific to immobile Kami do not function.

• Lord of the Land: Immobile Kami may take this power to gain a constant awareness of their massive bodies. Her senses are everywhere she touches and just a bit beyond. There’s no hiding from a Kami with Lord of the Land.

System

The Kami only needs a single success on a Perception + Alertness (difficulty 6) to detect anything that happens on her surface and up to (Willpower x 3) yards above it. If someone attempts to cloak their presence with magic she rolls whatever the power demands, but if she fails she’s still aware someone is on her somewhere. Rorqual may take this power.

• Moonstone: This power gives the Kami’s body properties similar to a caern’s pathstone, allowing Moon Bridges to link directly to her person.

System

This power does not automatically confer the Rite of the Opening Bridge, though it makes that rite possible within the bounds of the Kami herself. The Kami must also purchase the power: Spirit Den to purchase Moonstone. Rorqual may take this power.

• Safe Place: This power effectively removes access to the Kami from the Umbra. She has no Penumbral shadow, and attempts to Step Sideways near her are tremendously difficult. Even when successful, they simply eject the invader at the Kami’s nearest boundary.

System

The Gauntlet around the Kami out to (Gnosis x5) yards becomes a staggering difficulty 9 to cross for trav­ elers in the Umbra. Success does not place the potential invader on the Kami herself, but just outside the area of increased Gauntlet.

• Spirit Den: The Gauntlet of the Kami’s land-body is thin enough that passing through the Kami’s center is as effective as Stepping Sideways into the Umbra. Her reflection in the Penumbra is identical to her earthly body.

System

No roll is needed to pass from the Umbra to the Kami, and vice versa. If this power is taken with Safe Place, treat the reflection as if the Rite of the Shrouded Glen (W20, p.207) has been performed successfully. Ror­ qual may take this power.

• Wellspring: The Kami acts in much the same manner as caern, providing spiritual sustenance for any shapeshifters who spent enough time in her boundaries.

System

The Kami spends two points of Gnosis per caern level, up to ten points to make a Level 5 caern. For the next lunar month, she is a caern of that level for all purposes, though she does not have a type. The Kami can terminate this power at any time before the end of the month. When it ends, she regains half of the Gnosis she invested to become a Caern. All Rorqual possess this power for free.

The following Kami are examples for the Storyteller to use, either dropping one or two into his Chroni­ cle as-is or as inspiration for unique Kami that will enhance his Chronicle. The nine Kami in this sec­ tion are examples only — the true number of Kami, including Rorqual, is up to the Storyteller, and any or none of these examples may exist in his World of Darkness.

History: Agatha began collecting the gross ones first. Before she was old enough for school, she would skip down to the little creek on her family’s Oklahoma farm and catch what her mother affectionately called ‘critters’. It started off with frogs, to her mother’s disgust. She graduated onto lizards and snakes before long, then jackrabbits and the neighbor’s lambs. It’d sometimes be days before her mother found the animals. More often that not, she’d find them with Agatha, sleeping a bed full of dozing snakes and peaceful mice. At that point Agatha was still willing to part with her slithering friends.

Things changed for Agatha when she brought a stray cat home with two broken legs. When her father forbade her keeping it, Agatha became all but feral. She scratched and screamed at her dad until both he and Agatha’s mother were afraid something might be very wrong with their daughter. They let her keep the cat, convinced its inevitable demise would shake her obsession with wildlife. To her parent’s surprise, the cat started walking soon after Agatha took it in.

As the years went by, Agatha’s interest in helping animals grew. Much to the chagrin of her family, her interest in people almost totally evaporated. She went to vet school, but couldn’t stand the teachers. She worked at clinics, but couldn’t deal with answering to superiors who didn’t care for animals as thoroughly as she. What made it worse was how good she was at caring for her furred and feathered friends. Agatha is savant of animal care, capable of beast-coaxing feats that would’ve been all over the internet — if she didn’t cut herself off from most people in the late 1980s.

Agatha has become even less interested in people as the years have gone on. Her work for local non-profits is a trouble she forces herself to endure, if only for the sake of her four-legged companions. Despite that, Agatha is something of a local legend among volunteers and veterinarians in the state of Oklahoma. She can care for anything. Her small, off-grid ranch is a frightening cross between a vet-clinic and a nuclear bunker, with animals from the mundane

to the exotic recuperating in barns and cool cages. Agatha cares for anything that isn’t a person. Birds, bears, lions, even an alligator from the zoo some heartless kids fed a sharp tin can.

Agatha serves Gaia unknowingly. Many of the animals she cares for are Kinfolk of the Changing Breeds, though that’s entirely coincidental. Agatha’s purpose is to help other Kami come into their strength, and through exposure to her gentle touch the process happens much faster. Agatha doesn’t know it, but she’s played a key but subtle part in several victories against the Wyrm.

Appearance

Agatha is a handsome, dark-skinned woman with the most severe eyes a person can have with­ out being angry. She dresses in utilitarian canvas clothes she keeps immaculate despite the frequent proximity to wounded animals. She’s getting on in years, but a few streaks of silver in her black hair only make her look more intimidating.

Roleplaying Notes: Agatha puts animals before human beings, including herself. She’ll face down the fiercest trou­ ble to protect the smallest mouse, and she isn’t bad with a shotgun. She’s a sharp-tongued, harsh-eyed veterinarian who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Her exterior may soften a little in the face of someone who cares as much for wildlife as she does, but if she doubts his sincerity he’s in a world of trouble. Agatha doesn’t believe in werewolves, spirits or any of that nonsense, and until confronted with facts she’ll rationalize or ignore anything weird she sees. Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4 Social: Charisma 3 Manipulation 2, Appearance 2 Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 2 Talents: Alertness 2, Athletics 3, Brawl 2 Skills: Animal Ken 5, Crafts 3, Drive 2, Firearms 2,

Survival 2 Knowledges: Academics 2, Medicine 2, Science 1 Powers: Beast of Burden, Animal Control, Immunity to

the Delirium, Piercing Gaze Geas: Nothing deserves to suffer.