Success gives a green light to continue.

(against nine Traits, retest with Primal-Urge). Success gives a green light to continue. If the challenge fails, make two Simple Tests. Losing one test means the time is not right this month and the ritemaster should wait another month. Losing both tests means the results appear to indicate now is the right time, but the ritemaster has in fact miscalculated. Of course, she can press forward if she chooses, which is license for the Storyteller to unleash whatever hell he deems appropriate. The moot proceeds as described above. At the rite’s conclusion, the ritemaster makes a Static Mental Challenge ( against nine Traits, or seven Traits if she has both Pure Breedand Ancestors at twolevelsor better; retest with Rituals). If she miscalculated the ritual’s timing, the ritual automatically fails, and she suffers three aggravated health levels of damage, which manifest as the “tears of Gaia” similar to those suffered in a caem-building. If the ritual’s timing is correct and she succeeds in the rite, she must decide how much land to reclaim. For one permanent Stamina-related Trait or two permanent Gnosis sacrificed, one square acre of land will revert to its original wild state as if humans had never touched it. Nothing is destroyed or killed, but the plant growth is riotous enough to overtake buildings and cars. Any Stamina or Gnosis sacrificed is permanent until bought up with experience. P@&rnflfR? A?? f#0 B@M@Mjd Level Four The Red Talons don’t employ a wide variety of Punishment Rites. A serious offense usually merits a sentence of ostracism from the sept (or from the tribe, in extreme cases) or death. However, sometimes an offender must be disciplined severely but left alive and intact. On these occasions, the Talons employed the feared Rite of the Human Mind. All Red Talons - indeed, all Garou - have both a human-mind and a wolf-heart, according to the Talons. The human mind is dominant in Homid form, while the wolf-heart dominates in Lupus form. A Red Talon who relies too heavily on his human-mind, or shows mercy or compassion to a human that then comes back to bite him (as is often the case), might be subject to this rite. Any incompetence or faulty logic that the elders believe to stem from the human-mind, or relying on human babble when instinct is clearly called for, might also result in the Rite of the Human Mind being employed. To perform this rite, the ritemaster must assume Homid form, as must the accused. The ritemaster calls the accused by his name in whatever human tongue is convenient, and then changes to Lupus form and howls in derision. Any observers also take up the howl, but at no time during these howls is the accused referred to by his howl-name. When the howls die down, the accused Chapfer Three: Sofier finds himself unable to access his wolf-heart, even in Lupus form. This punishment may last for any amount of time, but the Talons usually consider it too cruel to maintain it for longer than one moon. System: Roll Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 7). If the rite succeeds, the accused does not gain Perception bonuses while in Lupus, Hispo, or Crinos forms and is considered to have no dots in Primal-Urge for as long as the rite lasts. On lupus Garou, the attendant discomfort this brings also levies +3 to all Willpower difficulties and a -2 to initiative results for the duration of the punishment. The character thinks like a human being, even in Lupus form, and aplayer whose character is subjected to this rite should do her best to roleplay this experience. The Storyteller is free to impose additional penalties if she feels that the player is having too easy a time of it. MET: Make astandard riteschallenge. With success, the accused is considered to have no levels of Primal-Urge as long as his punishment lasts and gains no Perceptionrelated bonus Traits in Lupus, Hispo or Crinos. During Willpower Challenges, he suffers a three-Trait penalty. Even in Lupus form, he must think like a human. The African hunting dogs are not true wolves, but are the closet thing that Africa has to them. Some years ago, the Red Talons took up the challenge of breeding with the animals and helping them to survive. They have succeeded, at least in part. The African hunting dogs face many of the same threats from humans that wolves do. Cars, poachers, disease, and poisons claim many of them, and shrinking habitat also endangers these predators. However, the Red Talons protect these new Kin as fiercely as they do any European or American wolf. zz&/-fi African hunting dogs are slightly smaller than wolves, and hunt in a much-different fashion. While wolf packs use smell to track and stalk their prey, hunting dogs use sight and do not pay attention to wind direction. Wolves will hunt under cover, but hunting dogs.simply charge their prey, relying on their speed (up to 35mph for more than a mile) to bring down prey. They don’t fight over kills, but rather allow young and disabled pack members to eat first. They are very affectionate toward each other, and although they have a hierarchy, it isn’t as firmly established (or at least not as obvious) as with wolves. Red Talons descended from African hunting dogs therefore make the following alterations: Attributes: InLupusform, add +3 to Dexterity but no bonus to Strength. Pursuit difficulties drop by one. Senses: Perception rolls based on scent only receive a -1 difficulty, rather than the usual -2. Rolls based on sight, however, have their difficulties reduced by two. Pure Breed: No Kucha Ekundu may have a Pure Breed score higher than three. MET: Kucha Ekundu-descended Red Talons have the following adjustments. They gain Quick x 3 in Lupus form, but no Strength-related bonuses, and a bonus Physical Trait when in pursuit. They gain a bonus Mental Trait during Perception-related scent challenges (such as sniffing out a trail), and two bonus Mental Traits during sight-related challenges. They may never have Pure Breed higher than three. d i The Kucha Ekundu make use of many of the same Gifts as the rest of the tribe, but have learned others as well, due to their different environment. Speed of Thought (Level One) -As the Silent Strider Gift. MET: As per the Silent Strider Gift. See JAWS of the Wild. Feed the Pack (Level Two) - Useful during droughts and other times of want, this Gift allows the werewolf to “eat for the pack.” Any food the Kucha Ekundu ingests feeds not only him, but the rest of his pack as well. The spirit of a hunting dog teaches this Gift. System: The player simply spends a Gnosis point before the character eats, and rolls Gnosis (difficulty 6 for packmates, 7 for Kinfolk). For each success, whatever the character eats also nourishes another being. MET: Spend a Gnosis Trait and make a Gnosis Challenge. With success, whatever you eat nourishes one other being. Predator’s Many Eyes (Level Three) - The African savanna holds predators of various stripes: Lions, cheetahs, hyenas and many others. The Kucha Ekundu do not regard themselves as “Lords of the Savannah,” especially with the Ahadi in place, but do wish to do their job as Garou. This Gift facilitates that job, allowing the werewolf to “mark” a predator and thereafter look through its eyes. System: As the Red Talon Gift: Territory. Obviously, Predator’s Many Eyes does not require the Garou to urinate on the animal it wishes to mark. The player must merely roll Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty 7) to mark the predator. Using this Gift on other Fera is possible but requires the Fera’s consent. In all other respects, this Gift functions as Territory. MET As the Gift: Territory (above). The Gift does not require the urine markings as per Territory, only a Social Challenge (retest with Anid Ken) to mark the animal. This Gift may be used on Fera (such as the Simba and Swam Bastet or the Ajaba), but only if the Fera has given consent; the challenge to mark is the same. Clenched Jaw (LevelFour) -As the AhrounGift. MET: As per the Ahroun Gift. See Laws of the Wild. Pact (Level Five) - When the Red Talons first came toAfiicaandstrucktheirdealwiththeMokol6, the mighty werecrocodiles agreed that if the Garou could breed with the hunting dogs and do their appointed task in Ahca without making war on the other Fera, they could stay. The Red Talons have (thus far) made good on their promises, and the eldest of the Kucha Ekundu have been rewarded with this Gift. The werewolf may call upon the Mokole-mbembe for aid, in battle or otherwise. The spirits of the Dragon Kings teach this Gift. System: The player spends two Gnosis points and rolls Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, the Garou receives aid within one turn, be it from a local clutch or from the spirits who witnessed the pacts between the Memory of Gaia and the Garou. The Storyteller has the final say over exactly what form the Garou’s succor takes, but it might range from rampaging werecrocodiles arriving to fight with the Kucha Ekundu to great ancestor spirits called forth by the Mokole to give the Garou advice. MET: Spend two Gnosis and make a Social Challenge (retest with R i d ) . With success, you receive aid within one turn, from either a local clutch or spirits that wimessedtheoriginalpactsbetweentheGarouandMokol6. The Storyteller determines what form the aid takes. For more information on the Mokol6-mbembe, see MokolC (MET: Changing Breeds Book 2). The following Merits and Flaws are suitable for Red Talon characters, and may (at the Storyteller’s discretion) be taken by other lupus characters as well. Remember that all Merits and Flaws are optional. &m?AeppM0M) The character must have at least one dot in the Ancestors Background to purchase this Merit. Somewhere in the far-flung mists of the past, you have a human-bom relative. Maybe a homid relative of yours bred with a wolf that was Kin to the Red Talons, perhaps a more recent relative was actually born to another tribe. Either way, you have a slightly better grip on human thought than most lupus. Reduce the difficulty of rolls involving logic and abstract thinking by one, and the difficulties of using Ancestors to access Abilities such as Crafts, Melee, Etiquette, and Politics likewise drop by one (Firearms and Computers are probably still off-limits). On the minus side, if word of