Spirit Chasing

This Way enables a hedge mage to create a bond between herself and a chosen type of plant or animal. Those who practice this Way believe, not unlike the Garou, that every living thing possesses a soul or animating spirit. A spirit chaser uses her bond to watch and learn from her chosen animal or plant. Unlike the process of learning Gifts, no bargain exists between animal/plant teacher and student. The practitioner starts by contacting the spirit and simply watching it. Next, she asks questions of the spirit and tries to mimic its natural abilities. After this, the spirit chaser devises a private ritual in which she pleads with the spirit, requesting it to appear. When this happens (and it can take a very long time), the spirit chaser explains that she would like to learn its ways. For example, a spirit chaser choosing a bear spirit would ask to learn the ways of bears. The spirit might require some kind of proof of sincerity or a quest undertaken to prove the spirit chaser’s worth, but if it agrees, it allows the spirit chaser to learn the basics of living like the chosen creature. As learning progresses, the hedge mage learns to focus her senses to see as her animal does. She might even learn special activities, such as a bear’s ability to hibernate or a lion’s ability to use claws. This Way is unique to every practitioner. Note that this Numen does not provide the ability to see, hear, touch, or summon spirits. It does provide a degree of intuitive communication with a chosen spirit type, such that queries might be answered by a gentle breeze, the snap of a twig, or even the brief appearance of the spirit’s type of animal or plant, and the spirit chaser intuitively understands the meaning of such responses. Others would easily interpret it as being all in the spirit chaser’s imagination, but she knows better. At higher levels of awareness, it’s even possible that a spirit might like the spirit chaser enough to materialize before her now and then, or use other Charms that signal its direct presence. Roll: Manipulation + Occult Willpower cost: 1 point • The mystic learns to “eat” the food of the chosen spirit. The proper food needs to be available (water and sun for plants; pasturage for herbivores such as cows or deer; grubs, honey, berries, etc. for bears; raw meat for wolves or other predators). She receives full nutrition from this food as if she were her chosen animal. Rituals might involve cud chewing, squirreling food away to eat later, burying food, and so forth. •• The spirit chaser can match his own sensory levels to his animal. For example, a lynx might allow the spirit chaser to see in the dark or sniff out predators or prey. Scenting humans, sniffing out a trail, finding food, or “reading” the air are some of the rituals that might accompany this level. Animals and plants know how to survive and what to do when they need healing. Plants “heal” by means of photosynthetic energy, while some animals lick their wounds, or fall into a healing sleep. The vibrational rate of a feline’s purr seems to have some healing properties as well. Each year, for some part of the winter, some creatures hibernate; temperatures are cold and food is scarce, so hibernation is a type of self-induced coma to insure survival. At this level, a spirit chaser may fall into a healing sleep which heals one Health Level for each success rolled on Spirit Chasing. With three successes, the spirit chaser could heal three levels after 12 hours of sleep. Rituals include hiding, healing, cleansing & purging venomous or poisonous wounds, and childbirth. •••• At this level, the spirit chaser received the inner wisdom of the chosen animal or plant spirit. Based on the level of success on a roll to use this level of power, the Storyteller decides how much and what sort of information provided to the spirit chaser. An oak spirit might give the spirit chaser insight into an event that happened when the oak was a sapling. A wolf spirit might give the caster knowledge of something affecting the survival of wolves in a particular part of the world. The Storyteller can make use of this power to give story hooks to the characters. Rituals might include seeking visions, detecting lies or making intuitive leaps.

The most committed and dedicated spirit chasers may attain this advanced level of mastery. Here, the spirit chaser receives the ability to practice some aspect unique to its bonded animal or plant spirit. She might, if bonded to a deer, be able to run especially quickly or leap high fences. A practitioner bonded to a bear might call on great strength; one bonded to a lion might grow claws for battle. Certain plants might give the caster skin that could be poisonous to the touch. At least three successes are necessary to invoke this ability, which is the closest a Kinfolk may come to experiencing the Garou’s shapechanging ability. Possible rituals may involve shielding, through growing a thick coat of hair or tree bark; offensive powers, such as growing sharp, strong fingernails; scaling a vertical surface as a spider might; and other abilities.