Rites of the Wild (WTF)

There are several rites known to the People that are most commonly used by those werewolves whose territories comprise wilderness largely uninhabited by humanity. Most of these rites serve to duplicate the advantage of some modern amenity not available so far from the city, but a werewolf who knows them does not necessarily use them thus. In most cases, the rite existed long before the amenity. These rites are used as last resorts - efforts to survive when mere survival is the best result. At other times, there is no reason to use these rites. One of the People can do without.

Rite List

• The Tremulous Howl: The Tremulous Howl is a werewolf's cry for aid at a time when all other options are forfeit. The Tremulous Howl is no little thing for a fully grown werewolf to evoke. A ritemaster who performs this rite can be certain that those who hear it will remember her and the call for help. It admits weakness and may bring a degree of shame on the werewolf, her pack and, sometimes, her tribe. Those who respond will always know (or believe) they saved her, and those who hear of the event will become uncertain that she can adequately perform her duties. Those who desire to accumulate Glory Renown will think twice before allowing this howl to be performed. Still, it requires a certain knowledge of self to know that one needs help. Using this rite when hope is truly lost and through no fault of one's own can be seen as an act of Wisdom.
• Rite of Winter's Anguish: Cold is an insidious foe. It can never be fully defeated, only escaped for a time. A werewolf does not always have the leisure to don his warmest form and spend the duration of a cold snap in a snug den. Some werewolves are even forced to endure cold weather in the vulnerable human form. When this is the case, sometimes even the best mundane efforts won't help the werewolf survive the sapping low temperatures. The Rite of Winter's Anguish abjures the spirits of the snow, air and cold to leave the werewolf be. Even the kindest spirits have limited patience, however, and they return their attentions to the werewolf after a short time.
• Subduing Hungers Rite: There are many ways to die when alone in the wilderness. Dying of thirst and hunger are two of the most unpleasant, not least of all for the sheer length of time they take. While most Uratha have little difficulty finding an amount of food and water sufficient to keep them functioning, werewolves get into all manner of predicaments. One can find herself in the middle of a desert, in the arid arctic or stuck in the middle of the ocean. That is when the Subduing Hungers Rite becomes necessary. It allows the werewolf to continue to function as if fed and watered for a few extra days, sometimes just enough to ensure that she lives.

References

• WTF: Blood of the Wolf, p. 98-99