The Hard Way

Receiving Gifts directly from spirits isn't the only way a werewolf can expand his horizons. It's possible to learn them from another werewolf, though the two processes differ greatly. Where obtaining a Gift from a spirit is a revelatory experience that's over in a few hours at most, learning one from another Garou is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle or juggle, except that instead of being able to watch and mimic movements, the student must commune with the teacher's soul, and mimic that. Fortunately, since Garou are as much creatures of spirit as they are creatures of flesh, it's not as impossible a feat as it sounds.

It takes at least one full lunar month to learn a Gift from another werewolf. Even the most precocious cub or mystically-inclined Theurge can't take shortcuts, because the reshaping of a soul to match the spiritual flavor of a Gift just takes time. Some say it's because the moon must go through one entire cycle of phases before the soul is malleable enough to emulate another. Others think it's just a matter of wearing down the barriers between individuals, one step at a time. Whatever the case, lessons usually take the form of patient repetition, careful observation, finding the right stimulus to draw out the desired response, and discussions (or debates, or shouting matches) about the nature of the Gift and the spirit who originally granted it. The student must learn not only to think like a werewolf who knows the Gift, but like the spirit it came from.

From the student's perspective, the lessons are often frustrating. No one can see the nature of her soul shifting to accommodate a way of thinking and using power that was previously alien to her, so progress can be difficult to track. Depending on the Gift and the student, progress may be completely invisible until something clicks for her and the Gift blossoms, fully-mastered, within her. Other times, she finds that over time she can use it partially, sporadically, or unreliably, with just enough rope to hang herself if she gets cocky. The former is usually more vexing since she tends to assume she's learning nothing, but most teachers prefer it because it's less dangerous.

Even a Gift as simple as Infectious Laughter can have disastrous results if used before the student has fully mastered it. She practices on her friends and rivals, slowly growing more confident in her ability to slide criticism into conversation without suffering backlash. One day, she tries it out and is horrified to find that the person she was talking to can't stop laughing. The next day, the imbalance of her Gnosis interacting with the incomplete Gift tips the other way and she ends up on the wrong end of an Ahroun's fist, having stoked the fires of Rage instead of diminishing them. Hopefully at this point the chagrined Ragabash stops experimenting until she's ready, but as the Apocalypse draws nearer, the pressure to master more Gifts and gain more strength pushes many werewolves — especially the young or prideful — to reach farther than their grasp in their attempts to prove themselves.

Another student works diligently to master the Gift: Petal Float under her mentor's tutelage, only to be called to battle before she's ready to put it into practice. The pack has stumbled across a Black Spiral Dancer and his Bane minions, and they must fight for their lives. The Garou finds herself retreating toward the edge of a cliff, trapped between a fall and the enemy's snapping fangs. In desperation, she chooses to rely on her training and tips backward, floating gracefully toward the ground hundreds of feet below. It's not until she's halfway there that her concentration on the half-understood Gift sputters and gives out, sending her plunging toward a painful conclusion to the fight. The harsh reality is that as the war progresses, the Wyrm's forces are unlikely to wait until a Garou has finished her studies before they move in to devour everything in their path.

But the dangers of Gift misuse are not the only reason that many elders try to dissuade werewolves from teaching Gifts to each other. These lessons between Garou require an intimate connection, a deep understanding of each other's perspectives. The student must learn to walk in his teacher's footsteps, train his mind to follow the pathways of another, feel out the same emotional and spiritual journey that his teacher once took toward enlightenment piece by piece. Such closely shared experience inevitably leads to intense relationships, one way or another, and if the circumstances are right, it's hard for a couple of instinct-driven werewolves to exercise restraint. With the Litany hanging overhead and the Wyrm lurking around every corner, finding a teacher for Gifts among fellow Garou is a complex dance of politics, promises, and calculated risk.

That said, some among the higher ranks actively look for students with potential, particularly when the Gifts they want to pass on are rare or important to complete a necessary job. Occasionally, an elder will select a pupil from among a pool of competing candidates, or quietly pull a younger werewolf aside and make the offer based on a solid track record or specific achievement. The fortunate Garou given this opportunity will gain Renown quickly if he does well, but the spotlight of expectation has its downsides too. If he fails, word spreads rapidly and his relationship with the elder he's shamed with his blunders suffers badly. Despite the risks, being chosen as the apprentice to an elder willing to share her unique secrets is an honor few would pass up.