Kinfolk Fetishes

Fetishes require attunement through a Gnosis roll (difficulty of the fetish’s Gnosis rating, with only one success necessary). Once attuned, anytime the Kinfolk calls upon the fetish’s powers, he must make a Gnosis roll or spend aGnosis point, depending on the individual requirements of the fetish. Some fetishes may be used by Kinfolk without Gnosis. Instead, these rare objects require Willpower rolls or expenditures for attunement and use instead of Gnosis points. The difficulty remains the fetish’s Gnosis rating.
Usually, a Theurge must make a particularly good case with the inhabiting spirit for allowing its use by a Kinfolk. Some possible fetishes appear below.

Blood Brother Blade
Level Three, Gnosis 7
This hunting knife is carved or painted with Garou pictograms representing Kin and/or Honor. When it is first made, a Garou and a Kinfolk each cut themselves with the blade and then join their blood together in the traditional “blood brothers forever” ceremony (any gender can do this). Those two are then mystically bonded through the blade.

 

This bond can survive the death of the Kinfolk and pass to his or her bloodline children, but once the Garou passes away, the spirit inhabiting the fetish is freed. The bonded Kinfolk can later activate the fetish (using Willpower or Gnosis) by cutting himself with the blade (a slice across the thumb will do). This alerts his bonded Garou that the Kin is in need of him. There is no supernatural
compulsion to come to the Kinfolk’s aid, but since Garou do not idly hand out these fetishes, it is assumed that the Garou will do all in her power to come running.

Alternatively, the Kinfolk can activate the blade by cutting an enemy and drawing blood (or ichor, whatever the case may be). The bonded Garou will then know the scent of the enemy and be able to recognize it anywhere and be able to track it once she encounters it.

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This fetish is made by binding an ancestor spirit related either to the Garou or the Kinfolk participating in the ceremony.

 

Bloodhound’s Snout
Level One, Gnosis 5
This is a dog’s leash that, when activated by a Kinfolk (who can roll Willpower or Gnosis to do so), will lead its owner along the trail of a particular target’s scent. The Kinfolk must have a sample of that scent, such as from a scarf, glove, or even water bottle the target drank from, and he holds that item up to the leash as he activates the fetish. This acts in every way like a normal, living dog tracking the scent. It can be fooled by all the sorts of things that can baffle a dog, such as by the target crossing a stream or rolling in animal
scat to overpower his own scent, etc. During activation, the leash literally pulls out ahead of its holder, traveling along the ground as if there were an actual dog at the end of the leash. Each activation lasts until the target is run to ground or a full day passes, whichever occurs first.

This fetish is bound with the spirit of a domestic dog. It is easier to make this fetish if its intended recipient Kinfolk is an experienced and caring dog-owner. If the Kinfolk has ever abused a dog, he cannot use this fetish; the spirit will not cooperate with him.

 

Hearth Caul
Level Four, Gnosis 7
This is the remains of a Kinfolk’s birth caul, a piece of birth membrane. Caul births are very rare, and much folklore has been built up about the magical uses for a baby’s caul. Should a Kinfolk be so lucky as to be born into a family who honors such traditions, the entire family can benefit. The caul must be saved and preserved with special herbs (the Herbalism Knowledge Ability can help with identifying and collecting them well ahead of time) and is then kept in a special box that is hidden somewhere inside the family’s hearth. If the family doesn’t have a fireplace, they’ll need to declare a hearth space, and be able to hide this box from view.

So long as the family keeps the caul, its members (immediate family and extended family so far as uncles, aunts, and first cousins) gain good fortune. This is not miraculous luck, such as winning lottery tickets, but more protective and nurturing, synchronicities that might at first appear to be foul luck but then reveal themselves to be providence: Hundred-year floods that wash the neighbor’s houses away, leaving only the Kins’ unharmed, or a flat tire that prevents one of the family members from driving over a bridge just
before it collapses.

Should a non-family member see the caul, its effects end until it can be re-activated by a family member using Willpower or Gnosis. The difficulty is one less if performed by the family’s recognized matriarch. Should a non-family member (except for a Garou) touch the caul, it is ruined; the bound spirit leaves the fetish. The spirit inhabiting the fetish is an ancestor spirit of the Kinfolk or their related Garou tribe.

 

Songbird Staff
Level Two, Gnosis 6
This oak staff is carved with stylized images of birds of all types, from wrens and vireos to crows — but not predators and scavengers like hawks and eagles. When a Kinfolk activates it (using Willpower or Gnosis), it will produce faint bird sounds, chirpings, cawings, or even scoldings. The user can understand simple messages about her immediate environment, such as whether there are people or predators nearby, if the weather is about to change (such as rain or snow is coming), or if there is imminent danger (a forest fire
or a coming earthquake). The user can query the staff for more specific information by making bird sounds herself — they just have to sound somewhat like birds; they don’t have to be perfect — and will receive very basic replies: the group of humans over the ridge is armed, there are three of them; or the oily substance in the water originates five miles upstream. Generally, if it is information that would be known by the local bird population (even if they can’t think analytically about it), the staff can convey it.

This fetish requires a bird spirit, preferably a songbird or a talkative bird like a crow or raven. It cannot be a bird that preys on other birds.