Rites of the Nuwisha (2024)

Rites of the Nuwisha are a type of Rite from Werewolf: The Apocalypse. They were first introduced in the Werewolf Players Guide and are exclusive to the Nuwisha, except for rites taken from the Garou.

Overview[]

Many of the Rites used by the Nuwisha are similar to those used by the Garou. For example, they share the Rite of Cleansing which permits them to purge an area or object of Wyrm corruption. This is because they often steal these rites from the Garou for use of their own.

The Nuwisha specialize in Dream Rites, rites created to permit them to search for information that will prove useful later in life, normally within the next few days. Dream Rites are used as a method of learning and teaching. Various rites are simply a way of questing within the Umbra for a guide among the Umbral Dansers. The Nuwisha normally seek a guide when they believe themselves ready to learn the next step in the Umbral Danse.

Rites of the Nuwisha List[]

• Rite of Cleansing - Level One - As the Garou Accord/Caern Rite
• Rite of the Opened Caern - Level One - As the Garou Caern Rite
• Rite of Talisman Dedication - Level One - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of Spirit Awaking - Level Two - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of Becoming - Level Two - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of Dansing (Mystic) - Level Two - This Rite is the first step on the path of the Umbral Danser. The Nuwisha must fast for three full days after devouring peyote. During this time, the Nuwisha must recite all past experiences in battling the Wyrm, travelling the Umbra and teaching other Changing Breeds the error of their ways.
• Ritual of Summoning – Level Two - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Voice of the Jackal - Level Two - As the Garou Punishment Rite
• Satire Rite - Level Three - As the Garou Punishment Rite
• Rite of the Fetish - Level Three - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of the Totem (Mystic) - Level Three - Similar to the Garou rite, this rite is used to bid the individual Nuwisha with the Trickster once and for all, and to allow the Nuwisha to recognize the Trickster in any of his incarnations.
• Caern Concealment (Caern) - Level Four - This rite requires no fewer than 10 Nuwisha working in conjunction. In earlier times, when the Europeans first came to the Pure Lands, the Nuwisha used the rite to hide all of the Breed's most powerful caerns. Once enacted, the Rite of Caern Concealment makes Nuwisha places of power invisible to all but the werecoyotes. While the Nuwisha haven't used the rite in over 70 years, their eldest still understand how the rite works.
• Rite of the Dream Danse (Mystic) - Level Four - This powerful rite allows the Nuwisha to know where all of the other Dream Dansers are in the Umbra and to communicate with them. This rite is a formal and solemn one for the Nuwisha and is used only when absolutely necessary.
• Sing Back the Dead (Mystic) - Level Five - Only one Nuwisha in existence at any time knows the rite to sing back the dead. According to Nuwisha legends, Coyote was the creator of the earth. He created the world with a song; he brought life with the same song. This music is his legacy to his children, and only Coyote knows the words needed to teach the song. This rite is among the greatest honors a Nuwisha can receive from the Trickster, and is used only when Coyote demands it.

Storm Dansers and Werewolf: The Wild West Rites[]

The Nuwisha use rites just as all the other shapeshifters do; in fact, the coyotes have borrowed many rites from other Changing Breeds rather than design their own. They're kind of lazy that way.

The Nuwisha use variants of most of the tires in the Werewolf: The Wild West rulebook, although they don't care much for Frontier Rites, and the only Accord Rite they use regularly is the Rite of Cleansing. They've mastered many Punishment Rites, and have developed several of their own (which usually involve shaming the subject until he's ready to die from embarrassment). The also don't use the Rite of Caern Building much; why bother?

Werecoyotes also use Dream Rites, rites that allow them to visionquest for information that will prove useful later. Many use Dream Rites to instruct their cubs; however, others use similar rites to communicate with the Nuwisha who have left the physical world. A couple of exclusively Nuwisha rites follow.

• Rite of Binding - Level One - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of Cleansing - Level One - As the Garou Accord/Caern Rite
• Rite of the Opened Caern - Level One - As the Garou Caern Rite
• Rite of Talisman Dedication - Level One - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of Becoming - Level Two - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of Dansing (Mystic) - Level Two - This rite is the first step on the path of the Storm Danser. It requires the Nuwisha to devour peyote and fast for three fill days. During this time, the Nuwisha must recite all his past experiences battling the Wyrm, traveling the Umbra, and teaching the other creatures of Gaia the error of their ways.
• Rite of Spirit Awaking - Level Two - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Ritual of Summoning – Level Two - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Voice of the Jackal - Level Two - As the Garou Punishment Rite
• Rite of the Fetish - Level Three - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Rite of the Totem - Level Three - As the Garou Mystic Rite
• Satire Rite - Level Three - As the Garou Punishment Rite
• Rite of the Dream Dance (Mystic) - Intermediate - This potent rite allows the Nuwisha to know the location of all his fellow Storm Dansers, and to ask a question of them through a sort of shared dream.
• Caern Concealment (Caern) - Level Four - This rite requires a meeting of at least ten Nuwisha, and will hide the power of a caern from detection by any but the Nuwisha themselves. The Nuwisha have not used this rite in several decades, but the wisest still are taught it by the elders.
• Sing Back the Dead (Mystic) - Advanced - Only one Nuwisha ever knows this rite at a time, as it taught by Trickster himself. This rite has the power to defy the rules of life and death, allowing the coyote to sing back one or more werecreatures back to life.

References[]

• WTA: Werewolf Players Guide, p. 143
• WTA: Nuwisha, p. 34
• WTA: Werewolf Players Guide Second Edition, p. 174
• WTA/cMET: Laws of the Wild: Changing Breeds 1, p. 42-43
• WTWW: Frontier Secrets, p. 25
• WTWW/cMET: Laws of the Wyld West, p. 285-287
• WTA: Players Guide to the Changing Breeds, p. 136