This ancient rite enforces the role of werewolves as predators of spirit and flesh alike, allowing them to ritually hunt spirits for Essence. When the ritemaster performs this ritual, he marks a spirit as the pack’s rightful prey. Then the entire pack goes on the hunt, chasing the spirit out of hiding and eventually bringing it down. When they’ve successfully done so, the werewolves say a quick prayer of respect and gratitude for the spirit’s sacrifice and reap a bounty of Essence.
This hunt can take place in the Shadow or in the physical world. The ritemaster must either have a (likely captured) spirit close at hand, or be able to name a specific spirit that will serve as the pack’s quarry. If the quarry is captured beforehand, the ritemaster then releases it to flee, waits a certain amount of time (as much as an hour), and then the pack takes off on the hunt.
The spirit quarry is rarely a willing volunteer — yet the terms of the Sacred Hunt leave it with a measure of protection. The werewolf pack will feed on its Essence, yet it receives the promise that it will survive the experience somehow .Thus, the spirit is compelled to abide by the terms of the hunt. The spirit flees, uses guile and possibly even fights back, but it doesn’t leave the werewolves’ territory (or its spirit reflection) before the sun comes up, and it doesn’t use Numina that cost Essence to activate. It doesn’t seek the help of other spirits in the vicinity, nor do observing spirits aid either party. Tracking the spirit through the Shadow is handled the same way tracking any other spirit would be.
If the rite takes place in the physical world, the pack must usually perform the Blessing of the Spirit Hunt before beginning the Sacred Hunt. Some spirits may seek out a suitable vessel in the material world (possibly an animal of its type, but just as likely a human being if the pack’s territory is urban) and ride it, bringing with it a measure of Essence from the Shadow Realm. However, the spirit that does this is violating the terms of the Hunt, and receives no guarantee of survival at hunt’s end. Once the spirit has been caught, the werewolves are able to devour its Essence much as another spirit would. However, they are bound by tradition to leave the spirit a small bit of Essence before it is torn apart, so that it may re-form later as a reward for participating in the hunt. The hunt is sacred, after all, and werewolves are bound to respect their prey’s sacrifice.
Performing the Rite
The ritemaster either draws a map or marks out a section of a map to represent the boundary of the hunting ground to which the spirit is bound. (This hunting ground can be no smaller than the entirety of the pack’s territory, but it can be much larger if the ritemaster wishes.) He then burns the map while offering chiminage appropriate to the type of spirit summoned. Meanwhile, packmates howl out a reminder of the ancient pact that binds lesser spirits to take part.
Only one hunt can be performed by a pack or any of its members per night.
