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| Ritual Level |
●● |
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| Action |
Instant (after ceremony) |
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| Restriction |
Bale Hounds |
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Blasphemies p. 141 |
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In Soulless Wolf’s role as the Eyes of the Maeltinet, the spirit plays a vital part in the Bale Hound cult. It is he who takes the sins of the Asah Gadar into himself, ensuring that the werewolves are able to mask their dying Harmony and infiltrate the Forsaken without their rites and ability to enter the Hisil failing completely.
The method by which the Bale Hounds save their own souls is based on an old Christian custom, adapted and corrupted for the cultists’ own uses. By tithing extensive chiminage to Soulless Wolf, the Asah Gadar pay for their dark deeds to be masked for another lunar cycle.
Performing the Rite
This rite must be performed within a Wound, and can only be performed by an individual on himself — never with a ritemaster. However, it can be performed with or without Soulless Wolf being present. The Bale Hound must tithe a great deal of chiminage for the rite to function, in addition to spending two points of Essence.
Firstly, the werewolf recites a litany of her recent sins against Harmony, and pleads with the Maeljin to take each of the sins from her soul. She offers chiminage appropriate to each of the Maeljin: items representing wrath, greed, lust, gluttony, violence, envy, deception, pride and sloth. A relatively popular method of gathering such challenging chiminage is to murder mortals who exhibit these sins in their lives, and then use their blood, bones or other body parts as items in the offering. Though the most common method for acquiring the necessary chiminage, this is by no means the only accepted one. Many Bale Hounds “store up” any items that can be used in future offerings, for a werewolf never knows just when she might suddenly need her sins eaten in a hurry after a particularly grueling engagement.
After the sin-chiminage is gathered and offered to the Maeljin as a gift, the Bale Hound must cut his own flesh and shed blood for nine minutes over the offered items. Obviously, due to regeneration, this can be something of a trial itself, and many of the Asah Gadar use ritual silver knives for this part of the ceremony. The Bale Hound must not talk to another being, or the ritual automatically fails. The blood is to be shed in silent contemplation of both the pain the werewolf is feeling, or while begging the Maeljin for aid.
Once blood has been shed for nine minutes — a minute for each Maeljin Incarna — the werewolf spends two Essence points into the last trickle of blood, and pleads once again for her Maeljin totem to lend him spiritual strength.
With these words spoken, the character can make the roll to see whether the rite is successful.
