Caern Level
A caern's beginning level is established by the Rite of Caern Building (1-3), and then it may increase or decrease based upon the amount of Gnosis contributed in the monthly moot's Revel.
- To sustain itself, a caern requires its level x 5 in Gnosis to be contributed during the revel each month.
- To increase caern level, a caern requires the next level x 5 in Gnosis, consistently contributed for a number of months equal to the next caern level.
- A Level One Caern needs 10+ Gnosis for 2 months to raise to Level Two.
- A Level Two Caern needs 15+ Gnosis for 3 months to raise to Level Three.
- A Level Three Caern needs 20+ Gnosis for 4 months to raise to Level Four.
- A Level Four Caern needs 25+ Gnosis for 5 months to raise to Level Five.
- A Level Five Caern cannot be raised.
- A caern level is lowered if it fails to meet its monthly requirements for a number of months equal to caern level.
- A Level Five Caern that has <25 Gnosis for five months in a row falls to Level Four.
- A Level Four Caern that has <20 Gnosis for four months in a row falls to Level Three.
- A Level Three Caern that has <15 Gnosis for three months in a row falls to Level Two.
- A Level Two Caern that has <10 Gnosis for two months in a row falls to Level One.
- A Level One Caern that has <5 Gnosis given to it in a month remains Level One, but the sept totem enters slumber.
- A Level One Caern that has <5 Gnosis given for five months becomes dormant.
Each caern has a Caern Rating between 1 and 5 that reflects the potency of effects that can be enacted there. For example, a Level One healing caern might refresh and heal minor wounds, while a Level Five one could miraculously heal the most grievous wounds. The higher a caern’s rating is, the farther its moon bridges can reach. Thus, the greatest heroes of the Garou Nation have opportunities to travel to sacred places in the most distant corners of the Earth. Caerns with higher ratings tend to attract a greater diversity of tribes, travelers, and heroes.
The higher a caern’s rating is, the lower the rating of its Gauntlet will be. Level One and Level Two caerns have a Gauntlet of 4, Level Three and Level Four caerns have a Gauntlet of 3, and at Level Five, the most powerful caerns have a Gauntlet of 2.
This Gauntlet rating extends across the entire Bawn; at the caern heart the Gauntlet is low-to-nonexistent, and spirits and garou may pass in and out of the umbra at will. The presence of many Garou becomes essential in the most powerful caerns, since the veil between worlds is thin, allowing spirits to enter the world more freely. Level One through Three caerns can create a moon bridge reaching for 1000 miles (1600 km) per caern level. A Level Four caern’s moon bridge reaches for up to 6000 miles (9,700 km); at Level Five, up to 10,000 miles (16,000 km).
Moon Bridges
Traveling a Moon Bridge
A Moon Bridge is actually a nonsentient spirit called a Lune, which shapes itself into a pearlescent, elastic, roughly textured tube of force about 10 feet in diameter. Drawing from the power of Luna (the Celestine), the spirit elongates itself and stretches through an area in the Aetherial Realm of the Near Umbra. This area is called the Aether. The Bridge arches up until it reaches the limits of its power and then begins to descend. As it descends, it slopes out to a safe grade and eventually terminates in the caern of its destination. The Moon Bridge establishes itself at the speed of light, so it takes only a moment to connect from one caern to another.
Running on the "floor"" of a Bridge is easy for a Garou in any form, and the grade of descent of ascent is never more than 10 degrees. Actually running through a Bridge is not required, although most Garou do run. If a Garou walks, she will arrive at roughly the same time as one's packmates. The spirit actually carries the Garou within it at an incredibly fast rate.
Garou travel through a Moon Bridge single file. Travelers emerge from the Bridge in the same order as they entered it, regardless of the individual speed of the Garou involved. Before it closes, a Moon Bridge can carry five Garou per level of the originating caern. If necessary, another Moon Bridge may be opened immediately a second later to send another group through. This becomes important when a caern is under attack or is being evacuated via Moon Bridge.
Time in a Moon Bridge is nonexistent except on the longest trips. Even then, one has a few moments to note the surroundings before exiting at the destination point. The walls of the Moon Bridge are only translucent, but they occasionally become transparent, showing the Garou flashes of the Umbra they are passing through. Sometime san evil spirit or fallen garou on an aisling through the Aether will leap onto a Moon Bridge shrieking past and attempt to ride it to its destination. It will have to deal with the caern's totem as well as any Warders or Gatekeepers who may be watching.
Creating a Moon Bridge
To create a lasting Moon Bridge, you must use the Rite of the Opened Bridge, a Level Four Rite described below:
Rite of the Opened Bridge (Level Four Caern Rite)
This rite creates a moon bridge, a shimmering portal serving as a mystical means of transportation between two caerns. Such moon bridges are vital links among the sacred spaces of Gaia. Once per year, a caern must renew its connection with other caerns to which it wishes to maintain moon bridges. This rite is always held during a moot, and it must be enacted simultaneously by both participating caerns.
The primary requirement to open a moon bridge is a
pathstone. Pathstones are found in the Umbra, and they are often the objects of quests. These extraordinarily rare stones resemble flat pearls with the imprint of a wolf’s paw on one side. It is possible to steal a pathstone from a caern, but such a theft is considered blasphemous, and it may well result in war between two septs.
The rite establishes (or reestablishes) a spiritual connection between the pathstones of two separate caerns by way of the caerns’ totem spirits. At the rite’s culmination, a moon bridge opens between the two participating caerns. During this time, Garou from both septs can travel between the caerns to join in a wild revel. Moon bridges allow Garou to traverse distances in 1/1000th the normal time required. This rite must be renewed once every 13 moons (roughly a year).
System: The Test is Wits + Rituals (difficulty 8 minus the level of the ritemaster’s caern). If the rite was unsuccessful previously, the difficulty level of the rite increases by one (this effect stacks). If the rite succeeds, the moon bridge opens immediately, and the spirit-bond between the two pathstones is established. Moon bridges may now be opened at any time between the two caerns. If the rite fails, no moon bridge opens, and the rite must be tried again next year. Moon bridges to the caern may still be opened, but they aren’t as safe as they might be.
Opening an Existing Moon Bridge
Universally, moon bridges may be opened with the Rite of the Opened Caern or the Gift: Open Moon Bridge (if performed at the caern). These link to any pathstones attuned via Rite of the Opened Bridge.
On our specific sept, while you're
on the bawn, you may spend a Gnosis to open a moonbridge to anywhere within 250 miles of the bawn. The lunes will manifest, create the traveling arc as needed, and then disappear within five minutes. This will allow you to run to and from a specific point on a single moon bridge to deliver a message, pick something up, etc., but for anything more involved, you'll need to find a different moon bridge going back, likely heading to the nearest linked caern or procuring mundane transportation home.
