Rite Of Passage

Rite of Passage (Level 2):

No cub is even accorded adulthood or respect until they pass this rite, not even considered true Garou, nor considered a member of any tribe until this is complete.

The cubs must complete a dangerous test to prove they have the guts, honor, wisdom, and courage befitting a werewolf, and it is very seldom undergone alone. The ritesmaster sends the would-be pack off into the world with a specific intent, forbidding the cubs from returning until they have tried to accomplish this goal.

If successful, they are marked with a glyph that brands them as full-fledged Garou. If unsuccessful, they are considered second-class citizens until granted another opportunity to prove themselves.


The rite is a test, first and foremost, and often causes hardship for its participants. Garou are placed together in a difficult situation and forced to learn how to live and work as a pack - or suffer the consequences. Few can survive for long without the aid and trust of the pack. Thus the rite serves as a test, not only for the individual, but for the pack as well.

There are many customs surrounding the rite of passage. Before a Garou completes the rite, she is referred to as a “pup.”

Pups enjoy certain privileges which are honored by most of Garou society and reinforced through centuries of custom and Garou law. For instance, only a pup’s own tribe or pack may put her to death. She is protected from Garou justice by the Litany until she completes the rite of passage, although she can be forcibly detained until a rite can be arranged for her.

Thesedays, pups are rare and the tribes have begun to pay particular attention to protecting those who seem viable.

The pups also have many problems. They are often friendless and are usually ignored by the tribe before their rite. They are technically the lowest “caste” among the Garou. They are taken advantage of, manipulated, and ostracized. They are the butt of bad Ragabash jokes. They are teased, taunted, and generally disrespected. They are never heard in council, and if a pup speaks up no one is obligated to answer. They are required to learn ridiculous amounts of oral history, lore, and trivia, such as the names of the Three Greatest Garou Warriors. They are harried, hazed, kidded, taunted, and teased as a matter of course.

There is a curious double standard at work here. The Garou, for all the ill-treatment of their pups, expect them to function as full-grown Garou, especially during the course of their rite of passage. Essentially, the pups bear all of the responsibilities of being full-grown adult Garou, but have none of the authority or respect that comes with the title.

The First Change is a brutal, violent happening that is incredibly painful and immensely satisfying at the same time. It is as if the Garou was asleep all the time before, and has only now awakened into the real world. Sometimes a team of Garou reaches the pup before the Change, sometimes after. Regardless, the pup is usually kidnapped and taken to a tribal caem to be indoctrinated in the gifts and forms of her birthright. If the First Change has already occurred, the “extraction team” usually stays to repair the Veil as necessary.

Usually, but not always, the time before the rite of passage is spent in study with the elders of the tribe or sept. It is during this time that Garou are taught their gifts and their inner nature, and taught to respect Gaia.

The rites of passage for some tribes begin with a period of contemplation; the pups meditate and reflect, preparing themselves spiritually for the experiences ahead. Other tribes’ rites begin without warning, taking the pup by surprise, for it is important to these tribes that a radical separation from the past be made.

The rite is usually held in some far-flung wilderness. However some wilderness-based tribes send their pups to the hellish, Wyrm-ridden cities, there to hunt and survive as best they can. This is usually where young pups have run-ins with the Kindred, as they are particularly vulnerable to attack at this time.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License