Homid Gifts derive from humans' craft, ingenuity, society and talent for destruction -- the legacies of the Maker and Unmaker. Many nimals and spirits instinctively respect a human, even if that respect verges on hostility. Many of the Gifts bestowed on human-born Bastet link to this instinctive regard -- and to the powers of creation and destruction that have won it.
Cat Claws (Level One) - By calling on her heritage, a Bastet in Homid or Sokto form can unsheathe her claws and attack as if she was in beast-form.
Sweet Hunter's Smile (Level One) - With a charming look, the werecat wins his target over; if that look shifts into a snarl or a stare, the victim feels uneasy and may back away, intimidated.
Jam Technology (Level Two) - The Baster can cause technological devices to cease functioning, albeit temporarily. Even the simplest of shaped objects will refuse to perform its function. A Gremlin -- a type of Wyld-spirit that enjoys breaking things -- teaches this Gift.
Eavesdropper's Ear (Level Two) - By listening carefully, a Bastet may hear things outside the normal human range, or understand something spoken some distance away. This is said to be a Gift from Whispers.
Craft of the Maker (Level Three) - The Baster can shape once-living material (but not undead!) into a variety of objects instantly. Trees may become shelter, buck antlers become spears, animal hides become armor, and flowers become perfumes. The item will resemble the object from which it was shaped (e.g., the aforementioned spear is made of antler, not wood). A Pattern Spider -- one of the Weaver's spirits -- teaches this Gift.
Babel's Cure (Level Three) - By flexing Rahjah's powers, a Bastet can translate any human language in her vicinity. Invoking the Unmaker will turn everything into gibberish.
What's the Password? (Level Four) - By communing with the odd spirits inside computers, a werecat can call up the passwords to files, accounts or encryptions. Although few nature-bound Baster know this trick, many of their city cousins have at least heard of it. Most of those who do know it charge hefty favors the teaching.
Monkey's Uncle (Level Four) - With this Gift, a werecat can assume any human form in seconds. Changes can include physical prowess, attractiveness, racial features, gender and age. Legends credit this Gift to Coyote, although the Bubasti claim to have disocvered it first.
Black Friday (Level Five) - This dreaded Gift, the bane of the Information Age, allows a Bastet to crash a computer network in seconds. By communing with Net Spiders and promising a few favors, a lucky werecat can weak system havoc without even touching a keyboard. It's rarely done because of its tendency to backfire (wiping out one's own computer files!), but causes untold headaches for the programmers of Pentex.
Deny the Hungry (Level Five) - With a festure or spray, a spiteful werecat can destroy crops and fertile land, spoil food or toxify drinking water. Legens lays this Gift at the feet of the Bubasti, who were said to punish disrepsectful communities with famine and drought. Some Simba use it for the same reasons. Sadly, it's easier to destroy than to create; undoing this damage requires a different Gift altogether.
Unlike Garou metis, werecat crossbreeds are not outcasts, but embody mystical links to the primordial Jamaa. Their Gifts reveal this deep connection and allow them elemental tricks no other Baster can learn. For this, they're admired in public and envied in secret.
Create Element (Level One) - As the Garou Metis Gift. Most Baster favor the five Oriental elements (fire, wood, metal, earth and water), but those born in the Western Hemisphere know them as earth, air, fire and water. An Eastern Bastet may create raw ore and wood, but cannot conjure air. Neither version can create precious metals, refine ores, gasses or poison.
Sense Primal Nature (Level One) - As attuned as they are to the Jamaa, metis Bastet can easily sense whether one of those entities has a strong influence on a person, place or thing.
Blinding Moonbeam Gaze (Level Two) - By calling upon Mother Seline, the werecat shoots bright beams of moonlight from her eyes. These don't inflict real damage, but can blind or distract an opponent, and provide illumination as well. Superstitious people often run away when confronted with a giant moon-eyed cat.
Whisker Sight (Level Two) - By attuning herself to her surroundings, a metic Bastet can get a sense of her surroundings. Anything within reach -- even if it's behind her, or invisible -- is plain to all her senses.
Spirit-Touch (Level Three) - This Gift functions like the Level Four Common Gift: Spirit Claws, except that it works anywhere.
Fist of Cahlash (Level Three) - By channeling in raw destructive power, an angry Bastet can destroy any material thing with a snarl. Although the Gift isn't terribly effective against living (or undead) creatures, its potency can be avowed by a multitude of puzzled technicians and drivers in various rainforest-clearing projects.
Moon's Getaway (Level Four) - By calling upon a Lune for help, the Bastet opens a Moon Bridge between caerns or Den-Realms. Such travel only occurs at night. The Gateway forms as a glowing fog, which slowly siwlrs into the shape of the werecat's intended destination. Anyone who wants to use the Bridge must enter before the summoner. When she passes through, the Gateway disperses.
Redeem the Waste (Level Four) - Part of the metis' role is the salvation of despoiled wilderness. To do so, he'll often sniff around, paw at the earth, rub his scent around and urinate in various places, essentially claiming the place as his own. While this isn't a true Rite of Claiming, it resembles it in many ways. By dedicating himself to this land, he can summon forth a healing power to save it from toxins and other desecrations.
Moon Sense (Level Five) - By meditating upon a pool of moonlit water, a Bastet may see anything that transpires beneath Seline's glow. Although it's difficult to see distant or hidden locations, a rigorous search can see anywhere on Earth.
Wrath of Nala (Level Five) - This Gift whips up a wild storm that devestates the werecat's vicinity. This tempest springs up out of nowhere and lasts for five minutes or less, then calms and disperses. Nala herself teaches this Gift in dreams.
The tribe's tie with their primal past, these feral cats stalk the remaining jungles, mountains and forests where their Kinfolk run free. This breed's Gifts revolve around survival, and have evolved through challenges both natural and otherwise.
Kitten's Cry (Level One) - Also called "Pathetamew" for its pathetic sound, this Gift inbues the werecat's voice with a tone so pathetic that anyone who hears it goes otu of his way to comfort her. Thsi compulsion extends to attackers, who break off hostilities unless they're attacked in return. Most Baster consider this a dirty but useful trick.
Killer's Leap (Level One) - By invoking this Gift, the werecat may leap incredible distances. Hare-, frog- and cat-spirits usually teach this Gift.
Mark as Mine (Level Two) - By spraying a given area or object with urine and musk, a Bastet stakes a claim on it. Any shapeshifter will know that a werecat has marked the place, and any other mystically-inclined being (a mage, a vampire, etc.) will recognize the sign as a "Keep Out" warning. This usually lasts until someone else removes the Gift with some other magic, or until the Bastet sees fit to destroy the Mark himself (not likely!)
Perfect Cover (Level Two) - Cats must excel at covering their tracks and lairs, especially in these dangerous times. To help them, the spirits have passed this Gift on to the wild members of the race. By scratching around the place, trail or object to be hidden, the Baster obscures it from normal and magical view.
Underbelly (Level Three) - By sizing up a foe or obstacle, a feral Bastet can get a feeling for its weakest point. Once that's spotted, he can rip through most things with a good swipe.
Whisker Sight (Level Three) - As the Level Two Metis Gift of the same name.
Ghosts at Play (Level Four) - By spraying around an area, the werecat can expose all nearby spirits. Although the Gauntlet remains intact, any active spirit becomes visible, as if everyone in the vicinity had used the Level One Common Gift: Spirits' Sight.
Hand of Will (Level Four) - By willing things to move, the Bastet can lift objects or open barriers merely by staring at them. A strong-willed Bastet can move even trucks and construction vehicles with her mind alone! King-of-Beasts and Hatti favor this Gift, especially given the devastation brought about by human traffic.
Judgment of Pestilence (Level Five) - In many ancestral lands, epidemics ravage both human and animal populations. The Mistress of Catkind bequeaths this Gift to her feline children in an effort to channel the disease. Communities who respect the cats' Kinfolk and the land find pestilence banished from their homes; those who exploit nature or hunt the great cats receive the disease in return. Nature's balance must be maintained.
