As rovers, Swara tend to pick up many general Gifts, and learn secrets from many other tribes -- including the Garou. Unbeknownst to most Bastet, the children of Damaa walk the space beneath the world. In the Umbra, they traffic with the spirits and learn many of the ancestral Gifts usually reserved for the dogs. These Gifts, too numerous to mention, place them close to the werewolves when it comes to spirit-savvy. Most Theurge Gifts can be considered tribal secrets of equal rank, in addition to the ones offered below. This wisdom is not common knowledge among catkind; for the rambling cheetahs, it's helpful, even essential, to remain underestimated.
Diamond Claws (Level One) - By raking his claws over stone or another hard surface, the Swara hones them to razor sharpness.
Impala's Flight (Level One) - An essential Gift on the open plains, the Flight doubles the Swara's running speed. As the name implies, Bastet credit Impala with this wisdom.
Walking Between the Worlds (Level Two) - Some tales claim that Coyote taught Bastet to step sideways; others insist the trick was stolen from Garou. In any case, this Gift allows a werecant to walk into the Umbra as the Garou do.
Weight of a Heart (Level Two) - As the Swara know, the weight of emotions comes from the weight of the heart. Making the heart swell creates euphoria, while shrinking it generates terror or dispair. By working the weight of another being's heart, a Swara can induce crazy mood swings from a distance. Nothing diffuses a fight faster than making the aggressor walk away in near suicidal depression. Tales credit this Gift to Hatti, who knows the ways of the heart better than most people do.
Clearwater Passage (Level Three) - By turning herself into liquid, a Swara can pass through barriers without fully passing itno the Umbra. Like water, she trickles through cracks, seeps around obstacles and soaks through materials. Once she reaches the other side, the cheetah reforms into a solid shape and continues on her way. It's said that Shi'a the Water Ghost taught this Gift to the Swara elder Nyolo in return for a kiss. He nearly drowned, but survived her embrace long enough to pass the Gift to his friends before joining his love beneath the waves.
Dance of the Chaya (Level Three) - One of the greatest favors a Baster can offer a spirit is the chance to ride in his skin for a while. Although most cats would never consider such a "loan," many Swara see voluntary possession as a service, not a chore. This Gift, which begins with a frenzied dance, allows a chaya to enter the werecat and "take control" for a while. The spirit gets a body to ride, and the werecats gets certain...benefits. The Dance is seen more as an act of love or affection than servitude -- a sentiment few Bastet would ever understand.
Ghost Caress (level Four) - This secret, called the "Ghost Caress" because most people blame ghosts for its effects, recalls the time when all things were still one. By tapping the spirits that bond objects together, the Swara can send sensations across a distance. To use the Gift, the cheetah must hold something that contains the essence of the person she wants to affect; locks of hair, prized possessions, or items of clothing are good examples. Focusing her attentions on the item, she does whatever she wants doen to the item, not the target. A sympathetic pulse passes between the two objects and, if the cat has been successful, transfers feeling from the item to the target. Although the magic can't physically harm someone, it can drive him nearly crazy as phantom pains or pleasures wash over him without noticable cause.
Judgment of Pestilence (Level Four) - 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 returns. Nature's balance must be maintained.
All Beasts Under the Sun (Level Five) - Most trickster archetypes are shapeshifters and the Swara are no different. The Bastet with this Gift may change herself into any animal between the sizes of the smallest bird and a bison. The Bastet gains all the special power (flight, gills, poison, sensory abilities, etc.) of the animal she mimics. She may not take the form of Wyrm Beasts (not that she would wish to!), but she may take the form of mythical beasts with some extra effort.
River of Blood (Level Five) - The soil of Africa has been bathed in blood of its inhabitants for millions of years. A Swara can call that spilled blood together through the soil and give it form, creating a pool, a river, a mass of tentacles, or a variety of other things. This bond to blood seems to be limited to African soil; if a Swara has ever used this Gift outside of his native land, no tales of the event survive.
