Punishments

For most transgressions of the Law, the Garou use one of four basic forms of punishment: shaming, shunning,
death and casting out. Each tribe handles these types of punishments differently, and most multi-tribe
septs have their own variations that take into account the various tribes that comprise their membership.
In general, punishments occur within days if not mere hours, of the judges' decision.
On some occasions, particularly if the Garou is young and has committed an offense out of ignorance or in
error, lenient elders may let the cub off with a stern warning. For first offenders, this is often enough to
bring the errant werewolf in line, particularly if she has already witnessed one of the following
punishments.

Shaming: Garou whose actions have placed another Garou or Gaea Herself in unnecessary danger or who are
repeat offenders for the same action often receive the more serious punishment of shunning. The guilty
Garou is subjected to the rite of Ostracism, after which no other Garou will acknowledge his existance in
any way. Usually, shunning lasts for a fixed length of time, dependant on the seriousness of the crime –
anywhere from one week to one lunar year. Sometimes, the length of the shunning continues until the
Garou proves that he has changed the offending behaviour. The actual duration of the punishment is not
revealed to the Garou until the shunning is lifted.

Shunning: For a creature, whose essence involves the existance within a pack or a larger group, shunning acts
as a very strong deterrent. Most Garou only need to suffer this penalty once in order to dissuade them
from further transgression of Garou laws or customs. For Wendigo, shunning is often tantamount to a
death sentence, as the shunned individual sometimes go without food or water due to his own shame at
being shunned, wasting away from starvation and dehydration rather than face life without the support of
the pack. Likewise, the Fianna and Get of Fenris have very strong reactions to this form of punishment,
either deliberately seeking death in battle to atone in death for their crimes or by going on a hunger strike
until they die of weakness and shame.

Death: Garou who have committed very serious crimes such as murder or treason but who have managed to
retain some personal honour, such as surrendering themselves to judgment or conducting themselves with
humility and repentance during their trial, are generally accorded the opportunity of a swift death.
When such a sentence is passed, the sept performs the Rite of the Hunt, thus allowing the guilty Garou the
honour of dying in battle. Though all Garou use this Rite, the Children of Gaea, and Bone Gnawers resort
to it less frequently than other tribes. Both the Get of Fenris and the Red Talons favour this punishment as
a means of culling weak members of the tribe and of giving a strong object lesson to other tribe members.

Casting Out: The most serious offenses result in a punishment that Garou consider worse and more lasting than
death. The death penalty only removes the Garou from her current life. The spirit of the Garou
theoretically has a chance to do better, reappearing as an ancestor-spirit if its will is sufficiently strong.
Casting out, however can, in its most vehement form, sever a Garou's connection to Gaea once and for all.
Used when a Garou has proven herself a traitor to the Garou, to Gaea and to the Litany, this punishment
proclaims the Garou an enemy to her own kind and an agent of the Wyrm. Most often, the guilty party is
subjected to the always-fatal Rite of Gaea's Vengeful Teeth after being publicly declared a traitor and a
'Non-Garou'. When the crime is so serious to warrant severing the Garou's connection to Gaea, the
criminal receives the Rite of the Shattered Soul in conjunction with the Rite of Gaea's Vengeful Teeth.
This rite affects any future spirit incarnation of the Garou. Should the werewolf's spirit linger on, it does
so as a Bane. The Rite of the Shattered Soul is also used when a guilty Garou has managed to flee without
receiving her just punishment – her presence not being required for the enactment of this Rite.