Pyros

==Pyros==
Pyros is the general term used to denote the Divine Fire in all its manifestations: Azoth, Flux, Elpis, et cetera. It is also the game term used for the fl uid form of the energy within a Promethean’s body that can be moved at will, used to fuel alchemical processes like the Transmutations. The Azoth generates this fl uid Pyros, like sweat or condensation in a chemical retort.
Pyros is an Advantage trait for Prometheans. A Promethean can hold up to 10 points of Pyros in his corpus,and he can hold even more with increasing dots of Azoth, as illustrated on the “Effects of Azoth” chart.
Pyros itself is normally invisible and intangible, undetectable to those without special supernatural senses like the Vulcanus Sense Pyros Transmutation. In its fl uid state, Pyros is not a sustaining and animating substance for Prometheans, as Azoth is, but it can still fuel the activity of Pandorans, who need to devour the Pyros-infused fl esh of Prometheans to remain active.
Some Prometheans, especially those who follow the Refinement of Quicksilver, study the Pyros through the Vulcanus Transmutations to better understand its role in the universe and learn how to manipulate it in all their Transmutations. All Prometheans wield the power of Pyros, but some are better at storing and using it than others.
The Pyros Advantage is rated in points rather than dots. Pyros points measure the Pyros resources currently available to a Promethean. Players spend points of Pyros to allow Prometheans to perform various alchemical feats, called Transmutations.
===Spending Pyros===
A Promethean’s ability to spend stored Pyros is measured by his Azoth: one point per turn per Azoth dot that he has. (The limits are slightly higher for Prometheans with Azoth 9 or 10.) A Promethean with Azoth 1 may spend one point of Pyros per turn. Prometheans who reach their spending limit cannot spend any further points of Pyros that turn. Any actions requiring Pyros spending are then impossible.
===Regaining Pyros===
Unlike other forms of mystical energy in the World of Darkness (such as the Essence used by spirits or the Vitae extracted from blood by vampires), Pyros is rarely found in a free state or in places (or people) from which it can be harvested. Instead, Prometheans must rely on themselves to generate it. The metaphor most often used is heating the Azoth like a retort and catching the condensation that distills from its vapors. That dew is fl uid Pyros. Circumstances and situations that affect the character can help stoke theheat or provoke fl are-ups, creating more Pyros. Even though the cause or catalyst was an event that happened to the character, the real action occurs within him.
The following conditions can cause Pyros to condense inside a Promethean’s body. Regaining Pyros in any of these ways does not cause a Promethean’s disfigurements to become visible.
*A Promethean’s Azoth automatically generates one Pyros point upon the dawning of a new day, in a sort of alchemical sympathy with the golden light of the sun (even if the sun is not visible).
*A Promethean gains one Pyros simply be being in the midst of a thunderstorm. He does not have to get hit by lightning, but he must be under the storm and exposed to it (on a rooftop, in a fi eld). He gains this point at the first crack of thunder he hears once the storm is upon him. He can gain Pyros this way only once per day, regardless of how many storms he experiences in that day.
*When a Promethean sleeps amidst his Lineage’s key element, he gains Pyros through the dreams that arise. Although Prometheans need less sleep than mortals, they still succumb to its call every few days.
To reap this Pyros yield, the Created must sleep for at least four hours. Upon awakening, his player rolls his Azoth + Composure. Each success provides one Pyros.
The key to this energy is the dreams that arise when the Promethean sleeps near the element that birthed him. The dreams might be pleasant, esoteric, or even nightmarish, but they will be vivid. The player is encouraged to make up the dream content, although its particulars have no specific game rule benefi t (unless the Storyteller wants to use them to seed clues about the Pilgrimage, similar to the Elpis Merit on p. 26).
*Frankenstein: The Wretched must sleep near a fi re or highvoltage system. This could be a small camp- or hearth-fire, or an electrical transformer that causes one’s hair to stand on end just being near it. Sleeping near an actual fi re has its dangers, of course, especially if an enemy comes upon the Promethean sleeping near a fl ame. The Promethean need only fall asleep by the fi re, though. As long as it doesn’t burn out within his fi rst hour of sleep, he still gets the benefi t, even if it’s just smoldering cinders by the time he awakens.
*Galatea: Muses must sleep amidst voices — not broadcasts or recordings, but actual voices. A Muse might arrange to bed down in an apartment with thin walls next to neighbors who are always having parties, or near enough to hear them through her open window. She might sleep in an alley off Times Square in the city that never sleeps. If she’s got friends, she can convince them to stay up chatting while she sleeps nearby. She need only fall asleep to this cacophony. As long as it lasts for the fi rst hour of her sleep, she gets the benefi t even if she awakens to silence.
*Osiris: Nepri must sleep immersed in water, or at least partially immersed. This could mean sleeping under the rain in the wilderness, or in a partially fi lled bathtub at home. He need only fall asleep in water. As long as it hasn’t drained away or stopped raining before his fi rst hour of sleep, he gains the benefit even if he awakens dry.
*Tammuz: Golems must sleep buried or partially buried in earth. This earth could be a mound of dirt or mud, or the sort of mud skin covering one fi nds in spas. As long as he falls asleep encased in the clay and it doesn’t crumble away within his fi rst hour of sleep, he gains the benefit.
*Ulgan: For the Riven to gain this benefit, they must sleep in either a haunted house (one within the anchor radius of an actual ghost) or a spirit locus (an area that generates Essence, usually found in the wilderness), or they must activate their Ephemeral Flesh Bestowment as they go to sleep. Assuming no spirits or ghosts disturb their rest within the fi rst hour, they awaken with one Pyros per success rolled and +1 to restore that point lost by activating the Bestowment. Sleeping amidst ephemera is an especially potent instigator of the sort of dreams needed to catalyze Pyros.
*After a Promethean has spent at least one hour in the presence of one or more mortals, he gains one Pyros. He can reap this yield only once per 24 hours, no matter how long he spends with the same mortal or with other mortals later that day. His presence might cause Disquiet and the mortal might spend this time haranguing or attacking him, but the Promethean still gets the point for daring to risk mortal company.
*The Storyteller might decide that a particularly momentous event in the Promethean’s life might provide enough catalyst to generate one Pyros. Examples include joining one’s fi rst throng, escaping from Pandoran captivity after nearly dying (or having died and been resurrected), destroying one’s maker or witnessing a Promethean attain Mortality.
*Prometheans who learn the Vulcanus Transmutations have some additional options for regaining and tapping into Pyros. See the description beginning on p. 154 for more information.
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