Quietus

The signature power of Clan Assamite actually comprises two distinct Disciplines, both known colloquially as Quietus by not only those practicing the arts, but by those merely aware of them. Scholars of Alamut recite that their founder Haqim developed the twin Disciplines of Quietus to harmoniously compliment one another when he first divided the Warriors and Viziers and assigned them duties within the tripartite society of his clan. Though traditional Assamites generally prefer to utilize the original Phoenician name of “Abed Dume” or “destroy blood,” its Latin name “Quietus,” or “settling of debts” (especially as relates to death) is most common in discussion – in no doubt due to the epithet evoked by coupling the name with either of its branches.

The children of Haqim have ever seen themselves as pure and fierce judges of the righteous use of blood, separate from Caine’s other get. The Warrior Discipline Cruscitus (translated from the Phoenician “Hikmat Dume” or “blood wisdom,” defined in Latin as “the science of murder through blood”) revolves largely around the use of blood poisoning to kill. Whereas, the Vizier Discipline Hematus (translated from the Phoenician “Minhit Dume” or “blood offering,” defined in Latin as “an offering of blood”) makes use of subtle ways to manipulate vitae in aid to the tasks of mystic exploration and governance. When paired with their parent name, both Disciplines delineate their respective craft: Quietus Cruscitus as “the settling of debts by the science of murder through blood” and Quietus Hematus as “the settling of debts by an offering of blood.”

If your character already has one form of Quietus, the other type costs new rating x 4 XP to learn. It requires a teacher with that style of the power.

## **Warrior Quietus**

### **• Silence of Death**

Many Assamites claim never to have heard their targets’ death screams. Silence of Death imbues the vampire with a mystical silence that radiates from her body, muting all noise within a certain vicinity. No sound occurs inside this zone, though sounds originating outside the area of effect may be heard by anyone in it. Rumors abound of certain skilled Assamite viziers who have the ability to silence a location rather than a circumference that follows them, but no proof of this has been forthcoming.

System: This power (which costs one blood point to activate) maintains a 20-foot (6-meter) radius of utter stillness around the Kindred for one hour.

### **•• Scorpion’s Touch**

By changing the properties of her blood, a vampire may create powerful venom that strips her prey of his resilience. This power is greatly feared by other Kindred, and all manner of hideous tales concerning methods of delivery circulate among trembling coteries. Kindred with Quietus are known to deliver the poison by coating their weapons with it, blighting their opponents with a touch, or spitting it like a cobra. An apocryphal account speaks of a proud Prince who discovered an Assamite plotting her exsanguination and began to diablerize her would-be assassin. Halfway through the act, she learned that she had ingested a dire quantity of tainted blood and was then unable to resist the weakened hashashiyyin’s renewed attack.

System: To convert a bit of her blood to poison, the Kindred’s player spends at least one blood point and rolls Willpower (difficulty 6). If this roll is successful, and the vampire successfully hits (but not necessarily damages) her opponent, the target loses a number of Stamina points equal to the number of blood points converted into poison — vampires attempting to drink the blood of the Kindred with Scorpion’s Touch are automatically considered to be “successfully hit.” The victim may resist the poison with a Stamina + Fortitude roll (difficulty 6); successes achieved on the resistance roll subtract from the vampire’s successes.

The maximum number of blood points a Kindred may convert at any one time is equal to her Stamina. The number of successes scored indicates the duration of the Stamina loss.

 2 successes
 3 successes
 4 successes
 5 successes

If a mortal’s Stamina falls to zero through use of Scorpion’s Touch, she becomes terminally ill and loses any immunity to diseases, her body succumbing to sickness within the year unless she somehow manages to increase her Stamina again. If a Kindred’s Stamina falls to zero, the vampire enters torpor and remains that way until one of her Stamina points returns. If a Kindred is permanently reduced to zero Stamina, she may recover from torpor only through mystical means.

To afflict someone with the poison, the Cainite must touch her target’s flesh or hit him with something that carries the venom. Many Assamites lubricate their weapons with the excretion, while others pool the toxin in their hands (or fleck their lips with the poison, for a “kiss of death”) and press it to their opponents. Weapons so envenomed must be of the melee variety — arrows, sling stones, bullets, thrown weapons, and the like cannot carry enough of the stuff to do damage, or it drips off in flight. Players whose vampires wish to spit at their targets must make a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). No more than two blood points’ worth of poison may be expectorated, and a Kindred may spit a distance of 10 feet (3 meters) for each point of Strength (and Potence) the character possesses.

Vampires with Quietus are immune to their own poison, but not the blood-venom of other Kindred with this power.

### **••• Dagon’s Call**

This terrible power allows a vampire to drown her target in his own blood. By concentrating, the Kindred bursts her target’s blood vessels and fills his lungs with vitae that strangles him from within. The blood actually constricts the target’s body from the inside as it floods through his system; thus, it works even on unbreathing Kindred. Until the target collapses in agony or death throes, this power has no visible effect, and many Kindred like it because it leaves no trace of their presence.

System: The vampire must touch her target prior to using Dagon’s Call. Within an hour thereafter, the vampire may issue the call, though she need not be in the presence or even in the line of sight of her target. Invoking the power costs one Willpower point. The Kindred’s player makes a contested Stamina roll against the target’s Stamina; the difficulty of each roll is equal to the opponent’s permanent Willpower rating. The number of successes the vampire using Dagon’s Call achieves is the amount of lethal damage, in health levels, the victim suffers. For an additional point of Willpower spent in the next turn, the vampire may continue using Dagon’s Call by engaging in another contested Stamina roll. So long as the Kindred’s player continues to spend Willpower, the character may continue rending her opponent from within.

### **•••• Baal’s Caress**

The penultimate use of blood as a weapon (short of diablerie itself), Baal’s Caress allows the Kindred to transmute her blood into a virulent ichor that destroys any living or undead flesh it touches. In nights of yore, when Assamites led the charges of Saracen legions, the Assassins were often seen licking their blades, slicing open their tongues and lubricating their weapons with this foul secretion. Baal’s Caress may be used to augment any bladed weapon; everything from poisoned knives and swords to tainted fingernails and claws has been reported.

System: Baal’s Caress does not increase the damage done by a given weapon, but that weapon inflicts aggravated damage rather than normal. No roll is necessary to activate this power, but one blood point is consumed per hit. For example, if a Cainite poisons his knife and strikes his opponent (even if he inflicts no damage), one blood point’s worth of lubrication disappears. For this reason, many vampires choose to coat their weapons with a significant quantity of blood. If the vampire misses, no tainted blood is consumed.

### **••••• Taste of Death**

A refinement of Baal’s Caress, Taste of Death allows the Cainite to spit caustic blood at her target. The blood coughed forth with this power burns flesh and corrodes bone; some vampires have been reported to vomit voluminous streams of vitae that reduce their targets to heaps of sludge.

System: The vampire may spit up to 10 feet (3 meters) for each dot of Strength and Potence he possesses. Hitting the target requires a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). Each blood point spewed at the target inflicts two dice of aggravated damage, and there is no limit (other than the vampire’s capacity and per-turn expenditure maximum) to the quantity of blood with which a target may be deluged.

## **Sorcerer Quietus**

### **• Silence of Death**

Despite no one being able to hear her, the sorcerer can still speak. While this may seem a meaningless distinction, many applications of Assamite Sorcery require verbal incantations, which this power allows the sorcerer to use without drawing attention to herself.

### **•• Scorpion’s Curse (Scorpion’s Touch)**

The sorcerer version of Scorpion’s Touch is Scorpion’s Curse. It allows the sorcerer to place a ward on a solid surface such as a door, a section of floor, or even a small object such as a box or a letter. The sorcerer may ward any object or area up to her Intelligence dots in square yards/meters. A few seconds after the power is activated, the blood ward fades and can only be spotted with a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 9) or a Perception + Investigation roll (difficulty 7). The ward lasts for a number of days equal to her Occult dots before dissipating, but while it lasts, anyone who touches the affected area or item is targeted by the Discipline just as though a warrior using Scorpion’s Touch had successfully touched him.

The sorcerer immediately rolls and can spend blood, as per Scorpion’s Touch.

### **••• Dagon’s Call**

The sorcerer and vizier equivalents for Dagon’s Call both work the same. Instead of ravaging the target’s body, the Assamite harrows the mind.

Mechanically, this power works the same as the warrior version except as follows: First, the roll is the Assamite’s Manipulation versus the target’s Intelligence. The difficulty for both rolls is the other’s permanent Willpower. Second, instead of inflicting lethal damage, each net success for the Assamite strips the target of temporary Willpower. If the Assamite spends a Willpower point and continues to roll even after the target has lost all her temporary Willpower, additional successes strip the target of one dot of permanent Willpower. This represents the most damage that this power can inflict in a single night regardless of successes, but a target who has lost all of her Willpower dots through use of Dagon’s Call on successive nights is reduced to a mindless husk.

As with the warrior version, the Assamite need not be within the target’s presence to trigger this attack.

### **•••• Baal’s Caress**

The sorcerer version of Baal’s Caress is less useful for slaying enemies than for smiting demons. With this power, the sorcerer can spend one point of blood that he smears across his eyes. For the rest of the scene, the sorcerer can perceive dematerialized spirits and similar creatures as if they were material. If he spends additional points of blood to coat a melee weapon such as a dagger or sword, that weapon can strike such targets and harm them normally despite their intangibility.

### **••••• Taste of Death**

The sorcerer equivalent to Taste of Death works exactly the same as the warrior equivalent, except that the attack only targets dematerialized spirits and the like as if they were solid. This is if the sorcerer has already used Baal’s Caress to make himself capable of perceiving such beings.

## **Vizier Quietus**

### **• Silence of Death**

Once the zone of silence is activated, the vizier can decide whom, if anyone, can hear him when he speaks. Thus, while the power is active, he can allow one or more people to hear him while no one else can. More importantly, he can deliver instructions backed by Presence or Dominate without anyone else noticing.

### **•• Ishtar’s Touch (Scorpion’s Touch)**

 The vizier version of Scorpion’s Touch is Ishtar’s Touch. Instead of yielding a deadly poison, this power converts the vizier’s blood into a touch-activated narcotic that puts the victim into an inebriated state under which he is more vulnerable to Presence, Dominate, and even mundane Social manipulation.

The vizier’s player must spend a variable number of blood points (up to their Generation maximum) and roll Willpower, (difficulty 6). If the roll succeeds and the vizier touches the target’s exposed skin, the tainted blood passes into the target’s blood stream through the skin. The target must then roll Stamina + Fortitude (difficulty 6) — each success subtracts from the successes rolled for the vizier. If any of the vizier’s successes remain, the power takes effect.

While the effect lasts, the target is unable to spend Willpower to resist mental or social manipulation by the vizier, and the difficulties for all rolls by the vizier for such manipulation (whether natural or supernatural) are reduced by the number of blood points spent, to a minimum of 4. This effect only lasts while the target remains in the vizier’s presence, after which he will come to his senses. However, if the vizier returns to the victim’s presence, she will automatically fall back into her addled state.

This debility lasts for a duration determined by the vizier’s successes as follows.

Successes Result

1 One turn

2 One hour

3 One day

4 One month

5 One year

### **•••• Baal’s Caress**

The viziers are rarely as eager to slay their opponents as the warriors are. Subjugation is much more desirable. The vizier may coat a weapon with her vitae just as the warrior does with her version of this power. However, on a successful strike, the blow does not inflict any damage at all. Instead, success on the damage roll causes the target to lose a point of temporary Willpower. More importantly, if the target loses all of his temporary Willpower by Baal’s Caress, he temporarily becomes fully blood-bonded to the vizier. This effect only lasts for a single scene, but during that time, the target responds to the vizier as if he had drunk the vizier’s blood three times. If the target is already bound to another vampire, he may roll Willpower (difficulty 7) to resist commands from the vizier that conflict with the wishes of his regnant as he understands them.

Ironically, Tremere, due to their Clan weakness, are particularly vulnerable to this power, and will remain under the effect of the temporary blood bond for the remainder of the night rather than a scene.

### **••••• Taste of Bliss (Taste of Death)**

Unlike the distasteful and caustic version of this power used by the warriors, the vizier equivalent is Taste of Bliss. Instead of spitting out a deadly acid, the vizier softly exhales a fine reddish mist towards the target. The vizier may target someone up to 10 feet (3 meters) away per dot of Strength and Potence he possesses. Hitting the target requires a Stamina + Athletics roll, (difficulty 6). If the attack hits, the vizier’s player rolls two dice per blood point spent, and the difficulty is the target’s current Willpower.

Each success strips the target of one point of temporary Willpower, and if the target loses all of her Willpower, she treats the vizier as if she has a full blood bond to him until the sun rises. Moreover, if the attack succeeds in causing the target to lose even one point of Willpower, treat the attack as if the target had actually consumed a point of blood for normal blood bonding purposes.

## **Advanced Powers**

### **••••• • Blood Sweat**

Although vampires do not have functioning sebaceous glands, they are still capable of sweating at times of extreme stress. This “sweat” is actually a thin sheen of blood on the Cainite’s forehead and palms. Most Kindred see blood sweat as an admission of fear or guilt. The vampire who has mastered Blood Sweat is capable of inducing these feelings in a subject to a preternatural degree. The victim experiences a torrential outpouring of vitae if he harbors the tiniest shred of remorse for any action he has ever undertaken.

System: The character must be within line of sight of the subject and spend three turns concentrating. The player spends a Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty equal to the target’s current Willpower points). The target loses one blood point per success. Mortals sustain injury as if they had lost blood from being fed upon. The target actually “sweats out” the lost blood in a sudden rush of sanguinary perspiration that soaks his clothes. Large amounts may even form puddles at his feet. Blood lost through this process is considered dead, inert mortal blood, and provides minimal nutrition (half normal) for Cainites desperate enough to lick it up from the floor or wring it out of towels. It provides no sustenance for the individual from whom it emerged. In addition to the blood loss, the victim is overcome by a sense of remorse and guilt for his past transgressions (if he has a strong conscience) or an overwhelming compulsion to brag (if he is of sufficiently coarse moral character). The severity of this impulse depends on the number of successes rolled: One success could cause a slight twinge of conscience, while five successes may result in the subject breaking down and pouring out a full confession of his crimes. This effect is more story-oriented than mechanical, and the Storyteller is the final authority on what the victim feels compelled to confess or boast.

Note that this power’s existence is not widely known. Vampires and mortals alike tend to shrink away from someone who begins spontaneously sweating blood, and experiencing such an affliction may panic even the staunchest individual.

### **••••• • Blood Awakening**

*[Vizier]*

This power allows a Cainite to scan memories latent in the blood belonging to one from whom she has recently fed.

System: The vampire must first consume one blood point from another character. Roll Perception + Empathy (difficulty 7). The number of successes determines the clarity accessed from archived memories echoed in another’s blood which the vampire has consumed. As the memories manifest, the vampire may lose track of reality increasing the difficulty of Perception-based rolls by two. Consult the chart below for effects, with each degree of success building upon the last.

A botched roll floods the vampire with random memories from those whose vitae she has ingested in the past, during which time she is stunned and completely unable to act until she spends blood in an attempt to purge the visions (one blood point per failure on the roll which may require more than one turn to spend, depending on Generational limits).

 2 success
 3 success
 4 success
 5 success
 6+ success

### **••••• • Purification**

Although most mortal cultures affix negative connotations to the spilling of blood, most Assamites — indeed, most vampires — have quite the opposite reaction to it. For them, blood is an unlife-affirming and reinvigorating substance. Purification works on this principle, using the power of vitae to cleanse and restore. Rather than purging foreign taints from the body, Purification allows its wielder to cleanse other individuals’ minds and souls of stains, including those left by the mind control of other Kindred. The vampire using this power expels his own blood through his skin and allows it to soak through his subject, slowly dissipating. As it does so, it carries away spiritual impurities and outside influences.

System: The character touches the forehead of her intended subject, and both parties spend a minimum of five minutes in deep concentration. The player spends a number of blood points equal to the subject’s permanent Willpower. The subject rolls Willpower once for every external supernatural influence (a vampiric Discipline, usually) to which his mind has been subjected. The difficulty equals the level of the power in question +4 (or a difficulty of 7 if the power level is unknown, such as one used by a different kind of supernatural creature). A success nullifies that effect.

Purification has its limits. It can remove directly intrusive influences such as Dominate-implanted commands, Dementation-generated derangements, or the imperatives caused by elder vampires’ Presence. It cannot dispel influences that are transmitted by blood, including a blood bond or the dispositions imparted by one’s Clan or bloodline, nor can it erase those caused by purely mundane techniques such as persuasion, hypnosis, or brainwashing, or genuine emotional states such as love and hate. It can remove mind-altering blood magic effects, but either the character wielding Purification or the power’s beneficiary must have a level of Thaumaturgy equal to or greater than that with which the effect was placed. A character cannot use Purification on herself.

### **••••• • Ripples of the Heart**

According to Assamite lore, this technique originated with a Byzantine scholar who wanted to protect his herd from the thirst of other Cainites. Ripples of the Heart allows a Cainite to leave emotions within the bloodstream of any mortal from whom he feeds. Any other vampire who subsequently drinks from that mortal experiences those emotions as if they were his own.

System: The character drinks at least one blood point from the subject mortal then spends a minute in physical contact with the subject while concentrating on the emotion he wishes to leave in her blood. The player spends a point of Willpower and rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty 7 under normal circumstances, 5 if the subject is currently experiencing the intended emotion, 9 if he is currently experiencing a strong opposite emotion). The subject’s blood carries the weight of the intended emotion for one lunar month per success rolled. A mortal’s blood can only carry one emotion at a time. Subsequent attempts to use Ripples of the Heart on the same individual have no effect until the previous application has worn off.

Any vampire who drinks from a vessel under the effects of Ripples of the Heart must succeed in a Self-Control/Instinct roll (difficulty of the mortal’s current Willpower points) as soon as she swallows the first blood point. If she fails this roll, the vitae-borne emotion immediately overtakes her. The strength of the emotion depends on how many blood points she drinks. One blood point results in a momentary mood swing, two causes a significant shift in demeanor, and three or more generates a complete change in emotional state. Depending on the circumstances and the precise emotion, the effects of this may be spectacular or catastrophic.

A vampire overtaken by romantic passion may temporarily believe she is in love with the mortal (or any other convenient bystander). One who drinks from a hate-infused vessel may rend her prey to shreds, and one who takes a draught of a mortal touched with fear may run away screaming. The vampire remains subject to the emotion for a number of hours equal to the mortal’s permanent Willpower, though she is still subject to other feelings after the initial rush of sensation.

The mortal who is under the effects of Ripples of the Heart is unaware of the power’s effects on him, though he is slightly predisposed toward the emotion in question while the power is in effect. The vampire who used Ripples of the Heart on a mortal is immune to any effects from that use.

### **••••• • Selective Silence**

Although Silence of Death is an effective tool for the battlefield and the court alike, it is indiscriminate in its effects. The assassin who uses it in preparation for firing a shotgun also silences the radio over which her comrades might warn her of an oncoming guard. The courtier who suppresses a room full of dissenting voices is likewise unable to speak her own mind. Selective Silence allows the skilled Cainite to overcome these limitations by silencing only those individuals or objects that she wants to silence. When using this power, most individuals exhale a thin mist of blood that clings to the selected subjects, gradually evaporating as Selective Silence’s effects fade. Some vampires also use a similar technique when invoking Silence of Death, in which case the mist surrounds them and moves with them.

System: The player spends two blood points and rolls Stamina + Stealth (difficulty 7). Each success allows for one individual or object that the character can silence with this use of the power. Each subject must be within 20 yards or meters of the character. Objects larger than a man count as more than one subject: a heavy machine gun counts as two, a car as three, and a small aircraft as five. Objects larger than a private jet or creatures larger than an elephant cannot be silenced through the use of this power.

Each subject is completely silenced for a number of minutes equal to the character’s permanent Willpower. Nothing it does generates sound, though the secondary effects of its actions will do so normally. For example, a gun silenced with this power will not produce an audible explosion when fired, but its bullets still make noise as they break the sound barrier. A silenced victim can scream all he likes and not make a sound, but may be able to summon help by smashing a window.

### **••••• •• Baal’s Bloody Talons**

The toxin generated by Baal’s Caress is not enough to significantly harm some truly fearsome foes. This progressive development of that lesser technique allows its user to envenom his weapon with a blood-based poison so potent that it corrodes the very weapon that bears it, eating away at the strongest metal in a minute or less. However, its effects on its victims are spectacular enough to make the loss of even the most treasured blades worthwhile. This power’s effects are of very limited duration, as the substance it creates will quickly evaporate away.

System: The character coats an edged weapon with her own blood, as per Baal’s Caress. The player spends one or more blood points and rolls Willpower (difficulty 7). The weapon now does aggravated damage. It also gains a number of additional damage dice equal to the number of successes rolled plus the number of blood points spent. These extra dice fade at a rate of one per turn as the poison dissipates, drips off, and reacts with the weapon’s material. Once the extra damage dice are all gone, the weapon’s base damage dice begin to fade at the same rate. The weapon breaks if used when its base damage is reduced to the wielder’s Strength or less. The only weapons that can resist this corrosion are those created with a supernatural power of a level equal to or greater than the character’s Quietus rating, though even this is subject to the Storyteller’s discretion.

Baal’s Bloody Talons is subject to the same limitations as Baal’s Caress, except the limit on the number of successful strikes that do aggravated damage. A weapon affected by Baal’s Bloody Talons does aggravated damage with every successful attack until it is destroyed.

At the Storyteller’s discretion, the character may use the venom this power produces for other purposes, such as burning through a padlock or destroying an incriminating tape. He may not, however, store this poison for later use — even if a container proves resistant to it, the substance becomes inert within a few minutes of leaving its creator’s body.

### **••••• •• Dam the Heart’s River**

*[Vizier]*

Vampires who reach this level of Hematus master control over the flow of blood in a body. Dam the Heart’s River is normally used to fortify a vampire from another’s attempts to exsanguinate him, but can also be applied tactically to force a victim to deplete her store of blood and possibly push her into a hunger frenzy.

System: The first effect of this power may be used reflexively as a defensive action. The player constricts a number of blood points (up to his Generational per-turn limit, but no more than 5) that he wants to condense in any areas of his body and rolls Willpower (difficulty equal to the number of blood points condensed +5). If the roll is successful, it compresses 4 cubic inches /6 cubic cm per blood point into a solid rubbery mass that completely restricts blood flow to or from any areas the vampire selects within his body, preventing any loss of vitae that may occur from a wound or attempts to feed from the areas selected. The blood remains locked in place and cannot be activated for any other purpose; non-passive Disciplines requiring use of a body part containing compressed blood do not function. He may release the blood at any time to return it to an expendable state.

The secondary effect of this power allows a vampire complete control over the blood of a target who is currently in skin-to-skin contact with him (such as through a grapple), or targets who have at any time consumed the vampire’s blood or whose blood the vampire has at any time consumed (even through drinking from a ghoul belonging to the opposing character), or if blood from either has entered the bloodstream of the other, usually through being pierced by a bloodied weapon. The player spends one Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Medicine (difficulty of the target’s Stamina + 3, maximum 9). As long as the target remains in skin-to-skin contact with the vampire (or in his line of sight if an exchange of vitae has occurred), the vampire has total control over the target’s blood expenditure (subject to the target’s Generational limitations) and can either condense her blood pool to lock it up (per the first effect of this power) or activate any blood-related effect (augment statistics, heal the target, fuel Disciplines, etc.). The secondary effect of Dam the Heart’s River lasts for a number of turns equal to the amount of successes scored on the roll.

If used against mortals, the secondary effect Dam the Heart’s River can induce cardiac arrest or blood clots leading to stroke.

### **••••• •• Poison the Well of Life**

Beyond leaving emotional traces in a subject’s blood, the master of this Quietus power can now taint that same vitae, making it into a deadly poison for any other Cainite who drinks from that mortal. Some vampires use Poison the Well of Life to guard their own herds against “poachers” or to ward specific vessels against indiscriminate feeding. Others have been known to employ it as a subtle trap for other vampires, turning herds against their owners.

System: The character touches the mortal he wishes to taint and smears a streak of his own vitae on the victim’s skin. The player spends three blood points and rolls Stamina + Occult (difficulty 7). For a number of months equal to the number of successes, any other vampire who drinks that mortal’s blood sustains two health levels of aggravated damage for every blood point imbibed. This damage manifests as a combination of acid burns and something akin to toxic shock.

While a mortal is poisonous to vampires, his body’s alchemical balance is slightly altered toward toxicity. He gains two extra points of Stamina for the purposes of resisting the effects and damage of poisons and acids. However, his bodily excretions, especially his sweat, are slightly more noxious than normal. He suffers a one-die penalty to all Social dice pools if whomever he chooses to interact with has a particularly sensitive nose and is close enough to smell him.

### **••••• •• Rapturous Touch**

*[Warrior]*

The vampire is now able to absorb blood through her skin, as long as she is in contact with the blood itself or an uncovered part of a vessel’s body.

System: This power is always in effect once learned. With a touch, any part of the vampire’s body may absorb blood through osmosis. Regardless of Generation, she may only absorb two blood points per turn. All the standard risks from drinking blood still apply (blood bond, poisoning, etc.), but vampires resist the effects of the touch-initiated Kiss at difficulty 6, while mortals may resist as if they were vampires (difficulty 8).

### **••••• ••• Blood of Destruction**

*[Warrior]*

Someone foolish enough to drink from a vampire with Blood of Destruction is likely to perish and meet Final Death in a grisly fashion before she even realizes her mistake, simply attacking a vampire with this power risks wreaking damage to oneself or her weapon.

System: This power may be used reflexively as a defensive action. Aside from the following exceptions, this power otherwise works according to the rules for Taste of Death, Baal’s Caress, and Scorpion’s Touch. The player rolls Willpower (difficulty 7) and spends one point of blood to convert all the vitae in the character’s system into all of the highly virulent or acidic toxins created through Taste of Death, Baal’s Caress, or Scorpion’s Touch. Using Blood of Destruction reduces a character’s blood pool by half (rounded up). The blood shares all three effects. This causes Scorpion’s Touch’s Stamina loss, Baal’s Caress’s aggravated damage, destroys objects like Taste of Death, and sticks to the victim after contact, causing one fewer damage each turn until reduced to zero.

Anyone attacking a character under the effects of Blood of Destruction with a slashing or piercing weapon that breaks the skin loses her weapon, as the venom corrodes away nearly any compound. In the case of natural weapons, such as those created by Protean and Serpentis, the attacker automatically suffers two health levels of aggravated damage. Any attacker in close combat that causes lethal or aggravated damage to the vampire is splattered with the venomous blood. Blood of Destruction lasts for a scene.

### **••••• ••• Songs of Distant Vitae**

Blood magic practitioners and individuals skilled at Auspex have long known that vitae can carry residual impressions of emotion and personality. This power invokes those impressions to overwhelm its victim with “remembered” images and sensations drawn from the vessels who held that blood before the vampire fed from them. Particularly strong-willed or hardened subjects may shrug off these visions as daydreams, but those who are less self-possessed can be permanently changed by the experience. A side effect of the use of this power is the partial destruction of the vitae from which the images are drawn. Some viziers theorize that this is the result of motes of the vessels’ consciousness making an effort to escape their usurper.

System: The character touches his target and spends a turn in concentration. The player spends four blood points and rolls Wits + Intimidation in a contested roll against the victim’s permanent Willpower (difficulty 7). If the target has committed diablerie within a number of nights equal to the character’s Perception, the attacker gains one automatic success. The result depends on the number of net successes the attacker rolls. Note that in all invocations of this power, the sensations that the subject relives are expressly negative and terrifying — for example, he experiences none of the pleasure that would normally accompany the Kiss when he flashes back to such an event.

In addition to the effects listed below, the subject of a successful attack loses a number of blood points equal to the number of successes rolled. This vitae oozes from his body in warm red trickles that do no damage but are certain to terrify onlookers.

 Failure
 1 success
 2 successes
 3 successes
 4 successes
 5 successes

### **••••• •••• Condemn the Sins of the Father**

Although the Second City’s judges recognized that heritage does not equal guilt, they also encountered many situations in which a vampire’s entire brood had committed the same crime. In such cases, the judges often decreed the same punishment for all transgressors. This technique, which modern viziers believe to have originated at that time, allows its wielder to administer such judgments. Through Condemn the Sins of the Father, a Cainite can apply lesser Quietus powers to an entire lineage.

System: After successfully using any lesser Quietus power on another vampire, the player spends a permanent Willpower point and 10 blood points and rolls Stamina + Occult. The difficulty of this roll is equal to four plus the number of Generations of the original target’s descendants that the player wants to affect, up to a maximum difficulty of 10. If the roll succeeds, every descendant of the original target within the specified range of Generations suffers the same effects that the original target experienced, resisting with his own relevant Traits. The player may exempt a number of potential subjects from this effect equal to twice the character’s Wits, but the character must know their faces or have tasted their vitae.

### **••••• •••• Weaken the Blood of Ancients**

*[Warriors]*

The pinnacle expression of Cruscitus strips away the potency of another vampire’s blood to increase his Generation.

System: In order to use this power, the character’s blood must have been ingested or entered the target’s bloodstream at any time, usually through drinking (even from a ghoul belonging to the character) or being pierced by a bloodied weapon (for example, one augmented by other Cruscitus powers). The player and victim engage in contested Willpower rolls (difficulty for the player is the victim’s Stamina plus Fortitude, while the victim’s difficulty is the character’s Willpower). The target’s effective Generation increases by 1 for each success on the player’s Willpower roll minus successes on the target’s Willpower roll. A victim reduced to Thirteenth Generation acquires the appropriate Flaws, see p. 427. Higher Generations may be allowed at Storyteller discretion. Characters beyond Thirteenth Generation most certainly receive the Thin Blood Flaw, and may have other limitations. After a number of nights equal to 10 - the victim’s Stamina and Fortitude have passed, the victim regains one lost Generation per night. When a Cainite is under the effect of this power, she loses access to all benefits of her former Generation, such as higher blood pool (excess blood is vomited up), increased blood expenditure, and high-level Disciplines and Traits.