The Mara

**Parent Clan**: Gangrel

**Disciplines**: Animalism, *Nightmare*, *Protean*, Resilience

## **Bloodline Weakness: Water-bound**

The Mara are victims of a singularly peculiar
curse. If they are not completely submerged head to toe in
liquid water while feeding, they gain no sustenance from
blood. In fact, the blood drained in a “dry feeding” is mystically transformed to water in the vampire’s gullet, and
is vomited back up immediately. The Mara cannot hunt in grid spaces without bodies of water.

## **Bloodline Gift: Blood in the Water**

The Mara can use Unmarked Grave on any body of water. Any creature that bathes in waters inhabited by a Lamprey suffers nightmares at night, while anything that drinks from it is considered to have drank from the Mara’s blood herself for the purposes of recovering vitae, addiction and even furthering, or creating, Blood Bonds. The range of this effect is twice the vampire's Blood Potency in yards as a radius around the Lamprey.

As well, the Mara is always immune from the Flooded Tilt.

## **Merit**

### **Sustenance from the Drowned •**

The Mara can draw more Vitae from places where people have fallen victim to drowning. This Merit gives the Mara three dots of Herd, from which she may draw 6 Vitae per week. A Mara can feed with less restraint when pulling her victim down underwater. The authorities are unlikely to treat it as a case of more than mundane drowning—especially when the body washes up ashore two weeks later, badly decomposed and their lungs filled with water.

Each use of this Merit is a Humanity check at Humanity 3 or 2. As usual, the character can take a bane and a Beat, so that she is unable to lose Humanity from this breaking point again.

## **Devotions**

### **Kraken's Embrace**

*Protean •• 1XP*

**Cost**: 1 Vitae per three tentacles

This Devotion allows the Mara to summon tentacles. Each tentacle acts like a Predatory Aspect: Prehensile Tail, although the Mara can manifest a multitude of tentacles at the same time, one for each dot of their Protean + Blood Potency.

The tentacles allow the Mara to add their Protean dots to grappling. The number of tentacles do not add to the dice pool.

### **Choking Ichor**

*Nightmare ••• 2XP*

**Cost**: 1 Vitae at the turn of activation

**Dice Pool**: Strength + Intimidation + Nightmare vs. Stamina + Blood Potency

**Action**: Instant, Extended. Resistance is reflexive.

This power constricts the airway and fills the victim's lungs with their own blood and tissue fluid. Mortals react as if they're drowning, suffering 1 lethal wound per turn, for as many turns as the Mara keeps up the ritual. As long as the Mara keeps a line of sight on their victim, and is not performing any other action, they may continue to inflict lethal wounds until the extended action ends, or until they roll a Failure.

Kindred victims are not so affected, though they are reminded of their breathing days and the very mortal fear of suffocation. They suffer their Humanity/2 (rounded down) in penalty towards all non-reflexive actions, for the duration of the power.

### **Lamprey's Kiss**

*Protean •••• 2XP*

This Devotion allows the Lamprey to choose a unique Unnatural Feature when using Protean. This feature, the Lamprey’s Kiss, turns the Mara’s mouth in a nightmare of teeth that allows her to not only do bite attacks without requiring a Grapple to be established, but it also enables the Mara to drain one additional vitae per bite from her victim. This attack, maybe ironically, does not invoke the Kiss other bites do.

### **Abyssal Form**

*Protean ••••• Nightmare • 3XP*

**Cost**: 1 to 3 Vitae

**Dice Pool**: None

**Action**: None

As Gangrel, Mara are consummate shapeshifters. The most skilled among their Clan can transform into a dark and deadly mist, but this is of little use to the Mara. Still, creative Mara have combined their aquatic power with the twisted shapeshifting of the Primeval Miasma to adopt a form well suited to the depths.

This enhances Primeval Miasma, allowing the Mara to transform into a mass of black water. Mechanically, this is identical to Primeval Miasma, with the following alterations:

* The Mara's liquid form is much faster, flowing at twice the Mara's usual speed.
* The Mara in Abyssal Form cannot fly, but can swim at the above speed.
* Abyssal Form only costs 2 Vitae if activated the Mara is standing in at least ankle-deep water, or 1 Vitae if the Mara is completely submerged. In both cases, the Mara must be in a body of water of some size -- a river or bog or very large swimming pool will do, but a full bathtub will not.

In all other ways, this is identical to Primeval Miasma with whatever minor alterations seem logical for it's liquid nature. The Mara is immune to all damage but sun, flame, and Banes, may penetrate anything that is not waterproof, etc.

#### **Source**

Circle of the Crone p. 180-183. With reference to the revision by NeoTiamat@OnyxPathForums and Fayte@RequiemForKingsmouth.