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Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

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Blood Potency to a level where she can feed on animals. She cannot restore a higher Blood<br />

Potency, though, without using the normal means to do so.<br />

All these benefi ts last only as long as the vampire keeps her Humanity high. Should her<br />

Humanity slip below 7 for any reason, the character falls from grace, loses the benefi ts of<br />

Golconda and can never gain them again.<br />

OTHER WAYS OF BECOMING MORTAL<br />

<strong>The</strong> Kindred tell stories about vampires who became mortal by other means than Golconda.<br />

Some tales are distinctly sentimental. <strong>The</strong>y tell of Kindred who became mortal through true<br />

love for a living person; through miracles performed for exceptionally pious Kindred by<br />

mortal holy men and women, or holy relics; by nobly sacrifi cing their unlives for others (and<br />

becoming mortal as they died). Most Kindred cynically scoff at such stories. <strong>The</strong>n again, true<br />

love, perfect faith and selfl ess sacrifi ce seldom happen among the Damned (which might be<br />

part of what damns them).<br />

Stranger and more sinister rumors speak of Kindred who became mortal by destroying<br />

their sires, their sires’ sires and their sires’ sires’ sires, perhaps by diablerie or by drinking a<br />

potion of their dust. Other tales speak of powerful spirits who grant mortality for a price, or<br />

of blessed artifacts that can end the curse of undeath.<br />

As with Golconda, Kindred never seem to have personal experience of such things. <strong>The</strong><br />

legends are remote and dubious. <strong>The</strong> Storyteller must decide if any of these tales are true.<br />

OTHER FORMS OF TRANSCENDENCE<br />

Another class of legends deals with other ways in which Kindred may gain powers denied<br />

other vampires, or to escape the limitations of undeath. As usual when the Damned discuss<br />

supernatural matters beyond their direct experience, tales tend to be so vague that no one<br />

can guess if they could be true. Or they supply a mass of spurious detail, and no one can<br />

guess what aspects might be true.<br />

<strong>The</strong> most reliable stories concern the genesis of new Disciplines. Knowledgeable Kindred<br />

agree that many more Disciplines exist than the familiar powers known to all the clans (as<br />

described in Chapter Two). Rare, little-known Disciplines are most often invented and practiced<br />

by special bloodlines that arise among the clans. One popular theory attributes the<br />

invention of new Disciplines to occult contamination from other denizens of the supernatural<br />

world, such as werewolves and mortal mages. (See Appendix One for more information about<br />

Disciplines and bloodlines.)<br />

Other stories speak of Kindred who gain special powers by selling their souls to the Devil.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se legends say that demons can teach sorcery, confer unusual powers (another explanation<br />

given for new Disciplines), and release vampires from frenzy, the deadly effects of sunlight<br />

and other aspects of the curse. Lancea Sanctum leaders rigorously condemn all these stories.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y insist that no Kindred ever profi ted from dealing with demons. <strong>The</strong> Lancea Sanctum’s<br />

Inquisitors stand ready to expose and chastise any vampire who dares to take on a second<br />

damnation.<br />

Sheer age might grant more powers. <strong>The</strong> Kindred know that their race has existed for many<br />

thousands of years, but vampires Embraced more than 500 to 1,000 years ago vanished into<br />

legend. Many of them certainly met Final Death, but what happened to the ones who didn’t?<br />

Did they all succumb to the Beast? Do they sleep in millennial torpors? Such long sleeps should<br />

reduce the potency of their blood to that of mere neonates, but… the Kindred don’t really<br />

know. Rare undead horrors such as the Unholy suggest that some elder Kindred escape the<br />

traps of their thirst for ever-stronger blood and the slow erosion of their humanitas to become<br />

something else, a creature that preys on the Damned as the Kindred prey on mortals.<br />

280<br />

mind’s chapter eye three: theatre: special requiem rules and systems

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