VII - RoseRed

Coil of the Soul: Shunning contact with Kindred for
a certain amount of time, feeding only on animals, deliberate
acts to lower Humanity (only for young or especially
devout Kindred), crucifixion, psychoanalysis
(Freudian or Jungian, often coupled with dream interpretation),
periods of torpor induced by staking, sensory
deprivation, deliberate manipulation of memory via the
Dominate Discipline or emotions through Majesty (assumes
an extraordinary relationship between mentor and
student, or an extremely gullible pupil), immersion in a
closed mortal circle (sometimes a Dragon takes up residence
in a large house where she can avoid notice, just
to watch the inhabitants).
✴✬✫✰✻★✻✰✶✵
Dragons preparing for a chrysalis spend as much as
half of every night in deep meditation, bringing themselves
as close to torpor as possible without actually falling
into the deathsleep. Some Kindred even pierce their
chests with sharp chunks of wood to simulate staking
(and usually have a ghoul or a coterie-mate nearby to
rescue them if something goes wrong), fighting through
the pain and fear to achieve a state modern Dragons
call “corporeal malleability” (older Dragons refer to
someone in this state as having a “soul of clay”). A
Dragon who can reach this state is prepared to enter a
chrysalis and learn a Coil.
★✪✯✰✬✽✰✵✮✂✻✯✬✂✪✯✹❀✺★✳✰✺
When the Kindred is ready, she performs her rituals
and simultaneously meditates to achieve the soul of clay.
If she is successful, she enters the chrysalis and may
change her undead condition just slightly, learning a tier
of the Coils of the Dragon.
The chrysalis, according to the Dragons, feels initially
like returning to the womb. Everything is dark and warm,
and, for a short time, the vampire feels comforted. It is
in this brief moment of control and safety that the Kindred
must exert her will and change herself, for to wait
too long in this state is to invite disaster.
In the chrysalis, the vampire’s consciousness is separate
from her soul and body. This state of affairs is what
allows her to make changes to her condition, rather like
making adjustments to the workings of a machine. If
she successfully makes these changes, she can restart the
machine (returning her mind to its proper “place”), and
return to consciousness with the changes, the Coil, in
place. If the vampire waits, however, she feels the darkness
close in around her. She is not alone. Her Beast
lurks here as well, waiting for the opportunity it needs.
During every second the Dragon waits, her Beast attempts
to escape from the cage of her mind. If the character
waits too long, she might return to consciousness
to find that her Beast has corrupted one or more of her
Disciplines, even her other Coils.
unlife in the ordo dracul
EXPERIMENTS
The Ordo Dracul has long years of studying the
Coils behind it. Even discounting much of the
unreliable writings that predate the covenant’s
“renaissance” in the 19th century, the Coils of the
Dragon have been the Ordo’s primary focus the
world over, and some truly brilliant Kindred have
studied the process. Therefore, mentors know
what to do — and more importantly, what not to
do — when instructing their students.
Sometimes, though, mentors deliberately
mislead neonates with the intent of causing them
to lose control during a chrysalis. A Dragon might
commit this heinous act for a number of reasons.
The Ordo Dracul does not relish the notion of the
Coils being circulated outside the covenant, and
sometimes uses this method as a particularly harsh
means of control. Sometimes a mentor takes on a
student with the express purpose of destroying
her soul, usually to illustrate to other, more
promising students what will happen if they aren’t
careful (and, though it’s rarely stated outright,
what can happen if they betray the Ordo Dracul).
Finally, sometimes an especially cruel Dragon does
this out of sheer, callous curiosity.
In any case, willfully tricking a vampire into
becoming lost to the Beast requires a
degeneration check. It is considered a planned,
callous crime.
This doesn’t happen often, however, because
Dragons are warned of the possibility every step of
the way, taught how to avoid it and given the best
possible conditions for avoiding such unpleasant
mishaps. A vampire’s coterie, mentor or both look
after her when she enters the chrysalis, though some
Kindred insist on being alone during this vulnerable
time. This caution stems in part from loyalty
(or at least professional courtesy) toward the Kindred,
but mostly from the knowledge that if a
vampire’s Beast infects her, the damage is normally
irrevocable. The Dragon must then be destroyed,
but because the fall to the Beast was the result of
one failed attempt at change rather than a long series
of inhuman acts, the vampire is much cannier
than a vampire lost to Wassail would normally be.
While a vampire that has been given over to the
Beast is normally a ravening monster with no urges
other than sleeping and killing, a vampire who loses
her mind through a botched chrysalis is somewhat
more intelligent. Though she degenerates quickly,
she is capable of wreaking a great deal of damage
on the mortals and possibly the Kindred of the area
if not caught and destroyed.
49
chapter two
6