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Author Topic: Saladin Al Fatin  (Read 7337 times)

Daedalus

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Saladin Al Fatin
« on: June 03, 2016, 04:28:28 pm »

Health

BRUISED [ O ] |INJURED (-1)[ O ] | CRIPPLED (-5) [ O ]
BRUISED [ O ] |INJURED (-1)[ O ] |INCAPACITATED [ O ]
HURT (-1) [ O ] |WOUNDED (-2) [ O ]
HURT (-1) [ O ] |MAULED (-2) [ O ]

Willpower
Permanent: 7
Temporary: 7/7

Virtues
Courage: 4
Conviction:3
Instinct: 3

Blood Pool


Path of Honourable Accord
6/10

EXP:

64/64

Base Initiative


Penalties

Benefits
Specialties:
« Last Edit: June 06, 2016, 04:52:21 pm by Drakilian »
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Daedalus

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Re: Pew pew
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2016, 04:28:53 pm »

Saladin Al-Fatin

Player: D, the ever awesome.

Chronicle: Transylvanian Chronicles

Nature: General

Sire: Husayn Al Fatin

Demeanor: Defender

Clan: Assamite

Generation 7th

Concept: Leader

Coterie:

Attributes

Physical - 3

Strength: 2; Dexterity: 2; Stamina: 2;

Social - 7

Charisma: 4; Manipulation: 4; Appearance: 2

Mental - 5

Perception: 2; Intelligence: 3; Wits: 3;

Abilities

Talents - 5

Alertness: 1; Awareness; 1; Athletics: 0; Brawl: ; Dodge: 0; Empathy: 0; Expression: 0; Intimidation: 0; Leadership: 2; Streetwise: 0; Subterfuge: 1

Skills - 13

Animal Ken: 0; Crafts: 0; Riding/Drive: 2; Etiquette: 0; Ranged: 3; Melee: 3; Performance: 0; Security: 3; Stealth: 2; Survival: 0

Knowledge - 9

Academics: 1; Politics: 0; Finance: 3; Investigation: 0; Linguistics: 1; Medicine: 0; Occult: 3; Science: 1; Law: 0

Disciplines

Dur-An-Ki(Movement of the mind): 5; Echo of Nirvana/Path of the focused mind 2; Obfuscate: 1; Quietus: 4; Presence: 2;

Virtues

Courage: 4

Conscience/Conviction: 3

Self-control/Instinct: 3

Advantages

Backgrounds

Beneficial

Allies: 3; Influence: 1; Mentor: 4; Resources: 0; Contacts: 2; Generation: 5; Herd: 0; Retainers: 1; Status: 1

Blood pool

Points: 20

Points per turn: 4

Merits and Flaws

Merit: Extra Clan discipline; Type: Supernatural; Cost: 5

Merit: Unbondable; type: Supernatural; Cost: 3

Merit: Natural Leader; Type: Social; Cost: 1

Merit: Protege; Type: Social; Cost: 1

Merit: Prestigious Sire; Type: Social; Cost: 1

Merit: Rep; Type: Social; Cost: 1

Flaw: Cursed; Type: Supernatural; Cost: 3

Flaw: Intolerence; Type: Mental; Cost: 2

Flaw: Phobia; Type: Mental; Cost: 2

Flaw: Vengeance; Type: Mental; Cost: 1

Flaw: Compulsion; Type: Mental; Cost: 1

Derangements

None (yet)

Languages

Arabic, Romanian

Combat

Weapon/Attack: Scimitar  Difficulty: +1 Damage: +3L Range: Hand-to-Hand Rate: 1/turn Clip: Infinite slashings Conceal: Heavy Cloak

Weapon/Attack: Ebony Daggers  Difficulty: +1 Damage: +2L, Range: Hand-to-Hand Rate: 1/turn Clip: Infinite stabbings, Conceal: Yes, Special: Armor Piercing, Fragile.

Weapon/Attack: Concealed knife  Difficulty: 0 Damage: +1L, Range: Hand-to-Hand Rate: 1/turn Clip: Infinite stabbings, Conceal: Yes


Armor
Class: Light Rating: 2 Penalty: 0
Description: Composite Armour concealed by sorcerer's robes.

Possessions

Gear (Carried): Ritual components, Scimitar, 2x Ebony daggers, A smaller Shiv like blade hidden in his boot.

Equipment (Owned): Ritual components, Composite armor adorned with robes to conceal it. 2X Ebony daggers, Scimitar.

Vehicles: A white steed Named Basim.

Feeding grounds: Sofia. Saladin chooses to feed from the wicked but does feed from law-abiding citiziens if he must.

Blood bonds/Vinculi

Bound to:  (Rating: XX)

Havens

Location: Husayn's old Haven in Sofia

Description: His haven lies beneath the marketplace, shielded from casual passersby by a permanent market stall that sells leather goods.

History

His story till now: Saladin Al-Fatin, born Salah ad-Din, was apprentice and childe to Husayn Al-Fatin, whose history and skills are well documented in the adventures of our various protagonists. Once one of the many middling Ottoman princes, Salah ad-Din was one of many victims of an assamite ploy to ingratiate themselves with the western kindred by taking out contracts on their own mortal princes. His father having unknowingly been responsible for the death of an invaluable cadre of Ventrue ghoul knights, vengeance was exacted him instead, his father having died of natural causes by the time the contract had been taken out.

Husayn, while forced to hold to his word, found Salah ad-Din's death to be undeserved, and so turned him out of a respect for his capability and admirable qualities. He trained Salah ad-Din for some time in the many arts of blood and death and found him a skilled and intelligent pupil. While they would not spend much time together due to their differing interests - Husayn was a warrior assassin, whereas Salah found greater interest in the paths of the Vizier and the Dur-Anki sorcerer - they grew to have a great respect and admiration for each other, Salah forgiving Husayn his murder and Husayn coming to praise Salah's potential and skill in his various fields of interest. His pride in his apprentice came to be well known, for he would hear no one speak ill of Salah, and once parted the flesh of a fellow Cainite for paying disrespect to the blood of his blood.

Salah eventually changed his name to Saladin Al-Fatin, a measure to more honour his sire. Twenty years after his having been turned, Husayn had to leave Alamut on a particularly long assignment to Constantinople - though he promised to return as soon as possible to advance Saladin's training. Two years passed with nary a word from the master assassin, save the occasional assurance of life in the form of assurances by al-Ashrad, the amr (head of the sorcerer caste) of Alamut and childe to darkest Ur-Shulgi who slept in its depths. al-Ashrad continued Saladin's tutelage during Husayn's absence, his mastery of blood magic one that Saladin can barely comprehend - though al-Ashrad has mentioned almost in passing that his sire, Ur-Shulgi, was a blood sorcerer of such a magnitude as to rival the combined might of Clan Tremere. Further questions on the matter led to no answers, as al-Ashrad seemed to find the topic discomfiting.

Three years after his disappearance, Saladin was busy practising a spell with Ashrad when he felt his hand twitch in the middle of incantation, followed by a terrible numbness and a sense of loss. Moments later he saw the look of anguish on Ashrad's face, and his mentor spoke the truth that he had known instantly - Husayn had been destroyed.

He left Alamut that very night, seeking vengeance for the death of his beloved sire - none could dissuade him, and al-Ashrad ordered none to stop him. In Constantinople Saladin encounter the Shabbah and Fariq, both of whom informed the him as to the nature of Husayn's killer - it was none other than Husayn's contract - Basilio the Elder, Captain of the Dark Queen and his two childer, Kiril, the Blessed Prince of Sofia; and Anton, the Dark Lord of Kronstatd. As well as this, they gave Saladin the letter Husayn had wrote and then signed in his own blood. It was then that Saladin understood that Husayn had come to love Basilio as he had come to love Saladin, and would not have sought vengeance against any of them for his death. The pain of his loss coupled with the denial of vengeance near broke the sorcerer's heart.

Fariq begged a private meeting afterwards, during which he entreated Saladin to let him aid in the assassination of the three Lasombra responsible for Husayn's death. He left in a fury at Saladin's solemn denial, citing that he could do the killing himself if he had to.

Setting sail for Sofia, Saladin hoped only to find answers for the death of his sire. He could not know that Basilio had left Sofia months ago, nor that Kiril, who had secretly devoured Husayn in the depths of Basilio's Labyrinth, now ruled the city with his entourage of powerful, partially insane ghouls and his many vampiric allies.

His audience with the prince went...

Goals/Destiny: XX

Why he is willing to join the cotterie (besides sire's request): Experience. +he really wants to learn Koldunic sorcery. Yummy!

Connection to other characters: Kiril diablerized his sire. Anton is related to Kiril by Blood and Mortality. Heldric's sire, Malachite, is well connected with the assmites of Constantinople and is aware of Saladin's presence and actions.

Description

Age: 50

Apparent Age: Mid 30's

Date of Birth: 1150

Death: Slain by Husayn in Battle.

Hair: Ebony black

Eyes: Has a rare genetic disorder that gave him icy blue eyes.

Race: Vampire

Nationality: Arab

Height: 5.9

Weight: 76kg

Sex: Male

Physical description: While he stands at an average height, his presence fills the room and stands as tall as Barrabus. His hair is an Ebony black, his skin a warm shade of brown customary to the dark skinned Assamites. His eyes stand out against the rest of his features, a stark, icy blue that could warm or chill the soul equally.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2016, 05:06:44 pm by Drakilian »
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Daedalus

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Re: Pew pew
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2016, 04:29:06 pm »

Expanded Backgrounds

Allies/Retainers:

Hashim Nassar

A killer to the bone, Hashim Nassar was captain of Salah ad-Din's guard in his mortal days. When Salah was killed by Husayn, Hashim went down shortly thereafter in an attempt to avenge him. When Salah was given new life by Husayn, Salah rewarded his captain with the blood for his loyalty. Hashim has served Salah and then Saladin ever since.

Mentor:

Al-Ashrad

Having taken a liking to Saladin during his training, and having been good friends with Husayn during his life, Ashrad has taken over the role of mentor that Husayn abandonned in death. Ashrad is the amr of the sorcerer caste in Alamut, and a vampire of exceeding importance and power to the assamites. He was a mortal archmage in life, until he killed one of Haqim's childer. The Assamite clan founder was furious at the death of his childe, and would have killed the archmage in vengeance - but Ur-Shulgi, another of Haqim's childer, stepped in to mediate the conflict. A compromise was reached and Ashrad was turned into Ur-Shulgi's only childe.

Contacts: Access to turkish spies and other such brokers of information provided by the clan.

Influence: Granted to Saladin due to the nature of his sire.

Status: A remnant of his sire's reputation.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2016, 05:17:44 pm by Drakilian »
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Daedalus

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Re: Pew pew
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2016, 04:29:37 pm »

Disciplines

Dur-An-Ki

Echo of Nirvana/Path of the focused mind

Readiness

Using Readiness makes the caster able to gain a quicker understanding on a predicament. Enhanced lucidity enlightens the caster, allowing better reactions to changing situations and increased cleverness.
System

This power is only usable on the thaumaturge himself. Every success on the activation roll adds one die to a special dice pool for the remainder of the turn. These dice may be used on any Wits-related rolls or actions that the magus performs during this turn. Alternatively, each die removed from the dice pool adds one to the caster's initiative rating.

Centering

By invoking this power, the thaumaturge causes a sudden, intense calmness in the subject by whispering soothing words to her. While under this serenity, the target is able to better focus on tasks at hand, ignoring distractions and annoyances, including grave bodily harm.
Magi in fear of frenzy often use this power on themselves to achieve a state of tranquility, as emotions are stifled.
System

This power is usable on any subject within earshot of the thaumaturge and lasts for one turn per success on the activation roll. During this period the target is unaffected by any effect that reduces his dice pools. This includes wound penalties, situational modifiers and Disciplines. Modifications to difficulty numbers still apply during this time, however.
In addition, due to the unnatural serenity that this power bestows, the target receives two additional dice in all attempts to avoid or break frenzy. Lupines may even be calmed from their murderous rampages if five or more successes are scored on the activation roll.

Obfuscate

Cloak of Shadows

At this level, the vampire must rely on nearby shadows and cover to assist in hiding his presence. He steps into an out-of-the way, shadowed place and eases himself from normal sight. The vampire remains unnoticed as long as he stays silent, still, under some degree of cover (curtain, bush, door frame, lamppost, alley) and out of direct lighting. The immortal's concealment vanishes if he moves, attacks or falls under direct light. Furthermore, the vampire's deception cannot stand concentrated observation without fading.
System

No roll is required as long as the character fulfills the criteria described above. So long as he remains quiet and motionless, virtually no one but another Kindred with a high Auspex rating will see him.

Presence

Awe

Awe amplifies the sublime magnetism this Discipline gives the vampire. Those near the vampire suddenly desire to be closer to her and are very receptive to her point of view. Awe is extremely useful for mass communication. It matters little what is said - the hearts of those affected lean toward the vampire's opinion. The weak want to agree with her; even if the strong-willed resist, they soon find themselves outnumbered. Awe can turn a chancy deliberation into a certain resolution in the vampire's favor almost before her opponents know that the tide has turned.
Despite the intensity of this attraction, those so smitten do not lose their sense of self-preservation. Danger breaks the spell of fascination, as does leaving the area. Those subject to Awe will remember how they felt in the vampire's presence, however. This will influence their reactions should they ever encounter her again.
System

The player rolls Charisma + Performance (difficulty 7). The number of successes rolled determines how many people are affected, as noted on the chart below. If there are more people present than the character can influence, Awe affects those with lower Willpower scores first. The power stays in effect for the remainder of the scene or until the character chooses to drop it.
1 success   One person
2 successes   Two people
3 successes   Six people
4 successes   20 people
5 successes   Everyone in the vampire's immediate vicinity (an entire auditorium, a mob)
Those affected can use Willpower points to overcome the effect, but must continue spending Willpower every turn for as long as they remain in the same area as the vampire. As soon as an individual spends a number of Willpower points equal to the successes rolled, he shakes off the Awe completely and remains unaffected for the rest of the scene.

Dread Gaze

While all Kindred can frighten others by physically revealing their true vampiric natures - baring claws and fangs, glaring with malevolence, hissing loudly with malice - this power focuses these elements to insanely terrifying levels. Dread Gaze engenders unbearable terror in its victims, stupefying them into madness, immobility or reckless flight. Even the most stalwart individual will fall back from the vampire's horrific visage.
System

The player rolls Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty of the victim's Wits + Courage). Success indicates the victim is cowed, while failure means the target is startled but not terrified by the sight. Three or more successes means he runs away in abject fear; victims who have nowhere to go claw at the walls, hoping to dig a way out rather than face the vampire. Moreover, each success subtracts one from the target's action dice pools next turn.
The character may attempt Dread Gaze once per turn, though she may also perform it as an extended action, adding her successes in order to subjugate the target completely. Once the target loses enough dice that he cannot perform any action, he's so shaken and terrified that he curls up on the ground and weeps. Failure during the extended action means the attempt falters. The character loses all her collected successes and can start over next turn, while the victim may act normally again.
A botch at any time indicates the target is not at all impressed - perhaps even finding the vampire's antics comical - and remains immune to any further uses of Presence by the character for the rest of the story.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 04:38:15 pm by Daedalus »
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Daedalus

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Re: Saladin Al Fatin
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2016, 03:20:15 pm »

Quietus

Silence of Death

Many Assamites claim never to have heard their targets' death screams. Silence of Death imbues the Assamite 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 costs one blood point to activate, which maintains a 20-foot radius of utter stillness around the Assamite for one hour.

Scorpion's Touch

By changing the properties of her blood, an Assamite 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. Assamites 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 Assamite's player spends at least one blood point and rolls Willpower (difficulty 6). If this roll is successful, and the Assamite 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. The victim may resist the poison with a Stamina + Fortitude roll (difficulty 6); successes achieved on the resistance roll subtract from the Assamite's successes to affect the target. The maximum number of blood points an Assamite may convert at any one time equals her Stamina. The number of successes scored indicates the duration of the Stamina loss.
1 success   One turn
2 successes   One hour
3 successes   One day
4 successes   One month
5 successes   Permanently (though Stamina may be bought back up with experience)
If a mortal's Stamina falls to zero through use of Scorpion's Touch, she becomes terminally ill and loses 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 her target with the poison, the Assamite must touch her target's flesh or hit that target 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 and the like cannot carry enough of the stuff to do damage, and it drips off in flight. Players whose Assamites 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 for each point of Strength and/or Potence the character possesses. Assamites are immune to their own poison, but not the blood-venom of other Assamites.

Dagon's Call

This terrible and recently rediscovered power allows an Assamite to drown her target in his own blood. By concentrating, the Assamite bursts her target's blood vessels and fills his lungs with vitae that proceeds to strangle 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 Assamites prefer it because it leaves no trace of their presence.
System

The Assamite must touch her target prior to using Dagon's Call. Within an hour thereafter, the Assamite may issue the call, though she need not be in the presence or even in the line of sight other target.
Invoking the power costs one Willpower point. The Assamite'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 score. The number of successes the Assamite achieves is the amount of damage, in health levels, the victim suffers. For an additional point of Willpower spent in the next turn, the Assamite may continue using Dagon's Call by engaging in another contested Stamina roll. Damage from Dagon's Call is considered lethal. So long as the Assamite'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 Assamite 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 an Assamite 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 Assamites choose to coat their weapons with a significant quantity of blood. If the Assamite misses, no tainted blood is consumed.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 04:43:23 pm by Daedalus »
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Daedalus

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Re: Saladin Al Fatin
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2016, 04:38:45 pm »

Rituals

[ 1 ]   Warding Baptism

Based on an Iranian rite to protect children from disease, this ritual involves baptizing a subject with blood and water, poured from a metal bowl with 40 keys attached. For the rest of the night, the subject becomes immune to one Thaumaturgical path, designated by the magician.

System: The ashipu doesn't have to use her own blood; animal blood will do. The ritual protects only against path magic that directly affects the subject. For instance, it wouldn't protect against the Lure of Flames because the magical fire targets a place, not the person who happens to occupy that place. A person can't receive more than one Warding Baptism at a time.

[ 1 ]   Truth In Ink

The Black Hand has an almost mythic reputation for being able to sniff out impostors among its ranks, and this simple ritual is one of the primary reasons why. It is the single most common ritual found in the subsect, as it is undoubtedly invoked each and every night by more than a few of the subsect's blood sorcerers around the world. The ritual itself is also the oldest one specifically created by the subsect, as its creation occurred concurrent with the subsect's decision to brand all of its members with the mystical mark of the crescent moon. In all the long centuries that the mark has been a fundamental part of the Hand, so too has this ritual.

System: This ritual, which takes mere moments to cast, allows the user to determine the true source of any crescent moon tattoo within sight. The Cainite must be able to clearly see or touch the tattoo for an accurate reading to take place. If either condition is met, the blood magician may then spend a blood point to invoke the ritual . With a single success on the activation roll, the caster becomes instantly aware of whether or not the mark was created by the Black Hand through the official rite of branding. If not, then the target is surely an impostor. With additional successes, the caster can even glean images of the circumstances through which the individual acquired the tattoo ; with five successes, the mystical equivalent of a short "film clip" plays out in the caster's mind, revealing every detail of the tattoo's origin.

Ultimately, the only way for this ritual not to work is if the caster fails his initial activation roll for the ritual itself. With zero successes, no information of any kind is imparted and the blood magician knows he has failed in his attempt. Still, he may always try again, but at the expense of yet another blood point . On the other hand, should he botch his activation roll, the information gleaned might be entirely false . In this way -- and this way only -- can an impostor fool the caster of this ritual into believing his false tattoo to be the genuine article .

[ 1 ]   Touch The Earth

This ritual allows the vizier to contact another Assamite for the purpose of aiding him with further sorcerous effects.

Long in advance of the ritual, the vizier takes a stylus and writes, in ancient Mesopotamian script, on a small, still-wet, clay tablet, the name of a lesser-generation Assamite. Once hardened, the tablet is placed in an acid to weaken it again.

When he chooses to begin the ritual, the vizier uses chalk or paint to draw on the tiled floor of his ceremonial chamber the stylized image of an eye, with white, pupil and iris. The eye must be big enough so that a cat, dog, or rodent can be placed inside it. Using a mortar and pestle, the vizier reduces the tablet to powder. He mixes it into food, which he places in front of the animal. When the animal has ingested the food, the vizier cuts its throat with a knife and waits until the pool of spilled blood has expanded in at least four places past the line denoting the white of the eye.

When the vizier speaks into the animal's ear, the Assamite whose name was written on the tablet hears his voice. When the vizier listens at the animal's mouth, he can hear his target's voice. This works no matter how much distance separates vizier and target. The vizier may proceed to use any Assamite path or other ritual power to benefit the target. The vizier may also pass to the target any object small enough to fit into the palm of his hand.

[ 1 ]   Pebble From The Mountain

The vizier takes a stone from Mount Alamut, places it in his mouth, and mediates for an hour. He soaks the stone in his own blood, then in the blood of another Assamite. He gives the stone to that Assamite while chanting an incantation naming himself and the subject as successors to Tiamat, Ahriman, and all the shaitans of Hell. The ritual takes an hour and a half to perform.

At any subsequent point, by placing the stone in her mouth and repeating the incantation, the other Assamite can initiate a mystical link between herself and the vizier identical to that created by Touch the Earth. She isn't performing sorcery; the magic rests in the stone, which always works if the vizier's player made his initial roll.

[ 1 ]   Exorcise Fever

This ritual exorcises the spirit of fever from a sick person, thus cursing the disease. It only works against diseases that cause fever, though. Ashipu have other rituals for other common sorts of Middle Eastern diseases. Old forms of this ritual that appeal exclusively to ancient gods no longer work. The magician uses the old incantations, but must back them up with a minor holy relic from an Abrahamic faith.

System: A single success suffices to cure comparatively mild fever-causing diseases such as common influenza. More lethal and tenacious diseases such as scarlet fever or typhoid may demand two or three successes to exorcise.

[ 2 ]   Kiss of The Asp   ( Caine's Chosen: The Black Hand -- Page 79 )

Many Hand members find it a strange curiosity that the most widely known ritual in subsect is the one that sees the least actual use . Of course, the word "known" in this case is used loosely, as the majority of those who invoke this ritual haven't the first clue how to actually cast it -- they merely "benefit" from its effects. The ritual itself is an embedded one, enacted through use of the Art of Memory skill and triggered by any Hand member who is captured, no longer has any hope of escape or rescue, or otherwise has reason to prefer Final Death to whatever alternatives lay before her. The ritual allows the despairing Chosen of Caine to voluntarily end her own unlife by means of the magic stored in her undead flesh.

System: Once cast, this ritual is permanent until mentally triggered, the magic and means resting dormant inside the Cainite until that time . Although the target can enact the ritual even while staked, the Kiss cannot be triggered by accident as it takes several steps of sequential thought to be properly invoked. Once the trigger sequence has been met, however, there's no going back: The last step in the sequence sets off a chain reaction in the heart that explosively boils all the blood inside the body away, leaving the surrounding a body a dissolving husk. Even if the vampire has no blood in his system at the time, the ritual still works, destroying the heart inside the vampire's chest and killing him instantly and rather painlessly. Interestingly, as the heart truly is the focus of the entire ritual itself, any vampire whose heart was somehow safely removed from his body could still destroy it (and thus himself) with but a thought, regardless of distance.

It is also important to note that part of the mystical coding of the ritual requires the voluntary, conscious will of the initial target of the ritual; it is the key that unlocks the triggering mechanism. Thus, no Hand member can be coerced or commanded to invoke the ritual, even through mystical means. Either he wills it or he doesn't.

[ 2 ]   Gift Of Mithra's Bull   ( Blood Magic: Secrets Of Thaumaturgy -- Page 125 )

Vizier and subject must be connected by Touch the Earth or Pebble From the Mountain. The vizier places a small, sharp blade inside a wineskin or plasma bag and then withdraws it and passes it to the subject. The subject cuts an incision in her chest. Blood bubbles out of the incision but then vanishes, reappearing inside the vizier's waiting container. Through this method, the target may pay the vizier in vitae for his services. The ritual takes one turn per Blood Point donated by the target.

[ 2 ]   Bind The Heavens   ( Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion -- Page 48 )

This curse inflicts a month of drought upon an enemy's land. The magician paints a donkey's skull in gaudy colors, wedges papers bearing vituperative curses and the victim's name between its teeth, and throws it down a well -- preferably the well of the victim. This offends the spirits of the land and water, who respond by steering the rain away from the victim's land.

System: Using a well that isn't actually on the victim's land increases the ritual's difficulty by 2. If the ritual succeeds, however, no land owned by the victim receives any rain for one month per success rolled by the magician's player.

[ 2 ]   Craft Weirding Stone

A powerful Tzimisce koldun named Bogumir created this ritual as a gift to the best and brightest under his command. A brilliant tactician, Bogumir quickly achieved the vaunted rank of dominion in the subsect and was eventually titled with the added wartime honorific of Watch Commander. Indeed, he is recognized for being the first ever koldun to have earned this latter honor. To those in the know, the reason for this promotion was that Bogumir developed rituals such as this one using Aljusuri, much to the chagrin (and frank surprise) of many of his clanmates. To give proper credit, it is due primarily to Bogumir's unification efforts that Hand Tzimisce as a whole began to support the practice of Aljusuri as a legitimate means of furthering both clan and subsect. Although Bogumir himself has disappeared below radar in recent nights, his legacy remains -- one whose impact on the subsect none can sensibly dispute.

Bogumir's most well known ritual allows a blood magician to create an object known as a weirding stone. In ancient times, the shaman or holy man of a village would use weirding stones to determine the outcome of a given situation or the solution to a particularly weighty problem facing his people. To the villagers, these stones were, in essence, guidance from the powers that be, the fingers on the hand of Fate. Millennia later, these stones are still in use, this time by the vampires of the Black Hand who call upon the counsel of these stones in much the same way as their mortal forbears did.

System: The rite for creating these stones is very high on ceremony, requiring the better part of an evening's worth of chants, preparations and gesticulations . The ritual also requires a specially prepared stone of a kind that is highly sensitive to mystical energies, such as onyx, amber or any number of quartz family members. During the crafting process, the caster must invest the stone with at least one blood point worth of his own vitae, after which the rock takes on a ruddy hue (regardless of the stone's base color). He then closes the ceremony with an investiture of Willpower; as many points as he cares to spend. If all has gone well up to this point, the caster will have a powerful little tool to benefit its crafter or those under his command at the end of the evening .

The blood invested into the weirding stone allows its crafter to always keep track of it. Although he has little discrete knowledge as to the stone's whereabouts, he has a constant sense of how far away it is and in what general direction. The more blood invested into the stone at the time of its crafting, the more detailed the information: With at least three blood points invested, the caster will know the instant the stone has been destroyed. With five blood points, he will know whenever the stone changes hands.

The Willpower invested into a stone allows the one carrying it to access the power of the crafter's will, even if he himself is no blood magician . This has two possible effects: First, by funneling one of his own Willpower points through the stone, the user may ask a question of the Fates and expect a helpful reply. The only requirement is that the question must be directional in nature, as the stone "replies" by pointing toward the answer. For example, "Which way did my quarry run off to?" would be a fair question, as the stone would then point in the proper direction, while the question "How well armed is my quarry?" would elicit only stony silence. Second, the user may opt to spend one of the Willpower points invested in the stone at the time of its creation. This allows him to send a brief telepathic message (roughly the amount one could speak with one breath) to the stone's crafter, wherever he may be. When a weirding stone runs out of stored Willpower it loses its ability to call upon the Fates, but remains active in every other way .

Wierding stones may be "recharged," but only by the original crafter using the ritual process again. Due to the stones' mystical connections to their crafter, each blood magician may only have a number of "active" stones equal to his Willpower rating at one time.

[ 3 ]   Kafir's Bane 

Although their potential is more in line with judgment and stealth, some Assamites are willing to go to any length to fulfill their purposes. Those Assamites of the warrior or assassin caste have been known to use this ritual to steel themselves before any situation in which they might find themselves exposed to overt combat. Through this rite, the Assamite harnesses his beast and turns it upon his doomed foe.

Although their potential is more in line with judgment and stealth, some Assamites are willing to go to any length to fulfill their purposes. Those Assamites of the warrior or assassin caste have been known to use this ritual to steel themselves before any situation in which they might find themselves exposed to overt combat. Through this rite, the Assamite harnesses his beast and turns it upon his doomed foe.

System: The player makes the roll to activate this ritual and the character partakes of kalif smoke or blood. If the Assamite enters frenzy as a result of combat, he does not need to roll to see if he can keep it in check; this ritual allows him to "ride the wave" of the frenzy automatically. Such is the case even if the Assamite does not have the Instinct Virtue. This works for only the first combat that incites frenzy after the Assamite performs the ritual. If the Assamite fails to enter a combat frenzy before the end of the night, this ritual expires with the sunrise.

[ 3 ]   Bull Of Heaven

The goddess Inanna (also known as Ishtar) once sent an enchanted bull to kill the hero Gilgamesh. To grant the bull supernatural power, she bathed it in precious oils and coupled with it. An ashipu can similarly enchant any animal (not just bulls), although instead of sex he bites the animal while feeding it some of his own vitae. The animal not only gains a ghoul's strength, the magician gains a psychic link to the animal for the rest of the night.

System: The animal becomes a normal ghoul, with one dot of Potence and one dot of another Discipline (either Fortitude or one possessed by the magician, at the magician's option -- though no animal is wise enough to Dominate its foe or cast a Thaumaturgical ritual upon it, for example). For the rest of the night, the magician can use the animal's senses and direct its action whenever she wants. This ritual's effect resembles the Animalism power Subsume the Spirit, but has much less power.

[ 3 ]   Approach The Veil 

The vizier enters the transcendental state required to experience visions of the veil. He ingests kalif-laden blood, bathes in the blood of a fresh-killed bull, and meditates. He must first ward off a distracting cascade of unpleasant memories, then an even more tempting series of sensual pleasures. Then comes the opportunity for a revelation.

[ 4 ]   Tamimah 

Tamimah is an Arabic word for an amulet or talisman. To ashipu, it refers to a specific kind of amulet that they can make. A tamimah carries a vampiric Discipline. Any Cainite or ghoul who wears the tamimah has that Discipline. To craft a tamimah, however, the ashipu must successfully diablerize a vampire who knows that Discipline to the desired level. The Assamites once created many tamimah, but couldn't do this for the centuries of the Tremere's curse. Now that they can make tamimah again, they find the art almost lost among their clan.

System: An ashipu can enchant a tamimah to carry any Discipline, but not paths of Thaumaturgy (whether Hermetic or any other form of sorcery). A tamimah can carry two fewer dots of a Discipline than the magician's Dur-An-Ki mastery. For instance, a character with a Trait rating of 4 in Dur-An-Ki could enchant tamimah carrying two dots of a single Discipline.

Tamimah don't accumulate with a character's existing Trait rating in a Discipline. For instance, if a vampire who had Dominate 2 wore a tamimah that carried Dominate 3, she would gain Dominate 3, not Dominate 5.

A sorcerer who successfully enchants a tamimah can't reduce her generation from that particular diablerie. All the vampiric unlife-force goes into the tamimah.

[ 4 ]   Directing Ahriman's Lance   

The vizier takes either an accurate image of a target individual, or a small object she once owned, and swallows it. He waits for an hour, then cuts (or has fellow viziers cut) the object out of his belly. Until the next inauspicious night, any Assamite in possession of the item or image improves her chances of killing the targeted individual.

The possessor of the ritualized item lowers the difficulties of all actions that bring her closer to killing the target individual (Storyteller's discretion) by the number of successes scored by the vizier. The ritual takes 2 hours to perform.

[ 5 ]   Apsu Portal   

The people of southern Mesopotamia believed that all lakes and rivers connected to an underground ocean of fresh water called Apsu. their temples symbolized these life-giving waters with a large tank of holy water, which they also called an apsu. Sorcerers can exploit this myth of the connection of all fresh waters to travel around the world.

System: This ritual requires an apsu tank, properly consecrated through prayers and sacrifices to Enki, the god of the subterranean sea and master of all magic. In the ritual itself, the magician pours a pint of rose oil and one Blood Point's worth of her own vitae into the apsu. She also adds a phial of water from another body of fresh water anywhere in the world. Then one person (the magician or anyone else) can jump into the apsu and instantly emerge from that other body of fresh water. The Assamites like to tell the story of an assassin who reached a well-guarded victim after he bribed a pool-cleaner to bring him a sample of water from the elder's subterranean swimming pool.

Others:

[ 5 ]   Lilith's Vengeance   

One ancient and disputed legend among the Kindred says that Caine gained his first Disciplines through a covenant with the primal demon-queen Lilith -- a covenant that Caine then broke. This ritual calls upon Lilith. It reminds her of Caine's treachery and grants her permission, in the name of all the gods of law and magic, to strip a given Kindred of the power he inherited from Caine.

System: This ritual requires the use of five separate holy relics, which the magician consumes in the course of the ritual. For instance, an ashipu might swallow a consecrated Host, a leaf from a tree where Mohammed rested, blood from a kahane, and a small tablet of Kerbala clay stamped with the image of Marduk by an authentic babylonian cylinder-seal. Directing the power of faith against oneself this way inflicts one health level of unsoakable aggravated damage upon the magician, whose player additionally spends a Willpower Point and rolls for the character to resist Rötscreck. The magician must endure the torment, however, to atone for Caine's crime and assume (albeit falsely) the power of the Almighty. The ashipu also requires a strong sympathetic link to the target Cainite, such as her True Name, a bit of her hair, fingernails, or vitae, or the horoscope charts of both her mortal birth and her Embrace.

For every success the ashipu's player rolls, the victim loses one dot off a single Discipline of the sorcerer's choice. If the ashipu happens to name a Discipline that the victim doesn't possess, she wasted the ritual. The victim's Discipline remains reduced for a full month. An ashipu can curse a victim this way only once at a time. The sorcerer can't curse the victim again until the first curse wears off.
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