Abandon the Fetters

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Back to Level 5.

As closely guarded as any secret within the clan, Abandon the Fetters seems to depart from normal conventions of Thaumaturgy. Occult theorists note that it has more in common with primal, passionate sorcery than with the cerebral, systematic approach to Hermetic blood magic. A few even darkly hint at its similarities to the Vaulderie - for the ritual to Abandon the Fetters shatters the blood bond.
Breaking the blood bond is a grueling process. The thaumaturge must have unrestricted access to the subject, as well as a sample of blood from the master. The ritual requires an entire night; its execution is excruciating for both caster and subject. The thaumaturge forms a bond to the subject and master with a mixture of blood from all three, placed in a glass container. Next, the caster must exsanguinate and excoriate the subject - the manner is up to the ritualist's individual style; some might mortify the flesh with lashes, while others might apply brands. Once the subject hangs on the thread of demise, the caster shatters the glass container, spilling the blood to the ground and snapping the thread of the bond. The mixture of blood evaporates in a hissing, scalding steam, and the subject is freed.
Of course, Abandon the Fetters remains one of the rarest of Tremere secrets. Few Warlocks could be trusted with such potent knowledge. Indeed, the merest hint that a Tremere can perform this ritual is enough to cause other Kindred to eye her with renewed suspicion - the Tremere have sorcerous ways to steal blood, so who's to say that a thaumaturge couldn't release someone's thralls and bond them to herself instead? Even those Kindred who suffer under the bond's lash would rarely trust a Tremere enough to risk going through this process.
System: The thaumaturge must have one point of blood from himself, the subject and the subject's regnant. (If the caster happens to be the subject or regnant, no additional blood is needed.) The excoriation causes three levels of unsoakable aggravated damage to the subject, as flesh is flayed or burned away. The final venomous steam inflicts an additional level of unsoakable aggravated damage upon both the caster and the subject. The subject loses a permanent point of Willpower, but if the ritual succeeds, the blood bond atrophies immediately. However, this offers no protection against the formation of another, later bond.