Shadow Feasting

Bruce Edward Zieger

Description

This discipline technique was developed by a Lasombra neonate and neophyte on the Road of the Abyss, who sought to solve a problem of pragmatism: how to feed the thirst of Lasombra warriors in combat without either drinking the blood of enemy vampires (an activity with obvious negative repercussions and one frowned upon by the Kindred in general, and by the elders specifically) and or abandoning comrades-in-arms to seek out safe sustenance elsewhere? The solution to the young Magister's dilemma may provoke debate and experimentation among the mystics of the Abyss for years to come, for it posits that in additions to the shadowy denizens of the Abyss, that the shadows of animate beings of this world bear a portion of their creator's life-force and can therefore be fed upon by the Lasombra who is skilled in the technique of Shadow Feasting.

While the occult principles behind the process are quite complex, the essential points of the theory are fairly simple. The theory behind this idea states that not only do the shadows of animate beings possess a life of their own, which is gained over time via spiritual osmosis, it also posits that the extent of that life-force is directly proportionate to the age of the being who casts the shadow. Thus, the shadows of most beasts and human children possess a relatively shallow pool of shadowy life-force, while the shadows of adult humans would possess a greater depth of shadow-life and the shadows of immortal beings like vampires (especially elders and Methuselah) would hold the deepest shadow-pools of all.

Obviously, the dark life-force drawn from shadows isn't blood, but life imbued shadow-stuff. This dark life-force, which we will henceforth call Obscurum (a Latin term meaning: shadowy unknown), would after the activation of the Shadow Feasting technique allow a Lasombra to fill his blood-pool with Obscurum from the shadows of animate beings upon whom he feeds. The devoured Obscurum, if consumed in sufficient quantities, would temporarily prevent the Lasombra from succumbing frenzy due to hunger and would furthermore energize any of the powers of Obtenebration and techniques based upon that dark discipline.

Among mystics of the Abyss, it is commonly said that the Abyss always takes its due, and so the user of this discipline technique does face certain penalties. Primarily, Obscurum like the shadows themselves is fleeting stuff, the dark life-force of shadows rarely sustains a Lasombra long after the end of hostilities and thus can place the Lasombra in a perilous position as his thirsty Beast suddenly lunges to the fore, compelling the Magister to feed whether he is in a safe position to do so or not.

System

To activate the technique, the player rolls Stamina + Occult at a difficulty of six (6) and expends one (1) point of blood. Each success represents an action in which the Lasombra can feed from the shadows of those around him. Clearly, the feeding vampire may only take up to three (3) points of Obscurum (shadow-blood) for each feeding, though, just like any other vampire he may feed beyond the normal three blood points per turn by using the discipline of Celerity to feed. Unlike blood however, Obscurum does not provoke the ecstasy of feeding to the same degree because Obscurum isn't really blood, so the feeding vampire can roll Perception + Alertness at a difficulty of seven (6) rather than the customary eight (8). This power lasts for a scene and at the end of the scene, the player must roll Self-Control at a difficulty of six (6). Each subsequent activation of this technique in a given night increases the difficulty of the frenzy roll by plus one (+1), and this penalty is cumulative with each successive activation of Shadow Feasting.

Requisite Disciplines: Celerity 1, Obtenebration 1 (Shadow Play)

Experience Cost: 7

References: Transubstantiation of Essence (Level 2 ritual of Abyss Mysticism), Drinking the Blood of Ahriman (Level 2 ritual of Abyss Mysticism).

See Alternate Discipline Technique: Scavenging Tongues of Darkness (Obtenebration 2, Potence 2)

Commentary

Go ahead Jamie...comment.

Ok, this power uses Celerity and Obtenebration to accomplish, by my count, three things:
1) It allows you to find and gather a previously unknown, insubstantial source of vital energy. You can use this "Obscurum" to:
2) Power a Vampiric discipline.
3) Temporarily placate the Beast by mimicing the feeling of satiation that comes otherwise only with blood.

I'll address these in reverse order. After that, I'll address the question of level and powers involved.

Number 3 is pretty easy actually. The ritual Blood Rush does something similar, though it gives no other benefits. That this is a discipline technique (and thus, the "most powerful" way of achieving something at a given level) means that I have no problem with this aspect.

Number 2 is most analogous to Flow of Ashe level 4: Favor of the Orishas. This path power is significantly more broad, allowing an alternate source of energy to power any discipline. A path power is the "least powerful" way to achieve a result at a given level, but the difference between levels 4 and 1 is pretty staggering.

Number 1 is the most problematic. You are asking us to add something new to the game world. If it exists, it opens up an entirely novel area of mystical exploration, on which your character will own a monopoly. I need convincing.

The case against:

• If this "Obscurum" exists, it has done so literally beneath the noses of every Abyss Mystic who has ever studied shadows, and never been found. By your reasoning, these very mystics should be among the best sources.

*Does any real-world occult source posit that shadows contain a vital energy that can be used to any end? That they have substance (darkness or anti-light) yes, but I have never encountered any account of shadow containing vital energy. However, I may simply be under-educated in this field.

The case for:

• Creatures such as "Shades" and "Nocturnae" are composed of something, and "Obscurum" may be that something. However, these things do not naturally exist in our world, and it takes a great deal of power to bring them into it. It seems to me that the animating consciousness (soul, perhaps?) of the Nocturn gives the shadows coherence and vital energy, not the other way around.

*Why not?

If Obscurum exists, it needs to be explained in much more detail than the basic description you give it. Some immediate questions:

• How much Obscurum is available in any given shadow?
• How quickly does it accumulate
• What happens to the caster of the shadow if it is drained? You claim the vital energy comes from the shadow-caster, and that the two are metaphyscially linked.
• How, and how quickly, can it be gathered? Using feeding on blood as a template seems untenable to me: Feeding is a purely physical process, that is governed solely (in the DA2 rules) by how much blood a vampire can physically swallow in an action. Obscurum has no physical substance. How can, for instance, the Maw merit alter the rate at which it can be provoked to flow? I would argue, rather, that it is simply absorbed, rather than drunk.
• And, of course, the question I've already asked... Why hasn't anyone else figured out that this stuff exists?

Now for what always seems to be a pretty serious source of disagreement: Powers and level. Obviously, as players, we want to have easy access to useful powers. As storytellers, we want to be sure that we aren't allowing any game-altering new abilities to be had on the cheap.

Obtenebration is obviously involved. I don't understand how Celerity is involved, and I would like to hear your reasoning. Fortitude and/or Auspex make more sense to me.

• Fortitude can be used to add physical toughness to something - the easiest form of this I can find is level 2 - the ability to "lend" fortitude to one's ghouls. Effectively, you would be enhancing the substance of Obscurum in order to be able to move it into your own body. Is it easier or harder to lend substance to something that by definition has no solidity at all, even that of air?
• To the average eye, the shadow of a Methuselah (who has no bizarre flaws) is identical to that of his mortal double. Auspex grants supernaturally acute senses that might help to tell the difference. Particularly, level 2 (Aura sight) can be modified to detect such things as enchanted objects, and seems ideal for this purpose.

This is the extent of my thoughts for now. I may make modifications if someone doesn't post before I have further insights. -Jamie