Shadow Feasting
Background
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 if the blood of a Cainite can summon the manifestations of the Abyss into this world, then the powers of Obtenebration can be used to unsummon the manifestations of Obtenebration conjured by other users of the holy discipline. However, this solution is not simply a tug-of-war for control of the shadows such as Lasombra duelists have employed for millennia. Nor is it an expression of pure mental control as a discipline technique combining Dominate and Obtenebration might provide. Rather it is a precision attack that severs the Cainite using Obtenebration from his or her conjuration and dissolves that creation to obtain the minute particulates of Cainite vitae used to conjure it in the first place. The surviving particulates of Cainite vitae are caught up in the darkness conjured by the Obtenebration user who has mastered Shadow Feasting and refreshes his or her need for sustenance.
Description
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: Fortitude 3, Obtenebration 5 (Tenebrous Avatar)
Experience Cost: 35
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)
All commentary has been moved to the discussion page for Shadow Feasting. -- Bruce
