Clio's Kiss

Temporis 8

One of the most subtle manifestations of Temporis’ higher levels, this power allows a vampire to reach into the past and summon events, objects or even individuals. Clio’s Kiss, named for the muse of history, is the power to bypass the flow of time and bring something — or someone — forward to the present. Some True Brujah scholars use this to observe history as it truly occurred, while others look to the past for aid or to retrieve lost possessions. At least two coordinated attempts by the True Brujah to summon their Antediluvian progenitor have met with catastrophic failure. No one knows if a Sage capable of this power remains. The hope is that Clio’s Kiss has faded from knowledge — the bloodline cannot afford a third attempt.

System: The player spends half of the character’s current blood pool, rounded up, and rolls Stamina + Occult (difficulty 8). This power automatically fails if the player spends fewer than 5 blood points. The number of successes determines the maximum amount of time through which the character may reach:

Successes	Time
1 success	24 hours
2	1 month
3	1 year
4	1 decade
5+	1 century per success over 4

When a vampire uses this power successfully, the scene she seeks to retrieve materializes around her, briefly supplanting the current environment. This change extends to a maximum volume of a ballroom or similarly proportioned outdoor space (Storyteller’s discretion). The power affects everyone inside this area by granting them awareness of the summoned events, but the vampire is the only person who may choose to interact with the scene (though he may remain invisible and disembodied). All others must remain incorporeal observers until time reasserts itself and the scene fades. They may move about to change their vantage point but can take no other action.

If the vampire wants to remove an object or individual from the scene, permanently bringing it or him forward to the present, the player must spend a permanent Willpower point. Once this is done, the conjured scene fades away and present reality returns. Only the summoned object or person remains. This power can never alter the course of history in any significant manner. Time has its own momentum, and a vampire seeking to divert that force is as a man scooping handfuls of water to change the path of a river. Should an object or person have a meaningful role yet to play at the time it is removed, the weight of time crashes upon the vampire and he vanishes in its current. Whether such folly results in destruction or propels the vampire far into the future remains unknown and likely unknowable. Likewise, any changes the vampire makes to a summoned scene unravel as soon as he departs. Like a play, time may be altered by the removal of extras, but the script stays the same — however cruel a fate, Carthage must be destroyed. As always, the Storyteller remains final judge of what this power can achieve and need not reveal all limitations until a vampire attempts a change. Time is fickle and dangerous, and those who meddle with it risk their very existence. It is possible to summon a person from a point close to his death, assuming he perished without observers. Likewise, a manuscript destroyed when the Library of Alexandria burned can be called after it is last read. Calling the very library from Alexandria would be impossible, not only for its size but also the necessity and significance of its ruins. Finally, the previous form of a currently existing object cannot be summoned, if only because its continued existence validates a role in history. Storytellers need not consider every ramification of paradox, since that is by nature an impossible feat. This power has tremendous potential for abuse and should be adjudicated accordingly.