Way of Wind
A second avenue of Koldunic Sorcery, the Way of Wind was once manipulated by Tzimisce lords to protect their Eastern European lands. Invoking these powers granted them the ability to control the element of crivat to suit their whims and master the air they once breathed in their mortal days. People of Eastern Europe, especially in Romania, name these types of unnatural winds the koldun manipulate - people of the west call the winds Austru, or the Black Winds, while residents of the south name them the Great Winds or the baltaret. When a koldun invokes a power of this way, his eyes change color to sky blue and gusts of wind breeze all about him.
1) Winds of Guilt
Ancient koldun hospodars invoked Winds of Guilt as a means of ensuring loyalty in their boyars without the need of a blood bond. This power caused a wind to gust around these boyars that sounded to them like whispering voices, telling of the horrors that would befall them and their families should they betray their voivode. These voices would slowly warp the minds of these men, and only when this sorcery waned would they regain their coherence. Afterward, the boyars were so afraid of the consequences of betrayal that their loyalty to their master was unswerving. Koldun of the Sabbat enjoy invoking this power during ritae before feeding, reveling in the mixture of adrenaline in the blood of a vessel stricken with terror.
System: With a successful Perception + Koldunism roll (difficulty 5), a koldun invokes mystical winds that plague a victim. The target is convinced that he hears voices whispering of his most evil deeds (Storytellers are encouraged to improvise on the content the whispers a victim hears). When in the presence of the koldun, targets lose two dots of Courage (to a minimum of one). Each success the koldun’s player scores increases the duration of this power.
One success: One scene
Two successes: One night
Three successes: One week
Four successes: Two weeks
Five successes: One month
2) Biting Winds
The koldun creators of this power attempted to invoke a wind as chill as the air atop the Carpathian Fagrash Mountains. They noted the pain their victims endured as their bodies’ temperatures dropped until the very blood froze in their veins. A koldun invoking this power had a much easier time of ridding his land of undesirables by plaguing them with bone-chilling gusts. Modern Sabbat koldun invoking this wind sometimes refer to its effect on victims as the “meat locker.” A koldun invoking Biting Winds causes a very cold breeze to swirl around in an area of his choosing. As the wind increases in speed, the wind chill factor drops the temperature until anyone within the affected area find it too uncomfortable to remain.
System: After the player spends a Willpower point and rolls Perception + Koldunism (difficulty 6) the character summons forth a freezing cold wind. When Biting Winds first takes effect, a cool breeze blows in a 100-yard radius. Little by little, the winds gust faster and much colder. This continues until the wind blasts a stabbing chill difficult for anyone to tolerate. Those affected lose two dice from Dexterity dice pools and are reduced to half movement. Anyone attempting to enter this area must first spend a Willpower point and suffer a (soakable) level of bashing damage from the extreme cold.
3) Winds of Lethargy
Although these winds do not induce immediate sleep in a victim, prolonged exposure to this supernatural gale causes extreme exhaustion and fatigued
movement. Targets caught in Winds of Lethargy smell a bittersweet smoke in the air. Individuals also claim that the wind feels like many intangible hands persistently rubbing their muscles to relaxation.
System: The player rolls Perception + Koldunism (difficulty 7) and spends a point of Willpower. If the roll is successful, the koldun creates a wind that induces extreme lethargy within a 200-foot radius, remaining for two turns per success he scores on the invocation roll. People caught in this gust of air must make a Stamina + Survival roll (difficulty 8) or are reduced to halving all dice pools that involve physical actions (actions such as breathing and blinking are innate and, therefore unaffected, though the Storyteller should emphasize their laboriousness). Additionally, this fatigue reduces the movement rate of its victims by half for one full scene.
4) Traveling the Winds
A koldun employing this power moves at incredible speeds by riding along the winds. The voivodes of nights past often appeared in each of their boyars’ homes and to the villages of their lands, instilling fear in the peasants and terrorizing them to fealty. Koldun undertaking these outings could travel to most, if not all of their boyars and villages in a single night’s time. During the Dark Ages, peasants under the rule of a koldun rarely rebelled against their master, fearing a personal appearance and, as a result, his swift punishing wrath. A koldun’s body becomes almost ethereal while he moves along the wind, disappearing into a blurry outline of his physical self and re-materializing in a similar fashion.
System: A koldun journeys along the currents of the wind after the player spends a Willpower point and successfully rolls Perception + Koldunism (difficulty 8). With a successful invocation of this power, a koldun’s body blurs in a gust of wind, moving through the air at 250 mph, though not directly affecting how fast the wind blows. This effect must be invoked outdoors; though he can avoid all obstacles outside, the koldun lacks the control to maneuver through a building of any kind and risks slamming into walls, doors and people at this high speed. This power lasts for one scene, after which the koldun re-materializes at his destination from his blurry shape back to his normal physical self.
5) Body of Zephyr
A koldun dissolving into Body of Zephyr blends into the air, maneuvering through the smallest of cracks. The koldun’s body retains its basic shape, though it is too ephemeral and transparent for onlookers to make out any physical details.
System: It takes a full turn for a koldun to invoke this transformation, after a successful Perception + Koldunism roll (difficulty 9) and the expenditure of a point of Willpower. In Body of Zephyr, a koldun moves at double his movement, though he cannot take any physical actions. Other powers of the Way of Wind may be used in conjunction with Body of Zephyr by spending an additional Willpower point at their activation; no other Discipline powers may be manipulated while in this form. A koldun may remain in this transformed state indefinitely, though he can return to his original form after one full turn of concentration.
