Healer Valeren
- Introduction to Valeren
Valeren is the proprietary Discipline of the Salubri clan. Research into its origins shows claims by some ancient Salubri that Saulot himself, the Salubri Antediluvian, created Valeren. Indeed, some Cainite scholars note that Saulot's quest of discovery is documented in an apocryphal fragment of the Book of Nod.
Valeren is divided into two paths: the Path of the Healer, which focuses on using Cainite blood to bring weal to vampires and mortals; and the Path of the Warrior, which concentrates the Salubri's power for more martial defense. A single Cainite can learn powers from both of these paths, though it is not easy (see below). As with many Disciplines, Valeren is something of a clan secret to the Salubri; they rarely teach it to outsiders. this was not always so, but in the years since the death of Saulot and the coming of the Usurper Tremere, the Salubri have used the healing powers of Valeren as bargaining chips with various princes. Usually, the Salubri swears to use Valeren to aid favored members of a prince's court, and in return the prince gives asylum to the Salubri against the Tremere purge. Only a few princes have granted such asylum, notably those in the lands under Assamite sway as well as a few in France and some other more northern cities. These princes find themselves balanced between the welfare of a few Salubri and the political pressure of a growing band of Cainites who wish to take advantage of the Salubri clan's political weakness.
Despite widespread belief to the contrary, the Salubri's third eye is not part of the clan's curse. Instead, it appears on the forehead of any Cainite who learns the second level of Valeren. the eye is nearly invisible when closed, as it has no lashes and leaves a barely noticeable slit in the forehead. However, the eye opens whenever any Valeren power (of either path) of level two or higher is activated. the third eye is said to provide the Salubri with insight into a higher plane of existence, in which the engines of life, death, and unlife are made manifest. Those students of Valeren who wish to hide themselves from the Tremere frequently conceal the third eye with a helm or head-wrappings - such things impede the power somewhat, but that can't always be helped.
When a character first learns Valeren, the player must declare whether the character intends to pursue the healer or Warrior path. Thereafter, the character can raise that path just as he would any other Discipline. The cost of the first dot in the opposite path is the same as with the primary path, but subsequent levels in the Discipline cost as though they were one level higher. For example, a character whose primary path is Warrior and who wishes to learn Shepherd's Watch (Valeren path of the Healer 4, see below) would have to pay 25 experience points, or 35 if Valeren is not a clan Discipline. A Salubri cannot have a higher rating in his second path than he has in his primary path, though the two ratings may be equal. The character must also learn the secondary path sequentially (that is, a character with five dots of the Path of the Healer can't simply learn the fourth level of the Path of the Warrior without learning the first three).
Path of the Healer
In the modern era, Healer Valeren is known only to a bare handful of ancient survivors of the Tremere purge, and their equally rare modern descendants, who sometimes know it as "Obeah." The Salubri Antitribu have yet to rediscover it, and would probably eschew the Healer way as weak and unworthy of their attention.
- Main Sequence 1-5
- 1 - Sense Life
- 2 - Gift of Sleep
- 3 - Healing Touch
- 4 - Shepherd's Watch
- 5 - The Ailing Spirit
- Alternate Powers (level 1-5)
- 2 - Auguring the Sickness (CS 44)
- 3 - Peacemaker (CS 44-45)
- 4 - King David's Blessing (CS 45-46)
- Advanced Healer Valeren
- Level 6
- Warding the Beast
- Level 7
- Safe Passage (DAC 103-104)
- Level 8
- Purification (Obeah) (DAC 104)
- Level 9
- Proposed Healer Valeren Powers
