Pasithea

Icelus -x- Disciplines

Introduction

The discipline of Pasithea was named in honor of the wife of the God of Sleep Hypnos. Pasithea was the daughter of Hera and Dionysus according to Nonnus of Panopolis (Egypt) - one of the greatest poets of the Roman Imperial era. In Greek mythology, Pasithea was one of the Charites, and the personification of relaxation, meditation, hallucinations and all other altered states of consciousness.

Pasithea the discipline concerns itself with sleep and dreams. The origins of this discipline are shrouded in mystery, but legend holds the discipline was the brainchild of a itinerate vampiric mystic called Icelus. True or false the discipline's history and origins may never be known to any save the creator's bloodline predictably named in his honor.

Much of Pasithea's power is drawn from the world of dreams and channeled through the Icelus to affect the mundane world. Very much in keeping with the goddess Pasithea the discipline manifests itself through a series of altered states of consciousness. Initially the neonate can only alter his or her own state of consciousness and opening their awareness to the manifestation of dreams in those who sleep.

As their skill improves the practitioner of Pasithea can alter the consciousness of another that causes the mind to drift or even to press another into slumber. Elder wielder's of Pasithea can cast themselves or another into the dreamscape or they can bring along a small number of fellow sleepers into the dreamscape with them and thereby focus their power to make dreams real.

Descry - I

The door to Pasithea opens with the power of Descry. In other words the ability to sense the World of Dreams as it manifests through sleeping dreamers. For each Icelus there is a distinctly individual process by which the Lotus Eater opens their oneiric perceptions and no two Icelus have the same routine. Through continuous practice the routine becomes essentially automatic allowing the Icelus to watch the dreams of another individual.

Once close enough to see the dreaming individual the Icelus can watch the dream as if they too were part of the dream, but the Lotus Eater is nothing more than a passive observer. The process of Descrying dreams can be time consuming, but allows the Lotus Eater to vicariously observe the action of both the dream and the dreamer. With sufficient experience the Icelus can deduce the inner workings of the dreamers mind.

System: The player rolls Perception + Awareness at a difficulty of five (5). A botch triggers a personal nightmare for the vampire character. Each success allows the vampire character to learn some useful piece of information about the dreamer. Line of sight is an absolute necessity for the power to function, but physical contact eases the difficulty to watch a sleeper's dreams by a bonus of minus one (-1) to the activation roll. Should the sleeper be a supernatural creature the activation of the power costs the expenditure of one point of Willpower.

Successes	Information
Botch	The character a sentient nightmare that makes his or her unlife difficult.
Failure	The Lotus Eater cannot make contact with the sleeper's dream.
1	Very basic information: The dreamer's preferences and tastes for mundane experiences: favorite color, preferred food, or clothing style.
2	A second piece of more intimate information: Political interests, religious views or sexual orientation.
3	More useful information about the dreamer: emotional bonds, mental health, strength of will, etc.
4	Deeply Personal Information: childhood fears, formative events in the dreamer's life, the dreamer's nature.
5	A wealth of information: nearly anything you want to know about the sleeping dreamer and their relationship to the World of Dreams.

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Reverie - II

Once the Icelus gains enough experience to utilize Reverie they can cause another individual to Daydream. This power is the first serious step the Lotus Eater takes towards mastering dreams. Since Pasithea draws much of its power from the World of dreams it therefore makes sense that the vampire can nudge another person halfway into the Dream Realm. This process is not as simple as it sounds, and requires three things to function properly: concentration on the part of the Icelus, a receptive target, and a stable environment.

First of all the Lotus Eater needs to be able to see the individual that they want to daydream and the vampire cannot be performing any other task or in combat. Second the target needs to be in a receptive state of mind, this means the potential daydreamer cannot be in the middle of a emotional conflict, in physical pain, or in the fight or flight mode. It is ideal if the chosen individual is bored, performing a repetitive action or suffering either some level of exhaustion or under the influence of sedative type drugs: alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, and narcotics to name just a few. Lastly a stable environment is one that does not allow for constant interruption, inconsistent sounds or lighting, or violence.

It is important to remember that since Pasithea concerns itself with sleep and dreams through altered states of conciousness that Reverie is a hypnotic state or trance state that can be used for meditation just as much as it can for skullduggery.

Each individual under the influence of Reverie is the author of their own daydream. The Icelus can use this power on themselves or another, but if using it on another individual the Lotus Eater does not control the target's daydream although they are automatically aware of its content.

System The vampire expends a point of blood and concentrates on a single victim in his line of sight (although physical contact lessens the difficulty of the activation roll by a minus one bonus -1). The player rolls Charisma + Occult (difficulty of the victim’s Willpower). With any successes, the victim falls into a hypnotic trance wherein the target's mind drifts along a particular line of interest, for some its pure fantasy, but more often the daydream is retrospective, prospective or introspective. The more successes the player achieves the longer the subject daydreams. A temporary willpower muat be spent if the player wishes to affect a supernatural being.

As a outgrowth Descry, the vampire can automatically observe the subject's Reverie. The Icelus may choose to use the power on another or himself. If the Lotus Eater uses this power upon themselves there is no need to expend a point of willpower and the difficulty drops to five. The vampire may chose the track along which their daydream travel in the hope of solving whatever conundrum that confounds the Icelus. Should the Lotus Eater chose to use the power of Reverie upon themselves to unravel difficult conundrums the roll is Intelligence + Enigmas at a difficulty of seven (7).

Successes	Duration
1	1 Minute
2	5 Minutes
3	10 Minutes
4	1 Hour
5	5+ Hours

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Repose - III

Introduction: From the writers of the ancient world to the European Romantics sleep has held a special allure and Hypnos the god of sleep has always been seen as a ally to mankind for bringing rest and rejuvenation after a long days labor. And yet there are myths of Hypnos and his thousand sons and daughters the Oneiroi casting both gods and men into enchanted slumber at the bidding of those who could afford their price. An exemplar Pasithea was given in marriage to Hypnos for his casting Zeus into enchanted slumber at the bidding of Hera during the Trojan War.

Repose is the power to cast another individual into a mystically inspired sleep which is both deep and difficult to awaken from. Although nowhere near as powerful as folklore would suggest Repose is formidable in that it places the subject into a deep sleep and then places mystical limits upon certain predefined ways of awakening.

Due in part to the Icelus weakness of sleeping too deeply and equally because of their eldritch connection to the World of Dreams the Lotus Eaters have the ability to cast another individual into deep sleep and should they feel the need to close the fist of Hypnos more tightly upon a specific target they may through a pure act of will set proscriptions on how the sleeper may be awakened. Regardless of what limitations the Icelus places upon the awakening of the sleeper, pain or injury will awaken the subject and the rising of the sun always ends the effects of this power regardless.

System: The vampire must be able to see the target of this power, but physical contact eases the difficulty by a minus one bonus (-1) to the difficulty of the activation roll. The player expends a single point of blood and rolls Manipulation + Occult at a difficulty of the target's Stamina plus three (+3).

Should the player botch the roll then the vampire becomes the victim of their own power and this is further complicated by the Icelus clan flaw. Failure results in a wasted point of blood. While success result a deep and powerful sleep that is difficult to be awakened from - see the chart below.

Another feature of the power of Repose is the power of proscription, that is to set limits upon the means by which the subject can be awakened. Each proscription costs a point of willpower and thus cannot by definition be limitless. Also proscriptions are limited to a simple definition, for example: "The subject cannot be shaken awake" or "Loud noise cannot awaken the subject", etc. The effective limit on proscriptions is the vampire's temporary willpower pool.

Successes	Time Slept
1	One Scene
2	Once Hour
3	Three Hours
4	Six Hours
5	One Night

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Dreamscape - IV

Introduction: This power allows the vampire to cause sleeping mortals or supernaturals to dream, manipulate those dreams and of course observe those manipulations.

System The player rolls Manipulation + Lucid Dreaming The base difficulty is 5, but the difficulty increases to 7 if the subject is virtually a stranger. If the character used Pasithea successfully on the target in the past, this difficulty drops to 4. If the attempt was unsuccessful, however, the difficulty is 8.

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Divine Dreams - V

System: Intelligence + Occult

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