Populate Night's Gardens

Level 3.

With this ritual, the vampire creates a hybrid creature from animals of two or more different types. Virstania, Malgorzata and Goratrix established it as a prelude to the Gargoyle project with some assistance supplied by Epistantia. Only Virstania continues as an enthusiastic user of the ritual, the results of which she seems to enjoy for their own sake. The others find her obsession with the hybrids gratuitously morbid and are glad to put behind them their memories of its creation.

System: The ritual takes place in stages: The vampire can leave as much time as she wishes between stages. The player must succeed at each stage before the vampire can proceed to the next; failure at any stage does not invalidate previous successes, however.

• Stage One: Vivisection. The vampire vivisects at least three living specimens of each animal type to be hybridized. She draws exacting diagrams of the creatures' anatomies, naming the parts. The process takes two full nights of work, after which the player rolls Dexterity + Medicine (difficulty 5).
  

• Stage Two: Finding of Correspondences. The vampire identifies the qualities she wishes to invest into the new creature. She consults scholarly texts concerning the natural world. She takes preserved parts of the creatures vivisected during the first stage and bathes them in alchemical substances. Through these means, she determines which parts of the creature house the qualities she seeks. For example, she may wish to create a centipede with the tracking instincts of a bloodhound. She may surmise that the instincts are resident int he bloodhound's snout, but must confirm this by subjecting a snout to alchemical testing. When she is satisfied that she has located the correct body parts, she proceeds. This process takes roughly two nights of research after which the thaumaturge rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 6).
  

• Stage Three: Constructing the Fetal Entity. She then takes a living specimen of each creature to be used and vivisects it. She puts aside the vivisected parts identified during the finding of correspondences, as well as any required to give the animal its desired anatomy. (If she wants a centipede with the head of an owl, she must have an owl's head and a centipede's body.) She places these in a sac made from the u7terus of a cow, sheep or other large animal. She then places them in a gestation chamber. This may be a barrel filled with a uterine solution created by alchemy. More powerfully, it might be the womb of a creature created by a previous casting of this ritual to serve as a birthing device for further horrors. (The creature in Virstania's Birthing Annex, p. 67. provides an example of this technique.) This takes a few hours of work, after which the player rolls Dexterity + Medicine (difficulty 6).
  

• Stage Four: Donning the Creator's Mantle. Using an astrological ephemeris, the vampire calculates the amount of time required for gestation. When the creature is ready to be born, she opens the gestation barrel or makes an incision in the birthing beast's belly. She pulls the newborn creature loose and breaths the smoke of burned blood salts on it with a bellows. The vampire must now exercise great caution, as the new creature may immediately attack, especially if it was bred for viciousness. The minimum duration of gestation is at the Storyteller's discretion, and the player rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 7). The use of a living womb during stage three lowers the difficulty of stage four to 5.

The amount of blood used during the final stage depends on the new creature's desired game statistics. The player must spend 3 blood points for each dot of Strength, Dexterity, Stamina or Perception and 9 blood points for each dot of Charisma, Manipulation, Intelligence or Wits, which animals generally do not possess. Alertness, Brawl, Dodge, Intimidation, Stealth and Survival also cost 3 points per dot. Animals imbued with Intelligence may, at the Storyteller's discretion, use other Abilities at a cost of 5 per point. Every point of damage done by creature when it attacks costs 1 blood point. Infrequently-used attacks may cost only half a blood point per point of damage. The Storyteller may levy additional blood costs for special attacks or abilities, such as poisonous bites, petrifying gazes, unusual senses or exotic methods of locomotion.

The final stage of the ritual may take place over a long period of time, allowing the ritualist to store up the needed blood. IT is also possible to collaborate with others, drawing blood from apprentices. Virstania's Gargoyles are worshipfully ready to assist her whenever she calls on them for blood.

The ritual creates short-lived creatures; they die after a number of days equal to the blood spent on the final stage. Neither does the ritual grant the caster any control over the creature. However, both problems can be solved if the vampire chooses to ghoul its creation, which grants the standard advantages of longevity and obedience.
The creatures are infertile, but the caster can attempt an additional Intelligence + Occult roll (difficulty 9) at the conclusion of Donning the Creator's Mantle. If successful, the creature is fertile and may breed with another specimen of its exact type. (Ghoul creatures lose whatever fertility they once had.) Breeding the creatures requires an Intelligence _ Animal Ken (difficulty 7) roll. It takes up to five days before the success of the attempt is determined. One specimen is born for each success. Bred specimens are of a rando0m sex, usually fertile and enjoy lifespans about thirty times longer than their created parents. Subsequent generations maintain the fertility and longevity of their parents.

Historical Note: When Virstania leaves the Tremere, the ritual is forgotten. Although copies of it still exist in Vienna chantry and a few other chantries, modern Cainites would hesitate before risking the Masquerade with large-scale production of hideous hybrid beasts.