Bone of Contention

Back to Level 6.

Weak princes sometimes rely on a Bone of Lies (Vampire: the Masquerade, p. 184-185) to "interview" new arrivals in their domains. While the Bone of Lies is useful in weeding out Sabbat infiltrators, diablerists and other problem cases, it's also a good way to earn the ire of the city's respected Kindred - few Kindred enjoy being accused of lying. Still, paranoid princes rely on the bone to keep an iron hold over their domains, so the Tremere recently devised this ritual variant.
Like a Bone of Lies, a Bone of Contention comes from a hundred-year-old fingerbone steeped in blood over several nights. Unlike a Bone of Lies, though, the Bone of Contention doesn't compel truth; rather it aids the Tremere in deception.
Naturally, this ritual's very existence is a viciously guarded secret. If princes discovered that their Bones of lies actually just gave whatever answers the Tremere wanted... well, it wouldn't be more than they'd expect, but it wouldn't be pretty, either.
System: A Bone of Contention looks like a Bone of Lies: an aged fingerbone with ritual magic placed upon it. While a Bone of Lies darkens and forces truth whenever the holder lies, a Bone of Contention acts in this fashion only when its creator so wills. The Tremere can cause the bone to darken and force the holder to speak a lie that the speaker is forced to believe, so long as the thaumaturge can see the bone. Like a Bone of Lies, a Bone of Contention only functions 10 times. In the creator's absence, a Bone of Contention functions like a normal Bone of Lies, simply to avoid possible complications ("This Bone of Lies failed to work when you were missing from the last convocation. Is there something you want to tell us?).