Purify Blood

Level 1.

Kindred learned to be cautious of diseased vessels during the Black Plague. Experimentation showed that most diseases, even blood-borne ones, rarely have any effect upon Kindred, but that vampires can carry such diseases and pass them to their victims. Cautious Tremere can use a simple rite to insure that blood remains safe to drink. The caster simply decants the blood into a suitable container and makes a few passes of his hands over it, combined with some thaumaturgical phrases and a mixture of ash and crushed ginger. The blood lightens slightly in color if the ritual succeeds, and the rite cleanses all poison or disease from the sample.

Unfortunately, Purify Blood does not function on blood that's still in a creature's system. The ritual therefore cannot cleanse a human of disease or make drinking from such a vessel safe; it will only purify blood that is removed from the human first. Some vampires shun this ritual because of the extra work involved in securing blood without the Kiss, and the less-than-satisfactory taste (not to mention the lack of a warm, beating pulse) definitely puts off Kindred connoisseurs. For these reasons, Purify Blood remains more a survival ritual during desperate epidemics, not a nightly staple. (See also Cleansing of the Flesh, on p. 94 of Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, and Purity of Flesh, on p. 110 of the Guide to the Camarilla, for other applications of this ritual's principles.)

System: A surpassingly simple ritual, Purify Blood requires only a minimal investment in time and effort. The caster can tell from the color of the blood if the rite succeeds.

Purify Blood functions on up to one point of blood. Because of the volume limitations, Purify Blood can cleanse only one blood point at a time (unless used on the vitae of very low-generation vampires). Poisons, diseases and other mixtures are removed, while foreign substances bubble to the top. However, the ritual does not in any way change the potency of the blood; vitae can still cause a blood bond, and blood rendered acidic or caustic by a Discipline (like Quietus or Vicissitude) cannot be cleansed. This ritual cannot counter the Vaulderie (nor is it stealthy enough to perform unnoticed in the midst of such a rite). Rotten, solidified or otherwise befouled blood also vanishes if subjected to the ritual, so a vampire needn't fear gagging on old, dead blood.