Scavenging Tongues of Darkness

Discipline Techniques -x- Bruce Edward Zieger

Description: Somewhere between the rank two Obtenebration power called: Nocturne and the rank three Obtenebration power called Arms of Ahriman lies a power similar to both and yet unlike either. The function of this discipline technique called Scavenging Tongues of Darkness is to scour an area dictated by its creator for blood that exists outside a living or undead body and absorb that blood to feed its creator's unholy thirst. The Lasombra that has learned this discipline technique must conjure the "Scavenging Tongues of Darkness" through his mouth and the thirsty mass of midnight tongues that flow out of their creator's mouth must seek out any blood that has escaped the body, be it alive, dead or undead. Any open source of blood from something as trivial as a bloody-nose, a woman's menses, right up to blood sprayed forth from wounds inflicted upon the battlefield. This mass of black tongues doesn't just give the impression of caressing those caught within its cloying clutches, it actually searches their bodies and every other available surface for vitae, licking the blood from open wounds and the weapons that made them.

System: The player rolls Stamina + Occult = difficulty of 7 and the player expends a point of blood. If the player ever botches, his or her blood is forever marked by the Abyss and thereafter the character's blood is always an inky black, even his tears. If the user fails, then he wasted a point of blood, but can try again next round without penalty. Regardless of success or failure, this discipline technique can only be used once per round. If successful, the Obtenebration user conjures a black polyp from his throat and acts as its anchor as it thickens and expands. With each success on the activation roll, the black polyp expands at a rate of ten feet in all directions like an obscene obsidian coral sprouting small tentacles that are about as thick as a human tongue and vary in length from a few inches up to a foot-and-a-half.

As the black polyp expands it does so in a spiral fashion, pulsing and undulating as it brushes everything and everyone in the zone of its effect. The feeding tentacles search the area of effect for any spilt blood and lick up all the life-giving liquid to be found, regardless of its source; thus, unless all the blood spilled in the area of effect is vampiric, the blood returned to the Obtenebration user is usually too dilute to form blood bonds. In the event that all the blood absorbed by the tentacles is vampiric, it is still highly unlikely that the recipient of the scavenged blood will be subject to even a partial blood-bond, due to the qualities of combined vitae; however, should all the spilt blood be from a single vampire, then a the blood-recipient is subject to the various stages of the blood-bond as normal.

Due to the nature of the tentacle-tongues, they will convey any contaminates that were originally found in the blood to the blood-recipient, be they diseases, drugs, curses or random particulate matter coupled with the scavenged vitae. It is impossible for the tentacle-tongues to do damage to anyone or anything with which they come into contact; however, having the equivalent of giant black sea-anemone lick you all over with a mass of frigid and sticky tongues cannot be considered a pleasant experience by any known human standard, but then there are the Tzimisce...

Likewise, the scavenging tentacle-tongues cannot breach even the flimsiest of containers that might hold potentially useful blood (blood-bags), because they have no means by which to sense it. They are without intelligence or improvisational ability and even their creator cannot change the means by which they blindly search every available surface for blood. Nor can they search very deeply into even "open" containers (like badly damaged corpses) or open wounds and orifices. Another limiting factor of the scavenging tongues is their limited duration, as they exist only for one round and then they return to their creator with their bounty of blood. And that bounty of blood is limited to a maximum of three (3) points of blood, despite the potential pool of spilt blood within the area of effect, the Obtenebration user never receives more than three blood-points from a single activation of this discipline technique. This is not to say that the Scavenging Tongues of Darkness cannot gather a ridiculous amount of blood from its area of effect, but the Obtenebration user must tithe all the rest of the spilt blood to the Abyss for its beneficent gift of vitae.

While the Scavenging Tongues of Darkness can obscure a scene or event due to the manner in which it manifests, it is an unintentional side-effect and as such, the creator cannot manipulate it to that end. Thus, the difficulty for all ranged attacks within the area effect of this discipline technique increase by two (2).

Primarily, this discipline technique is used as a means to feed the hunger of a vampire in the midst of combat, as such, it is a highly vulgar effect that is likely to leave bystanders and witnesses with an distinct uneasiness towards the Obtenebration user. There is never any doubt as to who conjured the Scavenging Tongues of Darkness and even elder vampires are likely to be unnerved the first time they witness this black spectacle. Mortals and neonates must make a Courage roll (difficulty 8) the first time they see this discipline technique, and on subsequent experiences, the difficulty declines until they realize that no matter how fearful its aspect, the tentacle-tongues cannot truly harm them. Animals however must always make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) each and every time; animal ghouls are the exception to this, specifically those of the Lasombra, and they need not roll Willpower as much of their courage stems from their vampiric master via the blood-bond.

As an expression of this vampire's eternal thirst and due to this discipline technique's brief span of existence, the Scavenging Tongues of Darkness are considered to be an appendage of the Obtenebration user (much like his own tongue) and as such soak all damage with their creator's soak pool and are considered to have half his current health levels rounded up.

Note: The Abyss marks all those who use this discipline technique to feed, turning all the blood within their bodies an inky black after its use and all mortals and most vampires find the sight the vampire's blackened veins, lips, eyes and tears, distinctly unnerving. This side-effect lasts until the very next dawn, unless the user botches the activation roll, in which case the effect is permanent.

Requisite Disciplines: Obtenebration 2, Potence 2

Experience Cost: 14xp