Distillation of Life's Essence

Jamie's Esoterica / Jamie's Spell Book

Level 3 Hermetic Thaumaturgy, based on Alchemical principles

With this ritual, an Alchemist may separate Vampiric Vitae from mortal blood taken from a ghoul. While the identity of the donor cannot be revealed, any other information about the Vitae can then be extracted through normal means.

Materials: A quantity of blood (at least the equivalent of one point) taken from a ghoul. Additionally, an elaborate alchemical distillation apparatus is required.

Casting: The caster decants the vitae into the apparatus, and uses various reagents to separate the components into separate containers. The process takes 12 hours, minus one hour per success on the casting roll, but needs only 15 minutes of attention (standard for a level 3 ritual) from the caster. Once distilled, the vitae is pure, and degrades per standard rules. Any impurities present remain in the mortal blood.

System: If the ritual is successful, all vampiric vitae is separated into separate containers: If blood is present from multiple donors, it distills into individual receptacles.

The amount of vitae present is equal to the vitae present in the sample. In order to use the vitae for purposes that require an entire point, there must be at least that much in the blood. Round fractions down. For instance, if a ghoul has his normal (10) blood pool, plus 3 points of vitae, the caster must obtain a minimum of five points of that ghouls blood in order to extract a full point of vitae.

The following formula is presented for use by storytellers who choose to use it.

For the mathematically inclined:
v= vitae, t= total mixed blood pool, n = number of blood points obtained from the ghoul, % = percentage of vitae in the ghoul's system.

v/t=% : (# of points of vitae in the ghoul's system / total blood (vitae and mortal) in the ghoul's system = % of vampiric vitae in any sample.

%*n = number of points of vitae obtainable from the sample (round down).

3v/13t=.23 (23% of the total blood pool is vampiric vitae).
5*.23 = 1.15 (more than one: There is one point of vitae available upon distillation, and 4 points of mortal blood).

If only 4 points were extracted, almost one full point would be distilled, but not enough for certain purposes.