The Hearth Path

• Thaumaturgy Paths

For those Tremere who maintain private havens, secrecy is paramount. The Hearth Path seems to have evolved form a collection of rituals designed to protect the integrity of a vampire's 'sanctum sanctorum. Havens protected by these powers often acquire reputations as "haunted" houses and the like. The Tremere are quick to point out, however, that these reputations help to strengthen the Masquerade rather than jeopardize it. When people find out that the house is just a house with a spooky atmosphere, they chastise themselves for being so foolish as to believe in ghosts.

1) Guest's Herald
This power, when used on a door or other portal, creates an audible or visual effect that notifies the Tremere that someone has crossed it. In this way, the vampire knows when someone has entered her haven and can deal with the interloper as she sees fit.
System: This power lasts for 24 hours. The signal may be anything of the thaumaturge's choosing - a particularly noisy creak, a tendency to stay ajar or even something wholly unconnected, like the rotation of a decanter in another room. In all cases. the effect is static - it looks or sounds exactly the same every time it happens. Any point at which someone other than the thaumaturge crosses a warded area, the effect takes place. Whether or not the vampire is present to observe it is a different matter.
Note that complex chains of events are outside the purview of this power. The ritual will not trigger an elaborate Rube Goldberg-style "trap" (though it may set off the first part of one), nor will it aim and fire a shotgun at the door. These are simple, subtle, brief effects.

2) Master's Order
In his own haven, the thaumaturge knows where every last article lies. He knows where he placed an important book, he knows the drawer that the keys to his safe occupy, and he knows where his ensorcelled wooden stake rests. He even knows these things when he doesn't....
System: As long as this path power is successful, for the duration of the scene, the thaumaturge knows exactly where any given object has been placed, as long as it is in his haven. This knowledge applies only to inanimate objects - he may not locate his childe in this manner. Also, the object must belong to the Tremere himself; an assassin's knife will not be found by this power, nor will the objects on anther's person. Something the Tremere has stolen will turn up without difficulty, however.
This power works only in the Tremere's haven, where he has spent at least one day's rest prior to invoking the power.

3) Rhyme of Discord
The vampire may create a miasma of confusion in her haven. This power plays upon intruders' minds, causing them to become lost in the vampire's haven, to lose their direction and misremember specific details such as objects in rooms and their location.
System: Characters other than the thaumaturge find themselves hopelessly lost in her haven, no matter how small it is. Additionally, they are unable to remember any but the smallest details regarding the place once inside. Even if an intruder attempts to follow or chase the Kindred through the haven, she will lose track of direction, making wrong turns, etc. this effect lasts for one full 24-hour period, but the confused memories an intruder takes with her last until she visits the haven when it is not under this protective ensorcellment.

4) Temportal
As master of her haven, a vampire may briefly reshape it so that doorways lead to rooms other than those to which they are connected. For example, the door to the bedroom may suddenly open into the study, while the deepest catacomb of a Translyvanian dungeon might lead to a tower elsewhere in the castle. Thaumaturges find this useful both as a convenience - how better to retrieve a book from the basement when one is on the third floor? - and as an escape route.
System: The power works until sunrise. At the thaumaturge's whim he may walk through any doorway in his haven and be immediately transported to any room of his choice that is also in his haven. Anyone who follows him through the door will find themselves in the room the doorway naturally connects to.

5) The Cauldron's Rede
This power bestows a primitive awareness upon the magus' haven. while her haven is under this sending, the thaumaturge may ask any of the items in her haven about specific events taking place therein. A bedroom mirror may whisper of guests conspiring in the foyer, a divan my disclose bedchamber indiscretions, and the lowliest kitchen rug may reveal high treachery taking place in a salon. Anything occurring within the haven (or within eye shot of the outside, as the windows can "see" as well) can be relayed to an inquisitive magus by the common items inside.
System: This power lasts until the sunrise after the vampire invokes it. The vampire must verbally ask questions of her haven's accouterments, should she desire information from them. Only in case of extreme danger, such as a pending attack or a haven set ablaze will the voices of the haven call out to the kindred.