Deimos
The Lamia share the Cappadocians' obsession with the world beyond, though they express it in a different fashion than do their more scholarly counterparts. The Deimos Discipline (edit - path) represents the Lamia's devotion to thanatology through the auspices of the Dark Mother Lilith.
Suggested edits: This path was, like Mortis, originally written as a discipline. It needs to be cleaned up and re-worked as a path. The level 6-8 powers can be re-cast as higher level rituals of Necromancy. In the suggested edit section following each power, I have given my suggestion about how to properly modify the power. - Jamie
I really hate the original printed here. I will take some time to think about the Lamia and do some things with this power. Give it a look and let me know what you think. I like some of your rules ideas Jamie, so if my powers work, they will follow your suggestions.- Keith
Another version is printed as the Path of the Four Humors in the Storyteller's Companion (Revises).
1) Whispers to the Soul
The Lamia may whisper one of Lilith's secret names in a victim's ear with the following result.
* Tavara: Nightmares plague the victim, and fearful thoughts of doom torment the waking hours.
* Naamah: The victim falls to having seizures.
* Eisheth Zenunim: The victim loses all inhibitions and pursues his/her sexual desires without restraint.
* Mahalath: The victim begins dancing to music only they can hear.
System: The Lamia must whisper the name (it may affect only one foe at a time). The Lamia rolls Manipulation + Occult at difficulty 4 to activate. The victim can shrug off the effect with a willpower roll at 8, subtracting successes. If the victim botches this roll, the effect is permanent. Otherwise, it lasts according to the following chart:
1 success: 3 rounds (about 10 seconds)
2 successes: 1 scene
3 successes: 1 night
4 successes: 1 week
5 successes: 1 month
6 successes +: 1 year per success over 5.
2) Kiss of the Dark Mother
The Lamia, through her studies of death, is able to evoke an entropic, life-draining force. She may transmit this through a bite, slaying foes with remarkable swiftness.
System: The Lamia expectorates a Blood Point and coats her lips with blood, turning her bite into an even deadlier weapon. Creatures bitten take twice the normal amount of damage, which is aggravated.
The Lamia rolls Stamina + Occult at a difficulty of 5 to activate.
3) Ichor
Lamia routinely use cadavers as objects of study and veneration. In the process, they have gained knowledge concerning the corpse like body of the Cainite. The Lamia who has reached this level of Deimos may transubstantiate on of her four bodily humors into a vile substance.
System: With the expenditure of two Blood Points, the Lamia may secret a tainted version of one of her four bodily humors: a phlegmatic, melancholy, bilious or sanguine ichor. This ichor may be placed in an unsuspecting mortal's beverage, or simply used as a contact agent. (Skin contact is all that is needed; the substance need not enter the bloodstream to take effect.) The victim must make a Stamina roll (difficulty 8) or be affected by the ichor. Only one type of ichor may be secreted per scene, and the Blood Points spent provide only one dose.
The types of Ichor are:
- Phlegmatic: induces lethargy; victim's Dice Pools are reduced by two for the rest of the scene.
- Melancholy: induces visions of death; victim is unable to use Willpower for the rest of the scene.
- Sanguine: induces excessive bleeding; any cut, slash or puncture wound suppurates, causing the victim to lose an additional health Level next turn.
- Bilious: deadly toxin; the victim takes a number of levels of normal damage equal the the vampire's Stamina; this damage can be soaked.
Suggested edit: Stamina + Occult difficulty 6 to activate, in addition to the two blood points - 1 to activate, 1 to become the toxin.
The Mothers Wind
Calling upon the Night Storm aspect of Lilith surrounds herself in a strong (20 to 30 MPH) dry, hot wind filled with sand and disease. The wind picks things up and throws them, while sending the diseased nature of the Lamia abroad on the night. Using the Names of Lilith (above) and expending 2 blood points the Necromancer may have the same effects as Ichor above. The wind creates a wall of wind (30' wide, 90' long) coming from behind the Necromancer. Stamina + Occult difficulty 7 to activate. Anyone caught in the wind must roll an initial surprise roll or be temporarily blinded by the sand debris that comes at them. The Necromancer may move within the wind as if it were clearly, brightly lit. The number of successes reveals how long the wind lasts unless ended by the caster.
1 success: 3 rounds (about 10 seconds)
2 successes: 1 scene
3 successes: 1 hour
4 successes: 3 hours
5 successes: 6 hours
6+ successes: Until Dawn
5) Ghula's Wind
The Necromancer becomes the focus of a very hot, dry wind that will begin sucking blood and life force from victim or victims caught in it. The caster rolls Manipulation + Occult to create the wind funnel. For each two successes achieved the another person can be added up to a maximum of three. For each success 1 blood point is drained from the victim per round. To maintain the wind more than one round the Necromancer must make a willpower roll, difficulty 7. This wind is the source of Lamia draining the life from children. A creature drained in this way becomes a dry dessicated husk. Vampires can resist with Stamina + Fortitude, difficulty the casters willpower. Vampires may only be driven to torpor this way, not diablolized.
