Tainted Oasis

Level Six Animalism Power

Elders of Bay’t Mutasharid, the highly predatory Nosferatu of the Islamic world, used a variety of animals to aid them in their hunting and relaying messages. The most loyal of these are blood bound ghouls, but these monsters have also learned of ways to taint natural oases to evoke strength and loyalty in the animals who feed there. By mixing their vitae with precious desert waters, these vampires breed servants from among all the creatures who drink there. Although the blood creates some loyalty, it is not enough to create a true blood bond or turn a mortal into a ghoul.

System: The vampire taints the drinking water with the equivalent of six points of blood. The player rolls Manipulation + Animal Ken (difficulty 5). Each success taints the spring for one lunar month. Failures have no special effect, but a botch indicates that something in the oasis is especially resistant to the vampire’s blood. Assuming success, animals who feed there regularly during the affected time grow unnaturally strong and more loyal to the vampire whose blood they are imbibing. The Storyteller can represent this in a variety of ways, but increasing the animal’s Strength and Stamina Attributes by one dot and lowering all the player’s Animalism and Animal Ken difficulties (when dealing with affected beasts) by two is a good start. Prolonged feeding at a tainted pool also passes on some of the Cainite’s predatory nature, though. The Storyteller can portray predators thinning the local herd needlessly and herbivores in constant challenges for herd dominance. The Storyteller can also judge that the effect fades more quickly or that more blood is needed in the case of especially large oases.

Veil of Night, Page 158