Narration:
And with that, the dreamscape fades, and the kindred find themselves awakening as the sun falls below the horizon.
Whether present to the end or already having found their way back to normal daysleep, the Kindred of Sacramento who had spent time in this altered dreamscape all receive a ghostly visitation as they sleep. When they awaken, they are aware that they now carry within themselves a bit of the essence of others of their kind that have preceeded them, to be used to combat the threat still presented by the Lost Nights and whatever darkness is still to come. Some carry more of this within them than others, based on the amount of time they spent in the other dreamscape, and on the degree of selflessness they showed or the importance of their role in the events that played out there. Each is supernaturally gifted with an awareness of the nature of the gift they have received... a limited resource, but one that, if used wisely, might be enough to spell the difference between victory and destruction in the nights to come.
Characters who have taken part in this thread receive a variable amount of a temporary resource we will call Ghostly Vitae, for purposes of having some way to refer to it. Characters accepting this resource should include in their signatures a listing of how much Ghostly Vitae is currently in their pools, and revise the pool listing as the Ghostly Vitae is spent, as the pool does not normally replenish (there is one exception, noted below); once al a character's Ghostly Vitae is spent, it's gone and that character no longer has a Ghostly Vitae pool.
Ghostly Vitae represents a mystical essence with qualities both vampiric and spectral. It can be used for the following effects.
1) A vampire can expend Ghostly Vitae as a reflexive action to produce any effect that can be produced by expending Vitae, including activation of Disciplines and Cruac rituals, enhancement of physical dice pools, healing damage and so forth. Expenditure of Ghostly Vitae is not limited by Blood Potency in the manner of normal Vitae expenditures, and can be expended in the place of or along with the vampire's own Vitae.
2) One point of Ghostly Vitae can be spent reflexively to enhance a weapon or a character's unarmed attacks for one turn, allowing that weapon/character to harm ghosts, spirits and other noncorporeal beings/entities during that turn.
3) One point of Ghostly Vitae can be spent to produce an effect functionally equivalent to the ghostly Numina Telekinesis. This power functions as described in the nWoD corebook, p. 212, save that kindred roll Intelligence + Wits to activate Telekinesis. Each additional point of Ghostly Vitae spent adds +3 to the roll, but the maximum number of points that can be expended on this power in any given turn is limited by the character's Resolve.
4) Two points of Ghostly Vitae can be expended reflexively to allow a reroll on an attack, discipline or Resistance check, with the better of the two results being used.
Ghostly Vitae represents the lingering essence of deceased Kindred, and it retains a vestigal hint of consciousness in regard to the purpose for which it was granted. The effect of this is that Ghostly Vitae can be expended only in a manner which forwards the agenda of these departed kindred, i.e., to combat those behind the Lost Nights, the unknown threat these ghost kindred have sensed building or some other circumstance that represents a clear threat to the Domain and its kindred inhabitants. If the character attempts to expend Ghostly Vitae for any other purpose, the Vitae will produce no effect, though it will still be expended.
Ghostly Vitae can be transferred from one kindred's pool to that of another kindred possessing a Ghostly Vitae pool. A number of points equal to the transferring character's Resolve can be transferred as an instant action. This requires line of sight.
Characters' initial Ghostly Vitae Pools are calculated as followed:
- Characters who actively took part in Dreams, Dark and Dire Chapter 1 receive 2 points of ghostly Vitae.
- Characters who actively took part (i.e., the player posted in-character) during Chapter 2 receive an additional 2 points of Ghostly Vitae.
- Characters who actively took part in Chapter 3 receive an additional 3 Ghostly Vitae.
- Characters who were present in the dreamscape at the end of Chapter 3 and characters who were "died" in the dreamscape each receive an additional 2 Ghostly Vitae.
- The following characters receive additional Ghostly Vitae as listed below, due to their selflessness, teamwork or playing a crucial role in the outcome of the battle in the dreamscape. These totals reflect a combination of ST award and votes in the relevant OOC Requiem thread.
Arnold: +2
Asa Clarke: +5
Dr. Lazarus: +3
Eleanor: +2
Headstrong: +2
Ishani: +4
Jayant: +3
Konstantin: +4
O-Yama: +5
Obsidian: +3
Regina Pia: +5
Sean: +3
All kindred who spent some of their daysleep within the dreamscape awaken with memory of the events as they occurred there and a certainty that what they experienced was more than a dream. Those who awaken after having lasted to the end of the events of the dreamscape awaken unusually rested, their Willpower completely replenished. They know they have won a victory that, though ethereal, is nonetheless important.
Those who were injured within the dreamscape find themselves no more physically injured than when they went to sleep. Eleanor and O-Yama, however, having died in the dreamscape, do not rest well. They do not receive the normal rejuvenation granted by daysleep, and they also find themselves somewhat shaken by the experience.
Both also recall experiencing further nightmares after dying in the dreamscape. They don't recall these clearly, but they can recall snippets of voices in their heads, and being stared at by shadowy creatures with shining, yellow eyes. As with the events of the dreamscape, they are certain there is more to these nightmares than mere dream, though exactly what they mean is unclear... at least for now.
Eleanor and O-Yama each need to make a Resolve + Composure roll to determine whether the experience of having died in the dreamscape has any lasting effect on their mental states. Please PM those rolls to me.
Draft this Post
