Amaranth, or the prohibition thereof, is the third Tradition.
Amaranth, also called Diablerie, is the act of destroying another vampire by drinking all their vitae and then consuming their undead soul (or whatever blasphemous force it is that passes for a soul within a vampire's body). The act, though it can confer greater power, is fraught with peril. In the first place, a vampire can get addicted to drinking the blood of other vampires. This in itself presents several obvious problems, not the least of which is a Prince calling a blood hunt if he finds too many of his subjects being attacked by a rogue vampire. Second, there is danger in consuming the soul of another vampire, it can, in effect, bite back if you fail, causing severe psychic trauma. Even if the diablerist succeeds in his vile assault, the penalties are harsh, including a loss of Humanity, and an auric taint visible to those who know how to see it.
The upside of Amaranth is the possible increase one's knowledge and power. But to ensure this, one must usually diablerize a more powerful kindred which in itself is a dangerous undertaking, only slightly mitigated by the fact that the victim of amaranth must already be in torpor before the act can even be attempted (of course some blood-addicted kindred just beat their victims into torpor before they drain their souls away)[1]
Drawbacks
- When a vampire commits diablerie, his Humanity decreases by one automatically. The Humanity roll that follows this loss to check for a derangement occurs normally.
- Risk of Blood Addiction
- The character’s aura acquires black veins that reveal her crime to those who can scrutinize such things. These black veins remain in the diablerist’s aura for one year per dot of Blood Potency the victim possessed.
Vampire Glossary
