••••• ••• Sublimation of the Larval Flesh

A Ventrue ghoul tells of a battlefield he once encountered deep within the Carpathian rim. There, soldiers from both sides lay dead, their flesh stripped cleanly from their glistening bodies. More disturbing were the strange flesh-colored sacs that hung pregnantly from tree branches above, some pulsing with inner life. He slashed at one within easy reach of his sword and what fell out was the most hideous sort of monstrosity, some half-formed melding of man and beast writhing in a pool of ichor and goo. Its soft, painful mewling brought about a seething response from the other cocoons. He left before seeing what might emerge.

System: The Tzimisce can, with a successful Strength + Body Crafts roll (difficulty 6, five successes required), jerk the living flesh from a subject’s body, immediately dropping him to Incapacitated as he collapses into shock (all health levels lost due to this power are considered lethal damage). The vampire then spends a round shaping the flesh into a cocoon-sac in which she wraps the victim; this requires a Dexterity + Body Crafts roll (difficulty 7). The Tzimisce finishes by imagining a form she’d like the creature within to take (it must be a form the Tzimisce is actually capable of imparting upon the subject) and sealing the cocoon with blood (one blood point’s worth).

The cocooned subject will heal normally inside, but remain Incapacitated until at full health. Once he regains all health levels, he may fight his way out the cocoon; when he emerges, the cocoon will have twisted him into the shape the Tzimisce desired for him. In this manner, the Tzimisce can create servants en masse without the need for hours of labor to perfect any single individual. The Tzimisce may use this upon herself; when she does, the cocoon need not be constructed from her own flesh, and she may emerge at any time and in any form she chooses.