By Jay Knioum (madafro@trip.net)
Contained herein are descriptions of these Lost Disciplines. The Cainites who originally researched these powers of Blood are no more, but their secrets were recorded here for posterity.
The author of the Codex is listed only as Anonymous and the legends concerning that one's identity are as myriad as the constellations. Some think it was compiled by the Second Generation. Others attribute it to Caine himself. In any case, the complete Codex of Whispers has yet to be found. Over the centuries, the Codex has been translated and re-written from clay tablets, to parchment scrolls, to a single volume penned by a monk who followed the Cainite heresy. This volume is the edition that survives today, but not in its entirety. The material provided here is found in the only portion of the Codex ever to be recovered, but rumors abound among Cainite occultists that the remainder of the Codex contains even greater secrets...and madness...for the vampire that stumbles across its pages.
The Codex of Whispers is named thus because the one who reads it can hear strange whispers in her ears, of unrecognizable voices speaking in alien tongues. Could this be the voice of Caine? Could it be the restless souls of vampires of extinct bloodlines? Regardless of the whispers' origins, few who have pored the Codex's' pages emerged with their sanity complete.
This ancient tome is a magical artifact of unknown construction. A thorough reading of its pages, along with the arcane whispers will actually teach one of the new Disciplines to a reader, but in so doing, will likely leave the reader with at least one Derangement. The Codex contains lore and secrets of five Disciplines. A reader may learn one or all of them, but with each one the Codex takes a little more from the student's sanity and possibly Humanity.
In any case, only a vampire with an Occult of 4 or higher, and some knowledge of ancient languages (such as Hebrew, or other tongues in use before the time of Christ) can make any sort of sense of the Codex at all. It is written in a bizarre mixture of several such languages, and in some places is even written backwards or in a bizarre mathematical code. In order to make use of the Codex, the vampire must make an Intelligence + Linguistics roll, difficulty 9. The book will take about a year to translate before it can even be studied for any productive learning. The Storyteller is free to alter the translation time to fit the individual (or team) doing the translating.
After translation, a Discipline requires several months or so of continuous study to learn. However, no Experience Points are required to gain the first level. (Subsequent levels do require such expenditure).
Instead, the Codex exacts a cost in the form of broken sanity. The student will hear incessant whispering in the back of her mind as she reads the words of the Codex. It does not matter if she reads from the original text or from a transcript. The vampire will hear the whispers even if she is reading it from a computer screen. The whispering is incessant, and not meaningless. The words are not consciously understandable by the vampire, but she will feel the whispers tugging at her mind, changing her somehow.
With each Discipline studied, the Cainite must make two rolls. The first is Intelligence + Occult, difficulty 8. If three or more Successes are scored, then the Cainite may understand the bizarre writing well enough to gain from it. The second roll is Wits + Occult, difficulty 9, and its consequences are detailed below:
| Successes | Effect |
| Botch | Student suffers a mental breakdown. She gains a permanent Derangement, as well as the loss of one Humanity, one Wits, and one permanent Willpower. |
| None | Student suffers a permanent Derangement and permanently loses one Humanity. |
| 1-4 | Student gains a permanent Derangement. |
| 5+ | Student suffers a permanent Mental or Supernatural Flaw. |
No vampiric occultist or scholar has ever been able to discern the meaning of the Whispers, or to separate them from a reading of the text. Apparently, they are necessary as the text itself to teach the Disciplines to a student, but they also unhinge the minds of readers. The Codex itself is a mystery which far exceeds the Disciplines contained therein.
Sharde: Enabling Cainites to enter the Land Behind the Mirror.
Niveo: The Cainite holds Winter in the palm of her hand.
Anima: Giving Cainites power over the spirits present in all things.
Geis: a Discipline of punishment, with obscure Druidical origins.
Mortis (additional powers): The Cappadocians' knowledge, once thought lost, is recorded here.