Cold Rose

By Stuart Ellis (s.ellis1@lancaster.ac.uk)

Description

A chalice of ruby-red glass, carved in the shape of an opening rose. The glass could be Venetian, as the workmanship is perfect and the colour unique.

Legend & History

The most common story is that this is the cup Tremere and his seven disciples drank from to gain their immortality. More knowledgable Kindred dismiss this as a spin-off from the Grail legend, but their versions are all equally mythic. Some believe that it is the true Amaranth, the undying flower given to Saulot soon before he was Diablerised, whilst others claim that it is a key to Golconda or the trap of an Antediluvian to snare pawns. This agrees with the cryptic statements of several Ravnos, who say that the cup is not carved out of glass.

Whatever it's origin both the Tremere and the Ravnos have searched for it since it came to Germany in the hands of a returning Crusader, whose health and lifespan were incredible enough to attract the interest of a witchfinder. The cup vanished and the knight is said to have died of natural causes on the same night that the witchfinder arrived and then disappeared. In the seventeenth century it was seen in the apartments of an old and powerful Spanish bishop, and then at a very private party in New York during the 1920s. Soon afterwards the host died in a house fire which destroyed most of his collection of glassware.

Powers

If the chalice is filled with water and left in direct sunlight for a day the water will change into warm blood by nightfall. The blood may be infused with energy stolen from the sunlight, and is certainly as potent as the vitae of an elder. A cupful is equivalent to 2 Blood Points and might revive a vampire from Torpor. It probably has other mystical properties, and could be a component for rituals that protect against fire or sunlight. Leaving blood in the chalice for a day would double it's strength and might bring out greater powers appropriate to the type of blood used.