Mictlampa

By Alejandro Melchor, for the Mictlan bloodline.

* Eyes of the Skull: The Mictlani first learns to attune their senses to the energy of the Shadowlands. By concentrating, the vampire blocks her sight to the world to see as the dead see. By rolling Perception+Occult (difficulty 6), the vampire gains Deathsight (see how close to death is someone and how she might die), Lifesight (Aura reading, similar to Auspex 2) or Heightened Sight (similar to Auspex 1) for the remainder of the scene. If she wishes to change the form of sight, she must roll again. Whatever mode she is in, she will always perceive the world as if from the Shadowlands: a dull, grey world filled with decay. A botch means that the vampire goes blind until she rests for the day. The eyes of the vampire using this level of Mictlampa turn milky white and transparent, allowing others the sight of her empty sockets. Pretty frightening to the average human.

** Teeth of the Skull: Once a Mictlani knows to see the Shadowlands, it's time to learn to communicate with its inhabitants. By rolling Charisma+Empathy and spending a Blood Point the vampire is able to talk to and hear wraiths and spectres. The difficulty depends on the area's Shroud; the thickness of the barrier between the living and the Shadowlands, high in places who deny death (labs, factories), low on those who embrace it (cemetaries, countryside, haunts). The communication is silent and those addressed are compelled to respond; whether they are friendly or hostile depends upon them.

*** Razorwind: Vampires with this level of Mictlampa are able to tear the fabric of the living lands and reach for the Tempest, a wild soulstorm underlying the Shadowlands. The Mictlani's attacks are accompanied by the chilling and terrifying touch of Oblivion. The tlaltecuhtli must roll Strength+Occult (difficulty of Shroud+1, max.10) and spend a Blood Point. Each success adds a die to Brawl/Melee and Damage rolls for the next combat turns. This pool diminishes each turn by one, as the gap between worlds closes. A botch is very dangerous, as it channels the winds of the Tempest within the character, inflicting a level of aggravated damage per 1 rolled. If the vampire is fighting a wraith, each success reduces 1 level of the wraith's Corpus if the attack scores, rather than the normal one.

**** Dead Man's Guide: This is a great power, and frightfuly dangerous to the Mictlan's enemies. The vampire's understanding of Death is such, that she can cross over the Shroud into the Shadowlands. She must succeed in a Stamina+Occult roll against a difficulty set by the Shroud and spend two Blood Points. The Blood is consumed as the vampire's body turns into plasm, giving the vampire a level of Corpus per Health level, and the remaining Blood Pool turns into Pathos energy. While in this state, the vampire is, technically, a wraith, though she doesn't have Passions or Fetters, and she cannot travel to the Tempest. She does have the advantage of being able to discorporate (spending 1 Corpus) to pass through objects and only takes 1 level of damage from attacks from the living world (if the attacker can somehow perceive her). Another roll is required to return, though no expense of Blood is necessary. Should a vampire be driven into Torpor while in the Shadowlands, her body discorporates and reforms somewhere else after a few centuries; she will not be solid until a day before her awakening. A botch casts the vampire into the Tempest, where Spectres torment her until her body snaps back to the world the day after, causing her to gain a Derangement.

***** Dark Blessing of Mictlantecuhtli: The Mictlani who has mastered this level of Mictlampa can bestow the Death God's blessing upon anyone. This manifests in two forms depending on the target. The vampire rolls Manipulation+Occult, if the target is alive and healthy, the difficulty is the target's Willpower; the target can resist by rolling Willpower against the vampire's Man+Occ. If the vampire wins, each level of damage the target receives will seem aggravated for the remainder of the scene; should the target be driven below Incapacitated while under the Blessing's influence, she will be killed. If the target, however, is dying (and without hope of recovery) whether from wounds or illness, the difficulty is the Shroud. The Blessing will call for the nearest Ferryman in the Underworld to come and take the target at the moment of her death. The fate of the deceased depends on herself; if she becomes a wraith or goes directly unto Trascendence or Oblivion is not the vampire's role to determine, but the newly dead's and the Ferryman's. This latter roll can't be botched.

****** Wisdom of the Dead: This level of Mictlampa allows the vampire to use the basic abilities of the Arcanos her Calpulli practices (consider the vampire as having a point in the Arcanos for rolling purposes)

******* Craft of the Dead: At this higher level of mastery, the vampire can begin expending her Experience to buy the first and later points in the Arcanos her Calpulli practices at normal costs. However, she can only use the Arcanos arts while in the Shadowlands, meaning she must first travel there.

******** Deathcraft Incarnate: The tlaltecuhtli with this level of Mictlampa has reunited within herself that which was sundered millenia ago: the land of the living and the land of the dead. She can now use her Arcanos while in the physical world; in fact, the vampire's mere presence lowers the Shroud by two (thus lowering all Arcanos difficulties based on the Shroud).

********* Obsidian Wind: Razorwind is but a meek breeze compared to the fury the vampire who has reached this level can conjure. She not only tears the Shroud; she rips it apart and opens a Nihil into the Tempest. She rolls Strength+Occult against a difficulty of 8; each success widens the size of the hole; the vampire must spend a Blood Point per success achieved; if she doesn't, the successes are limited by the amount of Blood actually used. Centuries of experience taught the Mictlan the foolishness of creating such a hole for too long, and so they learned to close it the turn following the opening, allowing the soulwinds to come through but denying passage to Spectres. The wind causes 3 levels of aggravated damage per success to all within a 30' radius both in the physical world and the Shadowlands. Beings in the Life Umbra just feel a chilly wind and the Penumbra darkens a little. A botch sends the vampire to the Labyrinth beneath the Tempest; and she must use all her guile and wits to escape. However, Ferrymen are always glad to rescue a vampire in such straits.

********** Chains of Blood: This is the only means of creating another Mictlan vampire, and is only practiced by the Tlatoanis of the Mictlan. The Tlatoani travels to the Shadowlands and follows the spirit of the candidate as it wanders off, she then proceeds to tear off the Caul and, by rolling Manipulation+Occult against 10 minus the new vampire's Sire's Willpower the soul is returned to the body. The Sire gives some of her blood, and the Tlatoani uses a Point of her own and Mictlaxochitl's in order to tie the wraith to it's new vampiric body. No Mictlan has discovered the way to block the Shadow from entering the heart and turning into the Itzyolotl.