By Jay Knioum (madafro@trip.net) for the Icarus bloodline.
Peregrine is tied in no small manner to an Icarus' wings. To use any of the powers past the first two levels, the vampire's wings must be free from restraint and clearly visible.
Please note that even though all Icarus have wings, only those with dots in Peregrine can use them. An Icarus may fly 20 miles per hour for each dot in Peregrine that she possesses. This is the basic skill an Icarus has in flight, and is independent of any other power Peregrine offers.
System: The vampire need not spend any Blood to use the power, but must succeed an Intelligence + Security roll with a difficulty indicated by the complexity of the lock, as given below:
| Common lock (window, padlock, handcuffs) | 6 |
| Complex lock (multiple deadbolts, small combination locks) | 7 |
| Light security (burglar alarms, etc.) | 8 |
| Heavy security (retinal scans, multi-stage security) | 9 |
System: The Icarus must spend a Blood Point to activate this power. To successfully step through a solid object or wall, the vampire must succeed a Willpower roll, diff 7. This is because the act of walking through a physical object is never easy to make oneself do.
The Icarus may carry another being, or take another being by the hand and so enable that person or animal to walk through the barrier as well. The Icarus must be touching the "guest" by the hand, so no more than two may join her at one time. The Icarus must spend an additional Blood Point per extra person.
The power's cost in Blood assumes the vampire will only walk through a wall or barrier no more than five feet thick. If the barrier is thicker, additional Blood expenditure may be required, as per Storyteller's discretion.
Finally, the Icarus may choose to release her "guests" before the barrier is completely crossed. This nasty trick is called "stranding" by the Icarus. The vampire has only to release the hand of the creature she leads, and the poor creature will immediately take three aggravated wounds and be "stuck" inside the barrier. Only by the immediate expenditure of a Willpower point may the victim free herself from the trap, but the wounds are always suffered.
Note: Hereafter, all Peregrine powers require the Icarus' wings be free from restraint.
System: The Blood cost is one initial, plus one per passenger. The recipients must roll their Stamina + Fortitude against a difficulty of 7 to withstand the pain of the wings' growth. Each recipient may fly at 60 miles per hour, and the wings will dissolve with the next sunrise.
System: The Icarus must spend three Blood Points to activate this ability, and it will last for a scene. The Wings' flame will not harm the vampire.
During the Phoenix burn, any vampire in the vicinity must roll to avoid frenzy, and anyone coming within arm's reach of the Icarus will take one level of aggravated damage per turn from the intense fiery heat emanating from the Icarus.
In addition, the flame of the wings will ignite any flammable object that they contact (or even draw near). They can also be used as a weapon, as the Icarus slams her pinions into opponents. This requires a Dex + Brawl roll, normal difficulty. The damage is three levels, aggravated, and any flammable objects on the opponent's body will be ignited.
Lastly, the Icarus may spend one Blood Point and pluck a feather from her wings, and hurl it at an opponent as a distance attack. This requires a Dex + Melee roll, and is otherwise exactly like throwing a knife or dagger. The damage is Strength +4, and is aggravated, with the same fiery result.
Note: In times past, the Icarus made specially-prepared arrows or swords which they could ignite by touching them to their flaming wings, producing a potent vampire-killing weapon. These weapons do damage as normal, but this damage is aggravated. Nowadays, this ritual of forging these magical weapons, called the "Rite of Michael" after that archangel's fiery sword, is said to be lost, or known only to the clan's elders.
If the Icarus are used in a Dark Ages chronicle, the Rite of Michael can be known to any Icarus with Peregrine 4 and Occult 5. The Rite costs seven experience points to learn, and the one who teaches the rite to the vampire usually extracts some sort of oath or promise regarding the Rite's use. This sometimes takes the form of a Blood Oath to the instructor, although the Icarus' love of freedom usually prevents this mandate.
System: This power costs two Blood Points. If the destination is not within sight of the vampire, then she must roll Intelligence + Occult with a difficulty determined by the destination's familiarity (up to the Storyteller, but never better than 6). The number of successes indicates accuracy, as shown:
| Successes | Effect |
| 1 | Ten miles from target. |
| 2 | Two or three miles from target. |
| 3 | About fifty yards from target. |
| 4 | About twenty feet from target. |
| 5 | On target exactly. |
Note that if the Icarus spends a Willpower point when the Step is taken, she will automatically land at her destination. The Icarus may also use a path of some sort as a guide, making travel easier. If the Icarus activates the Step while standing on or around a discernible path (road, river, footpath, etc.) that eventually leads to her destination, all difficulties are lowered by two. In modern times, some Icarus have become adept at traveling down telephone lines, or even over the Internet to reach remote destinations. In these cases, the vampire may use her Computer, Science or Repair skill in place of Occult when rolling for accuracy.
Bringing Others: The Icarus may bring others with her when Stepping. The cost is two Blood Points per passenger in addition to the normal cost. The only limit to the amount of "passengers" she may bring in this case is the Icarus' Blood Pool, although all passengers must be touching hands (usually in a ring).
System: The Icarus must spend three Blood Points and score at least three successes on a Int + Occult roll (diff 8). If successful, the Icarus will appear at the corresponding location within the Umbra, just like a Garou would. Others may be transported at the cost of three Blood Points per passenger.
System: The Icarus may only use this power if her Blood Pool is at maximum (after just having fed). To step into the light, the Icarus must spend a Willpower Point. For each hour she wishes to spend in the sunlight, she must spend a Blood Point, and must succeed a Humanity roll, difficulty 8. Failure in this indicates the Icarus must immediately seek shelter. A botch means she must now roll to avoid frenzy.
Otherwise, the Icarus must also make any rolls necessary to move about during the day, as all vampires must do.
System: The Icarus spends three Blood Points and must roll Willpower + Occult (Occult can be replaced by another Skill or Knowledge if appropriate, such as Medicine to break a drug addiction). The difficulty is assigned by the type of bond the Icarus is trying to sever:
| Addiction: | 6 |
| Dominate or Presence: | 7 |
| Mental Illness (non-Malkavian) | 8 |
| Blood Bond: | 9, requires five successes. |
| Clan Weakness: | 10* |
*The Storyteller is the final arbiter as to which clan weaknesses are curable by this power. In any case, the cure is only permanent if five successes are scored. If less than five successes are rolled, then the disadvantage is removed for an indeterminate period of time. For each night since the curing, the cured vampire must roll her Humanity score against a difficulty of 8. Less than three successes means the weakness returns.
Release the Bonded Soul can also transform a vampire back to a mortal, but only if the Release is performed upon the Kindred no more than three nights after her Embrace, and before she first drinks another's blood (beyond her Sire's, of course).
This power can be used against unwilling targets. Rumors abound among those who know of the Icarus that this power can sever the tie between a Wraith and his Shadow, or even between a Garou and the spirit world (eliminating Gnosis, at the very least), but these have never been proven.
This power enables the Icarus to fly about populous areas more easily by donning a mental shroud, very much like the Veil that protects the Garou. Whenever the Icarus' wings are free, this power will cause any non-supernatural creatures in the area to "see" a bird or flock of birds in place of the vampire. In flight, the Icarus would appear as nothing more interesting than a flock of geese. Flying over a city street, the Icarus would seem more like a group of pigeons than a winged vampire.
Supernatural creatures will also be fooled automatically, unless they are specifically searching for the Icarus. In this case, the Auspex rating of the creature (or Sense Wyrm) is pitted against the Icarus' Obfuscate level.
In any case, the Icarus' disguise is dissolved if she interacts with her surroundings in any way besides movement. Opening a door, talking, and launching a physical attack are some examples of this.
This useful power enables the Icarus to find her way...anywhere. All she must bear in mind is a destination, and the Path will lead her there. The Icarus will fill a strange mental "tug" and will sense the correct way to go, but will be given no more information than that. The Path can lead the Icarus to any place which she knows of (even if she only saw it in a dream), to any object which she has seen, and to any person she has met (one cannot locate Caine with this power).
System: The Icarus rolls Perception + Occult with a difficulty assigned by the Storyteller, based on how familiar the destination, item, or person sought is to the vampire. For example, the Icarus' own Haven would only be a 5 or so, while an obscure graveyard "somewhere in Russia" that the Icarus saw referred to in a old newspaper would be a 10.
This power is said to be the cause of Atlantis's disappearance, as well as various other vanishing civilizations throughout time. The Icarus can transport any number of willing individuals to just about any destination, even the Umbra. The number of passengers is limited only in that they must be willing to follow the Icarus without fear. For each participant, the Icarus must roll Charisma + Leadership with a difficulty based on the destination. Success means the participant follows the Icarus without any real fear or hesitation.
With this awesome ability, the Icarus is actually able, for all practical purposes, to make the sun rise. The illusion is borne out of Sun's gift to the original Icarus, and is completely real for all Kindred seeing the spectacle. The effect of the "sunlight" on the Kindred is exactly the same as it would be for real sunlight. However, each vampire witnessing the Wrath is allowed a Willpower roll against a difficulty equal to the Icarus' Manipulation + Subterfuge. Three successes on this roll mean that the vampire escapes immediate harm, but will still seek to leave the "sun's" light, as it is still uncomfortable to them.
Only one Icarus in the Clan's history, one Hazar al-Zhereb, an Icarus elder who sides with the Assamites, has demonstrated the ability to wreak the Vengeance upon Kindred. To learn the Vengeance, the Icarus must first know the Rite of Michael. Using the rite, the vampire must forge with his own hand a special weapon resembling a short spear. This weapon is wooden, and effectively performs as a stake, but with far greater ramifications to the victim of its bite.
After the weapon is created, a process which takes about a year, it gains the power to slay a vampire when it is plunged into its heart (instead of merely forcing it into torpor). Even more impressive, by far, is that in the same instant that the vampire reaches Amaranth, every single vampire that the victim has ever sired will immediately and permanently return to mortal status. In the case of particularly old childer, they will crumble to dust, having existed long past a human's natural lifespan.
Only an Icarus may make use of either this power, or the weapon in question. In anyone else's hands it is nothing more than a sharp stick. Finally, if the weapon is ever touched by the light of the sun, it will immediately burn to ashes.