Quietus
Quietus, the Discipline of silent death, is practiced by the assassins of Clan Assamite. Using the principles of poison, vitae control and pestilence, this blood-based Discipline focuses on the destruction of its target through varying means. Quietus does not always cause a quick death; the Assassins rely upon its secret lethality to hide their involvement with their victims.

O Silence of Death
Many Assamites claim never to have heard their targets' death screams. Silence of Death imbues the Assamite with a
mystical silence that radiates from her body, muting all noise within a certain vicinity. No sound occurs inside this zone,
though sounds originating outside the area of effect may be heard by anyone in it. Rumors abound of certain skilled
Assamite viziers who have the ability to silence a location rather than a circumference that follows them, but no proof of this
has been forthcoming.

System: 
This power costs one blood point to activate, which maintains a 20-foot radius of utter stillness around the
Assamite for one hour.

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OO Scorpion's Touch
By changing the properties of her blood, an Assamite may create powerful venom that strips her prey of his resilience. This
power is greatly feared by other Kindred, and all manner of hideous tales concerning methods of delivery circulate among
trembling coteries. Assamites are known to deliver the poison by coating their weapons with it, blighting their opponents
with a touch, or spitting it like a cobra. An apocryphal account speaks of a proud prince who discovered an Assamite
plotting her exsanguination and began to diablerize her would-be assassin. Halfway through the act, she learned that she had
ingested a dire quantity of tainted blood and was then unable to resist the weakened hashashiyyin s renewed attack.

System: 
To convert a bit of her blood to poison, the Assamite's player spends at least one blood point and rolls Willpower
(difficulty 6). If this roll is successful, and the Assamite successfully hits (but not necessarily damages) her opponent, the
target loses a number of Stamina points equal to the number of blood points converted into poison. The victim may resist the
poison with a Stamina + Fortitude roll (difficulty 6); successes achieved on the resistance roll subtract from the Assamite's
successes to affect the target. The maximum number of blood points an Assamite may convert at any one time equals her
Stamina. The number of successes scored indicates the duration of the Stamina loss.
1 success One turn
2 successes One hour
3 successes One day
4 successes One month
5 successes Permanently (though Stamina may be bought back up with experience)
If a mortal's Stamina falls to zero through use of Scorpion's Touch, she becomes terminally ill and loses immunity to
diseases, her body succumbing to sickness within the year unless she somehow manages to increase her Stamina again. If a
Kindred's Stamina falls to zero, the vampire enters torpor and remains that way until one of her Stamina points returns. If a
Kindred is permanently reduced to zero Stamina, she may recover from torpor only through mystical means.
To afflict her target with the poison, the Assamite must touch her target's flesh or hit that target with something that carries
the venom. Many Assamites lubricate their weapons with the excretion, while others pool the toxin in their hands (or fleck
their lips with the poison, for a "kiss of death") and press it to their opponents. Weapons so envenomed must be of the melee
variety - arrows, sling stones, bullets and the like cannot carry enough of the stuff to do damage, and it drips off in flight.
Players whose Assamites wish to spit at their targets must make a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). No more than two
blood points' worth of poison may be expectorated, and a Kindred may spit a distance of 10 feet for each point of Strength
and/or Potence the character possesses. Assamites are immune to their own poison, but not the blood-venom of other
Assamites.

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OOO Dagon's Call
This terrible and recently rediscovered power allows an Assamite to drown her target in his own blood. By concentrating,
the Assamite bursts her target's blood vessels and fills his lungs with vitae that proceeds to strangle him from within. The
blood actually constricts the target's body from the inside as it floods through his system; thus, it works even on unbreathing
Kindred. Until the target collapses in agony or death throes, this power has no visible effect, and many Assamites prefer it
because it leaves no trace of their presence.

System: 
The Assamite must touch her target prior to using Dagon's Call. Within an hour thereafter, the Assamite may issue
the call, though she need not be in the presence or even in the line of sight other target.
Invoking the power costs one Willpower point. The Assamite's player makes a contested Stamina roll against the target's
Stamina; the difficulty of each roll is equal to the opponent's permanent Willpower score. The number of successes the
Assamite achieves is the amount of damage, in health levels, the victim suffers. For an additional point of Willpower spent
in the next turn, the Assamite may continue using Dagon's Call by engaging in another contested Stamina roll. Damage from
Dagon's Call is considered lethal. So long as the Assamite's player continues to spend Willpower, the character may
continue rending her opponent from within.

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OOOO Baal's Caress
The penultimate use of blood as a weapon (short of diablerie itself), Baal's Caress allows the Assamite to transmute her
blood into a virulent ichor that destroys any living or undead flesh it touches. In nights of yore, when Assamites led the
charges of Saracen legions, the Assassins were often seen licking their blades, slicing open their tongues and lubricating
their weapons with this foul secretion.
Baal's Caress may be used to augment any bladed weapon; everything from poisoned knives and swords to tainted
fingernails and claws has been reported.

System: 
Baal's Caress does not increase the damage done by a given weapon, but that weapon inflicts aggravated damage
rather than normal. No roll is necessary to activate this power, but one blood point is consumed per hit. For example, if an
Assamite poisons his knife and strikes his opponent (even if he inflicts no damage), one blood point's worth of lubrication
disappears. For this reason, many Assamites choose to coat their weapons with a significant quantity of blood. If the
Assamite misses, no tainted blood is consumed.

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OOOOO Taste of Death
A refinement of Baal's Caress, Taste of Death allows the Assamite to spit caustic blood at her target. The blood coughed
forth with this power burns flesh and corrodes bone; some Assamites have been reported to vomit voluminous streams of
vitae that reduce their targets to heaps of sludge.

System: 
The vampire may spit up to 10 feet for each dot of Strength and/or Potence he possesses. Hitting the target requires
a Stamina + Athletics roll (difficulty 6). Each blood point spewed at the target inflicts two dice of aggravated damage, and
there is no limit (other than the vampire's capacity and per-turn expenditure maximum) to the quantity of blood with which a
target may be deluged.

OOOOO O Blood Sweat (Quietus level 6)
 Although vampires do not have functioning sebaceous glands, they are still capable of sweating 
at times of extreme stress. This "Sweat" is actually a thin sheen of blood on the Cainite's 
forehead and palms. Most Kindred see blood sweat as an admission of fear or guilt. The Assamite 
who has mastered Blood Sweat is capable of inducing these feelings in a subject to a 
preternatural degree. The victim experiences a torrential outpouring of vitae if he harbors the 
tiniest shred of remorse for any action he has ever undertaken.
SYSTEM: The character must be within line of sight of the subject and spend three turns in 
concentration. THe player spends a Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidtaion (diff. 
of the target's Willpower). The target loses one blood point per success. Mortals sustain 
injury as if they had lost blood from being fed upon. The target actually "Sweats out" the lost 
blood in a sudden rush of sanguinary perspiration that soaks his clothes. Large amounts may even form puddles at his feet. Blood lost through htis process is considered dead, inert mortal blood and provides minimal nutrition (half normal) for Cainites desperate enough to lick it up from the floor or wring it out of towels. It provides no sustenance for the individual from whom it most recently emerged.
 In addition to the blood loss, the victim is overcome by a sense of remorse and guilt for his 
past transgressions (if he has a strong conscience) or an overwhelming compulsion to brag (if 
he is of sufficiently coarse moral character). The severity of this impulse depends on the 
number of successes rolled: One success causes a slight twinge of conscious, while five 
successes may result in a proud declariation of the subject's crimes. This effect is more 
storytelling-oriented than mechancal, and the Storyteller is the final authority on what the 
victim feels compelled to confess or boast.
 Note that this power's existance is not widely known. Vampires and mortals alike tend to 
shrink away from someone who begins spontaneously sweating blood, and experiencing such an 
affliction may panic even the staunchest individual.

OOOOO O Selective Silence (Quietus level 6)
 Although Silence of Death is an effective tool for the battlefield and the court alike, it is 
indiscriminate in its effects. The assasine who uses it in preparation for firing a shotgun 
also silences the radio over which her comrades might warn her of an oncoming guard. The 
courtier who suppresses a room full of disenting voices is likewise unable to speak her own 
mind. Selective Silence allows the skilled Assamite to overcome these limitations by silencing 
only those individuals or objects that she wants to silence.
 When using this power, most individuals exhale thin mist of blood that clings to the selected 
subjects, gradually evaporating as Selecive Silence's effects fade. Some Assamites also use a 
similar techniques when invoking Silence of Death, in which case the mist surrounds them and 
moves with them.
SYSTEM: The player spends two blood points and rolls Stamina + Stealth (diff. 8). Each success 
is one individual or object that the character can silence with this use of the power. Each 
subject must be within 20 yards of the character. Objects larger than a man count as more than 
one subject: A heavy machine gun counts as two, a car as three, and a small aircraft as five. 
Objects larger than a private jet or creatures larger than an elephant cannot be silenced 
through the use of this power.
 Each subject is compleatly silenced for a number of minutes equal to the character's permanent 
Willpower. Nothing it does generates sound, though the secondary effects of its actions will do 
so  normally. For example, a gun silenced with this power will not produce an audible explosion 
when fired, but its bullets still make noise as they break the sound barrier. A silenced victim 
can scream all she likes and not make a sound, but may be able to summon help by smashing a 
window.

Ripples of the Heart (Quietus level 6)
 According to Assamite lore, this technique originated with a Byzantine scholar who wanted to 
protect his herd from the thirst of other Cainites. Ripples of the Heart allows a Cainite to 
leave emotions within the bloodstream of any mortal from whome he feeds. Any other vampire who 
subsequently drinks from that mortal experiences those same emotions as if they were his own.
SYSTEM: The character drinks at leats one blood point from the subject mortal then spends a 
minute in physical contact with the subject while concentrating on the emotion he wishes to 
leave in her blood. The player spends a point of Willpower and rolls Charisma + Empathy (diff. 
7 under normal circumstances, 5 if the character is currently experiencing the intended emotion,
 9 if he is currently experiencing a strong opposite emotion). The subject's blood carries the 
weight of the intended emotion for one lunar month per success rolled. A mortal's blood can 
only carry one emotion at a time. Subsequent attempts so use Ripples of the Heart on the same 
individual have no effect until the previous application has worn off.
 Any vampire who drinks from a vessel under the effects fo Ripples of the Heart must succeed in 
a Self_control roll (diff of the mortal's Willpower) as soon as she swallows the first blood 
point. If she fails this roll, the vitae-borne emotion immediately overtakes her. The strength 
of the emotion depends on how many blood points she drinks. One blood point results in a 
momentary mood swing, two cause a significant shift in demeanor, and three or more generate a 
complete change in emotional steate. Depending on the circumstances and the precise emotion, 
the effects of this may be spectacular or catastrophic. A vampire overtaken by romantic passion 
may temporarily believe she is in love with the mortal (or any other convenient bystander). 
One who drinks from a hate-infused vessel may rend her prey to shreds, and one who takes a 
draught of a mortal touched with fear may run away screaming. The vampire remains subject to 
the emotion for a number of hours equal to the mortal's Willpower, though she is still subject 
to ther feelings after the initial rush of sensation.
 The mortal who is under the effects of Ripples of the HEart is unaware of the power's effects on him, though he is slightly predisposed toward the emotion in question while the power is in effect. The vampire who used Riplles of the HEart on a mortal is immune to any of its effects he places on targets through the use of this power.

OOOOO O Purification (Quietus level 6)
 Although most mortal cultures affix negative connotation to the spilling of blood, most 
Assamites -- indeed, most vampires -- have quite the opposite reaction to it. For them, blood 
is an unlife-affirming and reinvigorating substance. Purification works on this principle, 
using the power of vitae to cleanse and restore. Rather than purging foreign taints from th 
ebody, Purfivication allows its wielder to clean other individuals' minds and souls of stains, 
including those left by the mind control of other Kindred. The vampire using this power expels 
his own blood through his skin and allows it to soak through his subject, slowly dissipating. 
As it does so, it carries away spiritual impurities and outside influences.
SYSTEM: The character touches the forehead of her intended subject, and both parties spend a 
minimum of five minutes in deep concentration. The player spends a number of blood points equal 
to the subject's Willpower. The subject rolls Willpower once for every external suprernatural 
influence (a vampiric Disciplin, usually, though other supernatural creatures may have their 
own unique powers) to which his m ind has been subjected (diff of the level of the power in 
question +4, with a diff of 7 if the power has no level). A success nullifes that effect.
 Purification has its limits. It can remove directly intrusive influences such as 
Dominate-implanted commands, Dementation-generated derangements or the imperatives caused by 
elder vampires' Presence. It cannot dispel influences that are transmitted by blood, including 
a blood bond or the sipositions imparted by one's clan or bloodline, nor can it erase those 
caused by purely mundane techniques such as persuasion, hypnosis or brain-washing, or genuine 
emotional states such as love and hate. It can remove mind-altering blood magic effects, but 
either the character wielding Purification or the power's beneficiary must have a level of 
Thumaturgy equal to or greater than that with which the effect was placed. A character cannot 
use Purification on herself.

OOOOO OO Baal's Bloody Talons (Quietus level 7)
 The toxin generated by Baal's Caress is not enough to significantly harm some truely fearsome 
foes. This progressive development of that lesser technique allows its user to envenom his 
weapon with a blood-based poinson so potent that it corrodes the very wapon that bears it, 
eating away at the stongest metal in a minute or less. however, its effects on its victims are 
spectacular enough to make the loss of even the most treasured blades worthwhile. This power's 
effects are of a very limited duration, as the substance it creates will quickly evaporate away 
if it does not neutralize itself as it dissolves everything with which it comes in contact.
SYSTEM: The character coats an edged weapon with her own blood, as per Ball's Caress. The 
player spends one or more blood points and rolls WIllpower (diff. 7). The weapon now does 
aggravated damage. It also gains a numbr o fadditional damage dice equal to the number of 
successes rolled plus the number of blood points spent. These extra dice fade at a rate of 
one per turn as the poison dissipates, drips off and reacts with the weapon's material. Once 
the extra damage dice are gone, the weapon's base damage dice begin to fade at the same rate. 
This weapon breaks if used when its base damage is reduced to the wielder's strength. The only 
weapons that can resist this corrosion are those created with a supernatural power of a level 
equal to or greatet than the character's Quietus rating, and even this is subject to the 
Storyteller's discretion.
 Baal's Bloody Talons is subject to the same limitations as Baal's Caress, except the limit on 
the number of successful strikes that do aggravated damage. A weapon affected by ball's Bloody 
Talons does aggravated damage with every successful attack until it is destroyed.
 At the Storyteller's discretion, the character may use the venom this power produces for other 
purposes, such as burning through a padlock or destroying an incriminating tape. He may not, 
however, store this poins for later ues -- even if a container proves resistant to it, the 
substance becomes inert within a few minutes of leaving its creator's body.

Poison the Well of Life (quietus level 7)
 Beyond just leaving emotional traces in a subject's blood, the master of this Quietus power 
can now taint that same vitae, making it into a deadly poison for any other Cainite who drinks 
from that mortal. Some Assamites use Poison the Well of LIfe to guard their own herds against 
"poachers" or to ward specific vessels against indiscriminate feeding. Others have been known 
to employ it as a subtle trap for other vampires, turning herds against their owners. Rumor has 
it that this power sprang from the clan's studies of the Tremere curse.
SYSTEM: The character touches the mortal he wishes to taint and smears a streak of his own 
vitae on the victim's skin. The player spends three blood points and rolls Stamina + Occult 
(diff. 7). For a number of months equal to the number of successes, any other vampire who 
drinks that mortal's blood sustains two health levels of aggravated damage for every blood 
point imbibed. THis damage manifests as a combination of acid burns and something akin to toxic 
shock.
While a mortal is poisonous to vampires, his body's alchemical balance is slightly altered 
twords toxicity. He gainst two extra points of STamina for the purposes of resisting the 
effects and damage of poisons and acids. However, his bodily excretions, especially his sweat, 
are slightly more noxious than normal. He suffers a one-die penalty to all Social dice pools if 
whomever he chooses to interact with has a particularly sensitive nose and is close enough to 
smell him.

Songs of Distant Vitae (Quietus level 8)
 Many Assamite scholars believe this ancient power to have been in use as early as the Assamite 
judges' inception in the Second City, originally used as a powerful technique for punishing 
Cainites who fed improperly or with excessive cruelty. Blood magic practitioners and 
individuals skilled at Auspex have long known that vitae can carry residual impressions of 
emotion and personality. This power invokes those impressions to overwhelm its victim with 
"remembered" images and sensations drawn from the vessels who held that blood before the 
vampire fed from them. Particularly strong willed or hardened subjects may shrug off these 
vision as daydreams, but those who are less self-possessed can be permanently changed by the 
experience. A side effect of the use of this power is the partial destruction of the vitae from 
which the images are drawn. Some viziers theorize that this is the resul tof motes of the 
vessels' consciousness making an effort to escape their usurper.
SYSTEM: The character touches his target and spends a turn in concentration. The player spends 
four blood points and rolls Wits + Intimidation in a contested roll against the victim's 
permanent willpower (diff. 7). If the target has committed diablerie within a number of nights 
equal to the character's Perception, the attacker gains one automatic success. The result 
depends on the number of net successes the attacker rolls. Note that in all invocations of this 
power, the sensations that the subject relives are expressly negative and terrifying -- for 
example, he experiences none of the pleasure that would normally accompany the Kiss when he 
flashes back to such an event.
 In addition to the successes listed below, the subject of a successful attack loses a number 
of blood points equal to the number of successes rolled. This vitae erupts from his body in 
warm red trickles that do no damage but are certain to terrify onlookers.
BOTCH The attacker enters a flashback sequence in which he relives hi slast feeding from the 
vessel's point of view. If the player rolled three or more 1s, the character acquires a 
permanent derangement related to feeding.
FAILURE  The target is unharmed and immune to this power for a number of nights equal to his 
Willpower.
1 SUCCESS The target experiences a brief (10 second/3 turn) flashback sequence in which he 
relives his last feeding from the vessel's point of view. During this time, he is at a +2 
difficulty to all rolls.
2 SUCCESSES  The target experiences a brief montage (15 seconds/5 turns) of flashbacks during 
which his viewpoint flashes between various feedings from the vessels' points of view. During 
this time, he is at a +3 difficulty to all rolls. Once the inital rush of sensation passes, he 
is unsettled and at a +1 difficulty to all rolls until he succeeds on a Self-Control roll 
(diff. 8), which he may attempt once per scene.
3 SUCCESSES  The target experineces a composite memory, assembled by his own subconscious, of 
the terror that varrious vessels felt while being stalked and fed upon. He must succeed in a 
Courage roll (diff. 8) or instantly enter Rotschreck. If he succeeds n this roll, he is still 
at +3 difficulty on all actions for the rest of the scene due to the distraction that his 
visions impose.
4 SUCCESSES  The target is stunned and completely unable to act for a number of turns equal to 
8 - his Self-Control as he is bombarded by a sequence of the most terrifying memories of his 
various vessels. Once this initial onslaught subsides, he must roll Courage (diff. 9) or enter 
Rotschreck. If he fails tis roll, he must roll Self-Control (Diff. 8) or gain the Sanguinary 
Animism derangement.
5 SUCCESSES  The target is thrown into a nightmarish reenactment of the greatest fears of every 
individual upon whom he has ever fed. He must roll Self-Control (diff. 9) or fall into torpor 
for (10 - the target's stamina) nights, at the end of which he loses half his permanent 
willpower and gains the derangement Sanguinary Animism. If he succeeds on the Self-Control 
roll, he enters Rotschreck for the rest of the night, during which time his greatest fear is of 
his own image. At the end of the night, he must roll Willpower (diff. 9) or lose a permanent 
WIllpower point and gain the derangement Sanguinary Animism.

Condemn the sins of the Father (Quietus level 9)
 Although the Second City's judges recognized that heritage does not equate to guilt, they also 
encountered many situations in which a mpire's entire brood had committed the same crime. In 
such cases, the judges often decreed the same punishmet for all transgressors. This technique, 
which modern viziers beliee to have originated at that time, allows its wielder to administer 
such overreaching punishments. Through Condemn the Sins of the Father, a Cainite can apply 
lesser Quietus powers to an entire lineage. Some rumors within Alamut state that ur-Shulgi used 
COndemn teh Sins of the Father as the core of the ritual that enacted the Breaking, though no 
one has yet explained how (or where) the Shepher managed to find Haqim to use as the ritual's 
focus.
SYSTEM: After successfully using any lesser Quietus power on another vampire, the player spends 
a permanent Willpower point and 10 blod points and rolls Stamina + Occult. The difficulty of 
this roll is equal to four plus the number of generations of the original target's descendants 
that the player wants to affect, up to a maximum of 10. If the roll succeeds, every descendant 
of the original target within the specified range of generations suffers the same effects thtat 
the original target experienced, resisting with his own relevant Traits. The player may exempt 
a number of potential subjects from this effect equal to twice the character's Wits, but the 
character must know their faces or have tasted their vitae.