Transporte Fluvial

A vampire who’s been reworked into a Drone is a strange beast indeed. Obviously, any powers of Protean or Vicissitude are lost to them; change is not something encouraged by their new Machine half. But even more peculiar is the change in the Blood. Apparently the Machine defines vampirism as the need to consume blood to survive – but does not acknowledge the mysterious powers of Vitae. The Clarification changes all the Vitae in the Kindred’s body to inert, dead blood – the animating power of the Blood itself is lost, while the Machine half continues to animate the body and soul of the host.

Naturally, this causes several complications. The vampire’s body still requires one Vitae per night; the imbedded essence of the Machine apparently metabolizes this into animating force. However, since the vampire’s body no longer produces Vitae, the vampire no longer has “Vitae points” worth speaking of. They cannot spend Vitae to increase their Physical Attributes or to fuel blood-powered Disciplines, so Celerity and the like are no longer possible. They cannot heal wounds by spending Vitae (although the

Drone power of Regeneration more than makes up for this). And of course, they can no longer Blood Bond others, ghoul mortals, or sire offspring.

There are benefits to becoming a Drone, however – over and above the special powers granted. The vampire becomes immune to frenzy, and no longer needs to worry about losing Humanity. They become invisible and immune to Animalism or any powers that sense or provoke the Beast, as it has been permanently quelled by the Clarification. In fact, in many ways the process of becoming a Drone is tantamount to the long-sought state of Golconda – if not for the loss of one’s free will.

Souleaters

Souleaters

Souleaters

Souleaters

The being known as the Souleater Overlord has but one goal: to incorporate and become one with every living thing on the planet by infecting them with the disease known as Vicissitude. To this end, the being has created what have come to be known as the Souleaters, a general term used to describe all the creatures tainted by Vicissitude to the point where they become alien beings controlled by the Overlord itself. These creatures are slowly overwhelming the physical realm by either absorbing or infecting everything in their path.

“The disease of Vicissitude can infect anyone and anything, living or undead. It can even infect plants and insects, but seldom does so, as it can only gain sentience if the host is sentient. There are no cures available. It is impossible to remove the infection, as doing so would kill the host.

The infection grows over time and can prevail in as little as a day or as long as a millennium, but eventually all succumb, and the thing inside attains awareness. The Souleater slowly and subtly weaves itself into the mind and anatomy of the host, wrapping its tendrils around the veins and heart of the victim, extending its mouth and eyestalks up into the skull of the host and attaching to the backs of the host’s eyes. The Souleater gnaws away the rotting flesh inside the host and excretes its own anatomy to fill the body, allowing the host to reshape their bones and flesh at will.

Small, needle-like hooks infiltrate the mind and form parasitic synapses within the brain that allow the host to use Vicissitude, but they also consume memories and thought patterns. The host never realizes they are being taken over. The host and Souleater become integrated, and the Souleater takes full control. The Souleater maintains access to the host’s personality, memories, powers, and abilities. The Souleaters can continue to pretend they are the host, but often little signs of their alienness give them away, such as eating their own flesh and then growing it back.

Most Souleaters continue using the appearance of the host, though some simply turn into big globs of flesh and ooze about. There are even cases where several Souleaters have joined the fleshy-stuff of their bodies together to form horrifying things best left to the imaginations of the insane.

The hosts’ soul also serves as nourishment and helps the creature grow. The Souleater eventually craves more spirit energy and will begin slaying small children and animals just to eat their spirits. The Souleater consumes the spirit by causing a tube-like projection with a small gaping maw ringed with needle-like teeth to emerge from its eye or mouth. The tube-like structure can penetrate flesh as if it was a knife, and it is usually inserted into the eye, ear, mouth, or throat of the victim.

It takes only a couple of minutes for the Souleater to consume the spirits. Victims always die from the experience, and even those who are saved before a Souleater can finish its meal are never the same again. Souleaters seldom feed, but when they do, they go on eating binges – killing five or more people in the process.

A Souleater has the same basic qualities of its host. A Souleater of a mortal requires food, water, oxygen, and has all the weaknesses of humans. A Souleater of a Lupine is alive, has some Lupine powers, and can be harmed by silver. In addition, these Souleaters have life spans similar to those of their hosts. A Souleater of a vampire remains undead, has Disciplines, must feed upon blood, and can be harmed by sunlight and fire.”1

There are many varieties of Souleaters, all with the same basic Attributes, Skills, and supernatural powers and weaknesses of their hosts. The Souleaters can take over any creature, including Lupines, mages, and mortals, so long as the victim has become infected with Vicissitude. While vampiric Souleaters do not lose any of their hosts’ vampiric Disciplines, Souleaters of other creatures usually lose the Gifts, Spheres, and Numina belonging to their hosts. Souleaters gain great mastery over their own forms through

1

Vicissitude. Their ratings in it range from one to seven, depending on the individual Souleater, but most Souleaters have a slightly higher rating than the former host had.

Note that the fourth level Vicissitude power “Horrid Form” is believed to be the natural form of the Souleater. However, some Souleaters are not powerful enough to take on the Horrid Form. All Souleaters can use Vicissitude without any cost whatsoever. However, vampire Souleaters must expend Vitae to use their other vampiric powers. The system for using this disease can be found on p. 124 of the Guide to the Sabbat for Vampire: The Masquerade. Once an infected character acquires five

Derangements due to Vicissitude taint, they become a complete Souleater under the sway of their Overlord and are no longer playable.