Body Colony
Animalism •••, Dominate •••
The urban legend about the beehive inside someone’s hair has a grain of truth. One source is the Melissid ability to cause a swarm of insects to grow inside an unwitting victim’s body.
The Kindred implants a queen within the victim — inside his ear, in a hairstyle, in the stomach or the chest cavity, or in some other orifice, and there, the insect lays its eggs. Larvae hatch and feed on the victim, protected from physical damage by this power’s magic, their presence hidden from the victim with sophisticated hypnotic barriers. The larvae stay there for weeks, until such time as they metamorphose into adult insects and erupt from the victim’s body.
The result is shock and fear for those around, massive injury to the victim (if mortal) and a swarm of insects, ripe for control by the Melissid.
The Kindred implants a queen within the victim — inside his ear, in a hairstyle, in the stomach or the chest cavity, or in some other orifice, and there, the insect lays its eggs. Larvae hatch and feed on the victim, protected from physical damage by this power’s magic, their presence hidden from the victim with sophisticated hypnotic barriers. The larvae stay there for weeks, until such time as they metamorphose into adult insects and erupt from the victim’s body.
The result is shock and fear for those around, massive injury to the victim (if mortal) and a swarm of insects, ripe for control by the Melissid.
Effect
Failure on the activation roll simply results in the queen dying: the victim scratches in the right spot to kill the insect, vomits it up, passes it in feces, washes it off, etc.
Success indicates that the victim suffers one point of lethal damage per day — without feeling any pain — until all he has no Health points remaining. At this point, the insects erupt from his body. Note that a normal mortal will heal a single Health point of lethal damage every other day. This remains true even while he’s affl icted by the Body Colony. Effectively, this just means it takes a little bit longer for the internal hive to do its grisly work.
Medical attention will reverse the effects of this power, as any competent doctor will certainly notice the nest of insects festering in his patient’s body with suitable scrutiny.
Storytellers, this is some cruel, nasty stuff, so mind the degeneration checks for characters of suitably high Humanity who use this power.
Success indicates that the victim suffers one point of lethal damage per day — without feeling any pain — until all he has no Health points remaining. At this point, the insects erupt from his body. Note that a normal mortal will heal a single Health point of lethal damage every other day. This remains true even while he’s affl icted by the Body Colony. Effectively, this just means it takes a little bit longer for the internal hive to do its grisly work.
Medical attention will reverse the effects of this power, as any competent doctor will certainly notice the nest of insects festering in his patient’s body with suitable scrutiny.
Storytellers, this is some cruel, nasty stuff, so mind the degeneration checks for characters of suitably high Humanity who use this power.
Material Components
Cost: 1 Vitae
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Presence + Animal Ken + Animalism versus the victim’s Composure + Blood Potency
Effect Casting Time
Contested; resistance is reflexive.