The Oath Unsworn
The Oath of Blood Knives requires the subject to freely swear an oath. The Oath Unsworn is largely the same — but without that inconvenient restriction. This Blood Oath does require the target Kindred to be in the presence of the vampire using the Devotion for as long as it takes to recite the text of the Oath, however, which places some restrictions on it.
A former Prince of New York imposed the Oath only in the most dire circumstances. The subject was brought before all the officers of the city, chained and manacled hand and foot, dressed in black with a hood over his head. All the officers wore white masks and, after the Prince recited each clause of the Oath, they intoned, “It is fixed.” Some of the Oaths imposed in this way took an entire night to recite.
In complete contrast, a Priscus in Brazil simply summoned the offender to stand before him. His audience hall was very long, over 100 meters, and he would start intoning the Oath as the doors were locked behind the target. A subject that could reach the Priscus before he could finish the Oath was normally immune. Needless to say, the Oaths were short and to the point. And the Priscus was renowned for his mastery of Celerity.
This Devotion is not always as useful as it might be. The Prince of an American city, many years ago, imposed this Oath on two feuding Kindred, requiring them to refrain from attacking each other, encouraging such attacks or even undermining one another socially. United by their newfound hatred of the Prince, they allied, overthrowing him, and then were both destroyed shortly afterward, when they discovered that the Oath’s power is not ended by the Final Death of the Kindred who imposed it.
It should be noted that there is no easy way to be sure this Devotion has been used. More than one Invictus Prince has backed up his rhetorical power with a simple bluff.
A former Prince of New York imposed the Oath only in the most dire circumstances. The subject was brought before all the officers of the city, chained and manacled hand and foot, dressed in black with a hood over his head. All the officers wore white masks and, after the Prince recited each clause of the Oath, they intoned, “It is fixed.” Some of the Oaths imposed in this way took an entire night to recite.
In complete contrast, a Priscus in Brazil simply summoned the offender to stand before him. His audience hall was very long, over 100 meters, and he would start intoning the Oath as the doors were locked behind the target. A subject that could reach the Priscus before he could finish the Oath was normally immune. Needless to say, the Oaths were short and to the point. And the Priscus was renowned for his mastery of Celerity.
This Devotion is not always as useful as it might be. The Prince of an American city, many years ago, imposed this Oath on two feuding Kindred, requiring them to refrain from attacking each other, encouraging such attacks or even undermining one another socially. United by their newfound hatred of the Prince, they allied, overthrowing him, and then were both destroyed shortly afterward, when they discovered that the Oath’s power is not ended by the Final Death of the Kindred who imposed it.
It should be noted that there is no easy way to be sure this Devotion has been used. More than one Invictus Prince has backed up his rhetorical power with a simple bluff.
Effect
The target of the imposed Blood Oath must be in the presence of the user of the Devotion, and must be told what he is swearing in a language he can understand. Eye contact is not necessary, but the Devotion fails if the target manages to flee out of earshot before the full Oath can be recited to him. The user of the Devotion must write the text of the Oath in his own blood, and normally does so while reciting it. However, the text can also be written shortly (no more than an hour) in advance — and since the Devotion does not take effect until the text is complete — this is normal if restraining the target is likely to be difficult.
The content of the Oath must be something that the target can reasonably do; impossible Oaths simply fail to take hold over the swearer. In addition, particularly onerous or dangerous Oaths give the target a bonus of up to +5 to his resistance roll (at the Storyteller’s discretion).
If the activation roll succeeds, the target is affected as if under an Oath of Blood Knives. The Kindred using the Devotion does not, however, immediately know whether he succeeded. If he has failed, the blood of the text dries over the course of an hour or so — thus he soon finds out. The effect of the Devotion ends when the subject breaks the Oath, thereby taking damage from it, or when the Notary or the lord releases the subject from its effects by blotting out the written oath with one Vitae of his own.
The content of the Oath must be something that the target can reasonably do; impossible Oaths simply fail to take hold over the swearer. In addition, particularly onerous or dangerous Oaths give the target a bonus of up to +5 to his resistance roll (at the Storyteller’s discretion).
If the activation roll succeeds, the target is affected as if under an Oath of Blood Knives. The Kindred using the Devotion does not, however, immediately know whether he succeeded. If he has failed, the blood of the text dries over the course of an hour or so — thus he soon finds out. The effect of the Devotion ends when the subject breaks the Oath, thereby taking damage from it, or when the Notary or the lord releases the subject from its effects by blotting out the written oath with one Vitae of his own.
Prerequisite: Auspex •••, Dominate ••, Protean ••
This power costs 12 experience points to learn.
Material Components
Cost: 1 Vitae (supplied by the subject), 1 Willpower point (supplied by the character imposing the Oath)
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + Dominate versus Composure + Blood Potency
Effect Casting Time
Contested; resistance is reflexive.