Category:Zelani

General Information

 Parent Clan/Covenant: Daeva

 Sobriquet: None

 Source: Carthian Movement, p. 166

 Disciplines: Celerity, Majesty, Vigor and Auspex

Bloodline Gift: Serendipity

The Zelani's founder seems to believe they have a great role to play. That being true or not these are vampires who always seem to be exactly where they should, and their rivals learn that the hard way. By spending a Willpower a Zelani may curse one hostile action against her. All 1’s rolled in it are subtracted from the successes obtained.

Bloodline Bane

The Zelani bear the mark of the trauma resulting from the founder's Embrace. Zelani are unable to enter a residence of any kind without an invitation from someone who dwells there. For buildings such as an apartment or hotel, The invitation doesn't have to be from the owner, but must be from a resident, not a visitor, and this applies to individual units within the building, but not to the common areas such has lobbies, hallways, etc. Buildings someone is using as their primary residence but which aren't normally homes, such as a homeless person squatting in an abandoned building, do count.

Until such an invitation is given, the Zelani may not cross the threshold of the building, and the Zelani cannot force such an invitation (such as with Dominate), but can use Majesty or other powers that don't directly force the target to take an action.

If the Zelani enters the dwelling without an invitation, or is forced to do so, roll the character's Strength + Resolve. Each success inflicts one level of aggravated damage on the character. It is possible for the character to die from this damage.

Devotions

Stars In Alignment (Auspex ••••)

This draining Devotion is the ace in the hole, so to speak, of the Zelani Bloodline. By briefly meditating a Serpent can open herself to the indecipherable truths of the cosmos around her, the curious aspect of the Beast now picking just small pockets of information, but draining all of it into the Zelani. This knowledge reflects in a surprising ability to always pick on the right clues and cues.

 Cost: 1 Vitae, 1 Willpower

 Dice Pool: Wits + Composure + Auspex

 Action: Instant

 Failure: Nothing happens.

 Success: The Zelani chooses one Skill to gain one additional success on any non-Contested roll she attempts for the rest of the night, up to a number of times equal to her successes on the activation roll.

 Exceptional Success: In addition to the previous effects, the Zelani adds dumb, stupid luck to her already otherworldly ability to shape fate. All her actions are Exceptional Successes with three, instead of five successes.

This Devotion costs 2 Experiences.

Turn of Phrase (Auspex •••, Majesty •)

Some people just know what to say, and when. A Zelani with this Devotion doesn’t read minds, but instead captures feelings, fragmented memories and overall telltales from those in conversation to, even without any understanding of what she is absorbing, say that perfect thing to start all interactions in the best way possible.

 Cost: 1 Vitae

 Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy + Auspex

 Action: Instant

 Failure: Nothing happens.

 Success: The Zelani works with the Storyteller or PC so her character can say ‘just the right thing’ to win that character’s interest instantly. If this is too complicated, it is assumed the Zelani has ‘it’. Whatever happens the vampire can choose between two effects: Establish a Perfect First Impression with all the characters involved in the scene, or gain 9-again on all Social rolls with the characters in the scene.

 Exceptional Success: The Perfect First Impression persists indefinitely, until the Zelani or someone else does something to degrade it, or gain an Advanced Action to one Social roll with each character in the scene.

This Devotion costs 2 Experiences.

The Butterfly Effect (Auspex ••, Celerity ••, Vigor ••)

Everything matters and the Zelani know it. By infusing some of their fateful vitae into an action, be it a simple wave of hand at the beggar down the street or throwing a coin away, the Daeva is playing the role of the butterfly and accelerating the effects of those actions, twisting them for her own benefit.

 Cost: 1 Vitae

 Action: Instant

For each turn after the first the Butterfly Effect grows, and at any time the Zelani can declare she is taking advantage of it to benefit another action. This can be a rose falling on his hand just as he is about to drop a pick-up line, or an enemy suddenly running out of space, making his attack easier. The amount of bonus dice is equal to the turns the Zelani waited before acting, to a maximum of 5.

This Devotion costs 3 Experiences.

Ace in the Hole (Vigor ••, Majesty ••)

It’s the last hand, and cards are drawn… and the Zelani gets JUST the ace she needed. A gunfight begins and the unarmed vampire takes cover, only to find a pistol there, waiting for him. How lucky! Or is it? By converging fate and making herself the shining star of destiny a Zelani can make things work right for her, changing the course of an event for the better in a subtle, but aggressive, way.

 Cost: 3 vitae, 1 Willpower

 Action: Instant

The Zelani can insert an element in the scene that wasn’t previously there. The element being there must be plausible, even if improbable, so while she could find a sword in a grass field the Daeva will never find a living shark there. All the elements ‘placed’ in the scene this way have, for all intents and purposes, always been there, and do not show up magically. Additionally the Zelani cannot place any element that will cause damage to another directly, so while she may find that her enemy has a container held by steel cables overhead, she cannot suddenly make a pit show up beneath an aggressor’s feet. Any items placed in a scene by this Devotion are completely ordinary, and any permanent benefit the Zelani could obtain is somehow taken by fate as soon as the scene ends.

This Devotion costs 1 Experience.