Page 181 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER THREE: HUNTER ORGANIZATIONS
Skeleton Key (•) dragged through the street and stoned. Aegis Kai Doru scholars
It’s said that no lock, no matter how sturdy, can keep variously claim that this blood was gathered by Vatican occultists
out Death. Bar yourself behind doors and wards and mystical during her menses or that it was collected from the place of her
execution. A darker twist on the legend states that Pope Joan was
barriers all you like, but Death has a key for all of them. The revealed as a woman when she became pregnant and gave birth to
Skeleton Key Relic might not literally be Death’s enchanted a son, and that the blood comes from this papal infant.
key, but it does give hunters an uncanny ability to bypass Benefi t: The Blood of Pope Joan counts as a level-one blessed item
obstacles in their path. (see The World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 214). In addition, were-
The Skeleton Key is a small, silver key in an archaic style,
tarnished from long use. The teeth are grooved in such a way wolves suffer a -2 penalty to all rolls made against a hunter carrying this
Relic. The Blood of Pope Joan’s mystical ties to the moon (which lends
as to suggest human dentition, and the bow is an intricately credence to the theory that the Relic is the female pope’s menstrual

detailed model of a human skull with tiny flecks of sapphire blood) repels the supernatural element of a werewolf’s being in much
in the eye sockets. The key is always cold to the touch, even if the same way that the like poles of two magnets repel each other.
carried in the hand or worn next to the skin for hours.
Benefi t: The Skeleton Key fi ts any lock that uses an ac- Eye of Hubris (••)
tual key, regardless of the type or design. It does not work on This quartz crystal is the size of a tennis ball and the shape
card locks, code locks, or any other form of security device. of a human eyeball. Strange colors swirl within its depths,
When a character inserts the key into a lock and turns it, suggesting the iris and pupil of some strange, ancient being.
he may spend a point of Willpower to unlock the door auto- The Eye has no active effect that the Aegis Kai Doru has dis-
matically. If he leaves the Skeleton Key in the lock until the covered, but its mere presence seems to infuriate witches as it
door is closed again, the door automatically re-locks itself causes their spells to go awry more frequently.
with no sign of having been opened. Even tamper-detection Action: Instant
methods (such as a piece of tape run across the door and its Dice Pool: None
jamb) are reset. This Relic only unlocks a door; it cannot Cost: None, but activating the Eye of Hubris causes
remove a bar or wedge securing the door, nor does it allow a the hunter to go blind in one eye for the rest of the scene,
door that has been blocked, such as with a piece of furniture, temporarily gaining the One Eye Flaw (see the World of
to be unlocked. Darkness Rulebook, p. 219). The hunter does not gain ex-
The Skeleton Key can also open doors that have been tra experience from this Flaw.
sealed or warded with supernatural power. In addition to pay- Benefi t: The Eye of Hubris causes magic to misfire in its

ing the normal Willpower point cost, the key’s owner must vicinity. Any time a monster uses a power that is obviously
roll Intelligence + Presence, with a penalty equal to the num- magical (such as a fireball or turning into a wolf), he suffers a

ber of successes the caster of the magical ward earned on the -2 penalty on the activation roll. Powers with no roll are unaf-
power’s activation roll (see below for roll results). fected. The Eye of Hubris’ effects last for one scene.
Cost: 1 Willpower.
Roll Results Icarine Servitor (•••)
Dramatic Failure: The door opens, but instead of what- At first blush, this appears to be nothing more than a

ever should be behind the door, it opens onto someplace...else. crude mannequin made of wax, about the size of a doll,
It might be a distant (and dangerous) location on Earth, or it with rudimentary wings made of thin sticks tied with string.

might be a bizarre, twisted reflection of the hunter’s surround- Should a character anoint the figure with a dab of honey and

ings or a vast, seemingly endless maze of tangled brambles. stick a feather into its waxen head, the figure comes to a kind

Failure: The magical ward remains in place. of gruesome life. Although extremely susceptible to heat, the
Success: The door unlocks. The creator of the mystical Icarine Servitor can serve as a useful spy or even assassin.
ward automatically knows the door has been breached. Benefi t: When activated, the Icarine Servitor becomes a
Exceptional Success: As a normal success, but the ward’s tiny, living creature with the following statistics:
creator does not know the ward has been broken.
Attributes:
Attributes: Intelligence 1,
Blood of Pope Joan (••) Wits 2, Resolve 2, Strength 1,
Religious relics have long occupied a significant place in the minds Dexterity 4, Stamina 2, Pres-

of the faithful. From the bones of saints to splinters of the True Cross, ar- ence 0, Manipulation 0, Compo-
tifacts of the faith have inspired pilgrimages, the construction of shrines sure 1
Skills:
Skills: Athletics 2, Stealth
and even the occasional holy war. Most relics are in the hands of vari- 4, Weaponry 1
ous religious organizations, especially the Catholic Church, but down Willpower: N/A
Willpower:
through the centuries, the Aegis Kai Doru has acquired several religious Initiative: 5
Initiative:
relics possessed of supernatural powers. Defense: 4
Defense:
The Blood of Pope Joan reputedly comes from the only Speed: 6 (Species factor 1),
Speed:

woman ever to hold the Papal office. According to legend, Pope fly 15 (Species factor 10)
Size:
Joan disguised herself as a man and served as Pope for two years in Size: 2
Health: 4
th
the late 11 century before her ruse was discovered and she was Health:
180
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