Page 30 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

THE RESPONSE

The Ascending Ones are not, as a group, aware of the truth or take pieces of skin. One day they took my little finger. If I refused,
behind the Created. Their potions allow them some respite from they simply stopped feeding me. I considered letting them starve me to
Disquiet, though, and this allows them to see a deeper truth to death, but I lack the courage, and I always ate what was offered.
the Created than “quasi-human monster made out of stolen I waited in that dark metal room for eight months. The walls
flesh.” Regardless of how a Promethean came to life, the As- between the worlds grew thinner. I tried to warn them. They would not
cending Ones don’t hold their supernatural origin against them. listen. Finally I heard the screams from outside as the spirits slipped
While this conspiracy doesn’t fully understand the Pilgrimage, their bonds. One of the spirits blew the door from the hinges and said,
they regard it to be a miracle, a perfect expression of Allah’s “Join us! Join the dance! Tear, rend, indulge, for you are free!”
mercy and the potential for redemption and peace for all beings.
And, as always, I heeded the words of the spirits.
This doesn’t mean that the Ascending Ones believe they
should help the Prometheans. Instead, they attempt to steer the — from the journal of Orestes Vrettos
Created away from dangerous situations that will get them — or The Cheiron Group refers to Prometheans as “Artificial Or-
innocent people — killed. The conspiracy recognizes that Dis- ganics,” and regards them as top-priority Potential Assets. They
quiet is impossible to counteract forever, and so they attempt to don’t know much about these beings, except that they have so much
avoid it. Instead, they focus on arranging serendipitous ways for unrealized potential, and their rarity makes them a tempting prize.
the Created to learn their lessons and keep moving. TCG has only run across Prometheans a few times in mod-
Of course, not all Prometheans are seeking a path to grace. ern history. They run into the same problems with Disquiet
When the Ascending Ones find one of the Created that em- that any group does, but Disquiet is a secondary concern to
braces its role as “monster,” they put it down, quickly and sadly, the Wasteland. Ideally, the Cheiron Group likes to capture
letting its ashes drift away on the wind. supernatural beings alive and harvest body parts and fluids at
leisure, but as Orestes Vrettos points out, this eventually leads
Prometheans, unique among supernatural beings, have the
potential to achieve the greatest gift of all: humanity. To the As- to the prison breaking down in some way. As such, the Chei-
ron Group is always looking for a way to combat this effect. So
cending Ones, those that reject this precious gift do not deserve it.
far, however, they have come up empty. They have, however,
New Elixir: Gentle Mind ( ) learned some interesting things about Created anatomy.
Resisting Disquiet is difficult. Even people with strong wills The Cheiron Group is one of the few hunter organizations
eventually succumb to it. Why? Because Disquiet is not a force that recognize that the various Lineages are different “species” of
battering against the gates of the mind. It is a fire that gradually the same creature. While they don’t understand the origins of the
burns brighter and hotter. In order to resist Disquiet, the mind Lineages, they do know that all Created contain a caustic liquid that
must be able to adapt to the fire, rather than suffer its heat. seems to carry memories or information. Extracting this stuff leads
to partial amnesia and the Cheiron Group isn’t sure why. The mem-
Gentle Mind is a thin, clear, flavorless liquid that looks ories lost don’t always correspond to recent events or even significant
like a strong liquor. Drinking it carries a sudden, heady kick ones; in one experiment, technicians extracted the liquid and the
and a spreading calm sensation. Promethean forgot about watching dogs interact at a local park.
Action: Instant Whatever the truth of this “vitriol,” the Cheiron Group
Roll Results has put it to good use.
Dramatic Failure: Unlike many Elixirs, a dramatic failure

here doesn’t poison the character. However, it does make the New Thaumatechnology:
drinker more susceptible to Disquiet. The hunter’s player suffers a Vitriol Pump ( )
-2 on all rolls to resist Disquiet for the next 24 hours. However, the A Vitriol Pump is similar to the external insulin pump that
hunter still feels the rush and calm after drinking it, so he usually some diabetics use. It is a small, plastic device, about the size of
doesn’t know that the Elixir will not have the desired effect. a deck of cards, worn on an underarm harness with a tube lead-
Failure: The character responds as though drunk. (See p. ing into the hunter’s side. When necessary, the hunter pushes
177 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.) a button on a remote control (usually worn on the belt or wrist)
Success: Ties on Disquiet rolls result in no increase in the Dis- and releases a cocktail of low-grade sedatives, saline solution,
quiet Condition, even if both parties fail the Disquiet roll. In addi- and a tiny amount of vitriol into her bloodstream.
tion, if the character comes into contact with someone who’s conta- The vitriolic mixture grants the hunter access to past suc-
gious in stage four Disquiet, the player can spend a Willpower point cesses. Also, it allows her to activate muscle memory, which
to reduce that character’s Disquiet back to stage three. It won’t cure is related to a moment when she acted correctly, to take over
the afflicted character, but it will stop the Disquiet from spreading. a current endeavor. From the hunter’s perspective, she expe-
Exceptional Success: As above, but the hunter also receives riences the sensory memory of that past success, along with a
a +2 to all Disquiet rolls. flood of memories that aren’t hers. These memories belong to
the Promethean whose vitriol runs through the hunter’s veins.
The Cheiron Group Benefit: When activated, the Vitriol Pump allows the player
In a dark, metal room, I waited. Every few days, they would come to add three successes to a roll, drawing on memories of when the
and force me to put my hand through the slot. They would draw blood, character did something similar, and did it flawlessly. Because of

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