Reviving the Pijavica

[Leliel]

So, say someone (probably a Dragon/Acolyte team) finds a way to revive this Slavic clan of Thing wannabes, and successfully brings them back to unlife. How we got there was probably worth a chronicle, but this is about what happens now that they're back, confused little blood blobs in an unfamiliar world.

What Disciplines are inherent, you think, and what's a mature (ie, playable) one's Clan Curse? Maybe the reason the werewolves decided NOPE is because their Clan Discipline is something relating to spirits and ephemeral beings (besides the fact that they were probably raided for blood and were understandably pissed)?

I mainly ask because they sounded awesome.

[scrivnomancer]

Yeah, of the Lost Clans, I think they might be among the easiest to bring back into one's chronicle. Some strange residue in an ancient well. An unbroken specimen jar sold at a late night auction. Something slithering about in a well preserved bog body (as it's opened on the dissection table). The super mold growing in Chernobyl.

[LostLight]

I wonder if the Pijavica could learn to embrace like a normal vampire, just that the one embraced would have to spend some time in the jelly like form..

[Baaldam]

Well, the way thinks are described in the text, i would call them more of a "stillborn" than "lost" clan, something reinforced by the fact the best data about them comes from a Dragon experimenting with buffing their reproductive processes for the sake of study/experimentation, and in fact the werewolf smackdown might have more to do with the Dragon's methods (it IS implied he might have used werewolves as guinea pigs/vessels in its observation of Pijavica's growth/maturation) than the "lost clan" nature per se.

My impression overall is that they sprung from a combination of mundane & supernatural conditions that were pretty rare already and became almost impossible after some time and might never, ever happen again if one does not somehow isolate what conditions were those in the first place - or maybe it will happen again, either in Transylvania or some completely unrelated part of the world with no one the wiser and succed on its own, due to the accidental spontaneous repetition of the same set of peculiar circunstances or a similar but less statistically improbable one. Or a combination of both.

That said i doubt they would be called the same name if it happened somewhere outside eastern europe or communities with an eastern european background. :P

As an aside, checking out the Wicked Dead and B&S versions of the Jiangshi for comparison and reference on "random wandering monster to kindred clan" evolution might be very interesting indeed.

[Leliel]

I wonder if the Pijavica could learn to embrace like a normal vampire, just that the one embraced would have to spend some time in the jelly like form..

I got the sense they already did, it's what happens afterwards that's so bizarre. The Embraced dies, rots, then bursts out of his own corpse in gelatinous cube of blood form. What did them in was the need for that largely helpless larval form lasting for over a month, with the sire quite possibly being driven away before the larva actually emerged in desperate need of a sire to guide and protect him before he congealed.

I actually read "once Embraced" there, so the lack of conditions needed for a Pijavica is a non-issue; the real need is for an actual sire.

...Actually, that's a good way for them to get established if someone revives them. There's blood banks and pet stores now, meaning there can be an ample supply of blood for the larva that can be easily spilled without fangs. Also, there's enough privacy and ways to avoid a missing persons search that the metamorphosing body can be safely hidden for the term of incubation, then left out in the open since a rotted, bloodless corpse is mundane ("Oh, she must have putrefied..").

[Gnomish American]

the question, assuming they survived the month long gestation, is what are their disciplines and their weakness going forward? My take would be Animalism, Celerity, *Squicky Clan Discipline*... hmmm...

[Demdemeh]

They already have Bloodform and body melting; this seems like the perfect place for something like Vicissitude.

[Tatterdemalion King]

Some quick brainstorming:

Discipline wise I'm honestly thinking Vicissitude would work or Protean honestly with some peculiar Devotions or a level altering merit or two. Alternate Protean 5 as Bloodform (Also see Saki Pata from Ancient Bloodlines at 5 in particular). Might just be easier giving them a custom Discipline.

I'm thinking Resilience for another; gelatinous goo being harmed by conventional attacks outside of banes seems even less likely to be an issue for them. Given the larval state isn't going to mean a skyrocket of Disciplines, it's definitely one I can see cultivated when they start forming up.

The third Discipline? Not a clue. I don't see them being quick. They may be a particularly physical clan like the Daeva, strong, tough, mutable in form but not particularly adept at luring in their prey (which would also explain a necessity for a sire to show them the ropes or their difficulty in survival). Possibly Obfuscate; it may be that they always look off or strange, oozing into borrowed corpses and bodies or something else strange given their writeup's note of a "mostly human form". Sometimes when you feel like something cold and moist slithered briefly against you... it was one of them unseen.

The rest of the common Disciplines don't really click with me for them. Why would a gooey Thing-esque thing be preternaturally fast? Why would it control beasts? Perhaps these guys fill the "strong, tough vampire" niche, a counterpart to their relatively vulnerable initial state after they've got some bodily control. I'm kinda leaning towards that more. If more nuanced, Vicissitude, Obfuscate, Resilience? If tough, physically imposing monsters, Vicissitude, Vigor, Resilience. Real fucking monsters once the pretense of humanity drops and they get hungry.

For me the tougher questions would be more "What Clan Bane?" along with "What Favoured Attributes?". Also, what odd abilities may they have? Would they lack something the general Kindred take for granted in lieu of some other ability such as turning into mobile blood, or shedding their old skins? Would they be like the Jiang Shih, retaining a power tied to their prior heritage (the grave teleportation thing)? I'm tempted to say they'd be more vulnerable to fire than the average Kindred, but something to do with an instability of form as their Humanity drops would be more interesting.

[Gnomish American]

Sakti Pati came to my mind immediately as well, and I could definitely see Resilience fit better with your description. As for why I said Animalism... well the primal leach thing just clicked for me as a primal power that seemed to fit... but I was kind of on the fence between it and Obcuscate. So I definitely could see them With Obfuscate, Resilience and *Squick*

As for Favored Attributes I would suggest Dexterity or Resolve to represent their fluidity of form and the effect of being a leech-thing for a month.

Clan Bane- hmmm.... I got two:

The Manifold Curse - While the Leeches' fluid nature is often considered their greatest strength it can also be considered their greatest weakness. Their undead flesh undulates constantly, most notably when they feed. Whenever a Leech feeds their body reacts causing them to roll Humanity with a penalty equal to the number of vitae consumed, failure causes them to gain a monstrous trait, effectively doubling their Humanity Penalty (with a minimum of 1).

The Epicure Curse - The Leeches early need to large quantities of blood seems to have an affect upon their palate so that they can stomach fewer and fewer sources of vitae, adding the social penalty caused by their humanity rating to their Blood Potency to determine how restricted their feeding is.

[Gnomish American]

I was working on this and thought it was pretty solid. Sorry that it's not finished, but the discipline I came up with seems to be good...

Pijavica

Nickname: Parasites
Clan Bane: The Epicurean Curse- The type of vessel that can sustain a Pijavica is determined by either their Blood Potency or subtracting their Humanity Rating from 10, whichever is higher.
Favored Attributes: Dexterity or Resolve
Clan Disciplines: Hosta, Obfuscate, Resilience

Hosta - The Pijavica's parasitic nature is manifested through the unique qualities of their vitae, which at times seems to have a mind of its own and a desperate need to spread.
• Wormfinger – The Leech is able to feed from any skin contact. Cost- none Roll- Dexterity + Brawl + Hosta, success allows the Pijavica to draw one blood, they may continue to feed for as long as they keep skin to skin contact. Feeding this way instills the Swooning or Scarred conditions as normal, in addition if feeding peacefully, no mark is left behind.
•• Transmit – The Pijavica may spread a bit of his vitae back through when using worm tongue, imbuing the victims blood with a measure of tainted vitae. Cost – 1 vitae Roll – none, effects Wormfinger. The following effects may be used –
•The victim becomes moves up one step toward a vinculum.
•With the expenditure of one willpower point and a full vinculum the victim can be made a ghoul.
•From that point on, the victim’s blood wants to go to the Pijavica, allowing the Leech to draw a number of vitae per turn equal to their dots in Hosta when using Wormfinger
• gain a blood sympathy for the target.
••• Hungry Flesh– Cost 1 vitae per dot, Roll – none – the Pijavica may “borrow” a bit of their victims knowledge, gaining 1 dot of 1 mental, physical or social attribute for each point of vitae spent, the skill may be used for the rest of the scene but is lost to the victim until they heal the damage caused by blood loss. While in possession of another individual's attributes the Parasite's features become mishappened and unnatural in appearance, for each trait stolen treat the character's humanity as being one less to determine the social penalty made against Mortals.
•••• Crawling Blood – Cost 2 Vitae, Roll – Strength + Persuasion + Hosta. The Pijavica’s host’s own blood works against her, causing her to act erratically, Each success on the roll allows the vampire to cause their target to act in a particular way once for the rest of the scene.

••••• Corrupt Seed – Cost 3 Vitae, 1 Willpower, the Pijavica can infect a host as with Transmit but instead of gaining any of the effects of that power. Instead the target gains the following effects.
• They gain a dot of Resilience.
• They are able to add the character’s Hosta rating to any attempt to resist blood addiction or Blood bond, including toward the infecting character.
• The host gains all of the benefits of being a ghoul and generates 1 vitae a month for the duration of their time under the effects of this power.

The vampire may create one Seed per dot of Blood Potency or Hosta (whichever is lower). At any point afterward the vampire may choose to spend a dot of willpower to activate the true power of the Corrupted seed, causing one of the following effects
• The host dies immediately and rises as a new Pijavica
• The vampire expires in a gout of brackish dead blood, only to wake up in the body of his host,
• The Host instinctively finds the closest group of people and then dies, spraying tainted vitae over everyone around them, effectively activating the Transmit power upon everyone near by, up to the number of health levels they possessed before dying.

[Leliel]

Nice. Also makes sense that beings who had spend a while as unliving blood would have a Discipline based on manipulating it.

[Tatterdemalion King]

Hmm, would Transmit work at range? Is it something that can be triggered (the various effects) after initial infection? I think that portion of it may benefit from a whole "dormant infection" flavour to it; you don't know you've been infected by them until too late, instead of the usual direct, feeding, ghouling and bonding with direct contact. All it takes is a touch... and your contaminated for all sorts of nastiness later.

Some aspects of this resemble a bit of what I had written up for the Wendigo bloodline in the game I co-run; I was thinking of using the new Gustuus in the Homebrew link to replace what I had initially, but this may be helpful to you with the Discipline tinkering;

That one was very much designed to be a "You are who you eat" power as it progressed. In this one, I could see the higher levels becoming more of you, well... being able to appear like and mimic your prey/hosts. Think The Thing angle played up further. At first... you contaminate them, sewing the seeds for later, easier feeding upon your chosen hosts and such. And later, bit by bit, you start to become more like them on a physical level. They may even keep a number of fleshy identities in reserve equal to BP or Discipline rating, outward skins they can don. Consume your prey from the inside, become them without.

The thing I'm wondering is if the Bloodform is kept within the Discipline itself, distilling yourself down to infect corpses as the 4 or 5 (drain them dry, use them up, wear their body like a meat puppet like Saki Pata 5). Bypasses feeding on aspects of your prey and mimicking them, to outright hijacking them when they're so nice and dead and you're done with them via earlier powers. Thoughts?

[Gnomish American]

No, Transmit only works when using Wormfingers, which requires touch and cannot be triggered after the fact... unless you're using the level five effect and then I figure... why not. The dormant infection is actually an idea for a devotion. In fact most of your ideas make good devotions... Except the distilling thing... that's kind of how level five works if I'm reading you right.

The way I have them written up the Pijavica hunt the dead... and werewolves/mages/changelings/jackalopes etc...etc...etc.

as for your identity theft thing I think that Obfuscate covers that well... though... What if the Hungry flesh allowed you to steal social attributes as well, making you look more and more like your victim only with the penalty... hence... wait I didn't post that... I'm going to post what I have written so far just so we're on the same page.

Please remember, this is very rough:

Pijavica
The ones you take with you

Something dead approaches. It almost looks like a man, almost. You can’t put your finger on it, not exactly, but you know that whatever it is, it’s going to eat you. It knows you know what it is and doesn’t care because you’re already dead. You shoot it, but the bullets pass through it, you claw and kick and slam your fists against it, but it doesn’t seem to notice and with every blow you feel your strength wane. His touch slithers through your skin, like hungry worms and then he’s gone. The next day no one believes your story, not even you.

The Pijavica are the night’s best kept secret. They’ve hidden from the Living and Dead alike for over a century, perfecting a masquerade the likes of which the Invictus could never hope to match. If they can, they’ll make sure no one finds them ever again.

As far as the world is concerned, the last of the Leeches died when a pack of wolves devoured them and before that, they were nothing more than an aberration. Of course, none of that is true.

The Pijavica long ago mastered the art of hiding in plain sight, of hunting amongst the herd and feeding without anyone knowing. Not even their host. They’re not even feared, very few legends remain of their activities and for good reason, for they hunt the most dangerous game of all.

The Pijavica hunt monsters.

Due to their particular brand of the Curse, the Pijavica’s tastes are ever growing more and more rarified until only the dead and stranger things can sate them which has led to their existence, when it’s noted at all, being conflated with VII or Hunters or stranger things. And it’s not just the dead either. The Leeches are known, after a fashion, by the wolves and warlocks and good folk too, they cause strike and foment paranoia wherever they go, but as with when they pray on the dead, their target never suspects them.

Clan Origins
• The parasite existed for a very long time, it constantly sought new hosts, the higher on the food chain the better. When it found men in the forest it found the apex and it was happy but then the dead thing came and drank from it and it knew fear. it wasn’t long before the dead thing caught wind to the fact that the parasite’s host was different and made him a favorite source of blood. The parasite changed its host, making it more attractive to the dead thing until one night the dead thing killed it and made the parasite like itself. Now, finally the Parasite was truly at the top of the food chain.

• The Alchemist had worked tirelessly to create the perfect panacea and discovered it in the form of bezoar stone. The creation of the stone was quite accidental; a strange mix of snake lung, peat, fetid water and blood, but the effect upon his subject was near miraculous. Not only had he been cured of his minor ails and afflictions but wounds would be healed more quickly, and he even began to lose the scars that he’d amassed over the years. The Alchemist’s patient was killed; it seemed that there were limits to what the bezoar could do. When the Alchemist moved to examine the bezoar, however, he found the heavily distended abdomen of his patient and upon cutting it open he discovered the very first of the Pijavica, the Alchemist was happy to sacrifice his own life so that his creation could live.

• The star fell from the sky on a starless night, when not even the moon dared showed its face. Where it landed the ground was blighted and the animals soon died, wasting away until they collapsed, their meat already rotten when they fell. The crops withered and soon the farmers were left sickly and hungry and more than a little mad. One of the farmers lost his wife to the blight but couldn’t bring himself to burn her body no matter how black or bulbous it became and when her body burst and the bloody black thing crawled out of her he was the first to fall to its hunger.

Why you want to be us
We are the apex predator, we hunt the hunters and we do it with no one ever expecting a thing. When we move among the Kindred we do so as hidden predators, just as they do the living. We are the boogieman that no one thinks to fear.

Why you should fear us
The Ventrue are so proud of their status as alphas but it matters little to the carrion that strips the meat from their bones. The Nosferatu keep you up at night, afraid of the dark, but Pijavica are waiting when you’re finally convinced you’re safe and you’ll never even know it.

Why we should fear ourselves
What is a lamprey to the shark? What is a vulture to the lion if it only strikes after the big cat’s already dead? What’s the point of hunting the most dangerous game in the world if there’s no one you can show your trophies to? If no one remembers you, did you ever exist at all?

[Gnomish American]

Also some of the devotions I was thinking about:

Stolen Life
(Hosta •, Obfuscate ••)

The Parasite may feed from another vampire without him ever becoming the wiser... at least for a time. As long as he takes small sips the Pijavic may mask their theft until the end of the scene by drinking no more vitae from a vampire than they have dots of Hosta. The vampire in question will not know that the blood has been taken until the end of the scene unless they have cause to expend vitae.

Masoch's Feast
(Hosta •, Resilience •)

The Parasite has become adept at feeding quickly, allowing him to trade blows for blood. whenever someone attacks the vampire he may steal a number of vitae equal to the amount of damage he's taken, limited by the lower of his Hosta or Resilience dots.

[Unahim]

Why we should fear ourselves
What is a lamprey to the shark? What is a vulture to the lion if it only strikes after the big cat’s already dead? What’s the point of hunting the most dangerous game in the world if there’s no one you can show your trophies to? If no one remembers you, did you ever exist at all?

"Also, who the hell wants to be a weird slime creature?"