The Octopod Umbra
The Devils from the Sea

"What are the wild waves saying, Sister, the whole day long, That ever amid our playing I hear but their low, lone song?"

Copyrighted © by Shadow

For a long time now mortals have been telling tall tales of not going near the coastal waters at night. There have been untold legends of walking humanoid Octopi robbing the life from the late night travelers and drinking their body, dry of their blood. It is said that the beasts have the hair made of up tentacles growing from their slimy scalps and faces that are lifeless and cold.

Vampires and octopi both are nocturnal creatures feeding on what roams by them, usually unseen and unnoticed. Thus providing a perfect balance if the two could be fused together. One intelligent aquatic scientist did just that. It so happened he was also a vampire.

His name was Louis Antoine, whose idea would change the face of the legend of kindred. He believed that he could channel the octopus and vampire by using vitae and the octopus's own DNA cells. He began his research in a coastal research facility and spent years working on ways to make his idea work.

As the time went by he decided he needed an assistant to help with such an evolution. Her name was Doris Rollins, a marine biologist that would help at the facility during nights and weekends at the aquariums. She was accepting of her embrace and very bound to the creation Louis had in mind.

After ten years of research and experimenting with their vitae Louis and Doris had a break through. They noticed that their supernatural vitae were now holding the DNA cells that they fused in over and over again. Over the next ten more years they would work together on developing a system of power that would extract from both creatures. This power came to be known as Octo Channel named for its ability to produce bone chilling affects to the vampires' body using the power of the Octopi.

They decided after perfecting their power to embrace progeny to help with the research facility. Little did they know that their progeny was not like them? Louis and Doris appeared to be pure Mekhet by observers, but the progeny appeared to have inhuman aspects about them. Some have tentacles for hair that would lay limp on their slimy skull and their thinking patterns were odd in ways due to their Cephalopod natures. The bloodline was more bestial and less human, living in the water all the time, preying on swimmers and taking prey off boats.

The creators' experiment, some would say it had back fired as their children turned to monsters of the deep. They abused the power of Octo Channeling and used it not to evade, but to feed more efficiently. They remained very secretive, and practically unknown to outsiders. Making the bloodline a very deadly encounter and since no sign of their creators for years, some say they are more bestial then what is rumored.

Parent Clan: Mekhet

Nickname: Devilsfish

Covenant: They favor the Unaligned to keep their secrecy amongst its own kind. It is not known if the bloodline has any members in any of the other covenants.

Appearance: They tend to dress in dark loose clothing and the clothing usuallyexposes a lot of skin. They dress in clothing that allows them to blend into the scenery, attempting to blend in with the crowd by evading individual notice. A lot of times you can see the bloodline wearing specially designed wet suits with micro holes in the fiber and bandanas wrapped on their heads.

Havens: They choose to live typically near a beach or coast in a condo of some type. Some have been known actually to make the ocean deep their choice to rest.

Background: Prospective Octopoda Umbra chooses to embrace a childe who has some tie to the sea. Whether they work at an aquarium, study oceanography, or just enjoy sea life, those are the mortals typically chosen for embrace. They tend to be like their parent clan and tutor their childe before releasing them out to defend for themselves.

Character Creation: Octopoda Umbras usually are very smart and good at remembering things and can recall most things without problem, so choosing Intelligence and Wits as a primary traits are best. Focus on Mental Traits and then Physical as they tend to be a bit strong from swimming in the deep blue seas.

Clan Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Obfuscate, Octo Channel

Weakness: Once the blood is set Octopoda Umbras grow two new small hearts next to their main heart making it easier to be staked. Having three hearts make the staking chance instead of -4 to hit the heart to a -2. The further they are from their originator of their bloodline, the more bestial they are. Making it harder for them on appearance and staying in-control of their actions. For this they receive a -2 to -4 on their rolls for regarding appearance or self-control type rolls. Depending on their lineage from their creator determines this penalty. The storyteller will determines whether if the lineage is close enough to their creator not to occur this penalty at character creation.

Organization: They are pretty independent, but some do choose to form small groups of Oceanographers and study the sea at night, working for private funded companies.

Concepts: Oceanographer, aquarium keeper, marine biologists, marine mammal trainer, whale biologist, aquamarine researcher, aquatic scientist

The discipline channels the powers of the octopus giving its user the ability to use its vitae to mimic certain things that octopuses can do. The discipline was created by Louis Antoine because he created a fusion of his vitae with octopus cells and then injected himself with it. His vitae kept the contamination of the octopus cells fused with his vitae and he was able to pass it on from sire to childe.

* Sense of the Sea Devil

When this power is started, Octopoda Umbra's sense of touch is acute in their many tiny suckers on their hands and feet. The rims of the cups are particularly sensitive and can provide taste through them. A blindfolded Octopoda Umbra can differentiates between objects of various shapes and sizes. The Octopoda Umbra can also detect “The Taste of Family” using their suckers; see page 163 Vampire: The Requiem. This also gives them a +5 to their dice pool for climbing vertical structures. Octopoda Umbra has highly complex eyes which compare to human visual acuity. Focusing is done by moving the lens in and out rather than by changing its shape as the human eye does. This allows for the Octopoda Umbra to see in the dark.
System:
Cost: --
Action: Instant
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll. The player simply activates the power and explains to the Storyteller what his or her character is doing with the senses. The Storyteller responds by relating whatever information can be gleaned.

** Chromata

Special pigment cells (chromatophores) in the skin will be started in an attempt to blend in with the surroundings. The chromatophores adjust individually until the back ground is matched. It will allow the Octopoda Umbra to blend in to it's surrounding as that of an octopus. The actual process of fading into the surroundings are subtle, but its affect on witnesses might not be. Mortals watching as the Octopoda Umbra's skin and body change colors of that of its surroundings would usually either panic or justify what they've witnessed, even if it means constructing new memories of the event. The thing that makes this power so unique is the Octopoda Umbra can dissolve his bones temporarily allowing it to fit in tight spaces or press against a wall flat while blending.
System:
Cost: --
Action: Instant
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Stealth + Octo Channel

Roll Results -
Dramatic Failure: The character believes to be blended into his or her surrounding, but in fact the color of his skin is dramatic opposite exposing him.
Failure: The character does not blend into his surroundings at all and he knows that the color of his skin doesn’t blend.
Success: The character blends in with his surroundings. Mortal witnesses reconstruct the scene in their memory to justify the character’s disappearance if successes gained on the invocation roll exceed their Willpower dots. Successful use of Chromatophore renders the character hidden until he or she does something to draw attention (lunching an attack, smashing a window, and shouting a warning, moving), in which case he is not blended.

Suggested Modifiers:
+1 Character is by himself when he activates the power. -- Character vanishes before a single witness.
-1 Each witness after the first present when a character invokes the power.

*** Ink of Retreat

Umbra can try to escape danger by releasing a cloud of purple-black ink to confuse the enemy. Its body will change color, release an ink cloud through its pores in its skin. The ink is toxic to mortals and other supernatural breathing creatures in a confined space such as in a cave with little air current or in captivity.
System:
Cost: One vitae
Action: Instant
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll. The player simply activates the power and explains to the Storyteller what his or her character is doing after the ink cloud. The ink cloud usually stays in the air 3 minutes in a 10 yard circumference allowing the individual to escape. Most types of clothing can put a damper on this discipline because their has to be bare skin in order for it to work.

If used in a cave with little air current or in captivity have any breathing creatures roll Stamina + Resolve to resist toxins if within ink cloud. 5 successes are needed in an extended roll to resist. On a failed rolled the breathing creature takes 3 lethal points of damage and will take a point more every turn that he or she is in the cloud.

**** Penumbra Tentacles

Refining his control over darkness, the Octopoda Umbra can create prehensile tentacles that emerge from patches of dim lighting. These tentacles may grasp, restrain and constrict foes.
System:
Cost: One vitae
Action: Instant
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult + Octo Channel to find out how many tentacles.

Each success enables the creation of a single tentacle. Each tentacle is three yards long and possesses Strength and Dexterity ratings equal to the invoking Octopoda Umbra's Octo Channel Trait. If the Octopoda Umbra wishes he or she may spend vitae to increase a single tentacle's Strength or Dexterity by two or extend its length by three yards. Each tentacle has four health levels (and is affected by fire and sunlight as a vampire) and has the defense of 2. Tentacles may constrict foes by making a grappling attack Strength + Brawl - Victims Defense to achieve hold, inflicting Strength bashing damage per turn. Breaking the grasp of a tentacle requires the victim to win a resisted roll of Strength + Brawl - Attacker's Strength. One success makes the hold broke. All tentacles need not emanate from the same source - so long as there are multiple patches of suitable darkness, there are sources for the Penumbra Tentacles. Controlling the tentacles does not require complete concentration; if the Octopoda Umbra is not incapacitated or in torpor, he or she may control tentacles while carrying out other actions. The Octopoda Umbra can spend one willpower point to increase one tentacle's defense by 2 or it can get increase any roll one tentacle does by three during one turn.

***** Hapalochlaena lunulata Bite

Octopoda Umbra using this discipline can inflict powerful venom when they bite their victim. The venom's affect is only obvious when respiration ceases and even stops. The venom causes an inhibition of muscles that are needed for willful movements of the body including respiration and motion. Unwilling muscles such as the heart and the iris ring muscles are not influenced. That means while respiration and movement are stopped, heart and brain keep on working. The victim will usually end of dying of suffocation by plain conscience. However, the venom has a short time of effectiveness - when artificial respiration is applied, the person can recovers fully. If used on a vampire since they do not breathe they get the temporary paralyzing affect as the toxin is formed by the bacteria in the Octopoda Umbra's mouth and mixed with its infected vitae. It attacks the vitae as it does the nerves of mortals making the vampire immobile. Main part of the poisonous mix is the nerve poison tetrodoxin. Main part of the poisonous mix for vampires is the offender's infected vitae. Vampires are only under this influence for 10-15 minutes.
System:
Cost: One Vitae
Action: Chance to bite victim.
Dice Pool to Resist: Stamina + Resolve
Dice Pool for Vampires to Resist: Stamina + Resolve + Blood Potency
Number of Successes on Extended Roll Needed: 25

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The toxin wins over all; your character’s will is shattered. Damage is intensified by one and all accumulated successes are lost and the storyteller decides how much faster you suffocate from the venom.
Failure: The intruding effect takes or continues to take its course.
Success: In the extended roll, some progress is made in resisting the condition, but symptoms persist until the illness is defeated completely (when required successes are accumulated).
Exceptional Success: “Rumors of my death are exaggerated.” Your character goes immune or makes rapid progress toward recovery.

Suggested Equipment: Respiratory machine
Possible Penalties:
Injuries (-1 to -3)

Suffocation:
Dice Pool: Stamina
Action: Reflexive A character can hold his or her breath for a number of turns based on her Stamina dots. See page 49 of World of Darkness Core book for more details.

An Example Introduction for using this Bloodline:

TALES FROM THE OCTOPUS'S GARDEN

part 1: The Bayside Beast.

Officer Reynolds' tale:
"So. I was on patrol with my partner. We were hunting for a perp the papers have been calling "The Bayside Beast". We didn't have much to go on. The perp was described as "hippy-looking with long hair, wearing a torn-up wetsuit" who assaulted women, mostly tourists, all at night along the Bayside area beaches. None of the victims could give us a good detailed description. We believed that he was using some sort of drug to cloud their memories of the assaults. None had been killed so far, but we figured it was just a matter of time."
"This particular night, we got lucky. If you want to call it that. We came upon him while he was attacking a young woman and gave chase. Let me tell you, that was one helluva chase! We ran after that perp for about half a mile. He never slowed down! He never showed any sign of running out of breath! He didn't even stagger once, and I swear I hit him at least twice with my revolver!"

"Anyway, we got him cornered among the pylons under the pier. Officer Ferguson, who'd been patrolling on the pier itself cut him off and I came up from behind. That's when we found out that the Bayside Beast was actually a woman! She had long stringy hair and a puffy face. She was kind of pudgy, or maybe "bloated" is a better way of putting it, squeezed into a wetsuit that was at least two sizes too small and ripped all over. She had these weird lumps, or tumours, maybe, poking through the holes in her suit."
"When we called for her to surrender, she turned and laughed at us. I swear, her eyes went all black and black stuff started dripping out of her mouth. The lumpy tumour-looking "buds" over her arms and chest sort of, well, "bloomed"! They opened out into fleshy petals, like suckers."

" 'From me--darkness!" She chanted. Her voice sounded like a dozen voices chanting in unison. The little sucker-mouth things all over her writhed along with her words. I think her voice came from each one of them, as well as her mouth! "Through me--darkness. For I have become--Darkness!'"
Then she sort of, well, VOMITED out this cloud of blackness. Ferguson was closer than I was, so he took a worse hit than I did. I found myself blind and numb and so dizzy that I fell down. Then I passed out."

"When I woke up, Ferguson was on the ground, twitching like mad, but cold as ice. He was still twitching like that when we bagged him up for the coroner. There was no sign of 'the Beast'."

CORONER'S REPORT
The body of Officer Ferguson continues to twitch and spasm, but from all appearances, he is quite dead. There are signs of post-mortem lividity and incipient rigor mortis in the limbs. No pulse. No respiration. But still his body continues to twitch as if he were having a seizure.
When I opened the chest cavity, I found that his lungs had been exposed to some kind of highly destructive agent. They had partially liquified, turning black and putrescent. His heart was fibrillating oddly. Not beating, but quivering with some sort of muscular spasming. There were little inky black threads throughout his tissues, as if some sort of ink had been injected into his lungs, then spread through out the body.

I cut the heart loose and removed it for closer examination. Suddenly, Ferguson sat up with a bone-chilling shriek, his face contorted with unimaginable pain. He looked right at me, an expression of relief flooding over his features, then he clearly said, "Thanks, Man." and collapsed again.

The spasming stopped.

An inky black substance oozed from the severed heart. It turned to a thick black tar on my gloves, then dried in seconds into a fine black powder and blew away.

I have no explanation for these phenomena.

By the way, my resignation is in the manilla folder.

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Special Thanks to SheliakBob for the Intro