Dodona

The Dodona is one of the most potent of the Agonistes’ rituals; with this power, a Polemicist stores away a portion of an elder vampire’s abilities, sealing them away in the vampire’s subconscious to be rediscovered when her blood thickens again. This saves the elder time and effort when she awakens, allowing her to focus on rebuilding her lost empires with the confidence that her once superhuman acumen will return with time.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Academics + Dominate
Action: Extended

Success allows the target vampire to protect Skills (not Attributes, Merits, Disciplines or any other traits) rated at higher than 5 before being lowered into torpor, so that the vampire may reclaim them when his Blood Potency reaches a high enough level without having to spend experience points. Each success allows for one Skill to be maintained.

Example: An elder with Crafts 7, Medicine 6 and Politics 7 decides to slip into torpor, asking an Agoniste to use Dodona on her. The Agoniste achieves two successes, and chooses to maintain the Agoniste’s Crafts and Politics ratings. When the elder wakes up, her Blood Potency has dropped to 3, and her Crafts, Medicine and Politics ratings are now 5, their maximum level for her Blood Potency. Over time the elder’s Blood Potency rises to 6 again. When it rises from 5 to 6, her Crafts and Politics ratings rise to 6 as well. The same occurs when her Blood Potency rises to 7. This does not cost the elder experience points. Her Medicine trait remains at 5, however, and must be raised again through experience.