10 XP
In young vampires, or those who have stayed close to their Humanity, a trickle of Vitae suffuses the surface of the skin, allowing them to look healthy and passably alive. Moreover, any Kindred can counterfeit life for a short time, enough to keep down a meal or engage in carnal intercourse. This Blush of Life, however, is all too fleeting and all too tantalizing to the Beast’s hungers. Even the pleasures it allows are only temporary, as the vampire must shortly rush to a restroom to vomit back the mortal food it has consumed. A quick flush of the Blood may allow a vampire to escape scrutiny from mortals, but he still faces difficulties if he wishes to spend the entire night in one’s company. The cost of a little Vitae is repeated over and over as the night goes on, and the Beast begins to bellow for more blood.
Other powers, however, can be adapted to the purpose, and somewhat more efficiently. Vigor gives a Kindred the ability to go beyond mere animation of the flesh and infuse his muscles with unholy might. Majesty allows the Damned to make his presence magnetic and charming. By combining the small deceptions of Majesty with the physical control of Vigor, a Kindred can counterfeit life for an entire night.
Cost: 1 Vitae + 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: None. Paying the cost results in automatic success.
Action: Instant
Duration: From activation until dawn
When active, Night Life enables a vampire to counterfeit life through the active circulation of Vitae, controlled motion of the lungs, and so on. These are physical movements mortals perform unconsciously but notice just as unconsciously when others fail to perform them. A vampire using Night Life intuitively keeps his organs operating much as they would in an ordinary human being. The sensation is not entirely comfortable: Vitae, even warmed and liquefied, is no longer mortal blood, and the organs tend to grind in stops and starts. The vampire often finds himself experiencing alien sensations in and beneath his skin: pores opening one by one, intestines squeezing in fits and so on. However, a vampire who has mastered this Devotion also has the ability to avoid giving evidence of his discomfort and, indeed, gained some capacity to ignore it. Thanks to his air of Majesty, his mortal companions will usually forgive any tiny aberrations in his behavior, or unusual symptoms – such as clotted Vitae clogging an obvious vein or a light sheen of the Blood trickling forth with sweat.
A detailed medical examination or encounter with a particularly observant mortal may detect that something’s wrong, but won’t provide any evidence that the vampire is a walking corpse. In addition, the constant, low-level effects of Vigor give the vampire positive sensations as well. Night Life isn’t as pleasant as the Blush of Life, and it’s a long way from the blessings of true mortality, but it’s an efficient and reasonably comfortable way to stay out all night under close observation without arousing suspicion.