Shadow Heart

One of the more unusual Nelapsi legends refers to line members as creatures with two hearts. On at least one occasion, a Nelapsi has shrugged off a hawthorn stake thrust squarely into his chest, removed the offending implement himself, and chastised his startled attacker before destroying her. Shadow Heart relies as much on misdirection as it does on sheer toughness. By creating a momentary distraction at the moment of impact, the Nelapsi causes the attacker’s blow to land slightly askew, missing the vital target while harm is diminished by undead sinew and bone. Nelapsi never teach this Devotion to an unproven operit. By tradition, only a predek can teach this trick and only to his own childer.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Survival + Vigor
Action: Reflexive

The Nelapsi activates this Devotion at the moment of taking a stake in the chest. Doing so is a reflexive action, possible even if the vampire has performed another action in the turn. (Note, however, that only one Willpower point can be spent per turn. If a point has already been spent for the Nelapsi this turn, he cannot activate this power.) The Glutton causes a momentary shift in the attacker’s perceptions, while calling upon Vigor to help resist the blow.

Normally, trying to impale a vampire imposes a –4 penalty on the attack and requires three points of damage to be inflicted. When the Nelapsi activates this Devotion, a –5 penalty is levied against the attack and five points of damage must be done. If these criteria are not met, the stake misses by a fraction of an inch. It still inflicts normal damage, it just doesn’t send the Nelapsi into torpor.

If the vampire is taken by surprise or doesn’t foresee an impaling attack, this power cannot be used in the first turn of combat. It can be used thereafter.