Dementation

Dementation

   The special legacy of the Malkavian clan, Dementation allows the vampire to channel madness, focus it, and pour it into the minds of those around him.Though in former nights this power was practiced primarily by Malkavians of the Sabbat, in recent years it has spread throughout the clan.Some Kindred speculate that this 'infection' might be yet another move in the Jyhad; a few vampires, of particularly paranoid bent, even wisper that the Malkavians are to be harbringers of the Final Nights.
    The practitioner of Dementation need not actually be mad himself---at least initially---although madness seems to grant a certain insight into the key tenets of this Discipline.Few vampires ask the Malkavians to teach them this Discipline, although the Lunatics are almost always eager to 'enlighten' others.In fact, some say that one cannot learn the secrets of Dementation without eventually going mad.
    Eeirly enough, Dementation doesn't seem to inflict insanity on its victims 'per se'. Rather, it seems to catalyze madness, breaking down doors into the hidden reaches of the mind and releasing whatever it finds there.The Malkavians claim that this is because insanity is the next step in the evolution of the mind---a necessary progression if one is to behold the truths of the universe. As such, they say, it is inherent to all minds, and evident only in the more highly evolved specimens of human or vampiric thought.Other Kindred pray the Malkavians are wrong, but find it difficult to dismiss such thoughts out of hand, particularly because Dementation works as well on vampires as it does on mortals....

Levels of Power

Level 1 Passion- The vampire may stir his victim's emotions, either heightening them to a fevered pitch or blunting them until the target is completely desensitized. The Cainite may not choose which emotion is affected; she may only amplify or dull emotions already present in the target. In this way, a vampire can turn mild irritation into frothing rage or dull true love into casual interest.

Level 2 The Haunting- The vampire may stir the sensory centers of his victim's brain, flooding the victim's senses with visions, sounds, scents, or feelings that aren't really there.The images, reguardless of the sense to which they appeal, are only fleeting 'glimpses,' barely perceptible to the victim. The vampire using Dementation cannot control what the victim perceives, but may choose whice sense is affected.
The 'haunting' effects occur mainly when the victim is alone, and mostly at night.They may take the form of the subject's repressed fears, guilty memories, or anything else that may be dramatically appropriate. The effects are never pleasent or unobtrusive,however.The victim may feel as if she is going mad, or as if the world is.

Level 3 Eyes of Chaos- This peculiar power allows the vampire to take advantage of the fractured wisdom hissen in insanity.She may scrutinize the 'patterns' of a person's soul, the convolutions of a vampire's inner nature, or even random events in nature itself. The Kindred with this power can discern the most well-hidden psychoses, or gain insight into a person's true self. Malkavians with this power often have (or claim to have) knowledge of the moves and countermoves of the great Jyhad.

Level 4 Voice of Madness- By merely addressing his victims aloud, the Malkavian can drive targets into fits of blind rage or fear, forcing them to abandon reason and higher thought.Victims are plagued by hallucinations of their subconcious demons, and try to flee or destroy their hidden shames.Tragedy almost always follows in the wake of this power's use,although offending Malkavians often claim that they were merely encouraging people to act 'according to their natures.' Unfortunatly for the vampire concerned, he runs a very real risk of falling prey to his own voice's power.

Level 5 Total Insanity- The vampire pulls the madness from the deepest recesses of her target's mind, focusing it into an overwhelming wave of insanity.This power has driven countless victims, vampire and mortal alike, to unfortunate ends.