The rewards are not immediate, however. Absorbed Manifestations become Dormant Manifestations, and do not actually Manifest on the Nephilim they were transferred to until a later date. In game terms, Dormant Kylars are purchased with Experience, while a Dormant Feados is acquired each time a Nephilim goes Berserk. See below for details of these two processes.
There are two ways to Absorb a Nephilim, active and passive. Active Absorption involves drawing out the Nephilim�s soul while she is still alive, and is thus a particularly nasty act � and most cases certainly calls for a Balance check. The process, if successful, kills the victim. Passive Absorption on the other hand can be performed on a Nephilim who is already dead (and has not already been Absorbed). See below for mechanical effects of the two methods.
Once a Nephilim has been successfully Absorbed, her body will rapidly decompose until it is little more than dust. This process takes just under an hour.
Obviously only Nephilim who are visible and corporeal after death can be Absorbed, although there are rumours that even those who are not are still not safe from the deed.
Whichever way it is done, Absorption is not a particularly pleasant pastime, and yet some Nephilim do actually decide that one of their companions should Absorb them after death, so as to better their friend and comrade. Other Nephilim however fear what the repercussions might be in the next world for losing their soul to another.
Only one Nephilim may Absorb another. Groups of Nephilim will be unsuccessful insofar as only one among the group will actually benefit. Similarly, no Human is capable of Absorbing a Nephilim. Absorbing is plain for all to see, as onlookers can visibly see a strange white light, with green specks, passing from the victim to the Nephilim perpetrator.
Active Absorption
Active Absorption counts as a combat manoeuvre and is performed on a Nephilim who is critically injured and on the brink of death. Most Nephilim who Actively Absorb a victim are the ones responsible for causing such damage in the first place. Absorption is the process of draining a victim of her remaining Vita, but can only happen when a Nephilim is at or below the Crippled Health Level. Once the process of Absorption has begun, the victim is unable to heal any damage until she has restored her Vita pool to its maximum, meaning very often a victim of Active Absorption has no choice but to flee her attacker.
Once down to Crippled or below, the attacking Nephilim must make an extended Dexterity + Quintessence roll at difficulty 7, continuing to roll for each turn she is able to maintain physical contact with the victim. This is usually, but not always, gripping the victim around the neck with both hands. Every success scored on this roll removes 1 point of Vita from the victim. The Vita lost does not transfer to the attacker, it merely vanishes. Once the attacker has removed all Vita from her victim, the Absorption is complete. At any time during this process, the victim can attempt to escape her attacker by scoring more successes on a Dexterity + Brawl or Dexterity + Athletics roll (both at difficulty 6) than on the attacker�s Active Absorption roll. This will in most cases require the expenditure of a Willpower point to ignore wound penalties. An Incapacitated Nephilim, however, has no such chance.
If a Nephilim is reduced to the Dead Health Level, Active Absorption is no longer an option, although Passive Absorption may still be performed.
The benefits of Active Absorption as opposed to Passive Absorption is as follows. Upon successful Active Absorption, all Manifestations transfer to the attacking Nephilim and become Dormant Manifestations as normal. However, Manifestations acquired through Active Absorption are acquired at 1 point less than usual, meaning that, for example, a 4-point Kylar becomes a 3-point Dormant Kylar. All Absorbed 1-point Kylars (and Feadoses) immediately transfer to the Nephilim as normal Manifestations, adding to her list. Dormant Feadoses acquired in this manner are also reduced in value by 1 point, which may affect comparisons with other Dormant Feadoses when the Nephilim goes Berserk.
In addition to the reduced costs, all rolls for Manifestations gained through Active Absorption have their difficulties reduced by 1.
Passive Absorption
In principle, Passive Absorption works in exactly the same way as Active Absorption, except it is somewhat easier as the victim neither needs to be reduced to a particular state of health, nor will try to escape: she is already dead. Otherwise it works the same; the Nephilim who is Absorbing the deceased must make an extended Dexterity + Quintessence roll at difficulty 7 while maintaining some form of physical contact (again, usually this is hands around the neck). Each success reduces the deceased�s Vita pool by 1 point. When all Vita has been stripped away, the Absorption is complete and the Manifestations are transferred as normal, at the same points value (e.g. a 4-point Kylar becomes a 4-point Dormant Kylar).
Dormant Manifestations
When a Nephilim acquires Dormant Kylars and Feadoses, they do not Manifest immediately.
A Nephilim has choice over which Dormant Kylars become actual Kylars, as she merely pays the point value of a Dormant Kylar with Experience, and it then becomes active. Thus she may pick and choose which Dormant Kylars she actually acquires and which simply remain Dormant.
Dormant Feadoses are a different matter however. Every time the Nephilim goes Berserk, she acquires the lowest Dormant Feados in terms of point value, e.g. if a Nephilim had a 1-point Dormant Feados and a 4-point Dormant Feados, she would acquire the 1-point Dormant Feados first. If a Nephilim has more than one Dormant Feados of the same value, it is up to the Storyteller to decide which Feados she acquires on that occasion.
At the Storyteller�s discretion, a player may elect to �buy off� Dormant Feadoses by paying their points value in Experience Points, e.g. if a player did not want her character to acquire a particular 2-point Dormant Feados, she may spend 2 Experience Points to remove it from her Dormant Feados list. She�d just better hope she buys it off before she next goes Berserk. Once a Dormant Feados becomes an active Feados, it cannot be bought off in this fashion.