A stake enchanted with this Ritual intentionally splinters upon use, with the splinter burrowing to the target’s heart on its own.
Ingredients: A mundane stake carved from rowan wood, imbued with baneful runes, and soaked in two Rouse checks worth of Blood
Process: The caster continuously drenches the stake in Blood as he holds it within the hot coals from a burnt oak tree; he chants mystical incantations as it slowly blackens over one hour. This process does not cause a Fear Frenzy check.
System: The stake created in this Ritual can be used in melee or fired from a crossbow. When the caster attempts to make a Staking Combat Maneuver (see page XX), and does not successfully stake their target, the tip of the stake splinters off and stays lodged in the victim’s body. Once an hour, the Storyteller will perform a contested ‘burrowing’ challenge using the caster’s Resolve + Occult roll versus the target’s Stamina + Survival. If the caster wins three of these challenges the target is considered staked and suffers the Helpless Condition. This will continue until the character is staked or the splinter is removed.
The splinter is undetectable until either the caster or the victim wins two of the above listed challenges. At this point, the victim can feel the splinter moving inside her, possibly nearing her heart (if the caster has won two challenges). The splinter can be surgically removed by winning three static challenges using her Dexterity + Medicine vs. a difficulty of 6. Each challenge represents five minutes of uninterrupted exploratory surgery. Each time a character fails one of these surgical challenges, the splinter gets to make an extra burrowing challenge (this is in addition to the challenge made hourly). Once removed from the body, the splinter becomes inert. A character who is immune to staking or who has had her heart removed is immune to this power.
Characters immune to Staking are immune to the effects of this Ritual. Powers that increase the number of challenges required to stake you are ineffective versus this power.
Duration: Until destroyed or rendered inert
