                                 HEL'S WILL



   Dottir practice an unusual discipline, termed variously cryurgy,
   cryomancy, or thermostasis by outsiders, though they themselves
   usually just call it Hel's Will.

   * Whiteskin: This most basic element of the discipline allows the
   Dottir to transform her skin into a near-perfect thermal insulator. It
   becomes completely reflective such that the skin is totally white and
   smoother surfaces such as the eyes and hair are almost mirrorlike. The
   eyes still admit sufficient light to see by, particularly when using
   Auspex or Protean, but night vision is really not as good as in most
   Kindred in this state, being no better than a mortal's. Tactile
   sensation is also somewhat hindered and sense of temperature is
   completely cut off.

   In this form their appearance is shocking, to say the least. It makes
   them totally resistant to cold as well as making them nearly
   impossible to spot against a snowfield. In addition, it provides
   limited protection from sunlight and heat sources such as fire,
   although such things erode the vampiric power which produces the
   effect so that this protection is no more effective than the Fortitude
   discipline, providing as many soak dice as the level in the
   discipline. This heat resistance has come as an unpleasant surprise to
   those who have simplistically assumed that fire must be a particularly
   effective weapon against such frigid entities; water boils quicker
   than ice. Note that it does not provide other Fortitude benefits such
   as extra soak dice for other types of damage or any protection against
   aggravated damage. It's not that powerful. An odd side effect that may
   rarely be significant is that the skin is as effective an electrical
   insulator as it is a thermal insulator.

   However, as they are normally quite cold resistant, even without the
   discipline, they tend only use it at lower temperatures, such as under
   -10 Fahrenheit or when other circumstances may make it useful.
   Temperatures over 50 Fahrenheit tend to be rather uncomfortable to
   them, so they are likely to use it in such environs as well.

   ** Winterwalk: This is a relatively simple ability. The Dottir will
   never slip on ice or break through it and can walk on the surface of
   snow without ever sinking in. They can essentially glide effortlessly
   along all manner of frozen surfaces at the approximate running speed
   of a mortal, like a ghost.

   *** Mask of Hel: This power is at the core of their reputation for
   inscrutability. The Dottir with this level of the discipline becomes
   supernaturally impassive, unreadable. Mundane uses of subterfuge and
   perceptive skills will never reveal anything about the emotional state
   of the user based on tone of voice, expression, posture, or other such
   cues. Use of abilities of the vampiric Auspex discipline such as Aura
   Perception can penetrate it if the perceiver has more discipline dots
   that the perceived. This operates in the same manner as the
   Obfuscate-Auspex opposition, potentially blocking Spirit Touch and
   Telepathy as well. It also adds dice to Frenzy and Rotschreck rolls at
   one die per dot in the discipline. For affect-altering disciplines
   such as Presence it adds one die per dot to the resistance roll if one
   is allowed, and actually permits an opposition roll based on the Hel's
   Will score if no resistance roll is normally possible (e.g. Presence -
   Possession). Successes on this roll subtract from successes on the
   aggressor's roll. In short, the more powerful Dottir are practically
   emotional and spiritual blanks. Note that the mental effects of
   Dominate are NOT resisted by this ability. On the down side, however,
   the Dottir cannot use the Empathy skill while in this state. Any
   action involving the Empathy score will go as if the Empathy rating
   were 0.

   **** Hospitality: This ability allows the user to extend the benefits
   of the first three levels of Hel's Will (most definitely not the
   higher ones) to a group of companions, the number of which is equal to
   the number of dots in the discipline. It requires the expenditure of a
   blood point and functions only within the range of sight.

   ***** Wind of Niflheim: This is the first ability which actually has a
   direct effect on the Dottir's environment. She gains the ability to
   summon a freezing blast of wind from the wastes of Niflheim. As one
   might imagine, this is not an easy thing to do and costs a blood
   point. The gust blows through her immediate vicinity, lowering
   temperatures by 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Just to make things simple, say
   that water will freeze if this drops the temperature below 10 F,
   naturally modified by the quantity. This is one of those "do what
   seems reasonable for a gust from the land of death" things. It can
   make things quite chilly on a cold night. It effectively stuns all
   cold-susceptible creatures (including vampires who will stiffen a bit)
   for a round and puts them on the road to frostbite, often even leaving
   a thin layer of frost on exposed surfaces. It's not just cold, it's a
   deathly chill. The wind may be directed at specific targets using
   Dexterity + Occult as per combat with firearms.

   ****** Ice Dominion: This awesome (just like Cloak the Gathering)
   power gives them command over ice and snow. Legend tells of elder
   Dottir using whole icebergs as conveyances. This may explain
   occasional evidence of their presence in Antarctica and in temperate
   areas during particularly severe winters. In addition to pushing
   floating mountains of ice (albeit slowly) this power may be used to
   draw ice and snow storms, assuming the weather is suitable, and
   possibly even to direct them. A roll of Manipulation+Occult is
   required for this as with the Thaumaturgy path Weather Control.
   Certain effects such as rain and lightning strikes are not possible
   through this means, which merely affects frozen forms of water.

   Yet another possible use, and by far the most difficult, is the
   movement of small individual pieces of ice, such as throwing snowballs
   -- or 4-foot-long icicles. The attack roll for this is based on Occult
   + Dexterity. The maximum total damage per round is as the Dottir's
   strength. Difficulties and modifiers are as a melee weapon of similar
   form to the object (snowballs are difficulty 4 with a -1 damage
   modifier). The Dottir can manipulate one extra object in this manner
   for every dot over 5. Thus a 5th Generation Helsdottir might project 3
   snowballs, really hard.

   A popular trick is to open ice cracks under particularly obnoxious
   interlopers. This is also useful for concealing oneself, slowly
   disappearing into the ice in a manner reminiscent of the Protean Earth
   Meld ability.

   Some of these may seem especially powerful, but it should be noted
   that the majority are totally useless on a warm summer night in
   Chicago.

   "We tried to catch her, Master, but she pelted us with sno-cones!"

   ******* Freeze: The Dottir can spend blood points to instantly freeze
   something, @ 1 BP per 60 lbs. of water, roughly a cubic foot (7 1/2
   gallons or 30 liters.) A man-sized creature would require 2 to 4 blood
   points to freeze completely, although partial freezing tends to be
   sufficient to disable or kill mortals. To affect animate beings, Wits
   + Occult must be rolled vs. the target's WIllpower. Success indicates
   that the target freezes. Kindred may counter every blood point spent
   by the Dottir with two blood points spent to thaw out, if they think
   of it. Frozen Garou will remain alive until thawed if they are frozen
   in a regenerating form, but if in Homid form, they will die.

   The power operates within sight and can be directed with some
   flexibility, to freeze 12 square feet of a pond one inch deep, for
   instance.

   ******** Cloak of Winter: The Dottir envelops herself in a cloak of
   bitter cold. The area within 5 feet of her drops to -100 Fahrenheit
   and an icy swirl of wind whips around adding a substantial wind chill
   factor. All freezable substances within this ring almost instantly
   freeze, water vapor and carbon dioxide precipitating from the air.

   In truth, no known Dottir has ever risen above this niveau, but here's
   what they might be:

   ********* Glaciation: Blizzard conditions, sub-zero temperatures,
   hundred MPH winds. 10 foot snowfalls in a hundred mile radius. If this
   is used in an already bitterly cold area, the carbon dioxide starts
   coming down in flakes.

   ********** Fimbulvetr: You don't want to know about this one, so let's
   just say it makes global warming a moot point.
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