Asklepian

Asklepians are minor Banes of pestilence and disease.

Overview

Asklepians are Banes of epidemics and pandemics. They arise amid disease outbreaks, feeding and breeding off the misery that arises and sapping the will of the community to fight the outbreak. They themselves spread disease, making each compromise more difficult, each carrier more virulent, and the plague itself more deadly.

Image

In the physical world, an Asklepian afflicts an infected host, probably one displaying advanced symptoms of the pandemic. In the Umbra, Asklepians take the form of great fleas covered in spikes, on which are impaled various animal-spirit corpses and spirits of healing. Their jaws drip virulent fluids, and they are capable of incredible bursts of speed, leaping from place to place as fast as the diseases they represent travel.

In the physical world, Asklepians are highly contagious. They rarely attack outright, but do try to get close to their victims and infect them in hopes of spawning another Asklepian. Anyone who spends more than a few minutes within reach risks being infected. Symptoms vary, depending on the physical contagion, but whatever the disease, the victim also becomes a carrier for a larval Asklepian. The larva can be seen only in the Umbra, where it can be removed by someone able to perceive both worlds at once. As long as it remains attached, the victim experiences a debilitating hopelessness over their progressing illness and cannot restore Willpower through normal means. If they die from the illness, the larva transforms into a new Asklepian, completing the circle of (hideous) life.

In the Umbra, the bite of a Power 2 or higher Asklepian on the spirit-form of a Garou generates a full-grown Asklepian that bursts from the spirit-flesh of the victim after a turn (inflicting a level of Aggravated damage in the process). The newly generated Asklepian is one Power level below its parent and joins in the assault as soon as it bursts free of the victim, starting with the next turn.

Stats

• Power: 2–6
• Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl +2, Stealth +2

References

• WTA: 5th Edition Core Book, p. 245