Kalif is a form of vitae-strengthened marijuana prized by Dur-An-Ki ecstatics.
Overview[]
On the mountain of Alamut, the secret gardeners of the Banu Haqim grew special strains of cannabis, watered with vitae under the new moon and tended with endless nightlong rituals. The tiniest error or impurity in the plant strain would destroy the crop. From these plants, they pressed a form of hashish called kalif. When bubbled through the blood of a mortal smoker in a sort of vampiric hookah, it opened the true eyes of Banu Haqim sorcerers. The ashipu beheld the Ladder of Heaven stretching and spiraling incarnadine into the skies, raising them to unheard of magical ecstasy and power.
History[]
When Ur-Shulgi sacked the Mountain and drove those Lawmen who would not follow him into violent zealotry into exile, the gardens in which kalif was grown were burnt. The secret of cultivating kalif lost, and no more shipments coming from Alamut, the few surviving bricks of the drug now command immense prices in the blood sorcerous underground, more prized to some than even Red Mercury.
Recently, however, a new supplier has begun cropping up in scenes around the world. The Banu Haqim really don’t like to talk about the First Daughter of Al-Aziz, the Sabbat convert who stole a supply of kalif, a stand of cannabis plants, and three ghoul gardeners when she escaped Alamut during the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1880. Apparently, she survived, as did her plants. The new kalif seems to be coming from Mexico, under the protection of a cartel devoted to Santa Muerte, and the visions it shows may not conform to the more puritan notions of the Banu Haqim.
Effects[]
When bubbled or ingested via a smoker’s blood, kalif reveals a transcendent vision linking the Blood to Heaven—or at least to what the ashipu thought Heaven looked like in 1200 BCE. Untainted, pure kalif can even allow the user to add an extra die to their next Remorse roll, if not used for a ritual. Tainted kalif shows visions of a more prurient kind, although it still links the smoker and gauzily clad angels in a chain. Even low-Humanity vampires feel their Blood flowing to their genitals under its influence, and can become addicted to it.
When used in a Dur-An-Ki or other blood magic ritual that demands some form of hallucinogen consumption, a single die in the consumer's dice pool is immediately rolled as a 10.
As with other forms of marijuana, kalif lowers a consumer's wits and makes it easier to resist frenzy.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Blood Sigils, p. 151