Effect: Some Gangrel maintain "Savage Gardens", ill-manicured
plots of land (whether in the city or far from its lights) where
blood-red roses grow with biting thorns, where love-lies-bleeding
hangs from a rotten crosshatch of wood, where sallow trees produce
sick fruit and climbing vines conspire to blot out the light
from the moon and stars. Some such Damned cultivate gardens
much like any mortal: while a vampire's touch is chill and unnatural,
it does not blacken roots or wilt flowers (usually). Some,
though, aim to take a more personal touch with their projects.
They grow so bound to such cultivations that they begin to feel
a connection with the garden, with the very soil around it.
This opens up Animalism to the Gangrel, allowing her to use
the Discipline on plants as well as animals. Of course, this is
not a perfect one-to-one ratio: the powers work a bit differently
on foliage and flowers than they do wolf and hawk. Furthermore,
the Gangrel must possess Animalism at a rating of one
more dot than the power she wishes to use with plants; thus,
to use Obedience, a Gangrel must possess Animalism •••.
The first four dots of Animalism work accordingly when
used on plants:
Feral Whispers (•): The Savage is able to speak to a plant. This
is no easy conversation. Plants "think" in alien, inscrutable ways
sometimes simple, other times woefully complex. A Savage might be
able to learn who was in her garden or what the plant hungers for,
but will have no luck discerning elements of time from flora. Eye
contact is obviously not required for this ability to take effect. Obedience (••): The Savage can command a plant to grow
in a certain way, and somewhat quickly. He can demand that it
bloom. He can force it to produce nectar. He can stir a vine to
climb a wall, slippery moss to spread across a stone path, or the
branches of a tree to grow together so that visibility is limited to
nearly nothing. Given the commands thusly, foliage does grow
at thrice its normal "growth rate" until its task is complete. Note
that a plant cannot do things that are outside its purview; that
is the nature of the next level of this power. Call of the Wild (•••): With this, the Gangrel can demand
that a plant grow elements outside of its own nature: a blood-red
maple tree may bloom roses, the grass beneath one's feet may
manifest thorns, a thick hanging vine may be infused with medicinal
or hallucinogenic properties to humans (or to Damned
who drink the blood of those humans). Once again, growing such
elements occurs at a growth rate of thrice its expected speed. Subsume the Lesser Spirit (••••): The vampire may psychically
enter a single plant's "body" and possess it. The other rules
of this power as per with animals apply. The Gangrel cannot move
faster than the plant normally does (which may be not at all or at
such a glacial rate that it's not worth considering). Sunlight does
not harm the vampire while in this state (though it can harm his
empty body), and he does not need to attempt to remain awake
at this time. To exit this state, the vampire must expend a point
of Willpower or be otherwise trapped. He can use Animalism
while within the plant, but no other Disciplines.
Note that this Merit only applies to the first four levels of Animalism:
Leashing the Beast (•••••) has no plant-specific effects.
Drawback: Possessing this Merit makes it harder for the Savage
to use Animalism as it was naturally (or perhaps unnaturally)
intended. All Animalism rolls suffer -1 dice when used on actual
animals, due to the perversion of the Discipline.