The Beacon
Our kind has ways of recognizing its own. Often this recognition occurs on an unspoken level and is very subtle, so you must learn to trust your impulses and allow your greater Self to guide you.
Especially in the unawakened, this recognition manifests itself as a Beacon which calls us to them so that they may realize their Potential. The Beacon calls to us on a very basic level, and often speaks purely to our unconscious minds. Thus we find ourselves inexplicably attracted to a Potential, stricken with a sudden fascination for him and a need to draw him closer to us. If we listen to our perceptions and trust our instinctual reactions, we can refine this awareness of others until we can consciously pick out the Beacon in those around us. Sometimes, even after such a refinement has been achieved, the Beacon still slips past our conscious actions and we find ourselves simply responding to its unspoken pull. The pull of the Beacon drives us to feed from the Potential, thus awakening him to the most basic aspect of his hidden nature.
We must learn to recognize the Beacon in others, to judge its varying degrees of strength so that we may go about the awakening in a deliberate manner. We must learn to recognize when it is appropriate to awaken a Potential and when that awakening will bring only grief to all involved.
We must let our judgment rule us in this matter and we must sometimes resist the merely instinctual pull of the Beacon for awakenings that are not appropriate. Not all of those with Potential are fit for the awakening, and if we act rashly we may unwittingly loose the beast of our destruction through a careless move.
Characteristics
The Beacon is present to a limited degree in those who have already become. It is strong enough for us to recognize one of our number when we come into contact with him, even if this recognition is the barest hint of perception.
We may also be known by our distinct auras: deep purple sometimes shot through with red, surrounded by a nimbus of black or grey mist. The outer layer often stretches into tendrils that extend far beyond our physical forms, reaching out and feeding from those around us. To those who can perceive that level of reality, we often appear to be a nexus of such tendrils.
The tendrils are varying shades of grey, with a smooth, rope-like appearance. They are not perceptibly present in everyone; they can be filaments so fine even the most experienced seer will have difficulty perceiving them.
We are often noted for our pallor, but more often it is the intensity of our eyes which gives us away. We tend to be thin with a powerful and often intimidating presence which wraps about us like a shroud.
Our hands are often very cold. This is a cold which saps heat away, and lingers where it has been touched. It is a symptom of our constant, low-level energy draw. If we consciously channel energy through our hands, they grow very warm. It is not the temperature which is important: it is the responsiveness of our physical bodies to subtle effects that is distinctive.
We are sensitive to strong odors and tastes, as our senses are often acute. Many of us can hear in a more than normal human range. Some of this is physical hearing, some may be limited clairaudience, as our subtle senses extend far beyond our physical selves. We are almost always much stronger and quicker than we look, for the body is merely a vessel for a much more powerful Will.
We are sensitive to light and to the excessive heat of the sun. This is symptomatic of our acute sensitivity to energy. The radiation of the sun is an overwhelming form of energy which our systems have trouble assimilating. Many of us burn very easily in the sun. Almost all of us are made sick by it. When required to be out in full daylight, we develop headaches, nausea, dizziness. The light saps us of our strength, leaving us exhausted and drained. The night is our natural dominion, for in the mythic imagination, it is the realm of secrets, of magick, and all that the day-lit world rejects.
We carry ourselves with a proud determination and can seem arrogant, detached, and cold. We are often of a predatory nature, and with difficulty avoid using those around us.
To most we seem unapproachable. There is an air about us which seems somehow to set us apart. Even those ignorant to our true natures react to this, treating us with respect, attraction or fear.
The unawakened stare then look away from us and are unable to meet our gaze. They are disturbed by our presence but rarely will they understand what disturbed them or why. Instinctually, they fear us.
The Awakened will know us for what we are, though they may hesitate to put a name to it. Still, on an unspoken level they will understand and attempt to define us through the filters of their individual beliefs and symbol systems.
Children will know us, though rarely do they fear. In their innocence, they have not yet learned to doubt, and thus are open to a clear perception of the world around them.
Basic Feeding
We may gain what we need through feeding, drawing in life as we would breath.
When we are the center of attention of a whole group, we may feed upon the emotions of those around us as they are directed toward us. Those involved in the group are unlikely to notice the loss of energy, and oftentimes feeding in this way only increases their focus upon you.
This is an activity many Potentials engage in, though they do not often consciously understand what it is they do. This is one of the main reasons many Potentials are drawn toward the stage. Many become actors, storytellers, musicians or other performers so that they may achieve the kind of focused attention they crave.
For those who have Become, this is a pleasing activity, but rarely satisfies more than the most superficial of needs.
Even when a group is not focused upon us, we may feed generally upon them. No physical contact is necessary: we simply expand our awareness to encompass the group around us as if throwing out a net, or visualize ourselves at the center of a whirlpool, drawing everything in. Thus our energy extends beyond ourselves and, like embracing good friends, we pull bits of everyone about us into ourselves, breathing them deeply.
This is less satisfying than a focused group draw but can sustain us in a time of desperate need when no other option is available. Places with high energy and many emotions are preferable for this activity, and thus we are often drawn to dance halls and clubs. Once again, this manner of feeding is subtle and easily overlooked, and those being fed from are unlikely to notice the loss. High energy places often have enough ambient energy floating loosely in the atmosphere that you are truly taking little from any of the individual people there.
The two above techniques may be focused variably upon a single person for a slightly more intense effect. The individual in question does not have to be aware of your activities, and they do not even have to be close for you to feed from them. With concentration and focus, you can easily reach out across a room and draw off energy from a specific individual. At most, this person will feel a little tired from what you have taken, but most people are so desensitized to the subtle reality that they will pass this off as ordinary fatigue, stress, or too much drink.
Taking from unawakened individuals has its drawbacks, however. Certainly there are more of them, and they are far less likely to notice what you are doing than Awakened individuals. However, they are almost wholly ignorant to the energy that courses through them and they do little or nothing to cultivate this aspect of their spiritual selves, and so the quality of their energy is very poor.
Feeding from the Awakened is far more rewarding, as they cultivate their energy bodies, and so the quality of energy is purer and more intense. However, feeding without permission from the Awakened runs you the risk of getting caught. Many also perceive this as a psychic attack, and your actions will rarely be responded to kindly.
To this end, willing partners are the most advisable as they will not retaliate for anything which they consider an infringement on their person.. Having a willing partner who is Awakened is more fulfilling anyway, since the more feedback you receive from your targets, the more satisfying the drain, especially if they have some awareness of what is happening to them. It is like making love: the best partner is the one who responds to your touch, whose reactions guide you in increasing their experience of the exchange.
Single target, long-distance draws are convenient for establishing a connection to someone in order to draw them closer to you but before it is socially appropriate to engage in actual physical contact.
In general, energy coupled with some strong emotion is more fulfilling than simple energy alone. One of the most intense emotions we can feed upon is fear, but the negative repercussions associated with inspiring this emotion make it inadvisable to pursue. The next most intense emotion is passion or ecstasy, and this can be very fulfilling for both you and your partner. Any emotion that is transformative in its power and depth pleasantly satisfies our needs.
We may also feed upon energy gathered for religious purposes. This will sustain us in a time of need when no other sources are available, though often it is meager fare.
When people gather to worship, they generate a strong force of energy but few, if any of them, ever know how to properly direct it. Thus it curls up like smoke directionlessly through their place of worship or clings around those items which served as the foci for the group's attentions.
Whether we sit in on the actual worship or appear shortly thereafter, we may affect a general draw using the net technique which pulls the undirected energy into ourselves. The objects which were focused upon by the crowd can also be drained of the energy endowed in them, either from a distant, general draw or from the more direct drain of physical contact.
Many find such activities scandalous and unforgivable, but in truth the groups that can be preyed upon in this fashion have little awareness that they have been victimized and suffer not from our predations. The energy of their worship was undirected anyway and would dissipate eventually on its own, having served to benefit no one.
some of The Vampire Codex by Michelle Belanger
