Editing LeviathanTempest:ChapterFour (section)

==== Incubation of the Second Self (Descendant Channel) ====
''Leviathans capable of incubating the second self can reproduce without any outside aid, essentially cloning itself.  This does not have to be brought to full term, or even sent along the exact same path, allowing the Leviathan to bring forth new creatures from its flesh.''
** Dice Pool: Resolve + Medicine + Sheol
** Action Type: Extended  (Each roll represents an hour of concentration and physical strain.)
The Leviathan is capable of parthenogenesis, creating an egg hosted within its body which will hatch over time, producing a near-copy of the Leviathan him or herself. The only certain difference is the inability of this Channel to reliably produce another Leviathan or a normal human - the result is almost always a Hybrid unless special ritual measures are taken. Even these can only ''slightly'' increase the chances of the egg producing a normal human or full Leviathan. It takes 3 successes to produce the egg, which gestates for (10 - Sheol) months. 

For every roll made the Leviathan binds one point of the Ichor "bound" into the egg. Until it is hatched the Leviathan cannot regain this "bound" Ichor. While hosting an egg which contains more bound Ichor than his or her Stamina, the Leviathan suffers a -2 penalty to all dice pools due to physical strain. Upon hatching, the egg deals (Bound Ichor - host's Stamina) lethal damage to its parent. 

A Leviathan may host up to its Sheol in eggs at one time. 
* “Depth 0”: Birthright of Fecundity
* “Depth 1”: The Leviathan may spend 1 Ichor to make an egg-creation roll.
* “Depth 2”: As above, but the Leviathan may devote rolled successes to reduce the gestation time of the egg by one month per successes, to a minimum of one week at "0" months.
* “Depth 3”: The Leviathan may expend 1 additional Ichor to divide successes on a given roll, creating or improving multiple eggs. Each egg will impose its own strain penalty, and the penalties are cumulative. When doing so the Leviathan must bind one point of Ichor per egg per roll. Binding Ichor does not count as spending Ichor for the per-turn limit on spending Ichor. 
* “Depth 4”: As above, but the Leviathan may devote successes to "sculpt" the resulting creatures, altering their features slightly. Entirely human changes with no mechanical effect (difference in appearance, gender, race) require three successes. Increasing attributes (maximum of 5) require one Success per dot and each dot must be brought separately, reducing Attributes require one success per dot removed. Hybrid mutations (see the Antagonists chapter) can be added or removed for (dot rating +2) successes, the Leviathan must stick to the limits of the Hybrid template and the associated Lahmasu Strain. The Leviathan can remove the Lahmasu template to create an ordinary Hybrid for five successes but cannot add a different Lahmasu strain or an offspring with no mutations. 
* “Depth 5”: As above, but the Leviathan may "template" his personality onto the egg. This requires a number of successes equal to his Tranquility; the resulting creature has the Leviathan's Tranquility (or equivalent in Morality), Virtue, and Vice upon birth. It also prioritizes its Skills (primary, secondary, etc.) in the same fashion. This costs the Leviathan a ''dot'' of Willpower, and may be a Tranquility violation.  
* “Depth 6”: The Leviathan may expend 3 additional Ichor to make rolls solely for the purpose of embedding his spiritual essence into an egg. The egg must first have the Leviathan's personality template. This requires (five + Leviathan's Sheol) successes, and additionally costs a ''dot'' of Sheol. At the death of it's "parent," roll the fledgling's Resolve in an opposed check against the deceased Leviathan's Sheol. If the parent succeeds, the imprinted essence hijacks the body, replacing its Vestiges, Sheol, Mental and Social Attributes and Skills with its own and calling the dead Leviathan's soul into it's new home. The losing essence is annihilated (in the case of a tie, everyone loses.) Hijacking a body in this fashion is a Tranqulity-1 transgression, but serial immortality's not a bad gig. 

===== Sidebar: One Bad Mother =====
The creatures spawned by Incubation of the Second Self use the Hybrid template by default - usually of the Lahmasu sub-breed most typical to the Leviathan's Strain. On a game-mechanical level, this is the only outcome that occurs without the use of outside effort, such as a ritual, to attempt to beat the system. Even these should be a matter discussed between players and storytellers. Thematically speaking, the Tribe has yet to discover a reliable way to reproduce "safely," both in the sense of "increasing the number of Leviathans" or "having a child that isn't monstrous." It's not fair, but it's part of what happens to monsters. 

Genetically speaking, they're "near-matches" to the Leviathan when under scientific scrutiny - close enough that it'd draw attention. It's of some interest to the Tribe, however, that most forms of biological damage and imposed mutation (the hazards of life as a Leviathan) don't transfer to the egg. It most resembles "what the Leviathan would have looked like had they been born as a Hybrid," and does not carry Lamarckian markers of the parent's changes. A templated personality will lead the spawn to pursue a similar course as its parent, but nothing can ensure a complete duplicate.

Rumors persist that certain ancient Leviathans perfected Adaptations or rituals that ensured that even the children of their children would carry a soul imprint - meaning that the press of time would ensure the possibility of their return. Occasionally, Legions have formed around this idea, either seeking to defeat death or to protect the Tribe and humanity from the depredations of a returned horror from bygone days.

Beyond ritual attempts to affect the traits of an egg, the most common and gruesome thing that Leviathans and other Ichor-users can do with an egg is ''consuming'' it. The Ichor bound into the egg can be harvested in this fashion, but doing so is a Tranquility-3 transgression, or a Tranquility-1 transgression for a Leviathan that consumes its own young. 

'''Adaptations'''
* Easy Birth (OO, Requires Stamina 3): In Depth 3 and below, the Leviathan reduces the effective bound Ichor of all eggs by 1 for the purpose of damage upon birth and physical strain penalties.
* Fast Growth (OO): In Depth 3 or below the Leviathan can cause their child to grow rapidly after hatching. Every success compresses one years growth into one week. With seven compressed years the unskilled penalty and exp costs for Mental and Social skills increase by 1, at fourteen years they increase by 2.  This penalty can be removed with extensive education and socialization.
* Genetic Memories (OO): In Depth 4 or below the Leviathan can spend successes to implant genetic memories in their offspring. This can add dots to Skills for one Success per dot (you must buy Skills in Sequence, adding two dots of Academics would cost three successes). Alternatively they could spend one success to give the child memories of three events from the Leviathan's perspective. These memories have less impact than experiencing the event first hand, which is not to say they have no impact. 
* Opportunistic Parasitism (OOOO, Requires Sheol 3): In Depth 3 and below, the Leviathan may transfer an egg that it is hosting to a helpless creature of Size 5 or greater. This requires a minute of time and inflicts three levels of bashing damage. The Leviathan's Ichor remains bound in the egg, but from that point onward only the host suffers from potential strain penalties and will suffer damage upon the egg's "birth." Traumatic and grisly surgery, at the very least, will be required to remove the egg early. Such surgery usually deals lethal damage equal to the egg's bound Ichor. 
* Traumatic Parasitism (OOO, Requires Opportunistic Parasitism and Strength 3): In Depth 3 and below, upon scoring an exceptional success against a target using a natural weapon that deals lethal damage, the Leviathan may attempt to reflexively transfer an egg from its body into that of the target. The subject must be Size 5 or greater, and rolls its Stamina (+ Power stat) in an opposed roll against the Leviathan's Sheol. The subject may add any bonuses related to staving off disease to its roll. Most will also spend Willpower, unsurprisingly. 
* Hyperparasitism (OOO, Requires Opportunistic Parasitism): In Depth 3 and below, when presented with a helpless host containing an egg created by another Leviathan, the character can "overwrite" the egg with one of its own, using the energy bound in the egg to feed its own spawn. The Leviathan makes use of this Channel to create an egg inside the host. This uses the normal system, but the character may need not bind any Ichor until he has made more rolls then the egg's own bound Ichor. This consumes the replaced egg, which is generally a Tranquility violation.
* Reflexive Consumption (OOO): In Depth 3 and below, the Leviathan may reflexively consume an egg that it is hosting, regaining the bound Ichor as noted in the sidebar.
* Restoration of Life (OOOO, Requires Assimilation, Genetic Memories and Sheol 3): The Leviathan imprint both the personality and memories they have absorbed into an egg, bestowing life once again for a Willpower Dot and a number of successes equal to the target's Morality. This goes beyond the distant memories provided by the Genetic Memories Adaptation, from the clone's perspective they are the exact same person in a new body. Implanting memories has no effect on the physical body, which means that by default the clone will be born as a near genetic duplicate of the Leviathan. Most clones are re-sculpted extensively, either to create something as close to the original body as possible within the limits of the Hybrid template, or to reward or punish the clone with a body of the Leviathan's devising. If the body has enough mutations to decrease the clone's Intelligence, apply two mild or one sever derangement per lost dot of Intelligence as the Leviathan damages the mind by forcing it into an incompatible body. It must be noted that creating a clone does not "use up" the assimilated memories, a Leviathan can clone one person many times. Devouring a person for the explicit purposes of cloning them, even with their informed consent, does not prevent the Leviathan from having to make the usual Tranquility check for cannibalism.