++

After publishing the first two update books for GURPS VtM we thought that
the major actors need to be introduced with more details. Each clan, each bloodline
has its own flavor with very distinct ways of presenting themselves, how they think
and act.

This book contains the information on the 13 clans, the backbone of Vampire the
Masquerade. All interaction in the game is based on the push and pull between the
clans. Their history shapes the whole World of Darkness, the enmity between clans
like the Ventrue and Brujah, or the stereotypes of the crazy malkavian, wild
Gangrel, artistic Toreador, depraved Tzimisce, scheming Setites or the hideous
Nosferatu.

Besides the information on the clans, we thought to include the most renowned
bloodlines that currently haunt the night. Some of them are the product of Blood
Sorcery, like the Blood Brothers or the Gargoyles. And some were once great but
have fallen like the Salubri. The clanless and thin-bloods infesting the modern
nights, often target for the full blooded Kindred who cull them to keep them off
their feeding grounds, making sure they don’t overpopulate and break the rules of
the Masquerade.

To know what way the mind of a kindred moves, what motivates and binds them is
often represented by the faction they belong. The Camarilla with their masquerade,
hiding from humanity and keeping a low profile while the Sabbat personifying the
unbridled evil, debauchery in gore and blood with no remorse or regrets.

This compilation gathers all the necessary information into a single volume, all the Clan
lore with GURPS stats that you need to run your games in the Vampire the Masquerade
setting.

Compiled, Converted, and Edited by Gabriel Nagy

free gaming material/Non-commercial use only
January 2023

Version 1.01

World of Darkness, Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, Victorian Age: Vampire, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Werewolf: The Wild West, Mage: The Ascension, Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, Wraith: The Oblivion, Wraith: The Great War,
Changeling: The Dreaming, Hunter: The Reckoning, Demon: The Fallen, Mummy: The Resurrection, Orpheus, Exalted, Chronicles of Darkness, Vampire:The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Giest:
The Sin Eaters, Demon: The Descent, Mummy: The Curse, Beast: The Primordial, Promethean: The Created, World of Darkness, Storyteller System™, Storytelling System™, and Storytellers Vault™ and their respective logos, icons and symbols are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB. All rights reserved.
This work contains material that is copyright of Paradox Interactive AB. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for the Storytellers Vault.
©2018 Paradox Interactive AB, Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4 SE-118 66 Stockholm
Västgötagatan 5, SE-118 27 Stockholm, Sweden..

1
 Contents
Sects of the Kindred ............. 3
Camarilla ............................. 4
Sabbat .................................. 14
Anarch Movement .............. 26
The Clans ............................ 32
Banu Haqim/Assamites....... 35
Brujah ................................. 46
Gangrel ............................... 63
Giovanni .............................. 71
Lasombra ............................. 80
Malkavian ........................... 90
Followers of Set ................. 53
Nosferatu ............................ 97
Ravnos ............................... 104
2
Toreador ........................... 111
Tremere .............................. 121
Tzimisce ............................. 132
Ventrue .............................. 143
The Bloodlines .................. 153
Baali .................................. 156
Blood Brothers ................. 164
Daughters Of Cacophony . 167
Gargoyles .......................... 172
Kiasyd ................................. 177
Salubri ............................... 181
Samedi ................................ 188
Caitiff ................................ 192
Index .................................. 198
 Sects of the Kindred
A sect is a social organization of vampires, usually composed of multiple clans that form a league or compact. Each
sect has a dogma and an objective its members seek to attain.

In the World of Darkness, the majority of Kindred and Cainites are loyal to one of several sects, which are strongly
clan-oriented but primarily political entities. The two major sects are the Camarilla and Sabbat, which respectively
comprise vampires who attempt to uphold the Masquerade and generally maintain their humanity at passable
levels, and vampires who seek to eliminate the Masquerade and rule humanity as predators. This isn't to say that the
Camarilla are nice, they're just pragmatic.

These sects trace their history back to 15th century Europe and the Convention of Thorns, which ended the Anarch
Revolt. The Sabbat are the descendants of those Anarchs, while the Camarilla are the signatories to the convention.
The two sects have been mortal enemies ever since, although the difference is blurred among the elders at higher
levels of leadership and at lower generations.

In addition to these two sects are two vastly older sects. The first, the Inconnu, are loose affiliation of vampires who
have had a common identity since approximately the fall of Rome. The Inconnu generally avoid all vampiric politics,
and may only be a sect by virtue of being too powerful and collegial (with each other) to be considered independent.
The second, and far older, is the Tal'mahe'Ra, the so-called True Black Hand: a Gehenna Cult which traces its origins
to the pre-Christian Middle East. The Western branch of the Black Hand is now a sub-sect of the Sabbat, but its
members have their own agenda of which the Sabbat is a part.

In addition to these divisions are some known sect-less divisions. The most well-known are the independent clans:
the Assamites, Followers of Set, Giovanni and Ravnos. These clans have their own internal structure (which are fairly
sophisticated for some of the clans) and generally have no truck with any other organization.
The Anarchs, who in modern night are a loose confederation of vampires generally adopting a combination of
youthful rebellion and less dusty political thought. Many former Anarchs have been subsumed into the hierarchy of
the New Promise Mandarinate that was established when the Kuei-jin laid siege to the Anarch Free State. And
outside the sects, there are vampires termed Autarkis, meaning that they exist independent of the entire structure -
generally ruling small communities absolutely or otherwise hiding from all support structures.

3
Camarilla

4
The Camarilla is the most organized of the vampiric sects, an elite club that favours tradition and control of the
mortal populace from behind the scenes. Across their domains, they enforce six major Traditions, chief among them
being the Masquerade. All clans have an individual presence in the Ivory Tower, though a select group of pillar clans
make up the core of its membership. Once the Camarilla welcomed all Kindred who obeyed its laws, but recent
events have caused the leadership to adopt more exclusive membership rules. No Anarchs, Caitiff, or thin-blooded
vampires are allowed to exist within the sect.

In addition to preventing the growing mortal masses from discovering the existence
of vampires, the Camarilla aims to maintain the status quo of Kindred society; as
such, much of its structure and traditions mirror that of Cainite society in feudal
Europe in the Dark Ages, and places it at odds with the agenda of the Sabbat and
Anarchs, both of whom seek to overthrow archaic Kindred society.

Nicknames
The Ivory Tower

Type
Vampire sect

Founder
The Founders

Founded
1435 CE

Clans
Present: Ventrue, Toreador, Tremere, Nosferatu, Malkavian, Banu Haqim (2013-), Lasombra (2019-)
Past: Gangrel (1435-1999), Brujah (1435-2012)

Leader
The Inner Circle

History
The Camarilla's birth was grounded in the growing threats of the Inquisition and the Anarch Revolt, both of which
were threatening Cainite domains throughout Europe. Though there had been attempts to form alliances in the past,
a meeting of elders to seriously consider the idea of forming a league of vampires was not held until 1394. Little
came of it, however, until a bold attack was made on the castle of the elder Ventrue Hardestadt led by the famous
Anarch Tyler. The Founders-to-be recognized the need for a unified front and so banded together several of their
most trusted childer and servants into a joint task force to use against the Anarchs. Though meant to illustrate what
could be accomplished if elders pooled their resources together, politics and rivalries would continue to divide them
even as the Founders slowly made preparations for their new alliance.

The formation of the "Camarilla" (a word that denoted both that it was a convocation of peers or comrades and that
it met in session secret from mortal knowledge) was announced in 1435 as the Founders began openly rallying
support for a coalition to protect vampires from the dangers of roving anarchs, the invading Assamites, and the
increasingly dangerous mortal mobs. After all, the very Spanish word camarilla also means to mutually scratch one
another’s back, a meaning that would be given expression in the convoluted workings of prestation.

5
War continued to rage over the next several decades and the Founders, now called Justicars, fought to hold the
nascent sect together. In 1486 the first national conclave was convened, during which the justicars were given
broader authority to punish vampires who violated the Traditions. A new body of agents was also formed to report
to the justicars and free them to further develop the sect, creating what would eventually become the archons.

In 1493, the Convention of Thorns marked the end of the First Anarch Revolt and the birth of the Camarilla as it is
known today. The Traditions were accepted as law. Representatives for the Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu,
Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue clans officially joined the sect, while those speaking for the Lasombra and Tzimisce,
who were majoritarily anarchs, rebelled against what they considered an offensive ultimatum and went on to form
the Sabbat in opposition to everything the Founders intended. While the Convention of Thorns was a significant
victory for the Camarilla, it set the stage for the next five centuries of conflict between the two sects.

The Founders

The Founders were a coterie that was instrumental in the creation of the Camarilla. The first recorded meeting of
this coterie is in Vienna in 1394, at a meeting gathered by the Ventrue elder Hardestadt the Elder and the Tremere
Councilor Meerlinda in response to the threats posed by both the Inquisition and the Anarch Revolt.

There, Hardestadt proposed the institution of a shadow society of vampires, hidden away from Inquisitors and other
mortal witch-hunters. Some, such as Prince Mithras of London, rejected this suggestion, but a few heeded
Hardestadt's call. These few, the Founders, joined Hardestadt in spreading the word of the necessity of this shadow
society, which would eventually be called the Camarilla.

However, the following year, Hardestadt was assassinated and diablerized by the Brujah Anarch Tyler. His identity,
and his place among the Founders, were secretly taken up by his childe, Hardestadt the Younger.

The ranks of the Founders included one member of each of the seven clans that would form the Camarilla:

• Adana de Sforza (Brujah)

• Milov Petrenkov (Gangrel)
• Camilla Banes (Malkavian)
• Josef von Bauren (Nosferatu)
• Rafael de Corazón (Toreador)
• Mistress Fanchon (Tremere)
• Hardestadt the Elder/Younger (Ventrue)

The Founders are known to have remained active as a group even after the institution of the Camarilla at the
Convention of Thorns. They came to be known as "Justicars", as much of their time was spent policing their sect,
until the first true Justicars were appointed at a Conclave in 1504.

The Founders' last known activity as a group was in Rome in 1666; the coterie's subsequent fate, and the fates of all
the members save for Rafael de Corazón and Hardestadt the Younger, are largely uncertain. Hardestadt is known to
have been a member of the Camarilla's Inner Circle even into the Final Nights, and some or all of the other Founders
may have followed suit.

The New World

Over the next two centuries those Anarchs who refused to accept the Convention of Thorns coalesced into the
Sabbat and struck out against the Camarilla's power. The organization and superior numbers of the older sect gave it
a distinct advantage, however, and during the 17th century the younger Sabbat vampires began migrating to the
New World en masse, leaving most of Europe to the Camarilla.

For a time there was some debate as to whether to pursue their enemy to the Americas, but eventually the idea of
staking out new territories was accepted as a means of placating younger Kindred. Whereas it had seemed that the
Sabbat might claim all of the New World, as their enemies fell into internal conflicts over dwindling resources the

6
Ivory Tower consolidated power in the English, Dutch, and French colonies. The War of 1812 mirrored a renewed
battle for the Atlantic coast where the Camarilla gradually lost city after city throughout the first half of the 19th
century. As the war expanded to the American frontier the Camarilla was barely able to hold on its domains only
because of civil war within the Sabbat's ranks.

In the 20th century, the Camarilla was greatly weakened by internal disputes as Kindred took differing sides in the
mortal conflicts in Europe. This was especially true during the Second World War when many elders, particularly
among the Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue, supported the Axis Powers; the Inner Circle refused to take sides, and
even individual justicars ended up working against one another. However, when the bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima, Japan, it became deadly apparent how important preserving the Masquerade and global peace was, for
mortals now possessed the power to destroy both themselves and all Kindred.

Modern Nights

Following the Sabbat invasion of the East Coast, the Camarilla suffered another blow with the departure of the
Gangrel. The reasons for their withdrawal are unknown; it is rumored then Justicar Xaviar went before the Inner
Circle, uttered a single sentence, and left. Word spread through the clan, and over the course of a month the
majority of the clan abandoned the sect and became independent.

Ur-Shulgi rise from torpor led to a cleansing of all Assamites who do not follow the Path of Blood. Those that survive
attempt to join the Camarilla. This includes virtually all of the Banu Haqim. They are led by Al-Ashrad and Tegyrius.
Many elders succumb to the Beckoning or enter hiding, and the rise of the Second Inquisition leaves the remaining
sect leadership paranoid about relying on modern technology. A ban is placed and the Anarchs are blamed, as more
elitist membership policies are levied and a prohibition on clanless vampires is enforced. Retribution is taken at the
Conclave of Prague, when Theo Bell slays Hardestadt and the bulk of the Brujah finally join clan Gangrel in the
Anarch Movement.

Culture
In general, much of the Camarilla's approach to maintaining order involve enacting the Traditions, which among
other things means supporting a system of feudal domains and the responsibilities of sires for the conduct of their
childer. The latter idea is often taken further to mean the sire has authority over the childe, and that elder vampires
are intrinsically more deserving of respect and fit for leadership than younger vampires. Whatever the merits of that
position may be, it has a tendency to instill great resentment among young Kindred and in the past has driven many
to the Anarchs. Older vampires naturally support the social order which they have mastered over the centuries, and
in fact much of the Camarilla's policies are designed to facilitate the activities of Kindred who have long ago lost
touch with the mortal world.

The Traditions

The Traditions are the fundamental laws of Kindred society, supposedly handed down by Caine himself. Here is the
basic breakdown of the six traditions:

• Masquerade: Hide the existence of vampires.

• Domain: A kindred's hunting ground is his own territory, and he rules it absolutely.
• Progeny: Sire only with permission of one's elders.
• Accounting: Until childer are released, their actions are the responsibility of their sire.
• Hospitality: Honor the domains of others, and present oneself to the ruler of any domain you visit.
• Destruction: The right to kill Kindred is reserved for the Elder of a community. Only an elder may call a Blood
Hunt.

The Traditions form the legal backbone of Camarilla society, although in modern nights, the Prince fulfills the Elder
role outlined in the traditions. Most vampiric culture springs from the Traditions – presentation is outlined in the
Tradition of Hospitality, the Blood Hunt in the Tradition of Destruction and the parcelling of land in the Tradition of
Domain.

7
8
Humanity

The Camarilla's position in regard to mortals is simply pragmatic. In the Dark Ages the Inquisition and other mortal
forces were responsible for the destruction of countless vampires. Now that the mortal population is counted in
billions instead of millions and have created weapons stronger than the most powerful Disciplines, they could easily
destroy most of Kindred society should their existence be revealed. Thus, the Camarilla ensures that mortal
populations are not unduly harmed by vampire activities in order to protect the Masquerade, not out of any good
will towards humanity. Still, Kindred are encouraged to blend in with mortals as best as possible and to retain the
civility and composure that comes from holding onto one's human characteristics. Almost all Camarilla members are
on the "Path" of Humanity, with Paths of Enlightenment being strongly discouraged and only practiced by elders.

Antediluvians and Gehenna

The vast majority of Kindred in the Camarilla are no older than a century or two and thus were not alive during the
time when the Antediluvians were active powers in the world. Though they may be educated in the story of Caine
and the creation of vampires, many regard such tales as myths having been raised in more scientific times. The
leaders of the sect long made it a strict policy to deny the existence of beings such as the Antediluvians, or at the
very least state that they all perished centuries ago. Similarly, talk about Gehenna was discouraged if not punished, if
only because of the very genuine concern that such ideas may cause individuals to become paranoid, irrational, and
even join a Gehenna cult. While very few Kindred would profess to believing in stories of the End Times, many also
grow nervous upon seeing signs and portents that seem to appear with frequency in the Final Nights. The Camarilla's
stance is one of the primary reasons the Sabbat claims that the Camarilla is in fact controlled by the Antediluvians
and actively serving their interests. While it is perhaps unlikely that the Camarilla is directly controlled by outside
forces, it does appear that even the most knowledgeable and powerful members of the Ivory Tower refuse to make
any preparations for the possibility of Gehenna.

Questions of faith are more prominent inside the Camarilla, with various vampires following mortal religions,
performing ancestor (or Antediluvian) worship, or joining a more arcane cult, heresy, or order. Further, some suggest
that the Camarilla does not prepare for Gehenna out of disbelief, but rather the expectation that should the Ancients
rise, they will favour the old and elitist sect.

Prestation

The Camarilla is the sect in which the games of prestation are played most openly. Prestation is based on the simple
premise that when a Vampire receives an important gift or favor, he is beholden to the bestower and honor bound
to return the favor. When a fledgling is presented officially before the prince and released from the Jus Noctis and
allowed as a true member of the domain, they usually engage in their first act of prestation in the process, although
some Clans, like the Ventrue and Toreador, involve their progeny even earlier in the webs of social boons. As the
Independent Clans (let alone the Sabbat) are in no way obligated to uphold a boon or promise to a Camarilla
vampire in a manner that a sect mate would, most Kindred are extra cautious when dealing with those outside the
Prestation system. Most dealings, if they happen at all, between these groups are the work of Elders on both sides.

Favours, boons and pledges of alliance circulate within the Camarilla like currency in the mortal world. As each boon
and favour can only be called in on an individual base, there are no set rules and regulations for them. Often, debts
are exchanged for other boons or debts, enabling a fluid system in which the lines between enemy and friend can
quickly blur. The Harpies are the overseers of this byzantine system in common sized domains, while in greater
domains, a Chancellor is in constant requisition to keep track of the nightly shifting web.

The sanctity of the prestation system is very important to the Camarilla, especially to the elders who have spent
centu­ries carefully accruing favors from others. If it suddenly becomes acceptable to welch on one's prestation
debt, then suddenly those elders' stockpiles of favors become worthless. Needless to say, the elders in question
don't intend to allow that to happen. Those investments in favors are valuable, major resources in the mini-Jyhads
the elders play. As such, they have a vested interest in keeping the formality of the prestation system intact. Any
offenders are viciously teared down, as the Elders use their considerable influence to undermine the rebellious
vampire in every area of his interest. Even if the offender manages to survive the social onslaught, his reputation is
tarnished for years, if not decades, and other Kindred will rarely, if ever, socialize with him or offer him boons.

9
As a side effect, Prestation also keeps Camarilla society stable. Few Kindred wish to lose a boon or debt and so watch
out not to lose their assets. Outright murder against a person that you owe a favour has grave repercussions, usually
a painful way to face Final Death, as it threatens the very fabric of the Camarilla. Also, if an Elder owes a favour to a
neonate (by whatever means) he is obligated to honor his word. This helps to create the illusion of reliability and
civility, and of normal, human-like interaction, that allows the Camarilla to pretend that they are not damned
monsters.

The Red List

The Red List are a group Kindred often referred to as Anathema and classified by the Inner Circle as grave dangers
and whose destruction is one of the first priorities, should they show themselves. Members of the Red List are often
powerful, influential or otherwise expertised, although some have made the simple mistake of inviting the ire of the
wrong Kindred. Specialized Archons called Alastors hunt the Anathema and anyone associated with them. Slaying an
Anathema grants the responsible Kindred a major boon, a so-called Trophy.

To be put in the Red List, two Justicars have to agree to prosecute a truly monstrous action, preferably with
witnesses or proofs of the deeds done. These Justicar bring the name before the next meeting of the Inner Circle and
when all assembled representatives agree on the danger of the accused, the name is put on the list.

Organization
The Camarilla is a global organization that maintains and oversees a collection of feudal domains, particularly in
North America and Europe. It is a loose alliance lacking a strong central authority or standing military. Individual
Camarilla cities are almost always ruled by a prince with the assistance of the primogen, who either act as a council
of advisers or hold their own measure of power. Other offices of a city include the Harpy, Keeper of Elysium,
Seneschal, Sheriff, Herald, Shadow and Scourge.

Most Camarilla cities are fairly autonomous, and the broader Camarilla authority usually only becomes involved
when there are concerns of a large Sabbat incursion, significant breaches of the Masquerade, or conflicts between a
city's elders that could cause greater instability. In such cases one or more Archons are dispatched to look into the
matter and either resolve the matter or report back to their respective Justicar. Whereas there are any number of
archons that have been enlisted to serve the sect's leaders, there is only one justicar for each official clan in the
Camarilla. These influential vampires represent the highest visible authority of the Camarilla and hold tremendous
power to enforce the sect's precepts and call on its resources. They answer only to the Inner Circle, a secretive body
of the Camarilla's eldest members that determines the sect's direction and policies.

Members

Original members:
• Brujah
• Gangrel
• Malkavian
• Nosferatu
• Toreador
• Tremere
• Ventrue

A further, if unofficial, differentiation is between the patrician Clans (the high society of the Camarilla, comprised of
the Ventrue, Toreador, and Tremere) and the plebeian Clans (the low society, comprised of the Brujah, Nosferatu,
Malkavians, and the Gangrel). Members of the patrician Clans usually hold more princedoms, although the general
ranking of the Clans varies from domain to domain.

10
Conclaves

A Conclave is one of the biggest social

events in Camarilla society. It can only be
issued by a Justicar and is often used as a
court for trials, announcements or similar
reasons that affect all Kindred in a certain
area. During a conclave, vampires of all
bloodlines and classes of age can
intermingle and voice their opinion.
Every member of the line of Caine is
welcome as long as they do not stand in
open opposition to the Camarilla. The
Justicar is responsible for the
organization, accommodation and similar
responsibilities, although he can draw on
the staff of the local Elysium of the city
he wants to hold the Conclave.

Conclaves have no planned schedule,

each Justicar calls them as he sees it fit.
The intricacies of Conclaves rely on codes
of conduct that steadily evolve and are
improved, but certain arrangements are
always made; like the seating order.

Inner Circle

The Inner Circle is the organizing council

of the Camarilla. Practically nothing is
known about the Inner Circle, which
takes pains to keep the identity of its
members hidden. The public face of the
Inner Circle are the Justicars and their
Archon assistants. Members of the Inner
Circle elect Justicars and otherwise
establish the principles of Camarilla law.
The Inner Circle is sometimes called the
"Ivory Tower" or the "Inner Seven".

The Inner Circle is often assumed to be a

council of the most powerful Princes in
the Camarilla. It is thought that
Hardestadt, one of the sect's Founders,
holds a seat in the Inner Circle.

At a carefully orchestrated Conclave in a

small town outside Vienna in 1504CE, the
Founders of the Camarilla who were
coming to be called the Justicars at the
time held a vote to elect the next group
of Justicars. They also had the
assemblage vote to give themselves
authority over the Justicars as the Inner
Circle. This vote was controversial and

11
the Founders had to pull many strings and cash in many boons to pull it off. They succeeded, establishing themselves
as the first of members of the Inner Circle. They were:

• Adana de Sforza (Brujah)

• Milov Petrenkov (Gangrel)
• Camilla Banes (Malkavian)
• Josef von Bauren (Nosferatu)
• Rafael de Corazón (Toreador)
• Mistress Fanchon (Tremere)
• Hardestadt the Elder/Younger (Ventrue)

By 1524 a male member of the Inner Circle was impersonated by a fleshcrafted doppelganger in an effort to funnel
information to the Sabbat. The other Inner Circle members immediately noticed the impostor and began feeding
misinformation to the spy. Eventually Justicar Mary Anne Blaire discovered this and was executed to protect the
secret, so that they could continue to feed misinformation to their enemies. This lasted for several more years after
her death.

Assuming the Inner Circle at this time were the same as in 1504, and noting that the impostor appears to have been
male, this would mean that the spy took the place of (and perhaps killed) Milov Petrenkov (clan Gangrel), Josef con
Bauren (clan Nosferatu), Rafael de Corazon (clan Toreador), or Hardestadt (clan Ventrue).

The Inner Circle meets every 13 years in Venice, and at these meetings they select new Justicars and further decide
the direction of the sect, as outlined in the Promise of 1528 with the Giovanni Clan. At their discretion, the Inner
Circle holds the right to convene at a different location, such as Ghent in 1998. Every Clan is permitted one
representative, usually the eldest member of the clan, as only the eldest may cast the Clan’s vote.

Justicars

The Justicars are the most powerful visible component of the Camarilla's government, charged with adjudicating
matters of the Traditions on a wide scale and acting as the eyes, ears, and hands of the Inner Circle. There is one
justicar for each clan of the Camarilla, and each is served by several handpicked archons who act as their spies,
enforcers, and representatives around the world.

In a world of hunters, leopards, and jackals, few try to control the undying appetite. When hunter turns on hunter,
however, all are at risk. Those who dare to hunt cannibal Kindred are the Justicars. Justicars are usually of great age
and power, and their ferocity is unparalleled. Few can stand against them and fewer still would dare to try.

There were seven Justicars (six with the departure of Xaviar) and they cannot be everywhere at once. True, the
Justicars have many servants. However, many more vampires seek to violate the Masquerade – or worse, slay
another vampire and drink her blood. The only way for the Justicars to stem the rising tide of diablerie is to stop
these crimes before they happen. The way they achieve this is through fear.

The Justicars cultivate terror. They wield it as a weapon and few vampires are more adroit in its use. The coming of a
Justicar is a great event. The prince must quickly patch up all of his quarrels with the elders and prepare. The elders
must hide all of their little indiscretions. Before a Justicar arrives, all those mortals in the city who know of the
Kindred are often slain, thus giving the Justicar no excuse to enforce the First Tradition. Even as the elders hide their
minor crimes, the anarchs prepare for war. Few anarchs have not committed some crime against the Camarilla and
few are willing to cower and beg forgiveness.

Frequently, the Justicar has come for but a single vampire or single coterie, and has no interest in any other crimes.
The Justicar's servants, the Archons, are often enough to handle the breaking of a Tradition. The mere threat of a
Justicar's personal intervention can make even a prince mend his ways. A Justicar cannot waste her time with every
little infraction of the rules; only capital crimes are worthy of her attention.

The first Justicars were the Founders of the Camarilla, who went on to form the Inner Circle in 1504 CE when they
held the first meeting to appoint their successor Justicars. The Justicars are the voice of the Inner Circle and their

12
actions can only be challenged by another Justicar, granting them nearly unlimited power to do as they see fit. A
Justicar can seize whatever resources are required, rearrange offices with impunity, and even depose of princes if
they so desire. And though most Justicars are prudent enough to consider their actions when dealing with other
highly influential Kindred, such abuses of power earn them a great deal of resentment from vampires of all ages.
More commonly they spend their time calling conclaves to judge disputes and crimes, or simply to encourage social
gatherings within the Camarilla, and oversee the war against the Sabbat.

Justicars are chosen by the Inner Circle every 13 years during the Camarilla conclave in Venice. Appointments are an
intense, drawn out process as each clan attempts to elevate its most talented members and likewise limit the power
of the other clans. This politicking often results in compromise candidates and new rivalries, but in the end the Inner
Circle decides on its own, and over the centuries several unexpected choices have been made. Justicars hold their
position for 13 years, although a Justicar may be chosen for consecutive terms.

Current Justicars

The Conclave in 2011 elected new Justicars:

• Juliet Parr, Justicar of Clan Malkavian

• Molly MacDonald, Justicar of Clan Nosferatu
• Diana Iadanza, Justicar of Clan Toreador
• Ian Carfax, Justicar of Clan Tremere
• Lucinde, Justicar of Clan Ventrue

Additionally, these Justicars were also elected, until the Conclave of Prague in 2012, when their clans departed the
Camarilla:

• Manuela Cardoso Pinto, Justicar of Clan Brujah

• Geoffrey Leigh, Justicar of Clan Gangrel, and first Justicar since Xaviar

Additionally, Carmelita Neillson, Archeologist of Clan Toreador claims that there are rumors abound of a neutral
Kindred soon to be appointed as Justicar of Outsiders, representing antitribu and officially unaffliated clans. While
Ivy Reo, Oracle and Counsel to the Justicars, Clan Malkavian, predicts: "The number of Justicars will again number
seven...If we can't make pillars we must import them. From where? Egypt, perhaps? I know of at least one pillar in
the dark. I know of a pillar drenched in blood. I know of a pillar once drawn by an architect, but it snapped in two in
the builder's ropes."

13
Sabbat

14
The Sabbat is a loose organization of Cainites who reject the Traditions. Unlike the Camarilla, the Sabbat believes in
the Antediluvians and Caine. Also known as the Sword of Caine, as they believe they will be the army Caine will use
to destroy the Antediluvians once Gehenna arrives.

Nicknames
The Sword of Caine

Type
Vampire sect

Founded
1493 CE

Clans
Lasombra & Tzimisce (plurality)
Panders
Antitribu of almost all clans

Headquarters
Mexico City (former)

Leader
The Regent

History
The Sabbat was founded in 1493 CE, largely in reaction to the Convention of Thorns which founded the Camarilla.
They are the remnants of the Anarch Revolt of the time.

Leaders of the endeavour were the Tzimisce and the Lasombra, two Clans that had ostensibly destroyed their
Antediluvian founders and had accepted that there was no turning back for them. The Tzimisce would not cede their
lands to the hated Tremere and submit the philosophy of Metamorphosism for the limited ideals of Humanity, while
the Lasombra had invested too much in the Revolt to surrender their success to decrepit elders of other Clans (in the
words of the Clan representative at the Convention of Thorns: "I came to negotiate, not to surrender.") Delegations
of both Clans met at the island of Majorca and began their own negotiations, aided by several malcontents among
the Anarchs, who refused to surrender to the Elders or did not share the view of their main Clan. Others joined to
escape the practice of the Blood Bond, among them venerable Elders like the Malkavian Vasantasena, the Tremere
Goratrix, and the Ventrue Dominique Touraine. These groups existed as small packs in the wilderness that harassed
the holdings of the Elders and those who had submitted to the Camarilla, called "Sabbats" by the superstitious
mortal population for their rapacious behavior and proud display of their inhumanity. Slowly, these disparate packs
were brought to heel by the spreading of the Vaulderie, uniting the remnants of the Anarch Revolt as the Sabbat, a
sect devoted to warfare against the Antediluvians and the tyranny of their catspaws.

Bitter war raged between the vampires of the newly formed Sabbat and the not-much-older Camarilla. The
Inquisition continued to claim victims while all of Europe's Cainites drew lines in the sand to mark their allegiance. As
the Camarilla consolidated their hold on the major European cities, the Sabbat were thrust into the defensive.
Within the Black Monastery in Switzerland, the sect formalized the modern Paths of Enlightenment in 1666 out of
the old Roads that had become obsolete. Despite open protests against it as a tool of the Antediluvians, the Sabbat

15
Elders realized the worth of secrecy in the modern night and the real danger of falling into Wassail in the face of the
demands of the Beast, so they sought to accommodate to these circumstances without pretending to be human.

Besides Spain, which was controlled by a majority of Lasombra, and territories in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia,
which were claimed by the Tzimisce, most packs travelled across the sea to the New World. For a while, the sect
flourished in the evolving colonies. Amid a revolutionary and radical mortal backdrop, the Sabbat's presence was
easy to hide among the insurrectionists, fighting against the Cainite masters of the Aztecs, the dreaded monster
Huitzilopochtli and his peers, as well as against the native Lupines.

Civil War

The relative prominence of the Sabbat in the Americas faced opposition, though, as disenfranchised Camarilla
vampires also journeyed across the oceans, hoping to carve out legacies for themselves away from the ironbound
holdings of European princes. Due to a lack of organization within the American packs, internal struggle between the
Lasombra and Tzimisce resulted in the events of the First Sabbat Civil War.

The war weakened the sect enough that the Camarilla was able to seize much territory from them, before, after 30
years of conflict, the Purchase Pact officially forbade it to attack other Sabbat members in 1803. Cool heads never
prevail in times of war however, and another wave of infighting broke out, which culminated in the Second Sabbat
Civil War, a conflict grounded in simmering animosities that still rumbled on beneath the Purchase Pact. Convening
in New York, which the sect had managed to hold against all the best efforts of the Camarilla, high-ranking Sabbat
reconsidered their commitment to the sect's causes. Not content to merely sign a goodwill agreement as they had
before, Sabbat vampires took a long, hard look at what was important to the Sword of Caine. An unheard-of
congregation of Sabbat committed to document the Code of Milan in 1933, a collection of tenets that composed
Sabbat ideology supposedly since the establishment of the sect. The new Code of Milan was approved by the new
Regent Melinda Galbraith, as well as several Seraphim of the Black Hand. It also served to establish Mexico City as
the informal capital of the Sabbat.

In the times of struggle, the Sabbat had managed to keep control of some major cities in the United States even
through the internal war. Some cities, such as Philadelphia, remained under Sabbat domination because the Black
Hand centralized most of its number in these locations. The Dioceses in Europe remained untouched by the
upheavals overseas. The Sabbat began to develop along two lines - city Kindred and nomadic Kindred. Many of the
nomadic packs were Sabbat that fled their cities after defeat at the hands of the Camarilla or other Sabbat. The city
Kindred maintained permanent havens and and further resembled their Camarilla counterparts in that they inserted
themselves in the local infrastructure of the city, while the nomadic Kindred travelled all over the country, never
existing in one place too long and upholding the old tenets of the ancient Anarchs.

The Third Sabbat Civil War, the briefest of the three, lasted only 100 nights, in the latter half of 1957. Incited by a
failed coup of New York on behalf of the Brujah antitribu, violence once again ensued. Ironically, the end of the
trouble came as a result of the rarest of Cainite diplomacy-compromise. After the Brujah antitribu coup fell, the clan
rose against the united Lasombra and Tzimisce, which was bound for disaster. Out of the ashes of the fighting,
however, emerged a unified group of Caitiff calling themselves the Panders, after their leader, Joseph Pander. The
Panders had the support of the Brujah antitribu, as they were rabble and outcasts, much like the Brujah had become
after the migration to the New World. Seeing the opportunity to avoid another protracted (and dreadfully
embarrassing) war, the Lasombra and Tzimisce recognized the Panders as a distinct entity, conferring on the group
clan or bloodline status.

Modern Nights

In the Modern Nights, the Sabbat has undertaken great offensives against the Camarilla, but also faced several
internal crises. Atlanta and Washington, D.C. have fallen to their hands, but they lost New York City and Milan. The
destruction of the Tremere antitribu and the attacks against mexican Sabbat holdings by unknown perpetrators have
been damped by the arrival of new allies, the Salubri antitribu and the Harbingers of Skulls, who joined the Sabbat to
exact vengeance against their enemies. The Black Hand, once a bastion of stability, shakes with the destruction of
the infiltrators of the "True" Black Hand, as two Seraphs vanished and several Assamites abandoned the sect to
return to Alamut under the leadership of Ur-Shulgi. Tensions between the Sabbat elders of the Old World and those

16
of the New World arise. The Regent has been slain, although this is known only by the Cainite who impersonates her
until the charade will be revealed.

After the rise of the Second Inquisition and the start of the Gehenna Crusade in the Middle East, the Sabbat has
(seemingly) given up on controlling the cities of America and flocked to the war zones of the world. However, most
Sabbat domains are still out-of-bounds to the Camarilla. A "Gehenna War" between the Camarilla and the Sabbat is
being waged in the Middle East and the disputed regions of Ukraine. The conflict begun as the majority of the Sabbat
abandoned most of its domains to wage what they perceive to be a pre-emptive "crusade" against the coming
Antediluvians. In response to this aggression, the Camarilla began fighting them back in order to preserve the
Masquerade and to protect torpored methuselah from any Sabbat war parties who may confuse them for
Antediluvians.

The Chicago Folios also gives some information about Sabbat. Chicago, for all its corruption and horrors, understands
though it may wallow in degradation, it has nothing on the empire of perpeturbation that is the Sabbat. The city has
had many horrific encounters with the fanatical sect, most recent being the dread nights of 1993. Little is known
about the fringe and alien sect. What is known is the Sabbat relinquished control over its holdings and threw itself
into a purported "Gehenna War." With the advent of the Lasombra defection, there have been whispers of concern
about what the Sabbat will do in retaliation. To help the Lasombra in their quest to join the Camarilla is to potentially
put a target for the Sabbat on your back. The Chicago Sabbat have become a cell organization, perpetuating
atrocities by some byzantine design. These cells have become known as "The Seven Fires" - the surviving cells not
called off to the Gehenna War, destroyed by Edward Neally, or killed by the defecting Lasombra. This is likely a name
given to them due to their ferocity, related to their brutal "ritae", often connected to fire, their appalling "games", or
something to do with their numbers of operatives or groups known as packs. The Seven Fires leave nothing but
carnage and perplexing propaganda in their wake. In their graffiti, their trail of mutilated bodies, and arcane scrawl,
they reference the story of Peter Pan, possibly an allusion to the Lasombra defection and "losing their shadow".
These Cainites are appearing close and closer to Chicago border, emerging in more run down or economically
suburbs. What befell the Sabbat in the United States is still broadly a mystery. Packs disappeared, the hierarchy
dissolved, and many of the Cainites remaining in place lost their grip on reality and stability as their purpose
disappeared.

While most Kindred try to resist the Beckoning, Sabbat vampires go towards it. In the Sabbat: The Black Hand, it's
revealed that the Gehenna War is not only focused in the East, but all over the world.

Culture
The Sabbat has many ways of identifying its members: the sect has an official color (purple), an official symbol (an
inverted ankh), and dozens, if not hundreds, of specific signs, passwords, and gestures that theoretically let one
member identify another. In practice, few Sabbat can recognize more than a few of these signs - most learn to
identify one another by face at ritae or other sect gatherings.

Typically, only a Bishop or Archbishop will be able to positively identify any vampire in their domain as Sabbat or
non-Sabbat - in the case of nomadic packs, even this becomes a chore. Additionally, each of the individual packs of
the Sabbat can assume their own particular symbol, gesture, or other way of identifying themselves. Pack members
who are undercover have even more obscure and hard-to-spot ways of making their identities known or passing
along information.

It has become quite the affectation among younger Sabbat (particularly those of Clan Lasombra) to wear crucifixes
somewhere on their person - a necklace, an earring, even a tattoo. The irony of being damned but bearing the
symbols of salvation is a source of great amusement to these vampires, especially if the bearer is a pack "priest".
Older, more mature Lasombra regard the practice as irritating or outright blasphemous, even if they wear such a
cross themselves. Their argument is that the neonates do not believe in their own damnation, or in God's immortal
power over their souls.

Many neonates in the sect wonder why they have to bother with all these trappings of espionage: is not the Sabbat's
mission statement to tear down the Camarilla and its Masquerade and rule humans openly? Sabbat elders who lived

17
through the Inquisition do not dignify these questions with an answer, and even bishops are hard-pressed to come
up with a convincing response.

The typical attitude is that being a True Sabbat is a matter of importance and distinction – you do not want just
anybody coming in and claiming all the rights and privileges of Sabbat without having proven themselves first. Also,
given the pack structure of the sect, many members think of themselves as a collection of gangs or neo-feudal
warbands, complete with initiation rites and other ways of making themselves feel special.

The higher up one goes in the Sabbat ranks, the less frequently such symbols are seen, and the "us against the
world" outlook of the young packs becomes more and more "me against the world". In order to survive long enough
to achieve position and age within the sect, a vampire must learn how to live for themselves, and to fight for every
scrap of profit or slightest advantage. Unlike the Camarilla, there is no rigid hierarchy in place to promote or control
the ambitions of Sabbat vampires – the only rank and title a Sabbat holds is what they have the power to take.

Both the Tzimisce and the Lasombra

encourage this dog-eat-dog culture, as it
seems to ensure that only the strongest,
smartest, and most capable lead the sect,
and all the rest are fodder for the appetites
of their betters. The only time Monomacy
can be suspended is during a Crusade, and
even then, all the reckless charges and Wild
Hunts tend to have a way of weeding out
the slow and weak from the Sabbat's ranks.

Countering this anarchic atmosphere is the

Vaulderie. There are still a few elders who,
in nights past, were members of the same
pack, and will occasionally work together
and share the Vaulderie. Younger vampires,
who are living and fighting together as one
unit, develop a fierce protection of one
another, or else. If you cannot rely on your
packmates, or their loyalty is in question,
then the only thing stopping them from
being ripped to shreds is the Vinculum
bond they share with the rest of the pack.
In the World of Darkness, being part of a
pack is sometimes the only thing these
vampires have going for them.

Vaulderie

Vaulderie is a blood rite practised by the

Sabbat to break any existing blood bonds
and unite the pack members closely
together.

The first ritual of this kind was created in

the early nights of the Anarch Revolt by
Tzimisce kolduns to break the Blood Bond
with their elders. Using Kupala's Fire-
Flower to perform the ritual and Lambach
Ruthven's potent blood as a catalyst, the
kolduns were successful and gave birth to
the practice modernly known as Vaulderie.

18
The modern rite is pretty simple: each member of the pack drips a small amount of Vitae into a cup; a ceremony is
performed, and then the blood is shared amongst the pack. The Vaulderie produces a communal, weak blood bond
called the vinculum. It generally makes pack members supportive of and loyal to each other, though it does not
produce the extreme reactions of a full blood bond.

Without the Vaulderie, the Sabbat would probably collapse under its own weight and dogma — the chaos and
anarchy that follows the sect would erode what little organization it has without the loyalty and sympathy created
by the rite. Those who refuse the Vaulderie or oppose it are not viewed favorably by other Sabbat. Vampires who
refuse to partake of the Vaulderie at least monthly suffer ostracism from the pack at best — and may be destroyed
outright at worst.

Ritae

The Sabbat values its bonds of loyalty and fraternity above all else. To this end, the sect has established many rituals,
which reinforce pack and sect solidarity and structure. The entire sect observes the same 13 Auctoritas Ritae , while
the Ignobilis Ritae vary greatly in number, subject and observation from pack to pack. The official corpus of ritae, as
well as their authenticity and orthodoxy, is scheduled during Synods of high-ranking Noddists.

Packs observe the auctoritas ritae at common times: at esbats, before sieges, or when bringing a new member into
the pack, for example. The ignobilis ritae may occur at any time, usually when the pack priest believes them to be
most appropriate. Some packs observe greeting or parting ritae, feeding ritae, ritae of diablerie and any number of
variations.

Most ritae exalt the vampiric state and are striving for perfecting it – as a result, these ritae are especially cruel to
mortals and kindred alike. Many Ritae have shamanistic or even koldunic origins.

Wild Hunt

One of the greatest crimes a Sabbat can commit is to turn traitor, and the sect protects its secrets. If a member
reveals a sect secret to the enemy, she is punished severely. If a Sabbat leaks information of a vital nature, a priest
may call for a Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is much like the Blood Hunt, but ends with the eradication of the offending
Sabbat sect member, as well as anyone — Kindred or kine — who may have knowledge of the betrayal. The gravity
of the Wild Hunt depends upon the traitor in question — the packs are expected to police their own ranks, while
high-profile turncoats receive the attention of Archbishops, Prisci, Cardinals, and all those who serve them.

The priest assembles the local Sabbat and formally calls them to the hunt, which is sometimes similar to the preface
of a War Party. Once caught, the offending Sabbat is staked and immobilized. The pack takes her before the Ductus
and Pack Priest (or Bishop, etc.), who recite her crimes to her packmates. The pack then torments the offender in
whatever manner it deems appropriate — hot irons, Vicissitude, and mutilation are the least-creative forms of
vengeance a righteous pack can inflict on a traitor. Finally, the pack destroys the traitor by throwing her (still staked)
on a consecrated burning pyre.

After the traitor meets her Final Death, the Sabbat pursues those who either learned of the secret or were involved.
Sabbat justice is relentless — the sect stops at nothing to ensure their security. Naturally, the Sabbat cannot know
about every little (or even many of the big) secrets that slip through the cracks. Frustration over this fact often
makes things doubly bad for those they do catch.

Sabbat who are subject to the Wild Hunt are no longer Sabbat, and thus, no longer considered by the sect to be
vampires at all. No amount of grovelling can convince the sect to take back a traitor, though this harsh reality comes
more out of security than bullheadedness.

19
Organization
The Sabbat sees itself as the army of Caine and consequently is tightly organized, far more than the relatively
anarchic Camarilla. The Sabbat consists mainly of Clans Tzimisce and Lasombra and numerous antitribu from Clans
normally independent or associated with the Camarilla.

Although Sabbat vampires may sire childer as usual, and are no less picky than any other vampire about it, during a
war effort, they often backdrop to use Mass Embraces for a steady supply of shock troopers. These unfortunate
vampires are knocked over, Embraced and buried. By the time the so-called "shovelhead" has clawed himself up, he
is usually confused and aggressive and then directed with the rest of the Mass Embrace in a first vinculum against
the enemy. Most shovelheads do not survive their first weeks, they are considered False Sabbat and are not
respected in any way by the members of the sect. Once they have proven themselves repeatedly, they are usually
introduced into the sect and undergo the Creation Rites to become True Sabbat. Childer who are specifically chosen
to be Embraced often receive these instructions much earlier directly from their sire.

The cornerstone of Sabbat organization is the pack; Sabbat packs are organizations of 3-10 vampires mutually bound
through the standard blood-sharing rites of the cult. Packs have a ductus, who is the pack's warleader, and a pack
priest who reminds the pack of its responsibilities to Caine. In addition, pack members are mutually bound in a
vinculum – a sort of communal blood bond – created by the blood-sharing ceremonies. Packs generally occupy
communal havens; given the Sabbat's rejection of human mores and its use of artificial loyalties enforced by the
vinculum, there is less need for privacy.

Regent

Regent is a title held by the Sabbat vampire who has the ultimate authority over the entire sect, ruling it from the
Sabbat stronghold in Mexico City.

In the Sabbat, there is only one Regent at a time, and while they do not have absolute authority, their directives are
usually carried out. According to Sabbat doctrine, however, the Regent is merely overseeing the sons and daughters
of Caine until the Dark Father returns to lead his children himself. The Regent is the president, so to speak, of this
vampire sect, and each of the Archbishops or councils of Bishops is ultimately accountable to this authority.
Duties

The Regent's duties include:

• Oversee all matters of the Pack;

• Handle all disputes that cannot be resolved by the Cardinals or Prisci;
• Has the authority to make/break alliances and declare enemies;
• Has all powers regarding promotion and demotion of anyone in the Sabbat;
• May remove the Initiated status from a lower-ranked member of the Sabbat;
• Member of the Consistory with full voting power.

Known Regents

Very few has been said about the original Regent(s) of the Sabbat, but it is safe to assume that each Regent has been
overthrown by the other. The very few named Regents were:

• Markel de Vasquez Itzal, Lasombra of 5th generation. Ordained as the first Regent on October, 1493. Resigned to
‘attend to his studies’ on the 100th anniversary of that ascension. He is the only Regent who has survived the act
of retirement.
• Marozia d’Oscura, Lasombra of 4th generation. In life, she was called “The Senatrix of Rome;” as a vampire,
d’Oscura was a prodigious and ruthless diablerist, gaining her final generation by feasting on the soul of a True
Brujah named Belit-Sheri. Marozia d’Oscura died under mysterious circumstances in 1625. Possibly the real life
figure.

20
• Niklas Berthraben von Weiss, Lasombra of 5th generation. Called for the sect’s first synod. Destroyed in
Monomacy, 1768. Argument over the righteousness of his defeat sparked the First Sabbat Civil War.
• Gorchist, Tzimisce of 5th generation. Signed the Purchase Pact in 1803 and drafted the Code of Milan (which was
revised and finalized in 1933, after his death). Assassinated, 1860, during the Second Sabbat Civil War.
• Melinda Galbraith, Toreador antitribu of 5th generation. The Third Sabbat Civil war occurred during her term, in
1957. Galbraith was slain in 2000 by unknown parties amid suspicion she had become a servant of the infernal.
After Galbraith’s death, a Tzimisce named Zachary Sikorsky impersonated her and held the Regency briefly, but
his “tenure” was never validated with a ritus.
• Temoch the Jackal, Gangrel Coyote of 6th generation. He tenure marks a distinct shift in sect leadership from Old
Europe to the New World. Embraced during the war for Mexico’s independence, Temoch is a devoutly faithful
creature and a dedicated member of the Orthodox political faction, merging bloody Aztec practices with the
ritual traditions of Catholicism. Temoch has created a political détente between the Lasombra and Tzimisce clans
(both fear his removal will allow the other clan to seize the regency). His name is pronounced /TEE-mock/, but
young Sabbat call him simply “the Jackal.” His pack is named Nuestra Muerte.

Hierarchy

Above the pack is a set of hierarchical titles specifically mocking the titles of the Catholic Church. Bishops oversee
multiple packs and may also have a specific portfolio; overseeing Bishops are Archbishops, generally holding a
position analogous to Prince for a city. Above the Archbishops are the Cardinals, who oversee large geographic
regions (such as Canada, or the Eastern Seaboard) and who comprise the Consistory, the governing body that selects
the Regent. Advising the Regent, Consistory, and Archbishops, or other leaders are the Prisci, a group of elders and
other respected Sabbat who take an advisory and judicial role. The higher ranks of the Sabbat enforce their will
through agents commonly called Templars or Paladins, depending on rank.

Sabbat Political Hierarchy

1. False Sabbat
2. True Sabbat
3. Ductus
4. Pack Priest
5. Templar (or Paladin)
6. Bishop
7. Archbishop
8. Priscus
9. Cardinal
10. Regent

These titles are formally recognized, but also generally involve a certain degree of self-selection. The Sabbat has a
formal rite for recognizing Bishop and higher ranks, but any Sabbat may claim a title and try to defend it. However,
the higher the rank claimed, the more likely the claimant will meet a gruesome end. The Prisci, in particular, are
selected only by other Prisci.

As with all Vampiric organizations, organization eventually bows to the demands of power. While most Sabbat
belong to packs, elder Sabbat are more likely to live and work without packmates. At the higher levels of the
organization, the difference between Camarilla and Sabbat elders is negligible, regardless of how different it may
appear in the trenches.

Factions

The Sabbat is a fractious lot that values personal freedom above everything else. In the chaos of the Sabbat, it is not
unlikely to find members of these factions among the packs, though by no means does every member of the Sabbat
support a faction.

• Loyalists: On the far-left side of the political spectrum, supporters of the Loyalists see themselves as heirs to the
original Anarchs. They believe that the only way to be loyal to the Sabbat is to follow the original principle of the

21
 Anarch Movement - that all vampires must be free and ultimately responsible for their own actions. They are
strongly opposed to the Code of Milan and the Purchase Pact.
• Moderates: Not as radical as the Loyalists, the Moderates see the modern Sabbat as clogged with rules and
regulations that are in contrast to the original spirit of the Anarch Revolt. They support the Purchase Pact, but
oppose several tenets of the Code of Milan.
• The Status Quo: The Status Quo literally seeks to keep things the way they are and work within their current
systems, believing that allowing members a looser rein will compromise the secrecy and security of the sect.
They support the Purchase Pact and the Code of Milan in its current form.
• The Orthodoxy: The Orthodox Sabbat advocate a strengthening of the religious aspects in the higher echelons of
the Sabbat, believing that to do otherwise would invite divine ire. They advocate a no-quarters attitude to
heretics, as well as a reinforcement of the position of the Pack priest over the Ductus.
• Ultra-Conservatives: The far-right wing of the sect, the Ultra-Conservatives believe that Gehenna is just around
the corner and that the sect must be ready for war. In their eyes, even the Revised Code of Milan goes not far
enough to unite the sect.

Other groups are the Elders of the Old Clan Tzimisce, who joined with the Sabbat mainly to have their peace and not
be bothered by pestering fledglings, the Pander Movement, charmingly referred to as "total political whores", who
support any faction that supports them or anyone who helps them increase their “legitimacy”, and the Order of St.
Blaise, a clerical order within the ranks of the Catholic Church that serves as the Sabbat's liaison to the Catholic
clergy.

In addition to these factions, two parallel

organizations exist within the Sabbat. The
Sabbat Inquisition investigates vampires within
the Sabbat for any signs of demon worship or
apostasy. Contrasting, the Black Hand is a
militant sect within the sect, and operates
semi-independently from the Sabbat that it
predates.

Heresies

Absolute freedom is not used wisely by

everyone. Packs are seduced by the false
teachings of the Path of Lilith or other Paths of
Enlightenment that preach subservience to the
Fathers, like the Path of Typhon or the Path of
Blood. Others fall to the temptations of
Infernalism, sometimes through the Path of Evil
Revelations, sometimes through misplaced
ambition and curiosity. The Sabbat Inquisition
works hard to bring these heretics to justice,
but the widespread nature of nomadic packs
makes a complete eradication of heretics
difficult. Some dioceses harbour heretics
without knowing, who then spread their
teachings to unsuspecting Shovelheads.
Because these groups threaten the Faith that is
one of the cornerstones of the sect, they are
dealt with harshly.

22
The Black Hand
The Black Hand, or simply The Hand, comprise a special subdivision of the Sabbat, a sect within a sect. They are an
elite group of vampires recognized as separate from all other members of the sect. They are, essentially, the Sabbat
military.

The Black Hand is not truly a separate body from the Sabbat, since all its members are loyal to the Sabbat over all
else. Until recently, this sub-sect was composed primarily of Assamite antitribu, as well as many of the more militant
vampires from other clans. The members of the Hand do not exist in packs of their own. Rather, they are members
of normal Sabbat packs.

Nonetheless, they may form temporary packs composed of solely Black Hand operatives. These warbands are usually
referred to as the Kamut to clearly distinguish it from the ordinary Sabbat packs to which Black Hand members also
belong. A kamut can be as small as two or three members or as large as a dozen, depending on the mission involved.
Most (but not all) kamuts are temporary, assembled by a Dominion for a particular mission, and then dissolved when
the mission has been completed.

Put simply, the Black Hand is a special militia that the leaders of the Sabbat can muster in times of need. Hand
members are rumored to be particularly skilled in the ways of war. The members of the Black Hand themselves
select the Sabbat vampires who are to be offered a chance to join the Hand. The Black Hand puts all candidates
through a rigorous series of trials which test cunning, willpower, physical prowess, and martial skills. Those who pass
these trials are inducted into the Black Hand; the new member receives detailed instruction in the order's ways, and
he must come when the Hand calls him to action.

History

The roots of the Black Hand lie in the so-called Lost Tribe. This tribe was essentially a group of Kindred (mainly rogue
Assamites) centered around the Weeping Master and his disciple Dastur Anosh. These Kindred found an ancient and
mysterious valley in which the Weeping Stone stood.

This stone cried drops of blood which filled the drinker with sorrow, rage, and regret. The Weeping Master believed
that this stone was the petrified Zillah, preserved by Caine after she had witnessed the slaughter of her brethren by
the unfaithful Third Generation. The Lost Tribe believed that by drinking the blood they severed their ties to the
cursed Antediluvians and instead formed a covenant with Caine himself, destined to stand by his side during
Gehenna and his judgement of the Antediluvians and their progeny.

The apocalyptic message of the "Black Hand" resonated within the nascent Sabbat and the Black Hand joined the
rogue Anarchs a short time after the Convention of Thorns, serving as a semi-independent sub-cult within the sect
that acted mainly as assassins.

Unbeknown to them, another, much older, sect had begun to infiltrate the ranks of the Black Hand, the Tal'Mahe'Ra.
Slowly the corruption spread, until half of the highest Seraphim had forsaken their original mission for the goal of
the "True" Black Hand: serving the Antediluvians during Gehenna and to propitiate them by sacrificing their ill-
begotten progeny.

As the methods and goals of both sect seemed to mirror each other closely, few amidst the sect suspected about this
infiltration until many of the Hand who had been secretly part of the True Black Hand – including two Seraphim –
suddenly vanished after the first spirit nuke hit their hidden headquarter in the Shadowlands during the events that
lead to the creation of the Sixth Maelstrom.

Organization

The true strength of the Black Hand has never been in numbers. Being small – several hundred members at most – it
has never had an elaborate organizational structure. Flexibility is of far more value to the subsect's leadership than
tiers of hierarchy.

23
Most of its agents are distributed throughout the Sabbat as members of ordinary Sabbat packs and are only called
into active duty as needed. When the Black Hand acts, it acts primarily at the level of the kamut, a pack summoned
into existence for a specific and finite purpose and then disbanded, its members dispersed back to their original
Sabbat packs.

Extraordinary circumstances might call for more than one kamut to be assembled for a more complex mission, such
as the recent (and highly successful) Sabbat drive up the East Coast, but such occasions have not been frequent in
the faction's history. Only two intermediary tiers of command stand between the common Black Hand member and
the Council of Seraphim: the Dominions; and the ductus of their kamut (if they are on active assignment), or the local
Watch Commander (for those who are not).

It is a council of four powerful Cainites who rule the Black Hand. These four are known as the Seraphim, and act as
generals for the order, serving the Regent directly (at least in name). The First Seraph will serve as the highest-
ranking member of the Seraphim, with three others of his choosing to serve as his advisors.

All Hand members are immune to the Vinculum when it pertains to the direct orders given to them by the Seraphim.
The members of the Hand answer only to the Seraphim when conducting Hand business. Other than that, they are
bound by the Vinculum and Sabbat codes of justice like all the rest. The leaders of the Sabbat do not like it either;
the Hand could easily wipe out the entire lot of them in a night. The Hand's members are usually give solo
assignments directly from the Seraphim or her messengers and are rarely called together as a group.
Ranks

Most members of the Black Hand, known as operatives, agents, rafiq, brothers, sisters, or even comrades, do not
hold any special rank; they are all equal in the service of Caine.

1. Seraphim
2. Dominion
3. Seconds
4. Watch Commanders or Ductus
5. Emissary
6. Shakar (Assassin)
7. Remover
8. Rookie (Mustajib)
9. Cadet

Secret Practices

• Death's Head: The sliced face and front part of the skull of those assassinated by the Black Hand. Made into
masks and used during the Danse Macabre. Often painted and decorated in some way.
• Dance Macabre: This ritual requires members to dress as the dead and perform a ritualistic dance, similar to the
Sabbat's Dance Macabre. Death Heads are worn during the ritual as horrific music and chanting always
accompany the dance.
• Sacrificial Offerings: Black Hand members often sacrifice living beings in respect for Caine and the Antediluvians.
Young Kindred and/or ghouls could be considered lesser or greater sacrifices dependent on how many. There is
great ceremony involved which include chanting, music, a special service, and even costuming.
• Vision Seeking: Ingesting LSD-laced Blood to produce a vision in a way of seeking answers to questions of the
soul.
• Amaranth: Amaranth, is a term used by vampires to describe the act of drinking another Cainite's blood and
drawing their soul into one's own.
• Oath of Loyalty: Some leaders of the Hand insist that operatives reaffirm their commitment to the Hand when
they are given important missions.
• Spiritual Propaedeutics: Help in transitioning to a Path of Enlightenment from Humanity.
• Test of Verification: With no secret handshakes or code words, the Black Hand uses a combination of body, eye,
and mouth movements as well as word phrasing to indicate to others that they are in the same organization.

24
Sabbat Inquisition
The Sabbat Inquisition is the agency that enforces the internal orthodoxy of the Sabbat.

Inspired by the mortal Inquisition, the Sabbat Inquisition primarily targets infernalists, such as the practitioners of
Dark Thaumaturgy. The Inquisition also targets heretics: apologists for (or agents of) the Camarilla or the
Antediluvians, and others who deny Caine or preach against Noddism. Although Lilith cults are a popular target of
the Inquisition, the sect nevertheless retains an underground network of Bahari who follow the Path of Lilith.

History

The Inquisition was founded in 1804 by Priscus Gustav Mallenhous, who had encountered a cult of demon-
worshippers in Europe and saw the need to prevent such groups from infiltrating the Sabbat. The Priscus was
assisted by the Shepherds of Caine, a Montréal-based pack of Noddists whose members included future inquisitors
Alfred Benezri and Soeur Jeanne. By the end of the century, the Inquisition, now led by Soeur Jeanne, had become a
political tool, and lost its ability to enforce the Code of Milan. Julian of Avignon, an Assamite antitribu and Black
Hand Dominion, met with Alfred Benezri in 1911 to plan a radical reform of the Inquisition – a reform that could only
come about if Jeanne and her inner circle were eliminated.

In 1919, Soeur Jeanne was destroyed by Black Hand forces led by Julian, and the Inquisition fell to ruin. Julian stood
down as a dominion and reestablished the Inquisition in 1924, at least in part because he recognized that the Black
Hand was being manipulated by an outside party (namely the True Black Hand, although Julian was unaware of this
group's identity). Julian thus became the first Cainite to hold the title of Grand Inquisitor, and retained the title for
decades despite at least a dozen assassination attempts, some or all of which were orchestrated by the True Hand.
Julian was killed by his own sire under order of the True Hand in 1970, though Julian managed to slay the traitor
before he died. Julian's successor did not emerge until 1973, when María Sandoza became the sect's second Grand
Inquisitor.

Individual inquisitors hold a level of authority analogous to the sect's templars; inquisitors can be seen as a subset of
templars. Despite Julian's role in the Inquisition's renaissance (or perhaps because of it), the Sabbat Inquisition has
many rivals or outright foes within the Black Hand, and vice versa. All templars (including inquisitors) are formally
barred from membership in the Black Hand, and vice versa; the only two Cainites who ever attempted to join both
groups vanished without a trace before either one could complete their initiation.

Organization

The Inquisition is led by the Grand Inquisitor, who is appointed directly by the Regent and supervised by an separate
envoy who is bound to the Regent. The former Grand Inquisitor was Julian of Avignon, who ruled from 1924 until
1970, when he was killed in Texas during the El Paso Massacre. The current leader of the Sabbat Inquisition is María
Sandoza, who took the vacant position.

Watchers, usually retired Judges themselves, oversee these field agents from a stronghold known as Santo Oficio
("The Holy Office"), a hidden location which is the core of the Sect. They catalogue every trial and investigation of an
Inquisitor.

The acting ranks are the Judge Inquisitors and Knight Inquisitors, who are usually organized in nomadic packs with up
to five members. The team is typically led by the most senior Judge, who holds the position of Ductus for the pack.

25
Anarch Movement

26
Anarchs are vampires who reject the status quo of Cainite society. The resulting
organization of anarchs is called the Anarch Movement.

Nicknames
The Unbound

Type
Vampire sect

Founded
15th century CE

Allies
Camarilla (1435-2012)

Clans
Majority Brujah, Gangrel, Ministry, Tzimisce, Caitiff, Thin-bloods; virtually all are welcome

Anarch: A rebel among the Kindred, one with no respect for the elders. Most fledglings are automatically assumed
to be anarchs by the elders, and are despised as products of the 20th century.

The Anarchs especially resent the privileged status held by elders within the Camarilla and other vampire sects;
when the eldest hold the most power in a society of immortals, the lot of neonates is not a happy one. As such, they
are naturally targeted for recruitment by the Sabbat.

Most of the Anarchs respect and uphold the Masquerade and some of the other Traditions, even if they do not
respect the vampires who enforce them or the system that benefits from them.

Under the terms of the Convention of Thorns, the Anarchs—like all vampires—were until the early 21st century
considered a faction of the Camarilla by its members, but unlike the Sabbat, they were tolerated.

History
The Anarch's historical origins lie in the Anarch Revolt that birthed the Sabbat—as well as the older Promethean and
Furore movements—but in recent nights, they are mostly an unorganized rabble of younger vampires and Caitiff.
"Anarch" was originally a name imposed upon them by Camarilla elders, since they sought to overthrow the
leadership structures of Cainite society, but while many Anarchs are indeed anarchists, the more traditional desire
has been the bringing equality and democracy (or at least meritocracy) to Kindred society.

In modern nights, the Anarchs that have been sidelined to the fringes of Kindred society have gathered together
under the banner of the "Anarch Movement". This organized movement made their single largest coup against the
tyranny of the elders and the sects during the Second Anarch Revolt. During this revolution, the Anarchs liberated
Los Angeles in 1944; within a year, they established an Anarch Free State across southern and central California,

27
overthrowing the Princes of the liberated cities and establishing in their places the Anarch Barons - which were given
a much more tolerant degree of authority over their fellow Anarchs.

The establishment and continued existence of the Free State has put a greater strain on Anarch-Camarilla relations
than at any point since the original Revolt. During the second half of the 20th century, the Free State withstood
constant incursions from Camarilla and Sabbat alike. However, the Kuei-jin staged a concentrated incursion into the
region in the late 1990s with the assistance of a few highly-placed ex-Anarchs who sought to preserve the region's
independence from both Camarilla and Sabbat.

The Kuei-jin managed to oust Jeremy MacNeill, the Baron of Los Angeles, only to lose the city to a Camarilla counter-
offensive. Now, the region holds a fragile détente between four factions: the Anarchs in what remains of the Free
State, the Kuei-jin in the New Promise Mandarinate centered around San Francisco, the Camarilla with footholds in
Los Angeles and San Diego, and the Sabbat to the south, in Mexico.

First Anarch Revolt

The First Anarch Revolt was spurred on during the days of the Inquisition. Vampire neonates were appalled by their
clan elders who were eagerly sacrificing their young to the Inquisitors. The neonates were perishing at alarming rates
during this period. A voice on the Ventrue council was the Brujah named Patricia who expressed to Hardestadt and
the elders that they must stand up and fight against the mortal humans. However, Hardestadt and the fellow elders
rejected her notions. They felt it was better to hide, create a masquerade, and form rules that would later be known
as Camarilla. Disgusted with inaction, Patricia left the council and sided with rebellious neonates. To drive her point
across to the elders as to what she felt was best for vampire society, she donned the name Tyler, formed a
resistance of Brujah, and marched right into Castle Hardestadt. A huge battle ensued. Though she suffered heavy
losses, she successfully committed Amaranth on Hardestadt.

When news of the Elder's defeat spread, the young Brujah of Spain turned against their sires in a frenzy that seemed
to spontaneously grip all the younger members of the clan. Believing that the systems of blood lineage, clan loyalty,
and feudal power, that had dominated Cainite society, were just tools of older vampires to maintain control and use
the younger vampires as they pleased. These rebels called themselves Anarchs as a declaration of their rebellion
against the laws supposedly left by Caine.

The Great Revolt

Initially regarded as a Brujah problem, the lack of organization, internal rivalries, poor communication, and the
greater resources possessed by the elders, prevented the anarchs from making any large gains. The war devolved
into a series of skirmishes, starting in Spain. As word spread throughout Europe, however, all the clans began
considering the heretofore impossible notion of younger Cainites banding together against their elders. Ironically,
this likely increased support for the formation of the Camarilla. But by the same token, it also motivated the
rebellion to get organized, thus spawning a domino effect of historical anarch campaigns, namely in Italy and
Romania.

The movement moved to Italy, when Gratiano de Veronese joined with the Anarchs in a plot to kill his sire, the
Lasombra Antediluvian. He led a group of Assamite allies to the Lasombra Court at the Castle of Shadows in Sicily,
where Lasombra remained in torpor. With the Assamites' help, Gratiano tried to make it appear that his brother
Montano had turned against their sire. This created a chaotic event that served as a distraction for a full-fledged
Anarch attack that the house of Lasombra was unprepared for. With the Assamites assisting in the fight, Clan
Lasombra fell apart. Of the remaining Lasombra, almost all joined the Anarchs following the deaths of many of their
elders and their Antediluvian.

As to who actually drank the Antediluvian's blood, there seems to be some debate. It is interesting to note that the
Shadow Guards were reputedly absent when Gratiano and his allies descended on the Antediluvian's tomb. It is
assumed that Gratiano performed the Amaranth on his sire, but some claim that an Assamite antitribu drank the
Antediluvian's blood, while others say that he was drained in unison by the anarchs that survived the battle. Few
witnesses seem to agree on what exactly happened.

28
With news of Lasombra crushed and the Antediluvian dead, it spurred on another campaign to take the Tzimisce
down. Led by Lugoj and his Anarch army, they invaded the houses of the Tzimisce Lords killing all those who did not
convert. At the House of Tabak, Lugoj captured and converted the childe, Lambach, who was used to give the
location of the Tzimisce Antediluvian.

Thereafter, Lugoj and his army of anarchs stormed the Monastery of Sernog, one of Romania's most ancient
cathedrals. A huge war broke out between the Anarchs and the Tzimisce Szlachta. The guardians were decimated by
the anarchs who successfully infiltrated. According to many eye witness accounts, Lugoj stood before everyone
present, dispelled the magical protections over the Tzimisce Antediluvian's body, and unearthed the Ancient from
his torpor. Without delay, Lugoj greedily consumed its blood, not sharing with anyone. The body just crumbled to
dust. The Anarchs rejoiced in triumph, this event now setting the stage for a new age, a new Sabbat. It seemed now
that Gratiano's prediction was holding true: that all the other clans would fall as easily as his own.

However, this event was far from over, at least for the Tzimisce. Lambach, who was present at the time of the
Cathedral Raid, knew something no one else did. Despite all of the eye witness accounts, the Antediluvian Tzimisce
was not destroyed. The body in torpor was a decoy. Tzimisce had this decoy in place so that he was able to kill Lugoj
during heavy battle, then flesh-crafted himself to look like Lugoj to fake his own diablerie and usurp Lugoj's
leadership position in the Sabbat.

Convention of Thorns

As the Tzimisce anarchs moved into Western Europe, they brought with them the secret of the Vaulderie, which
allowed Cainites to escape the blood bond in exchange for a pledge of loyalty to the anarch cause. This brought the
revolt to every clan. As the battles intensified, however, so too did the efforts of the Inquisition, and the pressure of
twin assaults led directly to the creation of the Camarilla. The Anarch Revolt continued for seven years after the
Camarilla's formation, but the Anarchs were outnumbered and outmatched, and, after suffering heavy losses, their
rebellion formally ended with the Convention of Thorns in 1493. Most of the remaining anarchs joined the Camarilla,
but those who did not, mostly the Lasombra and Tzimisce, went on to form the Sabbat. Three years later, the
Camarilla forced the Assamites to end hostilities; the Tremere enforced this peace by placing the blood curse over
the Assamites' entire clan, save for the first of the antitribu.

Not long after the Convention, the Camarilla made peace with the Giovanni. Clan Giovanni had earned the enmity of
the nascent Camarilla in 1444, when they usurped the status of the Cappadocian clan via diablerie. However, the
Camarilla could not spare the resources needed to battle both the Giovanni and the greater threat presented by the
burgeoning Sabbat. The Promise of 1528 formally established a détente between the Giovanni and the Camarilla,
giving the Giovanni a neutral status in the battle between the sects – and giving the Giovanni the freedom to
complete their purge of the last remaining Cappadocians.

Second Anarch Revolt

Despite the formation of the Camarilla and the Sabbat, self-proclaimed anarchs would continue in isolated groups.
During the French Revolution, prominent anarchs used the opportunity to fight the traditional claim of the Toreador
to France. Despite intentions to take the fight to the rest of Europe, the mortal revolution soon fell apart, allowing
the Camarilla to move in and restore order.

Afterwards, many of the remaining anarchs made their way to the United States and from there to the West Coast.
As Los Angeles quickly increased in prominence, the Camarilla established Don Sebastian as prince with the hope
that he would curb the growing number of anarchs in the region. He largely ignored their presence, however, and
over the next few decades, several famous anarchs made their way to the city. Finally, in 1944, Don Sebastian
realized the full extent of the discontent in his city and ordered the savage beating of one such luminary, Jeremy
MacNeil. Instead of instantly rebelling, MacNeil lead the anarchs in locating and studying the havens of the local
Elders over a period of six weeks, and on December 21, 1944, the Second Anarch Revolt began.

The prince was killed and those Elders that were not destroyed fled the city, making it a strong victory for the anarch
movement. Soon thereafter the anarchs moved south to San Diego and then attempted to liberate San Francisco.
They were repelled by the then-current Prince of San Francisco, Vannevar Thomas, but in those three months they

29
had claimed everything from the border of Mexico to San Jose. This region would come to be called the Anarch Free
State, ruled under a set of principles entitled the Perfect State.

Despite such ideals, the Anarch Free State soon became little more than a region dominated by roving gangs that
were often at each other's throats. Whatever the reasons for the inability to create their perfect society, the invasion
of the Cathayans and their efforts to turn the anarchs against one another resulted in several anarchs eventually
joining the New Promise Mandarinate, with little remaining of the Free State by the year 2000.

Break from the Camarilla

Although facing significant losses at the beginning of the century, the Anarch Movement has been seeing a
reappraisal in their relevancy due to the rise of Second Inquisition, the sect's banishment from the Camarilla, and the
Sabbat abandoning their domains for the Gehenna War. Most of the Brujah remaining outside the Movement joined
after Theo Bell's walk-out from the Conclave of Prague, and a large part of the Ministry began to side with them after
their failed courtship of the Camarilla. The many caitiff and thin-bloods being Embraced continue to find a home
within the movement, and even a contingent of younger Tzimisce looking to assert themselves have come around to
the cause.

Los Angeles, briefly thought to be an Anarch domain in decline, is once again a noteworthy hotbed for sect activity.
The city's Barons, resurgent and emboldened after 2004 from the simultaneous withdrawal of the Camarilla, Sabbat,
now contend with the newly transplanted Prince Vannevar Thomas and his restrictive policies intended to combat
the Second Inquisition.

Organization
The Anarchs themselves are not a sect, per se; in most areas, they were regarded as merely a faction on the fringes
of the dominant Camarilla hierarchy. However, when the loosely-organized Anarch Movement has emerged over the
course of the past century, they have begun to establish their own traditions, power blocs, territories, and all the
other trappings of a full-fledged sect.

On a functional level, the Anarch Movement has kindred fulfilling most official functions recognized by the Camarilla
proper. That is, barons have their advisors and enforcers, they’re often guided by a council of their peers, some of
them even have a standing coterie of bruisers and investigators for police and military duty. None of these offices
and positions appear in the list of titles below, however.

The Anarch leaders may have such offices, and a large portion of the subsect may recognize the need for them, but
that doesn’t mean they’re going to admit to the rest of the vampiric world — or even to their own population — that
they exist.

• Baron - By its simplest definition, a baron is simply the Anarch Movement’s equivalent of a prince. However,
they are not quite the same, for it’s not uncommon for a given city to have two recognized barons, each claiming
a different jurisdiction of the city - sometimes the two are rivals, but more often, however, barons work
cooperatively.
• Emissary - These are anarchs that must carry the olive branch to the other sects, must negotiate and haggle and
play the games of prestation and diplomacy if the movement is to survive. They are also called ambassadors,
heralds and, by more cynical members of the sect, expendables.
• Sweeper - A sweeper’s duty is simple: he walks around and observes other vampires in the anarch territory,
recording names and faces and, where possible, attitudes, abilities, clan ancestry and anything else he can
discover. The barons themselves prefer to call a vampire who holds this position a counter or even census taker,
but most anarchs use the terms sweeper, proctor, Sherlock or even, on occasion, abacus.
• Chameleon - An informal title, also known as a Bond (after James), mole, submarine or sub. A chameleon, quite
simply, is a spy or any anarch who holds a position of some authority in one of the other sects.

30
Baron

Baron is a title used by the Anarch Movement. By its simplest definition, a baron is the Anarch Movement’s
equivalent of a Prince.

When all is said and done, a Baron is a Kindred with all the responsibilities of a prince, but without the tools. He can’t
count on the respect that the prince’s title inspires, because he doesn’t have the strength of a prince. In addition to
having less political clout than most princes, a baron isn’t necessarily one of the eldest or most powerful Kindred in a
region.

The Anarchs believe in a system that awards merit, and that means the best administrator in a city - and thus, the
best baron - could easily be 70 years old and a pushover as compared to the ruthless prince in the next city who’s
seen three centuries since her breathing days. The Anarchs know that any territory with even a modest Kindred
population requires someone to moderate it. Most of the Baron's time is devoted to mediating conflicts and disputes
between Kindred, orchestrating agreements with other local Kindred leaders (both within the movement and the
other sects) and enforcing those traditions that even the Anarchs must obey.

An Anarch baron normally isn’t one for passing a great number of policies; again, he must avoid the appearance of
dictating the behavior of those below him. The problem barons face when it comes to mediating disputes is that the
aggrieved parties rarely come to them willingly. If two Kindred are battling over a corporation, a street corner, a bit
of territory, or even a favored mortal, it’s the baron’s job to keep abreast of the situation and to step in before it gets
out of hand. Most often, then, the baron becomes involved only after things get ugly, and that means his job is one
of enforcement as often as mediation, if not more so. A Baron forever straddles a fine line between being a wise
leader and a power-mad autocrat, and the impractical nature of revolutionary ideology dooms many of them when
the nightly affairs of the domain need attention.

Many Anarch barons hold the position because they feel a responsibility to the goals and well-being of the sect. On
the other hand, some Anarch barons do indeed seek the position as a means of gaining power in the sect. It’s not
quite as efficient a means, or as steady a power-base, as the princedom in a Camarilla city, but it’s the best the
Anarch Movement offers. These barons don’t look, on the outside, much different from their more devoted
brethren. They still spend far more time mediating and managing than they do pushing through mandates or
enjoying the perks of power. Many of them use their position as a means of acquiring boons and favors from the
other local Anarchs, since such a web of favors is often the only personal authority a baron can glean from the
position. This is often as simple as mediating any given dispute in favour of whichever party has the most to offer in
return. Anarchs don’t play the game of prestation as religiously as the rest of the Camarilla, but it’s not good for the
reputation to renege on a debt.

Clan Representation

From the beginning, the Anarch Movement has always had representation from most known clans and bloodlines,
but as the Camarilla and Sabbat began to take form, the remaining composition of the Movement has mostly come
from the traditionally "low" clans and the clanless, especially the Brujah and Gangrel. Their formal walk-outs from
the Camarilla have more or less cemented this. A more concise list of the sect's clan greater representation would
include:

• Brujah
• Gangrel
• Followers of Set
• Tzimisce
• Caitiff

Members of other clans in Anarch Movement are sometimes known as the Unchained Malkavians, Red Nosferatu,
Abstract Toreador, Ipsissimus Tremere, and Free Ventrue.

31
The Clans

32
 The Clans
Clan is a term used by vampires to describe the major groups of Cainites who share common characteristics passed
on by the blood. There are 13 known clans, each of which was reputedly founded by an Antediluvian, a member of
the Third Generation.

A Kindred’s clan is his lineage, the vampiric "family" into which he was Embraced. The clans are distinguished by
their Antediluvian founders. Kindred society generally acknowledges 13 clans tonight, though some may have been
lost to history, some may exist in secrecy, and some may never have been known.

Like all bloodlines, each clan has greater familiarity with a set of three Disciplines, a clan weakness largely unique to
its members, and various stereotypes attributed to it as a result of a tendency to Embrace individuals with certain
characteristics. The clans are generally differentiated and set above bloodlines by their greater number and
influence throughout the world, identification with an Antediluvian progenitor, a history that reputedly extends back
to the Second City, and clan weaknesses that were said to be handed down by Caine himself.

Very few non-vampires recognize the differences that set apart members of each clan and may in fact consider all
vampires to be roughly the same as they all share a common ancestor (Caine). The majority of Cainites take the
divisions and lineage in general quite seriously, particularly the elders and those who know their complete lineage.
During the Dark Ages, the High Clans and Low Clans marked the upper and bottom rungs of vampiric society, with
one's ancestry greatly influencing the possibility for advancement and respect. Centuries later, these class divisions
would be abandoned for the division of sects between the Camarilla, Sabbat, and independent clans.

Each clan has its own organization and culture that is considered important by its members, and though individuals
are rarely willing to make any self-sacrifice for their clanmates, a general sense of understanding often elicits some
preference for those of similar blood. Likewise, since vampires of any particular clan are often grouped together for
political means, such as representation among the primogen of a city, they may work together and present a unified
front out of necessity. Such appearances almost always mask internal conflicts, however, and it is considered
incredibly naive to treat all individuals of a clan the same. From the Dark Medieval into the modern nights, the
thirteen recognized clans are:
• Banu Haqim/Assamite - silent masters of assassination, killing for hire and collecting blood for rituals to bring
them closer to their progenitor.
• Brujah - once philosopher-kings of an ancient civilization, but are now rebels and rogues with a fearsome
inclination toward frenzy.
• Gangrel - bestial and untamed, often coming to resemble the animals over which they demonstrate mastery.
• Giovanni - an insular, extended family of vampires who practice the art of commanding the dead while
commanding global finances.
• Lasombra - proud nobles who command the very essence of darkness and shadow — to the point of
worshipping it, some say.
• Malkavian - a clan fractured by madness, each member irrevocably suffering under the yoke of insanity.
• Followers of Set - a religious movement that evangelizes the example of a chthonic god, while seeking out the
world’s secret places and protecting ancient artifacts.
• Nosferatu - hideously disfigured by the Embrace, so they keep to the sewers shadows and traffic in the secrets
they collect.
• Ravnos - nomads and tricksters who can force the mind to see what isn’t there, though they are slaves to the
vices they indulge in.
• Toreador - Cainites that enjoy every sensual pleasure the world has to offer, idolizing physical beauty and the
adoration of their thralls.
• Tremere - vampiric sorcerers that wield the supernatural power of their past as a hermetic house, though they
became vampires through treachery and artifice.
• Tzimisce - eldritch Old World lords who have little in common with the mortal world and can manipulate flesh
and bone at a whim.
• Ventrue - observe the noblesse oblige of vampire society, though their entitlement and greed encourages them
to seek ever more at the expense of others.

33
There is some ambiguity in the standards that determine clanhood. Two of the above lineages, the Giovanni and
Tremere, are actually recent replacements, having begun as bloodlines of established clans and risen to clan status
within the last millennium after mostly wiping out Clan Cappadocian and Clan Salubri, respectively. Even though
members of these fallen clans may yet survive, with their numbers so small and their Antediluvians destroyed, they
have been relegated to bloodline status, particularly as knowledge of their existence is gradually forgotten.

On the other hand, several clans have held onto their positions despite the fact that their Antediluvians are believed
to be dead. Likewise, the Ravnos are nearly extinct following the destruction of their progenitor during the Week of
Nightmares, but they are still considered a clan (though some speculate that another bloodline will rise to take their
place).

Clanless and Autarkis

Caitiff is the most common term used by kindred to describe a vampire of an unknown clan, or of no clan at all. They
are typically of high generation, where Caine's blood is too diluted to pass on any consistent characteristics. The
clanless have no inherent clan society, support, or even characteristics; they are like orphans among the great
families of vampires. The Caitiff have no inherent clan weakness, but no inherent disciplines as well.

The Camarilla considers the Caitiff to be nothing more than expendable foot soldiers — second-class citizens to
throw at their enemies when the time is right. Some Caitiff cling to any sort of protection and acceptance, while
others rebel at being treated as disposable and look to the Anarch Movement or even the Sabbat as alternatives. Still
others dismiss politics as unimportant, eking out unlife in the fringes of the Ivory Tower or even becoming Autarkis.
But it seems like every night more and more clanless vampires are made, and some have even unified as a “clan”
within the Sabbat. At some point, they’re going to make the Kindred listen to them.

Not every Cainite belongs to a sect nor swears fealty to a clan, Prince, Bishop, or other such entity. These Autarkis
often lead solitary lives not unlike hermits or outcasts. In some cases, an Autarkis is beneath notice, in other cases,
the Autarkis is simply too powerful or otherwise ungovernable for the local sect to bring under its sway.

One may become an Autarkis either voluntarily, by retreating from sect and clan politics entirely, or involuntarily, by
being forcibly excommunicated by one's sect. Kindred from and loyal to an Independent clan are known as
Independents. There is no such thing as an Independent Brujah, they are Autarkis. Since most clans are a
combination of cultural, political, and hereditary ties, to be labeled Autarkis, thus not belonging to the sect of the
clans, may entail being labeled a Caitiff, but that is not necessarily true.

Becoming an Autarkis does not change the blood of the Kindred, but mostly severs the social political ties with the
clan proper. The Encyclopaedia Vampyrica defines an Autarkis as "A Kindred refusing to be part of Cainite Society
and to recognize a prince's domain." This definition could support the interpretation that the term would be
Camarilla exclusive, used to describe non-Camarilla vampires. However, in chapter two of the book Sins of the Blood,
which is devoted to the subjects of Autarkis, Anarchs, and sect-swappers, the term Autarkis is evidently used by both
the Camarilla and the Sabbat to define unaligned Kindred.

It should be noted that being an Autarkis does not make one an Anarch, as although the Anarchs derive their name
from the root word Anarchy, the Anarchs do not share any unifying political ideology, but rather a philosophy of
egalitarianism. If there were any position more vulnerable than being a Caitiff, it would be being an Autarkis.

34
Banu Haqim/Assamites

35
The Banu Haqim or Children of Haqim, known also as Assamites, are one of the
thirteen vampire clans of the World of Darkness. Based in their hidden fortress
Alamut in the Middle East, they are traditionally seen by Western Kindred as
dangerous assassins and diablerists, but in truth they are guardians, warriors, and
scholars who seek to distance themselves from the Jyhad. Throughout their history,
they have remained a self-sufficient and independent clan, although the clan’s
mainline recently joined the Camarilla.

Nicknames
The Clan of the Hunt, Assamites, Assassins, Mediators, Lawmen, Saracens (Dark Ages), Children of Haqim (endonym)

Antediluvian
Haqim

Faction
Camarilla/Sabbat/Independent

Disciplines
Primary: Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus
Secondary: Dur-An-Ki, Auspex, Fortitude

Leader
Ur-Shulgi (mainline)
Al-Ashrad & Tegyrius (Preservationists)

Organization
An insular, hierarchical organization shapes much of Assamite custom. “The Old Man on the Mountain” — the
master assassin who makes his haven in the mountain fortress of Alamut — is the ultimate authority, and the Clan
heeds the orders that trickle down to them with a mix of reverence and terror. Individual and local cells of Assamites
known as falaqi frequently have license to act with autonomy, but “turncoats” against the higher cause are rare.

Haven
Assamites often share communal havens with others of their local cell, remote structures that allow the Assassins to
watch the larger domain from a distance. These havens are generally well appointed, but not so lavish that the
whole place can’t be moved on short notice. Individual Assamites also tend to keep personal hideouts of a much
more humble nature, for when they need a place to lay low.

Background
Those Embraced into Clan Assamite tend to fall into two distinct types: The “provincial” members of the Clan fit
whatever their locality is, and can blend seamlessly in with the people around them. The higher-profile “jet-setters”
transcend cultures, bolstered by their ability to handle interpersonal and intellectual challenges.

Appearance
Older Assamites often come from Middle Eastern and North African cultures, though more and more young
Assamites come from a wider demographic. In traditional environments, the Assamites prefer garb appropriate to
religious or Clan custom. When in public, however, Assamites wear whatever the locals do, allowing them to fulfill

36
their contracts without anyone noticing anything amiss. An Assamite’s skin grows darker with age (as opposed to
other vampires, whose skin gets paler); particularly ancient Assamites are almost ebony in complexion.

Weakness
Blood Addiction: Assamites are drawn to feed from those deserving punishment. This is especially true for vampire
Blood, the very essence of transgression. The sight, or better said the smell of vampiric blood, other than that of an
Assamite’s, invokes a Self-Control Roll to resist Frenzy even if the vampire is not hungry. When one of the Assamites
tastes the Blood of another Cainite, they find it very hard to stop. Taking at least one point of vampiric vitae
provokes a Hunger Frenzy roll with a -4 penalty. If the test is failed, they attempt to gorge themselves on vampire
Blood, sometimes until they diablerize their Kindred victim. This presents many problems as the Assamites integrate
with the Camarilla, who tend to see the Amaranth as anathema.

History
From the beginning, the Assamites were an isolated lot, centered around Alamut and the Middle East. Lacking
competition for certain roles due to the relative absence of other Clans, the clan thus maintained its separation of
duties over the millennia rather than becoming specialized to one particular mode of existence. The Viziers tended
to the mortal herds, the judges (now the Warriors) tended to the clan's defense, and the Sorcerers pursued their
secrets. This division of labor allowed the Assamites to succeed on their own where a clan priding itself on its
specialization, such as the noble Ventrue or the socialite Toreador, would have failed. They associated rarely with
other Cainites, notably lending assistance to the Salubri during the Baali Wars and paying homage to the Brujah city
of Carthage. This was, in no small place, attributed to the presence of the Antediluvian himself, who saw the
squabbling over territory and mortal herds as reminders of the ill-fated Second City and tried to withdraw himself
and his brood as well as he could. Nevertheless, small cabals supported various mortal nations, entangling
themselves within the Jyhad, and this enraged their founder so greatly that he left Alamut, occasionally visiting it,
but never staying for long, until he disappeared completely.

Antiquity

The rise of Western civilization brought the Children of Haqim into close contact with the rest of the Cainite world
again. During the time of the Greek city-states and the height of Persian dominance, few clans other than the Brujah,
Ravnos, Setites, and the Tzimisce had enjoyed more than sporadic encounters with the Children. However, as Rome
expanded and, later, as Byzantium rose, those kingdoms' Cainite parasites moved with them, struggling in vain to
control the first mortal institutions that were more complex than they could comprehend. The Children of Haqim
never had an extensive role in the Roman Empire's life or death. Scattered members of all three castes moved
through Roman society, particularly in the eastern and southern regions of the empire, and no few Warriors found
mercenary employment as bodyguards or household troop commanders for wealthy Ventrue and Malkavians.

After the destruction of Carthage and the growing expansion of the Empire into the Middle East, however, most
Assamites abandoned the city and its festering web. Rome was never a place of particular interest for the Children,
but the Parthian Empire began to become one. Arising in Persia a century before Rome's ascent began, Parthia
spread through the Mesopotamian region in the wake of the crumbling Seleucid dynasty. Many Children encouraged
the Parthian expansion, save for those who had maintained close ties to the Seleucids. Some saw Parthia as a rich
ground on which to sate their particular hungers, whether for vitae, battle, or learning, while others simply
welcomed an end to the chaotic infighting that surrounded their homes. Following the destruction of Carthage and
the subsequent Roman expansion west, Parthia quickly became all too significant to the Children as the force
holding the Roman Cainites at bay. All three castes devoted themselves to reinforcing the mortals who could fend off
their undead adversaries.

Dark Ages
The Assamites of the Dark Ages are strongly unified, following a tumultuous period where the clan was split by those
who followed Islam and those who chose not to. Some Assamites even renounced their clan membership, becoming
Dispossessed. It took the threat of the Baali destroying the clan entirely for them to come together again. In 636 CE,
the demon-worshippers had once again reformed and the Assamites were ready to strike them down. It was during
their siege on the tainted acropolis of Chorazin that the Baali unleashed their curse of hunger upon the Warriors,
raising an insatiable thirst for vitae within them. Neonate and methuselah alike fell prey to a dreadful hunger that

37
could be satisfied only by the vitae of other Cainites. As the curse spread across the castes, the Sorcerers and Viziers
searched in vain for a way to break it. By the end of the 14th century, the entire Warrior caste and no few Sorcerers
and Viziers were afflicted. The vast majority of the Assamites became Muslim, but some still followed other faiths.

In the Dark Ages, the Children of Haqim are kept quite busy because of the Western vampire clans. The Crusades
enabled the Western Cainites to invade the lands of the Assamites. In addition, their greedy and corrupting ways had
hurt and diminished the herds the Assamites had so carefully developed and tended to, as well as the mortal families
of the Assassins that many of the clan still held in some regard. In response, the Assamites worked to rid themselves
of these invaders and restore their own power.

For centuries, the Children of Haqim also refused to officially Embrace women, although this policy seems to have
changed by the time of the War of Princes. Another split had taken place by this time: that of the creation of the
three castes: Warrior, Vizier, and Sorcerers. Although the Assamites consider themselves noble, the Western
vampires saw them as little more than meddling, corrupt, heretic foreigners and placed them among the Low Clans.

The Clan called themselves the Banu Haqim, or Children of Haqim, especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
Superior in numbers to the other bay't in the area, many of the Banu Haqim worked hand-in-hand with the Ashirra
to keep the Europeans out, especially since the majority of the clan was Muslim.

The Inquisition never really touched the Holy Land, nor did it extend into the Ottoman Empire or parts farther east.
While the Assamites regained their strength from the battles of the Crusades and the aftershock of the Baali curse,
the European elders sacrificed their childer for the hope of another night's survival. Too many of those intended
victims fled east, preferring to take their chances with the dread Saracens than with their sires' betrayals and the
Church's flame-lit crosses. When the sentiments among the childer boiled up and the Anarch Revolt began, the
Assamites followed, slaying many Cainites and gaining their reputation as a clan of cannibalistic assassins and
murderers, a sentiment that many Warriors encouraged to flourish.

When the Camarilla was founded, many Anarchs chose to ally with them instead of continuing their struggles. This
enraged many Children operating in Europe who saw their erstwhile allies deserting them for the promise of
sanctuary that they could have earned for themselves anyway if they had possessed the strength to continue their
fight. They turned their attention to the Camarilla with a fury born of betrayal. It was only after a lone Nosferatu
discovered the location of Alamut that the Banu Haqim yielded and submitted to the Treaty of Tyre and the blood
curse of the Tremere.

In the eyes of many Cainites, however, the Assamite threat was barely contained. This showed itself, when the
Ottomans marched against the rest of Europe and the Assamites followed the Turks, hoping to direct them against
Vienna to smite the Inner Council of Seven and force them to rescind the curse. The Viziers and Sorcerers hid
themselves in Alamut and began to work furiously to break the curse on their own, using alchemical potions made of
vitae to simulate the effects of Diablerie. In order to obtain this blood, many Warriors were forced to sell themselves
as assassins, further strengthening the picture of the fanatic killer. Many Warriors began to invent stories over their
Clan and Haqim, further concealing the other two Castes.

Victorian Age
The Assamites did not fare well during the Victorian Age. Still suffering the effects of the curse leveled upon them by
the Tremere after the Convention of Thorns and the Treaty of Tyre, the Assamites presence in the larger Cainite
community was negligible. Most Assamites stayed on or near Alamut, husbanding their strength for the day when
they could travel with impunity through the lands of the brood of Caine once again.

European colonialism had little direct effect on the Assassins themselves, but resulted in significant portions of their
mortal herd being dominated by one Western power or another. Egypt, in particular, was hit hard when the British
assumed control. The sole good thing to come from Victorian-era imperialism was that disquieted, fanatic humans
with a motivation to study the arts of killing were easy to find and recruit. At least the Assamites always had the
Ravnos to look down upon, for that Clan weathered the Victorian Age even worse than the childer of Haqim, subject
as they were to British domination of India.

38
Modern Nights

“Don’t be mistaken into expecting a flood of Assamites from the Levant. The Clan is spread as globally as any other.
Fatima tells me of one Canadian Assamite elder found to have Embraced a minimum of 15 childer in five years.”
— Lucita in a letter to Beckett

The awakening of Ur-Shulgi, one of the first Sorcerers and childe of Haqim himself, brought rapid changes on the
Clan as a whole. The ancient methuselah used his tremendous power to break the curse laid upon the Clan,
succeeding where other Sorcerers had worked for hundreds of years without success. His harsh views and
interpretations of the Laws of Haquim, however, triggered various struggles and discomforts, especially with his own
childe, Al-Ashrad, which resulted in what is commonly called the Schism.

Assamite Schism

The Assamite castes split apart during the Schism. Ur-Shulgi demanded that other Banu Haqim give up the worship
of other gods and only revere Haqim. This resulted in many Assassins being killed, and many more opting to leave
Alamut. Ur-Shulgi was particularly vicious towards Muslim Assassins, and killed several elders for refusing to
renounce their faith, including Jamal, the head of the Warrior caste.

Some Banu Haqim joined the Camarilla. Most of those that joined the Camarilla were Viziers and Sorcerers. Warriors
that joined the Camarilla are generally seen as loose cannons who must be supervised by their more restrained
clanmates. Sorcerers in the Camarilla find their skills in high demand as an alternative to dealing with the Tremere.

A small number of the clan, mostly Warriors, joined the Sabbat. While the Assamites antitribu who had been with
the Sabbat for the last 500 years were entirely from Warrior stock, the Warriors opting to join the Sabbat were not
entirely welcomed with open arms. Many of the Assamite antitribu elders, particularly in the Black Hand, had

39
defected and left the Sabbat to return to the main clan. This meant the Sabbat was not entirely welcoming because
of the recent betrayal. Few Sorcerers or Viziers joined the Sabbat.

Some Assamites chose to go completely independent and avoid all the sects. They also drew away from the main
clan, primarily for religious reasons. Few Warriors chose this option. Most Dispossessed are Viziers or Sorcerers.

Many Assamites—most of them Warriors and Sorcerers on the Path of Blood—chose to stay with the main clan.

The Ashirra have formed an alliance with the Camarilla out of a common interest in thwarting the Sabbat's
aggression in the region. As a diplomatic outcome of this alliance, Clan Banu Haqim (formerly the Assamites) have
been admitted as a member clan of the Camarilla.

These nights, the clan’s global role has changed. The Banu Haqim who worship Ur-Shulgi and have turned their back
on Islam still practice internal clan rituals relating to the sampling and storing of Kindred vitae. Rumors of mass
diablerie fuel the fear that the clan wants nothing less than the end of all their kind. These loyalists, hidden in the
fortress of Alamut, have driven more than half of the clan to break their bonds to their blood soaked past. In doing
so, they have attracted the attention of our sect. The Banu Haqim are once more seen as a potential pillar of the
Ivory Tower. Camarilla-sworn Banu Haqim groom sectors of our domains, specifically gaining influence over the kine
involved in law, and the breaking of it. The Islamic Assamites, steadfastly keeping themselves outside the influence
of the Ur-Shulgi are known as loyal Ashirra champions, and as Western and Eastern Kindred find common enemies in
Sabbat and Anarch uprisings, the idea of the Camarilla seeking an alliance with the Clan of the Hunt seems more and
more reasonable. The Children of Haqim have ever claimed their founder was the judge of all vampires. Within the
Camarilla they maintain his legacy, claiming herds and retainers within police departments, security forces, and
border patrols. They also hold dominion over segments of organized crime. The clan grooms kine within these
sectors, some for the Embrace, some for service, but mainly to hold a valuable card in Camarilla cities. When the
other clans want a problematic mortal shut up, the Banu Haqim exert law’s grasp via the kine.

Organization
Until recent events, the main Clan was strongly unified, based on their ancestral home base Alamut. Traditionally
headed by the Eldest, and supported by the Du'at, the Clan focused inward, sending its assassins out to gather blood
for the alchemical potions the experiments of the Sorcerers need to break the blood curse.

The Council of Scrolls was responsible for introducing new technology into the clan and investigating recent
developments outside Alamut, while the Council of Du'at formulated clan policy, and was composed of the
representatives of each Caste:

• The Caliph for the Warriors Caste

• The Amr for the Sorcerers Caste
• The Vizier for the Viziers Caste

The protection of the Eldest and the Du'at Council lay in the hands of the Silsila. Apart from that, the Assamites have
never formally defined any positions. However, the warriors have evolved a series of ranks that represent an
individual’s standing within the caste, and the sorcerers and viziers have cooperatively maintained an academic and
professional ranking scheme for centuries, like the Fida'i, the Rafiq, the Da'i, and the Aces. On the other hand, the
scholars of the clan have their own hierarchy – these lesser officers are the Aspirants, the Associates, the Masters,
the Distinguished Masters, the Full Masters and the Emeritus.

Clan Variants

The three Assamite castes may be considered separate clan variants for the purposes of sire-childe relations – a
Warrior will always sire Warrior childer, and a Vizier will always beget Viziers and so on – but all three castes are
Assamites. Their vitae is indistinguishable except under the most acute thaumaturgical observation. Arguably, the
Assamites have no one caste that is "more Assamite" or "more Haqim's" than the others, at least in matters of
descent. Whatever the factors were that first defined the castes, they arose during the time of the Second City,

40
perhaps due to differences between Haqim's broods and the Eldest mastery over his own blood via Quietus. All
Assamites are childer of their Ancestor, born of his heart and cursed with his wrath.

Sorcerer Caste
Nicknames
Magi (singular, "Magus")
Faction
Independent

Sorcerers are the smallest caste, but the second most recognizable. They claim to have practiced blood sorcery since
the times of the Second City, and to have been created to counter the dark magic employed by the Baali.

Their magic was originally based on ancient Mesopotamian priestly rituals and the Persian cult of Mithras, but
modern Sorcerers now incorporate the ecstatic Hindu devotion to Kali and Shiva, Chinese feng shui, and Islamic
alchemy and astrology as well. Sorcerers usually need to send themselves into some sort of altered state of
consciousness in order to focus their magic. This may involve consuming drugs, whirling themselves into a trance,
ritually wounding themselves, or even more exotic methods.

The scholars of the clan have their own internal hierarchy based on age and prestige. This lesser officers are the
Aspirants, the Associates, the Masters, the Distinguished Masters, the Full Masters, the Emeritus. The current
Westernized forms of address and recognition were adopted in the late 18th century, despite (or perhaps because
of) extensive protests from the Assamite warriors.

Their weakness comes from their lust for magical power. A Sorcerer's aura is so stained with magic that there is little
way to mistake him for anything else. They also have trouble using powers to hide themselves due to their blazing
auras.

Vizier Caste
Nicknames
Scholars or Artisans
Faction
Independent, Camarilla

Viziers are the least-known caste of the Assamite clan. However, they are the oldest (according to themselves).
Viziers are the scholars and artisans of the clan. In many ways, they are similar to the Toreador, but while the
Toreador become lost in contemplation, the viziers explode in frenzied creative activity.

Viziers lust after knowledge or artistic perfection. They suffer from an obsessive-compulsive derangement that
causes them to pursue their art with the tenacity of a pit bull. A Vizier in the throes of his derangement will pursue it
to the exclusion of all other activities. His aura will blaze with madness. Vampires with Auspex may be able to discern
exactly what it is he so doggedly pursues.

The Viziers' "caste culture" may be best described as a very loose affiliation of individualists. Most of the caste is as
disunited as the Sorcerers, but without that body's resources for magical communication and coordination. Viziers
tend to keep to themselves unless involved in a mentor-protégé arrangement or conducting some cooperative
venture. This is a product of both the caste's shared psychological tendencies and the need for secrecy during the
Long Night and later periods. However, the Schism and the schismatics' subsequent alliance with the Camarilla has
allowed many Viziers to exist relatively openly among the other Cainites, and no few have chosen to enter social and
political arenas – with varying degrees of success.

As scholars of the clan, the Viziers and the Sorcerers share their own internal hierarchy based on age and prestige.
These lesser officers are the Aspirants, the Associates, the Masters, the Distinguished Masters, the Full Masters, the
Emeritus. The current Westernized forms of address and recognition were adopted in the late 18th century, despite
(or perhaps because of) extensive protests from the Assamite warriors.

41
Assamite antitribu

Nicknames
Angels of Caine
Faction
Sabbat

The Assamite antitribu are almost identical to their non-Sabbat

counterparts, except that they accept all races into their clan, granting
membership to anyone with a warrior's heart. Also, most importantly,
they were never subjected to the Curse of the Tremere. The Assamites of
the Sabbat are free to drink the blood of all vampires. Because of this,
they may be considered a separate bloodline from all other Assamites.
Sorcerer Caste antitribu refer to themselves as al-Aziz.

The Assamites of the Sabbat, acting on the request of the sect's leaders,
severed all direct association to the Assamite clan. The Sabbat Assamites
have since made peace with their former clan. Assamite antitribu will not
battle non-Sabbat Assamites, and Assamites have never warred against
the Sabbat Assamites. This unspoken understanding is at least recognized
by Sabbat leaders. The antitribu regard themselves as "true Assamites",
while the Sorcerers of Alamut believe that the reason the antitribu are free of the Tremere curse lies in the ruins of
Chorazin and has something to do with the Baali.

The Assamite antitribu are the primary assassins of the Sabbat. However, they do not ask for blood from the leaders
of the sect. Instead, they ritually slay the eldest of their own clan every 100 years through a special diablerie
ceremony. This elder has some of the blood of the Lasombra founder, a Third Generation vampire, running through
his veins. The elder exists for a century as the closest Assamite antitribu to Caine himself, ruling under the title Hulul.
At the end of the 100-year reign, the next in line drinks the precious vitae from the previous ruler, and so it passes it
through history.

With the breaking of the Tremere Curse by Ur-Shulgi, many elders of the antitribu, including the current Hulul, have
rejoined the sect to escape the humiliation of submitting to the blood wizards and returned to Alamut and joined the
Loyalist forces. Conversely, many young Assamites have fled to the Sabbat in order to escape the harsh laws under
the new Eldest.

Culture
As a whole, the Children of Haqim hold themselves apart from the political squabbles of other Cainites. This is due in
part to geography, at least before the advent of mechanized transportation, but mainly to a subtle sense of
superiority. The Children like to feel that they have no need to resort to politics to achieve their aims. This is not to
say that no member of the line is incapable of subtlety – indeed, many Viziers have achieved great success in the
political arena – but rather that the clan culture, such as it is, is predisposed toward more direct solutions. Of course,
this political isolation has also had its drawbacks. Absence from the intrigues of the Damned means lack of enemies,
but also of allies, which resulted in the isolated stance of the Clan after the formation of the Camarilla. Also, most
Assamites are inexperienced in the games of power and Prestation other Kindred have played for millennia.

The Laws of Haqim

-- Law of Leadership - Honor the Eldest among you, for he is to rule my House when I am absent.
-- Law of Protection – Ward the mortals from Caine’s descendants and treat them with honor in all things.
-- Law of Destruction – Slay not those of the Blood, for that judgment is for the Eldest alone.
-- Law of the Word – Deceive not those of the Blood, for my House is founded on Truth.
-- Law of Judgment – Judge those of Caine’s blood and punish them should they be found wanting.

42
Assamites are divided into three castes, which often have a semi-antagonistic relationship with each other. While all
Assamites grow dark with age, have access to Quietus as a clan Discipline, and have a weakness related to some
form of lust so powerful that it stains their aura, the different castes also have different Disciplines and weaknesses.
The castes are all hereditary, that is a Warrior Assamite will always sire Warrior caste childer and never Sorcerers or
Viziers. Despite this, the three castes are considered equally close to the Antediluvian Haqim who is said to have
sired Assamites of all three types in the Second City. Among themselves, Assamites use the tradition of the
diwa'khana from Kurdistan to settle in the last few hours before the sun rises, exchanging news and discussing
events that affect them to form a sense of community. Outsiders are not welcome and to be invited to a diwa'khana
is a sign of great respect.

Warrior Assamites are the primary fighters of the clan. They are the Assamites most likely to take assassination
contracts and most likely to adhere to the Path of Blood. When other vampires think of Assamites, they are most
likely to picture a Warrior.

Younger Warriors typically came from Islamic countries, and may mix the tenants of the Path of Blood with Islamic
ideas about holy war. They are often fanatical and ready to die for the cause. Elder Warriors may come from other
religions entirely, and see themselves more as judges (and executioners) than as holy warriors or assassins.

Embraces

The clan tends to watch potential neonates before allowing an Assamite to sire progeny. Although necessity
sometimes demands that a new childe be sired quickly, the Assamites prefer making time for an apprenticeship. The
Assamite antitribu are strict in choosing recruits. If a newly created Assamite antitribu survives his first experience in
combat, he becomes a mustajib, or "Deserving One." Mortals never serve the Assamites before being chosen to
become one. Only after becoming vampires do they get the chance for acceptance. For a period of seven years, the
vampire must serve the Assamite antitribu who created him. If the mustajib fails in any of his tasks, he is destroyed.
If he succeeds, he becomes a fidais ("One Who Sacrifices Himself") for seven more years as he serves his creator.

Assamites typically try to Embrace someone who will be "useful" to the clan as a whole. This most often means
someone who is willing to fight and die for the clan's (or at least their sire's) goals. However, during the long period
that the clan labored under the Tremere blood curse, people may also have been Embraced for knowledge in a
specific (often obscure) area. Typically, this had something to do with sorcery or medical research involving blood,
but may also have included more obscure areas of research as well.

Assamites typically choose people with somewhat obsessive personalities for the Embrace. As they are typically
involved with either hunting down miscreants or conducting obscure research, they tend to be highly motivated
individuals. This often results in Assamites picking individuals who are fanatically devoted to a cause, religion, theory,
or activity. The various caste flaws and the training they undergo after the Embrace tends to accentuate this even
more. Thus Assamites can be said to select childer that will be eager to chase down their prey no matter how long it
takes or how far they must go. That prey may be a physical target, an obscure piece of knowledge, or even pursuing
the perfection of an art form.

The Assamites draw most of their childer from the Middle East, North Africa, and surrounding areas, but this does
not mean they are all Arab. They also Embrace childer from the Indian subcontinent, Persians, Turks, Malays, Central
Asia groups such as the Uzbeks and Kazaks, and various Mediterranean groups. Assamites from European or far
Eastern ethnic groups are not unheard of, but are uncommon.

When thinking of the Assamites, most other vampires assume they will be Muslim. While they do draw the majority
of their childer from the Middle East and other Muslim countries, this does not mean all Assamites are Muslims.
While most are, and some Assamites from pre-Islamic times converted, it is not considered the official Assamite
religion by any stretch of the imagination. Many elder Assamites come from pre-Islamic cultures practicing some
form of animism or ancestor worship. Some are Jews, Christians, or Zoroastrians, as these were also common in the
area before the coming of Islam, and are still present in the modern era, though to a lesser extent. Virtually any
religious background is acceptable for an Assamite, being a Muslim is just most likely.

43
Assamites tend to Embrace more men than women overall. In first edition sources, it was even indicated that they
did not Embrace women at all until roughly 200 years ago. Later editions refuted this. They still tend to Embrace
more men than women. The exact ratios have varied with time and depend on caste.

Warriors typically Embrace far more men than women, and may be the source of the rumor that the Assamites
actually banned Embracing women. Women are less likely to have the skills that Warriors favor. They also tend to be
physically smaller and less aggressive than men. That they were typically married off young and were raising children
also limited the number Embraced as Warriors. Female Warriors thus tend to have unusual skills or backgrounds that
lead to their Embrace. Some may have disguised themselves as men to fight, be skilled with more subtle means of
assassination (such as poison), or less physical aspects of warfare (such as diplomacy).

Viziers and Sorcerers are less focused on the physical skills of their childer, and thus more likely to Embrace women.
The number of women Embraced waxed and waned based on the overall attitude towards educating women. In
periods where women were rarely taught to read or write they naturally took fewer women. However, even in
periods where few people were educated, a Vizier might take someone for their skill with art or social acumen, even
if they were a total illiterate. Similarly, a Sorcerer might Embrace someone who showed some innate knack for
magic, even if they could not write their own name. Childer could be taught to read and write after the Embrace,
after all. Men typically had a head start on education, however, making them a more likely choice.

Age wise, Embraces were also skewed by caste. With their emphasis on physical pursuits, Assamite Warriors typically
favor the young and fit. Thus, most Warriors with an older physical appearance were probably Embraced for their
skills with leadership or tactics, rather than raw physical might. Older Warriors may also have been Embraced for
skill in an area that takes a lifetime to master, such as blacksmithing, constructing siege weapons, or more obscure
weapons and fighting styles. It is unlikely that a Warrior would Embrace anyone with a severe physical problem.

Viziers and Sorcerers typically place greater emphasis on learning and mental skills. While an exceptionally smart or
artistically talented individual may catch their eye while still young, they are more likely to select someone who has
spent a lifetime learning or perfecting their skills. Thus, many Sorcerers and Viziers may be of an advanced physical
age reflecting years of study before their Embrace. As Auspex can also help compensate for the slow loss of hearing
or sight with age, Viziers in particular may consider Embracing an individual with a sound mind but infirm body.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Haqim

4th Generation
-- The Unknown Scholar -- The First childe of Haqim
-- Ur-Shulgi -- The Shepherd
-- Mancheaka -- (deceased) -- He died during the Second Baali War
-- Sha'hiri -- The original 'Old Man of the Mountain' (deceased: 1493 after the Convention of Thorns)
-- Jamal --

5th Generation
-- Al-Ashrad -- (Sorcerer Caste) -- Amr of Alamut
-- Izhim ur-Baal / Izhim abd'Azrael -- Warrior caste. First of the antitribu. Seraph of the Black Hand.
Member of the True Hand.
-- Narbonidus
-- Tegyrius -- (Vizier Caste) -- Currently the Vizier of Alamut
-- Thetmes -- (Warrior Caste) -- Sire of Fatima Al-Faqadi

6th Generation
-- Amaravati -- Progeny of Al-Ashrad.. Sorcerer caste. Loyalist. Last Seat of Tongues at the Council of Scrolls.
Acknowledged as Amr by the Assamite Loyalists.
-- Antara -- The Shepherd of Wolves (Warrior Caste) -- Cairo

44
 -- Fatima Al-Faqadi -- (Warrior Caste) -- The Hand of Vengeance
-- Hilel al-Masaari -- (Warrior Caste)
-- Shabah -- (Warrior Caste) -- Lover of Belisarius

7th Generation
-- Imanna -- Voice of the Night -- Cairo: Currently missing.
-- Fatmir Dibra -- (Sorcerer Caste) -- A traditional practitioner of Dur-an-Ki, who sells his services to the highest
bidder.
-- Jason Maier -- (Vizier Caste) -- The Dark Knight of Rio de Janeiro
-- Burak Mataracı -- (Warrior Caste) -- Progeny of Shabah of Istanbul and sire of Eren Badem. Turkish elder of the
Warrior Caste and saint of the Path of Blood who resides in Ankara, Turkey.
-- Montgomery (Monty) Coven -- (Warrior Caste) -- The Faux Elder
-- Sukhbataar -- (Warrior Caste) -- Elder of Sofia-Grad

8th Generation
-- Djuhah -- (Warrior Caste) -- antitribu -- Seraph of the Black Hand.
-- Eren Badem -- (Warrior Caste) -- Turkish master-assassin. Deceased (died: June 20th. Location: Paris department
store. Slain by Brian O'Reilly)
-- Husayn Al Fatin -- (Warrior Caste) -- Destroyer of Outcasts -- The Ambassador from Alamut.
-- Hsing Lao -- Japanese Sorcerer Caste.
-- Ridha Kader -- (warrior caste) -- Moroccan Elder Rio de Janeiro
-- Christinana Guillory -- (vizier caste) -- Neonate Progeny of Jason Maier Rio de Janeiro
-- Tel'aat El-Ali -- The Rising Flame -- Cairo: Alive & Active.

9th Generation
-- Beomedian -- The Turk (Vizier Caste) -- Cairo
-- Reza Fatir --

10th Generation
-- Gavriil Papadopoulos -- (Warrior Caste) -- (Dispossessed) -- (Humanist) -- Guardian of the Rroma
-- Gulliermo Suarez -- Assamite Mercenary From: Lima, Peru and current resident of Leeds, England
-- Myrsus ibn Sharbel -- (Sorcerer Caste)

11th Generation
-- Eren Demir -- (sorcerer caste) -- Turkish Astrologer & Neonate Rio de Janeiro
-- Ruth Cole -- (Warrior Caste) -- antitribu -- Member of the Dead Gypsies - a nomad pack.

12th Generation
-- Yvette Cole -- (Warrior Caste) -- antitribu -- Member of the Deathbringers -- a nomad pack.

13th Generation
-- Tariq -- Commonly known as the Silent, is an Assamite antitribu unaffiliated with the Sabbat and assumed
Dominion of the Black Hand. He also occupies a place among the Red List.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Mata Hari
-- Evans Rogers -- Freelance Assamite Bodyguard -- Currently on assignment in Houston.
-- Anselmo a Barata -- Assamite antitribu (warrior caste) -- Rio de Janeiro
-- Babajide Afolayan -- Yoruban Ancilla (warrior caste) -- Rio de Janeiro
-- Sawsan Hakim -- Arabian Neonate (warrior caste) -- Rio de Janeiro

45
Brujah

Brujah

46
The Brujah have a reputation as fierce warriors; their affinity for war is carried in
their blood. Because their weakness is their rage, they are much more vulnerable
to frenzy. Quick to anger and always passionate, they have been steadily regaining
their position as a clan of lofty philosophers and activists, and are known for
mysterious knowledge and power.

Nicknames
The Learned Clan, Punks, Rabble, Zealots, Agitators

Antediluvian
Troile (via diablerie of Brujah)

Faction
Anarchs

Disciplines
Primary: Celerity, Potence, Presence
Secondary: Anarch Sorcery

Organization
Certain causes rise and fall in Brujah fashion, but some of the more tenured are those who call themselves Idealists
and Iconoclasts. Iconoclasts want to tear it all down, while Idealists enjoy solving problems through theory. This last
harkens somewhat to the classical roots of the Brujah as philosopher-kings, and most Idealists are among the ranks
of Brujah ancillae and elders.

Haven
Brujah may feel kinship to a city, but they rarely develop such ties to individual locations. Thus, at any given time, a
Brujah probably has a half-dozen or more hideouts, safe-houses, and flats available. These are often shabby and ill-
kept until the Brujah needs them. Brujah havens might also have mortals who follow the Brujah’s ideology or his cult
of personality. This works out fine: It never hurts to have a spare vessel in an emergency.

Background
As creatures of passion, Brujah often Embrace without really thinking much about it, and their childer tend to be a
disparate lot. Sometimes, the Rabble Embrace those who share a similar outlook or enthusiasm for a cause as the
prospective sire. Other times, they inflict the Embrace on those of opposite ideology, cursing a rival with vampirism
as punishment.

Appearance
Many Brujah affect styles and mannerisms that reflect an attitude of rebellion. Multicolored hair, shaven heads,
spikes, rivets, fetish gear, and t-shirts with bold slogans might appeal to a Brujah. While not every Brujah wears the
“uniform,” the Rabble often enjoy adorning themselves in outfits intended to provoke. Some young Brujah prefer
mobile devices as their tools of resistance, and can summon a riot at the touch of a screen.

Weakness
Berserker Beast: Quick to anger and always passionate in the Modern Nights, they have been regaining their position
as a clan of lofty philosophers and activists and are often pointed to as a clan of unruly rebels and roughnecks that
should not be messed with. Due to their inherent clan weakness, Brujah characters get a -2 penalty to resist Frenzy.

47
History
Scratch the surface of a Brujah, and these days you are more than likely to find a Brujah thug underneath. However,
the clan is a fallen clan, still mourning the death of their Carthaginian paradise and decaying from their era of
warrior-scholars to the petty rebels common in the Final Nights.

Little consistent knowledge is known about the Brujah Antediluvian because the stories may confuse two individuals:
the original founder of the Brujah (named as "Ilyes" in one account and as "Troile the Elder" in another) and his
childer and diablerist, Troile.

According to most records, Brujah was a callous and fiercely logical creature. Dispassionate in the extreme, the
Antediluvian sired a clan of equally dispassionate childer. Among these, however, was a less controlled whelp: Troile
the Rebel. What events caused the Embrace of Troile are unknown, but clan history holds that Troile diablerized her
sire and claimed the clan as her own. A small bloodline, the True Brujah, claim descent from Brujah and hold this
grievance close in the Final Nights.

Following the death of Brujah in unrecorded history, the clan Brujah lived among the mortals, letting themselves
revere as kings and gods, trying to recreate the glory of the Second City and the harmony between the Children of
Seth and the childer of Caine. The first place that became an experiment of the Brujah was Greece, specifically
Athens. Learning from and discussing their ideals with the Athenian orators and philosophers, the Brujah found
countless impeti to improve society. The Brujah allowed other Cainites to enter their city and to share Athens glory.
Conflict with Spartan Ventrue led to discord and the first Brujah War. After that, many of the praedicandi, the rulers
of the Clan, left Greece, convinced that the experiment had failed and that they should start again elsewhere. Many
of the praedicandi seized the moment and followed Troile's example, diablerizing their sires to leave no witnesses or
patrons to what they regarded as a failure.

The clan's next major moment is also its greatest moment. The Brujah built or co-opted a Phoenician colony,
Carthage, for another grand experiment. The Brujah say that Carthage was a utopia — a city where Kindred and kine
lived in harmony, and where justice reigned. Other clans, and history, tell the story somewhat differently. The
Carthaginians were cowed by their gods, offering their children to the flames of Moloch; and, apparently if the blood
of sacrifices should flow down the gullet of a methuselah, Moloch did not mind. Exactly what happened in Carthage
is dependent on who speaks of it – the Brujah claim Paradise, the other clans claim the presence of the Baali and
human sacrifice. Some of those who were present in Carthage admit and acknowledge the truth.

Carthage fell during the Third Punic War in 146 BCE, when Scipio Aemilianus, aided by the Malkavians and Ventrue of
Rome crushed the shell of a city hollowed out by two previous wars. The earth was salted (preventing those Kindred
who had melded with the earth from rising), the land was plowed, and the Brujah experiment ended.

Dark Ages

During the Dark Ages, the Brujah were considered part of the High Clans, a clan of warrior-scholars noted for their
fierce devotion to radical philosophies. The Brujah viewed themselves as the practitioners of a Greek philosophy of
total mental and physical discipline (commonly called entelechy), and would often train their neonates in combat
and the classics with equal discipline. Brujah of the Dark Ages were associated primarily with politics, especially in
Greece. Their historical association with Carthage gave them a dim view of Rome and her heirs.

The Renaissance proved to be one of the turning points in the history of the Clan, when the division between the
various ideological strains within the Clan exploded in the heavy infighting that strain them today. The cultural
explosion within Europe resulted in ecclesiastical and civic strife, that the Brujah were only too willing to follow.

Victorian Age

During the Victorian Age, the Clan was divided in those few who lived true to their legacy as the Learned Clan, and
those bulk who were mere troublemakers and criminals in the eyes of their sect, as many neonates rebelled against
the oppressive and stagnant politic of the Camarilla. The closeness of the clan to mortal passions brought forth the

48
best and the worst of the Age within the clan. Many Brujah started to regard themselves as the proletariat of
vampiric society and wanted to change this through revolution.

Many Brujah during this time were fierce supporters of various ideas like Marxism, collectivism, syndicalism, and
Darwinism and engaged in various revolutionary groups to topple the rising pauperization during the Industrial
Revolution.

Modern Nights

In the final nights, the Brujah are the clan of rebels. The ancient traditions of the clan are all but forgotten, with a
few reluctant throwbacks like Theo Bell and undying artifacts like Critias to remember the clan's history and
tradition.

For the Brujah, the twentieth century is marked by a sequence of failed projects. Two daring projects defined Brujah
culture throughout the final nights: The Anarch Free State and the Brujah Council. In the first case, California was
turned into a new Kindred society, led by the Brujah Jeremy MacNeil. The Anarch Free State was almost a separate
sect for the Kindred for nearly 5 decades. However, under the weight of Camarilla influence, the invasion of the Kuei-
jin and the eventual betrayal by Brujah such as Tara Kearney of San Diego, the Free State largely collapsed.

The Brujah Council was another, arguably more daring, and ultimately more frightening experiment. In the early
twentieth century, the Brujah pitched in with the Soviet Revolution, eventually forming a separate council which
managed the entire USSR's vampiric affairs. This Brujah Council was destroyed overnight, however, when Baba Yaga
rose from torpor and mystically separated Russia from the rest of the world. Only with the Little Grandmother's
death at the hands of a Nictuku have vampires been able to cross the Shadow Curtain and survey the ruins of
vampiric Russia.

Most of the clan left the Camarilla for the Anarch Movement after Hardestadt and Jan Pieterzoon were killed by
Brujah rebels led by Theo Bell during the Conclave of Prague in 2012.

49
Organization
As a clan, the Brujah have next to no organization. Outside of the clan, the Brujah adore building structures, and
then other Brujah adore tearing them down. Among modern Brujah, the primary structure is the division between
the Iconoclast and Idealist factions of society.

Iconoclast
The Iconoclasts are rebels and almost uniformly young Brujah. They fulfill the clan's stereotypical image as mad, bad,
and dangerous to know.

Idealist
In contrast to Iconoclasts, Idealists are the intellectuals and theorists of the clan. They are usually elders or ancillae,
and the elders are Idealists simply because their habits have not changed since their Embrace.

Brujah antitribu

Nicknames
Brutes; Rabble-rousers
Faction
Sabbat

The Sabbat-aligned Brujah antitribu are perhaps the ultimate degeneration of

the Brujah and potentially what they may become. Violent to the extreme, they
often constitute the bulk of the Sabbat's cannon fodder and frontline fighters,
whether in battle or debate. The Brujah antitribu were one of the first Clan to rebel
against the elders during the Anarch Revolt and see themselves as its founders,
despite insistence from the sides of the Lasombra and Tzimisce.

In recent nights, the Brujah antitribu experienced an upsurge in membership (thanks to reckless Embrace tactics)
and consider themselves as one of the main pillars of the sect. The Third Sabbat Civil War and the Pander Movement
were backed by Brujah antitribu, who hoped to use the young and inexperienced Caitiff as a way to break the
traditional Lasombra-Tzimisce hegemony of the sect.

Culture
The Brujah of old followed the Olympian Ideal, also known as Entelechy, which predated even Carthage. The
Olympian Ideal contained the perfection of both body and mind, and as a result, most of the ancient Brujah steeled
and trained their bodies without relent and were well-educated in both metaphysical and scientific themes. The
ancient Brujah philosopher Heraclitus placed fire as the ideal that kept the world in motion and enabled perfection
even within the stasis that filled the greater universe. As seasons turned and life followed death, perfection was
reached. Heracleitus also postulated that the rage and the passion of the Brujah was the result of this fire and that it
was the duty of the Clan to enable change and, therefore, perfection. Although his works have been mostly
forgotten by the modern rabble and Brujah argued even back then over the exact meaning of his teachings, certain
elders and the adherents of the Path of Entelechy, which follows the ancient Brujah ideals, still keep on to the
Olympic Ideal.

All that a Brujah does, he does with passion that is both his curse as well as his blessing. Brujah adopt passions and
causes, which they support with volume and vitriol. Some Brujah follow charismatic members of their clan, while
others prefer stances of blatant, defiant individualism. Many Brujah are glad to have an opportunity to speak their
minds, then indulge in a bit of destruction afterward to illustrate their points. As divided as the clan is, all work
against each other in some way, and even when some rivalries within are more embittered than in any other clan,
they still keep together (after the proverb "I against my brother, my brothers and I against my cousins, my cousins
and I against strangers"). If any Kindred not of their blood would oppose a Brujah, they would face the wrath of the
whole clan, as even Idealists would defend Iconoclasts in front of the Prince and each Iconoclast is more than ready
to beat someone up who humiliated a clan member within Elysium.

50
Two conventions the clan does support universally are the Rant and the Rave. Rants are just that: informal meetings
of Brujah (and other insurgents, Kindred and kine) at which anyone who can scream loudly enough can have her
opinions heard. Raves, named after the all-night techno dance parties started in England, are social gatherings in the
guise of huge-scale musical or entertainment events. One usually leads to another, and clues to the locations of the
events are often hidden in the media of the gathering in progress.

Embraces
The Brujah are infamous for ignoring the Tradition of progeny, and consequently Embrace whomever they feel like
whenever they feel like. Brujah are stereotypically the source for most Caitiff because they are presumed to neglect
training their childer.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Troile --

4th Generation
-- Azif -- Progeny of Troile.
-- Hannibal -- Progeny of Troile.
-- Losario -- Progeny of Troile.
-- Meneleus -- Progeny of Troile.
-- Nike the Amazon -- Progeny of Troile.
-- The Wanderer -- Progeny of Troile.

5th Generation
-- Altamira -- Childe of Hannibal, Sire of Maxwell
-- Cecrops the First King -- The first and only childe of Nike the Amazon.
-- Critias -- Childe of Menele and Primogen of the Brujah in Chicago.
-- Dark Selina -- is a potent Brujah antitribu of the Sabbat and an ardent foe of the Masquerade.
-- Guillaume -- Progeny of Hannibal. Inconnu. Prince of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
-- Samal -- Sire of Dominic

6th Generation
-- Aglaulus the Mother -- The Athenian wife and childe of Cecrops the First King.
-- Damien -- Bastard progeny of Critias
-- Dominic -- Progeny of Samal. Mercenary Overlord in Carthage. Once thought to have been destroyed by the
Ventrue.
-- Don Caravelli -- Progeny of Caracus. Head of the Mafia.
-- Maxwell -- Former Prince of Chicago
-- Reva -- Prince of Saint Louis
-- Tyler -- Childe of Robin Leeland, Sire of Joshua Tarnopolski

7th Generation
-- Alexis Blanc -- Sire of Balthazar. (Deceased)
-- Bobby Lee -- Progeny of Reva
-- Ceryx Agrinethese -- Progeny of Aglaulus the Mother
-- Ian Corso -- Security Head for Carfax Abbey.
-- Malcolm Wallace -- Prince of Glasgow, Scotland
-- Robin Leeland -- Brujah rabble rouser. Former Prince of Nottingham. Sire of Tyler
-- Suregethes -- The Ancient Prince of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
-- Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor -- Prince of Melbourne

51
8th Generation
-- Antonio Romano -- -- Childe of "Squizzy" Taylor
-- Balthazar (Sheriff) -- Sheriff of Chicago under Lodin. Progeny of Alexis Blanc.
-- Cellach MacTaggart - Sheriff of Glasgow, Scottland
-- Conrad Schrek -- Childe of "Squizzy" Taylor
-- Don Cerro -- Dignitary, Scholar and Brujah Primogen of London
-- Don Nicko Lazzari -- Second in chief in the Mafia. Killed by Madeleine Giovanni. Deceased 1994
-- Gabriel Dunai -- Sire to Nimat Bilous
-- Joshua Tarnopolski -- Childe of Tyler
-- Reginald Moore --
-- Seonag Hardie Mac Innis -- Childe of Prince Malcolm of Glasgow
-- Storie Ogilvie -- Childe of Prince Malcolm of Glasgow

9th Generation
-- Ahmed Bogdanovic --
-- Anatol Gorski -- Archon for Clan Brujah.
-- Boris Melor -- Former Primogen of Clan Brujah in Sofia, Bulgaria
-- Martiné -- Brujah Primogen of Houston.
-- Nimat Bilous -- Progeny of Gabriel Dunai
-- Pierre Bellemare -- Brujah antitribu Infernalist
-- Teasag Henerson -- Childe of Sheriff Cellach MacTaggart of Glasgow.

10th Generation
-- Herbert Westin --
-- Paul Bedwell --
-- Takuya Shiraiwa -- Progeny of Leonid Barofsky.

11th Generation
-- Doncho Yanchov -- (Deceased) Anarch. Sire of Jurgis Ąžuolas.

12th Generation
-- Cal -- Sire of Ariane
-- Jayne Jonestown -- antitribu -- Marilyn Manson parody. (deceased)
-- Jurgis Ąžuolas -- Long-time ghoul and now ward of Brian O'Reilly. Childe of Doncho Yankov.

13th Generation
-- Ariane -- Progeny of Cal.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Stevie Reno -- The Butcher of Houston.
-- Snarl -- Anarch of Cleveland, Ohio.
-- Tim Pavlicek -- Anarch of Cleveland, Ohio.

52
 Followers of Set

53
Pimps, pushers, and priests, the Setites cater to the needs of the
desperate,and convert them to a nihilistic cause in doing so. Whether one
needs flesh, money, drugs, or dark secrets, the Followers of Set can pro-
vide it, and when they do so, they all but guarantee themselves a return
visit from those who seek them.
The Followers of Set are as much a chthonic religion as they are a Clan,
though the faith includes the Clan. Its mythology is complex and
convoluted, an im- penetrable pantheon of god-monsters. At the apex of
this worship stands a syncretism of the Egyptian Lord of the Underworld Set
and the Greek hydra Typhon, as much spiritual guardians of secret places as
they are the “liberators” of other’s souls. To outsiders, this is all
blasphemous religious affectation, but to devout Setites, the cult and cause
are real, and their dark lord works his will through them.
Needless to say, the politics of desperation and the placation of evil gods
place the Serpents on the outside of Kindred society. The Setites are fine with this. The Kindred can often find
themselves in need of what the Followers of Set purvey, and the extra “service” of secrecy is one the Setites are
happy to provide — at a premium. The Setites offer a devil’s deal, but on their own terms. That way, when they
collect their due and feed blood and souls into the maw of the Typhonic beast.

Nicknames
Followers of Set, Judasians, Liberators, Corrupters, Tempters, Serpents, Setites, The Clan of Faith, the Clan of Lies,
Typhonists

Antediluvian
Set/Sutekh

Faction
Independent/Anarch Movement

Disciplines
Primary: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis
Secondary: Protean, Akhu, Auspex

Organization
Setite organization is mostly local, with a single temple or network of cults representing a city’s Serpent presence.
Setites in the cities rarely scheme among each other, preferring to face outward threats in unity rather than the
schismatic self-interest of the Sects. Whispers persist of a massive temple devoted to Set located somewhere in
Africa, with a terrible Methuselah who claims to be the childe of Set himself at the head. If this is true, then the
Clan’s higher agenda probably originates here, but the Setites themselves remain silent on the topic.

Haven
Where their hidden temples stand, the Setites make their havens, either individually or communally. These may be
anything from “churches” with never-before-heard-of denominations or they may be outright cults that have to hide
their existences. The secretive Serpents sometimes hide individual havens in places where other Kindred don’t often
go, such as insular ethnic neighborhoods, abandoned domains, “the rough part of town,” and so forth. Some Setites
also haven in secret mystical places that have value to the Clan, guarding them from outsiders.

Background
Prospective childer for the Followers of Set often spend some time involved with a Setite cult, so they’re
indoctrinated in the mysteries of the Clan before becoming one of its Kindred. They may come from any cultural
origin, though many are outsiders, loners, or otherwise marginalized by society, which is often what led them to the
forbidden fruits offered by the cult of Set in the first place.

54
Appearance
Many older Setites hail from the North African and Mediterranean ethnicities native to the Serpents’ historical
territory, but they freely Em- brace from among the mortals of their adopted homes. Some long-standing Setite
temples are tied to locations where “Egyptian” Serpents might seem out of place, but where some aspect of serpent
mythology is present, as in Mesoamerica or even far-flung Nordic locales, and thus draw their membership from
local populations. Red hair is considered a mark of Set’s favor.

Weakness
Hated by Horus: Due to their inherent clan weakness, Followers of Set are extremely susceptible to sunlight (double
damage) and have great difficulty acting while under bright light (spotlights, strobes, etc), while they are blinded
they get a -2 penalty to any skill roll requiring eyesight. This is a weaker version of the Light-Sensitive disadvantage as
the moonlight doesn’t hurt the Setites. On the other hand, Followers of Set are curiously immune to Basilisk's
poison.

History
In the First Nights, the Clan was fairly centered around its Antediluvian and, not surprisingly, Egypt. Many different
tales are told about his divinity and how he was cursed by Ra in his struggle against his rival Osiris, whom he
eventually managed to kill, and his abandonment by his disciples and fellow Antediluvians. In the manner of the Path
of Typhon, all these accounts are taken for true, because limitation to just one version is just another sign of the
influence of Ra and Osiris in this world.

It can be said that Set's get had a fairly great influence on Egypt as a whole during the days of pharaonic Egypt,
although his efforts were always undermined by the Osirian League under the leadership of his eternal enemy
Horus. Set himself guided his Clan from his great temple in Ombos and sometimes got involved personally with
dethroning pharaohs who were too entrenched by Ma'at and the schemes of the Aeons. In this way, the Followers of
Set established their hold on the lands of Egypt several times: First during the reign of the Hyksos (in an alliance with
the Lasombra), then during the 19th dynasty under Ramesses and during the Hellenistic Age under Alexander the
Great. During the reign of Rome, the Setites flourished in countless cults among the children of Seth and of Caine,
promising ancient secrets and shaping the mindset of their cultists to resist the snares of Ma'at.

All these efforts were delivered a serious blow when Set himself disappeared in 33 CE (the alleged year of Christ's
crucifixion, as some Setites note). After the departure of the founder, earthquakes shattered Egypt and many of the
old temples sunk and became lost, often taking many of the slumbering methuselahs of the clan with them.
However, Nakhthorheb and the remaining Hierophants took the reins of the clan, ruling the progeny of Set in his
absence.

Dark Ages

Setites were rare in Dark Medieval Europe, spending most of their time in Egypt. During this time, the first heresy
appeared within the Clan, growing from Constantinople, where the rogue Hierophant Khay'tall had endorsed a
philosophy of corruption for its own sake, rather than as a tool to break a person free from outside influences in the
service of Set. While these "Decadents" or "Typhonists" were originally fairly confined to the Eastern Roman Empire,
the fall of Constantinople in 1204 spread them across the whole known world, where they taught their debased
philosophies and sometimes even practiced demonolatry. The Hierophants sought to bring the situation under
control by banning these vampires from Egypt. In doing so, they made it impossible for them to learn their true
history, leaving them to spread across Europe unhindered.

Setites were known as Walid Set in the lands of Arabia and North Africa, and spent much of their time fighting to
keep the influence of Europe out of their lands. Although they claimed to dominate Egypt, they actually only had a
few holdings that could rightfully be called theirs; the rest belonged to the other bay't and the Garou of the Sahara.
The clan they struggled against the most was the one with the greatest power over the Islamic regions and the
Ashirra: the Banu Haqim. A temporary treaty was reached, but relations remained uneasy between the two for years
afterward. The Clan had a deep enmity with the Ashirra, who viewed their idolatrous religion as blasphemy, while

55
the Setites saw the faith that the Islamic vampires endorsed as a stifling of the natural order Set had sought to
restore.

The advent of learning during the Renaissance only increased the Setites' possibilities to subvert the European
vampires, gaining advantage from the trade with goods from the Orient and the New World, as well as the new
"leisure class" that arose in the cities, the customers for Set's teachings. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire also
provided cover for them to travel into Europe and slave trade remained one of the most profitable businesses for
the clan.

Victorian Age

The Setites reveled in the Victorian Age: As ancient knowledge was demanded more and more in Kindred society,
the Setites' clientele rose more and more, as many Kindred discovered the usefulness of their bargains. The Setite
presence in Camarilla cities during this time was increasingly high and some Princes allowed them even in their
retinue. And with the strict puritan taboos of society, the increasing interest in occultism and the rising opium trade,
corrupting mortals to the service of Set was easier than ever.

Despite the occupation of their ancestral homeland, the Setites were able to maintain a great deal of their influence
in Egypt and some, like Izzat al-Khunzir, were actively opposing the foreign princes that occupied their ancient cities.
Also, the clan expanded heavily into America in this time in order to corrupt and influence the young government of
the States.

Modern Nights

In the Final Nights, many Setites saw the signs of Gehenna as portents that Set would soon arise, and indeed many
Gehenna scenarios involve his return. They remained staunchly independent, but since they still had to acquire
power and wealth to ease the return of their god, they ventured far from Egypt. Setites in this period frequently
lived in Camarilla (or, less often, Sabbat) cities, seducing and corrupting other Kindred, staying outside sect politics
except to serve their own ends. Few among the other clans trusted them, but they had many secrets and were often
able to infiltrate a Prince's court by trading information or promising favors. Such deals generally worked out in the
Setite's favor.

At some point following the start of Gehenna, the clan underwent a name change, now identifying themselves as the
Ministry, save for those in Africa or of Egyptian descent, who still use the old name. In part it was a rebranding, an
update for the times, but it was also a sign that the clan's understanding of its relationship to its founder had
changed – rather than being Set's followers, they see Set as being within them, making them his living church.

With the start of the Beckoning, and the Sabbat's Gehenna Crusade, the Ministry found their home territories
invaded. Deciding it was not a good time to be independent, they sought entrance to the Camarilla around the same
time as the Banu Haqim, but were rejected. Many have turned to the Anarch Movement, and are now arming their
twin weapons of temptation and subversion to bring spiritual liberation to all descendants of Caine.

In addition, some members of the Samedi bloodline have declined to join the Hecata in favor of joining the Ministry.
In vampire domains, the Ministry comfortably serves two purposes. On one hand they are suppliers unafraid to dirty
their hands with drugs, vessels, and anything else on the desperate side of the tracks. On the other, they are the
spiritual core of many coteries. This dichotomy does not pass the Ministry by. They dance with the devil and preach
spiritual purity. Though some licks consider them hypocrites for this mixed message, the Ministers claim the role of
martyrs: They fraternize with sin so others need not. In this way, they retain plausible deniability. Most vampires
accept this explanation, as the Ministers’ usefulness outweigh lingering most suspicions.

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Organization
Setite organization is mostly local, with a single temple or network of cults representing a city's Serpent presence.
Setites in the cities rarely scheme among each other, preferring to face outward threats in unity rather than the
schismatic self-interest of the Sects. However, whispers persist among outsiders about a massive temple devoted to
Set located somewhere in Africa, ruled by terrible methuselahs who claim to be the childer of Set himself.

The Hierophants or Eternals are the leaders of the Followers of Set in the absence of their founder. They are the
oldest of their clan, who have known Set personally and acted as his stewards in the temples dedicated to the god.
Clan Variants

The Followers of Set are not as uniform as their name leads observers to believe. They found that the best way to
preach their doctrine and philosophy in certain lands was to use parallels to each culture's indigenous myths and
legends. In many of the religions around the world, Setites found Gods that bore a striking resemblance to the Lord
of Storms, and proclaimed that these were in fact "masks" of Set himself. When contact was lost to the original
Temple, several of these lines proclaimed themselves independent, and only in the Modern Nights have the lines,
using mortal infrastructure, started communicating with their Egyptian forebears.

Like the castes of the Assamites, the Setites originally had a triumvirate system. The only surviving "caste" in the
modern nights are the Priests, with the original Warrior caste having been supplanted and the Witches having gone
extinct. All modern Setites are assumed to be members of the Priest caste unless otherwise specified.

Children of Damballah

Nicknames
Damballahns
Faction
Anarch

The Children of Damballah are a branch of Setites that dwells in sub-Saharan

Africa, and are the African forefathers of the Serpents of the Light. The
Children of Damballah revere Set as Damballah-Wedo, a Yoruban snake-god
of the Earth and darkness. They keep their Founding Temple in the town of
Oyo, once the capital of the Yoruba kingdom, but have since spread through
most of West Africa. The main clan watches their African brethren with
concern.

Daitya

Nicknames
Snake-Charmers, Blasphemers
Faction
Anarch

The Daitya are a heretical variant, whose founder travelled from Egypt to
India in pursuit of ancient mystical knowledge and hunting the Children of
Osiris who were rumored to have fled into the Himalayas. The bloodline was
nearly exterminated during the reign of the Ashirra, who saw them not only
as heathens, but as demon-worshippers. Only a grudging alliance with the
Trimira during the Victorian Age saved their dwindling numbers from
extinction.

Certain broods and temples among the Daitya specialize in different skills, like
a "yoga of illusion" that they call Raktamaya, which includes Chimerstry,
Conjuration (Sadyojatavidya), Obfuscation, Transmutation (Rasayana),

57
thaumaturgic rituals (tantras), hypnotism, and even prestidigitation. The Daitya revere Shiva, and claim leadership of
all vampires who worship Shiva. They adopted Shiva the Destroyer, Rudra the god of storms and hunters, and the
serpent demon of drought – called Vritra – as the local analogs of Set.

Eventually the cult of Shiva completely absorbed the cult of Rudra, and Vritra simply dropped out of Setite practice.
The Daitya see their caste duty as a strange inverse of mortal Brahminism. As demons, they must fight the gods and
strive to overthrow the moral order of the world. As Brahmins, however, they must strive to keep their fellow
vampires within their own particular caste duties as murderers, tricksters, desecrators of sacred rites and all the
other abhorrent roles assigned to demons. Other vampires defy that claim. Nevertheless, their intrinsic rank as
Brahmins grants all Daitya considerable authority among India's undead.

Daitya perceive the current world as fundamentally flawed, so they seek to reboot it; the most fanatic among the
Daitya claim that the means of doing so is to push the world over the brink into a nadir of purest evil, so that Shiva
fully awakens to destroy the current world with his third eye, thereby setting the stage for the next cycle of
existence. They defy the elders in Egypt and demand treatment as a full-fledged and independent Clan. The
Naktanchara lineage of the bloodline is rejected since they converted to Buddhism and began defying the caste
system of Indian Kindred.

Serpents of the Light

Nicknames
Cobras
Faction
Sabbat

The Serpents of the Light are another heretical Setite variant – essentially "Setite antitribu" – who practice voodoun.

The Serpents of the Light began as a Caribbean branch of the West African Setites. According to their oral tradition,
the first Setites came from Africa to the West Indies more than 300 years ago, in the heyday of the slave trade. The
arrival of a vampire-priest smuggled across the Atlantic on a slave ship was an answer to the plea of their fellow
tribesmen who were suffering and dying on the sugar plantations and mills. This great priest would led a furious
slave revolt that was promptly crushed by Europeans.

The cult of the Serpents of the Light, however, was not crushed, nor the vampire priest who sleeps in the earth
waiting for the moment when he will rise to lead all the faithful back to Africa. His lineage preserves the cult until
this night. Their modern incarnation originated in the 1960s when a group of independent Setites in Haiti formed an
alliance with the newly-arrived Sabbat, ignoring orders from senior Setites to have nothing to do with the sect.

The Serpents of the Light (or "Cobras" as they became informally known) are committed to combating the
Antediluvians, and believe Set to be among their enemies; they are considered traitors by other Setites. Apart from
their ideological and spiritual beliefs, however, there are no significant differences between Cobras and their parent
clan: they learn the same Disciplines, and share the same weakness to light.

Tlacique

Nicknames
Jaguars
Founder
Tezcatlipoca
Faction
Independent

The Tlacique reside in Latin America and are believed to be descended from the Followers of Set. Rather than Set,
these Mesoamerican vampires venerate Tezcatlipoca, the god of the darkness and sorcery. This variant possesses
Protean instead of the clan discipline of Serpentis, often taking the shape of a jaguar rather than a wolf. They also
practice a unique type of shamanistic blood sorcery known as Nahuallotl.

58
In modern nights, the Tlacique are widely believed to be extinct by the few Kindred outside of the bloodline who
even remember their existence. However, a handful of bitter survivors persist on the fringes of vampire society,
scattered from the jungles and mountains of South America to barrios in the American Southwest. They Embrace
exclusively from Native American groups, still resenting the European destruction of their homelands. Increasingly,
they are forming an alliance with the Pisanob Necromancers. Some of the younger Setites speculate and wonder if
they have mistakenly adopted the Tlacique, confusing them with some obscure and dangerously ambitious Gangrel
bloodline. Perhaps one composed of Embraced Balam Kinfolk.

Walid Set

Nicknames
Serpents
Faction
Independent

The Walid Set are the Arabian branch of the Setite clan. They are not a deviation in faith or blood from the original
clan, as they still worship the vampire-god Set, and are frequently at odds with the Ashirra. Their greatest opponents
in those lands, however, are the Assamite Viziers.

Warriors of Glycon

Nicknames
Crooks
Faction
Independent

The Warriors of Glycon were a caste of the Setites during the Dark Ages that was later supplanted by the Warrior
Setites.

The Crooks dedicated themselves to a philosophy of the exaltation of violence. Strength was all that mattered to
them. In the triumvirate system of the old Clan, they saw themselves as the body, the priests as the mind, and the
witches as the soul. Viewing themselves as the leaders of the Clan, they were blind before the intrigues of the priests
that led to their demise.

Culture
The mission of the Followers of Set can be stated in a single word: corruption. They seek to subvert and destroy
whatever is good, noble, safe or beautiful within both Kindred and mortal society. They are plotters without peer,
with an unequalled genius for misdirection and temptation. Their favorite weapons include drugs, sex, money,
power, and vice in all its aspects.

But for most of the Followers of Set, this corruption is just a means to an end. They believe in a radical split between
the divine, eternal soul and the corrupt, transitory world and body. The laws of their faith say that deep down, the
soul knows it does not belong in a prison of matter. Anything that distracts the soul from this knowledge and ties it
to the world must be a trap – and if the world is a prison, then the gods must be its jailers. To achieve liberation, a
soul must shed all the false doctrines, cravings and habits that bind it and blind it. Such self-awareness cannot come
from mere argument or faith. Only direct experience of the most extreme sort can break the hold of the gods over
the soul and allow liberation. Through these experiences, the Setites believe they can achieve truly divine power
over the world and liberate themselves from every physical and spiritual constraint, as they already have taken the
first steps out of the prison when they received the Embrace.

It took the Setites some time to accept that they and other vampires are indeed a related, if not the same, species,
and some Elders are still not wholly convinced. Vampires of other Clans were originally seen as pawns of other
Egyptian gods, arranged against Set, or the work of evil spirits from the Underworld, who shared nothing with them

59
but the fact that they too existed in both the material world and the afterlife. Befitting a Clan that holds truth as a
tool of false gods, multiple explanations for their state were accepted. During the Dark Ages, common doctrine was
that their akh, the "essence", has already descended to Duat, but that their bodies, through the waters of death
(vitae), were still inhabited by their ba (personality) and ka (life essence). Other systems, mainly used in Akhu,
prescribed a detailed system centered around the nine-fold soul, with the khat as the body, the ba as one
component of vitae, the ab as Humanity, the khaibit as the Beast, and the sekhem as another part of vitae, along
with the other ka (the astral self), ren (the true name), khu (the aura) and sahu (the indestructible part of the soul,
rumored by some Setites to later serve Set as a Sebau).

As the oldest of the four independent clans, with a lineage directly traceable to a mighty Antediluvian (though there
are those who dispute the clan's account of its own history), the Followers of Set are not without respect among the
Kindred. At one point, after long and divisive debate, they were invited to join the Camarilla. This invitation was, by
and large, ignored by the Setites (to the great relief of many in the Camarilla). Nonetheless, the Camarilla, and
sometimes even the Sabbat, often seek out the Followers of Set in an effort to secure their aid in some complex
intrigue or another. For this reason, the Setites are generally regarded as a necessary evil within Cainite society. In
recent centuries, the Setites have achieved notable success in the Caribbean, where they are in direct control of
many of the most feared and powerful Haitian secret societies and Jamaican posses. These organizations, in turn,
control much of the international drug trade. The Setites are also rumored to have absolute control over at least one
Near Eastern terrorist group.

Cults

The Followers of Set's emphasis on personal revelation generates dozens of little cults. Setite groups also emerge
through interactions with the local culture. Put simply, Setites are not all a bunch of Egyptian migrants. Since their
doctrine is flexible to begin with, Setites easily compromise with local cultures, adding still more diversity to the clan.
A typical cult consists of a "Founding Temple" and several lesser temples scattered hither and yon. Egypt holds most
of the really old and prestigious Founding Temples. A powerful cult's Hierophant, or senior priest, oversees the
Founding Temple. The chief priests of important daughter temples are simply called High Priests. A priest who
manages a small temple by herself bears no special title that the rest of the clan will honor.
Known cults are:

• Cult of Typhon Trismegistus

• Children of Damballah
• Cult of Taweret
• Cohort of Wepwawet
• Children of Judas
• Hall of Jörmungandr
• House of Eclipse
• Abd'al-Sobek
• Sisterhood of Sekhmet
• Church of the Black Magdalene

Known Courts of Set:

• Cave of Apples
• Court of Dust and Bones
• Court of Miracles
• Court of Steel and Sky
• Crocodile Temple
• Descending Aerie
• Dream Court - Cairo
• Fire Court
• Garden of Asps
• House of Set
• Hall of Jormungandr

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• Labyrinth of Bones
• Red Temple -- Thebes
• Red Hook Temple -- New York
• Temple of Dogs
• Temple of Damballah
• The Typhoneum

Embraces

Prospective childer for the Followers of Set often spend some time involved with a Setite cult, so they are
indoctrinated in the mysteries of the Clan before becoming one of its Kindred. They may come from any cultural
origin, though many are outsiders, loners, or otherwise marginalized by society, which is often what led them to the
forbidden fruits offered by the cult of Set in the first place. Interestingly, Setites count their generation from Set, so
their generation is often stated to be two steps lower than the standard counting method that derives vampires
from Caine (a fourth-generation methuselah would be noted as a member of the Second Generation within the
Clan).

Another facet is that some Followers of Set are not actually Embraced as Followers of Set. Rather, they are vampires
from other Clans that have passed all their mysteries, accepted Set as their true god and have been formally
inducted into the cult. While such vampires do not shed their original Clan or Clan Curse (a Ventrue converted to Set
will still Embrace Ventrue childer and have a peculiar inclination towards his prey), they are taught Serpentis and
Setite Sorcery, as well as their Paths of Enlightenment, freely. A convert from another Clan is not treated as a
second-class citizen, but rather as a sibling of faith, which is a much more important distinction than blood. An
outsider accepting the Dark God is a joyous event, even to the most conservative elder. There are even rumors of
non-Kindred supernatural beings joining the cult.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Set/Sutekh -- The Warrior Lord of Storms

4th Generation
-- Kemintiri -- The First Anathema & #1 on the Red List.
-- Nakhthorheb -- The First Son, is the leader of the Hierophants of the Followers of Set during the Dark Ages.
Rumors say that he was born into the same nomad tribe as Set himself and was among the first to
receive the Embrace from the Antediluvian.
-- Nefertiti -- Progeny of Set. Sire of Aabt Kindred. Self-Proclamed Queen of Europe.
-- Nephthys -- Sire of Neferu. Status Unknown.
-- Maatkare -- Hierophant.
-- The Scorpion King -- Ancient (presumed) deceased Methuselah.
-- Qufur Am-Heru I -- Known as: "The First" deceased
-- Seterpenre -- A Setite Methuselah, a childe of Set himself and one of the Hierophants. Currently believed to be
in torpor.
-- Shemti -- Hierophant
-- Sobek -- A legendary Mokole Abomination, Embraced through the rituals of Set himself. He is rumored to have
the form of a massive albino crocodile.
-- Ta-Urt -- The Setite Methuselah whose name is variously transcribed as Ta-urt, Taweret or Tawaret is a direct
childe of Set himself. She is worshipped as a goddess by the Cult of Taweret. Sire of Ororiouth
-- Tenermentu -- Hierophant
-- Wepwawet -- Hierophant

5th Generation
-- Maiden of Plagues -- Progeny of the Scorpion King and undying temple head of the prestigious Court of Dreams.
AKA: The Sleeping Lord. Cairo
-- Neferu -- Sire of Sobek

61
 -- Nehsi -- Sire of Kay'tall
-- Ororiouth -- Sire of Nebseni
-- Sabellius -- Childe of Maatkare, Sire of Zenaise
-- Zenaise -- Serpent of the Black Sea, Diabolist of Vesselin, Brujah of Novograd, Sire of Zhenya Motya

6th Generation
-- Count Jocalo -- Setite Agent Provocateur
-- Ghede -- Serpent of Haiti
-- Khay'tall -- (deceased) -- Serpent of Constantinople
-- Nebseni -- Sire of Haskur von Tarkus
-- Sem Sobek -- Progeny of Neferu and sire of Ezra Winthrop, high priest of the Fire Court.
-- Zhenya Motya -- Sire of Deodatus Kuznetsov

7th Generation
-- Arnulf Jormungandrsson -- Keeper of Elysium in Oslo
-- Deodatus Kuznetsov -- Elder Serpent of the North, Sire of Boris.
-- Ezra Winthrop -- Progeny of Sem Sobek, high-priest of the Fire Court.
-- Farrag Zaaheir -- Hidden Serpent of Novel 1920's New Orleans.
-- Manon -- Elder Serpent & Temple Head of New Orleans
-- Qufur Am-Heru -- The Champion of Set
-- Haskur von Tarkus
-- Sirian -- Sire of Halim Bey

8th Generation
-- Augusta Halford -- Sire of Count Ormonde
-- Boris Bennett -- Childe of Deodatus Kuznetsov
-- Chivato Nadir -- Progeny of Yusra bint Abdullah and adoptive sire of Mai Akiyama. Current Location - Cairo
-- Halim Bey -- The Merchant from Alexandria
-- Hesha al-Ruhadze -- Archeologist
-- Seker Aamon -- A young American Follower of Set in Cairo, Egypt. Murdered -- December 22th, 2012

9th Generation
-- Count Ormonde -- Wastrel
-- Ras Michael -- Sire of Steven Clarke
-- Vespa -- The Velvet Serpent

10th Generation
-- Steven Clarke -- Progeny of Ras Michael and Setite anarch. New York City
-- Prusso -- Black Marketeer and Vampiric Slaver

11th Generation
-- Puzo Matellis -- Childe and aide to Prusso
-- Sir Mariot D'Urban -- Historian & Scholar

12th Generation
-- Cao Nguyen -- Serpent of the Light. Lawdogs Pack.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Sukhmet -- The Serpent of Dreams
-- Elie Sansaricq (A-lee San-sar-rique) -- High-Priest of New York
-- Steven Clarke -- Setite Rebel of New York

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Gangrel

63
Gangrel, like the Brujah, are among the best vampire fighters. Unlike the Brujah, their
ferocity stems from their animalistic instinct and rage, rather than
anarchic anger. Gangrel are loners and prefer solitude; they're also the
closest to nature and the beast than all the other vampire clans. Nomads
who hold closer ties to the wild places than most of their city-bound
cousins, they are also closer to the animal aspect of the Beast, and are
masters of the Protean Discipline. They were one of the seven founding
clans of the Camarilla, but became disillusioned with the sect in the Final
Nights, its elders eventually deciding to sever its ties and become an
independent clan.

Nicknames
The Clan of the Beast, Animals, Bêtes, Outlanders, Outlaws, Wolf's-Heads

Antediluvian
Ennoia

Faction
Anarchs

Disciplines
Primary: Animalism, Fortitude, Protean
Secondary: Anarch Sorcery

Organization
Regional groups of Gangrel occasionally assemble in convocations that draw from ethnic or cultural influences. These
are informal affairs, geared more toward sharing information and revelry than advancing any cogent agenda. Aside
from these infrequent gatherings, almost all Gangrel organization is very local where it exists at all, from pairs of sire-
and-childe through terrifying packs centered around one accomplished Outlander.

Haven
Gangrel often lair where they can, taking refuge when the sun threatens to rise. Those who do maintain permanent
havens often lean toward the utilitarian: Everything from a cave to a covered alley to an illegal squat may serve as a
Gangrel haven, usually with little demarcating them as any sort of personal territory (until it’s too late for the
unfortunate interloper).

Background
Gangrel sire childer like they seek prey: after long hunts during which the prospective childe doesn’t even know she’s
being followed. Creating a fledgling means sharing limited resources, so each sire-childe relationship is unique and
significant. Outlanders Embrace because they choose an individual, not out of whim or recklessness. Those who earn
their attention are hardy, whether physically or emotionally.

Appearance
Personal presentation is often not high on the list of many Gangrel priorities, and a Gangrel’s appearance is often
more a matter of circumstance than it is of active decision. The Clan’s weakness can contribute a great deal to their
appearance, as does an extended unlife in the places where they make their havens, which are frequently short of
modern conveniences.

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Weakness
Feral Features: Gangrel who Frenzy acquire temporary animal traits; a particularly intense frenzy can leave the
Gangrel with animal features. These features last for one night for each point the Self-Control roll was missed by and
afterward, lingering like a hangover following debauchery. After that period is over, a new Self-Control roll must be
made, if it’s passed then the animal feature slowly fades away. If the roll is missed the feature stays for a month
when another Self-Control roll can be done. This can be repeated (but is not required) then every month until the
roll is made and the feature vanishes. Characteristics acquired in Gangrel frenzies need not only be physical – they
can be behavioral as well. Too many animal features will return the Gangrel to an animalistic state, the vampire
regresses to a point where speech is hard, clothes are uncomfortable, and arguments are best settled with teeth and
claws.

History
There are many different approaches to the history of the Gangrel. The disparate nature of the Outlanders and their
mostly oral recorded histories make an exact depiction of their early history difficult, but it seems certain that the
Gangrel were always wanderers, who followed nomadic tribes around, sleeping in the earth to escape the sun.
Although some Gangrel tell the myth of Caine and how Ennoia was cast out due to a betrayal of the Ravnos
Antediluvian and forced to live with the beasts, there are many other tales. The Gangrel of Scandinavia tell tales of
the Einherjar and Canarl, who was cursed by Odin, while another popular myth was that Ennoia and her twin brother
Churka were demigods that warred against each other, Ennoia with the bravest warriors and Churka with the most
cunning, at night, so that the other gods would not learn of their feud. After Ennoia, however, was betrayed by two
of her lieutenants who left her, she and her army were driven to the East, where Ennoia left them on their own. By
battling Churka's get and the demonic giants that served him, they would do penance for the betrayal of their
chieftains. After a long series of battle, the Gangrel were driven into the West, in the civilizations of other Kindred.
Other stories tell that Ennoia was the mother of Romani and both the werewolves and the Gangrel descend from
them. Most among the Clan, however, do not know or care any longer about creation myths of their kind, instead
focusing to survive in the present. The mystery remains.

The Gangrel shunned many of the civilizations of antiquity, instead roaming the woods and preying on tribal
societies who regarded them as evil spirits that were meant to appease. They had almost nothing to do with the
development of the Roman Empire, though occasionally a Brittaniac, Gaulian, or Gothic Gangrel would nose around
Rome in the hopes of catching a young neonate off-guard. If there were any Gangrel in the city itself, they were likely
attached to the people the Romans took as slaves. Gangrel fought on both sides of the Punic Wars, although in the
end, most flocked to the Ventrue. In Scandinavia, the methuselah known as Odin, the All-High, held the Nordic
peoples in a tight grip and ruled as a corporeal god, sending them down to raid the civilizations he despised in order
for his warriors to earn the right of the Embrace.

Dark Ages

The north-western Gangrel during this period, regarded as members of the Low Clans by their high-blooded peers,
were experimenting with expansionism and travelled to the four winds to far off lands to conquer, explore and
trade. As paganism was on the decline and many Gangrel could not pose as normal humans due to their growing
abnormality, they instead prowled the countryside, feeding from peasants and travelers. During these days, the
Gangrel allied themselves with the Tzimisce against the nascent Tremere in the Omen War.

The Islamic Gangrel of the period were called Wah'Sheen, and were essentially straightforward nomads, masters of
the deserts and wastelands of Arabia and North Africa. A few of the Wah'Sheen felt differently, and eventually split
from the main part of the clan, calling themselves the Taifa Gangrel. These were generally more scholarly and adept
with civilization than the rest of the bay't.

The Renaissance and the loss of woodland made unlife complicated for the Gangrel. The Masquerade and the heavy
decline of pagan religions made hunting difficult for them without drawing notice and the growing anger of the
Lupines against human encroachment found more often than not a ventil within a lone Gangrel. Many Gangrel left
the Camarilla during this time, instead traveling as Autarkis, leaving Europe completely in search for untouched
wilderness or receded into those few tribal societies still existing.

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Victorian Age

In the rapid growth of cities and technology that marked the Victorian Age, very few Gangrel had any interest in
staying in towns and hamlets that became industrial centers almost overnight. Additionally, though there were few
documented cases of mortals possessing "true faith", the growth of religious influence made many Gangrel cringe,
wary of another round of the vicious Inquisitorial practices of the Dark Ages. Only the scholar and theology debater
Beckett was known to have any regular dealings with "proper" Kindred society during this period; most other clan
members hiked into the wilderness to wait out this newest burst of human ingenuity and religious fervor.

Some claim that the City Gangrel began to evolve during this age, due to urbanization and the desolate situation in
most fabrics.

Modern Nights

Following the Sabbat invasion of the East Coast, the Camarilla suffered another blow with the departure of the
Gangrel. The reasons for their withdrawal are unknown; it is rumored then Justicar Xaviar went before the Inner
Circle, uttered a single sentence, and left. Word spread through the clan, and over the course of a month the
majority of the clan abandoned the sect and became independent.
The majority of Gangrel officially secede from the Camarilla, and join the Anarch Movement, although a fraction
remained. Most information on the latest developments seem to indicate that the Clan has regained some Camarilla
representation in the form of a new Justicar.

Organization
Status in general among the Gangrel is decided by rites, and these rites involve one of two things: combat or
boasting. Combat is usually basic and unarmed; two Gangrel who know each other well may simply spar, but those
who are strangers battle until one of the fighters is incapacitated or surrenders. Boasting involves the two Gangrel
making larger claims until one Gangrel backs down or asks for proof. The challenged Gangrel must then show proof
of their claims or lose the rite and their status.

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What little formal organization the Gangrel has is placed around the aptly-named Gather, which are occasional
meetings at which local and visiting Gangrel can exchange news, information and stories and decide on local
matters. Gathers usually involve notice weeks in advance, as news travels more slowly among the limited network of
the Gangrel. Once begun, Gathers usually involve the rites demonstrating status to decide on leadership for the
meeting. The rites can take days to accomplish, and must be redone for every Gather, as no two will have the same
Gangrel meeting under the same circumstances. Once the hierarchy for the Gather is established, the business at
hand can be dealt with. No matter the circumstances, Gathers always break up after a week.

Gathers can also be used to form Revels, which are essentially calls to battle. The Gangrel who participate in a Revel
form parties to track down and destroy enemies, such as enemy kindred, Garou, or others who have dared to invade
the clan's territory.

There are also meetings called Great Gathers. As a Great Gather relies on a powerful Gangrel who is respected by
most of the clan to be called, they are extremely rare. When one is called, any member of the clan who can must
travel to the meeting place. There, similar rites of strength and status that are found in a regular Gather take place;
however, there are no time limits to either the rites or the Great Gather. Even more rare but related are Grand
Revels, which are essentially wars and battles involving the entire clan. Both are considered to be signs of bad luck
by most Gangrel, and the fact neither have been called in centuries is seen as a good sign.
Clan Variants

Two main variants exist among the Sabbat; the Country Gangrel and the City Gangrel. The Country Gangrel are
largely similar to the main Clan, with the Fortitude, Animalism, and Protean Disciplines. The City Gangrel have
adapted to city life, foregoing Animalism and Fortitude for Celerity and Obfuscate. Both are collectively referred to
as "Gangrel antitribu."
Given the mutability inherent in Gangrel vitae, the Clan is particularly prone to numerous offshoots, variants and
bloodlines, so much so that it is hard to know where to draw the line between what constitutes a proper Gangrel
and what does not. Individual opinion among Clan members differs, naturally.

City Gangrel

Nicknames
Coyotes
Faction
Sabbat

The City Gangrel are a bloodline of the Gangrel that has adapted to
urban environments. In the Dark Ages, the bloodline was known as
the Greek Gangrel, as they were thought to have originated in
Greece. In the modern nights, the City Gangrel form half of the
Gangrel antitribu within the Sabbat.

The City Gangrel remind some Kindred of coyotes — they are creatures well-suited for wilderness life, but they adapt
to an urban existence quite smoothly. The high preponderance of prey in the cities, coupled with the Gangrel's
inherent mutability of blood, has allowed the line to flourish. Their association with the Sabbat means that they
Embrace prolifically, but also that their unlife expectancy is short.

Unlike Country Gangrel, who can afford to let their animalistic ways take over and their appearances grow truly
bestial, the Coyotes must either adopt a more Nosferatu-like approach to unlife or blend in with their prey. To
outward appearance, then, these latter Kindred seem human, dress as appropriate to their area and the social class
that they mimic. But City Gangrel are still Sabbat vampires, and that means they are predators. Any disguise they
adopt is strictly that, camouflage to allow them to get close enough to bite.

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Country Gangrel

Nicknames
Hunters
Faction
Sabbat

The Country Gangrel resemble the independent and Camarilla Gangrel – they are
savage, vicious hunters, more comfortable in the wilds between cities than the
concrete jungles. The Sabbat has seen a influx of Gangrel converts from the
Camarilla, and these Hunters easily lost themselves in stalking and killing.

The Country Gangrel serve the Sabbat as assassins and scouts, using their command of animals to gather intelligence
on the comings and goings of other Kindred. They are called Hunters. Travel between cities was never exactly safe,
as Lupines seem to prowl any patch of land large enough to grow a few trees (or so Camarilla elders have always told
their childer), but with the Hunters prowling about, looking for wayward neonates, itinerant Kindred face even more
dire threats.

This might sound like Camarilla propaganda, but the Country Gangrel do all they can to make it true. Free from the
constraints of having to look human, these creatures relish the chance to hunt as wolves hunt – savagely and in
packs. If they have a regret, it is that their prey cannot usually run fast enough to make the hunt last.

Culture
The Gangrel are considered the most feral and predatory of the Kindred, and because of their reclusive natures,
animalistic tendencies and loose organization, are the least social of the Cainites, preferring solitude to society. They
also tend to be extremely territorial and possessive and to enter a Gangrel's territory without permission is certain
death. They do have their role and reputation among the kindred as fierce warriors, but to get a Gangrel to agree to
work with others, even other Gangrel, can be a difficult, if not impossible, task.

Most of the Clans legends and myths, as well as the ways to garner prestige within the Clan, are done orally.
Storytelling and being able to hold a crowd are considered fairly valuable social currency, as there is little else to do
in gatherings out in the wilderness besides entertain each other with bravado and song. Most of these stories are
true, but a good, satisfying tale is regarded as more important than the facts of the details. Gangrel do not lie,
precisely, but embellishing the truth is a good way to sound much more impressive, in the same way a cat puffs up
its fur to look more threatening. Keeping to one's spoken word is also highly respected, as when all is said and done,
the only thing stopping another vampire from screwing you over is their own sense of honor. This is not to say that
the more socially-inclined Gangrel cannot learn to play Jyhad. In fact, many enjoy (or at least grudgingly accept) the
great masquerade ball of betrayal, conspiracy, and power struggles that define so much of Kindred existence.

The Gangrel also have ties to the Roma, and therefore will protect and shelter them, especially from other Kindred.
The Ravnos would also lay claim to the Roma, however, and as a result the two clans have a mutual hatred for each
other that goes back centuries.

The importance of oral history and tradition, including tales of their Antediluvian, puts the Gangrel at odds with the
Camarilla party-line that such things do not exist. Especially since the Book of Nod was made available through
Ayisha Jocastatian tricking Beckett, the Camarilla quietly persecuted Gangrel lore masters, blaming the deaths on the
rising Sabbat activity. Since then, the Gangrel have become more withdrawn, only sharing their stories at clan-intern
Althings.

Embraces

A Gangrel sire often chooses a prospective candidate for the Embrace during feeding. If the mortal prey resists,
fighting against what is happening, then his reward after death may be a taste of Gangrel blood. The clan makes
many Gangrel this way, dating back to the first warriors selected by Ennoia to fight her war. This method produces a

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Gangrel with a fierce desire to survive, even if he does not have all the tools. We also find prospective Gangrel
through observation. While most mortals remain safely hidden during the night, a few risk the darkness. When one
of our clan encounters a mortal like this, they will watch instead of attacking. It takes courage to wander these
nights, after all.

The Gangrel observes the mortal, watching for any signs of bravery or a knack for survival. Sometimes, a mortal out
at night is simply lost – if this proves to be the case, he becomes prey. However, if the mortal shows skill moving
about at night, is no coward, and maintains the interest of the observer, he is a good candidate for the Embrace.
When we punish, however, there is little effort wasted. A mortal who insults or threatens one of our clan receives a
nighttime visit. The Gangrel Embraces the mortal, making the process as painful and terror-filled as possible, and
leaves her. Usually the Embrace happens indoors, in the rooms of the person punished, assuring their discovery and
destruction. In recent nights, this punishment has fallen into disuse, though there are still some who actively enact
it. A choice is almost never offered. This has become a tradition with the clan, since so few of them had a choice. The
offspring of these Gangrel are considered by some to be inferior stock, even if they do survive. While not considered
outcasts, a Gangrel given a choice rarely receives the same respect of those Embraced traditionally, even after the
rites of status.

Embracing foes has the potential to backfire on the Gangrel. Should an enemy survive the first nights and develop his
power, he could turn his new abilities to hunting the one who cursed him. This is a rare occurrence – part of the
punishment is to stack the Odds so that survival is nearly impossible. A new Gangrel who manages to survive has an
enviable combination of cunning, raw ability and luck – clearly a dangerous foe to have in pursuit, but possibly one
with a bright future in the clan.

The First Nights

After the Embrace, the sire disappears into the night, leaving the new Gangrel on his own. The Gangrel believe that it
is better to save the effort of training a childe until after he has proven that he can survive. Thus, the sire completely
abandons his new creation in the early nights, leaving him alone to face the struggle of survival. Many do not last
beyond even the first night. That first hunger is the strongest, and it brings the Beast quickly to the surface. In the
hare of that first wild rage, a childe makes any number of mistakes. If Lupines and mortals do not destroy him, the
first sunrise may. If the sire has chosen well, however, the childe quickly grasps his situation and adjusts. The reward
for that first night is one of Ennoia's marks. Any Gangrel resilient and capable enough to survive the first few nights
soon develops the tools that Gangrel use to survive those that follow. Over time, the childe must learn to grow
claws, speak with the animals, and come to terms with our strengths and weaknesses. He must also learn to make
decisions on his own, rapidly. The Vampiric condition does not permit long reflection on the proper course to take.
Such indecision leads to the Final Death. This is a dangerous time for the childe, lost and without guidance.

Acceptance
A new Gangrel must survive at least one winter before he is worthy of teaching. "How many winters?" is often the
first question a Gangrel asks upon first meeting another in the wilderness. A new Gangrel rarely has the correct
answer, and thus reveals himself. Tradition has it that any pup so encountered becomes a responsibility. The older
Gangrel must aid him in his survival and teach him the ways of the clan, at least until his nature is revealed. If the
pup ends up being from the Cainite broods, the Gangrel leaves him to his fate. Once accepted, the new Gangrel
learns the stories and traditions of the clan, particularly the greeting ritual and the rites of status. Instruction in the
use of the Gangrel gifts follows. The lessons include descriptions of their relationships with the Ravnos, Lupines, and
Cainites. After months of this teaching, a close bond forms between the student and teacher, similar to that
between a sire and childe among the Cainites. After this training, a Gangrel is officially a member of the clan.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Ennoia

4th Generation
-- Urlon of Uruk -- deceased
-- Odin -- The All-High

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 -- Enkidu -- 10th on the List of Anathema
-- Hukros -- An ancient of the Tal'meh'Ra who developed the elder Road of Lilith sometime in the early 7th
century.
-- Vola the Red -- An ancient wild woman, Sire to Wulfgar the Reaver

5th Generation
-- Jalan-Aajav -- Seraph of the Black Hand.
-- Karsh -- The Warlord of the Camarilla. (a.k.a. - Hassan al-Samhir)
-- Wulfgar the Reaver -- Inconnu northman.

6th Generation
-- Brunhilde -- Valkyrie
-- Milov Petrenkov -- An original member of the Inner Circle. One of the founders of the Camarilla and first Gangrel
Justicar. Disappeared in the wilds of Siberia in the 1820´s.
-- Count Dunlop -- Gangrel Elder of Great Britain. Deceased, 2029.
-- Eadric Asgerr -- Gangrel wanderer

7th Generation
-- Aurthur Dunlop -- Eldest Son and Childe of Count Dunlap. Deceased, 2029.
-- Beckett -- Progeny of Aristotle de Laurent (adoptive). Enemy of Vykos. One of the most famous Noddist, said to
be a member of the Mnemosyne, the Memory-Seekers, the bloodline of Caine-worshippers who devote
themselves to the study of the first vampire and The Book of Nod.
-- Doyle Fincher -- Childe to Inyanga lives in Chicago.
-- Kiril Fedorov -- Gangrel Prince of Moscow until the rise of Communism, believed destroyed by the Brujah Council
-- Richard Dunlop -- Middle Son and Childe of Count Dunlap. Deceased, 2029.
-- William Dunlop -- Youngest Son and Childe of Count Dunlap. Deceased, 2029.
-- Xavier de Calais -- Former Gangrel Justicar before he led the clan into independence.
-- Isabel Manara -- Seneschal of Houston and Eldest of Houston's Gangrel.

8th Generation
-- General Sir Arthur Halesworth -- The Sheriff of South London
-- Rachel Lukianova Fedorov -- Progeny of Kiril Fedorov and sire of Grayson Fallow. Gangrel Primogen. Denver

9th Generation
-- Bart Felkirk -- Nomadic Scottish Gangrel. Childe of Kenit Canus.
-- Grayson Fallow -- Progeny of Rachel Lukianova Fedorov and sire of Burning Crow & Kate O'Malley. Denver
-- Robert the Lowlander -- Scourge of Glasgow, Scotland

10th Generation
-- Bridget Mac Amhlaidh -- Child of Scourge Robert of Glasgow
-- Kenet Canus -- British Gangrel, status unknown. Sire of Bart Felkirk.
-- Burning Crow -- Progeny of Grayson Fallow. Denver
-- Kate O'Malley -- Progeny of Grayson Fallow. Denver

12th Generation
-- Braith Corwyn -- Welsh Gangrel, killed by Count Dunlop in 2002. Sire of Tristram Young.

13th Generation
-- Tristram Young -- Nomadic Welsh Gangrel

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Scotty Nails -- Gangrel Mercenary Morley, Enland - 2012
-- Mahalia Savege -- The lone Gangrel resident. Ripon, England - 2012
-- Sir Reynard -- Called the fox by the other Gangrel of the region. Ilkley, England - 2012
-- Esme Faylinn -- Wiccan Priestess
-- Snee

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Giovanni

71
The Giovanni are the usurpers of Clan Cappadocian and one of the youngest clans.
The Giovanni has historically been both a clan and a family, and more recently a
bloodline, due to the formation of Clan Hecata. They Embrace almost exclusively
within their family, and are heavily focused on the goals of money and power.

Nicknames
Giovanotti, Necromancers, Nigrimancers, the Young Ones, Necro-incestuous
Mafioso, Romans

Antediluvian
Augustus Giovanni

Faction
Independent

Disciplines
Primary: Auspex, Potence, Necromancy
Secondary: Dominate, Fortitude

Organization
The Necromancers have a top-down organization where policy is made by a (presumed) still-active Clan progenitor,
Augustus. The family maintains an enormous palazzo known as the Mausoleum in Venice, where elders and
fledglings alike dance to the whims of their ancient puppet-masters. Clan structure is itself familial, with the added
complications that degeneracy and vampirism offer. Incest, ancestor worship, necrophilia, cults of guilt, and bizarre
relationships in which fathers and grandmothers are their own issue’s childer make a mire of the Clan and family.

Haven
The family wealth of the Giovanni is evident in their havens, which may take the form of villas or lavish estates. The
Necromancers often have valuables invested in their havens as well, such as galleries of fine art or displays of
jewelry. Many Giovanni also maintain secondary havens, where they may have elaborate necromantic crypts or just
flats where they can lie low if necessary.

Background
Giovanni of the main family branch have usually spent some amount of time as a ghoul in a practice known as the
Proxy Kiss. During this time, the Kindred-to-be learns about the treacherous and jealous reality of the vampire
family. She learns ambition and an unhealthy dose of duplicity, in addition to the family history and customs.
Giovanni rarely see much of the outside world on their own terms during the Proxy Kiss period, and often become
insular and alienated, while at the same time eager to stand out among the other family ghouls.

Appearance
Outwardly, Giovanni dress with subtlety and taste. Much of the Clan comes from the original mortal family, and have
not only olive Italian complexions, but some amount of inherited family features. Those outside the immediate
family often appear “of a type,” and in the traditional garb of their regional family branch.

Weakness
Kiss of Lamia: The clan weakness of Giovanni causes that they deal double damage than normal when biting a living
being, causing 4HP damage instead of 2HP per Blood point taken, making it difficult to keep people alive after
feeding from them. It also causes intense pain to the mortals instead of the orgasmic pleasure of the kiss. This is a
stronger version of the Theft of Vitality disadvantage, due to the intense pain caused.

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History
The Giovanni started as merchants under the name Ioveanus (later anglicized as Jovians) in the Roman Empire.
During this time, the family first attempted to call back the dead in what they called Nigrimancy, as business with the
dead was not yet stigmatized and ancestor worship was quite common among the Roman population. When Rome
fell, the Jovians maintained the independence of their home in Venice and furthered their own researches of what
would eventually develop into newer paths of Necromancy, primarily the Sepulchre Path.

By the dawn of the 13th century, the Jovian family name had again shifted linguistically, this time to "Giovani",
spelled with one N. The family name would come to adopt the more familiar "Giovanni" spelling around or before
the 15th century.

Dark Ages

In 1005, in the hollows of Erciyes and under the shadow of Cappadocius's torpid form, Augustus was brought into
clan Cappadocian, directly Embraced with the blood of the Founder and under the watch of Japheth and Constancia.
While the Embrace is relatively well known, what is not well known is the horse-trading before it.

The Clan of Death, the Cappadocians followed their Founder in a quest to understand the mysteries of death and
God, including Cappadocius' plan to diablerize the Almighty. However, lacking knowledge about the soul (the
Cappadocians' use of Necromancy focused more on the act of dying than the events afterwards), the Founder began
to shop for experts.

Enter the Giovani – "the young ones" – a family of prosperous Venetian traders who had for centuries depended on
Necromantic skill to provide a business edge. Interested in expanding his family's power and seeing Vampirism as the
route to doing so, Augustus Giovani had been studying the clans and entertaining offers from various vampiric elders
for the Embrace. The Cappadocian offer was the most attractive, providing the lowest generation (as well as the
most manipulable clan).

As a result, and despite the protests of Cappadocius' eldest childer, the Antediluvian rose from torpor and provided
Japheth with a small vial of his blood. Japheth reluctantly did so, draining Augustus and pouring most of
Cappadocius' donated blood into the throat of the drained Giovanni (The remainder was hidden by Japheth, the True
Vessel becoming a major element Giovani rumor).

Following his ascent into the blood, Augustus Giovani immediately began Embracing his own family. In the course of
doing so, the Giovani became something between a bloodline and a cult within the Cappadocian clan. Acknowledged
as the experts on Necromancy (and rapidly expanding the field), the Giovani maintained themselves slightly separate
from the mother clan. This, as the Giovani claim, is because Augustus had planned to usurp his sire from before he
was Embraced.

Renaissance

In 1444, these plans came to fruition. Augustus Giovanni's childe, Claudius Giovanni formed a conspiracy to
diablerize Japheth, the most beloved of Cappadocius' childer. The Conspiracy of Isaac was a criminal force in itself,
but ultimately a distraction – since Hardestadt and other founders of the Camarilla had turned their eye towards the
diablerie of elder vampires, Augustus wanted a catspaw, an obvious plan to distract them while he went after the
greater prize. In 1444, both plans were completed, with Japheth and Cappadocius dead and both leading Giovanni
lowered a generation. The betrayal of Cappadocius and his childer was later called the "Bite" among Giovanni family
members.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the era, Augustus began a purge of the Cappadocians that, while taking centuries
to wipe out the stragglers, would be sufficiently successful that by 1528, he could negotiate a peace with the
Camarilla, also known as the Promise of 1528. The Giovanni were left alone and left the Camarilla alone, exactly as
the Giovanni wanted it.

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The ultimate goal of the clan was outlined by Augustus Giovanni after reviewing Cappadocius' original plan. Clan
Giovanni acquired the bulk of its power by the hold it maintained over wraiths, so by tearing down the Shroud, the
clan of Death would be able to increase its power beyond conception. Giovanni outlined plans to do so, with the
most difficult goal being the acquisition of vast numbers of souls to enact the necromantic rituals necessary.

From 1528 onwards, the Giovanni were basically left alone to pursue their goals. By opting out from the increasingly
hot Camarilla/Sabbat wars, their resources were devoted to three goals: increasing necromantic knowledge,
acquiring additional financial clout, and eliminating the remaining Cappadocians and Lamia. Each of these goals tied
back into their eventual plan to tear down the Shroud: Necromantic knowledge to acquire the souls, finance to
increase the soul supply by buying slaves and engineering economic disasters, and eliminating Cappadocians to keep
the only possible squealers tightly shut.

During this period, the Giovanni involved themselves in a variety of occult activities, primary through the clan's
notorious scholar Ambrogino Giovanni. At the same time, the Giovanni made bargains with entities like the Capuchin
to acquire Necromantic information.

Victorian Age

The Giovanni used the age of discovery and colonialism to gain footholds within new states like the United States
through their mortal merchant relatives. As trade got more and more important for the wealth and influence of a
nation, many Giovanni were able to accumulate large financial reserves for themselves. It was during this time, that
the Giovanni, despite being reviled as incestuous graverobbers, proved themselves to be one of the most influential
kindred clans within mortal society and often this gave them the upper edge in Kindred politics.

The Giovanni managed to control nearly every Camarilla and Sabbat city in Italy with their vast financial resources
and their wraiths servants (except for the Vatican and Malta, as both are claimed by other powerful forces). Many
especially young Giovanni travelled in other states during this time in order to further the influence and finding new
financial sources and some families who can expand the clans necromantic knowledge, like the Pisanob that were
recruited during the seventeenth century.

During the two World Wars, the plans of Augustus Giovanni were set back, because the two Maelstroms damaged
the infrastructure of the Shadowlands and cost them many of their wraith servants.

Modern Nights

In the beginning of the twentieth century, the Giovanni were riding high. They had expanded the clan into other
families (notably the Milliners, della Passaglia, Pisanob, and Ghiberti), seemingly wiped out the last of the
Cappadocians and their Lamia protectors, and prepared to rend the Shroud and bring the dead to the living.

By the end of the century, things had gone pear shaped. Mysterious vampires, the Harbingers of Skulls, claimed
vengeance on the clan for reasons unknown, the Sixth Great Maelstrom shredded wraith society, and the
apocalyptic events of the Week of Nightmares destroyed their spiritual assets.

As the Final Nights ran out, the Giovanni began to wonder if maybe they had made a mistake. Maybe Augustus
Giovanni had underestimated the Antediluvians; maybe the dead would become more potent if the Shroud were
pulled down. Maybe Caine was real and in the end all of these petty plays and power moves had been nothing but a
diversion until Gehenna.

By the late 2010s, Augustus Giovanni was known by some to no longer be in the picture. It is not clear what has
happened to him; he may have met his Final Death, been diablerized, or simply gone into hiding. Still, a large host of
Wraiths and Spectres once under his control have now been released, exacting revenge on the Giovanni.

Curiously, and although it is not widely known, the Giovanni are immune to the Beckoning.

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Organization
The Giovanni are a highly organized clan, consisting of a
network of interrelated families who share a common
culture and fealty to the ancestral Giovanni family. As a
result, despite popular conception, not all Giovanni are
Italian.

The Giovanni are organized as something between a

highly ruthless mafia dynasty and a highly ruthless
corporation. Clan operations are overseen by a hierarchy
of capos, padrones and maestros. Favors such as financial
responsibilities (and rewards), ghouling, and the Embrace
are dependent on performance; vicious backstabbing and
cutthroat competition are the order of the day in a
Giovanni household.

The Giovanni maintain their own internal Masquerade. A

member of the family may be aware that his family is into
some weird stuff, but beyond the relatively benign (in
comparison) incest and high-finance backstabbing, be
blissfully unaware that he is a catspaw for cannibalistic
blood-drinking necromancers.

Decisions in the Giovanni are made by councils of elders

known as the Anziani, with age, rank and competence all
playing a role. Elders who are not Anziani are given the
courtesy title nonno/nonna instead. Giovanni are highly
family-oriented, even after the Embrace, and will spend
centuries guiding their descendants for the greater good
of the family (and themselves).

Clan Variants

The Giovanni are a new clan compared to other major

clans that populate the World of Darkness, and as such,
there are no bloodlines originating from them. There are,
however, some families that were incorporated into the
Giovanni.

Of course, the "pure" Giovanni still think of themselves

superior to those who were Embraced into the clan, but
not born into the main branch of the family – they even
have a phrase for it: Unico sangue or "single blooded",
while those who come from the subordinate families are
called Doppio sangue, or "double blooded". However, the
doppio sangue are still considered much more
meritorious than other vampires.

The major families brought into the Giovanni are:

• Dunsirn - Scottish bankers and cannibals
• Milliner - American financiers brought into the family
in the 1950s
• Pisanob - Mexican necromancers

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The minor families associated with the clan are:
• Della Passaglia - An Italian family focusing on the Far East
• Ghiberti - Another Italian family of necromancers with an active interest in Africa
• Puttanesca - Sicilian thugs with a nasty temper
• Rosselini - Accomplished though forceful necromancers. Considered equal to the main family

There are also lesser families related to the clan through marriage. These are:
• Beryn - Flemish traders with inroads into Africa
• Hidalgo - Another Mexican branch rumored to be wiped out by the Sabbat
• Li Weng - Chinese geomancers based out of San Francisco's Chinatown
• Koenig - German arms manufacturers and death-cultists
• St. John - Cabal of English Masons
• Rothstein - Jewish-American Kabbalists centered in Las Vegas

Culture
In many ways, the Giovanni are a Ghoul family with less visibly disgusting parts. This does not mean the Giovanni are
not as warped as the Bratovitch clan; the Giovanni are repulsive and degenerate in a more subtle manner. It is said
that younger generations of the Giovanni were found to be very attractive. Some even say they put on the
irresistible look of a succubi pre-change. Also, some are known to be shape-shifters.

Effective Giovanni are sadistic Giovanni. Controlling wraiths means acquiring fine control over a variety of
psychological levers (understanding Passions and Fetters) and then ruthlessly manipulating these tools to make a
spirit do what you want. The Giovanni have been cruel, manipulative, and vicious since before the diablerie of
Cappadocius, and it bleeds out into everything else they do. The outer shell of the Giovanni clan, the public face is
less visibly cruel and horrid, but only because these vampires are explicitly tasked to deal with the outside world.

The most notorious example of this bleed off is the Giovanni Proxy Kiss. Giovanni make an art out of ghouling, since
ghouling is a rite of passage for the Giovanni – ghouling means that the Giovanni is now part of the people who
make the family work. Not necessarily a mover and shaker, but something akin to a made man: the Masquerade is
pulled back and the truth about vampires is revealed. Giovanni tend to make Proxy Kisses aesthetic efforts, and take
a point in pride in producing especially memorable or mind-destroying ones – blood received via fellatio,
blasphemous masses and the like are all popular choices. In a similar vein, to be made into one of the undead is a
great deal, celebrated in a semi-public event within the family to allow the childe-to-be the last pleasures of the
mortal world. The Bacio della Morte, the "Kiss of Death", is conducted in a ritual matter, with the mortal childe
wearing its best clothes before disrobing itself before the sire, offering himself to the undead being before him.
Afterwards, the fledgling Giovanni is first inducted into the art of feeding in a formal dinner, likely making its first
official alliances with its kind.

The sadism and weirdness of Giovanni internal culture is enhanced by its incestuous nature. Giovanni can spend the
majority of their lives interacting with nobody except other Giovanni, and the resulting insularity breeds additional
problems. The Giovanni are, in particular, arrogant and prone to underestimating the world around them.

The Giovanni are, if anything, severely lapsed Catholics. Due to their practice of Necromancy, they have seen what
"the other side" and "life beyond death" really mean, which tends to completely eradicate any faith in a benevolent
deity. Giovanni, in a ways similar to the Lasombra Clan, often present the appearance of Catholicism in ritual and
Family culture, but have twisted the vestments all around to better fit a vampiric frame. They may attend a certain
kind of Mass, where the holy water is blood and the priest a Family elder, but these sorts of ceremonies tend to
devolve into orgies, massacres, or other kinds of deviant practices behind closed doors.

The Giovanni relationship to the spirit world means that they have a very casual attitude towards such things as
torture, dismemberment, and death. After all, if your victim dies in the chair, you can always yank his spirit back
from Hell and get information out of him another way. What the Giovanni are really focused on is efficiency: bribery,
seduction, and all other sorts of underhanded means are taught to new members of the Clan as a matter of course.
If all other methods fail, then killing off the competition becomes a very viable alternative.

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Embraces

The Giovanni do not Embrace outside of the family; they do not Embrace without permission. Not if they know what
is good for them at least. In 1444, Claudius Giovanni Embraced a non-Giovanni peasant girl named Marianna into the
clan as a distraction. For 500 years Marianna was a constant embarrassment for the clan. She is also the only family
outsider to have been Embraced and to survive longer than a month.

Recent information from the 20th Anniversary Edition contradicts this hardline stance against Embracing outside the
family or its auxiliary families. For example, Lore of the Clans states that it is extremely rare for non-Giovanni who do
not belong to one of the satellite families to be Embraced and the chances are slim but "it has happened before and
it will happen again". In either case the numbers are very small.

Like everything else in the family, the Embrace is treated as a reward, a promotion for good service. More than any
other clan, the Giovanni actively consider factors of generation in the Embrace – being Embraced by a lower-
generation clan member is considered a performance bonus.

While not uncommon, it is frowned upon to Embrace another of your own mortal family. This would encourage
nepotism, and Giovanni much prefer to have the loyalty of their neonates as divided as possible within the family.
When a Giovanni puts one of his own grandsons forward for the Embrace, it is much more likely that a Giovanni
from another family branch will execute the deed. Even better for the clan if those Giovanni are rivals – since the
neonate now has loyalty to his own grandmother and his own sire, which forces (somewhat) the two elders to avoid
plotting against the other, lest the new childe betray either of them.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Augustus Giovanni -- Progenitor of Clan Giovanni

4th Generation
There are no, nor have there ever been any Giovanni of the 4th generation save for the handful of centuries that
Augustus served as the a final childe of Cappadocius. Within and without the "Family" speculation abounds and
there are many theories regarding this phenomenon. However, the most pragmatic theory out there is that
Augustus wishes no ambitious childer of such potent blood for fear of falling to a similar fate as his late sire,
Cappadocius. -- Eric Milliner

5th Generation
-- Claudius Giovanni -- He was the first progeny of Augustus Giovanni and was the sire of Giuseppe , Marianna
(1444) and Andreas. During the Long Night he was known as the Earl of Stavlachia. He held the coveted
position of right-hand-man to Augustus until his disastrous failure in the 18th century. Afterwards, his corpse
was given to the Capuchin when enraged Augustus nearly diablerized him in the late 18th century; no-one
knows for sure what the Capuchin did with Claudius. Deceased
-- Ambrogino Giovanni -- Ambrogino is the progeny of Constancia, the former Cappadocian mistress of the Temple
of Erycies. He is sire of several prominent progeny, including Gillespi Giovanni. Some claim that he is the
confidant of Augustus, but it has been noted that Ambrogino possesses the flawed appearance of the former
clan of death and is thus a prodigal that no true Giovanni would trust. Ambrogino has been searching for the
Sargon Fragment, an artifact that reveals the plans of Cappadocius to diablerize God and thus become Him.
Ambrogino didn't think it was possible to slay an aspect of the Holy Trinity, but he did think that Cappadocius
was close to a source of godlike power. It was rumored destroyed, and thus he began searching the
underworld for it.
-- Andreas Giovanni -- Progeny of Claudius Giovanni. Sire of Lisandro Giovanni.
-- Ignazo Giovanni
-- Markus Musa Giovanni -- Markus is the progeny of Giuseppe and the grand-childe of Claudius Giovanni. Prior to
the disastrous 4th Crusade he was sent to Constantinople to aid the Latin Cainites establish a presence
there. Since that time, his power has continued to increase and his star seems to be in ascendance.
-- Pietro Giovanni -- Sire of Madeleine and Vincenzo. He was the mortal grandfather of Madeleine.

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6th Generation
-- Laird Diarmad Dunsirn -- Progeny of Ambrogino Giovanni and sire of Chalmers Dunsirn
-- Gillespi Giovanni -- Progeny of Ambrogino and Anziani in Charge of British Enterprises
-- Giuseppe Giovanni -- Progeny of Claudius. Sire of Markus Musa Giovanni.
-- Lisandro Giovanni -- Progeny of Andreas Giovanni.
-- Lucretia Giovanni -- Progeny of Ambrogino Giovanni.
-- Madeleine Giovanni -- Progeny of Pietro Giovanni, her grandfather. Her father Daniel was killed by Don Caravelli.
She is spy and murderer of the Giovanni Clan. She is know as the Dagger of the Giovanni. She killed Don
Caravelli and Don Nicko Lazzari, who were chief and second of the Mafia.
-- Marianna -- Progeny of Claudius Giovanni. She is the only member of the clan Giovanni who is not a Giovanni.
-- Mario Giovanni
-- Vincenzo Giovanni -- Progeny of Pietro Giovanni.
-- Don Mateo Putanesca -- Don Mateo was one of the progeny of Claudius Giovanni and is currently the familial
head of the Putanesca branch of the Giovanni Clan.
-- Pochtli -- The progenitor of the Pisanob family.
-- Baldesar Rossellini -- Progeny of Ambrogino Giovanni and sire of mortal sister. Hunted by the Giovanni

7th Generation
-- Carlotta Giovanni -- Sire to John Dunscirn
-- Cing Dunscirn -- Scion and eldest of the Dunscirn client family.
-- Cirillo Giovanni -- Giovanni mobster and head of the Family in Glasgow.
-- Chalmers Dunsirn -- Progeny of Laird Dunsirn and sire of Dallas and Grear Chalmers.
-- Shug Dunsirn -- Bounty Hunter partner of Sizwe Ghiberti, smooth negotiator and Thaumaturgic expert.
-- Del Giorgio Giovanni -- Sire of Carmina and Genevra.
-- Francesco Giovanni -- Sire of Lupo Giovanni.
-- Terzo Giovanni -- Progeny of Don Mateo Putanesca, sire of Julietta Putanesca.
-- Kenneth Stahl --
-- Sizwe Ghiberti -- Bounty Hunter partner of Shug Dunsirn, necromantic shaman and world class tracker.
-- Pietro Putanesca -- The mortal younger brother of Don Matteo, and his first progeny; Pietro is one of the few
Putanesca who dabble in necromancy.
-- Rosaura Rossellini -- Progeny of Baldesar Rossellini. Missing, presumed dead.
-- İlkin Aslan -- Progeny of Giuseppe Giovanni and head of the Aslan Azeri, an Azerbaijani criminal family recently
granted client family status by the Giovanni.
-- Germano Giovanni -- Progeny of Benjamin Rothstein, body-guard and occasional enforcer.

8th Generation
-- John Dunsirn -- One of the eldest Dunsirn, childe of Carlotta Giovanni, pawn of Ambrogino Giovanni in 1848.
-- Dallas Chalmers -- Progeny of Chalmers Dunsirn, mortal father of Ian Chalmers.
-- Grear Chalmers -- Progeny of Chalmers Dunsirn, mortal mother of Ian Chalmers.
-- Jarthis Giovanni -- AKA: Jarthis the Slaver. Deceased: 1823
-- Lupo Giovanni -- Progeny of Francesco Giovanni. Mombasa, Kenya.
-- Ruprect Fabio Milliner -- Miami Giovanni
-- Taddeo Giovanni -- Sire unknown, but sired Ian Chalmers.
-- Julietta Putanesca -- Sire unknown, but sired Shlomo Rothstein and Edwardo Putanesca.
-- Genevra Giovanni -- Progeny of Del Giorgio and sire of Enzo Giovanni. Deceased

9th Generation
-- Duff Dunscirn -- Dunscirn Banker in Glasgow, Scottland
-- Enzo Giovanni -- Progeny of Genevra Giovanni and Giovanni Capo of Houston. Deceased
-- Shlomo Rothstein -- Progeny of Julietta Putanesca, sire of the Rothstein Family of Giovanni, Capo of Las Vegas

-- Ian Chalmers -- Progeny of Taddeo Giovanni, he currently remains in torpor due to a curse laid upon him by Ugo
Rossellini.
-- Francis Milliner -- Former business associate of mortal Joe Kennedy, business mogul and public face of the
Milliner client-family of the Giovanni Clan. Assassinated 2030.

78
 -- Randolf St. John -- Childe of Ruprect Milliner. Head of the London Giovanni.
-- Rosario Giovanni -- Sire of Salvatore Giovanni.
-- Edwardo Putanesca -- Progeny of Julietta Putanesca and professional bodyguard for the Giovanni Houston.

10th Generation
-- Almondo Giovanni -- Progeny of Salvatore Giovanni and sire of Marciana Giovanni.
-- Benjamin Rothstein -- Progeny of Shlomo Rothstein and sire of Germano Giovanni.
-- Lucretia Roseline Giovanni -- Sire of Dr. Oliver Gennet.
-- Nazario Giovanni -- Sire of Torfastr Koenig.
-- Niv Rothstein -- Giovanni Ancilla and Personal Assistant to Mr. Enzo Giovanni of Houston.
-- Panagoita Melina -- Childe of Randolf St. John. (Deceased)
-- Salvatore Giovanni -- Progeny of Rosario Giovanni.

11th Generation
-- Virginia Dunsirn -- Matron of the Dunsirn Family, sire of the late Alex Dunsirn and grandmother of Bez Dunsirn of
New York City. Aberdeen
-- Fenella Dunscirn -- Socialite in Glasgow, Scotland
-- Marciana Giovanni -- Progeny of Almondo Giovanni. Investigator to the Camarilla. Nomadic
-- Dr. Thomas Fountaindike -- Sire of Calogero Giovanni.
-- Rhys Dunsirn Scotland -- Sire Unknown. Sire of Seamus Dunsirn.
-- Stephano Giovanni -- Boston
-- Dr. Oliver Genet Chicago - Progeny of Lucretia.
-- Domenic Giovanni -- Boston
-- Cesar Giovanni -- Location Unknown - Sire of Carlita Giovanni.
-- Torfastr Koenig Novel -- 1920's New Orleans - Progeny of Nazario Giovanni

12th Generation
-- Alex Dunsirn -- Sire of Bez Dunsirn. - (Deceased) - Aberdeen
-- Calogero Giovanni -- Giovanni envoy to Quebec City.
-- Paul Di Carlo -- Boston
-- Carlita Giovanni -- Location Unknown
-- Seamus Dunsirn -- Deceased
-- Hamish Dunsirn -- Roving enforcer

13th Generation
-- Chas Giovanni Tello -- Killed probably by Lazarus.
-- Bez Dunsirn -- Progeny of Alex Dunsirn. Bez is a Scottish football hooligan. New York City
-- Kyle Dunscirn -- Black Market Money Launderer and Financial Wizard. Glasgow.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Ruggiero Leonzino -- Rio de Janeiro
-- Leocadia Consuelo Hidalgo -- The last Giovanni-Hidalgo. -- New York City
-- Palmiro della Passaglia '
-- Teàrlach Dunsirn (TCher-loch) - Banker, Canibal and financial patron of Hull

79
Lasombra

80
The leading lights of the Sabbat, clan Lasombra are shadowy predators and ruthless
social climbers. The Lasombra exist for their own success, fighting for personal
victories rather than solely for a crown to wear or a throne to sit upon. They
believe that might makes right, and are willing to sacrifice anything to achieve their
goals. A clan that uses spirituality as a tool rather than seeking honest
enlightenment, their fickle loyalties are currently highlighted by half their clan's
defection from the Sabbat.

Nicknames
The Night Clan, Abyss Mystics, Keepers, Magisters, Shadows, Traitors, Turncoats

Antediluvian
Lasombra

Faction
Camarilla/Sabbat/Anarchs

Disciplines
Primary: Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence
Secondary: Abyss Mysticism

Organization
For the Lasombra, the nights of high aristocracy never faded, and the titles and offices a modern onlooker might
associate with history still carry great weight among the Keepers. A complex system of patronage, mentor-ship, and
lineage characterizes the Clan, similar to the courts and churches of centuries gone by. Childer benefit greatly from
esteemed sires and vice versa, while acts that confer Sect or Clan status may also elevate a Lasombra’s peers, so long
as she associates her success with her fellows.

Haven
The obligation of their leadership leads many young Lasombra to maintain communal havens with other members of
their pack. Wealthier Keepers and those who predate the Sect often maintain their own havens, whether sinister
penthouse suites or sprawling Old World villas.

Background
Prospective sires of Clan Lasombra seek both erudition and ambition in their potential childer. As such, many
Lasombra come from professional backgrounds, and display outgoing and even aggressive personalities. Merit in
their sires’ eyes takes fledgling Lasombra far, and the Keepers do not hesitate to cull their ranks of flawed, lazy, or
boorish childer.

Appearance
The Lasombra are frequently attractive. Whether through the Spanish, Italian, and Moorish stock associated with the
Clan, or due to more cosmopolitan modern backgrounds, the Keepers cut a striking figure. Their dress is often
conservative or religious, drawing on years of ceremony and faithful ritual. Rare is the Lasombra who cannot at least
manipulate shadows to affect a dramatic entrance or enigmatic pose.

Weakness
Shrouded Soul: The broken souls of Lasombra vampires are halfway drawn into the Abyss. All reflections and
recordings distort, flicker, or become transparent (though this does not conceal their identity with any certainty).
Microphones have the same difficulty with the vampire's voice as cameras have with their image, touch technology
becomes unresponsive at best, and their anomalous nature makes it harder to avoid electronic detection systems.
With effort they may overcome this difficulty but it’s as if they exist on a slightly different frequency to other beings,

81
flickering in and out of light. Many Lasombra have attendants to handle technology for them, but a few strange
beasts manage without. Also, the Lasombra take double damage from sunlight due to their closeness to the Abyss.
This is a stronger version of the Cast No Reflection disadvantage, due to the extra sun damage.

History
Several thousand years ago, a tribe of proto-Maasai people were ordered by a pale spirit to produce a child for him.
This child was trained to lead by having every member of the tribe obey him, and he was trained to be loyal by
extensive gifts and rewards from the Lasombra Antediluvian. The experiment failed, and Lasombra punished the
tribe by wiping out half of its population. Before rerunning the experiment, Lasombra was visited by his child's
playmate, Ontai. This shaman-in-training offered his life to Lasombra – in life, death, and beyond, with no price
asked. Lasombra, disturbed by the offer and Ontai's already impeccable honor, tested the shaman's resolve by
demanding he slaughter his tribe. Ontai obeyed, and a shaken Lasombra called off the execution and embraced
Ontai, renaming him Montano, and bringing him to the Mediterranean. Thereafter, Lasombra was always uncertain
whether his childe's unswerving honor had gotten the better of him.

In the second millennium B.C., the so-called "Sea Peoples" ravaged all the settled lands around the Mediterranean.
The Hyksos even ruled Egypt for two successive dynasties. For a while, the Sea Peoples dominated all commerce in
the Mediterranean. Nobody sailed without paying tribute to them or courting destruction. Indeed, around the turn
of the millennium, the Sea Peoples played a major part in smashing the Bronze Age civilizations in and around
Greece, ushering in an era that more landbound historians like to call a "dark age."

From the very beginning, the Lasombra have been tied to the sea. Sicily, where Lasombra had his lair, was the center
of the Clan, from which they inserted themselves into various seafaring cultures that arose. It is said that, after the
eruption of Thera, the Lasombra Antediluvian began various lengthy travels, leaving his progeny free to discover the
world around them. Reveling in piracy and the freedom of the sea, most Lasombra fought against both Greeks and
Romans, refusing to accept the feeding rights of any Cainite overlords. Others travelled to Iberia and the lands of the
Roman Republic. Some particular adventurous even travelled so far as China, where their broods still survive
secluded and hidden away from the wrathful Cathayans. Together with the Ventrue and Malkavians, the Lasombra
clan ruled over the Roman Empire until it dissolved. While the Ventrue left for the north and the Malkavians are seen
with suspicion and fear now, the Lasombra remained.

Dark Ages

In medieval times, the Lasombra were centered around the Mediterranean in the feudal realm of the Sea of
Shadows as one of the High Clans, headed by their Antediluvian himself. The Lasombra were heavily involved with
the religious institutions of this age, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, and with Islam, leading to an internal
conflict between the two factions within the Clan that resulted in the Shadow Reconquista in Spain, where both
sides battled against each other for control over the peninsula. Most Lasombra had strong ties to the clerics and
nobility and were able to utilize them to their own ends.
The Anarch Revolt

According to clan legend, Lasombra's last childe, Gratiano de Veronese, was the one who slew the Antediluvian with
the aid of a coterie of Assamites, instigating the Anarch Revolt and the resulting chaos (although many Tzimisce
challenge that claim). Many Lasombra flocked behind Gratiano, hoping to overthrow their scheming sires and gain
their power. Most among them refused the Convention of Thorns, seeing it as submission to the despised Ventrue
and the kine without even proper negotiations.
Renaissance

In the early renaissance, the Lasombra had just become the leaders of the Sabbat. Their political and commercial
power had weakened and they had turned to more brutal practices, such as piracy, even shifting their focus from the
dwindling Spanish kingdoms to Dutch pirates and opportunities in the New World. Their main focuses have been the
eradication of the Camarilla, particularly their Lasombra antitribu clansmen.

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Victorian Age

During this time the influence of the Church upon people's

lives declined. As a result, Lasombra influence became
more indirect as the years progressed. Like many other
clans, the Lasombra began to influence the bourgeoisie,
from which most of the world's finances now flowed.
Unlike other Clans who had previously infested religious
organizations, the Lasombra did not turn away from
churches – indeed, the Lasombra are infamous even in the
modern nights for their powerful grasp in religious circles,
particularly the Catholic Church.

During this Age, many Lasombra sat down to codify the

ancient Roads and clan-specific traditions into proper
Paths of Enlightenment to create substitutes to Humanity
within the Black Monastery. In the New World, various
Sabbat Civil Wars threatened the rule of the Clan over the
Sabbat and forced them to restructure the sect several
times. The Purchase Pact defined the enemies of the sect
to end various instances of infighting (Antediluvian
catspaws, Infernalists and Camarilla pawns) while the
revised version of the Code of Milan formalized a more
structured approach to intern control. In both cases, the
Clan were heavily involved in these revisions.

Modern Nights

Whether they approve or not, Clan Lasombra has changed

with the times. Where once the elitist ideals saw that only
those of certain lineages, ethnicities or religions were
Embraced, the Clan now recruits from all walks of life.
Financial influence is now increasingly important to them
due to the establishment of the global economy, and the
Lasombra are the clan mainly responsible for bankrolling
much of the Sabbat's operations in modern nights. The
Lasombra still hunt their hated antitribu, although fewer
and fewer exist each night. The fervour with which their
brothers are hunted has brought about a change of its
own – those antitribu surviving are usually the oldest and
wiliest Keepers to still walk the earth.

Perhaps most embarrassing for the Clan was the defection

of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. A former Cardinal, he was a
signatory on the Code of Milan, one of the Sabbat's most
important documents. At the end of the 20th century,
Giangaleazzo gathered all of Milan's Cainites to his castle.
From the balcony of his haven, he announced that he
would no longer be a part of the Sabbat. With that, he
tore up the original Code of Milan and sealed the
courtyard. Burning his former sect mates to death, he
announced himself Prince of Milan and a member of the
Camarilla. As a result, Gian Galeazzo is particularly hated
throughout the Clan, but too well supported by the
surrounding Italian Camarilla to destroy.

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After the rise of the Second Inquisition, and the start of the Gehenna Crusade in the Middle East, the Amici Noctis
reached out to trusted Keepers, those with reputations for clan over sect loyalty, and the Friends arranged
diplomatic missions by these same Keepers to the Anarchs and the Camarilla. At first these representatives made
solitary offerings of fealty to the Ivory Tower, but soon enough they began petitioning for the entry of the entire
clan. Around half the Lasombra will remain in the Sabbat, but will lack central authority or direction as the Amici
Noctis joins the Ivory Tower. Those Lasombra who held titles of Archbishop in the Sabbat, now attempt to hold
similar positions in the Camarilla, bringing with them their manipulation of the Catholic Church and services to fill
the hole left by the Brujah and Gangrel defections to the Anarchs. Any Lasombra ranked Cardinals are put to the
torch as a gesture of good faith.

Of course, the letter of the deal was not to deliver elders of the Lasombra, but elders of the Sabbat. Princes interpret
this rule differently, and before the Justicars know it, individual Princes are enforcing their own Lasombra
admittance rules. Some are more relaxed than others, some are far stricter. The Amici Noctis believe the Camarilla
will tire of the taste of Lasombra blood when they realize they are purging useful Keepers in the same way Stalin
executed almost all his effective military officers. Until then, however, they will state which Lasombra are exempt
from the internal hunt. Obviously, the Amici Noctis are on top of the exemption list.

Organization
Lasombra naturally seek power and authority to prove themselves better than others; as a result, they once formed
the bulk of the Sabbat's administrative offices: ducti, prisci, and the like. Tzimisce are more likely to be pack priests,
while the Lasombra focus on the practical matters of administration and leadership. The Lasombra operate under
the metaphor of "shadows". They do not stand in the limelight, preferring to manipulate others to their own ends
while doing as little as possible to make themselves a target. This is not done solely out of fear, but because many
Lasombra have domineering and superior personalities that necessitate having someone beneath them. This role is
usually filled by mortals; though they are not quite as adept at manipulating the living world as the Ventrue are,
those cultures that still revere the Catholic Church often have several generations of Lasombra pulling their strings.
Those who find themselves under the control of a Lasombra can expect a demanding and unrewarding experience.
Their domitor will use any and all tools available to ensure loyalty, such as the Blood Bond, coercion, physical
intimidation, and unapologetic use of Dominate. The wise Lasombra will judge just how much of this force is
necessary; too little and the servant is untrustworthy, too much and the servant is spineless and afraid to act when
they need to act.

Separate from Sabbat organization, the Lasombra maintain a clan-specific organization, the Friends of the Night,
usually called les amies noires (amici noctis during the Dark Ages). While a Lasombra can be in the clan and not a
Friend of the Night, all Lasombra who matter are part of the organization. The Friends are something of a formalized
favor network within the Lasombra - they grant prestige and prestation, but the most notable feature of the friends
are the Courts of Blood which regulate diablerie.

The Lasombra are a clan driven by ambition, and consequently they accept diablerie as a necessary facet of their
existence; from the Lasombra perspective, the only tragedy in diablerie is that such an unworthy vampire as the
vessel was sired in the first place. The courts regulate diablerie by accepting petitions to diablerize other Lasombra
and authorize hunts - these hunts usually have conditions attached because the target must be guilty of something
before the hunt is authorized. The court system ensures that diablerie is managed – Lasombra are allowed, if not
flat-out encouraged to cannibalize appropriate targets, but those targets must be judged worthy of this attention by
a court before the attack can take place. In the turbulence of modern nights, it is unclear how this practice will
survive as the Friends of Night seek admittance to the Ivory Tower.

Factions

Lasombra consensus holds that overly rigid structures turn on their creators. Thus the institutions within the clan
operate flexibly and with substantial local autonomy. These informal distinctions are just as deadly earnest as
anything chartered and codified, but they are much more lethal for being open to interpretation, as any Court of
Blood can prove. Most of the Lasombra subcultures have no organization or even a well-known name. They are

84
outlooks rather than institutions. A group that became organized enough to challenge the courts would be co-opted
and folded into the Friends themselves or destroyed, depending upon how well the group's leaders plead their case.

• Corsairs – The Corsairs are Lasombra that have answered the call of the sea that seems to be inherent to their
blood. They spend most of their time on the waves, often masquerading as pirates, and some never come on dry
land.
• Crusaders - The Crusaders view the Sabbat as a religious and military organization almost to the exclusion of the
Sabbat as an ideology of freedom. They often have strong ties with the Ultra-Conservatives within the Sabbat.
• Faithful - The Faithful draw their traditions from the once strong hold of the Lasombra within the Catholic
Church. Ardent followers of God and believers in their own damnation alike, these individuals seek to fulfill the
will of God in this world.
• Kings and Queens of Shadow - The Kings and Queens of Shadow take part in mortal institutions, exerting
influence, gathering resources and in general keeping the mortal population unaware of the vampires among
them. Most have distanced themselves from regular Sabbat activities to maintain their Humanity.
• Children of the Abyss – The Children of the Abyss follow the ancient traditions of Abyss Mysticism, often paying
only lip service to the Sabbat but staying in line, as the sect provides them with the means to pursue their arcane
art.
• Transhumanists - Transhumanists revel in their predatory nature and seek to perfect their undead state.
Transhumanists quantify their various powers, work out taxonomies and otherwise seek to reduce vampirism to
data. Many have a keen interest in mortal technology, particular in those that augment the human body, while
others seek a perfect state without reliance on external tools.
• Fatalists - Fatalists are those Lasombra that have stopped believing in freedom of Will. Many claim that their
blood ties them directly to the elders and methuselahs of their Clan and these beings are in charge of the
destinies of their progeny.
• Doomed - The Doomed are an exhibitionist lot among the Clan that do not believe in the value of secrecy and
aim to gain immediate and direct control of their environment, often without concerns to the kine. Many
Lasombra kill those Clan mates on sight.
• Black Angels - Also called Angellis Ater (possibly in remembrance from a bloodline originating from the Dark
Ages), these Lasombra revel in their state as servants of Satan and enemies of God, practicing Satanism and
other socially repulsive things.
• Factionless - The Factionless are those Lasombra that have not yet found an overlying purpose within the history
of the Clan and give more regards to their sect than their heritage.

Lasombra “antitribu“

Founder
Montano
Faction
Camarilla

There are no Lasombra antitribu, at least, not according to the Lasombra

themselves. The Sabbat Lasombra deny that "traitors" exist, while the so-
called antitribu see themselves as Lasombra — nothing more, nothing less. Not
all Lasombra who disagree with the clan's stance within the Sabbat join the
Camarilla – a significant percentage of this relatively small number simply go
independent and absent themselves from vampiric politics entirely. The
remainder, however, seize for themselves positions of respect and authority –
if not prominence – in the Camarilla.

Philosophically, Camarilla Lasombra differ little from their Sabbat compatriots on a basic level. The antitribu still fully
expect to win the Jyhad; they just see the Camarilla as a more efficient and effective tool for doing so than the
Sabbat is. Distaste for the rabble the Sabbat is encased in shows clearly in the attitudes of the Camarilla Lasombra, as
they regard the Sabbat tactic of mass Embraces as wasteful and insulting. Indeed, even the supporters of antitribu
inclusion in the Camarilla see these vampires as haughty, arrogant and impatient. Few suffer fools or incompetent
underlings to live, and the penalty for failing an assignment set by a Lasombra antitribu is often death. The position

85
occupied by these few self-exiled Kindred is an ambiguous one. On one hand, these vampires are Lasombra, the core
of the dreaded Sabbat, and no Camarilla vampire is ever completely certain that the defection is genuine. On the
other hand, essentially all Lasombra antitribu are creatures of undeniable power and presence, and are devoted to
the destruction of the Sabbat in a way that few other Kindred are. The Camarilla cannot afford to waste these
Cainites' talents, powers and knowledge of the enemy but cannot afford to trust them entirely, either.

Culture
Lasombra are fiercely predatory creatures, and the Lasombra mindset is defined by an embrace of darkness itself.
The Lasombra firmly believe that power is best held by the worthiest, and that the primary test of worthiness is
acquiring said power. As a result, they are predatory, backstabbing, power-hungry and unapologetically arrogant
about their position. Needless to say, the Lasombra and Ventrue despise each other. Historically, the two clans have
sought out parallel dominions – the Lasombra focused on the Mediterranean, the Ventrue on Germany. The
Lasombra went to the Church, the Ventrue went to the state. The Lasombra went to the Sabbat, the Ventrue to the
Camarilla. And finally, the Ventrue deduce their claim of rulership over all Cainites through their lineage from the
first of the Third Generation, while the Lasombra claim leadership over them as the Clan who first managed to slay
their Antediluvian founder. With the Lasombra defection from the Sabbat, many Ventrue delight at the opportunity
to lord over a clan they have struggled against for centuries, but the Magisters themselves see this as an opportunity
to turn the Ventrue's arrogance against them. They become advisors, bodyguards, and regents to Ventrue Princes,
dethroning the weakened Tremere and slighting the undervalued Toreador without directly threatening the sceptre
that the Clan of Kings holds so dear; the Lasombra know that you don't need to sit on the throne to control the
kingdom.

Lasombra pride themselves on doing things with style and elegance. That does not mean they all dress alike, act alike
or furnish their havens the same way. Almost anything can be elegant. One of the classic Lasombra virtues is the gift
of exposition, allowing one vampire to explain to others why this particular choice is in fact elegant. The clan favors
its members who can articulate their preferences in a persuasive manner. The clan frowns on efforts to shock –
unless they work. Managing to introduce something so unfamiliar that it tramples on existing assumptions and yet,
with explanation, manages to fit clan imperatives is one way to win a great deal of honor.

That stated, the Lasombra embrace of the Mediterranean and the Church has left odd marks on their clan culture.
Many Lasombra are drawn to the ultimate darkness at the depths of the ocean. Even now, the Lasombra are prone
to some ancestral Catholicism, notable figures such as Archbishop Ambrosio Luis Monçada still view the world in
Catholic terms - they believe in God and their own damnation with equal certainty. Elder Lasombra in particular
place a strong emphasis on confession, although without redemption.

Since their beginning, the Clan has extremely strong ties to the sea; some speculate that this fascination stems from
the Antediluvian's experience of the Deluge and marks his beginning of fascination with the Abyss. The compulsion
to spend time around dark tides comes even as many generations remove from the Antediluvian. It is not
uncommon for Elder Lasombra to resettle to the coastlines and one day to venture into the flood and to never re-
emerge from it.

The Lasombra are also noted for a strong fascination with chess; the game serves as a metaphor for Vampiric
existence (or at least, as the Lasombra see it), and consequently any Lasombra who plans to get anywhere in the clan
is proficient in the game.

Finally, something must be said about the impact that the lost visage has on the Lasombra. The clan weakness makes
it impossible for a Lasombra to ever see his own image again – mirrors, photography, and other reflective media fail,
and the Lasombra react to this problem in a variety of ways. Clan culture places a strong emphasis on not
overreacting to this problem – it is generally acceptable to sit for a portrait every few years, but extreme reactions
(such as hiring a Tzimisce to flesh sculpt a ghoul) is considered a breach of good taste and grounds for diablerie.

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Embraces

As with any clan, Lasombra sires look for mortals who suit their ideals. They have no time for weakness, and feel the
only way to survive is to excel, to cut away the trappings of sympathy and petty morality wherever they might slow
down the Lasombra's ascent to power. Those who fight against the odds, survive dangerous situations, and exist at
the pinnacle of excellence draw the eyes of the Lasombra upon them. The Magisters describe their Embrace
tradition as “targeting those fit for more than a simple human life.”

Sociopaths, counter-culturalists, deviants, and scarred survivors all hold appeal for the Lasombra. Anyone who can
say they have seen the dark on the other side, and subsequently came back stronger, is a potential candidate for the
Embrace. Many become vampires obsessed with the accumulation of social power, prepared to mislead and use
mortals to elevate themselves. Others were like that before the Embrace, with such pragmatic traits leading to their
ascent in Lasombra eyes.

When a Lasombra finds a mortal who seems to hold the potential for greatness as a vampire, it is common for the
Keeper to decide to 'test' that mortal to see if they can rise to the occasion, or if they will instead crumble under the
weight of the Lasombra's attention. These tests will feel like the victim's life is falling apart, as they lose their job and
opportunities, become alienated from friends and family, or even suffer great physical harm at the hands of the
monster. How they react is what matters, whether they become strong or reveal themselves to be pitiful. That is
what decides whether they are left in the ruins, or brought into the night.

As a rule of thumb, Sabbat Lasombra generally didn't Embrace many shovelheads. While becoming True Sabbat after
being shovelheaded is a sign of talent, Lasombra often prefer to be choosy.

Relationship with Ghouls

Many Lasombra loathe the idea of ghouls with a passion. To them, a mortal in the world of Cainites is as absurd as a
poodle putting on a tutu and walking around on its hind legs. Due to their command of Potence and Dominate,
mortals are laughably easy to control, both physically and mentally; how could the Lasombra possibly respect or
value such a pathetically weak and frail thing? As a consequence, the ghoul of a Lasombra is typically a sniveling and
timid wretch, living in terror of a single mistake which could end their lives. Unfortunately the Lasombra's shared
Bane makes ghouls such a fact of unlife that few can avoid using them for one purpose or another.

Lasombra ghouls tend to fall into two broad categories. The first are the raft of accountants, lawyers, and bankers
that the Lasombra need to keep the finances rolling in, and perhaps these are the luckier of the two groups – as long
as the books balance at the end of the day, they will live to see another one. The second group caters to the
Lasombra's difficulty with technology and their own image. Some Lasombra keep an army of personal attendants –
scores of ghouls to brush the mistress' hair, do her makeup, dress her, and attend to her correspondence. Such
attendants are punished severely for infractions. If the hair is not brushed with exactly one hundred strokes the
ghoul might find themselves on the wrong side of the hairbrush, a Potence fuelled hand wielding it. Some Lasombra
develop mental fixations from their curse, and force ghouls of either stripe to share a distorted image. For example,
having their faces reduced to identical spiderwebs of scar tissue or being forced to wear featureless white masks.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Typhon -- Later called Lasombra -- deceased
-- Gratiano de Veronese -- Originally the youngest progeny of Lasombra. He helped to kill his sire (might have
diablerised him). Disappeared along with his court, shortly after becoming Archbishop of the Sabbat.

4th Generation
-- Ahumm -- Phonecian explorer and navigator. Third Childe of Lasombra, and foremost of the Abyss Mystics.
Disapeared and presumed dead, 6th century CE.
-- Boukephos -- Progeny of Typhon. Sire of Goeffrey, Marcellus Rufus, and Tercio Bravo. Greek origin. Also known
as Francisco Diego Del Belmonte. -- antitribu

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 -- Karotos -- childe of the Lasombra Antediluvian and the progenitor of Lucita's lineage.
-- Montano -- Lasombra's most loyal and honorable childe -- antitribu.
-- Sybil -- antitribu

5th Generation
-- Cleobolus -- Progeny of the methuselah Karotos and sire of Silvester de Ruiz. Cleobolus is of Greek or
Mesopotamian origin. His fate following the Anarch Revolt was not recorded.
-- Constantius -- Childe of Sybil, Prince of Rome in the 12th and 13th centuries, he Disappeared in 1309.
-- Eirini -- Childe of Ahumm, princess of Syracuse
-- Galerius -- Roman Lasombra, Childe of Sybil, and a member of the Inconnu faction called the Quincunx
Conspiracy.
-- Goeffrey -- English Lasombra, Childe of Boukephos.
-- Lady Astor -- Prioress of Shadows, Childe of Boukephos.
-- Lucius Aelius Sejanus -- Childe of Sybil. Also known as Marcus Vitel, Prince of Washington D.C.
-- Marcellus Rufus -- Sire of Erasmo Casimiro Alonso de Cursio .
-- Quinta Aurelia Verginia -- Abyss Mystic, disappeared in Caldonia in the eight century CE.
-- Silvester de Ruiz -- Sire of Ambrosio Luis Monçada.
-- Tercio Bravo -- Progeny of Boukephos. Hero of the Reconquista. The last surviving member of El Cid's war band.

6th Generation
-- Abdullah -- Sire of Suleiman ibn Abdullah.
-- Calixta Narcisa de Torres -- Progeny of Don Fidel Ismael Maximiliano de Lisbon (deceased) and Rainha do
Carnaval (Queen of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro)
-- Ambrosio Luis Monçada -- Progeny of Silvester de Ruiz, sire of Lucita (his only childe), he has been the
Archbishop of Madrid.
-- Enrico -- Sire of Paliuro Rustucci, Prince of Jerusalem.
-- Erasmo Casimiro Alonso de Cursio -- Sire of Basilio the Elder.
-- Father Kakios Pachis -- Childe of Tercio Bravo and Abyss Mystic.
-- Guilelmo Aliprando -- antitribu -- The current Archbishop of Nod, ally of Bishop Nikita of Sofia and sire of Don
Alonzo De Vargas.
-- Lord Leopold Valdemar -- A member of the infamous Conspiracy of Issac, he was imprisoned by the Founders of
the Camarilla for his part in the conspiracy to assassinate the Antediluvian Cappadocius.
-- Silvester de Ruiz -- Progeny of Cleobolus. Walker on the Road of Chivalry. Sire of Ambrosio Luis Monçada.
-- Narses -- Former Archbishop of Nod, diablerized by his childe Guilelmo Aliprando.

7th Generation
-- Anacleto a Astúcia -- Progeny of Don Fidel Ismael Maximiliano de Lisbon (deceased) and Abyss Mystic of Rio de
Janeiro.
-- Basilio the Elder -- (deceased)
-- Cristóvão de Silva -- Progeny of Calixta Narcisa de Torres and Knight of the Shadows in Rio de Janiero.
-- Don Alonzo De Vargas -- antitribu -- Childe of Guilelmo Aliprando -- Prince of Denver
-- Ectoris -- He was the sire of Magnus, a pagan Greek, ulitmately, Magnus staked him and made of him an offering
to the Trinity (deceased -- 337 A.D.).
-- Fatimah Al-Lam'a -- Monarch of the Light of Cairo -- Mistress of Banu Al-Lam'a -- Member of the Prince's
Advisory Council -- Elder Lasombra antitribu.
-- Francisco Domingo de Polonia -- Embraced with a horrid sunburn. Archbishop of New York until the fall of the
city to the Camarilla. Recently promoted to cardinal of the Eastern United States.
-- Giangaleazzo - Prince of Milan -- antitribu -- Former Archbishop of Milan before his defection to the Camarilla in
1998.
-- Juan Antonio Ramirez y Alvarez de Santiago -- Sire of Liseta Iluminada.
-- Isabelle -- Sire of Bishop Gabriella of Genoa.
-- Lucita of Aragon -- antitribu -- Progeny of Ambrosio Luis Monçada, lover of Fatima Al-Faqadi and Jan Pieterzoon,
friend of Beckett and protector of Anatole.
-- Magdalena Castellucci Borcellino -- antitribu -- Magdalena is the final progeny of Narses; she was sent to
Jerusalem to watch Paliuro Rustucci for Narses.
-- Pai Celestino -- Progeny of Don Fidel Ismael Maximiliano de Lisbon, Ashen Priest of Rio de Janeiro.

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 -- Paliuro Rustucci -- Progeny of Enrico, sire of Pacifico Grillati and former Prince of Jerusalem (deceased 1244 A.D.)
-- Simon de Cosa -- This Spanish Lasombra fought with Doran for the control of Louisiana from 1713 to 1801.
-- Suleiman ibn Abdullah -- Progeny of Abdullah. Mullah of the Ashirra. The founder of the Ashirra sect. He rarely
speaks of the evening when he went to Madina to make a pawn of the supposed prophet,
Muhammad. He can only say that he saw salvation in that man. He submitted to Allah and was set
on a new course.
-- Tobias Smith -- Former Archbishop of Montreal (fate unknown)
-- Vizier Suliman -- antitribu -- Advisor to Shaykhe Muhammad of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
-- Wilfredo Rosario -- Progeny of Calixta Narcisa de Torres and A Prodigal Son of the Clan of Shadows. Rio de
Janeiro
-- Xavier Pulo -- Abyss Mystic, dissappeared as an Ancillia in Caledonia during the 7th century CE.

8th Generation
-- Black Wallace -- Childe of Lord Vauxhall and one of the Sabbat's most notorious Inquisitors, he is literally an
infernalists worst nightmare.
-- Blake -- Lasombra Antitribu Bastard of Don Alonzo de Vargaz & Camarilla Mercenary (Former: Tremere Archon)
-- Don Leandro Adon Oro Christian De Reyes -- Childe of Don Alonzo De Vargas - Pilgrim on the Bitter Journey
-- Don Ramon Arturo Negro De Cadiz -- Childe of Don Alonzo De Vargas - Art Aficionado
-- Dona Isabella Baboa Garcia Mendez -- Childe of Don Alonzo De Vargas - The Pious Daughter
-- Fabiana Belo -- The Beautiful Young Turk (Rio de Janeiro)
-- Josefina Valez -- Lasombra childe of Tobias Smith and member of the Lost Angels Pack of Montreal.
-- Liseta Iluminada -- Progeny of Juan Antonio Ramirez y Alvarez de Santiago. Accused of witchcraft by Archbishop
Geza, but escapes to eventually become one of the Sabbat's greatest templers.
-- Magnus -- Progeny of Ectoris, he was the sire of Sarah and Peter, who lived in Constantinople and pledged
himself to the service of Michael in 337; the Narsene Lasombra killed him.
-- Pacifico Grillati -- Progeny of Paliuro Rustucci, after his sire's death, he joins the nascent Sabbat and eventually
falls during that sect's First Civil War (deceased).
-- Tarantine -- Sire of Mohammed al-Muthlim. Probably a resident of Mexico City.
-- Timothy Leaver (assumed name) -- Sire of Stephen Lenoir.

9th Generation
-- Ahmal ibn Rawaid -- antitribu -- Childe of Blake London
-- Jace Fabian -- Fencing Prodigy, fledgling and Master Swordsman - Huddersfield, England - 2012
-- Masera -- Sire of Brenda the Raven.
-- Mohammed al-Muthlim -- He is Progeny of Tarantine, sire of Henry Taylor and Francesca. Bishop of Los Angeles.
Leader of the "Crypt's Sons" gang.
-- Peter the Humble -- He was the second progeny of Magnus, he was a man of uncertain convictions who turned
to the latest religious fad for spiritual support. He led the Baali woman Mary the Black to Michael for
the purpose of diablerie. Ironically, in the end, he is one of the few surviving witnesses to Michael's
end and is hunted down and destroyed by the Cainite Heresy for his part in Michael's death.
-- Sarah The Chaste -- antitribu -- She was the first progeny of Magnus, after 600 years of watching his ineptitude
he stakes Magnus and gives him to the Narsene Lasombra as a pledge of alliagiance, she later joins
the Narsene Lasombra family and after the fall of Constantinople she remains in Istanbul.
-- Stephen Lenoir -- antitribu - Guide to London's Lost.

10th Generation
-- Leila Monroe -- Priscus of the Sabbat.
-- Henry Taylor -- Also known as "Slash," Progeny of Mohammed Al-Muthlim.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Nystor -- Priest of the Abyss
-- Nicolás de Ovando

89
Malkavian

90
Malkavians are an enigmatic and deeply disturbed group of Cainites, afflicted with
the insanity of their Antediluvian progenitor. Members of the clan have assumed
the roles of seers and oracles among Kindred and kine, eerie figures bound by
strange compulsions and the ability to perceive what others cannot. They are also
notorious pranksters whose "jokes" range from silly to sadistic. Against all odds,
however, the children of Malkav are among the oldest surviving vampiric lineages.
They are one of the 13 original Cainite clans and can trace back their history to
times preceding the biblical Deluge. They were also among the founders of the
powerful Camarilla, and are widely known as one of its pillars in modern nights.

Nicknames
Kooks, Seers, Lunatics, Madmen, Cassandras, Children of Malkav, Clan of the Moon, Malks

Antediluvian
Malkav

Faction
Camarilla

Disciplines
Primary: Auspex, Obfuscate, Dementation
Secondary: Dominate, Anarch Sorcery

Organization
Rumor is more widespread than truth with regard to Malkavian organization, and any number of harrowing tales
describe the function of the Clan. Some say the Lunatics all share a hive consciousness; others claim that this is in
fact the lingering consciousness of the Clan’s progenitor Malkav. Still others claim that a network of madness puts all
Malkavians in contact with one another and is the cause of their crippling insanity. If nothing else, the Malkavians
prove inscrutable and uncanny. One night, each of them frenzies when they see one another, while the next night,
they all converge at the same time at the Sheriff’s haven and accuse him of harboring Sabbat spies. Who can say
how the “disease of information” or the customs of the Clan travel among them?

Haven
Consistency is rare among Malkavians. Quite simply, they establish havens where they think to, where they can, and
where they can recall. A significant number of Malkavians have literally no home, spending each night where
exhaustion or the sun’s rays leave them. Others may permanently have the presidential suite in a posh hotel, a squat
in the Barrens, the dispensary at a county jail, or a broom closet in a historical landmark.

Background
Malkavians Embrace with all the caprice one would assume from them. Lunatic childer come from all economic and
cultural strata, though most have some sort of hard-luck story or black secret behind them that caused their sire to
take note. Truly damaged Malkavians who are unaware of the meanings of their actions may not even be aware that
they have sired childer, which makes for very difficult entry into Kindred society for these castoffs, many of whom
end up among the Caitiff.

Appearance
While Malkavians can come from any culture, the madness following the Embrace tends to lead them to extremes of
self-presentation. Malkavians may appear disheveled, injured, or simply dirty. They could still be wearing the same
clothes from the night of their Embrace or they may have stolen clothes from a laundromat or a department store
during a fit of confusion or fugue. Of course, Malkavians are just as likely to be meticulous and exacting in their
appearance, trying obsessively to appear as normal as possible.

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Weakness
Incurable Madness: Due to their inherent clan weakness every last one of them is irredeemably insane in some form
or another. Among the Kindred, some attribute their insanity to a curse of the blood forced upon them by Caine
himself, while the Lunatics themselves actually call it a special blessing, a gift of insight. The mortal mind collapses as
it goes through the Malkavian Embrace, and the resulting vampire is a being forever changed by the experience.
From the moment they are created, Malkavians begin to suffer from at least one derangement that can never be
permanently overcome. The player chooses a single mental disadvantage at -10 or more points value as his Incurable
Madness. This disadvantage doesn’t count towards his total point limitation at character creation.

History
As with all the major clans, the Malkavians originated in the pre-Deluge city Enoch. Little is known about the clan's
early composition, only that their Antediluvian, Malkav, was a seer Embraced by one of the Second Generation.
Malkav was particularly close to two other Kindred: Saulot, the founder of the Salubri, and Set, self-appointed god to
his followers. Some accounts suggest the three shared the same sire, possibly Enoch.

Sometime after the Flood, Malkav was ambushed and murdered by his fellow Antediluvians. Most Malkavians
believe that he is still undead, only now he exists entirely within the Madness Network (or "Cobweb"), the group
mind that all Malkavians share. Some Malkavians speculate that Malkav literally is Clan Malkavian and that when
Gehenna arises, he will devour the clan whole and reconstitute himself.

Many of the early Malkavians posed as city-gods, using their oracular powers to convince the population that they
spoke and listened to the gods. In Greece and the lands of the Fertile Crescent, many of the early Malkavians
prospered as oracles and soothsayers and later, their foresight placed them into the role of viziers and advisors to
the ruling Ventrue of Rome. It was on behest of the Malkavian prophetess Tryphosa that Camilla called for the war
against Carthage and it was with the aid of Alchias, the Malkavian ruler of Syracuse, that the Romans proved to be
successful in the end. Later, however, the Malkavians were blamed for the more unstable emperors and when Rome
finally fell apart, the Malkavians drifted away, shattered and lost. Several Malkavians, however, became attracted to
early Christianity (a running gag within some elements of the Clan are the consequences of a grave robbery in 33 CE),
seeing Jesus as the reborn Malkav who would end their curse. Some even claimed that Andreas, one of the disciples
of Jesus, was secretly a Malkavian, and tasked by him to find Caine to persuade him to finally ask for forgiveness
from God.

Dark Ages

The Dark Ages were a difficult time for the Malkavian; still suffering from their fall from grace as an important clan
after the collapse of Rome, many of the Kindred feared and distrusted the Madmen. Many more pitied their sad,
insane state. Humans, needless to say, also feared the madness of the Malkavians; many were persecuted more for
their derangements than vampirism. That is not to say all Malkavians suffered horribly; quite a few became advisors,
seers, and jesters to well-placed and powerful Cainite Princes. However, the bulk of the clan lived up to the Low Clan
status bestowed on them by the more self-important Kindred. Part of this age were also the Ordo, secret covenants
of Malkavians who sought to utilize their madness to predict the future and carried on the legacy of the Malkavian
Oracles of Antiquity.

The Renaissance was a chaotic and paradoxical time for the Lunatics, much to their delight. The developing forms of
literature and philosophy granted them a freedom that was only overshadowed by the religious backlashes against
it. Malkavians stood on both sides of the fray, often also enjoying dabbling in Camarilla and mortal politics that
provided an intricate web of possibilities to disrupt. Many Malkavians also came to regard the growing medical
developments, particularly insane asylums.

Victorian Age

The Victorian Era was the time of Freud and Jung, as the old theories of phrenology, demon-possession and divine
punishment gave way to more learned theories of psychology and psychiatry. Asylums now started doing what

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 Malkavians had been practicing for centuries – taking an interest in
insanity. While the reforms of these hospitals no doubt crippled more
than one Malkavian's supply of blood, the new system permitted the
Lunatics to experiment with madness like they had never before. Some
set themselves up as psychologists – others visited psychologists as
patients.

The rise of the Bohemian lifestyle within society meant many more kine
were willing to expand their own perceptions with new cultures,
experiences and drugs. The Malkavians were only too happy to oblige.
New forms of expression and ways of thinking both nourished the
Malkavians and allowed them to be as florid as they pleased – after all, if
a finely dressed gentleman is shouting about how dogs on the street are
telling him to kill people, why it must simply be the newest performance
piece going around the salons. In fact, a friend of yours heard it on the
streets of Paris...

Modern Nights

The Malkavians always had a dangerous reputation due to their

madness and their signature Dementation discipline, which can induce
madness in others. With the Inquisition and the formation of the
Camarilla, the clan faced possible extinction at the hands of other clans –
the Malkavians were just too dangerous to continue existing. In order to
prevent this, the elders of the clan changed the Clan in ways unknown
and incomprehensible – the result was that the majority of Clan
Malkavian discarded Dementation in favor of the Dominate discipline.
More disturbingly, the majority of Malkavians, even those present at the
time of the change are unaware that this happened. A small fragment of
the clan preserved the Dementation discipline, defecting to the Sabbat
and becoming antitribu.

This "Great Prank" means that almost all Malkavians are antitribu. While
Sabbat Malkavians possessed the same mystical abilities as their
ancestors, the violent environment of the Sabbat drove the antitribu
even madder: all Malkavians have a mental disorder they cannot
overcome, but Sabbat Malkavians have two.

This division was fixed in 1997, when for reasons unknown to anyone,
the Dementation resurfaced within the Camarilla, although several
"Domination" Malkavians remained unaffected, for some reason.

Beckett's Jyhad Diary states that the Jerusalem's penchant for religious mania has been attributed to the presence of
the Malkav somewhere near the city. A creature of great power lies within a pit near the Valley of Hinnom,
rumoured to be either the Antediluvian himself, one of his direct, his sister Malakai or one of the original Baali. As
the Final Nights draw close, religious mania and hysteria becomes more widespread, believed by some to be
connected to the creature that lies in the pit.

Organization
On the surface, clan Malkavian is barely a clan. The majority of Malkavians are only marginally aware they belong to
a clan; Sabbat Malkavians generally claim to be Panders. What connections Malkavians generally have are informal
and generally paternal, sire-childe relationships being the most common, although Malkavian sires are prone to
abandoning their childer.

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Scratch the surface, however, and the Malkavians become a smörgåsbord of paranoid delights. Malkavians operate
on their own timescale, and will gather spontaneously for incomprehensible events. Malkavians usually do not
explain how they know these gatherings are occurring, and when they do the explanation is not necessarily worth
anything. Scratch deep enough and it appears that the Malkavians are highly organized, so highly organized they do
not even know they are, and instead they continue to pursue incomprehensible and arcane goals that even they are
not aware are relevant.

This organization is generally termed the "cobweb", "Malkavian Time", or the "Madness Network" and is a form of
shared consciousness unifying all Malkavians. The strength of the voices varies from Malkavian to Malkavian,
however all of them are at least aware of its call and capable of interacting with it. Dead Malkavians' memories live
on in the Cobweb, and it is implied heavily that Malkav himself is this network. The cobweb is only accessible by
Malkavians, and they themselves only marginally understand it – most of them merely listen to the voices, but elders
have demonstrated a powerful capacity to manipulate the rest of the clan through it. It is rumored that powerful
Methuselahs partially exist within the Cobweb and can "download" themselves on their descendants if needed. The
Cobweb also reacts to the presence of powerful Malkavians, like the Ankou.

Malkavian antitribu

Nicknames
Freaks
Founder
Faction Leader: Vasantasena
Faction
Sabbat

Almost the opposite of the Carriers, the Malkavian antitribu are, if possible,
even more insane than their Camarilla siblings. This is in no small part due to
the brutal (un)living conditions associated with being a member of the
Sabbat. To the antitribu, insanity is a weapon, albeit one that hopelessly
distorts them. Mastery of its use may take decades, or even centuries. At
once completely independent, yet strangely joined to other Freaks by an
inscrutable group consciousness, a member of this clan is not easily forgotten
– no matter how badly one may wish it so. Malkavian antitribu are skilled at psychological abuse. By combining
forceful words with subtlety, and the use of trust violated by moments of sheer terror, the Freaks can pry
information from the most stoic victim or mortify even the staunchest of captives. Rumors abound of Sabbat packs'
seers who divine a War Party's success by reading entrails ripped from a still-living human and of blood-maddened
prophets who presage the coming of Gehenna in this, the Time of Thin Blood. The most dangerous of all – the serial
killers, suicide cultists, and the like – may be "bred" for special missions into fast-held Camarilla territory, sent to
spread the madness with which they are burdened, to pave the way for the Great Jyhad.

While all Malkavians suffer from some sort of mental illness, it is especially prominent (and dangerous) in the Freaks.
The antitribu may never spend Willpower to avoid Frenzy.

Culture
The possible origin of name 'Malkavian' is from "mala cavilla", Latin for "bad mockery".

Malkavians have traditionally fulfilled two roles in Vampire society: seers and jokers. As seers, the Malkavians have
relied on advanced Auspex and the Cobweb (Madness Network) to provide information. Malkavians being
Malkavians, this information is generally jaundiced, incomplete, filtered through cracked lenses or a total lie.

The joker role is somewhat more complex: Malkavians have a clan tradition of pranking. The exact purpose of these
pranks is open to debate; they often appear intended to readjust the target's perceptions, but are also often sadistic.

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In the Camarilla, Malkavians are tolerated; they are rarely princes but often are important primogen or otherwise
figures of authority. Given their obvious insanity, princes traditionally give the Madmen a certain amount of latitude;
in return, Malkavians are generally expected to demonstrate enough self-control to not break the Masquerade. This
is not a benevolent arrangement but largely driven by fear on both sides: fundamentally, Malkavians are
unknowable and the general attitude among Princes is that it is better to keep them quiet and happy, since unhappy
Malkavians have a tendency towards introducing bizarre and inexplicable incidents to the equation. Conversely,
Malkavians need the protection of the Camarilla, and have been modified as discussed above to make them more
amenable to it.

Many Malkavians are gifted with insight into the world around them. Through their shared madness and the powers
of Auspex and Dementation, many are able to glimpse little bits of the future or the past. True Oracles and Seers,
however, go beyond these common talents. They are blessed (or cursed) with strong visions that come upon them
without warning. No one knows for sure from where this connection originates. Some embrace their powers and
attempt to channel them. Some try to shun the visions and get on as if nothing happened. Other unsensitive
Malkavians use the picture of the prophet for their own advantage like mortal fortune-tellers, using vague
prophecies to secure themselves safe places. Those with the true Sight, however, often suffer for it, as they receive
visions, they do not understand at first and then watch helplessly unfold before them. During the Dark Ages, the
Malkavian Orders of Mystery, also known as Ordos, tried to channel the gift of prophecy to mimic the Methuselah-
Oracles of Antiquity, but with the formation of the sects and the losing Dementation, their practice fell out of use.

Despite their madness, most Malkavians are not anti-social. In a certain period of time during their unlives, they may
experience the cravings of companionship. Often, such companionship can ground the Lunatic's madness, giving
them a focus that solitary Malkavians often lack.

Embraces

The Malkavians are one of the more intellectually focused of the Camarilla clans (with the Tremere arguably being
the only clan as interested in cerebral pursuits). As a result, Malkavian candidates for the Embrace tend to be
intelligent and more than a little... odd. While the Malkavian embrace guarantees insanity, they do tend to choose
candidates who are already halfway there.

Lunatic childer do come from all economic and cultural strata however, though most have some sort of hard-luck
story or black secret behind them that caused their sire to take note. Truly damaged Malkavians who are unaware of
the meanings of their actions may not even be aware that they have sired childer, which makes for very difficult
entry into Kindred society for these castoffs, many of whom end up among the Caitiff.

Those Malkavians whose derangement is so severe as to make them non-functional are called the Gnawed.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Mekhet -- Insane originator of the Malkavian Clan.

4th Generation
-- Avant Won -- Sire of Siors Aldegar, Berethraban
-- Elimelech -- The Twice Damned. Seraph of the Black Hand.

5th Generation
-- Antoine Le Fanu -- Born Pollius Felix Maximus, is an inscrutable Malkavian methuselah.
-- Chelsea Fischer -- The final, damned childe of Elimelech.
-- Siors Aldegar -- Mad Lilin of Miami, Childe of Avant Won.
-- Theiea Ariadne -- Mad Lilin of Italy, Childe of Avant Won.
-- Unmada

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6th Generation
-- Anatole -- The Holy Harbinger -- Progeny of Pierre l'Imbécile. Malkavian prophet of the Camarilla.
-- Lucila Dumasa -- Slumbering Queen
-- Sergius the Elder -- Prince of Naples, 1850-1950

7th Generation
-- Aristotle de Laurent -- Kindred chronicler, Noddist expert and a leading member of the secretive cult of the
Mnemosyne. Adopted sire of the famous Gangrel adventurer and archaeologist Beckett. Paris
-- Cienwen ap Seren -- Baroness of Glouchester and Prince of Bristol.
-- Mister Cocoa -- And of course, his evil White Rabbit! -- Rio de Janeiro
-- Ealhstan Akhenaten O'Niall A British madman in the Big Easy.
-- Restewin -- Progeny of Morgana Le Fey, sire of Rat de Bibliothèque and Uriah Travers. (deceased: 1809)
-- Maureen O'Leery -- Progeny of Lasker. Sire of Jason Newberry (:1893+1993), Paula Smith (:1970+1993),
Ben Smith (:1980+1993), Hubert Otis (:1993), Caroline Irene Parrish (:1994), Loren Annika Reese
(:2003). Chicago

8th Generation
-- Quentin King III -- The Puppet Prince -- Boston
-- Cierra Odetta -- Progeny of Ealhstan Akhenaten O'Niall, living in New Orleans circa 1920
-- Michael (Malkavian) --Unknown Sire, Lives in Gary, Indiana
-- Rat de Bibliothèque -- Progeny of Restewin and sire of Cassandra and Pharamond. Primogen of Lunatics in
Quebec City.
-- Uriah Travers -- Progeny of Restewin and Malkavian Abomination of New Orleans.
-- Hubert Otis -- Progeny of Maureen O'Leery. Chicago
-- Caroline Irene Parrish -- Progeny of Maureen O'Leery. Chicago
-- Loren Annika Reese -- Progeny of Maureen O'Leery. Nomadic

9th Generation
-- Cassandra Boucher -- Progeny of Rat de Bibliothèque, resident of Quebec City and former assassin for Hire.
-- Dominic Vaughn -- (age 50:1623) Seneschal to Prince Michaela of NY.
-- Juliet Parr -- The Sheriff of Northern London
-- Ruth McGinley -- Malkavian Primogen of Houston.
-- Magdalena Blanchard -- Keeper of Elysium in Glasgow, Scotland
-- Pharamond Lestrange -- Progeny of Rat de Bibliothèque, resident of Quebec City and his sire's new whip.
-- Raleigh Montgomry: Senechal -- Senechal to the Prince of St. Louis

10th Generation
-- Barnabus Rollins -- The Blunderbus of Leeds, member of the Knights of the World Tree

12th Generation
-- Osgur Mac Leod -- Immortal of Glasgow

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Abraham Mellon -- The Magician of Madness
-- Freia
-- Frigga
-- Catherine
-- Dr.Timothy -- The Lunatic Primogen of London
-- Lachlan Bone -- Lone Malkavian resident and sworn vassal to the Baroness of Newcastle: Helen Stuart. Redcar,
England
-- Nikolo Badeni -- Seneschal of Zagreb
-- Cedilia of the Tongue -- Infernalist, High Priestess of Bothothel
-- Gitta Wörnhör -- Resident lunatic of Dresden.
-- Ouroboros -- Lunatic of the Phoenix Society, wanderer.
-- Barnabus Rollins - Bodyguard to Prince Thorton Bryant, Knight of the World Tree, and childe of Keller Williams.
Kingston upon Hull, England

96
Nosferatu

97
The most visibly cursed of all Kindred, the Embrace warps each Nosferatu into a hideously deformed creature. The
archetypal Nosferatu resembles Max Shreck's Count Orlok, though the curse has any number of variations. The
Nosferatu are the spymasters of the dead, collecting information and selling it for a dear price. They are also the
masters of the underground, living in the sewers for protection.

Nicknames
The Clan of the Hidden, Sewer Rats, Lepers (archaic), Priors,
Crawlers (Renaissance), Nossies

Antediluvian
Absimiliard

Faction
Camarilla

Disciplines
Primary: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence
Secondary: Auspex, Protean

Organization
For the Nosferatu it is always the clan above all. They are tight knit group of Kindred, respectful of their elder,
obeying their orders and judgement. On the other side, they function as a spy organization, gathering intel and
selling it to the highest bidder, with a specific role for every Nosferatu in the process of getting information.
Occasionally, a coterie of Nosferatu becomes a brood or cult, often based around a remote warren. These can sprawl
into vast “kingdoms” of Sewer Rats, who often exist without the knowledge of a domain’s Prince or Archbishop. The
Nosferatu are among the Kindred most likely to share a communal haven, if only for protection in numbers. As well,
Nosferatu share information with each other via networks — whether digital, personal, occult, or something less
definable — that defy the comprehension of other Kindred.

Haven
Nosferatu Kindred often make their havens far from the scorn and spite of other vampires. Whether they construct
warrens in the sewers suggested by their nickname or they sculpt a sprawling nightmare-nest in the spire of a
condemned church, Sewer Rats value secrecy and distance from rivals in their havens. Nosferatu of humbler means
may squat in an abandoned tenement or a disused alley. So long as it’s away from other Kindred, it’s a good haven.

Background
The Nosferatu tend to embrace two classes of people: first are those for whom the Embrace is a step up, such as the
homeless, the hopelessly antisocial, derelicts, the mentally ill, the emotionally damaged, the flawed, vagrants or
other people at the bottom of the totem pole, often out of a feeling of kinship with them. The second class are those
for whom the Embrace is a step down, such as beauty queens or people from privileged backgrounds. Nosferatu are
notorious for revenge Embraces, and the resulting Cleopatras often lead miserable lives within the clan.

Appearance
Physical horror is the lot of the Nosferatu, and their unsettling deformations are countless. No two Nosferatu share
the exact same malformation, and the Clan is a freakshow of snarled limbs, fanged protrusions, hellish
countenances, serpentine spines, ruined faces, spasmodic appendages, and even features not usually seen on the
mortal stock from which the Nosferatu are drawn. The Sewer Rats often hide these disfigurements under shapeless
robes and rags, but some exult in the discomfort their presence causes, and don’t bother disguising them. They may
even emphasize them.

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Weakness
Monstrous Visage: Hideous and vile, all Nosferatu count as having the Appearance (Hideous), and can never increase
their rating in appearance. This disadvantage doesn’t count towards his total point limitation at character creation.
In addition, while disguising his looks with the help of Obfuscate as non-deformed, the vampire incurs a -2 penalty to
all skills due to the distraction of not being themselves. However, most Nosferatu do not break the Masquerade by
just being seen as their hideousness is still acceptable and plausible rather than supernatural.

History
As with all of the Antediluvians, the Nosferatu Antediluvian (referred to as Absimiliard) was Embraced in the shadow
of Enoch. Powerful and vain, Absimiliard was a hunter of great skill and beauty who attracted the attention of one of
the second generation, who stalked him down as prey. The Embrace was quick, but left him with a tiny facial scar
that inflamed his vanity. His wounded pride, coupled with his ego, led him to resent, then hate, then kill his sire,
precipitating the revolt by the Antediluvians.

As with his brethren, Absimiliard had sired a small clique of childer by the time of the Second City. His childer,
hunters all, remained loyal to him except for one woman who fled further than he could chase. When Caine returned
in judgment, he cursed Nosferatu with hideousness, a curse passed to all his descendants, including the hidden
maid. Since that time, Absimiliard's eldest descendants, the Nictuku, have chased her. The maiden came to be
known as the Matriarch for according to legends, she gave birth to the entire modern incarnation of the Nosferatu
clan. Through his loyal Nictuku, Absimiliard hopes to exterminate all of the Matriarch's childer in atonement for his
crimes against the laws of Caine – or in bitter vengeance, some would say.

In the beginning, most Nosferatu resorted to hunt humans as prey, as they were unable to coexist with them in their
cities, as the mortals either ran away in fear or resorted to fire and violence to drive them out. Most hid from the sun
in subterranean caves or in the grounds of rivers and lakes. Many Nosferatu hid in the great rivers like the Tigris or
the Nile to prey on farmers at night. The development of the catacombs in ancient Rome connected the Clan with
mortal society, although they were regarded as low-blooded by the ruling Ventrue and Malkavians. Rumors,
however, tell of the dyulamansa, the Hidden Kings, who ruled Nosferatu Kingdoms in sub-Saharan Africa. This may
refer to the Guruhi.

Dark Ages

In the middle age, Nosferatu were one of the Low Clans, and notable in particular for their embrace of Christianity
and redemption (flagellation in particular). They were, however, not without power, as they had discovered the
connection between human waste and plagues and used it to defile the water sources of a village if a local Cainite
lord became too arrogant. Many Nosferatu chose to dwell among the beggars and outcasts of society, feeding from
the muck of society and hiding their disfigurements as illnesses like leprosy.

The Nosferatu did effectively split during the formation of the Sabbat; however, Nosferatu antitribu are largely
identical to their Camarilla kin. Nosferatu tend to place a higher emphasis on clan unity and mutual survival, and are
consequently fairly cordial with each other even though technically enemies.
Renaissance

During this period the Nosferatu began to construct their urban lairs, using the urbanization as a means to disappear
from the mortal world to ensure the protection of the Masquerade. Many ghettos and tenements housed large
populations of Nosferatu that lived hidden from the views of the Toreador and Ventrue who had instituted
themselves into mortal society. The Renaissance also saw an increase in Embraces that had only spite and hatred as
reasons, as many Nosferatu grew to resent the new arts and philosophies that began to develop.

With the start of European colonization of the Americas, the 1600s brought the revelation that many Nosferatu had
been living in North America alongside the indigenous peoples for thousands of years. These "manitou" as they
called themselves lived as solitary hunters in the night, accepting sacrifices from human clans to forestall their wrath,
and were strong practitioners of Animalism. The manitou were largely wiped out or assimilated by the European
Nosferatu.

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Victorian Age

The Nosferatu were very (some would say suspiciously so) quiet during the Victorian Era. In a time when physical
beauty was supposed to reflect spiritual beauty, the Nosferatu experienced one of the greatest periods of exile in
their long and lonely history. Where the Toreador were ascendant, the Nosferatu were relegated to the slums and
ghettos of Europe. More than one Prince of London banned them from entering Elysium.

So, instead of parading around the brightly-lit mansions of the wealthy and noble, the Nosferatu scuttled around the
back alleys of London, taking over derelict buildings and, yes, the sewers. The banks of the Thames were downright
infested with Nosferatu, for the river was a convenient way to cross the city without being seen. The Nosferatu also
lived in what was termed "the Thieves' Citadel", which was the name given to high-crime areas of London. These
zones tended to be self-contained both culturally and architecturally – the Nosferatu ensured that they controlled
how and when new construction went on in these zones for their own protection and that of their herd.

Modern Nights

In the modern nights, the Nosferatu feel their Antediluvian metaphorically breathing down the back of their necks.
Technically savvy, the Sewer Rats adopt every technique they can to protect themselves, encouraging the fears
evoked during the Cold War to use many of the now deserted bunker systems as supplements for their own warrens.
Most notably, the Nosferatu developed an information sharing network – ShreckNET, a parallel internet that the
Nosferatu used to enhance their traditional information gathering and reporting skills.

The most terrifying and unique event in the early 1990s was the rise of the Shadow Curtain in Russia, a mystical
barrier that separated the vampires of the former Soviet Union from the rest of the world. The Shadow Curtain
eventually was revealed as the product of Baba Yaga, a fourth generation Nosferatu of almost incalculable power.
Most frightening of all was not the witch, however, but her demise. In the late 1990s, Baba Yaga was destroyed by a
Nictuku.

in 2004, the NSA compromised ShreckNet, the information they gathered from
it contributing to what would become known as the Second Inquisition. After
this new Inquisition started cutting a swathe through Kindred society in 2007-
2008, the Camarilla ordered the Wipe; older Nosferatu hackers dismantled
ShreckNET's servers, beginning the removal of as much Kindred
communication as possible from the Web. Although they took a hit to their
credibility and lost many clan members, the Nosferatu still remain a significant
presence in Kindred society.

Organization
Nosferatu are generally organized into broods; communities centrally located
around a sewer system and serving as underground cities which may house
dozens of their kind. Nosferatu are stereotyped as ugly on the outside,
humane on the inside - this is not entirely true. There are many Nosferatu who
never leave the sewers, the Nosferatu make a habit of sending their friendliest
to communicate with the rest of the Camarilla.

Nosferatu strongly stress clan loyalty over almost everything else. Given their
hideous appearance, they depend heavily on clan support structures for
everything from havens to food. Broods are generally gerontocratic, with the
eldest Nosferatu setting policy and guiding the youngest. Most Nosferatu can
acquire jobs within their clan, including assisting on construction or other
survival projects. Most Nosferatu are inculcated with a survivalist mentality
and increasing the strength of their havens is a constant preoccupation. The Nosferatu also use ghouled animals as
defenses and have created Spawning pools, which are tainted by their vitae and turn, over the course of many years,
every animal that drinks from them into a monstrous creature loyal only to the brood.

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Nosferatu antitribu

Nicknames
Creeps/ Critters / Sewer Rats
Faction
Sabbat

There is no real difference between the Sabbat Nosferatu and their Camarilla
cousins: to the Nosferatu, clan loyalty trumps sect loyalty any night of the week.

Ironically, or perhaps because of their disfigurements, the Nosferatu antitribu are

perhaps the most humane (if not human) of the Sabbat clans. Having transcended the need for ostentatious
brutality, the Creeps have come to grips with their monstrosity. They do not caper in blood or senselessly slaughter
mobs of kine; rather, a Nosferatu antitribu's every move is one of calculated precision, designed to get the exact
response she seeks, whether that be respect, fear or understanding. Many young Sabbat consider the Nosferatu
antitribu soft – until they step into the sewers and see the true malice of the Creeps' black souls. Many antitribu also
have a pathological fear of their own Antediluvian and the desire to prepare for the last stand against him is one of
the main reasons Nosferatu desert the Camarilla and join the Sabbat.

Culture
In both the Camarilla and Sabbat, the Nosferatu are famous information brokers and spymasters. While this is partly
supported by their use of the Obfuscate and Animalism disciplines, the Nosferatu also emphasize information
interchange as part of clan culture. Nosferatu invest an awful lot in teaching their childer with riddle games,
memorization exercises and other activities which emphasize sharing and hiding information. Most Nosferatu tend
to present themselves as antisocial creatures and as they seldom play the games of Elysium, instead focusing on the
acquisition of knowledge to make themselves irreplaceable for vampiric society.

The Nosferatu have a deeply ingrained complex about physical beauty, especially with clans like the Toreador.
Nosferatu will tend to charge Toreador higher prices, and make the higher clans crawl through humiliating or
disgusting tunnels to actually negotiate with them. Similarly, Nosferatu will often accentuate their hideousness by
cultivating an array of disgusting physical habits. Some of the Nosferatu who dwell underground can develop a
penchant for bizarre forms of art, in particular for music, gardening and sculpture. Rumors tell of the development of
acoustic subterranean chambers – some of which employ channeled water, and of fantastical gardens with fungi the
size of trees. The greatest work of Nosferatu art is the Escalera, a giant sculpture of twisted metal and piping that
spans an underground chasm in Lima. On several cases where Nosferatu have embraced a caitiff, the childe has been
exiled or killed. Nosferatu also tend to use Obfuscate for practical jokes involving their appearance, such as dropping
a discipline's use for a brief instant and revelling in the effects.

The most bizarre relationships can occur between Nosferatu and mortals. Even the most hard-bitten Nosferatu may
discover a weakness for a certain human or types of humans. Living as they do in places many would consider to be
Hell, there is a long tradition of the Nosferatu offering help to others like them. There are many, many cases of cruel
Kindred preying on homeless people, children or mental patients who have inexplicably been beaten black and blue
and left somewhere as a warning to others. Cliché as it may be, many orphanages, scholarships and self-help
organisations owe at least part of their funding to the Sewer Rats. Living in the gutter, there are a lot of Nosferatu
who want to help those who still can get out of it. Unlike the Toreador and the Ventrue, they seldom if ever brag
about their accomplishments, and most outside the clan are unaware of them.

Embraces

The Embrace of the Nosferatu is especially painful, as the body warps and twists as the blood creates a new vampire.
The chance of a Nosferatu dying in the process of the Embrace is higher than in other Clans and many emerge as
simple brutes, their brains damaged and incapable of higher thought or basic survival skills. For these reasons, some
elders of the medieval world use the Embrace by a Nosferatu as a punishment for disobedient ghouls. Rumors tell

101
that those poor souls are most often killed directly by their own sire to spare them an eternity of pain and misery,
but that some instead resort on hiding their childer and trying to feed and care for them.

Each Nosferatu is disfigured in a unique way that make each of them unbearable. Rare breeds of Nosferatu that have
often geographical connections, however, tend to develop similar disfigurements, creating differents stocks of the
Clan that come and go as time develops. Example for this are the Greek Larvae, who were said to burrow through
soft rock with their teeth and to feed on their victims through strange serrated proboscises, the German Volsi, who
were bog-dwelling giants and cannibals, the French Parisii, who have near translucent skin, and the Turkish
Lazarenes, whose disfigurements are similar to those of leprosy. Many others are rumored to have existed once and
have vanished with the Clan's focus on the sewer systems of major cities.

Due to their inherent clan weakness, all Nosferatu have Appearance (Hideous). They may not improve Appearance
with character points. Most social actions and reactions based on first impressions, except intimidation and the like,
have severe penalties.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Absimiliard --

4th Generation
-- Babba Yaga -- The "Little Mother"
-- Medusa --The Gorgon, The Matriarch
-- Melachoate -- Sire of Androvikas

5th Generation
-- Androvikas -- Child of Melanchoate, Sire of Rasalon
-- Angiwar
-- Avetis Vardanis
-- Elexius
-- Nsia Despina -- North African vampire, unknown Sire
-- Urghalt -- Killed by Varros Dominus before 1 A.D.
-- Varros Dominus -- Ancient Computer Lord of Paris, Childe of Urghalt, Sire of Fra'Gerard

6th Generation
-- Aine -- Progeny of Bhallaire. She diablerised her own sire. Sire of Torcuil Mac an tSaoir. (Scotch legend)
-- Dondinni -- Monitor of Genoa Inconnu
-- Drasko Radic -- Nosferatu Elder from Frankfurt
-- Fionnaghal -- Progeny of Bhallaire. Nosferatu Elder of Glasgow, Scotland.
-- Fra'Gerard -- Nosferatu Primogen of Paris
-- Kothar -- Sire of Ephraim. Leader of the Nosferatu network in Jerusalem -- medieval.
-- Khalid al-Rashid -- Primogen of Chicago. Progeny of Elexius
-- Rasalon -- Ambassador from Jerusalem
-- Richard de Worde -- Sire to Harold Tanner, was 7th Generation before diablery.
-- Thaddeus -- Penitent Roman Methuselah
-- Tormod Swenhaugen -- Progeny of Avedis Vardanis

7th Generation
-- Al Mills --
-- Don Carlos -- Nosferatu Primogen of Houston.
-- Ephraim -- Progeny of Kothar and sire of Hannah. Nosferatu Primogen of Jerusalem.
-- Fra'Gerard -- Primogen of the Sewer Rats of Paris
-- Richard de Worde -- Former spymaster of Avalon.
-- Stanford Warwick -- Progeny of Powell. Sire of Lawrence Meeks and Kurt Densch. Providence, Rhode Island.
-- Hans Schultz -- Sewer Rat Elder of Frankfurt and sire of: Adair, Althea, Jane, Roger.

102
 -- Zelios Faber -- Master Mason -- Progeny of Hannibal and sire of Marusca.
-- Torcuil Mac an tSaoir -- 17th century Nosferaru Deceased: May of 2012 - Killed in Combat by Baron O'Reilly

8th Generation
-- Adair Simpkin -- Embraced Circa 1915 -- Sire ? -- Originally from Kentucky and fought in WWI.
-- Alexander Klininger -- Sire to Violet Mary.
-- Althea Carine Keefe -- Underground Chemist and would be Alchemist.
-- Blind Peter -- Humane Nosferatu who ran from London after siring progeny without permission.
Sire to Rathe Haversham
-- Citrine Greene -- Baroness of Lincolnshire and Prince of Nottingham. Childe of Richard de Worde.
-- Fra'Raymond -- Sewer Rat Elder and Whip to the Noferatu Primogen. Paris
-- Hannah -- Progeny of Ephraim. Pilgrim on the Bitter Journey. Her last missive to the vampires of Jerusalem was
received in 1399. Jerusalem.
-- Harold Tanner -- Primogen of London and Chronicler of Avalon. Childe of Richard de Worde.
-- Jane Marriette Tholberg -- American heiress and woman of international intrigue.
-- Nathaniel -- Sewer Rat of Chicago
-- Roger Sinclair -- Embraced Circa 1918 -- Sire ? -- From Indiana and fought in WWI

9th Generation
-- Avery Meeks -- Primogen Sewer-rat Orphan, New Orleans
-- Finola Hume -- Sire of Samuel Faucheux and resident Sewer Rat of Baton Rouge.
-- Harold Tanner -- Primogen of 1900 London. Childe of Richard de Worde
-- Margaux Latour -- Sewer Rat Elder of Paris.
-- Martin Meeks -- Head of Prince Marcel's Spy Network -- New Orleans
-- Rathe Haversham -- Prince "Fagin" of London - Pax Britannica, Childe to Blind Peter
-- Roger Meeks -- Confederate Spy & Mercenary Information Broker -- New Orleans
-- Rikko -- Primogen of Leeds. Childe of Citrine Green.

10th Generation
-- Samuel Faucheux -- Progeny of Finola Hume and recent emigre from Baton Rouge to Quebec City.
-- Francach -- Reprobate freak of Glasgow.
-- Gracy Pettingill -- Sire of Hammond Leads, Cleopatra of Memphis
-- Orson Morris -- Animal trainer and vampiric warrior of London.
-- Petit Lard -- Progeny of Margaux Latour and sire of Lilianne Le Parisian. Primogen of Sewer Rats in Quebec City.

11th Generation
-- Hammond Leads -- Progeny of Gracy Pettingill
-- Lilianne Le Parisian -- Progeny of Petit Lard. Quebec City
-- Sylvester Mahoney -- Dog breeder and veterinarian. Childe of Orson Morris. London.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Harold Tanner -- The Nosferatu Primogen & Leper Archivist
-- Hex -- Cyber-terrorist for Hire
-- Prudence Stone -- Boston Sewer Rat
-- Rathe Haversham -- Prince of the Poor
-- Skreed -- Sewer-Rat Reprobate
-- Violet Mary -- The Hidden Harpy
-- Pai Celio -- Leper Priest of Rio de Janeiro
-- Orson Morris -- Animal trainer and Hero of Avalon, Kingston upon Hull, England
-- Sylvester Mahoney -- Fledgling Childe of Orson Morris, Kingston upon Hull, England

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Ravnos

104
The Ravnos move like the rumors that surround them. They are the thief in the night, the raksha chased by the wind,
the nightmare-dream too fearful to be real. Whether associated with the Romani folk of Europe or the grave-robbing
ghûl of Western Asia, Kindred society burdens the Ravnos with prejudices of foulness, uncleanliness, and
wickedness.
Known as wandering tricksters, mystics, and vagabonds, the Ravnos are incurable daredevils who gleefully pursue
the art of unliving dangerously. Nobody in the west understood the old Ravnos, and now it is far too late to do so, as
Zapathasura rose from his slumber in the Week of Nightmares; and in his death
throes, wiped out nearly all of his clan. The remaining few were left without any
connection to their true heritage and history, and have been forced to rewrite it
themselves. But if they did not wander before, they no longer have any choice
but to; or else they will meet the same fate as their progenitor.

Nicknames
Rogues, Ravens, Daredevils, The Haunted, Gypsies, Criminals, Deceivers,
Charlatans, Shapers, Seekers, Unwelcome, Hundred-Mask Clowns

Antediluvian
Zapathasura

Faction
Independent

Disciplines
Primary: Animalism, Fortitude, Chimerstry
Secondary: Sadhana, Auspex

Organization
The Ravnos are a far-flung Clan, with little to unite them and an open acknowledgement that each Deceiver looks
after his own interests first. That said, Ravnos often like to make a great show of Clan camaraderie and cultural
ritual, even though they know that promises made to one another are as fleeting as whispers on a night wind.
Deceivers have been known to ally against common enemies such as tyrant Princes or Sabbat pogroms, but these
alliances quickly fade once the threat no longer exists.

Haven
Many Ravnos take to the road instead of establishing permanent havens, dwelling temporarily among itinerant
communities, at roadside rest stops, or even in vehicles. When a Deceiver does put down roots in a domain, his
permanent haven is often away from high-profile Kindred territories. Havens in ethnic ghettos, industrial outskirts,
and isolated geography are safest and most easily cultivated for the Ravnos.

Background
The Ravnos are scattered and suspicious, and those childer who don’t have the tendency toward self-sufficiency
don’t last long. In many cases, a Ravnos will either never sire, or sire for companionship or safety, with little concern
for how well a childe will fare as a vampire. Ravnos rarely seek out childer actively, instead drawing from those
whose paths they cross on any given night. As such, the hardluck drifter reputation tends to follow the Deceivers.

Appearance
Young Ravnos often come from Eastern European Romani stock, with a relative paucity of “non-gypsy” gadje in the
ranks. What few elders of the Clan may remain are presumed to come from Indian or Middle Eastern origins. Given
that the Clan is widely spread and holds no traditional central domain, no consistent look can be said to be
predominant, and any mendicant Kindred might be of Ravnos origin.

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Weakness
Criminal Beast: Due to their inherent clan weakness, each Ravnos has a specific vice ranging from plagiarism to
hacking. When the opportunity to indulge that vice is present,
Ravnos must take the Compulsive Behavior disadvantage worth at least -10 points towards some specific sort of
criminal behavior which they will indulge in at every opportunity. They seldom, however, include violent crimes (like
those committed by individuals with Sadism or Pyromnnia). Their compulsions can range from beneficial ones
(defending innocents or donating to the poor) to criminal ones (drug dealing, prostitution, thievery, forging or
cheating at gambling). Ravnos must succeed in a Self-Control check to avoid indulging it, they get a -2 penalty to the
roll for their specific vice. This disadvantage doesn’t count towards his total point limitation at character creation.

History
Noddists say that in Enoch, Irad Embraced a thief named Dracian, to spy on the Third Generation. Dracian
immediately betrayed his sire to the other Antediluvians, leading to the end of the Second Generation. However, the
Ravnos claim a richer prehistory, recorded in the Karavalanisha Vrana, "The Wounds of the Night's Sword". This epic
poem details how angelic beings (probably Kuei-jin) betrayed their original purpose and became blood-drinking
demons; to balance them out, the Gods brought back to life a man who had been wronged by these asuratziyya
more than any other. This creature, named Zapathasura, was charged by the Gods to exterminate the asuratziyya
and restore balance to the world.

In his quest for vengeance, Zapathasura Embraced five childer: Marizhavashti Kali, a seer; the Rakshasa, a
shapeshifter; Chandraputra, a military leader; Ravana, who betrayed Zapathasura and may be the Yama King of the
same name; and Ramessu, who served as an internal policeman for Zapathasura's war. These five methuselahs are
the ancestors of all other Ravnos. They served Zapathasura for centuries in prehistoric India until they wearied of
their sire's endless war and slaughter, abandoning him to his own devices as time passed. Ravnos eventually fell into
torpor and the clan restructured.

The majority of the elders left India for the west, while Chandraputra remained in the subcontinent and reordered
the clan along a more caste-oriented society. This culture faced two invasions around the time of Alexander the
Great – western vampires following the conqueror, and Kuei-Jin on a crusade from China.

At this time, Ravnos society diverged. The Ravnos heading towards the west began to deviate from the philosophy of
Zapathasura, eventually creating what would become known as the Path of Paradox. Meanwhile, the Indian Ravnos
split into castes in a fashion similar to the Assamites, with multiple Jati fulfilling different roles in the war against the
Wan Kuei.

Dark Ages

Ravnos society in the Dark Ages was influenced by two phenomena: the continuing degeneration of western Ravnos
from the Path of Paradox, and the influx of Indian Ravnos following the Rroma.

The Path of Paradox is a degenerate form of the Mayaparisatya, the classic path as followed in India. Sybaritic Roman
Ravnos changed the path into a license for self-interest and wanton diableries without following the original tenets.
This form eventually became the standard path of the western clan, while the eastern path remained in India. The
path of paradox and the associated culture of the clan led to the low reputation that the Ravnos had throughout
Europe.

Meanwhile, unknown to the other clans, Ravnos arrived with the Rroma; these Ravnos were chandalas, almost the
Ravnos equivalent of Caitiff, but still felt superior to their mongrel cousins. The cultural interchange (with knives)
that followed led to a predominance of eastern Ravnos in the western clan. As time passed, the Rroma Ravnos
became the stereotypical Ravnos in the minds of western Kindred, and the Path of Paradox became the standard
path for western Ravnos. By the 15th century, western Ravnos were stereotypically seen as Gypsies, degenerate, and
vermin.

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Victorian Age

During this period, the Camarilla learned that not all Ravnos were Gypsies and that they were a formidable force in
India. This discovery, of course, changed nothing in the way Western Ravnos were treated and seen in Camarilla
society. Contributing to this, many Ravnos saw the harsh and strict Victorian taboos and rules as obstacles and
constantly attacked and overstepped them in order to further destabilize the establishment. Many also used the
blossoming interest in occultism and mysticism in order to trick and fool other Kindred and mortals alike with "long-
forgotten secrets" and therelike.

Modern Nights

For the Ravnos, the Final Nights were just that. The entire history of the clan pivots around the Week of Nightmares.
In the 1990s, the cold war between the Kuei-Jin of the Infinite Thunders Court and the Ravnos of India heated up.
The Ravnos eventually took a page from the Sabbat playbook and began mass-Embracing candidates, sending armies
of neonates to be slaughtered by the Wan Kuei. The psychic backlash from these deaths reverberated up the
lineages of the Ravnos, eventually waking Methuselahs who joined the fight, only to result in the eventual
awakening of Zapathasura himself in 1999.

Zapathasura broke his fast on his own clan, then proceeded to attack everything in sight, including most of
Bangladesh. His exact motivations were never clear, because by the time the dust settled, three Bodhisattvas,
several packs of Garou, uncounted mortals and an awful lot of Technocracy ammunition had barely been able to
stop the Antediluvian. With his dying curse, Zapathasura set off a psychic bomb within his own clan, resulting in the
Ravnos devouring each other in a cannibalistic frenzy.

Most outsiders were aware only that the Ravnos spontaneously developed incredible powers of Chimerstry for
about a week, then proceeded to attack and devour each other. By the time the Week of Nightmares ended, there
were perhaps 100 Ravnos still this side of Final Death, and none of them was of significant generation or power.
With their ranks significantly depleted and weakened, the surviving Ravnos of India sought shelter by other Indian
Kindred in order to avoid what would have otherwise been the finishing blow from their Bijali enemies of the Infinite
Thunders Court.

The Ravnos of the early 21st century are an endangered species trying to outpace their own ultimate doom. Now
cursed to wander without being able to settle roots like others, those who managed to survive the fateful encounter
with their Antediluvian just a few decades ago now (or managed to avoid his call altogether) have with their childer
started a revival of the Clan by taking to their nomadic roots in earnest, using their experience to stay ahead of the
new threats to Kindred existence. Some fight the curse by setting up multiple havens and using different masks in a
single domain, but it is difficult work to maintain for long before something goes wrong for them.

Organization
Before the Week of Nightmares, the Ravnos were broken into western and eastern divisions. Western Ravnos are
largely individuals without larger clan loyalties outside of perhaps tribal (and Rroma loyalties).
Eastern Ravnos have their own caste system, developed from the lineages that descended from Zapathasura. These
Jati are effectively bloodlines with the clan:

• The priests of the Indian Ravnos were the Brahmin, who maintain mayaparisatya and advise the other castes.
The Brahmin replace Fortitude with Auspex, and many learn Sadhana. The Western cousins of this caste, the
Phuri Dae, are treated as a distinct bloodline due to their variant clan Disciplines.
• The Kshatriya were the military leaders of the Ravnos and ran the war against the asuratizayya.
• Vaisyas maintained the equivalent of a Masquerade in India and also managed mortal resources. The Vaisyas
were effectively a military manager caste.
• Chandalas were the Ravnos equivalent of Caitiff; and Caitiff in India were automatically classified as Chandalas.
Demotion to Chandala status was a common punishment for heresy.

These Jati are directly related to the Jāti of Hindu society, with the equivalent of the Shudra caste being ghouls.

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Since the Week of Nightmares, the Ravnos do not have much in the way of a clan organization, but more
communally-minded members of the clan have established their own system of tradecraft in order to communicate
and organize meetings.

Bay't Mujrim

Nicknames
Charlatans
Faction
Independent

Bay't Mujrim is the Arabian term for the Clan of Deceivers (Mujrim literally means "Criminal"). They were no more
welcome in the Islamic world as their vices lead them into many unwelcome confrontations with the Ashirra.

The Mujrim were mainly of three jati: Alexandrite, Bashirite, and Roma. While the Alexandrites managed to conduct
themselves honorably, but were focused on mundane matters. The Bashirites worked well together with the Ashirra
authorities, thanks to their shared monotheistic faith. Romani Ravnos, on the other hand, were regarded as
troublemakers and plagues.

Phuri Dae

Nicknames
Brahmin
Faction
Independent

The Phuri Dae are the only remaining caste of the Ravnos. Claiming descent from the Roma, the Phuri Dae (literally
"Old Mother") are renowned seers and lorekeepers within the clan. The Phuri Dae use the Discipline of Auspex
instead of Fortitude. The Indian branch of this bloodline are thaumaturges known as the Brahmin in the caste system
of that region's Ravnos, practicing the Blood Sorcery form known as Sadhana.

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Ravnos antitribu

Nicknames
Rogues
Faction
Sabbat

The Ravnos antitribu is possibly the least "anti" as antitribu goes. They, too,
revel in trickery and deceit. They too want to wander as they please, often
joining nomadic packs. Sect notwithstanding, the Ravnos antitribu have a
traditional code of conduct for dealing with their clanmates. This code may
be difficult for those outside the clan to follow, but nonetheless, a Ravnos'
word to his pack is the law. They follow the "spit and shake" rule of all
Ravnos on verbal agreements, but the Rogues take this one step further. If
a Sabbat member wants an agreement in writing, it will be signed in blood, the pen dipped in an open wound on the
Ravnos' own arm. This binding in blood is as strong as the Vaulderie to the Sabbat Ravnos, and it can be broken only
by Final Death. Violating the code costs the perpetrator a considerable loss of face with other Ravnos, which has
been adopted by the sect at large. Few Sabbat Ravnos feel comfortable giving this guarantee to Sabbat members
outside their clan, and most do get quite indignant should the other party suggest it.

In the Final Nights, the antitribu suffered the least of all branches of the clan, as many travelled in packs with various
members of other Clans and could be put down by their packmates until their apocalyptic rages had died down.

Other Ravnos branches:

• Alexandrites - A branch that originated with the descendants of Ramessu. They were initially native to Egypt, and
were noted as being extraordinarily formal in matters of Cainite etiquette. Rumors also tell that they believed
that Akhenaten was their founder, cursed by the gods for revering the sun over everything else with never being
able to see daylight.
• Bashirites - A branch that originated in a Ravnos known as Bashir. They believed in a combination of Christian
doctrine and the tenets of the false Path of Paradox, and saw themselves as harbingers of the Apocalypse. They
believed that Judas was the first of their kind, cursed by God for his betrayal with eternal wandering. Many of
them later joined the antitribu.
• Kalderash - A small family of traders that has insinuated itself into the Middle Kingdom and has managed to
avoid clashes with the Kuei-jin.
• Phaedymites - A branch of chivalric Ravnos originating in the methuselah Phaedyme. The Phaedymites tried to
manage to control the urges of their Beast and served mainly as couriers. Furthermore, they were sworn
enemies of the Sybarites
• Rroma (also called Phralmulo) - The stereotypical Gypsies, the Rroma became the greatest of these branches and
the most present until the Week of Nightmares hit them. They had very close ties to their mortal families and
usually travelled with them. They claimed that Caine (whom they call Kaen), Embraced Ravnos as an act of
kindness after he had left Cainite society, because Ravnos's father Tshurka had bidden him to accompany him.
Ravnos, in turn, Embraced much of his family at the behest of his prophetic sister Laetshi. Many claim that Caine
forgave them their sins for this act of kindness and they are free to lie and steal as they see fit. Other stories
trace them back to the husband of Daenna, the mother of Gypsies, who was eventually killed by a vampire and
his blood was given to young man named Ravnos. During the Holocaust, this branch suffered extremely. Today,
they are nearly extinct because of their proximity to other Ravnos when they fell into the cannibalistic Frenzy
that destroyed them.
• Sybarites - Decadents that first arose in the days of ancient Rome, these Ravnos are responsible for the
corruption of the original path of Paradox and their excesses were one of the main reasons that the Clan was
regarded as better criminals.
• Yoryari - The Yoryari were a small splinter group of the Sybarites who are said to have founded a number of now
forgotten philosophical variants on the false Path of Paradox, namely a belief that the primordial energy of
change (weig) is held in all things, and that it needs to be released in order to transform reality.

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Culture
Western Ravnos, historically connected with the oppressed Rroma, maintained a strong sense of clan solidarity for a
very long time. The most common manifestation of this solidarity was through a form of retaliation called "The
Treatment". The Treatment was a vengeance attack where a mistreated Ravnos would contact fellows in the clan,
who would then swarm upon the city where the original Ravnos was victimized. In general, a dozen Ravnos running
amok could bring even the most experienced Prince to the brink, and well-placed exaggerations about the impact of
the Treatment was the main weapon the Ravnos used to squeeze out what place they did have in Western society.

Past that, Ravnos culture was dominated by its religious role; the greatest division between Indian and Western
Ravnos being the differences between mayapisatya and the Path of Paradox. In 1998, Ravnos elders began to
"educate" (with knives) their heretical cousins, setting the clan back on the straight and narrow.

In India, the Ravnos dominated the continent, probably the largest concentration of a single clan in one country. In
several ways, the Ravnos paralleled the Assamites – both clans had a caste system invisible to outsiders, and both
clans were defined by a military role.

Embraces

As with everything else in the clan, Embraces differed between Indian and Western Ravnos. Western Ravnos
generally embraced only Gypsies (with the exception of the Ravnos antitribu who were noted for embracing gorgios)
and generally embraced for any reason. Indian Ravnos viewed the Embrace as a means to fulfilling the fledgling's
svadharma. In India, one's Jāti in life also defined one's Jati in undeath.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Zapathasura

4th Generation
-- Chandraputo
-- Hazimel
-- Marizhavashti Kali (Black Mother)
-- Rakshasa
-- Ramessu
-- Ravana
-- Rodina
-- Sharilla
-- Smenkhara

5th Generation
-- Ankla Hotep
-- Bashir
-- Dimitri
-- Karmenita Yoyari
-- Margali -- The Wanderer
-- Phaedyme
-- Veistgeir -- One of the Sabbat's primary philosophers - antitribu
-- Vladovos

6th Generation
-- Alexis -- alias (Danya), Progeny of Dimitri and Anathema.
-- Carlos
-- Durga Syn -- Ravnos wise-woman and staunch enemy of Baba Yaga.
-- Elena

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 -- Gabrin -- Conspirator of Issac. Imprisoned for the last 600 years.
-- Iago Castille
-- Irendo Torenu -- Sire of Izydor Torenu.
-- Madame Eva -- Sire of Girard D'Anjou (deceased)
-- Madame Mina the Vadoma
-- Marcia Felicia Licinia -- Progeny of Phaedyme. Sire of Hector.
-- Sallam -- Progeny of Bashir. Sire of Es'kut (478).
-- Varshik

7th Generation
-- Girard D'Anjou -- Ravnos antitribu pack leader
-- Senser -- Sire of Vassily Taltos (1145).
-- Petsha Petulengro -- Black Marketeer, Thief, and Agent Provocateur

8th Generation
-- Vassily Taltos -- The diplomatic advisor and spy-master. Progeny of Senser and Sire of of Vladislav Taltos (1362).

9th Generation
-- Callirus -- was a famous Ravnos of the Roma string of the Clan. Although he was not born a Roma, he became
soon one of the most distinguished members of this line.
-- Ghivran Dalaal -- is the leader and object of worship of the Cult of the Dead God. He is known for his cruelty and
his callous disregard for human morality.
-- Master Jacopo -- Sire of Hugo Satrix.
-- Vladislav Taltos -- Childe of Vassily Taltos and Sire of Ezmeralda the Gadfly.

10th Generation
-- Cairo the Lost Knight -- Infernally Enslaved Sabbat Inquisitor
-- Dhita Choudhair -- Ravnos Envoy from New Delhi to London
-- Ezmeralda the Gadfly -- Ravnos resident of Sofia, Bulgaria
-- Gharston Roland -- Ravnos antitribu of the Lost Angels Pack of Montreal
-- Hugo Satrix -- Progeny of Master Jacopo -- Neonate & Master Pick-pocket Rio de Janeiro

11th Generation
-- Ludovico Tamboia -- Ravnos antitribu childe of Gharston Roland, member of the Lost Angels Pack of Montreal

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Albus Le Pus -- Jongleur Extraordinaire. Ravnos

Toreador

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112
From the Toreador perspective, when the sun fades, darkness gives
rise to an eternal and wondrous world. Everything is fraught with
wonder and terror, low politics and sensual glories, the profound and
the profane, and an undeniable undercurrent of the sanguinary. These
Kindred are the Toreador, and they spend unlives ensconced in
pleasure.
Of course, for vampires of this disposition, it’s easy to become jaded
and bitter. More than the other Clans, Toreador often succumb to
ennui, or fight the eventual boredom of unchanging immortality by
playing at rivalries. An excess of stimulation turns them into slaves to
the sensations they seek. The most debased Toreador can become
true monsters, sinking to unimaginable levels of depravity in order to
feel anything at all.
The Kindred of Clan Toreador often involve themselves greatly in the world of mortals. They have any number of
reasons, whether enjoying proximity to the blush of life, cultivating veritable cults of doting followers, or influencing
and following the trends that their own kind simultaneously mock and venerate. To hear the Toreador tell it, they
are the Muses of a desperate mortal world, inspiring through their beauty or patronage.
Toreador culture is a mixture of sybarites, dilettantes, and visionaries. Some Toreador, with echoes of mortal
passion, Embrace lovers or “project” progeny who seem to fly in the face of every Toreador custom. These either
don’t last long or rise to great prominence as subversives and individualists. Ideas, trends, and “the next great thing”
spread through the Clan, and other Kindred often look to the Toreador to guide them. The Degenerates know this,
and many become Harpies, Princes, and other key figures in vampiric society.

Nicknames
The Clan of the Rose, Artisans (archaic), Aesthetes, Vanitas, Epicureans (Renaissance), Degenerates, Torries

Antediluvian
Arikel

Faction
Camarilla

Disciplines
Primary: Auspex, Celerity, Presence
Secondary: Anarch Sorcery

Organization
Clan Toreador is cliquish and parochial in its local domains, but very rarely on a level that affects Clan-wide custom.
Certain Toreador (and a few outside the Clan) sometimes use the terms “artiste” and “poseur” when describing
individual Toreador, often derisively, to describe whether the Degenerate in question is one who is seen as creative
or simply a follower of established trends, but these are certainly informal distinctions. Clan Toreador is made up of
Artist and Posers of many different skills and predilections. To account for this, they have developed a complex Guild
system to foster the Arts within the Clan. These Guilds have existed for a long time and it is not known if they formed
the basis for the mortal craft guilds or the other way round. Most suspect that it is a shared development, but some
of the prouder Toreador will argue that the mortals simply followed their lead.

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Haven
The Degenerates spare no expense in appointing their havens in luxury, often with many original works of art. It is a
point of pride among Toreador to have an unconventional (and thus memorable) haven with modern comforts; thus,
many have striking lofts and penthouses, while the bolder among them renovate or re-purpose everything from
abandoned aquariums or deconsecrated churches to rooftop gardens or converted warehouse-galleries in fashion-
forward neighborhoods. Share a communal haven? How déclassé.

Background
Many Toreador hail from high-society or “bohemian” backgrounds. Indeed, many are themselves artists or
influential among local art scenes or other subcultures. Actors, singers, musicians, sculptors, poets, playwrights,
authors, and creative folk of any stripe may well find a home in the Clan, as do those who serve as patrons to (or
travel in the entourages of) those artistic types.

Appearance
Almost to the last, they are attractive in some way, whether the traditional beauty of a runway model or the
dangerous allure of something more predatory. The Degenerates augment their physical beauty with a sense of
personal style, which may take the form of expensive couture, avant-garde street wear, or classical fashions
designed to emphasize their appealing qualities. This isn’t to say that ugly Toreador don’t exist. Indeed, those gifted
with less physical beauty often go that much further with their choice of accoutrements.

Weakness
Entrancement: Due to their inherent clan weakness, the members of this clan are as much prisoners of their artistic
vision and sensitivity as they are its beneficiaries. They are often overcome by the beauty they see around them and
can become immobilized with fascination. Such things as paintings, neon signs, or even sunrises can captivate them.
This trait explains why Toreador so often fall in love with mortals and other vampires. This trait, however, also bans
them from ever reaching perfection in their chosen form of art and makes them callous and disregardful once the
experience becomes banal, resulting in trails of heart-broken mortals and discarded projects behind every Toreador.
Thus, all Toreador have a special form of the Absent-Mindedness disadvantage, which is worth -10 points. This
disadvantage doesn’t count towards his total point limitation at character creation.
It nearly always manifests itself as an artistic distraction. Either the vampire gets caught up in his own artistic
endeavor or is consumed by a particularly beautiful painting, sunset, thunderstorm, or whatever.
While absent-minded, the vampire has -3 on all IQ and IQ-based skill rolls, save those for the task he is currently
concentrating on. Once adrift in their own thoughts, they must roll against Perception -3 in order to notice any event
short of personal physical injury. They may attempt to move their attention on a different topic through sheer
strength of will. To do so, make a Self-Control -3 roll once every five minutes.

History
It is said that the Clan's founder, Arikel was a mortal painter or sculptress in the First City. Famed throughout the
lands for her work, after her Embrace she painted a mural on which the past, present and future of Kindred society
was depicted. When Caine saw a terrible future for his race, he cursed her with the affliction that affects Toreador
today – the art that she loved most dearly would now be her obsession and distraction above all things.

The Toreador had a strong presence in the early minoic cultures of Greece. The Toreador attribute many of the
classic tales as distorted versions of actual interference of mortals and Cainites (such as the tale of the Minotaur or
the tale of Tantalus and Pelops). Their squabbling, however, weakened the first civilization of Mycenae, as childer
drew their sustenance from the population, who in turn became too weak to defend themselves from foreign
invaders. After the fall of Mycenae to the Dorians, the Toreador wandered across the Mediterranean, often seeking
shelter by the Roman Ventrue or the Carthaginian Brujah.

At first, the Toreador supported both sides in their struggle, but when it became clear that Carthage would lose,
many Toreador abandoned the city and joined the Roman forces, bringing with them tales of debauchery and
infernalism that propelled the Ventrue to completely raze the city to the ground. The Toreador began to insinuate
themselves into the city, often competing with the Ventrue and Malkavians. When Rome's glory began to fade, one
of them, the Toreador Mi-ka-il, deserted Rome to follow Constantine into Nova Roma, to construct the Dream that

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had failed in Rome, much to the shock of many Toreador Elders. Constantinople remained a beacon of Cainite power
and glory, until the city was sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and original Cainite population either had fled or
was destroyed.

Dark Ages

In the Middle Ages, the Toreador were a member of the High Clans, and their numbers were made up of the same
types that are common in the modern nights – minstrels, painters, poets and actors. Many Toreador insinuated
themselves into the structures of the Catholic Church, primarily because the Church was the only supporter of art in
these dark times. The Courts of Love, which encompassed much of France, were firmly under their control and the
Toreador.

Following the formation of the Camarilla thanks to the efforts of the Toreador Rafael de Corazón, some of the
members left the Clan proper upon the formation of the Sabbat, most famously Arianne of Esztergom. Toreador
antitribu are the dark reflection of their Camarilla cousins – while they are beautiful social butterflies, their weakness
has twisted so that all antitribu derive joy from the emotional, physical and mental suffering of others.

The Renaissance is well remembered as a Golden Age of the Clan among the Elders. As one of the most powerful
Clans within Europe, the Toreador prospered in France as Europe's cultural nexus, enjoying the works of various new
artists as Michelangelo and DaVinci as well as the works of Shakespeare and the invention of the mirror. Many
Toreador began to turn away from spiritually motivated preservationism to a self-serving hedonism that plagues
them today.

Victorian Age

The Toreador revelled in the Victorian age. The Industrial Revolution led to a phenomenon that only the rich had
been previously afforded – leisure time. A heyday of theatre, music and art began in cultural nexuses like New York,
London, and Paris and spread throughout the globe. While the influence of the Church in people's lives (and
consequently, the influence Toreador held over the church) waned, those Kindred that latched themselves onto
businessmen prospered. Possibly the one thing most Toreador love with the exception of beauty is money, and it
was now accessible from places other than the landed gentry of the time. While the Clan has had peaks and troughs,
this was a time that cemented them as a true power in the Camarilla.

Modern Nights

The Toreador play their games as they always have, albeit at a slightly more frantic pace due to the upheaval of the
various skirmishes the Camarilla have fought. The recent innovations of cinema, television and the internet means
that new forms of art and expression are being discovered almost daily, meaning the Toreador have become even
more varied.

However, the Toreador are still a noble and aristocratic clan, and many perceive the Embrace of graffiti artists, Wall
Street Wizards and CGI technicians as a pollution of the vaunted ideals that the Clan used to stand for. Many nights
are filled with one Toreador bickering with another over what can be considered true art, and each Toreador's
opinion is as varied as the definition of art itself.

Organization
The Toreador have no formal overarching hierarchy. Ad-hoc gatherings called "affairs of the clan" are called, with no
mandatory attendance though most turn out for them. These can range from parties, dinners, art showing, or actual
meetings.

The Toreador of a city organise themselves into Guilds. While this has something of an artistic ring to it, most
Toreador in the city are members, whether they are Poseurs or Artistes (see below). The head of the Guild is
typically the oldest and most influential Toreador within the city, with the other members forming a complicated
stratified social system, the rules of which boggle many an outsider.

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The clan itself has two divisions. The Artistes consist of the sculptors, the painters, the musicians, and the writers.
They consider themselves to be the "real" Toreador as inheritors of the Clan's original values and goals. The Poseurs
make up the other faction – they can include the failed artists (or those that happened to be Embraced while their
sire was riding a particular fad), as well as the professional critics and those who consider their bodies to be their
life's masterpiece. It should be noticed that neither group has a nickname for themselves – they tend to be only flung
at the opposing faction as a derisive epithet.

Nephilim

Nicknames
Martyrs, Childer of the Archangel
Founder
Paul Bathalos and Pakourianis
Faction
Camarilla

The Nephilim were part bloodline and part cult that revered the fallen methuselah Michael as an embodiment of the
archangel of the same name. Since his death, which they refer to as his "ascension", they wait for someone who can
inherit his divinity.

The line was founded by two surviving childer of Michael, Paul Bathalos and Pakourianis. The pair devised a rite that
could purify other Toreador for their eventual deification, christening them childer of Michael in spirit, if not literally.
These Nephilim were infused with a longing for the departed methuselah that even superseded their Clan Curse and
resulted in the development of the Path of the Archangel.

The Nephilim performed a rite wherein the blood of the elders was fed to the initiates, rendering them more
beautiful than before. This expanded the membership to those of other clans, especially the Nosferatu.

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Ray'een al-Fen

Nicknames
Scribes
Faction
Camarilla

The Islamic Toreadors are the Ray'een al-Fen, commonly nicknamed as Scribes, as the majority favor calligraphers,
writers and architects. They are centered in Egypt and Persia, in the best parts of the city, decorating their havens
with calligraphy, usually verses from the Qur'an. For this reason, the Scribes encouraged education in the holy
scriptures, to allow mortals to better understand the calligraphic arts before them.

The bay't faces a schism between its elders and neonates. While the Elders seek to preserve every form of art,
including idols of lost religions and representative arts, the younger Scribes see this as an affront against Allah and
are usually ready to use violence to remove them.

Volgirre

Founder
Baron Philippe Vollgirre
Faction
Sabbat, Camarilla as of 2011

A secret lineage of Toreador antitribu, the darkly beautiful Volgirre were experts in the blackest pursuits of art,
employing Vicissitude to produce twisted and horrific works of repugnant beauty.

As part of a secret agreement, the Volgirre have recently been allowed to reintegrate into the Camarilla Toreador,
having defected from the Sabbat. The jaded main body of the Toreador Clan got centuries' worth of darker arts to
enjoy as well as access to a Discipline uncommon among the Camarilla, while the Volgirre received false names and
lineages to conceal their true origins from the other Camarilla clans.

The Volgirre have the same Clan Disciplines as the main Toreador Clan, but may purchase the first two levels of
Vicissitude without requiring a teacher, at out-of-clan Discipline costs.

Toreador antitribu

Nicknames
Perverts/Pervs
Founder
Melinda Galbraith
Faction
Sabbat

The Toreador antitribu are the dark mirror image of their Camarilla brethren.
Although they are no less beautiful than their cousins, their minds are twisted
and warped, and the antitribu often lose themselves watching others suffer,
much like their Camarilla siblings lose themselves watching a beautiful painting.

Whether the variance of the antitribu weakness is just a variance due to circumstance or an actual Bloodline
variance is disputed. Within the Toreador antitribu is an actual variant bloodline though: Toreador who as mortals
were members of the Sabbat's Zantosa "revenant" family. Zantosa are born with the Vicissitude ability, and when
Embraced as a Toreador they retain this as a Bloodline Discipline instead of acquiring the Celerity of mainline
Toreador, and they retain their familial weakness of hedonistic addiction instead of acquiring the Toreador antitribu
weakness of compulsion toward cruelty. The reputation of Toreador antitribu as being perverts is due in part to
Zantosa Toreador.

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Culture
The word "Toreador", meaning "bullfighter", was invented by Georges Bizet for his opera Carmen when he decided
that the Spanish "Torero" had too few syllables to fit the song in which it is sung. The eponymous Carmen is best
known for her desire to be admired and for her ability to manipulate the other characters in the opera. This is
reflected in the lore of the Toreador which paints them as master manipulators, and the association with Bizets'
opera is hinted at in both their love of art and the symbol of the rose.

It is said that while the Ventrue are the mind of the Camarilla, the Toreador are its soul. It was one of their number,
Rafael de Corazón, who was instrumental in its formation. The Toreador are the greatest supporters of many of the
Camarilla's traditions, most notably that of Elysium. This is where the Toreador are in their element, showcasing
their latest pieces and practicing their highly effective (and sometimes deadly) form of social maneuvering. From the
outside, most other Clans think of one face of the Toreador, but see another. When speaking of them to another,
most envision Toreador as the Artistes – billowy shirted, frock-coated fops who crow about the beauty of the ages
and lamenting their lost humanity. In reality, outsiders are less likely to meet such characters, given as they are to
sequestering themselves away to work on their latest masterpiece. Far more often encountered are those Toreador
whose unlives have become dedicated to the Kindred social scene – Toreador are often a large contingent of the
city's Harpies, and having spent years with their bitchy and conniving clanmates they are more than capable of
ruining someone's reputation with a pithy comeback or a damning piece of gossip whispered in just the right ear.

The Toreador portray themselves as the vampires closest to the living, breathing pulse of the humans around them
(though this honor might be shared with the Brujah). They claim that this is what keeps them so vital and modern.
Indeed, Clan members are often the first ones to be aware of what mortals are wearing, eating, buying and sleeping
with. While a Malkavian elder might be found in his 1800s finery, the Toreador is much more likely to be wearing
something from this year's Paris catwalks. Many Toreador are fond of having mortal "families" or assuming mortal
identities, in order to capture the breath of life that is denied to them. The constant pressure that the proximity to
mortals can elicit, however, can cause a Toreador to break down, losing all of their creativity and motivation in the
process, resulting in a debauched individual that desperately searches for the next kick to experience the feeling of
being mortal again, eventually turning to mortal vices like drugs in order to feel just this one aspect. The older a
Toreador gets and the more mortal associates he has watched die, the more likely a "burnout" is to occur. Other
vampires have to deal with it, too, but no Clan suffers so uniformly under this aspect of their existence than the
Toreador.

Art

Art is the cornerstone of the Clan, defining its Clan curse and shaping the preferences of every Toreador. The
Toreador are not artists by choice as much by nature, as each Toreador desperately searches for something that
anchors their passion and preserves it from withering from the ages. The desire to preserve art and artists is – more
often than not – the impetus for an Embrace. As such, many Toreador struggle when they discover that the talent
that originally brought them into the Clan is falling out of favour or that their creativity has suffered under the
weight of ages. The relativity of art is one of the major conflict points within the Clan, especially between elders and
neonates, Elders refuse to think of modern developments (like dubstep or Dadaism) as "art forms", while neonates
are often frustrated over the conformity of art that the Elders seem to espouse.

Common accepted forms of art can be everything within the Clan, as long as it is prestigious (cooking, for example, is
not a widely spread form of art among the Clan, mainly due the vampiric inability to actually consume the food).
Painting and sculpting are the most iconic, but the Toreador have also a fair share of poets, artisans, dancers, actors,
musicians, and even warriors and martial artists. Revenge (also called "justice" by neonates with morals) and intrigue
are also considered as art forms and many elder Toreador commit themselves fully to this, having found ways to
utterly crush their rivals and driving them to suicide without even lifting a hand.

Embraces

As stated before, there are two rough moulds that clan members fall into. Artists make up a large proportion of the
clan, which in the modern nights can include computer graphics artists, avant-garde performance artists, and

118
sportsmen alongside the singers, dancers, and writers. The other portion consists of businessmen, critics, and those
who are simply beautiful. While the main detractors of the clan, often the Nosferatu and the Brujah complain that
Toreador coddle their childer, the truth is a much more brutal one. Toreador sires are notoriously capricious, and
while the subject of their Embrace can be the most cutting edge, the most innovative, the most beautiful, the most
now, they can easily be terribly passe and embarrassing the following week. The sire then inevitably dumps the new
childe as soon as is feasible, leaving the young vampire confused and struggling to make their own way. Such is the
nature of the Toreador.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Arikel

4th Generation
-- Helena -- Trojan Princess and methusaleh.
-- Iontius -- AKA: Derrick Zeel -- Toreador porn star. Beirut, Lebanon
-- Michael the Patriarch -- Part of the Triad of Constantinople and methusaleh. (Deceased)
-- Minos -- Sire of Helene, who in later times will be known as Helena, diabolized by his childe.
-- Theresa del Babillone -- Methuselah ruler of Costa Rica. San José
-- Callisti y Castillo -- Methuselah sire or Raphael de Corazon. Prince of Buenos Aires, Argentina

5th Generation
-- Alastair McNeal -- Progeny of Helena
-- Beatrix -- Progeny of Helena and former Prince of Paris. R.I.P: 1789
-- Francois Villon -- Progeny of Helena and current Prince of Paris.
-- Marianela Ubina -- Progeny of Helena and Sire of Annabelle Triabell. She was the former Primogen of Chicago,
and often called by her diminutive Maria until her untimely death in 1990. Chicago
-- Raphael de Corazon -- Founding member of the Camarilla.
-- Petronius the Arbiter -- Child of Michael.
-- Anthemios of Tralles -- Child of Michael. Muse of Architecture
-- Pakourianis the Dove -- Child of Michael. Muse of Paintings

6th Generation
-- Annabelle Triabell childe of Marianela Ubina.
-- Bess Dancort -- Childe of Alastair McNeal
-- Léonide Évariste de la Croix -- Progeny of Raphael de Corazon, and Rio de Janeiro's King of the Carnival.
-- François Dumas -- Progeny of Francois Villon, the Prince of Paris. New prince of Montreal.
-- Eric Baring-Gould -- Progeny of Raphael de Corazon and Toreador Primogen of London.
-- Nicoli Estrenom -- childe of Maria the Spanish, Toreado primogen of Philadelphia.
-- Paris of Rome -- Childe of Petronius the Arbiter, Sire of Edward Williamson
-- Rodina Bruce McCoy --Childe of Alastair McNeal .
-- Sire Wenceslas -- A member of the Conspiracy of Issac.

7th Generation
-- Bret Stryker -- Progeny of Annabelle Triabell. Chicago
-- Carina von Kerzen -- Progeny of Paris of Rome and sibling of Edward Williamson. Düsseldorf
-- Duncan Oighrig McConnell -- Progeny of Bess Dancort Prince of Edinburgh
-- Edward Williamson -- Progeny of Paris of Rome and sibling of Carina von Kerzen. Leipzig
-- Efigénia Campos -- Progeny of Léonide Évariste de la Croix and the Knight of the Roses in Rio de Janeiro.
-- Jacques -- Child of François Dumas, Sire of Morgaine
-- Leonardo Ferreira -- Progeny of Léonide Évariste de la Croix and Toreador armorer and smith of Rio de Janeiro.
-- Océane D'aramitz -- Baroness of Beirut.
-- Sean Michael Garrity -- Childe of Rodina McCoy
-- Versancia -- Sire of Audric St. Thierry. Paris

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8th Generation
-- Audric St. Thierry -- Progeny of Versancia and sire of L'Epuisette; called the "Master of the Game." Paris
-- Carson Longbaugh -- Toreador Primogen of Houston.
-- Ewan Callum McInnes -- Progeny of Duncan McGinniss
-- Julek Blomgren -- Toreador Prince of Duluth
-- Karen Mauve -- Toreador Rock Star and youngest progeny of Edward Williams. Denver
-- Leslie Booth -- Progeny of Edward Williamson, Sire of Leslie Wilkes Denver
-- Morgaine -- Progeny of Jacques and Primogen of the Toreador of New Orleans.
-- Nela Dolezelova: -- Progeny of Priya and sire of Tyler Love
-- Nasr Ramanathan -- Indian Mogul sire of Qadir Al - Asmai. Current location: New Delhi
-- Sevacora -- Sire of Noël d'Artois. Paris
-- Tien Hsu -- Called Mahitabel. Discredited Toreador Primogen.
-- Victoria Ash -- Progeny of Maximillian of Paris (deceased). Sire of Regina Blake and Evan (deceased).

9th Generation
-- Alice Babylon -- Toreador progeny of Carson Longbaugh and owner of the Desert Rose Cantina Houston
-- Frédéric le Parisien -- Toreador Elder of Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow
-- Henry Stern -- Renowned Toreador Sculptor London
-- L'Epuisette -- Progeny of Audric St. Thierry amd an agent of the Anarchs (deceased). Paris
-- Leslie Wilkes -- Progeny of Leslie Booth.
-- Maria Diamente -- Progeny of Montague Lytton. Melbourne
-- Noël d'Artois -- Progeny of Sevacora. Paris
-- Tadgh Micheil McLain -- Progeny of Ewen
-- Qadir Al - Asmai -- Former prince of Quebec City. Current location: New Delhi
-- Regina Blake -- Lady Regina Blake is a Toreador Cainite of London. She is a childe of Victoria Ash - and also her
lover during the Victorian Age. London

10th Generation
-- Andrew Campbell -- Sire of Lorna Dingwall, the Toreador hostage in London -- circa 1897 (Edinburgh).
Child of Tadgh Micheil McLain.
-- Eldred Morce -- Childe of the former Camarilla prince and royal hostage. Imprisoned: Quebec City
-- Rudolph Paulson -- Childe of
-- Simon le Gris -- A young American poseur. (AKA: Simon Legree) -- Paris

11th Generation
-- Horace Holden -- Keeper of London Elysium
-- Lorna Dingwall -- Progeny of Andrew Campbell and former Toreador hostage in London -- provided she survived
the Sabbat takeover of 2015 (Edinburgh).

12th Generation
-- Zezé Rios -- Bard of the Sands in Rio de Janeiro.

13th Generation
-- Derrick Zeel -- The King of Porn. Beirut

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Adeline Truchon -- Toreador Prince of Zagreb, Croatia
-- Yitzhak -- Toreador antitribu and coven ductus of The Shepherds of Caine of Montreal
-- Glass -- Frontman / Bassist of Persephone Seed
-- Elizabeth Westcott -- Female Vocalist / Keyboard Player of Persephone Seed
-- Toma Ilinovic -- Prince of Pomoire, Bulgaria.
-- Avery Beckett -- Toreador Poet. Whitby, England
-- Viviette Coke -- Self-styled prince of Harrogate. Harrogate, England
-- Darrin Rose -- Toreador neonate. Harrogate, England
-- Paula Graves -- Toreador mistress of Middlesbrough by appointment. Middlesbrough, England
-- Fiona McNair - Keeper of Elysium and patron of the arts in Hull Kingston upon Hull, England

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Tremere

121
Clan Tremere is the second youngest of the vampiric clans, having just come
into existence during the Dark Ages. In the (comparatively) little time since
their founding, the Warlocks have made incredible inroads within vampiric
society and are arguably the most powerful clan in the modern nights. This is
due in no small part to their strict hierarchy, secretive nature, and mastery of
Thaumaturgy, all of which elicit suspicion, fear, and respect from other Cainites.
The Warlocks stand as a pillar of the Camarilla and are one of its main
defenders, despite the fact that they exist almost as a subsect. Some even go so
far as to consider themselves the evolution of vampirism, citing their extreme
versatility of blood magic and lack of a true clan curse. The Final Nights have
many things in store for the Tremere, however, and the more powerful they
grow, the more their enemies gather – and in their bid for power, the Tremere
have accumulated more enemies than most.

Nicknames
The Broken Clan, Warlocks, Wizards, Magi, Usurpers, Grayfaces, Tremores ("Trembling Ones"), the Pyramid

Founder
Tremere

Faction
Camarilla/Anarch

Disciplines
Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy

Organization
The Pyramid of House and Bloodline Tremere encompasses all Camarilla Tremere in a strict hierarchy from Tremere
himself down to the newest Neonate. Each tier of the Pyramid is divided in to Seven Circles of Mystery, each of
which represents a higher rank within each tier. Thus, a Regent of the Fifth Circle of Mystery ranks above a Regent of
the Second Circle, but below a Regent of the Seventh Circle. All are Regents by title, but their Circle represents their
place in the pecking order. An Apprentice might well outstrip her Regent in Thaumaturgical power, but if she is
hopeless at politics or otherwise unsuited to a leadership role, she will never rise above Apprentice, unless she takes
steps to change that fact (or if it becomes politically convenient for her Lord to promote her for reasons of his own.)

Haven
Many Tremere rely on a central chantry the Clan maintains in cities where it has a notable presence. More solitary
Warlocks develop private havens, with all of the trappings one might expect from an occult scholar, from libraries to
alchemical laboratories to moonlit balcony observatories and even more sinister oubliettes where vivisected
“research subjects” bleed according to experimental Tremere-controlled stimuli.

Background
The Tremere draw from a fairly narrow pool of potential acolytes. Those who have an awareness of the
supernatural, who are driven to succeed, who seek answers that elude less inquisitive individuals, yet who also have
the discipline to heed the edicts of the hierarchy make good Tremere. This isn’t to say that individualists don’t have
room in the Clan; rather, those who go their own way may well find themselves leading a chantry — or greeting the
sun if their interests don’t align with those of the pyramid.

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Appearance
Tremere often have two distinct presentations: a traditional and severe public aspect and a much more eldritch
mien better suited to wielding their blood sorceries. When out in public or at Kindred events, the Tremere favor
conservative suits and dresses and muted tones. When in their chantries or convening with others of their Clan, they
often prefer robes decorated with subtle occult symbols or garb with various folds and pockets for their bizarre ritual
ingredients.

Weakness
Blood Hex: The original Tremere clan weakness consists of an initiation, which requires all neonates to drink from
the blood of the seven elders of the clan when they are created. This means that all Tremere are at least one step
toward being Blood Bound to the clan, and therefore must watch their step very carefully when around their
leaders.
The Tremere are no longer able to create Blood Bonds with other Kindred through normal means. A Tremere can still
bind mortals and ghouls, though the corrupted vitae must be drunk 5 times instead of 3 times. Every month they
need 3 Blood points (instead of 1 Blood point) to keep their own retainers ghouled or else they turn back into a
mortal, with all the negative effects.

History
The Tremere began as House Tremere, mages of the Order of Hermes named for their leader and founder, Tremere.
At the end of the first millennium, the members of House Tremere realized the Hermetic arts were failing and found
its immortality potions no longer working. Facing the possibility of losing everything, Tremere ordered research into
alternate methods of sustaining their lives. House Tremere undertook numerous experiments, but it was Goratrix
who devised a solution in his investigation of vampires.

In 1022, Goratrix invited Tremere and six of the founder's closest advisers to participate in the completed ritual,
which promised true immortality. Whether Goratrix knew what would happen is known only by him and, perhaps,
Tremere, but at the completion of the ritual the participants fell unconscious and were reborn as vampires, their
avatars destroyed and magical abilities lost. The mages had gained their immortality but lost the power they lived
for. Though the others would likely have slain Goratrix for his folly (or trickery), Tremere ordered them to halt and
declared that they would remain at his side, leaving their chantries in the hands of subordinates while they
discovered the powers of their new forms in secret.

In time the Tzimisce made war against House Tremere in retribution for the Fiends that had been made part of
Goratrix's experiments. The Order of Hermes also became suspicious of diabolical practices being performed by the
increasingly secretive House, but Tremere was able to dissuade them from investigating further. Finally, in 1037
Tremere gathered the seven newly-made Cainites and forced the blood bond upon them. He then declared to them
that House Tremere would be restructured with a new pyramid hierarchy, placing himself at the top as Primus of
House and clan Tremere and his seven closest followers forming the Inner Council of Seven directly under him. They
would slowly begin Embracing the rest of the House, with each initiate being bound to the Inner Council to ensure
their loyalty. In time, all members of House Tremere would die or become vampires.

Dark Ages

Over the next century the Omen War with the Tzimisce continued on and off. With their mages growing weaker and
those newly Embraced unfamiliar with the powers of the blood, chantries as far as their stronghold of Ceoris were
repeatedly ravaged. While Tremere and Etrius pursued their own research throughout Europe in converting the
hermetic arts into Thaumaturgy, Goratrix once again returned to his laboratories with his apprentices at hand. After
years of experimentation on captured Tzimisce, Nosferatu, and Gangrel, he succeeded in creating a Gargoyle in
1121, and by 1125 the hybrids were serving as shock troops against the Fiends.

Nevertheless, the Tremere found themselves third-class citizens among the undead. Whatever boldness Tremere
had shown in entering the night was ignored by the staunchly traditionalist clans, and they were often forced from
cities by princes who did not look kindly on their presumption.

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Tremere's response to this was further boldness. As he and Etrius rapidly acquired more vampiric lore they
discovered the history of Caine and the Antediluvians, as well as the benefits of diablerie. Seeking to establish
themselves as a clan proper, the Tremere sought a clan founder to diablerize and settled on Saulot, the enigmatic
founder of the Salubri clan. In 1133, Tremere and the Inner Council discovered Saulot's tomb in the Anatolian desert.
Tremere diablerized the Antediluvian and promptly entered torpor, leaving the Inner Council to lead the clan and
destroy the remaining Salubri.

As with everything else that the Tremere had done to this point, the result was a mixed blessing. Due largely to
Meerlinda's efforts, the Tremere were entrenched in many Cainite courts, their services as mages making them
indispensable to princes across Europe. They were now accepted as one of the Low Clans, albeit considered
usurpers, distrusted warlocks, and known diablerists. A vicious propaganda campaign painted the Salubri as
infernalists and soul-stealers, granting them some credit, and even those who knew better largely sat back while the
Salubri were hunted to near extinction, for their arrogance had made them many enemies among the other clans.

In 1202, the Order of Hermes finally discovered what had become of House Tremere and sentenced them to death,
resulting in a Wizard's March. The Massasa War, as it would eventually be called, never officially ended, but neither
side had the resources to sustain the war and it subsided after a few decades, only to sporadically begin anew.

Renaissance

The Tremere continued their hunt of Saulot's descendants while making alliances with Hungarian Ventrue against
the Tzimisce. By the 15th century the Salubri were only a legend and the Tremere were completely acknowledged as
a clan. The Inquisition was particularly hard on them, however, and they lost many of their cults and chantries.
During this time Goratrix used his influence and power to try to corrupt religious orders, most notably the Knights
Templar, in order to seize potent artifacts held by the Church and turn its hunters against his enemies. When his bid
for power failed, and the Knights Templar were branded as heretics, Tremere awoke and summoned Goratrix to
return to Ceoris to stand trial before the Inner Council. After being censored and stripped of his authority, Goratrix
fled into the east, believing his assassination was imminent. Shortly thereafter Etrius moved Tremere's torpid body
to the Vienna Chantry, which became the new center for the clan.

The formation of the Camarilla signaled the Tremere's rise to legitimacy. Though the Tremere did not suffer greatly
from the Anarch Revolt, the spread of Thaumaturgy among the Anarchs by the Tremere antitribu was a dire threat to
the clan. The Warlocks used their sorcery to facilitate communication and coordination of the Elders needed to
support such an endeavor and played a pivotal role at the Convention of Thorns when they placed a curse upon the
entirety of Clan Assamite, preventing them from drinking the blood of Cainites without extreme danger. The
Assamites would never forgive the Tremere, their rivalry continuing into the present. At the same time, the Tremere
antitribu were also cursed so that anyone who partook of the Vaulderie would be branded by a mark visible to "true"
Tremere. Such mighty feats were said to have been led by Tremere himself, who rose from torpor for the event,
along with the entire Inner Council.

Victorian Age

In the 18th Century rumors were finally confirmed that Goratrix had joined the Sabbat and was gathering the
majority of the Tremere antitribu to form House Goratrix. Though the Tzimisce ensured that they would never
become influential within the sect, the Betrayer's efforts brought them closer together in an ironic imitation of the
main clan.

During this time the Tremere continued to spread throughout Europe and North America, with considerably less
success in Africa and Asia. Despite this expansion, the clan maintained its hierarchy, and the web of communication
leading back to Vienna and the Inner Council steadily grew.

Modern Nights

In 1998, the Tremere antitribu were wiped out. After being called to a chantry in Mexico City, they were completely
destroyed in an unknown ritual. If any of the antitribu remain, those who did not attend the gathering, they are
undoubtedly in hiding.

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More problematic was the increasing number of free Gargoyles making themselves known within the Camarilla and
those clamoring for more freedoms and rights despite the Tremere's attempts to keep them under their control. Far
worse, the Tremere were beginning to take notice of a growing instability in Thaumaturgy with frightening
similarities to the failure of the Hermetic arts that spurred Goratrix's experiments and the transformation into
vampires. The curse placed upon the Assamite clan failed, with subsequent efforts to renew it unsuccessful, and the
Assassins hunted them with renewed vigor, even as a new faction of sorcerers and scholars sought membership
within the Camarilla. The advancements made by the Tremere seemed to be met by further setback, and little
reassurance was given from the top of the pyramid.

The Fall of Vienna

When the Second Inquisition raided the Vienna Chantry in 2008, with presumably the destruction of the Inner
Council of Seven, Blood Bonds were shattered. Tremere fell from gray eminences to personae non gratae in many
regions. Without the strict internal hierarchy, individual Tremere compete heavily for the lore, artifacts, and secrets
that the united Clan once possessed, fearing their clanmates as much as their enemies. To this end, they often sell
their services as mercenaries to third parties. Their former monolithic structure has splintered into several rival
groups, with the Camarilla-loyalists under Karl Schrekt at the head on the one side, a resurgent House Goratrix on
the other, and the upstarts of House Carna who are at least for the time being still aligned with the Camarilla. A
fourth house, Ipsissimus, can be found among the Anarchs.

Organization
The Tremere are the most strictly organized clan bar none, and every member knows where they stand in authority
amongst their peers. This creates the illusion of total unison and cooperation for other Cainites, who rarely know
anything of the Tremere hierarchy or inner politics. Their Founder and namesake, the nominal Antediluvian Tremere,
sits at the top of the Pyramid and supposedly directs the entire clan, though very few have ever seen him or
witnessed his hand in action. Many do not believe he is even a real person, but perhaps an ideal of the Tremere
cause or a symbol of their unity. Beneath him, the importance of the number seven is emphasized, as each
successive rank down is comprised of seven to one.

Ranks

1. Councilors - the members of the Inner Council of Seven and the true rulers of the clan, each of whom is
responsible for directing clan efforts in a particular portion of the world. Each councilor appoints seven
Pontifices.
2. Pontifices - a pontifex oversees a large region, such as parts of a nation or groupings of smaller countries and
islands, and in turn oversees seven Lords.
3. Lords - each lord is responsible for a small country or group of states and uses their influence and knowledge to
sway the Tremere in their domain, specifically the Regents.
4. Regents - the most visible figures of Tremere authority. A regent runs an individual chantry and is charged with
the supervision of it.
5. Magisters - a term to describe a Tremere that has not sought power but instead has become a trusted advisor
who manages inter-chantry disputes. Magisters educate and see to the well-being of Apprentices.
6. Apprentices - the youngest and most numerous Tremere. Apprentices must spend much of their time training,
serving some need within their chantry, or playing the politics of the clan as best as their inexperience allows.
Some never advance beyond this rank, either because they are more interested in Camarilla politics or their own
affairs to rise among the Tremere or because the lord of the region sees no need to create a new chantry.
7. Acolytes - the ones who lie below Apprentices, a rank that includes Tremere that have not yet been accepted as
a part of the clan, as well as groups that are bound to the Council of Seven (such as the Trimira). Below Acolytes
are ghouls and servitors like Gargoyles.

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Circles of Mystery

Each rank, save for the Inner Council itself, is further

divided into seven levels called circles of mystery. One's
circle of mystery denotes one of several characteristics
that have earned them prestige and further
responsibility, such as skill in Thaumaturgy, years of
experience and hard work, successful political
machinations, or simple favouritism. The higher one's
circle of mystery the more authority and power they
have access to, but they are also expected to provide
more for the clan and are given less tolerance for
failure. Those of the fifth circle or above are also
commonly called "high" members of their rank, such as
high apprentice, high regent, or high lord—although few
bother with such awkward parlance as “high
apprentice”. Promotion and demotion is dealt by
members of higher rank, though tribunals may also be
called where accomplishments and failings are
examined. The pursuit of promotion is one of the most
motivating factors for the clan's members to excel and
obey Tremere doctrine, though advancement is rarely as
simple as that.

Secret Societies

The Tremere pyramid teems with conspiracies since the

creation of the clan and the feud between Goratrix and
Etrius. Many of these societies are tolerated as long as
they do not threaten the foundation of loyalty to the
clan. Known and accepted societies are:

• Astors - a secret organization that hunts traitors and

infiltrators within the pyramid
• Brothers of Absinthe - those who believe in the
usage of certain drugs to elevate their consciousness
and awareness in Dreams
• Children of the Pyramid - those who revere the
spiritual concept of the Pyramid
• The Covenant - a group that seeks knowledge of
Necromancy to combine it with Thaumaturgy
• Elite - a group of Tremere that believe that they are
the next step in vampiric evolution and are
dedicated to show the supremacy of the Clan
• Guardians of Traditions - those who stand opposed
to any change in policy and oppose all modern
technology and conventions
• The Praesidium - Traditionalists who seek a return
to the Pyramid, after the fall of the Prime Chantry,
aligned with House Tremere
• Quaesitori - a remnant from House Quaesitor that
act as independent judges
• The Unbowed Mundanes - a group of Tremere that
lobbies for a better inclusion of those Tremere that
show no aptitude for Thaumaturgy

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Besides them, there exist groups like the Eye of the Serpent, which is a cell from the Followers of Set; the Third Eye,
a group of Tremere that seek to atone for the genocide against the Salubri; and, the Illuminated Brotherhood and
the Order of the Wyrm, who are rumoured to have connections to the demonic Baali. Membership in one of these
societies can be punished with Final Death once it is known, and so these cults hide among the other members of
the Clan.

Major Houses

After the Fall of the Vienna Chantry in 2008, the Clan has reorganized into 4 Houses, as many Tremere scramble for
unity outside the Pyramid:

• House Tremere - Camarilla aligned, loyalists of the Pyramid, traditional Hermetics, led by Karl Schrekt;
• House Carna - Majority of them Camarilla aligned, with some in the Anarchs, pagan nonconformists, wiccans and
other modern witches, led by Carna
• House Goratrix - Camarilla aligned, with few information known about them, presumably led by Goratrix;
• House Ipsissimus - Anarch aligned, though not generally considered to be a major house. Decentralized and
leaderless.

Minor Houses

Prior to the attack, the clan used to consist of an unknown number of houses, some claiming only a handful of
members, while others — the House of Tremere — claim every childe of the clan. Listed below are a few of the more
prominent — or notorious — houses of Clan Tremere:

• Trismegistus - symbolism and numerology

• Hashem - Kabbalah
• Rodolfo - divination
• Daughters of the Crone - birth and death magic
• Horned Society - infernalism (allows non-Kindred members)
• High Saturday - voudoun and necromancy (allows non-Tremere members)
• Auram Guild - alchemy
• Etrius - Thaumaturgy

Not all of these are common knowledge; some exist only as rumours and may well be fictional, while others are
august and prestigious. The fate of these Houses following the Fall of Vienna is unknown, but it can be assumed that
they joined — either in part or completely – the major houses above.

Tremere antitribu

Nicknames
Spellbinders
Founder
Goratrix
Faction
Sabbat

The Tremere antitribu are those Tremere that followed Goratrix into exile, named
House Goratrix in opposition to their parent Clan. There are rumours that Goratrix's
flight was part of an orchestrated plan of Tremere, to have an agent in the rival sect,
but these did not change the reaction of the Council of Seven: The antitribu found
themselves cursed by the main clan.

Tremere included any kindred with a level of Thaumaturgy to be considered as clan Tremere antitribu. Upon their
first Vaulderie, a Tremere antitribu receives a very painful mark of a "T" on their forehead that can only be observed

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by another Tremere, marking them forever as a traitor to the clan. Within the Sabbat, the Tremere antitribu had a
very low profile and rarely advanced in the ranks, mainly out of the grudge that many high-ranking Tzimisce had
against them. Despite this, the two worked together on occasion, for example during the creation of the Blood
Brothers. The Tremere antitribu had their greatest chantry in Mexico City, named the Universidad del Tercer Circulo
de la Serpiente Dorada, where Goratrix himself resided.

As of 1998, the original Tremere antitribu were considered extinct thanks to a mysterious ritual, undertaken by
Tremere in Goratrix's body, that burned the antitribu to ash in a single night. As far as the original Tremere and the
Camarilla were concerned, that was the end of the traitors; while any Tremere could in the future defect from the
Clan and undergo the Vaulderie, these were not explicitly considered antitribu. Rather, they were just seen as
Tremere with Sabbat allegiance.

However, contrary to Tremere propaganda, the antitribu were not entirely destroyed: some antitribu avoided the
acquisition of the cursed mark entirely, and a few of those that did have the cursed mark also survived the ritual that
killed the others. While their numbers were few at best at the turn of the millennium, the Tremere antitribu lived on,
even if many of these "survivors" were actually Telyavelic Tremere that had, from the start, faked having the cursed
mark and masqueraded as regular Tremere antitribu.

Telyavelic Tremere

Nicknames
Telyavs, Shepherds
Faction
Independent, Sabbat

The Telyavelic Tremere were a bloodline of the Tremere in the Dark Ages. The founders of this bloodline split from
their parent clan when they were sent to learn the magic of eastern European pagans (which resembled Koldunism
in some ways). Those Tremere converted to the worship of the deity Telyavel and developed their own animistic
branch of Thaumaturgy, Sielanic Thaumaturgy.

This bloodline had a particular weakness: when confronted with Faith the Telyavs were at +2 difficulty to resist
Frenzy and recoiled from symbols of Christianity.

Culture
Over the centuries, the clan has fostered the image of an authoritarian society ruled by a stifling hierarchy and by
tyranny. Most outside the clan take it as a fact that the Tremere hegemony is strict and unforgiving. And for the
most part, Clan Tremere almost encourages this reputation by simply never acknowledging or correcting it directly.
In actuality though, the clan as a whole is less rigid and less uniform than most know—and its power structure is
both more intricate and more delicate than most realize. Superiors set expectations for their underlings—and any
who proves a direct threat to the clan is hunted down and neutralized. But while some Regents and Lords can be
brutally draconian, others are far more liberal. In fact, many are smart enough to realize that seeding needless
discontent only motivates rebellion. And while the pyramid is meant to compel obedience, each member is still an
individual who harbours their own ambitions. As such, superiors regularly use promises of advancement, occult
teachings, and access to the Thaumaturgical secrets that the clan places its monolithic monopoly over to motivate
said individuals to stay in line and to placate their thirsts for power.

To the rest of Kindred society, they always present a unified front. Given their history as usurpers and power-
grabbers, they are obsessed with the image and reputation of their clan. But underneath the veneer, the close-knit
hierarchy of the pyramid breeds ruthless competition (something the upper echelons actively encourage). As such,
night-to-night existence for many Tremere becomes a labyrinth of Byzantine politics where endless scheming and
cut-throat manoeuvring lurks at every corner from those below and those above. Aside from the clan hierarchy,
Tremere also sometimes form political factions and houses within the clan, which range from cults to distinct
colleges of magic or other intellectual pursuits. These groups are generally highly informal and maintain their own
organization, if any at all, and some may even be at odds with one another.

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The Tremere are one of the primary pillars of the Camarilla in the modern nights, arguably second only to the
Ventrue in terms of the support and influence they possess (most of this power comes from the Tremere's near-
monopoly of Thaumaturgy, but also from the encouragement for individual Tremere to place clan interests high on
their list of priorities). The clan is synonymous with blood magic, a fact that they use to instil fear and envy in others.
While they are surely not the first thaumaturges in Cainite history (despite claims to the contrary), their paradigm is
one of the most flexible and expansive. The Tremere differ from the other thaumaturges by adopting a uniquely
scientific approach to magic, and they encourage active experimentation – the result being a staggering array of
thaumaturgical paths and rituals. Of course, no single individual knows every application of blood magic, and such
knowledge is naturally one of the main forms of barter within the clan.

The Clan places great value at the numerological value of the number seven. Seeing the mind ordered akin to a
pyramid ordered in seven steps, the internal discipline of the mind mirrors the structure of the Clan itself. Thoughts,
desires and fears have to be ordered in these seven steps. Likewise, the pyramid teaches seven lessons, those of
Discontinuity, Hierarchy, Apathy, Favour, Authority, Documentation and Surveillance, in order to shape their
members into the desired form.

Embraces

The Tremere are very selective in who they Embrace and normally do so with a mind for the clan's needs, a condition
reinforced by the fact that the local Regent must give permission for an individual to be sired. Individuals of strong
will or aggressive personalities are normally sought, provided they have a clear head and can learn to be a part of the
greater whole that is the clan. Candidates were scholars in life, and many dabbled in the occult to one extent or
another, though that is not a prerequisite. Of course, there are "rogue" Embraces for the usual reasons – love,
political gain, or accident. Regents often have these mistakes killed immediately, with suitable punishment levied
against the sire, but there are always exceptions.

Soon after being Embraced, Tremere neonates are made to commit to the Tremere Code – which elaborates on
what is expected of a Tremere and what activities would earn disfavour. The neonate has to drink the blood of the
Inner Council of Seven through a ritual called the Transubstantiation of Seven, bringing them one step towards a
Blood Bond to the clan's leaders and ensuring some degree of loyalty to their peers. Afterwards their training begins,
even as they continue to grapple with their transformation into a vampire, memorize the Traditions, learn to feed,
and so on. These factors lead to a high rate of failure in newly Embraced Tremere, who may go mad or commit
suicide.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Tremere, the Founder -- The ancient arch-mage who stole immortality from the Tzimisce and the 3rd generation
from Saulot.

4th Generation
-- Etrius -- Council of Seven -- Originally given Eastern Europe as a bailiwick, he now serves as the head of the
Council of Seven. Vienna
-- Goratrix -- antitribu -- Originally, the councilor given Western Europe to oversee, he defected to the Sabbat in
the late 16th century. Mexico City
-- Meerlinda -- An original member of the first Council of Seven, she watched over Britain, and later North America
(deceased -- officially). Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
-- Calderon -- An original member of the first Council of Seven, he watched over Spain, he was destroyed by the
Catholic Inquisition sometime in the mid-1600s (deceased). Madrid
-- LeDuc -- LeDuc was one of the first members of both the Tremere clan and the Council of Seven and originally
supervised France. Paris
-- Abetorius -- Council of Seven -- He is the progeny of Meerlinda, as a member of the Council of Seven, he
oversees Tremere affairs in the Middle-East from Istanbul. Istanbul
-- Xavier de Cincao -- (not a founding member) -- the Tremere Councilor of the Iberian Peninsula during the Dark

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 Ages, and later, to the entire Latin America. Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
-- Thomas Wyncham -- (not a founding member) -- Thomas Wyncham was the Tremere Councilor of the Far East
during the 1990s. Hong Kong
-- Elaine de Calinot -- (not a founding member) -- Elaine de Calinot was one the members of the Inner Council of
Seven. Her assigned continent was Africa. <Currently Missing> Algiers
-- Grimgroth -- (childe of Tremere himself; not a founding member) -- Grimgroth is a vampire of clan Tremere, and
a member of the Tremere Inner Council of Seven. He is responsible for Western Europe including the
British Isles and Australia. In life, he was a magus of Mistridge covenant, which he betrayed. Rome

5th Generation
-- Elaine de Calinot -- Council of Seven -- She is responsible for Africa, but already the third councilor to oversee
the continent as her two predecessors went missing. (currently missing)
-- Grimgroth -- Council of Seven -- He was promoted to the Council of Seven to replace Goratrix, he looks after
Western Europe, Great Britain and Australia.
-- John Diamond -- Council of Seven -- He was the childe of Meerlinda and Pontifex of North America, since his
sire's death he has been raised to the Council of Seven and has moved the councilor's seat to his
chantry in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
-- John Dee -- Tremere Lord of the England.
-- Karl Schrekt -- Former Tremere Justicar. Now lives outside Vienna. (Diablolized a werewolf to increase
generation.)
-- Lotharius -- Childe of Etrius, Sire of Karl Schrekt (1235).
-- Thomas Wyncham -- Council of Seven -- He is responsible for Asia via Hong Kong and his predecessor was
assassinated over a century ago.
-- Xavier de Cincao -- Council of Seven -- He originally oversaw Spain after Calderon's death, and now looks after
Tremere affairs in South America. Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

6th Generation
-- Epistatia -- "Usurper Huntress" (:1022) Progeny of Goratrix. Sire of Paul Cordwood (1023). First outside of
Council of 7 to be embraced.
-- Mendacamina -- "The Iron Maiden" (:1023) Progeny of Etrius. Hates her sire. Secretly plotted his final death
while at Coeris.
-- Therimna -- "The Executioner" (:1026) Progeny of Goratrix. Sire of Locus and Roman. Had thought she
achieved immortality through alchemy. Begged Goratrix for embrace. Created the path of
Thaumaturgical Alchemy. Was envoy to Rickard's court in Buda-Pest.
-- Celestyn -- Progeny of Etrius. Sire of Ardan of Golden Lane (1107) and Augustine (1513). Master Librarian of
Coeris.
-- Malgorzata -- (1078) Progeny of Goratrix. Sire of Jervais (1102) and Itera (1197). Leader of the Conspirator
Faction.
-- Lord Casmir -- (1037:1097) Lord Casmir was a member of Clan Tremere and part of the Conspiracy of Isaac.
-- Ala -- Progeny of Filaereus.
-- Peter Schloss -- Progeny of Filaereus.
-- Tomas Marcello -- Progeny of Xavier de Cincao. Prince of Caracas. A bastard son of the Giovanni, who served the
Necromancers as a ghoul.
-- Mistress Fanchon -- (1186:1223 or 1357) Progeny of Shavrael. Inner Circle. One of the founders of the Camarilla
and first Tremere Justicar.
-- Abigail -- Sire of Hannah (1705).
-- Nicolai Antonescu -- (1303:1314) Progeny of Stromburg. Sire of Erichtho (1897) and Abraham DuSable (1943).
-- Oliver Thrace -- (age 40:1490) Progeny of probably Thomas Wyncham. Sire of Wan Hzu (1974). Lives in Hong
Kong. Specialized in "cleaning up" Sabbat, Assamites and other clan enemies. First lieutenant of
Thomas Wyncham. betrayed the Kindred to the Kuei-jin for fear of the Antediluvians' awakening.
-- Mendel -- (:1492) Maintains the Black Rose Monastary library.
-- Mesita -- Sire of Dr.Mortius (1566).
-- Johann Kaspar -- Sire of John Reiss (1778).
-- Simon Augustyn -- Sire of Peter Dorfman.
-- Ignatus -- Progeny of Cornelius.
-- Maria Haige -- Sire of Zachariah Slane (1741).

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 -- Astio Giavetti -- Sire of Antonio Calbullarshi (1723).
-- Lille Haake -- (:1784) Progeny of William Thorbecke.
-- Arnod -- Sire of Johanna von Neumann.
-- Abraham Powell -- Pontifex for the western U.S. Has his chantry in Sacramento, California.
-- Jean Baptiste Morin -- Sire of Mahalia Romano. Pontifex Exemptus.

7th Generation
-- Absalom -- Tremere Archon Primus
-- Abraham DuSable -- Childe of Nicolai
-- Antonio Calbullarshi -- Tremere Primogen of New Orleans.
-- Ardan Lane -- Progeny of Celestyn and sire of Claas Drescher. (Formerly: Ardan of Golden Lane) Ceoris
-- Dr. Alastair Barneby -- The Warlock Necromancer (missing).
-- Edward Bainbridge -- Lord of the 2nd Circle (deceased).
-- Kathleen Horsburgh -- Regent of the 3rd Circle, Glasgow, Scotland
-- Mooreau -- Former Councilor for Africa. Missing since 1902
-- Professor Cipher -- Regent of the 3rd Circle, Melbourne, Australia

8th Generation
-- Emma Blake -- Progeny of the Tremere Lord Edward Bainbridge during the Victorian Age.
-- Claas Drescher -- Progeny of Ardan Lane. Sire of Anastasz di Zagreb (1867). AKA: The Agent.
-- Kasper von Aupfholme -- Progeny of Councilor Mooreau and Sire of Hyapatia. Former Regent - deceased. Cairo
-- Nigel Porter -- The alchemical master of New Orleans.
-- Rebecca Grey -- Solitary Wiccan Practitioner & Herbalist (deceased).
-- Marie D'Richet -- Youngest childe of Antonio Calbullarshi and lover of Prince Marcel Gilbeau of New Orleans.
-- Natasha Karaljk Scheinberg -- Progeny of Professor Cipher and Tremere prophetess of Melbourne.
-- Seth Dalibor Petocs -- Progeny of Professor Cipher and Tremere Initiate Melbourne.
-- Czere Ubireg -- Progeny of Professor Cipher, apprentice of the 3rd circle and part time Masquerade cleaner
Melbourne.

9th Generation
-- Constantin Addams -- Tremere Lord, Primogen and famed developer of the Faux Path. Houston
-- Daedalus the Artificer -- Archon Primus of Clan Tremere.
-- Hyapatia -- Curatrix of Secrets. Progeny of Kasper Von Aupfholme. Apprentice of the 4th Circle. Cairo
-- Julius Balendous -- Progeny of Claas Dresher
-- Sylvia Kilver -- Eye of the Serpent. Progeny of Ophelia. Acting Regent. Cairo
-- Sebastian Walcott -- The Unacknowledged Regent of New Orleans.

10th Generation
-- Sri Sansa -- The Indian Guru (Missing).
-- Angus McColloch -- Rebel Technomage (Missing).

11th Generation
-- Randall Carley -- Undercover Archon of Clan Tremere

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Archon Absolom Tremere Archon - Archon Secundus
-- Athosides -- Tremere Regent and Noteworthy Archivist. Houston
-- Hamnet Hext -- Tremere exile from Durham and lone vampire of Northallerton.
-- Kenshin Kita -- The Japanese Apprentice Rio de Janeiro
-- Lambert Bellanger - Tremere advisor to prince Blake and "tenant" of the University of Huddersfield.
-- Úrsula Henriques -- Regent of Rio de Janeiro
-- Victor Angelova -- Former Tzimisce Ghoul Embraced as a Tremere. Gabrovo Grad

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Tzimisce

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If someone were to call a Tzimisce inhuman and sadistic, the Tzimisce would
probably commend them for their perspicacity, and then demonstrate that their
mortal definition of sadism was laughably inadequate. The Tzimisce have left the
human condition behind gladly, and now focus on transcending the limitations of
the vampiric state. At a casual glance or a brief conversation, a Tzimisce appears
to be one of the more pleasant vampires. Polite, intelligent, and inquisitive, they
seem a stark contrast to the howling Sabbat mobs or even the apparently more
humane Brujah or Nosferatu. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear
that this is merely a mask hiding something alien and monstrous.

Nicknames
Fiends, Dragons, Voivodes, The Old Clan, Stokers

Antediluvian
Tzimisce Antediluvian ("The Eldest")

Faction
Sabbat/Anarchs

Disciplines
Primary: Auspex, Animalism, Vicissitude
Secondary: Protean, Koldunism

Organization
The Fiends are, on the whole, mistrustful of other Kindred, especially others of their own Clan. As such, Tzimisce
organization, such as it is, has a high regard for solitude. It is against their nature to be inclusive, and thus they have
to work at being Sabbat (though this is less difficult for younger Tzimisce of at least some- what modern outlooks).
This is also a key reason so many of them undertake Paths of Enlightenment: to give their xenophobia purpose, but
also to provide some common point of reference with others on the Path.

Haven
Young Tzimisce are often Sabbat Priests or Ducti, and prefer to maintain communal havens with their packs. They
encourage the pack to live in fearsome locations, such as beneath a hospital or morgue, or in the dank recesses of a
mausoleum. Elders of the Clan sometimes have ancestral holdings in the Old World, and the image of the vampire on
the craggy mountain in a crumbling castle owes much to Tzimisce lords. Rarely are these ancient holdings kept to
any modern standards of comfort, but their lords are strangely hospitable to invited guests (and terribly intolerant of
uninvited bores).

Background
Elder Tzimisce, particularly those of the still-landed nobility in hoary old domains, may have family lines from which
they Embrace, or they may restrict their occasional siring to the terrified villages suffering in thrall beneath their
estates. New World and younger Tzimisce aren’t as discriminating and are more practical. Indeed, many Tzimisce
fledglings are little more than shock troops, Embraced and warped to the limits of their frames to cause revulsion
and revel in bloodshed until put down.

Appearance
Given their ability to manipulate their physical appearance with Vicissitude, Tzimisce look however they want, and
they often want to provoke or frighten. Some prefer extreme modifications and experimentations with their bodies
that leave them looking only vaguely humanoid. Others seek to redefine and even transcend the limits of their
forms, rebuilding themselves in the images of angels, monsters, nightmares, and things even less recognizable.

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Weakness
Earthbound: The Tzimisce are inextricably tied to their domains of origin, and must rest surrounded by their “native
soil” — earth from a place important to her as a mortal, such as the soil from her birthplace or the graveyard where
she underwent her Embrace. This is usually a coffin full of their native soil, anything less and they are not fully
regenerated after a day’s sleep.
This is similar to the disadvantage called Ancestral Soil Dependence. Tzimisce deprived of their native soil gain a -3
penalty to all skills. This loss is regained when they can again rest the day in their native soil.

History
While Tzimisce is presumed dead at the fangs of Lugoj, the Tzimisce clan still holds their deceased founder in some
reverence. Far more than their Darwinist Lasombra brethren, the Tzimisce are a clan of tradition and history, and
while the founder may be dead, its ideals and quests still capture the minds of the Fiends.

What the Eldest originally was is open to debate, although only marginal interest - the Tzimisce consider humans to
be clay at best, and the Eldest's mortal existence would be a trivial prelude to a far more important undead career.
However, at least one legend among the Tzimisce suggests that the Eldest was an experiment. Enoch, seeking to
expel all of his bestial qualities spat out his existence into an Embrace using a modification of the Protean discipline –
the Beast, according to those Metamorphosists, who adopt this theory is not just rage, but also change, whimsy,
intuition, and imagination, all traits that the Eldest showed after its Embrace. In this interpretation, the Eldest is not
just a creature, but also a visible manifestation of Vicissitude.

The Eldest struck out early, eventually travelling to Eastern Europe, where it became tied to the land and Kupala, the
demon of the area. Kupala's instruction of Tzimisce eventually culminated in an event known as Kupala's Night.
Before the Deluge, and long before the rise of Rome, Tzimisce and its eldest and wisest childer gathered in the
depths of the Carpathian mountains. Though the Lupines attempted to keep the demon-spirit imprisoned, the
Tzimisce triumphed, and Kupala was set free – mostly. All of its chains to the mortal world were broken, save two:
the Carpathian mountains, within which it had been bound for so long, and Tzimisce itself.

With the rest of the great demon freed, its only outlet was into the Clan, through the blood of the Antediluvian. The
childer of the Eldest speak of a legendary single night in the Clan's history, during which their powers of Vicissitude
were heightened to incredible levels, and their sorcerous magicks rivaled that of the gods. This was known as
Kupala's Night – the night the Tzimisce Clan established their power and damned themselves for the rest of eternity.

Since Kupala's Night, the Clan has waged a private war with the werewolf tribes of Eastern Europe for custodianship
of the Carpathians. Though any single werewolf is easily a match for an elder vampire, with the aid of koldunic
sorcery and fleshcrafted war ghouls (vozhd), the Tzimisce eventually gained the upper hand, and from there largely
drove off or slew the Lupines. Occasionally in later years, werewolf "crusades" were launched against the
Carpathians, but the Tzimisce (oftentimes aided by Gangrel allies), kept the terrain free of their shamanistic
influences.

In the Carpathians, the Eldest Embraced others, notably Yorak, Kartarirya, Byelobog, and the Dracon, each of these
descendants spread both intellectually and physically around the world. While the Tzimisce are now noted for the
madness and sadism of Metamorphosists like Yorak, creatures like the Dracon show an entirely different side – the
Tzimisce are experimenters and creators, whether it be Constantinople or the Cathedral of Flesh.

The Tzimisce had little to do with Rome and its many conquests. Their real influence lay further eastward, in
Constantinople. There, noted scholars such as Myca Vykos and the Dracon furthered the knowledge of the Clan in
unheard-of ways. The city was the site of a major spiritual movement among Cainites: it seems that the Damned may
not be so Damned after all. With this revelation, the Clan Tzimisce, along with many others (Malkavians, Brujah,
even Nosferatu) could learn to enjoy the fruits of their decades-long labor and co-exist more-or-less peacefully
among the mortals.

The Obertus order was involved in this movement most heavily, of all the Tzimisce lines. They had preserved quite a
bit of the lost Library of Alexandria, making them some of the most well-read supernaturals in the world at that time.

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Dark Ages

The Tzimisce Voivodate, a loose confederation of Tzimisce domains in Eastern Europe, had survived since the fall of
the Second City only to face new threats to its existence during the Dark Ages. The first threat to Tzimisce power in
the region was the emergence of the Tremere. Though the magi of the Order of Hermes were a familiar presence in
the region, they invoked the wrath of the neighboring vampires after prying the secret to vampirism from captured
Tzimisce. House Tremere, led by Goratrix officially became Clan Tremere in the wake of the diablerie of Saulot.
Despite making enemies of mortal magi, the Tzimisce, the Salubri and later the Gangrel and Nosferatu, the fledgling
Tremere managed to survive the Omen War with the Tzimisce. Voivode of Voivodes Vladimir Rustovich's assault on
the Tremere was interrupted by the invasion of the Ventrue under Jürgen of Magdeburg. While Jürgen's assault was
ended through the efforts of Myca Vykos and the Obertus Order, the Omen War continued until the Anarch Revolt
rendered the Tzimisce incapable of any real organized efforts as a clan. Despite the Warlocks' continued survival,
most Tzimisce continue to bear a grudge against them into the modern era, though many younger Tzimisce fail to
comprehend why. The Voivodate, and with it the feudal structure of Tzimisce society, would last only a few centuries
longer.

Victorian Age

Perhaps the most significant thing in the Victorian Age for the Tzimisce was the publishing of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Perhaps the most famous vampire novel (although by no means the first), it actually detailed a member of their clan
(although a somewhat errant one). It introduced audiences to Transylvania, the home of the clan.

However, it was the Victorian Age that saw the beginnings of the Tzimisce's decline – once proud and aristocratic,
the modernizing of the world turned them into anachronistic jokes. The ease at which mortals could travel and
communicate meant that the Fiends could no longer exist as lords and rulers of their own fiefdoms – troubling news
of shambling monstrosities and villagers impaled on pikes would reach more civilized parts of the globe in no time.

Science began to shake the iron foundations of folklore and superstition that the Tzimisce had built their fearsome
reputation on. This was truly a double-edged sword for the Clan. Their hated enemies, the Tremere had become very
powerful during this time, and the peasants over which most of the Fiends ruled rose up against their masters. Once
again burned from their rotting manses and forced to hide from the Kine, most considered the age a great indignity.
However, the leaps and bounds made in medicine and the sciences during this time yielded both a new crop of
potential childer and a new way to study the effects of mutable forms. The Tzimisce had always been students of a
sort, and having biology and anatomy codified and much easier to learn, their own knowledge of the body expanded.

Modern Nights

The Tzimisce are a clan in decline, and have been ever since the Anarch Revolt. However, only in the Final Nights do
these events come to a head and only, until the last moment, in the head of one vampire.

Lambach Ruthven, an unwilling sire of Dracula, finds himself dissolute and wandering throughout Sabbat territory,
haunted by occasional messages from his dead sire. Weak-willed and ineffective as Lambach is, he is still fifth
generation and a major figure in the Anarch Revolt – respected (and feared), he is largely left alone by the cannibals
of the Sabbat. He is eventually forced, or encouraged, or led to the sewers of New York City, where he finds a
horrifying truth: Lugoj was destroyed that night, and Tzimisce "lives".

The Tzimisce Antediluvian, through advanced mastery of Vicissitude, has become a gigantic (miles-long) pseudo-
fungal infestation under the tri-state area. Its consciousness is spread across thousands of creatures, and it can form
bodies or new selves at will. It offers Lambach metamorphosis, a chance to be as it is as part of what it is. Lambach
fled and tried to tell anyone who would listen, but the endeavor was fruitless.

The Tzimisce who bother with politics still remain most populous in the Sabbat in these nights, but there is now also
a non-insignificant number who have found their way within the Anarch Movement; especially younger,
disenfranchised ones whose ambitions cannot find purchase in other domains, and must redirect their impulse to
dominion beyond the old ways. Finally, although it is understood by both parties that their presence is barely
tolerated, a few other Dragons still associate with the Camarilla, mainly for instrumental purposes.

135
The Old Clan also remains an unliving presence in modern nights, one notable name being the autarkis Mayumi
Shibasaki, a powerful Kindred corporate who exerts a great deal of influence over the city of Tokyo.

Organization
Historically, the Tzimisce Embraced broods who maintained a particular plot of land. Tied to the land, Tzimisce
broods were incestuous, violent hierarchies of hateful creatures who maintained a bare modicum of civility through
raw power and the blood bond. The central government of the Tzimisce, so to speak, was the Council of Voivodes,
guided by the Viceroy. The Viceroy was elected by his peers, but his tenure was set "for life". However, given the
jealousy and suspicion among the Clan, there was a relatively regular progression of Viceroys, as one after another
fell to the political or physical traps set by another ambitious clan member. The Council had anywhere from less than
a dozen to nearly a hundred members during the Dark Ages, making it the single most influential factor in Clan
politics.

With the elimination of this hierarchy during the Anarch Revolt, the Tzimisce have become intensely solitary
creatures. They now tend to Embrace more unusual individuals, psychopaths and sadists are common choices as are
people who indulge in self-mutilation; however, intelligence and dignity are still key concerns: the Tzimisce would
choose Hannibal Lecter over Leatherface any day of the month.

In the modern era, the Tzimisce have a recognized clan head, the voivode, but the office is largely religious. For most
Tzimisce, authority is a function of power.

Tzimisce who have awakened their zulo shape (i.e., have achieved the fourth level of Vicissitude), who have at least
one level of Koldunic sorcery, and/or who have demonstrated wisdom and loyalty to the sect and clan are known
among the clan as zhupans. Zhupans are respected for their knowledge and power, and may "suggest" courses of
action to lesser Tzimisce. The lesser Tzimisce are not required to heed a "suggestion," but ignoring a zhupan is
considered extremely rude and will almost inevitably alienate the zhupan so snubbed.

Within the Sabbat, the Tzimisce are the spiritual leaders and scholars, in contrast with the Lasombra's preference for
leadership and temporal power. While the Lasombra are the Cardinals and Bishops, the Tzimisce prefer being Pack
Priests, Prisci, or even not having titles at all and focusing on personal development. Some people even ponder (out
of earshot, of course) that the Tzimisce are not very sincere in their attachment to the sect, and that the only
reasons they are even present amongst the Sabbat is their dislike of Camarilla clans (especially the Tremere) and not
fitting with the Camarilla's policy of hiding among humans (Tzimisce tend to see humans as mere plaything below
their consideration). However, those Tzimisce who show genuine dedication to the Sabbat ideal are paragons of
their sect, impressing (and even scaring) other Sabbat with their fervor and contributions.

In Eastern Europe, however, many Tzimisce give only lip service to the Sabbat and prefer to live solitary unlives
following their own pursuits. Most Sabbat give these Tzimisce leeway, since most of them are very old and very
powerful. More than one upstart neonate has been toyed into an unrecognizable visceral mess by angry Tzimisce
wanting to be left alone.

Koldun

Nicknames
None
Faction
Independent, Sabbat, Oradea League

While all Tzimisce consider themselves scholars, scientists, and sorcerers of a sort, those who call themselves
kolduns claim to be the first vampires to have mastered sorcery. It is uncertain if kolduns are a true variation of the
blood or a title bestowed upon those who have mastered the eldritch energies of the land, but in any case, kolduns
are rare and respected among the Tzimisce. Not all have the aptitude to properly harness and control the land's
spirits in the practice of koldunism, and those who fail are incinerated by the unbound power. Those who succeed

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are Kolduns. Due to their unique ties to their ancestral soil, most Kolduns belong to the Old Clan, and the discipline is
almost universal among them; most Tzimisce in the Sabbat lack the spiritual strength to master Koldunism, although
exceptions are becoming increasingly common in the modern nights.

Old Clan Tzimisce

Nicknames
Carpathians, The Dracul, The Old Clan
Faction
Independent, Oradea League

The younger generations of Tzimisce have taken to calling them the Old Clan Tzimisce, members of the Tzimisce clan
who did not join the Sabbat or cultivate the use of Vicissitude, but they call themselves the Dracul and do not
consider themselves a bloodline. Most of them are old (at least 500 years old, as they predate the formation of the
Sabbat), of low generation and rule small domains almost exclusively in Eastern Europe.

The majority of Tzimisce

elders met Final Death
when the clan joined
the Sabbat, but a fair
number escaped their
vindictive progeny.
Securing their
demesnes against the
ravages of the Sabbat,
these vampires
continued to exist much
as they had for
centuries, albeit more
warily.

Though some refer to

these Tzimisce as the
"Old Clan", that is a
misnomer. These hoary
vampires have little use
for sect, clan, or other
ties. They remember
well the nights of old
when each vampire was
a law unto itself, and
any other vampire was
a potential enemy.
(Note that like the
surviving non-Sabbat
Lasombra, Old Clan
Tzimisce do not call
themselves "antitribu".)
Some of them have
gathered in the Oradea
League to fend off the
sects who threaten
their autonomy.

137
Accordingly, Old Clan Tzimisce society is structured around individual broods comprising a sire and one or more
Blood Bound childer. Childer, for Old Clan Tzimisce, fill the roles of lovers, family, friends, bodyguards, and servants.
Tzimisce mastery over the Blood Bond allows the sire to attune the emotions of his childer to the desired pitch. Thus,
a vampire lover may be Blood Bound to feel all-consuming desire for the sire, a guard may be Blood Bound for
loyalty, and a mate may be "programmed" for love. The fact that these emotions are artificial and one-sided rarely
bothers the sire.

Old Clan Tzimisce rarely congregate. Other Tzimisce are, if anything, even less trustworthy than other vampires.
Indeed, many Old Clan Tzimisce spend more time brooding over some millennia-old, centuries-forgotten slight by
one of their "peers" than they do worrying about the genuine threat that the Sabbat poses. This is not to say that
Old Clan Tzimisce have forgotten their traitorous progeny. On the contrary, many Old Clan Tzimisce have gone so far
as to disown younger Tzimisce entirely. These Tzimisce, the Old Clan claims, are not vampires at all, but fleshly hosts
for otherworldly parasites called "Asakku" or play-doh for the Antediluvian once it rises again. This distinction seems
to be based on the possession of Vicissitude, although some ancient non-Sabbat Tzimisce have verifiably possessed
Vicissitude for millennia.

Some Sabbat whisper that a few Old Clan childer have been rendered immune to the Vinculum by their elders and
sent into the world with the purpose of infiltrating the Sabbat and bringing it down. The clan publicly scoffs at these
rumors, but some high-ranking Sabbat have expressed private unease about such a prospect.

According to Old Clan lore, before Enoch was swept from the firmament by the wrath the Deluge wrought, the
Eldest, in his wandering, found a well. Around the well, he found a city in veneration to entities who, like him,
enshrouded themselves in the bowels of the earth, possessed of a horrific grace rivaling his own. The city’s kine cried
out in forbidden tongues against him, but the language therein supplied only succor and soothed the Eldest. Their
rituals he found wanting, their depravities and atrocities no more than children dressing in the cloth of their parents’
emulation. He educated them, and was in turn enlightened. Infused with this new wisdom, the Old Clan guided by
the Eldest bored deeply into the heart of the Carpathians; there the Eldest caged, bound, and tamed the demon
Kupala, crucifying the spirit to the Clan and shackling it to his will. Cleverly, by intent of the Eldest, the demon found
purchase in the Antediluvian and spread itself through his blood — only the Old Clan was spared the indignity. In the
eyes of the Old Clan, their kinsmen from the main clan have not the clarity of vision to see the lesson of the master,
adrift in bowed supplication to the manipulations of his pet, Kupala. They are the medium exercising the Eldest’s
own grand and beautiful project. They are not his students; they are his art, blind to their true purpose, and
unworthy of his teachings. The Old Clan pity the main Clan, recognizing them as vessels of the Eldest and not
individuals in their own right — speaking at them, rather than to them in meetings, regarding any interactions as a
means of direct communication with the Eldest.

Tzimisce antitribu

In the Sabbat sense, the Tzimisce of the Sabbat are themselves the antitribu, as the Sabbat reject clan identity as a
legacy of the Antediluvians they so despise.

In a non-Sabbat sense, there are no Tzimisce antitribu, strictly speaking. The Tzimisce are not widely political
creatures to begin with; merely territorial, and their choice of allegiance reflects this. The vast majority of politicized
Tzimisce do belong squarely to the Sabbat, and most others are younger Dragons who have joined the Anarchs in
search of greener pastures. There is barely even a handful of Tzimisce in the Camarilla, and those few are only there
for personal reasons, and tend to leave once their objectives are completed. The presence of the Tremere virtually
guarantees that the Tzimisce have no interest in remaining.

Culture
Even before the rise of the Sabbat, the Tzimisce viewed their mortal charges as little more than a sophisticated form
of herd beast; following the Anarch revolt, the majority of Tzimisce have abandoned lordship in favor of their own
projects. To purify their thoughts and detach themselves from human subjectivity, Tzimisce either founded or
developed the various Sabbat Paths of Enlightenment. These beliefs and rituals serve diverse purposes: engendering
solidarity among vampires, providing new habits to replace human-learned ones, and fostering an understanding of

138
what it means to be a vampire. As a result, the Tzimisce are intensely focused on the Vampiric condition: they gladly
abandon their Humanity in favor of the Paths of Enlightenment, and they have spent more time thinking about their
state than any other clan. One of the immediate results of this is that Sabbat culture is derived from medieval
Tzimisce culture; traditions such as Vaulderie derive from Tzimisce custom.

Tzimisce culture, philosophy, and self-image are intimately tied with their practice of Vicissitude. The Tzimisce view
Vicissitude as a key to higher mysteries of the vampiric state, and consequently see deeper mastery of Vicissitude as
part and parcel with vampiric enlightenment. Tzimisce almost invariably modify their own appearance using
Vicissitude, sometimes on a nightly basis.

Tzimisce also use Vicissitude as a solution to a variety of problems that would not occur to a vampire possessed of a
conscience. Unlike the other rulership clans (e.g., the Ventrue or Lasombra), Tzimisce have no particular facility for
Dominate. As a result, they rule their subjects not by mind control, but through sheer fear, using creative
applications of Vicissitude to strike that fear home. Giant sculptures of living flesh, tables made from ghouled
children, lovers glued together and transformed into dogs, all of these are tools for a sufficiently insightful Tzimisce.
The most infamous of these creations, the szlachta and vozhd, are used as bodyguards and tanks. The Tzimisce are
also the last practitioners of a form of Koldunic Sorcery.

Revenants

A particularly interesting phenomenon which is practically exclusive to the Tzimisce is the existence of Revenants.
Revenants are families of ghouls maintained continuously by the Tzimisce, who serve as mortal pawns and possible
candidates for the Embrace. Centuries of vampiric contact, infusions of vampiric blood and inbreeding have
transformed the Revenants into a distinct type of supernatural creature. They produce a weak vampiric-like vitae,
which sustains their bodies far beyond average human lifespans (although not immortal, Revenants can live to be
hundreds of years old), and also gives them the ability to use Disciplines. Revenants are fanatically loyal to their
vampiric masters and consider themselves superior to the average human, as well as "regular" ghouls. This, added to
their treatment by the Tzimisce and their inbred, unsavory lifestyles, have shaped their mindsets into completely
alien directions. Most Revenants could never function as normal human beings. The four Revenant families also
provide the Tzimisce with a very diverse "breeding stock," giving the clan much flexibility in its membership.
Warriors, scholars, aristocrats, and freaks are all found in equal measure amongst the Revenants, and this translates
to them being found amongst the Tzimisce as well, once they Embrace the Revenants in question. Although there
are other Revenant families in the World Of Darkness, the four Tzimisce families (the Bratovitches, the Obertus, the
Grimaldi, and the Zantosas) are the biggest and most well established. What follows is a description of the four
families:

• The Bratovitches are the muscle of the four families. Violent and animalistic, they are quick to anger, rough and
savage. They are also the kennel masters for their lords, raising dogs, wolves and other wild animals so that their
masters may shape them into fearsome creatures they may hurl at their foes.

• The Grimaldi are the Tzimisce's primary liaison with human society. They are the most "human" of the Revenant
families and are usually in charge of maintaining Tzimisce estates and handling mortal endeavors like finance and
politics. They are also the most independent of the Revenant families, some of them even secretly plotting to
free themselves from their masters' yoke. Other Revenant families see the Grimaldi as soft and hold them in
contempt. The Grimaldi return the favor, seeing the other families as mindless slaves and freaks.

• The Obertus are scholars and occultists and are held in high esteem by the Tzimisce, as many of their most
celebrated scientists, spiritualists, leaders, and sorcerers have been Embraced from their ranks. Sascha Vykos,
the most famous (and notorious) Priscus of the Sabbat, was Myka Vykos adopted from the Obertus family (but
formerly Magus of House Tremere).

• The Zantosas are hedonistic social butterflies, on par with any Toreador in their dealings with human culture.
They stimulate their senses and play with humans with reckless abandon. They are probably the Revenants in
the least control of themselves (even more so than the Bratovitches), and many believe the only reason the
Tzimisce have not wiped them out is because they value their tradition and history. The Fiends' anachronistic
mindset may be the only thing saving the Zantosas from annihilation.

139
The Tzimisce are unique in how much their culture is centered around their signature Discipline, Vicissitude. This
unique and quite disturbing Discipline allows the Tzimisce to shape flesh and blood (both living and nonliving) into
practically any shape they can think of. Their exploration of it rivals (some people even say surpasses) that of the
Tremere towards Thaumaturgy, and the Tzimisce ascribe a spirituality that contrasts with the Tremere's practical
view of their own Discipline. This results in most Tzimisce not looking at all like humans, having shaped themselves
into alien or monstrous forms, or even looking beyond human, having sculpted themselves into paragons of mortal
beauty canons, more beautiful than any human created by nature. In fact, this exploration of the Discipline, along
with their studies into how it affects the body, mind, and soul of the user or subject of its use, have led to whole
philosophies being based around it, particularly the Path of Metamorphosis (it also facilitates studies in the other
Tzimisce path of enlightenment, the Path of Death and the Soul). Rumors of Tzimisce's godlike proficiency with the
Discipline have given way to the Fiends giving it an almost religious importance. While other clans may have their
own personal Disciplines (like the Gangrel's Protean, or the Assamites' Quietus), none base their unlives around
them like the Tzimisce do with Vicissitude.

Torture

It is an unpleasant fact to some Kindred that a large portion of the Tzimisce culture revolves around ways and means
of hurting other beings. Many Kindred would understandably prefer to ignore or gloss over this aspect of the clan.
Still, Tzimisce are dubbed Fiends for a good reason, and information from that perceived evil that is the Clan
Tzimisce may be particularly useful to those used to a more benevolent Camarilla perspective.

Psychological preparation is vital for any torture session and Tzimisce disciplines are admirably suited to this.
Vicissitude allows the torturer to assume a shape appropriate for the situation. Perhaps an incredibly beautiful
member of the gender to which the victim is attracted, to heighten their shame; or an impossibly hideous one, to
heighten the revulsion and terror; or even the form of the victim's worst enemy, or closest friend. Auspex allows the
Tzimisce to discover the victim's phobias and dirty little secrets, and to discern which areas of the victim's body are
particularly sensitive.

Tzimisce disciplines also vastly aid in the actual torture session. Vicissitude allows the torturer to become his own
toolkit, reforming his extremities (or the victim's extremities) into a variety of intrusive implements, perfectly shaped
to fit the victim (or, not quite fit, as the case may be). Then, too, the sight of one's bones heaving of their own accord
through one's skin is always disconcerting—and it becomes difficult to find release in a scream when one's tongue
has been grafted to the roof of one's mouth. Animalism allows for a variety of noxious creatures (particularly those
inspiring panic in the victim) to be summoned and precisely directed around, on top of, or even into the victim.

Of course, common physical torture has its limits, and this is particularly true concerning Kindred. Most Elders
worthy of that title have experienced massive body trauma at least once during their unlife and thus, are somewhat
numb to the usual concept of pain. Moreover, Kindred scoff at threats that would break many mortals, such as
amputation or castration, given their regenerative capabilities. Moreover, how does one threaten a Nosferatu with
disfigurement? Sometimes even mortals display surprising resilience.

Unfortunately for such victims, Tzimisce are equally skilled at emotional torture. Centuries of unlife have given
Tzimisce torturers an uncanny degree of psychological insight into the way the human, and Kindred mind operate.
Furthermore, Tzimisce control over the Blood Bond provides torturers with a variety of fiendish new ways to hurt
their victims. For example, two Kindred may be forcibly Blood Bound to one another and then one painstakingly
disfigured before the other's eyes. Alternatively, the Tzimisce may break one victim's Bond, while leaving the other
still Bound; then the un-Bound victim may then be re-Bound to the torturer and induced to inflict physical or
emotional pain on the other remaining victim. Tzimisce may also, through rituals, cause already Bound beings to feel
emotions other than love. A victim capable of bearing the most atrocious wounds without flinching may be utterly
broken by a contemptuous slap from the hand of the now hostile love (or childer).

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Hospitality

The rights and treatment of guests forms an indelible part of Tzimisce culture. There are many archaic rules
concerning deportment, manners, greetings, goodbyes, allowances, and settlement of grievances, but there are a
few Clan-wide obligations that are always honored. A guest of the Tzimisce is entitled to several things:

1. Shelter and nourishment for three days and three nights (not counting the night of arrival)
2. The protection of the host against third-party aggressors
3. Suspension of inter-family grievances for the duration of the stay
4. The best quarters in the home of the host (up to and including the host's own chambers)

However, the guest also has a few obligations that makes them worthy of such special treatment

1. A ritual exchange of gifts or services (on arriving, departing, or sometimes both)

2. Respecting the host's boundaries and property
3. Not needlessly angering the host or any of his family
4. Not staying any longer than the requisite three days and three nights unless invited to.

The balance of these laws is to ensure that no advantage is taken of either the host or guest – a Fiend's honor can be
completely shattered by infringing upon either one of these sets of rules. Given the warfare that exists between
lineages of Tzimisce, exercising patience and honoring these laws is a way to ensure that there is always a sort of
"neutral ground" where combative families can meet and prevent any further outrages.

The older a Tzimisce is, the more seriously they treat these laws, for they remember the nights when the only shelter
to be had was in the domain of a rival voivode, when travel was arduous and only undertaken when necessary. Most
elder Tzimisce respect these laws in the modern nights, but their grandchilder may not even be aware that these
laws exist, much less still enforced in their ancestors' domains. Minor breaches can be forgiven, though some effort
must be made to show that the trespasser is apologetic. Major breaches can fix a Tzimisce's reputation in a very bad
way – slaughtering guests during the day is a sure way to make sure no one comes to visit you, or ever wants to
make a deal.

Embraces

Historically, the Tzimisce have viewed mortal life as largely irrelevant before the Embrace. While they do look for
specific mortal characteristics, they tend to see this as the barest flicker of potential rather than a compelling
argument. Tzimisce Embraces are supremely selfish – often based on specific obsessions or interests of the sire,
rather than any distinctive characteristic of the childe. Those with interests matching their own are particularly
prized, and many Tzimisce childer were masters of their field in life – whether this field was medicine or serial
murder is a trifling distinction though.

That said, the Tzimisce have a reputation for choosiness, largely from a general disdain for mortals. The Tzimisce
have partly addressed this by instituting breeding programs among mortals, resulting in ghoul families such as the
Bratovitch or Zantosa line, which serve as the preferred fodder for an Embrace.

It seems curious that the Tzimisce are a clan that has Embraced many non-humans. Among their childer were magi,
shamans, prophets or some other exotic creatures (particularly the Shadow Lords kinfolk and some even speculate
about fairy blood running through Tzimisce veins). We can assume that this disposition may emanate from the Elders
who refused to define themselves in mortal terms, or even from those sires in search of a better symbiosis between
their vampiric powers and those of magical blood.

141
Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Tzimisce the Ancient

4th Generation
-- The Dracon -- The second and favorite childe of the Tzimisce Antediluvian. He was well known for his part in
forming the Dream of Constantinople, alongside his lovers Michael and Antonius, as a part of a Trinity that
ruled the city.
-- Triglav

5th Generation
-- The Rider
-- Hedeon Yaroslavich -- Monarch of the League of Oradea.
-- Dracula -- Son of the Dragon
-- Velya the Vivisectionist and Elaine Cassidy -- Cardinals of the Land Beyond the Forest.

6th Generation
-- Bishop Nikita -- Shepherd of the Cainite Heresy
-- Gabor the Bulgar -- The First Prince of Sofia-Grad
-- Richárd Csintalan -- Old Clan Tzimisce of Hungary and famous Shadow Crusader
-- Sascha Vykos -- Caine's Angel
-- Vidor -- Sire of Darvag Grozny

7th Generation
-- Darvag Grozny -- Prince of Kiev (Dark Ages)
-- Maja Grimm -- Old Clan -- Shadow Crusader of the Manus Nigrum.
-- Stephanie L'Heureux --
-- Vladimira Rada -- Envoy to Sofia-Grad from League of Oradea.

8th Generation
-- Ezra Howland -- Child of Katarina McElligot, Sire to Rightous Endeavor and Delphine Lalaurie
-- Mai Akiyama -- Officially, Progeny of Marius Egnatius of the Old Clan Tzimisce. Since her adoption by Chivato
Nadir, she has begun to refer to herself as a Follower of Set.

9th Generation
-- Delphine Lalaurie
-- Oleg Selivanov -- The Crimelord of Brighton Beach (New York City)
-- Rightous Endeavor

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Besta-fera -- Former pack-leader of El Colgato
-- Bishop Rose -- The Mistress of Montreal
-- Marie-Anje Gagnon -- Former member of the Coven of Librarians and current voivode of Gabrovo Grad.
-- Orianne Gagnon -- Progeny of Marie-Anje Gagnon and pack priest of The Fleur-de-Lys Coven.
-- Gabi Alexandrescu -- The Sabbat Ettin Rio de Janeiro
-- Ludmilla Kantor -- Former Soviet refusenik and godmother of Philadelphia's Russian mafia.
-- Molly 8 -- Progeny of Marie-Ange Gagnon, a Necromancer and Necronomist within her clan. Member of The
Librarians of Montreal.

142
Ventrue

143
The Ventrue have long been one of the proudest lines of vampires. Its
members work hard to maintain a reputation for honor, genteel
behavior, and leadership. A sense of noblesse oblige has long
pervaded the clan, accompanied by the genuine belief that the
Ventrue know what is best for everyone. They not only consider
themselves the oldest clan, but see themselves as the enforcers of
tradition and the rightful leaders of Kindred society.

They have long been Embraced from the ranks of nobility and
privilege, whether kings or merchant princes, but they have also been
known as knights and warlords who sought to live by the laws of
chivalry and duty. If anything, the Ventrue have adapted to fill the
roles of leadership over the ages, and in the Final Nights are more
politician than noble warrior, more CEO than baron lord. They remain
the largest supporters of the Camarilla and the Masquerade, believing
both institutions to be the surest means of protecting vampires from
the growing mortal masses, and of guarding their own power.

Nicknames
The Clan of Kings, Blue Bloods, Patricians, Warlords, Ambitiones, Power Mongers

Antediluvian
Ventru

Faction
Camarilla

Disciplines
Primary: Dominate, Fortitude, Presence
Secondary: Auspex

Organization
The Clan-wide organization of the Ventrue is localized and feudal, with various universally understood peerages,
vassalages, oaths of fealty, and sworn boons taking the place of a rigid hierarchy. Many Ventrue style themselves as
secret masters of their do- mains, consolidating power in longstanding networks and forming conspiracies. The
Ventrue greatly value propriety and honor, and use many forms of address and respect — their Laws of Decorum are
complex and rigid, and could fill several volumes. Almost every Ventrue worth his status can recite his lineage at
least back to the elders, if not to the great Methuselahs.

Haven
A Ventrue’s haven displays both her great power (read: wealth) and distinguished tastes. Opulent, grandiose, even
baroque — these may all apply to Ventrue havens. They shun the gaudy displays of other Kindred, and their style
tends less to the avant-garde than it does to the classical and traditional. To the Blue Bloods, a well-maintained
haven is an extension of oneself, and for someone to see it in less than flawless state implies weakness, dis- traction,
or even madness.

Background
Anyone who has “made something of herself” may attract the attention of the Ventrue, who judge their childer
based on their prominence and success even before they start to groom them for the Embrace. Socialites, moneyed
family, corporate wunderkinds, military leaders, and even untested newcomers who show great promise are keenly
valued among the Blue Bloods.

144
Appearance
The Ventrue favor conservative clothing and reserved presentation, unless they’re making a point about power or
money. Ventrue Princes may well wear a circlet or carry a scepter as symbols of office, while young Blue Bloods
display their own achievement via suits, ties, dresses, and accessories that are easily overlooked singularly but add
up to a stunning total effect. If a Ventrue has so much as a hair out of place, it’s because he spent all night running
down the Society of Leopold and demanding the Sabbat menace retreat.

Weaknesses
Selective Thirst: The Ventrue have rarefied tastes, and they find only one specific type of mortal blood palatable and
vital for them. When a player creates a Ventrue character, he should decide with the Storyteller what specific type of
blood suits the character, and this choice is permanent. Blood of other types (even animals) simply offers the
vampire no blood pool increase, no matter how much he consumes - he can appear to gain sustenance and even
enjoy his meal, if his performance is convincing. This refined palate may be very narrow or very broad — say, the
blood of younger sisters, only the blood of British born, blood of drunk people or the blood of children. Vampiric
blood is exempt from this restriction.
This weakness is similar is to Selective Digestion disadvantage.

History
The Ventrue cherish history more so than any other clan, believing it to be a worthy guide to live by and to justify
their positions of authority today. This is not to say that they have any particular obsession with the truth – a myth
can be much more powerful than the real thing, after all. But they take history very seriously, a fact that is no doubt
aided by their tale being one of conquests and grand achievements the likes of which few other clans can boast. To
hear them say it, their claim to fame begins in the early days of vampire history with Caine himself commanding his
eldest childe Ynosch to Embrace the Ventrue Founder, who they believe to be the first member of the Third
Generation and who is often called Ventru. He was to be Caine's advisor in the nights of the First City, and when the
Dark Father prepared to leave he chose to hand the burden of stewarding his people to Ventru. Through this story
the Ventrue justify their position of superiority and leadership over the other clans, just as they believe their
progenitor led the other Antediluvians for a time.

The first major achievement of the Ventrue is attributed to Artemis with the creation of militant Sparta. Wary of the
mortal masses even in those ancient nights, Artemis saw promise in the ideas of the philosopher Lycurgus and
supported him, seeking to make the humans a tool to be used rather than fought, and eventually making herself
Sparta's patron goddess. They would soon become the perfect example mortal potential in her eyes: loyal, brave,
and completely devoted to self-perfection. Sensing the rising power, other Ventrue gathered to become a part of the
Spartan war machine, urging the neighboring City-states to ally with Sparta while establishing their own domains
within the Peloponnesian League. This also made possible the rise of the mercantile city of Corinth and its Prince
Evarchus, who exemplified the power of wealth in a role for all Ventrue to follow.

The growing power of Sparta and the Brujah alliance in Athens would lead to the first Brujah War, a conflict that
would set the stage for a bitter rivalry between the two clans millennia afterwards. Though the Brujah or Ventrue
never came directly to blows in the conflict, the eventual invasion of Athens led by Lysander caused many Brujah and
Toreador to regard the Ventrue as power mad barbarians, while Spartan Ventrue considered the Brujah dangerous
idealists.

Roman Age

After Sparta's fall, the rise of Rome signaled one of the clan's greatest ages. Many Ventrue had long settled in the
region and lived relatively quietly while it was ruled by the Etruscans. Nevertheless, the rebellion that freed the
Roman people was attributed to Collat, who would become the city's first Prince. Recognizing the mortals of Rome
to be a proud and superstitious people that would sooner stake any vampires than consider living with them let
alone beneath them, Collat did not seek to rule the Romans directly or make himself a deity as vampires in the past
had done, but influenced events from behind the scenes by collecting favors from the city's citizens. This system
would later be refined by Camilla, childe of Collat, who replaced his sire and set about establishing political
connections with the patrician families of Rome. Instead of using Disciplines to force his will on the city's leaders,

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Collat ruled through ghoul proxies delivering favors and contacts, allowing him to grow rich and powerful while the
mortals remained ignorant. This strategy would be widely adopted in the centuries to follow and would serve the
clan well once the Masquerade was adopted.

The second Brujah War would parallel that of Rome and Carthage, where Brujah, Assamites, and even Baali ruled the
mortals openly, demanding blood and sacrifices while living as gods. In such contrast to what the Patricians had
fostered in Rome, the African nation was seen as a den of infernalists and monsters. Despite Lysander's repeated
efforts to convince Camilla, the war with Carthage would not begin until a Brujah named Dominic antagonized the
Malkavian Prince of Syracuse, Alchias. Alchias turned to Artemis and supposedly the bull-dancer Arikel for help, and
the three made plans with Lysander to arrange the war. Cainites largely avoided direct fighting during the first two
Punic Wars, but in the final assault Ventrue, Toreador, Malkavians, and Gangrel of Rome battled openly alongside
the Romans against the people of Carthage. In the end both sides were greatly wounded, but the Ventrue prevailed,
and the Brujah would never forgive them for destroying their fabled city.

In the years that followed Rome prospered. The Ventrue shared its power with many of the other clans that had
taken part in the wars against Carthage, establishing friendships with other Cainites even as the Ventrue themselves
began squabbling with one another. Most Patricians of the time were independent, with the only organization of the
clan being a largely ineffectual assembly that eventually fell out of practice. Following the cue of Julius Caesar,
Camilla reorganized the Ventrue into a structure that gave authority over the clan's members to the most important
Ventrue in the region. While the power over the younger and less important Ventrue was not absolute, it did create
a means for settling disputes, establishing connections, and identifying friends and enemies of the clan. These
reforms served the clan well, and the Patricians prospered for several centuries until the empire itself dissolved.

Dark Ages

When Rome fell, most of the Ventrue elite abandoned the ruined city to establish new centers of power elsewhere.
During the rise of the Merovingian dynasty in Frankia (later the Holy Roman Empire), the Ventrue began infiltrating
existing government as feudal lords, thus taking credit for the creation and expansion of the medieval feudal system.
As the Frankish state expanded into Germany and Italy, the Ventrue began to prosper once again. When the Holy
Roman Empire was dispersed, the Ventrue moved their center of power to Italy. However, since Rome was
dominated by the Lasombra (as was much of the Church), the Ventrue established centers of power elsewhere in
Italy, in Venice, Milan, Genoa, and Firenze. Here, the Ventrue constantly opposed the Lasombra (and their proxies in
the church and in Rome) in their quest for power, as their own early efforts had not succeeded. Posing as kings and
merchant princes, the Ventrue expanded their influence across the Mediterranean through trade routes and
crusades, thus becoming again a force to be reckoned with.

During these times, many Ventrue were influenced by the laws of chivalry and personal honor. Some of these
separated themselves from the main clan during the founding of the Camarilla and turned to the Sabbat.

Victorian Age

1800s England was a good time to be Ventrue. The combination of centuries-old feudalism with the nouveau riche
middle class served to keep the Ventrue at the top of the power structure. From there, they could oversee both
international politics and the finances of an entire country.

Many Ventrue childer, already hungry for territories of their own, were sent to colonies through the British Empire,
creating Camarilla beachheads in India, Australia, and Egypt. The vampires who already occupied these regions
(primarily Ravnos in India, and Setites in Egypt) faced years of vicious propaganda declaring them to be heathens,
savages, and worse. Most people - both Kindred and kine - adopted these views wholesale, making the work of
controlling popular opinion that much easier for the Ventrue. If a Ventrue wanted to increase profit from a mine in
Africa, all they had to do was spread the word that the mine's workers were closet heretics, justifying the decline of
pay and living conditions. The Danava of India were able to invoke their historical connection with the Ventrue to
leverage themselves into a position resembling neutrality, at least on the surface. After over a century, the natives
were able to eventually wrest control of India back from the foreign British Ventrue.

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Not all Ventrue were robber-barons and misanthropes, but enough of them were to make vampiric opinion turn
against them for the first time since the founding of the Camarilla. The Toreador were repulsed by the Ventrue
obsession with money and political gains; the Tremere had more important things to worry about than who was
Prince of a small English town; the Gangrel were treated as servants and animals when they were not being hunted
down.

The Ventrue made just enough compromises to smooth things over, at least with any Kindred whom they could
make use of; it was during this time that the Ventrue learned to temper their cutthroat business dealings with an
outward veneer of philanthropy. They remained, of course, a clan out for profit and prestige, but there is no reason
not to remain civil while doing so. This policy was put to the test in the New World, where the Ventrue spread West
across North America and provided much of the impetus for doing so: The clan's money could sponsor quite a few
landstaking ventures and West Coast mines, and wherever cities sprang up so did Ventrue interests.

Modern Nights

The years following the World Wars have seen Clan Ventrue reassert itself once more over a half-century of troubles
and decline. The clan thrived during the four-decade cold war, taking full advantage of the paranoid on both sides to
make massive profits and sink its tendrils into the growing government bureaucracies that came to dominate
industrialized governments. Having learned a valuable lesson from the debacle of the Crusades, savvy Ventrue have
determined to hold their resources together despite the mortal conflict raging around them. Ventrue on both sides
of the Iron Curtain worked in concert, watching their respective "governments" act against one another for the
greatest advantage. The Ventrue were particularly fond of the various incarnations of secret police that came into
existence, finding them an excellent way to keep the kine in line and under supervision. In the West, the Ventrue
concentrated on the recovering European industries, all but abandoning the last of their feudal and noble ties for big
business and majority shares in multinational corporations.

When the Cold War ended, the few former Communist Bloc Ventrue who did manage to cultivate some degree of
influence found themselves stripped of power just as the governments they supported had been. A decade later,
these Ventrue are still trying to recover while Western Ventrue-owned companies step into the dismal economies
and invest heavily in national infrastructures. As a result, a number of Ventrue in the East – particularly in Russia,
Poland, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine – have turned to organized crime as a new field of influence.

Organization
The Ventrue are second only to the Tremere in terms of organization and interrelation, and take pride in the fact
that every clan member has a place and knows just where he stands within the clan in relation to everyone else. Of
course, the system is not at all like some military organization.

Acquiring dignitas is the only way to advance in Ventrue society. One does not necessarily ascend a ladder of
advancement from rank to rank. Rather, members can move through the (largely honorific) system as their abilities
and fortunes decree. The Ventrue feel that this system allows them more flexibility and lets them spot new talents
within the clan and reward it, if desirable.

The clan elders often point this latter facet of the system out to young Kindred who are anxious and frustrated at the
lackluster success of their own unlives. The system borrows heavily from the Roman Republic's political institutions.
Although the democratic elements of that system were stripped away long ago, the overall structure and some of
the names remain.

Clan Structure

• Ephorate
• Strategoi
• Lictors
• Tribunes

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The Clan is headed by the Ephorate, which arbitrates intra-Clan disputes, chooses the representative for the Inner
Circle of the Camarilla and maintain the unity of the Clan in the face of global issues (although only Ventrue in power
positions, like princes or primogen are actively inclined to heed them). Other influential figures within the Clan are
the Strategoi, who enforce the dominance of the Ephorate along geographic regions. As agents of the strategoi act
the Lictors, who often specialize in a specific field (finances, warfare etc.). On a more local scale, the Tribune acts as a
messenger to a Ventrue in a political position, often to alert him of the directives set by the Ephorate.
Clan Internal Structure within a city

• Gerousia
• Praetor
• Aediles
• Questors
• Eiren

Inside cities, the Ventrue organize themselves into an institution called the Gerousia, (or simply "Board" in modern
nights). This Council effectively adjudicates Ventrue concerns within the city, overseeing Ventrue business and
political interests within a domain. The Board is officially headed by the Praetor, who brings issues before the rest of
the Board and hosts their meetings. Below the Praetors are the Aediles, who aid the Council and Praetor just as
supervisors assist managers in a business. By their turn, the Questors act as assistants for their elder (or otherwise
experienced) Ventrue. Finally, below the Questors lie the common Ventrue, without a formal title or useful
experience to the Clan - they are called Eiren.

Ventrue antitribu

Nicknames
Crusaders
Founder
Unknown
Faction
Sabbat

The Ventrue antitribu are the knights and paladins of the Sabbat, sworn to
combat the Antediluvians and bring down the degenerate Camarilla. They see
their Camarilla counterparts as failures, and have assumed the roles of the
race of Cainites' saviors to atone for this. They believe mortals to be ignorant
cattle, sufficient only for food and service to their terrible vampire lords. To
accept anything less is to take the path of the disgraced Ventrue of the
Camarilla, and the Sabbat Ventrue are not willing to accept that failure.

Culture
Ventrue culture places a heavy emphasis on dignitas, the Latin word for "dignity." In modern days, it is often
described as "Face". Ventrue are completely aware of the unsavory aspects of power, and while a Ventrue leader is
just as likely to lead organized crime as he is a Fortune 500 company (the Ventrue really do not object to theft, so
much as petty theft), he must always comport himself with dignity, with grace and with honor. At least publically.
Ventrue take assaults on their stature very seriously. Spreading rumors, taking credit for another's work and insulting
a Ventrue without just cause (publicly or privately) are just a few of the ways one can diminish dignitas. Doing so is a
sure way to make an enemy for all unlife, and it can indeed be cause for severe punishment or discipline.

Perhaps no tradition sets the Ventrue more apart from other clans than their Ethic Succor. While other clans, such as
the Tremere, are closely knit and often support members, no clan has the same “no excuses, no exceptions” practice
of coming to each other's assistance in times of need. Many Blue Bloods credit this tradition as the foundation for
the clan's continuing strength. Respecting other Ventrue means not violating their territory, not competing with
them in their established holdings and, most importantly, not impugning their dignitas. It also means that a Ventrue
gives aid to a fellow when in need, no matter how damned inconvenient doing so might prove be.

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As the products of five millennia of noble upbringing, class and culture, the Ventrue place great importance on
gentility. Ventrue etiquette can become quite complex, especially in Europe where deathless standards persist unto
the modern nights. Things are often less formal in the New World, but only by comparison. Even the most casual of
Old World cities usually seems stodgy and overly polite by modern standards. For the Ventrue, politeness means
more than just carrying on with traditional ways and means. It serves some very important functions, especially
when it comes to making sure that individual clan members can overcome their petty personal differences and
respect the social structure. By nature, Kindred are excitable creatures, prone to holding grudges and overreacting to
insults. Add in the average Ventrue's regard for his dignitas, and politeness becomes not only a matter of manners
but a matter of survival. Interacting with one another in a sophisticated, polite and admittedly distant manner helps
alleviate the threat of flaring tempers. As a clan devoted to proud detail and tradition, the Ventrue have managed to
accumulate a code of conduct large enough to fill several weighty tomes (not that they have ever collected them
thus). “Suggestions” can be found that govern everything from what color clothing to wear at Board meetings to
what kinds of presents to give at deathnight celebration.

Embraces

According to their own oral history and annals, the Ventrue have Embraced only those “worthy” of the honor.
Nobles, religious leaders, and great military men have all found their way into Clan Ventrue over the centuries. The
Ventrue have high standards of admittance into their ultra-exclusive club of undead. Neonates who fail to meet the
clan's benchmark find themselves shunned by their blood-siblings, left out of important opportunities, and
otherwise disadvantaged. Many would-be sires discuss their potential childer with their elders (often their own sires)
before the Embrace, thus gauging the new Ventrue's acceptance into proper society.

Even after the Embrace, the fledgling has to pass a training regimen, known as the agoge, in order to be accepted as
a full Clan member. They must learn the ins and outs of Ventrue etiquette and traditions quickly, all while learning to
master their undead potential and discover their place within Camarilla and Kindred society. The agoge demands
that the sire test his childe constantly, quizzing him on facts and challenging his understanding. Many sires prefer
Socratic tests, as well, teaching their childer more as they assimilate previous knowledge. Failure or missteps result
in withering insults and even physical pain. When the Ventrue is deemed acceptable by his sire, he introduces
himself officially before the prince of the domain and passes the first part of the agoge. After another period of
training, the young Ventrue is groomed to introduce himself before the Board. To prove his worth, the sire poses a
challenge to the neonate. The young Kindred must go forth on her own and establish a domain of influence with the
city without the assistance of any other Ventrue. If the neonate succeeds, she is taken before the assembled Board
members of the local Ventrue. She then gives a full accounting of herself, clan traditions, history and how she met
the final challenge. Ritual then has the assembled clan vote on whether the neonate should be accepted into the
clan. In reality, only the dullest sire places a childe before the Board without first making sure that the Gerousia finds
her acceptable. The assembled clan then assents to the Kindred's acceptance unanimously (those still strongly
opposed may remain silent if they wish). The praetor then asks the neonate a series of ritual questions devised by
any Ventrue who cared to proffer one. In answering them, the neonate also recites her lineage and promises to
uphold the traditions of both the clan and the Camarilla.

Lineages

No ancestors are as important in the Ventrue lineage as the Fourth generation Methuselahs. Each of their lines of
descendants manifest certain traits habitually, fuelling claims they possess blood more potent than other Clans.
Scholars of the vitae postulate each Methuselah spawns a new bloodline, but learned Ventrue refute such
speculation. Up to date, clan members trace their lineage back up to to seven ancestors:

• Alexander, whose brood are known for passion, oratory resonance, and skills in convincing even the clenched
fists of nobles and bishops to give up coin and deeds to territory. Alexander’s childer and grandchilder also
possess a reputation for loose tempers and fits of frenzy.
• Antonius, whose descendants are known for a predisposition towards tactical thinking and administration, and
in modern nights are part of churches and cults that seek to reclaim the Constantinople Dream, ushering in a
new age of prosperity and cooperation.

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• Arakur, whose brood have achieved fame based on displays of immense personal power, oftentimes cruel or
inhumane, and are tragically prone to bad decisions, reputed to include diablerie, communion with devils, and
hubris.
• Mithras, whose line exemplifies pride and power, displaying unassailability both in the court and on the
battlefield, as well as being allegedly impervious to flame, characteristics interwoven into the beliefs and
practices of the Mithraic mysteries and cult.
• Nefer-meri-Isis, whose descendants exhibit acute awareness, with a reputation for self-sufficiency, and a
resistance to obeying orders.
• Artemis Orthia, whose line are known for destroying their enemies through force of arms, building great warrior
herds and fanatically loyal armies, and for seizing the glory they believe they are due through violent power.
• Tinia, whose descendants have a passion for discovery, seeking new knowledge and powers to continuously
expand their domains, at times with dire consequences.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
-- Ventrue -- Rumored to have been diabolized by Brujah outside the walls of the Second City.

4th Generation
-- Alexander -- The sire of Gaius Marcellus and Prince of Paris during Dark Ages.
-- Antonius the Gaul -- Originally known as Antiorix before he latinized his name, was a powerful Ventrue
methuselah. Around 312 he joined with Michael and Dracon to become a vampiric Triumvirate that
ruled over Constantinople until being betrayed and destroyed in 796.
-- Arakur of Ur -- - Sire of Marduk and Tiamat
-- Erik Eigermann -- is an ancient Ventrue methuselah that lies in torpor under the city of Berlin. Vampiric Sibling
of Antonius the Gaul
-- Mithras -- The Once and Forever King, originally 5th generation, Diabolized Errencrenic. Lineage of Mithras
-- Tinia -- Tinia was a Ventrue Methuselah whose line held many of Rome's most prestigious vampires. Her sire is
unknown, but she Embraced a trio of luminaries: Julia Antasia, Valerianus and Collat.
-- Tiamat --
-- Veddartha -- The Sire of Mithras

5th Generation
-- Belisarius -- Progeny of Antonius. Sire of Helena The Armenian. Justinian's leading general. Returns in a position
of power in 1073. Constantinople -- medieval
-- Collat -- First Prince of Rome, probably diabalized by his childe Titus Venturus Camillus.
-- d'Arielle Cotentin -- Norman Childe of Mithras
-- Duer The Celt -- Long-inactive childe of Mithras
-- Duke of Amber -- Elder progeny of Mithras and Sabbat Archbishop.
-- Duchess of Amber -- Elder progeny of Mithras and Sabbat Bishop.
-- Demetrius -- Ancient Ventrue prince of Marseille.
-- Fabrizio Ulfila -- Elder Ventrue prelate of the Catholic Church. Rome -- medieval
-- Gaius Fabricius -- Sworn enemy of Demetrius and prince Lyon.
-- Gaius Marcellus -- Childe of Alexander and sire of Doran.
-- Geraint -- Childe of Mithras who was embraced following the fall of Rome and died during the Anglo-Saxon era
of England.
-- Hardestadt the Elder -- Hardestadt the Elder was a renowned Ventrue elder who was already an established
figure of power in the Holy Roman Empire during the Dark Ages. He is widely known as a leader
during the founding of the Camarilla. childe of Veddartha.
-- Heinrich of Volstag -- Arpad Ventrue Progenitor & Methuselah
-- Jhangir -- Progenitor of the El - Hijazi middleastern Ventrue. (Deceased, London, 2031).
-- Julia Antasia -- Prince of Frankefurt
-- Julian / Julius Cerialis -- Ventrue Baron of York, circa 4th-5th, 9th and 11th centuries. Sire of Thrand and John
de York.
-- Julius Valerius -- The Former Seneschal of London (deceased)

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 -- Marcus Verus -- Baron of Chester and Childe of Mithras.
-- Marduk -- Child of Arakur of Ur and Sire of Remus
-- Rebekah
-- Victoria Lancaster Progeny of Mithras

6th Generation
-- Lady Anne Bowesley -- Deposed seneschal of London. Believed to remain in torpor, in the care of Marcus Verus.
-- Baptiste Abel -- Progeny of Zhenya Motya -- Sire of three childer
-- Bindusara -- Eldest Childe of Julius Valerius and World Traveler.
-- Brian O'Reilly -- Baron of Yorkshire and one time Archon and Viceroy of Sofia. Believed to be of the 8th
generation.
-- Cyril Masters -- Solicitor of the Night (London). Currently a refugee in Glasgow.
-- Doran -- The progeny of Gaius Marcellus was a young philosopher, interested in Carthage. He settled in
Louisiana around 1700, but was murdered in 1955 (deceased).
-- Fabrice Adrien Morin -- Second progeny of Demetrius and eldest surviving childe of the Prince. Marseille
-- Galen -- Ventrue Primogen of Houston & Kindred Physician.
-- Gregor Arpad -- Founder of the Arpad Ventrue (deceased).
-- Guilliam du Reims -- Former Prince of Glasgow (deceased), and sire of Black Martin. Grandchilde of Alexander of
the Grand Court.
-- Hardestadt the Younger -- Hardestadt the Younger is a member of the Camarilla Inner Circle, and is thought to
be the leader of the entire organization.
-- Jereaux Guilbeau -- The progeny of Lothar Constantine and the older Guilbeau brother who was embraced
during the American Civil War.
-- Jeremy Sanderson (a.k.a - Yan Syrkov). Alastor, scholar, and technology mogul. Believed to be of the 8th
generation, and childe of Michaela
-- John de York -- Progeny of Julius Cerialis and sire of several slain childer. Ventrue Baron of York. Baron circa 965
to the Victorian Age
-- Jovan Vladimir -- Ventrue Prince of Shkodër, Albania.
-- Judicaël Yannick Plamondon -- Progeny of Gaius Fabricius of Lyon.
-- Jurgen Von Verden -- Progeny of Hardestadt the Elder
-- Prias
-- Remus
-- Rhodry ap Geraint -- Prince of Cardiff and Baron of Wales. Childe of Geraint and Grandchilde of Mithras.
-- Thrand -- Progeny of Julius Cerialis and sire of Katla Thranddottir. Ventrue Baron of York. 9th century until 965

7th Generation
-- Abbott Craw -- Militaristic childe of Cyril Masters
-- Agnes of Shkodër -- elder childe of Prince Jovan of Shkoder, Albania
-- Alejandro Kaufer -- Ventrue Prince of Houston, New Republic of Texas -- Often referred to by his enemies as the
Anti--Prince.
-- Andre Foushon -- Ventrue Prince of Novel New Orleans
-- Aras Valdemaras -- First Childe of Brian O'Reilly (Embraced - 2016) Believed to be of the 9th generation.
-- Martin Orvin -- Former Prince of Glasgow, AKA Black Martin (Deceased). Sire of Brother Gilles, and childe of
Guilliam du Reims
-- Dr.Émeric "Vespasien" Bouchard -- Childe of Jeremy Sanderson. Believed to be of the 9th generation.
-- Gaius Papius Mutilus -- Childe of ???
-- Gardenia Russel -- Seneschal Pro tempore of London
-- Geoffrey Talent -- Knight of the Bull Rampant and advisor to the Knights of the World Tree from 2027-2029.
Chester, England.
-- Hans Holgersson -- Childe of Brian O'Reilly, known as "Wulfgar.
-- Janos Handoval -- The Scientific Advisor to the Queen of London
-- Johann Santos -- Former Prince of St. Louis (Deceased)
-- Katla Thranddottir -- Scandinavian childe of Thrand and prominent Einherjar before her disappearance.
-- Labienus -- Former General of the Roman army.
-- Lodin -- Former Prince of Chicago (deceased - 1993)
-- Lothar Constantine -- The progeny of Doran and sire of Jereaux Guilbeau and Marcel Guilbeau (deceased).

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 -- Lyric Nelson -- Childe of Cyril Masters
-- Michaela -- Former Prince of New York City (generally believed to be dead - circa 1999)
-- Nestor Cranston -- The Queen's Pet (London)
-- Theudebald -- Childe of Jurgen Von Verden
-- Valerius - The face of the former Seneschal of London
-- Zamyr Hayka -- younger childe of Prince Jovan of Shkodër, Albania

8th Generation
-- Aldous Tope -- Prince of Leeds and Baron of York. Childe of Valerius (Walhere) Deceased, 2032.
-- Ballard -- Childe of Lodin
-- Benjamin Cross -- Ventrue Ancilla of London from the late 17th century until his death at the hands of the
Sabbat in 2015. Sire of Gloriana Anson and Thorton Bryant.
-- Bobby Weatherbottom -- Childe of Lodin
-- Brother Gilles -- Seneschal of Glasgow, Scotland
-- Capone -- Childe of Lodin
-- Contillio -- The sire of Karen Chartry of New Orleans.
-- Daumentas Skuodzius - Childe of Bronius Gintaras
-- Dietrich Kohl -- Black marketeer arms dealer, and enforcer of the Masquerade in Thessaloniki.
-- Drummond -- Childe of Lodin
-- Janet Latimer -- Ventrue Ambassador from Manchester
-- Jacob Schumpeter (deceased) -- Childe of Lodin of Chicago
-- Lars Donneley -- Childe and squire to Sir Geoffrey Talent. Chester, England.
-- Lady Corinna -- Beloved and missing grand-childe of John of York. Scarborough, England - 1916
-- Niklaus Schenk -- A refugee from Berlin who was killed by the Sabbat in London. (deceased)
-- Penelope Huxley -- Sire of Terrence Rigby and Ventrue prince of Savannah, Georgia, FAS. Savannah
-- Stefanie Gray -- Ventrue Refugee from London
-- Erwin van Altena -- Dutch representative of the Ventrue Consortium. Amsterdam

9th Generation
-- Adele Pennington -- A London expatriate currently residing in Newcastle.
-- Anthony Guilbeau -- The second progeny and favorite childe of Prince Marcel Guilbeau of New Orleans; as a
result, the relationship between the brothers is tense at the best of times.
-- Beathag Magoon -- Elder childe of Seneschal Gilles of Glasgow
-- Christopher Guilbeau -- First progeny of Marcel Guilbeau, and the prodigal childe; the relationship between sire
and childe isn't good.
-- Gloriana Anson -- Keeper of Elysium in Leeds. Childe of Benjamin Cross.
-- Karen Chartry -- The progeny of Contillio and the primogen for Clan Ventrue in New Orleans.
-- Naomhan Walpole -- Younger childe of Seneschal Gilles of Glasgow
-- Rory McAndrew -- Agent Plenipotentiary of the Camarilla.
-- Terrence Rigby -- Progeny of Penelope Huxley, Ventrue prince of Savannah, Georgia. New York City
-- Thorton Bryant -- Ventrue Prince of Leeds. Childe of Benjamin Cross.

10th Generation
-- Barriston Newland -- Ventrue administrator in Leeds, childe of Thorton Bryant.
-- Gloria Alder -- Corporate counter-espionage specialist, embraced by Adele Pennington. London.
-- Gordon Cake -- Ventrue Security Consultant, embraced by Thorton Bryant. Leeds.
-- Samuel Scott -- Ventrue Stock Market Wizard from London.

11th Generation
-- Daniel Crane -- Ventrue of Newcastle, sire of Kipling Stout.
-- Marie-Helene Dutoit -- Ventrue antitribu Ductus of the Fleur-de-Lys coven of Montreal
-- Sidney Heath -- Gang lord of Leeds.

12th Generation
-- Fiacre Guérin -- Ventrue antitribu childe of Marie-Helene Dutoit, member of the Fleur-de-Lys coven of Montreal
-- Kipling Stout -- Ventrue of Newcastle, England.

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The Bloodlines

153
 The Bloodlines
Bloodline is a term used to describe a group of vampires who share a common lineage. While the term can be used
to refer to vampires who share a sire, grandsire, or so on, it usually refers to those lineages that have some inherent
distinction from the thirteen traditional clans of Caine, be it in their weaknesses, Disciplines, or both. Many of these
bloodlines are, in effect, a clan within a clan.

The childe of a vampire who belongs to a bloodline will always belong to the same bloodline as her sire, and there is
no traditional method to change one's lineage. Therefore, bloodlines are generally the product of unique
supernatural events, and are functionally just smaller clans. Bloodlines are not necessarily tied to specific clans,
however, and they are created in a variety of ways:

• Mystical methods - Some bloodlines are created through mystic rituals that transform their founders, such as
with the Gargoyles and Kiasyd, albeit not necessarily deliberately.
• Flawed Embrace - Sometimes, for whatever reason, a childe does not inherit their sire's clan, instead becoming
something different, as seen with the Caitiff, and even potentially with the Baali founders.
• Divergent evolution - A bloodline splits off from the clan when they are geographically isolated from the parent
clan and develop their own customs.
• Diablerie of Antediluvian - All clans have their own Antediluvians; on more than one occasion, that Antediluvian
has been replaced, resulting in the original clan being "demoted" to bloodline status. The Salubri claim this
distinction. Note that it's not simply sufficient for an Antediluvian to die; many Antediluvian founders have been
slain by the modern nights (notably the Ravnos, Tzimisce, and Lasombra Antediluvians), but are still considered
clans.
• Independent origin - Some bloodlines claim no connection with the clans, having arisen independently through
encounters with gods, spirits, and eldritch entities.

Additionally, some variants of the Blood do not necessarily qualify for full bloodline status, and might be described
as mere variations of the clans. For the most part, these are offshoots of the main clans that differ only in outlook or
culture, but are generally considered by Cainite society to still belong to their parent clan – Salubri antitribu are still
Salubri, and the Assamite Vizier caste are still Assamites. In other cases, some of these minor bloodlines can display
different weaknesses or clan disciplines, showing signs of divergent evolution. These subtle differences might not be
visible to outside observers, but they are part of what makes vampiric society so diverse and confusing. Here are
some causes for the minor variations of the Blood:

• Caste system - some clans are separated into caste systems, with certain castes possessing different disciplines
and weaknesses from the parent clan. Certain clans (the Assamites, Ravnos, Salubri, Setites, and Tzimisce in
particular) have internal variants with different attributes and Embraces, but which are still socially part of the
parent clan.
• Differing beliefs - In some cases, Clan Variants arise in the case of cultural and /or geographical splits from the
main Clan without diverging into a full-fledged bloodline. Examples are the Old Clan Tzimisce, the Telyavelic
Tremere and the Daitya.
• Antitribu - also known as anti-clan, are groups that have diverged from their parent clan in order to join a
different sect. Largely a social division, the antitribu frequently begin to demonstrate slightly different
weaknesses, and then different disciplines altogether. This is largely an early example of divergent evolution as
described above.

The distinction between bloodlines and clan variants is largely semantic, and mainly derives from the fact that the
"full" bloodlines have more mechanical and social distinctions from their parent clan, necessitating a larger word
count to describe their complexity.

It is worth mentioning that many revenant families have their own distinct Discipline affinities and weaknesses, and
revenants who receive the Embrace often retain some form of these characteristics in undeath. Thus, there are
distinct branches of the Giovanni and Tzimisce (among others) that are not bloodlines by Kindred descent but rather
bloodlines by mortal birth.

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The most famous bloodlines that are still active in the modern nights are:

• Baali - Baali are a cult of demon worshiping fiends, infernalists, who enlist the help of demons to gain power.
This choice however leaves them extraordinarily vulnerable to holy icons, hallowed ground and especially true
faith.
• Blood Brothers - An Extremely rare bloodline created to function as the perfect combat units by Tremere
Antitribu, and Tzimisce Kolduns for the Sabbat. They operate under a collective consciousness, a "hive mind" if
you will, as each Brother shares the thoughts of the next and so on.
• Daughters Of Cacophony - Comprised strictly of females, The Daughters are thought to be a bloodline of the
Toreador, or even possibly the Malkavians. These free spirits reject any affiliation with either the Camarilla or
Sabbat. They are often called "Sirens" because their unique discipline Melpominee utilizes song to influince
emotion.
• Gargoyles - Massive hulking rock beasts created for servitude by the Tremere for the strict use of the Tremere.
These creatures are an amalgamation of kindred blood and Thaumaturgic sorcery. Almost always the thrall of a
Thaumaturgist master very few have ever escaped servitude, but the few who have managed the feat have gone
on to do extraordinary things.
• Kiasyd - As legend tells, an accident involving a member of clan Lasombra, fairy magic, and the blood of a god of
the underworld saw the first Kiasyd grow to over 7 feet tall, turn ash white, and have its eyes turn black and
elongate. Kiasyd are an extremely rare bloodline in modern nights. Known for their acute intelligence,
spectacular manners, and the fact that they look like 7-foot-tall space aliens,
• Salubri - Reduced to a mere bloodline in modern nights after the destruction of their leader Saulot, the Salubri
are but a shadow of what they once were. Forever seeking Golconda, the Salubri enact a bloody ritual should
they actually achieve it or even come close. The clan is divided into two branches, Healers, and Warriors, each
with their own unique traits and weaknesses. They are famous for their third eye.
• Samedi - This supposed bloodline of Clan Nosferatu hails from the Caribbean. Voodoo practitioners who hold the
dark demi-diety Barron Samedi in the highest of regards, Clan Semedi is often mistrusted and misunderstood. As
if their way of life wasn't bad enough, the Samedi also possess a horrid curse of the embrace that causes their
bodies to literally appear to be in the middle of rotting at all times with the smell to boot.

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Baali

156
The Baali are a bloodline of vampires associated with demon worship.
Because of their affinity with the unholy, the Baali are particularly vulnerable
to holy iconography, holy ground and holy water. They are highly vulnerable
to True Faith.
Some versions present the true purpose of the Baali as keeping demons
sleeping by feeding them with carnage and destruction. But most
presentations show them as infernalists, using demon worship to gain
additional power.
They have a somewhat complex heritage, appearing at times as a bloodline
and at times as a clan. There is some indication that they may be a bloodline
of the Salubri, Cappadocians, or Tzimisce, although one earlier source
suggested they may instead be descendants or even predecessors of the
Gangrel line. They also recruit vampires from other clans to become Baali via a dark thaumaturgic initiation, further
confusing the issue and making them also a sect or cult.

Nicknames
Demons, Devils, the Unholy

Founder
Nergal (Shaitan), Moloch, The Unnamed

Faction
Independent

Disciplines
Primary: Obfuscate, Presence, Daimonion
Secondary: Dark Thaumaturgy

Organization
The Baali gather in cabals numbering three to 13. Supposedly, these cabals answer to the bloodline’s founder. Any
Demon is willing to die to protect his cabal-mates; not out of any loyalty or affection for them, but because they’re
all doomed anyway.

Haven
Baali tend to nest in places of antiquity. Libraries, universities, and stately homes attract the Demons. No matter
where the Baali make their havens, though, the vampire’s very presence changes the place. Vermin creep in first,
and no amount of effort can keep them out.

Background
The Baali value temperament above profession. Teachers, defrocked priests, laborers, artists — all have joined the
ranks of the Baali. The bloodline even breeds their own recruits, drawing from ghoul families raised over the years to
produce offspring suckled on the unholy truths that the Baali recite as gospel.

Appearance
Some neonates adorn themselves with Satanic paraphernalia. Some Baali dress in expensive clothing, and some
don’t bother. Some become so fixated that they neglect outer appearance. Older Baali surround themselves with
insects, rats, or other vermin.

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Weakness
Unholy Devotion: Baali cannot bear to look upon or handle objects of any faith. Demons must avert their gazes from
such objects, and touching them burns their flesh. They need to roll on Self-Control to overcome the fear and not
fleeing when they get too close to a crucifix, David’s star or other objects of Kine faiths. Any object of faith, even
without having any True Faith quality, touching the Baali is delivering a 1d aggravated damage.
In addition, should a Baali run afoul of True Faith, any hindering or damage effects are doubled.

History
The origins of the Baali are shrouded in mystery and deceit; the versions recorded to date are detailed in the Version
Differences section below. What is certain is that the Baali are among the few things that caused the thirteen Clans
to put away their differences and unite against them in various Baali Wars.

The Baali are rumored to have had a stronghold in the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Phoenicia,
masquerading as some of the myriads of city gods to gain blood sacrifices for their dark masters. Baali-influence in
Carthage, which rose to a peak once Troile and Moloch became lovers and resulted in massive sacrifice ceremonies
and bloody abominations, was what spurred the Ventrue of Rome to action against the Brujah and led them to salt
even the earth around the city in order to bind whatever horrors the Baali had awoken. Many of the Baali, however,
dispersed into Roman society, practicing their vile craft in various mystery cults.

Historically, the Assamites, Followers of Set, and Salubri have fought wars against the Baali. The Salubri and
Assamites in particular have a deep-seated hatred for the Baali.

Some claim the Assamite Warriors' current blood addiction can be traced to a curse leveled by the Baali. The Baali
faced a series of attacks and counter-offensives from the Assamites, who raided their lairs and destroyed numerous
Baali by exposing them to the sun. In the organ pit of Damascus, however, the Baali met to gain revenge on the
Assassins for their persecution. With the aid of the demonic Decani, they placed a curse on the Warrior Caste of the
Clan that filled them with a murderous hunger that could only be sated via diablerie, thus tarnishing the Clan's image
from its previous position of Warrior-scholars into a bunch of cannibalistic murderers for hire. Although the Baali's
numbers were diminished by the Al-Amin, and many kindred were strengthened by Islam and the Ashirra, they
managed to keep a corrupt hold in the area.

Dark Ages

The advent of the monotheistic religions as major power-players put the Baali in serious danger, given that most of
these religions disbanded their cults and other covers for their infernal rites and exposed their depravity to the
world. Baali in the Medieval age were constantly on the run, hiding their practices and origin from other Cainites and
dedicated to spreading corruption and disease (many Baali prospered in the times of the Black Death, as many
desperate victims turned to infernal powers in order to survive) to further the services to their dark masters. The
growing rise of scriptures over their practices, however, slowly took the powers to invoke demons out of the hands
of the Baali, something many of the younger Baali encouraged, while the Elders regarded it as foolish and dangerous.

However, a surprising change in the bloodline came with the upstart Azaneal's bid for power and Moloch's childe
Tanit's fall into torpor after an ambush. Tanit's grandchilde Sahar-Hannibaal took over leadership of the Molochite
line, rallying survivors of Azaneal's attack and going to war against the would-be Shaitan. Sahar-Hannibal unified the
Molochim hives, turning them into the Order of Moloch, and brought Azaneal and his brood down after a century of
conflict, mystically binding them in the ruins of Chorazin.

The Order went north after that, finding respite among the Old Clan Tzimisce, and recruiting many as members, but
soon enough had to return to the duty they would come to set themselves: eradicating infernalism with extreme
prejudice, knowing its potential to break the world.

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Victorian Age

As far as wider Cainite society was concerned, the Baali practically ceased to exist as an organized bloodline, let
alone an organized threat, following the Chorazin conflict. Surviving infernalist Baali hid themselves within the newly
formed sects and posed as other vampires, practicing their arts in secrecy. By the Victorian Age, the Baali had faded
to a historical oddity, used to scare young Kindred and warn of the dangers of infernalism.

Modern Nights

In the Final Nights, the Baali have proven that they are still around. The capture and destruction of a cabal of North
American infernalists (and subsequent recovery of their blasphemous grimoires) has brought to Kindred attention a
looming shadowy truth: The Children of Baal were not wholly extinguished by the Inquisition, as was previously
believed. And as Gehenna draws close, many foolish Kindred seek salvation from the thirsty Antediluvians by making
pacts with demonic entities, thus allowing the Baali to regain their strength slowly, but steadily.

For the Order of Moloch, however, centuries of conflict with their infernalist kin had seen their resources stretched
almost to breaking point with every member they lost in battle. While they had the most complete library in the
world regarding the eldritch Children of the Outer Dark (which are the orthodox Baali's duty to keep asleep) and
infernalism in general, members were more difficult to replenish, and by the modern nights they were nowhere near
as numerous as the Baali infernalists.

Then word came that the ruins of the city where the Baali founders had been first Embraced had been found, and
that it now held something malevolent and powerful beyond human comprehension, waiting to be born onto an
unsuspecting world. The Order could not handle this alone; they needed assistance. And so they sought out the
Tal'mahe'Ra, believing them to be the only Cainite organization that would take the threat seriously – and would,
perhaps, listen when the Baali warned of great danger.

Fortunately, the Tal'mahe'Ra did listen, making common cause with the Order, albeit after several safeguards were
put in place to ensure the Order's good behavior. So far, the alliance has proven a fruitful one.

Organization
All Baali have at least two identities, if not more. Among their own kind, they organize into small, tightly-knit groups
called covens, usually in three or six. These covens meet only rarely, gathering only to perform some dark ritual or
discuss matters of dire consequence. They prefer to meet under the new moon, though lunar eclipses hold great
meaning for them and major rituals are performed at that time. Covens meet in secret places where their activities
will not be disturbed, yet still within the city they wish to prepare. They frequently ally with Black Spiral Dancers and
make use of their tainted caerns. A grand ritual involving both Baali and Black Spirals usually portends some great
and awful occurrence.

These meetings are few and far between, however. In the interim, Baali usually pose as upstanding members of
either the Camarilla, Sabbat, or both, depending on who controls the city. Contrary to popular belief, they do not
pose as Caitiff – Caitiff are distrusted enough on general principle alone. Instead, they are far more devious, hiding
behind a mask of blood passed down through millennia: they pose as Tremere.

The blood of Saulot runs through Tremere's veins since his diablerie close to a thousand years ago. Now, almost all
Tremere are descended from their founder, and therefore from Saulot himself. Only those with a high proficiency in
Thaumaturgy can detect even a slight difference and even then it is usually dismissed as a minor change in blood
chemistry – perhaps the vampire's sire was of House Bonisagus or Flambeaux. Reports of corruption deep within the
Tremere hierarchy are scoffed at. Surely the Tremere, the masters of deception and manipulation, would know of a
conspiracy within their ranks! But this conventional wisdom is wrong. With the immense occult resources of the
Tremere, the Baali are gaining strength like never before. They have access to supplies, knowledge, and potential
recruits. They have even started two secret orders within the clan: the Order of the Wyrm and the Illuminated
Brotherhood.

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The Order of the Wyrm is the more mainstream of the two, the conservative front for the more radical Brotherhood.
Through the Order, the Baali hope to attract Tremere who share some of their beliefs, who have the potential to be
recruited, corrupted, or both. Once an applicant has progressed high enough in the Order, they are inducted into the
Illuminated Brotherhood. Only after their corruption is complete, their turn to evil assured, do the Tremere meet
their Baali masters – and their masters' Masters.

Sabbat Baali have an easier task in some ways, harder in others. While the vampires of the Sabbat have forsaken
their Humanity, the Inquisition within the sect limits their activities. Whatever sect they belong to, however, the
Baali are united in their cause. Their eventual goal is to turn both the Camarilla and the Sabbat to their infernal
masters – and if that does not work, to destroy them. Indeed, many Sabbat-Camarilla conflicts can be attributed to
the machinations of Baali on both sides, destroying those who oppose them while garnering greater influence and
power. After all, power is the name of the game.

Apostates

The Baali recruit

vampires from other
clans into their ranks;
such a successfully
recruited vampire is
called an Apostate. The
Baali even have a dark
thaumaturgic ritual
commonly called the
Rite of Apostasy which
proves the recruit's
loyalty to the Baali and
grants the recruit the
demonic Discipline of
Daimonion in place of
one of their former Clan
Disciplines.

Effectively, there is a
unique Baali bloodline
for every Clan or
bloodline who has had a
former member undergo
the Rite of Apostasy. This
dark thaumaturgic ritual
grants the Baali
bloodline a "viral"
property to laterally
grow their ranks that no
other Clan or bloodline is
known to possess. The
most populous bloodline
of Apostates are the
Lasombra known as the
Angellis Ater.

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Azaneali

Nicknames
Black Angels
Founder
Azaneal
Faction
Independent

The Azaneali (also sometimes referred to, perhaps confusingly, as the Black Angels) are a variant that has branched
off of the Baali bloodline. Supposedly, the Azaneali are the result of a pact made by the Baali methuselah Azaneal
and infernalist Black Angels. Only twelve such Baali were sired. It is uncertain if any survived into the modern era.

Azaneal sought to find the lost city of Mashkan-shapir said to be built over an ancient demonic entity named
Namtaru. The Azaneali are dead-hearted, spiritually compromised diabolists even by the standards of the Baali. The
Azaneali serve powers of shadow, and often work with the "Black Angels" of the Lasombra in pursuit of their goals.

As masters of darkness, the Azaneali use the Discipline of Obtenebration in lieu of Daimonion or Presence. However,
Azaneali have surrendered much of themselves to the shadows that they serve: many of them have effectively lost
their free will to their masters' desires.

The Azaneali were extremely similar to the Angellis Ater bloodline of the Lasombra, and so the two groups were
often confused with each other by the players.

Speculation

According to some readings, which overemphasise the Baali and Lasombra's shared interest in the Abyss and the
shadowy demons therein, the Lasombra Antediluvian might also be the true progenitor of the Baali bloodline. This
theory is not supported anywhere in canon, however, and ignores the most prevalent claim that Saulot sired the
Baali. Having the Baali be a bloodline of the Lasombra would make the Azaneali bloodline simply a vestige of their
Lasombra roots, although it would not explain why the majority of the bloodline remains distinct from the Lasombra
and instead worships Malfean-like beings.

A newer theory is that the Baali may have had multiple progenitors (Saulot, Tzimisce, and perhaps even Haqim). In
this theory, it is the Well at Ashur itself that creates the Baali, and not any one clan founder. One of the arguments
for this theory is that Ur-Shulgi, an Assamite methuselah who was able to break the Tremere curse, has a similar
origin story to Shaitan and, like Shaitan, is a formidable blood sorcerer. Ur-Shulgi was created during the Baali Wars
and is hinted to be something less and more than human. That Ur-Shulgi could not (or perhaps would not) strip the
Assamites of the Baali curse suggests Ur-Shulgi's loyalties may not lie with Haqim. One suggestion is that Ur-Shulgi
was either spawned from the same tribe of mortals as the Baali founders, or may itself be one of the Baali founders.

That Ur-Shulgi's childe al-Ashrad is a member of the Assamite sorcerer caste would argue against the methuselah
being of the known Baali bloodline (although al-Ashrad is noted for his pale skin, unique among the Assamites, which
remains unexplained), but does not rule out it being an apostate or fellow traveller.

Culture
The Baali are explorers, first and foremost – students of the unknown, the unknowable, the unspeakable. They will
do almost anything and sacrifice almost anyone to gain access to occult mysteries. They squander the wealth they
have accumulated, they make deals they cannot live up to, and they do so with no apology and no attempt at
excuse. They are, however, not Faustian bargainers, although many Baali neonates fall into that trap.

They believe that the world is doomed, that the End Times are nigh and every sacrifice they make, every murder
they incite, is one more chink in the dam holding back the deluge of blood called Gehenna. If they have to die to
break that dam, so be it. As such, the Baali can be considered a doomsday cult.

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Sects

Most Baali during the Dark Ages defined themselves after the first Three of their kind, the Nergali (named after
Nergal, often called Orphans after Nergal's apparent disappearance after the first Baali War), the Molochim (named
after Moloch) and obscure adherents of the Unnamed third progenitor. Each branch has different outlooks on their
infernal work: The Nergali favored more direct and blatant acts, like the introduction of mortal occultists into their
ranks and the spread of demonology, while the Molochim were more secretive and often inserted themselves into
vampiric and mortal society. The followers of the Third Progenitor have been too insular to be pinned down, but
some believe that the tenets of the insectoid Avatars of the Swarm and the Via Hyron stem from the third
Progenitor.

Other sects depicted the outlook of the mission of the Baali line:

• Destroyers: Often derided as mindless maniacs, the Destroyers seek to reduce Creation back to the infinite
darkness that was before God created light.
• Celestials: These Baali seek to unravel the secrets of the cosmos to achieve apotheosis
• Children of Enigma: The Children of Enigma are another more scholarly bend, who seek the ultimate secrets of
the universe
• Avatars of the Swarm: In contrast to the previous sects, the Swarm has a deciding more alien view of the world,
seeing every mortal as a means to propagate the Swarm. They have a primal link to insects and other vermin,
often filling their undead bodies with multitudes of them and using their ghouled vermin servants as means to
draw mortals into the Swarm. They also ran a small branch of the Cainite Heresy named the Swarm of Samael.

Embraces

The Baali usually only Embrace those who are intelligent and driven. Most who are Embraced into Clan Baali had
interest in the occult during their mortal lives.

The Embracing ritual of the Baali is one of their most disturbing rituals. A Baali will capture his or her prey and bring
him or her to a site he or she has prepared. There will be a large pit, filled with dozens of decomposing bodies. The
Baali drains his or her victim to near death and tosses him or her into the pit. In just one of the corpses the Baali hid
their blood inside one of the corpses' heart. If the victim manages to find the heart before they die and drink the
blood, they are considered worthy of becoming Baali. Ironically, this makes the Baali the only clan that regularly
gives their victim the choice of becoming a vampire or choosing to die.

One particularly infamous organ pit was found in Damascus, where it was tended by the methuselah Annazir.

Kindred of Note
3rd Generation
Mythology: According to those brave vampiric historians who have delved into the dubious historical accounts of this
rancid bloodline, one of the third generation did create the Ba'ali in a fit of peak; the identity of that progenitor
remains a significant question.

4th Generation
-- Shaitan --
-- Moloch --
-- unknown --

5th Generation
-- Camazotz -- Also known as: Nezahualcoyotl. Progeny of Huitzilopochtli. Sire of Tlazolteotl. He is an Aztec
vampire. He is Hummingbird of the Left. (The Bat God)
-- Annazir -- Progeny of Moloch. Elder of Damascus during Dark Ages. Dimly recalls the great nights of his clan.
Remembers the Shaitan and longs for those times again. He also longs for power, to watch events
unfold directly; in essence, he's forgotten the lessons that made him an elder.

162
 -- Cybele -- Believed to by the progeny of Shaitan and sire of Petaniqua. It is said, that it was she who sealed Troile
and Moloch beneath Carthage. She had a taste for the blood of men who castrated themselves in
her frenzied orgiastic ceremonies. It is rumored that she was present for and gave her blessing to the
Blood Curse of the Assamites when it was cast upon that clan. It is widely believed that for much of
her existence that she poses as a Malkavian Methuselah. She was killed by a group of thirteen
vampires that were said to be of the True Brujah bloodline.
-- Mary the Black -- Also known as: Ma-ri-ah. The probable progeny of Anaduk of Babylon. She killed many
Toreador in Constantinople. Diablerised Michael in 1204.

6th Generation
-- Anaduk -- His sire remains unknown, but he is believed to be the sire of Mary the Black.
-- Petaniqua -- Progeny of Cybele. She was the princess of Epirus, mother of Alexander the Great. She was
embraced the day Alexander assumed the throne of Macedonia. She was called Myrtale, then
Olympias, then Petaniqua The Black Eyes of the Wyrm. She is totally corrupted by the Wyrm. She is
the 2nd of the Red List and poses as Malkavian.
-- Hortator -- Also known as: Tlazolteotl (Goddess of Vice). Progeny of Nezahualcoyotl. Sire of Delfonso. She is an
Aztec vampire.
-- Antonio DeFigio -- Sire of Giotto Verducci.

7th Generation
-- Azanael -- Lasombra turned Ba'ali. Sire and childer unknown. Ruler of Chorazin.
-- Darak -- Sire of Elihu.
-- Delfonso -- Progeny of Hortator. Sire of Don Benedict and Domingo.
-- Giotto Verducci -- Progeny of Antonio DeFigio. Leader of the Abbey of Mount Zion.
-- K'thstl -- Sire of Sargon.

8th Generation
-- Al-Harim -- Sire of Ansen.
-- Don Benedict -- Progeny of Delfonso. Loved the Nosferatu Dowager of San Francisco.
-- Domingo -- Progeny of Delfonso.
-- Elihu -- Progeny of Darak. Under the orders of Giotto Verducci.
-- Sargon -- Progeny of K'thstl. Under the orders of Giotto Verducci.

9th Generation
-- Ansen -- Progeny of Al-Harim. Often referred to by his fellows as: The Devil's Advocate.

163
Blood Brothers

164
The Blood Brothers are a rare Kindred bloodline of the Sabbat, created by a group
of Tremere antitribu and Tzimisce kolduns.

Designed to function as perfect combat units, Blood Brothers possess a sort of

shared consciousness, working exclusively with the "circle" of Blood Brothers with
whom they share their "hive mind". The members of a circle will often be
fleshcrafted by Tzimisce to appear identical, an outward reflection of their lack of
individuality.

Nicknames
Frankensteins

Founder
Unknown

Faction
Sabbat

Parent clan
none (created via magical ritual)

Disciplines
Fortitude, Potence, Sanguinus
(No Blood Sorcery access)

Organization
The bloodline as a whole has no organization. It is loyal to the Sabbat, and the members are otherwise loyal to their
circles. The Blood Brothers treat their handlers with complete loyalty, bordering on sycophancy. They treat other
Sabbat Kindred with quiet deference.

Haven
Blood Brothers stay in whatever haven is provided for them by the Sabbat. As long as the circle is allowed to stay
together, they don’t seem to care much about amenities.

Background
A Blood Brother’s mortal life is irrelevant. All that a person needs to do to become a Blood Brother is cross the wrong
vampire’s path on the wrong night. The Sabbat kills the target, removes his body hair, smooths over his features, and
places him with four or five others, and after that no trace of the man that was remains.

Appearance
A Blood Brother often looks identical to the others in his circle, barring any burns or other marks that he might have
picked up in battle. They usually dress alike. The members of the circle grow agitated when they see each other as
“different.”

Weakness
Mirror Pain: The Frankensteins literally feel each other’s pain. When a Blood Brother suffers a penalty due to an
injury, all members of the circle suffer the same penalty for the next turn. If two Blood Brothers are wounded, only
the greater penalty applies. Blood Brothers do not continually suffer these penalties unless one of them suffers a
new wound.
In addition, Blood Brothers cannot Embrace and if they attempt it, the mortal simply dies.

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History
The Brothers are a modern bloodline, but even so their numbers dwindle in the Final Nights as they are unable to
grant the Embrace (a limitation placed on them intentionally). With the loss of the Tremere antitribu only a handful
of Tzimisce know the secrets of their creation, and it seemed likely they would die out before Gehenna comes.

Which was true, as by the time the Gehenna Crusade was in full swing, the Blood Brothers had become defunct.
However, the Sabbat blood sorcery used to make them was repurposed to devise powerful ghoul shock troops,
known as fleshweld ghouls.

Organization
The Bloodline as a whole does not have any form of organization. The Blood Brothers serve the Sabbat without
question and with violent efficiency. They know only two loyalties: their circle mates, and their Sabbat masters. The
former is treated with quiet deference, while the latter is treated with complete loyalty bordering on sycophancy.

Culture
Blood Brothers have little in the way of culture beyond violence (they often dress as and act like mortal skinheads),
their bond to their circle mates. They try to erase anything which might distinguish them as individuals; to this end,
they may tattoo themselves with numbers that identifies their circle, or be fleshcrafted to resemble their
companions. Members of a Blood Brother circle grow agitated if they see each other as "different", and so will even
wear the same clothing so that they can feel more at ease.

They lack personal desires and are considered ideal servants by their creators, though opinion of them differs among
other members of the Sabbat who are aware of their existence.

The Blood Brothers have no care about their haven; they stay in whatever haven is provided to them by the Sabbat.
As long as they can stay together, the Blood Brothers do not care about the quality of said haven.

Embraces

Most traces of individuality are erased by the ritual that creates a Blood Brother, but the few Tzimisce who still have
the secret often choose thugs, gang members, or families, since their violent tendencies and/or existing bonds make
the process easier.

Kindred of Note
7th Generation
-- Brandon -- The original Blood Brother.
-- Angelo -- Ductus of the Blood Brother pack known as the Band of Brothers. Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex

8th Generation
-- Jerry -- One of the original Blood Brothers.

9th Generation
-- Barry --
-- Harry -- (Deceased, Chicago)
-- Larry --
-- Terry --
-- Mark --

11th Generation
-- Tom -- Created as a replacement for Harry

166
Daughters Of Cacophony

167
The Daughters of Cacophony emerged as a distinct bloodline
sometime during the 19th century. Before that, of course, there were
always Kindred who saw music and song as a way to remain sane.
Kindred scholars believe that the Daughters sprang from the blood of
either Clan Toreador (for their passionate artistic pursuit) or Malkavian
(given their propensity for causing madness), but their supernatural
powers point more toward Clan Ventrue. It’s something of a moot
point, as the “first” Daughter of Cacophony is unknown. Regardless of
their origins, the Sirens (as they are called in Kindred circles) are all
singers, and the bloodline has always been predominantly female.
Indeed, the Daughters of Cacophony base their unlives on song. They wander through eternity with music always in
their ears, and that makes them seem unfocused or flighty to other Kindred. This is one of the reasons, along with
their rarity, that neither major Sect of vampires considers them a threat or much more than a diversion. Individual
Kindred, however, might have occasion to meet a Siren and wonder why it is that those who spend too much time
listening to their songs always seemed changed by the experience.

Nicknames
Sirens

Founder
Possibly Dr. Reiner Stoschka and unknown Toreador

Faction
Anarch

Parent clan
Malkavian and/or Toreador (possibly Ventrue)

Disciplines
Primary: Fortitude, Melpominee, Presence
Secondary: Anarch Sorcery

Organization
Their numbers are too small for them to be truly organized, yet sometimes the Sirens act as one. Every so often,
Sirens everywhere put on a performance on the same night. They don’t necessarily sing the same songs, but all of
the waking Sirens sing at exactly the same time.

Haven
Most Sirens have a quiet room with good acoustics where they can sing without anyone listening. As much as most
Daughters love performing, they would prefer to be alone after the “show” ends, and so the outward appearance of
their havens isn’t as important as maintaining its secrecy.

Background
The majority of Sirens were singers before the Embrace as well. Very occasionally, a Daughter Embraces someone
who never developed her skill at singing, but these discover their talents swiftly. The Daughters do not discriminate
based on musical style. Jazz singer, nu-metal, opera diva, sultry lounge performer — any chanteuse might be a Siren.

Appearance
A Siren might be a street musician dressed in thrift-store chic, a pierced and tattooed punk rocker, or a high-class
entertainer with money and prestige. Apart from the fact that the Daughters are largely female, their appearance
varies widely.

168
Weakness
Auditory Hallucinations: The Daughters of Cacophony hear music constantly. The Daughters of Cacophony emerged
as a distinct bloodline sometime during the 19th century. Before that, of course, there were always Kindred who saw
music and song as a way to remain sane. Kindred scholars believe that the Daughters sprang from the blood of either
Clan Toreador (for their passionate artistic pursuit) or Malkavian (given their propensity for causing madness), but
their supernatural powers point more toward Clan Ventrue. It’s something of a moot point, as the “first” Daughter of
Cacophony is unknown. Regardless of their origins, the Sirens (as they are called in Kindred circles) are all singers,
and the bloodline has always been predominantly female.
You are at -4 on any Perception Hearing roll, and on any skill roll where it is important that you understand someone
(if you are the one talking, this disadvantage doesn’t affect you).

History
Currently composed mostly of women (due to the associated difficulty in educating someone with the vocal range of
most males), the Daughters practice Melpominee, a Discipline which allows the Daughters to invoke strange effects
through singing. The Daughters are the choralistes par excellence of the undead, and hosting a gathering of them is
worth high prestige for the Toreador.

Believed to have origins in both the Malkavian and the Toreador clans, the Daughters are very few in number and
reject association with either the Camarilla or the Sabbat. As their nickname "Sirens" suggests, the Daughters are
known for their ability to deliver emotions through a form of song. They have a unique discipline called Melpominee
(after Melpomene, muse of tragedy) that does just that.

Although it is mostly female vampires who number among the Daughters of Cacophony, male members of this
bloodline do exist, although they are uncommon and usually regarded as oddities.

Many Kindred suspect the Daughters to originate from the Toreador clan because they are masters of their trade
and value beauty and art. However, those who have actually felt the effects of their powers think the Malkavians are
more likely. The inner music they hear constantly can be called a hallucination and might also point towards the
Malkavians. Because of their disciplines, the 20th anniversary edition also suggests the Ventrue as a possible parent
clan.

Dark Ages

Although the Daughters of Cacophony are a relatively modern phenomenon, one source suggests that they have an
origin in the Dark Ages. According to this legend, a peerless Toreador chanteuse heard a song coming from a distant
hillock and realized that her own talents paled in comparison to this mysterious voice. At first wracked with jealousy,
she sought to destroy this unknown singer, but over time she became contrite and, humbled, sought out the singer,
so that she could study under this hidden muse. The mysterious singer, a lady of the fae, accepted the Toreador into
her faerie domain. The fate of this Toreador chanteuse is unknown, although some of her clanmates claim to have
heard two voices singing in unison from beneath the earth.

Renaissance

Other sources point to the shadowy True Black Hand. Originally conceived as a weapon to infiltrate the Camarilla in
the same manner the Black Hand was intended to, the True Black Hand gathered Toreador singers and tutored them
under an ancient Malkavian. The result was not what the sect had intended and though many argued to destroy the
failed survivors, other voted to let them live for future use. In exchange for keeping the secrets of their makers, the
Daughters were cut loose and allowed to go on their own.

Victorian Age

Another source suggests that the clan was founded by the Malkavian Dr. Reiner Stoschka and his Gentlemen's
Society for the Rational Investigation of Super-Natural Matters. They experimented on Kindred to determine

169
whether common clan traits such as weaknesses and affinities for certain Disciplines were psychological in nature.
However, the experiments drove their subjects quite mad. One of their charges was a Toreador woman, who found
the only way to lessen her own pain was to share it with others. And to do this, she sang. Although only implied, Dr.
Stoschka's experiment stands as the only explicit and official explanation for the origins of the bloodline, even
though the fact that they first appeared in about 1700 conflicts with this theory since Victorian Age: Vampire begins
in 1880.

It is, however, certain that the Daughters were at the height of their popularity during the Victorian era, especially
concerning mortals. Operas were the highest form of entertainment and popular music changes in their favor.
During this time, they also Embraced men.

Modern Nights

While the Daughters of Cacophony were

mystery in the Victorian section above, they are
considered even more so an enigma in the Final
Nights. Their history is not well known, nor is
their existence. Members of the bloodline
typically use the warring Sabbat, Camarilla, and
even Anarchs to further their own goals based
on the territory they reside in. Though they
seem to be fairly uninterested in the Jyhad, this
leaves their real motives to be questioned.

Organization
The Daughters have no formal organization –
their numbers are so few and far between that
any given location is unlikely to be home for
more than one or two of them (if any). When
Daughters do congregate for whatever reason,
the younger members of the bloodline often
defer to the older ones.

Some Kindred have been witness to small

assemblies of Daughters who perform songs of
haunting beauty or frightening timbre that leave
their audiences... moved. It has been noted by
observant Kindred more than once that even in
the most impromptu performances, all
Daughters present seem to know exactly what
will be sung in addition to all the verses.

Sons of Discord

Contrary to popular belief, the Sons of Discord, also called Baritones, and so forth are indeed real. The most famous
Son of Discord is named Harlan Graves.

The first official mention of anything resembling the Sons of Discord came with an information that the bloodline
had recently purged all male members from the bloodline, thus removing the Sons from the picture permanently.

Males are typically blood bound to their female sires, and are treated with mistrust by their elders. However, the use
of any moniker (such as Sons of Discord) other than Daughters of Cacophony is frowned upon.

170
Culture
Not much is known about the Daughters of Cacophony as a whole, only that their particular bloodline avoids the
nightly troubles of the Jyhad. Typically, members of this bloodline fall in with whatever sect fits their interests at the
time. Since their numbers are so few, organization is questionable. Interestingly enough, all members of the
Daughters of Cacophony seem to differ from heavy metal rockers to opera singers.

In line with their particular penchant for music, a Daughter of Cacophony will constantly be able to hear an inner
music flowing through their mind. However beautiful this music might seem, it also impedes them by serving as a
constant distraction, making it harder for the Daughters of Cacophony to perceive things around them. The
Daughters call this melody the "Fugue".

Some Daughters completely succumb to the Fugue, becoming what the Daughters call "Banshees". Unable to
perceive anything but the song within them, they are unpredictable and often violent.

It stands to reason that this weakness could give credit to claims of the Daughters being a clan of Malkavian
offshoots, seeing as they are permanently deranged with auditory hallucinations.

Embraces

The Daughters Embrace mainly those who were aspiring a musical career. Not all of them were singers during their
mortal years; but those who were not discover their talent soon after the Embrace. The Daughter's childer are
taught for years by their sires.

The Daughters do not discriminate based on musical style. Jazz singer, nü-metal waif, opera diva, sultry lounge
performer – any chanteuse might be a Siren.

Kindred of Note
7th Generation
-- Antonia Cerini - Globe Trotting Daughter of Cacophony Shakari

8th Generation
-- Amelie Bauer -- Parisian Elder and Harpy Paris.

9th Generation
-- Élodie Deniel -- Club Owner and Anarch Sympathizer Quebec City.

11th Generation
-- Evelyn Randall -- Boogie-Woogie Princess & Sire of Everett Young San Francisco

12th Generation
-- Everett Young -- Anarch Musician & Neonate & Sire of Justine McDavid San Francisco

13th Generation
-- Justine McDavid -- Goth Fledgling San Francisco

171
Gargoyles

172
The Tremere unveiled the Gargoyle bloodline in AD 1167, and the Slaves have
been a steady, if infrequent, part of Kindred society ever since. Gargoyles
might, in fact, be one reason that the Tremere weren’t exterminated entirely
in their first few centuries of existence. These odd quasi-Kindred often look
like their stone namesakes — rocky-skinned, ugly, winged creatures that exist
only to serve their masters.
Gargoyles are created out of other Kindred, and this ugly fact makes their
creation a seldom-discussed topic in polite vampiric society. The Tremere
start with a Gangrel, Nosferatu, or Tzimisce vampire and perform obscene,
bloody rituals using its blood, heart, and skin. Vitae from another vampire
(from one of the other two Clans) is used to provoke a violent mutation, with
the result that some Gargoyles look purely hideous (Nosferatu base), some
look feral (Gangrel base), and some look fleshy and sport bony protrusions
(Tzimisce base). No Gargoyle can pass for human.

Nickname
Traditionally Slaves, though free Gargoyles have been known to crack heads over it. Other common nicknames are
Rockheads, Runaways, Freemen, and Grotesques.

Founder
Tremere

Faction
Camarilla

Disciplines
Fortitude, Potence, Visceratika, Flight
(No Blood Sorcery access)

Organization
Gargoyles have a strong sense of community. They often keep communal havens. Sometimes Gargoyles petition the
Prince for the release of slave Gargoyles, but more often they just tear slave owners to pieces. With no community,
Gargoyles are likely to Embrace and build their own.

Haven
Slave Gargoyles sleep wherever their masters allow them — closets, basements, crypts, cells. Free Gargoyles prefer
sleeping in havens high above the ground. Bell towers and disused high-rises are favorites. Gargoyles are often
muscle for other Kindred, sometimes in exchange for a bare-bones haven.

Background
Gargoyles creation rarely shows a discernible pattern. The Change tortures the new Gargoyle’s body, as bones
elongate and split to form the wings. The face warps, leaving nothing to recognize the mortal or vampire by. They
rarely remember their unlife or mortal existence.

Appearance
Not all Gargoyles look like the stone grotesques found spitting rainwater over old buildings, but all are nightmarish.
Some have tufts of hair protruding randomly over their bodies, or odd, galloping walks. Most Gargoyles have gray,
rock-like skin. All Gargoyles have wings. These grow as the character’s Flight (see p. 447) increases

173
Weakness
Rock Face: The Slaves are hideous, that grotesquery takes different forms, but all of them have their Appearance at
Hideous level. They are also highly susceptible to mind control from any source. A Gargoyle’s Will receives a -2
penalty when used to resist powers that affect their mind.

History
Dark Ages

The bloodline was first created via Thaumaturgical ritual in 1167(or 1121 according to other sources). For the first
several centuries after their creation, all their "powers" were in the form of rituals cast upon them by their Tremere
masters, and during those early nights, the original gargoyles came into being only in three variants made to fill
different roles for their Tremere masters. Those variants were:

• The Scouts (Gangrel-Nosferatu) were made to observe the Tremere's enemies and to report any important
information to their masters quickly and reliably, and would therefore focus on mastering the art of stealth and
Flight.

• The Warriors (Gangrel-Tzimisce) were constructed to serve as front-line soldiers, destroying enemy vampires by
focusing on Potence and combat abilities which enabled them to deal more damage to their foes.

• The Sentinels (Nosferatu-Tzimisce) were crafted to serve as glorified housekeepers, keeping an eye on their
masters' havens and areas of interest and protecting them from harm, which led to them focusing on Fortitude
and keeping alert for any intruders.

The Gargoyle Revolt

During the mid-15th-century occurred the uprising in which the bulk of the Gargoyle slaves of Clan Tremere liberated
themselves from their masters. It must have ended around 1497.

Victorian Age

At this point in their history, Gargoyles have "evolved" beyond the need for Tremere rituals, instead having
developed their own special Discipline, called Visceratika.

Escaped Victorian Gargoyles are uncommon. They find the world baffling and dangerous. Their monstrous looks do
not allow them to pass through the throng of kine easily, and if recaptured they are inevitably destroyed by their
captors.

While travel from Europe to the Americas was not impossible, the logistics of such a task was not easy, and the few
Gargoyles who made the crossing found themselves in a world more alien than the one they left behind.
Final Nights

Modern Nights

In the Final Nights, Gargoyle populations seem to be booming; this is largely because older, free Gargoyles are
coming out of hiding to join the Camarilla, because more indentured Gargoyles break free from the clutches of the
Tremere, and because the free Gargoyles have also begun to Embrace more mortals on their own.

Organization
Gargoyles have a strong sense of community. They often keep communal havens. Sometimes Gargoyles petition the
Prince for the release of slave Gargoyles, but more often they just tear slave owners to pieces. With no community,
Gargoyles are likely to Embrace and build their own.

174
Gargoyle variants

Originally, all Gargoyles were created using the blood of three different clans: the Gangrel, the Nosferatu, and the
Tzimisce. The blood was combined to form three specific types of Gargoyle: scouts (Gangrel-Nosferatu), warriors
(Gangrel-Tzimisce), and sentinels (Nosferatu-Tzimisce). Eventually they evolved into a full-fledged bloodline and
became somewhat independent of the Tremere and their blood magic. Those Gargoyles created via the original
ritual differ from those that have been Embraced into the bloodline in several ways. For example, Visceratika is an
out-of clan discipline for them. While rare since the Montmartre Pact, some of the old variants survive.

Scouts
Scouts were originally created
to advance into enemy
territory. They were designed to
turn to stone if heavily
damaged so that the Tremere
or other Scouts could retrieve
them later to claim any
information they were unable
to report back.
When a Scout Gargoyle is
wounded, the flesh around it
turns to stone, doubling any
wound penalties. The flesh
turns normal again when the
Gargoyle has fully regenerated.

Sentinels
Sentinels are created as
protectors, a sentiment that
they extend to their fellow
Gargoyles. As the most social of
the original variants, Sentinels
are a lot more friendlier than
most would assume.
When alone or without a
person they trust, Sentinel
Gargoyles find themselves
confused and all dice pools
halved.

Warriors
The Warriors were created for
the single purpose of defending
House and Clan from its
numerous enemies. Inspired by
the szlachta of the Tzimisce,
they were built to win battles
through fear, intimidation, and
physical punishment.
Whenever a Warrior Gargoyle
frenzies, a part of their body
turns to stone. Any associated
activity with the petrified body
part is considered an automatic
failure until the next evening.

175
Havens

Slave Gargoyles sleep wherever their masters allow them — closets, basements, crypts, cells. Free Gargoyles prefer
sleeping in havens high above the ground. Bell towers and disused high-rises are favorites. Gargoyles are often
muscle for other Kindred, sometimes in exchange for a bare-bones haven.

Culture
Gargoyles, regardless of their affiliation, deeply care for each other. New gargoyles are groomed by all to survive and
adhere to the Masquerade despite the difficulties. Special focus is on teaching a fledgling to fly, since this is an
experience unique to the Gargoyles.

Embraces

Most Gargoyles are not Embraced, but are rather created by the Tremere using Kindred from other clans (Nosferatu,
Gangrel, and Tzimisce). However, the Gargoyles are still capable of siring childer, and some free Gargoyles have
begun to do so.

The process of creation is particularly intense for Gargoyles, especially for those taken directly by the Tremere. The
surge of competing strains of vitae, combined with the magical energy inherent to the transformation, serves to
wipe away the pre-existing memories and loyalties of a new Gargoyle, leaving a tabula rasa on which the Tremere
can work. The process is a trifle gentler for Gargoyles Embraced by other Gargoyles, who sometimes retain at least
vague senses of their former lives, but even so most of their past just dissolves under the occult onslaught.

As for what drives a Gargoyle to Embrace a mortal, most times it is a case of simple obsession. There is neither
reason nor rhyme to the matter, and even the most eloquent members of the bloodline shrug and put it down to
"gut feeling".

Kindred of Note
6th Generation
-- Rock Lord

7th Generation
-- Teufel -- Elder Gargoyle of the Dallas Sabbat.
-- Ublo-Satha -- Guardian of the Chicago chantry

10th Generation
-- Grimlock - Gargoyle Chantry Guardian of London (missing)

12th Generation
-- Camilla -- Progeny of Erinyi, Antitribu and Scholar of the Arcane. The Coven of Librarians
-- Gérald -- Progeny of Erinyi, Antitribu and Sabbat Philosopher. The Coven of Librarians
-- Verbruch -- Guardian of the Tremere of Quebec City

176
Kiasyd

177
The Kiasyd are a bloodline of the Lasombra Clan; that much is obvious,
given that these odd Kindred make use of the Obtenebration Discipline.
But their aversion to iron, their odd power of Mytherceria, and their very
appearance speak to even stranger ancestry.
The Kiasyd are independent, focused more on their studies than on the
causes of the Sword of Caine. The ones that do claim membership in the
Sabbat aren’t passionately involved in the Sect’s activities.
The Kiasyd are, as a rule, calm and studious. They prefer to remain
ensconced within their havens, poring over ancient texts, maps, artifacts,
and other bits of antiquity. Other Kindred, it seems, can’t understand
how a lineage of vampires that is so very strange could be nothing more
than scholars. To hear the rumor-mill tell it, the Kiasyd can feed only on
the blood of infants, or faeries, or unspoiled virgins. Their otherworldly
heritage comes not from the Good Folk, but from demons and the forces
of Hell. Their odd appearance isn’t because of mutation in their vitae, but
a God-given warning: These are not Kindred. They are other.

Nicknames
Weirdlings, Broken Butterflies

Founder
Marconius

Parent clan
Lasombra

Disciplines
Primary: Dominate, Mytherceria, Obtenebration
Secondary: Thaumaturgy or Necromancy

Organization
The Kiasyd don’t enjoy each other’s company, which is strange, considering how little they have in common with
everyone else. After a short period of instruction (50 years at the most, and this period has grown much shorter in
modern nights), a Kiasyd childe is released from her sire’s haven and is no longer the elder Kiasyd’s responsibility.

Haven
Most Kiasyd spend years building up their havens, improving security, library facilities, and other amenities. They are
fiercely protective of their homes, and they do not allow guests without explicit invitations. When they do invite
guests, however, they treat them well, offering vintage vitae, comfortable rooms and, of course, plenty of reading
material.

Background
Museum curators, talented students, librarians, rare book experts, and academics of all stripes are likely choices for
Kiasyd Embraces. The Weirdlings want their progeny to be studious, polite, and educated, and they don’t want to
take the time instructing them in the basics of erudite understanding.

178
Appearance
The Kiasyd aren’t called “Weirdlings” just because of their behavior. Most of them are well over six feet tall (two
meters or more), willowy, and thin. Their skin isn’t just pale, as with most vampires, but glows faintly in moonlight.
Their eyes are almond-shaped and have no visible pupils. They are often violet or jet black in color. Their ears are
slightly pointed. The Kiasyd cover this with a hat or headband when going out amongst mortals, but even so, their
height and skin tone make them stand out.

Weakness
Unearthly Aspect: Besides their somewhat freakish appearance giving them the Appearance Ugly disadvantage,
Kiasyd also have an allergy to iron. Touching iron requires an immediate Self-Control roll to avoid frenzy, and any
weapons made from cold iron inflict aggravated damage to Kiasyd.

History
The Kiasyd are a bloodline of the Lasombra founded after a mysterious "accident" involving the Lasombra Marconius
of Strasbourg. The "accident", involving faeries and the blood of "Zeernebooch, a god of the Underworld", resulted
in Marconius gaining several feet in height, turning chalky white and developing large, elongated black eyes.

The Kiasyd are a very sedate clan, noted primarily for their fascination with ancient lore, their solitude, their
impeccably good manners, and the fact that they look like 7-foot-tall space aliens. Kiasyd are also in some way
connected with changelings; they are vulnerable to cold iron and have an inherent understanding of fae tricks. Their
Mytherceria Discipline gives them the ability to modify reality in ways not unlike the fae.

The Kiasyd are nominally aligned with the Sabbat, although this has more to do with ancestry than anything else; the
Kiasyd do not involve themselves in sect affairs and their temperament is not well suited to the sect.

Dark Ages

Originally, "Kiasyd" was a term used to describe any faerie-blooded vampire, whether they had successfully survived
the trauma of the Embrace or otherwise been transformed by the touch of faerie. These vampires instinctively knew
that they did not belong, and most sires immediately disposed of their "freak accidents". Those rare Kiasyd that
survived found that they could pass on their curse with the Embrace, creating new Kiasyd. Most of these Kiasyd
lineages were scattered, as most Kiasyd could not stand close contact, as it reminded them of what they had lost.

This changed around the beginning of the Renaissance, as Marconius and his brood sought to rule alone, and other
Kiasyd started to disappear. The surviving Kiasyd surrendered their name and disputed territory, renaming
themselves the Maeghar, leaving Marconius' bloodline as the only Kiasyd.

The Rise of Marconius

According to legends within the bloodline, Marconius and his sister Hrotsuitha were mages that sought to create a
perfect being, combining the features of many supernaturals into one. Marconius was Embraced by a Lasombra,
which caused his experiments to fall short. His sister, however, showed him the Abyss and brought him into contact
with a group of Faeries called Thallain. Within the Abyss, Marconius drained his sister dry after having fed her a
concoction of vitae, dark glamour and several other components. When he returned, he was fundamentally
changed.

Only the protection of the methuselah Boukephos saved Marconius from being outright destroyed by the Amici
Noctis. Instead, he was banished into an oubliette in Castel d'Ombro. This prison held until the Anarch Revolt.
Afterward, the remaining Kiasyd joined the Sabbat. Marconius retreated to Strasbourg, which he claimed as his
domain.

179
Organization
Kiasyd are solitary and at times, perhaps, a bit territorial. If one were to find more than a single Kiasyd in a city, it is
either a sire and their childe, or a very brief visit from a colleague.

The Kiasyd do not enjoy each other's company, which is strange, considering how little they have in common with
everyone else. After a short period of instruction (50 years at the most, and this period has grown much shorter in
modern nights), a Kiasyd childe is released from her sire's haven and is no longer the elder Kiasyd's responsibility.

Culture
Kiasyd culture is polite, formal, and a bit Victorian. If one were to imagine a group of well-learned individuals in
overstuffed leather chairs conversing in a gentlemanly fashion, you would have a perfect idea of how they act
towards one another when they meet. Every 50 years, the bloodline gathers to discuss new lores and mysteries.

Because of a long-standing love-hate relationship with the Lasombra, Kiasyd are most often associated with the
Sabbat. This is not always the case, however.

The bloodline's members are exceptionally tall and heights of over seven feet are not unusual. Their odd appearance
includes chalk-white skin (which seems to glow faintly blue in the moonlight after they have recently fed), and solid
black eyes. This strange visual impression may account for the clan nickname "Weirdlings". Their symbol is a moth
marked with a death's head.

As scholars, the Kiasyd are fascinated by the different tastes of vitae. This does not only include vampires and
mortals, but stretches to other supernaturals, as well. Informal cocktail clubs mix these different forms of blood to
create new concoctions, using alchemy to catalogue the strange properties of blood.

The bloodline's clan discipline is Mytherceria, which encompasses a heightened talent for acquiring arcane
knowledge. The discipline also makes them experts at creating and solving riddles.

Embraces

Museum curators, talented students, librarians, rare book experts, and academics of all stripes are likely choices for
Kiasyd Embraces. The Weirdlings want their progeny to be studious, polite, and educated, and they do not want to
take the time instructing them in the basics of erudite understanding.

Kindred of Note
5th Generation
-- Marconius -- Marconius is the progenitor of the Kiasyd bloodline. He was originally a Cainite of the Lasombra
clan. Shortly after his metamorphosis he vanished without hint only to reappear in Strasbourg in the late
12th century, when he took the city's princedom with the aid of his brood. Sire: Unknown

6th Generation
-- Bartholomew -- Progeny of Marconius (Inconnu).
-- Faramund Magnus -- Progeny of Marconius. Kiasyd elder of London.
-- Qadim Malik -- Progeny of Marconius and sire of Chelsea Etitameh, Sabbat bishop of Dreams.

7th Generation
-- Chelsea Etitameh -- Progeny of Qadim Malik.

9th Generation
-- Beatrice L'Angou -- Ductus of the Librarians Pack.

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Salubri

181
The Salubri were once a true Clan. Their Clan founder, Saulot,
was said to be a superlative warrior as well as a fair-minded
judge. It was also said that he grew progressively more
disgusted with Kindred affairs over time, and weary of the
constant, bloody cycles of violence and betrayal. He left his
home for lands far to the east. When he returned, he was
changed. He was tranquil and contemplative, but also
somewhat fatalistic. Most surprisingly, though, he had
developed a third eye in his forehead. Saulot Embraced new
childer, and his Clan slowly split into two distinct lines — the
“warrior” and “healer” Salubri. For centuries, they acted as
advisors, bodyguards, and sages to other Kindred and, to a
lesser extent, mortals.

And then came the diablerie of Saulot. The mages of the newly created Tremere line found Saulot’s torpid body, and
drained his blood and soul. They usurped the power of the one of the Clans of Caine, and sent the Salubri into a
downward spiral from which they never really recovered.
The rumors die hard, however. Modern Kindred know of the Salubri as diablerists who consume their own sires (and
do it openly — patricide is hardly unknown among the other Clans, but they don’t admit to it) and remove the souls
of other Kindred. The Soulsuckers are, supposedly, a Clan of defilers and liars from centuries past, possibly involved
with demon worship, and demonstrably part of the Sabbat.

Nicknames
Unicorns, Soulsuckers, Cyclops, Soul-Thieves, Daijals, Saulot's progeny, the Hidden Ones, Peacemakers

Antediluvian
Saulot

Faction
Independent

Disciplines
Primary: Auspex, Fortitude, Obeah
Secondary: Dominate, Obfuscate

Organization
The Salubri are not, as a bloodline, organized. In fact, when Salubri do meet, it tends to be on the instruction of their
sires — the dying wish of a given Cyclops to her childe might be to seek out another member of the bloodline and
deliver a message or pay respects.

Haven
Salubri are unwelcome in most cities, and that means their havens are situated in isolated environments. They also
usually have multiple escape routes, and only have what possessions the character can carry in a backpack. Quick
departures are not uncommon for the members of this bloodline, so Salubri don’t get attached to their havens.

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Background
The Salubri Embrace people whom they feel can find Golconda. Healers, teachers, empaths, and other people with
high Humanity ratings are good choices, although occasionally Salubri Embrace evil people in hopes of seeing them
redeemed (or, at least, setting them on that path).

Appearance
Each Salubri has a third eye in the center of their forehead. Otherwise, the Salubri are too few in number for any
generalization about their appearances to be possible. Their ranks in modern nights have included children, the
elderly, and adults of all races.

Weakness
Vexatious Tilaka: The third eye that Saulot opened while on one of his many journeys passes down through the
bloodline every time a Salubri Embraces. This third eye is not always recognizably human in origin, and rumors
persist of vertical, serpentine pupils, or even wormlike eyespots. While this third eye can be physically covered, such
as with a headscarf or hood, it is always present, and no supernatural power can obscure it. Any time a Salubri
activates a Discipline power, the third eye weeps vitae, its intensity correlating to the level of the Discipline being
used, from welling up to a torrential flow. The blood flow from the third eye might trigger a Hunger Frenzy test from
nearby vampires low on vitae.
Modern Salubri are also unable to feed on an unwilling vessel without dire complications. Any blood not given
willingly makes the Salubri loose one HP per Blood Point slaked, which must be healed with blood.

History
In the Final Nights, the once mighty Salubri Clan is considered barely a bloodline after the diablerie of their
progenitor, Saulot. Their general few numbers grant credibility to the rumors that they are only composed of seven
vampires at any time, and that these modern Salubri are fully committed to the search for Golconda – enacting a
bloody ritual when they achieve that state or despair of ever doing so. They are divided into three branches: the
Healers, the Warriors and the Watchers, and each of those branches has their own specific vampiric weakness.

The Salubri are the childer of Saulot, most beloved of Caine and the healer of the Kindred. Saulot was a mystic
uncomfortable with his awakened Beast and constantly questing to squelch it. In the interests of furthering this
quest, and to tame the pains of the living and dead, Saulot Embraced the wise and the gentle to tend the pains of
Caine and Seth's get. These childer, the Salubri, were revered as healers and peacemakers, unusually selfless for
creatures more often defined by their greed.

Sometime in the era of the Second City, Saulot despaired of conquering his beast and fled to the unknown East to
study under Hindu gurus and the Great Arhat Xue (under the moniker Zao-lat, leaving a rather unflattering mark in
the collective memory of Xue's conspecifics). When he returned, he bore a third eye and new insight into the
vampiric condition; his beast was quieted and he described his new condition as being in Golconda, named for the
town where he finally achieved inner peace. The clan, revitalized by their ancestor's return, embraced the new
discipline of Valeren (Healer Path) and enhanced their abilities. It was at this time, with the adoption of Valeren, that
the third eye became the mark of all Salubri, originally a sign of enlightenment, it eventually became a target.

Saulot's return was a joyous occasion, but what followed behind him was not – a hitherto unknown line of vampiric
demon worshippers, the Baali, attacked the Second City. Saulot, normally relatively sedate, viewed the Baali as an
abomination and encouraged active retaliation. To that end, one of his childer, named Samiel, discarded the path of
healing and took up the sword. Samiel was the founder of a new caste of Salubri, an order of warriors wielding the
new path of Valeren (warrior Path), dedicated to overthrowing Baali and other forces of darkness.

Dark Ages

The Salubri were always rare. Saulot himself entered Torpor sometime around the 1st century and only rarely
resurfaced. Each caste was focused on its own particular purpose – hunting down demons or teaching Golconda, and
given that the Salubri on the whole were not fond of being vampires, they did not embrace many childer. Those that
were were usually exceptional in some fashion.

183
 All of this changed in 1133, when the mage
Tremere found and diablerized Saulot. The act,
unheard of, was a desperate attempt by the new
clan Tremere to acquire legitimacy by acquiring
an Antediluvian of their own, but it nearly
backfired. The Tremere, by committing the
ultimate crime on the closest thing the damned
had to a saint, only cemented their reputation as
usurpers. The Tremere responded with a vicious
propaganda campaign and cheap magic - the
Salubri were never entirely trusted anyway, the
price of being too nice. And now with the
Tremere offering real magical power and less
pangs of conscience, certain clans were too
willing to believe that maybe that whole soul-
sucking thing was a bit more true than they
originally thought.

In less than a century, the Salubri were no longer

the rare and precious Unicorns, but now feared
soul-devouring horrors. An amazing feat, the
Tremere campaign, as if another hand was
behind it.

The Tremere coupled propaganda with terror;

Tremere himself went into torpor shortly after
draining Saulot, and the Council of Seven needed
to boost their own power, preferably by
diablerizing Salubri methuselahs. A conclave of
the Clan in 1291 in Acre was held, during which
the Salubri debated on how to react to the
situation. The Healers renounced violence as
contrary to Saulot's teachings, while the
Warriors, disagreeing with them, split and
instead waged one-man wars against their
numerous enemies that more often than not led
to nothing but their own destruction. This
continued throughout the 12th century, ending
with the capture and diablerie of Mokur by
Etrius. Mokur's death meant the death of the
last of the Salubri elders, and the clan slowly
withered on the vine.

Victorian Age

During these times the clan was thought to be

dead and gone, but at the end of the period
their numbers seemed to be increasing due to
the fact that some of the Salubri became
antitribu and joined the Sabbat in order to
destroy the Baali and the Tremere to get
revenge for their acts against the clan.
The remaining pure Salubri found that the spirit
of the age allowed them to find allies among the
Kine, who searched for spiritual answers and
were willing to overlook their peculiarities. The development of new technologies, such as the telegraph, also

184
allowed the remaining Salubri to coordinate their unlives in more efficient ways, exchanging knowledge and
informing them about new developments.

Modern Nights

In the twentieth century, the Salubri have all but died out, with only seven rumoured to be active (as well as a few
hidden ones, such as Mahtiel), though this rumour is also believed by some to have been started by the Salubri
themselves (in order to hide their true numbers, whether they be lower or higher than the rumoured seven). The
main clan is now exceeded by bloodlines, including the Nkulu Zao of Africa and the Wu Zao of Asia. The Salubri, if
they are known at all, are reviled for their strange and frightening soul-devouring powers.

And then something even stranger and more frightening happens, Salubri antitribu; the Sabbat accepts into its ranks
the childer of Adonai. These warriors are consumed by the need for vengeance, and are creatures of rage, dubbed
Furies by their Sabbat compatriots. They are not honorable creatures, but rather bitter knights driven to destroy the
Tremere and seeking vengeance for their founder's destruction.

The lot of Clan Salubri has changed little in the last century. Even among sympathetic Anarchs distanced from the
Ivory Tower and the Pyramid, those who know anything about them want little to do with them. Still, many remain
motivated to act as guardians and healers who would come to the aid of Kindred struggling with or reveling in the
vampiric condition.

Organization
The Salubri do not have much of an organization in the Final Nights. There are not enough of them for them to have
one. When Salubri do meet, it tends to be on the instruction of their sires – the dying wish of a given Cyclops to her
childe might be to seek out another member of the bloodline and deliver a message or pay respects.

Things were different before Saulot's death. At that time, the Healers had a loose community of equals, largely
distinguished by progress on the path to Golconda. The Warriors, however, were distinguished by a ritual called the
Blooding; it was in this ritual that a warrior was truly consecrated and took an angelic name to indicate their purpose
and path. The Blooding also granted special powers; however, with the effective extermination of the warrior caste,
the Code of Samiel was lost, and the antitribu of the modern age show no knowledge of it.

Saulot was a famously prodigious sire, creating the Salubri, the Wu Zao (who have two castes), and the Nkulu Zao.
However, within the clan itself, the major distinction is between the Healer, Warrior, and Watcher castes.

Classically, the Salubri discipline was called Valeren and was divided into three paths: Healer, Warrior and Watcher.
All paths developed the third eye after learning the second level of the discipline (and any vampire who learns
Valeren acquires a third eye). The three paths of Valeren mirror each other, with powers at equivalent levels having
similar effects. In modern nights, the Healer path has become its own Discipline, Obeah.

Modern references to the Salubri typically refer exclusively to the Healer Caste, who make up the bulk of the
"normal" Bloodline.

Warrior Caste

Nicknames
Kin-Slayers
Founder
Samiel
Faction
Independent

185
The Warrior Salubri were founded during the Baali Wars by Saulot's childe Samiel. Samiel renamed himself after an
angel of the Lord, in a secret ceremony that is called the Blooding. Since then, every Salubri Warrior was expected to
undergo the same ritual and be granted an angelic name.

All warriors undergo rigorous training to prepare them for the Blooding, sometimes even when they are still mortal.
The Warriors were wanderers, always searching for evil to destroy wherever it might grow. This brought them into
conflict with various Clans and their unsavory members and when the Tremere began their pogrom, the Warriors
had nowhere to turn to and were unsure how to proceed. Many Warriors died in battles against forces they deemed
evil.

In the Final Nights, the Salubri antitribu appear to be resurfaced Salubri Warriors.

Watcher Caste

Nicknames
Orphans
Founder
Zao-zei (Thieves/Warriors), Zao-xue (Scholars/Healers)
Faction
Independent

The Wu Zao, or the Watcher Caste in the Dark Ages, are an Asian bloodline of Salubri who came about during
Saulot's travels to the East, where he was known as Zao-lat. He chose two individuals to Embrace: Zao-zei, a thief
capable of obtaining the secrets of the Thousand Hells, and Zao-xue, a scholar who could decipher those secrets. The
three adventured around the Middle Kingdom, plundering the lairs of the akuma and stealing their plans.

The Wu Zao are, perhaps uniquely among Cainites, capable of switching between their castes of scholars and
thieves. During the Dark Ages, The Watchers acted as protectors of the Cainites, protecting them against those that
would deny their right to even exist and earn redemption, like Lupines or the Wan Kuei. Additionally, they sought for
knowledge that will allow Cainites survive the cataclysmic turns of the Wheel of Ages. Only rarely did they travelled
into the West, seeing it as more important to preserve Zao-lat's wisdom than his descendants. Contact was only
established during the invasion of the Golden Horde, during which the Watchers often masqueraded as members of
other Clans or Castes.

Interestingly, the Wu Zao do not share the clan weakness of other Salubri. This is because Saulot's order that Zao-xue
and Zao-zei gather secret knowledge permeates the blood of every Wu Zao. Thus, each Wu Zao must choose an area
of arcane lore that becomes the focus of her unlife. A Willpower roll is required to resist pursuing an opportunity to
research this subject – regardless of how dangerous this opportunity is.

Salubri antitribu

Nicknames
Furies
Founder
Adonai
Faction
Sabbat

The Salubri antitribu of the Sabbat are not the quiet, contemplative
Kindred that seek Golconda in persecuted exile. No, these Kindred call
themselves "Furies", and they seek the blood of the Camarilla
vampires – the Tremere especially – with a venomous passion. They
are the modern incarnation of the ancient Warrior Caste. A Sabbat
pack is said to have discovered a torpid Adonai and the last Salubri
Warriors in a mine outside Prague during the 1990s. Who upon their
awakening gave rise to these antitribu.

186
The Salubri antitribu are devoted to the cause of killing Camarilla vampires, but not necessarily to other Sabbat
agendas.

They take part in the ritae of the sect, and they share their blood, but what truly fires them up is the chance to
invade Camarilla territory and burn some Tremere. If the ancient rumors of the Salubri warriors being honorable
knights are true, then times have indeed changed. These Kindred do not know "honorable combat" from "IED". They
just want to watch their enemies crumble to dust.

The Furies clan weakness is slightly different from that of the main Salubri; they receive nourishment from blood
taken either by force or during a Frenzy.

Culture
Again, there are not enough of them to have a culture. What little there is has mostly focused around Golconda lore.
Salubri believe that vampiric existence is torment from which Golconda or death is the only escape. Consequently,
the modern Salubri would Embrace, teach a childe the basics of the route, leave clues for the childe to follow to
achieve Golconda, and then have their childe diablerize them. One side effect of this is that Salubri are all relatively
low generation. Normal Salubri start out as 8th generation by default. Even the antitribu usually have a couple of
dots in the background.

Embraces

Salubri generally Embrace noble souls; healers, teachers, empaths, and other good people that they feel can find
Golconda. Beyond that, there is not much commonality. However, on occasion a Salubri might embrace an evil
person in hope of seeing them redeemed (or at least setting them on a path to redemption). Each childe of a Salubri
was seen as the culmination of their unlife, so they tended to observe their targets carefully and generally only
Embraced when the person was willing to endure unlife.

Kindred of Note
4th Generation
-- Rayzeel -- Progeny of Saulot. She is said to have been the lover of Saulot and sister of Samiel. The remaining
history of the Salubri suggests she was unsurpassed at the art of singing. Healer Faction
-- Samiel -- Progeny of Saulot. He is said to have been a warrior of great power.

5th Generation
-- Evandrus -- Called the Cyclops. He was a Salubri Warrior of Ancient Rome. Deceased member of the Warrior
Faction

6th Generation
-- Vibia Sabina - Childe of Evandrus and a member of the Manus Nigrum.

7th Generation
Achmet the Dreamer -- The Prophet Constantinople -- medieval -- circa 1140 A.D.

8th Generation
-- Mary Wyncott -- American expatriate and walker on the Road of Humanity.

187
Samedi

188
If the Nosferatu are repulsive and the Harbingers of Skulls are hideous, a
word hasn’t yet been invented to describe the Samedi. Resembling nothing
so much as walking, rotting corpses, these odd vampires take their name and
their origin from the Caribbean and the religion of vodoun (popularly known
as voodoo). Baron Samedi, in legend, was a loa of death and ancestor
worship. The vampires that bear his name and visage (for Samedi is often
portrayed as a corpse, albeit not one so disgusting as the Stiffs) also often
share his rude, blunt demeanor. In fact, a vampire going by the name of
“Baron Samedi” seems to be the founder, or at least the oldest extant
member, of the bloodline.
The Samedi might seem to be an offshoot of the Nosferatu, but their powers
of Thanatosis — a Discipline dedicated to manipulating dead flesh — speak of
a connection to the Giovanni or their doomed predecessors, the
Cappadocians. If that is the case, though, the Samedi and the Giovanni went
their separate ways long ago, for neither has anything good to say about the other. The reason for this enmity is not
something that members of either line discuss in public, but the Giovanni apparently have a history with Baron
Samedi himself. The Baron, still active in the bloodline’s affairs, refuses to discuss the “deal” that he had with
Augustus Giovanni, but it must have been something of gravity for the mutual dislike to persist.
Samedi take the roles of enforcers and assassins in Kindred society. They don’t do it on ideological grounds, like the
Assamites, and thus they find work with Kindred who want to get what they paid for. The Samedi do not take
contracts against Nosferatu or, strangely, Giovanni Kindred without a heavy fee, speaking to some regard or fear of
these Clans. As with so many other facts about their line, the Samedi have nothing to say on the matter.

Nicknames
Stiffs, Zombies, Ghedi

Founder
Baron Samedi

Faction
Independent

Disciplines
Primary: Auspex, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Thanatosis
Secondary: Wanga or Necromancy

Organization
The Samedi are too rare to be organized. They might cross each other’s paths occasionally and trade stories, but no
plan or schedules exists for these meetings, at least as far as anyone outside the bloodline can tell.

Haven
The Samedi make havens in places where a moldering corpse and its stench aren’t out of place. Morgues,
mortuaries, graveyards, and meat packing plants house the occasional Samedi. Some members of the bloodline
choose to dwell below ground like the Nosferatu, but this does lead to conflict between the Stiffs and the Sewer
Rats.

Background
The Samedi are a relatively young line. No Samedi older than 250 years is known to exist. Most of the older ones hail
from the Caribbean islands or the southern United States. Neonate Samedi don’t always share this connection to
vodoun, but frequently were close to death (one way or another) before the Embrace.

189
Appearance
Saying that a Samedi resembles a rotting corpse is, sadly, in no way a euphemism. Their flesh is soft and tends to
leak fluid if poked too hard. Their ears and noses rot away (but still function normally), and tiny bits of their skin tend
to slough off and regrow. Skin retracts from the eyes and teeth, giving them the appearance of grinning skulls, but
too much meat clings to the cranium for them to achieve the cleaner horror of the Harbingers of Skulls. Some
Samedi are leathery and dry, like unwrapped mummies. These Stiffs still stink, but their stench is more reminiscent
of rotted flowers and old decay than fresh putrescence.

Weakness
Aspect of Chongo: The Samedi, as mentioned, are putrid beyond words. They look like rotting corpses, flesh hanging
from their body and smelling of decay. Samedi characters have Appearance (Horrific) and can’t act with mortals
without major negative reaction.

History
The Samedi bloodline has a relatively short but immensely curious history within Kindred society. Originating most
likely in the Caribbean, the bloodline's members all seem to resemble a zombie or a corpse. Unlike the Nosferatu,
who merely become disfigured, the body of the Samedi appears to be in a constant state of decay. Social
interactions often fail miserably, as do attempts to integrate into mortal society. Rotting chunks of flesh fall off of
their bodies with increasing frequency as they age, and the smell of death clings to them wherever they roam.

The Samedi have strong ties to the region's voodoo legacies. They practice a unique Discipline that allows them to
manipulate the energies of death, albeit in a much more temporal manner than Giovanni Necromancy.

Indeed, the Giovanni have very little good to say about the Samedi, and the enmity between these kindred runs
deep. Some Kindred believe that the Samedi are the result of a vile Giovanni experiment gone wrong, while other
vampires attribute darker origins to the Stiffs. Still other Kindred believe that the Samedi are a derelict offshoot of
the Nosferatu – one that should have been stillborn. It is possible, however, that the Samedi are descended from
Cappadocian Infitiores who escaped notice.

Modern Nights

The clan has spread slowly across the globe, though they remain quite small in number. Most progeny are picked
from mortals obsessed with death and dying. Those who worked in the mortuary field during their mortal lives
appear to be very common, and many members of the clan seem to possess some sort of tranquility with their own
mortality

Descendants of the Baron

The Samedi appeared at the Family Reunion, becoming founding members of the fledgling Hecata clan. They are
referred to as the Descendants of the Baron. Some, however; have instead joined the Ministry.

Due to mysterious clan-wide changes in the blood, Hecata Samedi no longer suffer from the curse of egregious
decomposition as their sires did, although they can manifest the countenance at will, and it does manifest to some
extent whenever they feed. In its place is the new clan-wide bane of the painful Kiss.

Curiously, and although it is not widely known, the Samedi and Hecata are immune to the Beckoning.

Organization
The Samedi very rarely congregate as a clan, and those chance occurrences where they meet are merely informal
gatherings of two or three members who gossip and then go their separate ways. Members of this bloodline are
often very solitary in nature, and they do not often seek out companionship. A few turbulent rumors sweep through
Kindred society about secret cabals of Samedi gathering in graveyards, but none of these rumors have been
substantiated.

190
Those lucky enough to have conversed with a member of this bloodline often recall a certain wisdom and
intelligence within them that otherwise would have been overlooked or dismissed outright. While obsessed with
death, most of these vampires still seem to possess a wisdom that betrays their short existence.

However, there is more to the Samedi bloodline than a loose association of witch-doctors and death cultists. The
bloodline is insular and secretive; many times, its members often keep their affairs private from even other
members, suggesting that they have something other than common interests. A few Samedi are known to be
members of the Camarilla or the Sabbat, but these offer those sects little information on others of their kind.

Arguably the eldest member of the bloodline, a vampire known only as The Baron, suggests that the Samedi have a
more significant role in the Kindred's history and future than most vampires suspect. What that may be, the Baron
refuses to specify, dismissing further questions with a wave of his rotting hand.

Culture
Samedi often involve themselves with occult or illegal activities in a city, becoming powerful houngans and mambos
or trafficking with superstitious immigrant criminal elements. Given their apparent voodoo roots, the Samedi seem
content to garner influence in immigrant ghettos, practicing their dark magic and preying upon a populace used to
the dead walking among them.

The Samedi are also notorious assassins and mercenaries, and it is for this reason that many Camarilla princes turn a
blind eye to them despite their almost Masquerade-threatening involvement with the kine around them. For the
most part, the Samedi keep to themselves, and a prince never knows when she may need an ally with "special"
abilities. The Stiffs seem to hold the Nosferatu and Giovanni in some inscrutable esteem (or dread), though, as they
are hesitant to take out contracts on Kindred of these clans without just cause or considerable payment.

Embraces

Samedi typically Embrace those with a penchant for death, a trait that follows them into undeath. Many Samedi
favor Mental Attributes and Knowledges while the martial, mercenary members of the bloodline cultivate Physical
Attributes and Skills or Talents. Samedi rarely have Herd, Mentor, or Resource Backgrounds. A significant percentage
of the Samedi bloodline, particularly the older members, practices the Discipline of Necromancy but it is unknown
precisely where they would have come across this knowledge, as they appear to be on very poor terms with the
Giovanni.

Kindred of Note
5th Generation
-- Baron Samedi --
-- Mama Brigette -- Mama Brigette Rio de Janeiro

6th Generation
-- Morlock -- Progeny of Baron Samedi. Sire of Baroque, who later destroyed him. deceased
-- Genina -- Progeny of Baron Samedi. She diablerised many times. She was the 11th of the Red List, until Justicar
and Alastor Lucinde destroyed her in San Francisco.
-- Jorge De La Muerte -- Progeny of Baron Samedi.
-- Reg Driscoll -- Progeny of Baron Samedi.
-- Jack Dawson -- Progeny of Baron Samedi. Half black, half mexican. Fell in love with the neighbor's daughter and
being what he was the father had him murdered. but Jack didn't die so easily. So they left him for
the crows. Later found and embraced by the Baron. member of the Boot Hill Gang.
-- Jean Lisle -- Progeny of Baron Samedi.

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Emily Elliott -- Progeny of Thibault -- Rica Rio de Janeiro

191
Caitiff

192
Unwanted and abandoned, the Caitiff have swelled the ranks of Kindred
society in the past few decades. They are the results of mistakes,
regrets, frenzies, and poor choices. Many are lucky to have even a vague
recollection of their sire and the Embrace, while most stumble around
with no understanding of what they are. Those that find a way to
survive are the exception instead of the rule, and some of these Trash
grow to become notorious Kindred in their own right.
The only thing that the Caitiff have in common is what they lack — the
marks that identify a vampire as being part of a particular clan. Kindred
scholars speculate that some sort of connection between sire and childe
occurs after the Embrace, an “imprinting” that gives a Brujah his rage, a
Nosferatu her disfigurement, or a Lasombra his propensity to
manipulate shadows. For whatever reason, though, the Caitiff has none
of these. They may be angry, ugly, or prefer the darkness, but at best,
they’re a pale shadow of their sire’s clan. While this tabula rasa keeps
them from finding solace in the clan hierarchies of Kindred society, it also means they have no barriers to overcome.

Nicknames
The Clanless, Freestylers, Orphans, Trash, Unbound (endonym)

Faction
Anarch

Disciplines
Primary: Any 3 disciplines (can have one special clan discipline)
Secondary: Anarch Sorcery

Organization
None to speak of. In some domains, Caitiff who fall through the cracks may establish themselves as the lords of
broods of their own illicit Embrace. It’s no surprise that these unbound rogues continue to give the rest of their ill-
sired ilk a bad name.

Haven
As with their Appearance, Caitiff havens are diverse; many Caitiff have to make do with what- ever haven they can
find, or with whatever haven they can cajole another Kindred into letting them occupy. Few Caitiff are able to
maintain anything more than a minor domain, and many Caitiff are transient or simply do without havens.

Background
Caitiff can come from any back- ground, most of which reflect as much about their absentee sires as it does about
themselves. Indeed, when among the more formal societies of the sects, some Trash take great pains to obscure the
details of their backgrounds.

Appearance
As befits their checkered origins, a put-upon look often accompanies the Caitiff, who often have to devote much of
their attention to simply surviving in a Kindred society that would prefer to sweep them away. Many are visually
similar to the Brujah, Gangrel, and other “street clans,” though this is more of an ethnographic characteristic than it
is a clan attitude. For those Caitiff who are able to divert attention from their clanlessness, their appearance may
well reflect the success or failure of their efforts to make a place for themselves in the world of the Damned.

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Weaknesses
Known Trash: Because of their social stigma, Caitiff are unable to take the Status Background other than Anarch
status at character creation. In addition to being a “clan,” Caitiff is also a negative title and receives a -2 reaction
from both Camarilla, Sabbat and independent vampires. When Caitiff Embrace, their childer also become Caitiff.

History
Caitiff is a complicated term with two general meanings. The first meaning is more of a political term: those of a
flawed or unknown lineage, who have been abandoned by their sires. It is not so much that they lack a Clan as they
lack the support that comes with the Clan structure. It carries the implication that they were a mistake by their sire.
Many of these unfortunates are considered Caitiff simply because they do not know which Clan they come from,
because they had not been told. It is an arbitrary title and may refer more specifically to any outcast.

The second and more biologically-oriented Caitiff, also known as the clanless, are rare Cainites that do not officially
belong to any clan. These vampires have no inherent clan weakness, but no inherent disciplines as well. None of the
typical clan markers apply to them. Although the Caitiff have manifested throughout history, they tend to do so
more frequently among the higher generations, such that the terms "Caitiff" and "Thin-blooded" are often
considered synonymous. While there is considerable overlap, not all Caitiff are thin-bloods.

Caitiff can purchase any Discipline at character creation, but thereafter have to pay six times current rating for any
and all powers purchased with experience points. On a more basic level Caitiff suffer a social stigma from not being a
part of an accepted clan. As a result, more established Kindred feel free to snub or belittle Caitiff freely.

Ancient history

Caitiff have always plagued the clans, abnormalities to the Curse of Cain, without marks of his disfavor on them,
leaving some Caitiff to speculate that they are indeed the original vampires, heirs to the legacy of the Second
Generation and Caine himself (most of these Caitiff do not survive long after speaking their mind). But in those
times, happenings were fewer, as the curse still ran strong in the veins of the undead; even an abandoned childe
would normally manifest the marks and weaknesses of their own clan. Some of these vampires, like the Stone Man,
still survive into the Modern Nights, but these happenings are few and far in between.

Modern Nights

Following World War II, the Caitiff population seems to have exploded as more and more begin to appear. These
Caitiff are typically of high generation, where Caine's blood is too diluted to pass on any consistent characteristics.

The appearance of Thin-blooded have done nothing to soothe the fears of the Elders and many are more happy
when there is a Caitiff less to prowl the night. Many cite the Book of Nod and claim that the blood has weakened to
the point on which it can no longer establish the clan lineage. The appearance of the special Caitiff-like vampires
known as Thin-bloods is also a growing concern and many Elders decide to wipe away every vampire without Clan
protection.

In the Sabbat, the works of Joseph Pander led to the recognition of the sect's Caitiff as a "clan" known as the
Panders. In 1973, a similar try was made to gain recognition in the Camarilla, spearheaded by Alexi Darba, although
they were taken captive by the Justicars and probably killed.

Organization
Every so often, someone attempts to organize the Caitiff into a clan-like structure. The attempt inevitably fails, in
part because of the innate fractiousness of Caitiff society and in part because the established clans have a vested
interest in keeping the Caitiff disorganized. In some domains, Caitiff who fall through the cracks may establish
themselves as the lords of broods of their own illicit Embrace. It is no surprise that these unbound rogues continue
to give the rest of their ill-sired ilk a bad name.

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Some Caitiff cling to any sort of protection and acceptance, while others rebel at being treated as disposable and
look to the Anarch Movement or even the Sabbat as alternatives. Still others dismiss politics as unimportant, eking
out unlife in the fringes of the Ivory Tower or even becoming Autarkis.

Panders

Nicknames
Mutts
Founder
Joseph Pander
Faction
Sabbat

The Panders arose in the aftermath of the third and most recent Sabbat civil
war, during the late 1950s. A clanless vampire known as Joseph Pander
united the Caitiff "antitribu" Sabbat under his own banner and led them
against the Moderate faction at the behest of several key Lasombra and
Tzimisce. Impressed with his efforts, the elders of the Sabbat rewarded the
sect-loyal Panders with a formal recognition, which immediately touched off
a powder keg of ill response from more "legitimate" clans. In the end,
though, the Panders won out, earning recognition time and again, through
bloodshed and diplomacy. Joseph Pander still exists in the modern nights,
but rumors of assassination attempts spurred by disapproving elders run
rampant through the Mutts' circles.

Panders have no inherent, blood-bestowed weakness, same as their Camarilla, Anarch and Independent
counterparts. Note, however, that the Panders are given only grudging respect, and they generally get stuck with the
worst jobs in the Sabbat. Also, no Pander may begin the game at better than ninth generation (though they may
increase this via diablerie or other means during the game).

Thin-bloods

Nicknames
Duskborn, Mercurians, The Young Ones, Run-Off, Weaklings, Chameleons
Faction
Anarch

Thin-blooded or duskborn, are terms primarily used to refer to Caitiff and

vampires of the 14th, or higher, generations.

For centuries, the thin-blooded have been persecuted by elders, Gehenna cults,
and other Noddists that fear their existence because Gehenna prophecies seem
to indicate thin-blooded vampires are a sign of the End Times. While in previous
centuries the Caitiff bore the brunt of this hatred, the upsurge of 14th and 15th
generation Kindred has become a matter of great debate and concern, and has notably resulted in the return of the
office of the Scourge in Camarilla cities. In the Modern Nights, while only about half of 14th generation vampires are
afflicted by the Thin-blood Syndrome, all 15th generation vampires are. Until recently, they were thought to be the
final Generation, but evidently vampiric blood gradually thickens over the centuries. There are rumors that some
vampires of the 16th Generation have begun to appear. Thin-bloods are not allowed to join the Camarilla, and are
branded with the mark of the crescent moon, to signify their lowly status.

Thin Blood Syndrome

Vampires with Thin Blood Syndrome possess exceptionally diluted vitae. This weakness however, manifests
differently for each Thinblood, independent of generation, a 14th generation thin-blood may be too weak to even

195
Blood Bond with a mortal, while a 15th might still retain the ability to Embrace, and vice versa. Among the dusk-
born, the lines are blurred.

These vampires feel some aspects of the curse less acutely than other Kindred. They are less affected by sunlight,
both physically and psychologically; they find it easier to wake during the day, and may survive exposure to dim
sunlight unharmed, however many lack the natural resilience of vampires. They can hold down food for longer
periods of time and even digest it as sustenance with a great deal of effort. Their bodies display some signs of true
life; sometimes their hair or nails will grow, or they will feel the beat of their heart. A very small number have even
fathered or, more rarely, given birth to children. Such offspring are known as dhampirs, and their nature is not well
understood.

Insight

The thin-blooded also share an oracular ability that is amplified within groups and grants them knowledge of the
plots and deeds of Methuselahs and the Antediluvians. Naturally, this makes them of great interest to the few who
know their secret, but debates rage over the source of their visions and whether they can be trusted. Some believe
the visions are memories of things glimpsed during their longer than normal period between death and rebirth as a
vampire, while others believe the thin-blooded are being used by the Antediluvians to mislead those who would
fight them. Many Kindred simply want to destroy anyone who could learn their secrets through such gifts, though for
their part the thin-blooded rarely understand the significance of what they see.

Culture
caitiff: Originally meaning a captive, by extension a wretched miserable person. It often expresses contempt and
means a despicable wretch or villain.

The term "Caitiff" is traditionally used by the Camarilla. Whether they were abandoned by their sires or they
rejected their own clans, Caitiff exist outside the political structure of vampire society. Without the protection of sire
or clan, they are in the lowest social position of any Cainites.

While Caitiff are Embraced normally by existing clans and bloodlines across the gamut of Kindred existence,
something seems to happen between sire and childe. Either certain defining traits are not passed along in the
Embrace, or some manner of imprinting is missing. As a result, the childe inherits none of their sire's clan's
disciplines or weaknesses. They often only inherit the more common Disciplines. The lack of clan weakness is
something which particularly galls the Nosferatu.

Unwanted and abandoned, the Caitiff have swelled the ranks of Kindred society in the past few decades. They are
the results of mistakes, regrets, Frenzies, and poor choices. Many are lucky to have even a vague recollection of their
sire and the Embrace, while most stumble around with no understanding of what they are. Those that find a way to
survive are the exception instead of the rule, and some of these trash grow to become notorious Kindred in their
own right.

Their lack of a true Clan Curse and their peripheral understanding of their new undead state lead to the adaption of
vampiric weaknesses common found in popular culture. Some Caitiff are unable to cross running water, while others
are repelled by garlic. On the other hand, Caitiff are also able to adopt any Discipline that seems to tie into their
undead being or into their personal strengths, some even turn out to be Inceptors. This does not help to better their
reputation, as many elders are fearful of new bloodlines, citing the cases of the Tremere and Giovanni to prove the
danger these Caitiffs present to vampiric society. Also, many Kindred take offense when their treasured Clan
discipline is copied by some low-running Caitiff and immediately ask for his destruction.

However, by swearing fealty to an elder of renown, it is possible that some Caitiff become adopted by a Clan,
although few elders would confess this and it happens rarely. Most of these Caitiff have worked decades and
centuries to prove their worth to the Clan, endured every humiliation and degradation the elders could think of and
have survived safe deathtraps, so that the elders have no other choice than to accept them into their ranks. Many of

196
these Caitiff are Blood bound and develop characteristics of the Clan they are bound to due to the regular infusion
with foreign vitae.

There is another possible role for a Caitiff in the Camarilla: that of a small-town "prince". Such a Caitiff can find a
small town with no Camarilla presence and establish their own little domain there, ghouling or otherwise controlling
the local officials and possibly creating a single childe. The Camarilla acknowledges such outposts as legal, if the
Caitiff "prince" swears loyalty to the nearest proper prince and takes on the duties to report any movement of
Sabbat packs, Lupines or other enemies through their territory. Any Masquerade breaches in such an outpost result
in the city prince sending the Scourge or the Sheriff's hounds to remove the incompetent Caitiff.

Embraces

Caitiff are stereotypically young, thin-blooded (generally 8th or higher generation) and considered persona non
grata. Staunch traditionalists are known to send the Scourge after them.

Kindred of Note:
7th Generation
-- Mukhtar Bey -- Prince of Cairo

9th Generation
-- Liza Taft -- The Oracle.

10th Generation
-- Father Adam -- Priest of the Cainite Heresy.
-- Raymond Carson -- Slaver & Refugee of New Orleans

Those of Unknown Generation

-- Byron Burnham -- Grand Dragon of the Neo-Nazi White Dragons Gang of Seattle.
-- Bryce Delaroche -- A young American Caitiff, recently spotted in Sydney, Australia.

197

Sects of the Kindred ...............3
Camarilla ................................4
History ............................... 5
The Founders ................. 6
The New World .............. 6
Modern Nights ............... 7
Culture ............................... 7
The Traditions ................ 7
Humanity ....................... 9
Antediluvians and
Gehenna ........................ 9
Prestation ...................... 9
The Red List ...................10
Organization .....................10
Members.......................10
Conclaves ......................11
Inner Circle ....................11
Justicars ........................12
Sabbat .................................. 14
History ..............................15
Civil War........................16
Modern Nights ..............16
Culture ..............................17
Vaulderie ......................18
Ritae .............................19
Wild Hunt ......................19
Organization .....................20
Regent...........................20
Hierarchy ......................21
Factions.........................21
Heresies ........................22
The Black Hand .................23
History ..........................23
Organization .................23
Ranks ............................24
Secret Practices .............24
Sabbat Inquisition .............25
History ..........................25
Organization .................25
Anarch Movement................ 26
History ..............................27
First Anarch Revolt ........28
The Great Revolt ...........28
Convention of Thorns ....29
Second Anarch Revolt ...29
Break from the Camarilla
......................................30
Organization .....................30
Baron ............................31
Index
Clan Representation ..... 31
The Clans ..............................32
Banu Haqim/Assamites ........35
History ............................. 37
Antiquity ...................... 37
Dark Ages ..................... 37
Victorian Age ................ 38
Modern Nights ............. 39
Assamite Schism ........... 39
Organization .................... 40
Clan Variants ................ 40
Assamite antitribu ........ 42
Culture ............................. 42
Embraces ...................... 43
Kindred of Note ............... 44
Brujah...................................46
History ............................. 48
Dark Ages ..................... 48
Victorian Age ................ 48
Modern Nights ............. 49
Organization .................... 50
Brujah antitribu ............ 50
Culture ............................. 50
Embraces ...................... 51
Kindred of Note ............... 51
Gangrel .................................63
History ............................. 65
Dark Ages ..................... 65
Victorian Age ................ 66
Modern Nights ............. 66
Organization .................... 66
City Gangrel .................. 67
Country Gangrel ........... 68
Culture ............................. 68
Embraces ...................... 68
Kindred of Note ............... 69
Giovanni ...............................71
History ............................. 73
Dark Ages ..................... 73
Renaissance.................. 73
Victorian Age ................ 74
Modern Nights ............. 74
Organization .................... 75
Clan Variants ................ 75
Culture ............................. 76
Embraces ...................... 77
Kindred of Note ............... 77
Lasombra ..............................80
History ............................. 82
198
Dark Ages ..................... 82
Victorian Age ................ 83
Modern Nights ............. 83
Organization .................... 84
Factions ........................ 84
Lasombra “antitribu“ .... 85
Culture ............................. 86
Embraces ...................... 87
Relationship with Ghouls
..................................... 87
Kindred of Note................ 87
Malkavian ............................ 90
History ............................. 92
Dark Ages ..................... 92
Victorian Age ................ 92
Modern Nights ............. 93
Organization .................... 93
Malkavian antitribu ...... 94
Culture ............................. 94
Embraces ...................... 95
Kindred of Note................ 95
Followers of Set ................... 53
History ............................. 55
Dark Ages ..................... 55
Victorian Age ................ 56
Modern Nights ............. 56
Organization .................... 57
Children of Damballah .. 57
Daitya ........................... 57
Serpents of the Light..... 58
Tlacique ........................ 58
Walid Set ...................... 59
Warriors of Glycon........ 59
Culture ............................. 59
Cults ............................. 60
Embraces ...................... 61
Kindred of Note................ 61
Nosferatu ............................ 97
History ............................. 99
Dark Ages ..................... 99
Victorian Age .............. 100
Modern Nights ........... 100
Organization .................. 100
Nosferatu antitribu ..... 101
Culture ........................... 101
Embraces .................... 101
Kindred of Note.............. 102
Ravnos ................................104
History ........................... 106
 Dark Ages .................... 106
Victorian Age............... 107
Modern Nights ............ 107
Organization ................... 107
Bay't Mujrim ............... 108
Phuri Dae .................... 108
Ravnos antitribu .......... 109
Culture ............................ 110
Embraces .................... 110
Kindred of Note .............. 110
Toreador ............................ 111
History ............................ 114
Dark Ages .................... 115
Victorian Age............... 115
Modern Nights ............ 115
Organization ................... 115
Nephilim ..................... 116
Ray'een al-Fen ............. 117
Volgirre ....................... 117
Toreador antitribu ....... 117
Culture ............................ 118
Art ............................... 118
Embraces .................... 118
Kindred of Note .............. 119
Tremere ............................. 121
History ............................ 123
Dark Ages .................... 123
Renaissance ................ 124
Victorian Age............... 124
Modern Nights ............ 124
The Fall of Vienna ........ 125
Organization ................... 125
Ranks .......................... 125
Circles of Mystery........ 126
Secret Societies ........... 126
Major Houses .............. 127
Minor Houses .............. 127
Tremere antitribu ........ 127
Telyavelic Tremere ...... 128
Culture ............................ 128
Embraces .................... 129
Kindred of Note .............. 129
Tzimisce.............................. 132
History ............................ 134
Dark Ages .................... 135
Victorian Age............... 135
Modern Nights ............ 135
Organization ................... 136
Koldun......................... 136
Old Clan Tzimisce ........ 137
Tzimisce antitribu ........ 138
Culture ............................ 138
Revenants ................... 139
Torture ........................140
Hospitality ...................141
Embraces .....................141
Kindred of Note ..............142
Ventrue .............................. 143
History ............................145
Roman Age ..................145
Dark Ages ....................146
Victorian Age ...............146
Modern Nights ............147
Organization ...................147
Clan Structure..............147
Ventrue antitribu ........148
Culture ............................148
Embraces .....................149
Lineages ......................149
Kindred of Note ..............150
The Bloodlines .................... 154
Baali ................................... 156
History ............................158
Dark Ages ....................158
Victorian Age ...............159
Modern Nights ............159
Organization ...................159
Apostates ....................160
Azaneali ......................161
Culture ............................161
Sects ............................162
Embraces .....................162
Kindred of Note ..............162
Blood Brothers ................... 164
History ............................166
Organization ...................166
Culture ............................166
Embraces .....................166
Kindred of Note ..............166
Daughters Of Cacophony .... 167
History ............................169
Dark Ages ....................169
Renaissance.................169
Victorian Age ...............169
Modern Nights ............170
Organization ...................170
Sons of Discord ............170
Culture ............................171
Embraces .....................171
Kindred of Note ..............171
Gargoyles ........................... 172
History ............................174
Dark Ages ....................174
The Gargoyle Revolt ....174
Victorian Age ...............174
Modern Nights ............174
199
Organization .................. 174
Gargoyle variants ....... 175
Havens ....................... 176
Culture ........................... 176
Embraces .................... 176
Kindred of Note.............. 176
Kiasyd .................................177
History ........................... 179
Dark Ages ................... 179
The Rise of Marconius 179
Organization .................. 180
Culture ........................... 180
Embraces .................... 180
Kindred of Note.............. 180
Salubri ................................181
History ........................... 183
Dark Ages ................... 183
Victorian Age .............. 184
Organization .................. 185
Warrior Caste ............. 185
Watcher Caste ............ 186
Salubri antitribu ......... 186
Culture ........................... 187
Embraces .................... 187
Kindred of Note.............. 187
Samedi................................188
History ........................... 190
Modern Nights ........... 190
Descendants of the Baron
................................... 190
Organization .................. 190
Culture ........................... 191
Embraces .................... 191
Kindred of Note.............. 191
Caitiff ..................................192
History ........................... 194
Ancient history ........... 194
Modern Nights ........... 194
Organization .................. 194
Panders ...................... 195
Thin-bloods ................ 195
Culture ........................... 196
Embraces .................... 197
Kindred of Note:............. 197
Index ..................................198