NAGARAJA: THE MASQUERADE

1. Genesis…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….…………………….. pg. 2
2. Physiology…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….………………… pg. 4
Sustenance…………….…………….…………….…………….………………. pg. 4
Similarities and Differences with other vampires……………… pg. 7
3. Society…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….…………….……….. pg. 12
The Covens…………….…………….…………….…………….……………… pg. 14
Outcasts……….…………….…………….…………….……………………….. pg. 18
Enemy Within……….…………….…………….…………….……………….. pg. 19
Traditions……….…………….…………….…………….……………………… pg. 21
4. Relations with the Outsiders……….…………….…………….…………….……….. pg. 22
Cainites……….…………….…………….…………….…………………………. pg. 22
Kuei-Jin……….…………….…………….…………….…………….…….……. pg. 24
Wraiths……….…………….…………….…………….…………….…….…….. pg. 25
Mages……….…………….…………….…………….…………….…….………. pg. 25
Shapeshifters……….…………….…………….…………….………………… pg. 26
Fae……….…………….…………….…………….…………….…….…….……… pg. 26
Mummies……….…………….…………….…………….……………………… pg. 27
Others……….…………….…………….…………….……………….…….……. pg. 27
5. Disciplines……….…………….…………….…………….…………….……….…………….. pg. 29
Nagaraja Necromancy……….…………….…………….…………….….. pg. 32
Necromancy: Path of the Oblivion and the Soul……….………. pg. 32
Necromancy: Rituals……….…………….…………….…………….…….. pg. 37
Blood Magic: Rituals……….…………….…………….…………….…….. pg. 41
6. Merits and Flaws……….…………….…………….…………….………………………….. pg. 43
Physical……….…………….…………….…………….……………..…….…… pg. 43
Mental……….…………….…………….…………….…………….…….…….. pg. 43
Social……….…………….…………….…………….…………….…….……….. pg. 44
Supernatural……….…………….…………….…………….…………………. pg. 46
7 Storytelling: The Fall……….…………….…………….…………….…………………….. pg. 48
The Covens’ Fall……….…………….…………….…………….……………. pg. 48
After the Fall……….…………….…………….…………….…………………. pg. 49
Characters Sheet: Nagaraja, V20 Edition……….…………….…………………… pg. 53
Characters Sheet: Nagaraja, Revised Edition……….…………….…………….. pg. 54

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 1. GENESIS
The Nagaraja, a Idran sect – proto-Euthanatos of the Indo-Tibetan area – had observed for a long time the
earthly vampires, and eventually selected two major strains that could provide the greatest “evolution”
chance. Being immortal lords of undead magic would allow them to watch over the Wheel of Ages and
outlast their enemies.
The problem, from their own point of view, was the imperfection of both races.
The Wan Kuei were equipped with the enlightenment that led to evolution and an unlife more “complete”,
with the knowledge given only by attending the spiritual worlds, but a single human being could not be
“selected” to become one of the Ten Thousand Demons, the Euthanatos Nagaraja had long studied the
Wan Kuei creation process, sacrificing a number of disciples and an even greater number of acolytes or
inconvenient witnesses. The creation process of the Middle Kingdom vampires was seemingly completely
casual, and the fact that their soul had to escape from an infernal realm, also seemingly random, of the
Yomi World was more than perplexing for the order sages.
On the other hand, Cainites had a restricted evolutionary potential, linked to the strength of their blood
and generation closeness with their mystic founder. But for them, was possible select with a certain
confidence who would been part of their heritage. Unfortunately they were cut off from the spiritual world,
totally emptied of magical energies that Nagaraja considered so important.
The other vampire strains were even worse, no more than bizarre hybrids destined to a slow extinction.
At this point, the Nagaraja Masters had a crazy, yet brilliant, idea: they combined the vampiric nature of the
two races, trying to compensate for their defects until getting the perfect immortal.
Such an act of hybris was fatal to their search.
Helped by Inahuten the mummy, the Nagaraja modified the Spell of Life –accountable for the Shemsu-Heru
resurrection processes – and applied certain carefully chosen fragments to some candidates. In this way
they got enough spiritual cohesion to do the next step.
They experimented for several years on the surrounding area undeads, isolating the energies allowing them
to move while in their state of unlife. They sampled then different amounts of vitae and pure Chi of Kindred
and Cathayans alike, and then tried to wisely mix the two breeds to get the right “quality” of undeath.
While mages’ wars ravaged the Himalayan area, the Idran-Nagaraja perfected their experiments, until other
death-magicians realized their purposes, they were horrified and declared anathema the Nagaraja. The
Nagaraja then found themselves attacked on all sides by all the mages of the area, old allies and old
enemies alike. They took refuge with their other allies, Cainites who they had received into the
Tal'Mae'Rah, their coven, relying on them while undergoing the Embrace.
The Nagaraja were aware of the various imperfections of the vampiric being they had planned, but they
had little choice, as their power nodes were under siege, and soon they would no longer had enough
magical power to fuel the transformation. And above all, they thought, with eternity available they would
be able to modify the project and eliminate flaws.
This succeeded halfway. They managed to transform themselves, but after thousands of years, even more
than 30 centuries of research and testing have failed to change the flaws of their initial “blueprint”.

CURRENT STATUS
From a nightmare of horror and legend step the Nagaraja. A bizarre bloodline of flesh-eating warlocks,
these vampires have been hunted to near extinction in the modern nights by political enemies and the
ghosts upon whom they once preyed. A few of these monsters still prowl the darkness, but their numbers
are thankfully few.
The Nagaraja are unlike other Kindred in that they must consume flesh, making them among the most
reviled and “unnatural” of the bloodlines. To add to this disgust, they are masters of Oblivion, the
nothingness of the Underworld.
The Nagaraja engages in many strange and terrible Thaumaturgical and Necromantic experiments. They are
even believed responsible for the creation of the Samedi, though they refuse to take credit for their awful
kind. They are great compilers of evil secrets, however, and command death-magic with equal or greater

2
ability than Giovanni. Like all necromancers, the Nagaraja are usually attributed some vague tie with the
Venetians, but nothing exists to substantiate this aside from their knowledge of the dead.
It would be misleading to say that the Nagaraja have fallen from grace, because they never enjoyed a
period of "grace," but nonetheless, the bloodline has lost much. Its remaining members carry on
unpleasant, solitary unlives, and many are haunted by the ghosts they once commanded. The "dietary"
habits of the Nagaraja also conspire to keep them away from other Kindred, who are put off by any sort of
eating, much less the consumption of dead human flesh. Still, a few dozen Nagaraja persist, gathering the
unholy secrets of death sorcery and creeping among the periphery of vampire society.

Nickname: Flesh Eaters

Appearance: Most Nagaraja dress subtly, as their unpleasant weakness already draws enough attention to
them: They wear whatever most people around them wear. Physically, many Nagaraja appear to be of
Northern African, Asian or Middle Eastern descent. Hailing from such dark-complected stock, as vampires,
these individuals often have unhealthy, ashen skin. Unlike other vampires, the Nagaraja do not have
conventional, retractable fangs; rather, they have mouths full of vaguely pointed teeth. Most Nagaraja also
carry sacrificial daggers, scalpels or other cutting instruments, which they use to excise the flesh that gives
them their sustenance. Some rumors attribute them with a "third eye" similar to that of the Salubri, but
none of these claims have ever been substantiated.

Haven: When they have the luxury of establishing a permanent haven, the Nagaraja typically prefer to
create comfortable dwellings, which may house laboratories and various “storage facilities” for their
vessels. These havens usually have an inclination toward the macabre and may be found in such places as
mausoleums, abandoned buildings, disused hospital wings and even high-rise condominiums. Anywhere
the Nagaraja can cultivate a modicum of privacy may become her haven.

Background: The numbers of the Nagaraja are so small as to make any generalization about their
backgrounds speculative at best. Some were priests or cultists in their mortal lives, and few were less than
40 years of age at the time of their Embrace. Most seem well-to-do, the better to hide their eccentricities

Character Creation: Nagaraja usually have solitary or selfish concepts and Natures, though their Demeanors
may be practically anything. Mental Attributes are usually primary, as are Knowledges. The most common
Backgrounds for Nagaraja are Contacts, Resources and Retainers, though a few twisted Mentors sometimes
Embrace childer. Few Nagaraja bother to maintain their Humanity, opting instead for some path of
Enlightenment to keep the Beast at bay.

Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Necromancy

Quote: I have seen hell – and made my haven in its pits. Take your leave before I send you there.

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 2. PHYSIOLOGY
SUSTENANCE
SOMA: VITAE AND CHI
What flows in the Nagaraja’s body is Chi-charged vitae, so it’s vitae but is also Chi. The Nagaraja absorb Chi
by humans just like Cathayans do, through their unique diet and then separating it into Yin and Yang Chi
depending on the “donor” conditions. This energy is stored in the form of vitae, more stable and easier to
store. They call this substance Soma, the divine drink that let mere humans merge with deities.
Therefore, Soma Points are Blood Points and at the same time Chi Points, without distinction. If is needed
reference to a certain type of Chi, it is called Dark Soma (Yin Chi) and Shining Soma (Yang Chi).
The presence of vitae allowed the Nagaraja to access another important prerequisite of their Cainite
inheritance: the Generation.
The Nagaraja use Soma Points, with a total value equal to the Blood Points of a Kindred of the same
generation. These points are distributed equally between the two types of Soma, if the total is odd the Dark
Soma will get one more point, thanks to the intrinsic attraction these monsters exert on the forces of death
(for example, a XII Generation Kindred has 11 Blood Points, then a XII Generation Nagaraja has 6 Dark Soma
points and 5 Shining Soma points).
Using Cainite Disciplines, a Nagaraja can choose which type of Soma she can use, if using Cathayan
Disciplines, he use Dark Soma in place of Yin Chi and Shining Soma in place of Yang Chi, in the amounts
stated in the description of said Discipline.
Like Cainites, the Nagaraja can make and be subjected to Blood Bonds, but like Kuei-jin their bite
(understandably) don’t trigger the Kiss.

BLOOD BONDING KUEI-JIN?

If the Storyteller is willing, for Nagaraja characters is available this secret knowledge.
As the Nagaraja Soma is both Vitae and Chi, is perfectly possible it can use the Vitae attributes for blood
bonding a Kuei-jin. Anyway, this is a long and difficult process, as the Wan Kuei are resistant to
supernatural external interferences.
For Blood Bonding a Cathayan, a Nagaraja need to feed a Kuei-jin at least a point of his own Soma
(registered in the form of Chi) for three distinct nights. After the third “meal”, the Cathayan make a
Willpower roll (difficulty 7, and can’t spend Willpower point for gaining an automatic success), if he don’t
make at least 3 successes, he got a first level Blood Bond toward said Nagaraja.
If the Kuei-jin botch the roll he is genuinely attracted by the Nagaraja “Chi”, facilitating further dosing.
If he is be able to get all the needed successes, the bond does not work, and the Kuei-jin has also a chance
to realize that something wrong is going on. Even for him is not an easy task, since the concept of Blood
Bond is completely unknown to Cathayans, but he will definitely notice that there is something amiss. In
addition, the Nagaraja need another 3 Soma points for trying to bond him again.
Administering 2 more Soma points to the Kuei-jin, the Nagaraja can increase the level of the Blood Bond.
The Kuei-jin make the same roll, but this time the difficulty is 8. The system remains the same, and this
time the risk is a second level Blood Bond.
With another Soma point, there is finally the opportunity to bond the Kuei-jin with a third level Blood
Bond; this time the difficulty of the roll is 9.
With the passing of years (or decades, or centuries, as the Storyteller determines appropriate) may be
necessary to administer additional Soma to a bloodbonded Cathayan, to prevent the vanishing of the
bond, in this case, is sufficient just one Soma point.
This technique is known only to few Nagaraja, typically the more experienced members of the bloodline
that had some sort of relations with the Kindred of the East. All users are recommended to use it with
care: if Cathayans were to learn about this technique, things could get ugly.

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FLESH EATING HUNGER
In addition to the blood, the Nagaraja need to ingest raw meat in order to survive. This particular need is
due to their Wan Kuei legacy. For some reason, that the elders of the bloodline never fully shared with
fledglings, the undead alchemy sustaining them appears to be based on the Cathayan facet of their
essence; This would mean that the degree of illumination of their souls decide their form of nourishment,
except that they are not provided of a dual soul (see "Hun, P'o and Demon", page 7) and therefore cannot
move forward on a Dharma path as the Kuei-jin; for this bizarre mystical short circuit the Nagaraja are
eternally caged in the chih-mei "rank" and forced to eat accordingly.
Although these Kindred may subsist on blood alone, their bodies atrophy if they do not partake of human
meat; for every 3 nights a Nagaraja goes without an intake of flesh, he loses one cumulative die from all his
Physical dice pools. Eating one point worth of flesh restores one die to these pools until the vampire has
"caught up." A human body is assumed to have 10 “flesh points”, which work just like blood points: A
Nagaraja consuming one flesh point increases his Soma pool by one. Unlike Blood points, however, taking a
"flesh point" from a vessel inflict one Health Level of unsoakable lethal damage to said vessel. The flesh
that the Nagaraja consume must be relatively fresh, though not necessarily “alive”.
In the course of the feeding, a Flesh Eater absorbs first a point from the Soma element present in greater
quantities, then one from the second element, and so on, until one of the two elements is reasonably
exhausted; then all the remaining points are from the other element.
The Nagaraja prey only on humans or almost-human beings (apparently some have learned to appreciate
the flesh of other supernatural beings), while the animal flesh does not provide the minimum sustenance.
Usually, a body dead from a few minutes to less than a night give about 5 Dark Soma points and 5 Shining
Soma points, while one dead from weeks and “stored” can provide from 6 to 9 points of Dark Soma (and
consequently from 4 to 1 points of Shining Soma); Nagaraja in the extreme necessity of Shining Soma often
devour prey still alive and kicking (in which case the amount of the Shining Soma is really high).
Some Nagaraja keep stores of ritually preserved corpses hidden within their havens, and rumors of
"Kindred-eaters" follow them as well. This weakness does not allow the Nagaraja to eat other foods or
consume other liquids.
Here some example of potential victims
Victim Shining Soma Dark Soma
1
Human (recently dead) 5 5
Human (long dead)2 4-1 6-9
Human (alive and aware) 7 3
1
Shapeshifter (recently dead) 12 8
Shapeshifter (long dead)2 11-6 9-14
Shapeshifter (alive and aware) 14 6
Shapeshifter (Frenzied) 18 2
Fae (alive and aware)3 7 5
Superhuman4 (recently dead)1 6 4
4 2
Superhuman (long dead) 5-2 5-8
Superhuman4 (alive and aware) 7 3
1
Less than a day.
2
Assuming the body has been properly preserved; degraded and rotting bodies do not provide
nourishment; the number of points depends on how much time passed since death.
3
A dead fae revert to its “human” seeming.
4
Mummies, fomors, etc
Note: Mages, sorcerers, ghoul, Kinain, Kinfolk, hunters, etc., are all “Humans”. Keepers of True Faith does
not provide any nourishment, unless they have lost faith before the “meal”.

FEEDING FROM VAMPIRES

Unlike the normal feeding, the Nagaraja have no limitations in feeding from other vampires. In these cases
the Nagaraja don’t necessarily need to take their flesh, but some do it anyway.
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If absorbing Kuei-jin Chi, this is immediately metabolized in the body and turned in their peculiar form of
vitae (in the type of Soma analogue to the Chi supplied).
If feeding from a Cainite, the vitae simply passes in their body (beware of Blood Bonds).
A normal Cainite usually provides 4/10 of his Vitae in Shining Soma and 6/10 in Dark Soma.
Victim Shining Soma Dark Soma
Cainite (standard situation) 40% 60%
Cainite (Frenzied) 60% 40%
Cainite (Torpor) 20% 80%
Cainite Elder -10% +10%
Cainite Methuselah -20% +20%
Example: The Nagaraja Teké stake a Kindred and then take his Blood (40% Shining, 60% Dark Soma), this
Kindred has 5 Blood points and Teké takes all: these will be Dark Soma, Shining Soma, Dark Soma,
Shining Soma, Dark Soma, for a total of 2 Shining Soma points and 3 Dark Soma points.
If the Kindred had been in Frenzy there would be the opposite (60% Shining Soma, 40% Dark), for 3
points of Shining Soma and 2 points of Dark Soma.
If Kindred is in Torpor (20% Shining Soma, 80% Dark), the 5 points are Dark Soma, Shining Soma, Dark
Soma, Dark Soma, Dark Soma, for a total of 4 points of Dark Soma and 1 point of Shining one. If the
torpid Kindred is an Elder, the effects are cumulative (10% Shining Soma, 90% Dark), and the points can
be all Dark Soma, or at best (Storyteller choice) 4 Dark points and 1 Shining point.

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 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES WITH OTHERS VAMPIRES
FANGS
The Nagaraja have a row of vaguely sharp and not retractile teeth, more similar to a predatory beast than a
human being. Although on one hand this gives them away really easily, in combat gives them an additional
damage dice, when they bite an opponent (a total of Strength +2 aggravated damages).
For trying to interact on a social plane while trying to hide his strange tooth, a Nagaraja roll Manipulation +
Subterfuge with a difficulty of Perception + Alertness of his interlocutor (in the case of more bystanders,
consider the one with the highest points and add +1).

HUN, P’O AND DEMON

Since the Nagaraja soul never technically left his body to descend in the Yomi World (and in any case, it
would be difficult, as the average Nagaraja is essentially foreign to the Middle Kingdom environment), the
breach in his soul never happened, and Hun, P'o and the Demon were never born.
Each Nagaraja have only one soul – like normal Cainites – and all the Kuei-jin powers created to influence
Hun, P'o or Demon are usually ineffective on them. On the other hand all the powers working on Cainites
and their Beast affect Nagaraja too.

FRENZY
The Nagaraja suffers various frenzy states, as normal Cainites.
Fox Frenzy (or Rothschreck): The effects are identical to the normal Cainite Rothschreck effects, a character
resists Fox Frenzy with Courage (difficulty 8).
Potential triggers:
- Fire
- Sunlight
- The presence of an exceptionally powerful being (Malfean, Frenzied Methuselah, Bodhisattva in Fire
Soul, Yama King, etc.)
Hunger Frenzy: The effects are identical to the normal Cainite Hunger Frenzy, a character resist with Self-
Control or Instinct (difficulty 8). In this particular Frenzy, a Nagaraja break forth on the first available
”meal”, ignoring any other stimulus except, of course, for the danger.
Potential triggers:
- Hunger
- "Food" on display (like, in a disastrous car accident)
- Swallow too much Soma in less than an hour (more Soma points than his own Self-Control).
Berserker Frenzy: The Beast is unleashed in a destructive manner, instinctively attacking the source of his
anger or, in the absence of such person, the first person in sight. If not otherwise indicated, resist with
Willpower or Self-Control/Instinct (the higher, difficulty 8).
Potential triggers:
- Use of certain dangerous Disciplines (see "Disciplines and the Beast", pg. 29)
- Situations of great stress, trauma or shame.

GENERATION
Although they are hybrids, their credible replica of the principle representing the Cainite vitae allow
Nagaraja to be completely part in the tiers dividing the average Kindred by "Caine", the progenitor of which
the Nagaraja have very little to do.
The original Nagaraja, which mystically transformed themselves with True Magic were of “void”
Generation; the attribute defining the Generation was there but totally hollow. Obviously, they had already
resolved the issue, thanks to their allies. The Cainites of the Tal'Mae'Rah had set aside some criminals of
their race, mostly of high Generation (for those time), at disposal of the “new” Kindred. The original
Nagaraja diablerized these Cainites, taking their Generation. Therefore, all the original Nagaraja took the
seventh or eighth Generation, but one fortuitously managed to ascend to the sixth Generation. Instead
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their Childes developed normally, receiving the Embrace, from a seventh Generation originates an eight,
then a ninth, and so on.
The Nagaraja know their “artificial Generation” is unstable, and as such it could be totally destroyed with
the introduction of additional variables. Therefore, for the Nagaraja, the Diablerie is not only taboo, but a
total anathema, because it could destroy their precarious inner balance.

Diablerie
The Nagaraja Generation is an artificial trait, thoroughly researched and fully stable - if not tampered in any
way. This means that a Nagaraja Embraced by a sire of eight Generation, will be a ninth Generation, like any
normal Cainite.
However, trying to modify this artificial trait is worrisome at best. Since there is a large quantity of possible
results, the procedure is simplified into a series of simple steps:
1. If a Nagaraja diablerize another Cainite, both roll Willpower in a resisted roll. If the Nagaraja Generation
(prior the Diablerie) was lower than the victim, the Nagaraja adds the difference to his poll. If the victim
was of lower Generation she adds the difference to her poll. The Nagaraja player roll at difficulty 8, the
victim at difficulty 6; each success of the victim subtracts a success from the Nagaraja ones. In this roll
the player cannot spend Willpower.
2. If the victim was of lower Generation, the Nagaraja must score a number of successes at least equal to
the Generation difference. If the victim was of equal or higher Generation than the Nagaraja, the player
need only a net success. If this phase is successful, they proceed according to the normal rules of
diablerie.
3. If the over-all successes of the Nagaraja is zero or less, trouble begin. The Storyteller puts down this
number and goes on the next step.
4. The Nagaraja player make an additional Willpower roll (difficulty 8), then subtract a number of
successes equal to the number previously noted by the Storyteller. In this roll, the player can spend a
point of permanent Willpower, in exchange for one automatic success (which do not negate 1s and
botch, is simply added to the poll).
5. If the Nagaraja manages to get at least 1 over-all success, then he manage to maintain at least a degree
of control, but loses entirely his Generation Trait (see "No Generation", below). If the result is again
equal to zero or less, he has still the option of spending as many temporary Willpower points as he
wants, adding 1 success for each point spent.
6. If even this is not enough to achieve a positive number, the vampire is doomed: he will, actually,
become little more than a mortal, while maintaining vampiric weaknesses (see "Almost Vampire",
below).
A Nagaraja with Generation can still suffer Diablerie like any Cainite, accordingly to the standard rules, and
the attacker will not receive malus. A Nagaraja can still diablerize another Nagaraja – even if it never
happened – but will still follow the above mentioned rules.
While Diablerie is anathema for the Nagaraja, a Diablerist Nagaraja that didn’t lose her Generation is not
really pursued; as long as she applied common sense and her victim wasn’t a Nagaraja or one of their allies.
However, she can expect a substantial loss in Status and respect from her own kinsmen.

No Generation
A couple of the original Nagaraja have never faced the Diablerie, maintaining a “void” Generation, or were
driven back into this state in a failed attempt of a further Diablerie. At the same time, a more or less
constant number of fledglings and Neonates fails a Diablerie every century, losing their generation. These
vampires formed a small autonomous community within the bloodline.
The Nagaraja without Generation are called Pariah (initially it was a derisive term used by other Nagaraja,
but in recent centuries they began defining themselves as such) have lost some of their Cainite
characteristics.
The Diablerie on a Pariah Nagaraja does not bear the slightest Generation advantage for the would-be
diablerist (except, of course, the aura blackening), in effect he has diablerized a Cainite “without
Generation”. Similarly, it’s impossible for them to Embrace another individual.
8
Pariahs can try to regain their lost Generation attribute, with Diablerie, following all the steps of above
mentioned rules, but every roll of the Pariah is subject to a +1 difficulty penalty. The only exception is for a
Nagaraja who never owned a Generation attribute (ie the original Nagaraja and few white flies), she
naturally acquire the Generation of her first victim, but from then on is subject to the normal rules.
While Diablerie is anathema for the Nagaraja, the Pariah are temporarily exempt from obedience to the
sixth Nagaraja Tradition as long as they apply common sense and their victim is outside the circle of
Nagaraja and their allies.
What distinguishes Pariahs from normal Nagaraja is that, in the absence of a solid Cainite structure, their
Cathayan nature assumed a significant control. The development of Attributes and supernatural Disciplines
is, for these vampires, closely related to their state of inner enlightenment.
The Nagaraja Pariah take into account a factor called Inspiration, equal to (their Humanity/Enlightenment
Path -2, zero minimum).
Given this number:
-. They cannot raise an Attribute above Inspiration, temporarily with the use of vitae or permanently with
Experience.
Example: Teké is a Pariah, he got 5 on the Path of Bones, so he got Inspiration 3. He has Strength 2 and
Dexterity 3; he cannot raise his Dexterity to 4 (either temporarily or permanently), but it may very well
raise the Strength to 3.
-. They cannot learn or use a Discipline superior to their Inspiration, with the exception of Blood Magic
rituals (Necromancy included).
Example: Before losing his generation, Teké knew Necromancy 5 and Auspex 2. With his Inspiration 3 he
can learn Auspex 3, but cannot use the powers of 4th and 5th level of his Necromancy Paths, nor learn
new ones (including 4th and 5th level on additional Paths); But he can use and learn new Necromancy
rituals up to the 5th level.
-. Their total Soma points and their maximum expenditure per turn follows the subsequent table:
Ispiration Soma (Dark/Shining) Max points/turn
0 4/4 1
1 5/4 1
2 5/5 1
3 6/5 2
4 6/6 2
5 7/6 3
6 7/7 3
7 8/7 4
8 8/8 4
-. They can learn Abilities within human limits (5 dots), but to overcome this level they must reach at least
Inspiration 5; even so, the highest level of skill can only be equal to their Inspiration+1.
-. For the purposes of Domination and similar powers making direct use of Generation, a Pariah is
considered as Generation equal of (14-Inspiration).
It is obvious that, given these assumptions, the Pariahs tend to the mysticism aimed to inner search and
development of their Path of Enlightenment (only in few cases, these vampires try to follow the Humanity).
Those few vampires who have reached an Inspiration of 8 (ie a value of Humanity / Enlightenment Path of
10!) have found that their bloodline weakness seems to mitigate. In fact, although they must still feed on
flesh, they can feed only on blood for 10 days before starting to “wither”.
To learn new disciplines a Pariah pay 10 Experience points for the first level and (current level x8)
Experience points for the next ones, without differences between Bloodline Disciplines and out-of-
Bloodline Disciplines.

Almost Vampire
A Nagaraja getting the worst possible outcome of a Diablerie, loses most of her vampiric features:
The Nagaraja considers these vampires just a step above mortals and call them Dhampir (there is no link
with the other types of Dhampir, it's just a name, given them centuries ago), trying to keep those failures
away from prying observers.
9
A Nagaraja Dhampir isn’t a Cainite Dhampir or a Thin Blood Cainite, therefore is not affected by their malus
nor their advantages.
-. She totally loses her Generation attribute. Therefore, in case she is victim of a Diablerie, she does not
bring any benefits to the Generation of the diablerist (except of course the blackening of the aura),
like with a Nagaraja Pariah; furthermore, the thin blood of a Nagaraja Dhampir can’t really convey
supernatural powers, so the Diablerist will not receive even the temporary boost in Disciplines the
Cainites enjoy in the aftermath of Amaranthus.
-. Her Soma becomes effectively Cainite vitae and her blood pool is reduced to 8 points (the character can,
then, use a normal character sheet for Vampire the Masquerade).
-. She cannot use vitae to regenerate Health Levels lost, but will heal according to the normal human speed
(but can spend 3 Blood points when she wakes up every night, turning a level of aggravated damage in
lethal damage, which will then heal normally).
-. She cannot use the vitae to increase her Physical Attributes, or to fuel those Disciplines needing more
than 1 Blood point (and even in this case, she needs 2 turns for spending that 1 blood point)
-. She becomes unfamiliar to the vampiric fundamental essence, and therefore pay twice the cost in
Experience points, if she want to learn new vampiric powers (all kinds), and never above level 3.
Example: Before an unfortunate Diablerie, Teké knew Necromancy 5 and Auspex 2. He can still learn
Auspex 3, but paying two times the normal Experience points (20). Can still learn rituals and Secondary
Paths for Necromancy, but only up to level 3.
-. From a “Generation” viewpoint she can be Dominated by any Kindred (using the normal rules), included
also the 15th Generations and Thinbloods, by Revenant and even normal “Cainite” Dhampirs, but not
normal Ghouls
-. She cannot Embrace humans, and, even if her blood can support ghouls, her vitae can’t blood bond
anyone anymore.
However there’re a couple of positive sides.
-. Like any other vampire, she doesn’t age.
-. She can still use Disciplines and rituals not requiring an expenditure of vitae/Chi/Soma or those needing
only 1 point, and not any above the 3rd level (from the Chi-expenditure point of view, all their vitae is
considered Yin oriented and this fact can’t be changed, not even temporarily).
-. She can learn Sorcery (human hedge magic), as long as she has a mentor, and she can learn it up to the
level any normal human could.
-. She loses all the Nagaraja physiological characteristics: the peculiar Nagaraja dentition is replaced by a
normal human one (with Cainite canines) in few nights; her special “diet” is replaced by the normal
blood lust of the Kindred… like any other Caitiff in the night….
-. For her, the sunlight damage is lethal, but absorbs it at difficulty 8.
-. The Beast is totally maimed (each Frenzy roll is at -3 difficulty; the Disciplines of the Beast no longer
generate Berserker Frenzy; each roll for maintaining Humanity is at -2 difficulty); As such, the vampire
can now feed even on cold blood (transfusions from cadavers or bags) without risking Frenzy,
provided that at least once a month she is able to take at least one Blood point from a living human
being.
-. Is much easier to wake up during the day: the difficulty is at -1, spending one point of Willpower she can
stay awake for about 1 hour (but, during the next night, she will appear drowsy and will suffer a
penalty of 2 dices for each hour she remained awake, in every action).
-. Some lucky Dhampirs are even able to swallow cooked animal meat (with an Humanity or Enlightenment
Path rating of at least 5) or even normal food (with and Humanity / Path rating of at least 8) being able
to savoring and appreciating it; anyway, this food will not nourish them, and before dawn they will
vomit it, but many find in this small act a bond with the humans from which they were sundered.
Nagaraja Dhampirs can’t regain their lost Generation attribute, nor vampiric features, for all they’re
concerned they are an entirely different type of undead.

10
AURA
An aura reading identifies Nagaraja as normal vampires; the user need at least 5 successes to notice that
there’s “something out of place” in their aura, and even in this case, simply the Nagaraja aura appears
paler, intermittently.

DAMAGES
The Nagaraja suffers damage accordingly to the Cainites, with a variation. The manipulative magic that
turned them into beings unaffected to the passing time, also made their bodies totally inert to any kind of
transformation. This means that any attempt to change their bodily form automatically fails (in the case of
some kind of supernatural attack that deals damage and transforms the body, such as certain uses of
Vicissitude, the only effect is the damage received, the bodily configuration does not change, in any way).
In other cases they take damage as normal from fire, sunlight (they burn, do not rot), werewolves claws,
etc.

TORPOR
The Nagaraja suffers the same kind of torpor of the Cainites.

THIN-BLOODS AND DHAMPIRS

The Nagaraja of fourteenth and fifteenth Generation follow the standard rules for Cainites Thin-Bloods;
also a Nagaraja Thin-Blood “degenerates", becoming effectively a Caitiff (ie, his vitae is not Soma, he is
unable to learn Kuei-jin Disciplines and the player can use the normal character-sheet for “Vampire, the
Masquerade”, the bloodline weakness may endure), but he is otherwise unrelated to the Pariah and
Nagaraja Dhampir.
In the same way, the unlikely human child of a Nagaraja Thin Blood will be considered a normal Cainite
Dhampir (not a Nagaraja Dhampir, they’re an another whole lot).

“CHI” IMBALANCE
Nagaraja don’t have “black cycle” or “scarlet cycle”. If necessity arises they use Soma points as Cainites use
Blood Points, to appear more human.
A Nagaraja may be imbalanced, from the point of view of the Soma polls. The main method is the Cathayan
Discipline of Equilibrium, used by many to manipulate their Soma levels, “temporarily” increasing the Dark
Soma poll. Nevertheless, it is impossible for them to have a permanent imbalance like the Kuei-jin have
with Yin and Yang. Instead, if a Nagaraja has a variety of Soma with 3+ levels more than the other (for
example, if a Flesh Eater has 7 Dark Soma and 4 Shining Soma), he is subject to the state of “temporary
unbalance” (unless said imbalance is corrected).
For Nagaraja is simply impossible to absorb more Soma than the Soma poll score of the related genre;
Soma points in excess should be immediately converted into Soma points of the opposite type (if there is
“room” for these, with a rate of 2:1) or threw up, literally (and it’s not a nice scene).
For more details regarding Chi Imbalance and related effects, see “Vampire, the Masquerade: Kindred of the
East”.

11
 3. SOCIETY
THE CRYPT
The basic Nagaraja social unit is the Crypt. A crypt is nothing more than a large building, often very old and
secluded, where a high-rank Nagaraja (even Journeyman-level, but most often Master or higher) has
edified an occult library.
Usually, said building is soundproofed and has a large number of underground “laboratories” for the
experiments (or meals) of the Flesh Eaters. The Nagaraja aren’t an extrovert lot and therefore, they usually
do not live in the Crypt or even near it, but in the same geographical area (means, even at several hundred
miles away). At irregular intervals, the Nagaraja of the same area gather at the Crypt for exchanging data,
experimenting, collaborating in occult research or just relaxing a bit with their own kind. These meetings
are never too long or frequent (in the most densely populated areas there are at best a dozen of Nagaraja
using the same Crypt, scattered over several hundred miles), but help the Flesh Eaters to stay focused.
In a Crypt, each Nagaraja is required to respect the host, regardless of whether she is of higher grade or
not.
The largest Crypts are called Mausoleums, and are officially sanctioned by the Elders.

HOW MANY?
The Nagaraja have never been exceptionally numerous. For their unique physical characteristics and their
even more peculiar origins, the Nagaraja always tried to keep their heads down and not get noticed, trying
to shrink from the notice of anyone but preys and close allies. At their best (at the end of the XX century),
the Nagaraja counted, among their numbers, about 200 individuals. Moreover, there are three or four
dozens of outcasts (Pariah, Dhampir, Rakshasa), not strictly considered part of the bloodline.

FOUNDERS
Initially, there were sixteen original Nagaraja, fragmented in four cabals; twelve are currently Elders of the
Covens (three for each Coven); two are Pariah (one chose to not diablerize anyone -thus maintaining a
“void” Generation- while the second is the one that “discovered” -at his own expenses- the possibility of
losing his Generation through Diablerie); one has long since converted himself to infernalism, becoming the
first Rakshasa of the bloodline; the fourth was destroyed in Transylvania in 1413 by the Furores (who had
mistakenly identified him as an elder Tzimisce), exhausted from a prior clash with an Euthanatos war party.
They were eleven men (Arihant, Akshath, Easwar, Indukanth, Parthiv, Pradnesh, Rishi, Shailesh, Vijayesh,
Vishnupad, the Unnamed) and five women (Anashwara, Dayanita, Hridya, Nirupa, Rashmi)
The real names of the Nagaraja founders are unknown, those handed down were probably chosen by the
founders themselves.

BETWEEN THE CAINITES

Compared with the other Kindred, the Nagaraja always tried to not involve themselves – at least, directly –
in the Jyhad. Being effectively "externals" and moreover much less known than others “artificial Cainites”
(like the Tremere), widely helped ‘em. The only organization where the Nagaraja participated in scores
permanently and continuously in the course of their history, is the Tal'Mae'Rah. By the end of the XX
century, about one third of all Nagaraja claimed membership in this sect.
Regarding other Kindred, few know about them, and those few (mostly Nosferatu) pretend to not know
anything. Others do not know anything, but they would like. Both Giovanni and the Harbingers of Skulls
suspect this mysterious bloodline to be a long-forgotten branch of the ancient Clan Cappadocian and, while
the former are simply terrified of an entire strain of necromancers who escaped centuries of harassments,
the latter are genuinely interested in these long lost “cousins”. On the other hand, the Samedi seem to be
not very interested in the Nagaraja, as such they which might actually know something…

12
BETWEEN THE WAN-KUEI
Unlike what others might think, it is not uncommon for a solitary Nagaraja to venture in the Middle
Kingdom. For most, these trips are only temporary (“temporary” from the point of view of an immortal
being, of course) and based solely on the search of some occult knowledge to steal or finding a teacher for
some mystical local Discipline.
A Nagaraja of oriental appearance have no problems to pass himself off as a low-Dharma Kuei Jin and,
when discovered, the Kuei Jin consider him simply an akuma of sort, instead of a Kin Jin “invader”. In fact,
their aura and their peculiar “Chi” does not make them appear as Cainites, in the Kuei Jin perception.
For centuries the Nagaraja ventured into the large and bustling Middle Kingdom cities, seeping slowly in the
Kuei Jin Courts and snatching precious knowledges of the Eastern vampires. In addition to a valuable
assortment of Disciplines typical of Ten Thousand Demons, the Flesh Eaters stole even a large amount of
rites, turning them in rituals for their Necromancy. In the current state of things, the Nagaraja are the
bloodline with more knowledge on the Kuei Jin among all the “Kindred”…

NAGARAJA COVENS AND SOCIAL LADDER

The main Nagaraja political, social and philosophical subdivision are the Covens. The Covens, initially
dedicated to four gods of the Hindu tradition but not really related to them, are the heart of the bloodline.
They are largely autonomous and deal each with different aspects of the magical research and the political
environment of the surrounding world. Although initially the Covens were formed by an equal number of
members, the simple fact that each member of the bloodline can choose freely his orientation, has meant
that some are preferred to others much more often than not, dramatically increasing the numbers of some
Covens.
Each covens lay official claims on one or more of the largest Mausoleums, using them for storing the
accumulated knowledges and for hosting the, rare, official meeting of each Coven.

The first hierarchical level of the bloodline are the Apprentices, members newly Embraced and still under
“education and supervision”, usually near a Crypt.
When his mentor judge his preparation as complete, the Apprentice is promoted to Journeyman (or
Journeywoman, but the Nagaraja never really gave importance to the gender); then, he is given the choice
of joining one of the Covens and is encouraged to settle far away from his mentor. A Journeyman who joins
a Coven continues in his researches and, if over time is deemed worthy by the Elders, is promoted to
Master.
A Master must have at least five centuries of unlife, being a connoisseur of the Bloodline lore and must
know a wide variety of Disciplines of every kind; one of the main tasks of the Masters is to act as mentors
to apprentices until these are deemed independent, and are the heads of small communities of Nagaraja
around the world (not more than a dozen members of the lineage in a single large geographical area,
usually living isolated and rather distant from each other). Note also, that a Master take care even of the
members of other Covens present in that area, not only of the members of his own; the Nagaraja are not
copious enough to be choosy. A Master is designated as such by unanimous vote of the Elders of his own
Coven.
At the summit of each Coven are the Elders, three vampires (members of the original Nagaraja) that
determine the internal and external policy of the Coven. When one falls in Torpor, the others elect an Elder
pro-tempore from the ranks of the Masters, with the full political powers of an Elder, including the right to
elect other Elders pro-tempore if his colleagues fall unexpectedly in Torpor or perish (however, it never
happened so far). There were originally four Elders for each Coven, only three ruling simultaneously,
swapping every 50 years and thus giving the fourth the opportunity to instruct new disciples, make occult
research or looking for promising individuals for the Embrace; over time, remained only twelve of the
original Nagaraja, but they still governs the Covens.
The representative of each Coven (charge underrated at the point of lacking even an official title) is elected
among the three Elders of the Coven from the Elders themselves, once every 25 years. The four
representatives meet in the Council of the Covens and then decide, on the basis of equality and theorically
13
of majority voting, the politics of the bloodline. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that every leader is
considered equal to the others. The representative of the Congregation of Yama is the most powerful of the
board while the others usually try to unite behind the representative of Agni or adapt and manipulate the
situation (and other members) to bring home the best possible results. Usually the representative of Yama
can impose his own ideas to the Council of the Covens and only a strong opposition of the other three
representatives may dissuade him from his intentions. In fact, the Council works as a coalition of political
parties: not willing to go each its own way, but don’t seeing things exactly all in the same way.
However, this does not mean that the Nagaraja would customarily stab each other back like the Cainites;
sometimes it happened, and not infrequently in the millennial history of the Nagaraja, but these “artificial”
Kindred know that is not the case to waste the blood of their rare relatives. The real enemies are outside.

THE COVENS
YAMA’S COVEN
The first and the largest Coven is the Coven of Yama. In the Hindu pantheon, Yama is the Deva of death, the
master of the underworld kingdom, the deity charged of the control and the passing of souls from one
world to another.
Among the Nagaraja, this congregation was given the task of research Necromancy and interact with the
world of the True Deads.
The Coven’s Elders were Arihant, Nirupa, Akshath, and Vishnupad, formally they took turns at the head of
the Coven but – at the beginning of the XIV century – Vishnupad fell victim, in Transylvania, of a plot
hatched by Duratman the Cursed One (see “Rakhshasa”), who led an Euthanatoi war party after the fellow
Elder. The battle that broke damaged heavily the Euthanatoi, destroyed all the followers of Vishnupad (who
at the time was serving as Master in Europe) and weakened the very same Vishnupad; the Euthanatoi
retreated, leaving the vampire weakened but alive. The Anarch Revolt was raging in Transylvania at that
time, and a large group of furores who had got wind of the battle considered the vampire an elder Tzimisce
or something similar, assaulted him while he was still weakened, struck him down and diablerized him.
To this date, Vishnupad is the only original Nagaraja to have found the True Death.
The Yama’s Coven includes roughly half the Nagaraja bloodline and when someone speaks of the Nagaraja
is usually because he met a member of the Yama’s Coven. They are the members of Tal’Mae’Rah and those
who most often are found around Enoch.
The Yama’s Nagaraja follow mainly the Path of Bones, with a vocal minority following the Path of Death and
the Soul; the two factions are in slight contrast, but it's more spirit of competition than antagonism; these
Flesh Eaters are also the most likely to Embrace new Childes: the fact their headquarter is Enoch and they
can use it as “boot camp” alleviates the problems incumbent on their kinsmen.
The Yama’s Nagaraja usually specialize in Necromancy, in all its uses and alterations. They are the careful
scholars of the necromantic studies, those who maintain Enoch usable and capture the many Tal’Mae’Rah
spectral slaves. Although this can be defined the more powerful Coven, these Nagaraja are to a large extent
inmates addicted to inaction and used to meet only their own texts and study subjects, their own kind,
their preys and their allies. The members of this Coven are usually very active in the first part of their
unlives, then lull into a sense of false security and slowly slip into apathy after the first few centuries. For
obvious reasons, not all of them live in Enoch, but they often create little domains of horror in territories
uninhabited by other vampires and create small shelters on the other side of the Shroud.
They control five Mausoleums: Italy (is unclear if it is in Florence or Ravenna), Morocco (Marrakesh), Iran (a
complex of catacombs near Chabahar), Panama (somewhere in the southern forests) and Finland
(apparently, Aland Islands).
A small minority (no more than a Master, with a half dozen of Journeymen and Apprentices) is currently
studying the effects and possible ramifications of Voudoun Necromancy, trying to include it in their
practices.

14
An elder of the Old Clan Tzimisce once said too loudly that Yama’s Nagaraja were “an alluring blade left to
rust”. The fact that he managed to leave quietly and still unlive in his Rumanian mansion, means that he
was probably right.

RUDRA’S COVEN
The second Coven for number of members is the Coven of Rudra. In the Hindu religion, Rudra is one of the
most ancient deities. He is often described as the Deva of storms, hunting, death, nature and wind; is also
the primordial form of Shiva, the divine aspect responsible for the destruction.
The Nagaraja chose this deity as patron for the Coven dedicated to the study of Blood Magic and the
interactions with the Childes of Caine.
Easwar, Pradnesh, Rishi and Parthiv, were the Elders of this congregation and took turns in ruling it until, in
the fourth century CE Parthiv committed diablerie on a Ventrue on the run after the Sack of Rome (410 CE),
he discovered at his own expenses the deleterious effects of Diablerie on the delicate Nagaraja structure;
when in a short time was demonstrated his substantial impotence, his colleagues took more and more of
his control of the Coven, de facto overruling him. In the sixth century, humiliated and angered, he officially
left the Coven, becoming a Pariah.
The members of Rudra’s Coven, about half of all the non-Yama’s Nagaraja, live among the Kindred, often
disguised as elderly koldun sorcerers or necromancers of some ancient and forgotten Clan. They try to
avoid the cities overpopulated by Kindred, as an excessive interest from every major group could became
lethal. In the cities of the Camarilla and Anarchs, they usually try to come to terms with the local Nosferatu
for protection and, occasionally, with the Tremere in exchange of hidden knowledge. In the territories of
the Sabbat, they exploit their connections through Tal'Mae'Rah to get some kind of false identity as Noddist
researchers and try to go unnoticed. Finally, in the independent territories (except the areas under the
control of the Giovanni, for obvious reasons) they offer their services in exchange for permission to reside,
and study the local occult traditions. Predictably, they are focused on Europe, North America and Middle
East, with four Mausoleums (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Central area of United States and Nicaragua).
The Rudra’s Nagaraja follow almost exclusively the Path of Power and the Inner Voice; there’s no written
rule about it, but for many it is simply a matter of convenience. However, there is a small and noisy
“heretical” faction (no more than half a dozen vampires) that from the Renaissance onwards started
following the Path of Lilith; the majority of the Coven assists troubled at this development, but the Elders
decided to keep looking to see where this development will lead.
While they don’t neglect Necromancy, the Nagaraja of Rudra specialize in the most diverse forms of Blood
Magic: Tremere and Sabbatic Thaumaturgy, Koldunic Sorcery, Akhu, Dur-An-Ki, Sandhana, Wanga and all
the other lesser forms. They usually try to “steal” the secrets of other magical traditions, adapting them to
the peculiar form of Blood Magic which has become common practice in the Tal’Mae’Rah.
In addition, many, often learn at least the lower levels of Obfuscate, up to Mask of a Thousand Faces, for
better disguising their peculiar appearance. However, they don’t despise the slightest chance to learn the
more “plebeian” Disciplines whenever possible.
Although they are not the most numerous Nagaraja, the members of the Rudra’s Coven are perhaps the
most motivated, and a surprising amount of them reached the Master rank, becoming de facto regional
leaders of the bloodline in many areas of the Cainite world.

RATRI’S COVEN
Third for number of members and the last for foundation date is the Coven of Ratri. In the Vedas and in
Hindu tradition, Ratri is the Deva of the night, sister of Ushas, Vedic deity of dawn and her name is used in
many Indian languages to define the night itself.
This goddess of the darkness, natural habitat of vampires, was chosen as emblem for the Coven responsible
for studying the Wan Kuei and their magic.
The Coven of Ratri has a peculiar history. Unlike the others, it never had four Elders; four original Nagaraja
– Dayanita, Hridya, Rashmi and Shailesh – were prepared to establish the Coven, but when Shailesh
discovered, observing the effects on his colleagues, the true meaning of the Amaranthus, he was horrified
and refused to commit the act. He never ascended to the position of Elder and has always been considered
15
the first Pariah; for a long time he worked with the Covens of Ratri and Agni and remained on friendly
terms with all the Elders, but after a millennium or so engaged in a spiritual quest, never seen for centuries
in any Nagaraja Mausoleum. Since the three real Elders of the Coven are all female, and the Coven is
dedicated to a female deity, for many centuries the Coven was considered almost like a monastic order
restricted to female vampires. For a long time, was shunned by males Nagaraja and considered a sort of
haven for female Flesh Eaters, becoming a homogeneously female Coven. When, in the seventeenth
century, the Western world fell in love with the newly discovered Far East, the young Nagaraja
rediscovered the Coven of Ratri and the renewed interest brought a faint but steady number of males
Nagaraja in the Coven, although at present women still make up 70% of Nagaraja of Ratri and hold all the
key positions.
The members of this Coven unlive, in the vast majority, in the “gray” areas near the Middle Kingdom (India,
Eastern Siberia, former Soviet republics of Central Asia, Aleutian Islands and Indonesia) from which they
can infiltrate the Kuei-jin territories little by little. Their goal is to integrate themselves well and long
enough in the Kuei-jin territory, gaining the local vampires trust; they are usually mistaken for some strange
sect of Asian vampires (usually Devil-Tigers, Resplendent Cranes or Bone Flowers, but it’s not rare to act like
members of some heretic Dharma among vampires of some other uncommon Dharma). A couple of coterie
(a social group usually not appreciated by Nagaraja) were installed in the past in the Eastern territories with
a substantial Cainite population (Tokyo, Hong Kong).
The Ratri’s Nagaraja usually follow the Path of the Scorched Heart, Path of Honorable Accord, Path of
Bones, Path of Power and the Inner Voice or the Path of Self-Focus, but the Coven does not push in any way
its members, allowing all the acceptable Paths (final choice to the Storyteller, but for example the Path of
Blood and the Path of Evil Revelations are not allowed under any circumstances, while the Path of the
Cathars as singular as would be, would not be frowned upon).
The Ratri’s Nagaraja specialize in studying the Cathayans’ arts, magical knowledge, occult and physiology.
They are responsible for the creation of the larger occult library regarding Kuei-jin (not belonging to the
Kuei-jin, obviously) in their Mausoleum in Bangladesh. The members of this Coven translated a great
number of Cathayan rites in rituals accessible to the bloodline and is said that the Masters of this Coven are
real living encyclopedias regarding Kuei Jin Disciplines, and that they are willing to transmit to other
Nagaraja in exchange for more or less consistent boons (Resources, Contacts, Followers) to better achieve
their own goals.
Another factor in favor of the Ratri’s Nagaraja is the Marijava revenant family. Is the Ratri’s Coven that
created these revenants, some say by chance, a few thousand years ago and, even if they allowed the
Tal’Mae’Rah to use them, most of these Revenant are still at the orders of the Ratri’s Coven (therefore, is
not unusual for one of these Nagaraja to have a small army of Marijava as Followers).
As the world goes, the Kuei-jin don’t like spies, therefore the Journeymen of Ratri have a high mortality
rate. Fortunately, the Kuei-jin don’t try too hard to question the one or two Nagaraja infiltrators they
capture about every century (often on the geographical opposite sides of the Middle Kingdom), and think
they are simply taking care of some new species of akuma or infiltrates from some relatively near Kin Jin
boss (who often, with a puzzled shrug, see the head of a perfectly unknown vampire delivered to him).
However, those who survive, slowly discovers the tricks to infiltrate the Middle Kingdom, remaining
“undercover” even for centuries, passing for most of the time as heimin.
Furthermore, some says, certain Masters managed to find a ritual to circumvent the spiritual protection of
the Kuei jin’s nushi, allowing them to enter a wu.

AGNI’S COVEN
The Coven of Agni is the second for age and the last for number of members. In the Hindu tradition, Agni is
the god of fire, is a Vedic deity representing the forces of light, an invincible warrior and is the lord of the
cremation ground and the forest fire.
Agni, in his role as antithetical to the vampiric condition, was chosen as an icon to represent the Coven
dedicated to the mystical research and to continue the work of perfecting the Nagaraja physical structure,
the process started with turning them into vampires, centuries ago.

16
The Agni’s Coven, from its outset, has been the smallest of the bloodline. Among the four Elders
(Indukanth, Anashwara, Vijayesh and the Unnamed) there was always a slight rivalry, fueled by the fact that
Anashwara was the only one with a chance to step up to the VI Generation, becoming the most powerful
vampire of the Nagaraja lineage. The fourth Elder of the bloodline, the Unnamed, soon transcended the
feeling of rivalry, becoming envy and then entering in the realm of hatred. He was the one who secretly
manipulated Parthiv, Elder of the Rudra’s Coven, in experimenting a second Diablerie; the effect was a
failure, but the Unnamed came out unharmed and free from any suspicion (except the undying hatred of
Parthiv). He did not give up, and soon began dealing with demons and similar. It was not until the X century
CE that this fact came to light (especially for the insistence of the Elder Pariah Shailesh, moved to pity by
the history and condition of Parthiv); despite all his power, the Unnamed alone could not resist the force of
the 13 remaining Elders and had to flee. His cursed name was deleted by all the official Nagaraja texts, and
was imposed the new name of Duratman (“Wicked Soul”), the first Rakshasa. Since then, Duratman has
been a thorn in the Nagaraja side, seeking revenge. In the XIV century CE Duratman managed to
manipulate an Euthanatos cabal in hunting down Vishnupad, an Elder at that time not in charge of the
Yama’s Coven, who was traveling around Europe. The clash did not go exactly as planned and the Elder
managed to escape, but he was intercepted - while still weak - by a bunch of proto-Sabbat, which reduced
the Elder in Torpor and diablerized him. Since then Duratman no longer re-emerged, but all the Elders are
sure he is still alive and is plotting something.
The members of this Coven, usually about a dozen, and never more than twenty (excluding the three
Elders) live in small groups, from 2 to 4 vampires, in constant search of the next evolution of their vampiric
condition. Unlike the other Covens, a Nagaraja cannot choose to be part of the Agni’s Coven, but can be
chosen to be part of it. The Agni’s Nagaraja occasionally visits the networks of Mausoleums of the other
Covens and, if properly impressed by a Journeyman or a newly appointed Master, they propose him or her
to switch to the Coven of Agni. It is not easy to impress the members of Agni, to do that a vampire must be
a prepared occult researcher, prone to the use of Blood Magic and/or Necromancy, but especially talented
and with a vivid imagination. Even in this case, is not certain that said Nagaraja will join the Coven in the
heat of the moment, after all this is probably a vampire who has spent the vast majority of its unlife to the
ideals of his “original” Coven and many are unwilling to drop everything and move on, though usually being
invited in the Agni’s Coven is considered a great honor. These Nagaraja are used to cultivate contacts
among other supernatural races (mostly Sluagh Fae, Entropic and Hermetic Mages, Hollow Ones and even
some Ananasi) for inspiration or getting interesting study subjects, and some have settled in strange places
inhabited by unknown beings (as the mysterious African or South American vampires) to get more input for
their research. The central point of the study of the Agni’s Coven, however, remains the pure research
aimed to overcome the defects still present in the Nagaraja’s undead status.
All the efforts of the rest of the Nagaraja bloodline are secretly funneled into this group; all mystic, occult
and technological advancements, Disciplines, stolen rituals and innovative insights are passed to them. The
Agni’s Nagaraja have demonstrated over time that it was not misplaced confidence. It is from their
collaboration with some members of the Coven of Rudra that was recently created the Thaumaturgical
Path of Biotechnology, which was then passed through the Yama’s Coven to Tal'Mae'Rah, putting the sect
in further debt with the Flesh Eaters. They, too, led in ancient times, along with the Ratri’s Coven, the
experiments that led to the creation of the Marijava revenants. In this regard, the Agni’s Nagaraja created,
as an additional tool, another smaller revenant family, the Rafastio, which were made available to the
entire bloodline and the entire Tal'Mae'Rah, but nevertheless remain a private fiefdom of Agni’s Nagaraja
(just to be clear, most Rafastio normally lead their lives or serves Tal'Mae'Rah, but a small minority, the
best of the family, assists members of the Coven in their researches). Finally, if rumors are true about a
ritual that would allow the Ratri’s Nagaraja to deceive a Cathayan nushi, the origin of this ritual is likely
linked to the members of Agni.
Therefore it should not seem strange that the members of the Agni’s Coven come in large majority from
the ranks of the Congregation of Rudra, the Yama’s Nagaraja are for the most part too complacent of the
power held in the Tal’Mae’Rah and little involved in the area of pure research, while those of Ratri
generally consider their mission as thieves of secrets too important, even for the sake of ascending to such
a prestigious position.

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The Agni’s Coven don’t claim any Mausoleum, but almost every little Agni’s community founded a Crypt in
their area of interest, the most known Crypts are the African (Zambia), the Brazilian (somewhere on the
Brazilian coast) and the Australian (Melbourne outskirts) and Indian (Kashmir highlands) ones.
The members of the Coven follow any kind of Path, but the elders seem to encourage in younger members
the adoption of intellectuals Paths such as the Path of the Scorched Heart, the Path of Caine, and as
singular as it may be, the Path of Entelechy.

OUTCASTS
Despite their small number, even among Nagaraja exist "second-class vampires". They are not considered
exactly the same way as Caitiff and, given the choice, a Nagaraja will probably take the parts of such
“inferior” vampires; nevertheless, they are not considered true Nagaraja. They lack something, in power
and capacity and, except for few cases, are not accepted within the Covens.

PARIAH
The Pariah are simply Nagaraja not equipped with the Generation attribute. Even if they were never a great
number, are divided in two main camps.
The first, identifying itself with the evanescent Elder Shailesh is by far the smaller group, counting at best a
quarter of all Pariah. They are the Nagaraja that, after the Embrace found to lack in the Generation
attribute, because of a sort of occult loose contact, or as better defined, mystical involution. These
Nagaraja found themselves faced with the situation where, in order to become “real” members of the
lineage, they should commit diablerie, and refused. They are dedicated to the mystical research, and
explore the forms of morality, both Cainites and Kuei-jin. Some of them are dedicated to the study of the
evanescent concept of Transcendence mentioned by some ghosts and basically all their researches are
directed to find a way to evolve further, because as often repeat the Elder Shailesh, “somewhere, in one
point of another space or time, there must be the opportunity to move forward”. It should not seem so
strange that these Pariah, with their commitment to study and research, enjoy the appreciation of the
Covens, and even if they are – mostly – not allowed to access to these congregations, sometimes they
manage to get some help from their “kin”.
Entirely another matter are the Pariah who lost the Generation following a Diablerie. These individuals
have broken the greatest taboo of the Nagaraja Traditions, and as result they lost not only a part of their
power, but also all the respect of others Nagaraja. In most cases, they are Neonates or were Neonates at
the moment of the Diablerie, young vampires fallen for the rhetoric of Anarchs Cainites: they thought the
taboo on Diablerie was an excuse with which their elders (and the Elders) wanted to keep all the power for
themselves. They were wrong. Now they live lives of derelicts, the outer fringe of the already segregated
Nagaraja society. Except for a single instance (the former Elder Parthiv, induced in the Diablerie by the
Rakshasa Duratman), all of these individuals are uniformly despised by the other members of the bloodline,
as if they were third class citizens. Some, after discovering that they couldn’t give up hope, followed the
example of the first group of Pariah, and follow them as assistants. Others live as parasites near a Crypt,
helping members of the congregations in the most trivial matters (sometimes also captaining small groups
of revenants or ghouls in dangerous situations) in exchange for protection and shelter. Most, however,
leaves the Nagaraja society and everything that has to do with it. Often settling in uninhabited places in the
third world, terrorizing an area and giving birth to stories of fearsome cannibalistic monsters. These solitary
vampires slowly devolve, becoming wight, or are destroyed by other supernatural beings or even,
depressed by their hopeless condition, commit suicide under the sunlight. In principle, it is from these
outcasts among outcasts, scattered around the world, that filtered the little known lore about the Nagaraja.
Initially, the term Pariah had been imposed on thr group by others Nagaraja, who called them in this way
when they were too far away to hear, or too powerless to retaliate. However, in recent decades, more and
more members of this group begun claiming the name; they certainly don’t use it with pride, but
nonetheless use it, and many Nagaraja appreciate the sense of somber dignity with which these vampires
claim to be Pariah, without hiding themselves.

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DHAMPIR
The Nagaraja Dhampir are the worst possible outcome of what happens to a Nagaraja that ignore the
bloodline’s taboos and practices Diablerie. These are beings who have lost, along with the Generation, too
much of their supernatural attributes.
The Nagaraja consider these vampires little more than mortals and call them Dhampir, trying their best for
conceal this peculiar situation outside of their bloodline (in fact, only a couple of True Brujah Methuselahs
know about them, and they discovered it independently); as a note, the Indian Nagaraja call them Pishacha
(the name indicate flesh-eating demons of the Indian mythology, but is just a derogatory term),
nonetheless the name isn’t widespread.
In their case the intricate creation process twisted itself, undermining much of their supernatural qualities.
Luckily for them, this disabling condition still allows them to survive, albeit in a crippled form. This isn’t
really an horrible situation, but discovering to be – on the scale of sheer power – almost on the same level
or even below revenant, ghouls and Thinbloods, is an hard blow for creatures who believed to be the apex
of the vampiric evolution.
Many Nagaraja reduced in this state of helplessness choose to meet the sun, unable to cope with their new
state. Conversely others, finally exiled from the eternal Jyhad, discover in this situation a sort of Nirvana,
and often return to the path of Humanity and even start their personal journey on Golconda.

ENEMY WITHIN
Being a closed and not too large group didn’t prevented the Nagaraja to develop their own bad apples. If
it’s true that the various types of outcasts are treated with cold indifference, they are occasionally
protected from external aggressions, if they ask protection or are too obviously threatened. Unlike those,
these enemies of the bloodline, born within the same lineage, are treated with the utmost severity and,
when possible, destroyed without even the pantomime of a fake trial. They are the shame of the race, and
as such are managed.

RAKSHASA
The Rakshasa history begins with the individual now called Duratman. This vampire, once one of the
Nagaraja Elders, was devoured by a thirst for power and envy against Anashwara, his colleague in the
Agni‘s Coven, which had been the only one lucky enough to step up to the VI Generation, effectively
becoming the most powerful Nagaraja. His real name was cursed and deleted from all the historical
accounts of the race, so it is only known by the name assigned later by other Elders. Duratman
experimented with various methods to get power (in the course of one of these experiments also involved
the Elder Parthiv, that as a result of the experiment became a Pariah), until he decided to seek help from
darkest powers. When the other Elders finally found the evidence of the guilt, he had long been a servant
of a Yama King (maybe Mikaboshi, Wu Hua or, more likely, Emma-O or Ravana); despite all his power, he
could not resist alone against the forces of the gathered Elders and fled. His name was deleted by all the
Nagaraja texts and cursed, and was inflicted to him the new name of Duratman (Wicked Soul), the first
Rakshasa.
With time, others fallen. But in total the Nagaraja who have embraced the dark forces since the beginning
of time are no more than a dozen. A good half of these found the Final Death, thanks to external causes
(other Nagaraja, Cainites, Wan Kuei, Bete, demons they angered) and the remaining ones are certainly
unwilling to make a common front. Each of them has sworn allegiance to entities profoundly different
(proper demons, Wyrm’s manifestations, Yama Kings, the Nephandi’s Dark Lords, in a particular case even a
Stygian Neverborn) and therefore are willing to sacrifice one another exactly how much they are willing to
sacrifice the first passerby. They are the bogeyman of Nagaraja, used to scare Neonates and impose
discipline and study on them.
Actually, little is known about them, and it is also possible that some of their fearsome masters have found
ways to work around some of the various defects of the Nagaraja’s vampiric condition.

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NAGARAJA HUNTERS
This group is highly uncommon, but still the most numerous of the Rakshasas and consists of Dhampir
Nagaraja. In this case too, it’s not an organized group, but many individual elements (according to the most
optimistic expectations, fifteen in all over the globe). These Dhampir are a problem occurred only in the
recent decades, they are mostly Neonates and fledglings who understood the monstrosity of the race to
which they belonged, and, advantaging on the fact that their “new” condition relieves them from many of
the typical limitations of their previous existence, felt liberated and freed from the monsters from which
they descend.
These half-vampires have took the side of the humans, began hunting their old kin, and in many cases also
other vampires. Their special status has made them “less problematic” for different groups of vampire
hunters and it seems that some of these Dhampir have found a place in some organizations of witch
hunters – after all, they don’t need “fresh” blood for surviving – and it is said that at least one of them
joined the Arcanum. There are also strange rumors on other Dhampirs, that are trying to contact fringe
supernatural groups – like the Children of Gaia werewolves or the Cathayans Bamboo Princes – but there
aren’t supported news confirming these assertions.

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 TRADITIONS
The Nagaraja are a lineage created with the specific intent of studying a phenomenon, so most of this
academic bloodline understands the advantages of having a peaceful and neat society.
The Elders have established few rules, so that the bloodline can prosper, and these are usually followed
without much straining. There aren’t real structures for reacting to an obvious violation of the rules, but a
“guilty” Nagaraja may soon find himself ostracized by the other local members of the bloodline, and if the
behavior continues beyond the recommended limit, the reluctant vampire will simply “disappear”.

Tradition Reason
I Do not reveal our true nature to Humans and other supernatural beings cannot understand our
outsiders. condition, being known is the first step towards our destruction.
II The Crypts and Mausoleums are For our rarity, we need a place where we can feel safe. Do not
sanctuary. endanger a Crypt, and do everything in your power to protect
the endangered places.
III Do not associate with the Rakshasa. One cannot reach the true knowledge by obtaining a master; the
one who sell his soul to another is unreliable and aspires only to
drag you into his ruin. The Raskshasa are anathema.
IV Do not spill the blood of a Nagaraja. We are few, and this is not a bad thing, but we cannot afford to
lose valuable members in unnecessary infighting. If two Nagaraja
are unable to reach an agreement, the Crypts also serve as a
place where the bloodline assemble to resolve these issues.
On the other hand, outsiders are expendable. Our allies less than
outsiders, but more than any of us.
V Choose carefully the scholar you will Only individuals prone to the study appreciate the full benefits of
Embrace and instruct him as you have an ordered society. Only a Nagaraja educated as befits can follow
been instructed. the path of knowledge and train the future Apprentices.
VI The Amaranthus is a senseless and This act was meant only to achieve our initial goal. Now it is a
thoughtless practice all of us should threat to every member of our blood, since it can take away the
avoid. power that we have conquered till now.

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 4. RELATIONS WITH THE OTHERS

THE OUTSIDERS
The Nagaraja are by nature a group accustomed to being ignored, and they like it this way. As such, the
external relations of this meager bloodline are at best erratic. As for most of the individuals, in the end
every Flesh Eater manages his own relations. Nevertheless, there are some general guidelines.
In addition to this, it would be good to remember one thing, for the Nagaraja as a bloodline, the most
important thing is occult knowledge. Only through knowledge they can hope to further evolve, in beings
more advanced and more powerful than “plain vampires”. Thus the vast majority of the relations that
Nagaraja have with others can be summarized in occult research; the remainder falls in personal
relationships.

CAINITES

CAMARILLA
The Nagaraja have, usually, few long-lasting relations with the Camarilla. Given the gossip habit of this sect,
the Nagaraja consider dangerous to associate stably with this group. There are exceptions, but usually fall
into five distinct groups.
Tremere. Always eager to accumulate new occult lore, a lonely Tremere is an ideal target for a
Nagaraja able to contact him privately without being noticed by others (after all, the Nagaraja is an
“abnormal” vampire belonging to a little known lineage and moreover not siding with the Camarilla, being
seen with such an individual would prejudice the Warlock); unfortunately, the Tremere are also deservedly
known for their ambition and lack of ethics, so a Tremere could easily think that seizing and interrogating
this unknown Kindred lacking the slightest diplomatic protection could save him from endless negotiations
and, if discovered, any stain on his “honor”. Moreover, this approach also allows him to take advantage of
the numerical superiority, since usually Nagaraja cannot enjoy on the support of a whole Chantry full of
colleagues.
Ventrue. The relationship between Nagaraja and Blue Bloods is simple and straightforward: often the
Ventrue need someone to do some dirty work (espionage, making rivals or humans “disappear”, etc.) and
the Nagaraja, for their “special” interests, are often able to comply. This is the beginning and the end of
their relations, and usually the Ventrue respect the agreements (thinking, often rightly, that the other party
has taken steps to render public the affair, in case of an “unfortunate accident”), in a few cases a rather
vengeful Ventrue Prince has also done away with an uncomfortable Tremere overnight, providing the
Warlock on a silver plate to the Nagaraja with whom he had a pact.
Nosferatu: Usually, a Nagaraja in a Camarilla's domain hide in some place secluded, dark and creepy,
where the Nosferatu have - probably - access. As such, is not rare that said Flesh Eater enters into some
agreement with the local Nosferatu, requesting secrecy and protection in exchange for generic "boons"
(like those provided to the Ventrue).
Minor bloodlines. For the Flesh Eaters the information bonanza in the Camarilla are the minor
bloodlines. Whether it is a Lasombra Antitribu willing to trade his Abyssal knowledge for information about
a certain member of the main line of his Clan, a Samedi available to exchange his Caribbean Necromancy
with some basic Blood Magic or simply a Gargoyle with enough occult Tremere tomes between his paws
and too much desire for freedom, the sincerest proposals of a Nagaraja are almost always reserved to
these outcasts.
Anarchs. Relations between Nagaraja and Anarchs are the rarest, among those within the Camarilla.
Firstly, this is due to how rare is the amount of occultists, miracle workers and scholars in the ranks of the
Anarchs, but also for the bad reputation of this trash among the Nagaraja. The Nagaraja, as tradition and
belief, usually consider absurd a chaotic society like the one the Anarchs advocates (also, the ones who
physically destroyed the Elder Vishnupad, were a bunch of Anarchs and, even if it could be argued that
22
those were proto-Sabbat, the trauma still remain in all the lineage). But, if they can overcome the initial
mistrust, the Nagaraja discover they can exchange occult knowledge in an overall honest manner and that
the precautions most of the time are even unnecessary with these fellows. With all their cynicism, even the
Anarchs “in the known” consider the Nagaraja nothing more than “strange Kindred”, and after all, who are
they for judging? This liberal approach has opened a breach in the gloomy hearts of some Nagaraja who
inhabit the areas of the Free Anarch State and, although they remain firmly conservative in regard of their
own bloodline, they sometime expose themselves arguing that, regarding the other Kindred, the Anarchs
could be a reasonable option.

SABBAT
If Nagaraja have few dealings with the Camarilla, their direct relations with the Sabbat border the zero.
With the exception of the Black Hand, the average Nagaraja do not even approach the normal members of
the Sabbat. Besides being dangerous for survival, it is impossible to keep the idea of concealing their own
existence to an entire sect integrally linked by blood bonds. Many Nagaraja consider it a waste, given the
knowledges that Tzimisce koldun, Lasombra Abyssal mystics, Assamite sorcerers and Serpents of Light
houngan could provide. With some rare exceptions, everything the Nagaraja seeks from this sect, they are
forced to get through their Tal’Mahe’Ra allies (see “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black
Hand”).
Black Hand. About 90% of the relations between Nagaraja and Sabbat takes place through the Black
Hand; the leaders of this subsect, almost whole controlled directly or indirectly by the Tal’Mahe’Ra, often
act as intermediaries between the Nagaraja and some member of the Hand holding occult knowledge (after
all, if one of the undisputed leaders ask you to reveal your secrets to a strange vampire no one knows, the
only likely chance would be that he is a Black Hand Sabbat coming from far away, right?). It’s not a common
practice, firstly because it could raise doubts and weaken the position of those leaders, and principally
because the chief task of those Cainites is certainly not to satisfy the Nagaraja’s hunger for knowledge.
However, this remains the most common type of relation between Flesh Eaters and Sabbat.
Inquisition. Generally the Tal'Mahe'Ra, and in particularly the Nagaraja, try to stay well at large from
the Inquisition. Although the goals of the sabbatical Inquisition may be worthy, its members are far too
curious for the standards of these vampires. On the other hand, one time a clever Nagaraja happened to
sow clues near an inquisitor, leading him to a Rakshasa and his allies, saving herself the effort…
Tremere Antitribu. The Nagaraja entertained, at the time, profitable relationships with the Tremere
Antitribu. Sabbat Warlocks knew that the exchange of information could well lead to substantial advances
in the magic research. Unfortunately, they were still equipped with the same ambition of their Camarilla
kinsmen, therefore with them the Flesh Eaters had to keep safe as much as possible.
Harbinger of the Skull. In the short amount of time spent by the arrival (or return?) of these Kindred
on the scene, the Nagaraja have attempted some timid academic proposal, getting likewise educated
refusals. Although related to the Sabbat, the Harbingers of the Skull remain independent enough to allow
Nagaraja to hope for future dealing, but gaining their trust is apparently really hard.
Salubri Antitribu. Many Nagaraja Masters remember with a decidedly academic interest the Salubri
and abilities related to their third eye. Therefore, with the rise of this new “bloodline”, many of them have
posted capable Journeymen looking for a way to contact Adonai, the founder of the lineage. So far they
have not been successful; in fact, they even lost contact with three of their most capable intermediaries.

INDEPENDENTS
For their insular nature, the main stakeholders of the Nagaraja transactions –those outside the Tal’Mahe’Ra
– are the Independent Clans. As in this case too, the relations change on a personal basis, but
generalizations are much more simpler than in the case of the largest sects.
Assamites. Nagaraja and Assamite Sorcerers had close ties since Clan Assamite and Tal’Mahe’Ra
signed a non-aggression pact against the Setites. When an Assamite Sorcerer (or more rarely a Vizier)
requires necromantic knowledge, rare wisdom or lore so alien as to be almost unknown within his Clan, he
will be probably directed to the closer Nagaraja. Given the rarity of the Flesh Eaters, this is not an easy task,
but if there are purely pacific relations between two groups of vampires, they are among the Flesh Eaters

23
and the occult scholars of the Assamite Clan. On the other hand, the Warriors did not seem the least bit
interested in the Nagaraja, and it’s unlikely they will give some kind of respect to a non-Assamite
bookworm.
Giovanni. The Nagaraja got no particular prejudice against the Venetian necromancers, at best
consider them with the benign gaze of a carpenter who observes a boy who learns to plant nails. The
problem is that the Giovanni Clan consider itself the only repository of the Dark Arts, and knowing that
there is an entire race of vampiric necromancers, presumably oldest of them, don’t make them particularly
happy. Therefore, the relations between the two lines are inevitably tense, and any exchange of
information takes place through kidnapping and extortion, looting of shelters and a quick death – in the
spirit of professional respect – when the less capable necromancer reaches the end of its usefulness .
Ravnos. Nagaraja and Western Ravnos don’t have much to say to each other; the knowledges of
these Ravnos are generally not of interest to the Nagaraja and the individuals themselves are not reliable as
these nightmarish scholars would like. On the other hand, the Indian Ravnos are another matter entirely.
While indulging in the same “defects” of their Western cousins, they are much more interested in keeping
their word, and much more expert in the occult area.
Followers of Set. As for Giovanni, the Nagaraja don’t have good relations with Setites. This is
particularly due to the wars fought in past ages between Setites and Tal’Mahe’Ra, but a good deal of
animosity comes also from rumors about them circulated by Inhauten (the mummy that helped the original
Nagaraja to switch from human to vampires). This is why the vast majority of their relations is based on
mutual theft of secrets. Unlike with the Giovanni, it’s difficult that a Nagara and a Setite will try to kill each
other on sight (even if said Setite actually know what is a Nagaraja), but it’s even more difficult that one of
the contenders will decide to ask or grant respite, after the conflict is unleashed.
Minor bloolines. As for the Camarilla minor lineages, the Nagaraja literally wallow in the mire of
occult knowledge accumulated by the most isolated bloodlines of independent Kindred. It is in this melting
pot of lineages, languages and approaches to the supernatural (and Discipline) often opposites, that
Nagaraja adore to dive. After all, the members of these bloodlines are also much less prone to criticize the
eating habits of the others…
The exception is, predictably, the Baali, the Nagaraja consider them allies of Rakshasa (despite the fact that
hardly one of the rare Baali will ever hear or talk to an even rarer Rakshasa); by the way, even for the so
scholarly Nagaraja is probably difficult to know about the Baali, and certainly it’s even more difficult to
identify one.

TAL’MAHE’RA
The Tal'Mahe'Ra is the natural social environment of the Nagaraja, even if only one of the four Covens is an
active part of it. It is in the structures of Tal’Mahe’Ra that the Nagaraja find the opportunity to study and
experiment in tranquility, and only the other members of Tal’Mahe’Ra can be considered the real allies of
the Flesh Eaters. On the other hand, the Nagaraja will never fully understand the fascination that the self-
styled “Antediluvians” seem to exert on the other members of the sect. Moreover, ignoring this little
“delusion” of their colleagues helps them to have powerful allies and, if these stories prove to be true at all,
it never hurts to be in credit to someone, especially if very ancient and powerful.

KUEI-JIN
Only a fraction of the Nagaraja – the members of the Coven of Ratri – usually come in contact with the
Kuei-Jin, and for them is too often not a painless relationship. Over the centuries the Nagaraja of Ratri
managed to infiltrate many rural Kuei-Jin courts, posing as members of this or that Dharma (sometimes
heretics Dharma). Their apparent similarity to the Kuei-Jin helped them to earn the trust of the Wan Kuei
and, by time, be able to learn from them Disciplines and whatnot.
The Nagaraja managed to steal from the Kuei-jin the exclusivity of a large number of Disciplines, even if
their rejection to any physical change has barred them access to the powerful Shintai Disciplines. At
present, the members of the Coven of Ratri continue their wandering in the outer areas of the Middle
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Kingdom, occasionally going home with rich spoils. A particular case are the akuma, the minions of the
Yama Kings; in the course of the eras, a Ratri’s Nagaraja noticing one of these renegades, came to the point
of blowing her own cover to ensure that this being receive the punishment he deserved, with more than a
perplexity of the local Kuei-Jin court.
Entirely another matter are the Indian courts. In these lands –inhabited by Cathayans that often the
Quincunx vampires do not even consider “real Wan Kuei” – the Nagaraja are a more common sight than in
any other earthly place (except Enoch). The Indian Kuei-Jin, after all this time, realized that these singular
lore seekers are not average members of the Ten Thousand Demons but, once again deceived by the
Cathayan traits of the Nagaraja, often misunderstand and regard them as some rare sub-specie of Kuei-Jin,
like the Yulan-Jin. The Indian Cathayans (often members of the Face of the Gods or the Flame of the Rising
Phoenix heretic Dharmas) don’t know from where these strange Kuei-Jin come, but given their eternal state
of war with the courts of Indian vampires (both Cainites and Wan Kuei), they look favorably at any help
these wandering vampires can give them and that often is enough to reset the balance even in adverse
situations. And even if these vampires require, from time to time, the teaching of some ritual or Discipline,
who cares? After all, they are just Kuei-jin, brothers in arms against the Yomi, right?

WRAITHS
Relations between Nagaraja and wraiths are tense at best, mainly because these vampires, like any self-
respecting necromancer, use ghosts as slaves and sometimes even as fuel for their experiments. In the Dark
Reign of Steel, some small groups, however, have implemented small forms of collaboration with the
Nagaraja. Mainly it comes to individual circles of ghosts or small groups of Renegades and Heretics, who
deliver to a Nagaraja “friend” their opponents, wraiths they need to cull and cannot afford to dirty their
hands with. There were also some cases in which a wraith regularly chased by Specters establish herself -
being allowed - in the haven (or workroom) of a Nagaraja, effectively attracting rivers of Specters in trap,
and thus earning the vampire gratitude.
In the Dark Kingdom of Jade, things works differently. The Nagaraja are not members of the local vampire
community, and any strange behavior can lead to disgraces. Therefore, the Nagaraja reduce their ghosts
“kidnappings” at the bare minimum, and usually try to persecute only wraiths of the Occupied Territories.
Nevertheless, in one of these raids a Master of the Ratri’s Coven was intercepted by a patrol of members of
the Imperial Guard, managing to destroy both the ghostly relics. Since then, the Dark Kingdom of Jade is on
alert, in search of the mysterious raiders.

MAGES
The Nagaraja don’t have outstanding relations with the Mages, whether they’re from Traditions or
Technocracy. The original members of the bloodline have long understood they turned away from the
world of True Magic, and although saddened by the loss, focused on the next step of their evolution. But
with some magicians exist some genre of relation.
Euthanatos. Wizards of the Euthanatos Tradition consider the original Nagaraja as traitors, evaded
from the legitimate circle of death and rebirth. One of the secrets of this Tradition is an undeclared war
against the Nagaraja. When they collect enough information about a Flesh Eater, the Euthanatos sends a
war party hoping to destroy it completely. All Nagaraja are eligible as preys, but who the Euthanatos want
to destroy at all costs are the Elders. As a note, some Euthanatos that survived the battle against Vishnupad
understood they’ve been used by someone, but never discovered the mysterious “mole”; however, they
left plenty of records, so even newer students can get an idea of what happened.
Order of Hermes. Nagaraja had a number of relations with the Order of Hermes in the past, during
the War of Massasa, secretly helping them seeking out the Tremere shelters and passing similar info. At the
current state of the affairs, the relations are sketchy but not inexistent; some long-way acquaintances of

25
Nagaraja and Hermetic wizards peers still face themselves in friendly conversations about magic; they are
not really friends, but their discussions always results pleasant and enlightening.
Hollow Ones. The Hollow Ones are temporary road-mate of many Nagaraja, they are magicians and
yet do not share the same prejudices of Traditions mages; furthermore, being a not unbending group in
which personal freedom is the first and most important value, causes that some of them can even find
interesting a corpse-eater undead wizard, almost like in a zombie b-movie.
Non-Euthanatos Entropic Mages. Occasionally (but is more about every each decade rather than
every each year) it can happen that a Nagaraja meet a magician specializing in the Entropy sphere or
interested in necromancy, and which does not belong to the Euthanatos faction. Usually these magicians
are wary, as well as the Nagaraja in question, but usually both participants derive some profit from the
discussion with those who have a different perspective on the same subjects.
Minor Crafts. Like with the Cainites minor bloodlines, the Minor Crafts are lore-mines for the
Nagaraja. Usually, the Flesh Eaters enjoy the interactions with these miracle-workers, guru, alchemists and
similar. Obviously, the mindset of some of these fringe group can be a little grim regarding a suspicious
undead corpse-eater, and in some other cases these mindsets resemble too much the ones of the
Rakshasa. In both case, the Nagaraja tend to use the same approach. The prove is the weird disappearance
of an Hungarian cabal of Templar Knights in 1995 and in 1972 of an entire Wu-Keng cult in the Chinese
Xinjiang. No one has still found the cause of these disasters, but the local Nagaraja Masters and
Journeymen still remember the gratifying feasts.
Nephandi. As the Nagaraja know of the Nephandi, they serve the same masters of Rakshasa, and as
such, are strong enemies. When a Nagaraja obtain sufficient information on a Nephandus, usually let them
slip to some loyal Magus contact, which will turn them over to the proper Awakened authorities.

SHAPESHIFTERS
Truthfully, Nagaraja and shapeshifters – every sort of shapeshifter – do not have much to say to each other.
Given their essence of undead and anthropophagic creatures, the Nagaraja have the bright tendency to
remain outside the reach of shapeshifters claws, who do not seem to appreciate a quest for knowledge
according to these methods. However, the Nagaraja know what it's like to be trapped in a body well
different from the one you had and the one you would like, and therefore many of them lend a hand to an
Abomination, if they ever meet one, or hear news of the presence of one of these. If all the help that said
Nagaraja can provide is to end the suffering of the poor being, she is usually happy to comply.
What leaves seriously puzzled the Flesh Eaters is the concept of the Wyrm. Although many servants of this
supposed-deity affirm that Nagaraja are “part of the Wyrm” and try to show themselves friendly, these
vampires cannot help but notice the similarities between this alleged entity and the lords worshiped by the
Rakshasa. At the moment, no Nagaraja has ever delved in the subject, and many pray the moment never
comes.
Ananasi. The only shapeshifter breed which the Nagaraja tied with are the Ananasi. The Were-
Spiders were initially puzzled by the nature of these singular vampires, but gradually began to regard them
simply as a form of predator, much more natural than the other bloodsuckers. The fact that both the
groups are misunderstood (and often subject of hunting by their supposed “kins”) has helped to establish a
curious cooperation relationship.
As the current state of things, Nagaraja and Ananasi treat each other with courtesy when they come in
contact, exchanging information and knowledge, but without excessive familiarity with each other; they are
not enemies, but neither allies, and the fact that both races are by nature solitary and uncommon do not
help the increase of relations.

26
FAE
The natural charge of Banality that thickens around these anthropophagic undead is so high that very few
Changeling can safely approach them nearer than ten or twenty yards; the Nagaraja die, are reborn in
death, live in death and feed on death. All of them is anathema to the fairies.
[For the purpose of the system of "Changeling, the Dreaming" the Nagaraja have a Banality level of 9, their
very existence is so antithetical to the dream-beings, that only fairies acclimatized to the Underworld
energies can tolerate their presence. For such fairies the Banality is 6, but only for a number of successive
scenes equal to their Willpower, then becomes 7 on the first exceeding scene, 8 in the second and return to
9 afterwards.] This leads directly to the...
Sluagh. Because of their familiarity with the True Dead, the Sluagh have a certain degree of “immune
defense” against the energies of the Underworld permeating the Nagaraja essence. This has occasionally
allowed them to maintain relations with some Flesh Eaters (usually members of the Coven of Agni).
Normally Sluagh and Nagaraja would not have much to say, after all even if they “attend the same clubs”
none of their interests coincide. However, those who can speak with each other can also bargain, and that’s
what Nagaraja and Sluagh do (it would be useless to remember, it’s no more than an handful of people on
the entire globe, there aren’t Sluagh&Nagaraja Friday Bargain Parties posted on the wall of every local
church). A vampire, a Dauntain or a particular vicious witch-hunter has targeted a freehold or a childling?
The Nagaraja can deal with the problem in a “discreet” way. For its part, the Sluagh will surely know where
he can get some fairy blood with which the Nagaraja can experiment at will, even when the “donor” isn’t
consentient (in this regard, Dolgur – an Agni’s Nagaraja resident in the US – recently found that the
Dauntain blood, properly processed, still grants many of the positive side effects of the fairy blood, without
most of the dangerous negative effects, this theory is still in test phase, but could lead to interesting
developments for both parties). This kind of agreement is much more convenient for said Nagaraja, that
not have need of hunting randomly for a fairy prey, even admitted he manages to capture it.
If this is not enough, is best to not forget that Sluaghs are some of the best spies in the World of Darkness,
and they can enter even where wraiths don’t try to dare.

MUMMIES
As the Nagaraja claim that part of the merit for their “evolution” pertain to the mummy Inauhaten, others
Shemsu-Heru are not overly inclined to recognize these statements. In addition to being undead, the
feeding attitudes of the Nagaraja seems too closely related to those of the Amkhat cult, for letting the
Mummies feel at ease, and the fact that no mummy had more direct news of Inauhaten in 3000 years
makes these statements even more suspicious.
Theoretically, only Anubis might know something about the enigmatic mummy the Nagaraja claim to be
part of Tal’Mahe’Ra, but no one ever dared to question him about it. Therefore, with great dejection of
Nagaraja who occasionally try to set stable relations with the mummies, they show no sign of wanting to
open a relationship – despite the large amount of occult knowledge both keep. Only the debt to Inauhaten
has, so far, avoided the kidnapping of some unwary Shemsu-Heru for a proper “questioning”. On the other
hand, the Nagaraja are on the blacklist of Shemsu-Heru, but on the bottom, there are enemies more
dangerous and aggressive around.
This could change if even a single Nagaraja make an untimely move. The situation is tense, and many think
it is only a matter of time before the explosion.

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OTHERS
Out there exists an infinite number of worlds and possibilities, and the Nagaraja knows it’s true. In spite of
their obvious social flaws, these vampires – from the start – are committed to the exploration, seeking new
knowledge in any place and any new culture they meet. The Nagaraja tried to rake all the world in search of
various cultures of supernatural creatures – but mostly of undead – managing to establish at least faint
relations with each of them. One Master of the Agni’s Coven live permanently among the African Laibon,
investigating quietly while trying not to attract too much attention. So far he managed to establish that
these African vampires are related to the Cainites, but somewhere in their history they seceded from the
main Clans. The Nagaraja living with them (often managing to fraternize with the Guruhi, heads of the local
Domains) are firmly convinced that finding out the reason and mechanism of the Laibon metamorphosis
could help the Nagaraja taking a further step forward in their evolutionary path.
There is also a small circle of Nagaraja interested in contacting the mysterious original supernatural
inhabitants of South America, but so far their efforts do not have earned much.
Similarly, here and there, there are sporadic “clubs” of Nagaraja interested to tight relations with this or
that local culture and supernatural vampires. After all, the Nagaraja had already shown that being a
vampire does not mean necessarily being Cainites or Kuei-Jin, so who knows what else these huge worlds
can reserve?

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 5. DISCIPLINES
As the Nagaraja belongs to both the Cainite and Cathayan worlds, provided they can acquire a mentor, they
can access to all the Disciplines of both worlds. With some caveats.
Since the body of a Nagaraja is totally inert to any kind of manipulation, internal and external, she is totally
incapable of using Disciplines involving a physical mutation. Therefore it is totally impossible for them to
learn Disciplines based on the mutation of the body’s deep essence (for example, Vicissitude and all the
Shintai Disciplines).
For obvious reasons, they cannot use Kuei-Jin’s Disciplines based on the dual soul, a trait they lacks.
Note: While a Nagaraja can learn and use freely Cainite and Kuei-Jin’s Disciplines, he cannot teach Cainite’s
Disciplines to a Kuei-Jin and vice versa. Basically, these two worlds are foreign to each other, the Nagaraja
are the only particular case.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EFFECT AND MUTATION

Can be considered “effect” any supernatural attribute added to the normal physical characteristics of a
character without changing his physical appearance. A “mutation” is, instead, a supernatural attribute that
adds or replaces one of the normal physical characteristics of the character, changing his appearance.
Example: Eyes of the Beast (Protean 1), generate a supernatural effect (red glowing eyes, connected
to the ability to see in the dark), but not an actual physical modification, likewise Earth Meld (Protean
3), generates an effect (immersion of the vampire body in the ground), but not even the slightest
change.
On the other hand the The Eyes of the Serpent (Serpentis 1) generate a supernatural effect through a
physical change, so it is unusable for a Nagaraja.
Nagaraja character cannot use all the Disciplines that create physical modifications; theoretically these
Disciplines can be learned and taught to others but not used, although is a rather bizarre practice.
Example: A Nagaraja might want to learn Serpentis, and working on it, brings it to level 6, so that he
can use the Breath of Basilisk; he is allowed to do so, as Breath of the Basilisk do not cause physical
modification but create only a supernatural effect, but all the first five Serpentis Disciplines cause
physical changes and are therefore unusable. Therefore, said Nagaraja will need to learn 5 powers he
can’t use before learning the one he is interested in. As said, a feasible practice, but a rather bizarre
one.

DISCIPLINES AND THE BEAST

The Nagaraja’s Beast is, in every way, like a normal Cainite Beast. However, the abnormal flow of energy
present in his “host” occasionally force it to behave in an “unexpected” way.
Among the various possibilities, there are some Disciplines that seem to awake the Beast (Black Wind,
Hellweaving, Iron Mountain, Kiai), probably due to the intrinsic ties that these Disciplines have with the
Wan Kuei’s Demon. Whenever a Nagaraja use one of these Disciplines, he must roll Self-Control (difficulty
7) or give in to the Beast (see “Berserker Frenzy”). These Disciplines seem to lash at the Beast, making her
angry; the roll must be performed only the first time one of these Disciplines is used, in each scene.
Strangely enough, even the use of Dark Thaumaturgy or Daimonon generate the same effect, although in a
different way. Whenever a Nagaraja actives a power of Daimonon or Dark Thaumaturgy (both Paths and
Rituals), he must roll Willpower (difficulty 8) or succumb to the Beast (see “Berserker Frenzy”); in this case
the Beast seems to feel threatened and, unlike the normal Berserker Frenzy, try to beat down first the
target of the power, and only afterward dedicate itself to all the others (if the recipient is the character
himself, he acts as in normal cases of Berserker Frenzy).

Celerity and Black Wind

If a Nagaraja knows Celerity and later learns Black Wind, something in this second Discipline pushes to have
the upper hand. Therefore, it converts all the Celerity dots in the corresponding Experience points and use

29
them to acquire the greatest possible number of levels of Black Wind. Is not true the other way around; a
Nagaraja who knows Black Wing cannot learn Celerity.
Strangely, Black Wind does not generate the same effect in Temporis, but the Nagaraja becomes unable to
use the Temporis powers that generate “extra actions” during the same turn he used Black Wind.

Fortitude and Iron Mountain

If a Nagaraja knows Fortitude and subsequently learns Iron Mountain, something in this second Discipline
pushes to have the upper hand. Therefore it converts all Fortitude dots in the corresponding Experience
points and use them to acquire the greatest possible number of levels of Iron Mountain. Is not true the
other way around; a Nagaraja knowing Iron Mountain cannot learn Fortitude.

CAINITE’S BLOOD MAGIC

The Nagaraja can learn any effect of Blood Magic, any type, be it a Path or a Ritual, and use them as long as
not inflicting short or long-term body modifications on the blood magician (as the Heart of Stone Ritual,
some Abyssal Mysticism rituals or effects of some Mortis Paths).
If the character fuel the powers of Necromancy (those requiring it) with Dark Soma, the roll difficulty
receive a -1 bonus. It’s not vice versa for Thaumaturgy (or other non-necromantic Blood Magic traditions),
but in certain cases such as the Lure of the Flames, the use of Shining Soma is likely to have a similar effect
(at the Sortyteller’s call).

KUEI-JIN’S RITES
The Nagaraja can learn any Kuei-jin Rite (in fact, in the past they have "stolen" many Yin rites, interiorizing
them in their peculiar Necromancy). They can learn rites that use Yin Chi (or which do not make use of Chi
but affect the Yin World), translating them into Necromancy rituals of the same level; can learn rites that
use Yang Chi (or use any type of Chi and affect the Yang World), translating them into Blood Magic rituals,
one level higher; and can learn rituals that make use of both forms of Chi as a Blood Magic ritual, two levels
higher. As always, the Storyteller is the final judge regarding which rites can be effectively “transformed” in
rituals.
As for the Disciplines, it is not possible to use Kuei-jin rituals that influence directly Hun and P’o or rites
inflicting physical transformations.
Also, not being part of the Kuei-jin society, for a Nagaraja is perfectly useless to learn the rites of expressly
social nature.
Note: Once the rites are “translated” into Necromancy or Blood Magic rituals, these rituals are usually
functional even to non-Nagaraja Kindred.

OPTIONAL RULE: YIN AND YANG

Despite their transformation turn them into a sort of hybrid, the Nagaraja are undeads, strangers to the
natural world. Therefore, all the rolls related to Kuei-Jin‘s Disciplines needing a direct approach to the Yang
(eg Yang Prana) are at +1 difficulty. Vice versa, and also due to their affinity for necromancy, all the rolls
related to Disciplines that have a direct approach to the Yin (eg Yin Prana) are at -1 difficulty.
The Storyteller is the only judge of which Disciplines undergo these changes. The Kuei-Jin rites translated in
Cainites rituals doesn’t count in this topic.
As a note, the Soma, the particular vitae of the Nagaraja, is so similar to Chi, to not arouse suspicion in the
Wan Kuei, even when is used to fuel Cainite Disciplines.

OPTIONAL RULE: THE THIRD EYE

According to legends, although they’re themselves rare, in more rare cases some Nagaraja have been seen
with a mysterious third eye on their forehead. For unknown reasons, this seems to be the only mutation
accepted in the static semblance of the Nagaraja.
The Third Eye is connected to the Disciplines of Chi'iu Muh, Obeah and Valeren, but such a rare exception
has also strict rules: the Third Eye (it’s the name the Nagaraja gave to the group of these Disciplines) cannot
accept an infinity of diverse powers, all centered on the same principle at the root of the same bodily

30
mutation. Therefore, only for the purpose of the Nagaraja, Chi'iu Muh, Obeah and Valeren are considered
different aspects of the same single Discipline, and any individual character can learn only one power for
each level of the Third Eye.
Example: Teké assemble his Third Eye Discipline with the first level of Obeah, the second and third
levels of Chi'iu Muh, the fourth of Obeah and the fifth of Valeren, but he can learn any other
combination of these three Disciplines (taking in consideration that the Nagaraja can’t learn or use
powers requiring the direct use of Hun and P’o, eliminating the possibility of fourth and fifth powers
of Chi'iu Muh)

SUITABLE DISCIPLINES
WESTERN EASTERN
Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Chimestry, Black Wind, Equilibrium, Feng Shui, Internalize, Iron
Dementation, Dominate, Fortitude, Melpominee, Mountain, Kiai, Tapestry, Tempest of Inward Focus,
Mytherceria, Obfuscate, Potence, Presence, Tzu Wei
Quietus, Temporis
Special: Obeah, Valeren Special: Chi'iu Muh
PARTLY USABLE DISCIPLINES
WESTERN EASTERN
Daimoinon, Obtenebration, Protean, Serpentis, Hellweaving
Thanatosis (only powers not requiring Demon Chi)
(only powers not generating physical mutations on Inward Way, Mibasham
the character) (only powers not using the Kuei-Jin dual soul)

Yang Prana, Yin Prana

(only powers not generating physical mutations on
the character)
UNSUITABLE DISCIPLINES
WESTERN EASTERN
Sanguinus, Vicissitude Balefire Shintai, Beast Shintai, Blood Shintai, Bone
(focus of these Disciplines is physical mutation) Shintai, Decay Shintai, Demon Shintai, Disease
Flight, Visceratika Shintai, Flesh Shintai, Ghost-Flame Shintai, Godbody
(developing these Disciplines provoke a body of Earth, Godbody of Fire, Godbody of Metal,
mutation). Godbody of Water, Godbody of Wood, Jade Shintai,
Poison Shintai, Radiation Shintai, Smoke Shintai,
Storm Shintai
(focus of these Disciplines is physical mutation)
Cultivation, Obligation
(the Nagaraja don’t have a dual soul)
Prayer-Eating
(not applicable)

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 NAGARAJA NECROMANCY
The Nagaraja are faithful followers of the necromantic practices, thus is not strange they studied and
researched independently the same knowledge – most of them, anyway –developed by the Giovanni (of
course, they stole many of those they didn’t developed).
A Nagaraja usually begins his Necromancy studies learning the Sepulchre Path, then committing himself in
the Vitreous or the Ash Path (is not uncommon for many of them to study both the Paths simultaneously
maintaining them about at the same level).
Nevertheless, the Nagaraja are not confined only to these Paths. Even if rarer, the Bone Path is not
unknown to Nagaraja; the members of the bloodline who took up residence in Africa managed, in one way
or another, to learn the secrets of the Path of Abombo while those who have made their home in the
Caribbean society can learn the local variants of the three main Paths (Ash, Sepulchre and Bone). It's all
about being in the right place and having the right connections. Despite any effort , the Mortuus Path of the
Harbingers of Skulls remains disconsolately unknown.
Finally, certain Masters have knowledge of some Paths of the ancient form of Necromancy once known as
Mortis, from the former Cappadocian Clan, scholars and necromancers like the Nagaraja; the one having
the possibility of dealing with these old Nagaraja monsters can get some of that ancient Clan knowledge
(actually, not many, probably an handful of rituals and not much more than the Path of the Grave’s Decay
and the Path of Haunting, a mongrel between the Cappadocian Mortis and Giovanni Necromancy).
For all these Paths, See “Vampire, the Masquerade: 20th Anniversary Edition”. For variants of the Caribbean
Necromancy Paths, see “Vampire, the Masquerade: Blood Magic, Secrets of Thaumaturgy”

NECROMANCY: PATH OF THE OBLIVION AND THE SOUL

Even if the Nagaraja are able to learn the Yin Prana Discipline, they have only an incomplete understanding
of this Discipline –created by beings very different from them –and not having the capacity of using certain
levels of this Discipline, they cannot help but consider the knowledge of such power as “incomplete”.
Then, over the centuries, the Nagaraja from the Coven of Ratri strove to duplicate the effects of the Yin
Prana in a Necromancy Path, complete and functional. Unlike the Yin Prana, the use of this Path does not
require the use of postures and movements to channel Yin energy, but simply a mental effort. The
individual still need peace and quiet, while letting his undead vitae circulating slowly and uniformly in his
corpse. Therefore it is impossible to use this Path if there isn’t Dark Soma in the body of the necromancer.
While focusing on evoking one of these powers a vampire is so estranged from reality that any melee or
brawl attack will hit him automatically (in case of rolls that require a certain number of successes, such as
staking, the roll is made get a -3 difficulty bonus). Note that, even if it’s related to themes unique and far
from the Western point of view, this is a Necromancy Path fully functional (in case it is used by a normal
Cainite, the prerequisite is that in his body are contained at least 2 Blood points). This Path is considered an
expansion and improvement of the Vitreous Path and is usually taught only to those who have mastered at
least three levels of that Path.
Unconfirmed rumors report that other members of the Ratri’s Coven are studying a thaumaturgic Path
similar to this one, but based on the Yang Prana. However, at the moment these are only rumors.

(1) Ghostly Walk

Focusing the energy connected to their undeath state, then tuning them into the shadows around himself,
the vampire sends in the Shadowlands the reflection of the light on him and the sound waves he generates,
effectively making himself not perceivable to most of the living and unliving beings in the physical world.
System: Activating this power requires 1 full turn of motionless concentration (so, the necromancer can
actively cast it on the second turn). The vampire must be in an area that provides concealment and dim
light or an area full of darkness, and then spends one Blood point and roll Dexterity + Occult (difficulty of
the local Shroud -2). In case of failure of this roll, for a couple of rounds he will actively stand out for all the
present.
If the roll is successful, as long as he remains stationary or move through areas of darkness or dim light, not
faster than a crawl, he will be actually invisible and inaudible. He can safely move under the moonlight or in
32
a room dimly lit with some candles. Beings who actively seek the vampire must have a mean of
supernatural perception (eg, Auspex level at or above the level of Necromancy vampire) and succeed in a
Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty of the vampire Stealth +4, max 9). His aura, however, will still be in the
physical realm, so it’s possible someone can perceive it by mistake, while watching something else.
The vampire will still be tangible, it’s just his image that “disappear”; should they cross a busy area, he will
have to roll Dexterity + Wits (difficulty 7, 9 if someone is actively looking for him), in case of failure he will
become, again, normally visible. As a final note, the vampire is visible and audible (but not tangible) across
the Shroud, since he actually sent those part of himself on the other side. The vampire will revert to his
normal situation if he enters Frenzy, choose to return normal (rolling Willpower, difficulty 10-Willpower) or
receive, in a single turn more damages than his Self-Control/Instinct (he can soak them, but as long as he
receive them, the requirement is fulfilled).

(2) Entropy Cloak

The vampire conjure an aura of pure chaos, from the Tempest, and wrap it around herself. This “cloak” is
invisible to mortals, but they perceive it as if there is electricity in the air. Observers using Chi Sight, Aura
Perception or similar powers can see it clearly. This cloak usually appears as a spiritual double of the
vampire, but is often influenced by the vampire’s Path of Enlightenment; for example the cloak of a
vampire on the Path of Death and the Soul or the Path of Bones will appear much aged and worn out than
her “physical image”, as if she was a corpse left in the ground for several weeks.
In any case, the conjuration of the Cloak of Entropy has several beneficial effects, both in battle and
otherwise.
System: The activation of this power requires 3 full turns of motionless concentration, then the character
burn 1 Blood point and roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 7). This power provides different effects (most of
these are functional to the setting that the Storyteller prefer to implement).
 The vampire may try to harmonize the aura of a ghost (or spectre) in contact with his cloak, to her
own feelings and desires, with a roll of Perception + Occult (difficulty equals the target's
Willpower). If successful, the Passions of the ghost in question temporarily change (for a number of
nights equal to the successes), aligning itself with the feelings exuded by the vampire; this cause
the ghost to become favorably inclined towards the vampire, at least temporarily.
 The vampire may use the cloak to influence other entropic spirits, assuming she can see them and
is able to interact with them (but he don’t need to leave the physical world). While the coat is on,
the vampire can use her Social Skills like Intimidation or Subterfuge against spirits, rolling with
difficulty equal to the spirit’s Gnosis +1. This effect can only be used on corrupted spirits (known to
the shapeshifters, as spirits of the Wyrm); spirits aligned to the original chaos of the creation
(otherwise known as Wyld) can only be intimidated, frightened or otherwise removed; spirits
affiliated to the concept of stasis (or Weaver) will consider a provocation any type of interaction
involving this effect, and will attack.
 For 1 more Blood point, the vampire can harmonize her cloak to the natural resonance in a weapon
of metal, the element of Yin according to the Eastern tradition. A vampire channeling appropriately
her undead aura conjures the power in that weapon (the power of the cloak transfers in the
weapon, if willing to use other effects of the coat, the vampire must activate it a second time). The
weapon must be entirely metallic or there should be, at least, a metal layer, that goes from the
handle to the blade (for example, a sword may be fine, unlike a crescent or an halberd). Note that
this application, corrode the weapon. Most of the weapons without some mystical protection will
resist only one scene before crumbling.
Holding said metal weapon, the vampire can channel the entropic energy through that object. A
metal object, such as a sword, can be charged with entropic energy for a scene. As long as the
vampire is holding the object, it inflicts aggravated damage to living beings and 3 more dices of
lethal damage to undead. If the vampire is beyond the Shroud, has a way of interacting over the
Shroud, or is in an area where the Shroud is nearly intangible (level 3 or less), the weapon can be
used to hit ghosts and spirits, and dealing damage directly to their Pathos.

33
  After charging the weapon, the vampire can discharge the corrosive power of the Tempest on a
material object corroding it. Organic objects crumble to pieces (in case the object is of large size,
the corrosion will create a roughly orbicular hole, sufficiently large to allow the passage of a
person), those of inorganic origin will suffer 3 levels of aggravated damage, and will probably be
destroyed or heavily damaged (small objects that can be normally picked up with an hand will
break or be irreparably damaged, the broader ones will be damaged, melting as if acid drilled a hole
wide enough for the passage of an arm). The weapon must touch the target in question, which
must be a material object (Dexterity + Melee to aim, if is an object held or worn by a person). After
this use, any mundane weapon will deplete its “entropic” charge – and likely crumble.
Note that the activation of this power creates a burst of entropic energy in the surrounding area, alerting
most of the supernatural beings (Perception + Alertness, difficulty 9; they will not know exactly what it is,
unless they had a prior deep knowledge of the Yin Prana or this Path), unless the Necromancer spend an
additional Blood point for the sake of containing the effect.

(3) Oblivion’s Absorption

Focusing intensely on the Underworld, the vampire assimilates particles of Oblivion from the other side of
the Shroud, scattering them into the surrounding environment. All the beings near the necromancer
become generally indifferent and lethargic.
System: The activation of this power requires 2 full turns of motionless concentration to absorb the
energies from the other side of the Shroud and release them into the physical side. The vampire roll
Stamina + Courage (difficulty of the local Shroud -2) to absorb the particles of the Oblivion without be
affected. The action can be repeated several times (up to 3 times), to clog the area in the power’s effects.
While more than one nearby necromancer can use this power, they will not exert additional effects over
the 3rd on the bystanders, but since it affects all the presents except the user, the different vampires can
hamper each other.
If the player roll a failure, the vampire has simply lost time (but the energies concentrated in any previous
use disperse, vanishing); if the player roll a botch, the Oblivion energy is discharged directly into the
vampire body, inflicting three dice of aggravated damage (soakable with Fortitude), if the player previously
used this power on the same area, or someone else did it and the energies are still around, said energies
adds on the botch (2 more dice of aggravated damage for each previous roll succeeded, for a maximum of 7
dices of aggravated damage).
The necromancer can choose, from 1 to 3 uses, trying to achieve the desired level. Note that submitted to a
supernatural perception (as Aura Perception), this process will appear as a thin gray mist that spreads from
the vampire; it cannot obstruct the view, but will still warn the user that “something” is wrong. The
Storyteller is the ultimate judge in defining the extension of the influenced “immediate surrounding area”,
but usually can be considered about the area of a small ballroom.
These are the effects of the uses of Oblivion’s Absorption:
1st use: All the beings in the area become apathetic. Discussions muffle to a faint murmur. All
difficulties to enter into any kind of frenzy (even Rotshreck) occur at +1 difficulty. Ordinary
mortals add +1 to all rolls difficulty.
nd
2 use: Victims become sleepy and very easy to hypnotize. Discussions will stop at the point that
every few minutes someone remembers to add a sentence. Using the power on mortals, the
vampire may lull them into a high suggestible trance-like state. The vampire cannot ask the
victims to carry out aggressive actions, or even involving rapid and coordinated movements.
But can ask them to stay still, let her pass, ignore her or act passively in any other way (“These
are not the fugitives you were looking for” “These are not the fugitives we were looking for”).
Unless the target get a success on a Willpower roll (difficulty 7), he will even forget to have
met the vampire. Rolls for any use of Dominate, Obfuscate, Chimestry or similar powers on
these individuals is performed at -1 difficulty.
Supernatural beings add +1 to each roll difficulty.
3rd use: Normal mortals must get at least 1 success on a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) to avoid falling
asleep. Those passing the roll remains in a coma-like state with open eyes. Unless overcoming
34
 a further Willpower roll (difficulty 9), they even forget that the event happened (but an
accurate use of Dominate 3, The Forgetful Mind, or similar power, can at least partially retrieve
the memory). The supernatural beings make the same rolls at difficulty respectively 5 and 7.
Such a concentration of undead energy creates necessarily some kind of circuit, reacting with
any undead. Any undead (Kindred, Kuei-jin and also any Risen and every sort of unliving being
or reanimated corpse) must roll Willpower (difficulty 6); a success allows him to continue to
act, with a +3 difficulty malus on each roll (+ 4 if he/it has Willpower under 4), otherwise it will
fall in a sort of Torpor for (11-Willpower) scenes. Obviously, if an undead has no Willpower (ie
zombies), it automatically get a failure.
Where not otherwise specified, the effects of this power last a scene, but can be protracted for a further
scene spending 1 point Blood for each interested target (the necromancer can choose the target that will
be affected in the “protracted” version).

(4) Oblivion’s Manipulation

The vampire recalls a great amount of entropic energy, which then she can models at will. Objects created
in this way usually appear made in a cold and blackish substance, solid but almost whirling if you don’t look
it directly. A disturbing particular is rather that, in rare cases, on the surface of the substance appear the
mark of an eye or a section of a dried human limb.
System: The vampire must concentrate motionlessly for 3 full turns and then spend a variable amount of
Blood points, depending on what she want to do. The vampire can “solidify” the evoked essence of the
Oblivion to create various objects: she can create chains, claws or blades of a glacial black substance.
Creating worldly objects costs 1 Blood point (more points if the object is large, as the Storyteller deems
appropriate); creating melee or throwing weapons costs 1 Blood point for a weapon that inflicts damage
equal to Strength, plus 1 additional Blood point for every dice of damage the weapon deals (according to a
typical weapon of that type, nobody can create in this way a knife that inflict Strength +7 damages!). Then
she must roll Manipulation + Crafts with a varying difficulty depending on size and complexity of the object
(for example, a knife devoid of details will have difficulty 5, a sword with a certain type of hilt 6, a key made
for open a certain lock 7 or 8, a large inlaid pillar with carvings and bas-reliefs made for supporting a
pavilion of the Coven, 9). Once an object is created it cannot be modified except by destroying it.
Note that the vampire can only create stiff objects: ropes, clothes and whatever else are not allowed, the
nature of Oblivion can be modeled, but it is not as malleable as the energies commonly used by Kuei-jin.
The tools created by the Oblivion are hard and cold, conveying malevolent feelings to the beings that touch
them. Is needed at least 5 in Strength (+ Potence) for trying to break an object made of this stuff, and at
least 4 in Willpower to hold off the disgusting feelings transmitted by the object. All the Empathy rolls
made when a character is touching an object created with the Oblivion are at difficulties +3; in case of a
botch, the distraction allows the sensations transmitted from the object to penetrate the soul of the
subject, said subject must then roll to resist Rotshreck (or any similar state he can incur).
The vampire can alter this energy in form of an armor, providing a soaking dice for each Blood point spent
in it (at best, at the same level of Courage of the character); this bonus apply on all attacks that use non-
living material (basically, anything but direct attacks carried out by strictly living creatures). Note that the
use of this power requires a roll on Manipulation + Crafts (difficulties 8) and that although these armor may
have any shape, the Nagaraja normally using this Path, usually prefer to create armor of Indian, Tibetan or
Mongolian shape. This power can be used only on the character herself.
The objects made with this power can be destroyed, as they behave like extremely sturdy models of that
type of items.
Note that a normal failure on the Manipulation + Crafts rolls simply waste the blood, while a botch inflicts
three dice of aggravated damage to anyone nearby, while the Oblivion energy detonates; also, if the
creation roll total only one success, the object may show one or more of the following defects, according to
the Storyteller (usually, this is the worst possible combination, depending on the intended use of the
object):
 On the object surface appear mark of an eye or a part of a dried human limb, this “mark” is not
fixed (in fact, is “something” that wandered into the Tempest and was taken along with the raw
35
 substance of Oblivion) but it seems to “travel” on the object surface, moving while no one is staring
directly. It would be superfluous to add that the effect is rather puzzling and annoying (individuals
with Courage of 2 or less must make one Willpower roll every scene, to stay in the same room with
this item). This type of defect is particularly suitable for mundane objects.
 The object gives off more than its normal negative energy, actively hampering the senses of the
wielder; anyone who touches the object, in addition to the normal Empathy penalty, will suffer a
Perception penalty on 1 dice; additionally, if the character attempts an Empathy roll while holding
the object, the Perception penalty will rise to 2 dices until the end of the scene. If Perception fall to
zero, any Perception roll will fail automatically. This defect is particularly suitable for weapons and
other gripping objects.
 The swirling matter of Oblivion was solidified in the object, but this fact does not hinder it to
continue swirling endlessly, as in the Tempest. The Oblivion fragments spin as tiny broken glass
pieces on the surface of the object, even though this will not affect its solidity. But, this means that
anyone and anything coming in contact for more than a split second with the object will get a level
of lethal damage per turn (this damage can be absorbed normally with Stamina and Fortitude). The
upside is that if someone hits violently the object, a rain of small blades will invest him directly and
instantaneously, inflicting a number of dice of lethal damage equal to the Blood points spent in the
creation of the object. Note that this “geyser” of Oblivion can be dodged with a reflexive roll of
Wits + Alertness (difficulty 9). This type of defect is particularly suitable for armor or gripping
objects. If the character wear under the armor, voluminous or bulky clothes or accessories, they
can be damaged by the armor (not the character himself).
Objects created with this power lasts one scene, unless the vampire spend 3 more Blood points and 1
Willpower point to make them permanent. It could be wise to use this power in the limits of acceptable,
the Nagaraja lived long enough to know that abuse of said power draw uncomfortable attention, and not
only from the True Dead. Furthermore, it is not advisable to make a permanent armor, since, given the
“rigid” nature of the object, it would probably be impossible to take off.

(5) Shadowlands’ Wanderer

The vampire begins the process with Ghostly Walk, channeling undead energies through himself to make
his whole body more susceptible to the events of the Shadowlands than the material world’s ones. When
this power has its full effect, the vampire can simply walk in any area of darkness and physically enter in the
Shadowlands.
System: After using Ghostly Walk (level 1 power of this path), the vampire concentrates motionlessly for
further 4 full turns, while spending 1 Blood point. Then, rolls Perception + Occult, difficulty equal to the
local Shroud. The axle of this power is exploiting the reflections already sent from the other side of the
Shroud, using them as “anchor” to pull the rest of the body on the other side of the Shroud, without
wasting precious time in the preparation of rituals and other powers.
 Botch: The same effects of a botch in Ghostly Walk and furthermore throughout all the next scene
the vampire will actively attract malevolent ghosts and specters as if he would be some kind of
undead magnet.
 Simple Failure: The physical body switch place with the reflection sent in the Shadowlands, and
therefore, even if the vampire is free to scamper safely in the afterlife territories, he will be
tangible, but totally invisible and inaudible for those who are in the Underworld; his appearance
and the noise he cause will be perceived, however, in the material world. This means that, while
the real body of the vampire can move freely in the Shadowlands, his “duplicate” will apparently
walk – in the physical world – through walls and other barriers. The vampire will not be conscious
of having “left behind” something, and since he is still able to see his body and hear the sounds
produced by himself, he will probably discover his lacking only when trying to interact with some
being in the Shadowlands.
A vampire stuck in this form can try to solve completely the problem canceling the power (a
Willpower roll, difficulty of the local Shroud), thus exiting from the Shadowlands. Once back in the
material world, he can try to move again beyond the Shroud with the “complete” form of the
36
 power (or can ignore the problem and go around in this “noticeable”, and probably Masquerade-
threatening, form).
 1 Success: The same effects that a simple failure, but the vampire will be immediately aware of the
imperfection; then, he can try to switch to the full form focusing for one further turn and spending
1 Willpower point, his “reflection” will follow him in the Shadowlands, automatically.
If the player wish, he can make a Perception + Occult roll (difficulty of the local Shroud) to transfer
part of his perceptions again in the physical world; in this form he will be located physically in the
Shadowlands, while his image and his words will be perceived in the material world, and he will be
able to see and hear in both realities (with 1 dice of penalty in all the Perception rolls, for the
sensory overload), many consider this form useful, especially when they need to deal with people
they don’t trust.
 2+ Successes: The power operates perfectly, and the necromancer passes entirely through the
Shroud, in the Shadowlands. If he wishes, he can switch from the full form of the power to the 1-
success form, rolling Willpower with difficulty equal to the local Shroud, he can transfer, in a single
stroke his reflection and part of its perceptions in the physical world; some necromancers use this
application to “appear” in front of someone they intend to deal or threaten, and then disappear
after their “offer” is made, but the uses are endless. A failure in this Willpower roll means the
necromancer can try again in 5 minutes, while a botch means he should spend 1 Willpower point
or slide in the 1-success form, immediately.
The vampire remains in the Shadowland as much as he wish; but, regardless of his will, his “reflection” will
follow him at dawn.
A vampire who ventures, willing or not, in the Tempest or in the lower layers of the Underworld after
leaving his “reflection” in the physical world, will undergo a number of levels of “mental” damage equal to
the level of the local Shroud, as the reflection tear itself while being aspired violently on the other side of
the Shroud. The vampire soak the damage using his Willpower + Courage (difficulty 7); any actual damage
eliminates a point of temporary Willpower. If the unfortunate vampire reaches 0 points of temporary
Willpower, he lose a point of permanent Willpower and then follow the normal rules.
Note that, once this power is canceled, is undone even the base-power of Ghostly Walk.

NECROMANCY: RITUALS
Note that many of the rituals over the fifth level are, of necessity, confined only to the knowledge of the
Elders or their direct Childes, and therefore they can be rarely found outside this bloodline.

LEVEL ONE

Preserve Corpse
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

LEVEL TWO

Ghost Lantern
This is one of the tricks taught by the mummy Inahuten to his closest allies, and is therefore usually known
only to the members of the Yama’s Coven.
The difficulty of the roll is 6 and the ritual consumes 1 Blood point.
See “Mummy, the Resurrection”.

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LEVEL THREE

Aura of Decay
The vampire can strengthen the feeling of corruption around her to the point where it can serve several
uses. It can gnarl wood, rust metal, and erode plastic, glass and dead organic material. This power has a
range of one foot from the vampire's body, but all those in the presence of the vampire will feel her
corruption.
System: The character need concentrate for (30 - 5 for each dot in Necromancy; at least 5) minutes, then
spend 1 Blood point and roll at difficulty 8. Objects subjected to this Aura of Decay generally break down
and become useless somewhere between one turn and one day after being targeted, depending upon the
material, the type of object, and its complexity. A stereo would stop functioning the first turn, but it would
take at least several hours to break down all the plastic, glass, metal, and rubber in it. A wooden stake
would begin to lose its pointed tip on the first turn and would be rotten and useless within a minute.
This power does not affect anything living or unliving.
The power endures for a number of scenes equal to the number of successes on the activation roll, but can
be canceled at any time.
If the character botch the activation roll, the power will still activate, but the vampire will not have control
over its effects, eroding anything in range, including his own clothes (or the clothes of the nearby people),
floors, furniture and everything else, in which case the effect will last an entire scene.

Bone-Oil Kiss
Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
See “World of Darkness: Blood & Silk”.

Construct the Human Bone Prison

This is a modified version of the Kuei-jin ritual of Construct the Dragon Bone Prison; with this variant, the
grid is made around the burial site of a ghost and makes it unable to move more than a dozen steps in any
direction, until the time range specified during the activation is not passed.
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Kindred of the East”.

Sense the Dead

This is one of the tricks taught by the mummy Inahuten to his closest allies, and is therefore usually known
only to the members of the Yama’s Coven.
The difficulty of the roll is 7 and the ritual consumes 1 Blood point.
See “Mummy, the Resurrection”.

The Deceptive Jade Chains of Yin Demon Command

Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
See “Kindred of the East: Dharma Book: Devil-Tigers”.

LEVEL FOUR

Deathsight
This ritual is a product of the Agni’s Coven. Essentially, it mimics the effects of the first level of the Vitreous
Path, demanding a major effort from the necromancer. Being relatively new and still being tested, is
restricted to the members of the Agni’s Coven.
The special feature of this ritual is that it does not need a nearby ghost to activate the interested wraithish
skill: rather, uses the eyes of the necromancer herself as an organ of perception, her undead essence as the
focus of the power and her susceptibility to necromancy to create a sort self-powered system, where the
same vampire becomes metaphorically the ghost, then observing the living world with the eyes of death.

38
System: The ritual’s activation requires a standard difficulty roll after about 10’of concentration, without
expense of Blood points. The necromancer can then use the ghosts power Deathsight until he feels
appropriate (at best, a number of scenes equal to the successes in the activation roll), interrupting it with a
single Willpower roll (difficulty 5). Should the necromancer botch this roll, she will remain “stuck” in this
situation for about 1 hour before trying again.
While the vampire keeps active the ritual Deathsight she becomes somewhat less physical and more
ghostly; this means that one of her Health’s levels “moves” on the other side of the Shroud and can be
attacked only by ghosts; if the necromancer lose all the Health’s levels except that one, the “shrouded”
Health’s level will return in the material plane, dissolving the ritual. Besides, if there are malevolent ghosts
on the other side, this fraction of the vampire may have been already attacked and things could become
ugly…
Regardless of everything, the ritual leaves a deep impression on the vampire mind: for every hour the ritual
has been active (round up) the vampire will suffer from a mild form of depression for a week, rolling 1
fewer dice in every Willpower roll and will suffer of the Nightmares Flaw, unless she follows the Path of
Bones or the Path of the Death and the Soul (in which case she might even find “enlightening” such a
situation… but the Willpower penalty will remain).

Lesser Manifestation
This is one of the tricks taught by the mummy Inahuten to his closest allies, and is therefore usually known
only to the members of the Yama’s Coven. Oddly enough, it was “re-invented” by the members of the
Ratri’s Coven, during the creation of the Path of the Oblivion and the Soul, so even some of these Nagaraja
are aware of it, under the name of “Whispers in the shadows”. This variant allows a ghost (or a
necromancer who is on the other side of the Shroud) only to “appear” and interact with the physical world
speaking and with gestures, he cannot touch anything or be touched by anyone, unless this being can
interact with objects beyond the Shroud.
The difficulty of the roll is 7 and the ritual consumes 1 Blood point.
See “Manifestation”, on “Mummy, the Resurrection”.

Shadowgate
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

The Dark Touch

The vampire can direct destructive energies toward living, undead, and dead (wraith) opponents. The
vampire causes them to suffer terrible pain and to begin decomposing. The nature of the effects varies. The
vampire must be within 10 feet of the victim and must reach her hand out toward her.
System: This ritual must be prepared beforehand. The vampire must thoroughly coat one of his hands with
a layer of vitae (1 point), while chanting softly for 10’.
The ritual will affect the first living (or unliving) being touched by the vampire; in combat situation a simple
success in a Brawl roll (difficulty 5) will suffice. The character then roll Charisma + Occult (difficulty equal to
Stamina +3 of the victim) and add a number of dice equal to the successes on the activation roll. The victim
will suffer 2 lethal damage per success, this damage can be absorbed only with supernatural methods.

LEVEL FIVE

Manifestation
This is one of the tricks taught by the mummy Inahuten to his closest allies, and is therefore usually known
only to the members of the Yama’s Coven. This variant mimics perfectly the ritual of the Undying.
The difficulty of the roll is 7 and the ritual consumes 3 Blood points.
See “Mummy, the Resurrection”.

39
Shadowland Passage
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

LEVEL SIX

Black Blood
This ritual, normally used only in the Yama’s and Agni’s Covens, makes many functions of the vampire blood
working for wraiths as for humans. The Kiss now creates ecstasy, the vampire can Blood Bond wraiths into
her service, and ghoul-wraiths gain several advantages. The Blood Bond functions the same as it does upon
any living creature, requiring three drinks to create a Regnant. The Masters deny emphatically that this
ritual can be used for the Embracing of a ghost; to some Journeymen, such emphasis seems suspicious, but
so far the clumsy attempts by the younger members of the bloodline, not yielded any result.
System: This ritual, which can be performed only while on the “dead” side of the Shroud, grants the
vampire intense empathic faculties, and transfer them to his vitae. The difficulty of the roll and activation
time of the ritual are standard, it does not require any expenditure of blood points. However, by spending 1
Blood point, the player can turn this roll in an extended roll, rolling again all the dices and adding all the
successes to the ones already obtained with the first roll. The power remains active for a scene for success.
The blood bond is implemented providing vitae (or Dark Soma) to the ghost, which transforms in pure
energy when it comes out of the vampire body, the power of the ritual turns it into pathos with strong
bonds, linking the ghost to Nagaraja, thus simulating the same effects of a blood bond.
This bond acts like the normal blood bonds; the subject must drink three times, in different nights, to
create a bond between Regnant and thrall; a Wraith-ghoul becomes somehow more “corporeal” gaining an
extra Corpus level and an extra Strength dot.
The ghost must “drink” at least one time at month for maintaining this empowered state.

Mass Grave
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

LEVEL SEVEN

Oblivion’s Dance
The vampire swirls about, using her own body as a conduit to bring forth the nothingness energies of the
Underworld into the Living Lands. The energy pours from the vampire's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth and
affects everything in the vicinity.
System: The character dance wildly, as if she is a representation of the pure chaos of the Storm, for 2 full
hours, after which make the activation roll (if her Stamina is under 4 dots, she must spend 1 Blood point per
hour, for the sake of keeping the tempo). Then she spend 1 Blood point and rolls Stamina + Athletics
(difficulty 8). For every success she gets two applications of this ritual. These applications remains active
until dawn. If the necromancer is in the Shadowlands at dawn, the applications remains until he choose to
come back in the living world
The effects of Oblivion's Dance are both the ones or Aura of Decay and The Dark Touch.
Unlike Aura of Decay, the decay rate is tripled (most of the organic objects will corrode in a few seconds)
and it also works on the Shadowlands “objects”. Only spiritual objects in Soulsteel or comparable strength
can survive this kind of energy.
Unlike The Dark Touch, the necromancer may choose to release the power when desired (he must touch
the victim anyway) and the damages are aggravate.
If the player botch the activation roll, the Nagaraja undergoes the full effect of both powers on himself,
rolling against herself (and adding 1 base success on all the results).

40
 BLOOD MAGIC: RITUALS
LEVEL TWO

Black Water
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

Harmonious Shielding of the Guarded Home

Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
This ritual focus is to protect the haven of a vampire (or the grave where his mortal body rests when the
soul is temporarily removed or he is in Torpor) from desecration or infiltration.
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Kindred of the East”.

Trace the Dragon's Blood

Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
With Trace the Dragon Blood the vampire uses his Soma to call the Chi flowing between Dragon nests. In
essence, Dark Soma calls Yin and Shining Soma calls Yang. The ritual allows the vampire to see all the
powerful Chi lines within his visibility radius and identify them as living or entropic energy.
The normal Cainites cannot use this ritual, lacking a form of dual energy.
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Kindred of the East”.

LEVEL THREE

Blood Preservation
Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin, over thousand years ago.
For the peculiar differences with both Kuei-Jin and Cainites, the Nagaraja can use this ritual only on their
own vitae, which is then “crystallized” taking the form of a sort of jerky. This form of crystallized Soma,
works equally well for providing vitae to ghoul or for bloodbonding other Nagaraja. If this modified ritual is
used by non-Nagaraja Kindred, will create a rather disgusting version of the ritual Principal Focus of Vitae
Infusion, because the Cainite must still strive to maintain the “meat” in the stomach while it melts in vitae
(a roll on Willpower for each scene, difficulty 6; usually is needed half an hour for the “meat” to fully
dissolve in vitae).
See “World of Darkness: Blood & Silk”.

Donning the Flawless Mask

Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
This ritual, with appropriate adjustments, is used by the Nagaraja to hide their unique dentition. Since the
effects are much lesser than those of the original rite, the necromancer don’t need a dragon line (which
they could not access, anyway), but still requires only a small amount of crystallized Shining Soma (3 points,
or an equal quantity of stolen Chi Yang).
The normal Cainites cannot use this ritual, lacking a form of dual energy.
See “Kindred of the East: Dharma Book: Bone Flowers”.

Moonlight Dancers
This ritual is quite common among Nagaraja of the Covens of Yama and Rudra, who usually teach or use it
in favor of other vampires in exchange for boons.
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

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LEVEL FOUR

Ebon Wardings
Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
See “Kindred of the East: Dharma Book: Devil-Tigers”.

Construct the Dragon Bone Prison

Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
Through this ritual, the character can trap another vampire (Kuei-jin or Cainite) in its resting place, thereby
making the target unable to leave said prison until the time range specified during the activation is not
passed.
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Kindred of the East”.

Mist of the Lotus

The Nagaraja have quickly get to know the Indian members of the Rising Phoenix Dharma. They managed
to get this ritual almost as quickly.
See “Kindred of the East: Heresies of the Way”.

Tithing to the Ancestor

Kuei-jin ritual stolen and adapted by members of the Covens of Ratri and Agni to draw Soma from the
revenant at their service.
See “Kindred of the East: Heresies of the Way”.

Wear the Lesser Mask

Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin. It’s mostly used by the more
experienced member.
See “Kindred of the East: Dharma Book: Thousand Whispers”.

LEVEL FIVE

Encircle
Ritual stolen, allegedly by members of the Ratri’s Coven, from the Kuei-Jin.
This ancient ritual is very rare among Nagaraja, that are not warriors by nature. But the Elders Anashwara
and Rashmi preserved copies of this ritual, relaying it to their direct Childes, to fight more efficiently the
Rakshasa.
See “Vampire, the Dark Ages: Wind From the East”.

Haunting Breeze
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand”.

Restoring the Dharmic Balance

This ritual has been stolen from the Kuei-Jin by some Pariah Nagaraja and only affects them, as only in
them the Kuei-jin features has taken over.
This ritual is only used by them to bring back Pariah who slipped in the state of wight. Once used, the ritual
take back the wight at a minimum level of understanding (in game terms, it bring back a wight to Humanity
1, even if before he followed a Path). It has no effect if carried out more than once every (10 -
Conscience/Conviction) years on the same individual.
See “Vampire, the Masquerade: Kindred of the East”.

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 6. MERITS AND FLAWS

PHYSICAL
Walking Corpse (1 pt. Merit)
The proximity to the Oblivion forces has influenced in some way certain Nagaraja, making them much more
similar to the ghosts they study and exploit. These Nagaraja are much more than undead vampires, they
are half way on the road to death, almost dead.
The character suffers all the effects of the Flaw “Deathly Pallor” (don’t buy the Flaw) and loses the basic dot
in Appearance (starting from 0 instead of 1). On the other hand the character feels much less the pain, so
her penalty from injury decrease by 1 dice (so there will be no a penalty for the Hurt and Injured levels, only
"-1" dice for Wounded and Mauled and only “-4” dices for Crippled), and will suffer a penalty of 3 dices in
all the Perception-based rolls regarding touch (with Heightened Senses or similar powers, the penalty is
reduced to 2 dices).

Retractable teeth (3 pt. Merit)

Unlike most of the Nagaraja, the character has a normal human dentition. The teeth of a Flash Eater sprout
out according to the vampire will, only when he needs to feed (or is in Frenzy), overlapping with the
"human" ones; all the features of this second set of teeth is unchanged from the standard Nagaraja.

MENTAL
Necromantic Attitude (1 pt. Merit)
The character’s personal attitude or the education given by his teacher accomplished a small miracle. The
character can actually guess the right answer, or at least understand the most plausible path, when faced
with choices that have anything to do with the nature of death (Storyteller’s choice).
The difficulty for each roll regarding the forces of death has a “-1” bonus, for him. Are NOT included rolls
regarding necromantic Disciplines, Blood Magic or rituals.

Entropic Lethargy (3 pt. Flaw)

The character has developed a sort of allergic reaction to the forces of death. Whenever someone, other
than him, uses some kind of supernatural power linked to the energies of death (even the ghosts
themselves), the character is caught by a kind of apathy that affects him at least until the end of the scene,
and still until he will not move away from the area.
As long as he remains in this state of apathy, consider the character's Willpower 1 dot under, for the
purposes of each roll he make (not Domination difficulty, for example).
This effect applies only if the character realizes, in some way, that a power was used.

Necromantic Abstinence (4 pt. Flaw)

For some the Necromancy is an art, for others a delight, for a small handful ... becomes a drug. The
character suffering this flaw is perversely dependent on the pleasure given by playing with entropic forces
and the souls of the dead.
The character’s Humanity will never rise above 7 (but a Path of Enlightenment can); he must also use the
Necromancy at least once a day, or start to become restless. If he don’t use Necromancy for a day, will lose
a dot in Self-Control/Instinct, the second day will lose a second dot and so on. When the Self-
Control/Instinct drop to zero, he will start losing temporary Willpower, and will be unable to regain it. If the
Willpower drops to zero, the character, like a the last-phase drug-addict, will no longer be able to control
his instincts and in the first messy moment will try to use any necromantic power he knows (Discipline,
43
Blood Magic, Ritual etc), preferably the one of the higher level, on the closest individual, regardless the
victim is friend or foe.
Note that if Self-Control/Instinct is already at zero, the effect will take place too, in the case the character
reaches zero Willpower points for any other reason.
Finally, the use of some necromantic effect regenerate the whole Willpower lost for Necromantic
Abstinence and return 1 dot of the lost Self-Control/Instinct. Any further use of necromantic abilities will
restore a dot of Self-Control/Instinct (apply in this count also the "daily" application).

SOCIAL
Bid from the Agni’s Coven (1 pt. Merit)
For one reason or another, the character was invited in the Agni’s Coven (therefore he is unlikely a newly
created character) and has given a refusal. Although it is unlikely that the character can hope for a second
offer, there’re rumors around that he is at such level to enter the Coven. Other Nagaraja are eager to
collaborate with the character (for personal interest or genuine love for knowledge), so the character will
always get an extra dice in each Social roll involving lesser grade Flesh Eater or Nagaraja of his own Coven;
also, the Storyteller may allow the character to buy an extra dot of Status or Fame (related to the
Bloodline).

Crypt’s Administrator (1 pt. Merit)

The character manages one of the Nagaraja Crypts. He is probably a young Master or perhaps a promising
Journeyman to whom a Master has entrusted the Crypt. The important thing is that all the Nagaraja who
gather in the Crypt are required to give him respect. The character roll at difficulty -1, for every Social roll
against another Nagaraja inside a Crypt or in its immediate surrounding area (“immediate surrounding
area” in the Storyteller’s view), at the same time every Social roll (from a Nagaraja) against the character in
said area is made at difficulty +1.
And, of course, the interesting Occult Library of the Crypt is totally available for him.

Agni’s Coven Membership (2 pt. Merit)

The character was chosen as a member of the Agni’s Coven. This membership gives the total support of any
nearby Nagaraja (if she contact them and unless she asks an unreasonable or extremely dangerous service).
This Merit is not suitable for newly created characters, since the requirements for a member of this Coven
are well above the standard.
In addition, the Storyteller may allow the character to buy 1 or 2 extra dot of Status or Fame (related to the
Bloodline).

Student of the Elder (2 pt. Merit)

The character was trained, for some time, by one of the twelve original Nagaraja. This provided him with a
first-rate education, but especially gives him an advantage against other Nagaraja. In any social challenge
(including Occult Knowledge rolls) against another Nagaraja, the character rolls one extra dice.

Tal'Mahe'Ra Membership (2 pt. Merit)

The character is a recognized member of the Tal'Mahe'Ra, the True Black Hand. This can open a large
number of doors for knowledges, Mentors and Contacts. Usually, possessing this Merit means the character
is also a member of Yama’s Coven.

Mausoleum’s Administrator (3 point Merit)

The character manage one of the ten Nagaraja Mausoleums. She is probably a Master or perhaps a
powerful Journeymen to whom a Master has entrusted the Mausoleum. The important thing is that all the
Nagaraja who gather in the Mausoleum are required to pay her respect. The character roll at difficulty -1,
for every Social roll against another Nagaraja inside the Mausoleum or otherwise in its immediate
44
surrounding area (“immediate surrounding area” in the Storyteller’s view), at the same time every Social
roll (from a Nagaraja) against the character in said area is made at difficulty +1.
And, of course, the mighty Occult Library of the Mausoleum is totally available for her.
In addition, the Storyteller may allow the character to buy 1 or 2 extra dot of Status or Fame (related to the
Bloodline).

Mage Contact (3 point Merit)

The character has some kind of acquaintance belonging to the some magic Tradition, maybe even from the
Euthanatos Magi. This contact is not necessarily a close ally of the character, might even ignore the true
nature of the character and probably will not hasten to his aid, but will be probably willing to provide
various kinds of informations to the character.
The origin of this relation are left to the player and the Storyteller, but they should be pretty damn good.

Ananasi Contact (4 pt. Merit)

Like “Mage Contact”, but even rarer. More likely for a member of the Agni’s Coven.

Back into the fold (4 pt. Merit)

The character is a Pariah (having purchased the appropriate Flaw or become one in the course of the story),
but with some surprising actions managed to earn the respect of a Coven, therefore she has the
opportunity to become part of it (save for the Coven of Agni). Her rank will be slightly less than a
Journeyman, and will be basically impossible to rise in rank (unless she, somehow, manages to gain the
Generation attribute). Therefore, the normal penalty of the Pariah (see below) becomes a simple 1 dice
penalty in every Social roll including other Nagaraja, but only if they belong to her own Coven.
Nevertheless, for every other social feature she is considered a proper member of the Coven and will be
treated accordingly.

Kuei-jin Contact (4 pt. Merit)

Like “Mage Contact”, but even rarer. More likely for a member of the Ratri’s Coven.

Sluagh Contact (4 pt. Merit)

Like “Mage Contact”, but even rarer. More likely for a member of the Agni’s Coven.

Deatly Pallor (1 pt Flaw)

No matter how much blood the vampire drinks or burns, her skin will always remain pale and cold as a
bloodless corpse. Because of this deathly pallor, the difficulty for any Social roll is increased by +1, and she
is more easily marked as vampire.

Rough (1 pt. Flaw)

The character is known to be a short-tempered individual, quite prone to violence (it’s not necessarily true,
is simply a rumor going around). Although elsewhere this can turn into something positive, in the scholarly
lineage of the Nagaraja is a prominent defect. Many of the character acquaintances secretly wonder what
kind of blunder took her sire when he choose to Embrace her (maybe, even her own sire is questioning
himself regarding the event).
Therefore, other Nagaraja tend to ignore the character as much as possible, up to the point of “forgetting”
to invite her to the local meetings of the bloodline. The character suffers a constant +2 difficulty penalty on
all Social rolls regarding members of the Nagaraja bloodline (except with Intimidate). But, she will get no
malus and 1 extra dice if said rolls involve Intimidate.
On the other hand, if her bad reputation gets worse, things can get ugly, and a Master can even force her to
leave the Coven, becoming Unaligned (see “Unaligned”).

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Unaligned (1-2 pt. Flaw)
The character has exceeded his primary education and become a Journeyman, but he is not a member of a
Coven. The Unaligned Nagaraja are disliked by their kinsmen, as they do not bring any benefit to the
common cause.
In the 1-point version, the character has been promoted only recently, thus his action can still be
considered a “juvenile mistake” of a still immature individual; as such, if the individual repent, in the future,
others might even forget this lack (but he will be subjected to some kind of “entry-test”); until that time,
every Social roll against other Nagaraja is made at +1 difficulty.
In the 2-points version, the character effectively leaved a Coven or remained independent for more than a
mortal lifetime; he insisted for a long time in his "independent" behavior and many consider him a lost
cause; at this point, even if he could get in another Coven (the one he leaved will not accept him again) he
would not be welcomed by anyone and will hardly be considered for a rank advancement. Every social roll
against other Nagaraja is made at +1 difficulty, and in these roll he will also suffers a 1 dice penalty. In
addition, it will be very difficult to obtain knowledge or other kinds of occult teachings from other Nagaraja.
A young Unaligned Nagaraja (1 pt.) persevering in his behavior can develop the 2 pt. version of the Flaw,
given enough time (around a mortal lifetime)
The Unaligned Nagaraja are not considered Outcasts.

Outcast (4 pt. Flaw)

The character has repeatedly broken the Nagaraja Traditions without a proper motivation (at least, proper
in the eyes of others Nagaraja) or is suspected of having voluntarily caused the Final Death of another
Nagaraja. Whatever the case, he is now considered an Outcast.
Although other Nagaraja will not try to hurt him –voluntarily, at least – they will try to avoid any kind of
relation with him. This means that he is not entitled by rights any asylum in a Crypt or Mausoleum, nobody
will provide occult knowledge and he will not be necessarily helped in case of danger (but may well receive
unwelcome visits, if daring to reveal the bloodline secrets to outsiders or annoy some particularly ill-
tempered Flesh Eater).
Moreover, it is likely that someone (usually at least a Master assisted by two other Nagaraja) is
investigating the act; for example, if the character were found guilty of having destroyed another Nagaraja
without a justifiable reason (such as self-defense) and not for a greater good, but for simple self-
gratification (or even Diablerie), it is likely that said Nagaraja will get even more problems to worry about...
On the other hand, it could be possible to prove his own innocence and try to regain the trust of the
bloodline, but is a long and rugged road.

Rakshasa (7 pt. Flaw)

True or not, the character is considered a Rakshasa by his kinsmen. Rarely a Nagaraja resolves to use
violence, and even more rarely he attack on sight; the presence of a Rakshasa is the greatest exception to
this rule. The character can reasonably expect to be attacked by all members of the bloodline who have an
inkling of his condition (and many of their allies, of course).
On the other hand, something else might be interested in him ...

SUPERNATURAL
Attuned Soma (1 pt Merit)
For some reason, is easier for the character to draw one type of Soma (only one). In any feeding situation,
the character gets 1 more point of the chosen Soma and 1 less point of the opposite type of Soma
(assuming he take at least a total of 3 points, if less, follow the normal rules).
This Merit can be acquired only once. For obvious reasons, a Dhampir Nagaraja cannot buy this Merit and,
if a Nagaraja becomes a Dhampir, he loses it.

46
I’m Tempest (6 pt. Merit)
The long stay in the Shadowlands can produce strange results in vampires. Maybe, the character is the
result of some strange experiment of his Sire, or this is an effect derived from the debilitating interest for
the other side of the Shroud. The main point, is that the character is partially shielded from the forces of
the Tempest; moreover, his “tolerance” to the more lethal force of the Underworld seems to have brought
him considerable sympathy among the ghosts known as Specters.
When the character takes damage from the Tempest, in the Shadowlands, he automatically sustain 1 dice
of damage less than the set amount. Also, after soaking in the usual methods, he can spend 1 point of
temporary Willpower and then absorb the remaining damage rolling his permanent Willpower. In addition,
the Specters will be unusually “friendly” with the character; Specters still capable of speaking will probably
be willing to chat with him, and the others will probably not attack him, if unprovoked. If the character
know how to play his cards, he might even be able to stroll safely in the Labyrinth, and it would be
reasonably easier to acquire Allies among them.
Finally, it’s highly likely that the character, once met the Final Death, will immediately become a Spectre,
and only the Unborns know what such a being could do.

Natural Pariah (2 pt. Flaw)

Something went wrong in the character Embrace, something that can at best be described as a sort of a
mystic overload. The point is that the Sire’s Generation not passed to the Childe, and the character is
currently without a Generation. Physiologically he follows the definition of a No-Generation Nagaraja (see
"Physiology", pg.8). From the social point of view he suffers from the same penalty of a Pariah (see below);
however, he can overcome this problem, if he want and can, with a Diablerie on a Cainite (in the case of a
Pariah, they are temporarily exempt from obedience to the sixth Nagaraja Tradition as long as they apply
common sense and their victim is outside the circle of Nagaraja and their allies). If instead he choose to
maintain his “weakness”, he might even end up earning respect from his kinsmen, Pariah and not.

Pariah (5 pt. Flaw)

The character, not trusting the Nagaraja Traditions, has practiced Diablerie on another Kindred (probably
not another Nagaraja or she would also be declared an Outcast, see above) and has proved too weak for his
intent; as a result she lost her “Generation” and devolved to the Pariah state. Physiologically she follows
the definition of a No-Generation Nagaraja (see "Physiology", pg.8). From the social point of view suffers a
+3 difficulty penalty in any Social roll against a “pure” Nagaraja (excepting those that take place in an
environment external to the bloodline and those related to a Discipline, which follows the normal rules).
She can try to overcome this problem, if she want and can, with an ulterior Diablerie on a Cainite (in the
case of a Pariah, they are temporarily exempt from obedience to the sixth Nagaraja Tradition as long as
they apply common sense and their victim is outside the circle of Nagaraja and their allies), but the
outcome can be even worse (see “Nagaraja Dhampir”, below).

Nagaraja Dhampir (7 pt. Flaw)

As for Pariah, the character has practiced Diablerie on another Kindred (probably not another Nagaraja or
she would also be declared an Outcast, see above), and proved to be too weak for her own intent. Her
inner strength has proved insignificant, and now she can barely be defined an immortal. Now she is an half-
vampire, a Dhampir. Physiologically she follows the definition of an Almost Vampire (see "Physiology",
pg.9). From the social point of view, she automatically loses any Social roll against a “pure” Nagaraja
(excepting those that take place in an environment external to the bloodline and those related to a
Discipline, which follows the normal rules), suffers a +2 difficulty penalty against Pariah and +3 against
Natural Pariah (same details).

47
 7. STORYTELLING: THE FALL
METAPLOT-RELATED SECTION

This content is purely optional, and its goal is to integrate the metaplot regarding the Week of Nightmares and the
following months. Therefore the Storyteller is encouraged to modify dates, places and mentioned characters at her
own wish, to better adapt them to her story.

THE COVENS’ FALL

This lineage, lived in the shadows of other vampires for whole millennia, couldn’t know to quietly jog to the
almost total destruction, as if something had carefully planned everything.

The Fall of Yama

June 1999, the Nagaraja Elders were in Enoch for a council, and along with the leaders of the Tal'Mahe'Ra
they were planning to discuss the sect’s future objectives; the Nagaraja were willing to file a motion to
expand the sect’s membership to the Harbinger of the Skull, after they had been “properly prepared”. The
extraordinary meeting was attended by two Elders of each congregation, while the third remained to
coordinate the situation of his own Coven.
When the attack of the Stygia’s wraith began, the vampires realized immediately it wasn’t the usual
guerrilla, and therefore all the nearest True Black Hand’s blood mages and necromancers were recalled to
Enoch, to defend it; as such, almost all the Yama’s Nagaraja were near the ground zero of the ghost-nuke,
with no more than four or six Rudra’s members sent as reinforce (the Agni’s and Ratri’s Nagaraja were
spared because the two Covens combined had fewer vampires than the single Coven of Rudra, and both
absolved too important missions to be used in a simple skirmish, even if it was large as this one).
This means that when the bomb fell on Enoch, about half of Nagaraja was in the ghost city (or had sunk in
Torpor while fighting the stygian wraiths and had been dragged into the catacombs for protection). In a
single stroke, 8 of the 12 Elders were destroyed, along with half of the bloodline, and almost all were
Masters or expert Journeymen. The Yama’s Coven was mauled till four Journeymen and one Master, that
were still guarding the worldly Mausoleums, along with a handful of Apprentices. No one had seen the
third Elder of Yama, Akshath. While is certain he wasn’t in Enoch, he never resurfaced, after the Week of
Nightmares.
But this was only the beginning ...

The Fall of Agni

At the same time, an Antediluvian started to wake up in India, while a horde of his Childes had already
woken up and caused uproar for some time. All his descendants were restless, and strange events were
happening and strange “things” were appearing out of thin air, to the point that even humans had begun to
notice it.
It was a too good temptation. The Elder Indukanth –remained on the physical world on behalf of the Agni’s
Coven – wasn’t aware of what was happening in the Shadowlands. He, then, moved from his dwelling
Crypt, in Kashmir, along with half a dozen of Agni’s Nagaraja and a couple of vampires of the Ratri’s Coven.
Their goal, decided and designed months before, was to investigate the phenomenon – at a safe distance
and without risk.
But all the Nagaraja cautions were for nothing. The group of the Elder was taken aback when a Ravnos
Methuselah, just woken up and in the grip of a mad thirst, broke into the Nepalese village where the Flesh
Eaters had settled to watch the events. Despite the strength accumulated over the centuries, the Nagaraja
could not resist against a Methuselah made even more powerful by the awakening of his grandsire. One
Ratri’s vampire managed to escape, bringing the news to the Ratri’s Mausoleum, just before the battle’s
highlight. Apparently, no other Nagaraja escaped the Ancient’s fury.

48
The Fall of Ratri
The same struggle between the Antediluvian, the Kuei-jin Bodhisattvas and other supernatural beings that
took part in the conflict, devastated the northeastern part of India and Bangladesh. It fully invested the
Mausoleum of the Ratri’s Coven, where the Elder Hridya had managed to gather about half of the Coven
(between fifteen and twenty vampires) along with a few dozens of Marijava revenant, to guard the
knowledge the Ratri’s Nagaraja had gathered in thousands of years.
The Mausoleum was attacked several times by the illusions created by the insane Antediluvian and
eventually fell; while the mausoleum was sinking underground, its occupants were destroyed or fled,
victims of their own terrified Beasts.
Until the rising sun didn’t caught them in the open, setting them on fire.

The Fall of Rudra

At that moment an antagonist, hidden for the entire tragedy, came forward in the last act. Someone had
carefully cultivated a vast network of contacts, collecting information on the hated Nagaraja Elders. No one
can say whether this being was aware of what had happened to Enoch, Nepal and Bangladesh, but acted
exactly as if these events had been planned. Maybe he only prepared himself for a moment of weakness of
the Nagaraja…
Through his contacts, he informed some Sabbat packs in key-positions of the presence of a number of
"Antediluvians’ powerful servants", then relaying all the data he had collected over time on the havens of
the Rudra’s Elders. To make thing worse, the havens of Elders often corresponded to the Crypts, or
Mausoleums, inhabited by Masters, Journeymen and Apprentices.
In the first days following the Week of Nightmares, all the able Sabbat packs converged on these sites. In
this case too, the result was a carnage; the Nagaraja were not equipped to counter a mass attack and their
contacts in the Black Hand had died in Enoch or dispersed somewhere. No one could warn them before it
was too late.
The Elder Easwar was present when an attack of Gangrel Antitribu assisted by Serpents of the Light and
Harbingers of the Skull flattened the Indianapolis Mausoleum, in the United States. The Sabbat failed to
diablerize him, but only because the flaming Mausoleum collapsed on him and most of his assailants. Less
fortunate were many of the Masters and Journeymen living in other havens and Crypts.
The Coven of Rudra had not been destroyed, but it was actually beheaded.

In a matter of weeks, the whole Nagaraja race could well be as good as annihilated. Almost all the Elders
were missing, most of them presumably dead once and for all, and at best one in four Nagaraja had
survived the various disasters that were unleashed on the race. Most Flesh Eaters scattered around the
entire globe did not even come near the Master rank.

AFTER THE FALL

Rakshasa
The rumor that began spreading, insistent among the survivors was that all what happened was work of
Duratman, the first Rakshasa. The young panicked Nagaraja thought that despite Duratman served one of
the Yama King, evidently his services earned him a certain liberty of action, for the sake of “tidying up” his
own personal matters. And he had done it, permanently.
The rumor took even more consistency when became known that at least four Rakshasa had struck on the
surviving members of the bloodline, in the weeks following the Week of Nightmares. Although in two cases
they had been beaten – and in one of these the Rakshasa was even destroyed – other occasional attacks
had led to the destruction of more precious Nagaraja.
What the Nagaraja had always ruled out was that the Rakshasa could in turn Embrace new Childes,
substantially increasing their number. In time, every surviving Rakshasa had created a small following of
Childes that - probably - he totally controlled. Now these bloodthirsty long-lost relatives were unleashed on
the Nagaraja.
49
Once dignified, now the Flesh Eaters felt hunted by their own black sheeps. Given the continued silence of
their former Tal'Mahe'Ra allies regarding numerous appeals for asylum, the Nagaraja did what they rarely
thought, and even more rarely done; they gathered.

Of one Blood
After several months of disputes and attempts to reach an agreement, the Nagaraja finally managed to
meet in Mumbai (Bombay), India. The havoc of the Week of Nightmares had left a heavy aftermath, since
the Kuei-jin pounced in forces on the eastern and north-central areas of India, taking advantage of the
almost complete destruction of the Ravnos (that constituted a good half of the local Cainites) and the
situation of total chaos. This allowed the Flesh Eaters to enter the city without alerting the local vampiric
authorities (whose attentions were far too focused elsewhere) and feeding without causing excessive
disruption. The reclamation of some boons owed by the local Assamite, put an end to all the remaining
problems.
The Nagaraja could then – finally – perform an actual count of their members. Less than fifty vampires had
survived the destruction of the bloodline; almost half of them were Apprentices, and only four were
Masters. Overlapping this was the Rakshasa problem, the scoundrels were indeed taking advantage of this
moment of weakness, in revenge for the long persecution wrought by their ex-kin, killing lone Nagaraja and
razing Crypt and even the still standing Mausoleums.
The entire Coven of Yama had been wiped out, leaving only four Journeymen and one Master (that was in
the Shadowlands at the outbreak of the Maelstrom and barely managed to return to her Mausoleum
before sinking into Torpor), with maybe a dozen of Apprentices they were training. The already scarce
Coven of Agni was halved when all its best members were destroyed in Nepal; what remained was little
more than half a dozen of Journeymen, and one Master. The Coven of Rudra had lost, beside the Elder, its
leading members, remaining with only one Master, a dozen Journeymen (and about the same number of
Apprentices they were taking care of). The Coven of Ratri was apparently the one that was faring better, in
fact survived even two Masters and thirteen skilled Journeymen (most of the members gathered in the
Mausoleum in Bangladesh were Apprentices or young Journeymen, who were near the Mausoleum and
rushed in its defense); ironically the Ratri’s Nagaraja had survived because at that time they were "hiding"
among the Kuei-Jin.

The Korea’s Green Courts

The following discussion was really intense, by the Nagaraja standards, and kept them busy for over a
week. In the end, the theory of the Ratri’s Masters prevailed. They argued that, to survive the Rakshasa and
their (deliberate and accidental) allies, they should ask refuge to a power that knew both the vampires and
the beings beyond reality. This eliminated completely the Cainites (that, for the most part totally refused to
even think of something not belonging to the material world), that leaved the other half of their ancestry.
The Kuei-jin.
The idea of Ratri’s Nagaraja was to seek protection in the Parallel Path, the VIP protection system of the
Korea’s Green Courts. The Kuei-jin were aware of the Yama Kings threat and could surely be persuaded to
grant them a shelter in exchange of knowledge on the Cainite world. Despite their confidence, the Nagaraja
knew that the Kuei-jin would exterminate them without mercy, if someone told them of their "half-breed"
situation between the two vampiric essences (and even more if they knew of the secrets the Nagaraja had
stolen from them); therefore, they resolved to totally silence that part of their existence. Unfortunately for
them, they were more successful than expected, and after a period of initial quandary, the Kuei-jin of the
Green Courts decided to grant them their "full" protection. The Nagaraja were now safe, but as prisoners in
a gilded cage.
This does not mean that all the Nagaraja are now under the Kuei-jin "protection". Not all liked the idea to
place themselves at the uncertain mercy of the same beings from which they hidden for millennia; for this
reason, less than two thirds of the Nagaraja survivors –roughly thirty – moved to Korea. The remaining
Nagaraja - all Journeymen or Masters, members of the Covens of Rudra and Agni - broke their ties with the
rest of their ilk, and – for their personal survival – scattered, returning in the places where they felt safer.

50
All the surviving members of the Agni’s Coven returned to their old havens (ie, Africa and South America),
after having raided every possible occult text from the Crypts and Mausoleums deserted by the other
Covens. They’re tied in a loose alliance. Locked up in their isolated Crypts they have immediately Embraced
new Childes to increase their size. Now, they are basically three times the numbers of the Agni’s Coven pre-
Week of Nightmares, but these fledgling are totally unprepared to survive as vampire, and especially as
Nagaraja. It’s a long term investment for the Coven, if these vampires will ever have enough time to take
advantage of it.
Among the Rudra’s Nagaraja, more than half of the remaining Journeymen and the surviving Master – all
resident in areas under the strong hand of the Camarilla (and with some interesting footholds inside the
sect) chose to return to their havens, salvage what could be salvaged and hide somewhere else until when
the waters had calmed down, then regroup. They too exchanged promises of mutual help, but at the
practical state of the facts, are isolated from each other and no one expects any help in case of trouble.
Locked for centuries in their isolation, now they are forced to look for allies outside their kin, venture – for
the first time – in the social arena of the Camarilla and cling wherever possible, in the hope that someone
can ever trust them…

Pariah
Recent events left the Pariah Nagaraja in a very unique situation. The Pariah still had in their numbers two
Elders – or former Elders. Also, being themselves exiled from the "real" Nagaraja community, the Pariah
were not in the least affected by the attacks following the Week of Nightmares. They were not in Enoch,
not in Nepal with the Elder Indukanth, not in Bangladesh with the Elder Hridya and very few of them (no
more than two or three) were dwellers of the Crypts attacked by the Sabbat packs.
They were left in a position of sizeable supremacy in the bloodline, but a supremacy that no one would
recognize. Forgetting even the existence of this "trash", which now composed a sizeable proportion of the
race, the "pure" Nagaraja began their council without even bothering to inform the Pariah. When, finally,
they got wind of what had happened, the Nagaraja were already on their way for the Korea or for their
ancient havens.
It was at such moment that the Pariah emerged from abandoned temples and uninhabited territories
where they had taken refuge – in shame – for centuries, and they gathered, too. From the subsequent
discussion two different opinions came into being, one of Parthiv and one of Shailesh. The Parthiv’s plan
was essentially based on the jealousy the Pariah felt towards "pure" Nagaraja and basically consisted of
renewing contact with the surviving members of Tal'Mahe'Ra, trying to rebuild a kind of sect, more for
mutual protection that to actually influence the mundane and vampiric world. The Shailesh’s theory was to
a large extent different: the Pariah should isolate and try to reach the enlightenment to improve
themselves, seeking the highest peaks of knowledge in order to enhance their situation, even by developing
relations with the mysterious Inconnu, if necessary; in practice, they had to do what the Coven of Agni
failed until now.
The two former Elders had very different ideas, while not diametrically opposed, and still felt a healthy
amount of mutual respect. In the end, the final proposal they made to the assembly of Pariah was, for the
next period, to temporarily test both initiatives and make a final decision only afterwards.
From that moment on, the Pariah moved on two parallel stances: some contacted the old members of the
Tal'Mahe'Ra – mostly Old Clan Tzimisce – trying to weave new diplomatic ties, others went in search of
knowledge concerning enlightenment and occult knowledge – in part by searching what remained of the
Ratri’s Mausoleum in Bangladesh, in search of informations related to the Kuei-jin enlightenment paths,
and partly looking for news concerning the mysterious Inconnu, the Children of Osiris, Salubri and any
other order voted to enlightenment, in the hope of being able to make contact, one day.
At the actual state of things, five Pariah – including Parthiv – entered in the service of five lords of the Old
Tzimisce Clan, slowly looking to find a suitable location for their kin. Others are in search of the True Brujah,
but these seem to have literally evaporated. Nine other members have ventured, in groups of three, in the
Camarilla territories in search of Inconnu and Salubri, while other two groups, formed by Shailesh and five
other “natural” Pariah ventured in Egypt and Tibet in search of the notorious Children of Osiris .

51
What all Pariah know, however, is that hardly their number will increase; they are a sterile branch
belonging to the Nagaraja lineage, and without the Nagaraja the Pariah are nothing but a bunch of
immortal monsters even unable to multiply. If they want to survive as something more than just monsters,
something must change, and soon.
What they don’t know, instead, is that Parthiv, while sifting through the Italian Mausoleum for clues and
data, has found the Yama’s Master, Jemina, slipped in Torpor following the great Maelstrom during the
Week of Nightmares and not yet awakened. Parthiv does not know what to make of her. While he feels an
undisguised aversion to the "pure" Nagaraja, on the other side he hasn’t forgotten his commitments –
millennia before – as guardian of Nagaraja who would come. For now Jemima remains the little secret of
Parthiv, hidden and dormant until she will awaken, or he will decide her fate or he will be forced to decide.

Dhampir
Regarding the Nagaraja Dhampir, the Week of Nightmares didn’t really hit them much, even less than an
average Cainite. All these pseudo-vampires have now cut all the ties with their original lineage (and often
with any kind of bloodsucker), limiting themselves to live among humans. Who among them was searching
for occult knowledge, still does; who had set among humans, is still there; and who committed to the
vampire hunting, presumably continues (even despite of the disturbing rumors about some new "hunters",
gifted with strange and powerful abilities).
The Nagaraja are gone? It's their own problem.
For Dhampir nothing has changed and nothing will change. They have already seen what happens when
you hit the bottom, and are not willing to get further involved.

52
 NAGARAJA:
THE MASQUERADE

Name: Nature: Generation:

Player: Demeanor: Crypt:
Chronicle: Coven: Concept:
ATTRIBUTES
Physical Social Mental
Strength ●OOOO Charisma ●OOOO Perception ●OOOO
Dexterity ●OOOO Manipulation ●OOOO Intelligence ●OOOO
Stamina ●OOOO Appearance ●OOOO Wits ●OOOO
ABILITIES
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness OOOOO Animal Ken OOOOO Academics OOOOO
Athletics OOOOO Crafts OOOOO Computer OOOOO
Awareness OOOOO Drive OOOOO Finance OOOOO
Brawl OOOOO Etiquette OOOOO Investigation OOOOO
Empathy OOOOO Firearms OOOOO Law OOOOO
Expression OOOOO Larceny OOOOO Medicine OOOOO
Intimidation OOOOO Melee OOOOO Occult OOOOO
Leadership OOOOO Performance OOOOO Politics OOOOO
Streetwise OOOOO Stealth OOOOO Science OOOOO
Subterfuge OOOOO Survival OOOOO Technology OOOOO
____________________ OOOOO ____________________ OOOOO ____________________ OOOOO
ADVANTAGES
DISCIPLINES BACKGROUNDS MERITS &FLAWS
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO

DARK SOMA HUMANITY/PATH HEALTH

OOOOOOOOOO _________________________ Bruised
OOOOOOOOOO Hurt -1
SHINING SOMA Injured -1
OOOOOOOOOO WILLPOWER Wounded -2
OOOOOOOOOO Mauled -2
Crippled -5
VIRTUES Incapacitated
Conscience/Conviction ●OOOO NOTES EXPERIENCE
Self-Control/Instinct ●OOOO _________________________
Courage ●OOOO _________________________

53
 NAGARAJA:
THE MASQUERADE

Name: Nature: Generation:

Player: Demeanor: Crypt:
Chronicle: Coven: Concept:
ATTRIBUTES
Physical Social MENTALI
Strength ●OOOO Charisma ●OOOO Perception ●OOOO
Dexterity ●OOOO Manipulation ●OOOO Intelligence ●OOOO
Stamina ●OOOO Appearance ●OOOO Wits ●OOOO
ABILITIES
Talents Skills Knowledges
Alertness OOOOO Animal Ken OOOOO Academics OOOOO
Athletics OOOOO Crafts OOOOO Computer OOOOO
Brawl OOOOO Drive OOOOO Finance OOOOO
Dodge OOOOO Etiquette OOOOO Investigation OOOOO
Empathy OOOOO Firearms OOOOO Law OOOOO
Expression OOOOO Melee OOOOO Linguistics OOOOO
Intimidation OOOOO Performance OOOOO Medicine OOOOO
Leadership OOOOO Security OOOOO Occult OOOOO
Streetwise OOOOO Stealth OOOOO Politics OOOOO
Subterfuge OOOOO Survival OOOOO Science OOOOO
ADVANTAGES
DISCIPLINES BACKGROUNDS MERITS &FLAWS
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO
OOOOO OOOOO

DARK SOMA HUMANITY/PATH HEALTH

OOOOOOOOOO ________________________ Bruised
OOOOOOOOOO Hurt -1
Injured -1
SHINING SOMA WILLPOWER Wounded -2
OOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO Mauled -2
Crippled -5
Incapacitated
VIRTUES
Conscience/Conviction ●OOOO NOTES EXPERIENCE
Self-Control/Instinct ●OOOO _________________________
Courage ●OOOO _________________________

54
Written by
Stefano d’Ovidio

Copyright CCP hf
White Wolf, Vampire, World of Darkness,
Vampire the Masquerade, Nagaraja and all
the names mentioned in the text are
copyrights of their respective authors and
owners

55