General World of Darkness Discussion Thread QQ Edition

Maragas · Jan 27, 2022

I thought about continuing my Changing Breeds post but well, I am in an evil mood.

So let's go and join a Pentex presentation on Mockery Breeds.
-------------------------------------------------------

What are Mockery Breeds?
The Mockery Breeds are the results of Project Lycaon. As you can see in the slide, the goal of Project Lycaon is the artificial creation of Changing Breeds under our control to counteract the Black Spiral Dancers' influence and behavior towards our great company. Not to mention a force capable of fighting the mutts head-on. The project is underway and actively supported by Neuro-Dynamic Laboratories subsidy.

How successful is Project Lycaon?
Unfortunately, no project completely satisfied the...shareholders but none of them were complete failures either. Project War Wolves, Kerasi and Yeren are the most successful experiments and they were utilized against the shapeshifters successfully and even failures like Project Anurana and Samsa gave us valuable data on how to twist and corrupt the changing blood.
Speaking of projects, let's go over them one by one. Yes I know some of you already know the details, especially you Yeren's, but it is mandatory.

Project War Wolves

War Wolves, they were our first success in attempting to create artificial Werewolves. Using genetic material from "willing" subjects we selectively breed genetically altered dogs and wolves to create them with a very strict diet relying on Werewolf flesh. These wolves have no morals, no higher intelligence, are completely obedient and possess the overwhelming strength and stamina of a Werewolf alongside of their regeneration. They are kept hungry 24/7 with only Werewolf flesh managing to satisfy them for some time.
Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in installing the so-called "spirituality" to our wolves They are incapable of tracking their targets to the other side nor are they capable of fooling spirits. Not to mention they are incapable of taking any forms other than of a Wolf and their Warform. And thanks to their Werewolf DNA they are also vulnerable to Silver.

But nevertheless, they are another tool in our arsenal to end the Garou for once and all. Many packs got fooled by them until it is too late to do anything.

Project Anurana

Anurana, the Werefrogs, many consider them our first major failure but it was initially successful. Those failures from Project Illiad might have screwed things up again but it was promising. Even more than War Wolves.

They were originally designed to be our maritime forces. To counteract the Rokea in the sea, Bone Gnawers in the sewers and secure the perimeter around the polluted rivers, lakes and oceans. It was a success. Powerful, fast, durable, hypnotic, mystical, perfectly capable of living in the most corrupt and polluted waters, no vulnerability to Silver or Gold and even capable of traveling to the other side. Not to mention they even had Homid forms and actual Intelligence.

But they proved to be uncontrollable. Even our Bane-based inhibitors and control devices failed and they escaped our hand in their first mission. Now they spread across the wild, living in the polluted waters. Even stalking our employees and facilities. I would advise being careful, I heard they use kidnapped employees as breeding stock. Thankfully outside of their Innate gifts, they can't acquire Gifts of other spirits and Banes look down on them to bestow them their power.

On the bright side, we learn from our failures and while this was a major failure, it was full of success and it helped us to advance Project Lycaon immensely.

Project Metamorphosis - Samsa

One of our lesser failures was Project Metamorphosis. The goal of it was to create the ultimate espionage tool, the perfect assassin and spy. A Swarm based Shapeshifter.

But unfortunately, the result was Samsa, the Werecockroaches. These failures while fully capable and better than War Wolves are cowering wrecks, afraid of the dark. They can't separate into the swarms nor do they have the nerve to do any espionage.

No need to talk about them.

OOC
Ah Samsa, I always wanted to play them at least once.

Pentex doesn't know the golden goose they created. And how it escaped their clutches.

Werecockroaches are incredibly intriguing. They are nearly a match for a Werewolf in their Crinos equivalent. They have one of the best survival abilities in the whole World of Darkness. They are completely immune to Pollution and Radiation and their only weakness is Insecticides. And while they aren't capable of sidestepping to the Umbra, the Cockroach totem is willing to teach them his gifts, along with will all the Cockroach spirits.* They have Gnosis just like Anurana which basically makes them automatically better than War Wolves.
Best of all, Pentex has no idea that Samsa escaped their control as they have no idea of their innate survival gift. Their biggest problem is that they are worse than Malkavians in the Insanity department and start with at least 2 Derangements at character creation. (Though they also have Samsa only ability to shed their Insanity to other beings and leaving them sane for a moment. The more Derangements they have the better this ability is. Very Malkavian like)

Project Kerasi

Kerasi, our second most successful project so far. And for some, the most successful. They are intelligent, stronger and tougher than a Werewolf, can breed easily and true and even though they aren't capable of crossing to the other side, their one trait makes them invaluable in our operations. They can easily blend in as a normal Changing Breed with no one having an idea. Currently, they are sowing discord and misery in Africa, enflaming the shapeshifter war in the region as mercenaries with no Wyrm traces. Many African communities have been slaughtered by Kerasi and blamed on other shapeshifters. Our subsidiaries that deal in "Animal Conservation" make sure that slowly and surely all Rhinos in Africa are Kerasi and Kerasi kin while natural Rhinoceros is extinct. None wiser.

In fact, they are so successful that some groups in Pentex thinking of focusing on them rather than Yeren Wereapes but the rumors of Kerasi beginning to question why they are serving us, Pentex, put some brakes to that idea.

Project Yeren

Yeren, the Wereapes, are our newest and most successful project yet. Based on our prediction they will be perfect for ending the Garou Nation when the only Tribes left standing will be Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers. Created from the best traits a human can have, at least for us Pentex, rapacious greed and overwhelming appetite they are perfect shapeshifters for us. So much that even Banes accepted their presence and give them their blessing. They are easily a match for Werewolf with no weaknesses and already cleaning out Bone Gnawers and Glass Walkers from the streets and following them even to the other side as they can easily sidewalk like the Garou. And best of all, nearly no one outside of Pentex knows about Yeren as they only have been created for a few years.

Though there are several concerns raised by the Pentex leadership. Yeren is too perfect. Already using Pentex to raise their presence and power and getting into power struggles like other Pentex employees. They don't want to be under our control, they want to be in control. And while these traits are most likely why Banes give their blessing to them, it is concerning for much of the Pentex leadership. After all, Yeren were created to be a replacement of Black Spiral Dancers who were too arrogant and uncontrollable for Pentex.

Though for now, they are supported by our company.
Another smaller downside is that they still haven't achieved their full potential yet. Their gifts and powers will mature in the upcoming decades but this is just the downside of being the youngest Changing Breed. (OOC: The highest rank Yeren is still Rank 3)

I hope this presentation was helpful to all the newcomers to Project Lycaon, if not see me after this. I will make sure you learn it.

-------------------------------------------------------

So, these are the Mockery Breeds Pentex created so far. Anything interesting? Would you play as one? I always wanted to play a Samsa for example.

*The Totem Cockroach is willing to teach Samsa because he is the greatest survivor. He is intending to survive even if the Wyrm wins and Gaia loses and Samsa, while might not be his creation they are still his children and he knows his children adapt to survive anything. So basically if the Wyrm wins he will live through Samsa and if the Wyrm loses he is thinking of converting Samsa into Gaia's side.
Yes, Glass Walkers feel sad that one of their Totem is willing to teach Samsa and feel even worse because the Totem isn't saying anything about it.

Maragas · Jan 27, 2022

It's time to talk about the Changelings or Fae.
You want some deep and insightful TLDR to the whole Changeling business? They are basically Bygones struggling to stay on Earth against ever-increasing Unbelief.

But here are some details for those who want to get their teeth into possibly the most colorful and mystical splat of WoD.

Long long ago, before the humans accomplished great things like "Wheel" we had nightmares, and those nightmares were real. Quite literally as from those nightmares rose the Dark Fae, Fomorians. Against them rose up Nature Fae, born from nature itself from the anguish of humans.
They fought and both sides killed each other until a final and probably very cinematic fight. They both failed to destroy each other but Nature Fae also failed to destroy the Dark Fae.

At this point, our dreams become real and rise up to challenge the Dark Fae, called the Light Fae aka Sidhe. Sidhe and Fomorians fought with Nature Fae joining Sidhe against the Fomorians.
The Dark Fae is defeated in another very cinematic and dramatic fight.

Then in the next few centuries, Fae fought among each other separated by Courts while humanity was quietly developing its own. Until one-day humans realized "Hey, iron is a thing" and bam. All Fae got fucked.
Like, not even joking. The moment the first iron object was created by human hands The Dreaming got separated from the mundane world.

This was the start of the Banality aka Unbelief aka Consensus. Fae likes to use the words "Stagnation" or "Normalization" and yeah, it's that but it's also rationalizing, categorizing, and explaining the fantastic. (Which means funny enough the Order of Hermes should be full of Banality but eh)
This Banality slowly increased through the centuries until it was too suffocating to survive in the Renaissance. (Damn you Order of Reason! Look at what you done! /s)

So all Fae had three options.
-A)Retreat into private realms in the Autumn World aka Mundane World. This resulted in many going mad and becoming Lost Ones.
-B)Retreat into the Dreaming. The rulers and influential Fae mostly choose to go back to their domains in Arcadia the homeland of the Fae. And while doing it they basically cut the line and caused a bunch of commoner Fae to get stuck on Earth as the nobles took their place.
-C)Use the Changeling Way ritual to meld their Fae soul with a human soul and undergo endless rebirth. Using the flesh of mortals as a shield against Banality. (Before this most Changelings were either Fae and Humans breeding or more likely, stolen human babies.)

And we are done. There were other events like Banality increasing and decreasing, wars, and gate to Arcadia opening again thanks to the surge of imagination and creativity from the Moon Landing (Thank you Void Engineers!)
... Which resulted in a bunch of Noble Fae from Arcadia coming in and getting stuck when it closed again. Which caused most of those Nobles to forcefully separate souls from humans to take their bodies to shield themselves against Banality and now tensions are running high between commoners and nobles.

Lastly, before I end the history segment I should let you guys know that the actual history of Fae might not be this. Or they might not even have history. Fae are creatures of the Dream and like everything about them, nothing is set to stone.
Their history might be as imaginary as themselves.

Anyway, now that you know how Faes came to be and how Changelings exists, let's go over Changeling types!

They are Hobbits mixed with House Elfs. Even Unseelie Boggan are very welcoming and cheerful little buggers. They are born from dreams of Charity, Service and Vengeance. Vengeance may seem strange but remember, voe the person who breaks the rights of hospitality.
Their lifestyle is based on comfort. A well-stocked pantry, drinks, and comfortable furniture is their bread and butter. They have godly talent in the kitchen and an eye for art and design.
They are also busybodies and know all the gossip and intelligence in their court. They are mostly curious about but some are more..."curious" about how to use it for their benefit.

Their primary weakness is the fact that they need to willfully stop themselves from helping someone in actual need as long as it's not their sworn enemy.

You know the leprechauns tales? They may say in-lore it's just distorted tales of these guys but it's basically true. They love telling stories, making jokes, and getting into a brawl. Most importantly, they turn into Smaug when it comes to things they collect.
They also like wearing greenish clothes but not as small as leprechauns described. Though they tend to be on the shorter side. Their residence depends on their source of obsession. If it's portable then it's likely that they are nomadic. If it's not, then they can settle into someplace.

Their weakness, as I said, hoarding. They must collect and increase their collection. And if they are separated from their collection more than a week they go through Banality.

The nomadic Eshu. They are wanderers of the earth, forever searching for new stories, new sights and new secrets. Always in pursuit of some new knowledge. Many people unknowingly share their dearest secrets over campfire later to realize it's now common knowledge.
And funny enough, all Eshu are incredibly private. Not sharing their personal lives and their traditions with outsiders. It's in their nature to search for new things to learn and because of that, it's very hard to keep up with an Eshu. If you are friends with an Eshu, either be prepared to follow them around like a lost puppy or be prepared to be left behind as an Eshu will seek new friends that are more interesting than you now that you have nothing new.

An Eshu can't resist a dare, a bet or an adventure if it means they will learn something new.

Born from legends of dwarfs, kobolds and goblins, toiling endlessly in search of something.
They are basically foul-mouthed dwarfs that can't help but destroy their social network. Because unlike all the tools and machines they can make, people are too mysterious and complex. They are also somewhat grotesque like the legends of the things they are born from but they are still decent looking. No Nosferatu here.
Nockers are incredible craftsmen and innovators but horrible at all social stuff. If you are a Nocker, people are imperfect and most things don't match your idea of perfection.

Which makes their weakness incredibly ironic. Because no matter what they make, how powerful or great it is, it is still flawed. And Storyteller can at any stressful situation ask you to roll for it to see if it screws you and your group as it breaks or fails.

This is it for now. I don't expect to make the next part for Changeling for a long time since it's not my cup of tea but still, people interested in WoD should know about it.
So, which one sounds perfect for you so far? Anything else you would like me to summarize?

Maragas · Jan 27, 2022

It is finally the time to talk about Demon the Fallen. More specifically types of Demons aka Fallen Angels determined by their role in the creation of the universe before they Fell.

There are seven different Houses of Demons you could find in WoD.
(By the way, by Demons I am talking about 100% Actual Demons, not Umbral or Abyssal Demons who largely mimic/take the names and appearances of these Demons. These are the actual Fallen Angels. Any other, say Umbral Lucifer/Satan or Abyssal Lucifer/Satan, ain't same as Demon the Fallen Lucifer. Unless ST makes it so)

Once they were the greatest of God's angels. The standard-bearers of Heaven and champions of Humanity. They are charismatic but deceitful to the core and at that core lies Pride unseen anywhere else. Pride that they were the greatest of the angels, Pride that turned into overwhelming arrogance and Pride that led them to reject the Creator's wisdom for their own wisdom.
And greatest of the Heralds were the Lucifer the Morningstar, and so House of the Devils is also known as the House of the Morning Star.

And this is perhaps why after half of the Heralds followed Lucifer into his rebellion, most also rebelled against him in the Time of Atrocities. Believing their own wisdom was greater than that of the Morningstar.

In the end, all Devils are charismatic masterminds. Confident, deceitful and prone to being arrogant. Which covers their doubts, shames and regrets which they could never actually show to anyone. And thus they are prone to acts of foolish bravery and courage to cover them up.

The Fates, the Oracles and now the Fiends. They were the angels in charge of the very mechanisms of the universe. The directors of stars, masters of patterns, engineers of the cosmos and the weavers of probability. They set the motions and kept the motions going along with its consequences.

Now they are masters of nightmares and curses, now they don't give warnings or wisdom but forbidden knowledge and madness-inducing visions. And from their vain wisdom, one Oracle in particular called Ahrimal shared the news of an uncertain future fast approaching with others against the orders of the Vigil, the leader of the Fates after believing that the future was caused by ignorance of Humanity. A future of doom and a world of darkness. Causing the sparks of rebellion to bloom into a fire.

And so they caused the very doom and darkness they feared. The bleak future they foresaw was born from the very actions of the Fallen Angels. The cataclysm was upon them and they were the instruments of its creation. Lucifer's rebellion was the very cause of the future they wanted to avoid.
Each and every fiend from the lowliest to the highest remember that day, the day where they become full of guilt and shame. The choice to rebel that ruined the creation haunts them to this very day.

But another great regret would also happen, the day Caine killed Abel. They let it happen.

They foresaw Caine killing his brother and this causing a set of concepts to be born like Murder and Deceit. But they also saw it help the Fallen Angels in their war, if they let it happen Fallen Angels were seen as winning the war against Heaven.
The Fiends debated heavily, first thinking they should prevent it as it was their moral duty and what they should have done if they truly loved humanity but...if they let it happen, if they let the First Murder happen, wouldn't it be worth it if it meant Rebels winning? Not to mention the sweet temptation of altering the universe to their own will rather than God's was tantalizing.
Only Ahrimal, the doom bringer attempted to prevent it. He went to see Lucifer but he was dismissed. He tried to avert it himself but he also arrived too late to only see brother killing brother.

Now, they are haunted demons damned by curiosity. They search for people in pursuit of knowledge and depending on the Fiend they either help them with enlightenment or turn them mad with half truths, misinformation and with forbidden secrets that scars the mind. Their favorite targets and the most despised ones are those who seek quick answers, like how to get rich.

The Reapers, the angels of Death, the Afterlife and the Second World. Now they are only known as the Slayers. They were the last House to be created, for some, they were the least of the houses and for some, the greatest.
In the past every time something died a Reaper was there, remembering and recording it and carrying it to the true realm of the dead. A realm barred to all other Angels but the Reapers. From which the souls will pass on to the future Second World.

But they never knew the actual details of the Second World and questioned it. Among them was the leader of the Reapers Usiel, the one everyone thought would rebel first as he was the first one who questioned God and thus he was invited to the meeting of Ahrimal, where the rebellion started.

But as he listened to the concerns of Ahrimal and the others he realized something. The prospect of rebellion on such limited knowledge from incomplete hymns of science and fear, especially from those who can't even understand the world of Death and confused it with the Second World, was chilling.
So he stood against the rebellion, he would not induct the humans into the world of death until God said so and there would be no rebellion from his house until His Plans along with the purpose of the Second World was revealed.

As he left the discussion, Usiel was only worried by the sadness he felt from Lucifer, and not a small amount of fear towards him. Why though?

And so only a few of the Reapers joined the rebellion. But those who did had some core members among them. Such as Azrael, Madisel and Charon*. And those who joined the rebellion did out of getting close to Humans.
This is why they created the Underworld.

Rebel Reapers now called Slayers were barred from the true afterlife but they wanted humans they become so close to continue living like they did after they died. Thus Charon with his host of Slayers began working on a new pocket reality, a reality called Haven that was a repository of all things that had passed away, where aspects of the material world transferred into it at the moment of their dissolution.
This way they could..."save" humans souls and the previous life the souls had from God's plan (Which they still had no idea)
Too bad it was imperfect and was left to rot after they were imprisoned in Hell.

As for how they function in modern times, well, they are loners and their way of gathering faith is difficult if they aren't a high torment demon. They usually copy another House, such as pretending to be a Devil, and/or create a Death-Cult. Especially at high torment levels.
Their main weakness is that because of their, well...role in existence they are very detached from everything and they are stubborn like a goat. It's very hard for a Reaper to admit he was wrong or he is doing something wrong after they are certain.

*Not Charon of Stygia, though even the Slayers thought it was Demon Charon masquerading as Wraith Charon at first as Charon was never in Hell. But there may be some connections. Ghost of Lance of Longinus was in Charon's palace after all.
They have two leading theories. Either Charon the Slayer is in the Far Shores (and he created them) or Charon became something alien, something eldritch and he lies within this new thing called the Labyrinth that leads to the Oblivion.

Maragas · Aug 24, 2022

What are Legions from Wraith the Oblivion?
Let's say you were unfortunate enough to be born in WoD and even more unfortunate enough to become a Wraith. More specifically in Europe/USA.

After getting out of your Caul thanks to an incredibly helpful Reaper that didn't enslave your ass and instead took you to Stygia and left. Now what?
Well my new Wraith, it's time to enter a Legion! What's a Legion you ask? It's your new unlife!

But first, you need to learn about Deathmarks.

Every Wraith has Deathmark, marks that indicate how you died. Some Wraiths might only have a knife scar on their heart while others might have complex markings indicating he died to a scheme.

Why does this matter to Legions?

Well, your Legion depends on your death's nature. And while some are easy to say "You died from Old Age on natural causes, you go to Iron Legion", some are harder. Victims of Violence usually go to The Grim Legion but what if you are violently killed by a Madman? Those who die to Madness, be it their own or others, go to The Penitent Legion, so what happens? Bureaucracy and Lawyers and sometimes, your opinion decides it.

No really, this is an actual job legions of wraiths (pun intended) work 24/7 to sort all new Wraiths.

But whatever Legion you are in, know this; Legions are the backbone of the Stygian Empire and every Wraith is part of it. Some might rebel or leave them to join Renegades or Heretics or be secretly part of some other organization like the Guilds but Wraiths are Legions, every single one of them. A Bulwark against the Oblivion. From civilian Legionaries to Deathlords.
Of course, it isn't heroic as it sounds. Legions scramble for power, resources, fame and of course, dominion. Deathlords, the very hands of Charon long since become rivals for power against each other. Some even wanting Charon's throne. Not surprising since outside of Lady of Fate, the Deathlord of Legion of Fate, most of them aren't the original Deathlords and it become a title that got passed on through the centuries. This become really, really bad in Modern Times. And I am not even exaggerating.

The conflict is so bad that even when Charon called them to face the forces of Oblivion, a Neverborn named Gorool which rose from the depths of the Labyrinth to destroy Stygia for once and all, not a single Deathlord nor their Legions nor their great Necropolies came to his side. Not even Lady of Fate and her legion.
In the end, as his last act as the Emperor of the Dark Kingdom of Iron, he stood alone against the mighty Malfean. Just like how all of this started, he was alone.

And so he dropped his Mask, took up his great blade Siklos and stepped into his reed boat. Not as the Supreme Leader of the Stygian Empire but as the First Ferryman whose only wish was the safety of the Wraiths. He challenged the mighty beast and slowly he drew Gorool away from Stygia and its millions of inhabitants. Fearing he couldn't defeat the beast, he opened a great whirlpool and flung himself and Gorool into it. Going deeper, towards the Oblivion.

And nothing changed for Deathlords.

Well, after such a downer event, let's learn about Legions.

First, what happens when you are recruited into a Legion?
Easy, you either get assigned into Civilian Duties, which is what most Wraiths do, or Military Duties.

Civilian Duties are the main jobs of the Legions. Most Wraiths, especially new Wraiths, find themselves doing civilian jobs. And it's vital to the Underworld. Dealing with the endless coming Dead, smoothing the clockwork mechanism of the titanic bureaucracy of Stygia that dwarfs even the worst company bureaucracy in the Living World, doing consensus of the ever increasing dead, maintaining the buildings, walls, social structure and of course, enforcing laws and doing propaganda for their legion.

Military Duties are what people think when people mention the Legions. They patrol the Kingdom, keep the order, hunt Specters, chase Renegades and Heretics and represent stability. They are what stands against the Oblivion, well at least when it's beneficial for Deathlords and/or when they have no other options.

Then you have Ranks inside Legions.

Legionnaire: Every Wraith bar those who openly oppose the Legions or those who are higher in this list is a Legionnaire. They are the rank and file Wraiths, they patrol, they work and do the dirty work and obey any Wraith higher ranking from them.
Centurion: The basic officer of the Legion. They command between 4-20 Wraiths and usually do missions and jobs set by their superiors.
Marshal: Marshals are the first officers who enjoy some independence but have a great deal of trust and responsibility placed on them. Usually they are in charge of small places outside of Citadels (Fortress Hearts of Necropoli Cities) with several Centurions under them but not too far.
Regent: Marshal but better, they are in charge of areas far away from Citadels and thus have much greater independence than Marshals. Sometimes they are the only ruling officer and thus "The Law".
Overlord: Assistants of Anacreon's and usually second of command in a Citadel. They oversee most of the things going on in the citadel, arrange everything, and give orders. When Necropoli is large enough there are more than one Overlord.
Anacreon: Outside of Stygia where Deathlords rule, Anacreons are the most powerful members of the Legions and answer only to Stygia and their Deathlords. Every Necropoli, small or large, has a council of Seven Anacreons that rule it made up from every Anacerons from every Legion outside of Legion of Fate. Cooperation is optional and politics are quite deadly.

Now that we know the basics that every Legion has, let's examine each Legion closer.

The Emerald Legion, the happiest and the most productive Wraiths in the Underworld. They are those who died suddenly. be it because of happenstance or because you misjudged your capacity, for example climbing and falling down from a mountain. They are the risk-takers, positive thinkers and daredevils of Wraiths. Rather than curse their fate they prefer living their unlife and doing something. And usually continue being unafraid of danger in their unlife just like they were alive. The Emerald Legion includes extreme sports athletes, clumsy people, people who died from natural disasters, careless people, drivers who crashed and their victims, and overall all accidental and sudden deaths.

So when I said they are risk-takers I meant it. Their Deathlord even promotes it in their Four Values.

Value One: Take risks, but stack your deck when you do. "We learn from our failures more than our successes". Even "Near Successes" are better than not trying.
Value Two: Cogs Turn Wheels and the common wraith is the cog of this great machine. Emerald Wraiths aren't likely to get smelted into an item or building as long as you are doing your job. Though that's mostly because Emerald Wraiths are the most likely to be productive compared to other Legions.
Value Three: Connected to Value one. Failure is more acceptable than lack of trying. Try and try again with things you learned until you succeed. The only sin is not trying at all.
Value Four: Try talking with your fellow Emeralds rather than facing your Thorn alone. Just try, even if it might seem like a blame game.

Their passions are usually "softer" emotions like Regret or Envy rather than Hate or Revenge or Anger. And they usually don't have any malice or hatred against a specific mortal.

But it isn't all sunshine in Emerald Legion.

More and more these values are twisted to extremes. Assessors States are cults of productivity and efficiency where your worth is whatever you are worth to keep as a Wraith or as a forge material. Where every Emerald is trying to be better than the other in order to keep with the ever-increasing demand for efficiency and productivity. Even if it means attempting suicidal projects or missions otherwise you won't meet your quota. And Emerald Lord and his advisors do nothing but issue statements.

The Skeletal Legion is made out of Wraiths that died from sickness or pestilence. It also includes starvation and dehydration mostly because like diseases they take some time to kill you outright and are usually painful. They are one of the largest Legions in Stygia.

Skeletal Wraiths may not be the happiest Wraiths in the Underworld but they are the ones who are usually happy that they died. They spent months if not years under the painful hands of their illness. Bed-ridden, slowly and surely wasting away as their muscles atrophied and their mental faculties slowed. Until they died and it stopped.
Not to mention they are Wraiths who mostly come to terms with their death even before they died. They told their farewell, wrote their journals and said goodbyes long before they died. This means most Skeletal Wraiths have weaker Passions and Fetters and while this means they are overall weaker Wraiths than most, they are also the closest ones to Transcendence.

Overall, they are the second-largest Legion in the matter of clerks and office workers. Second only to the Iron Legion aka the wraiths who died from old age. They are better suited for civilian duties than military ones.

A quirk of their Legion is that dying from a disease is stylish. Some diseases are just better than others. Cancer? Dull but inspires a dread. Bubonic plague? Man, commoner's disease am I, right? Oh you died from Spanish flu? What a unique experience.

So, what's the "bad" side of this Legion? Well...

To be honest, he is insane. Mostly in a bad way though he does have a nice side.

He believes himself to be one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, literally Pestilence. And Charon as Death.
Not only this, he is fanatic about categorizing, compartmentalization, rules, policies and sorting out his subjects. He can create multiple departments before it's noon, merge half of them and close the rest of them by evening and then rename the merged department Tuesday Department, proclaim he needs every wraith who died Tuesday to become a member of it as it's now required or become furniture for his skelly ass.

The only bright side of this, his legion is the only legion that allows beliefs, as long as it's private, to be held by their members. Since he thinks he is the Pestilence. (And no, no one is allowed to suggest he might be the embodiment of Shiva and anyone who dares will be Skeletal Lord's scribe's pen for eternity. He already tries to argue he should be allowed to spread disease to the Living World but at the request of Lady of Fate he stopped for now)

So, this is it for now. I hope this was informative and helpful. So, any thoughts? Questions? Requests?

Maragas · Aug 24, 2022

Normally I was going to post about vampiric bloodlines but H5 preview pissed me enough for me to make a Hunter post.

So let's learn about Extremist Hunters. Imbued Hunters who survived against all odds.

Imbued Hunters, people say that they are the weakest splat all around. Are they? Yes. They are basically glass canons, people who have to be paranoid about everything lest they get taken out by even a minor amount of force for other splats. There is a reason why for Hunters there is no Aggravated damage. Because for them there is no difference between Lethal and Aggravated. An Imbued Hunter at their core is human. You aren't a Mage that slowly Ascends towards something more than a Human. You aren't a Vampire empowered by the Curse of Cain, bloated by the blood of your victims and shouldering the weight of the ages. You aren't a Werewolf, a warrior of Gaia that can take a tank shell to the face, born to fight against cosmic forces of Destruction and Corruption. You aren't a Mummy, servants of Osiris, immortal guardians of Balance.

You are a human. A human that was given mysterious powers by mysterious beings and guided to defend humanity. You risk your life, bordering on suicide, to face the monsters of our nightmares. By doing this you destroy your sanity, scar your mind, cripple your body.

But you can be more, if you are willing to sacrifice even more. There is a way to become even more powerful, to become an Extremist Hunter.

But the only way forward is downward.
Your mind will be filled with madness, your grip of reality starts to fry away, you become a force of nature that is beyond comprehension, above even insanity. You will transform from being the light among darkness to an inferno of terrible brightness, consuming even yourself along with your enemies.
You will leave your mark on the world, but can you accept the costs?

Whatever you call them, Saint, Prophet, Madmen, Extremist, these beings are Hunters so dedicated, so driven by their goals and agendas that everything else is unimportant. The only thing that matters for an Extremist is their goal. Revenge, salvation, destruction you name it. To finally bring down the mastermind behind all the vampires in a city. To find out the reason why Wraiths are created. To kill every single monster they can find. There is little Extremist wouldn't do to accomplish these goals, few lines they wouldn't cross. For them, the only grand picture is their goal. The last tangible, reliable reason to live.

Of course, some Extremists are simply insane. A tormented soul that tries to follow his agenda but is unable to cope with his own powers. The tolls of his powers wreaking havoc on his mind, body and spirit. Most Independent Extremists are of this sort. Speaking of types of Extremists, let's learn about them.

When a Hunter sacrificed everything, his body, his mind, friends, family and allies but still fails, this is the point he is offered to become a Divine Extremist. It's the times when you lay broken in front of an Elder vampire, your allies dead, your resources spent with nothing but a scratch on the vampire. It's the times when you realize your last family member, your daughter got killed by a cultist of the demon you have been chasing across the state, staring at a mocking note in your hands written with her blood.
If you are willing to sacrifice everything left, even the remains of yourself you will be given an offer of power from the Ministers. A power that cannot be opposed nor denied if he accepts. A chance to murder that Elder vampire with your bare hands, a chance to finish off the demon that killed your daughter and avenge her.

Divine Extremists are usually the sanest of the Extremists, relatively.

Divine power comes with Divine drawbacks. A normal human can't bear it so the holy flame that powers the Extremist also burns them away to make room.
First, say goodbye to your previous personality unless you were already an Autocrat, Dreamer or Fanatic.
Second; chose the primary Derangement you had. The most impactful Derangement for your character. The divine burns every other derangement away except for this derangement, which now makes the core of your characters and the lens of your worldview as the human personality can't withstand the force of the divine. Furthermore, you can no longer mitigate the core derangement with Willpower.
Lastly, your Willpower is now broken, you are a broken person. You cannot raise your Willpower anymore. You cannot regain Willpower from sleep or day-to-day life, only from accomplishing goals. But even then you are uninspired and listless compared to normal humans.

What if, what if you don't need to sacrifice anything? Nor prove yourself? What if there was a way to succeed, a way to become powerful with only a small, incredibly small, minor, insignificant little bargain? Even if you refuse, don't worry, they will be there when you need them the most. Why sacrifice, when you can just accept their offer? Makes sense to me.
A Corrupted Extremist is a hunter who made a deal with a powerful evil, a demon. In exchange, you become powerful at the cost of doing the demon's bidding. Which starts small and insignificant but more and more becomes more obscene and twisted. Of course not, don't listen to his lies

But it's worth it, right? Of course, go ahead.

First, you are no longer considered an Imbued. In fact, for all intents and purposes, you are now a creature of darkness like Vampires. This is permanent and even if you manage to break the deal and expel the demon you will still be tainted. Maybe even after you die too. Welcome to the club...
Second, a human soul can't bear to be so close to a demon. Anytime you interact with a demon or use its power you have a decent chance to lose Willpower, sometimes permanently. It's only a matter of time...
Third, you are no longer connected to the Messengers nor the Ministry. No more information nor guidance from them. Only me...
Lastly, you will be slowly but surely corrupted by the demon. And when your Willpower hits zero, your soul will be destroyed and the Demon in question will possess your body. Granting them the perfect vessel for possession as this is the only way a Hunter can ever get possessed by something. By willingly allowing the demon to bypass their immunity.

Hey, at least you can continue playing as a Demon the Fallen character if you want. Not to mention I meant it when I said an Imbued is a perfect vessel for demons. I think they are the only type of living vessel that can even house Earthbound demons.

Independent Extremists, those who were left alone by the Above and Below or those who rejected both for some reason or another.
There is nothing else to do but go down even more, nothing to lose, nothing to regret. There is no way off Mr. Bone's Wild Ride.
So you break yourself even more until even the restrains on your power are loosened. Since there is nearly nothing else for these restraints to hang into. A Divine Extremist may have a demanding manager phoning in every day or so and Corrupted Extremist may share their body with a corrupting demon, but they are still relatively sane.
An Independent Extremist is barely human. They are nothing but their goal manifested. They are free to pursue their goals without any input from Above or Below. At the cost of their everything.

Like, no joke, breaking character here to say this. Even becoming an Independent Extremist will cost you heavily. As in the majority of your personality will be destroyed and you will get -5 Permanent Willpower reduction.

First, you are your primary Virtue made manifest. You can no longer increase other Virtues.
Second, when interacting with normal people, even other normal Imbued, it's obvious that you are not normal and very disturbed. You are more and more inhuman every day you live. Which halves your Social dice pool, rounded down.
Third, you are compelled by your very Virtue to do things as you embody that Virtue as it's personification. Once per story ST can control your character to do things based on your Virtue. And you cannot deny it, even with what's left of your Willpower.

But all things must come to an end.

An Extremist can only contain this might for so long because for all the powers they have, they are still Human. Eventually, their body, their spirit, their mind will be unable to cope with the very power it holds and break down.
It is a tragic end, for all the sacrifices and effort. To defend humanity. But it's also an inspiring one in my opinion. Because these are people who sacrificed everything they have to face against the Darkness of the World.

I hope you liked it, Extremist Hunters are one of my favorite things in WoD.
(Also, there are things hidden in this post. Nothing important, only fluff)

Maragas · Aug 24, 2022

It's time to hear about Bloodlines.
Bloodlines can be two distinct types.
A) Offshoots: As you know Vampires belong to clans, the common ancestry and traits each vampires exhibit. But sometimes offshoots happen. A group of Elders leaves and creates their own line with blackjack and hookers, some separate 4th Gen Methuselah other than main clans ancestors start siring childe because they were bored and sometimes it's just political or even superficial. This also includes powerful Elders or even Methuselahs experimenting and creating new Disciplines and even heavily altering their blood so much that they can't be confused with the main clan. Very rarely, a Bloodline could belong to an entirely different Antediluvian than the main ones.
-The most common type of Offshoot is Antitribu. Camarilla Clans members in Sabbat or Sabbat clans members in Camarilla are called Antitribu and usually looked at with suspicion by others since they are normally an enemy clan that deflected to the other. (Other than Nosferatu, they just play both sides even though they are officially Camarilla)
B) Reduced Clans: Basically Salubri and Cappadocians. They were originally powerful clans that got decimated by Tremere and Giovanni respectively. Nowadays their numbers are so low that they are considered a Bloodline.

Either way, Bloodlines have way less presence and numbers compared to the Clans and might even be near extinction or straight up extinct, depending on your ST.

Let's start with Baali.

TLRD: "Like, man, why not kill everyone in an orgy of fire and death, blood and power with demons to hasten the inevitable end of the world? So join us before you die, or don't, you will die in the end anyway"
We have already gone through this song and dance before. Same deal as Nephandi. The world is going to end, why not have fun while ending it yourself. Every other vampire hates them, even Sabbat created a special Inquisition to hunt down Infernalist like Baali. Baali hates them back.

They are basically the boogeyman of Vampires, especially because they can re-embrace you to becoming a Baali. It does need a willingness from the target but well, after several weeks or months of torment, you will say yes to nearly anything. (Or Blood Bonds, or Domination, etc)

But since everyone hates them and the Inquisition of the olden days burned the majority of their members they are a Bloodline rather than a clan. Still, they are an incredible threat. They are not just deal makers with bargains, they don't care about ruling in Hell, they want for the world to end and end fast.
And for this they will sacrifice everything, squander wealth, spend blood and effort and make deals they can't actually hold with no shame and regret. Ending the world or just getting closer to the end is its own reward after all, no matter the price.
Not surprisingly, they are Weak to holy symbols of any faith and True Faith is doubly effective against Baali. You can even say they are the reason why the Society of Leopold thinks Vampires are spawns of the devil.

Their unique discipline is Daimoinon, Black Arts. Mostly demonic and curse based.

Next one on the list, Blood Brothers.

They are Sabbat shock troopers created through the machinations of Sabbat Tremere and Tzimisce sorcerers. They are small groups of hive-minded "Kindred". They are also all identical to each other in the circle.
Naturally, any Blood Brother that displays individuality is killed.

While they are fully loyal and strong brutes, they lack creativity, trickery, clever tactics or even improvisation. So they are only really useful for direct missions.

So, why are they created in secrecy? Why are they one of the secret weapons of Sabbat? Because whoever Tzimisce was the project head for Blood Brother was nuts! He created a perfect Discipline for combat.

When the circle is big enough, when Veteran Blood Brothers take the field, they are carnage incarnate. Imagine fighting 4th Gen Abomination straight out of Necromorph outbreak with more than 20 Health levels, Strength, Stamina and Perception in 20s (enough to match miles long Space Monsters for example) and with Celerity, Potence and Fortitude. Oh they also get +1 to their dice pool for every physical action for every Blood Brother other than the first one in the circle, which at max is +9.

In the end, Blood Brothers are rare, simple-minded and nearly no player ever plays it but they are incredibly threatening at their niche. Outside of that...well...

I meant it, I never heard anyone playing them. Even though in theory it could be interesting to play a hivemind Kindred.

Now, into the Sirens aka Daughters of Cacophony.

Emerged during the 19th century, they are mostly female Kindred with either the best music and song in the world or the worst. Since it can turn you mad.
Also, the first part was a lie.

They were actually created by the True Black Hand Tal'Mahe'Ra to destroy Camarilla within but they eventually managed to slip by. Mostly because they were stupid enough to actually add a Malkavian to the mix.

Their main weakness and overall madness is the fact that they constantly hear music, each Daughter hears an unique music to themselves, so much that it drowns out the world. And sometimes, they are drowned in it as well. Called "Banshees" by others, they sing the only thing that matters to them anymore, the song, the music in their hearts.
Their unique discipline, Melpominee, is a discipline based on speech and song. And multiple Sirens can use Melpominee in a concert, magnifying their effects. A group of Sirens is not only a great band but also a deadly and insidious knife to the heart through their music.

So, any bloodline that interests you guys so far? Even prefer it over some of the main clans? Did you ever play a Bloodline?

(This is shorter than expected because I was foolish enough to forget that I didn't have a word file for the previous "Vampiric Bloodlines" post and I deleted the post while writing Extremist Hunters on SB. So I had to basically redo the post. Ugh. It's all my fault in this case.)

Maragas · Aug 24, 2022

It's time to do something different. I am going to talk about Mage but not your typical mages. It's time to go back to the past, and meet The Order of Reason!
Want to see how the Technocracy was before modern times? You are in the right place.

Daedalean, that is the title of those who join the Order of Reason, some of the most creative, visionary, and inspired people in Europe. Scholars, scientists, artists, explorers, merchants and doctors of all manner. They make dreams a reality not because of vanity or conceit but for the benefit of mankind.

To outsiders, the thought of an alliance of scientists and visionaries across Europe and beyond sounds like pure fantasy. But that is the Order of Reason, an intricate support network of laboratories, universities, religious retreats, guilds, lodges and merchant houses from the heart of Europe to the far east.

So, let's delve into Conventions of Old!

Artificers, the greatest industrialists, mathematicians, alchemists and chemists of the Order of Reason. Their quality is unmatched, from war machines to mundane items they are creating stuff day and night in the name of progress and perfection.

Forgers (Vulcans): They are the ones who innovate everything from gigantic war machines to common equipment and field gear. Also one of the hardest guilds to enter as it could take years of dedication to your craft.
Mauls (Hammers): The military arm of the Artificers. Mauls use whatever Forgers create. They defend engines of war on the battlefield and defend the Forgers while they create masterworks. In fact, their first and most important duty is guarding the forges of the Artificers.
Pythagorai: Master Mathematicians and intellectual scholars of the physical world. From engineering to geology to arts of debate they master it and research the workings of the universe.
Bright Lions: Chemistry and alchemy are their butter and bread. The essential suppliers of Abundanti's Oil, the fuel of the strongest and most impressive machines of the Order of Reason. Masters of Matter.

Celestial Masters. Astronomers, Prophets and Diplomats of the Order of Reason. The seekers of secrets and pursuers of Enlightenment.

House of Daedalus: They dedicate themselves fully to the ideals of the Order of Reason. They don't care about divides between Conventions or petty rivalries. What they want is the pursuit of the ideals of the Order. They are master diplomats and jack of all trades and they would happily cooperate with anyone and invite others to their cabals and lodges. They usually leave the leadership to others but will always give advice, especially if they feel like their patron is doing something wrong. They are very diplomatic but they think they are the embodiment of the Daedalean ideals and thus might see others as lacking.
House of Selene (Cassandras): The ones who dedicate themselves to the prophecies and stars. Some might believe them to be charlatans fooling the gullible but others know better since the Celestial Masters of Selene are often right about the future. When a Cassandra demand something, you should be ready and wary.
House of Prometheus: The Sky is the limit and Prometheans will break it. They see the future, the destiny of mankind in the skies and it will be a Promethean that will bring it to the masses. Unlike other Celestial Masters they prefer seclusion and exploration of the Sky rather than the world below. They also see themselves as the elite of the Convention and beneath them to dirty themselves with the world below the sky. They have a rivalry with the House of Selene.

Craftmasons, the builders, the architects and usually grunts and sidekicks of the Order of Reason. ~~(Also, Communists)~~ Do you need some equipment but don't have the means to contact a Forger of Artificer Convention? Craftmasons aren't the best but hey, it's something. You need funding for your operation but it's too risky and even if it's successful it's not going to be worth much for the High Guild to sponsor? Craftmasons can give you some cash, it may not be much but it's something. You need soldiers and aren't picky about their quality? Craftmasons, they aren't the best but they are highly motivated. The list goes on.

Stone Guild: The most visible and known guild of the Craftmasons. And the one thing they are truly best at. Buildings of all sizes and types are built by Craftmasons and it's the reason why they are known as Craftmasons. If you need something to be built, be it an Labyrinth or just a simple hut, they are your guys.
Coin Guild: The poor man's High Guild, literally. They specialize in providing sponsorship to risky and not very profitable ventures. Sure, you aren't going to stay in nice places nor make a large profit but it's something if you have been rejected by everyone from the High Guild to your own convention to muggle Nobles and Merchants.
Hemlock Guild: Spies of Craftmasons, though their biggest strength in that department is their commoner network throughout the world.
Scroll Guild: Mostly teachers and historians, they are the nerds of the Craftmasons. Though occasionally adventurous ones risk their lives to document the unknown.
Sword Guild: Do you not have the money to hire Resplented Axes of High Guild? You couldn't convince your convention's military guild to sponsor your cause because it's clearly not worth it? Sword Guild might give you the chance as long as you can convince them with your ideals. (Though quality might wary)
Level Guild: Do you like Revolutions? Because they love Revolutions. Level Guild are the masters of..."political reform"
Arrow Guild: They are like first responders to any dangerous place where commoners are suffering. They specialize in resolving problems and easing the suffering of the people. (They are very friendly with House of Fire of Cosians since they basically work together to stop plagues, both mundane and supernatural, from affecting the populace)

The High Guild, merchants, mercenaries, leaders and commanders, swashbucklers and moneymakers, quality is the name of the game. ~~(Also, Capitalists)~~ They are some of the most elite Daedaleans of the Order of Reasons, only rivaled by their cost. But know this, if you buy their services you will not regret it. And if you can get them to patron you, the money will not be an issue.

The Sun Guild: You want your projects done? Get a Sun Guilder. They are elite leaders, commanders and socializers, so much that House Daedalus of Celestial Masters considers them their rivals. In fact, in the Order of Reason majority of the wealth and resources could be said to be managed by them.
Resplendent Axe: Elite Mercenaries. They are some of the best equipped, best trained and most experienced soldiers in the Order of Reason. This leads to strong rivalries with other militaristic groups of the Order but they have what it takes to back it up.
Albatross: You want to make some money? Are you willing to take risks and suffer for it? Albatross will happily help you. They are the primary wealth and resource gatherers for the Order of Reason. They create trade routes, marketplaces and go on expeditions.
Rose Guild: A Guild made out of rich reckless swashbucklers. Unlike other guilds, rather than make money they are here to adventure! You know the classic tale of "Rich Prince/Princess leaves home for adventure" stories? Every Rose Guild member is one and all of them survived through their youth of reckless adventure.
Patrons Guild: They are the spies and enforces of the High Guild. Their mission is to expand the power and influence of the High Guild. They don't gather wealth, they gather the Loyalty of others. And for that reason, they take loyalty and betrayal very seriously.

Cosians (The Hippocratic Circle), healers, researchers, educators, and professors. They are one of the most critical Conventions of the Order of Reason. They are the ones who educate the masses, research the human condition, heal the sick, and prevent and cure plagues and diseases. And in World of Darkness where death is everywhere, they brought the light of medicine to the masses.
They are mostly split into three factions among five houses. Elementalists, the researchers and masters of ancient and lost knowledge. Alchemists, who prefer the theory of Alchemy to the pure medicine of other Cosians. (And the one Paracelsus was the part of). Lastly, Vivisectionsists are Cosians that study and master the anatomy of humans to further the science of medicine.

House of Knives: They are the ones who face the worst of the world firsthand. They are the battle surgeons, they are on the frontlines unlike most of their colleagues. Some of them also make excellent assassins and torturers, who can keep their captives alive through hell and back.
House of Books: Scholars among Scholars. Most of them are busy with teaching and helping people to actively work with a cabal but they are willing to give their aid if their patron is willing to sponsor a local school or refuge.
House of Mandrake: Medicine men of the rural and agricultural areas. They are here to tend to the needs of the villages and other far away places. And one of few Cosians who have dealings with Verbena.
House of Fire: They are the ones who deal with the terrifying plagues of the World of Darkness. From mundane plagues to the supernatural plagues of the Ratkin they are here to cure it. Incredibly skilled doctors in all fields but surgery.
House of Olympus: Known as master chemists to others, they are alchemists of the Cosians. Unlike the focus of Life of all other Cosians, they master the Matter to bring life to their patients.

Explorers (Seekers), some might say they are the physical counterparts of the researchers and professors of the Order of Reason. They explore properties of the universe while the Explorers explore and adventure in the vast universe. Seekers are adventurers, monster hunters, treasure seekers, demon slayers, explorers of the unknown, and builders of ships that take them to their destinations.

Herculinians: Only the elites of the Explorators and the Order of Reason can join them. Just like their namesake, they are here to accomplish grand tasks and missions. The best of the best, until they die, to forever pursue grand and grander accomplishments. Boisterous, reckless, and full of dreams. If you want adventure, this is your place.
Odysseans: They are the masters and overseers of the fleets of the Order of Reason. Always on the move, always on the sea, and always ready to set sail.
Alexandrians: Land counterparts of the Odysseans. They are not only masters of land exploration and travel but also specialists in foreign cultures and languages. If you are going to some faraway place through land and more importantly deal with cultures and people there, no one is better than Alexandrians.
The Order of the Grail: Their number one goal, travel to the vast unknown, explore it, and document it. If you are traveling somewhere far away, their archives and experience will be priceless. (Its price is negotiable though)
The Guild of Forge and Sail: Possibly the most valuable members of the Convention, they are the shipbuilders. Everything from small boats to Skyriggers are their specialty. Usually incredibly influential thanks to their essential nature and they look after each other.
The League of St. Paul: A cooperative guild made from both Explorers and The Cabal of Pure Thought. They are missionaries who want to bring the good word of Jesus Christ to others far away.

The Ksirafai, the enforces and spies of the Order of Reason. Whether he is openly or secretly Ksirafai, they are always looking out for threats and corruption within the Order of Reason. Inner Labyrinth members of them are called Etfalti and they are legendary for their devotion and skill.
(They left the Order of Reason in 1716, erased their traces of existence and pretended to "defeat" their own Guild to join the Order of Hermes as House Janissary. But in modern times they got crippled during the destruction of Diosstep and later got found out by Euthanatos to be the Ksirafai and killed.)

The Cabal of Pure Thought, people of faith of all types. Some are masters of diplomacy, some are masters of fire and sword but all united under the belief of "One God, One World, One Church".

Illustrafatore (The Illustrious): These Gabrielites are those who focus on the protection and improvement of the masses than crusading against the supernatural. Usually they work together with Craftmasons to solve and help with the problems of the common folk and have little patience with merchants, rogues, or loner researchers. Not surprisingly, the Illustrious members are commonly from poor backgrounds and know firsthand the realities the commoners face daily.
Poenitenti (Doves of Christ): Scholars, healers, and monks. They are the diplomatic and peaceful faction within the Cabal. They only arm themselves for self-defense and prefer to convince people with words and actions rather than "fire and brimstone". They will always try to confirm first someone is actually guilty before going to Venatores to report. But they aren't as tolerant as Celestial Chorus. (Even if they aren't as extreme as Venatores/Templars/The Inquisition)
Venatores (The Falcons of Gabriel): You know the Inquisition? Venatores is the Inquisition with the Order of Reason. They don't even call themselves Daedaleans. If you have one in a cabal (or you are a Falcon and you are in a cabal), they are either sent there as a watcher because of suspicious behavior and rumors or the cabal (or their patron) in question is powerful enough to demand a Falcon to join the cabal.

And that's it! The Order of Reason and their guilds. It's quite the journey, isn't it? Especially how it evolved. I still can't believe the Cabal of Pure Thought turned in the New World Order.
Also, for those who are wondering where is the Voltarian Order (Future Sons of Ether) and the Difference Engineers (Future Virtual Adepts)? Easy, they don't exist yet. They are basically last-minute additions to the Order of Reason before it become the Technocracy.

I hope this was informative. So, any questions? How did you find the Order of Reason? Which Convention and sub-guild you would be in an Order of Reason chronicle?

shadowdice · Nov 14, 2025

Book of Nod, Urban Vampire Edition

Intro To Vampirism

To start out the history of Vampire Lore whether you use the name Kindred or the more generally accurate Cainite, let me explain what a lot of people need to understand. Both words are used to describe the fact that We are family. We are not convergent evolution where for some reason a bunch of different people got cursed or used weird magic to obtain power and all got pale fanged monsters that burn in sunlight, have roughly similar powers, and can get the abilities of each other by drinking the guy next to you dry. We are not the weird everything evolves into crabs equivalent of magic. Now, some wizards did drink potions after obtaining the blood of a vampire which turned them into undead. Weirdly, this happened at least twice and a vampire did the same thing to become a semi-fairy. But even those guys got it from having some pre-existing vampire juice.

All vampires, whether we like it or not, are Tribes of Caine. Yes the one from the Bible not Command and Conquer. The Bible itself is not necessarily correct, there is some vampire lore in how we were involved in some acts of the New Testament and a Toreador might have been rubber stamping what got into the collected text we have now. But there is a guy, whose name has been corrupted into Caine and a few other similar sounding words that our relatives deep in Sub-Saharan Africa and far north in Scandinavia both apply to their understanding of our ancient Blood Donor.

All vampires are descended from him. Which is why we have words like Cainite and Kindred. The Clans and Bloodlines as we call them now used to be called Tribes with the Thirteen acknowledged Clans all tying themselves to one of thirteen known descendants of Caine. Most people call them the Third Generation but at least some of them did commit the Forbidden Sip which could have worked to get them more power or not because a lot of the rules on how stuff works now might not have been the same back then. Also the fact that a lot of people are going to lie to make themselves sound better. The Ravnos say their founder was a Second Generation possible son of Caine and was the bestest boy ever who Caine loved more than everybody else. There are the Setites who keep saying that No their guy is totally a God don't you know and is totally the First Generation and everyone else just stole power from him so you should convert to their religion where wetheycan tear out your heart, keep it in a jar, and kill you when their high priests get upset. The Assamites say that Haqim is an uber badass who was immune to all of Caine's powers as a mortal no less, called him out on lies, and decapitates his King and Queen when they were turned into vampires and drank their blood For Some Reason to obtain their abilities and grant himself the Embrace.

Which isn't how that works and means he is a crazy Diablerist who presumed with little evidence that 'hey if I kill my bosses and drink their blood I'll be like them right?' and tried it. Don't say that to an Assamite's face though since they might behead you. Or in earshot, a lot of them have Auspex.

There is Also Brujah who have technically two founders. Illyes or Troile the Elder whose name was probably not that and the name almost certainly got put on there sometime after the rise of Greece, and Troile the Younger who we are just going to call Troile. The generally accepted story is that Illyes was a cold fish scholar with time powers who embraced the probably hot young redheaded girl Troile the Younger. Now Troile could have been a dude as well or switch between them with ancient magic but I am just going to stick with Redheaded Musclegirl Woman or possible Femboy Twunk. Troile for reasons that many people argue over, ate Illyes and became acknowledged as the head of the Clan by Caine. Possibly because Big Daddy Caine decided that he liked muscled redhead tomboys.

The Tremere are technically a Tzimisce Bloodline as they are one of those groups of wizards that became vampires. Their founder, Tremere, seemed to have the philosophy of Every Hole Is A Goal with how often he pounded his students whether they be pretty slave boys he bought or girls with burn scars from experiments, ate Saulot. Similarly, Augustus Giovanni ate Cappadocius. Members of the original Clans for both will still call them Bloodlines.

Getting into this. Antitribu is a term for Against the Tribe or technically the founder. This is a Political term, which is common for vampires. Sabbat Members are technically all Antitribu even if they might be the majority of the clan such as the Tzimisce or Lasombra. Additionally, The Nosferatu are all Antitribu if we use this definition because almost all the ones we know and talk to are descendants of Baba Yaga. Yes that one, and no I am not going to say her name anymore because she is an ancient prehistorical witch who can summon dragons. She was made by her Antediluvian because she was already a horrifically powerful witch and he wanted her power. She took issue with that for partly religious reasons and avoided the Blood Bond he put the rest of his children under which resulted in an eternal war between her descendants and the Nictuku, those vampires that serve their founder.

Okay, you get all of that. Now, let us get into Big Daddy Caine's book of monumental mistakes and advice for how his Grandkids should act. At least it is written like it was him as the main perspective, this has passed from Sire to Childe to weird guy in the desert finding a historical artifact like me.

The Chronicles of Caine, Lilith, and Learning Magic Really Badly

Big Daddy Caine describes this passage as dreaming, speaking, and singing. Which might fit the Bible with how Naamah and Jubal were musicians. Caine liked his happy times as a farmer that dealt with plants while his little brother Abel cared for animals and helped them give birth. Some ominous foreshadowing if you know Genesis comes as Big Daddy Caine says he loved being a big brother because his little bro was the brightest, sweetest, strongest person he knew who he loved dearly and shared his joy with.

Their Father, maybe Adam maybe God wanted them to sacrifice what they loved the most to Big G. Caine grabbed his brightest fruits and Abel killed the best animal he had. Both went to their Father's altar and set them on fire. Big G liked the smell of grilling meat more than grilled fruit while Caine got told off and cursed.

Caine, being an observant guy, looked at the bleeding smoking meat Abel put out, cried, prayed, and when their Father said they were going to make another sacrifice, decided 'Hey wait, if God wants blood then I should give him blood since clearly the problem was that I grilled some great plants, which, you know, don't have blood. Blood is the secret magic sauce'

Caine wasn't the guy who raised animals though. He did have a brother and when Abel was asking why he didn't bring 'the first part of his joy' over to the altar, Caine cried with love and used his garden implements to bash Abel's brains in at the altar for him to burn.

Naturally, he got cursed by either Adam or God and got cast out to the Land of Nod where he was scared, alone, hungry, cold, and cried until Creeper Aunty Lilith came to him in the night saying she could make it all better because she had all kinds of shelter.

Caine apparently wasn't told about Creeper Cthulhu Fucking Homewrecker Aunty Lilith and did not realize it was a bad thing that was about to happen when Lilith gave him food, hugs, and kisses on his blood tears because they were about to get into some extreme torture porn.

Our Great Granddady is still an observant guy though and asked Lilith how she was able to make food, a house, and clothes out in the apocalyptic wasteland of darkness and terror. Her answer was that she was Awake and can control the Threads of reality to obtain Power. These words tend to be used by Mages but we don't know if she is a mage or whoever wrote this used those terms because they fit best.

Caine, being an observant guy who got thrown around by people before, asked if Lilith could Wake him up and teach him how to do all of this so he could have his own House instead of being her live in fucktoy.

Lilith did not entirely want to do this since Caine was already cursed enough that it might mess up her attempts. Caine, really not liking being a useless fucktoy whose only tool was his penis, pointed out that he was weak, defenseless, would die without what Lilith gives him, and was basically a slave.

Now, Because Caine knew the art of the Honeydick, he knew that Lilith was a lonely MILFy Hag who really wanted company and would help him out even if she wanted to keep total control because she was invested in this relationship.

So, Lilith filled a bowl with her blood for Caine to drink in the hopes it would Awaken him.

That did not work the way she wanted because he passed out with his mind in a Deep Abyss that might be another dimension, maybe the underworld, maybe somewhere else, and had visions of Michael, Raphael, and Uriel all offering him forgiveness from God, Abel, and God again which was rejected each time with each angel cursing him for saying Fuck No I Know What I Did and it is my own grace, forgiveness, and mercy that I'm going to keep on living even if I'm going to be cursed for all eternity.

The angels decided to take him up on that offer and mega cursed him to the point he cried blood again where he drank it from a cup he somehow had before Gabriel said 'hey, God still loves you bro and there is a road of Mercy called Golconda that you and your kids can follow to be in the Light.' Now the word being used, Golconda, is probably a later invention but we are dealing with Caine and Angels that can see the actual future so they could be using a word that wasn't around yet with the expectation that it will be a great joke when Saulot or other vampires walk around and find a city by that name.

Caine woke up next to Lilith, decided that this was obviously the Awakening she talked about, and learned he had powers now. These powers were Disciplines. Celerity, Potence, and Fortitude were the first ones he figured out after having been terrified and frail in the Land of Nod. Lilith taught him Obfuscate, Dominate which leads to worrying implications on how she had control over him before, and Presence.

This was not enough awesome powers so Caine figured out how to shapeshift, which is probably Protean instead of Viccisitude, Animalism, and Auspex.

It is from here that we get what I like to call Cardinal or Core 9 Disciplines.

Lilith said he should not make any more powers because Caine was at his limits and any other powers would "Threaten his very essence." Again, this is some very dark foreshadowing for clans like the Lasombra, Tzimisce, Cappadocius, Setites and even Salubri as those guys go heavy on their new power. Also you could argue the OG Brujah.

Lilith Dominated or used something similar to make Caine follow her rules but the fact that she used those powers pissed off Big Daddy Caine who once he was alone, did make a new power, opening himself to infinite possibilities where he saw what got him in trouble in the first place. The Path of Blood which would open all sorts of new abilities. Now the phrase used is "From which all other paths would grow." Which is kind of correct as the Lasombra, Setites, and Tzimisce all go deep into blood mysticism so it could be that they created their special disciplines through Thaumaturgy. The term Path of Blood is what the Tremere call their base blood magic but others have their own versions of the same powers.

Caine used Thaumaturgy to destroy Lilith's hold on him before he Obfuscated out of Nod to find a place Lilith and her demons coulnd't get to him. And unfortunately, I have no idea if that is actual demons, monsters she made, or the various kids she made with demons. Because Lilith did a lot of fucking around.

Caine's Story of Rohypnol Roofies

Zillah had the sweetest blood, the softest skin, and the clearest eyes. A lot of this stuff also creepily mirrors Abel but ignoring that terrifying thought. She was the only one of Caine's children he desired but she ignored his attempts to seduce her no matter if he gave her perfumes, pets, art, or parties. Caine was so frustrated in having to rediscover the art of romance that which Adam never had to deal with that he tore his hair out and wandered into the forest where he found an old hag we call the Crone singing to the moon.

They commiserated over not having what they want with Caine going 'What can you do.' But the Crone, being an old hag, saw what Caine wanted, smiled her old witchy smile, and told Caine that she'd tell him the secrets of the Moon if he drank her blood and came back later. He found her sleeping on the stone the next night and insulted her to wake her back up but she said she was Dreaming up visions for him so he should drink her again and come the next night with a clay bowl and a knife for him. Caine, missing his normal observant nature, did not question why this sounds so similar to what Lilith did with him.

So, he drank her until she passed out.

Caine, not having learned to not trust strange women he finds in forests, came back with a bowl and knife, did not insult her awake for the third meeting, and she smiled her witchy smile claiming she had what he sought, telling him to mix berries and herbs in the bowl with her blood.

Caine, somehow not remembering how he got into this whole undeath problem, followed this because she claimed it would make Zillah fall in love with him despite Caine already knowing blood magic now and none of this stuff being related to her as far as anyone can tell.

Because Caine, like many people, was deeply, madly, incomprehensibly obsessed with the woman his heart was set on. And when Caine did drink he paused, realized what was just happened, and realized that he was now in an NTR Hentai only instead of a fat old bastard fucking a hot wife, he was the hot wife being molested by a fat old female bastard. Meaning, he was the slave of a creepy mysterious old witch he found in the wilderness. Again. And it wasn't a hot one.

Oh, he tried to use his powers to rend the woman's flesh and bones apart but he was controlled by what may have been the First Blood Bond and was incapable of breaking it as she commanded him to desire her old, dried, pruny skin before having him Embrace her.

Capital E Embrace it seems and it is from this that the Blood Bond seems to be in place as she promised that it was now that the Blood would create those ties between people. Complete with it needing to be on three separate nights.

Now, how does this work? Well this seems to have been a powerful curse. When Caine put the Clan Curses on the Antediluvians, they had already sired with their childer being cursed in turn. So a great and powerful change in the Blood seems to be able to change even those who have already been created by their parent.

The Crone promised to make even more potions for Caine, bidding him to go to the city for Zillah while she waited in evil places.

A year and a day passed before Caine devised a way to break his service. This old bitch would force him to give up his blood for her alchemical experiments and claim members of the Third Generation for her evil plans. But, she thought her hold was complete and Caine waited, refusing to drink her blood as he tried to weaken its hold on him. Remember, he was the first Blood Sorcerer and if people in the present can break blood bonds, the creator of our Sorcery should be able to.

Caine, being a sneaky fucker, came to the Crone saying that his kids were trying to kill him and how the prophecy of the angel Auriel was clearly true. The Crone didn't want her blood supply and dick to turn to ash, so she found a gopher tree and made a stake out of it before telling him he could immobilize a vampire by driving it through their heart.

He promptly staked the bitch.

But she laughed while the stake penetrated her withered tits, hating him while Caine kissed her brittle lips before he left her for the sun. Don't ask why he did that. Maybe the Blood Bond still had a hold or he had a particularly sick sense of humor. Not uncommon with us.

He also committed a great Sin amongst us vampires. Waiting For The Sun instead of decapitating the ancient evil witch and scattering the ashes himself. Because you never know when someone has a servant that will be able to drag your body to a save place or rip the stake out. But this was may have been the first real Vampire attempted homicide and Caine already was cursed because of one murder within the family so I can understand him being careful with this.

First City, AKA Things Never Change

Now, the first Vampire was Caine. Caine sacrificed his brother out of love and was cast out for it (Yes that is the reason stated multiple times in the Book of Nod, ancient cultures are weird. So are modernish ones, look at cultures that burn widows in pyres or kill a woman to give a dead son a ghost bride), cursed with both immortality and bloodlust. He is our grandsire, our Patriarch, and Father of us as a species just as humans are the Children of Seth.

He spent an unknown amount of time in the Land of Nod, suffering alone until Humanity began to forget him. He returned to civilization, still Marked but with much of the knowledge of his crime unknown. His power was so great that humanity worshipped him and he further mastered the ability to control them as he was made King of the Great City.

But, Caine still has all the traits of a Human. We have the Beast but that is not all we are and he felt alone. Even moreso now that he was the one in charge with none to stand with him. The term used in the original Book of Nod is that he called up demons, but the term itself could have been in the more Grecian sense. Auspex allows powerful users to communicate with spirits which may have taught him how to give the Embrace.

Uriel, not liking this, came to him in the night to warn him that his adopted Children would bear the same curses as him. To be hated by the sun, drink blood, and walk in the Land of Nod. He would bear witness to the same heartbreak as his father, seeing his children have the same jealousy as himself and plot and murder one another.

The warning didn't change Caine's loneliness, so he went to Enoch or some say Enosh, most loved of the children of Seth whether it be by Humanity of Caine himself. Enoch begged to be made Caine's son and Caine Embraced him despite Uriel's prophecy. Caine named the First City after his son who became as lonely as Caine eventually had, and so Caine listened to Enoch's requests to be given a brother and sister who would be Irad who was apparently the best warrior and general while Zillah was embraced for Caine's lust for her.

It is said Caine lusted for her Blood. If this is because it was magical in some way, tasted wonderful as some exceptional humans are, or just a flowery term for Kindred sexual desire is ambiguous. All of these could be true at the same time and the does apply given the whole Crone booty call issue.

Caine's first brood learned how to Embrace others and rapidly made children of their own. Which is a very bad idea when it comes to the fact that Caine knows how this could go even without magical murder powers involved. He outlawed the Embrace but just like us in modern times, the Second Generation would continue whenever they believed they could get away with it.

The First City expanded into a kingdom where Caine became more involved with humans. What caused this is ambiguous as it could be the demands of vampires for blood, the needs of the humans, luxuries,or the fact that this is in the time period where the Garou Werewolves had the Impergium. Also known as Werewolves slaughtering humans out of the believe that they should cull the population. As you can expect, Caine might not have been happy about that. Though neither would mages. Or Ghosts. Or Fairies when you consider their interests.

Basically, pre-history should have everyone be pissed off at the Werewolves and I have some good ideas on why Irad might embrace childer outside of any internal enemies he had.

But Caine grew closer to humans. The term used is Knew Them which tends to have a very different connotation in Biblical texts. Which, well, Blood Magic can get your parts hard again if just trying to Rouse the Blood fails.

Unfortunately, Caine's kids roamed around indulging in their vices at the very least, possibly creating the Baali back then at worst when they weren't just trying to kill each other through violence or politics along with abusing the humans enough that Caine felt sad about it. which means Caine became very close to humans or the Second Generation were at a level of brutality that the man who invented Murder said 'woah, that's messed up.'

He read omens, used auspex, or did rituals that told him that the Flood Would happen to wash away civilization. Caine decided against warning anyone of what was to come and was so depressed by the flood that he exiled himself away from both Humanity and Kindred. The Second Generation and Antediluvians found him fused with the Earth, because Protean was invented by him, and he told them to fuck off because all of this was his fault for trying to exist amongst humans.

Essentially, he voluntarily went into Torpor while the Antediluvians decided to hunt down the humans to rule over them. The Second and Third Generation made their broods once again to try to mimic the achievements of Caine, but failed as they fell into infighting. Terms like we are used in this which could be the claim of an Antediluvian or a more generalized we for Kindred. Either way, members of the Third Generation killed their Sires, or Fourth Generation did so to the Third.

This story puts the creation of the Second City as after the slaying of the second generation. Thirteen Clans joined together in this city though there are likely more than thirteen third generation that were made.

It is likely that by this point or during the rise of the Second City that the Clans got their monikers. Kingship Clan Ventrue, Beast Clan Gangrel, Moon Clan Malkavian, Hidden Clan Nosferatu which is rather odd as this would either mean the original was there with the Nictuku who apparently had the title first or the divide happened with his rebel children in the city, Wanderer Clan Ravnos, Rose Clan Toreador, Night Clan Lasombra, Shaper Clan Tzimisce, Snake Clan Setites, Death Clan Cappadocians, Healer Clan Salubri, Hunter Clan Assamite, and Learned Clan Brujah.

Our Antediluvian ancestors set themselves up as a pantheon of gods in a city they designed for themselves, making more childer while forbidding them from Embracing out of fear of Uriel's warnings. But like with the Second Generation under Caine, the Fourth Generation spread vitae to benefit themselves. Illegal embraces saw both sire and childe killed if the Third Generation learned of it. Same as now. And as you'd expect, people either escaped or hid their children.

Caine knew all of this because duh Auspex and even if not he had Animalism and could probably possess even Antediluvians if he very well pleased. So he cursed the clans with Banes for killing his children. And being one of the first men to live, a vicious dick to people he disliked, and having had the time to sit down and think about his ironic punishments, Caine screwed them hard.

Malkav apparently desecrated an image of Caine and was driven made. Nosferatu's proclivities were so heinous Caine found it foul enough to make it so his evil would always be on his face. Others have the way they got their curses listen in other stories, but it is generally agreed that Everyone got a curse of some sort.

The term we is used again in saying the Second Generation was mourned by everyone, which brings the question of who is the writer. "And we mourned them all, as we were of a kind, and all the families of Caine."

Afterwards, the Second City died out a slow withering death that the Antediluvians did not recognize until it was too late. Troile diablerized Illyes which might have actually occurred earlier and probably did, but war destroyed what was left of the city along with countless broods. Scattered, everyone made Broods to war and plot against one another in attempts to rule over the earth. With more Kindred came more conflict as Elders hid behind proxies and Neonates rebelled, killed them or were controlled, and repeated the cycle with new cities. Mortals were used to wage war on each other for every reason under the sun as Kindred began to pose as gods or hide in the shadows like we do now.

But this has happened before, and the last time, Caine wanted to be left alone, watching until he decided to come down and Judge Everyone.

And he will do it again with every vampire fearing just where and when Gehenna comes in what we call The Last City

Words of Wisdom from Great Granddaddy Caine and the other Grandparents

Now okay, we've gone over the outline of vampire history starting with the first vampire down to our Apocalyptic visions.

Got it? Good. Great Granddaddy Caine also wrote down the law based on his experiences as an old man desperately beating his kids over the head and ass with ancient cuneiform tablets with the hope he could print his warnings on either their skin or burn it into their brains.

These being

Don't Embrace people when I tell you not to.
Make ghouls, ghouls are useful.
Be fucking specific in who you embrace
Treat them well like a sibling because they will be your family
If you fuck them up your kids will want to fuck you up, even Angels understand that and they don't have kids the normal way. That'll end your immortality.
Parents are stronger than their kids in almost all respects
Listen to me i.e Caine to have truth, peace, and power.
If you fuck up, the person who made you can end you. Even Caine is worried about what Adam could have done to him.
If your Childe diablerizes your kids or brothers, how loosely we are using that term is unknown, kill him. Fuck the kid and kill him. He outright calls it the Serpent's way and it is hard to tell if he is talking about Set and his religion of evil or outright Lucifer.
Don't embrace the unworthy,
Don't embrace people as punishment looking at you Nosferatu,
Don't embrace kids you freaks, people who are embraced should add to the family.
Don't embrace the diseased since they tend to be stuck looking diseased or otherwise suffering
Don't embrace the insane, looking at you Malkav because that will mess with the blood.
Don't have more Kindred around than Sethites. Even a three to one human to vampire ratio is pushing it.
Sires need to teach their Childer the Laws, Traditions, Rites, and Customs
Don't embrace the Werewolves and don't drink their blood. THIS IS A FORBIDDEN SIP.
Don't embrace the Mages, listen to what they say but always be ready in case they try to fuck with you even if they are useful.
Don't drink Fairy blood it will drive you crazy and definitely don't embrace them because you will die.
Don't embrace for love, it doesn't work out, he has personal experience.
We are supposed to look after the Sethites, because they are the kids of Caine's younger brother.
Guide the humans so they'll serve you
Have humans around to serve you in the daytime and protect your haven because they can put out fires, feed you, and deal with all the logistics for stuff like entertainment, clothing, and comfort.
He even says yes it is okay to literally fuck humans instead of just fuck them over
Listen to the advice of humans, he repeats this, listen to the advice of humans you idiot
Yes they will try to worship you as a god, but don't do that, looking at you Set. Also Michael. And Cappadocius.
Don't set yourself up as a god because God will fuck you up. This may be a reference to true faith.
He brings receipts in the form of Ashtareth, Baal, and Tammauz, known Mesopotamian gods which were apparently Kindred. Second or Third generation, I don't know.
God will actively give humans weapons if you do this shit. So, expect more true faith and weird powers around if you do this.
Guide the humans, cull them if necessary to clean them of blood and keep them free from disease. So this seems to be, you know, take care of their health and remove the sick and maybe genetically bad, not the full force genocide runs of slaughtering cities the werewolves did.

And yet more Caine trying to bash in common sense into brains. I will make this clear, CAINE REPEATS HIMSELF BECAUSE HE KNOWS PEOPLE WON'T LISTEN TO HIM

Make ghouls, ghouls are useful.
If the ghoul commits a crime against a Kindred the Domitor will pay the price as if they did it. AKA Be careful with your ghouls because you will be judged on what they do.
Account for the ghouls, don't have secret agents because this will lead to infighting. We see this happen all the time.
Know when a ghoul is blood bonded, do it with skilled people because they will be Wise and should be taken care of. Free ghouls might make you feel better but it leads to problems.
Caine reminds us that Caine loves his family and that He Will Break the chains if he very well pleases. If this is Blood Bonds, well that is probable. Auspex and Blood Magic would let him foil plots he wants to destroy.
Don't fuck with Angels
Don't fuck with demons, looking at you Tiamat, Troile, Ur-Shulgi, Baali, Hey Sabbat and Assamites, look at Mexico City.
Yes make animal ghouls and breed them, which might be a reference to like revenant horses, but don't think your Beast is as controllable as they are.
Don't mess with Werecreatures and possessed animals. He cannot emphasize this enough.
Invite your ghouls into your house and don't let people Embrace them until appropriate
Remember the ghouls are useful in the daytime. He cannot stop repeating this.
Reward your ghouls
Give them many of the same joys you have with clothes, music, and blood
Protect your ghouls
If someone's ghoul is killed dogpile the one who did it and beat the shit out of them if it was without provocation, looking at you people who frenzy and kill the messengers
Seriously just don't mess with the were-creatures and avoid them. HE TELLS YOU THIS LIKE FIVE TIMES
Don't mess with the werecreature's sacred ground and territory
Their teeth and claws will fuck you up. If you don't listen to the previous warnings because it is him, have self-preservation at the very least
He repeates, don't mess with the fairies.
Yes they are pretty but they are dangerous.
They did help Caine when he was a human and were his friends then, which could be when he was wondering before meeting Lilith or back when Abel was alive.
They are a lot like us but they tend to not explain things well so just listen to what they say and try and figure out what they mean. They are like his parents.
Don't mess with mages they are like Lilith and his parents.
Mages may try to drag you into their messes and ideals but they want to do weird ascension stuff that will cast off physical bodies and their methods are likely to kill you
Ghosts are real and Caine has been to the underworld.
They are close to vampires and Caine still hears Abel's screams
Listen to the ghosts but don't fall to their temptations when they try to manipulate them. Ghosts have an equivalent to the Beast that is actively trying to kill them.
In all honesty, help ghosts move on instead of binding them to your will. Aka What the Giovanni do. Don't be a Giovanni
Caine was imprisoned by Lilith and freed himself so he has strong opinions on this.
Don't diablerize your sire
Listen to your elders. He has repeated this multiple times.
Don't mess with each other's land or territory
Don't call yourselves gods, the angels and God will take objection to that. Looking at you Mithras
LISTEN TO YOUR SIRE
TEACH YOUR KIDS YOU FUCKUPS
Do not embrace for love, he repeats, it is a bad idea
Don't eat the werecreatures, the fairies, the diseased, the insane, the drunk you fuckups
Protect your ghouls and servants. He repeats himself
Give Hospitality to other kindred,
Give the best hospitality to your Elders even if it means not having your favorite bed and things,
Put a roof over the siblings of your progeny and some blood, which might be their friends. He suggests animal blood.
Don't Forget You Are Caine's Family.

Grandparental guidance. Take these with more salt than Granddaddy Caine.

Brujah, Troile

Elders can be wrong
Repeat her lessons to others, this comes after the fact that she says Elders can be wrong
Cause emotions in people. This might be her saying be nice or she could be saying to be a troll
Make the Night yours, so seize the night. We can't exactly grab the day.

Toreador, Arikel

Beauty can be found in the calm and reveal the truth
Love can bring you calm
Make art
Money is not the be all
Hunting is good not just sitting around surrounded by blood.
Find happiness and follow your passions.

Nosferatu, Absimiliard

Go out in the dark and make it yours
Feed on evil people
Beauty is on the inside

Ventrue also known as Ventru

Rule by right not by power
Make laws and make tools for the people and keep that covenant
Respect those who fight and be prepared for betrayal
Be brave

Saulot

You are going to die
You are the best part of Caine and will bear his sins
Heal future generations

More Reminders

Don't eat kindred. Members of the third Generation tried it on Caine. It didn't work out.

Caine loves you and you are the ones who suffer with him but he will punish you when you fuck up like his father taught him.

We also have Proverbs. It is ambiguous who made these but they are likely from various sources.

Toreador do not give straight answers
If the Gangrel decide to run away haul ass
Nosferatu tend to die first in political wars
Do not eat the firefighters, construction workers, and undertakers. Help them, bless them, do not eat. THIS IS FORBIDDEN SIP. Bless those who deal with our natural enemies.
Don't let people see you eat. Especially priests, poets, or regular people.
Be honorable and don't insult the Ventrue to their face because they will hold a grudge
Just outlive the people you hate, they've probably made other enemies
Vengeance feels best when it is soon though
The humans have tax men and laws, deal with it. Don't evade taxes, they will notice.
Even if you lose a fight you can win the war
Make sure your kids don't diablerize.
Never SIP three times from the same person in a row. You know, Kindred.
Don't bargain with demons and the darkness, they want everything
Do not let the beast control you, ride it.
Poets and singers will make art about vampires so avoid them
Hide yourself, don't be open about being a vampire.
When religions are looking for you, hide
Be gentle when you feed on women, be extra fucking careful if you feed on a child, be careful with animals because they could be shifters and they have less nutrients than others, share kindred blood to share powers, feast on Werecreatures
- I have that last part so people can't say I removed parts. DON'T DO IT. THIS IS FORBIDDEN SIP.
Your duty is to protect the weak and fight the strong

Prophecies

The Book of Nod does have many prophecies. These are supposedly sourced from the First City as prophecies proclaimed by Saulot when he was intentionally depriving himself of blood. Many of them are hard to parse such as "Lasombra's dreams-come true on the day when the moon runs as blood and the run rises black in the sky, that is the day of the Damned, when Caine's children rise again." An irritating part of prophecy is how metaphorical they can be and interpreting them.

A lot of it can be the fact that I think an Antediluvian would have a hard time comprehending what a nuclear bomb when they were in over ten thousand BC and trying to explain it to someone who didn't see what they themselves would practically think of as as magic.

Here, Caine's children could mean the Second Generation, vampires in general, or perhaps the Third Generation but that does not make much sense as the prophecy mentions Grandsires who will rise with "So too, our grandsires will rise from the ground. They will break their fast on the first part of us, they will consume us whole." And if First part is oldest then that will be bad for the Elders.

Caine also calls his children, which could be the antediluvians or us in general to a meeting place in the "First City" where he will cast judgement upon all of us, destroying those who have earned destruction, and those who diablerized their sires will be granted Caine's blood for the ironic punishment of it burning them from the inside out while Lilith and he fight while Hell erupts and the sky tears apart.

Which, well, if Heaven gets involved we are probably all doomed. Hell, debatable since I'm pretty sure most demons hate each other.

The Changelings will leave the earth while the Werecreatures fight each other and the Antediluvians which survived up to this point try to make empires in the wasteland in which the Last City, called Gehenna will see a horrible nightmarish rule where all goodness is tainted by a Father of Darkness which seems to be separate from the Dark Father term often used for Caine. This being's power comes from the Nether Realms which could be the Abyss like Lasombra, Underworld like Cappadocius, or you know, actual Hell.

An important figure in the prophecies of Gehenna is the Last Daughter of Eve. She is almost universally agreed upon as someone who exists in the Gehenna narratives though not necessarily one who is seen as important outside of being a sign. At least a few view her as a sort of Messianic Figure.

"When the snows consume the Earth and the Sun gutters like a candle in the wind then, and only then will there be born a woman, the Last Daughter of Eve, and in her there will be decided the fate of all. And you will not know this woman, except by the Mark of the Moon on her, and she will face treachery, hatred, and pain but in her is the last hope."

The exact meaning of the term Last Daughter of Eve is lost to most and it is far easier to draw ideas on what Mark of the Moon is. Some say it means she would be a Malkavian as they are often called the Clan of the Moon, or that she'd be related to werewolves, a Seer whether mortal or Thin Blood, or that it has to do with the astrological signs of her birth and/or Embrace as we often consider it a sort of birth. Many take it as a very literal Birthmark that they'd need to find on the body or perhaps in the Daughter's Aura.

If the term Daughter is literal also comes into question with some scholars believing it is a translation error caused by the use of the term Eve. Other Elders take a more metaphorical approach with their views on the position of the receiver in sex as being womanly. The Signs of Gehenna prophecy refers to a woman who weeps that many believe to be this Daughter of Eve.

We also have Lucifer's Days of Fire where he interprets it as a general time and phenomena of human fertility rates tanking. Yes, Lucifer says that.

Because may I remind you, The Devil Exists. Because God hates us and Lucifer hasn't offed himself to remove him from our misery.

We also have the more general Time of Thin Blood prophecy

"The Time of Thin Blood will come, which will mark vampires that cannot Beget. You will know them by the Clanless, who will come to rule. You will know them by the Wild Ones, who will hunt us even in the strongest city, you will know them by the awakening of some of the eldest, the Crone will awaken and consume all. You will know these times, for a black hand will rise up and choke all those who opposite it, and those who eat the heart's blood will flourish and the Kindred will crowd each to be his own, and Vitae will be rare as diamonds."

Interestingly, many interpret Wild Ones as werewolves. An oddity as it is generally used for the Fey. The drop in their appearance may be why this has happened, or it is a translation error. This has gone through enough languages that there might be more linguistic drift than there is difference in the Blood over time. Eldest generally is viewed to be our own Elders and Methuselahs. Crone is a hotly debated as plenty in Europe like to point to Baba Yaga as the Nosferatu refer to her as such while others make reference to The Crone who once assaulted Caine. Yet more point to Lilith though many of those believe her to be the same as Old Lady McBadtouch. Louhi is another who can fit the bill given her, well, everything to do with being a mad Malkavian who wants to permanently eclipse the sun.

MANY people like to claim the Black Hand is the Sabbat but that is more likely to be a result of that part of the Book of Nod being widespread enough that a cult dedicated to their interpretation of Caine would use the name for their black ops. A Lost Tribe of Assamites that claim to have found the petrified remains of Zillah used the same name for themselves. They are largely Sabbat as well. Similarly to the Moon Mark of the Last Daughters of Eve, their mark includes a moon mark on a handprint.

Of course, it could also be rather literal what with the Assamites growing darker in age and there being Ur-Shulgi. But it could be a simple referral to someone being evil.

Overall, it refers to a time where the Clanless become numerous to the point that either individuals come to power or they organize to claim it at the same time that there are vampires who perhaps cannot Sire. Along with you know, apocalyptic results from competition between what seems to be every generation of vampire as diablerie flourishes and we undergo a general famine.

The Signs of Gehenna prophecy makes reference to Clanless vampires on the run along with Sires who abandon or throw out their Childer. Their sacrifice of their children will bring a curse upon this Sires who shall be hunted down. This prophecy is particularly sympathetic to the Clanless, emphasizing that they are not told of the traditions nor given the hospitality Caine demanded we give, accusing the Sires for having left them to suffer. In this the Sires are their own undoing as they give the Clanless reason and right to undo their makers, aligning with Brujah's Childer which could be literal or in the sense of those who commit Diablerie to kill them.

Interestingly, this prophecy calls them Lilith's get which I personally take offense to. Yet the prophecy ends with the urge that despite the writer's wariness, the Clanless must be adopted and pitied even if you should watch us for evil intent.

More of Granddaddy Caine's Advice

On Love

Caine's counsel on Love is that Love is a gift from God and a gift of Life. Our curse by Uriel is that we will eat ashes and drink blood. Our bite takes Life and any love we obtain from a mortal without using disciplines is a soothing sweetness that would satisfy even the worst of us. But, we are predators and they know it so seeking love from the Children of Seth will see us experience their hate.

On Werecreatures

There will be a time when the Garou will begin to die out, but they will thrash and attempt to kill us all even as disease chokes out their bodies. It is the Gangrel who will have the keys to protecting us, tricking them, and making it possible to find peace.

On the Thin Bloods

Eventually, God's curse will end the Lineage of Caine and the lines will have Vampires who cannot Embrace. That is when Gehenna approaches.

On the Dark Father.

Paraphrasing, this is more of a prophecy that talks about how the heads of three Princes will see the dawn from a pillar of white and the north will see an ancient hunger appear to consume her children. An Elder Darkness below a city and surprise the Elders and its children.

I am not sure on the interpretation outside of how my first thoughts are of the Lasombra or evils from outside our world. The actual phrasing in the original text irritates me in how it phrases things. First talking of an Elder Darkness, then the Elder, its children. I get further annoyed by this line. The Dark Father, Bastard of Caine will drink blood sacrificed to it…you will know the time has come to lay claim to your Clan's safety, to fight the Dark Father."

Almost every single time we hear the term Dark Father, it is in reference to Caine. Here however, this is a Bastard of Caine. One may consider it to be a Second or Third Generation vampire but I want to blame this on the extended game of telephone.

This section is also a bit odd as the others are framed as if it was Caine talking or a conversation between him and another.

General Acknowledgements

There is a notable angle in the Book of Nod in regard to Ghouls and their placement in Kindred Society. Our knowledge of the First City is of a very strict society in what is not quite a Caste system but most certainly a Class System. Caine is on top with the Second Generation and Third Generation his children and grandchildren below him in tiers. One would think vampires are automatically above everyone else but Jabal, Master of Servants, was placed equal to the Third Generation.

In the Bible, Jabal or Yabal is known as a descendant of Caine. We do have some Lamechs and Tubalcains running around today amongst the Elders and Methuselahs but they do not seem to have been around for the flood. Naamah is known more as Nahemah the sister of Malkav. These might have been descendants of Enoch from his time as a human. Within the Old Testament, Jabal is known as an inventor of agricultural technology for both plants and livestock, combining the roles Cain and Abel once held.

As Caine is seemingly still cursed to be incapable of farming, I can easily see Caine having favored a particularly ingenious farmer. Though Jabal is more often compared to Abel which complicates matters heavily on just why our ancestor would like him so much. Perhaps as a replacement or resemblance if it is not driven by pride in the craft or himself.

Below the lot of them are Ghouls and other Servants presumably including the equivalent of Blood Dolls. Laborers come afterwards. It is generally accepted that slavery was practiced in this era as all societies did, but the depictions made in even the most ancient tablets lack any real visible sign of coercion. Not that necessary when Presence and Dominate exist though.

The Blood Feasts practiced by the Sabbat likely originate from the artworks we can find of the First City. Descriptions by the Antediluvians themselves make claim that Caine had condemned criminals executed via lunch. Cooks in the ancient city would feed the criminals special meals that would alter their blood chemistry or inject potions to alter the taste. There were also feeding slaves or well, Blood Dolls separate from the criminals adorned with jewelry to feed on. They wore veils which are generally a sign of leisure, beauty, or having been kept out of the sun due to how ancient societies liked them pale. Which probably made Kindred quite attractive to humans of the era.

None of this says the society was free of course. Humans were subject to eugenics programs where they were bred for specific traits. Generally in regard to the form of labor or art they were meant to fulfill. This was done in what many commonly call the temple of Lilith despite being neither a temple nor dedicated to any person. The name is likely due to people conflating it with Ishtar and the practices of sacred prostitutes, but it was mating observed by Vampires that could use auspex to tell if conception occurred.

I'm honestly surprised we don't call it the Temple of Arikel, Malkav, or even Cappadocius given the Antediluvians we believed to have mastered Auspex.

So yeah, Arikel was a massive shipper who picked out humans she thought would make cute or useful babies no matter if they knew each other or not.

Enoch was also a highly atheist city with the closest they had to religious gatherings outside of services to the vampires being Caine doomposting about about how evil kindred were and how both his children, grandchildren, and the citizens would go to hell.

I can kind of understand why so many Antediluvians have Devil Complexes.

Despite that, Caine is generally viewed as being a proficient King. Which is rather obvious when you can see the past, present, and future to know who committed what crime, for what reason, and tell people when to plant crops, harvest them, and how to avoid disease. I'm honestly unsure if the humans understood what was going on when a seemingly all knowing King with supernatural powers built a society around him but also says "I am totally not a god, do not worship me, reminder I am not a god. We are all going to hell you and me included."

Much of the Book of Nod, whether it is sections that claim to be transcriptions of Caine's demands, an Antediluvian, or an Elder, take approaches which if not humane can at least be attributed to enlightened self interest. Don't shit where you eat seems to have been a lesson sires attempt to teach their childer to little effect since the earliest days. Other sections are warnings or prophecies people seem to actively try to claim are occurring. Such as in the Dark Ages and Inquisition when Elders claimed it was clearly the time of Gehenna, rapidly embraced Childer, and threw them to the wolves, making dispossessed and often Clanless vampires that banded together to assault them.

To those who believe in a cyclical Gehenna I could instead point out the Millennarian believes that often sprouted amongst humans, with generations of them insisting that the Book of Revelation was occurring NOW and the end times were right around the corner. Vampire psychology is not that different from humans when it comes to threat assessment and ego.

I do love that Caine repeatedly screams at people not to drink werewolves, not to drink from each others three times, and not to diablerize people. Just, constantly saying it. Followed by his grandkids giving contradictory advice because they refuse to listen.

General World of Darkness Discussion Thread QQ Edition

More options

Recent threadmarks

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

Maragas

Versed in the lewd.

shadowdice

Connoisseur.

Recent threadmarks