The Low Clans

Please Note: The information in this thread is (mostly) summarized from the Dark Ages Core Book Revised. If you have read Chapter Two: Clans of Caine there is no need to read this thread though feel free to use it as a reference. Some of the sentences or parts of sentences in this thread were written by White Wolf Publishing, and I give them full credit for the contents.


LiteST is the ST for the Low Clans.

If some lead, others must follow--or so the theory goes. To ask most of the low-blooded, their status is not a matter of following but of being different. The Low Clans, are overall, those who do not participate wholly in the feudal system. Many of their members do, if only to survive, but they do not typically rise high its structure. The typical Ravnos or Gangrel is not a prince and may not even be a vassal. This does not mean they do not seek influence or advantage, simply that they do so in other ways or in other places.

In the feudal nomenclature, the Low Clans are sometimes called the fallen. This appellation reflects a wide-held belief in Europe that the Low Clans have somehow fallen from whatever grace their high-blooded betters enjoy. Often these stories go back to betrayals in the Second City, but there are other stories as well. The Nosferatu and Malkavian are almost always held up as exemplars of these theories because they so obviously suffer from debiliating curses in the form of twisted miens or fractured minds. Similiarities to the Brujah's temper or the Cappadocian's deathly pallor are, of course, overlooked.

In Europe, the other Low Clans are dismissed as foreigners and barbarians. The Gangrel are hardly foreign, but there common rejection of settled unlife makes them seem so. The Ravnos have been in Europe to some degree since the time of Alexander the Great, but their clan tales of life far-off India helps brand them as outsiders. The Assamites and Followers of Set tend to appear in Europe only as ambassadors or travelers, making their status dubious at best.

The Tremere are not even a clan at all, as far as most Cainites are concerned. They are a usurping bloodline that has offended the Tzimisce and stolen Salubri blood (perhap's even Saulot's, if one believes the most scandalous tales).

There was once a seventh High Clan, and it still persists in some parts of the world. Clan Salubri was divided between fierce warriors and arcane mystics, and never a numerous bunch. The warrior line warred against infernal vampires called Baali in the nights before Rome, and it has been reduced to a stout few. The mystics, solitary scholars and researchers lair in lone monasteries and quiet merchant houses. It's said that they exist under a debilitating curse in which the harm they do to others is revisited upon them. Needing to subsist on the blood of the living and saddled by a raging Beast (like all other Cainites) this curse causes the so-called Unicorns no end of trouble or so the stories go.

Over the last century, the clan has fallen into sharp decline. The cause of such a precipitous fall is unclear. Some great tragedy seems to have befallen Saulot, the Salubri progenitor, around 1130 BC or so. Some elders gifted in the Discipline of Auspex report having experienced terrible visions of blood and ash involving Saulot at the time. Others report seeing a great eye close forever in their fevered daytime sleep. Just who might have destroyed Saulot is another question without a solid answer, but the leading candidate is the Usurper Tremere. Indeed these warlocks-cum-vampires were once a troublesome but minor bloodline tied to the Tzimisce. In the last century, they have grown in power by leaps and bounds, holding back their enemies and seemingly forging a form of blood-magic that is superior to any other vampiric sorcery used since the Second City. The elders of the High Clans associate such power with the blood of the third generation, and accusations that the Tremere stole Saulot's heart-blood in some ritual are growing louder. (The Cappadocian oracle Constancia is a major proponent of this view.) THe fact that the Tremere once spread rumors about the Salubri being infernalists--which many princes found hard to believe--only adds to the suspicions.

The blood of Caine is not always static as some would have it. While most childer do indeed inherit much from their sires, the curse still manifests itself differently in each individual. In some cases, a qualitive change occurs in one childe and then passes on to that vampire's own progeny, creating an offshoot of the main clan. (Such an offshoot is usually called a bloodline.) It's a common belief among the High Clans that this mutability is a sign of inferior blood, that it is only the Low Clans who spawn strange offshoots. Nobility runs true, it is said, while villany is ever-mutable. Princes and courtiers can site much anecdotal evidence to support this view: The leperous Nosferatu and the Charlatans of Clan Ravnos, for example, are widely recognized to group into familial broods who share characteristics. The wild Gangrel--hardly a clan at all, according to some--are believed to have spawned dozens of twisted offshoots in pagan lands from Ireland to Scandinvia to Rus. The Tremere usurpers are not a clan at all, according to most, but a creation of poorly understood magics. Even the Saracen Assamites, who present themselves as nobles of their heathen lands, are rumored to be nothing but an aggregate of several bloodlines
As with most common knowledge, however, the claims of the High Clans are somewhat specious. Indeed stories of offshoots of Clan Ventrue and Brujah are rife from the time of Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, and Clan Cappadocian quietly maintains clutches of offshoots of its own.

Followers of Set


''Recognize Eden by its serpent,'' ashen priests tell their initiates. And the serpents among the garden of the night are the Followers of Set, a clan of Egyptian and Easter vampires rumored to practice every ignominy under the night sky. These vice merchants are said to truck in all manner of desire and fancy, cultivating a bloom of corruption and heresy across the face fo the known world by appealing to their client's baser wants. To the Setites themselves, however, they are merely practitioners of most ancient traditions who cherish freedoms that have been stamped out in the world that has lost its way.

The Followers of Set claim lineage to Set himself, a deified figure on equal footing with Caine, if not God. Indeed, the followers dispute any ties to the supposed Third Mortal. They trace their history back through to the ancient nights when the desert sands were still mountains. It was in these mythic times that the great hunter Set tore into Geb's bosom and drank of the Earth God's blood, thus making himself a god by action and his children the avatars of his marble-cold divinity. Cainites claim that these were corrupt and debauched days, but the Setites remember as a time of uncensored freedom... at least until the war against Set's brother Osiris and nephew Horus took its toll. Accounts vary as to the victor of this bloody familial feud, with the Followers claiming the upper hand and their enemies asserting otherwise. Alas, Egypt still fell to a march of foreign mortal conquerors, forcing the Setites deep underground where they perfected their insidious ways.

Calamity struck again in the early nights of the first century, when Set vanished from his sarcophagus after plaguing his most venerable childer with prophetic dreams. Now slowly, the dreams come to fruition, and the Followers of Set debate dogma with a greater interest in the world. Although they once limited their activities to the shores of the Nile, they now wander the known world, spreading Set's wisdom from deep inside dark caravan tents or at the end of twisted alleys in the city slums
The Followers embrace misfortune, disease, tragedy and calamity because such conditions create patrons in need of their services. They cherish unmitigated freedom, the chaos of fulfilled desire and the satisfaction of want...any want. They revel in sensation and pleasure, twin connections with their god, but times are slowly changing. Now, however, some Setites breed without care and establish nests in Europe, away from the control of the traditional caste of ancient Setites in Egypt. These mongrel Setites are an abomination to Set's gift. They ignore tradition and spend more time succumbing to their own vices than cultivating it in others.

Sobriquet:
Serpents, Setites

Appearance:
Most Followers are of Middle-Eastern or African extraction, which brands them as foreigners in Europe. In addition, the clan has adopted the Nubian practice of scarification. By rubbing ash into cuts and wounds, they create a pattern of scars and raised welts. In terms of clothes, most Setites dress as merchants and traders, and they are known for their skill at travel (there is safety in flight). In private, they return to the tradition of the ancient priesthood. They keep their bodies shaved to protect them from against lice in the filthy warrens of Europe, and they wear neo-Egyptian robes made of linen. The few Europeans whom the Serpents Embrace can more easily pass as Cainites of other clans, and they often do by varying their dress and mannerisms. Many of these Desheru are also red-headed, either naturally or thanks to henna dyeing.

Haven and Prey:
While the Followers of Set prefer their lairs underground these trappings are a privilege of the sect's most venerable members. Most Setites throughout Europe maintain sarcophagi on caravan trains or own buildings in the city slums close to port and trade districts. Regardless of their surroundings, however, Eygpytian hieroglyphics, papyrus paintings, lined draping, alcove temples with statues of Set and temple pottery predominate the interiors of these havens. Setites prey on the underclass of a European city making sure not to raise the ire of a well-placed Cainite lest they be displaced.

The Embrace:
Traditionally, only those born of Egyptian stock or near the Nile itself were acceptable candidates for Set's blood, and the bulk of the clan remains Egyptian, Arab, or African. But the blood of Set is reserved for those strong of will, not of a particular shade of skin. Most fledglings spend time as mortal (or ghoul) retainers for their sires, a time in which they must prove themselves. If they are sycophants, they may be useful servants, but nothing more. The Embrace is reserved for those who have the will and conviction to remain strong. The actual Embrace takes place before a statue of Set and involves a complex (and secret) ritual. The Desheru tend to more idiosyncratic and less ritualistic in their Embracing, but no Followers of Set worth her salt, no matter how unorthodox, would waste the Embrace on a fool or a weakling. A majority of Desheru are Greeks (as their center was once Constantinople), but they include a growing number of Franks.

Character Creation:
Social Attributes and Knowledges tend to be primary with the Followers, representing the charms and arcane knowledge they bring from the east. Commerce is also a common Ability, and some more physical types bring a complement of martial Abilities as well. Backgrounds are key to most Setites, who travel with Retainers and a Herd (their caravan) and have significant Resources. Contacts, Influence, and Mentor are also common.

Clan Disciplines: Obfuscate, Presence, Serpentis

Weakness:
Set lurks in the night and hates the day, which is the domain of the tyranny imposed by Osiris and Horus. Therefore, Followers of Set suffer greater susceptibility to the sunlight, enough so that exposure to the sun inflicts twice as many levels of aggravated damage to them as it would o other vampires.

Common Roads:
The most orthodox of the clan worship Set in all they do and follow the secretive Road of the Serpent. Others look to their progeniture as a guiding principle that leads them down the Roads of the Beast, of Kings, or of Sin.

Organization:
Traditionally, Setites favor the ancient priesthood practices of Egypt, with each temple run by the Superintendent and First Prophet of Set. Thereafter, the remaining Setites fall into line as the Second, Third, and (where applicable) Fourth Prophets of Set, though this last is rare. Circumstances now favor small intimate cults of mortal followers with the chief Setite acting as First Prophet of Set. Still any hierarchical structure belies the Setite's respect for one another as vessels of Set's blood. Desheru are less stringent and ritualistic. They often simply gather whatever slaves will follow them.

Gangrel

From the Tartars of the east to the Arabs of the south and the barbarian tribes of the north, the Gangrel make their homes among the wild people of the world. To them, cities are traps wherein once-strong Cainites grow weak and lazy.

The Gangrel do not believe themselves to be descended from Caine, though. In the days before history, they say, the greatest gods chose many to be their children. A pair of twins among the gods became bitter rivals. One twin, Ennoia, chose only the most worthy of warriors as her children. The other, Churka, chose those best versed in deception. Clan Gangrel, the children of Ennoia, came to be. Members of the clan believe that their mother will relent one night and call upon them to fight for her once more. Then, and only then, will Churka and his lackeys finally suffer the fate that has been due them since the dawn of time. It is the duty of the Gangrel to ensure that only the most hardy and skilled join their numbers, so that the clan may triumph when the day of that final confrontation comes.

Civilization is a trick of Churka to ensure that those who deceive are better suited to the final conflict than those who fight. The clan refuses to fall into the trap of their ancient enemy, and instead chooses to recruit and hunt among the nomadic and wild peoples of the world. The chains of master and slave, of lord and lackey, are utter anathema to them, and hierarchical European society repulses them. They see the ability to survive and prosper under all conditions as the greatest test of an individual's worth. They value simple but profound concepts such as bravery, honor, martial prowess, survival skills and knowledge of the land. Necessity forces the Gangrel to spend periods of time on their own. A good hunter knows better than to wipe out all of its prey. Many Gangrel learn to survive alone simply because it is all they have ever known since they were chosen. Sires often leave their childer to fend for themselves, to see if they have the mettle of true Gangrel.

Solitude cannot continue forever, however. On the most practical level, there is a value in numbers if only to form hunting packs. But even then, unlife is hard away from the cities. Gangrel face constant dangers. Lupines stalk many woods, and it also requires cunning and stealth to catch human prey without alerting the whole settlement or group to the vampire's presence. Therefore, most Gangrel spend at least some time among other vampires. Testing themselves against humans and animals is all very well, but they can only truly test themselves against others like them. That means spending at least a little time in the cities, learning the ways of their rivals. A few have even come to live in cities full time, prowling the night when most prey are locked up in houses. But the weak, diseased and ineffectual humans who dwell there with over-complicated, manipulative vampires feeding on them breed contempt in most Gangrel. For most of the clan, unlife is a series of long periods of rural solitude and interludes of a few years among the massed herd and rival predators.

Sobriquet: ******
Animals

Appearance:
Gangrel develop animalistic characteristics after their Embrace, and few see any reason to hide them. Indeed, they wear them with pride, as signs of their survival skills. Clothing, when worn, is practical and usually simple.

Haven and Prey:
It is rare for any but the few full-time city-dwellers in the clan to have a permanent haven. They hunt over a very wide territory so as not to thin the herd, so they move too much to take the time to create a safe refuge from the sun. Instead most seek simply to merge with the earth through their Discipline of Protean or take advantage of natural shelter, like deep caverns. Gangrel take a particular pleasure from feeding from city dwellers who are travelling through the countryside, or other humans who have been foolish enough to wander alone at night.

The Embrace:
Most Gangrel come from the so-called barbarian peoples--groups like the Tartars (or Mongols), Celts, Norsemen, and Livs. A growing proportion, though, are drawn from those people in the civilized world who have jobs which require survival skills: hunters, foresters, and other rural folk. Most are left to survive for months or years on their own, while their sire keeps an eye on them at best. If they show the strength needed to survive, they are trained and welcomed into Gangrel society. If they don't, the sire (or some other predator) reclaims the blood.

Character Creation:
Physical Attributes, are, by and large, the primary choice for this clan, and Social Attributes often come last. Many Gangrel have identical Natures and Demeanors--they are not ones for dissembling or deception. Talents and survival-oriented skills are chosen before Knowledges. Rural and wilderness dwelling members of the clan tend to focus their Discipline development on Protean before they develop other Disciplines, as it gives them a significant edge in survival.

Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Fortitude, Protean

Weakness:
The Gangrel's closeness to their inner Beast tends to manifest itself in their bodies. Every time a clan member frenzies, she gains an animal feature (furry arms, cat-like eyes, heavy fangs, etc.). For every five such features gained, one of the Gangrel's Social Attributes drops by one. Some Gangrel view this as blessing rather than a weakness.

Common Roads:
The Road of the Beast is typically Gangrel, though Animals may walk almost any of the roads as well.

Organization:
The clan has little in the way of formal structure, falling back on an approximate status system. Childe and sire often maintain infrequent contact once the neonate has been trained. When members of the clan meet, relative status is established through a combination of recounting deeds and whatever reputation may have preceded the Gangrel. Occasionally groups will meet for ''gathers,'' where regional leaders--an informal position at best--and overall status is determined. Even rarer are revels--war parties of Gangrel gathered to face a particular threat.

Malkavian


Medieval folk respond to lunacy with quiet fear. It is never clear whether the mad are touched by God, the Devil, or a little of both. Some say that their ways are infectious or that they have been touched by the Fair Folk. In any case, it is best to leave them alone, lest they curse those who come across their paths. In Clan Malkavian, all these fears find their most terrifying expression. Acute madness, oracular insights, ceaseless predatory hunger and the Blood of Caine combine to make these vampires the most feared in the Dark Medieval night. Their merest words can drive ancients insane or reveal insights of harrowing genius.

The clan's progenitor was Malkav, whom Cainites remember as the oracle and prophet of the third generation. Some legends say that Malkav delivered enlightment to Caine but failed to warn him of the depredations of his brothers and cousins in the Second City. As punishment, Caine cursed Malkav and his progeny with a madness so great they could no longer share their wisdom. Others claim that the curse was unintentional, that it came when the Third Mortal shared his memories of the face of God at the moment of his own curse, shattering his grandchilde's mind. Still others claim that Caine baptized Malkav in his own blood, damning him thus.

It is something of a game among scholars of Nod to exchange theories about Malkav's affliction, but few dare ask the Madmen themselves what they believe. In truth, the clan as a whole welcomes its so-called lunacy because, at the very least, madness is a vibrant, creative force in their otherwise dead and decaying world. To them it is not a block on their insights, but the cause of them. Even beyond that dynamic seed in their breast, madness also unites the clan in a manner few outsiders can understand. Their shared connection with the mind-boggling architecture of Creation creates a common frame of reference and some of the Madmen are said to communicate in a secret language all their own.

Malkavians are social and often passionate creatures. Some say that madness is nothing without company, but the truth is that Malkavians appreciate insight and adore unique perceptions. Perhaps this is why they flock to causes as easily as they abandon them, or why they enter seemingly fruitless alliances. Unfortunately, while the Malkavians love company, few people appreciate their companionship for extended periods of time. What frightens Cainites most is not the Malkavian's own nature, but that they can share their insanity through their Discipline of Dementation. It takes great courage or desperation to court a Malkavian's attention for long.

The history of Clan Malkavian is, therefore, a pendulum swinging between respect and terror, between status and banishment. When they are in the graces of their brethern, Malkavians are the advisors, seers, oracles and shamans of Cainite society. Inevitably, tolerance turns to wariness, then fear. The latest iteration of this story saw the Madmen fall from their mantle as one of the leading bloodlines of Imperial Rome. Now, they bear the stigma of having cursed that great enterprise, and they are said to be the agents of unholy forces. At best, Cainites in the Dark Medieval pity and offer charity to the supposedly feeble and infirm clan. At worst, the Malkavians must face persecution, torture and even destruction.

Sobriquet:
Madmen

Appearance:
Malkavians do not offer the Embrace based on any social standing or regional concerns. They offer the Kiss to whoever possesses a grain of madness or insight. Therefore, Malkavians can be of any description, any race, or any class.

Haven and Prey:
Malkavians flock to ruin, be it the village devastated by plague, the burnt church, the forgotten abbey or the decrepit building in the most vile slum. The interiors of such havens differ, however, according to the lunacy afflicting the Malkavian. Some havens are repositories of animal and human bones, others adorned with charcoal written script, still others are pristine and Spartan-bare.

The Embrace:
Most Cainites treat the Embrace as an honor doled out only to those who prove themselves worthy. Malkavians see the fledgling as the gift, bettering the sire and the clan. Only those who have the seed of lunacy within them--expressed or not--can qualify, and Malkavians can seek for decades without hearing the elusive siren's call of the mad soul crying for dark release. The Madmen prize individuals who are possessed of keen intuition, madness, vision or whimsical insight. Their Embrace is a cause for celebration for sire and clan alike, for it offers another piece to their fractured mosaic.

Character Creation:
Malkavians are a fluid lot, blessed with a maddening disparity of outlooks and aspirations--and therefore Natures and Demeanors. Most Malkavian possess high Mental Attributes and a proficiency in Talents, though some are adept at Social Attributes as well. Backgrounds vary by the individual, but Status is rare (but hardly unknown)

Clan Disciplines: Auspex, Demenation, Obfuscate

Weakness:
It is said that Caine offered Malkav the maddening truth, a secret the Antediluvian forever shares with his progeny through his sanguine genealogy. Therefore all Malkavians automatically possess one derangement (chosen at character creation) that they can never overcome, even after spending Willpower.

Common Roads:
There are Malkavians on every major road, although the Road of Heaven is the most popular.

Organization:
The majority of Madmen exist free of hierarchy and guidance, bonded only by a loose sense of affinity with their clanmates. They turn to road and coterie to provide the structure they need to keep a handle on their quicksilver minds.

Nosferatu


Of all the clans, the Nosferatu feel the Curse of Caine most acutely. Their Embrace is an agonizing experience as the clan's tainted blood burns through their dying veins, twisting their bodies into monstrous aspects. Each and every member of Clan Nosferatu is remade into a hideous, deformed horror. Once the change is complete--which can take up to a week--not even the blind mistake them for human. Some go mad once they realize what has happened and have to be destroyed by their sires.

Absimilliard, the founder of the clan, was obsessed with beauty--both his own and that of others. Some say that he led the rebellion against the Second Generation, Caine's own childer. Others say that he won the affection of a mortal with whom Caine was fascinated. Whatever the cause of the Dark Father's anger, Absimilliard was cursed with the removal of that which he held most dear. His ugliness was a torment to him. Vampires of this clan have learned the ways of concealment to mask their curse. The are masters of hiding, deception and subterfuge, both supernatural and mundane. While some of their abilities allow them to appear normal for a while, the pain that surges through them when they Embraced never entirely leaves them. It remains a constant reminder of what they have become. Many other Cainites take these afflictions as a visible sign of the evil within every vampire, and they shun them to avoid being reminded of their own damnation.

The members of the clan deal with their affliction in many ways. Some seek solace or penitence in religion, hoping that the Lord will forgive them and grant them entry into heaven. Most seek sanctuary in the Church, whose offer of universal forgiveness through Christ seems to offer the best path to redemption. Other finds the heresies of the age to offer a lifestyle and a set of strictures that suits them better. Others seek to hide from society, living among the leprous and the diseased and making themselves of some use to Cainite society by bartering and trading the information that they obtain as they watch, listen and learn from the shadows. The High Clans look down on these wretches, yet few of the first cursed ever admit quite how much they have come to depend on them for advantage in the War of the Princes. These Nosferatu often gather in small groups, whose actual numbers they do their best to conceal from their vampiric neighbors. The last group sees their visages as an irrefutable sign of damnation. Their souls are corrupted beyond redemption, and they make no effort to win the favor of a God who has so callously abandoned them. Instead, they become monsters seeking revenge on living and Cainite society in whatever ways they can.

Sobriquet:
Lepers

Appearance:
The defining characteristic of the Nosferatu is their utter ugliness. It can take many forms: anything from a twisted, deformed body with hunches, misshapen or displaced limbs and distended head through to leathery skin, pustulant boils and perpetual gaping wounds. Some deformities are passed from sire to childe, creating distinct families of Nosferatu. Most seek to conceal their bodies as best they can beneath all-encompassing robes, often made of rough cloth, like those worn by mortal lepers.

Haven and Prey:
Each member of the clan finds herself a lair as far from the mainstream of society as she can. Abandoned, run-down or plague-ridden settlements are a favorite, as are the Roman-era sewers and underground passages of the few cities that possess such luxuries. Many lurk in the farthest and least-used parts of monasteries or castles. A few choose leper colonies, so that their deformities don't stand out from the crowd. The down-trodden, infirm or mad are the clan's usual prey.

The Embrace:
Some Nosferatu choose those already deformed, outcast or diseased in the hope that their mindset will be suited to the rigors of the Embrace. Others have people who are bitter about their lot in life adapt more quickly. Still others--particularly those who give themselves over to their monstrous natures--choose the beautiful, successful, or high-placed for the Embrace, delighting in their horror and madness as they try to come to terms with their new condition.

Character Creation:
Mental Attributes are dominant in most of the clan, although Nosferatu warriors and thugs whose primary Attributes are physical do exist. Most of the clan values Knowledges over Talents or Skills. Contacts are quite common in the clan, but Allies and Retainers are exceptionally rare.

Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence

Weakness:
All the Nosferatu are left deformed and hideous for the rest of their unlives. Their Appearance is automatically rated a 0, and it can never be improved through any means whatsoever (they even lose the automatic dot that characters get in Attributes).

Common Roads:
The clan is split between those who walk the Roads of Heaven, of Sin
and of the Beast. The Road of Humanity is rare to a point of non-existence among the lepers.

Organization:
Despite their appearance and uneasy relationships with their sires, most Nosferatu are surprisingly social creatures, at least with each other. This may well be because only other members of the clan don't judge them by their appearance. Many gather in small groups and freely exchange information with each other. Religious Nosferatu usually maintain contact with others of a similiar faith to encourage each other in their efforts.

Ravnos


Followers of vice and discord, misunderstood members of a society that cannot grasp the potency of the Beast that drives them, Clan Ravnos's compulsion toward sin breeds distrust wherever its members travel. They are known by many, welcome by few and trusted by almost no one. Travelers by necessity, they hurry from city to city, rarely taking the time to build permanent connections or settlements. This makes the Ravnos ideal traders. Goods, information, secrets--everything has a price, and these itinerant vampires know exactly what to ask in exchange.

The weakness of the clan causes great discomfort to the high-blooded lords of Europe. Each Ravnos is addicted to sin, and the clan as a whole is accused of spreading chaos through the lands in which they wander. But foolish indeed are those who mistake the Ravnos's tendency to indulge in the whispered urgings of their Beast as an inability to maintain self-control. An upstart prince might be tempted to banish the Ravnos from his lands, but the tales of the consequences for doing so are a matter of legend among the High Clans. Banishment only serves to bring the wraith of the victim's jati upon whoever was pretentious enough to attempt such a feat.

In the best of times, the Ravnos are a disjointed unit, and they distrust one another nearly as must as others distrust them. Easter and Western Ravnos oppose each other with equal vehemence, and the philosophies espoused by each frequently clash and cause tempers to flare. Wherever they go, their (not unwarranted) reputation for trickery proceeds them. Many Ravnos excel in chicanery, and those they deal with must consider whether what they are seeing is truly present, or some fantastic deception.

Bonds of family and caste, however, do provide a uniquely personal sense of security for members of the clan. Ravnos are quick to defend members of their own jati. Open warfare is not the style of the Ravnos, but they can bring a city to ruin just as easily as corrupting it from the inside. Leaders must carefully weigh the risks of a Ravnos guest against the legends of retribution for expulsion.

Because of their reputation, Ravnos often adopt one of two distinct strategies for survival and success amid Cainite feudalism. Many choose to masquerade as a member of another clan. While existing in such a position can be fraught with dangers, the benefits are many. Few other clans are as openly distrusted as the Ravnos, and taking the guise of a Ventrue knight-errant or a wandering Toreador troubadour leaves the Charlatan free to pursue his vices discreetly. Because discovery means certain retribution, some vampires spend decades or even centuries building a network of people who support their false claims. Others spurn this approach, however, along with the very idea that any Ravnos should be forced to hide who they are. They act openly as traders, messengers, spies, and mercenaries.
The dangerous trickery of the clan is made most manifest in their Discipline of Chimerstry. This art--allows the Ravnos to conjure illusion big and small and twist perceptions as an artist would clay. The use of Chimerstry brings its own dangers however, and tales of Charlatans who have deceived themselves are passed around the jati.

Sobriquet:
Charlatans

Appearance:
Those Ravnos who are open about their clan often purposefully dress in a manner to underline their exotic nature. Their attire stems from Indian or Mediterranean origins, and their clothing includes rare materials and dyes from the East. Vibrant purples, blues and golds figure prominently in the garb of this clan, and the designs are loose and less restricting than those of the European nobility. Those masquerading as something other, either briefly or for a period of years, dress as suits their role.

Haven and Prey:
The Ravnos's reputation for sin and revelry is not wholly unwarranted, and they are often found in places where there are opportunities for corruption and pleasure. Because they are primarily travelers, many seek out cities where there is a large market to haven within during their stay. Port cities serve especially well for this purpose, though Ravnos can be found inland as well in small numbers. Large cities also allow them to disappear quickly should their presence become suddenly less than desired by a local prince. They may feed on mortal family members when they travel, but when a larger base of prey becomes available--within towns and cities--those of the lower classes serve just as well.

The Embrace:
While a good number of Ravnos are Embraced due to their successes in life, the choice varies from sire to sire as to what qualities would make a good childe. Many look for mortals with a distinct sense of trickery and a desire to travel, but others seek out those who are particularly virtuous in life, believing that a person can never know virtue until they have truly experienced sin. Some from the East desire to keep the bloodline pure, but mortals of all origins have been Embraced into the clan in Europe.

Character Creation:
Ravnos must be able to convince the locals of their sincerity or trick them into a false confidence, so Social Attributes are usually Primary. Drifters of all kinds are Embraced, and good concepts may vary from wandering musician to local guild masters seeking to expand their territory. Talents are often primary. Typical Backgrounds include Allies and Mentor (for members of the jati, as well as Contacts and Resources (for traders and their goods).

Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Fortitude, Chimestry

Weakness:
The Ravnos Beast is a seductive monster, not the mindless hunger of other vampires. While Ravnos are still subject to frenzy and Rotschreck, the Beast also pushes them toward more sophisticated indulgences. Every Ravnos is addicted to some sort of sin or vice, chosen at the time of character creation. Pride, avarice, lust, thievery or any other urges to use and exploit others are common. When the character is in a position to indulge her vice, she does so. If she manages to resist, the character feels the urge and may even hear her Beast whispering in her head.

Common Roads:
According to most rumors, all Ravnos follow the Road of Sin, but there are, in fact, many on other paths, most especially the Road of Humanity. The most traditional and dangerous of the Charlatans are said to follow a secret faith of their own, called the Road of Paradox

Organization:
As wamderers, the Ravnos have little time to develop firmly grounded contacts or holds. Their structure, like their society, is fluid and unconventional. The only rule that is sacred among the Ravnos is "Protect the Family," a directive that is most commonly witnessed through the actions of the various jati. These jati function as a sort of extended family for the Ravnos. The members are usually tied by blood, however distantly, and they often espouse similiar philosophies. In addition, they willingly offer one another protection and aid, helping other jati in matters such as travel or the exchange of information.

Tremere


On a chill, cloudy night in 1022, eight of the world's most accomplished Hermetic magi gathered in a hidden room in a hidden castle in Transylvania, stumbling and bleary-eyed from a sleepless week of preparations; poised to conclude a ritual which, they had been promised, would put the Philosopher's Stone--the key to true immortality and limitless power--within their grasp at long last. The promise was kept (after a fashion), but their deed plunged their august house of scholars forever into vilest infamy, damning them as vampires through the usurpation of the Blood of Caine. Even among that cursed eight wondered if even their leader, great Tremere himself, realized how fate would ply him as her tool to alter both Hermetic and Cainite history. They wondered if they would spend the rest of their hunted, harried existences scrambling to escape the consequences of this one fatal act. But then rushing in where angels fear to tread has always been the very hallmark of House Tremere.

All anyone knows is that the Tremere grow bolder the harder they are pressed. A once-great house of magi has yielded to a vampiric bloodline--the Hermetic Order banished them in 1202, and the resultant war doomed their forlorn human remnant to Embrace or execution by their Damned brethern. Their Tzimisce foes, from whom they stole the blood but who wavered for just a few precious years too many, are fought to a standstill. Although the Tremere never officially admitted to butchering the Antediluvian Saulot and guzzling his heart's blood (thus making themselves into a clan), few elder Cainite have failed to notice his progeny dwindling just as the ambitious newcomers wax in power.

And now these usurpers, despite (or because of) their eternal besiegement, cherish a fresh ambition: a place at the Cainite table. In this task they face their steepest odds yet. Even those vampires who don't personally hate the Tremere treat them as unclean. Many a clutch of young Tremere, suddenly helpless as the Embrace robs them of their mortal magics, has been discovered and slaughtered. Still other fledglings have been dragged before princely thrones to answer for their ignorance with their unlives. The Seven--Tremere's seconds and the night-to-night leaders of his House--quickly realized that they must placate their fellow monsters, must learn the rules of this arcane little culture and at least appear to play by them. Surely the Tremere have much to offer. True, their new blood-arts of Thaumaturgy, however effective against the primitive Tzimisce koldun, fall miserably short of the arts they once wielded as breathing warlocks. Wheedling and making "oneself" useful to others' ambitions does not come easily to the proud Tremere soul. Many chafe at having to smile while Ventrue lordlings use and abuse their gifts with seeming impunity. Yet they bear it in the name of desperation--and enterprise. In private, they scoff. If they must bear the Usurper ephithet, they should earn it.

Unfortunately, neither the clan's tightening hierarchy nor the partial blood oath each Tremere pledges to his superiors has brought the unity the Seven desire, though they only have three of their own to blame: Goratrix the Sleepless, lightning rod for the clan's radical elements; Etrius the Reluctant, whose faction plays clan conscience; and wise Meerlinda, derided as a mere conciliator even as she assembles her own base of support. And there are deeper rifts yet: between those who welcomed immortality and those who feel enslaved and betrayed, between authoritarians and champions of wizardly autonomy, and so on, ad infinitum. Still, most Tremere understand the rest of the world hates them far more than they could ever hate each other. In the face of external threat or scrutiny, even the deadliest rivals close ranks.

Sobriquet:
Usurpurs

Appearance:
Most Tremere consider themselves truth-seekers and dress the part: scholarly robes in sturdy fabrics, a deliberately scant wardrobe. (Clan coffers overflow, but individual luxury is considered frivolous.) Tremere regents tend to keep themselves, their apprentices and their chantries austerely. Usurpers serving as Cainite liasons, however, might wear anything from a court-conjurer's gaudy robes to the silks and ermines of nobility. Apparent ages vary widely, a result of conversion. Tremere can hail from anywhere in Christendom or its bordering regions, though the Germanic and Slavic lands are presently the clan's ethnic center.

Haven and Prey:
Nearly all Tremere dwell in secret houses of thaumaturgic study called chantries, usually along side a handful of their clanmates, through regional headquarters can be larger. Vampirism is forcing chantries into the cities, where, because of their pariah status, Tremere usually get stuck with the dregs: slums, ghettos, foreign quarters and their often underfed inhabitants. Some officially unacknowledged chantries can't even claim that much, and the draining nature of blood-magic complicates things further. Luckily, clan culture discourages gourmands. Many chantries keep a "larder" of mortal prisoners and simply forbid their apprentices to risk hunting.

The Embrace:
Despite the proximity of enemies old and new, Tremere still recruit furtively from occultists' cabals, Gnostic cults, cathedral schools, universities, abbeys, nunneries--anywhere the life of the mind is honored. Recruits of all faiths are, however, expected to discard what the Hellenic-influenced Tremere think of as the unlightened aspects of their creeds, especially since the conversion to vampirism. Regardless of background, the ideal initiate combines a blazing intellect with a hunger for secrets and, above all, a freebooting spirit. Other Cainites, deceived by the fusty exterior, may not recognize until he's too late the scope of a Tremere's daring.

Character Creation:
Mental Attributes and Knowledges are usually primary, although concept might dictate otherwise--eg, warriors, diplomats, initiates with a magical "wild talent" but no formal education. Mentor is the most common individual Background, but chantries may enjoy considerable pooled Backgrounds.

Clan Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy

Weakness:
Tremere culture encourages obedience to House leadership, and that obedience is augmented by the forced partial blood oath--one drink of the combined vitae of the Seven--that each new acolyte must undertake. Perhaps more dangerous still, each Tremere surrenders a vial of his blood to his immediate superior, and the High Chantry at Ceoris is rapidly assembling its own exhaustive collection of Tremere blood. The blood magic of Thaumaturgy makes the lesser Tremere a potential target for dark rites of punishment.

Common Roads:
Most Tremere follow the Road of Humanity being either ignorant or leery of alternatives.

Organization:
Out of a desperate need for coherence (and, supposedly, for the sake of a massive cabalistic working) the Seven are slowly formalizing the House's old hierarchy into something reverentially dubbed the Pyramid. Eventually, they hope to have seven apprentices under each chantry regent, seven regents under each regional lord, seven lords under each of the Seven, and thence to Great Tremere himself--who rests in Ceoris, the High Chantry and greatest fortress of the House, located high in the Transylvanian Alps.

Ascending these degrees is a labyrinthine business, requiring feats both mystical and mundane. With all their looming perils, many Tremere still find the nightly tasks of chantry establishment and survival far more important than impressing some remote superior. But the clan's initiatory oath de