Familles de Goules

Annals of the Balaur Gard: the Angustri family.

“This record of our covenant’s Angustri family of thralls is here written by Anna Valshenka, student of Giselle Werner.

My sire discovered this bloodline in 1941 in a German concentration camp, the same year in which she Embraced me to save my mind from the German gas. Since then I have applied myself to the study of genealogies in thanks to my mistress, and I have been able to trace the Angustri lineage back to the early 16th century. Comparing these with some of our order’s earliest records of apprenticeship, it seems that there was, in fact, a connection even that far back in history.

The name and location of one of the younger Angustri sons of that day who left no progeny matches up with the records of one of our own named Mikal Angustri of Venice. The records indicate that he had been taken as a thrall, and some time later was deemed worthy of the Embrace. Unfortunately, the boy was too reckless in his experimentation with the Coil of Banes and he burned in the morning sun. Even more unfortunately,no records that I have yet uncovered directly verify my theory that the boy had enthralled his sister with the Vinculum, though I have discovered that she gave birth to a daughter shortly after her brother met Final Death. She then died in childbirth with terrible blood loss.

That child is a direct ancestor of Pesha Angustri, who my mentor discovered is capable of carrying children to term while under the influence of Vitae. Pesha is alive and well tonight, serving my mistress Giselle by producing many children by many different men, as our search for the best characteristics to foster these bloodlines continues. Her horrible disfigurements are almost completely mended, thanks to the wonderful power of the Blood.”

Nickname: Gypsies

Clans: Since Giselle Werner is a Mekhet, most Angustri are Mekhet ghouls. This is because most of them work directly for Giselle or one of her progeny. The remainder have been parceled out to other members of the Ordo Dracul whom Giselle trusts to continue the work of breeding these thralls in a variety of situations. Twenty-four other Kindred in various places around the world, evenly distributed with six from each other clan, each received a breeding pair of Angustri children for study after the family had grown to 110 members. Therefore, some Angustri serve the other clans as well, but the majority are Mekhet ghouls.

Gypsies?

Members of the Angustri family are aware of the different clans of vampires, as well as the different covenants. They have, in fact, studied the records of their masters and come to the conclusion that the Mekhet clan actually originated from the Gypsy people. Their primary “evidence” for this is that Mekhet vampiric abilities match those of the legendary Rom: they possess the Sight (Auspex), amazing powers of stealth (Obfuscate) and the speed to escape persecution (Celerity). They explain the odd name of Mekhet by positing that when a branch of the family traveled to Egypt far back in history, some creature from there must have envied their abilities. This creature might have been a vampire already, or a sorcerer of some kind, or some kind of demon. In any case, the Angustri believe that this creature stole the blood of their ancestors, and so gained their power. The other clans are all considered gaje (outsiders), and so their Angustri servants are somewhat less loyal and cooperative (those Angustri who subscribe to this legend, of course).

Of course, this is probably nothing but a family myth, propagated to keep the now far-flung family members feeling connected, and to help them deal with their servitude. The victims of the horrors of Nazi concentration camps and then eternal slavery to vampires, the Angustri simply try to validate their existence and their identity any way they can.

Covenants: As has already been mentioned, this family is a pet project of certain members of the Ordo Dracul. It is possible that the family will be spread around the Ordo Dracul even more if the breeding programs are successful. Members of other covenants are not at all likely to possess members of this family as servants, although it must be said that the official position of other covenants is that they aren’t interested. The wise know to keep their hands off the Angustri, though, because the Dragons take meddling in their experiments very seriously. For their part, the Gypsies realize that the Dragons have treated them well on the whole, and that they probably would not have as much luck with the other covenants.

Appearance: Members of the Angustri family do not necessarily dress like “traditional gypsies.” The only distinctive mark worn by all of them is their earrings, which are unique to each person. Otherwise, their dress ranges the spectrum from completely formal and socially acceptable to completely casual and “alternative.” The dark skin, eyes, hair and accent indicate their ethnicity somewhat, although few Americans can recognize someone as “gypsy” based solely on complexion or accent.

Hope — Not Quite Equal

Although their condition as ghouls is still one of horror on a very personal level, the Angustri are treated better on average by their Kindred masters than most other ghouls are thanks to their valuable qualities. Their fertility is not the only quality that interests the Ordo Dracul. The cleverness and curiosity that the Gypsies exhibit also make them ideal protégés. So ideal, in fact, that several family members have been granted the Embrace. With connections like that, the mortal family members are able to escape many of the worst problems that could come with their situation.

One of those Angustri who have received the Embrace is a young man by the name of Andrei Angustri, now of the Mekhet and the Ordo Dracul. He sees it as his family’s destiny to regain the powers of his ancestral blood that have been lost in the modern era, and his personal destiny to guide them there. To him, the curse of vampirism is an obstacle on that path, and the Ordo Dracul a tool to help him surmount that obstacle. His mentor encourages this mindset, because it seems to help the boy focus on his work, and the boy’s insight is keen. Andrei has two pet projects at the moment: fostering his own bloodline from among his family members and advancing the Coils of the Dragon to new levels. He has been more successful at the first than the second, and now a few members of his bloodline also serve the Order. Andrei is an extremely charming man, and his charisma gives his bloodline a natural predilection for the Discipline of Majesty. Andrei is also obsessed with keeping his bloodline “pure,” however, and this obsession creates a mental block in his childer. The blood of anyone who is neither Mekhet nor Roma is only half as nourishing to Angustri Mekhet as it should be. Therefore, most members of this bloodline stay close to mortal or ghoul family so that they can feed easily. Angustri Mekhet also cannot bring themselves to Embrace non-Roma (and Andrei would certainly destroy any who tried).

Havens: Ghouls of the Angustri family tend to share whatever Haven their regnant has, but their independent temperament often leads them to find some obscure corner to call their own, into which they can disappear when they want to. Their regnants generally find this practice to be irritating at first, but most quickly learn that there is no way to put a stop to it. Eventually, some come to enjoy it, as it forces them to be more intimately familiar with their own havens than otherwise. Although they continue to punish the Gypsies (so their other ghouls won’t get the wrong idea), those Dragons who have Angustri retainers are generally grateful for the lessons that their servants teach them. For outsiders, the result of this relationship is that an Ordo Dracul haven that has Angustri retainers is much harder to penetrate, whether by stealth or by force, than would be immediately apparent.

Organization: Within the Angustri family, the highest authority they recognize is Pesha, who is the oldest living member of the direct line. Though she still appears the same as she did at 18 when she was first made a ghoul, Pesha is now more than 60 years old and full of the wisdom of those years. Pesha has refused the Embrace several times, because she loves the sunlight. “Besides,” she points out whenever offered this boon, “as a vampire, I could make no more babies.” The German scientist who accused her of being a whore might actually have been on to something, because whether by original preference or by development over the course of time, Pesha is now a very lustful individual. Angustri boys in their teen years often receive the exciting honor and privilege of having their first love-making with “Grandma” Pesha.

The family is, in general, a gerontocracy. Age and experience have the biggest say in who makes family decisions, but the words of a clever youth are rarely ignored. Of course, the family makes very few decisions for itself, because all its members are still slaves to the Kindred of the Ordo Dracul. On the other hand, individual Angustri do have a high degree of freedom as long as they complete their assigned tasks. Even so, most Kindred never look at them as anything more than fertile breeding stock and efficient tools, and that is their place within the Order. Within the small (but slowly growing) number of Angustri whom the Order has Embraced, the status of their family members becomes truly equal in private. Appearances must be maintained in front of other Kindred, however, which causes significant tension when those appearances involve whipping a family elder or the like.

Concepts: con artist, fixer, fortune-teller, negotiator, body or body-part collector, assassin

The Norvegi often remain close to their living families and make many of them their ghouls and childer; on occasion, these families are changed forevermore. The Asmundarsons are an example of this kind of process. Originally Icelandic in extraction, they moved farther afield, only to fall into poverty and degradation when the work dried up. They had nowhere to go and the family secret grew too demanding, too hungry.

Maybe they live in several apartments in an inner city tower block, or in a decrepit rural mining village where the mines have long since gone. Perhaps they scrape subsistence on some sick-earth farmland, dwelling in a dilapidated farmhouse.

They are clichés of the poor: they’re close-knit, ill-educated, abusive towards their children and siblings, and unwilling to ever forgive a member of the family who somehow escapes. And, living in each of the three or four dwellings that the Asmundarson brothers call home is one of the great family secrets, a Dark Uncle or Aunt who buys their loyalty with sweet-tasting blood.

Clans and Covenants:
The owners of the Asmundarsons are Mekhet, and no other vampire has ever laid claim on a member of this family. If the vampires of the Covenants even know about them, they rarely care. They don’t consider the Norvegi to be a threat, and what is it to the Prince if the Norvegi keep to themselves? They’re barely even vampires.

Nickname: To the Norvegi, the Kin. To other vampires, nothing at all.

Appearance:
The Asmundarsons are the people in the small-town bar or the village pub who go silent when strangers walk in. They’re the ones who, eyes narrowed, stand at the gates of their land clutching shotguns, waiting for you to drive past and leave them alone. The kids stand in a row at the fence, dirty-faced, and they all look identical. They’re the children in the tenement block in the hooded tracksuits and grubby training shoes. They look at you like they know something, like they want something, like they’ll eat you alive.

Organization:
The families are abusive, in-bred and living in poverty, and embody every expectation and stereotype of the rural (or urban) poor. Although the brothers who are more or less family patriarchs make most of the decisions for their branches of the family, it’s really the Dark Aunt or Uncle who lives in the attic, or the cellar, or the coat cupboard who has final say in the Asmundarsons’ movements. The lives of the Asmundarsons are truly miserable for the children, as every hope of escape is thwarted, every dream of the outside world crushed. Sometimes, the family lets one of the younger members of the line start up a relationship with an outsider, hoping that a child will result. A teenaged Asmundarson elopes with a new husband; the Asmundarsons let them go, and then, just as the girl thinks she’s escaped, and her life is starting anew in the new town, her Dark Uncle comes for her with the rest of the family. The vampire makes the new husband drink his blood three times, and takes the couple home. They’re now part of the family. Young Asmundarson men sometimes go out on the town, hoping to get laid, solely in order that they can impregnate women and bring them into the family.

Because they’re literal family to the vampires who often make their havens in their homes, their Mekhet owners are even more possessive than usual. It’s not outside of the realm of possibility that a vampire from another clan could make a ghoul of an Asmundarson, but the Norvegi who own him will find out and will do their best to either steal the ghoul back, or destroy the regnant. Preferably both.

High up in the mountains is a vast hotel, a ski resort abandoned for nearly 60 years. The roads leading to it are mud-slick, slushy and closed down. Trees have fallen upon walls. Ivy and thorn tangles grow up and into the cracked walls, even during the harshest winters. Park rangers from the nearby wild preserve know the place is haunted and stay far away. Those who risk going near see things in the windows: faces staring out, beasts stalking the empty halls, blood streaking the glass. Others suggest that it’s not haunted at all, but is the place of awful Satanic worship — a temple used for demonic debauchery a few times a year.

In a way, they’re right. The Bellsmeade Hotel is not abandoned, as many assume. It has, in fact, been occupied always, even since the time it closed its doors to the public. Its residents are ghouls — blood-bred servants to a vampire called Bartholomew Bellsmeade. This ghoul family no longer recognizes its own family name, accepting instead the vampire’s surname of Bellsmeade. But he calls them by another name: his pigs.

They exist to serve him. Once upon a time, he loved them — and in a way, he still does. But he no longer loves them as a father, and instead adores them as a god. He knows that he is divine, and they are his servants upon this mortal plane. Several times a year — during solstices and equinoxes — Bartholomew returns to the hotel with his “friends.” For a week each time, he acts as a god in his kingdom, demanding blood, debasing the bodies of the ghoul servants, committing upon them bizarre sorceries (old favorites and new tricks). But the ghouls are not without their rewards. Not only does he leave them enough of his own Vitae to keep them strong and powerful until his next visit, but he also brings them all the things they love: exquisite chocolates, rare books, unusual cuts of delicious meat. And like that, he’s gone, leaving rewards in his wake until next he returns to celebrate his divinity upon his pigs.

Clans: Bartholomew is a Ventrue, and so the members of the ghoul family that inhabits the hotel are all of that clan. From time to time, the ghouls escape the hotel and
can then enter the service of a vampire from any clan.
From time to time, Bartholomew also gifts one of his
allies with a ghoul from the Bellsmeade stock.

Covenants:
Bartholomew’s Pigs belong to the Circle of the Crone and to the Invictus. Bartholomew belongs to both covenants. Not only is he a rich and productive member of the First Estate, but he also believes himself a god among Kindred. He demands pagan worship and even calls himself a “Crone.” He has little interest in existing gods or myths, preferring instead to be a new god at the center of new legends. Still, he is capable in Crúac and delights in the creation of new ghouls within this family. He gladly considers himself a member — a paragon, even — of both covenants, and so his Piglets belong to both as well. Most ghouls who escape (or are gifted) often end up as the prized servants of other Acolytes, largely because they are familiar with the nature of dire worship.

Appearance:
The Bellsmeade ghouls dress as they wish most days out of the year, for their regnant brings them fashions (and fashion magazines) when he visits. Of course, most of the styles are five or 10 years out of date. Some are too debased and feral to care about fashions, however — those ghouls tend to be filthy, foul creatures lurking in the margins of the 300+ rooms of the derelict hotel.

Havens:
The Pigs call only one place home: the Bellsmeade Hotel. It is a monstrous resort, far too large for the small family that resides within. It sits nestled deep in the mountains, barely accessible. A few ghouls have escaped from Bartholomew’s service over the years — these ghouls are free to have havens wherever.

Organization:
Within the Bellsmeade ghouls, the highest authority is Nehemiah, the first ghoul of the lineage. Nehemiah looks nearly like a child in his early teens, but he has the mental capabilities of someone far older (though he still possesses some immature sensibilities, and acts upon them more often than the other ghouls might prefer). While some wish for him to suffer an unfortunate accident (thus ending his capricious ways), Nehemiah remains the favorite of Bartholomew; the vampire calls him his “Favored Piggy.” While the Ventrue is away from the hotel for those long periods of time, Nehemiah is the one who leads the cult of ghouls in worship of the vampire.

The rest of the family breaks down, quite literally, as a family. Fathers and mothers rule over their children, who in turn have nobody to rule over except the animals.

Concepts: Adoring worshipper, animal keeper, escapee, hateful slave, hermit, the madman of Room 243

Many of the haciendas of Mexico are connected (and, in fact, the vampire lords often form distant broods of their own). Some of these lords maintain a number of ghouls, and history has seen the birth of several thrall bloodlines.

One of these bloodlines — the humbly-named campesinos, or “farmers” — are prized for their tough bodies but pliable minds.

This bloodline is not tied to any one clan, and many of the patrón Damned share the ghouls with one another as favors.

Unfortunately, as of late, the bloodline has suffered a number of odd congenital defects: shriveled limbs, weak hearts, missing noses. Defective specimens are kept around to perform the most revolting or difficult tasks, but they are often castrated or genitally mauled so that they may not further pollute the bloodline.

Annals of the Balaur Gard: the Crassus family.

“I, Antonio Giueppe, set down this account of the thorn in my financial side, the Crassus family. Many years ago when I was young, these people were good Italians. My sire — rest his soul, may he awaken from the death-sleep soon — told me once that their history goes back to that great city Byzantium. Well, whatever their origins, how the mighty have fallen! The Crassus of today are putrid Americans with no regard for business, only for money.

They do not even care where it comes from. In their personal debauchery they live ignorant that their lives are orchestrated by that bloated, ancient covenant of the Invictus. It seems that a few family members know, but they have been spellbound by their masters not to let on, lest they lose their privileges. Their financial clout does not seem to come from any particular acumen on their part, but instead is manufactured for them by the Kindred who manipulate them. The only amusing thing in this dreadfully tactless manipulation is to see what happens when the Invictus manipulate the family elders, and the Carthians sink their teeth into the ignorant youth. The resulting fracas over the scraps is quite ironic, as was the case with the collapse of the Veritas Insurance Corporation last year. On the whole, though, this family follows the usual rule: Bloodlines of thralls breed in the weaknesses rather than the strengths of humans, making the line suitable only for menial, unimportant work.”

Nickname: Caesars

Clans: Due to their station in society, it is only natural that many Crassus are enthralled to Ventrue masters. As much as they are rich, though, the family is corrupt, especially the youth. Younger Crassus especially often end up serving Daeva regnants, indulging their corruption and making the future of the family seem uncertain. Actually, Lysander himself (who enthralled the first family of Crassus) was a Ventrue, using the family strictly for his own amusement. Some of the younger Crassus are not as tactless as the others with their debauchery, and a significant number of the Toreador bloodline have been attracted to the ironic idea of having Caesars for servants. Nosferatu and Mekhet Kindred have taken a few of this family into their households, but not many — the Crassus prefer to avoid the shadows and pretend that everything is normal. If any Gangrel possess Crassus servants, they are keeping quiet about it. In any case, it is certain that the Crassus are willfully ignorant about their situation, and even the ones who drink vampire blood and offer up their own blood for drinking to ensure the family’s continued wealth try their very hardest to rationalize it some other way. Because of this attitude, they know absolutely nothing about their masters save what they are forced to know, which suits most of them just fine.

Covenants: The Crassus family is a battleground for the continual struggle over temporal power between Kindred of the Invictus and the Carthian Movement. Lysander, the vampire who first enthralled the Crassus in ancient Rome, is known to have been a member of the Invictus. This knowledge, along with the knowledge of Lysander’s clan, is only common within the Invictus. The other covenants simply don’t care, because these games of power and money don’t interest them. The Sanctified would rather purge this family of sinners from existence and start fresh. The Circle of the Crone pays no attention at all, while the Ordo Dracul keeps track only as a formality, with mildly disgusted amusement.

Appearance: The Crassus are legitimate businessmen, or sometimes “legitimate” businessmen in the Al Capone sense. Either way, they buy, they sell, they make money. This means that every single one of them is well groomed and well dressed, whether they like to be or not. Teenage Caesars who feel the need to rebel still take advantage of the family’s fat coffers to buy only the trendiest and most chic (or most expensively daring) clothes that their parents wouldn’t approve. After all, why settle for less than the best?

Hope — Wealth and Privilege

Ignorance is bliss for the Crassus family. Even those subject to the Vinculum are generally able to rationalize their situation. They have simply struck a deal with some powerful religious extremists who have eccentric ways of sealing their deals. The abilities they have gained aren’t supernatural at all, they would argue, but simply the result of particular talent and skill. For this reason, some of the more overtly supernatural Discipline powers remain forever out of the reach of the Crassus.

Because of their willful disbelief, the family’s Kindred masters usually leave them alone except when they desire something from them. They are allowed to pursue their own lives and agendas, as long as they drop everything to assist their masters at a moment’s notice. Since Kindred have an eternity of nights to plot and scheme, that moment’s notice is often delayed to a convenient time for the thralls, except in cases of time-sensitive emergency. The Crassus simply aren’t viewed as a potential breach of the Masquerade, because they cannot handle knowing the truth that would allow them to be so. Therefore, because of their unwillingness to acknowledge and exult in their dark powers, Crassus characters are freer to enjoy the immortal life of status and luxury that they have been afforded than are any other ghouls. They also don’t have to put up with nearly as many regular whippings, which must be counted a plus.

Havens: The family’s ancestors are the epitome of DWMs (Dead White Males, understood to be of the ruling or moneyed class), and the central family property has halls lined with paintings and busts of these men going back more than a thousand years. Some members of the family are whiter-than-white, centuries of mostly inbreeding having caused albino tendencies to surface. Some few of those pictured in the halls of the family estate are really Undead White Males, having graduated into a higher status of power. This is an extreme rarity, however, as few Crassus show the qualities desirable in a potential vampire. The entire north wing of the Crassus family estate is off limits to all but a few family members. A coterie of Invictus Kindred makes its home there.

This is a common arrangement, as the wealth of this family makes its homes ideal havens for vampires. In smaller Crassus homes (more the usual size for a mansion instead of sprawling complexes), the house often becomes the domain of one or more vampires once the children are asleep in bed. The masters of the house by day are degraded slaves by night. For the paranoid regnant, Crassus money can buy walled compounds with guards, dogs, guns, barbed wire and the like. The latest electronic security systems? Military-grade equipment? It’s only money, after all.

Organization: The Crassus are a family, but they are also a multinational conglomerate of trust funds, stockholders, corporations, tax shelters and shady holdings. The number of members of the direct bloodline is staggering, very near to 1,000, while relatives by marriage involved with the business exceed 5,000 in number. The number of actual ghouls made from those who have the potential is a mere fraction, though, somewhat less than a tenth of total family members. Ghoul or not, almost every single member of the family is directly involved in the business of making the family more money. Ultimately, the destination for all of this money is the trust funds and other investments held directly by the stockholder panel of Crassus, Inc. That is, by those members of the family who know of their dark secret. Once a year, all of the “major stockholders” come together to get a picture of everything the family owns and controls at the time and decide the direction of things for the next year. These decisions are left to the mortals most of the time, because they really are superb at making money. When their Kindred masters have an agenda to advance, however, they show up at these yearly meetings and pay close attention to everything discussed. At the end of the family summit, if a Kindred speaks, his word is law.

Concepts: billionaire, capitalist, CEO, dilettante, investor, manager, rebellious spoiled youth

Annals of the Balaur Gard: the Gravenor family.

“My hand scribes this record of the Gravenor bloodline in the name of my mentor, Claude. My name is Marie.

The family once attained moderate wealth based on its profession of hog farming, but a failure to keep up quickly enough with the latest developments in agriculture, combined with a general loss of interest in mortal society, has reduced both the size of the family and the value of its holdings significantly. There has been a split in the family, between those directly involved with maintenance and support of its businesses and those who live at the family manor under the watchful eye of Roderick Gravenor. Roderick is the thrall of a Nosferatu by the name of Grigor Swancott, though all indications point to Grigor falling into torpid sleep, because he has not been seen outside the manor for decades. Almost all members of the Gravenor family have survived from that time, around the year 1810, when Grigor first joined the family. The split in the family occurred when Roderick and his grandson Eric had a violent disagreement over the introduction of electricity into the family’s hog farms and slaughterhouses shortly before the beginning of the Great War in Europe. Eric promptly married outside of the family, making him a permanent pariah. From time to time, others who have offended Roderick are sent out to ‘Eric’s Farm,’ giving us a revealing look into what has become of the family at the manor.

Mostly, this seems to include a long list of congenital defects, but it also includes rampant paranoia and a strange sense for things unseen. Roderick has been seen visiting the farms from time to time, and each time he brings home a young man or woman — presumably for the purposes of adding to the breeding stock, but selected based on qualities I have not yet been able to piece together.”

Nickname: Throwbacks

Clans: Because only one vampire is involved with the Gravenor family proper, all those who live at the manor are Nosferatu ghouls. Of course, any clan might pick up those who have left the family and spread to the four winds. Their predilections make hem especially suited to service for other Nosferatu, as well as Mekhet and Gangrel Kindred.

Covenants: The Gravenors have no association with any covenant as such, but the Ordo Dracul watches them and all their scattered progeny with at least mild interest, as they do all such projects. Their interest also extends to the family manor, because although little information exists about it, there seems to be some kind of occult manifestation around it, perhaps a nexus of ley lines. The Circle of the Crone is also interested in the occult strangeness of the Gravenor estate, and keeps an eye on it. The other covenants do not have time for backwater rubbish like this family.

Appearance: As noted in Chapter One, the Gravenor’s choice of clothes has not changed since the 19th century, and many of them have shocking congenital defects. The members of the Gravenor family range from those who were alive in the 1800s (who look fairly normal), to those born more recently (who are much more likely to exhibit obvious signs of inbreeding). Gravenors who have escaped the manor still sport mild (though often noticeable) congenital defects and the remnants of paranoia, but nothing quite so obvious or frightening. They also tend to dress in modern clothes, even if their taste runs to conservative styles, and the escapees do know how to use modern technology.

Hope — Mortal Terror

Grigor Swancott was a lunatic, and eventually his lunacy drove him into torpor. Yet, what could drive a Nosferatu, a creature with the power of Nightmare at his command, to such degeneration? The fact that none of those living at the Gravenor estate can ignore is that something did. Something gets into fights with the trees they’ve fed on Grigor’s blood, sometimes tearing off branches or withering the plants prematurely. Something breaks windows, and it’s not spastic little Timmy. (He gets tied down at night.) Something writes eerie messages in the steam on the mirror while Daddy’s shaving, and something looks into Suzie’s bedroom window at night with glowing red eyes.

To the outside world, the disgusting effects of inbreeding are rationalization enough to stay away from the house in the swamp. Those who live there are trapped in a world where rationalizations are futile. The problem is, they also don’t have any real idea what they’re dealing with. The reality of it all is reinforced almost daily… though in a way that, when they talk with family members who have left the enclosure, is doubtful and might simply point to slipping sanity and cabin fever. Each person living at Gravenor Manor has one or more personal tokens that prove, at least in their own eyes, the truth of what they fight. Players of Gravenor characters can take heart one of two ways. Either (as escapees) they are out of the insane asylum and free, or (if they live inside) they know that what others call crazy is really the only sane way of dealing with an insane truth.

Havens: The Gravenor family has two primary domains: the Gravenor Manor and Gravenor Hog Farms & Slaughterhouse. Living at the first counts as Haven ••• (Security ••, Size •), while the second can be purchased as Haven •• (Security • Size •) for any character with at least Status • in the company, representing living quarters on the property. Those who do not live at the family home may buy other havens if they wish to do so, as their funds (and player access to Merit or experience points) allow.

Organization: Roderick Gravenor is king in his own house. His rule is somewhat tyrannical, but most members of the family recognize this as a necessity in their besieged state. Those few who complain are exiled to the hog farms, or “Eric’s Farm” as Roderick puts it, despite the fact that his grandson Eric died of old age more than a decade ago. Life at the Gravenor estate is a strange cross between traditional family life circa 1800 and life in the Confederate States’ military. There is also a fair amount of Elizabethan occultism mixed in with the family’s traditions, as well as old Welsh mythology about fae creatures and ghosts. One of the boys plays reveille every morning, and Roderick personally inspects the condition of everyone’s dress and rooms 10 minutes later. After this, his wife Eliza serves a very homey sort of breakfast, and friendly family chatter can be heard around the table. Then the daily chores begin: a séance to determine the will of their master Grigor, a warding against faeries with wrought iron bars on certain windows, exorcising the kitchen and so on. Lunch and dinner are also communal family affairs, and taps is played before bed each night. A different brother and sister pair is assigned to watch duty each night, and during this time they are discouraged from fooling around with each other. That’s to be reserved for the daytime, when the monsters are less likely to come out.

The family farm is run like many modern businesses, though it is still privately owned. Most employees aren’t even Gravenors, though many in the management are. Legally and by tradition, the farm still belongs to Roderick, who shows up on occasion to make demands, which are always met, if only to get rid of him. The demands seem random to outsiders, but are guided by Roderick’s sense of what occult materials will be needed in his fight against the Cobblers. During each visit, Roderick can tell who would be a good candidate for joining the family, and his demands always include one person he wants to bring back with him. He visits once, sometimes twice, in any given year.

Concepts: bugle boy, believer, disbeliever, hog farmer, daddy’s girl, family exorcist, escapee

Annals of the Balaur Gard: the so-called “Alley Men” or “Wild Angels.”

“Here recorded is the of the rogue thrall bloodline known commonly as Alley Men, but self-titled the Wild Angels, as set down by Dr. Aaron Jorgunson, Guardian. This self-claimed title seems to stem from the Kindred who called himself Zophiel, thought to be of the Lancea Sanctum, who discovered and fostered this family within the last three decades. He was an unruly sort, and through his apparent insanity and megalomania, he represented such a threat to the Masquerade that the Prince of the city was forced to invoke the Lextalionis upon him. It is then that the most interesting thing happened: Instead of disbanding, the small family of fanatics put together by this Zophiel began hunting Kindred! Searching the minds of those subjects we have captured and interrogated, it seems that they possess no true knowledge of what it is they hunt. Zophiel told his followers that they were to hunt demons, and to feast on their flesh and blood in holy communion, for when you slay a true demon, God will change the flesh into that of Christ, and grant you his Spirit and Power. This, of course, is consistent with some of the rhetoric we have all heard from the Sanctified, but the covenant has been quite uncooperative in helping us to identify Zophiel. Regardless of the allegiance of their progenitor, the fanaticism of these mortals makes them very dangerous. Still, observing them from a distance may prove fruitful, as their persistence and growth has proven that it is possible for a family of thralls to exist and thrive without a master to tend them.”

Nickname: While Kindred nickname these vagrants Alley Men, the ghouls call themselves Christians and servants of God, or sometimes wild angels, if they call themselves anything at all.

Origin: The Wild Angel was an unknown in Kindred society, until he created this family of thralls. Signs point to him being a Gangrel of the Lancea Sanctum, but this isn’t entirely certain. The Sanctified of the area won’t verify his existence and no one has taken credit for his murder. Even his clan is unknown, because now that he is dead and his thralls are not bound to a single master, they have tasted the blood of many clans and bloodlines. Therefore, different Alley Men exhibit different Disciplines. One might have Vigor and Celerity from a steady diet of Daeva Vitae, while another might possess Resilience and Dominate due to a feast of Ventrue blood. Almost all Alley Men are rogue ghouls, but a few small branches of the family have come under the influence of one Kindred or another.

Clans: Of the clans, the Ventrue have the most interest, and have had the most success in bringing these vagrants under control. The respectable veneer with which these Kindred surround themselves is both intimidating and desirable to the generally homeless Alley Men, and the Ventrue’s ability to subjugate thralls’ minds helps to subjugate their murderous impulses. The Nosferatu and the Daeva have shown some interest in using Alley Men, but far less success at controlling them. The fact that the Nosferatu and the Daeva lack the ability to use Dominate is part of the reason, but the fact that these clans fit the Wild Angel’s description of “demon” is perhaps the greater obstacle. Mekhet Kindred tend to see the Alley Men as pests — sometimes amusing pests, but pests nonetheless. Some Mekhet feed the Alley Men tidbits of information designed to lead them to rival Kindred; others simply kill or ignore the ghouls. The Gangrel rarely come into contact with these rapacious thralls. If they do, the foolish thralls are usually viewed as territorial rivals and threats.

The Alley Men are aware that different types of demons exist, but what one “cell” of Alley Men knows is by no means indicative of the entire family. A small family might be constantly searching for a single demon called “Mekhet,” while another knows that “the Daeva are comely, but still demons” and nothing more.

Covenants: No covenant truly desires to deal with the Alley Men, preferring to pretend that they don’t exist. The family members themselves are unaware of the existence of such social structures among the “demons” they hunt. The disfavor shown to these rogue ghouls has a different flavor for each covenant, however. The Invictus see them as a serious threat to the Masquerade. The Carthians, on the other hand, see them as an interesting, but failed, experiment. The Ordo Dracul’s position is that this is the unfortunate result when caution is not exercised with the gift of Vitae. As a whole, however, the Order of the Dragon shows little interest. Individual Dragons do keep tabs on various branches of the family, though, reporting their findings back to the Balaur Gard (see p. 38). Sanctified Kindred who discover the motivations of these strange mortals often take it upon themselves to guide these lost sheep of God’s back to the “true fold.” Doing so gains the Alley Men as thralls, but it is rare that any vampire pays enough attention to find out or care about said motivations. The Circle of the Crone hasn’t yet had much contact with the Alley Men, but the results of the ghoul family meeting Acolytes would probably be violent. Acolytes, after all, are not only demons but demons who willfully practice witchcraft. Unbound Kindred truly fear ravening packs of Alley Men, and not a few of these independent vampires have met Final Death at their hands, knives, axes and teeth.

Appearance: These ghouls earned their nickname the hard way. Alley Men, bag ladies, bums, cardboard housing residents — it’s all much the same thing. Word has gone out among the Kindred in some large cities that the homeless aren’t as easy a food source as they are in other locales. Any bum sit- ting in an alleyway is as likely to break his half-empty liquor bottle over a vampire’s head and set fire to her as he is to just sit there in a drunken stupor while she feeds on him. The Wild Angels can be distinguished from other vagrants only in subtle ways. They tend to be slightly more physically fit, but this is hard to notice due to the tendency of homeless people to wear all the clothes they own. The detail-oriented might notice small bloodstains on their clothes and blood under their fingernails (Wits + Composure with a –5 penalty to notice). In general, though, it’s very hard to distinguish them from a run-of-the-street vagrant. Not all the crazy-looking, shifty-eyed ones are Alley Men, and not all Alley Men look as crazy as they are.

Haven: Anonymity is a more potent home and shield for this loosely connected family than it is even for the Kindred. It is near to impossible to discover which circle of bums huddling around a trash fire is contemplating their next target for exsanguination and cannibalism as opposed to the next place they can get some booze and a normal meal. Alley Men do not, for obvious reasons, have havens in the most traditional sense. For that reason, they should not be allowed to purchase the Haven Merit under normal circumstances.

Hope — The Will of God

Homeless, murderous, cannibalistic… why would anybody live like this? No social group can survive for long on a diet of pure horror. In fact, the reason that it is nearly impossible to distinguish them from other homeless people is that most of the time they are exactly like most homeless people. If they have not decided as a group that someone is a sinner and a demon, interacting with them can even be pleasant. They have friendly conversations with people, often sharing the more socially acceptable parts of their faith like some sort of ascetic missionaries. The Wild Angels are in fact poor by choice. They put into action their belief that one cannot love both God and money, and they live to spread the faith. Many branches of the family go to church on Sundays regularly, or they hold their own private worship services that follow very traditional Christian patterns.

Organization: The total number of Alley Men in the world is unknown to anybody except perhaps the Dragon’s Fence, but they are fairly numerous. This family is, completely by accident, organized like an effective guerilla operation. Each family member knows only his or her immediate relatives, meaning that no single person can give away the identity of more than three or four other Alley Men. Despite this, information can pass startlingly quickly, even across oceans, through the grapevine of connections within this group of homeless nomads. Wild Angels who notice the effectiveness of this organizational scheme credit it as evidence that they are doing the will of God.

Several rituals are common among many the “cells.” Few Alley Men follow all of them, but even fewer do not follow any. These rituals are never performed in the same place twice, but the only requirement for a place to perform them is that it be secluded. Condemned buildings, dark alleyways, and unlocked exterior basements all do the trick. The most common ritual is the sexual initiation of girls who have reached menarche. As soon as a girl reaches sexual maturity, the family puts the word out and finds a suitable man of the family to impregnate her. The family pulls in as many favors as necessary to keep the pregnant girls off the streets, to ensure the carriage of babies to term, but once the baby is weaned, the mother is back on the streets to blend in once again.

As soon as the infant reaches the toddler stage, he typically undergoes a ceremony involving bathing the child in blood and giving him his first taste of blood and flesh, in a perverse imitation of the Christian sacraments of baptism and communion. After this, every time that a Wild Angel eats flesh and drinks blood, it is in the same twisted communion ritual. They believe that God rewards them for killing demons by transforming the blood and flesh into that of Christ, thus granting them power. When they manage to kill an actual vampire, it seems to validate this belief.

When male children become sexually mature, they are initiated into the priesthood of their cause. This involves drinking the menstrual flow of their mothers, directly from the source, soon after the taking of their “holy communion.” The final part of initiation into priesthood is to impregnate a girl from another part of the family. Due to the fact that this impregnation is necessary to continue God’s mission for the family, this second part of the initiation is as universal on the male side as was mentioned earlier for the female side. A girl cannot become a woman without carrying a baby to term for the sake of the mission, and a boy cannot be considered a man until his seed is carried to fruition.

Concepts: cultist/cult leader, mugger, lunatic, street-preacher

Annals of the Balaur Gard: the so-called “Children of Nirriti.”

“This record exists to tell the tale of the thrall bloodline formed by the cult of Kali in her aspect as Nirriti. There is very little to tell about these ghouls. The Circle of the Crone keeps them much as they do many of their other cults, but they have managed to institute a successful program of breeding in this case. They do this for their own silly superstitious reasons.

Since their silly superstition seems to give them certain facilities with the Blood, however, it is worth noting the particular rituals involved here. As is the case with many of these cults, the Nirriti Cult practices extensive ritual cutting and self-mortification, in conjunction with carefully orchestrated orgies. In this case, the act of procreation itself seems often to be the desired end of the rituals, ensuring the continuance of the bloodline. Sex is also used in Tantric rituals, as it is with other cults set up by the Circle. Some particularly important rituals call for human sacrifice. Most of the time, some outsider is waylaid for this purpose, but it seems that a member of the cult is required in some instances. In at least one instance, I was able to witness a ritual in which a pregnant mother was sacrificed, but her child was retrieved from the womb and survived. It was most fascinating to watch that child grow up. Of course, all the blood from these sacrifices is drained, and most of it is eventually consumed by Kindred from the Circle.”

Nickname: Sin-Eaters or simply Cultists

Clans: The cult was founded around a Daeva and is led by his childe, but a fair number of Mekhet and Nosferatu of the Circle have become interested in the Nirriti Cult. Gangrel sometimes find the pleasure/pain thrill of the cult alluring. Ventrue are positively disgusted with the idea usually, but a very few of them have taken a hand with the cult once in a while, especially if they develop derangements of megalomania and delusions of grandeur. The mortal Cultists themselves are utterly unaware of the Kindred politics that go on around them as they zealously follow their High Priestess Alma with the utmost dedication.

Covenants: Obviously, the Circle of the Crone directly controls the Nirriti Cult through Alma. The Circle views the cult as a useful tool and a successful endeavor, sometimes modeling other cults it wishes to set up after the way Alma administers the Nirriti. Alma has allowed several other members of the Circle to join her in her peculiar form of absolution through victimization, though she requires that anyone who wishes to do so submit to a Vinculum to her. Other Covenants look on with mixed envy and distaste. For the Ordo Dracul, envy is the predominant emotion, because many among them wish they could have tools so zealously loyal. The Invictus and Lancea Sanctum mostly view the cult with distaste, although they envy the zeal of the Cultists. Kindred of the Carthian Movement are often intrigued by any form of cult activity because of what it implies in regard to what people want from society, and the Nirriti Cult is no exception to this pattern of general interest.

Appearance: As directed by their High Priestess, the Children of Nirriti feign normality by day. They work at various jobs and have regular apartments or suburban houses. Nirriti Cultists dress conservatively during the day to avoid attracting any sort of attention, and are usually careful to do their jobs sufficiently without any hint of excellence. They are polite but not friendly, meeting those who try to form closer relationships with pleasant rebuffs or false openness. Really, each Cultist is always in a state of anticipation, hardly able to wait for the appropriate moment to rip off the stifling clothes of normality and dance naked before the dark goddess.

Hope — Future Damnation

Some players and Storytellers might find themselves attracted to the concept of playing the thralls who do evil things so that Alma and her cronies can feel good and pure. Most people will probably get sick of this after a while. Fear not: There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even for the vessels of Alma’s sin and torment. The most obvious form of this is that when Alma considers a Sin-Eater to be sufficiently advanced in the faith, she arranges for that person’s Embrace, allowing him the purity of the Requiem as she has found it. Such converts then gleefully set about foisting their former duties of pain and torture on their newly subordinated Cultists.

The other interesting thing is that Alma actually buys into her own philosophy. She has spent so much time ridding herself of her sins, even in such odd ways as she has chosen, that her destructive desires have diminished greatly. In fact, although her Humanity is fairly low, she maintains almost ironclad control over her Beast, seldom succumbing to frenzy. She allows her childer to create childer of their own only if they have reached the same level of sinlessness as herself, and no Nirriti Cultist without at least Willpower 7 ever receives the Embrace. Usually, once Cultists have shown a sufficient degree of faithfulness, they are sent on to Alma’s personal serving staff. The tasks Alma asks of her personal staff are quite tame compared to the usual activities of the Cult, allowing those who reach this plateau to start freeing themselves of corruption and move toward purity.

Havens: Alma’s haven is built on the dreams and contributions of her followers. She owns a property that, at just over 20 acres, is truly palatial by the area’s standards. On this land she keeps many plants and animals that suit her tastes, caring for them and breeding them. The huge house and grounds serve both as canvas for Alma’s creative endeavors and as ritual observance spot for the most significant ceremonies of the Nirriti Cult. Cultists commute from all over the area to attend some of the monthly and yearly observances. Alma has also gifted some of her most trusted servants with the Embrace, and they own similar though smaller havens.

Organization: Alma is High Priestess. No one may surpass her, for it is through her advancement that others may ascend to higher levels. If the High Priestess were to die, the whole cult would suffer a setback to the level of her chosen successor. Alma does, however, employ other Kindred as priests and priestesses of her cult to keep track of the herd. Several of them are her own childer and all are bonded to her through full Vinculum. Under these Kindred are the mortal supplicants, those with some small amount of status, whether they know what that means, or (more likely) not. Under the supplicants are the children, for though all cult members are “Children of Nirriti,” some have matured and are children only in the sense of descent. The average cultist is still considered a child, and is afforded no respect until a certain amount of extremely unpleasant drudge-work has been completed. Then the real rituals begin — the learning process that can take a child and turn him into a supplicant, and perhaps eventually a priest.

Concepts: attention addict, true believer, sadist, masochist, alternative lifestyle seeker