Post by Storyteller on Mar 26, 2009 20:32:37 GMT -5
Since you're character is obviously aware that there are horrors the general public just doesn't fathom... you're sure to encounter many other kinds of creatures in the dark.
Here's a list with generalizations of things you could come across in play.
Witch-Hunters and Other Mortals
Kindred prey on the Kine, this is the way of things. As the elders are painfully aware, though, they may be preyed on as well. Vampires must step lightly and be ever mindful of the Masquerade, were the human race as a whole ever to turn its attention to the Kindred, the Children of Caine would be quickly wiped out. Superstition is the vampires' best weapon. By enforcing mortals' disbelief, by cultivating a smug belief in reason, by dismissing vampires' presence as the fancies of children and lunatics, the Kindred allow the mass of kine to do the work of shielding them from the few mortals who do know that vampires walk the night.
And there are, indeed, a few. Ignored or scoffed at by the bulk of their fellows, these mortals choose to delve into the Kindred's hidden world. Some do it out of curiosity or for a forbidden thrill, others fear the Kindred and seek to exterminate them outright. The Childred of Caine take no chances, their elders remember the Inquisition of old, when the race of vampires was nearly extinguished in a tide of fire and blood. Thus, all mortals 'in the know' are commonly referred to as witch-hunters, the term Kindred gave to their pious tormentors.
The Inquisition itself still exists today, though no official Church records speak of it. The Inquisition of the modern wold is known as the Society of Leopold. Many of its members are researchers and occultists, but some are fanatic vampire-hunters who, in true Torquemada-esque fashion, mercilessly root out and destroy the 'spawn of Satan'.
Most Inquisitors are fanatic but spottily educated and trained, seldom posing any real threat. What they know of the Kindred tends to come from old records and poorly translated manuscripts. This, of course, leads to mistakes in hunting, and it is unwise to make mistakes when dealing with vampires. Likewise, most Inquisitors are mere mortals, with none of the supernatural powers attributed to saints. Though such a hunter might hold up a crucifix and frantically wave it in a vampire's face, the holy symbol would be a mere object to be contemptuously swatted aside. A few Inquisitors, though, actually manifest sufficient Faith to repel or even wound the Damned with their holy auras.
On a secular level, the Kindred often move in the higher echelons of mortal power. Though they act furtively and cunningly, enough traces of their presence exist to arouse the suspicions of certain members of the world's intelligence agencies. In these nights of DNA testing and computer databases, the Masquerade is stretched thin indeed.
Other mortal groups find themselves on the periphery of the Damned's world. A mystic secret society known as the Arcanum seeks to uncover traces of the paranormal. Kindred tend to dismiss the Arcanum as a comic organization of garden variety 'ghostbusters' and dilettantes, but it occasionally, and increasingly, stumbles across events of interest. Additionally, various criminal organizations find themselves pawns in, or disrupter's of, Kindred's plots.
Lupines
Outside the protective streets of the city, the land belongs to the Lupines, monsters who have been the dire enemies of the Kindred since time immemorial. Also known as werewolves, the Lupines seem to travel in packs, much as normal wolves do. Werewolves are universally feared by vampires as ruthless, efficient killers, and more than one vampire claims to have witnessed a single angered Lupine bring down an entire coterie of Kindred. Insular and xeno-phonic, the werewolves despise the Kindred, the precise reason behind this loathing is unknown, but a vampire caught by a werewolf is assuredly in dire peril. Wise Kindred know to keep to the cities, and that to leave their protection is to invite disaster in the form of a cloud of fur and fangs. On nights when the full moon is high and white, Kindred can hear the howls of the Lupines and smell their ferocity on the wind.
Recent years have seen a greater aggressiveness on the part of the Lupines. Formerly reluctant to leave their wilderness domains, werewolf packs have in the last few years begun pursuing Kindred into the cities, or even raiding the vampires' formerly impregnable domains outright. The vampires of Clan Gangrel, who know more of the Lupines' ways than any other Kindred, fear that a great war may be at hand, and that the first stroke of the Jyhad endgame will be made not by a vampire, but by a werewolf.
Mages
Practitioners of arcane arts, the mages resemble humanity even more than Kindred do. In fact, the Tremere maintain that mages are humans themselves, though ones who know the secrets of ancient magic. Though not overtly hostile to vampires, mages seem to prefer solitude and will not hesitate to eliminate a bothersome Kindred. Few vampires know much about this group's powers, but strange events tend to happen in the presence of mages. It is rumored that mages may evoke truly fantastic effects, but they evidently maintain a practice similar to the Masquerade, one which likewise protects them from a fearful populace.
Ghosts
It would seem that some spirits linger on after death, either to haunt the living or to resolve things they could not accomplish in life. As ghosts apparently exist on the 'other side', very few vampires have any dealings with them, though Giovanni are known to converse with them. Some ghosts claim to be the souls of victims killed by vampires, and return to plague those vampires' nights with wailing and torment.
Faeries
Few vampires know anything about the faeries, and it would seem that the 'Good Folk' either fear vampires or otherwise avoid them as anathema. Whatever the reason, faeries are by turns attributed with fanciful, wondrous powers or the ability to inflict terrible cruses. Those who have opinions on the matter maintain that the 'wild ones' are not to be trifled with.
The Cathayans
The Children of Caine have spread throughout the world, but they find themselves thwarted in the Far East by the mysterious Cathayans, non Kindred vampires native to the Orient. The Cathayans, or Kindred of the East, seem to have very little in common with their western brethren. Rumors of demonic powers surround these Asian visitors, and their enigmatic behavior and foreign mindset leave many Western Kindred ill at ease. Making matters worse are the increasingly frequent reports of the 'Hooded Mandarin', a formidable Cathayan vampire, and his presence at disastrous Kindred events.
Enigmas
As if these disturbing reports weren't enough, some Kindred claim to have dealt with even stranger creatures of the night. Meetings with demons, immortal mummies, zombielike walking dead, mystical spirits, shapeshifting animals, sentient gargoyles, angels and less definable entities have been claimed and sometimes documented. The only certainty to emerge from these statements, however, is that the World of Darkness is as terrifying as it is cosmopolitan.
Here's a list with generalizations of things you could come across in play.
Witch-Hunters and Other Mortals
Kindred prey on the Kine, this is the way of things. As the elders are painfully aware, though, they may be preyed on as well. Vampires must step lightly and be ever mindful of the Masquerade, were the human race as a whole ever to turn its attention to the Kindred, the Children of Caine would be quickly wiped out. Superstition is the vampires' best weapon. By enforcing mortals' disbelief, by cultivating a smug belief in reason, by dismissing vampires' presence as the fancies of children and lunatics, the Kindred allow the mass of kine to do the work of shielding them from the few mortals who do know that vampires walk the night.
And there are, indeed, a few. Ignored or scoffed at by the bulk of their fellows, these mortals choose to delve into the Kindred's hidden world. Some do it out of curiosity or for a forbidden thrill, others fear the Kindred and seek to exterminate them outright. The Childred of Caine take no chances, their elders remember the Inquisition of old, when the race of vampires was nearly extinguished in a tide of fire and blood. Thus, all mortals 'in the know' are commonly referred to as witch-hunters, the term Kindred gave to their pious tormentors.
The Inquisition itself still exists today, though no official Church records speak of it. The Inquisition of the modern wold is known as the Society of Leopold. Many of its members are researchers and occultists, but some are fanatic vampire-hunters who, in true Torquemada-esque fashion, mercilessly root out and destroy the 'spawn of Satan'.
Most Inquisitors are fanatic but spottily educated and trained, seldom posing any real threat. What they know of the Kindred tends to come from old records and poorly translated manuscripts. This, of course, leads to mistakes in hunting, and it is unwise to make mistakes when dealing with vampires. Likewise, most Inquisitors are mere mortals, with none of the supernatural powers attributed to saints. Though such a hunter might hold up a crucifix and frantically wave it in a vampire's face, the holy symbol would be a mere object to be contemptuously swatted aside. A few Inquisitors, though, actually manifest sufficient Faith to repel or even wound the Damned with their holy auras.
On a secular level, the Kindred often move in the higher echelons of mortal power. Though they act furtively and cunningly, enough traces of their presence exist to arouse the suspicions of certain members of the world's intelligence agencies. In these nights of DNA testing and computer databases, the Masquerade is stretched thin indeed.
Other mortal groups find themselves on the periphery of the Damned's world. A mystic secret society known as the Arcanum seeks to uncover traces of the paranormal. Kindred tend to dismiss the Arcanum as a comic organization of garden variety 'ghostbusters' and dilettantes, but it occasionally, and increasingly, stumbles across events of interest. Additionally, various criminal organizations find themselves pawns in, or disrupter's of, Kindred's plots.
Lupines
Outside the protective streets of the city, the land belongs to the Lupines, monsters who have been the dire enemies of the Kindred since time immemorial. Also known as werewolves, the Lupines seem to travel in packs, much as normal wolves do. Werewolves are universally feared by vampires as ruthless, efficient killers, and more than one vampire claims to have witnessed a single angered Lupine bring down an entire coterie of Kindred. Insular and xeno-phonic, the werewolves despise the Kindred, the precise reason behind this loathing is unknown, but a vampire caught by a werewolf is assuredly in dire peril. Wise Kindred know to keep to the cities, and that to leave their protection is to invite disaster in the form of a cloud of fur and fangs. On nights when the full moon is high and white, Kindred can hear the howls of the Lupines and smell their ferocity on the wind.
Recent years have seen a greater aggressiveness on the part of the Lupines. Formerly reluctant to leave their wilderness domains, werewolf packs have in the last few years begun pursuing Kindred into the cities, or even raiding the vampires' formerly impregnable domains outright. The vampires of Clan Gangrel, who know more of the Lupines' ways than any other Kindred, fear that a great war may be at hand, and that the first stroke of the Jyhad endgame will be made not by a vampire, but by a werewolf.
Mages
Practitioners of arcane arts, the mages resemble humanity even more than Kindred do. In fact, the Tremere maintain that mages are humans themselves, though ones who know the secrets of ancient magic. Though not overtly hostile to vampires, mages seem to prefer solitude and will not hesitate to eliminate a bothersome Kindred. Few vampires know much about this group's powers, but strange events tend to happen in the presence of mages. It is rumored that mages may evoke truly fantastic effects, but they evidently maintain a practice similar to the Masquerade, one which likewise protects them from a fearful populace.
Ghosts
It would seem that some spirits linger on after death, either to haunt the living or to resolve things they could not accomplish in life. As ghosts apparently exist on the 'other side', very few vampires have any dealings with them, though Giovanni are known to converse with them. Some ghosts claim to be the souls of victims killed by vampires, and return to plague those vampires' nights with wailing and torment.
Faeries
Few vampires know anything about the faeries, and it would seem that the 'Good Folk' either fear vampires or otherwise avoid them as anathema. Whatever the reason, faeries are by turns attributed with fanciful, wondrous powers or the ability to inflict terrible cruses. Those who have opinions on the matter maintain that the 'wild ones' are not to be trifled with.
The Cathayans
The Children of Caine have spread throughout the world, but they find themselves thwarted in the Far East by the mysterious Cathayans, non Kindred vampires native to the Orient. The Cathayans, or Kindred of the East, seem to have very little in common with their western brethren. Rumors of demonic powers surround these Asian visitors, and their enigmatic behavior and foreign mindset leave many Western Kindred ill at ease. Making matters worse are the increasingly frequent reports of the 'Hooded Mandarin', a formidable Cathayan vampire, and his presence at disastrous Kindred events.
Enigmas
As if these disturbing reports weren't enough, some Kindred claim to have dealt with even stranger creatures of the night. Meetings with demons, immortal mummies, zombielike walking dead, mystical spirits, shapeshifting animals, sentient gargoyles, angels and less definable entities have been claimed and sometimes documented. The only certainty to emerge from these statements, however, is that the World of Darkness is as terrifying as it is cosmopolitan.