From July, 2009
Know Your Kindred – Natalia
Name: Natalia
Clan: Ravnos
Generation: 8th
Embrace: 1703
Like all Ravnos, Natalia acts completely carefree. She is very good at pick-pocketing and seduction – flirting outrageously with anyone she meets.
She is a slender and sultry beauty with dark eyes and dark hair. On the outside she looks no more than a 17 year-old. She likes to wear clothing that has a wide assortment of colors on display.
She came to Berlin after having dreams about her old lover and friend, Ankla Hotep being lost and locked up in a dark prison cell.
– Source: Berlin by Night, pg 100-101
Know Your Kindred – Ur Shulgi, The Shepherd
Name: Ur-Shulgi, The Shepherd
Clan: Children of Haqim (Assamite)
Generation: 4th
Embrace: “the night when the stones spoke and the skies cried a blood rain”
Ur-Shulgi is the second childe of Haqim and the first of the Assamite magi. He is the most efficient war-mage on the face of the planet. His thought processes are completely incomprehensible to anyone not of his age and power stratum. He is violence given a physical body.
Ur-Shulgi awoke after a millennia of slumber and shattered the Tremere “Blood Curse” with no more than the faintest exertion. Casually shredding a ritual cast by the combined might of the Tremere Inner Circle is a good indicator of what he can accomplish should he choose to go all-out.
Since his return, Ur-Shulgi has made it a point to eliminate the Islamic faith from the clan of Haqim. He sees this “Allah” as a corruption and must either show all those who worship him the error of their ways or exterminate them. He already purged the “false” Master of Alamut after he refused to renounce his Muslim faith. Ur-Shulgi and the older Assamites remember the time before Moses. To them Haqim is their god and the Path of Blood is the only true faith. They see their grandsires as a bunch of “devilish heathens.” The younger Assamites know they can not take on Ur-Shulgi and the elders, so they have made plans to leave the clan and flee to the Western nations.
Ur-Shulgi looks like a scarred, burnt child god. His skin is obsidian-black with a lattice of scars, bits of bone and sinew protruding beneath the skin. His eyes look like they have either been gouged or burnt away, although he is able to see without hindrance. When he chooses to wear clothes, it’s usually light colored caftans and robes. His voice seems to billow up from the depths of a dry desert well (surprisingly Ur-Shulgi is fluent in any modern language in which he is addressed).
Ur-Shulgi normally remains motionless. If he has to shift position, he does not move so much as flicker from point to point.
– Sources: Chidren of the Night, pg. 89-91. Nights of Prophecy, pg. 10.
Know Your Kindred – Helena
Name: Helena
Clan: Toreador
Generation: 4th (previously 5th)
Embrace: 1233 BC
For a time Helena was the most powerful Kindred in Chicago. Even though she laid in torpor for over 100 years, she controlled the whole city through her mental powers. But throughout her unlife she has been locked in a 1300 year war with her archenemies, the Brujah Menele.
The two Kindred’s history goes back to Carthage, a city where humans and vampires lived in peace and harmony. Carthage was Menele’s utopia until Helena betrayed the city to the Romans. In return Menele summoned a fire storm that destroyed Helena’s city of Pompeii. The two have since chased each other around the world, until they finally met in hand-to-hand combat on a Civil War battlefield in Illinois. They traded thunderous blows and sent each other to torpor.
Their bodies were rescued by their retainers and brought to safety. Although she laid in torpor, Helena was still able to use her Auspex and Dominate to continue her fight against Menele and in the process manipulate others to shape Chicago as she desired.
In 1990, Helena finally awoke from torpor. The psychic warfare continued between she and Menele, until in 2000, Menele used the Daughters of Cacophony to sing a song that sent Helena back to torpor. The spell did not last long and Helena awoke again. Her hatred of Menele and her willingness to pay any cost for even a weak and convoluted form of revenge had her teaming up with the demon-worshiping vampire, Barbaro. Helena aided Barbaro in a dark ritual which sent her through the Abyss and to summon the ancient Baali – Nergal, Prince of Hell.
In exchange for greater power, Helena gave a part of her soul to Nergal. She hoped he would aid her in destroying Menele, but Nergal refused. Instead he gave her the location of Menele’s haven, where she would have to lead any assault herself. Helena was not happy to receive so little after paying so much.
Helena went to Montreal, where she made a deal with the demon Metathiax to obtain the Kaymakli Fragment – an engraved disk with ancient writing about the end of the world.
Despite some set backs, Helena finally found Menele, who had just come out of torpor. After already killing the !Toreador Mercy, a wounded Helena collided and fought violently with Menele. Helena sank her fangs into Menele’s neck and he in turn sank his fangs into her chest. A combination of images and memories flooded between the two old enemies as they consumed each other’s blood. In the flurry, a shocking revelation flashed before both their eyes. The struggle ended and the two engaged in a passionate kiss. The sun began to rise and shine into the room. The two Kindred rolled away from each other to escape the light. Helena grabbed the Fragment and left with a new sense of duty.
Helena now hopes the Kaymakli Fragment will lead to Lilith, the Dark Mother, Adam’s first wife and ex-lover of Lucifer. Helena hopes Lilith will help her find a way to regain her soul.
Most Recently, Helena was last seen on a sail boat near the Red Sea. Upon learning that the Gangrel Warlord Karsh was appointed the Camarilla’s new Imperator, Helena, with the Kaymakli Fragment in her hands, set sail for Zanzibar to visit an “old friend.”
To be continued…
Sources: Chicago By Night, pg 102-103. Nights of Prophecy, pg 37-40. VTES Storyline Tournaments.
Things to do with the Edge
Burn the Edge to Untap:
- Emily Carson during your discard phase.
- Isouda de Blaise during your discard phase.
- Torvus Bloodbeard during any Methuselah’s minion phase.
Burning the Edge for a vote will:
- Give Melissa Barton 1 blood.
- Give Tyler McGill an additional vote.
- Give you an additional vote while playing Free States Rant.
- Give you an additional vote if you control Vincent Day.
- Give you 2 additional votes if you control a ready Nkule Galadima.
- Give you 2 additional votes while playing Echo of Harmonies.
Burning the Edge will:
- Make Keith Moody burn a blood.
- Gain you two pool if Victoria is ready during your master phase.
- Let you see another Methuselah’s hand if Alonzo Guillen is ready on your untap or discard phases.
- Give you an additional master phase action if Sarrasine is ready.
- Give a Black Hand vampire an optional maneuver if you control Soldat.
- Move Eric Kressida out of torpor during any other Methuselah’s discard phase.
- Give Angra Mainyu +1 stealth on a non-bleed action.
- Let Hrothulf rush a ready minion as a (D) action.
- Cause a weenie bleed action against you to fail if you control Victorine Lafourcade.
- Give you 1 pool during your discard phase if you control Hartmut Stover.
- Let you discard a card at random & draw its replacement from your ash heap if you control Lady Constancia.
- Give Lucinde 1 blood during your untap phase.
- Move pool counters from 419 Operation back to your pool.
- Remove all your target counters from Deploy the Hand.
- Remove the -1 hand size penalty from a Hand Intervention.
- Burn 3 of your prey’s pool when played with Enticement.
- Remove all Extortion cards on you.
- Remove the transfer penalty if you played Kings Rising on yourself.
- Give your minion +1 bleed while playing Leverage.
- Gain 4 additional transfers during your influence phase with Mapatano Utando.
- Will remove a vampire’s title & burn 2 pool from his controller when played with Patsy.
- Steal Powerbase: Zürich from another Methuselah during your master phase.
- Burn a Tragic Love Affair on your Toreador.
If the Edge is uncontrolled:
- Jazz Wentworth may take a +1 stealth action to get it.
- Gain 2 pool from playing Instability.
Gain the Edge without bleeding if:
- Sargon successfully performs any action.
- Tereza Rostas steals it from another Methuselah as a (D) action.
- You control a ready Cyseck and any Methuselah plays a Gehenna card.
- You play Esteem after performing a (D) action against the Methuselah who controls the Edge.
- Successfully pass Regaining the Upper Hand.
If a Methuselah gains/loses the Edge:
- Sennadurek will untap if it’s not during your turn.
- Move Curse of Nitocris to another Methuselah.
- Put another counter on Form of Corruption when your prey gets the Edge.
If you gain pool from the Edge:
- Give it to Heather Florent as a blood instead of putting it in your pool.
- Tap Dreams of the Sphinx to gain an additional pool.
- Tap Using the Advantage to gain an additional pool.
While You Control the Edge:
- Ondine Boudicca Sinclair gets +1 stealth when bleeding.
- Urraca gets +1 bleed.
- Amenohobis gets +1 bleed while bleeding you.
- Bulscu can (D) steal a location or equipment that costs 3 or less pool.
- Gain 1 pool when any Methuselah who plays a Gehenna card if you control Marcel de Breau.
- Gracetius may play reaction cards and attempt to block as if untapped.
If you control the Edge during your untap phase:
- Gain 1 pool.
- Give a Methuselah 1 pool to tap a minion of your choice if Intisar is ready.
- Lucina gains 1 blood.
- Look at another Methuselah’s hand and discard up to 2 Gehenna cards if you control Alicia Barrows.
- Tap Dreams of the Sphinx to gain an additional pool.
- Tap Using the Advantage to gain an additional pool.
Not controlling the Edge:
- Costs Vasily an additional blood to contest his title.
Know Your Kindred – Dr. Allan Woodstock
Name: Dr. Allan Woodstock
Clan: Gangrel
Generation: 10th
Embraced: 1916
Dr. Woodstock was a researcher at Cambridge University with a wife and young daughter. When World War I broke out he was drafted into the armed forces and rushed into a military lab, where he helped refine and develop mustard gas and other chemical weapons. His commanding officer was unsatisfied with testing the gases on animals, so he ordered Woodstock to test them on some of their own wounded men. Woodstock’s conscience would not allow him to carry out that order, so he was demoted and sent out with the infantry. At the Battle of Verdun, Sergeant Woodstock died.
A scavenging Gangrel found him on the filed. Dr. Woodstock does not remember his sire and wonders what made him stand out from the other soldiers dying on the battlefield. The Kindred blood filled Woodstock’s broken body and gave him the strength to sink deep into the ground. When he reemerged, the war was now over, and his wife had remarried, which was probably for the best.
Dr. Woodstock took refuge in his science and over the years focused on the strange magical abilities possessed by vampires. He’s tried to define Disciplines precisely, mathematically, scientifically. He has blinded young vampires and Embraced the congenitally blind to compare how they adapt to the Protean Discipline. He has Embraced and ghouled identical twins and studied their learning speed and skills. His experiments with human and Kindred subjects has been of much interest to the princes and elders. As such, Dr. Woodstock has good relations with the Camarilla and the princes.
The subject of his most recently completed experiment is a young Toreador named Anna. Dr. Woodstock watched her grow from infancy to a beautiful woman and onto a vampire. He’s spent a king’s ransom keeping her alive. Her sire wanted to invoke the right of destruction, but Woodstock can not imagine his life without her.
Dr. Woodstock’s appearance has degraded over the years. His left leg now bends backward at the knee like a hind leg of an animal. His torso is covered with a patchwork of fur.
– Source: Clanbook: Gangrel (Revised), pg 97-98
Know Your Kindred – Ankla Hotep
Name: Ankla Hotep
Clan: Ravnos
Generation: 5th
Embrace: 1727 BC
Ankla has been locked away in torpor for the past 60 or so years. Even with his amazing powers, he was not able to avoid the explosion aboard the R.M.S. Lusitania that injured his body and threw him into torpor. The Nazis managed to obtain Ankla’s body and they brought him to Berlin for use in medical experiments.
The Setite Nefertiti discovered Ankla in Berlin. Back in her mortal teenage years, Nefertiti and Ankla were lovers, until then she discovered the truth – Ankla was really a vampire and he had been using Nefertiti for her body and her wealth. Nefertiti was incredibly hurt to learn this, but by then Ankla was long gone. Even after she was taken in by Set, Nefertiti never forgot the shame Ankla brought upon her.
So while Ankla laid in torpor, Nefertiti manipulated his mind to forget who he really was and to believe he was Caine. She had a special amulet made for him that increases his powers even more. Nefertiti hopes to use the newly brainwashed Ankla as her servant and destroy both the Camarilla and Sabbat for the glory of Set.
Ankla is very powerful. And with the help of the amulet his Chimerstry powers increase to the level of an Antediluvian. While using his Chimerstry he is for all intents and purposes Caine and can alter reality around him within a five-mile radius.
Ankla is a large dark skinned man with wide shoulders who looks generally attractive, in a roguish way. He wears colorful clothes and smiles frequently. He loves to tell stories about the amazing things he has seen in his world travels.
Source: Berlin By Night, pg 118, 120-121
Know Your Kindred – Lucian, the Perfect
Name: Lucian, the Perfect
Generation: 3rd
Clan: Unknown (maybe Nosferatu or Guruhi)
Embraced: Unknown
Lucian is a very (very) ancient vampire who turned away from Caine and the other Antediluvians to seek out something grander for himself. In the final nights of Gehenna, Lucian is one of Lilith’s “Apostates” – a group of seven unknown or forgotten Antediluvians who each lived a quiet existence. They either stumbled upon or sought out Lilith and are now serving the Dark Mother in her feud against Caine.
Lucian is intelligent, confident, charismatic and preternaturally attractive. Lucian has a special ability he is unable to control, which has caused him untold difficulty over the years. His physical form is so perfect and radiant that anyone looking at him in his natural form is automatically entranced and can do nothing else but stare.
There is a connection between Lucian and the Nosferatu clan, but no one knows how the two fit exactly. There are theories that Lucian and the Nosferatu Antediluvian, Absimiliard, were broodmates or maybe brothers in life. Perhaps he is secretly the progenitor of the Nictuku or African Guruhi legacy.
It may be possible that Lucian is the Nosferatu Antediluvian himself and that his perfect appearance is an illusion. Maybe all Nosferatu descend from him, but he cursed his own bloodline with ugliness because his childer Embraced without his permission.
– Source: Time of Judgement: Gehenna, pg 98-99.
Know Your Kindred – Delilah Monroe
Name: Delilah Monroe
Clan: Daughters of Cacohony
Generation: 10th
Embraced: 1981
Delilah was a dumb valley girl singing in a band. All went well until her van broke down in San Diego and some guys took her hostage for money. Then some women stormed into the room, killed the men and made Delilah a vampire. She was a little mad they didn’t bother to ask if she wanted to be a vampire, but she’s made adjustments in her new life, like giving up her sun tan.
At first Delilah was in the Sabbat, but she found it boring and did not like all their rules. She joined the Anarchs and has made several trips to Los Angeles and Seattle, recruiting anyone interested in helping her launch a little crusade against the Sabbat in Mexico City.
Delilah is a vision of angelic beauty, until you add the spiked hair, safety pins in her cheeks, ears and eyebrows, and the exceedingly vulgar language that spews from her mouth.
Note: Delilah is a devil worshiper.
– Chaos Factor, pg 60
Know Your Kindred – Tariq, The Silent
Name: Tariq, The Silent
Clan: Assamite
Generation: 5th (now 13th)
Embraced: 1250
With the exception of Kemintiri, Tariq has been on the Red List longer than any other vampire. For the last 500 years he has been a wanted criminal and exiled from his own clan. Despite this he still serves his clan as a symbolic martyr and scapegoat.
In the 13th century, when Assamites were taking advantage of the Anarch Revolt and the Inquisition, Tariq made a name for himself as a serial diabolist. His deeds were so well known that when the newly formed Camarilla won its seven year war against the Assamites, Tariq was used as a political bargaining chip. The Assamites exiled him, he would be cast out and hunted until the end of his unlife.
Tariq was once a proud Muslim warrior who defended his homeland against the Christian forces during the Seventh Crusades. He was captured and tortured, but never let his captors get the better of him. He insulted them and called them cowards. They responded by cutting out his tongue. Waiting for death, Tariq awoke to find a man standing over him. The stranger had been watching Tariq and was very impressed with his devotion and valor. Tariq was Embraced and he fully dedicated himself to serving the Assamite clan.
The mid-13th century was a time for the Assamties. With the anarchs and elders fighting one another, the Inquisiton and the birth of the Sabbat, the Assamites were free to roam the world, diablorizing Kindred at will – and Tariq was the most notorious killer of Kindred. After the creation of the Camarilla, a Blood Hunt was called on the Assamites and a seven year war was waged. Despite heavy casualties, the Camarilla was on the verge of discovering the Assamites’ most sacred haven – the Alamut. To prevent this from happening, Assamite elders agreed to a truce and the clan was subjected to the now famous Blood Curse, making vampire blood poisonous to them.
Tariq escaped the curse, as he was out on a covert mission at the time. When he tried to return to the Alamut, he was greeted in the wilderness by some of his clan mates. They gave him the bad news and informed him that he was to be exiled. As the most notable diabolist in the clan, he was to be the scapegoat for all their crimes. He would always be on the run and would never be able to return to the Alamut. Tariq nodded and agreed this was best for the clan. Before he left, the Assamites attached a spirit guardian to Tariq – a wraith who would always alert him when danger was near.
The Assamites publicly rebuked Tariq and promised the Camarilla they would help hunt him down. But infact they have done nothing. Even in exile Tariq is a benefit to the clan, allowing them to occasionally kill off an enemy and frame Tariq for the crime.
Tariq’s spirit guardian proved to be a valuable asset. The spirit was so helpful, it was virtually impossible to ever surprise Tariq. The Tremere Antitribu began to seek out Tariq, hoping to recruit him into the Sabbat. After years of failed attempts and many slain warlocks, they discovered Tariq’s spirit guardian and were able to sever the connection. Tariq was finally captured and subjected to every torment possible. But after months of torture, Tariq refused to bend and the Tremere antitribu gave up in disgust.
Instead of killing Tariq, they performed the Ritual of Quenching the Lambent Flame, a spell that effectively reduced him to a 13th generation vampire. Now a weak neonate in a world full of enemies, Tariq was dumped into the middle of Camarilla territory. But he refused to give up. With over 500 years of experience behind him, Tariq began a series of attacks on Camarilla havens, destroying the fearful vampires who couldn’t escape in time. News of these attacks spread and many began to believe the Red Lister had gone mad.
Djuhah, the Black Hand Seraph, learned about Tariq’s plight and sensed an opportunity. He assigned a pack of Black Hand elite to recruit Tariq at all costs. The pack was to refer to Tariq as their “Dominion” (pack leader). So for now it would appear Tariq commands a permanent Black Hand column. For his part, Tariq is aware his spirit guardian has been figuratively replaced by this column of Assamite antitribu.
Tariq is a striking fellow with light eyes and jet-black skin. But since his encounter with the Tremere antitribu, his ageless face has begun to wrinkle and his hair is starting to turn gray.
– Sources: Children of the Night, pg 15-16. Kindred Most Wanted, pg 68-74.
Know Your Kindred – Ambrosio Luis Moncada
Name: Ambrosio Luis Moncada
Clan: Lasombra
Generation: 6th
Embraced: 1153
For centuries Cardinal Ambrosio Luis Moncada led the Lasombra clan. His chambers beneath Madrid were the epicenter of Lasombra culture. He commanded fear that few others in the Sabbat could match. He was very nearly beyond the reach of the regent and the Black Hand.
Not much is known about Moncada’s early life, except that he was a talented Catholic priest with big ambitions and an unshakable religious faith. However, the politics of the church kept him an outsider. But Moncada’s honesty in a time when corrupt clergy were commonplace caught the eye of a certain Lasombra.
Moncada was not changed much by the Embrace. Within weeks many vampires became regular visitors to his confessional and Moncada quickly obtained a position of supremacy among the Lasombra. But he saw this quest for power as a quest for God, not himself. And now that he was immortal he had all eternity to do the Lord’s work. Moncada’s influence rapidly grew in mortal and immortal society. The network created around him gave Moncada a power few Cainites could match.
In 1190, Moncada embraced a young noblewoman named Lucita. He was enthralled by her beauty and free will – so much so that it grew into an unholy lust for her. He embraced her and hoped to make her his forever, but her rebellious spirit spurned him and the Sabbat.
As the centuries passed, Moncada’s faith never wavered, but evolved into something dark and terrible. From Moncada’s perspective, only God can grant salvation, and since there is no salvation available to vampires, they are all damned in God’s eyes. Moncada felt it was his duty to do his best to earn that damnation, because it was God’s mission for him. Many scholars believe the Path of Night was created by Moncada’s dark faith.
As time went by, Moncada’s influence consolidated. He was still a spiritual anchor for Lasombra who remained Catholic, but his influence with younger Sabbat waned. Moncada stayed confined in his haven, protected by a maze of corridors around his inner chambers. Moncada was immensely fat, almost repulsively so. However he moved with a grace and silence remarkable for a man his size. Intruders in his maze never heard his approach.
In the end, Moncada’s haven and awesome power could not protect him. He met an agonizing Final Death from the Assamite Fatima. The female assassin was put on a contract to kill the cardinal. After the two fought in his inner chamber, Moncada lost his left arm and shoulder, but was able to summon the shadows around him, grappling Fatima in a crushing grip. But Fatima called upon the blood inside her and it welled up her throat, spewing out her mouth and into Moncada’s face. His skin peeled off, his eyes shriveled, and his whole head burned away, leaving behind a smoldering heap on the floor.
Since his death, Moncada’s haven became a pilgrimage destination for devout Lasombra (and some Cainites of other clans too), who come to see where one of the greatest Cainites once roamed and to ponder their own uncertain futures.
– Sources: Transylvania Chronicles I, pg 80. Children of the Night, pg 27-28. Clan Novel Saga: End Games Vol 4, pg.103-105. Clanbook: Lasombra (Revised), pg 96-97.