Seiraryu/TheKindred

The Kindred

The Kindred are blood addicted, sun rejecting Abyssal Half-Castes (to put a technical term on them). Vampires, one might say.

The Beginning

A long running plan idealized by a Deathlord known as the Sovereign Draped in the Shroud of Fratricide, the Kindred have quickly evolved into a phenomenon that has begun to plague certain parts of Creation. The Sovereign had always wanted to create an army of servants that could operate in Creation. Creatures that, at his command, could descend upon his enemies in the dead of night and destroy them. Beings of the night, death-ridden and bloodthirsty. Those who have crossed paths with the Kindred would be inclined to believe he got his wish, at least partially.

The Deathlord knew that, to create the creatures that he desired, he would have to find a way so that whatever he did to the victims of his experiment would continue to propagate amongst the mortals of Creation. The creatures needed to be self-sufficient, in a way; they had to be able to reproduce with a celerity previously unfathomed. So he began his research and experimentations, working for a millenia on what has become one of his greatest successes, and worst of failures.

The Sovereign's plan took the form of a Necromantic spell of the Labyrinth Circle that creates a disease which has its roots in the essence of death. The Deathlord actually completed the design of this spell soon before the great sundering of the Jade Prison, and when he acquired the five Essence shards currently in his possession, he immediately put them to use, Exalting his Abyssal servants and imposing upon them the necessary knowledge they would need to actually create that which he had designed.

The Five Scions, as he named them, became his pawns in the plan to create this plague upon Creation. Each of the Five Scions became, within a short time, Labyrinth Circle Necromancers, the first spell they learned of the Circle being The Embrace of Death in Life, the one he had designed. Immediately, they put it to use, creating the first of what would soon be called the Kindred. Each Scion created two of these vampiric beings, one male and one female, and set them loose upon Creation with the mission to create more of their kind.

And they did.

The Society

These ten vampires, for that is what the Embrace of Death in Life had created from ten ordinary mortals, spread out like a fan across Creation, travelling as far from each other as they could so as to spread their influence wide. They kept contact with their Abyssal creators and Deathlord through networks of ghostly spies, and settled each in a different spot of the Threshold. Their plan was simple: settle down, and begin subtly infecting influential people with the death-essence granted to them by their Abyssal masters. Some began with small towns, others started directly within cities, moving through the criminal underground or actual government, systematically infecting people of import.

Within a few years, there were literally hundreds of these vampires. As a whole, they became known as The Kindred, night-walking shades of mortality that drank the blood of their victims for sustenance and essence. The description was not inadequate, and so they accepted it, for that was what they were. Slowly, the original vampires came to be refered to as the "Princes" of the Kindred (regardless of gender). Each of their childer (as they called those they "sired" via the weaker Embrace that is their way of reproduction) and their childer's childer was more and more human. The further the gap between the vampire and the Abyssal that had spawned the Princes, the weaker the infectious death-essence was. After a certain point of deterioration of what makes the Kindred unique, the Essence infection becomes too weak to affect anyone.

The Kindred have a tightly knit and controlled society. They keep entire cities under their rule because they infiltrate every part of it. Most of the time, the mortal population of large cities doesn't even know that these monsters are amongst them, believing the lies told by politicians and government officials. Other cities were built on the back of towns that were already infested by the Kindred when they began, and though they know of the insidious society that controls them, it is engrained within their culture, and they protect their lords and masters with their very lives. Still others have been so controlled and influenced by the Kindred that rule them that they have become Shadowlands in and of themselves, these are the most dangerous.

Even though the Sovereign Draped in the Shroud of Fratricide keeps an eye on his creations, he very rarely does anything to directly influence, prefering to watch them slowly infiltrate the mortal world and infect it with their deathly taint. Likewise, his Abyssal servants have not influenced the Princes they spawned much, prefering only to ascribe them with certain names. Every Prince belongs to a Clan, of which there are five, one for each Abyssal overlord. Each Clan has two Princes, one male and one female. Outstandingly enough, the Princes have all managed to survive to the present day, mostly thanks to the entourage they surround themselves, and the fact that they are without a doubt master manipulators of mortals.

The Embrace

The infectious death-essence that the Embrace of Death in Life creates and infuses a person with is not perfect; with every person infected down the line, it becomes weaker, lessening the impression it makes on a being's essence. This effectively reduces the power of each progressive generation of Kindred, though the effects aren't without merits, since with the loss of power also comes a loss of the "natural" weaknesses that vampires are afflicted with due to the amount of death-taint they are infused with.

Vampires can infect others by forcing them to drink their blood. The blood of one of the Kindred is tainted by death-essence, and forcing a mortal to drink of it incites the possibility of passing the infection along, creating another vampire of lesser power. Vampires created in this manner have a predisposition to doing what their sires order them to do (all attempts at disobeying a direct order are rolled at +2 difficulty).

Embracing someone isn't something the Kindred do lightly, even though it is technically their mission in Creation. They tend to form attachments to those they want to sire, and despise creating new vampires simply on a whim. Most prefer to mentor their future childer... that, or drive them to insanity. Even if they aren't driven crazy by their prospective sires first, the Embrace tends to unravel a victim's mind at least in some small way.

The Embrace itself, or more specifically the transformation it invokes, is a painful and dark process. It takes a number of days for the person to fully change equal to their Stamina, and throughout this process they are at -3 to all dicepools due to constant pain and suffering as the infected essence tears through their very souls, destroying what they are and rebuilding it into a darker, more sinister shadow of itself.

The Clans

When the Five Scions sired the Ten Princes, each was condercorated with a name that they would spread upon their childer. The Clans are each seperate from each other, with a matriarch and a patriarch Prince. Though the Scion that sired the Clan originally has ultimate say (should he or she ever deign the vampires a visit), the Princes are the ones that make all the decisions, and the hierarchical terminology when deciding on a vampire's status is different for each Clan.

Each of the five Clans has a different combat ability that every member favors. These are abilities that personify their general disposition in a physical and violent way. More overt and violent Clans favor dirtier and more vicious forms of combat, while others who do not put too much weight on it use distanced and less blatant forms of violence. Either way, all vampires are good in combat within their own style, and the Princes are masters of their arts.

The names of these Clans were chosen and created to be mockeries of the Dragon-Blooded Dynasts'. Each Clan, for the purpose of names, acts as a Dynast House does. The Clan name is placed first, and the personal name later. Some Clans (particularly the Vermeil, though all Clans have been known to do it) enact entire baptisms in which new members relinquish their old names to adopt the new, in homage to the way their Abyssal sires once did for the Sovereign Draped in the Shroud of Fratricide and their Neverborn lord. Regardless, some clans possess bloodlines. A bloodline may only be started by a vampire of Inheritance 3 or greater, and has never been recorded as begun by one of less than Inheritance 4. Bloodlines add an additional name (of the bloodline founder's choice, though not his or her name, as with Great Houses) after the Clan name and before the vampire's actual name.

Each Clan is different, and they have different ways of referring to each other. The only constant is that every Clan's leaders and rulers are called Prince, regardless of gender, and their word cannot be disputed. When Clan interests clash (rare, as they are dispersed), such things are handled with care and diplomacy. None of the Princes are willing to raise arms and battle another Prince, as the outcome would be catastrophic to the Society itself. Nevertheless, vampires fight; vampires love; and vampires socialize...

Clan Minium

Philosophy and inner understanding have a place in every society, and the Kindred have found this place within the vampires of Clan Minium. Esoteric and ever-pondering the meaning of things, their abstract thoughts and ways can sometimes seem confusing to outsiders. Of all the vampiric Clans, they are perhaps the most mentally unstable (mad, crazy, lunatical) and yet they are also some of the most intelligent and cunning of the lot. Vampires in general fear Clan Minium not because of its martial abilities (which are considerable), but because of their terrible insight and austere way of fixing the problems that they are faced with.

Being mad is not universal for Clan Minium, and actually very few of the members are irredeemably insane. Most simply seem slightly off due to their constant inner preponderance and the awkward way with which they view Creation around them. When a Minium says something, it should be studied carefully for a deep, philosophical meaning... then again, it could simply mean exactly what is said, with no round-about way of deciphering a non-existing hidden message. Most vampires of Clan Minium were already slightly off as mortals, though that is by no means a prerequisite to be Sired by a vampire of this Clan (though many members might feel their sanity slipping if they spend too much time with their 'siblings').

Clan Ability: Due to their internalizing structure and tendency to analyze things in philosophical and often times abstract manners, the Minium Clan has taken the mantle of Martial Arts as their ability of choice for combat situations. Clean, concise, and structured, it provides a good base upon which to place their philosophical and psychological idealisms in a physical manifestation; nevermind that it acts to counterbalance the increasing mental instability of the Clan's members with physical stability in and of itself.

The Princes: Minium Ruthven, the Serene Baron. Minium Carmilla, the Enamored Lady.

The Scion: Moonshadow Caste.

Clan Nacarat

Usually preoccupied with matters of an scientific nature, the deranged minds that comprise Clan Nacarat are far more structured than most of the others Clans, at least at first glance. Chosen on average from nobility and bureaucrats, Clan Nacarat's general consensus is that, regarldess of what other people say and do, they are better. Though this may seem a hinderance, it has only helped the Clan's plans for expansion and furtherance of The Kindred in general's mission.

Though most are chosen from nobility, there are other prestigious people within Clan Nacarat: doctors, lawyers, bureaucrats, and on occasion even high ranking soldiers (which aids in gathering forces, along with a little manipulation). Clan Nacarat has been known for their experiements and deranged ideals. They also have the largest average of thaumaturges (and sorcerers, for those powerful enough), and have been knowing to use powerful magics to sway things their way.

Clan Ability: Due to their more manipulative streak and their dislike for the more direct approach to violence, Clan Nacarat specializes in the powerful battle art of Archery. They bows are horrific revelations, many times constructed of the very bones of those mortals who were victims of their experiments, and their arrows painted with the blood. Though they are one of the least overtly violent, they take great pride in their ranged combat skills.

The Princes: Nacarat Byron the Highborn Lord. Nacarat Mina, the Imperial Madame.

The Scion: Daybreak Caste.

Clan Pyrrhous

Unable to be mistaken by anything other than what they are, Clan Pyrrhous is conformed of the most ruthless and sanguinary members. It's unheard of to see a Pyrrhous without a weapon on hand and the mind to use it. The most endured of warriors, these vampires have spread like wild fire, making their clan the most beastly (and one of the most cunning) of all. Their call to battle haunts those that are fortunate enough to have survived an assault... and the ghosts of those that have not. Ever wanting conflict, Pyrrhous vampires sometimes hunt in Shadowlands or the Underworld itself, wanting to find the ghosts of those they have already slain, if only to see how much death has hardened their prey.

This is not to say that the Kindred of Clan Pyrrhous are slavering beasts with only a mind for violence! The truth is, like all Kindred, they are intelligent, cunning beings who see battle as the truest method of communication. They are not above speaking, debating, or even finding lovers with whom to spend their time, but the members of Clan Pyrrhous are chosen from the ranks of those mortals who were already bloodthirsty and military minded to begin with, and their new position in Creation only grants them further reason to be as their core nature demands.

Clan Ability: While all Kindred favor at least one combat ability, being the most ruthless and battle-oriented has made member sof Clan Pyrrhous dominant in the art. Thus, their Clan Ability is the potent and versatile art of Melee. Every member of Pyrrhous has been trained in melee combat... those that show aptitude for some other sort of battle are also taught that, but their weapons are their truest allies.

The Princes: Pyrrhous Raziel, the Wingless Duke. Pyrrhous Ducaya, the Seeping Mistress.

The Scion: Dusk Caste.

Clan Vermeil

Spiritual and venerating, the vampires of Clan Vermeil are the most religious of the lot. While Clan Minium's philosophical undertakings are very sacred, and Clan Nacarat specializes in such things as the occult arts, it is the Kindred of the Vermeil line that truly comprehend what it is to become completely devout. By no means insanely zealous, most Kindred of this clan are, however, usually quite loyal to their goals. By no means as sanguinary as Clan Pyrrhous, these vampires are however perhaps a bit more... beast-like; their tactics are crude and often ill-thought (at least those that comprehend more than one member of this clan) and they are quite the impatient lot.

These Kindred are also, oddly enough, the spiritual line of communication between the Five Scions and Kindred society. They are the ones that receive and send off messages from On High, and have been known to charge a pretty penny for any information. They are venerated as experts on ghostly matters, and most of the clan survives by sticking to Shadowlands, where they form powerful bases of operation, transcending the barrier between flesh and life, and serving as a link between the living and dead. Due to their choice of home, however, they often have trouble finding sustenance, which is why many have taken up the habit of creating human pens where they keep their... food.

Clan Ability: Being as naturalistic and beastial at the core as these beings are, their favored way of combat is with their bare, unadultered, unarmed, unadorned hands. Many of them find ways to grow vicious claws to rend flesh with, and each one of them is an excellent brawler, able to use anything at their disposal as a weapon, but prefering the pure slaughter of a freshly killed corpse they tore limb from limb with their own talons.

The Princes: Vermail Meier, the Scorched Count. Vermeil Aluca, the Enraged Princess.

The Scion: Midnight Caste.

Clan Vinous

Even less overtly violent than Clan Nacarat, the vampires of the Vinous line are socialites and shadows. These are the Kindred that hold the parties, the events, and have the largest stashes of reaped grave goods, jade, and silver... as well as the most kine to feed from comfortably. However, there's another side to the clan--a crafty side that many have learned to fear. While they are most felicitous at social events, demonstrating that they are superior to anyone else, Clan Vinous is also responsible for being some of the most dedicated assassins of the vampire race, streaking through shadows and dust for their prey.

They are also the messengers. Be it through their known routes and special transports, or through word of mouth at social events, when a message must be sent, a vampire of the Vinous line is the one most like to acquire the job of making sure it reaches its destination. While Clan Vinous is the most dedicated supporter of movements to the unification of the Clans, a Vinous never lets pass an opportunity to demonstrate why she is the most civilized and worthy of any of the Kindred present in any given situation. Pompous and egotistical, Clan Vinous has, at lest until now, held up their end of the coin by being everything they profess to be.

Clan Ability: Clan Vinous' incredible assassination skills are due in grand part to the skill that the Clan as a whole finds easiest to embrace: every vampire of Clan Vinous favors the Thrown Ability. This allows them to possess weapons that are not only traditional (and they prize tradition greatly) for their assassinations, but also small and easily concealed, which only assists in their devious and stealthy, yet violent nature.

The Princes: Vinous Dracian, the Blessed Prince. Vinous Lamica, the Defiled Bride.

The Scion: Day Caste.

Character Creation

The Kindred are all a specific type of God-Blooded (Abyssal Half-Castes to be specific), afflicted with a certain combination of Merits and Flaws, as well as a thematically centric ability to pass on their lineage via infecting another's Essence by making them drink the Kindred's blood. Otherwise, they function just like normal Abyssal Half-Castes.

They receives 6/5/3 for Attributes. They receive two Favored Abilities (one must be the Martial Ability granted by their Clan. As other God-Blooded, they receive 22 points to spend on Abilities (each Favored must always be equal or higher than any other Ability).

Kindred are usually stacked with social benefits (save for those that find their martial calling to be more important). Thus, they usually possess large amounts of social and economic Backgrounds.

Kindred begin with 5 Charms (Abyssal), which they must meet all the prerequisites of. When the Paths of Undead Discipline are finished, rules for that shall be posted.

All vampires possess supernatural merits and flaws, allowing them to access Essence Pools (Awakened Essence), etc. It's a common effect with them, and higher Inheritence vampires may also be able to attune to Soulsteel, though none can do so without the Merit. Vampires can also take the following Ghost-Blooded specific merits and flaws: Deathsight, Deathwalker, and Wandering Po.

Inheritance

Inheritance is a topic of import with these characters. The Ten Princes, those vampires created by the Abyssal servants of the Sovereign Draped in the Shroud of Fratricide, are all Inheritance 5 Abyssal Half-Castes. They may, by feeding a mortal their blood, incite the possibility of creating another vampire. If a Prince creates another of the Kindred in this manner, the resulting shadewalker will have an Inheritance of 4. If this "second generation" vampire creates another, the resulting shadewalker's Inheritance will be 3, and so on, until the resulting vampire possesses an Inheritance of 0. These Kindred cannot sire any more vampires, as the infectious death-Essence within them is too weak to be passed along.

To determine whether a mortal is turned, a roll is made. The victim's Stamina + Resistance - (the vampire's Inheritance rating), with a difficulty equal to the vampire's permanent Essence rating. If the roll is successful, the mortal resists the infection. For every additional attempt at resisting the disease, the mortal reduces the difficulty. If the difficulty would be 0, then the attempt automatically fails.

Vampiric Characteristics

The Princes are the base of the characteristics that all Kindred possess (which we will mechanically represent via existing and custom-made Merits and Flaws for the purpose of simplicity). These benefits and curses diminish with the level of Inheritance possessed by the vampire as detailed by the sidebar.

One should note that while Kindred characters cannot take these merits or flaws again (or the higher versions, for those that boast lesser versions of them due to Inheritance), these characteristics do not count to the limit of Merits and Flaws that the character may take. They are free. They do not take away from Bonus Points nor do they grant bonus points to the character. The vampire has an effective rating of 0/0 on her Merits and Flaws for the purpose of buying other ones.

These Merits and Flaws are the following:

God-Body (10 pts.): The Kindred are incredibly tough. Their bodies are closer to true half-death than many common of the death-aspected god-blooded, and this proximity to oblivion makes them more powerful than mortals. The dead, after all, don't suffer from diseases of men or take damage as easily.

Longevity (3 pts.): Their proximity to death makes vampires extremely long lived. They are already so familiar with the world of death, that they have the ability to hold it back for a relatively long period of time. They by no means live as long as the Exalted do. Unlike other God-Blooded, however, vampires do not progressively age. They stay the same, in a sort of stasis, until their time comes, at which point they turn to dust.

Special Sense (Blood) (2 pts.): All Kindred have a need to drink blood. This is enforced by a powerful ability to smell blood, the warmer the better. A vampire can catch the scent of spilt blood (or just plain blood outside of a body) within (Perception x 20) yards with a reflexive Perception + Awareness roll.

Anima Powers (Abyssal) (3 pts.): As a gift from on high (or not so high, depending on where the Underworld really is) the Kindred were blessed with their sires' natural abilities. Not only can they spend a mote to attune themselves to the emanations of the Underworld as ghost-blooded and Abyssal Exalted can, but they can also, for the cost of 3 motes, grow a set of horrifically useful fangs that stretch out their canines, which they then use for feeding in much the same way as Abyssals due (but for different reasons, usually).

These fangs posses the following stats: Exalted Combat: Spd -3, Acc +0, Dmg +0L, Def -2; Power Combat: Spd -3, Acc +3, Dmg +3L, Def -2, Rate 2. The vampire gains Essence the same way that Abyssals do through this feeding, but the need itself is to stave off their addiction's withdrawal effects. Additionally, the basic Charm type default to vampires are Abyssal Charms (though they must always meet the prerequisites, of course).

Martial Prodigies (2 pts.): Each of the Five Clans favors a martial ability. This ability is considered a Favored Ability. It is in addition to whatever the character's free Favored Ability is. Kindred are usually quite capable of battle due to this, regardless of their trade or choice. They were meant to be an army, after all.

Addiction (Blood) (5 pts.): As mentioned above, all Kindred need blood. Their addiction to the substance is not a craving, they do not need it as a cocaine addict needs cocaine (though their behaviour is even more erratic if they don't drink it regularly). For every night that a vampire doesn't drink at least one Health Level worth of blood (calculate as per Abyssal blood-drinking rules), the vampire suffers a 1 die penalty to all actions (this is a comulative penalty). Should the vampire go without blood for more days than her Stamina + Endurance, they enter a torporic sleep. They will still be alive, and will remain so... but they will be effectively comatose and defenseless until they are fed at least one Health Level worth of blood.

Undead (3 pts.): Kindred are so tied to death that they are considered, for effects that target and affect them specifically, to be considered Undead. Thus, Solar and Wood-Aspected powers (and some Sidereal ones) that do special damage to the Undead are equally effective against vampires. Additionally, damage done by weapons made of orichalcum or green jade or enhanced by Solar or Wood-Aspected Charms add +1 to the post-soak damage they inflict on Kindred (such is their connection of the death-Essence). This bonus may only be applied once, and does not stack with attacks specifically targetting undead creatures.

Sterile (1 pt.): Most Kindred are sterile. They're simply too tied to death to actually impregnate or become pregnant. There is no effective (so far discovered) way of actually circumventing this malady. Should some way be devised (something that should probably be the center of a story) then the children will be born human.

Affected by Wards (4 pts.): Kindred are too afflicted by the taint of death to resist the effects of wards specifically made to keep the dead away. This malady forces vampires to deal with those that use wards against the dead in a more subtle way, and can often be used to tell when a vampire is nearby or in a group's midsts.

Sun Seared (6 pts.): Vampires are the children of Abyssal-inflicted magic, created by a Deathlord who betrayed, at least in spirit, the Unconquered Sun. Thus, depending on the power of the infectious Essence in their bodies (i.e. their Inheritance), they suffer varying levels of this flaw.

Unusual Appearance (Pale) (1 pt.): The majority of the Kindred are extremely pale. This is not the same type of paleness that albinos are affected by--instead, vampire skin tends to be a deathly and light grey, and their eyes turn darker with the Embrace.

|||||| The Inheritance Table || || Inheritance Rating || Merits/Flaws Amount || Changes || || 5 || 20/20 |[ None || || 4 || 17/20 |[ God-Body reduced to 7 pt. version || || 3 || 17/17 |[ Sun-Seared reduced to 3 pt. version || || 2 || 15/17 |[ God-Body reduced to 5 pt. version || || 1 || 15/15 |[ Sun-Seared reduced to 2 pt. version, and Unusual Appearance is eliminated ||

Sidebar Features

Essence: Additionally, all vampires possess an Awakened Essence. This is also a free Merit, though it doesn't figure into the above calculations due to the all-encompassing nature of it. Vampires start with powers reminiscent to Charms (some even directly mimick in name and form Abyssal Charms) and thus need to be able to channel Essence.

Paths of Discipline: Above it is stated that vampires use Abyssal Charms. This is not exactly true. For the moment, it is, because their Paths of Undead Discipline haven't been finished yet. Once they are, however, new rules shall be posted.

Mutations: Kindred are, for some reason (perhaps their static death-in-flesh entombment) more resistant to Wyld Mutations. Labyrinthine Mutations affect them easier, though. Whatever the case, it's true that once a mutation affects a vampire, it is ingrained into their blood, and the possibility of it surfacing in their childer, without the childer ever really going even near the Wyld or the Labyrinth, is high. However, like the potency of their blood, this too dwindles, and the further away from the one that originally gained the mutation, the less the possibility of it surfacing on its own.

This last effect has no mechanical weight. Rather, it's simply a way for players to pick a mutation that they think their sire might have had, and to make it feasible. Legends have told of vampires with wings, or who could change into other shapes- mutations make this possible on a much more raw level than Charms. Of course, their Paths of Undead Discipline might also provide them with Charm-like assistance; but sometimes a vampire simply needs his wings, with or without Charms.

Notes

09 : 04 : 06 - I finished most of them. Now I just need to add some flavor (maybe stat out a Prince or two). But they're ready for play!

Comments

[Archiving comments at The Archive]