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 Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:13 pm
Clan Malkavian Though this be madness, yet there is method in't -- Shakespeare, Hamlet
Even other Damned fear the Malkavians. The cursed blood of their clan has polluted their minds, with the result that every last Malkavian across the world is incurably insane. What's worse, a Malkavian's madness can take nearly any form, from overpowering homicidal tendencies to near-catatonia. In many cases, there's no way to tell a Malkavian apart from the "sane" members of other clans. Those few whose psychoses are immediately obvious are among the most terrifying vampires to stalk the streets.
For as long as even the eldest Cainites can remember, the Malkavians have always stirred Kindred society with their passage. Although the clan has instigated no great wars nor toppled mortal governments (at least, to the best of their fellow vampire's knowledge), the very presence of a Malkavian works a subtle change on a city. Chaos nips at the Lunatic's heels, and those who associate with even the most well-meanking Malkavian often find their lives or unlives altered by the Cainite's madness.
Recently, the Malkavians executed their grandest "prank" of all. None can say whether it was worked in a great Malkavian Parliament held somewhere in an isolated European village, or on a bleak and forgotten moor somewhere far from the cities. A few stories speak of a epidemic of contagious dementia exploding among those of Malkav's blood. Whatever the cause, Malkavians across the world have begun displaying a new, dangerous edge to their madness, accompanied by bizarre events in Kindred cities around the world. A long standing Malkavian conceit holds the Jyhad to be a joke instigated by the founder of the clan; some Kindred wonder if, in fact, Malkavians have played the joke on them all along.
None can say what exactly makes the Lunatics so dangerous. Certainly their madness often frees them from fear of pain or Final Death. More than a few demonstrate how horrifying murderous urges or a complete lack of emotion, including compassion. But most convincingly, the Malkavians are free from the confines of rationality and may do whatever they like -- and this freedom is coupled with an uncanny insight, a strange wisdom that cannot be perceived by the sane. The Malkavians posses a dark intellect that is often-- and increasingly-- set to frightening purposes.
Nickname: Lunatics
Sect: The Malkavians as a clan have an... understanding... with the Camarilla. They also populate the Sabbat in lesser numbers, where they frighten even their packmates with their psychotic displays. But when it all comes down to it, their true loyalties likely transcend sects. When Gehenna arrives, nobody can say for sure where the Malkavians will stand.
Appearance: Malkavians run the gamut from terrifying psychotic to convincingly ordinary in every way-- sometimes both at once. Just like serial killers, they could be anyone-- the scruffy bum talking to himself, the pleasant but quiet neighbor, the borderline-suicidal musician. These vampires are capable of great subtlety, and rarely show anyone a face other than the one they want people to see.
Haven: The current haven for Clan Malkavian in Faetasia is an abandoned insane asylum.
Background: Malkavians take their childer from all walks of life and for all number of reasons. Anyone can be chosen to further a sire's twisted purposes, although most Lunatics prefer Embracing those already close to (or subject to) madness. Most other vampires believe that the Malkavians Embrace their childer on a whim; however, virtually all Lunatics discover themselves subtly championing some barely perceptible "purpose", the full extent of which none---not even their sies--- can completely fathom.
Weakness: Every last vampire of Malkav's blood is irredeemably insane in some form or another. Some attribute this to a curse of the blood, while other Lunatics actually call it a special blessing, a gift of insight.
Organization: The hierachy of the Malkavians, if it exists at all, defies description. Most are usually content to let one another do as they like from night to night. But now and again, in times of great need, Malkavians demonstrate an uncanny ability to act in unison, even without any apparent leadership-- and sometimes even without any apparent communication. As one, they arise from their desolate haunts, as one, they fall on the problem at hand. And when it is a problem no longer, they drift back to their usual routines. If the Malkavians indulge in any form of machinations as a clan, they are incomprehensible to outsiders, which may be a blessing.
Quote: Laugh if you like. Doesn't matter. Assume taht you're so much smarter than the poor, broken lunatic. Doesn't matter. But think about this: You're a dead thing, same as me. You died and were reborn.. as this. What makes you and me different? Simple-- I remember what I saw when I was full and truly dead. You'd be mad, too.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:16 pm
The Haven
This thread exists around the abandoned insane asylum that Clan Malkavian has made their home. The building is quite huge and each room seems as if it was designed literally by a different Malkavian. Any non-Malkavian will surely get a headache if they spend too long in this place.
Active Clan Members
Rank: Clan Member - Owner
Disciple of Caine: Malkav - Sylent Nyte
Antediluvian: ???
Methuselah: ???
Elder: Jezebeth - Debrutsid
Elder: Therese - Miliardo Kason
Ancillae: Amanda Artblood - Three Tailed Fox
Ancillae: ???
Neonate: Jeanette - Miliardo Kason
Neonate: Naya - Kinu
Neonate: Silvana - Miliardo Kason
Neonate: Nate Manic - Sylent Nyte
Neonate: Natty Madness - Sylent Nyte
Neonate: Alice - Pinka
Neonate: Sahal - Rhyleigh
Neonate: Twig - Seussi
Fledgling: Divia - Rhyleigh
Fledgling: Marquis Ambrosius - Rhyleigh
Fledgling: Gau - Andie_Chan
Fledgling: Sini - Violet Darkstarr (embrace needs to be RPed)
Fledgling: Savage - Ruriska (embrace needs to be RPed)
Inactive Clan Members
Clan Member - Owner
Celeste - `Justin
Ayia - Cherry Flavoured Zombies
Arana De Arrastre - Cherry Flavoured Zombies
Alishia - Hott_Naru
Althea - Kiki Itemri
Disturbed - Parue
Flower - YokoOnna
Lucrecia - Mintaka
Mad - Meeki
Mischievous - Meeki
Monster - Meeki (antitribu)
Jin Carver - Twitch
If you're Malkavian Vampire is on the "Inactive" clan list, it's because you're either inactive within the Faekat community, or you don't RP your vamp. The only way to get from this list and be ranked among the other Malks is by actively RPing and/or posting in the main thread.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:17 pm
Malkavian Core Beliefs
Malkavian legends diverge wildly and paint startlingly contradictory pictures of the secret purposes of the lunatic clan. The legends include tales explaining the clan's greater goal as global iconoclasm and anarchy, personal illumination, infectious insanity, the degradation of all moral authority, magical utopia, the hegemony of absolute chaos, material detachment, divine connection, artistic reflection of society's madness, rampant hedonism, creative ignorance, ascension of personal Will, pleasure through cruelty, cosmic salvation and absolute nihilism. And some legends say that the Malkavians have absolutely no higher purpose, and that all attempts to explain Malkavian motivations are clever lies concocted by madmen to obfuscate the fact that the Malkavians have absolutely no core purpose.
Each of these philosophies has a following, but the "true believers" rarely meet, and do little to espouse the philosophy. This leads some inquisitive Kindred to conclude that the whole notion of a core Malkavian belief is just another prank. And still other Malkavian scholars insist that is just what the Malkavians want everyone else to believe.
Here are the core beliefs of the Malkavians, as the respective leaders of these camps explain them. Feel free to adopt one for your Malkavian.
Global Iconoclasm
The world is full of fools who hold tawdry baubles before their faces, watch them glint and shine, and give their very lives and souls to the flashy trash. I love my country, my god, my segregated neighborhood, my success, my money, my sex, my stuff, or my alma mater and would kill anyone who shows them the slightest iota of disrespect. And, by the way, your country sucks. And so does your god, your segregated neighborhood, your success, your money, your sex, your stuff, and your alma mater. Well, I swallow your baubles whole and vomit them back up for you! Perhaps then you may see your folly!
Anarchy
END ALL CONTROL! NO ONE MAY FORCE ANOTHER! DESTROY ALL LAMER ANARCHISTS, LIKE THE BRUJAH!
Personal Illumination
The curse is a ticket to outside the world-illusion and inside your pineal gland. Ride the stillness like a twilight surfer.
Infectious Insanity
Feel how the germ turns in your stomach? I am a tiny seed of madness, and I grow in your belly, like that watermelon seed you swallowed when you were four, and your uncle Alvin told you it would grow into a huge watermelon tree in your somach and, come summer, they could pluck melons from your mouth! I infect the world with madness, and I will not stop until we are all rooting in the dirt like pigs seeking the truffles of our broken minds.
Degradation of all Moral Authority
Pious hypocrites all! They rull in the name of the Divine Lie! I reject them! I tear their heads open, and blow up their airships, and burn their sacred sites! No one gets to lord it over anyone because she is a wiser or nicer person!
Magical Utopia
When we release the surly bonds of sanity, we don the shimmering wings of madness, and fly on wings of great power! We find the world is nothing but a projection of our own cracked minds, and we can do anything in it! When I free the minds of all people, they will become all-seeing and all-knowing, just like me! We'll be in paradise! I'll do it as soon as I stop the robot-laser from mind-controlling me!
Hegemondy of Absolute Chaos
BLEA!
Material Detachment
Disconnect! Disconnect! Unplug your overloaded senses from the surging wall-socket of the world-machine! Cast down your script, and drop your robot roles! The sane are prisoners of their toys. Detach! Detach! Be free! Be free!
Divine Connection
I hear the true voice of God. Surrender and give unto me a holy offering of blood, and I shall give you God.
Artistic Reflection of Society's Madness
The insanity is not within my brain. The insanity reigns in the streets. I am the distillate of that madness, and I am wherever you turn to look. As Seneca said, the governments are reflections of the state of their people. And our governments are mad. But we turn our faces away and say that madness is not mine. Well, I too am a reflection of your society. Everything you reject, I must be. And you cannot ignore me! I tear up your streets and creep in your window at night to whisper my madness to you.
Rampant Hedonism
Crazy? Me? Crazy? Ya'll watch who ya'll call crazy, now. Watch me, see if you can follow this. I don't drive to work every day. I don't allow a tightfisted moron who's my inferior tell me what to do all day. I don't stand in lines! I don't let people laugh at me and make fun of me. I don't obey my parents. I don't get out of anyone's way! I don't worry about my got-damn cholestrol! I don't pay taxes! I ain't the one who's CRAZY! You kin come play, too. Just live fer yerself!
Creative Ignorance
Be simple Be true. Ah, but you can't. You know too much to ever be at peace, or even happy. As Nietzsche said, "Our knowledge will take its revenge on us, just as ignorance exacted its revenge during the Middle Ages." Give up all ideas. They will only bind you.
Ascension of Personal Will
We Malkavians are hardly mad. We but follow the intoxicating piping tune of the inner Will. We have tuned out the static of interfering signals, and listen to the supreme force known to sentient creatures; the individual Will. It looks mad to those who supplicate to the dictates of fickle and ungenerous gods and men, but it is greatness. We are far from cracked. We are whole.
Pleasure through Cruelty
Do my little pranks wound you? Good! I rejoice to taste your misery, delight to drink deep on your despair! A heady brew it is -- better than blood, and more nourishing. Love and respect come curdled, but pain is fresh a draught as God ever made!
Cosmic Salvation
The world is town by conflicting reality constructs propped up by fearful souls terrified at the thought of being wrong. They invest the entirety of their lives' energies in supporting a crumbling, inconsistent belief system for no other reason than it is the one into which they were born. Malkavians are free of that dance of folly. We see beyond the narrow tunnel and constricting filters to see the world As It Is. We offer this to all our progeny, all our fellow Kindred, and all of mortalkind.
Absolute Nihilism
The world is a mad design, written in the dust of the vast, hollow emptiness. It was dust, is dust, and always will be dust. Use your knowledge to annihilate the world! Accelerate the cycle. Bring on Gehenna!
No Core Beliefs
You believe we believe anything! Ha ha ha ha ha!
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:20 pm
Embracing
The Book of Nod claims that Caine forbade the Embrace of "those who are diseased, insane, or full of ill humors, or they will taint the Blood." The Malkavians, of course, ignore this tenet freely. On the other hand, they don't always flaunt it.
Basically, it doesn't matter whether or not a candidate for the Embrace is mad beforehand or not, neither from a rules standpoint nor from the clan's perspective. The Curse is the Curse, and all Malkavians wind up in the same boat. Sometimes the derangement you had in life is the one you wind up with in undeath; sometimes it's replaced by another affliction, and sometimes you retain your previous dementia and gain a completely new derangement post-Embrace.
The most obvious example is that of mental disorders that stem from chemical imbalances or other problems that just don't exist in the vampiric body. If a vampire's endocrine system doesn't work at all, it would make sense that any side effects of a damaged endocrine system wouldn't manifest in an undead form. However, sometimse such a disorder remains after the Embrace; whatever mark it's made on the person's intellect is apparently quite deep. These disorders can take a very different form in a vampire than they would in a human; for instance, a ***** in life might become a Malkavian with an almost Ventruelike compulsion to feed only from children, or a strangely passionate jealousy that drives him to assault vampires who somehow "threaten" children.
The practical upshot is that the Lunatics who were clinically insane before they became vampires tend to suffer a little more than those who were sane before the Embrace, but that's really neither here nor there, is it?
Meetings
Malkavian meetings are on "Malkavian Time." They happen when a group of Malkavians appear in the same area at the same time, with no apparent preplanning. They emanate messages to one another on the previously detailed Malkavian Madness Network, a level of consciousness unavailable to most creatures. As Malkavians become more powerful, they become better at picking up these signals.
Authority
Malkavians usually yield to the authority of their elders, like any other clan, though sometimes a neonate will say or do some bizarre act that gains the attention and respect of other kooks.
In general, Malkavians defer to one another based not on age, but on how far along the path of Malkav they are and how deeply the curse has taken root in them.
The Five Stages of Malkavian Development
Fool
This is the common designation given to those who are new to the life as a Malkavian vampire. They have only recently been given The Curse, and still suffer from the early manifestations of the madness. They are characterized by tics, neuroses and mild phobias, and their Pranks are often pallid and ineffective.
These early Malkavians are usually not much of a threat, as they are forced to expend most of their energy coping with their inner demons. They can't disguise their inner torments, and the cruel Kindred of other clans find their breakdowns highly entertaining to watch.
Maniac
As the Curse takes hold, it drives its victim to greater and greater levels of excrutiating psychic agony, plunging them deeper into psychosis. The intense inner pain drives them to outrageous acts of violent Pranking, which leave devastating results. These uncontrollable outbursts, frenzied fits of dilirium and wild seizures are legendary among the Camarilla. To the other clans, the Maniac is the most commonly known type of Malkavian, because most Malkavians are stuck in this stage and are impossible to ignore.
Madman
The first positive change that can take place in a Malkavian comes with the acceptance of the dementia and a cessation of the struggle against it. Malkavians usually reach this stage after a series of debilitating breakdowns and subsequent mental restructuring. This stage pulls Malkavians further from conventional reality and into deeper into unknown waters. By accepting the curse and going with the madness, Malkavians put themselves in the hands of far more powerful and far more dangerous forces than their own senses of self-preservation would allow. Malkavians who have surrendered to the madness ride the whirlwind and do not know where it will take them. Their pranks become far more clever and more precise, as their breakdowns lead to breakthroughs in insight. Though many Malkavians never reach this stage, a few arrive here right away.
Lunatic
In rare cases, some Malkavians have a flash of insight in which they realize their madness is just a tool to crack the shell of world-illusion. They abandon the constraints of madness and simply see through to higher realities. At this level, Malkavians wield frightening power to break all the rules of conventional reality, and their incomprehensibly ingenious Pranks have devastating, life-altering effects on their targets.
Fool
At this point, Malkavians realize that everything they know is wrong, and start over again. This stage is functionally indistinguishable from the first stage.
Most Malkavians are in the first two categories. It is rare for Malkavians to embrace madness. Because it means giving up all connections and associations to the physical world, Malkavians often counter-rebel against the rebellion of their own minds, and conflicts themselves utterly. Accepting and embracing the madness is a difficult matter which demands constant change and allows not a single moment of respite. This is a torturous existance and accounts for the high burnout rate among Malkavians.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:21 pm
The Traditions
The Malkavians have lots of traditions. Their traditions are just not very.. traditional. And their traditions are constantly shifting with the tides of their madness...
There is far more to Malkavians than meets the eye. They are masters at putting up a front of nonsensical lunacy that distorts and distracts from their larger purpose. But the purpose is really there.. in secret. Like many vampires, they hide their true nature behind layers and layers of masks. They believe they are winding their way down a path of screaming enlightenment wearing a mask of antic insanity and anarchic, meaningless tomfoolery.
There are seven (or eight) great traditions crucial to understanding the Malkavians. Each tradition builds on the last, and scholars of the other Kindred clans insist that understanding them all is crucial to defending against the dangerously unpredictable Malkavians. Elders warn that even the most powerful Kindred are vulnerable to pranks if they lack a thorough working knowledge of the seven (or eight) traditions.The Real Clan Tradition Traditions are nice, but you really don't have to have any.
One: The Tradition of Mutable Traditions
The Malkavian's central, unifying tradition, if they have one, might be that mind and reality are as supple and malleable as clay, and just as much fun to play with. As the sentient creature shapes its mind, it shapes reality. But too many people mold their minds into a cookie-cutter form that mimics what they see of reality, place that form into the kiln of absolutism, and scorch their minds into rigid, inelastic, brittle terra cotta. The petrified brain in turn affects the external world, calcifying reality into a similar form. The rigid reality in turn works on the minds of all beings born unto it, molding them into the cookie-cutter form, beginning the whole cycle anew.
Malkavians don't hate the cookie-cutter form. They just know that form to be only one of many, and they grow impatient when reality stays frozen. Though Malkavians may express this thought in a myriad of ways, most of their actions point to some variation on this underlying theme.
If they have a traditional mission, it is to infect the rest of the world with their madness. Their pranks and mischief and outrageous atrocities are geared in one direction: to radically shake up the thinking of Kindred and mortal alike. To squeeze minds back into supple clay form, or shatter them in the process. This is a very dangerous game, because it puts one's very reality in jeopardy.
Malkavian Explanation: "My mind! It's stuck in all these echelons of reality! Mired in all the innuendoes I must take into account. My autograph book won't tell me who's been signing it. It's not my fault the pages are all ripped up."
Two: The Tradition of the BrokenMirror
--Nanao Sakaki, "Break the Mirror". An old Malkavian saying urges, "If you find you are falling into madness--dive". The blood of Malkav courses throughout the Malkavian vampire and loosens the restraints placed on the mind by a lifetime of societal conditioning. This results in deep, magical insight and great, magical powers.
To accept the new way of seeing, a Malkavian must give up his old way. He must surrender his attachment to his old world-image, which many accomplish, and to his own self-image, which many cannot accomplish. For this reason, the most common symbol of the Malkavian is a broken mirror.
Those who do break the mirror of their body-image, world-image, and god-image, find a whole new world of possibilities. They take charge of their perceptions and seek new ways to shake up their remaining fixed notions. They don't have to, but it helps if they do it themselves, rather than waiting for the Curse of Malkav to routinely devastate their minds, leaving them to pick up the pieces and to try assembling coherent thoughts.
As they break down and reconnect their minds and unsolder and rewire their expectations of reality, they come to approach their minds and perceptions as tools to be tinkered with. They become responsible for their own perceptions and the reality that results from them. They have found tremendous power in this formula.
Malkavian Explanation: "Bust up your reality tunnel! Be in charge of your own mind! Reclaim your glandular system, and reclaim your pineal gland! Program your own bio-computer, and reprogram the Main Frame! Boldly go into your own enigmas! And do it quick, because the light at the other end of your reality tunnel is heading toward you at a high rate of speed!"
Three: The Tradition of Madness in the Blood
The flip side of the rapturous joy known to Malkavians who gleefully smash their old ways of looking and knowing is the dark, malevolent anguish of Malkavians who resist the process that forcibly loosens their minds from old restraints. The Liberation of Malkav becomes the Curse of Malkav, and causes endless, unendurable agony.
They droop and screech and gibber and rage withdraw and indure themselves and hurt others and go catatonic. All those actions seem insane, but understood in context, they become utterly and chillingly lucid: when unendurable inner pain rules, endurable outer pain can overthrow it. Temporarily.
When the inner pain becomes so great that the outer pain can no longer mask it, some Malkavians destroy themselves. Among immortal vampiric creatures who cling to unlife with fanatic zeal, the Malkavians are the only clan with a high suicide rate. For those poor, mad Kindred, their old way of seeing the world was more important to them then their very existance. They had enshrined the self's beliefs in a position over the self. Other Malkavians who see the self-immolations of their brothers and sisters often double their resolve to break their mirrors, regardless of ensuing pain.
Malkavian Explanation: "Who took the ribbons from my hair? Why is everything so cloudy in here? Is nobody listening? Look at what's in the shadows. The same old monkeys!"
Three: The Tradition of Universal Madness
The Malkavians do not believe that they are alone in the process of building reality. They think that the world is a madhouse, and doubly made for doubting it. Many feel that they are the only ones who can see clearly, because they are escape artists from the house of straitjacket sanity.
Malkavian Explanation: "In truth, we're all mad. How do we know we are sitting here talking reasonably? What would happen if we were really in an asylum somewhere, raving for the delight of the spectators. Well, they would interpret that frightened look you have on your face and the way you are backing away from me as some meaningful remnant of your potty-training behavior! So they would probe you with rude implements and shock you with electricity and slice of bits of your psychic selves in a effort to understand and 'cure' your madness! And what would happen then? You would suffer inexplicable problems that seem to lack a cause. how do you know they are not doing that right now?"
Four: The Tradition of Pranking
Of all the Malkavian behaviors despised by other vampire clans, the most detested is their habit of playing elaborate, dangerous pranks. These jokes have ruined potent Tremere rituals, collapsed important Ventrue business deals, ruined priceless Toreador artifacts, made the rebellious Brujah look as self-important as the elders they attack, and even embarassed the antivanity Nosferatu.
Some pranks are cruel and dangerous. Some are hysterically funny. Some seem completely pointless. Some are enjoyed by even the butt of the joke. And some are deadly. Many Kindred become enraged when they learn they were the butt of a Malkavian prank, but many are also secretly glad to come through it alive and whole.
The pranks seem pointless, and even the Malkavians say it's nothing they do on purpose-- they just can't help it. But many Kindred, even elders, secretly credit a Malkavian prank with helping them resolve a critical dilemma or break through to a new level of understanding. Very few vampires reveal this, though. Admitting you see things in a more Malkavian way is grounds fo suspicion, scorn and ostracism.
The Malkavian tradition of Pranking comes directly from their erstwile Faerie allies, who sometimes give them magical, otherworldy assistance. There is an ancient Faerie traditoin similar to Pranking that the Malkavians have picked up.
Malkavian Explanation: "Pop! Goes you weasels! I'm squashing your head! I'm squashing your head! Now sit still! This is for your own good, that I bring you a bit of the Curse of Malkav. Remember, 'Curse' is 'Cures' spelt sideways! I'm just helping you look askew at your life. Or is it askance?"
Five: The Tradition of the Malkavian-Arcadia Connection
The Malkavians are secretly being aided at the highest levels by the Faeries who stayed behind the earth's reality when most of their fellows fled. They see the Malkavians as a direct assault on the Wall of Sleep, the calcified reality structure that precipitated the loss of magic energy into Earth's dimension.
The malkavians question the authority of objective reality with a manic energy and put cracks in the Wall of Sleep every time they create a powerful prank.
The Malkavians carry out Faerie pranks on all institutions that continue to prop up the structure of the Wall, assaulting moral civilization, vampire society, scientific reasoning, recorded history, and anything else they feel binds the universe to a common reality.
Faeries have been known to funnel magic power to the Malkavians, teach them arcane Faerie lore, aid them in their times of need, and teach them greater pranks (often by playing tricks on the mad vampires).
Some Malkavians, like the mysterious Word Eater, are rumored to ahve evolved from man to vampire to otherworldly Faerie creature.
Malkavian Explanation: "It's fun to visit Faerieland. They understand me when I talk and, best of all, when I don't."
Six: Breaking the Rules
In their moments of greater lucidity, Malkavians explain that, because they see more of the universe than other creatures, they have a great difficulty explaining this concept to those who see only through clogging filters forced on them by the world-machine. They say they have trouble explaining the rest of the universe to the part of the universe that only knows part of the universe.
But, though they can't always explain the wonders they see, they can learn to exploit them. With the study and training, they can slough off restraints like matter, distance and even causality. They can go beyond mere magic into direct manipulation of the universe, the way Faeries perform their magic. In short, they can break the rules. This talent is only available to the highest levels of Malkavian madness, though some Malkavians break through to it by accident during fits of self-discovery.
The Malkavians who have amstered this ability are legends among the mad clan. They include Rasputin, the Mad Monk of Russia, the creature known only as Word-Eater; and the mysterious Sphinx, the creature who presented the riddle of god and man to Oedipus. (Part of her riddle commonly forgotten by scholars is "What is the weakest when it has the most support?").
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:22 pm
The Anatomy of Madness
The Malkavians are a very misunderstood clan, and that's partly because people tend to believe that if you've seen one Lunatic, you've seen them all. That's completely untrue, of course -- the murderous psychopath isn't representative of the obsessive scientist, and he doesn't reflect the half-dreaming artist, and she's like the fervent religious ancient only by virtue of blood.
This is what makes the Malkavians so difficult to define -- and difficult to roleplay too. It is a difficult balancing act between portraying someone who is believably, convincingly unstable and roleplaying a madness so debilitating or aggravating that people wonder why the Lunatic hasn't been done in yet. Obviously, only functional Malkavians make it past the fostering; but at the same time, they're all bent somehow.
The Real Thing
There is no single cause for mental disorder. Many disorders are bilogically based, whether it's due to biochemical imbalance, actual abnormalities of the brain, aging, injury, drug abuse or disease. Heredity can play a part in this; so can simple bad luck. Obviously, disorders of this nature are almost impossible to treat on a purely psychological level; medicines and other psychological treatments are often necessary to achieve any real progress.
On the other hand, many disorders have their root in outside influences. Some are most exclusively triggered by environmental cues -- typically traumatic influences such as abuse. In fact, scientists used to believe that almost all mental disorders came from environmental influences, and it's only recently that hereditary and organic causes became more commonly recognized.
Mental disorders technically include everything from small, relatively minor anxiety-related disorders, through more severe ailments such as autism and ADD, to wholly incapacitating disorders such as cataonia. There are frankly far too many variants to list here, but it is worthwhile to bear in mind the true scope of psychopathology.
Roleplay
First off, there are plenty of mental disorders that are just plain unplayable; delirium, dementia, cataonia and the like don't allow much room for a functional character. Psychosexual disorders can be inappropriate, both because it's all too easy for such a derangement to be too disturbing to fellow players, and because Malkavians, like most vampires, don't have much desire for sex as we know it. Finally, some disorders just aren't sufficiently gripping. A phobia of the number 13 or of trees is technically fine, but it just doesn't really go well with a horror story.
Naturally, few Malkavians think of themselves as "mad", just as a few elders of any clan--no matter how cruel-- think of themselves as "evil". Many clan members do recognize they are somehow far removed from what all of humanity, and most of Kindred society besides, considers "normal". However, they ascribe this to possessing a certain... understanding about the world and all it holds, not to a disease or infirmity. Some accept that their understanding is going to be branded as madness by outsiders, but they also tend to view themselves as the only ones thinking and seeing clearly; it's the rest of the world that's living a lie.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:23 pm
Derangements
One of the most trying parts of playing a Malkavian is selecting a proper derangement, one that's both easily enough roleplayed to be more fun than chore and realistic enough to make your own character seem genuinely mad.
Sanguinary Animism is unique to the Kindred, a response to vampires' deep-seated guilt regarding the act of feeding on the blood of mortals. Kindred with this derangement believe they do not merely consume victims' blood, but their souls as well, which are then made a part of the vampire's consciousness. In the hours after feeding, the vampire hears the voice of her victim inside her head and feels a tirade of "memories" from the victim's mind-- all created by the vampire's subconscious.
Schizophrenia does indeed imply a sort of "split" in most victim's personality, but no multiple persoalities. The most common disassociation is between feelings and ideas; in other words, a schizophrenic might talk about a tragedy in a light hearted manner, or feel uncontrollably morose when discussing a pleasant memory. Lots of people say "schizophrenia" when they mean "multiple personality disorder", but that doesn't make them right.
Multiple Personality Disorder is typically more common in females than males, and it's been theorized that many cases arise from abuse. The personalities need not have separate identities to the point of different names and genders (althought that's still a possibility); a vampire with this derangement could have three personalities that all answer to the smae name, but are remarkably different. One of the personalities might be "stronger" than the others, the one that comes to the fore in order to deal with stressful situations that the other personalities "can't handle"; such as a personality might be much more angry and resentful of its role. The shift between personalities is often abrupt, and usually triggered by a stressful situation or environmental cue.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder isn't just about compulsive behavior, althought that's part of it. The "obsessive" side comes in with patients who manifest recurrent obsessive thoughts, strong enough to interfere with their daily lives. Obsessive thoughts often relate to violence or contamination, and they tend to intrude on the victim's thought patterns; they're not a pleasant experience. Compulsions, on the other hand, are repetitive and rather more intentional. In many cases, a sufferer will indulge in a compulsion (counting, cleaning and organizing are particularly common) in response to an obsessive thought. And yes, obsessive-compulsives become very tense and agitated when prevented from indulging their manias; in humans, this can lead to depression, but in vampires, the tension leads to a state of frenzy. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is usually chronic, and it can indeed take over a person's life.
The formal term for manic-depression is Bipolar Disorder (formerly manic-depressive psychosis). A person with this disorder can be predominantly manic or generally depressive; not all sufferers receive "equal time" for their mood swings. A manic depressive's speech and movements sometimes speed up or slow down according to their current mental state; in either case, it's possible that further hallucinations can strike.
A vampire with Desensitization is a virtual emotional amputee. As a derangement, desensitization inhibits the vampire's ability to feel any sort of strong emotion whatsoever, whether joy, sadness, anger, or love. The afflicted just can't make the appropriate neural connections (well, for want of a better term). Even when blood bound, the vampire goes through the motions of love and devotion like a distracted actor, half-heartedly playing a part. She will still throw herself in front of a car to save her "loved one", but she will do so without so much as a word, a tear or a smile. When she frenzies, she does so in a chillingly silent paroxysm of violence; when struck with the Rotschreck, she scuttles away like a cockroach instinctively fleeing the light.
A vampire with Masochism closely associates pain with pleasure. In vampires, who no longer enjoy sex in it's own right, masochism tends to be linked to the pleasure received by drinking blood or receiving the Kiss. Masochism is usually linked to deep feelings of shame, and masochistic vampires have a tendency to be repulsed by the actual process of feeding from mortals. They are only fulfilled when they are suffering, presumably as some sort of penance for the pleasure they feel when feeding.
Memory Lapses isn't like amnesia in the classic sense. It's not that a portion of the vampire's memories has been permanently blocked off--it's that the vampire tends to lose random portions of her memory at inopportune times. Th memories fade in and out, and can return as quickly as within a few minutes, or they might not come back for decades. At least once per scene, the vampire suffering from memory lapses will forget something relevant for a time. This might be as simple as forgetting where she left the car keys, or as complicated as forgetting an entire ability -- and even the knowledge that she once had a skill.
The vampire afflicted with Power-Object Fixation has invested much of her self-confidence in an external object, to the point where she believes she cannot function properly without its presence. Such a derangement is often linked to some past trauma in which the object in question played a major role--although not always in the obvious way. For instance, a victim might fixate on his dead fiancee's engagement ring if holding his fiancee's hand was his only source of comfort during hard years, but another individual might focus on the belt her father beat her with as a source of strength.
When confronted with stressful situations, a character with Regression as a derangement has a tendancy to mentally revert back to a childlike state. Regressives are notable for poor sense of cause and effect, flawed interpretations of morality, and a general tendancy to avoid confrontation. They do not, however, usually believe themselves to be actual children who've lost their parents -- more typically, regressive vampires continue to think of themselves as the same people they always are. Of course, they're notable much more self-centered, fearful of the unknown, and reliant on strong "parent" figures, but this is a nusance that the vampire in question tends to miss.
[This derangement, improperly used, leads to Malkavians who are cute rather than creepy, you know the type. The ones with teddybears and bunny slippers. When properly used, a regressive SHOULD be terrifying, a supernaturally powerful creature with no real sense of right or wrong]
Self-Annihilation Impulse is more common among older vampires, although there's nothing stopping a neonate from acquiring the affliction. The afflicted vampire feels a deep sense of revulsion for his flesh, and is literally terrified of the thought of "living" forever, or of continuing to exist inside a cold, dead shell. This revulsion is entirely unconscious, however, on a conscious level, the vampire is wholly unaware of his "death wish", although he may demonstrate a morbid streak.
Synesthesia has little to do with logic and more to do with sensory interpretation. The afflicted vampire's sensory input is somewhat "scrambled"; although he's still capable of receiving sensory information, the information each sense provides is processed in terms of a different sense. In short, the synesthetic "hears" colors, "smells" textures, "tastes" sounds and the like and is hard-pressed to think of such stimuli in any other fashion. Although the synesthetic is presumably accustomed to the unusual sensory input, his real problem lies in communicating what he senses to others. A character so afflicted has difficulty expressing concepts as simple as "cut the red wire" and is more likely to say "cut the sandpapery wire" or something similar.
The victim of paranoia believes that her misery and insecurity stem from external persecution and hostility. Paranoids obsess about their persecution complexes, often creating vast and intricate conspiracy theories to explain who is tormenting them and why. Anyone or anything perceived to be "one of them" is often subjected to violence. Kindred who suffer from paranoia have difficulty with social interaction.
Individuals with megalomania are obsessed with accumulating power and wealth, salving their insecurities by becoming the most potent individuals in their environment. Such individuals are invariably arrogant and supremely sure of their abilities, convinced of their on inherent superiority. The means of achieving their status can take many forms, from devious conspiracies to outright brutality. Any individual of equal or higher status than the victim is perceived as "competition". Kindred with this derangement constantly struggle to rise to the height of power and influence, by whatever means necessary. In a megalomaniac's view there are only two classes of people: those who are weaker, and those who do not deserve the power they have and must be made weaker. This believe extends to everyone around the vampire, including members of her own coterie.
Individuals with bulimia assuage their guilt and insecurity by indulging in activities that comfort them -- in this case, consuming food. A bulimic will eat tremendous amounts of food when subjected to stress, then empty their stomach through drastic measures so she can eat still more. In the case of vampires with this derangement, the need to feed is a means of relieving the fear and anxiety endemic to the World of Darkness. A bulimic vampire may feed four or more times a night -- gorging herself, burning the blood into pointless (or not so pointless) activity, then starting the cycle again. A vampire with bulimia gets hungry much more quickly than other vampires do.
A person in the grip of hysteria is unable to control her emotions, suffering from severe mood swings and violent fits when subjected to stress or anxiety.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:24 pm
Malkavian Specialties
These are specialties that only Malkavians can have. Please do not use them for your faekat unless your faekat has been assigned the use of that specialty.
[[Dementation]]
Passion: The vampire may stir his victim's emotions, either heightening them to a fevered pitch or blunting them until the target is completely desensitized. The Cainite may not choose which emotion is affected; she may only amplify or dull emotions already present in the target. In this way, a vampire can turn mild irritation into frothing rage or dull true love into casual interest.
The Haunting: The vampire may stir the sensory centers of his victim's brain, flooding the victim's senses with visions, sounds, scents or feelings that aren't really there. The images, regardless of the sense to which they appeal, are only fleeting "glimpses," barely perceptible to the victim. The vampire using Dementation cannot control what the victim perceives, but may choose which sense is affected.
Eyes of Chaos: This peculiar power allows the vampire to take advantage of fractured wisdom hidden in insanity. She may scrutinze the "patterns" of a person's soul, the convolutions of a vampire's inner nature, or even random events in nature itself. The Kindred with this power can discern the most well-hidden psychoses, or gain insight into a person's true self. Malkavians with this power often have (or claim to have) knowledge of the moves and countermoves of the great Jhyad.
Voices of Madness: By merely addressing his victims aloud, the Malkavian can drive targets into fits of blind rage or fear, forcing them to abandon reason and higher thought. Victims are plagued by hallucinations of their subconscious demons, and try to flee or destroy their hidden shames. Tragedy almost always follows in the wake of this power's use, although offending Malkavians often claim that they were merely encouraging people to act "according to their natures." Unfortunately for the vampire concerned, he runs a real risk of falling prey to his own voice's power.
Total Insanity: The vampire pulls the madness from the deepest recesses of her target's mind, focusing it into an overwhelming wave of insanity. This power has driven countless victims, vampire and mortal alike, to unfortunate ends.
The Call: Although many clan gatherings happen spontaneously, the Call arising from a general subconscious need shared by a city's Malkavian population, it is possible to send the Call deliberately.
Babble: One of the more classic powers among elder Malkavians, this is the ability to communicate at great distances by using the power of the Network. The Malkavian with this ability can link a number of people together, allowing them all to converse at will -- however, everyone involved must carry on their conversation out loud. What's more, each person hears their fellows as if the other people were standing next to them.
Childmind: This dread ability allows the Malkavian to give another person the equivalent of a psychic labotomy. By focusing the power of Dementation, the Lunatic can strip away much of a target's power of reasoning, reducing the victim to a childlike state.
Sleep of Reason: This macabre power gained its name from a Goya print that has achieved remarkable popularity among the clan. The Malkavian with this ability can reach into his victim's mind, pull forth whatever hobgoblins he finds there, and set them buzzing to attack.
Deny: This highly disturbing power offers a very compelling arguement that the Malkavians see more reality than anyone else does. The Malkavian using Deny is able to focus away from a certain object so completely that the object ceases to exist in the Malkavian's perception. However, the power of Dementation is so strong that for all intent sand purposes, the Malkavian is right. The Malkavian may step through a locked door that he "doesn't see" as if it were an archway; a sword that he refuses to acknowledge will fail to cut him, passing right through his body. Those few elders of other clans who've seen this power in action cannot find a suitable explanation for how exactly it works. Perhaps the astral plane is somehow involved, or perhaps elder Lunatics simply function in more than three dimentions -- who can say? There's certainly no explaination forthcoming from the Malkavians...
[[Auspex]]
Sibyl's Tongue: Elder Malkavians have a well-deserved reputation as seers and prophets. The power of the Sibyl's Tongue takes this predilection one step further. The Malkavian so blessed can call on her advanced Auspex to go deliberately questing into the Legion-mind for the answer to a particular question. If some Malkavian somewhere knows the answer, then the sibyl has a chance of making the connection to that Malkavian's memories and drawing forth the information.
[[Obfuscate]]
Scrawl: The Malkavian is able to tap into the recesses of his madness and encode his irrational thoughts within a written form. His writing appears no different than any other graffiti (although it may be distinctly irration, like the scrawl on the walls of a madman's cell); however, other Malkavians are able to look at it and filter out the message hidden within. In essence, the contagious madness of Malkav's blood acts as a medium for communication. If the writer so chooses, he can leave a message that can be read by all Malkavians, or be a specific Malkavian.
Phantom Haunter: This frightening ability taps into the victim's actual self-image and grants the power found therein to the Lunatic. The Malkavian using Phantom Haunter can reach into his target's mind, draw forth the image of the person who has most shaped (or ******** up) the target's self-image, and then become that person in all respects. If the victim was most traumatized by her Embrace, the Malkavian might appear as her sire; if she was most affected by her overweening mother, then her mother suddenly confronts her; if a friendly priest managed to pull her back from the brink of self-destruction, the Lunatic might wear the priest's face. The phantom isn't necessarily accuratel as it's shaped by the victim's memories, the phantom might even be an outright caricature of the real figure from the victim's past.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:25 pm
Clan Stereotypes
Brujah
Wasted and wounded, bruised and brutal Brujah, how does your rebellion grow? Ranting and raving and chanting and changing everything but your own weary self. You would pluck out the eyes of the rest of the world before you would rinse the film of filth from your own eyes and see that the outer world you hate looks a lot like your self-polluted inner landscape. You know, the one you flee from. Remember, all revolutions go 360 degrees. That's why they call them revolutions. That's what I call a vicious cycle.
Brujah bully boys can be useful buddy boys, 'cause their eyes are sometimes still open. Prank them good and help them rebel against everything they hold dear instead of what other people hold dear. Otherwise, you'll see their revolution come full circle and bite 'em on their Brujah butt.
The few Brujah called Individualists (imagine that, a group of people called Individualists. And they call US crazy!) have already taken a good whack at the wall between Here and What Is Out There, and have put a few good cracks in it. Prank that wall from the other side, and meet 'em halfway!
Gangrel
Scruffy the cat and Dougie the doggie and all the little Rumpleteasers -- restless wanderers, country hicks, and animal pals. If I could talk to the animals, learn their languages... then I could talk to a Gangrel.
They may be lost in the forests of their minds and not know about the thorn in the paw of their soul, but they sure can sit quietly and watch the moon rise, and hey, that's half the battle.
Nosferatu
How many Nosferatu does it take to end the Inquisition?
All of them.
These ugly little vermin have got their fangs sunk into a larger chunk of the elephant than the rest of the blind bats, and know a whole lot more of the Big Picture. But the price they pay for their knowledge is this icky rejection of flesh stuff. Pee-yoo! Still, at least they know they are vampires and don't try to sanitize it for your protection like the others. Who knows, they may get to the heart of the matter before we do. Keep an eye on them. But for heaven's sake, be sure to give them a little vanishing cream to get rid of those unsightly blemishes!
Toreador
(Sung to the tune of that really pompous march from Carmen):
"Toreador, go bathroom on the floor-o! Toreador, Toreador!"
Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Poseur, Artiste, Hoser, Farteest: They're all one and the same. Oh no, now I remember. One makes the art and the other eats it. Prancing ponces and pretentious poufs all. Which makes them great company. With simply mahvelous parties, dont you know. Which means they'll put up with you reaming them and pranking them WAY longer than anyone else will, because they think it's hip and trendy to have a Malkavian cut up their parties. Besides, all their friends will snicker at them for being a poor sport if they complain. So they have to be good sports and laugh, overly made-up clown, laugh, even when their ego is breaking.
But they'll turn on you in a second and stick a stake in your back quick as they'll say, "So how do you like the Vermeer behind you? Don't you love the textural play of the light on the towel around her head?" So be sure not to turn your back to see, but instead, look 'em in the eye and say "Yeah!"
If that doesn't take them down a peg or two, nothing will. Except slashing up the Vermeer next time you sneak into their Haven. No, no, they'd just blame that on a Brujah. No, don't slash it up. Replace it with a cunning replica you painted to look just like the original except now her eyes follow you around the room except when you are looking right at it. Then give the original canvas to a chilly homeless person to keep him warm. And who says art can't be functional? By the time the Toreador realizes the switch and tracks the original down, it'll be cracked and stinky. And so will he, cuz the staring eyeballs will drive him around the bend.
And some of the ones that actually create art are pretty close to edge already. Reach out and give 'em a push.
Here's the Toreador paradox: They live for pleasure, yet they are not alive and can't experience pleasure. They have fallen into an undead memory of pleasure, and they can't get up. Free them.
Tremere
Tricky tricky tricky Tremere. Clever lads, but oh, so serious. Very serious; scholarly little wizards. Clever, but stodgy enough to be the butt of a good joke. And they throw great tantrums when we frustrate them. We used to be able to fool 'em good, but now they're onto us. Some of 'em anyway. Not all of 'em. Don't believe that rot about them all being ants in a great, airtight, hive-mind pyramid of power. That's one leaky pyramid, pal. You better start bailing out the sand it's filling up with.
But some have begun to figure us out. Some younger wizards presented a dissertation on us before a big Wiz Circle. "New Vis Sources Procurable through Mlakavian Perceptual Reality Adjustment." That's Wiz-speak for: they are cracking the code. We played a Prank that made the Elder Tremere ridicule them, but some of 'em know there is power in reality-tunnel madnipulation, and they won't quit till they get it. So let 'em follow you down the primrose path to psychopathic power. Cuz before you know it -- ZAP! You can't have that pow without the psycho. you can take the power out of the psycho, but you cant take the psycho out of the power. Or is it the other way around?
Ventrue
If there were Kindred any easier to torment than these stuffed capes, we'd have to quit 'cuz it would just be too darned easy. Their belts and ties are too tight, constricting the blood flow and making their spirites constipated. Hey, that could happen.
These spiritual B&D fans enjoy being tied up to the conventional reality tunnel of the day. They are so chained to the rock of consensual reality that they cannot see the vulture of conformity until it plucks out their liver of.. of..., well, of something damned important!
Caitiff
Poor lost lambs. Pity them not, but givem 'em as good as you give anyone else. They're close enough to the edge that you can push 'em over. But there is power in growing old and powerful with no clan to tell you what to do.
Assamite
'At's a mite stupid silly limitation. But 'at's a mite powerful solution. A very concentrated solution.
Followers of Set
Try to remember the snakes of November and follow, follow, follow...
Giovanni
High roller, holy roller, holy terror resurrectionists, the Godfathers of Soul who art into Italian suits and naughtiness with corpses, nekkid-rophillic, nekkid-romantic, nek-kid on the block of vampiric clans, but gathering power as fast as the other clans are gathering dust. They are fast, slick, and don't like jokes AT ALL. But the worst part of their power is this: they are Toys-in-the-Attic CRAZY! Why, that's not fair. Their madness gives them such an edge over all the other clans. The very idea!
The Camarilla
This has got to be the greatest idea we ever came up with! Imagine a place where all Kindred clans want to get together to discuss Matters of Grave Consequence. Imagine the stuffiest vampires, who are just CRYING OUT to be taken down a peg or two, setting themselves up to fall by ACTUALLY INVITING US IN AND ACTUALLY ASKING US FOR SUGGESTIONS!
Camarilla meetings prove to be an endless source of never-ending fun. The best part is that they suffer with us, squirem before our pranks, and fall to the Curse of Malkav, and next year THEY INVITE US BACK AGAIN! And they call us crazy.
Don't believe the rumors that we joined the Camarilla out of fear of being wiped out by the Sabbat. It's scurrilous gossip cooked up to make us look like we care. Like we care.
The Sabbat
More fun than the Camarilla because they Prank so easily; less fun because they seldom get the joke. "Ooo! Bad Malkavian make fool of Otto. Otto smash!" Yawn.
Still, many in Sabbat are just plain nuts and tempting targets for the Curse.
Anarchs
When the anarch rebels against his master, he grants himself a special chance -- one chance in hell to rebel against himself. Well, there's a whole lot of anarchs rebelling against their masters. But how many have figured it out so far and rebelled against themselves?
Lupines
Wolf boys are a fun bunch. They keep to themselves and like to kill us on sight, but other than that make wonderful company. There's also a secret alliance of Malkavians and Lupines, made up of outdoorsy Malkavians and some werewolves born under the new moon. These trickster wolves and rugged kinded call their group the Lunatic Fringe, and Prank their fellow wolves and vampires.
Here's a secret poop on the "Garou": they are chasing their own tails. Yep, that's the problem, and they don't even know it. Maybe, they'll figure it out before the end of the world. Then again, maybe not.
Faeries
Our best pals, on the nights they're speaking to us. Get to know them better.
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:26 pm
Malkavian StoriesThe Blind Bats and the Elephant (That'sACheapMetaphorForNonobjectiveReality) Once upon a time, there were seven blind bats. Or 13.. I forget. Anyway, they were a bit hungry for fresh blood, because they were Vampire Blind Bats, so they looked around for something to bite. Except they couldn't look around, as they were blind, which you should have realized already. But their unerringly keen sense of smell led them to a plump, juicy, blood-filled elephant -- which in this story stands for all reality. Got it? The Gangrel bat bumped into the tail and said, Aha! This elephant is really a twitching animal! That is what I shall become!The Brujah broke his fangs trying to bite the hoof and said, Aha! The elephant is a hard, stony, insensate pestle that crushes all beneath it with pitiless abandon! That is what I shall become!The Nosferatu flew into the elephant's butt and said Aha! The elephant is really a wrinkled, stinky, puckered, desiccated mass that lives in a dank cave! That is what I shall become!The Tremere bit the head and said, Aha! The elephant is really a puny little brain struggling to control a vast and powerful body! That is what I shall become!The Ventrue felt the legs and said, Aha! The elephant is really a powerful, upstanding pillar that can bear all the weight with strength, but with very little suppleness or resilience. That is what I shall become!The Toreador felt the trunk and mouth and said, Aha! The elephant is really a great, firm shaft or a warm moist hole! That is what I shall become!And the Malkavian bat, blinder than all the rest, swooped down and managed to miss the entire elephant. Aha! said the benighted Malkavian, as it flapped past. The others are making a huge fuss over an elephant that is really a big lot of nothing! Well, that is what I shall become! And so, I say unto you, flap on! The Fable of the Clever Grandsons One day, God was feeling a trifle prankish, so he called a little trick to mind. He created children to comprehend the universe for him. When his first children had produced children, Caine and Able, he issued them a challenge. He told the boys, "Your job is to find out what is really going on here. Go get Me a sacrifice worthy of Me." Caine prepared a sacrifice of plants, saying, "Here's the greatest sacrifice I can find: the stuff that gives me life." But Able prepared a sacrifice of blood -- animal blood -- saying, "Here's an even better sacrifice, blood!" "Clever boy, Able," God said, and He took the blood. Caine figured out the trick and whacked Able on the head. "Here's an even better sacrifice!" he said. "Able's blood!" "Clever boy, Caine," God said. "You figured that one out right away. You figured out that blood is the ticket to power, and power is the ticket to figuring out what's really going on. The power you have tapped into will be your protection on your journal." Caine understood, but knew he could no longer dwell with his parents and the people of his parents, who were now as sacrificial animals to him. So he roamed the world. One day, Caine was feeling a trifle prankish, so he called a little trick to mind. He created children to comprehend the universe for him. When his first children had produced children, he issued his "grandchildren" a challenge. "Your job is to find out what is going on here. Go get me a sacrifice worthy of me." They all sacrificed a bunch of stuff for power -- art, magic, money. One guy made an offering of freedom by sacrificing his subjection. One smart granddaughter sacrificed her beauty on an altar of mortification. And one guy who apparently didn't learn from Able, sacrificed some animals. We won't hold that against him. But little Malkav didn't have anything to sacrifice that was worthy of the man who gave him his blood. So he said, "The only thing I can sacrifice that is even close to worthy is myself." So saying, he sacrificed himself. Or he tried to, anyway, but couldn't figure out how. What he ended up sacrificing was his own sense of self. "Clever boy, Malkav," Caine said to the little fellow, who was coughing up the blood of his missing ego identification. "You have figured out that blood of the self is even more powerful than the blood of others, and is the ticket to figuring out what's really going on." Clan Heraldry Although the fact is now well-known (some may say "supressed"), the conventional symbols that represent each clan were chosen, long ago, by Malkavians. The first of these was an autistic child from Sytria, a boy named Pelinka. His sire, Daguienne, took him, before his fifteenth year, presumably from pity. Then again, it's entirely possible that she'd already known of his unusual savantism before she drained his blood and gave him Malkav's gift. He was unlettered and mute, and might have been a knight's shield twice in his life. But he could draw -- from memory, it seemed -- marvelous symbols that would have made any scribe weep with envy. His sire gave him paint and paper and ink and blood, whatever he required, and in return Pelinka drew up manuscript illuminations and coats of arms as resplendent as any king could commission. Finally, as something of a curious jest, Daguienne asked her childe to draw up her own family's coat of arms. His answer startled her. As she looked on the device in question, she saw nothing of her own personality reflected there -- instead she saw images that reflected her, her sire, and ever Malkavian she'd ever met. Somehow, Pelinka had seen her true family by watching her, and had tapped into the symbology of her shared wisdom and madness. Of course, Daguienne couldn't let an opportunity such as this pass her by. Half a mind to try a prank and half-consumed by curiosity, she gave her childe an exacting challenge -- to draw up coats of arms for each of the clans, as a series of "presents" to her elder allies. Daguienne visited him once a night for 12 nights, and each time he had a new design for her before sunup. Without ever meeting a Brujah, Pelinka produced a badge of war and broken chains. Without ever seeing even the crudest representation of Egyptian art, he drew a cartouche with unholy Set inside. Each time his sire described a clan in even the most cursory terms, he tapped some unknown font of kowledge and symbolism to produce something appropriate. When they were all completed, Daguienne took the colelction with her to a conclave of elders, and presented it as a whole to the assembly. They were largely delighted, and although representatives of all 13 clans weren't present, those that were present agreed that even the clans in absentia were well represented. The only one who took the heraldic devices personally was the Toreador, Rafael de Corazon, who didn't care much for the idea that a Malkavian had produced a work insightful enough to challenge the work of any of his own childer. But public opinion wasn't with him, and Pelinka's creations were soon popularized throughout much of the clans. Pelinka's designs finally fell out of popularity after the Convention of Thorns, for the split between "loyalist" and "antitribu" was so bitter that few vampires liked having any reminder of their clans failed unity. It wasn't until much later that at another conclave, another Malkavian decided to mark the seating arrangement with a broken mirror here, a wilted rose there, and so on. But that's another story...
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:27 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:28 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:29 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:31 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:32 pm
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