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 Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:33 pm
  "If it'd been me stealing the sun, I wouldn't of given it to the humans to keep them warm. I'd have drowned it in the ocean and started buying the kine's souls by selling them fire."
You have always seen us. Yes, there, on the outskirts of your city. Perhaps you have seen the archons drive us away, but in time we have always returned.
You marvel at our apperance, at the distant lands reflected in our eyes. You wonder about our mysteries, the powers you've heard we possess. Do not fool yourself. Those powers we traded long ago, for abilities far more monstrous. We are still proud, but our blood is gone, and we have known prejudice that even the Damned should never endure.
Why do you persecute me?
Why do you spit on me?
Is it because my eyes are dark, and my hair gypsy black?
- Romani folksong
I will impart to you the only truths I know, and many a lie besides. With these truths and lies come responsibilities which you now share.
---Ravnos News - Ravnos has awoken and ventured to the Temple of Clan Vampires. The Clan is reforming. Be prepared for changes.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:35 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:37 pm
Treacherous Sinners: The Ravnos If ever a clan was renowned for a wickedly black sense of humor, the Ravnos would be that clan. These Cainites are deceivers of the first order, weaving illusion and lies into elaborate schemes to part the foolish from whatever it is the Ravnos might fancy -- be it wealth, blood or even their victims' freedom. Like Mephistopheles or Old Scratch, the Ravnos ply their devil's deals with whomever they choose, be it human or Kindred, and woe to those who wind up unable to pay the hidden costs.
Although many Ravnos see themselves as great tricksters, the generally benevolent tricks of Coyote and Raven aren't so much their style. Instead, they draw on a tradition of illusion and deceit inherited from the rakshasas and ghuls of the Middle and Far East. A Ravnos is a highly dangerous being with whom to sup or bargain. And these devils have been making their wagers and bargains for a long time indeed.
The Ravnos are nomadic to the core and care little for permanent havens or positions in a city's established power structure. Even those who have chosen a given city for their home tend to establish and abandon havens as the mood strikes them, taking whatever lairs they like, doing as they please, and moving on when bored. This habit infuriates princes across the world, who resent the Ravnos' disregard for the Tradition of Hospitality. Few punish violators, though, for fear drawing the malice of the clan as a whole.
Although the clan has long-standing ties with the Gypsies, few Ravnos enjoy the hospitality of their mortal kin. Perhaps the Gypsies know these vampires' true natures too well, and are loath to offer friendship to the undying. Perhaps the Ravnos themselves alienate their mortal families through their dangerous tricks. Whatever the reason, a Ravnos typically has no allies he can rely on regularly. His charm may win him a few temporary companions, and clan loyalty may draw fellow Ravnos to his side in times of dire need, but the vampire's path ultimately lies alone.
Naturally, the princes of many cities are leery of allowing such tricksters free rein in their domains. The Ravnos' eccentric code of honor is strong, but rarely coincides with another Kindred's definition of the term. A Ravnos may break her word at will, unless she's spit in her palm and shaken n the deal. She'll defend her "good name" for all it's worth -- depending on what she considers slander. And she'll usually come to the defense of a clanmate, and vice versa; the Ravnos may take advantages of one another, but they consider it their privilege. Outsiders aren't allowed the same.
Perhaps the most worrisome thing about the Ravnos is that as a clan, they managed to survive for centuries in Asia, where most Kindred are quickly hunted down and devoured by the ruthless Cathayans. No other Cainites know exactly how they managed this -- but now a possible reason is emerging. Rumores filted back to Europe and the Americas of elder things awakening, of ancient vampires shrugging off the earth of millennia and throwing the Cainite courts into disorder. Theses elder Ravnos -- if rumor speaks correctly -- have demonstrated terrifying mystical powers, including a talent for illusions so powerful they can affef the physical world. Time can only tell what part the reemergence of these "demon "kinds" will play in the Jyhad.
Nickname: Deceivers
Clan Symbol:
Sect: The Ravnos go where they will and deal with whomever they will, and sects be damned. The elders of the clan, particularly those centered in India, scoff at the Camarilla and Sabbat as temporary social clubs at best, hollow institutions where paranoid vampires can gather in numbers and reassure themselves that they are the apex of the food chain. The younger ones simply reject the idea of giving any outsider even a fraction of authority over them. Most Ravnos look at the Sabbat's promises of freedom and the Camarilla's offer of protection as nothing more than honeyed bait for the trap, and politely (or no so politely) decline.
Appearances: Many younger Western Ravnos are of Gypsy descent, usually of dark complexion, with darker hair and eyes. Slightly rarer are those with Asian, African or Nordic features, and rarer still are those without even a trace of Gypsy blood. In fact, European Ravnos do no Embrace gorgio (non-Gypsies) at all.
The Eastern half of the clan is mostly of Indian blood, although members have Embraced promising men and women of other ethnicities. Like their Western cousins, the favor colorful and beautiful clothing, and enjoy practicing their allure on mortals.
Haven: Ravnos are nomadic by nature, even their Eastern childer fell the wanderlust upon them from time to time. Members of the clan often travel in vans or RVs, taking shelter wherever they may. Those with mortal relatives, particularly Gypsies, often stay with their families for a while. But when the local Kindred start getting uncomfortably curious, the Ravnos are on the road again.
Background: These nomadic vampires Embrace few childer, despite the swelling herds of humanity. The youngest Ravnos, however, are fairly indiscriminate in siring childer, and the latest generations have seen Ravnos from all cultures and ethnicities. Those Ravnos neonates without Indian or Gypsy blood typically demonstrated great facility for misdirection, barter and mischief in life. The Devil has a sharp eye for his own.
Character Creation: Ravnos typically have nomadic concepts, and their Demeanors can change as required by the situation. They tend toward primary Social Attributes as well as primary Talents. Many have high Resources, either in the form of ancestral treasures or as accumulated hoards of ill-gotten rare goods and objects of art.
Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Chimerstry, Fortitude
Weaknesses: The Ravnos have indulged in their particular vices so long that they have become addicted to them. Each Ravnos has a weakness for some form of trickery, deceit or mischief, whether it be gambling, lying, theft, blackmail or even cleverly framed murder.
The Ravnos clan are all criminals; each Ravnos has a specific vice ranging from plagiarism to mass murder.
Organization: Most Ravnos trust nobody, not even their own clanmates, but work together when the necessary to bilk, rob or topple an outsider enemy. They often make grandiose pledges of family loyalty to one another, although neither party expects very much to come of the vows.
The recently awakened clan elders, however, are beginning to contact Ravnos on all continents. Although the typically chaotic clan structure has yet to see any real change, it may be only a matter of time before the Ancients' will become manifest through the younger Ravnos.
Bloodlines: The Ravnos are divided among family lines, mimicking the family lineages of the Gypsy kin. Among their families are the Phuri Dae, who often focus on Auspex rather than Fortitude; the Urmen, who claim their blood is more eldritch than most and focus primarily on Chimerstry; and the Vritra and Kalderash, who are said to maintain black pacts with the deadly Cathayans.
Gaining Clan Prestige: The best way to gain the respect of other Ravnos is to pull off wonderful cons, the tales of which are then retold for years to come. Getting a prince to trade her favorite vessel for a worthless knickknack or stealing a Methuselah's coffin from his haven would earn a Ravnos a great deal of esteem within the clan. The more souvenirs a character can collect from his exploits, the better; it is considered bad taste to talk about oneself unless one has something to show (the idea is to talk about the object not oneself).
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:40 pm
Ravnos Lexicon
The Ravnos share a language with the living Rom, a language that is unknown to outsiders. This language, called Romani, has its roots in Sanskrit, but has adapted many terms and inflections from other sources. However, there are a few words which the Ravnos use exclusively, or which hold a different meaning for them.
Amria (AHM-ree-uh) -- A Gypsy curse.
Baro (BAH-roh) -- Literally, "big man." The leader of a Ravnos or Gypsy kumpania.
Draba (DRAH-bah) -- Gypsy charms and talismans.
Gajo (GAH-zhoh) -- Literally, "peasant." Any non-Gypsy, mortal or Kindred.
Gaje (GAH-zhay) -- Plural of gajo
Georgio (JOOR-jee-oh) -- A Ravnos of non-Gypsy stock; a gajo Ravnos
Juvindo (joo-VEEN-doh) -- Literally, "alive." A member of the living Rom.
Kaen (KAIN) - The Romani spelling of Caine, the first vampire
Kris (KREASE) -- A Gypsy trial.
Krisatora (KREASE-ah-tor-ah) -- Those who preside over a kris.
Kumpania (koom-pah-NEE-ah) -- A band of Gypsies or Ravnos.
Kumpaniyi (koom-pah-NEE-yee) -- Plural of kumpania.
Marhime (MAH-ree-may) -- Literally, "tainted." The condition of an object or person being somehow unclean or corrupt.
Mulo (MOO-loh) -- Literally, "dead." A contemptuous term for non-Ravnos vampires.
Patshiv (paht-SHEEV) -- A kind of Ravnos "clan meeting": A feast and celebration that occur whenever two or more kumpaniyi happen to meet while traveling.
Patshiva (paht-SHEE-vah) -- Plural or patshiv.
Phralmulo (FRAHL-moo-loh) -- A Ravnos of Gypsy heritage.
Samadji (sah-MADH-jee) -- Literally, "heriloom." A powerful piece of draba passed from sire to childe among the Ravnos.
Sarrath (sah-RATH) -- The Ravnos' name for the being who became the first Silent Strider Lupine.
Sarrath, Children of -- The tribe of Lupine known as the Silent Striders.
Shanglo (SHAN-glo) -- A policeman; the term can also mean a vampiric "law enforcement" officer: a Justicar, Seraph or sherrif of a city.
Tumnimos (tum-NEE-nos) -- The vampire Embrace.
Tzaddik (TZAH-deek) -- Synonym for baro, used among Ravnos from Africa and Asia.
Vurdon (VER-dohn) -- A Ravnos' vehicle and haven.
Vurma (VER-mah) -- Literally, "trail." The routes which kumpaniyi travel.
Wuzho (WOOZ-oh) -- Literally, "pure." The opposite of marhime. Also, a Ravnos from the Tsurara family of Gypsies, a radical sect which has dedicated itself to combating supernatural menaces.
----
Asuratizayya: "Countless demons"; what the Ravnos called the sidhi after their fall.
Brahman: One of the original Ravnos jati. The Brahman had "second sight" and could perceive the world in strange ways. Known for their gift of prophecy.
Chandalas: One of the jati, though not always Ravnos. This jati is composed of outcasts and caitiffs, and is considered impure.
Jati: A Hindu word, meaning "caste". Among the Ravnos, it denotes lineage. Among Indian Ravnos, lineage and caste are considered the same thing.
Karavalanisha Vrana: Wounds of the Night's Sword. An epic poem about the Ravnos clan's history in India. Much of it is metaphorical or allegorical and may make only sidereal reference to real events. Zapathasura is the rumored author, but it's more likely that several Ravnos contributed to the work over time.
Kshatriyas: The jati associated with warfare and leadership. They led the war against the asuratizayya for millennia.
Kumpaniya: A traveling family or company of Rroma. Sometimes described as Gypsies, these companies may harbor Kindred among their ranks.
Mayaparisatya: From maya, referring to illusion, a parisatya, referring to truth. It refers to the "paradox" in the Path of Paradox. The word also occasionally refers to the Path itself or to Chimerstry.
Phuri Dae: Brahman Ravnos who traveled west with the Rroma. The word comes from Romani and means "old woman".
Shilmulo: A Kindred; the undead.
Siddhi: Supernatural beings charged to protect humanity from demonic forces. They failed, becoming demonic themselves, and were cursed for their failure.
Sudras: The most common meaning is "Ghouls", but the title carries other formal connotations.
Svadharma: An individual's purpose; her reason for being.
Vaisyas: A Ravnos jati concerned primarily with interaction among mortals and covering up any evidence of Kindred existence.
Zapathasura: The Ravnos progenitor. More of a title than a name, this word means something like "Accursed Monster".
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:44 pm
The Persecuted We are renowned for our storytelling. It is, perhaps, the only point on which my people and the gaje agree. For the Ravnos, storytelling serves a variety or purposes. Stories have always been the greatest entertainment, something to stir the imaginations of young and old alike. Telling tales can be a last restore to score a quick buck, as few gaje won't part with their money for a good story (or even a poor one, as attested to by the dreck the gaje call "bestsellers" and "block busters"). And most importantly, storytelling serves as a secret form of communication, a way to relay important information in a fashion not easily interpreted by the prying ears or our enemies.
The stories that my people tell are epic in their scope and even more epic in their contradictions. Each family is sure to have a different view of each even; each kumpania tells the tale with a different hero. In fact, listening to the same story told by different Ravnos, it might seem as though my clan is entirely populated with liars and braggarts. It might seem that the stories we tell exist for no other reason than to satisfy our pride. Well...perhaps, but look to your own annals. O my Kindred!
It matters little. For the Ravnos, knowledge of the past does not serve the same purpose as for the gaje. The truths of an event -- its hero, its villain, its circumstances -- these are not so important as the meaning of it, the lesson to be learned and shared.
Greatest among these myths is that of our creation, the story of our founder. It is one of the first legends a young Ravnos learns. And just as the tale was told to me, I shall tell it to you.
----
Caine's Favored Son
In the ancient days, after our people were cast out of the First City, they wandered in the wastes for many years. Living off the foolish gaje and relying only on themselves, that first kumpania flourished. But as they flourished, they grew numerous, and it was not long before the baros found their feet followed different vurma. So the kumpania split apart, and the families of Rom went their separate ways. Thus were the first vestiges of the Phuri Dae, the Urmen and the Ravnos formed. Their departure was like the flowing or water away from the source, and there was no ill will, for even then they were the Rom, and such has always been our way.
Now in those times, our family was not known as Ravnos. We were called the Powara, and we lived with the sons and daughters of Sarrath in our midst. Motivated by both the natural wanderlust of the Rom and the objectives of their Lupine brethren, the Powara became a widely traveled family, even by the standards of our people.
It came in time that the baro of the Powara was a man called Tshurka. He was well loved by the kumpania, for he was an insuperable as the Rom themselves, and he spoke with certainty and wisdom. He led the Powara with fiery eyes and an arrogant smile that put fear and beilderment into the gaje, for he had learned to show them just the slightest hint of the power in his Blood.
Tshurka's brother was call Pujinka, and he was eldest among the children of Sarrath who traveled with the kumpania. For every reason that made Tshurka the baro or the Rom, Pujinka was the chieftain of the Lupines. In response to Tshurka's flashing smile, Pujinka dispalyed a fearsom scowl. Instead of Tshurka's gentle compassion, Pujinka was overfilled with the impassioned anger of his kind. He somtimes led the Lupines away from the kumpania for days, even weeks, only to return with but a handful of their number. Because of this, Tshurka favored him little, and a burning rivalry slowly smoldered between them as the kumpania roamed the land.
One night, as Tshurka and his people cooked their dinner around the fire, a stranger wandered from the darkness and stood at the edge of the camp, leaning on Tshurka's vurdon. the dogs in the camp ran towards him, barking and growling, but he calmed them with a sweep of his hand and a few gentle words; the hounds bowed their heads and crawled at his feet, their bellies dragging on the dusty earth.
The Powara stared at the stranger, for never before had they seen their dogs pacified so easily by the gaje. And a gajo he was, this stranger, for his bright eyes and pale skin were as foreign to the dark-skinned Rom, as the full moon is to the noonday sun. For a moment, the Powara were held by the same vague fear with which the gaje viewed the Rom. Pujinka, however, smelled the taint of the tumnimos upon him, and angrily lept from the fire to drive the intruder away.
No sooner had Pujinka risen to confront the stranger than a second figure appeared beside the gajo and tenderly reached up to take his cold hand. And the Powara watched in astonishment as Laetshi, Tshurka's youngest daughter, led the man into the camp and, smiling, ask him to sit with them at the fire. Snarling, Pujinka immediately confronted Tshurka, saying that he would not share his fire with the man.
Whether Tshurka was swayed by the stranger's power, or he held faith in the trust his daughter had shown, or he simply meant to anger Pujinka -- this is unknown. But with an even gaze, the baro told his brother that to turn the stranger away was not the way of the Rom. Watching Pujinka's face darken, Tshurka added, with a smirk, that perhaps he would be so kind as to sit down again, before he brought dishonor upon the soul of their father.
The gajo watched Tshurka and Pujinka with interest, but said nothing as the brothers fought. Finally, Pujinka stormed away from the fire, hurling curses at the mysterious stranger. Several of the Lupines rushed after their leader, but Laetshi asked the stranger to sit with them, and he complied, smiling strangly at the young Romani girl.
For a moment, silence reigned over the assemblage. Then Tshurka asked the gajo to speak to them of his travles.The stranger signed deeply, but nodded, and began to tell his tale.
The stranger told the Powara of the destruction of the First City, of the deceit and treachery that had laid waste to the accomplishments of the gaje. He told them of his flight from the city shortly before its destruction -- how he had been cast out by the other men, and bore his solitude like a beast of burden. He spoke of it with a distant sadness, as a condemned man recounts him crime.
The Powara asked the stranger why it burdened him so; they too had been cast out, but in their divorce from the gaje they had foound pride, not regret. The stranger could only shake his weary head, for he had experienced nothing but guilt and contrition since his earliest memories. He was a monster, he said, a murderer who was cursed never again to walk among the children of Eve.
Tshurka dismissed these abuses and invited the stranger to travel with them for as long as he liked. After all, the baro concluded, you are so like us, save that you have no kumpania. The man gawked as Tshurka, for he had never thought he would find people who could accept him in his disgrace. With a broad smile, he accepted Tshurka's offer, and the stranger was welcomed into the Powara. Among the gaje, he was called Caine, son of Adam and brother of Abel. But to the Powara, he was known as Kaen.
Of course, Pukinka was not happy with these developments. However, at the urging of Tshurka's bride, Pujinka remained with the kumpania, though he vowed never to share his vurdon or his fire with Kaen. And this vow he kept, even as the months rolled by.
As they traveled together, Tshurka came to know what Kaen truly was: a shilmulo, one of the cold dead of myth and legend. Though Tshurka did not turn Kaen away from the kumpania, the baro forbade him to take nourishment from any of the Powara. Kaen agreed, but in his heart he had already begun to betray that promise.
Kaen grew to be well liked among the Powara, though Pujinka and the other werewolves still showed him nothing but scorn and aversion. Among the Rom who most admired Kaen was Ravnos, Tshurka's eldest son. He was considered a brash youth, with too much fire in his eyes and too many dreams clouding his thoughts. In time, they said, he would be an able baro, but not until the passions of his adolescence faded into the confidence of an adult.
Ravnos spent many nights with Kaen in his father's vurdon, learning what he could about the shilmulo and their ways. Tshurka grew uneasy at the way in which his son's eyes gleamed while Kaen spoke of his endless life, but he trusted in Kaen's vow. In his naivete, Tshurka had unknowingly guaranteed the birth of our clan.
One night, as the kumpania camped outside one of the hamlets of the gaje, the Powara were startled by a distant cry for help. Knowing that Tshurka and some of the other men had not returned from the village, Ravnos led a group of Rom towards the town, fearing in his heart for the safety of his father. When they arrived in the town square, Ravnos' fears were confirmed.
The Powara, it seemed, had not been the only nocturnal visitors in the town. A group of shilmulo had also come that night to feed off the sleeping gaje. When their feast was interrupted by Tshurka and his men, the mulo fell upon them like crazed animals, so drawn were they to the power in the Romani Blood. Though they fought with all their strength, Tshurka and the other Powara soon fell to the might of their undead attackers.
As ravnos and his followers approached, the shilmulo rose from their victims and licked their bloody lips, anxious to drink more from the hearts of the Rom. One of the mulo held Tshurka's lifeless body in one hand, while the baro's dark blood still dripped from the shilmulo's teeth. The mulo laughed at the terrified Powara men, and tossed Tshurka's body at their feet. "This is the fate," the shilmulo said, "that awaits all of you wandering dogs."
Seeing his father lying still on the ground, Ravnos wept, and through his tears hurled a frightful amria upon the mulo. The mulo had never seen such a dsiplay of wrath, and they backed away, unexpectedly frightened and confused. Perhaps they sensed Kaen's mark upon the boy, or perhaps they saw the power in his Blood, but the shilmulo fled, fearing that the curse of Ravnos would blash them into the lowest hells.
Ravnos lifted the corpsed of his father from the road, and slowly walked back to the camp. He walked with a set purpose, and his steps led him to the door of Kaen's vurdon. Kaen was waiting fro him, for he had forseen what had transpired that night.
Ravnos pleaded with the shilmulo to give his father the turmnimos, but Kaen already knew that Tshurka's corpse had grown cold, and his soul was gone, beyond even the beckoning of the eternal Embrace. Ravnos seethed in his futile rage, and then turned his fiery eyes towards Kaen. No words needed to be spoken between them; Kaen simply nodded and wrapped the youth in his arms. Kaen wept blood as he heard Ravnos' heart beat mightily inside his chest, then lowered his lips to the young man's neck.
When Ravnos emerged from the vurdon, he found Pujinka waiting. He wearily greeted his uncle, and told him of Tshurka's death, and of the new life granted him by Kaen. But Pujinka had already sensed the change in his young nephew, and he could contain his fury no furthre. His body rippled with the change, and he charged forward, claws bared for the attack.
In a swift rush of motion, Kaen interposed himself between Ravnos and Pujinka. Feeling the monster's teeth and claws tear into his, Kaen lifted the man-beast as if he were a child's toy and flung him across the camp. Pujinka holwed in pain as he crashed to the ground. the other Lupines yielded to their rage and shifted into their monstrous forms. They turned their snarling faces upon Kaen, and murmured of his death as they began to apporach the vurdon. Ravnos, still weak from the tumnimos, was unable to summon the strength to act.
However, it was not Ravnos who halted the charging Lupines, nor was it the undead strength of Kaen. It was Laetshi, still just a child, who stepped between the angry werewolves and their shilmulo prey. It was Laetshi who barred the Lupines' way. And it was Laetshi who spoke then -- of her vision, of her Sight. She spoke with a wisdom and grace belying her young body, and even the Children of Sarrath could not deny they felt her power.
Laetshi told them of the dreams that had plagued her sleep; dreams of monstrous men who would destroy the Powara as they slept, drinking both their blood and their souls. She told them that she had seen Kaen in her dreams, and that she had sought him out, so that he might bring his blood to the Rom.
Ravnos had been chosen, she said, to lead a new family, to protect the Rom from all the other shilmulo. Without Ravnos, Laetshi continued, the Powara -- and indeed, all the Rom -- would come to serve the mulo as so many of the gaje did. Just as they had taken Tshurka, they would descend upon all the Rom, trying to capture the powers of the Blood. Only by accepting the blood of Kaen, she said, could Ravnos lead his new family to stop them. She begged Pujinko to put away his anger: They were all Rom, and as surely as he was her uncle, Ravnos was still her brother.
Pujinko was deeply moved by Laetshi's passion, and he backed away from the vurdon. But his anger did not abate entirely. With a cruel tongue he damned Kaen and his blood, and he gathered his people around him as he spoke. The songs and daughters of Sarrath, he said, would not travel with the shilmulo anymore. If it was destiny that Ravnos lead a new family, so be it -- but it was the ending of the Powara.
And indeed it was.
Pujinka lead the werewolves away from Kaen and his childe, away from Laetshi, away from all the other Rom who chose to remain. He called his new family the Lupinos, and to this day they will not speak of the Powara. Though they know us to be their cousins, their anger is still strong, and their fight against their enemies has never ceased.
The remaining Rom looked to Ravnos as their baro; Ravnos, in turn, looked to Kaen. But Kaen had shared in Laetshi's vision, and he knew he could no longer travel among the Rom. He taught Ravnos to use the powers to which we have grown accustomed: to commune with the wild beasts, so that our horses would not fear us; to find the stamina to endure the punishment of the shanglo with an unnatural resilience. But the greatest gift, our Chimerstry, was unknown even to Kaen, the sire of all the shilmulo. It was Laetshi who would teach this gift to Ravnos, and it remains our most closely guarded secret. After Kaen had disappeared again into the desert, the young baro and his family continued their endless wandering. But from that day onward, we called ourselves the Ravnos.
----
Ravnos and Ennoia
Legends of our founder do not end in those distant nights. Many tales are told of our founder's suffering at the hands of the gaje, of his flight from angry shilmilo and his triumphs over the other fooldhardy clans. Though these stories are plentiful, there is no proff of their validity. However, one myth stands as an accepted truth, and may explain the superficial similarities between Clans Ravnos and Gangrel.
After Kaen's departure, Ravnos led the kumpania with passion and imagination. Aided by his sister's visions, the family grew strong again, and Ravnos sired several childer from among them. However, Laetshi would not accept the tumnimos from her brother, and grew into a beautiful woman.
In times, Ravnos and his family came to stand before the gates of another great city. In beauty and majesty it rivaled Enoch, but in the streets hung the stale aura of death, and the Ravnos knew they had found the city of the mulo. Unafraid, the Ravnos set their camp outside the city, and prepared to venture into the city for food and blood hoarded inside its walls.
As they began to light their campfires, however, their attention was drawn to a young woman being cast ouf of the city by the shanglo. Young and beautiful, she looked as though she might have been a child of the Rom, with dark eyes and Raven hair. Several of the Rom approached her, with young Ravnos leading them.
They called out to her as she cursed the guards, who paid no attention to her venom. She turned to face the oncoming Rom, and suspicioulsy eyed their movements as Ravnos offered her their hospitality. At first, the young woman frowned skeptically, but upon seeing the children playing in the camp, she accepted Ravnos' invitation and joined them.
Her name, she said, was Ennoia, and she had been living in the great city for some time until one of her lovers, jealous of her infidelity, had used his influence to have her branded as a thief and banished from the city. Though Laethshi, now a full-grown woman, distrusted Ennoia's story, her brother was deeply moved by her plight, and impulsively invisted her to stay among them. Ennoia accepted, and the downfall of our founder was thus ensured.
Ennoia and Ravnos became fast friends; she had traveled extensively, as he had, and they spent long nights regaling each other with stories of their journeys. Their secret forays into the city were filled with many adventures, but those stories have long been forgotten. though the other Rom grew weary of their stay by the great city, Ravnos was reluctant to leave, caught as he was in Ennoia's spell. As time passed, the friendship between Ravnos and Ennoia gave way to deeper emotion, and they became lovers. It was not long before she too was of our blood.
As the Ravnos family dallied ever longer by the gates of the city, they attracted the attention of the city's masters, the other children of Kaen. They became infuriated by the Ravnos' deception and trickery, for it was an embarrassment to their control over the gaje. When their spies learned that the leader of these Gypsies was shilmulo, they became even more incensed, and they set about to have him killed. These attempts failed, and the mulo could only scream out their fury to the cold, uncaring stars.
Ennoia, for her part, was also growing weary of her unlife with the Ravnos. As a child of Lilith, she was not accustomed to following the orders of any man, even if he was the baro of her adopted family. The seeds of betrayal began to grow in her heart, until one night she ventured off alone into the great city, to seek out the mulo who ruled it.
She struck a terrible bargain with the ancient undead; she would deliver Ravnos to them, and with his death, she would be the new baro. They, in turn, would regain both their lost honor and control of the city's kine. She agreed to lead the troublesome Gypsies away from the city in exchange for their help, and with the deal thus resolved, she stole back to the Ravnos campe.
Ennoia went to Ravnos and told him of a great hoard of gold that the shimulo of the city kepy hidden in their treasure. It would be only fitting, she reasoned, to take the gold and hide it, then watch the foolish mulo tear down the walls of their own city to find it. Ravnos, stilld blinded by his love for Ennoia, agreed.
As they left the camp, Laetshi appeared before them. She bade her brother to stay; after all, dawn would soon be upon them. It would do him no good to find himself trapped inside the city when the sun rose. The mulo, she said, had many spies and agents loyal to them, who could easily find escapes he had made in the preceding weeks.
"Fear not," Ravnos told her. "My destiny does not end here. By sunrise the mulo will be ravaging their own city and I will be asleep back in my vuron under the eiderdowns." And with that, he left Laetshi, and brazenly ventured into the city with Ennoia.
As his sister had feared, Ravnos and Ennoia did not return by sunrise.
Worried for her brother's life, Laetshi used her powerful Sight to find him. And find him she did, his ody nailed to the roof top of the great temped, burning in the sun. As his screams echoed in her mind, Laetshi wept, for she knew she could never reach him in time to save him. She reached out to him, and comforted her brother's frightened mind as his unlife was extinguished. As the last of his blood boild, the siblings said farewell for the final time.
After he was gone, Laetshi dried her eyes and bid her visions cease -- and a single thought passed through her like an icy wind. Where was Ennoia? Her brother had suffered in solitude upon that roof-top; Ennoia was not with him. Again, she used her Sight, this time to find her brother's lover, friend and childe. Laetshi found her sleeping peacefully, wrapped in darkness deep within the lair of the mulo, dreaming of her return to the Ravnos to claim her place as baro.
Seeing this, Laetshi flew into a frenzy that would have put fear into the heart of the bravest Lupine. She destroyed the tools that provided her with the Sight; she clawed at her face with her hands until she bled. As the other juvindo watched in horror, she burned the vurdon that Ennoia shared with Ravnos, hurling curses into the flames. And when her fury finally subsided, Laetshi told the Ravnos what had occured, and instructed them to make preparations for what was to follow.
The following night, Ennoia crepy away from the havens of the mulo, rehearsing the story with which she would deceive the other Ravnos. In his recklessness, she would say, Ravnos had taken too long in the coffers of the city's Kindred, and had been captured by their minions. She had managed to escape, finding refuge in a granary nearby, where she had escaped both the ravages of the sun and the mulo's servants. The last words Ravnos had spoken were that she should carry on in his place, as baro, and lead the Ravnos far from the city.
When she reached the camp, however, she quickly found that her crime had already been discovered. She was ambushed by several of Ravnos' childer, and they dragged her before an assemblage of the Ram. Presiding over the assembly were the elders that would serve as her krisatora.
Laetshi had done well: She had used what little strength remained to her to summon the elders of the families together, so that they might pass solakh upon so great a trespass. Even Pujinka had answered her call, and he smiled at Ennoia with a ferocious anger that chilled her blood.
And thus Ennoia's kris began. It lasted well into the night; Laetshi's accusations were vicious and detailed, and Ennoia found herself unable to respond. As the krisatora began to question her, she found her deceptions suddenly transparent, her excuses weak and useless. Laetshi spoke again, reveling the visions she had received of Ennoia's betrayal of her sire. Becoming impatient for her solakh, the assembled Rom hurled curses at Ennoia, who began to grow defiant as the ceremony continued. As the night wore on, she started to curse back at the Rom, until finally the krisatora was no longer able to maintain any order.
Suddenly, the assembled Rom felt a great power swell over them, and the fell silent. Ennoia too grew quiet with unease, as she felt the presence of a greater furty than all the Rom together had shown her. And from the shadows, Kaen stepped forward into the firelight. Several of the Ravnos bowed their heads to him, but all of his inhuman rage was focused on Ennoai, who shrank away from him as he approached.
In the silence that followed, Kaen addressed the krisatora. "I mean no disrespect," he began, "by intruding on this kris. Tshurka taught me well of this tradition. I have come to pass judgement on this wretched creature who has destroyed my best-loved son."
The krisatora was throwin into confusion. Who was this gajo, they said, to pass judgement? Never before had such an event occurred. As they argued among themselves, it was Pujinka's voice that rose, clear and strong, aboe the din.
"I am Pujinka, brother of Tshurka and baro of the Lupinos," he shoulded. "I am uncle to ravnos, and I am eldest among the Powara. The muls is as much Ravnos' father as Tshurka was. His solakh will stand in place of mine, for his anger with this woman is surely as great as our own."
The krisatora fell silent, for it had been many years wince the Powara family had been spoken of in private, let along before a kris. After a moment, they relinquished the speaking of the solakh to the stranger standing before them.
Nodding at Pujinka, Kaen slowly approached Ennoia. She shied away from him, but the power in his words held her transfixed. His voice was very soft, but his eyes betrayed his savage anger. Standing over her, Kaen began Ennoia's solakh.
You are like a beast -- and so a beast you shall become. Stripped from you are the love and loyalty of family; though you many never stop your wandering, you will always travel alone. Never again will you know the joy of company. When your anger seizes you, when you give in to the temptations that made you lead my son to slaughter, then will you see more of the beast in your own face, until you will no longer be able to bear the sight of your own reflection. Gone, too, is the magic in the blood you stole from Ravnos. Instead, learn to imitate the animal you are. You will sleep beneath the soil, like the dead, for never again will you know the comfort or a vurdon. You are no longer of the Ravnos. Now go, and in going, know that you are nothing.
When Kaen had finished, the Rom remained silent, for never before had they heard such a terrible curse. Pausing only briefly to nod again at Pujinka, Kaen disappeared into the night.
Ennoia snarled speechlessly in rage and horror. Dropping to all fours like an animal, tears of blood streaming down a face already bearing resemblance to a snout, she padded away into the night. In the nights since then, Ennoia has spread her blood -- and Kaen's curse. Once of Clan Ravnos, she wanders the world to this night, the founder of the clan called Gangrel.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:48 pm
The Lost Perhaps the most difficult thing to understand about the Rom has always been their culture; for the Ravnos, this is also the case. My clan prizes its freedom and traditions above all else; in our pride, we seldom care to explain either our actions or our beliefs to the other shilmulo.
In our pride, however, we have often tried the patience of the mulo, provoking them into action against the Ravnos. Throughout history, the gaje have tried repeatedly to assimilate or destroy my clan and the Rom from which we came. Though we always escape the snares of the mulo, I would explain a bit of our culture, so that the next time you gaje grope for an empty purse or curse our names as we ride off laughing in your transportation, you have at least gaine a bit of understanding in return.
A People Divided
To being any reasonable discussion of the Ravnos, we must speak in terms of division: not simply of our separation from the world of the gaje, but the alienation of our families from each other. To outsides, it seems as though there is no unity within the Ravnos: Many mulo believe that we deceive and rob not only the gaje, but one another as well. This is simply the most visible result of the constant struggles and prejudices that plague us from within.
When a mulo speaks of the Ravnos, she is speaking only of the shilmulo, for that is all she knows. However, the Ravnos are first and foremost a family, containing both living and undead blood. And even deeper, the undead within Caln Ravnos are thrice divided, between the phralmulo, the georgio and the antitribu. All of these factions are in constant conflict, and only by understanding those conflicts can the clan itself be understood.
Ravnos and Gaje
Why would Ravnos deign to consort with gaje at all, or vice versa? Though incorporating Ravnos into mixed coteries is tricky, it is far easier then introducing, say, Assamites.
Georgio Ravnos are the easiest characters to introduce; they live the samd individualistic, picaresque unlives that many other neonate vampires do. A georgio might easily offer her special talents to a coteric in exchange for protection from her many enemies -- including archons, angry victims, and phralmulo.
Phralmulo may also be introduced into the chronicle, though this requires a more convincing explanation. Perhaps a phralmulo seeks vengeance against the same powerful georgio who screwed over the other members of the troupe, and finds himself in an alliance of convenience with other vampires. Maybe a Sabbat vampire or pack has developed a taste for Romani blood, and so a neonate phralmulo joins a "posse" of Sabbat-hunting Camrilla vampires. Since a friend among the phralmulo is a friend until Final Death, the phralmulo will thereafter participate in the deeds and misdeeds of her adopted "family" -- probably to the chagrin of more traditional Ravnos.
The Phralmulo
The term phralmulo refers to Ravnos who were once Rom themselves. Growing up in a kumpania, these Ravnos benefit from a rich tradition and caulture. From childhood, many Rom, and especially those of the Ravnos family, are aware of the existence of shilmulo. Though this is a point of honor for the Ravnos, other families are ill at ease with the presence of vampires in a kumpania.
Cheif among these families is the Tsurara, or Knife Tribe. They are one of the youngest Gypsy families, and have sworn to destroy all shilmulo, both gaje and Romani. Their elders teach their children that all shilmulo are marhime, and that Romani vampires are a disgrace to both nature and the Blood.
For the most part, however, Ravnos from all families of Rom work together to achieve their goals. Though they are not turned away from their juvindo families after the tumnimos, all Romani shilmulo are considered to be part of the Ravnos family following their death and rebirth.
Ravnos choose their progeny among the Rom for a variety of reasons. Neonates might be picked because they are strong-minded or quick-witted, or simply because their sires could not bear to watch them grow old and die. Many Ravnos are granted the tumnimos to preserve their powers in the Blood. This may seem contradictory, since the Embrace denies the Ravnos the use of Blood Affinities, but in rare cases these phralmulo are given the Romani blood they need to use the powerful talents for which they were Embraced. However, this is always done with great care, in order to prevent disaster.
Though the Ravnos (mortal and Kindred) is considered family unto itself, the family also includes "subfamilies" created through marriage or the tumnimos. Most of these subfamilies comprise fairly typical phralmulo.
Phuri Dae
Certain Ravnos Embraced from the far-seeing Phuri Dae maintain their own family ties, though their greater family is always the Ravnos. Phuri Dae Ravnos often include Auspex in their Discipline repertoire and are among the Ravnos most knowledgeable about the Jyhad (unlike many Ravnos, they understand themselves to be a part of it whether they like it or not). In recent years, certain Phuri Dae have begun speaking of Gehenna, and of a "daughter of Eve" possessing a crescent-shaped birthmark. Other Ravnos know not what to make of the Phuri Dae's visions, though the subfamily has always proved itself uncannily accurate in its prohpecies.
Urmen
Likewise, there are those among the fae-loving Urmen who cannot bear to sever their ties to the sunlit world. Urmen Ravnos typically master their Chimerstry Discipline quickly, and prefer to spend their time amid the wilderness, consorting with their faerie kin. Certain unscrupulous Urmen have a darker motive for doing this: They enjoy the intoxicating power of faerie blood, and these malicious Urmen often specialize in tracking down the elusive fae fold and murdering them for their vitae. Though this practice has understandably gained the Urmen many enemies, ingestion of fae blood often evokes all manner of bizarre powers. Ravnos "tripping" on fae blood have been known to go on insane and destructive rampages, blasting entire villages with wild magi.
Vritra
The Vritra family is not phralmulo, and does not foolow our ways -- but Vritra claim lineage from the most ancient Rom, and so we extend them honor. Their traditions are little known to use, but they seem to observe rigid rules of status, hunting and etiquette. Our eldeers whisper that the Vritra know many secrets of the Paradox way, and Vritra have occasionally emerged from the East to aid us when dire trouble threatens the Rom. They have as yet asked for no similar aid from us.
Kalderash
The family Kalderash has wandered a distant vurma indeed; its members' steps have taken them into the recesses of the uttermost East. Even more than the Vritra, the Kalderash truck with those vampires who plague many mulo's expanses. (And therein lies the folly of the mulo, who would sooner throw away their unlies than simply ask advice of the lowly Ravnos!)
The Kalderash is a wealthy clan; in its dealings (and, one suspects, less savory intercourse) with the Eastern mulo, its members have amassed riches and samadji of all sorts. But in their isolation they have become strange to us, and only rarely do they return to partake in the patshiv.
Wuzho
The phralmulo draw their numbers from every family -- even the Tsurara. Tsurara Ravnos are a truly savage breed. Calling themselves the family Wuzho, these Kindred are the self-proclaimed protectors of the Ravnos, vowing the destruction of all other shilmulo. We fear these fanatics, for they have gone to great lengths in the past to "protect" the blood of the clan, destroying dozens of Kindred in their attempt to eliminate our enemies. Most Ravnos try to stay carefully informed of where Wuzho travel, knowing that Ravnos may suffer Blood Hunts in that region for many years to come.
----
The Elders
It is often said of Ravnos that few reach their second century. Those who gain the name "elder," however, earn an honored placed in Ravnos society. They preserve clan lore and oversee the clan's destiny, acting with a wisdom and foresight garnered through centuries of experience.
Of all Ravnos, only the elders understand the clan's true purpose. Only they know that, just as the Gypsies were eternally forgiven for the sins of lying and theft by Christ, so were the Ravnos absolved of their damnation by Kaen. The Ravnos alone were Embraced to right the injustice of the mulo, and so they are to serve Kaen's will on the night of Gehenna, striving against the machinations of Kaen's wayward and ravenous childer.
Is this true, or merely a wishful fancy? Only on Gehenna, the elders whisper, will the truth be revealed.
The Duality of Lust
Cohabitation between traveling kumpaniyi of juvindo and their shilmulo relatives is always strained, due to the enormous temptations that lure the living to the undead and vice versa. In many cases, even a single vampire can spell disaster for an unprepared kumpania, unless careful steps are taken to prevent vampiric urges from becoming uncontrollable.
Shilmulo who travel with these kumpaniyi find it difficult to control the urge to feed from living Rom, and thus regain their Blood Affinities and the other powers lost in the tumnimos. Though it might seem harmless to take a little blood from the juvindo, the rush of Romani blood can become quite addictive. Entire families have been killed by a shilmulo they protected, as his bloodlust overpowered his mind and drove him into frenzy.
For the juvindo, the allure of the tumnimos itself can be difficult to resist. Confronted each night with the possibility of immortality, many young Rom find themselves allured to their Ravnos companions, and willingly become Blood Dolls for these shilmulo. Many young Rom have lost their lives, or have been given the tumnimos without their parents' consent, an act that can split an entire family apart.
The Georgio
These Ravnos share our blood without sharing our culture. Embraced from the world of the gaje, the georgio have brought shame upon Clan Ravnos and inspired nothing but contempt in the eyes of other Kindred. The georgio are not an exclusive bloodline.
As the youngest sect of the Ravnos, they have no real history to speak of. They have developed no independent culture and have no uniform set of values or beliefs; only a few georgio families have even acknowledged their clan's history and traditions. Perhaps the only trait that they have inherited is their pride. Like the phralmulo, they refused to bow to the will of the other mulo. However, even in their defiance they disgrace their blood.
When the mulo speak of the treachery, thievery and impudence of the Ravnos, they are most likely speaking of the georgio. Without the benefit of Romani culture, these shilmulo cannoy understand the urges of their blood, and resort to wanton theft and deceit.
Roving in gangs that they mistakenly call kumpaniyi, most georgio are not content until they have looted everything of value from their targets before moving on to another city, like locusts ruining the harvest.
Georgio most often choose their progeny based on their ability to trick or deceive others. They often attempt to con or swindle the prospective neonate before Embracing her, as a "test" of her ability. Hackers, conmen, professional thieves and gangbangers sully the ranks of the georgio.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:52 pm
Culture
Western Ravnos, historically connected with the oppressed Rroma, maintained a strong sense of clan solidarity for a very long time. The most common manifestation of this solidarity was through a form of retaliation called "The Treatment". The Treatment was a vengeance attack where a mistreated Ravnos would contact fellows in the clan, who would then swarm upon the city where the original Ravnos was victimized. In general, a dozen Ravnos running amok could bring even the most experienced Prince to the brink, and well-placed exaggerations about the impact of the Treatment was the main weapon the Ravnos used to squeeze out what place they did have in Western society.
Past that, Ravnos culture was dominated by its religious role; the greatest division between Indian and Western Ravnos being the differences between mayapisatya and the Path of Paradox. Ravnos Elders began to "educate" (with knives) their heretical cousins, setting the clan back on the straight and narrow.
In several ways, the Ravnos paralleled the Assamites - both clans had a caste system invisible to outsiders, and both clans were defined by a military role.
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The Blood Curse
We are thought to be a clan of thieves and liars. Most vampires believe our criminal tendencies are comented by our blood -- that our aspect of Kaen's curse provokes our flippant disregard for law and order.
Like so many opinions of the gaje, this is both scathingly accurate and remarkably shortsighted. The urges that flow in the blood of Clan Ravnos are criminal, yes, but only to the gaje. We Ravnos derive our ideas of what is right or wrong from our Gypsy heritage.
The Rom define stealing as taking out of greed. Grazing horses on someone else's land is not wrongl the grass would grow there anyway. Taking a pair of scissors is not a crime if one's hair needs cutting, and a Gypsy would not mourn the loss of such an item if its usefulness had waned. For the Rom, stealing becomes a crime only when motivated by desire; to take something simply because one wants it is wrong, and such offenses are severely punished among the Gypsies.
Like the Rom, we Ravnos place value not in possessions, or property, or status in government and business; the only thing we value is our freedomg, the right to exist as we always have, traveling and living in a world apart from the other shilmulo. However, countless generations of Ravnos have been forced to fight for their freedom -- against governments who would hinder their movements or armies that would destroy them entirely. To my clan, these actions are criminal in nature, perpetrated against them by monstrous gaje and outright monsters.
The blood of the phralmulo, however, differs greatly from the blood of the georgio. Though the phralmulo understand the purpose of our trickery, the georgio are often confused by the impulses in their Ravnos blood. Whereas it can be said that the Blood Curse of the phralmulo manifests in total and compulsive disregard for the foolish laws of the foolish gaje, the Blood Curse of the georgio truly does center on a particular breed of crime, which the georgio must constantly resist. This is the price the georgio pay for the dismissal of their heritage.
Yes, our blood compels us to lie, cheat and steal. But it should never be said that the Ravnos are an untrustworthy clan; by showing trust and faith in the Ravnos, you gaje can often alleviate the danger of having your possessions borrowed from you. Though this may be foolish when dealing with the lawless georgio, phralmulo are bound by a great sense of honor to those who honor them -- most of the time. However, it should be noted that certain clans have committed such great offenses against the Ravnos that even goodwill cannot save them from our wrath. For these unfortunate mulo, I extend my pity, but not my sympathy.
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Kris
To the gaje we seem a lawless people, constantly traveling in order to free ourselves from any burden of responsibility. In many ways, this is true; my people do not hold themselves accountable to the laws of the gaje or the Traditions of the mulo. However, every culture has its doctrines, and the Ravnos -- and the Rom from which they came -- are no exceptions.
To resolve disagreements, Ravnos present their argument before a council of their elders, in a ceremony known as the krid. It is a kind of triel, though it differs markedly from anything in which gaje would consider law or justice.
Few crimes dictate the formation of a kris, if for no other reason that it might be weeks or months before the dispute can be settled. Until several kumpaniyi meet along the road, there cannot be enough elders present to preside over the ceremony as the judges, the krisatora. These individuals are highly respected, and are never entirely composed of shilmulo. In fact, some kris are delayed even longer because tradition dictates the presence of no fewer than four krisatora, two living and two undead. (Hasty Ravnos have occasionally resorted to the tactic of nocturnally abducting and "pressing" juvindo into service, which can be quite disconcerting for those Rom who previously knew the undead only as legends.)
Accusal
When the kris finally convenes, the complains and violations of tradition are presented in no particular order. The wronged party speaks to the assembled Rom, and to the krisatora in particular, stating the nature of the crimes and any other information she feels is important. She may also petition the krisatora for a particular resolution, of a judgment that would be favorable to her.
The most common offenses brought before a kris involve stealing. You may laugh but for a Ravnos to steal from another member of the clan is a most serious crime. Other offenses range from betrayal of clan secrets, to breaking an oath (as opposed to a mere promise, which is not sealing by the sacred handshake), to imparting the tumnimos on an unwilling individual.
The accused is then given an opportunity to either defend himself or admit his guild in the matter. If the defendant admits to his crimes, the krisatora passes judgement over him. By far the most prevalent judgement is the bestowing of curses, in a ceremony called the solakh, or sentencing. However, the nature of the offense can often influence the temperament and severity of the punishment, up to and including banishment.
If the accused pleads his innocence, the floor is open for any other speakers to add whatever additional information they know. If the charge is not dismissed by new evidence (which in some cases leads to the solakh of the original accuser(, then the accused is again given the chance to respond. Should he maintain his innocence, the solakh will being.
Solakh
It is at this point during the kris that ousiders would no longer recognized its value -- for the gaje know nothing of honor, and so a curse would not seem a powerful sentence. For the Rom, and the Ravnos too, curses hold vital, dangerous power. They can lead to sickness, infirmity or even death. Among the Ravnos, there are no prisons, no hangings, no forced labor or asylums. So the solakh remains the most effective way of meting out justice.
The accused is berated with a variety of curses, or amria, each one more terrible than the one before. After each curse, the accused acknowledges by saying, "bater," which means, "may it be so." The curses grow more and more horrifying until both the krisatora and the accuser are satisfied. Though the process is unsettling to outsiders, it should be noted that all of the curses are conditional; they are structured to take effect if the accused is actually guilty. If he is indeed innocent, the solakh will never haunt him.
The solakh is a powerful thing; tales about of a shilmulo who burst into flames under the power of the amria heaped upon her. Such is the power of our Blood, and the power of the kris.
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Patshiva
Not every meeting of kumpaniyi along the road is cause for an event as grim as the kris. In face, the kris is the exception to the rule -- and the fule is the patshiv. Elaborate (and expensive) parties, patshiva strengthen the ties between the Ravnos. They provide opportunites to dance, to sing, and to share stories of our travels and exploits.
Some patshiva last for many nights, sustained by both the continued goodwill of the Ravnos and the amount of money they are able to fleece in the area. Extensive crime sprees often accompany a patshiv, and the cities that hose them are sometimes throwin into confusion as the Ravnos gather the "supplies" they need. Supermarkets, blood banks and surplus stores bear the brung of the damage, but it is not unknown for Ravnos to carry the festivities into whorehouses, art galleries and hospitals.
Patshiva are the closest thing to true clan meetings that the Ravnos enjoy. They are as unpredictable as the traveling kumpaniyi themselves, occurring whenever touting bands of Ravnos encounter one another. Through storytelling and song, valuable information is passed among my people, and for as long as the patshiv lasts, no one in a kumpania knows hunger or gloom.
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Samadji: Heirlooms of Power
Many Rom are practiced in the art of making talismans, called draba. However, this too is lost to the shilmulo of the Ravnos family. Though members of my clan are occasionally presented with draba by other Gypsies, these artifacts can lose their power over the course of a Ravnos' endless life. This is no so with the powerful draba called samadji. These items have retained their power for hundreds of years, passed from sire to childre throughout the history of the Ravnos.
Samadji, in fact, seem to draw their energy from the Ravnos who carry them. Though this process is impossible to explain, it is nonetheless true that samadji can acquire new powers through the experiences of their owners, eventually becoming powerful artifacts and closely guarded treasures among the families that hold them.
Stories abound of powerful samadji able to transport an entire kumpania out of danger, but more believable tales involve items that grant their owners miraculous luck or powers normally not associated with Ravnos disciplines. there are also myths about cursed samadji, items which cause nothing but misfortune to those families bound to carry them. These items can only be given away through the grace of others, for those who carry cursed samadji are unable to rid themselves of the draba in any other fashion.
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Amria
Among the Rom, there is great power in the curse. The gaje fear our evil eye, and even the mulo sometimes shy away from angering our clan lest we curse them. Though it is true that the Rom can bestow powerful curses with just an evil stare, this ability is rendered forfeit by the Embrace.
However, the art of amria is not lost entirely to the Ravnos. The true power of the curse is gone, but the Ravnos have developed a kind of scam in which amria is used. By elaborately cursing another, a Ravnos may attmempt to provoke an opportunity in which to flee from her attackers. If the curse is violent and vulgar enough, even the mulo are sometimes so taken aback that the Ravnos might escape their claws.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:54 pm
Dealing With the Devil: Becoming Ravnos"Call me a vagabond, and I'll smile. Call me a thief, and I'll laugh. Call me a liar, and I'll feed you your liver."
The Ravnos really don't fit one tidy definition, not because the charlatans lack common traits, but simply because humanity -- and by extension, the Kindred -- have come up with so many crimes. That's right, every Ravnos is a criminal of some sort, whether that crime is based in human or Kindred society or both. No one has a reason to sugarcoat that simple truth, no matter how uncomfortable it is. If it seems bigoted or insensitive, it is -- because all too often, the Ravnos' crimes are only against the principles of others.
Ravnos usually congregate in small broods or packs ostensibly led by one who probably Embraced the others. The Ravnos do this for safety in numbers, although many put on a show of blood loyalty. Not all Ravnos believe in this so-called obligation within the clan; many use it primarily to convince clanmates to do favors for them.
The Ravnos Embrace
The Ravnos treat the Embrace in different ways depending on which segment of the clan is involved. Indian Ravnos and Path of Paradox adherents see the Embraces as a metaphysical sacrifice to one or more gods so the childe can move on to fulfil her svadharma, as well as assist other Kindred in the fulfillment of theirs. Among many of the younger lineages, the Embrace is usually given without much ceremony -- it depends on personal taste and the individual sire's background and preferences.
Ravnos create new childer for vast number of reasons. Some Ravnos select a criminal mind as carefully as an artist seeks a protege, while others look for candidates who can assist them in their own schemes. In many cases, a Ravnos sire expects his childer to stay around for a long time -- before the Week of Nightmares, many Ravnos structured their broods as families, albeit dysfunctional ones. During the disaster, most such families were wiped out in blood-crazed frenzies. Of the few that survived, many have no been heard from since.
The Ravnos clan as a whole adheres to no single rule that all must follow -- everything is fairly informal among most of them. Only those who turn their Damnation into a religion -- the Paradox followers -- have codified who, when, how and why a childe receives the Embrace, Among the Indian Ravnos, a prospective sire petitions her sire for the right to Embrace. With the permission and blessing of both her sire and the eldest Ravnos in her city, she brings her new childe into the fold.
As with everything else in the clan, Embraces differed between Indian and Western Ravnos. Western Ravnos generally embraced only Gypsies (with the exception of the Ravnos antitribu who were noted for embracing gorgios) and generally embraced for any reason. Indian Ravnos viewed the Embrace as a means to fulfilling the fledgeling's svadharma. In India, one's jati in life also defined one's jati in undeath.
Ravnos antitribu
The Ravnos antitribu is possibly the least 'anti' as antitribu goes. They, too, reveal in trickery and deceit. They too want to wander as they please. They seem to have not joined the Sabbat but have stuck to the anarchs.
What to look for when Embracing:
- A criminal mind, no matter how petty or severe the crime is.
- Deception. The hand must always be quicker than the eye.
- Outsiders, outcasts, vagabonds, thieves, criminals, homeless, etc. Anyone that society deems 'unworthy'. But don't look past those of upper class either. They're as devious as we are sometimes. (But not by much.)
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:59 pm
Through the Veil of Deceit: Our Views of the WorldFor a clan whose blood drives its members to break laws and customs, Ravnos are often given to strong traditions within the clan.
The Sects & Society
Sects are crap -- both of them. They're a con and a lie. Go to any city and try to guess whether it's Camarilla or Sabbat by looking. The answer is, you can't. They spend so much time hating each other they've become mirror images. What can I say? Unintentional irony is the best kind. Or perhaps the worst.
The Camarilla
Sect is a matter of choice, at least if you're dealing with the Camarilla. In truth, most princes and elders don't care if you're a member of their little club as long as they don't catch you breaking their little rules. In fact, it's remarkably easy to get by in a Camarilla domain by claiming membership. Hypothetically, any Kindred can do it and few princes care one way or another unless your presence brings problems or solutions to the domain. It's best to offer solutions.
I would say that, at best, only a minority of the Camarilla's membership has ever seen a Ravnos, and fewer still have ever met one knowingly. That's a fairly low number, but consider who does appear at their Elysiums and garden parties and salons and whatever-the-hell else they call their little soirees. You're lucky to see the prince once a year, let alone continuously run afoul of her. Any primogen will show his face only if he thinks his presence will let him play a situation to his benefit. Even before they jumped chip, the Gangrel rarely showed their snouts at Kindred gatherings, and while you can expect the Nosferatu to attend, you probably won't see any. The Venture appear to see, the Torador to be seen, the Malkavians just smile and nod and the Tremere make carefully annotated reports on it all. Aside from that, they're all ancillae and their childer trying to curry favor with elders who'd rather spend their time chortling over maps of the city and congratulating themselves on their newest scheme to seize control of City Hall or some other bullshit.
The Sabbat
Back in the ancient mists of history, around the 16th or 17th century, a group of disgruntled Kindred got together and decided they were destined to rule the world. The two major contingents in this little party were the Lasombra and the Tzimisce -- go figure. We're probably lucky they both decided to team up in this little plan. Just one of them might have made actual progress by now. As it is, these two clans of manifestly destined Ventrue knockoffs are too busy interfering with each other to make a difference. They take a city, they lose a city. Check out the deal in Manhatten last year.
Don't get me wrong -- I'd love to be in a world where Kindred don't have to hide in the shadows like rats. I'm under the impression that the Sabbat's normal modus operandi is exactly the sort of things that triggered the Inquisition and the Camarilla's formation back in the 15th century. It strikes me as a little wrong-headed to try to correct the problems of the past by repeating the mistakes of the past.
Anarchs
The anarchs can be a Ravnos' most valuable acquaintances. Most of them are too young to give two flings with a dead whore about clan or history. If you've spent any time around the Camarilla, your first image upon seeing the word "anarch" is probably a pack of Hell's Angels rejects who have nothing better to do with their time than toss Molotov cocktails into the Toreador's favorite Elysiums. Thankfully, they're usually smarter than that, or at least not that interested in revolution.
A significant number of anarchs spend their time wandering the freeways, byways, highways, back roads and dirt roads, and more than a few Ravnos accompany them. It's always better to travel in a group, after all, and the anarachs are less likely to place bizarre conditions upon their favors. Anarchs can also be used as camouflage for any less "wholesome" behavior that we might find ourselves engaging in. I mean, it's easy for a prince to blame his problems on the anarchs, but it's not always so easy to attach a face. If you cause trouble likely to bring the prince's wrath down on somebody, leave town and let the anarchs soak it up. They have sufficient practice at dealing with princely outrage.
Some anarchs have political goals -- the overthrow of the elders' power, equality for neonates and other such nonsense. Don't get too involved in this crowd; it can only lead to bloody tears. I see no point to joining a fight you don't believe in, let alone suffering destruction for someone else's beliefs. If you're caught in the midst of a pack of rhetoric-spouting Caitiff anarchs who want to ban the ******** bomb, smile and nod often. When they're not paying attention to you, slip away quietly. You do not want to get into the kind of trouble they stir up. Oh, and never throw in with the "Unbound," or you'll wake one night with the sheriff's fangs at your throat.
The Ravnos Themselves
Ravnos are driven by a clan wide compulsion for larceny and deception, as well as a powerful wanderlust. These masters of illusion, primarily of Indian and Gypsy stock, owe allegiance to themselves first, their clan second, and to no one else at all. Certainly the most loosely organized of the unaligned clans, the nomadic Ravnos are scattered across the world. They travel freely between Camarilla and Sabbat territory, for most princes have learned that it is more trouble to attempt to keep a Ravnos from one's city than to wait for the wastrel vampire to become bored and move on.
The Ravnos are flatly indifferent to sect politics, and most vampires have dismissed them as incapable of playing any great role in the Jyhad. They seem too chaotic and undisciplined to be of any use even to Methuselahs -- and the Ravnos enjoy that reputation. The clan has happily lasted the past millennium or so without responsibility or duty, and sees no reason to change. However, the near future may see the Ravnos working towards a common purpose after all...
The Other Clans
You didn't think I was going to let you off the hook without saying my piece about our fellow Kindred, did you?
Assamites
Half of the Assassins are dangerous psychopaths who would just as soon devour your soul as look at you. The other half smile while doing it. I admit, that's a harsh judgment, but these guys got hit with a nasty curse five centuries ago because they couldn't behave in civilized company. Now they act all polite and cultured, but turn your back on them and they'll have a stake in you faster than you can say "Allahu Akbar!"
All right, so some have overtly rejected their bloodthirstier cousins' nastier habits. But be careful around this pack. For all we know, they could be the front line for another wave of diablerists. If any Assamite is interested in you, be polite and give him every reason to find someone else to bother should he decide to obey his thirst.
Brujah
I think the Brujah largely support the Camarilla because it gives them something to b***h about. At length. They're as much a part of the establishment as the Ventrue they're always calling out, unending streams of vitriolic rhetoric aside. Some Brujah go on about the fabled glories of their pet cause and the absolute necessity to strike down the Ventrue with all the fury they can muster. This is why they're one of the six pillars of the Camarilla, right?
Followers of Set
This clan must have stepped out of a bad fantasy pulp. "Okay, we're all dead and we worship an evil snake god! 'Cause he has snakes!" Then they run around promoting pedestrian acts of infamy that are supposed to prove their commitment to their naughty lord. The best thing about Setites is this: The first time is always free. No, I'm not kidding. They figure if they hook you, they can keep you forever. The trick is to hook them. If one of the serpents is dumb enough to give me stuff to do evil things, then I'll take it. Of course, when the s**t hits the fan and everything falls apart, he's the one who should take all the credit, right?
Gangrel
Ever since my sire and my sire's sire and my sire's sire's sire can remember, the Gangrel have been at odds with our clan. I don't know what their malfunction is, but I've heard quite a few theories. One says the Gangrel were created to fight an enemy alongside the Ravnos, but that the Gangrel turned tail and ran rather than assume their rightful place. Personally, I think it's more likely we ran into trouble over kine herds. For several centures, Ravnos were coming into Europe with Gypsy families. Gangrel poached the herds and Ravnos responded appropriately. Eventually, it got so you couldn't introduce yourself before the Gangrel had his claws in the Ravnos' gut and the Ravnos had imaginary priests shoving illusory torches into the Gangrel's face. In the modern nights, half the fights you see start because one side knows the other side is an enemy, but neither party quite knows why.
I hesitate to say that we can't get along with Gangrel. Among the anarchs, it wasn't unusual to see Ravnos and Gangrel side-by-side without either deciding the other one just had to go. I'm not saying I saw any bosom buddies in the mix, but I rarely saw any of those vague irreconcilable differences that the elders always went on about. Rule of thumb, though: when you're around Gangrel, watch your back. You never know when one might decide your existence is a blight on his world and start waving his six-inch press-ons in your face.
Giovanni
I have an odd relationship with the Giovanni I've met. They are family; we act like a family. They're into money and dead things; we're into money. The Necromancers are among the creepiest Kindred I've had the displeasure to meet. All that aside, they make great business partners. Just keep all interactions on a professional leve and don't let them count the money until you're long gone.
Sometimes a Giovanni will come looking for someone to do special jobs for them. They especially like Ravnos because we're not well know to other Kindred and we can cover out tracks. If approached, act according to your conscience and don't give them your name. They have eerie powers over the dead, and they can use our name as a link. Your real name, that is.
Lasombra
The Lasombra epitomize the Sabbat's core tenet: The strong prevail, the weak perish. Rumor has it they destroyed their eldest just before the Camarilla formed. I can't confirm that, but the few I've met were hardcore enough to tray anything if they thought it would get them ahead. When you're around a Lasombra, give her the respect she thinks she deserves. If you're tired of existence, just start taunting her. Unlike our clan's power over perception, the Lasombra's power over shadows can get downright physical.
Malkavian
The Malkavians bother me, and not just because they know too damned much. Half the time they do something utterly clever, we get blamed for it. I think most of our reputation for uncivilized behavior comes from a Malkavian's lunacy. They're not stupid or clownish, but that's no consolation. They have a weird ability to see through any deception or tricker. Personally, I'd rather kill one than deal with him. Kindred who like to think in shortcuts will compare Ravnos (because we're "tricksters", right?) and Malkavians (because we're "tricksters", right?) and lump us into the same category. This is plainly stupid. I don't recall when Ravnos became blood-drolling maniacs by default. If you come across that kind of lazy thinking, milk it for what it's worth. Either the Kindred will assume you're a blood-drooling maniac or think you're much more frightening than you have any right to be. Either misconception will be to your advantage if you're on the ball.
Nosferatu
For such a group of ugly sonsabitches, these guys make my vitae itch just thinking about them. They know far too much for my own good. Sure, it's easy to deal with them -- hey, we're outcasts, they're outcasts, we talk to animals and they talk to the animals. We have a lot in common, right? Sure, but don't count on their goodwill and caring nature to extend to you if they can turn the dirt they have into benefit for them. You haven't unlived until a sewer rat's blackmailed you.
Here's a trick in dealing with them: The Nosferatu know many things about the goings-on in their cities. Better yet, they get together and discuss it. If you feel up to it, you can use your powers over animals to get a little of that action for yourself. It's simple -- just find a real rat and send him in to spy on the Nosferatu. Ok, it's not that simple. They'll turn that damned rodent against you half the time. So send a few dozen - the Sewer Rats can't get them all. If you have the skill, possess one of the rats. Spend enough time in the sewers and you're bound to learn something. The Nosferatu know their game, but they don't always pay much attention to the animals in their warrens. They're used to them, so a few extras don't always set off their paranoia circuits. Hell, don't even use rats. Use roaches.
Toreador
If I ever thought there was an underlying cosmic significance to my existence as one of the bloodsucking undead, the Toreador are the best evidence against that foolish belief. I'm not saying that I think all these dry-humpers need to burn in the sun, but I wouldn't shed any tears if they did. I've rarely encountered creatures so convinced of their importance to the universe and yet so utterly lacking in evidence to support their delusions. I mean, these losers use supernatural powers of charisma to win friends and influence people.
Naturally, if you want to get anywhere with a Toreador, you have to treat him as if he's as important as he believes he is. Anything less and he'll throw a temper tantrum and beg a primogen or the prince to swat your knuckles.
Tremere
Here we have a pack of paranoid blood witches. What do they want to do? The same thing they do every night. They want to rule the world. Okay, I don't know that for sure, but look at these two-bit special effects rejects. Sure, they can toss fireballs, fly around like a superhero and summon the very elements to strike down their enemies. What's the flaw? Subtlety, or rather, the lack of it. I'm continually surprised that the Brujah have such a reputation for brute force when the Tremere have refined it to an art form. The most important rules when dealing with Tremere: Don't meet their gaze and don't give them your blood. Anything beyond that is up to you.
I've heard rumors that at least one branch of the Ravnos enjoyed positive relations with the Tremere before the Camarilla formed. I haven't seen any evidence of that in my own dealings. Either they have a short memory or my sire was sucking down punks tweaking on crank. I wouldn't rely on the possibility, either way.
Tzimisce
These guys redefine the words "sick ********". The Fiends are the walking embodiment of the Sabbat's core aesthetic: They have no human connections. To be more precise, they work really hard at convincing themselves that whatever was human before the Embrace withered away afterward. The psycho protests too much, methinks.
I have never met a Tzimisce I didn't want to shove a stake into and put on a rooftop. Not one. I hate these shape shifting bastards like nothing else. They're vile, polluted things. I'm not even sure they're really Kindred. Stay away from them if you value your existence. If you're lucky, any Tzimisce you meet will turn you into a carnival sideshow act. If you're unlucky, you'll spend forever as a quadriplegic blood d***o.
Ventrue
If you put Toreador at one extreme of behavior and the Lasombra at the other end, the Ventrue fall somewhere in the middle. Your typical Ventrue probably believes that she's owed the world, but she'll do everything in her power to take it. Overall, they do the leadership thing better than the Lasombra and they just aren't as pathetic as the Toreador. They're dangerous as hell. One call from a Ventrue's cell phone and you'll find your bank accounts frozen, a warrant out for your arrest and your haven paved over to make a god damned parking lot. Don't make them angry -- or if you have to make one angry, do it in such a way that she's not angry with you. I don't care how much of a hardcore revel ******** you think you are, when you're in the presence of a Ventrue prince, treat her with the respect she claims to deserve. You'll find it pays off in the long run.
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Herein I have included a variety of opinions from elder and youngling, georgio and phralmulo alike. These statements range from the wise to the incendiary, and I have made no attempt at parenthetical explanation. The truth? That is up to you.
Brujah
They talk a whole lot about changing things, but their words and threats are empty unless you get them mad. In that case, just throw them a small, shiny object to keep 'em busy while you get away.
Caitiff
Instead of finding any pride or conviction, they just bang on the Camarilla's door all night, begging to be let in. To their credit, the Clanless usually have a pretty good idea of what's going on in the city, and a little charity at the right moment will buy you a friend for unlife -- his, of course, not yours.
Gangrel
We're supposed to be related, but they have a serious problem with us, don't ask me why. Since they never carry anything valuable and they have big, nasty fingernails, my advice is to leave them alone. Unless, of course, you see an opportunity to drive them into frenzy and watch fur sprout out of their ears.
Malkavian
Ignorant is the mulo who compares us to these sad undead. They are truly a blighted line. There is no artistry and worse, no joy in their jests; their pranks are as blindly instinctive as a dog's pissing on his territory.
Nosferatu
We have an unspoken deal going with the Sewer Rats; we leave them alone (as if they had anything of value) and they conveniently "forget" that they saw us roll into town (as if we were any thread to their agenda). We let them have their sewers, they let us have our fun. Besides, they love watching us make fools of the stuffy Ventrue and the effete Toreador. If you find yourself unable to escape the wrath of the shanglo, you might find asylum among them -- but the price, and the stink, will be high.
Toreador
Of all the clans that have denounced us as their enemies, the Toreador have done the least impressive job of showing it. Though they love the pomp and ceremony of their station, when their meetings are over and done with they would rather watch us dance than drive us off. Trick them, rob them, even pity them -- but do not hate them. In truth, their hearts would break if we stopped dancing.
Tremere
Their must old books make good kindling, and their little baubbles bring a good price at a pawnshop. Trust me: They're more arrogant then powerful. They tried to wipe us out, and they failed. Knowing that, don't pull any punches.
Ventrue
Feudal lords or corporate barons -- some things never change, more's the pity. They hate us because we don't play the power-games they invented, so they kick us out of their cities. Poor us. Most of them are so hungry for power that they can't open their eyes, and the blind make easy marks. Here's a good one: Find out what their blood preference is, then use Chimerstry to make some rancid bum look that way. They make the funniest faces after just a few sips.
Lasombra
God has taken their reflections from them. It is only fitting, I think, for us to take the rest of their things.
Tzimisce
These has-beens look like such easy targets, don't they? Well, they're not. Avoid them. Avoid, avoid, avoid. It's tempting to trick them, but if you piss 'em off, they'll twist your head into a ******** balloon animal.
(Caveat the First: Sometimes they keep such cool stuff in their cobwebby old cripts that it's worth the risk.)
(Caveat the Second: If they catch you....well, you were warned.)
Ravnos Antitribu
As Sabbat go, they're not so bad. They think a lot like we do, and they pull a bait-and-switch with the best of us. But for all our similarities, be careful not to throw your lot in with 'em too quickly. See, for them, their pack is their family, not us. Remember that before you powwow with 'em.
Assamite
These are the guys who give the mulo nightmares, and that suits us fine. They also don't seem to give a rat's a** about us, and that suits us even better. They share our hatred for the Tremere, and I knew a Lick who used that angle to con an Assamite into bumping off a few enemies for him. It worked for him, but personally, I wouldn't recommend trying to duplicate it. You'd be dead fast if you got caught pulling a scam like that.
Giovanni
Okay, let me get this straight: They're big, hairy, overweight, immortal Mafiosi, with mansions in the burbs and beet-red Maseratis, strutting around with an air of mystery and control, hoarding art, money and blood in their safety-deposit boxes, and I'm supposed to be scared? With their oh-so-trendy occultism, they fall for the simplest cons. Let me tell you: The scaries thing about the Giovanni is that it takes 'em weeks to figure out they've been duped.
Followers of Set
I love these assholes. They're so fixated on "corrupting" you that they'll give you just about anything -- money, drugs, weapons, whatever. With enemies like these, who needs friends?
The Jyhad
Heh. What a foolish game the gaje play. When the last chapter of the Jyhad has been written, it will be the Ravnos who will tell the tale around the fire.
Silent Striders
You may sit across from them at the kumpania, and they will sheathe their talons and tolerate you. Do you likewise. Once away from the kumpania's confines, all bets are off; the Lupines are their greater family, and the moon bids them destroy us. If cornered by a pack, pleaed for mercy in the name of your former kinship. It won't stop them, but they might pause long enough for you to evoke a phantasm and escape.
Mages
Most Licks thing of mages as a bunch of bookworms; we know better. They're a bunch of bookworms with cool stuff well worth borrowing. That aside, I've heard rumors of a partnership forming between Ravnos on the Path of Paradox and a group of mages called Marauders; such an alliance could produce potent results.
Wraiths
Though we praice the spirits of our ancestors, these wretched beings are called trushale odji -- the thirsty souls. They are of little consequence to us, but there are mediums among the juvindo who often seek their guidance.
Faeries
Certain families of Ravnos have dealings with faeries, and from what I hear, they're all dying. The faeris, that is, not the Ravnos. They make powerful allies, but they bring a ton of problems with 'em when they travel with our kumpaniyi. I've also heard that they're drawn to our Chimerstry, like they can smell it or something, but I don't like to think about that too much -- it makes me paranoid.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:12 pm
Walk a Mile In My Shoes: PathsThe Path of Paradox
'Although we are locked outside the cycle, we may not forsake it. - Raj, Blood Diaries'
The true origins of the Path is much older then most Kindred believe, dating to the earliest nights of the Ravnos. Followers of the Path believe that reality is becoming more static as time goes on, and that creativity and free thought are fading from the popular consciousness. This hypothesis is reinfored by the teachings of certain werewolves, who see the degradation of the natural world as a byproduct of human "progress," as well as the Urmen family's belief that magic is slowly leaving the world as science continues to "explain away" all of the phenomena that were once great sources of mystery. This effect, the Urmen say, proves damaging to the fae, driving them away from the world.
Followers of the Path believe that it is only a matter of time before reality itself grinds to a halt, becoming an entropic graveyard devoid of new ideas or inspirations. The stated tenets of the Path dictate that its primary goal is to "free" the primordial energies of change, which they call "weig," through the destruction of objects and individuals that hoard it.
However, there is another belief, held by some followers of the Path, that may also help to explain a secondary goal of the Path of Paradox. They tell the story of "True Chimerstry," the original power that Laetshi taught to Ravnos, and that Ravnos in turn taught us, his progeny. According to the story, when weig was truly abundant, the Ravnos could not only warp and shape the perception of reality, but could actually alter reality itself. However, as the Antediluvians grew more powerful, and stored more weig, this ability was lost to the Ravnos.
By releasing the trapped weig, the followers say, they will give magic and creative thought a "jump-start," eventually resulting in the reformation of the vortex, the theoretical engine of the uncontrollable forces that once governed creation. The Silent Striders tell stories of an entity called the Wyld, which acts as a chaotic catalyst for creative thought and even evolutions. The vortex and the Wyld, in turn, may be related to certain Urmen beliefts concerning the primal wellspring of the fae.
Nickname: Shilmulo (a Romani word for vampire)
Basic Beliefs: Upheld exclusively by the vampires of the Ravnos clan, the Path of Paradox concerns itself with the vampires' karmic duty to continue the grand cycle of ages. The Path of Paradox pays a heavy debt to certain tenets of Hinduism and, some whisper, to the indecipherable codes upheld by the Cathayan vampires of the Orient.
According to the Path of Paradox, Kindred are locked perpetually outside the illusory cycle of the universe (maya). Whereas most beings are reincarnated through samsara, a continual "entanglement" in the cycle of rebirth, Kindred have eluded that cycle. Every individual has his own purpose, or svadharma, according to the Path of Paradox, although vampires, excluded from the cycle, have lost theirs. In places of the dharma they once followed, each Kindred must now try to advance maya, hopefully understanding it in the process and finally penetrating the great illusions that shroud Ultimate Truth from their eyes.
The means by which the Ravnos undertake this cyclical advancement, however, is by selective deception. Other vampires look upon the Ravnos as untrustworthy, and can hardly be expected to take the advice of the Gypsy Kindred. As such, the Ravnos have had to resort to elaborate ruses in order to get other vampires -- or, indeed, anyone with whom they come in contact at all -- to undertake a course of action. Ravnos vampires see their undead state as a curse, like many other Kindred do. However, the Ravnos believe this shruti (what has been learned from the gods) to be due to their failure to understand maya. Other Kindred, also removed from the karmic wheel, often fail to realize the necessity of their return to the cycle. The Ravnos understand this -- and expedite their return by destroying them.
Ethics of the Path
- Embrace only if absolutely necessary, and then only from the jati (family line, also referred to as the Rom in one specific case).
- Interpret the svadharma of others and aid them in their fulfillment of it.
- Destroy other Kindred, for they are unnatural to maya.
- Erase karmic debt, dispel maya's illusions and return to the samsara.
- Use deception to achieve your ends, as others hear the fault of distrust.
- Confuse the Antediluvians by returning their childer to the cycle.
Virtues
Vampires on the Path of Paradox uphold the Virtues of Conviction and Self-Control.
- Conviction:
The Conviction Virtue quantifies a vampire's ability to maintain a sense of reason when faced with desire, suffering or need. Utterly inhuman, Conviction represents the reconciliation of the predatory urge with the vampire's capacity for atrocity.
As opposed to Conscience, which deals with remorse and atonement for Path transgressions, a vampire with Conviction recognizes is failure and plans to overcome it. Conviction is completely inhuman; the vampire who has this Trait can no longer pass for human under anything but the most cursory of scrutiny. Creatures who can sense the Beast (vampires, werewolves, etc.) immediately recognize someone with the Conviction Virtue for what he truly is: a monster.
- Self-Control:
Self-Control defines a vampire's discipline and mastery over the Beast. Vampires with high Self-Control rarely succumb to emotional urges, and are thus able to restrain their darker sides more readily than characters with low Self-Control.
Self-Control comes into play when a vampire faces her Beast in the form of frenzy. Self-Control allows the vampire to resist the frenzy.
History
This Path arose among the Ravnos during the latter nights of the Roman Empire. The deceit the Ravnos command is even believed by some to have played a major role in the collapse of the empire. The Path, according to many Ravnos, had become debased shortly after Rome's collapse and had remained so for hundreds of years until a stirring (and secret) event contrived to encourage the Ravnos to rethink their ways. Ravnos on this Path once had reputations as lighthearted tricksters, though recent reconsideration of where the clan was headed has cast a grim new light on the Ravnos and their philosophies.
Current Practices
It is too simple a conceit to say that the Ravnos destroy vampires and burn karma. In fact, the Path of Paradox is arduous and demanding, since, to truly uphold the code, one must glean important grains of information from those with whom one conspires, in order to understand their svadharma better. Many of the Ravnos' deceptions are, in reality, complicated tests purveyed to cause the subject to reveal hidden aspects of herself. Thus, the Ravnos travel the world, ousted by ignorant Kindred who fail to realize the necessity of the Shilmulo's duties.
Description of Followers
Most followers of this Path are Ravnos, though certain lines of Malkavians and Gangrel adhere to the Path. Increasingly cosmopolitan Kindred have surfaced among the Ravnos clan, indicating that either the Ravnos pay little heed to their code or that jati are more extended than one would think otherwise.
Following the Path
Kindred on the Path of Paradox commonly hold other vampires in contempt, believing that they ignorantly or arrogantly refused to seek their reintroduction to the cycle. As such, the Ravnos have taken the responsibility upon their shoulders to do it for others. This may require concocting complex webs of deception in order to ascertain what a given person's svadharma is, or simply destroying a vampire and placing her back in the cycle, where a new svadharma awaits.
As the popularity of the Path was waxed and waned over time, it is not surprising that Ravnos who follow the Path of Paradox are of widely varied origin and heritage. Each time the Path has fallen into "vogue" within the clan, new converts are gained, but each new group distorts the tenets of the Path for its own ends.
Some of the older surviving Ravnos are followers of the Path, sworn to restore the power of the vortex to a world that has forgotten everything it once knew. These elders are quite powerful, and they continually hunt items of power and sleeping Methuselahs, in order to destroy them.
- Common Abilities: Kindred on this Path focus on Abilities that allow them to gain advantage over others, such as Alertness, Empathy, Suberfuge, Stealth and Investigation.
- Preferred Disciplines: Followers of this Path practice Chimerstry in order to dupe their subjects as a means of manipulating the illusions intrinsic to maya. Shilmulo favor Fortitude as well, to protect themselves from their subjects' ire. Many also master Auspex, with which they may better divine hidden secrets.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:14 pm
Clan Disciplines
Chimerstry
The Ravnos are heirs to a legacy of illusion, and none can say exactly why. The elders of their clan, when properly approached, speak cryptically of ghuls and rakshasas, and the shape shifting antics of their Antediluvian founder are the subject of many a dark campfire tale among the clan. But whatever the source, the nomadic Ravnos have a potent weapon in the form of their Discipline of Chimerstry.
Chimerstry is an art of conjuration; the vampire may draw upon her inner reserves to bring phantoms to life. These false images can confound mortal senses and sensory equipment alike. If the Cainite's power is strong enough, illusions created by Chimerstry may even baffle the heightened senses of the vampire. The Ravnos are fond of using this power to seduce, swindle or enslave mortals, effectively purchasing their victims' souls in exchange for a sack of bouillon that isn't there.
Level 1
Ignis Fatuus
The Vampire may conjure a minor, static mirage that confounds one sense of the "six senses". For instance, he/she may evoke a sulfurous stench, the image of a curtain, or the feel of raw silk. This illusion has no real substance (and it cannot confine or injure your victims), but it can confound or mislead. The illusion cannot move in any fashion, although you can hold and move an illusion that you create.
To keep this illusion going, you need only concentrate.
Level 2
Fata Morgana
Your illusions now appeal to all of the senses, although they remain static. For example, the Vampire could throw a mirage over a dank basement, making it appear to be a sumptuous boudoir, although the Vampire cannot create flickering candles or a flowing fountain. Also, you can make a wall that appears solid, has a texture to the touch and smells of old dust and paint, but which has no real substance and can be passed through easily. Alternately, you could create a phantasm that lack certain characteristic – you could cause a person to believe that you are holding a rose and brushing it against one’s cheek, provoking the feeling of the flower against the skin and the scent of the rose, when in fact you do not have a rose. These illusions are still incapable of independent movement.
This discipline takes greater concentration to produce.
Level 3
Apparition
Not really a power unto itself, but Apparition allows a Vampire to give motion to an illusion created with Ignis Fatus or Fata Morgana. Thus, the Vampire could create the illusion of a living being, running water, fluttering drapes or a roaring fire.
Level 4
Permanency
This discipline, also used with Ignis Fatuus or Fata Morgana, allows a mirage to persist even when the Vampire cannot see it. In this way, a Vampire may cloak their temporary havens in false trappings of luxury, or ward off trespassers with illusionary guard dogs.
Level 5
Horrid Reality
Rather than create simple illusions, the Vampire can now project hallucinations directly into a victim’s mind. The target of these illusions believes completely that the images are real; a hallucinatory fire can burn him, an illusionary noose can strangle him and an illusionary wall can block him. This discipline affects only one person at a time; although other people can try to convince the victim that his terrors are not real, he won’t believe them.
Level 6
Fatuus Mastery
All illusions created will last as long as the vampire is no more than a mile away, unless she wishes them to end before then; she need not sense them to maintain them.
In addition to the ability previously stated, Ravnos gain an additional benefit from mastering this level of Chimerstry, though in most cases even the wielder herself will not know it. Upon attaining Fatuus Mastery, illusions created by the character also manifest in the Penumbra and the Shadowlands, and appear convincing to anyone viewing the scene from there. However, a Ravnos who cannot peer into these locations is still unable to affect them directly.
Mass Reality
As Horrid Reality, but the vampire may use the illusions to "injure" everyone in her general vicinity.
Fata Amria
Using this power, a Ravnos may place a potent curse on a target. By evoking the power in her blood, the Ravnos essentially "locks" an illusory effect to the target, which manifests from time to time. The effects of Fata Amria can range from merely annoying to potentially lethal, depending on the severity of the curse.
Mass Horror
This power causes more than one person to experience a Horrid Reality. Anyone in the same general area of the illusion senses it as if it were actually present. Thus, if an illusion of a dragon is created, the dragon can blast its fiery breath on several people.
Mass Horror functions exactly the same as Horrid Reality, except that multiple targets are affected.
Level 7
Far Fatuus
The vampire may create illusions at a distance. Once she has succeeded, she may use any Chimerstry power at that location.
Level 8
Pseudo Blindness
The vampire will always know a lie when she hears it. She also can not perceive any power of Obfuscate or Chimerstry below level nine -- even if she wants to, and is incapable of either being affected by them, or realizing that they are being used.
In addition to the benefits previously stated for this power, a Ravnos who has mastered Pseudo-Blindness is also unmoved by the effects of the Delirium, nor is she affected by faerie seemings. The Ravnos can also see any chimerical items or animals drawn from the Dreaming as if she were enchanged.
Sensory Overload
By overstimulating all five senses, a Ravnos may physically incapacitate a target. Though the target may remain conscious, he is unable to move or speak coherently; he is effectively cut off from the outside world, save through his screams.
Level 9
Sensory Deprivation
The vampire can cause her victim to lose all five senses, and all related abilities, like Auspex.
Level 10
Reality
The vampire can invent a fantasy world, and put her victim into it. This victim actually disappears from the real world, and can not be found with any discipline.
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Chimerstry and Changelings
Ravnos of the Urmen family have long known of the intrinsic connections between their Discipline of Chimerstry and the chimerical magic of the fae. In fact, use of Chimerstry can and often does result in lasting effects upon fae creatures, and changelings in particular.
Healthy Kithain (those not rapped in Banality or Bedlam( can instantly recognize Chimerstry for what it truly is. Therefore, any illusion created by a Ravnos cannot and does not fool the senses of most changelings. Kithain perceive the effect, but automatically know it to be wholly illusory. However, this does not mean that Chimerstry is useless against the Kithain. In fact, many changelings give Ravnos a wide berth, because they understand the potential danger of getting too close.
Simply put, Chimerstry's danger to fae creatures is that even the most simple Fata Morgana is potentially lethal if used correctly. If a Ravnos were to create an illusory knife, for example, he could strike at a Kithain for the same amount of damage the Kithain would suffer from a chimerical weapon of the same size. Weapons and effects created via Horrid Reality are particularily lethal, inflicting even more damage to a Kithain.
Rumors have spread (as rumors are wont to do) of even more powerful Chimerstry effects, some fantastic, some frightening, that Ravnos who have studied the fae are able to produce. these effects, the rumors say, are enough to persuade (or perhaps force) Kithain to aid or ally with the Ravnos who produce them. Of course, these rumors are still largely unsubtantiated, but they seem to have caught the imagination of the clans. Whether there is any truth to these rumoers, or if they are simply fanciful creations of a blood-drunk, remains unknown
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:16 pm
Genealogy of the Ravnos: Known Ravnos*Side note: You do not need to know who these vampires are. I figured it'd be fun to have a little extra information and they really do not effect the vampires here in any real way.
Powerful blood
Dracian - He created the Tree of Knowledge. Was probably in Golconda. Killed by Amriat. He might be the sire of the Ravnos and the Gangrel Antediluvians.
Dracian is also the name of the Ravnos Antediluvian, who was killed centuries later...
An ancient lore keeper wrote "The Ravnos are controlled by Sargatanas who also controls the Gangrel. But Sargantas has a servent, Valefar, who oversees the Gangrel for his master". Sargatanas could be a name of Dracian and Valefar of Ennoia...
Zapathasura/Dracian/Churka - Sire of Black Mother , Rakshasa , Chandraputo , Ravana , Ramessu and Hazimel. the Ravnos of India know him under Zapathasura, and also Dracian. Called Churka by the Gangrel. Destroyed in Bangladesh by the Kuei-jin (three Bodhisatvas, that died in the fight) and the Technocracy (Project Ragnarok, dropping special neutron bombs designed to destroy Supernaturals). The prophecy of his death refers to the childe of the Wanderer, third Childe of Caine, whose descendants destroyed themselves in madness.
The Ravnos Ante is said to have sired 5 times in the first century or two of his unlife. The speaker said that there may be more, but that they doubted it because all of the lineages that they were able to recover traced their roots back to those five.
Black Mother/Marizhavashti Kali - Progeny of Zapathasura. Sire of Phaedyme and Sybarites' founder. Diablerised by the Sybarites' founder. She was often mistaken for Kali, the Hindu goddess of death destruction and the end of the world. She was a renowned Prophetess and was famous for her ability to percieve all layers of reality. She later abandoned Zapathasura and his war so he in turn had her name stricken from all recordings. The Brahman, Phuri Dae, Phaedymite, Sybarite, and Yoyari jatis are all descended from her.
After Black Mother abandoned Zapathasura, she took the name, Marizhavashti Kali "The Ghost" and waited for the arrival of Alexander the Great in India. Upon Alexander's arrival with his armies, Marizhavashti (a.k.a. Black Mother) embraced one of his soldiers and told the childe to "Go West", in which the soldier did and Marizhavashti followed him to Europe and eventually settled in Gaul.
It turned out that the soilder was actually not a man at all, it was a woman masquerading as a soilder. The woman's name was Phaedyme (later the founder of the Phaedymites) and she eventually (after creating her line and all) settled in Gaul with her sire and began looking out for her.
Marizhavashti developed her power base in Gaul and after the Romans conquered Gaul needed a way to ensure the continued existence of her control over the mortal affairs in her city. She embraced a man (who has been said to be everyone from Julius Ceaser to Romulus himself) who was a high member of Caligula's rome and may have been a confidant of the Emperor.
This man created Progeny and the line became the Sybarites (this took a few decades). It was then that Chandraputo deliberately let his teachings filter into Gaul through the Kshatriyas jati (his decendants) in an attempt to bring some of the "rogue lineages" back into the fold.
The Sybarites took the teachings of the Kshatriyas and perverted them (which basicly ended up being do whatever you want road). The founder (childe of Marizhavashti/Black Mother) began his belief that diablerie was a good thing and set out to do so to his sire.
Phaedyme (and a number of the Phaedymites) who had also settled in Gaul protected Marizhavashti against her "brother" and his line. Obviously she failed because he ended up getting to Marizhavashti and diablerizing her.
Rakshasa - Progeny of Zapathasura. He was said to have unmatched skill at deception. He was Zapathasura's scout for a time. But eventually disagreed with his sire's war and told him so. the two fought and Rakshasa barely escaped. He left and wound up turning into Zapathasura's 2nd greatest enemy (behind Ennoia). After leaving, he allegedly went west to Africa siring many childer as he went (never staying more than a decade with any one of them). It is said that at least 4 North African lineages claim decent from a trickster figure with no name or home. Who warned them to prepare for the awakening of his father (Zapathasura). The last evidence of his presence in Africa is at least 3000 years old.
Chandraputo - Progeny of Zapathasura. He was known as The General. He was the one who would lead the Ravnos into battle. He would coordinate his strategies with the Black Mother and was the only one of the five childer to stay loyal to his sire. He may have ruled over the mortal city-nation of Harappa until it went against the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro. The Kshatriyas jati claims decent from The General.
Ravana - Progeny of Zapathasura. He was said to have bargained with true demons for power greater than Zapathasura could ever give him. He allegedly vanished from the world after making the deal. He later lead hundreds of asuratizayya to their death promising them glory and power. One account says he came to Zapathasura and offered him power beyond that which gods would give. He claimed he could walk in the sun and enjoy mortal delights. Zapathasura struck him, only to hit nothing. Ravana's laughter faded and Zapathasura pondered the meaning of the offer. Shortly after that, he (Zapathasura) fell into his first prolonged torpor.
Ramessu - Progeny of Zapathasura. Sired the Vaisyas jati. The Alexandrite jati also claims origin from him. He embraced solely from the merchant class. He also (in time) tired of fighting and eventually headed west and sired a line that knew nothing of Zapathasura. After his arrival in Egypt he took a large section from the Setite territory when they tried to cast him out. He was able to do this because the Setites were fighting with the local lupines at the time and didn't have the resources to fight both. He later created an "authentic" Egyptian court that lasted into the renaissance, (even though he went into "bouts of torpor").
Smenkhara - Sire of Ankla Hotep
Hazimel - Progeny of Ravnos. Hazimel was a rebellious childe of Ravnos, who may have survived the Week of Nightmares.
Rodina - Sire of Durga Syn
Sharilla - Sybarites' founder - Progeny of Black Mother/Marizhavashti Kali. Sire of Karmenita Yoyari. Diablerised his sire. Was a high member of Caligula's rome and may have been a confidant of the Emperor. Created Progeny and the line became the Sybarites (this took a few decades). It was then that Chandraputo deliberately let his teachings filter into Gaul through the Kshatriyas jati (his decendants) in an attempt to bring some of the "rogue lineages" back into the fold. The Sybarites took the teachings of the Kshatriyas and perverted them (which basicly ended up being do whatever you want road). The founder (childe of Marizhavashti/Black Mother) began his belief that diablerie was a good thing and set out to do so to his sire.
Ancient blood
Phaedyme - Progeny of Black Mother/Marizhavashti Kali. Sire of Marcia Felicia Licinia. Was a woman masquerading as a soldier of Alexander the Great.
Ankla Hotep - Progeny of Smenkhara. He was on the Lusitania when it sank in 1915.
Esmeralda - The stereotypical Gypsy beauty.
Bashir - Sire of Varshik and Sallam. Embraced 7 childe, only 2 remain in 1197.
Dimitri - Sire of Alexis (18th cent.). Probably burned to death.
Durga Syn (Synovea) - Progeny of Rodina. Rumored to be a former pupil of Baba Yaga. Sometime said to be of 7th generation. There is also a Durga Syn, 6th gen. progeny of Vladovos.
Vladovos - Sire of Durga Syn.
Karmenita Yoyari - Progeny of Sybarites' founder. Sire of Iago Castille. She didn't like the way the Sybarites did things and soon broke off and made her own Jati (which was similar to the Sybarites but more mellow). Her eldest childe Iago Castille was a pirate on the seas during the middle ages.
Margali the Wanderer - Information unknown.
Veistgeir He is the main philosoph of the Sabbat.
Natasha (Tasha) - Information unknown.
Marcia Felicia Licinia - Progeny of Phaedyme. Sire of Hector. Traveled much during the dark ages chronicling her journey, and the many different types of Ravnos that she met. She was looking for her childe Hector (who was converted to the Phuri Dae way of thinking and later when Marcia found him, she disowned him).
Sallam - Progeny of Bashir. Sire of Es'kut.
Varshik - Progeny of Bashir. Sire of Unknown , Etienne de Fauberge (1099) and Yasmina (1143). Merchant diplomat and ally of the prince.
Gabrin - Information unknown.
Durga Syn - Progeny of Vladovos. Sire of Zlatos (1752). Counselor to Dracula. Survived the Week of Nightmares. There is also a Durga Syn, 5th gen. progeny of Rodina.
Alexis, alias Danya - (age 18:18th century) Progeny of Dimitri. She is the 6th of the Red List.
Carlos - Information unknown.
Elena - Information unknown.
Irendo Torenu - Sire of Izydor Torenu.
Iago Castille - Progeny of Karmenita Yoyari. Was a pirate on the seas during the middle ages.
Ancillae blood
Hector - Progeny of Marcia Felicia Licinia. Was converted to the Phuri Dae way of thinking.
Unknown - Progeny of Varshik. Varshik settled in Jerusalem after one of his childer (an unknown female) was destroyed.
Es'kut (The Silent) - Progeny of Sallam. One of the three Bashirites in the city of Damascus. A thief and murderer in life. Believed he was dying when his sire tore his throat out. Was reborn with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips, a scream in his heart and a vision of impending apocalypse at the hands of the Cainite elders. Has carried out a vow of silence in the hopes of cleansing his soul and finding answers to the visions that plagued him upon his becoming.
Etienne de Fauberge - Progeny of Varshik. Fauberge was a soldier, but unlike his companions did not loot, plunder and rape. instead he stood back horrified. Varsik took the opportunity to snatch him and embrace him. Varsik apparently believed that Etienne would be pious enough to enter the city of Acre and obtain the True Cross. Etienne tried to enter the city but was burned badly from just getting near it. Varsik, still believing that Etienne might somehow still do it, convinced his childe to claim the city as his fief and to keep hold of it. Etienne agreed and continued trying to enter.
Senser - Sire of Vassily Taltos.
Yasmina - Progeny of Varshik. Waif of his sire and friend of Hannah.
Izydor 'Anastasz' Torenu - Progeny of Irendo. Sire of Delizbieta (1302). Embraced in Constantinople. Kings of Thieves.
Anasztaz Torenu - Information unknown.
Zlatos - Progeny of Durga Syn. Survived the Week of Nightmares.
Icarus The Fool - Sire of Gregory. Alexandrian Ravnos.
Vassily Taltos - Progeny of Senser. Sire of Vladislav Taltos (1362). Diplomatic Advisor and Spy master.
Delizbieta of the Dark Eyes - Progeny of Izydor Torenu.
Natalia - Friend and old lover of Ankla Hotep.
Jayakumar - Sire of Dr. Lawrence Mayhew (1879) and Anjelika Underwood (1975). Brahman jati.
Vladislav - Sire of Shejana (1944).
Khalil Ravana - Diablerised Tabitha Bauer, Jean-Paul, Mouse and Ghose in 1999. Ravana is somewhere down Hazimel's bloodline. He holds the Hazimel ring that speaks in his head... in the quest for the Eye.
Young blood
Gregory - Progeny of Icarus The Fool. Akoimetia monk, embraced by am Alexandrian Ravnos, adopted by the Antonian Ventrue of Constantinople. He sponsored a young mage girl named Zoe.
Thakkur - Sire of Harvinder al-Cambay (1002).
Vladislav Taltos - Progeny of Vassily Taltos. Instrument of Revenge.
Callirus - Information unknown.
Dr. Lawrence Mayhew - Progeny of Jayakumar. Sire of Johann Matheson (1971). Brahman jati. Leader of the Grave Robbers.
Alexi - Information unknown.
Ghivran Dalaal - Sire of Sennuwy (1891).
Shejana - Progeny of Vladislav.
Jacopo - Sire of Irena (1946).
Anjelika Underwood - Progeny of Jayakumar. Brahman jati. Member of the Grave Robbers.
Harvinder al-Cambay - Progeny of Thakkur. Slave Trader. Reluctant about being a slaver because he yearns to travel. Chains of his wealth keep him stationary. Took to wearing the desert wardrobe to reassure those put off by his foreign features.
Sennuwy - Progeny of Ghivran Dalaal. Succubus Club promoter. Survived the Week of Nightmares.
Anka - Antitribu
Irena - Progeny of Jacopo.
Cairo - Antitribu. Ex-Inquisitor. Les Orphelins Pack. Accused of infernalism by Mercy.
Gharston Roland - Antitribu. Lost Angels Pack. Survived the Week of Nightmares.
Jose Sadillo - Sabbat. Member of the Sabbat nomadic pack the "Crypt-Ticks".
Johann Matheson - Progeny of Dr. Lawrence Mayhew. Sire of Marion French (1987) and Gwendolyn Brand (1999). Brahman jati. Member of the Grave Robbers.
Sasha - Sire of Devyn (198 cool .
Weak blood
Marion French - Progeny of Johann Matheson. Brahman jati. Member of the Grave Robbers. Was taught by her mortal father to shoot before she was 12, and fight by 16. joined the army after high school and went to a university on a GI bill. While there, hired herself out as a bodyguard to make more money. Her life changed the night Johann Matheson hired her. She's not a killing machine...but quite competent.
Devyn - Progeny of Sasha. Antitribu. He is an alastor.
Jack Zukowski - Sire of Zip (1995).
Jack Hooker - Antitribu.
Gwendolyn Brand - Progeny of Johann Matheson. Brahman jati. Member of the Grave Robbers.
Zip, a.k.a. Kevin Thomas - Progeny of Jack Zukowski. Survived the Week of Nightmares.
Unknown generation
Aleksandr - Information unknown.
Zander - Information unknown.
Raj - Information unknown.
Amril Donescu - Information unknown.
Bozzi - Information unknown.
Ghose - Diablerised by Khalil Ravana.
Mary Tinker, aka Madama Alexandria - Gypsy Queen of New York. Probably killed by the Sabbat.
Andreas - Killed by Mary Tinker during the Week of Nightmares.
Ivan Krentsjenko - Information unknown.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:17 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:18 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:19 pm
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