by Millie

"Don’t worry," His retched breath spews at me as he speaks. "My New Year’s resolution is to stop doing this." His hands are firmly around my throat, cutting off any air that I may have chosen to breathe. His grip is far stronger than what a mortal of even his size should be, so no doubt he is a huge mass of alcohol and chemicals at the moment. I think the bastard has even snapped a bone in my neck, so I make a play of ceasing to struggle. "Ever heard of Jack the ripper?" he talks to my motionless form, looking at my garb. The spike heels and dress are real, even if the painted face is not. This costume just makes it so easy on this night. "Well, looks like old Jack has got himself another one."

Jack. the same name as my sire. The thought grips me. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the prey as he finds his victim of the night attacking with unnatural strength from behind. He falls to his knees… I hear blood loss can do that. As his consciousness starts to fade, I whisper, "I think you’ll be keeping that resolution, Jack."

Jack. Sometimes, I think there is not enough scum in the world, so good it feels to be totally sated. This one was more than scum.

He was. insane. Giggles, giggles, in the back of my head. "Do it…" they urge. I have been hanging around nutcases too long. because it sounds. perfectly. glorious. "Do it."

What more horrid fate than the one I loathe? Simple death is so. simple. Is their really madness in my blood? I think it’s time to find out.

"There, there. It will end soon. soon." He is so lacking on blood that even as a kindred he cannot struggle against his restraints, naked on the rooftop. "And, I am going to give you something special. Something I have always wanted, little Jack Jr. A nice, lovely, final sunrise." What little blood he has streams from his eyes. in the ecstasy of torment that he so long given and never received, until now.

by Father Deitrich Lenoj

I personally have always had a hard time gettng into Werewolf: The Apocolypse. I felt the Garou lacked a lot of the "horror" that Vampire and Wraith had. I always liked the werewolf though, and so decided to make a few changes to reflect my favorite legends. The rule modifications given below are best used when ran along the same lines as a Vampire game. They make cross-over games a little easier and work well if a Storyteller has access to Werewolf but wants to introduce them differently into another World of Darkness Game. The rules below are the ones I use in my Vampire games. Enjoy!

The Changing breeds (namely Werewolves) are created through the awakening of a recessive gene transmitted through generations by an ancestor who has been infected by the Lycanthropy disease. The disease is spread through the contact of the infected blood of a Lycanthrope and the pure blood of one that is not infected (much like the AIDS virus). The "gene" as it is called is not exactly like any normal gene. Instead it is both a curse and a disease. A sort of "spirit gene" undetectable by most means of DNA study.

Upon infection the host does not become a Werecreature. Instead the "gene" lies dormant in the hosts DNA structure. The "disease" passes on to the victim’s children then their children and so on. It tends to skip generations and there is only about a 15% chance that a infected infant will ever exhibit any signs of the disease.

In those that the "gene" awakens, it usually never becomes obvious until the host reaches puberty. Some clues are given though, such as: exceptional senses, odd eye color, slightly lengthened canines, and hardened nails. Also the child will reach puberty at a young age (around 13) and males will always develop body and facial hair early.

The first transformation usually occurs near the end of puberty (17-20) and it is unlikely the Werecreature will remember much about it other than the sensation of a very "real" dream in which he feels free and truely alive. It usually takes about a year for the youth to master his transmogrifications and after that time he will begin to develop his "Gifts".

Not long after the first transformation, the youth will be approached by a "Mentor" and this will usually dictate the outcome of the fledgling’s Tribe. The Auspice is not determined by the phase of the moon he was born under, but the same as the original lycanthrope that "infected" his ancestor. Initialy this is called the "parent" lycanthrope.

The changes made from the original rules are as follows:

• A Rage point must be spent to shift forms. Though in times of great stress ( Roll Rage; diff: 6, four successes indicate an uncontrolled change)the shift to crinos will be unintentional and a willpower roll (diff: current Rage)must be made to halt it. The spending of a willpower point grants automatic success. "Stress" is considered bloodlust, anger, passion, full moon (made on first sight of the moon), fear, and excitement. In addition, on nights of the full moon the werecreature’s difficulty on Rage rolls is decreased by -2. And the difficulty on willpower to resist Rage is increased by +1.
• Werewolves are incapable of stepping into the Umbra. Though this ability may be taken as a Level 3 Gift.
• The transmogrification to another form takes one round (takes all of the round and nothing else can be done except dodge with half dice). Though changes to Glabro or Hispo allow actions to be taken with half dice pool. (+1 penalty to all difficulties.)
• Gnosis can be spent to heal damage from silver at a rate of one Gnosis per health level. (Note: Only one point can be spent per round this way.)
• Breed is no longer a factor in character creation. Therefore only the Gifts from the character’s Tribe or Auspice can be learned at a lower XP or Freebie point cost. (Breed is now identified as Garou, Bastet, Guraul, etc.)
• Werewolves no longer worship Gaia or any other such thing though it is still held as some to be the origin of the "Gene". Let it be known that no Werecreature worships her persay except the Children of Gaia. The Wyld, Weaver, and Wyrm also no longer exist . All former creatures of the Wyrm are now considered to be a form of demon or other magical creation.
• Rank is still a factor, but is viewed differently. When a character gains XPs he also gains Renown points to add in. When a werecreature gains enough Renown to advance to the next Rank, the transition is made as his superiors see he has progressed and they begin to teach him the more potent "Gifts".
• A werecreature’s natural Attributes can never exceed 5, as the creature’s human form retains it’s human limitations.
• All werewolves start out with a Gnosis score of 3. And though more can be purchased with freebie points, a character can have no more than 5 at the start of the game.
• The Backgrounds: Kinfolk, Past-life, and Totem can no
  longer be taken. Fetishes are now very rare and 1 point of Fetish costs 2 points of
  background. (NOTE: Almost all fetishes can be used in Homid or Glabro form only.)
• Totems are no longer relevant. The pack’s totem will now be considered the pack’s basic philosophy.
• Werewolves are no longer considered part spiritual and part material. Therefore they suffer the same limitations as others when dealing with spirits.
• The delirium is no longer relevant. Werecreatures must follow a "Masquerade" much like vampires now.
• Werecreatures and vampires are no longer mortal enemies and can work together or against each other as per individual or pack.
• Werewolves no longer detest the city and many see it as the ultimate hunting ground. Though many still prefer the open country, the thirst for human flesh usually bring them back to civilization eventually.
• Though not immortal, werewolves usually live quiet longer than do normal humans. The average life expectancy is around 475 years. Assuming they are not killed prematurely due to the violent lifestyle of most.

by Natalie Ford

Baron Luna was the  foremost influence in the City of Nocturne. He designed the City’s Elysium, and served as Prince until his untimely death by assassination in May of 1998. Known for his firearm talents, and more so for his seductive ways, he was considered by most Nocturne Camarilla as a hero.

by Shaun R. Baggett

Welcome to a new installment in my work for DeVita Excessum and the benefit of all the players of White Wolf’s World of Darkness system. Over the next few months I will provide this e-zine’s readers with tutorials and hints on how to create chronicles or simply improve the ones they already have going. This series will cover the formats of MET (Mind’s Eye Theater), TT (Table Top) and even Online role-play. This month (September) we will start with a few basics on working the beginnings of a chronicle.

Every story requires one thing - characters. And those characters in the WoD are brought forth by a myriad of players. How does a Storyteller go about finding players? Most often it’s a group of friends that game together normally. But sometimes it isn’t.

When without a troupe of players, a Storyteller must set out to find players that will fit his criteria. You heard me, criteria. A fundamental step for all Storytellers is to make sure that a player can handle the game he/she is planning to present. In my times of creating chronicles I often interviewed the player to find out if they would work out for the games I had planned.

How does one go about this though? First you let the player know what you’re planning to play (system-wise) and a few possible settings. Then make sure to let that player know of limitations and expectations you will have for each player within this group. Find out how this would effect the player. Don’t just take "I think it’ll be cool" for an answer. Get some genuine insight intothe player’s motivations and why he role-plays the White Wolf systems.

Now you have players, so what now? You get the players together to talk and discuss. Throw some ideas out that you have for a chronicle and allow the players to discuss them. Take notes, find out what will make this group of players feel challenged and most important - have fun.

For the October issue I will address areas on how to create a chronicle and what steps to take in formulating a workable format for said chronicle.

by Malcus Dorroga

I love Mage: The Ascension. Out of all the games White Wolf puts out, it is my favorite, the one I will choose above all others. There is deepness to the game that, at least for me, the other games do not exhibit. To play a mere mortal, a frail human being, who is suddenly given powers over the universe itself, is to explore the very foundations of who we are, what we believe, and how we hold those truths to the light of reality. The game holds an infinite potential for philosophical and personal exploration, as well as raw power and universal melodrama.

That being said, I have to wonder why, for a game where belief is so important,paradigm is not stressed more in Mage. With each new supplement, I hope beyond hope that the ideas of belief will be revisited and brought to the fore; with each new supplement, I sigh heavily as paradigm is ignored or, even worse, downplayed horribly. The last straw for me was when The Orphan’s Survival Guide came out. There was a nice section on how belief can save your sanity and give you a framework to work your arts around… and then proceeded to throw a bunch of silly new-age religion at you to compensate.

If any book should have addressed the importance of paradigm, it was that one. Whereas the Traditions have strong beliefs they are taught from Awakening,orphans are on their own, often without a leg to stand on, making their arts haphazard and their potential unrealized. Only those who adopt a framework for their magick ever truly learn to use it.

Let’s face it, a mage Awakens to some pretty heavy-duty truths. To suddenly realize that the fabric of reality can be twisted and reworked is a big moment,probably bigger than the average human can handle. In that moment, a magus learns that the scientific paradigm is no more correct than, say, a religious doctrine, and that belief is what decides what is true and what is false. If a mage doesn’t have beliefs of her own, she can get lost in the possibilities, or,worse yet, become overwhelmed by the meaningless of it all.

The basis of the magick system is a pretty simple premise: reality is subjective, bound by only a few "laws of nature" and the belief of the many.

OK, so it only seems simple on the outside, so sue me for my philosophy minor. This simple statement is possibly the most misunderstood thing about Mage, and one’s interpretation of it affects almost every facet of game play, especially judging on the vulgarity or effectiveness of a magickal effect.

In essence, a subjective reality is free form, a place where all possibilities exist simultaneously, where anything can happen. Leaping into physics for a moment, and tapping into my "inner Son of Ether", the example of Schrodinger’s Cat is a wonderful way of explaining this subjective state. Putting aside the quantum mathematics (and that God-awful isotope device), we are presented with a simple, yet elegant, difficulty: if you seal a cat in a soundproof box, and comeback an hour later, how can you tell if the cat is alive or dead? You can make theories based on present conditions, but you can’t know for sure until you open the box. In essence, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time, or, to put it more simply, both possibilities have an equal chance of being true at the same time. Only when observation and judgement whittles down the possibilities do we attain the "truth" of the matter. The Mage metaphysic places reality in the same quantum state. All possibilities exist, from the sublime to the ridiculous, until they are seen and judged. Only then does something become"true" or "false."

Of course, not everything is fully subjective in this universe. As it says above, there are "laws of nature" that form a backbone upon which the swirling maelstrom can center. One should not confuse these basic patterns in reality with scientific laws; they are far more basic than that. There are issues, such as the existence of certain things and forces and the basic ways those things act, that cannot be argued otherwise; they exist, plain and simple. Gravity isn’t subjective, but it’s malleable.

The universe also finds some measure of stability in the form of the Consensus,the belief of the Masses. In essence, if enough people believe in one of the myriad possibilities the universe offers, then that possibility becomes more likely to happen. As certain possibilities become more "acceptable" to the Consensus, the old possibilities do not vanish, but they become less likely to happen.

Think of this metaphysic as a large hole dug into the earth, then covered by a blanket. It has a few basic boundaries (the walls and the bottom) but is empty,devoid of anything truly solid. The blanket covers this hole, just as the Consensus covers reality; the hole still exists, but all you can now see is a blanket on the ground.

Now throw an Awakened avatar into this mess…

At the first stages of enlightenment, the mage recognizes that possibilities exist in the universe that most people wouldn’t even consider. However, the mage still cannot truly comprehend the sheer volume of that possibility, and seeks a way of explaining what she can do. This explanation is called a paradigm.

Paradigms are inherent to all the Traditions and to the Technocracy because a mage wouldn’t be able to cope otherwise. The Awakening bares the pure force of existence to the mage’s sight, and there she sees… nothing. Everything she believed about the universe, about the meaning of life, and about herself, means nothing. Only through the power of belief is any of it given form or meaning,and her belief now transcends the Masses, giving meaning to the raw potential before her.

It’s enough to give you a headache… or drive you mad. Faced with meaninglessness, many Awakened succumb to Quiet and possibly go Marauder, or,worse still, submit to having that void filled by Nephandic masters. Only a mage with some kind of belief in the way things are, or the way things should be, can get past this.

Paradigms fill this void, and provide a starting mage the foundation for their particular brand of magick. Foci, rotes, and even the general appearance of magick are all determined by the way that a mage thinks things should happen. While technomancers will explain gravity in long terms involving mass and rotation, attractions and equations, a Celestial Chorister would talk about the"way of the One", and a Dreamspeaker would discuss being "held to the bosom of Gaia". Moreover, paradigm gives the character a structured starting point toward Ascension. It allows her to sort through the mess in front of her and carve a path toward greater wisdom.

Each Tradition and Convention adheres to its own group paradigm, giving its initiates a ready-built foundation. Of course, individual mages may vary on this "group paradigm" in various ways, but each mage tends to stick with the heart of her mentor’s teachings. Magi of House Thig may use technological devices, but they still scrawl the names of God on each listening device. Each Celestial Chorister may pray to a different form of deity, but they all agree that their prayers do reach the One.

Orphans, on the other hand, don’t have a guiding hand through Awakening. A new mage, alone and without an explanation for what is happening, can quickly succumb to pain, avarice, and hopelessness. By the same token, however, this person is still Awakened; having seen the truth about reality, she is bound to develop some kind of rough paradigm. Maybe she reads a little too much La Vey and chooses the path of indulgence; maybe she practices some variant of Wicca;maybe she latches on to the teachings of a great philosopher, or bases herself on some mythical being. In any case, the arts of an orphan are still based on some form of belief, because without belief, there can be no Art.

What does this all mean for your gaming? Paradigm is a facet of character creation that is often overlooked, leaving a two-dimensional character with no beliefs, no goals, and no real power. For Mage, more than any other game, what a character believes is possibly the most important facet of its creation.

When I ran my most recent Mage game, I required each player to come up with a full paradigm as well as a history. While this was a seeming pain in the ass for them, it made role-playing their characters far easier than they expected. With paradigm in hand, they could easily pick their foci, basic rotes, and the very style of their magick. It also made relations between characters far spicier; the Euthanatos player spent half the game trying to justify his paradigm and his Tradition’s beliefs to the other players.

Paradigms are a good tool for Storytellers as well. Is one of your players ready for a Seeking? Grab their paradigm, compare it to their Nature, and find a weakness you think can be strengthened. Paradigms can help determine the vulgarity of a specific effect or the way that effect appears in game. NPC paradigms can be tailored to clash with the players’, making relations with such a person difficult.

In the end, paradigm is a tool to enhance role-playing and make each character unique. In Mage, belief is everything, and only true believers ever get anywhere.

NEXT MONTH: I hope to continue writing about the metaphysics of Mage and its implications for game play. More specifically, I hope to open Pandora’s Box a bit and pull out the ever-popular topic of adjudicating magickal effects within this air of subjectivity. Fun for the whole family…

by Adamus

"I am Khalid," said the black man with the bald head. "I will be your guide." Khalid’s reflecting sunglasses showed me my own face, a battered and twisted mask of desperate fear. "Your guide into the realm of pain." I shivered. Khalid stood a few feet away in front of the worn wooden chair I was tied onto.

He looked like something that walked right out of a bad horror flick. Tall, dark skin, his head perfectly bald, not a single hair visible. He was wearing a long black leather trenchcoat, buttoned up to the top, and a pair of small round sunglasses hid his eyes. Khalid was smiling, a soft menacing smile. His voice was actually quite soothing and comforting, and I would have enjoyed listening to him had I not been selected as this monster’s victim. 

I gathered the last of my willpower.

"Fuck you," I managed to whisper, although it lacked the defiance I would have liked to have put in it.

I was a mess. Most of the bones in my body were either broken or bruised, and somehow I was unable to use my Vitae to heal my wounds. Earlier I had tried to summon my inner beast, knowing that Frenzy might be my only chance of survival. I failed. Somehow my abductors had stripped me of the use of my Blood. It was almost as if I was human again. I would have welcomed the return of my humanity under any other circumstances.

Khalid kept smiling. "Tsk tsk, no need to employ profanity, my Toreador friend." He reached out and touched my forehead with two of his lean fingers. "It is best if you remain silent." Folding his hands serenely before him, Khalid closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly I felt as if my lungs burst out, extreme flashes of pain raging through my chest as my own blood ravaged my veins. Violently I coughed up blood, trying to bend over, but the ropes held me close to the chair. Vitae oozed from my mouth as the pain subsided.

"You may scream of course," Khalid said in a mild tone as he opened his eyes once more, barely visible behind the mirror surfaces of his shades. I couldn’t scream even if I wanted to. I was too weak to inhale the air that screaming required. Not that I would give him the pleasure of hearing my cries anyway.

I could hear a chuckle from behind Khalid. My eyes turned to look at the huge, demonic creature that leisurely sat on one of the wooden boxes the loft was packed with. "You find that amusing, John?" Khalid asked without turning towards the demon. John was a demon. Standing over 6′5", muscles bulging all over his body, his skin a pale purple, his eyes glowing continuously with a fierce red glare. Two large fangs protruding from a mouth that always seemed to carry a smug grin on it, his black hair rough and wild, accenting the horrific features of his face while at the same time revealing the rows of needles, earrings and safety-pins that decorated his long pointed ears. He looked like the Elf from Hell, but then worse. All-black, leather-and-chrome clothing enhanced his threatening appearance even more.

"Yeah, I think it’s fucking hilarious," said John with a voice that sounded like an earthquake combined with a speed-metal guitar going into overload. Khalid didn’t respond, but smiled at me again. I mentally braced myself for another ride on the pain-train.

"We could ask you all manners of questions regarding local Camarilla activities, pump you for information about havens, leading figures and the local underworld, but we won’t," Khalid stated. I wanted to ask him why the fuck then he and his monstrous companion had dragged me from my haven and tied me to a chair in the loft of some decaying mansion. Khalid continued after a short pause, no doubt meant to enhance the dramatic effect of his next sentence.

"Instead, we will test the resilience of a random Kindred victim, in order to make a valid assessment of the tenacity of our opposition in this charming little village." Bullshit of course. He just needed an excuse for torture. Khalid smiled warmly at me. "Let us proceed." My vision blurred as new waves of pain hit me, my body spasming involuntarily as my blood boiled in my veins. I could hear John’s sadistic laughter echoing through my mind. This was going to be a very long night…

by Millie

by Mark-Nehahra-D

by WwTalikwW@aol.com

Hello again, and thank you all for coming. Once again I have called this meeting to discuss a matter of utmost importance.

I didn’t do it.

  Every time you call one of these meetings I end up looking more and more like one of the Beasts from "Where the Wild Things are." I swear to god if……

  ::silently hands back Ventrue’s wallet::

::coughs and accepts the wallet:: No. It has come to my attention that..::stops and looks at Brujah:: You didn’t do what?

  Uh…nothing at all. Go on.

It has come to my attention that some of our children are unhappy with their unlife, and have asked if there is anything they can do to rescind their "curse". Ladies and Gentleman…I give you the answer.

Kill them for the insult of calling such an honor a curse?

Banish them to the darkest pits of the mind?

Force them to watch the 24 hour FULL HOUSE marathon?

Golconda.

UNGH!! ::stands up in his chair doing the "Tush Push":: My Golconda don’t want none unless she’s got buns hun! Malky got  BACK!

He sssaid GOLCONDA you fffool. Not Anaconda! ::pulls him to his seat:: Now ssssit.

Sssorry. Sssso Ssssorry. Perphapsss we can ssshare a Zima? Zzomezing Difffferzent?

And what, pray tell, is "Golconda"?

Golconda is a path of kindess and purity that can be followed in order to help humanity and eventually, if followed to the letter, restore to you….life.

::silence::

::Followed by most of the room erupting in loud laughter::

  What kind of bujo is this??

Ahhh, how poetic, the struggle of man against his inner beasts.

You have to be kidding.

Who would SEEK this?

<quietly> Tell me more.

  Who let the chick with the lobotomy scar in? JESUS..we HAVE to get screen doors for this place.

ORDER. Golconda is not an easy task, nor one that is often, or if ever achieved. Only through sheer willpower and control can you ever reach it.

Brujah’s chances have just been lowered to nil then.

  Keep it up freaky and your chances of makin’ it through this meeting are gunna be nil.

::smiles sweetly:: Care to be beside yourself? Literally?

Knock it off…..Any questions?

What was Ravnos doing to the stereo in your car? I mean he had wire clippers and..::looks around:: BUTTERFLIES!! LOOK AT ALL THE   BUTTERFLIES!!

  ::rubs his temple and smiles at Ventrue:: Malkavians, they are crazy, yes Kestra?

Is there another way of achieving this goal? Magic perhaps?

::looks from Ravnos to Tremere:: No. Only through…as cliche as this sounds. Only through purity of mind, body and spirit can it be achieved.

::wipes a tear:: How…profoundly exquisite. Only through  conquering yourself, can you truly be free.

::quietly:: This coming from someone who "conquers" herself on a nightly basis with machinery that would scare construction workers, but somehow always has "a headache".

::long pause of silence::

Anyone else?

I can’t believe that anyone would waste their unlife scraping on their hands and knees helping the FOOD.

Thissss patthhh you sssspeak offff. Many ffffall to temptation. Yessss?

Sssssusie Ssssellssss sssssea ssssshellsssss by the sssssea sssshore.

::nods, ignoring Malk:: Yes.
And no matter how far towards your goal you climb..if you fall…you must begin again.

The fruitless eternal struggle for true inner peace..how..

Delightfully twisted.

::quietly:: We shall unlock the secrets…and share them. For a  price of course.

  Ten pints says it was the Torrie childer whining. You’ll never hear a BRUJAH walking around crying about wanting to live again.

::coughs Troile coughs:: Sorry, had a true clan name in my throat.

No, you rabble are too busy fighting and causing trouble to worry about anything like life, the soul, ::quietly:: Calling a girl the next night. ::stifles a sob and looks away::

  ::winks to a paling Gio:: Yup. I scare construction workers…

AHEM…final thoughts?

I still say we kill the weak ones who complain of such things.

It’s a complete waste, but it will be fun to watch others try and fail.

Yesssss. It will be ffffun.

Thee you on the theee thaaaw Thet.

I’m..g-gunna…kill him.

::laughs:: Yeah.. like I’m the only one who’s dabbled in yer pasta  Guido.

::tugs at his shirt collar and looks away from Gio:: Uh..w-well then meeting adjourned…

by Jon Coplin

"So, like, we get to keep it tonight?" David examined the short, naked, green and wrinkly female goblin as it squatted and looked fearfully about the room of Kindred.

"Well, he did give it to me for my ‘pleasures’," replied Alex, the Tremere who had just returned from a meeting with the Unseelie Court’s Magus.

"Whatever. A pet goblin. Who’da thunk it?" David quipped as he looked at the goblin with more than a little hunger. He had heard that fae blood was dangerous, and it was also very good. He was debating the dangers of it. While he enjoyed existence as a vampire of Clan Brujah, he did miss the pleasures of alcohol and other drugs just a bit. "Well, if you’re not going to use her, can I?"

Alex considered and glanced to Rosemundi, an elder member of his Clan and the one who had taken charge of this coterie, much to David’s chagrin. She gave a slight shrug. Alex turned back to David, who was still examining the nervous gobliness hungrily.

"Go ahead."

The others of the coterie, Hakeem and Ishmael of Clan Ravnos, The Shadow of Clan Malkavian, Miriam of Clan Toreador, and Donovan, a Kiasyd of probationary status, watched this exchange with mild interest. Donovan debated on whether mentioning what he knew of Fae blood to David, but knowing his nature he decided he would refrain from comment. Also, judging from David’s knowledge of the Fae he had already expressed, he decided he might already know.

David smiled a bit wickedly. He didn’t even know where the hell they were, other than an Unseelie Court, but he was going to get some redemption out of this hellish experience. "Come here lil girl… time to get daddy’s din-din," he crooned, coaxing the gobliness towards him. She moved forward hesitantly.

"Now tilt your head back for me… I’m hungry." The gobliness suddenly brightened up and her hands suddenly gripped a withered dug and held it out for him. Several of the Kindred began snickering and others looked a bit sick.

David repressed a shudder. "No, you stupid thing, your neck," he said as he tilted her head back and sank his fangs into her.

The vitae hit with a rush. It was the greatest thing he had ever tasted. He drank slowly, savoring it. It was magic in his mouth. The rush overwhelmed him slowly as he drank and gobliness moaned. Desire grew in the heat of his Kiss, and suddenly he knew that he must have this goblin.

His head remained in a fog of desire as he licked the wounds. His voice sounded to him like it was coming through a wall. "Alex… what do you want for the goblin?"

Alex smiled to himself. "Three major boons," he replied without hesitancy.

"Deal," agreed David without even considering as he scooped the gobliness over his shoulder and carried her to the communal tub in the center of the room.

The events of the next hour I shall not repeat. Several were nauseated by the scene. Many laughed. One was impressed by the skill displayed by the enamored Brujah.

After a long, arduous session of lovemaking in the waters, David leaned forward to kiss the enchanting creatures neck, and nipped delicately, sipping again. What followed this, was even worse.

It will be described.

As he licked the wound closed and the gobliness continued to writhe and moan a bit, for such as she were not used to such pleasures, David began to shake.

Suddenly, vitae erupted from his mouth. And then his nose. It began to spray from his eyes and ears as his very body erupted in a shower of crimson rain, drenching both himself and his now panicky and frightened partner.

Most decided to stare at the walls and pretend they didn’t just see that. The Tremere just laughed and decided what to do with their assinine coterie member. Everyone agreed on one thing that night.

The Fae, from the most powerful Red Caps and Trolls to the lowliest Goblins, were indeed very dangerous.