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Golconda
<Ventrue>
Hello again, and thank you all for coming. Once again I have called this meeting to discuss a matter of utmost importance.
<Brujah>
I didn’t do it.
<Gangrel>
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……
<Ravnos>
::silently hands back Ventrue’s wallet::
<Ventrue>
::coughs and accepts the wallet:: No. It has come to my attention that..::stops and looks at Brujah:: You didn’t do what?
<Brujah>
Uh…nothing at all. Go on.
<Ventrue>
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.
<Assamite>
Kill them for the insult of calling such an honor a curse?
<Lasombra>
Banish them to the darkest pits of the mind?
<Malk>
Force them to watch the 24 hour FULL HOUSE marathon?
<Ventrue>
Golconda.
<Malk>
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!
<Set>
He sssaid GOLCONDA you fffool. Not Anaconda! ::pulls him to his seat:: Now ssssit.
<Malk>
Sssorry. Sssso Ssssorry. Perphapsss we can ssshare a Zima? Zzomezing Difffferzent?
<Tzim>
And what, pray tell, is "Golconda"?
<Ventrue>
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::
<Ravnos>
What kind of bujo is this??
<Toreador>
Ahhh, how poetic, the struggle of man against his inner beasts.
<Nosferatu>
You have to be kidding.
<Lasombra>
Who would SEEK this?
<Salubri>
<quietly> Tell me more.
<Brujah>
Who let the chick with the lobotomy scar in? JESUS..we HAVE to get screen doors for this place.
<Ventrue>
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.
<Tzim>
Brujah’s chances have just been lowered to nil then.
<Brujah>
Keep it up freaky and your chances of makin’ it through this meeting are gunna be nil.
<Tzim>
::smiles sweetly:: Care to be beside yourself? Literally?
<Ventrue>
Knock it off…..Any questions?
<Malk>
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!!
<Ravnos>
::rubs his temple and smiles at Ventrue:: Malkavians, they are crazy, yes Kestra?
<Tremere>
Is there another way of achieving this goal? Magic perhaps?
<Ventrue>
::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.
<Toreador>
::wipes a tear:: How…profoundly exquisite. Only through conquering yourself, can you truly be free.
<Giovanni>
::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::
<Ventrue>
Anyone else?
<Gangrel>
I can’t believe that anyone would waste their unlife scraping on their hands and knees helping the FOOD.
<Set>
Thissss patthhh you sssspeak offff. Many ffffall to temptation. Yessss?
<Malk>
Sssssusie Ssssellssss sssssea ssssshellsssss by the sssssea sssshore.
<Ventrue>
::nods, ignoring Malk:: Yes.
And no matter how far towards your goal you climb..if you fall…you must begin again.
<Toreador>
The fruitless eternal struggle for true inner peace..how..
<Tzim>
Delightfully twisted.
<Nosferatu>
::quietly:: We shall unlock the secrets…and share them. For a price of course.
<Brujah>
Ten pints says it was the Torrie childer whining. You’ll never hear a BRUJAH walking around crying about wanting to live again.
<Malk>
::coughs Troile coughs:: Sorry, had a true clan name in my throat.
<Toreador>
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::
<Brujah>
::winks to a paling Gio:: Yup. I scare construction workers…
<Ventrue>
AHEM…final thoughts?
<Assamite>
I still say we kill the weak ones who complain of such things.
<Tzim>
It’s a complete waste, but it will be fun to watch others try and fail.
<Set>
Yesssss. It will be ffffun.
<Malk>
Thee you on the theee thaaaw Thet.
<Giovanni>
I’m..g-gunna…kill him.
<Brujah>
::laughs:: Yeah.. like I’m the only one who’s dabbled in yer pasta Guido.
<Ventrue>
::tugs at his shirt collar and looks away from Gio:: Uh..w-well then meeting adjourned…
The Dangers of the Fae
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.
Posted in Storytelling, World of Darkness
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Fabienne
Years ago, a childe was borne,
Into immortal death.
He gave her life, he gave her blood,
And stole away her breath.
Her tattered remains tossed about,
And put into this world.
With bloody hands and bloody lips,
Her dark lashes unfurled.
To play the puppeteer, she was.
To pull and pluck the strings.
To guide the kine and tell the story.
Oh, what wonderous things!
She grew tall beneath the light of the moon,
And her skin became pale with it’s tears.
Her lips and her eyes, a black gift from the night,
A visage to haunt all her years.
"Fabienne, Fabienne,"
Comes a sweet voice from her past.
"Not here," growls the voice,
Behind her harlequin’s mask.
The Embrace
It gazes upon me with false Death’s lust
It’s life had been taken , returned to the dust
It stares at me …. pale faced Death
It’s heart still beats , an immortal jest
It survives by the death , murder , taken life
An Immortal battle , Eternal Strife
The creature now speaks , an inhuman tone
It freezes my soul , to the core to the bone
It stands before me , a creature of night
My sanity forgotten , the fear of the sight
It exists without moral , all sins thought so mild
The Devil himself , or at least his dead child
It takes those so innocent for a taste of their soul
The shadows brings bloodshed , death black as coal
It stalks prey so helpless to play this mad game
The prey becomes victim each night it’s the same
It pauses but a moment to observe its new prey
A creature of night , denied forever the day
I saw then at least , I looked Death in the face
Death buried it’s fangs …. coup de grace
Floating in darkness , I feel life at last
In death I am healed , the ecstasy vast
The feeling of rebirth , the cold taint of ice
In a current of joy , I am crushed by the vice
Life fades away , in death I’m reborn
I’m no longer whole , my soul has been torn
It’s essence feels my body , a new life that’s not real
I lie dead in the snow , in a world I can’t feel
I’m no longer mortal , humanity ripped away
Forever the night , denied by the day
My heart still beats , but I breathe no breath
Immortal unlife , no escape from the Death
Praetorian
Praetorian
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…
Posted in Storytelling, Vampire
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Demonic Investments
An official ruling for this phenomenon can be found in the Storyteller’s guide to the Sabbat. Below, you find a fan-created re-write. The material below can be considered offending to some, especially those of religious background. Reader discretion is advised. Know yourself.
If one decides to deal with the devil, one looses his soul. Therefore, every (N-)PC begins his (un-)life with 10 soul points. Every level of demonic investment bought requires the selling of one soul point. As our soul defines who we are, it is impossible to have a Humanity or path of enlightenment rating higher then your Soul rating, since your soul defines your humanity. If you are tricked into selling your soul and find out that you have in fact sold your soul, you may make a conscience roll. If you succeed, you may show redemption (see below). If not, then not.
If your soul ever reaches the 0 rating, you have completely handed your soul over to Satan. If you reach this stage, there are two roads which you can follow:
A: Show Redemption.
Take a derangement to re-buy the first point of your path of enlightenment or Humanity. With the assistance of a spiritual man or woman, you may prey to whatever name you use for the Divine one and beg him for forgiveness. During one session, make a conscience roll (diff. of 10-True Faith rating of the helper). For every success, regain a soul point. You may now begin to re-buy your Humanity or path of enlightenment. As soon as you reach your complete soul again, you loose all your demonic investments. This is a long and painful process and should be role-played as such.
B: Deal for the Devil.
If you have no intention of bowing down for the Lord, you may just as well embrace the Devil. For this, you replace your current path of enlightenment with the path of Inner Winter (see below) and take a derangement (religion based is appropriate). You may now start to buy souls for Satan yourself. For every three soul points you accumulate for Satan, you get one point of Dark Soul. This Dark Soul replaces your normal Soul. At no point can your Dark soul exceed your path of Inner Winter rating, because this path defines your "devilishness". Buying dark soul points costs 2*current rating of soul points. The first point of Dark soul costs 3 soul points, like for any other path. You may also spend dark soul points as normal soul points and buy even more demonic investments.
Once you’ve chosen this latter road, you have become a demon in the making. You are now a member of the local demonic temple(introduced by the one who bought your final soul points from you), in which you will take the most bottom position. This is based on your Dark Soul rating. Those with the highest Dark Soul are higher in this hierarchy. As your Dark Soul rating grows, it will begin to show on you as well(The changes in appearance are not important, they are mearly a representation for the state the follower is in):
| Dark Soul rating | Symptom |
| 01 | Third nipple |
| 02 | Holy water does aggravated damage |
| 03 | Touch of a cross, held by an individual with True Faith does aggravated damage. Make a Willpower roll to advance towards one. |
| 04 | Your eyes turn yellow. |
| 05 | Extremely hairy lowerlegs. |
| 06 | Only raw meat and blood nourish. |
| 07 | Fingers and toes fuse to two fingers and a thumb |
| 08 | Your skin turns red. |
| 09 | A Sulfurous odor surrounds you. |
| 10 | Skin thinkens to resist fire more easily (diff. of fire soak rolls=-1, diff. of toutch sensitive actions=+2.) |
Finally, as one reaches Dark Soul 10 (and has thus reached path of Inner Winter 10), one is required to commit suicide (see hierarchy of sins). If this is done, then that individual will be reborn as a lesser demon. Usually, the sacrifice is a ritual affair, with all the temple’s followers present. As his body of the one who was to commit suicide falls to the ground the other members of the temple begin their celebration and a three days and nights long party commences. During this time, the body is not touched. Then, the new highest in rank of the temple takes the body to a back room were it will be eaten by the animals of the temple. Once the last piece of flesh has been removed from the skeleton (usually by maggots, but some templars are known to boil the skeleton as to hasten this process), the Dark Soul of this newly formed demon rises as a demon in hell and makes his way beck to earth (if he desires). The demon has complete memory of his previous life. As demons have their own powers, I don’t think that retaining Disciplines, Gifts, etc. are in order.
The path of Inner Winter:
Ethics:
Mortals are sacrificial sheep and should be treated as such. Personal gain is useless, except as a sales pitch. Representatives of the Divine are the best subjects of practical jokes. Show reverence to and obey those higher then you on the path of Inner Winter, for they are closer to Satan then you.
Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt!!
Common Traits:
Talents: Empathy, Subterfuge.
Skills: Etiquette, Performance, Melee, Haggling, Seduction.
Knowledges: Occult, Medicine, Demon Lore.
Common Followers:
Anyone (bwuhahahahah!!!)
Hierarchy of Sins:
10: Refuse to sacrifice yourself for Satan.
09: Refuse to sacrifice those close to you for Satan.
08: Refuse to take the souls of those close to you for Satan.
07: Refuse to torture and murder for Satan.
06: Aid anyone not on this path without personal gain (for Satan, of course).
05: Show sympathy for the weak.
04: Refuse to take someone’s soul for Satan.
03: Refuse to assist someone else on this path.
02: Refuse to corrupt, like bring someone into the grasp of Satan’s machinations.
01: Refuse to defile a holy place.
Dave Hairy
by DoxWire
(Dave Hairy is a Glasswalker Galliard, His column has been read in many Sept newsletters nationally)
So I’m waiting in line to at Blockbuster video, Not because I was going to rent anything, but because we got a tip from the locak sept leader that the company was owned by Pentex and the staff were all Fomori. So basically we were going to purge the place of evil (read: spill some blood) Ok So I’m waiting in line with a video I’m pretending to rent (Dusk Till Dawn, I always laugh when the vampires die.) Anyway this guy bumps into me, and doesn’t even say excuse me.
I mean, talk about rude. He made me drop my tape on the floor, and didn’t even help to pick it up. What really erked me about this guy was the way he was dressed. You could tell by looking at him that he wasn’t a mortal. This guy had "Supernatural" written all over him. First off.. he was wearing a trenchcoat. Who wears a trench coat anymore? honestly? No one. and not only was this a trenchcoat, but he had a face concealing haircut and a pair of sunglasses.
To top it all off, he had a sawed off shotgun concealed in his coat. (I could tell because he decided to pull it on me after he bumped into me.) Oddly enough, none of the typical mortals seemed to notice the sawed off shotgun being pulled out of his jacket. Unfortunatley for me, I had already used my gifts to short out the cameras in the store so they wouldn’t see me killing the fomori clerks. Anyway, I cut the gunman in half and then went up to the counter and killed the two clerks. I got lucky on the second one, he ripped his tentacle out of his shirt and had me by the collar when my late as usual packmates came in and ripped it off of him.
Anyway, back to what I was saying, I can’t beleive how rude people are nowadays. I mean, even though this guy wasn’t a mortal, he didn’t have to pull a gun on me, I was just trying to kill some video clerks, it’s not like I was doing anything that might hurt this guy. Of course, once I realized he was going to shoot me I had to do something. But after I separated his torso from his hips, I apologized.
Anyway, It took about an hour to clean up the blood from trenchcoat boy and the two Fomori. So we decided to go relax at a bar. Unfortunatley, EVERY bar we came to was exactly the same. for some reason no mundane people hung out at ANY bar. There were nothing but supernaturals, Breaking the veil here and there. And there were at least 10 damn Trenchcoats in every single one of them. Of course.. Its hard to hang in clubs when 22 year old Elder garou come in, along with their so-ancient-they-are-gods Vampire dates. Hell, one time I saw some guy come in saying he was Caine.. Who I Guess is the leader of the leeches.
We separated his head from his collarbone. But you know what? We apologized afterwards.
Every Corpse is Sacred, An Ode to the Giovanni
There are Brujahs in the world.
There are Ventrue.
There are Tremere and Catiff, and then
There are those that follow the god Set, but
I’ve never been one of them.
I’m a Giovanni,
And have been since the day I was born,
And the one thing they say about the Giovanni:
They’ll take your corpse, even if it isn’t warm.
You don’t have to be a six-footer.
You don’t have to have a great brain.
You don’t have to have any clothes on. You’re
A Giovanni the moment the Don came,
Because
Every corpse is sacred.
Every corpse is mine.
If a corpse is lacerated,
I think they look just fine.
Every corpse is sacred.
Every corpse is great.
If my sire steals mine,
I’ll be quite irate.
Let the Sabbat get theirs
From Camarilla whores.
All those sect followers
Are really just big bores.
Every corpse is wanted.
Every corpse is good.
Every corpse is needed
We’re recycling our food!
Brujah, Pander, Gangrel,
Spill theirs without a care,
But Caine loves those who don’t just
Do that anywhere.
Every corpse is sacred.
Every corpse is great.
If my sire steals mine,
I’ll be quite irate.
Every corpse is wanted.
Every corpse is good.
Every corpse is needed
We’re recycling our food!
Every corpse is useful.
Every corpse is fine.
Some say there’s a limit and
We’ve done crossed that line!
Let them all cremate theirs
and stick them in an urn.
There’s no way I’ll let my
Decaying lover burn!
Every corpse is wanted.
Every corpse is good.
Every corpse is needed
We’re recycling our food!
Every corpse is sacred.
Every corpse is great.
If my sire steals mine,
I’ll be quite iraaate!
Sweet Childe Of Mine
To Melody: "Sweet Childe Of Mine" by GNR
She’s got a smile that it seems to me,
Reminds me of insane dentistry,
Where every kiss,
Was as dark as the night blue sky.
Now at night when I see her face,
She’s dragging victims away to that castle place,
And if they’re there too long,
Their bodies she’s got to hide……
OhhhOhh Sweet Childe of Mine
OhhhOhh Sweet Childe of Mine
She’s got eyes of the darkest skies,
As to her ghouls, she’s causing pain.
A white hot poker to the thighs,
And their tears will fall like rain.
Her hair reminds me, framing her angel’s face,
A devil behind her bite,
And I grin as I watch her, as she maims,
While my chest just swells with pride.
OhhhOhh Sweet Childe of Mine
OhhhOhh Sweet Childe of Mine
Where did she go
Where did she go now
Where did she go
Sweet Childe
Where did she go now