Vampyre: The Masquerade

Vampyre: Our Tale

Night settles in an unfamiliar place. It is somewhere by the water, a breeze is blowing in. There is no moon. Somewhere, in the distance, lights of a far off city twinkle in the blackness, shimmering off of the water of the lake. There are tall trees everywhere. Midst the smell of pine and cedar, there is another, haunting fragrance, not clear enough to identify, not faint enough to get lost in the smells of the woods. A path leads away from this place up an incline, through the trees.

The trail meanders up the mountain for a while, the whole way, the mysterious scent remains. The trail makes its way past a cliff, from there, the entire lake can be seen. the beach is a long way below. Crossing over a log lying in a gap in the path here, there is a turn ahead. The path cuts through a barren, steep patch of rock where only lichen grow. Some moss is observed in the weather-worn crevasses in the rock. After a few more feet, the path returns to forest.

Somewhere ahead on the inclined path, a faint light spills onto the forest floor, throwing strange moving shadows on the ground. Further, the trees give way to a clearing, on its own cliff, overlooking the water. In this clearing stands a house that looks both like a fairytale dream and a feverish futuristic nightmare.

The house, the source of the light in the woods, seems dark but for a single candle glowing in one window. Though the house and the woods are silent, voices are audible, like echoing shadows in the darkness.

"The lightning flashes. It is time to light another candle. Soon they'll all be gone, and none left to light the night by --"
"--Light the way by--"
"--Who would think to look for one such as me here? Who would look in the streets or in the gutter--"
"--even in the cozy house next door?"
"There, there Greymalkin, the time is coming soon. We must wait but a precious moment more for those who would be part of our grand affair, our dangerous dealings."
"Wait! Is there something there I spy? A light around the corridor?"
"It is! It is, Greymalkin!"
"And so it shall be....."

Thunder rumbles in the distance and, near the door of the house, a slight figure appears. It beckons toward the inside of the house, out of the impending storm. Following it inside, the rain tumbles down as the door closes.

The figure stands in the middle of the foyer here. It removes a cloak, and in the dim light appears to be a woman. She leads into the hallway. There are three doors on either side, each with a different patterned doorway -- all locked. Muffled voices make statements from behind the doors:

"The guy's a crack-pot!"
"Have you ever tasted anything sweeter?"
"What would you do if we were both living?"
"I am not a number!"
"Where are we going?"
"What is this place?"

There is a door at the far end of the hallway which is open a fraction with a soft glow spilling into the hall.

Upon entering, a table is the sole clearly delineated thing in the room. Figures are vaguely visible at the edge of the blackness, but are too far into the shadows to be seen by the light of the sole candle on the table. There are items on the table: A dragon headed cane, assorted medallions, various odd types of weaponry, several different decks of cards, with a tarot deck in Celtic cross pattern lain on the head of the table, articles of clothing, rings and other jewelry, matches, pen and papers, and other assorted everyday objects.

The woman lights a match and puts it to the wick of candle. In the flash of light her face is now seen. Her hair is fair with fiery highlights, framing her pale face. Her eyes are blue grey daggers that cut into a person's soul. She is dressed all in black. She smiles softly, her eyes sparkling, and motions to a bookshelf. Removing a large, tattered, ancient-looking volume, she opens it to a page and turns back, with an enigmatic smile.

"So are you ready? We begin tonight a story, the type which we've never sung before. An adventure I lay before you. Challenges shall await you -- all -- Who one is is the safest place to start, but remember, nothing in this world is safe. Nothing is static. Nothing is sacred. Who is your character?"

Introduction

The Vampire games had started, in part, as an attempt to play RPGs outside the Group. As you may have guessed, this failed.

I must admit that as of late, my storytelling hasn't been as dark, seductive, evil, thought-provoking, or scary as it once was. In fact some games have become thoughtless fluffy mind candy. I'm going to, however, reminisce about the good ol' days...

Lately, this game seems to have split into two halves. One, the first half, with a complete cast of immortal player characters, I've named "Beyond Time". This game jumps from Washington D.C. to New York City to Toronto. This actually connects several different story lines. The second was started much later, and stars a mixed cast of Kindred, vampire hunters, and priests. (What a mix...) This takes place for the most part in New Orleans, and is called, not surprisingly, "New Orleans".

In both halves, I've thrown in many pop culture references. You'll find in these pages references to Highlander (both the movies and series), X-Files, Babylon 5, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Beyond Time

Cast of Characters

Main characters:

Other characters:

Non-player characters:

And the Leaders of Good and Evil, aka the Unicorn and the Dragon:

In the Beginning...

In the beginning, there was Adellia. Adellia was eccentric, but that's a given for a Toreador. Adellia spent her days and nights in the attic of the Smithsonian Archeological Museum in Washington D.C. She made her bed in sarcophagi and kept all of her things inside them, too. This was good.

One night as she was preparing to hunt she noticed a new, young, handsome guard on duty. And after her usual haunting tricks he still wasn't scared off. So she drank him. It was the sweetest, most potent blood she'd ever tasted. She drained him dry. Or so she thought.

As she made her way to dump the body in the Potomac, he began to stir. So she brought him back to her lair, and gave him the choice of immortality, and fed him of her own blood, to make him progeny. When they both awoke the next night, she found her childe to be beautiful. This was also good. He took her to his old apartment to gather his things. And she noticed he had abilities not of her clan. Was he truly her childe?

They returned to the haven, laden with his belongings and full from their hunt. He spoke to her his name-- Damien Black. Things weren't quite right, but as they slept, she thought all was good.

The next night they awoke unable to leave their sarcophagi. They were moving. This was not good. Their containers moved all night, and it was morning when they stopped.

To be continued at a later date...

New Orleans

Cast of characters

Main characters:

Also featuring Adellia and Natalia, from "Beyond Time"

The Legacy Team: Father van Richten's partners:

Other Non-Player Characters:

A Dark and Stormy Night...

It was a dark and stormy night in New Orleans. The roads were slick, and Michael Bearclaw and his niece were riding down the back roads in their semi.

Michael was very eccentric, even for a Gangrel. He was an outcast, running from clan to clan because he had broken the Masquerade. He had told a mortal, his niece and her family, about the existence of vampires-- he himself being one. His sister and her husband had been murdered not long after find out this revelation. Michael was given sole custody of the young girl. She had been at the time about six, right afterward. They had been traveling for several years now. The girl was now closing in on her twelfth year and had never really had any formal schooling. Her uncle had taught her everything and she learned more on their day breaks when he had to sleep. She would go onto computer and surf the 'Net, looking for more things to learn, and checking up on her uncle's real multi-million dollar business. They lived in the oversized cab of the semi and in part of the trailer. The rest of the truck they used to haul various items. They lived quietly enough in their own way.

As Michael and his niece traveled down the road on this particular night, in the headlights, by the side of the road, they saw a man hitchhiking, huddled in his coat. They stopped to give him a ride, it being a particularly nasty evening, and found it to be a teenager who called himself Conrad Jaret. In gratitude, he played his guitar and the three of them sang as they traveled along. Bearclaw's niece immediately identified their new passenger as a vampire.

Also to be continued at a later time...

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