Post by Tami on Mar 4, 2007 9:51:04 GMT -5
The Damned
The nights of the Dark medieval world belong to the beings known and feared as vampires. These creatures call themselves Cainites because they trace their lineage to Caine, first childe of Adam and Eve, and murderer of his brother Abel. This age is their twightlight empire, a time when vampires are lords of the night and exsist without fear. Cainites stand atop anchient parapets and cast long and terrible shadows over all they survey. Froom rome to Paris and beyond, they stalk the darkened city streets like seductive succubae, while war-bands of vampires clash on silent moor and hills, settleing anchient disputes with blood and ashes. While most mortal huddle behind closed doors, vampire hold nocturnal courts and play their games of macabre intrigue. They drift in and out of the palaces of kings and queens, toying with the lives of mortals with no more thought than when playing games of dice. Not all vampires clamor like moths to the cities and mortal courts, though. Some Cainites, both feral and mystic, venture into the wilds beyond the city walls. Here they carve out kingdoms for themselves, rulling over covens of lesser vampires and cowering humans. In a wolrd of superstition ad faith, Cainites ride through the night like the Four Horsemen, leaving death, strife and misery in their wake.
The Children of Caine waer many guises, from the crowns of monarchs to the robes of preist, but all vampire must eventually fave their truth that they are monsters, creatures that cloak themselves with the night and crave the blood of the living. From this curse there is no escape. Each is a cold-blooded killer, a sublime predator feeding on the living with a parasitic intensity that places them beyond the light of God and the company of man. Cainites are abominations, animated corpses poessed by a remorseless hunger that ultimately consumes everything they once cared for, damning their souls forever. All Cainites are cursed, and they bear this mark as their birthright; they will never know the salvation of heaven or the torture of Hell. Some are all too happy to pay this price, content with the power they obtain in the prosess: the mystic gifts of blood magic, inhuman strength and reflexes, and above all, immortality. Many, however, lament their transformation into vampires. In mourning, some Cainites seek redemption in hopes of reclaiming what they have lost – their souls.
The Trinity of Caine
As the progenitor of all vampires, Caine is worshipped and feared as creator and destroyer. If anything remotely unites Cainites in these tumultuous times, it is their belief in and reverence for their progenitor. Worship of Caine varies from Cainite to Cainite, but the so-called "Trinity of Caine" as Dark Father, Wanderer, and Dark Tyrant is the most widely accepted form in the 13th century. The influence is hard to miss, and most of the iconography is drawn directly from Christian sources. Pagan, Muslim and Jewish Cainites color the Trinity of Caine with their own symbols and icons, though.
The Dark Father
Many Cainites worship Caine as their progenitor, the Dark Father whose sin reaches down through the endless ages to curse them, but who is also their link to God. Unlike mortals who have only their faith to sustain their beliefs, Cainites can look to Caine as proof that God does exist. This proof vindicates vampires as divine creatures, cursed but nonetheless blessed and touched by God. If they have been cast into darkness, it is because of the will of God, and many Cainite theologians insist that this means there is light, and that God exists in that light.
The Wanderer
The figure of Caine as mystic is both strong and contentious. Many Christian Cainites consider this portrayal too pagan for their tastes. Nonetheless, all vampires feel the inherent isolation and loneliness of being Cainites and hence look to the Wanderer as a guide to help them cope with their curse. Melancholic, the Wanderer waits, knowing that a reckoning will one night be at hand. He hopes that a new path may be found in the wilderness away from his children--one that leads to redemption.
The Dark Tyrant
This last incarnation strikes fear into even the most ancient vampires. The Book of Nod speaks of a final judgment when Caine will return and stand above his race as tyrant. He will condemn many to ashes while others will fall, destroyed in the endless hunger of their own sires. Once the ashes settle, the legend continues, Caine will rule for 1,000 years, and a great darkness will descend over the land. Some Cainite mystics claim that the time for the Dark Tyrant is at hand, and that Caine will soon return to reclaim his kingdom.
(revised core book p22)
The nights of the Dark medieval world belong to the beings known and feared as vampires. These creatures call themselves Cainites because they trace their lineage to Caine, first childe of Adam and Eve, and murderer of his brother Abel. This age is their twightlight empire, a time when vampires are lords of the night and exsist without fear. Cainites stand atop anchient parapets and cast long and terrible shadows over all they survey. Froom rome to Paris and beyond, they stalk the darkened city streets like seductive succubae, while war-bands of vampires clash on silent moor and hills, settleing anchient disputes with blood and ashes. While most mortal huddle behind closed doors, vampire hold nocturnal courts and play their games of macabre intrigue. They drift in and out of the palaces of kings and queens, toying with the lives of mortals with no more thought than when playing games of dice. Not all vampires clamor like moths to the cities and mortal courts, though. Some Cainites, both feral and mystic, venture into the wilds beyond the city walls. Here they carve out kingdoms for themselves, rulling over covens of lesser vampires and cowering humans. In a wolrd of superstition ad faith, Cainites ride through the night like the Four Horsemen, leaving death, strife and misery in their wake.
The Children of Caine waer many guises, from the crowns of monarchs to the robes of preist, but all vampire must eventually fave their truth that they are monsters, creatures that cloak themselves with the night and crave the blood of the living. From this curse there is no escape. Each is a cold-blooded killer, a sublime predator feeding on the living with a parasitic intensity that places them beyond the light of God and the company of man. Cainites are abominations, animated corpses poessed by a remorseless hunger that ultimately consumes everything they once cared for, damning their souls forever. All Cainites are cursed, and they bear this mark as their birthright; they will never know the salvation of heaven or the torture of Hell. Some are all too happy to pay this price, content with the power they obtain in the prosess: the mystic gifts of blood magic, inhuman strength and reflexes, and above all, immortality. Many, however, lament their transformation into vampires. In mourning, some Cainites seek redemption in hopes of reclaiming what they have lost – their souls.
The Trinity of Caine
As the progenitor of all vampires, Caine is worshipped and feared as creator and destroyer. If anything remotely unites Cainites in these tumultuous times, it is their belief in and reverence for their progenitor. Worship of Caine varies from Cainite to Cainite, but the so-called "Trinity of Caine" as Dark Father, Wanderer, and Dark Tyrant is the most widely accepted form in the 13th century. The influence is hard to miss, and most of the iconography is drawn directly from Christian sources. Pagan, Muslim and Jewish Cainites color the Trinity of Caine with their own symbols and icons, though.
The Dark Father
Many Cainites worship Caine as their progenitor, the Dark Father whose sin reaches down through the endless ages to curse them, but who is also their link to God. Unlike mortals who have only their faith to sustain their beliefs, Cainites can look to Caine as proof that God does exist. This proof vindicates vampires as divine creatures, cursed but nonetheless blessed and touched by God. If they have been cast into darkness, it is because of the will of God, and many Cainite theologians insist that this means there is light, and that God exists in that light.
The Wanderer
The figure of Caine as mystic is both strong and contentious. Many Christian Cainites consider this portrayal too pagan for their tastes. Nonetheless, all vampires feel the inherent isolation and loneliness of being Cainites and hence look to the Wanderer as a guide to help them cope with their curse. Melancholic, the Wanderer waits, knowing that a reckoning will one night be at hand. He hopes that a new path may be found in the wilderness away from his children--one that leads to redemption.
The Dark Tyrant
This last incarnation strikes fear into even the most ancient vampires. The Book of Nod speaks of a final judgment when Caine will return and stand above his race as tyrant. He will condemn many to ashes while others will fall, destroyed in the endless hunger of their own sires. Once the ashes settle, the legend continues, Caine will rule for 1,000 years, and a great darkness will descend over the land. Some Cainite mystics claim that the time for the Dark Tyrant is at hand, and that Caine will soon return to reclaim his kingdom.
(revised core book p22)