The Chronicle of Secrets

The Signs of Gehenna

Quiet! Hear the Raven's cry!
The stillness of the wind
rising hot on the street
the towers hide
the darkness of the day.

When Lasombra's dreams come true
on the day when the moon runs as blood
and the sun rises black in the sky
that is the day of the Damned
When Caine's children wil rise again.

And the world will turn cold
and unclan things will boil up from the ground
and great storms will roll, lightning will light
fires, animals will fester and their bodies,
twisted will fall.

So, too, our Grandsires will rise
from the ground
They will break their fast on the
first part of us
They will consume us whole.

On the second day, Caine will return
And call his Children to the meeting place
on the site of the First City he will beckon
them, sitting on his basalt throne.

And Caine will call aloud the names of those to be destroyed,
for their crimes are too great
and all those who have consumed the heart's blood of their sire 
will be brought to the Black Throne
and made to drink of Caine's blood
And Caine's blood will eat their blood
And the Dark Mother herself will be brought forth
and there, in the valley of Enoch, will there be battle
a duel of Dark Father and Dark Mother
The Demon Queen will bite deep
The Damned King will bite deeper
We will not know the thing which will happen,
but the sky will tear apart, and the earth below
And the forces of Hell will pour out of the ground.

On the Third Day, there will be silence
the crows will feed on the carrion
plaugue will dance amongst the ruins
the last of the Wild Ones will leave this place
the last of the Moon-Beasts will fight 
and fall
And the Antediluvians will make for themselves
an Empire of Blood
They will rule with iron talons
They will wrench the hearts of all still alive
And the full sum of the earth's living will come
and live in the Last City, called Gehenna
And there will be a reign of one thousand years.
and there will be no love, or life, or pity,
the mighty will be as slaves
the virtuous will be made foul
every good gift, and every perfect gift will be tainted
by the Father of Darkness, whose power will come from 
the nether realms.

When the snows consume the earth
and the sun gutters like a candle in the wind
then, and only then, will there be born a woman,
the last Daughter of Eve,
and in her will be decided the fate of all.

And you will not know this woman, except by the
mark of the moon on her,
and she will face treachery, hatred, and pain
but in her is the last hope.

And you will 
know these last 
times by the
Time of Thin 
Blood, which will
mark vampires that 
cannot Beget,
you will know them by
the Clanless
who will come to rule
you will know them by the Wild
Ones, 
who will hunt us even in the
strongest city,
you will know them by the awakening
of some of the eldest,
the Crone will awaken and consume all
you will know these times, for a black 
hand will rise up and choke all those
who oppose it
and those who eat heart's blood will 
flourish
and the Kindred will crowd each to 
his own, and vitae will be as rare as
diamonds.

Mark these signs, they ae
coming! Gehenna
will be on earth.
Mark the 
shadow which 
flies
mark the dragon 
which rises
mark the darkness
which moves
mark the shadow of the 
moon
mark the angel that dies
mark the maiden who weeps
mark the children
Embraced
mark the Clanless who 
run

And there will be a
time,
when Sire will
drive out Childer
when Sire will
abandon Childer
to the sun's mercy
and there will be no 
mercy for the Clanless
there will be no mercy
for the Clanless,
mongerl though they be
upon their forgotten Sires
shall be the curse
of Auriel
upon their hateful Sires
shall be the curse 
that comes of crosing
Caine
upon their lazy Sires
shall be the curse
of the hunters
hunted.

Those among the Clanless have no
path to follow
no family to name
no generation to hold
no traditions to keep
no customs to give
no hospitality to give
Why do you make these orphans?
Why do you leave them to the street?
They are the dark seed of our undoing
they will band togather with those who
hate us
they will follow Brujah's Childer
they will make the blood run red
they are going to kill the dead 
they are going to eat our kin
they will scram and bash our doors
they will cry aloud for justice
Clanless, all, they will wash over our 
walls
Clanless, all, they will know secret ways
Clanless, all they are Lilith's foul get
Clanless, all they are newly Awake
Clanless, all! No family, no sign, no
loyalty, no elder.

Beware those who walk without a clan,
for they will be our undoing,
Pity them! Adopt the orphas where you 
can.
But watch them. In them is the bad seed
of their Sire.

Of Love
And they asked Caine the old Father
"Why do you command us not to Embrace
those we love?"
And Caine said to them, "Love is the sweet rain
which falls down from the One Above.
Love is the gift of life.
Remember ye not Auriel's Curse?
That we are to eat only ashes. drink only blood?
Blood is not sweet rain. Our drink takes Life."
And then Caine's eyes got the look of Visions.
and he quieted, then he spoke:
"But if ever one of us
is gifted
with the love of a mortal
without Command
or Awe
without compulsion
a Love given freely
then that Love will be as
the gentle rain
to even the lowliest of us.
And thought we will not Embrace it,
it will feed us as if we supped at our Father's table
it will satisfy our deepest thirst.
But harken ye, my children!
The Children of Seth will always hate us again and again,
for we are their predators
we are their Masters
and they know this, deep in their soul.
Look not for Love among them! They will not give it.
Be not a fool."

Of the Moon-Beasts

What of the
Moon-Beasts who
hunt us Father?
"there will come a time, in
the last days, 
when the Moon-Beasts will grow uneasy
and they will be dying out
like a sick wolf who must leave the pack
they will
fight rather than die sick
and so they will find us
and they will kill us.

Mark ye well, the Clan of the Beast
For they will hold the key
they will make the way of protection
they will make the way of trickery
they will make the way of peace.

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