aine's
childer are called "the Damned' and none embody this more than do the wretched
Nosferatu. Nosferatu bear an ancient and terrible curse, for they are no
longer made in God's image; the vampiric transformation warps their forms,
rendering them abominations in the eys of men and angels. Outcast from
mortal and vampire society alike, these misshapen horrors haunt the catacombs,
wastes and other hidden places of the Dark Medieval world.
Nosferatu often avoid destruction by trafficking in information. Their dependency on stealth, rapport with beasts and constant need to travel from fiefdom to fiefdom provide them with access to data unavailable to their less venturesome brethren. Even citybound Nosferatu find that their choices of abodes and victims make them privy to all manner of information and gossip inaccessible to the loftier clans. Nosferatu have learned that even the most refined Ventrue will often hold his gorge, cover his nose and give up a beggar or two in exchange for information about his Lasombra rival in the next duchy. (And should bargaining prove futile, Nosferatu are not above a little blackmail...)
Since the coming of Christianity, many
Nosferatu have modified their 
behavior.
Seeing themselves as cursed by God but capable of redemption through Christ
(or whomever), Nosferatu stoically endure their penance on Earth in an
attempt to avoid Hell. Because Nosferatu must lurk among the lowest strata
of mortal society, they find much opportunity to do good works from the
shadows. Nosferatu are particularly attracted to the penitent movement;
superhuman toughness and vampiric healing enable a Nosferatu to endure
weeks of self-flagellation.
Lepers
Each Nosferatu is unique, and
each is more loathsome than the last. Nosferatu deformities are as innumerable
as they are grotesque. Some wear the visages of rotting corpses, including
missing noses and earlobes; others others appear as tusked demons or feral
rodents; still others sport bloated and distended features, like drowned
sailors. Many lose their hair and sprout lumps and warts like a toad, or
grow clumps of bristly spines in the manner of a hedgehog. Some are covered
in pustulant sores and bursting boils, others wear a greasy, wrinkled hide;
and some true horrors lack skin entirely, resembling flayed swine at market.
A miasmal stench surrounds most Nosferatu, and plagues of flies and locusts
often follow these vampires. On all Nosferatu the taint of uncleanliness
hangs heavily. In an effort to hide their shame (and avoid witch-hunters),
most Nosferatu shroud themselves in sackcloth swathings.
Nosferatu haunt abandoned,
pestilent sites, preferring ruins, fens, darksome forests or, ideally,
plague-infested zones. In cities, they tend to inhabit ancient catacombs,
leprosaries, dungeons, ethnic guettos and tenements outside the city walls.
The huge cesspits common to medieval towns provide ample, if foul, shelter
from the daytime sun (and even the most zealous witch-hunter is unlikely
to go digging through a mountain of dung in search of a sleeping vampire).
Nosferatu take their victims
from society's pariaks: idiots and freaks, lepers, hermits, vagabonds,
criminals, defrocked priests and the like. Nosferatu on the Road of Heaven
often punish the prideful, hypocrites and other sinners by inducting them
into the clan. Jews are favored because they are often intelligent and
practical, but lack societal protection against vampiric abductors. Occasionally
an outraged Nosferatu chooses a beautiful victim to make monstrous, but
this practice is currently uncommon.
Nosferatu often have beggar
or outsider concepts. Physical Attributes and Talents are usually primary,
as Nosferatu must be quick, clever and hardy to survive their innumerable
privations. Nosferatu rarely have any Allies, Contacts, Retainers or other
Backgrounds linking them to the mortal world - though the rare mortal who
befriends a Leper has a friend for life (and her children's lives, and
their children's...). The Road of Heaven is the most common among Nosferatu,
followed closely by the Road of the Beast. Many Nosferatu spurn the Road
of Humanity, considering either themselves unworthy of humanity or humanity
unworthy of them. Only a few Nosferatu follow the Devil's Road, but those
who do are terrors indeed, reveling in their hideousness and playing to
the hilt their role of frightful monster.
Animalism, Potence, Obfuscate
All Nosferatu are hideously
deformed. Their Appearance
Trait is automatically rated zero and cannot be improved. All Social rolls
involving Appearance (including most first impressions) automatically fail.
Nosferatu society is informally
but nonetheless tightly organized. They are perhaps the most internally
cohesive clan; millenia of shared deformity, abuse and privation have forged
strong bonds among the Nosferatu. Elders are revered, but are expected
to treat the young fairly. Nosferatu treat each other with careful respect
and elaborate courtesy, and freely trade information among themselves.
This makes the clan extremely well informed; important Nosferatu can accurately
forecast events from Hibernia to Kiev.
Oh, woe, my prince, that one as lowly
as I hath offended thee! Flog me into torpor! Stake me and leave me to
the sun! Lop off my head! Just ... don't send me back to the fief of the
Lasombra Contessa Isabel...What? She is your enemy, milord? Why yes, I
did escape her impregnable fortress...through the secret tunnel, of course.
What secret tunnel, you say? Well, milord, perhaps we should discourse
in your private chambers...
TEREOTYPES
ssamites:
They are savage, bloodthirsty
infidels, but they adhere to their codes far more steadfaastly than do
most so-called "Christians".
rujah:
For all their egalitarian prattle,
few embrace us as equals. They will burn in Hell like the rest of us.
appadocians:
They delve into mysteries best
left buried. One night they will open one tomb too many - and we know all
too well what will crawl up to meet them...
ollowers
of Set: These bastards
would hiss a different tune if they had to cloak themselves in the shroud
of their iniquity, as we.
angrel:
Grant these nomads respect,
and do not dispute their passage - save when they seek to establish themselves
in our hunting grounds. Then battle is inevitable; strike first and swiftly.
asombra:
Are we to love those whose
greatest vexation is not being able to see themselves? Still, they are
useful; hide your hate, exploit their paranoia and provide them with the
secrets they crave. The right - or properly chosen wrong - word in a Magister's
ear can ensure your safety for decades.
alkavians:
I like them better than most
of the others. Oh, make no mistake, they're demon-ridden villains, but
they make no especial attempt to single us out for their caprices.
avnos:
They laugh in the face of God's
anger. I am sure that Satan has many pretty tricks awaiting them in Hell.
oreador:
Fools! To have been given eternity,
merely to squander it questing for something as transitory as beauty.
remere:
Grant them neither forgiveness
nor forgetfulness. Remember our friend Saulot and his childer, for they
alone treated us with compassion. Confront the Usurpers not, for they are
strong, but haunt their shadows and carry whispers of their sins to the
ends of the Earth.
zimisce:
Have they learned nothing from
our state, that they would degrade all of God's works in like manner? Heaven's
hammer will surely smite these devils.
entrue:
They demand our fealty without
offering their guardianship in return. We crawl into their courts wailing
for succor and yet they turn us away into the cold and darkness. One night
a doom will rise to envelop these false nobles, and we shall laugh safely
from the darkness into which they exiled us.
aali:
Foulest of foul creatures,
they gleefully revel in their damnation. We should help the along to Hell
so they can continue their dancing in the eternal flames.
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