Had they been manipulators and autocrats, like the Lasombra or Ventrue, then they would have tried to control all of the innovations, which would have been disastrous. The Malkavians prefer to hang on the edges of mortal groups, absorbing, twisting and exaggerating the mortals' ideas and theories, or transplanting them from one culture to another. Sometimes they are credited with some of the most insane practices of the mortals; sometimes they claim responsibility for some of the most incongruous things. For example, one Malkavian claims the clan pulled off one of its greatest practical jokes twelve hundred years ago - a bit of graverobbing in Jerusalem. Of course, this selfsame Malkavian claimed friendship with an entire tribe of Lupines, so he has been proclaimed even more deranged than most.

Mystery religions; crazed philosophers and other strangeness abounded in the Roman Empire, and the Malkavians loved the Empire's decadent cities. The current age has been less fruitful, with most mortals too busy trying to survive to break out and try anything really new. As a clan, they seem to have no overall agenda or purpose in the Dark Medieval times. Their fellow Cainites hope that such is the case.

Nobody can fathom the concept of Malkavians having influence. The other clans despise them or despair of ever manipulating them, and generally leave them be. And this is just what the Malkavians prefer.

The least coherent can often secretly be the most skilled manipulators. Many Malkavians are quite ancient, and individually very powerful. Precisely because they shun politics and conflict, these elders have grown to a considerable age and quietly accumulated quite the power base. This may seem cold comfort to the clan's younger members, but the elders are usually swift to aid any younger member who is being persecuted by an outsider. In times of crisis, the Malkavians of each region inevitably pull together. The hidden hand is no weaker than that which wears the iron gauntlet, or so they say...

The clan has no formal organization and no apparent hierarchy. Still, the younger members have great respect for their elders and expect guidance from them if any threat looms.

The clan has adopted several key centers, around which members often cluster. There are important sites in their own rights, and most Malkavians accept the need to protect them. These meeting grounds include the underground Library of Valentinus in Marseilles ( a repository of vast amounts of inspired prophesy and mad ranting ), the "Great and Magnificent Court or Carthage" (a randomly chosen ruin on the North African coast), the Church of Saint Herod the Bloody in Palestine, and the Well of Mirth (a spring that spews forth hallucinogenic waters) in northern Germany.

Outsiders sometimes suspect that the Malkavians do in fact have a secret hierarchy. True, most of Dark Medieval society is very stratified, and the Malkavians need not be an exception. Some Malkavians encourage this belief, answering to arcane or surreal titles and ranks. Only the Madmen can say whether these supposed titles hold any weight with the rest of the clan or not.

Clan Malkavian has vested interest in Europe's recent growth. The Church, the expanding economy and the growing cities have created more scholars and books, more privileged people with time on their hands, more room for weird beliefs and popular movements to spread. The clan tends to take advantage of whatever opportunities it can to encourage "liberal thinking" and play sick jokes on whomever it feels like.

But the clan as a whole has no real lasting traditions, save for a few exceptions. Once in a great while, many Malkavians from across the continent suddenly set their affairs aside and make a great pilgrimage. The destination varies each time, but always seems to have great significance for the lunatics. Once there, a bizarre scene takes place. Sometimes it is a mock court, sometimes a pseudo-religious ceremony, sometimes a huge brawl. No sane Cainite knows why they do it, or how they all know where to go. In addition, some Malkavians have recently adopted the tendency to mimic important figures of other clans. These impersonations can sometimes be confusing, as the Obfuscated duplicate goes about giving contradictory orders to the target's underlings.

The Malkavians openly display little concern for anything in particular, and this disparate clan had no apparent unifying agenda. As the Malkavians scatter, meddling with religions, governments, learning and whatever else takes their fancy, other Cainites take reassurance that the mad ones will never act toward a common goal. Or so they hope. 

BaCK To MaiN MaLKaViaN PaGe

BaCK To MaiN DaRK aGeS PaGe