Know Your Kindred - Zubeida

Name: Zubeida
Bloodline: Abomination
Clan: Followers of Set
Tribe: Silent Strider

Zubeida was once a Garou trying to unite the disparate werewolf tribes of Africa. While her hard work had some initial success, her life ended too early in the shadow of the Sphinx with her Embrace by a group of Setites. Bound to them through their powers of mind, blood and corruption, Zubeida was a slave in their temple. It wasn’t until the Black Hand destroyed the temple that Zubeida was free for the first time in centuries. She used that freedom to tear out her own intestines.

But the Black Hand wouldn’t let her die. For decades they worked to end her suicidal lust. They haven’t completely succeeded and must stand watch over her for signs of relapse into depression. So far she willingly serves the sect, believing it does some good.

But if they were to relax their will upon her, she would gladly end her life. Until that night comes she carries out missions with the utmost abandon, seeking her destruction at the hands of others.

Zubeida believes there now is an evil presence out there hunting down and killing off all the other Abominations, and she seeks this being every night.

- Source Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand

Know Your Kindred - Joe “Boot” Hill

Name: Joe “Boot” Hill
Clan: Assamite Antitribu
Generation: 7th
Embraced: 1881

A tall, lean gun slinger from the old west, Joe “Boot” Hill became a vampire after getting into an argument with a fellow named Bernard del Gado. Joe was tired of hearing his line of crap, so he shot him. But Bernard got up and reminded Joe it was rude to shoot an unarmed man. So Joe shot him again and mopped up the floor with his head.

Bernard took it poorly and dragged Joe from the back of his horse. He went a half mile before accepting Joe’s apology. By that time Joe had lost most of his teeth and a good portion of his nose. The two came to a truce and after Joe healed from his injuries, Bernard embraced and buried him for the Creation Rites.

Joe still bears the scars from the horse incident, but from a short distance, Joe’s still a handsome man. No longer carrying six shooters, Joe prefers two Mac 10s and a Fiachi Law-12. Joe follows the code of the Old West, right down to keeping his well-trained horse retainer around.

He earned his nickname “Boot” as a result of what he does to Kindred when they don’t listen to reason. Joe doesn’t believe in killing Kindred unnecessarily, but he will. Joe especially likes to hunt down Lupines and watching them burn when he fills them with silver bullets. He knows better than to wrassle with a werewolf without a gun (a lesson reenforced when his pal Bernard was torn to shreds by a werewolf pack).

He is the Dominion of the Black Hand in Mexico City. Joe is very loyal to the Sabbat and expects the same from his associates. Everyone in Mexico knows Joe and no one ever gives him lip.

- Source Chaos Factor

Know Your Kindred - Elizabeth Westcott

Name: Elizabeth Westcott
Clan: Tzimisce
Generation: 10th

The female vocalist and keyboard player for the band Persephone Seed is Elizabeth Westcott. Most Kindred presume the quiet, waifish Elizabeth to be Toreador or Caitiff, and she says and does nothing to dispel that misconception. In truth, Westcott is Tzimisce, and Sabbat at that.

Sent to infiltrate the Anarch population, Westcott instead found common ground with her Toreador band mate Glass. He knows she is Sabbat and cares little - though her depictions of unlife in the Black Hand provide him with ample fodder for morbid lyrics.

For her part, Elizabeth prefers being in the band to indulging in Fire Dances and War Parties and the like. When confronted about her loyalties by Sabbat leaders, Westcott gently reminds them that the Sabbat is first and foremost about freedom - and what better way to turn the anarchs than to be in their favorite band?

- Source World of Darkness (2nd Ed.)

Know Your Kindred - Lady Constancia

Name: Lady Constancia
Clan: Cappadocian
Generation: 5th

Lady Constancia was the Priestess of Bones and the Matron of the Erciyes Temple, the clan’s spiritual center and home to the Antidiluvian Cappadocius himself. When news came that a wealthy Venetian man named Giovanni had made new breakthroughs in the dark art of Necromancy, Constancia was excited and quickly told her sire while he lay in torpor. Cappadocius was also excited about the news and reached out through his dreams to Augustus Giovanni and invited him to Erciyes to be embraced.

Japheth, Constancia’s sire, objected to letting outsiders with untrustworthy reputations into their clan, but Cappadocius disagreed and Augustus was brought to their temple. Upon his arrival to the temple, Japheth and Constancia looking with Soulsight (Auspex), saw the rot that festered within Augustus. Augustus sought only power, his motives and means were as corrupt as any mortal despot’s. Though his necromantic breakthroughs were impressive, he did not seek enlightenment, knowledge or the answer to the eternal question. He merely wished to crush his opponents.

Servants drained Augustus of all his blood and Japheth entered the chamber with a vessel of Cappadocious’ blood. As Augustus drank, Constancia turned away, unable to watch.

In the end the warnings were correct and Augustus betrayed the clan and diablerized its founder. Lady Constancia went into seclusion in 1443, one year before the Giovanni purge.

Constancia is an ardent researcher and follower of the Road of the Bones, and has recently taken her studies of death in frightening new directions. If what she says is to be believed, she has discovered a ritual that allows her to utterly destroy the soul of a still-living mortal, leaving the body a mindless husk. Whether or not this works on vampires is unknown (as the condition of Cainite souls is a matter of much debate), but her enemies have universally expressed concern over the wanton abandon with which she exercises her experiments over Cainites and kine alike.

An unmarked tomb was found in 1936 near Giza, containing a desiccated corpse. Some suspect this was her, but there is no actual proof. The body disappeared before the Giovanni could investigate. Conveniently one of the Mortis powers is to reduce ones self into the form of a desiccated corpse. Some believe she is now known under the name Unre, one of the Harbigners of Skulls.

Lady Constancia kept some of Augustus Giovanni’s drained blood in a jar and sealed it with beeswax. Augustus is willing to do anything to get it; because with this blood a knowledgeable sorcerer could have considerable power over the Giovanni patron.

Sidenote: Ambroginio Giovanni was embraced by Lady Constancia in 1045 AD.

- Sources Clanbook Giovanni, Clanbook Cappadocian, Player’s Guide to the High Clans, WhiteWolf.com

Know Your Kindred - Khay’tall

Name: Khay’tall
Clan: Followers of Set
Generation: 6th
Embraced: 104 AD
Diablerized: 1204 AD

When the Hierophants took control of the clan after Set’s disappearance, it was by no means easy. Many Setites didn’t trust the elders and believed that one of them may have betrayed them when the Lupines sacked their capital of Tanis. They spread out across Egypt, each serving Set in their own way.

These rebellious Setites were called Decadents and the Nuerian tribesman Khay’tall was their leader. Khay’tall refused to accept the authority of Nakhthorheb and went so far as to promote the worship of evil as the true god, rather than merely a tool to further the wishes of Set.

Khay’tall’s childe and confidant Sarrasine appeared to agree with his sire, but behind Khay’tall’s back Sarrasine’s ambition steered him another way. In 1203 AD Sarrasine diablerized his sire Khay’tall for losing control of too many mortal pawns and jeopardizing the interests and safety of the clan.

Background

Khay’tall was in life the slave to a Roman garrison commander stationed in Jerusalem. One night his master held a lavish dinner party and Khay’tall was a servant at the event. Soon he realized that some of the guests weren’t human. He watched as they feed on other guests, almost in a frenzy. Khay’tall approached one of the guests, an Egyptian man named Nehsi - who was one of these supernatural beings - and petitioned to be made like him. When Nehsi asked why, Khay’tall said he realized that nobody is truly free. Everyone is a slave to something, whether it be a vice, religion or other men. And if he was going to be a slave he wanted to be a slave to something of his choosing. Nehsi was amazed by this response and took Khay’tall under his wing and taught him the ways of the Setites.

For over a century Khay’tall was a ghoul learning at the foot of Nehsi. Finally Nehsi embraced him and sent him to work at the Temple of Set in the Roman-conquered city of Carthage. While in Carthage Khay’tall befriended the Toreador Michael. They debated often about the nature of corruption. Eventually Michael moved to Constantinople and invited Khay’tall to join him. In his time there Khay’tall achieved speical status within the city and sired many other Setites to aid him. They gathered primarily in Constantinople and he established dominion over the city’s Setite population. Khay’tall also set out to corrupt members of the Catholic Church, setting up within it spies and sabators.

Khay’tall disappeared around 1204 AD, presumably a victim of the 4th Crusade, but rumors spread that assassination was the reason.

- Sources Libellus Sanguinis III - Wolves at the Door, Constantinople By Night, Player’s Guide to Low Clans.

Know Your Kindred - Nakhthorheb

Name: Nakhthorheb
Clan: Followers of Set
Generation: 4th

Before Set’s disappearance the Followers of Set had no organization. But once their god went missing, the Hierophants came together and declared themselves the stewards of the clan. There are seven Hierophants, not counting the six others who remain entombed in the vaults beneath the flooded city of Tanis. They are all ancient creatures, predating the pharaohs.

Nakhthorheb is the greatest of the Hierophants. Also known as the First Son, it is he who holds the Hierophants in an iron grip. While all laws and commands given must be agreed upon by all seven elders, it is Nakhthorheb who is the source of these commands. Ever since the destruction of Tanis (Egypt’s former capital and home of Set’s Temple) it is said that Nakhthorheb spends his nights as Set did, wandering the wastes of Lower Egypt and planning the return of Egypt’s glory.

- Source Libellus Sanguinis III - Wolves at the Door

Know Your Kindred - Nefertiti & Aabbt Kindred

Name: Nefertiti
Clan: Followers of Set
Generation: 4th
Embraced: 1032 BC

Netertiti is a stunningly beautiful woman with long back hair and even blacker eyes. She sees herself as Set’s gift to the world. An extremely confident and knowledgeable kindred, Nefertiti believes there isn’t any problem she can’t handle.

Her expertise at Obfuscate allows her aura to always appear pink. Her powerful use of Presence makes other people feel as though they have been blood bound to her and destroy their ties with other people. And her command of Serpentis and Dominate allow her to cause targets to become obsessed, afraid or addicted to anything.

Name: Aabbtt Kindred
Clan: Followers of Set
Generation: 5th (but only showing the power of an 8th)
Species: African Cobra

Nefertiti, seeing if she could embrace animals as well as people sired a number of African Cobras almost a century ago. The cobras have been blood bound to her, allowing her to control and train them as her guardians. She found they have a harder time learning disciplines of a mental nature than they do of a physical nature. But over the many years they have increased in intelligence, even being able to change into human-like forms. The Aabbtt Kindred’s venom is very deadly, killing a moral immediately and sending a vampire to torpor.

Nefertiti has sired 15 Aabbt Kindred, learning that if they’re not blood bound and Dominated or of a nocturnal nature, they would eventually wander out into the sunlight and die. To ensure their continued loyalty Nefertiti still feeds them her own blood. However she has noticed they still hunt down rodents out of habit.

She would next like to embrace a gorilla and see the effects.

- Source Berlin By Night

Know Your Kindred - Creamy Jade

Name: Creamy Jade
Clan: Toreador Antitribu
Generation: 10th
Embraced: 1972

Born Monique Kim and raised in Montreal’s Chinatown until her parents were murdered. She developed a love of art, eventually going to art school and becoming a great sculptor. She became depressed when her work didn’t satisfy her anymore and turned to drugs until she was destitute on the street. There she was embraced, but it’s a hazy memory.

She took on the name “Creamy Jade” and worked as a silversmith for the Sabbat, creating weapons and other objects. The Rose taught her Vicissitude and Creamy found a new medium to sculpt that inspired her - human flesh.

Creamy is fascinated by children and preserving their innocence. She sees the world as a dark place that corrupts all. She has embraced many children hoping to give them salvation and beauty, but they turn into little demons instead of angels.

Creamy always wears silk robes or dresses with silver and jade jewelry. She resembles a marble statue with extremely cold, pale skin, narrow green eyes with delicate childlike beauty.

- Source Montreal by Night

Know Your Kindred - Black Annis

Name: Black Annis (Aine)
Clan: Nosferatu
Generation: 6th
Embraced: 47 AD

Her real name is Aine, but the Saxons call her Black Annis and believe she is a troll-hag or evil spirit. Aine is insane. She doesn’t know she is a vampire or what a vampire even is. She drinks only blood because she likes the taste and hasn’t noticed she eats nothing.

Aine believes she is the avenging avatar of the Celtic war-goddess Morrigan. She dwells in the rural north of Great Britain, sleeping in the earth half the year between May and Halloween, believing in her own twisted mind that she will die if she comes out during that time.

Aine was once a Celtic priestess who blessed people’s huts and crops. She did so for the “Great Queen” who lived in the forest. But when the Romans invaded Britain the glade was burned. Aine was alone when attacked by the Nosferatu Noisvair, who fed on Annie and then embraced her. Aine fell into a deep sleep afterwards and her body transformed.

When Aine awoke she found Noisvair badly wounded by a Roman who had empaled him and set him on fire. Annie diablerized Noisvair believing that her nature now was not to help others, but only to do evil.

At first Aine believed she was being punished for allowing the Romans to destroy the glade. Later she saw her reflection in the water and realized she wasn’t as ugly as Noisvair, but rather looked like the old descriptions of the Great Queen. So now Aine believed this curse was actually a gift and Aine would use it to bring vengeance to those who burned the glade and those who let it burn.

Several Kindred have gone north to track Aine, none have returned. Aine has no haven as she is always roaming. She has lost all her Humanity to the Beast. And although she has lost her mind, Aine is very cunning. She makes it a point only to be seen by her intended victim and uses her considerable Stealth and other abilities to ensure she is not discovered.

Almost 6 feet tall with pale blue skin and ragged hair that is as tattered as her clothing, Annie is like a wild animal, a frenzied killing machine.

- Source A World of Darkness (1st Ed.)

Know Your Kindred - Wendy Wade

Name: Wendy Wade
Clan: Tzimisce
Generation: 13
Born: 1956
Embraced: 1986

Part of the Sabbat’s effort to take over Chicago, Wendy Wade is a deviant plotter who was originally from Baltimore’s more successful corporate lawyer families. She attended Columbia University in New York and graduated top of her class in 1978. She went on be a dynamic and ruthless attorney for one of Wall Street’s most prestigious law firms in the 1980s.

But then she walked home alone late one night from a bar and was ambushed by a group of Black Hand members looking to expand their ranks. When Wendy awoke again she was buried underground. Without knowing how, she used her new phenomenal strength to dig herself out of the ground. Most new vampires come out of the ground in a frenzy. The Sabbat waiting above were amazed to see Wendy emerge from the ground calm and collective. She was then introduced to her new life.

Wendy Wade has fully embraced her new self and found to be a quick learner. She’s been groomed for future greatness and assigned with several Black Hand members to show her the ropes. She is now part of the first scouting party to Chicago.

Wendy deeply loves her invulnerability and is seen as overconfident. She agrees with the Sabbat’s position on controlling mortals and dislikes hiding her “superiority.” Her superiors fear she may give away the Sabbat’s presence in the city.

She knows she can increase her power if she diablerizes an elder, so she is on the lookout for the opportunity.

- Source Chicago By Night