Know Your Kindred – Mictlantecuhtli

Name: Mictlantecuhtli
Clan: Gangrel
Generation:  4th
Embraced:  51 BC

Mictlantecuhtli is a very ancient kindred, one of the greatest of the Methuselahs.  Also known as the Wanderer, he has laid in torpor since before the time of Christ.

He was born in 67 BC in a small Native American fishing settlement in the area that would eventually become Vancouver.   When Mictlantecuhtli was sixteen a stranger came upon his village.  The man was unusual, not speaking their language, but he could communicate to everyone through mannerisms.  The villagers accepted him into their community and were shocked by his amazing strength and speed.

Mictlantecuhtli was fascinated by the stranger and would follow him into the woods when he thought the man was not watching.   But after Mictlantecuhtli lost track of the stranger he was attacked by a grizzly bear and mortally wounded.   Near death the stranger reappeared and telepathically communicated to Mictlantecuhtli that he could prevent his death.   Mictlantecuhtli seemed to understand what the stranger was implying and Mictlantecuhtli accepted the offer.

When the young man awoke the stranger was gone, not to be seen again.  Mictlantecuhtli knew he was now different and could never return to his village.  Instead he wandered the wilderness.  After two centuries of roaming he made his way down to Mexico where he revealed himself to the Mayas, who worshipped him like a god.

The Mayan priests practiced a primitive form of blood magic, which Mictlantecuhtli found fascinating.  He spent a lot of time learning what he could about their rituals and invented a few new ones of his own.  Mictlantecuhtli recorded his research into a book called the Codex of the Damned.

The information in the Codex would eventually be borrowed and copied by the priests who guarded Mictlantecuhtl’s temple.  They were unable to understand the language Mictlantecuhtli used, but eventually their copy of the Codex made its way to the Tremere clan, who were able to decipher it and learn the Ritual of the Bitter Rose – a spell that allowed multiple vampires to benefit from a single diablerie.

Despite all his followers, Mictlantecuhtli was lonely, unable to find an equal to be his friend.  Then a Nosferatu crossed his path and the two bonded, meeting every night for a month and talked.  But soon the Nosferatu began to worry Mictlantecuhtli with tales of a great war between the Kindred.   The Nosferatu asked Mictlantecuhtli to join his side, but Mictlantecuhtli found the whole concept of a Kindred war troubling and did not want to be apart of it.

At a sacrificial ceremony the Mayans were hosting, Mictlantecuhtli invited the Nosferatu to join him and introduced him as another god who also deserved a sacrifice.  When it was the Nosferatu’s turn to feed, Mictlantecuhtli pounced on him and quickly killed him.   The event was not pleasant.  Mictlantecuhtli was sad that he had to betray someone who offered him friendship, but the thought of getting trapped into the Kindred’s jyhad was more frightening than anything he could think about.

Mictlantecuhtli also discovered Lupines existed in the world.  Unlike other vampires, Mictlantecuhtli did not have the same taint of evil as other Kindred.  He established amicable and respectful relations with the werewolves and they considered him a feudal lord of sorts and paid him tribute.

Eventually Mictlantecuhtli’s soul became weary with the world and decided it was time to sleep.   He made preparations with his priests and the Lupines to protect the city while he was gone.  Since then he has slept over 1,300 years beneath his central pyramid in the city of Tzental.

Sources:  Awakening:  Diablerie Mexico, pg 18-25, Dark Alliance Vancouver, pg 85