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Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

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148<br />

chapter two: character<br />

Ventrue<br />

<strong>The</strong> Ventrue offer a very simple boast: <strong>The</strong>y win. <strong>The</strong>y always win.<br />

Other Kindred often despise the Lords, but they seldom dispute the clan’s boast. All too<br />

often, a Kindred works and schemes to win some prize, only to fi nd that a Ventrue owned it<br />

all along. <strong>The</strong> offi cers who lead a city’s Kindred almost always include several highly placed<br />

Ventrue. <strong>The</strong> Lords acknowledge no defeats, only setbacks. <strong>The</strong> clan shares a ruthless will to<br />

power and the power to enforce its will.<br />

<strong>The</strong>ir favored Disciplines account for some of their success. <strong>The</strong> Ventrue learn to command<br />

the thoughts of other beings almost by instinct. <strong>The</strong>ir mastery of lesser animals harks<br />

back to nights of domains in which the Lord was a master of beasts as well as men. Although<br />

they do not especially cultivate the arts of combat, they often prove remarkably hard to kill.<br />

Ventrue regard their supernatural gifts, however, as merely a tool to begin the acquisition<br />

of real power — the power of money, property, corporate stock, political contacts, rank in<br />

Kindred society and large numbers of mortals, at every level of society, begging to lick their<br />

boots and fulfi ll their commands.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Ventrue take the feudal nature of Kindred<br />

society very seriously. Every sire tells her childe<br />

that some people rule, and some are ruled. As<br />

Lords, they should strive to place themselves<br />

among the rulers. Most Ventrue neonates<br />

already believed this before their Embrace.<br />

Throughout the clan’s history, the Ventrue have<br />

sought power in whatever forms mortals<br />

offered. Kindred historians say that in<br />

ancient Rome the clan Embraced senators<br />

and patricians. In the Middle Ages, they<br />

brought knights and churchmen into the<br />

fold. As commerce became an avenue to<br />

power, they cultivated merchant princes,<br />

bankers and magnates. When states grew<br />

more bureaucratic, the Lords Embraced<br />

high-ranking civil servants. <strong>The</strong> rise of<br />

organized crime brought mob bosses<br />

and drug kingpins into the clan. At<br />

the start of the 21st century, Ventrue<br />

elders ponder the merits of Embracing<br />

scientists, engineers<br />

and computer wizards. No<br />

matter where in society the<br />

power lies, the Ventrue<br />

vow to exploit it before<br />

other Kindred even know it exists.<br />

Nickname: Lords<br />

Covenant: Many Kindred see the<br />

Ventrue as almost synonymous with the

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