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

chapter golconda one: society and transcendence
of the damned 277
The Lancea Sanctum: Golconda is a cruel delusion at best, a wicked heresy at worst.
Such tales lead Kindred away from accepting their place in God’s plan.
The Ordo Dracul: Why bother with Golconda when transcendence can make one
more than a vampire, instead of just enabling her to settle for what she is?
THE NATURE OF GOLCONDA
According to the tales, vampires who achieve Golconda defeat the Beast or pacify it in
some way. They no longer suffer its relentless drive to rage and feed. They no longer require
blood, or at least not as much. These spiritual masters retain all their Kindred powers, though.
In fact, they can achieve the greatest heights of Kindred power without suffering the deadly
thirst for the Vitae of other Kindred that affl icts the mightiest of the Damned. They abandon
the Danse Macabre. They walk unharmed through the wilderness and Lupines bow to
them. They walk through cities and the Kindred do not know them, for God has forgiven
and blessed them.
Of course, no one can prove to have actually met such a redeemed vampire. Like any urban
legend, the tales always come second or third hand, at least. A Kindred known in another
city says his sire’s broodmate met a vampire who worked wonders and talked of Golconda
— that sort of thing. On rare occasions, Kindred claim to have achieved the blessed state and
say they will teach others of their kind. Elders always expose these self-styled gurus as fakes
working some sort of scam… at least, that’s what the elders say.
Golconda legends describe a number of methods to achieve redemption. Cynics might
observe that the purported methods tend to refl ect the mystical ideas that were popular
when the tale-teller lived. Older tales about Golconda emphasize the need for prayer, receiving
sacraments, pilgrimages to holy places, tests of faith and resolve, and physical asceticism
— fasting, fl agellation and the like — to gain visions from God. In the Age of Enlightenment,
philosophy and self-control became prominent in the stories. In the 19th century, the stories
acquired Eastern elements such as meditation and paradoxical riddles. The 20th century
gave the stories a quasi-scientifi c air, with drugs (or magic) to pacify the Beast, and a period
of study with a mentor that sounded very much like psychoanalysis.
Most stories agree, however, that a Kindred who wants to fi nd Golconda must pursue an
existence of unblemished virtue and humanity. He must feed as little as possible to sustain
his existence, and he must avoid any sort of harm to mortals or other Kindred. He must
fi ght frenzy with all his might, never giving a moment’s control to the Beast. Most of all, he
must do penance for all his sins. If he cannot atone directly to a victim, he must perform
some deed to compensate a victim’s family, community or all humanity. Only then does he
even have a chance that God might grant him forgiveness. The quest certainly takes years,
decades or even centuries.
Most of the stories also say that Kindred cannot fi nd Golconda on their own. They need
a teacher who can guide them along the correct path, preferably a Kindred who has already
achieved salvation. These undead spiritual masters hide themselves well, but a determined
seeker can fi nd one… or one of them mystically knows that a ready student emerges and fi nds
the seeker himself. Some stories say that a Kindred who pursues Golconda might encounter
other seekers. He might study under a series of tutors, each one more advanced, and he might
teach other novices himself as he gains wisdom.
At the end of this long quest, a vampire experiences a mystical vision called the Suspire.
Perhaps a mentor guides the Kindred through this ultimate spiritual test. Perhaps the seeker
learns to conduct the test himself. Or perhaps the vision takes the seeker by surprise. In the
Suspire, the vampire encounters God, the Beast or his own soul. As usual, stories differ.