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

What circumstances led this Kindred to found his bloodline? Was it deliberate, accidental,
completely unasked for? Did any other Kindred react to the event in any notable way?
Why did the founder sire childer? What does he want from them? What demands did he
place? How did his childer react?
Does the founder still exist? Does he still wield any infl uence over the rest of his bloodline?
If he’s been destroyed, how did it happen, and how did it affect the bloodline?
Not only do the answers to such questions help you make the bloodline’s background
seem more real, you probably fi nd story hooks popping up. To give the simplest example,
a surviving bloodline founder might take an interest in the remarkable achievements of a
descendant — a player’s character. The founder might become a mentor, a patron, a jealous
enemy or anything in between.
Of course, the founder becomes especially important if she is a player’s character. In this case,
the bloodline’s origin is an ongoing subplot within the chronicle. Storytellers can build stories
around the circumstances that lead to a character’s change, the reaction of other Kindred
(especially those in the character’s clan) and the choice whether to sire a childe or not.
RECOGNITION OF A BLOODLINE
Any Kindred might say that he founded a bloodline, but do other Kindred believe him or
care? Bloodline founders can receive a fair bit of prestige in Kindred culture. It takes more
than an odd power — or a signature weakness — to win respect.
A Kindred must prove that her special aptitudes pass to her childer, and to their childer in
turn. Kindred tradition holds that no change in the Blood can be certain until two generations
pass. One generation of childer might learn a new set of Disciplines because their sire drove
them to make a special effort. If a second generation shows similar aptitude, the Blood has
surely changed. Inherited weaknesses can be even harder to detect, especially if they produce
no overt mark such as the Nosferatu’s palpable otherness.
If they want, the Kindred can consult a sorcerer to establish whether a self-proclaimed
founder has truly changed her Blood and that of her childer. Hiring a blood magician to
perform occult tests means owing that sorcerer a boon, however, and prudent Kindred do not
promise favors lightly. Anyway, what if someone bribed the sorcerer to lie? Prudent Kindred
do not take another vampire’s word for anything.
More simply, Kindred can taste the Vitae of an alleged founder’s childe and compare it
to the parent clan. (See “Blood Ties” on p. 228 for more about this.) Vampires who drink
the blood of fellow Kindred risk addiction and take the fi rst step to a Vinculum, however,
so wise Kindred would not perform this test themselves. In another few decades, the matter
will sort itself out.
A bloodline’s founder also needs to amass enough power that other Kindred fear and
respect — or at least acknowledge — her. Two generations of childer who retain some connection
to their forebear form an impressive reserve of power all by themselves. A would-be
founder can also establish her power through the normal means available to vampires, such
as wealth, mortal minions and high offi ce among a city’s Kindred. Garcilaso de Castillejo
possessed more than a fourth Discipline and a few childer to back up his assumption of a
founder’s rank. He also “possessed” a unique subculture that grew around him, and inspired
an esprit de corps that was fervent enough for his lineage to claim its own under penalty of
crushing social retribution.
Mere time also plays a role. The undead see many small upsets in their long existence.
They do not waste much attention on the short term. So what if a Kindred wants to say he’s
founded a bloodline? Will he still make that claim in a hundred years? Will he still exist in
370 mind’s appendix: eye theatre: bloodlines requiem