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

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chapter one: society of the damned
THE ORDO DRACUL
The curse of vampirism is but an obstacle, a hurdle before achieving true power. Granted,
it’s a daunting hurdle, and one that most Kindred are ill equipped to even see as surmountable.
For those with the necessary devotion, tenacity and intelligence, the Ordo Dracul, the
Order of the Dragon, can provide the means. The vampires of the Ordo Dracul run the
gamut from dogged fundamentalists with just as much zeal as any fanatic to coldly secular
theosophists simply seeking the means to destroy an enemy. The covenant as a whole welcomes
both mentalities, for both have much to teach.
This faction claims an infamous founder — Vlad Tepes, Dracula himself. Dracula is noteworthy
because he acknowledges no sire. According to Dracula’s account of becoming a vampire,
God turned His back on him and cursed him with undeath in order to punish him for his
wicked acts. The most widely accepted story of Dracula’s origin is that God punished Vlad
Tepes for his abuse of faith in mortal life. According to certain historical records, Tepes was
appointed as a “defender of Christianity,” a charge he then used as a means of advancing
his own political agendas and as an excuse for atrocities. In addition to all his crimes against
humanity, Dracula ultimately put his own desires before his holy oath, the act that Damned
him.
The veracity of these statements remains unproven, of course, not the least obstacle to
which is that Dracula himself hasn’t been seen in over a century. Legends of Dracula also
ascribe to him strange circumstances. By knowledgeable members of Kindred society, he is
suspected of siring a very few childer — but if Dracula wasn’t Embraced himself, what clan
could he possibly be, and what does that make his get? By other accounts, he has never sired
childer at all, or those he has sired are somehow “failed,” little more than hideous horrors
doomed to slake their thirsts in a constant state of mindless rage.
Indeed, the organization that has grown up surrounding Dracula’s teachings is easily as
enigmatic as its founder.
OVERVIEW
The Order’s roots are something of a matter of debate — even within the covenant itself. It
is undoubtedly one of the youngest of the major Kindred factions. The Dragons, as they are
fearfully (or hatefully) known, have records of apprenticeships as early as the 16th century.
With the advent of the printing press, the covenant was better able to disseminate the vast