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

the second tradition • the third tradition
longer benefi ts from the sire’s protection, at least not in any offi cial societal capacity. He is
his own Kindred and must stand as such. Such, however, is also the benefi t of release. Once
a childe is on his own, he is no longer beholden to the whim, desire or name of his sire. For
good or ill, he is now free.
THE THIRD TRADITION
Given the predatory and deceitful nature of the Kindred, the third and fi nal “commandment”
— the prohibition against the diablerie of other Kindred — is the one most often
violated and warped to serve the interests of the individual. Indeed, this single law has
been the cause of more controversy in and around the halls of power than any other, and
its interpretation and administration are two of the most fi ercely contested issues facing
the Damned tonight.
As with the Second Tradition, the phrasing of this tradition is the primary cause of
complaint, as well as the primary justifi cation for use and abuse. Many believe that the
original intent of the law was to give sires the right and responsibility to destroy the childer
they had made (in violation of the Second Tradition) when those childer ran afoul of those
same Traditions. Destruction, however, does not necessarily entail the consumption of the
destroyed Kindred’s soul. Those who destroy their enemies utterly often claim to drink their
fallen foes’ essence “to be sure” that those enemies never return, though this practice is at
once primitive and false, at least in the context of modern Kindred society.
Mortal death is both inevitable and necessary, but only God Himself may judge those He
has cursed. Therefore, the Kindred condition inhibits the fi nality of diablerie in all its forms.
According to some versions of The Testament of Longinus, Longinus’ fi nal words to the collected
brood he left behind were a simple but sobering warning: “Teach your progeny to heed my
word, and tell them to likewise teach their own. When my line can no longer contain the blood
it spills — the night the broods of your broods can no longer hear their brothers’ heartsblood
cry unto them from the ground — that is the night when all hope for you is lost.”
As a parenthetical result of this passage, many Kindred use the words of the Testament
as support for the custom of the Lextalionis — the blood hunt in modern parlance. These
Princes claim the title of “elder” mentioned in the text and use it to invoke the “right” of
destruction upon any Kindred who suffi ciently rouses their ire. They rarely perform the deed
themselves, of course, for the act itself is damaging to the spiritual strength of a vampire.
Thus has the custom of involving every Kindred in the domain in the hunt arisen (rather
conveniently) over time. In many domains, all Kindred are expected to do their part in
consummating a blood hunt.
THE LOST HUMANITAS
As with the fi rst two Traditions, the Third Tradition is thoroughly hardwired into
the psyche of all Kindred. In fact, most Kindred agree that the prohibition against
diablerie is one of the most fundamental aspects of being Damned, due to the steep toll
exacted on all those who violate it. Each time a vampire consumes the soul of another
vampire, his morality erodes signifi cantly. The corrosion of the self is automatic, as
with cold-blooded murder it is assumed that the killer feels no immediate remorse
about the act. (If he did, he wouldn’t have committed it.)
DEFERENCE
A natural outgrowth of this tradition is the custom of vampiric respect. When the race as a
whole endeavored to bring itself up from savagery with the notion of domain (and the rights
95