VtM - WhiteWolf: Genealogy

VtM - Review: The Cainite Heresy
talent to the fore with this Vampire: the Dark Ages book.
While the opening fiction is rather bland and stereotypical, it does serve to show just how dark and
twisted the Cainite Heresy is to the medieval mind. I would have preferred a story that didn't have a selfabsorbed
sodomite priest who uses those under his purview to fulfill his whims and fancies, but his
outraged reaction to the Heresy (that's the Cainite Heresy) was something that should be kept in the
mind.
The in-character document that followed the story more than makes up for any failings in the story,
however, as it provides hints and fuels the imagination when you read it. I did not find the font as
difficult to read as some did, and I enjoyed the look, but it was secondary to the content of the document,
which is a layout of some of the basic ideas of the Heresy. Derived from historic Heresies, the document
has a certain validity and strength to it. The number of ideas I got simply reading this bit made the book
good. I kept thinking of Kult, myself.
Following that is the introduction obligatory to all White Wolf books. Reading the Lexicon, you get a
feel for the book you're holding. Touching upon countless heresies throughout history, I learned more
simply reading that than I had in the entirety of my history classes. I have never been big on heretical
knowledge, coming into the occult interest later than some I know, and that Lexicon set the tone for the
book. I was going to learn when I read this.
The first chapter details mortal heresies and their immortal influences. This was an enthralling read, to
say the least. I read about heresies that I had never heard about before. I learned that much of what I
thought about the history of the heresies was wrong, and that their traditions extended back even further
than I had thought. This chapter filled me with knowledge and nearly made me burst with plot ideas.
From Procopius and his blood-scribed Euagetaematikon derived from the Book of Nod to the Setite
influenced Ophites and their reverence of Caine and the Serpent, this chapter is filled with details that
could be expanded into a huge chronicle. Hite tosses aside comments and facts like candy, and, like
hungry children, you can't help but snatch up the next morsel and unwrap it, anxious to see what's inside
this time.
The next chapter details the Heresy itself, the Cainite Heresy proper. Hite does what many writers fail to
do, he shows us a detailed and vibrant religion, complete with rites and tenets of religion. He tells us that
many in the Heresy believe that the End will come in 1239, and Gehenna will begin. Hite writes about
the Commandments of the Heresy. He shows us plausible schisms within this dark Church. We get rites
and practices, the rituals that the believers use in practice of their faith. He looks at the Heresy according
to geography as well. Hite continues, providing the reader with iconography, symbology and architecture
used by the Heresy. He tells us just what images the Heresy puts in stained glass, what saints and martyrs
they revere, what verses of the Bible they quote, and even how the architecture of Heretical churches are
often "off," skewed slightly. There are secret orders in the Heresy, tools of powerful Elders and
Methuselahs. The Giovanni interaction with the Heresy is mentioned, and it is noteworthy that the "See
of Nod" itself is in Venice, held by an ancient Lasombra. Hite also gives mention of other Heretical
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