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Lilithian
| Series | World of Darkness |
|---|---|
| First appearance | World of Darkness Wiki |
| Created by | Wolfgar83 |
| Game information | |
| Setting | A Bloodline who worship Lilith and are seen as Succubi in the World of Darkness universe |
For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).
Lilithian refers to a bloodline which can be used as a character statistic in the World of Darkness role playing game. The concept originally appeared in the World of Darkness Wiki and was authored by the wiki user Wolfgar83.
The bloodline refers to a mainly female group who worship Lilith and can be seen as being similar in stature and nature to Succubi, occasionally being referred to as courtesans.
Introduction
Through out history there have been myths and stories of a evil seductress a woman who while appearing to be in her 20's is older then time and she is known in every religion under different names. Lilitu, Lilith, the Hand of Inanna no matter whose name is being used or which myths and stories of origin you go by there are certain similarities between each of them that beg the question are they all the same person? The members of this bloodline say they are and declare that they are the revival of a ancient bloodline descended from her. Lilith the first wife of Adam who saw her self as his equal and was cast from Eden when she would not lay beneath him. Lilith the serpent who seduced and tempted Eve into giving the apple to Adam thus causing them to commit the first sin. Lilith, mother of all succubi and one time consort to Caine. These and others are the stories and myths the Bloodline propagates to give credence to their claims of the bloodline.
The Lilithians are skilled in the arts of Seduction, sexual innuendo, diplomacy, debate, and anything that involves conversation is their forte. Many Lilithians find their ways into positions as harpies or similar positions in cities, clans, or covenants and are considerably skilled in these jobs. It is from this their nickname of Courtesan has come about amongst other less often used reasons. Many have come to fear the skills of the Courtesans, a few simple words in the right ears from a courtesan have brought ruin to high standing Kindred or brought other Kindred to power in return for favors they give the courtesan. Though not always does the Courtesan's skill at conversation work in a given situation and the Courtesan is not one with out skills or abilities to fall back on in these situations. Many courtesans have skills in other areas such as computers, medicine, the occult, and others which they make a point to learn if they think they may have need to fall back on them. Still in cases where this is not the case or a fight is the only way to end a situation they have Powers in their Unique Discipline that usually take care of the situation. Rumors abound of the Courtesans having power over serpents, and owls as well, or even turning into serpents themselves.
Courtesans are highly attracted to power and will do all they can to acquire power or gather those with power around them. No matter if they have power, are around those with power or none of the above Courtesan's make sure they are in positions where their skills of conversation are of use. Even if their simply the local go to person for the neighborhood's gossip courtesan's find these positions and use them for all their worth. These positions often offer Courtesan's modes of gaining tidbits of knowledge and information in idle talk or gossip, and as they say Knowledge is Power. Courtesan's as such no matter what area of society or amount of visible power they hold are the go to people for any kind of inside information a Kindred is seeking, as long as the price is right. Thus they are Information Brokers of the kindred society to rival even the Nosferatu which this is something that while the Nosferatu scoff at publicly they Respect or Resent privately. One never knows what dirty secrets have crossed the ears of a Courtesan in idle gossip that may soon cross her lips to their rivals. Further it is not unheard of for a Courtesan to know a variety of devotions, or a few non-clan Disciplines (most often Auspex discipline as it aids in their work). As information brokers they know the knowledge of various devotions or the use of disciplines is one of the more sought after pieces of information in Kindred Society. Thus it is not uncommon for a Courtesan to ask for this Knowledge as a price for a suitable favor. Though of course there are some devotions that Lilithians themselves may have developed to aid their work and in this case like their Bloodline Discipline they wont share such information with any outside the bloodline.
Perhapes because of a common theme in the Lilith Myths especially those revolving around the bible such as those with Lilith and Adam many of the Lilithian bloodline are believers in Feminine Power and Female Rights, and most of the bloodline would appear to be female as well. Believing in the equality, or in extremes the superiority, of women to men and giving evidence to it with the preaching of the related myths of Lilith many of the Bloodline can be found to be women of strong stature, personality, beliefs, and of Dominate personalities. This is perhaps one of the reasons behind there being few men in the bloodline if not for other reasons such as the blood of the bloodline being unable to embrace men though this may or may not be true. Certainly whether true or not few men seem to find it in themselves to join a bloodline full of women preaching about feminine power. Though these are not the case for all members of the bloodline it certainly is for the majority of them.
Overview
Details
- Nickname: Courtesan (general Kindred Society), Snake in the Grass (Obscenity)
- Parent Clan: Daeva or Gangrel
- Bloodline Disciplines: same as parent Clan but with the addition of Lamiai
- Favored Attributes: Composure or Manipulation
Covenant
While the Lilithians are often drawn to the Invictus as they favor the aristocracy, wealth , and so forth that mesh so well with their love of power and their ambitions they are more often drawn to the Circle of the Crone as is said further below. The Invictus do however offer many ways for the Lilithians to employ their gifts of conversation, do information brokering, and put them in places where they can hear juicy gossip about all the local powerful kindred. Still some Lilithians find their way into the Lancea Sanctum whose teaching being close to the Catholic/Christian Bible mesh well with one of their bloodline's origin stories that deals with Lilith, Adam, and Eve. Even though to the hardline members of the Lancea Sanctum certain things the Bloodline puts forth are considered heretical the Lilithians just whisper these things in secret to the more open minded members of that covenant when such close minded members are around, or speak nothing at all.
The Majority of the Bloodline however go to the Circle of the Crone, who unlike the Lancea Sanctum don't try to kill them as heretics when talk of the myths and stories of their Bloodline ancestor occur. The Circle of the Crone is perhaps the best fit of all for them as the Circle embraces their myths and stories of Lilith and more. In fact many cults in the Circle already worship many of the names of Lilith as she is represented as a goddess or demoness in many ancient religions. Thus a bloodline who is supposedly descended from her is of great interest to the Circle of the Crone and thus offers many possibilities and opportunities both to the Circle and to the Lilithian Bloodline. Further reasons behind members of the Lilithian Bloodline choosing to go with the Circle is that their feminist ideals fit perfectly with the Circle's worship of Goddesses as certainly they had enough worship of male deities in life why have to do so now as a Kindred? It is very rare for a member of the Bloodline to join any other covenant such as the Ordo Dracul or Carthians, though the Ordo Dracul's teaching of self empowerment fits well with the Bloodline's ideals of female empowerment. As such a few of the bloodline could be convinced to join that Covenant.
Appearance
The majority of the members of this Bloodline are female whether by design or other reasons it does not matter, but it is rare to hear of a male or believed male of the bloodline though there are in fact a few of them. Most of the bloodline's members try to wear clothing or jewelry that are of the finer(or finest) variety keeping up with the latest fashions and trends. Those who don't do this often go for the more practical clothes but still tend to wear something with these that is a little fashionable with the times. Almost always though a member of the bloodline can be found with a peice of jewelry or something on their clothing that shows a serpent or symbolizes the temptation of Eve by the Serpent (Lilith). If not this then often they will wear something with their clothing that speaks to or symbolizes female empowerment.
Havens
Havens amongst the Bloodline tend to be a little different from each other depending on which parent clan the Courtesan belongs to, gangrel or daeva, but certain common things tend to arise between all of them over time. Always the haven will be comfortable for the courtesan as well as possible guests and may well have a certain subtle theme arising in it that reflects the bloodline's ideals. These may either be posters and imagery that reflect female empowerment, artwork that refers to lilith or one of her myths, imagery of serpents or owls (which is common theme in Lilith myths), or actual owls and serpents in pet habitats. In the Later case the animals are often actually ghouls who guard the haven for their mistress.
Communal Havens are common amongst the Bloodline, especially in the case of neonates relatively new to the bloodline or to the embrace overall, as well as the fact the bloodline is still small and is more social then most. This serves several purposes that are beneficial to the Bloodline such as security, sharing of resources, and ease of sharing information amongst other members of the bloodline. Having more then one kindred in the same haven allows for them to rally together in the face of a attack on the haven, each kindred can contribute to the haven any resources they have to improve it for all those there, etc... Most of all though this insures each member can watch the other and insure none of the bloodline's secrets or information gets out when they don't want it to.
Background
For the most part members of the bloodline choose to embrace women of strong character, those that are already feminists are of particular interest. However a few effeminate males of the right mind set have found their way to embrace by members of this bloodline. Sires tend to choose to embrace those who are already capable speakers or show the ability to become capable in it. Someone who is a Jack (or rather Jill) of all trades is also a good candidate for the embrace as the Bloodline values the ability to not need to rely on their conversational skills at all times. Lilithians, as a result of their bloodline weakness, take great care in choosing who to embrace, and when, given the chance that they may end up killing the one they have chosen to by accident. When they do successfully embrace a childe they are as protective of it and nurturing as any new mother to their new born child is if not a little more so than is needed. This is perhaps why even after the embrace the sires tend to hold on to their childe as a protege teaching them all they need to know and indoctrinating them not only into the ways but the mindset of the Bloodline. Rare is it for a sire to leave the childe to fend for or learn of the world on their own, but even in these cases the sire is never so far from her protege as to not watch (and if need be guide) her protege's progress from the shadows. When the sire finally cuts off her childe and sends her off to make her own way the childe is always the perfect example of the bloodlines abilities and ideals with a firm grasp on the Lilithian myths.
The Bloodlines' nickname of Courtesan comes primarily from their skills in conversation especially in respect to Seduction and Innuendo as the members often choose to employ these when trying to sway others. While they are especially skilled in conversation and often attempt to seduce others to get what they want from them their nickname doesn't just come form this or even the positions in society that they often take that use these skills. The nickname was also given rightly so as the members of the bloodline fit well with it's original definition: A courtesan was originally a woman courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person. In fact, the verb "to court" originally meant "to be or reside at court", and later came to mean "to behave as a courtier" and then "to pay amorous attention to somebody". Often being found in the Invictus courts socializing, or even in the Court of the City's own Prince employing her trade and socializing with well to do Kindred. However they often also shown themselves to fit the current definition in modern times: Today, the term courtesan has become a euphemism to designate an escort or a high-class prostitute. A courtesan offers her charms and sexual pleasures, generally to people of substantial wealth. She differentiates herself from other common street prostitutes by tending to service a few long-term clients, depending on her ability to seduce on a number of levels. She would also use sex more artistically rather than for a quick means of making a little money, being more entertaining and classy in her seduction. While as Kindred sex is not often a means by which they gain pleasure or anything of the sort it still remains a tool they can use. While the Courtesans rarely engage in sex with other kindred they have often employed the same tools of seduction and temptation with their own sexuality to those other kindred. By doing this in addition to their other skills and disciplines they often have been able to sway others into doing what they want or giving up information they seek. Thus allowing the Courtesan to further their goals and gain power. So in every sense they are a Courtesan and have well earned their nickname as such.
Yet as a result of all this and because of their relationship with snakes or other serpents the Courtesans have given rise to another nickname one that is used as a insult towards them. By swaying others into giving up their secrets and other information to use for their own gains to power they have come to be called "Snakes in the Grass." A Result of their information brokering or merely giving up information to and secrets confided to them because they want to, or are seeking revenge many who have been on the wrong end of this have come to hate the Courtesans. Viewing them as beautiful and seductive women who seem lovely and harmless but who have sharp fangs that will strike you in the back when you least expect it. This is a well earned reputation as well as the courtesans are not above doing this and have done it quiet often to gain their power or positions.
Character Creation
Like the Daeva Social attributes and skills are of top priority if your creating a character for this bloodline, but like the Gangrel they are honest with themselves about what is and is not their forte. They seek to improve themselves in areas they are weakest in while still improving what they are strong in (if it needs improvement at all). Thus they have something they can fall back on when their primary skills and attributes fail them. Because of the social nature of the bloodline Social Merits are certainly common among the bloodline though Herd and Contacts merits are of particular interest to the Bloodline for various reasons (some of which are listed in other sections), but other merits such as Pack Blooded from the Gangrel Clan book are also common in this bloodline. Certain Mental Merits are also popular for the bloodline to aid in their Information Brokering such as Encyclopedic Knowledge.
Weakness
In many of the myths of Lilith she and those descended from her are murders of children or sexual predators (rapists such as succubi of myth which Lilith is supposed to have given birth to). Lilith was even known to murder her own children in fits of rage. As such it is fitting that the Lilithian Bloodline weakness in addition to the weakness of their parent clan the Courtesan belongs to (daeva or gangrel) is as follows. With each attempt to create ghoul or embrace a mortal as a Kindred the Lilithian has a chance to enter frenzy (a check against frenzy becomes necessary in each case). If they do not enter frenzy in these cases another check against gaining a derangement is necessary, and the derangement if one is gained is often of a sexual nature.
In addition to this the emotions behind the Betrayal's of Lilith have been ingrained into the blood of this bloodline namely those of Pride and Jealousy. When ever the Lilithian feeds their blood to another to create a blood bond on the 3rd drink of blood (completing the bond) something happens in addition to the normal effects of the blood bond. A artificial feeling of jealousy is created which is sparked during times when such jealousy can occur (or even wouldn't normally) and the strength of this jealousy's feeling is based on the strength of the blood at time of creation of the bond. A Lilithian of high potency who creates such a bond could end up having a Servant that enters murderous rages of Jealousy when the Lilithian gives more attention to someone other than the servant. However this Feeling of Jealousy also effects the Liltihian and so the Lilithian could end up being the one to enter a jealous rage.
The Jealousy feeling can pass with time (faster for mortals) but in the case of ghouls who must be fed continually the feeling never passes from them entirely (though it will from the vampire). The amount of time this takes to pass is 1 month for every point of blood potency in the case of mortals and 1 year per point of blood potency for vampires. For Ghouls the feeling remains though it's intensity weakens, no matter the potency of the blood they have currently ingested after the initial time frame set by the creation of the bond in which the feeling would normally pass for a mortal a check against derangement must be made, and if successful the feeling weakens by 1 stage (consider the blood potency to be 1 less than it originally was). Another check is made each month after that until the Strength equals a blood potency of 1 at which point no further checks are made and the strength remains at this. If a Derangement check fails the ghoul's jealousy remains at that level till another full number of months have passed (equal to the currently used blood potency), and they receive a new derangement or the severity of a current derangement increases as deemed appropriate to the situation (sexual, obsessive, or derangement of paranoia are not uncommon).
Organization
Previously the organization of this Bloodline was rather loose with members only being high up in it cause of social issues not unlike the Daeva clan in fact most other Kindred looked at them thinking they were nothing more than a coterie of like minded kindred. However, now as in recent months it has come to light that they are in fact a Bloodline, as several members of the bloodline have begun claiming and presenting evidence of, a whole new organizational structure has arisen. The Bloodline's members are more closely knit than with members of their parent clan and this only aids in bringing about the bonds between them that are needed both for survival and more. The Bloodline in the past months just before alerting people to the fact they are a bloodline went through a bit of a organizational upheaval though it was less of a conflict than it could have been do to the fact the Founder lead the restructuring and was already in a position of much authority as their founder. The Bloodline is now organized much like a Sisterhood or a Sorority, elder members are given the kind of respect and authority that a Alumni in such a Sorority would be given merely do to their long standing and age in the Bloodline. A member's Lineage is also taken into account for status in the Bloodline but only to a lesser degree as well as any status their Sire had in the bloodline if at all. A member whose sire was a part of the Bloodline or sire's sire helps that member's status in the bloodline by a small measure. Rank and Hierarchy in the Bloodline is another matter of organization though while it is still dealt with much like you would see in a Sisterhood or Sorority. Positions of rank and authority are sometimes given by vote or the like as you would find in a Sisterhood or Sorority. A members ranking is a measure of status in the bloodline but also in some cases is a social factor much like the Daeva. The votes and such in these cases are based on Social Status, Bloodline Status, and how much the member upholds the values of the Bloodline. The Bloodline's founder always holds the Highest position in this ranking not only because she is the Founder of the Bloodline but because she has cultivated her status and position both in and out of the bloodline.
The Bloodline also makes sure they keep a tight network amongst it's membership for sharing of information to better serve as Information Brokers and to better aid each of it's membership. This is done through many means be it a list of contacts with in the bloodline whom each member is allowed to call, or for the more tech savvy a vast network of computer databases interconnected to each other. The Bloodline's computer databases house information of every kind their members may find themselves in need of from local news and gossip to Folk Lore and rumors, and as they are interconnected through a computer network a member of the Bloodline need only access to a computer on the network and a little bit of computer knowledge to access the information from any of those databases. The Network and databases are not easy to access though and are not connected to the world wide web. Thus no simple internet connected computer could access this information network and even if a person could through such a connection there are layers and layers of security measures and encryption to protect against hacking, viruses, etc. The bloodline takes great care to insure only it's membership can access the information on these databases. As a result of this many in the Bloodline take the Contacts Merit if they have a decent enough Status with the bloodline and/or particular skills. Namely Status (Lilithian Bloodline) 2 dots or more and skill with computers is needed if they want access to the Databases as a contact for their Merit, but no skill in computers is needed in the case of contacts accessed by phone and the amount of information one gains depends on the Kindred's status and number of successful rolls.
Devotions
Below are a few Devotions that the Lilithians have worked on and often may know though they are not necessarily the only devotions that they may know or have developed.
Lilith's Alluring Gaze
- Lamiai *** Crúac *
- Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult + Lamiai + Crúac versus Composure + Blood Potency
- Cost: 1 Vitae
- Action: Contested; Resistance reflexive
- Xp Cost: 9xp
With this the Lilithian has learned to combine the power of their discipline with their knowledge of Crúac. By performing a Ritual of Blood Sorcery and expending vitae in the usual cost to activate Lamiai *** they gain greater powers of seduction. No Longer is their ability merely limited to the beauty and power of awe that Lilith's Allure brings they need only have eye contact and a few simple complimentary words or a heartfelt look to the subject (with eye contact). Causing the Subject to break down their prudence and fear, inspiring a desire to share deep feelings or dark secrets in a up-welling of affection or Release. In effect this has much the same capability and results as Majesty ** thus Daeva members often don't learn this but it is of great use to Gangrel members with no access to majesty.
Serpent's Scales
- Protean ** Resilience **
- Dice Pool: Stamina + Protean + Resilience
- Cost: 1 Vitae
- Action: Instant
- Xp cost: 6xp
Through the basic shapeshifting abilities given by Haven of the Soil and a understanding of the power of Resilience a Lilithian is capable of transforming their skin into a armor of Scales not unlike that of a snake. Their skin becomes as thick as leather as it is covered in these scales adding a armor bonus to the vampire against attacks this bonus is equal to the lower of the user's current Protean or Resilience. In addition to this all the effects of the Kindred's current level of Resilience (at time of activation) activate when activating this Devotion.
Fangs of Lilith
- Lamiai ***** Protean ***
- Cost: 1 Vitae
- Dice Pool: Requires no Roll to activate. Just as Protean *** doesn't require a roll.
- Action: Instant
- Xp cost: 12xp
Mastery of Lamiai and the Shapeshifting power of Claws of the Wild combine into this Devotion giving the Form of Lilith increased capability for combat. Attributes of this form such as talons now have upgraded damage inflicting Aggravated damage instead of lethal.
New Crúac Rituals
Lilith's Embrace
- Crúac ***
It seems fairly obvious and is no mystery that members of the Lilithian Bloodline are able to pass on the bloodline to those with in their own parent clan or to their own childe as normal (with exception of sometimes going into a frenzy). What is a mystery though is how the Bloodline is able to spread so freely between the Gangrel and the Daeva clans themselves. Most Bloodlines belong only to a single Clan not more, and those that can belong to multiple clans are few and far between. The Key is this Ritual, created by the founder of the bloodline, a Gangrel, she used it to pass the bloodline on to the first Daeva member of the bloodline. Since then this ritual has remained a closely guarded secret of the bloodline although it would be useless to any outside the bloodline. Basics for the ritual are rather simple, the one who performs the ritual must be a member of the Bloodline and during the course of the Ritual must feed some of their Vitae to the Potential Member. The potential member, who must have a blood potency of at least 2, then expends the necessary willpower to force a change in their own blood during the ritual as they feed. Thus as a result a Gangrel member of the Bloodline can pass the Bloodline on to a Daeva or vice versa. Resulting in the potential member becoming a full member of the bloodline at the ritual's completion. This ritual can only pass the bloodline between members of clans Gangrel and Daeva. As it would seem any other clans are incompatible to the bloodline the ritual will automatically fail on any clans other then Gangrel or Daeva.
Despite the ritual only working on Gangrel and Daeva the Bloodline keeps the knowledge of this ritual secret from those outside of the bloodline as there is no telling what might come out of others realizing the bloodline needs aid to pass between clans.
Author's Notes
It is my hope that as the second bloodline I have created this one turns out considerably better then my Slaaneshi Bloodline first did. Especially as I used many more resources in the creation of this one and have a better idea of what I want from it.
I created this bloodline using the concepts of the myths and stories of lilith through out history. The Mythological Lilith as present in many forms in our history is thus my basis for this and if your not familiar with her it should not matter to much, but I want to present you with links to the websites I used as reference for the creation of this bloodline. Especially as I don't plan to go into any great detail into the Lilith myths and stories in this page. Thus below are 3 websites you can view for information on Lilith. I present them in order of priority as to which I used more information from in the creation of this bloodline.
- http://www.lilithgallery.com/library/lilith/index.html
- http://www.gnosis.org/lilith.htm
- http://www.paganwiki.org/index.php?title=Lilith
The images posted here are also taken from these websites and depict different forms of Lilith in mythology.
External Links
- The original source of this article at the World of Darkness Wiki - No Longer Available