[Lions and Hyenas] -- Boot Camp pt. 1
May. 21st, 2007 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
Good evening. Welcome to the first night of eternity. I am Lord Kay and I am here to help orient you to the new facts of your reality.
I realize that you have many questions and we will be addressing all of them in the coming nights. But let me settle the first question that is surely foremost in the minds of most of you: there is no cure. All of you have been Embraced. All of you are now Vampires. All of you can, must and will feed on the blood of mortal humans to survive. There is no turning back. In the past we've had a few reckless souls attempt suicide, but you all have very resilient bodies now and will find most methods of killing yourself terribly ineffectual. Some have tried to limit themselves to animal blood, but quickly discovered that only human blood actually nourishes. A few have staged hunger strikes, as if their Vampiric state were some sort of civil justice issue. Eventually the hunger overcomes them and they feed rather messily. You'll find that once you've had a meal or two, the revulsion you might now feel dissipates fairly quickly.
It may also help to remember that even in your former form, you lived through the deaths of the plants and animals you ate. All of humanity is a scavenger, feasting on the dead. With time and practice, you can learn to control your feeding. Your predation may weaken your subjects, but will rarely kill them. In that light, you may find your mode of feeding superior to that which you once practiced. But, as I said, once you've had a few feedings under your belt, you'll come to accept it as the way of things.
The second question most of you have is probably, "why?". Why have we chosen to curse you with this terrible existence? The answer is equally simple: we need you. You have been drafted into an army that is fighting a desperate war to save humanity. Stories have always painted Vampires as monsters, and to those individual humans who we feed from that's probably the case. But it is worthwhile to remember that without humans, we are nothing. We will starve and wither away. We need humanity and so we are sworn to protect, preserve, defend, and promote it. That there are over six billion people in the world is, in part, a testament to how fervently we work to help humanity survive. If the mass of humanity knew the terrors we protected them from, they would gladly offer up their necks in gratitude.
Our greatest foe are the ghouls, twisted horrors that feed upon human corpses. They seek to crack the shell of this reality and let in black horrors from beyond our universe who would consume us all. Yes, I know it sounds like I'm a raving lunatic. But during the course of your training here, you'll see quite a few things things that will defy rational explanation. If what I say sounds crazy, so would some guy in the street raving about Vampires. There is more than your philosophy ever dreamed of, Horatio.
So. There are forces who are working in the shadows to unravel reality as we know it. We cannot allow this to happen and so we fight them. From time to time, we need to increase our numbers. We need new soldiers to replace our losses or to help fight a rising enemy. Luckily, both sides are somewhat constrained. Neither of us can "recruit" willy-nilly. We both need to exercise strict population control lest we eat ourselves out of house and home.
But at this point in time, we need fresh troops. We've searched through the city and we've determined that you are a prime candidate. Some of you possess skills and expertise that we need. Some of you are well-rounded generalists. All of you are competent but, for whatever reason, haven't risen so high in human society that we need to keep you in place to help humanity move forward. And so we Embraced you.
I'm sure some of you are rather resentful about being turned into a monster and drafted into a war against mythical monsters. The fact that you're saving humanity and are no longer our prey may seem like abstract comforts at best. Perhaps now would be a good time to discuss some of the more tangible benefits of being a Vampire.
To start with, you can throw out most of the movies and myths. Vampires are far more rational and far less fairy tale than you would think. Garlic, running water, sleeping in your native soil, and the like are completely untrue. Some people may be able to hold you at bay with holy symbols, but that is more a function of their innate power rather than any special power of the symbol or weakness on your part. Such humans are few and far between and you'd make mincemeat of the average priest trying to fend you off with a cross.
While it's true that since your Embrace you've been on a nocturnal schedule and it's during the midnight hours that Vampires get most of their work done, sunlight doesn't turn us to dust. You can easily walk among people during the day. However, sunlight does make us much, much weaker. In the daytime we're only about as strong as a regular human and most of our special powers are very difficult to use (if they can be used at all). It's also very tiring, but if you take it easy, you can get along in the daytime without too much difficulty. I will remind you, however, that while you can do this, you are extremely vulnerable, so most Vampires don't make a habit of it.
A stake through the heart or other serious amounts of damage will send you into a state called Torpor, which is basically a coma where your body shuts down until you heal up or get additional blood. While you're pretty helpless in this state, it does mean you'll eventually recover from just about anything. No vampire has ever died from natural causes.
But that's about it for the old wives' tales. Oh, you'll also show up in mirrors or on cameras and the like. Making yourself invisible is a talent that some vampires have, but you can't just change the laws of physics. Well, you can't change them permanently.
Here's where the fun really starts. The legends ascribe all kinds of supernatural powers to Vampires. Those legends are rather more true. All vampires have a host of unusual abilities. All of them can be developed but it takes time. Your personal inclinations and innate talents will guide you to develop some of these powers over others. As you grow older and more powerful, you'll start to develop some of the other powers you've neglected. Most Vampires have one really well-developed power, a couple of secondaries and the rest will only be tried in desperation.
We've grouped these abilities into several broad categories:
Over the coming nights, we'll delve a bit more into the details of these powers and give a few demonstrations. I think the first time you talk to a crow, bench press a car, or play a few Jedi mind tricks, you'll come to appreciate the gift you've been given. As you grow older and watch the world around you change and evolve, as you see "what happens next", you'll start to realize that you have a chance to really make a difference in the world that you never had before. Your name may not be in the history books, but through your efforts, you know what those books will say before they've been written.
It's true, nothing comes for free. There are a couple of things you need to watch out for. Both of these dangers come from the fact that you are now a predatory creature. The first is Frenzy. Under great stress or hunger you can go berserk and revert to a primal killing machine. At times this can save your life, but mostly it's a great annoyance. It happens to every Vampire at least once, but with regular feeding it's not a regular occurrence. It's another reason to quit standing on human morals and start feeding from human mortals. You're less likely to seriously harm someone if you're not in a Frenzy when you feed. So carefully drink from a few and you'll get a lot less blood on your hands (literally and figuratively).
The other predatory problem with being a Vampire is that you need your space. One vampire requires a population of a few thousand people to feed from. A lot more than that if he's going to be indiscriminate and kill his victims (which is strongly discouraged for a variety of reasons). What this means is that Vampires are loners when it comes to feeding. We each want our own private "hunting ground". And under our social system (which we'll describe a bit later), you'll get that. But old habits die hard. When you all arrived, there was quite a bit of tension in the air wasn't there? And when I walked through the door, most of you probably had the nagging desire to get the heck out of here. That's perfectly normal. When you encounter another Vampire (or many other kinds of supernatural things), you'll often go into a fight or flight mode. For young Vampires this impulse can often overcome rational thought. It's not an irresistible siren call, it's something you can can learn to ignore, but you have to be aware that this impulse can cause you to make stupid choices.
So. That's the thumbnail sketch of the powers and perils of being a Vampire. As in your human life nothing is purely good or purely evil, but some mix of the two. The predatory existence isn't pretty, but it gives us the power to serve mankind in ways that it could never help itself. We are the Good Shepherds of Humanity. We're always looking out for the welfare of our flock even if we mean to cull some of them from time to time.
I think we'll take a short break now and then get into some more specifics...
So with all the changes, I'm thinking of skipping out on the WoD ruleset. It's not that I don't like it, but I've stripped away a lot of stuff that WoD has baked in. There aren't any covenants or bloodlines or the like. I've traded it all in for a more freeform method of picking powers. I'm thinking I'd like to use FATE for the system and supplement the Fate Tokens with "Blood Tokens" that you spend to activate/enhance powers and the like. The Fate tokens would be for total re-rolls or director-stance fact-making. It'll need a bit more percolating.
later
Tom
Good evening. Welcome to the first night of eternity. I am Lord Kay and I am here to help orient you to the new facts of your reality.
I realize that you have many questions and we will be addressing all of them in the coming nights. But let me settle the first question that is surely foremost in the minds of most of you: there is no cure. All of you have been Embraced. All of you are now Vampires. All of you can, must and will feed on the blood of mortal humans to survive. There is no turning back. In the past we've had a few reckless souls attempt suicide, but you all have very resilient bodies now and will find most methods of killing yourself terribly ineffectual. Some have tried to limit themselves to animal blood, but quickly discovered that only human blood actually nourishes. A few have staged hunger strikes, as if their Vampiric state were some sort of civil justice issue. Eventually the hunger overcomes them and they feed rather messily. You'll find that once you've had a meal or two, the revulsion you might now feel dissipates fairly quickly.
It may also help to remember that even in your former form, you lived through the deaths of the plants and animals you ate. All of humanity is a scavenger, feasting on the dead. With time and practice, you can learn to control your feeding. Your predation may weaken your subjects, but will rarely kill them. In that light, you may find your mode of feeding superior to that which you once practiced. But, as I said, once you've had a few feedings under your belt, you'll come to accept it as the way of things.
The second question most of you have is probably, "why?". Why have we chosen to curse you with this terrible existence? The answer is equally simple: we need you. You have been drafted into an army that is fighting a desperate war to save humanity. Stories have always painted Vampires as monsters, and to those individual humans who we feed from that's probably the case. But it is worthwhile to remember that without humans, we are nothing. We will starve and wither away. We need humanity and so we are sworn to protect, preserve, defend, and promote it. That there are over six billion people in the world is, in part, a testament to how fervently we work to help humanity survive. If the mass of humanity knew the terrors we protected them from, they would gladly offer up their necks in gratitude.
Our greatest foe are the ghouls, twisted horrors that feed upon human corpses. They seek to crack the shell of this reality and let in black horrors from beyond our universe who would consume us all. Yes, I know it sounds like I'm a raving lunatic. But during the course of your training here, you'll see quite a few things things that will defy rational explanation. If what I say sounds crazy, so would some guy in the street raving about Vampires. There is more than your philosophy ever dreamed of, Horatio.
So. There are forces who are working in the shadows to unravel reality as we know it. We cannot allow this to happen and so we fight them. From time to time, we need to increase our numbers. We need new soldiers to replace our losses or to help fight a rising enemy. Luckily, both sides are somewhat constrained. Neither of us can "recruit" willy-nilly. We both need to exercise strict population control lest we eat ourselves out of house and home.
But at this point in time, we need fresh troops. We've searched through the city and we've determined that you are a prime candidate. Some of you possess skills and expertise that we need. Some of you are well-rounded generalists. All of you are competent but, for whatever reason, haven't risen so high in human society that we need to keep you in place to help humanity move forward. And so we Embraced you.
I'm sure some of you are rather resentful about being turned into a monster and drafted into a war against mythical monsters. The fact that you're saving humanity and are no longer our prey may seem like abstract comforts at best. Perhaps now would be a good time to discuss some of the more tangible benefits of being a Vampire.
To start with, you can throw out most of the movies and myths. Vampires are far more rational and far less fairy tale than you would think. Garlic, running water, sleeping in your native soil, and the like are completely untrue. Some people may be able to hold you at bay with holy symbols, but that is more a function of their innate power rather than any special power of the symbol or weakness on your part. Such humans are few and far between and you'd make mincemeat of the average priest trying to fend you off with a cross.
While it's true that since your Embrace you've been on a nocturnal schedule and it's during the midnight hours that Vampires get most of their work done, sunlight doesn't turn us to dust. You can easily walk among people during the day. However, sunlight does make us much, much weaker. In the daytime we're only about as strong as a regular human and most of our special powers are very difficult to use (if they can be used at all). It's also very tiring, but if you take it easy, you can get along in the daytime without too much difficulty. I will remind you, however, that while you can do this, you are extremely vulnerable, so most Vampires don't make a habit of it.
A stake through the heart or other serious amounts of damage will send you into a state called Torpor, which is basically a coma where your body shuts down until you heal up or get additional blood. While you're pretty helpless in this state, it does mean you'll eventually recover from just about anything. No vampire has ever died from natural causes.
But that's about it for the old wives' tales. Oh, you'll also show up in mirrors or on cameras and the like. Making yourself invisible is a talent that some vampires have, but you can't just change the laws of physics. Well, you can't change them permanently.
Here's where the fun really starts. The legends ascribe all kinds of supernatural powers to Vampires. Those legends are rather more true. All vampires have a host of unusual abilities. All of them can be developed but it takes time. Your personal inclinations and innate talents will guide you to develop some of these powers over others. As you grow older and more powerful, you'll start to develop some of the other powers you've neglected. Most Vampires have one really well-developed power, a couple of secondaries and the rest will only be tried in desperation.
We've grouped these abilities into several broad categories:
- Animalism, the power to communicate and command animals.
- Auspex, the power of information. From heightened senses to telepathy and ESP.
- Celerity, the power of speed. Just like the Matrix.
- Dominate, the power of the mind. With it you can control the thoughts and emotions of others. I highly recommend some study of this power as it makes feeding much easier.
- Obfuscate, the power of invisibility, stealth and anonymity.
- Protean, the power of shapeshifting. A difficult power to master, but with it you can make your body a weapon or walk through walls.
- Resilience, the power to endure.
- Vigor, the power of strength.
Over the coming nights, we'll delve a bit more into the details of these powers and give a few demonstrations. I think the first time you talk to a crow, bench press a car, or play a few Jedi mind tricks, you'll come to appreciate the gift you've been given. As you grow older and watch the world around you change and evolve, as you see "what happens next", you'll start to realize that you have a chance to really make a difference in the world that you never had before. Your name may not be in the history books, but through your efforts, you know what those books will say before they've been written.
It's true, nothing comes for free. There are a couple of things you need to watch out for. Both of these dangers come from the fact that you are now a predatory creature. The first is Frenzy. Under great stress or hunger you can go berserk and revert to a primal killing machine. At times this can save your life, but mostly it's a great annoyance. It happens to every Vampire at least once, but with regular feeding it's not a regular occurrence. It's another reason to quit standing on human morals and start feeding from human mortals. You're less likely to seriously harm someone if you're not in a Frenzy when you feed. So carefully drink from a few and you'll get a lot less blood on your hands (literally and figuratively).
The other predatory problem with being a Vampire is that you need your space. One vampire requires a population of a few thousand people to feed from. A lot more than that if he's going to be indiscriminate and kill his victims (which is strongly discouraged for a variety of reasons). What this means is that Vampires are loners when it comes to feeding. We each want our own private "hunting ground". And under our social system (which we'll describe a bit later), you'll get that. But old habits die hard. When you all arrived, there was quite a bit of tension in the air wasn't there? And when I walked through the door, most of you probably had the nagging desire to get the heck out of here. That's perfectly normal. When you encounter another Vampire (or many other kinds of supernatural things), you'll often go into a fight or flight mode. For young Vampires this impulse can often overcome rational thought. It's not an irresistible siren call, it's something you can can learn to ignore, but you have to be aware that this impulse can cause you to make stupid choices.
So. That's the thumbnail sketch of the powers and perils of being a Vampire. As in your human life nothing is purely good or purely evil, but some mix of the two. The predatory existence isn't pretty, but it gives us the power to serve mankind in ways that it could never help itself. We are the Good Shepherds of Humanity. We're always looking out for the welfare of our flock even if we mean to cull some of them from time to time.
I think we'll take a short break now and then get into some more specifics...
So with all the changes, I'm thinking of skipping out on the WoD ruleset. It's not that I don't like it, but I've stripped away a lot of stuff that WoD has baked in. There aren't any covenants or bloodlines or the like. I've traded it all in for a more freeform method of picking powers. I'm thinking I'd like to use FATE for the system and supplement the Fate Tokens with "Blood Tokens" that you spend to activate/enhance powers and the like. The Fate tokens would be for total re-rolls or director-stance fact-making. It'll need a bit more percolating.
later
Tom
