#malkavians have more fun

[dapperbasil]

Fangfest Day 14

Well, I didn't intend to do anything for the vtm tarot because of burnout but since @anarchswild did the lovely Thomas Slater for the Death arcana, it's only fitting to post a snippet from his final nights. Yes a few of you might be familiar with this.

Presenting, the inner thoughts of a Malkavian proxy Prince, to whom the world is a show and he is the star. Sparkle on, you funky little Malk.

My eyes open as day turns to dusk and finally to night, and there’s no time to waste. The next episode of “The Thomas Slater Show” is due to air in two hours, as much as I would like to get back in bed and sleep. The cameras aren’t rolling yet, a blessing in disguise. I love the attention, the applause, the ratings. But I’m so tired of it, all of it. My eyes take extra long to adjust, take in the room around me. That was one of the things the producers couldn’t fix, that and the damnable leg injury I took as a stupid teenager. I was dumb then, thinking I could be an athlete, a star. I guess I got that wish in a different sense, but you can only take stardom for so long.

This new haven is cold and foreboding, unlike my home in NYC. The city is quiet and calm, and it would be a relief if I wasn't in charge of the whole damn thing. This season's ratings have been low overall, and it does wear down on me. My heart's not in it and I think the producers are starting to notice. They sent down a rep, my sheriff. He says he's just here to keep an eye on me, to make sure the producers see what they want to see. Am I supposed to feel safe with that?

What am I even the prince of anyway? They said they're doing a trial run, and didn't want to send too many actors to the new stage, but there's so few of us. I don't think we stand a chance so close to the border. These thoughts begin to fade from my mind as I pull on a purple and red tie-dye blazer and head downstairs to start a pot of coffee. I can't drink the stuff anymore but Alex… it's the only way he'll feed.

For now, he's all that I live for. I messed up and I keep messing up. I messed up with Apollo and now I've messed up with Alex. I shouldn't have embraced even one, but now I've got two childer. Apollo hates me, that much is clear to me, given how our last few chats went. Maybe I won't make the same mistakes with Alex. Call me an empty nester if you must, when I was a kine I wanted to have a family and I guess I never grew out of it.

Alex knocks on the door frame when he comes into the kitchen, his way of getting my attention. I haven't heard him speak once since his embrace, I can only assume it must be part of his derangement. From what I can tell of his derangement, he takes after me in the worst of ways. Well, maybe not the worst. He's still bright and cheerful, smiling as wide as the day I offered a bright young film student an internship. He doesn't even seem to mind not understanding a word I say. We do talk of course, in different ways. Sign language wasn't too difficult for me to pick up, and the critics loved it. He can read lips well enough, and even though I can't, we still communicate fine.

I pour him a cup of coffee as he goes over what's scheduled for tonight. We look over the itinerary together as he sips the coffee deliberately spiked with blood. He still doesn't quite get it, even after all these months. He doesn't understand why he gets so angry once in a while, doesn't understand that he's not keeping food down because his body can't anymore. Blood is all that nourishes him, and I have to slip it into him where I can. Even when the lights overtake me and I have to put on a show, during commercials I make sure he's taken care of.

I'm careful with how much I tell him. I don't want him to grow like Apollo, to hate me yet. Not until he can stand on his own, or has friends to help him like I do. Maybe I'll get him a ghoul, someone who can help him when I'm not there any longer to do so. I don't have much longer.

Those golden eyes haunt me, the eyes of my own childe. Was embracing him a mistake? Perhaps but I was foolish thinking I could change things, I’m not even sure why I did it anymore. If anything I brought my doom closer at hand. I don't really even mind anymore, as I've grown tired from my years of performing. The nightmares have become more frequent as of late, being forced to my knees as an ominous voice speaks over me and Apollo looks down at me with hatred dripping from his eyes. The golden sparkle in his eyes is gone, dimmed and tired. I don't know what he's been through, but I know this is the face of the man who's going to be my death one day.

Hurry Apollo, but don't come too quickly. Not until Alex can stand on his own. For now we exit the haven as the stage lights begin to shine. The curtain will soon rise and all that will matter is the audience. Another night I hope to not see a golden sparkle staring back at me and I face it not with anticipation, but with a tired sigh. The producers will have their show, and soon, maybe not soon enough, their series finale.

[trevisos]

sorry i have vampire the masquerade brain worms u can ignore this.

astarion is Obviously ventrue and as someone who grew up in a banite church i feel like xarrai should Also be ventrue but i feel like it would be insane to make them anything but toreador. but then i thought. maybe they are both ventrue trying to come off as toreador. absolutely the funniest shit on earth to imagine two different ventrue trying very hard to make everyone think they’re toreadors for two different reasons. LOL yep definitely here in the pursuit of beauty don’t mind me… :)

[eric-the-bmo]

Are vine redraws still funny

[cavegirlpoems]

you know what? I'm nailing my colours to the mast:

The default rpg that's used as a yardstick, in my view, is not D&D. It's Vampire The Masquerade 20th Aniversary Edition.

It has everything: Action! Melodrama! Politics! Intrigue! Horror! Romance! Bleak Social Realism!

Still want a fantasy game with swords and dragons? We got that, it's called Dark Ages Vampire!

When pitching me a game, the big hurdle you need to overcome is "why am I not running this in Vampire?" Call of Cthulhu? Vampire has plenty of cosmic-horror tentacle monster cults, just throw a hidden baali cell into your setting. D&D? Play a dark ages game and all be members of a vampiric order. Monsterhearts? That's just standard Camarilla Toreador behaviour! Paranoia? The prince is a malkavian, have fun. Rolemaster? That's just dark ages again, and trust me our mechanics are fiddly and pedantic too.

Being picky and don't want to play a vampire? No problem, there's a splat-book for playing as regular mortals, who may or may not have psychic powers.

Seriously, Vampire: The Masquerade has so much range as a game. Even more if you throw in bits of other WoD gamelines or elements from v5. Mage even has sci-fi space explorers fighting tentacle monsters on the surface of jupiter and I am not joking.

This is not a bit or a funny joke. I genuinely, 100% believe that Vampire is a better Default Game that can Do Everything than D&D and its imitators.

[kavalyera]

🎭 VTM OC ASK GAME🩸

Hello I’ve decided to make a VTM OC ask game! Feel free to reblog and put your OCs name in the tags hehe

1. What clan is your OC?

2. What faction is your OC? Do they conform to a group or are they independent?

3. Are they more “traditional” or do they break barriers?

4. What generation are they?

5. Who is their sire?

6. What was their relationship to their sire? Were they close in any way or mere strangers?

7. How did their sire treat them?

8. Was their sire with them after their embrace?

9. Do they have a childer?

10. What is their relationship to that childe if they do have one?

11. When was their embrace?

12. What happened that lead up to their embrace?

13. Was their embrace painful? (Either emotionally or physically)

14. How did they initially feel after being embraced? Did they like being reborn into something knew or did it take them a while to cope with their new reality?

15. Are they presumed to be dead or are they still acting as though they are alive to the general public?

16. How good are they at acting “alive”?

17. What are their thoughts on the Camarilla?

18. What are their thoughts on thinbloods?

19. What are their thoughts on the Sabbat?

20. What are their thoughts on the Anarchs?

21. What is their predator type?

22. What are their thoughts on other predator types?

23. How often do they kill those they drain blood of?

24. Do they easily dispose of bodies?

25. How often do they cause a masquerade breach?

26. Do they want to become human again or are they fine as a kindred?

27. Do they have a clan they don’t particularly like?

28. Where do they live now as a kindred?

29. Do they frequently change locations or do they have a fixed location where they live?

30. Do they have a clan that they do particularly like?

31. Do they have a ghoul?

32. Do they like their ghoul if they do have one?

33. Would they like to have a ghoul if they don’t have one?

34. What are their thoughts on blood dolls?

35. How old is your OC up until their death?

36. How old are they now, continuing through their embrace?

37. What age are they? (Childer, Neonate, Ancilla, etc.)

38. Do they care about the taste of blood?

39. Could they easily decipher what a Malkavian is saying?

40. Would they ever commit diablerie if given the chance?

41. Would your OC switch their clan if given the chance? Why or why not?

42. Suppose they weren’t embraced by their clan, which other clan would they thrive in?

43. What are their best attributes?

44. What are their best skills?

45. What are their disciplines?

46. What are their ambition(s) if any?

47. What are their desire(s) if any?

48. Detail things about your OC you spent a lot of time on!

49. Detail your OC’s backstory!

50. Wild card! Sender asks a specific question in regards to your OC

I hope you guys have fun :3

cr; divider by @.anitalenia / divider by @.cold--carnage

tagging some of my mutuals who might be interested (u guys are now gonna get bothered by me no take backs) (unless you ask to stop which i will dont worry dont worry im just being silly): @thewhumpcaretaker @babayagaiscomingforya @informaltorching @casperatu @styxnbones @porcelainseashore @childofmalkavians @knownsome @findingtarshish

[probablybadrpgideas]

What kind of Internet Vibes do the different Vampire Clans have?

Assamites: The most impenetrable discourse you've ever seen in your life. The kind of callouts where you need 350 years of context and several PhDs to figure out what the person's actually being accused of. Despite the fact that maybe 10 non-vampires on earth know what any given post means, it still gets 80,000 notes worth of argument.

Brujah: An otherwise blank page that simply says "if you venmo $20 to this account I will eat your landlord no questions asked"

Followers Of Set: As a group of soulless immortal monsters dedicated to spreading wickedness in service of an ancient god of evil, the Followers Of Set's profiles sometimes make the top ten most fucked up things you've seen online today.

Gangrel: Extremely distressing furry art pages.

Giovanni: They reanimate dead memes and send them after you. More then one prince has been destroyed after having a LolCat captioned "I can has your soul?" myspaced to them.

Lasombra: The Lasombra don't show up on camera so instead of putting out content they just break into your house while you sleep.

Malkavian: Listen. Listen. You look me in the eyes and tell me you aren't following at least one blog obviously run by Malkavians right now.

Nosferatu: Monsterfuckers but the other way round.

Ravnos: Sadly if I continue White Wolf will delete my blog for bringing up that time they wrote the Ravnos.

Toreador: Toreadors have literally never experienced anything they have loved more then Instagram. The entire clan has gone feral, several elders have been killed over follower counts and the Toreador Antediluvian reentered torpor because it couldn't stop Instagram scrolling. It's a fucking bloodbath.

Tremere: You know those "occult safety" tumblrs that say things "don't use Ouija boards on Halloween"? The opposite of those. "Hey kids! Break a cursed doll over your head while yelling the true name of Satan! It'll be cool and fun!"

Tzimisce: Yet more unrealistic beauty standards for women.

Ventrue: Those weird focused group "cool tweets" designed to appeal to the youth, except the focus group is 1000 years old. Ever had a tweet show up in your feed "You know what's leet and unsus? The divine right of kings"? You're welcome!

[mnasthaii]

okay i’ve finally completed all the world of darkness interactive fiction games. my rankings are as follows:

vampire: the masquerade — night road: the crème de la creme of these books. like genuinely the best. also it was the first one i’ve ever played so i have a soft spot for it. favourite clan to play is either tremere or ravnos.

(3-way tie kinda, rankings do matter a bit) werewolf: the apocalypse — the book of hungry names: loved it. it’s super long but it’s absolutely worth it. never really dipped my toes into the werewolf part of world of darkness but i liked being a galliard hart warden. might have to look into it more.

(3-way tie kinda, rankings do matter a bit) vampire: the masquerade — out for blood: okay like i get technically you’re not playing as a vampire—and maybe it should be labelled as a hunter: the reckoning book—but playing as a human witch who owns an occult shop is so fun. i like the story too, the characters feel really alive.

(3-way tie kinda, rankings do matter a bit) vampire: the masquerade — parliament of knives: Ô CANADA TERRE DE NOS AÏEUX!!!!! very fun playing in ottawa, also very cool playing as a malkavian. however i kind of feel like there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t get explained + i always wind up as arundel’s seneschal. idk maybe i need to try new pathways.

vampire: the masquerade — sins of the sires: yeah i mean i finished this in like 2 hours. not very long, kinda boring at some points. i think i romanced the monk by accident on my second playthrough but i didn’t know bc i had no indicators that it was gonna be a romantic thing. also stat checks didn’t seem to matter at all, like no matter what i clicked worked. very meh addition to the library.

just need to wait for hunter: the reckoning — the beast of glenkildove, which i’m very excited for. i like the human world overlap that book of hungry names and out for blood has.

[lealdog]

OC Deep Dive: Tag "Dare" Wilson

Tagged by: @vamp-orwave

Ex-Thinblood, now Malkavian. Set in 2069.

what common/uncommon fear do they have? Tag's afraid of not having any agency, or worse, having someone else take over piloting him. The fun thing is that in this cyberpunk world where he's freshly upgraded from Thinblood to Malkavian and scraping by at the bottom, he does in fact not have very much agency. It's part of why he ended up addicted to drugs, at least it takes the pain away. And the fears. And the worries. At least for a little bit.

do they have any pet peeves? Rats who throw their fellows under the bus for five seconds of good will from those at the top.

what are 3 items you can find in their bedroom? Cigarettes, pills and a small collection of scavenged "retro" items for trading. He doesn't own very much and recently had to give up his haven in favor of a temporary place.

what do they notice first in a person? Their clothes and the way they carry themselves. Useful clues to figure out who you're dealing with. You don't want to piss off the wrong people, after all.

on a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance? It's pretty high. Maybe an 8. His drugs of choice are opioids.

when under pressure, do they go into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode? Definitely leaning towards fight (at least verbally). Puff himself up to throw off bigger predators. When it comes to physical fights, he's more likely to freeze or even fawn.

how would a stranger likely describe them? Cute but a little too desperate. Not worth the trouble he's likely to bring.

do they have any hobbies? He's very extroverted so most of his hobbies involve hanging out with people. He's game for most anything if the company is good. When he was still a thin-blood, he liked to dabble in alchemy and experiment. He misses it.

Tagging: @deathandthesoul, @astrangedoor, @urbanknightart, @storyowls, @sotc, @fangpoint, @harbingerofskulls

and anyone else who hasn't yet or wants to!

[kaeryncaffeine]

VtM Clans Dating Headcanons

Because i’m full in Vampire: The Masquerade, i’m doing these headcanons based on the source book Camarilla V5, where a Toreador gives you tips on getting into romance with the stereotype of some clans. Feel free to add other headcanons or clans if you like!

*English is not my mother tongue so sorry for any mistakes or weird phrasing.

VENTRUE

Very good companions if you’re a young kindred and starting a career in the Camarilla.

They’re powerful, reliable and rich, expect a lot of gifts.

You can’t be boring if you want to get a Ventrue, be flightly, passionate, temperamental, make them feel anything to keep them interested.

Most likely to use you as a trophy or showcase partner tho.

If they get bore, you’ll just be another of their servants.

TOREADOR

Most likely to be your sire, embraced you out of a infatuation.

And... most likely to get bore of you in the end if you dont keep up.

Surely they’ll be beautiful and charismatic.

You’ll be their muse

Expect art dates and getting a good amount of juicy info about othe kindred.

Will ask for attention in subtly ways.

TREMERE

Boring at first glance, will act as if they dont care and then will surprise you with particular moments of attention.

Gets freaky in bed, experiments a lot on that field.

Remembers everything about you.

Worth the romance to get a glance at their libraries of vitae.

MALKAVIAN

Most likely to break your heart.

Easy to manipulate if you know their weakness.

They say you loose your mind if you drink their vitae, is it true? no matter it’s kinda exciting anyway.

Will be more open to experimentation in bed too.

Unpredictible, will say or do some crazy shit if you put them under pressure.

Expect some profecies out of the blue.

NOSFERATU

Honest and grateful for your love and attention.

Looks at you in awe.

Insecure and most likely to be jealous.

You’ll get your hands on some juicy information.

The most romantic clan second to Toreador.

Easy to manipulate if you've got a pretty face or you’re a good actor.

GANGREL

Cold at first but if you get to their hearts, they’ll cherish you a lot.

Jealous and possesive, will fight anyone that disrespects you.

Dates on tiny cabins in the woods, maybe naughty activities in the wild.

BRUJAH

They like to be direct and honest, they’ll confess to you and wont beat around the bush.

Most likely to talk your ear off.

Passionate and emotional, will be the most human like relationship out of the other clans.

BANU HAQIM

Passionate and obssesive, they will try to court you desperatly so you should act hard to get for fun.

Very serious about your relationship, commitment is very important to them.

Will kill for you, mostly out of jelousy.

Makes you feel desired, wanted. You’re always present in their mind.

TZIMICE

You’re in for some serious crazy shit

Most likely to resculpt you and make you some dragonborn appearance kinda shit.

Expect some weird things behind those pants too.

Top energy

They have a strange personality, very attention seeker but will cherish you regardless.

If you behave, maybe they’ll teach you vicissitude so you can scuplt some vessels together.

[thevalicemultiverse]

Out on the streets of Santa Monica once more, trying to figure out -- what?

Alice starts, blinking, as a woman appears before her, huddled up in one of the alleyways she uses as a shortcut around the city. The other girl is about her age -- and she's looks like she's been through some significant hell lately, sporting a number of rather nasty cuts and bruises. She looks at Alice with big wet eyes, shuddering in her jacket and stammering over her words as she explains the Voermans are after her for some reason. Alice squints at her as she talks. There's something -- vaguely familiar about her face? It doesn't stir any SPECIFIC memories, but she gets the feeling that she should recognize it...

"She'll become familiar to you soon enough," Cheshire tells her, leaning against her leg. "Right now, I'd pay more attention to what's coming out of her face rather than the face itself."

Right, yes. Alice shakes herself out of her little reverie and gives the strange girl a smile. "It's all right," she says, in what she hopes is a soothing tone. "The Voermans aren't anywhere near here right now." She eyes the marks on the woman's skin. "Did -- did they do that to you?" She wouldn't be particularly surprised, given what their personalities are like, but...

out on the streets of santa monica once more .

the newly-turned and recruited camarilla fledgling sits curled up in an oversized jacket , feigning pain as she waits for a certain malkavian to come across her .

it's madeline's mission from the prince and the beloved voermans . become friends with another new vampire , lead her to the ankharan sarcophagus , have her bring it to lacroix , then kill her . simple enough , right ?

cuts and bruises that are self-inflicted litter maddie's pale skin , and she groans performatively to try to get the attention of the other vampire . said vampire , however , is nowhere to be found at the moment .

she sits up straight , cutting the bullshit for a while as she waits for the sound of the other malkavian . she's not sure she can even remember her name . . . alex ? amelia ? no , that's not even close .

she hears footsteps coming down the alleyway she's occupying , and quickly begins her charade once more , this time a bit more convincingly . her eyes drift up to her target , eyes welling with faux tears .

" p-please . . . help me , i-i need your help , " she shudders , wrapping the jacket tighter around her slender frame . " it's the voermans . . . they're after me - ! "

@thevalicemultiverse

[osatokun]

nightmare pictures collection from the short victorian game is updated If I draw more, I'll post them all together :3

[this is a ventrue PC having fun times seeing dreams in a weird malkavian house]

[gehenna-calling]

i’ve already rambled about this in various discord servers but i went to a vtm larp oneshot on saturday (anarch rave) and it was so fucking good. the character i played was intended to be pretty throwaway but i had so much fun playing them that they will now be elevated to ACTUAL OC STATUS.

proper intro post to come when i have art for them but:

scrivener, “scriv” for short

it/they

nosferatu!!

has been a kindred for like 5 years max. acts like it knows everythjng

was a modern history student at uni before getting involved in a mysterious archiving job

they proved to have the right amount of curiosity and stubbornness, and their boss offered them the chance to get *really* involved

they got embraced and discovered their sire’s real project was an archive of kindred history

however, after a few years of working on it, around the time of the shutdown of schrecknet, the camarilla got wind of the archives and burned them down - with their sire possibly still inside

their goal going into the larp was to try and find someone involved in the red question, who their sire had sent a backup of the archives to. things got very complicated and a weird malkavian scrying ritual was required, but they succeeded!

so now their goals are securing the archive further, continuing to add to it, and maybe - just maybe - trying to make it accessible to more kindred in the form of schrecknet 2. we’ll see how it goes 👀

[ryttu3k]

You may have answered this already but, what VTM clans would you asign to the dracula polycule?

Ohh, great question! Let's see!

I think for the sake of a more thorough analysis, I'm actually going to ignore VtM canon, since Dracula actually is a canon character who encouraged Bram Stoker to write a fictionalised version of his adventures. He has a signed first edition copy that Beckett sees. It's kinda hilarious.

In VtM canon, he's the 5th generation childe of Lambach Ruthven and has a host of disciplines at very high levels (seriously - Animalism 6, Auspex 5, Celerity 4, Dominate 5, Fortitude 5, Koldunic Sorcery 5 (with Earth, Fire, and Spirit all at 5), Potence 5, Protean 4, and Vicissitude 5). Hilariously, this means he actually doesn't have Mist Form, since that's Protean 5. Lucy and Mina are/were Tzimisce as well (Lucy dies, Mina survives to modern nights), Renfield was a ghoul. But let's adapt straight from the novel instead!

Dracula: I mean, obviously he's still Tzimisce, the clan is literally based on him. If we're just going off the novel, I see him more as Old Clan, the archetypal Voivode (also literally Voivode, that was Vlad Țepeș' literal title, he was Voivode of Wallachia - hilariously, he had no association with Transylvania other than being born in Sighișoara up until Stoker's book). He has the soil association, he clearly has Auspex and Animalism, and I feel he uses Dominate a fair bit, especially in the context of memory erasure, luring Lucy, et cetera. He also shows clear signs of Protean (Shape of the Beast bat and wolf forms, Mist Form), but, notably, not Vicissitude proper, and some alternate magical abilities, especially weather/fog manipulation, which can tie in with Koldunic sorcery, especially Way of Wind. So, a straight adaptation would be Old Clan Tzimisce with Koldunic sorcery and Protean. He also has the Folkloric Bane flaw where he takes agg damage from running water, and we'll ignore the sunlight thing XD;;

Jonathan: If we're directly adapting from the novel, then Dracula is the one who Embraces Jonathan, Mina, and Lucy. By default, that makes them all Tzimisce. Using my homebrew because I have no shame, his bane and connection to Home would be to Mina (yeah, he was having a rough time until their reunion). I do think Tzimisce could work well for him, he's a fairly fluid character and exemplifies Change more than any other character in the novel. Even if he was Embraced as technically Old Clan, I like the idea of spontaneous emergence of Vicissitude - and lo, a sudden change of hair colour!

Mina: Also Tzimisce; again, it's a fairly good fit. She and Jonathan share a mutual blood bond, too. Her Home is Jonathan, but she also has a secondary connection to trains and railways, and can avoid the aggravated Willpower damage by riding the rails. She would fit it well as well; like Jonathan, she's a fluid, adaptable character.

Lucy: Poor, poor Lucy! Definitely Embraced as Tzimisce, definitely not a great fit. I feel she'd be a much more natural fit for Toreador, with a love for beauty and a strong connection to humanity and people. She just wants to spend time with her coterie ;_;

Jack: Okay, two options here. One is Malkavian, often found in mental health settings - I'm thinking of Richard Dunham here specifically, but also Netchurch (even if the latter is more focused on physiology). He'd have a more subtle derangement, I think - possible OCD, definitely depression. The other option is Tremere, and I think that might be the better fit. He likes an Experiment. He would have so much fun with Thaumaturgy :D (Slightly terrified :D !)

Arthur: Man's one of the few valid Ventrue. Nobility? Check. Money? Check. He's quite aware of his privilege and considers it an honour and a duty to look after his coterie, even if he recognises that, lbr, Mina is really the one running the show. Also has out-of-clan Animalism so he can chat to his dogs, thanks to…

Quincey: Gangrel! Like yes he is absolutely playing up the Cowboy Thing to make Lucy smile so that could be a Toreador thing, but he does genuinely still fit it even after her death. He has an understanding with horses and bats, and bats do not act like that tyvm.

Van Helsing: He's Jack's sire (therefore Tremere) and Jack has never, ever gotten over the brief blood bond they shared. They have. A dynamic :D (No genuinely the sire-childe thing actually works really well here for their simultaneous familial and psychosexual relationship.)

Renfield: If we're going straight canon, he's a ghoul. If we actually give him a clan, there are also two possible options here! One is Malkavian - he's definitely got a derangement or two. The other, of course, is Nagaraja, although I'm actually feeling Malkavian here moreso than Nagaraja. He doesn't need to eat flesh, he just… has that fixation with it. Either way, I feel he has a blood bond to Dracula. Like that bit is 100% whether he's a ghoul or a Cainite. Hashtag Renfield deserves better!

[thevalicemultiverse]

The scream is music to Alice's ears right now. She grasps the handle of the Tal'Mehe'Ra blade and yanks it out of herself with a hiss as Madeline goes for her own katana again. The wound in her side aches like she was brushed by summer sunlight, but her rage and the stolen vitae throbbing in her veins helps her stand up with the sword in hand. She starts advancing on her foe, ready to take a leg --

Only to pause when Madeline throws her own katana to the ground. Well. That doesn't match anything she did before this fight. Alice squints at the other girl, wondering what her angle is --

And then sighs as Madeline starts going on about how, if she doesn't kill Alice, she's done for, and how she's just a pawn in LaCroix's game, and goodness she's starting to think she should have taken the bitch's tongue out first. Though she does find it very interesting that even MADELINE is warning her off opening that sarcophagus. Not that she had any intention of doing so -- she doesn't give a shit what's in it, she just wants to be left alone -- but still. One would think LaCroix would take the hint if even his underlings don't want to see that lid lifted.

But that's not what's important right now. What's important right now is Madeline, who has literally turned her back to her and asked her to just get it over with. "And why not fulfill her wish?" the Queen hisses, face contorted with delight. "Finish what you started! Drink deep of that well! Gain her power and give whatever remains to me!"

"Careful, Alice," Cheshire says, winding around her legs. "The knight should be taken, but -- purrhaps not so viciously. I know she threatened all you love, but do you want to go down a road the Queen so approves of?"

Alice looks at him, then at the Queen. Part of her wants to say that yes, she does -- that she wants to go ahead and drain Madeline dry and see what happens from there, knowing her traitorous soul is never going to be able to escape. But -- Cheshire has a point. The Queen of Hearts is her worst impulses, her darkest desires, her Beast. And if she lets her have her way fully here. . .it could lead down a bad road. Not matter how much Alice wants to make sure Madeline can never, EVER get up again.

But there are other ways to do that -- and one of them, the Queen might accept as a consolation prize. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I've been talked out of draining you," she says, walking up with sword in hand. "And I had no intention of doing anything with the sarcophagus." Her voice hardens. "But you threatened Victor. And for that. . ."

And her blade heads straight for Madeline's neck.

The clawing and scratching doesn't register enough with Alice to stop her drinking -- partly because she is DETERMINED to put Madeline down and KEEP her down, and partly because -- well -- the rumors are true. Kindred vitae is absolutely delicious. Alice is surprised more vampires don't accidentally commit diablerie every time they end up tasting another vampire's blood. It's the only blood she's drunk so far that is better than her beloved Victor's. And it certainly seems to satisfy the Queen well, given her delighted giggles. Alice sucks, and sucks, and sucks, Madeline's desperate struggles barely more than a tickle against her skin.

However, the enchanted blade of the Tal'Mehe'Ra blade going into her side and twisting, sending white-hot agony through her? That's enough to make her let go, at least for the moment. She seizes Madeline's wrist again, squeezing as hard as she can in hopes of breaking or at least spraining something important in there so she can get her sword back. "I'll answer your question with a question," she says, a bit breathlessly, some of Madeline's blood still on her lips. "How long do you think that tattered piece of shit you call a soul will survive in Wonderland?"

[crownedinmarigolds]

We had a lil Nosferatu (and Quinn <3) celebration for New Years! Who should be coming together for a fun lil group collab/party this time? :D I saw a couple of people say they wanna draw with clans they make characters for next time and I'm more than happy to draw with you guys if you are too!

I have ZERO idea what holiday, but if everyone was up for it, maybe it's a Valentine's party? :D (also - did not mean to make the Malks the only clan with NO exclamation point... it looks like I have a not-favorite. UNTRUE.)

[badass-at-fandoming]

Hi, you were recommended to me by ryttu3k fir your knowledge of Anatole.

Their is one question from clan novel saga by the Prophet that always confuses me.

"the young wizard’s sire is within the clay.”

A bit of context- he is saying this with two Kindred present, Victoria Ash, and Jeremiah (an obfuscated nosferatu). It is said within Leopold's art studio.

The young wizard is obviously Leopold. It is revealed that he is not a toreador but is the childe of tremere antitribu, Nikolai.

But the sire is in the stone????

There are a few named statues at the art studio. A bozetto of Petrodon, but he's the deceased nosferatu Justicar and Sire of Cock robin and Julio Martinez. There is also a bust of Victoria Ash. Later their is a tower made of gangrel and Hannah (a tremere) fuses with it. But neither are Leopold's sire.

This causes Ms Ash, unaware of Jeremiah or the Justicar bozetto, to think that Anatole is saying Leopold is her childe. He is not. This causes the nosferatu to gain this incorrect info temporarily too.

It does save the day at the end, as Ms Ash walks up to Leopold (and eye of hazimel) and this distracts him long enough to be killed by Ramona.

But, as far as I'm aware, their is no Nikolai sculpture in the book. Cock robin is not a "young wizard" so it can't be about the bozetto.

The only thing I can think of, was that Anatole deliberately lied to cause Leopold to be distracted later in the book and die. But why would the prophet of Gehenna deliberately lie?

What is the answer to "the young wizard’s sire is within the clay.” since I swear there's no Nikolai sculture?

If you can't tell, Anatole is one of my favourite non nosferatu vtm characters of all time.

Hello! Awww, I'm honored to be considered to have insight into Anatole and his Malkavian prophecies. Thanks @ryttu3k! You seem anxious for an answer, @roseate-felidae, so I'll do my best. Honestly, I'd probably need to have read the Clan Novel Saga for a confident answer. Browsing the wiki and the context you've given me are good enough for guesses. In order of most to least likely:

1) Your first instinct is right, Anatole is lying. More accurately, Anatole could be manipulating his report of his vision to achieve a better final outcome. A fun layer to Malkavian visions is the difference between the vision itself and the interpretation of the vision. For example, Anatole used to think his visions were literally God talking to him, but now he's like, nah, just a Kindred power like Potence or Celerity. He could be false reporting what he's seeing or hearing, or only sharing a suggestive portion, like you first guessed.

As why would Anatole lie: well. He and Victoria Ash aren't friends. She manipulated hunters into burning down his Paris haven, with his ghoul Paul inside. She's too powerful and connected to eschew outright, but I wouldn't describe their relationship as "good." At the end of the Saga, Hesha Ruhadze has the Eye from Leopold, and Hesha is on friendly terms with Anatole and his faction, the Mnemosyne. It could be that Anatole foresaw that Ash & the Nos thinking Leopold was Ash's childe would benefit him in the long run. Maybe he foresaw and wanted the happier ending you described. That, or he just wanted to throw a spanner in the works of Victoria's plan and/or general unlife.

Being a Prophet of Gehenna and a Malkavian doesn't preclude Anatole from deceit. He has to lie to humans all the time, remember, about his identity and Kindred status. He lies to his friends, including Beckett, about what's under Jerusalem. Victoria Ash points out the obvious logical flaws in his prison "rehab" program, and he self-deceives that there's nothing wrong. "We're natural liars," as Beckett says.

2) Nickolai is in a stone/clay building. While the location in Leopold's studio jumps the mind to clay sculptures, the Malkavian Cobweb's reach is not limited by immediate geography. From the wiki, I can glean that Nickolai is in his haven in NYC, which is warded with blood sorcery. NYC has stone buildings, or clay might be a ward ingredient. It's probably not a reference to a basement encased in clay-type soil, because NYC's soil is the silt-loam type of dirt (yes, I looked this up). This theory can be disproved with a description of Nickolai's haven, so I kicked it down the list.

3) The young wizard is Aisling. This theory switches the young wizard part of the equation. Malkavian visions are not necessarily about the topic at hand, after all. To a methuselah like Anatole, Aisling Sturbridge is quite young and she's a Tremere. Instead of Leopold as the "young wizard," Anatole could mean Aisling, and the clay part a reference to her sire, Lucien de Maupassant. Lucien disappeared while on a mission from the Inner Council in 1948. "Within the clay" could be any number of hints to his fate, including his ashes mixing with dirt.

4) Nickolai is being controlled by the Eye. This is a biiiiiiig stretch, but whatever. Hazimel used to a stone mason, which is a profession that works clay. Compared to Hazimel, Nickolai is an incredibly young wizard. Nickolai thinks he's manipulating Leopold and the Eye to his own ends, but perhaps Hazimel is working him. Anatole is saying that Nickolai is within Hazimel's thrall, or influence, and Nickolai is being shaped like clay under a mason's hands.

The number of problems this theory has is Many, no matter how much I like it. First off, I don't think the Eye shows full sapient intelligence: it more like, makes its bearers into powerful rage machines, like the Beast. If someone as cool as Hazimel was controlling it, the Eye would be more sophisticated. The theory is also very Lord of the Rings-y with the whole "cursed object wants to return to its master." Vampire: the Masquerade doesn't draw inspiration from Tolkien. Last, the theory falls apart under a Doylist lens. In-universe, sure, Hazimel could know that manipulating Leopold and Nickolai would drop his Eye in Hesha's hands, and Hesha would find the Eye too hot to handle and therefore drop it on Beckett, and Beckett would return it to him. Out of universe, the Clan Novel Saga was published 1999 to 2000 in a hysterical frenzy. The story of the Eye's return appears in Beckett's Diary, which launched its Kickstarter in 2016. Sixteen years is a loooonnnggg time to pay off one line in a previous book. Possibly longer than 16 years, depending on if the story was written after or before the Kickstarter was funded. A meticulous planner could do it, of course, and maybe a nebulous idea of the Eye's return existed in the White Wolf writers' heads, but I am full of doubt. The BJD story itself doesn't call back to Anatole's prophecy either, which weakens the idea further.

The prophecy is a fun puzzle! Thank you for bringing it to me to play with. If any other Clan Novel Saga or Anatole fans want to chime in with their ideas, feel free :D :D :D