#vtm: wormwood

[mz-elysium]

do you like fantasy maps? i like fantasy maps. here are some urban fantasy maps about my vtm setting

legend and explanation on AO3 for City of Gold & Iron

[eclecticfiend]

Matthew Monroe - ca. 1880

Clan Ventrue, 9th of the line of Artemis Orthia, Autarkis

Idk if this is what he's supposed to look like (I'm really bad at interpreting descriptions of people and this is the best I could make out of long, serious face, around 30 without loosing my mind over it lol)

@mz-elysium how'd i do?

[mz-elysium]

expanding this to vampires (specifically VTM, but you know.)

Who was their sire? Were they carefully groomed for the embrace, ghouled and trained? Were they made to feel special and like a valued part of the team? Did they have warning, time to get their hair done and nails cut? Were they assaulted off the street or embraced as vengeance or punishment? Did they save their life? Some rare sires embrace human lovers... sometimes it even works and their relationship continues, unburdened by the threat of eating their lover.

How a sire embraces a new childe will have a massive impact on how the Camarilla and Anarchs view them, as well as how they view the sects and the curse. The embrace might’ve been permitted or not. If the childe is comforted and guided through the early trauma (feeding, first kills, first frenzy, the curse), they will have a much different view on things than if they had to fend for themselves. How their sire throws them into undead society lays the foundation for the sorts of allies, trust, coteries, and lifestyle a new childe would have.

A sire might have multiple childer. They could compete for affection and favour, or they could be close friends. They could be part of a clique that is currently “hip” among vampires, lavishing them with attention and favour that they don’t know is conditional.

Is their sire dead? HOW? What kinda feelings did they leave behind? Did a blood bond break and how the childe knows they were manipulated, used, and maybe loved in a twisted way? Do they have unfinished business that will always be unfinished? A childe might’ve killed their sire themselves, for any number of reasons. Abuse, a grudge for the embrace or abandoning them, manipulation or hyper-controlling them, political rebellion or a favour to an ally for power.

One of my OCs (Monroe) was saved from certain death and groomed by a promise of noble brotherhood. He was sired as the oldest member of a brood by a controlling and short-tempered sire, who always warned him that favour was conditional. The brood was full of backbiting and betrayal, and resentment for their sire. The sire ended up dead, outside Monroe’s hands. As a consequence, he has “sire problems” (aka. daddy issues) and is desperate to believe the promise of a noble brotherhood by older members of his clan, who he wishes could’ve sired him instead. He’s constantly on the lookout for lost or mistreated fledglings and makes a concerted effort to control his (also very short) temper. Sometimes he fails. Sometimes he wonders if his attempts are futile, if “blood will out”, but he tries

Hey if you have a character and they feel kind of empty as far as motivation, personality and backstory goes, I have a very serious question for you that might help:

When you imagine their childhood, are there parents there or are they just vague people-shaped blobs?

If your character doesn't have a defined relationship with their parents (positive or negative) then that might be contributing to why you have trouble finishing their personality. How we are raised dictates a lot of our values, quirks and trauma. Was their mother overprotective, leading to them second-guessing themselves and afraid of the outside world? Were they close with their father and now their only dream is to finish the mission he started? Did their parents fight all the time and now they hate confrontation?

Even if your character’s parents are dead, that isn't just a sad thing that happened to them, it's a building block you need to actually use. Somebody raised this character in a certain way and even if nobody raised them, they're going to show that through their personality.

And if you want to take it a step further, give your character siblings and make that affect their personality. Are they the responsible oldest? The oldest with the high expectations? The bossy oldest? The forgotten middle child? The middle child who'd do anything to stand out? The twin who can't bear to be away from their sibling? The definitely oldest twin- and yes the distinction matters? The lonely only child? The mature for their age only child? The sheltered only child? The bullied youngest? The baby? The golden child? The black sheep? The only boy or girl in their family?

If you have trouble making a character’s personality it may be because you haven't defined the people around them. We don't just make personalities for ourselves in a vacuum. Our behaviors are molded by those we love.

[nightingaletrash]

Finally have a name for Amicia's snobby French restaurant/blood bar/murder den; L'Étoile Rouge.

[gildedware]

fallen angel & wormwood

this guy is the main antagonist of the vtm campaign im spectating in my friend group!

[mxldito]

tag people you want to get to know better!

tagged by: @reliquice (Thank ya :0)

favorite color: Black

currently reading: Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite

last song: Starface by White Zombie

last series: Spy X Family

last movie: Mad God 

sweet/spicy/savory: Spicy

currently working on: A VTM Chronicle. I mostly have the outline for the first session but I’m still overthinking it. I have my little system cheat sheet but I’m still not ultra confident.

Tagging: @yunalai @mythopoetica @sacredvein @savagc @stagebystage @xnecromantia

[mz-elysium]

I still love them so much! I loved working with you and am so looking forward to putting in my next commissions. I'm making some char sheets for them currently, to style them off a bit more. So psyched!

A set of three Night Road style VTM OC commissions for @mz-elysium!

Matthew Monroe the Venture, Charlie Bradley the Malkavian, and Jack Saito the Gangrel.

[ryttu3k]

Hello naughty children it's Gehenna time.

...which means I'm going to read the book properly this time and write notes on each scenario, partially for my own reference, partially in answer to an ask from @rayshell22livejournalcom​ from about a zillion years ago. Sorry about that!

Mood soundtrack: Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# ∞; Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven; Yanqui U.X.O.

Prelude: Netchurch is an interesting character. Very skeptical, despite, well, the entire setting, although that's definitely, uh, broken by the end. Feel very sad for Afifa, who was a pawn in all this. Creepy babies galore!

Introduction: "While Vampire favors that futile, tragic, and - we'll say it - angst-heavy conclusion" - lmao you don't say. Although I do like how they have the consistent golden rule that if you don't like it, just ditch it! (Of course, the Gehenna scenarios as a whole have been completely retconned anyway by v20 and v5, so this entire book is a good example of taking what you want from it and ignoring the rest.)

"Some people are on opposite sides of this thing. They're elders who don't want to knuckle under to the Antediluvians (most elders will accept their proper place in the heirarchy again with the rising of their progenitors) and poor, misled souls who bought into the lie and are pissed about it (paging Mr. Pieterzoon). Bottom line: the Camarilla collapses like Enron/WorldCom as the worthlessness of its foundation becomes public knowledge. Chaos ensues among the vampire community, princes find themselves besieged by their own locals, and it's all a big clusterfuck."

Have I ever mentioned I love how VtM phrases stuff? Also F to Jan.

I like how they have a masterlist of what's actually going on with the Antediluvians. Spoilers ;D "For example, note that [Tzimisce] is simply referred to as [Tzimisce]. Even here at the game studio, our limited mortal minds weren't able to comphrenend the creature's real name." Lovecraft only WISHES he had eldritch abominations this spooky! Ennoia is 'Active and scary' and apparently spooks the devs just thinking about it. Makes sense. "Giovanni (Augustus Giovanni): Augustus is a pig, and he should probably die as one of the early events of Gehenna. He's the youngest of the Antediluvians and probably possessed the greatest ego (in mortal terms), so it'll be cosmic justice when he eats it." I love how no one likes Giovanni, even his creators. Malkav may or may not BE the Madness Network, in which case they cease to be an Antediluvian and just become... a part of the Malkavians, I guess? Absimiliard may or may not be chilling at the bottom of the ocean, because mood. Tremere / Saulot is definitely a fun one to play with, yeah. Although, oof, if Saulot ever gets control of their shared body, he's going to be fucked up if [Tzimisce] activates, so. Probably better to create a nice fresh body, like what BJD suggests with the child Saulot.

Chapter 1 - the lead-up: Basically a rundown of the signs and how they're interpreted. "An angel dies: How does an angel die? Who has the gall to rise up and slay one of God's firstborn? Or perhaps this is another metaphor. An angel could be a pure and gentle creature, or then again, it need not be one of God's angels (not that God's angels are necessarily pure and gentle). A feared and particularly vicious Necronomist Tzimisce, Sascha Vykos is sometimes referred to as the Angel of Caine. Many would rejoice the night that Vykos died." Hey rude :( I vote they kill Michael instead. He wants to be an Archangel? Fine, he can fulfill a prophesy XD

Honestly I really do dig that Ennoia Earthmelded with the entire planet. You can go so many directions with that, good or bad! Ennoia as The Beast Below, or Ennoia as Gaia? (Wow, that'd really fuck with the Garou XD) I love how the general consensus on Haqim is like, no one knows if he exists or not but lbr Ur-Shulgi is bad enough. Kinda dig the idea of the Toreador ante, Ishtar/Arikel, being genderfluid? I mean yeah essentially demigods have no need for gender anyway, but the constant debates over whether the Toreador ante is the female Ishtar or the male Arikel (or, uh, was it vice versa?) does lead to some interesting concepts. Ooh, similar to [Tzimisce] being linked to its entire clan (and the Tremere, anyone who's ever taken part in the Vaulderie, and anyone who knows Vicissitude), [Lasombra] may be connected to anyone who knows Obtenebration? [Ravnos]... yeah, probably dead. F to the clan. And yeah I think [Tzimisce] is flat-out the scariest one of all, and probably the one most likely to actually start the apocalypse, lbr.

Ugh this is one of the books that calls Sascha 'it' :-\ Do not like. ...Also do not like the suggestion that they're an unknowing agent of the Eldest, given, uh, the last chapter of the DA Tzimisce novel. Shoo! Shoo! You've ruined their unlife enough as it is!

Epistolary material! I do dig those. Most interesting: a letter to Sascha mentioning apocalyptic visions of New York but with the Carpathians in the background, and an anonymous letter to Hardestadt warning him of one of his line tearing down a castle that the writer feels believes the Camarilla. GO JAN FUCK IT UP.

And on to the scenarios themselves!

Chapter 2 - Wormwood: This is an interesting one. Literally a Biblical vengeance - God takes a good look at the Children of Caine and goes, "Well, this is fucked up", acknowledges that Caine never really sought true forgiveness and repentance, and sets forth Wormwood, the Red Star. The truly repentant are saved, the rest just. Die.

Herald here is a dhampir girl named Alia - thinblood father, human mother. When she's twelve, she becomes God's chosen, basically. Traveling with three thinblood guardians, one night, she's approached a Gargoyle named Ferox with True Faith, who sees himself as a fallen angel. And Alia offers him a way of redemption - find the chosen true believers, wait out Wormwood, receive judgement. Anyone can seek sanctuary, only the true believers and the ones genuinely willing to repent will survive the judgement itself. Alia and Ferox set out to find the other chosen ones.

Whew. Very full-on - the players remain in one place with a whole bunch of other vampires for forty nights. I mean, that's a test in and of itself XD All welcome! (Except infernalists and the antediluvians and Caine himself. They're fucked no matter what.)

Like. All welcome XD "Some Storytellers might feel that this character roundup could get too silly, suddenly having all these celebrity Kindred get together for a big slumber party, and they would be correct." Fuck that give me a slumber party AU XD

Am very glad about the note that the vampires inside only lose one blood point per 10 days, rather than every day. Otherwise, uh, it'd get gory.

Yeah, this is a really interesting scenario. Very character-focused, very introspective. All about the characters trying to work out what it means to be good people - not the strongest vampires, not the most powerful, but good people. Are they worthy of salvation? That's the crux of the story. Of course, it's very, uh, Biblical, heh, but it's first and foremost about morality and redemption. I dig it.

Also, giant vampire slumber party.

Chapter 3 - Fair is Foul: Ooh, this is a Lilith vs Caine scenario.

This one has the Withering hit in weird ways, including clan-specific ones - like the Banu Haqim only able to feed on vitae, then only able to gain sustenance from diablerie. Gangrel turn even more animalistic. Lasombra take to the seas, Obtenebration ripping holes straight to the Abyss. Malks, uh, leak madness. Nosferatu get even uglier, Toreador devolve into debauchery. Tremere develop third eyes, and yes, I did laugh out loud when I read that. Tzimisce... hmm... get a bit, uh, uncontrolled. And Ventrue find they can now only feed on... other Ventrue. Fun times!

"At your discretion, Lilith might be particularly vulnerable to Jewish True Faith, as the Jewish tales about her are the source of nearly every negative sentiment ever directed against her in writing. As a result, most orthodox Jews bear Lilith great contempt for defying her husband and her God." Yeah ngl I think she's pretty dang cool and I can just see, like, most of my ancestors facepalming at the idea XD;; Fuck obediance you do your own thing.

"Trying to work out traits for Lilith, Lucifer, Caine, or any of the Antediluvians would just be a waste of our word count and your time." I like the time they published a guide for fighting Caine. It was two words. "You lose."

Ah. Okay, Saulot in Tremere's body being taken over by the Eldest = scary, because have you ever been attacked by an Antediluvian wielding Thaumaturgy, Valeran, and Vicissitude at the SAME :) TIME? :) Yeah :)

Really dig the idea of Abel showing up as the first Wraith. The forgiveness element.

Overall, this isn't my favourite scenario, I think? It feels very chaotic, and while it's probably the most traditional to play, I'm not sure how much it literally challenges the characters, unlike the sheer soul-searching...ness of Wormwood?

Chapter 4 - Nightshade: Chapter starts with, "We all wear masks" and my first thought was "boy you have no idea" XD

Awww yes this is the masquerade break scenario! See here for my thoughts on that and how the Nephtali could be adapted to v5, heh.

Yeah okay earthquakes, volcanoes, and riots are normal enough. A horrible blood virus where it appears some flesh-like thing is living in people's veins and feeding off their blood sounds like something that starts with T and rhymes with Shzimitze. ...Probably. No one knows how the fuck it's pronounced anyway. Oops, those riots are apparently over the existence of vampires. Yeah that'd be... unfortunate. And more earthquakes, this time due to Kupala vs the Eldest. Whew. Red star, yep, standard. MORE earthquakes, this time due to the Second City rising. Sounds legit. Bad times all around!

The details on breaking the Masquerade are interesting. Basic emotions: denial, rationalisation, fear, anger, acceptance. The acceptance one is interesting, because I can definitely see some jumping to it straight away.

So, on to the scenario itself! Jan recruits the players to fight the... uh, mass under NYC. This is the corpse of the Eldest, which is more or less a giant fungal infection held together with Vicissitude, which frankly is just icky. This actually is  canon-compliant with BJD, since it apparently has only just... dissipated? or whatever there, or if it still remains, it's no longer conscious. In this one, its soul flicks back to Tremere's/Saulot's body and wakes up, and basically every Tzimisce, Tremere, and anyone who has ever drank Tzimisce blood (which would be the entire Sabbat via Vaulderie) spontaneously frenzies. Godspeed. Cyscek, a Tzimisce methuselah, helps defeat the, uh, blob at the expense of his life, and warns with his last words, "The Dragon rises. You must stop it. Find Vykos. [They] know." (Okay yeah the text says 'it knows' but also fuck that.) Ooh, plot point!

Aaaand then they retreat from the battle, exhausted, only to find the whole damn thing broadcast on every TV screen, vampiric Disciplines and Cyscek dusting and all. W h o o p s.

Lots and lots of details of a major masquerade breach here. Hardestadt shows up and tells Jan he's proooobably gonna get Final Death for, you know, trying to save the world. Gonna share this bit because it's Very Satisfying.

Please refer to my tag #hardestadt has no rights ;D

Anyway! The characters now recruited, Jan leads them back to London for the Convention of Fire. He's working with Calebros and... like a bunch of others, probably anyone can end up here, so long as they want to actually help and not just fall apart like the remnants of the Camarilla (trying to diablerise their way into keeping power) and the Sabbat (...ditto tbh). Those definitely in attendance are Ambrogino Giovanni, Hesha Ruhadze, and Fatima! And lbr the Nod Squad are probably there too. As if Beckett would pass up the chance to NOT witness what's happening with Gehenna. And Anatole is literally a prophet of Gehenna! They found the Nephtali, led by a council of twelve, with Jan at the head. Name means 'the highest point' or 'no further' - as in, Gehenna goes no further than this.

Oh lmao here we go, the scene I mentioned earlier - Jan vs talk shows.

F to Jan.

Tremere's body (inhabited by Saulot) disappears from beneath the Vienna chantry. Tremere's body, with [Tzimisce] now well in control (having overtaken Saulot; Tremere, meanwhile, has taken over Goratrix's body, with Goratrix's mind stuck in a mirror... it's complicated), wipes out the Vienna chantry. RIP to the Vienna chantry, which doesn't survive in either timeline tbh. Hey, I wonder if that means that Saulot (in Tremere's body) is dead in v5? Etrius manages to escape and reports that the Eldest is now on the way to Ceoris, where it'll call all the remaining Tzimisce to it to become, uh, a part. Pleasant.

Everything between Krakow and Bucharest is straight fukk’d. Ceoris is the centre of all this - IIRC it's somewhere in the southern Carpathians, nearish Brasov. Either way, hell of a fight results with what can only be described as an eldritch abomination, finally both managing to destroy Kupala (the Eldest's goal) and reducing The Thing down to a human-looking body. This bit is interesting! Tremere (in Goratrix' body) and Etrius take one look at each other. "Master..." "I... I know. But where the hell is Saulot?!" Good question, because he sure ain't in Tremere's, uh, former body any more, which was in fact what was fighting them the whole time. Either way, Tremere-in-Goratrix'-body leaps at [Tzimisce]-in-Tremere's-body and diablerises his, um, former body, which must be weird as hell, then tries to turn on the characters and his powers fuckiNG FAIL. EAT SHIT TREMERE. And then the players kill him too and realise that over the course of one night they've destroyed the demon Kupala and two Antediluvians, Tremere and the Eldest. Not bad. This is the battle that causes that second lot of earthquakes I mentioned earlier.

Back to London! They find the mirror containing Goratrix amongst Tremere's belongings. Poor fucker sorry not sorry.

And now the players receive a summons to escort someone from Montreal to the Nephtali headquarters in London! Namely, a Tzimisce named Myca Vykos~ They've recently defected from the Sabbat and want to help take the Antediluvians tf down. (Note: the book here has reverted to using he/him pronouns since they're back in their original form, I'm going to keep using they/them because biological sex does not determine gender identity or pronouns goddammit. ...Anyway. I AM going to use the name Myca since that's the name they're using themself, mostly because, uh, 'Myca' is a bit less noticeable than 'Sascha Vykos', haha.)

So Gehenna has started. Myca's woken up in their original form and being like, "Hey you know what I am preTTY SURE I don't want to serve the Eldest" and promptly joins the Nephtali.

From New York to London to Romania to London to Montreal to London (...London is a hub world apparently), now off to Turkey, to Kaymakli! Which is actually a real place, my brother's been on a tour there. Anyway, this is the part of Kaymakli that they don't show the tourist and that's been sealed shut with lots of angry Cappadocians instead, so that was fun. Presumably Kapaneus hasn't been chilling out there in this one.

Also Colombia has completely been overtaken by the Sabbat so that sucks.

Into Kaymakli! Which usually doesn't let Cainites back out so it may be one-way. Don't worry, there's a ritual for that. At the bottom, they find Augustus Giovanni! Who is pissed off he never actually got to eat Cappadocius' soul and so wants to eat God instead.

As you do.

The book very strongly encourages the players to kill him. Just 'cause. Which is a mood, tbh. Killing him also reveals a beaten, bound Nosferatu, having been Giovanni's most recent food source. An F for Okulos. He's been there for four years, having managed to get a lost fragment of the Book of Nod for Beckett, who promised to come back for him and. Didn't. Which is just rude tbh and I can kind of understand why Okulos ends up betraying Beckett in the Gehenna novel but anyway. (Not canon as of v20, he's perfectly present and chill in BJD.)

End results - the fragment that Okulos went to retrieve shows how to restore the Second City, which holds a complete Book of Nod and may hold the key to stopping Gehenna. It's in Enochian so your player characters probably won't be able to read it (book suggests asking Sascha or Ambrogino). Next stop, Egypt, and a meeting with Hesha Ruhadze! Man this scenario has a lot of signature characters. It also suggests getting third parties in here too, so Beckett would actually be a really good choice. Either way, they find the probable site, and suddenly, a Second City.

Archeologists make grabby hands. Beckett, somewhere, is probably crying in joy. They find a vial with some very old blood in it that they definitely shouldn't drink because otherwise they'll explode (the book uses Sascha as the example here XD;; ). Along with some mystical enscriptions, they return to London and get to work on the prophecy - namely, it suggests that 'the gentle one' (likely Saulot) will die at the hands of another, but arise in a new form, and will stop Gehenna that way. Etrius, one of the only Tremere left and having joined the Nephtali, goes 'fuck it what do I have to lose?' and goes to find whatever new form Saulot is in (potentially can also involve Goratrix here).

Hm. Well. Saulot is apparently in a research centre outside Sydney. Apparently we're mostly chill with vampires, aside from Christians XD Go figure!

Apparently it's a cloning facility. One of the rooms had, past tense, a child, successfully cloned six-year-old, who was in perfect physical form but vegetative from birth. Religious characters will pick up that it's because the kid's body didn't have a soul. Now, it does - Saulot's. Having been thrown out of Tremere's body when the Eldest took over, his soul fled until it could find the most suitable vessel - a soulless cloned body. No actual soul to have to subdue. Saulot ends up reborn, albeit in the form of a six-year-old and without any memories. Turns out, the child was taken by a cult of Thinbloods, believing him to be the messiah.

Sydney's messy situation gets described here! Short version, Sydney's Prince is/was Sarrasine, who was a Toreador. Except he wasn't a Toreador, it was a fairly open secret he was only POSING as a Toreador - he was actually a Caitiff. (Except he's not actually a Caitiff. He's a sixth-gen Setite. Sydney is Like That, yes.) Given Sydney's independence from the sects and its apparent Caitiff Prince, it's become a major site of Caitiff and Thinbloods, which Sarrasine is just thrilled about but can't do anything about because he doesn't want to actually go 'lol I'm a Setite'. Anyway, either way, everyone is unaware of Saulot's return, so the players seek out the little boy, who's pretty spooked and confused. Asks the characters, "Who are you? What is this place? What do all these people want?" and his third eye opens. Tada! Salubri Antediluvian, and like the prophecy mentioned, he's 'unholy' and 'a mockery in the face of God' - a clone.

Back to London with kid!Saulot. The Nephtali have been trying to work out what tf is going on. A researcher tried drinking from the vial. It was messy. The characters might get some downtime. Sarrasine's followers may attack to try and get the kiddo back. Either way, everyone goes to bed, and wakes up to find a Darkness having overtaken the sun, which is generally not good for anyone, and Lasombra characters are just, feels bad man. The Veil of Darkness means vampires can be up 24/7, along with other things that don't like sunlight, and I imagine things like... plants not being thrilled. Also probably very confused animals. I'm not sure if it's like a dark atmosphere, or a physical body between the sun and Earth that just eclipses it whatever vantage point you look from, or what? Disciplines like Auspex, Obfuscate, and Obtenebration go a bit fucky. Then, a few days later, everyone feels a... Summons. For low-generation vampires with still-living Antediluvians, it's strongest. Higher gens with destroyed Antes, not so bad. So I'm sure you can guess what's summoning them.

Yep. Antediluvians. Banu Haqim are getting summoned to Alamut instead so Ur-Shulgi can turn them into an army against the Antediluvians, so godspeed resisting that, Elijah.

Off to the city of Gehenna (it's nearish Jerusalem). Elders of all stripes have been heading there to kill their childer in hope of being rewarded by their Antediluvians to get their powers restored, which is terribly rude. Indeed, the Antediluvians basically go, hey, can you not, and also can you start Embracing more childer for our armies, because they're not very nice either. Pretty much all the characters have been summoned for their crimes against the Antediluvians, and now they're gathered before them - Set, [Lasombra], Ennoia, Absimiliard, Malkav (as like... a cluster of identical little girls with glowing eyes because of course Malkav would use the Creepy Child trope), and [Toreador], who's so beautiful no one can tell if they're male or female. When the players and child!Saulot get there, they question him, but he's literally a six-year-old boy and is spooked. He also has the vial, somehow. Set takes it, and Kiddo says, "Don't drink it. You'll burn up." So Set makes Kiddo drink it instead, because he's a nice guy like that.

Kiddo's third eye opens. A giant black throne appears. The dozen small girls that are Malkav say, "Father's home." Kiddo!Saulot says, "No, Father's dead." Girls start screaming so loud people start bleeding thick black blood from their ears and doesn't stop until Set kills all twelve. A random stranger, now with their glowing eyes, steps forward and basically goes 'wow rude'.

Powerful beam of light appears. The Antes (aside from Kiddo!Saulot) writhe in pain. Angel appears, asks Saulot if he's willing to atone for all vampires. He agrees. Throne explodes, Antes fuckin' die, and everyone promptly frenzies and tries to eat each other, because vampires. In the aftermath of that, vampirism basically... ends. The player characters may be rewarded by becoming human again, as do a lot of Thinbloods, but most everyone older just, uh, dies. Vampirism ends, but the Earth has been saved.

That is... hmm, bittersweet, I think. It's a pretty compelling chronicle, very dramatic, but it's much less character-based and is more, 'the characters get dragged along to Do Shit'. I kind of like the idea of it being a story involving the characters we know, but for original characters, I think Wormwood is a much more compelling scenario so far.

Chapter 5 - The Crucible of God: Okay I'm tired now and this is the 'rocks fall everyone dies' scenario so gonna skim-read this one.

This is the chapter that introduces the level 10 power for all disciplines - Plot Device. The Antediluvians can do shit because they feel like it. Whew. Also, if an Ante spots anyone of their blood line, they can just make them... explode and their blood gushes into their mouth. Monch monch. Spot another clan mate? Roll to avoid frenzy. Just woke up? Roll to avoid frenzy. Good times!

And then the Tzimisce Antediluvian awoke as a mass of Vicissitude flesh fungal infestation with tentacles and lampray mouths and stuff and ate anything in reach until it ate, uh, every living thing in Manhattan. In one night. Bad day tbh. Eventually it burns when the sun rises, but what's left underground is still there and shit's still messed up. Like picking a leaf off a dandelion and it starts bleeding. Trees with faces, swarms of insects forming into eyes and watching. Nice and creepy. In the aftermath, it's basically infecting every life form on Earth with Vicissitude, which is distinctly uncool.

Absimliard has an animal army and currently looks like a giant humanoid jellyfish.

Oh boy here's the Banu Haqim part XD;; Interestingly, it's a lot better for them! Haqim doesn't eat his childer, they feel themselves strongly bonded to him but still maintain their own minds and wills. Downside, anyone who doesn't follow Haqim alone gets hunted down so he can eat them, so Ur-Shulgi's probably having a field day at being vindicated and poor Pyre/Elijah is hiding tf under the bed. Plus side, it only lasts a few months before something kills Haqim, so hey! And there's genuinely a way to become human again, especially for high-humanity, high-gen vampires, so that actually would be a genuinely good outcome for Pyre/Elijah.

Malkavians end up as a giant hive mind. Like, more than usual. [Lasombra] covers the world in darkness, then it stops. Ennoia merges with the entire planet and starts eating people. And vampires. And Methuselah. And other Antediluvians. She's kinda hangry at this point.

Tremere attempts to rule the entire world using the Human Genome Project as the true name of the entirety of humanity. It lasts about two minutes before [Tzimisce] turns him into a meat crime, along with, uh, the entire rest of the world, aside from the players, who were part of Tremere's ritual and thus immune from it.

Also Saulot, who they just met in the form of a little old man.

Turns out, he planned it all along. Lured Tremere to him, knowing that his body was tainted by using Tzimisce blood to become a vampire. Knew that when the Eldest returned, he'd be succeptable, and Saulot would be able to bounce out when the Eldest took over. Now, he can lead the characters in the only way to stop Planet Tzimisce, which is, uh, prayer and letting themselves get eaten. Could actually work! And you end up human again in the bargain!

End result - all vampires gone. Some of the more human ones do end up human again. Either way, world's still fucked. Open Antediluvian rule for several months has destroyed most of humanity. There are still remnants - former Malkavians who are still a bit weird, former Tzimisce who are a bit... Vicissitudey. Ennoia's still around! She's mostly chill except when she occasionally feels like rearranging landscapes. Otherwise, it's time to recover.

Alternate endings - that last one wasn't depressing enough, so here's a scenario where All Is Tzimisce, here's one where there's global extinction of literally everything except the player characters who gradually drop into torpor and never recover (or just flat out burn if they're outside), or there's one where the players are the only vampires left and start a new cycle with them as the new Antediluvians or something, oh and Caine's still kicking and is Very Displeased that God won't let him die already. Gooood times!

Rest is how to basically play it, and character sheets. Which go back to calling Sascha ‘it’ again *sigh* (And using the whole alien look despite explicitly mentioning that they look human again. Of course.)

So, final thoughts! Gehenna is... an interesting scenario. Lots of possibility for introspection. It’s very... apocalyptic, and that may bother a lot of people, since, well, for the most part, it’s going to be the end of playing your character as a vampire. Which I figure most people are playing Vampire the Masquerade for. So it’s basically either a hell of a finale, or you just don’t make use of it.

Favourite scenario did end up being Wormwood. I just really like the introspection and opportunity for hope. Did also enjoy Nightshade, but in a different way, I think? Like for Nightshade, I’d rather read it as existing characters working together, maybe as a novel, whereas for Wormwood I’d want to play it since it’s such an intensely personal kind of thing.

(I also still want a slumber party AU ngl.)

[mz-elysium]

This is hugely interesting on many different levels. Since I heard stories about blood libel, I wondered how much of “basic” vampire lore is just antisemitism folklore, for lack of a better word.

The two main categories def fit:

Dracula and Nosferatu variety. The foreigner, twisted facial features, repelled by crosses and holy water, lots of kidnapping virgins and bloodsucking.

Interview with a Vampire genre. The (often wandering) nobles, a secret society that infiltrates “human” politics, can be sad and sappy but still can’t resist their innate monstrous nature to prey on and convert others. 

I would be interested in another type, but I can’t think of one off the top of my head.

What I can think about are the Themes and Resonances OP said. And uh. I’m bored. This could be long.

Sci-fi and fantasy genres are obsessed with metaphors. Terry Pratchett or someone probably said it better, but making “new” stuff isn’t just new. It’s using folklore and speculation to comment on existing society.

Elven racism, slavery, genocide. The Empire’s coding. Mage councils or prisons.

And, vampires.

Now, I don’t know how much of it is intentional by new vampire creators (probably very little tbh, i’d bet it’s base societal antisemitism), but I recognise a lot of the issues OP put above. I don’t even think you can get rid of all of them by making the vampire a protagonist. 

So, aside from the drama and flavour a vampire brings, a creator should ask why are they using it and what story they’re telling with it.

What is the metaphor?

On the outside looking in. A standard protag-vampire scene is the vampire facing that they can’t have a human life, that they will watch their friends and family age, get jobs, marry, and die. Maybe they can mimick some of those life stages, but not all of them. By virtue of what they are, they are inherently cut off from the life that was promised to them. 

Freedom. Similar to above, or a direct sequel, the vampire is not denied a human life -- but freed from it. Free from human society’s prejudice, expectations, and demands. Maybe vampires have other problems or there are so few it barely matters.

Rebirth. Not necessarily religious, but can be. A second chance at life, bearing the weight of the curse to complete last wishes or saved by their sire for a purpose. While any day can be a fresh start, being turned into another species is a hard clean slate.

Accommodations. If there’s no “big secret” and vampires live alongside humans, what separates them from each other? We already have blood drives. And, if vampires can drink animal blood, slaughterhouses aren’t going anywhere. How would society and jobs work around the limitations of a vampire? Spoiler: not well, probably.

Capitalism. I saw this once and am possessed by this idea. Very topical, as villains. Vampires as literally bloodsucking robber barons. Unchained desire and greed, entitlement to others’ very lives as they live forever. Abraham Lincholn: Vampire Hunter uses something like this, using the Deep South slave owners as vampires leeching on their slaves’ work.

Superhero morality. If no one knows you exist and you have super powers, what’s stopping you from becoming a vigilante? Do you have an obligation to the people you could help? We all have that inner dark voice, but what if there’s nothing to stop you and no bars of society to hold you accountable?

my vampires

Vampire the Masquerade is pretty known for being #problematic and offensive. They’ve changed a lot over the years, but early work (even some new stuff) leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Because it tries to be a “catch all” for every vampire media to ever exist, there’s Draculas and Interview-inspired stuff. I try to stay away from the “vampires puppet the world” trope, since that just turns into New World Order.

While I’ve used most of the above themes before, I mainly try to use the diversity to good effect. There are so many kinds of vampire it just becomes “this is what humanity is like”. A society freed from humanity, with too many origin stories to know which is true, with human greed and morality and immortal ennui. Darkness, but light. Hope. That, in spite of all the forces trying to encourage us to be selfish and cruel and bloodthirsty, when so many are fatalistic and feel doomed as movie monsters, we’re capable of being good. There is always tomorrow.

i always think it's so fun to be like ~okay well what keeps a vampire away if you're not christian :3 would a magen david do it for a jew haha*~ but i do also frankly think it's like. like... moderately deep sigh. we all KNOW why it's jsut christianity that keeps the blood-sucking fiends away, right? like we're all on the same page about what the bottom line here is, right? we all get it? before we have fun and get silly... do we all... like... does everyone actually know why we're here?

[mz-elysium]

are you male or female?

it doesn’t matter.

i mean, which do you prefer?

vampire.

whats in your pants?

fangs.

[mz-elysium]

me, not even looking at one of my writing projects for 6 months: oh, im just not inspired, not in the mood, this other one is calling my name

me, after getting a few comments: mmmmmm...words go zoomies (:

[mz-elysium]

OVERVIEW

>Genre: urban fantasy, personal horror, political intrigue

>Origin: Vampire the Masquerade, World of Darkness, VtM: Bloodlines

>Tropes: vampires in 101 flavours, doomsday prophecy, everyone is a villain, hopepunk

>Themes: It is never too late to start being a good person.  Rebellion is in a constant state, to guard against injustice. Compassion builds the best future.

PREMISE

The undead lie and scheme for power, in the skyscrapers, grottos, and wastelands of their cities. Humanity, within and without, is their victim. Within them, lives the Beast of humanity’s darkest nature as the vampire’s instinct. Boredom breeds cruelty. Generations of domination and brutality become law, from the noblest clan to the lowest. Love corrodes into betrayal. Power corrupts. Whispers speak of the Final Nights, as something more than vampires stirs in the night.

In these, the longest nights of Wormwood, light can only exist in darkness.

SETTING

Young vampires rose against the corrupt rule of their sires — it is a story as old as time. In 1944, California, America, the rebels won. The streets ran red with elder blood. They called their new land the Anarch Free State. Paradise. Rebels established their new status quo. They had to create their own justice, their own laws of the jungle, their own rulers. 

A new generation of vampires has been sired into the California Free State. They’ve never known a Camarilla prince. Yet, the violent and unpredictable life of an Anarch lick feels a lot like oppression. Their barons can’t protect them from what hunts the hunter. 

In desperation, one by one, cities begin to fall into the hands of the Camarilla. The revolution is over. It failed. Some few remain to rebuild the dream under the blinking light of the Red Star.

Charlie, a fledgling Malkavian, wrestles with her humanity and the realisation that maybe the curse liberated her from the daylit world, its rules and problems. Kindred, of course, have their own, but you can’t win them all. Some of their problems are also pleasures.

Jack, a neonate Gangrel, has drifted through unlife with a thin claim to what little he owns. A curiosity and affinity to the natural world leads him to believe in its power and the harmony of all ecosystems. Including vampires. They should all just get along.

Monroe, an ancilla Ventrue, retains hope that their lives can be better and the Camarilla can be changed to foster this. The schemes and intrigue can end. The weapons can be set down. They can be neighbours, family, friends, and reclaim their lives in an honourable world.

Wormwood is the story of how these three kindred, their friends, enemies, and lovers, find themselves in the Final Nights.

WORKS

Noble Lies of Clan Ventrue (1873-2000) [44k] Monroe’s origin story, from his last sunlit days in the American military to the moment he fled from the Camarilla.

City of Fallen Angels trilogy (2003-2004) [133k, 288k, 173k] The honourable outcast Monroe takes charge of a newly abandoned fledgling, Charlie, as an LA ruled by rebels is challenged by the Camarilla courts. War is on the horizon.

Unmastered (2004) [36k] An old ghoul is entrusted with a month of autonomy in San Francisco, with the promise of more freedom threatening the chains that hold his life together.

City of Gold and Iron (2004-???) The San Francisco Bay Area chafes under the second generation of Camarilla prince, as their beloved rebel is dead and gone. Neonates find their place in the bloody yoke. Ancilla attempt to reform or hold onto power. Elders play their own games, hidden in the shadows.

Links

AO3 // tumblr tag: vtm: wormwood // Google Site

[mz-elysium]

im just......screaming.

I’ve never had anyone draw fanart of my writing and im just so surprised and honoured and it looks SO GOOD. I love it so much, ty.

Are you DailyDoseofVitaminD on ao3? (i just wanna match you up to comments)

Hey @mz-elysium , I wanted to tell you again, this time on here, how much I enjoyed Wormwood!

Have a happy Jack as a big kitten vibing with the vila, as an offering :)

It's technically a WIP, but hey - it's still wednesday!

[mz-elysium]

my vampire the masquerade saga officially has too many notes

fantasy maps. altered lore. character sheets.

especially now that i want to involve other splats and gotta smash things together until they fit. which means that “canon” is really only MY canon.

i’ll keep updating it when i get writer’s block, bc i gotta be doing something with my stupid vampires.

[mz-elysium]

vtm: wormwood ; clan bingos of povs

[link to blank bingos]

Monroe

Ashley

Hawthorne

Charlie

Jack

Lex

Masika (new!)

rest of the bingos and commentary under cut bc uh this got kinda long lmao

Monroe

ofc Monroe got a bingo. God Complex might be strong, but definitely Saviour Complex. Does wayy too much shit. Also, had a weird bit where he genuinely had quite a bit of respect for LaCroix as an enemy...before he was killed. Shame. Also, had a lot in common, as disgraced childer of unsuccessful military backgrounds.

Hard no’s: *claps hands*, Loyalty > Approval (Monroe not-so-secretly craves being admired), Owns a Crown (but he DOES own a sword...), Undisputed (uh yeh, very in dispute)

Ashley

b-b-bingo. Maybe a bonus bingo, since he does eat food in text sometimes, but I never gave their char sheets merits. 

Hard Yes: Red Lipstick (any colour, dark or sparkly preferred), Never Makes Art (comically useless at it), Siren, Narcissm, Would Sparkle, Anne Rice (literally Spike and Lestat)

Hard No: Humanity 8 (cackles in Humanity 4, which is him on an upswing), Rotten at the Core (...maybe, but he does have some redeeming factors)

Hawthorne

Unsurprised that she got no bingo, and was denied by Leather Jacket! ahh loser. Atypical Brujahs don’t get bingos. Urban Ventrue ghouls don’t make good Brujahs, who figured.

Hard No: Leather Jacket, Motorcycle, Good Music Ended in the 90s (um, actually the 80s, but she would listen to almost anything), Respects Smiling Jack, Brawl 5 (not anymore), Bros Before Sects/Obvious Anarch (fuck the Anarchs)

Charlie

Bingo, and not even a free-space one. Probably the hardest one to fill out, though. Charlie’s Cobweb radar is decent and she can sorta make sense of it sometimes or use it to harvest info, but never that useful.

Also, her Great Ideas are mostly unrelated to her Malkavianisms and mostly due to just being a wiseass and smart guy.

Hard Yes: Paranioa, PREMONITION, “Did anyone else hear that?”, Don’t “ugh, a Malkavian” me!

Secretly, she likes that Bedlam calls her a fish. She knows its true. She just grew legs one night and crawled out onto the shores, but she has a natural habitat somewhere that she can’t go back to. Not that anyone wants to hear stuff like that.

Jack

Jack’s earliest drafts were Brujah and that might still show a bit. He’s not as rough and tumble wilderness dude. More City Gangrel. He has the leather jacket and wants a motorcycle.

But he is a dirt boy animist and part-time rock sorcerer in love with his shapechanges, so maybe he’s Gangrel enough.

Hard No: No Driving License, Becketts (Jack never knew Beckett enough, but he would probably be put off by his obnoxious snide British-isms), Smells Funny (he bathes!), Survival 5

Hard Yes: DONT pet me (sore spot, as a Gangrel), Wants a House in the Woods (kinda has that...), Hell yeah NATURE

Lex

Ahhh, a better Brujah gets better shapes and multi-bingos AND doesn’t need the free-space. Such a Brujah. Very Brujah. Too poor for a new leather jacket and probably burned their old one 8yrs ago.

Hell No: Surprisingly High Humanity (middling, at best), Quotes Philosopher (you kidding me, they can barely quote themself), Motorcycle (lives in SOMA)

Hell Yes: Everything is Political (risks them friendships), Fuck off (just...everyone), Band T-shirt, Good Music Ended in the 90s, Starts Combat, Obvious Anarch (see above)

Masika

New POV. A very Tremerey Tremere, apparently. Very excite about her.

Hell Yes: Smartass (more of a deadpan), Getting Lost (new girl!), Secret Reads (probably, but more of a Discworld and Dark Tower girlie), Absolutely Terrified of Fireball (zero combat exp), SUSPICIOUS (fellow Tremere are always up to something, but not her!), Misses the Pyramid (Tremere loyalist)

Hell No: Oops, Forgot to Ward (never forgets, never oops), Secretly Wants a Gargoyle (a WARCRIME? a breaking of the sacred montmartre pact??? never!), Guilty of Most Things (has never done anything wrong in her entire life)

[mz-elysium]

me, immersing my brain in millions of words of vampire fanfiction,  hannibal for the 100th time, the Locked Tomb of lesbian goth necromancers, New York by Night webseries, and 2008/2009 season of FC Barcelona : c’mon ideas. start percolating. we gotta get to writing.