Don't Make a Beggar Of Me

Jun 6th, 2019 04:08 PM

"If you could please text her now" It's not that Thomas distrusted Ellis, but memory was a problem. Fallible, even for immortal monsters "Very well, you can record our talk. Please be sure to tell your Invictus companions that if they ever desire to learn, my doors are always open. Whisper marketing and all that" He smiles.

When the recorder starts running, the Lord begins his speech.

"This is Thomas Boyle, recording on [DATE]. If any of you Forsworn cretins are listening, I hope you'll rot in the pits you so love. Otherwise, please enjoy" He clears his throat to begin speaking again "So"

So.

"The first thing one needs to understand is that the Brood is incredibly factionalized - there are groups and coteries and even individual vampires with their own beliefs, not even agreeing on who exactly Belial is - we can delve into those origin stories later, if you'd like. In any case, this colors the goals of the Brood's vampires, but what each of them is really after is a spiritual journey called the Pursuit. However, to understand it we need to take a couple of steps back" For a few seconds, Thomas taps his fingers on the wooden table, recreating what could be a melody if it didn't end so abruptly.

"All Brood are outsiders. They are convinced that people like you and me live a lie, that we play at being dead humans where in fact we are anything but human. If these thoughts are allowed to fester, a vampire starts hearing the Call - some as 'daymares', some as whispers in their head, doesn't matter. Some heed it, some don't and kill themselves or, if they have any mental fortitude, become Unbound on the fringe of Kindred society. Anyway, the Call's supposed function is to take you either to an established Brood member, or in the presence of a place or object filled with dark power. Once there, the vampire's soul must make one final choice - he either goes forth and joins the Brood, or doesn't and the path is closed to him. Likely forever. Then, and only then, can the new Forsworn begin his Pursuit. As you can see, it is a uniquely personal process, and it only gets sketchier from there"

Because they can't be bothered to keep journals and lab logs like the Dragons, can they? There are many things Thomas likes, and order is near the top of that list.

"In the most general of terms, those that pledge themselves to Belial seek to shed what separates them from fully embracing the Beast - which, they argue, is the dominant, and in fact the only important part of any Kindred's psyche. To dissolve all that once made them human, they say, is to fully realize one's potential as a vampire and take one's rightful place as a monster in the service of the Adversary. They meditate on their slipping humanity, keeping a tenuous grasp on coherence through the use of blood rituals, which are in themselves a fascinating subject. A Forsworn's Pursuit can take many forms - meditation in places of great violence, rutting with abandon, murder, destruction or playing death metal on speakers. It depends on the vampire in question and the cult he is in - to them, the only taboo is temperance"

Of course, the most important questions in places like that is...

"Does it work? I highly doubt there is any enliughtenment to be found in behaving like a maniac. Have you ever seen a draugr? That is what's waiting at the end of the Brood road"

**Ellis Meadows** · Jun 9th, 2019 05:25 PM

Apologies for the delay Woland, Kid stuff just sucked a ton of energy away from me this last week!

Ellis composes a suitably opaque text that indicates he owes Thomas a Major Boon that he sends off to Rebecca Simmons for the record. He presents the exchange to Thomas so he knows that due diligence has been made.

I don't think there is a need for a comms exchange Matrixchild Steven but if I am wrong, please let me know.

Ellis listens to Thomas speaks on the nature of the Not-A-Covenant. He then takes a moment to digest what was said, pausing the tape as he does so, so as to not clutter up the recording with his own personal anecdotes.

"A Bishop kept one as a lesson back in LA. She used it as an example for Neonates who wouldn't be quiet and respectful during Mass." It was kept in a room, attached to the wall with a precisely measured length of retractable chain. On the opposite wall were shackles that the unlucky student was restrained with. The Dragur had exactly enough slack in their chain to get within an inch of the student. A night or two in that room was an extremely hard hitting lesson on the value of silence and respect when your spiritual leaders were speaking on the consequences of abandoning your role as a divine predator in the eyes of God. "I will count myself quite fortunate if I never see one again."

Ellis ignores how green it's eyes were, as he re-starts the recording.

"Well it sounds like is someone read Thus Spoke Zarathustra and was inspired by the self loathing. How much of a lifespan do these Nihilists have, in your opinion?" Ellis asks. "It sounds like they each should all loose their minds and self destruct within a week to a month of achieving this 'Pursuit', if they're serious about it. That kind of time frame would suggest that an established Forsworn would be something of an oxymoron, yes? And how does this 'decision of the soul' work? Is it a conscious choice of some sort, where you have to sign your name in blood after actively seeking out the means to do so? Or can someone suffer from these whispers, mistake them for a mundane form of madness, and suddenly find themselves in the presence of a suitable source of 'Dark Power' through coincidence?"

Jun 9th, 2019 07:31 PM

You're good.

Jun 11th, 2019 05:48 AM

Oh, so the LA congregation was one of those hardline ones? Promoting authoritarianism in disguise as a religious lesson, how very Second Estate is that?

"Sad sight, aren't they? So much potential, wasted" Thomas didn't hate the draugr, neither did he fear them more than, say, a rotting bridge or an unstable tunnel. He pitied these creatures - to be a god in the making, and tumble down to below animal. Sad.

"It's not an easy thing to survive the first months and years in the Brood... or so I am told" By one of the 'lucky' ones that did. Uncanny valley did not begin to describe the... whatever it was "Between the violent initiation rites, the competition from other Kindred, attacks of the Forsworn's myriad enemies and the reckless abandon of stupid neonates thinking 'being one with the Beast' means 'murder lots of people in the shortest time possible' - the attrition rate is staggering"

Indeed, the fact that the Brood managed to keep going despite its converts dying by the dozen spoke something of its tenacity.

"However, there are many ways in which a member can make his descent more... controlled. Rituals are one - be they the masses of the Lancea, the festivals of the Crone or the rigid code of etiquette the Invictus uses, they all serve to make our path more certain, connecting us to both the past and the larger whole. So, too, is it with the observances the Brood uses, even if they don't hold any immediate, tangible effect. They focus devotion, and that's what matters" The direct parallel between 'mainstream' Covenants and the Satanic boogeymen may upset some, but to Thomas the similarity is clear as day. Shame he hadn't seen an actual day in some time "Second, there are those a follower of Belial performs the rituals with - their coterie, or 'covey', as they name them. But it's more than just a group of friends with common interests and beliefs - they are closer than any family, lover or friend could ever be, learning from one another and acting as one, connected by fervent belief and a blood ritual called Vaulderie. And at the center of the covey, stands a Therion" The Advocates. The anomaly of the Blood.

"The Therion, you see, act as spiritual leaders, 'priests' of a covey. If the rumors and fragments I gathered are true, it is a kind of bloodline, but with the important distinction that a vampire from any clan can be inducted into it, if his covey-mates perform the right ritual. Now, the details of the process elude me - like most things within the Brood it's a matter of instinct, meaning you need to be 'in' to understand it" As a thought experiment, Thomas has considered joining to fish for secrets and then run away with them, but the reasons this could prove a futile effort are too many to list "However, these Therion not only show propensity for 'soul searching', but also wield a strange Discipline-like power that allows them and their covey-mates to slow the fall into bestiality and madness down, utilize frenzy more easily, act during the day and even shorten the length of torpor" The source of that power, to be sure, was external. With how it supposedly works and when it ceases to work, it can't be the gift of Blood alone.

"Another thing to consider is, although there are factions within the Brood devoted to bloodlust and killing, others are less... overt, at least as far as Kindred and mortal authorities are concerned. The Scarlet Rite, for example, revels in sex and fleshly excess. Those of the Mercy Seat corrupt the pure. The list goes on" As it was said, the Brood is factionalized to hell and back, very literally.

"And when the Forsworn do descend? They meditate on it. They study the Beast they've just came closer to, so as to better understand what its needs are" Far from considering it a necessary evil himself, like most Kindred did, Thomas found the idea of appealing to the Monster misguided. Who cares what it wants? Or what the Man wants? What matters is to go beyond the concern.

Of course, the question of free will appeared. But what most people (apparently even some Brood initates) failed to grasp is that the group is not like some mortal sect, manipulating the gullible into believing they are loved, and they do what they do on their own volition. No, if the testimony of other researchers and members of the Brood (current and past) is to be belived, a vampire's soul is entirely free in its journey.

"Far as I can tell, there is no way to coerce or trick someone into joining - from what I heard, the Forsworn themselves ban any form of proselytizing, believing one's soul must find its way to the Adversary on its own or not at all. The process is voluntary, from the moment a vampire chooses to heed the Call, through when he interacts with an object or place of power and allows his soul to be sculpted, to after he is technically of the Brood - he can seek others like him or remain a hermit, that's his choice. The concept of free will goes so far, that when one chooses to leave the Brood, he can do so unmolested by his once-companions"

**Ellis Meadows** · Jun 15th, 2019 07:45 PM

Ellis listens as Thomas speaks while the device records, and towards the end of the current thrust of things, his phone goes off. Ellis makes a face, and then once there is a break in the lecture (and it was a damn facinating one), he once again pauses the recording. "Pardon me."

He checks the message and frowns, but taps out a response. "My sincere apoligies, Thomas. It seems that the Herald wants to call in a Trivial. Would you be willing to take this recorder and record your wisdom on this topic? If not, I'm willing to reschedule for some other night, but I'm consulting with the Sheriff on something and there's," he gestures in a vague fashion, "politics and Invictus stuff I've got going on, so it might be awhile." He'd actually much rather continue this lecture than deal with the Herald, but a boon was a boon, and it would probably be good in the long run for Thomas to see him be so willing to follow up on one when called on.

"But before I run off to deal with this, there was also one other topic I wanted to broach tonight." Ellis adds. "Have you ever considered the value of forming a Coterie?"

Jun 16th, 2019 06:17 AM

"Ah" Ellis' explanation of Jack wanting to meet warrants a dark chuckle "Wonder what that might be about" He had a few ideas, though.

"I'll record the rest and send it to the Nox soon for you to pick up" He offers "That way when we next meet maybe it won't be all business"

The 'one other topic' takes him a bit by surprise, but Thomas does his best to conceal it.

"I have been teaming up with other Kindred only occasionally up to this point... but now that I plan to stay here a little longer, I may want to change that. Thank you for the offer Ellis, I'll consider it. Hopefully we'll be able to discuss it more when we are not so insanely busy" He didn't hold it against the Daeva to cut the meeting short, as he himself has been pretty much running around like a headless chicken since night one.

"I don't want to keep you tonight. Have a good talk with the Herald!"

And with that, they part ways.

Closing! Good scene!

Don't Make a Beggar Of Me

Members who have read this thread : 11

Similar Threads

Text Plans to Make

Glimpse Sometimes you can make do

Haven Make Sacramento Great Again

Haven Make me an Offer

Onions Make You Cry