One unspoken family tradition is that many Oberlochs keep pets. Different members keep critters for different reasons. Some prefer the company of animals to mortals or each other. Some raise and train animals for the purposes of being guard or pack animals. Others even keep beasts as an emergency source of Vitae. Most pet-keepers gravitate toward fairly mundane animals, usually dogs like Shepherds, Dobermans or Bull Terriers. The occasional Oberloch raises something unusual like a goat, hawk or mountain lion, but such exotic creatures are rare.
One thing is true for most pets: They’re part of the family. Animals are loyal. More so than most people, the Brood believes. While pets may not be treated like royalty, they’re granted a place approaching equality. Of course, the downside of animals is that they die. Living things perish, and ghouled animals may still have a limited existence, one that typically falls far shorter than the span of its Oberloch master. Line members don’t take well to their pets dying. It’s like losing a brother or daughter.
Some Brood have devised a way to preserve beloved animals from the clutches of death. This Devotion, while far from pretty, actually brings an animal back to limited life, animating rotted flesh and splintered bones into a reasonable facsimile of the once-living creature.
