Kiasyd

Kiasyd
According to legend, the founder of the Kiasyd was either and unseelie fae or a carried the blood of the dark fae in her veins before being embraced. For millennia the Kiasyd have been rulers of the night, especially in northern Europe before the coming of Christendom. They were mysterious faerie kings and queens, feared and adored by humanity. As civilization progressed, the strange nature and traditional ways of the Kiasyd could not adapt to the changing world. They were forced to withdraw more and more from the world of mortals and from positions of leadership and dwell more in the shadows. In the modern nights, they still have power among the undead and are some of the staunchest defenders of conservatism, tradition, and rule by the elders. Because of their odd appearance and powers, they cannot deal with humans directly as often as thy would prefer, though they make extensive use of ghouls to serve as proxies and even have a number of revenants ghoul families that have served them for countless generations. Even with their revenant families helping them and their powers of persuasion, as time passes the Kiasyd become increasingly irrelevant in the modern world and in turn because less and less interested in human politics and influence. However, they still have tremendous power and influence in the world of the undead and especially within the Camarilla. Though many other kindred consider them haughty relics of a bygone age, they still hold many of the higher ranks within the Camarilla. Their leadership helps keep the Sect running smoothly and for this they can still command respect.

Nickname: weirdlings, elves.

Disciplines: Dominate, Celerity, Auspex, Fae Sorcery (Koldunic Sorcery with Obtenebration and Mytherceria as a Paths but no Way of Fire. Fae Sorcery also has no Rituals). Most Kiasyd automatically start with one level of Fae Sorcery.

Weakness: Cold Iron does aggravated damage to the Kiasyd, even a touch of cold iron does a level of aggravated damage to them. In addition, the more they advance in Faerie Magic, the less human they look. With no Faerie Magic, they look as they did in life but slightly paler. At level one their skin becomes more pale, their eyes darken or lighten, and their body becomes thinner. By the time they reach level five or more, their skin is so pale and white that it seems luminescent especially in the moonlight, their eyes are pools of pure darkness or brightly glowing, their ears have become pointed, they have gained over a foot in height from their mortal days, and have an unnaturally thin and delicate build. The change in the Kiasyd's eyes are based on his or her primary Fae Sorcery Path - Obtenebration makes their eyes darken until they become completely pitch black and the Way if Earth makes their eyes look like shining metallic orbs. The other Paths make their eyes luminescent and eventually glow - Mytherceria is violet, Way of Water is bluish green, and the Way of Wind is gray to white. The game effects of this are that the Kiasyd lose one die from most social interactions with mundane mortals for every level of Faerie Magic they learn, up to five. Also, at level 3 or more the Kiasyd is obviously inhuman and risks breaking the Masquerade by appearing in public.

Advantage: Kiasyd have access to a fourth Discipline, Fae Sorcery, which they automatically start with one dot in. These vampires have particularly potent blood, perhaps because it is mixed with the blood of faeries. Increase a Kiasyd's maximum Blood Pool by 20%, rounded down. This means that a Kiasyd with of the 11th generation has a Blood Pool of 14, while an 8th generation Kiasyd has a Blood Pool of 18. Kiasyd who have rejected their faerie nature only receive a 10% bonus to their maximum Blood Pool.

Permutations: A handful of very young Kiasyd, those embraced in the last fifty years, who do not come from Revenant families, reject their faerie nature and faerie sorcery. Because they have done this, they retain their human appearance aside from having unusually pale skin. They are much more active in the world of humanity and more able to use technology than their Clan mates, giving them some major advantages. They do not have Fae Sorcery as a Discipline nor do they get an extra point of it, though they likewise don't suffer the negative side effects of the Discipline. They do, however, suffer a +2 penalty to all difficulties of social rolls with the regular Kiasyd because they are seen as betraying the traditions and heritage of the Clan.

Appearance: Most Kiasyd are embraced from ancient revenant families who have served the Clan for centuries, all of whom are caucasian. The tend to wear high quality, if archaic, clothing like aristocrats of some past age. As Kiasyd age and develop their Fae Sorcery, they becoming increasingly inhuman in appearance, becoming tall and thin, their flesh becoming pale and their eyes taking on an unearthly aspect. Elders often wear the garb that was popular in their mortal days or even before, making themselves seem completely out of place in the modern era. In recent times, some young members of the Clan reject their mystical nature who are more likely to dress in contemporary clothing and sometimes embrace from ethnic groups from places other than Europe.

Haven: Old and stuck in their ways, the Kiasyd nearly always dwell in ancient dwellings. For Old World Kiasyd, this usually means ancestral castles in the countryside outside of cities, complete with housing for large numbers of servants, ghouls, revenants, and childer. In the new world, large mansions on remote country estates are favored. Usually an elder will be master of a single castle while cherished childer will dwell within the haven with them. In most cases, the haven will form a small community of sorts with numerous servants waiting on the Kiasyd’s every need, remote enough from the city so that kine are unlikely to trespass. 

Background: The Kiasyd usually choose childer from their Revenant families, most often the Ascania or Muiredaigh. These are old and noble families, their blood and ancestry is pure. The childe will have served the Clan as a ghoul for decades or even centuries and proven his competence, honor, and obedience. Such a childe often has a skewed view of the world, having grown up in extreme wealth, taught at home by tutors, known of vampires and the supernatural from a young age, and in the case of the Ascania, has been very isolated from the world of humans. These young Kiasyd have a great knowledge of mysticism and the world of vampires for childer, it is their knowledge of the mortal world which is more lacking and which may never improve. A newly embraced childe lives under the reign of his sire indefinitely, until he becomes powerful enough to gain his own domain or the sire dies or enters torpor - though on the plus side the sire is duty bound to protect the childe and instruct him in all necessary skills to thrive as one of the undead. These Revenant childer often have access to great wealth, have excellent if somewhat archaic educations, and have good social skills if not familiarity with human culture. Those childer who are not embraced from Revenant families also tend to come from wealthy or highly accomplished human families and are frequently chosen for their achievements in business, politics, or academia. In such cases, the mortal is usually turned into a ghoul and given a trial period of a century or so to prove themselves before being embraced. It usually takes non-Revenants a bit longer to earn respect as a Kiasyd than the former Revenants do. Virtually every Kiasyd is of European ethnicity, even those not belonging to a Revenant familiy. In recent years, some younger and less conservative sires, often in cities with less Kiasyd presence, have embraced accomplished mortals a bit more liberally without the long testing period. They have done so to allow the Clan to have a closer connection to the modern world. These childer know about computers, telephones, modern corporations and laws - extremely important skills to survive in the 21st century. Unfortunately, embracing such childer has backfired in some cases as the childer reject the Clan's traditions and values.

Organization: The Kiasyd Clan are highly territorial. Each member if the Clan will claim a section of a city, or in some cases an entire small city or town, for himself. They do not like trespassers and travelers are expected to get permission before entering another Kiasyd's domain. In modern cities, retaining this policy is all but impossible, though at least other Kiasyd are expected to follow these traditions and other vampires are pressured to do so as well, especially by Kiasyd in positions of power. Sometimes there will be a single powerful Kiasyd who controls vast sections of a city and has a number of younger Kiasyd who have divided up subsections for themselves but still pay homage to the elder - very much like vampiric feudalism. Within an individual Kiasyd's domain, they will almost always be the only Kiasyd except for their own childer who spend a number of decades to centuries learning from and obediently serving their sire. When a city has a Kiasyd prince, he usually divides up the city along feudal lines with the Primogen of each Clan controlling certain territories. The one exception to the above policy is the expectation of obedience to a sire. A Kiasyd is expected to always obey and show deference for his own sire, and the sire has the authority to enter his childe's domain if he so desires. The Kiasyd lords usually have cordial relationships with each other that obey ancient protocols and formalities. They strongly believe in honor and truthfulness, in repaying debts and keeping their word. While Kiasyd from different domains sometimes view each other as rivals or even enemies, the sense of honor and tradition that permeates through the Clans facilitates interaction as they can depend on their Clan mates to act in certain ways. The youngest members of the Clan, those who have rejected their fae nature and the Clan's traditions, are often outcasts and not welcome in any domains of the elders. They are sometimes forced to join together in small groups in less desirable areas of a city, sometimes forming alliances with other Clans or trying to keep a low profile.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: He without honor is not fit rule.
Baali: They respect the rule of elders and the order it brings, but their methods leave much to be desired. These are allies, not friends.  
Blood Brothers: In elder days we crushed these treacherous creatures, it seems that we must do so against. 
Children of Osiris: Our enemies must be fought and defeated, but we cannot disparage their motives, only their judgment. 
Gargoyles: Foul abominations born from sloth and cowardice. They are undeserving of eternity.  
Laibon: They rule the lands beyond civilization, one day they shall fall beneath cities of stone and steel. 
Lamia: They are noble peers who have stood beside us with honor and bravery for centuries. With good fortune, they will continue to recognize our leadership.    
Lhiannan: Since the ancient nights, the priests have always served the lords and pacified the masses. Then as now, the Lhiannan serve their purpose.  
Nagaraja: Ferocious dogs who can be brought to heel and directed for a purpose beyond their understanding.
Salubri: Their council is of great value to us, though we must always be wary of any who would seek to influence us.  
Samedi: Their dark magic presents unknown dangers, we must be careful that our necromancers do not dance too near to the precipice. 
Sybarites: They are fools not to submit themselves to the authority of the Camarilla. Fortunately, these children seek merely to play and do not meddle in adult matters.   
Caitiff: These weak blooded childer should be destroyed for their own sake. 
Camarilla: The Camarilla is order, the Camarilla survival. Only through the rule of elders can the immortal rule of kindred be insured. 
Sabbat: Driven by madness and hate, the Anarchs continue to try to bring down our immortal race. We must destroy these villains if kindred are to survive. 
Anarchs: They should be put to the torch, each and every one, we must remember what threat the Anarchs posed when the rose before. 

Kiasyd