The Sybarites

Sometimes known as the Daughters of Cacophony and Sons of Discord, it is unknown how this unusual Clan originated or much about their founder. They rose to prominence in the ancient mediterranean where art and music flourished, where they became known as muses or sirens. The Clan spread with civilization and mere major powers within Rome and well and the great civilizations which followed in in Europe and the Middle East. They have always loved the spotlight and the adoration of mortals, the hustle and bustle of great cities, and most of all their music. Traditionally, the Clan has been mostly female and that is the reason for a common nickname, as well as the curious fact that females within the Clan seem to have a greater innate ability with the Clan's signature Discipline of Melpominee. The Sirens love to be the center of attention and to be culturally relevant as well, they believe that art and especially music can have a great influence on culture and thought and believe that their power in the mortal world lies there. To some degree, they are right and their influence within the music world has sometimes had major effects on mortal society. Unfortunately, the Sirens seldom have any unified goals aside from protecting their ability to make music and bask in adoration, so their power over mortals is sometimes squandered. The Sirens are less interested in vampiric politics as they are in protecting their personal lifestyles, so will often ally of trade favors with who ever they believe will best facilitate that. The Clan sides with the Camarilla because they favor the stability and conservatism of the rule of the elders, which provides them with the most safety and luxury - though they are not the most ardent supporters of the Camarilla and are more likely to rebel than other vampires in the Sect as well as being less than helpful in times of need. Many vampires of the other Clans consider them mostly useless, though the influence that the Sybarites have among the masses can sometimes prove useful when they choose to wield their power to its fullest extent.

Nickname: sirens, muses.

Disciplines: Fortitude, Presence, Melpominee

Weakness: Sirens constantly hear music within their minds, they hear their own voice singing songs they have sung before, even new melodies yet to be written, or a mysterious voice that some believe is the voice of the Clan founder. This increases the difficulty of all perception rolls by 2. Additionally, the sirens feel compelled to sing or hum along with the music in their heads. This increases the difficulty of all stealth related rolls by 2. By spending a point of Willpower, the Siren can block out this music from their minds for a scene.

Advantage: It is said that the Clan founder sings to the Sybarites, that they hear her voice all of the time within their heads. So great is their love of this singing that they count as having the true love merit - they get an automatic success on all Willpower rolls.

Appearance: The majority of the Children of Cacophony are young and beautiful, selected for being pleasing to the eye as well as having singing ability. There are a few members of the Clan that do not follow this trend, though they are rare exceptions and must compensate for their lack of physical beauty with greater skill or charisma. Females are more common than men among this Clan, but Sons of Cacophony are by no means rare. They take pains to wear the most expensive and fashionable clothing, enjoying being the center of attention. 

Haven: The Sybarites love to dwell in the midst of mortals in epicenter of human culture. This will often include expensive downtown apartments or havens built into clubs, opera houses, or concert halls. They are fairly social, but also enjoy their privacy as they can be self centered or capricious and living with other vampires requires some degree to compromise or to obey. In almost every case, they live with a large number of ghoul servants to wait on and/or entertain them. Some Sybarites don’t settle on any single location, spending their days in five star hotels or in the homes of lovers.

Background: To the Sybarites, the embrace is more of a love affair than a calculated political move. A Sybarite will become enchanted with the musical ability of some mortal and then if the potential sire has enough influence and political sway to embrace the childe, then she does. If not, then she will frequently ghoul the mortal and keep her around for a future embrace. The childe can come from any sort of background as long as she has the ability to sing beautifully, though youth and physical beauty is often valued as well though the Sybarites don't like to admit it. What other skills the childe might have often doesn't matter to the Sybarites, so young Sybarites have a diversity of skills and abilities or lack thereof. A Sybarite sire will keep act a mentor, friend, lover, or patron for a variable amount of time - which usually ends with one or both vampires tiring of each other, usually the sire tires of the childe as a childe who wishes to leave may find herself blood bound. The sire teaches the childe in the ways of the Camarilla and introduces her to important vampires or mortals, though some sires may not perform this duty to the childe's satisfaction. The most common influence new childer may have is in the mortal world, as they all have wonderful singing ability and many will use this to gain fame and fortune. It is the duty if the sire to prevent the childe from becoming too famous though, as fame threatens the Masquerade.

Organization: The Sybarites have very little Clan organization. After a short period of tutelage or artistic patronage, a Sybarite sire will grow tired of her childe and let her go her own way. Sometimes a close friendship will remain between the two, but just as frequently there will be a terrible rivalry. The Sybarites see each other as kindred spirits and so connect to each other over shared interests in music and the arts, but they rarely act together politically and usually follow their own agenda. This makes the Sybarites a political wild card in Camarilla cities, as different Sybarites can be enticed to ally themselves with various other Clans or individuals if the reward is adequately tempting. In some cases, Sybarite elders will attempt to form some coalition of Sybarites to act together to achieve some common political goal - though these projects usually meet with either limited success or total failure. Pride, cattiness, or sometimes even apathy can split apart such alliances. Despite their lack of unity, the Sybarites still thrive within the Camarilla in part because they aren't collectively seen as a threat to other Clans and in fact are perceived as potentially useful allies or pawns. Many of the Sybarites are more crafty than other vampires give them credit for, and will frequently play off potential puppet masters against each other or build up vast sums of wealth or influence in the mortal world under the noses of the other Clans - though almost always to their own benefit and not that of the Clan.

Stereotypes

Ahrimanes: As pompous as the Camarilla but less rational.  
Baali: They share our refined tastes for exotic pleasures but their vices can be much more extreme than ours.    
Blood Brothers: How are these morons still alive?   
Children of Osiris: Why would any kindred seek to spoil everyone else’s fun? 
Gargoyles: Vicious and singleminded. It is fortunate that we occupy a place relatively far down on their list of grudges.   
Kiasyd: Why should we submit to their rule when we can benefit from the order they create without having to grovel on bended knee?   
Laibon: We exist in two different spheres. We see no reason to intrude into their’s.     
Lamia: So beautiful and yet so deadly. Why take unlife so seriously?   
Lhiannan: They have a certain taste and esthetic that we can respect, a love of life and connection to their feelings.       
Nagaraja: Crazed killers that should avoided or destroyed, which ever is more convenient. 
Salubri: Self important narcissists who think that they have all of the answers.  
Samedi: Disgusting creatures with dangerous hobbies. We have no reason to associate with them aside from perhaps morbid curiosity.     
Caitiff: Perhaps they deserve a bit more respect. We have no reason to reject them, nor should we risk ourselves for them either. 
Camarilla: Why should we bow down and submit to their will when we can go our own way? Of course, it is best not to antagonize them lest they bring their force to bear against us.  
Sabbat: Fools and madmen. The best thing that can be said of the Camarilla is that they seek to crush the Sabbat.    
Anarchs: Very reasonable sorts, with more sense than the Sabbat and more respect for freedom than the Camarilla.  

Sybarite