By Jay Knioum (madafro@trip.net)
It was this belief and analysis that gained Artemidorus the attention of a powerful vampire who held great sway in ancient Athens. This vampire was an Autarkis, and had fought hard for his position despite the continuing efforts of the large Clans to prevent his rise.
The name of this admirer is lost to antiquity, but he was infamous for his frequent bouts of psychotic behavior after particularly intense dreams experienced during the day's sleep. The Autarkis was convinced that these visions held portents of the future (a subject in which this vampire held a great deal of stock), and became obsessed with finding out what they could mean.
This vampire came across Oneirocriticos, and read it with near-obsessed attention. So impressed was the Autarkis with Artemidorus' work, that he determined to meet this brilliant mortal. The vampire and the philosopher eventually did meet and became fast friends, each one fascinated with the other's thoughts and holding a common desire to know more of dreams and their secrets. Shortly after their meeting, the vampire invited the human to be a guest at the Autarkis' villa in Athens. The invitation was readily accepted.
One dusk, a few months after Artemidorus had come to stay with the Autarkis, the vampire suffered a horrible daymare, far worse than any one previous. The experience had driven the Autarkis near to Frenzy, and in the wave of bloodrush, the vampire Embraced Artemidorus, so that the undead status might make him better able to understand these dreams that tormented the Autarkis. This hope turned out to be more correct than the Sire would ever know.
The nights following, the Autarkis taught Artemidorus the ways of his new people, and in turn, the philosopher looked on the dreams of his sire with new eyes, a vampire's eyes. Artemidorus found that he could not only analyze the Autarkis' dreams, he could actually see them, feel them and experience them totally! He found that the Autarkis' visions held two secrets: on the one hand, they were very accurate portents of the future, and on the other, a harbinger of the elder's rapidly deteriorating sanity.
Artemidorus lost no time. He became a pillager of dreams, as he used his newfound powers to induce longer and more frequent sleeps in his ancient sire, so that he might gain all the knowledge he could from the old one's dreams before his mind disappeared. The Autarkis became mentally feeble, almost totally dependent on the philosopher's company.
Then, one day when the sun was just about to set, and the absolute last drop of knowledge was squeezed from his insane sire, Artemidorus plunged a stake into his sire's heart, and feasted on his vitae.
This deed did not go unnoticed. The Autarkis had a considerable cadre of allies that had helped him gain his seat of power in Athens, and they grew concerned as their cohort became more distant and spent more and more time secluded in his villa with his Childe. They knew of the vampire's dreams, and so left him to his occupations. However, when one of them, a lover of the Autarkis' named Iceode, had a dream of her own in which her beloved was in torment, she immediately made haste to the villa, and found her lover's ashes in the middle of a garden and Artemidorus nowhere to be found.
The philosopher fled Athens with abandon, as the elder's blood coursed hotly through his veins, and the power he had possessed before intensified a hundredfold. As he fled through Greece, stole aboard a ship bound for Egypt, he could sense the dreams of all about him; and soon gave into his desires to enter them.
The last records of Artemidorus are found in Oneirovitaeum, a little-known work of the philosopher's which was written about a decade after his Embrace, in which he details the ways and means of Oneiromancy, the magick of dream manipulation and divination. Inside, Artemidorus also tells of his early travels in Egypt, and later in Asia Minor, and India. The philosopher sought out any wise man, priest, or even madman who could help him better understand this new universe of unconscious thought. From these individuals he drew his disciples, his Childer, his bloodline. And thus, the Artemidore were born.
Since then, the Artemidore have traveled the world both physically and within the dream-realms, forever searching for meaning to the visions and the secrets they may hold. As for its founder, Artemidorus was last seen about five years after the publishing of Oneirovitaeum when he himself eventually fell into madness. He disappeared, and it is canon among his descendants that the philosopher finally gave himself totally to the Dreaming, and completely left the physical world.
The Artemidore have thrived even in the absence of their founder. The Oneirovitaeum has become akin to scripture in this clan's eyes, and the secrets it holds are guarded jealously, at least by one faction of this bloodline.
The oldest sect of Artemidore are the Oneirocritikoi, or "dream critics." They have taken cues from the ancient Greeks who analyzed dreams, and have formed a long-standing organization of Kindred who hold this occupation in common. The Oneirocritikoi consist of the eldest Artemidore, and more than a few of them are allied with (or members of) the Inconnu. From their hidden chambers in New Delhi, the Oneirocritikoi traverse the dreams of the world's people; watching, waiting, and gaining control.
The Oneirocritikoi have taken it upon themselves to "guard" the dream-realms against intrusion by outside factors, and to monitor these realms for any portents or information they may hold. In the society of Artemidore politics, the Oneirocritikoi are the "establishment."
The other side of the Artemidore coin are the Recreants. These are usually the younger vampires, neonates and a few ancillae, who choose to ignore the directives of the Oneirocritikoi.
Recreants in general choose to treat the dreams of others as entertainment, and a way to get an edge. A few of them have a more enlightened view of Oneiromancy, and these few seek to teach the rest of Recreant society how to know dreams for what they are, and what they are not.
On a personal level, the Artemidore are given to introspection. They almost always seem to have their thoughts elsewhere, even when discussing a matter of importance. They are not absent-minded, just not narrow-minded. They do not brood, but they do consider, analyze and wonder.
Artemidore adopt the modes and dress of whatever lifestyle they have chosen to infiltrate. Most of them prefer comfort over style, and their dress and habits will reflect this.
All Artemidore have the Flaw of Deep Sleeper (all difficulties to awaken from sleep are raised by two). Players of Artemidore characters may still take the Deep Sleeper Flaw, adding another two to difficulties of waking from sleep.
The most powerful, influential and established Artemidore will go so far as to own their own hotels, or even mental hospitals. Some of them (particularly Recreants) also involve themselves heavily in the sale and distribution of certain narcotic drugs which induce a dream-state almost instantly.
It must be pointed out that material wealth, power, and influence is only valuable to these vampires so far as they provide easy access to the Dreaming. The dreams of others, once sampled, are very much a drug to the Artemidore, and they need to experience them almost as much as they need blood.
Younger Artemidore, Recreants in particular, will occasionally form coteries and combine their resources to their ends. Such vampires realize that their relative lack of physical power demands that they find strength in numbers.
This tendency is reversed when dealing with other clans. Toward them, the Artemidore are at best aloof and silent observers. At worst, they are parasites of dreams, as they continue to pillage the unconscious minds of Kindred for secrets, portents, and revelations. Put bluntly, the Artemidore trust not what other Kindred say, but wholly in what they dream.
Even so, each Artemidore is an individual, and each has deeply private reasons for walking the paths of Morpheus.
As well, this bloodline looks for those of great imagination, open-mindedness, or those with a strong sense of wonder. In this search, the Artemidore are very patient. It is typical for a Sandman to watch a gifted child grow into an adult; spending years or even decades evaluating the potential Childe (and her dreams), before a decision is made. It is rare that an Artemidore Embraces an adult that has not undergone such scrutiny, for many of these vampires believe childhood is the best indicator of value to the line.
Of late, however, there is an increase in the number of "impulse Embraces" by Artemidore of the higher Generations. This tendency to Embrace based wholly on infatuation or fascination, and not by prolonged observation is a matter of great concern for the Oneirocritikoi, who see it as detrimental to the Dreaming's stability. Such "unworthy" vampires are even hunted and destroyed by the elders before the neonate gains the power to traverse the Dream-lands and do harm.
Among the Oneirocritikoi, it is mandatory that a potential Sire provide an argument that a given mortal is worthy of the Embrace. This argument is made before a tribunal of elders in the bloodline's main headquarters in New Delhi. However, since the Oneirocritikoi have nowhere near the hold over their line as do the Tremere, more and more Recreants break this rule routinely. Increasingly, these Recreants get away with it.
In almost all cases, an Artemidore will select as a possible ghoul a mortal who is already used to restraint or self-sufficiency. The last thing a Sandman wants is a hanger-on or sycophantic ghoul that demands constant attention. Military backgrounds, professional servants or the like are ideal. In particular, the geisha of Japan are considered treasures by the Artemidore, and many Sandmen have braved the wrath of the Japanese Kuei-jin to obtain such a ghoul.
At least, this is what roughly half of the Artemidore believe. The other half (Artemidore antitribu?) believe that the most meaningful and rich dreams are borne of the desperate and miserable. These are the truly dangerous breed of Artemidore, for they will work toward such conditions; starting wars, becoming slum-lords, or even founding their own cults.
By and large, Artemidore activities do not overlap with the rest of Kindred society. Notable exceptions are the Toreador and Malkavian clans. The Sandmen are fascinated by both clans, and find their dreams to be entertaining, inspiring, and full of vision. For this reason, and the fact that the Toreador and Malkavians are the only other Kindred able to converse with the Artemidore on the same "level," the Sandmen will willingly take up companionship or even friendship with these vampires.
Artemidore attitudes toward the Tremere are highly varied, but distrust is the one common denominator. The Sandmen realize the power inherent in Thaumaturgy, but how much respect they give to the blood magic, and how much they aspire to learn it, depends on the individual.
Another exception to the Artemidore aloofness concerning other Kindred are those vampires in positions of leadership or power over others. Based on the Artemidorus' belief that the dreams of monarchs are of paramount importance, many Artemidore will seek the companionship of Princes, Primogen, Sabbat Bishops, and the like. This is not done out of a desire for power or influence (in most cases), but out of a desire to witness the dreams of these paragons. The Oneirocritikoi are the ones most given to this tendency, for they hold tightest to the original doctrine of Artemidorus. Recreants tend to dismiss these ideas as without merit, and find that all dreams, no matter the dreamer's station, are significant.
This difference between the Oneirocritikoi and the Recreants is the reason the former has obtained more influence and power in the world, as they tend to hover around the most powerful of Kindred society.
It must be noted that the Artemidore really have no outstanding dislike of the other clans, but simply rarely cross paths with them. As a whole, the Sandmen find the dreams of Kindred fascinating in the extreme, and will never pass up an opportunity to practice their art on a sleeping vampire. As for the other clans, Those few Cainites that know of the Sandmen usually either distrust them completely or willingly seek their counsel.
The city of Hong Kong in particular has been a popular destination for the Artemidore. Such a large metropolis with such a diverse array of mortals is an irresistible smorgasbord for this bloodline. Some few Artemidore have set up semi-permanent residences in this city, but such involvement has diminished greatly since British control of the territory was given back to China. Without the protection of Western influence, most Artemidore have fled the city in fear of the strange Cathayans. Still, it remains a lustrous target for Artemidore weary of Western dreams, particularly Recreants.
Even so, Artemidore in general prefer to associate with vampires of open mind and keen observation. In particular, they enjoy the occasional enigma, and see immortality as a boon to their long conversations and dream explorations. Vampires of similar attitudes will find favor with this aloof bloodline. Artemidore tend to enjoy the company of "real" Toreador, the more lucid Malkavians, and the more cerebral Brujah most of all. Morality is not so important as intelligence to these vampires; they are just as happy to hold a conversation with a monster as with a saint.
As for other supernatural creatures, the Artemidore do not encounter many of them, unless they happen upon one by accident during a dream excursion. Even so, those few Artemidore that have encountered Garou have been met by the barest civility only from the Uktena, the Theurges in particular. Changelings and certain few Artemidore have forged long-lasting companionships, as well. The dreams of the Kith are a rare experience for these vampires, but unforgettable once obtained.
As for Wraiths and the Shadowlands, there are rumors of elder Oneiromancers who have traveled so far into the Dreaming that they can reach the lands of the dead. However, those tales have the place of myth in Artemidore society.
Most often, Mental Attributes are primary, with Social secondary. Mental Merits and Flaws are most common, with Kindred and/or Mortal Ties running a close second. Artemidore try very hard to entrench themselves in the mortal world, for that is the surest way to gain access to dreams.