BLOODSHADE
By Michael Robbins (your_raven@hotmail.com)
History
In 1583, the Cossack conqueror of Siberia, Yermak Timofeyitch, fell in battle at the hands of Tatar warriors that invaded his camp and drowned him in the Irtish river. Weeks later Tatar villagers found his body washed up on the shore of the river, still in his metal armor that was a gift of the Czar of Russia and still clutching the two swords that had seen him fight his way off the ambushed island. The people called in the local ruler's men and they shot arrows at the body that had not decomposed in several weeks in a river. The arrows struck the body and fresh wounds broke out each time, each bleeding as if the body had no end of blood. They finally buried him near the river and for months the local villagers swore that there was a blue flame that hovered over the grave in the middle of the night. Thus the tale of Yermak the Conqueror of Silesia ends..., at least for the mortal world. (Longworth, Philip. The Cossacks. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. 1969)Actually, most of the great successes of the Cossack raiders of the Southern Russian steppes were due to the vampiric leadership they were under. It is no coincidence that the greatest raids and sieges conducted by the Cossacks were done with lightning speed and at night. With the aid of several vampires on any particular raid the results would be staggering. The horrible rumors that sprung up about the Cossacks kidnapping children and dealing in slavery actually had its roots in the Cossack vampires hunting the civilized areas for blood.
Yermak the Conqueror was one such vampire, and he arranged with the Toreador vampires of the great Russian trading house Stroganov to mount an expedition into the Tatar land of Siberia to claim the great natural resources and provide a new frontier land for Cossacks to live in. His plan worked well and he defeated the local Tatar lord with little difficulty. Eventually though, the pressures of keeping the land he had conquered without support from the Czar and the Stroganovs proved too much and his forces dwindled. During the final night of his material life he had too many foes to kill and he tried to run. He used his great powers of Auspex to project his spirit into the Umbra and abandoned his body for the moment, thinking the enemy would bury him and he could later dig himself out with his great strength.
He did not realize however, that a spirit of the Umbra had been attracted to all the violence in the Penumbra and had been watching the battle with great interest. When it saw the greatest player of the whole battle trying to leave, it attempted to stop him. It attacked Yermak who, disoriented by the astral transfer, could not defend himself immediately. Yermak found his silver cord severed before he could manage to kill the creature and by then his body had fallen into the river and been swept away. Without the cord he could not find his body and it was several weeks before he caught up to it. Unfortunately, it was too late and the Tatars had already found it. When the corpse seemed not to have decomposed (thanks to Yermak's still living umbral form) and kept bleeding after being shot so many times (thanks to Yermak's low generation compressed blood) they buried it and put a spell on it to keep Yermak's spirit inside the body. The ward also served to keep the already free Yermak out. He railed against his fate and spent months trying to defeat the ward, thereby creating the image of the blue flame flickering over his grave. He finally gave up and went out into the world to try to find a new way to exist.
He eventually traveled to Europe and watched with interest the political maneuvering and warfare between the vampires there. He observed many of the Kindred use their Disciplines and learned by observing them how to perform many of the same abilities. He soon learned Dominate and even designed a new way to use it. He found he could defeat a mortal's soul in mental combat and then inhabit the body. He reveled in his new found life and went on mad sprees of looting, murder, and pillaging. He soon realized he needed to control himself and the constant trading of hosts was weakening him in the Umbra. He also discovered that when he joined with a host he transformed the nature of the host into that of a vampire. Later he developed an entire discipline that enabled him to try and compensate for the weakness of most of the hosts he took. Calling upon the old Cossack ally of Darkness, Yermak found a way to infuse his host with Darkness to create many strange effects.
Yermak began to long for the old days of loot and murder and he began trying to create others like him from the Cossacks of the day. Unfortunately, his act of the Embrace had horrible side effects for the chosen. The Embrace ripped the soul of the victim out of their body and the body immediately died. Upon the Embrace therefore, Yermak had to teach them all Dominate up to the level needed to join with a host. Many could not deal with the loss of their bodies and went mad, spinning off into the Umbra destined to become Wraiths. Those who made it joined with Yermak and went out into the world with him to wreak havoc. They began to serve as a new form of Assamite for the Clans of Europe and even helped the Clans continue to battle them, calling upon their old Cossack heritage of fighting the heretical Turks.
Sobriquet
Appearance
The Bloodshades dress in modern fashion of whatever nation they are in. Usually they have no beards, long mustaches, and unruly hair or a shaved head except for a top knot of hair. During their major annual Tribe meetings they dress in traditional Cossack attire, with silk pantaloons, sheep skin vests, leather boots, sashes, and so on.
Haven
The Bloodshades usually live in a communal town house or similar arrangement with the other members of their tribe. They might rent all the rooms of a floor of an apartment house, live in a trailer camp, or live in an alley together if money is really tight.
Background
Bloodshades are usually Embraced from Russian Cossack stock, other Russians, or American immigrants of Russian stock. However, in the tradition of the Cossacks, any rebel is accepted into the ranks. The difference is that non-Russians have to seek out the Bloodshades to join while Russians are sought out by the Bloodshades.
Character Creation
Bloodshades tend to have criminal, rebel, or ex-military backgrounds that make them unhappy with the establishment. Since the Bloodshades know ahead of time that the body of the new Vampire will die immediately, the physical attributes of the prospective Bloodshade are never Primary. The new Bloodshade is expected to get his own host in order to prove his abilities and will to live. Backgrounds are usually lost because of the material body's death. Allies are very common amongst fellow Bloodshades, Umbral moving Mages, Mummies, etc.. Bloodshade characters start with no dots in Background, only five dots in virtues (the Embrace and soul renching are quite mentally stressful), but four dots in Disciplines. All of these Discipline dots however are automatically used for Dominate.
Clan Disciplines
Dominate (with new Level 4 ability), Auspex, Darkforge. Although Celerity is not a Clan discipline it is often the first non-Clan discipline learned. The lightning strikes of the Cossacks call up a feeling of familiarity for the Bloodshades with Celerity.
Weaknesses
Bloodshades have no body! Upon the Embrace the new Bloodshade must spend time learning with his new brethren how to control the Discipline of Dominate. He will then have to get out and get control of a body using the power Grasp the Host. Once he gains this first host he cannot take another unless he has Auspex 5 since he cannot leave his body. When the Bloodshade uses Auspex 5 to leave the host there is no silver cord. Even if he can leave the host with Auspex 5 he loses 4 points of Willpower with each transfer. Therefore there cannot be any real chance of the invincible Bloodshade constantly transferring his soul in mid-combat to a fresh body. Note that Bloodshades can be exorcised by priests with True Faith 4 or greater ( on a 1-5 scale), a mage with True Magick and the appropriate Sphere, or anyone else capable of banishing spirits. While in a host the Cossack does not count as being active in the Umbra and so does not need to worry about Umbral beings attacking him. The other disadvantage they have is that the hosts they inhabit are not as prepared for the vampiric energies as a body that is Embraced. The host functions as a regular Vampire for generation, blood pool, biological attributes, Diablerie, being Diablerized, Fire damage, Sunlight, aggravated wounds, and sleep needs. Any physical disciplines the Vampire has are transferred to the host body. The physical stats of the host max out at five though. The Bloodshade will never have a body with greater than human norm physical attributes.
Organization
The Bloodshades organize themselves into the clan structures of Cossacks of old. The oldest generation Cossack runs the tribe and determines what work, crime, and other acts the tribe will perform. He announces his intentions during a monthly meeting at the tribe's communal haven. The Cossacks are very close and will never fight one another. If one tribe finds that it has unwittingly been hired to fight another tribe, the tribes will meet in secret and discover which tribe was being paid more. The other tribe will then quit its mission and both tribes will split the pay of the better paid tribe. Tribes keep in contact with each other and if a job that is too big comes to the attention of one tribe it will call in other tribes to help.
Quote
As long as there is combat in the world the Cossacks will live on and raid the establishments these armies work for.
Stereotypes
Brujah: They are our brothers in spirit and battle. They would be our equals if they could learn to stop fighting amongst themselves.Gangrel: They represent the great frontier that housed our Cossack ancestors. If they could only learn that man has reached a place above the animal they could catch up with the world.
Malkavians: We respect their mad spirit and free will, but at the same time they lack any organization and sense of fraternity. They are an odd lot best to be avoided.
Nosferatu: They are hideous and ugly beasts of the sewers. They cannot join the societies above the ground and they lack essential qualities because of it. However they do have the fraternity we enjoy and they are the best spies for warfare that exist.
Toreador: Artists and time wasters. Well, someone needs to make/want the art objects we steal.
Tremere: Wizards and abusers of nature. They pay well, but we usually end up working against them since they have many enemies.
Ventrue: The Czars of the Kindred world. If it wasn't for their oppressive measures forcing people into fleeing for freedom we would have no place. They hire us and provide most of our income.
Dominate 4 (Grasp the Host)
The Bloodshade can use the Vessel power of Dominate 5 at level 4. The difference is that the power only works for the acquisition of a host. Once in a host the Cossack cannot use the power again without using Auspex 5 to escape the host.System: The character rolls Intimidation+Charisma (difficulty 7) and the prospective host rolls Willpower (difficulty 7). The extended contest ends eventually with the Bloodshade controlling and transforming the host's body. Note that this power will not work on any immortal, Mage, Werewolf, Faerie, Ghoul, Demon, etc.. The Bloodshade is limited to normal humans.