BURNING MEN

By Mazer Priest (cymmerian@hotmail.com)

Description

The Burning Men are a mysterious group of vampires just recently surfaced -- within the last ten years. No one knows where they came from, and few of the Burning Men themselves are willing to talk about it. It seems that even some of the Burning Men may not know their own origins.

The Burning Men -- some of whom are women -- are unique in their pure body temperature. Rather than the usual cool of the corpse, these vampires are hot -- around 140 degrees or more. Though this heat is rarely significant enough to deal any damage, it does create discomfort in those surrounding them, as well as unusual things like steam clouds at night and difficulty feeding. Worse, the heat makes the Burning Men use blood faster -- they lose two Blood per night rather than just one.

For such a recent group, the Burning Men are unusual in that they have their own complete Discipline: Vitanimae. Already, many Tremere seek its secret, though only the Children of the Mind are known to have been granted any access to it.

Appearance

The Burning Men are usually tanned or black, with either flame-red or jet-black hair, though many shave their heads. They tend to be somewhat lithe, powerful figures.

Background

The original Burning Man, Thomas, is said to have awoken a decade ago and scoured the world to revive the other twenty or so Burning Men currently in existence. None of them seem to have any recollection of their past beyond the moments after awakening. How Thomas sought out the Burning Men in torpor is unknown.

Character Creation

Physical Attributes are primary, with Mental being a close second. Though the Burning Men are not overly social as a group, they do have quite a few thinkers as well as a few butterflies and diplomats.

Disciplines

Fortitude, Thaumaturgy, Vitanimae. Thaumaturgy must have the Lure of Flames as the primary path. Most Burning Men only learn the Lure of Flames and the Lord of Flames.

Weakness

A Burning Man will spend two Blood per night to sustain himself. Also, all members of this clan have a sort of amnesia, none remembering more than ten years into the past and most nowhere near so.

Organization

Unknown. It is doubted if the Burning Men really have any sort of organization other than a loose followership of Thomas. Thomas has recently forged an alliance with the Children of the Mind, exchanging the secrets of Vitanimae for some mysterious favor in return.