By Landon C. Darkwood (darkwood@shadow.net) (28 December 1995)
Ivanella's Childe was less than pleased with the form Fate had given her. But, she was not without intelligence, and she waited, eagerly accepting all that Ivanella had to teach her. To Ivanella's surprise, her Childe had managed to develop powers that even she herself had not been able to master. In the year 1427 AD, the Childe rose up and slew Ivanella Boristova and left to seek her own destiny. She took the name Elizabetha, and limited her wanderings to the Carpathian mountain range. She created many Progeny during this time, most of whom she abandoned, because she felt that they held her back. Her Progeny scattered throughout Eastern Europe; many of them were destroyed by hunters.
In 1457 AD, Elizabetha met and married a king, a knight of the Order of the Dragon, named Vlad Tepes. She lived happily with him, and he did not suspect her true nature. When the Turks invaded Transylvania in 1462, Dracula returned victorious from the battlefield, but mortally wounded. When Elizabetha saw him in this condition, about to die, she Embraced him. Unlike her previous efforts at raising Children, she stayed with Vlad, now known as Dracula, teaching him what she knew. However, their relations were doomed to sink into oblivion, as Dracula became too ambitious for Elizabetha's rather reserved mannerisms. They clashed mentally several times, finally coming to blows in 1687 AD. Again, the power of youth emerged victorious, and Dracula went into hiding, by this time the object of fear among the local peasantry. During this time, he met and established relations among other Kindred, and learned of the Masquerade and Camarillian society as a whole. Immediately he set to work making himself into a legendary figure, and by the early 19th Century he was regarded as no more than a figure of myth.
However, there were those who still believed. In 1878, he moved to London, England, after superstition grew too strong in the region he was in, where he was beset by a German professor and vampire hunter named Abraham Van Helsing. The wiles of Professor Van Helsing proved successful, and Dracula was sent into torpor. He awoke ten years later, and was successful in publishing a fictionalized account of the incident, keeping only Van Helsing's name, who had since then died, under the identity of Bram Stoker, who had written some minor works, and was the actor-manager of London's Lyceum Theatre. Stoker won massive acclaim for the work, and Dracula was once again in the realm of fiction.
He turned to reestablishing his place in Kindred politics, creating many new Progeny and eventually starting a bloodline. However, he found the internal bickering of the Camarilla to be pointless, and in disgust decided to take over the useless sect. He was offered a better alternative by a few Elders within the Inconnu. Joining them, he stayed away from the Jyhad, manipulating things and events from afar, finding it much more satisfying than direct participation. By the 1930's, Dracula was one of the leaders of the sect, not necessarily because of power, but because of charisma and experience.
As for the bloodline, many Draculean vampires are believed to be Caitiff, but there are a great number of them who have managed to group together and call themselves a clan. They search in great numbers for their founder, who is mysteriously never available.
Disorganized: "Get away from my car, asshole!" (click of a gun being cocked)
A bloodline founded by Dracula? Preposterous, Dracula is a character in a bad novel. Would you like another drink?
The Sabbat: Disgusting creatures. They are a great danger to all the Kindred. If only our founder would rise and destroy their kind...
A bloodline founded by Dracula? You're smoking something. Come, let me show you the truth behind the folklore...
The Inconnu: We are convinced that they acknowledge our existence. If not, why would they monitor us so?
Amusing, aren't they? Amazing how life's little quirks can cause such grand entertainment.