By Brian Connors (connorbd@bc.edu) Refer to World of Darkness: The Roman Empire
The Gangrilli live among the fringes of Roman society. Most are loners who live out their unlives on the outskirts of settlements far from where they grew up (though many stay behind to haunt their former neighbors). They are feared by some in rural areas, but frequently are mistaken for Lupines (most Gangrilli can assume the form of a wolf with little effort). Gangrilli live all over the Empire, but are most common in the northern regions abutting the Rhine and in many of the areas beyond. Some look upon them as bogeymen of a sort, and the more far-afield Celts occasionally confuse them with the Unseelie fae, but that's alright...
Certainly the Gangrilli are feared. Their ferocity is on a par with the Lupines, and their general animalistic appearance tends to scare the more superstitious of the peasants. Togae campesini cacare, is the way some snidely put it, actually. Confronting a Gangrillus is generally an unsettling experience, even more so when the Cainite in question has yet to pick up any noticeable animal features.
The average Gangrillus tends to be rather reserved even when acting sociable. Most have some kind of obvious nervous side, a permanent edginess when caught out of their own element that reminds one of a caged animal. Most act on instinct more than logic, and they tend to detest the "pretentiousness" of Taureator philosophy. Many in fact do take on the role of bogeyman so often assigned to them, and there are a number of outlying villages that have reported frequent and bizarre mishaps and deaths to their provincial governors that many Cainites see Gangrillus work in.
Few Gangrilli embrace Romans. It is far more common to find a Gangrillus of "barbarian" stock living in Roman territory; one of the few exceptions is a Gangrillus from southern Italy near Beneventum named Lucianus, who was at one time an officer in Julius Caesar's army (though being Roman and Gangrillus is reason enough to be famous).
Mecceta, the clan's Senex (founder, more or less), is still around somewhere. She was last sighted with certainty in Macedonia two decades ago, and is said to have moved east since. She is believed to be of a race that resembles no race in the Empire, and they too are believed to be eastern. No one has any answers.
Cappadocii: What do they hope to gain over Pluto? If you want to speak to the dead, turn around and talk to a Cainite.
Haqimin: Steer clear. They will kill you before you even greet them. And the peasants fear us...
Malcafii: I stay out of politics. It's too difficult to comprehend, and frankly I'm surprised it hasn't driven them mad.
Nictuci: I've gotten into the most enlightening conversations over the subject of bestiality vs. simple weirdness. They never get anywhere, but I always come away having learned...
Rafanuti: It seems they are somehow kin to us, but they are thieves and lowlifes by every reliable account and we cannot respect that.
Salubri: An enigma, and given that they fear us so strongly probably one that will never be resolved.
Setites: A danger once can be a danger again. I am glad only that I have no reason to go to them.
Simistis: We have seen them up close, unlike others. Most are honorable, but a few have powers that are more perversions than blessings. Those few must be destroyed before they become powerful.
Taureator: Dolor in culo. They talk big, but ignore the fact that they haven't inspired an original thought since Alexander the Great.
Umbrati: I've seen them in action. They simply radiate fear, and that is why they are so much more powerful than they seem.
Ventrutae: We do not communicate. Though we occupy the same territory, they have their thoughts and we have ours. They seldom coincide.
Lupines: We associate on each others' terms, but it is not always friendly and is seldom not suspicion-laden.