KOBOLD

By "Black Jack Ripper" (KDAMPF51@MAINE.MAINE.EDU) (9 May 1995)

Legend of the Kobold

My childe, the time has come to tell you the truth of your existence. This information that I am about to impart to you may make your unlife more difficult, but I swear to your that it is a secret you will come to prize, never to despise. You were raised to believe that you were of the clan Ventrue, although this is not true. You were told this to protect you from the Masquerade of the Camarilla. Surely you've noticed that your flesh becomes paler each year, your eyes redder and fangs longer. This is the curse of our kind. We are the descendants of Kobold, first childer of Cain, we are more powerful then the other descendents because of this fact, and it is our power that protects us from the fires of the Inquisition and the spying eyes of the Camarilla.

Perhaps I should start as all stories start, In the beginning, God created a man and a woman. The man and woman came together in an attempt to create more like themselves. The results were the first killer and the first victim. Displeased with the fist son of man, God cursed Cain to always be the spiller of blood. God had created a vampire. Once again, God's creation set out to create more like himself. The result was our ancestor, Kobold. Cain went on to create three more childes, but Kobold was a shy neonate, and preferred only the company of his sire, therefore Kobold was never revealed to the others, but instead remained one of Cains secrets.

When the third generation turned on their sires and destroyed them, It was then that Kobold decided to create childer of his own. He taught them to keep an eye on the others and keep them in line. But when Cain left, all Hell broke loose. Our ancestors could not keep the peace among their cousins, regardless of how much they tried. Meanwhile, Kobold was doing a small investigation of his own. He had never really trusted Ventrue, and when it became known that Ventrue was the last to see Cain before he vanished, Our founder suspected foul play. When He discovered that Ventrue had hidden the tapestry of blood and the other sacred Cainite artifacts, He followed the blueblood to his hideout and stole them back, rehiding them where Ventrue would never locate them. While doing so, He discovered an urn full of Cains vitae. Growing more suspicious of Ventrue, he divided a portion of the powerful blood among his childer. It is for this reason that we are closer to Cain then the other clans. Kobold now searches the world for Cain. Alive or dead, the first of the Kindred will be found by his first childe, and then our cousins will see the true light of their ways.

The next few centuries did not bode well for our clan. No one would listen to us when we told them to beware clan Tremere. They stole their birthright, and justifiably have no right to it. But they were accepted all the same. We established a brief alliance with the Brujah and Toreador clans in the development of the wonderful city of Carthage. But once again the Ventrue usurped our authority and destroyed our well laid plans, even going so far as to salt the earth on which the city had stood. But we were too smart for them, and used the blood manipulation powers of our discipline to purify the earth, and now there is a Kobold stronghold below.

But the greatest tragedy of our history was the Inquisition. Our appearance be trayed us to the inquisitors, and many of our kind was destroyed. This was a horrible time for all Kindred, as they attempted to use the church as a tool to rid themselves of enemies, only to have it backfire in their own faces. When it was finally over, The remaining Kindred gathered together to see what the future would hold. It was then that the Camarilla and Sabbat were formed. Our kind felt that the Camarilla would be the better road to take, but Ventrue turned the others against us, declaring a blood hunt on us for the simple matter of our appearance. They claimed that it was a breech of their Masquerade. Much of our blood was lost to the Assamites in those days, always be wary of the dark clan, they are not to be trifled with.

As a result of the Inquisition and the blood hunt, Our kind went underground and entered torpor. When we awakened, We found the Kindred in worse of a state than ever. Remembering the words of our founder, We decided that the best plan would be to infiltrate the other clans and work them from within. With the help of our discipline and our path, we follow our own version of the masquerade. The other clans have no idea that we still exist, and that is our strength. Your power is in your blood, my childe. Your training must now begin.

Nickname: Spooks

Appearance: Members of this clan have a stereotypical vampiric appearance. Their skin is ashen grey to snow white and it drawn tightly over the thin flesh making them appear gaunt and skeletal. The whites of their eyes are pink, the iris is red. Like the Nosferatu, they cannot retract their fangs which are larger than those of others.

Haven: Corresponds to infiltrated clan, but extra measures are usually taken for security.

Background: Kobold are very careful in neonate selection, realizing the dangerous lives they are handing over to their childer. They tend to embrace only those who have the best chance to deceive other Kindred; namely actors, secret service agents, and the occasional survivalist. Also vital in selection are the neonates personal abilities and lifestyle. Kobold will embrace a possible candidate, then watch them from a distance to see how well they will fit into Kindred Society. Once a clan shows an interest in the caitiff, He is assigned a trainer who will teach him the ways and the paths of the Kobold, and help him infiltrate his chosen clan.

Character Creation: Criminals, dilettantes, entertainers and investigators are the majority of Kobold concepts, but several drifters and outsiders are among the clan as well. They can have any nature, but they rarely keep the same demeanor for long periods of time. Mental attributes are primary as are talent abilities. Kobold rarely have status or fame, but generation is almost standard (Kobold under ground). The flaws dark secret and irretractible fangs must be taken at no point to the player, and the merit potent blood costs nothing.

Clan Disciplines: Obfuscate & Plasmatos (a third discipline may be learned from infiltrated clan)

Weaknesses: A Kobold's greatest weakness is her appearance; they may not take above a one in this attribute. The second is their reputation as conniving, wretched fiends out to destroy the Masquerade. If their true Identity is ever discovered, all hell would break loose in the Camarilla. The third weakness is the Irretractable fangs that leave much larger marks on their victims and are more difficult to heal.

Organization: No clan is closer knit that the Kobold, they always keep in constant communication through various encrypted codes. There are two forms of Kobolds: Infiltrators and undergrounders. The underground was created for the sole purpose of the survival of the infiltrators, who live among the other clans. Kobold can receive aid from the underground at anytime by using Blood Sing (see Plasmatos).

Quote: You believe your power to be in the Blood? You have no idea.

Stereotypes

Assamites: Our most dire enemies, if they still knew that we existed, it would be the end of us all.

Brujah: They always were a pain in the ass, now more than ever.

Baali: Dealing with demons -- weren't you powerful or evil enough already?

Caitiff: You can't help what you don't know, we do not condemn them, we hide among them.

Camarilla: We agree with the organization and its rules, we do not agree with their choice of enforcement or leadership.

Children of Osiris: They do exist, but in seclusion like us. We dont bother them, and they don't bother us.

Daughters of Cacophony: Beautiful voices, but don't listen too long.

Followers of Set: As if we weren't corrupt enough, these guys want to make us worse.

Gangrel: Good survivors and allies, But not to be trusted 100% yet.

Gargoyles: We had enough problems with normal Kindred; now we have the walls attacking us.

Giovanni: A vampire mafia? interesting, but if you want to play with corpses all night be my guest.

Inconnu: As old as we are with more experience, hiding from them is our greatest challenge.

Malkavians: They are better actors then we are; they probably know the truth about us, but no one would believe them if they said anything.

Nosferatu: They hide right out in the open, They think they know everything, but they don't know about us.

Ravnos: Good for business, they cause so much havoc that we can operate unhindered while they're in town. Sabbat: They don't believe in the Masquerade, but we still can't trust them in the least.

Salubri: They know about us and have done nothing but help. We will also help them with their scrapes.

Samedi: There are some Kindred even we wont pretend to be. Far too dangerous; stay away.

Toreador: Easy to hide among. They are so enraptured by our feigned beauty that they dont bother to think of what we really are.

Tremere: No creatures on earth deserve less trust than these sorcerers. We should have disposed of them long ago.

Ventrue: Our usurpers. One day, well show them the error of their ways and swat their stuck-up noses down were they belong.

And in reply to every kindred we asked...

Kobold: Why? What have you heard???

View the Plasmatos discipline.