SHREH-REN

By Kwei-Cee Chu

Description

There stood the remains of the Second City; the Sire gazed upon it for hours, motionless, silent, filled with sadness. When our Sire at last turned to me, a great fury burned in his eyes. "They have destroyed that which was greater than them. Never forget, nor forgive. They are to us, less than the cattle of the Land, and I do renounce all of them and their get. This I charge you: Go from this place, never to return, until there be nothing of the Faithless but ashes. Grandchilde of Cain, I release thee!" Thus spake our Sire.
-- The One and Prime

Ah, China! So very mysterious, so isolated, so closed! Many Kindred have tried to pierce the Veil of the Lotus, few have succeded, fewer still have lived to tell about it. China, what secrets do you guard?


Kindred in China do refer to themselves as Kindred; they are "the Faithful", to set themselves apart from the rebels of the Second City and their childer. To call them Kindred, while accurate, is also a grave insult. Dominant among the Faithful are the Shreh Ren, the "People of Blood." The rest are bloodlines derived from the Shreh Ren.

The Shreh Ren are unique in that their founder is not of the 3rd Generation, but in fact, 2nd Generation. What this means can be a matter of much speculation. However, it does seem as if the fractiousness that plagues other Kindred Clans has been muted in the Shreh Ren. This does not surprise them at all, for they regard all other Kindred as the rebel childer of rebel sires. Their organization is said to surpass that of the Tremere and Ventrue.

The Shreh Ren have one purpose, and one alone: The total annihilation of the non-Faithful. They take this purpose quite seriously, and literally. In fact, interpretation of the Purpose has been a valid reason for splitting from the Shreh Ren (The Avengers of the Black Lotus believe that only the Antediluvians of the Second City need be extinguished, for example). It is to this purpose that they organize.

Nickname

(Yeah, right)

Appearance

Official functions: Embroidered silk robes with headdresses denoting exact rank. Unofficial: traditional robes, sometimes suit and tie, "official" kine clothing.

Haven

Palaces, subteranean complexes (furnished palatially); wherever one could "live" in opulence without causing a furor.

Background

Almost always a mortal descendent.

Character Creation

Must show excellence (i.e. a five in a trait). Any Ability may be primary. All Shreh Ren must take at least one dot in Status. Mentor, Generation, and Resources are other common Backrounds.

Clan Disciplines

Auspex, Fortitude, Shreh Nao

Weaknesses

Shreh Ren are always Blood Bound to their Sires; those who find themselves without the Bond through circumstance find themselves unable to perform Shreh Nao. Further, they must feed from a mortal descendent, or a mortal descendent of the Sire, Sire's Sire, etc.

Organization

As mentioned before, Shreh Ren are perhaps the most organized of the Kindred. They are organized into thirteen Ranks, always starting from the bottom, each Rank having thirteen degrees, this is represented by the embroidery and color of the formal robes of the idividual, and informally, it is custom to exchange rank and degree before names. Furthermore, each different rank/degree has a different function and duty.