By Alexander Shearer (nightgaunt@earthlink.net)
The first of what the Tal'mahe'Ra would come to call Souleaters were, indeed, brought into this world by Andeleon during a trip to the Deep Umbra. During one journey to the Deep Umbra, Andeleon happened to wander into a gateway to the material realm of the "Souleaters." Several of the creatures saw this, and took a moment's opportunity to try and expand their realm by spreading into his. Using one of the already long-subverted creatures native to their realm as a host-form, the "Souleaters" did, indeed, trick Andeleon into partaking of their blood. They were fortunate beyond their wildest dreams, however, as Andeleon spread their progeny into his progeny, retainers, and acquaintances. The Manus Nigrum never did stop the spread in time, and these creatures of the Deep Realms made their way onto earth, where they now form a conspiratorial group known to very few, and challenged by almost no one.
The creatures known to the Hand as Souleaters have no proper name in English, or any other language of the known world. They can be called by a sort of literal translation of what they feel they are. In this case, they may be called The Family (this makes them sound almost mafioso, which really isn't true). This is because all members of The Family are, indeed, related. They can all trace their lineage back, eventually, to one parent, and there's a lot of, for lack of a better word, cross-breeding between them. They most definitely don't come from a realm rooted in sciences of which Technomancers would approve. Though they keep their origin in that realm (if, indeed, it is in that realm) quite secret, even from each other. What they did in this realm is well known, however. Everything has been subjugated by The Family, and everything is The Family.
The Family fully intends to expand whenever possible, as it's suffering a sort of population-control problem back in the home realm. As it stands, however, no one really knows exactly how to find home again, so the few Family members who hitched a ride on Andeleon are the progenitors of all the other Familia on earth. Hopefully, when enough power has been collected by The Family, this problem can be solved.
Though they don't have biology in any conventional sense, Familia do operate in a certain way (which might come as a bit of a surprise to members of the Hand who think they know how "Souleaters" work). An example could start pretty much anywhere, but the easiest place is a fully-grown Brood (another good Family synonym). Most likely inhabiting a kindred body, but also able to exist anywhere else, the average Brood is present in every part of their host's body, and have completely devoured their host's soul. However, at all times during their life cycle, such as it is, Familia contain countless smaller voices, other Familia waiting to bud into intelligence (or not, depending on where they end up). These splinter-spirits drift off into others when those others have the misfortune to taste of the life essence of the Brood (that would usually be blood, but in the rare cases of insects and plants it would be lymph and phloem fluid respectively). Once this happens, there may be several nascent Familia present within the infected victim. They expand quickly, imparting their nature to every cell of the person's body.
The foolish Tal'mahe'Ra belief in eyeball-nibbling goo-creatures is the result of a series of vicious practical jokes by particularly clever Familia early on in the Shadow Crusade. In reality, there is no visible change in the body of an infected person. They do, however, slowly (or quickly) gain the ability to mold themselves into various forms. It doesn't matter whether there is one Brood, or perhaps several. These abilities are imparted regardless. However, these Familia are antagonistic, and they leave the victim's soul alone until one of them can successfully purge the others. This explains the often erratic lengths of time it takes for a "Souleater" to be fully possessed -- they may be waiting, unknowing, for hundreds of Familia to sort things out inside their body.
Once that initial purge takes place, there will be one dominant Brood, with a substantial quantity of nascent, presentient Familia forming from it. These will then be spread, perpetuating the cycle. It's important to note that this doesn't mean Familia don't infect others prior to one gaining dominance. If someone is exposed during the "sorting out" period, one or more of the weaker Familia will be expelled into the newer victim, making the task of control easier on both sides.
Full members of The Family tend to operate as their victim did, with no obvious changes except, if they choose to reveal it, the use of Viscissitude. Over time, the memories of the devoured soul may fade, and this can lead to the strangeness seen in certain users of Viscissitude (including loss of memory concerning one's original appearance).
The defensive form of The Family deserves a special note. Known among Tzimisce as The Horrid Form, this is a Brood's way of making a vampiric body tougher and nastier to deal with. It can differ heavily in expression in non-kindred hosts, though all forms share the black, alien-like appearance in one way or another. This is not the natural form of The Family. As far as even they know, they have no natural form.
Familia have no specific, globe-spanning secret meetings or languages. While they may operate this way locally, and devise codes and signs, the only universal thing about Familia is their tendency to help one another, and their one unique method of communication. Any two Familia can talk directly, without need for speaking, gesturing, or even Auspex-based Telepathy, by meeting blood-to-blood. This is a simple task for kindred, who simply need to have one of them bite the other. Truthfully, it's nearly as easy for other Familia, who can open small wounds with Viscissitude, then close them when done. The method of communication used in this conversation is alien, but could be translated with a bit of loss of meaning into very clipped, goal-specific sentences: "Problem. Vampires in city. Solution?" Of course, these could easily be fleshed out, just like many foreign language translations are. Of course, would it seem as creepy then?
The Family is a subtle opponent in the Shadow Crusade. Where Hand members who directly deal with the Crusade like to go in with guns blazing and swords swinging, Familia prefer to arrange things so that their opponents are misguided, confused, and eventually go away (whether this be death, or simply giving up, the result is often the same). There can be a marked sadism in members of The Family, a result of their alien natures, and they often do things which satisfy this feeling when dealing with opponents. Of course, if a member of the Hand can be captured and kept, the most likely option is infection. While the Hand can purify Vinculum, they can't prevent the infection of their members at a random, unchosen time.
The Family are patrons to seekers of power. This includes corrupt lupines, Unseelie and Seelie fae, and best of all, Nephandi. The Family represent a controlling agent for a whole passel of Nephandi, intent on bringing about a better order by spreading Family influence on the earth and eventually bridging the gap between earth and home. Only some of these Nephandi are actually infected, though those are the most respected. Some refrain from receiving the gift of Viscissitude out of the misguided belief that they can keep their souls intact. This is pretty much never true, regardless of who the Nephandus works with.
The Family work together, basically, by not really working in a unified form. This is why they're so hard to deal with. The Family is not a centralized unit, so the conspiracy is hard to break. They are experts in subtle message transfers and slipping out of tricky situations. One might catch their unwitting servants, or not-yet controlled victims, but a full member of The Family is a tricky bastard indeed.
Of course, people can play members of The Family in World of Darkness games. This is a broad, broad range of people, encompassing pretty much every character type in the World of Darkness. What may differ is the effects of being a full member of The Family. Until then, things are pretty much the same.
Fully-converted mages face an iffy future. The stronger their Avatar, the greater chance they have of losing their magick. If the mage is already tainted, and this has spread to their Avatar, then it will succumb to the Brood's control easily enough. If, however, they were infected without any other corruption or taint (say, by accident) and their Avatar is fairly strong (anywhere from 3-5, depending on their own sense of purpose and strength) it may leave them. There is no set rules system for this, and it should be a judgement call on the part of the Storyteller. Of course, for a Family campaign, it's probably best to have the player and Storyteller decide together, depending on what they want the game to be like. Note that the use of Viscissitude does not, without the influence of True Magick, accrue Paradox.
The easiest way to play a Brood is simply to act like whatever the Brood is supposed to be most of the time, simply remembering to push things oh so barely in the direction of expanding and helping the conspiracy. Of course, it's important to live a lifestyle that lets you infect as many people as possible. Just don't get caught, especially not by the Black Hand (unless they're this year's target).