By Adam Austin (ebhcpunk@email.msn.com)
After Carthage, Aton wept tears of blood when he learned of its destruction and his sire's demise. Aton swore vengeance and so raised an army of his blood. Before he could exact his revenge and rain down his children upon Troile, the bastard founder had called upon Infernal powers that be.
The infernal army that Troile had summoned rained upon Vapula like a torrential storm. But Vapula's progeny of twelve fought the demonic hordes as relentless, unchained warriors and beat them back like mad dogs.
So driven was Aton's bloodline, that they followed the cowering devils back to their feral lair of damnation. They had defeated the infernal army but found their master, the Duke of Flesh and Blood. So enraged was he and so underestimated, that Aton and all his progeny, save one, met their final death at his hands. But, not before the last of Vapula's childer was able to defeat the Duke with a terrible embrace of teeth and flesh.
There, in the demon realm of Og the last unnamed bloodline member of Vapula escaped not only drinking their enemies blood but taking the sacred demon tomb Og or Infernicum Mallemanica with him.
The last remaining member of the bloodline escaped and returned to Shalkanense with the demon tomb. Within its terrible pages and with immortality as an ally, she learned blood magic and created a thaumaturgical path of flesh from its womb of forbidden words. To this day all of the bloodline members learn from its secret text and study their way of the flesh.
Characters choose mental attributes as their primary then either social or physical as their secondary. Common abilities include subterfuge, clan impersonation, knowledges of all sorts and mortal combat.
Vapula prefer Tzimisce, Tremere and especially the Brujah as alternate identities (better to learn from within than to observe in reserved hatred from the outside). Also, it is forbidden to reveal their clan name to any but the True Hand or Inconnu.
No more than a hundred members exist on the earthly side of the gauntlet at any one time and a new childe of the clan must live and learn 50 years in the underworld as a ghoul before returning to the world of the ins.
Those here are observers of the Jyhad and anxiously await Gehenna. Many Vapula partake in what they call the "assassins war" or "Jhud' kin". Their numbers are hard to tally because they are always playing some role in another clans' activities. Vapula are known to go to the extreme in concealing their secret identities, even if it means allies. Often Vapula will wait in torpor for years awaiting their time to strike or become new identities allowing old foes to destroy each other or simply forget of their existences.
The Vapula are very active in the shadow war and share much of the information they learn with others of the Crusade. They also barter much of their knowledge with others in exchange for that which they do not know. Much of what they learn is traded with the Elois. The Tremere Camarilla elders suspect the existence of the Vapula from ancient writings and the rumors of "liches" wielding powers like their own. Vampires that command the flesh like a fiend would.
Using the other clans natural suspicions and hatred of each other and making ins aware of the vises for which they utilize to their culling. This is most important.