Children of Judas



'''“Look upon what you have wrought and feel the weight of your soul's despondency.” In some parts of the world, people who commit suicide are said to come back as vampires. This legend may have some connection to the bloodline called the Children of Judas. Where the Children of Judas dwell, suicides increase — and some of these suicides become Children of Judas themselves. Many Kindred hate and fear the so-called Suicide Kings. Perhaps this bloodline receives too much blame: Kindred can feel horror, remorse and despair without any help. The Children of Judas emerge from the Daeva clan. The Suicide Kings gain the power to arouse the darkest, most enigmatic and perverse desire of all. A Child of Judas who attempted suicide as a mortal often keeps reminders of his search for self-destruction.

No one’s sure when the Children of Judas originated. The legend connecting vampires with suicide dates back to antiquity. Despite the bloodline’s name, however, members do not claim that their lineage began with Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Christ. Rather, they see a spiritual connection to the traitor disciple: Judas destroyed what he should have loved most, and killed himself in remorse. The bloodline calls its alleged founder the Hanged Man. As a mortal, the Hanged Man supposedly lived in the Balkans during the late Middle Ages. One of the more widespread and persistent rumors about the Children of Judas says their founder faked his destruction, but actually left the Lancea Sanctum to join the secret society called VII.

Children of Judas are compelled by their blood to explore suffering and inflict it, often leading to their subjects’ deaths. Children of Judas who want to avoid a swift degeneration into the Beast’s madness need some way to justify such cruelty. Much of the bloodline’s tradition consists of philosophy about when to inflict the misery of Despond, why and how severely.

Over the centuries, the Hanged Man sired a number of childer who sired childer of their own. The bloodline also adopted a number of Daeva who fell prey to self-disgust or who wished to add the Children of Judas’ power of Despond to their cruel schemes. One legend of the bloodline, however, says that Suicide Kings may arise spontaneously. If a Daeva Embraces a mortal who’s dying from an attempt at suicide, the childe supposedly bears the Judas taint and shall inevitably make the transition to the bloodline without any help.

Parent Clan: Daeva

Nickname: Suicide Kings. (Female Children of Judas may be called Suicide Queens.)

Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Despond, Majesty, Resilience

Covenant: Children of Judas join the Lancea Sanctum in greater numbers than any other covenant.

Background: Similar to other Daeva, Children of Judas are drawn to the beautiful, the cultured and the elegant. The Children of Judas feel just as strong an attraction, however, for the desperate, the grieving and the self-loathing.

Weakness: As for all Daeva, it costs two Willpower points for a Child of Judas to resist her Vices. Children of Judas are also fascinated by the despair that draws other Kindred and kine to self-destruction. A Child of Judas might not want to make another person’s emotional pain worse, but she can’t help wanting to draw it out into the open and savor it. A Child of Judas who resists a chance to explore another person’s emotional pain loses a Willpower point, but gains a Willpower point for indulging her desire. Fortunately, the Daeva weakness does not double the Willpower penalty for the bloodline’s unique, specific Vice.

Character Generation: Standard - the Suicide Kings are of Slavic origin and hail from the Balkans which is but half a day's (or night's) travel away. Vienna also is known to have a strangely high rate of suicide for a predominantly Catholic city what gives it a special allure to Suicide Kings.

Reference

 * Bloodlines: the Legendary pages 38-50