Once upon a midnight darkly, a lone spectator watched as a queen desperate for a child gave her life and heart to birth a beautiful, snow skinned princess. In search for a mother to raise the princess, the king married a powerful sorceress which captivated him with her spell. Consumed by envy which grew dark in her heart, the witch allowed her mirror to consume her own reflection as she asked who was the fairest of them all. However, as the mirror lacked any will of its own, it could only say the truth- that the princess was the fairest in the land. Filled with anger and pride, she devised a plan, and sent her stepdaughter with her loyal huntsman to the woods, where he was meant to kill her and bring her pieces back to the queen as proof.
However, even the huntsman couldn't withstand the princess's beauty, and could only cut her heart before his broke. He searched another to take the princess's place, and took from him everything he needed to hide his failure- and the queen was thrilled. Yet, the huntsman knew he failed- he went to the woods, and allowed himself to be devoured by them. Filled with joy, the jealous queen gave the heart and the pieces to the cook, which made from it a pie served to the king. The king ate it all, and it was so delicious that he asked for more- but the queen replied there was none, for he only had one daughter, leaving her husband in despair and vulnerable to the whispers of the night. Hearing that, the cook stormed upon the leftovers and licked all he could, thinking it would make him as pretty as the princess was- but he only grew fat and ugly upon the dead meat.
Meanwhile, the princess woke all alone in the forest with hollow scream, her chest empty and void. She searched through the forest for a place for rest, and she found haven with seven grotesque dwarves. She saw beyond their deformities, and they offered her escape in their cave. She was meant to be safe- yet that was when the queen asked her mirror once more, and it told her truth as it always did. Raging again, she cast her magic to find where the princess rested, and laid a curse of poison upon a sweet, blood red apple. She used an enchantment to disguise herself, and traveled to the forest when the dwarves left to the mine at night. She offered the fruit to her stepdaughter, and the princess ate it with hunger. The curse was then awakened, and the poison devoured her blood, spilling from her eyes and mouth and taking life of its own while leaving her body behind.
The witch left, sure of her finale win- and when the dwarves returned, they mourned for the princess. They kept her in glass casket, vowing to protect her body until a prince would come and free her from the curse- unaware for the fact that has spirit has left the cold body behind in her sleep. While they loved her very much, as the winter came and snow blocked the cavern, they grew hungry, and slowly they took little pieces which no one would miss from her to fill their bellies. When the spring returned, they discovered that nothing was left from the once beautiful princess but skin and bones. In their horror, they filled her with the last snow of winter and escaped to the darkness, never to return.
That night, a charming prince was lost in the forest, and was guided by the screeches of owls and ravens to the princess's finale restful place. Discovering the princess, he fell on his knees and kissed her deep- but found no warmth in her snow cold flesh. Acting out of terrible desire, he took her in that cave, and in the height of the cold passion she awoke, her eyes shine golden like those of the owls. As the two left the forest together, the evil queen asked her mirror the same question she asked twice- and the mirror, unable to lie, said the truth- that the princess has returned, and her own son took her as his wife. With her heart black from hate, she smashed the mirror to pieces and threw them out of the window to be carried by the cold wind, and they cut the eyes and hearts of those who stood in their way.
The queen went to the gate of the castle, to greet her stepdaughter with one finale curse- yet the princess was quicker. She stacked her stepmother and left her to melt in the sun, while she and her husband took the castle as their own, celebrating their marriage with the blood of their father. After seeing the story unravel before him, the lone spectator felt empty and alone, knowing that his life would never be compared to those of the heroes and villains he saw. He jumped from the highest tower in the castle, his body penetrated by the castle's gate- but with his last breath he made a pact with a faerie to live life equal to those of the characters in the story yet forever apart from them. That's how the story ends- but the legend keeps on. Each of those villainous heroes has left a part of themselves alive, and it is living still. Their legend lives in us, their children, and we'll all live covered with blood, happily ever after.
************************
Personally, I have always found the "Once Upon a Midnight Darkly" section for each of the Clans as one of the most beautiful things I've read in a CofD book. There is just something enchanting about it, which keeps haunting my mind long time after reading those pieces- seriously, it is just beautiful. However, as beautiful as they may be, I don't think anyone has ever used those as actual potential Clan Origin. After all, those origins, while being the only ones which connect the whole "vampire race" to a single story, are all based around Snow White's story- which, while gives them a lot of power, also means that if you want them to be real in your setting, you actually need to make Snow White into a true story. Sure, it is not out of the picture (Frankenstein and Dracula are both real, more or less)- so nothing actually stops you from treating those origins as real, but the feeling I get from them is that they are meant to only be a story, perhaps a legend vampires tell to themselves for the same reasons people tell Snow White to each other. In the end, there was never a snow skinned princess, neither in real life or in the CofD.
But what if there was?
What if the world of the CofD was not a dark version of our world, but a dark version of out stories. What if instead of a modern world, surrounded by machines and engines and smoke, the setting was a beautiful kingdom, haunted by deep shadows. What if instead of storytelling a game of Gothic Modern, we would tell a game of Dark Fairy-tales, where witches cast their curses upon beautiful princesses, only to be broken by the kiss of a charming prince. A world where wolves take the skin of their prey, only to be cut open by the huntsman and thrown to the river. A world where mermaids who lost their song walk the earth, magic mirrors show one's greatest wish, young women are tormented by their stepsisters and death betrays those who betray him. A world of magic and wonder, of darkness and fear.
In this world, everything starts once upon a midnight darkly- but no one lives happily ever after.
So- what do you think?
(bonus points for anyone who finds all the clans mentioned in the story above! hint- some are fan made)
However, even the huntsman couldn't withstand the princess's beauty, and could only cut her heart before his broke. He searched another to take the princess's place, and took from him everything he needed to hide his failure- and the queen was thrilled. Yet, the huntsman knew he failed- he went to the woods, and allowed himself to be devoured by them. Filled with joy, the jealous queen gave the heart and the pieces to the cook, which made from it a pie served to the king. The king ate it all, and it was so delicious that he asked for more- but the queen replied there was none, for he only had one daughter, leaving her husband in despair and vulnerable to the whispers of the night. Hearing that, the cook stormed upon the leftovers and licked all he could, thinking it would make him as pretty as the princess was- but he only grew fat and ugly upon the dead meat.
Meanwhile, the princess woke all alone in the forest with hollow scream, her chest empty and void. She searched through the forest for a place for rest, and she found haven with seven grotesque dwarves. She saw beyond their deformities, and they offered her escape in their cave. She was meant to be safe- yet that was when the queen asked her mirror once more, and it told her truth as it always did. Raging again, she cast her magic to find where the princess rested, and laid a curse of poison upon a sweet, blood red apple. She used an enchantment to disguise herself, and traveled to the forest when the dwarves left to the mine at night. She offered the fruit to her stepdaughter, and the princess ate it with hunger. The curse was then awakened, and the poison devoured her blood, spilling from her eyes and mouth and taking life of its own while leaving her body behind.
The witch left, sure of her finale win- and when the dwarves returned, they mourned for the princess. They kept her in glass casket, vowing to protect her body until a prince would come and free her from the curse- unaware for the fact that has spirit has left the cold body behind in her sleep. While they loved her very much, as the winter came and snow blocked the cavern, they grew hungry, and slowly they took little pieces which no one would miss from her to fill their bellies. When the spring returned, they discovered that nothing was left from the once beautiful princess but skin and bones. In their horror, they filled her with the last snow of winter and escaped to the darkness, never to return.
That night, a charming prince was lost in the forest, and was guided by the screeches of owls and ravens to the princess's finale restful place. Discovering the princess, he fell on his knees and kissed her deep- but found no warmth in her snow cold flesh. Acting out of terrible desire, he took her in that cave, and in the height of the cold passion she awoke, her eyes shine golden like those of the owls. As the two left the forest together, the evil queen asked her mirror the same question she asked twice- and the mirror, unable to lie, said the truth- that the princess has returned, and her own son took her as his wife. With her heart black from hate, she smashed the mirror to pieces and threw them out of the window to be carried by the cold wind, and they cut the eyes and hearts of those who stood in their way.
The queen went to the gate of the castle, to greet her stepdaughter with one finale curse- yet the princess was quicker. She stacked her stepmother and left her to melt in the sun, while she and her husband took the castle as their own, celebrating their marriage with the blood of their father. After seeing the story unravel before him, the lone spectator felt empty and alone, knowing that his life would never be compared to those of the heroes and villains he saw. He jumped from the highest tower in the castle, his body penetrated by the castle's gate- but with his last breath he made a pact with a faerie to live life equal to those of the characters in the story yet forever apart from them. That's how the story ends- but the legend keeps on. Each of those villainous heroes has left a part of themselves alive, and it is living still. Their legend lives in us, their children, and we'll all live covered with blood, happily ever after.
************************
Personally, I have always found the "Once Upon a Midnight Darkly" section for each of the Clans as one of the most beautiful things I've read in a CofD book. There is just something enchanting about it, which keeps haunting my mind long time after reading those pieces- seriously, it is just beautiful. However, as beautiful as they may be, I don't think anyone has ever used those as actual potential Clan Origin. After all, those origins, while being the only ones which connect the whole "vampire race" to a single story, are all based around Snow White's story- which, while gives them a lot of power, also means that if you want them to be real in your setting, you actually need to make Snow White into a true story. Sure, it is not out of the picture (Frankenstein and Dracula are both real, more or less)- so nothing actually stops you from treating those origins as real, but the feeling I get from them is that they are meant to only be a story, perhaps a legend vampires tell to themselves for the same reasons people tell Snow White to each other. In the end, there was never a snow skinned princess, neither in real life or in the CofD.
But what if there was?
What if the world of the CofD was not a dark version of our world, but a dark version of out stories. What if instead of a modern world, surrounded by machines and engines and smoke, the setting was a beautiful kingdom, haunted by deep shadows. What if instead of storytelling a game of Gothic Modern, we would tell a game of Dark Fairy-tales, where witches cast their curses upon beautiful princesses, only to be broken by the kiss of a charming prince. A world where wolves take the skin of their prey, only to be cut open by the huntsman and thrown to the river. A world where mermaids who lost their song walk the earth, magic mirrors show one's greatest wish, young women are tormented by their stepsisters and death betrays those who betray him. A world of magic and wonder, of darkness and fear.
In this world, everything starts once upon a midnight darkly- but no one lives happily ever after.
So- what do you think?
(bonus points for anyone who finds all the clans mentioned in the story above! hint- some are fan made)
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