The Ones Who Are Divine.
You were given so much for so little, yet you managed to fuck that up so badly its a wonder that you can even get out of bed without tripping and breaking your neck these days. All you had to do is make your deliveries on time once every week, no questions asked and your life was golden. The gig paid well, sure, but things just always seemed to go your way, it was if God or some Buddha was looking out for you.. but then you had to ask questions. Had to see the girls all chained up in the truck you drove every week- all anemic and sickly. That was when the bad luck started hitting you; your wife left you, the day job you held let you go with no explanation... but when your own daughter went missing, only for pictures - images of her beaten, bloodied.. anemic- were found in your mailbox.. that was when you learned the truth. God was watching over you this entire time, and you pissed him off.
Something dead approaches, though it rejects the notion that it is anything like the other corpses that stalk the night. It possesses the blood of a fierce God in its dry veins, and reigns supreme over the beasts of the earth and mortal men alike - to argue otherwise is to court the wrath of the sky, the sea, and the very winds of fortune themselves. All it asks for is devotion and loyalty, and perhaps a drink or two from its flock's living essence every now and then.. and why would anyone deny it tribute when it can offer so much in return? Those who are stupid enough to try, however, quickly learn why it is often called a Devil.. though it is only rarely that a victim is given a chance to reflect on their mistake.
The Ryukishin are all but forgotten in the modern era by the All Nights' Society, the last of their line seemingly destroyed when Nagasaki was consumed by nuclear fire. While undoubtedly unfortunate, the loss of a clan of kindred is nothing new in the chronicles of darkness, and the rest of vampire kind has largely moved on. Nowadays, the name Ryukishin is spoken primarily by bored Defiants or spiteful Lords, mulling over the secrets and the hubris of the Devils in equal measure. Forgotten does not mean that the Ryukishin are gone however, and though their numbers are at the lowest they have been since their clan's emergence, they still persist; eager to reclaim what territory they have lost in the preceding centuries. The second World War came close to ensuring their extinction, but those who remain are both dogged and discrete in their goals of rebuilding their clan back up to its former glory- perhaps even more than that, if some rumors are to be believed.
While Japan currently is home to vampires of nearly every clan, they do not originate there. From the Daeva to Ventrue, these clans are invasive species, a foreign infection girdling the populous and steadily draining the life from it with a thousand enamel needles. Conversely, the Ryukishin claim to be not just one of Japan's native clans of kindred, but that they were the first vampires to arise along with the settlers that came to the islands themselves. As far as records indicate, the Ryukishin have always existed, and have posed as guardian ancestors, monstrous yokai, and even gods throughout Japanese history- though a favorite role among the clan has been the claim that they are dragons in human flesh.
By predatory guardianship and an almost instinctual sense of divine purpose the vampires who belong to this clan are driven to set themselves up as the pillars of whatever group or community they dwell amongst, aloof to the base concerns of those mortals they see as their wards, yet possessed with a desire to watch over and involve themselves with the lives of the humans they surround themselves by. In their eyes the mortals need the Ryukishin to protect them from other monsters and bring meaning to their pointless lives, and by that fact it is only right that their charges owe them a tithe of blood in exchange for their guidance - gods require offerings after all, and the idea that a person may not wish for their patronage is of no consequence.
See the curator of the old war museum whose hours stretch well into the night. He is polite, informative, and has been a member of the museums staff for as long as anyone in town can remember, though he barely looks a day over forty five. Parents warn their children not to wander into the museum alone at night, they say there is a ghost from the bombings that haunts the exhibits who will spirit away any kid who resembles its lost child. While there are no spirits within the building, there is indeed a ghost from those days who calls the museum home, though he has no interest in harming the youths. What he does prey upon are those who enter and show disrespect to the tragedies he personally witnessed, unwilling to let their stories be tarnished by the modern generation's ignorance.
See the Inagawa-Kai leg breaker. He once acted as an Onna-Musha centuries ago in an age where being born into a body one felt was wrong was often seen as a weakness and a disgrace to ones family. It was thanks to his sire that he was able to become the warrior he always wished to be, and nowadays few people ever bring up the fact that his body is that of a woman, and those who do are often made painfully aware of just how much of a man he really really is- though curiously his blades or fists are rarely sullied with blood after the fact. Oddly enough, he sometimes boasts to being a personal confidante of figures such as Niijima Yae and Nakano Takeko, something most people quietly write it off as him being possessed by a vivid imagination.
See the pastor of the old catholic church. While the nation has gradually become more secular over the past few decades, he has done much to keep his doors open and provide spiritual guidance for those in the neighborhood. and where sermons fail, surprise midnight masses and the fortuitous performances of "miracles" have done wonders to buoy the community's faith in the divine. The pastor claims to be the voice of God, and thanks to the powers the Blood who can argue otherwise? There have been a few close calls over the years here and there, but in his mind everything is fine. After all, vitae is an excellent substitute for wine, and if someone mysteriously collapses from a lack of blood.. well that vitae can be a perfect medium for a miracle to help heal the poor soul, right?
Let the foreign Kindred dismiss the Ryukishin and write them off as being a lost clan, it will make their return to prominence even sweeter. For too long have the other clans vied for the territories and the mystical secrets that the Ryukishin held with an iron grip, and while it seems that their enemies have achieved victory for now, there will come a time where the gods will once again rise up and put these gaijin in their place. Until then, the proud Ryukishin will wait, observe, and quietly plot against their complacent rivals. After all, time is on their side.. and what greater resource do vampires have than time?
Why You Want To Be Us
We are the first Kindred of Japan, the children an immortal god! We can control animals with nothing but a gesture, move faster the wind itself, hell we command the very fabric of the world with the song that thrums within our blood! How can we help but not feel invincible when we are at our best? The humans know that we are more than simple men or women, and really, why should we ruin that perception by acting otherwise? Mortals are practically blind, deaf, and dumb but that is okay because we are here to keep them from wandering to their deaths - unless those deaths benefit us.
Why You Should Fear Us
Like the great Ryujin from myth the Ryukishin are capable of both great feats of benefice along with horrible acts of malice. With their innate Disciplines and their natural inclination to brook no challenges to their authority these Devils often prove to be nightmarish foes to those who cross them, and their wrath can cause the very sky to bleed and the seas to rage should they come across something they wish to destroy utterly and without mercy.
Why We Should Fear Ourselves
When you are told that you are an unliving god for long enough, you begin to lose perspective. Many Ryukishin style themselves as being wise, benevolent guardians towards their mortal herds, but this level of emotional separation, coupled with the Beast and the predatory instincts that all vampires possess can lead the individual clanmate to growing cold and unforgiving towards the mortals they profess to guard- leading to more than a few tragic occasions where the Ryukishin treat them as badly as they would a hated rival.
Clan Origins
- The Ryukishin were not always known as such. Once, many centuries ago they called themselves the Ryushin, for they were honorable, fair, and kind rulers over the kine. Some stories say that the Ryushin weren't vampires at all, but true gods: dragons who walked as men. There was one creature who wasn't pleased with this arrangement and out of spite and jealousy decided to place a curse on the Ryushin, inflicting them with a deep, uncontrollable rage that drove them to become tyrannical and blood thirsty. Amaterasu beheld the atrocities being committed and was said to be unable to look upon them, turning her face from the Ryushin out of disgust and horror. From then on the gaze of the sun goddess would burn the flesh of the maddened dragons, and only the cold radiance of her brother offered any sort of relief. In shame the Ryushin would name themselves Ryukishin, and all the while the shadowy creature who cursed them in the first place watched their misfortune and laughed.
- It is said that the one who would go on to become the clan founder of the Ryukishin was none other than Shuten-Doji themself, or even Ibaraki-Doji, though both of these claims contradict the apparent age of the clan itself. Still the rumors persist, and with the appearance of Ibaraki-Doji in Kyoto in the modern nights this tale has convinced several younger Ryukishin to confront him in order to gain a potential answer- heedless of the danger this Contagious vampire and the infection he spreads presents.
- There was once a great and terrible dragon with multiple heads who would terrorize the villages that surrounded its lair; stealing maidens and causing floods whenever it was angered. One fateful day a resourceful girl was captured by the monster, and in exchange for her life she offered the dragon several casks of rice wine- one for each head. Pleased by this offering, the dragon gluttonously consumed every cask and fell into a deep stupor, allowing the girl to take a sickle and sever all of the dragon's sleeping heads. This act bathed the girl in a river of blood, and from it she gained not only the strength and longevity of the beast, but also its ravenous hunger.
Nickname: The Dragon Clan(among themselves), Dragon Devils (derogatory)
Stereotypes:
Daeva: Well, there's a reason you're called Serpents. Not a compliment.
Gangrel: So you are the ones closest to the Beast? What a coincidence, I am a master of beasts.
Mekhet: So ancient, there would be a feeling of kinship between us if you weren't an outsider.
Nosferatu: What kind of monster abandoned you, without even getting halfway done with their work?
Ventrue: What is a King to a God? Just another servant, in my opinion.
Clan Bane(Curse of The Dragon):
The Beast of the Ryukishin is a prideful, mistrusting thing. When in the presence of other, non-Ryukishin vampires, the character finds it more difficult to resist the darker impulses of the Beast, rolls to resist falling to Frenzy while another vampire of another clan is within the character's line of sight are capped by their Humanity score. In addition, it is difficult for a member of the Ryukishin to fully be comfortable around their Touchstones during situations of stress, imposing a -1 penalty to a Touchstone's ability to calm the character down to avert Frenzy.
Favored Attributes: Wits or Manipulation
Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Celerity, Chi No Uta
You were given so much for so little, yet you managed to fuck that up so badly its a wonder that you can even get out of bed without tripping and breaking your neck these days. All you had to do is make your deliveries on time once every week, no questions asked and your life was golden. The gig paid well, sure, but things just always seemed to go your way, it was if God or some Buddha was looking out for you.. but then you had to ask questions. Had to see the girls all chained up in the truck you drove every week- all anemic and sickly. That was when the bad luck started hitting you; your wife left you, the day job you held let you go with no explanation... but when your own daughter went missing, only for pictures - images of her beaten, bloodied.. anemic- were found in your mailbox.. that was when you learned the truth. God was watching over you this entire time, and you pissed him off.
Something dead approaches, though it rejects the notion that it is anything like the other corpses that stalk the night. It possesses the blood of a fierce God in its dry veins, and reigns supreme over the beasts of the earth and mortal men alike - to argue otherwise is to court the wrath of the sky, the sea, and the very winds of fortune themselves. All it asks for is devotion and loyalty, and perhaps a drink or two from its flock's living essence every now and then.. and why would anyone deny it tribute when it can offer so much in return? Those who are stupid enough to try, however, quickly learn why it is often called a Devil.. though it is only rarely that a victim is given a chance to reflect on their mistake.
The Ryukishin are all but forgotten in the modern era by the All Nights' Society, the last of their line seemingly destroyed when Nagasaki was consumed by nuclear fire. While undoubtedly unfortunate, the loss of a clan of kindred is nothing new in the chronicles of darkness, and the rest of vampire kind has largely moved on. Nowadays, the name Ryukishin is spoken primarily by bored Defiants or spiteful Lords, mulling over the secrets and the hubris of the Devils in equal measure. Forgotten does not mean that the Ryukishin are gone however, and though their numbers are at the lowest they have been since their clan's emergence, they still persist; eager to reclaim what territory they have lost in the preceding centuries. The second World War came close to ensuring their extinction, but those who remain are both dogged and discrete in their goals of rebuilding their clan back up to its former glory- perhaps even more than that, if some rumors are to be believed.
While Japan currently is home to vampires of nearly every clan, they do not originate there. From the Daeva to Ventrue, these clans are invasive species, a foreign infection girdling the populous and steadily draining the life from it with a thousand enamel needles. Conversely, the Ryukishin claim to be not just one of Japan's native clans of kindred, but that they were the first vampires to arise along with the settlers that came to the islands themselves. As far as records indicate, the Ryukishin have always existed, and have posed as guardian ancestors, monstrous yokai, and even gods throughout Japanese history- though a favorite role among the clan has been the claim that they are dragons in human flesh.
By predatory guardianship and an almost instinctual sense of divine purpose the vampires who belong to this clan are driven to set themselves up as the pillars of whatever group or community they dwell amongst, aloof to the base concerns of those mortals they see as their wards, yet possessed with a desire to watch over and involve themselves with the lives of the humans they surround themselves by. In their eyes the mortals need the Ryukishin to protect them from other monsters and bring meaning to their pointless lives, and by that fact it is only right that their charges owe them a tithe of blood in exchange for their guidance - gods require offerings after all, and the idea that a person may not wish for their patronage is of no consequence.
See the curator of the old war museum whose hours stretch well into the night. He is polite, informative, and has been a member of the museums staff for as long as anyone in town can remember, though he barely looks a day over forty five. Parents warn their children not to wander into the museum alone at night, they say there is a ghost from the bombings that haunts the exhibits who will spirit away any kid who resembles its lost child. While there are no spirits within the building, there is indeed a ghost from those days who calls the museum home, though he has no interest in harming the youths. What he does prey upon are those who enter and show disrespect to the tragedies he personally witnessed, unwilling to let their stories be tarnished by the modern generation's ignorance.
See the Inagawa-Kai leg breaker. He once acted as an Onna-Musha centuries ago in an age where being born into a body one felt was wrong was often seen as a weakness and a disgrace to ones family. It was thanks to his sire that he was able to become the warrior he always wished to be, and nowadays few people ever bring up the fact that his body is that of a woman, and those who do are often made painfully aware of just how much of a man he really really is- though curiously his blades or fists are rarely sullied with blood after the fact. Oddly enough, he sometimes boasts to being a personal confidante of figures such as Niijima Yae and Nakano Takeko, something most people quietly write it off as him being possessed by a vivid imagination.
See the pastor of the old catholic church. While the nation has gradually become more secular over the past few decades, he has done much to keep his doors open and provide spiritual guidance for those in the neighborhood. and where sermons fail, surprise midnight masses and the fortuitous performances of "miracles" have done wonders to buoy the community's faith in the divine. The pastor claims to be the voice of God, and thanks to the powers the Blood who can argue otherwise? There have been a few close calls over the years here and there, but in his mind everything is fine. After all, vitae is an excellent substitute for wine, and if someone mysteriously collapses from a lack of blood.. well that vitae can be a perfect medium for a miracle to help heal the poor soul, right?
Let the foreign Kindred dismiss the Ryukishin and write them off as being a lost clan, it will make their return to prominence even sweeter. For too long have the other clans vied for the territories and the mystical secrets that the Ryukishin held with an iron grip, and while it seems that their enemies have achieved victory for now, there will come a time where the gods will once again rise up and put these gaijin in their place. Until then, the proud Ryukishin will wait, observe, and quietly plot against their complacent rivals. After all, time is on their side.. and what greater resource do vampires have than time?
Why You Want To Be Us
We are the first Kindred of Japan, the children an immortal god! We can control animals with nothing but a gesture, move faster the wind itself, hell we command the very fabric of the world with the song that thrums within our blood! How can we help but not feel invincible when we are at our best? The humans know that we are more than simple men or women, and really, why should we ruin that perception by acting otherwise? Mortals are practically blind, deaf, and dumb but that is okay because we are here to keep them from wandering to their deaths - unless those deaths benefit us.
Why You Should Fear Us
Like the great Ryujin from myth the Ryukishin are capable of both great feats of benefice along with horrible acts of malice. With their innate Disciplines and their natural inclination to brook no challenges to their authority these Devils often prove to be nightmarish foes to those who cross them, and their wrath can cause the very sky to bleed and the seas to rage should they come across something they wish to destroy utterly and without mercy.
Why We Should Fear Ourselves
When you are told that you are an unliving god for long enough, you begin to lose perspective. Many Ryukishin style themselves as being wise, benevolent guardians towards their mortal herds, but this level of emotional separation, coupled with the Beast and the predatory instincts that all vampires possess can lead the individual clanmate to growing cold and unforgiving towards the mortals they profess to guard- leading to more than a few tragic occasions where the Ryukishin treat them as badly as they would a hated rival.
Clan Origins
- The Ryukishin were not always known as such. Once, many centuries ago they called themselves the Ryushin, for they were honorable, fair, and kind rulers over the kine. Some stories say that the Ryushin weren't vampires at all, but true gods: dragons who walked as men. There was one creature who wasn't pleased with this arrangement and out of spite and jealousy decided to place a curse on the Ryushin, inflicting them with a deep, uncontrollable rage that drove them to become tyrannical and blood thirsty. Amaterasu beheld the atrocities being committed and was said to be unable to look upon them, turning her face from the Ryushin out of disgust and horror. From then on the gaze of the sun goddess would burn the flesh of the maddened dragons, and only the cold radiance of her brother offered any sort of relief. In shame the Ryushin would name themselves Ryukishin, and all the while the shadowy creature who cursed them in the first place watched their misfortune and laughed.
- It is said that the one who would go on to become the clan founder of the Ryukishin was none other than Shuten-Doji themself, or even Ibaraki-Doji, though both of these claims contradict the apparent age of the clan itself. Still the rumors persist, and with the appearance of Ibaraki-Doji in Kyoto in the modern nights this tale has convinced several younger Ryukishin to confront him in order to gain a potential answer- heedless of the danger this Contagious vampire and the infection he spreads presents.
- There was once a great and terrible dragon with multiple heads who would terrorize the villages that surrounded its lair; stealing maidens and causing floods whenever it was angered. One fateful day a resourceful girl was captured by the monster, and in exchange for her life she offered the dragon several casks of rice wine- one for each head. Pleased by this offering, the dragon gluttonously consumed every cask and fell into a deep stupor, allowing the girl to take a sickle and sever all of the dragon's sleeping heads. This act bathed the girl in a river of blood, and from it she gained not only the strength and longevity of the beast, but also its ravenous hunger.
Nickname: The Dragon Clan(among themselves), Dragon Devils (derogatory)
Stereotypes:
Daeva: Well, there's a reason you're called Serpents. Not a compliment.
Gangrel: So you are the ones closest to the Beast? What a coincidence, I am a master of beasts.
Mekhet: So ancient, there would be a feeling of kinship between us if you weren't an outsider.
Nosferatu: What kind of monster abandoned you, without even getting halfway done with their work?
Ventrue: What is a King to a God? Just another servant, in my opinion.
Clan Bane(Curse of The Dragon):
The Beast of the Ryukishin is a prideful, mistrusting thing. When in the presence of other, non-Ryukishin vampires, the character finds it more difficult to resist the darker impulses of the Beast, rolls to resist falling to Frenzy while another vampire of another clan is within the character's line of sight are capped by their Humanity score. In addition, it is difficult for a member of the Ryukishin to fully be comfortable around their Touchstones during situations of stress, imposing a -1 penalty to a Touchstone's ability to calm the character down to avert Frenzy.
Favored Attributes: Wits or Manipulation
Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Celerity, Chi No Uta
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