Methuselah
The Methuselah are as far removed from ordinary vampires, as vampires are from humans. They were once normal kindred, but through their own will, the whims of Fate, or mysterious rituals have become something else, something to be feared among the Kindred.All Methuselah are unable to feed from animals or humans, regardless of their blood potency, rather they must hunt the supernatural beings of the world of darkness, even when they have so recently emerged from the state. But for this price, they are afforded many advantages over other Kindred, even if they fall into torpor, the potency of their blood is not lost. Nor do they suffer the clouded memories associated with the long sleep.
The other benefit that Methuselah have is, they’re essentially indestructible. They may have their bodies destroyed, but they come back. Sorcerers have been shown to exhibit a similar reincarnation in “The Ash that Devours”, becoming a spirit-ghost in the region they were slain, devouring until they can once again become flesh. The Methuselah go through a similar process, but dependent on their Damnation, manifest in different ways. The only way to ensure one is dead, is to use the unique Bane associated with its Site of Return.
While Archmages may leave day-to-day politics due to the pax, the Methuselah on the other hand have no choice but to maneuver and involve themselves with their lesser kindred. Their hunger is insatiable and requires them to delve into the night, feeding from their own kind, and occasionally on those of the other denizens of darkness. They are driven by their change, and while among the damned, they must keep their presence hidden from those who would usurp their power… or who fear them.
The Methuselah set themselves up in many ways, generally depending on their personalities. Zagreus, the endless thrill seeker knows that no mortal is likely to kill him, but that doesn’t mean he can’t savor new experiences while imprisoned. Rani, the ancient Mekhet has taken an interest in the Ordu Dracul… digging into the coils to try to free herself from the trappings of her Settite powers frailty to symbols of Horus. Methuselah have goals, they change, they seek new things, ideas, power, they are not the stagnant elders that are lost in the fog of Torpor. They hunt, they seek, they thirst for things, ever closer connection to their god, spreading their faith, pushing their agenda. Methuselah may be hidden among the neonates on the street, with ideals and goals as much as at the top, ruling over a city that doesn’t know their Prince can never truly be deposed. And then they might simply decide to do something else the next century.
Methuselah Rules
Clan
Methuselah retain their clan weaknesses and discipline afinities as well as any bloodline affinities.
Vitae
Methuselah cannot gain vitae from Mortals, rather they must take it from other Kindred or supernatural sources. They are however immune to the Vinculum of their lesser kin and never risk Vitae addiction, despite needing it to fuel their undead existence. This is a double edged sword, as many powerful Prince would have the Methuselah killed, upon discovering they were an unbondable ancient.
Vinculum
The Methuselah, while immune to the Vinculum, is very effective at applying it. Only one taste is necessary to inflict a third stage vinculum, resistible as normal. The Methuselah’s vinculum is the only vinculum that can be applied to another Methuselah, as well as to other supernatural beings such as mages, werewolves and other denizens of darkness.
Blood Potency and Torpo
A Methuselah’s blood potency does not decrease with torpor, nor does it increase during. Rather a Methuselah falls into a state of stasis while in Torpor. As such, they are able to develop and maintain powers far more potent than their lesser kin, invoking Disciplines in new and fantastic ways depending on their mastery.
Diablerie
Methuselah do not suffer automatic Humanity loss from diablerie, and may store a number of souls equal to their blood potency. When a Methuselah commits diablerie it is a Humanity 3 breaking point instead. Souls may be used to fuel elder disciplines, restore Willpower, and even fill the Methuselah’s Vitae entirely. A soul can be spent to heal all wounds as well, regardless of type.
Kindred souls are also necessary to fuel the most powerful of kindred abilities, advanced disciplines and sorceries.
A Kindred may steal a Methuselah’s power through diablerie, but should they fail, the Methuselah devours the prospective Diablerist’s soul instead, without the risk of a breaking point.
Return
Fights among the Kindred can be deadly ordeals, often ending in the final death of one party. However, even if a Methuselah’s body were to be destroyed, this is no guarantee they will not come back.
Methuselah do not always suffer final death upon taking full aggravated damage, rather only then do they fall into a special form of Torpor. Once in this torpor, the Methuselah spends its entire term, this cannot be rushed like it can be for the Ash that Devours. Rather after this time the Methuselah manifests in a form similar to the nemesis… the Strix. They are always a manifested spirit, harnessing items from the immediate vicinity, in a building this may be things like insects that swarm to the location, outdoors it could be various animals, dirt or garbage. They always manifest at their Site of Return, which is a place important to the Methuselah, and a part of their damnation. To return like this, the Methuselah must have a soul at the point of death, or they suffer final death, this soul point is taken automatically to begin the process. A life must be forfeited.
While in this form, the Methuselah is conscious, and not a mindless creature, able to direct his needs more than that of the Ash that Devours. Rather they are not bound to their Site of Return, but may roam to find prey. The Methuselah must feed enough to heal all of the damage they suffered, for example a Methuselah that died with 7 health levels would need 35 vitae. Upon resurrection, the Methuselah is likely to go into hunger frenzy as many vampires waking from torpor.
If a Methuselah were to have additional souls at the time they would have died, they can manifest fully by spending one soul after spending their period of time in torpor.
Bane
While Methuselah still suffer the lesser banes of their less potent Kin, they do not truly meet final death from them unless they do not have a soul in escrow. Rather they simply become discorporated until their period of torpor ends then they manifest as above.
All Methuselah have a particular bane, generally associated with their origin, or damnation. Each is deeply personal to the Kindred, and provides a permanent touchstone as well in its opposite, even if it is a philosophical concept of something antithetical to their goals. The storyteller and player work together to determine the bane, it should be something likely to come up, as well as being relatively opposed to the Methuselah’s concept and damnation. These should be essentially anything symbolically opposed to them, rather than a simple specific item. There are two results that come from being confronted with your bane, one if during the period of return, when the Methuselah’s body is destroyed is Final Death, should the bane be presented at the Site of Return.
However, if the vampire is presented with the bane while conscious, they take the condition “Stricken” which applies a penalty depending on how they were presented with the bane. Also, if the bane is weaponized, it will deal aggravated damage to the Methuselah. For example, an oppressive Invictus Dictator Methuselah might take aggravated damage from a sword inscribed with the Bill of Rights, or a Freedom Fighting Carthian Methuselah might take aggravated damage from a simple symbol of oppression, such as a whip.
Example Banes:
The following banes are not all inclusive, but should essentially all apply should they be appropriate. If it is symbolically against the Methuselah’s damnation (either their goals, the ritual they used, their particular transcendence etc.) it should apply as a source of the bane.
Carthian Impassioned Freedom Fighter: Symbols of Oppression, whips, copies of the patriot act. Burning a copy of the Bill of rights. Anything Antithetical to the Methuselah’s passion.
Invictus Impassioned Tyrant: Opposite of Any above, presentation of the Bill of Rights, burning a Bra, burning a copy of the Patriot act. Killing a loyal ghoul.
Sorcerer: Any ritual designed to be a bane against her, whether Cruac, Theban, or without blood sorcery. A traditional folklore way of harming the undead. Rituals that protect from the supernatural.
Transcendent: Symbol of limitations, presentation of a handicapped person, A vampire who has never heard of the Coils. Meeting limitations while facing the Methuselah (Vitae spending or being peak of form that your blood potency allows).
Cursed: Symbols of Beauty, sunlight, Human Blood. Things that represent their cursed state and weaknesses. The name of the being that cursed them, symbols of said being if they believe to be cursed by a god, symbols of that god may be useful.
Sanctified Worshipped: A symbol of God, Longinus or another being that might find their exaltation to be heretical. If worshipped by a pagan cult, symbols of Christian persecution against their cult, destruction of a likeness in their presense.
The following condition can be waited out, but does not reward any beats for doing so.
New Condition: Stricken
The Methuselah has been presented with its bane, for the duration of exposure, and 1 night per blood potency after, the Methuselah takes a penalty to all actions equal to 7-humanity rating, with a minimum penalty of 1. This penalty also applies to defense. Due to the common nature of their banes, many Methuselah strive to keep manageable humanity ratings… or spend rounds in torpor as their enemies exploit their weaknesses.
Possible Sources:Being presented with your bane.
Resolution: Devour a soul through Diablerie or voluntary Torpor for a minimum term.
Damnations
Damnations are determined by how the damned become one of the Ancients, the Methuselah. Each is deeply ingrained; much like clan is for lesser vampires, and involves a symbol of their death, second death, or transition into the state of the Methuselah. They describe the circumstance of how they came to be what they now are, and often how they may organize themselves according to their beliefs about their state.
Passion
Those damned by will are those that want to survive. Regardless of the circumstance, they just have to make it, have to overcome the obstacle. These Kindred, are those that have strong desires; political, personal, or instinctual, they are passionate and strong willed to a fault. They simply will not lose, will not back down, and will not die. They are often exemplars of their cause, covenant or ideology. They come from backgrounds of power or aspiration, they are ambitious to a fault, and never let anything go.
The impassioned-damned fight their way to the top, or were fighting their way when the damnation befell them. One thing that all of the Impassioned share is death. Either they meet what would be final death during their attempt at a rise to power, while fighting for an ideal, or defending what is theirs, they do meet their end… only to Rise.
The impassioned tend towards unlives dedicated towards whatever they were so terribly devoted to before their damnation. An Invictus lord might devote himself to growing his personal power, lording over many cities either behind the scenes or in plain view. A Carthian might run a freedom-fighter organization, maneuvering it from the shadows, while still fighting on the ground to further his goal of freedom from whatever he views to be tyranny. A scholar might push ever deeper into mysteries, trying to find how to move beyond even his near immutable nature… they are defined by their passions, their aspirations.
Bane
Banes for the impassioned are often something that they fought against before their return. A new oppressive law named in the Carthian’s true name is buried at the site of his return. An Invictus lord might be deposed by having his name stricken from a dynasty, or his mortal powerbase slaughtered to the last before his return. Ones most loyal ghoul is killed while renouncing his loyalty. The obsessive Mekhet’s research being burned at the site, or the Gangrel survivalist’s might have a symbol of survival destroyed at his site, such as a fire created with flint and steel being quenched with water.
Site of Return
The passionate Methuselah returns exactly where it died, ready to pick up where it left off. Wherever the methuselah was thought to be dispatched, there they return, ready for vengeance.
Sorcery
Powerful rituals may be used to make one into a Methuselah, either through the Kindred Methods of Cruac and Theban Sorcery, or perhaps through some other mortal or stranger ritual. Whatever the case, those that become Methuselah through sorcery are deeply ingrained in ritual magic and often focus on esoteric research and mysteries. They might lead cults, like the Worshipped, or they may be sorcerers delving into dark forgotten monasteries the world over for forgotten knowledge.
And they don’t stop beyond the ritual that put them at the top, they continue. Searching out greater power, trying to play in the field of the gods, working powerful ancient rituals to advance their power or to further their goal, these are often the most likely to stray into the politics of other beings, especially vying with mages for arcane artifacts. They might offer their services to a freehold to negotiate for legendary items from bed-time stories.
They might cross over into spiritual realms to wrest power from spirits using devious rites and bans that they’d researched over the centuries. The Sorcerers are devious users of magic to gain the upper hand.
Bane
Sorcerers have banes related to ritual and sorcery. Most often this applies to magical symbols that are opposed to them in some symbolic way. This might be a talisman, an amulet, or even some folklore representation of vampiric weakness. Sorcerers have an immense level of belief associated with their power, and if they believe something might hurt them, or even remotely think some mystical symbol might, it will.
Site of Return
A sorcerer’s site of return is always the site of the ritual, where they became one of the Ancients. It doesn’t matter if they die halfway around the world, they always return to this site upon a not-so-final death.
Worship
Some Kindred become Methuselah through either belief in a higher power, and are rewarded for their devotion, or because they themselves have such devoted followers that they become something of the divine being they pretend to be. These beings either continue to devote themselves to their beliefs or embody the beliefs of their followers, serving as a patron to lesser servants, or overseeing the works in their deity’s honor. They may amass great cults, and often gather items from their respective faiths, or that they believe are symbolic to them. This may put them at odds with Sorcerers, both mortal and kindred, it may put them at odds with other… beings as well.
Having been invested with great spiritual power, they often draw the attention of lesser spirits that serve beneath whatever being granted them their power… and at times the guardians of the borders between our world and the spirit world. Those that worship a God may seek to commune directly, passing into territories that were more dangerous when they were not so well equipped to survive.
Those that are worshipped, are essentially symbols of their faiths, and often must abide by the tenants of those faiths. They may change over time, depending on the faith, its followers and the cultures, but the Worshipped and Worshippers must abide by the most current agreements about their faith.
Bane
The Worhsipped and Worshippers are bound by their faith, symbols that reflect their tenants may be used to keep them at bay, or weaken them. A Sanctified Methuselah might turn away from a cross wielding mortal, or cower at the sign of some oppositional force. An Acolyte might fall prey to a Christian invoking proscriptions against the worship of other gods. The worshipped must also abide by the beliefs of those that worship them. Instead of symbols of gods they are subordinate to, they must abide by their own symbols, and their own tenets.
Site of Return
The Worshippers and worshipped always regenerate at a holy site. This means the closest holy site to their most recent death. The site of their anointment into the Worshipped also acts as a holy site.
Curse
The cursed are something of an anomaly among the damned, sometimes becoming Methuselah without ever having been Kindred. They are cursed by some higher power, be it a powerful spirit, the Fae, God, or some Archmage whom they crossed. While greater than the lesser kindred, and far more durable, the cursed do suffer specific new weaknesses of their condition. Rather they are limited to a smaller food supply, almost always hunted for their power, and are affected by a larger range of banes. In a way, the cursed, and all Methuselah are more damned than any other.
Rumor has it that Dracula was one of the Cursed, and having more weaknesses than the common Kindred sought what are now the Mysteries of the Dragon. The cursed are doubly damned as all Methuselah, unable to use their power openly, always thirsting, and always fearful of what may happen. The banes of the Ancients are large concepts, and anything symbolic of those concepts can greatly weaken or harm the Methuselah.
Truly it can be a curse. However, the cursed often revel in it, spitting in the eye of whatever made them the way they are. They amass power, moving in secret, hiding their natures, fighting against their curses. Ancients who never grow weak can learn a great many things after all.
Bane
The cursed, much like the worshipped are stricken by signs of the being who cursed them. A cursed cursed by god may be repulsed by crosses and holy symbols. One cursed by a goddess of nature might fear wheat or fruit. A painted symbol of an archmaster may strike down the Methuselah. Sometimes faith in the one who cursed them in the first place is enough to put them down. Whatever it is, it must have some connection to the entity that cursed the Methuselah to this state in the first place.
Site of Return
The cursed return to the site of their curse, always. The place they were damned for eternity draws their spirit back from death, from wherever the body was slain.
Transcendence
The transcended are the damned who worked to move beyond their limitations, becoming a near indestructible force. Whether they sought transcendence through asceticism, or through vile experimentation, the Transcended find themselves freed of a number of the original weaknesses of the damned. While they still hunger and suffer the banes of vampiric existence, in addition to having a new, more sweeping weakness, they have mastered memory loss of the ages, they have lost the weakness of the flesh, and they’ve lost the inability to hold onto the power of potent blood.
Truly, they have become something else, an embodiment of vampirism, devouring those of their own kind, eating the parasites rather than mankind, reaping their souls to their own whims. The transcended often continue their lifestyles, ever trying to move forward… and crushing anything that gets in their way. The Transcended may come into contact with other beings of great power seeking more changes, or they might work on changing themselves through powerful rituals, self dominate, or new coils.
The transcended are those that seek to be ever greater, purer in form, even as they reach ever greater heights of power, it is never enough. They seek to be gods among gods, masters of themselves and others, teachers, and the greatest among the damned.
Bane
The transcended are harmed by signs of weakness and limitation, in battle you will never face one that would dismember you, for your weakness is reflected in themselves. After crushing an enemy, a Transcended may hide away, regaining its power, or devour them right there. Images of them before they surpassed their former state may stop them in their tracks. A wheelchair could crush one’s spirit. Symbols of their current weaknesses are very terrifying as well. Human blood might strike them weak, or a painting of the sun. Anything that could remind them that they aren’t gods, and there are limitations could be a potential bane.
Site of Return
The transcended tend towards places that are important to them and their work. A cave they meditate at, a lab where they worked. Anywhere that was important to their transcendence might be where they rise again.
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