User Profile

[Haquim]

Is it? We don't actually know. IF the TC plot was kept then yes, Tremere is hiding inside Goratrix's body BUT there's a problem. Tremere turned 99% of House Goratrix to dust in order to enact a ritual. It was strongly suggested that by using such a large number of vampires as sacrifices Tremere got back to 3rd gen status although not on a permanent basis. All of this was the metaplot until revised but it was never developed further (well, in Gehenna the whole of the Tremere clan gets turned to dust in what can be just another ritual enacted by Tremere... or something else entirely). So, IF the...

[Haquim]

Explain it to me. I knew what House Goratrix was in the previous editions of the game but I find I know nothing of what it became of it in V5.

I understand what House Tremere is in V5. Traditionalists loyal to the old pyramid and what they believed their founder stood for.

I understand what House Carna is meant to be in V5. In a nutshell, Tremere who reject the pyramid and the old ways, want to try innovative magics while not being in the thrall of their elders.

House Goratrix? I don't get them and that's from a philospical point of view before the metaplot...

[Haquim]

Finish the series...

:P...

[Haquim]

Thanks for the quote. I didn't remember the exact circumstances correctly but I still don't see how you somehow deduced Telyavel must be a cainite rather than a spirit. The Tremere have Tzimisce blood simply because that's what Goratrix used to create the potion that turned them into vampires. And btw Tzimisce blood is connected to Kupala, an eartbound demon (before someone starts thinking it's just another vampire) whose "form" is the land of Transylvania and for the most part kulduns channel its power (once upon a time we had even creatures called "kuppalings"...).
...

[Haquim]

As far as headcannons go in my old chronicle I had Baba Yaga being defeated by Vasilisa because the latter was possessed by Absimilliard when they met. I have antediluvians being able to take take possessions of SOME of their direct progeny who then become their avatars. This is why Ur-Shulgi is beyond stats and this is also the case with the niktuku.

[Haquim]

AFAIK most of what you wrote is pure conjecture:

1. Absimilliard embracing the nicktuku to slay the second generation? Where did you read that? No official "truth" on this exists, obviously.

2. Absimilliard being less powerful than other Antes? I don't think this was ever stated anywhere.

3. Absimilliard being a "jock"? He was said (no fact, legend) to be a masterful hunter and esoteric interest is not a way to determine the power of an ante in relation to another. The WoD is not D&D....

[Haquim]

The key word here is “posing”, as vampires are spiritually stunted creatures in the WoD. But that’s behind the point to an extent. The telyavelics Tremere were a bunch of mortals worshipping a god of the land of Latvia. A few of them were their priests and received power in exchange. The Tremere embraced a few of those priests and the telyavelic Tremere were born, adapting the gifts Of Telyav to their new condition (I.e. they forged a secret thaumaturgical path stressing their link to the land). Your theory implies that these Tremere and the mortals before them were given power by a vampire...

[Haquim]

You forget that Qarakh's bond with the land of Livonia had a condition, it would last until Qarakh's bond with Deverra was standing. IIRC Deverra was killed by the Tremere, so Qarakh's bond with the land should have been erased, and therefore the Qarakh/Jalan Aajav/Karsh theory stands. Also it's stated pretty clearly that Telyavel was a god of the land of Livonia. For the Eldest posing as him makes very little sense, as does another vampire. The WoD has gods: they are basically very powerful spirits and is presented as such....

[Haquim]

Most probably a powerful spirit, possibly a demon

[Haquim]

I think having a setting with lots of Methusealhs running around and dealing with each other “in the open” would be a nice change of pace in comparison with the current modern setting. Expanding elder rules would not be a problem while at the same time it could be a good way to introduce a variation on the morality system of V5....

[Haquim]

Well, WW has never been terribly historically accurate (but that’s besides the point to a certain extent, it’s still a work of fiction after all). Since V5 is a contemporary setting I also don’t think it fair to characterize it as historically inaccurate. Then of course, slavery was widespread during the late empire and it’s offende cited as one of the reasons for it’s eventual economic failure. In the time of Augustus slavery existed but wasn’t prevalent yet. And as for women in roman society it may surprise you but roman women held more power than for example greek ones (inside...

[Haquim]

Let’s avoid storyography for a moment and let’s focus on the in game terms used to describe these periods. The era between the fall of the western roman empire and the 4th crusade (the end of Michael’s “Dream”) was called “the long night”. The period that begun after that was “the war of princes”, which basically ended when the “burning times” (and the inquisition) went into full swing and with them the anarch revolt. These periods have all been done by WW. They may be fun to revisit But they are nothing new and therefore their appeal is limited. Personally I think it would...

[Haquim]

You don't stat Vasilisa because you don't stat plot devices (and in its case BAD plot devices).

P.S:

It being 14k years old was just the author's way to explain why she could toy with Baba Yaga.

[Haquim]

The World of Darkness is a darker reflection of our own precisely because things like vampires (or Pentex, or the Technocracy) are "real" there. Vampires create nothing good, they make things worse for basically everyone that comes in contact with them. These are things that were repeated time and again during revisited era and seems like V5 has taken these same concepts to heart. Personally I fully agree with them....

[Haquim]

IIRC back in the day the Harbingers' numbers were estimated in the low hundreds and currently the Giovanni are said to provide at least 50% of the total number of the Hecata. Assuming the Harbingers form roughly the 20% of the clan and there's 200 of them it would mean for the Hecata to have a population of 1.000 vampires. All things considered I feel like that's a good number for them.

As for Cappadocius: the manuscript does not deal with him or his fate overmuch, even the fate of Augustus is left open. He might be dead because the Harbingers killed him or because when the Endless...

[Haquim]

The Capuchin (a "mask" worn by the 3 methuselahs you mention) orchestrated a coup against the Giovanni leadership and suceeded by bringing together the Harbringers of Skulls (apparently a bloodline of necromantic assassins Cappadocius condemned to be imprisoned in the underworld after the Feast of Folly), the Infiotiores (surviving Cappadocians), the Samedi, the Nagrajah and those of the Giovanni clan who weren't happy with their position into the clan (so mostly the young, the members of the adopted families but also some elders and apparently Ambrogino Giovanni himself). I don't think

...

[Haquim]

Polonia is the guy who felt launching the Gehenna Crusade was his only chance at survival (let's say it was "politically convenient") after he lost New York. He was no true believer, just an elder with a position into the Sabbat. It seems to me the Gehenna Crusade is motivated by true fanatical zeal and I expect Polonia not to survive its outcome. Anyway, judging by how things are presented in BJD Polonia had a much weaker position than Lucita's in becoming the next regent (one that won't be some infernalist's puppet, which is one of the conditions for creating a new appealing Sabba...

[Haquim]

From the moment she and Fatima managed to kill Moncanda Lucita lost her hold on her beast. That's quite clearly explained by 2 facts (1) she had already lost her moral compass (Anatole) and she had dealt with her hated sire, when doing so meant losing another constant that had defined her existence through the centuries. That's why she began to slip and consequently why she started to see the appeal of the Sabbat's paths of enlightenment. In BJD (Montreal chapter IIRC) it's made perfectly clear that Lucita was feeling attracted by inhuman rites and in the Mexico City chapter she's put forward...

[Haquim]

Nope, before the "regime change" he was some sort of free agent for the anziani (and not a very loyal one as those who played Giovanni chronicles know). Currently he's said (so it's a rumor not a fact) to be an advisor for the Capuchin

...

[Haquim]

There's a different between building a mysterious character and just stating "in the past this vampire was worshipped as the god XXX", doing that is silly and cheap IMO, especially when you consider the game insists mankind is the one moving history forward and vampires are basically justy leeches stealing a ride. Revisited dialed back a lot of this silliness and it was well done imo....