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For those who don't know, the Ceceya are one of the Lost Clans presented in Half Damned (which we may hopefully see in more details in Spilled Blood). In the book, the Ceceya are presented as a clan which ruled during the Aztec Empire, fighting "midnight wars" against the rest of the clans and conquering them as they believed the whole world was theirs to rule.
Now, on the surface, it seems like that new lost clan clash against the material which shows up in Shadows of Mexico- according to it, there were only 4 clans before the coming of the Spaniards, with the Xotoli (which were Nosferatu like clan, only even more terrifying) being extinct event before that event. However, in the Ventrue section of the book, it does mention the existence of a fifth clan- a tyrant clan which was destroyed by the hands of their own mortal slaves.Now, when you think about it, it seems like the Ceceya could be a perfect fit for that nameless clan- a tyrannical line of undead monsters who believed themselves to be the kings of the night in ancient Mesoamerica? sounds like a perfect fit. Well, almost.
The first problem is that according to Shadows of Mexico, the nameless clan was lost long before Spaniards came to ancient Mexico, long enough for all to forget their name. In Half Damned, however, the Ceceya were destroyed by the Spaniard vampires themselves (with the help of the oppressed local clans), and were later revived as a Dynasty by a failed Cruac ritual preformed by a dhampir carrying the blood of those ancient dead- so not that long ago. Now, we could simply say that this is a part where 2e change things from 1e, but it may have another explanation. After all, in SoM, the "nameless clan" story was mostly used as a cautionary tale, a warning. Saying that the Ceceya were not loved by the other clan would be an understatement. As such, it would make sense that the clans of that Era would do their best to erase the memory of the clan which they helped to destroy- especially since, as it turned out, by doing so they allowed the Ventrue to take over in their place- and calling that a "messing up" would big even bigger understatement. From here, we can see that the vampires of Mexico have enough reasons to try to erase the existence of the Ceceya- both for their hatred toward the tyrant clan, and both for the fact that it reminds them how they helped their own future enslavers to take over. As such, that only make sense for the Ceceya to be reduced to nothing more than a strange tale about undead vampires existing in a cursed city- that is, until someone was foolish enough to awaken the old blood back to undeath.
The second problem is that the european vampires (a.k.a, the Ventrue), are presented as "new and strange" in the eyes of the Ceceya. That makes me think that the original tyrants of Mexico didn't had Dominate as their signature discipline. As SoM doesn't explicitly say that the lost clan had Dominate, it does say that the most common belief is that they were Ventrue like. Again, the modern Kindred have reasons to forget their history and mix truth with fiction, and the Ceceya does feel close to the Ventrue on a thematic level. Perhaps they did had Dominate, but only in some variant form (as some people have suggested to make the Pijavicia's Protean)? Or maybe their discipline was similar to Dominate, yet still different? Or maybe it was an whole different thing, and they simply occupied the same niche while having some truly distinct powers? And maybe, just maybe, the "new and strange" thing is not reference to the blood magics of the Ceceya at all, and the blood tyrant knew Dominate just as well as the invading Ventrue?
So- what do you think?
Now, on the surface, it seems like that new lost clan clash against the material which shows up in Shadows of Mexico- according to it, there were only 4 clans before the coming of the Spaniards, with the Xotoli (which were Nosferatu like clan, only even more terrifying) being extinct event before that event. However, in the Ventrue section of the book, it does mention the existence of a fifth clan- a tyrant clan which was destroyed by the hands of their own mortal slaves.Now, when you think about it, it seems like the Ceceya could be a perfect fit for that nameless clan- a tyrannical line of undead monsters who believed themselves to be the kings of the night in ancient Mesoamerica? sounds like a perfect fit. Well, almost.
The first problem is that according to Shadows of Mexico, the nameless clan was lost long before Spaniards came to ancient Mexico, long enough for all to forget their name. In Half Damned, however, the Ceceya were destroyed by the Spaniard vampires themselves (with the help of the oppressed local clans), and were later revived as a Dynasty by a failed Cruac ritual preformed by a dhampir carrying the blood of those ancient dead- so not that long ago. Now, we could simply say that this is a part where 2e change things from 1e, but it may have another explanation. After all, in SoM, the "nameless clan" story was mostly used as a cautionary tale, a warning. Saying that the Ceceya were not loved by the other clan would be an understatement. As such, it would make sense that the clans of that Era would do their best to erase the memory of the clan which they helped to destroy- especially since, as it turned out, by doing so they allowed the Ventrue to take over in their place- and calling that a "messing up" would big even bigger understatement. From here, we can see that the vampires of Mexico have enough reasons to try to erase the existence of the Ceceya- both for their hatred toward the tyrant clan, and both for the fact that it reminds them how they helped their own future enslavers to take over. As such, that only make sense for the Ceceya to be reduced to nothing more than a strange tale about undead vampires existing in a cursed city- that is, until someone was foolish enough to awaken the old blood back to undeath.
The second problem is that the european vampires (a.k.a, the Ventrue), are presented as "new and strange" in the eyes of the Ceceya. That makes me think that the original tyrants of Mexico didn't had Dominate as their signature discipline. As SoM doesn't explicitly say that the lost clan had Dominate, it does say that the most common belief is that they were Ventrue like. Again, the modern Kindred have reasons to forget their history and mix truth with fiction, and the Ceceya does feel close to the Ventrue on a thematic level. Perhaps they did had Dominate, but only in some variant form (as some people have suggested to make the Pijavicia's Protean)? Or maybe their discipline was similar to Dominate, yet still different? Or maybe it was an whole different thing, and they simply occupied the same niche while having some truly distinct powers? And maybe, just maybe, the "new and strange" thing is not reference to the blood magics of the Ceceya at all, and the blood tyrant knew Dominate just as well as the invading Ventrue?
So- what do you think?
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