Vampires are an immortal race of undead first started by Count Dracula. At the time Dracula was better known as Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler, a Prince of Wallachia who lived from 1431 to 1476. Best known for the cruelty of his reign he was greatly disliked but he served as a sort of buffer between Europe and the Ottoman invaders and this made him key to the European defense. Vlad did not restrict his killing however to his enemies. He also had a habit of pillaging certain towns under his rule and murdering a great number of his own subjects. True to his name most of his victims were impaled. He fulfilled this purpose well killing so many Turks that the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II laid siege on Vlad's castle himself. It was at this point when his castle began to fall that Vlad turned to the dark powers and made a pact with the Astaroth. In exchange for immortality they made him into something unholy. The Turks succeeded in capturing Vlad's castle and burned out his eyes and buried him alive. The next day however he arose as the first Vampire. He returned to his castle and killed all the Turks and then his own people.
Under the command of Dracula the houses of the Vampire Nation are ruled by codes of severe ritualistic beliefs and extreme obedience to him. Failure to follow his will results in severe punishments, mostly mutilation or even death. The rules of the Nation dictate that its members must not live among the human pestilence, instead dwelling underground and visiting the surface only to feed or sire new vampires. Their underground existence is marked by observation of vampire rituals and religion, especially the tribute of the Old Ones, the original pure breed demons that ruled the Earth in its beginnings. The brethren of the Nation consider themselves to be the elite of the vampire race, destined to usher in the return of the Old Ones and the destruction of mankind regarded by the Nation as little more than animals, a plague of boils covering the earth.
In recent times some of the Houses have begun to rebel and follow their own path. There is now open war within the Vampire Nation.
| Astaroth |
This House has lower standards than any of the others, and will let outcasts join their ranks. They are in every country and worship one of the first races of the universe; the Astaroths. Their worship hideously deforms them, twisting them into literal monsters. The House has a reputation for information brokering and harvesting of secrets, as their horrid appearances have forced them to perfect their mystical ability to hide, sometimes in plain sight. Nothing is beneath them in serving their masters. |
| Bhuta |
| This House dominates the Asian countries and the subcontinent. They are proficient killers and many work for the Guild of Assassins. Strong and agile possessing unusual stamina, they are the only members that do not cast a shadow. Trafficking in the commodity of souls has given this clan a disproportionate amount of power, while trafficking in world finance has given them almost sickening wealth. Other Houses are loath to trust the Bhuta who seem to be using their influence toward some unknown end. Part of their unhealthy reputation stems from the fact that it is a very insular clan, drawing almost all its members from its incestuous mortal family. |
| Chthon |
| Based in the African nations the Chthonians are elitists who consider themselves the leaders of the Vampire Nation, though this position is not universally accepted. The house was founded by an ancient deity known as Chthon who is reputed to have created the vampire race, his sword became their sacred relic. The House of Chthon has a violent history, and many of their purebloods were slain in a past war against the House of Astaroth. Inventors and practitioners of terrible blood magicks, the secretive Chthon have a tightly knit political structure based on the acquisition of power, as well as a fanatical clan loyalty, practically unknown to any other clan. |
| C'rnobog |
The House of C'rnobog hails from Eastern Europe and are some of the wealthiest industrialists in the Vampire Nation. Possessed of a peculiar nobility, coupled with an evil that transcends mortal perception, this clan rejects all things human. Certain Kindred apocrypha claims that the Tzimisce was once the most powerful clan in the world, but that history and other Kindred conspired to bring it down to its current state. Moreso than any other vampires, they revel in their monstrousness. they practice a 'fleshcrafting' Discipline that they use to disfigure their foes and sculpt themselves into beings of terrible beauty. |
| Kerberos |
The Kerberos are mainly in South America and have links with werewolves. No other house has earned such a deserved reputation for cannibalism among vampires. They also sell their murderous services to others acting as contract killers. |
| Lilin |
The Lilin are found mostly in the Mediterranean area and were originally evil spirits that inhabited corpses and turned the dead into immortal night stalkers. Known for their ability to seduce their prey, they are beautiful denizens of the dark and frequent underground raves and Goth clubs. The Lilin are spurned due to their reputations as thieves and vagrants. |
| Prakul |
| Spreading across North America the Prakul claim to have created and have supported the organization of vampires as a whole since the idea's inception. Once philosopher kings of Mesopotamia, Persia and Babylon, they controlled an empire that spanned the cradle of civilization and collected lore and knowledge from around the world. They actively involve themselves in every aspect of vampiric society, in which they exercise their considerable influence over the doings of humans as well. |
| Sutekh |
This house is dominant in the Middle East region and is supposedly one of most extreme groups of vampires there is as they use suicide bombers and some of the vampires in this clan have cybernetic limbs. They are also heavily involved in genetic engineering. They worship the deity Set, serving him in all their efforts. The Sutekh seem intent on corrupting others, enslaving victims in snares of their own weakness, but for what inscrutable purpose, none can guess. Other Houses claim to despise them yet secretly seek out them out as they are whispered to possess arcane gifts and secrets from elder nights. |