The Kiasyd: A View from Without
by: Helix for Sanguinus Curae |
Kiasyd. Weirdlings. Darklings. Pick your moniker for the line of vampires that is no longer fully Kindred. At the best of times reclusive, at the worst of times wrathful, the Kiasyd bloodline is known for being made up of dangerously quiet scholars. The Kiasyd resemble the Fae of old. Every last one of the Weirdlings undergoes a change upon the Embrace. They elongate, becoming gaunt and tall, even by Kindred standards. Their skin becomes a chalky white, and their eyes cloud over with a shadowy blackness that hides whatever color they may have been previously. They are amazingly rare, and even more confusing in their mannerisms, contrasting heavily with their Sabbat brethren. The Kiasyd hold a very peculiar niche in the World of Darkness.
The Kiasyd's past is lost to the centuries. Those who seek knowledge of the Weirdling's past are better suited to seek out sources outside the bloodline, as the Kiasyd rarely speak of themselves, and direct questioning of a Weirdling could be seen as prying. The few that have heard of the Kiasyd point towards the Keepers, and whisper of deals with Demons, the Shadow Court of the fae, and Teutonic Magi. Whatever the source, every last Weirdling shares their Lasombra parents ability to manipulate the shadows of the earth with Obtenebration. As the Lasombra rarely, if ever, share this clan trademark, most kindred see this as concrete evidence of the Kiasyd's Lasombra parentage. Unlike their parents however, Kiasyd are passive scholars, with a viscously territorial streak. They rarely participate in Sabbat matters, and almost never join war packs.
Unlike the Lasombra , these vampires do not revel in politics, or in their vampire natures. In a world of violence and pain, the Kiasyd have drawn into their massive libraries, and the thirst for knowledge that seems to plague those of the line. Where Setites deal, and the Malkavians tease, the Kiasyd horde, sharing only with fellow Weirdlings, in a massive clan meeting every 50 years. Due to their reclusive nature, and their even odder habit of only allowing two of the line to live in any one city, little is known of the line, and in fact, few vampires of recent creation even know that the Kiasyd exist. Add in the fact that the Kiasyd rarely leave their havens, and you have a line of vampires whose obscurity could rival that of the Baali. The Kiasyd themselves are very loosely organized. Each to their own studies, however morbid or righteous they may be. The clan seems to have no organized goal to their research, but this does not stop the Kiasyd from accumulating information and at times, artifacts, that most Elders would give their hearts to possess. The clan does come together once every 50 years, in Strasbourg, Germany. Sometimes outsiders are invited, but they are expected to act according to the Weirdling's odd codes of conduct. Punishments for breaking the codes (which are all but unknown outside the bloodline) range from snubbing to unbreakable curses.
The Kiasyd, all in all, are hard to find, and even harder to contact. If you see two together, it's more than likely the event of an Elder training her childe, who may stay with the sire for up to 50 years. Due to their recluse natures, meeting one should never be considered coincidence. If you come to converse with one of the Kiasyd, it's because something is needed from you, or because the Kiasyd wants it to be.
Kiasyd: The Fae Perspective
by: Jimbo for Sanguinus Curae |
"Alright Childlings, you listen up. The Duke told me to educate you on the Kiasyd, so that's what I'm going to do. Now sit down, and be quiet while I talk. No, you can't go to the bathroom. What are Kiasyd? Boy, you guys don't know anything, do you? Ok, the Kiasyd are a type of vampires who have special powers related to us, the Fae. They can see into the dreaming, and some can even enter it. They affect glamour and have all manner of weird powers, as well as the usual host of Vampiric Powers. This is from a Discipline they call Mytherceria.
"Where do they get their powers? Well, no one really knows. Some say that it was a ritual involving taking Fae blood and mixing it with their own. Others say that it was just from the eldest Kiasyd drinking too much Fae blood. Personally, I think that it was a gift. Yes, a gift. I think that, long ago, the Fae gave a group of Vampires special power over Glamour and the Dreaming, and now they have chosen to abuse it. However, their origins don't matter. What matters, and what the Duke has asked me to teach you, is what they are now. The Kiasyd are peculiar Vampires. They don't get out much, but when they do, watch out. They have a taste for Fae blood. Some drink only Fae blood. This may be the source of their power, even.
"Sit down, boy!! You look ready to charge off after the whole bloodline yourself. Yes, we Fae are strong, but the Kiasyd have powers all their own. They can burrow into the ground and be unpursuable by us, or can leave even the wisest Fae helplessly stumped for hours on end with their riddles. How do I know? I know from experience, childling, and if you will all sit still long enough, I'll tell you.
"Back when I was a young Wylder... yes, still older than the lot of you... I was a Knight in the service of my Duke. It came to pass that unexplained things started happening to Changelings. They turned up dead, drained of their blood. Worse, it seemed that they hadn't even put up a fight. Obviously, we assumed Vampires, but never like this. Usually, we fight back, you know? So the Duke put me, the local Troll Knight, on the case. I looked around in all the usual vampire places, and finally I found what I was looking for. I saw a vampire attacking a pooka. Yet, all the vampire did was speak, and the pooka just sat, dumbfounded, and let the vampire feed!!
"Obviously, I interceded, and only by the greatest of luck saved the Pooka, only to discover that she wouldn't move!! All she did was think, think, think of the solution to a riddle, for hours before she figured out the answer. It was then that I saw that I was out of my league. I did some research, and educated the Duke on what the Kiasyd are. Vampires with a taste for Fae Blood, that's the short version. Worse, we couldn't get rid of them!! Our arts were no match for their disciplines, not when they had Mytherceria to recognize us on sight!!
"So how did we get rid of them? Hmph. WE didn't. The Sabbat lost control of the area and the Kiasyd left with them. You Childlings take my advice. You see a Kiasyd, you run. You hear of one, you run. A regular vampire, we can take. But the Kiasyd... they know who we are, what we are, and why we are, and they can pick us out of a crowd. Just stay out of their way. End of Lesson. Class Dismissed. Yes, that means you can go to the bathroom now."
-Sir Eric Redson
Troll Grump
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