Thread: Butt Ugly 101 (atn: All Newly Embraced Nos)

Christopher Slade walks in, wondering briefly why he has been summoned, he is wearing his usual, though he will be unmasked if he knows it's okay. "you called me?"

Peyton walks in and immediately sits down as close to Nate as she can. She waits and watches for any of the others that enter.

"Yes, please come in and sit down. Ideally we'll have a few others joining us shortly. I think we have one other... I'll give them just a little bit longer before we begin because tonight and over the course of the coming nights, I'm going to teach all of you a little bit about our clan."

Chris sits down, "if you mean my brother, I believe he is still indisposed at the moment, I can relay the lesson to him later if you want."

Calhoun nods. "Alright so, I've brought you hear to talk a little bit about our clan, it's origins, and what you need to know to survive from this night forward."

"First and foremost, you are a Nosferatu, one of 13 clans -that we know of, which descend from the first vampire Caine. This biblical progenitor, if you don't know, was cursed by god after killing his brother Abel. This was, if you buy into the story, the first murder and so being a vampire was the price of his crime and now you... are part of that lineage."

"The further one is from Caine, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, great-great-grand-child ... often determines the potential for power one can have... at least where the powers we possess are concerned. We measure these steps from Caine in Generations. For example, if someone were Caine's great-great-grandchild they would be of the 5th Generation. If someone where Caine's child they would be of the 2nd Generation and so on."

"Now, before you ask... no, I have no idea if Caine is alive, where he is, or if it's even true that we descend from him. It's rather like humans saying they come from Adam and Eve. Many believe it but, we're short on proof. However, if it makes you sleep easier during the days to have some thought of where we come from... then the story has done it's job."

"Now as I said, you are a Nosferatu and," he chuckles, "You may have noticed that we're a bit uglier than all the other vampires you've met. Well... that's because Caine's grandkids, the Antedulluvians, pissed caine off one night and he cursed them each with a unique affliction. Again, I don't have proof that this is how it happened ... there's no one to ask so... take it as it is, a story."

"Anyway, the grandkid you descend from - that all Nosferatu descend from, got the unique joy of being cursed with wearing his sins on the outside and all those who descend from him, share his curse. This, is why we are ugly."

"Unfair, right? I mean some loser pisses off our mythical progenitor and we all get the short end of the stick, right? Well... maybe. The truth is that misery loves company and you will never find a clan of more united kindred than the Nosferatu. We may never win a beauty contest but you know what you get when you deal with us for the most part. No one but your clanmates will ever know the hell you suffered for three nights or more after your embrace. While the other clans might have had that pain for only a few minutes as their bodies died... you and I know a suffering that only other nosferatu can identify with. And honestly, in a lot of ways, it didn't end with our change."

"Take comfort in your clanmates, find strength in our unity and ability to work together. Now..." He walks over to his book shelf and produces a leather bound book for each of you. The books have blank pages with no lines. Each latches shut and can be locked with a small padlock.

"Homework. I want each of you to write about your life before the change, your change, and what you think it all means. It's a big topic and so it might be hard to write about but, it's good to take a look back and consider what really changed about you since becoming what you are... chances are more has changed than just your looks. What does it mean to be a nosferatu... take some time to think about it and tomorrow night, come back and we'll discuss it further."

((oc: As part of getting this lore, we're going to give little writing projects. Reply to this post with what would be your journal entry. It doesn't matter how much you write, how good you write, any of that... I'd just like you to give some thought to how the curse of ugliness has changed or effected your character making them into someone other than who they were as a human. It's a hugely truamatic change after all! Once you've all replied I'll go on with the next part of the lesson. When we're done with all the lessons, you'll get Nos Lore Lvl 1 for free! ))

journal entry
~~~
Well, I myself can't yet see to many negetive changes in myself, through the change, I have gained more self control, as well as a closer bond to my emotions.

My previous job, my... missions, no longer appeal to me as they once did, not that I liked them to begin with, but I always went back to them.

there have been negetive effects to becoming a vampire, a nosferatu, but those things have not effected me to the point of change, if anything, they made me more myself.

I imagine as I grow and age in this new life, this will not always be the case, but those are trials I will face as they arive, for now I am me, and I intend to keep it that way.

~Journal entry~

Nate told us tonight about how we are cursed with our ugliness because of something that Caine's grandkids did that pissed him off. Yeah it seems unfair, but it's not like I was all that pretty to start with.

I was the girl with the mousy brown hair, the average looks, behind a pile of books, always in the top 10 of my classes and never been kissed. I didn't have friends, or family...just my pets. Then that night when I was used as a blood pool and Nate saved me and turned me into this...

Now I'm stuck with the spok ears, bald, no breasts...at least before this change I would have had a chance to get kissed, but not now. I don't think I'll ever have love. I mean who would love this? I've got bugs living in and on my skin! I'm disgusting to look at...but there are some perks.

I have a family now, and friends I have Nate and Otto. Now there's also Chris, Elizabeth, Caiaphas and Droz. They say that there's more Nos in the city so I guess I'll have to wait to meet them. I have Herman, so I still have my pet. I can make myself look normal, so I could probably still go to school...if Nate will let me.

I'm always going to be 21, and those girls that used to pick on me will get old. I guess I have that going for me. There's a lot the Nos have going for them. Yeah I sleep in the sewers, but it's HUGE down here! It's like the tunnels in Harry Potter that lead from the castle to other locations. I can get anywhere I want to with no traffic.

There's so much to learn, but life is almost normal, it's just a different sleep schedule now.

"Very good journal enteries. Now..." Calhoun says, as he returns to the room a few nights later and you turn in your reports for him to read. "Let's talk about disciplines."

"Disciplines, as you're already learned, are something of magic powers that each vampire learns over time. Three different disciplines are native to every clan and bloodline that exists - rumored to have first been mastered by the grandchilder of Caine from whom we descend. Some clans have powers that are more rare than others but, each one's power is appropriate to their need for survival."

He takes a piece of chalk and writes on a blackboard in big letters, "Obfuscate, Animalisim, and Potence."

"Obfuscation." He turns to look at you both, "... is the power to hide whether through invisability of self, group, location or objects or simply changing appearances of physical body or spirit. That's right I said spirit, we'll get to that another night but needless to say that every power we're going to talk about, becomes more esoteric and powerful the further into it's mastery you go."

He numbers 2 on his fingers, "Animalisim or the ability speak to, control, and possess not just animals but the animalistic nature inside us that makes us want to flee, feed, or rage. Very useful."

He numbers 3 on his fingers, "And lastly Potence. Supernatural strength of arms. Break stones, metal, and more... depending on your generation, you could do some serious damage with your bear hands. I've seen dump trucks thrown, over-passes punched through... I have even see a woman who could blink her eyes and a man twenty feet away had his head explode. Incredible force of body and energy... mass... like physics."

Calhoun sits on the edge of his desk. "With the right discipline powers a nosferatu could...." Calhoun vanishes in front of you both. For a moment you can't remember what you were doing here. Was there someone you were suppose to see?

Calhoun reappears just behind you. "Disappear without a trace right before someone's eyes and make them forget you were ever there." He turns and leans close to Peyton, appearing as Brad Pitt as he does so, "Look and sound like someone's wildest fantasy," and as he turns to Chris he appears a horrific burn victim, skin charred and blackened. "Or their worst nightmare."

He stands and walks away from them both and back to desk. "With animalisim I could ask rats to tell me the events across town, I could command them to bring things to me, or do tasks I need done ... within the limits of their intelligence, of course. Clearly they can't type a term paper for me but, they might bring me food or be my food if I was too busy to go out hunting. And, in time, if I mastered animalisim I might be able to command the beast within you to fear or rage or calm you when you've entered a state of frenzy."

"Potence is pretty simplistic, as far as powers go... most people don't have trouble understanding it and so it comes easily to them. It will also come easily to anyone you ghoul."

He writes on the blackboard. "Ghoul." He turns around, "Ghouls are living creatures, either humans or animals, who have tasted kindred blood thusly making them devestatingly loyal to the person whose blood they've had."

"In many cases these things come to learn one of our powers and with Nosferatu ghouls that power is usually potence. Be warned though, making ghouls is dangerous and complex. It might seem a good idea at first thought to make an army of creatures who are strong and loyal to you but... you must give a ghoul blood every month and this can be taxing. Ghouls become addicted to our blood and this causes them to act irrationally and makes them volitile. A bad mix when said ghoul is incredibly strong. And lastly... in the case of nosferatu, many of our ghouls will pick up part of our curse from the blood and may become unattractive or even deformed so long as our blood is in their system... not great to have a ghoul'd supermodel if she's eventually going to have her hair fall out, right?"

"Ghouls aside, and back to Potence - and my point, while it's an easy power to learn... it's also a really difficult one to live with. Your potence is always there. Touch a delicate flower having learned too much potence and you may crumble it without meaning to. Holding a wine glass, difficult at best. These things would be annoying, could cause you or your ghoul to frenzy if you're not careful... but it's nothing compared to the first time you try to hug a small child and crush their rib cage by barely touching them or when you leave a bruise from a gentle kiss on the cheek."

He shakes his head. "You can master how not to do this, in time but a careless moment, a moment of passion or rage... and something you love or value could be gone forever."

Calhoun pauses and let's this sink in. "Our powers are a blessing, they make our nights more tollerable but they can be as much a part of your curse as your appearance." He steps towards the class again.

"For tonight's homework I want each of you to consider the disciplines we've discussed and how it is they each give our clan an edge and helps us to survive. Write one example of how a nosferatu could use each discipline in your journal and bring it back tomorrow night. Also... take a little time to practice your disciplines. You can also write a little about your experimentations in your books if you like."

((OoC: Vampire disciplines are for more than just combat! Get creative and try to think of how your character might actually use your in clan disciplines of Potence, Animalisim, and Obfuscation on any given night. There probably isn't a wrong answer per say but the exercise here is meant to encourage you to think outside the box when it comes to powers. Obviously potence might be used in a fight... but what else could you do with it as a nosferatu? And, if you'd like to write your reply/journal as if you're actually trying out each example, feel free to do that. Have fun with it. Once you've replied I'll post the third and final lesson. Great job so far gang!))