Rewarding Research
We’ ll Drink Anything
REDCAP NIGHTCAP HOT OF RUM, AND DOSED WITH A DRIZZLE OF ASSAMITE JUS; THIS COMPLEX MIXTURE IS ONLY SERVED IN ONE LIBRARY— THE RENOWNED NE
Redcap Nightcap
n FOR A FLAVOR YOU WANT TO SAVOR, YOU CAN DO A LOT WORSE THAN THE REDCAP NIGHTCAP. LIQUID DREAMS SQUEEZED FROM THE HEARTS OF FAIRIES, MIXED WITH A SHOT OF RUM, AND DOSED WITH A DRIZZLE OF ASSAMITE JUS; THIS COMPLEX MIXTURE IS ONLY SERVED IN ONE LIBRARY— THE RENOWNED NEST IN NAIROBI, KENYA, WHERE ISANWAYEN PLAYS HOST.
Rewarding Research
We’ re unashamedly obsessed with knowledge. We hunt it, study it, experiment with it, store it, and occasionally trade it. Contrary to popular opinion, only some of us are fulltime librarians. We’ re as prone to wanderlust as any vampire; possibly more so. Yes, our eldritch appearances hinder visiting overpopulated areas, but we’ ve never liked crowds. Too much filth and disease.
Kiasyd the world over make expeditions to the darkest tombs and most obscure libraries. Odd little curiosity shops nobody visits are our catnip.( Cats are tidy creatures, by the way. Keep them around your haven, if you don’ t mind scratched furniture.) There’ s no crevice we won’ t probe for hidden knowledge, you understand. We thirst for knowledge.
Our drive to learn and experiment comes from many sources. Some Kiasyd pursue knowledge to become fat spiders in the center of sprawling information networks. Returning to my original point; truth is a dangerous thing, and when you know everyone’ s secrets, the Jyhad becomes your plaything. Our powers enable us to command others to tell us their most deep-seated fears and discern lies with ease.
Those of us who follow Marconius’ lead still desire to create something new, and better than our current form— a supreme life, an apex predator, a being existing in both dreams and wakefulness. We track down myths of chimera— no Tzimisce fleshcrafted dross— and seek to surpass their perfection. In this, we find common cause with the Ravnos and their antitribu. Our association with the Deceivers has increased in recent time.
Ravnos possess a power that should be ours. This isn’ t accusation of theft as much as statement of fact. The Ravnos can access dreams as if they were tangible; forming illusions with thoughts and fists. Yet they do not know dreams like we know dreams. Nightmares aren’ t in their blood. It’ s become a priority among our kind to help Ravnos in need, and aim to receive tutelage in their arts of illusion. Your kinsman Bartholomew theorizes if we could master it, we would elevate ourselves to a new form of being.
One truth that became a lie surrounds our former proficiency in the arts of necromancy. We never became masters of the dark arts, but it was an experiment we chose to pursue in the cause of advancement. Alas, our studies were far from profitable. We drew the beady eye of Giovanni, and our new allies, the Harbingers of Skulls. Threats of violence were leveled, and we were told, in no uncertain terms, it wasn’ t our province. Bartholomew was the first to concede such accusations were correct; we are not necromancers. Indeed, according to him, we never practiced necromancy. We’ ve denied dabbling in necromancy ever since, and will do so until these lies become truth.
We’ ll Drink Anything
Don’ t be mistaken; we don’ t feed from beggars and drug-addicts. Some experiences aren’ t worth sampling. For such a low test, you pay some indolent Pander to drink the blood for you, and watch the effects it has on his awareness, form, and mood.
No, we Kiasyd are alchemists, and our bodies are the mixing bowls. Our forms are changed at the point of Embrace, just as Marconius’ was from the time he ventured into the Abyss and drank portions of creatures fair and foul. We would change ourselves further. Lupine, changeling, magus, demon— all are palatable. The cocktails we mix are art to behold. We compete regularly with one another on who can craft the next exciting concoction, and record the effects it has on the drinker. The next Great Symposium will be as much about sampling vintages as it will be about comparing books.
There’ s a school of thought among some Kiasyd that each Clan offers a different taste to the drinker. It’ s not as simple as Brujah tasting fiery and Ventrue tasting cool; there are pronounced variations in the blood. Several Kiasyd now make a hobby of capturing Cainites just to sample them. A brew of unadulterated Toreador in a glass is very different to a goblet of one part Giovanni, two parts Lasombra. Trust me.
As with many aspects of our bloodline, differences in drinking preferences have caused rifts. A Kiasyd cocktail club in Kraków formally declared war on another in Osaka, not that the two will ever meet. Apparently, their disagreement stems from their differing thoughts on vitae quality from a vampire donor exposed to the sun’ s rays. Such a minor thing, but we all want to be right.
LORE OF THE BLOODLINES 57