Saber de lineas de sangre 344257123-V20-Lore-of-the-Bloodlines-11056187-pdf | Page 85

comes to me in her dreams and tells
her favorite son she needs you to pro
her a favor.”
vide
Agau removed the glove. The hand it
the exposed hand flexed, Charles felt protected was shriveled and grey. When the fingers on
a sickly grey arm. Charles brushed awa his throat catch. Agau pushed up the sleeve, exposing
y the bone he thought he saw poking
as a trick of the moonlight.
through the skin
“Whichever comes first,” said Agau as
he sliced his wrist with a razor he pul
led from his boot.
Charles’ eyes widened as thick blo
od
ooz
ed
fro
m
the
wound. Agau produced a ceramic
cup from underneath his long leathe
r
coa
t.
The
blo
od
cra
wled down Agau’s forearm like a
lazy spider until it plopped into the
cup.
“How much?” asked Charles. “Uh, in
total?”
Agau held out the cup with his expose
d hand. The rotting fingers delicately
handle. Agau’s extended what remain
gripped the
ed of his pinky.
“Do you want her dead or not?” ask
ed Agau.
Charles took the tea cup into his trembl
ing hands, forcing himself not to look dow
n as he drank.
Digging Up the Past
Our origins are wrapped in the origins of vodou, voudoun,
hoodoo, or voodoo — take your pick. The many ways to
say and spell it should be the first hint of how adaptable
we are. These faiths arose because the authorities running
the slave trades forbade African religious rituals. The slaves
created a new faith based on ideas from West African
spirituality, Roman Catholicism, European mysticism,
and even a few Masonic ideals. If you think there’s no
difference between these faiths, ask your Christian friends
whether the Catholics, the Baptists, and the Methodists
are all the same.
Our bloodline was born out of the slave trade that fueled
North American expansion. The plantation owners of the
Caribbean brutalized their workers during the day, and we
terrorized the workers at night. We took advantage of the
isolated locations to become small kings of petty domains.
Travelling by boat was a treacherous proposition at the time.
Weeks in cramped quarters with few spaces untouched
by the sun aboard a vessel vulnerable to fire meant most
Kindred claimed whatever small piece of solid land they
touched as soon as possible. A rare few were able to adapt
seized ships from slavers and took to the sea as pirates.
Our unfortunate appearance often makes other Kindred
think we’re Nosferatu. They were certainly on the slave
ships, preying on the unfortunates huddled in the holds.
I’ll admit, I’ve taken advantage of the confusion, especially
84
when passing through a domain where I don’t feel like
answering too many questions about who I am and what
I’m doing there. You have to be careful, when dealing with
the sewer rats, however. They may want you to think they
are piteous and harmless, but they can be just as vicious
as the pretty ones when push comes to shove.
There was another Clan that rivaled the Nosferatu’s
terrible visage; one whose name we don’t even mention.
They were also associated with death for most of their
existence. And yet, if we were truly descended from them,
why not just claim their name and all the glory and prestige
associated with it? Because nothing comes for free. Those
that came before had their own baggage. We don’t need to
make claims to a long dead Clan, and we certainly don’t
need the problems that such an ego boost brings with it.
Speaking of problems… This shall-not-be-named Clan was
supposedly the one that the Giovanni usurped within the
last millennium. The old necromancers walked between the
living and the dead. They could control those spirits weak
enough (or foolish enough) to let themselves be bound,
and perhaps could have even done more, had they not
been so distracted by their earthly whims. That is why we
respect the loa, while not having any real use for ghosts or
their puppet-masters. Mere ghosts are just the reflections
of humans unable to outrun death. The loa have existed
forever and shown the cleverness needed to take power as
gods. The Giovanni had potential, but instead squandered
it on fine clothes, foolish vices, and selfish desires.
SAMEDI