The Hideous of Paris 1900

Paris - La Belle Époque - Nosferatu

The history of the Clan Nosferatu is a sad one. Indeed, as the numbers of the others Clans and Bloodlines increased with the time, the official numbers of the Nosferatu remained constant. The main reason behind this is the Toreador.

Because of the prejudice the high and mighty Toreador have for the monsters, they have few occasion to settle in Paris with the authorization of the Toreador Princes. Moreover, Siring in Paris is automatically out of question, as the Toreador think it to be too cruel to be inflicted on a mortal, whatever the crime they might have committed. Any, ANY Cleopatra will be the occasion for a Blood Hunt against the one who did that. No one has the right to destroy a beautiful creature on the futile reason she was vain. Almost each time it happened, the Cleopatra was mercifully destroyed, and with it, a random Nosferatu who was held in custody under the night sky until the one who did it showed himself up or the sun came up, whichever came first.

Thus, the official numbers of Nosferatu dwindled. Occasionally the Toreador approved an Embrace. But the Sire must have a great Prestation indeed from the Toreador, and the chosen Childe must be ugly enough to accept the Change without becoming mad (i.e.: welcomes it!).

The surviving ones divided themselves into two groups. The Artistes, most of them Embraced (after being judged unable to become a Toreador) or Authorized to remain in Paris because of their artistic potential, and the Normals, also called the Communs (The Commons), who would like nothing more than to harm the hated Toreador.

A third group appeared, through, and are protected by the two other groups. They are descended from a Bloodline of slaves made by the Tremere Clan who decided to hide themselves among the monsters. The Gargouilles (Gargoyles) supposedly descend from a Nosferatu whose monstrous appearance was inherited by his own Childer. The Tremere discovered rumors about them, and tried to discover them, but they always fail to find one, as they are protected by the Nosferatu. Even when the relations between the Clans Toreador and Tremere were good, the Toreador never permitted the Tremere to do much about the Gargouilles. Now, The Masques and most of all, the Veilleurs are known to go to great length to protect one from a possible Tremere discovery. But no one knows for sure why.

Because of their apparent division, even if each subclan has his own leader, the Nosferatu have not succeeded in choosing a leader who could challenge for the position of Duc. No doubt, the Toreador would object if they did. The Toreador work relentlessly to weaken the Nosferatu to avoid this horrible idea of a Nosferatu Duc coming to pass.

The power of the Nosferatu Clan in Paris is weak: First, the Clan is divided between Belphegors and Commons, and between Anarchs and Camarilla (even if this last division is not very pronounced...). But should the Clan become Noble, the division would be complete, as no one could say for sure if the remaining factions would follow the chosen Duc ... Second, Their mastery of the Obfuscate Discipline is of no use among the over-Auspexed Toreador, and their lack of social Clan Discipline, like Dominate or Presence makes their pawns easily turned against them. Normally, the Clan specialize in controlling the construction companies to create safe Havens (See Clanbook: Nosferatu: The great works of Haussman to enlarge Paris' street are believed to have helped root out some Nosferatu from their lairs), but Paris is the pet creation of Villon and his followers, and this make difficult for the Clan to create new havens under the nose of the Toreador. On the other hand, if they avoid the sewers (rumors of monsters...), they are the masters of the Catacombs, miles of tunnels running under and beyond Paris limits, which they use for transportation only: Spying on Toreador can be deadly, as they tend to discover it with Auspex.

The number of Nosferatu is decreasing, as more and more flee Paris in fear of Gorgo, She-Who-Screams-In-The-Darkness, the fabled Nictuku sent by their Antediluvian to kill the whole Bloodline. But others have stayed, and are wondering how to find and destroy the monster. Perhaps an alliance with the Veilleurs...

Organization

The Belphegors

The Nosferatu Belphegors have regular meetings.

The Nosferatu fled the zone around the Opera due to the Son of Cacophony that lives there.

Also called the Artistes, the Belphegors suffer greatly from their appearance and from the solitude, and find, in this suffering, the source of their inspiration. While they still feel themselves Nosferatu, they look at their common brethren with the same silent contempt the Toreador Artistes look at the Poseurs. They tend to avoid reveling in their ugliness, trying, instead, to drape themselves in long dark coats with hoods or great hats, as the Toreador and other Kindred can see through the Obfuscate illusions.

They are the only ones somewhat accepted among the Toreador as they have some artistic potential. Thus, they can even win some Toreador Prestige, as long as they know their rightful place (Most of the time in the far corner of the soirée).

They tend to choose their Havens in Gothic architectures, like cathedrals and other monuments. While they avoid sleeping in the Catacombs, they consider these the home of the Communs, and as through they loaned it to their lesser brethren.

• Morgane Hardy -- Dancer, singer
• Chevalier de Saint-Gorges -- Composer
• Germane Devole -- Musician (Piano)
• Pilate Andronicus -- Dancer

About the others:

• The Commons: These are our Brothers and Sisters, but we have created something from our Ugliness, and it elevates us even higher than those prideful Toreador.

The Commons create nothing but intrigues and secret trafficking.

• The Gargouilles: By what we know, the Tremere enslaved them. This is reason enough to protect them from the Warlocks. We have succeeded in helping poisoning enough of the relations between the Tremere and the Toreador to make sure the Usurpers will have a real hard time chasing those among us who are known as Gargoyles.

Note: The Belphegors can receive, at ST's discretion, the Creativity Toreador Background (found in the Clanbook: Toreador) with the following exception: instead of rolling a dice and decreasing the result by three, decrease it by five or even seven. This will keep the Creativity a Toreador Trait, while giving the Belphegor some edge over their common Berthren.

The Communs (The Commons)

The commons are normal Nosferatu. They wonder at the Belphegor's lack of common sense, and know that the Toreador distrust and hate the Nosferatu's ugliness so much they will never be considered equals (The Nosferatu's hate against the Toreador rivals their own, through...). These Nosferatu are the ones working hard to discover and making secrets circulate among the Kindred, gladly giving (at low price) any critical information that could harm the Toreador, and selling the others for Prestations that can be harvested in the future for the better of the Clan.

The Commons fears most of all the Nictuku, and there seems to be evidence of one in the city. They look the Belphegors with some kind of contempt, as they know the Belphegors are not helping the Clan in any way, nor will be prepared should a Nictiku shows himself. As Gorgo, She-Who-Scream-In-the-Dark, appeared in Paris, the Commons work twice as hard. The Belphegor's detached reaction to Gorgo's appearance still surprises the Commons.

The Havens of the Communs are generally found in the Catacombs, which have been mapped and explored so much by them no one can match their knowledge and ability to follow someone in the surface by walking in the underground streets of the Catacombs.

Their numbers is higher than the official numbers. These Nosferatu feels they need not show their true numbers, even to the other Nosferatu sub-clans, inclulding the Gargouilles. The Commun Neonates believe the Elders (and there is a great numbers of them) are planing a massive attack against the Toreador. Note that not all Neonates know about the presence of the illegal Nosferatu... Still the great numbers of homeless people and Cataphiles gives them more than enough Herd, Retainers (Human Ghouls) or even future Neonates.

-- Fra'Gerard -- Primogen of the Parisian Sewer Rats. -- Fra'Raymond -- Sewer Rat Elder and Whip to the Noferatu Primogen. -- Margaux Latour -- Sewer Rat of Paris. -- Varros Dominus -- Nosferatu Ancient computer hacker Phantomas.

About the others:

• The Belphegors: Fools. Stupid, creative, ignorant and blind fools. They forget their legacy while playing Ugly Toreador. Stupid, Creative...

• The Gargouilles: The informations they gave us about the Tremere is surprisingly accurate, and for information they traded security, so we protect them as best as we can as if they were of our Clan. And in some way, they are, if only by appearance.

The Gargouilles (The Gargoyles)

The Gargouilles are hidding in Paris. Unknown to all, they hide in the dark corners of the labyrinthine Catacombs, or in plain sight, like in the roofs of Catherdrals. Etc.. Most of them learnt the Obfuscate Discipline from the Nosferatu.

• Gaston Hideux --
• Khaar -- A large 7'2" basalt colored gargoyle, short horns that extend perpendicular to the floor.
• Machlah -- A medium 6' 3" sized female gargoyle, grey and white like gneiss. Her eyes are red, her horns black.
• Avendah -- A large female gargoyle, dark marbled color, curved horns to the front.
• Gomer -- A large male, with an almost bearlike face, short stubby horns up front. Hairlike protuberances all over his body.
• Feddle -- A panther-like creature, eyes that glow like little diamonds in the light.
• Limid -- A lion-like match to Feddle

About the others:

• The Belphegors: They seem to follow a way that isn't theirs. I fear for their future.
• The Commons: They are searching for something... If they only told us what, perhaps we could help them...

The Jyhad of the Nosferatu

Varros Dominus is aware of something powerful in the city hunting Nosferatu. Varros is trying to convince the other Communs that they need to begin to work together to find and destroy this threat.

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Gorgo, the Nictuku, appeared in Paris in 1900. Gorgo has begun hunting the Nosferatu of the city, slowly taking them one at a time.

-- Gorgo -- She-Screams-In-The-Dark