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Epilogue

Written in Cuneiform on fine vellum in onyx black ink.

29th of September -- 2197 of the Common Era

For posterity, my name is Narbonidas, sorcerer and scion of the Banu Haqim, and the last liche of the Tal'mahe'Ra. Most of the others are already gone. I and my retinue remain behind, along with the attendants of the Library of Brujah in an attempt to save as much of the library as is possible. The process is ponderously difficulty, as only a tiny fraction of the documents contained within can be transported back to earth in the short time remaining. Those among the Hatif most skilled of in ghost discipline of Argos inform me that the storm-front of the Eighth Great Maelstrom will be upon Enoch in less that seven Earth days. While the hatif librarians furiously sort through thousands of years of Cainite history and the Shiqq attendants try to help them, I remain in my chambers attempting to chronicle the events that have led to these dark nights.

In the mundane world, only seven days ago, Augustus Giovanni besieged in Venice by a cabalistic alliance of the last surviving Cappadocians, the Sabbat's Harbinger's of Skulls and of all things, the Samedi, unleashed his entropic magnum opus, the Ritual of the Long Night. While the Hand has received conflicting reports, more accounts report Augustus dead or diablerized at the hands of a surviving cabal member whose identity remains for the present unknown. Perhaps Augustus sensed his impending fate and triggered the ritual granting the Cappadocian coalition a ferric victory or more likely, the ritual was keyed to his destruction as a retributive counter-strike.

Whatever the case, the Shroud between the world of the living and the Underworld has been torn asunder. Those reports that have successfully arrived from Earth paint a catastrophic picture. Without the Shroud to hold back the Dead, they have manifested themselves across the surface of the globe, and their sudden and unprecedented appearance have shaken the pillars of the 22nd century. Everywhere human governments crumble under the weight of mass hysteria, mortals flock to religious institutions who can offer little or no succor and everywhere chaos spirals out of control. The race of Cain do what they have always done, the youth battle each other in the streets regardless of the Masquerade, while the elders look to their own survival and the ancients are going underground to sleep away the worst of this age. Of the Antediluvians there is no sign.

But, all is not yet lost, those of the True Brujah and the Banu Haqim have contrived a means to send a coterie of the most trusted Hand-members back through history to the dawn of the 21st century in an attempt to thwart this disaster. While the details are too complicated to record here, the sorcerers of Banu Haqim will cast a ritual called "Turn Back the Skies" while the eldest of the True Brujah wield their unique discipline of Temporis in unison, in the hopes that those who are transported into the past can save humanity and the Tal'meh'Ra from this apocalyptic fate. The Del'Roh in consultation with we three Liches has agreed to this most desperate plan. In the attempt to ensure success, the plan has incorporated several levels of redundancy and as such, several coteries and elders are being sent back with key historic details and critical targets that should set history on a safer track. If this gamble should fail, civilization as we know it will fall, plunging mankind into not only another dark age, but likely another ice age. My prayers go with those poor brave souls who have volunteered to save all that we have worked for these countless centuries.

The Dark Medieval World

Arcana

Quote: The face was no longer bone, but animal - the face of a white wolf.
"I forbid you nothing. Nothing," uttered the awful face.
"You may go anywhere - you may open any door. But, little bird, remember you must be prepared to accept whatever you find." The long jaws spread in a smile filled with teeth.

- Peter Straub, Shadowland

-- Arcane Objects
-- The Hidden Library
-- Hedge Magic
-- Infernal Sorcery (Paths & Rituals)
-- Koldunic Sorcery (Paths & Rituals)
-- Necromancy (Paths & Rituals)
-- Setite Sorcery (Paths & Rituals)
-- Thaumaturgy (Paths & Rituals)
-- Minor Magical Traditions

-- Blood Magic Research (All)
-- Ritual Learning Times (All)

-- Infernal Investments

Bestiary

Quote: "Here's the devil-and-more to pay." - Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha

Kuei-jin -- Kuei-jin are the vampires of Asia presented in Kindred of the East. Other terms are Wan Kuei, Wan Xian, Gui Ren or simply the Hungry Dead.

Liber Monstrorum -- A true bestiary.

Mummies

Necromantic Animations

Nightwalker

Oneiroi

Plasmics -- Elementals of the Underworld.

Vampiric Proteges (ghouls)

Wizards & Witches

Character Quotes

"Can you confirm or deny the existence of Demon babies?" -- Bruce in character as Tiberius Blake to Rambert -- January 18, 1096, Alexandria Egypt {Posted by Keith}

Character Traits

Quote: "One must not always think so much about what one should do, but rather what one should be. Our works do not ennoble us; but we must ennoble our works." -- Meister Eckhart, Work and Being

--Discipline Techniques

Discussions

Geography of the Dark Medieval World

Iceland -- medieval

Earldom of Orkney

Dark Scandinavia

County of Flanders

Brittany

(1) Pamplona

(2) March of Spain

(3) County of Toulouse -- The County of Toulouse was a territory in southern France consisting of the city of Toulouse and its environs, ruled by the Count of Toulouse from the late 9th century until the late 13th century.

(4) Kingdom of Burgundy

France -- medieval

The Holy Roman Empire during the High Middle Ages

(5) Papal States

Norman England

(31) Byzantine Empire

(32) Fatimid Caliphate

Noteworthy Locations

Quote: What powerful but unrecorded race, Once dwelt in that annihilated place. — Horace Smith, “Ozymandias”

Alamut -- Hidden Fortress of the Assamites

Autumn Lane

The Pyre of Moloch -- Somewhere in Northern Africa

Red Sisters Midnight -- Location Varies

The Abbey of the Sacred Crown -- Hampshire, England

The Cathedral of Flesh -- Eastern Europe (Specific Location Unknown)

The Second City -- Location Unknown

Alternate Realities

Alternis -- A alternative Earth in which the last ice age never ended.
The Abyss -- A Realm of Eternal Darkness
The Maya Realms - The World of Dreams
The Reach -- Paradox Realm of Time
The Underworld - The Lands of the Restless Dead

History

The Late Roman Empire

The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the second century AD; the following two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories. Economic issues, including inflation, and external pressure on the frontiers combined to create the Crisis of the Third Century, with emperors coming to the throne only to be rapidly replaced by new usurpers. Military expenses increased steadily during the third century, mainly in response to the war with the Sasanian Empire, which revived in the middle of the third century. The army doubled in size, and cavalry and smaller units replaced the Roman legion as the main tactical unit. The need for revenue led to increased taxes and a decline in numbers of the curial, or landowning, class, and decreasing numbers of them willing to shoulder the burdens of holding office in their native towns. More bureaucrats were needed in the central administration to deal with the needs of the army, which led to complaints from civilians that there were more tax-collectors in the empire than tax-payers.

The Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 286; the empire was not considered divided by its inhabitants or rulers, as legal and administrative promulgations in one division were considered valid in the other. In 330, after a period of civil war, Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) re-founded the city of Byzantium as the newly renamed eastern capital, Constantinople. Diocletian's reforms strengthened the governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and strengthened the army, which bought the empire time but did not resolve the problems it was facing: excessive taxation, a declining birthrate, and pressures on its frontiers, among others. Civil war between rival emperors became common in the middle of the 4th century, diverting soldiers from the empire's frontier forces and allowing invaders to encroach. For much of the 4th century, Roman society stabilized in a new form that differed from the earlier classical period, with a widening gulf between the rich and poor, and a decline in the vitality of the smaller towns. Another change was the Christianization, or conversion of the empire to Christianity, a gradual process that lasted from the 2nd to the 5th centuries.

In 376, the Goths, fleeing from the Huns, received permission from Emperor Valens (r. 364–378) to settle in the Roman province of Thracia in the Balkans. The settlement did not go smoothly, and when Roman officials mishandled the situation, the Goths began to raid and plunder. Valens, attempting to put down the disorder, was killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople on 9 August 378. As well as the threat from such tribal confederacies from the north, internal divisions within the empire, especially within the Christian Church, caused problems. In 400, the Visigoths invaded the Western Roman Empire and, although briefly forced back from Italy, in 410 sacked the city of Rome. In 406 the Alans, Vandals, and Suevi crossed into Gaul; over the next three years they spread across Gaul and in 409 crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into modern-day Spain. The Migration Period began, when various peoples, initially largely Germanic peoples, moved across Europe. The Franks, Alemanni, and the Burgundians all ended up in northern Gaul while the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes settled in Britain, and the Vandals went on to cross the strait of Gibraltar after which they conquered the province of Africa. In the 430s the Huns began invading the empire; their king Attila (r. 434–453) led invasions into the Balkans in 442 and 447, Gaul in 451, and Italy in 452. The Hunnic threat remained until Attila's death in 453, when the Hunnic confederation he led fell apart. These invasions by the tribes completely changed the political and demographic nature of what had been the Western Roman Empire.

By the end of the 5th century the western section of the empire was divided into smaller political units, ruled by the tribes that had invaded in the early part of the century. The deposition of the last emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, in 476 has traditionally marked the end of the Western Roman Empire. By 493 the Italian peninsula was conquered by the Ostrogoths. The Eastern Roman Empire, often referred to as the Byzantine Empire after the fall of its western counterpart, had little ability to assert control over the lost western territories. The Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the territory, but while none of the new kings in the west dared to elevate himself to the position of emperor of the west, Byzantine control of most of the Western Empire could not be sustained; the reconquest of the Mediterranean periphery and the Italian Peninsula (Gothic War) in the reign of Justinian (r. 527–565) was the sole, and temporary, exception.

Early Middle Ages

The Birth of New Societies

The political structure of Western Europe changed with the end of the united Roman Empire. Although the movements of peoples during this period are usually described as "invasions", they were not just military expeditions but migrations of entire peoples into the empire. Such movements were aided by the refusal of the western Roman elites to support the army or pay the taxes that would have allowed the military to suppress the migration. The emperors of the 5th century were often controlled by military strongmen such as Stilicho (d. 408), Aetius (d. 454), Aspar (d. 471), Ricimer (d. 472), or Gundobad (d. 516), who were partly or fully of non-Roman background. When the line of western emperors ceased, many of the kings who replaced them were from the same background. Intermarriage between the new kings and the Roman elites was common. This led to a fusion of Roman culture with the customs of the invading tribes, including the popular assemblies that allowed free male tribal members more say in political matters than was common in the Roman state. Material artifacts left by the Romans and the invaders are often similar, and tribal items were often modeled on Roman objects. Much of the scholarly and written culture of the new kingdoms was also based on Roman intellectual traditions. An important difference was the gradual loss of tax revenue by the new polities. Many of the new political entities no longer supported their armies through taxes, instead relying on granting them land or rents. This meant there was less need for large tax revenues and so the taxation systems decayed. Warfare was common between and within the kingdoms. Slavery declined as the supply weakened, and society became more rural.

Between the 5th and 8th centuries, new peoples and individuals filled the political void left by Roman centralized government. The Ostrogoths, a Gothic tribe, settled in Roman Italy in the late fifth century under Theodoric the Great (d. 526) and set up a kingdom marked by its co-operation between the Italians and the Ostrogoths, at least until the last years of Theodoric's reign. The Burgundians settled in Gaul, and after an earlier realm was destroyed by the Huns in 436 formed a new kingdom in the 440s. Between today's Geneva and Lyon, it grew to become the realm of Burgundy in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Elsewhere in Gaul, the Franks and Celtic Britons set up small polities. Francia was centered in northern Gaul, and the first king of whom much is known is Childeric I (d. 481). His grave was discovered in 1653 and is remarkable for its grave goods, which included weapons and a large quantity of gold.

Under Childeric's son Clovis I (r. 509–511), the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, the Frankish kingdom expanded and converted to Christianity. The Britons, related to the natives of Britannia – modern-day Great Britain – settled in what is now Brittany. Other monarchies were established by the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, the Suebi in northwestern Iberia, and the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. In the sixth century, the Lombards settled in Northern Italy, replacing the Ostrogothic kingdom with a grouping of duchies that occasionally selected a king to rule over them all. By the late sixth century, this arrangement had been replaced by a permanent monarchy, the Kingdom of the Lombards.

The invasions brought new ethnic groups to Europe, although some regions received a larger influx of new peoples than others. In Gaul for instance, the invaders settled much more extensively in the north-east than in the south-west. Slavs settled in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula. The settlement of peoples was accompanied by changes in languages. The Latin of the Western Roman Empire was gradually replaced by languages based on, but distinct from, Latin, collectively known as Romance languages. These changes from Latin to the new languages took many centuries. Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire, but the migrations of the Slavs added Slavic languages to Eastern Europe.

Byzantium: The Survival of the Eastern Roman Empire

As Western Europe witnessed the formation of new kingdoms, the Eastern Roman Empire remained intact and experienced an economic revival that lasted into the early 7th century. There were fewer invasions of the eastern section of the empire; most occurred in the Balkans. Peace with the Sasanian Empire, the traditional enemy of Rome, lasted throughout most of the 5th century. The Eastern Empire was marked by closer relations between the political state and Christian Church, with doctrinal matters assuming an importance in eastern politics that they did not have in Western Europe. Legal developments included the codification of Roman law; the first effort—the Codex Theodosianus—was completed in 438. Under Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565), another compilation took place—the Corpus Juris Civilis. Justinian also oversaw the construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and the reconquest of North Africa from the Vandals and Italy from the Ostrogoths, under Belisarius (d. 565). The conquest of Italy was not complete, as a deadly outbreak of plague in 542 led to the rest of Justinian's reign concentrating on defensive measures rather than further conquests.

At the Emperor's death, the Byzantines had control of most of Italy, North Africa, and a small foothold in southern Spain. Justinian's reconquests have been criticized by historians for overextending his realm and setting the stage for the early Muslim conquests, but many of the difficulties faced by Justinian's successors were due not just to over-taxation to pay for his wars but to the essentially civilian nature of the empire, which made raising troops difficult.

In the Eastern Empire the slow infiltration of the Balkans by the Slavs added a further difficulty for Justinian's successors. It began gradually, but by the late 540s Slavic tribes were in Thrace and Illyrium, and had defeated an imperial army near Adrianople in 551. In the 560s the Avars began to expand from their base on the north bank of the Danube; by the end of the 6th century they were the dominant power in Central Europe and routinely able to force the eastern emperors to pay tribute. They remained a strong power until 796.

An additional problem to face the empire came as a result of the involvement of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) in Persian politics when he intervened in a succession dispute. This led to a period of peace, but when Maurice was overthrown, the Persians invaded and during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) controlled large chunks of the empire, including Egypt, Syria, and Anatolia until Heraclius' successful counterattack. In 628 the empire secured a peace treaty and recovered all of its lost territories.

The Society of Western Europe

n Western Europe, some of the older Roman elite families died out while others became more involved with Church than secular affairs. Values attached to Latin scholarship and education mostly disappeared, and while literacy remained important, it became a practical skill rather than a sign of elite status. In the 4th century, Jerome (d. 420) dreamed that God rebuked him for spending more time reading Cicero than the Bible. By the 6th century, Gregory of Tours (d. 594) had a similar dream, but instead of being chastised for reading Cicero, he was chastised for learning shorthand. By the late 6th century, the principal means of religious instruction in the Church had become music and art rather than the book. Most intellectual efforts went towards imitating classical scholarship, but some original works were created, along with now-lost oral compositions. The writings of Sidonius Apollinaris (d. 489), Cassiodorus (d. c. 585), and Boethius (d. c. 525) were typical of the age.

Changes also took place among laymen, as aristocratic culture focused on great feasts held in halls rather than on literary pursuits. Clothing for the elites was richly embellished with jewels and gold. Lords and kings supported entourages of fighters who formed the backbone of the military forces. Family ties within the elites were important, as were the virtues of loyalty, courage, and honor. These ties led to the prevalence of the feud in aristocratic society, examples of which included those related by Gregory of Tours that took place in Merovingian Gaul. Most feuds seem to have ended quickly with the payment of some sort of compensation. Women took part in aristocratic society mainly in their roles as wives and mothers of men, with the role of mother of a ruler being especially prominent in Merovingian Gaul. In Anglo-Saxon society the lack of many child rulers meant a lesser role for women as queen mothers, but this was compensated for by the increased role played by abbesses of monasteries. Only in Italy does it appear that women were always considered under the protection and control of a male relative.

Peasant society is much less documented than the nobility. Most of the surviving information available to historians comes from archeology; few detailed written records documenting peasant life remain from before the 9th century. Most the descriptions of the lower classes come from either law codes or writers from the upper classes. Landholding patterns in the West were not uniform; some areas had greatly fragmented landholding patterns, but in other areas large contiguous blocks of land were the norm. These differences allowed for a wide variety of peasant societies, some dominated by aristocratic landholders and others having a great deal of autonomy. Land settlement also varied greatly. Some peasants lived in large settlements that numbered as many as 700 inhabitants. Others lived in small groups of a few families and still others lived on isolated farms spread over the countryside. There were also areas where the pattern was a mix of two or more of those systems. Unlike in the late Roman period, there was no sharp break between the legal status of the free peasant and the aristocrat, and it was possible for a free peasant's family to rise into the aristocracy over several generations through military service to a powerful lord.

Roman city life and culture changed greatly in the early Middle Ages. Although Italian cities remained inhabited, they contracted significantly in size. Rome, for instance, shrank from a population of hundreds of thousands to around 30,000 by the end of the 6th century. Roman temples were converted into Christian churches and city walls remained in use. In Northern Europe, cities also shrank, while civic monuments and other public buildings were raided for building materials. The establishment of new kingdoms often meant some growth for the towns chosen as capitals. Although there had been Jewish communities in many Roman cities, the Jews suffered periods of persecution after the conversion of the empire to Christianity. Officially they were tolerated, if subject to conversion efforts, and at times were even encouraged to settle in new areas.

The Birth of Islam

Religious beliefs in the Eastern Empire and Iran were in flux during the late sixth and early seventh centuries. Judaism was an active proselytizing faith, and at least one Arab political leader converted to it. Christianity had active missions competing with the Persians' Zoroastrianism in seeking converts, especially among residents of the Arabian Peninsula. All these strands came together with the emergence of Islam in Arabia during the lifetime of Muhammad (d. 632). After his death, Islamic forces conquered much of the Eastern Empire and Persia, starting with Syria in 634–635 and reaching Egypt in 640–641, Persia between 637 and 642, North Africa in the later seventh century, and the Iberian Peninsula in 711. By 714, Islamic forces controlled much of the peninsula in a region they called Al-Andalus.

The Islamic conquests reached their peak in the mid-eighth century. The defeat of Muslim forces at the Battle of Tours in 732 led to the reconquest of southern France by the Franks, but the main reason for the halt of Islamic growth in Europe was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate and its replacement by the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasids moved their capital to Baghdad and were more concerned with the Middle East than Europe, losing control of sections of the Muslim lands. Umayyad descendants took over the Iberian Peninsula, the Aghlabids controlled North Africa, and the Tulunids became rulers of Egypt. By the middle of the 8th century, new trading patterns were emerging in the Mediterranean; trade between the Franks and the Arabs replaced the old Roman economy. Franks traded timber, furs, swords and slaves in return for silks and other fabrics, spices, and precious metals from the Arabs.

Medieval Economics

The migrations and invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries disrupted trade networks around the Mediterranean. African goods stopped being imported into Europe, first disappearing from the interior and by the 7th century found only in a few cities such as Rome or Naples. By the end of the 7th century, under the impact of the Muslim conquests, African products were no longer found in Western Europe. The replacement of goods from long-range trade with local products was a trend throughout the old Roman lands that happened in the Early Middle Ages. This was especially marked in the lands that did not lie on the Mediterranean, such as northern Gaul or Britain. Non-local goods appearing in the archaeological record are usually luxury goods. In the northern parts of Europe, not only were the trade networks local, but the goods carried were simple, with little pottery or other complex products. Around the Mediterranean, pottery remained prevalent and appears to have been traded over medium-range networks, not just produced locally.

The various Germanic states in the west all had coinages that imitated existing Roman and Byzantine forms. Gold continued to be minted until the end of the 7th century, when it was replaced by silver coins. The basic Frankish silver coin was the denarius or denier, while the Anglo-Saxon version was called a penny. From these areas, the denier or penny spread throughout Europe during the centuries from 700 to 1000. Copper or bronze coins were not struck, nor were gold except in Southern Europe. No silver coins denominated in multiple units were minted.

Christian Europe

Christianity was a major unifying factor between Eastern and Western Europe before the Arab conquests, but the conquest of North Africa sundered maritime connections between those areas. Increasingly the Byzantine Church differed in language, practices, and liturgy from the western Church. The eastern church used Greek instead of the western Latin. Theological and political differences emerged, and by the early and middle 8th century issues such as iconoclasm, clerical marriage, and state control of the church had widened to the extent that the cultural and religious differences were greater than the similarities. The formal break came in 1054, when the papacy and the patriarchy of Constantinople clashed over papal supremacy and excommunicated each other, which led to the division of Christianity into two churches—the western branch became the Roman Catholic Church and the eastern branch the Orthodox Church.

The ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Empire survived the movements and invasions in the west mostly intact, but the papacy was little regarded, and few of the western bishops looked to the bishop of Rome for religious or political leadership. Many of the popes prior to 750 were more concerned with Byzantine affairs and eastern theological controversies. The register, or archived copies of the letters, of Pope Gregory the Great (pope 590–604) survived, and of those more than 850 letters, the vast majority were concerned with affairs in Italy or Constantinople. The only part of Western Europe where the papacy had influence was Britain, where Gregory had sent the Gregorian mission in 597 to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Irish missionaries were most active in Western Europe between the 5th and the 7th centuries, going first to England and Scotland and then on to the continent. Under such monks as Columba (d. 597) and Columbanus (d. 615), they founded monasteries, taught in Latin and Greek, and authored secular and religious works.

The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of monasticism in the West. The shape of European monasticism was determined by traditions and ideas that originated with the Desert Fathers of Egypt and Syria. Most European monasteries were of the type that focuses on community experience of the spiritual life, called cenobitism, which was pioneered by Pachomius (d. 348) in the 4th century. Monastic ideals spread from Egypt to Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries through hagiographical literature such as the Life of Anthony. Benedict of Nursia (d. 547) wrote the Benedictine Rule for Western monasticism during the 6th century, detailing the administrative and spiritual responsibilities of a community of monks led by an abbot. Monks and monasteries had a deep effect on the religious and political life of the Early Middle Ages, in various cases acting as land trusts for powerful families, centers of propaganda and royal support in newly conquered regions, and bases for missions and proselytization. They were the main and sometimes only outposts of education and literacy in a region. Many of the surviving manuscripts of the Latin classics were copied in monasteries in the Early Middle Ages. Monks were also the authors of new works, including history, theology, and other subjects, written by authors such as Bede (d. 735), a native of northern England who wrote in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.

Carolingian Europe

The Frankish kingdom in northern Gaul split into kingdoms called Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy during the 6th and 7th centuries, all of them ruled by the Merovingian dynasty, who were descended from Clovis. The 7th century was a tumultuous period of wars between Austrasia and Neustria. Such warfare was exploited by Pippin (d. 640), the Mayor of the Palace for Austrasia who became the power behind the Austrasian throne. Later members of his family inherited the office, acting as advisers and regents. One of his descendants, Charles Martel (d. 741), won the Battle of Poitiers in 732, halting the advance of Muslim armies across the Pyrenees. Great Britain was divided into small states dominated by the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, and East Anglia, which were descended from the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Smaller kingdoms in present-day Wales and Scotland were still under the control of the native Britons and Picts. Ireland was divided into even smaller political units, usually known as tribal kingdoms, under the control of kings. There were perhaps as many as 150 local kings in Ireland, of varying importance.

The Carolingian dynasty, as the successors to Charles Martel are known, officially took control of the kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria in a coup of 753 led by Pippin III (r. 752–768). A contemporary chronicle claims that Pippin sought, and gained, authority for this coup from Pope Stephen II (pope 752–757). Pippin's takeover was reinforced with propaganda that portrayed the Merovingians as inept or cruel rulers, exalted the accomplishments of Charles Martel, and circulated stories of the family's great piety. At the time of his death in 768, Pippin left his kingdom in the hands of his two sons, Charles (r. 768–814) and Carloman (r. 768–771). When Carloman died of natural causes, Charles blocked the succession of Carloman's young son and installed himself as the king of the united Austrasia and Neustria. Charles, more often known as Charles the Great or Charlemagne, embarked upon a program of systematic expansion in 774 that unified a large portion of Europe, eventually controlling modern-day France, northern Italy, and Saxony. In the wars that lasted beyond 800, he rewarded allies with war booty and command over parcels of land. In 774, Charlemagne conquered the Lombards, which freed the papacy from the fear of Lombard conquest and marked the beginnings of the Papal States.

The coronation of Charlemagne as emperor on Christmas Day 800 is regarded as a turning point in medieval history, marking a return of the Western Roman Empire, since the new emperor ruled over much of the area previously controlled by the western emperors. It also marks a change in Charlemagne's relationship with the Byzantine Empire, as the assumption of the imperial title by the Carolingians asserted their equivalence to the Byzantine state. There were several differences between the newly established Carolingian Empire and both the older Western Roman Empire and the concurrent Byzantine Empire. The Frankish lands were rural in character, with only a few small cities. Most of the people were peasants settled on small farms. Little trade existed and much of that was with the British Isles and Scandinavia, in contrast to the older Roman Empire with its trading networks centered on the Mediterranean. The empire was administered by an itinerant court that traveled with the emperor, as well as approximately 300 imperial officials called counts, who administered the counties the empire had been divided into. Clergy and local bishops served as officials, as well as the imperial officials called missi dominici, who served as roving inspectors and troubleshooters.

Carolingian Renaissance

Charlemagne's court in Aachen was the center of the cultural revival sometimes referred to as the "Carolingian Renaissance". Literacy increased, as did development in the arts, architecture and jurisprudence, as well as liturgical and scriptural studies. The English monk Alcuin (d. 804) was invited to Aachen and brought the education available in the monasteries of Northumbria. Charlemagne's chancery—or writing office—made use of a new script today known as Carolingian minuscule, allowing a common writing style that advanced communication across much of Europe. Charlemagne sponsored changes in church liturgy, imposing the Roman form of church service on his domains, as well as the Gregorian chant in liturgical music for the churches. An important activity for scholars during this period was the copying, correcting, and dissemination of basic works on religious and secular topics, with the aim of encouraging learning. New works on religious topics and schoolbooks were also produced. Grammarians of the period modified the Latin language, changing it from the Classical Latin of the Roman Empire into a more flexible form to fit the needs of the church and government. By the reign of Charlemagne, the language had so diverged from the classical that it was later called Medieval Latin.

Civil War and the Division of the Carolingian Empire

Charlemagne planned to continue the Frankish tradition of dividing his kingdom between all his heirs, but was unable to do so as only one son, Louis the Pious (r. 814–840), was still alive by 813. Just before Charlemagne died in 814, he crowned Louis as his successor. Louis's reign of 26 years was marked by numerous divisions of the empire among his sons and, after 829, civil wars between various alliances of father and sons over the control of various parts of the empire. Eventually, Louis recognized his eldest son Lothair I (d. 855) as emperor and gave him Italy. Louis divided the rest of the empire between Lothair and Charles the Bald (d. 877), his youngest son. Lothair took East Francia, comprising both banks of the Rhine and eastwards, leaving Charles West Francia with the empire to the west of the Rhineland and the Alps. Louis the German (d. 876), the middle child, who had been rebellious to the last, was allowed to keep Bavaria under the suzerainty of his elder brother. The division was disputed. Pepin II of Aquitaine (d. after 864), the emperor's grandson, rebelled in a contest for Aquitaine, while Louis the German tried to annex all of East Francia. Louis the Pious died in 840, with the empire still in chaos.

A three-year civil war followed his death. By the Treaty of Verdun (843), a kingdom between the Rhine and Rhone rivers was created for Lothair to go with his lands in Italy, and his imperial title was recognized. Louis the German was in control of Bavaria and the eastern lands in modern-day Germany. Charles the Bald received the western Frankish lands, comprising most of modern-day France. Charlemagne's grandsons and great-grandsons divided their kingdoms between their descendants, eventually causing all internal cohesion to be lost. In 987 the Carolingian dynasty was replaced in the western lands, with the crowning of Hugh Capet (r. 987–996) as king. In the eastern lands the dynasty had died out earlier, in 911, with the death of Louis the Child, and the selection of the unrelated Conrad I (r. 911–918) as king.

The breakup of the Carolingian Empire was accompanied by invasions, migrations, and raids by external foes. The Atlantic and northern shores were harassed by the Vikings, who also raided the British Isles and settled there as well as in Iceland. In 911, the Viking chieftain Rollo (d. c. 931) received permission from the Frankish King Charles the Simple (r. 898–922) to settle in what became Normandy. The eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms, especially Germany and Italy, were under continual Magyar assault until the invader's defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. The breakup of the Abbasid dynasty meant that the Islamic world fragmented into smaller political states, some of which began expanding into Italy and Sicily, as well as over the Pyrenees into the southern parts of the Frankish kingdoms.

The Rise of New kingdoms and the Byzantine Revival

Efforts by local kings to fight the invaders led to the formation of new political entities. In Anglo-Saxon England, King Alfred the Great (r. 871–899) came to an agreement with the Viking invaders in the late 9th century, resulting in Danish settlements in Northumbria, Mercia, and parts of East Anglia. By the middle of the 10th century, Alfred's successors had conquered Northumbria, and restored English control over most of the southern part of Great Britain. In northern Britain, Kenneth MacAlpin (d. c. 860) united the Picts and the Scots into the Kingdom of Alba. In the early 10th century, the Ottonian dynasty had established itself in Germany, and was engaged in driving back the Magyars. Its efforts culminated in the coronation in 962 of Otto I (r. 936–973) as Holy Roman Emperor. In 972, he secured recognition of his title by the Byzantine Empire, which he sealed with the marriage of his son Otto II (r. 967–983) to Theophanu (d. 991), daughter of an earlier Byzantine Emperor Romanos II (r. 959–963). By the late 10th century Italy had been drawn into the Ottonian sphere after a period of instability; Otto III (r. 996–1002) spent much of his later reign in the kingdom. The western Frankish kingdom was more fragmented, and although kings remained nominally in charge, much of the political power devolved to the local lords.

Missionary efforts to Scandinavia during the 9th and 10th centuries helped strengthen the growth of kingdoms such as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, which gained power and territory. Some kings converted to Christianity, although not all by 1000. Scandinavians also expanded and colonized throughout Europe. Besides the settlements in Ireland, England, and Normandy, further settlement took place in what became Russia and in Iceland. Swedish traders and raiders ranged down the rivers of the Russian steppe, and even attempted to seize Constantinople in 860 and 907. Christian Spain, initially driven into a small section of the peninsula in the north, expanded slowly south during the 9th and 10th centuries, establishing the kingdoms of Asturias and León.

In Eastern Europe, Byzantium revived its fortunes under Emperor Basil I (r. 867–886) and his successors Leo VI (r. 886–912) and Constantine VII (r. 913–959), members of the Macedonian dynasty. Commerce revived and the emperors oversaw the extension of a uniform administration to all the provinces. The military was reorganized, which allowed the emperors John I (r. 969–976) and Basil II (r. 976–1025) to expand the frontiers of the empire on all fronts. The imperial court was the center of a revival of classical learning, a process known as the Macedonian Renaissance. Writers such as John Geometres (fl. early 10th century) composed new hymns, poems, and other works. Missionary efforts by both eastern and western clergy resulted in the conversion of the Moravians, Bulgars, Bohemians, Poles, Magyars, and Slavic inhabitants of the Kievan Rus'. These conversions contributed to the founding of political states in the lands of those peoples—the states of Moravia, Bulgaria, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kievan Rus'. Bulgaria, which was founded around 680, at its height reached from Budapest to the Black Sea and from the Dnieper River in modern Ukraine to the Adriatic Sea. By 1018, the last Bulgarian nobles had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire.

Art and Architecture of the Early Middle Ages

Few large stone buildings were constructed between the Constantinian basilicas of the 4th century and the 8th century, although many smaller ones were built during the 6th and 7th centuries. By the beginning of the 8th century, the Carolingian Empire revived the basilica form of architecture. One feature of the basilica is the use of a transept, or the "arms" of a cross-shaped building that are perpendicular to the long nave. Other new features of religious architecture include the crossing tower and a monumental entrance to the church, usually at the west end of the building.

Carolingian art was produced for a small group of figures around the court, and the monasteries and churches they supported. It was dominated by efforts to regain the dignity and classicism of imperial Roman and Byzantine art, but was also influenced by the Insular art of the British Isles. Insular art integrated the energy of Irish Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Germanic styles of ornament with Mediterranean forms such as the book, and established many characteristics of art for the rest of the medieval period. Surviving religious works from the Early Middle Ages are mostly illuminated manuscripts and carved ivories, originally made for metalwork that has since been melted down. Objects in precious metals were the most prestigious form of art, but almost all are lost except for a few crosses such as the Cross of Lothair, several reliquaries, and finds such as the Anglo-Saxon burial at Sutton Hoo and the hoards of Gourdon from Merovingian France, Guarrazar from Visigothic Spain and Nagyszentmiklós near Byzantine territory. There are survivals from the large brooches in fibula or penannular form that were a key piece of personal adornment for elites, including the Irish Tara Brooch. Highly decorated books were mostly Gospel Books and these have survived in larger numbers, including the Insular Book of Kells, the Book of Lindisfarne, and the imperial Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, which is one of the few to retain its "treasure binding" of gold encrusted with jewels. Charlemagne's court seems to have been responsible for the acceptance of figurative monumental sculpture in Christian art, and by the end of the period near life-sized figures such as the Gero Cross were common in important churches.

Military and Technological developments

During the later Roman Empire, the principal military developments were attempts to create an effective cavalry force as well as the continued development of highly specialized types of troops. The creation of heavily armored cataphract-type soldiers as cavalry was an important feature of the 5th-century Roman military. The various invading tribes had differing emphasis on types of soldiers—ranging from the primarily infantry Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain to the Vandals and Visigoths, who had a high proportion of cavalry in their armies. During the early invasion period, the stirrup had not been introduced into warfare, which limited the usefulness of cavalry as shock troops because it was not possible to put the full force of the horse and rider behind blows struck by the rider. The greatest change in military affairs during the invasion period was the adoption of the Hunnic composite bow in place of the earlier, and weaker, Scythian composite bow. Another development was the increasing use of longswords and the progressive replacement of scale armor by mail armor and lamellar armor.

The importance of infantry and light cavalry began to decline during the early Carolingian period, with a growing dominance of elite heavy cavalry. The use of militia-type levies of the free population declined over the Carolingian period. Although much of the Carolingian armies were mounted, a large proportion during the early period appear to have been mounted infantry, rather than true cavalry. One exception was Anglo-Saxon England, where the armies were still composed of regional levies, known as the fyrd, which were led by the local elites. In military technology, one of the main changes was the return of the crossbow, which had been known in Roman times and reappeared as a military weapon during the last part of the Early Middle Ages. Another change was the introduction of the stirrup, which increased the effectiveness of cavalry as shock troops. A technological advance that had implications beyond the military was the horseshoe, which allowed horses to be used in rocky terrain.

Hight Middle Ages

The Population Explosion, Division of Society and the Rise of Towns

The High Middle Ages was a period of tremendous expansion of population. The estimated population of Europe grew from 35 to 80 million between 1000 and 1347, although the exact causes remain unclear: improved agricultural techniques, the decline of slave-holding, a more clement climate and the lack of invasion have all been suggested. As much as 90 per cent of the European population remained rural peasants. Many were no longer settled in isolated farms but had gathered into small communities, usually known as manors or villages. These peasants were often subject to noble overlords and owed them rents and other services, in a system known as manorialism. There remained a few free peasants throughout this period and beyond, with more of them in the regions of Southern Europe than in the north. The practice of assarting, or bringing new lands into production by offering incentives to the peasants who settled them, also contributed to the expansion of population.

Other sections of society included the nobility, clergy, and townsmen. Nobles, both the titled nobility and simple knights, exploited the manors and the peasants, although they did not own lands outright but were granted rights to the income from a manor or other lands by an overlord through the system of feudalism. During the 11th and 12th centuries, these lands, or fiefs, came to be considered hereditary, and in most areas they were no longer divisible between all the heirs as had been the case in the early medieval period. Instead, most fiefs and lands went to the eldest son. The dominance of the nobility was built upon its control of the land, its military service as heavy cavalry, control of castles, and various immunities from taxes or other impositions. Castles, initially in wood but later in stone, began to be constructed in the 9th and 10th centuries in response to the disorder of the time, and provided protection from invaders as well as allowing lords defense from rivals. Control of castles allowed the nobles to defy kings or other overlords. Nobles were stratified; kings and the highest-ranking nobility controlled large numbers of commoners and large tracts of land, as well as other nobles. Beneath them, lesser nobles had authority over smaller areas of land and fewer people. Knights were the lowest level of nobility; they controlled but did not own land, and had to serve other nobles.

The clergy was divided into two types: the secular clergy, who lived out in the world, and the regular clergy, who lived under a religious rule and were usually monks. Throughout the period monks remained a very small proportion of the population, usually less than one per cent. Most of the regular clergy were drawn from the nobility, the same social class that served as the recruiting ground for the upper levels of the secular clergy. The local parish priests were often drawn from the peasant class. Townsmen were in a somewhat unusual position, as they did not fit into the traditional three-fold division of society into nobles, clergy, and peasants. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the ranks of the townsmen expanded greatly as existing towns grew and new population centers were founded. But throughout the Middle Ages the population of the towns probably never exceeded 10 per cent of the total population.

Jews also spread across Europe during the period. Communities were established in Germany and England in the 11th and 12th centuries, but Spanish Jews, long settled in Spain under the Muslims, came under Christian rule and increasing pressure to convert to Christianity. Most Jews were confined to the cities, as they were not allowed to own land or be peasants. Besides the Jews, there were other non-Christians on the edges of Europe: pagan Slavs in Eastern Europe and Muslims in Southern Europe.

Women in the Middle Ages were officially required to be subordinate to some male, whether their father, husband, or other kinsman. Widows, who were often allowed much control over their own lives, were still restricted legally. Women's work generally consisted of household or other domestically inclined tasks. Peasant women were usually responsible for taking care of the household, child-care, as well as gardening and animal husbandry near the house. They could supplement the household income by spinning or brewing at home. At harvest-time, they were also expected to help with field-work. Townswomen, like peasant women, were responsible for the household, and could also engage in trade. What trades were open to women varied by country and period. Noblewomen were responsible for running a household, and could occasionally be expected to handle estates in the absence of male relatives, but they were usually restricted from participation in military or government affairs. The only role open to women in the Church was that of nuns, as they were unable to become priests.

In central and northern Italy and in Flanders, the rise of towns that were to a degree self-governing stimulated economic growth and created an environment for new types of trade associations. Commercial cities on the shores of the Baltic entered into agreements known as the Hanseatic League, and the Italian Maritime republics such as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa expanded their trade throughout the Mediterranean. Great trading fairs were established and flourished in northern France during the period, allowing Italian and German merchants to trade with each other as well as local merchants. In the late 13th century new land and sea routes to the Far East were pioneered, famously described in The Travels of Marco Polo written by one of the traders, Marco Polo (d. 1324). Besides new trading opportunities, agricultural and technological improvements enabled an increase in crop yields, which in turn allowed the trade networks to expand. Rising trade brought new methods of dealing with money, and gold coinage was again minted in Europe, first in Italy and later in France and other countries. New forms of commercial contracts emerged, allowing risk to be shared among merchants. Accounting methods improved, partly through the use of double-entry bookkeeping; letters of credit also appeared, allowing easy transmission of money.

Dynastic Consolidation

The High Middle Ages was the formative period in the history of the modern Western state. Kings in France, England, and Spain consolidated their power, and set up lasting governing institutions.New kingdoms such as Hungary and Poland, after their conversion to Christianity, became Central European powers. The Magyars settled Hungary around 900 under King Árpád (d. c. 907) after a series of invasions in the 9th century. The papacy, long attached to an ideology of independence from secular kings, first asserted its claim to temporal authority over the entire Christian world; the Papal Monarchy reached its apogee in the early 13th century under the pontificate of Innocent III (pope 1198–1216). Northern Crusades and the advance of Christian kingdoms and military orders into previously pagan regions in the Baltic and Finnic north-east brought the forced assimilation of numerous native peoples into European culture.

During the early High Middle Ages, Germany was ruled by the Ottonian dynasty, which struggled to control the powerful dukes ruling over territorial duchies tracing back to the Migration period. In 1024, they were replaced by the Salian dynasty, who famously clashed with the papacy under Emperor Henry IV (r. 1084–1105) over church appointments as part of the Investiture Controversy. His successors continued to struggle against the papacy as well as the German nobility. A period of instability followed the death of Emperor Henry V (r. 1111–25), who died without heirs, until Frederick I Barbarossa (r. 1155–90) took the imperial throne. Although he ruled effectively, the basic problems remained, and his successors continued to struggle into the 13th century. Barbarossa's grandson Frederick II (r. 1220–1250), who was also heir to the throne of Sicily through his mother, clashed repeatedly with the papacy. His court was famous for its scholars and he was often accused of heresy. He and his successors faced many difficulties, including the invasion of the Mongols into Europe in the mid-13th century. Mongols first shattered the Kievan Rus' principalities and then invaded Eastern Europe in 1241, 1259, and 1287.

Under the Capetian dynasty the French monarchy slowly began to expand its authority over the nobility, growing out of the Île-de-France to exert control over more of the country in the 11th and 12th centuries. They faced a powerful rival in the Dukes of Normandy, who in 1066 under William the Conqueror (duke 1035–1087), conquered England (r. 1066–87) and created a cross-channel empire that lasted, in various forms, throughout the rest of the Middle Ages. Normans also settled in Sicily and southern Italy, when Robert Guiscard (d. 1085) landed there in 1059 and established a duchy that later became the Kingdom of Sicily. Under the Angevin dynasty of Henry II (r. 1154–89) and his son Richard I (r. 1189–99), the kings of England ruled over England and large areas of France, brought to the family by Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine (d. 1204), heiress to much of southern France. Richard's younger brother John (r. 1199–1216) lost Normandy and the rest of the northern French possessions in 1204 to the French King Philip II Augustus (r. 1180–1223). This led to dissension among the English nobility, while John's financial exactions to pay for his unsuccessful attempts to regain Normandy led in 1215 to Magna Carta, a charter that confirmed the rights and privileges of free men in England. Under Henry III (r. 1216–72), John's son, further concessions were made to the nobility, and royal power was diminished. The French monarchy continued to make gains against the nobility during the late 12th and 13th centuries, bringing more territories within the kingdom under the king's personal rule and centralizing the royal administration. Under Louis IX (r. 1226–70), royal prestige rose to new heights as Louis served as a mediator for most of Europe.

In Iberia, the Christian states, which had been confined to the north-western part of the peninsula, began to push back against the Islamic states in the south, a period known as the Reconquista. By about 1150, the Christian north had coalesced into the five major kingdoms of León, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. Southern Iberia remained under control of Islamic states, initially under the Caliphate of Córdoba, which broke up in 1031 into a shifting number of petty states known as taifas, who fought with the Christians until the Almohad Caliphate re-established centralized rule over Southern Iberia in the 1170s. Christian forces advanced again in the early 13th century, culminating in the capture of Seville in 1248.

The Crusades

In the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks took over much of the Middle East, occupying Persia during the 1040s, Armenia in the 1060s, and Jerusalem in 1070. In 1071, the Turkish army defeated the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert and captured the Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV (r. 1068–71). The Turks were then free to invade Asia Minor, which dealt a dangerous blow to the Byzantine Empire by seizing a large part of its population and its economic heartland. Although the Byzantines regrouped and recovered somewhat, they never fully regained Asia Minor and were often on the defensive. The Turks also had difficulties, losing control of Jerusalem to the Fatimids of Egypt and suffering from a series of internal civil wars. The Byzantines also faced a revived Bulgaria, which in the late 12th and 13th centuries spread throughout the Balkans.

The crusades were intended to seize Jerusalem from Muslim control. The First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II (pope 1088–99) at the Council of Clermont in 1095 in response to a request from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) for aid against further Muslim advances. Urban promised indulgence to anyone who took part. Tens of thousands of people from all levels of society mobilized across Europe and captured Jerusalem in 1099. One feature of the crusades was the pogroms against local Jews that often took place as the crusaders left their countries for the East. These were especially brutal during the First Crusade, when the Jewish communities in Cologne, Mainz, and Worms were destroyed, and other communities in cities between the rivers Seine and Rhine suffered destruction. Another outgrowth of the crusades was the foundation of a new type of monastic order, the military orders of the Templars and Hospitallers, which fused monastic life with military service.

The crusaders consolidated their conquests into crusader states. During the 12th and 13th centuries, there were a series of conflicts between those states and the surrounding Islamic states. Appeals from those states to the papacy led to further crusades, such as the Third Crusade, called to try to regain Jerusalem, which had been captured by Saladin (d. 1193) in 1187. In 1203, the Fourth Crusade was diverted from the Holy Land to Constantinople, and captured the city in 1204, setting up a Latin Empire of Constantinople and greatly weakening the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines recaptured the city in 1261, but never regained their former strength. By 1291 all the crusader states had been captured or forced from the mainland, although a titular Kingdom of Jerusalem survived on the island of Cyprus for several years afterwards.

Popes called for crusades to take place elsewhere besides the Holy Land: in Spain, southern France, and along the Baltic. The Spanish crusades became fused with the Reconquista of Spain from the Muslims. Although the Templars and Hospitallers took part in the Spanish crusades, similar Spanish military religious orders were founded, most of which had become part of the two main orders of Calatrava and Santiago by the beginning of the 12th century. Northern Europe also remained outside Christian influence until the 11th century or later, and became a crusading venue as part of the Northern Crusades of the 12th to 14th centuries. These crusades also spawned a military order, the Order of the Sword Brothers. Another order, the Teutonic Knights, although founded in the crusader states, focused much of its activity in the Baltic after 1225, and in 1309 moved its headquarters to Marienburg in Prussia.

Intellectual life in Medieval Europe

During the 11th century, developments in philosophy and theology led to increased intellectual activity. There was debate between the realists and the nominalists over the concept of "universals". Philosophical discourse was stimulated by the rediscovery of Aristotle and his emphasis on empiricism and rationalism. Scholars such as Peter Abelard (d. 1142) and Peter Lombard (d. 1164) introduced Aristotelian logic into theology. In the late 11th and early 12th centuries cathedral schools spread throughout Western Europe, signaling the shift of learning from monasteries to cathedrals and towns. Cathedral schools were in turn replaced by the universities established in major European cities. Philosophy and theology fused in scholasticism, an attempt by 12th- and 13th-century scholars to reconcile authoritative texts, most notably Aristotle and the Bible. This movement tried to employ a systemic approach to truth and reason and culminated in the thought of Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), who wrote the Summa Theologica, or Summary of Theology.

Chivalry and the ethos of courtly love developed in royal and noble courts. This culture was expressed in the vernacular languages rather than Latin, and comprised poems, stories, legends, and popular songs spread by troubadours, or wandering minstrels. Often the stories were written down in the chansons de geste, or "songs of great deeds", such as The Song of Roland or The Song of Hildebrand. Secular and religious histories were also produced. Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. c. 1155) composed his Historia Regum Britanniae, a collection of stories and legends about Arthur. Other works were more clearly history, such as Otto von Freising's (d. 1158) Gesta Friderici Imperatoris detailing the deeds of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, or William of Malmesbury's (d. c. 1143) Gesta Regum on the kings of England.

Legal studies advanced during the 12th century. Both secular law and canon law, or ecclesiastical law, were studied in the High Middle Ages. Secular law, or Roman law, was advanced greatly by the discovery of the Corpus Juris Civilis in the 11th century, and by 1100 Roman law was being taught at Bologna. This led to the recording and standardization of legal codes throughout Western Europe. Canon law was also studied, and around 1140 a monk named Gratian (fl. 12th century), a teacher at Bologna, wrote what became the standard text of canon law—the Decretum.

Among the results of the Greek and Islamic influence on this period in European history was the replacement of Roman numerals with the decimal positional number system and the invention of algebra, which allowed more advanced mathematics. Astronomy advanced following the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest from Greek into Latin in the late 12th century. Medicine was also studied, especially in southern Italy, where Islamic medicine influenced the school at Salerno.

Advances in Technology and Military Specialization

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Europe produced economic growth and innovations in methods of production. Major technological advances included the invention of the windmill, the first mechanical clocks, the manufacture of distilled spirits, and the use of the astrolabe. Concave spectacles were invented around 1286 by an unknown Italian artisan, probably working in or near Pisa.

The development of a three-field rotation system for planting crops increased the usage of land from one half in use each year under the old two-field system to two-thirds under the new system, with a consequent increase in production. The development of the heavy plow allowed heavier soils to be farmed more efficiently, aided by the spread of the horse collar, which led to the use of draft horses in place of oxen. Horses are faster than oxen and require less pasture, factors that aided the implementation of the three-field system.

The construction of cathedrals and castles advanced building technology, leading to the development of large stone buildings. Ancillary structures included new town halls, houses, bridges, and tithe barns. Shipbuilding improved with the use of the rib and plank method rather than the old Roman system of mortise and tenon. Other improvements to ships included the use of lateen sails and the stern-post rudder, both of which increased the speed at which ships could be sailed.

In military affairs, the use of infantry with specialized roles increased. Along with the still-dominant heavy cavalry, armies often included mounted and infantry crossbowmen, as well as sappers and engineers. Crossbows, which had been known in Late Antiquity, increased in use partly because of the increase in siege warfare in the 10th and 11th centuries. The increasing use of crossbows during the 12th and 13th centuries led to the use of closed-face helmets, heavy body armor, as well as horse armor. Gunpowder was known in Europe by the mid-13th century with a recorded use in European warfare by the English against the Scots in 1304, although it was merely used as an explosive and not as a weapon. Cannon were being used for sieges in the 1320s, and hand-held guns were in use by the 1360s.

Growth in Architectural Styles and Artistic Culture

In the 10th century the establishment of churches and monasteries led to the development of stone architecture that elaborated vernacular Roman forms, from which the term "Romanesque" is derived. Where available, Roman brick and stone buildings were recycled for their materials. From the tentative beginnings known as the First Romanesque, the style flourished and spread across Europe in a remarkably homogeneous form. Just before 1000 there was a great wave of building stone churches all over Europe. Romanesque buildings have massive stone walls, openings topped by semi-circular arches, small windows, and, particularly in France, arched stone vaults. The large portal with colored sculpture in high relief became a central feature of facades, especially in France, and the capitals of columns were often carved with narrative scenes of imaginative monsters and animals. According to art historian C. R. Dodwell, "virtually all the churches in the West were decorated with wall-paintings", of which few survive. Simultaneous with the development in church architecture, the distinctive European form of the castle was developed, and became crucial to politics and warfare.

Romanesque art, especially metalwork, was at its most sophisticated in Mosan art, in which distinct artistic personalities including Nicholas of Verdun (d. 1205) become apparent, and an almost classical style is seen in works such as a font at Liège, contrasting with the writhing animals of the exactly contemporary Gloucester Candlestick. Large illuminated bibles and psalters were the typical forms of luxury manuscripts, and wall-painting flourished in churches, often following a scheme with a Last Judgment on the west wall, a Christ in Majesty at the east end, and narrative biblical scenes down the nave, or in the best surviving example, at Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, on the barrel-vaulted roof.

From the early 12th century, French builders developed the Gothic style, marked by the use of rib vaults, pointed arches, flying buttresses, and large stained glass windows. It was used mainly in churches and cathedrals, and continued in use until the 16th century in much of Europe. Classic examples of Gothic architecture include Chartres Cathedral and Reims Cathedral in France as well as Salisbury Cathedral in England. Stained glass became a crucial element in the design of churches, which continued to use extensive wall-paintings, now almost all lost.

During this period the practice of manuscript illumination gradually passed from monasteries to lay workshops, so that according to Janetta Benton "by 1300 most monks bought their books in shops", and the book of hours developed as a form of devotional book for lay-people. Metalwork continued to be the most prestigious form of art, with Limoges enamel a popular and relatively affordable option for objects such as reliquaries and crosses. In Italy the innovations of Cimabue and Duccio, followed by the Trecento master Giotto (d. 1337), greatly increased the sophistication and status of panel painting and fresco. Increasing prosperity during the 12th century resulted in greater production of secular art; many carved ivory objects such as gaming-pieces, combs, and small religious figures have survived.

Monastic Reforms and the Albigensian Crusade

Monastic reform became an important issue during the 11th century, as elites began to worry that monks were not adhering to the rules binding them to a strictly religious life. Cluny Abbey, founded in the Mâcon region of France in 909, was established as part of the Cluniac Reforms, a larger movement of monastic reform in response to this fear. Cluny quickly established a reputation for austerity and rigour. It sought to maintain a high quality of spiritual life by placing itself under the protection of the papacy and by electing its own abbot without interference from laymen, thus maintaining economic and political independence from local lords.

Monastic reform inspired change in the secular church. The ideals that it was based upon were brought to the papacy by Pope Leo IX (pope 1049–1054), and provided the ideology of the clerical independence that led to the Investiture Controversy in the late 11th century. This involved Pope Gregory VII (pope 1073–85) and Emperor Henry IV, who initially clashed over episcopal appointments, a dispute that turned into a battle over the ideas of investiture, clerical marriage, and simony. The emperor saw the protection of the Church as one of his responsibilities as well as wanting to preserve the right to appoint his own choices as bishops within his lands, but the papacy insisted on the Church's independence from secular lords. These issues remained unresolved after the compromise of 1122 known as the Concordat of Worms. The dispute represents a significant stage in the creation of a papal monarchy separate from and equal to lay authorities. It also had the permanent consequence of empowering German princes at the expense of the German emperors.

The High Middle Ages was a period of great religious movements. Besides the Crusades and monastic reforms, people sought to participate in new forms of religious life. New monastic orders were founded, including the Carthusians and the Cistercians. The latter especially expanded rapidly in their early years under the guidance of Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153). These new orders were formed in response to the feeling of the laity that Benedictine monasticism no longer met the needs of the laymen, who along with those wishing to enter the religious life wanted a return to the simpler hermetical monasticism of early Christianity, or to live an Apostolic life. Religious pilgrimages were also encouraged. Old pilgrimage sites such as Rome, Jerusalem, and Compostela received increasing numbers of visitors, and new sites such as Monte Gargano and Bari rose to prominence.

In the 13th century mendicant orders—the Franciscans and the Dominicans—who swore vows of poverty and earned their living by begging, were approved by the papacy. Religious groups such as the Waldensians and the Humiliati also attempted to return to the life of early Christianity in the middle 12th and early 13th centuries, but they were condemned as heretical by the papacy. Others joined the Cathars, another heretical movement condemned by the papacy. In 1209, a crusade was preached against the Cathars, the Albigensian Crusade, which in combination with the medieval Inquisition, eliminated them.

Dark Ages Chronicle Timeline

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Anno Domini 1096

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Medieval Missives: In-Game

Erik the Red to his childe Bolverk the Warlord - April 10th, 1096 A.D. {Paris}

Alexander - Sovereign of the Ile de France to Mercuzio Tiberus - Childe of Helena - April 10th, 1096 A.D. {Paris}

Béatrix - Duchesse des Roses to Mercuzio Tiberus - Thief of Golgotha & Count of Corinth - April 10th, 1096 A.D. {Paris}

Notes: Carolingian minuscule

Medieval Missives: Out-of-Game

Gifts of the Blood

I see my soul as a great god within the boat of Ra on the night of the red star. My soul is in the front among

those who sing the songs of centuries. Come; the eye of Horus, the eye which crafts glories upon Ra’s brow and

rays of light upon the faces of those weak creatures within the limbs of Osiris. You have delivered my soul.

Do not shut yourself in my soul, make no effort to imprison my shadow,

for you may behold a greater god than you are.

-The Book of the Dead, Ankhet’s Translation, Tablet 18

From the moment of the Embrace, Caine’s blood within undead veins strives toward an unholy perfection. The blood grows potent, thickening and honing in frightening and often unique ways. In addition to healing and quickening the vampire’s natural strengths, vampires learn Disciplines. Disciplines focus the blood to very specific tasks, tricks, and blasphemies. For example, a Ventrue might learn Dominate, which allows her to control the minds of men, whereas a Malkavian can learn Dementation, which shatters those minds in kind.

LEARNING DISCIPLINES

Each clan and each bloodline shares affinity for three Disciplines. Theoretically, a Cainite may learn any Discipline with time and tutelage. She can learn the three physical Disciplines, Celerity, Fortitude, and Potence, without a teacher. She may also learn her three affinity Disciplines on her own. Other Disciplines require a mentor who knows the Discipline, and the specific level desired. At Storyteller discretion, clan-specific Disciplines such as Vicissitude and rare bloodline Disciplines like Temporis may require the student drink the mentor’s blood, establishing a partial blood oath. Alternatively, a vampire who has committed Amaranth against another Cainite may learn his Disciplines without tutelage.

In some Discipline descriptions, particularly high-level Disciplines, specific clans or bloodlines are mentioned. In those cases, the clan or bloodline specializes in that power. Finding a mentor for the power outside that group should be challenging, if possible at all.

HIGH-LEVEL DISCIPLINES

Vampires of the Seventh or lower Generations may learn Disciplines at the sixth dot and beyond. These ferocious elder gifts are unique to a given vampire, and a Cainite may learn more than one ability at each level above five. So a Sixth Generation vampire might have three sixth level Disciplines and four seventh level abilities.

The elder Disciplines listed below are common examples. They’re popular, iconic manifestations of the blood. However, players are encouraged to work with the Storyteller to develop appropriate powers if their characters amass these legendary levels of skill. Use the examples as a foundation for level and scope, but use this opportunity to redefine what it means to be Cainite, specific to your characters and chronicles.

COMBINATION DISCIPLINES

While Disciplines each contain five specific, tiered powers, sometimes Cainites develop specific applications of the blood. These Combination Disciplines combine the various techniques a Cainite has learned, and merges her capabilities into something new and unique. Each Combination Discipline has two or more Discipline level requirements, and its own experience cost. {More on will be detailed on Combination Disciplines later}

BLOOD SORCERY

Blood Sorcery is a catch-all term for a series of Discipline-like powers, including but not limited to Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, and Abyss Mysticism. {A fuller discussion on Blood Sorcery will be covered later in this section.}

ABOMBWE

The Bonsam claim heritage from a hunter possessed by a darkness from a time before the light. It is impossible to trace the veracity of this statement, but the Discipline of Abombwe certainly taps into both primal darkness and predatory prowess.

Systems and Drama

COMBAT SYSTEMS

In V20 Dark Ages, tensions run high and tempers hot. Cainites pretend they’re civil creatures, but they are monsters capable of massive devastation at a second’s notice.

A single dice roll can handle most violent encounters like any other action. When a Brujah with Potence decides to invest the blood of Caine to fuel her undead muscles in order to snap a mortal’s neck, a Strength + Brawl roll works fine in the heat of the moment. But when relatively matched opponents square off or when numbers or mitigating circumstances come into play, the following rules allow for a more detailed, dramatic combat scene.

HEALTH

In the combat rules, we mention the health track with its seven health levels. These levels reflect your character’s physical condition as she withstands the punishments of the Dark Medieval World.

Here, we’ll give a bit more detail on health levels and how they work.

DICE POOL PENALTIES

As your character suffers damage, she’s less capable of acting with her full ability. Every health level has a corresponding dice pool penalty. Subtract this from all active dice pools you form. This does not apply to reflexive actions like Discipline resistance, but it does apply to Initiative. Only the current wound penalty applies; ignore less severe health levels.

MOVEMENT PENALTIES

Wounds cause a character to move at a fraction of her normal speed. Each level has its own conditions.

INCAPACITATED

Once a character is at the Incapacitated health level, she cannot take any normal actions. Mortals fall unconscious at this level if they’re Incapacitated with bashing damage. Vampires can still act at -5 if they’re full of bashing damage. Lethal damage beyond Incapacitated causes death to a mortal, or torpor to a vampire.

TORPOR

Torpor is a deathlike sleep that vampires fall into when immensely injured. They can also enter this state voluntarily, as after centuries, ennui sets in and the Cainite may wish to awaken in a more hospitable time. Once in torpor, her Road determines how long she stays asleep. If she falls into torpor from damage, she can only awaken after the designated time, and after receiving blood from an external source.

Road	Length of Torpor
10	One Day
9	Three Days
8	One Week
7	Two Weeks
6	One Month
5	One Year
4	One Decade
3	Five Decades
2	One Century
1	Five Centuries
0	Millenium Plus

Following this rest, the player may spend a blood point and make a roll to awaken (see p. 360) to rise. If she has no blood in her system, she cannot rise until fed. If the roll fails, she can wait a night, spend another blood point, and attempt again. If she wakes, she’s considered Crippled, and should either spend blood to heal or hunt immediately.

If the character enters torpor voluntarily, she can attempt to rise after half the designated time.

While in torpor, a vampire loses no blood with the passage of time; her husk is in hibernation.

FINAL DEATH

If a vampire is Incapacitated or in torpor and suffers one more level of aggravated damage, she dies permanently. This can also come about through massive bodily destruction, such as full dismemberment. This is at Storyteller discretion.

APPLYING DAMAGE

As addressed in combat rules, there are three types of damage in Vampire. Bashing damage is blunt trauma humans heal rapidly. Lethal damage is serious tissue damage, lacerations, and other wounds that would leave a human to bleed out. Aggravated wounds are supernaturally deadly injuries.

All damage types are cumulative, and combined injury determines your character’s health level.

Always mark the more serious type of damage higher on the health track. Which is to say, if your character has two aggravated wounds, two lethal wounds, and two bashing wounds, she’d have aggravated wounds on Bruised and Hurt, lethal on Injured and Wounded, and bashing on Mauled and Crippled. Remember that bashing damage is marked with a slash, lethal with an X, and aggravated damage an asterisk.

HEALTH LEVELS AND FINAL DEATH
Health Level	Dice Pool Penalty	Movement Penalty
Bruised	0	No movement penalty
Hurt	-1	No movement penalty
Injured	-1	Halve the character’s maximum running speed
Wounded	-2	Character may not run, only walk
Mauled	-2	Character may only hobble three yards/meters per turn
Crippled	-5	Character may only crawl one yard/meter per turn
Incapacitated	-	Character cannot move
Torpor	-	Character is in torpor, and cannot act at all
Final Death	-	Character dies permanently

If the health track is full, further damage “upgrades” other damage to the next worst type. With a health track full of bashing damage, further bashing damage becomes lethal damage at the top of the track. When the health track fills with lethal damage, further lethal damage becomes aggravated.

DERANGEMENTS

I have seen Agnes’s affliction before, though never in adults. My sister Margaret was a normal child before the headaches. Her speech slurred, hands grasping as if working a cow’s udder. Father beat her to stop the twitching gasps. Margaret loved the outdoors, but now she was not permitted lest neighbors spy her affliction. Even Mother became frustrated at how Margaret insisted on sort- ing herbs into insensible patterns. Mother was unsurprised when the fever took Margaret, treating the shudders and rheum with cow bile, eggs, and nettle tea with milk. When the moon grows heavy, I shall entreat Agnes to ply the kine with nettle rather than wine, that blood may salve both body and soul.

-- Matthias, childe of de Lille, childe of Agathodaimon, childe of Rayzeel

Much as they’d like to deny it, Cainite minds are derived from humanity. Even those walking alien Roads still stalk much as mortal men and women do. For all they style themselves monsters hiding in the Long Night’s shadows, Cainites are susceptible to the same frailties of mind and soul as those they hunt.

Much of the learned knowledge describing Derangements in the Dark Ages derives from the work of the ancient Greeks, who held the result of a mind’s illness to be from organic causes, namely the deficit or surplus of humors within the body. Muslim scholars of the era codify and extrapolate from the Greek texts. Christian clergy, on the other hand, holds that Derangements stem from moral flaws in the individual, sins and vices cracking open the soul and allowing demons to nest within. No few animist cults, or those descended from ancient religions, hold Derangements to be supernatural in cause.

ROLEPLAYING DERANGEMENTS

Derangements create challenges for the player to solve, but they’re not intended to provide an impediment to play. Derangements are aspects of a character that frequently impact their unlives negatively, and subsequently require adjustments to their interactions to manage or avoid this negative impact. Most Derangements lie somewhat dormant, with their traits present in small mental and verbal traits or tics and only manifesting fully during periods of stress — generally, most stimuli that could potentially cause frenzy or any stress that calls for a Self-Control or Instinct roll will automatically trigger a Derangement. The player and Storyteller should agree on what stimuli triggers the Derangement for the character.

Once the stress triggers the Derangement, it remains in effect for the rest of the night. By spending a Willpower point, a Cainite may experience a single turn of lucidity, holding the Derangement at bay by sheer force of will. Each Derangement stipulates how it affects vampires; while mortals much the same way vampires can, the actual mechanical effects are up to the Storyteller.

Players can use Derangements to show a different side of the character, or to show how their human side deals with itself during times of stress. If the character doesn’t succumb to frenzy, it can be an opportunity to reinforce those human traits. Besides indicating how a vampire’s mind fractures under the weight of ages, Storytellers can also use Derangements to emphasize the different parts of the vampiric experience: dyscrasia is a purely material concern (internally focused), whereas divine displeasure is a curse from outside the character, dealing with the wider spirit world around the Cainite. Sins of the soul deal with the religious nature of the character’s unlife, a major force in the existence of many around the vampire.

DYSCRASIA

A disease of the body. The four humors of the human (and Cainite) body lie in a delicate balance, though individuals are predisposed towards different temperaments depending on how much of one humor they’ve got in their body. However, factors both internal and external can lead to one humor’s ascendancy over the others, causing a physical and mental reaction.

Players of characters with a humor imbalance should choose one that’s fairly close to the character’s personality. Humor imbalances are personality traits magnified to extremes.

• Melancholics are introverted, introspective, and irritable. They can be startlingly dispirited (even when the situation calls for or demands a more spirited response). They tend to stare off listlessly, lost in sadness deep and dark as black bile. They lose track of themselves, and can’t touch their emotions easily. Melancholia causes a -1 penalty to all dice pools, but a -1 difficulty for all manner of frenzy.

• Phlegmatics are calm, thoughtful, and patient. The temperament is common amongst academics, and they tend to be extremely orderly about their area of expertise. However, due to their inward focus, they have trouble adapting quickly or adroitly to changes in their environment (-1 die to Wits and Dexterity rolls).

• Sanguines are lively, sociable, optimistic, and passionate, sometimes overly so. When the blood sings in their veins, every emotion is heightened and verges on the inappropriate. They have deep difficulties in focusing on the moment. The Storyteller chooses three Abilities at random; the difficulty for rolls using these Abilities increases by one, due to the character’s lack of focus. Increase the difficulty of all rolls featuring Mental Attributes by one as well.

• Cholerics are restless, aggressive, and impulsive. They tend to be ambitious, but may become angered or even violent when their ambitions are thwarted. When gripped by an imbalance of black bile, increase the character’s difficulty to resist frenzy by two, but reduce the difficulty to perform any acts of painful physical violence by one.

DIVINE DISPLEASURE

A curse upon the mind. Sacred curses are, hearth wisdom holds, the result of incurring the displeasure of pagan gods and spirits.

• Compulsion: The disorder of nature causes a physical discomfort in the character, resulting in an obsessive desire to order the world around them. Nervous and meticulous, they have some form of ritual taboo that they obsessively practice during periods of stress — frequent bathing, counting coins, or sorting books and possessions by size or type. If they can’t practice this ritual, they suffer from extreme agitation (-3 dice to all frenzy rolls; the Storyteller should call for a frenzy roll more often than normal when this Derangement is triggered).

• Lunacy: First codified by the Romans but well-known for centuries, this Derangement is caused by a curse of Luna, the moon’s goddess. The character experiences mania and depression according to the lunar cycle. While the moon waxes, the character slowly grows more irritable until they’re manic and full of energy during the full moon (-1 difficulty to all extended rolls, +1 to all difficulties to frenzy). Waning moons cause a deepening lethargy resembling melancholia, and the new moon requires more effort to from their blood to rouse them (vampire’s Willpower rating is reduced by half the normal value, rounding up; the vampires requires an additional blood point to rise on the night of the new moon).

• Sacred Disease: Even great Caesar himself suffered from the same curse the character does. No matter how implacable or stalwart the character is, they’re a victim to a trembling disorder that renders them insensate. On a Derangement trigger, the player rolls Stamina (difficulty 8). On a failure, the character feels the disease overpowering them, collapsing into a seizure within three turns. They writhe and slam their limbs about, frothing blood at the mouth as their veins bulge and distend. Unlike other Derangements, the sacred disease only lasts for the rest of the scene, though the character is worn out for rest of the night (-1 die penalty to all Physical tests).

• Saint Vitus’s Dance: Related to the Sacred Disease, the dance causes involuntary movements of the face and limbs, with a sweating fever and bloody rheum streaming from the eyes. While the individual’s men- tal faculties aren’t impaired, the difficulty for all her Social rolls increases by two. Saint Vitus’s Dance can spread throughout a group, leading to mass outbreaks of the “madness.”

SINS OF THE SOUL

A damning pall over the soul. The Church and its adherents hold that the moral failures of the impious are what cause these Derangements, but they can affect even the holiest individuals.

• Sanguinary Animism: This uniquely Cainite Derangement leads sufferers to believe they drink the souls of their victims with the blood. Feeding causes intense guilt in sufferers of sanguinary animism; their victims communicate with them as voices in their heads and memories seeping into their consciousness. The suffering vampire often blames his actions on these voices, claiming that they are an effort to pacify his tormentors. The vampire is compelled to reply to the voices, and must utter these replies aloud (even if it’s just a low muttering). This may result in variable difficulties to Social rolls.

• Visions: You’ve transgressed against your culture, causing potentially irreparable harm to your soul. You’ve struggled to put your guilt behind you. But someone, or something, forgives you — and they let you know. During times of stress, the character sees holy figures encouraging her to act according to her better nature, ready to punish her if she fails again. She is especially wary of the holy figures’ watchfulness (-2 dice to all degeneration rolls).

• Voices: The demons know your sins, and they’re hunting you for it. Victims of demon voices become paragons of self-persecution, fearing divine retribution and seeing it in every angle. Their paranoia exhibits during times of stress; they’re wary of social interac- tions (+1 difficulty to Social rolls) and fearful that anyone could be a demon in disguise. A botch on a Social roll (from either party) will invariably result in panicked flight from the perceived demon (an automatic fear frenzy).

DETERIORATION

A vampire who is staked spends blood at the rate of one point per night. A vampire with no blood be- gins consuming all excess moisture within his body at a rate of one health level per day. At first the vampire appears merely emaciated, but as the body completely dehydrates, it begins to wither. By the seventh day, when the character has reached Incapacitated on the health chart, the character mummifies and enters tor- por. Once in torpor, the character cannot rise unless supplied with enough blood to bring him back to Injured on the health chart.

DIABLERIE

Diablerie, or Amaranth, is the act of feeding on a vampire in the way that a vampire feeds on a mortal. In so doing, not only does the murderer consume the victim’s blood (and vampire blood is far, far sweeter than any mortal’s), but the victim’s power as well. In this manner, even the youngest vampire can gain the power of the elders.

Committing Diablerie

A vampire committing diablerie must drain all the blood from his Cainite victim, then continue to suck, for (according to Cainite legend) the very soul is withdrawn from the victim’s body. Once a vampire’s body has been drained of all blood, the diablerist’s player makes an extended Strength roll (difficulty 9). Each success inflicts one automatic health level of unsoakable aggravated damage (even with Fortitude) on the victim. When all the victim’s health levels have been drained, the victim’s essence is taken into the attacker and the emptied body begins decaying immediately. Total concentration goes into the struggle to draw forth the essence of the victim, and stopping for even a moment ruins the chance of capturing the spirit. The difficulty to attack a vampire attempting diablerie is 2.

The Rewards of Diablerie

Upon successful completion of diablerie, the diablerist is overwhelmed by euphoria, and a Self-Control/Instinct roll is necessary (difficulty 10 minus the character’s Road rating) to avoid losing control. The sensation is akin to orgasm, but much more powerful. Over time, certain Cainites grow addicted to the sensation. All other Cainites fear these vampires, for their addiction to Amaranth makes them a threat to everyone. Even vampires too weak to provide additional power are devoured for the simple pleasure of the act.

The true benefit of diablerie becomes evident if the diablerist feeds on the vitae of a vampire of lower Generation. The diablerist literally steals the power and potency of the victim’s own blood, and thus permanently lowers her own Generation by one, bringing her closer to the mythical power of Caine. The vampire receives all benefits of the lowered generation.

If the victim was of far greater power (five or more Generations lower) than the diablerist, the Storyteller may rule that the predator lowers her Generation by more than one step.

Moreover, drinking the vitae of elder vampires can induce a temporary increase in the diablerist’s Discipline levels by one, two, or even more dots, as the potent blood augments the predator’s own mystic arts. If the elder vampire was several Generations removed from the diablerist’s own Generation, the effects can seem miraculous, even if they are short-lived. These increased powers last for a single scene, unless the Storyteller decides otherwise.

To commit diablerie, the diablerist must take blood directly and immediately from the victim; the blood may not be stored and used later. Moreover, only one diablerist may commit the act on a given victim; a pack of neonates cannot swarm around an elder and all gain the benefits of diablerie, no matter how potent the victim’s blood.

Perils of Diablerie

Committing diablerie seems like the perfect crime. However, those who commit the atrocity soon learn that diablerists wear the evidence of their crime on their souls. Vampires with the Auspex Discipline can detect a diablerist by using Aura Perception. The stolen energies of the victim mingle with the energies of the diablerist, leaving thick black marks running through the diablerist’s aura. These marks remain in evidence for a number of years equal to the difference between the victim’s Generation and the diablerist’s original Generation. Additionally, practitioners of Thaumaturgy can use the Path of Blood to detect the diablerist’s sin, even centuries after the crime was committed. For that reason, in particular, practitioners of the Amaranth fear the Tremere.

Even those without special perceptions often sense a taint about the diablerist. For one month per Generation removed from the victim, a diablerist leaves more sen- sitive Cainites unsettled. The vampire in question may not actually know what the diablerist did, but they’ll feel uncomfortable around him just the same. A player whose vampire comes in contact with a diablerist may make a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty of 12 minus the sensing vampire’s Road rating — centered and attuned vampires are more aware of such things) to determine the source of their unease.

A few rumors speak of diablerists displaying certain mannerisms of their late victims, particularly if the vic- tims were of great psychic fortitude (Willpower 10) and of much stronger blood than their murderers.

Lastly, many Roads prohibit murder. If murder is a sin for the vampire, the Road loss is automatic, not rolled.

DISEASE

One of the biggest advantages to being a walking corpse is a natural immunity to most diseases. Any illness that can be transmitted by the blood is a potential problem for vampires, because they can carry the illness and transmit it from victim to victim. By drinking from someone infected and then feeding on different victims, these vampires have helped to spread a particularly virulent infection.

An Intelligence + Medicine roll (difficulty 7) will allow characters to detect the presence of blood-related diseases. On a failed roll, the vampire does not notice the symptoms and exposes himself to disease (Stamina roll, difficulty 6, to avoid). A botch indicates the character feeds sloppily and automatically becomes a carrier for the disease.

FAITH

According to Cainite legend, the Curse of Caine has made all vampires forever outcast in the eyes of God. This might or might not be the case, but it is quite true that symbols or persons of great religious faith can cause discomfort or even harm to the Damned. Potently pious mortals — those with the True Faith Trait — can use their devotion as a defense or weapon against vampires. See the section below detailing True Faith.

Falling

Even vampires can suffer great damage from falling significant distances. The Storyteller rolls one die of bashing damage for every 10 feet or 3 meters (rounded down) that your character falls before hitting something solid. Falling damage may be soaked normally. Landing on sharp objects can change the damage from bashing to lethal at the Storyteller’s discretion.

If your character plummets 100 feet (30 meters) or more, she reaches terminal velocity. The damage effect reaches a maximum of 10 dice at this point, and it is considered lethal damage. Additionally, any armor your character wears in a terminal-velocity fall functions at only half its rating (rounded down).

Fire and Burns

Vampires fear fire, for it is one of the few things that can end their immortal existences. Fire damage is aggravated and ignores armor; it may be soaked only with Fortitude. A fire’s size determines the levels of aggravated damage per turn, while its heat determines the difficulty of the Fortitude soak roll. A character suffers the full damage effect for each turn that she’s in contact with the flames. All damage inflicted by fire is automatically successful unless soaked.

Soak Difficulty	Heat of Fire
3	Heat of a candle
5	Heat of a torch
7	Heat of a bonfire
8	Heat of a forest fire
9	Heat of a forge
10	Molten metal

Health Levels / Turn	Size of Fire
One	Torch; a part of the body is exposed to flame
Two	Bonfire; half of the body is exposed to flame
Three	Raging inferno; entire body is engulfed in flame

Frenzy and Rötschreck

Vampires are monsters, possessed of an inner Beast. They have the capability to overrule their baser instincts, but sometimes they fail. When this occurs, the Hunger and the Beast become uncontrollable.

The Nature of the Beast

During frenzy, a character literally gives into the darkest instincts of his vampiric nature. The character is consumed with rage or hunger, unable to consider the effects of any action. If a vampire in frenzy is hungry, he will feed from whoever is closest without regard for the vessel. If the vampire is angry, he will do everything in his power to destroy the cause of his anger. A vampire struck by fear will commit any atrocity to remove himself from the source of his terror, regardless of the consequences. The character completely surrenders to the basest aspects of his Nature, shunting aside the Demeanor most commonly presented to those around him. He is, in short, the Beast.

Many things can induce frenzy, but episodes of great rage or hunger are the most common provocations. It is dangerous to deny or humiliate the undead. Ultimately, the Storyteller can call for a vampire to make a frenzy roll at any time he feels the character might have cause to lose control.

A vampire in frenzy gains several temporary benefits from the state. Vampires in frenzy completely ignore all dice pool penalties inflicted by injury until the frenzy ends. Once the frenzy is finished, the pain comes back and the crippling effects of the wounds take hold again. All difficulties to Dominate or otherwise mentally control a frenzied character are increased by two, and all difficulties to resist the effects of such mental control are reduced by two. The character never needs Willpower rolls to overcome mundane fear and apprehension, because the rage fueling the vampire’s actions is both a catalyst to heightened state of mind and a barrier against unwanted intrusions. Lastly, characters in frenzy are immune to the detrimental effects of Rötschreck.

Systems

The rules for handling frenzy are deliberately vague, and the Storyteller is encouraged to make whatever changes she deems necessary to accommodate her chronicle.

In some cases, Cainites can manage to overcome the urge to frenzy. A vampire on the verge of frenzy must make a Self-Control roll against a variable difficulty. (Vampires with the Instincts Virtue always frenzy; see p. 357). The difficulty often varies between 6 and 8, but if trying to overcome the urge to commit a blatantly evil act, the vampire’s player can roll against a difficulty of (9 minus Conscience/Conviction) instead. The character must score five successes to completely overcome the desires for violence, but even one success halts the frenzy temporarily.

For each success below five, the character can resist the urge to frenzy for one turn. After this, the character may try again to gain extra successes and thus continue to resist the frenzy. Once five successes are acquired, the vampire resists the Beast’s urges and the urge to frenzy subsides.

Failure means the character goes into an emotional rampage, doing exactly what she wants to do with no worries of later repercussions. Botching the Self-Control roll means the character remains in frenzy until the Storyteller decides otherwise, and she may gain a Derangement related to the frenzy.

The following list shows common stimuli that can incite frenzy and the typical difficulty for a character to resist. If the frenzy has the potential to cause the vampire to commit an atrocity, the Storyteller can rule that the difficulty is (9 minus Conscience/Conviction) instead.

Provocation	Difficulty
Smell of blood when hungry	3
Sight of blood when hungry	4
Being harassed	4
Life-threatening situation	4
Malicious taunts	4
Physical provocation	6
Taste of blood when hungry	6
Loved one in danger	7
Outright public humiliation	8

The Storyteller has final say in what can or cannot provoke a frenzy, where a frenzy can make a point about a character’s personality, or enhance the events of a story.

Roleplaying Frenzy

Characters in frenzy are not themselves — or, more accurately, reveal more of themselves than they normally would. They will do anything to sate their hunger or destroy the source of the frenzy, even attacking other players’ characters. Characters in frenzy generally attack their enemies first, but if no enemies are present, friends are perfectly acceptable fodder for their baser instincts. The character might feel remorse and guilt later, but while the frenzy occurs, nothing matters save the immediate gratification of the character’s desires. This can lead to degeneration checks (p. 114).

Some players might feel hesitant about roleplaying frenzy, but such is the nature of the vampire. Players are encouraged to portray the frenzy effectively. A player whose character is in the midst of frenzy may choose to spend a Willpower point to control one action of his character for one turn. This moment of relative lucidity and control lasts for only a turn, possibly two; it does not stop the frenzy, but only allows the character to control it slightly.

The Storyteller decides how long any frenzy lasts, but one scene typically suffices. If a character is knocked unconscious or trapped alone for an extended period, she will eventually regain control of herself.

Rötschreck: The Red Fear

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Sunlight and fire provoke a terrified flight-or-fight mentality in vampires. While under the spell of this Rötschreck, a vampire flees in panic from the source of her fear. Rötschreck is in most ways similar to any other frenzy; just as the Beast sometimes seizes control in times of anger, so it does in times of great fear.

Innocuous stimuli directly under the character’s control are unlikely to induce Rötschreck. However, a lamp waved threateningly or fireplace suddenly flaring up may call for a roll.

A vampire seeking to avoid Rötschreck requires a Courage roll. As with frenzy, five successes must be accumulated to ignore the Beast completely, though fewer successes enable the vampire to overcome her fear for a period of time. Failure means the vampire flees madly from the danger, making a beeline for safety and tearing apart anything or anyone that gets in her way. Any attempt to restrain a vampire suffering from Rötschreck results in an immediate attack, just as if the character were in frenzy. One Willpower point may be spent to maintain control for one turn. A character who is the victim of a botched Courage roll immediately frenzies and remains in frenzy until the Storyteller decides otherwise.

Provocation	Difficulty
Lighting a lamp	3
Sight of a torch	5
Bonfire	6
Obscured sunlight	7
Being burned	7
Direct sunlight	8
Trapped in burning building	9

Golconda and Other Means of Salvation

For most Cainites, to be vampire is to be eternally Damned. Many legends speak of vampirism as the curse not only of Caine, but of the Devil himself. Even those vampires who scorn such superstition nonetheless see a secular hell of sorts in their Beast, their Hunger, and the all-consuming ennui of centuries.

It is not surprising that some Cainites speak of a state transcending their eternal hunger and rage. Vampires who attain this state, which is called Golconda, are said to have mastered the Beast to such an extent that it no longer controls their actions. While vampires in Golconda still blood to survive, they need far less of it. Moreover, they are able to quell the urges of the Beast to such an extent that they need never fear losing control to it. They are no longer properly vampires, but a different, higher species of creature entirely.

As the stories go, Golconda is known only to a few among the undead. They live in the wild places, at one with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky. Even the werewolves leave the masters of Golconda be. Vampires who have attained Golconda occasionally enter the larger society of undead, seeking disciples whom they can guide along the path to Golconda.

Attaining Golconda cannot be simulated with charts or experience points. It is as ephemeral, yet as powerful as love or self-acceptance, and its attainment should be the focus of an entire chronicle. In general, characters learn of Golconda only after spending some time among the undead, for Golconda lore is spread in puzzling riddles and whispered from seeker to seeker. It is certain that vampires who wish to attain Golconda must feel remorse.

The greater a vampire’s sins, the greater the penance necessary. Vampires wishing to enter Golconda must seek out the families of old victims and make amends, protect those weaker than they, and try to make the World of Darkness a better place. This inevitably entails maintaining one’s Humanity and spending Willpower to commit good deeds whenever possible. Vampires on Paths of Enlightenment are believed to be unable to achieve Golconda.

Attaining Golconda should come only at the end of a long and arduous chronicle. During this chronicle, characters must meet certain criteria. They must attain a rating of 7 or higher on Road of Humanity and Conscience ratings of 4 or higher, and they must maintain those ratings over lengthy periods. Moreover, they must consistently display penitent, abstinent, and honorable behavior over dozens of stories.

Typically, at about the midpoint of the chronicle, prospective Golconda-seekers travel in search of a mentor reputed to harbor the secrets of Golconda. If they find a mentor, the vampires must prove themselves worthy. Such tasks often lead the questers through grave perils to both body and soul. The culmination comes when a worthy vampire undergoes a ritual called the Suspire. The precise effects of the ritual are unknown, save that it involves a journey into the world of dreams and, ultimately, into the vampire’s own soul. It is extraordinarily difficult, and many vampires fail to survive it with their unlives or sanity intact. Still others return from the Suspire whole, but having forever failed to gain Golconda.

Should a vampire actually gain this legendary state, the effects are most miraculous. Foremost among them is a total immunity to frenzy or Rötschreck. In addition, the character does not need to drink blood as often. The character loses only one blood point per week rather than one blood point per night. He must still spend blood normally to power Disciplines, heal wounds, etc.

A vampire in Golconda partly transcends the Curse binding his own blood; he may increase any Trait to as high as 10 regardless of Generation, though his blood pool remains as it was.

A vampire in Golconda must maintain rigid standards of purity. Should his Humanity rating ever slip below 7, or his Conscience rating below 4, the vampire loses all benefits of Golconda, including heightened Traits.

Becoming Mortal

Besides the tales of Golconda, certain Cainite legends speak of vampires who have thrown off the Curse completely and become mortal once more. No vampire seems to actually know any of their kind who has done such a thing. The catalysts behind such a change can be anything from slaying one’s sire to finding true love to sacrificing oneself unselfishly for another (and becoming mortal in the dying). Ultimately, the truth of such things is up to the Storyteller.

Poisons and Drugs

Vampires have little fear of conventional poisons. However, they may succumb to poisons or drugs contained within the bloodstream of their victims. Indeed, certain vampires actively seek out victims under the influence of alcohol or drugs to receive a vicarious buzz.

Following are some examples the effects of drinking blood from a poisoned or drugged victim. A vampire with low Willpower (4 or less) or an appropriate Nature might risk addiction to a certain substance, but this is unlikely. In general, the effects of most drugs on vampires are far less than their effects on humans.

Note that the following examples use modern terminology. These types of drugs exist in the Dark Medieval World, but come from specific plants from specific regions. We encourage you to look into any drugs you intend to introduce to your chronicle for appropriateness, and research their effects.

Alcohol: Subtract one from Dexterity and Intelligence dice pools for every two drinks’ worth of alcohol in his victims’ blood. This effect fades at the rate of one die per hour, as the alcohol purges itself from the bloodstream.

Hallucinogens: Lower all dice pools by one to three. He suffers effects similar to the Level Two Dementation power Soul Haunting. Depending on the precise nature of the hallucinogen, he may gain extra dice in one particular Ability (such as Awareness) or find his Auspex Discipline raised by a dot or more. The effects last for (8 minus Stamina) hours.

Sedatives: Subtract two from Dexterity and all Ability dice pools for (10 minus Stamina) minutes. She experiences a dreamlike state for (12 minus Stamina) hours. Difficulties of frenzy rolls are decreased by one.

Psychoactives: Subtract one from Perception pools. The vampire experiences a slightly altered perception of time. Difficulties of frenzy rolls are decreased by one due to the calming effect of the herb. The effects last for about half an hour.

Poison: Subtract one from all dice pools and take from one to three levels of lethal damage per scene or even turn, depending on the intensity of the poison. Few poisons have any real effect on the undead, and most inflict a fixed maximum amount of damage before wearing off. The vampire may purge the blood at his normal expenditure rate, and the effects heal automatically within minutes to hours after purging the blood.

Food Poisoning: The vampire becomes nauseated, unable to consume more blood (roll Stamina, difficulty 6, to overcome), and suffers one health level of bashing damage. The effects last for one night.

Sunlight

Sunlight is even deadlier than fire to vampires. Unless a character has Fortitude, the rays of the sun cause burns. Characters with Fortitude may attempt to soak sun damage, using a soak dice pool equal to the level of the Discipline. The difficulty to soak the damage depends on the intensity of the light, while the amount of damage taken depends on the amount of protection between the vampire’s skin and the sunlight.

No part of a vampire is immune to the rays of the sun. Any character looking into direct sunlight is blinded instantly.

Soak Difficulty	Intensity of Light
3	Faint light coming through a closed curtain; heavy cloud cover; twilight
5	Fully protected by heavy clothes, gloves, and a wide-brimmed hat
7	Indirect light coming through a window or light curtains
9	Outside on a cloudy day; hit by one ray of direct light; catching the sun’s reflection in a mirror
10	Direct rays from the sun

Health Levels / Turn	Exposure
One	Small part of body exposed – a hand or part of the face
Two	Large part of body exposed – a leg, an arm, or the whole head
Three	Fifty percent or more of the body exposed – wearing thin clothing

Temperature Extremes

Vampires suffer little from the privations of temperature. However, very high (200+ °F or 100+ °C) temperatures might have the same effects as fire, at the Storyteller’s discretion. Vampires suffering from extreme cold might be forced to spend additional blood points or suffer from the effects of frostbite (losing one or more dice to Dexterity-based dice pools). However vampires should not suffer greatly from most “normal” temperature fluctuations.

True Faith

Four hundred million humans live and breathe, are born and die, and among them, most pay only lip service to a belief in a greater or higher power. This is human nature, to believe in something greater “just in case.”

For some rare people, faith goes further. These people come from many walks of life, but especially those who have been exposed to the true manifestations of evil and terror that lurk in every shadow of this era. For these graceful few, faith is not just a word to describe the amount of time you go to church or the amount of money gifted to your local priest. For these people, faith is a raw but potent manifestation of will and positivity, focused through belief in a way specially attuned toward driving back the darkness. There are many ways for faith to manifest, such as healing, compassion, and group efforts to build civilizations or shake the heavens. When this manifestation comes, though, it is diamond-honed to respond to evil. It is, arguably, a natural human evolution in response to the ever-growing number of wicked monsters stalking the night. True Faith is a devout belief in right and beauty and light, and it burns brighter than fire.

True Faith is a beautiful, empowering thing to witness, which is how it spreads. It is a burning, cold, powerful agony to be on the receiving end, like the single-minded burning of sunlight as it bakes the earth and blisters sin. True Faith (as it is often called by those Cainites who have witnessed it and survived) pushes back against darkness with light and very little regard for shades of gray.

In game terms, True Faith is measured as a trait from one to five dots. It’s not an Attribute, Ability, or Background. It’s a unique trait measured independently of other character traits.

Receiving True Faith

No one is born with True Faith. It must be earned. To earn it, the wielder must first be tested, brought to the brink, and survive somehow. In surviving, they turn their eyes heavenward, look at the sun and the blue sky, and see a larger, grander purpose for themselves and for all things. How their faith manifests does not depend on religion or tradition. Religious fervor or scholarship is not a prerequisite. All that’s truly needed is a terrible encounter with evil, a near-death experience by the supernatural, and finding a greater, broader purpose for the second life received.

While it almost entirely manifests itself among human beings, perhaps one in a million of the Damned have manifested True Faith. Generally, they come from the Road of Humanity (particularly the Path of Illumination) or the Road of Heaven. Other Roads may allow for a manifestation of True Faith, but only with Storyteller approval.

No player’s character may start a Chronicle with more than one level of Truth Faith. In game terms, True Faith does not cost Merit or experience points; it’s a player choice with Storyteller approval.

Increasing True Faith

Increases in True Faith should come only with Story- teller approval as a manifestation of the story being told. There are no systems to abstract what reflects a gain or loss of this sort of faith. Instead, Storytellers should follow the beats of their characters’ stories, and adjust this trait after intense times of doubt, huge successes, near death experiences, or destruction of a particularly heinous evil. Of course, to pace with other characters in a chronicle, Storytellers can abstract these ideas further. Perhaps witnessing the birth of a foal at just the right moment in a story could increase True Faith as readily as killing a vampire Prince. In more game-specific terms, an increase in Road or a Virtue could be a good time to assess the character’s Faith level.

Losing Faith

Because True Faith is not a manifestation of all aspects of human faith, but rather a specific expression of divine wrath and beauty, the practices and ethics of religion can warp and change while people act as vessels of the belief. Still, some taboos are unforgivable, and should the Faithful stumble into an act that builds the darkness rather than pushing it back, his player should make a Conscience roll at difficulty 9. Failure to should be reflected in a temporary loss of a level of True Faith. Whether or not the level ever returns should depend on character behavior and acts of devotion and sacrifice in the name of their beliefs.

A character that falls below seven dots in his Road loses access to his True Faith. If he rises back to seven dots, he may earn his True Faith anew, but it starts from one dot again.

Systems for True Faith

Faith is an abstract concept and difficult to communicate through rolls and powers. This is only a framework to describe how True Faith manifests in some ways. They are a starting place, not the entirety of True Faith manifestations.

The Faithful get the following special benefits: • Each level of True Faith gives the Faithful an extra dot of Willpower.; • True Faith is a shield against supernatural powers. Any

time a Faithful would be directly affected by a supernatural power, vampire Discipline, ghostly manifestation, or witchcraft, she may spend a Willpower point to resist the power. Subtract her True Faith from any successes rolled against her. This ability affects any power that would hurt or coerce her. When this roll is used to resist the effects of Daimonion, her rating counts as double.

Levels of True Faith

As a character increases in manifesting her beliefs, limitations should lighten. As such, characters with five dots in True Faith should manifest powers not outlined here as their belief may not just push back the darkness, but actually create the light. Perhaps the higher power they believed in at the outset did not exist before, but through devotion and force of will, it may exist now.

•

The Faithful is able to repel vampires, the dead, and other creatures that live by or in the shadows of the world with the force of her inner light. She may wield prayers, holy symbols, or simply the intensity of her presence to drive them back and away. Spend a Willpower point and roll her True Faith against a difficulty of the creature’s current Willpower points. If no successes are rolled, the creature is not driven away, but it has felt the weight of Faith and cannot move forward against the Faithful with hostility or ill intent. If the roll is fully successful, each success becomes a turn that the creature must run in existential terror of the Faithful, assured of the power of faith. If the Faithful has physical contact with the creature at the time of the roll, any successes rolled become automatic aggravated damage against the monster, making this a potentially deadly force against the forces of darkness.

••

The Faithful knows that the presence of the unnatural is in diametric opposition to her own harmonious existence. Any time a Faithful is in the vicinity of an unnatural or evil being, the Storyteller should alert the Faithful to a feeling of intense unease. Depending on the number of monsters, or the strength of their evil, the Storyteller may express increasing unease. There is no roll necessary, and in some especially wicked cases, the Storyteller may call out a specific person as a monster, rather than leaving it vague. While this will alert the character to a monster hidden supernaturally, for example with the Obfuscate Discipline, the character is only alerted that the unnatural exists near her; at this level of Faith, it does not immediately reveal the evil’s exact presence or identity.

•••

The Faithful is steadfast in her mind. She is immune to the effects of Chimerstry, Dementation, Dominate, Obfuscate, and any other supernatural power that confounds the mind or tries to change it.

••••

The Faithful is steadfast in her heart. She is immune to the Blood Oath and ghouling, and she cannot be raised as a ghost or a shuffling dead after death. She is immune to Presence or any other supernatural power that manipulates emotions.

•••••

In a brilliant manifestation of inner light, the Faithful is a living, breathing beacon of what she believes to be right and good. Hearing her pray or preach, whisper poems, or simply speak kindly fills any unnatural creature with an inner loathing for any and all sin they have committed. In those moments, the creature has no doubt of its loathsome nature. Vampires must roll to resist Rötschreck at a difficulty 9 or be forced to flee for the duration of the scene. If she cannot flee, she will shrink to the corners and do herself physical harm, attempting to end her own inner agony. Other kinds of shadow creatures react similarly. The monster may take the opportunity to redeem himself afterward; raising his Road occurs at half normal cost. If he does not do so within the next story, he automatically loses a dot of his Road and one dot in his highest Virtue as he revels in monstrosity and runs from the light.

Miracles

On occasion (not more than once per story), the Faithful experience miracles. These are moments when she does the impossible without needing to roll. Usually, these miracles manifest only when she is attempting something truly selfless or in great effort against true darkness. Because True Faith does not often focus on healing or compassion, but rather battling darkness, these miracles may come in to fill the gap. Examples include bringing true life to a stillborn child, curing a plague ravaging a village, and the direct intervention of some otherwise unexplainable beings made manifest. To be considered miracles, of course, they need to be unknowable, and on rare occasions, as terrible as they are awesome.

Holy Artifacts

Great acts, miracles, and incredible sacrifice have an effect on not just people, but sometimes things and even places. Relics and Holy Artifacts are born out of the power of faith through close association with moments of inspiration or by being carried in the hands of the truly Faithful. Holy Artifacts are rare, one of a kind, and cannot be created. They must happen spontaneously.

• A place or object can become a Holy Artifact either as for the result or cause the manifestation of True Faith. A cliff edge where a suffering man first realized the grander scope and saw the light may be an Artifact as easily as the sword he later used to slay a hundred demons.

• Holy Artifacts have ratings of True Faith all on their own from 1 to 5. Holding the item or utilizing its space (in the case of a location) can grant someone those dots in True Faith, so long as they are working toward the light and not violating their Conscience and Humanity. Faithful using a Holy Artifact add the Artifact’s dots of True Faith to their own. This can theoretically raise a character’s effective True Faith above five, to a maximum of ten dots.

• Wielding a Holy Artifact successfully can be a valid reason to purchase True Faith. It is a drastic, life-altering experience.

• A Holy Artifact has certain miracles attached to it, historical or mythological. This influences any miracles that might happen to or around its wielder in the future.

Examples of Holy Artifacts

The Wedding Band of Raquel the Martyr

True Faith •

Raquel is a little-known local saint in a small region of Brittany. Her stories were scattered, and the monsters she fought purposefully destroyed any documents with an accounting of her. This often happens with the Faithful. The story goes that she was married, but a pagan king wanted her, so he demanded she break her vows and marry him. In reality, the “pagan king” was a vampire prince. She resisted him and through the power of her Faith, razed the region’s vampire population to dust. She was martyred later, accused of witchcraft. When she was burned, her wedding band, a simple thing made of wood, did not burn, and would not burn. They say she herself did not burn until after she made an impassioned speech and “allowed the flames to take her.” To this day, they say wearing the ring makes you immune to fire.

Holy Ground

One power of True Faith is the ability to sanctify an area. This is most common in places associated with the beginnings of that faith and seldom found in any recent structures. Many sites in the Holy Land possess very strong Faith ratings, while in Europe only the Vatican and a few dwindling pagan sites possess any residual power.

Holy Ground works like True Faith, except that it applies only to a specific area and works passively. Rather than calling divine power against an intruder, the Holy Ground “pulses” with power, making supernatural creatures uncomfortable and possibly even damaging them should they continue to venture forward.

Holy Ground is rated in a similar way to True Faith.

• Any supernatural creature attempting to trespass upon holy ground must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to proceed. Many old churches have this rating.

•• The Disciplines of Auspex, Dominate and Presence (or similar powers possessed by other Awakened creatures) simply fail to work here. Any place associated with a saint or similar holy person and at which worship is regularly conducted has this rating.

••• All within the area sense something “unnatural” whenever a vampire or infernal creature attempts to enter. Any attempt at Obfuscate or Chimestry are at +1 difficulty. Only places of great and active holiness have this rating.

•••• No Disciplines (or other powers) that affect anyone other than the being using them may be employed in an area this holy.

••••• To even enter such a sanctified place, supernatural creatures (including ghouls, consors, kinfolk and similarly quasi-awakened people) must spend a Willpower point (temporary of course) and continue to spend one point each scene or flee in terror. Should they fail to pay this cost, they must make a Stamina roll each round (difficulty of 5 + their own Intelligence) or break and flee.

Admonition

Should vampires or infernal beasts spend any length of time (over a day) in an area possessing holy status, they begin to suffer. Each day beyond the first that they remain, they suffer a number of aggravated wounds equal to the area's Holy Ground rating.

This is the main reason that, for all the politicking that goes on within the Church, few vampires dare to approach the Pope directly. A trip within the Vatican is a distinctly unnerving experience for any such tainted being. It is rumored that Clan Nosferatu knows of secret Roman ruins that extend beneath the Vatican and are free of the presence of holiness. If this is true, then that clan may have great access to the secrets of the Church and its princes. It is said that, for an exorbitant fee, they will lead travelers into the Vatican's secret catacombs.

The Medieval Traditions of Caine

The First Tradition: Covenant

- "Thy blood makes thee my brood, crafted in my image."
- "My curse thine, my salvation thine."
- "I stand before and above thee, as god-regent."
- "I am the way, my Traditions covenant."
- "Renounce me and renounce all hope."

The Second Tradition: Domain

- "As I am master of Nod, thy domain is thine own concern."
- "Thou art its master, and all will respect this or suffer thy wrath."
- "All will present themselves when entering, and thou shalt protect them in turn."
- "By right, thou art allowed to hunt within the bounds of thy domain, its blood thine own."
- "Accept its responsibilities, minister thy domain and pay others the same respect accorded you."

The Third Tradition: Progeny

- "Thou shalt only sire another with the permission of thine elder."
- "To create is the providence of those closest to me, for they shall be accountable."
- "Break this, and both thee and thy progeny shall be slain."

The Fourth Tradition: Accounting

- "Those thou create are thine own blood until released from thy charge."
- "Until that moment, their sins, their blood and their punishments are thine."

The Fifth Tradition: Destruction

- "Forbidden art thou to spill the blood of another of thy kind who is elder."
- "This right belongs only to the closest to me and none other."
- "It is forbidden for those of weaker blood to rise against their elders."

The Sixth Tradition: Silence

- "Never shalt thou reveal thy true nature to those not of the blood."
- "Doing so shall renounce thy claims to my covenant."

Chronicle: The Hourglass Overturned

The collective story of a group of intrepid time travelers who journey back into history to create a new narrative for the vampiric Jyhad. Beginning with the apocalyptic events taking place in Berlin circa 2043. The group, beginning with Brenda, use the Lesser Aeon device and journey back to 1933 on the eve of Adolf Hitler's rise to power. Arriving in a bomb shelter beneath a pro-nazi tavern, Brenda journeys out into city of 1933, consequently being committed to a mental health institution in the process. However, Brenda was not alone when the device activated, four mortals where present, members of the new Nazi movement of 2040s. Set free to roam Berlin during the original Nazi rise to power, the neo-nazis become embroiled with high ranking party members and split up to ally with different Nazi factions.

In the mean time, the rest of the coterie journey back by hacking open the rift left by the Aeon device and arriving a few hours later than Brenda. They quickly acquire appropriate clothing and steal the initial money that they require. Taking lodgings at an old-fashioned inn located in the Old City, they use sorcery to contact and find Brenda. But the reunited coterie immediately moves to find and stop the neo-nazis from altering European history and become temporally assimilated when they invade a nazi black site called Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, where the newly formed Gestapo are organizing themselves after capturing the building from its previous owners, the Communist Party of Berlin. But nothing in the World of Darkness can ever be so simple, for the vampires of Berlin were keeping tabs on the new mortal government and detected the involvement of the True Brujah vampires of Dresden and their attack on the coterie previous to the group's entry into the Gestapo fortress.

So as the coterie tries to escape Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, there are causalities and coterie members begin to temporally assimilate, becoming the people they killed or were unlucky enough to be close to when the Nazis died. Thus assimilated, the coterie found moving about the Gestapo base far easier, and the ramifications of becoming Nazis themselves would not become apparent until later. What did impact the group immediately was that some of the Gestapo were sorcerers or mages, thereby changing the group's collective identity as vampires and fusing it with the world view of the mages, especially those of Norse sentiment.

Book One: Mortal Instruments

Story 1: Ground Zero

Our initial story taking place in Wifilisburg (Wewelsburg), Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) in March or 1094.

Story 2: The White Wolf

Story #2 in which our intrepid time travelers encounter the wandering pageant and bear witness to the corruption of innocence.

Story 3: Snow Blind

The troupe is caught between the pageant and a vengeful noble-woman.

Characters

-- Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory)

Story 4: By the Skin of Your Teeth

The troupe passes the Spring of 1094 in Nuremburg.

Story 5: Augsburg -- The Golden City

The group stops in Augsburg and receives the Embrace from two opposing camps of Methuselah.

Book Two: Children of the Night

Story 6: Via Claudia Augusta

Story 7: In Fair Verona

The Army of Warlord

Bolverk -- Northern Warlord
Sciacchitano -- Malkavian Astrologer

Book Three: Crusade of Ashes and Blood

Murder Most Foul in Paris -- Opening story of Peregrinus et Sanguis in Cinere (April, 1096) [Story 1 / Part 1]

Parisian Aftermath -- The conclusion to events that began in Murder Most Foul in Paris. [Story 1 / Part 2]]

Characters of the Dark Medieval

Vampires

Brujah

Meneleus -- Once a warrior king, leader of the Greek forces during the Trojan war, childe of Troile and a Methuselah. Seeking peace and to end his struggles, he ever flees from Helene and Prias.

Songül -- The Cartomancer - {Turkish}

Cappadocians

Cappadocius -- Antediluvian founder of the Clan of Death.

Giovanni

Augustus Giovanni -- The youngest of Cappadocius' progeny, he and his family are seen as a valuable resource to Clan Cappadocian in their quest to unravel the riddle of death.

Claudius Giovanni -- Augustus' most trusted son. In all the ways that count, he is cut from his sire's mold, but he is pale imitation of Augustus.

Lasombra

Sybil -- An ancient prophetess, the only woman Embraced by Lasombra, she is an inscrutable Methuselah. Now she aids her ancient friend Helene in hunting Meneleus, but her ultimate motives and plots are hers alone.

Godiva -- The Maiden Crone {Saxon wise-woman and companion to Marconius}

Kiasyd

Marconius -- Cainite progenitor of the Kiasyd bloodline of vampires.

Toreador

Helene -- The beautiful woman who igniting the Trojan war, immortal childe of Minos, and Methuselah. Now she hunts her ancient enemy Meneleus to the ends of the earth.

Cengiz -- One of the Four Horsemen - {Turkish}

Tremere

Goratrix -- Former hermetic archmage, turned Tremere vampire, he is one of the original Council of Seven.

Mordblund -- Former hermetic wizard of House Tremere, he was Embraced as a childe of Goratrix. {posing as the demigod Ianus or Janus the two faced god of doors}

Ventrue

Erik Eigermann -- Boy prince to a dead kingdom, warrior, brother to Antonius the Gaul, he is Methuselah. Now he aids his ancient friend Meneleus, but he also seeks revenge upon those who slew his beloved brother.

Bolverk -- The Warlord

Mortals

Luminaries

Alexios I Komnenos -- Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople.

Anti-Pope Clemente III -- The Archbiship of Ravenna, vying for control of the Church.

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor -- Trapped in Italy

Conrad, King of Italy -- elder son of Henry IV, recent King of Italy and in rebellion against his father.

Eadburga of Nordheim -- Grand-daughter of the traitorous Otto of Nordheim and ward of Magnus, she carries his youngest child and hopes to marry him. Dream lover of Rambert who will inform him that Magnus has hired an assassin and is sending men to take the gold back.

Liberatore Straton Frangipani -- Senior Patriarch of the Frangipani family.

Matilda of Tuscany -- a powerful feudal ruler in northern Italy and the chief Italian supporter of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy; in addition, known for military accomplishments, she is countess of all the territories north of the Church States.

Magnus, Duke of Saxony --

Pope Urban II -- Preparing to reorganize the church and launch the First Crusade

Adhemar of Le Puy --Bishop of Puy-en-Velay {Pope Urban II's chosen representative and primary leader of the First Crusade}
Raymond IV -- Count of Toulouse {One of the primary leaders of the First Crusade}

Nobles

Albert of Berengar -- Heir Apparent and Political Savant
Kuno of Everard -- Guardian of the Southern Pass
Walherich of Voss -- Knight & Tactician
Radulf of Wolff -- The First Son of House Wolff

Wazo of Adler -- Knight of Augsburg
Hubertus of Falkenrath -- Master scholar and Hermetic magus.
Odoacer of Geier -- The noble opportunist.
Adalwin of Habicht -- Lord of Theudhar Hall
Gerlach of Hasek -- House Hasek's weapons master
Athanaric of Hirsch -- The First Ranger
Leopold of Katze -- A noble rapscallion.

Clergy

Commoners

Aldegund -- Aldegund is the daughter of a now dead guardsman of Augsburg. She has yet to flower into womanhood and passes herself off as a boy. Her father was murdered by a monster and now she has abandoned her home to hunt this thing that killed the last of her family.

Fatima Al-Faqadi -- A woman from Muslim Spain hired by the agents of Duke Magnus of Saxony who seeks to recover as much of the money he paid the coterie as ransom for his niece Eadburga.

Ramirus -- Ramirus is a member of Augsburg's Night Watch. A former footpad and skilled swordsman who was assigned by his captain to observe and protect the magician Rambert. He was watching over Rambert when the pageant moved from Augsburg to Verona. He has seen many things in his life, but nothing like the fey woman Astarte and her magic. He now seeks to reconcile his orders with the impossible situation that he is now in and will likely approach Rambert.

Medieval Websites

http://rpg.uplink.fi/heraldry/ {Make your own coat of arms. Many thanks again to Jason for sending this to me and us! -- "The Magister 19:02, 30 October 2017 (MDT)"}

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-:*'''[[ABOMBWE]]''': The Bonsam claim heritage from a hunter possessed by a darkness from a time before the light. It is impossible to trace the veracity of this statement, but the Discipline of Abombwe certainly taps into both primal darkness and predatory prowess.
+==== '''[[ABOMBWE]]''' ====
+The Bonsam claim heritage from a hunter possessed by a darkness from a time before the light. It is impossible to trace the veracity of this statement, but the Discipline of Abombwe certainly taps into both primal darkness and predatory prowess.
 = <span style="color:#800000;"> '''Systems and Drama''' =

Difference between revisions of "World of Darkness -- Medieval"