Revenants
Introduction
Revenants are ghouls for whom the condition has become hereditary, and who are capable of generating vitae within their own veins.
Overview
In the Classic World of Darkness, it is possible for ghoul attributes to become inborn. Ghoul characteristics can, with effort, be inherited through several generations of ghouls through the breeding efforts of their vampire masters, resulting in a family of revenants; ghouls whose bodies naturally produce vitae.
The word revenant as used here is technically a misnomer though, since the word literally means "undead", even though the "revenant" ghouls are very much alive. How the word revenant came to be the English word for a member of these ghoul families is most likely a result of an earlier Tzimisce's nascent command of the English language.
A Revenant is a kind of hybrid creature that is both like and unlike mortals, ghouls, and Kindred. Some would say a revenant is halfway between a mortal and a vampire; others would call it a corruption of God's creatures with the curse of Caine, mingling the two until they become inseparable. Nonetheless, a revenant has many qualities of both vampires and mortals, and has many characteristics of normal ghouls. Revenants can drink the blood of a vampire, but unlike a ghoul they do not need to do so, as they can produce their own vitae, which also retards their aging.
Unlike their masters, and despite their name, revenants are living creatures. Like a mortal, they need to eat, sleep and breathe. They are capable of sexual reproduction. Unlike a mortal they are tougher and have access to supernatural powers from the Mark of Caine along with the curses the Mark brings.
Unlike normal ghouls, revenants are born, not created by drinking Kindred blood. Revenants' bodies naturally produce a weak vampire-like vitae, which sustains their bodies far beyond normal human lifespans (although not immortal, revenants can live to be hundreds of years old; they age at approximately one-quarter the rate humans do), and also gives them the ability to use Disciplines.
