Vampire Lexicon ~
** Common
Anarch
- A rebel among the Kindred, one with no respect for the elders. Most
fledglings are assumed to be anarchs by the elders, and are despised as
products of the 20th century.
Barrens, The
- The areas of a city that are devoid of life - graveyards, abandoned
buildings and parks.
Becoming, The
- The moment one becomes a vampire; the metamorphosis from mortal to
Kindred. Also called The Change.
Book of Nod
- The "sacred" book of the Kindred, tracing the race's origins and early
history. It has never bee published in it's entirety, although fragments
are know to exist in various languages.
Beast, The
- The drives and urges which prompt a vampire to become entirely a
monster, forsaking all humanity. Vide Man infra.
Blood
- The vampires heritage. That which makes a vampire a vampire, or simply
the actual blood of the vampire.
Blood Kindred
- The relationship between vampires of the same lineage and clan. The
idea is much the same among mortals, only the means of transmission are
different.
Blood Oath
- The most potent bond which can exist between vampires; the receiving
of blood in an acknowledgement of mastery. This grants a mystical power
over the one who is bound. Vide Blood Bond infra.
Brood
- A group of vampires gathered around a leader (usually their sire). A
brood may in time become a Clan.
Caitiff
- A vampire with no clan; frequently used in a derogatory fashion. To be
clanless is not a virtue among the Kindred.
Camarilla, The
- A global sect of vampires in which all Kindred may hold membership.
Its rule is far from absolute, and serves more as a debating chamber
than a government.
Childe
- A derogatory term for a young, inexperienced or foolish vampire. The
plural form is childer.
Clan
- A group of Vampires who share certain mystic and physical
characteristics, Vide Lineage, Blood Line.
Diablerie
- The cannibalistic behavior common among Kindred, involving the
consumption of the blood of another vampire. The elders do so out of
need, whereas the anarchs do so out of desire for power.
Domain
- The fiefdom claimed by a vampire, most often a prince. Invariably a
city. Elder
- A vampire who is 300 years of age or older. Elders consider themselves
the most powerful Kindred, an usually engage in their own Jyhad.
Elysium
- The name given for the places where the elders meet and gather,
commonly operas, theatres or other public places of high culture.
Embrace, The
- The act of transforming a mortal into a vampire by draining the
mortal's blood and replacing it with a small amount of the vampires own
blood.
Fledgling
- A young newly created vampire, Vide Neonate, Whelp.
Generation
- The number of steps between a vampire and the mythical Caine. Caine's
get were the second generation, their blood the third, and so on.
Gehenna
- The end of the third cycle; the impending Armageddon when the
Antediluvians shall awaken and devour all vampires.
Ghoul
- A servant created by allowing a mortal to drink Kindred blood without
the draining that would give rise to progeny.
Haven
- The home of a vampire or the place where it sleeps during the day.
Hunger, The
- As with mortals and other animals, the drive to feed. For vampires,
though, it is much more intense, and takes the place of every other
drive, urge and pleasure.
Inconnu
- A sect of vampires, mostly Methuselahs, who have removed themselves
from both mortal and Kindred affairs. They state that they have nothing
to do with the Jyhad.
Jyhad, The
- The secret war being waged between the few surviving vampires of the
third generation, using young vampires as pawns. Also used to describe
any sort of conflict between vampires.
Kindred
- A vampire. Many elders consider even this term to be vulgar, and
prefer to user a more poetic word such as Cainite.
Kiss
- To take the blood of a mortal, or the act of taking blood in general.
Lupine
- A werewolf, the mortal enemy of the vampires.
Lush
- A vampire who habitually feeds upon prey under the influence of drink
or drugs to share the experiences thereof. Vide Head.
Life, The
- A euphemistic term for mortal blood taken as sustenance. Many Kindred
regard this term as affected and prissy.
Man, The
- The element of humanity which remains in a vampire, and which strives
against the base urgings of the Beast.
Masquerade, The
- The effort begun after the end of the great wars to hide Kindred
society from the mortal world. A policy reaffirmed after the time of the
Inquisition.
Prince
- A vampire who has established a claim to rulership over a city, and is
able to support that claim nil disputandum. A prince often has a brood
to aid him. The feminine form is still prince.
Riddle, The
- The essential dilemma of a vampires existence - to prevent the
occurrence of greater atrocities, one must commit evil deeds of a lesser
nature. The proverb is: Monsters we are, lest monsters we become.
Rogue
- A vampire who feeds upon other vampires, either out of need or
perversion. Vide Diablerie.
Sabbat, The
- A sect of vampires controlling much of eastern North America. They are
violent bestial, reveling in needless cruelty.
Sect
- General name for one of the three primary groups among the Kindred -
the Camarilla, Sabbat or Inconnu.
Sire
- The parent/creator of a vampire, used both as the female and male
form.
Vessel
- A potential or past source of blood, typically a human.
** Ancient
Amaranth
- The act of drinking the blood of other kindred.Vide Diablerie.
Ancilla
- An "adolescent" vampire: one who is no longer a neonate, but is not an
elder either.
Antediluvian
- One of the oldest Kindred, a member of the third generation. A warlord
of the Jyhad.
Archon
- A powerful vampire who wanders from city to city, usually serving a
Justicar. Archons are frequently used to track down Kindred who have
fled a city.
Autarkis
- A vampire who refuses to be part of Kindred society, and does not
recognize the domain of a prince.
Cainite
- A vampire. Vide Kindred.
Canaille
- The mortal herd, especially that element of it which is the most
unsavory and lacking in culture (whom the Kindred usually feed upon).
Cauchemar
- A vampire who feeds only on sleeping victims and prevents their
awakening.
Cunctator
- A vampire who avoids killing by drinking shallowly and taking too
little blood to kill the prey; faut plus chasser, peut mieux dormir.
Compare Casanova.
Coterie
- A group of Kindred who protect and support one another against all
outsiders. Vide Brood.
Consanguineus
- one of the same lineage (usually a younger member).
Footpad
- One who feeds of the derelicts and the homeless, and who frequently
does not have a haven of her own. Vide Alleycat.
Gentry
- A Kindred who hunts the nightclubs, districts of ill repute, and other
places of entertainment where mortals seek to pair off. Vide Rake.
Golconda
- The state of being to which many vampires aspire, in which a balance
is found between opposing urges and scruples. The slide into bestiality
is halted, and the individual reaches some kind of statis. Like the
mortals' Nirvana, it is often spoken of, but seldom acheived.
Humanitas
- The degree to which a Kindred still retains some humanity.
Kine
- A contemptuous term for morals, often used in opposition to Kindred.
The expression Kindred and Kine means "all the world".
Leech
- A human who drinks a vampires blood, yet retains free will. Often, he
keep the vampire as a prisoner or offers great rewards for the blood.
Lextalionis
- The code of the Kindred, allegedly created by Caine. It suggests
biblical justice- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Vide
Traditions.
Lineage
- The bloodline of a vampire, traced by Embrace.
Methuselah
- An elder who no longer lives among the other kindred. Many Methuselahs
belong to the Inconnu.
Neonate
- A young, newly created Kindred. Vide Fledgeling, Welp.
Osiris
- A vampire who surrounds himself with mortal or ghoul followers in a
cult or coven to better obtain sustenance. The practice is less common
than it once was.
Papillon
- The red-light district; the area of the city made up of nightclubs,
gambling houses and brothels. The prime hunting ground of the city.
Progeny
- A collective term for all the vampires created by one sire. Less
formal, and less flattering, is Get.
Praxis
- The right of princes to rule, as well as the rules, laws and the
customs enforced by a particular prince.
Primogen
- The leader in a city or the ruling council of elders. Those who
support the prince and make her rule possible.
Regnant
- One who has a Blood Bond over another Kindred, through giving said
Kindred blood three times. Vide Blood Bond.
Retainers
- Humans who serve a vampire master. They are generally either ghouls or
mentally dominated by their vampire master. This control is sometimes so
complete that the mortals are unable to take any action of their own
volition.
Siren
- A vampire who seduces mortals, but does not kill them and takes only a
little blood after putting the mortal into a deep sleep. Vide Tease.
Suspire
- The dream dance during the final stage of the quest for Golconda.
Third Mortal
- Caine, the progenitor of all vampires, according to the Book of Nod
(qv).
Thrall
- A vampire who is held under a Blood Bond, and thus under the control
of another Kindred.
Vitae
- Blood.
Wassail
- The final release and the last frenzy. Wassail occurs when the last
vestiges of Humanity are lost and a vampire plunges into madness.
Whelp
- A contemptuous term for any young vampire; originally used only in
reference to one's own progeny.
Wight
- Human, mortal.
Witch-hunter
- A human who searches for vampires in order to kill them.
Whig
- Name for a Cainite who possesses an obsessive interest in mortal
fashions and current events.
** Vulgar Argrot.
Alleycat
- A vampire who does not have a haven of any kind, but instead resides
in a different place each night. Also used to refer to those Kindred who
feed off the homeless and other street people.
Banking
- The practice, most widespread among younger Kindred, of taking blood
from blood banks. Chilled blood so long removed from the body is less
satisfying, but some neonates delight in entering a blood bank and
drinking to excess. This is seen by many princes as a breech of the
Masquerade.
Banker
- A Kindred who engages in the practice of Banking.
Black Hand
- A sect that involves itself in diablerie. Vide Sabbat.
Blister
- A vampire who contracts an infectious disease, and subsequently
spreads it on to each donor from whom she feeds.
Bloodline
- The vampire's heritage. Vide Lineage.
Blood Bond
- A mystic servitude to another vampire as a result of taking the Blood
Oath. Vide Regnant.
Blood Doll
- A Kindred who is held in regnant by another. The doll is Blood Bound
and no longer free.
Butterfly
- One who mingles among the high society of mortals, and only feeds apon
the wealthy and the famous.
Casanova
- A vampire who delights in seducing mortals but not killing them, and
who takes only a little blood, erasing the victim's memory of the event
when she is finished. There are rumors that the original Casanova was or
is a vampire, but this is not generally believed. Vide Cauchemar.
Change, The
- The moment and the process of becoming a vampire. Vide Becoming.
Damned. The
- The immortal, undead race. All the vampires as a whole.
Donor
- A potential or past source of blood, typically a human.
Farmer
- A derogatory term for a vampire who keeps animals for the purpose of
feeding the Hunger. Vide Vegetary.
Fief
- A sarcastic term for the domain or clan of a prince.
Head
- A vampire who feeds upon those under the influence of a drug, so as to
feel the effect. The term Head is used with a suitable prefix if the
vampire prefers a particular drug. Vide Lush.
Headhunter
- An elder who hunts other Kindred for their blood. Vide Rogue,
Diablerie.
Lick
- A vampire. Vide Kindred.
Back, The
- The hunting ground represented by nightclubs, bars, and other places
of entertainment where mortals seek to dance, drink and pair off.
Rake
- One who habitually uses the Rake is a Rake in Vulgar argot; Papillon
and Gentry are progressively older terms for the same.
Sandman
- A vampire who feeds only upon sleeping victims. Vide Cauchemar.
Slumming
- The act of feeding from the homeless and derelicts. A vampire who does
so exclusively is a Slummer.
Stalker
- A mortal who hunts the Kindred. Vide Witch-hunter.
Tease
- A term sometimes used for a female Casanova (qv).
Turf
- The city or section of a city that vampires might try to claim for
themselves. Vide Fief, Domain.
Vegetary
- A sarcastic term for a vampire who refuses to take the blood of
humans, but relies instead on that of animals. Vide Farmer.
Darknyss Herself ~
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
Recommend
First 