History:
His name was Klaus Vendredi and, as he tells it, he has cursed the heavens that saw fit to cruelly snub him. He was the only son of a wealthy nobleman who had made serious money in mining. Like many well-educated young noblemen of his age, Klaus was interested in three things: Sexual depravity, Absinthe, and Satanism. in roughly that order. He and a few like-minded cousins and hangers-on found what they thought was a deserted series of caverns in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. They would repair to this secret place, put on robes, utter dire oaths in the service of "Satan", drink with abandon, and disport themselves with nearly anyone that was warm and had a useable orifice. if you go in for that sort of thing. Life was good.
But the cavern was not, as you can probably imagine, entirely deserted. An old worm watched these children and he did not like what he saw. One night, after watching them for months and finding out who they were, he stuck. Killing all of them and their party guests.
But not Klaus. Klaus awoke to find his noble features changed and misshapen and to find an old horror living under the mountains explaining to him his role in expanding their caverns and how God himself had led him to his damnation.
This was, perhaps, a bitter pill to swallow.
Klaus waited. He waited for a whole year, learning what he could from the monster. and then, when he could stand it no more, he triggered the cavern collapse that buried him. Hopefully forever.
Making his way back to civilization, he managed to reclaim his birthright with no small difficulty and met other vampires.
It wasn't until he met the Ventrue, that he realized HOW cruel the fates had truly been to him. These were the people he belonged with. And no amount of noble bearing could erase the stain of his wretched embrace at the hands of another clan. Oh certainly they could accept him as a fellow nobleman, they just couldn't ever let him forget how he came to be in their twilight society. And it was a bitter pill that turned and twisted in his viscera, like jealousy.
But Klaus was patient, and while he was ambitious, he wasn't stupid. He waited. He bided his time. He used his abilities to ingratiate himself with several Ventrue and learned the secrets of Dominate. It never came easily, but eventually, it did come. And with Dominate came the ability to build greater and greater necropoli. Most of the largest and most elaborate being built by the hands of Klaus, his childer, and his childer's childer. They could reach out and gather people to do the work and erase the knowledge of the details of that work. Millions of Deutsch marks went missing as underground cities were hewn out of rock and stone. Books were cooked and nobody could figure out how the investigation kept ending up stymied.
But it wasn't enough. Finally, Klaus realized what he had to do. He returned to the foothills, returned to the grave of his maker, and took his heart's blood, dedicating it to the demons he had tried to summon in his youth.
This time one listened… And granted Klaus his heart's desire. That night, Klaus left the caves, never to return, went into the city and found their Ventrue prince. He set upon the woman and drank her soul too, changing something within his blood.
His face returned to a semblance of its former glory and he stole away from town before a hue and cry could be raised. No one recognized him.
From that night forward, Klaus stretched forth his fingers and took disgraced and disinherited nobles to his bosom, gifting them with the power to be Kings under the Earth. He used his acumen to make underground kingdoms well nigh impregnable and reaped the fat bounty of boons in the Nosferatu community. Klaus and his children spread across the globe.
This is the story no one tells. While it's not true that Erl Kings require a Ventrue be diablerized in order to make the bloodline "Stick", most have done so in their early nights as members of the bloodline. Those crimes help to ensure the silence. But by that point, their envy and jealousy of the Ventrue are great enough that they too want to steal what they have come to think of as their birthright. Most Erl Kings claim they have no bloodline at all. At least to anyone who isn't a Nos.
Parent Clan: Nosferatu
Nickname(s): Kings. Patrons. The Purple. King Shit under the Hill (Derogatory)
Covenants:
Considering that the founder has a fairly relaxed attitude towards Satanism and diablerie, you generally won't find too many fetching up in the Lance. Those few who have tried are slain, or have large portions of their memories excised. Crone Erl Kings have a fairly Potato-potahto attitude toward darker powers and old gods and their powers are prized among their brethren. Most of the members of the bloodline tend to lean towards the political covenants for their utility in manipulating the human populace. Most leaning Invictus, but with some few Carthians. Interestingly, tensions between the two among Erl Kings are almost non-existent. A tiny tiny number of Erl Kings have become interested in the Ordo Dracul, but often membership in that group is difficult to manage because of the sheer numbers of Mekhet. (See below) Any place where the Locust flourishes is a place where Erl Kings may also enjoy membership.
Appearance:
If there is any defining characteristic that tends to stand out about Erl Kings it is that they carry themselves with a natural hauteur and bearing that seems out of place from a Nosferatu. Sometimes, this causes a bit of friction with fellow Nosferatu. ("You think you're fucking BETTER than me?") and occasional friction from outsiders. ("It seems that the worm has forgotten his place…") This seems to happen if the Nosferatu is misshapen or of entirely normal appearance. Most Erl Kings naturally gravitate to positions of authority either within the Necropoli or within the court proper if they manage it without leaving the Undercity all that much.
Erl Kings tend to dress for utility in their usual going about, but rise occasionally to finery for major events and formal courts.
Haven: Always underground. Many Erl Kings who wish to travel to new places will take the time and effort necessary to learn to earth meld if they can, or will send ahead to family in the various necropolis around the world.
Background:
In a world where there are few disgruntled nobles anymore, the type of person who is brought into the clan now-a-nights is usually someone with ambition and smarts but is likely to be poor or unable to have access to the things they need to succeed in life. They might not be overly gifted in the realm of social skills, or perhaps they are stigmatized by the society they live in. Whatever the reason, they find a tight family that offers the ability to belong, and the recognition that they have something special in them. This can be a heady combination for ANY Nosferatu. The bloodline has made a concerted effort over the decades to embrace people with Engineering and Geotech skills, as well as people with occult knowledge, especially Geomancy. There are a couple of the eldest who are also interested in Demonology.
Character Creation:
Usually, a character belonging to this bloodline breaks along one of three lines, Socially aspected, interested in manipulating the mortal world and creating a huge web of contacts and allies, as well as a small army of people who can work underground for various projects. A physically aspected Erl King who does much of the heavy lifting himself and rules with his strength and his ability to get close to enemies before they can see him. Or the occasional mentally aspected Erl King who is a student of the deep sciences and the eldritch powers that dwell therein as well. There are a few who try to master the three fields but until they've had a few decades true mastery of each path will likely elude them. Still, most young Erl Kings know more about Geotech science and jack-leg building than most Nosferatu will ever know.
Disciplines:
Animalism, Vigor, Dominate, Obfuscate (While any Dots of Nightmare that the character has learned stay bought, Nightmare is no longer is considered in-clan for Erl Kings.)
Weakness:
Erl Kings retain the weakness of their parent clan, in addition, most of them develop a mild form of agoraphobia that they never really shake. It costs an Erl King a point of willpower to venture above ground and an additional willpower point for each hour that he or she remains above ground. On top of this, auspex users may note that Erl Kings have extremely mild traces of diablerie streaks in their aura (If they score an exceptional success) This is true even of Erl Kings who have never committed a diablerie. Some echo of the original crime is the going theory among the Kings. If an Erl King commits a diablerie, then his aura retains the stains for 3 years instead of just one. The Kings refer to this as "The Internship" and do their best to keep their brothers and sisters hidden from prying eyes. It's also the reason that they tend to avoid the Mekhet packed Ordo Dracul.
Organization:
Picture an extended family of wildly secretive diablerists and occult maniacs looking to quietly extend their kingly reach to every corner of the underground fastnesses of the world. That's pretty much what they are. Sure, there are points of contention in any family where nearly everyone considers themselves some kind of Alpha wolf, but they get along with one another mainly because if anyone knew what they've done, they'd be hunted to the last one…and no one else really is able to understand. Word is, Old Klaus and his childer are trying to find a way to make a form of Gilded Cage that works underground…If that day ever comes, then it will be a very different world indeed.
Concepts:
Old Money family ne'er do well. Former Sandhog. Sculptor. Ex-mason. Satanist.
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