Medieval folk respond to lunacy with quiet fear. It is never clear whether the mad are touched by God, the Devil, or a little of both. Some say that their ways are infectious or that they have been touched by the Fair Folk. In any case, it is best to leave them alone, lest they curse those who come across their paths. In Clan Malkavian, all these fears find their most terrifying expression. Acute madness, oracular insights, ceaseless predatory hunger and the Blood of Caine combine to make these vampires the most feared in the Dark Medieval night. Their merest words can drive ancients insane or reveal insights of harrowing genius. In moments of perfect lucidity, they grasp the universe and the great mechanisms that operate the theaters of existence.
Sobriquet:
Appearance:
Haven and Prey:
The Embrace:
Character Creation:
Clan Disciplines:
Weaknesses:
Organization:
They see everything in one sweeping picture and touch upon God himself...but only for the briefest instant. Then the truth escapes them, remaining only as a bitterly estatic memory. In their quest to regain understanding, they achieve lesser insights that are still far beyond the reach of other vampires: glimpses of the future, the true nature of the soul, the grand scheme of nations and pontiffs alike, the portents in the very stars. It all pales in comparison, but it keeps their quest for perfect, maddening apoltheosis alive in their unliving hearts.
The clan's progenitor was Malkav, whom Cainites remember as the oracle and prophet of the third generation. Some legends say that Malkav delivered enlightment to Caine but failed to warn him of the depredations of his brothers and cousins in the Second City. As punishment, Caine cursed Malkav and his progeny with a madness so great they could no longer share their wisdom. Others claim that the curse was unintentional, that it came when the Third Mortal shared his memories of the face of God at the moment of his own curse, shattering his grandchilde's mind. Still others claim that Caine baptized Malkav in his own blood, damning him thus.
It is something of a game among scholars of Nod to exchange theories about Malkav's affliction, but few dare ask the Madmen themselves what they believe. In truth, the clan as a whole welcomes its so-called lunacy because, at the very least, madness is a vibrant, creative force in their otherwise dead and decaying world. To them it is not a block on their insights, but the cause of them. Even beyond that dynamic seed in their breast, madness also unites the clan in a manner few outsiders can understand. Their shared connection with the mind-boggling architecture of Creation creates a common frame of reference and some of the Madmen are said to communicate in a secret language all their own. The problem is that this vision is fractured and too great to envision all at once, so all Malkavians see different portions of the picture at the same time. That is why they prize the perception of others, if only to gain a sense of the landscape beyond their ken.
Malkavians are social and often passionate creatures. Some say that madness is nothing without company, but the truth is that Malkavians appreciate insight and adore unique perceptions. Perhaps this is why they flock to causes as easily as they abandon them, or why they enter seemingly fruitless alliances. Unfortunately, while the Malkavians love company, few people appreciate their companionship for extended periods of time. Certainly, an ambitious lord or lady might tolerate an evening with them, gleaning some greater truth to their predicament, but that can be a distressing experience. Indeed, it is rarely clear--until it is too late--whether an individual Malkavian has crossed the boundary between dark sage and fiendish devil. Determining the polarities of a Madman is like taking flame to different powders, trying to determine which is the incense and which the explosive. Still, what frightens Cainites most is not the Malkavian's own nature, but that they can share their insanity through their Discipline of Dementation. It takes great courage or desperation to court a Malkavian's attention for long.
The history of Clan Malkavian is, therefore, a pendulum swinging between respect and terror, between status and banishment. When they are in the graces of their brethern, Malkavians are the advisors, seers, oracles and shamans of Cainite society. Inevitably, tolerance turns to wariness, then fear. The latest iteration of this story saw the Madmen fall from their mantle as one of the leading bloodlines of Imperial Rome. Now, they bear the stigma of having cursed that great enterprise, and they are said to be the agents of unholy forces. At best, Cainites in the Dark Medieval pity and offer charity to the supposedly feeble and infirm clan. At worst, the Malkavians must face persecution, torture and even destruction.
Madmen
Malkavians do not offer the Embrace based on any social standing or regional concerns. They offer the Kiss to whoever possesses a grain of madness or insight. Therefore, Malkavians can be of any description, any race, any class, from the wild seer on the outskirts of a hamlet to the local midwife who feds newborns her vitae.
Malkavians flock to ruin, be it the village devastated by plague, the burnt church, the forgotten abbey or the decrepit building in the most vile slum. The interiors of such havens differ, however, according to the lunacy afflicting the Malkavian. Some havens are repositories of animal and human bones, others adorned with charcoal written script, still others are pristine and Spartan-bare. Some of these same idiosyncrasies manifest in their choice of hunting stock, but many Malkavians see their depredations as serving to punish the wicked. Few agree as to who is and is not wicked, however.
Most Cainites treat the Embrace as an honor doled out only to those who prove themselves worthy. Malkavians see the fledgling as the gift, bettering the sire and the clan. Only those who have the seed of lunacy within them--expressed or not--can qualify, and Malkavians can seek for decades without hearing the elusive siren's call of the mad soul crying for dark release. The Madmen prize individuals who are possessed of keen intuition, madness, vision or whimsical insight. Their Embrace is a cause for celebration for sire and clan alike, for it offers another piece to their fractured mosaic.
Malkavians are a fluid lot, blessed with a maddening disparity of outlooks and aspirations--and therefore Natures and Demeanors. Most Malkavian possess high Mental Attributes and a proficiency in Talents, though some are adept at Social Attributes as well. Backgrounds vary by the individual, but Status is rare (but hardly unknown). There are Malkavians on every major road, although the Road of Heaven is the most popular.
Auspex, Dementation, Obfuscate
It is said that Caine offered Malkav the maddening truth, a secret the Antediluvian forever shares with his progeny through his sanguine genealogy. Therefore all Malkavians automatically possess one derangement (chosen at character creation) that they can never overcome, even after spending Willpower.
Once, all Malkavians belonged to one of a variety of secret orders that taught the most arcane insight carried in their mad blood. Now these ordo are few, and they hide behind layers of mortal cults and other fronts. The majority of Madmen now exist free of hierarchy and guidance, bonded only by a loose sense of affinity with their clanmates. They turn to road and coterie to provide the structure they need to keep a handle on their quicksilver minds.
