The priestess stands at the precipice of the pit, which is still opening like the hungry maw of a great beast, eager to add more blood to its fetid belly. The priestess sings a song in a language that was dead long before the first syllables of Latin were uttered on this Earth. Though impossible to understand the lyrics now… one cannot possibly mistake the razor sharp cacophony of feelings that the shrieking, lilting tones create in the listener: the sorrow of a mother forced to bury her children, and the fathomless rage that follows such a loss.
The sacrifices are nudged closer to the edge of the pit, ringing the edges of it… thirteen of them in total… all waiting for the Siren’s blasphemous song to end… all unsure whether they want to song the end… and what that would mean for them.
Something glistens in the dark depths of the pit… a bone? A pool of fresh blood? Or something lurking just beyond your sight in the darkness below…
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to The Circle of the Crone. What is the Circle of the Crone you might ask? Well, it is one of five Covenants… major political/religious factions among the undead in a little tabletop RPG by the name of Vampire: The Requiem…
what does the Circle of the Crone believe? They believe that vampires are the apex predators in the grand food chain of this world, and therefore, they should not have to feel any shame about what they do… do most humans shed a tear for the plate of fried chicken they are about to devour in order to satisfy their hunger? Of course not.
The Circle of the Crone is also a gestalt, a heady and seductive melange of various occult belief systems… both ancient and modern, and all so very different in exact beliefs… but there is one thing they have in common, they represent cults and covens and other such groups that have been persecuted through the centuries now banded together.
This short story, which I have crafted to help test out some new Storium features will be focusing on the Circle of the Crone, specifically, on a recruitment ritual I concocted… and partially based on certain passages from a propbook originally written for Vampire: The Masquerade… which book is that? Why, Revelations of the Dark Mother of course… which I believe is where the Circle of the Crone truly began in the World of Darkness (new and old).
For the purposes of this game, you will all begin as mortals… some of you may have been training and preparing for this ritual for the last several years of your life, eager to prove yourself worthy of the Dark Gift that the Crones have promised you if you complete your training… others of you are simply hapless fools that wandered where they shouldn’t have… or whom the Crones abducted to throw in a few wild cards into the proceedings.
For character creation, I have set up a few Nature cards that are based around certain broad personality archetypes. You are free to pick from any of them, or none of them… just keep in mind that if you make a nature, please try to keep it thematically appropriate. Thank you.
As for Strengths and Weaknesses… well the new way Storium handles things makes them a bit more flexible so go ahead and make them anything you want… except for weapons or magic or powers of any sort… as those you do not have as mere mortals… and even if you were a police officer or a soldier or a trained assassin or whatever… you will not have any weapons to go in there with you.
Lastly… your Subplot should reflect why you are even at the initiation ceremony to begin with… are you a mortal cultist eagerly waiting her chance to prove herself and gain eternal life at the end of this trial you have spent years readying yourself for? Or were you simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and are hopelessly confused? Or have you been watching the Crones’ “Nest” for some time and have been trying to connect the dots? Or anything else that might work.
Just keep in mind… that if you are a cultist that has been a part of this group for years… your character is going to be female. No iffs ands or buts about it… the Circle of the Crone is a bit… picky in who they directly recruit.
As to the other natures… anything goes.
So… who wants to be a vampire witch?
Or more to the point… who is going to live long enough to become one?
Yes, character death is something that may happen in this game… but as with everything involving the undead, it may not entirely be the end of your involvement… if you are willing to make the right deal…
Warning NSFW … yeah… its a World of Darkness game… kinda goes with the territory… in this case however… definitely for graphic violence… probably for strong language as well… and maybe some sexual content… and whatever weirdness that the Circle of the Crone can pull off here.
Hosted and narrated by:
TheDoctor455
Started 04/24/15.
Scenes played: 3
License: Community License
