{Homebrew VtR} Bloodline: Dastamaha

    Dastamaha

    Her blood will appease the gods for some time. But don’t forget to bring me a new one next month if you don’t want to be the one drained on the altar.

    Reminders of the old covenant between the living world and the divine realm, the Dastamahas act as the agents of the ancient gods. Avatars and priests of their chosen deity, they prowled in the sacred places of the Old World hundreds of years before the rise of the Camarilla, and they watched from afar the emergence of their would be nemesis, the Lancea et Sanctum. Persecuted by the new religion, they retreated in the wild where they carry on worshiping clandestinely the pagan divine beings who blessed them in return for their fervor. Tonight, the Dastamaha have returned from their retreat. Carrying the blessing of the old gods, their pagan blood continues to fuel their unlives with zeal and sacrifice.

    Background: The Dastamaha bloodline is seen by many Daeva as a sort of curiosity, a strange confirmation of the rumors surrounding the birthplace of the clan. Native of somewhere in Ancient Persia, the Dastamaha claim to be one of the oldest bloodlines of the Serpents.
     According to their legends, the first one of the Scions was in his living days the priest of a war god, a chosen one who practiced martial arts in addition to his duty as a shepherd of the mass. One night, he chased a lecherous monster who plagued his neighborhood. Fighting the creature, he impressed him with his passion so the Daeva Embraced the priest on the spot before disappearing in the night.
     Now one of the fiend he pledged to fought, the priest seeked for a way to deny what he became. While waiting for the sun to rise, he had an epiphany. His god spoke to him, clearer than ever. He told him than his new form was just a new step in his service, and that he should now act as his avatar in addition to his old obligations. Returning to his charges, the neonate craved on the blood of his new herd, and using his newfound powers, he convinced them that he was the incarnation of his god. Some times later, he expanded his pantheon, Embracing childers to act as the other gods. But there wasn’t enough blood for everyone. Growing in numbers and powers, they parted ways and began to spread the bloodline across the land.
     When the Camarilla was created, the Dastamaha, as they named themselves, watched from a distance the experiment of the Julii. Since they knew that their view of the divine’s state would have clashed with the one of the romans, they decided not to join it. They looked, helpless as the roman empire expanded upon their lands, and as they could only fight to save their unlives. They witnessed the creation of a new religion among the dead, the Lancea et Sanctum. When the Camarilla decided to wholly align itself with it, the Scions decided to withdraw even more, preferring to lose their lands and folks rather than their faith. Then again, their history isn’t clear. What is sure is that it was in this exile that the old gods blessed the bloodline. The numerous hardship of the Scions proved to the old gods that the bloodline was worthy of them.
     When, two hundred years ago, the Circle of the Crone began to emerge, the bloodline was one of the numerous groups to share their knowledge to establish the base of the Mother’s Army’s common philosophy and sorcery. Then, whenever the covenant grew enough power, the Scions stood beside him and succeed to reclaim a few lands for them. Now, the Dastamaha have regained their place among the unliving. Worshipping their old faith in modern setting, they are one of the innumerable anachronisms the All Night Society carries.

    The Becoming: When searching for potential future members, Scions value strongness of body and keen social wiles. Thus, individual Dastamahas tend to be particularly dominant in the Physical and Social Attributes. Favored Skills depend on the kind of godliness a member of this bloodline draw for, but mostly include Athletics, Brawl, Expression, Intimidation, Occult and Persuasion, the better with which to embody the divine nature of a Scion. Dastamahas often favor Social Merits, as well, and often have high Allies, Contacts and Herd. A Dastamaha harnessing an ancient Combat Style in conjunction to the use of his Disciplines is a beautiful and terrific foes to be reckoned.

    Interactions With the Danse: Tonight, the Dastamahas have reborn from their ashes. No longer hidden in the woods, they have rejoined the All Night Society when the Circle of the Crone grew enough to be considered one of the major covenants. Thus, the Circle of the Crone was and always is the organization who claims the most Scions. As warrior priests and self proclaimed avatars of the old gods, they usually rank up rapidly among the Mother’s Army. Prized by the majority of Hierophants, it sometimes happen that quarrelling erupts when the spiritual view of a Dastamaha conflicts too strongly with the one of his betters.
     Recently, the Invictus became an affiliation of choices for the Scions desirous to gain political powers. The Dastamaha are quite at ease with the philosophy of the Conspiracy of Silence, even if frictions can emerge when the particular faith of a Scion treats the Masquerade. Within this covenant, a member of this bloodline will usually be drawn towards physical tasks, like assassination and bodyguarding.
     Less often, some Scions join the ranks of the Ordo Dracul with the objective to improve their already glorious form. The Dragons tend to be wary of those recruits but nonetheless accept them with open arms. Yes, they lack humility and have weird histories, but their unique Gift pique particularly the curiosity of most Kogaions who have heard of the bloodline.
     The Dastamaha and the Lancea et Sanctum share a special distaste for one another. As an unliving embodiment of the old ways, the arrival of a Scion in a domain acts always as a prompt and utter nudge of open hostility from either side.

    Clan: Daeva.

    Nickname: Scions, Pretenders (derogatory).

    Bloodline Bane: The Beast of a Dastamaha demands sacrifices and offerings. At the beginning of each night, a Scion loses the benefit of the 10-again rule on all his rolls until he fed or kill somebody.

    Bloodline Disciplines: Celerity, Majesty, Protean, Vigor.

    Bloodline Gift: The Blessing of the Old Gods.
    The Dastamaha have been blessed by the ancient deities of the Old World. Because of this, their blood is thicker than the one of others vampires of equivalent power level. Scholarly Damned are confused by this fact, and more than once a Dastamaha has been accused of diablerie just because he displayed a blood more powerful than it should be. Whenever a Scion is frenzying, or is lashing out his Predatory Aura, or is targeted by a supernatural effect that allows him either to apply his Blood Potency as a die penalty, or to roll his Blood Potency as an opposed check, he increases his effective Blood Potency by 1 for that purpose.