Hecata
You feel it, don’t you? Just like all Kindred, you died and came back. But when you died, your soul resisted a little longer than that of your neighbor. You felt the pull of Oblivion, and it fucked you up. You struggled with the return to the mortal shell and you’re not sure you’re happy to be back. You’re less and more than all your undead kin. You already understand what it is to be dead, to experience the end, to know the fear of the great nothingness. Welcome to the family.
You’re one of us. You’re my cousin, his sister, and her daughter. We’re connected not only by blood, and by vitae, but by that first-hand knowledge of death. Consider yourself awake now? When you died, you nearly stayed dead and you’re terrified. But I bet you’re turned on by the thrill of it too. How exciting, to feel death and evade it. It’s like looping a belt around your neck and jerking off while hanging in a wardrobe, and God you want that feeling again. It’s enticing, isn’t it, to know now you can commune with death like its your brother, your aunt, or your father?
Mystery. It’s a gorgeous word. The mystery of the missing treasure. The mysterious Mr. X. The murder mystery. The mystery of life after death. The greatest mystery of God in heaven.
You’ll work on studying and solving the darkest mysteries, and forming new, forbidden ones. You belong to a family who want all the answers, because we’re greedy, and once we have them, we’ll use those answers against our enemies. You’ll gain mastery over the dead and the living. You’ll possess a power no other vampires have the balls to harness.
You’re now of a family, a clan, and a religion dedicated to enriching our lives, such as they are, and those of our mortal kin. Every member of this family is determined to master death. Maybe you’ll want to stave off the end for your loved ones, perhaps you’ll want to become a notorious necromancer and revive your dead girlfriend, or maybe, just maybe, you’ll want to feel more potent than you ever did in life.
This didn’t happen by accident, okay? You were chosen. Keep that in mind when you feel isolated from other vampires. You were selected for the Embrace because we know you’re capable of making your family prouder dead than you were alive.
Listen, just like every family, there’s going to be those you see every week, some you see every year, and some you only hear of behind closed doors. The ones not invited to parties. The black sheep. Well to some of us, you’ll be one of them. But to others, you’ll be closer than a living relative.
We’re going to accomplish so much together, you know? You really are going to make your family proud. Do right by us and we’ll take care of you.
The rest though? All those pricks of other clans and sects?
Fuck them. Fuck anyone else breathing or not breathing, if they’re not of our Blood.
Hecata Archetypes
Champion Bullshitter
The Hecata may wave the banner of independence, but they still require vampires who can break bread with Camarilla courts and Anarch packs. This character could have been anything from a con artist to a diplomat in life, but the crucial thing is they know how to sell a deal without showing their entire hand to the outsiders. The champion bullshitter was Embraced for their ability to charm the doubters and present a believable façade for the clan’s activities
Forensic Specialist
The Clan of Death lives up to its title, with a great many of its members schooled in the passage of life to death. In the last century there’s been an upsurge in nurses, surgeons, and laboratory staff being Embraced, with a special place set for medically trained individuals in law enforcement. This character was always one of the first to crime scenes, and was able to alter evidence, misfile reports, or spin a narrative of death that protects the family, all while coming face-to-face with death on a regular basis.
Natural Necromancer
Necromancers are pretty uncommon among the ranks of mortals, even those with blood connections to Clan Hecata. When a vampire from the Clan of Death finds a mortal with a genuine interest in, and aptitude for, death magic — whether through practice of seances, ghosthunting on vlogs, exorcisms, or study of occult rituals — they rarely go without long-term observation and the potential for an Embrace. These individuals sometimes harbor deviant practices, or an ethical remove when it comes to handling corpses and treating with the dead. The Hecata see this kind of behavior as ripe blackmail material, so if the necromancer is unfit for the Embrace, they’ll serve as a mortal retainer.
Prodigal Child
The Hecata have a blind spot when it comes to their mortal descendants, sometimes Embracing inept family members simply because they share the same name. However, characters such as this one stand out, prove themselves to the clan, and end up with multiple prospective sires fighting for the right to Embrace. The prodigal child is often seen as a rising star, fit for important responsibilities within the family and clan. Growing up in such a twisted family has a way of fucking up such a mortal’s sensibilities and boundaries, however.
Unscrupulous Banker
As far as the rest of Kindred society is concerned, the Giovanni — and more broadly, the Hecata — are the bank. They’re Switzerland. They act as the neutral party, perfect for mediation and guaranteed to protect assets due to their unswerving dedication to non-involvement in the Jyhad. This character would be targeted for their willingness to do anything to cut a profit, whether that means investing in unethical concerns, accepting laundered funds, or playing guard to investments most banks wouldn’t touch — including blood, special kine, or torpid Kindred.
Disciplines
Bane
Steeped in death, the fangs of the Hecata bring not bliss, but agony. Victims caught unawares will violently resist unless restrained, and few people submit willingly to the torture that is the Hecata Kiss.
When drinking directly from a victim, Hecata may only take harmful drinks, resulting in blood loss (Vampire: The Masquerade, p.212). Unwilling mortals not restrained will try to escape, and even those coerced or willing must succeed in a Stamina + Resolve test against Difficulty 2 + Bane Severity in order not to recoil. Coerced or willing vampire victims of the Hecata bite must make a frenzy test against Difficulty 3 to avoid falling into a terror frenzy.
Compulsion
Morbidity
The Hecata are possessed of a peculiar curiosity paired with detachment from compassion and empathy, likely due to their frequent dealings with corpses and the wraiths of those who died tragic deaths. Their Blood urges them to study the individuals around them for signs of illness, frailty, or impending death. Until they have either predicted a death without supernatural means or solved the cause of a local one, the vampire suffers a three-dice penalty to other rolls until the scene ends. Note that their conclusions do not need to be absolutely correct, but should stay within the boundaries of the possible.