Ventrue History

You ask me childe of our history? Then sit, for the history of the Ventrue is the history of civilization. From the beginning, we have been close to the heart of Caine. Only to our progenitor did Caine reveal his visions of the future, of the Fall of the first city and of the long darkness after. With this vision came responsibility, a gaes to preserve what might be best of the world, and then to rebuild from the ashes, and create a new world, one which would grow and prosper. Ventrue gathered his strength, and bound to him many artifacts and weapons of power that they might be used to stave off the darkness, but others, jealous of his power and closeness to Caine, called him traitor and set their hearts against him. The city fell, and the second city after, but Ventrue and his lineage kept faith with their duty and strove to build and maintain that which was best in man and Kindred.

Rome was the great triumph of the Ventrue, a city that grew civilization like a gardener might an exquisite bloom. Even then, the Ventrue saw the wisdom of hiding our true nature from the mortals we walked amongst. Controlling them from behind the scenes, from behind the throne of a mortal emperor, learning and trade prospered, but across the sea, darkness swelled. The Brujah of the city of Carthage flaunted that which should remain ever secret, as they paraded their nature before every inhabitant and demanded blood in tribute. Such familiarity would breed more than contempt, it would breed destruction, for all who felt threatened would band together and put an end to the Cainites, having learned both their powers and their weaknesses from the Brujahs' exhibitionism. An end was made of that city, sown with salt to never regrow. And yet, that also spelled the end of true Rome, as the alliances needed to end the threat would end our control of the Eternal City. With our loss of control, the doom of Rome, and much of civilization, would follow.

Years of darkness passed, with civilization cowering in some small corners, as we were forced to turn inward for our power and control. We maintained ties to a powerful institution, the Church, but secular power was reduced to a state of feudalism to match the mortals around us. Yet still, the history of that time teaches us that some control must exist, for all our sakes, lest the mortals around us rise up and destroy us to the last. Such almost occurred when war and anarchy revealed us to a power beyond our control, an Inquisition that out allies in the church could not control. They sought us out, slaying and burning, and yet still war between us fought on, as the younger Cainites struggled to free themselves from all controls of the elder, even if that exposed us one and all to final destruction.

We finally put an end to that. The Camarilla was established, at our instigation, to create a unified society that would hide our activities from the mortal world, and regulate activities amongst ourselves, lest we bring about our destruction. At the same time, a dark and warped shadow evolved, the Sabbat, dedicated to wild destruction and constant war. The Camarilla channels growth of all Kindred and civilization, and treats the mortals as a resource to be shepherded that also must be treated with respect lest it turn upon us. The Sabbat declares their contempt for all mortal kind, treating them as food and nothing more, reveling in their bestial nature and threatening us all with exposure and destruction. Their hypocrisy shines through, however, for all their contempt and loud cries, still they hide their nature lest their "cattle" trample them with their massed numbers. They must be obliterated for the safety of all. Their cries for freedom are no more than the urge to pull the wings from a butterfly, to destroy for its own sake, and leave nothing in its place. This is anathema to the Ventrue, for we are dedicated to growth and improvement of civilization, for that is the true expression of immortality's power, to create an entire world in the image of our minds' eyes.