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The vampires of Clan Brujah were once scholars and seekers of wisdom. They inspired the glory of ancient Carthage, a mighty city where mortals and vampires lived together in peace. However, Ventrue treachery and the armies of ancient Rome laid Carthage low and forever shattered the Brujah clan. Over the centuries, internal divides have shaken Clan Brujah to its core, changing the clan’s nature from stoic philosopher to passionate warrior. The Brujah are no longer the creatures they were in Carthage.
Clan Weakness
Brujah are highly emotional, and have great trouble controlling the wrath of their Beasts. Their difficulty to resist frenzy is increased by 2.
Nickname: Rabble
Disciplines: Celerity, Potence, Presence
During the Victorian Age, the Clan was divided in those few who lived true to their legacy as the Learned Clan, and those bulk who were mere troublemakers and criminals in the eyes of their sect, as many neonates rebelled against the oppressive and stagnant politic of the Camarilla.
The closeness of the clan to mortal passions brought forth the best and the worst of the Age within the clan. Many Brujah started to regard themselves as the proletariat of vampiric society and wanted to change this through revolution.
Many Brujah during this time were fierce supporters of various ideas like Marxism, collectivism, syndicalism and Darwinism and engaged in various revolutionary groups to topple the rising pauperization during the Industrial Revolution.
The Brujah have not yet fallen, though they teeter on the edge if the words of their wariest elders are to be believed. As a clan, the Brujah seem to suffer from dementia praecox, to use some of Dr. Freud's parlance, as some of them cling to a noble legacy of Classical origin, while others have allowed themselves to degrade over time and become a grim reflection of the Victorian era's greatest failings.
In the past, the Brujah claimed a legacy of wisdom to temper their passion, taking up causes that echoed the still-burning fires in their dead hearts.
Tonight, however, the Brujah sicken with a malady of soul that may prove their downfall if they are unable to heal it quickly. It is almost as if the world has changed too much for the Brujah, perhaps even leaving them behind. Tonight, elders wear under the weight of centuries of fighting for causes that advanced achingly slowly, only to be eclipsed in a few short decades by the changes wrought by the scions of the Victorian era. Young Brujah, without the experience of centuries to balance their ambitions, expect the ways of these tumultuous times to carry the same weight in the eyes of the other Kindred. That is, so accustomed are they to the quick and radical changes of the era, they don't see how their penchant for significant change immediately alienates them not only from their own elders (whose ideas of "progressive" may still include notions of despotism), but from the more conservative members of other clans. The Brujah have rapidly faded from idealistic agents of the new Kindred order to marginalised neonates and vituperative elders.
The Brujah have spread far and wide across Victoria's empire, and whatever their ethnic or cultural origin, they are one of the clans most suited to "going native" at any given location.
Likewise, Victorian Brujah spread broadly across the social spectrum but tend to congregate at both extremes of it. Among the elite, annuated intellectual Brujah haunt the salons and Elysiums of the Kindred. At the same time, the streets are veritably acrawl with Rabble, from Fagins and bruisers to pimps, smugglers and second-story men.
Indeed, Clan Brujah tends to embody the Dickensian and Victorian concepts of the best times and the worst times simultaneously. As the Brujah tend to congregate at the extremes of the spectrum, so do their endevours dovetail neatly with the haves and the have-nots of mortal society. As their passions swing widely across the pendulum, the Brujuh find the Victorian era a veritable cornucopia of civil interest. Brujah number among the Fenian bombers, supporters of Marx's philosophies, Darwin's champions, members of the Iron Chancellor's ranks, the Fabians of London (and the Sabbat agitators for the same cause) and even the Freemasons.
The current matter of concern for the Rabble is the clan's continued participation in the sect known as the Camarilla.
Centuries ago, when Kindred society needed to claw its way from the depths of the Inquisition and the Burning Times, the Camarilla served its purpose in mutual protection. Tonight, however, the grand council has collapsed under its own weight. Elders of other clans openly preach mistrust of the progressive Brujah, and Kindred of all clans have cast aside the Camarilla's great purpose, instead using it as a smokescreen to throw off the trail of their own petty agendas.
Moderate factions espouse continued support of the Camarilla but on a formally objecting basis. These Brujah think that the Camarilla still has potential but that it needs to rein in the excess of its more abusive members. A radical element proposes secession, abandonment of the stagnant Ivory Tower and informal participation in the so-called "independent clan" phenomenon. To these Brujah, the Camarilla fails not only in practice, but in concept as well; nothing is salvageable. Outside of these two main camps, more extreme options sometimes find voice but rarely with any real consideration or longevity. The Sabbat, obviously, is a satanic nightmare, and a few more marginal options aren't even worth the space spent on discussing them.
Aside from this overarching concern, few Brujah have any matters that unite them across boundaries either geographical or social.
Most are content to pursue their own affairs or pet causes, and these often occupy a significant amount of the Brujah's free time. Crime and criminal aspects of are often associated with the Brujah - and not necessarily unreasonably.
As members of the undead, the Rabble are no strangers to illegal activity, and some find that their supernatural proclivities aid them immensely in other aspects of such unlawful activities. Brujah number among gang bosses, fences, smugglers, killers, thugs, pirates and all other avenues of felonious enterprise.
Brujah can also be eloquent firebrands, rousing Kindred and kine alike to their own issue. Their natural skill with the Discipline of Presence even allows them to supernaturally apply their force of charisma to a gathering.
Whether extolling the virtue of czarist government in Russia or decrying the inhumanities of the Industrial Revolution, an able Brujah will have little trouble convincing others of the righteousness of his personal crusade.
Geographically, Brujah tend to form pockets of numerical strength, but this owes as much to the Brujah habit of Embracing larger broods than other clans as it does to any particular region being more suited to their tastes than any other.
Regions of Brujah strength include Italy, parts of Great Britain (such as London and Wales) and even some of the barbarous lands of Eastern Europe (especially in the south, where they are assumed to have settled after being driven from Rome by the Ventrue in nights long past). Among the Sabbat, Brujah antitribu presence is notably strong in Spain, second only to Lasombra dominance, and in Black Hand enclaves again scattered about Italy.
A phenomenon given rise in the Victorian era has been a sort of "communal" claim to domain.
In cities where broods of Brujah roost or in less urban areas in which Brujah gather or sire progeny, the concept of domain occasionally applies to territories claimed by factions or families of Rabble as opposed to any particular Kindred herself. These domains can be truly terrifying to outsiders caught unaware, as the claimant Kindred pursue trespassers through their domain as wolves worry their prey through a moonlit wood. This is especially true of mortals, who may find themselves harried by a coterie of bloodthirsty monsters through the smokestacks and flash houses of neighbourhoods unfamiliar to them.
Such a cohabitation of Kindred is regarded as a curiosity at best by other undead - and as unseemly at worst. Again, speculation runs rampant as to the cause. Some suggest that while prevailing Victorian ethics regard privacy in the utmost, the ever-rebellious Brujah gather in clutches to rebel against the cultural norm. The Rabble themselves don't bother holding forth on the issue - things are as they are, and there's no reason to pick apart the Kindred's tastes.
Brujah Clan Merits
Brotherhood (1 point merit)
Brujah are known for two things: their fiery tempers and their intense clan loyalty.
As a member of Clan Brujah, you gain a +2 bonus to Brawl, Melee, and Ranged attacks when attacking an individual who was targeted by another Brujah’s Physical attack (Brawl, Melee, or Ranged) earlier in the same combat round, or when another Brujah is using the Assist Attacker tactic to aid your attack. Members of the True Brujah bloodline cannot purchase this merit.
Burning Wrath (2 point merit)
A Brujah’s heart is ablaze with emotion, spurred by anger, and filled with righteous fury.
By channelling this anger, you can expend a simple action to unleash your Burning Wrath, thus turning your fists into supernatural weapons. When this power is invoked, the character’s fists glow red with a dull, contained heat (you cannot actually start fires with this power). For the next hour, when you attack a foe with a bare-knuckled punch, you gain a +2 wild card bonus on this attack, and if successful, you inflict aggravated damage. You may end Burning Wrath at any time by expending a simple action.
Scourge of Alecto (3 point merit)
When another character spends 1 or more points of Willpower to ignore your Awe, or attempts to overcome your Majesty, your Beast responds with spiteful rage.
The sheer force of its anger rips into your rival’s spirit, tearing her apart. The target of Scourge of Alecto takes 1 point of aggravated damage; this damage cannot be reduced or negated. This effect does not require an action or a challenge to activate.
Bloodline: True Brujah (4 point merit)
You are a member of an ancient Brujah bloodline that reviles its tempestuous ancestors and dedicates itself to intellectual studies and passionless pursuits.
Disciplines: Potence, Presence, Temporis
One group of Brujah stands apart from the rest, and they absolutely abhor the majority of their clan. These vampires claim that the passionate Brujah are not the true inheritors of their Antediluvian’s wisdom. Called True Brujah or Sages, they assert that Troile, the founder’s most beloved childe, committed diablerie upon him, changing the very nature of the clan with that heinous act. Sages strive to be faithful to the founder’s original, passionless ways, and revile emotional instability.
In keeping with their philosophy, a True Brujah’s focus is studied pursuit of knowledge. Members of this bloodline tend to be reserved, sober, and austere individuals: academics and historians, with a love of education and a great capacity for learning. The bloodline comes together twice a century to share academic discussions, research, scientific treatises, and philosophical advancements.
Alternate Weakness
True Brujah lose their emotional capacity when they are Embraced. They cannot purchase the Empathy skill, and they pay double the normal XP costs for dots of Morality.