The Reborn Clan Wanderers Illusionists Seekers Demon Hunters The Shattered (Derogatory) Shilmulo (Derogatory, Rare)
The Reborn Clan Wanderers Illusionists Seekers Demon Hunters The Shattered (Derogatory) Shilmulo (Derogatory, Rare)
The Reborn Clan Wanderers Illusionists Seekers Demon Hunters The Shattered (Derogatory) Shilmulo (Derogatory, Rare)
Wanderers
Illusionists
Seekers
Demon Hunters
The Shattered
(derogatory)
Shilmulo
(derogatory, rare)
U nderstood to be tricksters and charlatans by
other Cainites, this represents only part of the
truth of Clan Ravnos. The full story of the Wanderer
ancient: Ravanna will awaken, the asuratizayya will
follow him, and there will come war the likes of
which have not been seen outside the walls of
Clan tells a tale of self-sacrifice and of loyalty to God, Heaven.
of lonely soldiers in a divine war for the souls of all
Tonight, though reduced to a fraction of their former
Mankind. Trickery and temptation are merely the
numbers, the wanderlust that sings in Ravnos blood is
necessary evils by which this war is fought. Long
not easily denied. Ravnos are striking out into the
divided into the western and eastern Ravnos, this
world once again, learning of the changes wrought by
changed when an event that would be remembered as
recent events that have so shaken Cainite society.
the “Week of Nightmares” drove the clan entire into a
They observe and plan, striving to be ready for
self- destructive frenzy. The western Ravnos were
Ravanna’s coming and the reckoning that will follow.
almost annihilated. The eastern Ravnos fared only
slightly better. Perhaps the Ravnos will be prepared by then, in these
new and changed Modern Nights.
But this calamity was a crucible, too, and by its heat
the Ravnos were reforged. Twenty years after the
Who are the Ravnos?
Week of Nightmares, the Ravnos have organized and
united their Clan to a degree not seen in millennia, Prior to the Week of Nightmares, Clan Ravnos was
driven by a looming threat posed by a sleeping much-derided and much-maligned due to the
perceptions of, and the actions of, their most visible larger numbers allowed them to come out better at
members in Kindred society. Known for being the end. However, many Ravnos tired of the fighting,
wandering vagabonds and hucksters, the most prolific and coupled with a sense of wonder in many (a
and public Ravnos were charlatans who pervaded wonder brought on by the existence of Cainites);
deception and theft. Misunderstood as the clan of some set out to see the world, fleeing the
gypsies and tricksters by Cainite society as a whole, overcrowded space and ever-escalating conflict.
the truth of the Ravnos is much more, for the These Ravnos quickly lost contact with their heritage
vagabonds were not truly the heart of the clan. as generations got further away from their traditions
and history, becoming the diaspora that would be the
The Indian subcontinent houses many supernaturals,
most public face of the Ravnos in Kindred society.
and it is from here that the Ravnos originate.
Subscribing to an origin unlike the Caine myth of Divided into castes (jati), the Ravnos of India
Noddist lore, a myth told by the epic poem continued their divine mandate, living as tempters of
Karavalanisha Vrana (Wounds of the Night's Sword), the unrighteous and pilgrims seeking their divine
which tells a story of their purpose. Their progenitor, purpose against the asuratizayya. After the Embrace,
Zapathasura, was a man terribly resurrected by the Eastern Ravnos is inducted into a caste based on their
gods and charged with a svadharma, a divine purpose: natural aptitudes. The four primary castes of the
to rid the world of the asuratizayya, demons that Ravnos are the Brahmin (priests who maintain
were once servants the gods created to protect mayaparisatya, the path of the divine purpose, and
mankind, who fell from grace and became destroyers advise the other castes), the Kshatriya (military
and tempters of men, brought low by the monsters leaders who run the war effort against the Ravnos'
they were created to destroy. The svadharma of enemies, primarily the asuratizayya), the Vaisya
Zapathusara is borne by all of his childer, burdening (who manage the Masquerade and mortal resources,
all Ravnos with a threefold mandate from the gods: often functioning as major-domos) and the Chandala
To destroy the asuratizayya. To safeguard Mankind (equivalent to Caitiff, with no specific role in Ravnos
from their foul temptations by becoming tempters society dictated by the svadharma). Ravnos ghouls are
themselves, to find the weak and the easily-swayed called the Shudra caste, servants to their vampiric
before the asuratizayya come for their souls. To masters, and other minor families existed (eventually
resist that same temptation as it courses through being large enough to be considered 'castes' among
their own Blood, calling them to vice, to corruption, the Western Ravnos.)
to the Fall.
The Eastern Ravnos kept to themselves, entertaining
Rising from this mythic origin, the Ravnos expanded the unusual Camarilla delegate, but otherwise rarely
as Zapathasura created his own childer, and as his interacting with the rest of Kindred society, and
lineage expanded, the clan began to codify societal continued in the ways they had for centuries. Until
roles and duties as they sought out and battled with the Week of Nightmares, which upended everything
their enemies in the regions which would become the for all Ravnos the world over. The destructive
Indian subcontinent and in China, their destiny madness that brought low the Western Ravnos also
leading them into conflict with what they believed afflicted the Eastern Ravnos. Unlike their Western
were a current form of the asuratizayya -- the Kuei- cousins, however, the jati had support systems in
Jin – a conflict which has raged for centuries. place, as the Kindred rulers of the region, which
lessened the blow to their numbers significantly. As
Over the centuries, the Ravnos came into contact with
the Ravnos lost their minds and set upon each other,
other Cainites as well, ranging from the pilgrims of
the Shudra and other mortal servitors of the Ravnos
Zao-Lat seeking Enlightenment, to the warriors of the
worked to contain the madness. And while many died,
Eldest attempting to usurp via false divinity, and
many more were subdued and kept in torpor until the
Cainites coming on the heels of Alexander the Great.
madness had passed. And after the madness had
As is often the case when two predatory species come
passed, the Eastern Ravnos took stock of their
into contact with each other, conflict broke out. These
situation and drew their resources close, not only to
conflicts were eventually won by the Ravnos, whose
ensure their society would survive, but for protection Generation, sent into the world by their elders (or by
against their Cathayan enemies who might strike in their own wanderlust) to see exactly how Kindred
their hour of weakness. society fared in these nights. Though some Ravnos
have chosen to ally themselves with the various sects
The Eastern Ravnos spent just over a decade
of the Kindred, the Ravnos as a whole maintain their
rebuilding their numbers in India, led by a council of
independence, as they always have. Their historical
Brahmin under the watch of two of their eldest,
territories and the support network afford them the
survivors of the Week of Nightmares. The Ravnos had
opportunity to maintain independence, but the
lost time and resources, and a decision was made. A
biggest factor is that Kindred society has no
number of Ravnos were dispatched into the world,
knowledge of their true numbers. In this, the Ravnos
beginning to reintegrate slowly into Cainite society,
have an advantage, and keep those cards close to the
learning of what had happened and all the changes
chest.
that came after the Week of Nightmares. These
pilgrims – often in disguise, calling themselves Caitiff The majority of the Ravnos that are seen by
to not arouse the ire of the Clans of Caine – were Kindred society are independent, eschewing
charged with studying Cainite society as it exists now, membership in any of the sects in order to
to inform their future diplomatic reintroduction as perform their duties. These Ravnos engage
one of the thirteen Great Clans, and to inform their with the sects when and where they can, but
search for allies. A reckoning is coming, or so their are outsiders, viewed by much of modern
eldest have said, as the rise of their lost and fallen Kindred society as a curiosity. Still, many of these
sibling Ravanna is soon to happen. And with Ravnos have shown their usefulness in domains
Ravanna’s rise, the asuratizayya will move on the suffering from the taint of the infernal.
world, calling the Ravnos to fulfill their ancient
The Anarchs, accepting of Kindred from all
duties.
walks of life, have been accepting of those
Now, in the shadow of the Inquisition and the Ravnos that have chosen to throw in their lot.
Gehenna War, events have brought two of their Within the Anarchs, the Ravnos have begun
remaining eldest together, in search of a third to show their usefulness in a way that older
ancient, their sister, in order to combat the coming Kindred are often surprised by, with Vaisya keeping
asuratizayya and the fallen ancient, Ravanna. At the mortal herds in line or Kshatriya working tirelessly to
order of these ancients, the clan began to increase keep their fellow Anarchs in line and safe from
their numbers, even as some of their elders began to Camarilla pogroms or rival Anarch gangs and
succumb to a 'call' and disappear into the night. In factions.
the past decade, the eastern Ravnos have begun to
organize in an unprecedented manner due of this, and
are slowly becoming a more common sight in Cainite
society as their neonates and ancillae wander into the
world, their pilgrims and warriors venturing out into
the world looking for the Lost Sister and to see the
influence of the asuratizayya on the world.