The Keenai

By Mitchell Kelly (mk00nf@csl.gov.uk)

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Nickname: The Auld Alliance

"Here's tae us: wha's like us? Gae few, and they're all deid"

Old Scottish toast

History: The Keenai are a small Bloodline, completly associated with
Scotland. They were originally a part of a migration that lead several small
groups from central Europe, under their fourth Generation founders several
thousand years ago.

They fell out with other Kindred groups over the right of each to rule the
west coast of Scotland, and the Keenai's connection to the UnSeelie Court. A
few of the blood are said to have left for other parts of the world before
now, probably Canada. The Keenai are largely confined to the larger cities
of Scotland, and were originally part of the Highland clans. They fought
against the Ventrue and the Malkavians, against the Roman invasions, and
continued to resist Ventrue expansionism (via the English conquest of
Scotland) until about a hundred and fifty years ago. They have since made
their peace with the Ventrue, and retain good relations with all Camarilla
clans except the Tremere, whom they hold in contempt.

The Keenai have a strange relationship with the Garou: quite who the White
Howlers are, and why the preservation of their memory is so important no-one
knows, but both sides immediately recognise each other, then after very
formal greetings, politely ignore each other.

Appearance: Tall and thin, even by Kindred standards, they are notably
old-fashioned in their dress. All favour some kind of Scottish motif on
their clothing, be it tartan, a thistle badge, a blue bonnet or whatever.
Most Keenai tend to have sharp features: long noses and pointed chins
abound.

Background: All are of Celtic origin, and are mostly of Highland stock.
Celtic revivalists are very common among their younger Chider. Common
Natures include Survivor, Cavalier and Gallant, with most Demeanors being
fairly open. The Bloodline is closely knit, and common Backgrounds include
Mentor and Status.

Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate and Bequaine. Animalism and Presence are
common, along with Obfuscate. Fortitude, Potence and Protean are rare.

Creation: Mental Attributes are usually primary along with Talents, although
this is by no means universal. Prized abilities include Etiquette, Music and
Law, all of which are invaluable when dealing with the Fay. Knowledges like
Linguistics, Heraldry and Occult are highly regarded. Common Backgrounds in
addition to the above are Contacts, Herd and Allies, from the Highland clan
members they have long fed upon.

Supernatural Merits and Flaws are the most common, along with Vampiric
Society. The Flaws Clan Enmity and Intolerance, toward the Tremere, are
common. All Keenai have the Merits Code of Honour and Faerie Affinity,
although the latter costs only one point, since their association is with
the UnSeelie alone. Weakness. All Keenai live by a Code of Honour. In
addition to the effect of the Merit of the same name, this gives them
problems. At the creation of a character, the player must flesh out a
fully-developed code of honour, almost like a Path of Enlightenment.

If the Keenai acts against his or her code, he or she will lose the benefits
of the code and three dice from all rolls until some sort of atonement is
made. The severity of the atonement is dependent upon the severity of the
lapse. Also, until atonement is made, the Faeries will pointedly ignore the
Vampire. The code should be tight enough to restrict the character's actions
without binding them beyond all hope of fun.

Organisation: The Bloodline tends to live as broods around early-generation
leaders, and is frequently the dominant force in the Kindred politics of the
area (e.g. Edinburgh, Dundee, Strathclyde). It retains good relations with
the organisation of the Camarilla, although between individuals this can
vary. Relations between members of the Bloodline are formal but friendly,
and tend to follow a very Celtic view of place, position and prestige.

Bequaine

The Discipline of Bequaine involves many powers associated with the UnSeelie
Faeries, the Dark Court traditionally said to reside in Scotland. With each
increase in the level of Bequaine attained, the Keenai gains a minor Geas.
This is not sufficient to be a fully-fledged Flaw, but is an important
Characteristic nonetheless. The higher level powers of this Discipline are
best left to the imagination, but are dangerous indeed.

* Fay Sight: This power allows the user to see through faerie glamours and
illusions, and to recognise faerie Trods. In addition, it will reveal the
true form of shapeshifters or reveal hidden things. To do this, the user
must gain more successes on a Per + Occult roll that the target has in her
power. For Kindred this is the Discipline rating, for Mages, the Sphere, and
for Garou, their rank.

** Minor Mischiefs This power allows the Kindred to perform some of the
minor, annoying, but not truly dangerous, tricks of the UnSeelie Faries. The
Character must roll Manipulation+Occult versus the target's willpower. Each
success allows one minor problem to beset the victim. Examples include:
broken shoelaces, holes in pockets that allow keys to fall out, or finding
one's car has a flat tire.

*** Sidhe Wisdom: By rolling Charisma+Faerie Lore, difficulty 8, the Keenai
can contact the Lorekeepers of a faerie Sidhe, and quiz them about
mysteries. Each success on the first roll will gain a piece of information.
A failure results in the faeries spending several hours berating the Kindred
for her poor manners, and a botch forever denies her this power. The
Lorekeepers are wise in most things concerning the occult or the Awakened,
but require payment for each piece of information. This payment may be as
simple as sugar or as sinister as one's own blood. The information is
usually in the form of couplets of rhyme or quaint little sayings.

**** UnSeelie Path: Allows the Keenai to move along the magical paths of the
UnSeelie faeries. The caster must spend a blood point and roll Charisma +
Faerie Lore, difficulty 7. Any successes mean that the Kindred has been move
to within 10 miles of her target (determine distance and direction
randomly). A failure leaves the Kindred where she was, and costs a point of
willpower, and a botch condemns the Kindred to eternity in the service of
the UnSeelie...

***** Faerie Curse: By rolling Manipulation+Occult, difficulty 7, the Keenai
can place a curse upon another. These curses last a varying time, but are
usually quite horrible-examples including reducing a person's Appearance or
Charisma to 1, placing someone in an unbreakable sleep, preventing a person
from ever resting etc. To activate the curse, the Keenai must confront the
victim, speak the curse and spend three blood points. To affect the
Awakened, or those with True Faith, a willpower point must be also spent.
Each curse can be cancelled by the caster, and must have a "let-out clause",
such as being kissed awake by a person of royal blood.

Number of Success       Duration
Botch                   Curse affects Keenai, one day per botch.
One                     One day
Two                     One week
Three                   One month
Four                    A year and a day
Five+                   Permanent, unless lifted.

Level Six: Faerie Majesty. This power allows the user to call upon a
significant favour from the UnSeelie Court. Typically this means the
services of a faerie guardian (a troll, a faerie knight or a pack of faerie
hounds), to serve him for a year and a day or a faerie "army" to give the
user aid in one struggle. The user rolls Charisma+Ettiquette, difficulty 8,
to send the summons. The exact nature of the is, of course unpredictable,
but it is of the correct general sort (i.e. a group of faerie shoemakers
don't turn up to take on the Garou, and a dragon will not appear to clean up
a mess in the user's Haven.

The other side of this power is that the faeries can call upon the user for
aid in their turn. Caine help anyone who reneges on the deal...

Level Seven: Blood of Kings. This power allows the Kindred to convert all or
part of her blood to faerie blood. This allows the Kindred several powers:
the user can step into the Umbra, and be seen as a normal spirit or person,
the user can perform Faerie magic at no cost and the user can summon faries
to her aid by simply rolling Charisma+Faerie Lore, difficulty 6. However,
there are problems: the user is susceptible to iron, as Garou are to silver,
and difficulties to avoid frenzies increase by two. Also, when the effect
ends, a Self Control check (difficulty 6) is necessary to avoid a bad attack
of severe depression (Harano). System: Kindred rolls Stamina+Faerie Lore.
The difficulty is one less than her current willpower. A botch is fatal.
Each success converts one point of blood for one day, and successes must be
divided between the length and power of the change. The more blood is
converted, the greater the usable powers (assume that each blood point
converted gives access to one level of thaumaturgical ritual or pathway.)