The Sanusi By Mitchell Kelly (mk00nf@csl.gov.uk) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We will have it back. We will have it all back!" History Of the few Kindred who have heard of the Sanusi, all seem to express a different opinion on their origin. Some say they were derived from the lost Cappadocians, others that they were an offshoot of the Lasombra. Others still mutter that they were in truth a Clan, not merely a Bloodline; the Childer of an unknown Antediluvian, himself the offspring of the hatred in Caine's heart. One thing that all authorities do agree on is that the Sanusi are no more. They were wiped out long ago. This is also only thing in which all authorities are wrong: the Sanusi were smashed, pursued and killed, but they were not exterminated. The Sanusi first appeared with the rising civilisations of the Fertile Crescent. At that time, they were the greatest occultists among the Kindred. High praise indeed, but true nonetheless. Then, the Sanusi began to exert power in the world: they had become aware of the power that their knowledge gave them. They spread their influence among the peoples of the deserts that bordered the Fertile Crescent, appearing to these primitive folk as oracles or gods. Then these primitives began to attack the cities, where the other great Clans of the Kindred had their power. Those Clans, chief among them the Gangrel, the Toreador and the Ventrue, would not stand by and see their cities, full of their faithful retainers and servants, destroyed in the name of Sanusi pride. The cities armed themselves, and took the war back to the deserts. In a great battle that lasted for days and nights, the men of the cities, supported by their vampiric masters, slaughtered the men of the desert, whilst those same vampiric masters hunted down and killed the Sanusi wherever they could be found. Finally, the armies returned to th e cities, convinced that they had forever ended the threat from the desert. The proud Kindred thought they had done the same to the Sanusi. They were wrong. A pitiful few Sanusi survived the great battle and the wanderings through the inhospitable deserts that followed. Supported by their few remaining faithful kine, they settled in the deepest, most inhospitable parts of the great sand and rock deserts of Arabia. Over time the kine became the mysterious vagrant tribes of the interior, seen only occasionally when coming to their rare trade meetings - or when they came out of the wilderness like a ravening horde to slaughter a settlement or caravan. The Sanusi built their havens in deep caves, and plotted their revenge. Over time they spread slowly, placing themselves wherever the other Kindred went, watching their every move, listening to every word that was said. Then, they began their revenge. The Sanusi knew that they could not hope to destroy their enemies in open battle, and so they took another, more devious route. The Sanusi fanned the feud between Set and Osiris, ensuring the battle would never end. The spread subtle lies about the actions of both the Ventrue and the Brujah, ending with the destruction of Carthage and the certainty that the two Clans will never work together. They sowed the seeds of mistrust and hatred between the Clans at the time of the Crusades. They made sure that at the Convention of Thorns, there would still be Kindred who would not join the Camarilla. The Sanusi discovered and used the greatest weapon that they could ever unleash against their enemies: the mistrust that lies deep in the heart of every Kindred. Deep down, the ancient foes want to believe that all other Kindred are their enemies. The Sanusi are more than happy to tell them. Organisation The Sanusi are loosely-knit, but work together. Every ten years, a secret meeting of most of the Sanusi occurs in Marrakech, where the pre-eminent leader of the Sanusi, called the Caliph, call on all of the Sanusi to discuss their work and to bring their plans into alignment, to better serve the great cause of the Bloodline. Below the Caliph, all Sanusi are independent, and largely equal. Status comes from three main sources: occult knowledge, magic power and victories against their enemies. Character Creation Mental Attributes are Primary, along with Knowledges. Natures are variable, but Judge, Director, Visionary and Deviant are common. Demeanours are generally sober. In general, Neonates are Embraced in their thirties or forties, but this is not mandatory. The Sanusi generally Embrace intelligent, committed men and women, who were often Occultists in life. All Sanusi are Occultists in death. The Sanusi do not follow the Path of Humanitas, but generally follow either the Path of Power and the Inner Voice, or the Path of Death and the Soul. Their Virtues are Courage, Self -Control and Callousness, with Self-Control the most prized. Supernatural Merits and Flaws are common in this Bloodline. The Sanusi Disciplines are Presence, Fortitude and Gnosticia. Dominate, Thaumaturgy and Necromancy are also common, and highly prized Disciplines. Sanusi rarely learn Animalism or Protean. Common Backgrounds are Mentor, Resources and Contacts. The Sanusi have few Allies they can rely upon, since they are forced to keep their existence secret. A few among the Sanusi have some Allies among the desert tribes that they ruled over long ago, but such people are of questionable value in dealing with the modern world. All Sanusi possess large Havens, both as living quarters, and as workrooms for their Occult experimentation. Weakness In addition to being at the top of the death list for every Kindred organisation there is, the Sanusi are a uniquely disturbing group: they are all afflicted with the equivalent of the flaw Eerie Presence. Opinions On the Camarilla: "Our ancient enemies, and their lackeys who stood by and watched us be slaughtered. We will enjoy watching your pathetic little debating club fall like the house of cards that it is." By the Camarilla: "They were destroyed long, long ago. If any survived, they would be advised to hide: we would be quick to finish the job" Sieur Michel de Grande-Frastolin, Ventrue elder and Kindred historian On the Sabbat "The sneaking Lasombra, the hard-hearted Tzimices and their ragtag assortment of fools - they make good pawns to use against our enemies." By the Sabbat: "The Sanusi? They were all destroyed. A shame, since from what I hear they would have been great allies against the Camarilla" Anna Van Lierop, Lasombra Bishop On the Inconnu: "Meddling old fools! They begin to guess, but they dare not act." By the Inconnu: "All actions leave a mark. Just as the ripples spread out from a stone thrown into a pond, I sense something at the centre of many seemingly unconnected acts. We must be wary." On others: "The Salubri? Dead. The Setites? Rank fools! The Giovanni? Mere children!" By others "If even one survived, I think we would put aside our neutrality to act with any and all other Kindred, to eliminate their scourge once and for all." Laslo Radulovich, Old Clan Tzimices and representative of the League of Oradea. Gnosticia * Fount of Knowledge: By concentrating, and spending a Blood Point, the user can reduce the difficulty of a single Knowledge roll, or a single deductive challenge, by one. ** Sight Of The Hidden: By spending a Blood Point, and rolling Per+Occult, difficulty 8, the user can reveal things that have been hidden by magical means. This includes Vampiric Disciplines, Garou Gifts, Magick, Faerie Glamour, Hedge Magic etc. It is however of no value at all against a well-hidden safe! *** Augury: The Kindred decides before retiring on a single subject, and spends a Blood Point. The user will dream a dream related to the chosen subject. Some useful information is hidden in the dream, but the Augury is vague and requires considerable interpretation to fully understand it. **** Scry: This requires a device of some kind: a mirror, a crystal ball, a pool of ink or some such. The Kindred spends two Blood Points and rolls Per+Occult, difficulty 9. The user can observe a distant place or person for one hour per success gained. The difficulty is reduced by one if the user has a possession or item from the person being Scryed, or is familiar with the location. Each die that the target has in Obfuscate or Obtenebration reduces the user's dice pool by one. An Awareness roll, or an unmodified Auspex roll, difficulty 9, will warn the target that she is being observed. ***** Sight Through All: With this ability, the user can see through into the Umbra: either the Near Umbra, or into the Shadowlands. The user spends two Blood Points, a point of Willpower and rolls Dex+Occult, difficulty seven. Failure throws the user back, causing two points of unsoakable damage, whilst botching traps the user between the world and the Umbra until someone or something pulls her out. The user can see what passes in the Umbra or the Shadowlands, observe what spirits or Wraiths do at a particular site, or watch over a certain area. The user can be seen by occupants of the Umbra or Shadowlands: the point that the watcher looks through is noticeably different to the surrounding area, and curious - or unfriendly Umbral dwellers may be drawn to the site, and even try to break through... Level Six: Fount of Knowledge The sum of all human knowledge still exists. Everything that has ever been learned is still available to a scholar - if you know how to look for it. The Sanusi do. By spending two Blood Points, and rolling Int+Occult difficulty 9, they can tap into this pool of hidden knowledge. A single question will be answered, with as much accuracy as the phrasing of the question allows: vague questions get vague answers. Any botch on this roll adds the user to the sum of all human knowledge - for ever. Level Seven: Destruction of Wisdom This power allows the user to conceal knowledge of someone or something, virtually permanently. The user rolls Man+Stealth, difficulty eight, or the victim's Willpower in the case of a person or spirit. The user can then eradicate any trace of that object: it will simply vanish from the world's memory. People who knew about it will make themselves forget. Fount of Knowledge can uncover such information, but the difficulty rises to ten. Oracles, Preceptor spirits, Incarna or powerful Thaumaturgists can overcome this power - but first they must find a reference to what was hidden in the first place. There are rumours of ancient, powerful Sanusi of lower Generation than the sixth. They were enormously powerful - but of course, they were all destroyed long ago, weren't they? Using the Sanusi in a Chronicle The Sanusi were designed as something that all the people who slavishly read the rulebooks wouldn't have heard of, something to make people guess. Put them in a Chronicle, wind up your characters and watch them go off to blame the Sabbat, the Tremere, the Setites and anyone but the real culprits. Just like the Sanusi would want them to...