Tarantalus

by Simon Giles (27 Aug 95)

     "Don't struggle like that, it will only make me love you more.
     For it's much to lake to get away and turn on the light.
     Spider man is having you for dinner tonight."
     The Cure - Lulaby

History: The Tarantalus bloodline was created several centuries before the
dawn of the Christian era, by a Gangrel Methusela known as Gaelth. Gaelth
had been long fascinated by the effects of the Embrase upon Garou. Many of
those he tried to embrase died horrible deaths when fed his vitae. Many more
were driven insane by Cain's curse and destroyed themselves. A few survived
the change and turned against their creator. After repeated failure Gaelth
instead turned his efforts towards embrasing Lupine pups who had not yet
manifest their Garou nature. Few of these children survived for long. One of
the survivors was Vehk, who was not Lupine, but Ananasi. Vehk served Gaelth
for decades before leaving him to seak the advice of her own kind. They left
on poor terms, and have fueded ever since. Little is known of Vehk's
movements after leaving Gaelth, but her children are occasionally
encountered living in secrecy within the Camarilla.

Current Status: The Tarantalus are an extreemly secretive bloodline, few
kindred have heard of them, fewer still have evern met one. This bloodline
has for centuries been locked in a silent struggle with members of the
Gangrel and Ventru clans. They are afraid to anounce their existence to
other Kindred for fear of being persecuted as the Baali and Salubri were.
Members of this clan will invariably pose as Caitiff or Gangrel.

Nickname: Gangrel and Ventrue call them "Black Widdows".

Appearance: Members of this clan have large, completely black eyes, and are
alw ays between the ages of 15 and 25. Vehk herself was supposedly only 13
when she was embraced. Their manner of dress varies, but tends towards dark
evening wear.

Haven: Tarantalus prefer dark, dank places to live. They love caverns and
other underground complexes, but many nowadays settle for abandoned
buildings with large basements.

Background: Members of this clan always choose to embarse young females. The
childer are carefully tutored in the history of their clan, the overiding
importance of secrecy, and their place in the Jihad.

Character creation: Tarantalus often have Dilettante, Child, or Punk
concepts, though they may be professionals. They may have any demeanor, but
often choose conniver, devient, fanatic, loner, rebel, or survivor natures.
Mental attributes are primary.

Clan disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Arachnidia. Instead of the Auspex
discipline Astral Projection, Tarantalus may choose the alternate Auspex
discipline Web Sight.

Weaknesses: Like Ananasi, Tarantalus take damage from many pesticides. This
is due, at least in part, to their psysiological similarity to spiders. In
addition, any time a Tarantalus frenzies, their beast nature manifests
itself in a spider trait, much as Gangrel gain animal traits when they
frenzy. These "Spider-Traits" might include: darkening of the skin
(eventually becoming jet black), shedding of a carapace, multi-faceted eyes,
etc.

Organization: The Tarantalus are completely alone in the world, they rely
intensely upon each other and the guidence of their founding Methusela,
Vehk, who is said to be in Torpor. The world is a very lonely place for
Tarantalus. They are at war with the Gangrel clan which spawned them, and
feel the other clans would destroy them should they be discovered. Even the
Ananasi shun the members of this clan, despite their similar histories.

Quote: "Yeah, I gues it's kinda like the nursery ryme. How quaint. But
seriously, do come into my parlour."

Stereotypes

Nosferatu:
        o In times of great strife, these kindred have provided us with
          shelter. Don't let their appearance put you off. A few of them
          even know our secrets.
Gangrel:
        o Many of Gaelth's progeny war with us, all of his line deserve no
          more than the poison of our sting.
Ventrue:
        o These vile politicians vie for control of vital resources. To them
          it is just a game, to us it is life and death.
Inconnu:
        o While they neither hinder us, nor harm us, they do not help us
          either.
Camarilla:
        o They are so quick to destroy what they percieve as threats, and so
          unwilling to examine those threats before destroying them. Look at
          what happened to the Salubri.
Sabbat:
        o Bloodthirsty barbarians, avoid them.