CLAN: Ravnos

Nobody in the west understood the Ravnos, and now in the Final Nights, it's too late to do so. Misunderstood as a clan of gypsies and tricksters, the western Ravnos are a minor and heretical branch of the undead lords of India. Gifted with the power to manipulate maya, the Ravnos saw themselves as tempters and avengers, replacing the fallen Kuei-Jin in the scheme of the universe. All that is irrelevant now, however, as Zapathasura rose from his slumber in the Week of Nightmares and in his own death throes, wiped out nearly all of his clan.

Due to their inherent clan weakness, The Ravnos clan are all criminals; each Ravnos has a specific vice ranging from plagiarism to mass murder. When the opportunity to indulge that vice is present, Ravnos must succeed in a self-control check to avoid indulging it.

Noddists say that in Enoch, Irad embraced a thief named Dracian, to spy on the Third Generation. Dracian immediately betrayed his sire to the other Antediluvians, leading to the end of the Second Generation.

However, the Ravnos claim a richer prehistory, recorded in the Karavalanisha Vrana, The Wounds of the Night's Sword. This epic poem details how angelic beings (probably Kuei-Jin) betrayed their original purpose and became blood-drinking demons; to balance them out, the Gods brought back to live a man who had been wronged more by these asuratziyya more than any other. This creature, named Zapathasura was charged by the Gods to exterminate the asuratziyya and restore balance to the world.

In his quest for vengeance, Zapathasura embraced five childer: Marizhavashti Kali, a seer; the Rakshasa, a shapeshifter; Chandraputra, a military leader; Ravana, who betrayed Zapathasura and may be the Yama King of the same name; and Ramessu, who served as an internal policeman for Zapathasura's war. These five Methuselahs are the ancestors of all other Ravnos. They served Zapathasura for centuries in prehistoric India until the wearied of their sire's endless war and slaughter, abandoning him to his own devices as time passed. Ravnos eventually fell into torpor and the clan restructured.

The majority of the elders left India for the west, while Chandraputra remained in the subcontinent and reordered the clan along a more caste-oriented society. This culture faced two invasions around the time of Alexander the Great - western vampires following the conqueror, and Kuei-Jin on a crusade from China. At this time, Ravnos society diverged. The Ravnos heading towards the west began to deviate from the philosophy of Zapathasura, eventually creating what would become known as the Path of Paradox. Meanwhile, the Indian Ravnos split into castes in a fashion similar to the Assamites, with multiple Jati fulfilling different roles in the war against the Wan Kuei.

Ravnos society in the Dark Ages was influenced by two phenomena: the continuing degeneration of western Ravnos from the Path of Paradox, and the influx of Indian Ravnos following the Rroma.

The Path of Paradox is a degenerate form of the Mayaparisatya, the classic path as followed in India. Sybaritic Roman Ravnos changed the path into a license for self interest and wanton diableries without following the original tenets. This form eventually became the standard path of the western clan, while the eastern path remained in India. The path of paradox and the associated culture of the clan led to the low reputation that the Ravnos had throughout Europe.

Meanwhile, unknown to the other clans, Ravnos arrived with the Rroma; these Ravnos were chandalas, almost the Ravnos equivalent of Caitiff, but still felt superior to their mongrel cousins. The cultural interchange (with knives) that followed led to a predominance of eastern Ravnos in the western clan. As time passed, the Rroma Ravnos became the stereotypical Ravnos in the minds of western Kindred, and the Path of Paradox became the standard path for western Ravnos.

Ravnos in Arabia and Northern Africa, called the Bay't Mujrim, were no more welcome in the Islamic world as their vices lead them into many unwelcome confrontations with the Ashirra. A few Murjrimin, mostly those from Alexandria, did manage to balance out their vices and become welcome in some Islamic circles.

By the 15th century, western Ravnos were stereotypically seen as Gypsies, degenerate and vermin.

Organization
Western Ravnos are largely individuals without larger clan loyalties outside of perhaps tribal (and Rroma loyalties).
Eastern Ravnos have their own caste system, developed from the lineages that descended from Zapathasura. These jati are effectively bloodlines with the clan:

The priests of the Indian Ravnos were the Brahmin, who maintain mayaparisatya and advise the other castes. The Brahmin replace Fortitude with Auspex, and many learn Sadhana. The Western cousins of this caste, the Phuri Dae, are treated as a distinct bloodline due to their variant clan Disciplines. Clanbook: Ravnos Revised erroneously names this caste as "Brahman".

The Kshatriya were the military leaders of the Ravnos and ran the war against the asuratizayya.

Vaisyas maintained the equivalent of a Masquerade in India and also managed mortal resources. The Vaisyas were effectively a military manager caste.

Chandalas were the Ravnos equivalent of Caitiff; and Caitiff in India were automatically classified as Chandalas. Demotion to Chandala status was a common punishment for heresy.

These jati are directly related to the jati of Hindu society, with the equivalent of the Shudra caste being ghouls.


Culture
Western Ravnos, historically connected with the oppressed Rroma, maintained a strong sense of clan solidarity for a very long time. The most common manifestation of this solidarity was through a form of retaliation called "The Treatment". The Treatment was a vengeance attack where a mistreated Ravnos would contact fellows in the clan, who would then swarm upon the city where the original Ravnos was victimized. In general, a dozen Ravnos running amok could bring even the most experienced Prince to the brink, and well-placed exaggerations about the impact of the Treatment was the main weapon the Ravnos used to squeeze out what place they did have in Western society.

Past that, Ravnos culture was dominated by its religious role; the greatest division between Indian and Western Ravnos being the differences between mayapisatya and the Path of Paradox. In 1998, Ravnos elders began to "educate" (with knives) their heretical cousins, setting the clan back on the straight and narrow.

In India, the Ravnos dominated the continent, probably the largest concentration of a single clan in one country. In several ways, the Ravnos paralleled the Assamites - both clans had a caste system invisible to outsiders, and both clans were defined by a military role.

Lore: Ravnos x1

• You know that the primary Ravnos Disciplines are Animalism, Chimestry, and Fortitude, and that Chimestry is unique to their Clan. (LotN: 55; VtM [Rev]: 97)
  
  
• You know that Ravnos are traditionally prone to thievery and vice, to the point where such actions have become innately compulsive. (CbR [Rev]: 48-49; LotN: 55; VtM [Rev]: 97)
  
  
• You know that the Clan's Antediluvian is either a man named Dracian (according to Noddist traditions); a creature known as Zapathasura, who has been charged by the gods with hunting down a race of demonic entities (according to Karavalanisha Vrana); a simple Romani man named Ravnos (according to traditional folklore). (CbR [Rev]: 17-18, 20; LS4: 24-25)
  
  
• You know that the Clan has strong ties with India and with the Romani (gypsies) and that several lines of Ravnos were entirely Romani-descended.
  
  
• You are aware that there has traditionally been a long standing emnity between the Ravnos and the Gangrel and that in near every legend of the Ravnos progenitor, he is said to have made an eternal enemy of Ennoia, the Gangrel Antediluvian. (CbR: 18-20; CbR [Rev]: 19-20)
  
  
• You know that many Indian Ravnos follow the Mayaparisatya or the Path of Paradox, a Path of Enlightenment which espouses adherence to ones jati (caste) and fulfillment of svadharma (divine purpose).
  
  
• You have heard of the existence of the Karavalanisha Vrana (Wounds of the Night's Sword), an ancient Indian epic which tells the history of the Ravnos Clan. (CbR [Rev]: 16; LS4: 12, 24-25)
  
  
• You know that during July 1999, a disaster known as the Week of Nightmares struck the entire Clan, causing members to frenzy and devour one another and wiping it out save for a handful of Cainites. (CbR [Rev]: 34-37; LotN: 54)

Lore: Ravnos x2

• You have heard that in Noddist mythology, Dracian was Embraced by Irad, a member of the Second Generation, after he had attempted to burglarize the ancient's haven. You have heard that after the fall of the Second City and the destruction of the Second Generation, Caine cursed Dracian with an inability to ever achieve satisfaction, condemning him to a life of sin. (CbR [Rev]: 20)
  
  
• You have heard that in some stories told by the Romani-descended Ravnos, Ravnos was the son of Tshurka, a wandering gypsy who took Caine (called Kaen in the legends) into his kumpania as an act of kindness after he had left Cainite society. Kaen later Embraced Ravnos as thankfulness for his father's kindness, after Tshurka, himself, was killed by marauding Cainites. Ravnos, in turn, Embraced much of his family at the behest of his prophetic sister Laetshi. You have also heard that in these legends, Ennoia, the daughter of Lillith, was the lover of Ravnos, and that she later betrayed him, allowing him to be killed by jealous vampires in the hopes she would be taken back into the Second City from which she had been exiled. In this story, Kaen returns after Ravnos' destruction and curses Ennoia for her treason, condemning her to live forever like a beast to atone for her bestial actions. (CbR: 14-20)
  
  
• You have heard stories that claim that the curse of the Ravnos is rooted in their founder's desire for the things he had lost in his mortal life - which compelled him to commit all manner of mortal crimes in an attempt to compensate. You have heard some variants which claim that the Antediluvian believes that the curse will grow weaker with each mortal he shares it with, which sometimes leads to the superstition that Ravnos of younger generations commit less audacious crimes than their elders. You know that this belief is similar to one held amongst Romani-descended Ravnos, which professes that Romani blood helps to keep the curse at bay, and that this leads giorgio (non-gypsy) Embraces to deadlier sins. (CbR [Rev]: 49-50)
  
  
• You have heard that in the Karavalanisha Vrana, Zapathasura was a dead man wronged by great demonic beings known as the asuratizayya. You have heard that the Gods granted this man resurrection, immortality and the power that he might pursue the asuratizayya to the ends of the Earth. You hear that they gave him the name Zapathasura, which simply means "anathema." (CbR [Rev]: 17-18; PGttLC: 51; LS4: 24)
  
  
• You have heard the the Ravnos were connected in some way to the early pre-Vedic civilizations of the Indus Valley, and have heard that several elders claim that the city of Harrapa was a stronghold for the Clan. (CbR [Rev]: 21)
  
  
• You know that the Path of Paradox (sometimes called the Mayaparisatya) focuses on attaining understanding of the grand illusion of life. It claims that all Kindred are locked eternally outside of the cycle of life and death (samsara) and hence must realign their purpose in life, hence the focus on the fulfilment of their jati and svadharma. You know that the cosmology of this Path is tied to the Discipline of Chimestry, and that devotees claim that this power is a means of altering the maya, or the illusionary world. You also know this Path expressly forbids the embrace of women, considering them unfit actors for the will of the divine. (CbR [Rev]: 22, 57-58; LS4: 33-34)
  
  
• You know that Romani-descended Ravnos allegedly practice a bastardized version of the Path of Paradox, which espouses debauchery and general mayhem in contradiction to established law, and that Indian elders have, in recent nights, made attempt to revive the true Mayaparisatya among their Western brothers. (CbR [Rev]: 25; LS4: 37-38)
  
  
• You are familiar with the basic jati of the Indian Ravnos, which correspond closely to the actual Vedic caste system practiced in India. These castes are: The Brahmin, who are said to have great insight and powers of clairvoyance, and tend to be advisers and philosophers; The Kshatriyas, who are the warriors of the Clan and carry out the fight against the asuratizayya; The Vaisyas, who are embraced from the merchant classes and engage in most of the mortal interactions of the Clan; and the Chandalas, the lowest jati, who are not necessarily Ravnos, but rather a general grouping for Caitiff, non-Ravnos and Ravnos who have failed to adhere to their original jati. You also know of the Sudra, who are not a proper jati, but rather an Indian term for ghouls. (CbR [Rev]: 41-43; LS4: 27)
  
  
• You know that the Romani-descended Ravnos are sometimes known as the Phuri Dae to the Ravnos of India, and that they originally were said to have come from the Brahmin jati. Amongst the Romani-born Ravnos themselves, however, they perfere to refer to themselves as phralmulo and use the term Phuri Dae to refer only to those Ravnos of a parituclar Bloodline who are able to use the Discipline of Auspex (which is also uniquely manifested by the Indian Brahmin in place of Fortitude). These Western Ravnos also reportedly call their Indian brethren the Vritra. (CbR: 28, 33-24; LS4: 24-25)
  
  
• You know that before the Week of Nightmares struck, it was common for Western Ravnos to attempt to create a sort of family-structure through their childer (sometimes referred to as a kumpania amongst the phralmulo), and that this is often cited as the reason that the Romani-descended Ravnos were hit hardest by the Week of Nightmares, as they had a close number of Clanmates whom they felt a need to devour. (CbR [Rev]: 40, 44, 55)
  
  
• You know that a sizable portion of phralmulo only Embrace among Romani bloodlines, and that it was only in the nineteenth century that it became widely acceptable to Embrace giorgio. (CbR [Rev]: 30)
  
  
• You have heard of some of the major families of nomadic phralmulo in Europe. These include the Gitano of Spain, noted for their love of song and dance and their patronage by several of the regions Toreador; the Juna of England, who claim company with the Irish Travellers or tinkers; and the German Sinti, who were allegedly a large black market force before the fall of the Berlin Wall. (CbR: 27)
  
  
• You have heard that the word "Ravnos" also refers to a mortal Romani family, and know that a vast number of the pharmulo come from this lineage. You are unsure as to whether the mortal line lent it's name to the vampiric one, or the other way around. (Gypsy: 26)
  
  
• You are familiar with the pharmulo tradition of the kris, in which Romani-born Ravnos hold communal judgment over one another by gathering several kumpaniyi together and electing krisatora (judges) from both mortal and Ravnos stock to oversee their dispute. You know that in the event that guilt is pronounced in a kris, solakh (curses) are meted out on the accused. You are aware that many traditional pharmulo Ravnos believe in the weight of solakh, and fear them as punishment. (CbR: 38-39)
  
  
• You are familiar with patshiv, in which several pharmulo kumpaniyi will gather together for celebration, entertainment and trade. (CbR: 39-40)
  
  
• You are familiar with the medieval tradition of "The Treatment", in which mobs of pharmulo gang up on a Domain which has been unkind to them and attempt to spread chaos therein. (CbR [Rev]: 26, 51-52; LS4: 21)
  
  
• You know that a massive disturbance took place in Bangledesh during the Week of Nightmates, and that 1.3 million people died as a result of what was deemed by the media to have been a massive typhoon. You have heard theorists state that this "storm" was, in fact, the rising of the Ravnos Antediluvian. (ToTB: 123, 125)
  
  
• You have heard of legendary Ravnos such as: Durga Syn, an ancient Methuselah who has an ongoing feud with the Nosferatu Baba Yaga, and whose brood was one of the few notable European groups to survive the Week of Nightmares. (CbR: 28; CbR [Rev]: 99; CotI: 52-57)

Lore: Ravnos x3

• You have heard that in Noddist mythology, Dracian was set up of as one of the spies of Irad, who suspected a conspiracy amongst the Antediluvians. Dracian later turned against him and joined the other conspirators. According to this mythos, Ennoia was said to have blamed Dracian for tempting her into the war upon the Second Generation. (CbR [Rev]: 20)
  
  
• You have heard some unique Romani stories also dealing with a character called Dracian, which claim that he was, among other things, the husband of Daenna, the grandmother of all gypsies. In these stories, Dracian is always slain by an elder vampire named Amriat, leaving his widow alone to tend to her people. (Gypsy: 12-19)
  
  
• You have that, similar to the Romani legend in which Christ forgives the sins of all gypsies after one of them attempts to steal the nails for his cross, some elder pharmulo believe that Kaen forgave the Ravnos of all of their crimes for the aid they offered him when he was a wanderer. (CbR: 34)
  
  
• You know that in the Middle Ages, some people spread about the folk tale that the first Ravnos was, in fact, Judas, who had been condemned to eternal wandering and desire to sin for his crime of betraying Christ. (PGttLC: 52)
  
  
• You have at some point read a copy of the Karavalanisha Vrana. You are very cognizant of the fact that it refers to deities that did not come into existence until 4,000 years after it was alleged to be written, and that it is probably the work of a collection of Ravnos and not the writing of Zapathasura alone, as is claimed. You also are aware that the epic has no ending, and have heard rumors that the poems finale lies with Zapathasura himself. You have heard that several Vritra Ravnos hunted for it with no success. (CbR [Rev]: 24; PGttLC: 55-56)
  
  
• You are familiar with the four ages of Brahma in Vedic tradition, as they often apply to the epics of the Vritra. You know that the world's cycle is traditionally divided into the Satya Yuga (Age of Gold), which was allegedly a time of paradise and purity; the Treta Yuga (Age of Gold), in which evil first entered the world; the Dvapara Yuga (Age of Bronze), in which demons manage to corrupt mankind's protectors; and the Kali Yuga (Age of Iron) which is the fallen age in which we currently dwell. (PGttLC: 50; LS4: 24)
  
  
• You have heard according to the Karavalanisha Vrana that the Gods both blessed and cursed Zapathasura after he was resurrected. It is said that Kali, goddess of war and bloodshed, gave him a thirst for vengeance; that Varuna, God of Strength, gave him potency of his blood; that Indra, the god of storms and crops, gave him the gift of fertility, that he might make other men to fight for him; that Hanuman, the monkey king, gave him the power to speak to animals; that Devi, the core form of femininity, gave him power over the maya; and that Himuvaat, god of moutains, gave him the durability of stone. You know it is said that other gods refused to bless him, saying he was an unclean and polluted thing - being dead. These were Surya, the God of the Sun; Agni, the God of fire; and Brahma, the God of Creation - who respectively left him vulnerable to fire and sunlight, sterile and starving. (CbR [Rev]: 18; PGttLC: 51; LS4: 24)
  
  
• You have heard according to the Karavalanisha Vrana, the asuratizayya were once known as the siddhi, beings who were charged with tending to and protecting humanity. According to the epic, they eventually made bargains with the true demons, and were cast into their fallen state as punishment, which in turn helped to usher in the Dvpara Yuga. You are aware, at this point, that these myths seem to correspond with those of the Cathayans. (CbR [Rev]: 17-18; PGttLC: 50; LS4: 24)
  
  
• You have heard that the Ravnos who ruled over the city of Harrapa were involved in a prolonged and violent open conflict with asuratizayya dwelling the settlement of Mohenjo-Daro, and that some scholars suspect that early Vedic myths regarding the battles of the gods and demons are references to this war. (CbR: 21; CbR [Rev]: 20-21)
  
  
• You have heard that according to certain Vritra texts, Ennoia, like Zapathasura, was once charged with combating the asuratizayya, but was cursed by the gods for rejecting her duties after learning the price of her power. As a result of this treason, Gangrel are thought to be cursed by the Gods to live amongst beasts, and to be forever barred from fulfilling their proper destiny. You hear that some believe that it is possible for Gangrel who practice the Mayaparisatya to reclaim their lost svadharma, and that this belief is known as "The Gangrel Heresy" among adherents of the Path. (CbR [Rev]: 19-20; LS4: 28-29)
  
  
• You are familiar with the five legendary childer of Zapathasura, and know that three of the major Indian Ravnos jati are said to be descended from them. These five Methuselahs are: The Black Mother (from which the Brahmin jati descends), an old crone associated with the cult of Kali Ma; Rakashasa, a notorious deceiver, who is said to have walked freely among the asuratizayya and to have betrayed Zapathasura grievously; Chandraputra (from whom the Kshatriya jati descends), a great warrior-king who is said to have ruled over Harrapa; Ravana, of which little is known save that he allegedly made pacts with true demons; and Ramessu (from which the Vaisya jati descends), who kept company with mortals and watched for the influence of the asuratizayya upon them. (CbR [Rev]: 18-19; LS4: 25)
  
  
• You have heard legends of the gradual abandonment of Zapathasura by all of his childer save Chandraputra, and have heard this referred to as the Ravnos Diaspora. According to legends, Ramessu was the first to vanish, without seeming explanation. This was followed by Rakshasa committing his betrayal, battling Zapathasura and then fleeing in disgrace to the region of either China or Africa. After this, the Black Mother was said to have uncovered Ravana's ties to the infernal, after which he too departed. The Black Mother herself is said to have left after the attempted invasion of the region by Alexander the Great, following his armies back toward the West. You know that at this time many younger Ravnos and Ravnos-Embraced Chandalas also fled India, traveling both East and West of India as they attempted to escape the endless conflict with the asuratizayya. (CbR [Rev]: 22, 25)
  
  
• You have heard that it was Chandraputra who founded the Mayaparisatya, in an attempt to re-stabilize those Vritra who remained in India after the Diaspora. (CbR [Rev]: 22)
  
  
• You are aware that some zealous Vritra practice Sabbat-style mass Embraces in an attempt to furnish large groups of shock troops to combat the asuratizayya. (CbR [Rev]: 40)
  
  
• You have heard of the Alexandrite Ravnos, who were initially native to Egypt, and were noted as being extraordinarily formal in matters of Cainite etiquette. You know that some Ravnos from the region were said to claim Akhenaten as their progenitor, claiming that he was cursed for his hubris of abandoning all Gods save the sun by being doomed to never see daylight. (CbR [Rev]: 23-24; PGttLC: 52; LS4: 22-23)
  
  
• You have heard of the Bashirite Ravnos, a Christian doomsday cult who attempted to mix the doctrine of the bastardized Western Path of Paradox with certain interpretations of the Revelation of St. John. You know that Bashirites believed that it was their duty to bring about the coming of the scriptural apocalypse, and that they would often attack pilgrims and devout Christians, Jews and Muslims in an attempt to hasten the end times. You have also heard that its founder, Bashir of Damascus, claimed to have had personal contact with Christ and to have achieved absolution for his sins. (CbR [Rev]: 25; PGttLC: 53-54; LS4: 13)
  
  
• You have heard of the Sybarite Ravnos, who allegedly founded the false Path of Paradox practiced by so many Western Ravnos today (leading it to sometimes be referred to as the Roman Path of Paradox). You know that the Sybarites were renowned as debauched pirates, brigands and slavers, and that they were present in European history from the time of the Roman Empire onward. You have also heard that it was common Sybarite practice to steal titles and to claim association or lineage with distant nobles or Ravnos elders, which often causes the group's genealogy to be hard to trace. You have heard that the Sybarites claimed that their founder was any number of personalities, ranging from Julius Caesar to a close associate of Emperor Caligula to Romulus himself. (CbR: 41; CbR [Rev]: 24; PGttLC: 53)
  
  
• You have heard of the Phaedymite Ravnos, a small group of honor-bound Cainites from the region of Gaul who served as couriers during the Midde Ages. They were apparently named for their matriarch, Phaedyme, who was alleged to have disguised herself as a man to join Alexander the Great's expeditions. You know that the Phaedymites interactions with the Sybarites occasionally engendered violence. (CbR [Rev]: 24-25; PGttLC: 54-55; LS4: 14)
  
  
• You are aware that the term Phuri Dae, in addition to being a catch-all name that the Vritra give to the phralmulo and a specific term for a Bloodline of seers, also refers to a mortal lineage of Romani who are often associated with folk-magic and the "Sight." You can guess that the Phuri Dae Ravnos probably originally had ties to this family. (Gypsy: 26-28)
  
  
• You are aware of a handful of Ravnos known as the Kalderash who have established themselves in China and East Asia as traders, and whom apparently are able to either hide from or to coexist with the asuratizayya. (CbR: 32; CbR [Rev]: 45-46)
  
  
• You have heard of the Wuzho, fanatical Ravnos descended from the Romani bloodline known as the Tsurara (or Knife Tribe), who have vowed to eradicate all of the non-Ravnos undead from the Earth in protection of their Clan. You know that in times past, the Wuzho were given wide birth, as bloodhunts on Ravnos followed shortly after their arrival in a city. (CbR: 32, 34)
  
  
• You have heard of the saddhus, a scant few Ravnos antitribu and elder Brahmin Vritra who serve as teachers for the Mayaparisatya in it's wholly uncorrupted form. You hear that they are capable of performing great acts of blood sorcery known as Sadhana and that they are to be respected and feared. (CtB: 81)
  
  
• You have heard a legend that Zapathasura Embraced a woman once out of love, and that the restriction in Mayaparisatya regarding the Embrace of women was imposed selfishly so that none should every be the rival of Zapathasura's paramour. Another story claims that Zapathasura's sister so disgraced herself in some manner that women were no longer considered a fit sacrifice for the gods, meaning that they could not recieve the Embrace. (LS4: 26)
  
  
• You are aware that the Ravnos have been credited with embracing such historical figures as Mata Hari (although this is disputed by the Assamites). (CbR [Rev]: 99-100)
  
  
• You are aware that Durga Syn was originally offered the Embrace several time by Baba Yaga, and that her continued refusal to accept drove the Hag to curse her body - leaving her an ugly withered crone. (CbR [Rev]: 99)
  
  
• You have heard that many Ravnos who survived the Week of Nightmares claimed to have had visions of a dragon, a tiger and/or a bird and of a ten-headed creature devouring its own heads (which is consistent with the classical Indian depiction of Ravana the Demon King, a figure not-necessary related to the Methusaleh, in spite of his shared name). You have heard that other Cainites with powers of foresight and even mortals with reported oracular ability echoed these vision. (ToTB: 126)
  
  
• You have heard of legendary Ravnos such as: Ettiene de Fauberge, the former Prince of Acre; Harasvarupa Nishiitharudhira Amavarati, a Vritra elder who is spear-heading conversion to the Mayaparisatya in Europe; Marcia Felica Licina, a noted historian of the Clan, and childe of Phaedyme who compiled several important journals regarding Ravnos history; Alexis Sorkorin, an infamous thief and burgler who has mae the Camarilla's Red List; and Ivan Krenyenko, a notorious black market operator who is simultaneously hunted by the Sabbat, Camarilla, Society of Leopold and the KGB due to his exploits. (CbR: 65, CtB: 80; KmW: 57-61; LS4: 11, 18)

Lore: Ravnos x4

• You are aware of some of the Indian myths regarding Cainites that are told outside of the Ravnos, such as claims that the death god Yama cursed his sons for displeasing them, telling them that they might never come to his kingdom, and that these children became the pitis (or forefathers) of Indian Cainites. Another describes demonic princes, who managed to rise again after the gods killed them, because they had stolen the Nectar of Immortality. In general, many of the non-Ravnos myths seem to characterize vampires as demons or fallen Gods - a close observer might try to draw some sort of connection between these myths and those regarding the asuratizayya. (BS: 55)
  
  
• You have heard a Romani story in which Dracian sought to overcome his curse by crafting a beautiful tree - whose fruit was said to be able to forever slake a Cainite's thirst for blood. In these legends, it is Daenna who eventually eats of the fruit after Dracian's destruction by Amriat. This gift eventually allows her children, the gypsies, to inherit her magic. In these legends, she is also said to have taken a stone covered in Dracian's blood and to have used it to Embrace a young man named Ravnos, by placing it in his mouth as she stabbed him in the heart. This, of course, forms yet another apocrypha as to how the Clan Antediluvian came to be, and it seems to merge the stories of Dracian and Ravnos together. (Gypsy: 14-19, 89-90)
  
  
• You have heard some scant few phralmulo stories which mention the figure of Punjika, who was said to be the uncle of Ravnos, and some traditional Romani stories which mention the figure of Sarrath, who was said to be the brother-in-law of Dracian. You have heard claims that such characters are often said to have numbered among the first werewolves, although there is little to substantiate this. You also know that these two figures might, in fact, be the same person if you believe the legends stating that Ravnos was Dracian's "son." (CbR: 14-20; Gypsy: 16-18, 89-90)
  
  
• You have heard the assertion made that Rakshasa was not in fact Embraced by Zapathasura, and was merely a ghoul of the Antediluvian, and that it was because of this that he was able to infiltrate the asuratizayya. You have further heard that because of this, many acts attribute to Rakshasa are in actuality better tied to Ramessu. (CbR [Rev]: 18, 23)
  
  
• You have heard that some records indicate that Ramessu eventually relocated to Egypt, where he created the brood that would later be known as the Alexanderites, and apparently endured numerous conflicts with Setites over territory. You hear that he eventually came to fancy himself as a Pharonic God, and that his followers largely abandoned any of their Vedic roots. (CbR: 21; CbR [Rev]: 23; PGttLC: 52; LS4: 22-24)
  
  
• You have heard that the Black Mother who was the progenitor of the Sybarites, and that at some point Chandraputra made an attempt via emissaries into the Roman Empire to win them back to the Vritra cause - only to have his own servitors become corrupted by the decadent Sybarite teachings. (CbR [Rev]: 24)
  
  
• You have heard that Ravana's trafficking with the infernal allowed him to seduce a large number of Cainites and asuratizayya into his following, and that he eventually sought to tempt Zapathasura with his power. According to legend, Zapathasura is said to have grown violent at such and offer, and after attempting to strike Ravana, found that there was nobody in front of him, and thereafter was taken by the grip of his first long torpor. (CbR [Rev]: 23)
  
  
• You are aware that there is little hard archeological evidence to support the theory that Harrapa and Mohenjo-Daro were at war, and that many scholars believe that even in antiquity, the supernaturals who might have inhabited these cities could not have risked open warfare, and must rather have conducted their conflicts via ghouls and mortal followers. (CbR: 21; CbR [Rev]: 21)
  
  
• You have are aware that there was a schism among the Bashirites that led to their echscatalogical fanaticism, and that Bashir is said to have initially preached non-intervention with regards to the end times. It was apparently his childe Varsik who gave the call to "force God's hand" by plunging the world into chaos. You are aware that there existed a small splinter Sect amongst the group known as the "Lambs of Bashir" who claimed to preserve their founder's original teachings. (PGttLC: 53-54; LS4: 13)
  
  
• You have heard of the Yoryari, a small splinter group of the Sybarites who are said to have founded a number of now forgotten philosophical variants on the false Path of Paradox, namely a belief that the primordial energy of change (weig) is held in all things, and that it needs to be released in order to transform reality. There are many who claim that this Path of Paradox is a comparatively less bastardized version of the Mayaparisatya as was handed down to the Yoyari by Romani-associated Chandalas coming out of India. (CbR: 41; CbR [Rev]: 27; PGttLC: 53-54; LS4: 14-15)
  
  
• You have heard of the Urmen, a rare bloodline of Ravnos who claim to have trafficked with the Fae, in order that they might drink their blood. You have heard rumors to the effect that the power of Chimestry is used by the Urmen to subdue such creatures, who are said to always act as though chimera cast upon them are real, and you also know that the Urmen have a mortal Romani bloodline which shares their name and some of their beliefs with them, much like the Phuri Dae. (CbR: 33; Gypsy: 26-28)
  
  
• You know that the Tsurara, the group from which the Wuzho claim their lineage is, in fact, a Romani collective formed in the 1940s. In its mortal incarnation, the Tsurara vehemently hate all phralmulo and work towards their destruction, feeling that by accepting the Embrace, they have disgraced their Romani blood. (Gypsy: 101-102)
  
  
• You are aware that while Ravnos seldom get involved in other Clans politics, they were often active assistants in the Tremere genocide of the Salubri, as many Ravnos on the Western Path of Paradox believed that the frequent push by the Salubri to look toward Golconda was blasphemously antithetical to the svadharma of Cainites. (LS4: 30, 44-45)
  
  
• You are aware that the Ravnos were amongst the hardest-hit Clans of World War II, due to the Nazi Holocaust and its targeting of gypsies amongst the unfit. You know that some Ravnos claim that Germany was being deliberately manipulated by Ventrue or Tremere forces at the time who wished to deliberately wipe out the Clan - but that these assertions are universally dismissed both within and outside of the Clan as being nothing more than conspiracy theories. (CbR: 24-26; CbR [Rev]: 33)
  
  
• You have hear that the Bhopal Disaster of 1984, which exposed more than 500,000 people to toxic methyl isocyanate gas, was caused by militant Kshatriyas attempting to engage in mass-Embrace tactics against groups of asuratizayya. (CbR [Rev]: 34)
  
  
• You have heard of Ravnos Neve, Cainites that appear to have been native to North America at the time when Europeans first arrived and to have possessed powers similar to the Ravnos of Europe and India. You know that these native Ravnos often associated themselves with native groups who identified with totemic trickster creatures, such as Raven or Coyote. (CbR: 23-24)
  
  
• You've heard of some of the fairly obscure Ravnos of note, such as: Callirus, an infamous Spanish con-artist who earned his Embrace after successfully posing as a Kindred for a full year; Karmenita Yoyari, the founder of the Yoyari line; Papa Legba, a voodoun practitioner who takes on the name and mannerisms of a famous trickster loa; and Spirit Creek, a small Ravnos-led coterie of underground musicians who are noted as runners and informants for a wide variety of patrons (CbR [Rev]: 16-17, 31, 47; 100; CotN: 84-85; PGttLC: 56;)

Lore: Ravnos x5

• You have heard that according to a mix of Yoyari and Romani legends, Laetshi was the first to teach Ravnos the art of Chimestry rather than Kaen, but that she taught him a true, pure form of the Discipline which allowed him to change the world in a direct and palpable manner. It is said by adherents of the false Path of Paradox, that Ravnos later lost this power, owing to the fact that the other Antediluvians hoarded the weig of the world for themselves, making it impossible to change. (CbR: 41)
  
  
• You have heard that the true ending of the Karavalanisha Vrana was said in antiquity to contain a secret so dire, that were it revealed, all of the Ravnos Clan would turn upon one another in frenzy and despair. You see how this could be seen as prophetic, given the aftermath of the Week of Nightmares. (LS4: 25)
  
  
• You have heard that Ramessu grew deranged over the centuries and that, in denial of the passing of Dynastic Egypt, he set up for himself an illusionary Pharaonic court, which lasted well into the Renaissance and which some speculate might still exist today. (CbR [Rev]: 23)
  
  
• You are aware that Prince Ettiene de Fauberge of Acre was brought to power by his sire Varsik, the childe of Bashir, and that he was charged by his sire with finding the True Cross in exchange for his climb to prominence. You know that this mission was apparently central to the Bashirite mission to harbor the apocalypse. (LS: 19)
  
  
• You have heard that Baba Yaga has perished, and that it is rumored that the curses she laid on Durga Syn may at long last have been lifted. (CbR [Rev]: 99)
  
  
• You know that whatever woke up in Bagledesh was fought by three of the most powerful asuratizayya (represented by a Tiger, a Dragon and a Crane in the visions of those affected by the Week of Nightmares), and that mortal magicians also interfered with affairs in some capacity. You are fairly certain that the Ravnos Antediluvian is dead. (ToTB: 125-126)

IZYDOR, King of Thieves
(Buda-Pest, Hungary)

Learning thievery and swindling at an early age, Izydor became one of his family's chief providers by the age of 10. Always on the move and persecuted by the settled folk among whom his family passed, Izydor also managed to pick up useful fighting techniques. Throughout his youth, Izydor heard tales of his uncle, a great hero who could bamboozle the most careful miser into surrendering his money, talk a lady right out of her clothing, dance to a lively tune and steal six horses - all at the same time. Izydor swore that someday he would rival his uncle in the wonderful things he could do.

When he was 15, Izydor joined with other children from his extended family clan, forming a kumpania (group of traveling companions). As they traveled, the companions learned to complement one another's skills. If one of them thought of a clever ruse to pull on a fat-pursed merchant, the others would fall in with the scheme, playing their parts to perfection. One such scheme involved stealing a nobleman's ring to give to a merchant's daughter so she might claim her illegitimate child was his. The scheme was ruined by the intervention of another group of kumpania. One of Izydor's companions was caught in the act and executed. Izydor swore vengeance on the other kumpania's leader, Vassily.

This was not a difficult thing to swear. A feud had existed between the two families for generations, though few could remember why. Because the younger members kept up the feud, pouring oil on the fire each generatoin, the feud refused to die. Now Izydor swore to uphold his family's honor and see Vassily paid back tenfold.

Izydor and his remaining companions came to Byzantium just days before Vassily and his kumpania arrived. Quickly discovering who held power in the city, Izydor approached the commander of the city's guard and told him of his enemy's imminent arrival. Describing Vassily and his kumpania as a group of thieves and assassins sent to spread chaos throughout Constantinople, Izydor convinced the commander to trump up charges against them before they could actually cause harm to anyone in the city. (The jeweled ring Izydor presented to the commander might have swayed his judgment as well.)

Having provided for his rival's downfall, Izydor's band prepared to depart Constantinople, intending to head toward Kiev (which they didn't know had fallen). Before they could leave, however, Izydor was confronted by his uncle, the famous Irendo. His uncle congratulated Izydor on his cleverness and asked if he would like to enjoy an eternity in which to perfect his skills. With Izydor's heartfelt agreement (although he halfway expected some sort of trick), Irendo embraced him. Watching from the shadows, Izydor saw Vassily's entry into Constantinople - and the swift "justice" that fell on his rival's companions.

Released from his uncle's tutoring and laughing at his own cleverness, Izydor led his group from Constantinople. He would not learn for several years that Vassily did not die, but was embraced into the Ravnos clan.

Izydor has now traveled throughout much of Eastern Europe with his kumpania. Wherever the group stops, its members ply their trades as tinsmiths, horse traders and fortunetellers. Izydor himself is a master thief who specializes in robbing folk while their attention is distracted by one of his kumpania. Izydor and his famiy are rarities, and certainly remarkable in the area. They act as scouts for those who will one day be known as Romani or Gypsies, moving in advance of their migrating people and evaluating different areas for this suitability as new homelands.

Though Izydor considers Vassily to have been paid back, he hates his rival fiercely still. He sneers at Vassily's attempts to prop up princes and considers him a traitor to his own people. For now, Izydor is content to move about Buda-Pest, committing robberies and keeping an eye on his old rival.

Izydor is small and slender, wiht flashing dark eyes, white teeth, dark skin and shoulder-length curly black hair which he wears beneath a dark silk hat. Unlike many Gypsies, he wears relatively drab clothing, seeking to avoid undue attention.

VASSILY, Diplomatic Advisor and Spymaster
(Buda-Pest, Hungary)

In the 12th century, most Rom were content to live in Asia Minor. Though they had wandered far from their homelands, their curse had not yet driven them to the tumultuous land of Europe. Only a few families were so consumed by wanderlust that they yearned to see the fabled spires of Byzantium. Vassily's was one such Gypsy family. In 1172, his kumpania arrived at the gates of Constantinople.

Vassily was an outsider to Byzantine society, mistrusted and reviled. His kind were not welcome in the city, and soon the authorities found pretexts to imprison members of his family. The young man sought allies who would assist him in liberating his kin. He found them. The Ravnos of the West eagerly awaited the day when their mortal children would be able to roam throughout Europe. To free his kumpania, Vassily drank the vitae of a Ravnos elder and swore his loyalty.

Although half his kumpania was killed by mortal "justice," the remainder were liberated by Cainites. They turned back toward their homelands, but Vassily's curiosity ran unabated. Succumbing to the embrace, he began a journey to seek his fortune. Unlike his elders, however, he chose a different route. Instead of the road of Paradox, he chose the Road of Humanity.

Vassily learned to play the game of politics, ensuring his survival by telling just the right lies to both sides in any struggle. He soon served as advisor to several Ventrue rulers of the Western Balkans, all the while sending information to his clanmates in the East. His glib tongue assisted him in negotiating peace between the rampaging Gangrel, the proud Brujah and the elitist Ventrue. By 1180, he hovered around the undead court of Bulgaria. By 1190, he took up residence near the court of the Hungarian king.

There was a method to Vassily's designs. by gathering information about the West, he anticipates the day when his people will spread across the Balkans. Through diplomacy, he has earned a place of respect as an expert negotiator. Moreoever, he has slowly developed a network of spies and informers. Through his occult discipline and his cunning, he finds ingenious methods of motivating them.

It is only a matter of time until he betrays his Ventrue masters or is in turn betwayed. In the year 1197, he is trying to make peace between East and West, and his latest goal is to end hostilities between the Ventrue and Tzimisce. He is gathering a coterie to travel across the Voivodate of Transylvania, in hopes of opening negotiations with Radu, the Prince of the Domain of Bistritz; Noriz, the tyrannical overlord of Moldavia; and Yorak, the godlike Tzimisce Ancient.

Vassily feels that he can speak for the Gypsies as a whole but his idealism is not always shared by others. In fact, his willingness to speak with princes and other vampire lords has gained him mistrust among many of his own kind. Delizbieta of the Dark Eyes, companion to the Ravnos Izydor, is one such enemy. Delizbieta and Izydor reside in the city of Buda-Pest, where Delizbieta works as a fortuneteller, and would much rather exploit the weaknesses of the city's rulers than attempt to strengthen them. This is further complicated by a rivalry between their two families. Both Delizieta and Izydor consider Vassily a traitor of the worst kind. The mortal members of their respective kumpaniyi scheme against each other incessantly.

In fact, Vassily's motivations are far from altruistic. The fact that his position as an advisor to princes brings him personal wealth and privilege amuses him greatly. He is rewarded well for what he does, and he considers this his just reward for what he has done for others. Despite this, Vassily is still idealistic enough to believe that there is a place for the Rom in the Kingdom of Hungary. His news to the Ravnos of Byzantium is encouraging, and perhaps within a few centuries, they may be able to enjoy - or suffer - the results of Vassily's negotiations, depending on how well he succeeds.

Vassily is a staunch individualist who refuses to abandon his Gypsy heritage. This makes him a complete outsider in Western society. His clothes are always gaudy, but he does not openly display wealth. His words are always carefully chosen, but there is laughter in his eyes.

Gregory, The Wonder Maker
9th Gen

In 623, Gregory Lakeritos was among the Akoimetai monks sent to Alexandria to duplicate important records from the Great Library of Alexandria. A believer in the Tzimisce quest for enlightenment beyond the physical plane, he was attracted to the most esoteric and mystic of tomes. Gregory unearthed from among the countless books a manuscript called The Book of the Fifth Essence, which he discovered to be a Greek translation - by Artistotle the mage no less-- of an even more ancient Trojan text by Archmage Aretus. The alchemical work postulated the existence of a dynamic natural element known as "ether" and the possibility of using it to shape the world and create unimaginable wonders (the precursor that created the Techocracy and the Sons of Ether traditions). His mind became filled with the possibilities of a new facet of natural science and the marvels it could create.

Wandering the night streets, clutching his copy of the text, Gregory attracted a troupe of Alexandrine Ravnos and was Embraced. Gregory spent several years with the Ravnos caravan as it slowly traveled about the empire. When the troupe arrived at the gates of Constantinople, Gregory realized that the city was still his home. The wanderlust of most Ravnos was not his--his journey would continue in his mind.

The Tzimisce, however, were less than pleased with their ghoul's disappearance, and the Dracon himself felt that Gregory had abandoned his true path. he was going to be ejected from the city until he astounded them with a simple creation. A presented them with a small mechanical bird that he had created with Aretus' text, through extrapolating the science and magic from the text. The Ventrue Caius saw it as a work of art that would please Michael, and convinced Antonious to affor Gregory an audience with the Patriarch. In this meeting, he gained a faithful new friend in Michael, protection from the clans Toreador, Venture, and Tzimisce, and regained his faith from The Dracon for further work he presented.

For centuries there after, he has spent what time he could in the Great Library of Alexandria and of the Lost in Constantinople creating masterpieces of alchemy, tomes with copies for himself and the Tzimisce, and writing his own works further expressing his intellect and beliefs for all time. From his hands, many new wonders were crafted and welcomed by Michael in Hagia Sophia. A room has been dedicated to his wonders and that of others.

Currently, he has been receiving letters and requests without a name placed upon them requesting a series of intricate potions and crystal devices made from the mixtures. Unknown to him, these are the words from Achmet of the Salubri. He also is training a protege called Zoe. She is only a child, not a ghoul or vampire. However, she has terrible plans for the simple man, as her avatar nears awakening. She poses an extreme danger to him, although he never sees it.

Appearance: Gregory wears long robes of red and gold and adorns himself in intricate marking of his knowledge. He wears a set of heavy brooches and rings that are actually magically enhanced crafts he created from the tome. This is all to hide the twisted body the Tzimisce left him with during his time as a ghoul.

His Wonders: He has long since honed his craft to create tiny mechanical beasts, to the point they seem made of only flowing metal. His birds are still his favorite, which take messages and spy on others for his amusement. Those that spend time with his wonders cannot help but feel uplifted.

The Crone, Moldava
7th Gen

Ancient and wizened humans tend to be the ripe age of thirty, but rare indeed are those that live to see their hair turn white and bodies curl smaller and smaller until childlike. But it seemed the woman Moldava was cursed and would not die. Year after year past her 50th, she begged to die, to lie among the earth and let the world take her bones. She had raised so many children, her children's children, and lived to see them all grow and die. Such a painful burden, but one she would not shirk for the blade. If the world meant her to live, she would.

Among the Carpathians she traveled with her tiny family, meeting others, and settling disputes. The older, the wiser, and she was wiser than most men. Even the blooded Ravnos would sit by her fires and whisper their deep concerns and dreams to her. And she would collect them, holding their secrets and providing insights. Through out her journeys, she has danced naked with the fae folk, tasted blood from lovers, blessed children, cursed men, traded information with crows and wolves, and bandied tales from ghosts.

So it was late in her life, finally upon her death bed, shriveled and happy to walk the world with her husband's ghost, that the Ravnos brought dire news. A terrible curse would fall upon the clan and people she loved, a nightmare that would lead to brothers consuming each other. When this would come, they knew not. But they needed her as surely she needed them.She had a choice, but how could she say no?

That night, she was embraced and cried blood tears. Life was not done with her. Yet over the ages, she has delved deeply into the power of chimestry to regain her youth. She enjoys her revels and continues to speak to those powers in the world, fae, garou, and kindred alike. In the lands of Romania, she is well known and welcomed. In others, she is chased out and spit upon. If she walks ever into Constantinople, she will be arrested for many slights committed there heisting free a few families from the court. But family...is family.