UnMasqued - Nosferatu Lore

This Lore represents knowledge of the social structure, traditions and myths of Clan Nosferatu. It also represents how well a character might be able to recognize the names of famous Nosferatu and know the trends of the Clan within given regions.

Generally Possessed By: Nosferatu, Nosferatu antitribu

Potential Specializations: Nictuku Lore, Nosferatu History, Nosferatu Physiology, Nosferatu Psychology

Sources Consulted for this List: Clanbook: Nosferatu (2nd Ed), Clanbook: Nosferatu (Rev. Ed), Libellus Sanguinis IV: Theives in the Night, Player's Guide to the Low Clans (Rev. Ed)

Lore: Nosferatu x1

You know that the primary Nosferatu Disciplines are Animalism, Potence, and Obfuscate. (VtM [Rev]: 75)
You know that all Nosferatu are rendered hideously deformed and ugly by their Embrace (VtM [Rev]: 75)
You have heard of the Nosferatu progenitor, called either Absimilliard or simply Nosferatu. You know that the legends regarding him often mention that he was a great hunter.
You know that Nosferatu tend to eschew the company of other Kindred, and that they are renowned for their ability to accumulate information.
You know that Nosferatu tend to dwell in the sewers in large defended regions known as warrens, and that they maintain vast subterranean holdings that few Kindred ever see or interact with.
You know that Nosferatu blood carries some of the Clan curse with it, and those men or animals who drink it habitually will become slightly ugly or deformed as a result.
You have heard that, all things considered, the Nosferatu have a fairly egalitarian and close knit society and that the Clan Elders do not hold terrible sway over their childer.
You know what a spawning pool is, and have heard of some of the horrors it can create (albino alligators being among the most popular).
You have heard tales that all Nosferatu live in fear of something called the Nictuku, which wishes to hunt them down and destroy them.

Lore: Nosferatu x2

You have heard that Absimilliard was Embraced by Zillah the Beautiful (one of the Second Generation) after he attempted to track her to her lair and destroy her, and that later he was cursed by Caine with his hideousness for trying to kill her again. You have also heard that Absimilliard created for himself a great brood of bound childer who were all loyal to him. One night he is said to have raped a travelling woman and then Embraced her. It is from the former brood that the mysterious Nictuku descend, and from this one woman (often called "The Matriarch") that all other Nosferatu descend.
You know that Nosferatu warrens are often elaborately booby-trapped, and you are aware that the general layout general includes an Antechamber through which visitor must navigate to gain an audience and a "Chamber of Horrors" which is generally the most defensible part of the structure.
You know that the Nosferatu had a large presence in Rome and that they helped to orchestrate and maintain the Cloaca Maxima there.
You know that a large number of Nosferatu consider themselves Autarkis, claiming allegiance to no Sect.
You have heard of Schrek-NET.
You know the basic social classifications generally given to Nosferatu. These include: Bestials, who are obsessed with Animalism and tend to develop massive animal ghoul hoards; Cleopatras, who were beautiful and vain as mortals and have been Embraced as a punishment; Fagins, who tend to head crime rings and use blood cults to network; Leatherfaces, who have degenerated into maddening serial killers; Loremasters, who study and trade Lore and knowledge; Martyr, who see their curse as a divine punishment and strive to retain their Humanity; and Skins, who are obsessed with Obfuscate and who try to blend in with human society.
You know what a Brood is and how it differs from a Coterie. You also know that a gathering of Nosferatu is generally referred to as a Hosting.
You know some of the traditional games that Nosferatu brood play, such as round-robin (a large circular gossip session in which all present attempt to tell the story of the city's current events), and the aranta-shadur, or scavenger hunt, in which Nosferatu are given a list of items in the city to be obtained through theft and subterfuge by the end of the night.
You know that the Nictuku are said to be the eldest of the Nosferatu, who for some reason irrationally hate the entire Clan.
You know that Cock Robin is the current Nosferatu Justicar of the Camarilla.
You have at least heard, in passing, of legendary Nosferatu such as Baba Yaga, the infamous Russian witch hag.

Lore: Nosferatu x3

You have heard that, after he attempted to kill Zillah, Absimilliard and all his childer were blighted by Caine himself, and that it was the Antediluvian himself who ordered the Niktuku to hunt down the Matriarch's childer, in the hopes that their death my be offered up to Caine in penitence. You know that Absimilliard himself and all of the Nictuku are said to believe that the curse upon them may be lifted with the death of the rest of the Clan.
You have heard a story of how Absimilliard apparently was the lover of Arikel (the Toreador Antediluvian), although few of the Clan will affirm this, and it is mostly spoken by the Toreador.
You have heard that the Nosferatu apparently had large populations in Eygpt and Africa at one point in time, and that these Kindred supposedly dwelt for the most part above ground, unlike their European counterparts. You know that Kindred explorers were also befuddled to find native Nosferatu already on the American continents during the Age of Exploration.
You've heard of the War of Omens, and you know that the Nosferatu at the time allied themselves with Clan Tzimisce against the nascent Tremere.
You are familiar with some of the basic classes of Nosferatu deformity, and are aware that the appearance of a Nosferatu can occassionally be traced to old regional communities. You know that the Parisii (Parisian Nosferatu) tend to have nearly translucent skin revealing their veins beneath and that the Lazarenes (from the region of Istanbul and in small pockets of Europe) have deformities consistent with very late stage leprosy. You have heard that there were formerly some other "breeds" of Nosferatu, whose deformities had vastly different appearances than those common today - although nobody has heard recent tell of them. (LS4: 59-61, 78)
You have know a great deal about the history and basic functioning of Shreck-NET and know that it's central hub is in New York City.
You have heard that some Nosferatu become too deformed to physically function after the Embrace, and you have heard tales of Sires who keep their miserable childer alive in this state, feeding them vitae although they lack mobility or sentience.
You have heard that some Nosferatu choose to prey exclusively on Children, and that these are referred to as "Boogeymen" and generally reviled by the rest of the Clan.
You have heard the cosmological mythology perpetuated by some neonates, that the surface world is, in fact, the manifest hell, and that all people who walk upon it are cleverly disguised. The Nosferatu, they claim, by shedding their disguise, may now burrow downward in search of paradise.
You that some Nosferatu often accrue many strange hobbies in their isolation, and you have heard of such eclectic pastimes as bizarre guttural singing, Potence-crafted sculpture and fungal gardening.
You have heard that the Nosferatu formerly held a roughly codified set of ethics of hospitality throughout Europe, but that these practices are generally only adhered to by elders of the Clan. (LS4: 56)
You have heard that Rasputin was a Nosferatu, although this is disputed by other Clans.
You are aware that the Nosferatu have been credited with embracing such historical figures as: Yima, the great king of Zoroastrian scripture (LS4: 52)
You have at least heard, in passing, of famous Nosferatu such as: Calebros, the former wartime Prince of New York; Khalid, the former Nosferatu Primogen of Chicago; Petradon, the former Nosferatu Justicar of the Camarilla, whose assassination in 1997 still remains a mystery <; and Zelios,a famous architect and geomancer who is said to be responsible for everything from the Tzimisce citadels of the old world to the Tremere chantry of Ceoris. (LS4: 57)

Lore: Nosferatu x4

You have heard variants on the story of Absimmiliard that claim that "the Matriarch" was but one of three childer responsible for the current Nosferatu bloodlines, and that the other two were a figure known only as the "Old Crone", and some third childe yet unnamed. You know that rumors of these other two figures circulated in the middle ages, and that there were vague connections made to the motiff of the Maiden, Mother and Crone. (LS4: 51)
You know that the Tremere at some point performed experimentations upon Nosferatu to produce the Gargoyle bloodline, and that the Nosferatu were allied with the Tzimisce in the War of Omens.
You have heard of the Larvae, a lost tribe of Nosferatu adapted to the volcanic mountain area in the Rhodosi region of Greece who could burrow through soft rock and fed on their victims through strange serated proboscisis. You have also heard of the Volsi, a nearly entirely aquatic group native to the area of the Rhine and reportedly of a huge and grotesque size. (LS4: 59-61)
You've heard that antitribu in New York have taken to the bizarre practice of cultivating gardens of hallucinogenic fungus, leaving mortal vessels in them until they collapse in a psychotic frenzy and then violently partaking of their blood.
You've heard that the Nosferatu are in the possession of the only poisons capable of killing Kindred.
You have heard that Baba Yaga apparently diablerized the block of Brujah attempting manipulate the Soviet Union (You also know that she has recently been reported as being destroyed).
You have heard of some of the Nictuku by name, and have heard some legends pertaining to them.
You have heard rumors that the Nosferatu attempted to stir up Cold War paranoia back in the 1950s in the hopes of gaining more territory through underground bomb shelters.
You have heard of the ancient institution known as the Warrener's Guild, which was founded by Zelios as an architectural school for the Clan.
You know several of the more archaic traditions of the Nosferatu. You have heard that it once was held as common etiquette that any Nosferatu must give shelter to a clanmate for three nights without payment; that broods of Portugese Nosferatu would adopt orphaned neonates by "re-Embracing" them - draining them and collectively feeding the foundling their blood; that brood alliances in Northern Europe were once cemented by exchanging two broodmates as hostages; and that in a few remote areas. (LS4: 56)
You have heard tales of the great Yima, who supposedly was somehow favored amongst the Methusalehs of the Clan by Caine, and who retreated under the earth before the great Flood, having had visions of the great deluge. You have heard rumors that he hence escaped Caine's curse, and that during the Dark Ages he and his abode were quested after as a sort of Nosferatu ideal. (LS4: 52)
You've heard of some of the fairly obscure Nosferatu of note, such as: Gerald "Uncle Smelly" Rafkin, the original creator of SchrekNET; and Sergei Voshkov, the infamous KGB spy who was apparently taken into the service of Baba Yaga.

Lore: Nosferatu x5

You have heard that some of the Fourth Generation (aside from the Matriarch) did not succumb to the blood bond, and that Baba Yaga was rumored to be one of these.
You know all of the Nictuku by name (Abraxes, Lord of Mists, Nuckalavee the Skinless, Gorgo, She Who Screams in Darkness, Echnida the Mother of Foulness) and have heard multiple first hand accounts from those who have survived their attack. You know enough to be pretty damn scared...
You know that Larvae were one of the precurssors to the Gargoyle experiments (LS4: 59-61)
You know the truth about the Bat Boy!

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