Cappadocian

The Cappadocians, the "Clan of Death", were one of the original thirteen vampire clans. Detached scholars obsessed with the mysteries of death and the soul, they are now (theoretically) extinct, having been systematically eliminated through a coup de famille conducted by Augustus Giovanni. Unfortunately for the Giovanni, they may have underestimated what it takes to kill a clan of experts on death.

Clan Weakness: all Cappadocians have a corpse-like complexion, resembling death. Difficulties of non-combat social situations for Cappadocians are increased by one.

Disciplines: Fortitude, Auspex, Necromancy: The Mortis Path

Early History
Unique among the Antediluvians, Cappadocius viewed the Embrace as a unique opportunity to examine the condition of death and unlife. Throughout the early history of the Damned, he studied alone. Of all the Antediluvians, Cappadocius appears the least interested in politics or power; even Saulot sired childer and fought in wars. Cappadocius saw no need to do so until he realized he would never find his answers alone, long after the flood, even after the demise of the Second City. Even then, he began with one childe, Caias Koine and with Caias he began to study mortal civilizations in order to understand death.

Cappadocian history begins with three events: the Embrace of Caias, which creates the clan proper; the first visions of Cappadocius, which would guide the future of the clan (even towards its extinction); and an encounter outside of Jerusalem. There, Cappadocius encountered a lone traveler who introduced him to the nameless God, who would become the goal of all of Cappadocius' projects.

The first of these projects was the construction of Erciyes, the vast temple-complex at the mountain of the same name. This site became the Cappadocian headquarters, containing a monastery and the home of the Antediluvian and his oldest childer. Erciyes became the heart and research center of the clan, with the majority of the clan returning regularly to trade discoveries and set clan policy. Cappadocius had a goal, and unlike some more anarchic clans, the entirety of clan Cappadocian was dedicated to this goal of meeting, and then diablerizing, God. Cappadocius, a priest in life, was the only Antediluvian to adopt a human religion - following Christianity in his own fashion.

Dark Ages
Cappadocius, a vampire of the "I wake up and read for the next 300 years" variety, ruled his clan with a protective but a relatively loose hand. He was a visionary, not a manager, and the clan was largely controlled by his favored Childer: Japheth Cappadocius, Caias Koine and Lazarus. These three had childer of their own in positions of power (most notably Constancia, Troglodytia, and Lamia, the founder of the bloodline of the same name). After those, the ones Cappadocius would regularly see, the clan spread far. So far that they populated two cities of their own: Kaymakli and Derinkuyu. Cappadocius was not aware that his clan was, in fact, the largest of all vampiric clans until the mortals of Derinkuyu told him. Remorseful at this, Cappadocius prepared a massive purge of his own clan.

He called another meeting of the clan at Kaymakli, with Japheth and Caias in attendance. Leading the members of the clan deeper into the cave complex underneath the city, he asked his descendants a sequence of questions to measure their worth to society. The ones who answered incorrectly (on the surface, at least) were dismissed and abandoned in the tunnels, while the remainder continued along with Cappadocius. In the end, Cappadocius sealed thousands of vampires in the caves with the curse of an Antediluvian: "Let no childe of Caine ever leave through this passage; let no son of Seth ever enter". There, bound by their Clan Founder's ward, the rejected childer starved, frenzied, fed, and fell to torpor.

The Feast of Folly led to another reduction of the clan: Lazarus had not attended the gathering, along with his childer he remained in Egypt. At this time, Egypt was close to forbidden for the clan, as the Followers of Set would make short work of invaders to their territory. By dint of power and darker measures, Lazarus ensured his safety there, but he and his infitiores were severed from the clan, hiding their identity as Cappadocians for their own projects.

Following the Feast of Folly, the founder sought further assistance for the clan in unraveling death's mysteries. Selecting a family of Venetian necromancers, the Giovanni, Cappadocius brought their patriarch into the undead, seeking to complement the Cappadocian mastery of death with insights into existence after it.

Embracing Augustus would become the undoing of the clan, however. Augustus Giovanni had his own motives for the embrace, and eventually betrayed his clan, diablerizing the Antediluvian and remaking it in his own image in 1444. The only survivors of the clan were small offshoots: Lazarus' infitiores, the Premascine Giovanni under the canals of Venice.

Victorian Age
Until the 19th century, the clan was exterminated by the Giovanni, who extracted a promise of non-interference from the Camarilla. As the Cappadocians fell, various offshoots of the clan mutated in fashions that had already begun before Cappadocius' death. Some of the infitiores decayed physically, becoming mobile rotting corpses.

Meanwhile, other Cappadocians were active beyond the Shroud, waiting...

Final Nights
The Sixth Great Maelstrom gave many dead creatures a chance to escape the Underworld. None were more prepared for this than a cabal of 50 ancient, powerful and very angry Cappadocians who broke through the Shroud, claiming or forming new decayed bodies and seeking vengeance. These Harbingers of Skulls are nominally allied with the Sabbat, but it would be more appropriate to say that they are the enemies of a Camarilla which sold them out. Also, within the Giovanni, two legacies of Clan Cappadocian exist, the Premascines and rare cases called "avatisms of the blood." Premascines are old Cappadocians, members of the Giovanni family who live under Venice's canals. The second are rare members of the family who upon Embrace take on the weakness of Cappadocians (a corpse-like pallor) and lack the Curse of Lamia.

Clan Variants
Cappadocians are responsible for several variants and bloodlines, one of which became a proper clan:

Giovanni
This was originally a bloodline created when Cappadocius embraced Augustus Giovanni, inducting his mortal family of necromancers into the clan. Some of these Giovanni showed the signs of the modern clan flaw even before Augustus's betrayal.

Lamia
The Lamia bloodline was created when an elder vampire embraced a worshiper of the Dark Mother, Lamia. They had Potence instead of Auspex, and focused on the Necromancy Mortis Path. They served the clan as bodyguards until Lamia herself was then diablerized.

Samedi
The Samedi bloodline is mostly what remains of the infitiores who did not attend the Feast of Folly. Their Disciplines have changed, with their previous natural knowledge of Necromancy having transformed into the Discipline of Thanatosis.

Harbingers of Skulls
The current remnants of the clan proper are now known as the Harbingers of Skulls.

Mla Watu
The reclusive Legacy of the Laibon, known today as the Mla Watu, consists of Cappdocians, who survived the Giovanni purge of their ranks by hiding deep within the Dark Continent. There, the curious necromancers developed an affinity for dealing with the native ghosts. It is they who are the authors of the Cenotaph Path, practiced by the Giovanni of the Ghiberti family.

Organization
The Cappadocians maintained a rather collegial organization: the clan was generally friendly towards each other, but loosely organized. Cappadocians would correspond extensively on their work, but generally were solitary, with sire-childe relationships being the most common. The clan had respected elders, but given the generally loose structure of the clan, clan prestige and power was mostly associated with insight into the mysteries of death and life.

Culture
The one word that sums up the old clan is "passive". The Cappadocians had their own projects and plans, and generally focused on those while ignoring the larger affairs of the world. Blessed with an unusually active Antediluvian and a generally placid nature, the Cappadocians were much less concerned about Gehenna, political backstabbing and the other niceties of undead life. This, of course, made them natural targets for the Giovanni.

The Cappadocians were well known for partnering with the Ventrue, often serving as stewards or aides to Ventrue Princes. In this fashion, a Cappadocian could acquire what resources and protection he needed to pursue his own projects.

The Cappadocians were also highly religious, and would often adapt Christian religious practices, even if Embraced before Christianity. As a result, there were a large number of Cappadocian monks, priests and the like.

The Islamic Cappadocians were known as Qabilat al-Mawt, and were among the most learned of the kindred of the Middle East. The Qabilat al-Mawt had to be careful in their studies of the dead as Islam holds the dead in high regard; desecration of corpses could have attracted the attention of both mortals and the Ashirra, or organized Islamic kindred. Very few Qabilet al-Mawt were also true Muslims; many used the Islamic teachings as one of many means of information.

Embraces
Cappadocians usually choose scholars or other intellectuals for the Embrace. The clan's morbid predilections meant that they often desensitized new embraces by burying them or interring them in crypts shortly after the change. In this way, the childe could acquire first-hand familiarity with death.