“Share your pain. Share your pain with me – and gain strength from the sharing.” 

– Xaverius 

Vampire society is about the long game, in which there are winners and there are losers. The Salubri have suffered far more than their share of loss. Once they were eagerly sought out as unparalleled sages and scholars about the Kindred condition; now they are fugitives. Their founder was devoured by a usurper, and their clan was blamed wholesale for the very crimes committed against them. Vicious, dangerous slanders made against them by their enemies go unchecked because there simply aren’t enough surviving Salubri left to refute them. Now, the Salubri are rare, despised, and hunted. It is rumored that only a few exist at a time. 

Many call them heretics simply for believing that their curses can be overcome. Others simply don’t care enough to see through the lies about Salubri being serial diablerists. For these reasons, Salubri are hunted and driven out of any cities where they might try to exist openly. Even Anarch Barons, who might feel sympathy towards their plight, would hardly risk giving a Cyclops safe harbor. The Salubri eke out a shadowy existence, keeping company with their own when they can find them, and hold fast to their duties and ideals. For most Salubri, their ideals are all they have. 

All Salubri are marked by their lineage by a third eye in the middle of their forehead. Many claim that the third eye first appeared among the clan when their founder gained his enlightenment, but now it is a mark that aids their hunters in finding them. The eye can be covered, but it can never be truly hidden. 

When pairing the mark of the third eye with the difficult life that awaits a fledgling Cyclops, the selection of a childe is an incredibly personal matter for a sire. Most Salubri sires look for people who have problems to solve: the terminally ill, those who have endured great tragedy, or pursuers of justice questing to right a great wrong in the world. 

Archetypes 

Eternal Optimist: Some people are born as the embodiment of “every cloud has a silver lining.” As a living being they spent their energies on helping others in whatever way they could. Maybe they were a devoutly religious person, or they simply saw the benefit in being a true philanthropist. Whatever the reason, the Embrace has only solidified that world view. Being a Cyclops gives them access to powers and abilities to help mortals and undead alike. If they weren’t meant to fill that role, why would they have been chosen in the first place? 

Jaded Knight: Vengeance can consume even the calmest and most centered of minds. The Salubri have suffered many wrongs in the course of vampiric history, and some find it difficult to forget and impossible to forgive. Faced with an eternity of ever-deepening hatred and loathing, these Cyclops spend their nights training, honing their skills, and learning whatever they can about their enemy. They hunt those they believe responsible for slights against their clan, often targeting the Tremere. 

Martyrs: Martyrs can exist in any group rallying behind a cause, but few are more willing to die for justice as those Cyclops in this category. Fueled by ages of being victimized, oppressed, and openly hunted, they have a fervor for change, even at the cost of their unlife. In life, they were among those easily incensed, focused on greater causes. Eternity is too long for anyone to exist, and these fanatics are willing to give their unlives for whatever cause they believe in. 

Disciplines 

Auspex: Being able to perceive beyond the limits of less-observant Kindred accounts for much of the wisdom of the Salubri. Considered by a philosophical mind, the hidden truths of the world reveal themselves. 

Dominate: The Salubri can use Dominate to shield other vampires from the horrors of the world, or wash away memories of the atrocities they commit. Troubling memories can be removed, individuals can be bolstered against the consequences of their own actions, and, for a lucky few, these powers can be used as a balm to lead others to redemption. 

Fortitude: A Cyclops benefits greatly from being hard to kill, especially when it seems the whole world is out to destroy them. Enterprising Salubri are even rumored to use their Fortitude to aid others. 

Bane 

The Salubri are hunted, and other vampires who taste their Blood cannot help but want to drain them dry. If a non-Salubri character drinks enough Salubri Blood to Slake at least one Hunger, they must immediately make a Hunger Frenzy test at Difficulty 2+ the Salubri’s Bane severity (3+ if the drinker is Banu Haqim). If they fail, the imbiber continues to feed and cannot stop unless they are forcibly removed or the Salubri is drained of all their blood, which takes 5 standard actions of Slaking. The imbiber is not forced to commit diablerie. After being removed from the Salubri (or after the Salubri runs out of blood), the Hunger Frenzy continues until it ends normally. 

The Salubri also has a third eye that is always present. While the eye can be covered physically, it cannot be obscured by supernatural powers. When the Salubri uses a Discipline, the third eye weeps vitae that triggers a Hunger Frenzy test from nearby vampires with Hunger 4 or higher. Low level Disciplines cause the eye to weep a small amount of Blood, but high level Disciplines bring on a torrential flow. 

Compulsion: Affective Empathy 

Their teachings and Disciplines require Salubri to empathize with the Kindred condition in order to better understand it, but sometimes that empathy comes with a price. When suffering this Compulsion, the Salubri is overcome with empathy for a personal problem that afflicts someone in the scene and tries to help them solve it. Any action not taken towards mitigating that personal tragedy incurs a -2 penalty. The Compulsion persists until the sufferer’s burden is eased, a more immediate crisis supersedes it, or the end of the scene.