“Never forget that your existence is a miracle, that it is a blessing to think and believe with a brain that no longer buzzes with electricity. And it is a further blessing to be inducted by Set, because I ain’t never seen a Nosferatu with any damn cake this good.”
– Narcissa Twice-Blessed
The Ministry’s mission is true freedom, bringing spiritual liberation to all descendants of Caine using temptation and subversion. The Ministry are truly adept at breaking their targets down: separating them from their prized possessions, shattering allegiances and friendships, and even destroying someone’s faith. Some consider them more of a cult than a clan, especially their detractors, who consider them to be degenerates and heretics who promise anything to get what they want.
The Serpents tend to Embrace from the more underhanded members of mortal society. Criminals, heretics, and the irreligious are common targets, but they find themselves joined in unlife by stage fraudsters, con artists, politicians and self-help gurus. Anyone who knows their way around the lies of mortal life could make a good candidate. Mortals who seek to find the truth behind myths may also find themselves under the watchful eyes of a would-be sire. Academics, philosophy students, teachers, and the occasional archeologist have been Embraced for these reasons.
Their mission and beliefs are as much a part of their nightly routine as the need for blood. Prospective childer generally begin their indoctrination into the Cult of Set before the Embrace, and many continue on its path after. The goal is reasonably simple: to undermine whatever beliefs that individual held before. As such, their mission can take many forms, mutable and ever-adapting to the individual and their creeds, liberating the believer from the chains that bound them. When they are not performing such a vital service, the Serpents spend their time searching for and obtaining ancient writings and artifacts that would help achieve their lofty goals.
The Serpents generally serve two roles to vampires in any given city. They are the hands that sully themselves with things like sex, drugs, smuggling, anything on the “wrong side of the tracks.” Hypocritically, they also serve as the spiritual center of a coterie. They preach spiritual purity to others, while sinning so that others don’t have to. Most Kindred are happy to have a friend willing to risk Humanity so that they do not.
Members of the clan often organize into “temples,” with larger cities having multiple small shrines and places of worship. These locations are far from obvious, generally tucked away into the nooks and crannies of back alleyways, seedy dens of iniquity and squalor where Serpents can preach and worship without interruption. For those few who don’t follow the Ministry’s beliefs, others of the clan largely let them be. As long as the clan’s secrets remain hidden, its members are free to do as they please.
Disciplines
Obfuscate: Being able to hide silently and in plain sight makes it easier to discover the secrets and beliefs of mortals and vampires alike. Powerful Serpents use this Discipline to wear the faces of known and trustworthy members of their surrounding populace, enabling them to lure prey to secluded locations, and even into Ministry shrines.
Presence: Priding themselves on their ability to coerce and manipulate, the Ministry relies heavily on the powers of this Discipline. Presence allows Serpents to make grand speeches that cut directly to the heart of a congregation in worship or of a single mark waiting for their next fix.
Protean: With the ability to change their own shapes, the Ministry inspires awe in observers. The Discipline’s usefulness for making a quick and secure getaway has also not been lost on the Ministry. It is not uncommon to see Serpents taking the forms of snakes as opposed to wolves, but they are masters of its power just as much as the Gangrel.
Archetypes
Kingpin: These Serpents are leaders of organized crime on all levels. Cybercrime, trafficking, smuggling – if you can name the crime, these are the ones engaged in it. Likely, this was their lot in mortal life, although the Embrace may have inspired a hostile takeover of their former employers.
Psychiatrist: Seeking the truth hidden in lies, these Serpents then twist it back. The irony of the role these Ministers play is not lost on them, nor on anyone else in the clan. They master the persuasive arts, hypnosis, and pharmacotherapy in order to bring mortals further into the fold. With other Kindred, Serpents are often the first to break down any reservations one might have, then plant the seeds of belief.
The Non-Believer: As an initiate into the Cult of Set, these mortals really wanted to believe. Something happened, either during or after the Embrace, that removed their blinders once and for all. Having seen the truth, they can’t go back into the dark. They keep their heads down and maintain clan secrets because it’s preferable to the alternative:final death. The clan simply allows them to exist and try to make something of their new-found eternity.
Bane
The Ministry have always been sensitive to light. Exposure to direct light, natural or otherwise, causes a Serpent to recoil. They take a penalty equal to their Bane Severity to all challenges while subjected to bright light directed straight at them. Ministry also take twice their Bane Severity in Aggravated Damage (before any reduction from protection) from exposure to sunlight.
Compulsion: Transgression
Set teaches his children to break the chains binding their mind and spirit. When a Serpent suffers from this Compulsion, they receive a -2 penalty to all offensive challenges not related to enticing someone to break a Chronicle Tenet or personal Conviction or doing so themselves. This Compulsion ends when they cause at least one Stain, to their target or themselves, or until the end of the scene.
