The Children of the Angel

Structure

The Children of the Angel, despite their chaotic appearance, exist in a strict social hierarchy that feeds down from Embrace to Embrace. They refer to this as the Basilica, represented by a segmented drawing of a cathedral’s facade. Occupying the apex of the Basilica are the true Nephilim themselves, direct descendants of the Archangel separated from him by no more than three Embraces. Below them are the frescoes and artwork adorning the Basilica’s frontage, their own childer. Not true Nephilim as they do not carry the blessing of Michael within their very vitae, nonetheless they still bear his legacy into the modern nights and the knowledge of the modern world back to the true Nephilim. Below this stratum stand the pillars of the Basilica, the adherents brought in from outside of the Blood of Michael. They feature both Toreador converts and those of other clans, save for the Nosferatu. The lowest members, columns, are the ghouls and mortal servants of Nephilim. Nosferatu adherents are the foundations of the Basilica, represented by the steps leading up to it. Their Blood prevents them from ever attaining the true beauty demanded by the Nephilim. However, they have at least chosen to walk the path of penance for their great sins against the beauty of the world. They are the foot soldiers, spies and some of the most firebrand preachers of the Nephilim to outsiders, but within the cult itself they remain second class members and are often treated no better than servants or beasts of burden. Only the mortal adherents who attend a temple but have not been inducted fully into the faith are beneath them; such kine have not yet earned a place within the Basilica.
All of those mentioned are in a far loftier position than that in which those outside the grasp of the Nephilim are viewed. While they treat others with a form of kindness and attempt to attract them into the Temple, those who have taken the blood of the Nephilim into their unbeating hearts see those who have not as little more than ugly, unworthy stains on the perfection of the world. If they show no interest in improving themselves, then they are not even worth sneering at.

Culture

Known to those who have encountered them or to the few who actively seek them as the Children of the Angel, the Nephilim are a society that wishes to embody perfect beauty in all things. From art and architecture, to the honing of the body, to refining and improving in whatever task they pursue. The Nephilim seek to be angelic and divine in every outward respect. 
The Children of the Angel are certainly one of the most open and popular of the Kindred religions, and it is easy to see the attraction. However, the draw goes far deeper for some and the rewards can be far more life changing.  The Nephilim don’t just offer perfection; those who have served the cult the longest embody it without exception. Kindred whisper of cultists whose appearances alter as they make more and more trips to their local temple. Their skin becomes clear, soft and radiant. The color of their eyes sharpens and brightens. Their hair becomes strong and lustrous. Moreover, they become confident and self-assured within the love of the cult and its revelers. Abandoning worldly pursuits, they turn to more aesthetic, artistic, and spiritual endeavors, often turning over their businesses and properties to the use of the society and to fund the spectacular parties their new siblings host to celebrate their great becoming. A large, hedonistic, sex-crazed cult full of beautiful people requires very little selling to most. However, when one gets past the sheen of glory, the practices of the Nephilim are found to be far from altruistic.

Public Agenda

The most outward-facing levels of the Nephilim are designed to draw wary outsiders in to progressively deeper degrees. On the surface, the cult seems like it wants to help Kindred to improve themselves. While the Nephilim are legendary among young Kindred for their rites of carnal lust, many of their temples are also places where instruction in the arts both martial and aesthetic can take place. Gymnasiums and studios are common properties for cult members to hold or havens for them to inhabit.

Limited Scope?

The goal of the Nephilim is to enfold all the world in their arms and guide it toward a shining and glorious future, following the vision of Michael. Some Kindred fear they can make this happen as more and more young vampires, seeking respite from the crushing weight of their condition, find solace amid the writhing seas of bodies that often cover the floors of the cult’s temples. Many others point out that with only so many childer of Michael to go around, the chances of their members bringing all Kindred into blood servitude are exceptionally small. Most see them as little more than a slightly troubling distraction for the young or for desperate Nosferatu seeking to escape some of the terror invoked each night by their own ravaged faces.

Divine Origins

The Unending Dream

The Nephilim originated in Constantinople as a hedonistic society of Toreador directly descended from Michael, the self-proclaimed Archangel. They spent their time seeking to perfect the outer beauty of the world. In the old city, they commissioned glorious monuments, renovated old buildings and laid ugly slums to waste to replace them with far more pleasing aesthetics. Their quest for perfection led to great purges of the unwashed and the unworthy from the streets of the city as they might offend the sight of the Angel.
Their philosophy of personal improvement did not entirely revolve around the pursuit of physical beauty. The childer of Michael competed among themselves to be the most pleasing to their great ancestor, to prove they were worthy of the blood of heaven. Within this selfish game, many mortals and Kindred alike were ensnared, moved as pieces on a board to enhance the image of their Toreador masters in the sight of Michael. They were forbidden to fight among themselves, though discord was invited from outside their ranks to test the strength of the Dream against alternative ideals and improve it accordingly.
However civil they were to each other in the open, their jealousy of one another was beyond compare. Many believe it was partly their hidden war that finally brought about the collapse of the great society itself. Others say the influence of malefactors from jealous clans outside of the benevolent guidance of the Trinity caused the fall. Whatever the case, the Dream was dashed to nothing and the childer of Michael fled the city in despair.
It was not until centuries later that they began, as though guided by some hidden hand, to seek each other out once more. As the modern nights cast a new darkness over the world and consigned the old to history, the Beckoning summoned still more of them together. United as one for the first time since the fall, the childer of Michael looked upon each other and knew they were the last scions and the last hope for the survival of his great plan.
All of the world would come to recognize him for the divinity he was. All would bow their heads gratefully in the sight of endless cathedrals and brazen statues of gold bearing his image. All would be reshaped in his likeness. They began to summon to themselves the first of their followers.

The Seeds of The Garden

The Children of the Angel started as an almost exclusively Toreador affair and enjoyed a relatively steady pace of growth, given their pleasurable practices. When word began to spread of how these Nephilim could alter and beautify the normally static and unchanging Kindred, many interests were piqued, particularly some of the more desperate members of Clan Nosferatu. Rumors persist that many members of that clan who fully embraced the love of the Nephilim have reverted to a more human appearance, albeit still ugly in comparison to vampires of other clans and the divinely beautiful Nephilim themselves.
The seeds of this rite lie in the Blood Bond to a true Nephilim, a descendant of Michael. Imbibing the vitae of a Kindred separated from the Angel by no more than three Embraces will beautify the drinker, subtly altering their physical appearance to an angelic form. Their skin softens and takes on a glow, their eyes glisten and imperfections and blemishes fade. Their teeth become the purest white and gleam in the light, and their bodies become toned and lean. While this is a poetic way of saying that, essentially, “it makes you look nicer,” the fact that it can even make the usually monstrous Nosferatu appear more like they did as mortals is a great attraction, and the clan does its best to stifle such rumors.
Due to the price of each drink, the Nephilim and their servants keep the secret power of their vitae hidden from outsiders. Those who submit themselves willingly to the Nephilim are certain to become little more than adoring slaves in their great plan. It is not just their faces and bodies that change; they lose all thought of their own personal pursuits andbecome almost mindlessly obsessed with pursuing the goals and desires of their Nephilim overlords. Unlike other Blood Bonds, it seems to be a servitude that cannot be broken by the mere passage of time and many who have been forcibly separated from their masters for even years at a time continue to cry out in the night and beg to be returned to their side, often calling out the name of Michael or Mary.
The thought of their entire clan falling prey to this predation disgusts and terrifies any Nosferatu who becomes aware of it, though Clan Toreador remain, perhaps not so strangely, aloof on the matter.
With word of these glorious miracles spreading, the Nephilim have gone from a petty underground orgy society to a well-established religion in their own right.

Tenets of Faith

Known usually in short form ascthe Lex Angelorum, the Law of the Angels is the only code that matters to the Nephilim. It is learned by rote by all members and they can recite its seven tenets at a whim. They are as follows:

• Thou shalt obey the Children of the Angel in all things
• Thou shalt not sow discord among thyselves
• Thou shalt tolerate not the ugly nor the wicked in the sight of the Nephilim
• Thou shalt seek to bring all into the light of the Angel
• Thou shalt not compromise the perfection of a Tabernacle or Temple
• Thy Angel is thy savior, revere above all the one who brought you into the light

Many of the followers of the cult revere these laws even above the Traditions, though their overseers in the faith do well to keep such talk within their own temples and domains and out of Elysia.

Ethics

Mortal Adherents

The Nephilim do not welcome mortals into their number; however, they do welcome them into the outer circles of the cult if only to convert them to their ways before the Embrace. The idea of living forever as a beautiful and perfect being is appealing to some.
Without fail, mortals targeted by the Children of the Angel for membership are physically beautiful in the eyes of whichever member identifies them. They are often people working toward some aspect of physical or artistic perfection. The cult is also extremely attractive to people who are vain, conceited or consumed with vices of lust and lechery.
This heady cocktail makes for an interesting ride to anyone in the outer circles of the cult. While some of the adherents seem to have the rara attitude of summer camp counselors or fitness instructors, others are narcissistic hedonists or even sadists who want nothing more than to be surrounded by beautiful people.

NEPHILIM CONVICTIONS

Michael’s children focus predominantly on self-elevation and experience, maintaining a veneer of civility and class despite many of them being egomaniacs or lust-driven degenerates. Maintaining their Humanity would be a challenge, without Convictions allowing them to justify some of their behaviors to themselves:

• Always obey Michael’s direct descendants. Michael’s vitae is divine. Never deny the will of his children; they are your saints.
• Do not consort with the hideous. Ugliness has no place in the cult or your existence. Avoid disfigurements, disease, and ugly behavior. Hideousness is more than skin deep. There is no beauty in monstrous actions.
• Never tolerate the desecration of a thing of beauty. Artifacts, temples, artistic creations, and so much more require preservation and development. You serve Michael by protecting these things.
• Always cultivate your own beauty. Your appearance and behavior are important as a standard for the cult and in emulation of the divine founder. You must always strive to look and appear your best. Let nobody witness any inner ugliness.
• Reinvent yourself for every audience. So few vampires exhibit the ability to change with the times, but you will be the exception. Attending Elysium in the same outfit, always speaking with the same people, always drinking from the same blood doll, are all bad behaviors.
• Delve into every sensation to expand your awareness. Pleasing or painful, experiences enlighten us and improve our understanding of the world. Both are important for empathy.

Worship

Places of Worship

The Nephilim, when operating in any city, immediately begin by purchasing a suitable property which, once they have occupied it, they initially dedicate their time and resources to converting into a veritable Garden of Eden, fit for the nightly revels of the Nephilim. They call these locations tabernacles. Once the cult becomes more established, other properties, often including popular night spots, fall into their hands and take their places as temples of the faith in turn.
The tabernacle within any city is always the seat of a true Nephilim and always receives far more attention and spending than any other dwelling the cult operates.
The first and most sacred tabernacle is the one established in Istanbul — still referred to as Constantinople by most vampires, who hold the old city name sacred due to its association with the Trinity. The Constantinople tabernacle is said to hold a vial of earth that soaked up the blood of the Archangel himself. Only Michael’s direct childer are permitted within, and none are known to be active these nights.
Temples and tabernacles are always renovated and constantly kept clean to an obsessive degree. When the nightly debauch is concluded, foundation members immediately set to work preparing the premises for the following night. Column ghouls continue this work by day and ensure the place remains in pristine condition inside and out. To fail the inspection of a temple’s curator or the Nephilim inside of a tabernacle could result in a swift end for the people responsible.

Rites of Pleasure And Perfection

The most outward-facing levels of the Nephilim are designed to draw wary outsiders in to progressively deeper degrees. On the surface, the cult seems like it wants to help Kindred to improve themselves. Once a Kindred is deep enough to know better, it is often too late. Their relationships with others have been severed and replaced with attachments to other cultists. They fear to lose what progress they have made into the Temple of the Archangel and are soon addicted to the aloof and distant leaders of the cult via the heady draught of their ancient vitae. 
In the most carnal and secretive circles of the Nephilim organization, where only the most trusted go, it is said the oldest among the Children of the Angel feed on the blood of their own followers rather than the ready supply of mortals at their command.

Artifacts and Symbology

The symbols of the Nephilim vary wildly. Most feature images of angels or divine beings. Stained glass windows, statuary and paintings have all been commissioned by the cult’s members to try to embody the majesty of the Dream, but only the genuine conversion of the world into that image could satisfy the true Nephilim as a symbol of Michael’s radiant glory.
The only true image that could be seen to represent the cult is the Basilica, and it is drawn differently depending on the artist. Many renditions of it exist.
Some of the cult’s members carry a set of small, polished silver knives, which they use to draw blood from vessels or simply to cleanly cut their clothes off. They believe biting a victim to feed reveals their snarling, bestial nature, and should be avoided at all costs.

Granted Divine Powers

The Power of Micheal's Blood

Drinking the vitae of a Fifth, Sixth, or Seventh Generation Nephilim conveys the Beautiful Merit, or if the vampire already possesses it, the Stunning Merit. If the vampire already possesses the Stunning Merit, they gain an additional die to all uses of the Presence Discipline. Nephilim vitae waives the effect of the Ugly Flaw. These Merits are temporary, with the benefits fading after a chapter of the story. 
Nephilim vitae has an unusual effect on the Repulsive Flaw or any Nosferatu. It does not make the vampire appear more attractive, but does convey an additional die to all Obfuscate, Subterfuge, and Performance rolls used when attempting to look like someone else. Again, this benefit fades after a chapter, after which time more Nephilim vitae is required.

Political Influence & Intrigue

Many shun them and curse them as hedonists and degenerates, some see them as a Toreador plot to subvert the iron grip of the Ventrue on the Camarilla, and others still as little more than a distraction for immortals seeking a night of pleasure. For each Kindred who turns away from their promise of perfection and pleasure, there is always one who turns back, curious and allured by the orgies and the lavish lifestyles the members of the cult pursue.

Sects

HERESY: THE ANGELS OF VENGEANCE

There are those within the Children of the Angel who do not wish to share the Dream with those who, both previously and now, only seek to corrupt and destroy it. These are known, among themselves, as the Angels of Vengeance. While they practice many of the same rites as other Nephilim, they view anyone who refuses to live within the Dream as dangerous and a stain upon the world. While the majority of the cult’s zealots and leaders are content to wait until these subversive elements either fall in line or can be quietly disposed of, the Angels are not content to wait. They offer outsiders service only once and refusal means death.
Rumors of ritualistic killings and group suicides all around the world, marked with a common symbol, have begun to spring up in conspiracy theorists’ blogs, each one noting the image of a blood red sword with a winged crossguard being discovered at the scenes.
The main body of the cult dismisses any link to these atrocities, laying them at the door of some other irrational blood cult, likely remnants of the bestial Sabbat. The truth is that the cult’s leadership is well aware of the activities of the Angels of Vengeance and, while they do not openly support them, are content to allow them to continue.
More than this, the Angels of Vengeance wish to eliminate all those involved in the fall of Constantinople and their descendants, as well as Clan Nosferatu in its entirety. They even desire to purge Nosferatu members of their own cult, though those in servitude to the Dream will be the last against the wall.
The Angels of Vengeance are zealots beyond compare. To them, the Dream does not need to be tested against outside beliefs, it must simply replace them. All who question the greatness of Michael’s vision must die in order for the world to be beautified by his light; there is no other course. Like the flaming sword of heaven they will sweep away the unclean and the unworthy. Only once there is not even a single thought out of tune with Michael’s divine chorus will the whole world be in harmony.

Nephilim Dreams: Detroit

A city of culture and street battles, of industry on one street and ruin on the next, of affulent suburbs in one quarter and gang-invaded tower blocks in another: Detroit is more than an Anarch domain — it’s a permanent warzone between Kindred, kine, and other, stranger creatures, and the Second Inquisition have yet to even touch the surface. In the thick of it, the Nephilim have dreams of making this city a new bastion of their faith, but it’s an uphill struggle. They view it much as they once did Constantinople: as a place where hundreds of viewpoints can come together in peace and every philosopher can reach a new state of enlightenment under the beneficent rule of Michael, or one of his descendants. Their cause is in vain, however, and their efforts may destroy the cult.
Under the leadership of the Toreador named Albertine, sometimes titled “the Dove,” the city’s Nephilim guide the “cooperation zone” (what constitutes an Elysium in this domain) to different spots in the domain each fortnight. Under his governance, the cooperation zone exists to highlight the city’s beauty, and that of the vampires within it, when forced to inhabit parts of a domain and interact with individuals they’d barely ever stop to observe otherwise. On one night the Nephilim might set up a cooperation zone on Hart Plaza, and on the next occupy Motown Museum or even what was once Black Bottom. To entice other vampires, the cult makes it clear everything in the cooperation zone is to be sampled freely, whether in the form of art or sustenance. The half-dozen Nephilim in Detroit keep the peace at these gatherings, pushing the vampire attendees to appreciate the world around them and the company they’re keeping.
Albertine wants to shepherd the city’s Kindred, watch them, learn from them, and from their assorted views and disagreements form a philosophy that will make Detroit a domain of mixed but harmonious viewpoints. When blended together, with some edges shaved off and a little bit of Michael’s Dream added to the mix, he and the rest of the cult believe they can create a new utopia for Kindred in the Midwest, and a possible template for further domains. The view is a grand one, despite the Dove’s prejudices against all who are, to his eyes, ugly in personality or features, and his consideration that they are some of the “edges” in need of shaving.
Just as Setites and infernalists helped bring down Michael’s Constantinople, Albertine's Detroit has saboteurs chipping away at her grand plan. Due to her status as a direct childe of Michael, if she fails, the entire faith may fall with him. That is of no concern to the Old Clan within Detroit, whom view the cult as a cancerous growth from the loins of the Camarilla. The Camarilla likewise intend to make Detroit into a proper domain once again.

Type

Religious, Cult

Alternative Names

The Nephilim

Demonym

Michael’s children, Nephilim

Ruling Organization

The Toreador

Controlled Territories

• Sterner Hall

Notable Members

• Rebecca Hill

Related Species

• Ghoul
• Vampire