A Fallen House: Draumerai
Arising in the Swabian lands of the Schwarzwalde, House Draumerai consisted of two Kindred, a Daeva sire and his childe. While three-member Houses are considered more stable, the elder Draumerai was so particular about whom he would accept into his House that only his childe met his stringent criteria.
At its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, House Draumerai, located in Munich, was considered one of the foremost Cyclical Dynasties in The Invictus. The House embodied the highest virtues of the covenant and vied with similarly powerful Houses throughout Bavaria for power and prestige. The dark revels of House Draumerai were legendary throughout Europe, and the stuff of nightmares for kine. House members were, inarguably, among the best-known Kindred in The Invictus — and then subtle changes began to creep into both members of the House.
While House Draumerai had survived since the time of the Visigoths, each cycle of Torpor and rising brought unexpected changes in both members of the House, and these changes affected the patron and protégé differently. Draumerai the elder awakened from every Torpor more brilliant and focused than when he entered the long sleep. This, it was believed, was an unexpected benefit of his relationship with his childe. It was entirely unprecedented and hardly a common benefit of the House system, but inexplicable by any other means.
Draumerai the younger, alas, was less fortunate. He rose from every period of Torpor with a new derangement. Whether this was the result of some curse, or simply some strange balance to his elder’s growing insight is unknown. (The concern over a curse is not unwarranted superstition in this case, as House Draumerai had long been in conflict with a college of mortal mystics operating in the Black Forest.)
Toward the end of the 20th century, the younger Draumerai awakened from Torpor entirely unfit to fulfill his dynastic responsibilities — or to interact with any sane person for that matter. The elder, who had been prepared to enter Torpor, made last-minute arrangements to remain active. Rather than accept his rest, the elder took his mad childe to the heart of their Munich Haven and diablerized him, weeping tears of blood all the while. It was, the elder felt, the only appropriate and suitably intimate way to end the House.
Now Draumerai the Prince of Munich, Draumerai the one and lonely, is seeking a new protégé (and possibly two) who might be worthy of entering into a cyclical dynasty with him. His fortune and influence are vast, extending throughout Germany, Vienna and the Czech Republic, and he shows no interest in making another dead-end mistake. His discriminating taste has only grown more particular with the passing of the centuries. Dozens of powerful European Kindred have met with him to discuss their fitness to join with him in the new House Draumerai, but thus far he has shown himself to be nigh-impossible to impress. He wants only the most beautiful, most brilliant, most driven Kindred in the world to be his protégés, and he refuses to settle for anything else. That said, so driven is Draumerai to re-enter a cyclical dynasty that he has hinted that an unprecedented voyage out of Bavaria might be on his agenda if he does not find a protégé soon.
At its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, House Draumerai, located in Munich, was considered one of the foremost Cyclical Dynasties in The Invictus. The House embodied the highest virtues of the covenant and vied with similarly powerful Houses throughout Bavaria for power and prestige. The dark revels of House Draumerai were legendary throughout Europe, and the stuff of nightmares for kine. House members were, inarguably, among the best-known Kindred in The Invictus — and then subtle changes began to creep into both members of the House.
While House Draumerai had survived since the time of the Visigoths, each cycle of Torpor and rising brought unexpected changes in both members of the House, and these changes affected the patron and protégé differently. Draumerai the elder awakened from every Torpor more brilliant and focused than when he entered the long sleep. This, it was believed, was an unexpected benefit of his relationship with his childe. It was entirely unprecedented and hardly a common benefit of the House system, but inexplicable by any other means.
Draumerai the younger, alas, was less fortunate. He rose from every period of Torpor with a new derangement. Whether this was the result of some curse, or simply some strange balance to his elder’s growing insight is unknown. (The concern over a curse is not unwarranted superstition in this case, as House Draumerai had long been in conflict with a college of mortal mystics operating in the Black Forest.)
Toward the end of the 20th century, the younger Draumerai awakened from Torpor entirely unfit to fulfill his dynastic responsibilities — or to interact with any sane person for that matter. The elder, who had been prepared to enter Torpor, made last-minute arrangements to remain active. Rather than accept his rest, the elder took his mad childe to the heart of their Munich Haven and diablerized him, weeping tears of blood all the while. It was, the elder felt, the only appropriate and suitably intimate way to end the House.
Now Draumerai the Prince of Munich, Draumerai the one and lonely, is seeking a new protégé (and possibly two) who might be worthy of entering into a cyclical dynasty with him. His fortune and influence are vast, extending throughout Germany, Vienna and the Czech Republic, and he shows no interest in making another dead-end mistake. His discriminating taste has only grown more particular with the passing of the centuries. Dozens of powerful European Kindred have met with him to discuss their fitness to join with him in the new House Draumerai, but thus far he has shown himself to be nigh-impossible to impress. He wants only the most beautiful, most brilliant, most driven Kindred in the world to be his protégés, and he refuses to settle for anything else. That said, so driven is Draumerai to re-enter a cyclical dynasty that he has hinted that an unprecedented voyage out of Bavaria might be on his agenda if he does not find a protégé soon.
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