Bellsmeade
Solstice is coming again. Unlock the doors.
High up in the mountains is a vast hotel, a ski resort abandoned for nearly 60 years. The roads leading to it are mud-slick, slushy and closed down. Trees have fallen upon walls. Ivy and thorn tangles grow up and into the cracked walls, even during the harshest winters. Park rangers from the nearby wild preserve know the place is haunted and stay far away. Those who risk going near see things in the windows: faces staring out, beasts stalking the empty halls, blood streaking the glass. Others suggest that it’s not haunted at all, but is the place of awful Satanic worship — a Temple used for demonic debauchery a few times a year.
In a way, they’re right. The Bellsmeade Hotel is not abandoned, as many assume. It has, in fact, been occupied always, even since the time it closed its doors to the public. Its residents are Ghouls — blood-bred servants to a vampire called Bartholomew Bellsmeade. This ghoul family no longer recognizes its own family name, accepting instead the vampire’s surname of Bellsmeade. But he calls them by another name: his pigs.
They exist to serve him. Once upon a time, he loved them — and in a way, he still does. But he no longer loves them as a father, and instead adores them as a god. He knows that he is divine, and they are his servants upon this mortal plane. Several times a year — during solstices and equinoxes — Bartholomew returns to the hotel with his “friends.” For a week each time, he acts as a god in his kingdom, demanding blood, debasing the bodies of the ghoul servants, committing upon them bizarre sorceries (old favorites and new tricks). But the Ghouls are not without their rewards. Not only does he leave them enough of his own Vitae to keep them strong and powerful until his next visit, but he also brings them all the things they love: exquisite chocolates, rare books, unusual cuts of delicious meat. And like that, he’s gone, leaving rewards in his wake until next he returns to celebrate his divinity upon his pigs.
In a way, they’re right. The Bellsmeade Hotel is not abandoned, as many assume. It has, in fact, been occupied always, even since the time it closed its doors to the public. Its residents are Ghouls — blood-bred servants to a vampire called Bartholomew Bellsmeade. This ghoul family no longer recognizes its own family name, accepting instead the vampire’s surname of Bellsmeade. But he calls them by another name: his pigs.
They exist to serve him. Once upon a time, he loved them — and in a way, he still does. But he no longer loves them as a father, and instead adores them as a god. He knows that he is divine, and they are his servants upon this mortal plane. Several times a year — during solstices and equinoxes — Bartholomew returns to the hotel with his “friends.” For a week each time, he acts as a god in his kingdom, demanding blood, debasing the bodies of the ghoul servants, committing upon them bizarre sorceries (old favorites and new tricks). But the Ghouls are not without their rewards. Not only does he leave them enough of his own Vitae to keep them strong and powerful until his next visit, but he also brings them all the things they love: exquisite chocolates, rare books, unusual cuts of delicious meat. And like that, he’s gone, leaving rewards in his wake until next he returns to celebrate his divinity upon his pigs.
Naming Traditions
Other names
Nicknames: Piglets, Pigs
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
History
The Bellsmeade Hotel was once a popular resort frequented by only the wealthiest moguls and stars, all of whom came to the hotel for the luxuries that such a massive chalet could afford. The staff was renowned for its service; each member was said to be utterly gracious, bending over backward to serve the hotel’s patrons. The fall of the hotel — particularly that of its staff and owner, Bartholomew Bellsmeade — would come from a single dark night during a terrible blizzard.Bellsmeade’s Becoming
The way Bellsmeade tells it, he wasn’t Embraced. He’s wrong, of course, but his story isn’t a lie in his mind. He woke up at the stroke of midnight as the guests in the hotel lay sleeping, and he found himself visited by the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The walls grew dark with blood, and outside he watched the black sky turn bright with shimmering lights, like those of the borealis. It was, at this point, he claims a “brilliant madness” overtook him, and he leapt upon his visitor, ravishing her sexually — and with his teeth. He gnashed at her flesh and drank her blood, and then cites what he calls his “becoming.” It was then, he claims, he became a god.His opinion of that night was that he was visited by a goddess. And, instead of making the choice to become her consort, he chose to destroy her and take her power. Bellsmeade — always an eccentric man, privy to great wealth and odd peccadilloes — felt that her visitation was a trial. A trial that he passed.
The reality remains unclear. Was he visited by a vampire patron who Embraced him? Did she leave him there, or was he strong enough to be able to attack her in return, consuming her after the Embrace? Bellsmeade’s Requiem following was untrained, untested and certainly confused. He had (as he felt was his due) been sleeping with a number of the hotel staff, and even impregnated one of them. He went to his mistress, Annalise, and tried to grant her some measure of godliness by feeding her his blood.
It seemed to work, but not on the same scale that was given to him. And so, he did it to his other favored staffers, granting them a portion of his power in return for promises of love and satiety.
Annalise had her child despite her supernatural condition. The child — barely surviving a bloody birth — seemed special, somehow. Bartholomew knew that he had created this child, and named him Nehemiah.
Madness and Exile
Bartholomew’s descent into madness was coupled with the madness of his staff. Few could handle the burden of untested supernatural power, and it slowly winnowed their sanity. The conditions at the hotel dwindled, and it wasn’t long before people simply stopped coming. The hotel closed its doors a little more than a year after Bellsmeade’s Embrace.He did not let his “family” go, however — he locked the doors and closed the gates at the end of the road, but they were not free to leave. They had a great deal of food — freezers full of it, easily enough to support the staff of two dozen — and plenty of wood to burn in the fireplaces. Curiously, despite his provision toremain, Bellsmeade did not stay — sometime a year or so later, he disappeared, leaving a note behind that said he would return, and his family was to wait for him. Most of them waited. Those who did not fled, never to be heard from again.
Return
How Bellsmeade found civilization remains unclear. Furthermore, how he found other vampires is equally uncertain. Was his wealth a beacon that attracted The Invictus? Did his presupposed godhood lead him to activities fracturing the Masquerade? Or, as he claims, was he lead by a series of visions and portents?Whatever the case, he did find others. His money and personality were enough to lure in weaker Kindred — and over time he developed a small following of sycophants. He played with the vampires of the First Estate, enjoying the finer things in unlife, but he also swayed the local Acolytes, selling them a story about how the old gods are dead and how hey, the vampires, are the new gods. He led his new friends to his old domain, the hotel, where his ghoul family awaited.
Society and Culture
The ghoul family dwelling in the Bellsmeade has swollen during the last 50 years. Three generations of isolated thralls await the constant return and departure of their regnant, Bartholomew.Solstices and Equinoxes
Bartholomew returns every season for a week. He brings with him no fewer than five other vampires, who come to feast upon the Ghouls and treat them as servants and slaves. The vampires demand worship and force the Ghouls to perform in humiliating rituals, even performing blood sorcery upon their kept bodies. In return, the family members get whatever they want in terms of food, clothing or other luxuries. Provided they grant these “new gods” worship, they are free to enjoy whatever riches and treats they desire.Beasts
One of Bartholomew’s odd fascination is with animals. He allows various creatures both ghouled and otherwise to roam the grounds freely, both indoors and out. The family is expected to take care of them and share space with them — the animals are treated almost as family themselves. Most of the animals are somewhat expected: cats, dogs, rats and birds. A few unusual specimens do wander the property, however. Some have seen a bear or two, and a Herd of elk bed out back. A den of foxes lives in the upper floors of the building, and owls nest in the building’s attic.Some of the Ghouls (his “prized” ones) know that he has stranger interests these days. Bartholomew is said to know some grotesque amalgamation of Crúac and Animalism, and has lately been using it upon his Piglets. His intention — which he has been vocal about to some of the Ghouls — is to crossbreed a new lineage, a clan of enthralled beast-men, half-animal, half-human. His attempts have been abortive thus far, but progress has been made.
Common Dress code
Appearance: The Bellsmeade Ghouls dress as they wish most days out of the year, for their regnant brings them fashions (and fashion magazines) when he visits. Of course, most of the styles are five or 10 years out of date. Some are too debased and feral to care about fashions, however — those Ghouls tend to be filthy, foul creatures lurking in the margins of the 300+ rooms of the derelict hotel.
Art & Architecture
Havens: The Pigs call only one place home: the Bellsmeade Hotel. It is a monstrous resort, far too large for the small family that resides within. It sits nestled deep in the mountains, barely accessible. A few Ghouls have escaped from Bartholomew’s service over the years — these Ghouls are free to have havens wherever.
Major organizations
Clans: Bartholomew is a Ventrue, and so the members of the ghoul family that inhabits the hotel are all of that clan. From time to time, the Ghouls escape the hotel and can then enter the service of a vampire from any clan. From time to time, Bartholomew also gifts one of his Allies with a ghoul from the Bellsmeade stock.
Covenants: Bartholomew’s Pigs belong to The Circle of the Crone and to The Invictus. Bartholomew belongs to both covenants. Not only is he a rich and productive member of the First Estate, but he also believes himself a god among Kindred. He demands pagan worship and even calls himself a “Crone.” He has little interest in existing gods or myths, preferring instead to be a new god at the center of new legends. Still, he is capable in Crúac and delights in the creation of new Ghouls within this family. He gladly considers himself a member — a paragon, even — of both covenants, and so his Piglets belong to both as well. Most Ghouls who escape (or are gifted) often end up as the prized servants of other Acolytes, largely because they are familiar with the nature of dire worship.
Organization: Within the Bellsmeade Ghouls, the highest authority is Nehemiah, the first ghoul of the lineage. Nehemiah looks nearly like a child in his early teens, but he has the mental capabilities of someone far older (though he still possesses some immature sensibilities, and acts upon them more often than the other Ghouls might prefer). While some wish for him to suffer an unfortunate accident (thus ending his capricious ways), Nehemiah remains the favorite of Bartholomew; the vampire calls him his “Favored Piggy.” While the Ventrue is away from the hotel for those long periods of time, Nehemiah is the one who leads the cult of Ghouls in worship of the vampire.
The rest of the family breaks down, quite literally, as a family. Fathers and mothers rule over their children, who in turn have nobody to rule over except the animals.
Covenants: Bartholomew’s Pigs belong to The Circle of the Crone and to The Invictus. Bartholomew belongs to both covenants. Not only is he a rich and productive member of the First Estate, but he also believes himself a god among Kindred. He demands pagan worship and even calls himself a “Crone.” He has little interest in existing gods or myths, preferring instead to be a new god at the center of new legends. Still, he is capable in Crúac and delights in the creation of new Ghouls within this family. He gladly considers himself a member — a paragon, even — of both covenants, and so his Piglets belong to both as well. Most Ghouls who escape (or are gifted) often end up as the prized servants of other Acolytes, largely because they are familiar with the nature of dire worship.
Organization: Within the Bellsmeade Ghouls, the highest authority is Nehemiah, the first ghoul of the lineage. Nehemiah looks nearly like a child in his early teens, but he has the mental capabilities of someone far older (though he still possesses some immature sensibilities, and acts upon them more often than the other Ghouls might prefer). While some wish for him to suffer an unfortunate accident (thus ending his capricious ways), Nehemiah remains the favorite of Bartholomew; the vampire calls him his “Favored Piggy.” While the Ventrue is away from the hotel for those long periods of time, Nehemiah is the one who leads the cult of Ghouls in worship of the vampire.
The rest of the family breaks down, quite literally, as a family. Fathers and mothers rule over their children, who in turn have nobody to rule over except the animals.
Strengths: The Bellsmeade Ghouls are not the only residents of the hotel, actually. Bartholomew has a great “love” of beasts, and also allows enthralled animals to walk the halls and grounds of the resort. As such, his Pigs must become somewhat proficient at dealing with these creatures. Being a Bellsmeade ghoul affords the individual an automatic dot in Animalism, free.
Weaknesses: Each ghoul has one of the following mild derangements automatically: Fixation, Inferiority Complex or Irrationality. If the character already possesses one at mild, it is upgraded to the severe version.
Concepts: Adoring worshipper, animal keeper, escapee, hateful slave, hermit, the madman of Room 243 Adoring worshipper, animal keeper, escapee, hateful slave, hermit, the madman of Room 243
One of the odd provisions of Bartholomew’s self-centered “religion” is that he and his Kindred cohorts wear animal masks during most rituals. Bartholomew’s mask is a vicious pig face, an exaggerated rubber disguise with a stumpy snout and jutting tusks. Whether this is just a vaincuriosity on his part or whether he feels that he is some kind of Lord of the Swine (he does call his family “pigs,” after all) is not something he’ll explain.
Weaknesses: Each ghoul has one of the following mild derangements automatically: Fixation, Inferiority Complex or Irrationality. If the character already possesses one at mild, it is upgraded to the severe version.
Concepts: Adoring worshipper, animal keeper, escapee, hateful slave, hermit, the madman of Room 243 Adoring worshipper, animal keeper, escapee, hateful slave, hermit, the madman of Room 243