Mystikoi
The things you do not know could fill this world. Indeed, they do, and many more besides.
A heresy may outlive the attempts to stomp it out, if it is given a fertile and insular home in which to flourish. The Mystikoi, a dualist heresy born in the early years of The Lancea Sanctum, survives to this night in the shadows of The Ordo Dracul. The Dragons encourage their studies, pressing them forward in their own search for spiritual transcendence.
For the Mystikoi, however, transcendence means far more than freedom from the shackles of the Kindred curse. The Mystikoi seek nothing less than the reunification of all life with the godhead. Only through a return to the divine source can the evil world be scourged from existence and all souls, human and Kindred alike, raised from inequity and polished to reflect the glorious light of heavenly perfection.
Such an ascension can only be gained through a perfect understanding and reconnection with the divine source, the original Unity, which can only be approached through an increase in Gnosis, or understanding of creation. While the night of ascension remains far off, the Mystikoi devote themselves to understanding the universe, both in its base physical and higher spiritual aspects, and reshaping their own forms in what they believe to be God’s image. Unfortunately, their primary guide in this endeavor is their Beast.
For the Mystikoi, however, transcendence means far more than freedom from the shackles of the Kindred curse. The Mystikoi seek nothing less than the reunification of all life with the godhead. Only through a return to the divine source can the evil world be scourged from existence and all souls, human and Kindred alike, raised from inequity and polished to reflect the glorious light of heavenly perfection.
Such an ascension can only be gained through a perfect understanding and reconnection with the divine source, the original Unity, which can only be approached through an increase in Gnosis, or understanding of creation. While the night of ascension remains far off, the Mystikoi devote themselves to understanding the universe, both in its base physical and higher spiritual aspects, and reshaping their own forms in what they believe to be God’s image. Unfortunately, their primary guide in this endeavor is their Beast.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
History and Culture: Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimisces, in power during Armenia’s decision to grant legal religious freedom to the dualist Paulician sect, encouraged an influx of members of the sect into Byzantine lands. With the sect came a small group of Armenian Kindred nomads devoted to The Lancea Sanctum, but possessed of a heresy similar to that of the Paulicians. These Kindred, almost exclusively of Clan Gangrel, had long eked out a furtive existence on the very edges of the Longinian world. Now in Christendom’s greatest metropolis, the sect came to the attention of the Sanctified authority who worked to absorb the nomads into their orthodoxy. With the exception of a pair of elder Savages, the Sanctified met with success.
The two Gangrel, however, found that their relatively easy new existence within the Tagma ton Xenon (the primary military group of the Byzantine Kindred) granted them a reprieve from the base struggle for survival, and they turned their attention ever more deeply to their spiritual explorations. Over time they sired a small brood, which Devoted itself to furthering the philosophy of the line, and the group garnered a reputation for studious understanding and spiritual sensitivity that rivaled the Mekhet. The Priscus of Gangrel petitioned the Imperator to elevate the group to the rank of Theme. He did so, naming them Mystikoi and granting them exclusive feeding rights over a monastic order within the city so long as they kept safe the many detailed records of the Athanatoi. This action birthed a thousand-year feud with the Agonistes line (which had, until then, been the primary record-keepers and historians of Constantinople).
At the same time, the eldest Illuminated began slipping into seclusion, often wearing heavy robes to obscure the strange malformations taking root in their physical forms. Only among other members of the line did the Mystikoi leave their physical changes exposed, and within the fellowship the bizarre markings came to signify advanced spiritual understanding. The line withdrew from the Tagma ton Xenon and petitioned for membership in The Lancea Sanctum. They were rejected and took shelter instead under the aegis of the Athanatoi.
The destruction of Constantinople saw the scattering of the Mystikoi. Most traveled north into the Carpathians or east into Russia. There they became wondering priests, a role they were particularly suited to, bridging the gap between animist native Kindred and the monotheistic religious tradition that the pagans found so difficult to understand. In time, the Illuminated drew the attention of a Transylvanian vampire called Vlad Dracula, and the lineage became one of the early cornerstones of The Ordo Dracul, lending the covenant many of its ideals.
The Illuminated maintain a strange, uncomfortable relationship with their inner Beast. Mystikoi philosophy posits three levels of being: the physical, the intellectual and the spiritual, each a more pure pursuit than the last. Traditional Mystikoi faith upholds the Beast as the syzygos, the Divine Self, a spiritual guide towards transcendence. The Beast is that which is eternal within the Kindred, and thus more akin to the divine source than not. While the Sanctified pursue oneness with the archons, the Darkness’s jailors over his creation, the Illuminated step up the rung, setting their sights on the higher Unity. Through the secrets of Spiritus Sancti, the lineage communes with the hidden world. Most consider the spirits they encounter through the power to be higher beings, the spiritual counterparts to physical creation, and emulate them in order to become more like them. (The vicious behavior among spirits observed by elders of the line serves as part of the reason that so many consider their Beast a divine guide.)
In modern nights a schism has formed within the bloodline. Some members claim that the Beast, as a creation of the Darkness, serves primarily as a cruel warden over the jail of the adherent’s physical form. Furthermore, the spirits the Mystikoi venerate exist primarily as a reflection of the physical world. No understanding of the divine can be garnered from Meditation on such base entities. These Kindred instead work to reject and chain the Beast, pursuing perfection primarily through The Coils of the Dragon and utilizing Spiritus Sancti as a tool of study.
Like many older bloodlines, the Mystikoi have almost nothing in the way of an overarching organization. Their rejection of ritual as frivolous pomp results in a culture based primarily in the members’ understanding of how one goes about scholarship and study, an understanding that changes over the centuries. Teachers have a position of particular reverence within the line, however, and those who serve as Avus to bloodline applicants earn a great deal of respect.
The two Gangrel, however, found that their relatively easy new existence within the Tagma ton Xenon (the primary military group of the Byzantine Kindred) granted them a reprieve from the base struggle for survival, and they turned their attention ever more deeply to their spiritual explorations. Over time they sired a small brood, which Devoted itself to furthering the philosophy of the line, and the group garnered a reputation for studious understanding and spiritual sensitivity that rivaled the Mekhet. The Priscus of Gangrel petitioned the Imperator to elevate the group to the rank of Theme. He did so, naming them Mystikoi and granting them exclusive feeding rights over a monastic order within the city so long as they kept safe the many detailed records of the Athanatoi. This action birthed a thousand-year feud with the Agonistes line (which had, until then, been the primary record-keepers and historians of Constantinople).
At the same time, the eldest Illuminated began slipping into seclusion, often wearing heavy robes to obscure the strange malformations taking root in their physical forms. Only among other members of the line did the Mystikoi leave their physical changes exposed, and within the fellowship the bizarre markings came to signify advanced spiritual understanding. The line withdrew from the Tagma ton Xenon and petitioned for membership in The Lancea Sanctum. They were rejected and took shelter instead under the aegis of the Athanatoi.
The destruction of Constantinople saw the scattering of the Mystikoi. Most traveled north into the Carpathians or east into Russia. There they became wondering priests, a role they were particularly suited to, bridging the gap between animist native Kindred and the monotheistic religious tradition that the pagans found so difficult to understand. In time, the Illuminated drew the attention of a Transylvanian vampire called Vlad Dracula, and the lineage became one of the early cornerstones of The Ordo Dracul, lending the covenant many of its ideals.
The Hidden Church
The bloodline takes care to choose its childer from among the faithful and studious. The lineage respects scholarship and quiet Meditation, tasks often at odds with the vociferous Beast of Clan Gangrel. As a result, members must be intelligent and willful enough to overcome the instinctual need to exist forever in the moment. Sires largely reject ceremonial trappings during the Embrace and entrance into the bloodline. They usually encourage childer to continue the Research they pursued as mortals, but to add to it studies of faith and philosophy.The Illuminated maintain a strange, uncomfortable relationship with their inner Beast. Mystikoi philosophy posits three levels of being: the physical, the intellectual and the spiritual, each a more pure pursuit than the last. Traditional Mystikoi faith upholds the Beast as the syzygos, the Divine Self, a spiritual guide towards transcendence. The Beast is that which is eternal within the Kindred, and thus more akin to the divine source than not. While the Sanctified pursue oneness with the archons, the Darkness’s jailors over his creation, the Illuminated step up the rung, setting their sights on the higher Unity. Through the secrets of Spiritus Sancti, the lineage communes with the hidden world. Most consider the spirits they encounter through the power to be higher beings, the spiritual counterparts to physical creation, and emulate them in order to become more like them. (The vicious behavior among spirits observed by elders of the line serves as part of the reason that so many consider their Beast a divine guide.)
In modern nights a schism has formed within the bloodline. Some members claim that the Beast, as a creation of the Darkness, serves primarily as a cruel warden over the jail of the adherent’s physical form. Furthermore, the spirits the Mystikoi venerate exist primarily as a reflection of the physical world. No understanding of the divine can be garnered from Meditation on such base entities. These Kindred instead work to reject and chain the Beast, pursuing perfection primarily through The Coils of the Dragon and utilizing Spiritus Sancti as a tool of study.
Like many older bloodlines, the Mystikoi have almost nothing in the way of an overarching organization. Their rejection of ritual as frivolous pomp results in a culture based primarily in the members’ understanding of how one goes about scholarship and study, an understanding that changes over the centuries. Teachers have a position of particular reverence within the line, however, and those who serve as Avus to bloodline applicants earn a great deal of respect.
Major organizations
Reputation: The Mystikoi, though historically important, remain a small and insular bloodline in the modern nights. They tend to operate in separate enclaves, sharing their discoveries with one another and The Ordo Dracul. They rarely burden unbelievers with their theories and almost never proselytize. As a result, few Kindred have a strong opinion of them. They go largely unnoticed by both The Invictus and the Carthians, who simply don’t share their esoteric interests. The Circle of the Crone feels that the line likely began among their number but has become woefully misguided over the centuries. The Sanctified still consider them heretical, but hardly any more so than the Dragons who they associate with.
Members of The Ordo Dracul tend to hold the lineage in some esteem. The Illuminated not only focus their existence on the study of philosophy and esoterica (primary concerns of the Order as a whole), they were also the first lineage outside of Dracula’s to pledge itself wholesale to the Dragons in the early nights of the covenant’s history. To this night, the vast majority of the Mystikoi hold membership among the Dragons, while a rare few join the other major covenants. For their part, the Mystikoi work well with members of other lines and covenants, as they are often eager to learn more of the world around them in all of its endless variations and more than happy to explore the philosophies of other vampires, at least for a while.
Members of The Ordo Dracul tend to hold the lineage in some esteem. The Illuminated not only focus their existence on the study of philosophy and esoterica (primary concerns of the Order as a whole), they were also the first lineage outside of Dracula’s to pledge itself wholesale to the Dragons in the early nights of the covenant’s history. To this night, the vast majority of the Mystikoi hold membership among the Dragons, while a rare few join the other major covenants. For their part, the Mystikoi work well with members of other lines and covenants, as they are often eager to learn more of the world around them in all of its endless variations and more than happy to explore the philosophies of other vampires, at least for a while.
Nickname: Illuminated, Bureaucrats (Archaic)
Bloodline Disciplines: Animalism, Protean, Resilience, Spiritus Sancti
Weakness: Despite their scholarly bent, members of the Mystikoi bloodline suffer from the Gangrel clan flaw (see p. 107 of Vampire: The Requiem).
Additionally, the Mystikoi possess a connection (and some would say a subservience) to their Beast that few among even the Gangrel know. A Mystikos may never spend Willpower to add dice to a roll to resist frenzy (though she may do so to ride the wave). The Mystikos may not spend a Willpower point to resist a Discipline or other supernatural power that would force her into frenzy. The Coil of the Beast, too (p. 149 of Vampire: The Requiem), works slightly differently for the Illuminated. The first tier, Chastise the Beast, requires that the player spend the Willpower point to avoid frenzy before rolling dice, rather than allowing the option of spending after a failed roll. The second tier, Lure the Beast, does not waive the Willpower point requirement to ride the wave. The third tier, Exhaust the Beast, is unchanged.
Concepts: Antiquities dealer, bizarre banker, Catholic priest-turned-Longinian heretic, drug-addicted student, esoteric scholar, New Age guru, science fiction writer, sorority sister, street corner preacher, weird scientist
Parent ethnicities
Weakness: Despite their scholarly bent, members of the Mystikoi bloodline suffer from the Gangrel clan flaw (see p. 107 of Vampire: The Requiem).
Additionally, the Mystikoi possess a connection (and some would say a subservience) to their Beast that few among even the Gangrel know. A Mystikos may never spend Willpower to add dice to a roll to resist frenzy (though she may do so to ride the wave). The Mystikos may not spend a Willpower point to resist a Discipline or other supernatural power that would force her into frenzy. The Coil of the Beast, too (p. 149 of Vampire: The Requiem), works slightly differently for the Illuminated. The first tier, Chastise the Beast, requires that the player spend the Willpower point to avoid frenzy before rolling dice, rather than allowing the option of spending after a failed roll. The second tier, Lure the Beast, does not waive the Willpower point requirement to ride the wave. The third tier, Exhaust the Beast, is unchanged.
Concepts: Antiquities dealer, bizarre banker, Catholic priest-turned-Longinian heretic, drug-addicted student, esoteric scholar, New Age guru, science fiction writer, sorority sister, street corner preacher, weird scientist