The Second Descent
One passage is crucial to the Acolytes of the Second Descent. This passage, taken from the Akkadian mythological poem “The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld,” is often inscribed somewhere within the Acolyte’s home. The passage may hang outside her door, be written into the first page of every journal or be scrawled and scratched onto the walls of every room 100 times over.
The passage is this: The daughter of sin is determined to go / to the dark house, dwelling of the dark god / to the house which those that enter cannot leave. This is not precise, for translations from the original Akkadian or Babylonian can make for some variance of word and word order, but it is roughly what one will find within the home of a Second Descent vampire. These Acolytes accept that they are the children of sin, living in a house of darkness and divinity, a house that they may not leave. In accepting this belief, they find wisdom in the truths of the Second Descent.
In mythology, the Underworld is a realm contrary to the rest of creation. The Underworld exists throughout various cultures as a place outside of life, where death is instead the dominant force. Some consider the Underworld to be subterranean, actually existing beneath the surface of the earth, whereas others accept the Underworld as spiritually separate regardless of its corporeal location.
Whether the Underworld is the Great Below of Mesopotamian stories, the classical Hades of Greek and Roman myth, or the Norse Niflheim, the principal ideas remain the same. In fact, a number of key images and concepts link most of these mythological Underworlds. Some are physical (rivers, bridges, mountainous barriers), and others are conceptual (wisdom, secrets, death). The crux is that the Underworld is not a place of life, but of death. The Underworld isn’t a place of punishment, but instead an initiation. One does not find the known truths here, only hidden secrets.
The Acolytes of the Second Descent believe that all of this wisdom applies specifically to them. While certainly mortals have something to glean from the stories if they so choose, Kindred are the ones who personify the journey to the Underworld.
This, however, is not necessarily unnatural. It is troublesome, yes. It creates anguish and misery, but so do many things. The Requiem, for these Acolytes, is not a sentence. They don’t see themselves as being punished. To the contrary, the Requiem is an initiation. It is only one step toward some kind of greater existence. One cannot know the Great Above without knowing the Great Below. Spring cannot come before winter. Enlightenment is impossible without tribulation.
The Second Descent — that which gives the philosophy its name — is when life enters the Underworld and becomes death. The term is taken from Inanna’s descent from the heavens to the Underworld realm of her sister, Ereshkigal. Inanna must give everything up to be there, including her clothing, her fertility and her power. However, the Acolytes of the Second Descent don’t focus purely on Inanna and the Mesopotamian story.
Other cultures have similar stories of beings both mortal and divine lowering themselves into the Underworld. In Greek and Roman myth, Orpheus and Aeneas both entered the Underworld to see their deceased loved ones, and both returned having drawn wisdom from death. Orpheus learned how difficult it is to truly leave the Underworld once you are a part of it. Aeneas learned his fate as the founder of a powerful empire (Rome), but he was not allowed to take what he learned away from the Underworld, for such knowledge is not meant for the living.
These Kindred accept that they have made the Second Descent. They are now tied to death and freed from life. The Second Descent seems terrible, and truly, it is. With uncontrollable hungers, a fear of the sun and an endless array of enemies natural and unnatural, how could the Second Descent be perceived as a promising state of being? These Acolytes do not deny the horror of what they have become. Unlike many other vampires, however, the Acolytes see these elements as tests — trials that, if passed, will take them to greater wisdom and what many call the Third Descent.
The Third Descent is, for these Kindred, divinity. It is not an ascent; the Third Descent does not return them to life and revoke death. That cannot happen. No, in the Third Descent, a vampire becomes one of the gods of the Underworld. The Kindred gain access to powers, limitless and inimitable. They also become privy to the secrets of the world, and once one knows its secrets, they are not bound by it any longer.
Few can agree on whether any vampire has yet to make the Third Descent. Many suggest that a few have completed that journey. These ancient beings, once Kindred, are now creatures that sleep deep within the clay and mud. Their powers do not need consciousness or physical movement (though sometimes they partake of both) to affect the world, and they become part of the fundamental nature of all things.
Other Acolytes are not so certain that any vampires have truly taken that final fall — surely some think they have, choosing to claim divinity and reap the fruits of worship. Claiming something and truly being something are two entirely separate things, however. No, some Second Descent Acolytes perceive the Third Descent much as they do the entire philosophy: as metaphor. The Third Descent is simply coming to terms with one’s Requiem, finding peace and power within.
The passage is this: The daughter of sin is determined to go / to the dark house, dwelling of the dark god / to the house which those that enter cannot leave. This is not precise, for translations from the original Akkadian or Babylonian can make for some variance of word and word order, but it is roughly what one will find within the home of a Second Descent vampire. These Acolytes accept that they are the children of sin, living in a house of darkness and divinity, a house that they may not leave. In accepting this belief, they find wisdom in the truths of the Second Descent.
The Dark House
The mythic Underworld is the key concept for all vampires of the Second Descent. To some Acolytes, the Underworld (occasionally called “the Dark House”) represents only a metaphor. To others, the Underworld is a very real place — or, at the least, a very real state of being. The Underworld is not Hell; Hell is largely a Christian concept (and, as some will decry, a perversion of the original pagan idea of the Underworld). Similarly, the Underworld is not punishment. These Acolytes do not consider sin or impurity to be important or even measurable concepts. Humans are sinful, but sin itself has no consequence. So, what is the Underworld, then?In mythology, the Underworld is a realm contrary to the rest of creation. The Underworld exists throughout various cultures as a place outside of life, where death is instead the dominant force. Some consider the Underworld to be subterranean, actually existing beneath the surface of the earth, whereas others accept the Underworld as spiritually separate regardless of its corporeal location.
Whether the Underworld is the Great Below of Mesopotamian stories, the classical Hades of Greek and Roman myth, or the Norse Niflheim, the principal ideas remain the same. In fact, a number of key images and concepts link most of these mythological Underworlds. Some are physical (rivers, bridges, mountainous barriers), and others are conceptual (wisdom, secrets, death). The crux is that the Underworld is not a place of life, but of death. The Underworld isn’t a place of punishment, but instead an initiation. One does not find the known truths here, only hidden secrets.
The Acolytes of the Second Descent believe that all of this wisdom applies specifically to them. While certainly mortals have something to glean from the stories if they so choose, Kindred are the ones who personify the journey to the Underworld.
Requiem for the Great Above
These Acolytes accept one truth: the Requiem is the Underworld. The Kindred leave life and become death. Their wombs are barren, and they are left to feed only on blood, dust and ash. While they may seem a physical part of the world, they do not belong to it. The whorls and orbits of Humanity are now inaccessible. The Kindred cannot hold human jobs, or maintain honest emotions or loving relationships. Vampires are creatures of the margins, existing on the fringes of existence. Vampires are dead beings hungry to consume life.This, however, is not necessarily unnatural. It is troublesome, yes. It creates anguish and misery, but so do many things. The Requiem, for these Acolytes, is not a sentence. They don’t see themselves as being punished. To the contrary, the Requiem is an initiation. It is only one step toward some kind of greater existence. One cannot know the Great Above without knowing the Great Below. Spring cannot come before winter. Enlightenment is impossible without tribulation.
Descent
The First Descent, according to these vampires, was the soul’s descent from the ephemeral heavens to the mundane world of clay and Rock. That step involves gaining life and becoming human. All mortal beings have made the First Descent.The Second Descent — that which gives the philosophy its name — is when life enters the Underworld and becomes death. The term is taken from Inanna’s descent from the heavens to the Underworld realm of her sister, Ereshkigal. Inanna must give everything up to be there, including her clothing, her fertility and her power. However, the Acolytes of the Second Descent don’t focus purely on Inanna and the Mesopotamian story.
Other cultures have similar stories of beings both mortal and divine lowering themselves into the Underworld. In Greek and Roman myth, Orpheus and Aeneas both entered the Underworld to see their deceased loved ones, and both returned having drawn wisdom from death. Orpheus learned how difficult it is to truly leave the Underworld once you are a part of it. Aeneas learned his fate as the founder of a powerful empire (Rome), but he was not allowed to take what he learned away from the Underworld, for such knowledge is not meant for the living.
These Kindred accept that they have made the Second Descent. They are now tied to death and freed from life. The Second Descent seems terrible, and truly, it is. With uncontrollable hungers, a fear of the sun and an endless array of enemies natural and unnatural, how could the Second Descent be perceived as a promising state of being? These Acolytes do not deny the horror of what they have become. Unlike many other vampires, however, the Acolytes see these elements as tests — trials that, if passed, will take them to greater wisdom and what many call the Third Descent.
The Third Descent is, for these Kindred, divinity. It is not an ascent; the Third Descent does not return them to life and revoke death. That cannot happen. No, in the Third Descent, a vampire becomes one of the gods of the Underworld. The Kindred gain access to powers, limitless and inimitable. They also become privy to the secrets of the world, and once one knows its secrets, they are not bound by it any longer.
Few can agree on whether any vampire has yet to make the Third Descent. Many suggest that a few have completed that journey. These ancient beings, once Kindred, are now creatures that sleep deep within the clay and mud. Their powers do not need consciousness or physical movement (though sometimes they partake of both) to affect the world, and they become part of the fundamental nature of all things.
Other Acolytes are not so certain that any vampires have truly taken that final fall — surely some think they have, choosing to claim divinity and reap the fruits of worship. Claiming something and truly being something are two entirely separate things, however. No, some Second Descent Acolytes perceive the Third Descent much as they do the entire philosophy: as metaphor. The Third Descent is simply coming to terms with one’s Requiem, finding peace and power within.
Structure
Titles and Duties
The Second Descent does not have a literal hierarchy — such social strata already exist in the form of Princes, Hierophants, Harpies and so on. The roles described below are less about hierarchy and simply more about functions within the philosophy. They are not given so much as claimed. When a vampire seeks to become one of these roles, he simply fulfills the duty and calls himself that thing.These duties are taken from the Sumerian mythic poem, “The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld.” This passage reads:
Then Ereshkigal fastend on Inanna the eye of death. She spoke against her the word of wrath She uttered against her the cry of guilt. She struck her.
Culture
Society and Culture
In many cases, the Acolytes of the Second Descent do not properly form any kind of “society.” They dwell in mixed coteries and sometimes even belong to other covenants, believing in the core ideas of the Descent in their own ways. Others, however, take the philosophy to the next step and engage it more acutely. What follows is an exploration of the culture formed when Second Descent Acolytes bond more closely to attempt to enact philosophy into practical accomplishment.Roles
Within the larger covenant of The Circle of the Crone, the Second Descent Damned may seek a variety of roles. Some gravitate naturally toward the role of Hierophant. By becoming the spiritual leader of the city’s Circle, the Acolyte can steer worship toward the Second Descent. In such cities, one Underworld god or goddess is chosen as the predominant icon of belief.That said, many practitioners care little for temporal power, and they don’t need to steer the Circle in any particular direction. The Second Descent is not a missionary philosophy; it doesn’t require bringing others to wisdom, only that an individual is capable of bringing herself to wisdom. Many Second Descent vampires sit on the sidelines of their own covenant, watching and waiting. Though, eventually the whirling waltz of the Danse Macabre envelops all.
Across the Covenants
Generally, the Acolytes of the Second Descent have little issue with vampires of other covenants. All are part of the Underworld whether they recognize it or not — why kick the hornet’s nest for no reason? The Acolyte may perceive a member of another covenant as a “guardian” who must be challenged and defeated, but the Acolyte doesn’t generally take on an entire covenant or its doctrines.No, these Acolytes usually get along well with the members of other covenants. These Acolytes do not initially attempt to push their ways upon others — conversion isn’t necessary, because eventually another will come to recognize that the Acolyte holds wisdom that the other does not. He will come seeking it, and then he may learn of the Second Descent. (Some Acolytes do proselytize the philosophies, but this is often frowned upon by other practitioners.) In this way, some Second Descent vampires add “spiritual advisor” to their list of potential roles.
Vampires of other covenants sometimes consider it in vogue to have one of these Acolytes by their side, whispering wisdom in their ears at Elysium. And while most Sanctified balk at this, even they have at times been known to associate with the Kindred of the Second Descent. While the Acolytes don’t include a Christian Underworld in their teachings, if transposing the term “Underworld” with “Hell” brings a Lancea Sanctum vampire to the well of wisdom, so be it.
Some members of other covenants become Second Descent practitioners, whether or not they ever accept the ways of the Circle. While the Sanctified are rarely willing to cross over, others certainly are. Damned of the First Estate generally learn of the Second Descent because it is trendy or allows them to explore a spiritual curiosity. Carthians can be all over the place with their beliefs — the Second Descent doesn’t clash with any ideas of freedom or personal power (arguably the Second Descent supports the power of the individual Kindred), and so many come to learn more. Vampires of The Ordo Dracul make up a small but notable portion of the philosophy, actually.
The notion of a Third Descent — i.e., a state of existence beyond the Requiem — is often what draws the Dragons to the practice. They incorporate the concepts of the Underworld into their occult practices. When the Dragons and the Acolytes find this common ground, they tend to establish a strong power bloc of knowledge and ability, if not direct authority.
History
The backbone of the Second Descent is its mythology. Not only does it have a number of human mythologies with which it may inform its purpose and wisdom, but the Second Descent also has a number of legends outside the mortal world. These tales (such as “Azar’s Defeat of the Black Bulls” and “The Journey Beyond the Razor Bridge”) tell the stories of Kindred who have navigated a very real Underworld, having dealt with any manner of old gods from various cultures and time periods.
The tale that marks the approximate beginning of the Second Descent philosophy in modern nights is the one explaining how the Kindred myths surfaced in the first place.
Then she fed. She did not prey on a single sleeping family — no, she swept through the village like a windblown fire, going house to house and gorging on blood as if she had forgotten the taste. Of course, the town already had a vampire — a lone predator living deep in the caves of the nearby mountains. Stirred by the screams of villagers, the Kindred came to see what had come to his territory. He found the little girl, and went to dispatch her.
It was not so simple. She was caught in the throes of frenzy, and she made surprisingly short work of him. Her strength was incomparable — the way she wrenched his arm out of the socket was, to her, as easy as plucking a dandelion. Wisely, he fled to get help.
The following night, three Kindred came from the nearby town of Freudenstadt. They found the girl sitting in the midst of a ruined village. It was empty of life, though bodies filled the snowy streets. Some of the small cottages had burned, as had the town’s great hall. The girl was docile, polite and spoke clear German in an unusual accent. She said her name was Ethelinde, and that she was sorry, and she would go where they wanted her to go. They took her to Freudenstadt, where other Kindred waited.
The gathered Kindred discovered the cloth she left behind, and uncovered a number of scrolls and pages, all written in blood. These scrolls were the myths that would eventually spawn the philosophy. Reading them was said to overwhelm the vampires, assaulting them with visions of legend made real. The Kindred were made to see as if they were entering the Underworld themselves, much as the vampires in the stories had done.
These German Kindred became the proselytes for the Second Descent. They concealed the scrolls and only showed them to those who were truly ready. As for Ethelinde, nobody knows what happened to her. When the Kindred returned from reading the texts, she was gone, the chains broken as if bitten in twain.
The three vampires — founders of the sect — still reside in Europe, maintaining a strong Acolyte powerbase in and around both Austria and Germany.
The tale that marks the approximate beginning of the Second Descent philosophy in modern nights is the one explaining how the Kindred myths surfaced in the first place.
Ethelinde
In the late 19th century, a vampire came stumbling out of the Black Forest and into the German village of Röt- Schönegründ. The snows had piled high that winter, and were only just beginning to thaw. The vampire — a seemingly young girl in her late teens — was clothed in dirty rags, half-naked despite the snow. Her lips were crusted black, her hair stringy and muddy. Strangest was that her skin and hair held chunks of ice and frozen blood. The vampire girl held a bundle of cloth in her hands, which she set down upon the periphery of the village.Then she fed. She did not prey on a single sleeping family — no, she swept through the village like a windblown fire, going house to house and gorging on blood as if she had forgotten the taste. Of course, the town already had a vampire — a lone predator living deep in the caves of the nearby mountains. Stirred by the screams of villagers, the Kindred came to see what had come to his territory. He found the little girl, and went to dispatch her.
It was not so simple. She was caught in the throes of frenzy, and she made surprisingly short work of him. Her strength was incomparable — the way she wrenched his arm out of the socket was, to her, as easy as plucking a dandelion. Wisely, he fled to get help.
The following night, three Kindred came from the nearby town of Freudenstadt. They found the girl sitting in the midst of a ruined village. It was empty of life, though bodies filled the snowy streets. Some of the small cottages had burned, as had the town’s great hall. The girl was docile, polite and spoke clear German in an unusual accent. She said her name was Ethelinde, and that she was sorry, and she would go where they wanted her to go. They took her to Freudenstadt, where other Kindred waited.
Truth Wrapped in Cloth
They shackled each limb in irons and kept her in a small cell. She was tractable, offering no resistance. When they asked her who she was or where she came from, she could only offer her name and a muddled account of a place beneath the ground where rivers ran with water that tasted like blood, and where “the gods of blood and death taught their lessons.” Sometimes she called these gods the Vanir, other times the Annunaki. She called the underground place many names: Nidavellir, Kur, the Dark House, even the Elysian Fields. The story changed with every telling, and she seemed lost in her own mind.The gathered Kindred discovered the cloth she left behind, and uncovered a number of scrolls and pages, all written in blood. These scrolls were the myths that would eventually spawn the philosophy. Reading them was said to overwhelm the vampires, assaulting them with visions of legend made real. The Kindred were made to see as if they were entering the Underworld themselves, much as the vampires in the stories had done.
These German Kindred became the proselytes for the Second Descent. They concealed the scrolls and only showed them to those who were truly ready. As for Ethelinde, nobody knows what happened to her. When the Kindred returned from reading the texts, she was gone, the chains broken as if bitten in twain.
The three vampires — founders of the sect — still reside in Europe, maintaining a strong Acolyte powerbase in and around both Austria and Germany.
Tenets of Faith
Precepts
Below are some of the precepts that the Second Descent Acolytes follow. Those who accept only the philosophies of this sect pick and choose from the ideas represented. Those who come together and form cults of Second Descent vampires tend to be stricter in their interpretations of these notions.Chthonic Gods
Practitioners or participants of the Second Descent restrict their worship to only those gods that, mythologically, have been associated with the Underworld. This may mean venerating a deity of the Underworld (the Sumerian Ereshkigal, the Greek Hades, the Hindu Yama), or a being who has gone to the Underworld and returned (Ereshkigal’s sister, Inanna; Demeter or her daughter, Persephone; the Norse Loki, chained in the Underworld).Generally, an Acolyte of the Second Descent will identify herself with one specific god or goddess, limiting her prayer and sacrifice to only that deity. A dark and vengeful Kindred with (what she believes to be) a capacity for love might take Ereshkigal as her patroness. A sad and broken-hearted neonate may offer worship to Persephone — but, decades later, when her heart has hardened and she has grown wintry, she may instead come to revere Persephone’s mother, Demeter.
All Acolytes of the Second Descent are encouraged to offer some manner of sacrifice to their deity. The nature of said sacrifice is up to the individual adherent, though most offer some kind of life or blood as is fitting for the entities of the Underworld. Sacrificing life is often a small affair; many lay small animals upon an Altar and bleed them out, sometimes in a ritual bowl. Some vampires offer blood from a still-living mortal, or kill the human to gain the Vitae. (Infants are, according to unspokendoctrine, to be sacrificed rarely. The offer of a young child is only for imploring the gods for a great favor.)
A vampire should never consume the blood offered. The sacrificed blood is now marked for the gods. To consume it after it has been given is like stealing fire from the gods — crass, offensive and dangerous.
This Dead and Frozen Heart
One of the ways the Second Descent Acolytes separate themselves from other Circle members is that the Second Descent Acolytes reject creation. Creation may be power, but it’s not power that the Damned are meant to have.One of the key symbols associated with the Second Descent is winter. Mythically, this is appropriate. Many of the gods who descended to the Underworld gave up their lives as well as their power over the world’s fertility. When ruling deities travel to the land of the dead, winter comes. Crops die. Livestock is capable only of birthing sterile or deformed litters. Trees become bare like flesh-stripped bones. These Kindred see themselves as beings of winter — dead, frozen, unyielding.
Some carry this symbology over to their dress and décor: they wear all white, keep their havens cold like meat lockers and even wear makeup to keep their skin pale as hoarfrost. Others prefer to invoke winter in their personalities — curt, icy, stubborn. Winter is significant to these Acolytes. In fact, most of the holidays and rituals unique to this philosophy take place during winter. It is the time of death, and thus should be celebrated.
Winter is emblematic of why these vampires cannot “create” anything. Winter produces nothing; it either kills life or puts it in stasis. This isn’t to say that some Second Descent Acolytes don’t create things in small ways. Some grow plants, raise animals or make art. Those Acolytes who do, however, are seen as a little bit foolish by the others, as if the creators are trying to touch the unreachable.
Lost Humanity
Creation is a mortal’s game. Let the mortals play housewife, gardener or farmer. Humans are alive. Vampires are not. The two — according to the tenets of the Second Descent — are not meant to mix.These Acolytes teach that the Kindred are in no way human. They should relinquish any ideas about being human. The moral laws and social mores of Humanity mean nothing. This can mean a number of things to a vampire of the Second Descent.
First, no Ghouls. Ghouls are seen as human, regardless of the stains of death that mar their still-living souls. Having a ghoul provides a needless link to the world of the living, and no vampire can ever find the way toward the Third Descent by upholding such a “safety line” to Humanity. Moreover, a human cannot be brought into the Underworld except through the Embrace — Ghouls and thralls are creatures that have one foot in death and one in life. That is abhorrent.
Second, no mortal Allies. The Acolytes of this philosophy don’t expressly avoid humans, but the Acolytes certainly try not to make friends with mortals. If Acolytes need humans, the vampires force the mortals or cajole them before discarding them (often violently). Humans should not be long-term Allies — they certainly can’t be “friends.” People are vessels for sacred blood, that which vampires steal to gain and offer power. One should not fraternize with the sacrifices.
Third, only rare mortals are meant for the Embrace. These Acolytes Embrace very infrequently — they don’t see it as a curse or a gift; the Embrace is simply a doorway that most humans are not meant to access. Wantonly dragging a living being into death is a gross misuse (and misunderstanding) of a vampire’s power. Generally, these vampires see it one way: if a human wants the Embrace, he may ask for it.
This, of course, is complicated. The Second Descent Acolytes keep to the Masquerade, and so ideally no mortal should ever be able to ask to be given the Embrace.
That said, it is not impossible for a human to uncover the truth of the Kindred — if he does, he has discovered the path to the Underworld all on his own, and may be lead down that road. Of course, some Acolytes find (or make) loopholes to this rule: they purposefully reveal the existence of vampires to a mortal, and then let the mortal ask to be given eternal life. If he doesn’t ask, then he is mind-raped through Domination or destroyed outright. If he asks — then doesn’t that fulfill the parameters of this precept?
This may sound as if Second Descent Kindred loathe Humanity. While this is true for some of these Acolytes, it isn’t for most. Humans are, in many ways, sacrosanct. Vampires look upon the living with awe. It isn’t hatred that separates these Acolytes from the mortal world, it’s an explicit understanding that the world of the living and the world of the dead do not belong together.
One of the concerns that other Kindred have about the Second Descent is how these ideas taint a practitioner’s soul. Some Humanity loss is expected. These vampires do not see themselves as out-and-out monsters; they’ve no precepts that glorify cruelty. Still, such a rejection of human ways can lead to an inevitable slide toward the Beast. Some see this slide as natural (after all, it is in its own way a descent).
Most, however, temper the dogma of the Second Descent with some pragmatism of behavior. They still grasp some of their human ways and ideals without making it expressly clear. Not all Second Descent Acolytes are the worst kind of monsters.
World of Suffering
These Acolytes accept that through suffering, one may find enlightenment. They don’t step out of their way to create suffering for themselves, however. The Requiem is suffering. The Underworld is anguish, emptiness and pain. Why make the Requiem harder than it needs to be?The point here is, a Second Descent vampire sees his Requiem as a trial. It is a stage of existence in which death comes after life. Furthermore, he believes that something comes after death. Whether he believes that this Third Descent is a respite from hungers or a gift of divinity is his choice to make. To enter the Third Descent, he must pass through all the trials and initiations of the Second Descent.
While some are certainly content to leave the definitions of such tests vague, most following this philosophy are driven to define their tests very particularly. How they do this is a matter of some interpretation.
The Underworld myths typically have a number of common elements and images associated with them. Many such legends feature bridges, rivers, boatmen, gateways and guardians. Many Second Descent Acolytes actually ascribe these mythic icons significance from their own Requiems.
Bridge: Bridges are perilous connectors uniting two places, but the bridge itself is not a place. A bridge is often dangerous — wide as a hair, sharp as a razor, suspended over a place far below strewn with the bones of the fallen. Most Acolytes accept that the bridge represents the Danse Macabre — that nightly tightrope walk that maneuvers a vampire through his own cruel society. Some believe that a bridge is more specific: it may represent “crossing over” and making Allies within another covenant, or gaining impermissible powers.
Boatmen: Whether the boatman is Urshambi leading Utnapishtim in the Gilgamesh myth or Charon crossing the River Styx in Greek myth, he is a seminal figure. He represents the first of many guardians, but the only guardian who can be made an ally. In a vampire’s Requiem, the boatman could be another figure (often an elder or an enemy) who can be given favor and made a crucial partner. His costs are always high, desiring something that the Acolyte doesn’t want to relinquish (blood, a token from his old life, freedom).
Gateway: The Underworld is rife with gateways. The young Algonquin warrior must enter a cyclone’s eye to find his Spirit Bride on the shores beyond. Ishtar passed through seven gates (each requiring a new sacrifice) to meet with her sister. Second Descent Acolytes keep a vigilant eye out for opportunities to change themselves or sacrifice something. Is it possible to leave this city and make a home in another? Is a change of station within the covenant (perhaps becoming Hierophant) an option? Or has the Acolyte ruined all things and must become an anchorite away from the Danse Macabre? The vampire will not shy away from such changes, and should instead rush toward them regardless of their value or utter lack of advantage.
Guardians: The Underworld is not without its protectors: Cerberus, Anubis, Garm. A vampire may not traverse her Requiem without encountering those who want to make sure she is worthy to do so. Many Acolytes literally identify one or several others who challenge them (physically, mentally or socially). These Acolytes accept the challenge (whether it is real or merely perceived) and attempt to “defeat” the guardians at their own games. Acolytes can spend decades or longer going round after round with self-made enemies in this way. Victory against a guardian helps the vampire move toward the Third Descent.
Rivers: Rivers separate the Underworld into many parts. In the Abyss, one finds rivers of fire, of forgetfulness, of woe. The waters of every river mark territory, except to an Acolyte, this is not physical territory. It is the territory of forbidden wisdom. The Underworld is the resting place for all secrets, and so the vampire must metaphorically bathe in the rivers and uncover hidden truths. She must endeavor to learn the secrets of others as well as illicit magic, no matter the cost or difficulty. Perhaps she seeks to uncover rumors about a local Sanctified Bishop, or instead goes on a journey to find forgotten Crúac rituals.
Type
Religious, Sect
Ruling Organization
Parent Organization
Related Ranks & Titles
Dichotomies
The Second Descent is, to some, only a philosophy. Acolytes follow its ideas without expressing them or converting others to the idea. Some Acolytes adhere to all of the purported truths, whereas others pick and choose those tenets that help them make it from night to night. Others embody the philosophies and ideas and make them into a society — a covenant within the covenant, so to speak — geared toward exemplifying the Second Descent in their Requiems, while similarly turning others toward the wisdom expressed in the stories of the Underworld.This section will help describe both those vampires who only glean wisdom from the Second Descent without action, and those vampires who purposefully introduce the core concepts into their seemingly endless unlives.
Waters of Lethe
In Greek and Roman myth, when one leaves the Underworld for any reason, he must drink from the waters of the River Lethe (sometimes called the Water of Oblivion). A drink from this river causes the soul to forget all that had transpired in the Underworld.This has echoes in a vampire’s Requiem. When a vampire enters a long torpor, thus weakening the potency of his Vitae, he sometimes is subject to the Fog of Eternity. Truths become unclear, and wisdom may cannibalize itself, becoming confused and half-eaten. Some Acolytes, having gone through this process, claim to have supped upon the waters of a river of blood — many vampires of the Second Descent are certain that this is the River Lethe.
For this reason, these Acolytes desperately fear long periods of torpor. It is horrifying for them to consider that their initiation can be set back — or forever sabotaged — by such grotesque somnolence. They do what they must to forestall it, even though it is perhaps inevitable. Some become obsessed with writing everything down (hence why many keep hundreds, if not thousands, of journals). A few Acolytes suggest, however, that if the waters of Lethe are the proper part of exiting the Underworld, is perhaps a long torpor a signpost on the way to the Third Descent?