The Torments of Longinus

Torments describes the unlife of Longinus, whose new name was taken from a Latinization of the Greek word for “Spear.” The book details Longinus’ efforts to come to grips with his new state, his eventual Embrace of the monk who came to be known as the Monachus, and establishment of the early Black Church. A somewhat depressing text evocative of the Old Testament book of Lamentations, Torments addresses what happened to Longinus after he became a vampire, and how he came to realize that he could assuage his endless hunger with the blood of any mortal save that of Christians. By the end of the second century, however, Longinus discovered that he could even feed from most Christians, though the truly devout were able to repel him through some miraculous (and not fully understood) aura of sanctity. Longinus attributed this development to growing apostasy in the early Church following the deaths of Peter, Paul and the other Apostles.
The last few chapters of Torments deal with his discovery somewhere in Europe of a monastery whose monks had fallen into all manner of sinful activities. Longinus, enraged by the impiety of the monks, slew all of them in a variety of painful ways appropriate to their sins. This section of Torments is lurid and rather gory, with several chapters devoted to the various painful demises of the monks. The last surviving monk was an elderly scholar who had resisted the sinful urges of the others. Upon encountering Longinus after the death of his brothers, the monk (known to history only as “the Monachus”) calmly acknowledged Longinus’ vampiric state and concluded that the slaughter of the other monks was divine judgment for their transgressions. Longinus and the Monachus, who never displayed fear of the great predator, spent many long nights discussing Christ’s divinity, the role of vampires in God’s plan, and the true nature of Good and Evil. Eventually, Longinus concluded that the monk was a worthy disciple and offered him a choice between death and the Embrace. After some hesitation, the monk concluded Longinus’ arrival was ordained by God, and even though the Embrace meant damnation, choosing death was tantamount to suicide and therefore also a mortal sin. Thus, the Monachus accepted the Embrace, reasoning that God would not have completely denied him an opportunity for salvation and that undeath must carry with it the possibility of some kind of redemption.
After Embracing the Monachus, Longinus and his new childe went out into the world and collected the first Dark Apostles, a group of vampires Embraced for their violation of various sins. The number of the Dark Apostles is unclear, as there are conflicting accounts even within the text of Torments, but most of the Sanctified accept between seven and nineteen. At least a third of the Dark Apostles were women. Each was given a choice between death and damnation, and each chose to walk as Longinus did. The Dark Apostles founded an abbey, called the Black Abbey, as their base of operations for their efforts to spread the Gospel of Longinus across Europe.

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The Torments of Longinus

The Torments
of Loginus^a

1. Behold Longinus, spear of damnation, humbled and exalted before man! ²Behold the fruit of the blood of the anointed one, wandering in the wilderness! ³Behold his hunger, his fangs bared, his eyes empty! ⁴Woe unto you, children of the night, that such sin has come unto you!
⁵The pampered servants of the ruling class have been cast out, and the virtuous ones have been driven from their homes. The soldier has become the fugitive and the noble a slave.
⁶All is death and darkness, and hunger walks through them.
2. Each night I awaken and hunger digs its claws into my belly. ²All the sweet and savory foods of my gluttony are tasteless and dry. Rich banquets hold no allure. ³I walk through the streets of the city like a beggar and a thief, shaking with hunger. I cannot find sustenance.
⁴In my weakness I collapse in the street near the beggars and cripples. ⁵In an instant I can sense the scent of true food. ⁶I cannot imagine the origin of such delicacies, and in my frustration I fall upon a beggar with fury. ⁷His blood falls upon my lips and my eyes are cleared again. ⁸My fangs find his throat and I drink deeply. ⁹I have become a wolf among men.
3. The Sanctified of the Lord is bereft of His light. ²I walk between the dwellings of men, finding neither welcome in their parlors nor nourishment in their company. ³In retribution I feed upon their children, their wives and their parents. ⁴The blood of mankind is ambrosia to my palate, and with relish I drink deeply. ⁵Men cower before my dark majesty, and upon them I slake my thirst.
⁶Yet from the pious followers of the crucified I cannot feed. ⁷Their purity repels me, turns my stomach, negates my hunger. Each enclave of the

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a The manuscript version of this is written in a kind of strange poetic structure, the likes of which I have never seen. Though it is most often translated in the past tense in keeping with English prose norms, I have opted for the present tense to keep the sense of urgency which the rhythms of the original give it. Where there are deviations from the canonical text I have noted them, though I do recommend a close reading of those editions of the text along with this version so that the fullest understanding of the Torments may be gained. VB

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faithful is anathema to my state. 8I turn my back upon them and walk forth again into the night.
⁹I am alone.
4. I visit the palaces and halls of my kind, and find cold welcome there. ²My attempts to bring to my brethren the truth that I have witnessed are met with public scorn and laughter. ³Yet I persist in my efforts. Surely this willful ignorance must be provoking to the Lord! ⁴Few and far between are the Kindred who humor me with a receptive ear or a kind word, ⁵and they are reviled by the Romans for this conduct. ⁶Yet I persist in my efforts.
⁷I cannot couch my message in the language of the philosophers and the arguments of Senators, and my speech is unimpressive. ⁸Yet I persist in my efforts.
⁹Fine rhetoric cannot gild gold.
5. My presence is a gall to the powerful, and they tolerate me no more. ²Threats of death and exile are heaped upon me, and I laugh. What punishment can these feeble things deliver to me? ³The Lord has shown me his holy grace only to withdraw it from me.
⁴The wealthy growl in my direction and the soldiers rattle their swords at me. ⁵They will not hear my message and think to scare me with their posturing.
⁶I cannot be injured by the punishment of mortal beings.
6. The Jews revolt against Rome, and the city is shaken. That the empire of all the world can be thrown into chaos by the pompous Jews! ²The powerful and wealthy are shocked, and I smile. 3Surely this is God’s punishment for their prideful reaction to me.
⁴Their punishment is bittersweet for me. ⁵I know that I have failed to minister to them, and my punishment is coming. 6I have let the empire slip through my grasp and the Lord will not be pleased with me.
⁷I am too lowly a servant for this task.
7. In frustration I leave the city, to wander for many nights. ²I know not how many pass, for I nearly starve in my travels. ³From time to time I find a lowly goatherd and am sated, ⁴but the wilderness and fields are no place for a being such as I.
⁵I despair of finding a remedy to my failings. ⁶I am but one Kindred, and cannot bring my message everywhere. ⁷Even when I can find receptive ears, my speech is crude and unformed. ⁸My wanderings take me far and still I cannot find inspiration.
⁹In the dark and hungry nights, I doubt.
8.My world shrinks to three things: 2hunger and doubt and the knowledge that I must succeed. ³I know my God is just, and his wrath will be welldeserved if I fail. ⁴I pray and weep and howl my frustration into the night, but His face is turned from me. ⁵I gnash my teeth and rend my garments and still no mercy is given.
⁶I groan in my misery and my ears fill with the buzz of flies. ⁷My body is encrusted in filth and my soul shudders in despair.
⁸I lie in earth like a pile of dung.
9. At last holy wisdom steals into my heart and I recognize my folly. ²I have failed in my ministry, but I cannot succeed while lying in the dirt. ³With renewed vigor I stir myself. ⁴I pray to the Lord for guidance, but no words echo in my soul. ⁵I rise and turn my steps toward the cities of man.
⁶In a lowly village a greedy merchant denies me hospitality. ⁷In judgment I feed upon him until his lifeblood has left him and I am sated. ⁸I wash in his basins and anoint myself with his expensive oils.
⁹God’s wolf again walks among man.
10.I am again enveloped by the city. ²I do not meet with my own kind, but rather listen to the philosophers and theologiansb of man. ³They write and they preach and they debate the finer points of the truth.
⁴They speak of the wisdom of the Christ and the teachings and miracles of his disciples. ⁵Their writings surpass my understanding and I am confounded.
⁶I must find a teacher.
11. In the quiet times of night I see the lamps of scholars lit in their small rooms. ²Like a truant child I listen at windows and skulk outside doors. ³At last God has mercy upon me.
⁴A scholar speaks to his fellow, explaining in careful and clear terms the mysteries of God and the Christ. ⁵He quotes the holy book of the Hebrews, the philosophers of the Greeks and the historians of Rome and Persia. ⁶He is patient and wise.
⁷The Lord has delivered him^c to me.
12. With humility and faith I approach the teacher. ²I come to him as yet another student and I beg him to impart to me his wisdom.
³Night after night I sit before him, ⁴the wolf listening attentively to the lamb. ⁵He guides my understanding and my questioning so that I might come to the truths through the power of my own intellect. ⁶In my questioning I learn many things about him and his life, and his understanding of man’s place in God’s plan.
⁷My wisdom increases, and I praise the Lord.

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b A more proper translation would be “wise man” rather than “theologian,” but that is awkward in English, so I have made this minor editorial change. HM
c It is unclear from the manuscript in hand whether this individual is the Monachus or not. Though the chronological sequence as presented here seems to indicate that it is a different person, we know that the Monachus was instrumental in the education of Longinus. I have studied other manuscripts that have the verses of this account interspersed with the slaughter of the Black Monastery, below, but this manuscript separates them. (Note that each section is in a slightly different version of the same hand – perhaps written at different times?) I believe this may be akin to the two conflicting accounts of the creation of Man in the Bible; we may never know what political or theological causes led to the alteration of the text in one direction or the other, nor can I say with any certainty which is the “true” version. VB

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13. For many nights I study and learn, and my teacher makes clear the path to wisdom. ²At last he tells me that he has taught me all he can, ³and that instead of a teacher, he will be my brother, to study with and discuss the mysteries of the Lord.
⁴I am troubled at this, for I know that we are not equals, he and I. ⁵Though he is wise, his understanding of God’s plan is incomplete. He knows not that I am Damned.
⁶I leave him in haste and take myself out into the night to pray.
⁷The Lord has brought me to him, and I know not what I am to do now.
14. I fast and pray and beg the Lord for an answer, but all is silence. ²I call upon my newfound wisdom, and decide that I must trust in man’s free will and God’s holy purpose.
³I return to my teacher, now my friend, and I reveal to him the holy knowledge that I keep within my heart. ⁴I tell him of the centurion, ⁵of the crucified Christ and of the blood, ⁶of the angel and the purpose God has for my kind and me.
⁷I reveal to him the nature of the beast.
15. The scholar listens carefully, his attention undivided. ²He asks me questions about what I have seen and what I have become. ³Though I can smell the animal fear upon him, he remains calm and controlled, his face betraying no quiver of emotion.
⁴For many hours we speak. ⁵In the quiet hour before the sun rises I explain to him the miracle of the Embrace, and I offer it to him. ⁶I explain to him that though this knowledge is the lifeblood of God’s holy wolves, ⁷it is a cancer among the sheep.
⁸He has a choice: Become Damnedd, or die a clean death at my hands.
16. For many moments he is quiet. ²He asks me to pray silently with him, and I do. ³I beg the Lord for assurance that I have done right, that I have chosen wisely and rightly. I do not know the nature of my companion’s prayer.
⁴Finally he turns to me, and with a smile and a blessing for me he accepts my offer. ⁵He accepts holy Damnation from me and we are bound together.
⁶As the sun rises, we find shelter and we sleep.
17. For many years my childe and I study the world together. ²I teach him of the ways of Kindred ³and of the things I have learned from the Lord’s holy angel. ⁴I teach him of the corrupt nature of Kindred society ⁵and its pretensions of civilization. ⁶I teach him the ways of feeding ⁷and the powers of the blood.
⁸In turn he teaches me histories of the lands through which we walk ⁹and the philosophies and legends of many nations. ¹⁰His knowledge is vast and deep like the great seas and I am grateful for him.

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d Naturally the idiosyncratic capitalization that is common in these translations is a relic of early modern English orthographic trends. I have replicated those where applicable to aid in reading comprehension of amateur scholars, though of course the original text makes no distinctions. VB

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¹¹We are each other’s student and each other’s teacher.
18. When the teaching is complete, I know that it is again my time to walk alone. ²I give to my childe my love and my mission. ³The Sanctified now number two, each as capable and wise as the other, ⁴and our ministry shall now spread to new lands and new roads.
⁵The Lord lays his hand upon my heart and I know the last gift I am to give. ⁶To my childe I entrust the keeping of the lance that had begun my enlightenment O those many nights ago. ⁷I know that it is now his blessing and his burden, and I praise the Lord for these things.
⁸We bid farewell, and I walk alone into the cold and empty night.
19. I walk through the nights of summer's balm and winter's bitter chill. ²The Lord brings food to my lips like manna in the desert, and I eat my fill. ³I find that the mouthings of prayers to the Christ are no longer sufficient to turn my fangs away, ⁴for already man has become apostate and false.
⁵There are still some whose faith repels me, but there are many more, pampered rich women and prideful priest alike, whose faith is as fragile as their golden trinkets.
⁶I gorge myself on their hypocrisy.
20. I come upon a dark monastery, and secretly look on the monks inside. ²They who were meant to be servants of the Lord, who has sworn themselves to service for years numbering only as long as a man would live, have grown doubtful and idle, ³and within them I find sin.
⁴They are shown that the fearsome hunger of death may creep out of the night and bite through claims of piety. ⁵They are all bled and slain and devoured by the lion of the Lord.
⁶All save one.^e
21. Like a thief in the night I come to them, and I take their most precious possessions from them: ²their pride, their dignity and their lives. ³To each of them I deliver their doom and their damnation.
⁴I know that the Lord will judge them as I have judged them, for their sins are many.
⁵I am the justice of the Lord.
22. In the stable yard I see a lean and wiry monk with whip in hand, ²flogging an ass that is clearly too exhausted to move more than an inch with the heavy load it bears. ³Yet the monk whips again and again till the animal collapses to its knees, crying and bleeding. ⁴The man’s eyes flash with rage, and he bellows and froths at the mouth.

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e It is only logical that the monastery contained more than seven evil monks, though the poetic and instructional nature of this work naturally aligns the worst offenders with the seven deadly sins. Though I am not so impudent as to suggest that these men did not exist, nor that the Dark Father did not dispatch them in these ways, I do suggest that perhaps each grisly fate was enacted on more than one impious friar. CP

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⁵With alacrity I steal his whip from him and turn it upon him. ⁶Over and over and over again the whip meets flesh, until there is no flesh left upon him and he begs for my mercy.
⁷There is no mercy for those that have none.
23. In the kitchens I spy a fat cook, greasy and gluttonous. ²I see him cut the meager meat with a selfish hand, keeping back the best parts for himself. ³With every dish he gorges himself, eating as he parcels out small portions for his brothers.
⁴With relish^{f g} I fall upon him and bear him to the floor. ⁵With a sharp claw I open his heaving belly and remove the delicacies there while he writhes and shrieks. ⁶I feed to him his organs one by one, ⁷until finally his sinful appetite is sated and he eats no more.
⁸I leave him there as a warning.
24. I make my way through the corridors and see a scribe asleep at his desk. ²His hair is unkempt, his robe slovenly and his fingers dirty. ³His copy-work is smeared and soiled. ⁴I have seen this scribe in my watching. He is slow to work and quick to rest, indifferent in his industry and in his prayers.
⁵I lift him from his bench so he will not need to bestir himself. ⁶Gently I lower him from a window in the scriptorium and secure his feet to the sill with the belt of his robe.
⁷Here he may rest until death comes to claim him.
25. At another desk in a small alcove I find a young scribe engaging in unclean acts, peering at pictures of Persian orgies in a codex of filth. ²He too has soiled his copy of the scriptures. ³Though his are well-printed and carefully copied, on every page is a drawing of a perverse act among humans, animals, angels and any number of unmentionable creatures.
⁴With kindness I take from him his eating-knife. ⁵I tell him that he must remove the offending parts, or I will remove them for him. In confusion he begins to cut the scroll in front of him. ⁷I correct him, turning his hand to the source of his sin.
⁸His screams are prodigious as the organ is cast away.
In the reckoner's study I find a monk hiding away pouches of money in his garments as he prepares to flee, ²alms for the poor and the accounts of the brotherhood stolen away to feed his avarice.
³In righteous indignation I heap upon him every object and coin at hand, well-crafted furniture and fine cloth alike, ⁴until at last he is crushed and smothered beneath their weight.
⁵Perhaps now he will be sated.
In the antechamber of the abbot's quarters, I find a sniveling lackey resplendent in borrowed finery too large for his meager frame. ²He throws

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f You will of course excuse my small pun in using “relish.” The original reads as “enthusiasm.” VB
g As a favor for VB’s past assistance, I have allowed this translation to stand. HM

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himself against the door to forefend the delivery of the Lord’s judgment upon his superior.
³As he whines and cries for me to spare his life and that of the abbot, ⁴I recognize the fire of envy within him. ⁵With grim pleasure I decide: I will give him his heart’s desire and allow him to share in the glory of the abbot’s portion.
⁶Surely he will rejoice in such an exaltation.
28. I push the lackey ahead of me as I walk into the abbot's chamber. ²No son of Rome ever looked so grand as this abbot does in velvets and silks, with a golden signet indicating his rank. ³With umbrage he rises to meet me and challenges my right to come before his holy presence.
⁴Pride is his sin and pride shall be his punishment. ⁵I throw the lackey to the side so that he may watch before joining the abbot in ignominious death. ⁶Methodically I strip him of his fine clothes and his golden trinkets until his sanguine frame stands bared and humbled before my wrath. ⁷I let him beg for mercy, crying and mewling until I am nearly wearied of it, and then he begs for death. With calm assurance I give him his due.
⁸His underling follows him to hell.
29. Nearly satisfied, I walk through the corridors where the stench of death is sharp and all-encompassing. ²I have delivered to these sinners the wrath of God, and my work is almost done. ³But one monk remains, ensconced in the chapel.
⁴His face is lined with age, but his eyes show the light of wisdom. ⁵He declares, “I know what you are, and I know that your actions here tonight are the work of the Lord.
⁶“You are a drinker of blood.”
30. My shock is palpable as I meet his gaze. ²He is calm and unafraid, though his body is frail and undefended. ³He entreats me to tell him of my holy mission, and I cannot do other than comply.
⁴I tell him of the centurion, ⁵of the crucified Christ and of the blood, ⁶of the angel and the purpose God has for me and my kind.
⁷I reveal to him the nature of the beast.^h
31. I offer him the choice of Damnation, and he responds with a shrewd look. ²The monkⁱ explains that he shall be damned regardless of his choice, ³for surely to choose your own death is akin to the mortal sin of suicide.
⁴I cannot counter this nor offer any consolation. ⁵I reiterate to him my faith in God’s plan, ⁶and insist that I will deliver him unto death with a prayer for his soul if that should be his choice.

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h Note that this verse is identical to that in 14:4-7. I believe these to be two confused versions of the same story, but I have retained the manuscript as I have it. I cannot account for two scholarly childer of Longinus, but too much of the early history of the covenant is lost to us for me to make a clear declaration of the truth one way or the other. VB
i “Monachus” of course is a direct translation (and the etymological origin) of the English word “monk.” I have given this term no particular weight in the translation, as there is no particular distinction in the manuscript. VB

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⁷My prayers are fervent.
32. He tells me that he cannot believe that the Lord would be so cruel as to deny his child a hopeless choice when his faith is strong and his works good. ²He says, “Surely there must be some hope of redemption in this dark world of God’s making!”
³He asserts that this damnation I offer must have in some small way a chance of salvation or forgiveness in the eternity of God’s plan, ⁴and he will take that chance rather than to languish forever as a hopeless soul in the pit of fire.
⁵And so he is become Damned.
33. Under my guidance he finds a goatherd in an outbuilding of the monastery and drinks deeply. ²In the day we sleep, ³and in the night we take our ministry to the world.
⁴In the towns and cities of man we find nests of Kindred, worm and prince alike, ⁵and impart to them our holy words. ⁶My tongue is given liquidity, and the monk’s words are wise and weighty.
⁷At last the truths I know are heard.
34. We gather apostles to share in our ministry. ²In Jerusalem, in Tyre, in Ephesus, in Rome, in Corinth, in Alexandria and in Cappadocia ³we find brave men and women who accept the holy Damnation and the burden of God’s truth.^j
4Each is given the choice to die as free mortals, ⁵and all choose the sanctification of the Embrace.
⁶Our numbers swell and our ministry strengthens.
35. At last the childer of the lance feel the hand of the Lord upon their hearts and take upon themselves the burden of a new ministry. ²They will find a suitable place and establish a monastery as holy as the one from whence the monk came was sinful.
³Those Kindred who accept the truth of God’s plan in their lifeless hearts may study and pray in such a place, ⁴and the lifeblood of our divine purpose will flow within their ranks.
⁵The truth shall have a home, and our Damnation shall be blessed by all peoples!

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j Note that only the narrowest interpretation of this verse indicates one Dark Apostle for each of these localities. It is far more likely that there were more, though of course no clear evidence is given one way or the other. VB

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Close

Type

Text, Religious

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Apocrypha

Significant gaps in Torments occur between the Crucifixion and the Embrace of the Monachus in which several centuries of Longinus’ unlife is not chronicled. These gaps have led to considerable speculation as to exactly what Longinus had been doing during this period, and several unsubstantiated texts have appeared over the centuries purporting to fill in the missing years. These apocryphal texts feature Longinus engaging in improbable activities like warring against (or alternately making peace with) the Lupines, personally delivering the Holy Grail to Gaul, journeying to the Far East to study from the ancient vampires of Tibet, and even traveling to the New World to Embrace members of native tribes. None of these texts are considered canonical or even marginally persuasive by the mainstream Lancea Sanctum.

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