VAMPIRE
The Masquerade - A fantasy world where vampire clans and sects rule our modern society through various applications of control from ruthless matriarcal despots to hidden cabals and secular fraternal orders that use media, technology and chemical applications to extract control from their unfortunate populace, while others are simply satisfied to exist unseen within our societies while utilizing their proximity and disguised nature to thrive in secret amongst us. Others have adopted large and economically relevant trusts including some of our societies largest and most well known corporations, making us almost dependant on their products and services in order to function in our modern world. Because of this they are able to act without concern in their practices regardless of the loss of life. Then their are some clans or families that exist within the fringe of vampire society and are often both misunderstood and shunned by vampire and human alike, attesting to adherent practicum of bizzare and sometimes terrifying social constructs. Then others are just girls that like to be naked, get high and fuck all the time and just happen to be immortals who live off of the fresh blood of the recently deceased.
The series showcases one House of Vampire detailed within the universe of The Masquerade. Their are too many to list or exhibit in any one gallery or showcase. They are an inclusive sect of Vampires whose number includes only female members and their personal doctrine obliges them to feed solely on men, and more precisely men whom they find wanting, flawed or vile by their own definition. Their house is without a crest or a motto, has no financial holdings and does not concern itself with the politics of their world but rather adopts a bohemian approach to immortality, residing predominantly in one property controlled by the house since its inception and maintained by all of her members except for the few who have decided to separate themselves from the lifestyle that accompanies their house in receipt of what they likely consider love. All of them leaving in pairs after some time together, most often with a mind to dedicate themselves to one another and abandon the ever present lure of sex, drugs and pure diet that is forever in abundance in their Clans Home. This action is, of course, respected and supported by other members and thus far no conflict has risen out of the decision for some members to renounce their lifestyle and follow their heart, as it were.
Strong fraternal bonds are formed by the sisters through the sharing of one another's subconscious mind as well as a phenomenon totally unique to them called dream communing wherein all members of the sisters house will find themselves drawn into a dreamstate at the same time experiencing a shared dream
Though the family are openly admitted lesbeins and heavy drug users, still enjoying the pairing of high quality heroin or cocaine with the blood of a terrified and adrenaline rushed French Italian man still inside his late teens over the simple rush the the blood alone gives them. They have been reported to prefer to get their treats high on whichever drugs they enjoy the most just prior to dining so as to accent and note the blood with subtle influences brought on by the cocaine or morphine. They are a highly secular and private clan though, which can make it difficult at times to find suitable victims, bringing us to the eventual conversion of the shared manor where they reside to a fully operational brothel and burlesque location, offering everything from private personal services to house wide orgies involving any and all plausible sights and activities. The house has been in operation for over 400 years without ever becoming the focus of any real suspicions as their primary focus is on tourists and non-natives with little connection to the local community. Because of this precaution they have been able to thrive in their ideal paradise for as long as any remember.
The second Face illustrates with a visual cue the strong psychic bond formed by the sisters who join the clan.
The family, or house consists of 27 residents with 4 couples living off site, one of which does come back often to visit while the others have all but fully severed their connection to the house. All of the members are female, all are visibly no older than their early twenties and all have adopted a similar stark pale skin tone that sets in shortly after their conversion suspectedly due to some chemical interaction with the drugs and the blood as it adapts to their new diet and they transition into the vampire that they will remain for as long as they wish to continue to exist. They have no true enemies in the clans and no close ties with any other house apart from loose ties with several of the houses that tie themselves to the worlds of crime, drugs and prostitution being two of their mainstays. Neither has more to do with them than a simple business venture every once in a while as well as the houses intuitive notion to offer each house a monthly offering of monetary value, something that they have little use for within the defined parameters of their casually indifferent lifestyle. It is safe to assume that, if ever their were a threat directed toward their house than the Vampire clans, each closely resembling a criminal element from our own world, one quite easily mistook for the Hells Angels aside from their lean and slender figures and the lack of much or any protective gear or apparel to0 be seen while riding their cycles, the other a mirror image in almost every way to the Yakuza, in as much as anyone can be familiar with the secretive and inclusive fraternal crime cabal of Japanese origin, that both would react with swift and lethal response coming to the aide of one of their most profitable arrangements.
This clan was created by myself, in the early 90s, as part of a world expansion initiative for a slightly unsung RPG title Vampire: The Masquerade which also had an accompanying Magic: The Gathering styled card based game simply titled Jyhad. The clan was featured in both the second edition of the games main guide and manual for players and game masters as well as featured within the card series. If you take the time to look into the work you may very well be pleasantly surprised with the playability and diversity of the work and the quality of its artwork game play. I would recommend it.
