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B

Banker
A Kindred who engages in the practice of Banking. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Banking
The practice, most widespread among younger Kindred, of taking blood from blood banks. Chilled blood so long from the body is less satisfying, but some Childer delight in entering a blood bank and drinking to excess. This is seen by many Princes as breaking the Masquerade. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Barrens, The
The areas of a city that are devoid of life: graveyards, abandoned buildings and parks. (Vampire,Common)

Becoming, The
The moment one becomes a vampire. The metamorphosis from mortal to Kindred. Also called The Change. (Vampire,Common)

Book of Nod, The
The "sacred" book of the Kindred, tracing the race's origins and early history. It has never been published in its entirety, although fragments are known to exist in various languages. (Vampire,Common)

Beast, The
The drives and urges which prompt a vampire to become entirely a monster, forsaking all Humanity. Vide Man. (Vampire,Common)

Black Hand
A Sect that involves itself in diabolism. Vide Sabbat (Vampire,Vulgar)

Blister
A vampire who has contracted an infectious disease, and now spreads it to each donor from whom they feed. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Blood
The vampire's heritage. That which makes a vampire a vampire, or simply the actual blood of the vampire. (Vampire,Common)

Blood Bond
Being bound to another vampire as a result of taking the Blood Oath. Vide Regnant (Vampire,Vulgar)

Blood Doll
A Kindred, who is held in Regnant by another. The doll is Blood Bonded and no longer free. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Blood Kindred
The relationship between vampires of the same Lineage and Clan. The idea is much the same among mortals, only the means of transmission are somewhat different. (Vampire,Common)

Blood Line
The vampire's heritage. Vide Lineage. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Blood Oath
The most potent bond which can exist between vampires; the receiving of blood in an acknowledgement of mastery. This grants a mystical power over the one who is bound. Vide Blood Bond (Vampire,Common)

Bloodline
The vampire's heritage. Vide Lineage. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Brood
A group of vampires gathered around a leader (usually their sire). A brood may in time become a Clan (qv). (Vampire,Common)

Butterfly
One who mingles among the high society of mortals, and will only feed upon the wealthy and famous. (Vampire,Vulgar)

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C
Cainite
A vampire. Vide Kindred. (Vampire,Old Form)

Caitiff
A vampire with no clan; frequently used in a derogatory fashion. To be clanless is not a virtue among the Kindred. (Vampire,Common)

Camarilla, The
A global sect of vampires, in which all Kindred may hold membership. Its rule is far from absolute, and it serves as a debating chamber more than a government. (Vampire,Common)

Canaille
The mortal masses, especially that element of it which is the most unsavory and lacking in culture (which the Kindred largely feed upon). (Vampire,Old Form)

Casanova
A vampire who delights in seducing mortals but not killing them and takes only a little blood, erasing the victim's memory of the event when they are finished. There are rumors that the original Casanovy was or is a vampire, but this is not generally believed. Vide Cauchemar. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Cauchemar
A vampire who feeds only on sleeping victims and prevents their awakening. (Vampire,Old Form)

Change, The
The moment and the process of becoming a vampire. Vide Becoming. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Childe
A derogatory term for a young, inexperienced, or foolish vampire. The plural form is Childer. (Vampire,Common)

Clan
A group of vampires who share certain mystic and physical characteristics. Vide Lineage, Bloodline. (Vampire,Common)

Coterie
A group of Kindred who protect and support one another against all outsiders. Vide Brood. (Vampire,Old Form)

Cosanguineus
One of the same Lineage, usually younger. (Vampire,Old Form)

Cunctator
A vampire who avoids killing by drinking shallowly and taking too little blood to kill the prey; faut plus chasser, peut mieux dormir. Compare Casanova. (Vampire,Old Form)

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D
Damned, The
The immortal, undead race. All the vampires as a whole. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Diablerie
The cannibalistic behavior common among Kindred, involving the consumption of the blood of another vampire. The elders do so out of need, whereas the anarchs do so out of desire for power. (Vampire,Common)
A term for when a vampire feeds upon other vampires, either out of need or perversion. Vide Rogue. (Vampire,Old Form)
Domain
The fiefdom claimed by a vampire, most often a prince. Invariably it's a city. (Vampire,Common)
Donor
A potential or past source of blood. Typically a human. (Vampire,Vulgar)

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E
Elder
A vampire who is 300 years of age or older. These individuals consider themselves the most powerful Kindred, and usually engage in their own Jyhad. (Vampire,Common)

Elysium
The name given for the places where the Elders meet and gather, commonly the opera, theater or other public places of culture. (Vampire,Common)

Embrace, The
The act of transforming a mortal into a vampire by draining the mortal's blood and replacing it with a small amount of the vampire's own blood. (Vampire,Common)

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F
Farmer
A derogatory term for a vampire who keeps animals for the purpose of feeding the hunger. Vide Vegetary. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Fief
A sarcastic term for the Domain of a Clan or Prince. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Fledgling
A young, newly created vampire. Vide Neonate, Whelp. (Vampire,Common)

Footpad
One who feeds off the derelicts and the homeless, and who frequently does not have a Haven of their own. Vide Alleycat. (Vampire,Old Form)

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G
Generation
The number of steps between a vampire and the mythical Caine. Caine's Get were the second generation, their brood the third, and so on. (Vampire,Common)

Gentry
A Kindred who hunts the nightclubs, districts of ill repute, and other places of entertainment where mortals seek to pair off. Vide Rake. (Vampire,Old Form)

Gehenna
The coming end of the Third Cycle; the impending Armageddon when the Antediluvians shall awaken and devour all vampires. (Vampire,Common)

Ghoul
A servant, created by allowing a mortal to drink Kindred blood without the draining that would give rise to a progeny. (Vampire,Common)

Golconda
The state of being to which most vampires aspire, in which a balance is found between opposing urges and scruples. The slide into bestiality is halted and the individual reaches a kind of stasis. Like the mortals' Nirvana, it is oft spoken of and seldom achieved. (Vampire,Old Form)

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H
Haven
The home of a vampire or the place where it sleeps during the day. (Vampire,Common)

Head
A vampire who feeds upon those under the influence of a drug, so as to feel thee effect. The term Head is used with a suitable prefix if the vampire prefers a particular drug. Vide Lush. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Headhunter
An Elder who hunts other Kindred for the Blood. Vide Rogue, Diablerie. (Vampire,Vulgar)


Humanitas
The degree to which a Kindred still retains some Humanity (Vampire,Old Form)

Hunger, The
As with mortals and other animals, the drive to feed. For vampires, though, it is much more besides, and takes the place of every other drive, urge and pleasure. (Vampire,Common)

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I
Inconnu
A Sect of vampires, mostly Methuselahs, who have removed themselves from both mortal and Kindred affairs. They state they have nothing to do with the Jyhad. (Vampire,Common)

J
Jyhad, The
The secret war being waged between the few surviving vampires of the Third Generation using younger vampires as playing-pieces. Also used to describe any sort of conflict or warfare between vampires. (Vampire,Common)

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K

Kindred
A vampire. Many Elders consider this term to be vulgar, and prefer to use a more poetic word, such as Cainite. (Vampire,Common)

Kine
A contemptous term for mortals, often used in counterpoint to Kindred. The expression Kindred and Kine means "all the world". (Vampire,Old Form)

Kiss
To take blood of a mortal, or the act of taking blood in general. The Embrace of ecstasy, the sweet draining of the elixir of life. (Vampire,Common)

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L
Leech
A human who drinks a vampire's blood, yet retains free will. Often they keep the vampires as a prisoner, or offer great rewards for the Blood. (Vampire,Old Form)

Lextalionis
The Code of the Kindred, created by caine. It suggests Biblical Justice - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Vide Traditions. (Vampire,Old Form)

Lick
A vampire. Vide Kindred. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Life, The
An euphemistic term for mortal blood taken as sustenance. Many Kindred regard the term as affected and over-delicate. (Vampire,Common)

Lineage
Just as mortals trace their bloodlines by birth, so vampires trace their own Lineages, forming the Clans (Vampire,Old Form)

Lupine
Werewolf (Vampire,Common)

Lush
A vampire who habitually feeds upon prey who are under the influence of drink or drugs in order to experience their sensations. Vide Head. (Vampire,Common)

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M

Man, The
That part of Humanity which remains in a vampire, and which strives against the base urgings of the Beast. (Vampire,Common)

Masquerade, The
The effort begun after the end of the great wars to hide Kindred society from the mortal world. A policy reaffirmed after the time of the Inquisition. (Vampire,Common)

Methuselah
An Elder who no longer lives among the other Kindred. Often they belong to the Inconnu. (Vampire,Old Form)

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N
Neonate
A young, newly created Kindred. Vide Fledgling, Whelp. (Vampire,Old Form)

O
Osiris
A vampire who surrounds himself with mortal or Ghoul followers in a cult or coven, to better obtain sustenance. The practice is less common than it once was. (Vampire,Old Form)

P
Papillon
The red light district, the area of the city made up of nightclubs, gambling houses and brothels. Thought of as the prime hunting ground of the city. (Vampire,Old Form)

Prince
A vampire who has established a claim to rulership over a city, and is able to support that claim nil disputandum. A Prince often has a Brood to aid him. The feminine form is still Prince. (Vampire,Common)

Progeny
A collective term for all the vampires created by one Sire. Less formal, and less flattering is Get (Vampire,Old Form)

Praxis
The right of Princes to rule, as well as the rules, laws and customs enforced. (Vampire,Old Form)

Primogen
The leaders in a city or the ruling council of Elders. Those who support the Prince and make her rule possible. (Vampire,Old Form)

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R
Rack, The
The hunting-grounds represented by nightclubs, bars, and other places of entertainment where mortals seek to dance, drink and pair off. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Rake
One who habitually uses the Rack is a Rake in Vulgar argot; Papillon and Gentry are progressively older terms for the same. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Regnant
One who has Blood Bond over another kindred, through giving them Blood three times. Vide Blood Bond. (Vampire,Old Form)

Retainers
Humans who serve a vampire master. They are either Ghouls or mentally Dominated by their vampire master. Their control is sometimes so complete that the mortal is unable to take any action of his own volition. (Vampire,Old Form)

Riddle, The
The essential dilemma of a vampire's existence - to prevent the occurence of greater atrocities, one must commit evil deeds of a lesser nature. The proverb is: monsters we are lest monsters we become. (Vampire,Common)

Rogue
A vampire who feeds upon other vampires, either out of need or perversion. Vide Diablerie. (Vampire,Common)

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S
Sabbat, The
A group of vampires controlling much of eastern North America. They are violent and bestial, revelling in needless cruelty. (Vampire,Common)

Sandman
A vampire who feeds only upon sleeping victims. Vide Cauchemar. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Sect
General name for one of the three primary groups among the Kindred - the camarilla, Sabbat or Inconnu. (Vampire,Common)

Sire
The parent-creator of a vampire, used both as the female and male form. (Vampire,Common)

Siren
A vampire who seduces mortals, but does not kill them and takes only a little blood after putting the mortal into a deep sleep. Vide Tease. (Vampire,Old Form) A

Slumming
Feeding from the homeless and derelicts. A vampire who does so exclusively is a Slummer. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Stalker
A mortal who hunts the Kindred. Vide Witch-hunter. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Suspire
The dream dance of the final stage of the quest for Golconda. (Vampire,Old Form)

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T
Tease
A term sometimes used for a female Casanova (qv). (Vampire,Vulgar)

Third Mortal
Caine, the progenitor of all vampires, according to the Book of Nod (qv) (Vampire,Old Form)

Thrall
A vampire who is held under a Blood Bond, and thus under the control of another Kindred. (Vampire,Old Form)

Turf
The city or section of a city that a vampire might try to claim for themselves. Vide Fief, Domain. (Vampire,Vulgar)

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V
Vegetary
A sarcastic term for a vampire who refuses to take the blood of humans, but relies instead on that of animals. Vide Farmer. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Vessel
A potential or past source of blood, typically a human. (Vampire,Common)

Vitae
Blood (Vampire,Old Form)

W
Wassail
The Final release and the last Frenzy. Occurs when the last vestiges of Humanity are lost and a vampire plunges into a world of chaos. (Vampire,Old Form)

Whelp
A contemptous term for any young vampire, it originally was used only in regard to one's own Progeny. (Vampire,Old Form)

Whig
An older vampire who uses an obsessive interest in mortal fashion and current events in order to counteract the tendency to become distanced from humanity. (Vampire,Vulgar)

Wight
Human, mortal. (Vampire,Old Form)

Witch-hunter
A human who searches for vampires in order to kill them. (Vampire,Old Form)

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