Difference between revisions of "Category:Archived-Burakumin"

Please refer to the Requiem Addendum to determine whether there are any restrictions on this bloodline.

“Do you consider me unclean because you find my profession or my nature abhorrent? Regardless, I'm prepared to find your answer ironic.”

This bloodline originated in feudal Japan within a social stratum of the same name, consisting of those whose professions were considered "spiritually unclean" by the tenets of the Shinto and Buddhist religions. Such professions included tanning, leather-working, butchery and the handling of dead bodies. Those who made a living from such professions were declared unclean and grouped into small hamlets. Considered equally impure and valueless by the Kindred Princes of the Eastern domains, Japanese Nosferatu were restricted from feeding or Embracing from anyone outside that same class of mortals. In time, all of Japan's Nosferatu were referred to as Burakumin, and the name spread throughout much of Eastern Asia.

Covenant

In the Far East were it originated, this bloodline has traditionally been forced to remain unaligned. Many Western Princes fear the strange power that the Burakumin wield, so they graciously invite Burakumin into their domains and grant them rights undreamed of back home. The covenant that has had the most impact on Kindred of this bloodline is the Carthian Monements. It proposes a state of true equality in which every vampire is entitled to and equal share in the spoils of the night, which is what the most vocal and active Burakumin have fought for since well before the Meiki Restoration.

Appearance

All Burakuin Kindred tent to exude the same disturbing, unclean, inhuman presence, which grows more obvious as their age and Blood Potency increases. As they age, they begin to reek of grave soil, and a stifling tomblike quiet emanates from them when they don't consciously speak or make noise to counteract it. What's more, their bodies take on a corpseline aspect that no amount of Vitae can ever banish completely. Over time, their skin withers and grows leathery until it's no more than a parchment-thin veneer stretched taut over knobby bone.

Haven

Eastern Burakumin have traditionally been restricted to communal haves in isolated hamlets populated by those mortals who are considered "unclean". Yound and more unabanized ones dwell in and beneath large cities, yet well away from Kindred of higher station. Westward-looking Burakumin often wind up competing with local Nosferatu for havens, but as they grow more sucessful, their new homes come to rival those of the Daeva and th Ventrue.

Background

Elder Easter Burakumin mostly select progeny from among the societal class of teh "unclean" from which they themselves were once chosen. More cynical, bitter ones choose from among the beautify, noble, powerful or traditionally pious in order to spite those who consider themselves so much more pure than the Burakumin.

Character Creation

Burakumin don't tend to have high Social Attributes, especially those who remain in Eastern domains. Neither do they place a particularly high priority on Physical Attributes. Their mental prowess has won them the niche in which they thrive. Many of them tend to value Social Skills as well, although they do not come as naturally to them. Acoording to their weakness, Status is not a particularly economical buy up front, but other Social and Mental merics can be worthwhile. It also makes sense to buy a second dot of Blood Potency since a character can't officially join this bloodline or learn Getsumei until then.

Weakness

Despire the unique power that Getsumei grants, and the relatively newfound wealth and influence it enjoys beyond its traditional cultural borders, the Burakumin bloodline is a decidedly unlucky one. Not only does it share the weakness of its wider parent clan (though a specific variety of it), but it also suffers social stigmas unrelated to its ghastly appearance. Like other Nosferatu, players of Burakumin cannot re-roll 10's for additional sucesses on Presence- or Manipulation-based rolls, and 1's subtract from the successes on those rolls. This weakness is due to the fact that Burakumin closely resemble the decaying corpses that they should be. Upon the Embrace, the Burakumin take on the appearance of cold, hours-dead bodies, and they cannot mimic the appearance of vital life with the expenditure of Vitae. As the Blood Potency increases, their bodies appear to wither and decay as per the natural stages of human decomposition. This appearance of decay does not hinder the physical functions of the vampire's body (even though flesh might constrict and split, revealing bone beneath). Aside from this physical affliction, the Burakumin must deal with a social penalty as well. Try as they might to build up resources and increase their influence among mortals, line members have trouble fitting in and earning a standing comparable to that of their fellow Kindred. Purchasing the Status Merit (in all of its forms) costs double.

Organization

In their Eastern homes, Burakumin have little choice but to come together with others of their own kind, lest they face a Requiem of maddening solitude. Moving West, these Kindred stick together for the sake of familiarity among strangers and in strange lands, but they adhere to no established internal hierarchy. Some scatter to the four winds, never looking back, while others fall in with other kinds of Nosferatu, lacking the ability to adapt sufficiently to their new environments to forge their own destinies.

Concepts

Ancestral avenger, aspiring upstart Primogen, blackmailer, forensic pathologist, grave robber, importer, mortician, private investigator, spectral intercessor, tanner.

Bloodline Disciplines

Getsumei As described on website: WoD Codex - Disciplines

The name of this Discipline comes from the Japanese phrase 'getsumei no michi', which translates roughly as "the moonlit path."

The discipline arises from the profession of handling and prepating the dead for burial, turning an already spiritually unclean undertaking into a perverse and ongoing desecration. With it, a Burakumin can learn secrets from the corpses of dead men, harvest parts of corpses as disgusting tools, and even imbue dead bodies with a false semblance of life.

• Moonlit Presentation
•• Crows Harvest
••• Corpse Skin
•••• Channel of Hasu-ko
••••• Convocation of Hotoke

Knows Burakumin in Australia

• Archived-Yū Mizushima - Cameron Meiklejohn