Ravnos Lore

Classic WoD: | Vampire: The Masquerade | Clans (Masquerade) | Sects | Coteries

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Ravnos Lore 1

• You know that Ravnos are traditionally prone to thievery and vice, to the point where such actions have become innately compulsive. (CbR [Rev]: 48-49; LotN: 55; VtM [Rev]: 97)
• You know that the Clan has strong ties with India and with the Romani (gypsies) and that several lines of Ravnos were entirely Romani-descended.
• You know that the Ravnos do not ally themselves as a whole to other kinds of Vampires
• You are aware that there has traditionally been a long-standing enmity between the Ravnos and the Gangrel and that in near every legend of the Ravnos progenitor, he is said to have made an eternal enemy of Ennoia, the Gangrel Antediluvian. (CbR: 18-20; CbR [Rev]: 19-20)
• You are aware that the Ravnos allegedly have some sort of mastery over reality and substance allegedly linked to a vampiric discipline unique to their Clan.

Ravnos Lore 2

• You know that many Indian Ravnos follow the Mayaparisatya or the Path of Paradox, a Path of Enlightenment that espouses adherence to ones jati (caste) and fulfilment of svadharma (divine purpose).
• You are familiar with the medieval tradition of "The Treatment", in which mobs of pharmulo gang up on a Domain which has been unkind to them and attempt to spread chaos therein. (CbR [Rev]: 26, 51-52; LS4: 21)
• You probably know a handful of Ravnos-related Roma words, such as: Kumpania, Gaje, Phralmulo, Baro, Kris, etc. though their significance and purpose may be alien to you.
• You have heard of legendary Ravnos such as: Durga Syn, an ancient Methuselah who has an ongoing feud with the Nosferatu Baba Yaga. (CbR: 28; CbR [Rev]: 99; CotI: 52-57)
• You are familiar with a varied number of Roma-themed traditions, celebrations and legends related to the Ravnos.
• You are aware that the roots of the Ravnos Clan are not found within the Roma histories so often attributed to them. Rather, the origins of the Clan are found deep in the culture and heart of India.
• You have some understanding of the concept of maya and its relationship to the Clan's signature discipline of Chimerstry.

Ravnos Lore 3

• You are aware that Ravnos can alter reality; how strongly that alteration affects a person depends on their will and beliefs.
• You have heard at least one legend of the origins of the bloodline.
• You know that in the Middle Ages, some people spread about the folk tale that the first Ravnos was, in fact, Judas, who had been condemned to eternal wandering and desire to sin for his crime of betraying Christ. (PGttLC: 52)
• You have heard of the existence of the Karavalanisha Vrana (Wounds of the Night's Sword), an ancient Indian epic which tells the history of the Ravnos Clan. (CbR [Rev]: 16; LS4: 12, 24-25)
• You know that Romani-descended Ravnos allegedly practice a bastardised version of the Path of Paradox, which espouses debauchery and general mayhem in contradiction to established law, and that Indian elders have, in recent nights, made attempt to revive the true Mayaparisatya among their Western brothers. (CbR [Rev]: 25)
• You are familiar with the basic jati of the Indian Ravnos, which correspond closely to the actual Vedic caste system practiced in India. These castes are: The Brahmin, the Kshatriyas, the Vaisyas, and the Chandalas, the lowest jati. You also know of the Sudra, who are not a proper jati, but rather an Indian term for ghouls. (CbR [Rev]: 41-43)
• You are familiar with the five legendary childer of Zapathasura, and know that three of the major Indian Ravnos jati are said to be descended from them. (CbR [Rev]: 18-19)
• You are aware that there are multiple ‘bloodlines’ of Ravnos as well as the unique manifestations of the vampiric Curse found in those lines and lineages.
• You are familiar with a number of famous or renowned members of the Clan (Mata Hari, Ettiene de Fauberge, Harasvarupa Nishiitharudhira Amavarati, Marcia Felica Licina, etc.)

Ravnos Lore 4

• You probably believe in the "Kaen's Favoured Son" legend, as you now have heard much more about it.
• You have heard of mortal Roma who call themselves by the name of Ravnos.
• You understand many of the reasons to avoid contact with the Roma; you know also that the Tsurara fear and hate the Ravnos Vampires
• You are familiar with Ravnos legends, including the "Hok-Kanu Baro", the "Seeds of Power" and families of Vampire hunters among the Roma
• You have heard the other two origin tales of the Ravnos and have a view on which one is correct (depending on one's Path and background- Rom likely believe the Rom-based tale, followers of Paradox likely believe the Indian origins, others likely still believe the Cainite version)
• You have heard rumours of chronicle-specific events and developments, but don't know much in the way of details.
• You have heard the assertion made that Rakshasa was not in fact Embraced by Zapathasura, and was merely a ghoul of the Antediluvian, and that it was because of this that he was able to infiltrate the asuratizayya. You have further heard that because of this, many acts attribute to Rakshasa are in actuality better tied to Ramessu. (CbR [Rev]: 18, 23)
• You are aware that the Ravnos were amongst the hardest-hit Clans of World War II, due to the Nazi Holocaust and its targeting of gypsies amongst the unfit. You know that some Ravnos claim that Germany was being deliberately manipulated by Ventrue or Tremere forces at the time who wished to deliberately wipe out the Clan - but that these assertions are universally dismissed both within and outside of the Clan as being nothing more than conspiracy theories. (CbR [Rev]: 33)

Ravnos Lore 5

• You may have some idea of the identity of others with as much knowledge as you.
• You know of the Samadji and the true power of the Amria
• You know that Chimerstry can hurt the "Fae"
• You know of the actual words Kaen spoke to Ravnos (or at least the summary)
• You know more or less where to find the Ravnos in any city
• You have heard that Ramessu grew deranged over the centuries and that, in denial of the passing of Dynastic Egypt, he set up for himself an illusionary Pharaonic court, which lasted well into the Renaissance and which some speculate might still exist today. (CbR [Rev]: 23)
• You are aware that while Ravnos seldom get involved in other Clans politics, they were often active assistants in the Tremere genocide of the Salubri, as many Ravnos on the Western Path of Paradox believed that the frequent push by the Salubri to look toward Golconda was blasphemously antithetical to the svadharma of Kindred.