Brujah

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notable=April 2008
in-universe=February 2008The Brujah are a fictional clan of vampires in White Wolf Game Studio's "World of Darkness" books and role-playing settings. Their name is derived from Bruja, the Spanish word for witch.

In the modern setting (""), the Brujah are characterized mostly as anarchists. White Wolf states, "The typical Brujah wears a biker jacket, tattered jeans, combat boots...". Brujah childer conduct their political conventions amongst the noise of raves and punk rock concerts. Their Ancilla have long used secret, impromptu, and often violent rants to propel their anarchic culture. In comparison to other vampires, the Brujah are especially violent. Currently the most popular symbol of Brujah is upside-down form of Circle A Red.

and their infernal practices.

In modern times, the Brujah have split into two primary groups: the intelligent, politically active Brujah, many of which are fiery and outspoken among the vampires society, and the raging, angry counter-culture Brujah that most other vampires think of when they try to picture a member of the Clan. Strangely enough, Brujah Princes are relatively common among the Camarilla, ranking perhaps second for the number of Princes ruling over a city.

Like all vampires, Brujah have a clan flaw associated with them. Brujah are known for their fiery and often violent tempers, having more trouble than any clan does to keep their homicidal tendencies at bay. They fall to their Beast with disturbing frequency, and tend to get quite agitated if this flaw is ever mentioned in their presence.

Members of this clan are haunted by rumors of a bloodline calling itself the True Brujah.

History

The Brujah are warriors -- but always warriors for a cause. The fierce heat of passion burns within their cold, dead breasts and it drives them to champion causes that they believe can set the world right. When Caine slew his brother, he threw the world from its intended course. The horror that it has become must be corrected, and the Brujah intend to do just that. Each member of the clan has her own vision of the way the world should be, and he strives to make that vision become a reality through argument, manipulation and force of arms.

In the earliest nights, passion was not a trait of the Brujah. Indeed, the founder of the clan, Ilyes, was Embraced for her cold wisdom, and her ability to assess the virtues of an idea without emotional involvement was greatly valued by her sire and grandsire. However, in her long years banished from the sun, she grew ever more remote from both the humans of the First City and her own childer. What few emotions she had left atrophied completely. As she developed theories, her experiments to test them became ever more cruel. She would use and sacrifice the living and the Damned, just to satisfy an idle whim.

One of her childer, whose name was Troile, could no longer stand by and watch this cruelty. He dreamed of a world in which the human and Cainites had at least an understanding. Even then, he thought that genuine peace was too much to ask. He tried to convince his sire to abandon her ruthless behavior. Ilyes's arrogant dismissal of the childe's arguments drove Troile to the very edge of frenzy, and he threw himself at his sire. Long out of practice in hand-to-hand combat, Ilyes eventually fell beneath her childe's fists and fangs. Once he had tasted his sire's blood, Troile was unable to stop himself from drinking. Within minutes, Ilyes was no more.

From the shadows stepped Caine himself, his face clouded with fury: "Never before has one of my progeny drank the very soul of another. I curse you ever to aspire to your sire's wisdom, but also to be prey to the very fury which led you to this diabolic act."

Troile took his sire's title and position among the third generation. He assumed the burden of Caine's curse, but also worked towards his own vision of a better world. His passion seemed to spread like wildfire through the line of his childer, and at first he rejoiced in their crusading zeal as they worked to make the world a better place.

In the city of Carthage, Troile and his childer worked to establish what he had dreamed of in earlier times: a society in which mortals and Cainites coexisted for their mutual benefit. But again and again he saw those of his clan start to repeat his mistakes and give in to their anger. In despair, he left the city and was never seen again. Carthage fell far from that ideal, until even some of the demon-worshipping Baali were welcomed within its walls. Soon, the other clans acted under the guidance of Roman Ventrue to destroy this abomination.

The Brujah have fought to improve the world ever since, but the failure of their grand experiment had made their blood boil ever hotter. As the centuries pass, the world seems to fall ever further from what it should be. As kine philosophies, religions and ideas multiply, proliferate and die, the clan becomes more divided as to what should be done to make the world right -- and even as to what that right should be. Many of the younger members of the clan no longer heed the wisdom of their elders. Their blood calls to them to do something now, not watch and observe for a few centuries until the patterns of society become apparent to them. The elders merely shake their heads and recall the misjudged dreams of their own youth.

Some Brujah follow the great philosophies and religions of the past, while others adopt new faiths and ideals with equal vigor and convince themselves that the salvation of the fallen world lies there. Some even jump from idea to idea in search of the one that fires their imagination and drives them towards a better world. All of them pursue their ideals with a vigor and commitment that would put a hardened crusader to shame.

Disciplines:

*Potence - Superhuman Strength
*Celerity - Superhuman Speed
*Presence - Superhuman Charisma

Brujah of note

* Gerrand Tarrant, Elder Brujah that orchestrated the defeat of Shaitan, Independent
* Theo Bell, Brujah Archon
* Pascek, Brujah Justicar
* Raziel Silverstryke, 7 days 7 vans 7 states, Anarch
* Javeer, Puppet prince controlled by Diego Castallion
* Alexander "Blood" Wolf, neonate who diablerized his way to elder

References

* "" (Revised Edition) by White Wolf (1998)

Links

* [http://www.jcmrpgart.blogspot.com/ Vampire NPC gallery] NPC (non-player character) gallery with examples of characters of every clan