Byzantium Coven

 

THE WAY TO SUCCEED—AND THE WAY TO SUCK EGGS!

This is the Holy Hexagram.
Plunge from the height, O God, and interlock with
Man!
Plunge from the height, O Man, and interlock with
Beast!
The Red Triangle is the descending tongue of grace;
the Blue Triangle is the ascending tongue of
prayer.
This Interchange, the Double Gift of Tongues, the
Word of Double Power—ABRAHADABRA!—is
the sign of the GREAT WORK, for the GREAT
WORK is accomplished in Silence. And behold, is
not that Word equal to Cheth, that is Cancer
whose Sigil is 69?
This Work also eats up itself, accomplishes its own
end, nourishes the worker, leaves no seed, is per-
fect in itself.
Little children, love one another!

—Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies

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Byzantium Coven

Centered on Byzantium, a sex club located on the Upper East Side, this coven is loyal to Venus and Orchid, the Sabbat vicar who keeps the balance between Archbishop Malachi and Cardinal Lilitu. The Byzantium Coven caters to the more carnal aspects of the Sabbat; the liminal spaces between Kindred and kine where sex, blood, and derangement are pleasures mutually sought, and transgression, danger, and oblivion are inextricably entangled with desire. The Byzantium Coven represents the Sabbat at their most seductive, and when humans fail to understand the stakes of the game, undone by their innocence or betrayed by their lust, the Sabbat feels less remorse than a fox gobbling cocks from a henhouse. After all, what better defines mortals than the eternal wheel of sex and death?

Brief History
A Daeva Embraced as a Toreador in the decadent circles of nineteenth-century London, Venus and Orchid arrived in New York in 1920. Originally part of Malachi’s coven, with the Sabbat’s backing Venus established the Dakinī Club in 1922. Loosely modeled on London’s Lamia Club, the Dakinī was a remnant of the fin de siècle, a decadent cabaret featuring nightly performances, secret boudoirs, and a steady stream of opium, marijuana, and cocaine. The club was managed by Grenadier Toil, a Toreador antitribu and progeny of El Madrugador, one of the original Le culte du toréador. As Venus and Grenadier rose in prominence, they began expanding their coterie, establishing a network of brothels, opium dens, and prostitution rings across Manhattan and the Bronx. In 1967, Cardinal Lilitu and Archbishop Malachi appointed Venus and Orchid the ductus of her own coven. Grenadier purchased Sleet House, an elegant hotel on the Upper East Side, and in 1978 “Club Byzantium” opened its doors.

In 1990, Grenadier Toil was returning from Paris when his plane went down over western France. His casket smashed open under broad daylight, the French Toreador met his True Death while crawling from the wreckage. Venus and Orchid was elevated to the position of Vicar, and Grenadier’s blood-brother Ingo Wallrafen was appointed manager of Byzantium, a position he holds to this day.

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The Lupanaria

The Byzantium Coven is primarily composed of Daeva and Toreador antitribu. This gives it a character unlike any other coven in the Sabbat. Its members are obsessed with desire, trapped by their Arikelite blood in a shifting landscape of lust and fulfilment, seduction and satiation, dominance and submission. More to the point, the Daeva bloodline is physically addicted to human vitae charged with sexual pleasure, whether carefully seasoned through the mounting tension of erotic ritual, or released en masse in the delirious climax of an orgy. In order to cultivate these desires, the Byzantium Coven shares numerous physical spaces with the mortal world. These range from glamorous upscale sex clubs to the most wretched brothels where human trafficking and coercion are the norm. These locations are called “lupanaria,” after the Roman word for brothel.

The Lupanaria of Byzantium
This page features profiles on the many lupanaria operated by the Byzantium Coven. Of course, Club Byzantium itself is the largest, but there’s also Viriconium, Siddim, the Hippodrome, Zoara Bela, the Hellfire Club, Cabaret Tannhäuser, the Empusa Theatre, and the Satrina.

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Coteries

Because Venus and Orchid, Grenadier Toil, and Ingo Wallrafen have their origins with the Toreador, that clan’s language and ideals pervade the Byzantium Coven, which is made up of three main “coteries” that don’t always get along. Considered with all its employees and retainers, these coteries comprise the largest Sabbat coven in New York. The coven is also noteworthy for the number of vampires who rebelled against their creators; no less than seven of the following Cainites rejected or even murdered their creators.

The three coteries of Byzantium are each named after their main haven. Following each coterie are links to profiles of their most important members.

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Byzantium Coterie

The most important coterie in the coven belongs to its ductus, Venus and Orchid. This inner circle is composed of Daeva and Toreador antitribu, and serves as the public face of the coven. They are centered at Club Byzantium, but are intimately connected to Cabaret Tannhäuser, the Empusa Theatre, and the Satrina. Typical of the Daeva bloodline, Venus’ coterie has a more empathetic relationship with humans than the majority of the Sabbat. Most members of the Byzantium coterie refrain from indiscriminate killing, and they avoid Sabbat rites that celebrate the wholesale slaughter of humans—the are no Blood Feasts at Club Byzantium, and ritual murders are carried out on enemies, not lovers. Nevertheless, human beings are still the objects of their relentless vampiric obsessions, and even the most “compassionate” Daeva may serve as a corrupting influence, enabling acts of debasement and self-abnegation.

Venus and Orchid [TBD]
Vicar of Manhattan/Ductus of the Byzantium Coven—Daeva
Venus and Orchid is one of the most unusual vampires in New York, and possibly one of the most powerful. Conceived as a divine being, raised by a cult of worshippers, and Embraced by her own biological mother, Venus and Orchid is a “Daeva,” a Toreador antitribu who specializes in the erotic arts. Her unusual name stems from her divided soul—Venus and Orchid represents two beings fused in a single body; but whether this represents demonic possession or a split personality is open for debate. All vampiric Disciplines are available to Venus and Orchid, who can wield magic like a Tremere, flesh-craft as a Tzimisce, and warm her blood like a Wissengeist. Venus herself believes she’s a goddess, a conviction held by an increasing amount of her bewitched followers, who worship her as the reincarnation of Arikel.

Ingo Wallrafen
Sexton, Manager of Byzantium—Toreador antitribu
This Dutch Toreador is a professional fetish photographer who manages Club Byzantium. Six-foot-five-inches of bald sex appeal, Ingo is the Yang to Venus’ Yin, and little would get accomplished without his direct, no-nonsense approach. His profile features his two most notable cambions, Mistress Engel Schiekron, the owner of the fetish boutique Pharzuph; and Lazlo Black, the impresario who manages Viriconium.

Mistress Naamah
Nuncio—Daeva
An Israeli belly dancer and an expert in the tantric arts, Mistress Naamah worships her Sire Venus as the future mother of a vampire messiah.

Lily and Lena, “The Lüdérc Sisters”
Assistant Managers of Byzantium—Ravnos
This pair of conjoined twins rose to fame as cabaret performers in 1930s Paris. Transylvanian gypsies who share a psychic link, the sisters move in an eerily synchronized manner, and possess an understanding of the human body that borders on the supernatural. They are in charge of training and supervising the coven’s hetaerae.

Oliver Rain Coward II, “London Rain”
Creative Director of Byzantium—Daeva
A louche, androgynous rock star from a dissipated family of morally-bankrupt aristocrats, London Rain is the coven’s tastemaker and trendsetter.

Ekata Sheth, “Shakchunni”
Templar—Tzimisce/Strigoi
Shakchunni is a beautiful Bengali woman who can transform into a hideous churel, a succubus-like monster from Indian mythology. Her profile includes her devoted ghoul, a Turkish assassin named Buqat, known as “The Incubus.”

Sister Elsie Toshiro
Dominatrix, Assassin, Spy—Malkavian
A French-Japanese nun, Sister Elsie is a Malkavian dominatrix of the Dacian bloodline, and can absorb the memories, personalities, and even physical characteristics of her lovers and victims.

Calista Joyce
Owner and Artistic Director of Empusa Theatre—Toreador antitribu
This Irish Toreador is a Wagnerian soprano, a brash and shameless diva who pursues a life of hedonism at Club Byzantium. She owns the Empusa Theatre, a Toreador haven known for its avant-garde productions of modern music.

Gloria Excelsis, “Loviatar”
Founder of Venusberg Burlesque Troupe, Artistic Director of Cabaret Tannhäuser—Daeva
Born in 1972 in Pennsylvania, Gloria Excelsis is an edgy burlesque dancer who performs under the name Loviatar. She runs the Venusberg Troupe at Cabaret Tannhäuser, and occasionally lends her expertise to Zoara Bela and Sarnath.

Harry Clarke
Artist—Toreador antitribu
The sole progeny of the great Veronica Tryst, Harry Clarke is an Edwardian illustrator and stained-glass artisan, his mortal career cut short by his “marriage” to a Lamia. Cursed during his Embrace, Harry is a broken Toreador antitribu, an art-nouveau genius who believes himself stranded in a Celtic Twilight of grotesque and beautiful monsters.

Kaúxuma Núpika
Oracle—Gangrel
Born in 1790 in the wilds of Canada, this Gangrel antitribu is a Kootenai berdache, a transgendered prophet who interprets the future using a peculiar form of erotomancy involving diablerie, sex, and symbols scratched into the flesh of herself and her lovers.

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Siddim Coterie

The Siddim coterie is the seedy underbelly of the glamourous Byzantium coterie. Reveling in corruption and embracing their ugliness, the coterie is predominantly composed of Nosferatu, Brujah, and Tzimisce. Led by Roger and Kitty Plant, the Siddim coterie has a relationship with human beings more in line with Sabbat tradition—humans are kine, meant to be manipulated and exploited. The Siddim coterie manages the Sabbat’s many connections to human vice, and operates an underground network of prostitution rings, brothels, and opium dens. Rape, murder, and slavery are not uncommon, from forced prostitution to snuff films. The Siddim coterie views Byzantium as effete and pretentious, while the Byzantium coterie views Siddim as tasteless and brutish. Venus would happily divest herself of Roger and Kitty’s empire if the Latrocinium would allow, but unfortunately for both coteries, the Council refuses to entertain the notion of divorce. Byzantium helps keep Siddim in check, and Siddim provides energy and muscle for Byzantium. As Malachi has stated, “What’s a proper Eloi without some Morlock toiling in the dark?”

Roger and Kitty Plant
Enforcers, Managers of Siddim—Nosferatu
This loathsome pair of Nosferatu embody the criminality festering at the rotten core of Siddim. In life, they were the British proprietors of Chicago’s notorious nineteenth-century brothel, “Under the Willow.” In death, they oversee the coven’s most wretched and desperate red light districts.

El Murciélago
Artist & Surgeon—Tzimisce
A practitioner of Vicissitude, this mysterious Tzimisce dwells in a firehouse populated by his terrible creations—human beings flesh crafted into angels and monsters he calls las gárgolas. 

Faye White, “The Harpy of Siddim”
Torturer—Nosferatu
The monster in Byzantium’s basement, Faye White is a deformed creature animated by a hatred of mankind. Known as “The Harpy of Siddim,” she serves her coven as torturer and heavy enforcer.

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Viriconium Coterie

A loose confederation guided by Lazlo Black, Enrique Quesada, and Callow Watch, the Viriconium coterie falls between the elegance of Byzantium and the depravity of Siddim. Centered at Viriconium, they also control Zoara Bela and the Hellfire Club. Comprised of the coven’s “middle management,” this coterie focuses on the most common forms of human vice—strip clubs, escort services, sex shops, legal pornography, sex dungeons, etc. They generally operate within the limits of the human legal system, and frown on human trafficking and excessive violence. With a foot in both worlds, Viriconium frequently mediates between the other two coteries, and refrains from making judgements about either.

Lazlo Black
Manager of Viriconium—Toreador Ghoul
The former owner of Babe Ruth’s favorite brothel, Lazlo Black is Ingo Wallrafen’s oldest “Cambion.” His description may be found on Ingo’s profile.

 

 

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Sources & Notes

The core of the Gotham Sabbat was first uploaded on 31 October 2000. One of the flimsiest sections of the original New York By Night, this profile on the Byzantium Coven was considerably expanded and revised during the August-October 2018 update, and ended up being the largest group of vampires I’ve detailed for the game! So much for “don’t expect any new material, this is just an archive!”

The term “Daeva” originates in Vampire: The Requiem, the second-generation Vampire game following Vampire: The Masquerade. Although New York By Night is strictly a Masquerade setting, I was naturally attracted to the idea of a clan of vampires devoted to the erotic arts. In Requiem, the Toreador have been demoted to a bloodline of the Daeva; in New York By Night, I have made the Daeva a minor bloodline of Clan Toreador. A traditional Toreador may even become a Daeva if she devotes her obsessive energies to the world of mortal flesh. However, in keeping with the ideas presented in Requiem, this obsession brings a Daeva closer to the humans than most other bloodlines, and a Daeva becomes addicted to human vitae in a way that transcends mere sustenance. Additionally, the Daeva of the coven refer to their ghouls as “cambions,” an ancient word representing the offspring of a human and a succubus or incubus. For those interested in official game mechanics, including the Daeva’s unique Merits and Flaws, I recommend the sourcebook, Daeva—Kiss of the Succubus.

The banner incorporates an illustration by the great Harry Clarke, designed to accompany Algernon Charles Swinburne’s poem “The Masque of Queen Bersabe” and published by John Lane the Bodley Head in 1928. The symbol in the center is a unicursal hexagram, a mystic figure adopted by Aleister Crowley’s Thelema system and discussed in his poem, “The Way to Succeed” from the Book of Lies. Its erotic symbolism is spelled out clearly in the poem, and is exactly what you think it is.

A Note on Sensitivity
The Daeva are about sex, and the Byzantium Coven operates an extensive network of sex clubs and brothels. With sex comes controversy, and I’m sure there’s something on these pages to irritate or offend just about everybody. I trust the reader will keep in mind the nature of this material—New York By Night is a horror game about vampires, and the seductive appeal of vampires has made them the subject of many erotic fantasies. Nevertheless, I’ve made every attempt to strive for a certain degree of realism and objectivity regarding the humans involved with the Byzantium Coven, most of whom are sex workers. I’ve read numerous books and articles written by and about sex workers, a fair share of interviews, and historical research in the history of prostitution. When creating material for the Byzantium Coven, I’ve called upon the personal experiences of friends with backgrounds in nude modeling, burlesque, striptease, swinging, BDSM, leather bars, etc. I’ve attempted to capture numerous facets of the sex industry, from glamor to squalor, from titillation to degradation, from hedonism to raw capitalism.  If any reader comes across a misunderstanding or error, please feel free to suggest a correction.

Author: Great Quail
Original Upload: 31 October 2000
Last Modified: 22 December 2018
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com