Crow Magnum MC
- At July 12, 2018
- By Great Quail
- In Vampire
0
THE SABBATH OF THE GOAT
O! the heart of N.O.X. the Night of Pan.
ΠΑΝ: Duality: Energy: Death.
Death: Begetting: the supporters of O!
To beget is to die; to die is to beget.
Cast the Seed into the Field of Night.
Life and Death are two names of A.
Kill thyself.
Neither of these alone is enough.
—Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies
N.O.X. Coven & The Crow Magnum MC
Of all the boroughs in the city, the Bronx is the most chaotic, boasting a mixture of Anarchs, Caitiff, Pander, and the largest group of Setites in New York. The Sabbat is represented by the N.O.X. Coven and the Crow Magnum MC, an outlaw motorcycle gang presided over by Bishop Virgil Crowley. But it was not always this way…
The Spuyten Duyvil Coven
For almost two centuries, the Bronx Sabbat was centered on Bishop Aernout Bakker and his Spuyten Duyvil Coven, which had inhabited the region since the days of King’s Bridge. Unfortunately, the headstrong Lasombra refused to adapt to changing times, and struggled foolishly against the increasing number of “alien” Cainites. This resulted in a terrible war between the Sabbat and the Setites, with the Camarilla looking on in delighted amusement. The conflict culminated in 1972, when the Setites assassinated Bishop Bakker and decimated the Spuyten Duyvil Coven. In return, a unified Sabbat laid waste to half the surviving Setites. After years of cautious rebuilding, both sides brokered an uneasy truce, a supernatural cold war that occasionally still flares into open hostility.
The N.O.X. Coven
In 1948, Navy Hellcat pilot Virgil Crow founded the Royal Ushers of Satan’s House, a Satanic motorcycle gang based from his garage just north of Mott Haven. The following year, the Ushers ran afoul of the Setites, who torched the garage and massacred half the pack. The survivors regrouped in Parkchester, where they reorganized as the “Crow Magnum Motorcycle Club” in 1951. Gaining increased support from the Latrocinium, Virgil Crow was introduced to the Sayer of the Law, a Tzimisce practitioner of Crowleyian magick. The Sayer helped the headstrong pilot realign his homegrown Satanism along the structured forms of O.T.O. ritual, and Virgil Crow became Virgil Crowley. As more members of the gang were initiated into the “Night of Pan,” Crowley’s pack became a true coven in the traditional sense of the word. After the Setites destroyed the Spuyten Duyvil coven, Crowley was promoted to Bishop, and his pack became the primary extension of Sabbat power north of Manhattan. They were instrumental in gathering together the remains of the Bronx Sabbat, wreaking vengeance on the Setites, and finally maintaining the fractious truce that exists to this day.
Membership
The N.O.X. Coven has ninety-three members, a mixture of Cainites, ghouls, and enthralled humans. This number is considered magical, and must always be preserved. When someone dies, another member is immediately inducted. In a distinction sometimes lost outside the Bronx, the N.O.X. Coven is not synonymous with the Crow Magnum MC. A genuine 1% outlaw gang, a Cainite must ride to be in the MC, and must pass a series of initiation procedures, including serving as a “prospective” member for “666 Nights of Mayhem.” The coven itself includes the MC, but also prospects and auxiliaries such as foot soldiers, mechanics, corrupt officials, blood-doll slaves and sheep, and even an enthralled bondsman, retained to keep the pack’s mortals out of jail. Also noteworthy is the gang’s egalitarian approach to membership. Unlike most human MCs, the Crow Magnums accept any race or gender—such “monkey” distinctions are immaterial to the modern Cainites of the Sabbat. This openness, especially regarding women, is often misunderstood or mocked by human MCs; especially the first time they see a male blood doll stamped with a “Property of the Crow Magnums” tattoo! Sabbat fledglings are soon taught better, but for human bikers, it’s just another reason to shun this bizarre and terrifying gang.
It is a human zoo on wheels. An outlaw whose normal, day-to-day appearance is enough to disrupt traffic will appear on a run with his beard dyed green or bright red, his eyes hidden behind orange goggles, and a brass ring in his nose. Others wear capes and Apache headbands, or oversize sunglasses and peaked Prussian helmets. Earrings, Wehrmachtheadgear and German Iron Crosses are virtually part of the uniform—like the grease-caked Levi’s, the sleeveless vests and all those fine tattoos: “Mother,” “Dolly,” “Hitler,” “Jack the Ripper,” swastikas, daggers, skulls, “LSD,” “Love,” “Rape” and the inevitable insignia. Many wear other, more esoteric decorations—symbols, numbers, letters and cryptic mottos, the Playboy Rabbit (mocking birth control), the varicolored pilots’ wings: red wings indicating that the wearer has committed cunnilingus on a menstruating woman, and brown wings for buggery.
—Hunter S. Thompson, “Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga”
The Crow Magnum MC
The following members of the N.O.X. Coven are also in the Crow Magnum MC:
Virgil Crowley
Bishop of the Bronx/MC President—Brujah
Founder of the Crow Magnum MC, Virgil Crowley was a World War II fighter pilot who drowned his postwar depression in whiskey and mayhem. Nicknamed the “Satanic Mechanic,” the Brujah antitribu owns several important Sabbat properties in the Bronx, including the Night of Pan, Hellcat Auto & Repair, Locust Point Marina, and a private airfield in Yonkers
A full character description and history for Virgil Crowley is also available under Sabbat Personalities: Virgil Crowley. [TBD]
Lucifer Sam
Vicar of the Bronx/ Ductus of the N.O.X. Coven/MC Vice President—Brujah
A rakish Brujah from England, Lucifer Sam was once Lieutenant Samuel Trilby, a daredevil Spitfire pilot who was Embraced by the same Brujah than sired Virgil Crowley. Throwing himself into the excesses of Swinging London, the charismatic dandy found himself at the center of a psychedelic sex cult in Ladbroke Grove, worshipped as a god and surrounded by brainwashed ghouls. After he drained, murdered, or Embraced all his followers by the early seventies, Sam escaped the coming Thatcher years by exchanging The Smoke for Gotham. His blood-brother’s right-hand man, Lucifer Sam oversees the club’s illegal operations, and keeps N.O.X. well-supplied with experimental drugs he produces in an underground laboratory along Givan Creek. The current pack favorite is “monocaine,” a cocaine derivative that that lasts twice as long as traditional coke, but reduces the world to shades of red. Unfortunately, it also has the side-effect of convincing some users they’ve become invisible!
Karol Pagán
Nuncio—Lasombra
With the demeanor of a middle-aged housewife, Karol Pagán is a Bronx-born Lasombra who was Embraced in 1976 by none other than Sister Lilith. As a result, Karol is a neonate with the powers of an Elder, and several foolish Cainites have met their True Death by underestimating her capabilities. Dressed in faded jeans, a floral-pattern blouse, and a fringed suede jacket, Karol is a calculating operator despite her innocuous appearance, and is known for shrewdly manipulating her opponents into acts of self-destruction. A motorcycle mama from her human days with the Ching-A-Ling Nomads, her blood keeps Karol bound to the Latrocinium, but her heart belongs to the Crow Magnums—unlike the Ching-A-Lings, the Crow Magnums accept Karol as a full-fledged rider.
Porter Joseph Parker, “The Communard”
Sexton/MC Secretary—Malkavian
A fidgety Malkavian with a photographic memory, the Communard claims to be from an alternate reality. He insists that he was born Porter Joseph Parker, a steamboat mechanic from a United States where the North lost the Civil War, American was ravaged by a mysterious “Blue Plague,” and the Bronx was part of a socialist collective known as the “Algonquin Commune.” Porter professes to have been a member of this Commune, serving as a “people’s mechanic” assigned to maintain the Commune’s Corliss engines. In 1871 he was dispatched to Manhattan to quell a series of riots, and was lynched by a group of enraged Irishmen, who hung Porter from a lamppost and left him for dead. He was rescued by a Malkavian, only to be drained of blood and buried alive beneath the lighthouse at Blackwell Island. It took six months for Porter to claw his way to the surface, and when he emerged, he found a “strange new world” with no trace of his Sire. Porter gradually adjusted to his condition, purchasing a garage near Hell Gate Bridge and joining the Sabbat. One of Crowley’s original Royal Ushers, the Communard carries a strange, metallic crossbow he fabricated in his workshop, and takes a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach. As secretary, Porter is responsible for keeping the coven’s records.
Mama Roux
MC Treasurer—Brujah
A Rubenesque Cajun from Houma, in 1974 Mama Roux and her “old man” Randy Pepper departed Terrebonne Parish on their red, white, and blue Electra Glide for a month’s vacation to New York. An ill-tempered alcoholic, Pepper insulted a Crow Magnum neonate in Jersey City, and was subsequently dragged behind the vampire’s bike until his body was torn to pieces. The Brujah embraced Mama Roux out of spite, intending to torture her for a few months, then offer her up for diablerie at the next Festivo dello Estinto. Instead, the wily fledgling trapped and killed her Sire. Impressed by her cunning and resilience, Crowley returned her old man’s bike and granted Roux her freedom.
A year later, Roux shocked the coven by returning—she had nowhere else to go, and found the Camarilla to be “insufferable pricks.” A drop-out from Nicholls State with the better part of a marketing degree under her belt, Roux began assisting the club with its accounts. She proved so successful that Crowley placed her in charge of the “black books” that tracked the coven’s myriad illegal activities. Soon Roux was supervising the finances of Hellcat Auto, Napoleon’s Wrecking & Salvage, and even N.O.X. itself. In 1981 she was made a prospect, and after completing her 666 Nights of Mayhem, she was awarded her patch. As Treasurer, Mama Roux manages the coven’s funds, and is responsible for handling the MC’s unissued colors and patches.
Cowboy
Templar/MC Sergeant-at-Arms—Gangrel
Embraced in the nineteenth century by an Arapahoe Gangrel calling himself the “Alkali Lake Monster,” this burly Sioux was originally an Oglala warrior named Chanowíchakte, or “Kills in Forest.” After being cast out of his tribe, Chanowíchakte traveled the country, joining a Wild West show in 1891 as a marksman known as “Chief Shoots-in-the-Dark.” By the 1920s he was working in a traveling carnival, riding a motorcycle on the Ring of Death and jumping through flaming hoops. Chanowíchakte ended up in New York City after the War and became a founding member of the Royal Ushers. Known ironically as “Cowboy,” as Sergeant-at-Arms, Chanowíchakte is responsible for maintaining coven discipline and keeping the MC secure. Being a Gangrel, he prefers to use his claws in combat; but true to his nickname, Cowboy carries a pair of silver-plated Schofield revolvers “just in case.”
Squaw
Cowboy is rarely seen without “Squaw,” a former Playboy bunny from Bangladesh named Parvathi Suhrawardy. Cowboy’s “old lady,” Squaw is also his ghoul, and he rarely makes strategic decisions without consulting her for tactical advice. He would have Embraced Parvathi years ago, but she has little desire to be a Gangrel. The couple are currently looking for the “right Toreador” to join a bloody ménage-a-trois, a situation that invites much bawdy humor around the club—“Hey man, just place an ad in Sabbat Swingers! ‘Cowboy & Indian are looking for a Toreador unicorn!’ What could go wrong?”
Hércules Osorio, “The Marshal”
Enforcer/Chief Road Captain—Ravnos
Born Hércules Napoleón Bonaparte Osorio, this Vietnam veteran owns Napoleon Salvage & Wrecking, a sprawling junkyard in Castle Hill. Currently serving as Chief Road Captain, the Ravnos Boricano has taken a distinctively proactive approach to his office, and has increased the number of “Search & Destroy” rides—nasty rampages designed to clear the area of undesirables, particularly meddlesome lupines, Camarilla interlopers, and “off-the-rez” Setites. Paranoid and mistrustful, the Marshal has a short temper, and only his closest friends are allowed to make “crazy vet” jokes. It is rumored that Osorio won the junkyard a game of Russian roulette, but any mention of “di-di mau!” is greeted with a blast from his sawed-off Ithaca 37. The identity of Osorio’s Sire is another off-limit topic, along with his missing ring finger, his abiding hatred of cops, his weird phobia of moths, his passion for muscle magazines, the piss-poor quality of his tattoos, and the reason he owns the entire 10-season run of Friends on VHS cassette.
Rose Mary Lynch, “Scary Mary,” aka “The Widow Lynch”
Oracle—Tremere
Born in Petaluma as Rose Mary Morelli, this Tremere antitribu is a former member of the Manson Family who led a controversial career as the lead singer of Baphomet, a Satanic rock band that scandalized the country in the late sixties. Having hired the Crow Magnums for security, Mary was Embraced after Setites attacked a Baphomet concert in 1971. Trained as an oracle in Brooklyn by Ezequiel Pataquiva Santos de Itagüí, today “Scary Mary” lives on a houseboat at Locust Point, and reads the coven’s future using Tarot cards and a crystal ball stolen from Anton LaVey. Despite these old-fashioned trappings, the true source of Mary’s power is much stranger, a secret she carries alone—quite literally.
A full character description and history for Scary Mary is also available under Sabbat Personalities: Rose Mary Lynch.
Coven Cainites
The following members of the N.O.X. Coven do not ride with the Crow Magnum MC, but are still important to the pack:
The Sayer of the Law
Priest of the N.O.X. Coven—Tzimisce
Unlike the other boroughs, the Bishop of the Bronx does not double as coven priest. That role is occupied by a Cainite known as the Sayer of the Law, a half-joking title that combines the Island of Doctor Moreau with the O.T.O. “magick” practiced by the coven. Claiming lineage from the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis, the Sayer is a lanky Tzimisce with glittering, ice-blue eyes. Unkempt in appearance, he wears fouled robes, and his bedraggled hair is caked with dried blood. The Sayer is responsible for binding the coven through rituals that involve bloodletting, the consumption of human flesh, and the rites of diablerie, whether willing or unwilling. Fusing Sabbat ideology with Crowleyian magick, these rituals are known to produce intoxicating effects in the Cainites who participate, with the Sayer himself transfigured into a terrible angel they call “Pan.” Whether this is gospel truth, consensual hallucination, or cagily-applied Vicissitude is a matter of debate.
Laylah
Priestess of the N.O.X. Coven—Setite
A Haitian woman of stunning beauty, Laylah is a “Serpent of the Light”—a Setite antitribu— dispatched from Spring Valley to assist the Sabbat in their uneasy truce with the Followers of Set. A servant of Erzulie, she has infused her voodoo beliefs into the coven’s brew of Crowleyian magick and Satanism, and has adopted the name Laylah, or “Night.” Serving opposite the Sayer of the Law, Laylah represents the “divine feminine” in coven rituals by acting as the “sacred chalice” during the rite of Vaulderie. She first drinks the blood of every Cainite in the coven, then lays back on the altar and offers her veins as a communal fount. While this renews the shared blood bond of Vaulderie, it also draws the pack closer to Laylah, who is worshipped with a combination of artless wonder and mystical, erotic longing. Laylah is acutely aware of her power over the coven, and Nuncio Pagán keeps a close eye on her, making sure the Setite antitribu remains firmly aligned with Sabbat goals.
El Cerdo, aka “Shovelhead,” aka “That Fucking Thing in Di-Di Mau’s Junkyard”
Nosferatu
Clad in a leather-and-chain strait-jacket with a bloody potato sack covering his head, El Cerdo is a Nosferatu who dwells is the wasteland of Napoleon Salvage & Wrecking. Feral and nearly insensate, El Cerdo is used for purposes of intimidation—he is the classic “monster” the coven uses to terrify its enemies, a cross between the Bear Jew and the Rancor. Called “El Cerdo” by the Marshal, most of the pack’s bikers refer to him as “Shovelhead.” Like a mad dog, the Nosferatu is loyal only to his master, whom he regards with a bizarre tenderness, making delighted meeping sounds when Osorio approaches his lair. No one knows what El Cerdo truly looks like, but his strait-jacket bulges with distasteful unknowns, and his feeding habits frequently involve dismemberment.
Fight, shoot up, kill! Ride!
Ha ha! Dance, meat! Dance!
Lions! Ready to mix! Follow the lightning!
Death to kopfs! Death to order! Lions live free!
—Philippe Druillet, “The Night”
Sources & Notes
The core of the Gotham Sabbat was first uploaded on 31 October 2000, but the Crow Magnum MC was extensively revised during the July 2018 update. The club was inspired by Hunter S. Thompson’s magnificent book Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, with additional encouragement coming from the Blue Öyster Cult song, “Transmaniacon MC.” For the 2018 revision, I found it impossible to ignore influences from Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy and Rockstar Games’ “The Lost and Damned.”
Although I don’t ride myself, I grew up around bikers. Both my parents are riders—nice H.O.G. types, not outlaws—and some of the riders depicted above may or may not be evil versions of my friends and relatives. The Communard is a Deadlands 1876 in-joke, and Lucifer Sam and Mama Roux got their names from songs, Syd Barrett and Dr. John respectively. Rose Mary Lynch is loosely based on Esther “Jinx” Dawson and her band Coven. And by the way, Karol Pagán is played by Melissa McBride, but you suspected that anyway.
The banner image incorporates a black & white photograph of a biker gang published in a Selvedge Yard article about Brooklyn’s Iron & Glory, a brand of biker accessories. The original photo was taken in 1967 by the father of Richard Brandt, the company’s founder. The source of the second image was a photograph found on All That’s Interesting. I’m pretty sure that’s Kris Kristofferson hanging out with my dad.
Author: Great Quail
Original Upload: 31 October 2000
Last Modified: 24 January 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
With Satan’s hog no pig at all
And the weather’s getting dry
We’ll head south from Altamont
In a cold-blood traveled trance
So clear the road, my bully boys
And let some thunder pass
We’re pain, we’re steel, a plot of knives
We’re Transmaniacon MC
Behind the pantry, behind the tree
The ghouls adopt that child
Whose name resounds forever
Whose name resounds in terror
And I’m no fool to call that hog
‘Cause man, I remember
Those who did resign their souls
To Transmaniacon MC
And surely we did offer up
Behind that stage at dawn
Beers and barracuda,
reds and monocaine, yeah—
Pure nectar of antipathy
Behind that stage at dawn
To those who would resign their souls
To Transmaniacon MC
Cry the cable, cry the word
Unknown terror’s here
And won’t you try this tasty snack
Behind the scene or ‘bout the back
Which was the stage at Altamont
My humble boys of listless power
We’re pain, we’re steel, a plot of knives
We’re Transmaniacon…
Look, all right! You can feel it!
—“Transmaniacon MC”, Blue Öyster Cult