To be able to fly? To be smoke, or a wolf; to know the night, and live in it forever? That’s not so bad. You call us monsters but when you dream it’s of flying and changing, and living without death….
—Clive Barker, Nightbreed

Clan Nosferatu

Clan Nosferatu greets you! This page is dedicated to serving the Nosferatu, and contains both character descriptions and any clan pseudo-history and disinformation they have chosen to offer up for your perusal.

2017 Archive Note
I first began playing Vampire: The Masquerade in 1993, and ended my campaign in 2002. I no longer run a Vampire campaign, and New York by Night is essentially an archive of old material. Entries presented in “gray boldface” followed by a “Coming Soon” bracket will be restored after I’ve edited the old material. Entries presented in “black boldface” were never actually developed, and are unlikely to be expanded now. I’ve retained them because they help flesh out New York by Night, and may suggest ideas for other Storytellers to adapt for their own campaigns.

Background

The first Nosferatu in New York City were a disorganized rabble of walking cadavers. After one of these monsters Embraced Caesar, the rebellious slave sentenced to be gibbeted for his role in the Slave Insurrection of 1741, the situation markedly improved. “Dead Caesar” organized the Nosferatu into a functioning clan, and from their warren below the Negro Burial Grounds, they brought order through subterranean New York. Proving themselves indispensable to the Camarilla during the building of the Cathedral of Santa de Luzarches, the Nosferatu finally achieved the respect they deserved. Unfortunately, they all vanished without a trace in the 1930s, leaving a mysterious void filled a decade later by an Old World transplant—Prince Radu, the Philosopher King.

The Strigoi
A little-known bloodline of the Nosferatu, the Strigoi are Romanian monsters; a dying breed of vampire-witches bound by peasant superstition and feeding on the nightmares of children.

Dwellers in the Dark
A dissection of the Nosferatu clan, its origins and bloodlines, and its myths and legends. Includes thoughts about the so-called “Vanishing.”

The Warren
Details and history about Dis, the Nosferatu’s strange underworld warren built in the aftermath of the Vanishing.

Personalities

These Nosferatu have elected to form a city of their own deep below the streets of Gotham. Lead by Prince Radu Ionesco, they represent the Nosferatu at their best: well organized yet fiercely independent; uniquely distorted yet highly civilized.

Prince Radu Ionescu
The leader of the clan, “The Pale King” is an ancient vampire driven by a unique vision of utopia.

Princess Irina Székely
Claiming decent from one of the oldest vampire clans of Transylvania, Irina’s rule by her husband’s side is not without its share of conflict.

Strix
Ancient, mysterious, and able to inspire both dread and worship, this semi-legendary Strigoi serves as clan witch.

Razvan Vilcu
Blood-brother to Prince Radu, Razvan has been granted unearthly beauty by his Embrace—better to hide the profound deformities twisting his soul.

Father Vissario
A damned Jesuit, Father Julian Vissario is the warren’s librarian and Radu’s most trusted advisor.

Himation
Using his aesthetic sense to conceal a most interesting personality, Himation plays a mercurial role as clan messenger and unofficial assassin.

Octavian Tóth
The Keeper of the Oral History, Octavian is a cunning but superstitious Strigoi who is constantly preparing for the coming of the Nictuku.

Fish
One of the odder members of the Clan, Fish tends the clan’s Spawning Pool—from within. [Coming Soon]

Sula Threek
Resourceful and iconoclastic, this musical architect keeps the Clan’s technology one step ahead of the mortal world. [Coming Soon]

Geranium
A mysterious American with a shapely figure and a sultry voice, Geranium keeps her face concealed beneath a black veil. She is the madam of Viriconium, the underground brothel operated by the Byzantium Coven, and serves Radu as his liaison with the Gotham Sabbat.

Milton Porter
Octavian’s brightest student, Milton has bent his considerable martial skills to the defense of the clan’s underground haven.

Cornelia Istrate
Claiming to be a repentant demon, this poor creature seeks absolution in the ruins of her own lost metropolis.

Doktor Schreck
Once a deranged plastic surgeon named Otto Saxon, this unwholsome creature now spends his time breeding monsters in the dark.

Viorel Iclozan
A Tzimisce antitribu, the Tzimisce sorcerer defected from his clan long ago to ally himself with Prince Radu.