Serpentis

[Serpentis]

Name: Akil Anpu
Nick Names or Alias: Serpentis
Age: 5,178 (approximate given the julian calandar miscalculation)
Aesthetic Age: 30
Gender: Male
Sexual Preferances: Straight
LClan: Other
If Other..:

Setite

Sect: Independant
If Independant Faction..:

Serpentis

Rank: Primogen
Generation: 7th
Powers (Disciplines):

Serpentis: ***** *
Obtenebration: ***** *
Presence: *****
Obfuscate: ***
Celerity: ***

Deformities:

None

Derangement(s):

Misc.:

Merits
Reputation: Serpentis is known far and wide as the benefactor of lost causes...and as the "magician" who can make dreams come true...for a price. He is widely respected not only for his age and wisdom but for his cunning and shrewd dealings. Anyone who wishes to hurt someone high up would be wise to seek his patronage.

Iron Will: Serpentis' link with Set and his self-assurance of his successes backed up by the experiences of thousands of years have solidified Serpentis' will into an unbreakable mental block. He is unaffected by attempts to Dominate him either by the discipline or magic.

Eidetic Memory: Serpentis has perfect recall over his memories.

Flaws
Geas: Serpentis has sworn allegiance to Set and to do everything in his power to return him to unlife. If Serpentis ever betrays Set or if Set is destroyed then Serpentis will lose all of his generation score down to 14th and his powers will be restricted to the normal use of his generation. Naturally Serpentis is very wary of everything that he commits to doing as to avoid breaking this Geas.

Bound: Serpentis is bound to the will of Set and will do most anything he asks him to do. He owes his unlife, his powers, his training, and his achievements to Set. (or so he feels)

Isolated Upbringing: Serpentis was raised by the cult of Amun Ra and Isis as a child, he knows nothing of suffering personally but he does see it. Thus he is rather removed from it psychologically speaking. He does not have very much empathy for those who suffer.

Appearance:

Serpentis has dirt brown skin as typical of most Egyptian people of his time. He has no hair to speak of in honor of his tradition as an Egyptian sorcerer. He has shaved eyebrows and eyeliner like a typical Egyptian of his time. He also has a tattoo of a snake running around his neck, with its mouth and tail intersecting on a scarab that rests right below his throat. He wears a business suit, regular suit or a tuxedo whenever he goes out. He always seems to glow with beauty and magnificence due to his use of his Presence discipline.

Fashion Sense/Style:

Serpentis has a surprisingly modern fashion sense. He loves a good business suit or a tuxedo if he is going to show off his opulence. His suit is traditional three piece suit with golden cufflinks that have the all seeing eye on them. His overall fashion tends toward the business type because he views all his transactions with people as business. In fact the only time he is not in business attire is around his cult. When he is around his cult or someone he trusts (which is no one right now) he usually wears jeans, an old ratty r-shirt and takes off all of his jewelry.

Otherwise, his hair is always combed, always immaculate, and always stylish. He wields a cane with a golden snake head for a hand grip and egyptian hieroglyphs engraved on the cane. He is usually very groomed, always showered, and smelling fresh. He looks like a normal human being having mastered the art of hiding his undead nature early on in his history. He eats and drinks normal food because he loves the taste, though still requires sustenance from blood.

He wears an immense amount of golden Egyptian jewelry. Everything from scarab necklaces to eye of Horus rings. He even has a pyramid tie…but he doesn’t really wear it because it looks gaudy and like he’s trying too hard. Sometimes he will wear a hat but if he does it is always a fedora

Personality:

Serpentis is a complex vampire. He often speculates this is because of his age. Though most old vampires end up going insane or leaving or getting eaten by lots of their sires, Serpentis has survived the ages. Now I know what you are all thinking, “he must be epic powerful dude!”, well that is not so. It is actually because of this that he has survived. There is literally not much to be gained by killing him. He has significant finances but most vampires do, he has a cult following but they will not follow anyone but him, he has an impeccable sense of fashion but so do mortals, and he is reasonably knowledgeable in the arts of Serpentis and Obtenebration but no one knows that because he does not fight. He will kowtow, he will run away, and he will live to fight another day.

He does not value strength of magic or strength of body, he values a higher form of power….influence. He deals in vice because he knows that is what people cannot show to the outer world and thus like so many other things of the night, it holds particular sway over their lives. He uses his lordship of drugs, women, and alcohol to dig up dirty laundry on almost anyone and everything. Most of it isn’t even for blackmail, he just loves the depths to which humans and others can sink to. That said he identifies himself with the great serpent, the tempter, the old diluter Satan, whatever you call him. He loves corrupting people, making them fall into their own desires that they usually so no to. He loves to free people from their puritanical beliefs and get them enmeshed in the good things in life. This is by no means purely “humanitarian” because by enmeshing them in those things, he also brings them into his domain, his territory so to speak.

Now he is not all bad, he just loves the bad. His redeeming qualities are expressed in things such as the Serpentis Charity fund that he set up (mostly for the tax rebate) that helps out orphans and homeless get off of drugs or offers in secret discount drugs whichever they choose. He calls it “The first respectful charity that does not attempt to push its values on others” and “the first initiative to respect the full autonomy of its dependents”. This is Serpentis’ major mark on history. He wants this charity to live on into the future to preserve secular culture and eventually form the culture into a more accepting of fetishes and other darker aspects of humanity. Eventually culminating in the abolition of the need for the masquerade and the hiding of Garou.

Physical-Strength: 10
Intelligence: 13
Speed: 13
Leadership: 13
Melee: 8
Unarmed: 10
Ranged: 0
History:

Omen

Circa 3,170 BC

Born 3168 bc in lower Egypt, Serpentis was born Akil Anpu as a son to the high priest of Isis and an unknown male from a fertility ritual. As was custom, he was given to the priesthood as a gift from Isis. He was trained in the arts and rituals of Amun Ra the sun god. He showed no promise with those and never achieved any success with those rituals. He became discontented and was approached by the secret priesthood of Set who were notable for their talent in sorcery and magic. He began training in secret and showed much promise as he mastered the darker arts of sorcery preformed under the dead of night in the light of the moon. Eventually he earned the title Serpentis or Sorcerer of Serpents for his mastery of the snake path of sorcery. He could entice vipers into the beds of people in order to kill his enemies and cure even the worst case of poisoning. It was for this reason that the priesthood of Amun Ra and Horus spurned him, casting him out from the temple and into the wastes with the jackals of the god he worshipped. There in the wastes he met one claiming to be Anubis, who told him to go to the pharaoh and display his talents. Akil did as he was told and after a week of nights in the desert performing the most deadly ritual he knew, he stormed the palace of the Pharaoh Menes riding a torrent of vipers, cloaked in a robe black as night. He held the Pharaoh’s men hostage with serpents entwining around them. As he walked unimpeded to the throne of Menes, he knelt in supplication. He offered his services to the Pharaoh in exchange for a place to live and practice his arts. The Pharaoh was astonished and welcomed Serpentis as a son giving him royal quarters and letting him ride in his chariot. Serpentis became the royal vizier of Menes at the age of 18.

Conquest

Circa 3150 bc

From then on, Serpentis was the royal vizier of the Great Pharaoh Menes, he told fortunes, made sacrifices to Set, and took a seat on the high priest’s council for temple affairs. Even if he was on the high priest’s council, he was still persecuted against, talked down to, and ordered around simply because it had been the Pharaoh who appointed him to it rather than doing the rituals of Amun Ra. The high priest was named Typhon, he was the high priest of Amun Ra and he was particularly critical toward Serpentis. Serpentis, as the days went by, found his powers waning. It soon became completely impossible for him to control snakes anymore. In his frustration, Serpentis went out into the desert where he had first discovered his powers. He felt the jackals of the night surround him growling as if he were an outsider. Serpentis collapsed in the desert, allowing the jackals closer, if he couldn’t have power then there was no point in living. He heard a voice, a quiet and sinister whisper on the night wind, that spoke to him. It told him that he had forgotten the true strength of Set. Set was a god of the night, of secrecy, and of dominance. He continued that Serpentis had lost his connection to Set because he had grown humble and had supplicated at the feet of fools like Typhon instead of destroying them. Serpentis understood and rose, he let out a shout in the desert that frightened off the jackals. With his confidence restored, Serpentis returned in the dead of night to the temple. He was full of hatred for what the council had reduced him to. He raised his hands, the moon round, pale and full behind him as he hissed the incantations. Suddenly, responding to his malice and hatred, vipers coated the sands in a black rushing tide of darkness toward the temple. The serpents rushed into the temple, into the beds of the retainers of the high priests, the beds of the priests, the students, and even through the magically defended beds of the high priests themselves. Thus all the priests were slain but those who had sworn allegiance to Serpentis. Serpentis rode his carpet of slithering snakes to the shrine of Horus and Amun Ra, piercing the sacred veil. Serpents coiled around the idols, the candles, the incense, they ate the sacred offerings left at the idol’s feet. Serpentis walked slowly towards the idols and with a swift backhand stroke he shattered the idols upon the floor. He burnt the sacred veil, setting a massive blaze inside the temple and rode out of the temple on his living servants the serpents of Set. As he rode back to the palace the temple of the sun gods burnt behind him like a dying torch in the ever strengthening night.

Unification

Circa 3147 bc

The next morning Serpentis found himself dragged from his bed by palace guards and led into the audience chamber. Menes was there looking very displeased, sitting upon his golden throne. Serpentis knelt and Menes asked him why he had destroyed the temple to the sun gods. Especially since the Pharoahs were considered the living incarnation of these gods, so what he had done was not only blasphemy but treason. Serpentis bowed and prostrated himself saying that he could never do harm to the Pharaoh’s great name which was heralded throughout lower Egypt as the greatest Pharaoh that had ever lived. Further, Serpentis elaborated that when he destroyed the sun gods temple it was a tribute to the Pharaoh because since Pharaoh was the morning and evening star, the living embodiment of the sun god on earth, then it was in and of itself a blasphemy to worship idols that did not look like the Pharaoh. Serpentis cautioned that the Egyptian people must learn to worship the living incarnation that lives among them rather than the idols that sit in the temple, and in holy zeal he had destroyed the temple to glorify the sun gods. Serpentis kissed the feet of the Pharaoh and offered his life in payment if he had done anything not in the best interests of the Pharaoh since he was the most trusted royal vizier. This performance convinced Menes and he bade Serpentis rise. He was humbled by the zeal for which Serpentis showed for his safety and for his divine name. He proclaimed Serpentis was to ride into battle against the infidel upper Egypt, as he had a dream in which serpents would secure his victory in battle. Serpentis was very pleased with this and agreed. They rode into battle that day, Serpentis barely making it out alive. Fearing for his safety, Serpentis took several volunteers out into the desert and did a ritual, sending his most trusted serpent into the tent of the king of upper Egypt. The king expired at night, demoralizing the army and causing half of it to disperse. The Pharaoh Menes then easily conquered his enemies ushering in a new era of prosperity and growth for the empire, thanking Serpentis for his help, and granting Serpentis one wish that Menes as god on earth would grant. Serpentis asked for something that was usually considered a punishment. He asked that his name be stricken from history.

The Embrace

Circa 3138 BC

Serpentis had asked for his name to be stricken from the record because he knew that he was going to die, and he was following the orders of Anubis who had appeared to him in a dream. Anubis had told him that Set was so pleased with Serpentis that he was going to allow him to forever escape Anubis’ kingdom as well as to forever roam the kingdom of Set as long as Serpentis would become like a god to mortals, a whispered name in fear and veneration of a mythical being. Serpentis asked for his existence to be stricken from the record of history in order to do just that. The pharaoh Menes reluctantly agreed, and accepted Serpentis’ resignation to wander the wastes of the desert forever. Menes vowed that while the history would never speak of Serpentis, that he would always remember the name of the only person he trusted, and that his retainers would go with Serpentis into the wastes to protect him from bandits and to attend him. They would worship Serpentis like a god and serve him until he entered Anubis’ kingdom. Serpentis accepted this offer and departed from the palace with four slaves and four slave girls in tow. He entered the wastes. That night, while his slaves slept, Anubis appeared to Serpentis during his meditiations. Anubis told him that he had done everything as Set had commanded and that Set was very pleased with him. Furthermore, Set wished to bestow permanently upon him the title he had received from the court of the high priests, Serpentis. Serpentis knelt and Anubis placed a hand upon his shoulder

“From now on, you shall be blessed with the gift to crawl upon your belly through the sacred dust of the earth, no longer will you need to eat for Set’s power and the blood of the weak will sustain you, no longer shall you have to walk in the day but rather through Set’s power you shall be a denizen of the night free to strike at man’s heel and leave your enemies crippled before you. No longer shall you know mercy, love, or anything of Ra’s kingdom for only your true master shall fill you…Set. Now rise Serpentis of Egypt, rise and know your god’s blessing.”

Anubis sank his teeth into Serpentis’ neck. Serpentis could feel his weakness being drained from him. He felt clear, pure, and for the first time truly powerful. It was an amazing sensation, it felt empowering but he could feel his Ka leaving his body leaving him weak. He could see the dark ancient steps to the kingdom of Anubis open up before him, but just as soon as they had appeared, the gates to the underworld shut in his face. He felt his Ka returning, but without the weakness he had experienced. He drank deeply of something that tasted like ambrosia must. Serpentis could have sworn that he felt like a god. Then he awoke. Anubis was standing before him and had pointed to a slave girl. Serpentis fed for the first time. It was delicious, forbidden, dark, and sexual all at the same time. He was drowning in his own pleasures, barely able to keep his mind above the rising tide of red pleasure that filled his mind. Anubis growled low and informed Serpentis that succumbing to the red tide of the Nile (aka the beast) would lead to Serpentis becoming a feral animal of the night like all of Set’s failed servants. Serpentis endeavored for a good five hundred and fifty years training in the desert to control not only the beast inside but his serpent nature under the direct training of Anubis.

The Grand Design

Circa 2588 BC

The pharaoh Menes had long since entered the kingdom of Anubis when Serpentis, or the black priest as he was called in some hushed whispers of the villagers, emerged from his wasteland training. Much had changed in Egypt when Serpentis slithered from his nest in the wastes of the Gobi desert. Serpentis spent much of his time in the local town gathering information on the current affairs of Egypt. At the age of 500, Serpentis had the urge to Sire. He wished to make Set’s kingdom upon Earth, and would do so by manipulating the affairs of Egypt until it rose to greatness. He heard whispers of a great intelligent man named Imhotep, who was at the royal court in Memphis. Serpentis decided he would investigate the royal court for people of intelligence, of virtue, and of talent that would be worthy of the gift of eternal life. He slithered his way to the capital, Memphis, city of the great necropolis where great monuments of man’s journey to Anubis’ kingdom were. Set’s power here was almost palpable, for Set ruled through his son Anubis, from the shadows. Serpentis’ first move was to infiltrate the royal court to personally oversee the talent that awaited his keen eye. He cloaked his true form in the guise of a black viper, slithering up into the rafters of the ancient court building. There he saw the commoner named Imhotep. He was a wise man, learned in the ways of mathematics, the sacred writings, and of healing. Serpentis did not hesitate, this would be his childe. Serpentis appeared to Imhotep the first night in the darkness of his chamber whispering the calculations that would lead Imhotep to think of the construction of the pyramids. Serpentis would use this monument to increase the awe and wonder of Egypt many times over. Imhotep started construction designs of the Great Pyramid for the pharaoh Kufu, who Serpentis had judged unworthy of knowing him, and Serpentis’ plan was on its way. The second night Serpentis visited Imhotep in person at night. He told Imhotep of the power he could bestow upon his from Set. Imhotep could see all the knowledge that he could gain by living forever as well as how much good he could do for the nation of Egypt. He accepted. That night, Serpentis would make Imhotep his childe. Imhotep was a valuable servant, student, and a faithful worker for Set. He went on to discover natural healing methods to help Egypt’s fame and military, he was a beautiful poet whom the muses dwelt with, and finally he invented the papyrus scroll. So great was his fame that the men and women deified him when he “died”. From then on, Imhotep swore to follow Serpentis into the night to manipulate Egypt’s destiny from the shadows. For the first time in awhile Serpentis was glad, for until now he only had Anubis, his teacher, the scarab beetles, and the jackals of the night for company…but now he had Imhotep. He could have a civilized conversation, speculate on the nature of the earth, of mathematics, and of philosophy with. Serpentis was happy in this time. Set was pleased with Serpentis’ plans and his actions, bestowing upon him more favor and more lessons from Anubis. Serpentis and Imhotep travelled for 900 years after that, learning in the desert, and interacting with other vampires that they found. However, while the guardians Serpentis and Imhotep indulged themselves in a new dawn of reason, a darker time was on the horizon for Egypt.

Road Trip

Circa 2050 BC

After their 500 years of training, the duo of vampires traveled on foot at night, though they traveled as the horse runs. They traveled around the great desert region of the world. They visited many cities, the newest of which was called Babylon. There Imhotep and Serpentis started a school for mathematics. The inhabitants of Babylon took greedily of their knowledge, showing a prowess with mathematics that only the most talented in Egypt had even shown. They started a golden age of amazing growth, progress, and culture for 200 years. When they left, the Babylonians were reluctant to let them leave, so they build temples to Ea and Mummu the respective names that Serpentis and Imhotep took when they arrived. They promised to return one day to lead another golden age, and vanished into the night. The next city they arrived at was the great walled city Ur. In this city, they tried to spread their word to the ancient race who lived here. But this race was as hard as the stone and metal that they worked with such fierce determination. These warriors had no use for mathematics or the arts of healing, they paid Serpentis and Imhotep no notice as they tried to teach their arts. Serpentis and Imhotep left Ur for a wiser race after 50 years of attempted teaching. They then traveled to the ancient city of Nippur. There in Nippur, the city of a thousand gods, Serpentis and Imhotep found their niche. In Nippur, the citizens and priests had already heard of the gods Ea and Mummu from the city of Babylon who was now growing in size and influence. They had built temples to them in hopes of their coming to Nippur. Serpentis and Imhotep gave the signs that were customary and were hailed as gods. They stayed there for the remaining 150 years discussing, teaching, and learning from the citizens, priests and kinds of Nippur. Then they received an angry summons from Set….they must come home. For Great Egypt was in peril and it was their job, the minions of Set, to ensure his future kingdom was intact. So Serpentis and Imhotep left for Great Egypt land of numerous sands and the eternal sun.

Unlikely Heroes

Circa 1650 BC

Running non-stop through the desert terrain, Nut’s sandy bosom, Serpentis and Imhotep ran full speed toward Memphis. The anger of Set was palpable, they had abused their freedom, and Egypt was now in danger. Egypt was being invaded by an enemy that Serpentis had not weakened, The Hyksos. The Hyksos had been a small mercenary tribe in Caanan, not worthy of destruction or weakening by Serpentis and they had risen up to destroy the Egyptian’s lower kingdom. Serpentis and Imhotep arrived at the city of Memphis to find it in ruins, utterly annihilated by the Hyksos. Imhotep was enraged and swore vengeance upon the Hyksos for destroying his town. Serpentis and Imhotep ran all around Egypt trying to find the capital proper. Finally they rested upon what had once been a small town named Thebes, which was now a giant metropolis. Serpentis then found the “ruling” dynasty and shamed them with his divine glamour. Serpentis delivered his famous “What shall happen to Egypt?” speech which only a small part of survives. (many believe through Serpentis’ attempts to erase the record of his humanitarianism from the earth. It goes a little something like this….

“Now hear me evening star of Egypt! For you have doomed your entire race to ignominy and disgrace. Sad be the day upon which the god Amun Ra upon earth be weak enough to be downtrodden and cowed into submission, as well as paying tribute to these rulers! Sad be the day when the never fading sun over Egypt starts to set as it has TODAY! You are no god, pharaoh, for in paying tribute to those who are lesser than you, you have relinquished your throne! Now what shall happen to our dear Egypt? Shall it waste away like some desert carcass picked over by the vultures and jackals of the desert? Shall out once former glory be nothing but ruins for some other civilization to find? Shall our unending glory be only as a copper piece twinkles hidden among the sand? I say NO! We shall strike back at these mercenaries! We shall take back out lands! We shall avenge our fallen brothers! They shall not have died in vain! HEAR THEM! Our ancestor’s bones lie unburied, their Ka’s unable to navigate the underworld without burial! Can you not hear their dry rattling of bones? Can you not hear their gasps for vengeance? Harken! Listen to the dry hollow wind that beats at your doors! It cries VENGEANCE! It cries BLOOD! It cries DEATH! DEATH TO THE INVADERS!”

This speech rallied the men of Egypt to their weapons, it stoked the dormant fire, which was suffocating like a fire with too much stifling ash on it, of the soldiers and Pharaoh. They rallied their troops and marched south for the battle. There Serpentis and Imhotep unleashed their godlike powers against the Hyksos aiding the Egyptians in their battle. The Hyksos were defeated, and Egypt was whole once more. Then Serpentis appointed Egypt’s new pharaoh who was strong as a crocodile. The pharaoh built temples to Set, and gave Serpentis more members of his cult from the royal family. Imhotep received the worship and identification with Thoth their god of wisdom and Maa’t the god of truth, justice, and wisdom. Set was pleased with his children’s actions and once more settled into his sleep. Serpentis and Imhotep did likewise out in the desert temple of Set. Their cults watched over them in their divine slumber for they were extremely tired from their recent trials.

The Schism

Circa 600 BC

Serpentis and Imhotep had slept for a thousand years. They woke, rested, learned, and eager for new knowledge. Serpentis and Imhotep went to the intellectual capital of their realm, Thebes. There they found a new genius worthy of eternal life, or so they thought. His name was Pythagoras. Pythagoras was a mathematician, a theologian and a philosopher. Upon meeting him, Serpentis immediately changed his mind because of Pythagoras’ tendency to moralize. Imhotep however was smitten and vowed to turn Pythagoras without Serpentis’ approval. Serpentis felt betrayed. He showed a side of himself that Imhotep always suspected was there but never thought about, the monster side. Serpentis lashed out at Imhotep calling him usurper, indecent childe, disobedient, ungrateful, and slew his student. When Serpentis’ rage subsided, he was ashamed at what he had done, and did not burn the body of Imhotep but rather poured new life into him with blood. When Imhotep awoke, he had a new sense of the power that his master wielded and was afraid. He ran from Serpentis, fleeing their home in the temple of Set, and taking his cult with him. He fled out of the sheer terror of the recognition of the truth of Serpentis’ mocking tone during the battle

“Imhotep, I have taught you everything that you know….but I have not taught you everything that I know.”

The two parted company, Pythagoras remained human, and Serpentis was alone once more. Serpentis, only now realized how human he still was at heart. He was depressed. He did not like being alone, and his “heart” still felt betrayed by his former student and childe. He hated him now, and Serpentis had a sinking feeling that Imhotep would be back one day….and to fight not to speak.

Somnus et Torpor

Circa 1 AD - Current

Serpentis awoke to something distinctly wrong. There were no chants, the incense was stale in the air, the lamps were out, there was no scribble at the scroll for the copying of texts. There was silence. Serpentis turned into a black cobra, just in time to evade the sword that struck inside his stone coffin, It didn’t make a sound. He hissed but no sound came. He slithered out of his coffin and saw three figures. Imhotep and two other vampires dressed in black cloaks, with the shining emblem of an assassin’s guild. Assamites he thought as he transformed into a writing form of pure darkness. The silence faded like a shroud being ripped away. Serpentis seized the two assamites in his tendrils, sucking the unlife out of them. He writhed and let out a primal shriek of betrayal and hurt as he seized Imhotep.

“I loved you like a brother, I brought you to unlife, I sired you! I taught you secrets of the underworld, I would have died for you! And you betray me not once but twice? I will not make the mistake of giving life to you a third time. Now you horrid creature, slave to your own passions, die like you should have several thousand years ago!”

He devoured his essence. Serpentis dropped the husk and looked around at his slaughtered cult. He grieved, cried tears of blood over each one of his faithful servants. The temple of Set was also destroyed by his former student. He forswore Egypt, and the land of treachery that it represented.

“It was said by someone wise, for I would like to meet him, that there can be no honor among thieves. Truth never more true was spoken and for now I understand the world is made up of thieves and cons. Even the best intellect when given eternal life still betrays the hand that fed him, thus betraying himself and his true nature as thief. If all the world be thieves and no one left honorable then perchance I am the only one who honors the virtue of fidelity and if so then I shall never again sire such an evil childe nor make the mistake of granting thieves eternal life. I shall then barter with the thieves of this world, my goods for their goods, I shall aid them in their evil designs. So that when their evil is near fruition I shall in turn betray the betrayer and bring about their ultimate demise. I shall be both saint and devil, demon and angel, champion and villain. None shall guess my motive, nor my mission, and perhaps by chance the unwitting idiot who possesses the secret to bringing my master to life will happen upon me and I shall despoil him of his greatest secret, and in turn bring judgment to the world. For I am warrior of Set, not on the battlefield but at home, policing not their minds but their hearts. I shall use their greatest weakness against them, I shall be truthful. Never let it be said that Serpentis told a lie but rather he told so great a truth that no one understood it. I shall tell only truth and use it to deceive. For Set alone can weigh the heart next to the feather and each other human judge is corruptible and evil. So let my heart belong to no one, let my services be to the benefit and detriment of all and in so falling into the pit of vipers, I shall arise unscathed and master of them all. ”

Serpentis then traveled to the end of the world collecting more cultists. His new associates were shady, dirty, and evil. His cult became a den of vipers, each trying to cut each other’s throat while paying lip service to the honorable and knowledgeable men and women of old. They decked his temple with gold, silver, jewels, gems and incense. They bathed in opulence and excess as Serpentis watched, waited, learned their deceitful ways, and eventually mastered the art of seduction. He slept most of the time, the great Torpor setting upon him so that his cult evolved without his knowing, for he felt secure enough that vice would always live in the world. He awoke time and time again to look about but never sired another. He bought a mansion in 1920, putting his new and larger cult to work there. Setting up his library, his altar, his tomb, and his mission.

[Kiala]

only one thing, vampires turn to ash when killed, besides that it looks good to me.