| | | Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic |  |
| | | Author | Message |
|---|
valismedsen
Posts : 75
Join date : 2012-06-11
Age : 41
Location : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| Subject: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic  Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:51 pm | |
| - Spoiler:
Perhaps no other place on the Caribbean has reached such notoriety and fame as the Island of Tortuga. From the fabulous depictions on fiction to the harsh historical reality, the city is known by its dangerous charm as a pirate port. Freedom, revolt, outlawry and roguish independence are also part of its criminal glamour. At its height, the World of Darkness Tortuga was a lawless den of thieves, cutthroats, whores and escaped slaves – it did not lack the worst humanity can produce. This rabble did not go without a spiritual leader, however; a dark cleric offering a debasement of religion, a gospel of anger and resentment. Her name was Cordelia.
Cordelia was born as a slave, her parents brought from Africa to work on the French Caribbean’s sugar plantations. As a small child she was sold to a different owner from her family to perform domestic work on a big farm house. Cordelia’s past as a slave still troubles her on the present days, and she almost never speaks about it, and some of her followers speculate she suffered repeated sexual abuse while working as a house-slave. During these times, the only comfort she found was in religion. Very early in her life she discovered an affinity with the spiritual world, and she cherished that connection through a faithful dedication to Voudoun, its Loas and the religion’s prayers and practices. In time, she was accepted to increasingly higher degrees of initiation, becoming one of the youngest priestess in training of her group.
At those nights, the Voudoun religion was still practiced in secrecy and hidden behind a façade of Catholic syncretism. The immense importance of Voudoun to the slave population of Haiti cannot be excessively emphasized. But for Cordelia it was never about hope, not even about the strong bonds among the people that was brought by the religion – although she recognized its importance. No, for her, for the immense furnace of anger and resentment that burned inside her heart, it was about revenge. It was about hate. It comes as no surprise that since an early age the little girl attracted only the darkest entities to herself, a sinister spiritual connection that not even Voudoun or the Loas could interfere with. What these entities were is a mystery, but for Cordelia they were simply Loas that only she, among all, had the power to contact.
When Cordelia was in her mid teens the torture and abuse she suffered reached a limit when she became pregnant with her owner’s child. She herself prepared the infusion that provoked an abortion, and through the sacrifice of her unborn child to the eerie entities that had haunted her existence since she could remember, promising the power necessary to be free, she managed to escape. Once again under the intervention of spirits she was brought to Tortuga, where a powerful Bokor, a Voudoun priest fallen to the practice of dark magics, found and adopted her as a pupil. She was trained as a witch, but also as a priestess of the religion. During the day, she beseeched the Loas and led those in need on reverence to them. At the dark of night, she enticed darker entities to do the evil necessary to placate her raging heart. When the Bokor died of old age Cordelia assumed the role of Tortuga’s spiritual leadership to all the escaped slaves. To those like her for whom devotion and sacredness was not enough Cordelia offered an alternate remedy – the profanation of curses. Through Cordelia the sinister entities attracted to her inner darkness reigned in Tortuga, supplanting the Loas’ stewardship over the people. Even pirates and prostitutes were attracted to Cordelia’s ardent preaching about revenge and hate. It suited the rogues of Tortuga well.
But other, even darker entities also roamed the streets and reigned over the nights of Tortuga, and one of these took a sharp interest in the influential priestess. Cordelia’s Sire was one of the few Setites to join the Sabbat at the time of its formation. He was already an Anicllae then, being Embraced in 12th century France. A follower of the Christian Cathar heresy, he was one of the few European chosen by the Egyptian orthodoxy of the Clan that managed to rise to prominence. However, he strongly associated himself with the Road of Sin, giving more weight to his Gnostic and heretic background than the teachings of his Clan, similar as they were. The devil is in the details, and some Setites had come to hate the Albigensian heretic. At the time the Paths of Enlightenment were established, he joined the nascent Path of Cathari out of the ashes of Sin. This dedication to his Path meant for him an absolute estrangement from the Followers of Set, and he had to side with the Sabbat to guarantee his survival. When the Sabbat started to migrate to the new world in greater numbers, Cordelia’s Sire traveled to the French Caribbean attempting to escape the dangerous environment that Europe had become. He settled at Tortuga Island, as the legendary nest of pirates and prostitutes appealed to his ethic of sin. He Embraced no few Children there, all from the slave population – including Cordelia.
Cordelia to this night thinks her Sire only Embraced slaves because he was both attracted to some ideal of an African legacy heeding back to his estranged Egyptian Clan, and more importantly, was interested in the spiritual and magical practices of Voudoun. Indeed, through Cordelia he was himself initiated on Voudoun religion, which spoke deeply to his Christian heretic origins. Cordelia’s Sire was a Sabbat Priest himself, and he had initiated his promising Childer on that sect’s ideology and practices. Together, Sire and Childe founded more than simply a blood cult around Voudoun, they had actually started a vampire religion that preached to the hearts of Cainites that had lost their way. They became priests that led vampires to the acceptance of the Beast, of the supernatural world and of vampire’s place on it. Cordelia even managed to find parallels between the most apocalyptic beliefs among Sabbat vampires, about Gehenna and the awakening of the cannibal Antediluvians, and some obscure prophecies implied on the darkest myths of Voudoun.
However, since her Embrace Cordelia lost any connection to the spirit entities that had helped her throughout her mortal days. Once, her Sire suggested they never existed, that they were always a product of her imagination, a form a young child with a feverish imagination stimulated by Voudoun rites and some supernatural sensitivity found of coping with terrible mistreatments. Cordelia rage was immense, and she forgave him only because her Sire did not deny the existence of the Loas, for he had felt their power himself through Voudoun. For Cordelia, if the soft-hearted Loa were the only entities she was now able to reach, then she decided she would reign over them. No longer a priestess praying and begging for aid, she would master the spirit world. She would become a Loa herself. Cordelia developed a mystical practice combining vampiric blood-magic taught by her Sire, the witchery she had learned from the old Bokor and the lore about gods and spirits from Voudoun, mixing it all with Sabbat apocraphy.
When the Haitian Revolution came, Cordelia and her Sire went separate ways. She remained in Tortuga, while he left to roam the Caribbean. Their relationship was never based on affect and she was ever wary, but with time he had proved to her that at least he respected her connection with the spirit world and her magical talents. They kept in touch through letters, and it was her Sire that drew Cordelia’s attention to the existence of others of their Clan among the Voudoun religion in Haiti, and he helped her establish contact with them. These Setites had access to Voudoun blood-magics as well, called Wanga, and Cordelia learned from them, complementing her mastery over witchcraft and the spirits. Although sharing bloodline and faith with these groups, Cordelia remained relatively apart from them because she and her Sire were Sabbat.
It was also around this time that she first noticed the emergence of the Samedi bloodline, a group of strange vampires with deep ties to Voudoun, going so far as to name themselves after one of the Loa. Baron Samedi was an entity of death and entropy, and these vampires embodied these principles as well. Despite their common grounds, the Samedi rebuked any approach attempt by Cordelia. But she soon learned about a group of Voudoun vampires, enemies of the Samedi but claiming to be led by the Loa that gave them their namesake. First among these vampires was a Lasombra named Giselle Hemmet, who practiced a sinister conjunction of Necromancy and Abyss Mysticism. Cordelia was fascinated by Giselle, and pleaded to be that vampire’s apprentice. Sect bonds and Giselle’s interest in Cordelia’s knowledge of Voudoun magics ensured that their relationship worked for a time, but eventually Cordelia was driven away by Giselle’s deranged relationship with a spirit claiming to be Baron Samedi that tormented and abused her repeatedly. It mirrored too closely the abuse Cordelia herself had suffered at the hands of her mortal master. But she left deeply initiated both in Necromancy and Abyss Mysticism, hoarding that knowledge ferociously.
For Cordelia, contact with the Abyss was a way of reconnecting with the darkest spirits that had spoken to her throughout the entirety of her mortal life. She recognized deep within the chasms of darkness and on the shadow entities the embodiment of all that she had felt and wallowed while in touch with those dark entities. Her Sire, perhaps the only being privy to the extent of Cordelia’s inner darkness, was deeply disturbed by her involvement with Abyss Mysticism and distanced himself greatly thereafter.
During the 19th century the Sabbat became more prominent in Haiti, and Cordelia rose to a high place as well through her support of the sect. Her command of magic and her role as a spiritual advisor attracted her to the attention of the elite groups of killers and spies of the Sabbat, the Black Hand. She was initiated and proved her mettle as a mystic and consummate information broker. During these times she finally shed her shriveled humanitas and adopted a Path of Enlightenment. Used to the position of leadership as a priestess and commanding fear and respect as a witch, Cordelia was naturally attracted to the Path of Power and Inner Voice. The Path cemented her dominating relationship with the Voudoun Loas. If mortal priests think of themselves as their agents, Cordelia saw how that role had to be reversed – she was a vampire, a Sabbat, and no being would reign over her. Never again she would submit to the whims of another, even Loas or whatever entities had haunted her from beyond. In this, her blood magics greatly helped her, enabling Cordelia to call and command various spiritual entities. The fact that they had begun to be of a progressively darker nature did not trouble her at all. She exulted in her power over the darkest of things.
Cordelia truest test came at second half of the 20th century, when a militant cult of orthodox Setites launched an attack against their clanmates nesting among Haitian Voudoun cults. Through Cordelia these fringe groups fated to a bloody end found an ally among the Sabbat, and the rest is history – the Serpent of the Light emerged as one the newest bloodlines and additions to the Sword of Caine. Cordelia’s connection with the Black Hand, however, worked to keep her apart from the Cobras, as both groups were suspicious of each other’s secrecy and would accept no shared loyalties. The same group of Setites that targeted the Serpents of the Light begun to actively hunt Cordelia’s Sire as an heretic, and she finally lost contact with him as he had to hide deeper in the third world to survive.
In the present day Cordelia is still an important Black Hand agent, even if this fact ostracizes her from the Serpents of the Light, who resent her misplaced loyalties. She is a purveyor and collector of magical artifacts, and has developed the belief that hoarding them is the way of true power. She puts the Black Hand operatives under her command on the hunt for any hint of an arcane treasure, as well as the Sabbat pack she serves as a priest. Cordelia still resides in Tortuga, where many vampires follow her as a religious leader, not all of them Sabbat.
Name: Cordelia (often called simply Madame)
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Creep Show
Concept: Mambo Asogwe (Voudoun High Priestess)
Clan: Serpent of the Light
Sire: Unos, the Albigensian
Generation: 9th
Apparent Age: early 40s
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Charisma 5 (religious fervor), Manipulation 5 (matronly), Appearance 3, Perception 2, Intelligence 5 (memorization), Wits 5
Abilities
Talents: Awareness 3, Empathy 3, Expression 4 (ritualism), Intimidation 4 (eeriness), Leadership 5, Subterfuge 5
Skills: Animal Ken 3, Melee 1, Performance 3, Stealth 2
Knowledges: Occult 5 (Voudoun, Abyss Mysticism), Politics 4
Backgrounds: Allies 3 (cultists), Black Hand Membership 3, Contacts 3, Domain 2, Fame 1, Herd 4 (cultists), Retainers 5, Sabbat Rituals 3, Sabbat Status 2
Disciplines: Auspex 4, Voudoun Necromancy 3, Obfuscate 2, Obtenebration 3, Presence 5, Serpentis 5, Voudoun Wanga 3
Disciplines Combination Power: Weigh the Heart (Auspex 4, Serpentis 5) [Clanbook Followers of Set Revised, p.70]
Wanga Paths: The Spirit Manipulation 3, The Path of Duat 3 (similar Wanga version), The Path of the Father’s Vengeance 3 (similar Wanga version)
Necromancy Paths: Sepulcher Path 3, Bone Path 3
Necromantic Rituals: Insight (level 1), Knowing Stone (level 1), Smoking Mirror (level 1), Two Centimes (level 2), Blood Dance (level 3), Din of the Damned (level 3), Nightmare Drums (level 3),
Rituals of Darkness: The Shadow of Hands that Serve (level 1),, Defense of Angra Mainyu (level 1), Transubstantiation of Essence (level 2), Under the Aegis of the Night (level 2), Invoking the Shadowed Depths (level 2), The Heart That Beats in Silence (level 2), Caridad’s Garden (level 3), Calling the Hungry Shade (level 3)
Virtues: Conviction 5, Instincts 5, Courage 4
Morality: Path of Power and Inner Voice 7
Willpower 9
Merits and Flaws: Animal Affinity (serpents)
Last edited by valismedsen on Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:33 am; edited 1 time in total | |
| | | | Gattison
Admin
Posts : 306
Join date : 2012-06-03
Age : 44
Location : New England, USA
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:58 pm | |
| Actually, I love her story, so there's not much wrong with that at all.
The one complaint I do have is that she seems kind of buff for someone Embraced in the 1940s. I count about 11 stats with a rating of 5. That and she does have a hefty amount of Disciplines, Blood Magic and rituals, too.
Without trying to sound like I'm complaining, =), I bet a bunch of those traits could be trimmed down a bit and still serve the purpose needed to back up her excellent description.
For instance, her intelligence could still be respectable at 4, and still retain the Specialty. Since Wits doesn't have a Specialty, it could go down to 4 or even 3.
Leadership could probably be sufficient at 4 instead of 5.
Finally, since her focus is on Wanga and Voudounism, I think she should have less Abyssal rituals than Necromantic rituals. Like 5 or less. I picture it like this: since the char's focus is on Necromancy, and not specifically on Abyss Mysticism, I imagine that she is probably a "newbie" to Abyss-ism, and has more experience with Necromancy. and with only 70 or so years of unlife, she shouldn't be anything like the Methuselahs we started with, lol.
These are all just thoughts, and I've been proven wrong before, so if you disagree with any of them, feel free to start up a dialogue on it, and we can discuss this more in-depth. I'm not trying to take steam out of Cordelia or anything, just trying to constructively address some concerns. =) | |
| | | | valismedsen
Posts : 75
Join date : 2012-06-11
Age : 41
Location : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:46 pm | |
| Gattison, she was Embraced even before the Haitian Revolution, probably at the dawn of the 1700s.
Keeping this in mind, do you feel I should decrease her stats as you suggested? Actually, I kinda agree that those modifications could be made without detriment to the character's concept, but I calculated her stats according to the Children of the Night book guidelines.
I'll take a look at her Rituals of Darkness. At first I was gonna keep it at level 2, but I really wanted her to have access to a Caridad’s Garden. | |
| | | | Gattison
Admin
Posts : 306
Join date : 2012-06-03
Age : 44
Location : New England, USA
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:01 pm | |
| ooooooooooooh, lol, my bad! =)
I kept looking at "Apparent age" and reading it as "Date of Embrace" for some dyslexic reason. My bad.
Let's see now, someone Embraced in the 1700's though... okay, I can see that now. There may be a handful of things you could shave down a little bit, but nothing as extreme as I was originally thinking, sorry about that, heh.
As for rituals, she probably wouldn't be too hurt if she was missing the following
Transubstantiation of Essence (level 2)
Calling the Hungry Shade (level 3)
and maybe also:
Defense of Angra Mainyu (level 1)
As for all those 5's... 5 means "best in the world" and is she among the best in the world at all those traits? Perhaps, but I think some of them could easily be knocked down to 4 without any problems. =) Maybe Wits, Subterfuge, and possibly Intelligence, too? | |
| | | | valismedsen
Posts : 75
Join date : 2012-06-11
Age : 41
Location : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:17 pm | |
| Okay! Agreed. Feel free to update those on the book! | |
| | | | valismedsen
Posts : 75
Join date : 2012-06-11
Age : 41
Location : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic Sat Jun 23, 2012 3:06 am | |
| Okay, I managed to complete the write-up for this character. I also made the suggested changes to her sheet, but raised Obfuscate to level 3 (I had a completely different look in mind for her, but Anda's illustration is so awesome that I've decided to make that her true appearance and give her the habit of using a more conventional one around mortals and non-Sabbat). Appearance: - Spoiler:
Cordelia is a mature, beautiful black woman. Vampiric paleness has given an ashen tone to her black skin, and her body is lean and elegant. Cordelia has a regal bearing evocative of some tribal royalty. She wears jewelry made of bones, has scarification marks on her face, and usually wears her hair braided in varying styles. She has a distinct, piercing gaze. However, most mortals and some vampires not familiar with her, especially outside the Sabbat, might know Cordelia by a whole different look. For them she usually assumes the image of a shorter woman with darker skin, wide hips and full breasts, a conventional appearance that could be mistaken by any other Haitian woman on the streets.
Roleplaying Hints: - Spoiler:
You do not go soft on other. If they cannot pass the test of shock you submit them, then they are not even worth of your attention. Snakes sliding through your limbs, your hypnotic golden-eyed stare, a flick of your forked tongue in and out of your mouth, Voudoun patois whispered in a hiss, this and more are your tools to intimidate enemies and allies alike. This is part of your power, and power is to be used, flaunted, paraded. Let all know you can raise and command the dead, castigate both the living and the unliving, that the gods hear you and they obey. You seek to elevate Voudoun influence to the highest heights among mortals and vampires alike, demanding complete worship and obedience, so that when you are exalted as a Loa there will be no whim left unattended.
Character Sheet: - Spoiler:
Name: Cordélia (often called simply Madame)
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Creep Show
Concept: Mambo Asogwe (Voudoun High Priestess)
Clan: Serpent of the Light
Sire: Unos, the Albigensian
Generation: 9th
Apparent Age: early 40s
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Charisma 5 (religious fervor), Manipulation 5 (matronly), Appearance 3, Perception 2, Intelligence 4 (memorization), Wits 3
Abilities
Talents: Awareness 3, Empathy 3, Expression 4 (ritualism), Intimidation 4 (eeriness), Leadership 4, Subterfuge 4
Skills: Animal Ken 3, Melee 1, Performance 3, Stealth 2
Knowledges: Occult 5 (Voudoun, Abyss Mysticism), Politics 4
Backgrounds: Allies 3 (cultists), Black Hand Membership 3, Contacts 3, Domain 2, Fame 1, Herd 4 (cultists), Retainers 5, Sabbat Rituals 3, Sabbat Status 2
Disciplines: Auspex 4, Voudoun Necromancy 3, Obfuscate 3, Obtenebration 3, Presence 5, Serpentis 5, Voudoun Wanga 3
Disciplines Combination Power: Weigh the Heart (Auspex 4, Serpentis 5) [Clanbook Followers of Set Revised, p.70]
Wanga Paths: The Spirit Manipulation 3, The Path of Duat 3 (similar Wanga version), The Path of the Father’s Vengeance 3 (similar Wanga version)
Necromancy Paths: Sepulcher Path 3, Bone Path 3
Necromantic Rituals: Insight (level 1), Knowing Stone (level 1), Smoking Mirror (level 1), Two Centimes (level 2), Blood Dance (level 3), Din of the Damned (level 3), Nightmare Drums (level 3),
Rituals of Darkness: The Shadow of Hands that Serve (level 1), Defense of Angra Mainyu (level 1), Under the Aegis of the Night (level 2), Invoking the Shadowed Depths (level 2), The Heart That Beats in Silence (level 2), Caridad’s Garden (level 3)
Virtues: Conviction 5, Instincts 5, Courage 4
Morality: Path of Power and Inner Voice 7
Willpower 9
Merits and Flaws: Animal Affinity (serpents), Inoffensive to Animals
| |
| | | | Gattison
Admin
Posts : 306
Join date : 2012-06-03
Age : 44
Location : New England, USA
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:44 am | |
| going through stuff and double-checking it.
this character should be all set in the next version of the PDF! | |
| | | | Sponsored content
| | Subject: Re: Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic | |
| |
| | | | | | Cordelia - Serpent of the Light Voudoun Abyss Mystic | |
|
Similar topics | |
|
| | Permissions in this forum: | You cannot reply to topics in this forum
| |
| |
| | May 2024 | | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|
| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | | |  Calendar |
|
| Latest topics | » Anda, the lost Swede on the steppeThu Nov 13, 2014 7:01 pm by crawlerotn » *The Sound of Crickets...*Thu Nov 13, 2014 4:37 pm by crawlerotn » "Anarahath... COME ON DOWN!"Thu Nov 13, 2014 4:35 pm by crawlerotn » Where did this come from?Thu May 15, 2014 7:28 pm by Gattison» APPENDIX II - Ahriman's AbyssiaryWed Mar 26, 2014 6:39 pm by Gattison» Someone, somewhere... knows Byrsa's story....Fri Mar 14, 2014 1:22 am by Gattison» CHAPTER 2 - Abyss Mysticism: Black MagicsThu Mar 06, 2014 4:05 am by Gattison» Abyssal AlchemyMon Apr 15, 2013 11:06 pm by valismedsen » Checklist: The CountdownMon Apr 15, 2013 6:39 pm by Gattison |
| Statistics | We have 21 registered users
The newest registered user is jeaneves
Our users have posted a total of 679 messages in 46 subjects
|
| Who is online? | In total there is 1 user online :: 0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 1 Guest None Most users ever online was 87 on Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:20 am |
| Legalese: The Small Printing | | Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:27 pm by Gattison | The following text was copied and pasted directly from the only source I could find it using Google-fu. If you know of a more official source or a more up-to-date release, please let us know. Don't "suggest" I contact WW themselves... that's on my to-do list, lol. =)
General Source: The Carpe Noctem website.*
Main Source: The Carpe Noctem Reference Guide: [url=http://carpenoctem-online.com/wiki/index.php?title=Reference_Guide%3A_WHITE_WOLF_SITE_GUIDELINES]White Wolf Fan-Site …
[ Full reading ] | | Comments: 6 |
| Like a Pack of Grey Jackals | | Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:16 pm by Gattison | So far we don't have that many friends, but we seem to be steadily expanding, albeit slowly, so hopefully this list will eventually get much bigger. =)
Allies of the Grey Jackals:
Steve Markley's The Howling Void
Echoes of Empires
| | Comments: 0 |
| Memories: We Were So Young and Stupid... | | Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:43 pm by Gattison | This is the original version of our mission statement/greeting/recruitment attempt, posted here for posthumous appreciation, enjoy!
Gattison, valismedsen, and I have decided to combine our abilities and formed 'Grey Jackal Fan Productions'. We’re going to be constructing a compendium, book by book for Vampire. As we complete supplements they’ll be edited and slotted into the greater …
[ Full reading ] | | Comments: 0 |
| The Grey Jackal | | Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:07 pm by Gattison | Firstly, it all started here, so go ahead and check that out if you actually haven't yet. =)
And, I suppose you're all wondering why I've summoned you...
Welcome, to Grey Jackal Fan-Supplements, a group of creative and enthusiastic fans of the Classic World of Darkness. So far, our members from the boards are valismedsen, Anda, DanielPLanman, Gattison, Drkcv, and Ihatealllife.
We have …
[ Full reading ] | | Comments: 0 |
|
