by Sara Beaman
Emulator - a special type of artifact, perhaps entirely distinct from normal artifacts, which allows a revenant to utilize a slightly weakened version of a foreign strain--in other words, one that they did not come to possess at initiation. There is no known benefit to the possession of an emulator by a mortal or dhampyr, or by a revenant who inherently possesses the emulator’s strain.
Estate - a revenant’s home or place of habitation. A wealthy revenant may have many estates. Primarily an archaic term, referring to more traditional pre-Watcher periods when a revenant’s authority over their estate was inviolable. The introduction of the Sanguine Consensus ended this tradition in many parts of the world.
Father - see Benefactor.
Gabriel - Revenant (Coventinian). Last name unknown. A Coventinian minder placed in Tara Llewellyn’s estate by Claire Llewellyn to ensure her mother was ‘protected’ (in practice, to ensure her mother had no contact with Julian Radcliffe). Attacked Katherine Avery in order to kill her on Claire’s orders when Kate, Adam, Aya and Haruko sheltered in Tara’s estate during their mission to Red Hook with Mnemosyne’s head. Killed by Adam Radcliffe following that attack.
Ghoul - A mindless zombie-like creature resulting from a failed revenant initiation or due to a revenant coming in contact with sunlight. When any portion of a revenant’s contiguous body is exposed to direct sunlight, the connection between their resurrected body and their soul is destroyed. All of the revenant’s conscious thoughts and volition vanish along with the soul link, leaving only a predatory instinct and a hunger for blood.
House - a group of revenants descended from one of the seven legendary Progenitors. Members of a given House are known by several epithets: Child of
House of Coventina - see Coventinian.
House of Mnemosyne - see Mnemonic.
Illusion - Strain (Mnemonic/Thalian). Illusion is a two-fold strain: first, it grants preternatural insight into space. Illusionists can intuitively sense the locations of objects and their rough dimensions, even in the dark. The only way to eliminate this intuition is to remove the illusionist’s ability to see. Similar capacities apply to the sensations of touch, smell, taste and sound. The second power Illusion provides is the ability to construct entirely convincing facsimiles of real substance; illusory walls feel solid, illusory fire appears to burn. Only after the illusion is dispelled, or the afflicted moves away from the illusion in the case of stationary deceptions, does the unreality of what they have experienced become clear. As a consequence, Illusionists are feared by every House, as even the Warding strain is poor protection against Illusion’s power. Possessive noun: Illusionist.
Illusionist - see Illusion.
Impersonator - see Persona.
Initiation - the process of resurrecting a dead mortal as a revenant. The initiate must ingest the blood of their benefactor fairly soon after death in order for the initiation to be successful. If the blood is insufficient, or the mortal has been dead too long, the initiation will likely fail, or, worse, result in the creation of a ghoul. It is traditionally believed that three drops of blood are necessary to complete the resurrection, and that the initiation must be performed within three days. Some traditions hold that various meditations and ceremonial rituals may increase the initiate’s chances.
International Coalition of Watchers - the primary alliance and theoretical governing body of the various Watcher organizations. While Watcher membership is open to any revenant, the vast majority of members (approximately 85%) are Wardens.
Lethe - Strain (Mnemonic). Lethe permits a revenant to erase memories, their own or those of another. It is said that Mnemosyne has never given one of her children the strain, and works to eliminate any of her line who possess it as a wild strain. Possessive noun: none.
Lethe, Waters of - a curious and unique artifact created by Mnemosyne. Drinking the Waters of Lethe erases the recipient’s memories of the moments immediately prior to drinking; however, exactly how far into the past the erasure goes varies widely, without any seeming corollary to the amount imbibed. It is hypothesized by some that Mnemosyne herself chooses what memories are erased, and that the waters are merely a vehicle for her power.
Line - the term ‘Line’ refers to the hybrid offspring that occur when two or three progenitors mix their blood during an initiation. Revenants of a Line always possess the same three strains, which are apparently fixed by the progenitors involved at the moment of the Line’s creation; further initiates never possess wild strains. Every Line has a blood-curse which is unique to that Line, although typically refers back to the curses of the progenitor creators in some way. Few Lines survive very long. More often than not, one or more of the progenitor creators determine that the existence of the Line is a threat to them, and thus they seek to destroy it. The Line of Thalia is the only widely-known Line with numerous active members in the modern period, although it is frequently hypothesized that the Wardens are, themselves, a Line and not a House. Such hypotheses are not well-regarded amongst the Watchers.
Line of Thalia - see Thalian
Llewellyn, Claire - Revenant (Coventinian). Claire is a master mutatrix and Mirabel Radcliffe’s right hand. She is not a part of SpiraCom’s public face, nor is she employed by the company, as Mirabel prefers to use her to personal errands and operations.
Llewellyn, Tara - Revenant (Coventinian). Tara is Claire Llewellyn’s benefactor. At some point in the relatively recent past, Tara chose to forsake feeding on mortals, and became a blood ascetic. Using this blood-asceticism as an excuse, Claire positioned a spy named Gabriel in her mother’s estate. Due to the withering, Tara’s body had broken down to the point that she was functionally comatose when Adam Radcliffe, Haruko Schuster, Aya Markham and Katherine Avery arrived at her estate during their mission to bring Mnemosyne’s head to Red Hook. Tara was revived by her pupil, Vincent. Gabriel attacked Kate during the night while her companions were preoccupied. After Adam murdered Gabriel, Tara consumed his blood and agreed to attempt to heal Kate, although she was unable to restore Kate’s voice. Tara’s current state and location are unknown.
Manifestation - the powers a revenant strain provides to the possessor. A revenant is said to ‘manifest’ their strain when it is in use, or to be ‘manifesting’.
Markham, Aya - Revenant (Thalian). Initiated by Zenas Markham. Aya came into Julian Radcliffe’s care in the early 1970s, following a raid on Zenas Markham’s estate by the Watchers of the Americas. According to Aya, she was abused and imprisoned by her benefactor for many years prior to being set free by the Wardens. Aya has the peculiar quality of being undetectable to Warden Surveillance.
Mnemonic - a revenant member of the House of Mnemosyne. Mnemonic abilities are concerned primarily with memory and the mind. It is therefore appropriate that they possess almost perfect recall, subject only to the caprice of their own senses (i.e. the recall only what they saw/heard/smelled) and the actions of other revenants upon those memories, such as via the strain of Lethe. Almost all Mnemonics are subject to the absolute dictatorial will of Mnemosyne - her powers of Compulsion, Dream, and Lethe permit her to ensure that her children do as she wishes them to do, and remember what she wishes them to remember. Withering: Mnemonics under the Wither suffer acute anterograde amnesia. In simpler terms, they lose the ability to form new memories. They may also suffer slight retrograde amnesia, with the loss of memories extending to a period around twenty-four hours after their last intake of blood. This combination frequently leaves the Mnemonic confused as to their current location and how they got there, making obtaining additional blood exceptionally difficult.
Mnemosyne - Progenitor (Mnemonic). Mnemosyne is the legendary progenitor of the House of Mnemosyne. Her mental powers are vast, likely beyond the knowledge or comprehension of even her most gifted initiates. In addition to her revenant strains, Mnemosyne has studied the deepest occult mysteries, a
nd has abilities that are likely unknown even to the other progenitors, but which include a peculiar control over the physical substance of human blood. Mnemosyne’s origins are shrouded in myth; like all progenitors, she is evidently reluctant to discuss the matter. Under her aegis, the Mnemonics waged a war of domination against the other Houses for the majority of recorded history. While this war had hotter and colder phases, it was practically brought to a ceasefire by Mnemosyne’s incapacitation at the hands of one of her initiate, Julian Radcliffe, in 1893. While it is not commonly understood how Julian accomplished this feet, Adam Radcliffe’s vision of Julian’s memories revealed that Mnemosyne was undone by a demonic presence within Julian’s blood, a presence she herself introduced as an experiment. Beheaded by Julian, Mnemosyne entered a state of seeming-quiescence, able to interface with her children only through dreams. This quiescence was likely a ruse, as at some point subsequent to Adam’s vision, she was able to assert total control over him and use him as an agent to bring about her resurrection. That plan was nearly undone when Desmond Schuster removed Mnemosyne’s body and severed head from the sepulcher she maintained on what are now the grounds of Julian’s estate. Mnemosyne’s remains were brought to the Watcher facility at Red Hook, presumptively to ensure they remained safe from the threat within Julian’s blood. At some point the Chicago branch of the Watchers of the Americas, the group allied with the WotA president Christopher Carlyle, had Mnemosyne’s head taken to Atlanta so that her memories could be studied by Mirabel Radcliffe. The head was later liberated from SpiraCom by Adam and his cohorts, Haruko Schuster and Aya Markham. During that liberation, Mnemosyne became aware of Kathering Avery, one of Mirabel’s dhampyr-doubles in the making (see Katherine Avery’s entry for more details). Mnemosyne aided Katherine in preventing Desmond Schuster from destroying her body completely, then forced Katherine to complete her resurrection, after which she initiated Katherine into the House of Mnemosyne. She then stole the body of another of Mirabel’s doubles, and made her escape from the facility.
Mother - see Benefactor.
Mutation - Strain (Coventinian). Mutation is the ability to mold flesh - one's own, or that of another. Mutation has extremely broad and flexible parameters. For this reason, it is extremely easy for a neophyte Mutator or Mutatrix to painfully warp their own flesh, and even to destroy themselves with the strain. Those that become skilled with the strain have phenomenal capacities: shapeshifting, increased resistance to harm, even the ability to move their own heart, or that of another, to a separate location within their body. Posessive noun: Mutator/Mutatrix.
Mutator - see Mutation.
Mutatrix - see Mutation.
Persona - Strain (Himeran/Thalian). Persona is the ability to internalize the affect, appearance and personality of another person. This internal Persona can then be worn as a cloak by the user. In this mode, the Impersonator retains a general understanding of their own identity, but has their feelings, thoughts and actions guided by the strain, permitting them to pass for an exact duplicate of the individual they are impersonating. A Persona may also be inflicted upon another person, causing that individual to believe they are the impersation; in this mode, the afflicted individual does not retain any sense of their original self unless the Persona is removed. Possessive noun: Impersonator.
Progenitor - the semi-mythical founders of each of the seven Houses: Terminus, Orpheus, Nemesis, Mnemosyne, Himeros, Anat and Coventina. The origins of the progenitors are lost to history, as are specifics regarding their capabilities. It is known that each of them possesses the nine strains unique to their house, and the ability to merge their blood with that of another progenitor in order to create a Line. Regardless of their other powers, it is apparent that progenitors do not suffer the withering.
Psychometry - Strain (Mnemonic). Psychometry allows the Psychometrist to read memories off of any non-living object - including blood that is provided from another revenant or mortal. Thanks to the Mnemonic capacity for perfect recall, this strain permits a revenant to recall the entire lives of other beings, including many animals, presuming they can find enough non-living matter to reconstruct that life’s memories. Possessive noun: Psychometrist.
Psychometrist - see Psychometry.
The Program - an intense and torturous course of voice training, brainwashing, and surgery, both mundane and magical, designed to turn a woman into an exact duplicate of Mirabel Radcliffe.
Radcliffe, Adam - Revenant (Mnemonic). Formerly known as Adam Fletcher, in his mortal life, Adam was a neurologist at Johns Hopkins. Adam died following a car crash, the details of which he cannot remember. Adam was initiated by Julian Radcliffe in the year 1992. In the present day (2010), Adam just underwent a secretive mission under the direction of Mnemosyne, the legendary and formidable founder of his House. Adam met Katherine Avery on that mission, when he, along with Haruko Schuster and Aya Markham, broke into the basement of Spira Communications’ Atlanta headquarters. He shot, and subsequently kidnapped, Kate. During their journey to Red Hook, Adam helped Kate restore the memories Mirabel Radcliffe erased, and in the process Kate experienced a significant number of Adam’s own memories, primarily centered around the period shortly after his initiation. As a consequence of this deep intimacy, Kate and Adam experienced a spark of romantic feelings for one another. When Desmond Schuster attacked Adam and Kate at Red Hook, Adam was shot through the head. Kate dragged Adam’s body to safety and left it in Desmond’s safe room within the Red Hook facility.
Radcliffe, Julian - Revenant (Mnemonic). Julian is the Watcher-recognized head of the house of Mnemosyne, a title he acquired after he beheaded Mnemosyne in 1893. He accomplished this by means of powers gained from a demonic influence within his blood. Although Mnemosyne coerced him into erasing these memories, he later reacquired them via Adam Radcliffe. Since that time he has suffered increasingly violent disturbances of his personality, which Adam attributes to the monster that partially taints his blood. Julian is the only known non-Warden to possess the strain of Warding.
Radcliffe, Mirabel - Revenant (Mnemonic). Mirabel is the cold and brutally efficient President and CEO of Spira Communications. Mirabel uses her company’s resources and influence to ensure that few mortals are aware of thee existence of revenants, and that few revenants are aware of her own influence. Cruel, petty and ruthless, Mirabel commits murder, abduction, and even more terrible crimes for the slightest offenses and without any hesitation.
Redlisted - mortals who are permitted to know about the existence of revenants and to interact with them. The International Coalition of Watchers maintains the canonical Red List, although many national or regional Watcher organizations maintain their own informal lists.
Revenant - a dead human mortal who has undergone a successful initiation. Revenants universally possess a deep hunger for blood which, left unchecked, results in uncontrollable urges to assault any mortal they come across. Willpower and experience (usually) temper this drive for blood, allowing the revenant to control their instincts. A revenant who is denied blood suffers from the Withering. All revenants (apart from the progenitors) possess three strains, mystical abilities to manipulate themselves, others or the world around them in various ways.
Sanguine Consensus - the body of laws governing revenant behavior in areas under Watcher control. Although the International Coalition of Watchers asserts that these rules govern all revenants globally, in practice obedience to the Sanguine Consensus, or SanCon, varies wildly. The SanCon is fairly lengthy and technical, dealing primarily with governmental affairs and petty regulations. The most major provisions in the SanCon that are applicable to revenants at large are as follows: the use of strains on redlisted or revenants other than oneself is prohibited; the assault or murder of redlisted or other revenants is prohibited; murder for the purpose of initiation is prohibited; revenants moving to or traveling in a city must register with the local Watcher; and public or commercial seraglios are prohibited. Most notably, the SanCon prohibits ‘behavior wh
ich would unduly raise mortal awareness of a revenant’s activities’, a flexible provision which is frequently used to quash troublesome revenants.
Sealing - Strain (Warden). Sealing permits a Warden to prevent a revenant from accessing their strains. While the weakest and least skilled Wardens cannot muster a permanent Seal, most wardens are capable of creating a seal that will function in perpetuity, or until dispelled by another Warden. Seals may be structured to disallow only certain strains as an act of will; very skilled wardens can limit strains to a specific set of manifestations, as well. Possessive noun: none.
