Lexicon
Old Form
The elders typically use these turns of phrase, which have existed since long before
the modern nights. One is advised to use these words carefully --- in some company, their
use may be seen as humorously anachronistic, while in the company of anarchs, for example,
they may be misconstrued as the elders' propaganda.
Amaranth: The act of consuming another Kindred's blood (q.v. Diablerie).
Ancilla: A "proven" vampire, between the elders and the
neonates.
Antediluvian: A member of the dreaded Third Generation, one of the
eldest Kindred in existence.
Archon: A vampire in the retinue of a justicar. Archons are
generally nomadic in nature, frequently pursuing Kindred who have fled to avoid
persecution at the hands of the Camarilla.
Autarkis: A Kindred who remains outside the larger vampire society
of a given city and often refuses to acknowledge the claim of a prince.
Blood Oath: The blood bond (vide).
Cainite: A vampire; a member of the race of Caine.
Canaille: A bovine masses of humanity, especially the uncultured
and unsavory. The Canaille are viewed primarily as a source of sustenance.
Cauchemar: A vampire who feeds exclusively on sleeping victims.
Consanguineous: Literally, "of the same blood,"
especially with reference to lineage. Usage: "That vampire is consanguineous of
Hardestadt the Elder, his childe."
Cunctator: A vampire who avoids killing when delivering the Kiss;
one who takes so little blood as to avoid brining about her prey's death.
Domitor: A ghoul's master; one who feeds her blood and issues her
commands.
Footpad: One who feeds from derelicts and other chaff of society.
Footpads are frequently debased and may not maintain permanent havens.
Gentry: A Kindred who preys at nightclubs, bars and other
establishments of the "red-light district," where morals engage in reverie.
Golconda: A fabled state of vampiric transcendence; the true
mastery of the Beast and balance of opposing urges and principles. Rumored to be similar
to mortal Nirvana, Golconda is greatly touted but rarely achieved.
Humanitas: The extent to which a Kindred still maintains her
humanity.
Kine: A term for mortals, largely contemptuous. The phrase Kindred
and kine refers to the world at large; everything.
Leech: A human who drinks vampire blood, yet acknowledges no
master.
Lextalionis: The code of the Kindred and the system for punishing
transgression. It suggests Hammurabian or Biblical justice --- an eye for an eye, and
punishment in keeping with the greivance.
Lineage: A vampire's bloodline; the Kindred's sire, sire's sire,
ect.
Methuselah: A vampire who has existed for a millennium or more; an
elder who no longer exists among the greater whole of Kindred society. Methuselahs are
rumored to hail from the Fourth and Fifth Generations.
Neonate: A young Kindred, recently Embraced.
Osiris: A vampire who builds a mortal cult around himself, in the
interest of gaining sustenance. As the millennium approaches and passes, Osiris cults
become increasingly common.
Papillon: The red-light district; the area of town punctuated by
drinking establishements, brothels, gambling houses and other locales of ill repute. The
prime hunting grounds of a city, where the disappearances of mortals goes hand in hand
with the area's general seediness.
Progeny: All of a given vampire's childer, collectively. Less
formal, and less flattering, is Get.
Praxis: The right of princes to govern; the prince's claim to
domain. This term also refers to the prince's matters of policy and individual edicts and
motions.
Primogen: The leaders in a given city; it's ruling body of elders,
typically composed of one member from each clan present in a city.
Regnant: A Kindred who holds a blood bond over another.
Retainer: A human who serves a vampiric master. This term is
almost archaic, referring to a time when vampires kept vast entourages of mortal seants as
part of their estates.
Siren: A vampire who seduces mortals in order to drink from them,
and then only takes a small quantity of blood, so as to avoid killing them.
Suspire: The rumored epiphany experianced just prior to the
attainment of Golconda.
Third Moral: Caine, who was cast out and became the First Vampire.
Thrall: A vampire under the effects of a blood bond, having drunk
another Kindred's blood thrice.
Vitae: Blood
Whelp: A derogatory term for a young Kindred, originally used with
exclusive reference to one's own progeny.
Wight: Human; man; a mortal.
Witch-hunter: A mortal who searches out and destroys vampires.
Whig: A contemptuous term for a vampire who possesses an interest
in mortal trends and fashions.