Book of Night

Vecna the Undying Father remembers and recounts the first nights he was betrayed and his blood awakened. These dark chronicles reveal Vecna's hidden teachings and mysteries of the Damned. The first and original copy of the Book of Night was penned by his hand and in his own divine blood. The Vampire Clans and Vampire Covenants accept the Book of Night with differing levels of piety, ranging from lip service to zealotry. The original Book of Night is bound in the skins of the Elven elders of the Blue Age. Each true copy of the book draws on Vecna's dark magic imbuing it with the authenticity of the original.

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The Betrayal

Vecna was born the first son of the Mother of Tellurian and the Father of Beyond, he was the greatest Celestian of his blood, ruling his brothers and sisters. Their first children were known as the Scions of For-Ever Years (FEY), crafted with the immortal spark of the Celestians. The Sons of For-Ever Years whispered conspiracy and betrayal to their creators, encouraging jealousy and envy towards Vecna. His brothers and sisters betrayed him. Kas, the Brother of War severed Vecna's left hand, as his siblings pulled him from his throne, while stealing his mantle of rulership.

The Blood of Vecna grants the Kindred their unlife and awakens the beast within them. Their Vitae, their reflection of a dark gods blood grants them supernatural powers and disciplines, while binding them to its connected curses. When Vecna scribed the Book of Night he also used it to provide a deeper meaning to the Kindred of the All Night Society. To grant special gifts unrelated to Vampire Clans. He used the Book of Night to imbue the greatest Vampire Covenants with their own unique powers all very different than Vampire Disciplines.

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The Severing

He exiled the Sons of For-Ever Years from the world and severed the Elven Tree of Life. This destroyed the shining reflection which started a chain reaction killing the soul of the world. This marked the end of the Blue Age, with the rivers and oceans drying up. This in turn destroyed the greenery of the world. Vecna led his Kindred to purge the dragons of the world, depriving the Celestials of their worship. He exiled the now weakened Dragon Royalty and tamed Roget the World Dragon.

It is believed that Vecna scribed the first symbols and secrets of blood sorcery within the pages of the Book of Night. The Templars and the Circle of Dust learned and embraced these secrets but taking each in very different directions. The Invictus are able to take words of fealty and promises, binding them as Oaths with mystical weight. The Veiled adopt and manipulate the laws of a city to use as an advantage within Kindred society, granting them an edge of mystical leverage. It is believed that the Order of the Dragon found a legend within the pages of the Book of Night, a legend that speaks of the perfection of the transformed Kindred. As they learn the Mysteries of the Dragon the embrace an unquenchable thirst for the research and discoveries of the vampire condition.

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The Traditions

The First Tradition

Masquerade
Do not reveal your true nature to those not of the Blood ...

The Second Tradition

Progeny
Sire another at the peril of both yourself and your progeny. If you create a childe, the weight is your own to bear ...

The Third Tradition

Amaranth
You are forbidden from devouring the hearts blood of your Kindred ...

-- Vampire the Requiem

(Works in Progress)

Grim Tutor MtG Art by Igor Kieryluk

Volume I
Volume II
Volume III

The Book of Night was heavily inspired by the World of Darkness, Vampire the Masquerade and the Book of Nod. The Shadow War started with one complicated question.
What if ...

... Vecna, one of Dungeons & Dragons greatest villains, replaced Caine and was the Dark God of Kindred in a Vampire the Requiem Dark Fantasy game.
This document serves as part of the foundation for the Shadow War campaign. The Book of Night helps tie together the Kindred vampires into a closer knit society than the standard Requiem vampires. It also serves to give origin to the Covenants and their unique powers, which alway felt like an afterthought.

Emmessi Tome MtG Art by Craig J. Spearing

Type

Manuscript, Religious

Medium

Organic

Authors

• Vecna

Important Dark Sun Articles
Dark Sun ... that was then ...
Dark Sun ... this is now ...

Important Kindred Articles
Introduction to the shadow War
Vecna - The Undying Father
Book of Night
Tenets of Vecna

Chosen
Vampire Clans
Vampire Covenants
Vampire Ranks

Trusted
City Kindred

Important City Articles
Ptolus City
City Wards

References

Vampire the Masquerade

Vampire the Requiem

Tenets of Vecna

Secrets

Learn all that you can while keeping hidden that which you know. Reveal what pieces you must, but never the whole.

Evil

Express and cultivate the evil within yourself, and in doing so, recognize it in other and exploit them for your own benefit.

Faith

Seed the ruin of all who worship other deities, until only those who kneel before Vecna remain.


Themes
Evil, secrets, knowledge, lies, shadows, blood, dark magic, blood magic