Trusted

I am Sanziana Luthien, Trusted of the Daeva Elder Malachi. I am honored to be his aide and his body guard. He values my advise, my battle prowess, and my devotion to his goals. My actions are as precise as the sword forms and dance that form my upbringing. I am his heart and soul, even when I disappoint him. You may call me Sanza.

Trusted is another Kindred word that means many things. The Trusted are more than mortals but not quite vampires. Trusted are also known as ghouls and servants, but most Kindred use the term Trusted. Trusted are named as such, because they are trusted with Vitae, the Sacred blood of Vecna. They live in service to the Kindred and in constant lust for Vitae to feed their addiction. The Trusted know what it means to survive among the dangerous Kindred landscape, learning to duck and dodge the politics, imagined slights, eternal grudges and vampire rage. The Trusted are bodyguards, coachmen, lovers and more to their Kindred masters. Sometimes they provide the mix of life and emotion that still clings to the mortal shell, even those that have their lives extended beyond their mortal limits. While rare from time to time a Trusted turns against their masters, be it from abuse, jealousy or something more.

Blood Bound

There is always confusion among new Kindred and those beyond the All Night Society. Blood bonding is less about trust and more about control, in most cases. The Kindred will trick their target in imbibing Kindred Vitae giving the consumer a measure of possible addition while influencing the behavior towards the Kindred.

Trusted

This is where the Kindred offers the candidate a portion of their power in the form of Vitae. This is an important step as it begins to make subtle changes. The Trusted can use their small portion of Vitae to heal themselves or augment their physical prowess. The can also learn the most basic of Vampire Disciplines. Their Vitae offers the Trusted immortality but at a dangerous cost, if deprived of that Vitae their addiction can consume them including crumbling to dust if they are old enough.

Soul Bound

This is where the kindred imbues a portion of his Vitae with a small sliver of his will and soul. The Soul Bound are those trusted that are loyal and earned their place over long periods of time. The Soul Bound can learn greater array of Kindred Disciplines.

My goal when writing Trusted was to establish a term for Vampire the Requiem ghouls that allow me to move on from the word ghoul. The word ghoul for me is forever mired in the D&D baggage of those flesh eating creatures which holds a perfect niche in that context.

Reference

Half-Damned (p84)