Thinblood Kindred

"And you will know these last times by the Time of Thin Blood, which will mark vampires that cannot Beget, you will know them by the Clanless, who will come to rule.
You will know them by the Wild Ones, who will hunt us even in the strongest city, you will know them by the awakening of some of the eldest, the Crone will awaken and consume all.
You will know these times, for a black hand will rise up and choke all those who oppose it and those who eat heart's blood will flourish and the Kindred will crowd each to his own, and vitae will be as rare as diamonds."

--- An excerpt from The Book of Nod

The real red-headed stepchild in these vampiric nights, the Thinbloods are the dimunitive latest step along the Kindred existance. Between Mortals and Kindred, barely stronger than a Ghoul, these latest generations have been rife with struggles and ostracization. But with an increase in numbers comes discovery, experimentation, and community their predecessors could not image. That selfsame increase, however, also means that the more paranoid, superstitous, or vampirically religious have painted a half-moon target on all their backs.
Unlike any of the Kindred Clans, Thinbloods cannot use any vampiric Disciplines. However, they can use a unique power known as Thin-Blood Alchemy that gives a variety of enviable powers to those who know how to use them. This Alchemy can also be used to temporarily use Discipline powers if the right materials are procured.
While Thinbloods are still Kindred and descended from them, there are enough differences in how their bodies and blood change to mark them as something different, and so while being regarded as a Clan in and of themselves, we shall be viewing them through the lens of a descendant species for the sake of this article. Let's begin.

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Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Thinbloods are created, largely, by chance. A higher generation of Kindred (usually of the 12th to 13th generation) attempts to sire a new Kindred only to wind up with a Thinblood. However, if a Thinblood with empowered Vitae tries to embrace someone, they will always be a Thinblood. No atavism to be had here.
While the Elders, usually among the Camarilla, would try to hide this following nugget of knowledge, it is possible for a Thinblood to become a full Kindred by commiting the act of Diablerie on a lower generation Kindred and increasing the power of their blood, in which they'll either become the Clan they would've originally been sired as OR become a part of the Clan of the Kindred they diablerized, strengths and weaknesses alike. It is currently unknown of a Thinblood sired by a Thinblood could achieve the same.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

Thinblood Alchemy is a unique form of Kindred Powers that no other Clan or Kindred can make use of. While there's some variation in how it's executed, the gist is that Thinbloods are able to combine their own blood with human blood of a certain Resonance with various other materials to create potions with a variety of effects.
These effects can range from magnetic control, telekinesis, restoration from Torpor, extrasensory capabilities, and even mimicking Kindred Disciplines. Alchemists generally achieve these concotions through chemicals in their own bodies, by using human vessels of these chemicals, or by bottling and preserving them.
Some people do this rather scientifically, some do it in an arcane fashion, and some throw a bunch of shit in a jar and see what happens, but a large benefit to gathering Thinbloods is that they can all learn from each other.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Thinblood culture has only barely begun to flourish in the sparse spaces they are safe. As Tacoma has been a recent safe haven and is undergoing a Kindred Cultural Renaissance entirely, the Thinbloods have not been excluded. While for the most part they are merely banding together and expanding their skills as Alchemists and vitae-phlebotomists, three distinct attitudes have been showing up among their number.

• Inheritors are Thinbloods who believe that, in so few words, the meek shall inherit the earth. They find themselves as the next step in Kindred evolution, unmarred by the curses that plagued them or the rigid Disciplines that define them
• Infectors see themselves as an offshoot or mutation of the Kindred condition, and think that as they propogate and grow themselves, that they shall and should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other Kindred, as they merely evolve differently
• Invaders are the pessimistic ideal among Thinbloods, seeing themselves as a pox among the Kindred, or an inferior failure to the true Kindredd or Caitiff. They harbor a strong desire to either hide or ascend to a proper Clan in order to avoid their shame and weakness in being Thinblooded

History

General History

For centuries the term Thinblood has been thrown as a title for weak Kindred and a portent of the end times. In earlier generations, the Caitiff were branded as Thinbloods until more recent decades have pushed the Kindred species into their purportedly 14th and 15th generations where the Thinbloods as we now recognize them exist in droves. They are demarkated by lacking the strength of the Disciplines, the Clan Curses, and their ability to remain partially human such as being able to walk in the sun or have a beating heart.
In the modern night, with many Elders dissapearing from their territories, those who heed the warning of the Noddist texts have waned, but their Childer do still run those cities, and so many fearing the Final Nights ennact mass exterminations of any known Thinbloods. Just as many want them gone because the emergence of Kindred without their weaknesses and with many yet unexplored strengths threatens their power, and the egotistical don't give up their dominance easily.

Local history

Unlike the Caitiff who were permitted to live yet shuffled to the lesser-than territory of Tacoma, the Thinbloods were afforded no such mercy in the past when they did yet live. While then-Prince Lou Grand didn't particularly dislike them or fear the words of zealots, she knew that their presence would be a destabilizing factor socially and an irritating one factionally, and so they and their sires if discovered would be the subject of Blood Hunts. These were often private, boogeymen in the night, but if she had a particularly annoying enemy, it would be quite a public hunt to drag them through the mud. Some did still manage to escape in these times, but they did not last long as their stronger fellows.
In the past decade or so, this has begun to change though. Firstly, with Alec Cross taking over as Prince of Seattle, Seattle's Camarilla has taken the affable placating manipulation many of the cities mortal officials adopt, and that includes no more blood hunts for Thinbloods, while requiring them to be monitered and observed by "real" Kindred.
Tacoma too has seen an influx of Thinbloods, more than just a result of their growing numbers, the Clans success in California with the Anarch Free States began to flow northward as they skirted along the stricter Camarilla territories, and they often shacked up with the Caitiff where they found each other during the Stalemate. Once the levee broke and The Sabbat invaded, the Thinbloods became a key tactic in The South Sound Barons retaliation, as their strange Alchemy provided a key edge, and their understanding of blood and it's factors allowed them to scout assets, targets, and resources much easier.
In the aftermath, the South Sound has been marked officially safe and a protector of the Thinblooded, creating more movement from around the country, with several Kindred even working to bring more of them in, for altrusitc reasons or not. All along Old Tacoma leading into Point Ruston has become more populated with Thinbloods who have been given a territory and a home, as well as a community to actually commiserate and learn amongst each other. Where their discoveries lead can only be seen in the future, but it's bound to be interesting either way.

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Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Kindred Vampire

Scientific Name

Homo Sapiens Sanguineus Anticoagulans

Lifespan

Eternal if done right, often executed in short order

Conservation Status

Many Kindred have gone the path of neutrality with the Thinblood, seeing them as not worth the trouble. Some are aggressive towards them but leave it at that. Those who heed the Noddist prophecies, or fear their growing numbers, take to slaughtering them in droves.
Tacoma and it's connected territories have officially labeled them safe for Thin-Bloods, but not all of the Barons have altruistic reasons for that.

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Anatomical Differences

What traits a Thinblood does or does not have upon being turned are not always consistent. But, there is a list of observed possibilities:

• Blunt and/or lack of fangs
• Ability to digest food
• Functioning organs
• Ability to walk in the sunlight unharmed
• Putrid Vitae (for other Vampires)
• May or may not obtain their "clan" curse
• Decomposing Flesh
• Susceptability to illness

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Blood Requirements

Thinbloods still feel the vampiric Hunger and therefore require blood. Without it, they risk devolving into a frenzied state of hunger and madness, as well as the inability to use many innate vampiric abilities.
Some Thinbloods are able to eat food and digest it as normal, where Kindred are barely capable of the action and those few who can regurgitate it forecefully by nights end. This doesn't satiate the blood hunger, though.

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Major Figures

While Thinbloods have been hunted and exterminated with the intent of extinction, their recent climb in popularity has led to a few members of their community reaching prominence, usually just among one another.

• Delilah - A leader of Thinbloods around Los Angeles who eventually diablerized a member of Clan Tremere in 2021 and became a full member of said clan. While she still holds sway and influence over them, her direct connection has been lessened with her former community.
• Micol Milton - An overseer of Tacoma specifically watching over the area of Old Town where many of the Thinbloods have found residence. While he is not personally versed in defensive skills or Alchemy, his aides: Aveline Tess and Bhavna Atkins, cover his back in that regard. He works to make a safe and unified Thinblood community, no matter what happens.
• Jewell Fortune - A wandering Thinblood who seems to know the ins and outs of Alchemy like the back of their hand, nicknamed The Alchemist or Neo-Paracelsus for the fancier types. They never stay in one place for long, and they never part with their knowledge without a price, but they've been spotted in Washington.

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