Dead Wolves
”Look at that moon. It’s gonna be a good night.”
The fates of vampires and werewolves in Mexico have always been tangled. Whereas, in some lands, the Kindred and the Uratha maintain a cold separation from one another, here they are likely to be Allies as enemies. Perhaps nothing represents the centuries of cultural contact between the Forsaken and the Damned better than the Wolves of Blood.
The story of the first so-called Dead Wolf is well known by werewolves and vampires of Mexico. But this story does nothing to explain the metaphysical circumstances of the bloodline’s creation.
According to legend, the first Dead Wolf was a young man named Juan Colmillo, who lived in Northern Mexico around the time of the Mexican-American War (1846–48). Colmillo was born a werewolf, but before his First Change he was Embraced by a Gangrel vampire hunting displaced families in the Texas territory. Just why this Gangrel damned Colmillo varies depending on who’s telling the story — some say Colmillo was planning to take his family to Texas and start new lives as Americans, others say Colmillo’s wife had once been the Gangrel’s wife when he was alive. Most stories agree, though, that Colmillo was made immortal so that he could witness America’s eventual suffering and defeat on its Mexican border.
Heartbroken over Colmillo’s fate, one his werewolf cousins came to him in the night and tried to undo the vampire’s curse. The werewolf bit him, stuck him with Silver and even gave Colmillo some of his blood in an effort to rouse his primal rage to overthrow his vampiric blood. Desperate to save his cousin, the werewolf provoked Colmillo into a bestial frenzy in the light of a full moon, hoping that Colmillo’s inner wolf would slay his vampiric Beast. Instead, says the legend, Colmillo killed the werewolf and drank him to dust.
Colmillo was never the same. Though nothing could free him from the damnation of the Requiem, his blood did change to reflect his familial connection to Father Wolf and Mother Moon. The Dead Wolves bloodline was born that night, with the death of one werewolf for the sake of his fallen kin.
What truth there is in this story is questionable. The vampire called Juan Colmillo was destroyed by a French wizard in the 1860s, though even that may just be a continuation of the legend. Some Dead Wolves do remember Juan Colmillo personally, though none can say for sure if that was ever a real name. (Colmillo means, roughly, “canine tooth.”)
The Colmillo legend seems to be a parable illustrating how werewolves should be willing to give their lives for the sake of the Damned and how vampires should be willing to adapt to make peace with their cousins, the Uratha. The legend is also held up by many diplomatic Uratha as a reminder that the Kindred are not necessarily, in their nature, blood-sucking monsters. Many of them were in the midst of other lives when they met with damnation, and many of them did not ask for it. Werewolves should consider each vampire as an individual, not as a breed.
As for the purpose of Colmillo’s damnation, many Indian and mesitzo Forsaken and Kindred maintain that the Gangrel’s prophecy has not yet come to pass. America will suffer ruin along its border with Mexico — a ruination that will benefit the Mexica and their descendants. Juan Colmillo may not have survived to witness that night, but his blood continues on so that one night some Wolf of Blood will do what Colmillo was damned to do: witness the end of Texas.
The story of the first so-called Dead Wolf is well known by werewolves and vampires of Mexico. But this story does nothing to explain the metaphysical circumstances of the bloodline’s creation.
According to legend, the first Dead Wolf was a young man named Juan Colmillo, who lived in Northern Mexico around the time of the Mexican-American War (1846–48). Colmillo was born a werewolf, but before his First Change he was Embraced by a Gangrel vampire hunting displaced families in the Texas territory. Just why this Gangrel damned Colmillo varies depending on who’s telling the story — some say Colmillo was planning to take his family to Texas and start new lives as Americans, others say Colmillo’s wife had once been the Gangrel’s wife when he was alive. Most stories agree, though, that Colmillo was made immortal so that he could witness America’s eventual suffering and defeat on its Mexican border.
Heartbroken over Colmillo’s fate, one his werewolf cousins came to him in the night and tried to undo the vampire’s curse. The werewolf bit him, stuck him with Silver and even gave Colmillo some of his blood in an effort to rouse his primal rage to overthrow his vampiric blood. Desperate to save his cousin, the werewolf provoked Colmillo into a bestial frenzy in the light of a full moon, hoping that Colmillo’s inner wolf would slay his vampiric Beast. Instead, says the legend, Colmillo killed the werewolf and drank him to dust.
Colmillo was never the same. Though nothing could free him from the damnation of the Requiem, his blood did change to reflect his familial connection to Father Wolf and Mother Moon. The Dead Wolves bloodline was born that night, with the death of one werewolf for the sake of his fallen kin.
What truth there is in this story is questionable. The vampire called Juan Colmillo was destroyed by a French wizard in the 1860s, though even that may just be a continuation of the legend. Some Dead Wolves do remember Juan Colmillo personally, though none can say for sure if that was ever a real name. (Colmillo means, roughly, “canine tooth.”)
The Colmillo legend seems to be a parable illustrating how werewolves should be willing to give their lives for the sake of the Damned and how vampires should be willing to adapt to make peace with their cousins, the Uratha. The legend is also held up by many diplomatic Uratha as a reminder that the Kindred are not necessarily, in their nature, blood-sucking monsters. Many of them were in the midst of other lives when they met with damnation, and many of them did not ask for it. Werewolves should consider each vampire as an individual, not as a breed.
As for the purpose of Colmillo’s damnation, many Indian and mesitzo Forsaken and Kindred maintain that the Gangrel’s prophecy has not yet come to pass. America will suffer ruin along its border with Mexico — a ruination that will benefit the Mexica and their descendants. Juan Colmillo may not have survived to witness that night, but his blood continues on so that one night some Wolf of Blood will do what Colmillo was damned to do: witness the end of Texas.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Background: Dead Wolves come to the bloodline through a connection of some kind to the Uratha, whether that connection was formed before or after the Embrace. Most Dead Wolves are therefore the kinds of people who can relate to werewolf concerns like territoriality, spiritualism and the resonant consequences of everyday actions. It happens to be true that most Dead Wolves are either Nahua or mestizos from central or Northern Mexico, but quite a few white Gangrel from Texas and Arizona have come to the bloodline in the past forty years, too.
Common Dress code
Appearance: These rustic, rough vampires care little for their appearance to modern mortals. Many are the kinds of wild-haired, long-bearded, howl-at-the-moon madmen that local folks mistake for drunken, delirious lunatics. Most Wolf-Bloods dwell in the dust and dirt of rural, northern Mexico and look like it. They wear worn denim, scarred leather jackets and flannel shirts, except for those Wolf-Bloods who predate such things, and sport simpler clothes that appeal to their dated, fur-trapper sensibilities. Since so many modern vampires in the Wolves of Blood family are also thugs for local Princes, shotguns, axes and mining picks are often in hand.
Art & Architecture
Haven: Few Dead Wolves maintain havens of any significance. Through the powers of Protean, they dwell in sand and soil, concrete and water. Dead Wolves who maintain tight relationships with a werewolf pack may nest near the pack’s totem or private Den, though its unusual for even a Wolf of Blood to sleep under the same roof as an Uratha cohort. Most Dead Wolves do reside within friendly werewolf territory, though, where they can expect a certain amount of informed awareness during daylight hours. Having a ghoul watch your nest in the daytime is one thing, but having a battle-ready werewolf shaman patrolling nearby is a whole other thing.
Major organizations
Covenant: Modern Dead Wolves can be found in virtually any covenant, though few reach meaningful levels of authority in any. Wolves of Blood are more likely to serve a Kindred Prince as Hounds or Heralds, carrying their laws or their words to the Uratha and to rural, unaligned vampires. Because of their animistic beliefs, Dead Wolves often get lumped in with The Circle of the Crone, even though this bloodline’s spiritual beliefs have less to do with any religious philosophy and more to do with nightly business. Sanctified Dead Wolves are not uncommon. When possible, Dead Wolves attach themselves to Kindred society through the de facto hierarchy of the court, rather than picking sides between political covenants. These vampires have enough to balance between their werewolf and vampire allegiances; they don’t need to be dragged into Carthian/Invictus schemes, too.
Organization: As a bloodline, the Wolves of Blood have no real organization of their own. They plug into vampire and werewolf societies rather than create their own. Still, one long-standing tradition persists through Dead Wolf culture. Any Dead Wolf may welcome another vampire into the bloodline if that vampire can get a werewolf to vouch for him three times, on three different nights of a full moon in three different months. Only after a single Uratha has vouched for a petitioner three times will a Dead Wolf welcome the new vampire into the bloodline and vouch for him to other werewolves.
Organization: As a bloodline, the Wolves of Blood have no real organization of their own. They plug into vampire and werewolf societies rather than create their own. Still, one long-standing tradition persists through Dead Wolf culture. Any Dead Wolf may welcome another vampire into the bloodline if that vampire can get a werewolf to vouch for him three times, on three different nights of a full moon in three different months. Only after a single Uratha has vouched for a petitioner three times will a Dead Wolf welcome the new vampire into the bloodline and vouch for him to other werewolves.
Nickname: Bloody Wolves, Wolves of Blood, Wolf-Blooded. The confusing similarity between the Wolves of Blood and the wolf-blooded mortal relatives of the Uratha is the subject of jokes, but it’s also meant as a reminder that the Kindred of this bloodline are honoring the spirit of Juan Colmillo, who truly was wolf-blooded.
Character Creation: Despite their close ties to both Kindred and Forsaken societies, Dead Wolves need to be self-sufficient. The Survival Skill is important, as is Stamina and as many dots in Disciplines as you can muster — it’s often the shared exposure to the world’s frightening strangeness that helps Dead Wolves and werewolves bond. A Wolf of Blood needs to have something to offer to local Uratha if he wants to be more than acquaintances. Uniquely vampiric powers are one option. Contacts, Allies, Resources and valuable Skills are just a few other options.
Bloodline Discipline: Animalism, Protean, Resilience, Sublunario
Weakness: In addition to the inherent weakness of the Gangrel clan, Dead Wolves suffer from a vulnerability of their blood. Any damage inflicted on a Wolf-Blood with a Silver weapon deals an additional point of damage — lethal for Silver daggers, bashing for Silver bullets, and so forth. This additional damage is added as an automatic success after a successful attack against the vampire, it does not increase attack pools against him.
In addition to the bloodline’s vulnerability to Silver, the Dead Wolves are somewhat affected by the phases of the moon. On nights of the full and new moons, a Dead Wolf must spend additional Vitae to stay awake and active. Vitaemust be spent as normal for the vampire to awaken, and an additional Vitae must be spent a number hours later equal to twice the vampire’s Stamina dots. Additional Vitae must be spent every time this same interval passes until sunrise.
Concepts: Embraced wolf-blooded kin, Envoy to the Lupines, Kindred overseer in the pack, Lupine-hunter, vampire bounty-hunter, would-be Uratha Embraced before the First Change.
Parent ethnicities
Bloodline Discipline: Animalism, Protean, Resilience, Sublunario
Weakness: In addition to the inherent weakness of the Gangrel clan, Dead Wolves suffer from a vulnerability of their blood. Any damage inflicted on a Wolf-Blood with a Silver weapon deals an additional point of damage — lethal for Silver daggers, bashing for Silver bullets, and so forth. This additional damage is added as an automatic success after a successful attack against the vampire, it does not increase attack pools against him.
In addition to the bloodline’s vulnerability to Silver, the Dead Wolves are somewhat affected by the phases of the moon. On nights of the full and new moons, a Dead Wolf must spend additional Vitae to stay awake and active. Vitaemust be spent as normal for the vampire to awaken, and an additional Vitae must be spent a number hours later equal to twice the vampire’s Stamina dots. Additional Vitae must be spent every time this same interval passes until sunrise.
Concepts: Embraced wolf-blooded kin, Envoy to the Lupines, Kindred overseer in the pack, Lupine-hunter, vampire bounty-hunter, would-be Uratha Embraced before the First Change.
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