By ErHAN SKEMpCuenns Associate Pokémon of the Mind’s Eye Theatre: Jess *LARPachu" Hein oped by: Rats Hatch with Justin Achill Naney Amhow Art Director: Richard The Layout & Typesetting: Becky Jollersten, Interior Art: Let Jones, Larry Macl kxugal, Joshua Gabriel Tumbrook, Orem Tucker, and Chrstopher Shy Front Cover Arts John Van Flee Front & Back Cover Design: Becky Jollensten GAME STupte ‘ we linc, All rights reserved Reproduction without the written permision wf the pu lisher & expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of orblank character sheets, which may be repro: duced for peronal we only. White Wolf, Vampire the Masquerade, Vatnpite the Dark Ayes, Mage the Ascension, World o Darkness and Aberrantare registered trademarks of White Woll Pubtshing, Inc. All rights reserved. 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(Corson Masai 2MalkAva CONTENTS A Brier PRocepure Cnapter One: THe Tower oF BABEL Cuaprer Two: INstpe Bent am Cuaprer THREE: SHARDSOFA BROKEN MIRRORA BRIGF PROcEDURE Te was the consummation of = mamelage, ‘The vows were unspoken, of course, The courting. had taken place long ago, in the language of grants and internships rather than doses of clichéd poetry, It had been patient and professional, trust given out measure by measure au he let te further and further into, the Orest work of his... life. Pirkt the gift of uitas. then thelgift of reapoanibility — always rationed out with perfect reason, perfect: control And now. . It would have been unprofessional’ to shudder as we stepped into'the operating theatte, so turally, I did no such thing, Although I felt certain that he wouldn't have interpreted it as fear ~ vhy should I fear this place, alaost an old friend? —4t certainly would have been forvard. The fluorescent Lighting was no different, the polished steel cable the sane as it had been throughout years of procedures, case studies and experimenta. The catheter, the plastic drun nev, of course, but hardly unsettling. No, the difference this time was anticipation, Delight, almost. But a show of mich eno- tion would surely be embarrassing to him, and that would-be unforgivable. The repetitive echoes of his shoes’ soles against the floor bounced off the walls. As I slid off my lab coat, I lowered my head and closed my eyes; time for the game to begin egain. He hed taught me @ trick of superiuman hearing sou time ago — and I'd been #0 fltue- tered by how hard it vas to learn that 1 felt sure he'd turn me out before I grasped the secret. But when I finally heard for the first tine, that was when the gane began, Clack. Clack. We vas beginning his circuit of the theatre — always attentive for the slightest foreign elesant. the least chance of chica. Clack, Clack. At the Left edge of the one-way mirror nov, scrutinizing the seams, Clack. Clack. Halfway acroon the wirror now. Can he see through the reflection to the observation booth on the other side? He's never said, but he must be able to. Clack. Clact. The far end now. Clack ~ and @ pause, My smile faded! What had he found? And then there it was — the squeak of cloth, certainly his handkerchief, on wetal. Clack, Clack. The circuit began again. T'd be deluding myself if 1 thought that the vitae-induced senscty. amplification allowed for as complex a sensory mechanism an echolocation. But thie theatre was hove, moreso nov than the house I'd grow up in or the aparzment T slept in; to be frank; I believe last year I'd slept lave hours at the lab as ofven as 1d managed to crawi into an actual bed. We'd run so many cage studies in here that I knew every corner, every inch of (the equipment better than I knew my ovn bedroom. And T’d watched Dr. Netchurch pace the room just like this before every study, before every procedure ‘That was the gune. To ae bin as he must be, to watch every’ footetep with ny eye sbuc Eight, to see him crinkle his brow just slightly with every pause, with every possible Anperfect ion. ‘ABees Roce 5Ae the risk of dropping all objectivity, 4t was ffankly exhilarating. * ‘Ten Bore steps, and he'd be within am’ s reach once more. Clack. Clack,’ His pace picking up just # little now, as he becomes nore certain that nothing's anise. Clack. Clack. Clack. lack. By She cabinet now = and there, tne alight touch of skin.on metal as he slides M9 fingers gently along the steel doors, slnost’ unaware that he does so. Clack. Clack. Aleoat bere, Clack. And ~ a pause? He’s testing we, I thought giddily. Don’t open your eyes yet. He still lacks one more step, just one. tack. T opened wy eyes and raised my head, sailing ever so slightly. Wis face vas imobile; a statue with glass eyes — and then there vaa just @ twitch of movenent by one eye. T could have shrieked with Laughter, but, instead I simply tilted ay head a centimeter or ao to the ide. ard reload my oysbrove just ao. Precise wontuel. Prociee oenmunination. That uae the heart of our relationship. J SIE you're quite ready, Doctor, ve'l1 begin ‘the ‘procedure. " * 1 forced my hands tovrenain at my sides, although they ferociously wanted to smooth down the onosa pimples on my avme He took my coat, folding it crisply and setting it to one side: T sat dom cn the table nd. lay Dack. ‘The cool of the metal rose up against my bare arma and seeped through'my clothes, and it was so refreshing — the Laboratory's’ cool atmosphere (a perfect 65 degrees Fahrenheit I might have cigaied at the thovaht) wasn’t cooling me dove at all. 1 miat have stoned so feverish to him; hoy like him, 90 courtecus and concerned, not to mention it at all. Straps of metal and leather closed on my wrists, ankles and brov; it waa an interesting feeling. The feeling of physical restraints coupled with anticipation — yes, it vas an ‘appetite, but something going beyond sexuality into ao much more. ex, QIter all, is a purely physical intimacy. only Clouded through paychological delu- sion does it seem sore than that - a Lesson Id gradually learned fron ay work. Watching him slice through the layers of tissue and blood dom to a subject's very boues — the same thingy really, an intimacy that means only an mch as one lets it. But thie — to think of dk, An intimacy of tudy aid poychc, and of such Intellect... *Are you confortable, ‘doctor? 8 reperved. So gentlemanly. 1 nodded quickly, refusing to smile like an enborrassed teenager “Very good." His fingers, atrong and cool as the table itself, closed cn my arm. I closed ‘my eyes. There vas the quick, tipgling dab of wet cotton - force of habit, or tenderness? | Surely the latter — then the stab of the nesdle. Like a good patient, T held ny are per- fectly still as the metal slid into my fleah. Like a good patient, 1'begin to give of myoelt. Te wasn’t the firat tine 1/4 let. someone draw/blood, of course. I was glad to participate D withever the blood drives came to my college; I'd long gotten past any latent fears of doctors and needles by then. It seemed preposterous to develop any sort of personal attach- ent to my bloed, #0 the igsue of perceived *viclation* wasn’t at all relevant, either. Very simple, ‘This tine, though; I was growing colder and sleepier than ever I'd been before. There vas! a brief moment vhen I thought of my blood, ali ry blood, draining into sterilized plastic, Ieaving me stiff and lifeless, anf 1 wanted to panic. But the lethargy, coupled vith disci~ pline, was Saster bere, a Simple sleep, over-so-Drief, I gluggishly reminded myself, He is An control; there son't be any, accidents, Relax. And above all, revenber — ve would never Get another chance at professional, objective observation of the transition from ghoul fo...to Cainite. Pod relax I did, and T wat myselt to remaber. Scientific cbearvation began to fail mé, though, 1 would have besa’ disappointed 1n'my- self, but ax the drowsiness: grev, T. couldn't mister any focused eniotion. My heart rate slowed, ‘my pulse beat lethargically. My mind drifted, and I let it. ntinacies. ‘They cane to mind 0 easily, while T wad in thiv helf-cosecious wtace. Andi this state, so easy to see them from outelde, to analyze wnyself objectively. My cravings. for — ap intimate comtection to. another person’ vere wholly typical of the sorm, I auppose. It'sch a blood relation or sexual interccurs influence of hormones or leaznt But when those longinga fox cone and not be eabarranaed, particularly given the T could forgive yself far behaving all too naturally aide, with mysslt an the p e attenpts to please others- Again, sas grateful for my expar And perhaps this balt-fugue condition made imprinting took ho ried that hard to analy: using that what I'd never looked for came on me intuitively, like « jiguaw piece o Six months after Lee had proposed, and in the middle of the Stauffer project fore joini Netchuch’a team’ permanently. The Sunday morning when I and drew avay fro so quickly that he woke up ¢ ‘The ‘morning of oF forgivable to ultinatel atient under study 1 could forgive myse: possible for me to bee exact! mnelt beto ing cted my acquired need for intimacies, Two days before 1 res rest of oy lite he catheter sliding free. T hear hin in my ara — purely fust this once ing into temptatio cold etal F fall 4nto the dare. ae finally gi ptiness surrounds me, yast and hollow. el as though Ia al child center of ing about for the edges, but never reaching them, There 6 bold thing Tgan catch to pull tynelt free of this {mange darkness Like nothing, touch nothing, and yet T both bear and ‘Bes Roca 7than distant vi Ser tien saying ations. tm not alone, and Tout to wh ‘a Sonewbere, Snell of blood, Then I ao from being tiny ag aarirt Co Vast and heavy — I an a sea of Id waters filling an iamenge,. dark: shel My throat ‘8 great emptiness all but rathe: T cone alive There aren't words ey WLIW Gs cess vonaellimvony? te iat perfect — each word good for purpose it was intended for ‘trana an apple ture frame, No poetry, just sensat. inimber of colora, al) black — colors of pain behind cl een BkiN pressing 2: burn! daz) esa and nose. T mallow, and in that evallow he The wkin tears, Tam through, and ox wey mind beate around h: cradled in hie His mind in cool and hard, like a jewe prese wy cm against it, savor the o the wat heat of the darkness, He is alent but there is no ailence for him to break, hhad he reason to do a0. A rashea around us. It/@ warm, too 4a it the hi oul? it rings with it a painful twinge And beyond? Others? There is his ai rea of ny hallucinating it, of other thoughts all arous something else, hack'there, too — 4 abadow ahaped Like a flame qe hurts © focus on that, T have to witha Te's a0 warm. The heat: is overvnel but not stifling — t feel spams of energy, the slow crush of suffocation. The heat pulses behind my eyes. Just as 17d know it would be, my body 4s cool, coal ag. mecal, but the heat— Like breath on Chagoo: Maucans 8‘A body. T have & body. Shocks to a metal slab. My eyes open, ‘need to ‘opens eileatiy, afd the pain worsens. 1 fee ‘wy head, and the painful emptiness in wy toreo. w"ehie agony of feed, of lite, 4s too great. T txy.to screen Soein’ bu powiaise ‘The strap around ny bead loosens, and I blindly vistas mich as I can, The cries within are deafening. I feel bats’ wings brush against wy eyed, and I olan my eyes uhut, even T mow it's omy stray locks of hair. The strepe creak as I theash againat then, (and the sound 1s like icebergs slamming together. The metal against my flesh ip arctic-cold, ‘but no sensation at all, next to the bunger. Be pute my ow blood to my 1ipe, andi guacle as greedily as any, newborn. The cacophcny fades slightly with each svelluv, aod fee Une odit-easm Auld peop duty my Chbiacy tissues. Bach cell trills as the blood spreads further throughout fe, carrying a painful warnth with it. Finally I'm left sucking greedily: at an empty tube, trying to drain the last Beautiful rivulets. Then the tube is renoved, and a cloth dabs at wy lips..I oped my eyes andthe world explodes into view. cold and brilliant in a apactrim of whiten andinatale. The clarity is rightening. we stands over me, and I see the richness of polished marble and Lightless ocean waters layered across him perfect as a photograph, I vant to do something, But I don’t know what. Shouldn't 1 be gasping for breath? Mo, no, foolish... His voice, echoing with the same unearthly clarity, “How are you fesling?* My body {@ still cold, but it‘s a mall thing. My mind blazes with heat. My tongue is thick, and my first attempt to form words taile ~ of course, no air in my lunge; Inhale. Then. M.<, I feel... cold.* The noises have died, but the heat remains, inaietent arid rhythele. He nods, in that tiny, economical vay of his, “Han. em-hmm. 111 admit sone ena] wor- xiesan to whether or not ycu'd/cone through’ in a lucid state — 60 few do = but I knew that ‘you 1ikely had more than enough atrength. Tf you don’t mind, Dostot, i'd 1ike to keep you Featrained for juit a little bit more; a formal precaution, you know.* “1 understand.” A tiny snile slides actoss ay 14ps — I try to stop tt, but it's mo good. J feel Like I'm drunk = tut that’s fine. Best to be drunk when you're vith sontone you Exust, compons who'll never take advantage of you. “I'll be glad ro walt ax long ae you need," *Excellent.* Ha standa up. Hie cool! fiegers elide across my bio, ordering the exrant strands of hair dato a reginent. T vonder what those fingers would taate like: ‘If you have any requésts, an orderly will be in the next room; just raise your voice. 1'11 return soor.' And then it's the most wonderful thing, 1 hear Dr. Wetchurch leave’ thé roon, the clack of ie shoen on the eile, ebedoor closing and Locking attersard — and yet he hasn't Left at all. ‘The room 1s 20 sill that 1 can make Out the faintest shispers of his voice, Blowing Like fallen Leaves dow {n the back of my skull. t close my eyes acainst the fluoreacent Lights and sink into the warm blackness; nd hia volce grows just a little louder, maybe there are other voices in it, I don’t know yet. But 1 have time to listen in the darkneas, Until he comes back and undoss tha straps and helps ne up and ve walk out of the laberatory into this ineredible new existence, this marriage of minds enfolded ini the loving cruel heat of our Blood. Words can’t express. Sut then agais, who needs words?Another larrou) ws called Madness, and tas it sruck the earth I saw each sripped on fever ‘And those things in their blood tuhich were dankest jained in peer a thowsandfold he Ericyes Fragments ofthe Beak of Nod He lnpal, then leche, shen staggered a if he were anil dg his fpr drunk, One foot fll in frome of the ether, draping Darel regent the sound from re forward along the long, lights seetch of asphalt. Once he slid Yoator the shan, atul thene uc tothe side, his et fying for under him, anes shower” rund gether with the sour of cracking srnashed iu de uma! — fc he church atthe coll meal for support, samked himself upright again, axed began way Lien, mae He pressed the heels of hic pains ce aga . peli pests, bt othingsmc oft He wep chal pit of Reales won suay caeily eset thw ik pests, ae nancmc oft, He we amo fea the rad, fuss ss Dl hen spt adit isha “rl rabbi pst hm th a shrk of rab. i The wace continue bane ction, thee of ssa. ven fensieiie! Al chat | have wrought, Ihave w Listen. snot carey this (Gures Ox: Ta Towes of Beanights upon nights —for me ti sit through the visions, he serawls. the shricking, Yea Decades. More. Thousands ef nights to fashion our tor lo rigid form, You have one night co listen. You mt listen. Sobbine tears cf Hed. Planet sid demo the ho surapped his arms aroun his shins. Que rocked back and forth asthe pulsing ek renin in his head Now There are 15 families of ws cach with ts own progenitor Of the lot of them, only three define thennsclves b the blood of their ancestor, even by feeding off the very fame of that vile god. Only three ch the direct name of theit forefather, not touse asecre coined by an elder to mask their own names. Only three call themselves true children of th Progenitor There are Hassan’ childer, who share the disease oftheir grandfather's blood, There are Ser’schikler, whoshare the Albee of their grandfather’ faith And there ate ‘We area sprawling, fractured, decayed fanily. We are than any withered W are Malkavisn exessnajped open. Theshiveringtpped. Aj fea, ro mons the a meage, crcl can You kmnw what we are. You know the word, the ke to power — even though you haven't been tight, recognize them. But yardo not know why we are w are, why we have been blasted with the cune of know Youmust learn more. A terrible time is forthcoming, when he — the creature and god in your bh your mind —when he will again draw himse And you must he ready Daanielbegmto tremble aga. Alto its suarmndigs were lite mare than shi nes, a greater blake ee mc is esr No. Not yet: You cannot knw why I chose your You muse be ready fist. His fingers dh groones nto che ronnd THe BirtH oF Manpness ‘Oa nat oor wil alr Yes. That wicks init your nscage, caches at you makes your stilled innards quiver. Malkay. The ur brhers and ssten, cvea thoswho haven't been told what the name means —we alll shareashudderwhenhisnameisinvokel andicisallhidoing, Listen. Werarely invoke thepowerof Malkav'sname; pethaps you know why already. Itisn'- for ustodiscusshim ‘over cocktails as others might speak of Plato or Hitler. Whar t there for nich a ws eo say? You might 2 wll describe a hunger pang ora burst of half-remerbered lust, because d's whathe s Partof him livesin you, deen hack in thac dark partition dividing your brain — that warm, wer throbbing that can't be ackeated or reamed with, only tolerated. The pulie that echoes with every word I speak, with every burst of imagery that flashes across the veinsof our shared understanding speak toyou through him. | suppose, though... [suppose he wasnt always that seay.No, not atall, The dismembered god was once whole, afterall. Marnav ‘The story of Malkav Our Father Our Blood begins with Caine. All our stories begin with Caine, damn it all. They have to. Caine was the firstcrearure created with the shackles of human senses who then threw them off and ‘gael into the next layer of creation. Do you believe in Adam and Eve? Slaves, both of them. Do you believe in Lilith? More fool you. Do you believe in evolution? A clever story, but itcannot explain us, can i? No, nomatterwhat you believe, it must be that Caine waste first to place one foot inthe grave and stand across the threshold of death and look on two worlds at once. Someone had to be fircacross. Was it indeed te ftst man, to break the vingin earth and seed it and wait for his food toripen? WashisnameCaine,the murderer othis brother? Washisname Utanapisltim, the mancured with enor tality! Or something else? ‘None of us can remember; none ofthis sw this time. ‘And itis... probably bese that we don't Ifhisname were spoken, the power of it would cling in your mind and gnaw at.. 'No. Forget thar. Cine. Call him Caine. He was the Fist “The First wa a heast of ashes. wer with blood, mad with thintand grief. He wassoullessand he was alone. He was disered, and he longed to share his disease with, others forhe did not want tosufer alone. Sohe buitacity, fn lands chat had yer to see the great waters of the Flood wash over them and there he finally ested, and tock three childer to his bosom. In time, they too grew lonely, and they took childer oftheir own. Mallav... Malka was more than a mann life, or 50 the texts say. The records ae...conflicred, but there a tiny thread of agreement that runs through them. Some fragments mention an angel, a messenger, a chosen one— ‘and that is perhaps what he was. He was chosen to beara vvision given to him by his site, or pethaps he was chosen | for his vision. ‘The records become even more convoluted when dliscussing Malkav'ssire. I havescen it written that hissie war Yeoth the Lamgiver; who loved Mallow 6 wisdom and seated him at the right of the throne visier. have read tablets proclaiming that iad the Strong chose Malka forhis own, selecting childe of strong soul and heart to match his own strength. have heard that Zillah the Beausiful saw a light buming in Malka’ eyes ‘thot matched Caine's own desire, and so she drew him near toherin Caine'sabsence. Thesongs of Malki speak offoyeyand of thir for wisdom, bur chey do net ayes — they do not agree. Think thatthe last, Malkav’s sire must have hated him. Perhaps he knew that Malkav could see what was ‘going to happen. A tragment of verse from Nineveh laid tail that traced back 300 years and the collected shards hinted that one of the Three had wken one of the Thirteen, and was beating or tonuring the childe for something that the childe had said..ot refused to say. And that, according to this fragment, was when the Thirteen rose up against their sires The rest isamcoversd easily enough. The Three were cast down and destroyed;tecordsae unclearwhether they were obliterated outright, or if some of their childer ‘managed to drink their essences. And the Thirteen drew upatruce,and theydwelronenextto the other. Forattime. ‘THe Curse ‘Voices, more of them, rushed ino Daniel's bones. * dheCaine cured hind Male, when that one defamed his image cand doxrmed hrm to sci), forever...” * Caine learned much under Lilith, but she didnot wich ‘him all she knew. When he abandoned her. in spite she went to- the ferstborn of his gramdchilder, and tld him a secret that broke him, har destroyed his mind and canted his blo.” * Behold my most foolish chide, tho claims madness for his leasiare Les him become mad in mh, s0 that all mary fear his compery..” *..Then [Malka], hidden from the sight of his siblings, drank dep ofthe hoarded blood of the Tree. But it wes 120 much for [Malkav'sl veins cand his heart was lke to best. His, ‘eyes were opened, and the Truth rushed mwa...” *..Malhan) seized his paren in his hand, harads thas cond break sume, dana he bit tik a dog into the neck of his pent ‘Ana [the elder] sercamed tac a thousarel jackals, Gara Ow: Te Toone Buc, BSal (Mua) ew othe Wath his bre ra he bey to une And he wailed, an hair the a wernen, truck Malka with 1 would — Ehave give When wasthecune utter our of reach. The washed with fever here. Wharever event slashed into Malicav's ming, leaving this livid wound, it swivel hicchiltee. Th ork en a ch = with his sr tnightrcthe te, Snel fan other Cain’ randhilder nv che Sih ruck hm, they aswell The power ofthe thing rwerof te Sights the power ofthe world itself ita anxd all his children bee he nameless Methusela he souls, or the rem himself and allhis chile to the dee wing obsession that descended boone deasily infect an entire bloodline; the a side effect of elf ne Sight, then, surely came on all of Malkav’s pewboen that they behind |, wherever it might be, had been o the streams of maciness that run through the world. The Sight affected his ons, in some cates mukinghis prophecies mow ace before — but it was o heavy burden as well. Maonessin tHe OLD Times, ‘Count yoursIflucky, childe, thachumans have tured to small mercies tn this time. They are proud of ther leaming, and like wo make much of thelr compassion. kn the Western ands, the madnuan ,ifnot tolerated, atleast not sought out with chains and staves. A lunatic on the rect, shouting the gospel of mother Moon, is igs d by ae thanever Csao0e Maucnins ryhis brothers and sisters, When they try to cure him, they do so with medicines and games, Not so in our grandsir’s time. The mad were not “diseased” then; they were “possessed.” It was best, they said, to drive the demons fom the body by flogging, ort ttorve the flihly host co that the demons would grow tweak and flee in search of a more fitting ves ‘Such wasour lot. Manyof Malkav'sgrandchilder were «quickly sain i hey wandered too far fom his protection. The enh hingrehitdes uf ise Thiad Geassatins won have slain Malkav himself — but they did not. Perhaps Caine forhade it. Perhaps it wasbecause the Curse and the vision that assailed Malka also brought him closer to a few of them, and so Malkav was never completely alone. Truly alone, yes; but not completely. BROTHER SAULOTAND BROTHER SET A porable: Twoamong the Antediluvians were Malkav’sbroth- cts. One was Sault, who in life had lovedhis body and the bodies of others, and strove co perfect his immoral flesh, ‘Onewaa Set, who mle had haste x etemieyandoeriver to bestow etemity on his beloved ones, and strove 10 master his soul of night. As brothers they would come to. Malkav, and would stve to console him, though there wasno balm forbiswound, no elixir tosoodhehisfever.S0, falling in their ministrations, they would instead talk of things, of long nights and the frailness of kine, of life and death and the secrets that ay between. ‘Ando itcame topassthar Malkav would say things thac angered Set, who would reply with harsh words, secking to anger Malka in tur. For Malkav would claim tharall things would be revealed, in brie and consradict- ing glimpses, bu revealed as true al he same by the mind and its perceptions, asa flickering torchlighe illuminating 4 rough caver wall. Yer Set would argue ocherwise, complaining that only in the depths of one's soul would the truth be known, and that hurnans in thei imperfec- tions could perceive some of thegreamnes ofthe universe, bur only through undeath could they perceive the things that remain unseen. Finally, the wo glared long at one another, and cured to their brother Saulot, and demanded thar he judge berween their arguments, Is the answer not, de- tmanded Set, that man is wisest in the hollowness of