IC Pages
Handbook
The Guilds
The Clan
The Art!
Lineages
Links
The Site

As I'm sure all of you know by now, Caine was cursed by Jehovah (or perhaps blessed as he gave rise to the Toreador eventually). Be that as it may, Caine became the First Kindred. In time, He Embraced Enoch, Irad, and Zillah in the City of Enoch. Caine commanded that no others be made in their likeness but, in time, Enoch, Irad, and Zillah disobeyed their Sire and made others.

Now, at this time in the city of Enoch, there were a pair of Twins, Malkav and Arikel. Utterly devoted to one another, the twins went about their existence until they drew upon themselves the attention of Zillah. Enraptured by the Beauty of Arikel and the Prescience of Malkav, Zillah Embraced them both. While Malkav's Embraced threw him into the depths of Madness, Arikel's awoke within her a beauty and an understanding of beauty the likes of which this sad, tired world had not ever seen before. For those of us who trace our Lineage back to the glory of Arikel, this is a thing to inspire great pride in us all for we all, to some degree (yes, even those who merely Pose), share in this glory and understanding on a primal level of Art and Beauty.

Through the ages, all those of Arikel's Blood have been Embraced in the pursuit of this standard--in the belief that Beauty must prevail over all and Ugliness has no place in Perfection other than to make Perfection shine that much brighter in juxtaposition to the Ugliness. Our Art and our mere Presence stands as a bright beacon of beauty and perfection in the dark depths of this world in which we find ourselves. For this reason, we must never stray from this path nor compromise in our pursuit of these ideals. To do so is to betray our lineage and our ultimate Sire, Arikel.

Over the years, we have seen some stray from this bright goal and others have fallen by the wayside. Kine have been brought into the grace of Arikel only to be found later to be charlatans and Poseurs. But, perhaps, in their act to be brought into our grace, they have shown themselves to be worthy of it in their acting ability and subterfuge if not in the truth of the art for which they were erroneously Embraced.

For many years now, arguments have raged over what is Art and what is not. Subjectivity abounds on the subject, and I will not attempt, at this point, to decide what is or is not Art. That I will leave to the Millenia Old Elders of my Clan or those newly Embraced who know better the Pulse of the World in which they existed before joining us in Perfection. My words are my Art, and they are eternal. After all, Beauty does not solely lay in the Eye of the Beholder, but often in the Heart of the Artist as well--or somewhere between the two when matters are brought down to their base.

Even given this, we accept that the other Clans descended from the Father of Us All cannot experience or understand Beauty on the level that we may. They are forever shut out from the true meaning of Beauty and Art due to the misfortune of their Embrace and their Kine existence. Do not despise them for this, but instead pity them and seek to show them at least some of the Light they are denied and in which we bask eternally.

Remember, my brothers and sisters, where we have come from and what our duty is. We are the Keepers of Beauty. We are the Dreamers of Dreams and it is our responsibility to share those Visions with our cousins lest they sink irretrievably into the grasp of the Beast.