Brujah

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The Brujah are a clan of vampires in White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darknessbooks and role-playing settings. Their name is derived from Bruja, the Spanish word forwitch.

In the modern setting (Vampire: The Masquerade), the Brujah are characterized mostly as anarchists. White Wolf states, "The typical Brujah wears a biker jacket, tattered jeans, combat boots...". Brujah childer conduct their political conventions amongst the noise of raves and punk-rock concerts. Their Ancilla have long used secret, impromptu, and often violent rants to propel their anarchic culture. In comparison to other vampires, the Brujah are especially violent. Currently the most popular symbol of Brujah is upside-down form of Circle A Red. The Brujah were not always so anarchic: in the past, they were warrior-philosophers, and they engineered the creation of Carthage, the fabled city where Kindred and kine walked freely amongst each other. However, the dream would not be realized, as the city was destroyed by forces within and without; the Brujah of the modern nights primarily blame the Ventrue, Toreador and Malkavians for Carthage's fall, though they are also suspicious of the Lasombra for a suspected role in the fall of their city. Many, if not all Brujah dream of re-making their fabled Carthage, unfortunately most of the Brujah have a very different vision of what it should be. Of course the utopia that the Brujah aspire to may not be all that the clan elders describe, with rumors of links to the diabolic Baali and their infernal practices.

In modern times, the Brujah have split into two primary groups: the intelligent, politically active Brujah, many of which are fiery and outspoken among the vampires society, and the raging, angry counter-culture Brujah that most other vampires think of when they try to picture a member of the Clan. Strangely enough, Brujah Princes are relatively common among the Camarilla, ranking perhaps second for the number of Princes ruling over a city.

Like all vampires, Brujah have a clan flaw associated with them. Brujah are known for their fiery and often violent tempers, having more trouble than any clan does to keep their homicidal tendencies at bay. They fall to their Beast with disturbing frequency, and tend to get quite agitated if this flaw is ever mentioned in their presence.

Members of this clan are haunted by rumors of a bloodline calling itself the True Brujah.

Clan	Progenitor	Faction	Disciplines	Nicknames	Weakness
Brujah	Troile	Camarilla	Celerity, Potence, Presence	Rabble, Zealots	All difficulties to resist frenzy increase by two for Brujah characters, to a maximum of 10.

History

The Brujah are warriors—but always warriors for a cause. The fierce heat of passion burns within their cold, dead breasts and it drives them to champion causes that they believe can set the world right. When Caine slew his brother, he threw the world from its intended course. The horror that it has become must be corrected, and the Brujah intend to do just that. Each member of the clan has her own vision of the way the world should be, and he strives to make that vision become a reality through argument, manipulation and force of arms.

In the earliest nights, passion was not a trait of the Brujah. Indeed, the founder of the clan, Ilyes, was Embraced for her cold wisdom, and her ability to assess the virtues of an idea without emotional involvement was greatly valued by her sire and grandsire. However, in her long years banished from the sun, she grew ever more remote from both the humans of the First City and her own childer. What few emotions she had left atrophied completely. As she developed theories, her experiments to test them became ever more cruel. She would use and sacrifice the living and the Damned, just to satisfy an idle whim.

One of her childer, whose name was Troile, could no longer stand by and watch this cruelty. He dreamed of a world in which the human and Cainites had at least an understanding. Even then, he thought that genuine peace was too much to ask. He tried to convince his sire to abandon her ruthless behavior. Ilyes's arrogant dismissal of the childe's arguments drove Troile to the very edge of frenzy, and he threw himself at his sire. Long out of practice in hand-to-hand combat, Ilyes eventually fell beneath her childe's fists and fangs. Once he had tasted his sire's blood, Troile was unable to stop himself from drinking. Within minutes, Ilyes was no more.

From the shadows stepped Caine himself, his face clouded with fury: "Never before has one of my progeny drank the very soul of another. I curse you ever to aspire to your sire's wisdom, but also to be prey to the very fury which led you to this diabolic act."

Troile took his sire's title and position among the third generation. He assumed the burden of Caine's curse, but also worked towards his own vision of a better world. His passion seemed to spread like wildfire through the line of his childer, and at first he rejoiced in their crusading zeal as they worked to make the world a better place.

In the city of Carthage, Troile and his childer worked to establish what he had dreamed of in earlier times: a society in which mortals and Cainites coexisted for their mutual benefit. But again and again he saw those of his clan start to repeat his mistakes and give in to their anger. In despair, he left the city and was never seen again. Carthage fell far from that ideal, until even some of the demon-worshipping Baali were welcomed within its walls. Soon, the other clans acted under the guidance of Roman Ventrue to destroy this abomination.

The Brujah have fought to improve the world ever since, but the failure of their grand experiment had made their blood boil ever hotter. As the centuries pass, the world seems to fall ever further from what it should be. As kine philosophies, religions and ideas multiply, proliferate and die, the clan becomes more divided as to what should be done to make the world right—and even as to what that right should be. Many of the younger members of the clan no longer heed the wisdom of their elders. Their blood calls to them to do something now, not watch and observe for a few centuries until the patterns of society become apparent to them. The elders merely shake their heads and recall the misjudged dreams of their own youth.

Some Brujah follow the great philosophies and religions of the past, while others adopt new faiths and ideals with equal vigor and convince themselves that the salvation of the fallen world lies there. Some even jump from idea to idea in search of the one that fires their imagination and drives them towards a better world. All of them pursue their ideals with a vigor and commitment that would put a hardened crusader to shame.

Minor bloodlines

Brujah antitribu

During the Anarch Revolt, the young majority of Clan Brujah was the first and most vocal to rally the cause. The elders of the clan, after passing interest in the challenge to the other elders' status quo, judged the anarchs to be in error. After much debate and posturing, the elders and loyal childer of Clan Brujah turned their backs on the "daft and dangerous" vampires who called themselves anarchs. As a result, the Brujah anarchs, who almost unanimously refuses to bow to the Convention of Thorns, bear a tremendous grievance against the parent clan and support the Sabbat with fervor. Unlike the Camarilla Brujah, Sabbat Brujah often feel very strongly for their sect—while Camarilla Brujah bemoan their apathetic elders and spend their nights fighting in the parking lots of punk-rock nightclubs, the Brujah antitribu have taken the Great Jyhad to the elders and Antediluvians themselves.

Of all the clans of the Sabbat, the Brujah antitribu are probably the most like their parent clan, with a few striking differences. The clan not only supports its sect with enthusiasm, it takes an active part in the nightly conquest and Jyhad that has made the recent Sabbat war effort so successful. Although still waters may run deep, the sanguinary turbulence among the Brujah antitribu does not indicate lack of intellect or profundity on their part.

Brujah antitribu make brutal shock troops and effective foot-soldiers for the Sabbat, and they find their greatest comfort in this role. Ruthless and vicious to the last, the Brujah antitribu enjoy their martial roles. As the Damned, they reason, why not indulge in a little violence and sadism to pass the innumerable nights? Fewer dissidents find their place among the Sabbat Brujah than in the ranks of the Camarilla, but that seems to be because the Brujah antitribu have better luck—or skill—choosing childer who are not so arbitrarily contrary.

The Sabbat Brujah are likely the most numerous non-Lasombra or Tzimisce members of the Sabbat, due to the fact that the clan is the least disposed to seeing the big picture. They take what they want when they want it, whether it is new childer, desirable vessels, shares of their cities vice trade or the money in your pocket, and woe be to whoever would stand in their way. Other Sabbat frequently consider the Brujah antitribu base and classless, while the clan sees itself as the closest in ideology to the Sabbat's original intent—freedom.

Of late, many Brujah antitribu have grown frustrated with the antiquated leadership of the Lasombra and Tzimisce, and they have plotted their own spectacular plans and won their own victories. Most members of this clan find places among the Loyalist faction, and some few manage to transcend their atavistic urges to become productive members of the Black Hand or Inquisition. Indeed, the Brujah antitribu seem to be on the cusp of something momentous, and only time will tell what their nights hold in store.^[1]

Bloodline	Founder	Parent Clan	Faction	Disciplines	Nicknames	Weakness
Brujahantitribu	Unknown	Brujah	Sabbat	Celerity, Potence, Presence	Brutes	All difficulties to resist frenzy increase by two for Brujah antitribu characters, to a maximum of 10. Brujah antitribu tend to be less offended about their radical moods than Camarilla Brujah, and many take perverse pleasure in their boiling tempers.

True Brujah

The Kindred calling themselves the True Brujah claim that the founder of the clan met his death at the hands of his childe, and that all of those who call themselves Brujah are, in truth, descendants of this diablerist. The original childer of Brujah the True Brujah disdain their illegitimate cousins and harbor a resentment for their continued legacy of diablerie.

Unlike the false Brujah, the True Brujah are emotionally detached.

A bloodline of scholars, chroniclers and knowledge-seekers, the True Brujah view the world dispassionately. Whether unearthing a hidden Cainite tomb, compiling the fragments of a long-lost manuscript or feasting on the blood of a slave, the True Brujah go about their unlives with placid contemplation. They feel no thrill or fear, but rather react to their world analytically.

The True Brujah were involved with the Black Hand before its fall, but their origins predate even that ancient sect. Indeed, when the young Brujah speak of Carthage, they are speaking of the home of the True Brujah and not the fabled utopias that spring to their minds. The True Brujah believe that their founder made his haven in Northern Africa, around which the great city arose, where the Children of Seth were mere vessels and sacrifices. Carthage was not a city of idylls but a den of blood and fire and gods who walked among men. Some of the True Brujah even claim memories of the city and must be ancient indeed.

Since the fall of the Black Hand, the True Brujah have returned to the lands of their origin, forging a loose bond with the Followers of Set. Although solitary and aloof, the True Brujah realize the value of allies, even to the extent of finding common ground with the Setites. Both groups are finders of secrets and searchers for lost lore, and though they differ in what they do with their bounty, none have any doubt that they seek similar ends. Unlike their Setite allies, however, the True Brujah do not pursue vice and indulgence, nor do they wish to undertake the Setites chronic quest to raise their undead god. The Elois seek knowledge for its own sake. They choose to be erudite and sage, hoping to master their domains through craft. Few enemies are so relentless as a True Brujah, and few allies are as resourceful.

Many (some would say the majority) of the True Brujah were involved with the Tal'Mahe'Ra or True Black Hand and were instrumental in that sect's founding. In the metaplot of the revised edition of Vampire: The Masquerade the True Brujah, already a rare bloodline, became even more scarce with the destruction of City of Enoch, the True Black Hand's headquarters in the Shadowlands.

One of the scenarios in the Gehena book reveals that Troile was the only childe of Illyes and the True Brujah are in fact just some scholarly Brujah that rediscovered Illyes' discipline of Temporis. It turns out that Illyes hates the True Brujah even more than the rest of the clan, for they claim that he made the mistake of siring more than one time.

Another scenario put forth in Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy is that Anis, Queen of Night, the first childe of Brujah used the favorite childe of Brujah, Troile, to commit diablerie upon the clan founder Brujah. She also blood-bound Troile to herself before the diablerie, ensuring any of his offspring would also be blood-bound to her. This would put Anis in a unique position to combat the machinations of the Antediluvians as she is not blood bound to any of the existing Antediluvians, as well as having the Antediluvian Troile blood-bound to her. This pattern of Antediluvian manipulation was repeated by Lameth, referred to the Dark Messiah, who was a lover of Anis and the first son of Assur also referred to as Cappadocius. It was also repeated by Seker, childe of Saulot. According to this scenario there are three modern clans of vampires, the Brujah, Giovanni, and Tremere, whose childer have been manipulated without their knowledge since their clan's founding. They may also possess the ability to resist the calling of their Antediluvian founder for their blood during Gehenna, with the assistance of a 4th generation Methuselah from the original clan.

The True Brujah (nicknamed Elois after the post-humans in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine) have command over their own proprietary Discipline called Temporis which allows them limited control over time and time-travel. It is said that Celerity is a bastardized version of this power developed by Troile to keep up with her broodmates (Possibly not - Caine initially learned Celerity according to the Book of Nod). Conversely it is proposed that the True Brujah developed Temporis centuries later drawing on both Celerity and all vampire-kind's innate stasis in time to create the Discipline.

Bloodline	Founder	Parent Clan	Faction	Disciplines	Nicknames	Weakness
True Brujah	Ilyes, (Possibly Troile)	Brujah, (The Brujah may actually be descended from the True Brujah)	True Black Hand	Potence, Presence, Temporis	Elois, Sages	Double the experience points necessary to regain Humanity or Path of Enlightenment ratings. Conscious and Conviction rolls always made with 2 additional difficulty (at a maximum of 10).

Brujah of Note

• Christof Romuald, Brujah Promethean and a noteworthy French member of the Order of The Knights of The Red Cross around the 12th century (Dark Ages)
• Ecaterina the Wise, Brujah Promethean (Dark Ages) Sabbat Bishop of New York City (Final Nights)
• Wilheim Streicher, Brujah Scholar-Warrior (Dark Ages)
• 'Smiling' Jack, Brujah Iconoclast and Camarilla terrorist
• Jeremy MacNeil, Prominent Anarch in Los Angeles, California
• Theo Bell, Brujah Archon
• Jaroslav Pascek, Brujah Justicar
• William Orange, Brujah Elder and one of the members of the lost Roanoke Colony around the 16th century.