                                  ISCARIOT



   By Stacey Lawless (22 Jul 94)

   Roughly two thousand years ago-coinciding, perhaps, with the death of
   a carpenter's son from Galilee-a strange Vampiric bloodline arose in
   the Middle East. They call themselves Iscariots, and believe that they
   are the childer of Judas Iscariot and that they are called to be the
   shepherds of Christianity.

   It is unknown what clan they arose from. The Tremere mutter darkly
   that the Iscariot progenitor was of the "diabolical" Salubri; they
   point to certain similarities of Disciplines as proof. Others feel
   that the Assamites spawned this bloodline, for here there are also
   similarities of Discipline, and the Iscariots have been known to
   actively hunt other Kindred.

   There are those, however, who maintain that the Iscariots are
   decendents of the Followers of Set. They point to a bit of Iscariot
   apocrypha as the basis of the theory:

   "When the Christ was being taken to Golgotha, Judas wept at the sight,
   aware that he had sold Christ into death and stained himself with
   innocent blood. In his shame, he committed suicide by hanging himself
   on the dusk of that day.

   Then there came an Unclean One, a lamia of Egypt, and he cut down the
   body of Judas and poured his own blood into the mouth of Judas, and
   awakened him in a blasphemous manner. Then the lamia said to Judas,
   "Long have I sought to make a tool of the Galilean, and you have
   delivered Him and his followers into my hands. His light will become
   the beacon by which I lead his followers into the Darkness. For your
   aid, I have made you my son, that you may rejoice in Darkness and
   taste the black fruits that you yourself have sown."

   But Judas stood and said to the lamia, "It will not be so. I taste the
   fruit of my sowing even now, and it is bitter and foul. As the demons
   of the desert of your origin fight each other, so I will fight you in
   Darkness. I will stand between you and His followers and shield them
   from your evil. I betrayed my friend and am damned for it, but I will
   not betray Him again." Then he turned and fled into the night.

   The proponents of this theory point out that "lamia" was a common
   epithet for Vampires in those times, and in any case the pouring of
   the lamia's blood into Judas's mouth clearly betokens the Embrace.
   That the lamia is said to be "of Egypt" and speaks of darkness and
   manipulation certainly seems to indicate that he was a Setite.
   Unfortunately, the earliest written version of this story only dates
   from the early 1400's, and although Kindred scholars evinced much
   interest in it at that time, there is no indication that it was known
   at an earlier date. The story is as likely to be hoax or folklore as
   it is to be truth. Some have attempted to "verify" it by pointing out
   the known Setite preference for individuals with red hair;
   traditionally, Judas Iscariot is supposed to have red hair. However,
   the color of his hair most appropriately belongs to the realm of
   folklore; and in any case a Setite prediliction lends little weight to
   the factual accuracy of the story.

   Certainly the Iscariots are a strange bloodline. Their members reject
   all ties to the community of Kindred, instead embracing a
   Christian-derived philosophy which sets them against all other
   Kindred. They have been tightly entwined with the Church for
   centuries, attempting to keep other Kindred from influencing it, and
   though they believe themselves to be eternally set apart from the
   human race, they hold it in more reverence than their own. Needless to
   say, these attitudes have not made them popular in the Vampiric
   community, and the Iscariots have been decimated in the last four
   centuries.

   More strangely yet, there has been a schism in their ranks for the
   majority of their existence as a bloodline, based largely on
   differences in doctrine. Yet even today, when the bloodline teeters on
   the brink of extinction and perhaps only solidarity can save them, the
   Iscariots persist in maintaining this schism.

   In what follows, I will put forward the history of the Iscariots,
   their motivations, their philosophies, and a description of their
   Discipline. In this way, though the Iscariots themselves may soon
   cease to exist, their unique contributions to vampiric history will
   not be lost.

   History: The oldest known still-existing Iscariots are Matthias of
   Galatia (Embraced c. 120 A.D.) and Anahazra the Gnostic (Em. c. 200
   A.D.). While both Kindred claim to have been Sired by the bloodline
   founder, neither one will speak of their Sire in any great detail.
   Matthias, who is a colleague of mine in the Inconnu, explains that his
   reticence stems from a request of his Sire's. He will say that his
   Sire was a Vampire of the fifth generation, that he exhibited all the
   powers of the Iscariot bloodline, that he maintained a strong interest
   in the early Christian religion, that Matthias has not seen him since
   shortly after his own Embrace, and that his name was Judas.

   Matthias had converted to Christianity in life, and spent the first
   century of his unlife defending Christians from pogroms and
   detractors. He became convinced that orthodox Christianity (that is, a
   heirarchical version of the religion based upon the New Testament
   alone and legitimized by the idea of apostolic succession) must be
   made the sole form of the church, as its organised structure and
   well-defined leadership would both allow Christians to better protect
   themselves and be more palatable to secular governments. Accordingly
   he Sired twice and he and his Childer began laying a groundwork of
   support for the orthodox bishops. They also began struggling against
   the Ventrue of Rome, who were taking an interest in the religion.
   (Matthias will not speak of his Childer, save to say that they were "a
   mistake", and no longer in existence.)

   In 214 A.D., in Jerusalem, Matthias encountered a strange female
   Vampire who accused him of being spiritually blind, and of failing in
   his duty to his flock by entrapping them in the same blindness. She
   was Anahazra, a Gnostic from Samaria, and though young as a Vampire
   she was powerful. Anahazra told Matthias that her Sire, Judas, had
   ordered her to "free my people from their chains." Matthias's orthodox
   Christians had declared Gnosticism (which held that the New Testament
   was only a starting point and that enlightenment came from personal
   communion with God, and which disregarded apostolic successsion) a
   heresy and were endeavoring to stamp it out. Anahazra told Matthias
   that the Church would only be safe when each Christian was his or her
   own source of wisdom. This veiw was completely contrary to his own.
   The two Iscariots quarreled and came to blows; Anahazra barely
   escaped, and Matthias has never seen her since.

   Matthias and his Childer prospered, and his Childer Sired, and those
   Get Sired. Some of the Iscariots became Vampiric theologians,
   carefully molding both human doctrine and their own myths and legends.
   Others took up the sword and stalked Kindred of other clans who preyed
   on their flocks or attempted to exert control over the Church, while
   still others carefully ensconced themselves in positions of control
   within the Church. Under this careful tending the Church grew and
   thrived, but in time it became a huge, bloated bureaucracy, and
   corruption began to seep in. Matthias, disillusioned and weary, left
   to pursue the spiritual quest that would lead him to Golconda. With
   his guidance gone, the orthodox Iscariots fell to power plays and
   doctrinal sqaubbling, and other Kindred worked their way into the
   Church and tightened their hold over it.

   During this time of orthodox growth, Iscariots would occasionally
   appear who rebelled against the directives of the Childer of Matthias.
   These Iscariots all seemed to have spent their breathing days as
   members of sects the orthodox Church punished as heretics: Gnostics,
   Albigensians, Waldensians, Cathars, Bogomils. They were the Childer
   and grandchilder of Anahazra. These Kindred had in many cases seen
   friends and loved ones persecuted and killed by the Church and were
   quite hostile toward it and the orthodox Iscariots. Some had broadened
   their blood-mission into the protection of all mankind from Darkness;
   others had become spiritual seekers and freedom fighters, and allied
   themselves with Kindred of other clans. If there are any Iscariots
   among the Sabbat, they are of the blood of Anahazra.

   In an effort to strengthen the power of the Church, the orthodox
   Iscariots helped to institute the Crusades; and to purge the Church of
   the influence of other Kindred, and stamp out heresy, they pushed for
   the Inquisition. While wildly successful at first, the Inquisition
   soon backfired dramatically upon the Iscariots. Kindred of the newly
   formed Camarilla and Sabbat, both within and without the Church,
   ruthlessly hunted down all the Iscariots they could find. In addition,
   several canny human Inquisitors saw in their work a means of ridding
   themselves of Vampiric domination once and for all. The line of
   Matthias was nearly wiped out. The line of Anahazra was similarly
   decimated, though the heretics had nearly all actively worked against
   the Inquisitors.

   The few remaining Iscariots have lain extremely low for the past two
   centuries, nursing their wounds and grievances. I have ascertained
   that there are twenty of the orthodox Childer of Matthias still in
   existence. Some of them have hidden themselves well in the heirarchy
   of the Roman Catholic Church, while others, refugees from the
   dissolution of the Soviet Union, have been migrating through Orthodox
   lands, seeking shelter. These refugees will probably be picked off by
   the Tremere, but certain clues indicate that the hidden orthodox have
   begun to Sire again.

   I believe that there are some eleven heretic Iscariots remaining in
   the world, though I am not completely certain of the number. Many of
   them learned early on to disguise their lineage. Of the heretics I can
   only say: they tend to be nomadic, rarely staying in one place for
   more than a decade; they are of a more philosophical bent than their
   orthodox brethren; nearly half their number are female (females among
   the orthodox were a rarity, and to my knowledge none exist now); and
   they do not scorn the company of Kindred of other clans (as the
   orthodox are wont to do), though they generally do maintain a polite
   distance.

   Matthias believes, and my research seems to indicate, that Anahazra
   still exists. A Kindred matching her description has been reported in
   Central America several times in the last five years, moving among
   peasant rebels and proponents of "liberation theology". We believe she
   has attained Golconda, but no Inconnu has been able to contact her.
   There is some indication that the Sabbat of Mexico are also searching
   for her.

   Philosophy: The Iscariots, both orthodox and heretical, may best be
   understood by the general philosophies utilized by the two groups. The
   orthodox are known to veiw themselves as being accursed, but in a
   peculiarly honorable way; damned, but able to attain salvation through
   hard work and struggle. They pay little heed to the mythologies of the
   majority of Kindred, as they see all other Kindred as being eternally
   damned and akin to the fiends of Hell. They also reject the idea of
   Golconda, viewing it a demonic illusion designed to lure them from the
   "true path". Matthias is the only one of their number to attain this
   state, and it must be noted that he estranged himself from his own
   descendants centuries ago.

   The orthodox see their Humanity as the key to attaining "redemption"
   and salvation. They view the Christians of the world as both their
   Herd and "flock" which they are called to protect from all ravages of
   evil. Yet though they are the defenders, they themselves are unable to
   attain salvation unless they become like their charges, whom Christ
   died to redeem. That is, to be saved they must become Humane. Thus the
   orthodox spend a great deal of time and effort trying to suppress the
   Beast and raise their Humanity. Many have failed at this task,
   allowing themselves to become too fond of their own power and
   influence, and in the process becoming much like the Kindred they so
   despise.

   Should an orthodox Iscariot manage to purify himself to his most
   Humane [a Humanity of 10], he spends a year and a day in ritual
   seclusion, then is extinguished by beheading. The blood is collected
   in a chalice and is used as the Sacrament in a solemn Mass for the
   extinguished. Other than this requiem Mass the Iscariots do not
   perform any Christian rites, though most of them were priests in life
   and certainly know how. They believe that to do so would be
   blasphemous. The reason the requiem Mass is the single exception is
   that the extinguished Vampire has attained Humanity and been redeemed;
   it is proper to say the Mass for him, and the surviving Iscariots who
   participate are there to learn by their redeemed brother's example.

   Orthodox Iscariots maintain the Masquerade, but do not recognize the
   Camarilla as an authority in anything, since they see it as merely a
   loose confederation of devils. They hate the Sabbat with a passion,
   not so much because these Kindred are more overtly evil than their
   Camarilla rivals, but because the Sabbat's organization is patterned
   on the Church and many of their rites and titles are mockeries of
   Christian ones. To the orthodox Iscariots, few things could be more
   insulting.

   The heretic Iscariots are more individualistic than the orthodox;
   while all of them bear the unmistakeable stamp of Christian influence,
   their views and beliefs are their own. They do have certain traits in
   common: they appreciate and value humankind, and feel obliged to
   defend humans from supernatural threats; they believe that it is more
   important to search for Truth than to put one's faith in dogma; they
   feel that other Kindred are capable of salvation; and they believe
   that salvation may be found through Golconda. While most of them
   stress the importance of maintaining Humanity, at one is known to
   follow the Path of Harmony instead. Where she learned it, I do not
   know.

   They all share another belief, that dovetails with their acceptance of
   the reality of Golconda. The Gnostics believed that the God of Israel
   worshipped by the Jews and orthodox Christians was not the true God,
   but only a sort of lieutenant who was in charge of creating the
   material world. This lieutenant, called the demiurge, became jealous
   of the true God and told mankind that he himself was their God and
   they must worship him. The Gnostics rejected the demiurge and searched
   for the true God by sifting through their own psyches, for the true
   God had given humans their souls and minds. The heretical Iscariots
   conclude from this, logically enough, that the soul-searching of the
   way to Golconda is the way that Kindred reach the true God and become
   enlightened.

   The heretics maintain the Masquerade but tend to pay the Camarilla
   little attention. Most of them maintain another sort of Masquerade as
   well: they pass themselves off as members of other clans in order to
   protect themselves.

   Clan Disciplines: Auspex, Potence, and Pastoralis.

   Weakness: The weakness of the bloodline, aside from the fact that both
   the Camarilla and Sabbat officially despise Iscariots, is that they
   are terribly sensitive to Faith. Any attempts to use True Faith to
   affect an Iscariot automatically succeed. Moreover, they are affected
   by crosses in the manner of Hollywood vampires, provided that the
   cross is being wielded by a mortal who is untainted by the
   supernatural (i.e., Magi, ghouls, the Dominated, etc.). Thus, a
   frightened human's movie- created instinct to ward off the Vampire
   with a pair of crossed pencils might indeed save them from attack by
   an Iscariot. Matthias suspects that his descendants find this terribly
   embarrassing, but what can they do?



   I hope that my efforts to record this lineage do it some justice.
   These "Judas Goats", as they have been nicknamed, doubtless would not
   appreciate my efforts, much as the early Christians would have
   disdained pagan efforts to quantify them. Likewise, many Kindred would
   prefer to see these self-appointed defenders of man vanish silently
   into the sands of time. Still, the Iscariots are a part of our
   fragmented and fractious race, and as such I cannot allow them to be
   forgotten.

   Adso, scholar of the Inconnu

   View Pastoralis discipline.
