Libitinarius

The Libitinarii are a bloodline of the Mekhet clan of vampires. It concerns itself with funerary practices that manage to stave away the worst effects of the Fog of Eternity.

They are primary aligned with the Ordo Dracul.

Overview
The origin of the bloodline was a scholary cult in London during the 1880s. An university professor began funding the harmless ritual ceremonies of classical cultures. Due to their interest in religion in the Ptolemaic era, the professors centered many of their rituals on Serapis, a composite god combining elements of Osiris, the Apis bull of Memphis and various other Hellenistic deities. The ceremonies were secret only because the professors were embarrassed to be spending their time singing in Latin and reciting Egyptian "spells."

One of the members was a ghoul to a member of the Ordo Dracul. When the societies patron had passed away, and they had buried him according to the rites of the roman goddess Libitinia, the vampire revealed himself to the cult, turning them into a research group for his own projects, in exchange for tales from Antiquity. When the ghoul was Embraced for his faithful service, and he attended a ceremony to honor his sire, he found that his vitae had strange powers. Within a year of his Embrace, he had become the founder of a new bloodline. It was a remarkable achievement for a young vampire, and suggested that the new Avus had an intuitive understanding of the Blood and an incredible understanding of the mortuary magic he had studied for so many years. Others claim that this would be impossible for a mere fledgling, and that the vampire had in truth been the last member of an ancient bloodline with similar powers.

Tonight, Weeks continues to practice the art of Mortualia at the behest Princes and Regents throughout England and Europe. For a century, Weeks has been a loyal, if shy, member of the covenant and an aid to its allies. Though some among the Sworn continue to keep watch on the Morticians, their scrutiny has been applied with exquisite patience for 50 years and isn't likely to change until some new facts are unearthed.

Weakness
In addition to the standard weaknesses of their Clan, the Libitinarii are more prone to longer sleeps. Their difficulty to rising during daytime is -2 on all Humanity rolls.

In addition, recent discoveries tell that Mortualia, the treasured discipline of the bloodline, might be able to be taught to a vampire without introducing him into the bloodline. This would spell the doom for the group and such, measures are taken to prevent this from happening.