Gethsemani

The Gethsemani are a Nosferatu bloodline with the uncanny ability to induce stigmata in others.

On February 2, 1590, Prioress Catherine de'Ricci of the convent of San Vicenzio was Embraced by a Nosferatu pilgrim. The unnamed vampire was struggling with the loss of faith since his Embrace and hoped the famous nun would impart one of her miracles on him. According to the sect, Catherine, a lifelong stigmatic, had already been informed in visions of her fate and consented to the Embrace so she could minister to the Damned. The fate of her sire is lost of history, but Catherine immediately began building a new order of the faithful in a hidden haven under her convent.

Childer of the Gethsemani all experienced the true (spontaneous) stigmata during life. This does not mean they were all extremely religious, nor that they have been able to maintain their faith after the Embrace, but the majority are devout believers in some strain of Catholicism and align themselves with the Lancea et Sanctum. Additionally, all Gethsemani experience a masochistic urge to re-create the holy suffering they once felt, and routinely indulge in various kinds of self-harm.

Gethsemani rarely achieve positions of power within the Lancea et Sanctum; the covenant's leadership fears the influence the bloodline would have over the faithful. Instead they act as preachers, mystics and missionaries to the Kindred. Some branches of the Lance see the Gethsemani as a infernal deceivers rather than walking saints, however, exposing them to intense persecution. Those who dwell outside the Lance's hierarchy altogether are vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation.

Their signature discipline, Stigmatica, allows them to re-create the wounds of the stigmata on a mortal victim with a touch. In addition, imbibing blood from these supernatural wounds grants any vampire or ghoul enhanced abilities for the rest of the night. To the faithful, this is seen as a miracle, but to others it is an abomination.