Antediluvian

The Antediluvians are the founders and ultimate boogeymen of the 13 clans. They are vampires of incalculable power, each of whom survived the Great Flood (ante, before; diluv, flood: hence antediluvian, one who comes before the flood) and who are now presumed to sleep beneath the earth. When Gehenna comes, the Antediluvians will rise and devour their descendants.

Number and Name
Canonical Noddist lore holds that there are thirteen Antediluvians, one for each of the clans. These Antediluvians were embraced by the three childer of the Second Generation, meaning that they are all nominally siblings or cousins. Several Antediluvians, such as the Gangrel and Ravnos progenitors are described explicitly as siblings.

Traditionally, Antediluvians are simply referred to as the (clan) Antediluvian, so the Gangrel Antediluvian, Tzimisce Antediluvian and so on. An alternate usage is the describe the name in square brackets (i.e., [Tzimisce]); the true names of the Antediluvians are unknown and possibly unknowable. Certainly, the Brujah progenitor was not named after a Spanish term for witch. That stated, several common names are known, as follows:


 * Clan Assamite: Haqim
 * Clan Brujah: Troile
 * Clan Followers of Set: Set, Sutekh, Typhon
 * Clan Gangrel: Ennoia
 * Clan Giovanni: Augustus Giovanni
 * Clan Lasombra: [Lasombra]
 * Clan Malkavian: Malkav
 * Clan Nosferatu: Absimiliard
 * Clan Ravnos: Zapathasura
 * Clan Toreador: Arikel, Ishtar
 * Clan Tremere: Tremere
 * Clan Tzimisce: [Tzimisce]
 * Clan Ventrue: Veddhartha, Ventru

Also, for the former clans-turned-bloodlines:
 * Clan Cappadocian: Ashur, Cappadocius
 * Clan Salubri: Saulot

Other names mentioned as possible Antediluvians include Lucian, Mekhet, Namtaru (all mentioned in the first and second edition Vampire rules, as well as Gehenna) and the names of the four Aralu in Enoch: Nergal, Al-Mahri, Loz and Ninmug. These are presumably other Antediluvians who opted not to sire clans.

Gehenna includes several other names, such as Ilyes, the original founder of clan Brujah.

While orthodox Noddism lists thirteen Antediluvians, this does not mean that there are just thirteen. In particular, there may have been more vampires of the third Generation, but only thirteen survived the flood. However, there are alternative interpretations, particularly in the Gehenna supplement, which suggests that there may be other Antediluvians who never opted to Embrace childer and who may have unique capabilities unheard of by modern Kindred. Similarly, the Ericyes Fragments implies that the weakening of vampires of higher generation is a specific curse from Caine.

In in a letter from Vlad Tepes to Mina Harker, Vlad stated that, in his research, he has come across various writings which state that the Third Generation numbered at 9, 27, 100, and 0. He wasn't sure which one was correct (VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition, pg 13).

Fake Antediluvians
Several Antediluvians have fallen through diablerie, in particular:


 * [Tzimisce]: Diablerized by Lugoj
 * [Lasombra]: Diablerized by Gratiano
 * Saulot: Diablerized by Tremere
 * Cappadocius: Diablerized by Augustus Giovanni

Technically, Brujah was diablerized by Troile, but this occurred so far in the past that it is not germane to this discussion. Troile may in fact be the lucky one since it is strongly implied that the four above have made a mistake.

The true Antediluvians are beyond life and death, and they are beyond the ambitions of their childer. [Tzimisce], in particular, seems to have faked its own death and used Lugoj as a patsy. When last seen, the Tzimisce Antediluvian was hiding as a giant fungus-like entity under most of the Eastern Seaboard. Similarly, Tremere and Saulot fought a contest for control over the centuries, with Saulot eventually defeating Tremere. It is to the mage's credit that he lasted as long as he did before having to "reclaim" the body of his apprentice Goratrix.

The oldest Antediluvians have been confident in their power for over 10,000 years. They are an order of entity different from even the gutsy usurpers who tried to defeat them. Augustus Giovanni, the youngest of them, doesn't even merit a mention in Gehenna, the implication being that he doesn't last 30 seconds when the real Antediluvians show up.

Abilities
Anything they want.

No really. During the Week of Nightmares, Zapathasura woke from his slumber and proceeded to attack the entirety of Bangladesh. It was only through the combined efforts of 3 Bodhisattvas, several packs of Garou, several mortal armies, and the Technocracy pulling out every weapon it had that the Ravnos Antediluvian was stopped. Even then, all they did was soften him up for the sun to do the real work. Oh, and as a side effect, Zapathasura wipes out his entire clan in a cannibalistic frenzy.

Another example. Ur-Shulgi, herald to Haqim, wakes up and breaks the Tremere curse on clan Assamite. In a week, after Al Ashrad spends several centuries trying to break it. A week. And ur-Shulgi is only a Methuselah. The elders of the fourth generation are powerful enough to casually dismiss all the efforts of their descendants over a thousand years. And these elders have superiors.

Gehenna lists one level 10 power for all disciplines, its described as "plot device". Saulot dies and comes back on multiple occasions. Tzimisce uses a spell cast by Tremere to control the entire human race. In one Gehenna scenario, Ennoia becomes the entire planet earth.

Appear In
Time of Thin Blood: (fluff) Details the Week of Nightmares and Zapathasura's rebirth.

Gehenna: (fluff, rules, scenarios) Your one stop shopping center for all Antediluvian action.