Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand

Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand: The Calm of Desperation is a sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade that details for the first time the Black Hand... and the True Black Hand, whose influence extends well beyond the reach of the Sabbat.

Although earlier Vampire books had featured options for characters who belonged to esoteric bloodlines or who had some knowledge of the greater World of Darkness, DSotBH was the first and only book to treat as default characters who hailed from obscure backgrounds and who had intimate, secret knowledge of the other, non-vampiric denizens of the World of Darkness. DSotBH is largely seen as the apotheosis of the "Vampions" era, in which Kindred and other supernaturals banded together across lines of sect and splat to fight against even greater evils: in this case, the alien Souleaters, which originated from the Deep Umbra.

Summary
From the White Wolf catalog:


 * Synonymous with terror and destruction, for centuries the Black Hand has struck fear in the still hearts of Camarilla's vampires. What would the members of that august sect give to know the role the Black Hand has played in its own history? The Black Hand is far more powerful than the Camarilla or even the Sabbat suspect, and its role tonight is even more critical than ever.


 * Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand includes:
 * Extensive details on playing the ancient, powerful vampires of the Hand;
 * The Black Hands place in the Shadowlands, the land of wraiths; and
 * Three new bloodlines, including the Nagaraja, the Old Clan Tzimisce and the True Brujah.

Chapter One: You Are One Of Us Now!
This is the history of the True Black Hand, its Internal Structure, and the Lexicon of the Sect.

Memorable Quotes
A truth that's told with bad intent bears all the lies you can invent.

- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

The face was no longer bone, but animal - the face of a white wolf. "I forbid you nothing.  Nothing," uttered the awful face. "You may go anywhere - you may open any door.  But, little bird, remember that you must be prepared to accept whatever you find." The long jaws spread in a smile filled with teeth.

- Peter Straub, Shadowland

Foul deed will rise, though all the earth's o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.

- William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Be not deceived with the first appearance of things, for show is not substance.

- English proverb