Carna is the former Regent and Primogen of Clan Tremere in Milwaukee and one-time Prince of Marseilles. By now, she leads House Carna, a splinter group from the main clan with sympathies to the Anarch Movement, though still primarily Camarilla.
Biography[]
| “ | I was Sired by a Prince. Ah, my beautiful Prince, what a man he was; strong, handsome, and powerful both among Kindred and kine. I was but a peasant girl, and he was the man of the kingdom. He took me from my home when I was 18.
Then one night, he came to me, enraged beyond words. He railed against his hidden masters and their treatment of him. With a frenzied gleam in his eyes, he turned to me, knocking me to the ground. He drove his fangs into my neck and drank until I knew no more. When I awoke, he laughed at me and called me his revenge against his masters. "They have never had a female in their ranks. What will they think?" Days later, we were in Vienna, where I became one of the Tremere. At first despised for my gender, I strove to prove myself, both from my devotion to the leaders and my desire to prove my Sire had done the right thing. I have not seen my Prince since; he abandoned me to my fate and left me on the night I was Blood Bound to the Clan. Since then, I have had many lovers. They always do the same things; men always treat me the same. First, they love me, but when I return their love, they no longer desire me. Then they are killed. Somebody always comes and takes them away from me. I have lost so many that way. I learned much about ruling from my Prince, my Sire. I was even a Prince once, Prince of Marseille. But that was a long time ago, and now my age weighs heavily on me. I am over 600 years old, and begin to wonder if the Jyhad will never end. Many have laughed at me for even suggesting such a thing, but I am mortally tired of intrigue, espionage, and war. Still, I will do what the Tremere ask of me. |
” |
Originally a peasant girl from a dysfunctional family, Carna was taken up as the blood doll of a Tremere Prince who took her to her residence. Her time with her one-time lover proved to be painful, since he repeatedly abused her and later abandoned her to feed from others of his herd. One night he entered her chamber, furious for some slight of his clan superiors against him. In rage, he Embraced Carna as revenge, believing that she would have an even lesser standing within the clan than he, since she was a woman.
After having been taken to Vienna, Carna worked to earn her standing within the clan, eventually even managing to claim Praxis over Marseilles. In time, she became disillusioned with the Jyhad, voicing concerns that it might never end. Other clan members mocked her for such views and she was transferred to Milwaukee. Despite being made both Regent and Primogen, Carna knows that her work is merely to distract the other clans from the studies conducted by more studious members of the chantry. She herself answers to an agent of the Inner Council, the assassin Victor.
V20: Beckett's Jyhad Diary[]
Carna's Rebellion[]
At an unknown point in time, Carna found the Book of the Grave-War (secretly aided by the Malkavian Jacob), a noddistic text that revealed to her how she could break the blood bond that tied her to the Pyramid. When the other primogen suspected her of turning antitribu, they staked her and delivered her back to Victor. Carna apparently managed to slay her supervisor. Assembling a group of followers around her, she left Milwaukee, moving westwards to the Anarch Free States.[1]
The Book of the Grave-War emphasizes the role rebels will have to play in Gehenna. The idea of finally throwing off the shackles of her clan appeals to a long-smothered part of Carna’s being. Of the routes described in the Book, Carna seizes the opportunity to diablerize a vampire generationally close enough to Caine to destroy her blood bond. Through the coaxing of Jacob, her prey is a torpid vampire in the region of Lake Michigan. Who this vampire was is a mystery even to Carna, but the ingestion of the vampire’s soul has contributed hugely to her growing mania.[1]
Leader of Her House[]
The Pyramid soon becomes troubled by talk of a travelling zoo of Tremere rebels known as House Carna. Representatives are dispatched from as far away as Vienna on assorted missions. Some are to locate the missing native Tremere of Milwaukee, Mortius and Victor. Others are to discover the truth behind rumors that Carna has broken free from her bond. More are sent to track Carna herself, and bring her back into the fold. Her cult already consists of a sizeable number of followers and the Tremere don’t want House Carna any larger.
Carna’s cult travels west in a convoy of motor-homes, supported by ghouls and loyal mortals. She has no clear destination in mind, but intends to avoid all major Camarilla power centers until she reaches the Pacific coast. She knows her former clanmates are hunting her and the other members of her “House” down. In truth, she’s desperate to force influential vampires to read the Book, as she’s convinced herself that by accepting the enlightenment presented within, the power of Antediluvians and Methuselahs will be lessened. This is why she wanted Vykos — a vampire long known for their rejection of the Clan founders — to read the Book. All her ambitions have achieved so far is the spread of war. To any vampire who offers House Carna safe harbor, she’d gladly share the contents of the Book. Any who do so may realize freedom to be an addictive drug.
V5 Timeline[]
By the time of the Second Inquisition and the Beckoning, Carna has amassed several followers around her, which lead to the creation of a new House within the Tremere: House Carna. Rejecting the traditions of House Tremere, she instead turns towards paganism, witchcraft and modern chaos magicians as alternatives. In secret, she fears the vengeance of Tremere for her rebellion and hopes to sway the rest of the Clan to her ways. Carna's research into blood magic has opened her ways to manipulate the blood bond in greater ways, even circumventing the new Clan Curse that has spread through the Tremere.[2]
Carna supported the Conventicle Alchemie, a blood alchemist event held in Trencin, Slovakia.
Description[]
Once Prince of Marseilles and Primogen of Milwaukee, Carna ultimately formed her own splinter cell from Clan Tremere. House Carna (as other Tremere dub it) speaks for freedom from the Blood Bond and against the tyranny of the Pyramid and the hard-coded misogyny present in the Tremere. Around the time the Pyramid's head in Vienna intended to drop the axe on Carna and her band of rebels, the Second Inquisition paid a visit to the Great Chantry.
Without the shadow of the Pyramid, House Carna draws increasing numbers of Anarchs and disenfranchised Camarilla. Carna seeks no followers, but she recognizes them for their value. Carna didn't survive 600 years by ignoring possible danger; she believes it's only a matter of time before Tremere himself appears to curse her to ash. Until then, she pushes as hard as possible for a modernization and feminization of Clan Tremere.
Loresheet[]
Embrace the Vision: You are fully committed to Carna's vision for a new Tremere clan and find yourself possessed of a greater sense of self-belief in the presence of your fellow sub-faction Kindred. When around other members of House Carna, you have one additional die for all Willpower tests.- The Rebel Trail: You followed Carna's trail after her initial breakage from Clan Tremere, soaking up the feelings of rebellion and freedom. You resolve to never be a Blood slave again. Whenever at risk of becoming Blood Bound, you may make a Willpower test (with a Difficulty equal to the Blood Potency of the ingested vitae) to ignore it.
- Unorthodox Rituals: Carna gives of her sanity or her soul to fuel her magic, instead of divesting her vitae in Hemetic orthodoxy. Your understanding of her process enables you to perform rituals in the same way. You can perform one known ritual per story without the need to expend Blood, but on a messy critical, you also become deranged in some way (typically becoming intensely paranoid or fearful of blood) until the end of the story.
- Reimagined Bond: You have studied Carna's magic and her unusual method of reimagining the vinculum, and you can extend the effects of her ritual to others. Having sex with a target, mortal or undead, creates a Blood Bond between the partner, yourself, and Carna, despite Carna's absence. Repeated sexual encounters strengthen the Blood Bond, as per the normal Bond. You can thus circumvent the Tremere clan bane, but the Bond only lasts until the conclusion of the story.
- Book of the Grave-War: According to rumor, the tome known as the Book of the Grave-War allowed Carna to break her Bond to Clan Tremere. You own a copy, granting you one automatic success on all Occult tests pertaining to Gehenna, its prevention, and breaking the shackles binding vampires to their elders. The book makes you unbondable for as long as you retain it and follow its arcane teachings. However, Tremere seek to destroy you and the book; the Storyteller can also penalize you one die on any Social or Mental test affected by your ongoing paranoia.
Character Sheet[]
Image: Carna has straight blond hair that hides half her face. She wears long dresses from eras long past, though nobody has ever discovered just where her fashions come from. She looks a little sultry and uses this to disarm the men she meets socially. Many know her to be a true shark and avoid her. The truth is that she is growing tired of all the intrigue. She seems by most to be always tired.
Roleplaying Hints: Be very flirtatious with the male characters but secretly plan ways to dominate and control everybody. When it finally comes down to a serious confrontation, be as cold-blooded as you were sweet. Show your players the true Carna: a cold-hearted, inhuman monster who has killed too many times in the past to feel any remorse.
Haven: Carna has several Havens, but her favorite is in the Hyatt.
Influence: Carna is officially in charge of the Tremere in Milwaukee, but Victor actually has most of the influence. See the Politics section for more.
Note: Carna is starting to come unhinged. Coming from what we would now term an abusive family, she escaped it for a lover she both loved and hated. This conflict within her has never been resolved, and in the past, she has replayed the same scenario with other lovers. She loves them, clings to them until they can no longer stand her, and when they eventually want to leave her, she kills them. She is also starting to question the Tremere Clan for their actions over the past centuries—not a healthy idea.
Version Differences[]
- ↑ Carna's birth's year is given in Milwaukee by Night as 1417, but in Beckett's Jyhad Diary it is 1419.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Milwaukee by Night, p. 50-51
- VTM: Blood Sigils, p. 102
- VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 4-18
- ↑ VTM: 5th Edition Corebook, p. 94-97, 385
