Chatterlings (alias: quli, Arabic: say) were mortal humans, abducted as children by the True Black Hand to be trained as servants and ghouls until they are deemed worthy of being Embraced. Their name grew out of an insult derived from their propensity to tremble when speaking to their masters. Chatterlings provide a ready supply of slave labor and nourishment for the vampires of the Sect. A small percentage are abducted during infancy, then trained from a young age to be ghouls or prospective childer.
Quli are the abused, weak vampires who occupy the lowest social positions within Enoch.
Overview[]
Chatterlings are among the most ruthless, insane, and skilled of the True Black Hand's members. They are abducted when they are between the ages of 3 and 7 by revenants of the Enrathi family, who select children that they believe have no hope of a "good future". Black Hand leaders take these children to the city of Enoch in the Underworld, where they are presented before the Del'Roh and then given over to the care of taskmasters from the Cult of the Erinyes, a small, all-female group who are responsible for training the chatterling and are also charged with the protection of Enoch.
The chatterlings are thoroughly indoctrinated, intensively trained for hours on end both mentally and physically, and stripped of all humanity at an early age. They are forced to pick and follow a Path of Enlightenment while still human, so that they will be prepared for the Embrace when they reach 23 years old. Chatterlings are allowed to choose their own sires, and thus their own clan.
Quli[]
Enoch, the bizarre, otherworldly stronghold the Tal’Mahe’Ra maintains beyond the veil of death requires a cadre of dedicated servants to support the cultic sect’s habits. Most of these chores are the responsibility of a long-suffering army of ghouls, but no few vampires occupy the ranks of the laborers that belong like chattel to the True Hand. Qulis are the worst off of these Kindred, for they still retain their will, personality, and all of the bloody capabilities and weaknesses of vampires. Unfortunately, constant fear of vampiric superiors and deathless torment have rendered them fearful, skittish, and often insane. Within the walls of the True Black Hand stronghold, Qulis slavishly follow orders, though they may hate them. Outside their desperate circumstances at the Tal’Mahe’Ra redoubt, it is often impossible to predict how a Quli might behave. The work the True Black Hand sends Qulis to perform, especially in the physical world, is generally cruel and vile, including kidnapping, murder, and the collection of slaves or gruesome artifacts.
References[]
- VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 48
- VTM: V20 Companion, p. 30
- VTM: Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand, p. 19, 21, 34
- VTM/cMET: Laws of the Night: Storytellers Guide, p. 104, 113
- VTM: The Black Hand: A Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra