Children of Salvation

The Children of Salvation believe vampirism is not a curse—at least, not in the Biblical sense—but a demonic infestation. Through diablerie, they believe, the demon’s essence can be captured in a single Cainite host and exorcised from the world. The cult is fanatical in this pursuit—and why shouldn’t they be, when the ability to rid both mankind and the Cainite host of the infection is within their grasp?

Overview

The First Child turned to diablerie to thicken the demonic infestation in her vitae. Neonates, ancillae, and even elders fell under her fangs—sheer numbers were the only consideration. As word of her atrocities spread, so too did the number of Princes set against her and vampires paying heed to her teachings. The Malkavian’s lone quest grew, unbidden, into a gospel.

The few Cainites who dared approach the First Child for tutelage—and even fewer who escaped her bloodlust—experimented with diablerie. Age and generation, they discovered, did matter to some extent. An elder carried more demonic infection than a neonate, but multiple neonates carried more combined than an elder and were easier to hunt and consume. The Children of Salvation could continue to target the low-hanging fruit, or they could raise each other up so they could go after the top of the food chain.

The Children of Salvation organize as a hierarchy intended to boost each other. The First Child—the sole survivor of the cult’s last iteration—stands at the top of the hierarchy, with the atrons below them. The atrons, in turn, recruit neonates and ancillae, selecting targets who show great ambition and promise. They tutor their charges, carefully helping them to scale the ranks of vampire society in their city.

If prospective acolytes sometimes need a little persuading before they join—well, the cult isn’t above tearing someone down to create an opportunity to offer salvation when the night is darkest. This tutoring can continue for years or even decades, as the cult supports formerly lowly neonates into a steady increase in power and renown. This is the cult’s dormant stage.

History

In 1212 CE, a Malkavian prophet saw her Hunger in a vision. The prophet’s name is lost to the ages, but a record of her vision survives. Her vision revealed to her that Caine opened his soul to this demon when he slew Abel in jealousy, which is merely a hunger for recognition. When Caine Embraced the first vampire, the Hunger spread its essence to them too—and then to their childer, and theirs, all the way down to the current generation of vampires.

Rather than recoil in horror, the prophet sought the demon out through induced visions. She taunted it, night after night, until finally it let slip the means of its destruction—the Ritual of Salvation.

Elated, the prophet performed the ritual on herself, to no effect. Twice more she tried, growing faint and delirious with hunger. On the third night, driven by bloodlust, she hunted and drained a family of seven. As their dying gasps reached the Lord in Heaven, the Malkavian glimpsed the last piece of the puzzle.

The ritual didn’t work because the demon had spread its essence through thousands of hosts. She needed to consolidate it before the exorcism would work.

Culture

When the Children of Salvation possess a sufficient number (anywhere above seven—a number the Children consider significant) of powerful young members, the First Child invokes the ritual of Salvation’s Hunt, which targets only cultists of this faith.

This ritual has three stages, and its targets feel each immediately and keenly. Neonates are the first called to hunt. At this point, the ancillae and elders may only defend themselves or set passive traps—and many do so from the moment they take an acolyte, as they have no forewarning when the hunt is afoot.

Next, the First Child looses the ancillae’s leash. No one directs the hunt, though it’s contained within the cult itself. Survival and pragmatism dictate that the youngest members take out the big targets first. There’s power in numbers, and a coterie of neonates—later joined by ancillae—has an easier time confronting an elder than a single neonate. The First Child remains in the shadows, while atrons clean up as best they can. Meanwhile, the Children tear a bloody swath through the city, seeking out the eldest among their number.

The rise of the Second Inquisition aided the atrons in this, as most Princes suspect hunters of being behind this cult’s carnage rather than their vampiric brethren, but no amount of obfuscation can conceal such rampant killing for long.

Following three or more Final Deaths in the hunt’s course (with bystanders and coterie-mates unaffiliated with the cult forming a part of this number), the First Child steps out of the shadows and makes themself a deliberate target—defending themself, their havens, and their Touchstones, though they never hunt other Children themself.

When the Children have run their course through a city—or are forced out—they turn on each other in one last night of diablerie, eschewing the preference for hunting “upward” as ancilla falls on ancilla, and neonate falls on fledgling. The Last Child standing then performs the Ritual of Salvation.

The Children believe that if their vitae is properly infused with the demon’s essence, the ritual succeeds and the demon is banished back to hell. Subsequently, all surviving participant vampires should become mortal again—though the cult isn’t sure whether they do so with a full lifespan remaining or if ages of undeath leave them as bones and ash.

If the Last Child’s vitae hasn’t achieved full demonic saturation yet, they instead relocate to another city. Here they assume the title of First Child and start the great work anew. This practice leaves the cult waning and waxing over the centuries.

It sometimes has happened that two—and one time even three—Children believed themselves to be the last one standing. Each then traveled to new cities where they began anew as the First Child, leading to several iterations of the cult.

The Children don’t exactly keep a low profile, and branches may fall to hunters and Kindred Sheriffs. If two iterations of the Children do find out about each other, their respective members stop at nothing to hunt each other down—after all, that’s a lot of demonic energy in single packages.

Currently, Barcelona’s Children of Salvation, led by First Child Joanna Dietrich, is the largest cult cell, but other Children exist in Lagos and New Orleans, and in smaller domains dotted around the globe.

Convictions of the Children

• Fast until strictly necessary. The Children view Hunger as a literal demon and their sworn immortal enemy. They’re meticulous and disciplined about feeding, often adhering to meditation-guided fasts.
• Obey the call of the Hunt. The best time for an acolyte to kill an atron is right at the start of the hunt, before the atrons can warn each other that the First Child has called it. They must strike quickly and decisively—there is no room for hesitation or sympathy once the hunt begins.
• Nobody must come before the cult’s well-being. In the end, only one Child can remain. The atrons encourage all Children to prepare a “last will” of sorts in case they are not the Last Child. This might be an encrypted USB stick holding access information to a Swiss bank account or the key to a vault containing rare Cainite lore. This conviction, dating back to World War I, ensures that the Last Child has all possible resources to start anew as the First Child.
• Always strive to banish the Demon. This is the Children’s ultimate purpose. It is the glorious, triumphant pinnacle of nearly a millennium of work—and it has not yet been achieved. Still, every Child believes they will be the one to finally complete the ritual.

Goals

In nearly a thousand years, the Children have not yet achieved their Ritual of Salvation. It is entirely possible that diablerizing a demon spread over fifteen—and counting—generations of vampires simply takes time.

Some Children, however, blame a modern heresy. As mortal society shifted from communal to individualistic values, so too did some acolytes. Rather than seeking salvation for all kine and Cainites, they pursue Golconda for themselves.

Though they aim for the same ultimate goal, intent is everything in spiritual workings, and this selfish pursuit is believed to sully the ritual.

One atron, a Toreador named Emilie Montat, advocates for a pre-hunt selection in which atrons diablerize unworthy acolytes. Only after this purge, Montat argues, should the First Child call Salvation’s Hunt.

Organization

The cult’s founder disappeared somewhere in the fourteenth century, and most Children suspect that an acolyte diablerized her in accordance with the Children’s practices. The current First Child, Joanna Dietrich, is the survivor of Salvation’s Hunt in Dresden. She traveled through Europe before settling in Barcelona.

Dietrich takes the Sagrada Familia as her haven, finding that its state of perpetual construction resonates well with the Children’s work. She has not felt the Beckoning, as her Blood Potency has nothing to do with her age.

Below Dietrich stand the atrons—potent Kindred she recruited upon her arrival in her new city. Receiving direct tutelage from Dietrich, they are the most dedicated and knowledgeable of the cult’s members. They’re also the ones who can see the effects of centuries of diablerie passed down.

Dietrich, at only twenty years old and a fifth-generation vampire courtesy of diablerie, is barely coherent on her best nights. Most nights, she’s a mess of souls, minds, and transcending prophecies. Her Blood is so warped that none of the atrons can even guess at her clan.

The atrons, in turn, patronize the cult’s ancillae and neonate acolytes. Most often, an atron first tutors an ancilla and then, with their help, takes on one to three neonates. These little families of adopted siblings lay the seed for Blood Hunt-driven coteries.

It’s incredibly rare for atrons to ever perform the Embrace, and the cult is currently contemplating whether it should be forbidden entirely. Between the four recruiting atrons, the Children count a score or so of acolytes (one Embraced by an atron without permission) and a couple of prospects.

The acolytes all know each other and, despite recognizing that some night they must hunt each other down, they form a tight-knit group. They’re subtle in public, but acolytes can always count on each other for support at Cainite gatherings. They quietly repeat each other’s suggestions, whisper other acolytes’ praises, and back power plays against enemies.

All know that for the Ritual of Salvation to work, the Last Child must be the strongest among them. Each acolyte may believe that to be themself, but they also know it’s not a proper test unless the competition is fierce.

References

VTM: Forbidden Religions, p. 33-37