Daughters of Cacophony

Name:	Daughter of Cacophony
Plural:	Daughters of Cacophony
Pronunciation:	daw'-turs uv cah-coff'-uh-nee
Nicknames:	Sirens
Founder:	Possibly Dr. Reiner Stoschka and unknown Toreador
Faction:	Camarilla, formerly Tal'mahe'Ra
Disciplines:	Fortitude, Melpominee, Presence
Parent clan:	Malkavian and/or Toreador (possibly Ventrue)

The Daughters of Cacophony are a bloodline of unknown origin (although the most common guesses are Toreador or Malkavian) to the general vampire population. 

Overview

Currently composed entirely of women (after the male members were culled for some reason), the Daughters practice Melpominee, a Discipline which allows the Daughters to invoke strange effects through singing. The Daughters are the choralistes par excellence of the undead, and hosting a gathering of them is worth high prestige for the Toreador. 

Believed to have origins in both the Malkavian and the Toreador clans, the Daughters are very few in number and reject association with either the Camarilla or the Sabbat. As their nickname "Sirens" suggests, the Daughters are known for their ability to deliver emotions through a form of song. They have a unique discipline called Melpominee (after Melpomene, muse of tragedy) that does just that.

Only female vampires number among the Daughters of Cacophony. In nights past, there were male members of this bloodline, though why they disappeared from the ranks of the clan is unknown.

History

Many Kindred suspect the Daughters to originate from the Toreador clan because they are masters of their trade and value beauty and art. However, those who have actually felt the effects of their powers think the Malkavians are more likely. The inner music they hear constantly can be called a hallucination and might also point towards the Malkavians. However, because of their disciplines the 20th anniversary edition also suggest the Ventrue.

There are a few theories about the Daughter's origin:

Dark Ages Origin

Although the Daughters of Cacophony are a relatively modern phenomenon, one source suggests that they have an origin in the Dark Ages. According to this legend, a peerless Toreador chanteuse heard a song coming from a distant hillock and realized that her own talents paled in comparison to this mysterious voice. At first wracked with jealousy, she sought to destroy this unknown singer, but over time she became contrite and, humbled, sought out the singer, so that she could study under this hidden muse. The mysterious singer, a lady of the fae, accepted the Toreador into her faerie domain. The fate of this Toreador chanteuse is unknown, although some of her clanmates claim to have heard two voices singing in unison from beneath the earth.

Renaissance Origin

Other sources point to the shadowy True Black Hand. Originally conceived as a weapon to infiltrate the Camarilla in the same manner the Black Hand was intended to, the True Black Hand gathered Toreador singers and tutored them under an ancient Malkavian. The result was not what the sect had intended and though many argued to destroy the failed survivors, other voted to let them live for future use. In exchange for keeping the secrets of their makers, the Daughters were cut loose and allowed to go on their own.

Victorian Age Origin

Another source suggests that the clan was founded by the Malkavian Dr. Reiner Stoschka and his Gentlemen's Society for the Rational Investigation of Super-Natural Matters. They experimented on Kindred to determine whether common clan traits such as weaknesses and affinities for certain Disciplines were psychological in nature. However, the experiments drove their subjects quite mad. One of their charges was a Toreador woman, who found the only way to lessen her own pain was to share it with others. And to do this, she sang. Although only implied, Dr. Stoschka's experiment stands as the only explicit and official explanation for the origins of the bloodline, even though the fact that they first appeared in about 1700 conflicts with this theory since Victorian Age: Vampire begins in 1880.

It is, however, certain that the Daughters were at the height of their popularity during the Victorian era, especially concerning mortals. Operas were the highest form of entertainment and popular music changes in their favor. During this time they also Embrace men.

Final Nights

While the Daughters of Cacophony were mystery in the Victorian section above, they are considered even more so an enigma in the Final Nights. Their history is not well known, nor is their existence. Members of the bloodline typically use the warring Sabbat, Camarilla, and even Anarchs to further their own goals based on the territory they reside in. Though they seem to be fairly uninterested in the Jyhad, this leaves their real motives to be questioned.

Culture

Not much is known about the Daughters of Cacophony as a whole, only that their particular bloodline avoids the nightly troubles of the Jyhad. Typically members of this bloodline fall in with whatever sect fits their interests at the time. Since their numbers are so few, organization is questionable. Interestingly enough, all members of the Daughters of Cacophony seem to differ from heavy metal rockers to opera singers.

In line with their particular penchant for music, a Daughter of Cacophony will constantly be able to hear an inner music flowing through their mind. However beautiful this music might seem, it also impedes them by serving as a constant distraction, making it harder for the Daughters of Cacophony to perceive things around them. The Daughters call this melody the "Fugue".

Some Daughters completely succumb to the Fugue, becoming what the Daughters call "Banshees". Unable to perceive anything but the song within them, they are unpredictable and often violent.

It stands to reason that this weakness could give credit to claims of the Daughters being a clan of Malkavian offshoots, seeing as they are permanently deranged with auditory hallucinations.

Embraces

The Daughters Embrace mainly those who were aspiring a musical career. Not all of them were singers during their mortal years; but those who were not discover their talent soon after the Embrace. The Daughter's childer are taught for years by their sires.

The Daughters do not discriminate based on musical style. Jazz singer, nü-metal waif, opera diva, sultry lounge performer – any chanteuse might be a Siren.

Organization

The Daughters have no formal organization – their numbers are so few and far between that any given location is unlikely to be home for more than one or two of them (if any). When Daughters do congregate for whatever reason, the younger members of the bloodline often defer to the older ones.

Some Kindred have been witness to small assemblies of Daughters who perform songs of haunting beauty or frightening timbre that leave their audiences... moved. It has been noted by observant Kindred more than once that even in the most impromptu performances, all Daughters present seem to know exactly what will be sung in addition to all the verses.

Sons of Discord

Contrary to popular belief, the Sons of Discord, also called Baritones, and so forth are an apocryphal fan creation. The Daughters are an entirely female bloodline, so it was not long before fandom started discussing the all-male offshoot of the Daughters, the Sons of Discord. It got to the point where most fans assumed they were official.

The only official mention of anything resembling the Sons of Discord came with Vampire Revised's Vampire: The Masquerade Storytellers Companion. The writeup of the Daughters therein mentioned that the bloodline had recently purged all male members from the bloodline, thus removing the Sons from the picture permanently.

Recently, the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Heirs to the Blood expansion set includes one of the Sons, named Harlan Graves.

In 2014, By Night Studios released Mind's Eye Theatre: Vampire: The Masquerade, which describes the Sons of Discord as a recent allowance by the bloodline. Males are typically blood bound to their female sires, and are treated with mistrust by their elders.

In Lore of the Bloodlines, male Daughter's of Cacophony are addressed and recognized to exist. However, the use of any moniker (such as Sons of Discord) other than Daughter's of Cacophony is frowned upon.

Version Differences

In Victorian Age: Vampire, there is a vague reference to a Toreador woman emerging from the twisted experiments (see above). However, in Vampire: The Masquerade, the Daughters of Cacophony are considered a modern clan, which could be taken to mean that either their emergence into the world was recent, or their existence was only uncovered as of late. However, both versions relate that this clan most likely stems from the Toreador mainline.

In V20, the Daughters of Cacaphony are stated to sometimes embrace men, though the clan is largely female.

Trivia

The Daughters of Cacophony font is Vivaldi.

Gallery

Art by Mark Kelly

Daughter of Cacophony from V20. Art by Mark Jackson

Art by Joshua Gabriel Timbrook

References

• VTM: Vampire Storytellers Companion, p. 8-9