Vlad III Dracula, also known as Dracula or Vlad Țepeș ("Vlad the Impaler"), is a powerful Tzimisce elder. During his mortal lifetime, he was a resourceful and cruel prince of Wallachia; late in life, he forced or persuaded the Tzimisce noble Lambach Ruthven to Embrace him, and he has worked in the shadows of Kindred society ever since. Owner of the legendary Sword of Dracula, his favorite ghoul was Renfield.
Biography[]
- Țepeș: "impaler"
- Dracula: "devil's son" or "dragon's son"
Mortal Life[]
Strong-willed, ruthless, ambitious and cunning, Vlad Dracul would have been a formidable mortal ruler by Tzimisce standards. It became clear to them that he was something else. He not only knew about Cainites, but also proved himself more than capable of beating them on their own ground. He had pursued and beaten Tzimisce minions and Tzimisce themselves, seeking the power inherent in their blood. His imprisonment by King Matthias of Hungary gave the Tzimisce time to plan and debate about what to do with him.
One faction, impressed with his accomplishments and sheer nerve, favored Embracing and making him one of the creatures that he had hunted and destroyed. Another faction, wanted vengeance for the Tzimisce murdered by Vlad and desired to kill him, slowly. Another faction, including Danika Ruthven herself, who had the opportunity to meet and speak with him during his Hunedoara Castle imprisonment, judged him dangerous -- too dangerous to Embrace or allow to survive. Count Vladimir Rustovitch had the final word, and upon his release, Vlad was subjected to a blood bond and claimed as ghoul. Little did Rustovitch realize, as he proudly showed off his new "servant" to his peers, and taught Vlad all he wanted to know about Cainite society, that the consequences would be of breaking the Silence of the Blood, or the true nature of the monster he was about to let loose into the eternal night.
Though historical records indicate that Vlad Țepeș died in 1476, he had been drinking the blood of a vampire that he captured and locked away in Castle Dracula. Originally of the Basarab family, he knew of the hidden masters of the Carpathian lands (thanks in part to the tutelage of the Ravnos oracle Durga Syn) and sought to gain their power.
Later, Dracula came under the guidance of Count Rustovich and Count Radu, two of the most influential figures among the Cainites of Transylvania. For years, Dracula's thirst for vitae would allow him to live on as an independent ghoul,[1] though he was curiously immune to the Blood Oath. Later, he established a haven in Poenari Castle, and from there he sought out a sponsor – or victim – who could grant him the Embrace.
His first choice as a potential sire was Yorak, the Tzimisce clan's voivode of voivodes and master of the Cathedral of Flesh. As Dracula stepped into the Cathedral and fell under Yorak's mental domination, the Cathedral's dormant will began to awaken; as Yorak's fangs spilled the first drop of Dracula's blood onto the floor, the Cathedral sensed the forces of destiny at work around Dracula and, wrenching itself free of its master's will, devoured Yorak whole. Dracula narrowly escaped from the Cathedral alive, his desire to gain the Embrace on his own terms redoubled.
When the elder Lambach sent a neonate Tzimisce spy to watch over Vlad, Dracula enacted a scheme to exploit them both and finally gain the Embrace that he had long sought.
Embrace[]
In 1495, he captured Lambach's spy and became aware of a pending assault by a group of vampires called "a Sabbat". Soon thereafter, a messenger reports with a voice filled with horror and awe saying that a war party headed towards the castle, and that they seemed to possess supernatural strength and quickness. He called them monsters, saying that he had seen their blood-red eyes and hideous fangs, adding that he had heard only the names Lambach and Tabak mentioned in connection with the group and assumes that these two are the leaders of the band.
Their enmity toward Dracula stemmed from his practice of capturing Tzimisce vampires by impaling them and drinking their potent blood before destroying them. Additionally, the Tzimisce favored the Danesti claimant to the throne of Wallachia rather than Dracula, and plotted against him while he ruled.
The following evening on the small plateau at the crest of the mountain, a Sabbat pack consisting of ten vampires arrived. Soon after, a second group of vampires joined the fray, ambushing the Sabbat as it completed its ascent of the stairs leading up to the castle while Dracula's forces were conspicuously absent.
Warned far in advance of his "messenger's" arrival that a pack of slavering anarchs were coming to kill him, Dracula sent secret messages to the Justicars informing them where they could find the "Sabbat". After waiting for the Justicars to do much of his work for him, Dracula planned to swoop down, destroy the Justicars and take the Sabbat for his own use.
The Camarilla Kindred were comprised of two Justicars (Mistress Fanchon and Milov Petrenkov) and six Archons led by Lucita de Aragón. In battle, the Camarilla vampires clearly had the advantage over the poorly organized Sabbat. As the mortals watched, three of the Sabbat pack went down under the disciplined assault by the battle-hardened Archons. The Gangrel Justicar proved particularly formidable in combat and brought down another member of the Sabbat, rending that unfortunate individual in half with his claws.
Without warning, Dracula's forces rode out from the castle, swinging their mounts around to assail the Camarilla's forces from the flank. The battle changed course almost immediately, as the Sabbat enjoyed an unexpected reprieve. Dracula lived up to his reputation as a ruthless and skilled warrior as he severed heads, lopped off arms and legs and used his steed to trample his enemies where they fell. Although the Justicars and Lucita escaped the carnage, fleeing from the battle after it became clear that they had no hope of surviving otherwise, the rest of the Camarilla's forces fell to Dracula and his troops. Two of the Sabbat, Lambach and Tabak, were literally run through with wooden pikes and carried, immobilized but still conscious, into the castle.
Vlad had managed to escape the manipulation of the Tzimisce and held onto his throne through Lambach's apparent incompetence. His vampire prisoner was one of Lambach's spies, but now Dracula had Lambach and his more potent pack leader, his sire Tabak. Two nights after the battle, Dracula gave Lambach a choice: Embrace him and forswear any further contact, or die. The cowardly Lambach agreed.
Watched over by a few faithful servants, Dracula forced Lambach to Embrace him. Dracula then turned on the defenseless Sabbat pack leader and diablerized Tabak as the wily Durga Syn had told him. Interestingly, Dracula remained true to his word, allowing Lambach to go free but threatening him to never challenge him.[1]
Dracula then retreated to Birkau Castle, near Bistrița. Enlisting Count Radu's aid, he forced the Tzimisce anarchs into submission. After convincing them to enter the bonds of Vaulderie with him, he led them on nightly crusades across northern Transylvania. His first nocturnal crusade achieved some nominal unity for the Tzimisce anarchs, allowing him to become the first Tzimisce voivode of the Transylvanian Sabbat.
Dracula's Power[]
In the years that followed, Dracula played the Sabbat and Camarilla against each other, just as his father betrayed Sultan Murad to aid Emperor Sigismund. He mastered the ritae of koldun sorcery, even as he uncovered the secrets of Thaumaturgy. As one of Caine's childer, he broke all the rules of vampiric society, becoming a master of temporal power and mystical accomplishment. In 1897, he manipulated Bram Stoker into publishing a novel based on his own unlife, breaking the Masquerade more flagrantly than any other vampire to date. Since that time, he has largely remained out of Kindred society, and is said to have been (and may well still be) one of the Inconnu.
The Noddist Cuthbert Beckett is saved by Dracula in his travels to Transylvania and becomes one of his Brides of Dracula, residing in Castle Dracula. Beckett attempts to learn more about Dracula but the Brides refuse to provide any information.
Speculation[]
The tale of Dracula's Embrace and of his infamous breach of the Masquerade are quite unusual. While a number of sources suggest that Dracula has some great destiny and is (or will be) a major player in the Jyhad, little has actually been shown of his actions after his Embrace or of his interactions with the Kindred world, and his motivations in leading Bram Stoker to write Dracula remain murky. As a result, a number of theories have arisen surrounding Dracula's rise to power both in life and in death.
One such theory assumes that Lambach Ruthven is the direct childe of the Tzimisce Antediluvian, as suggested in one in-character and another out-of-character accounts presented by Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised;[2] also check Lambach's lineage and generation for more information on that topic. According to this theory, Lambach would be Tabak's sire (or grandsire), rather than vice versa; furthermore, Lambach would have manipulated not only the events surrounding Dracula's Embrace but also the events leading up to the death of Yorak beforehand. Many years before Dracula sought the Embrace, Lambach had petitioned to the Voivode among Voivodes (Yorak, at the time) for the right to embrace Shaagra. Yorak denied Lambach's request and granted the honor to Triglav the Three-Headed – however, the revised clanbook specifically stated that "Lambach would never forget that slight, and its repercussions would certainly echo down history's corridor".[3]
An extrapolation of these facts suggest that, as a fourth generation vampire, it might have been Lambach's interference that caused the Cathedral of Flesh to overcome Yorak's psychic rape and devour the Voivode of Voivodes. According to this version, the destruction of Yorak and the Embrace of Dracula (who was chosen to be Yorak's successor) would have been the vengeance of Lambach over his brother for the whole Shaagra affair; thus, Dracula would be a pawn of the childe of an Antediluvian, and possibly even of the Antediluvian itself – who was disappointed with some of its most powerful childer according to subtle hints given by the Revised Clanbook,[4] specially since both Yorak and Byelobog were destroyed under suspicious circumstances. Furthermore, in a private letter, Lambach voices discomfort about Țepeș, "or that ineffable Other of whom Țepeș is but the merest silhouette" – implying that "the Other" could be the Tzimisce Antediluvian itself.[5]
This theory is predicated on assuming that the accounts presented by the Revised Clanbook are correct, even though it contradicts out-of-character statements elsewhere that explicitly name Tabak as Lambach's sire and/or place Lambach in the 5th generation; furthermore, it assumes that Lambach's true personality is that of a skillful, subtle, and strong-willed manipulator, which would contradict every source that has ever described his character or temperament, as well as Lambach's assessment of himself to other Cainites. However, it should be noted that this out-of-character statements have been known to be dubious and unreliable sources of information (especially in the case of Children of the Inquisition).
V20 Timeline[]
In Beckett's Jyhad Diary, Dracula mentions that his sire is in Poenari Castle and apparently unable to leave.[6] However, Lambach was clearly seen in New York City and later on the Cayman Islands in the company of Prospero.[7] It is unknown if the source of this information was mistaken, or if that means that Dracula's sire was someone else entirely (possibly the elder lord Ruthven), or even that someone could be posing as Lambach and fooling the one he presumes to be his childer.[8]
Character Sheet[]
- † During the Dark Medieval, according to Transylvania Chronicles IV
- ‡ In modern nights, according to Children of the Night
Image: The Son of the Dragon appears much the way legend ascribes to him: long-haired, mustached, and possessed of a feral charm that disguises a black heart. His complexion is swarthy, highlighted by prominent cheekbones and a pair of green eyes that captivate those who meet his gaze. Dracula bears a strong, aristocratic nose that suggests his noble ancestry. He wears fine clothes, but shies away from the ostentatious, preferring to let his natural charisma work for him rather than a gaudy display of “vulgar peacockery.” Impassioned in the extreme, Dracula nonetheless hides his emotions. His gestures are graceful and calculated; none of his movements go to waste.
Dracula has been known to change his appearance using his Vicissitude, but accounts of these forms vary so widely as to make any generalization useless. Among other shapes, he has been known to take the form of a bat, a wolflike creature resembling an enraged Lupine, an aged man, a beautiful woman and an androgynous child, to say nothing of the numerous guises he uses in his lair to entreat guests.
Roleplaying Hints: Centuries of self-imposed solitude coupled with the disillusion of deathlessness have molded your once-noble mien into something no longer even remotely human. You find yourself slipping into alien expressions and gestures with increasing frequency of late — a predatory sneering curl to the lip here, a telltale winding gait there, a disquieting low-throated snarl for this one, a chilling sibilant hiss for that one. You are as apt to transfix others for hours with your impenetrable gaze as you are to descend upon them in a murderous rage — or, worse, to disregard them entirely as you lose yourself in the depths of some unfathomable nostalgia.
Something within you longs for the past — for the older, simpler times, when the affairs of men and monsters were governed by birthright, and bloodshed and honor — but the Dracula who exists in the here and now knows such things are long gone. You are done with the outside world, the folly of man, even the ambitions and artifices of your modern-minded contemporaries among the Children of Caine. You endure. You survey the world from atop your lofty, lonely throne. And you wait.
Note: Dracula’s knowledge of Thaumaturgy is actually the koldunic sorcery of the Tzimisce. Unless you have the rules for Koldunic Sorcery, which will appear in Blood Magic, assume Dracula has achieved Level Five in the Path of Blood, Elemental Mastery, the Green Path and Spirit Manipulation, and Level Two in Countermagic.
V5[]
Note: Dracula himself is at the heart of the Stoker Debacle. He is perhaps best used as a bridge across time, appearing both in the modern nights and in Memoriam flashbacks set during the era when all of Europe was hunting for him. No matter if you use him as a never-seen figure of myth, a misunderstood hero, or a deadly antagonist, understanding who Dracula is in the World of Darkness—and who he is not—is essential.
In short, Vladimir III is real, while "Count Dracula" is a fictional character created by Bram Stoker at Vlad’s behest. Figuring out who the real Dracula is plays a significant role in any Memoriam set during the Stoker Debacle.
In the 1800s, Vlad III Tepes was a forgotten historical figure—except in his homeland and western Turkey. The Stoker Debacle ensured the whole world would know his name.
Vlad III of Walachia was born in 1431, but was soon captured by the Turkish Sultan, Mehmed II. Held captive, he grew to despise the Ottomans, eventually escaping to reclaim his father’s throne and lands in what would later be known as Transylvania. To beat an empire, to exact revenge, and to secure his people's freedom, he transformed himself into a metaphorical and literal monster—beholden to no one and feared by all.
Whether Vlad’s infamous cruelty stemmed from drinking the Blood of captured Transylvanian Kindred or his brutal upbringing remains debated. What we know is that his tactics were already considered extreme in his own time—a telling fact. Keep in mind that in the 1400s, public torture, child executions, and mass starvation were common political tools, yet Vlad’s methods were so extreme they were deemed "of the devil."
In his most notorious act of psychological warfare, Vlad captured thousands of soldiers and farmers loyal to the Turks. When the Sultan’s army approached his castle, they were met with a horrifying spectacle: A forest of impaled victims, writhing on stakes driven through their bodies. The slow, agonizing deaths—poles inserted from below, piercing upward until they emerged from shoulders or mouths—earned him his infamous epithet: Tepes, the Impaler.
The Sultan’s army, already exhausted by Vlad’s guerilla tactics, panicked and fled at the sight. Walachia was saved.
This was Vlad Tepes: incredibly intelligent, fiercely protective, and prepared to do absolutely anything to win, even long before he stole the gift of immortality from the Kindred. It took him decades of war, terror, and the heartbreaking loss of his wife and family, but in the end, just before faking his own death in 1476, he had defeated all his mortal enemies and ensured Walachia’s place in the Christian world forever.
For his tenacity, brilliance, and unquenchable loyalty to the land, he is still remembered as a national hero in Romania. To become Damned on his own terms, he had to solve the riddle of the Blood Bond, hunt down, manipulate, and capture a worthy sire, and force them to Embrace him.
When he finally, probably with the aid of at least one ancient, forced the elder Sabbat vampire Lambach Ruthven to grant him the gift of Caine’s curse, he took his place in Kindred history as the first “self-made” vampire since his countryman, the wizard and usurper Tremere. But in doing so, he ensured no Kindred would ever trust him again.
So why did Vlad seek immortality? Wasn’t freeing his lands from the Ottomans enough? No one truly knows the answers, and Tepes’ answers are as rare as they are self-contradictory.
Looking at his actions as an independent Kindred, we can see a tendency to remain free and unbound at any cost. In turn, a member of the Sabbat, the Mithras cult, the Camarilla, and, allegedly, the mythical “Inconnu”, Vlad has always had more Kindred enemies than allies. It seems that’s the way he likes it.
Vlad is unique in earning a simultaneous place on the Red Lists of many Camarilla domains and the enmity of the Sabbat. It’s nothing short of a miracle that Tepes, time and time again, has managed to escape destruction at the fangs of other Kindred and dedicated mortal hunters.
Note Blood Powers: Gehenna War offers Elder Powers which can be added to elder antagonists. This may be suitable to make Dracula into a unique foe.
Note Modern Nights: Add four dots of Disciplines. Can be replaced with Corrosive Vitae.
Gallery[]
.png "Vlad Tepes Dracula (VTM).png (45 KB)")
Trivia[]
For the real life historical figure see Vlad the Impaler.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 VTM: Who's Who Among Vampires: Children of the Inquisition, p. 45
- ↑ VTM: Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised, p. 21-23, 33
- ↑ VTM: Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised, p. 17
- ↑ VTM: Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised, p. 13, 15
- ↑ VTDA: Libellus Sanguinis I: Masters of the State, p. 70
- ↑ VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 257
- ↑ VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 385
- ↑ VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary, p. 265
- VTM: Who's Who Among Vampires: Children of the Inquisition, p. 9-19
- VTM: Clanbook: Tzimisce, p. 64
- VTM: Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy Vol.1: Bloodwar, p. 164
- VTDA: Transylvania Chronicles II: Son of the Dragon
- VTM: Transylvania Chronicles III: Ill Omens
- VTM: Clanbook: Tzimisce Revised
- VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 158
- VTM: Lair of the Hidden
- VTM: Beckett's Jyhad Diary
- VTM: In Memoriam, p. 100