Osite

Osite
Plural	Osites
Nicknames	Bone Monks
Parent clan	Mekhet
Disciplines	Auspex, Celerity, Memento Mori, Obfuscate

The Osites, also referred to as Bone Monks, are a bloodline of the Mekhet Clan with a close connection to the Church of Longinus. Their discipline Memento Mori, draws on the residue of life within corpses to draw out sustenance or even knowledge as well as channeling entropic forces to destroy their foes. Their interaction with the Twilight brings hidden knowledge valued by the whole of the clan.

Overview

The exact origin of the Osites is a mystery. Some say the Osites used to be the keepers of catacombs beneath Rome; that they are the remnants of a Roman ancestor cult. Others claim they were a secret society of necromancers prior to the Embrace of their leader by the Monachus. The more common theory is that the bloodline began as the custodians of the Black Abbey of the early Lancea et Sanctum, cleaning up after Blood sacrifices and eventually disposing of victims of sloppy feedings.

Osites seek to derive spiritual understanding of the Requiem by studying that which God has withheld from the Damned: Death. Osites traditionally regard funerary rites as fascinating cultural and occult events; they examine corpses, cemeteries, morgues, and churchyards for some evidence of what lies beyond the mortal coil. The Osites' occultism speculates that the living and the dead each have their own spiritual energies, and that those energies are intermingled in the bodies of the Damned. According to Osites, when a creature dies, its living, physical essence (perhaps the mystic energy that separates blood from Vitae) is transmuted into a spiritual essence, and the moment of that transmutation (that is, the moment of death) is an instant of sublime and miraculous power. In that moment, everything about a person may be revealed. It is the only instant of true, naked honesty in the existence of any creature.

Modern Osites are few, most preferring solitude and the presence of corpses over any other company. Only incredibly old cities hold chapters of more than two Osites and these are nearly all found only in Europe. The most common bond among Osites is the relation between an Avus and its apprentice.

Weakness

In addition to the traditional Mekhet weakness, the Osites have discovered that their connection to the dead has some repercussions. Their appearance hints at death and decay, as their blood pools in their hands and feet, visible by black discolorations.

Also, the body of Osites reacts slower to the healing capacities of Vitae. Unlike normal Kindred, an Osite heals only one point of bashing damage per Vitae spent; two Vitae are needed to heal a single point of lethal damage.

References

VTR: Lancea Sanctum, p. 173-175