The Plague-Bride, also known as Typhoid Mary, Crazy Jane, and Jane Pennington in modern nights, is a legendary methuselah of the Malkavians. She was the handmaiden of Malkav himself, who soothed him in his fervors and cooled his forehead.
Biography[]
Her real name is long forgotten, but some of the more insane among the Clan believe that it sounds Sumerian. Clan legend claims that Malkav tried to preserve something within her when he gave her the Embrace, perhaps seeing something of his deceased sire Zillah in the sweet woman, but the spark was extinguished by his blood and Malkav withdrew from her, deeply disappointed.
The Plague-Bride is also counted among the Coronati – those of Malkav's childer who devoured the vitae-laced earth where Malkav was rendered apart during the uprising of the Third Generation in order to preserve him and spread his madness. The Plague-Bride, still captivated with the memory of her dead sire and lover, sought to share it with all of humanity, infecting them with madness and trying to figure out why her sire abandoned her.
She still walks the Earth, albeit under different aliases; Typhoid Mary, Crazy Jane, and Jane Pennington being some of the most recent appearances.
Jane Pennington[]
Jane Pennington is revered as a messianic figure among some Malkavians, who aids them in accepting their curse. Allegedly sent into an asylum in England during the 17th century, Jane Pennington received the Embrace from a cruel Malkavian who ruled the asylum. She managed to dethrone her sire and turn the asylum into a haven for her kind, only to be attacked by Ventrue who feared her. The Blue Bloods claim to have destroyed her, but Malkavians under extreme duress sometimes claim to have seen her. These figures also claim that Pennington acted as the muse of Edgar Allan Poe.
Current Nights[]
During the Gehenna War, the Plague-Bride is presumed to have destroyed an entire Sabbat pack in Romania.
Description[]
Depictions of the Plague-Bride tend to be fanciful and follow the fashions of the time. She's often portrayed in a wedding dress, with a veil obscuring her emaciated, corpselike features. She tends to be pictured obviously dead in appearance, already rotten, ravaged by disease. Some have argued that she must be Hecata instead of Malkavian just based on her reputed appearance.
Rumors[]
- As the Plague-Bride walks the earth, disease follows until all of humanity is consumed: As mortals die of the plague, Kindred turn on each other in a desperate search for the last bits of sustenance.
- The disease brought by the Bride is a blessing, a sign of her love: Even a vampire can be thus blessed, carrying a blood disease which eventually destroys them. In the final moments of their wasting, they catch a glimpse of the Bride, ushering them to Golconda.
- The Bride was twice cursed, first by the Hunger and second by the plague: The Kindred of the third generation, the Antediluvians, could not stand the purity and sacrifice of the Bride and wanted to punish their brother, the Malkavian progenitor, for Embracing her. Thus, they cursed her to bring illness wherever she went.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTM: Clanbook: Malkavian, p. 63
- VTM: Clanbook: Malkavian Revised, p. 15-16
- VTM: Gehenna War (book)