Odin, The All-High, is an ancient Gangrel methuselah who was the center of the Scandinavian Einherjar society. The All-High ruled the north and was worshiped by some as the one-eyed god Odin until the coming of Christianity.
Supposedly, he lies in torpor somewhere in Sweden, waiting for Gehenna.
Biography[]
Not much is known about the living days of the All-High, only that he was old when he ventured to the North. For some time he served as a priest for Germanic people, who identified him with Odin, an identity he gladly adopted. He tried to use the various Germanic tribes to crush the ascending Roman Empire. Some claim this was out of spite for the Ventrue and their methuselah Germanicus in particular, others claim out of a dislike for civilization in general.
When the Empire collapsed, he moved into Uppsala, where he was worshipped as a living god, while he inspired strife among the various shapechangers of the North in order to strengthen his grip on its inhabitants. During these days he travelled extensively across Scandinavia, Embracing various childer who later formed his Walkurie, those who searched for heroes and brought them to his temple to serve as ghouls. He used these warriors against the Lupine Get of Fenris in the Fenrir Wars. His Einherjar fought at his behest against the encroaching influence of his enemies, and the All-High sent out Viking raids to the southern nations to burn and pillage.
Those who were honored by the All-High were allowed to dine within his temple hall. Due to the magic of the Blood-Horn, the progeny of the All-High and the methuselah himself were able to sustain themselves without raiding much of the mortal population. The All-High regulated much of the unlife of Cainites in the North, as nearly every powerful vampire within Scandinavia was his progeny. Many of his customs were adopted by local elders who styled themselves as childer (or grandchilder) of the All-High in order to impress their lackeys.
When Christianity came to the North, the people of Sweden converted en masse. They stormed the temple of the All-High and drove him off with fire, steel, and True Faith. With his disappearance, paganism and the established order among the Norse vampires fell apart and his followers vanished into the dark.
In 1977, his grandchilde Brunhilde found his torpid body after a group of Camarilla Kindred found the bloodless bodies of several werewolves. It seems possible that the All-High had become addicted to Garou vitae, as five years later, the All-High seemed to rise again for a short period of time in order to hunt Lupines. Rumor has spread that the All-High controls Brunhilde and her Walkurie by sending coteries of young Walkuries to California to recruit anarchs to their cause and that they assassinated the Swedish prime minister in 1986.
Trivia[]
- Most einherjar believed that he was a sort of high priest, not Odin himself but an ardent son or disciple of the god.
- Odin, or Wotan, is referred by the Get of Fenris as their single greatest enemy. It is unclear if this Odin is the same as the All-High or something else entirely.
- Certain groups of mages such as the Valdaermen honor and worship Odin alongside their Sleeper peoples, unaware of his true, vampiric nature.
Gallery[]
References[]
- VTDA: Wolves of the Sea, p. 99-100
- VTDA: Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door, p. 21
- DAV: Dark Ages Europe, p. 151
- VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel, p. 66
- VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel Revised, p. 91-92
- DAV: Players Guide to Low Clans, p. 30