Waelkyrige, or simply Valkyries, are a group of female Gangrels descended from the ancient Einherjar who are in service of The All-High, and whose duty is to enforce the will of the ancient Methuselah.
A Waelkyrige pack, from A World of Darkness
Overview[]
Not an individual, but a group of warrior women, they are literally the choosers of the slain, and their title and station date back to when vampires could still be institutionalized into a religion. The Norse faith, particularly, had room in it for blood magic, and these Gangrel were a part of it. The Valkyries were not considered any less messengers of Odin for the fact they were vampires, just as the faithful would not mind the Ten Commandments being engraved in mere stone: the material at hand is what was used.
The role of Valkyries was that of battle-fates: they could appear in a significant battle to swing the tide to the benefit of one side. As they chose the slain, there were two options available to them: they could drink a vessel dry, granting him death in battle (having one's blood drunk by a Valkyrie counts), thereby guaranteeing him a place in Valhalla. Or they could grant him temporarily but real immortality in the physical world through the Embrace.
The Norse did not see a dichotomy between the temporary immortality granted by the embrace and the immortality given to one who is taken to Asgard. Even though most vampires believe there is no hope for their souls save Golconda, the Norse believed that even a revenant could redeem himself in the eye of Odin and gain the boon of death in battle - and a subsequent place at the table of the Einherjar in Valhalla.
The leader of the Waelkyrige is an ancient Gangrel named Brunhilde. Her own sire's identity is a mystery; she knows only that it was not the All-High. Her sire paid his fealty to the All-High, and Brunhilde needed no supernatural compulsion to do the same. She walked among the vargr of the far north, taking the role the All-High gave her and her packsisters. They acted as Waelkyrige, the Choosers of the Slain, who picked the finest warriors to join them in the afterlife.
They fought the Christians when they came north. For more than two centuries, with her liege-lord and comrades falling to torpor or Final Death all around her, the Gangrel ambushed southern vampires and scattered their ashes as warning to the invaders' brethren. Brunhilde herself fell into torpor soon thereafter, and remained in this state until the end of the First World War.
Modern Nights[]
As soon as Brunhilde woke up, she gathered her remaining Waelkyrige to her in central Sweden, where they kept a low profile until 1977 – when they discovered evidence that Odin, the All-High himself, was stirring from his long sleep. They believe the time of Ragnarök is near and led by Brunhilde they have been consolidating their position as they see fit, embracing many of the combatants in recent battles in order to build their power base.
As their number has grown, splinter groups have formed. One of these groups, Oddindöhter (a radical feminist group), is responsible for much of the intelligence arriving from Russia. In modern nights, the Valkyries have the distinct appearance and capabilities of great age, yet they mingle with restless young vampires and rowdy young humans, offering moral and material support with seemingly few strings attached. European princes are agog, to say the least, but their retributive crackdowns on anarch activity only lead to greater unrest and greater numbers of vampires gathering under the outstretched claws of the Valkyries.
Curiously, there is one European prince known as Smilla Grimsson who has allowed the Valkyries to have free access to her territories, but no one actually knows why and it is said that her reasons are best not be speculated upon. These Gangrel do not restrict their activities to the European theater, however. Intrigued by reports of the anarch "paradise" on the far west shores of Vinland, the Valkyries have sent four of their number to investigate and agitate within the Anarch Free State. These four are cutting quite a swath through the West Coast ranks — tall, blonde and dressed to kill in the latest European anarch fashions. They are finding California much to their liking, and are having little trouble gathering a group of men and women (and vampires) interested in the old Viking ways. The quartet is starting an investigation of the attacks on Gangrel anarchs, and it is only a matter of time until East meets North in what is sure to be a knockdown, drag-out fight.
The Waelkyrige recruiting movement among the anarchs has recently seen some resistance; it seems that the former Justicar Xaviar also desires the aid of the independent members of his clan. Representatives of each group play to the anarchs’ desires as best they can. Certainly four blonde, Nordic warrior women can make quite an impression on newly Embraced men of the clan, but their description of unlife on the high seas, and honor and service to a higher cause, has risen to the attention of more than one anarch. It remains only a matter of time before that pitch comes to the attention of Xaviar's group.
In the meantime, the Waelkyrige in Europe have made it powerfully clear to the princes of the north that they have no interest in any sectarian politics, nor in joining the circus they call the Camarilla. That is not to say that they desire any allegiance with the Sabbat, which is clearly a collection of dishonorable monsters as far as the Valkyries are concerned.
Gallery[]
References[]
- WOD: A World of Darkness, p. 48
- VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel, p. 66
- VTM: Clanbook: Gangrel Revised, p. 32, 45-46 91-92
- VTM: Guide to the Anarchs, p. 113
- VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 39