From: kai@ifi.uio.no (Kai Ivo Quale)
Subject: Vampire mailing list (Was Re: Anne Rice joke)
Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 16:38:26 GMT
Originator: kai@rundtom.ifi.uio.no


In article <1993Jan21.160919.23626@walter.bellcore.com>, chavis@thumper..bellcor
e.com (Dennis Chavis) writes:
> In article <1993Jan18.174700.2638@ifi.uio.no> kai@ifi.uio.no (Kai Ivo Quale) w
rites:
> >
> >There has been some jokes on the Vampire mailing list after someone misspelle
d
> 
> What mailing list is this, I have never heard of it?


OK, let's get this over with:

The Vampire mailing list is a list concerned with the role-playing game 
_Vampire_ by White Wolf. To quote the FAQ:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
        vampire-request@math.ufl.edu
whose message body is:
        sub [username] vampire

        ......................

What is the Vampire Role-Playing Game All About?

     Vampire is a role playing game of contemporary horror.  It's
main attraction is in its dark forboding style, and that it
emphasizes acting and role-playing over game mechanics and optimizing
for success.  The characters are vampires, known in the game as the
Kindred, and the horror of their position, and their tragedy, is the
heart of the game.  One of the quotes in the game is "Beast I am, lest
Beast I become."  By hunting in a controlled fashion, a vampire can
supress the Hunger, which if left unattended too long, can turn a
vampire into a ravening beast, acting on instict rather than
rationally.  Eventually, one will commit acts that one's human nature
rebels at, and will slip closer to that point of being the Beast
permanently.  That is the Vampire's tragedy; by living forever,
eventually one will succumb to that beastial inner nature.  The longer
one resists, the harder the Beast tries the bars of its prison.  A
vampire that loses all humanity must be destroyed by its fellow
Kindred, as it will break the tradition of secrecy know as the
Masquerade.  Only by hiding can the Kindred survive, for while
individually more potent than any mortal, through numbers and
exploitation of their weaknesses the mortals would surely render all
Kindred extinct, save one.  The first Vampire, Caine.  Condemed by God
for the slaying of his brother Abel, he must reenact that murder
again and again to survive, and he has passed the Curse on to others,
and they have passed it on as well.
     There are other enemies as well, and those who while not enemies,
would not call Kindred "friend".  The Kindred dwell in the cities, and
in the Wilds dwell the Wolf clans, who alternate between fully human
and fully Beast, whereas the Kindred walk the grey line.  The two have
been long enemies of the other.  There dwell in the wilds also those
that call Arcadia home, those know as "fairies".  Among the mortals
are those who know mighty things and wield great power, and who have
their own Masquerade, the current members of the Order of Hermes, the
Magi.  They and the Kindred generally ignore the other, but when the
Kindred stand in the way of the Magi, the Magi will prevail, as their
arts can slay many Kindred most swiftly and surely.
    Then there are the Kindred theirselves.  Engaged in a complex
struggle called the Jihad are the eldest of the Kindred, manipulating
the younger Kindred in a complex and intricate game.  Other Kindred
have no respect for the Kindred of the Masquerade, the Camarilla, and
revel in their inhumanity, and expect their might to overcome those
who would oppose them.  Other Kindred can no longer sustain their
lives on mortal blood, but must out of necessity drink the blood of
other Kindred.

     And the adventure into the world that is hidden within our own
has just begun.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is NOT for those gee... sorry, dreamers, who think vampires are for real.

Kai Quale,      kai@ifi.uio.no