Tal'Mahe'Ra

The Tal'Mahe'Ra (Ghemalish: "Hand-Without-Sun"), also known as the True Black Hand or Manus Nigrum, was an ancient death-cult devoted to the worship of a cabal of beings known as the Aralu, whom it believed to be Antediluvians, that slept in the ghost-city of Enoch deep within the lands of the dead.
= Overview =
To outsiders the Tal'Mahe'Ra is a bizarre paranoid conspiracy of a sect that spends little time in contact with the other factions of Kindred society. But very little is actually known by the general population about the “True Black Hand”, and some vampires consider stories of its existence apocryphal. Its stronghold lies in the Underworld, the realm of the dead occupied by ghosts of things long lost to the modern world.
Its mission seems to be one of shepherding and protecting the 
world toward an end only it understands. Their vision is similar to the 
First City as described in the Book of Nod. The sect holds no cities in the physical world as its domains, though it maintains estates and other odd nexuses where it breeds ghoul servants and sends its agents forth into the world. The True Black Hand had its greatest influence over the Sabbat through the Black Hand sub-sect.
== History ==
The Tal'Mahe'Ra was an ancient organization formed by an unlikely alliance between Chakravanti mages and several vampire clans (notably Assamites), though its members also include other supernatural creatures besides vampires and mages. The Tal'Mahe'Ra parted during the first millennium CE
 because of different ideas regarding the future of the sect; and though
 the two factions, the Western and Eastern Manus Nigrum, were not at war
 with each other, they did not communicate.
During the Dark Ages, the Eastern faction concerned itself mainly with hell and purgatory, where the souls
 of the unholy supposedly reside after death. The Western faction, 
however, mainly involved itself in vampire politics and were rumored to 
plan the obliteration of the Baali.
The Manus Nigrum believed that the existence of so many vampires 
during the Dark Ages was not desirable and wished to decimate their 
numbers, which is why they started collecting information about every 
kindred they came across. They aspired to compile a book with the name 
and haven of every Kindred and wished to present it to the Antediluvians during Gehenna, so that they would know where to find their childer. They were also rumored to have something to do with the death of some Antediluvians.
In the Underworld, the True Black Hand was eliminated during the events in Ends of Empire when they were the target of a nuclear attack by Stygia and a second nuke launched into the heart of the Labyrinth.
 Enoch was annihilated, as was the vast majority of the leadership. The 
Aralu provided no forewarning of the attack, nor any assistance at its 
commencement, and grew silent afterwards. Even more damaging to the sect
 was the Week of Nightmares. When the Ravnos Antediluvian rose and began to wage battle against the Kuei-jin,
 members of the sect rushed to India to assist it. To their disbelief, 
the ancient did not acknowledge them in any way; the cult simply did not
 matter to its masters. Coupled with the Aralu's silence, this led to 
many members of the sect losing faith, and the organization fracturing 
into small Gehenna cults.
Most of the Nagaraja perished in the attack, and the survivors found refuge among the Green Court
 in Korea. In exchange for providing a great deal of information 
regarding recent changes to the underworld, and sharing almost all their
 knowledge of necromancy, the surviving Nagaraja were declared "honored 
guests", although not permitted to Embrace. A considerable number of True Brujah struck up a partnership with the Followers of Set,
 while the remainder disguised themselves as members of other clans. The
 Tzimisce of the old clan returned to Eastern Europe, even more 
embittered about working with other vampires than before. The Empyrean Sodality is one cult remnant that continues its work in the ashes of Enoch.
=== Culture ===
The Tal'Mahe'Ra was a society of vampires dedicated to supporting the
 Antediluvians in their crusade to destroy other vampires, hoping to be 
spared themselves during Gehenna. They also aspired to eliminate 
supposedly impure bloodlines, including the Tremere and Tzimisce.
The Tal'Mahe'Ra was a super-conspiracy and allegedly the oldest 
sect of vampires still active. In addition, the Tal'Mahe'Ra membership 
included several bloodlines who were more or less exclusive to it. The 
Tal'Mahe'Ra also employed several revenant families and specifically trained kidnapped children, known as Chatterlings, to become vampires. Chatterlings typically were embraced when they were 23 years old.
The True Black Hand was concerned with two major events: the 
first is the eventual return of the Antediluvians, and the second was 
the coming age when vampiric taint would be eliminated from the earth.
=== Organization ===
The Tal'Mahe'Ra's seat of power was located in the fortress-city of Enoch in the Underworld.
 Members of the sect had the means to pass regularly between the 
Underworld and the living world. The leader of the True Black Hand, the Del'Roh, resided exclusively in the Underworld.
The True Black Hand had less than 200 members, but claimed to 
wield considerable power and influence in Kindred affairs through all of
 the major sects.
* Sabbat: The Black Hand was thought to be formed as a front for the True Black Hand by many members, although the sect simply corrupted the practices of the Lost Tribe (a sect of Caine-worshippers), who had themselves cast their lot in with the anarchs of the Anarch Revolt. There are around 60 vampires in the False Black Hand (mainly older members), who are members of the True Black Hand as well – including Seraphs Izhim ur-Baal and Djuhah. The True Hand exercised little effective control over the False Hand – with almost all members of the Black Hand taking the organization's (false) stated goals at face value. Attempts by Izhim and Djuhah to make a more effective front did little more than arouse the suspicion of other Sabbat factions. The True Black Hand generally attempted to drive the Sabbat towards war with the Camarilla rather than hunting down Antediluvians, and assisted in brokering the treaties that ended several civil wars within the Sabbat, fearing a loss of control by the sect's leaders would lead to the harm of their ancient masters.
* Camarilla: (Also known as Camarilla's Hand).  The sect has claimed that almost a dozen Princes are members of the True Hand, as well as at least 40 primogen and a Justicar. Although some members of the Camarilla undoubtedly took orders from Manus Nigrum operatives, the extent to which they understood the sect's goals, or were able to provide meaningful assistance, is unknown.
* Another 50 Hand members have havens in the Middle East, among the Followers of Set, the Assamites, and the Kuei-jin.
There were unconfirmed reports that the Hand had operatives within the Inconnu
 (just as the Inconnu likely had operatives within the Hand), and the 
Hand also claims to have had several non-vampire supernatural members, 
including a Mummy, an Abomination, a small number of mages, and some few wraiths. They controlled three ghoul families.
==Bloodlines of The Hand==
For much of the Tal’Mahe’Ra’s history, membership has been concentrated to a collection of vampiric lineages who belong almost entirely to the Hand. Storytellers wishing to set chronicles in alternate eras may consider restricting Clans and bloodlines to the following:
Since Inception: Danava, Nagaraja, Old Clan Tzimisce
Since Classical Antiquity: True Brujah
As of the Middle Ages: Assamite antitribu, Lasombra antitribu, Salubri
As of the Renaissance: Daughters of Cacophony
As of the Age of Reason: Ravnos and Brahman
As of the Information Age: Drakaina, Harbingers of Skulls, Molochim Baali, Salubri antitribu, Tlacique
Previous to opening their doors in the modern nights for limited numbers of individuals from any Clan or bloodline, save the Followers of Set, the Western Hand began accepting candidates from certain lineages:
As of Late Antiquity: Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Ventrue, and the antitribu kinsmen of each Clan, with exception to City Gangrel
As of the High Middle Ages: Maeghar
Though not claiming Hand membership, the main body of Clan Assamite has been allied to the Eastern Hand since Classical Antiquity. Before joining outright, diplomatic relations between the Tal’Mahe’Ra and the Harbingers of Skulls were in place by the Age of Reason.
Category:Setting
Category:Sects