Clan Bloodfueled

## Description:

Clan Bloodfueled is a renegade Vampire House and Dwarf Clan dedicated to raiding, killing, and pillaging in the name of their bloodthirst and similarly macabre gods. Clan Bloodfueled leads raids and massacres on coastal villages across the Continent of Pilbo, and is headquartered primarily in small islands across the Drahran Archipelago. Clan Bloodfueled maintains no positive relations with any groups that are not also made up of Vampires, and is outright genocidal towards other Dwarves; Clan Bloodfueled maintains no diplomatic ties to sovereign nations.

Due to the Clan's position on and around the Continent of Pilbo, the outside world does not know of the group's existence. However, the citizens of Pilbo are all very aware of the group's existence, and often tremble in fear at the group's mere mentioning.

### Organization:

#### Population: ~4,200 citizens; unknown slaves

Founded in: Unknown

Clan Bloodfueled is structured similarly to the Viking clans of Medieval Europe and other Dwarven clans, albeit with greater militaristic influences. At the top of the organization sits the king, a title officially called the King of Cullings, given to the son of the previous king; the King of Cullings is responsible for maintaining the Clan's overall cohesiveness and prevent what little land the Clan owns from being lost to unhappy invaders or other Dwarves. Below the Clan's king sit the Jarls, whose official titles are unchanged from the source material, who act as chieftains and village leaders, overseeing local affairs, organizing raiding parties, maintaining law and order, etc. Below the Jarls sit the "free men" of Clan Bloodfueled, who make up the vast majority of the citizenry; acting as merchants, craftsmen, and warriors, the free men of the Clan spend most of their time training in whatever craft they have chosen to specialize in. Below the free men are the slaves of Clan Bloodfueled, considered to be extremely lucky to have been allowed to keep their lives after losing a battle; as a means of repaying this merciful staying of death, defeated foes are enslaved. Clan Bloodfueled does not take Dwarven slaves, and either slays them outright or converts them to Vampirism.

Clan Bloodfueled recruit rarely, only converting Dwarves and only converting Dwarves who have fled, dishonored, disgraced, or broken away from their original Clans; after conversion, their previous lives do not matter and the converted Dwarf is given a new name to represent this change. Clan Bloodfueled does occasionally convert captured Dwarves, but forces them to undertake a specialized ritual known as The Defilement, which corrupts the prisoner Dwarf's mind and separates them from their previous clan. Clan Bloodfueled recruits with rarity, only supporting as many members as it needs to in order to perpetuate its own existence and make up for losses.

The slaves of Clan Bloodfueled are treated very differently from slaves under other organizations; rather than being kept in cages or overseen by their masters, slaves of Clan Bloodfueled are kept on the frozen surface above Bloodfueled's actual Dwarven Strongholds in Norse-styled villages, isolated from other forms of civilization and cut off from the rest of the world. The slaves maintain their own community above their masters, and forced to pay extensive tithes every week from their produce or be culled as a result of their failure. Despite this illusion of autonomy, slaves dare not escape or attempt to flee from their masters; faced with immortal, ageless killing machines with unknown magical powers at their disposal, many slaves are simply too scared to run, while others know that, should one (1) slave escape, a dozen or more will be executed in the one's place. In addition, Clan Bloodfueled leads a ritual called the Blót, a ritualistic blood sacrifice to the Bloodfueled's gods that requires the choosing and killing of several slaves and animals; further details are provided below.

Clan Bloodfueled spends most of its time keeping to itself; the group is known to be so isolated and enigmatic that few people are known to have witnessed their homelands or seen their ships and survived. This rarity has led some groups to believe Clan Bloodfueled to be a myth, although this is very far from the truth. The group will go out on frequent raids, usually one a week per village, and sail out to assault a nearby ship or coastal settlement so it can be plundered of supplies, wealth, and slaves. Anyone who attempts to resist a Bloodfueled raid is slaughtered alongside a majority of the settlement's population, who are killed as a means of spreading terror and preventing resistance regardless if any resistance is met or not. When not raiding, members of Clan Bloodfueled engage in their trades, train, and celebrate. Members of Clan Bloodfueled are driven by an unending craving for blood, a desire stronger than that found in other Vampire Houses.

The JPCU maintains hostile relations with Clan Bloodfueled, who have been known to assault sections of the southern Pilboan JPCU blockades and breach the barrier between the continent and the rest of the world; in addition, Clan Bloodfueled is a House of Vampires, and is as such considered a group of monsters that should be expunged. Clan Bloodfueled has succeeded in resisting all JPCU attempts at cleansing as of the time of writing, and it is believed best to leave them alone.

### Equipment:

Clan Bloodfueled's technological capabilities are, despite their Dwarven nature, very limited. The Clan's Strongholds are often described as "barbaric" and "simple" by other Dwarven Clans, who view Bloodfueled as barbarians and no-good pirates. The Clan tends to detest the use of ranged weapons, but will use bows and arrows if necessary; despite this, Clan Bloodfueled will confiscate weaponry and equipment from bested enemies and use said equipment for their own ends, seemingly being able to use and understand the more advanced pieces of tech with ease. This ability to use more advanced technology has led researchers to declare that Clan Bloodfueled is purposely choosing to limit its technological abilities for reasons unknown.

Clan Bloodfueled's magical capabilities are mostly unknown; it is understood that their rituals and sacrifices do have tangible and magical impacts on their settlements and performances in battle, and it is confirmed that the group possesses extensive knowledge in combat-applicable blood magic. The group seems to dislike most forms of normal magic and prefer to use their innate abilities or the blessings of their gods, and will slay all magic-users on the spot for being heretics and witches, even if said magic-user were to surrender or not put up a fight. Alchemists and certain forms of magic are seemingly tolerated by the group, even among their slave communities, but the Dwarves of Clan Bloodfueled do not use any of those forms of magic themselves. Members of Clan Bloodfueled are known to only use chamans, blood magic, and ice-based magic.

The Clan's main strategy for combat consists of landing on a beach or at a settlement's harbor, unloading in force, and massacring the enemy before stealing what they can and burning whatever remains. The group's prowess in hand-to-hand combat compensates for the need for complex strategy, particularly as the Clan's favored targets are relatively undefended and far from allies. If faced with naval forces, Clan Bloodfueled will use their ice-based magics to beach or destroy the enemy vessels, use blood magic to disturb, terrify, and sabotage the enemy vessels, use flaming arrows and other forms of fire to burn the ships, board and slaughter the enemies aboard the ships, or ram the ships. Raiders of Clan Bloodfueled will often target enemy leaders and magic-users, and will specifically target civilians and destroy farms/infrastructure if engaged in a more drawn-out siege or military engagement; being Vampires, Clan Bloodfueled has no empathy or other considerations for mortals.

#### Military:

Clan Bloodfueled's military structure, like its political and social structures, mirrors that of Norse and Dwarven history. As a result, the military structure of Clan Bloodfueled's raiding parties is minimal, consisting primarily of the newer and younger soldiers and the more veteran soldiers above them. The various ships used by the Clan do have their own captains who lead the ship and therefore can give orders to his/her crew, and Jarls and other nobles and elite warriors will manage larger groups of troops. Among the most revered and veteran of soldiers among Clan Bloodfueled's ranks are the **Bloodshedders**, reanimated corpses of Bloodfueled members driven by magical rituals and a craving for blood so powerful that it keeps the creature up and walking indefinitely; these creatures are even tougher than their immortal companions, but less intelligent and perpetually in a bloodlusted rage. Due to the cost of creating and maintaining a **Bloodshedder**, they are incredibly rare and only used as part of large-scale or desperate conflicts. Slaves are only ever used as combatants in defense of a settlement, and are never taken on raids.

#### Innate Abilities:

Like many other Vampire Houses, Clan Bloodfueled was blessed with unique innate abilities that separate it from other Vampire Houses.

##### Berserker Rage:

These abilities include the Clan's innate "berserk rage" that they use as a form of meditation and combat trance during battle; this berserker rage is incredibly potent in combat, and allows members of Clan Bloodfueled to engage with many enemies simultaneously and come out unscathed; granted with supernatural skill in combat with this ability, berserking members of Clan Bloodfueled are also even more durable, strong, and fast than normal. Raging Dwarven raiders are known to survive explosions and other deadly wounds that would easily fell another Dwarf or Vampire with ease; it is believed that every member of Clan Bloodfueled has this ability.

##### Innate Pyromancy/Exothermic Bodies:

Members of Clan Bloodfueled also have very exothermic bodies, rooted in their Dwarven nature. When angered, members of Clan Bloodfueled will put off heat, which often creates fog and smoke in the cold environments the group tends to favor; when heated, the Vampires' chests and eyes will glow like hot coals. When raging, members of Clan Bloodfueled will erupt in flames, burning enemies that attempt to come too close and, through the Clan's specialized weapons, heat up the weapons' blades and shoot fire through rune-shaped ports along the blades and hilts of the group's hammers and axes and swords. These flames are strong enough to boil water around the user, and give members of Clan Bloodfueled a truly Demonic and intimidating visage that is often more than enough to send enemy forces fleeing and routing in full retreat.

##### Fire Immunity/Preference for Cold Environs:

Due to their Dwarven nature and innate exothermic bodies, members of Clan Bloodfueled have a natural immunity to fire that makes them far superior to other Vampires. This immunity to fire is also supported by the group's preference for cold climates, which helps to balance their internal temperatures. While the group is capable of operating in hotter areas, their permanent settlements are only found in cold, frozen tundra or glaciers.

##### Hibernation:

While all Vampires can hibernate, those of Clan Bloodfueled do so in a manner different from other Houses. Where other Houses hibernate in coffins or pyramids, members of Clan Bloodfueled can submerge themselves in freezing water or snow or ice and enter the same state of self-preserving hibernation as other Vampires; this versatility in entering hibernation allows Clan Bloodfueled Vampires to preserve themselves against the harmful sun, or mortal wounds.

### Religion:

Clan Bloodfueled maintains its own polytheistic religion with an inwards focus on self-improvement and the shedding of as much blood as possible in reverence for the gods. This pantheon of gods involves a special form of "meditation" that is more commonly referred to as a "berserk rage" that warriors of Clan Bloodfueled will use to entrance themselves and deal as much death as possible. Divine interaction for members of Clan Bloodfueled comes during blood rituals, warfare and combat, and in the act of killing and dying. Clan Bloodfueled has a Valhalla-style Afterlife reserved for the bloodiest of Bloodfueled's killers in which the member's essence stays until they are called upon to be a **Bloodshedder** or to act as a soldier in the Clan's idea of the apocalypse. The supernatural for Clan Bloodfueled exists in witchcraft (the other, disliked forms of magic), blood magic, spirits (of ancestors, deceased members, the **Bloodshedders**, etc.), and Demons. Clan Bloodfueled's forms of worship come in the form of chants, rituals, celebrations, sacrifices, and the act of killing. Holidays are relatively common and can last for up to a week each, and celebrate important historical events, victories, the deaths of important members, or cosmic events in reverence of their gods.

1. Yangroul (aka Zaraliel): God of Blood and the Slaughter associated with blood, red, raiding, and killing believed to be responsible for the Clan's origins; maintains the Afterlife in preparation and anticipation for the apocalypse.
2. Okan: God of Death associated with the transportation of souls to the Afterlife and souls to the reanimated bodies of **Bloodshedders**.
3. Udmic: God of Fire associated with raiding, destruction and creation, and Clan Bloodfueled's origins believed to be responsible for the Clan's innate pyromantic abilities and exothermic bodies.
4. Sakreat: God of Ice and the Cold associated with the home, sleep, peaceful deaths, travel and the oceans, fish and sea creatures believed to be responsible for watching over raiding parties as they travel from place to place, and bring chilling storms and blinding blizzards to the homes of the Clan's foes; granted Clan Bloodfueled with their ice magic.

#### Clergy:

The clergy of Clan Bloodfueled's folk religion come in the form of shamans and chieftains (Jarls and/or the King of Cullings) that lead and direct religious ceremonies, celebrations, and sacrifices. The shamans are often the group's primary practitioners of blood magic and ice magic. Shamans can be either male or female.

The shamans of Clan Bloodfueled live rather destitute lives and lack families, living separate and isolated from the rest of the Stronghold, often living down a secluded and unmaintained mineshaft or cave tunnel. Shamans are often distinguished from normal members through their mannerisms, quite nature, lack of large weaponry, and special enchanted jewelry.

#### Cultural Aspects:

The symbol for Clan Bloodfueled's religion is that of a blood-dripping axe clenched tightly in a Dwarven hand. The group's holy color is, unsurprisingly, crimson and bright red (meant to represent blood-soaked snow). Religious stories and myths are passed down through murals, mosaics, carvings and runes, music and chants, and oral tradition. Clan Bloodfueled's creation myth is rooted in divine creation, seeing themselves as the ultimate form of Dwarven life created by their gods to inherit the world once all other Dwarves are dead or converted. Major symbols include a blood drop, an axe, etc.

Deadly sins for Clan Bloodfueled include cowardice, a death outside of combat, sloth, and lack of zealotry. The group's highest virtues include wrath, bloodlust and a berserker rage, piety and zealotry, bravery and courage, and a death in combat. Art forms associated with Clan Bloodfueled include mosiacs and murals, rune carvings, massive works of underground architecture, tribal music, and chants. Marriage for Clan Bloodfueled is not seen as a necessity given the group's infertility, but has equal marriage rights for both men and women. Marriage rites, although rare, do involve an exchange of wealth, usually in the form of slaves or Bloodwine. Death rites include an extended funeral, a number of preservation rituals, and eventually the reanimation of the body as a **Bloodshedder**. Major cultural taboos for Clan Bloodfueled include certain forms of clothing. Those of Clan Bloodfueled are incredibly territorial and hostile towards outsiders, and are suspicious of others even if those others have hired the Clan as mercenaries.

#### Blót:

The Blót is a ritual sacrifice and blood magic ritual used by members of Clan Bloodfueled; the ceremony can celebrate and venerate a number of things, from victories to the gods to important people or the passing of leaders to the completion of a successful raid. The Blót involves a feast, the consumption of blood and Bloodwine, the covering of the ceremony hall and participants in the blood of the sacrificed, etc.