Kairouan Brotherhood

Few revenant families are thought to be as fragmented as the Kairouan Brotherhood. The story of the family’s foundation is tied to a rift within the Assamite Clan that occurred between the Warrior and Sorcerer Castes during the early years of the Ashirra Sect in the twelfth century.

During the long years of the Crusades, members of the Assamite Clan ventured further north into Europe to spy on, murder, and confront their enemies in the Clans. Eventually, a group of Assamites encountered Clan Tzimisce and the revenant families who protected them. While the Warrior Caste viewed them as abominations, the Vizier Caste recognized the advantage revenants provided their masters. The Sorcerer Caste, on the other hand, were fascinated by the revenants Clan Tzimisce had created, and were curious to know how it was possible for a mortal body to naturally produce vitae.

At the behest of the Vizier Caste, who felt it was prudent to examine the revenants further, reluctant members of the Warrior Caste kidnapped a few revenants and brought them back to one of their strongholds near Alamut. It did not take long to convince a faction within the Sorcerer Caste, which was purportedly led by the mystic Sharbel and his Childe Myrsus, to begin experimenting on the Tzimisce’s creations in order to unlock their physiological secrets.

Shortly after their work began, members of the Sorcerer Caste were cast out of the Persian stronghold. While the details of their exile have remained hidden, modern Children of Haqim believe it was due to the fact that the Sorcerer Caste’s first attempts to reverse engineer the creation process ended in horrible disaster. Barred from Alamut, this small faction of Assamites moved near the great city of Al-Qayrawan along with their ghouls and a group of captured revenants which included the Bratovich and the now extinct Basarab.

Early experiments resulted in then untreatable failures ranging from deformities to schizophrenia, which slowed the Sorcerer Caste’s efforts considerably. In order to proceed, a few of the mystics proposed a more disciplined series of trials that included rigorous training. Revenants who had minor imperfections, they argued, could be singled out and a unique flaw could be cultivated to ensure their obedience. After several decades of trial and error, the first generation of revenants that would eventually become known as the Kairouan Brotherhood was born.

Though the Sorcerer Caste was successful, the creation of Assamite revenants spurred further conflict between the Castes. Each proposed a different use for the Brotherhood. The Sorcerer Caste felt that the Brotherhood belonged to them, and as their creators they had a right to command them as they saw fit. Several Assamite mystics thought that the revenants should act as the Clan’s daytime bodyguards and assassins, while others believed that the Brotherhood should be trained as their assistants. The Vizier Caste, on the other hand, thought that the revenants made better spies than bodyguards, for they did not suffer the same restrictions as their ghouls did. At first, the Warrior Caste wanted nothing to do with the Brotherhood, for they viewed them to be abominations. Then, when they realized the revenants could not be easily wiped out, they sought to block the Sorcerer Caste’s future efforts at every turn.

While the Castes argued and backstabbed each other, the Kairouan Brotherhood were largely left to their own devices. The Sorcerer Caste believed the revenants were too weak to initiate an uprising, and Bound particularly troublesome family members to further prevent the possibility of attack. Despite having little to no direction, however, the revenants took matters into their own hands. By day, they took to their studies, and slowly integrated into the local populace by getting involved in the affairs of church, schools, and government. By night, however, they served their masters in exchange for their protection, out of fear the brutal vampire-hunting sayyadin would wipe them out.

The combination of the rivalry between the Castes and the undue attention from vampire hunters had a significant impact on how the mystics treated their revenants. For almost eight hundred years, the Sorcerer Caste kept the Brotherhood close by. Those who remained in Tunisia’s smaller cities became devout scholars and historians, while others were sent to scope out potential havens in cities such as London, Istanbul, and Munich.

Over time, however, the Brotherhood did not replenish their numbers as quickly as other revenant families did, and slowly but surely they began to diminish. Though they were created by the Sorcerer Caste, they now work more closely with the Vizier Caste out of necessity as the mystics did not operate as openly as they had in the past.

Recent generations have drifted away from their devout, religious roots and became more involved with technology, business, and tourism. In the past ten years, however, some of the more modern Warrior Caste members have reluctantly began to work with the Brotherhood. However, centuries of distrust have forced the revenants into an uncomfortable position; to integrate themselves further into the Clan, they must compete with ghouls to gain favor. Some do this for the promise of Embrace, others because they are loyal to the Clan’s ideals.

Now, the Kairouan Brotherhood is smaller than it ever has been, and they have unwittingly spit off into factions. Many Assamites fear that their revenants will eventually be assimilated into other families. The thought of losing the Clan’s only revenant family has forced the Castes to consider experimenting with the creation of revenants again, by stealing precious knowledge from more knowledgeable Clans such as the Tzimisce.

**Appearance:** Most, if not all, members of the Kairouan Brotherhood tend to be of Middle-Eastern descent. Though they share a common ancestry, their manner and style of dress varies widely according to their religious beliefs and willingness to adopt Western fashion and technology. Some revenants, for example, wear jeans and a tailored suit jacket while others might wear a thobe or a hijab according to custom.

**Character Creation:** Revenants within this family specialize in a broad range of duties that are often typically associated with ghouls. When selecting Talents and Skills, consider which Caste the character is working for. In general, most members of the Brotherhood do not follow a Path of Enlightenment, and encourage each other to retain their humanity for the betterment of their family.

**Disciplines:** Auspex, Celerity, Obfuscate

**Weakness:** Due to years of careful genetic manipulation, all revenants within the Kairouan Brotherhood suffer from the Slow Healing Flaw found on p. 483 of V20.

**Quote:** “We may be few, but we remain unbroken.”