CHAPTER THREE
SUBCULTURE

perpetual leer. Friends and acquaintances may be puzzled at the ghoul’s sudden “creepiness” without being able to pinpoint what disturbs them.

Of late, the clan has increased its ghoul production among the underclass, promising this or that drug dealer, tavern owner or gang leader power and wealth in exchange for loyalty. This has not gone unnoticed by the people from whom the Nosferatu recruit their ghouls; they see the increasing strangeness and deformity among their peers, and grow more fearful by the night.

Most other vampires, however,havenocluethat the Nosferatu such a toehold  in human society. Confident that no self-respecting mortal feed from a Nosferatu, other clans continue to control their politicians and artists and tycoons. These ghouls in turn ignore the “lowly” servants and sanitation workers who hover around them, listening....

R & R

Celebrating loss – this is the reflection.
          – Killing Joke, “Requiem”

The Nosferatu, when they interact with other Kindred at all, tend to present dour and serious faces to their fellow vampires. They are somewhat stereotypically portrayed as grim, humorless recluses who spend the majority of their nights huddled in their burrows. This perception is not merely inaccurate, but entirely false. The Nosferatu enjoy a

wide variety of games, festivals and sports. Indeed, they play often, wildly and desperately, seeking in their games some small measure of escape.

SCAVENGER HUNT

The Nosferatu have a particular ritual that combines practical training in espionage techniques with good bloody fun. This age-old tradition is known among the elders as the aranta-shadur, but younger Nosferatu refer to it as the “scavenger hunt” – for that is essentially what it is.

At the beginning of a night of aranta-shadur, the clan elders gather all the neonates and ancilla. in the warren. Each Nosferatu participant is then given a list of items to acquire. Certain items are common to all participants’ lists. Other items are chosen by the elders based upon the ability of the participant (i.e., asking a rank neonate to "scavenge” the prince’s signet ring would be grossly unfair, while asking the same of a hardened ancilla would be a little more reasonable) or upon a lesson the elders wish to impart (i.e., a prideful Nosferatu might be asked to acquire a Toreador Poseur’s full-length mirror).

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