Hecata

@Hecata

Nicknames: The Clan of Death, The Family, Graverobbers, Necromancers

Sect: Strictly Independent

Archetypes: Mortician, Investigator, Financier, Mobster, Occult Scholar, Oracle.

Description

The Hecata are a newly unified clan bound by the twin pillars of family and death. Comprised of several formerly distinct necromantic bloodlines (most notably the Giovanni), they are morbidly obsessed with the secrets of the grave and the power that can be drawn from the underworld, which they call the Shroud. They are insular and secretive, often operating through legitimate businesses like finance and funeral homes, as well as their deep, traditional ties to organized crime. To deal with the @Hecata is to deal with "The Family"—a complex web of unbreakable loyalties, ancient grudges, and the quiet, chilling promise of a fate worse than mere death.

Known History

For centuries, the necromantic clans were disparate and often at war. The powerful and insular Giovanni family ruthlessly dominated, absorbing or destroying rival bloodlines. This changed in the modern nights. A mysterious, cataclysmic event in the Shroud—the lands of the dead—forced the warring families to the brink of extinction. Out of desperation, they called a truce and held the "Family Reunion," uniting the Giovanni, Samedi, Cappadocians, and others under the ancient banner of Hecata. This new unity is a fragile, often resentful, alliance of convenience born from a shared need to survive.

Clan Characteristics

Disciplines: Auspex, Fortitude, Oblivion

Bane: The Painful Kiss. The Hecata's bite is never a thing of pleasure for mortals; it is an excruciatingly painful experience. Feeding from a mortal inflicts a Stain on the Hecata's Humanity unless they can first pass a test of their self-control, making the very act of survival a constant struggle against their monstrous nature.

Compulsion: Macabre. The vampire becomes obsessed with the details of a death. They are compelled to learn the cause of a specific demise, the secrets a corpse might hold, or the story of a nearby ghost. This often leads to unsettling behavior, such as performing an impromptu autopsy or stopping a vital conversation to interrogate a spirit.

Views and Standing

Stereotypes: "They're all mobbed-up necromancers who only talk to their cousins." "Never owe the Family money." "If you need a body to disappear—or reappear—they're the ones to call." "They care more about ghosts than living Kindred."

In Chicago Tonight: The Hecata are a new and significant power in the city, though they remain politically neutral. Their presence is a calculated "silent expansion" orchestrated by the patient Elder, @Silvio Bellini. From his bases at the Bellini Trust & Holdings building and the Graceland Mausoleum, he directs the clan's infiltration of the city's financial and mortal institutions. His key asset is his childe, Dr. @Sofia Bellini, who uses her position at the County Morgue as a vital intelligence post. The clan uses the O'Malley & Bellini Funeral Home as their nightly hub. They are viewed with wary suspicion by all other factions, a quiet, morbid variable in the city's political equation.