Transylvania by night pdf download free

Just as race and religion can tear mortal societies apart, much of a vampires identity is shaped by his affiliations. Individual conflicts often escalate into clan wars. The struggle between the Tremere and Tzimisce is particularly brutal, as the mightiest clan of the Old Country rapidly fills to the insidious schemes of one of the most powerful clans of the new age.

As a coterie ventures into the Balkan Kingdoms, its members unity will be tested. Vampire lords will seek to set their consanguineous brethren against their enemies, seeing any travelers exploring their domains as potential allies.

The vampires of your coterie, however, have an edge over these embittered Cainites. They have access to a greater amount of information because they come from different clans and have learned to work together. It is easier for the members of a coterie to work together if, say, their Tremere can get them into Ceoris, their Gangrel can parley with the armies of the woods, or their Brujah can get them employment in patrols to the east. Clan hatred is an integral part of the mood in the lands beyond the forest, but ingenious vampires can turn this hatred to their advantage.

Coteries lacking diversity must tread carefully, lest they be swept away by the currents of bitter rivalry. There is an accompanying disadvantage. The more allies a coterie makes, the more enemies it will gain.

The coteries Tremere will be abhorred by the Tzimisce, and the steadfast Brujah will be a liability when consulting with the Gangrel. The diversity of a coterie can be an advantage, but fully exploiting it takes work.

A Warning Concerning the Chocula Factor There is another mood that is sometimes evoked in this type of chronicle, one that can be difficult to accommodate. Just as Transylvania is a legendary land, it has been represented countless times in the retelling of that legend, creating many of the enduring clichs of the vampire genre. Running a Transylvanian chronicle can be difficult for this reason. No matter how much research you undertake or how serious your intentions, no matter how badly you want to evoke the pinnacle of horror in gaming, be aware that the mood you seek to attain can be shattered by the first Bela Lugosi impression or bad Romanian accent.

Transylvania has also been the land of giant hats on strings and buxom young actresses in low-cut gowns for some. Dialogue from the worst of the Dark Shadows episodes can come all too easily. This is the result of the dreaded Chocula Factor. Chapter One: Introduction. A Word on Historical Accuracy Weve done our best to make sure the facts contained within are accurate, but we must voice a disclaimer.

This is a game supplement, not a doctoral thesis. Graduate students in Eastern European studies will find flaws in this book, but we freely admit that we have taken some liberties in the interest of drama. Well, actually, we havent taken liberties with history so much as weve thrown it down and had our way with it.

In many cases, we have bridged time placing buildings, markers, city walls, castles and other sites in our 12th-century Dark Medieval setting when, in fact, they do not appear until the 13th or 14th century in the real world.

We attribute this to vampiric influences working to advance the growth of cities. For example, Buda-Pest in our world began to take shape only after the Mongols swept through in or so.

In the Dark Medieval world, the presence of vampyr lords and appetites in the region create the need for a large, well-stocked city as early as the 10th century. Their influence thus speeds up the development of the region. Purists will no doubt be offended by this historical inaccuracy. Yet, horror fans will simply enjoy the sinister castles and dark winding streets, whether they are supposed to be there at this time or not.

Here, then, is a word of warning: Do not quote- this hook for the sake of history exams. If you must, check out the bibliography and read the sources for yourself. In other words, enjoy the story. As a Vampire game goes beyond good taste, the influence of the Chocula Factor can become deadly.

If you encounter it, one approach is to meet it head on; if you cannot defeat it, use it to your advantage. Unlike chronicles in other parts of Europe, you should not be afraid to steal a plot or two from a Hammer film, engage in too much melodrama, quote Dracula a little too freely or shudder dramatically at unspeakable terror. If you are not afraid of the Chocula Factor, you need not take yourself too seriously in your Transylvanian chronicles.

Have fun. What This Book Contains The structure of this work differs slightly from that of past By Night books, so a few prefatory words are necessary. This book not only details Transylvania, but it also covers most of Eastern Europe. Chapter One includes this very laudatory introduction, which describes the tomes contents and presents suggestions for mood and theme. Chapter Two details history, setting the conflict between Hungary and Transylvania in the context of Eastern Europe as a whole.

Chapter Three covers geography, presenting locations ranging from the gates of Constantinople to the cold Russian steppes. Chapter Four presents over 30 Cainites usable in chronicles set anywhere from Bulgaria to Lithuania. Chapter Five details the nefarious antagonists and potential heroes among Clan Tzimisce.

In contrast, Chapter Six offers an extensive view of the Usurper Clan, the Tremere, including a treatment of Ceoris their fortress against the marauders of the night. Chapter Seven gives further ideas for storytelling, including advice on how to handle the mortal aspects of chronicles and religion in Eastern Europe.

This chapter also includes a number of story sketches for adventures. Chapter Eight details the lives of other supernatural creatures, including magi, wraiths, faeries and the dreaded Lupines of the East. And finally, the Appendix to this weighty tome gives further information on two revenant families trapped in service to the Tzimisce. Inspirational Sources Whether you prefer your Vampire stories brimming with attitude or just this side of a good Hammer flick, many sources are available to give you further ideas of how to expand your chronicle.

Fine, Jr. The histories in this chapter touch on the highlights of each area profiled instead, incorporating known human history with the shadow history of the Cainites. Because of its central location and importance in the ongoing story of these benighted lands, Hungary and its province of Transylvania holds pride of place as the most lengthy entry. Anyone wishing to learn more concerning Hungary or any of the other countries depicted here need only check out the reference books mentioned in Chapter One.

Bohemia Although Bohemia holds the remains of 25,year-oid settlements, its Dark Medieval existence began with the arrival of the Slavs during the sixth and seventh centuries.

Traveling through the Carpathian Pass, they entered through the Moravian Gate one of many open passes through the mountains, which are called gateways due to the ease of crossing through them and into Bohemia. There the Slavs intermixed with Celts and Germans and formed a tribal group under a Frankish merchant named Samo.

The newfound kingdom collapsed upon his death. A great western Slavic tribe led by a charismatic woman named Libussa moved into the area during the seventh century, intermingling with the former inhabitants and settling in great numbers. Libussa, recognizing that her tribe was tired of following her leadership, chose a common plowman named Premysl as her consort and husband.

She turned the rulership of her people over to him, after she prophesied that a great city named Prague would someday rise upon their chosen home, a city that would outshine all others. Or, so the story goes. In actuality, Libussa and her people were host to an ancient Tzimisce, a female warrior of great cunning named Shaagra. Fleeing encroaching barbarians and realizing that her tribe could no longer support her appetite alone, Shaagra used her favorite ghoul, Libussa, to urge them into westward expansion.

Taking their place alongside the earlier arrivals, the newly named Premysl nobility began their quest for the throne. The state of Great Moravia, which included Moravia, Bohemia and western Slovakia, grew strong in , when good relations with Byzantium prompted Prince Ratislav to send for Christian missionaries. Cyril and Methodius, known as the apostles of the Slavs, arrived in and converted much of the population to the new state religion.

The two also developed the Slavonic Glagolitic script and received permission for sermons to be given in Slavonic after the lesson was read in Latin. Sometime around , the Premysl family began construction of Prazsky Hrad Prague Castle , which dominates a promontory overlooking the Vltava. The castle was intended to serve not only as a fortress and Premysl family residence, but also as a fortification to guard the resting place of Shaagra.

Duke Borivoj was baptized by Bishop Methodius in the same year. He built a wooden church inside the castle five years later and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary. In , seeing a need for more fortifications, Shaagra insisted on building a new stone castle two miles upriver from Prague Castle. Accordingly, her family built the Castle of Chrasten-Vysehrad.

Most settlements arose between the two fortresses; the most important one, known as Mala Strana or Little Quarter, sprang up at the foot of Prague Castle. Intermarriage between the Premysls and other nobles allowed the family to claw its way to the top. Shaagra rewarded useful servants with her potent blood and long life. These servants, in turn, intermarried with close relatives, who were also ghouls, until some within each new generation were born with the Tzimisces blood already in them.

Other family members found strength through the practice of the forbidden arts of magic; some practiced even darker rites. The family of Premysl some of whom were now revenants thus emerged as the supreme power in Bohemia, with Prince Wenceslas also known as Vaclav as the sole ruler. Other Tzimisce found welcome among Pragues dark streets as long as they acknowledged Shaagras preeminent place. Shaagra began to slip into torpor soon after Wenceslas took the throne.

Lacking her counsel and direction, Wenceslas was thrown back on his own devices. Attempting to throw off the vampyrs yoke, he turned to outside help rather than relying on familial power to hold his throne. Wenceslas swore allegiance to the German Emperor Henry I in , which caused the Bohemian ruling classes to withdraw their support for him. German Ventrue entered Bohemia, theoretically to assist Wenceslas, but really to establish themselves politically and economically.

They did nothing to stop the murder of the revenant prince only a few years later, hoping to provoke a time of turmoil that would allow them to take complete control. The princes brother Boleslav murdered Wenceslas in and created a powerful state, ruling over Bohemia, Slovakia, Moravia and parts of Silesia and southern Poland. Though Boleslav tried to ignore his familial duties, his relatives made occasional trips into the crypt where Shaagra slept in torpor and fed her the blood of captives.

After Boleslavs death by the sword in , Boleslav II became prince and stabilized the kingdom. Fearing further attacks from the Christian monarchs of Western Europe, Boleslav appealed to the Pope and founded the Bishopric of Prague in A few Toreador and Lasombra, vying for control of the Church, began to enter Bohemia and establish themselves in Prague.

Bretislav, Boleslav IIs successor, achieved the permanent union of Bohemia and Moravia, though he was forced to depend on German advice to keep the Premysls in control. A Ventrue took control of the reins of power for the first time in Bohemia and raised himself to the position of Prince of Prague.

Many mortal wizards and scholars took up residence in Prague, drawn to the city by the presence of Jewish scholars and Kabbalists, who had flocked to the city in hope of protection from persecution. Their Cainite counterparts from House Tremere soon followed. Nosferatu and Cappadocians arrived and found a place in the Jewish ghetto.

The practice of medicine thrived here; Jewish chirurgeons gained great knowledge of anatomy through the study of corpses unlike Christians, who were forbidden to do so. In a devastating fire at Prague Castle prompted the Premysls to move their court to Vysehrad and begin replacing old wooden fortifications with stone ones. Shaagra was moved to a carved cellar beneath Vysehrad Castle, where she remained in torpor.

Briefly held by Poland in , Bohemia reasserted its independence. Attacked by the Hungarians in and , Bohemia fought off foreign invasion while the various townships that made up the city became more unified.

A noted trade route since the beginning of the 10th century, Prague soon boasted a market to rival those of the greatest Western European cities. New buildings sprang up to accommodate the influx of German merchants. One of the first stone bridges in Eastern Europe, Judith Bridge, was constructed around to connect both banks of the Vltava.

Old Town and New Town developed rapidly soon thereafter, with stone houses and Romanesque churches dominating. A civilizing influence and a center for learning, the Great University of Prague arose in Old Town, financed by the Ventrue prince and the Premysl dynasty. Many of Europes greatest minds went to teach and study there.

With the university came a couple of Brujah parasites, there to study and to seek lands where they could put their philosophies to the test. The Ventrue ruler of Prague invited a Tremere ally, who was under pressure from the Tzimisce in Hungary, to enter Austria with his cabal and attack Tzimisce holdings there. With the Tzimisce thus occupied, the prince turned his attention to holding off Lasombra rivals in Germany.

So, with the collusion of the Ventrue Prince of Bohemia, the Tremere established themselves in Austria, eventually taking Vienna as their new headquarters. Bohemia remains an autonomous kingdom in , though still a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Its main city of Prague serves as a major trade center and an outpost of civilization on the edge of what most of Europe considers the barbaric East.

Most people forget that Prague lies further west than Vienna. The people of Eastern Europe see Bohemia as a possible ally against takeover from the West, feeling that here in the magic city of Prague the people might understand their views. Poised between East and West, linked to both, but truly part of neither, Bohemia must tread a careful path or be swallowed in the ongoing struggle between opposing cultures.

Poland Polands broad expanse of plains, hounded on the west by the Oder River and by the mighty waters of the Vistula on the east, supported a strong enclave of paganism until the 10th century. Caught between the Holy Roman Empire and the lands of Lithuania and Russia, Polands many princedoms formed a constantly shifting buffer zone marked by the struggle between the expanding Christian faith and the followers of the older religions. Here, too, Ventrue and Tzimisce have engaged in a battle for supremacy over the mortal population.

The push to Christianize the pagan tribes of Poland began as early as the ninth century, when the chief of the Vistulanian tribe received baptism according to the Slavonic rite out of fealty to Moravia. When the marriage of Prince Miesko I to Princess Dubravka of the Czechs in resulted in Mieskos conversion to Christianity, the Latin Church strengthened its hold on the region and, with it, German Ventrue gained entry into an area long dominated by their Tzimisce rivals.

The Tzimisce lords of Poland, little concerned with whom the pathetic mortals worshipped, nominally embraced Slavic Christianity. They didnt bother to prevent the steady encroachment of Germanic Ventrue, whose mortal emissaries introduced the Latin rite into the region. A Latin missionary bishopric at Poznan supplanted an earlier Slavonic see. The ecclesiastical province of Polonia arose in conjunction with a consolidated Polich state comprising Wielkspolska Greater Poland and Malopolska Lesser Poland by the end of the 10th century.

In order to prevent a complete takeover by the German Empire, the Tzimisce Razkoljna of Krakow convinced her fellow Tzimisce to allow this union to take place, even though it meant acquiescing to the Latin Church and, therefore, to Rome. Benedictine monasteries occupied sites in Miedzyrzecz and Tyniec by this time.

He stormed Prague in and, 15 years later, marched on Kiev, notching its Golden Gate with his sword. In , the Pope honored Boleslaw with a royal crown, making him Polands first actual king. Nevertheless, paganism continues to exert itself though furtively in the Polish countryside, supported and encouraged by the Gangrel Jolanta.

Desperate to thwart the schemes of both the Tzimisce and Ventrue, Jolanta participated in the pagan revolt of , a doomed effort to overthrow the grip of the Catholic Church. Although it failed, Jolanta survived to continue her battle against the encroachment of the city on her wilderness, which is becoming even more feral as the city has grown and prospered.

The martyrdom of Stanislaw, Bishop of Krakow, in exposed a growing rift between secular and clerical authority and between the Tzimisce and Ventrue masters of Poland.

For his defiance of Boleslaw the Bold, the Polish king, Bishop Stanislaw, met a violent death in his own church at the hands of the kings knights. The capital of Poland moved to Krakow in , where the Piast dynasty transformed the kingdom into Eastern Europes prime center of Catholicism. This distinction lasted for less than half a century. Continuing rivalry between political and religious factions resulted in the breakdown of the unified Polish Kingdom, culminating in with the ousting of Vladislav, eldest son of Boleslaw III.

Poland exists as a collection of discrete duchies and principalities in , each with its own Cainite overlord. Hungary Like much of Europe, this region was once home to Celts. Occupied and incorporated into the Roman Empire, the lands called Hungary were then known as the Province of Pannonia.

The Romans fortified the area through the erection of a system of earthen ramparts, which stretched along the Danube River to the Carpathian Basin and the western slopes of the Transylvanian Alps.

The empire made its stand here, building strong fortresses and towns. The empires defenses were upheld by the capital of Pannonia in the west, a fortress-town known as Aquincum later to be known as Obuda. Constructed on a natural hill overlooking the Danube at the point of a natural ford, Aquincum provided the Romans with a fortified position from which to keep invaders from crossing the river and sweeping onward to Rome.

Seeing the flatlands to the other side of the Danube, the Romans realized that another fort and settlement would also stow the advance of foes trying to reach the river. That settlement, Contra-Aquincum, would later form the nucleus of the town of Pest. The Romans also penetrated eastward of the province, crossing the Danube from the south and moving upward into what is now Wallachia.

Humans did not act alone in their attempt to civilize the barbaric East. Several Cainites supported the Roman Empire. Those Cainites who were satisfied with Romes amusements and comforts and those who were most respected and honored chose to remain close to Rome.

Their political rivals and a few idealists and rebels were sent or chose to go to the far-flung reaches of the empire including provinces like Pannonia and Dacia. They attempted to expand the empire northward from Dacia, but every time the legions tried to penetrate the dark lands beyond the fertile Dacian plains, they failed.

Living and unliving alike were faced with foes beyond their knowledge and with unexplained opposition from the land itself. Despite having carved out an empire throughout the known world, the fearless Roman soldiers were afraid of the darkness of the forests. The darkness in the land was far older than the empire. Since before remembered time, the lands had housed a great demon a twisted, maddened entity known as Kupala.

This abominable thing rested within the deepest caverns of the Carpathian Mountains. Removing his black, gangrenous heart so that he could not be slain by anyone who did not possess that organ, he entombed it in the lightless depths beneath the forested Carpathian foothills.

Kupalas evil influence oozed upward and outward, poisoning and infecting the land even as it granted it a breathtaking, wild beauty and an indefinable sense of mystery. Rocks, plants and earth were imbued with power, becoming magical and attracting those beings who could feel their emanations.

Madness and psychic disease slowly spread in waves from Kupalas center in Transylvania, reaching outward to encompass lands as far away as Bohemia, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Russia. Along with the native Tzimisce who had long ruled and feasted on the Dacians, brutal Shadow Lord werewolves stalked the land.

One of their Kinfolk, known as Decebel, King of the Dacians, invaded Pannonia and slaughtered the Roman armies there in the first century A. Emperor Trajan led the Roman armies in an invasion of Dacia in A. Over the next 20 years, the Romans rebuilt their civilization.

After fierce fighting with the Dacians, Rome settled some of her soldiers among these independent tribes people to prevent another uprising. Lewis's classic bestseller, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, perfect for storytime with the tiniest readers! Now available for the first time ever as a board book, a whole new generation of readers will fall in love with The Chronicles of Narnia in this retelling of C.

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All Rights Reserved. Transylvania by Night is a source book depicting the classic "vampire country" of Eastern Europe, as it is in the Dark Medieval world. One part history, one part Hammer Horror, this book will delight Vampire aficinadoes and genre fans alike. Transylvania by Night Average Rating: 7. RPG Item Rank: Vampire: The Dark Ages Storyteller. History Europe. History Medieval.

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