| Contents |
| History • Strongholds • Advantages and Weaknesses • The Vipers in DC • Viper Characters |
| Vipers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pseudonyms | Horned Serpents |
| Sect | Independents |
| Disciplines | Potence Presence Serpentis |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
The Vipers are a brutal, action-oriented bloodline that branched off from the Followers of Set many millennia ago, claiming to descend from one of Set's sons, the wolf-headed warrior god Wepwawet, rather than directly from him. They maintain close ties with their parent clan, who view them as thuggish but useful warriors in the fight to convert the world to their immemorial religion.
History
Vipers claim as long as lineage as the Setites do, with a creation myth that states that they were created by Wepwawet to serve as the warrior hands and arms of the larger clan while they performed the more subtle work of corruption and conversion. Wepwawet is said to have lived among his Vipers throughout the ancient Egyptian Empire and to only have retired to fall into torpor near the dawn of the Renaissance, making his small but fierce bloodline one of those with the most direct link to their founder.
Once Wepwawet was no longer active, a small group of Vipers remained at his ancient temple in the Egyptian desert to guard him while he slept while the rest dispersed across the world to attend to their divine mission. Many Vipers attached themselves (and still do) to especially dynamic Followers of Set or to Setite temples that they saw as up-and-comers, positioning themselves to enforce whatever their priests might declare. Others operate as independent mercenaries, although they still tend to drop whatever else they were doing if mention of their progenitor or religion happens to come up instead.
Strongholds
The Viper stronghold is referred to as the Arena of Thunder, an ancient underground vault carved into the rock walls around Abu Simbel, an ancient Egyptian ruin near the border of what is now Sudan. The site is protected as an archaeological treasure thanks to the two temples to Ramesses the II and his wife Nefertari above ground, which is more than fine with the Vipers, who take any and all measures they can think of to ensure that the sleeping Wepwawet be guarded until he awakes again.
Abu Simbel's walls are covered with carvings of military victories, both in the secret Viper sanctum and in the sunlit world where human beings can behold them, but the extreme weather conditions in the Arena prevent too many from visiting for mere sightseeing, which is much more pleasant at the great archaeological sites near the Nile. The region regularly sees temperatures well over 100 degrees during the day, and the tendency for sandstorms to whip up off the rock walls is equally discouraging for casual visitors.
Advantages and Weaknesses
Advantages
Vipers lack the stealth of their parent clan's members, but they make up for it by being physical powerhouses. All vampires are capable of increasing their physical abilities by burning vitae, but Vipers can do so even more impressively, drawing up reserves that even experienced vampires of other clans and bloodlines may not be able to.
Due to their constant need for new recruits and their corrupting mission, Vipers are also blessed with the ability to "convert" Followers of Set to their bloodline; while those thus converted do not change in power or temperament, if they remain part of the bloodline, any childer they Embrace will be created as Vipers from the beginning.
Disadvantages
Like other Setites, Vipers are sensitive to light and experience pain and disorientation when exposed to too much of it; however, they are not as susceptible as their cousins, and tend to feel more like they're getting a migraine than like their eyes are being burnt out. Instead, they also suffer from an increased instinctive hatred of them when they interact with any animal, all of which recognize not just a predator but a merciless one and act accordingly until they manage to escape or die.
The Vipers in DC
There are officially no Vipers in DC at the moment. But then again, supposedly there are no Setites, either, which has been seeming less and less likely lately...
Viper Characters
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| Genevieve d'Joie |