Difference between revisions of "House of Sage"

Revision as of 01:49, 12 May 2021

The House of Sage

The House of Sage is the House of the Toreador Elder Octavius Sage and his descendents. Based in Milan, Italy, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious of Toreador Houses, considered rivaled only by the Milanese House of Augustine and the Parisian House of Villon.

The House is notable for being extremely large as vampiric lineages go, with sixty-six members in its first three generations descended from Octavius and an even larger brood of younger descendents beyond. It is also fiercely loyal to the Camarilla, with its members carefully chosen and thoroughly programmed with the tenets of the sect from well before their Release or even Embrace. Any members of the House who attempt nonconformity are severely punished until they are drawn back in line, up to and including being executed if they simply will not behave, but this is rare; after all, the House's patriarch is well-known for being a ruthless "re-educator", and his childer and their childer learn those skills early in their existence.

The House skews heavily Italian and is mostly male, although the further away a generation is from the original founder, the more likely it is to be more diverse. Mortals being considered for membership must be superlative musicians, preferably in the vocal arts although rare exceptions are made for composers or instrumentalists, and must also be considered physically perfect. The result is a House entirely populated by what most Elder Toreador would consider only the pinnacle of achievement. Members of the House of Sage are highly sought-after by other Toreador and even Camarilla society at large as court entertainers and musicians in residence, their presence considered a social coup for any Prince who manages to attract and retain their attention for any length of time.

It is also notable that the House seldom teaches or even condones skills beyond those traditionally learned by Clan Toreador. Octavius disapproves of out-of-clan powers and skills; each childe of the House is taught that power lies not in diversifying into other vampiric powers but in successfully mastering their own to the point of sublime perfection.

Family Tree

History of the House

The House of Sage was founded in roughly 383 C.E., when its patriarch, Octavius Sage, Embraced his first son Titus Marcius as support for his work with Julian Augustine to found the Camarilla and ensure that Milan's Toreador power base could compete with the Ventrue-dominated city of nearby Rome.