The Order of the Bloody Chalice

The Order of the Bloody Chalice, more commonly referred to as simply, The
Knights, are an ancient and secretive group. Most of the creatures of the night
dont know about them, but those who do know to be very afraid...
The Knights are an order of Dream Sorcerers who have found that, by bathing
in the blood of others, they can not only become immortal, but can gain even
more power over reality. Anyone can be a victim of their hunt for blood,
especially supernatural creatures, but the Oroboroi are the ones they seek the
most, for their blood is by far the most potent, and bathing in it garners rewards
which make it well worth the risk.
Oroboroi who first encounter them are deeply disturbed by Knights of the
Bloody Chalice, not understanding why anyone would go through the troubles of
such an abject and gruesome ritual when what they are looking for (immortality
and power) is just a Heart away...
...Those who do know, however, can only shake their heads in dismay, and
guess at what warped mind their leader must have had to form in the first
place...

Contents
Who They Are...
The Feudal PeckingOrder
What They Do...
Rites and Rituals
The Bathing
Raise Squire
Imbue Serf
Powers and Drawbacks
Universal Traits
Unique Traits
Disadvantages
Tactics
Preparations
Prey
Hunts

Developers Note
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Who They Are...

What little information which was recorded about the origin of the socalled
Knights has been lost to time. Among the ranks, however, It is said that the
founder of the organization has survived for over 10,000 years... Or at least, long
enough to have some VERY interesting tales of dominion. Stories among the
Knights tell of an ancient and powerful Dream Sorcerer, who can bend reality at
will, like an Oroboros... Except hes not an Oroboros. Hes a human.
Supposedly, it was this man who first developed the Blood Bathing ritual now
used by the order, and used it on some of the last remaining Dragons during the
Collapse.
Over the millennia, this individual is said to have founded an order of
likeminded individuals, who follow him solely out of fear and lust for the power
he can give them over their own physical mortality. Wherever large populations
of humans are, the Knights have eventually spread there, quietly picking off
individuals among them. New members who are brought in are enraptured by
the promise of eternal life, but are quickly corrupted by the rituals which their
elders bring them through.
The Knights of the Bloody Chalice want to live forever, without compromising
their humanity. This makes eating the Heart to become an Oroboros
problematic: the Knights believe that the Metamorphosis destroys the human,
mind, body, and spirit, and that the Oroboros is only a copy through which the
Heart pretends to still be human. After all, anyone who has truly studied
Oroboros anatomy can clearly see that they are no longer even made of the same
biological matter, not to mention all those bizarre powers and the fact that they
seem to use their Human form as a disguise, preferring to go around in Dragon
form whenever they can. No, the Knights reject this option: only through this
ritual of killing another to add to their own life can they truly stay human
forever.
The irony of this, as the Delvers have noted, lies in a fatal flaw in the ritual:
the Knights are using Dream Sorcery to commit an act of brazen disregard for the
lives of others. The act of killing another just to bathe in their blood is, on its
own, enough to break something in the mind, and combining it with dream
sorcery only amplifies this. By murdering others through an act of dream
sorcery, these people inadvertently destroy the part of their mind which causes
them to feel empathy towards other human beings, turning them all into some

form of egocentric sociopath, obsessed with repeating this ritual. Thus, in their
vain effort to preserve one part of their humanity while becoming immortal, the
Knights end up sacrificing another, making them inhuman in a completely
different way.
The Knights themselves are either unaware of this, do not care, or have simply
lost the ability to concern themselves with it, due to the derangements which
the ritual imbues upon them. They have been known, however, to speak highly
of humanity as a whole, and will defend the fact that they kill humans in their
efforts at selfpreservation as being a sacrifice of the few for the benefit of the
whole. This attitude probably makes some sense to them and their twisted
view of reality, but to nearly any other group who knows who they are,
everything they stand for makes them a clear and present danger, the only
solace being that they are small in number and slow to multiply...

The Feudal PeckingOrder

The Knights of the Chalice arent exactly keen on cooperation or even mutual
empathy. However, they arent stupid either: they know that their chances of
selfpreservation increase in numbers and some semblance of civility. Because
of this, the various strains have developed a loose code of conduct and
subordinance with each other.
The Knights do not stick to this structure because of loyalty or honor, but out
of interest. The Upper ranks use the lower for protection, while the lower ranks
rely on the upper ranks for guidance and wisdom, and often out of fear.

Rank 0 The Peasantry

At the bottom of this pecking order are what the Knights call the Peasants:
regular humans who arent part of the Order, and are generally considered little
more than a source of blood and pawns to be manipulated. However, even
members of the peasantry can sometimes show more usefulness than others, and
at that point, its best to bring them into the fold before they go somewhere
else...

Rank 1 Prospect
The Knights are very picky about who they show the ritual to, barring a direct
threat to their own lives. Even then, fear of reprisal by the others may keep

them silent. Even Prospects, who they believe may be worth bringing in
eventually, only catch glimpses of what the Knights are doing in their sacrificial
chambers.
The Knights usually find these potential apprentices in the Hunter Cells theyve
infiltrated: they are coconspirators who willingly helped them catch preys and
manipulate other Hunters, or survivors who were sent as cannon fodder yet still
came out alive. Once they have shown their worth however, the Knight will
eventually reveal them part of the truth, and offer them a place in the order.
Should the Prospect refuse, he will be unexpectedly executed and used as ritual
material on the spot. Otherwise, he is initiated as a new disciple, and joins the
next rank in the hierarchy...

Rank 2 Squire
Once a Prospect has gone through his first ritual, he joins the organization as
an initiate. Referred to by their elders as Squires, these young Knights have had
a taste of the power of the Bloody Chalice, but have yet to truly develop their
powers, and are still dependent on the Knight who let them in. They serve both
as apprentices and servants, carrying out tasks for their mentors in exchange for
the knowledge of their elders.
Eventually, however, a Squire will find his Knight to have taught him everything
he can, and at that point, will look to advance into a new place of power. This
is frequently done by killing or betraying their master: the Knight has already
accumulated resources and territory, and by that point the ritual has already
erased whatever sense of empathy might hold them back. More often, however,
the Squire will simply be brought before the local Lord, move on to form a new
territory, and eventually take their own Squire. In any case, those who prove
their worthiness to ascend can then be called true Knights of the Bloody
Chalice...

Rank 3 Knight
Fully fledged members of the Order go by the title of Knight. Experienced
enough to work on their own, they travel around a predetermined territory,
enjoying their increased lifespan and infiltrating Hunter Cells so they can find
suitable sacrifices and Prospects. They almost always keep at least one Squire
around, training them as they use them as a servant. In fact, if one runs into a
Squire or Knight, their counterpart is likely to be nearby.

Knights tend to stalk a single territory which is small enough to maintain but
large enough to avoid the inevitable investigations their murders bring. They are
not typically active in the same territory, preferring to keep away from others to
avoid being caught in each others collateral damage, but their territories often
overlap in some way. The only time when a large number of Knights can be
found in the same area is when their local Lord calls a caucus. At this time, they
will all bring sacrifices for the Lords bathing, in exchange for knowledge of new
sorcery, information about their fellow Knights, and threats to coordinate
against.
Such caucuses usually involve some sort of debauchery and
merrymaking, a tribute to the lives which will go on indefinitely.
While surely longlived by mortal standards, Knights rarely live long enough to
rise further in the hierarchy, for most of them eventually die either by the hand
of their squire or going after preys too powerful for them to handle. Those who
do, however, elevate themselves to a smaller and much more dangerous circle,
nearly universally through the death of their predecessor...

Rank 4 Lord
Some Knights manage to survive long enough to grow in power, and prove their
worth to lead to their regional peers. These are the Lords of the Bloody Chalice,
and tend to be both the oldest and most powerful members of the Order. Knights
usually avoid any sort of open conflict with their local Lord, and will occasionally
search new knowledge and wisdom from them by offering sacrifices. A few,
usually the most powerful or the most foolish, will try to challenge them and kill
them so they can take their place. Naturally, Lords also tend to be the most
cruel and megalomaniacal of the Knights.
Even the Lords, however, are humbled in the presence of the illusive
wandering King of the Bloody Chalice...

Rank 5 King
While a lot of people believe Lords are the strongest and most dangerous of the
Knights, there are stories about someone beyond them, whom they are said to
all kneel before. Believed to have founded the Order, the mysterious King of the
Bloody Chalice supposedly has developed his powers to the point that he can now
bend reality itself around him. Some even say he is old enough to remember
things about Dominion, back when the Dragons of the old were still ruling. As

the Collapse happened over 10,000 years ago, that would make him seemingly
impossibly old, and anyone that old is clearly doing something right...
No one is really sure of his existence however, and if any Oroboroi has even
encountered him to prove or deny it, they have not lived to tell...

What They Do...

Rites and Rituals
The Knights are all Dream Sorcerers, and have access to a wide variety of spells
and rituals, but they all have a few basic rituals in common, albeit with their
own flourishes...

The Bathing
[ ADD IMG: Diagram of the ritual ]
The Knights all use the same ritual to periodically add years to their
immortality.
A stone vat is prepared with a series of lines and runes etched into it.
Next to this vat is a tilted stone altar, also containing the symbols, which
had builtin restraints and is set to drain directly into the side of the vat.
Sacrifices are restrained, alive, on the altar, with their necks on the side
with the drain.
Note that the victim CAN be dead, as long as their body is still
warm and limp by the time they are drained, and has not lost the
heat of life nor gone into rigormortis or decay. Oroboroi bodies
which have been killed are usable as long as their bodies havent
fossilized or faded.
This part is, obviously, much easier with someone else to help,
thus the usefulness of a Squire.
The victims throat is slit, and their blood is drained into the tub, their
life drained with it.
Note that this can be done with an unlimited number of victims, as
long as the tub has room for the Knight.
The Knight undresses completely, wipes their skin clean with a wet cloth,
climbs in the tub, and covers their entire body with the blood. The blood
disappears as their skin takes it in.

 Some subgroups have specific motions or incantations which make

the ritual more potent
The warmth of the blood dissipates, which eventually causes it to
lose potency, so this part is much easier with either the Knight or
Squire to keep draining the blood while the other bathes.
Effects
Lifespan Extension
1 month for an Animal that can dream
1 year for a nonsupernatural Mortal
5 per dot of Supernatural Trait for a Supernatural
50 per dot of Heartstring for an Oroboros
Breath
1 for an Animal
2 for a Human
3 per dot of Supernatural Trait for a supernatural
5 per for Heartstring or an Oroboroi.
Instant Breaking Point for the gruesome sacrifice of another, unless
they have some sort of condition which makes them not care. (The
following condition does just that)
The Breaking Point automatically brings on a Permanent Condition:
Drank from the Bloody Chalice. This condition makes them a
mild sociopath, an egocentrist, and gives them an obsession for
gathering new victims for the ritual and preserving their own
Human Existence. It also prevents the Breaking Points from
things like killing people as part of the sacrifice, though they
usually retain some standards of decency, at least for the first
hundred years...
Note that a being which can normally resurrect after physical death, such
as an Oroboros, loses their entire pool of health and supernatural energy
from this, meaning resurrection is going to be a long and difficult

process, assuming the Knights do not do something to prevent it: Knights

make it a priority to carry Jadeite implements at all times, and have
been known to destroy the Forms or Hearts of their Oroboroi victims to
prevent them from resurrecting.

Raise Squire
The Knight leads a more intensive version of the ritual to take on a
Squire, which ends with them both bathing together in a larger tub filled
with the blood of several victims, including whatever Supernatural
Creatures the prospect helped kill to prove their worth.
It is believed among the Knights and Squires that, because the Dream
Sorcery has not shaped itself on the Prospect, anything that goes wrong
will result in some failure to actually imbue immortality or the power to
stay alive.
The Lords know a bit more, that the ritual must be performed within
certain guidelines to imbue the derangement which alters all the Knights
upon the first bathing: without sociopathy or obsession, the Squires are
much harder to control, and may end up either becoming deranged in
some other way from the act of murder or betraying the order out of
guilt or convenience.

Imbue Serf
The Knight spends a point of Breath and smears her own blood on serfs
forehead, making him a Prospect.
This not only gives the new Prospect the Breath Bonded condition, but
also imbues him with one of the Knights Unique Traits, chosen at the
time of the ritual.

Powers and Drawbacks

Universal Traits
Dream Sorcery All members of the Order have 5 dots of Dream Sorcery by the
time they reach the rank of Knight. This should be given for free at character
creation.
Immaculate While the rituals effects are in place, they Knights always
appear to be about 25, in the prime of their lives. They are attractive, healthy,
and unblemished, and are nearly immune to nonmagical poison or disease.
Breath Usage The ritual garners the Knight Breath, which can be used for
whatever the Oroboroi use it for, such as healing or infusing allies with Breath.
They also have a few extra uses for it, and can spend a point to imbue
themselves with
1/1 Natural Armor
3 points of Fire Resistance which extends to clothing and items
A +3 bonus to Speed, Initiative, and Defense
These effects stack and last for 1 scene.
Note that this does NOT give them access to Purviews or Ablutions.
Supernatural Response The Knights sweat blood in the presence of the
Oroboroi and other powerful Supernaturals which can be used for the ritual,
allowing them to locate their targets. This is mostly on the side of their body
which is closest to the creature, as if the blood is pining for them to be added
to. The amount is small and could be mistaken for a minor cut or even
overlooked with most supernaturals, but is more prominent with greater
potency, especially an Oroboros.
Whenever a Knights is sweating blood due to the presence of
supernaturals, every witness rolls Wits + Composure.
Add +1 to the roll for every odd point of supernatural trait for each
supernatural around, +2 for each odd point of Heartstring for every
Dragon, and 1 to 3 if the Knight is wearing clothes that would cover the
blood, such as long sleeves, or a thick coat.
Any character who succeeds in the roll notices the blood, and reacts
accordingly: a character who knows of the Knights will either try to run

away or defend herself, while someone who doesnt know about them
will at least question what is happening, or mistake the blood sweating
for wounds and try to offer help.
Note that characters can also smell the blood: it is completely stale,
even from a supernatural standpoint, but not dried or rotten, making it
an odd smell but not an alarming one.
Physically Human Aside from the bloodsweating, the Knights are physically
indistinguishable from any other human. Both scientific methods such as blood,
DNA tests, or Task Force VALKYRIEs systems, and most magical means of
discerning what they are, such as a Vampires Auspex or a Princess Reflected
Light Charm, will register them as regular human mortals. Only powers which
detect the results of direct realityalterations or Dream Sorcery will show that
theyve done something to bring permanence to an idealized version of their
Human form.

Unique Traits
Some members have been observed with other powers, such as fast healing,
the ability to hypnotize others, and even cases of dead Knights rising again once
left alone. There has been at least one case of a Knight jumping into the body
of someone theyd done a ritual on, taking them over, and transforming that
persons body back into their own.
For every dot of [Status: Bloody Chalice] a Knight has, the ritual imbues them
with another one of the following traits. Note that some of them may have
different traits, and having an extra trait is not unheard of, and that this does
not apply to the King, who has access to all of these traits.

Mental
Mind Reading
The Knight rolls Intelligence + Manipulation vs Wits to look into the
mind of another. They can only read the surface thoughts, but this
is undetectable without advanced supernatural means.
If they want to look for something deeper in the targets mind,
they make the same roll, resisted by Composure to prompt the
person to start thinking of things.

Physical
Fast Healing
Bashing damage heals at 1 point per 2 turns.
Lethal damage heals at a rate of 1 per scene.
Heightened Endurance
All wound penalties are negated.
Double resistances against toxins, disease, and starvation.
Resurrection
If killed, such as by bloodloss or small head or heart wound, but
not destroyed, such as through immolation, the Knight will
automatically use all breath to heal as much damage as possible as
soon as their body us out of sight and out of mind, waking up.

Social
Immaculate Appearance
+2 to all social rolls where they are being looked at, regardless of
what the roll is: Intimidation, Persuasion, and Seduction all work
equally well.
Hypnotic Words
Spend breath and roll Willpower against Resolve to overwhelm
someones mind, giving them simple commands which they are
them compelled to obey.
Impersonate Station
Kill someone, not for a sacrifice, and take the concept of their
station. The Knight will then be able to convince others that
they belong wherever they did. This does not hold up to scrutiny
of being questioned or attempts to convince people they actually
are who they claim to be, as there is no record that they are, but
prevents it from being questioned in the first place.

Weird
Body Snatching
Whenever a Knight uses Breath on someone in any way, he imbues
the character with part of his Breath essence. As long as the
Breath still is inside the body, the character is a candidate for
bodysnatching. The target can have supernatural traits, but it
MUST be fundamentally human no Knight in his right mind will
want to reincarnate in a supernatural creatures body.
If the Knight gets killed or grievously injured, she can chose to
spend a point of Breath to abandon her own body and jump to the
body of one of the persons he imbued with Breath.
If that happens, roll the Knights Resolve + Composure vs the
targets Resolve + Composure. (+ Supernatural Trait, if they have
it). The Knight adds +1 to her roll for each point of his Breath the
target has inside her body.
This is an extended roll, and each difference in success causes a
loss of willpower to the loser. Keep rolling until one of the two
runs out of willpower.
If the Knight wins, her old body dies and she reincarnates in the
target, effectively destroying the original owner of the body as it
transforms completely into a copy of his. If the target wins, he
manages to fight her off, and the Knight returns to her own body,
unconscious.
The Knight does not get anything from the target: their skills,
attributes, merits, appearance, and anything else is lost when the
new body transforms to match what she was like in his previous
one. Only external traits, such as Clothing and Items remain the
same.

Drawbacks
The ritual is particularly intensive, making it difficult to carry out
without preparation and care.

 The ritual makes them sociopaths, and causes them to obsess over
preserving their own Life over everything else.
Sweating blood in the presence of the Supernatural also makes it easier
for their enemies to identify them.
The rituals effect eventually wears off after a time depending on how
potent the used blood was. When this happens, they start to age at an
accelerated rate until they return to their actual age, usually with
disfiguration, like if their body was eroding. If they have gone beyond a
regular human lifespan, they will eventually crumble to dust unless they
renew the ritual. They typically have a month to do this after the blood
starts wearing off.

Tactics
Preparations
The Knights try to accumulate resources over the years, like safehouses which
they have preprepared to perform their rituals, weapons to use against
supernaturals, money for buying more of those things, and fake identities to hide
out under.

Prey
In general, the knights tend to grab mortals who they dont think will be missed
and drag them off for more breath and years. They will usually do this to bide
their time until better prey becomes available, or to gather resources for a hunt.
In reality, they are far more interested in supernatural blood.
Oroboroi are the biggest game they hunt, though they will also target other
supernaturals
(Werewolves, Vampires, Changelings, etc) if given the
opportunity; as long as it has blood and is supernatural in some form, it becomes
a potent target in their eyes. They have also been known to go after Drowning
Hosts, but most Knights tend to avoid them unless theyre desperate: taking on
the Deep Ones is counterproductive to the goal of eternal life.

Hunts
The general mode of operation for the Knights on a hunt is to create or
infiltrate existing Hunter cells, rile them up with stories of whatever monster the
Knight is chasing, arm them with cached weapons and powers, then use them as
fodder against whatever supernatural creatures they intend to use for their
ritual.
They may infiltrate an existing group as a new member, or pass themselves off
as someone the group would trust. They might appear to a group from The Long
Night as a Priest who can give them some sort of blessing and knows ancient
scripture, or to a group from VALKYRIE as an agent for another group, like
VASCU or MI13, and pass off their powers as classified technology. They never
pass themselves off as a combatant, however, always opting for a role in the
back, keeping the Hunters between them and the prey, like a sword and shield.

The Knight uses the Imbue Serf ritual to recruit the Hunters in the group as
Prospects, but doesnt tell them whats actually going on. Once the hunt comes,
the Knight pushes the hunter cell to their deaths to take down whatever
supernatural creature theyve found. The Knight must be present for this, as
they will have to move bodies quickly and clean up some of the mess. Any
survivors are offered the opportunity to join them in immortality. If they refuse,
the Knight kills them as soon as their back is turned. Otherwise, the Knight has
found themselves a new squire...
...And the cycle begins anew.

...
And there stood the three dragons, cornered, their teeth,
claws, and scales bared against the group of attackers whod
somehow managedtotracktheireverymove. Inhindsight,itwas
perhaps some carelessness which had lead them to this moment,
but even still, how could a seemingly benign group of conspiracy
theorists becomeso violent,so competent,andso cunning, almost
overnight?
As the sound of gunfire flooded the room, the flashes of the
muzzles illuminatedthe room, and theillfatedOroboroihadtheir
answer...
...There, standing behind the group of armored thugs... The
faceoftheverymantheydbeenlookingfor...
...Andbloodoozedfromeveryporeofit.