The Furies of Legend
THE FURIES
by Mike Kelly
(Original inspiration by Daniel Maloy)
"On Terra, long dead
Old Gods, it is said
Created the Furies to Fly.
Grim justice to seek
And revenge for the weak,
And those whom the law has passed by."
-Mercedes Lackey, Eumenides
The Furies of Greek myth were spirits of horrible vengence. They were created by the gods to punish the transgressions, whatever they may be, of the living. It is unknown, like much about this clan, whether the legend evolved from the clan, or vice versa.
There is no clear consensus on whether the Furies are a true clan, or if they are even children of Caine....their origin, like the clan itself, is deeply shrouded in mystery. Indeed very few Kindred are even aware that the clan exists, most believing them to be Brujah, Malkavians, Gangrel or some of the more violent Anarchs or Sabbat members.
Like the legends on which they are founded the Furies are the very embodiment of anger, or violence...even more so than the Garou. The Furies have intemate knowledge of the Beast within, and are one with it.
Appearance: Many of the Furies are very disheveled in appearance as they are often so consumed by their desire for vengeance that they do not bother with appearance. Others take immaculate care of themselves in order to inspire the "proper" amount of fear in the object of their hatred. Physically the Furies are believed to be very pale and gaunt, even more so than most Kindred, whether this is a result of their physical neglect or simply a facet of their existance is not known. Most of this is speculative due to only a handful of this bloodline has been observed...from afar.
Haven: Furies often take Havens similar to places that were most important to them in life, but they often avoid the actual places themselves because their mastery of Mentem can bring unpleasant memories with everything they touch.
Background: In Greek and Roman religion and mythology, three daughters of Mother Earth, conceived from the blood of Uranus, when Kronos castrated him. They were powerful divinities that personified conscience and punished crimes against kindred blood, especially matricide. They were usually represented as winged women with serpent hair. Their names were Megaera [jealous], Tisiphone [blood avenger], and Alecto [unceasing in pursuit]. When called upon to act, they hounded their victims until they died in a "furor of madness or torment. In the myth of Orestes they appear as Clytemnestra's agents of revenge. After Athena absolved Orestes of guilt in the murder of his mother, she gave the Furies a grotto at Athens where they received sacrifices and libations, and became euphemistically known as the Eumenides [kindly ones]. Throughout their reign before the Furies began to seek justice
they ‘recruited’ many adepts and retainers. These minor Furies spring from all classes and all cultures. Wherever anyone possesses enough anger at her death a Fury is born. In ancient times the Furies were completely female as they bore the brunt of the world's injustice, and were allowed no acceptable actions to release their frustration. Male retainers or Furies were found too violent and extreme following the redemption of the Furies once they became know as the Eumenides. 2000 years ago this bloodline of Changelings or Kindred died out. Legends have the three Furies as having been betrayed by an ally and slain. Other legends speak of Megaera and Alecto returning to their original vengence seeking ways and Tisiophone long married toCalliope , of the Muses, refused their offer to return. The Muses rallying to defend one of their own and her wife slayed the Furies. Tisiophone and Calliope are then believed to have been later betrayed before they and the Muses could do battle with an even greater evil. It is said they fell in battle to lie side by side. Ending forever the bloodline of Justice and Creativity.
In recent years, however the bloodline has resurfaced among those of the Kindred of the night. Slowly but surely a rare bloodline is embraced by a Kindred and , regardless of clan the childe holds not the blood of her sire but the blood of a Fury. There have been only three such cases, one for each of the orignal Furies. Megaera’s blood to a Toreador, Alecto’s to a Brujah and Tisiphone’s to a Gangrel. These woman retain the traits of their Kindred Blood, but gain the benefits of the Fury blood as well. (i.e. the Fury disipline of Mentem)
One of the things that has confused the Kindred scholars the most is the fact that they do not, as a rule, Embrace the living. Instead they choose their Progeny from among the recently dead. The Furies, unlike most clans, are able, it has been suggested to Embrace those dead up to several days (one day plus one more day for each point of Generation Background. So a 13th Generation Fury could only Embrace someone dead a single day, while an 8th Generation Fury could Embrace a person dead up to six days.). This ability has only recently been observed when the Kindred of Alecto’s blood embraced three women in Los Angeles, this year. Neither of the other two women has been observed with any childer as of yet but the courts of Vienna are closely watching this new bloodline. For will these three descendants of the three original Furies, embrace the theory of justice with mercy or return the bloodline to it’s original roots of bloody vengence..
Fury Disipline
