Muricia was a young Spanish peasant girl, embraced by a Sabbat Gangrel for their war against the elders and the inquisition. She was among one of the first packs to travel to the new world. Her pack landed in Mexico, and traveled north, attempting to reach the United States. In the land that would become Louisiana, they met a group of Garou, and all but Muricia were slaughtered.
Muricia almost certainly would have died, but she stumbled across a group of Qualmi Bastet. Muricia was not old enough to smell of the Wyrm, and the Qualmi had never met Kindred before. They took this strange creature in, for they hated the Garou more than anything else in those days. Muricia learned the ways of the Bastet, and eventually adopted their life-style. She lived alone, with a small tribe of indians as her "protectorate".
The Qualmi had regular moots, and Muricia would often attend. At one of these moots that a strange Bastet arrived, one of the mysterious Bubasti. This egyptian Bastet knew Muricia for what she was, and spoke with her long into the night. It was then that Muricia first learned the Rite of the Third Birth, and began down her path of Spiritual awakening.
The Bubasti disappeared, and Muricia became obsessed with studying her new found spiritual powers. There were many secrets still unknown to her, not the least of which was the origins of the Rite. She had some sense that it had been performed before, in ancient Egypt, as part of the war against Set. She had occasional visions of the Egyptian goddess Bastet, the queen of catkind.
While Muricia was occupied, Kindred began to pour into Louisiana, both Sabbat and Camarilla. Eventually feeling forced to choose sides, and believing that the Camarilla were dupes of the Antediluvians, Muricia once again allied with her old Sect. Because of her knowledge of the wilderness, many fleeing Sabbat survived that would otherwise have died the final death. Because of her timely aid, she has much Status with the Sabbat of this region, even to this day.
With Muricia's association with the Sabbat, she began to drift away from the Qualmi. Though she remained free of the taint of the Wyrm, most of companions were not. During this times, the native tribe began to be slaughtered, often at the instigation of Kindred. Though the tribes allied to the Garou were hardest hit, the Bastet had losses as well. The Bastet never became Muricia's enemies, but many felt she had betrayed them.
For companionship, Muricia began putting other Gangrel through the Rite of the Third Birth. As time went on and the number of Ahrimanes grew, they to put others through the Rite as well. Some of them adopted the Bastet life-style, choosing a group of people to oversee, as their protectorate. Others joined traditional Sabbat packs. Muricia uses her considerable influence to protect the rights of all her children.
Muricia began to pay more attention to the growing city of New Orleans, encountering Setites for the first time. From that day on, she made it her first priority to drive those foul creatures from her homeland. Though rarely in conflict with them herself, some of her children have always been involved with the fight against the Snakes, even if it meant allying secretly with the Camarilla.
Today Muricia continues her life much as she always has. She has a town of Cajuns in the Bayou that she "protects" from her aging mansion home. She still has contact with the Qualmi, though they are no longer allies. She bickers with the Sabbat bishop about what the Sect should work towards. She fights ceaselessly against the Setites.
Age: "20", 7th Generation, born 1632, embraced 1653 by Hidalgo
Image: Muricia is a petite Spanish woman, sometimes wearing traditional Spanish dress, sometime wearing the garb of the native tribes of the region. She is an immensely proud woman, and does not tolerate back talk. Her views on the world are a complex mix of medieval Spanish christianity, Sabbat ideology, shape-shifter mythology and the little she has learned about Egypt. Even other Ahrimanes find this somewhat confusing.
Influence: Not many blood lines deal with their founder on a day to day basis. The Ahrimanes hold Muricia in semi-religious awe. Many of the nomadic packs still rely on Muricia's knowledge for survival. As a result, she is very influential with the Sabbat of the area. The local bishop loathes her, however, and some of the Sect leaders in Mexico and New York think she is too independent. Nothing has been done yet to reign her in.
Secrets: A (Muricia knows Alejandro from his days in the Spanish Sabbat. She has recently learned from her spirits his is still alive, and is not certain what to do with this information. Note that Muricia is unaware of the Sabbat's ties to Pentex and the Wyrm. It is unclear what she would do if she learned of it.)
She watches over a nearby town of Cajuns, protecting and feeding from them. She rarely visits New Orleans, but keeps tabs on the city through her children and spirits.
Goals: Muricia wants to see the Setites destroyed. She also does not want to see the Sabbat become to strong in this region, for fear it will curtail her freedom. She believes in the Jyhad, however, and that the spiritual power the Ahrimanes have is crucial to winning the war against the Satanic Antediluvians. She believes the Umbra is essential to her goals, and longs to go their. She would also like to learn more about the origins of her Rites. As the time of Gehenna draws near, her quest for the origin grows more desperate.
In-Depth Look
Like the Gangrel from which they came the Ahrimanes have a very strong tradition of oral history, and storytelling is customary at any of their gatherings. Given the small size and relative youth of the bloodline its not surprising many stories do not involve its members at all but draw their sources from the native myths and legends of the spirit world. One story that is about an Ahrimane is story of Muricia, the founder and mother of the bloodline. That story is told to all Ahrimanes and although, as with any culture with an oral history, the details change with each telling the following is something that all Ahrimanes can usually agree upon.
The history of the Ahrimane bloodline starts with the history of its founder, the Gangrel antitribu Muricia. Muricia originally came to America with her sire and his pack but before then they had been roaming the dwindling wilds of Europe. As befitted a Country Gangrel, Muricia often travelled apart from her pack and it was during one of these periods that the seeds of the Ahrimanes creation was sown.
While journeying by herself, Muricia came across an ancient, long neglected burial mound surrounded by imposing, carved standing stones and hidden in the depths of a forest. Intrigued by this place she decided to force her way inside to see what it contained. The large stone over the entrance would have kept out any mortal, but eventually her vampiric strength enabled her to move it and enter the mound.
The darkness inside was no obstacle to one as adept at Protean as she and with her powers she could clearly see the inhabitant of the mound. Lying on a stone slab was the form of a torporus vampire. Completely naked, she was covered from head to foot in pagan symbols which were etched into her flesh with blood. Having found what she believed to be the resting placed of an Elder, Muricia did what any Sabbat would do, she diablerised her.
It soon became apparent that this elder had been a practitioner of some form of blood magic. Muricia soon found herself exhibiting some strange new powers under stress, although she was unable to call upon them at will. Fascinated by this she started to study pagan history, beliefs and magic as she was finding herself being drawn closer to natural and spiritual world, and she was convinced that this was the root of her new abilities.
However, her studies were soon cut short by her sire, who was taking his pack to America where the Sabbat were rapidly expanding while fighting a bloody war against the Camarilla for control of this new land. Unable to resist the ties of the Vinculum and her vestigial feelings of loyalty towards him, Muricia went with him to the new land. However, the war she found their was not the one she had been expecting. Factions within the Gangrel antitribu had gone to war with each other, Country Gangrel against City Gangrel and her sire had joined the fighting against his own kind with a relish that revolted her.
Taking the first opportunity she could to separate herself from her sire Muricia journeyed south among the native peoples and renewed her studies, this time into the magic and powers of the Shamans. It took her time to win over a few of the native magic workers, but her closeness to animal world and her protection of their tribe from its enemies eventually one them over. One of the first applications of their magic that Muricia used was a variation of a native cleansing ritual which she used to break the Vinculum with her sire. This, and possibly the other rituals that she practised, had wholly unexpected side-effects and the very nature of her blood seemed to be altered by them. She found her powers taking on a new direction, what once had been a tie with the animals and the land became a tie with the animal spirits. Where before she spoke to the animals, and they would answer her call, now she could speak to their spirit brethren as well, and they too, would come when she asked.
Her joy at this new power soon turned to frustration however as she found herself unable to teach it other vampires and indeed incapable of even siring other vampires. After several abortive attempts at both she came up with a new solution. She would adapt the ritual she had used upon herself and perform it on other willing Gangrel who she though where worthy.
Muricia found a few others that she considered worthy and together they formed the first pack of Ahrimanes. As their numbers grew Muricia taught her most trusted companions the rituals that she had learned and they began travels of their own, finding others who were worthy and eventually founding packs and havens of their own. Slowly they claimed several territories for themselves, where possible removed from too many mortals, and set themselves up in control of them.
Another Version
History is never a certain thing, and vampiric oral history even less so. Some Ahrimanes tell a slightly different version of their history. Some tell both. As always in the World of Darkness the truth of the matter is unknown.
Near the end of the Anarch Revolt, a Gangrel Anarch by the name of Muricia found herself with her small pack and their few allies in the northern reaches of Germany, fleeing from the warriors of the newly-formed Camarilla. Unfortunately, they were out-manoeuvred and trapped between two Camarilla contingents. The forces smashed the pack between them like an anvil and a hammer, destroying nearly all of the Anarchs. Instead of fighting, Muricia fled, using her skill at Obfuscate to elude the Ventrue knights and Brujah gangs that pursued. Desperate for a haven to hide in for the day, both from the sun and from the Camarilla army, she scrambled through the forest, deeper and deeper. Cursing her lack of training in Protean, she stumbled across an old pagan burial mound. As the sky brightened, she forced herself in, clawing at the dirt and punching through the stones to the chamber within. Tumbling inside, she was shocked to discover a torporous vampire lying peacefully inside. Lying peacefully dressed in a simple robe with blood runes carved all over her body, the Kindred was the only thing within the small mound. Muricia, recovering from her initial shock, fell upon the vampire, needing to fill her belly after the flight from the Camarilla. Muricia drank all she needed, and more.
Later, Muricia joined up with the newly formed Sabbat and continued the fight against the Camarilla, not really wanting anything but peace. After the discovery of the New World, she was among the first to call for an exodus of Europe, as she saw the futility of the Sabbat-Camarilla War. Few supported her, however, and eventually, as the Sabbat was pushed further and further north, she simply joined those few who agreed with her (mainly some disorganised Gangrel antitribu) in the arduous travel across the Atlantic. Once there, left empty after the long years of war, Muricia disappeared into the wilds of North America, to live among nature.
Eventually she decided that she had to return to humanity again, and she approached a few native settlements. Surprised at the warm welcome she got, she stayed and eventually participated in some native rituals. The natives knew of her true nature, however, and the shaman tried to perform a rite of destruction to kill her. Unfortunately for him, it did not work out the way she had intended.
What happened then is obscure. Some say that Muricia frenzied and drank the entire village dry, and so gained the knowledge of the shaman and his people. Some say that she used powerful Presence abilities to sway the natives to her side, and she learned from them how to make others like herself and then discarded them. Others claim that she simply stood, walked over to the shaman, and beat the knowledge of the ritual out of him. A few brave souls claim that something Awoke in Muricia, something far older than herself. Either way, it is agreed that Muricia left the village changed, and she left in it ruin.
Returning to vampire society, Muricia joined with the Sabbat that had followed her in the pan-Atlantic journey and began to push the sect westward. She also created others like herself, choosing female Gangrel antitribu that she deemed worthy of becoming and Ahrimane (so named by an Assamite who witnessed their ferocity and temper. He likened their anger to that of "Ahrimane himself."). Using a variant of the ritual performed on her, as well as a large volume of her own blood, she created other Ahrimanes and grouped them into packs, much to the Lasombra's dislike.
As the Sabbat settled down and the power balance in the New World emerged, Muricia took her get to the southeaster portion what would become the United States, and there she slowly continued to build her bloodline of female warriors."
Muricia herself remains very much in control of the bloodline that she created. While she does not order the others around, her advice is always heeded and her suggestions almost always acted upon. She keeps irregular contact with all the pack leaders, either through spirits or animal messengers or often through frequent meetings. She regularly travels around the Ahrimane’s territories and it is not uncommon for her to simply turn up at an estate unannounced. The younger Ahrimanes treat her with something akin to awe. After all, how many other vampires get to meet the founder of their line in person?