The Imperfect
Tzimisce
Boogeymen and relics, forever brooding on the lost glories of the Old Country. If you can get them out of their workshops, they can be civilized, but they have regrettably medieval social tendencies. Their transparent attempts at playing eminence grise should be watched for, noted and contained. Their arrogance and ambitions are the keys to making certain that they're as productive as possible. Oh, a final warning: they carry grudges. If you annoy one, kill it quickly. It will save you decades of aggravation.
Assamite
Ah, what a blade we point at our own breasts! Were there any sense in the world, we would be glad to give them our vitae as a gift while they went out to make war on our foes. Can you picture the sheer spectacle of the sons of Hassam silently clearing the forests of cowering Lupine atavisms? The blood sings at the thought. Unfortunately, the world is not a sensible place. Until that night, use their talents with discretion and show them respect. Oh yes, and never, ever seek to cheat them of their payment.
Brujah
So-called egalitarians, they have no real interest in bettering the lot of others. Rather, they want us brought down to their level so that they can lord it over the rest of us in the democratic mire. Fortunately, their chances of success are nil. In the meantime, those who serve us make superb cannon fodder, and those who do not die easily.
Gangrel
Every time I look at a Gangrel, I am half-convinced I am going to watch him climb a tree and begin to gibber for blood-soaked bananas. They are evolution in reverse, Rousseau's noble savage in the flesh. Consider them a failed experiment and allow them to die off with dignity.
Giovanni
Were there more of them, they'd be a danger. As is, they're an annoyance with potential. They have breeding, refinement, resources and direction, much as we do, and are working to an end much as we are. Their fascination with what was instead of what is will be their fatal weakness, though. Relying on the dead as allies ignores the logical fallacy inherent in that strategy: were those allies more competent, they would not be dead.
Malkavian
You have seen, I am certain, certain households among the wealthy where the smallest child of the family is the absolute master of the house, and the rest of the family are slaves to the brat's whims? In such households, you see men who regularly shake the pillars of the financial world forced to their hands and knees, babbling baby-talk and being ridden like beasts of burden. In such households, you find strong and beautiful women reduced to abject slavery and degradation by juvenile tyrants whose ice cream is too runny or whose porridge is too hot for their delicate palates. Think carefully on that image the next time you consider listening to the word of a Malkavian.
Nosferatu
In some ways, they are more like us than any other clan. Like ours, theirs is an aristocracy of merit. Like us, they look to survival past today's petty squabbles and proto-Jyhads. Unlike ours, their vision is limited from too much time in the tunnels, and their petty gossip-brokering continually undermines our work. If they would be so sensible as to unite under our leadership....but no, it will never happen.
Panders
"To pander" is a polite way of saying "to pimp." Our precious gift was prostituted when it was bestowed upon this ragtag lot, and I find their name fitting. It is somehow conceivable that any vampires who emerge from the seething sludge of Panderhood will have demonstrated talents and survival characteristics that elevate them into civilized society. Still, the strongest and fastest mongrel remains, irreducibly, a mutt.
Ravnos
Consider them God's little test of our patience. Those who can bear their company often profit; those who cannot suffer their depredations. If you don't let them see how much they annoy you, they will grow bored and seek a new target--perhaps one you suggest.
Serpents of the Light
There's something refreshing about pure, unadulterated evil. Their philosophy is a plainly demarcated dead end, while their single-mindedness borders on psychological disorder. They may call themselves Serpents, but they move predictably, and in straight lines. Merely direct them and make sure that you're not in their way, and all will be well.
Toreador
The victims of a fine distinction, the Toreador fail to realize that art is an expression of a cultured mind, not the culture itself. Whether they work in metal, music or flesh, all have this limitation in perception. However, we are sufficiently cultured to support their delusion; by allowing them to live out this psychosis, we reaffirm our nature as civilized beings.
Tremere
Foul sorcery, bubbling cauldrons and dark and stormy nights; these are the toys of the Tremere. I strongly suspect that in private, they all wear those ridiculous dunce caps with moons and stars on them. They are treacherous little vipers, far more dangerous than any save the Tzimisce. Never let one escape from under your thumb, else you will never pin him down again.
Ventrue
They lead out of a sort of repressed desire for martyrdom ("Oh, we shall take up this burden and assume leadership of the Camarilla else all will fall to ruin. Oh, woe..."). We lead because we are superior to those we lead. It is a deadly insult to be compared to them. Most Ventrue seem to be looking for someone to drive in the last nail in their self-crucifixion. Should the opportunity present itself, by all means assist them.
Black Hand
I have heard many whisper fearfully about the Black Hand. Remember, the Hand is directed by the Mind and the Will. So long as we use our minds and have sufficient will, we can bend the Hand to our purposes. If that sounds too pompous and philosophical for you, consider this: even in the depths of the Sabbat's Civil War, the Hand did not move. Some call this restraint. I see it as fear.
Camarilla
At its most basic level, the Camarilla is a social experiment, like communism or a slave-based economy, that will eventually prove itself unworkable. It is our duty to hasten the night when the experiment is declared a failure, so that as much of the raw materials that went into it as possible can be salvaged for our own purposes. Of course, keeping those materials out of the hands of the Antediluvians is of prime importance as well. We must break the Camarilla and then build the edifice Sabbat even higher with its pieces.
Inconnu
Their very existance is a threat to our survival as a species. They are the heralds of cannibals; on this we agree with even the Tzimisce. They have power, yes, but they do not understand how to wield it in the modern world. Treat them the way you would treat some prehistoric beast loose on the streets of your home city. It most certainly has the ability to devour you, but only if it catches you. After all, you know the terrain much better than it does, and you can think faster. Furthermore, dispatching the creature might almost be looked upon as something of a civic duty.
Lasombra Antitribu
Some few of these exist. So do some few two-headed calves and coelacanths. The parallel is precise. Fortunately, the dupes of the Antediluvians are so eager to hunt down any with the lineage Lasombra that they take great delight in exterminating these friendless, hopeless oddities. It is almost amusing, wouldn't you agree, that they are doing our work for us?
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