Anda

A Gangrel bloodline made up of citizens of the Mongol Empire
Closely tied to their mortal kin, but less so since the collapse of the Empire
The Anarch Revolt is an opportunity to strike back against the elders of Christian Europe who plot against the Crimean Khanate and Great Horde

The Anda bloodline is an offshoot of the Gangrel, created by a Methuselah called Dobrul the Brave. Dobrul, a wanderer with great respect for the Mongol hordes, Embraced several of their warriors. These vampires became the spirit warriors of the steppe, following the nomadic Mongol tribes and protecting them from outward threats. To this day the Anda and Gangrel recognize and respect their common ancestry; each regards the other as distant kin and may ally with each other from time to time. Still, the Anda are distinct from their parent clan, and their true loyalty lies with their mortal brethren, not other Cainites.

This loyalty sets them apart from all other Cainites and makes unlife on the steppe possible. Most vampires understand the need for a herd, but few associate so closely with those from their former lives as the Anda. The Anda do not think of the Mongols they travel with as herd or themselves as having “former” lives at all. They feel they have been given a unique role to play in the destiny of the Mongol people. Where their kin occupy the daylit hours, they are the nighttime riders, the favored of the Earth-Mother Etügen, those who look upon the sleeping face of Tengri and protect his people in the dark. Their methods are simple, but effective.

When the Mongol Empire came west in the 13th century, the majority of the Mongol tumen would advance in the day and at dusk, the Anda would emerge to follow, converging with their fellows before dawn. Anyone seeking to attack the camp by stealth would learn a harsh lesson: the Anda left no survivors to tell of the monstrous horse riders who materialised from the darkness behind the ambusher, as if birthed from the ground itself, to feast upon the blood of the battlefield while alerting the Mongol kuriyen of impending attack.

Since the collapse of the Empire and its fracture into the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate, and from there into the Crimean Khanate and the Great Horde now threatening the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Anda have been seen less and less frequently in western Europe, but Dobrul’s childe Yesira claims Domain over Crimea to this night. Some whisper that hers is the last surviving branch of the bloodline, the others having been slaughtered by enemies in the east following her sire’s death.

Living mostly in areas where Islam is the predominant mortal religion, the Anda have not been overly troubled by the Inquisition. However, the scheming elders of their enemies trying to dictate how the Anda must behave has enraged many of the bloodline. As such, some have sided with the Anarchs against the elders in vengeance for what has gone before.

Sobriquet

Tartars

Organisation

Though traditionally the Anda often traveled with Mongol troops and were thus at least nominally a part of their structure and under the command of a mortal Noyan, their nocturnal life meant they most often operate independently. Because of this, they impose their own order upon their activities, often modeling it upon the mortal hierarchy they are most familiar with. Like all Mongol society, life as an Anda is a meritocracy; those in positions of power and afforded the authority to make decisions come from those most skilled and able to handle the responsibility. Anda recognise this by bestowing the title of Noyan upon certain individuals of their kind. Anda with that title are not only able, but obligated to lead in the way they best know how. While Noyan are usually the oldest and lowest Generation among their peers, this is by no means a certain thing, or a requirement.

Usually From

Bohemia,
Crimean Khanate,
Hungary
Lithuania
Moldavia
Ottoman Empire
Poland
Wallachia

Preferred Roads

Havens

Traditionally, most Anda traveled with a Mongol army and thus did not possess traditional havens. Others attached themselves to particular families — often their own — and see after their welfare upon the steppe in exchange for the gift of their vitae. In these cases, the Anda still did not truly have a physical haven, but may find themselves lairing amid three or four common locations throughout the year, rotating as necessary to accommodate their herd’s movements. Others took up more permanent residence in stable Mongol cities such as Karakorum, Sarai or Bakhchaseray, where they served the Mongol hierarchy in different vital capacities.

The Embrace

Embraces within the bloodline occur after great Councils of all Anda near the prospective candidate. After the Embrace, the new Anda must face a series of rigorous tests to hone their survival skills, including mastery over Protean in order to meld with the earth. Those who passed the test were regarded as full members of the line and were free to do their own meddling. Many Anda, however, remained in contact with the Council that first commissioned their Embrace.

Most Anda are skilled horse riders, drawn from eastern tribes who share political and ethnic ties to Mongolia proper. However, as they conquered each new civilization, the Mongols assimilated the most worthy into their own. As the Horde pressed westward, they adopted other steppe-dwellers, such as the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Kipchaks and Cumans, into their armies, and vast numbers in the Kingdom of Georgia swore loyalty to the breakaway Mongol nation of the Ilkhanate. Any of these might be Embraced into the Anda; the only true requirements are the ability to survive nocturnal life upon the steppe and unflagging loyalty to the Khan.

Clan Disciplines

Animalism, Potence, Protean

Weaknesses

All Gangrel have one animalistic physical feature. For example, you might have hawk’s eyes, scales all over your skin, or a lion’s mane. Every time a Gangrel frenzies, she temporarily gains an additional animalistic feature. Temporary animal features recede when the vampire sleeps for a day, but a Gangrel’s permanent animal hallmark never fades. It can be hidden by clothing, or by powers such as Obfuscate, or temporarily removed by powers such as Vicissitude, but it will always return when the vampire sleeps.

Note that this forms a costuming requirement using prosthetics, contact lenses, makeup or similar, unless concealed as above.

In addition to the standard Gangrel weakness, Anda are cursed not to remain in the same place for very long. For every day that she sleeps within five miles of where she woke, she must spend 1 additional point of Blood to reawaken. This penalty is cumulative, so if an Anda has slept three days within five miles of the same area she had previously slept, she must spend 4 points of Blood to wake (the standard 1 point + 3 additional points for the three days spent sleeping within five miles of the same area). This count resets once she sleeps a single day more than five miles from where she slept the day before. If she cannot spend enough Blood to reawaken, she falls into torpor. She will remain in torpor for a number of weeks equal to the number of days she spent sleeping in the same area, after which she may spend 1 point of Blood to reawaken.

Clan Merits

Dust In The Wind (1)
Protean Blood (1)
Seasoned Traveler (1)
All The King’s Horses (2)
- You gain 5 dots of the Ride skill. If you have any dots in the Ride skill when you purchase this merit, those dots are removed and you receive an XP refund equal to what you paid for them. If you gained those levels as free dots during character creation, you may reassign them.
- You also have a knack for horse procurement. You may spend a downtime action to acquire a single horse valued at no more than half as much again as Resources 3 (but less than Resources 4). You may combine multiple downtime actions as well as any additional funds you have from the Resources background to acquire a more expensive horse. In addition, you may overtax your Resources to buy horses without incurring a penalty.
- Any horses acquired cannot be unique; you cannot acquire the Prince’s horse or a specific targeted horse through this merit. These horses are acquired through a variety of questionable sources and will also lack any supporting paperwork or documentation unless you paid 50% of its cost using cash or the Resources background. These horses must be commercially available; you cannot acquire warhorses which could not normally be purchased by civilians.