50 Shades of Vampire: The Soulless

Recently I began a Night's Black Agents game using the introductory adventure. We started the game with little time to discuss what we would play so I was unsure what sort of vampire they wanted. In the end between the choices of ancient horrors, weird science and/or Dracula, they chose the weird science angle. By that point I had already worked up two different conspiracies so that I could fill in any gaps that came up.

This week I'll present the conspiracy that we didn't use:

The Soulless

This conspiracy owes equal inspiration to Vampire: the Requiem (in terms of names and general inspiration) and Penny Dreadful (for the visuals).

Beneath the sands of Egypt a horror stirs. A master of the dark arts, an explorer of the soul, a heretic and defiler. This ancient creature may once have been a mortal punished for abominable crimes by being buried alive. The sorcerer's hunger for knowledge overcame death itself and devoured what remained of the man it once was.

Now only the Theban exists. An undead sorcerer from predynastic Egypt, he or she seeks to final lore of necromancy, mastery of the soul. Defeated in ancient times and sealed within a crypt, the Theban awakened in the 19th century after the intrusion of tomb robbers serving Britain's mania for all things Egypt. They destroyed deadly traps and protective wards alike in their haste to find another mummy to sell or jewel to pawn. Instead they found a fate worse than death.

The Theban studied forbidden rituals and spells pertaining the five parts of the soul, including how to remove (and devour) different parts to reduce what was once human into a soulless husk. It gleefully practiced these arts on its liberators. Into some, those with the strength of will, the monster inserted a shard of its soul as a replacement. These undead monsters possessed intelligence, forever chained to the Theban's will, and a measure of their master's occult power.

Then the Theban sent them out into the world to hunt for the final secret. They infiltrated academic circles and the halls of power, hidden by their emptiness and corrupting from within.

Overview

In his search for occult lore, the Theban placed agents across the world but its paranoia means that only a few exist in any major country. This thin web relies on mortal agents and weaker monsters such as ghosts and werewolves.

The conspiracy contains several variations of vampire. Most common as the Husks, empty shells of people who are barely intelligent. They possess the ability to hide themselves from people's minds and their soulless nature makes them invisible to electronic surveillance. They can feed on blood but it only serves as a vessel for the soul which they hungrily devour to fill the void within them. They can sense the presence of souls and smell it in the breath of those around them. The conspiracy uses them as shock troops, hunting hounds, and brutal assassins.

Above them are the Mehket, undead sorcerers with many the same powers and a keen hungry intelligence. Their flesh is inscribed with magical hieroglyphics that binds their master's soul shard to them. This shard gives them a measure of magical power and shackles their will to his. Some however may have learned to slip this binding. In addition to sorcery, the Mehket have learned to pull the souls of their victims from their breath.

At the top sits the Theban whose true nature may be something else entirely.

Any Mehket can create Husks within a brief amount of time but only the Theban (who remains in Egypt) can create new Mehket. They organize and sometimes gather in gatherings of 11 or 7.

If a cure exists, only the Theban or its occult library might contain it.

Nodes:

• The Theban [Level 6]: ancient undead Egyptian sorcerer who can communicate with the dead, raise soulless minions, command the elements and who know what else. Currently meditating on the mysteries of necromancy in its tomb along the upper Nile.
• The Egyptian Deep State [Level 4]: the military industrial complex that ultimately controls Egypt. Its generals have been subverted by agents of the Theban. They provide protection and resources to the conspiracy.
• MI6 Mole [Level 3]: a potent Mehket who has infiltrated Britain's intelligence service and turns its resources to its master's hidden goals.
• Curator at the MET [Level 3]: a mortal who knows more than most and who keeps an eye out for relics with a particular significance.
• The Liver Eater [Level 3]: a rebellious Mehket who has discovered how to "ground out" the Theban's control...by ingesting live human livers.
• Project Babel [Level 4]: a secret genetics research program begun decades before the Human Genome Project. It seeks secrets to humanity’s origin as well as a possible link to God. The Theban suspects this techno/mystical group can provide it the secrets it desires. Thus has sent many minions to subvert and control it.

Notable Locations:

• Egypt: from the poor packed parts of Cairo to secret chemical warfare labs to sand filled tombs, numerous backdrops suggest themselves.
• MET: labyrinthine Egyptian exhibits, preferably at night, facing off against security guards, vampires and the odd reanimated corpse.

Templates

Husk

These barely human creatures have had portions of their souls removed. In appearance they range from dead eyed mortals to dried up shells to blue tinged preserved corpses.

General Abilities: Aberrance 11, Hand to Hand 7, Health 7

Hit Threshold: 4 (higher if invisible)
Alertness Modifier: +2
Stealth Modifier: +2

Damage Modifier: -1 (fist), +0 (fangs)
Armor: -1 (tough skin), all weapons do half damage after armor, firearms do only 1 point and shotguns only do 2.

Free Powers: See Souls, Smell Breath, Drain Stability, Psychic Invisibility (not in combat), Invisible to Mirrors and Electronics, Spider Climb
Other Powers: Mimicry (voice), Vampiric Speed, Vampiric Strength

Banes: Sunlight (Hurt), Fire, Beheading, Stake to the Heart
Compulsions: Serve their creator
Dread: sunlight
Requirements: Blood and souls

Mehket

These intelligent agents of the Theban can appear mortal with a touch of magic, even adopt the forms of others. Behind the magic, these desiccated corpses sometimes wear the skins of living humans, kept fresh and supple with necromancy.

General Abilities: Aberrance 20, Hand to Hand 11, Health 11, Weapons 11

Hit Threshold: 5 (higher if invisible)
Alertness Modifier: +3
Stealth Modifier: +3

Damage Modifier: -1 (fist), +0 (fangs)
Armor: -1 (tough skin), all weapons do half damage after armor, firearms do only 1 point and shotguns only do 2.

Free Powers: See Souls, Smell Breath, Drain Stability (from breath), Infection, Psychic Invisibility (not in combat), Invisible to Mirrors and Electronics,Vampiric Speed, Spider Climb
Other Powers: Magic, Mimicry (voice and form), Necromancy, Summon Insects, Vampiric Strength

Banes: Sunlight (Hurt), Fire, Beheading, Stake to the Heart
Compulsions: Serve their creator
Dread: sunlight
Requirements: Blood and souls