Heartland Orphans: The Twins

Finally we reach the last pair of Strix from my Vampire the Requiem Chronicle, Heartland Orphans. The Twins can’t really be discussed separately. Like all of their siblings they are connected, all shards of the same soul. But the Twins are closer than that. They are reflections of each other, sharing the same Lair, the same appearance, and the same mission.

The Twins

Within their lair, these Strix adopt the form of yellow eyed women who can pass in and out of mirrors like normal people use doors. Sometimes they possess withered corpses, other times pale children, and occasionally they just adopt their natural forms: yellow eyed owls with cackling voices.

Sarcastic and arrogant, they consider material beings beneath them. To them the only thing that matters is their mission: protect the heart’s blood of their mother. Even though they believe she died, they refuse to budge. Only when the jewel was stolen from them did they rouse themselves, forcing their siblings to follow them in search of the last vestige of their creator.

In play, the Twins captured the sire of the one who stole the artifact and tormented him inside their nightmarish realm. Though he escaped, they ultimately made a deal for the return of the jewel and returned to their home in the mound. The price was merely betraying their brother, the Inverted Lord.

Vice: Duty
Aspirations:

• return the relic to its place in the hidden mound
• create a blood bonded servant

Mechanically the Twins are treated as one creature. One always remains immaterial, perhaps reflected in a mirror, while the other wanders the world.

Shadow Potency: 4
Attributes: Power 3, Finesse 4, Resistance 6
Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Empathy 1, Intimidation 2, Occult 2, Stealth 2, Subterfuge 2

Corpus: 8 (but split in 2)
Willpower: 10
Size: 2
Speed: 12
Defense: 4 (typically 4 in a host)
Initiative: 10

Embodiments: Shadow Form, Possess Corpse, Possess Revenant, Possess Kindred
Dread Powers: False Friend, Kindred Disciplines 2 (Auspex 2, Dominate 2, Majesty 2, Nightmare 2), Mirrored (see below)
Vitae: 13, 4/turn
Banes: fire, sunlight, counting

Mirrored: The Strix can create images in reflective surfaces without concentration. By spending a point of Willpower, that image can act independently for a turn, including activating any of the Strix’s powers. The Strix can only spend 1 Willpower per turn which includes the image.

The Twin’s chambers are a maze of cyclopean stone, iron gates, and confusing tarnished mirrors. When one its traits (or one of its siblings) is present it can invoke the others: Dim light, Maze, Mirages