Fictional Lore: Vampire Council of Kizumet-e

[storm_crow]

This topic is for the sole purpose of clarifying the aspect of Dres which was purely TR invented about the mysterious Vampire Council of Kizumet-e. Most of this was collected from posts by Colostriph and I have added my own to fill in blanks. Take this as a fictional lore proposal, and since we have to make the rest of morrowind like Bethesda would’ve made it, then everyone has to agree on whatever new lore we add. So please, discuss, read, clarify if you must, for it is necessary if we want this to fit in TR.

Ok, so Kizumet-e was the first Dres councillor. He was a little special and ended up becoming a vampire. He soon forced other members oh the house to join him, and soon there were 7 of them. Through the years Great House Dres has evolved, but still the vampire council of Kizumet-e rules the house in shadow, controlling the official Dres councillors. Here is the lore associated with this council, from two points of view.

Normal Dunmer:
Dunmer in general, and even members of Great House Dres, have absolutely no idea there is a vampire council behind the official councillors. From there point of view, the seven councillors who they think rule House Dres are just a bunch of powerful, rich and important men and women who rule over their house and who make little public appearances. This suits the members perfectly. It goes with the Dres way, one takes care of his own business and plantation, caring little for his neighbour, worshiping his own ancestors and troubling himself only with the growing importance of Imperial culture.

The councillors themselves know little of those who rule them, only that they must serve the Vampire Council, rule the house as if it is there own, and of course take care of the Vampire Council, that they may never miss of anything. Most councillors spend their time directing the house from their estates, communicating by private messengers with the other councillors and by Shadows (more details later) and of course the mind link (more details later) with their assigned Vampire Councillor (each of the seven members of the official council is the ‘mouth’ of one of the seven Vampire Councillors). The councillors very rarely meet all together in the Council Hall of Tear for discussion.

When a councillor dies, disappears or becomes sufficiently mad for him to be replaced, the six remaining councillors decide of who amongst the highest nobles of Dres deserves the honour of serving the Vampire Council. When one becomes a councillor, he usually end up becoming quite useless to House Dres when it comes to important decisions, so the chosen one usually ends up being he who is useless amongst the nobles. When their decision has been taken, the to-be councillor is taken to the private chapel of the councillors, where a secret ceremony is practiced (the ritual is directed by one of the council members, and also there is the high priest of the Tribunal Temple in Tear, he is not aware of the Vampire Council, but he has been directed by his superior to watch that all Dres rituals stay within the boundaries of the Tribunal laws, so he just stands there smiling stupidly, unaware of what is truly happening). The Vampire Councillors watch the ritual through the eyes of their mouths, the Official Councillors.

The to-be Councillor drinks from a sacred cup (the cup of Kisumet-e) a special ritual mixture prepared by the Vampire Council. Upon absorbing the potion, all the dunmer ancestors of all the Dres families give him incredible blessing. He is allowed to view glimpses of the future and becomes very powerful, but most importantly he is given the Knowledge. He becomes aware of anything and everything that ever happened within the Great House Dres, including of course the Vampire Council.

His initiation to true Dres history completed, the Vampire Councillor who has been left mouth-less now tries to contact, if he is able, the new councillor with the Mind Link. This is a very painful experience, as the powerful mind of the Vampire penetrates the weaker mind of the Dunmer, destroying a few brain cells in the process. In the searing pain the new councillor falls to the floor, unconscious. He wakes up 12 hours later with a nasty headache, and finishes the paper work before he is given the estate of the old councillor and he can at last begin his duties.

Over time the mind link affects the Councillor, he usually ends up being a dumb oaf, to stupid to talk or think properly. Very few councillors have gotten to this point, as the deterioration occurs over a long period of time, so usually the councillor dies a natural death before he reaches the point of utter uselessness. The councillor also receives messages from the Shadows, or agents of his Vampire Councillor.

Vampires:
The Vampire Council of Kizumet-e is a breed of vampires slightly different from the ones we find on Vvardenfell. For one thing, they completely neutralized the spreading of their ‘disease’. If ever a victim introduced in their halls for the purpose of the hunt, he is killed. If he escapes, he is automatically hunted down by the shadows and killed. It’s very simple, their blood does not spread. The only case in which one may become a Vampire of Kizumet-e is if he is chosen to become a Vampire Councillor, in which case the other Vampire Councillors deliberately infect him.

The Vampire Councillors see themselves as the most powerful beings. The only race they may accept is Dunmer, every other they despise, and of course they only greatly favour Dres. They remain hidden in the shadows because they know that if they were to appear into broad daylight as lords of Great House Dres, even the members of the house would turn back on them and they would be hunted down and killed. Also, spreading their blood to increase their numbers is out of the question, for they are bound to the saying of Kizumet-e, the only ancestor they consider great enough to be revered.

The Vampire Councillors live in their halls hidden deep underground, bellow the Dres capital, Tear. The only way to enter these halls is to activate the seven hidden buttons in the secret chapel of the Official Councilors. They all stand on pedestals in the Vampire Council Room of Kizumet-e, around the shrine of the ancestor. These are the Seven Vampire Councillors.

1) Should be a man with important skill in speech craft. He managed to heave himself to the highest rank with persuasion.
2) Should be a male warrior, knight like honourable attitude (Long blade, shield, heavy armor)
3) Female sorceress, skills in every magical discipline.
4) Spellsword female, skills with both medium armor/long blad and destructive/illusion arts.
5) Rogue male, ashlander like figure, medium and light armor, spear, axe…
6) Agent assassin, female, light armor and short blade, sneak…
7) Healer temple male, staff and healing powers, enchanted items.

Each Vampire Councillor communicates his desires to his mouth, the Official Councilor via either the mind link, which is an ability acquired over a long period of time by the Vampire Councilor very useful for it requires no physical strength, only thought (the downside is the slow but very present deterioration of the Official Councilor’s mind) or the Vampire Councilor could send a message using one of his Shadows.

Shadows are the Vampire Councillors agents. Each Vampire Councillor has an incredible army of these secret assassins/warriors/mages. The Shadows are well-rounded fighters, who use strength, stealth and magic to serve the Vampire Councillor. They have an important training hall in the Vampire Councillors Halls, and do a variety of jobs for their masters. A Vampire Councillor feeds only on the fresh blood of Dunmer, and thus require the service of their Shadows to capture victims for food, deliver messages, annihilate some who may have stumbled upon the secrets of the Vampire Council, etc. A Shadow is selected by an Official Councillor when his Vampire Councillor tells him to. The Official Councillor then proceeds to select the trainee from his own messengers.

To become a Vampire Councillor, one must be a high ranked Dres nobleman, with skill in both the arts of speech, stealth, battle and magic and that, if one mysteriously disappears during the night, one will not be missed. When a Vampire Councillor dies, which is usually by choice (a Vampire Councillor may ask for Kizumet-e to relieve him of his duties by taking his soul away from his immortal body) and very rarely by death (the only ones who were killed were those murdered by his fellow Vampire Councillors because he had dishonoured the ancient laws of Kizumet-e) then the remaining Vampire Councillors go through the Dres noblemen with the aid of their mouths and Shadows. An Official Councillor cannot become a Vampire Councillor for his brain has been damaged by the ritual mixture and the mind link. When a new Vampire Councillor has been chosen, he is captured and brought to the Vampire Council Halls by the Shadow where the other Vampire Councillors inject him with the disease, when his blood purifies and becomes that of Kizumet-e, his knowledge is also brought clear and the new Vampire Councillor is ready to ensure his duties. The ability of the mind-link takes hundreds of years to master.

There were suggestions to create a sort of curse that would annihilate any who learned of the Vampire Council of Kizumet-e. The council is extremely secret and the ever present agent of the Vampire Councillors, the Shadows, ensure that no one may learn of it, and those who do are killed.

I realise suddenly I’ve written a lot of information, please add to the discussion with your ideas, I hope I’ve been logical and clear. Thanks!

Storm

[Colostriph]

I might as well post what stalker and I and you and turelio mixed together.

Turelio suggested the link being addictive. I agreed to a certain point. The person goes into a trance when the link is activated by the vampire.

Secondly, it was prefered (sry turelio) that all vampires of the council used the link. But here`s something extra:

The council itself is only one part of the Line. There is the council, and the, as Stalker and I invented, the "inexorable". It`s just a fancy name for Turelio`s secret police. These vampires are like normal vampires, more human looking then other morrowind families, but all the same powerful.

Stalker`s shadows were by default spirits. We shaped the idea so that instead, the ancestors of the secret served as a repelent to intruders, or other things. While they did not materialze, they warded of unwanted intruders with auras of a sort. Ingame, scriptedd blockers and message boxing should do the trick.

So, this is what happens:

The PCs gains normal Dres Ranks, it has not yet been decided whether they should become mouths (I think they should, but thats just me). After this, they get recruited into the "inexorable". You gain more rank, and then finally, you become the Vizier of a councilor.

Every councilor will have a vizier, to serve as a sort of body guard, though they don`t need one. Sorta like in Final Fantasies or othre games; second to last boss. Anyhow, back on topic.

You become a vizier (the other one dies or something). Now, the councilors have more power, physically and magically, then any vampires in Morrowind, and perhaps Tamriel. Their ancient powers have developed in their blodd lines, and only the councilors have these special gifts. They`re like Vampire Lords in D&D.

Now, while they can create normal Dres Vampires (The "Inexorable"), one can not gain their powers without actually drinking their blood. This is gifted to whomever the next councilor is. This is also a good reason why they have many enemies that want to steal that blood.

You must understand that council members aren`t often "fired". Maybe there`s been one or two new members since the beginning, but nothing large. The Police is the one that constantly changes (in vampire point of view).

So, how do you join the council? Become vizier. At the moment, there is a bit of problems in the council. The subject of ending the Imperial menace immediatly is being discussed. Half the cuncil wants to attack now, while the other half wishes to continue through the ages, and wait till time is right.

The councilor you serve wants you as councilor, for he knows that you will choose to wait (sorry, you don`t have much of a choice), so he plots with you to destroy another councilor who wants to attack the imperials now.

Evidently, this is not easy, and finally when you do manage to attain councilhood, the council seperated. Half wants one thing, the other wants someything else. This struggle deals with a lot of quests, and at one point the other Clans get involved, all wanting to succeed in procuring the Dres Councilor blood.

And, an entire clan of super vampires is not really what Dres wants on their hands. Dres became vampires to rid morrowind of it`s problems, not to rule it with a bloody fist.

Also, no matter which side, all councilors know that the blood is only for councilors, and would rather there be one council, then the entire line being all superior. (Imagin all the TR members becoming Admins. They want to prevent those types of problems...)

Anyhow, you win, happy happy, I haven`t a clue what`s next.

[Dexter]

Now, while they can create normal Dres Vampires (The "Inexorable"), one can not gain their powers without actually drinking their blood. This is gifted to whomever the next councilor is. This is also a good reason why they have many enemies that want to steal that blood.

If they are so secret, how do they have many enemies that know of this?

[Colostriph]

Other vampire clans. And only one or two vampires in a clan, well, perhaps more of course. But nothing known on vvardenfell. In distant provinces it's probably just a rumor among clans.

And I don't think many people capture and interogate vampires Well, save for Telvanni. But at that it's still rather a bleak chance.

[Dexter]

Actually, when I sit back and look at this from a practical point of view, most of it is rather unnecesscary. Especially the super-army of Shadows. I'll explain.
The best way to keep a secret is to convince everyone that there is no secret. What you all have done with the mind link and Mouths accomplishes this. Everyone thinks that the Mouths are the true Councilmen, and so nobody has any reason to suspect otherwise. The vampires don't need the task force from hell to protect them, because nobody is out looking for them. In fact, the vampires could very well live right in the heart of Tear itself. A vampire could live in the same mansion as his Mouth. The Mouth poses as the real owner, and his own private chambers are off limits to all but himself. His private chambers are, of course, where the vampire lives. But nobody would have any reason to suspect that. Of course, thieves attempting to break into the room and steal some goodies would be a problem, but nothing getting into that room, besides the Mouth himself, is getting out alive.
Okay, so that may not be an example we will use, but you get my point. Good lies and clever minds would protect the secret better than the most hardcore army in Tamriel ever could.