The Erciyes Fragments
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The Erciyes Fragments is a fictional book in White Wolf Game Studio's role-playing setting, World of Darkness. It tells the creation myth of vampires, the story of the curse of Caine, his exile in the Land of Nod, and his words to his descendants, as well as prophecies covering the eventual fate of the vampire race. Much like the Book of Nod, The Erciyes Fragments were actually printed for use as a prop in the game and for inspiration for story-tellers. While both are collections of Noddist lore, the Erciyes Fragments can be considered a truer collection, being closer in time to their source.
The Fragments consist of documents gathered by Niccolo Giovanni, a Ghoul of the Cappadocian clan, at the Monastery of Shadows. It is quite possible this monastery was Erciyes itself, home of the Cappadocian clan.
These documents were hidden in a secret chamber in the monastery's library, and some appear to be the words of Caine himself: his own telling of the event which forever changed his life, and its repercussions. Written in the margins of these documents are commentaries by Cainite scholars of varying clans who have come before Niccolo. There are also testaments of later Cainites: a description of life under the waters during God's Great Flood, the events which took place leading up to the slaying of Caine's childer and the Cursing of the Clans, laws, proverbs and prophecies, including the prophecy that the Cappadocian Clan whom Niccolo served would be betrayed by one of its own.
The book is separated into nine parts, with a framing text telling the story of Niccolo Gionanni.
Book I - Genesis: A retelling of Abel's murder and Caine's exile and curse, as told from his own perspective.
Book II - Lilith: Caine's encounters with Lilith, Adam's first wife and fellow exile. She offers him succor and shelter and later awakens in Caine his potential for power.
Book III - Temptations: Four angels of God come to Caine. The first, Michael, offers Caine the Lord's mercy, but is refused, and curses him with weakness to fire. The second angel, Uriel, offers him redemption, but is refused, and curses him to fear the sun. A third angel, Gabriel, offers him a third path to be saved, but is refused; he curses him to stand between the lands of the living and the dead, to hunger for blood and watch all he loves wither and die, and his children to war amongst themselves. The fourth angel, Raphael, offers him mercy, a way to salvation called Golconda, if he but seeks it.
Book IV - Enoch: The story of how Caine came to rule the first city, Enoch, and to be worshiped as a god. Caine hoped to forestall the curses of the angels, having found shelter from the sun, water to quench fires, blood to feast on, he forbids his childer from creating any more vampires. In the end the city is washed away by the biblical flood. A punishment on kindred and kine.
Book V - Lamentations: The story of how the ancient vampires survived the flood and their belief that all the kine were dead, and thus, they were themselves doomed.
Book VI - Transgressions: Following the great flood, the vampires spread across the Earth. More generations are spawned and the final curse takes effect, the second generation is slain by the third. Caine curses the antediluvians for their crimes, except Saulot who remained true. Caine then leaves them in disgust.
Book VII - Commandments: The commandments of Caine to his descendants. Many of these bear close resemblance to the traditions of the Camarilla.
Book VIII - Prophecies: A collection of prophecies, some of which had come to pass and others waiting for their time. As with most prophetic prose, their meaning is cached in riddles and allegory.
Book IX - Proverbs: Wise words of the ancients.
References
- Celia S. Friedman,The Erciyes Fragments (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-297-2)
- Justin Achilli, Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-249-2)
