I haven’t seen much on what people have been doing with The Horde, so I wanted to get some feedback on the ideas I have so far and crowd-source some interesting additions. So without further ado:
THE HORDE
Turf: Hidden grottos in the underground canals
NPCs: Brother & Sister–siblings in life, partners in undeath
Quirks: Brother and Sister are vampires who run a local Empty Vessel cult. The cultists believe them to be hollows animated by their forgotten god and speaking its will. The Empty Vessel accepts the charade because the vampires keep it supplied with a steady diet of sacrifices by ritually hollowing “the unclean,” a broad category that includes cultists seeking to purify themselves and enemies of the cult that need to be removed. Once a person is hollowed, the Empty Vessel has no further interest in what is left, allowing Brother and Sister to slowly accumulate an army of the un-living. They are able to command any hollow they have branded as a member of The Horde and all the hollows of The Horde count as having been ritually prepared to become vampires if possessed by either Brother or Sister, providing an enormous supply of disposable bodies and interchangeable personas for the vampires.
Allies: The Forgotten Gods
Enemies: The Gondoliers, The Spirit Wardens
Now here is the question, what is it that Brother & Sister desire? How do they exploit their power over the hollowed Horde?
This is really cool, and I don’t have an answer to your question, but I really like the idea of fan-made write-ups for the factions that don’t have them in the core book.
I used the Horde very differently – I misread hollows as hulls. They were a group of hulls trying to bring down a lightning barrier, to bring in more ghosts to power more hulls. The ruling council was a group of hulls who were all bound to each other as their “
“master”.
If all of their hollows are ritually prepared to become vampires, Brother and Sister might be looking for a way to control the ghosts of the canals. Once they took control of the ghosts using a magical artifact, they could unleash a hoard of feral vampires on anyone who opposes them. It could be interesting playing with a supernatural faction strong enough to take on city institutions in a direct war.
David Harrison What if there are two factions running around calling themselves the Horde?
Gorinich Serpant That might get a little gonzo – You’re working for the horde? I’m working for the horde too! I imagine lots of mistaken identity and “who’s on first” style antics. 😛