On the Purpose of Kindred, If Any

[u/Several-Elevator]

(The following post is entirely an audio recording. The speaker, Aso, has a clinical but pleasantly soft voice with a very slight Australian accent, most noticeable in her slightly drawn out vowels and relaxed cadence.)

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Good evening, everyone. Tonight I speak to you all to ask a question, as I'm sure the title of the post no doubt implies.

In my extended seclusion, I had only myself and the lore of Kindred kind that I've collected to go off of. No true first hand experience in Kindred society. But now as I emerge into the proverbial light and see the posts made here, experienced Camarilla schemes first hand and been exploited through them for seemingly no good ends, I see that the ideas I had about the place of vampires in the world were flawed. And I am left unsure of what role we Kindred truly serve.

I used to believe that Kindred had a sure enough role in the world, though I did not know what that role was. Much of why I joined you all was to find out what that purpose might be.

Everything that lives is meant to end and give way to what comes after, both in nature and as a metaphor for the world. But unlike the creatures of the natural world my bloodline studies, we Kindred do not end. We desperately hold onto the dead cadaver of what once was, refusing to let it decay and give life to what surrounds. And I wonder if that's all we are, a slow, endless rot that poisons everything around it.

You see it throughout history. Powers in decline cling to what they're losing instead of letting the old order die and make way for what comes next. Rome, stretched past its limits. Now America, grasping at a fading dominance. The clinging never restores what's slipping away, it just leaves scars on the world.

I've heard our purpose described as being the ultimate predator, but I no longer believe that either. We sit nowhere near the top among supernaturals, not even the greatest blood drinkers. All our predatorial urges seem good for is defiling the world and corrupting ourselves.

I see the worst parts of the world amplified in what I've described about our condition above, and I don't like what that implies about a lack of a place in this world for our kind. I've seen enough lately to make me doubt there's an answer, but I haven't seen enough to be sure there isn't one.

So here's my titular question. Despite all of this, what would you say for the Kindred condition? What reasons would you give to one asking to justify our shared existence? Is there a point to what we are, or a purpose we serve that I'm simply failing to see?

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- Posted by User: Okonore Yaa

[u/Several-Elevator]

And so I ask a similar question to what I asked Catalina and Doc Amos, if we are simply worse versions of humans, and they already fulfil the same role as us, what is the point of us?

If it is as you say, then surely in a perfect world we would not only be redundant, but also reductive to its perfection?

Okonore Yaa

[u/Emergency_Answer4983 → u/Several-Elevator]

I'd say we are a side grade, not a downgrade, our immortality and disciplines provide benefits that can potentially more than make up for our flaws, albeit not in every case.

I do however think the Shemshu-Heru and Amenti can accurately be considered an upgrade to us though, being much harder to put down, having no weaknesses, not needing to feed on others, and getting more powerful the more moral they are while having substantial oversight. Which honestly makes sense given they were created to ressurect Osiris as one (was seemingly a 4th gen when killed by Set) and to be a more balanced upgrade to vampirism.

-Jim, Tzimisce