The Samedi bloodline has a relatively short but immensely curious history within Kindred society. Originating most likely in the Caribbean, the bloodline's members all seem to resemble a zombie or a corpse. Unlike the Nosferatu, who merely become disfigured, the body of the Samedi appears to be in a constant state of decay.

 

“Neo-Hoodoo is the 8 basic dances of 19th century New Orleans’ Place Congo — the Calinda, the Bamboula, the Chacta, the Babouille, the Conjaille, the Juba, the Congo, and the VooDoo — modernized into the Philly Dog, the Hully Gully, the Funky Chicken, the Popcorn, the Boogaloo, and the dance of great American choreographer Buddy Bradley.”
— Ishmael Reed

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Nickname: Stiffs

 

Clan Disciplines: Fortitude, Obfuscate, Thanatosis

 

If the Nosferatu are repulsive and the Harbingers of Skulls are hideous, a word hasn’t yet been invented to describe the Samedi. Resembling nothing so much as walking, rotting corpses, these odd vampires take their name and their origin from the Caribbean and the religion of vodoun (popularly known as voodoo). Baron Samedi, in legend, was a loa of death and ancestor worship. The vampires that bear his name and visage (for Samedi is often portrayed as a corpse, albeit not one so disgusting as the Stiffs) also often share his rude, blunt demeanor. In fact, a vampire going by the name of “Baron Samedi” seems to be the founder, or at least the oldest extant member, of the bloodline. 

 

The Samedi might seem to be an offshoot of the Nosferatu, but their powers of Thanatosis — a Discipline dedicated to manipulating dead flesh — speak of a connection to the Giovanni or their doomed predecessors, the Cappadocians. If that is the case, though, the Samedi and the Giovanni went their separate ways long ago, for neither has anything good to say about the other. The reason for this enmity is not something that members of either line discuss in public, but the Giovanni apparently have a history with Baron Samedi himself. The Baron, still active in the bloodline’s affairs, refuses to discuss the “deal” that he had with Augustus Giovanni, but it must have been something of gravity for the mutual dislike to persist. 

 

Samedi take the roles of enforcers and assassins in Kindred society. They don’t do it on ideological grounds, like the Assamites, and thus they find work with Kindred who want to get what they paid for. The Samedi do not take contracts against Nosferatu or, strangely, Giovanni Kindred without a heavy fee, speaking to some regard or fear of these Clans. As with so many other facts about their line, the Samedi have nothing to say on the matter. 

 

Weakness: The Samedi, as mentioned, are putrid beyond words. Samedi characters have Appearance ratings of 0, and automatically fail Appearance rolls. 
 

Concepts, Traits, Merits, and Flaws