Ravnos

The Ravnos were nearly annihilated in 1999 when their Antediluvian, Ravnos, rose from torpor in Bangladesh. The resulting cataclysm — which involved nuclear weapons, Kuei-jin elders, and the full force of the sun — destroyed the Antediluvian but also killed the vast majority of the clan through sympathetic blood bonds.

The Week of Nightmares, as it came to be known, reduced one of the thirteen great clans to a handful of survivors scattered across the globe. Those who remained were fundamentally changed — the old Ravnos culture, with its problematic ties to Romani stereotypes, was shattered beyond repair.

The modern Ravnos are daredevils and thrill-seekers, vampires who court danger the way others court power. Their mastery of illusion through chimerstry (now folded into Obfuscate and Presence) makes them unpredictable and slippery opponents. They are survivors in the truest sense — a clan that stared extinction in the face and refused to die.

Few in number and without a strong organizational structure, the Ravnos drift between factions as it suits them. Some see their near-destruction as a warning about the end times; others treat each night as a gift to be savored with abandon.