A Guide to the Beast

The Beast lurks within each vampire, a possessing spirit that craves blood and thrives on cruelty and violence. Capricious and malicious, it perpetually damns all vampires. As long as it howls, no matter how strong or faithful the Kindred is, redemption and salvation are forever beyond her grasp. It is the Beast that propels Kindred to become monsters, to devour and destroy everything they touch and care for. It makes vampires quick to anger and feeds on their emotions, tainting and corrupting them in the process.

The Beast warps the vampire's identity, amplifying any mental flaws that the Kindred had when he was a human. A father confuses loves for obsession. A priest becomes set in his own righteousness, even going so far as excusing his vampiric sins as God's will. A man’s love toward his lady becomes tainted and corrupted, spawning hate and resentment. In the end, the Beast makes all vampires selfish. Their needs, their sins, their torment, their loves and hates become of singular importance, more important than anyone or anything else. It screams from the deepest bit of the soul begging to be released. The weak cave in and become feral monsters driven by the basest of desires and needs – usually survival and hunger. It is a state that those of the Camarilla both fear and vehemently deny because it means not only inevitable destruction, but ultimately the end of their former selves.

The strong of will and conviction fare better, keeping their inner monster caged, feeding only when necessary and keeping their emotions in check. Many Kindred naturally seek to control their surroundings because the Beast is forever beyond their influence. Kindred might rule business empires and command sway over vast swaths of mortal influences, but they are reminded every night of the simple fact that they are nothing but slaves to their Beasts. Most terrifying of all is the subtlety of the Beast. It works to pervert everything a Kindred believes in. It constantly tries to poison the Kindred against those who mean no harm, filling her head with paranoid fears until the Kindred trusts no one, not even herself. In a way, the paranoia makes sense – after all, if this is what you’re feeling nightly, do you dare imagine what the vampire across from you is also experiencing, even as they stare at you?

This is a struggle no vampire ever truly wins. There is no escaping the corrupting presence of the Beast, which begs and cajoles Kindred to commit atrocities to sate its selfish hunger… but that doesn’t stop them from fighting against it and their damnation, ceaselessly.

Frenzy

The Beast is aptly named, for it is the animal mind of instincts and impulses. Very little about the Beast is rational, which is what many Kindred fear. Like an animal, the Beast lashes out with all its power and destroys all higher thought, plunging the vampire either into a frenzied blood rage (triggered by hunger or anger) or the mad fear called Rötschreck (the “Red Fear,” triggered by fire or sunlight). A vampire who is lost to the Beast is a terrifying thing. It knows nothing except rage, and it lashes out like a crazed animal against whoever steps in its way.