A Swede changed my life... No, really!
I had two groups for friends in college. Te first was a bunch of stoner punk musicians who taught me how to smoke from a hookah, how to listen to and appreciate music of all kinds, and how to most effectively beat the shit out of someone using only a skateboard(hit them with the trucks). The second group was a motley of theatre majors and geeks. It was in this second group I was introduced to Martin Pettersson, a student from Sweden. I really loved to tease Martin. My favorite conversation to have with him was how no good music came out of Sweden. Whenever it looked like he was winning the argument I'd start singing "Dancing Queen". But he was smart, funny, and let me borrow his copy of The Crow, the graphic novel. There are far too many thing I love today which I would have missed out on if it hadn't been for Martin. Some friendships affect the rest of your life, even if it is in ways which are only recognizable when you stop to write a blog about it.
We all hung out in the dorms quite a bit. It was a small town community college, so there wasn't much else to do. One typical weekend afternoon, Martin invited me to sit in on a role playing game he was running. Maybe I'd even like to make a character... I had been playing D&D with my brothers for years and I really enjoyed it; I was intrigued. There were more games besides D&D?! Sign me up!
There were five or six of us jammed in that tiny dorm room that afternoon. As I settled into the corner with my bag of gummy bears, getting ready to observe, a large book with a green cover was thrust into my hands. "Here. Some of the players are Hunters and Mages, but I think this is what you will like." Vampire: The Masquerade. Oh, he knew me so well.
I began to read. As I turned the pages I lost track of what was going on in the game, becoming fully immersed in the possibilities of the new world I was discovering. As I read each clan description a new character entered my mind. How would I portray a Gangrel? A Ventrue? A Lasombra? The possibilities of the characters I could create and the stories I could tell with them filled me with an eagerness to explore this new reality.
"So, would you like to make a character?" I was asked later that evening.
Hell, yes.
I created a Malkavian. A servant of the last Tzar of Russia, she was Embraced during the revolution- and abandoned. She was adopted by a Nosferatu who gave her the name Akira. A wanderer and prophetess, she had spent her undead life traveling the world. A bit of a vagabond, she kept a piece of clothing from every one of her victims. I chose to make her Independent, because figuring out all the rules of the Camarilla or the Sabbat would take a little time.
The next week I was ready to play. We crowded into the dorm room again, excited for what our characters would do today. Akira's introduction to the PC's was easy; there was another Malkavian PC in the group so I was able to make a friend. Well, "friend"... The party was invited to a salon held by an Elder NPC. We arrived at the theatre, took our seats and the entertainment began. Six humans entered the stage. A caucasin couple, a black couple and an asian couple. All six nude; they came on the stage and began kissing. As we watched, the kissing turned to other sex acts. It was a strange thing to be "entertained" by, but we continued to watch. The curtain opened. On the stage were three "beds"; one of glass shards, one of nails and one of thorny vines. Each couple laid on one of the beds and began to fuck. It was at that moment we realized the humans were under the effects of Dominate. Still new to the game, I didn't entirely understand what that meant, so continued to watch.
One of the women began to scream. Released from Dominate, she realized the horror of her situation. The real horror was only beginning. The man, now raping her, bit into her flesh, tearing off a bit and swallowing. The other two couples left their places and joined him. We watched in stunned silence as the five mortals devoured the screaming woman; the only one in her right mind. The curtain closed.
This was my introduction to the World of Darkness, and I was snared. I began to absorb source material, reading every book I could get a hold of as though they were novels. I fell in love with the brutality and the dark beauty of it. I do not remember much more of my first game, aside from a Mage PC who read my mind and tapped into the Madness Network... We decided later he invented the internet after that experience.... But it was such a joy to find such a vast new outlet for self expression. A game which tapped into my love of horror and allowed me to find a new way to look at the world.
Indeed, a Swede introduced me to something which changed my life. Most of what I am, what I have today I would not have were it not for Vampire: The Masquerade. It's a strange thing to consider. But much more common that I think anyone truly realizes.
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