Appendix B: Common Ghoul Concepts
Given all the powers and abilities that a vampire has at her disposal, it may not make sense that she needs mortals to help her. Ghouls perform a variety of roles, often several at the same time, but many of these duties require tasks only a loyal human can do during the day. When ghouls perform well, vampires take them for granted. When they don’t, however, they often ask questions that do not have easy answers. What drives a vampire to create a ghoul? Why waste precious blood? Why not lure mortals into the shadows and manipulate them with promises of gold or favors? The most ruthless and successful Kindred know exactly what they want from their thralls. For most fledglings though, learning the pros and cons of taking on ghouls for different tasks is an important learning curve which separates them from the more experienced neonates and ancilla.
Servants
Typically, ghouls are created to perform a variety of services for their domitors. It is their job to fulfill the requirements of whatever their domitor needs; this is the one thread that ties all ghouls together in some fashion. The tasks themselves can be mundane and ordinary, but the specifics usually depend on the nature of the services a vampire requires. Many vampires, for example, use ghouls as they used footmen and chambermaids in ages past to display and flaunt their position in vampire society. The more ghouls a domitor maintains, the more wealth and power a vampire appears to have — or so some vampires believe.
Though many ghouls are expected to clean up blood and pay their master’s bills, others who are cultivated into the role of a servant may not have to deal with messy or mundane tasks. Instead, these ghouls are groomed into a supervisory position to oversee other ghouls or mortals. While no vampire cleans their own clothes or dusts their own nightclubs, there are human agencies that can be hired as housekeepers who require daily interactions. A master’s ghoul might organize and supervise such activities to ensure no human employees see more than they should, while another might roll up his sleeves because his domitor wished him to scour the blood stain on the marble floor
When vampires need to dispose of a body, sometimes they enlist the help of a ghoul cleaner to do their dirty work in protecting the Masquerade or avoiding unnecessary inquiries. Despite being careful, accidents do happen more often than their masters care to admit. Sometimes, a vampire might gorge himself on a vessel and too much blood is spilt. Other times, a vampire might have killed her blood slave in a fit of anger, or needs to clean up after an impromptu feeding before she meets with her allies. The role of a cleaner requires careful maintenance for, without a strong blood bond and the use of Disciplines, terror and dread might begin to impact the ghoul in unexpected ways.
Forcing a ghoul to clean up large quantities of blood might have another unintended side effect as well. Ghouls have the ability to frenzy, just like their domitors do, and this may escalate an already tense situation. For this reason, some vampires “teach” their ghouls how to deal with the horrors of their job, and ask for their input to better use modern methods of disposing a body, human organs, and blood. On occasion, these lessons might result in the vampire teaching his ghoul how to frame someone else for murder, how to bribe the right people to look the other way, or how to make a death look like an accident.
Vampires may be creatures of the night, but they still require the trappings of a mortal life from time to time. While a few younger Generation vampires utilize their ghouls to queue up outside a tech store when a new phone is released, most domitors command their ghouls to handle more sensitive acquisitions. A good concierge would have an array of unsavory contacts to purchase advanced security systems, weapons, and explosives from, just as easily as they might buy the perfect vintage or antique set of furniture for their havens.
Most domitors task their ghouls with outfitting their havens for the simple fact that installing a few safety features could prove very difficult, even with the use of Disciplines. The location and key features of any haven should be kept hidden from prying eyes, and Bound ghouls prevent such details from being stolen by a rival. For this reason, some domitors use Bound ghouls until their havens are built and secure, and then kill them to avoid the possibility of leaked secrets. However, domitors can be persuaded to keep a temporary concierge around on a more permanent basis, since their contacts and connections take time to forge.
Protectors
If vampires only have one ghoul, most will use her to protect themselves or their havens. All vampires are keenly aware of how vulnerable they are during the day, and understand the benefits of having a ghoul that isn’t threatened by sunlight. So, no matter how secure their haven, most vampires don’t feel safe without someone they trust standing guard.
The role of the protector is so prevalent that it is not uncommon for ghouls who are assigned other tasks to also stand guard as they sleep. This is also the reason why so many vampires only task ghouls with guarding their havens after they are Bound. To a domitor, a Bound protector is not simply a matter of trust, but the difference between life and death. Without the blood bond, it would be simpler for a ghoul to turn on her master during the day. Under its effects, however, vampires know that a ghoul will protect her domitor, whether she truly wants to or not.
Sometimes, however, a vampire’s paranoia gets the better of him, and he decides the blood bond isn’t enough to guarantee the efficacy of a protector. For this reason, ghouls used in this capacity are often recruited from either a branch of the military or a well-known security firm. Other domitors prefer to protect themselves with spies or intelligence agents, as their worth is in their duplicitous natures and their ability to improvise.
Bodyguards spend most of their time protecting their domitor or their haven. They are often expected to stay quiet and alert, and tend to be competent in matters of security, weapons, and technology. Because they are often seen and not heard, bodyguards are surprisingly well informed since they often stand by the side of their domitors. Those bodyguards who pay attention during meetings might glean details of their master’s schemes and the political underpinnings of vampire society.
Bound protectors are trained to sacrifice themselves for their domitors, and will not hesitate to willingly give their lives in the line of duty. While it is rare for such a trusted servant to go rogue, those bodyguards who do are often among the best prepared to either pledge their services to a new domitor, or to protect themselves on the run.
While many bodyguards also double as drivers, this can be a unique role in its own right. Lower Generation vampires, or domitors unfamiliar with the trappings of the modern era, may require transportation to blend in with modern society. For them, cars, limousines, and planes are still new and risky to operate without help. A good driver will have quick reflexes, an excellent memory, and a working knowledge of many different types of vehicles. Some drivers double as mechanics, too, or couriers to safely transport goods and visitors from one destination to the other.
Despite how necessary they are, some domitors avoid using ghouls in such a fashion, because they believe it’s a waste of blood — especially since traveling out in the open can leave them vulnerable to attack. While it is unusual for vampires to attack one another while riding in their cars, younger vampires may use them out of habit. In such situations, a ghoul with advanced driving skills would leave her domitor’s hands free to fight or flee. Canny masters even go so far as to find look-alikes and buy duplicate vehicles to fool their attackers.
Represenatives
When a vampire has lived for a long time, he often feels his grip on reality slipping away. Many vampires become confused, because they’re mired in ancient traditions or cultural zeitgeists that no longer have any meaning in the modern era. Holding onto the past may help keep them centered and lucid, but if they revisit their memories too often, they will be out of touch with the rapid changes that are happening all around them.
Vampires who want to blend into society, who want to be seen as climbers or hobnob with politicians, require a ghoul who’s already adept in the social circles they wish to travel in. After all, a domitor cannot train a bookworm to be a social butterfly. Those traits must already exist, which is why many domitors pick a candidate from among the social elite.
For all their power, there is one thing a vampire has trouble doing, and that is moving about during the day. This wouldn’t be much of a problem, except that many businesses, institutions, universities, and other high profile organizations hold business hours from sunrise to sundown. While it is common for servants to perform services during the day, a ghoul that acts as a vampire’s face speaks for his domitor and makes appearances in his stead.
Because these ghouls are required to remain visible and connected, it is often their job to keep abreast of what schemes and atrocities happen among mortals. Then, they are encouraged to report back to their masters, whispering about the movers and shakers, potential threats, and their key weaknesses. Vampires can be quite dismissive of human politics, but the clever ones know that the signs of their rivals’ plots can often be found in the news of the day. There is only so much a vampire can glean from the headlines, however, and having someone connected to a vast social network will allow the domitor to hear interesting details happening near his domicile that might otherwise go unnoticed.
For many vampires, the industrial revolution kicked off a whirlwind of technological advances that has yet to stop. Because of how quickly the modern world moves, most vampires struggle to keep up with the basics. While computers are the obvious example, the twentieth century has seen the invention of cars, planes, cameras, televisions, refrigerators, and advanced weaponry such as machine guns and tasers. Ghoul technologists that can offer the knowledge or mastery of modern scientific advances not only help their masters survive, but they also give them a profound advantage over their enemies.
For a potential ghoul, the rewards to work for a domitor in this capacity are great. In many cases, money is no object, which allows a technologist to get his hands on cutting-edge equipment. Sometimes, a domitor might recruit a researcher working on a special prototype. Other times, a vampire might be impressed by a socialite’s ability to master a cell phone. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for technologists to fail their masters, as vampires may know they need someone who is familiar with computers, but don’t understand the nuances required to find the right candidate.
Companions
Vampires often crave companionship to make their immortality more bearable. Finding another immortal who understands their world and their desires is often a difficult proposition, because of their deceitful natures. Thus, some vampires ask permission to create a childer, while others simply do so expecting their neonate to follow their every whim and desire. The creation of a companion ghoul is, in many ways, a temporary solution for vampires seeking to lessen their loneliness of the long, dark nights ahead of them.
Some domitors regard their ghouls as part of their family — for a time. Unlike a neonate, many ghouls are shades of their former selves, for the blood their domitors give them changes them both physically and emotionally. Loyalty, for a companion ghoul, does not happen over time. Instead, it is expected of them almost immediately, and many domitors go to great lengths to ensure their companion ghouls remain by their side at all times.
Despite appearances to the contrary, the possession of a companion ghoul is not the same as a vampire having a “friend”. Many domitors feel it’s necessary to share their innermost secrets, to discuss local politics, or to rationalize their paranoia with a trustworthy individual. For most vampires, however, trust is a luxury they cannot have. Anyone who knows a domitor’s secrets, whether they be mundane worries or far-reaching concerns, has insight his enemies would kill to get. For this reason, vampires tend to be more paranoid when selecting a ghoul in this capacity, because while it’s easy to keep a servant in the dark, it’s almost impossible to control other ghouls and their domitors who encounter his trusted companion.
Ghouls that become confidantes are often put in a difficult position, as they are subject to their domitors’ ever-shifting moods. Vampires are a paranoid lot, and often turn to those who have served them faithfully for many years before considering them a confidante. However, it is not unknown for a vampire to remove the free will of a friend or lover before he confides in her. In such cases, a ghoul may engage in a strange conversation without ever knowing what she’s really talking about. Her master may cloak every sentence in metaphor and allegory, to talk about “problems at work” or issues with the “home office”. Occasionally, a domitor might wine and dine his ghoul, as if she was his lover instead of his servant.
Other ghouls, however, may willingly listen or do whatever their masters wish because they believe they’ll one day be Embraced. These confidantes are fully aware of the terrors that might await them, and they feel an uncanny sense of loyalty to their domitors and pledge their lives in service to receive their reward. Unbeknownst to these ghouls, they may not realize that their masters have no desire to “give up” a good servant in this fashion.
Some vampires like the idea of a companion, but do not relish the fact that other ghouls and vampires may attack them simply because of who their masters are. Those who are too paranoid to have a ghoul go to great lengths to hide their servants, and the sleeper agent is but one of many types of secretive ghouls that exist unbeknownst to anyone else.
To a domitor, a sleeper agent is a ghoul that can be activated when the time is right. There are many ways a domitor might shape a ghoul to perform an individual task or plan. A master might spend months screening candidates, planting commands using Dominate, or testing potential ghouls before taking the next step. Once a domitor has implanted a sleeper agent, that ghoul may live out a normal life in secrecy, without ever knowing what her true purpose is. Other masters, who err on the side of paranoia, may create such a ghoul out of desperation or fear of being attacked, and plan to activate them in a few weeks’ time.
Sleeper agents might also be used as a reserve resource when a vampire’s enemies have already destroyed all they could find. They might guard a hidden back-up haven no one knows about, or a hard drive containing their master’s deepest secrets. Many, however, are left as a last resort or a final solution when all other methods of protecting themselves have failed. It is this sort of ghoul who comes out of the shadows to avenge or free her master after his rivals have taken him down.