The History of this lineage, both Mortal and Kindred, begins in ancient Greece. According to legend, the vile progenitor of this bloodline was not Embraced, but like Longinus and Dracula (both far after his time) was cursed by the gods, in this case for cooking his own son and feeding him to the gods as stew to test their omniscience. He was cursed, then, to hunger and thirst eternally, and never know relief…a fair summation of the Requiem. The family, however, was cursed as well, doomed to commit horrible sins for all eternity…doomed to join Tantalus, their patriarch, in the clutches of undeath. Atreus himself, for whom the line is named, was made a vampire after he was ‘killed’ by his own nephew…for making a pie of his brothers sons and feeding it to him…cannibalism and kinslaying were a family tradition by then. The Mortal line descends through Agamemnon, rather than Menelaus. Their matriarch is the prophetess Cassandra, whose prophecies are never believed… It is Orestes line, by Agamemnon’s actual wife Clymnaestra, for whom the curse was lifted.

Other well known members of the lineage include the famed philosopher and shipwright Archimedes, whose creations assured the family’s naval supremacy for the ages.

The Kindred of the House of Atreus have always embraced their own mortal descendants, and carefully bred them with groups such as the Crassus ghoul family for chosen qualities. Rumour has it that Lysander, who formed the Crassus ghoul family, may well have been of the House of Atreus.

Parent Clan: Ventrue (or Proto-Ventrue)

Nickname: ‘Bastards’, ‘Kinslayers’

Covenant: Invictus or Crone, sometimes both. Through their Ancestor Tantalus, they claim descent from the gods, especially Zeus. This makes them strongly pagan…and they have always been rulers.

Appearance: Well dressed, dashing. They have a tendency to wear black and green, and favor hawk motifs for jewelry. Otherwise, much like any Ventrue or upper class Daeva.

Havens: Big bloody fortified manor houses, usually.

Background: Almost all of the House of Atreus come from the ranks of wealth and privilege, from the mortal bloodline of Atreus. Some might come from forgotten or disinherited lines.

Character Creation: Tends to Social skills and attributes primary, followed by the rest. Mental and physical are equally important.

Bloodline Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate, Resilience, Majesty. Given their background, many have Vigor and Celerity, but they get no price break for it.

Weakness: In addition to the Ventrue problems with Degeneration, the members of the House of Atreus share a measure of Tantalus’ curse. Regardless of how much Vitae they imbibe, they are always considered hungry for purposes of Frenzy. ( That means blood is always a trigger event for them, and they are always at –1 to resist a hunger or anger frenzy. This does not stack with actually being hungry, and is superseded by starvation.) They also often have a drawback from a Ghoul family, such as that of the Crassus.

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