Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Vampire: the Masquerade. All rights do, however, belong to White Wolf Publishing and (possibly) Wizards of the Coast (not sure).

Dear Reader,

Now I know most Kine would not understand my story, but I feel it must be told. After all, it's not very often one such as I survive this long…

We will start with my life before the Embrace. I was seen as a 'Healer'. I worked on the outskirts of what will be remembered as the Second City. I tried to heal the damage the Kine had caused to us humans. That was when Saulot found me. He took me under his wing and showed me many things I had never expected from an evil creature such as a blood sucker. But, it seemed Fate was not kind to me. I had tried to follow Saulot but got lost. And no, I don't mean I lost my way from his teachings. I mean utterly lost in the Wilde. I wandered that way for what seemed like years. I cannot explain the sorrow and loneliness that came with being alone so young. Always there was someone to talk to. I was never alone until then. Granted, Saulot was not a man of many words, but he didn't have to be. What he said would sometimes take days for me to conclude my thoughts on the matter. After all, he was of one of the greatest minds of my time. The words of Saulot will forever be a part of who I became. His Scrolls would become my life. There were eight in all. Finally I had made my way to his new home at Kala-At-Shergat. I was found by one of Saulot's own Childer who was actually rather fanatical. After he Embraced me he made me drink his Vitae till there was none left. He told me that he had tried and failed. Tried what? I had yet to learn. But he told me that only by sharing his soul with me could I achieve salvation not only for myself but for him as well. I had no choice but to give in. After all, who am I to deny one help? Who was I to question his reasons? I could clearly see this man's loneliness through his gaze. I could only hope that with time I would not come to know this loneliness or possibly alienation. So, I did as he asked. I drained my sire of all his blood and I gained his power. I felt such sorrow afterwards; I went to Saulot and cried for weeks.

It was only after I broke free from my sorrow that I realized what the Tremere were doing. Usurpers. That is what we would come to call them. Liars. Thieves. There are no known curses for what we felt towards them. And by We, I mean my brothers and sisters. I only felt sadness and pity for them. But one question was bothering me. Why? Why would they sow lies and seek to demean us? I never did find out though. After Saulot disappeared I chose to train. Under the wing of the Purifiers, I learned many things. Although I could not stop time, I could move faster than the eye could travel and the brain could comprehend. I learned that not everybody could be saved and those that refused Salvation in Golconda were just as evil as the Kui-Jin. For those who are at a loss at the mention of the Kui-Jin, I shall clarify. The Kui-Jin are evil. As evil as they come they are born into the world with their beast already in them. They are less human than the vilest Vampire and are more akin to Demons. They slaughter hundreds and don't bat so much as an eyelash to the destruction and suffering. But I am getting off track. I believe I was telling you my story…

I had learned many things under the Purifiers. How to hide in plain sight, how to destroy entire structures with one hit, how to change my form, to converse with animals and even a Kine's Beast, I could control the mind and nothing could touch me… these are just a few of the things I learned. But once more, fate was not on my side. A great army gathered by the Tremere swept through our ranks, taunting us about how Tremere himself had Diablerized our Antediluvian Saulot. Grief stricken does not even begin to explain the depth of what I felt. I saw it in other's eyes as well when I told them I was following Saulot into a torpored state and that if his fate befell me that they were not to grieve or take vengeance. I always was one to forgive. I prided myself secretly on seeing at least two sides of almost any situation. It was after that that I traveled to what would now be called Japan. I did not rest upon arrival. No, I battled the Kui-Jin after trying to reason with quite a few. It turns out that they are rather fixated on causing destruction and pain, or were, I should say. I killed countless of them. I nearly drove them to extinction before I felt they would hide and remain unobtrusive for quite some time. It was after that I found a quiet spot near the ocean to begin my slumber. I buried myself deep within the earth. I didn't stop digging until I felt the warmth from the center of the earth warm the rock around me. It was there that I made myself a room. Out of stone I fashioned a small room with a chair, table, and bed. I had no need for light to see, so for the remainder of the week I stayed awake. I pondered what had come to pass and what was yet to come. I was no fool. I had read every book that came my way when I was on the surface. I watched humans slowly advance and the clans remain the same. I foresaw the fissure that would create the Sects. Divided we are infinitely weaker, but then again no Vampire has bothered to listen to a Salubri since the lies of the Tremere were spread. I saw the coming of the third and final city, Gehenna. I trembled at the thought of it. I knew to look for the red star that would burn brighter than the rest and would fill one with dread. I guess this is where I point out my visions. To put it plainly, I see the future and not in flashes. Though only a moment passes by in reality, a hundred years reveal themselves before my ever watchful eye. I got to see wars rage as humans and Kine slaughtered themselves and each other without reservation.

After my visions had ended for the time being, I knew the end of the week had come. It was time to sleep. I allowed sediment and dirt to wear through my walls and cover my body. If anyone had found me, they would have thought me a statue. Even I am unsure how long I slept, and I always had a good sense of the time. Maybe it was the fact that I was so lost in myself and achieving Golconda, that I had let the years pass me by. Time did not touch my body, but the shell of stone surrounding me had become worn and was a mere form of me. All that was left were ragged outlines of what I imagined to be a perfectly sculpted replica of myself. I rose from my self-imposed prison to find the world around me changed. The Kui-Jin while still existent, were only nightmares that struck once in a long while. I would later find out that I was in the Warring States Era in Japan. Roughly 1023 C.E. (Common Era) The people of the villages were wary of me but once I showed them I was a natural-born healer, they quickly accepted me. I was given the garb of a priestess and a headband to hide my third eye from others so as not to scare them. They called me Miko. And I accepted the name with thanks. For a few hundred years, I lived among them destroying Kui-Jin or Demons as they called them and healing the sick and dying. Over time I was given a small fortune which I never spent. I have a cache of priceless artifacts and uncounted amounts of gold hidden in my resting place. As time wore on my loneliness grew. Though I had achieved Golconda, I still felt the need of company. So, when I felt the need for a Childe, I returned to the earth.

It never will be my place to pass on the curse that is my existence. In actuality, it is the curse of every Vampire. As I slept once more, I watched the clans grow. I watched as even more fissures grew and even the Lupine could not halt the growing numbers. In my sleep I saw violence that made me wish I were both blind and deaf, but it was not to be. I watched as the bloodlines thinned and the Clanless began to increase in number. I watched as the Sabbat actively strove to raise Caine from his slumber so Gehenna could be built. I watched as the pages were collected one by one until I could not wait on the sidelines. I knew I would have to act. Evil was infecting everything I had held dear. The earth was spoiled. Forests that once stood tall and proud were wiped out from the greed of humankind, with the urging of Pentex. I watched. And I realized it was going to be far too late, all too soon.

So once again, I rose from my slumber. I couldn't let this terror destroy what was left of the world. So I traveled by boat in the form of a fly to the continent of North America. I traveled to the source of the problem, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At first I considered leveling the city… but logic stood to reason that if the city was leveled, then the humans would try to find someone to blame. Another war would begin. I could not in good conscience allow that, so I entered the city and tried to find any old allies that might still be alive. And who would have guessed it? There were none. So I opted for the next best thing; contacting the new sect known as the Camarilla. At least I knew their ways to be discreetly violent whereas the Sabbat were openly violent and prided themselves on torture and murder. I pushed gently for peace and a solution. When nobody listened, I unnerved them with knowledge uncanny. I told them of their clan pasts and passed it off as I had read a great many books, and I had. They spurred into action as I watched in pride. Although it was painful, being so close to the Tremere, I had kept my temper in check. True, I was not given to frenzy as they were, but I still had a rather vicious temper. Even now I can see Gehenna in my slumber. I watch as past wars replay themselves. The atrocities of both human and Kine are revealed to me. I pray for their salvation, but I watch as they breathe their last breath and see their last sight. And I know deep within my soul that most never reach out for forgiveness, and because they had not the courage to ask, they burn forevermore. I will repeatedly see each and every bloodline come and go. While some rise to power, others will fall and will plot vengeance. Vengeance has no place in the heart. There is no soul who can, without a shred of doubt, condone it without being pure evil.

And that is where I must end my story for now. I am sorry but there is nothing more to add without disclosing information on the other Kine in this city. All you need to know is that they are actively battling evil. I shall try to sway as many as I can to the ways of Golconda. Until then, take this information and use it to your benefit. There is nothing to be read between the lines. I will come to you if the situation grows dire and I will tell you about Caine's Vision; Gehenna. Until then…

Sincerely,

The Healer 'Miko',

Celest

Clan Salubri

Year 2011 C.E.