Strange even by the inclusive standards of the Circle
of the Crone, the Disciples of Silence are an ongoing
example of tradition in transition, evolving from a
relatively conventional mystery cult to a controversial
atheistic modern practice.
Millennia past, a certain point of view emerged within the
covenant, achieving popularity in more than one domain. At
the time, some Kindred believed that the Crone responsible
for creating the material universe from the primordial void
was actually an embodiment of the void itself. When the
creation of the universe was complete, they said, the Crone
allowed herself to dissolve back into nothingness so as to
gift her myriad children with absolute freedom from her
influence. There, in the nothingness of unbeing, she awaits
the eventual return of her creation, and will one day emerge
again to refashion it. Thus goes the everlasting cycle of being
and unbeing: creation, dissolution and recreation.
To worship the Crone, said these Kindred, was to worship
the void and vice versa. To understand the nothingness
is to know her directly. Naming themselves the
Disciples of Silence, these devoted vampires informed
all of their practice with the notion of “Silent Void” and
the primal state of being without consciousness.
Practicing behind the façade of ordinary Acolytes,
the Disciples explored the limits of their minds and the
ability to act without thought, initiating themselves
(and one another) in the deep secrets of being and
unbeing as their studies progressed. Nature was sacred
to these vampires, for the unconsciousness of flora
and fauna. Humans and Kindred were sinful in their
tendency to complicated thought and the urge to deny
natural decay. The immortal static nature of vampires
was, to them, the most unholy state of being, and could
only be justified by active service to the Crone.
For the old Disciples of Silence, any attempt at permanence
was a sin against the Crone. Even stones and the
sea would dissolve into nothingness, they argued, so to
build great works of architecture or to map the bounds
of the sea were to ignore the truth of the Silent Void
and fall to the vice of Pride. Construction, they said, was
futile. Legacies were pointless noise. The purpose of the
Kindred was to know meditative calm and silence, to aid
in the slow and steady destruction of the universe that it
might feed the return of the Crone and to abstain from
the Embrace of new vampires.
For long centuries, it was difficult to tell where the
Disciples of Silence dwelled. Stories were told of their exploits:
the collapse of a great temple here, the seemingly
random destruction of a neonate there. Many low-level
Acolytes of the Circle served the Disciples unknowingly,
ascending to a full understanding of the faction only
when their Hierophant chose to initiate them into its
ranks — most often after the faithful performance of a
damning task.
Despite the reputation they gained and the apparent
ubiquity of the Disciples, the truth is that the faction was
relatively small and unpopular in those dark nights. A
number of Acolytes brought into the fold were incapable
of accepting the message of their elders, and rebelled.
Several cults belonging to the faction collapsed inwards,
destroyed by insurrection. Many of the Acolytes who
worshipped quietly and calmly were stigmatized by association
with the more outrageous destructive acts of
their alleged organization and pushed out of their home
cities. Many did not survive.
By the late years of the 19th century, there were fewer
than a dozen faithful Disciples left in the world of Kindred.
A recent convert from the Carthian Movement
by the name of Jerome Turner brought the philosophical
writings of the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin with him,
citing one particular quote to his fellow Acolytes: “Let
us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and
annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and
eternally creative source of all life — the passion for
destruction is also a creative passion!” Turner’s impassioned
attempt at overlaying nihilist philosophy on the
truths of Kindred existence excited the attention of the
Disciples of Silence, and Turner was quickly (some now
say too quickly) initiated into their ranks.
Before long, Turner brought his vision of “Nihilist
Silence” to the faction and beyond, openly preaching a
peculiarly materialist version of their beliefs. He adopted
and integrated the writings of mortal philosophers such
as Nietzsche, Stirner and Heidegger, relating them to
packs of recently Embraced “new Kindred” and attracting
them to the Circle. Exiled from his home domain
(at the behest of his own Hierophant), Turner found
his way to a new home in Morocco, where his teachings
continued. Once he’d gathered a significant number of
followers, he proclaimed himself Hierophant of that
domain, sparking a battle with the previously entrenched
Acolytes. Turner’s viciousness and the suicidal tactics of
his adherents took the older vampires by surprise, and
the new Disciples of Silence won the battle.
The new iteration of the Disciples of Silence taught
the calm and purpose of the cult’s original adherents, but
added a futility and strangely godless mysticism to the
mix. To these Disciples, the universe was not founded
by a creative Crone, but came to exist of its own accord,
without meaning or purpose. There is no cycle of
creation and destruction, they argue — only the steady
decay of all sense and matter, and the hopeless mortal
urge to stave it off by building illusory structures. The act
of creation, absent in the workings of the older Disciples,
was returned to significance — but only to demonstrate
the act’s futility. Every member of the faction was instructed
to put every effort into the creation of “great
works,” only to arrange the destruction of their own
accomplishments as a manner of fueling ritual magicks.
Meditation was eliminated from their practice as no less
futile than prayer to a goddess that does not exist.
Turner encouraged his followers to travel as emulation of
his tribulation on the road to Morocco, and then to preach
his ways to the Acolytes of the Circle or anyone else who
was willing to listen. Just before scattering, they rose up and
murdered him, demonstrating the fulfillment of his lessons
and their “graduation” to individual understanding.
In the nights of the 20th century, the new Disciples have
spread from domain to domain, turning a surprising number
of converts (as assisted by the prevailing sentiment of many
Kindred in the wake of the great world wars) and spreading
their godless brand of Crúac. In response, the older Disciples
have attempted to denounce the new sub-faction in a bid to
disown its followers. Because of the Disciples’ secretive past,
they have met with little success. Many vampires believe
that the Disciples were always a murderous atheist cult, and
are only now growing bold enough to admit it openly.
Recently, there has been more than one attempted
resurgence of the old ways of the Silent Void, but the
new Disciples have carefully and mercilessly extinguished
them. Where these attempts are coming from and whether
they can be totally silenced is yet to be discovered.