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Clanbook: Salubri
In Salubri, the last solo Clanbook for The Dark Ages, the secrets of the reclusive Salubri are revealed. How can they strike back at the Tremere Usurpers? What powers can they bring to bear in their own defense? What secrets do they carry that allow them even the hope of survival? And why do the other clans turn away from their plight? The answers to these questions — and more — await.
72 pages, Paperback
First published April 29, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2021
This book made me sad. But in a good way. It's told from the perspective of a non-Salubri scholar trying to preserve their history for the ages, interviewing those few he comes across, and this was a smart move IMO. It meant that much about their clan was based on wondrous legends and veiled truths, which only served to enhance their ethereal mystique and heart-wrenching tragedy. Really well written I thought.
Frankly, reading this has made me hate the Tremere all the more. Even for the WoD, what they did really was despicable and feels utterly unforgivable. Which is a shame, as I really want to like and feel affinity for the Tremere! Their dedication to scholarship and learning, feels very 'me'. But given their systematic purge of a clan I find so intriguing and mysterious, I struggle with that even more now.
The passages about Saulot were probably my favourite. He's always been the most fascinating and complex and human of all the Antediluvians; unable to accept his vampiric condition, becoming obsessed with spiritual enlightenment and compassion as a result. But goddamn is he a shady fucker. I totally subscribe to the theory that Saulot was the progenitor of the Baali. And other veiled acts like those that earned him the monikers 'the Warlord' and 'the Dragon' would IMO totally fit the checkered past of this tortured ignoble flawed saint. A comparison with Dumbledore comes to mind; a brilliant wise man who espouses compassion and love to his followers, is worshipped by them and in their eyes can do no wrong, but in secret has a seriously shady past that tortures him, and shady motives and goals that continue to torture and drive him. Who knows what he is up to.
The book could have been clearer with the chronology of the clan I though. As is often the case with Salubri lore I find timelines don't quite match up. E.g. with Samiel and the warriors taking Judeo-Christian angel names in reflection of their avenging faith, but Samiel is also said to have fallen at the end of either the First Baali War (which must have occurred sometime in early Mesopotamia c.3000-2000BC), or the Second Baali War (at the time of the eruption of Thera c.1600BC), long long before the Judeo-Christian tradition. I guess it could be explained away as the clan's conversion over time, and consciously or unconsciously amending their own history and clan mythology accordingly (e.g. perhaps the names Samiel and Rayzeel were much later Hebraizations by their descendants), but this wasn't really hinted at or explained in-text.
But on the whole, loved this book, and love-hate the tragedy of this beautiful clan.
Frankly, reading this has made me hate the Tremere all the more. Even for the WoD, what they did really was despicable and feels utterly unforgivable. Which is a shame, as I really want to like and feel affinity for the Tremere! Their dedication to scholarship and learning, feels very 'me'. But given their systematic purge of a clan I find so intriguing and mysterious, I struggle with that even more now.
The passages about Saulot were probably my favourite. He's always been the most fascinating and complex and human of all the Antediluvians; unable to accept his vampiric condition, becoming obsessed with spiritual enlightenment and compassion as a result. But goddamn is he a shady fucker. I totally subscribe to the theory that Saulot was the progenitor of the Baali. And other veiled acts like those that earned him the monikers 'the Warlord' and 'the Dragon' would IMO totally fit the checkered past of this tortured ignoble flawed saint. A comparison with Dumbledore comes to mind; a brilliant wise man who espouses compassion and love to his followers, is worshipped by them and in their eyes can do no wrong, but in secret has a seriously shady past that tortures him, and shady motives and goals that continue to torture and drive him. Who knows what he is up to.
The book could have been clearer with the chronology of the clan I though. As is often the case with Salubri lore I find timelines don't quite match up. E.g. with Samiel and the warriors taking Judeo-Christian angel names in reflection of their avenging faith, but Samiel is also said to have fallen at the end of either the First Baali War (which must have occurred sometime in early Mesopotamia c.3000-2000BC), or the Second Baali War (at the time of the eruption of Thera c.1600BC), long long before the Judeo-Christian tradition. I guess it could be explained away as the clan's conversion over time, and consciously or unconsciously amending their own history and clan mythology accordingly (e.g. perhaps the names Samiel and Rayzeel were much later Hebraizations by their descendants), but this wasn't really hinted at or explained in-text.
But on the whole, loved this book, and love-hate the tragedy of this beautiful clan.
March 13, 2024
I love the Clan of Saulot, they're my favorite in the V:tM setting.
However... This book felt too much like a high fantasy setting book trying to masquerade in a dark urban fantasy. I see what the author was going for but the aesthetic felt forced and the effect was more cringe than anything.
However... This book felt too much like a high fantasy setting book trying to masquerade in a dark urban fantasy. I see what the author was going for but the aesthetic felt forced and the effect was more cringe than anything.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews