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Vampire: the Masquerade
The Erciyes Fragments
The Complete Book of Nod Has Been Found
A young Cappadocian receives a mysterious invitation to a fear-shrouded monastery. There he finds fragments of the original Book of Nod in a language that has been dead for thousands of years. Who has led him to this place? What has he uncovered? And why has he been chosen to transcribe the words of one who could be Caine himself?
Who Found it and Why?
Written by noted science-fiction novelist C.S. Friedman, The Erciyes Fragments is a version of the Book of Nod that has never been seen before by mortal eyes. The most sage of vampiric scholars provide their commentary for your enlightenment. Revealed now for the first time are the prophecies of Nod and of Gehenna!
A young Cappadocian receives a mysterious invitation to a fear-shrouded monastery. There he finds fragments of the original Book of Nod in a language that has been dead for thousands of years. Who has led him to this place? What has he uncovered? And why has he been chosen to transcribe the words of one who could be Caine himself?
Who Found it and Why?
Written by noted science-fiction novelist C.S. Friedman, The Erciyes Fragments is a version of the Book of Nod that has never been seen before by mortal eyes. The most sage of vampiric scholars provide their commentary for your enlightenment. Revealed now for the first time are the prophecies of Nod and of Gehenna!
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
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196 people want to read
About the author
C.S. Friedman
49 books1,291 followersCelia S. Friedman is a science fiction and fantasy author. She has also been credited Celia S. Friedman and Celia Friedman.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 11, 2011
A fascinating perspective of the origin of the kindred, and the multiple layers of storyline is just awesome. Not to be left out are the clever idea to add commentary in the margins by previous elders, really added a nice touch.
June 10, 2016
While the Book of Nod laid out the foundational myths of vampire society and Revelations of the Dark Mother provides a counterpoint, The Erciyes Fragments is more of an expansion on the original Book of Nod than a new account of vampiric prehistory. This isn't a problem at all, because real myth is full of contradictions or accounts that are slightly different from each other, even things are widely believed. Consider the multiple geneologies of Jesus as one example. Adding that to Vampire is a great way to deepen the mythology and allow the GM to provide multiple quotations on the same topic and let players sort through what they believe.
The in-world explanation is that the text is kept at the "Monastery of Shadows," somewhere in the north in a narrow valley so the area is in shadows most of the time. A ghoul of the Giovanni travels there, copies the manuscript and mails it back to Augustus Giovanni, and then dies under mysterious and spooky circumstances. Said manuscript has been commented on by multiple scholars over the centuries, and those comments are written in the margins in a variety of hands, as is traditional for medieval (and earlier) manuscripts. One of the commentors is a Ventrue, one is a Malkavian, one is a Ventrue, one is from the 11th century, one is Roman-era, and some of them don't leave enough clues to determine anything about them. Their commentary might even have more total words than the actual text, and while some of it is juvenile or dumb, mostly it adds to the poetic styling with more down-to-earth criticism.
The actual fragments are very similar to The Book of Nod, but different in a few key points. The early sections are written from Caine's perspective in first person and have a heavy focus on blood, as you might expect for vampires. The Bible has no explanation for why G-d accepted Abel's sacrifice and rejected Cain's. The traditional interpretation is that Cain's sacrifice was lacking somehow, but in The Erciyes Fragments it's because G-d loves the sweet smell of blood and found Caine's harvest unacceptable, and so Caine sacrifices that which is perfect, that which is unblemished, the first part of what he loves--his brother.
I also really liked the subtle differences in the angels' curses on Caine. Here Uriel is the one who curses Caine with burning in light and Raphael curses him with drinking blood and loneliness. And speaking of loneliness, the book makes a point that that is the real curse on Caine. The vampires are separated from humanity by their lack of human needs. They do not eat or drink, they do not sleep and are awake in the night, they do not bear children or have families...but they still suffer from loneliness, and so they cannot separate themselves from humanity entirely. And then Raphael's curse of division and strife comes into effect, and you can see how Caine wasn't quite as cursed with awesome as he initially seemed to be.
This book also explicitly lays out that the various Clan weaknesses are all explicit curses from Caine for their Antediluvians' particular deeds. Except for the Salubri, who are the only uncursed Clan. As a Salubri fanboy I absolutely approve of this interpretation. This comes after the Flood, of which Caine says
The Erciyes Fragments also lays out support for the various secret Antediluvian conspiracy theories, since it has six members of the Second Generation (and doesn't mention Irad) and states that before the Flood and Caine's curses, Generation as a concept didn't exist. All vampires were of equal power, so any survivor of the Flood would be an Antediluvian in modern terms. That leaves the door open for several extra Antediluvians and their hidden Clans. I think White Wolf should have done more with this, especially in the Americans and Africa, rather than having the vampires there claim different originals but all obviously be bloodlines of existing Clans, but oh well.
The book ends with some proverbs and prophecies, but the prophecies here aren't as good as the ones in The Book of Nod. They're obviously linked to the rise of the Camarilla, the Cathayan Great Leap Outward, and the Time of Thin Blood, without much room for interpretation. They're good for the reader to look at and feel superior to the commentators, who are writing without knowledge of what the events refer to, but they aren't useful even in a Dark Ages game because as soon as the GM includes them, any player who knows anything about Vampire is instantly going to know the subject of the prophecies.
I did like the bit where a Roman-era commentator speculated that the 10th Generation is surely the final limit beyond which the blood of Caine grows too thin to continue, though.
The Erciyes Fragments is more of a supplement to The Book of Nod rather an an entirely separate book on its own, but not so much that it doesn't have its own identity. If, like me, you're drawn to the mythology of Vampire as one of its selling points, pick this up.
The in-world explanation is that the text is kept at the "Monastery of Shadows," somewhere in the north in a narrow valley so the area is in shadows most of the time. A ghoul of the Giovanni travels there, copies the manuscript and mails it back to Augustus Giovanni, and then dies under mysterious and spooky circumstances. Said manuscript has been commented on by multiple scholars over the centuries, and those comments are written in the margins in a variety of hands, as is traditional for medieval (and earlier) manuscripts. One of the commentors is a Ventrue, one is a Malkavian, one is a Ventrue, one is from the 11th century, one is Roman-era, and some of them don't leave enough clues to determine anything about them. Their commentary might even have more total words than the actual text, and while some of it is juvenile or dumb, mostly it adds to the poetic styling with more down-to-earth criticism.
The actual fragments are very similar to The Book of Nod, but different in a few key points. The early sections are written from Caine's perspective in first person and have a heavy focus on blood, as you might expect for vampires. The Bible has no explanation for why G-d accepted Abel's sacrifice and rejected Cain's. The traditional interpretation is that Cain's sacrifice was lacking somehow, but in The Erciyes Fragments it's because G-d loves the sweet smell of blood and found Caine's harvest unacceptable, and so Caine sacrifices that which is perfect, that which is unblemished, the first part of what he loves--his brother.
I also really liked the subtle differences in the angels' curses on Caine. Here Uriel is the one who curses Caine with burning in light and Raphael curses him with drinking blood and loneliness. And speaking of loneliness, the book makes a point that that is the real curse on Caine. The vampires are separated from humanity by their lack of human needs. They do not eat or drink, they do not sleep and are awake in the night, they do not bear children or have families...but they still suffer from loneliness, and so they cannot separate themselves from humanity entirely. And then Raphael's curse of division and strife comes into effect, and you can see how Caine wasn't quite as cursed with awesome as he initially seemed to be.
This book also explicitly lays out that the various Clan weaknesses are all explicit curses from Caine for their Antediluvians' particular deeds. Except for the Salubri, who are the only uncursed Clan. As a Salubri fanboy I absolutely approve of this interpretation. This comes after the Flood, of which Caine says
"And in the end there was only waterThis is one area where the commentary is particularly interesting, pointing out that while Noah knew the Flood was forty days and nights, the vampires had no idea when it would end. Or if it would.
My foolish children
knew hunger
And loneliness
And fear
And it was good."
The Erciyes Fragments also lays out support for the various secret Antediluvian conspiracy theories, since it has six members of the Second Generation (and doesn't mention Irad) and states that before the Flood and Caine's curses, Generation as a concept didn't exist. All vampires were of equal power, so any survivor of the Flood would be an Antediluvian in modern terms. That leaves the door open for several extra Antediluvians and their hidden Clans. I think White Wolf should have done more with this, especially in the Americans and Africa, rather than having the vampires there claim different originals but all obviously be bloodlines of existing Clans, but oh well.
The book ends with some proverbs and prophecies, but the prophecies here aren't as good as the ones in The Book of Nod. They're obviously linked to the rise of the Camarilla, the Cathayan Great Leap Outward, and the Time of Thin Blood, without much room for interpretation. They're good for the reader to look at and feel superior to the commentators, who are writing without knowledge of what the events refer to, but they aren't useful even in a Dark Ages game because as soon as the GM includes them, any player who knows anything about Vampire is instantly going to know the subject of the prophecies.
I did like the bit where a Roman-era commentator speculated that the 10th Generation is surely the final limit beyond which the blood of Caine grows too thin to continue, though.
The Erciyes Fragments is more of a supplement to The Book of Nod rather an an entirely separate book on its own, but not so much that it doesn't have its own identity. If, like me, you're drawn to the mythology of Vampire as one of its selling points, pick this up.
December 27, 2014
An expansion of The Book of Nod. While I found the text interesting, the notes in the margins became quite distracting.
March 2, 2010
Another book I read in high school. This one goes along with the Book of Nod. See My Book of Nod review for a review of this one. They are very similar books.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews