Inconnu
The mysterious elder sect — ancient Kindred who have withdrawn from the Jyhad. Structure, Monitors, Golconda connection, and mechanical interaction rules.
The Inconnu is neither a Sect in the political sense nor a faction in the Jyhad. It is a loose confederation of ancient vampires — most of them elders or ancients — who have withdrawn from Kindred politics entirely or are actively pursuing Golconda. They watch but do not govern. They intervene only when they must.
Philosophy
The Inconnu’s defining characteristic is disengagement from the Jyhad. Most members believe the eternal war between Camarilla and Sabbat is a puppet show orchestrated by the Antediluvians — and that the only winning move is not to play. This is not cowardice; it is a form of radical detachment considered by many members to be a prerequisite for Golconda.
Some Inconnu are closer to Golconda than any other known vampires. A few may have achieved it. This is rumored, never confirmed.
Attitude toward other Sects: Disdain, largely. The Camarilla’s Masquerade politics and the Sabbat’s crusades are both traps. The Inconnu do not recruit from either Sect — members find the Inconnu, not the other way around.
Structure
The Inconnu has no formal hierarchy. What structure exists is informal and ancient:
Monitors are Inconnu members assigned to observe a specific city or region. Each Monitor maintains a watching brief — tracking Kindred activity, powerful mortals, and supernatural disturbances — without intervening. A Monitor’s primary tool is observation, not action.
The Inner Circle is not named or formally constituted. It is simply the oldest, most powerful members — some of them 4th or 5th Generation. Their decisions, when they make them, carry enormous weight. They do not meet regularly.
Evaluation is the only formal process: before a vampire is acknowledged as Inconnu, they must satisfy the Inner Circle that they have genuinely transcended Sect politics and are pursuing something beyond the Jyhad. This process takes decades. Many who seek out the Inconnu are turned away.
Membership Requirements
- Generation: Most acknowledged Inconnu are 6th Generation or lower, though there are exceptions. Thin-blooded vampires are not eligible.
- Age: At minimum, centuries. The Inconnu do not consider neonates or young ancillae.
- Path: Members may follow Humanity or any Path of Enlightenment. Several favor the Path of Paradox (Ravnos-derived; concerned with cycles, illusion, and non-attachment). Golconda pursuit is common but not universal.
- Withdrawal: A candidate must demonstrate genuine withdrawal from Sect politics — not exile, but chosen disengagement. Spies, double agents, and politically active Kindred are ineligible.
Path to Membership
The Inconnu does not advertise. There is no application. The process, where it can be reconstructed from accounts of those who have been evaluated and turned away:
Initial contact happens when an Inconnu Monitor judges a vampire worth watching. This may occur without the vampire’s knowledge. A Monitor who has observed a subject for decades and found them consistently disengaged from Jyhad politics — not merely uninvolved, but demonstrably uninterested in the Camarilla/Sabbat machinery — may arrange a meeting. This is not an invitation. It is a test.
The evaluation period follows: years or decades of periodic contact in which the Monitor assesses whether the candidate’s withdrawal is genuine or tactical. Vampires who have left one Sect for strategic reasons, who are running from something rather than toward something, who still think in terms of faction advantage — all are turned away. The Inconnu can usually tell the difference. They have been watching longer than most candidates have existed.
The Inner Circle review is the final step, and most candidates never reach it. Those who do face questions that are not intelligence tests — the Inner Circle does not care about the candidate’s knowledge of Kindred history or political structures. They want to know what the candidate is pursuing. What they believe. Whether the hunger has been mastered or whether it still masters them. Candidates who frame their withdrawal in terms of safety or survival fail. Those who frame it in terms of transformation have a better chance.
Why most candidates fail: The common failure mode is not deception — the Inner Circle is old enough to detect most deception — but insufficiency. A vampire may be genuinely disengaged from Sect politics and genuinely spiritually motivated and still be considered unready. The Inconnu is not a shelter for vampires who have checked out of the Jyhad. It is something closer to a contemplative order. Candidates who treat it as a retirement fail as surely as those still angling for position.
The Monitors’ Network
Each Monitor maintains a watching brief over a defined territory — typically a single city, though some Monitors cover regions. The network is not coordinated in real time; Monitors do not report to a central authority on a regular schedule. What coordination exists happens through the Inner Circle when something genuinely warrants attention.
What Monitors track: Significant Generation vampires entering or leaving territory; Kindred pursuing Golconda or displaying unusual spiritual development; supernatural disturbances that may indicate Antediluvian activity; mortals who have come to dangerous attention (hunters, occult researchers, government actors who have gotten too close to the Masquerade). Monitors track politics incidentally — knowing who holds a Princedom is context, not the subject.
What Monitors do not do: Intervene in Sect disputes. Report to Camarilla or Sabbat authorities. Share intelligence with politically active Kindred except in extreme circumstances. Act on behalf of candidates who have approached them seeking membership — the Monitor’s role is evaluation, not advocacy.
Information sharing within the network: Monitors share what they know with other Monitors when it is relevant to another’s watching brief. This happens rarely and informally. The network is not a spy service; it is a collection of independent observers who occasionally compare notes. Its information quality on any given subject is uneven — excellent on long-term trends and elder activity, often poor on current events in Sect politics.
The leverage this creates: Inconnu Monitors sitting in major cities accumulate decades of observation on every significant Kindred in those cities. They know things about elders — debts, crimes, obsessions, blood bonds, past identities — that those elders have spent centuries suppressing. The Inconnu does not weaponize this. The knowledge is never used for political advantage, which is part of what keeps the Monitors safe. Everyone understands, implicitly, that interfering with an Inconnu Monitor is a bad idea not because of the Monitor’s personal power but because of what they know, who else knows they know it, and what might happen to that information if the Monitor disappeared.
Known Figures
The Inconnu does not publicize membership. The following are rumored or confirmed (level of certainty varies by chronicle):
| Name | Clan | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Saulot | Salubri | Believed Inconnu before Tremere diablerized him; may persist within Tremere’s psyche as a dormant presence — the implications of this, if true, are considerable |
| Kemintiri | Followers of Set | Elder double agent — sometimes claimed as Inconnu, sometimes as active Setite; may have been an Inconnu Monitor who was also running a very long-term Setite operation, or may be a Setite who has successfully maintained Inconnu credentials as cover |
| Mahatma | Unknown clan | Rumored to be one of the oldest members of the Inner Circle; possibly achieved Golconda; no reliable physical description exists |
| Donatello | Toreador (rumored) | A Renaissance-era elder who supposedly withdrew from the Camarilla’s founding politics and has not been reliably seen since; may be dead, may be in torpor, may be an Inconnu Monitor operating in Europe under identities that haven’t been connected |
| An-Nasir | Lasombra (rumored) | Ashirra elder who departed the Ashirra courts in the 14th century CE after a doctrinal dispute over the Kharijite question; later rumored as Inconnu, which would be unusual — the Inconnu’s North African presence is thin |
| Various ancients | Mixed | The Inner Circle’s composition is speculation; several 4th-generation vampires are rumored members; the Inconnu’s apparent indifference to Jyhad politics is most plausible if some of its members are old enough to have a direct perspective on what the Jyhad actually is |
Chronicle continuity determines which of these figures appear. In V20’s default 1990s setting, the Inconnu’s exact membership is deliberately obscured.
Golconda Connection
The Inconnu’s relationship to Golconda is central to understanding them. The sect does not teach Golconda — they believe it cannot be taught, only sought. But:
- Inconnu Monitors have observed Golconda seekers across centuries and know more about what the process actually looks like than any other body of vampires
- The Inner Circle may include Kindred who have achieved it — if Golconda is achievable at all, this is where the evidence would be found
- A Monitor who judges a vampire genuinely ready may point them toward resources, a text, a location, a name — but will not provide a roadmap; the Inconnu view the seeking as inseparable from the achievement
For Golconda mechanics and prerequisites, see Golconda.
Mechanical Interaction Rules
Siding with the Inconnu is not a character creation option in standard V20. A PC may be a Monitor’s contact or informant, but is not an Inconnu member.
Inconnu Monitors in a chronicle function as:
- Intelligence assets (know things other factions do not)
- Potential Golconda guides (if the PC has achieved Humanity 7+ and meets other prerequisites)
- Wildcard factions — their loyalties are to outcomes, not parties
- Potential antagonists if PCs disturb something the Inconnu are protecting
What Inconnu NPCs will not do:
- Take sides in Camarilla/Sabbat conflicts
- Provide political backing
- Intervene directly in Sect disputes unless the situation threatens something fundamentally dangerous (an Antediluvian waking, Gehenna-tier events)
Blood bond: A vampire of sufficient age and potency who offers their blood is offering something PCs should treat as extremely dangerous. Elder Inconnu vitae may trigger immediate blood bond stages — avoid drinking from them.
Territory holdings reflect Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (White Wolf/Onyx Path, 2018). Chronicle in-game date: 1990.