Daeva

Daeva (daēuua, daāua, daēva) is an Avestan language term for a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are "wrong gods" or "false gods" or "gods that are (to be) rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are noxious creatures that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws (Zoroastrian Middle Persian; New Persian divs) are personifications of every imaginable evil.

Daeva, the Iranian language term, should not be confused with the devas of Indian religions. While the word for the Vedic spirits and the word for the Zoroastrian entities are etymologically related, their function and thematic development is altogether different. The once-widespread notion that the radically different functions of Iranian daeva and Indic deva (and ahura versus asura) represented a prehistoric inversion of roles is no longer followed in 21st century academic discourse (see In comparison with Vedic usage for details).

Clans and Bloodlines in Vampire: The Requiem

In the role-playing game Vampire: The Requiem by White Wolf Game Studio, vampire characters belong to one of five fictional clans, each of which is representative of an archetype in vampire literature. It is assumed that each clan descended from a single progenitor, who passed to each of his descendants, or childer, his unique gifts and flaws.

The origins of the vampire species are mysterious. The idea of single source is not certain. Some have even suggested that each of the five main clans had a different origin.

Since Requiem was a reboot and re-imagining of White Wolf's previous game line, Vampire: The Masquerade, some of the clans and their traits are similar to clans that appeared in the previous line, though there are differences. In Requiem also, bloodlines play a more important role, with many vampires belonging to a minor bloodline that branched away from a major clan. Unlike the previous game, even members of bloodlines can be said to belong to the parent clan also.