The Testament of Longinus Described w/ Quotations
From LanceaSanctum
The Testament of Longinus Described
There are five books in the Testament, described in detail below. Following are prominent quotations from the Testament.
Book I: The Malediction of Longinus
Malediction details the life of the man who would become Longinus, from his birth to a Roman prostitute named Livia, to the Crucifixion and his damnation. Longinus’ birth name is never revealed, as Longinus viewed his curse as a complete negation of his mortal nature. Instead, he is referred to variously as "the bastard childe," "he who would become Longinus," "the soldier," and "the Devil’s scion," among many other appellations in the text. The Malediction also implies that Longinus was not merely a Roman soldier in the wrong place at the wrong time, but rather predestined to strike Jesus due to an exceptionally debauched and sinful life. The book asserts that Longinus, prior to his Embrace, violated each of the Seven Deadly Sins in particularly egregious ways. For example, the book claims he drunkenly raped his own mother because he found her "comely" and later murdered a friend who had been promoted above him in the Roman Legions, violations of the sins of Lust and Envy, respectively.
In the climactic event of his mortal life, Longinus was ordered to ascertain whether Jesus Christ was dead or not, and he prodded the Messiah with a spear because he was too lazy to fetch a ladder, an act of Sloth. Then, when the blood of Christ dripped down from the spear onto his hands, he went to wipe it off but then became entranced with how pure the blood looked and how sweet it smelled, and to the horror of those standing nearby, he licked it off his hands out of Gluttony. Malediction ends with the archangel Vahishtael confronting Longinus outside Jesus’ tomb and describing to him the nature of the Curse. Curiously, Vahishtael is not found elsewhere in either Jewish or Christian writings, but Zoroastrianism does recognize a being named Asha Vahishta who was one of the Amesha Spentas (angelic beings who served the highest god, Ahura Mazda). The significance of this figure and his possible connection with a pre-Christian religion baffle Sanctified scholars to this very night.
Book II: The Torments of Longinus
Torments describes the unlife of Longinus, whose new name was taken from a Latinization of the Greek word for "spear." The book details Longinus’ efforts to come to grips with his new state, his eventual Embrace of the monk who came to be known as the Monachus, and establishment of the early Black Church. A somewhat depressing text evocative of the Old Testament book of Lamentations, Torments addresses what happened to Longinus after he became a vampire, and how he came to realize that he could assuage his endless hunger with the blood of any mortal save that of Christians. By the end of the second century, however, Longinus discovered that he could even feed from most Christians, though the truly devout were able to repel him through some miraculous (and not fully understood) aura of sanctity. Longinus attributed this development to growing apostasy in the early Church following the deaths of Peter, Paul and the other Apostles.
The last few chapters of Torments deal with his discovery somewhere in Europe of a monastery whose monks had fallen into all manner of sinful activities. Longinus, enraged by the impiety of the monks, slew all of them in a variety of painful ways appropriate to their sins. This section of Torments is lurid and rather gory, with several chapters devoted to the various painful demises of the monks. The last surviving monk was an elderly scholar who had resisted the sinful urges of the others. Upon encountering Longinus after the death of his brothers, the monk (known to history only as "the Monachus") calmly acknowledged Longinus’ vampiric state and concluded that the slaughter of the other monks was divine judgment for their transgressions. Longinus and the Monachus, who never displayed fear of the great predator, spent many long nights discussing Christ’s divinity, the role of vampires in God’s plan, and the true nature of Good and Evil. Eventually, Longinus concluded that the monk was a worthy disciple and offered him a choice between death and the Embrace. After some hesitation, the monk concluded Longinus’ arrival was ordained by God, and even though the Embrace meant damnation, choosing death was tantamount to suicide and therefore also a mortal sin. Thus, the Monachus accepted the Embrace, reasoning that God would not have completely denied him an opportunity for salvation and that undeath must carry with it the possibility of some kind of redemption.
After Embracing the Monachus, Longinus and his new childe went out into the world and collected the first Dark Apostles, a group of vampires Embraced for their violation of various sins. The number of the Dark Apostles is unclear, as there are conflicting accounts even within the text of Torments, but most of the Sanctified accept between seven and nineteen. At least a third of the Dark Apostles were women. Each was given a choice between death and damnation, and each chose to walk as Longinus did. The Dark Apostles founded an abbey, called the Black Abbey, as their base of operations for their efforts to spread the Gospel of Longinus across Europe.
Book III: The Rule of Golgotha
The Rule contains laws and precepts intended to govern vampiric society and morality, to the extent that such a thing can ever truly govern the Damned. The Rule is the shortest of the five books, but also the most important to the covenant’s beliefs, as Monachus expanded upon this book in his later work, the Sanguineous Catechism. The Rule is also the section of the Testament of Longinus most likely to be quoted by members of other covenants. In particular, certain members of the Invictus sometimes interpret sections of this book to support their "divine right" political theories.
Book IV: The Sanguinaria
The Sanguinaria is a complicated and awkwardly written book, and many Sanctified theologians speculate that it was originally intended to be two separate books and then somewhat artlessly combined into a single text. Much of the book addresses the fates of some of the first Dark Apostles, who, after their training by Longinus and the Monachus, were sent out into the world as missionaries to preach the philosophy of the Lancea Sanctum to the rest of the Damned. The Dark Apostles rarely found willing listeners, and five of the Dark Apostles identified in the text were martyred and posthumously became known as the Black Saints. One of these martyrs was the Ventrue Icarius, whose childer went on to become the leaders of the Icarian Heresy, though that schism came much later and is not addressed within the text. Interspersed between the accounts of the various Dark Apostles and their ultimate fates are completely unrelated sections which appear to be philosophical treatises on the nature of vampirism and damnation, as well as proverbs and sayings attributed to Longinus and the Monachus.
Book V: The Book of Eschaton
Finally, Eschaton contains a number of prophecies spoken by Longinus to guide his descendants and prepare them for the judgment of God. Unfortunately, Longinus chose to mask his visions in cryptic verses that defy easy analysis, and Eschaton has produced more schisms than accurate predictions of historical events. However, many Sanctified scholars fervently point to specific passages of Eschaton to show that Longinus predicted everything from the rise of Charlemagne to the Protestant Reformation to the assassination of JFK.
Eschaton is most important to the core body of Lancea Sanctum faith for its predictions regarding the ultimate fate of the Damned. While vampires, obviously, can meet Final Death, they are deathless unless slain, and thus potentially able to endure until the Day of Judgment. The final chapters of Eschaton suggest that a vampire who fulfills the role for which God has chosen her and survives until the End of Days may seek absolution for all her sins. If her contrition is genuine, God will grant her absolution, thereby proving that His Infinite Grace is available to even the most corrupt and debased creatures. The vampire, now truly Sanctified, will ascend to Heaven as a reward for her acceptance of the burden of vampirism. The book cautions, however, that absolution will not be available to those who deny their vampiric natures. Those who believe that Humanity can be retained through personal willpower alone are guilty of the sin of Pride and will not be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Quotations from the Testament of Longinus
From The Malediction of Longinus, Book I of the Testament of Longinus:
I am God's Holy Monster, the drinker of mankind. For so long, I could not see the role I would play because I looked for it with human, mortal eyes. So I put forth the truth in these pages, for you who seek as I have sought. I am not some godless beast who stalks beneath the dark grandeur of sanctity. I am the grandeur. I am Sanctified.
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Seeing that Christ was dead, the soldiers did not break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out. A drop of Christ's blood fell upon the Soldier's lips, and he wiped it away with his hand. Yet the next day, he slept past the sunrise, and roused from his slumber only at nightfall. And after tasting Christ's blood, he thirsted for more. I know. I know because I am that soldier.
From The Torments of Longinus, Book II of the Testament of Longinus:
The Blood of Christ gave sight to my blind eyes. Though Octavian left my tongue and pulled my teeth, I still bade him to abandon his idols. I have been buried and returned, I have been stricken down yet returned to my feet. If these are not miracles, what are they? Yet if they are miracles, why does the Lord grant them to me, a vessel of sin?
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Though they slept and hunted and fed in the streets of the city, I saw that they were truly like wild animals.
The Damned who stalked within the walls snarled and behaved like predatory beasts, but they had no thoughts left above it all. They thirsted without purpose.
I had hoped I might find kindred spirits among that lot, but how could I know what to tell them until I heard to tell myself? I thirsted for purpose.
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It was then that I came upon that dark monastery and did secretly look on the monks inside. They who were meant to be servants of the Lord, who had sworn themselves to service for years numbering only as long as a man would live, had grown doubtful and idle and within them found sin. So were they shown that the fearsome hunger of Death might creep out of the night and bite through claims of piety. So were they all bled and slain and devoured by the lion of the Lord. All save one.
From The Rule of Golgotha, Book III of the Testament of Longinus:
Caesar has his due, yet even Caesar is is but king among Men.
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The Commandments of Longinus
One: That though you are Damned, your Damnation has purpose. It is the will of God that you are what you are, and the will of God is that the Damned exist to show the evils of turning from Him. The evil become Damned; God has taken those worthy of His love to His own side.
Two: That what you once were is not what you now are. As a mortal is a sheep, so are the Damned wolves among them. That role is defined by nature — wolves feed on their prey, but they are not cruel to them. The role of predator is natural, even if the predator himself is not.
Three: That an ordained hierarchy exists. As man is above beasts, so are the Damned above men. Our numbers are fewer so that our purpose is better effected.
Four: That with the power of Damnation comes limitation. The Damned hide among those who still enjoy God's love, making themselves known only to exemplify fear. The Damned shall make none of their own, for such is a judgment of soul that is the purview only of God. The Damned shall suffer yet more should they slay a fellow to take his soul from him.
Five: That our bodies are not our own. Our purpose is to serve, and when we stray from that purpose, we are to be chastened. The light of the sun excoriates; the flames of a fire purify fleshly evil. The taste of all sustenance other than Vitae is as ash upon the tongue.
From The Sanguinaria, Book IV of the Testament of Longinus:
The mandate and the mission is in the Blood. I saw the proof of my power over the mortal sheep and the hungry wolves have been stirred into the cistern of my heart. That is the miraculous mixture that raises the Predator above the Prey. Blood burns like oil and thunders like a storm. It stains the earth eternal as we only appear to. I had to become its master or forever be its slave.
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As Christ had his Golgotha, so do I have mine: Night and hunger and the voice of the adversary tempting me toward greater evils. These are the amount on which I swell, the walls of the house in which I sleep.
From The Book of Eschaton, Book V of the Testament of Longinus:
“We are ageless,” said the disciple to the Centurion. “Since we are ageless, I can conceive of existing until the Day of Judgment when God will take an accounting of everything. What will come of me, of the Damned on that day?”
The centurion stood and moved to a window. He opened it to reveal a steady rain descending from the sky. He cupped his hand and extended it into the rain. “God’s grace is infinite. But a part of His grace could fill all of the waterways in the world.”
“Then we might receive his forgiveness,” inquired the Discipline. “We will find redemption?”
The Centurion turned to face the disciple, his cupped hand now filled with water. He slowly closed his hand, pushing the water to empty onto the ground.
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Teach your progeny to heed my word, and tell them to likewise teach their own. When my line can no longer contain the blood it spills — the night the broods of your broods can no longer hear their brothers' heartsblood cry unto them from the ground — that is the night when all hope for you is lost.
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(OOC: Descriptions of the Books of the Testament are excerpted from the Lancea Sanctum covenant book, by White Wolf Publishing.)
