Children of the Vine
Also known as: Revellers, Carpet Knights
The Party Eternal
“Greetings, and welcome to our celebration! Please, make yourself at home. Eat, drink and be merry! What? Why are we celebrating? Hmmph! As if we require a reason for revelry. Actually, we are celebrating a momentous event, although usually we celebrate for the sake of having a party. Today’s date marks the day when we split from Society of Sensation. Oh, did I forget to mention our sect? It must be this wine. You must try some. Here have a glass…No? Don’t mind if I do. Now where was I? Oh, yes, the Children of the Vine.
“I once was a factor in the Sensates. After all, for one who truly loved pleasure as much as I, it seemed to be the faction to join. No longer would I resist any temptation. Every whim, every desire could be fulfilled. I spent my days and nights seeking nothing less than sheer ecstasy. I admit, I wasn’t interested in finding such ridiculous things as “truth” or “meaning.” Of what use is truth to me? Truth is not always pleasant. Sometimes the truth is hard and ugly. Better to escape the truth through absolute pleasure.
“Anyway, that all fell apart with the rise of Factol Erin. Yes, she is truly beautiful. There is much potential for ecstasy with that one. Such a shame that she refuses to reach that potential. What’s that? Yes, I’m talking about the same Factol Erin. You see, Erin and I have a certain…difference in our outlook. She decried me as a shallow hedonist. According to her, I was living the Sensate philosophy all wrong. She feels it is the goal, nay, the duty, of every Sensate to experience as many different things as possible. This includes pain as well as pleasure, misery as well as ecstasy. I argued that there were some experiences I could do without. However, the rest of the faction’s high-ups agreed with her. They said that the focus of the Sensate philosophy should be on diverse experiences, and self-restraint has some value. I, however, believe that if something feels good, do it…as often as possible.
“I left the Sensates, content to continue in my ways, following my whims. They have never served me wrong, at least not for long. Hey, that could be the start of a poem. I’ll have to write that down. Later maybe. I’m busy with this glass of wine right now. Anyway, many others followed me. We wanted to experience only our own pleasure, regardless of the consequences. I became the unofficial leader, and I am known by my fellows as “Factol Moreus,” despite the fact that we are not a faction. We became known as the Children of the Vine for our uninhibited parties. The name suits us well.
“What about you? Do you wish to join us and seek nothing but your own pleasure? No? You say we are selfish and irresponsible? Maybe so. But there are worse things to be. We try only to create happiness. We cannot stand suffering, in ourselves or others. I think it very sad to see so many berks wasting their miserable lives, toiling for a future that may never come. I wish I could convince them, too, to live in the moment and embrace their own happiness. Tomorrow it may be too late. That is why today…we celebrate.”
—Factol Moreus at one of many Children of the Vine parties
“You’re nothing but a worthless bubber!”
—Common insult levelled at a Reveller
“I’ll drink to that!”
—Equally common retort
Sect History: The Children of the Vine, also known as Revellers and Carpet Knights, are members of a sect that first sprang up on Arborea. Many Sensates became enamoured of the pleasures of the Gilded Hall, and sought only self-gratification. The most degenerate of these hedonists broke off from the Sensates on the example of Moreus, a former Sensate factol. The Society of Sensation, in turn, was not exactly sad to see these folks go. Their faction has enough of a reputation for pleasure-seekers as it is. Those who were honest (and barmy) enough to admit that they cared only for pleasure and not for learning the truth joined the Revellers under the leadership of Moreus.
The Sectol: The leader of the sect is Moreus (planar human priest of Dionysus [he/they] / Sectol of the Children of the Vine / CN). Moreus grew up in the burg of Polykeptolon in Arborea. While not unintelligent, Moreus quickly grew dissatisfied with the philosophical pursuits of his hometown. The son of an aristocrat, he had every luxury growing up. However, this only whetted his appetite for more. When the town expelled some unwanted Bacchae, Moreus left with them. He came to the Temple of Dionysus in Olympus, and became a follower of the god of wine. His natural talent for carousing quickly allowed Moreus to rise in rank in Dionysus‘ cult, as well as allowing him to gain influence in the Society of Sensation. His account of his falling out with the Society is accurate.
Despite this, he feels no ill will to the Sensates or Erin. He never wasted any time feeling bad about losing his status with the Sensates. He was happy to simply resume his unbridled revelry, and still respects the Sensates (as long as they don’t interfere with his partying).
“If it feels good, do it… and do it… and do it some more!”
—Factol Moreus
Sect Beliefs: Embrace pleasure; nothing else is worth your time. Nothing should be denied. Every whim and impulse should be acted upon, every desire or need fulfilled. What use is the philosophy of the greatest sages? Has it made them happy? Why seek anything less than ecstasy?
Also, don’t worry about so-called “perfect” experiences. Truth, love, art, beauty…all meaningless. Worry instead about what’s right here right now. That’s all that really matters. Self-denial is a great evil. “Do what thou wilt” is the only law worth recognising. After all, if we all did what we wanted, we’d all be happy.
Principal Plane of Influence: The true home of the Revellers is in Arborea. They are found most frequently on this plane. They have been spreading through other planes on the chaotic side of the great ring, however, especially those members with more selfish and sinister tastes in pleasure.
Allies and Enemies: The Revellers are still on very good terms with the Sensates. They also share many beliefs with the Transcendent Order, although the Ciphers try to make their whims a bit more enlightened than the Children of the Vine. The Bleak Cabal also admires this sect’s stance on finding the “truth” to be a meaningless pursuit. The Heralds of Dust consider the Carpet Knights to be hopelessly lost in their own childish attachment to the pleasures of “life,” and the Harmonium and Mercykillers consider them to be dangerous deviants upsetting the moral fabric of society.
Eligibility: There are no lawful Children of the Vine. Other than this restriction, any character who desires to seek self-gratification can join. Evil Revellers don’t care who they harm to experience pleasure (and often have a sadistic streak), while good-aligned Revellers try to spread happiness to others as well as to themselves.
Benefits: Children of the Vine are remarkably able to resist the negative consequences of their reckless lifestyles. Members gain a +2 to all saves versus all poisons, toxins, and diseases.
Restrictions: All Revellers have some form of addiction to a pleasurable activity. The player of a Reveller character must choose some vice that the character will seek out irrationally, and will be unable to function well without (-2 to all attack rolls, proficiency checks, saves, and ability checks; +2 to Armour class/ day without addiction). The DM must approve all addiction choices, as they should be sufficiently debilitating as to make this an actual weakness, but not enough to make the character unplayable. Suggestions include alcohol or other drugs, sexual activity, gluttonous behaviour, or gambling.
Source: Greg Jensen and Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net
Canonical Source: Planes of Chaos: Book of Chaos [2e] p40.
A Bubbers Guide to the Planes
Being a Drinking Song of the Children of the Vine
Acheron’s no place to go, if you’ve heard the news,
It’s chock full of troops, who’ve drunk all the booze!
As for the Abyss! Well, probably best to pass through,
‘Cause the plane is so evil, the bub drinks YOU!
Arborea’s a plane full of Elves and Greeks,
The bub there’s so smooth, you’ll have a headache for weeks.
Arcadia’s full of hardheads, so stay off the gin
‘Cause they execute drunks, for strong drink’s a sin.
Baator’s no bub-house, it’s prices are unfair,
It’ll cost you your soul for a pint of beer!
The Beastlands — no bub to be bought, no taverns where you can drink
Just a load of animals, and they’ve no use for jink
A Bytopian cocktail packs a two-layered kick
And rest assured, three’ll make you sick!
Carceri bub looks and tastes like tar
With ‘Farastu’ on the lable… er… uh-oh… AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
Drink Elysian spirits if it’s joy you seek,
They’re full of goodness, but by no means weak.
Gehenna’s no place to go and get smashed
Unless you like bub that’s made of volcanic ash.
The Grey Waste’s a place where drinking’s a folly
It won’t pick you up, just make you melancholy.
Limbo’s taverns are great, to a slaad’s way of thinking
But be advised – you never know quite what you’re drinking!
Mechanus? Forget it! Just stay away!
They only let you drink certain stuff at certain times of day.
Mount Celestia’s a place with some heavenly wines
But the fiends daren’t drink it, it burns ’em inside.
The Outlanders brew up their bub in peculiar kettles
Made by rilmani from precious metals!
Pandemonium drinks are brewed by the schizophrenic
They induce paranoia, and are hallucinogenic!
Ysgard’s known for lager, and berserk frenzies are to be anticipated
These events are not unrelated…
And as for Sigil? It’s the town I love.
And what about the bub? See all the above!
Source: Phil