And don't think we're trying to be bad (NO!)
All the innocent crime, seemed alright at the time
Not necessarily mad (not necessarily mad)
We watch every day for the bus
And the driver would say
"That's where lunatics stay!"
...I wonder if he's talkin' 'bout us?

-Alice Cooper, "Inmates (We're All Crazy)"

Overview

The Chicago Malkavians excel at misdirection. They thrust Evan Klein forward so their rivals see them as gibbering fools and broken artists, all while Newberry solidifies his grip on the Primogen Council, Bronwyn reaps the rewards of overseeing the blood trade, and Santos serves Kevin Jackson’s every deadly whim.

Their position as the city’s Camarilla bulwark serves them in court, but Newberry fears the Lasombra arrival threatens their powerbase. He correctly believes the Magisters seek to undermine the clan through exposure of their unpleasant secrets, the Lasombra identifying the Malkavians as the easiest clan to break and turn against its own number. If the Magisters can show the Malkavians up as unreliable compared to a united Clan Lasombra, they may be able to turn Kevin Jackson’s executioners against the Lunatics.

Though Jason believed the time was coming when he might ascend to the throne, ushering in a new era for the clan in this city, he now attempts to direct all Chicago Malkavians to disrupt Lasombra ambition in the domain.

---

Crazy?  Crazy like a fox.  

Once upon a time the Malkavians were respected for their oracular powers; revered, even - the Sybillae were a high clan, the clan of diviners and augurs, favored by the gods.  The Sybillae advised the Ventrue and their foresight helped the Lords crush Wicked Carthage - the children, the screams of the children, even a jaded vampire could not bear the screams of the children burning alive in those evil, evil topheths - they foresaw that after the fall of Rome their esteem would collapse, and they took on the guise of jesters and mendicant beggars to survive, though they foresaw the end of this too - during the burning times the Malkavians melted away, because they had seen to the other side of the fires, when the Camarilla would form.  Seeing the branching paths of possibility, they sorted their numbers out - some joined the Camarilla, others the Sabbat.  And before the Sabbat's collapse, a number of its Lunatics quietly decamped, joining the Anarchs and the Camarilla.  Whenever a truly momentous event occurs, the Malkavians always seem to be one step ahead of it.

The Malkavians have always had insight into the future.  The thing they watch for most of all is when those insights, visions, and predictions stop.  

Because that means that there is no future.  For anyone, living or un-dead.

There are many metaphysical explanations for why Malkavians are compelled to create chaos - some believe it is because their oracular perceptions cause erratic behavior - the classical link between madness and insight.  Others, that the Malkavian ability to acutely perceive entropy drives them mad.  Or maybe it's the clan founder's consciousness dispersed across the entirety of the clan.

Or maybe it's the unconscious understanding that by being a spanner in the works, by causing chaos and creating static, the Malkavians can disrupt the plans of those who truly wish to bring an end to everything.  You never know.

The Malkavian position within the Camarilla has grown stronger, as their warnings have saved the kindred of numerous domains from the Second Inquisition.  They have also quietly opened their arms to the Sabbat renunciates of their clan led by Vasantasena, which has given the clan a sharper edge and made it quicker to draw blood.  The Malkavians are still crazy, but they're not clowning around or slapping their enemies with fish anymore.  

Malkavian SPCs of Note:

• Jason "Son" Newberry, Malkavian Primogen

• Bronwyn, Malkavian Eminence Grise

• Alexa Santos, Chief Hound

Lexicon:

Ananke: A lineage of Malkavians known for their divinatory use of Oblivion and their grisly practices around it.  Largely died out, though rumor has it some have recently awakened.

Bayt al-Qamar: Arabic; "House of the Moon."  The West Asian name of the clan.

The Cobweb: The clan's internal name for their ability to communicate and share information on a psychic, subconscious level.  Sometimes called the "Madness Network" or "The Network."

Lunatics: Sabbat vampires of Malkavian lineage, who have forsaken the pursuit of insight in favor of reveling in delusion.

Malkav: A common name used by the clan for their founder, though it also appears to be a corruption of the Latin "mala cavilla" which loosely translated means "bad joke."  See also Marid.  

Marid: Arabic; "Rebellious Demon."  A name used by the Malkavians of West Asia for their clan Antediluvian.

Sybillae: Prophets; Seers.  The name for the clan during the Roman Empire.