The following is a replacement cosmology/origin story for Vampire: the Masquerade (mechanics, including clan disciplines, are unaffected; I recommend against the inclusion of bloodlines). It can be used one of two ways. Either use it in a new Chronicle, ignoring all references in the official books to Caine, the Book of Nod, and the Antediluvians (and Metaplot material related to such), or present it as "the real story," which has since been covered up with a story which makes the Kindred seem much more ancient than they truly are.
In the latter case, I recommend making use of something too commonly overlooked in V:tM games: vampires have been around for thousands of years; only recently did the fourteenth generation come about, and even the thirteenth is looked upon with enough of a sneer that it's clearly a recent development; and yet most of those thirteenth-generation vamps are a century old or less? That means vamps were procreating at a much slower rate until very recently, and that younger vamps showed a great deal of restraint in making their own childer. Sure, you can explain that in a lot of ways, but if I were Embraced and told the V:tM party line, it would give me ... pause.
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst." :: Matthew 5:6 (truncated)
In the Heresy background, Vampires aren't descended from Caine, the first murderer. Far from it. If you're playing in a world where the Book of Nod has been perpetuated, that's a lie concocted by persons unknown -- a blasphemy covering up a blasphemy darker still.
"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." :: Luke 22:19-20, King James Version.
The first Vampire wasn't a murderer; he was a Savior. The first Embrace wasn't an act of retribution, but of trust and promise: a covenant in blood. Jesus shed his blood, divine Vitae filtered through the body of the Virgin Mary, so that his disciples might live forever and carry his Word. Conveniently, the number of those disciples is thirteen, if you include Judas's replacement -- or Jesus himself.
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