What is Malk Time?

By Jeffrey P. Bergeron
<jbergeron12@cogeco.ca>

You walk into a room and I can feel you. I know what you are, even if
you don't. We are connected, in some senses we are one. I feel your joy
and anguish, your insanity and death. The more "gifted" I am in this
connection the more this can feed into my particular enlightenment, and
the more unaware of my particular gifts the more confusing this can be.
When the mirror cracked, the shards hit all of us and embedded
themselves in our flesh. Malkav connects us.

The least gifted Malk can at least feel other Malks in the room. To
those Malks who are well known to this poorly endowed Malk, she can feel
the spark of life dissipate as well as they are in the same area. This
Malk is aware only at the most base level but is still connected. Their
information, thoughts, beliefs and feelings are bounced through the
network from Malk to Malk. The relays continue until it continues and
melds throughout the network. No information is lost to the network, it
just sometimes gets garbled because the signal is weak. Concentration
from a more gifted Malk can cause a clearer reading but some information
is still fragmented and lost. much like a cracked mirror.

The most gifted Malk will glow like a beacon to other Malks. They will
know he is more aware. For the most gifted Malk, Malk Time is both
blessing and curse. He should be able to pick up random thoughts and
impressions from his brethren. He should be able to "hear" them
sometimes. He can feel the death and pain of his clanmates hundreds,
even thousands of kilometers away. In truth, this Malk walks a
tightrope, the threat of the madness of others infecting his own. His
ability to get information, especially on Malkavians, is awe-inspiring
but his madness at doing so can be crippling. He is an enigma to most
vampires, and can be one of the most frightening individuals ever
because he seems to "know" all the time and yet is definitely insane.
How to separate the chaff from the grain becomes the difficulty. These
highly "enlightened" Malkavians tend to be the most frightening of all.
Creepy, sullen, lost in "their world", when the jokes do emerge they
tend to be. unkind. to some degree, almost as if the tormenting of
others makes them feel better about their own endless torment. This does
not mean its loud and obnoxious, the ways of "pranking" are as varied as
the background of the members of the clan are.

We can feel you, we know you are there. You are connected, in some
senses we are one. I can know when you die, or when your madness
increases. I also can feel your hopes and dreams, albeit somewhat
garbled. You are clan, you are Malk. Lets get to know each other, we
have Time.

{Jeffrey P. Bergeron is a scholar, historian, teacher and Vampire LARPer
in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Recently he has started playing a
Malkavian named Doctor Carl Clauberg in the Peterborough Camarilla
game.)