The leader of the Kindred was Julian Luna (Mark Frankel) a handsome, reclusive industrialist (born in 1830) who ran an criminal empire with the help of other vampires who lived in clans. They paid tribute to Julian as their Prince. The clans included five groups: The Ventrue (blue-blooded aristocracy), Nosferatu (savage subterranean clan), The Toreadors (artists and lovers of creativity), The Brujah (mobsters), and The Gangrels (rebels, punks, rockers and bikers), as well as a The Assamite, a group of assassins. The leaders of each clan were called Primogens. Each sat on a counsel ruled by Julian who tried to balance their way of life against the humans in the city and maintain the Masquerade of their existence. Julian's mentor was Archon Raine (Patrick Bauchau), the former Prince of the City, now the Primogen for The Ventrue clan. Archon had turned Julian into one of the Kindred in the 1800s after his wife was killed. Julian became Archon's bodyguard and earned his trust to become one of his top officers.

Traits of the Kindred were many. They can walk in the daylight (after a good feeding of blood)), change shape and had the the ability to touch an object of a dead person and see into their past. When the Kindred feel strong emotions, their eyes change colors. They also have the power to remove a memory from a human's mind. And, can spontaneously heal from most wounds. Their lifespan can be hundred of years. But they can be killed by a phosphorus gun. They feed on blood to sate their Hunger and can turn a human into a Kindred via "The Embrace" by nearly draining the humans blood and then re-introducing it back into the human host with a mixture of Kindred blood. The Embrace requires permission of the Prince. Those ignoring the law were put to death, if it so pleased the Prince.

Investigating the society of The Kindred was detective Frank Kohanek. (C. Thomas Howell) who learned of their secret order from Alexandra Serris, a women he had once loved. Julian Luna had also loved the same woman (she was Julian's first Embrace) and made her a promise to protect Frank from harm after she promised to sacrifice her life for his safety. She died for revealing the secrets of the Kindred society to a human.

Despite his initial hatred of the vampires, Franks accepts the clan of vampires and start to understand that they have every right to exist in nature along humans (The Kindred evolved alongside humanity since its earliest existence). Franks later learns that his own partner, Sonny Toussaint (Erik King) is one of the Kindred, as well.

Aspiring to take over the Kindred clans in San Francisco was Eddie Fiori (Brian Thompson), a ruthless, ambitious vampire with an eye on Julian's throne. Currently, the Primogen of the Brujah Clan, he runs the unions and workers around the San Francisco docks. He was "embraced" by Cyrus, the Prince of Los Angeles.

Lillie Langtry,  the Toreador Primogen	Caitlin Byrne, Investigative Reporter	Sasha Luna, Julian's great, great, granddaughter

Add to the mix, human investigative reporter, Caitlin Byrne (Kelly Rutherford) for the San Francisco Times whom Julian found extremely interesting as well rebellious 18-year-old Sasha Luna, Julian's last direct human descendant, whom he protects after the death of her grandfather (Julian's grandson). And, let us not forget, Julian's consort Lillie Langtry, the Primogen of the Toreador Clan who wants Julian for her own. She owns The Haven, a nightclub that is neutral ground for all the clans (as well as humans) where they can listen to music, drink and otherwise enjoy the night.

TRIVIA NOTE: The short-lived series (8 episodes) was based on the book "The Masquerade" by Mark Rein-Hagen and the White Wolf role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. In the Middle Ages, vampires were referred to as "Kindred" and that label was affixed to "those" who dared live outside of society's rules.

External Links

• Kindred: The Embraced (IMDb)

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