The Masquerade is a fictional term found in White Wolf Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade books and role-playing games. The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... White Wolf, Inc. ... Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover. ... Look up Book in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A book is a collection of leaves of paper, parchment or other material, bound together along one edge within covers. ... A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game where players assume the roles of fictional characters via role-playing. ...

A masquerade is a farce, intended to deceive and conceal. The vampiric Masquerade is a shared conspiracy of the Camarilla (the largest grouping of vampire Clans) to keep their existence unknown to mortal human beings. Look up Masquerade in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The word masquerade has a number of meanings: A masquerade ball is a ball, dance, or party; in which, participants wear elaborate costumes and hide their true identity. ... Count Orlok from Nosferatu A vampire is a mythical or folkloric creature said to subsist on human and/or animal blood often having magical powers and the ability to transform. ... This articles content is specific to the fictional setting known as the World of Darkness. ...

The Masquerade began in the 15th century as a response to the Inquisition. Even though there was an ancient tradition of self-concealing among vampires in the Dark Ages, in many cases common people knew or suspected their existence and their works (for example, the Tzimisce had vast dominions in Eastern Europe and many human serfs that were aware of the nature of their masters). In any case, most people superstitiously believed in many supernatural entities including vampires. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Pedro Berruguete. ... The Tzimisce (pronounced Zhi-mee-see) are a fictional clan of vampires in White Wolf Game Studios books and role-playing games Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Dark Ages. ... Eastern Europe is, by convention, that part of Europe from the Ural and Caucasus mountains in the East to an arbitrarily chosen boundary in the West. ... Superstition is a set of behaviors that are related to magical thinking, whereby the practitioner believes that the future, or the outcome of certain events, can be influenced by certain specified behaviors. ... The supernatural (Latin:super- exceeding+nature) comprises forces and phenomena that cannot be perceived by natural or empirical senses, and whose understanding may be said to lie with religious, magical, or otherwise mysterious explanation —yet remains firmly outside of the realm of science. ...

However, as the Church became more and more powerful, the Inquisition chased and destroyed many vampires, until they became convinced that the only way to survive would be to deny their own existence. Saint Peters Basilica in Rome. ...

The Masquerade was taught as law in the Camarilla from then on, and took advantage of the Enlightenment, by reinforcing the idea that vampires are a fruit of ignorance and superstition. By the 19th century, most educated people in the West laughed at the suggestion that the vampires of old legends were real creatures. This articles content is specific to the fictional setting known as the World of Darkness. ... For the period in European history, The Age of Enlightenment For the corresponding movement in the European Jewish community, see Haskalah. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the timeframe of Vampire: The Masquerade (end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st), the human non-playing characters that might run across vampires performing typically vampiric acts will usually disbelieve their own eyes. The Masquerade requires that humans who know about vampires be promptly killed or otherwise rendered unable to spread the news. It also means that a vampire that breaks the Masquerade will have to fix it and/or face severe punishment. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... (20th century - 21st century - 22nd century - other centuries) Decades: 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s 2070s 2080s 2090s In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing. ...