Larp 101: The World » Vampire Legends
The most common story of vampiric origins traces them to Caine, the First Murderer, cursed with immortality by God. His descendants, the Antediluvians, were the founders of the modern Clans. Legend holds that the eldest vampires are only asleep, and will someday awaken to feed on their descendants in the apocalypse known as Gehenna. While the truth of these legends is uncertain (the Camarilla—see below—officially doesn’t believe in Gehenna or the Antediluvians), a vampire’s generation is generally based on their descent from Caine, with the most common new vampires created these days being of the 13th Generation.
Vampires also sometimes speak of a mythical state-of-being at which time the Beast no longer has any hold over their emotional state. This is referred to as Golconda. The methods by which a vampire can achieve this state are about as various as there are vampires. Some say it involves a Buddhist-like meditative practice. Others may insist that the only road to Golconda leads through the careful organization of one's life—up to and including everyone else around you. Finally, perhaps the enlightenment comes from the production of great beauty (or ugliness).
Regardless, the various methods by which vampires have identified to hold the Beast at bay—whether the specific individual believes in Golconda or not—are collectively referred to as Paths of Enlightenment. These moral codes are sometimes humane, sometimes monstrous, but help individual vampires work together to create a social order.