Holidays are the dread time when roleplaying and imagination takes a back-seat for a while, while the creators indulge in mundane Thanksgiving feasts and the madness of Christmas shopping. That is why we have not been around.
I would be thronging the fantastic streets of Tokyo come next week and most likely, will not be abound for any activity. Come hither the next year, we’ll be back with more plots and stories, definitely.
Christian & Etienne
Permalink
Leave a Comment
So this is the Realms of Despair, but you feel frustrated to play a uncultured vampire living in dark medieval times. Long you would to tag your vampire lineage to the delightful and rich eras like the Renaissance or the Enlightenment. Hence, why not? Tag your lineage to cities held by the Clans and build your character along the lines of the cities’ unique culture, mannerisms and traditions.
Africa/Middle East
Baghdad: Assamites’ stronghold.
Cairo: Egypt means the Setites, almost exclusively. Ventrue business interests regularly run through the city, and the Assamites take a keen interest in any Kindred visiting.
Carthage (Roman Empire): Built up as the Brujah paradise, Carthage has been provoking the vampires of Rome and Greece for decades.
Europe
Prague (Dark Ages): The Camarilla (and Catholic) presence here is contested by independent vampires. The Nosferatu have powerful, though well-hidden, influence here and all across Eastern Europe. Recent conflicts with the Tzimisce keep all parties on their toes.
Venice: The Giovanni have moved a large part of their banking and business practices to Venice as part of their overall attempt to dominate Italy.
Rome (Roman Empire): A home to many vampires of different Clans, though the Brujah and Ventrue seem to have split the city between them. Legend has it that the Caesars and Senators are under the sway of powerful, but subtle, elder vampires.
Rome (Dark Ages): Dozens of vampires call this city home. Though fallen from grace since the time of the Caesars, Rome is still a powerful and influential city-state controlled by the Holy Roman Church (and thus, the Lasombra and Ventrue).
Vienna (Dark Ages): A warlock stronghold, said to be the meeting place of the Council and the resting place of Tremere himself. Many vampires can find mercenary work with the Tzimisce attackers, for all sensible Clans are wary of just what the Blood Mages plan next.
Paris (Dark Ages): The Toreador seem to have claimed this city for their own; the Courts of Love regularly meet here, and there are whispers circulating about the formation of a grand Court.
Madrid: Previously the seat of power of Cardinal Moncada, Madrid is still firmly in the grip of the Lasombra, and by extension, the Sabbat. However, given the Moorish influences in Spanish history, Assamites also have interests in the city.
London (Dark Ages): The presence of Catholicism means Ventrue and Lasombra, though the indigineous Welsh Gangrel keep the borders open for vampires of other Clans.
London (Victorian Age): Many vampires of various Clans claim domain in London. Sparks fly between the established Camarilla and smaller factions, most notably a (comparatively) independent chantry of Tremere and pleasure-covens established by the Toreador.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Eleanor of Aquitaine was many things, including queen of France and England. She was also a patron of the arts, and during her reign as Duchess of Aquitaine, the troubadour’s art flourished. She came by her love of music and poetry almost as much by heredity as by inclination. Her grandfather, Guillaume IX of Aquitaine (1071-1127) is the earliest troubadour whose works have been preserved.
Troubadours (Provencal: trobar, “to find” or “to invent”) wrote lyric poems and music. The lyrics were written in the vernacular rather than in Latin, the literary language of the Middle Ages. Native to southern France, the troubadours wrote of chivalric love, setting down the code of behavior to be followed by aristocratic lovers.
Courtly love had rules stemming originally from the Ars Amatoria (The Art of Loving) by the Roman poet Ovid. Lovers pledged themselves to each other and consummated their passion, maintaining complete secrecy. Since most marriages among the nobility were in the form of business contracts, courtly love was a form of sanctioned adultery. Courtly love may have served as a safety valve by providing a model of behavior for a class of unmarried young men who might otherwise have threatened social stability.
Knights were usually younger brothers without land of their own, and thus unable to support a wife. They became members of the household of the feudal lords they served, which is one reason why the lady in the courtly love relationship is typically older, married and of higher social status than the knight. She was modeled on the wife of the feudal lord. The knight serves his courtly lady with the same obedience and loyalty that his owes his liege lord. She is in complete control of the relationship, while he owes her obedience and submission (this certainly didn’t correspond to the actual practice!)
Courtly love was originally construed as an ennobling force, as the knight’s love for his lady inspires him to do great deeds in order for him to be worthy of her. The courtly love relationship was invented to provide young knights with a model for appropriate behavior.
When Eleanor traveled to the court of France as queen to Louis VII, she brought with her a number of poets and musicians whose work was characteristic of her homeland in southern France. Gradually these poet-musicians developed their own genre, becoming trouveres. While troubadours wrote of love, trouveres placed more emphasis on heroic epics.
The tradition traveled across the Channel to England when Eleanor married Henry II. Such epics as de Troyes’s Lancelot, were translated from French into English for the lower classes (Anglo-Saxons who did not speak French). Richard the Lionhearted was a skilled troubadour, carrying on the family tradition begun by his great-grandfather. When Eleanor left England for Poitiers, she brought Richard with her – and her eldest daughter (with Louis VII) Countess Marie of Champagne ruled jointly with her mother over the Aquitainian Courts of Love.
Some of the great works of the age, “Art of Courtly Love” by Capellanus and The Knight of the Cart by Chretien de Troyes (the romance in which the love of Lancelot for Guenevere is first introduced) were dedicated to the vivacious Countess.
All in all, Eleanor’s love of poetry, music and the men who made them was a stimulus to the growing body of secular music. Many Arthurian tales which were first being penned during this period, reflected the heroic and romantic standards that stemmed from the encouragement given to the troubadours and trouveres by the first true Renaissance woman.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Lumiere et Obscurite
Shop, Apartment belonging to Alexi Michel Klein
Heavy drapes of a velvety midnight blue cascade around a small shop lined with many glass paneled shelves. The door is made of wood with a small copper bell and bar attached to it. Like a gallery, the shop displays various completed dolls on the shelves – each one dressed in different color schemes. Small paintings on thin paper and done with watery colors depict the earliest designs of many of the dolls sitting on the shelves. Elegant doll houses already furnished sit along a ledge at waist level with attached price tags. The ground is warm polished wood. There is no counter in the shop. The rest of the space is taken up by a round table decorated with a glass vase of red roses and a china bowl of sugared dragees. Four ornate chairs are placed around the table with comfortable crimson cushions on them.
Workroom of Lumiere et Obscurite
The workroom is larger than the gallery and not as comfortable. Shelves stud the plain stone walls, filled with boxes loaded with clothing materials and bags of clay and plaster. The more expensive resources are kept in the few cupboards behind, under lock and key. A long wooden, stained table serves as the main work table for the owner of the shop, many implements of art and craft placed in wooden holders on it. Bottles of paint strew the rest of the table together with a large canister filled with brushes. Half completed doll bodies, unpainted faces, hands and legs are hung inside an open shelf to dry. At the far end of the workroom is another table with a foot treadle sewing machine beside it. Bolts of cloth rest in the shelf above and a small wooden box with compartments hold buttons, lace and bits of glass and wire for accessories.
Apartment above Lumiere et Obscurite
The one room apartment is filled with furniture of the period’s fashion – a crimson couch with an accompanying table, a wooden screen separating a sleeping area from the small parlor and a cupboard containing the owner’s possessions. A collection of dolls of varying designs and colors sit on top of a wooden cabinet next to a tall vase of red roses, the rich detail of their clothing hint that they are the owner’s treasures and the superb expressions on their faces make them look almost alive. Thick curtains of carmine cover all the windows in the flat and an equally scarlet carpet covers most of the apartment’s floor.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Cafe Estelle, Whereabouts, Unknown
Salon for the Toreador Clan
Rusticated white walls with curved arches and scalloped roof tiles expand down the length and breadth of the outside of the Cafe Estelle, forming an enclosed courtyard of fragrant potted jasmine. The cafe’s interior is dimly lit with a few gas lamps affixed to the walls, offering a soft, easy glow to relax by. Wooden tables spread with white linen cloth and accompanying armchairs of russet-brown are placed at comfortable intervals. Coffee is the prominent drink presented here; delicately-styled, and shining porcelain canisters of imported beans stand in aplomb on glass shelves behind the counter. The cafe’s menu hangs on a rich burgundy-painted wall, depicting the various beverages and foods available. Apart from the menu, the walls of the Cafe are adorned with hand-painted and written posters about the beverage and coffee etiquette, each poster bearing paintings of angel-faced young ladies and striking youths intoxicated with the devil’s drink. The latest periodicals and magazines can be found in antique wooden racks placed near to the counter. The Cafe opens till late in the night, serving cultured delights for both men and women, as well as providing genteel musical distractions in the form of a nightly violinist or an enchanting pianist at the piano set up on a miniature stage in the middle of the establishment. A wooden staircase meanders in a spiral to a private upper chamber, more opulent and decadent than the Cafe’s main room, the door above maintained by a single attendant seated at a tiny rosewood counter.
The Ebony Room, Cafe Estelle
Second Floor, Cafe Estelle
Sumptuously dark like its bestowed name, the Ebony Room is papered with a rich spread of ‘nero reale’; an obsidian pattern of embossed flowerets upon a midnight background all across its walls. The windows are tall, reaching to the lofted ceiling and fitted with glass stained the deepest of blues, long drapes of silvery-grey damask shrouding them. The same damask cascade down an arched doorway decorated with fixtures of painted masques allows movement from the Room to the closed off landing which the staircase led up to. Plush cushioned chairs of blood red velvet nestle next to each other, reigning about the Room, guarding tiny tables of dark walnut, the sides of these tables carved with images of fanciful beasts of fables. A bronze chandelier stationed from the mid of the ceiling, layering a very dim, seductive honey sheen over the furnishings; in fact it being the only source of light in the Room. Within perfect glass cabinets set behind a long bar, dulcet browns and mellow golds in their bottles define a height of enjoyment that would be found in such distinguished privacy. Below a mirror embraced by crown gold moulding rests a collection of selective foreign literature upon a cabinet, the leather-bound books kept in place by two onyx book-ends carved in the shape of rearing stallions. Antiques, in forms of exotic vases, or paintings of early renaissance influence, make up the bulk of the elaborations in the Room – associative signs of a cultured and refined camaraderie.
* Menu d’Italia
Espresso (Caffe)
Served in a demitasse cup. The espresso is strong in taste with a rich bronze froth known as a crema on top.
Doppio
A double espresso.
Ristretto
More concentrated than a regular espresso. It is made with less water.
Macchiato
Espresso with a dollop of steamed milk on top.
Corretto
Espresso with grappa, cognac or sambuca.
Cappuccino
Espresso with foamed milk and containing equal parts espresso, steamed milk and foamed milk.
Cappuccino scuro
Cappuccino prepared with less milk and is a darker color.
Cappuccino chiaro
Cappuccino prepared with more milk and is lighter in color.
Caffe latte
Espresso made with more milk than a cappuccino but only a small amount of foam.
Latte macchiato
Steamed milk that is marked ornately with a shot of espresso.
* Pasticcerie
Cannoli
Thin crispy pastry shells filled with sweet ricotta cheese.
Pasticiotti
Tender pastry cups filled with either ricotta, vanilla or chocolate cream.
Tiramisu
Tiramisú with espresso-soaked lady fingers and rich creamy marscarpone cheese filling.
Bigne
Soft, light pastry shells filled with either sweet ricotta cheese, vanilla cream or chocolate cream. Topped with berries and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Rum Rolls
Rum soaked sponge cake filled with either vanilla or chocolate cream and complimented with a fruit filling of pear or apricot.
Torta di Ricotta
Sweet ricotta cheese layered between tender pasta frolla pastry.
Torta al Cappuccino
Cappuccino soaked sponge cake layered with sweet ricotta cheese and topped with a dollop of ricotta and espresso beans.
Chocolate Ganache Eclair
Soft pastry filled with rich vanilla cream and topped with chocolate ganache.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Animalism
Animalism allows empathy with and power over the animal world, as well as the animal within, and embodies the Beast which lurks within the soul of every Cainite. Those with Animalism can understand and soothe the passions of animals and control the actions of such creatures by touching the heart of the beast within them all. Vampires lacking this Discipline or skill of Animal Ken can seem offensive to animals, or beasts are distinctly uncomfortable around the undead and will do all they can to move away.
1. Sweet Whispers: Establishes telepathic contact with an animal. Can give it simple commands, in the form of a request, it is considered “a favor” not control over the animal. Range to establish contact is eye contact.
2. The Beckoning: Summons any species of animal that is in the area, for example cats, rats etc. If there are none of the desired subject within range, you get none, and have to start over with a different species. They are under no obligation to heed your commands once they have arrived.
3. Song of Serenity: Can be used on animals or humans, calms “the beast within” basically depriving them of the will to fight or resist. Can’t be used on other vampires.
4. Sharing of Spirits: Vampire’s spirit enters into an animal, allowing you to control actions, see through it’s eyes etc. The vampire’s own body becomes unconscious and motionless.
5. Drawing out the Beast: User can induce a berserker rage in man or animal, or induce frenzy in another vampire. They, of course, are allowed a chance to resist.
Auspex
This Discipline is one of extrasensory awareness, empathy and perception. Those with this Discipline tend to be strongly affected by environmental phenomena, beauty. Loud noises can be very disturbing.
1. Heightened Senses: While engaged, all senses become sharper, difficulty varies depending on circumstances.
2. Aura Perception: One can perceive the auras of other beings, detecting their moods, identities, and levels of hostility as well as recognizing vampires. Obfuscate automatically resists this power.
3. The Spirit ‘s Touch: One can pick up an object you can get information on it, level of information is based on number of successes (roll of perception + empathy). Race, sex, aura, how owner came to possess it, sometimes what was done in the last moments object was used, of last person holding the item.
4. Telepathy: Detect the surface thoughts of other people or vampires.
5. Psychic Projection: Astral projection, the spirit travels freely while the body remains unconscious.
Celerity
This Discipline explains the superior quickness of a vampire.
Dominate
This Discipline reflects the mystical ability of vampires to influence the minds and actions of others. Dominate is an aspect of the power of the mind and the will. It affects the judgment and mental functioning of the target, not the emotions. Dominate always requires eye contact with the subject in order for it to be employed, and this is why it is referred to as The Piercing Gaze.
1. Command of the Wearied Mind: Allows user to issue a one word command that will be obeyed instantly Again if the victim is roleplayed as a character with great willpower, there is a chance it may be resisted.
2. Mesmerize: Plant a posthypnotic suggestion in a subject’s mind, along with a trigger that will cause them to take the suggested action when that trigger occurs.
3. The Forgetful Mind: Create or remove memories from the subject. Removing them is slightly more difficult, as it is not actually removed, just locked away, and will eventually resurface.
4. Conditioning: Condition a specific individual so that they can no longer resist your domination. This is done over a period of weeks or months. After that, they will automatically be susceptible to your domination effects.
5. Possession: Allows one to possess and control another person’s body. Cannot be used on other Kindred.
Fortitude
Fortitude describes a type of supernatural toughness and vigor which allows Kindred extra advantages in resisting the harm to which their kind is especially vulnerable. All vampires have a powerful constitution, and are able to shrug off the injury inflicted by guns and weapons of all sorts. However, most are very susceptible to sunlight and fire, and are easily harmed by them.
Obfuscate
Kindred with this Discipline excel at hiding among and away from crowds.
1. Cloak of Shadows: This allows you to hide in shadows. You must be able to actually get anyone watching you at the time to lose sight of you for this to engage, otherwise they can still see you.
2. Unseen Presence: You can make yourself vanish, as above, but they will even forget you were there.
3. Mask of the Thousand Faces: This allows one to change one’s appearance, People simply think you look like somebody else, though your appearance is, in fact, unaltered.
4. Vanish from Mind’s Eye: This allows one to vanish, even in plain sight. They may also forget they saw you at all.
5. Cloak the Gathering: This allows the caster to cover others with her. Should any of the character’s break the cover, only they will be seen, if the caster breaks, all will be exposed.
Potence
This Discipline defines the superior strength that vampires possess. This additional physical might allows great feats to be accomplished, far beyond what a normal mortal would be able to perform. Potence allows vampires to jump and leap greater distances, lift greater weights, and inflict greater harm upon objects and individuals when they are punched or hit.
Presence
A vampire with the Presence Discipline is exceptionally attractive and appealing to others. People want to be around the vampire, to bask in the brilliant light he sheds.
1. Awe: People are fascinated by and drawn to you.
2. Dread Gaze: By baring your teeth and hissing, you may drive mortals into a terrified state in which attempt to flee, cower in fear, etc.
3. Entrancement: You can persuade someone to help you. They will not knowingly endanger themselves, they are not dominated, they simply wish to help you.
4. Summon: A person the user knows or has at least met once, can be called from near or far. Vampires who are highly charismatic will usually be able to summon a character with low willpower, though a character with high will might resist.
5. Majesty: Everyone notices you when you walk into a room. People are so much in awe of you, that they will not challenge you. This, of course, may be resisted.
Protean
This Discipline allows a vampire to transform either her entire body or part of her body into something inhuman. The vampire can thus grow claws, turn into a bat, meld into the earth or transform into mist.
1. Gleam of the Red Eyes: You see perfectly in darkness.
2. Wolf Claws: Claws extend from one’s fingers, and can cause aggravated damage.
3. Earth Meld: You can sink into the ground, thereby protecting yourself from sunlight.
4. Shadow of the Beast: One can transform into either a wolf or a bat.
5. Form of Mist: One’s form becomes mist.
Quietus
Perfected and only used by the Assasmites. The highest levels of this Discipline is able to break bonds between vampires as well as vampires and their ghouls.
1. Silence of Death: With this power the vampire creates a zone of silence around them in a 20″ radius. Any sound that originates outside the silence is unaffected.
2. Weakness: With the touch of a hand, the vampire is able to reduce the stamina of the victim.
3. Disease: By just expanding his willpower, the vampire can wear down a victim’s strength or stamina.
4. Blood Agony: By coating a weapon with the vampire’s blood, it can be made to do great damage when used to cut into the flesh of mortals or Kindred.
5. Taste of Death: The vampire spits blood at his foe, doing aggravated damage.
Thaumaturgy
Few Kindred are able to practice the rigorous discipline of Thaumaturgy. This is the practice of blood magic, and is largely the province of the Tremere Clan, who created it and guard its secrets jealously.
1. Taste for Blood: Allows the vampire to determines how much blood is left in a Kindred or mortal, how recently a Kindred has fed, and the approximate generation of a vampire. Target must be touched.
2. Blood Rage: When touching another Kindred, you can cause them to use blood, whether or not they want to.
3. Blood of Potency: Allows the vampire to to effectively manipulate their own blood to temporarily make them older than what they really are.
4. Theft of Vitae: This allows the user to drain the blood pools of other Kindred into one’s own system from a distance.
5. Cauldron of Blood: User is able to cause others’ blood to boil. This will kill mortals and take blood from vampires.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Chimerstry is a Discipline that gives the vampire the ability to create sense based illusions. This Discipline is inherent in the Ravnos clan and is said to have been discovered by the clan’s founder. The abilities of Chimerstry are used not only against opponents but for amusement of other clan members. Vampires who possess this discipline keep its secrets closely guarded and rarely admit to using on anyone, including their own in some cases.
When using the higher levels of Chimerstry, the opponent is often given the chance to see if they are taken in by the illusion. The extrasensory Auspex Discipline can also contribute to a character’s resisstance.
The clan Ravnos is the only to possess the natural affinities for this Discipline. Caitiff are also given the option of taking this as a Discipline, although most Storytellers look down upon clan exclusive disciplines as an option.
Standard Abilities
* Ignis Fatuus •: Allows the Vampire to create a motionless illusion that effects one of the five senses
* Dweomer ••: Allows the Vampire to create a phantom that cannot move but appeals to any combination of the five senses
* Apparition •••: Allows the Vampire to build upon the created illusion from either of the previous abilities and add movement to it.
* Permanency ••••: Allows the Vampire to extend the duration of the illusion even if the creator of the illusion leaves the area.
* Horrid Reality •••••: Allows the Vampire to inflict a completely real illusion upon one victim. It is real to this person only and cannot effect anything in the vicinity that would cause anyone else to be effected by it.
* False Resonance ••••••: A vampire may lay a false aura and false thoughts onto an illusion to make it seem more realistic.
* Fatuus Master ••••••: Allows a vampire to use the first three levels of Chimerstry at a lower cost.
* Shared Nightmare ••••••: Allows the Vampire to inflict an illusion on an entire crowd of people
* Far Fatuus •••••••: A vampire may create illusions in an area he can visualize or outright see.
* Suspension of Disbelief •••••••: Allows the Vampire to make illusions appear much more believable to others.
* ‘Occlusion ••••••••: Allows the Vampire to shuffles the senses of people in a crowd, causing disorientation and confusion.
* ‘Mayaparisatya •••••••••: A vampire may transform, create, or remove from existence an object or creature.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Elysium is the only place where Kindred may meet together on civilized terms. Thus, violence is banned. With the threat of violence removed from Kindred society, Kindred can freely gather and commune. If Elysium falls, so does the very principle that upholds Kindred society.
This concept is often overlooked: Several Princes and Elders have insisted that Elysium is no more than a social convention. In saying this they are not lying: It is a social convention, but that does not dismiss it. Elysium’s power lies in its veneration. Many, including several Justicars, believe that Elysia must be enforced as absolutes. That is, if a member of the Sabbat walks into the room and someone attacks him, the attacker is the criminal. Once someone breaks the Elysium, though, everyone else can then do whatever is required to end the violence – usually by killing or incapacitating the offender.
This, then, is the role of Keeper of Elysium. If a Prince does not believe that Elysia are all, then they do not have a Keeper of Elysium. It is a simple as that. The moment a Prince creates this post, he is clearly saying that he will uphold Elysium come what may and tolerate no violence by any, not even himself. It is this fact that leads to many visiting Kindred to ask, upon arrival at a given Domain, to meet with the Keeper of Elysium. If there is none then it means that the Elysium is not safe; many will then leave as quickly as they arrived at this point.
The Keeper also holds other duties. While some just maintain the Elysia, some are more hosts than enforcers, working very closely with the Harpies and making Elysium a more splendid place for Kindred to meet. This has led to certain Keepers being called “Harpies with swords.”
The scale and scope of Elysium depends on the Prince and the Keeper. Certain Elysia ban any and all weapons — the very idea of bringing a weapon to them denotes a willingness to break the Elysium, which brings the offender under the Keeper’s power. Others allow weapons but ban their use. Some Princes view offensive discipline use as a break of the Elysium: A few Princes have made the use of Dominate to be an offensive act and punishable by the Keeper.
How any given Elysium is enforced depends upon the Elder, Keeper, or Prince in charge. Indeed, in any single city there may be several grades of Elysium. If this is so, it falls upon the Keeper to make sure Kindred know the rules. If a Kindred is killed because she went to the wrong Elysium gathering and acted in a way that is not acceptable there but is elsewhere… it is the Keeper who is held responsible, usually forfeiting his own life. This failure to keep Kindred up to date is one of the most negative things about this job… and indeed has led to many Keepers only taking the post provided the Prince edicts that all Elysia are to be held at a certain standard. If there are grades of Elysium, it means more for the Keeper to learn (especially true for a new Keeper), and thus leaves more chances for the Keeper to make a mistake. One grade of Elysium, one standard applied across the Domain, is something all Keepers fervently wish for.
There is also an older tradition that dates back to the earliest nights of the post of Keeper of Elysium: The Keeper reports to the Justicars. This is not a duty in any formal sense, but if they cannot enforce Elysium because a Kindred is too powerful, then in the name of Keeping the Elysium they sometimes send letters to the Archons reporting Kindred for their crimes.
It is expected that Kindred will aid a Keeper of Elysium if he is enforcing Elysium. The Sheriff is also expected to aid the Keeper in his duties if need be.
The Keeper of Elysium gains the additional Status Trait: Honorable on attaining the office. As long as the character remains the Keeper, he cannot lose this Trait permanently. The Keeper may immediately remove one permanent Status Trait from any Kindred he catches breaking the Masquerade. If he does not witness it himself, sufficient evidence must be brought forth. This removal costs the Keeper nothing. This is merely the usual punishment for minor characters and a minor breach; the more important the Kindred or the larger the breach, the larger the punishment.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
The Lord Protector is the enforcer of the Prince’s laws.
The differences in this role from Domain to Domain depend on the differences in the Princes laws. For example, some Princes have no more than the Traditions as their laws; some laws, however, may run into three pages which regulating meeting times, feeding grounds, dress codes, etc. Each Prince is free to make his own Laws as he sees fit – the Lord Protector simply enforces them. Usually ruthlessly.
Lord Protectors often fall into two camps with two differing mindsets. The first are the Idealist Lord Protectors. These are men and women who uphold the law and seek justice for all. They are in the minority. The majority of Lord Protectors have been chosen by a Prince to enforce their laws, come what may. In Domains where Anarchs are bloodhunted, for example, Lord Protectors usually lead the fight.
For many reasons, Lord Protectors are usually perceived as the most loyal of the Prince’s followers – indeed, many are thralled to their Prince. Others retain position as several Princes come and go.
A Lord Protector takes orders solely from the Prince, although the Prince’s Seneschal may also give a Lord Protector orders. Since they represent their Clans, a Lord Protector will follow “suggestions” offered by the Primogen of a given Domain. If a SLord Protector openly defies a Primogen, he may find the Primogen having a quiet word with the Harpies… and not even the Lord Protector is immune to the Harpies’ powers.
The Lord Protector may demand that any Kindred within the city accompany him for questioning or judgement. Failure to do so causes the offender to lose status. It may also lead to the offender being arrested on suspicion. Suspicion of what is left for the Lord Protectorto make up.
The Lord Protector is also expected to punish those who break the Prince’s laws. It is expected that all loyal Kindred will aid a Lord Protector, so if the Lord Protector tries to arrest a suspect and the suspect attacks the Lord Protector, it is expected that all Kindred shall rush to the Lord Protector’s aid. That they don’t always do so is a given… as is the fact that if the Lord Protector survives they may ask the Kindred in for questioning at some later date.
The Lord Protector is immune to the powers of the Keeper of Elysium — those conferred by the position, that is; he must still honor the Traditions.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
An odd post- the next in line for Praxis: The Seneschal, Deputy Prince, second only to the ruler of a Domain within a Domain. Some Princes have this post, some do not. There are many reasons for both cases. For many Princes a Seneschal is often their Childer, or designated successor. They create the post in the event of them being killed. This way someone with the same attitude can hold the Throne after they have died. This being said, Seneschals have the great capacity to rebel against their Prince- many a Prince has learned to their cost the mistake of trusting one so closely.
The Seneschal can act in the Prince’s stead when the Prince is out of the city. He is therefore entitled to all of the powers of the Prince, although the Prince may reverse or revoke them at any time.
There is an unwritten agreement among all Kindred that if any Seneschal attempts to seize Praxis, it a natural succession. They will not aid their Prince in such an event. Certainly no Prince has ever punished a Kindred for not aiding him against his Seneschal. It goes with the territory — if one has a Seneschal one must accept the risk.
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Next page »
