Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

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Needless to say, the society of the Damned is far from perfect. The fact that such
vicious and barbaric customs ring true even in general terms goes a long way toward
showing how petty and deadly many Kindred personal and political struggles can be.
Another factor shaping and steering Kindred society, and one that ties back into the notion
of rule by fear, is the proliferation of vendettas and feuds among the undead. The Kindred
have developed the ability to hold and infl ate a grudge to an art form, and most of them
never forget even the most minuscule slight. Part of this is physiological. As the Kindred cease
to age, so too do they cease to grow mentally and emotionally. Therefore, a vampire of 200
probably knows a great deal more than she did when she was 20, but she is unlikely to be
any more mature or truly any wiser. And as the majority of modern Kindred are Embraced
at the prime of life — and therefore relatively young — few of them ever develop the maturity
that would have come with but another decade or so of actual living.
Perhaps the greater part of it, however, comes back to fear. Kindred respond to minor
offenses by holding grudges and working to humble or destroy the one who slighted them
because they are scared of doing otherwise. They fear losing face, and therefore status and
power, in the eyes of their compatriots, so they must show that they can give better than they
receive. They fear appearing weak before those who slight them, thus inviting further and
ever-escalating scorn and political attack. Certainly, the infamous Kindred capacity for rage
enters into it as well, but fear is, ultimately, the strongest motivator.
These grudges often greatly infl uence the entirety of society. Factions in a given city, and
even entire domains, have struggled and engaged in cold wars with one another purely over an
incidental remark or some other minor transgression by one party against another. Many elders
seek their positions and offi ces for no other reason than to wield power against rivals.
These disputes often leave the realm of the personal and grow to far-reaching proportions.
A feuding vampire might call upon clanmates or fellow covenant members for support, and
while not all of them respond, a few usually do. He might involve allies in the city power
structure, which transforms the struggle into a political one, even if political power was not
the initial subject of disagreement. It’s an open question as to whether the confl ict between
covenants, which so concerns and even defi nes those groups in the modern nights, truly
began as cultural disagreements at all, or if they were spawned from personal feuds that
swiftly grew out of hand.
GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
The previous description of Kindred domains as usually feudal can give the impression
that they’re all similar in construction. In truth, while the practical result is often
the same, the specifi cs of government differ from city to city. Discussed here are just a
few of the possibilities for governmental models found across Kindred domains. All the
descriptions assume rule by a single individual, a Prince or the like, but rule by Primogen
or other council is also a possibility. Plenty of other types of Kindred governments exist;
those listed here represent some of the most common (or, in the case of the democracy,
the most frequently attempted and failed). Although the forms vary wildly, the ultimate
results — a dictatorship swayed by the powerful few, with little to no recourse available to
those beneath — are almost universal.
Remember also that all these governmental models apply to Kindred society only. No Prince
on the face of the Earth is so powerful that he has the mayor, police chief and local congressman
all dancing to his tune. No entire city answers to the whim of a vampire. Even were
such a thing possible, it would inevitably lead to a Masquerade breach, for someone would
chapter one: society of the damned