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

master of elysium • subinfeudation
TENURIAL DOMAINS
A great many Kindred tend to confuse the concepts of tenurial domains and feeding
grounds (see p. 101). Indeed, the two are often intertwined, though one doesn’t necessarily
encompass the other. A tenurial domain is simply an area ruled by a specifi c Regent, inside a
larger region. For instance, a particularly powerful elder might claim a specifi c neighborhood,
and the Prince of the city might legitimize the elder’s claim. The Prince might do so because
he wants the elder in his debt, or it might simply be that the Prince doesn’t have the power
to challenge the elder. In other circumstances, the Prince of a small city might retain power
even after her erstwhile domain is annexed by a larger city and thereby made tenurial.
Alternatively, the Prince might grant a favored servant or ally tenurial rights over a small area.
The Prince wins all ways. He makes the smooth running and customs enforcement of a part of
his domain someone else’s responsibility, he grants a favored ally enough power to make her
grateful, and he has the ability to strip that power away at a single word if the underling proves
treacherous or otherwise dangerous.
At other times, the Prince doesn’t really intend to grant the Regent quite so much power,
but only “feeding rights” to a given territory. Shrewd Kindred are able to transform feeding
rights into true power by trading permission to feed for favors or even further subinfeudation.
(After all, the Regent has every power of a Prince in her tenurial domain.) Wise Princes take
advantage of the opportunity to let others shoulder the responsibility for running portions
of the city. Less wise and more fearful Princes attempt to curtail the development of all such
domains. Most of these would-be tyrants are ousted from power when the Kindred beneath
them grow sick and tired of the lack of opportunity.
UNCONVENTIONAL DOMAINS
Hand in hand with the evolution of tenurial domains came the advent of less tangible notions
of domain. Whereas a Prince might once have granted an ethnic ghetto or prestigious
neighborhood to a Regent, some Princes now grant dominion over spheres of infl uence under
the auspices of domain, both their own and tenurial. A Prince who acknowledges one of his
subjects’ sway among the authorities might grant “law enforcement” as a tenurial domain. A
Kindred who owns signifi cant property among trading ports might be granted rights to “the
docks,” both as a geographical region and in reference to shipping commerce.
These sorts of domains are just as valid as any other tenurial domain, but they’re harder
to be wary of. After all, when one steps into a region known to be the territory of another
Kindred, he knows he crosses a physical, tangible line of demarcation. On the other hand,
how far does a grant of an unconventional domain go? If the health-care infrastructure of
a city is one Kindred’s tenurial domain, does that include hospitals (surely), independent
practitioners (maybe), and even drug stores (likely not)? Unless the Prince specifi cally
outlines the extent of the Regent’s domain — which makes for awkwardly wordy titles and
occasionally incenses the Kindred who’s ostensibly being honored with the grant — boundaries
remain vague.
An unconventional domain is a double-edged sword. The Regent arguably has to be more
vigilant in his tenure’s dimensions than a Kindred granted domain over a physical region.
After all, how can a Kindred granted tenurial domain over “the police” be sure that somewhere
in that organization, someone’s not answering to another one of the Damned? Further, if
other Kindred recognize the tenure too broadly, the esteem can work against the Regent, as
those excluded from the domain can use the Regency as an example of a stranglehold over a
particular aspect of unlife and rally others against the Regent. A Regent of Fine Arts would
likely face signifi cant opposition, as would a Regent of Finance. This isn’t to say such things
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