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

without the reality of it. Many young Kindred aren’t fooled, but many others are — and just
enough of the young really do manage to carve out their own niche to make the covenant appealing.
After all, despite the apparent dearth of opportunity, the Invictus really is one of the
most powerful and infl uential factions. Sure, it’s hard to move up the ladder, but if you can,
you’re going to be far more powerful than, say, someone of equivalent standing among the
Carthians or some would-be tyrant among the unaligned.
The Invictus claims to have popularized the use of many of the common titles and ranks
in Kindred society, particularly that of Prince. In all ways, the covenant thinks in terms of
aristocracy, or at least gentry. In the Old World, the image remains of the noble holding court.
In America, that image has evolved in some regions into industrial barons and old-money
families, an unoffi cial yet no less effective elite. In either case, one thing remains the same
— those who have it, have it; those who don’t, don’t.
Ultimately, then, the Invictus exists in part to maintain order among the Kindred. Like any
aristocracy, the First Estate suffers in lawlessness. Only through an ordered existence and the
rule of law can the leaders of the covenant maintain their power. With the possible exception
of the Lancea Sanctum, which has religious motivations for its actions, the Invictus is the most
draconian covenant when it comes to enforcing the letter of the Traditions and Kindred law. It
maintains the illusion of freedom and opportunity within the covenant, cloaking its tyrannical
system in metaphors of “government by the fi ttest,” in hopes of appealing to those outside its
ranks, but the group is truly more concerned with keeping order among its own ranks. If the
masses don’t behave, then all the power the elders have built upon their backs must crumble.
And that, of course, leads to the First Estate’s unstated (but hardly secret) second purpose:
not merely maintaining order, but keeping the elders who already hold power in charge of that
order. Let them speak all they want about expanding the rule of law and the noble cause the
Invictus represents. At the end of the night, it’s all about Princes, Primogen and other elders
keeping themselves at the top of the pile by stepping on the heads of those beneath them.
Most disturbing of all to young Kindred, be they members or potential members, is the
nagging thought that the Invictus might have the right of it. Horrifi c as it sounds, this notion
of keeping all power in the hands of a select few undying elders, one must ask the question: If
not them, who? Who else would have both the knowledge and the power necessary to fi ll such
a position and to keep a covenant of inherently selfi sh predators functioning? If the Invictus’
oppressive and tyrannical nature has lasted this long, maybe that’s because it works.
Members
For what should be fairly obvious reasons, the Invictus often appeals far more to elder
Kindred than to neonates. In the incestuous political arena that the Invictus favors, age and
experience are of far greater value than anything youth might offer. Young Kindred outnumber
elders, and they have a much better grasp on the changes the modern world has brought
about. Many elders face those facts with a dread akin to that inspired by open fl ame, and the
notion of a government specifi cally designed to keep the established strong and their childer
weak is one that appeals immensely.
That said, a surprising number of ancillae and even neonates belong to the Invictus. In
some instances, this is purely a matter of the Embrace. Traditionally, childer are obligated
to serve their sires’ interests, at least for a time. More than any other covenant, the Invictus
enforces an astonishing degree of servility. The offspring of many Invictus Kindred remain in
the covenant, fi rst out of duty, and then because they have either managed to eke out some
status for themselves, or because they know no other way.
Other neonates join out of sheer ambition or self-confi dence (or arrogance). True, most
young Kindred have little chance of any real advancement, but the luckiest and most capable
58
chapter one: society of the damned