backVampires Before Alexander
Overview
To understand the social and political structures of the Roman Kindred of 14 CE, one must understand something of Kindred history, and something of how the Roman Empire came to rise to such heights of power. Note: this material is for STs only, though it can be used to prepare a version of this oriented toward players.
Kindred history is marked by episodic violence. These upheavals, though many believe they can be averted, derive from the nature of Kindred society itself. The Kindred are static and without change, though they draw from and live within a mortal society that continues to change, sometimes rapidly. It is often possible for these differences to build up for many years or centuries, until the culture of the Kindred is radically different from that of the surrounding mortal society. Then begin the markers of the fall: large numbers of young Kindred being Embraced who do not understand, and in fact resent, the lives of their elders; many elders entering Torpor or being destroyed; political volatility in both the mundane and supernatural realms. Eventually, the killing begins. Most of the elders are destroyed either by their childer or by their own unfamiliarity with the contemporary world.
This has happened sufficient times to have become known as Gehenna.
By 800 BCE, two great empires had arisen – that of the Greek city-states, anchored by the trading and cultural hegemony of Athens, and that of Persia. Of course, there had been empires before. The Phoenician traders had spread their alphabet and numerical system through many lands; the Assyrians, Minoans and Egyptians both made significant local conquests. But these two empires combined, for the first time, the wide geographical reach of the trading nations with the militarism and domination of previous military empires. They, for the first time, brought separate groups of Kindred together in the long term.
However, while many Kindred went to places they would never otherwise go, the underlying social structures were not fundamentally changed. Hence the social pressures surrounding the bringing together of individuals from highly disparate clans, with no social or political mechanism to ease the tension and help them find common ground, created many years of slow tension and fighting. With the rise of Alexander the Great, the Persian and Greek empires both yielded before this upstart from Macedonia – and in Alexander's battles, and the in-fighting that followed his death and the division of his empire, the lives of the Kindred changed yet again, as a terrible clan war and bloodshed began – the most recent Gehenna, ending in around 310 BCE.
At the same time, the Roman Republic was quietly beginning to conquer its neighbors. And Rome would do what Greece and Persia did not – create a new set of social and political structures, rather than simple values and culture, to spread among the states it conquered. Some places fell by force, others were easily absorbed, and still others yielded without a fight. In all these cases, the locals were expected to be ruled by the political and social mores of Rome. Rome, Roman citizens and Romanization was supported in a way that neither Greece nor Persia sustained far beyond its boundaries, and would begin the first major change in Kindred society within the memory of most of its inhabitants.
The following document is an outline of the Kindred social structures prior to Rome as well as how cities were politically organized. In addition, it examines some of the local history of each of the regions in which a clan of Kindred made their home.
A second document will address the social structures and political structures of Roman Kindred, with special focus on how the two cultures interact. Again, this varies widely by region. Gaul will be used as the main example.
A third document will provide broad outlines for various regions of what the Roman/native balance is like, as well as templates for the socio-political structure of cities and areas that were acquired in different ways.
History and Culture
The true origins of the Kindred are unknown, but many tales hint at the existing clans having fled from some great danger or oppression. While it is unclear what exactly this is or means, the result is well-known: at the time our history begins, the clans were separated by long distances, by reputation and by fear of outsiders. Each clan gathered in a particular geographic area, slowly filling it with their own people. Over time, each group grew from a small band of wanderers to a mighty clan, developing unique abilities and weaknesses during this long period of isolation.
However, not all the clans were founded at or near the same time. Some clans have had longer to develop than others, and so are far more powerful. Among these "elder clans" are the Assamites, the Cappadocians, the Hamsin and the Brujah. The youngest of the clans are the Lasombra, the Salubri, and the Ravnos. In between lie the Ventrue and the Gangrel-Nosferatu-Skadi (who were originally one clan that differentiated after its original founding). The Setites claim to be the eldest of the clans (a title they vie with the Hamsin for); the Tzimisce claim to have held their lands eternally; nothing is known about when the Malkavians were founded on Crete; these three clans stand outside the subtle hierarchy of age as power, or at least have no consistent place within it. The Toreador, as they call themselves, are not yet considered a clan, though even during the tribal period they had begun to differentiate themselves from their Brujah parent clan. More on this is available in the document on Kindred history, including the legends of each clan and how much is known of their true age and power.
Socially, during this period, clan did not function as it does in the modern nights. Instead of clan representing a particular social role, individuals of a particular clan would have to fill all of those roles, as there was not enough commerce between clans to have all the artists be Toreador, the rebels Brujah, and so on. Each clan had its own leaders, its own warriors, artists, socialites, spies. Clans developed simply from the blood of the Founders, those few who had originally settled in the clan's territory, and they shared some cultural values, but there were no 'stereotypical' members of a clan. A Lasombra leader might function more like a Brujah leader than like most of the other Lasombra he ruled over.
Blood was all-important. One's sire determined what clan one was from, but individual lineages often had more in common with each other than they did with the larger clan as a whole. This was reinforced by the tendency of each elder to settle in one city or town. There they would raise a brood of childer, collecting at the same time a court of hangers-on who were not their direct descendants but were still of the same clan. In fact, many clans deliberately practiced a sort of exogamy, sending older neonates to study or spy in another elder's city. Over time, no more than 30-40% of the Kindred in any given city would be of the brood of its leader, though likely 90% or more would be of the leader's clan.
Any of another clan living in this city would be extremely mistrusted. Nearly every interaction was based on mutual culture as well as on ties of blood. While an outsider might be able to adopt the values, rituals and behaviors of the clan they lived among, they would never have the ties of blood that fundamentally guaranteed the participation of every Kindred in this social system. No one older than they would have any responsibility for them, nor would they have any way of guaranteeing their word. Prestation was an entirely in-clan game, and outsiders were at a serious disadvantage in playing it – if their word was even considered good at all. Fundamentally, these outsiders were not of the tribe and so could not be trusted to participate in it.
In a given elder's city, his or her voice as tribe leader was paramount. Dissension was met with death, usually at the hands of the elder's brood. Those of other lineages quickly learned to step carefully, especially those not even of the original clan. The elder would make sure that no other challenger could become powerful enough to challenge them, much as modern Princes do. However, unlike modern Princes, who often rule over cities that contain many elders, the preferred solution for these ancient rulers was to simply never allow any in their city to become old enough to gain true power. Those who were lucky got enough warning to leave town; others were simply maneuvered into offending the leader and summarily killed. The only requirement was that the leader saw you as a threat or a potential threat.
Of course, that doesn't mean that cities never changed hands. In fact, a Kindred leaving the city of a particularly powerful elder might be old and powerful enough to unseat another leader elsewhere. The only other way to become a leader oneself was to found a new town or find one that was still leaderless. This meant that conflict between the elder Kindred was extremely common. However, even when cities violently changed hands, only the older and more dangerous of the ex-leader's brood were purged. The rest would be expelled or sometimes even kept around as an example of what happens if the new leader's power is threatened. The only exception to this is when a city gained a leader of a different clan. This happened extremely rarely, as the clannish fear of outsiders almost always outweighed any personal gain, but when it did literally all the Kindred of the old leader's clan in the city would be put to the flame. More than a few major wars among the Kindred (and a few clan hatreds still simmering today) came from incidents of this sort.
Elders only left their cities by being deposed, and generally didn't survive the process. An elder who voluntarily left could be making a power-play to gain primacy in another city, but there were truly no other options for them unless they wished to withdraw from the world completely. Elders simply did not live as subordinates of other elders and expect to survive very long. They could hardly disguise themselves in a clan structure where the ties of blood are widely known. They might be able to flee to the territory of another clan, but they would be treated as a direct threat and a second-class citizen so long as they were there, unless they could manage to prove themselves sufficiently to be granted clan status. (The Gangrel, the Skadi and very occasionally the Nosferatu are the only clans known to do this except under truly exceptional circumstances, and then only for members of the other two clans of these three.)
What this implies is that elders' life-expectancy and political health were very much caught up with the well-being of their personal city. Most elders who knew what was good for them made sure that their city was economically healthy and out of the path of war when possible. It had some direct effects not only on how they governed the Kindred of their city, but also how they chose to interact with the mortal political world.
Politics
Kindred leaders tended to have a fair amount of interaction with the mortal society of their city, but not in the form of influence that modern Kindred would recognize. Certainly at least some Kindred preferred to subtly own or dominate mortals, but most functioned more like kings or war-leaders, openly making decisions about how the city should be run, even if most ordinary people had no idea of the true source of these decisions. The aristocracy of a given city, and certainly its military leaders, would often be aware that they answered to someone or something dark and powerful, though they would not be aware of the precise nature of the Kindred even under this system, for reasons of Kindred self-preservation.
In terms of power and influence, most influence in a given city was reserved for the elder who led it, though he would often delegate significant authority to his brood, and less significant authority to other clan-members. Members of other clans were almost never granted any power whatsoever, as even if an elder would have been willing to risk it, they would have ensured themselves revolt from those below. However, this doesn't mean that Kindred of other clans had no power whatsoever. Often, dangerous or undesirable tasks would be delegated to them, or they would be given power 'under the table' that the elder would never acknowledge or publicly support. During this period, a member of a non-dominant clan had to appear weak in order to survive, even if they had significant debts or power.
The types of power and influence available were quite similar to those available in the modern nights, though this varied quite a bit by region. Some areas, like Gaul, were mostly inhabited by roving tribes and by small villages of farmers and herdsmen. There was little artistic culture except in items manufactured for religious worship. As for religion, each area tended to have its local cult and worship a locally popular god, providing little scope for Kindred to gain power and influence this way. Overall, Gaul and the areas like it were generally inhabited by the Gangrel, Skadi and Nosferatu – who found the limited kinds of mortal power available sufficient for their needs, though the more cosmopolitan among them did tend to migrate to other areas. These other areas, such as Greece, Egypt or North Africa, had significant trading cities, art, state religions, law, military might – all the things you would expect. The clans who maintained such areas (Setite, Hamsin, Brujah, and, to some extent, Malkavian, Cappadocian and Assamite) considered themselves far more civilized than the other clans for this reason, vestiges of which attitudes have survived to the Roman era and even to modern times.
In these more civilized areas, the Kindred did have a more familiar relationship with the mortals, and for much the same reason as in the modern nights: a small tribe of Germans could be influenced to accept their blood-drinking warrior god, but the entire might of Athens could hardly be expected to do the same. Nevertheless, power tended to be much more concentrated in the hands of a single elder in these cities who formally doled it out with preference to those with ties of blood.
As mentioned before, there was little migration or travel between clans, and this occurred for a number of reasons. First, there was little need for it. Each culture tended to be perfectly sustainable on its own. Even those cultures that did significant trading had enough difficulties with that trading that it would be far more inconvenience to a Kindred to travel than gain they could get. The idea of moving from one culture to another was very simply out of paradigm. That is why barbarian cultures could grow up alongside civilized trading societies, both having contempt for the other, and yet an odd stability prevailing – the Kindred did not often go to war.
The Empires
The Greek and Persian empires changed this: both were predicated on the idea of spreading their own culture and world-view. The Greeks did not take over the government of those areas that they conquered – in fact, it could hardly be said that they conquered them at all, pre-Alexander. However, they did found Greek cities everywhere they went, and began to trade all over the world. Suddenly these strangers – Brujah – were living among many other clans. At the same time, the Persians adopted a deliberate policy of population-mixing within their empire. Of course, they hardly had the power to uproot Kindred, but many chose to follow their mortal ties into exile, causing even more mixing of the clans. As the Brujah and Hamsin spread, others began to migrate to Greece and Persia as the two centers of the world. The Kindred at the time did not know it, but it was the beginning of the end of their old ways.
In terms of how the mixing came about, the distinction between the civilized clans and the rest continued to be significant. Mortals – and therefore Kindred – from Egypt, Greece and Persia spread throughout the known world, forming colonies (especially Greece). Cappadocia lay on a vitally important geographic center, controlling the Dardanelles, and so could not help adopting some of the cultural vitality of the areas around it – a center for the mingling of Brujah and Hamsin. The Malkavians spread everywhere, insinuating themselves into many cultures, and the Assamites developed alliances both east and west, with the Hamsin and the Lasombra. Other clans, however, tended to have contact with others in three ways. First, they had local colonies of the civil clans. Second, many (especially the young) gravitated toward these centers of power, learning and culture. Finally, they continued to have relationships with the clans in nearby territories, but these relationships were not much different from how they were pursued in the tribal period.
This period of mixing lasted perhaps four hundred years, the last 150 of which were racked by terrible feuds and wars among the Kindred. Some of the most notorious were that of the Lasombra and the Gangrel, the Hamsin and the Setites, and the Tzimisce against all those who dared set foot in their lands, most especially the Brujah. The Nosferatu retreated to the deep wilds of Russia, putting themselves out of danger and refusing to ally with any others – an act which may have created, or may only have reinforced, their reputation as heartless and calculating. The Cappadocians maintained a strict neutrality; the Ventrue quietly took advantage of the chaos to build a minor empire in Italy; the Skadi cheerfully fought for any and all sides. Many voices called for an end to the madness, and perhaps accommodation would have been reached – if it had not been for Alexander.
Alexander's forces, over a period of just eleven years, conquered almost all the known world, despite attempts on the parts of many local Kindred to stop him. It seemed like the end of the world to most elders – suddenly, this strange mixing of clans would be permanent and far more widespread. But despite their best efforts, they were unable to stop him while he lived. Only after Alexander's death and the breakup of the empire were the Kindred able to affect events – and then mostly only their own internal affairs, resulting in a near-genocide against the Brujah (who were blamed for much of this), and terrible, racking civil wars.
In the wake of this destruction among Kindred, a new order began to rise – a new vision of Kindred society, led by the quiet Ventrue of Rome.
Summary
Before we pass to the Roman period, let us pause for a very brief summary of the major ways that clans differed during this tribal period, and for any major notes about the roles they played in these wars, the Gehenna of Alexander.
The key things to understand about this period are insularity (each clan living a mostly autonomous life), clannishness (blood trusted more than those not of the blood), and hierarchy (fewer elders, more neonates, resulting in an even more pyramidal system than normal). Differences in the clans' experiences are noted briefly below. Note that this does not take into account specifically Roman interactions, which will be detailed after the section on Rome.
The Clans
Assamite
Internally, the Assamites place more emphasis on distant ties of blood than many other clans. While in most clans, the sire-child tie is more important than more distant ties, the Assamites take into account far more distant relationships which are considered nearly as important as one's childer. For this reason, the cities of the Assamites tend to be ruled less by a brood/cabal and more by virtue of the elder being related, however distantly, to all of his Assamite subjects.
Unlike many other clans, there were many cities in the Assamites' domain that were ruled by foreigners – even by foreign Kindred, occasionally. The Assamites showed much less interest in political and cultural power and more in military and economic power, and ruled accordingly. Hence they tended to be willing to allow others to colonize their lands, so long as they paid appropriate tribute of money and blood, and were willing to cede true authority to the local Kindred.
Some bloodlines of Assamites were delegated to administer and oversee these foreign cities. While their task was important, they were often looked down on by the rest of the clan as being tainted by these interactions with outsiders. Nevertheless, they tended to have much more political and economic power than their more isolated brethren, and often determined and forged the alliances of the entire clan.
During the Alexandrine Gehenna, the Assamites generally retreated to their hills, though they sent a fair amount of aid to the Hamsin's effort against the Setites. They permitted the Lasombra to retain and maintain cities in their territory, but not without bloodshed and conflict between the two great allies. For these reasons, the Assamites survived more intact than many other clans, though Rome was to do to them what this Gehenna did not.
Brujah
The Brujah take great pride in their democratic system – though they are considered absolutely mad for it by those others who are aware of it. While in other clans, the elders rule with an iron fist, among the Brujah, all Kindred who are resident in a given city have a theoretically equal voice in matters of ruling the city. In practice, of course, those who disagree too often with the city's elder tend to find themselves compelled in one way or another, expelled, or even murdered, and the elder tends to be the one to carry out most decisions (granting them a fair amount of control). However, these illusions of fairness are perhaps necessary to get all of the Brujah pointed in the same direction.
Another difference with the Brujah is that there are more than occasionally multiple elders in one city, and such cities tend to be the more powerful ones. They seem to operate on a principle of the lesser evil – while the cities continually war against one another for power and influence, the elders work together, but in times of peace they strive to throw one another out of the city for good. Perhaps fortunately, the Brujah are almost always at war in one way or another, giving them military influences more than equal to their philosophical, social and artistic ones.
This may have been why the Brujah were able to survive the attacks on them by so many other clans – this practice at war. It may also have been because the Hamsin, their main enemy, were occupied by the Setites, and the other clans were less involved or in a less geographically convenient position. Still, the Brujah do not forget the great alliance made against them by the threatened elders of the tribes, even if they have forgotten the precise reasons for their hatred and anger against the other clans.
A small group of Brujah repudiated their clan during these wars and survived in much larger numbers, but they are considered traitors to the clan. Only the fact that they retained far more of their power than the main body – and far more elders survived – has allowed them to continue an independent existence, neither beholden to those outsiders who would support them nor exterminated by their former clanmates.
Cappadocian
The Cappadocians are far fewer in number than most clans, and only their particular habits of settling have allowed them to control the amount of territory that they do. Cappadocians sire rarely, generally only one or two in a century. However, they also do not settle in large groups. After an apprenticeship period of at least ten years, a young Cappadocian immediately sets out on their own. Some will settle in groups in the larger cities, but there is little organization among them. Unlike most other clans, the elders hold little mortal power because they have withdrawn into isolation to study; ancillae tend to hold most of the worldly power of this clan.
It may seem strange that with their withdrawn nature and scattered numbers, they should be able to hold any territory whatsoever. It is their knowledge that gives them the edge, knowledge that the elders use to work strange magics (and that others will pay nearly any price for), knowledge that the ancillae use to manipulate and influence those who enter their territory, knowledge that the neonates use to blackmail and control influential mortals. But still, the rule of the Cappadocians is far less iron-fisted and absolute than that of most other clans. Perhaps it is for this reason that they are famed for their neutrality, refusing to make enemies or permanent allies – simply because they cannot afford to.
While they attempted to hold to this policy during the Alexandrine Gehenna and the civil wars before and after, their apparent weakness made them a tempting target. More than a few Kindred decided that the magics of the Cappadocians would be a valuable addition to their arsenal, generally resulting in the eventual death of all parties concerned. A great deal of knowledge was lost in the fires and death, and since then the surviving Cappadocians have turned even further inward, squabbling among themselves for the scraps of the dead rather than continuing research on their own.
Gangrel
Fewer than half the Gangrel are sufficiently settled for the system described above to apply perfectly to them. However, given their nomadic nature, they remained surprisingly close to its principles. Each of the elders stakes out a particular territory; their brood tends to remain within it; all others within it are expected to owe that elder allegiance. The Gangrel were perhaps the first to invent the tradition of Domain. Outsiders coming into a Gangrel's territory were given a token; those without such a token who remained for more than a single evening could be (and generally were) summarily slain, or taken to the elder for judgment. This took much longer to adopt among the city tribes, however.
Additionally, unlike most other clans, every neonate and ancilla is expected to demonstrate respect toward any elder. Simply being in a given elder's territory, whether city or country, is sufficient cause for coming under that elder's jurisdiction. This obligation – and protection – extends even to those not of the Gangrel themselves, a system that has allowed free commerce between the Gangrel and their close relatives the Skadi and Nosferatu. Ironically, again, this is the system most similar to today's Camarilla, the system the Gangrel have so recently abandoned.
In times of trouble, the Gangrel retreat to their forests where few can assault them, abandoning whatever influence they have accrued in the cities. Ordinarily this would be quite good protection, but the Lasombra took advantage of the general chaos to hunt their bitter enemies far from their own borders. Still, much like the Assamites, they survived Alexander in fairly good shape, only to be later decimated by the Roman wars in Germany and Gaul.
Hamsin
The Hamsin are among the clans that changed the most during this period. For many years they were among the more traditionally organized of the tribes. However, they had great visions of themselves as leaders and saviors of all Kindred, as illustrated in their constant battles against Egypt and the Setites (who, they claimed, were the greatest threat the Kindred would ever face). When Assyria fell in 650 CE, the leaders of the Hamsin decided to deliberately reinvent themselves in order to better bear the burden of leadership – and to prevent another such failure.
They agreed that they would need better coordination among the elders, as well as more tolerance for any who would assist them against the Setites. So while on a local level the tribal structure continues, the younger Kindred reporting to their elders, they have moved more toward the structure of the Gangrel where Kindred report more based on location than on blood ties. Additionally, the elders have formed a council to coordinate events among themselves, though at times this is more a source of conflict than anything else. Finally, the elders have decreed that those not of the Brujah or Setites are welcome to pass through their lands without let or hindrance, finally opening the gates to the west to the Ravnos and Salubri, who are first found in the west in this time period.
Of course, not all Kindred are pleased about these new ways. The lowland Hamsin who have adopted these new political techniques are considered soft, if not outright weak, by their warrior mountain brethren. For the moment, they seem willing to accept the decisions (though not to abide by them themselves), but they are only willing to do so as long as they are getting results. Fortunately for the city Hamsin, their new ways allowed them to see Egypt taken, and a great war against the Setites begun.
However, Egypt was lost again – and Persia itself taken with it – to Alexander. This failure sparked terrible conflict within the Hamsin between the old ways and the new. The Setites were able to use this to strike deeply against their ancient enemy, and only the fact that the Brujah were too busy defending themselves against the ire of the other clans to strike against their rivals as well allowed the Hamsin to retain as much power as they did. They expelled the Greeks from their lands, but their empire had been given the first push toward a fatal fall.
Lasombra
The Lasombra are among the clans who adhere most rigidly to the tribal system. In fact, not only do they have a hierarchy in which the neonates and ancillae pay respect to elders, but also a strict system of hierarchy and order within the younger members of the clan. Unlike most other clans, however, these hierarchies are based less on age and blood than on power and ability – though lineage counts for a great deal as well in determining alliances that can lead to power. Additionally, it is possible to rise within this hierarchy on the basis of one's achievements, especially if those achievements lead to the death or disgrace of those directly above.
The Lasombra are also known for their incursions into the lands of others, whether by mortal proxies or on their own. Despite being one of the youngest clans, and a barbarian clan as well, they have founded a number of great cities in the lands of the Assamites and have forged close alliance there; similarly, they have waged a long war against the Gangrel. Their agents are rumored to be spread through many lands, though in most the Kindred ones are not even slightly welcome.
The Lasombra suffered during the Alexandrine period mostly through their own hubris. At the same time as they attempted to wipe out the Gangrel, successfully forcing them north and east, they also developed their settlements in North Africa. Splitting their attention and attempting to create an empire left them weak enough for the Ventrue-Malkavian coalition to overthrow their imperial ambitions soon after Rome’s rise, though the struggle was a close-fought one.
Malkavian
The Malkavians hold few cities of their own, but unlike most other clans they are at least tolerated in the domains of others. So long as no more than a few madmen gather in one place, they suffer less from the prejudices and biases against strangers. This is especially true with the Brujah, as the Malkavians are more concentrated in Greece than they are anywhere else.
Because they do not have their own cities (except on Crete, where no outsiders are allowed), they adhere less strictly to the tribal system than nearly any other clan. Their elders occasionally found cities of their own, but rumor has it that they return to Crete once they have lived too long away from it. The neonates and ancillae generally obey their elders and superiors of whatever clan they live among, but not always. The strange communication possible between members of this clan means they are often obeying the commands of their clan elders far away rather than simply submitting themselves to the rule of the local elders.
The Malkavians’ fate during the Alexandrine wars tended to be linked with that of the clans they lived among. In the west they were generally able to disentangle themselves from whatever local foolishness caused the doom of the clans – such as the Lasombra-Gangrel feud – but in the east, and especially in Greece, few were able to escape the destruction of their patrons and protectors. It is whispered, however, that many Malkavians fled Greece under cover of the troubled times and made their way to Italy, their foresight drawing them away from a dying empire and to a rising one.
Nosferatu
While the Nosferatu adhere fairly closely to the tribal structure described above, the enormous size of the lands they claim for their own works against any such tight-knit structure. Within Russia itself, city populations tend to be on the small side, and often a single elder will sire every Kindred in a given city. On the borders and outside Russia, however, broods do form around the eldest Nosferatu in a given city. In fact, even if the city is ruled by an elder from another clan, the Nosferatu will often have a shadow government among themselves, professing allegiance to both the city’s elder and to their own.
The Nosferatu are among the least welcoming of any clan for those attempting to live in their lands. Perhaps understandably, they assume that no one would wish to live in isolated, freezing Russia unless there were some ulterior motive at work, and so they are quite suspicious of outsiders. The only exception to this rule is for the Gangrel, a clan the Nosferatu allow free use of the enormous wildernesses but still watch a bit suspiciously in the cities. Even the Skadi are not welcome among the Nosferatu, despite the fact that many of their number have joined the Gangrel and vice versa.
During the Alexandrine Gehenna and the wars that preceded and followed it, the Nosferatu withdrew to Russia, perhaps wisely. Those who remained in the cities of the outer world were often the first there to die – not only because of their outsider status, but also because of their monstrous appearance. This has only driven the point home to the clan that outsiders cannot be trusted. While the clan survived Alexander without significant losses, they have gained a reputation as heartless and self-protective. Many elders even consider them all to be spies for the larger clan organization.
A large portion of this mistrust may come from the fact that the Nosferatu were almost the only clan to survive both the rise of the Romans and the fall of the Greeks with most of their elders and their power intact. (If there’s one thing Kindred are good at, it’s feeling threatened.) The Nosferatu have not responded to this overtly, but it is said that if you see one Nosferatu, there are five more hiding in the shadows: they are aware of how they are perceived, and do not wish to meet the fate of the heedless Brujah.
Ravnos
Like the Lasombra, the Ravnos have adapted the basic tribal structure to meet their own needs by having advancement come through merit rather than simply through age – though for the Ravnos, age is also an important factor. Their hierarchy is less focused on individuals’ outranking each other and more on formalized ranks, known as samsaras. Each samsara has a particular code of behavior that goes with it, including defining the relationship of the Kindred with those above and below him in the samsara hierarchy.
Those of the highest samsara will either function as the city’s elder, or, if they are not sufficiently powerful to hold such power, as an adviser to the Kindred most able to keep the post. However, while in theory samsara is considered to be at least equal to (if not to trump) political power or age, in practice this rarely occurs. Advancement to the highest ranks generally occurs only with age, and (as explained below) the opposition of the elders to a too-ambitious neonate can prevent them from gaining too much status without the power to go with it.
Advancement in samsaras is, as typical for the Ravnos, granted in a manner that is both quite formal and utterly chaotic. A Kindred seeking advancement will throw a party at which they will do their best to exhibit their achievements, their wisdom, their power and their experience. If, at the end of the party, those still conscious and willing to participate feel that the Kindred in question deserves advancement, the Kindred advances in rank. Holding such parties is, therefore, a highly political matter in the guise of a wild festivity, a paradox that encompasses much that the Ravnos are.
The Ravnos were one of the few clans to actually benefit from Alexander’s empire-building, albeit indirectly. While those who offered resistance to the Macedonian army were quickly crushed, it provided a reprieve from their bitter wars against the Salubri, as the Salubri and their pawns gathered themselves to fight off the strange invaders. This reprieve was parlayed into an uneasy peace between the two clans. Together with the opening of the roads to the west by the Hamsin, this has allowed the Ravnos to begin to explore the world in earnest. However, the other clans do not consider the Ravnos a threat, both because they are known to be a young clan and because they assume the Hamsin will always be a bulwark against any move in force by these strange easterners.
Salubri
The Salubri tend to be among the most hierarchical and rigid of the clans. Every Kindred is considered to have a place and position within a city, determined by a complex mixture of elements including age, power, influence, lineage, mortal social standing, and the like. While a given Kindred’s position can change over time, it generally only does so with the removal of those above, and even then it rarely changes in essential character – the mystics tend to remain mystics, even if they manage to advance themselves in the hierarchy. Mortals and Kindred who know their place and station in life are most valued by this clan, as they fit into their paradigm of social organization.
Not that Kindred do not try to advance themselves unwarrantedly, of course! But it tends to be as much a matter of slowly changing the perception of what one’s proper place is as anything else. Kindred who rise too far above their position are considered dangerously arrogant; Kindred who fall too far below their expected levels of power are considered dangerously weak. Both end up socially ostracized, and neither tend to survive long except by sheer power and/or luck.
There are few within the clan who reject its hierarchy, and most of those tend to flee west. However, there are many who would push for changes to the criteria by which the hierarchy is subtly determined – mostly those Kindred who would benefit by the changes. The largest voice for change, one supported by both neonates and elders, is for mortal caste and status to figure less prominently (or, according to some radicals, not at all) in determination of status. Of course, those benefited by the status quo (especially the leaders of cities the elder proponents of this would come to rule) are just as strongly in favor.
This conflict within the clan was a large part of what made the Salubri so vulnerable in their ongoing war with the Ravnos; fighting on two fronts, within and without, is not generally a recipe for success. Even while the Salubri united briefly with the Ravnos to repel Alexander, they were still unable to solve their internal crisis, and for this reason they have allowed the current cease-fire with the Ravnos to stand. Some few intrepid Salubri venture west, but overall the clan is in crisis; unlike most other clans, in the Alexandrine gehenna, the Salubri mostly destroyed themselves.
Setite
The Setites claim to be the eldest of the clans, and in many ways their social structures represent these claims. For one thing, they have more elders than most clans. Combined with the limited number of cities available for settlement – only along the fertile Nile – this means that cities are almost always occupied by more than one elder. Unlike the Brujah, however, these elders do not require the external distraction of war with another clan in order to survive in the same place. Rigid social protocols and strict laws about permitted interactions with other Kindred keep a fragile peace between these terrifying powers.
These laws and regulations also control Kindred relations with mortals. The Setites rule far more openly than any other clan, but life at the edge of the desert is too fragile to allow whole-scale war between humans as pawns of angry Kindred. They are obeyed and worshipped, but tend to leave mortals out of their personal feuds, at least on the surface.
In addition, the Setites have an organization among themselves that extends beyond a single city’s Kindred, which makes them quite effective. Ten cities comprise a district, with one Kindred chosen to administrate. Such positions are highly coveted and are often the focus for much subtle backstabbing and even murder. A territory contains ten districts, governed by the council of the district leaders. Rumor has it that each territory council reports to a single Kindred of unimaginable age and power, but certainly if such a thing were true, the Setites would hardly have been conquered quite so repeatedly during the Greek and Roman periods.
The repeated defeats and conquerings of Egypt were not, in fact, what worst hurt the Setites during the Alexandrine period. Their policy in war was not to continue to struggle for a lost cause, but rather to make themselves indispensable to their new masters and wait for a turn of the tide – one that always came, if they simply were patient enough. The Hamsin and Assamites’ crusade against the Setites, however – one of almost religious intensity – caused a great deal of destruction to both sides.
Skadi
The Skadi’s social order is far more fluid than most, because it is based on prowess and style, not strictly on age and power. Particularly daring feats or having terrific stories can advance a young Kindred far beyond their years; similarly, an elder who has done nothing of note in a hundred years will only keep the respect of the rest of the clan through force and fear. Similarly, the Skadi are also more welcoming of outsiders than any other clan – any Kindred who can defeat one of their own in deeds of daring or in songs and story is welcome to whatever place in the clan that they have earned.
Among mortals, the Skadi tend to gather groups of mortals around them rather than settle in cities. However, each band tends to function much as a city does for other clans. The highest-status Kindred in the group makes the decisions and essentially runs things, though there is little effect of the hierarchy other than what individual Kindred are willing to enforce below that level. Living with the Skadi can be described as barely-controlled anarchy.
This is, perhaps, their worst flaw as a group: while they have no particular enemies, they are constitutionally incapable of not involving themselves in a chance for glory, no matter what the risks. During the great wars of the Alexandrine period, the Skadi could have remained in their remote domain, but not only did they go to support their close kin the Gangrel, they also hired themselves out to anyone and everyone who needed brave warriors – not for coin of gold, but of influence and glory. Most who went into battle didn’t come back, but those few who returned with stories now hold comfortable places at the head of their clan.
Tzimisce
The Tzimisce live scattered over their mountain domains, each holding a territory that no other is permitted to enter without living by the owner’s laws. The Kindred in a given area technically owe allegiance to a leader, or voivode, who claims no authority within any Kindred’s territory but does assign new territories in his area, adjudicates conflicts, and the like. (More often that not, however, unless the Kindred holding the post has significant personal power, the voivode is simply ignored by these fierce individualists.) Tzimisce without land are considered the lowest of the low, and most young Kindred of this clan will do nearly anything to gain their own territory and be considered a true member of the clan.
In relating to each other, there are additional elaborate social protocols governing the writing of letters, attempts to steal mortal influence, visits to one another’s territory, and the like. A Tzimisce is far more willing to accept defeat than to accept a breach of one of these codes, even if it does not negatively affect them. The worst possible breach of protocol, though, is to ignore one of one’s hosts rules on the host’s land – and this is the only law that applies to strangers as it does to Tzimisce themselves. Kindred guilty of this are subject to summary execution by the offended lord, if the lord’s power permits; if the lord’s power does not, such things have been the cause of more than one century-spanning feud.
While the Tzimisce are not fond of outsiders, they tolerate those who live on unclaimed land. In fact, most Tzimisce regard other Kindred as useful pawns in their moves against each other – as the internal social conflicts of the Tzimisce are truly all that matter. This attitude, as well as their passionate attachment to their domains, hurt them during the Alexandrine conflicts; while they had no particular enemies, those Tzimisce unfortunate enough to possess land considered strategically important were unable to either give it up or rally others to defend it with them. More than one Tzimisce lord met final death struggling against these incomprehensible invaders, weakening the clan through their unrelenting clinging to the old ways.
Ventrue
Within a particular city, the Ventrue are among the most traditional of the clans, following the tribal model nearly perfectly. However, unlike most of the other clans, they also have relationships between individual domains that are often something less than wary or hostile. The Ventrue have mastered the art of the personal relationship, creating alliances between elders of different cities. Even when the relationship is not sufficiently close for an alliance, members of different cities will often share information, knowledge or influence for mutual assistance.
While not hierarchically organized like the Setites, these informal social networks are perhaps the greatest strength of the clan. While each elder naturally has their own best interests at heart, there is some degree of coordination of military, political and social influence. Rome was one of the most active at this game, leading a coalition of allies to conquer nearly all the surrounding territory. Of course, this strategy was only of limited success in the long term: Rome’s allies united against its political hegemony, and won. They forced Rome to extend citizenship and the benefits of war to all of these allies.
However, this was actually good for the Ventrue in the long run. While during the Alexandrine Gehenna, the Ventrue did destroy many of their own number in these internal power struggles, the victory of the coalition meant that far more Ventrue survived than would have if Rome had been able to punish its former allies. Additionally, this mortal political alliance gave all Ventrue motivation to work together even more than before, as all cities would share in the benefits. Not only were the Ventrue far less damaged than any other clan, they were actually unified and strengthened by the turmoil – perhaps explaining why it is they who went from a group of irrelevant barbarians to the next great leaders of the mortal and Kindred worlds.