Vampire Politics & Society

[Admin]

Vampiric politics have permeated mortal society for many generations, as during their heyday during the course of the middle ages and feudal society, vampires often ruled as distant lords or powers behind the throne. Vampires lack the spontaneity of lycanthropes and the adaptability of mystics, and thus they are exceedingly set in their ways with a rigid system resembling the feudal caste systems they themselves implemented hundreds of years ago to bring a sense of civilization to a world that was advancing socially and technologically beyond the tribal structures of the past instituted by the old 'masters', the lycans.

Power and influence is generally governed by age, although the potency of one's lineage has an almost equally strong input. An ancient vampire may command significant knowledge and personal power from his decades or even centuries of experience, but a young up-and-coming who can trace his lineage back to a well-respected blood-relative within a handful of generations is given an understandable amount of lenience and deference, as much out of fear of his sire or grandsire than any measure of his own talents.

Each of the three major bloodlines can gain as much respect as the others amongst their peers, but many show an obvious deference to the Bloodline of the Master, for obvious reasons, as they much more easily command the respect of their lessors, mortal-kind. Equally, the Bloodlines of the Stalker and the Hunter, with their preference for much more shadowed existences rarely make enough of an impression to gain significant respect, but it is hardly unheard of...

[Admin]

Vampires, with their propensity for structured chains of command, have political entities that reflect that part of their psychology. Such groupings are referred to almost universally as 'Clans'. Unlike the Bloodlines, the Clans are a purely political group, each Clan with its own modus operandi and methodology, attracting like-minded individuals from across the spectrum of bloodlines.

Not all vampires belong to a Clan however, but these Clanless are most often looked down upon and derided by those with even the lowest station within a Clan structure. For vampires in the modern nights, much as in the middle ages, the most effective power is the one levied via political station and manipulations. The Clanless generally can bring neither such resource to bear.

The most famous of the Clans is the so-called Elder Clan. Whilst age is not a pre-requisite for entry, coming from a good line of relatives certainly is. The Elders are made up almost entirely of schemers and manipulators with one thing in common: the desire for more control, more power. Almost universally feared and respected (though not necessarily liked) the Elder Clan are the most powerful of the modern vampiric Clans.