Chapter One:
On Vampires
Vampires, were such creatures to actually exist, would probably build their society on the factors of blood, age, and temporal power. It's lucky that such creatures are fiction, as with all the ambition of a mortal and all the time in the world, a Vampire would rise to ranks of untold influence and power. Although it is this writer's opinion that, being the anachronistically minded creatures they are, Vampires might consolidate their hold over a single city and become the sole ruler of such a place. From the shadows, of course.
On Age and Blood
A Vampire newly changed through their thirtieth death-day is considered a Fledgling and not yet "of age" to make their own decisions and suffer the full consequences.
From their thirtieth to one hundredth year, a Vampire is considered to be a Neonate. Young, brash, and impulsive, these Vampires are the workhorses of the Princedom. Because of limited time with their freedom, few have the resources to liesurely live out their nights. This means that Neonates are scrambling for Coin nearly every night. Neonates often band together in a Coterie, for mutual support and protection.
From their one-hundredth year through to their two-hundred-fiftieth, a Vampire is considered an Ancilla. Ancillae are the cooler heads that so often prevail when tempers rise. Ancilla rarely hold as tightly to their old Coteries from their days as Neonates, though it is expected to keep in contact with them socially.
Upon reaching their quarter-Millennial death-date, a Vampire is acknowledged to be an Elder. Elders hold vast amounts of Power in the world and few are even older than Elders. Elders often alienate others in their quest for power and their Coteries, if these things can be called that, tend to shift from allies their age to minions they've Sired or Ghouled.
There is one rank higher than Elders, though barely any reach it and it is normally nearly impossible to verify in the modern-era, and that is Methuselah. A Methuselah has aged at least one-thousand years in their Requiem. Methuselahs have often acquired enough temporal power to unassailable through normal means and focus on the ties of their Blood-family, or their mortal descendants, or their often-shattered-and-rebuilt humanity.
On Delineations of the Blood
Every Vampire in Chicagoland is a Vampire as it is the core of them. But there are many subspecies of Undead Thing in that category and not all of them are the glittering metrosexual vampires of angsty teen romance novels. There are those of course, where did you think the idea came from? But the legends of Vampires are varied, and that is because there are many clans of Vampires, each sharing a cultural origin, lost to time, and a suite of powers and abilities inherent in their particular permutation of the Blood.
Known Clans include: the five Great Clans, or the five Common Clans: Daeva, Gangrel, Mekhet, Nosferatu, and Ventrue; Some less common Clans like: Jiang-Shi and Dukhan; Some nearly extinct Clans like: Akhud, Amari, and the Mikhaili; Some more monstrous Clans like: Bekaak and Nhang; and some Clans that are generally thought to have died out like: The Julii and The Pijavica.
Further, every Clan has at least a few Bloodlines that are specializations of the power of the Blood to further evolve an ever-better predator. Every Bloodline in Chicago further individualizes the Vampires within its Princedom.
On A Society for Monsters.
The United States of America is a fine model of a nation ruled by monstrous beings who leech the lifeblood of the common man away in a slow and steady draw via the daily grind; Globally, the world's leaders play games of terror, chance, and sadistic glee with their enemies in a whirling danse that could end life on the planet. All the while, the common people shroud their leaders in stories and scandals yet fight for them with a feverish devotion that borders on rabidity. Vampires see this and mirror their modern models based on mortal adaptation.
To mirror the Idea of Nations, Vampires use the ancient but immortal City-State. Vampires gather where the hunting is reliable and the game is plentiful. Since the dawn of civilation Vampires have hunted Cities. After ten millennia, if it ain't broke...well, you know the saying.
To mirror the ideas of global cooperation and a wider-world-mindset, there are the Covenants. Powerful, multifaceted, two-faced organizations of monsters that apply a thin, "civilized" veneer to their blood-soaked antics and ruthless aspirations. There are many, but some never gain the foothold to be truly world-wide. In truth, the world is home to a mere seven global organizations that have individual chapters within various vampiric realms. Five of which are viable hopes for Vampiric civilizations, one is an anarchistic commune, and the last is a mysterious organization of murderous boogeymen.
Chapter Two:
On Chicagoland
The North American continent is divided into many realms, and the largest in the United States' territory is
The Princedom of Chicagoland. Covering multiple cities, it is actually the geographical heart of a supernatural alliance between Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, and Changelings. The Princedom is the nation of vampires within this alliance, ruled by their own
Prince of the City named
Hiram.
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