Lexicon, Ordo Dracul

Vampire the Requiem - Covenant - Ordo Dracul

Most fields of study and professional societies develop specialized phrases and jargon to facilitate the discussion and summation of complex concepts. Criminal organizations, secret societies and abstruse sub-cultures typically develop their own lingo to conceal the meaning of their conversations from outside eavesdroppers and to reveal their membership to others in the know. Many social hierarchies use buzzwords to separate the knowing from the naïve.
The Ordo Dracul is all of those things: a clandestine organization, a secret society, an academic alliance and a social subculture. As a result, the members of the covenant have a colorful and arcane vocabulary.

• Academy: All the members of The Ordo Dracul in a local geographical area. Dragons congregate in “Academies” the way that birds gather in a flock or battleships travel in a fleet. Also, a chapter (q.v.).
• Blood Coven: A coterie of Dragons.
• Caucus: A monthly meeting of all the Dragons the city or area. It is traditionally held on the night of the new moon.
• challenger: In a combat trial governed by the Code Duello (q.v.), the challenger is the person who initiates the duel by claiming injury against the minuend (q.v.).
• chapter: The local covenant membership. A chapter may meet in a chapter house. Some domains may be divided into more than one chapter. Also, an Academy (q.v.).
• chrysalis: A mentally, physically and spiritually indeterminate or liminal state in which a Dragon can transform herself through a new mastery of a Coil of the Dragon. Also, the moment of the change itself.
• Code Duello: Rules, similar to the Irish dueling code of 1777, which govern trials-by-combat within or involving the Sworn of the Axe.
• Convener: The highest-ranked unsworn Dragon in an Academy (q.v.) is given the title of Convener and is responsible for arranging the monthly Caucus (q.v.).
• defendant: Someone who has been accused and is on trial before a Dragon Jury (q.v.).
• disputant: Kindred who issues a challenge to decide a dispute via Mystery Debate (q.v.).
• Dragon Jury: A jury of three members of The Ordo Dracul, convened to issue a ruling on a personal or legal issue. Also known as a Juris Draconis, this legal body needs at least one Oathbound of the Dying Light in order to be legitimate.
• Fate Card: One of 49 Tarot-based archetypes arrived at via the Paths of Fate (q.v.). Proponents of the Paths believe a Fate Card indicates an individual’s true nature and personality.
• fontal: A category of Wyrm’s Nest that produces intangible but appreciable energy of a specific type or “resonance” and often recharges itself over time. E.g., “That site is a fontal nest, so I doubt those mages have truly depleted it.” Also, a wellhead.
• haunted: A category of Wyrm’s Nest inhabited by one or more ghosts. E.g., “That old school is a haunted nest, and we’d best keep away.”
• Hungarian Marriage: When two Dragons with the third tier of The Coil of Blood enter into a cycle of mutual feeding. The laws of The Ordo Dracul forbid it in most domains.
• interlocutor: The challenged party in a Mystery Debate (q.v.).
• Judge of Division: The primary authority of a Dragon Jury (q.v.), selected by the other two judges.
• Juris Draconis: See Dragon Jury.
• mediator: The judge at an Axe-Sworn trial by combat. The mediator’s task is to determine when a damaging hit has occurred. When it does, it ends a pass (q.v.).
• Minor Judge: One of three judges on a Dragon Jury (q.v.), he is supposed to be of lower Status than both parties in the dispute, if that’s possible.
• minuend: The person to whom a combat challenge has been issued, following the rules set down by the Sworn of the Axe.
• Mystery Debate: An intellectual challenge whereby disputes can be settled between members of the Sworn of the Mysteries.
• Parliament: A local collective of the Sworn of the Mysteries. The deliberative body that passes laws for an Academy (q.v.).
• pass: In a duel, one of three attempts to draw blood.
• Paths of Fate: A Tarot-based system used to predict behavior and to show students which natural inclinations give them spiritual strength.
• perilous: A category of Wyrm’s Nest that is dangerous to visitors, or especially Kindred of The Ordo Dracul. E.g. “Don’t go there. It’s a perilous nest.”
• plaintiff: The person who calls for an inquiry by Dragon Jury (q.v.).
• proctor: The Kindred who oversees, adjudicates and (often as not) benefits from a Test of the Dying Light (q.v.).
• second: When following the Axe-Sworn’s rules for trial by arms, seconds are Allies of the combatants who try to keep the fight fair and clean.
• Superior Judge: One of three judges on a Dragon Jury (q.v.), she is supposed to be of higher Status than both parties in the dispute, if that’s possible.
• Test of the Dying Light: A formal means for settling differences practiced by the Sworn of the Dying Light. A proctor (q.v.) sets a task for two quarreling Kindred and judges in favor of the one who completes it first. The tasks range from the petty to the epic.
• tutor: A member of The Ordo Dracul who has been formally recognized as an instructor for another member in one or more of The Coils of the Dragon.
• wellhead: A Wyrm’s Nest that channels or emits spiritual or magical power at a steady or nearly steady rate. Such power is typically of a particular type or “resonance.” Also, a fontal nest.