Madam DeMaray's Guild of Speakers
Grace, style, keen observational abilities and a honey wit are powerful weapons for a predator, and Madam Chantal DeMaray is an exemplary of these qualities. She will teach any student willing to learn, and has effectively changed the face of The Invictus in her home city. The Meister is a former ballerina turned Ventrue, and she cuts a most astonishing figure. No matter whom she meets, Madam DeMaray leaves the Kindred with a favorable impression (and, often, a subtly implanted command or two). Her Guild is mid-sized — at any given time, there are at least four or five apprentices handling a significant portion of the instruction schedule and up to a dozen students in exercise. The influence of the Guild does not reach beyond the borders of its home city, though.
To request enrolment in DeMaray’s Guild, a vampire must present a handwritten letter of petition in French, accompanied by a fresh, long-stemmed and thorned red rose. If the request is adequate, Madam DeMaray will arrange a private meeting with the vampire in Elysium and conduct a short interview. It is rare for her to turn an earnest applicant away, but she will do so if he seems too distracted or too bestial to receive her lessons.
Once accepted, pupils of the Meister are required to wear a red ribbon on their wrist at all times, marking them. They will participate in a series of interviews, lectures, interactive lessons and social gatherings arranged to sharpen their wits and otherwise practice their learnings. All of the students are required to attend Elysium events, and are usually assigned a task for each one. Common tasks include meeting a vampire previously unknown to the student, learning a specific piece of information or convincing a non-Invictus vampire to perform a simple chore for the student. Intense debriefing sessions follow each Elysium gathering, and the student is not only expected to prove completion of the assigned task but also report on everything he’s seen and heard, interpreting each observation as he does so. Over the years, pupils’ powers of Perception are honed by these interviews, as are useful senses of detachment.
The Guild offers training in the application of Dominate and Majesty to its Ventrue and Daeva students, but will emphasize that these powers are extraordinary tools and must not be relied upon.
The notorious final test of DeMaray’s Guild of Speakers is quite unique. The Guild throws a party for the student, inviting all the Kindred of the domain to pay their respects to her. If the relatively young vampire is capable of winning the crowd of vampires over and earning their applause, she earns the right to graduate to apprenticeship. If, on the other hand, the student cannot endear herself to her fellow Kindred, the test is failed. It should be noted that a number of Kindred at the party are not Invictus vampires, and may choose to undermine the student out of apathy, if not spite. The test is never as simple as it seems.
The Harpy in DeMaray’s home city is an alumnus of her Guild, as are two members of the Inner Circle. This fact alone renders DeMaray and her school almost completely immune from challenge — few would dare to stand against her, and those who do are almost guaranteed to fail. This, in turn, makes the school all the more attractive to neonate applicants, especially when they see the Harpy treat enrolled students like war buddies, sharing tales of his schooling and commiserating on difficult assignments.
Several attempts have been made on Madam DeMaray’s unlife in recent decades, though. It appears that some of the members of the city’s Kindred population believe that she is manipulating her students, creating a small army of smiling, cruel puppeteers just to protect her interests and destroy her enemies. These attacks seem to be coming from outside The Invictus, but one can never be entirely sure.
To request enrolment in DeMaray’s Guild, a vampire must present a handwritten letter of petition in French, accompanied by a fresh, long-stemmed and thorned red rose. If the request is adequate, Madam DeMaray will arrange a private meeting with the vampire in Elysium and conduct a short interview. It is rare for her to turn an earnest applicant away, but she will do so if he seems too distracted or too bestial to receive her lessons.
Once accepted, pupils of the Meister are required to wear a red ribbon on their wrist at all times, marking them. They will participate in a series of interviews, lectures, interactive lessons and social gatherings arranged to sharpen their wits and otherwise practice their learnings. All of the students are required to attend Elysium events, and are usually assigned a task for each one. Common tasks include meeting a vampire previously unknown to the student, learning a specific piece of information or convincing a non-Invictus vampire to perform a simple chore for the student. Intense debriefing sessions follow each Elysium gathering, and the student is not only expected to prove completion of the assigned task but also report on everything he’s seen and heard, interpreting each observation as he does so. Over the years, pupils’ powers of Perception are honed by these interviews, as are useful senses of detachment.
The Guild offers training in the application of Dominate and Majesty to its Ventrue and Daeva students, but will emphasize that these powers are extraordinary tools and must not be relied upon.
The notorious final test of DeMaray’s Guild of Speakers is quite unique. The Guild throws a party for the student, inviting all the Kindred of the domain to pay their respects to her. If the relatively young vampire is capable of winning the crowd of vampires over and earning their applause, she earns the right to graduate to apprenticeship. If, on the other hand, the student cannot endear herself to her fellow Kindred, the test is failed. It should be noted that a number of Kindred at the party are not Invictus vampires, and may choose to undermine the student out of apathy, if not spite. The test is never as simple as it seems.
The Harpy in DeMaray’s home city is an alumnus of her Guild, as are two members of the Inner Circle. This fact alone renders DeMaray and her school almost completely immune from challenge — few would dare to stand against her, and those who do are almost guaranteed to fail. This, in turn, makes the school all the more attractive to neonate applicants, especially when they see the Harpy treat enrolled students like war buddies, sharing tales of his schooling and commiserating on difficult assignments.
Several attempts have been made on Madam DeMaray’s unlife in recent decades, though. It appears that some of the members of the city’s Kindred population believe that she is manipulating her students, creating a small army of smiling, cruel puppeteers just to protect her interests and destroy her enemies. These attacks seem to be coming from outside The Invictus, but one can never be entirely sure.
Type
Guild, Professional