The Cult of the Self
Sometimes, a single pebble determines the course of an avalanche. Such was the case when one of the domains to fall in the rapid Carthian conquests of the late 18th/early 19th centuries experienced a trifle more infighting among in the changing of the guard than usual. To observers outside the covenant, the event was generally regarded as trivial, if it was noted at all. To Carthians, it was a defining moment for several major factions that influences many domains even tonight.
A group, including some influential Carthians as well as members of the old establishment, took control of the Assembly and continued the state of emergency. First they pointed to Lupine attacks that had occurred during the chaos of the coup, using the excuse to create a security force. Of course, the group ensured the officers were loyal only to them. Once the “werewolves” were driven out of the city, the accusations began. Any Kindred with Allies outside The Carthian Movement was targeted, and accused of treason. They were invariably found guilty. The accusations didn’t stop when the Movement had become entirely isolated; they only got worse. The tyranny of the majority party was, if anything, worse than that of the former Prince.
A small group of dissenters began meeting in secret, gathering weapons. They let the majority party’s police infiltrate their meetings, feeding them disinformation. When the dissenters were ready, they lured the police forces into a trap and destroyed them. That night, the dissenters stormed the city’s Elysium and declared it void. They instructed the assembled Kindred to return to their own havens and territories, and not to attempt to form any kind of government. From then on, they called themselves the Brotherhood of Enlightened Self-Interest. This Brotherhood enforced one law: that no Kindred should Dominate other Kindred.
News of this counter-revolution spread like wildfire along the Carthian grapevine, distorted and exaggerated many times over in frightened and excited communiqués. By the time the rumors returned to the original city, the Brotherhood was hearing about something called the Cult of Self, a revolution within The Carthian Movement that was spreading like wildfire. Individualist Carthians across the world took this news as a sign of hope, and pushed for greater freedom, taking the Cult’s name as the banner for their campaigns. The idea of continuing revolution gained in popularity again in cities where more conservative groups had taken power. Except for those cities where fighting broke out, most Carthians hailed this news as a wonderful victory for the philosophy that “Change is Necessary.”
The initial Hysteria and chaos quickly calmed down, with some cities settling into new patterns but most keeping to their old ways. Most citizens of Carthian domains were, if not content, at least more willing to live with the results of the revolution that was already over than to start a new one all over again. The Brotherhood declared loudly throughout the fighting that this was not their intent. Indeed, violent revolt was an idea repugnant to these idealists. Their leader, Frantz Federico, expressed it thus: “We believe in free will to the utmost. Violence is the purest form of domination, and anathema to our beliefs. We would rather impose minor restrictions of freedom than send another Kindred to Torpor or Final Death, thereby robbing a citizen of any freedom at all.”
The Brotherhood of Enlightened Self-Interest remains in control of the city they re-liberated. A few other Cult of Self factions may also have succeeded in taking control of their domains, or may be in the process of doing so. A takeover by these groups looks much like any Carthian conquest, except this takeover is waged against a Carthian government by fellow Carthians. Cultists of Self take that appellation because they believe the current Carthian establishment in their city has not gone far enough, either with the cause of change, or personal freedom or both.
Most Cultists fail outright. Drumming up support for such a cause in a domain that already has Carthian sympathies is difficult. The ones that succeed plan for the long term, often advancing their agenda politically instead of militarily. The final objective is a city ruled by no vampire, where each Kindred is responsible only for his own actions.
The primary influence felt here and there through the Movement is as a proverb. The leaders in successful Carthian takeovers often remind each other, half-jokingly, of the French Revolution. Among Carthians, this is slang for the Cult’s coup. The analogy reminds the revolutionaries who speak it that Kindred are even more prone to repeat the evils they depose than mortals are. For the most part, the details are left unspoken; it’s too unsettling. Some members do talk about the details, though. Two other, larger factions have formed from like-minded Carthians with Individualist leanings due to the influence of the Cult: the Solipsists and the Pedagogues.
The Solipsist style of government has been described as a sort of mellow chaos, and their leaders as possessed of an eerie, Zen-like calm amid disasters. If a Solipsist becomes Prefect or Myrmidon, as long as she holds that office, there likely will be no such thing as Status quo. The policies of the covenant will become subject to constant review, and almost every infraction will become a special case. This free-form, amorphous system of government works well enough while one or more Solipsists remain in charge, but whoever follows after is usually left with what at least seems like an awful mess of inconsistent rulings.
The most common criticism of Solipsism is the resemblance it bears to the whimsical rulings of a fickle Prince. Most Solipsists are able to easily counter this argument by showing their record of compromise and expedient arrangements for all parties, not just themselves. A few who lose too much touch with their Humanity are, in fact, brought down because of their near-despotic rule. Usually, though, the Solipsists do not overstep the bounds of their office, though they may use the authority they do have to convince the rest of the citizens in power to change those bounds.
A more insightful and troublesome criticism levied against Solipsists is a question of their philosophy. Why do they care so much about what others do if they can’t be sure that others exist? Not many of the faction have a good answer for this question. Some laugh it off, denying the philosophical possibility of everyone else existing only in one’s own mind. Unfortunately, that and other dismissive arguments really only hide the lack of a good answer to the criticism. More articulate Solipsists may launch into a long explanation of their philosophy, but this also indicates how troubling it is. The few members of the faction who have held these beliefs since they emerged in the 18th century are usually the only ones able to give concise, insightful answers that truly justify their actions. Of course, due to the nature of the philosophy, these answersare uniquely phrased by each individual, and each Solipsist must find them for himself.
Aggressive speakers are often distrusted, or seen as inciting revolt among the citizens. Permissive Carthian governments, such as direct forms of democracy, are likely to let anybody speak out about whatever they want, and let the chips (and votes) fall where they may. When the agenda of a faction in the government and the call for reform from the Pedagogue are in sync, the speaker may find herself with official license to bring her arguments to the public eye (as public as Kindred ever are, that is). More conciliatory practitioners of debate don’t get any kind of result as quickly, but are consequently less likely to face scorn or exile.
Pedagogues in a single domain, or who travel a common set of domains, will often know each other. A Pedagogue who sires childer will usually teach them about his philosophy, and other Carthians who hear these iconoclasts of the Movement frequently come to respect the conviction it takes to stand out from the masses as these Pedagogues do, not accepting the system quietly. A daisy chain of Contacts thus links all Pedagogues who got started by learning from another Pedagogue. Those who simply heard of the faction and started up on their own often run into others of their stripe, thus entering the chain if they exchange contact information. Sometimes, when actual Carthian officials decline to participate in debates, two Pedagogues will each take up opposing positions and have the debate themselves. Through coordination, the speakers make sure they can keep more domains honest without completely wearing out their welcome.
While many in the Movement look askance at the methods Pedagogues use and criticize the ideas they preach, the practice of pedagogy is regarded as somewhat sacrosanct overall. Freedom of speech and expression is valued highly by most Carthians, and the idea that power comes from the people and the rightness of one’s ideals is also persuasive. Most of those in power have themselves grappled with the problem of who will watch over the ones who watch over society, and even if they find the Pedagogues irksome, they often respect the principle. The aphorism “an irritating grain of sand makes a beautiful pearl” often applied to these Kindred, though only so long as they do not actually seem to pose the threat of civil unrest.
Across the board, collective-oriented Carthian domains scrutinized their systems and officials, performing major house-cleaning operations. Corruption and needlessly oppressive laws alike became the targets of new legislation, all so Individualists couldn’t attack their systems based on such normal accretions of unlife. The citizens of their domains reaped the benefits in more efficient bureaucracies, and a reduction of political infighting. They also felt the sting of witch hunts in some domains, as paranoid officials sought vainly to suppress possible rebellions, but reactionary governments like those usually fomented enough ill will among their populaces to bring about their downfall. Some went far enough to prevent such an outcome, though, moving beyond witch hunts to a totalitarian regime. Total suppression of any possible opposition has never been a popular method among Carthians, but those few Prefects who implement it get the expected results. A thorough suppression based on popular participation, similar to that which occurred in Fascist nations during the mid-20th century, provides a reprieve from internal strife so long as there is a common enemy to face.
The Collectivist responses to the Cult of Self incident can thus be divided into four categories: regime change, systemic reformation, denial of the problem and strict crackdown. Each of these responses set important precedents for domains in each category. Serious scholars all agree about the central nature of the individual-to-group dichotomy to The Carthian Movement’s experiment, so the way each Carthian domain’s government responded to this important ideological event set each domain’s general attitudes toward any great concerns in sharp relief. The success or failure of the Movement in each domain would often be decided by the implementation of an effective policy for the relationship between individual Carthians and the Movement as a whole.
A citywide meeting of Kindred was called, and a consensus reached: it was time to change. A spokesman was appointed by each faction within the domain, including the other covenants, and together this appointed council worked to create a binding agreement for how the city would operate. The Invictus was allowed to stake its claims, and rule the covenant’s territory as The Invictus members saw fit, so long as they respected the law in regards to outsiders. The Ordo Dracul was allowed to have its places of mystic power, The Lancea Sanctum its churches, The Circle of the Crone its secret rituals and feeding grounds were allotted to everybody. Means for expanding territory based on increased membership were provided for, as well as means to transfer territory if an agreement could be reached. All of the central tensions between the covenants were addressed, and laid to rest by mutual agreement. The proceedings came close to falling apart several times. Tempers flared, negotiations stalled, foul play occurred. Yet the Carthians refused to give up on building a better domain, so they saw it through.
Not only did all the covenants agree to an explicit Status quo with regards to territory, but the Carthian traditions of the city were brought to the table. They were reviewed, revised and ratified as binding for all the city’s Kindred. The rights of each covenant to selfgovernance were recognized, as well as the necessity of a common law for all Kindred in the domain. Certain laws were accepted as binding for all Kindred, regardless of covenant: a ban on destruction of other vampires, a strict ban on Diablerie, rules for creating progeny and Ghouls and judicial procedures. Each covenant appointed a Judge to serve the domain’s Primogen Council (herein called a Supreme Court), set up to judge cases based on this common law. Among themselves, the Carthians reworked their communal system, settling into a more democratic form of communism. As the day dawned, the whole domain slept easier, and the Carthians congratulated themselves on the success of their philosophy of change.
The Invictus took the rumor of the Cult of Self, and made sure the rumor spread. The Invictus members especially made sure that versions of the story cropped up that made quite a few analogies to the current Carthian government. The schemers steepled their fingers in satisfaction when several conspiracy theories sprang to life without their specific efforts — and these The Invictus schemers encouraged ruthlessly. Secretly, they instated a new Prince, and gathered the disaffected to themselves. When the Carthians heard about this, their furious reaction confirmed the picture The Invictus had been painting of the Carthians. They declared war on the First Estate, and called in favors from across the domain. A one-sided battle of influence led to an ignominious defeat for the Carthians. They lost the battle of public opinion, and so their advantage was entirely negated.
Carthian survivors of this incident fled the city, and to this night there is no significant Carthian faction in that domain. The survivors carry with them a powerful lesson: change truly is necessary. They have seen the Movement grind to a halt, and their own domain fall back into the hands of the old powerplayer. They recognize that it was their failure to adapt that killed them, so for good or ill, they take with them a resolve to meet problems with change. They also received an object lesson in what happens when you try to build a community, but don’t sufficiently involve the members. These Carthians’ Collectivist leanings became quite pronounced, and their influence on the domains they fled to actually made a big difference, in that they could say with absolute certainty what they had seen fail.
The Prefect of one large city decided that the system was still good, but the wrong people were in positions of power. He met in secret with all the supervisors he still trusted, and devised a plan. Those officials still loyal to their ideals helped each other to identify the ones using their positions for personal gain. The degrees of corruption were categorized as “salvageable” or “lost cause.” The salvageable officers were approached first, covertly. These were the ones just taking small abuses, things that “couldn’t hurt.” They were offered the chance to help reform the city by enticing those guilty of worse corruption into exposing themselves. Many said yes, largely for fear of losing their Status, but some through a reawakened sense of duty. Hard evidence of the worst crimes was not long in coming.
Of course, nobody senses a sinking ship as a rat does. When the little rats started eating poison and falling into traps, the biggest one of all decided to take what he could and run. The worst of the lot was, in fact, the city’s Sheriff. His crime was rampant Diablerie, perpetrated instead of the officially assigned punishment by sunlight or fire on Kindred he pursued. In return for their silence, he bribed most of his direct subordinates with whatever they wanted — their favorite kinds of vessels to feed upon, money, sex, Status, information or anything else it took. The newest member of his coterie was targeted as salvageable, but by that time the Sheriff had already noticed the subtle purge the Prefect was implementing. The Sheriff diablerized the neonate before any evidence could be gathered, and fled the city. His subordinates were arrested and tried as accomplices, and all convicted on one count or another. The purge was complete, but the Sheriff was never found. It was assumed he fled the city, perhaps having learned enough guile to survive a flight on foot, explaining why his car was left behind. Some locals worry, though, that he may simply be in hiding, waiting for a chance at revenge.
As The Ordo Dracul subtly took the reins of power in one such chaotic domain, a curious young member who had several Contacts among the Carthians who had disappeared decided to “follow the dragon’s tail,” in his covenant’s parlance, to see if he could discover what caused the sudden collapse of the covenant that had formerly held so much power in the city. He asked around, and took note of which former Carthians left the city and which stayed to make another try at their experiment. Gradually, the picture became clear. Paranoia led to martial law and several executions, which quickly precipitated civil war among the Carthians. The young Dragon wrote a history of the events, focusing less on who did what and instead structuring his writing as a commentary on the Carthian government as an experiment. He concluded that the Carthians’ method was flawed because it involved no controls, so tracking which variables affected each other was nearly impossible, and received some recognition for his work.
The Revolution
It began in fire, near the turn of the 20th century. The Kindred of the city could no longer stand the mad Prince; many of the elders had even been robbed and humiliated as their fellows’ Paranoia increased. The city’s Carthians were finally able to win over key individuals, and the coup began. The Prince and his cronies were taken in a bloody conflict, and sentenced to destruction by fire. Democracy was instated, and it should have been a great victory. Unfortunately, the Paranoia didn’t end there. The French Revolution had guillotines; this one had fire.A group, including some influential Carthians as well as members of the old establishment, took control of the Assembly and continued the state of emergency. First they pointed to Lupine attacks that had occurred during the chaos of the coup, using the excuse to create a security force. Of course, the group ensured the officers were loyal only to them. Once the “werewolves” were driven out of the city, the accusations began. Any Kindred with Allies outside The Carthian Movement was targeted, and accused of treason. They were invariably found guilty. The accusations didn’t stop when the Movement had become entirely isolated; they only got worse. The tyranny of the majority party was, if anything, worse than that of the former Prince.
A small group of dissenters began meeting in secret, gathering weapons. They let the majority party’s police infiltrate their meetings, feeding them disinformation. When the dissenters were ready, they lured the police forces into a trap and destroyed them. That night, the dissenters stormed the city’s Elysium and declared it void. They instructed the assembled Kindred to return to their own havens and territories, and not to attempt to form any kind of government. From then on, they called themselves the Brotherhood of Enlightened Self-Interest. This Brotherhood enforced one law: that no Kindred should Dominate other Kindred.
News of this counter-revolution spread like wildfire along the Carthian grapevine, distorted and exaggerated many times over in frightened and excited communiqués. By the time the rumors returned to the original city, the Brotherhood was hearing about something called the Cult of Self, a revolution within The Carthian Movement that was spreading like wildfire. Individualist Carthians across the world took this news as a sign of hope, and pushed for greater freedom, taking the Cult’s name as the banner for their campaigns. The idea of continuing revolution gained in popularity again in cities where more conservative groups had taken power. Except for those cities where fighting broke out, most Carthians hailed this news as a wonderful victory for the philosophy that “Change is Necessary.”
The initial Hysteria and chaos quickly calmed down, with some cities settling into new patterns but most keeping to their old ways. Most citizens of Carthian domains were, if not content, at least more willing to live with the results of the revolution that was already over than to start a new one all over again. The Brotherhood declared loudly throughout the fighting that this was not their intent. Indeed, violent revolt was an idea repugnant to these idealists. Their leader, Frantz Federico, expressed it thus: “We believe in free will to the utmost. Violence is the purest form of domination, and anathema to our beliefs. We would rather impose minor restrictions of freedom than send another Kindred to Torpor or Final Death, thereby robbing a citizen of any freedom at all.”
The Brotherhood of Enlightened Self-Interest remains in control of the city they re-liberated. A few other Cult of Self factions may also have succeeded in taking control of their domains, or may be in the process of doing so. A takeover by these groups looks much like any Carthian conquest, except this takeover is waged against a Carthian government by fellow Carthians. Cultists of Self take that appellation because they believe the current Carthian establishment in their city has not gone far enough, either with the cause of change, or personal freedom or both.
Most Cultists fail outright. Drumming up support for such a cause in a domain that already has Carthian sympathies is difficult. The ones that succeed plan for the long term, often advancing their agenda politically instead of militarily. The final objective is a city ruled by no vampire, where each Kindred is responsible only for his own actions.
Practical Applications
Most Carthians ultimately see the Cultists’ actions as counterproductive. Even among those who believe strongly in personal freedom, the extreme position that no government should ever interfere invalidates the modern social models, or simple provision for basic needs, that almost all Carthians favor. Nonetheless, most of the Movement does see the Cultists’ actions one way or another, giving them influence despite the extreme fringe nature of their specific faction.The primary influence felt here and there through the Movement is as a proverb. The leaders in successful Carthian takeovers often remind each other, half-jokingly, of the French Revolution. Among Carthians, this is slang for the Cult’s coup. The analogy reminds the revolutionaries who speak it that Kindred are even more prone to repeat the evils they depose than mortals are. For the most part, the details are left unspoken; it’s too unsettling. Some members do talk about the details, though. Two other, larger factions have formed from like-minded Carthians with Individualist leanings due to the influence of the Cult: the Solipsists and the Pedagogues.
Solipsists
Solipsists focus on the Cult’s exaltation of each individual’s self-interest. They borrow their operational philosophy from mortal thinkers such as René Descartes, primarily his Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, source of the famous paraphrased quotation, “I think, therefore I am,” and his revised version of that statement, “I am, I exist.” The Solipsists’ name refers to a philosophy commonly misconstrued as the belief that the self is the only thing that exists. In fact, solipsism is the belief that the self is the only thing that is certain. Therefore, Carthian Solipsists do not seek certainty in their systems, but convenience. They accept the uncertainty of the world. Instead of preparing for the unknowable future, they arrange the relatively known present to their tastes, and adapt as it changes.The Solipsist style of government has been described as a sort of mellow chaos, and their leaders as possessed of an eerie, Zen-like calm amid disasters. If a Solipsist becomes Prefect or Myrmidon, as long as she holds that office, there likely will be no such thing as Status quo. The policies of the covenant will become subject to constant review, and almost every infraction will become a special case. This free-form, amorphous system of government works well enough while one or more Solipsists remain in charge, but whoever follows after is usually left with what at least seems like an awful mess of inconsistent rulings.
The most common criticism of Solipsism is the resemblance it bears to the whimsical rulings of a fickle Prince. Most Solipsists are able to easily counter this argument by showing their record of compromise and expedient arrangements for all parties, not just themselves. A few who lose too much touch with their Humanity are, in fact, brought down because of their near-despotic rule. Usually, though, the Solipsists do not overstep the bounds of their office, though they may use the authority they do have to convince the rest of the citizens in power to change those bounds.
A more insightful and troublesome criticism levied against Solipsists is a question of their philosophy. Why do they care so much about what others do if they can’t be sure that others exist? Not many of the faction have a good answer for this question. Some laugh it off, denying the philosophical possibility of everyone else existing only in one’s own mind. Unfortunately, that and other dismissive arguments really only hide the lack of a good answer to the criticism. More articulate Solipsists may launch into a long explanation of their philosophy, but this also indicates how troubling it is. The few members of the faction who have held these beliefs since they emerged in the 18th century are usually the only ones able to give concise, insightful answers that truly justify their actions. Of course, due to the nature of the philosophy, these answersare uniquely phrased by each individual, and each Solipsist must find them for himself.
Pedagogues
The Pedagogues, on the other hand, like the example set by the Cult’s counter-revolution, but think it a bit extreme. Members of this faction set themselves up asDevil’s advocates, engaging in frequent public debates with current members of the Carthian government in their domains. The idea is to expose Flaws in the system and in the leaders — to force change.Aggressive speakers are often distrusted, or seen as inciting revolt among the citizens. Permissive Carthian governments, such as direct forms of democracy, are likely to let anybody speak out about whatever they want, and let the chips (and votes) fall where they may. When the agenda of a faction in the government and the call for reform from the Pedagogue are in sync, the speaker may find herself with official license to bring her arguments to the public eye (as public as Kindred ever are, that is). More conciliatory practitioners of debate don’t get any kind of result as quickly, but are consequently less likely to face scorn or exile.
Pedagogues in a single domain, or who travel a common set of domains, will often know each other. A Pedagogue who sires childer will usually teach them about his philosophy, and other Carthians who hear these iconoclasts of the Movement frequently come to respect the conviction it takes to stand out from the masses as these Pedagogues do, not accepting the system quietly. A daisy chain of Contacts thus links all Pedagogues who got started by learning from another Pedagogue. Those who simply heard of the faction and started up on their own often run into others of their stripe, thus entering the chain if they exchange contact information. Sometimes, when actual Carthian officials decline to participate in debates, two Pedagogues will each take up opposing positions and have the debate themselves. Through coordination, the speakers make sure they can keep more domains honest without completely wearing out their welcome.
While many in the Movement look askance at the methods Pedagogues use and criticize the ideas they preach, the practice of pedagogy is regarded as somewhat sacrosanct overall. Freedom of speech and expression is valued highly by most Carthians, and the idea that power comes from the people and the rightness of one’s ideals is also persuasive. Most of those in power have themselves grappled with the problem of who will watch over the ones who watch over society, and even if they find the Pedagogues irksome, they often respect the principle. The aphorism “an irritating grain of sand makes a beautiful pearl” often applied to these Kindred, though only so long as they do not actually seem to pose the threat of civil unrest.
The Collectivist Response
On the far end of the ideological spectrum, there are Carthians whose response to the Cult of Self was to re-declare their opposition to selfish and antisocial acts of that nature. In other words, while the Individualists became even more self-centered, the Collectivists strengthened their resolve to be communityoriented. Ironically, the supposedly self-centered Movements of the Individualists already described both led their members to contribute more to the community. In similar irony, the community Movement, in response to the Cult, led to increases in personal freedoms. Sometimes this actually involved a regime change, which in turn brought more Individualists into the government, but mostly the changes enhanced the community spirit of their domains in such a way that contributing to the community would no longer be seen as a burden or a restraint.Across the board, collective-oriented Carthian domains scrutinized their systems and officials, performing major house-cleaning operations. Corruption and needlessly oppressive laws alike became the targets of new legislation, all so Individualists couldn’t attack their systems based on such normal accretions of unlife. The citizens of their domains reaped the benefits in more efficient bureaucracies, and a reduction of political infighting. They also felt the sting of witch hunts in some domains, as paranoid officials sought vainly to suppress possible rebellions, but reactionary governments like those usually fomented enough ill will among their populaces to bring about their downfall. Some went far enough to prevent such an outcome, though, moving beyond witch hunts to a totalitarian regime. Total suppression of any possible opposition has never been a popular method among Carthians, but those few Prefects who implement it get the expected results. A thorough suppression based on popular participation, similar to that which occurred in Fascist nations during the mid-20th century, provides a reprieve from internal strife so long as there is a common enemy to face.
The Collectivist responses to the Cult of Self incident can thus be divided into four categories: regime change, systemic reformation, denial of the problem and strict crackdown. Each of these responses set important precedents for domains in each category. Serious scholars all agree about the central nature of the individual-to-group dichotomy to The Carthian Movement’s experiment, so the way each Carthian domain’s government responded to this important ideological event set each domain’s general attitudes toward any great concerns in sharp relief. The success or failure of the Movement in each domain would often be decided by the implementation of an effective policy for the relationship between individual Carthians and the Movement as a whole.
Success Story: Regime Change.
One common response to the Cult was, in true Carthian fashion, to simply change. A common proverb in the Movement says, “Don’t get attached to your ideas; they’re destined to die at the hands of better ones.” Those who actually live by this philosophy create somewhat mercurial domains, often Throwing out old parts of their system in favor of new things that seem better. In one particular domain, the past few decades had been rocky under a communist system that worked well enough, but suffered from many small problems. The Carthians in charge took the Cult’s counter-revolution as a wake-up call, and finally admitted to themselves that they could be doing more than putting out fires.A citywide meeting of Kindred was called, and a consensus reached: it was time to change. A spokesman was appointed by each faction within the domain, including the other covenants, and together this appointed council worked to create a binding agreement for how the city would operate. The Invictus was allowed to stake its claims, and rule the covenant’s territory as The Invictus members saw fit, so long as they respected the law in regards to outsiders. The Ordo Dracul was allowed to have its places of mystic power, The Lancea Sanctum its churches, The Circle of the Crone its secret rituals and feeding grounds were allotted to everybody. Means for expanding territory based on increased membership were provided for, as well as means to transfer territory if an agreement could be reached. All of the central tensions between the covenants were addressed, and laid to rest by mutual agreement. The proceedings came close to falling apart several times. Tempers flared, negotiations stalled, foul play occurred. Yet the Carthians refused to give up on building a better domain, so they saw it through.
Not only did all the covenants agree to an explicit Status quo with regards to territory, but the Carthian traditions of the city were brought to the table. They were reviewed, revised and ratified as binding for all the city’s Kindred. The rights of each covenant to selfgovernance were recognized, as well as the necessity of a common law for all Kindred in the domain. Certain laws were accepted as binding for all Kindred, regardless of covenant: a ban on destruction of other vampires, a strict ban on Diablerie, rules for creating progeny and Ghouls and judicial procedures. Each covenant appointed a Judge to serve the domain’s Primogen Council (herein called a Supreme Court), set up to judge cases based on this common law. Among themselves, the Carthians reworked their communal system, settling into a more democratic form of communism. As the day dawned, the whole domain slept easier, and the Carthians congratulated themselves on the success of their philosophy of change.
Failed Experiment: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The worst possible thing to do when you’re in charge is nothing. Some Carthian domains utterly ignored the portent of the Cult of Self’s counter-rebellion. In one such domain, this spelled doom for the Movement. The local Carthians failed to take notice of the incident, but not so the local Invictus. While the Carthians had successfully enticed many of The Invictus’ members away with the promise of reforms after the rebellion, and the chance to strike back at their oppressors, the state of freedom achieved in the domain thereafter was in truth more a state of lawlessness. The Movement was working on reinstating order, but the Carthians’ obliviousness to their image as Carthians created an opening for The Invictus counterattack.The Invictus took the rumor of the Cult of Self, and made sure the rumor spread. The Invictus members especially made sure that versions of the story cropped up that made quite a few analogies to the current Carthian government. The schemers steepled their fingers in satisfaction when several conspiracy theories sprang to life without their specific efforts — and these The Invictus schemers encouraged ruthlessly. Secretly, they instated a new Prince, and gathered the disaffected to themselves. When the Carthians heard about this, their furious reaction confirmed the picture The Invictus had been painting of the Carthians. They declared war on the First Estate, and called in favors from across the domain. A one-sided battle of influence led to an ignominious defeat for the Carthians. They lost the battle of public opinion, and so their advantage was entirely negated.
Carthian survivors of this incident fled the city, and to this night there is no significant Carthian faction in that domain. The survivors carry with them a powerful lesson: change truly is necessary. They have seen the Movement grind to a halt, and their own domain fall back into the hands of the old powerplayer. They recognize that it was their failure to adapt that killed them, so for good or ill, they take with them a resolve to meet problems with change. They also received an object lesson in what happens when you try to build a community, but don’t sufficiently involve the members. These Carthians’ Collectivist leanings became quite pronounced, and their influence on the domains they fled to actually made a big difference, in that they could say with absolute certainty what they had seen fail.
Success Story: Internal Reform
Carthians are often highly educated and intelligent, and so the systems of government they design are usually quite good when everyone does her job as the system calls for. The most common cause of trouble in any Carthian domain is completely unrelated to the chosen system of government. The most common problem is, in fact, the same problem that plagues all the covenants: simple Kindred greed. If mortal vices are enough to topple rulers and nations, even the high-minded Carthians can fall prey when their Beasts tend to multiply those impulses 100-fold. News of the counter-revolution by the Cult of Self, and the general upheaval among Carthians in its wake, opened the eyes of Carthians in some domains to the vices rotting away parts of their systems.The Prefect of one large city decided that the system was still good, but the wrong people were in positions of power. He met in secret with all the supervisors he still trusted, and devised a plan. Those officials still loyal to their ideals helped each other to identify the ones using their positions for personal gain. The degrees of corruption were categorized as “salvageable” or “lost cause.” The salvageable officers were approached first, covertly. These were the ones just taking small abuses, things that “couldn’t hurt.” They were offered the chance to help reform the city by enticing those guilty of worse corruption into exposing themselves. Many said yes, largely for fear of losing their Status, but some through a reawakened sense of duty. Hard evidence of the worst crimes was not long in coming.
Of course, nobody senses a sinking ship as a rat does. When the little rats started eating poison and falling into traps, the biggest one of all decided to take what he could and run. The worst of the lot was, in fact, the city’s Sheriff. His crime was rampant Diablerie, perpetrated instead of the officially assigned punishment by sunlight or fire on Kindred he pursued. In return for their silence, he bribed most of his direct subordinates with whatever they wanted — their favorite kinds of vessels to feed upon, money, sex, Status, information or anything else it took. The newest member of his coterie was targeted as salvageable, but by that time the Sheriff had already noticed the subtle purge the Prefect was implementing. The Sheriff diablerized the neonate before any evidence could be gathered, and fled the city. His subordinates were arrested and tried as accomplices, and all convicted on one count or another. The purge was complete, but the Sheriff was never found. It was assumed he fled the city, perhaps having learned enough guile to survive a flight on foot, explaining why his car was left behind. Some locals worry, though, that he may simply be in hiding, waiting for a chance at revenge.
Failed Experiment: Witch Trials
Sometimes, people learn exactly the wrong lessons. When the Cult of Enlightened Self-Interest enacted its counter-revolution, some Carthians inevitably drew the conclusion that the mistake of their comrades formerly in power in that domain was leaving too many of their enemies at large. What occurred in these domains seemed on the surface very much like the internal reform movements previously mentioned, but just below that respectable veneer was a less wholesome intent. That intent would be exposed rapidly as the situation deteriorated into chaos. This sort of failure left many survivors, but was so damaging to the Movement’s image as to utterly shatter the Carthians’ power in some domains to this very night.As The Ordo Dracul subtly took the reins of power in one such chaotic domain, a curious young member who had several Contacts among the Carthians who had disappeared decided to “follow the dragon’s tail,” in his covenant’s parlance, to see if he could discover what caused the sudden collapse of the covenant that had formerly held so much power in the city. He asked around, and took note of which former Carthians left the city and which stayed to make another try at their experiment. Gradually, the picture became clear. Paranoia led to martial law and several executions, which quickly precipitated civil war among the Carthians. The young Dragon wrote a history of the events, focusing less on who did what and instead structuring his writing as a commentary on the Carthian government as an experiment. He concluded that the Carthians’ method was flawed because it involved no controls, so tracking which variables affected each other was nearly impossible, and received some recognition for his work.
Type
Political, Activist
Ruling Organization
Parent Organization
Pedagogues and Banishment
Occasionally, the result of this Devil’s advocacy is a series of gag orders, arrests and eventually exile, at least for the more inflammatory Pedagogues. Following the trials of their peers, many Carthians of this faction choose exile before they are exiled, to avoid burning their bridges. Some set up a circuit for themselves, finding several Carthian domains to travel between and haranguing the leaders in each once they have a feel for the local issues.These nomadic firebrands have various nicknames: circuit court judges, traveling preachers, storm crows. These three examples outline the different ways Pedagogues might be viewed in various domains, depending on the outlook of those in power and the attitude of the Pedagogue.