The Invictus - Guilds
Much of the strength of The Invictus is based upon a series of mentor-student relationships that members find themselves a part of throughout unlife. A traditional structure of schooling based on this relationship has evolved over the centuries in the covenant: a standard system of education and dissemination of knowledge known as “Guilds.”
A Guild in The Invictus has no size requirement — it may involve one, 10 or 100 Kindred (although in the case of very large numbers, a Guild tends to become a faction, more or less) — so long as the Guild comprises the recognized authority on a given subject in the city, imparts that knowledge to accepted pupils and works to protect the integrity of that knowledge. The individual who leads the Guild is a “Meister” (regardless of gender), while the “Guild” itself refers to the ongoing practice of communicating the Meister’s experience. All Guild instructors, whether Meister or not, are also referred to as Mentors.
Example: Madam Chantal DeMaray, Speaker, is well respected for her flawless diplomatic skills at Elysium gatherings. No Invictus vampire in his right mind would deny her the “Meister Speaker” title. If she were willing to take on one or more students, they would collectively be referred to as a Speaker’s Guild.
All Invictus neonates are encouraged to seek instruction in chosen fields as soon as possible upon release from their sires. Not only does petitioning a Guild demonstrate an eagerness to participate in the workings of the covenant, but it announces the neonate’s intended field of expertise to his elders, allowing them to understand how best to use his talents. The Guild also provides a safe, relatively private environment for younger Kindred to get to know one or more of their esteemed elder instructors (as well as fellow pupils) in person.
Likewise, elders looking to occupy their time are welladvised to participate in the Guild system, either by founding schools of their own or joining existing ones. Doing so allows an elder the opportunity to pass on her accumulated experience and wisdom to younger Kindred, strengthening the covenant as a whole while maintaining a connection to her more recently deceased, more human counterparts in The Invictus.
Guilds are very selective in their admissions criteria, and tend to cover subjects of expressive or professional artistry: diplomacy, etiquette, tactical debate and persuasive discourse are common courses, as are martial arts, application of Disciplines and personal style. Many Guilds make the skills necessary for a particular political position or profession their focus — so a Guild training potential Sheriffs would concentrate on investigative and interrogative techniques, as well as intimidation, leadership and non-linear thinking skills.
On rare occasions, Invictus Guilds have been known to take on students who are not members of the covenant. This is an unusual practice, and is only allowed in cases approved by the Inner Circle. The schooling so offered may be part of an inter-covenant bargain, or the schooling may be initiated by the Meister, having spotted a savant in the city he wishes to teach. However, the vast majority of Guilds make membership in The Invictus their strictest requirement, stating that one cannot demonstrate a full willingness to learn without publicly adopting the Meister’s social principles.
That the Meister of a Guild is the best in his chosen subject, none will deny. That reputation brings prestige, and if his vaunted skill is put to use empowering the covenant and improving its neonates, that prestige brings Status. Likewise, a neonate who is accepted by a prominent Meister may find herself on a fast track to Status — provided that she performs to her Mentor’s satisfaction.
Membership in a very prestigious Guild can catapult a vampire into sudden Fame among the Kindred. At the Storyteller’s discretion, simply being accepted as a student of a Guild may justify adding a dot of Covenant Status (or City Status), as the reputation of the Meister “rubs off” on the student.
Note, however, that this Status dot may be removed if the vampire is ever ejected from the Guild or if the Guild itself suffers a blow to its prestige. The reputation of the student is entirely contingent on the reputation of the school, after all.
The structure of Guild schooling requires so much contribution from the students that most Mentors find ways to make the subjects of study as exclusive as possible. That means removing some of the night-to-night concerns from the student’s thoughts, so Guild Meisters can often be relied upon to assist students in offloading menial tasks like scouting havens, running messages for elders or even (in some very extreme cases) hunting. It is not uncommon for a Guild Meister to employ Retainers specifically for this purpose. It is also accepted that neonates enrolled in prestigious Guilds tend to be protected from assignment to time-consuming tasks in The Invictus. This benefit is contingent on the student’s performance, though. If the Guild Meister believes that the neonate has enrolled just to avoid work, she will quickly dismiss the young vampire.
A neonate choose to join a prestigious Guild with an eye toward impressing a chosen elder. Schooling under a shared Mentor can be the first step toward building a relationship with the powerful and influential Kindred in a city, while the training received could qualify the neonate for coveted positions the elder may need to fill one night. With such respect paid to tradition and experience in the covenant, an “old-vampire network” often forms around certain Guilds, allowing accepted students to penetrate the glass ceiling of Status that applies to everyone else. It’s not too hard to understand why a rather young vampire would be able, on occasion, to bend the ear of an Inner Circle member who shares the same schooling, while other neonates would enjoy no such opportunity.
Guild training provides neonates with the opportunities to compete for the attention of elders in a controlled environment, allowing for subtle play between rivals from the moment of enrollment. Many a vampire has entered a Guild as a relative nobody and come out with a solid reputation based only on the tales of his spirited scholastic campaign.
There is, of course, one more advantage to having gone through the schooling of a Guild. While a student may enjoy the umbrella of prestige the Guild provides, the relationship tends to reverse itself after graduation: the prestige of the Guild is dependent, to a certain degree, on the performance of its alumni. Graduation from a Guild lends a vampire a certain amount of power with regard to her former Mentor by tying their reputations together. Any vampire willing to sacrifice her own Status can contribute to the ruin of her instructor simply by becoming a failure after graduation. It’s a risky (sometimes even suicidal) tactic, but nothing is beneath some Kindred.
While neonates make up the majority of students in a given Guild, there are elders who are ready and willing to admit that someone else in the city has knowledge they wish to possess. In such cases, a Guild Meister might find herself instructing a vampire of greater power and experience. A simple agreement is entered into: within the boundaries of the school (as detailed in advance), the elder defers to the Meister.
Teaching an elder can bring great prestige to a Meister, catapulting his Guild into a coveted traditional spot. Fellow students in the Guild will also enjoy the spotlight brought by the elder, and may well use the opportunity to demonstrate diplomatic skills in relation to the new addition.
There is, however, an implicit threat in this relationship. If the elder is dissatisfied with the schooling, the Meister can suffer a serious blow to her prestige. The elder may even choose to challenge for rule of the Guild, or take action to have the Guild disbanded. Because of this threat, many elder students are referred to (in secret) as “Acid Pupils.”
But students are not the only ones who stand to gain from the Guild system. Meisters and instructors enjoy several benefits of position and prestige from presiding over the schooling of vampires. The opportunity to empower the covenant’s younger Kindred (and thus the covenant as a whole) with one’s personal store of experience is only the most obvious.
Guild rule carries with it the authority to dictate the expression of a certain philosophy or art within The Invictus. Since the Meister is recognized as the city-wide superior with respect to the chosen subject, hers is the prerogative to determine the boundaries of that subject as well as the mode of its delivery. None can dispute the Meister in the course of schooling, and doing so outside the Guild requires the initiation of a complex challenge (see “Guild Wars” below). Some Kindred take pleasure in the power this affords them — to set fashion, to eliminate “offensive” works or simply to Dominate others.
Guild Meisters and instructors can expect to be consulted on matters related to their subjects of expertise, and are usually deferred to in public discourse. This may seem a small bonus, but in Elysium gatherings, Kindred tend to take notice when powerful elders bow to one of their number. It can mean the difference between anonymity and the appearance of real power.
Guild Meisters can expect gifts and boons from wouldbe students petitioning for enrollment, as well as from appreciative elders looking to secure fair (or special) treatment for their childer. The position is easy to abuse, and many a prestigious Guild Meister finds an avenue to rapid enrichment opened up simply by his willingness to teach.
To lead a Guild is to produce an ongoing Status attractor — one is respected for taking on students and educating them, and one is respected for having produced worthy graduates. Former students who go on to gain Status for themselves tend to reflect it back to their former Mentors. Many Mentors need not contribute anything new to The Invictus to maintain their Status — they just have to make sure that their alumni do.
In addition, many alumni never really abandon the Mentor-student relationship completely, and often return to meet with their instructors to ask for advice. A wily Meister can use the continuance of these relationships to exert a subtle influence on the covenant (and/ or city) body politic, advising her former students in a manner that leads to personal enrichment.
With so much to gain from Guild membership and (and so little from maintaining a stance of independence), it’s hardly a surprise that nearly every vampire in The Invictus has involved himself in the operation of a Guild at least once in his long unlife.
Petitioning a Guild is arguably the most nerve-wracking of all the steps. It is the first in which the would-be student makes plain her intent to join a Guild and demonstrates the seriousness of that intent. Many Kindred botch this initial approach, ruining their chances to enter the Guild of their choice before the education even has a chance to begin.
The petition is a complex undertaking, never to be treated lightly. It begins with the composition of an official letter of intent, written by hand in the chosen Language of the Guild Meister. (Most prefer Latin, but not all — some desire their native Language, while others pick something obscure or difficult just to make the petition that much more demanding. Tales of a Meister Senator requiring letters in demotic script or a Meister swordsman who will only acknowledge letters written in constrained wenyan Chinese are told here and there, but are not as unusual as one might think.) The letter must identify the petitioner, detail his lineage and make a humble request to meet with the Meister. The content of The Message must not stray from the subject — any overt attempt to sway the Meister before the initial meeting will disqualify the petitioner. If the letter is poorly written, the petitioner may be refused the meeting (but may be allowed to try again, depending on the Meister’s temperament). The letter must also be accompanied by a small gift, as dictated by the tastes of the Meister. Learning what the Meister expects is the other half of this, the first test presented to the petitioner. One Meister may expect a fresh, unmarred cherry blossom (restricting applications to the spring season), while another may demand an authentic 16th-century Silver peso. The required gift must be something the Meister knows is attainable, even if it is difficult. Guild Meisters do, after all, want some successful candidates to approach them.
Assuming that the letter and the gift meet with the Meister’s approval, the petitioner is called to a meeting. She must follow the instructions for the meeting to the letter, arriving exactly on time, approaching in the desired fashion and speaking a scripted request for audience. The Meister acknowledges the petitioner’s request, and an interview begins.
During this interview, the petitioner is free to argue on her own behalf, displaying whatever talents she thinks are relevant to qualification. Bribes may be presented during the interview as well. The Meister may engage the petitioner in conversation, apply tests of skill or just choose to observe her carefully. At some point, when the Meister is satisfied, he signals that he is ready to end the interview. He issues a proclamation. The petitioner is either considered qualified to prepare for instruction in the Guild, or she is rejected (with or without explanation) and expected to leave immediately.
There is no way to predict a Meister’s behavior at interview: some Meisters will decide the moment they see petitioners enter the room while others engage the would-be students in a grueling series of questions and tests that can take hours (or in some extreme cases, several nights) to complete. Some Meisters look for unquestioning obedience, while others expect rebellion. It’s best for a petitioner to Research the Guild and its Meister carefully before the interview so she can figure out how best to conduct herself when the time comes.
Preparation for schooling marks the transition between the vampire’s unlife before and after accepting the influence of the Guild. Meisters may dictate changes in the vampire’s behavior, material possessions, manner of dress, manner of speech — anything that they think is pertinent to the schooling. If a Meister believes that a would-be student is not humble enough to learn, there is no limit to the demands the Meister may place on the successful petitioner. The process of change undertaken by the student not only prepares him for the schooling in a physical, mental or spiritual sense, but also marks him as a Guild member. All of The Invictus in a city will learn to recognize the identifying mannerisms of a particular Guild’s student body, and will pay the new student the respect accorded to his new Status.
This is by no means a quick or simple stage in the student’s career. Preparation can include the development and demonstration of certain skills or accomplishment of involved, extended tasks. These requirements are never arbitrary, though — students always come to realize, later in their careers, that the preparation was necessary to their schooling, even if the benefit didn’t seem obvious or logical at the time.
A common preparation request involves the “unlearning” of certain skills or mannerisms, accomplished via a program of restrictive exercise. For example, a petitioner to a martial Guild may be expected to eliminate her longpracticed techniques before she may learn the Meister’s way, simply because the Meister believes that her old habits will obstruct learning by the “correct path.”
At the Storyteller’s discretion, a player whose character is in preparation at a Guild may opt to play out this “unlearning,” removing a specified skill dot from her character sheet at the end of a session and cashing it in for the equivalent experience. The experience may be used to repurchase the skill later, in the training that follows, or the experience may be applied otherwise.
At any time, the Meister may call an end to the student’s preparation. She may declare that the student is ready for schooling, calling on him to begin the next phase of his learning. She may, on the other hand, announce that the student will never be properly prepared for learning and dismiss him. It is a disgrace to be dismissed at this point: it implies stubbornness or deceit on the part of the student, and may do irreparable damage to his reputation. It is very rare for a prestigious Meister to take on a student who was dismissed in preparation by another Guild.
Exercise represents the actual course of lessons and practice of their application. A vampire at this stage of learning is generally identifiable by one or more adopted fashions: a specific accessory or style of dress, a mode of speech or physical location (as some students are required to dwell in a prepared haven). The student attends frequent scheduled meetings with her Mentor (or Mentors), which may take the form of lectures, exercises or less formal get-togethers and field lessons. This is the “meat” of the schooling, and it is the stage that most students can expect to spend the majority of time and effort on.
Tests are administered frequently to gauge a student’s performance and to help illustrate real-world situations that may demand application of the lessons. In general, these tests begin at a rather low-pressure level and intensify as the training continues. Some tests can even threaten injury or Final Death (although a good Mentor would never present a student with a challenge that could not be survived).
The tests of skill can become so elaborate as to fool the student into thinking that she is experiencing a real, unscripted situation. Mentors are known, on occasion, to call in favors or exert significant influence in constructing a truly demanding exam scenario.
Many Mentors use this time to craft a “perfect” practitioner of the subject at hand, so students can expect to be pushed to continue to redefine themselves as the instructor dictates. It is said that a good Meister will teach the student to emulate her, while a great one will teach the student to surpass her. Here, at this stage of training, the student can finally see what it is the Meister hopes to achieve and how he is supposed to get there. In many cases, the student is expected (at the very least) to show a diminished interest in everything that does not relate to the subject of study. A martial Guild might demand that its students take a vow of silence during their exercise, so as to eliminate social complications during study. On the other hand, a Notary’s Guild may set a strict rule of passivity on its students, forbidding all athletic or martial activity for the duration of exercise. These strictures may seem overbearing, even ridiculous, but they do tend to work. If obedient students can stick to the program, they become more disciplined, more focused and prouder of their accomplishments than less-restricted counterparts.
In larger Guilds, competition comes to the fore in exercise. Each student displays the aptitude he has for the chosen subject, and may attempt to outshine one another in tests (or, in some cases, actually face off in direct conflict). Mentors often adopt a policy of promoting only one student to the next stage at a time, forcing rivalry as the students jockey to qualify.
It is possible for a Mentor to dismiss a student during the exercises, but very unusual. Generally, if a student fails a test (or even a series of tests), he is encouraged to continue his training and try again. Dismissal would imply admission that a student who had been accepted and properly prepared is not capable of learning — which many would suggest means rather that the Mentor is not capable of teaching. It is more likely, at this stage, for a student to withdraw for his own reasons.
When a Mentor believes the student is ready, she initiates a final elementary test of ability, one in which the student must draw upon all of his accumulated learning to pass. If the student passes to the satisfaction of the Meister (who presides even if the student is learning from a lesser instructor), this stage of education is declared complete. Failure generally leads to another set of exercises, followed by a repeat of the test (or administration of a similar test) some time later.
Storytellers may wish to apply a mechanical benchmark to judge a character’s general performance over the course of exercises and determine whether or not a Meister would consider the character ready for testing. An average Guild would demand ability in all relevant skills at a minimum of three dots, plus one pertinent specialty in each before the character qualifies to end his elementary exercises. If Disciplines are being judged, they too should be at a minimum of three dots each.
Remember that the end of exercises does not spell the end of training — students need not be at world-class level just yet. If a story involves Guild schooling, characters should be made to feel that the process is long and involved, but should never feel that moving to the next stage is completely impossible.
Apprenticeship marks the student’s acceptance as a practitioner of the chosen subject. Once she achieves this level of schooling (and only from this point onwards), she is allowed to execute her abilities as an official representative of the Guild for her own benefit and for others. Any student who passes the final exercise test is presented to The Invictus at a gathering and acknowledged as an official apprentice of the Guild.
Lessons are not finished for an apprentice, though. The student must practice her skills under the watchful eye of her Mentor, continuing her schedule of meetings and tests. In addition, she is expected to take on some of the duties of the Guild: teaching newly prepared students in their exercises, assisting in upkeep (if there is a need) and representing the Meister in dealings with other Kindred.
Another, more significant honor is accorded the student at this stage in her career: the freedom to innovate. Finally considered adequately conversant in the elementary aspects of the subject at hand, she is allowed (even, in the case of more progressive Mentors, encouraged) to experiment and break free of the methods of the Meister. This exploration may often lead to conflict with prideful instructors, but many Mentors aren’t willing to let students complete their education until they can demonstrate some creative application of their skills. For truly brilliant students, lessons can become something more like discourse, as Mentor and student bandy theoretical details back and forth, hammering out a new and improved approach to the subject of study.
Not all experimentation leads to such happy circumstances, though. Some foolhardy students stray so far from the Meister’s philosophy as to appear outrageous or, worse, self-indulgent. Many who go overboard suddenly find themselves the subjects of harsh treatment: punishment, demotion to exercise or even (if the Meister is offended enough) expulsion from the school. Demonstration of innovative talent is a razor’s edge in The Invictus Guild, and arrogant students can find themselves pitched over the side with startling speed.
An apprentice is, surprisingly, the most likely to quit training in a Guild. While some might see this as the reckless act of an impatient vampire, those within the schools know that the truth can be more complicated. Some Meisters take to holding on to apprentices as long as possible, making sure that the apprentices remain to assist with the operation of the Guild and never end up challenging for supremacy. Other Meisters are simply too stubborn to admit that the students have nothing more to learn from them. It is one thing to instruct a promising, eager inferior and quite another to admit that he has equaled or even surpassed one’s own skill. Some Meisters are simply too proud to let go.
Fair-minded Meisters, however, will honestly acknowledge an apprentice’s advancement, recommending him for graduation as soon as it seems the Guild has no more to offer him by way of schooling.
Graduation marks the end of a student’s professional relationship with her Mentor. In a formal ceremony, often held in Elysium, the Meister declares that the student has achieved all that could be hoped for her. She has successfully taken on all of the raw skill and elementary experience that could be provided in a structured setting, and must take personal responsibility for all further development. The student is furthermore released from any real or perceived debts to the Guild Meister or any other instructor in this declaration.
Graduates of a Guild are often given a medal or similar symbol to indicate their Status, and many proud or vain Invictus Kindred take the opportunity to display these tokens at Elysium. The gift is always of equivalent rarity or worth to that which was demanded of the student at petitioning.
Most Guild alumni are friendly with their former Mentors, offering to assist in the management of the Guild as full instructors. The offer is rarely rejected, for to do so would be to suggest that the Meister does not consider the graduate worthy of passing her knowledge on. Other alumni choose to build reputations of their own, hoping to found their own Guilds some night, or simply to separate themselves from the oft-convoluted politics of Guild service and apply their learned skills exclusively in the “real world.”
Graduates are expected to uphold the integrity of the Guild at all times, ensuring that credit is paid to its members when appropriate. A common flipside to this responsibility often arises: the graduate must work to squeeze out any interlopers in the city, working to guarantee that the Guild is considered the best and only source of quality consultation on its subject of study.
When a Guild Meister is approached with a request related to her subject of expertise, she will often recommend a graduate of the Guild instead of taking it on herself. This means that Guild alumni do become “professionals” of a kind, and are expected to charge for their services. Some graduates are so sought after that Kindred are willing to meet extravagant prices in hiring them — but such is the blessing of reputable schooling.
All Orders require undying pledges from students before preparation can be declared complete. From the moment the pledge is taken, the student becomes a Knight, a permanent member of the Order accepted by her brethren as one of their own — and forever more tied to them, unable to renounce membership without dire consequences. A fanatical devotion to the declared virtues of the Order is required of all members, as is ready and demonstrated willingness to obey instructions without question.
Exercise (also known as “Drilling”) is especially grueling, and may last centuries for Knights of an Order. Their ongoing tests are just as likely to be real threat situations as staged events — an instructor will know which missions a less-experienced Knight should be able to handle, and will choose an assignment accordingly.
Those Knights who graduate to apprenticeships will not only take on the duties mentioned above, but will also be given command of a number of low-ranking Knights, taking responsibility for their deployment and training. Apprentices to Orders are known in some circles as “Officers.”
A graduate of any Order is essentially equivalent to a military general — either taking on increased command within the Order or moving on to found her own chapter. Only graduates are allowed to found chapters of an existing Order, and only in domains foreign to their training homes. No two chapters of the same Order may coexist in a single domain.
The added prestige of Knighthood and the level of trust civilian citizens of The Invictus are willing to invest in them tend to mitigate the extreme conditions of schooling with Knights. Those who undergo the indoctrination of a prestigious Order are no ordinary warriors. The Knights tend to be superior to their less-structured counterparts in both skills and dedication, and operate in more efficient, perfectly tuned units.
There are some who say that Orders are a substitute for religion in The Invictus, a place for fanatics to go and preach their bloody-minded views. That may well be the case for some Orders, but it is certainly not true of all. Most are simply rational, well-disciplined units of operatives, prepared to do violent battle on behalf of their covenant but rarely eager to provoke it.
When a Guild is a success, the Guild takes a firm hold in the consciousness of the local Invictus. It is commonly accepted — if the Guild becomes essentially (and exclusively) synonymous with the reliably superior execution of its subject of study, the Guild is doing well. Neonates battle fiercely to be accepted for training, and sires work to ensure that they make promising candidates. Elders consider the Guild a great contributor to the covenant’s power in a city, and Kindred of outside covenants find themselves incapable of competing with graduates in their chosen fields. A successful Guild combines its Meister’s incalculable experience with the fresh, innovative spirit of its apprentices to stay ahead of the developmental curve, ensuring that the Guild is always fashionable, always admired and always dominating. The alumni of a successful Guild will proudly display their tokens of graduation. The apprentices will show inspiring confidence and discipline in their training, attracting the awe of onlookers.
Many Invictus factions find their beginnings in the foundation of a successful Guild. A number of martial Guilds eventually evolve into Knightly Orders, spreading their teachings from place to place and establishing firm footholds in the covenant. There are some Kindred who claim that certain professional Guilds have, through their influence over the ages, forever altered the basic traditional positions and powers in The Invictus.
But not every Guild succeeds. Some limp along under the surprisingly inadequate tutelage of an acknowledged Meister somehow incapable of communicating the spark of his talent. Some Guilds produce graduates who are poorly judged or, worse yet, determined to destroy their former Mentor’s reputation. Some Guilds simply collapse under the stultifying influence of a stubborn, prideful Meister who refuses to acknowledge excellence in others.
Regardless of the reason, a failed Guild falls to inevitable ruin. Potential students become less numerous and less enthused in their petitions. Invictus Kindred begin to handle tasks related to the Guild’s so-called area of expertise on their own, without bothering to consult the Meister. Students in both elementary exercise and apprenticeship abandon their Mentors, recognizing that the benefits of their schooling are rapidly diminishing. Eventually, the Meister is left alone, reduced to accepting inferior students or acknowledging the collapse of the Guild and denying further petitions. Eventually, he is supplanted by a competitor and left by the wayside.
Just as prestigious training can guarantee an illustrious career for an Invictus vampire, the collapse of her Guild can shatter her hopes. All graduates are thus tied to the ongoing function of the Guild and are best advised to work to ensure that its reputation stays strong. Even a tremor of scandal or mistrust can provoke intense politicking as the graduates work to stave off the damage or, if necessary, reshape the Guild to demonstrate its fitness. It may seem petty, but Status in The Invictus is so grounded in tradition and lineage that any black mark applied to one’s former relations or instructors can work retroactively, doing serious damage. It is no small matter. Wars have been fought for less.
Intensely aware of the potential for a shift in popular opinion, good Guild Meisters plan for any eventuality, sometimes even secretly grooming potential (and apparently independent) replacements well in advance of trouble. If a Meister is willing to put the reputation of the Guild ahead of his own, he may be able to ensure the Guild’s protection and earn the gratitude of his graduates even in the direst of circumstances.
A grave dispute, as initiated by formal notice to the Inner Circle, is another matter entirely. If the dispute is recognized, the ensuing battle between the challenger and the Meister can result in a loss of title, succession of command over a Guild or even its complete destruction.
By filing notice of challenge with the Inner Circle, the vampire initiating the dispute declares intent to subject himself to the scrutiny of his betters in comparison to the Meister named in the challenge. If the challenger proves to possess superior skill with respect to the subject at hand, the Meister will be stripped of title and required to step down, while the challenger is free to replace him (if so desired by The Invictus officials of the domain).
If the challenge is issued by the Meister of one Guild to another, both must risk their titles and the Status of their Guilds in trial. Thus unfolds a “Guild War,” a high-stakes battle to seize control of a subject of expertise and the right to determine “proper” instructive technique.
Once the challenge is accepted by the Inner Circle, a proclamation is made in a gathering of the covenant. The challenged party is given the opportunity to withdraw, essentially forfeiting to the challenger and allowing the Inner Circle to determine the outcome on the spot. The challenger is then given one last chance to abandon his complaint. If both decline, the challenge begins in earnest.
Traditionally, a single month is allowed to pass between the announcement and final judgment. However, the Inner Circle is free to dictate longer or shorter terms (depending on the nature of the challenge), as well as any restrictions the Inner Circle feels would be appropriate or fair. A single judge is named (usually the Judex, but could be the Prince or any other elder with a significant stake in the function of the city), and, once the judge has had an opportunity to examine the work of both parties, the judge’s word is considered final. Among the terms dictated are the outcomes of both a successful and an unsuccessful challenge — that is to say, the challenger does not get to choose what happens to the subject of the challenge if he wins and the challenged Meister does not decide what happens to the challenger in the case of an unsuccessful bid. That is up to the Inner Circle.
Note that nothing is considered off-limits during a Guild War, so long as it does not violate the law of the domain. Both involved parties are free to bribe, cajole, intimidate or otherwise attempt to influence the judges, and the parties are both free to interfere with one another’s performance. It is wise to be aware that tactics unrelated to the nature of the dispute at hand may undermine one’s apparent fitness in the challenge. For instance, a challenger for the position of Meister Martial Artist could better his position by ambushing his opponent in a back alley and beating him senseless, but the challenger would likely weaken his position if he attempted to seduce the judge. The reverse would be true in a challenge for the title of Meister Advocate. There is also the appearance of low self-confidence to consider: one who carries out a challenge without resorting to tactics of influence or interference will be more “pure” in her performance, essentially declaring that she needs nothing but her skill to overcome her opponent. As with anything else, appraisal of one’s conduct tends to be flavored by the outcome. Any decision that leads to victory is a good one, once judgment is rendered — or at least the decision will be remembered as such.
Guild challenges can prove extremely dramatic (and, at times, worthwhile — if a Meister is truly failing in his role, he can forever damage the character of the covenant in the domain), but they can also create a serious destabilizing effect in a city. Any challenge may threaten to draw in more and more supporters on either side, drawing the local Invictus toward schism. Those who find themselves on the losing side will almost certainly hold a grudge. The Inner Circle must be very careful when considering challenges, weighing the advantages of a result on either side against the potential upset it may cause. Often, unsurprisingly, the Circle simply refuses to accept challenges, preferring the Status quo over the potential for unexpected consequences.
In the next few weeks, both Vivian and Madam DeMaray are questioned by the Prince, who creates a number of delicate situations for them to handle and carefully observes their techniques. Vivian’s supporters begin spreading scandalous rumors about the Meister, most of which are deflected or defused by the current and former students of the Guild. Those rumors that remain are quite elegantly dismissed by Madam DeMaray herself in a stirring speech delivered at Elysium.
At the end of the month, the Prince declares that Madam DeMaray is clearly the superior Speaker. Alder Vivian must now submit to the humiliating punishment the Inner Circle has set out for her.
If a Guild Meister is rendered incapable of providing instruction through death, degeneration or Torpor and there is no suitably skilled replacement to take control of the school, the Guild halts operation and all current students are suddenly cut loose. Obviously, this is a most unpleasant circumstance for all involved, so students will tend to do whatever is in their power to protect their Meister until graduation. It’s not unusual for physically powerful students to take responsibility for guarding their Mentor outside of instruction, while others may hire Retainers, call in favors or otherwise work toward keeping their teacher safe for the duration of their schooling. A Meister will rarely demand protection from her students, but that has little to do with the choice to provide it.
The destruction or disablement of the Meister isn’t the only way a Guild can fail. The terms of a Guild War challenge may dictate the disbanding of the school. Once again, this would mean the interruption (and probable invalidation) of any lessons in progress; something that the students are not likely to be happy with. It follows that students will go quite a long way to preserve the reputation of their Mentor during a challenge and may be willing to undertake dangerous, underhanded or even illegal action to ensure victory. So long as the students are subtle enough to avoid turning the judge against the Meister, their instructors are not likely to put a stop to their tactics.
Not every Guild has such loyal students, though. Some Guilds come to an end simply because all of the enrolled pupils withdraw from lessons, leaving the Meister alone. If the Meister cannot convince any new students to petition for acceptance, the Inner Circle (or the Secretary, if the city has one) may declare the Guild invalid, stripping the Meister of her title. Indeed, some weaker Guilds end up completely at the mercy of a confederation of students who threaten a collective withdrawal if the Meister displeases them. Such a reversal of power is absolutely scandalous and can forever mar the reputation of a school if it is discovered. A school that succumbs to blackmail by its own students becomes little more than a shell of its former self, and is unlikely to impart any useful lessons on its pupils. Most often, a Meister who finds himself facing student revolt must acknowledge that his school has failed and avoid the further indignities of extortion.
Worse yet, the alumni of a Guild can turn on their former Meister, demonstrating the incompetence of their schooling through a program of self-inflicted failure in the public eye. This may seem a bizarre scheme, since it threatens to damage the reputations of the alumni, but it can prove quite effective. If a number of skilled professionals suddenly begin to make conscious and repeated “mistakes” in order to demonstrate the inferiority of their schooling, local Invictus Kindred are likely to take notice and do what it takes to put a stop to them. It’s a suicide tactic, socially speaking, but it works.
Guilds face a further potential problem. Outsiders, whether members of a competing Guild or not, may simply begin a program of active discouragement, working to ensure that no new students petition the Meister for enrolment. This is sometimes called a “shadow challenge,” because, if successful, it undercuts the Meister’s capability to run a school while preventing him from meeting his challenger on an even keel before a qualified judge. The only real defense against a shadow challenge is to make sure the training provided by the Guild is clearly more attractive than any alternatives. However it comes about, the elimination of a Guild represents the death of a tradition. If the Guild is fairly new, the effects may not be very pronounced (except on those who attempted to found it), but if the Guild was once an established, well-respected institution, the ramifications of its collapse can be far-reaching and serious.
Of course, all such conflict is eventually brought to a halt by the decision of the Inner Circle, but it’s a bad idea to let the situation get bad enough for them to feel the need to step in. More succession quarrels are settled quietly by high-priced agreements than any other way.
First, she must be officially recognized as a superior talent in her field of choice. Basically, she has to get the Inner Circle to acknowledge that her skill is sufficiently developed to earn her a title of function (see “Titles and Offices,” p. 37). A demonstration of ability may be in order, as may a variety of coercive techniques, depending on the character of the Inner Circle judges in the city. The title so earned serves as the vampire’s public affirmation of skill, a sort of social armor against derogatory statements in the steps to follow.
Next, the vampire must stand before the Inner Circle (or Secretary, if the city has one), and declare her intent to found a Guild. She can expect to be questioned on her subject of expertise, the manner in which she intends to teach and the benefit she believes her teachings will produce for the covenant. As can well be imagined, a number of factors influence the attitude of the Inner Circle during the questioning. If the vampire in question is highly regarded and possesses undeniably valuable knowledge, the interview is little more than a cursory formality. If, however, she is relatively young, unimportant or possessing knowledge that is considered distasteful or worthless by the members of the Inner Circle, she is likely to undergo a grueling, humiliating Interrogation. If the Inner Circle (or the Secretary, as the case may be) is satisfied with her answers, they may decide to officially recognize her as the Meister of a fledgling Guild.
The process of founding a Guild is more or less a quest, and should be played out for full effect. Remember that the members of the Inner Circle might want the character involved to form a Guild, but will still be likely to take advantage of the fact that he is completely at their mercy in attempting to get this venture off the ground. Greedy Councilors may want bribes, while more subtle ones may require favors or promises of service before they give the nod to the prospective Meister. Some Councilors may be vulnerable to intimidation (although that’s certainly a dangerous game), while others might be vulnerable to a sincere, heartfelt appeal.
It is safe to say that most Inner Circle members fail to be impressed by a character who does not realize that it takes more than a show of worldclass skill to get their stamp of approval.
Once the vampire has become a Meister, she is allowed a “grace period,” usually no more than a couple of months, in which to find a suitable student and begin instruction. If she fails to do so before the end of the designated period, she will be stripped of her new title and forced to return to the Inner Circle for questioning if she wishes to try again.
Assuming the above conditions are met and a suitable pupil is enrolled before the grace period elapses, the Guild becomes stable and may function as normal.
New Guilds are especially vulnerable to challenges and Guild warfare. They tend to have few students and fewer graduates to help defend the Meister’s reputation, and the majority of their Resources are focused on establishing a respectable, legitimate presence in the domain. The truth is that protecting a Guild through the first years of its operation can be one of the costliest ventures in The Invictus.
So it is, and must be, for the introduction of new thought and philosophy to The Invictus. This is a covenant of tradition, and the establishment of new institutions must be difficult, ensuring that only the truly worthy ones are adopted into the operation of a domain.
A Guild in The Invictus has no size requirement — it may involve one, 10 or 100 Kindred (although in the case of very large numbers, a Guild tends to become a faction, more or less) — so long as the Guild comprises the recognized authority on a given subject in the city, imparts that knowledge to accepted pupils and works to protect the integrity of that knowledge. The individual who leads the Guild is a “Meister” (regardless of gender), while the “Guild” itself refers to the ongoing practice of communicating the Meister’s experience. All Guild instructors, whether Meister or not, are also referred to as Mentors.
Example: Madam Chantal DeMaray, Speaker, is well respected for her flawless diplomatic skills at Elysium gatherings. No Invictus vampire in his right mind would deny her the “Meister Speaker” title. If she were willing to take on one or more students, they would collectively be referred to as a Speaker’s Guild.
All Invictus neonates are encouraged to seek instruction in chosen fields as soon as possible upon release from their sires. Not only does petitioning a Guild demonstrate an eagerness to participate in the workings of the covenant, but it announces the neonate’s intended field of expertise to his elders, allowing them to understand how best to use his talents. The Guild also provides a safe, relatively private environment for younger Kindred to get to know one or more of their esteemed elder instructors (as well as fellow pupils) in person.
Likewise, elders looking to occupy their time are welladvised to participate in the Guild system, either by founding schools of their own or joining existing ones. Doing so allows an elder the opportunity to pass on her accumulated experience and wisdom to younger Kindred, strengthening the covenant as a whole while maintaining a connection to her more recently deceased, more human counterparts in The Invictus.
Guilds are very selective in their admissions criteria, and tend to cover subjects of expressive or professional artistry: diplomacy, etiquette, tactical debate and persuasive discourse are common courses, as are martial arts, application of Disciplines and personal style. Many Guilds make the skills necessary for a particular political position or profession their focus — so a Guild training potential Sheriffs would concentrate on investigative and interrogative techniques, as well as intimidation, leadership and non-linear thinking skills.
On rare occasions, Invictus Guilds have been known to take on students who are not members of the covenant. This is an unusual practice, and is only allowed in cases approved by the Inner Circle. The schooling so offered may be part of an inter-covenant bargain, or the schooling may be initiated by the Meister, having spotted a savant in the city he wishes to teach. However, the vast majority of Guilds make membership in The Invictus their strictest requirement, stating that one cannot demonstrate a full willingness to learn without publicly adopting the Meister’s social principles.
The Benefits
There are many advantages to Guild membership, both for students and instructors. First and foremost, it allows those who are keen to perfect their skills an opportunity to learn from a vampire with decades, if not centuries, of accumulated knowledge and experience. The staggering efficiency and wisdom such a Meister can apply to her chosen art is almost beyond comprehension — almost, because a Meister is willing to explain her art to a select few. Enrolling in an Invictus Guild is truly an opportunity to learn from the very best.That the Meister of a Guild is the best in his chosen subject, none will deny. That reputation brings prestige, and if his vaunted skill is put to use empowering the covenant and improving its neonates, that prestige brings Status. Likewise, a neonate who is accepted by a prominent Meister may find herself on a fast track to Status — provided that she performs to her Mentor’s satisfaction.
Status Impact
Membership in a very prestigious Guild can catapult a vampire into sudden Fame among the Kindred. At the Storyteller’s discretion, simply being accepted as a student of a Guild may justify adding a dot of Covenant Status (or City Status), as the reputation of the Meister “rubs off” on the student.Note, however, that this Status dot may be removed if the vampire is ever ejected from the Guild or if the Guild itself suffers a blow to its prestige. The reputation of the student is entirely contingent on the reputation of the school, after all.
The structure of Guild schooling requires so much contribution from the students that most Mentors find ways to make the subjects of study as exclusive as possible. That means removing some of the night-to-night concerns from the student’s thoughts, so Guild Meisters can often be relied upon to assist students in offloading menial tasks like scouting havens, running messages for elders or even (in some very extreme cases) hunting. It is not uncommon for a Guild Meister to employ Retainers specifically for this purpose. It is also accepted that neonates enrolled in prestigious Guilds tend to be protected from assignment to time-consuming tasks in The Invictus. This benefit is contingent on the student’s performance, though. If the Guild Meister believes that the neonate has enrolled just to avoid work, she will quickly dismiss the young vampire.
A neonate choose to join a prestigious Guild with an eye toward impressing a chosen elder. Schooling under a shared Mentor can be the first step toward building a relationship with the powerful and influential Kindred in a city, while the training received could qualify the neonate for coveted positions the elder may need to fill one night. With such respect paid to tradition and experience in the covenant, an “old-vampire network” often forms around certain Guilds, allowing accepted students to penetrate the glass ceiling of Status that applies to everyone else. It’s not too hard to understand why a rather young vampire would be able, on occasion, to bend the ear of an Inner Circle member who shares the same schooling, while other neonates would enjoy no such opportunity.
Guild training provides neonates with the opportunities to compete for the attention of elders in a controlled environment, allowing for subtle play between rivals from the moment of enrollment. Many a vampire has entered a Guild as a relative nobody and come out with a solid reputation based only on the tales of his spirited scholastic campaign.
There is, of course, one more advantage to having gone through the schooling of a Guild. While a student may enjoy the umbrella of prestige the Guild provides, the relationship tends to reverse itself after graduation: the prestige of the Guild is dependent, to a certain degree, on the performance of its alumni. Graduation from a Guild lends a vampire a certain amount of power with regard to her former Mentor by tying their reputations together. Any vampire willing to sacrifice her own Status can contribute to the ruin of her instructor simply by becoming a failure after graduation. It’s a risky (sometimes even suicidal) tactic, but nothing is beneath some Kindred.
Elder Students
While neonates make up the majority of students in a given Guild, there are elders who are ready and willing to admit that someone else in the city has knowledge they wish to possess. In such cases, a Guild Meister might find herself instructing a vampire of greater power and experience. A simple agreement is entered into: within the boundaries of the school (as detailed in advance), the elder defers to the Meister.Teaching an elder can bring great prestige to a Meister, catapulting his Guild into a coveted traditional spot. Fellow students in the Guild will also enjoy the spotlight brought by the elder, and may well use the opportunity to demonstrate diplomatic skills in relation to the new addition.
There is, however, an implicit threat in this relationship. If the elder is dissatisfied with the schooling, the Meister can suffer a serious blow to her prestige. The elder may even choose to challenge for rule of the Guild, or take action to have the Guild disbanded. Because of this threat, many elder students are referred to (in secret) as “Acid Pupils.”
But students are not the only ones who stand to gain from the Guild system. Meisters and instructors enjoy several benefits of position and prestige from presiding over the schooling of vampires. The opportunity to empower the covenant’s younger Kindred (and thus the covenant as a whole) with one’s personal store of experience is only the most obvious.
Guild rule carries with it the authority to dictate the expression of a certain philosophy or art within The Invictus. Since the Meister is recognized as the city-wide superior with respect to the chosen subject, hers is the prerogative to determine the boundaries of that subject as well as the mode of its delivery. None can dispute the Meister in the course of schooling, and doing so outside the Guild requires the initiation of a complex challenge (see “Guild Wars” below). Some Kindred take pleasure in the power this affords them — to set fashion, to eliminate “offensive” works or simply to Dominate others.
Guild Meisters and instructors can expect to be consulted on matters related to their subjects of expertise, and are usually deferred to in public discourse. This may seem a small bonus, but in Elysium gatherings, Kindred tend to take notice when powerful elders bow to one of their number. It can mean the difference between anonymity and the appearance of real power.
Guild Meisters can expect gifts and boons from wouldbe students petitioning for enrollment, as well as from appreciative elders looking to secure fair (or special) treatment for their childer. The position is easy to abuse, and many a prestigious Guild Meister finds an avenue to rapid enrichment opened up simply by his willingness to teach.
To lead a Guild is to produce an ongoing Status attractor — one is respected for taking on students and educating them, and one is respected for having produced worthy graduates. Former students who go on to gain Status for themselves tend to reflect it back to their former Mentors. Many Mentors need not contribute anything new to The Invictus to maintain their Status — they just have to make sure that their alumni do.
In addition, many alumni never really abandon the Mentor-student relationship completely, and often return to meet with their instructors to ask for advice. A wily Meister can use the continuance of these relationships to exert a subtle influence on the covenant (and/ or city) body politic, advising her former students in a manner that leads to personal enrichment.
With so much to gain from Guild membership and (and so little from maintaining a stance of independence), it’s hardly a surprise that nearly every vampire in The Invictus has involved himself in the operation of a Guild at least once in his long unlife.
Learning from the Meisters
The stages of traditional Guild membership are static and structured. One follows upon the other in orderly succession, each existing as a recognized indicator of the student’s current standing in the Guild and the qualifications required to move to the next level of schooling. These stages are petition, preparation, exercise, apprenticeship and graduation.Petitioning a Guild is arguably the most nerve-wracking of all the steps. It is the first in which the would-be student makes plain her intent to join a Guild and demonstrates the seriousness of that intent. Many Kindred botch this initial approach, ruining their chances to enter the Guild of their choice before the education even has a chance to begin.
The petition is a complex undertaking, never to be treated lightly. It begins with the composition of an official letter of intent, written by hand in the chosen Language of the Guild Meister. (Most prefer Latin, but not all — some desire their native Language, while others pick something obscure or difficult just to make the petition that much more demanding. Tales of a Meister Senator requiring letters in demotic script or a Meister swordsman who will only acknowledge letters written in constrained wenyan Chinese are told here and there, but are not as unusual as one might think.) The letter must identify the petitioner, detail his lineage and make a humble request to meet with the Meister. The content of The Message must not stray from the subject — any overt attempt to sway the Meister before the initial meeting will disqualify the petitioner. If the letter is poorly written, the petitioner may be refused the meeting (but may be allowed to try again, depending on the Meister’s temperament). The letter must also be accompanied by a small gift, as dictated by the tastes of the Meister. Learning what the Meister expects is the other half of this, the first test presented to the petitioner. One Meister may expect a fresh, unmarred cherry blossom (restricting applications to the spring season), while another may demand an authentic 16th-century Silver peso. The required gift must be something the Meister knows is attainable, even if it is difficult. Guild Meisters do, after all, want some successful candidates to approach them.
Assuming that the letter and the gift meet with the Meister’s approval, the petitioner is called to a meeting. She must follow the instructions for the meeting to the letter, arriving exactly on time, approaching in the desired fashion and speaking a scripted request for audience. The Meister acknowledges the petitioner’s request, and an interview begins.
During this interview, the petitioner is free to argue on her own behalf, displaying whatever talents she thinks are relevant to qualification. Bribes may be presented during the interview as well. The Meister may engage the petitioner in conversation, apply tests of skill or just choose to observe her carefully. At some point, when the Meister is satisfied, he signals that he is ready to end the interview. He issues a proclamation. The petitioner is either considered qualified to prepare for instruction in the Guild, or she is rejected (with or without explanation) and expected to leave immediately.
There is no way to predict a Meister’s behavior at interview: some Meisters will decide the moment they see petitioners enter the room while others engage the would-be students in a grueling series of questions and tests that can take hours (or in some extreme cases, several nights) to complete. Some Meisters look for unquestioning obedience, while others expect rebellion. It’s best for a petitioner to Research the Guild and its Meister carefully before the interview so she can figure out how best to conduct herself when the time comes.
Preparation for schooling marks the transition between the vampire’s unlife before and after accepting the influence of the Guild. Meisters may dictate changes in the vampire’s behavior, material possessions, manner of dress, manner of speech — anything that they think is pertinent to the schooling. If a Meister believes that a would-be student is not humble enough to learn, there is no limit to the demands the Meister may place on the successful petitioner. The process of change undertaken by the student not only prepares him for the schooling in a physical, mental or spiritual sense, but also marks him as a Guild member. All of The Invictus in a city will learn to recognize the identifying mannerisms of a particular Guild’s student body, and will pay the new student the respect accorded to his new Status.
This is by no means a quick or simple stage in the student’s career. Preparation can include the development and demonstration of certain skills or accomplishment of involved, extended tasks. These requirements are never arbitrary, though — students always come to realize, later in their careers, that the preparation was necessary to their schooling, even if the benefit didn’t seem obvious or logical at the time.
A common preparation request involves the “unlearning” of certain skills or mannerisms, accomplished via a program of restrictive exercise. For example, a petitioner to a martial Guild may be expected to eliminate her longpracticed techniques before she may learn the Meister’s way, simply because the Meister believes that her old habits will obstruct learning by the “correct path.”
Unlearning Skills
At the Storyteller’s discretion, a player whose character is in preparation at a Guild may opt to play out this “unlearning,” removing a specified skill dot from her character sheet at the end of a session and cashing it in for the equivalent experience. The experience may be used to repurchase the skill later, in the training that follows, or the experience may be applied otherwise.
At any time, the Meister may call an end to the student’s preparation. She may declare that the student is ready for schooling, calling on him to begin the next phase of his learning. She may, on the other hand, announce that the student will never be properly prepared for learning and dismiss him. It is a disgrace to be dismissed at this point: it implies stubbornness or deceit on the part of the student, and may do irreparable damage to his reputation. It is very rare for a prestigious Meister to take on a student who was dismissed in preparation by another Guild.
Exercise represents the actual course of lessons and practice of their application. A vampire at this stage of learning is generally identifiable by one or more adopted fashions: a specific accessory or style of dress, a mode of speech or physical location (as some students are required to dwell in a prepared haven). The student attends frequent scheduled meetings with her Mentor (or Mentors), which may take the form of lectures, exercises or less formal get-togethers and field lessons. This is the “meat” of the schooling, and it is the stage that most students can expect to spend the majority of time and effort on.
Tests are administered frequently to gauge a student’s performance and to help illustrate real-world situations that may demand application of the lessons. In general, these tests begin at a rather low-pressure level and intensify as the training continues. Some tests can even threaten injury or Final Death (although a good Mentor would never present a student with a challenge that could not be survived).
The tests of skill can become so elaborate as to fool the student into thinking that she is experiencing a real, unscripted situation. Mentors are known, on occasion, to call in favors or exert significant influence in constructing a truly demanding exam scenario.
Many Mentors use this time to craft a “perfect” practitioner of the subject at hand, so students can expect to be pushed to continue to redefine themselves as the instructor dictates. It is said that a good Meister will teach the student to emulate her, while a great one will teach the student to surpass her. Here, at this stage of training, the student can finally see what it is the Meister hopes to achieve and how he is supposed to get there. In many cases, the student is expected (at the very least) to show a diminished interest in everything that does not relate to the subject of study. A martial Guild might demand that its students take a vow of silence during their exercise, so as to eliminate social complications during study. On the other hand, a Notary’s Guild may set a strict rule of passivity on its students, forbidding all athletic or martial activity for the duration of exercise. These strictures may seem overbearing, even ridiculous, but they do tend to work. If obedient students can stick to the program, they become more disciplined, more focused and prouder of their accomplishments than less-restricted counterparts.
In larger Guilds, competition comes to the fore in exercise. Each student displays the aptitude he has for the chosen subject, and may attempt to outshine one another in tests (or, in some cases, actually face off in direct conflict). Mentors often adopt a policy of promoting only one student to the next stage at a time, forcing rivalry as the students jockey to qualify.
It is possible for a Mentor to dismiss a student during the exercises, but very unusual. Generally, if a student fails a test (or even a series of tests), he is encouraged to continue his training and try again. Dismissal would imply admission that a student who had been accepted and properly prepared is not capable of learning — which many would suggest means rather that the Mentor is not capable of teaching. It is more likely, at this stage, for a student to withdraw for his own reasons.
When a Mentor believes the student is ready, she initiates a final elementary test of ability, one in which the student must draw upon all of his accumulated learning to pass. If the student passes to the satisfaction of the Meister (who presides even if the student is learning from a lesser instructor), this stage of education is declared complete. Failure generally leads to another set of exercises, followed by a repeat of the test (or administration of a similar test) some time later.
The Final Exam
Storytellers may wish to apply a mechanical benchmark to judge a character’s general performance over the course of exercises and determine whether or not a Meister would consider the character ready for testing. An average Guild would demand ability in all relevant skills at a minimum of three dots, plus one pertinent specialty in each before the character qualifies to end his elementary exercises. If Disciplines are being judged, they too should be at a minimum of three dots each.Remember that the end of exercises does not spell the end of training — students need not be at world-class level just yet. If a story involves Guild schooling, characters should be made to feel that the process is long and involved, but should never feel that moving to the next stage is completely impossible.
Apprenticeship marks the student’s acceptance as a practitioner of the chosen subject. Once she achieves this level of schooling (and only from this point onwards), she is allowed to execute her abilities as an official representative of the Guild for her own benefit and for others. Any student who passes the final exercise test is presented to The Invictus at a gathering and acknowledged as an official apprentice of the Guild.
Lessons are not finished for an apprentice, though. The student must practice her skills under the watchful eye of her Mentor, continuing her schedule of meetings and tests. In addition, she is expected to take on some of the duties of the Guild: teaching newly prepared students in their exercises, assisting in upkeep (if there is a need) and representing the Meister in dealings with other Kindred.
Another, more significant honor is accorded the student at this stage in her career: the freedom to innovate. Finally considered adequately conversant in the elementary aspects of the subject at hand, she is allowed (even, in the case of more progressive Mentors, encouraged) to experiment and break free of the methods of the Meister. This exploration may often lead to conflict with prideful instructors, but many Mentors aren’t willing to let students complete their education until they can demonstrate some creative application of their skills. For truly brilliant students, lessons can become something more like discourse, as Mentor and student bandy theoretical details back and forth, hammering out a new and improved approach to the subject of study.
Not all experimentation leads to such happy circumstances, though. Some foolhardy students stray so far from the Meister’s philosophy as to appear outrageous or, worse, self-indulgent. Many who go overboard suddenly find themselves the subjects of harsh treatment: punishment, demotion to exercise or even (if the Meister is offended enough) expulsion from the school. Demonstration of innovative talent is a razor’s edge in The Invictus Guild, and arrogant students can find themselves pitched over the side with startling speed.
An apprentice is, surprisingly, the most likely to quit training in a Guild. While some might see this as the reckless act of an impatient vampire, those within the schools know that the truth can be more complicated. Some Meisters take to holding on to apprentices as long as possible, making sure that the apprentices remain to assist with the operation of the Guild and never end up challenging for supremacy. Other Meisters are simply too stubborn to admit that the students have nothing more to learn from them. It is one thing to instruct a promising, eager inferior and quite another to admit that he has equaled or even surpassed one’s own skill. Some Meisters are simply too proud to let go.
Fair-minded Meisters, however, will honestly acknowledge an apprentice’s advancement, recommending him for graduation as soon as it seems the Guild has no more to offer him by way of schooling.
Graduation marks the end of a student’s professional relationship with her Mentor. In a formal ceremony, often held in Elysium, the Meister declares that the student has achieved all that could be hoped for her. She has successfully taken on all of the raw skill and elementary experience that could be provided in a structured setting, and must take personal responsibility for all further development. The student is furthermore released from any real or perceived debts to the Guild Meister or any other instructor in this declaration.
Graduates of a Guild are often given a medal or similar symbol to indicate their Status, and many proud or vain Invictus Kindred take the opportunity to display these tokens at Elysium. The gift is always of equivalent rarity or worth to that which was demanded of the student at petitioning.
Most Guild alumni are friendly with their former Mentors, offering to assist in the management of the Guild as full instructors. The offer is rarely rejected, for to do so would be to suggest that the Meister does not consider the graduate worthy of passing her knowledge on. Other alumni choose to build reputations of their own, hoping to found their own Guilds some night, or simply to separate themselves from the oft-convoluted politics of Guild service and apply their learned skills exclusively in the “real world.”
Graduates are expected to uphold the integrity of the Guild at all times, ensuring that credit is paid to its members when appropriate. A common flipside to this responsibility often arises: the graduate must work to squeeze out any interlopers in the city, working to guarantee that the Guild is considered the best and only source of quality consultation on its subject of study.
When a Guild Meister is approached with a request related to her subject of expertise, she will often recommend a graduate of the Guild instead of taking it on herself. This means that Guild alumni do become “professionals” of a kind, and are expected to charge for their services. Some graduates are so sought after that Kindred are willing to meet extravagant prices in hiring them — but such is the blessing of reputable schooling.
Orders
There is one type of Guild that stands apart from the others. This Guild is stricter, more dangerous and designed for single purpose: indoctrination of oathsworn warriors in permanent service to the covenant. These are the military Orders: schools and career organizations of Invictus Knights.All Orders require undying pledges from students before preparation can be declared complete. From the moment the pledge is taken, the student becomes a Knight, a permanent member of the Order accepted by her brethren as one of their own — and forever more tied to them, unable to renounce membership without dire consequences. A fanatical devotion to the declared virtues of the Order is required of all members, as is ready and demonstrated willingness to obey instructions without question.
Exercise (also known as “Drilling”) is especially grueling, and may last centuries for Knights of an Order. Their ongoing tests are just as likely to be real threat situations as staged events — an instructor will know which missions a less-experienced Knight should be able to handle, and will choose an assignment accordingly.
Those Knights who graduate to apprenticeships will not only take on the duties mentioned above, but will also be given command of a number of low-ranking Knights, taking responsibility for their deployment and training. Apprentices to Orders are known in some circles as “Officers.”
A graduate of any Order is essentially equivalent to a military general — either taking on increased command within the Order or moving on to found her own chapter. Only graduates are allowed to found chapters of an existing Order, and only in domains foreign to their training homes. No two chapters of the same Order may coexist in a single domain.
The added prestige of Knighthood and the level of trust civilian citizens of The Invictus are willing to invest in them tend to mitigate the extreme conditions of schooling with Knights. Those who undergo the indoctrination of a prestigious Order are no ordinary warriors. The Knights tend to be superior to their less-structured counterparts in both skills and dedication, and operate in more efficient, perfectly tuned units.
There are some who say that Orders are a substitute for religion in The Invictus, a place for fanatics to go and preach their bloody-minded views. That may well be the case for some Orders, but it is certainly not true of all. Most are simply rational, well-disciplined units of operatives, prepared to do violent battle on behalf of their covenant but rarely eager to provoke it.
Success and Failure
The reputation of a Guild is earned by the quality of its students. It’s as simple as that. No matter how popular or well-liked a Meister is, her school will never be respected unless the Kindred under its umbrella (or later, graduated from it) complete great works of their own. A Guild succeeds when its students impress The Invictus of the city, thereby attracting new students and establishing its Meister as the undisputed local authority on her subject of expertise.When a Guild is a success, the Guild takes a firm hold in the consciousness of the local Invictus. It is commonly accepted — if the Guild becomes essentially (and exclusively) synonymous with the reliably superior execution of its subject of study, the Guild is doing well. Neonates battle fiercely to be accepted for training, and sires work to ensure that they make promising candidates. Elders consider the Guild a great contributor to the covenant’s power in a city, and Kindred of outside covenants find themselves incapable of competing with graduates in their chosen fields. A successful Guild combines its Meister’s incalculable experience with the fresh, innovative spirit of its apprentices to stay ahead of the developmental curve, ensuring that the Guild is always fashionable, always admired and always dominating. The alumni of a successful Guild will proudly display their tokens of graduation. The apprentices will show inspiring confidence and discipline in their training, attracting the awe of onlookers.
Many Invictus factions find their beginnings in the foundation of a successful Guild. A number of martial Guilds eventually evolve into Knightly Orders, spreading their teachings from place to place and establishing firm footholds in the covenant. There are some Kindred who claim that certain professional Guilds have, through their influence over the ages, forever altered the basic traditional positions and powers in The Invictus.
But not every Guild succeeds. Some limp along under the surprisingly inadequate tutelage of an acknowledged Meister somehow incapable of communicating the spark of his talent. Some Guilds produce graduates who are poorly judged or, worse yet, determined to destroy their former Mentor’s reputation. Some Guilds simply collapse under the stultifying influence of a stubborn, prideful Meister who refuses to acknowledge excellence in others.
Regardless of the reason, a failed Guild falls to inevitable ruin. Potential students become less numerous and less enthused in their petitions. Invictus Kindred begin to handle tasks related to the Guild’s so-called area of expertise on their own, without bothering to consult the Meister. Students in both elementary exercise and apprenticeship abandon their Mentors, recognizing that the benefits of their schooling are rapidly diminishing. Eventually, the Meister is left alone, reduced to accepting inferior students or acknowledging the collapse of the Guild and denying further petitions. Eventually, he is supplanted by a competitor and left by the wayside.
Just as prestigious training can guarantee an illustrious career for an Invictus vampire, the collapse of her Guild can shatter her hopes. All graduates are thus tied to the ongoing function of the Guild and are best advised to work to ensure that its reputation stays strong. Even a tremor of scandal or mistrust can provoke intense politicking as the graduates work to stave off the damage or, if necessary, reshape the Guild to demonstrate its fitness. It may seem petty, but Status in The Invictus is so grounded in tradition and lineage that any black mark applied to one’s former relations or instructors can work retroactively, doing serious damage. It is no small matter. Wars have been fought for less.
Intensely aware of the potential for a shift in popular opinion, good Guild Meisters plan for any eventuality, sometimes even secretly grooming potential (and apparently independent) replacements well in advance of trouble. If a Meister is willing to put the reputation of the Guild ahead of his own, he may be able to ensure the Guild’s protection and earn the gratitude of his graduates even in the direst of circumstances.
Guild Wars
Competition between Guilds is not unusual, and the occasional break between a Meister and his former pupils is to be expected. But neither is generally considered a serious affair — at best, it provides an opportunity for an entertaining display of one-upmanship, and, at worst, it’s simply embarrassing for those involved.A grave dispute, as initiated by formal notice to the Inner Circle, is another matter entirely. If the dispute is recognized, the ensuing battle between the challenger and the Meister can result in a loss of title, succession of command over a Guild or even its complete destruction.
By filing notice of challenge with the Inner Circle, the vampire initiating the dispute declares intent to subject himself to the scrutiny of his betters in comparison to the Meister named in the challenge. If the challenger proves to possess superior skill with respect to the subject at hand, the Meister will be stripped of title and required to step down, while the challenger is free to replace him (if so desired by The Invictus officials of the domain).
If the challenge is issued by the Meister of one Guild to another, both must risk their titles and the Status of their Guilds in trial. Thus unfolds a “Guild War,” a high-stakes battle to seize control of a subject of expertise and the right to determine “proper” instructive technique.
Once the challenge is accepted by the Inner Circle, a proclamation is made in a gathering of the covenant. The challenged party is given the opportunity to withdraw, essentially forfeiting to the challenger and allowing the Inner Circle to determine the outcome on the spot. The challenger is then given one last chance to abandon his complaint. If both decline, the challenge begins in earnest.
Traditionally, a single month is allowed to pass between the announcement and final judgment. However, the Inner Circle is free to dictate longer or shorter terms (depending on the nature of the challenge), as well as any restrictions the Inner Circle feels would be appropriate or fair. A single judge is named (usually the Judex, but could be the Prince or any other elder with a significant stake in the function of the city), and, once the judge has had an opportunity to examine the work of both parties, the judge’s word is considered final. Among the terms dictated are the outcomes of both a successful and an unsuccessful challenge — that is to say, the challenger does not get to choose what happens to the subject of the challenge if he wins and the challenged Meister does not decide what happens to the challenger in the case of an unsuccessful bid. That is up to the Inner Circle.
Note that nothing is considered off-limits during a Guild War, so long as it does not violate the law of the domain. Both involved parties are free to bribe, cajole, intimidate or otherwise attempt to influence the judges, and the parties are both free to interfere with one another’s performance. It is wise to be aware that tactics unrelated to the nature of the dispute at hand may undermine one’s apparent fitness in the challenge. For instance, a challenger for the position of Meister Martial Artist could better his position by ambushing his opponent in a back alley and beating him senseless, but the challenger would likely weaken his position if he attempted to seduce the judge. The reverse would be true in a challenge for the title of Meister Advocate. There is also the appearance of low self-confidence to consider: one who carries out a challenge without resorting to tactics of influence or interference will be more “pure” in her performance, essentially declaring that she needs nothing but her skill to overcome her opponent. As with anything else, appraisal of one’s conduct tends to be flavored by the outcome. Any decision that leads to victory is a good one, once judgment is rendered — or at least the decision will be remembered as such.
Guild challenges can prove extremely dramatic (and, at times, worthwhile — if a Meister is truly failing in his role, he can forever damage the character of the covenant in the domain), but they can also create a serious destabilizing effect in a city. Any challenge may threaten to draw in more and more supporters on either side, drawing the local Invictus toward schism. Those who find themselves on the losing side will almost certainly hold a grudge. The Inner Circle must be very careful when considering challenges, weighing the advantages of a result on either side against the potential upset it may cause. Often, unsurprisingly, the Circle simply refuses to accept challenges, preferring the Status quo over the potential for unexpected consequences.
A Guild War
Madam DeMaray, Meister Speaker, has been formally challenged by Alder Vivian, Speaker, who accuses her of incompetence due to mental degeneration. The Inner Circle accepts the challenge, stating that a test will be conducted on both parties and judgment will be rendered by the Prince within 30 nights. It is further stated that, should the challenge be successful, Alder Vivian shall be named Meister Speaker and given control of the local Speaker’s Guild. If, however, the challenge fails, Alder Vivian will be stripped of the title of Speaker and forced to publicly acknowledge Madam DeMaray’s superiority — a great embarrassment, considering that she is Madam DeMaray’s elder.In the next few weeks, both Vivian and Madam DeMaray are questioned by the Prince, who creates a number of delicate situations for them to handle and carefully observes their techniques. Vivian’s supporters begin spreading scandalous rumors about the Meister, most of which are deflected or defused by the current and former students of the Guild. Those rumors that remain are quite elegantly dismissed by Madam DeMaray herself in a stirring speech delivered at Elysium.
At the end of the month, the Prince declares that Madam DeMaray is clearly the superior Speaker. Alder Vivian must now submit to the humiliating punishment the Inner Circle has set out for her.
The Death of Experience
The collapse of a Guild can prove a significant, even crippling loss to The Invictus in a domain. It’s relatively rare for an entire Guild to fall apart, but it can and does happen, for any number of reasons. When it does, a school of thought is lost, perhaps forever, and the covenant must find a way to do without the skills of its instructors. The Status of all who associated themselves with the Guild is put at risk, and prospective students find their options for the future reduced.If a Guild Meister is rendered incapable of providing instruction through death, degeneration or Torpor and there is no suitably skilled replacement to take control of the school, the Guild halts operation and all current students are suddenly cut loose. Obviously, this is a most unpleasant circumstance for all involved, so students will tend to do whatever is in their power to protect their Meister until graduation. It’s not unusual for physically powerful students to take responsibility for guarding their Mentor outside of instruction, while others may hire Retainers, call in favors or otherwise work toward keeping their teacher safe for the duration of their schooling. A Meister will rarely demand protection from her students, but that has little to do with the choice to provide it.
The destruction or disablement of the Meister isn’t the only way a Guild can fail. The terms of a Guild War challenge may dictate the disbanding of the school. Once again, this would mean the interruption (and probable invalidation) of any lessons in progress; something that the students are not likely to be happy with. It follows that students will go quite a long way to preserve the reputation of their Mentor during a challenge and may be willing to undertake dangerous, underhanded or even illegal action to ensure victory. So long as the students are subtle enough to avoid turning the judge against the Meister, their instructors are not likely to put a stop to their tactics.
Not every Guild has such loyal students, though. Some Guilds come to an end simply because all of the enrolled pupils withdraw from lessons, leaving the Meister alone. If the Meister cannot convince any new students to petition for acceptance, the Inner Circle (or the Secretary, if the city has one) may declare the Guild invalid, stripping the Meister of her title. Indeed, some weaker Guilds end up completely at the mercy of a confederation of students who threaten a collective withdrawal if the Meister displeases them. Such a reversal of power is absolutely scandalous and can forever mar the reputation of a school if it is discovered. A school that succumbs to blackmail by its own students becomes little more than a shell of its former self, and is unlikely to impart any useful lessons on its pupils. Most often, a Meister who finds himself facing student revolt must acknowledge that his school has failed and avoid the further indignities of extortion.
Worse yet, the alumni of a Guild can turn on their former Meister, demonstrating the incompetence of their schooling through a program of self-inflicted failure in the public eye. This may seem a bizarre scheme, since it threatens to damage the reputations of the alumni, but it can prove quite effective. If a number of skilled professionals suddenly begin to make conscious and repeated “mistakes” in order to demonstrate the inferiority of their schooling, local Invictus Kindred are likely to take notice and do what it takes to put a stop to them. It’s a suicide tactic, socially speaking, but it works.
Guilds face a further potential problem. Outsiders, whether members of a competing Guild or not, may simply begin a program of active discouragement, working to ensure that no new students petition the Meister for enrolment. This is sometimes called a “shadow challenge,” because, if successful, it undercuts the Meister’s capability to run a school while preventing him from meeting his challenger on an even keel before a qualified judge. The only real defense against a shadow challenge is to make sure the training provided by the Guild is clearly more attractive than any alternatives. However it comes about, the elimination of a Guild represents the death of a tradition. If the Guild is fairly new, the effects may not be very pronounced (except on those who attempted to found it), but if the Guild was once an established, well-respected institution, the ramifications of its collapse can be far-reaching and serious.
Guid Succession
It is not unusual for conflict to be sparked by the Final Death or extended Torpor of a Guild Meister, as graduates and apprentices struggle to seize control of the Guild and preserve its operation. Personal disputes arise from differing interpretations of the Meister’s wishes, and ambitious Kindred seek the prestige of the title of Guild leadership. Documentation and evidence is often provided to support claims of favored treatment by the former Meister, and vampires involved in seeking succession can expect a full recounting of their performances in schooling, for better or worse.Of course, all such conflict is eventually brought to a halt by the decision of the Inner Circle, but it’s a bad idea to let the situation get bad enough for them to feel the need to step in. More succession quarrels are settled quietly by high-priced agreements than any other way.
New Thought
When a vampire with skills unique to the domain joins The Invictus, she is presented with an unusual opportunity: the chance to found a new Guild. If she chooses to do so, a major social undertaking begins.First, she must be officially recognized as a superior talent in her field of choice. Basically, she has to get the Inner Circle to acknowledge that her skill is sufficiently developed to earn her a title of function (see “Titles and Offices,” p. 37). A demonstration of ability may be in order, as may a variety of coercive techniques, depending on the character of the Inner Circle judges in the city. The title so earned serves as the vampire’s public affirmation of skill, a sort of social armor against derogatory statements in the steps to follow.
Next, the vampire must stand before the Inner Circle (or Secretary, if the city has one), and declare her intent to found a Guild. She can expect to be questioned on her subject of expertise, the manner in which she intends to teach and the benefit she believes her teachings will produce for the covenant. As can well be imagined, a number of factors influence the attitude of the Inner Circle during the questioning. If the vampire in question is highly regarded and possesses undeniably valuable knowledge, the interview is little more than a cursory formality. If, however, she is relatively young, unimportant or possessing knowledge that is considered distasteful or worthless by the members of the Inner Circle, she is likely to undergo a grueling, humiliating Interrogation. If the Inner Circle (or the Secretary, as the case may be) is satisfied with her answers, they may decide to officially recognize her as the Meister of a fledgling Guild.
Impressing the Inner Circle
The process of founding a Guild is more or less a quest, and should be played out for full effect. Remember that the members of the Inner Circle might want the character involved to form a Guild, but will still be likely to take advantage of the fact that he is completely at their mercy in attempting to get this venture off the ground. Greedy Councilors may want bribes, while more subtle ones may require favors or promises of service before they give the nod to the prospective Meister. Some Councilors may be vulnerable to intimidation (although that’s certainly a dangerous game), while others might be vulnerable to a sincere, heartfelt appeal.It is safe to say that most Inner Circle members fail to be impressed by a character who does not realize that it takes more than a show of worldclass skill to get their stamp of approval.
Once the vampire has become a Meister, she is allowed a “grace period,” usually no more than a couple of months, in which to find a suitable student and begin instruction. If she fails to do so before the end of the designated period, she will be stripped of her new title and forced to return to the Inner Circle for questioning if she wishes to try again.
Assuming the above conditions are met and a suitable pupil is enrolled before the grace period elapses, the Guild becomes stable and may function as normal.
New Guilds are especially vulnerable to challenges and Guild warfare. They tend to have few students and fewer graduates to help defend the Meister’s reputation, and the majority of their Resources are focused on establishing a respectable, legitimate presence in the domain. The truth is that protecting a Guild through the first years of its operation can be one of the costliest ventures in The Invictus.
So it is, and must be, for the introduction of new thought and philosophy to The Invictus. This is a covenant of tradition, and the establishment of new institutions must be difficult, ensuring that only the truly worthy ones are adopted into the operation of a domain.