The Middle of the Road
The middle of the road is home to the remaining population of the Carthians, the Movement Kindred who lie in the wide identity segment between the poles of “I fiercely defend my right to be left alone” and “I can’t pretend to speak for the people and therefore convene a quorum.” Collectivists pride themselves on being realists. The moderates arguably just are realists. They have their individual agendas apart from the Movement, but moderates are willing to compromise their agendas for the group, to a point. Similarly, moderates are willing or even eager to take part in a larger, sweeping action, provided, of course, that said action isn’t contrary to their beliefs or doesn’t entail great sacrifice and risk.
The balance is all over the map, because this is the thick mainstream of The Carthian Movement. There are some who lean toward the Individualist side, but are separate from it due to a more developed sense of duty, or simply because the ideas to which they’re loyal have enough local support that they don’t have to be a voice crying in the wilderness. Others are closer to the Collectivist end of the spectrum, but are ostracized from the true inner ring because of outlandish beliefs, incompetence (or the appearance of incompetence) or just because they’re blood-sucking monsters (and who wants them around?).
Just for the ease of classification, note that many Kindred who consider themselves Individualists are actually moderates, if you judge by behavior. For that matter, many who call themselves moderates would be called Collectivists by outside observers, particularly if the so-called moderates have got some power and if that outside observer is an Individualist. This does not mean that these labels are masks of hypocrisy or that it’s all hopelessly muddled. This just means that the divisions are rarely clear-cut and absolute, and that defining someone’s loose political label, from that person or anyone else, is probably less useful than actually spending some time getting to know her.
The balance is all over the map, because this is the thick mainstream of The Carthian Movement. There are some who lean toward the Individualist side, but are separate from it due to a more developed sense of duty, or simply because the ideas to which they’re loyal have enough local support that they don’t have to be a voice crying in the wilderness. Others are closer to the Collectivist end of the spectrum, but are ostracized from the true inner ring because of outlandish beliefs, incompetence (or the appearance of incompetence) or just because they’re blood-sucking monsters (and who wants them around?).
Just for the ease of classification, note that many Kindred who consider themselves Individualists are actually moderates, if you judge by behavior. For that matter, many who call themselves moderates would be called Collectivists by outside observers, particularly if the so-called moderates have got some power and if that outside observer is an Individualist. This does not mean that these labels are masks of hypocrisy or that it’s all hopelessly muddled. This just means that the divisions are rarely clear-cut and absolute, and that defining someone’s loose political label, from that person or anyone else, is probably less useful than actually spending some time getting to know her.
Type
Political, Activist
Ruling Organization
Parent Organization
Two Moderates
The night watchman at St. Petronille’s School for Girls is not hurting for tender young victims. Jake Murphy walks the grounds three times a night with his Flashlight and cap, sits at the front desk and watches the cameras and the one time he did catch some creep trying to break in — well, the cops weren’t involved. Other than some hair and a smear of blood on the edge of a marble stair-step, no part of the intruder was ever found.Jake watches and, every couple of decades, has a Carthian Ventrue manipulate the memories of the headmistress and the dorm mothers and anyone else who’d notice that he’s been there for far too long without aging. It’s a sweet setup. He’s comfortable, has a good nest egg saved and a really safe Haven miles away. He knows which girls are light sleepers and which ones are safe to tap (for himself or for needy Carthians).
The only drawback is that he’s expected to be there all night, most of the nights of the year. It’s a boarding school with a busy summer camp schedule, so there are always “tidbits in the icebox” (as he puts it) but he has little time to attend Elysium or rallies or sit on committees. He has opinions and voices them and shows some involvement in the Movement, but the vagaries of his schedule (which really means, the fact that the school is his first priority with the Movement in second place) prevent him from being central to the Carthians. He’s useful when he can be, just not all the time. When he’s useful, that’s good enough.
Elia Bossard, on the other hand, is always willing to be useful. About half the time, she actually is.
Elia would be a joiner, a Collectivist, if she could, but she wants too much too soon. The great frustration of every neonate is that any position you covet is likely to have an ancilla (if not an elder) occupying it with the truculence of a deathless creature inclined toward stasis. Elia is simply an eager newbie who sees no reason that she shouldn’t leap into a position of trust and authority. But they’re all taken. So she volunteers and helps and puts in the hours and can’t understand why she isn’t an elder yet. In 100 years or so she’ll be a force to reckon with, as long as she doesn’t make herself completely ridiculous now by trying to do ancilla jobs as a neonate.