The Ordo Dracul - Coterie
There had been a time when they had met every year, but now decades passed with no reconciliation. “Don’t forget, we meet in Salem in 2009!” someone cried. — Ray Bradbury, From the Dust Returned
A vampire’s motivation for seeking out and joining The Ordo Dracul isn’t usually as simple as wishing to learn The Coils of the Dragon. This power is often a factor, of course, but the covenant attracts seekers of truth and possibility as well as seekers of eldritch power, Kindred who wish to experience the totality of the Requiem, not just the simple acts of consuming blood and binding mortals to their wills. Finding a Mentor is the first step, but the Dragons don’t normally make themselves readily available, as this would be suicide. A would-be member of the Order has a much better chance of joining the covenant if she first joins a coterie of like-minded Kindred.
Not all coteries of the Order form in such benign circumstances, though. In cities where The Lancea Sanctum holds sway, members of The Ordo Dracul might be declared anathema or persona non grata, depending on the zeal of the Sanctified regime. The problem is that The Ordo Dracul and The Lancea Sanctum find many of the same cities desirable. (In particular, southern Louisiana and the Cajun and voodoo culture therein intrigue many Dragons, even though New Orleans is a Sanctified stronghold.) But The Lancea Sanctum is not the only covenant with which The Ordo Dracul must practice careful diplomacy. Any covenant in power looks askance at others infringing on its territory. Therefore, Dragons in cities claimed by other covenants often form into coteries dedicated to public relations, negotiation, manipulation and, if all else fails, war.
The search for a Mentor is probably the most difficult phase of the student coterie’s existence. The Dragons do not advertise, so the Kindred must learn as much about the covenant as is possible for outsiders. This investigation often takes the form of tracking down Dragons (or former members of the covenant), not all of whom are happy to talk about their former allegiance. The Kindred also spend time searching out reports of mystical activity, as it might either be the work of The Ordo Dracul or might simply attract them. Finally, the coterie might spend time in Elysium, discussing the Requiem with elders just loudly enough to be noticed.
Once a coterie finds a Mentor, its relationships inevitably change. Because the Kindred involved (probably) had no opportunity to learn The Coils of the Dragon before finding a Mentor, they have no sure way to know which of them would take to these teachings with the greatest skill. Many Dragon coteries find that the members who participated enthusiastically in debates and who spent their time engaged in esoteric Research quickly comprehend the Coils, whereas the vampire who organized the attempt to find The Ordo Dracul Mentor and demonstrated leadership skills doesn’t necessarily catch on easily.
This stratification in ability highlights the greatest advantage or danger of student coteries (depending on the bent of the vampires involved). If the coterie’s members are willing to help each other learn and achieve, they can point out their fellows’ weaknesses and aid them in their understanding. If, however, the Kindred are distrustful, grasping and selfish (which is much more common), they will instead seek to become strong where their fellow Dragons are weak. After all, one never knows when a fellow student will become Prince of a city… and knowing which lessons that Prince could never quite master would be a powerful bargaining chip with that Prince’s rivals.
Once the students have become full members of the covenant, the focus of the coterie typically shifts into one of the other types discussed in this section. Which one depends on the specific circumstances involved, of course. Some coteries do not shift focus, however. These coteries are discussed further under “Philosophy” (p. 50).
These coteries sometimes form spontaneously, of course. Lone Dragons find their way to areas replete with secrets and mysteries then cross paths in the course of their work. Provided that the members don’t suffer from overwhelming pride or professional jealousy, the Kindred form a coterie for the purposes of unraveling the mysterious history of an area. As modern technology allows greater communication over vast distances, it becomes possible for members of the Order in many different places to work on the same problem or riddle, meeting only when they have information that simply cannot be shared via telephone, Internet or mail.
Research and investigation coteries are typically goal oriented, and they drift apart once they have achieved their goal. A coterie might form around a particularly intriguing legend about an apocryphal battle between vampires in a given locale. The members Research the Kindred in question, discover who they were, why they were fighting, what the result was and perhaps even the resting place of the victor. Once they have learned all that they can from the legend, the members take that information and apply it in whatever way they wish. Following the example, one Dragon might have been descended from one of the combatants and simply wished to “discover her roots,” while another believed that a bloodline came to an end with the loser of that battle and wishes to see if any trace of it survived. The members of such a coterie might even find their goals in conflict when the answer to the riddle is finally revealed, though many Dragons enter into pacts not to engage in direct opposition with each other for a certain period of time after the coterie disbands.
Because the methodologies of Research coteries don’t necessarily involve The Coils of the Dragon, such groups are the most likely of any Ordo Dracul coterie to involve members of other covenants. After all, a Carthian vampire might have the same historical questions as a Dragon and be just as capable of seeking out answers to those questions. The Kindred of The Ordo Dracul are usually more than happy to allow those of other covenants to join such coteries, but they do make a point of turning their investigative skills on such outsiders before entrusting them with any real information about the coterie members. When the Dragons are involved in important Research, they don’t wish to be worried about whether their new compatriot is leaking information back to his covenant or setting the coterie up for failure… or ambush.
Practical coteries typically comprise the least bookish and most adventurous of The Ordo Dracul. Such Kindred are usually driven to learn as many Coils of the Dragon as possible, but rarely with any specific goal in mind (apart from the covenant’s overarching goals of transcendence and change). They thrill to the prospect of gaining new power and learning to wield it more fluidly, and aggressively track down mentors and scraps of esoteric lore that could lead to innovative new approaches to their condition. These coteries vary on their attitudes toward accepting Kindred of other covenants — a vampire from outside the covenant might know a Discipline or (better yet) a Devotion that would stimulate learning and invention. On the other hand, many such coteries are devoted to the principles of the Order, so unless an outsider is willing to join the Dragons, what could she contribute in the long run?
Intrinsic in uncovering or inventing new facets of the Coils is delving into the philosophy of why and how the magic works. As such, practical Blood Covens’ methods often blend with those of Research coteries as they search for elders and ancient writings describing the earliest vampires. Where other Dragons might search for such things for the sake of knowledge, however, practical Kindred seek to apply it directly to their Requiems. Using the previous example of a coterie investigating stories of the battle between two Kindred, the practical coterie is interested in the physical details: where the fight took place, what sort of remnants might still linger and so on. Such details can provide tactical advantages or moral lessons. The motivations behind the battle might be of interest if one or both participants were Dragons, but for the most part, pure history is too abstract for this sort of coterie.
Kindred in such created coteries do not have the benefit of months or years of training and study to create bonds between them. If they spend any time together at all before being sent out into the fray, it is usually just enough to discuss their strengths and weaknesses and those of their enemies. Hopefully, the chemistry between the individual vampires in the coterie is enough to make up for their brief association, but if not, the first combat experience is usually a good measure of their mettle. Kindred who can fight together instinctively and well are rare. More often, each member of the coterie looks out for himself. Fortunately, the Dragons are usually intelligent enough that the survivors learn from these mistakes.
Not all martial coteries are the work of nervous elders, however. In places where the Order is under fire from enemies, coteries can form with the simple goal of survival. (They usually have another goal keeping them in the area as well, or else they all share a desire to escape the area as quickly as possible.) These vampires are normally survivors from other coteries of other types, so they include Dragons with only two things in common — a strong survival instinct and the skill to act on that instinct.
Martial coteries are occasionally formed for offensive purposes (usually when The Ordo Dracul intends to seize praxis by force in a city) but more often for defense. This can be defense of a domain, of a mystical site, of a powerful elder or simply of the coterie itself. Most martial coteries include only Dragons. Those that form organically rather than deliberately sometimes include members of other covenants working toward the same goal. For example, in a city where The Invictus holds an oppressive rule over all resident Kindred, an Ordo Dracul coterie might find support from Carthians and even unaligned vampires.
Martial coteries usually include a confessor (see p. 57). Those that form organically in conflict often do not, though, so the mean Humanity level of the group can plummet dramatically as the coterie does what it must to survive.
Unlocking how best to seize and use that power, however, can take years. In some cases, it isn’t possible at all. The Dragons like to be able to take their time while studying such places and not have to worry about others among the Damned looking over their shoulders the whole time. Therefore, coteries of guardians form to protect these locales and any Kindred performing Research therein.
Guardian coteries often form in a similar manner to martial coteries. In many cases, elders hand pick a number of young Kindred and send them to the site with instructions on how closely it needs to be guarded, what Dragons are already there, what sort of Research they are doing, what kind of threats the characters are likely to encounter and at what point they should abandon their posts. Some guardian coteries form more incidentally, with a group of Kindred (not all of whom are even necessarily Dragons) unexpectedly coming across a site of supernatural significance. Guardian coteries don’t suffer from the same low morale or attrition that martial coteries do, though, because they are rarely sent into active hostility. These Dragons aren’t asked to give up their unlives for the covenant. Everything changes, including mystic sites, so even if another faction manages to capture one, the covenant can quite possibly claim it sometime in the future. Besides, the elder Dragons scoff, it isn’t as though other factions would know any more than they do about such places.
What guardian coteries do suffer from is jealousy. Occasionally, they are sent either to guard sites that The Ordo Dracul has written off as too dangerous or too complicated to be of any use, or they have instructions to protect a Research coterie in the area. Guardian Dragons are still Dragons, though, and the notion of so much power so close to hand is tantalizing to them. Most guardians are chosen as such because their talents lie in that direction, and when vampires who are much better suited toward combat start trying to unlock ancient, unpredictable energies, the results can be disastrous for the Kindred in question, the covenant and even the surrounding area.
Not all guardians protect locales, however. Some form to look after elders of the covenant or mystic artifacts. In the latter case, The Ordo Dracul usually hides such artifacts in places that mortals cannot reach them (underwater, for instance) and then most of the guardians’ work involves making sure that the existence of the artifact stays hidden and watching out for any supernatural interference from other quarters. These coteries run into the same sort of problems with jealousy and curiosity as other guardians do in that the temptation to have an item of power at hand and not be allowed to use it or investigate it is sometimes too much to bear.
Guardians protecting elder Dragons are rare. Most elder members of the Order who wish any sort of contact with their covenant take on students, and protection is implicit in the student-teacher relationship. The most common Dragons benefiting from this sort of protection, then, are the Kogaions.
As explained in Vampire: The Requiem, the Kogaions are keepers of information, including maps of ley lines and nexuses and the names, specialties and havens of all Dragons in the city. A city’s Kogaion is typically a powerful recluse. Few Dragons want to be associated with a Kogaion, since Kogaions are the first targets of hostility or capture if war breaks out between the covenants. This means that being named as a guardian of a Kogaion is something of a mixed blessing. The characters can benefit from the Kogaion’s wisdom, but the more they do so, they better their chances of leading enemies to the Kogaion.
It is uncommon but not unheard of for guardian coteries to include members of other sects. When it does happen, the members of the coterie who aren’t affiliated with the Order tend to be experts in local history, lore and geography, or otherwise bring something to the table that The Ordo Dracul cannot provide. The elders of the covenant richly reward nonDragons who take on guardian duties with money, favors and sometimes even cursory instruction in The Coils of the Dragon, but they do not tell these outsiders one iota of information more than necessary. As an interesting aside, no known guardian coteries with non-Order members have been assigned to protect Kogaions to date.
As mentioned on p. 46, when student coteries form, Ordo Dracul elders pay attention to see if a leader emerges. That leader might not be a competent mystic, but such Kindred make able diplomats. Even if the diplomats know only a single Coil, their social skills still aid the covenant by helping convince other Kindred that The Ordo Dracul is not dangerous, does not intend to take over the city and will not bring down the wrath of God for doing what they do.
Of course, the truth of the matter is that The Ordo Dracul might very well be planning to take over the city. The central tenet of the covenant involves enacting change, and change is often bloody and difficult. The diplomats, however, aren’t always told the truth of the covenant’s intentions. The Dragons are well aware that plenty of supernatural and mundane methods exist to catch someone in a lie, so they feel that it is sometimes in the best interests of the covenant if the diplomat can be honest, even if his facts are wrong.
The Ordo Dracul seldom sends lone diplomats. Diplomat coteries usually contain one main figurehead, often a Daeva (though this is by no means universal). Other members of the coterie are expected to be good speakers as well, but each is supposed to have a clearly defined and understandable reason for being in the city. One might be a researcher, another a bodyguard and a third a technology expert. Of course, these distinctions are usually made for the benefit of the vampires in power, and even if the coterie does actually contain these niches, the Kindred aren’t always honest about which member of the coterie serves in what capacity. The short, bookish Dragon who makes a point of tripping and pointing out esoteric facts while in conversation with the city’s Acolyte Hierophant might actually be a terrifying combatant. The muscular man barely concealing the gun in his jacket might be fluent in dozens of languages and a metaphysical theoretician par excellence. The importance of misdirection while among enemies is not lost on The Ordo Dracul.
Diplomat coteries don’t normally include non-Order members at the outset, though circumstances sometimes align Kindred from other covenants with the Dragons in order to aid the cause… or keep an eye on them. In the true spirit of diplomacy, The Ordo Dracul Kindred don’t balk at this, but it’s an unspoken assumption on everyone’s part that if things go sour, the non-Order members in the group can expect to be abandoned or sold out.
That in mind, all six types of the coteries discussed in the beginning of this chapter have their own takes on causality and change as these concepts relate to their functions and memberships.
Student coteries rarely put into direct practice their studies of causality and change, so busy are they with learning other Kindred’s thoughts on the matter (much like law students are taught precedents and theory). These coteries enact the tenets of the covenant by observing, by writing out treatises or by conducting controlled demonstrations of how a given change in the world is likely to affect it in a certain amount of time, and then waiting patiently to see if they were right. One of the reasons that the Dragons prefer coteries of students to lone pupils is that with several “classmates” watching over each other’s experiments, it is less tempting for a given Kindred to falsify her own results.
As the members of a student coterie learn about the Requiem and about the effect their actions have on the world around them, they typically lean toward other types of coteries. Some, however, remain students indefinitely, which typically happens for one of two reasons. Either the vampires of the coterie are using their Mentor, or the Mentor is using her students.
In the former case, the students conspire against their teacher, remaining with her as long as possible to soak up every conceivable drop of wisdom. They learn not only The Coils of the Dragon, but any other Disciplines and knowledge that the elder can teach them — languages, fighting techniques, archaic skills, city secrets. Anything that might be of use in the future is written down and absorbed. When the coterie feels that the elder has nothing more to teach, its members sometimes commit Diablerie on their elder. (Since they have learned everything about her, they know how to best strike with the least fear of repercussion.) Sometimes the students take credit openly for disposing of their Mentor, defending their actions by saying that everything that the elder knew is now in the keeping of a greater number of Kindred, meaning that it has a much reduced chance of being lost for good. (At this point, the coterie has “only” to worry about the Prince’s interpretation of the matter.) Besides, nothing is permanent, and the destruction of an elder is a superb object lesson of this. The covenant as a whole is ill equipped to punish an entire coterie, and besides, this defense makes a certain degree of sense, given the covenant’s tenets. Coteries that take this avenue would do well to remain out of sight for a good length of time after the deed is done, however. If the Kindred go on to threaten other elders of the covenant, they find that second chances are hard to come by, let alone the matter of Princes and city politics.
Not all such scenarios end in Diablerie, of course. Sometimes the students are content to simply leave their teacher behind, pursuing their own agendas. Consider, however, that an elder Dragon might have centuries worth of information to impart, and this kind of in-depth instruction can’t be distilled down to a semester or two (particularly if the students are interested in not only learning but mastering the material). Also, remember that all Dragons are supposed to be constantly learning, meaning that learning everything that a given Mentor has to offer is probably impossible, since that vampire is learning from another Mentor concurrently. By the time the students reach the point that they feel they have nothing left to learn, they might well be unwilling to harm the tutor who has shared so much with them. On the other hand, their Humanity might have dropped so sharply that they do it without a second thought.
In the case of a Mentor using her students, the Mentor is in a much more advantageous position, especially if her pupils are not receiving instruction from any other Dragons. The Mentor governs her students’ access to information and can therefore limit their progress and exposure to mystic secrets and skills that could potentially threaten her later on. She can also share tales, true and otherwise, of the bloody vengeance exacted upon Kindred who slay their elders and of the vast rewards of loyalty and service. Thus she trains not only capable Dragons but capable bodyguards as well.
For Kindred of truly advanced age, another, more sinister possibility exists. Elder Dragons who have progressed beyond the ability to feed on mortals might train their pupils in the best ways to capture or even diablerize other vampires. As the pupils bring their victims back to their patron, the elder is then able to feed from them, sometimes using a combination of emotional manipulation, Disciplines such as Majesty and Dominate, and promises of greater rewards to come. Thus he ensures that the pupils don’t even realize that they are being groomed not for greatness but for eventual consumption. This strategy is also a common fallback for elder vampires pursuing The Coil of Blood: In case the elder cannot reach the level of change necessary to avoid the stringent hunger of age, at least her students can satiate her.
During the course of investigation, Kindred are inevitably confronted with many different opportunities to observe, record and enact change on a variety of levels. They are urged to indulge their curiosity, but be aware that no change happens in a vacuum. This warning is especially applicable when Research coteries investigate Kindred history (which is common). Delving deeply into the religious lore of the vampires puts the Dragons into contact with devout members of the Sanctified, which, in turn, places Ordo Dracul Kindred in the position of debating philosophy with vampires who are often prepared to kill to underline their points. But a Dragon’s unlife isn’t the only thing she risks in this sort of investigation. She risks her loyalty as well. More than one member of the Order, after lengthy conversation with an elder Sanctified, has forsaken her covenant and converted… or met the sun in guilt. The covenant as a whole understands that loyalty is no more permanent than anything else, and that by leaving The Ordo Dracul, defectors are proving the Order’s theories. That doesn’t stop martial Blood Covens from occasionally being dispatched to “retrieve” such errant vampires, though.
Practical coteries tend to be the most respected of The Ordo Dracul. Other Dragons view these Kindred as the heart of the covenant, testing and applying the principles of change to the Requiem every night. Other types of coteries serve useful and necessary functions, true, but the practical coteries make the covenant what it truly is (see Status, p. 57, for more on this). The members of these coteries normally don’t capitalize on this respect. If they did, they wouldn’t be spending their energy on the practical applications of the Coils, and the respect would dry up in short order.
As well respected as these coteries are, however, they also tend to be the shortest-lived. The hazards of The Coils of the Dragon are myriad. Suspicious outsiders and the possibility of permanent frenzy are just two of the dangers. Very few practical coteries last for more than a few years with their membership completely intact. Some such coteries replace their members as Kindred suffer Final Death or lose interest in such a risky Requiem. Others simply drift apart, joining other coteries or settling back to teach younger Kindred. Many Dragons, however, have difficulty letting go of their practical philosophy. After all, they might be only a night’s practice away from exactly the right chant, the right mindset, to transcend their lifeless state and move on to whatever awaits them.
Since they usually form in response to a threat to the covenant as a whole, assembled martial coteries are less concerned with the covenant’s philosophies than with its prolonged survival and prosperity. Martial coteries have limited time available to Research and practice The Coils of the Dragon. Instead, the members focus more on honing what skills they already have. Members of these coteries don’t concern themselves too much with understanding the impermanence of the world. They are more interested in preventing certain facets (fellow covenants members’ unlives, for instance, or Ordo Dracul power within an area) from changing. In a covenant that venerates and seeks to understand change, martial coteries make the most devout Dragons uncomfortable. If the covenant as a whole truly believed in its doctrine of observing and not impeding change, these coteries wouldn’t exist. The usual response to this argument is that only change that can be understood is of any real value to The Ordo Dracul, and change that results in setbacks for the covenant is nearly impossible to understand. (More realistic vampires admit that while it’s fine to argue that change is good and necessary, it’s something else again to give up a comfortable unlifestyle or submit oneself to the flames in the name of change.)
Assembled coteries’ members don’t usually become drawn into such debates, as they are too busy defending themselves and their covenants. Organic martial coteries, on the other hand, while they might not have any more time to engage in philosophy, often have the inclination to do so. After all, if the members formed a coterie by choice and are actively engaged in violence, again, by choice, they must have a compelling reason to do so. Are they resisting change? If so, why? Self-preservation isn’t usually a good enough answer, because even as phobic as most Kindred are about leaving a city, if remaining is too great a risk, flight becomes a worthy consideration. Working toward the covenant’s goals, likewise, doesn’t carry much weight. After a certain point, stepping back and observing becomes a truer representation of the mentality of The Ordo Dracul than trying to change the world in a random fashion. If the coterie has entered a conflict and adopted the cause with some passion, it is devoted to making a change. That kind of devotion is an expression of the covenant’s philosophies, and is, in the Dragons’ opinion, a worthy way to spend one’s unlife. Following a cause too far, though, leads a given Dragon to abandon the esoteric rigors of the covenant for the Carthians, or perhaps to abandon the politics of covenants altogether.
That isn’t always enough, however.
Like martial coteries, guardian coteries are warriors in a covenant that prizes intelligence. While guardians are much more stable and are allowed to innovate more often than martial Dragons, they are still not engaged in their own Research, at least not with the sanction and backing of the covenant as a whole. This can be frustrating to their members, as they guard the haunted houses and nexuses of the world, never able to access their secrets.
Of course, The Ordo Dracul prizes innovations and, as a matter of policy, doesn’t mind being surprised. It happens sometimes that a guardian coterie uncovers a secret that a Research coterie cannot (sometimes with the result that the Research coterie is disbanded and the guardian coterie replaces them). This typically takes place when the guardians break the rules and experiment with whatever it is that they are guarding, but rules, after all, are impermanent just like everything else. Sometimes mavericks in the covenant are placed into guardian coteries as “punishment,” with the unspoken hope that they will rise above the position and bring the covenant greater wisdom. Sometimes, of course, this punishment is afforded to Dragons who think of themselves as mavericks, but are simply hopeless with respect to The Coils of the Dragon. Both types of Dragons might be placed in the same coterie, whereupon the question becomes whether the true mavericks will lead by example or be dragged down by the slower members.
No matter what the ultimate goal is behind assembling a guardian coterie, the members of the group must be trusted members of the covenant. (Typically each member already has at least one dot in the Covenant Status Merit.) After all, guardians, even more than martial Dragons, are put in positions where they can betray their covenant and give away sensitive information. While innovative thinking is a positive thing for any Ordo Dracul Kindred, those vampires who are asked to guard the covenant’s prized properties and possessions must be loyal first. Occasionally, a coterie of guardians is assigned to “protect” a place or person of no real importance, just to flush out lurking enemies of the covenant. Cagey elder Dragons recognize that this sort of deception ultimately results in the guardians either being destroyed or rising to the challenging situation, and either is an acceptable change.
Guardians who are assigned to protect Kogaions are afforded not only Status in the covenant and the Resources to do their jobs well, but every word they say and every suggestion they make is taken under advisement. If the coterie is trusted with the Requiem of a Kogaion, it is worthy of respect.
Diplomats need to be conversant in the Order’s core beliefs, but they can’t be fanatical about them unless they hide their fanaticism very well. Like all politicians, members of diplomatic coteries need to be proficient at saying whatever is necessary to keep things running smoothly while still pursuing their agendas. Safe to say, then, that the greatest liars of the covenant find their homes among The Ordo Dracul’s diplomats.
Research can involve spending hours poring over books, digging through computer files and assimilating the information… but it doesn’t always. (That sort of thing isn’t very interesting to roleplay, anyway.) Even coteries devoted to Research spend much of their time in the field, sifting through physical evidence left by a mystical occurrence, gathering samples to subject to experiments later and even more mundane forms of investigation such as taking photographs and interviewing witnesses and experts. Of course, where vampires are concerned, this involves finding the experts and witnesses first, which can involve an entirely different set of investigation. Small wonder, then, that most Dragons have some degree of proficiency at detective tactics, no matter what the function of their coterie is.
Therefore, Ordo Dracul coteries might be found making deals with Kindred of other covenants, influencing mortal authorities, poisoning a Prince’s Herd, allying with mortal mages, stirring up trouble among Lupines or any of a hundred other underhanded and dangerous tactics. The covenant as a whole encourages this sort of behavior but does add one caveat: Every action has a reaction, so be prepared for it.
Modern society doesn’t have much in the way of patience, and since Dragons keep abreast of the times, they unfortunately are beginning to adopt this emphasis on accomplishing their goals now. After all, technology provides the means for speedy results, so why not use them? Elders of the covenant have a hard time arguing with this. After all, the world is changing, so why not change with it? What concerns them is the notion that other Kindred might simply apply the lesson of patience, wait for the technology to fail or for the consequences of haste to catch up with The Ordo Dracul, and then strike decisively.
Progression along any of the three Coils is called “chrysalis.” The vampire in question is changing the nature of her Requiem. A chrysalis involves testing the limits of the vampiric condition, reading and understanding the teachings of others of the covenant, and spending time in Meditation in which the Kindred attempts to force the desired changes on herself. Doing so can result in the Kindred sidestepping one of the banes of her existence… or it can result in that bane becoming more acute. A vampire unsuccessfully attempting to learn one of the tiers on The Coil of Blood, for instance, might find that regardless of her Blood Potency, only Kindred Vitae nourishes her. Or, she might burn through Vitae at an accelerated rate, requiring two Vitae per night to animate her undead body.
The best means of doing so is the diplomatic coterie. These Blood Covens try to be accessible and accepting while they are in other covenants’ territory, and they also try to avoid all of the worst stereotypes of The Ordo Dracul. In particular, they avoid flaunting their Coils visibly, unless asked, and they don’t answer questions evasively. Making cryptic comments about the arcane power of the covenant might be a suitable tactic for guardians involved in psychological warfare, but it leaves much to be desired when trying to gain the trust (or at least allay the fears) of an Invictus Prince.
A Blood Coven’s confessor is technically a member of the covenant, but one who does not study The Coils of the Dragon or no longer does. (Some Kindred who find the blasphemy of the Coils too much to bear sometimes take on this role.) Her role in the coterie is, as the title suggests, hearing confession from the other members. She cannot, however, absolve their sin, because once the world is changed, no amount of contrition can change it back. All she can do is prevent the Kindred from sliding any further. Therefore, a confessor acts as psychologist to her fellow Dragons, helping them to understand the drives of the Beast and accept that their metamorphosis could result in the Beast gaining power. She helps them prevent themselves from sliding any further into degradation than they have to, but as no moral “thermometer” exists to measure a vampire’s Humanity, the task is largely instinctive.
If a Dragon has slid beyond the level that his enlightenment justifies (in the confessor’s opinion), she might advise him to take time off from his role in the coterie and attempt to come to grips with his Humanity. Some confessors even accompany their fellows on this journey, helping to make sure that the subject doesn’t fall even farther. The role of confessor is a respected one, but as it requires a Kindred who is willing to subscribe to the philosophy of The Ordo Dracul but not enjoy its greatest benefit, very few of them exist. Most coteries must police themselves, with each member watching the others… but with each member slowly eroding his own Humanity, it takes a great deal of objectivity and self-realization for this arrangement to work.
In some cities, this isn’t a problem. Coteries of Dragons can exist within another covenant’s political structure, sometimes even taking roles in the city’s vampiric government. (This is much more likely in, say, an Invictus city than a Lancea Sanctum one.) In some cities, though, even to take an observer’s role the Dragons must change the city’s nights. Change, fortunately, is their specialty.
One Kindred can vastly alter a domain, depending on how he feeds and what sort of unlife he leads. A coterie of vampires can indirectly affect how tax dollars are spent, what the local police focus on, what local interest groups campaign for and more, simply based on who they hunt. The fact that the act of feeding is so basic, yet carries such far-reaching consequences isn’t lost on the cerebral Dragons. Since elders of the covenant in a given place are likely already set into some sort of routine, a rising Blood Coven provides an opportunity to see what kind of change a group of Kindred can enact. Therefore, regardless of the type of coterie, a group of young Kindred in an Ordo Dracul city is rarely alone. Yet it is rarely punished for minor transgressions, either. The goal isn’t to stifle potential but to observe results.
As the new Dragons settle into their own routines, focus shifts off them, though Ordo Dracul elders often like to know what members of their covenant are doing in a general sense. What the coterie has done to that point, however, the elders see as indicative of a given “generation” of Kindred, and they tend to use the coterie’s actions to set policy. Canny Dragons realize this early on and structure their activities to set changes in place that will benefit them down the line.
To wit, the elders sometimes ask young Blood Covens, those concerned with practical philosophy especially, to selectively break the Masquerade with the ultimate goal of leading people to believe. The elders have a few very strict rules about these breaches, though. First, they should never be structured so that a witness thinks she saw a vampire (meaning no feeding, changing into wolves, displays of superhuman strength or other “classic” vampire legends). Second, a miracle should involve more than one person. If only one person tells a story of a supernatural occurrence, it’s easy to write that person off as a lunatic. If an entire subway train full of people witnesses a mugger falling dead of fright, however, the skeptics must admit that something happened. Finally, the characters can leave no verifiable evidence behind. They must not allow themselves to be photographed or recorded in any other way. This ast rule isn’t just about the Masquerade, but about the ultimate goal of the action. Proof denies faith, after all. Certainly, The Ordo Dracul isn’t alone in this exercise. Even if they don’t have the same goals in mind, other vampires are bound to break the Masquerade in one form or another. Other supernatural creatures test the limits of mortal faith nightly. Indeed, the even less understood aspects of the World of Darkness — the unknowable but palpable horrors and strangenesses that lurk beyond men’s realm of vision — do their part as well. It might simply be that The Ordo Dracul has more in common with this strangeness than their fellow Kindred do.
As an Ordo Dracul coterie grows in power in Invictus domains, the Prince is likely to demand greater obeisance from the Blood Coven, wishing to know where it is and what it is doing at all times, and ask annoying questions like, “What’s so important about that old house?” Not answering those questions can result in scrutiny from the Prince’s Sheriff (or worse, the Hound) or drive the Prince to undercut the coterie by (for example) decreeing the old house to fall within a hostile Regent’s tenurial domain.
The problem is that the two covenants’ attitudes on change are actually very different. In particular, The Ordo Dracul doesn’t view change itself as a good or bad thing, but rather sees it as a way to understand the world and God’s intention. The covenants, therefore, can conflict on a “church vs. state” level. The Carthians believe in transferring all power to the people, while the Order never forgets that true power rests with knowledge and understanding.
How the Circle reacts to these efforts depends largely on the members in question, but the response can be anything from guarded acceptance to violent rejection. The Dragons are, of course, fascinated in any case.
Psychology
Dragons come together to form coteries for a variety of reasons, but the impetus for these groups forming is usually academic. Members of The Ordo Dracul studying under the same Mentor, or under several mentors who correspond with each other, might begin practicing their arcane arts together in order to benefit from several teachers’ wisdom simultaneously. Likewise, a Dragon who loses her Mentor, because either the Mentor meets Final Death or the teacher-student relationship simply goes sour, might cast about for instruction and find others of her covenant.Not all coteries of the Order form in such benign circumstances, though. In cities where The Lancea Sanctum holds sway, members of The Ordo Dracul might be declared anathema or persona non grata, depending on the zeal of the Sanctified regime. The problem is that The Ordo Dracul and The Lancea Sanctum find many of the same cities desirable. (In particular, southern Louisiana and the Cajun and voodoo culture therein intrigue many Dragons, even though New Orleans is a Sanctified stronghold.) But The Lancea Sanctum is not the only covenant with which The Ordo Dracul must practice careful diplomacy. Any covenant in power looks askance at others infringing on its territory. Therefore, Dragons in cities claimed by other covenants often form into coteries dedicated to public relations, negotiation, manipulation and, if all else fails, war.
Blood Covens
The following are six of the most common types of coteries one is likely to find among the Dragons. Please note that not all Ordo Dracul coteries fall strictly into one of these categories. A given group of vampires might incorporate aspects of any or all of them. A coterie made up entirely of Dragons is often referred to as a “Blood Coven” within the covenant.Students
Probably the most common type of coterie among the young ranks of the Order, these groups come together when several neonates or new converts wish to join the covenant. The individual motivations of the Kindred involved typically vary. Some are interested in The Ordo Dracul because of the power the covenant can bestow; some are curious about the vampiric condition on an academic level. Others wish to escape the Requiem entirely. Whatever the feelings of each member of the coterie are, the group as a whole usually forms around one individual who has the tenacity, the organizational skill and the charisma to keep the other members focused long enough to find a Dragon Mentor. When the group does find a Mentor, the Mentor notes whether this would-be Dragon set himself up as the “leader” of the coterie. Such vampires worry The Ordo Dracul. Ambition for knowledge and change is one thing; ambition for lording over other Kindred is another, and is not a goal the covenant espouses. (Nonetheless, the Order of the Dragon has a place for such vampires. See “Diplomacy” on p. 50.)The search for a Mentor is probably the most difficult phase of the student coterie’s existence. The Dragons do not advertise, so the Kindred must learn as much about the covenant as is possible for outsiders. This investigation often takes the form of tracking down Dragons (or former members of the covenant), not all of whom are happy to talk about their former allegiance. The Kindred also spend time searching out reports of mystical activity, as it might either be the work of The Ordo Dracul or might simply attract them. Finally, the coterie might spend time in Elysium, discussing the Requiem with elders just loudly enough to be noticed.
Once a coterie finds a Mentor, its relationships inevitably change. Because the Kindred involved (probably) had no opportunity to learn The Coils of the Dragon before finding a Mentor, they have no sure way to know which of them would take to these teachings with the greatest skill. Many Dragon coteries find that the members who participated enthusiastically in debates and who spent their time engaged in esoteric Research quickly comprehend the Coils, whereas the vampire who organized the attempt to find The Ordo Dracul Mentor and demonstrated leadership skills doesn’t necessarily catch on easily.
This stratification in ability highlights the greatest advantage or danger of student coteries (depending on the bent of the vampires involved). If the coterie’s members are willing to help each other learn and achieve, they can point out their fellows’ weaknesses and aid them in their understanding. If, however, the Kindred are distrustful, grasping and selfish (which is much more common), they will instead seek to become strong where their fellow Dragons are weak. After all, one never knows when a fellow student will become Prince of a city… and knowing which lessons that Prince could never quite master would be a powerful bargaining chip with that Prince’s rivals.
Once the students have become full members of the covenant, the focus of the coterie typically shifts into one of the other types discussed in this section. Which one depends on the specific circumstances involved, of course. Some coteries do not shift focus, however. These coteries are discussed further under “Philosophy” (p. 50).
Research and Investigation
In cities where The Ordo Dracul either holds a majority of the political power among the Kindred or does not face significant opposition, student coteries often develop into research-oriented coteries. Coteries that found mentors quickly are especially well suited to Research and investigation. Mentors sometimes steer their coteries toward this sort of activity, as well, which is especially true in cities that contain sites of great mystical significance or long history. Cities such as London, Rome and Jerusalem lend themselves well to such coteries, given the sheer amount of human history there, and even some American cities such as Boston or Savannah have spiritual or mystical activity far beyond what their age or size would indicate. Mentors in such cities often take on coteries for the express purpose of molding them into efficient Research teams.These coteries sometimes form spontaneously, of course. Lone Dragons find their way to areas replete with secrets and mysteries then cross paths in the course of their work. Provided that the members don’t suffer from overwhelming pride or professional jealousy, the Kindred form a coterie for the purposes of unraveling the mysterious history of an area. As modern technology allows greater communication over vast distances, it becomes possible for members of the Order in many different places to work on the same problem or riddle, meeting only when they have information that simply cannot be shared via telephone, Internet or mail.
Research and investigation coteries are typically goal oriented, and they drift apart once they have achieved their goal. A coterie might form around a particularly intriguing legend about an apocryphal battle between vampires in a given locale. The members Research the Kindred in question, discover who they were, why they were fighting, what the result was and perhaps even the resting place of the victor. Once they have learned all that they can from the legend, the members take that information and apply it in whatever way they wish. Following the example, one Dragon might have been descended from one of the combatants and simply wished to “discover her roots,” while another believed that a bloodline came to an end with the loser of that battle and wishes to see if any trace of it survived. The members of such a coterie might even find their goals in conflict when the answer to the riddle is finally revealed, though many Dragons enter into pacts not to engage in direct opposition with each other for a certain period of time after the coterie disbands.
Because the methodologies of Research coteries don’t necessarily involve The Coils of the Dragon, such groups are the most likely of any Ordo Dracul coterie to involve members of other covenants. After all, a Carthian vampire might have the same historical questions as a Dragon and be just as capable of seeking out answers to those questions. The Kindred of The Ordo Dracul are usually more than happy to allow those of other covenants to join such coteries, but they do make a point of turning their investigative skills on such outsiders before entrusting them with any real information about the coterie members. When the Dragons are involved in important Research, they don’t wish to be worried about whether their new compatriot is leaking information back to his covenant or setting the coterie up for failure… or ambush.
Practical Philosophy
A natural outgrowth of student-coteries, practical philosophy coteries are dedicated to the practice of The Coils of the Dragon above and beyond the theory. They spend as much time poring over books as necessary to be able to perform their rituals, but as soon as these Kindred feel that they have enough expertise to attempt metamorphosis, they do so. As such, these coteries suffer the highest turnover due to Final Death of any Ordo Dracul coterie, with the possible exception of martial coteries.Practical coteries typically comprise the least bookish and most adventurous of The Ordo Dracul. Such Kindred are usually driven to learn as many Coils of the Dragon as possible, but rarely with any specific goal in mind (apart from the covenant’s overarching goals of transcendence and change). They thrill to the prospect of gaining new power and learning to wield it more fluidly, and aggressively track down mentors and scraps of esoteric lore that could lead to innovative new approaches to their condition. These coteries vary on their attitudes toward accepting Kindred of other covenants — a vampire from outside the covenant might know a Discipline or (better yet) a Devotion that would stimulate learning and invention. On the other hand, many such coteries are devoted to the principles of the Order, so unless an outsider is willing to join the Dragons, what could she contribute in the long run?
Intrinsic in uncovering or inventing new facets of the Coils is delving into the philosophy of why and how the magic works. As such, practical Blood Covens’ methods often blend with those of Research coteries as they search for elders and ancient writings describing the earliest vampires. Where other Dragons might search for such things for the sake of knowledge, however, practical Kindred seek to apply it directly to their Requiems. Using the previous example of a coterie investigating stories of the battle between two Kindred, the practical coterie is interested in the physical details: where the fight took place, what sort of remnants might still linger and so on. Such details can provide tactical advantages or moral lessons. The motivations behind the battle might be of interest if one or both participants were Dragons, but for the most part, pure history is too abstract for this sort of coterie.
Martial
Dragons are not necessarily warriors, but their ability to circumvent some of the worst aspects of vampirism can make them devastatingly effective opponents. Also, nothing prevents a Dragon from being an expert in the more combative Disciplines as well as The Coils of the Dragon. The covenant has need of such vampires, too. Unlike most Ordo Dracul groups, elders of the covenant usually create martial coteries rather than letting them form organically. When a war that involves The Ordo Dracul brews between Kindred factions — or when another threat such as vampire-hunters or werewolves makes its presence known — an elder Dragon sends out messages to her students and mentors, asking for volunteers who are combat-capable and available. Of course, the term “volunteer” is rather loose, and mentors have been known to send aggressive but troublesome students into such situations, sometimes without telling them the full truth of what awaits them.Kindred in such created coteries do not have the benefit of months or years of training and study to create bonds between them. If they spend any time together at all before being sent out into the fray, it is usually just enough to discuss their strengths and weaknesses and those of their enemies. Hopefully, the chemistry between the individual vampires in the coterie is enough to make up for their brief association, but if not, the first combat experience is usually a good measure of their mettle. Kindred who can fight together instinctively and well are rare. More often, each member of the coterie looks out for himself. Fortunately, the Dragons are usually intelligent enough that the survivors learn from these mistakes.
Not all martial coteries are the work of nervous elders, however. In places where the Order is under fire from enemies, coteries can form with the simple goal of survival. (They usually have another goal keeping them in the area as well, or else they all share a desire to escape the area as quickly as possible.) These vampires are normally survivors from other coteries of other types, so they include Dragons with only two things in common — a strong survival instinct and the skill to act on that instinct.
Martial coteries are occasionally formed for offensive purposes (usually when The Ordo Dracul intends to seize praxis by force in a city) but more often for defense. This can be defense of a domain, of a mystical site, of a powerful elder or simply of the coterie itself. Most martial coteries include only Dragons. Those that form organically rather than deliberately sometimes include members of other covenants working toward the same goal. For example, in a city where The Invictus holds an oppressive rule over all resident Kindred, an Ordo Dracul coterie might find support from Carthians and even unaligned vampires.
Martial coteries usually include a confessor (see p. 57). Those that form organically in conflict often do not, though, so the mean Humanity level of the group can plummet dramatically as the coterie does what it must to survive.
Guardians
As mentioned on p. 65 of Vampire: The Requiem, The Ordo Dracul jealously guards sites of mystical importance. Whether these sites are haunted houses where the shades of human dead roam or places where creatures of a more mysterious type mingle with the mundane world, the Dragons see all such locales as places where God pays a bit more attention. Therefore, the clever vampire can find power and enact change in such places.Unlocking how best to seize and use that power, however, can take years. In some cases, it isn’t possible at all. The Dragons like to be able to take their time while studying such places and not have to worry about others among the Damned looking over their shoulders the whole time. Therefore, coteries of guardians form to protect these locales and any Kindred performing Research therein.
Guardian coteries often form in a similar manner to martial coteries. In many cases, elders hand pick a number of young Kindred and send them to the site with instructions on how closely it needs to be guarded, what Dragons are already there, what sort of Research they are doing, what kind of threats the characters are likely to encounter and at what point they should abandon their posts. Some guardian coteries form more incidentally, with a group of Kindred (not all of whom are even necessarily Dragons) unexpectedly coming across a site of supernatural significance. Guardian coteries don’t suffer from the same low morale or attrition that martial coteries do, though, because they are rarely sent into active hostility. These Dragons aren’t asked to give up their unlives for the covenant. Everything changes, including mystic sites, so even if another faction manages to capture one, the covenant can quite possibly claim it sometime in the future. Besides, the elder Dragons scoff, it isn’t as though other factions would know any more than they do about such places.
What guardian coteries do suffer from is jealousy. Occasionally, they are sent either to guard sites that The Ordo Dracul has written off as too dangerous or too complicated to be of any use, or they have instructions to protect a Research coterie in the area. Guardian Dragons are still Dragons, though, and the notion of so much power so close to hand is tantalizing to them. Most guardians are chosen as such because their talents lie in that direction, and when vampires who are much better suited toward combat start trying to unlock ancient, unpredictable energies, the results can be disastrous for the Kindred in question, the covenant and even the surrounding area.
Not all guardians protect locales, however. Some form to look after elders of the covenant or mystic artifacts. In the latter case, The Ordo Dracul usually hides such artifacts in places that mortals cannot reach them (underwater, for instance) and then most of the guardians’ work involves making sure that the existence of the artifact stays hidden and watching out for any supernatural interference from other quarters. These coteries run into the same sort of problems with jealousy and curiosity as other guardians do in that the temptation to have an item of power at hand and not be allowed to use it or investigate it is sometimes too much to bear.
Guardians protecting elder Dragons are rare. Most elder members of the Order who wish any sort of contact with their covenant take on students, and protection is implicit in the student-teacher relationship. The most common Dragons benefiting from this sort of protection, then, are the Kogaions.
As explained in Vampire: The Requiem, the Kogaions are keepers of information, including maps of ley lines and nexuses and the names, specialties and havens of all Dragons in the city. A city’s Kogaion is typically a powerful recluse. Few Dragons want to be associated with a Kogaion, since Kogaions are the first targets of hostility or capture if war breaks out between the covenants. This means that being named as a guardian of a Kogaion is something of a mixed blessing. The characters can benefit from the Kogaion’s wisdom, but the more they do so, they better their chances of leading enemies to the Kogaion.
It is uncommon but not unheard of for guardian coteries to include members of other sects. When it does happen, the members of the coterie who aren’t affiliated with the Order tend to be experts in local history, lore and geography, or otherwise bring something to the table that The Ordo Dracul cannot provide. The elders of the covenant richly reward nonDragons who take on guardian duties with money, favors and sometimes even cursory instruction in The Coils of the Dragon, but they do not tell these outsiders one iota of information more than necessary. As an interesting aside, no known guardian coteries with non-Order members have been assigned to protect Kogaions to date.
Diplomacy
The Ordo Dracul suffers from the stigma of blasphemy in the eyes of many devout Kindred, the Sanctified especially. While the Carthians and The Invictus don’t necessarily object to what the Dragons do on religious grounds, they do note that the most powerful members of the Order have the potential to be vicious and inhumane in extremis. Diplomacy coteries, then, are necessary in any city that boasts a sizeable population of Dragons but is the domain of an opposing covenant.As mentioned on p. 46, when student coteries form, Ordo Dracul elders pay attention to see if a leader emerges. That leader might not be a competent mystic, but such Kindred make able diplomats. Even if the diplomats know only a single Coil, their social skills still aid the covenant by helping convince other Kindred that The Ordo Dracul is not dangerous, does not intend to take over the city and will not bring down the wrath of God for doing what they do.
Of course, the truth of the matter is that The Ordo Dracul might very well be planning to take over the city. The central tenet of the covenant involves enacting change, and change is often bloody and difficult. The diplomats, however, aren’t always told the truth of the covenant’s intentions. The Dragons are well aware that plenty of supernatural and mundane methods exist to catch someone in a lie, so they feel that it is sometimes in the best interests of the covenant if the diplomat can be honest, even if his facts are wrong.
The Ordo Dracul seldom sends lone diplomats. Diplomat coteries usually contain one main figurehead, often a Daeva (though this is by no means universal). Other members of the coterie are expected to be good speakers as well, but each is supposed to have a clearly defined and understandable reason for being in the city. One might be a researcher, another a bodyguard and a third a technology expert. Of course, these distinctions are usually made for the benefit of the vampires in power, and even if the coterie does actually contain these niches, the Kindred aren’t always honest about which member of the coterie serves in what capacity. The short, bookish Dragon who makes a point of tripping and pointing out esoteric facts while in conversation with the city’s Acolyte Hierophant might actually be a terrifying combatant. The muscular man barely concealing the gun in his jacket might be fluent in dozens of languages and a metaphysical theoretician par excellence. The importance of misdirection while among enemies is not lost on The Ordo Dracul.
Diplomat coteries don’t normally include non-Order members at the outset, though circumstances sometimes align Kindred from other covenants with the Dragons in order to aid the cause… or keep an eye on them. In the true spirit of diplomacy, The Ordo Dracul Kindred don’t balk at this, but it’s an unspoken assumption on everyone’s part that if things go sour, the non-Order members in the group can expect to be abandoned or sold out.
Philosophy
No matter what a coterie’s function is, all the Kindred involved are still Dragons who follow (or are at least aware of) the central tenets of the covenant. Every coterie of Ordo Dracul Kindred is expected to practice The Coils of the Dragon, to observe and enact change on some level, to understand the nature of causality and change, and ultimately to work toward transcendence of the vampiric condition. This section explores how they work toward the covenant’s goals and cope with the Requiem while doing so.Causality and Change
Young Dragons are fond of saying that change is good. Elders agree with that sentiment, but caution that it is better expressed as, “Change is inevitable, and is therefore the will of God, and is therefore good.” Change, in and of itself, is arbitrary. Only by understanding the Creator’s will as expressed through a given change can the “goodness” of it truly be understood.That in mind, all six types of the coteries discussed in the beginning of this chapter have their own takes on causality and change as these concepts relate to their functions and memberships.
Students
Student coteries, as mentioned on p. 46, usually evolve into other types of Blood Covens after the members have become true members of the Order, but such is not always the case. At times, the Kindred become “perpetual students,” keeping their focus on learning Ordo Dracul philosophy. They differ from practical coteries in that they might know a great deal about The Coils of the Dragon but are able to implement comparatively little of what they know. (This discrepancy can be expressed in game terms by a high Occult rating, perhaps with a Specialty in The Coils of the Dragon, but few tiers in the actual “Discipline.”)Student coteries rarely put into direct practice their studies of causality and change, so busy are they with learning other Kindred’s thoughts on the matter (much like law students are taught precedents and theory). These coteries enact the tenets of the covenant by observing, by writing out treatises or by conducting controlled demonstrations of how a given change in the world is likely to affect it in a certain amount of time, and then waiting patiently to see if they were right. One of the reasons that the Dragons prefer coteries of students to lone pupils is that with several “classmates” watching over each other’s experiments, it is less tempting for a given Kindred to falsify her own results.
As the members of a student coterie learn about the Requiem and about the effect their actions have on the world around them, they typically lean toward other types of coteries. Some, however, remain students indefinitely, which typically happens for one of two reasons. Either the vampires of the coterie are using their Mentor, or the Mentor is using her students.
In the former case, the students conspire against their teacher, remaining with her as long as possible to soak up every conceivable drop of wisdom. They learn not only The Coils of the Dragon, but any other Disciplines and knowledge that the elder can teach them — languages, fighting techniques, archaic skills, city secrets. Anything that might be of use in the future is written down and absorbed. When the coterie feels that the elder has nothing more to teach, its members sometimes commit Diablerie on their elder. (Since they have learned everything about her, they know how to best strike with the least fear of repercussion.) Sometimes the students take credit openly for disposing of their Mentor, defending their actions by saying that everything that the elder knew is now in the keeping of a greater number of Kindred, meaning that it has a much reduced chance of being lost for good. (At this point, the coterie has “only” to worry about the Prince’s interpretation of the matter.) Besides, nothing is permanent, and the destruction of an elder is a superb object lesson of this. The covenant as a whole is ill equipped to punish an entire coterie, and besides, this defense makes a certain degree of sense, given the covenant’s tenets. Coteries that take this avenue would do well to remain out of sight for a good length of time after the deed is done, however. If the Kindred go on to threaten other elders of the covenant, they find that second chances are hard to come by, let alone the matter of Princes and city politics.
Not all such scenarios end in Diablerie, of course. Sometimes the students are content to simply leave their teacher behind, pursuing their own agendas. Consider, however, that an elder Dragon might have centuries worth of information to impart, and this kind of in-depth instruction can’t be distilled down to a semester or two (particularly if the students are interested in not only learning but mastering the material). Also, remember that all Dragons are supposed to be constantly learning, meaning that learning everything that a given Mentor has to offer is probably impossible, since that vampire is learning from another Mentor concurrently. By the time the students reach the point that they feel they have nothing left to learn, they might well be unwilling to harm the tutor who has shared so much with them. On the other hand, their Humanity might have dropped so sharply that they do it without a second thought.
In the case of a Mentor using her students, the Mentor is in a much more advantageous position, especially if her pupils are not receiving instruction from any other Dragons. The Mentor governs her students’ access to information and can therefore limit their progress and exposure to mystic secrets and skills that could potentially threaten her later on. She can also share tales, true and otherwise, of the bloody vengeance exacted upon Kindred who slay their elders and of the vast rewards of loyalty and service. Thus she trains not only capable Dragons but capable bodyguards as well.
For Kindred of truly advanced age, another, more sinister possibility exists. Elder Dragons who have progressed beyond the ability to feed on mortals might train their pupils in the best ways to capture or even diablerize other vampires. As the pupils bring their victims back to their patron, the elder is then able to feed from them, sometimes using a combination of emotional manipulation, Disciplines such as Majesty and Dominate, and promises of greater rewards to come. Thus he ensures that the pupils don’t even realize that they are being groomed not for greatness but for eventual consumption. This strategy is also a common fallback for elder vampires pursuing The Coil of Blood: In case the elder cannot reach the level of change necessary to avoid the stringent hunger of age, at least her students can satiate her.
Research and Investigation
Research coteries, like student coteries, usually observe change and causality rather than enacting it. The difference is that their studies are normally in preparation for action of some kind, whereas students simply observe for learning’s sake. Most members of Research coteries enter into such groups with a goal, be it for the covenant in general or their own personal fulfillment. The Dragons encourage their members to seek out their own goals; innovation is the best kind of change.During the course of investigation, Kindred are inevitably confronted with many different opportunities to observe, record and enact change on a variety of levels. They are urged to indulge their curiosity, but be aware that no change happens in a vacuum. This warning is especially applicable when Research coteries investigate Kindred history (which is common). Delving deeply into the religious lore of the vampires puts the Dragons into contact with devout members of the Sanctified, which, in turn, places Ordo Dracul Kindred in the position of debating philosophy with vampires who are often prepared to kill to underline their points. But a Dragon’s unlife isn’t the only thing she risks in this sort of investigation. She risks her loyalty as well. More than one member of the Order, after lengthy conversation with an elder Sanctified, has forsaken her covenant and converted… or met the sun in guilt. The covenant as a whole understands that loyalty is no more permanent than anything else, and that by leaving The Ordo Dracul, defectors are proving the Order’s theories. That doesn’t stop martial Blood Covens from occasionally being dispatched to “retrieve” such errant vampires, though.
Practical Philosophy
Of all of the different types of coterie found in The Ordo Dracul, the practical coterie espouses and exemplifies the covenant’s goals and philosophy most clearly. Such coteries seek out transcendence and change as their stated purpose. No unnecessary or laborious Research goes into these Kindred’s efforts, and they are usually on the cutting edge of the covenant’s theory and innovations. Many Dragons try to follow mortal technology and trends, but the practical coterie must do so. Its members want to spend as much time as possible achieving transcendence, which means that every hour that a PDA or another time-saving device gives them is another hour they can spend investigating the Kindred condition.Practical coteries tend to be the most respected of The Ordo Dracul. Other Dragons view these Kindred as the heart of the covenant, testing and applying the principles of change to the Requiem every night. Other types of coteries serve useful and necessary functions, true, but the practical coteries make the covenant what it truly is (see Status, p. 57, for more on this). The members of these coteries normally don’t capitalize on this respect. If they did, they wouldn’t be spending their energy on the practical applications of the Coils, and the respect would dry up in short order.
As well respected as these coteries are, however, they also tend to be the shortest-lived. The hazards of The Coils of the Dragon are myriad. Suspicious outsiders and the possibility of permanent frenzy are just two of the dangers. Very few practical coteries last for more than a few years with their membership completely intact. Some such coteries replace their members as Kindred suffer Final Death or lose interest in such a risky Requiem. Others simply drift apart, joining other coteries or settling back to teach younger Kindred. Many Dragons, however, have difficulty letting go of their practical philosophy. After all, they might be only a night’s practice away from exactly the right chant, the right mindset, to transcend their lifeless state and move on to whatever awaits them.
Martial
The two types of martial coterie, those that are assembled by the covenant’s elders and those that form organically, represent the Order’s interests in very different ways.Since they usually form in response to a threat to the covenant as a whole, assembled martial coteries are less concerned with the covenant’s philosophies than with its prolonged survival and prosperity. Martial coteries have limited time available to Research and practice The Coils of the Dragon. Instead, the members focus more on honing what skills they already have. Members of these coteries don’t concern themselves too much with understanding the impermanence of the world. They are more interested in preventing certain facets (fellow covenants members’ unlives, for instance, or Ordo Dracul power within an area) from changing. In a covenant that venerates and seeks to understand change, martial coteries make the most devout Dragons uncomfortable. If the covenant as a whole truly believed in its doctrine of observing and not impeding change, these coteries wouldn’t exist. The usual response to this argument is that only change that can be understood is of any real value to The Ordo Dracul, and change that results in setbacks for the covenant is nearly impossible to understand. (More realistic vampires admit that while it’s fine to argue that change is good and necessary, it’s something else again to give up a comfortable unlifestyle or submit oneself to the flames in the name of change.)
Assembled coteries’ members don’t usually become drawn into such debates, as they are too busy defending themselves and their covenants. Organic martial coteries, on the other hand, while they might not have any more time to engage in philosophy, often have the inclination to do so. After all, if the members formed a coterie by choice and are actively engaged in violence, again, by choice, they must have a compelling reason to do so. Are they resisting change? If so, why? Self-preservation isn’t usually a good enough answer, because even as phobic as most Kindred are about leaving a city, if remaining is too great a risk, flight becomes a worthy consideration. Working toward the covenant’s goals, likewise, doesn’t carry much weight. After a certain point, stepping back and observing becomes a truer representation of the mentality of The Ordo Dracul than trying to change the world in a random fashion. If the coterie has entered a conflict and adopted the cause with some passion, it is devoted to making a change. That kind of devotion is an expression of the covenant’s philosophies, and is, in the Dragons’ opinion, a worthy way to spend one’s unlife. Following a cause too far, though, leads a given Dragon to abandon the esoteric rigors of the covenant for the Carthians, or perhaps to abandon the politics of covenants altogether.
Guardians
Amassing mystical knowledge and protecting that knowledge is a means to an end for The Ordo Dracul and not an end in and of itself. Even so, guardian coteries are afforded respect and Resources in the execution of their duties. They facilitate the work that other Dragons do in discovering mystical secrets, and the covenant as a whole thanks them for it.That isn’t always enough, however.
Like martial coteries, guardian coteries are warriors in a covenant that prizes intelligence. While guardians are much more stable and are allowed to innovate more often than martial Dragons, they are still not engaged in their own Research, at least not with the sanction and backing of the covenant as a whole. This can be frustrating to their members, as they guard the haunted houses and nexuses of the world, never able to access their secrets.
Of course, The Ordo Dracul prizes innovations and, as a matter of policy, doesn’t mind being surprised. It happens sometimes that a guardian coterie uncovers a secret that a Research coterie cannot (sometimes with the result that the Research coterie is disbanded and the guardian coterie replaces them). This typically takes place when the guardians break the rules and experiment with whatever it is that they are guarding, but rules, after all, are impermanent just like everything else. Sometimes mavericks in the covenant are placed into guardian coteries as “punishment,” with the unspoken hope that they will rise above the position and bring the covenant greater wisdom. Sometimes, of course, this punishment is afforded to Dragons who think of themselves as mavericks, but are simply hopeless with respect to The Coils of the Dragon. Both types of Dragons might be placed in the same coterie, whereupon the question becomes whether the true mavericks will lead by example or be dragged down by the slower members.
No matter what the ultimate goal is behind assembling a guardian coterie, the members of the group must be trusted members of the covenant. (Typically each member already has at least one dot in the Covenant Status Merit.) After all, guardians, even more than martial Dragons, are put in positions where they can betray their covenant and give away sensitive information. While innovative thinking is a positive thing for any Ordo Dracul Kindred, those vampires who are asked to guard the covenant’s prized properties and possessions must be loyal first. Occasionally, a coterie of guardians is assigned to “protect” a place or person of no real importance, just to flush out lurking enemies of the covenant. Cagey elder Dragons recognize that this sort of deception ultimately results in the guardians either being destroyed or rising to the challenging situation, and either is an acceptable change.
Guardians who are assigned to protect Kogaions are afforded not only Status in the covenant and the Resources to do their jobs well, but every word they say and every suggestion they make is taken under advisement. If the coterie is trusted with the Requiem of a Kogaion, it is worthy of respect.
Diplomacy
Like practical coteries, diplomats are charged with changing the Requiem to better suit The Ordo Dracul. Unlike practical coteries, however, diplomatic coteries aren’t necessarily making those changes through mystic innovation, so they don’t always get the respect they deserve from other Dragons. When a city’s Prince allows the Order to establish Elysium around a mystic site, however, or banishes an unbound or rabble-rouser who’s antagonistic toward the Order, the covenant usually has a diplomatic coterie to thank for it.Diplomats need to be conversant in the Order’s core beliefs, but they can’t be fanatical about them unless they hide their fanaticism very well. Like all politicians, members of diplomatic coteries need to be proficient at saying whatever is necessary to keep things running smoothly while still pursuing their agendas. Safe to say, then, that the greatest liars of the covenant find their homes among The Ordo Dracul’s diplomats.
Methodology
The methods that the various types of Ordo Dracul coteries use to achieve their goals and to overcome the challenges that they face necessarily vary. The covenant prides itself on recruiting innovators, and so doesn’t place much stock in “tried and true” methods. The Order knows that “tried and true” can become “stale and predictable” in very short order. That said, the Dragons do have certain avenues of approach that they have found consistently useful, and certain problems that will always need addressing.Tactics
Whether the goal of a Blood Coven is to amass information, defend a location or develop a new ritual, a few general avenues of approach have worked well for the covenant in years past, and are still taught to young Kindred.Learn Then Act
Entire coteries are devoted to Research and investigation, and with good reason. With incomplete information, the first tier of a Coil can plunge a vampire into madness, and that lesson is just as applicable to the Requiem as to The Coils of the Dragon. A martial coterie that doesn’t take the time to learn about its foes is going to end up destroyed, just as a practical Blood Coven that jumps into an attempted transcendence without taking the time to make sure it is ready should be grateful if the ritual simply fails.Research can involve spending hours poring over books, digging through computer files and assimilating the information… but it doesn’t always. (That sort of thing isn’t very interesting to roleplay, anyway.) Even coteries devoted to Research spend much of their time in the field, sifting through physical evidence left by a mystical occurrence, gathering samples to subject to experiments later and even more mundane forms of investigation such as taking photographs and interviewing witnesses and experts. Of course, where vampires are concerned, this involves finding the experts and witnesses first, which can involve an entirely different set of investigation. Small wonder, then, that most Dragons have some degree of proficiency at detective tactics, no matter what the function of their coterie is.
Use All Possible Resources
Elder Dragons tell stories about how Egyptian cities were conquered when invaders marched into battle carrying cats. The Egyptians, being cat-worshippers, refused to fight, and simply surrendered. This kind of lateral thinking is one of the qualities The Ordo Dracul looks for in new members. Dragon coteries are told not to shy away from making alliances in strange quarters, using psychological warfare or (though it’s not usually stated outright) breaking The Traditions and the laws of a city to achieve their goals. When this tactic is questioned by moralistic Kindred of any covenant, the response is simple and predictable: Nothing is permanent, laws included. By breaking the laws, the Dragons are simply looking to the future. (Kindred who point out that this attitude is self-serving usually receive a response of, “Yes, but that doesn’t mean we’re wrong.”)Therefore, Ordo Dracul coteries might be found making deals with Kindred of other covenants, influencing mortal authorities, poisoning a Prince’s Herd, allying with mortal mages, stirring up trouble among Lupines or any of a hundred other underhanded and dangerous tactics. The covenant as a whole encourages this sort of behavior but does add one caveat: Every action has a reaction, so be prepared for it.
Patience is a Virtue
Dragons’ schemes and tactics can play themselves out in a matter of nights, but just as often they are circuitous and Byzantine. Again, this refers back to the covenant’s central tenet: Nothing is permanent. If a coterie can afford to wait for a given change to happen naturally before putting another plan into effect, that coterie is less likely to ruffle feathers among other Kindred. It isn’t uncommon to see Ordo Dracul coteries waiting for a troublesome mortal to die of old age rather than murdering him, or waiting for the owners of a house that sat on a ley line to put the house up for sale rather than Dominating them into moving. Or at least, this patience wasn’t uncommon in years past.Modern society doesn’t have much in the way of patience, and since Dragons keep abreast of the times, they unfortunately are beginning to adopt this emphasis on accomplishing their goals now. After all, technology provides the means for speedy results, so why not use them? Elders of the covenant have a hard time arguing with this. After all, the world is changing, so why not change with it? What concerns them is the notion that other Kindred might simply apply the lesson of patience, wait for the technology to fail or for the consequences of haste to catch up with The Ordo Dracul, and then strike decisively.
Challenges
Regardless, the overarching goals of a Dragon coterie, some challenges remain consistent. The methods of dealing with them can be as varied as the individual Kindred making up the Blood Coven, of course, and therein lies the covenant’s greatest strength.The Coils of the Dragon
Through the use of the Coils, the Dragons are capable of some miraculous feats. No matter how dense the philosophy of change and transcendence becomes, however, the curses under which vampires labor are in place for a reason, and The Coils of the Dragon circumvent natural laws. This carries risks.Progression along any of the three Coils is called “chrysalis.” The vampire in question is changing the nature of her Requiem. A chrysalis involves testing the limits of the vampiric condition, reading and understanding the teachings of others of the covenant, and spending time in Meditation in which the Kindred attempts to force the desired changes on herself. Doing so can result in the Kindred sidestepping one of the banes of her existence… or it can result in that bane becoming more acute. A vampire unsuccessfully attempting to learn one of the tiers on The Coil of Blood, for instance, might find that regardless of her Blood Potency, only Kindred Vitae nourishes her. Or, she might burn through Vitae at an accelerated rate, requiring two Vitae per night to animate her undead body.
Righteous Wrath
Of all of the covenants of Kindred, The Ordo Dracul is one of the most likely to see alliances form against it. The Dragons hold an advantage that no other covenant can boast, and whether out of fear, jealousy or genuine feelings of moral outrage, other Kindred do band together against them. When this happens, the Dragons are often troubled severely, as their opponents employ Kindred who are adept at rooting them out and pressure other vampires into blackballing or even destroying the blasphemers. Ordo Dracul Kindred, then, try to stop this kind of behavior before it starts.The best means of doing so is the diplomatic coterie. These Blood Covens try to be accessible and accepting while they are in other covenants’ territory, and they also try to avoid all of the worst stereotypes of The Ordo Dracul. In particular, they avoid flaunting their Coils visibly, unless asked, and they don’t answer questions evasively. Making cryptic comments about the arcane power of the covenant might be a suitable tactic for guardians involved in psychological warfare, but it leaves much to be desired when trying to gain the trust (or at least allay the fears) of an Invictus Prince.
Humanity
The greatest challenge to a coterie of Dragons (and indeed to the covenant as a whole) is the simple fact that transcending the vampiric condition involves leaving Humanity behind as well. While a Kindred doesn’t have to become a monster in her studies, many do, or at least become detached and incomprehensible. Therefore, any coterie of the covenant can benefit from a confessor, though martial and practical coteries are most likely to include one.A Blood Coven’s confessor is technically a member of the covenant, but one who does not study The Coils of the Dragon or no longer does. (Some Kindred who find the blasphemy of the Coils too much to bear sometimes take on this role.) Her role in the coterie is, as the title suggests, hearing confession from the other members. She cannot, however, absolve their sin, because once the world is changed, no amount of contrition can change it back. All she can do is prevent the Kindred from sliding any further. Therefore, a confessor acts as psychologist to her fellow Dragons, helping them to understand the drives of the Beast and accept that their metamorphosis could result in the Beast gaining power. She helps them prevent themselves from sliding any further into degradation than they have to, but as no moral “thermometer” exists to measure a vampire’s Humanity, the task is largely instinctive.
If a Dragon has slid beyond the level that his enlightenment justifies (in the confessor’s opinion), she might advise him to take time off from his role in the coterie and attempt to come to grips with his Humanity. Some confessors even accompany their fellows on this journey, helping to make sure that the subject doesn’t fall even farther. The role of confessor is a respected one, but as it requires a Kindred who is willing to subscribe to the philosophy of The Ordo Dracul but not enjoy its greatest benefit, very few of them exist. Most coteries must police themselves, with each member watching the others… but with each member slowly eroding his own Humanity, it takes a great deal of objectivity and self-realization for this arrangement to work.
Status
Power — temporal power — changes hands frequently in the Danse Macabre. While some Ordo Dracul coteries don’t seek political power in a city’s vampiric infrastructure, others see the fluid nature of praxis, subinfeudation and the nightly pageant of politics as the penultimate expression of change and adaptation.In some cities, this isn’t a problem. Coteries of Dragons can exist within another covenant’s political structure, sometimes even taking roles in the city’s vampiric government. (This is much more likely in, say, an Invictus city than a Lancea Sanctum one.) In some cities, though, even to take an observer’s role the Dragons must change the city’s nights. Change, fortunately, is their specialty.
Ordo Dracul Cities
When a Blood Coven comes to power in a domain that already has Dragons in power, what sets that coterie apart from others in their covenant distinguishes them. After all, almost every Dragon has some degree of proficiency in the Coils, so an up-and-coming Blood Coven can’t trade on that proficiency and expect to gain much Status within the covenant. (They can try, of course, but the curve is extremely steep.) When the powerful Dragons of a city notice a young coterie of their covenant gaining prominence, however, that coterie finds itself under a magnifying glass as the elders of the covenant watch to see how the coterie changes the city.One Kindred can vastly alter a domain, depending on how he feeds and what sort of unlife he leads. A coterie of vampires can indirectly affect how tax dollars are spent, what the local police focus on, what local interest groups campaign for and more, simply based on who they hunt. The fact that the act of feeding is so basic, yet carries such far-reaching consequences isn’t lost on the cerebral Dragons. Since elders of the covenant in a given place are likely already set into some sort of routine, a rising Blood Coven provides an opportunity to see what kind of change a group of Kindred can enact. Therefore, regardless of the type of coterie, a group of young Kindred in an Ordo Dracul city is rarely alone. Yet it is rarely punished for minor transgressions, either. The goal isn’t to stifle potential but to observe results.
As the new Dragons settle into their own routines, focus shifts off them, though Ordo Dracul elders often like to know what members of their covenant are doing in a general sense. What the coterie has done to that point, however, the elders see as indicative of a given “generation” of Kindred, and they tend to use the coterie’s actions to set policy. Canny Dragons realize this early on and structure their activities to set changes in place that will benefit them down the line.
Miracles
Over the centuries, The Ordo Dracul has found that populated areas seem to increase in mystical activity and power if many of the mortals living there are devout in some form of faith. In the modern World of Darkness, however, faith is a rare commodity. In cities where the Order holds power, it has occasionally given young coteries the task of raising the average “faith level” of a city. Since vampires aren’t inclined to start preaching on the streets, though, more germane measures are usually involved.To wit, the elders sometimes ask young Blood Covens, those concerned with practical philosophy especially, to selectively break the Masquerade with the ultimate goal of leading people to believe. The elders have a few very strict rules about these breaches, though. First, they should never be structured so that a witness thinks she saw a vampire (meaning no feeding, changing into wolves, displays of superhuman strength or other “classic” vampire legends). Second, a miracle should involve more than one person. If only one person tells a story of a supernatural occurrence, it’s easy to write that person off as a lunatic. If an entire subway train full of people witnesses a mugger falling dead of fright, however, the skeptics must admit that something happened. Finally, the characters can leave no verifiable evidence behind. They must not allow themselves to be photographed or recorded in any other way. This ast rule isn’t just about the Masquerade, but about the ultimate goal of the action. Proof denies faith, after all. Certainly, The Ordo Dracul isn’t alone in this exercise. Even if they don’t have the same goals in mind, other vampires are bound to break the Masquerade in one form or another. Other supernatural creatures test the limits of mortal faith nightly. Indeed, the even less understood aspects of the World of Darkness — the unknowable but palpable horrors and strangenesses that lurk beyond men’s realm of vision — do their part as well. It might simply be that The Ordo Dracul has more in common with this strangeness than their fellow Kindred do.
Enemy Territory
Ordo Dracul Kindred who set out to make names for themselves in cities where other Kindred factions hold sway had best be very careful. While any Prince worth the title is aware of active coteries in his city, members of a Blood Coven run the risk of being branded blasphemers and exiled if they are flagrant with their studies. On the other hand, the unique nature of The Ordo Dracul means that just as many political Contacts want to cozy up to the Dragons as nurture suspicions about them. Depending on what faction holds the most power in the city, the coterie can expect different responses and avenues of approach.Invictus
Provided that the coterie respects the Prince’s (probably extensive) laws and keeps the Masquerade intact, it should be able to coexist with an Invictus government. The Kindred might find themselves embroiled in the low blows of high politics, but any coterie in a First Estate city runs that risk. Many Invictus Princes are willing to take Dragon advisors or turn a blind eye to the coterie’s activities in exchange for counsel or instruction.As an Ordo Dracul coterie grows in power in Invictus domains, the Prince is likely to demand greater obeisance from the Blood Coven, wishing to know where it is and what it is doing at all times, and ask annoying questions like, “What’s so important about that old house?” Not answering those questions can result in scrutiny from the Prince’s Sheriff (or worse, the Hound) or drive the Prince to undercut the coterie by (for example) decreeing the old house to fall within a hostile Regent’s tenurial domain.
Carthians
In cities where The Carthian Movement has taken power, the Dragons often become staunch supporters. The Carthians can’t restrict the Order’s activities without looking like hypocrites, and since the Order doesn’t wish to take power away from the people, the two covenants have very little to fight over. On the surface, in fact, it would seem that they have much in common. Both covenants revere change, both would prefer their members to think for themselves, and both ask that their coteries not waste time with pointless pomp and circumstance when they could be out doing something.The problem is that the two covenants’ attitudes on change are actually very different. In particular, The Ordo Dracul doesn’t view change itself as a good or bad thing, but rather sees it as a way to understand the world and God’s intention. The covenants, therefore, can conflict on a “church vs. state” level. The Carthians believe in transferring all power to the people, while the Order never forgets that true power rests with knowledge and understanding.
Circle of the Crone
When the Acolytes claim praxis, The Ordo Dracul tends to be very curious about it. The Dragons might dismissively believe that the Circle of the Crone is fundamentally flawed in its philosophies because its members don’t concern themselves with more metaphysical matters, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t fascinated by the lore and worship practices the Acolytes espouse. That in mind, when the Dragons discover the Circle’s presence in a city, whether or not that presence is indicative of the city’s policies, they tend to try to involve themselves as much as possible. Doing so typically involves special coteries mixing the attributes of diplomatic and Research Blood Covens, whose members then try to ingratiate themselves with the Acolytes enough to witness their bloody rites.How the Circle reacts to these efforts depends largely on the members in question, but the response can be anything from guarded acceptance to violent rejection. The Dragons are, of course, fascinated in any case.
The Lancea Sanctum
The Lancea Sanctum often defaults to the belief that the Dragons are blasphemers, which makes unlife difficult for any Ordo Dracul coterie that must operate within Sanctified domains. Blood Covens that must operate within such cities typically find themselves hard pressed to earn any appreciable Status. In extreme cases, the coterie occasionally becomes little more than a pack of fugitives in the eyes of the Bishop. Elder Dragons are sympathetic to such coteries’ plights, and give them what aid is possible, but unless a very compelling reason exists to remain in Sanctified territory (for instance, a powerful mystical site), the usual advice is simply to lie low. After all, the Kindred in power will change in time.The properties of the Blood are transcendental; the Blood is concerned not with death but with our mode of surpassing death. And yet, we are not the sum of our states. We may learn much by observing the others of our kind.
— Dr. Miranda Estes, “Beyond Post-Mortem”
— Dr. Miranda Estes, “Beyond Post-Mortem”
Type
Alliance, Generic
Ruling Organization
The Created Coterie
Because Embracing a mortal is a supreme act of will, no vampire enters into it lightly. (Many commit the act for the wrong reasons, yes, but it still isn’t something done without purpose.) Occasionally, a small group of Dragons Embraces childer for the express purpose of forming them into a coterie. This “created coterie” begins as a student coterie, typically learning under the sires of each of its members, and progresses naturally from there. The difference is that none of these Kindred has seen much of the Requiem beyond the covenant. The result is that the sires of the created coterie’s members are able to observe their transition from mortal to vampire to Dragon every step of the way. The created coterie is an experiment in change on a practical level. Of course, the members of the created coterie are rarely told this. No one likes learning that they have been damned for all eternity because of someone’s psychology project.Share and Share Alike
Mortal academia is fairly cutthroat. Professors and scholars struggle to publish within their given fields and not only produce engaging and interesting work, but do so before their colleagues can do so. (The common maxim is “publish or perish,” though James Thurber probably hit closer to the mark with, “Don’t get it right, just get it written.”) The Ordo Dracul draws a good percentage of its membership from academia, and this competitive attitude follows. When discussing the Coils of the Dragon rather than literary deconstructionism, however, much more is at stake than professional acclaim or pride. The very souls of the Kindred involved could be the price of jealousy and peevishness.That doesn’t always matter, though. A vampire who has spent a decade looking for an exacting rite might avoid sharing her work with other Dragons, simply because she is afraid they might progress to a more complex Coil then claim the credit. Dragons often desire not only the direct rewards of their labors, but the credit for those labors as well, and vampires, like mortals, don’t share well.
Most Dragons enter into coteries with a spoken agreement to share findings, theories and (eventually) accolades with their fellows. This kind of communication and professional respect is quite rare in practice, however, and is most often seen in martial and guardian coteries. (When one’s unlife is on the line, such petty concerns do tend to fade.)
The Wyrm's Nests
Being chosen to participate in finding the Wyrm’s Nests is a great honor among the Ordo Dracul. Often, the most promising Dragons from several different coteries form or are placed together into a special investigative coterie and sent to investigate and map a specific area. Once the mapmaking is complete, the members of these coteries are allowed to return to their usual duties and routines.Not all of them do, of course. Dragons who are placed together with others of their own skill and intelligence often find that they have much to teach each other, and remain together even when their duties are complete. Mentors often discourage this practice. They likely stand to lose students, and then are left with the thorny proposition of explaining to any remaining pupils why the Dragon who was at the head of the class has been promoted a “best of the best” coterie. Murder has been committed over less than being left behind thus.
Executioners
The Ordo Dracul understands that it cannot keep the Coils of the Dragon to itself. The Dragons might like for it to remain their exclusive domain, but that isn’t the case, and they must content themselves with the fact that advancement in these practices is difficult without an Ordo Dracul tutor. In fact, instruction in the Coils is one of the strongest bargaining chips the covenant can offer when trying to win support among Kindred of other covenants.That said, some secrets, and therefore some Kindred, cannot leave the covenant. Most notably, Kogaions who attempt to defect to other covenants usually don’t survive long, but occasionally, a Dragon in a lesser position knows secrets or lore so essential that if she attempts to leave the Order, a coterie is assembled to kill her.
These executioner coteries are formed in much the same way as other martial coteries, with two main exceptions. First, they are always told as much about their quarry as is known. Often, in fact, at least one member of the coterie is a former student of the target. Second, once the target is dead, the members are richly rewarded and then separated. Sometimes, elders of the covenant even employ liberal uses of the Dominate Discipline to cloud or erase memories of the mission. The Ordo Dracul doesn’t wish stories of sanctioned execution to circulate, at least not in any verifiable form.
Using Confessors
This position of confessor offers a tangible degree of relief and guidance to other Dragons. The following system is for players and Storytellers who are interested in the confessor’s role.A confessor serves to keep her fellows following the precepts of Humanity. If the confessor hears a Dragon’s confession of a sin or transgression against Humanity, the Dragon in question gains three “phantom” experience points to use toward raising his Humanity if the sin in question caused him to lose any. They are not real experience points to be recorded on the character sheet — they merely represent the confessor’s efforts to keep the character on a reliable moral track. These experience points apply only to raising Humanity, and they must be used the next time the character spends experience points, otherwise they are lost. The confessor grants these “phantom” experience points only once per experience expenditure period. A character may not receive additional experience points for confessing multiple times (though confessing multiple times for multiple crimes is certainly a good roleplaying method of justifying spending actual experience points).
Storytellers, keep a close watch on players who want to be confessors. Be sure to allow confessors portrayed by players to allow the experience-point bonus only if they themselves uphold the duties of the confessor as well as abstaining from learning further Coils of the Dragon.