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Hello!
I've read with great interest the nuCamarilla-bashing thread by MyWifeIsScary : it inspired me to look back at Metaplot, and think about how the nuCamarilla can make sense.
Actually, I think that the nuCamarilla is a sound and interesting concept, if we contextualize it properly. So, please follow me in this short journey in the vicissitudes of the Camarilla.
Night in the trenches
Let's look back at how life in a Camarilla city was painted through the different editions.
In Camarilla society, creating a new Vampire is quite a big deal: you have to ask permission to your Prince, and engage in all sorts of political maneuvering. Progeny is nurtured and trained, often Embraced to carry on some very specific duties.
When we first met the Sabbat, it was a shadowy terrorist organization, recruiting those fascinated by the forbidden fruit of Diablerie: only a few Kindred had ever heard of it. However, in just a few years, Sabbat crusades invaded most of American cities.
What did this mean?
The new Sabbat Civil War of the 50s and 60s had probably weakened the Sect enough to put on hold great offensives against Camarilla cities: at the beginning of the 90s, most Neonates had experienced conflict mostly in the form of mild Anarch subversion and the occasional Lupines and Hunters, who served as a cautionary tale to careless Kindred. The fall of the powerful Chicago Camarilla at the hands of Lupines instigated by the Sabbat had probably been to Kindred in Nord America a seminal event: the problem is, that massacre was just the beginning.
From the end of the 90s up to 2004, the Sabbat crawled out of its nest, and Crusades swept most of North America for the better part of a decade, followed by Kue-Jin invasion in the West: it was a period of intense backstabbing, open battles in the streets, Vozhd smashing through Elysium and Chantries, dead princes.
In the end, the Sabbat over-reached, Camarilla took New York and a new Civil War loomed, as the blame game for the defeat of the North American Crusade and the assassination of the Regent started.
The American Camarilla had changed a lot: the nightlife of most American Kindred had become very dangerous, many young Kindred got destroyed, along with their Sires and patrons, and many others were Embraced for purely military reasons. Princes, who had strongly defended their autonomy, were now in constant relation with Archons and Justicars, their cities used as pawns on a continental chessboard.
Just like WWI, the Sabbat Crusades sent shockwaves throughout the wider Kindred society: lots of Neonates had been rushed into Embrace and had survived vicious fights, Anarchs were riding the wave of their successful resistance against the Kue-Jin and the human tensions on the global economic crisis, and many Elders and Domains had been lost during the war. What was worse, the conflict had attracted unwanted Human attention, putting the Masquerade in danger.
Just like Europe after WWI, Camarilla soon found itself on the brink of chaos.
A mutilated victory
As the Second Inquisition rose, unprepared Camarilla domains started to fall, especially after the leak in Schrecknet. First, it was some isolated fiefdoms: then, it became London, Berlin, Paris, Wien. For a while, the Camarilla elders tried to fight back: they correctly understood technology had caused their defeat, but instead of accepting they were dinosaurs and needed to put themselves in touch with the modern world, they tried to put the blame on Anarchs and youngsters.
To make things worse, the Week of Nightmares and the first sign of the Beckoning arrived, and panic spread like wildfire: a whole Clan annihilated, and Elders suddenly disappearing? Gehenna was coming!
The fall of Wien also brought chaos in Clan Tremere: just recovered from the second Massasa War against the Order of Hermes, the Tremere were already rife with tensions between traditionalist elders, ambitious ancillae frustrated in their thaumaturgical experiments, and oppressed neonates. With the Tremere / Goratrix / Saulot / Tzimisce charade degenerating in a hidden war between manipulated Regents and Pontiffs, the fall of the Council of Seven caused chaos: cutting edge thaumaturgist were recruited by the reborn House Goratrix, while survivors of the war against Hermetics and recent neonates were easy prey of the message of House Carna. The House of Tremere stood, but the Pyramid was severely harmed.
As tension between Elders and Neonates exploded, and prophets of Apocalypse spread around domains, those in the Camarilla who really had faced the battlefield decided to act: the war against the Sabbat and the increased attention to the Red List had put Archons and their elite, the Josians, in a unique position. What was at stake was once again the survival of Vampires … and if the Inquisition rooted out weaklings, be they careless neonates or senescent elders, the result would have been a stronger race.
The convention of Prague was the stage for nothing less than a coup: the expulsion of Gangrel and Brujah supporters of the Anarchs, and the killing of Hardestadt, paved the way for the rise of Lucinde, life-long Archon and now “Justicar for Life” of Clan Ventrue.
Scorched earth
See, after a few years of war the Archons had realized that the Inquisition didn’t want to burn vampires in the central square: their idea was to exterminate them without the world noticing. So, scorched earth was the new tactic: after all, now, the Camarilla had plenty of Anarchs to let burn.
While the Inquisition crushed vampiric dissidents, Camarilla retreated to the underground and fortified Elysia. Also, being a global conspiracy for some 500 years gives you a huge advantage in stopping another conspiracy from achieving the same result: Ventrue money and Toreador media helped the rise of nationalist politicians, who polarized and divided their societies, undermined efforts at international cooperation and also, a useful byproduct, increased the numbers of the marginalized, the discriminated against and the undesirable, creating new venues for safe hunting.
The technology ban appeased conservative elders and miminized exposure: but the response to the Second Inquisition couldn’t be just reactionary. Fascist regimes after WWI rose thanks to the alliance between conservative elites and radicalized veterans, but soon organized themselves as mass regimes: Lucinde and their allies reached out to potential new allies.
Strange bedfellows
The Inquisition had hit Camarilla hard, but Sabbat harder: when you are training human-abusing terrorists, you are basically asking for retribution. With the sect torn between the Civil War and the Gehenna Crusade, many Sabbat were just trying to survive.
Allowing Blood Cults in the Camarilla was a huge remake of Operation Paperclip: whole packs were recruited by Camarilla emissaries. In exchange for “freedom of religion”, organized militia of fanatics and Sect wars’ veterans were brought into the Sect, and sent fighting against the Inquisition and the Anarchs.
Next, the Assamites: sure, also the Setites had asked to join the Camarilla, but ehy … you put Gnostic subversives against law-abiding elite warriors and sorcerers, there’s really no contest. Also because Assamites brought with them much needed sorcerous skill and an alliance with the Ashirra.
And finally the Lasombra: their defection wasn’t much different from post-Soviet transition. A group of well connected elites had recognized that the old system wasn’t able to serve their interest anymore: so they threw it under the bus, along with everyone who was too invested with it, and with this they paid the price for admission in a new club. Sure, it was something ruthless, violent and many of the petitioners fell themselves: but again, those who survived brought their contacts in the Church with them, and reaped the fruits from those who had not survived.
The Camarilla was drastically changed in a few years: in many places, gone were the old snobbish and cultured Elysia. After all, when you are living in an increasingly strict semi-fascist regime, you have to enjoy your newfound sense of security, or else you will feel oppressed. Elysia, accomodating the needs of former Sabbat and Assamite recruits, became small fortresses where vampires could truly be themselves, as bloody and anachronistic as they wished.
Of course, not everyone was happy with the new course: “progressive” princes like Kevin Jackson or the Brujah Ellenes stood up for the old secular, cosmopolitan, and bureaucratic Camarilla. But, well … you need politics, in a political horror game!
So, this is my idea of how the nuCamarilla makes sense in the “historical evolution” of the setting: it may be a bit of headcanon, a bit of me connecting the dots I’ve seen in some sourcebooks, but I think it makes sense, and gives sense and direction to the nuCamarilla.
What do you think?
I've read with great interest the nuCamarilla-bashing thread by MyWifeIsScary : it inspired me to look back at Metaplot, and think about how the nuCamarilla can make sense.
Actually, I think that the nuCamarilla is a sound and interesting concept, if we contextualize it properly. So, please follow me in this short journey in the vicissitudes of the Camarilla.
Night in the trenches
Let's look back at how life in a Camarilla city was painted through the different editions.
In Camarilla society, creating a new Vampire is quite a big deal: you have to ask permission to your Prince, and engage in all sorts of political maneuvering. Progeny is nurtured and trained, often Embraced to carry on some very specific duties.
When we first met the Sabbat, it was a shadowy terrorist organization, recruiting those fascinated by the forbidden fruit of Diablerie: only a few Kindred had ever heard of it. However, in just a few years, Sabbat crusades invaded most of American cities.
What did this mean?
The new Sabbat Civil War of the 50s and 60s had probably weakened the Sect enough to put on hold great offensives against Camarilla cities: at the beginning of the 90s, most Neonates had experienced conflict mostly in the form of mild Anarch subversion and the occasional Lupines and Hunters, who served as a cautionary tale to careless Kindred. The fall of the powerful Chicago Camarilla at the hands of Lupines instigated by the Sabbat had probably been to Kindred in Nord America a seminal event: the problem is, that massacre was just the beginning.
From the end of the 90s up to 2004, the Sabbat crawled out of its nest, and Crusades swept most of North America for the better part of a decade, followed by Kue-Jin invasion in the West: it was a period of intense backstabbing, open battles in the streets, Vozhd smashing through Elysium and Chantries, dead princes.
In the end, the Sabbat over-reached, Camarilla took New York and a new Civil War loomed, as the blame game for the defeat of the North American Crusade and the assassination of the Regent started.
The American Camarilla had changed a lot: the nightlife of most American Kindred had become very dangerous, many young Kindred got destroyed, along with their Sires and patrons, and many others were Embraced for purely military reasons. Princes, who had strongly defended their autonomy, were now in constant relation with Archons and Justicars, their cities used as pawns on a continental chessboard.
Just like WWI, the Sabbat Crusades sent shockwaves throughout the wider Kindred society: lots of Neonates had been rushed into Embrace and had survived vicious fights, Anarchs were riding the wave of their successful resistance against the Kue-Jin and the human tensions on the global economic crisis, and many Elders and Domains had been lost during the war. What was worse, the conflict had attracted unwanted Human attention, putting the Masquerade in danger.
Just like Europe after WWI, Camarilla soon found itself on the brink of chaos.
A mutilated victory
As the Second Inquisition rose, unprepared Camarilla domains started to fall, especially after the leak in Schrecknet. First, it was some isolated fiefdoms: then, it became London, Berlin, Paris, Wien. For a while, the Camarilla elders tried to fight back: they correctly understood technology had caused their defeat, but instead of accepting they were dinosaurs and needed to put themselves in touch with the modern world, they tried to put the blame on Anarchs and youngsters.
To make things worse, the Week of Nightmares and the first sign of the Beckoning arrived, and panic spread like wildfire: a whole Clan annihilated, and Elders suddenly disappearing? Gehenna was coming!
The fall of Wien also brought chaos in Clan Tremere: just recovered from the second Massasa War against the Order of Hermes, the Tremere were already rife with tensions between traditionalist elders, ambitious ancillae frustrated in their thaumaturgical experiments, and oppressed neonates. With the Tremere / Goratrix / Saulot / Tzimisce charade degenerating in a hidden war between manipulated Regents and Pontiffs, the fall of the Council of Seven caused chaos: cutting edge thaumaturgist were recruited by the reborn House Goratrix, while survivors of the war against Hermetics and recent neonates were easy prey of the message of House Carna. The House of Tremere stood, but the Pyramid was severely harmed.
As tension between Elders and Neonates exploded, and prophets of Apocalypse spread around domains, those in the Camarilla who really had faced the battlefield decided to act: the war against the Sabbat and the increased attention to the Red List had put Archons and their elite, the Josians, in a unique position. What was at stake was once again the survival of Vampires … and if the Inquisition rooted out weaklings, be they careless neonates or senescent elders, the result would have been a stronger race.
The convention of Prague was the stage for nothing less than a coup: the expulsion of Gangrel and Brujah supporters of the Anarchs, and the killing of Hardestadt, paved the way for the rise of Lucinde, life-long Archon and now “Justicar for Life” of Clan Ventrue.
Scorched earth
See, after a few years of war the Archons had realized that the Inquisition didn’t want to burn vampires in the central square: their idea was to exterminate them without the world noticing. So, scorched earth was the new tactic: after all, now, the Camarilla had plenty of Anarchs to let burn.
While the Inquisition crushed vampiric dissidents, Camarilla retreated to the underground and fortified Elysia. Also, being a global conspiracy for some 500 years gives you a huge advantage in stopping another conspiracy from achieving the same result: Ventrue money and Toreador media helped the rise of nationalist politicians, who polarized and divided their societies, undermined efforts at international cooperation and also, a useful byproduct, increased the numbers of the marginalized, the discriminated against and the undesirable, creating new venues for safe hunting.
The technology ban appeased conservative elders and miminized exposure: but the response to the Second Inquisition couldn’t be just reactionary. Fascist regimes after WWI rose thanks to the alliance between conservative elites and radicalized veterans, but soon organized themselves as mass regimes: Lucinde and their allies reached out to potential new allies.
Strange bedfellows
The Inquisition had hit Camarilla hard, but Sabbat harder: when you are training human-abusing terrorists, you are basically asking for retribution. With the sect torn between the Civil War and the Gehenna Crusade, many Sabbat were just trying to survive.
Allowing Blood Cults in the Camarilla was a huge remake of Operation Paperclip: whole packs were recruited by Camarilla emissaries. In exchange for “freedom of religion”, organized militia of fanatics and Sect wars’ veterans were brought into the Sect, and sent fighting against the Inquisition and the Anarchs.
Next, the Assamites: sure, also the Setites had asked to join the Camarilla, but ehy … you put Gnostic subversives against law-abiding elite warriors and sorcerers, there’s really no contest. Also because Assamites brought with them much needed sorcerous skill and an alliance with the Ashirra.
And finally the Lasombra: their defection wasn’t much different from post-Soviet transition. A group of well connected elites had recognized that the old system wasn’t able to serve their interest anymore: so they threw it under the bus, along with everyone who was too invested with it, and with this they paid the price for admission in a new club. Sure, it was something ruthless, violent and many of the petitioners fell themselves: but again, those who survived brought their contacts in the Church with them, and reaped the fruits from those who had not survived.
The Camarilla was drastically changed in a few years: in many places, gone were the old snobbish and cultured Elysia. After all, when you are living in an increasingly strict semi-fascist regime, you have to enjoy your newfound sense of security, or else you will feel oppressed. Elysia, accomodating the needs of former Sabbat and Assamite recruits, became small fortresses where vampires could truly be themselves, as bloody and anachronistic as they wished.
Of course, not everyone was happy with the new course: “progressive” princes like Kevin Jackson or the Brujah Ellenes stood up for the old secular, cosmopolitan, and bureaucratic Camarilla. But, well … you need politics, in a political horror game!
So, this is my idea of how the nuCamarilla makes sense in the “historical evolution” of the setting: it may be a bit of headcanon, a bit of me connecting the dots I’ve seen in some sourcebooks, but I think it makes sense, and gives sense and direction to the nuCamarilla.
What do you think?
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