Vampire/Theme/Covenants

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The Vampire Covenants
While the five major covenants don't play the prominent role in city politics in Philadelphia that they do in other cities, at least not officially, that isn't to say that they aren't important, or that they don't shape the political landscape. For many Kindred, especially those who began their unlife under far more "traditional" regimes, their choice of covenant is a defining feature of their unlife, and what gives them purpose as they move forward. Local kindred, especially the younger ones, often view the covenants more as clubs and a means to an end, but they're still powerful means with far reaching connections across the globe.

The lower station of the covenants in Philly on the whole also has wide reaching ramifications in how it inform the way other cities interact with Philadelphia on the whole. The Invictus in New York obviously takes the presence of such an unorthodox Domain, and one with as much support as Philly has internally, as both a significant threat and a juicy opportunity. The Carthian Movement's members up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and farther afield than that, find inspiration in many of the successes that the local Carthians have had, even if the Carthian Movement itself dosn't hold power in Philadelphia directly.

The Carthian Movement, The Revolution
"Elders tend to forget that their power rests on the shoulders of the masses. We've shown the world what happens when we collectively decide to stop holding them up, and instead to tear them down." -Anthony Robert Washington, Founder of the Bloodsuckers Local 76

It's probably not a big surprise to anybody who thinks about it that the Carthian Movement has as much support as it does in Philadelphia, especially among younger vampires. The fact that the Carthian Movement played such a significant role in the revolution that brought the city's current power structure into play certainly bolstered their station in the city further, and it's a prominence they've continued to enjoy to this day even if the city's leader and more than half the caucus are members of other Covenants.

The success of the Carthian-founded Bloodsucker's Local 76, their successful organization of the revolution, and the fact that the Sakima puts stock in their ideas and their voices mean that they're among the politically strongest covenants in the city.

The Circle of the Crone, The Mother's Army
"They were a bunch of oppressive white colonizers who couldn't help but shove their bastardized religion down everyone's throats. That's why." - Sakima Saagochque

The Circle of the Crone in Philadelphia has more than a few members who have been kindred for longer than the Circle of the Crone has existed, and there's a strong sense among the local Acolytes, as in many places, that they're more of a catch-all for everyone who wants to be left to worship in their own way than a real, organized group. That is itself not so unusual, since the Circle of the Crone's membership, and the faith of those who belong to it, is widely varied the world over. What's more unusual is that the local Circle of the Crone is expressly welcoming of people of any faith other than the Lancea et Sanctum's, with the unusual distinction of that including members of other Abrahamic faiths who are interested in an interfaith organization that will accept them without the rest of what they dismissively call "ridiculous nonsense".

Despite the fact that the city's leader is a member of the Circle of the Crone, they don't particularly wield much in the way of unified political clout. They're mostly left alone to do what they want, and a good portion of the covenant's membership joined it, and not another, because political power isn't something they care about, as long as they're being left alone.

It may be unexpected, given all of that, that the Circle of the Crone is also where some of the most vocal dissent against Sakima Saagochque's leadership comes from, aside from the First and Second Estates. They've learned over the years that she'll listen to their complaints, so they voice them. Loudly. Sometimes she listens, and sometimes she doesn't.

The Invictus, The Conspiracy of Silence
"Stop saying 'Inwictoos'! That's not how we pronounce it!" - Harlan Butler, Invictus Notary

Of all the covenants in Philadelphia, the one with the least foothold is the Invictus. That isn't to say that the Invictus don't have a presence, or that they don't have their fingers in all sorts of pies in mortal society, but they have little in the way of political clout within Kindred society. They certainly aim to try to change that, but have so far consistently been thwarted in their efforts by a repeated pattern of someone letting something slip to the wrong person and being betrayed, by discovering that just not that many people in Philly want to buy what they're selling, or by the fact that the Sakima is a seer who has seen what was coming with enough advanced warning to put an end to it.

At this point in time the Invictus has found it difficult to recruit within Philly, especially since most younger vampires end up joining the BL76 neonate's union, which the Invictus isn't too fond of, and because they realize that it's not the most reliable path to power for those who want to stay in the city, like it is in many places.

The Lancea et Sanctum, The Sanctified
"Not everyone is going to accept the truth. Put on your big boy pants and deal with it. You have plenty of your own work to do." - Derrin Poe, Sanctified Crusader

The Second Estate is better off in Philadelphia than the First is, thanks to a policy on the part of the Sakima of judging people by their actions, rather than their affiliations or their faith. While the Circle of the Crone and the Lancea et Sanctum don't get along much better in Philly than they do in other cities, the two are allowed to coexist as long as they keep things civil, which happens most of the time. It's not entirely uncommon to see a local Crusader and one of the Mothers of the Circle of the Crone sitting in a booth in Elysium debating the finer points of their faiths, or for the Sakima to accept inviations to important Lancea et Sanctum ceremonies.

With some exceptions, the Lancea et Sanctum has come to find that they're given plenty of rope to hang themselves with, and that if they decide not to hang themselves with it then everyone else is perfectly happy with that. It doesn't stop them from occasionally rocking the boat, but it tends to be more as individuals than as a covenant, and tends to be responded to in the same way.

The Ordo Dracul, The Defiant
As long as you're not, like, being stupid, nobody around here even cares what you do. You're not being stupid, are you? - Emily West, Defiant Journeyman

The Ordo Dracul in Philadelphia doesn't hold much political sway as a covenant, but that's often how the Defiant want it. As long as they follow the domain's laws they're allowed the freedom to pursue their studies without official interference, which means that they're perfectly content to not only accept the current status quo, but work to maintain it. The Sakima may not agree with their perspectives, but she seems to have no trouble allowing the differences of opinion, and any change in leadership comes with the risk that new management might be less accommodating.

The freedom to pursue their studies here has meant that the covenant has continued to grow consistently in the last century, and it enjoys a healthy membership and an Academy with a growing reputation. A string of unexplained deaths and disappearances over the last few years has left some questions about the safety of the covenant's members, only magnified by the death of its Grandmaster under mysterious circumstances in late 2019.

Note: We do make use of the 2e title setup written up here, though outside of ceremonial purposes only the informal titles are regularly used. This requires the addition of a few titles for Coils not mentioned in the thread:

Primary Mystery - Noun/Verb

Cipher Titles - Hidden Messages

  • "I want the rest of the Ordo Dracul to know I'm making fun you" - Scornful