a history of the invictus |
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What many young vampires fail to understand about the emigration of Kindred from the Old World to the New is how little planning was involved in the Invictus’ colonial efforts compared to those of England, France and Spain. The first Society vampires who came to America — and the story is much the same in other colonial nations — were typically unwanted, expendable or miserably restless in Europe, much like their mortal counterparts. What made the undead colonization of the New World so different was how little one colonist had to do with any other. There never was a central Invictus “crown” to declare the age of colonization begun. Rather, Princes of countless cities each chose, over time, to support individual plans to brave the sunlit seas into the west for the sake of preserving Invictus dominance wherever the night could be found.
Thus, those first nights in the colonies were haphazard and terrifying for the Damned of the Invictus. Knights errant, colonists and trailblazers looking to secure their own domains collided in the Americas and Africa when they followed the kine into new forts and cities, never knowing if they were stepping into another vampire’s territory and never sure that they had the practical power necessary to take what they wanted. The Invictus name brought fear and respect with it, even across the Atlantic, but even two Society Kindred couldn’t be sure they were truly on the same side. They couldn’t send word back to their lords in Europe asking for guidance, reinforcements or mediation, because the Princes of the Old World had no praxis in the New. Even if they had, why would a Kindred of Quality vying for the blood of Jamestown defer to the word of your Prince when his Prince is the highest Kindred authority he recognizes?
The nature of colonization among the Invictus also further separated the Damned of the New World from the kine they hunted. Whereas in Europe a vampire was often dwelling in the nighttime sister to a city he already knew, populated by generations of the undead with claims and rights and entitlement throughout the city, the Damned of the colonies were often alone — unless they Embraced childer of their own. That was the keystone in the architecture of the future of almost every Invictus colonist, even though they each developed their plans on their own; the Invictus do not have so many different ways of arriving at a good thought, after all.
The Invictus in the New World kept their patience and bore their own colonial families very slowly, while the kine multiplied around them. All the early vampires had to do was support themselves and hold out until the mortal populations swelled enough to support more predators in their midst. For many Invictus vampires, this meant sending neonates into the west who could feed on animals and would not be missed at court. For others, this meant simply making it to the shores of Virginia and Massachusetts and finding a deep hole to hide in for a decade or so, while the herds populated the hillsides.
When the kine had finished building cities for the Invictus — like slaves building pyramids for Pharaoh —
the Invictus was reborn in the New World, free and cut off from the Old. Each new Prince was like an orphan who left to find his fortune and never looked back. And each had the freedom and the authority to redefine what it meant to be Invictus in his new domain.
Recent Nights
For the Invictus, the last two centuries are all part of current events. There are elders who have been in torpor since the United States was a group of English colonies — and even those who have been more active might only now be acknowledging that this country seems to have some staying power as a political entity. Elders are used to wars convulsing large portions of their known world and to plagues carrying off large numbers of kine. For some Invictus elders, the broad stroke of recent history is just a recast version of the oldest human stories of woe and blood and distraction.
The rest of the world may not agree. Most notable within Kindred society has been the rise of the Carthians. The Carthians are almost exactly the opposite of the Invictus, seeking to overthrow everything that the elder covenant stands for, and they attract a lot of support among neonates and even ancilla.
As a result, the Invictus is facing a crisis that many of its elders do not, on balance, even see as a problem: there are too fewyoungvampiresjoiningthecovenant.Contemporaryneonates see the Invictus as hidebound, and with too few opportunities for advancement. There are few remaining open cities to which they could lead colonization efforts with the support of the Inner Circle, and the grip of Invictus elders on the levers of power seems as secure as ever. Many elders, particularly the members of cyclical dynasties, do not see this as a problem. They see no need for weak, undisciplined, young Kindred in the covenant, and claim that they can always recruit from those older vampires who come to see the merits of Invictus philosophy as their Requiems progress.
A few of the more far-sighted elders, however, have accepted that the world really is changing, faster than ever before. Human nature and — even more so — Kindred nature might be the same as ever, but the ability to contact someone on the other side of the planet at a moment’s notice really does make a difference to the way human nature plays out. These elders are worried that the covenant does not have the flexibility to adapt its structures to new conditions, and that the result will be anarchy as adaptable neonates take advantage of new technology to unseat their betters. The elders are convinced that this would be a bad thing; new toys do not change Kindred nature, so rule by elders is still required.
The more optimistic of these elders point out that the covenant has weathered major changes in society before, and have started making their own moves to be among those who flourish in the new world. The more pessimistic worry that the Invictus may have to be all but destroyed before the clear need for good rulership leads Kindred to recreate it.
one chapter
“Nobilityisinthebloodwetake andthebloodwekeep, thebloodwespill
andthebloodweseek.”
—ProverboftheInvictus
chapter two
I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls, With vassals
and serfs at my side, And of all who assembled
within those walls, That I was the hope and the pride.
— Alfred Bunn, Bohemian Girl
Etiquette and Protocol
Etiquette, protocol or simply good manners — in the First Estate, there’s very definitely a right and wrong way to behave. The covenant steeps its activities in formality, from a grand ball in the Prince’s honor to a private meeting between business partners. Invictus members often show the same formality when dealing with other Kindred. The Invictus uses the other vampire’s title, and insists on the same courtesy in return.
Other Kindred sometimes make fun of the First Estate’s obsession with elaborate manners. Invictus members can seem like pompous, stuffed shirts as they bow and make grandiloquent speeches. The covenant is deadly serious about its etiquette, though. Good manners alone won’t raise Kindred to eminence in the Invictus, but a vampire who will not learn the covenant’s codes of conduct will never receive any rank or respect, no matter what his achievements.
Honorifics, formal wear, the nuances of bows, curtsies and genuflections and other small social rituals are a way to show respect for another vampire. (See p. 44 for the details of Invictus etiquette.) Junior members of the Invictus must acknowledge the rank and, by extension, the achievements of their superiors. The covenant does not see this as a degrading show of submission. Bowing to an elder — or even a full genuflection, in the most tradition-bound Invictus groups — shows that you know and honor the elder’s power. Likewise, you dress your best when presented to a superior: she honors you simply by allowing you to be in the same room with her. You should show you appreciate the honor. Anyone who doesn’t show such respect would merely demonstrate his own ignorance and folly.
In the First Estate’s culture of patronage, those who show respect receive it in return. Not much, maybe — a neonate with no great achievements to his name does not deserve any deference from an elder of high rank — but enough to show that the covenant’s leaders accept their juniors as fellow members of their august company.
Customs of Address
Titles and honorifics are a close indicator of respect as well as formal rank. The greater the difference in Status between two Invictus, the more formality the lower-ranking member shows. An Invictus neonate
would not speak to a Prince, Primogen or Priscus unless commanded to do so; and then, he would address her as Your Excellency, My lady or some other honorific. Only a member of equal rank would dare even to say Sir. Any Invictus in good standing, however, can expect to be addressed as Mister, Miss or Madam, with the vampire’s surname. (Some Invictus consider Ms. to be modern barbarism.) If a higher-ranking Invictus addressed a junior by his first name, she would demonstrate a complete lack of respect — even contempt, as if the Kindred were merely a servant or a childe. Even a servant or childe would never be addressed by some abbreviation or diminution of his first name or a nickname. Any vampire who has a high-ranking Invictus address him so familiarly knows his career in the covenant is over — or at least in grave danger.
Solidarity
Punctilious codes of conduct help to distinguish Invictus members from non-members, establishing the Invictus as a class apart from other vampires. An insider knows when he may speak and when he must remain silent. He knows the covenant’s special turns of speech, and when to use them. He knows what gestures of honor or submission to make, and how to perform them gracefully. Most importantly, perhaps, he shows that he respects the covenant enough to learn its complicated rules. He reassures other members of his determination to stay in the Invictus. They know they can deal with him without fear he’ll skip off to another covenant and abandon his commitments.
Defusing Conflict
By encasing every act in rituals of courtesy, the Invictus prevents open warfare between its members — no small task in a society built on ambition. Among such proud predators, any hint of weakness might provoke a challenge, any breath of insult might provoke a vendetta. Members hide behind the dance of etiquette, so that other members see only the privileges and obligations of their rank — not that the Gangrel Priscus loathes the Prince, the Seneschal is smitten with the Sheriff’s childe and the Mekhet delegate to the Inner Circle suffers a paranoid fear of everyone.
Etiquette also gives Invictus members a way to compete and attack each other without risking anyone’s
36 unlife in the invictus