Age in Vampiric Society

In the vampire world, age is of the utmost important. All other considerations are subordinate - even Sanguinis. A Sanguinis 5 Neonate is at a tiny fraction of their potential, whereas a Sanguinis 3 Elder may be very close to their maximum. A single Neonate will never hold a candle to the elder, in terms of power and experience - no matter what their Sanguinis is. The adage 'old age and treachery will defeat youth and enthusiasm every time' has a very real basis in truth, especially for vampires. However, there is strength in numbers and a coterie of Neonates may stand a chance against a young Elder, if they play their cards right.

So let's take a look at the practical aspects of each level of vampire.

Age Class General Position in Vampire Society Specifics for LAmush and the Domain of Los Angeles

Founders

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In Vampire the Masquerade this is Caine and the Antediluvians. On LAmush knowledge about Caine or the Antediluvians is not public. Indeed, they may not exist. Please refer to your vampire lore for any knowledge you might have on the genesis of the vampiric race.

Ancients

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You may only have heard of a handful of these creatures walking the earth. The Ancients are far and away a breed apart, and even Elders shake and quake when a known Ancient passes by.
To try and understand an Ancient is to try and wrap your mind around something that has lived as much as five times as long as your average Elder, or more. Try to imagine how strange and obscure adults seemed to be when you were a child, and you may have an inkling of how Ancients seem to the average Elder. Ancient power, unimaginable thoughts, more experience at being a vampire than you can possibly imagine. Even a young Ancient is treated with cowering respect and fear by the common vampire, because there is no way any Elder can hope to withstand the onslaught of such a creature if it is angered.
LAmush does know a few Ancients: Emerson first and foremost. This character is a NPC, carefully managed by the team of Architects.

Elders

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These are the most accessible of the aged vampire, and the ones that perhaps pay the most attention to age and status. 300 years is better than 250, 250 is better than 200. This 'pecking order' is strictly observed and maintained by the Elders - perhaps because they are aware of the looming powers above them and are trying to salvage their egos as best they can.
No matter the cause, Elders enforce the system of status and respect religiously, and come down on those that buck this system like the fires of Hell itself.
Elders are also the vampires that shape the world for vampires as a whole. It is they that make the laws and decisions, it is their games that write history and reshape life for everyone around them. It is for this reason they are both feared and hated - even by their younger associates.
The Elders' word is the first, last, and only Law that dominates the sum of the vampire world, save when an Ancient chooses to dabble.

The Elders of the New World were born before the modern age of Democracy. Their views are oft antiquated and traditional, even bigoted and autocratic. They have learned supreme patience in enduring so many ages, seen so much come to pass and fade, that their views may seem enigmatic and their actions overcalculated.
But they are also often cold and remorseless, and know full well how to manipulate the common existence of vampires to their advantage. Having survived centuries, and taboos even beyond the Traditions protecting them from the restrictions of common vampires, Elders play a game of power with all the rest as mere pawns.

On LAmush all Elders are NPC's managed by Staff. We aim to restrict their number to 1 per Clan, dependant on need.

For reasons unknown, the Elders in Los Angeles seem to have mostly retreated from the political landscape, leaving most of the positions and territory for the player characters to squabble over.

Make no mistake however - The Elders remain very real and powerful entities and your character is likely to encounter -and heed- the Elder of its Clan at some occasion. They are quite present to any Ancilla-Feature, and may become so to neonates that stir enough to draw their attention, or advance far enough to become of use.

Ancillae

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Vampires use the term 'Ancilla' (Ancillae plural) to describe a vampire who has outgrown the Neonate title, but does not yet merit that of 'Elder'. In the New World this places them typically between 100 and 200 years old.
These vampire are the work force and 'Middle Class' of the vampire world. They vastly outnumber the Elders in most cities, and it is they that carry out the wishes and whims of the Elders above them.
More often than not, the Ancilla are the caretakers of everything below them, assuring the Elders that all is in order and functioning properly for their aged masters.
This does not mean the Ancilla are without power, for as a mass they could destroy an Elder - even a few, although many Ancilla would enter Final Death in the process.
The Elders and the Ancilla exist in a state of symbiotic dependence - without support, the Elders would find their power a hollow thing, but without the protection of an Elder, the Ancilla would find themselves easy prey for any other Elder that came along. From this codependency arises the system of Status, Prestige, and politics that is the familiar venue of nightly vampire life.

Ancilla often can masquerade as either Elder or Neonate as it suits them, embracing the deep political power games, or the dark existence of the exuberant youth. These tend to be the Lieutenants, the eyes, ears, and arms of the Elders. It is a transitional time to be a vampire, where they are tested externally and internally to see if they can endure the test of ages.

On LAmush all Ancilla are Feature characters. We aim to restrict the number of Features to a maximum of 2 per Clan.

Ancilla Features will typically be given to players that understand the game and its theme, are active, pro-active on a level of plot, considerate to other players and behave in mature ways. Features are player-characters as any, but they get a bit more power in order to help serve as a link between Clan-Elders/Staff and the neonate-base and enforce the game's many themes (Camarilla/anarch, Clan-Theme, Face-the-Music etc.)

More information on Features can be found here.

Neonates

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Neonates vary from newly released fledglings to indolent vampires of a hundred years. Marked by the stigma of not yet having proved themselves to the elders, neonates are inexperienced vampires who might one night make something of themselves - or, will fall as pawns in the schemes of the other undead.

The vampiric world has not embraced the democratic ideals of the last couple centuries. If anything, the threat of the strengthening of human peoples has made their own societies more oppressive and feudal. These young vampires are at the bottom of vampire society, not yet powerful enough to have much of a voice or responsibility and only lightly involved in the true machinations of undead society. Consequently the Elders use them as pawns, much like Neonates use their own ghouls and controlled humans.

Conversely, Neonates still have an investment in the mortal world of the 21st century and are less likely to adhere to the feudal character of vampiric society.

Of all the levels of vampire Society, the Neonate's place is perhaps the easiest of all. Death and destruction lurk in the shadows for all vampire, but the Neonates have some amount of control over what dangers they wish to invite, dependant on how fervently they wish to play the game.

On LAmush the default character is a neonate. LAmush also is a game about Camarilla politics and as such, it should be noted that neonates in Los Angeles do have the opportunity to participate in the political game. In this, Los Angeles is much less traditional than other Domains. In the Old World a neonate holding the position of Sheriff, Primogen or Seneschal may be unthinkable.. in fact this was true for most parts of Los Angeles in the past. However, for reasons unknown, the Elders in Los Angeles seem to have mostly retreated from the political landscape.. or perhaps they now play a different game.

As a result, a neonate in Los Angeles certainly can be a pawn and a nobody. In fact, most will enter the game as such - soliciting for acknowledgement in the Domain, negotiating rights to hunt in another vampire's territory. But, this is not a position they are doomed to fulfill forever. They have a choice:

  1. A Neonate-character is free to remain in the background; simply live their life as best they can, and occasionally do as their elders instruct. This life does run the risk of ending abruptly when the whim of an Ancilla or Elder steers the Neonate down a suicide path, but that risk only serves to enliven their otherwise relatively carefree life.
  2. However a Neonate may also choose to play the game. They may start to jockey for influence and favor from older vampires or form Neonate coteries, exploiting their more modern ideals and familiarity to advantage over the ancients.
  3. What's more, a particularly savy and effective neonate may gain access to the halls of power. They can become Keeper, Sheriff, Primogen, Seneschal and hold a considerable amount of territory, more importantly: a considerable amount of underlings and allies.
    Such a Neonate is considered an Ancilla in everything but age. In the process they may, - likely will - draw the attention of the Elders and fall prey to the machinations of the aged, but such is the price for becoming one of the forces to recon with. In the Camarilla there always is the proverbial bigger wolf, even if you're an Ancilla or an Elder. Being drawn into the games these elders play in the background may not always be pleasant. Hence, those that wish to pursue power should be forewarned; If you cannot take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

Childer

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These newly embraced and unreleased vampires are a class of non-people. Even the Traditions that serve and protect other vampires do not yet apply to them.
Childer exist by the leave of their sires and nothing more. They are not even held accountable for their own actions, and any mistakes they make are taken up with their sires instead. Of course, this could result in an errant childe simply being destroyed after a particularly embarrassing episode - since no vampire is going to risk their hard-fought Prestige on the repeated bad behavior of a disposable commodity.
Childer are the possessions of their sires, and it is the fortunate few that are treated as anything more than that. Childer have no recourse, no authority to turn to save their own sire, and no one to speak for them. Until they are released, they do not exist except as an accessory to their sire's presence.
On LAmush you may only play a Childe when your mortal character is embraced in-game. Typically a Childe needs to spend 5 VR years (over 1 RL year) under their Sire's tutelage before they are released. The length of this period may vary somewhat dependant on how quickly the Childe learns its lessons.

Please be forewarned that, because the Sire is responsible for the mistakes of their Childe, the freedom of Childe-characters often is somewhat restricted; It's opportunity to find RP and plot dependant on the (pro)activity of and involvement by the Sire-player.

Ghouls

If Childer seem to have it bad, they only need to look to these half-breeds to see how bad it can truly be. If vampire Childer are truly the children in a vampire household, then Ghouls are the family dog - at best. At worst, Ghouls fill the function of prized chickens or pigs. Raised with care, fed from, and eventually slaughtered to commemorate some auspicious occasion. Every conceivable concept of 'human rights' disappears with the advent of the Blood Bond, and only the extremely fortunate can ever hope for the best of fates for a Ghoul - the Embrace, or a quick death. On LAmush you may only play a Ghoul when your mortal character is ghouled in-game.

You can find more information about the life of a ghoul in LA here.

Humans

Cocktails, anyone? On LAmush every player may play up to 3 mortals, provided the multiple character policies are observed. However, since the large bulk of plot and systems on LA focuses on vampires, we strongly advise players to create a vampire as their first character.

You can find more information about mortals in LA here.

And so, there it is in a nutshell - vampire society from top to bottom, from a slightly Camarilla-slanted point of view, but in this day and age that is what serves us all best.

Remember this canon well the next time your Neonate is about to piss off an Ancilla, or your ghoul lips off to their Domitor, or your Ancilla decides to get uppity with an Elder. This is the way Vampires live - and if your character survived to BE more than a year old, there is no way they did so without observing this code, no way at all.

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Original Work is licensed under a CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 US License.