UNDERSTANDING THE CAMARILA - AND ALTERNATIVES -----Thank you for coming tonight. Usually I don't get more than two or three people at these meetings and here we have, what, five? -----Maybe you've heard a name, the "Camarilla," and you want to know what it means. Or at least what it means for you. I've been a vampire almost 15 years now and in that time I've bumped into the Camarilla a lot. At first I didn't know what it was either, but I kept my eyes and ears open. Eventually, I found other vampires who could tell me about it, just like I'm telling you now. I'm pretty sure that most of what I've learned is accurate. -----I know that to those of you who've encountered it, the Camarilla doesn't seem to make much sense. Look at it one way, and it seems to rule the world. Look at it another way, and it's so fractured and anarchic that you wonder how it lasted a month, let alone centuries. One night, a Camarilla prince sentences another vampire to Final Death; the next, he shrugs and tells a petitioner that he has no authority to do what she wants. CAMARILLA OVERVIEW ----- Let me start with a quick overview of the Camarilla for the complete beginners. First, let's get the name right. The name is Camarilla, not Caramella, Catalina or Camellia. The word means "Little Room," a place for private discussions. The Camarilla claims to be a society for all vampires, a venue where they can meet to resolve their differences and make plans for their mutual protection. Yeah, right - I can tell that some of you have already experienced the Camarilla's "mutual protection." ----- Each major city has a prince. A prince has four main jobs: He or she arbitrates disputes between vampires. For instance, he works out the boundaries between vampires' hunting territories and decrees what parts of the city are common hunting grounds or kept off-limits. The prince grants the right to turna mortal into a vampire. The prince interprets tradition and disciplines other vampires when they violate it. As part of this last role, he has sole right to order the execution of another vampire. The prince oversees the Masquerade, making sure that the police and the media do not see a vampire's indiscretions - or at least do not publicize them. ----- Ultimately, a prince has as much authority as other vampires believe he has. Some princes become virtual dictators to their subjects, while others become laughable figureheads. If a prince acts too brutal or arbitrary, though, other vampires will depose him and probably kill him. ----- A group of elder vampires called "primogen" elect the prince - I believe, as I have never cast a white or black stone - and advise him thereafter. Each primogen represents one of the vampire families within the Camarilla. The name means "first-born," which should clue you in that the Camarilla operates on a strict seniority system. The older you are, the more rights and respect you have in the Camarilla. ----- It's not much of a government, but then the Camarilla only deals with very small populations. Few cities have as many as 50 vampires. Such small groups don't need enormous legal codes and bureaucracies - just a judge and a prosecutor. The prince fills both roles. ----- You have a question, sir? ----- That's a good question, and I wish I knew the answer. I know about seven houses in the Camarilla: Brujah, Venture, Toreador, Warlock, Malkavian, Nosferatu and Gang-Gel. Some of these names come from the vampires' ancestor, and a few are descriptive terms, but I have no idea where the other names come from. I've never met anyone else who knew, either. ----- Each clan has its traditional culture, just like each tribe or caste would. These nights, most tribes are pretty loose. Younger vampires - ike us - might not pay much attention to their bloodline or may even drop out completely. Older vampires take "clan tradition" very seriously, thought. I'll have more to say about the force of tradition later. ----- Brujah have a reputation as punks - you know, the sort of "nonconformists" who all revel the same way. I've seen plenty of younger Brujah who wore their black leather jackets and body piercings like a uniform, but also Brujah who didn't fit that mold at all. According to my lineage, I'm a Brujah myself, as if I cared. The few older Brujah I've met were all college communists, lace-cuff liberals and old-time union activists - my grandsire still thinks the South can make a comeback. ----- The Brujah have no clan-wide instituions, though it's not for lack of trying. Many Brujah want to organize the clan as a union or a revolutionary party or something, but it would take an act of God to make five Brujah agree on anything. They have more sympathy for us young'uns, though. -----Malkavians are even more chaotic than the Brujah. So far as I can tell, the clan elders have no common interests at all. Supposedly, malks are all mad: Either they only recruit lunatics or the Embrace itself drives their childer insane. I don't know; I've met Malks who seemed normal enough. The really spooky, beyond-the-pale Malks look to me like they're putting on an act to freak out everyone else. I'll say this much: I never met a stupid Malkavian. I've met some who act like idiots, but most of them scare the hell out of me in a serial-killer-I'm-going-to-eat-your-flesh kind of way. ----- The Warlocks are the exact opposite of the Brujah and Malkavians. They have a super-organized secret society, with hierarchies and secret passwords and loyalty oaths. Like their name says, the Warlocks do real, honest-to-God magic - so they say. I never met one. ----- House Venture dominates Camarilla politics. More than any other family, the Venture resemble the classic Dracula-clone vampires you see in movies: Old-fashioned clothes, high-toned airs, lots of money. Venture select their childer carefully and deliberately seek power in both the Camarilla nad the mortal world. While I've never heard of any actual organization of Venture, they track their lineages closely, and they all seem to know each other second or third-hand. An awful lot of princes come from this clan. I think the name comes from their constant plans to grow richer or more influential: They always seem to be undertaking some venture or another. ----- In a charitable mood, I'd call the Toreador a clan of esthetes. Most of the Torries go on about "cweating and pweserving beauty foah the ages." even the younger ones act nearly as stuck-up as the Venture. If the Venture are the vampire equivalent of the ivy-league Old Boy's Network, though, the Toreador are the Modern Art Ghetto: They bitch at each other constantly, but stick together out of contempt for us uncultured slobs. Okay, so I've met a few exceptions. ----- The Nosferatu form a complete contrast to the beautiful Toreador. The Embrace changes Nosferatu, making every one of them hideously ugly. This forces them to dwell in the sewers and other hidden places. They seem to stick together, if only from shared rejection. At least, I never heard of really murderous factionalism in the clan, but then the NOssies don't talk much to outsiders. ----- Don't insult the Nosferatu, though: Most of them can cloud men's minds through hypnosis, so that you don't see them. We could have a dozen Nosferatu in the room with us and not know it. ----- Finally, the Gang-Gel only seem to be a clan because everyone else says they are. They wander like bums or Gypsies, seldom staying anywher elong. The Gang-Gels i know tell me that the only tradition they share is telling eahc other stories about their travels. ----- Everyone assumed the Gang-gel belonged to the Camarilla, even them. Lately, however, more and more Gang-gel say they don't belong to anyone but themselves and the Camarilla can get fucked for all they care. I don't believe stories about the house doing a mass walkout from the Camarilla. I never saw Gang-gel do anything as a group. ----- The Camarilla claims to represent all the vampires in the world but I know that isn't true. I know vampires who say they belong to different houses than the Camarilla seven - clans like the ravnos and the Saturdays. ----- Yes, ma'am? ----- Ah yes, Caitiff. Ugly word, isn't it? That's what Camarilla vampires call any vampire whose family membership they can't identify. To them it means "bastard," and they use it the same way mortals use "nigger" or "wop" or "good." Nobody, Kindred or Kine, has a monopoly on bigotry. A TRADITIONAL SOCIETY ----- To understand the Camarilla, you have to realize that it isn't the srot of modenr nation-state we know in our mortal existences. It's a much older sort of society, what political scientists call a traditional society. The Camarilla is a government but only in the sense that the village elders in the palaver hut form a government. ----- I'm getting some puzzled looks. What I mean is that human tribal or village societies tend to have certain features in common, so social scientists group them as "traditional" societies - as distinct from transitional or modern societies. I think the Camarilla has many of these same distinctive features. I'll list these features of on the blackboard. We can go through them one by one and match them up with what we know - or at least what I know; please add your own comments and information - about the Camarilla. Okay? Point number one: ----- Ancient Custom -----Unlike a modern, democratic government, the Camarilla doesn't claim to represent the will of the people. nobody votes on its laws. It claims legitimacy based on ancient traditions laid down by Caine - supposedly the Biblical Cain, to hear these vampires talk - and the clan founders. ----- The so-called "Six Traditions of Caine" for mthe basis of Camarilla custom. Different vampires give different phrasings of these traditions, but they work out something like this: Sires rule their childer; don't sire new vampires without your own sire's permission or the permission of the oldest vampire in the community; don't kill another vampire unless the oldest vampire orders it; don't tresspass on another vampire's territory; in your own territory your word is law; and above all, don't let mortals know that vamepires exist! Camarilla vampires also have rules about trading favors, respecting the peace on designated neutral ground and the proper way to petition the elders in power. ----- None fo these rules are written down. No one may suggest that they are unjust or out-of-date and should be change.d No lawyer will help you plead your case to the prince. You have no powerful friends to speak on your behalf. If the prince or a primogen accuses you of breaking the traditions, you're pretty much screwed. ----- Weak Central Government. ----- Among kine traditional societies, local authorities matter the most. The village elder or tribal chief's word carries more weight than the laws of a distant king or president. ----- In the same way, each prince has a fee hand in managing his city and is answerable only to the primogen. That's why the Camarilla is not the world-spanning conspiracy you might think. "The" Camarilla only exists as an abstraction, like "the" business establishment. The reality consists of many local Camarillas, completely autonomous in their actions but united by common practices. ----- In fact, "government" is probably not the best word to describe what we're talking about, but it suffices. From what I've seen, the Camarilla is more like a secret society, with its own bylaws that it expects you to know. Basically, the Camarilla is a group of vampires who think they know what's best for you, not some global conspiracy or representation of the vampires by the vampires. ----- Let me qualify that. I have heard of rare "conclaves," in which vampires from many cities gather to debate the great issues of the night, but I've never heard that princes really have to follow a conclave's decisions if they don't want to. Just like human traditional societies, all the real power stays local. If you don't like a prince's decision, tough luck! ----- You, sir. Mr. Cargill, was it? ----- "Justicars?" I've only heard that term twice and both times with another word: "archons." They seem to refer to some sort of judge or overlord. My guess is that the archons are the sires of the various princes and primogen. Archons might be the same as the justicars, or maybe the justicars serve the archons. They might be emissaries or assistants. ----- You heard it the other way around? Doubtful. "Archon" is an ancient Greek word for a chief magistrate, ruler or president. "Justicar" sounds like a mangling of "justiciar," a fancy word for judge. "Archon" seems to imply broader powers. Either way, they both seem to have authority over princes. I guess even princes sometimes disagree and need someone to arbitrate between them. I gather that justicars or archons also have some connection to conclaves, but since I've never talked to a vampire who actually attended a conclave, I don't know what justicars and archons actually do. From what I've seen, they don't do much very often. ----- Subsistence Economy ----- Mortal traditional societies live by farming, raising livestock or some other sort of subsistence economy. They don't trade much; each community provides for itself. ----- Now, obviously we vampires don't need to hoe the crops or chase the buffalo. Just as obviously, the Camarilla doesn't need to trade with other societies; it exists as a parasite upon human society instead. ----- The real similarity comes from the attitude towards land. In many (not all) traditional societies, a small class or ethnic group controls all the land and loans it out to everyone else, according to rank. Isn't that what the prince does when he divides the city into hunting grounds? ----- If you must enter a Camarilla city, locate the "open hunting" regions - the Camarilla's version of the village green, available to everyone - and stick to them. Poaching on an elder's hunting grounds gives him one of the typical justifications for destroying the likes of us. KINSHIP BONDS ----- This is the most improtant factor of all. In traditional societies, you are what your family makes you. If your father is a farmer, you become a farmer. If your mother spinks wool, you spin wool. More than that, your place in the family determines your rank - and because people keep track of lineages and marriages for generations, ultimately the whole society is a gigantic extended family. Father has authority over sons; older borhters have authority over younger brothers; some lineages carry more prestige than others. Grampa is an important village elder because, well, he's Grampa. ----- The Camarilla pays great attention to family relationships - based on who turned you into a vampire and who else he or she turned into a vampire. Your sire also has a sire and broodmates of his own. Continue this and eventually you have a whole vampire tribe, called a clan, all descended from a single vampire about four hundred years ago. Each clan's traditional character comes from the founder Embracing people who share dhis interests. The childer followed the same practice -and hundreds of years later, people say, "Oh, Toreador are all artists," as if this were some sort of law of nature. My contacts said that the clan founders all met Final Death decades - if not centuries - ago, or just went to sleep and will never wake up again. At least, that's the official story the elders tell. ----- Beyond even that, some vampires say, the founders of the clans all descend from a single, first vampire called Caine. Yes, again, the Caine from the Bible, but spelled with an "e" at the end. That makes all the vampires in the Camarilla distant relatives. I guess that's why they call themselves "Kindred" instead of just vampires. Also, that's where the story gets unreliable. If this is the biblical Caine, why do vampires only go back four centuries? Some kindred speak of a cycle, so I'm inclined to believe this vampire thing basically burns itself out every few hundred years, and then starts anew. Oh, get this: The Camarilla as an organization (or whatever) doesn't even believe in the founders of the clans. They parade around as if their family was the most important thing in the world and snipe at each other over family rivalry, but they refuse to acknowledge the families founding members. Maybe I'm missing something, but that doesn't sit right with me. then again, they may just think the founders are all dead, and I'm misunderstanding their self-important vampire code words. ----- That's the line, anyway. I can believe the part about clan founders, but no the legend of Caine. Among mortals, when smaller kinship groups unite to form a tribe they make up some mythical common ancestor to justify their alliance. I think the Camarilla did this. only the very oldest vampires could possibly know the truth, though, and they don't talk to the likes of us. ----- What does all this mean to you and me? In mortal societies, when Grampa dies the next-oldest family member takes over his job. Eventuallyk, you might become a Grampa yourself and get some status and power that way. Among our kind, though, Grampa never dies. Odds are, Great-Great-Grampa is still around and wants to stay in charge. He takes great care that no younger vampire kills him to take his place. For a young vampire, then, the Camarilla is - pardon the expression - a dead end. you may win some rights if you kiss ass for a few decades, but you will never have a real voice in government. In European cities, vampires 100 years old still follow orders given by 200-year-old sires, who themselves bow to a 300-year-old prince. ----- Most of us are Caitiff and 13th Generation or higher,. That means we're at least 13 generations away from Caine, according to the buzz. Exactly how you find out what generation you are, I don't know, but it obviously has something to do with lineage. We aren't good enough to join the fancy club because we have too many ancestors between us and Caine, and we can't name them all. For us, the Camarilla is a mug's game. Don't even try to play. ALTERNATIVES ----- The good news is that you don't have to put up with the Camarilla. In fact, you shouldn't. no matte rhow much they'd like you to believe it, the elders do not control everything. ----- The Sabbat? ----- God, no, Mr. Cargill, I certainly don't mean the Sabbat! I don't know much about the Sabbat, because htose vampires tend to attack anyone who noses around asking questions. I only talked to an actual Sabbat member once, and she was nuts. Absolutely batshit. When she tried to recruit me, she asked if I'd like to "enjoy" - her word - a little mutual torture with soldering irons after she initiated me into the Sabbat. From what i've heard, by the way, Sabbat initiation involves burial and getting hit on the head with a shovel. I said it sounded great and she should meet me in the graveyard in an hour. Since she would bring the soldering irons, I'd bring the refreshments for afterwards. Once I got out of sight, I ran for my car and drove out of town as fast as I could. ----- I know this: the Sabbat demands more from itsm embers than the Camarilla does at its worst. The Sabbat is some sort of vampire doomsday cult. Think of Nazi storm troopers and death-camp doctors crossed with Jehovah's Witnesses. They say they're all about "letting vampires be vampires"; they actively try to be inhuman monsters. Maybe so, but I never heard of any Sabbat atrocity or philosophy worse than what some mortal did or believe.d I'm told the Sabbat prevents defection by having everyone blood bound to everyone else - no, I don't know how they create multiple blood bonds, either. ----- If you meet the Sabbat, don't run. That only encourages them, like running from a dog. Instead, do like I did: Seem friendly and interested, but make some excuse to leave. Then run. ----- The Inconnu ----- Yes, Ms. Bennett? Inconnu? I'm afraid I've never heard of that group at all. Perhaps you could tell us something about them? ----- Hmm. They sound a bit... detached. They don't sound like very likely allies. ----- Anarchs Unbound ----- No, I'm talking about the anarch states. I'd like to point out, though, that anarch just means anyone who doesn't toe the Camarilla line. To say it p[roperly, you have to sneer and be at least 100 years old. It's a good name if you want to scare an elder. ----- Maybe you've heard self-proclaimed anarhcs telling you to rebel against the Camarilla - or at least to tweak the elders' noses. These anarchs stant out most, but they aren't very important. Why? Because they still operate in the Camarilla's shadow. They stick to their enemy like Bre'er Rabbit to the tar baby and never actually achieve anything. I have news for you: these rebels without a clue only survive because elders have more important problems. In cities where princes deputize scourges to deal with the anarchs, the anarchs are... dealt with. ----- You don't believe me? Visit Minneapolis-St. Paul. I did. You won't find any anarhcs there. The Scourges destroyed them all last year. I'll warn you, though, they almost caught me too when I came to town. Don't mess with elders. If a group of them really wants you Finally Dead, you will die. ----- Let me guess, you're an anarch. Sorry, nothing personal. I just calls'em as I sees'em ----- Autarkis ----- Getting back on topic... not all anarchs rebel so noisily. You have more choices than you might think. ----- Some vampires go it completely alone. Autarkis, some call them. The usual autarkis finds a small town or a suburb too remote for any Camarilla vampire to notice and takes it as his hunting ground. Sure it's dangerous, but many vampires pull it off for years. ----- Let me give you an example - an extreme case, I admit. I rode into this Iowa town in a cattle car, meaning to spend a night hunting, sleep for a day, then hop another train for Kansas City. I woke up the next evening in a jail cell with a sheriff and two deputies pointing shotguns and a machine gun at me. Not an Uzi, a real, honest-to-God, belt-fed and water-cooled machine gun on a tripod. Next to them, Prince Suzie held a can of gasoline and a book of matches. Believe you me, it took some fast talking to avoid becoming vamprie flambe. ----- Turned out, Prince Suzie had blood bound the entire county sheriff's department, the mayor and the owner of a local slaughterhouse. Her pet cops had machine guns and grenade launchers, for crying out loud - and silver-loaded shotgun shells in case of Lupines. The Camarilla wouldn't call Suzie a prince (and she didn't seem very old or smart), but I've never seen a town more tightly controlled. She really is a law unto herself. ----- Cleavers ----- Other "anarchs" don't see hwy they have to cut themselves off from humanity the way the Camarilla insists. These vampires let their friends and relatives in on their big secret and ask them for help. Sometimes they get it, too. they hold down real jobs and even raise families - of course, these vampires had their kids before their Embrace. ----- The camarilla elders would insist that vampires can't do this, it's impossible, it'll all end in tears or a witch-hunter's stake through the heart - but I know several vampires willing to give family life a try. Other vampires in and out of the Camarilla sometimes make fun oof them, calling them "Cleavers" or "homebodies," but I think they are the bravest of us. Even most anarchs won't dare to break the Masquerade so completely. ----- Unbound ----- Me? I belong to the Unbound. We're even less organized than the Camarilla, but we do think of ourselves as a social movement. We share an interest in breaking traditions and finding new wyas for vampires to exist. ----- For instance, we reject division into clans. Even if you believe that story about Caine and the Clan foundrs, what does it matter? training accounts for the supposed aptitudes of various Disciplines among the Clans: if you spend 20 years teaching childer how to control people's minds instead of tunring in to wolves, is it any wonder that they become good at one feat but not the other? ----- I'd bet my fangs that the various clan obsessions and foibles happen because of training, too. Once upon a time, some neurotic vampires convinced themselves they had "refined tastes in blood," or went googly at paintings and flowers, or frenzied at the drop of a hat - and they brainwashed their childer to believe it too. Then those vampires taught their own childer to believe it, and after a hundred years or so you have Clan Venture, House Toreador and the Gang-Gel Tribe. ----- In modern nights, we can see that "bloodline traits" are nonsense because so many young vampires don't endure decades of indoctrination by their sires. I know childer of Venture sires who can feed on any sort of person they want. On the other hand, i once met a vampire who insisted she was a Toreador but she would feed only upon handsome young black men. I found that I'm descended from one of those angry Brujah, but folks tell me I'm an even-tempered guy. The elders can call us all "thin-blooded Caitiff scum" if they want: They just can't accept that we escaped the limitations they placed upon themselves. ----- I even know a few vampires who invented whole new Disciplines, something the Camarilla elders say can't be done ever. Other vampires, all young and of the highest generations, have a weird, psychic insight into other vampires' activities, past, present and future. These "seers" sometimes find secrets that elders thought were buried long ago - or that the elders didn't know themselves. So much for the wisdom of the centuries. -----We unbound also reject the Camarilla's obsession with rule by the eldest. We're adults, and by God we'll be treated that way!Some of us in the anarch states try to adapt American law to our circumstances, with jury trials and popularly elected leaders. Others experiment with completely new and original social systems. We actually have more rule of law than the Camarilla does. I can't say we've succeeded in creating laws and governments for vampires, but we're trying. ----- Long ago, the Camarilla might have made sense as a way for vampires to govern and protect themselves, but the world has changed. I don't believe the Camarilla can keep the Masquerade forever. Information moves too quickly. When the mortal population discovers that we exist, we undead had better present ourselves as good citizens instead of parasites. When that night comes, I want a group ready to lobby Congress on behalf of the metabolically challenged. ----- Some of us unbound even want to reach out to the other supernatural creatures who must exist. I'm sure most of you have heard horror stories about Lupines - werewolves - tearing apart any vampire they meet? I've heard rumors about wizards and witches, ghosts, zombies, faeries and even mad scientists, robots and aliens. If these creatures really exist, I want to meet them and start a dialogue to break down whatever ancient sspicions and codes of secrecy keep us apart... more traditions. CONCLUSION ----- Many vampires sneer at the Unbound as foolish idealists. I never saw idealism as foolish, not when I was a mortal PoliSci student and not now. Like the song says, the times they are a changin'. The world turns crazier every night - and more dangerous. ----- I mentioned the Ravnos clan before. A few months ago, they apparently all went mad and started killing each other. I saw two of them, contacts of mine, ripping at each other until one chewed out the other's throat and drains all his blood. The survivor never returned to her haven. All my contacts around the country tell similar stories. I only personally know one Ravnos who survived that week of madness, and he had abandoned his clan to join an Unbound coterie. ----- The night before the Ravnos went mad, I had a dream. Maybe you'll think I'm a nut for taking a dream seriously. Maybe I am a nut - except later I met two separate vampires who told me the same dream. They both had reputations as seers. ----- I dreamed that a king walked out of a mountain. He had ten arms and ten heads. He cut off his heads one by one and his remaining head swallowed them. Then a tiger, a dragon and some kind of bird, a stork maybe, attacked him. Finally the sun came up and they all burst into flames. ----- My Camarilla informants told me a legend about the clan founders - a legend that the elders insist they don't believe. According to this old myth, some night the clan founders will all wake up. They will be very hungry after sleeping for thousands of years. Because of their incredible age, human blood doesn't satisfy them anymore. Instead, they hunger for the blood of vampires - especially their own descendants. They will eat all the younger vampires and ravage the world. ----- I think my dream was not just a dream. I think the king was the ancestor of the Ravnos clan. He woke up. He fought... something. Maybe other powerful vampires who didn't want to become his breakfast, maybe something else. When he died, really truly died, something broke in all his descendants and they went mad. ----- That's why I take the risk of going to the Camarilla cities and giving talks like this. If any other clan founders wake up, they will seek the vampires they can identify as their "family" - the vampires in the Camarilla who so conveniently track their own bloodlines and insist on obedience to the eldest among them. I don't think the Camarilla will survive. ----- If we stay alone and afraid, clinging to the fringes of the Camarilla, we will die with it. If we work together, though - we so-called Caitiff and anarchs, whatever other supernatural beings we can befirend, and even our mortal friends and families - some of us might survive. ----- Thank you for your time. Oh, and Mr. Cargill? Tell your master not to bother hunting for me or the others in attendance. We really don't endanger the Camarilla; as you've seen, I want to take these unwanted vampires off your prince's hands. Leave them alone and they'll just leave. ----- How did I know? Really, Mr. Cargill. I did say that the vampires who shared my dream were seers. They had visions and knew things they could not know. I've never had visions, but I've learned to trust my special hunches and I have a hunch that you work for a scourge. Calm down, folks. Let him go. He's a treacherous coward, but if I'm right he'll receive a punishment much worse than anything you could do - if not tonight, then in time. ----- That's it, folks. See you out west! Hey, anybody know a good, open hunting ground? Talking makes me hungry, and I could really go for Chinese.