Formal Court:
Things are very different in terms of the way that formal courts are conducted these nights. For one thing, they tend to be much larger affairs than they used to be. With all the new vampires and their ghouls and attendant hangers-on attending. While there are always going to be people who will want to attend private meetings of the vampires, they tend to get discouraged by the number of people willing to bare their actual fangs at them. Some people disappear at these gatherings. At times, it causes a stink. someone might get arrested for it. Other times, well…Law enforcement professionals tend to look at those sorts of situations as self-correcting problems. It usually depends on how rich the idiot was.
Because there are so many people at these gatherings, little of import is generally discussed. There are still some secrets that the kindred must play close to the vest. Talking about such things in open court could be a death sentence.
As a result, much of the real business of the kindred community takes place at meetings between the higher-ups and are merely disseminated during court functions. "Court" is more of a social gathering. An opportunity to practice diplomacy and meet with visitors and new fledges and ghouls.
A word about Ghouls: One of the few things that has NOT changed in kindred society is that Ghouls are expected to keep their damned mouths shut during formal court. Modern-minded ghouls often discover that the penalties for speaking out of turn might have them end up in the hospital…or the morgue. It may not necessarily befall them during an open court or in a public place, but you can be sure that sooner or later, that ghoul is going to be taken to the woodshed.
Also: It has become an element of kindred etiquette that if you bring a ghoul to a formal court, then you are effectively announcing that you are the ghouls domitor, which comes with protection under the customs of the kindred. If anyone messes with your ghoul, you can seek redress of such grievances. If however, you keep your ghouls a secret, then they are not recognized as being part of the kindred community, and if they are maimed or killed, no stigma attaches to the kindred who committed the act. If you can prove they did it in a Mortal court of law…well. That's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.
In any case, Kindred politics has taken a bit of change. the term "Prince" is no longer considered a default term for the ostensible leader of the kindred community. While some have always held alternative titles, the most common title found in North America these days is Chairman, Alder, or Community Leader. As if the Kindred were some exclusive club or a minority group.
Under Mortal law, the power that a Prince once enjoyed has been sharply curtailed. They can no longer execute kindred for crimes real or imagined. As a result, they cannot call blood hunts, they cannot punish kindred for embracing foolishly, they can't even destroy Brood, VII, or serial diablerists openly. Scourges see a lot more action these nights than they used to.
Princes can no longer even acknowledge a visiting kindred or deny them entry legally, although many princes get around this by requiring SERIOUS boons to enter a city and stay.
The one open power left to a prince is the ability to name his court as he pleases. Although powerful factions within the primogen and/or the priscus tend to nibble away at that privilege as well.
The Role of the Seneschal has changed as well. Since the Prince finds much of his time freed up to see to the management of the resources of the realm, Many times, the role of head of the intelligence apparatus of the kindred community falls to the Seneschal.
The Sheriff and the Keeper of Elysium have been largely melded into a single position. Often, this person is a duly deputized member of the law enforcement community as well. They provide security for kindred functions and see to the security of kindred gathering places. In many places, they are the only kindred who are legally allowed to bear arms at kindred gatherings. While the two positions have been melded together, a number of things that the sheriff USED to do are no longer serious problems. For the most part, wars between kindred of various cities have either ground to a standstill or morphed into extremely subtle cold wars. Brood attacks have lessened, and on the rare occasions that they occur, find themselves faced with pissed off kindred AND mortal police. Internal problems within a city that come to the Sheriff's attention, either involve mortal law enforcement or working closely with the Scourges. Rarely, does a situation require both.
Yes, I said Scourges, as in plural. There are many things that must be dealt with in the kindred world, and in some aspects, there is a still a Masquerade of sorts, and secrets that must be kept. The Princes personal goon squad sees to it that these things get done, and hopefully, done quietly. While the identities of those who serve the prince are usually a secret, it varies from place to place as to HOW secret it is. One thing is certain, If the sheriff asks for assistance, he receives it from the Scourges.
The office of Harpy has undergone significant changes in recent nights. Under the old system, they were snotty social arbiters and enforcers of the social order in an extremely closed and elite society. When the war came, Harpies became about as superfluous as a third nipple. What was needed in those times were diplomats and the sort of old school kindred who understand that politeness was the grease that enabled kindred society to function at all. Petty, snotty, prickish behavior had no place in a society on the brink of destruction and had even less of a place in a society that would somehow have to find a way to live in harmony with itself and the humans surrounding them.
The Invictus title of Speaker has been largely adopted for the office. Such kindred, and usually there is a whole staff of them, handle diplomacy with other cities, help instruct new kindred and old kindred fresh out of torpor. They often serve as a point of contact with the mortal communities as de facto spin doctors and PR consultants. And in matters that involve the gathering of information, often report directly to the Seneschal. While a Speaker, might not be the sort of kindred who used to rule the roost with bitchy comments and social shunning, they ARE the sort of kindred who pay close attention to who does what and how. If your sanity is slipping, odds are good that the Speakers will notice first.
People who find themselves in the positions of Priscus and Primogen are often old or in lieu of actual elders, kindred who have amassed a discernable power-base of some sort. Such people are named to the positions for the sole and express purposes of putting that power at the disposal of the community. The prince normally is the final arbiter of who and what will be used in times of crisis, he's also usually the arbiter of how the Kindred in question will be compensated. Such compensation usually takes the form of status, better hunting ground, and domain. Political access is also a common function of the office. In most cases, if a kindred has a problem or a concern that he thinks ought to be brought to the attention of the prince or the surrounding community, then he is best served by taking it to either his Priscus or his Primogen. Turning up at formal court and then trying to brace the prince personally is a good way to get yourself stomped.
The position of Herald has not essentially changed, but often the methods of the Herald have changed. In some places, they run protected servers for handling encrypted mail service for the kindred community. In at least a few places, Heralds have acquired Mail Drop services. In many cases, the Herald is in charge of creating means for Kindred to communicate between one another and doing so in a discrete manner. In some cases, this has even led to them being the primary creators of tags and codes and slang. Often, when a herald has serious pronouncements directly from the inner council, he disseminates them via the Clan Whips. (Some clans are traditionally harder to communicate with than others. I.e. the Gangrel and the Nosferatu.)
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