Vampiric Feudal Structure

To say that any one vampire is capable of holding, controlling, and imposing his or her will onto the entirety of Paradise City is folly. The human population alone is over a billion souls and with the city divided into four distinct sections with four different layers in each, no one Prince could possibly achieve such a goal. The logistics are simply beyond mortal and immortal ken.

The vampire populace of Paradi City does, however, adapt a feudal society to cover this very need.

The High Prince

Nominally in charge of the entire city, the High Prince of Paradise City is the ultimate vampire authority within its boundaries. Currently, this office is occupied by the Ventrue Invictus Tobias Van Dorn, an elder of some recent arrival who pulled off a coupe the likes of which still puzzles the denizens of the city. The High Prince can pronounce life and death on a kindred but rarely exercises this privilege. To gain his attention is seldom a positive thing; it more often means that ones errors have breached beyond the limits of gross incompetence and negligence into truly astounding degrees of wrong. One does not often walk away from such a meeting intact, body or mind, if they walk away at all. The lucky ones to earn Tobias’ displeasure and survive often suffer harsh recrimination at the hands of their Princes for the loss of prestige it can inflict.

High Primogen

Tobias maintains his own court, of which he has two Paraclete that answer to him. The Daeva Invictus, Emily Rose, and the Mekhet Dragon, Athiee. The two of them advise the High Prince on matters of policy and were involved in his coupe though to what degree, and the specifics of that involvement, are unknown. Elder vampires of great personal and influential power, they form the Triumverate which sees to the orderly management of the city by the Princes. The four Princes (below) round out the High Primogen.

The Justicars

The High Court does not rely solely on those below them for matters of law enforcement. The High Prince maintains a group of individuals explicitly for those situations which concern the entire city or when he feels a situation warrants his personal attention. The Justicars answer only to the High Prince, in theory their authority supersedes even the High Primogen, but only a foolish vampire would push that line too far. Currently composed of five members, one from each clan, the Justicars also maintain a number of Archons each which serve as their deputies and assistants. While the High Prince chooses the Justicars, the latter in turn choose their own Archons.

Though invested with great power, any Justicar or Archon discovered abusing their position is subject to Final Death, and thus far none have been punished for such. Justicars are presumed to speak with the High Prince’s voice and must act accordingly. A visit from a Justicar is usually a bad thing in one’s domain; it often indicates that the High Prince feels he can no longer depend on the individual in whom the Justicar has gone to ‘aid’. In times of crisis, Justicars have the power of conscription, and these ‘temporary Archons’ have no legal authority to refuse.

The Princes

Paradise City is broken into four districts, sections A, B, C, and D. The districts encompass all four layers of a city on a given quadrant. Each such district is the size of a small to large city elsewhere in the world and is overseen by a Prince, along with his own court. While these Prince’s answer to the High Prince, their rule is autonomous so long as their edicts do not defy his. The Princes form the rest of the High Prince’s Primogen, advising him on matters of concern across the city at monthly meetings. Each district has its own sheriff, hounds, harpies, etc. For the larger part, their influence doesn’t spread beyond their district though at borders or in cases of truly prodigious individuals, their reputation can spread further.

The Barons

A city rank, independent of the Invictus rank, a Baron is a vampire to whom a Prince entrusts authority of a layer of his section, typically the one he himself does not reside in. Thus, if a Prince resides in High Paradi, he will likely appoint Barons to oversee Upper, Mid, and Lower Paradi. These Barons often, but not always, form the Primogen Council for that Prince’s section. A Baron has however much authority his appointing Prince gives him or that he can claim without repercussion. Often, so long as their rulings do not conflict with those of the Prince, their power is complete.

The Regents

Both Princes and Barons can grant territory to a regent, who is then responsible for every facet of that territory. If the territory is fruitful and brings in blood, or provides a useful service, or is even known as a Rack, then it brings great esteem to that regent. If a territory is non-productive or suffers too many problems, it reflects poorly on the appointing Prince or Baron, and slates that regent for replacement. It’s not unknown for a Prince or Baron to appoint a vampire as regent of a trouble area in order to have pretext to eliminate or socially humiliate them. This can and has backfired if the regent is able to turn the situation around.

The Vassals

Vassals are kindred who exist under the authority of a regent, who has subsidized his fiefdom to lessers. A vassal is generally accorded his own feeding grounds and territory under the regent’s authority and is, in context, a micro-regent of an area. Vassals can grant feeding rights to tenants in lands they’ve been granted but are in turn responsible to manage their Regent’s land well.

The Tenants

A tenant is a vampire granted feeding rights under a Prince, Baron, Regent, or Vassal. They have no authority in and of themselves but are allowed to partake of blood in their lord’s fief. They are expected to see to the security of their superior’s holdings and report, or intervene, if necessary. In order to purchase dots in Feeding Grounds, a vampire must swear an oath to be a tenant, or stake his claim in Lower Paradi where there are more blind eyes. Otherwise, choice territories are simply inaccessible to them. These dots can be lost in a moment if their superior revokes his favor but most will not do so flippantly; tenants add to the power of their superior as a kindred who owes them and a desperate vampire might well seek to avenge a burned bridge.

The Rabble

The rabble occupy the lowest rung of the feudal system and also compose the largest amount of vampires in the city, behind tenants. The rabble are those kindred who have been granted meager feeding rights but owe no oaths of fealty nor do they possess havens in prime hunting areas. While not necessarily scorned, not by dint of that alone, the rabble are often seen as untrustworthy or unwilling to go with the plan. Many neonates are created into this class though there’s always room for upward advancement. Without swearing loyalty as stated above, you may not possess the Safe Haven (Feeding Grounds) Amenity at greater than one dot.