About the Movement
From Carthian Movement
Undeniably the youngest of the major Kindred covenants, the Carthians are fire-eyed reformists, eager to bring the establishment to its knees if that’s what it takes to facilitate positive political change. If the unbound are the irritable loners and individualists, then the Carthians are the Young Turks who seek to shake up the status quo with the honesty of their passion and the ingenuity of their ideas. Due to the prevalence of young Kindred in the modern age, the Carthian Movement sees quite a bit of support worldwide.
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Overview
Carthians are full of ideas. They see brave new possibilities and models for Kindred self-rule that they believe were unimagined before they arrived on the scene, and they long to share those ideas with others. Few stop to wonder whether the existing status quo has endured for a reason. Most are content to challenge it for the sake of trying to accomplish something positive in a world as bleak as the Kindred’s.
If the Carthians have a single enemy among the Damned, it is calcification. Change is vital to all social systems. Therefore, many Carthians fear the elders of their kind. They don’t think elders pose a direct threat, but that elders are the most stagnant members of their race, the least capable of hearing or accepting new ideas. For this reason, many submovements of the Carthian cause have some strict policies about who can join, as they fear their dreams might become the target of some elder’s crusade.
For the most part, they’re right. Most elder vampires have little interest in seeing a bunch of neonates summarily rearrange the power structure that’s been in place for centuries. Vampires are nasty, predatory creatures who only grow nastier and more predatory with age, and few elders appreciate this latest “fad” among neonates. As a result, the Carthian Movement has become the scapegoat of choice for powerful elders. Were it not for the presence of some great minds within the Movement (as well as a few elders of other covenants), the faction might well collapse under the weight of tradition. All the same, the Movement has met with limited success in some areas, and much like a persistent union, the Carthians have begun to show some marked gains simply by remaining patient and playing the game as it must be played. Their democratic notions don’t appeal to everyone, but what the Carthians lack in wisdom and support, they tend to make up for in passion and unity.
Members
The Carthians embody the youngest generation of Kindred, even more so than the unaligned. The vast majority of self-proclaimed Carthians are neonates, with a smattering of wily ancillae who have either achieved some measure of power or satisfaction from their efforts as part of the covenant, or who are simply too afraid to abandon the faction after so many years and relations forged (or destroyed). Once in a while, the rare elder emerges with ties to the Carthian Movement, but most elders simply scowl at the very idea.
When a vampire comes to the Carthian cause, he typically does so out of a genuine desire to see some radical changes implemented in the secret world of the Damned. As might be expected, the most numerous (and vocal) clan in the Movement is the Mekhet, many of whom are drawn by the opportunity the covenant presents. Many consider the covenant to be the last and best chance for positive relations between Kindred and kine, and as such, a few are willing to do anything to make sure the Movement thrives and survives. While most Ventrue normally shy away from anything Carthian, a number of Nosferatu and Daeva can be found at Carthian gatherings. The former attend out of appreciation for a venue in which fear can motivate, and the latter do so from a vampiric desire to involve themselves in the affairs of others.
Philosophy
The foundation of the Carthian Movement is the notion that vampires needn’t blindly accept the status quo. While these Kindred recognize that they’re being Embraced into a world with its own secret history and traditions, they don’t feel they have to accept it all simply because someone older than them says so. Rather, they believe that everyone can and must have a voice, in death as he did in life, and that voice must be heard. This philosophy revolves around two core concepts that give the cause its fire.
Power to the People
The primary tenet of the Carthian cause is that any model of government that works for mortals is applicable to Kindred. Democracy in particular is the cornerstone of Carthian thinking, because it gives each individual a say in the affairs and administration of the people as a whole. Socialism is a popular model, too. Due to the relatively small scale of vampire society, many consider socialism more feasible for Kindred to adopt than it might be for mortals. Carthians detest the notion of rule by divine mandate, and they strive to convince those in power that existing structures should be examined thoroughly, and then modifi ed or torn down as necessary in order to create a better world for all Kindred. Needless to say, few vampires in positions of power are immediately agreeable. They understand vampiric nature well and know that even when Carthians “succeed,” the result is often little more than the undead equivalent of a labor union. Such artifi cial contrivances are inherently dangerous to Kindred society.
Change Is Necessary
If part of the curse of undeath is stagnation and stasis, then the Kindred must be willing to change and adapt to the times if they are to endure. Dismissing new ideas out of hand simply because they are not what has been done before is the folly of ignorance, and such folly drives the Carthians to bloody tears. If they, at so young an age, can recognize the truth of vampiric existence, then why can’t the elders of their kind? Or is it that those elders have long since forgotten? Regardless, the Carthians take it upon themselves to remind their hoary sires and grandsires that no kingdom is forever, and that change comes to every thing in every system in time.
Rituals and Observances
While the Carthians are considerably less ritualistic than either the Lancea Sanctum or the Circle of the Crone, they still have their share of sacred practices. More often than not, Carthian “rites” revolve around politics, and what starts as a debate can easily turn into a ritual depending on the Kindred involved.
The Chain
At almost every Carthian gathering, some Kindred (usually the Prefect) steps forward and requests that everyone present take part in the custom Carthians call the Chain. The entire rite ends in a matter of moments, so even the most turbulent of Kindred usually acquiesce to their involvement. The idea is simple. All the Carthians present gather in a circle, and following a few inspirational words from the Prefect, each passes a single artifact that is esteemed by the local Carthians to the Kindred beside him, thus forming a symbolic chain representing that what one Kindred does affects all others. The symbolism is blunt but effective. Each vampire in the circle is beholden to the next and responsible for another, but not directly. Thus do the Carthians remind themselves of their outlook, common goals and objectives. Artifacts can be anything, such as a relic of a fallen Carthian leader, an effi gy of an enemy or a personal possession of someone soon to be drawn into the Carthian ranks.
Independence Day
The Carthians, being fans of democracy in all its forms, hold a special fondness for Independence Day. The term can be misleading, however, seeing how the celebration day itself is not always on the American holiday, the fourth of July. In countries other than the United States, such as Mexico and France, Carthian vampires typically celebrate on the same date mortals do, so the fifth of May is nearly as common a date of observance, for example. In actual Carthian-dominated domains, the Kindred celebrate the night their dream of a new world came to pass. The victory of an alternative political model is both rare and wondrous in the world of the Damned, and the Carthians revel in remembering the night of its advent. When free to do so, Carthians can get quite rowdy, and their parties are truly legendary.
Titles and Duties
Unlike the other covenants, whose titles often coincide with those of standard positions of authority, the titles of important fi gures in the Carthian Movement denote levels of responsibility and respect, rather than true authority.
Prefect
The Kindred in charge of much of the night-to-night running of Carthian operations in a given city is known as the Prefect. In most every case, the Prefect is elected (in whatever form that takes) by a majority of other Carthians, with the exception of any active Myrmidon, who traditionally abstains from such voting. The Prefect is at once the spokesperson for the Movement in his domain, the “chair” and organizer of Carthian events, and the one responsible for making sure that no single faction member’s actions jeopardize the others. Therefore, the Prefect must have some public relations savvy, as it is to him that the Prince inevitably turns when a Carthian is suspected of some wrongdoing. While the Prefect carries considerable sway among his confederates, he is not their leader in neither name or truth. Most prefer the relationship that way.
Myrmidon
The majority of incarnations of the Carthian experiment involve Kindred getting together and democratically parceling out both feeding rights and potential dispute resolutions. As such, the need quickly arises for an entirely “neutral party” to help maintain order. A Carthian known as a Myrmidon fills this role. Although the Myrmidon works very closely with the Prefect, he is not the Prefect’s “right-hand man,” despite appearances to the contrary. Rather, he is the one who often acts as intermediary between two quarreling Carthians or between a Carthian and a non-Carthian of no political importance. Given the Prefect’s duties to the cause, the Myrmidon often ends up enforcing the Prefect’s duties, simply by virtue of the fact that nobody else could do it without cry of foul.
From Minds Eye Theater: Vampire: The Requiem
