I remember reading somewhere that the heads of the Camarilla are a bunch of ancient Kindred call the Seraphs, can anybody clarify? Below them are the Cardinals I think and then the Justicars or was the other way around? Then finally the princes and primogen.
The anarchs and independents have their barons and the Sabbat have their Bishops and Archbishops. Unless the Cardinals belong to the Sabbat?
Oh and does anybody know the link the a site containing info on Kindred lineage and history? I think Lucita showed it to me once but the thread which had it on has expired and I was too stupid to book mark it. Can anybody help me?
Council of Seven
Conclave
Justicars ( one from each Camarilla Clan )
Archons ( every Justicar appoints several of these )
Prince ( has authority over one larger city or area, i.e. the Prince of New York, the Prince of Connecticut )
Primogen Council ( the oldest members of each Clan in a city, supports the Prince )
Each Prince has several helpers like the Sheriff, Scourge, Seneshal and so on...
Sabbat Structure of Authority
Regent
Cardinals ( they have authority over larger areas, i.e. Francisco Domingo de Polonia, Cardinal of the Eastern American Territories ).
Archbishops ( about the same as a Prince )
Bishop ( Leader of a Pack, or small city or city area )
Prisci ( usually supporting scholars, powerful vampires used where needed, like a Camarilla Justicar )
Packleader
Packpriest
Note: The Sabbat has additionally several factions like political parties and/or Special Units ( Templars, Inquisitors, Black Hand Agents )
The Black Hand or Tal'Mah'Rae
The Black Hand has members in the Sabbat, Camarilla and independant Agents. Most people only heard of the Sabbat Black Hand, and never of the real power behind them....
Well, what is Giovanni? Are they humans or vampires?
I never played VtM before Bloodlines. In Bloodlines they seem like humans (even you look at them with Auspex), but they have one vampire in their mansion (I couldn't identify his clan though).
But on that site I read that they are vampires.
Help, pls, I am completly lost in all these terms.
The Giovanni are one of the independent Clans, which means they don't belong to the Sabbat and the Camarilla.
The Giovanni are clan and family, they grew out of a roman trading family that later played with the art of Necromancy. They were embraced as Kindred around 1000 A.D. by the former Clan of Death, the Cappadocians. In the 1500's the leader of the Giovanni's killed and diablerized the Cappadocian Anteliduvian and after that evil act, the Giovannis hunted down most members of the Cappadocian Clan ( save a few who could flee to the New World and became the Samedi Bloodline and a few who went behind the Shroud of the Netherworld and remained there for about 500 years, these became the Harbinger of Skulls Bllodline and joined the Sabbat ).
So the scene in the Giovanni mansion where you have to find out secrets of the 3 people, is actually about who of them has the better standing in the end gets embraced and becomes a Vampire.
Lucita y Aragon, Childe of Ambrosio Luis Moncada, Childe of Silvester de Ruiz, Childe of Boukephos, Childe of Lasombra
The Giovanni clan are a strange bunch, they belong the Independents sect. Originally the Cappodicians. What happened was Cappadocius embraced an Italian ancient crimelord type person some 800 or so years ago. But Augustus Giovanni diablirised Cappodicius his own sire and then embraced his entire family the Giovanni crime family, in other words mafia family, who devourved the entire (or most) of the Cappadocian clan stealing their power and remodelling themselves as the Clan Giovanni. As a clan they're like the Ventrue but instead of simply delving with the political affairs alone they specialise in organized crime, incest (their childer are all from their mortal family who interbreed) and necromancy (which apparently leads to necrophilia) but by the looks of it they aren't quite the necromancers the Cappodicians were even if they're a brighter lot. Well that's about it I think, might have made a mistake here and there but that's only because the Giovanni aren't exactly my favourite clan.
And thanks Lucita. Once again you're a big help. So basically the Seraphs and the Dominions (both are actually angel choirs) are the grand leaders behind the black hand then?
Kind of....the "real" Black Hand ( not the Sabbat babies everyone knows about ) is a nasty sect grown out of an ancient magician death cult from the Middle East. Over time some of the magicians were embraced and other creatures joined the cult ( A mummy, severl wraiths, vampires, ghouls, etc. ). It's ultimate goal is to hasten the arrival of the Antediluvians ( which means that they actually are fighting philosophically against every other sect; Sabbat want to help Caine to destroy the 3rd Generation, Camarilla says there are no 3rd Generation and the Inconnu wants to flee from the Jyhad and work against the 3rd Generation too ).
The real Black Hand, or Manus Nigrum or Tal'Mahe'Ra had their Headquarters in the Shadowlands in an city which they belive is Enoch, the first City of Caine. It was destroyed though by a supernatural Maelstrom a few years ago. So their leadership is kind of shaken now, and I think the Seraphim are the highest surviving leaders.
Known Seraphs of the Black Hand are:
Jalan-Aajav, 5th generation Gangrel, embraced around the 12th century.
One bit of triva for the buffs out there:
The city of Enoch in the Shadowlands was actualy destoryed by one of two relic Nukes held by "The Smiling Man". None to shockingly, when the nukes first went off in Japan, a lot of people were killed, and all those people had an emotional connection to "That dammed bomb"... So the bomb made it through as well.
When asked "Do you really have the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs?" the smiling man would respond with...
... A smile.
Can anybody help me?
