Clan Ventrue (Vehn-troo)

It should not be surprising that a clan based on leadership and control has a more defined structure of power. In fact, the Ventrue are second only to Clan Tremere and their insane pyramid scheme structure. Thankfully, the Ventrue keep it rather streamlined from the top down:

• Ephorate - The creame of the clan crop who make decisions and judgements for the ENTIRE clan. Their rulings really only effect other high-ranking Ventrue, but the effects trickle down and affect the entire clan.
• Strategoi - The ennactors of the Ephorate's judgement over the globe.
• Lictors - Agents of the Strategoi that operate in specific areas, such as financial or military manipulations.
• Tribunes - Messengers to specific Ventrue higher-ups, such as Princes or Primogens, who fill them in on the necessary details.

Within a city/domain, there are a few inter-clan ranks as well, similarly in a top-down fashion:

• Gerousia - Also known as a Board, they are a council of powerful and experienced Ventrue who take care of Ventrue concerns and interests within the city. More often than not, a Primogen or Prince will be a part of this Board, or at least have allies on the inside.
• Praetor - The leader of the Gerousia who brings forth the issues and is the main host of the Board Meetings. If the Prince or Primogen are involved in this group, 9 times out of 10 they will have this title as well.
• Aediles - Aides to the Gerousia as a whole and to the Praetor specifically, acting as messengers, lieutenants, and managers.
• Questors - Ventrue who act in a similar position to the Aediles, but to a Ventrue Elder not on the Gerousia.
• Eiren - Ventrue who have not gained a formal title yet.

All of these ranks are mostly honorific in nature, used as signs of achievement only in conversation and comparison with other members of the Clan. Similarly, while there is a clear flow of power, it is not a ladder of progression, and depending on the deeds and power of any one Ventrue the titles can be given and stripped easily. It all depends on Dignitas, the Ventrue ideal of dignity which will be gone into more detail on in the Culture section.

Dignity

Kindred are always Monsters, and the Ventrue are no exception, but they aren't animals! To a Ventrue, being the height of class, elegance, and smooth operating is paramount. What is the point of having power if you're just going to act like some bratty sycophant after all. They honor their word, they keep a calm front even under the worst circumstances, and they keep everything managed.   By that same measure, they also do not afford any failure or offense to go unmet. A Ventrue might be a pristine host, second only to the Tzimisce, but if said guest were to shame their sire, harm their ghouls, or god forbid insult their hosting, then repercussions would be grand and immediate. (But not too grand, lest one be seen as uncouth).   Their pursuit of grace and class also goes into what they select to feed upon, as each Ventrue will have their own requirements for the blood they can drink. This can range from broad categories like redheads, to more niche like women who drink at least three cups of coffee a day. It all depends on the Ventrue, but it's always a source of specificity and class, not being able to just feed on any rabble, which also puts them in unique positions.   This is all bundled into the concept of Dignitas, which is the social standing of Ventrue that can be one part of their requirements for the ranks mentioned in Organization, as a Ventrue of good success and social renown will, of course, be seen as excelling in Dignitas. Even among Anarch Ventrue or the rare Antitribu, this standard persists.   Similarly, any Childer embraced by a Ventrue must be seen and tested as one who can uphold themselves with the same class and dignity their sire would show. While this standard exists even beyond the Camarilla, the Camarilla standard of sires training and keeping their Childer under lock-and-key until they properly present them to society largely originated with the Ventrue and their standards of education for their Childer.  

Power

Ventrue are all about the obtaining, maintaining, and manipulation of power. Whether this comes from the financial sector, political manipulations, military enforcement, or some amalgam of sources, it is their bread and butter. Their long-standing control of such power is part of why they became the de facto leaders of the Camarilla, along with their socially masterful cousins, the Toreador. Any slights toward their power base, or poorly-made schemes made to undermine it, will get you extreme retribution. The Ventrue do not get rid of their toys easily.   This inherent need for power also works its way into the inherent compulsion of the beast that each clan feels. When disrespected, or otherwise ignored, a Ventrue will often feel the need to control the situation bubbling up inside of them, and they will not be sated until their command is respected.  

Lineages

While many Kindred Clans have specific Bloodlines, off-shoots of the clan that may manifest differently, Clan Ventrue is one of the few, if not the only one, that meticulously tracks their actual lineage of Sire and Childe to key figures of eld. This matters less outside of the Camarilla, but even Anarch Ventrue can pull rank among their own clan, and call in favors across the political divide if their lineage grants them such an ability.  

Tacoma Culture

Even during the dull era of the stalemate, Clan Ventrue had a rather key hold over the city. While Tacoma may not be a big-ticket city in a lot of regards compared to Seattle, it does have a strong business center for the financial minded to work their magic. The nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord also allows a lot of avenues for military power to be manipulated and controlled, and especially in the cities unfortunate past, organized crime exists to wield just as strongly.   In the modern rennaissance for the Anarchs, when members of the clans are organizing their own loose factions to organize stronger, the Ventrue have largely labelled each other based on their sphere of influence and preference, with the aptly named divisions being the Financiers, Leaders, Politicians, and Scholars, the latter of which tap the resources involved in many institutes of education to gain social influence and directional control over the next generation.

No Kindred has a public agenda, that's where the whole Masquerade thing comes in. But, in their pursuit of power many Ventrue take leading roles in various companies and organizations aross a whole slew of industries. This can sometimes lead to them taking a public role, either in small glances or, like some Undisputed Barons, have an active yet heavily disguised and filtered social media presence.

Universal History

The history of Clan Ventrue is a long and storied one, by noddists and the clan itself equally. But, just because a history is storied doesn't make it accurate, and many Ventrue groups have their own puff pieces and claims to fame in order to be more impressive on the standard night. So, in the interest of time and avoiding puffing the Ventrue's inflated ego's, we'll go a bit brief over their extensive history.   According to the Christian origins discussed by Noddists, Caine himself ordered the siring of the founder of Clan Ventrue, named Ventru. He was Caine's advisor and was left with the responsibility of leading the Kindred once Caine left (how convenient).   After their influence in that generation and the various ancient cities, their next biggest realm of power was in the meditteranian, specifically Sparta and Greece and later Rome. Sources vary on how deeply involved they were with the formation and running of these societies, but what is known is that they were, in fact, seats of power for the clan. Their biggest opponents were the Lasombra, also active in the area, and the Brujah who were present in Athens and Carthage at key points in time.    Throughout Rome's legendary reign of prosperity, the Ventrue themselves enjoyed greater power and matured their senses for power and manipulation, creating strong relationships with other Kindred Clans, save for those they directly fought against such as the Brujah.   After the fall of Rome, the Ventrue's sites of power pingponged throughout western Europe while they frequently duked it out with the Lasombra. By the time of the Crusades and the formation of the Camarilla, the Ventrue were essential to it's formation as their centuries of expertise and leadership in power carved them into natural leaders for the new formation. Many bucked at this small scale endeavor and left to join the then-Anarchs, now-Sabbat.   After the formation of the Camarilla, the Ventrue were in a rather cushy and static position, being the wise and dignified leaders of their new society. As power came and went, so too did the Ventrue, and they followed the scent of blood and money that came from british imperialism like loyal hungry hounds, causing conflict with all manner of foreign-based Kindred Clans such as the Ravnos who remained in India and the Setites in Egypt. Over the years, their relationship soured with other Clans as well, as they gained the image of being money-hungry, petty people instead of dignified masters. This taught the Ventrue a small touch of humility, as they needed to be more tempered and crafty in their power grabs, an image that has mostly kept to the modern night.   They learned that lesson just in time to tap on a bountiful vein of resources in the Americas, as throughout all the years the continents, especially the United States, has boomed and developed the Ventrue have been pushing and feasting on it. Through financial gain, to military might, to political control, to technological advancement, the Ventrue have their fingers in every pie imaginable, and a few you didn't even think of. Even though the modern presence of Project Firstlight and the odd beckoning has crushed their numbers new and old, Clan Ventrue is still the strongest Clan in the night, and they make no plans to change that.  

Local History

When the land of Washington was first being settled, the Pioneer group within the Camarilla inextricably wove their purposes and intents into the region, based out of Seattle. The Ventrue are no exception, and Washington's multiple centers of commerce, technology, and politics have been a massive boon to the clan. Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, all four of those big names give the Ventrue plenty of oppritunities to weave in and manipulate sources of power from all angles!   In Tacoma's past, the Ventrue were the ones who gave most of a shit about the city when most members of the Camarilla used it as a dumping grounds for their less desired Childer or engagements. It had a strong center and plenty of enviable resources, and at its foundation was even a key location in the Northern Pacific Railroad.   Even as the city began to decline through various disasters, so long as the Ventrue could hold onto their assets, they would. When Fintan Breen, the Anarch Ventrue who led local revolts up into the 1990's, started to push on their territory, it was the Ventrue who made the idea to seperate Tacoma and give it a Prince to watch over it. It was also by their hand that they selected Vincent Gravenstein, the pliable weapon they needed.   Even throughout the stalemate, the Ventrue were not too harmed by the endless fight between Anarch and Camarilla, as in their eyes they had all their resources with the bonus of having control over the territory. But, they still took great hits, especially as the Anarchs began weaving their own ways into organized crime, into business, and into their political dealings. You see, the Anarchs had their own Ventrue, including dual-fielding masterminds like Arnd Weiss. Towards the middle 2000's, especially after the Recession, the Ventrue began to sweat.   When the Sabbat invaded Tacoma, they went after the Kindred financially as well as physically, with the Lasombra and Antitribu Ventrue causing great damage. Most Camarilla were lucky to flee either up towards Seattle or south towards Olympia, but the Anarchs had very few locations to sequester themselves in.   Soon, after wounds were licked and numbers were accounted, The South Sound Barons gathered and spread out to gain allies and interests of all types, with Arnd Weiss and his childe, Azariah Faerber, did their clan proud as they negotiated and manuevered the powerful and elite among the Camarilla to get their assisstance purging the Sabbat threat from Tacoma, to great effect. While the likes of the Brujah, Gangrel, and allied Garou did the physical labor of getting rid of the Sabbat and their dread soldiers, the Ventrue provided the mortal power behind their forces.   Closing, crushing, and stealing businesses the Sabbat had stolen and formed, pointing the local military, FIRSTLIGHT included, in the right directions with the right blinders on, and worming out and beating past any political influence they had wormed in. The Ventrue may not have burned the vile tree that had been trying to grow, but they tore the roots from the ground.   Even with the Camarilla ousted from Tacoma after the Cleansing Nights, many Anarch Ventrue still exist and do polite, measured business with their cousins in the other cities. But, Tacoma's chances and oppritunities have only grown since the Ventrue really poured their effort into the place, so it's anyone's guess as to what happens next.

As leaders of Kindred society as long as Kindred have had a society, Ventrue make up the majority of Kindred in Power, giving the clan much of the literal power behind the title of Prince. These territories are part of the mighty list of the Ventrue:
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