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Miscarriages of Justice

The Camarilla's justice is a rough and simple thing, but that doesn's prevent it from being subverted left, right and center. The process of the blood hunt, from inception to execution, provides innumerable opportunities for misconduct, and cunning Kindred have taken advantage of all of them.

The first place things can go wrong, of course, is the actual declaration of the hunt. It is sufficiently easy to frame a vampire for a breach of the Masquerade or some other heinous crime, particularly when powers like Dominate come into play. More than one prince has been tricked into issuing a blood hunt on a perfectly innocent Kindred on the basis of spurious or forged evidence. Real masters of the art of inciting blood hunts can turn a prince's edict on his allies and childer, tricking him into removing his own supporters one by one. A prince tricked repeatedly in this fashion rapidly beomes an ex-prince, or more often, a pile of ashes.

Two can play at that game, however, and for every prince tricked into calling a hunt on an innocent, there's another who set out to call a spurious hunt deliberately. Such hunts are called to eliminate rivals, demonstrate princely power or just exercise a prince's sadistic tendencies. They also tend to keep the population jumpy, for while such behavior tends to destabilize a prince's reign, no one wants to be martyred while waiting for the prince to be deposed.

 

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Dirty Pool

Just as the blood hunt process is sometimes hijacked for unscrupulous means, so too can a conclave's review be subverted. Even if a prince has called blood hunts for perfectly good reasons, persistent complaints to archons from the prince's enemies can lead to a justicar's review. As many justicars operate under the "where there's smoke, there's fire" principle, enough complaints - especially from Kindred of high standing - will inevitably lead to some sort of inquiry. Once the review is called, then it becomes open season on the prince, and things get interesting indeed.

On the other hand, no justicar is likely to appreciate being used thus, and attempting to manipulate a justicar into deposing a prince is a very dangerous game.

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Both hunters and hunted can take advantage of the hunt in unscrupulous ways as well. One of the hardest parts of any blood hunt is the preservation of the Masquerade during the chase. Quarries, particularly those being hunted for breaches of that Tradition, often rip the Masquerade wide open during their flight. Such behavior distances them from their pursuers, who are mandated (even in the grip of the hunt) to preserve the Masquerade first and foremost. Other targets of a hunt deliberately lead the chase across their enemies' domains, merrily causing their pursuers to trample everything underfoot. Particularly vengeful targets of a blood hunt attempt to turn the tables on the hunters, ambushing and destroying as many pursuers as possible. A vampire who is successful at taking out two or three of those theoretically hunting him can cause an entire hunt to bog down in paranoia and chaos. A hunt that's collectively jumping at shadows isn't likely to provide effective pursuit.

On the other hand, participants in a blood hunt can play dirty pool as well. Accidents happen, and hunts wherein more than just the quarry goes down beneath the hunters' fangs are common. Many of the most eager hunters love to use the hunt as an opportunity to settle scores, take out rivals or even indulge in unauthorized diablerie. The pursuit of a hunted vampire also provides plenty of chances to plant evidence, frame rivals or "accidentally" sneak peeks at rivals' domains under the guise of searching for the guilty party.

 


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