Most young Kindred learn the art of prestation (if they're lucky) as the art of giving and granting favors; 20th-century vampires define it as "you scratch my back, I scratch yours." Unfortunately, more often the neonates come to prestation only through being taken advantage of by skilled elders, giving them no chance to learn under more "forgiving" conditions.
Many an inexperienced Kindred (youth and elder alike) has dug themselves into horrendous debt due to their ignorance of the levels of prestation. This is not entirely through their own making; not a few harpies brokering deals have assisted the matter by choosing not to inform a Kindred about his potential mistake or by deliberate misinformation when it suited them (this of course gives them the opportunity to "help" the unfortunate one by leveling another debt to have the first one renegotiated).
The levels defined below are what passes for definition across most of the Camarilla; regions, ages of the Kindred in question, previous working relations and extenuating circumstances (such as war) may all play a part in the negotiations.
• Minor boon - This is given in return for some small favor, such as the loan of something and its return, or for political support that did not risk or inconvenience the giver's standing. It is expected that the receiver will return the favor in similar fashion. While minor boons may not sound like much to worry about, a collection of them carefully placed and called in can be the prelude to a devastating gambit. Most vampires of any sect or clan consider the acts of granting and returning minor boons to be common politeness, and a vampire who does not do so is considered to be beyond even the harpies' scorn.
• Major boon - A major boon is collected in return for items loaned that did not return or returned damaged (such as ghouls, weapons, artwork), political support that involved considerable risk and/or inconvenience to the giver or his standing, and for physical assistance during an assault that was not life-threatening. Major boons can be quite handy to have in the political arena during conclaves, or during wartime to force the hand of Kindred who have been slow to offer resources or support.
• Life boon - A life boon entails the spectacular debts that prestation is famous for. In most cases, the debtor literally owes his continued unlife to the boon-holder, and the boon-holder can demand quite a bit before considering the debt paid - how much is the debtor's life worth to him? The collection of a life boon at a crucial moment can force a debtor to vote against his own dearly held cause or to betray a friend.
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The sanctity of the prestation system is very important to the Camarilla, especially to the elders who have spent centuries carefully accruing favors from others. If it suddenly becomes acceptable to welch on one's prestation debt, then suddenly those elders' stockpiles of favors become worthless. Needless to say, the elders in question don's intend to allow that to happen. Those investments in favors are valuable, major resources in the mini-Jyhads the elders play. As such, they have a vested interest in keeping the formality of the prestation system intact.
Any attempt by a Kindred to wriggle out of a prestation debt is met with immediate and overwhelming response. As soon as the harpies hear of the affair, the offender's reputation is effectively trashed. He loses status and finds himself followed by derisive gossip. Alliances, particularly those based on favors given in the past, wither. Enemies spread slander about what other agreements the offender is unlikely to honor, paying homage to the time-honored Camarilla tradition of kicking a man when he's down. Other Kindred to whom the vampire owes favors call those favors due, daring him to break his word again and dig himself in even deeper. The offender has a choice of paying back all the favors he owes at once or cementing his reputation as untrustworthy. The former can place the vampire in a dangerous or exposed position, and certainly has the potential to drain his resources to a critical point. The latter offers the chance to make a whole new round of enemies, as Kindred denied their due are rarely forgiving.
Furthermore, the reputation one gets for welching on favors is not easily shaken, and the stench of it will follow the offender for decades. In the meanwhile, he finds obtaining help from anyone to be nigh-impossible, unless he's willing to pay usurious rates for assistance. Vampires are by nature a cautious race, and a Kindred who breaks faith is the sort of risk no Camarilla investor wants to assume.
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Dead Files
While the Kindred who attempts to get out of a debt has it bad, the one who kills his creditor to avoid paying gets infinitely worse treatment. As it is the elders who hold most of the debts, they're the most likely targets for assassination if this practice is allowed to flourish. As a result, they come down hard on those who kill to escape paying. The best a Kindred who takes this route can expect is a blood hunt; the worst is unspeakable - but rest assured that the stories get around, so as to discourage other would-be killers.
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ГЛАВА 6.
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