Defending the Cities

Defense of Camarilla territory is ruthless. It is the cities, more than any individual vampire, that the Camarilla must defend in order to remain a viable entity. One can always Embrace new Kindred, but there are just so many cities available to be occupied, and not enough places to put new ones. Many younger Camarilla vampires don't understand the sanctity of territory, thinking it's better to retreat to another city and fight another night. The elders, the wise ones who have seen the game played out for a half a millennium, know better. Every city is at once an armory and a source of supplies, not to mention a nigh-limitless source of new recruits. Moreover, vampires are creatures of place and habit. In addition, Caine's childer, particularly those who have seen a few decades on the other side of the grave, prefer security and comfortable surroundings. To such vampires, the loss of a home is more than just a matter of moving a line on a map a few miles. It is the loss of identity, the violent uprooting of tendrils that have been carefully laid down over decades. For all these reasons, and more, the Camarilla defends its own with the fury of a lioness defending her cubs.

Defensive tactics put into play against the Sabbat are simple: Figure out what and who in a city is expendable. Defend the rest to the Final Death. Use mortal and ghoul forces to keep relentless daytime pressure on Sabbat encampments. Burn down as many buildings as you have to in order to get the invaders, and blame it on an arson wave - have your ghouls smile for the news crews while lighting the flames, if necessary. The area can always be rebuilt later, providing opportunities and rewards for whatever neonates and ancillae distinguish themselves in the city's defense.

Speed of response time is also key to Camarilla defenses. If the Sabbat gains a foothold in a city, then the sect can start mass-creating shock troops within the contested zone. Not only does this produce more opposition at a nigh-exponential rate, but it also threatens the Masquerade. If the Sabbat is allowed to get "energetic" in its recruiting, the defenders' resources need to be split between actual defense of the city and protecting the Camarilla's veil of secrecy. The pressure only increases as time goes by. If the infection is not burned out quickly, it may never be burned out at all.

If truth be told, the Camarilla almost welcomes frontal assaults from the Sabbat. Yes, Kindred may be destroyed, property smashed and resources used up, but in such cases the enemy is visible, recognizable and ultimately driven off. Infiltration by deep-cover Sabbat operatives, on the other hand, is

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War Coteries

The war coterie is a relatively recent invention, with the credit (or blame) going at the feet of the late Lodin of Chicago. Essentially sanctioned privateers (or the land-going, bloodsucking equivalent thereof), war coteries are bands of neonates and the occasional ancilla who's feeling constricted in her current position, given carte blanche to go out onto the mean streets and wreak havoc upon the sect's enemies. War coteries operate under only the loosest guidelines from the local sheriff or prince, who essentially wind the coteries up, point them at a convenient enemy and let them go. If the coterie manages to do something effective, there's cheering all around and the survivors find themselves rewarded (though potentially targeted to do the same thing all over again the next time there's a need). If the coterie goes down in flames, well, that's one fewer batch of potential troublemakers around, and everyone else in the city gets an object lesson in why haring off after the Sabbat without strict direction is a bad idea.

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every prince's nightmare. The slow cancer of subversion rots out many a city that might be strong enough to withstand any frontal assault. As a result, any prince worth her salt is constantly in a state of nigh-certafiable paranoia. Which ancilla is dissatisfied enough to deal with the enemy? What neonates haven't received enough guidance from their sires, and have been seduced by the promises of an infiltrator? What primogen member, believing the Sabbat's hollow promises that the invaders will withdraw "once this current prince is toppled," is planning a coup? It's hard to tell, and oftentimes the paranoia that the threat of an infiltrator engenders does as much for the Sabbat cause as an actual mole would have.

Therefore, most princes have in place elaborate counter-intelligence measures. Options range from bribing anarchs to hang with the Sabbat to bring back information, to kidnapping neonates and ancillae for Dominate-enhanced interrogations (with all memories wiped afterward, of course) to giving sheriffs broad powers of enforcement to deal with suspected traitors. The latter, to no one's surprise, rarely works, but stubborn princes keep on trying it anyway.

Дата добавления: 2015-12-08