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So You Want To Know About Covens
An Essay by Nafretiri, Aka, Naffie.
It seems that lately, there have been a lot of questions and concerns about the covens in question; so many, in fact, that I’ve decided to write this essay. First off, let me make perfectly clear that I’m posting this without Kira/Marcus’ knowledge, but that this is what I’ve come to discern as the truth after more than a year of roleplaying on this site. It might not all be entirely accurate, and I completely welcome Kira to point out the flaws when she gets back. That being said, let me begin.
The Covens themselves are a very old thing. They have been around almost half as long as vampires. A Coven, like a Witch’s Coven, works on the same basic beliefs: it’s a gathering of people who all believe and expect basically the same thing. However, unlike the small Pagan Covens that dot the world, each coven is worldwide. They stretch to all corners of the globe, and have territory on the continents (except Antarctica).
Now, one of the questions we are asked so frequently is, “How does someone know/decide which coven they belong to?”
To answer this, you must think of a new born baby, because in truth, a newly made vampire is quite like this. This baby can inherit certain traits from their parents, but it can also have traits that are unique to the baby. Same goes for a new vampire.
If a vampire was made by an Enashe member, who taught this new vampire to love humans and all that, chances are, the new vampire would have a higher probability of becoming Enashe. However! If this new vampire displayed none of the traits for Enashe, and yet still carried this like for humanity, it would seem that Nephim is where they’d probably end up.
On the flip side of the coin, if this new vampire inherited certain traits from the Enashe coven, but loved to kill and maim, they’d probably end up in Tarepha or Ishak.
Sometimes, a character can have a mix of abilities from several covens, or, abilities that don’t lend themselves to a coven at all. This basically means that the character has a choice of which coven suits their emotional, mental, and physical needs and beliefs best.
You see, Covens aren’t just classifications of what powers one has, they’re also about how the people inside them view the world. They all offer different things to their members, a different mindset, a different moral system, a different belief, etc. etc. You can join a coven where you don’t have any of the abilities prescribed, but… It seems to me, that somewhere, within the vampire’s DNA, that there’s some little codex that states what kind of personality this person does and will have, and the abilities are based around that.
Another common question is, “But what about the characters that have the traits of the Amman that are younger than a thousand?”
Here’s a little fact about the Amman: they are the vampiric equivalent of the police. You do something bad, the Amman are going to get you. That being said, a thousand years is needed to perfect and attain the power level needed for such a position. No hundred year old vampire is going to be able to sufficiently map the human mind, nor have the experiences or power needed to instil the fear that is needed of them. That would be like sending a six year old to apprehend a twenty-two year old weight lifter. It just doesn’t work.
Now, if they have the same abilities as the Amman, they will more than likely join either the Nephim (who they have quite a few abilities in common with) or the Enashe. If when they reach a millennia, they’ve decided they want to join the Amman, then they may ask permission to join.
“My character was from ________, so he/she/it didn’t know about the covens until he/she/it came to Demaitre!”
*buzzer sound* Sorry, you are incorrect, but you still go home with the booby prize… this lovely dung hat!
No, really, being serious. The Covens are worldwide as stated earlier. They have members in all countries who uphold the Coven beliefs and all that jazz. Now, in the olden days, it was much harder for them to be worldwide, as they’d need to discuss with the leader, however, nowadays thanks to that spanking invention I like to call the telephone, it’s absolutely no problem whatsoever.
Why are they all in Demaitre then? Well, I’m not sure anyone knows except for the fact that there really wouldn’t be an RP if all the covens couldn’t be in the same place, am I right? For the sake of this essay and your questions, however, I will say that it is my belief that Demaitre is the only city in the world where all five covens are so prominent. They exist everywhere else, but only in Demaitre do all five covens have territory of their own.
“What about Independents?”
That’s a personal choice made by the vampire if they feel they don’t fit in anywhere or can’t take orders (but really, except for the Tarepha where Euthalia is a bit of a megalomaniac, not many orders are given). It’s allowed, or we wouldn’t have given you the option, but our hope is that one day, most of you will choose to join a coven. There are benefits, believe it or not. Here are some:
1.) The Coven can offer protection if you need it. If you get into a brawl with another vampire who is now out to kill you, you can go to your coven leader, state your problem, and they’ll usually help you.
2.) The people in your coven are all basically on the same wavelength as you, so it will be easier to interact.
3.) As the covens (to my knowledge) have members in all continents, you will usually have someplace to stay should you find yourself in a different neck of the woods.
Now, for Independents, they aren’t really trusted. Oh, you can like them and be friends with them, but they wouldn’t be overly aware of what’s going on in the covens, which, to me, seems like a downside. If that’s what the player wants, however, all the power to them.
“I hate the Tarepha/Ishak/Amman/Enashe/Nephim! They suck! I say we have a war between covens!”
Oh Gods no. You mention that again, I’m going to hit you over the head with a shovel, and bury you in a shallow grave.
*cough*
We’ve been through this. There will be NO coven wars. Period. There can be disagreements between coven members (and those coven members can be leaders) but we’re not going to have inter-coven battles. You want that, take it somewhere else.
I think that about wraps it up. If you have any more questions, I’d be happy to answer them.
(Except the thing about the animals, Istar, ‘cause I don’t have a clue.)
Toodles!
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With Regard to Copyright
So You Want To Know The Covens
