CHAPITER 2: Background Informations
Updated: 20 January 1999
CHAPITER 2: Background Informations
The Masques are constituted by only the most loyal and reliable Kindred. This limits the selection to two cases, which are perceived by others as one case: The candidate must be Toreador, or must be of Ivan's Bloodline. Either way, she must be Blood Bound to François Villon, and succeed in the 1 to 7 years of evaluation. If the candidate is mortal, she is immediately Embraced by a Toreador (if he shows some artistic potential) or by Ivan, and then Bound to Villon. If the candidate is Kindred, then she must be Blood Bond to Villon, and the evaluation time is shorter, but tighter, as the Kindred always fear infiltration.
The mission of the Masques is protecting the Masquerade, and after, upholding the other Traditions and Edicts as well. They will have some power over other Kindred when it comes to their missions, and they will be backed by the resources Ivan gave them, as well as the other Masques, Ivan and eventually Villon himself.
Philosophy:
The Masques are the police of Villon. As such, they must be loyal to the extreme, and willing to sacrifice all they hold dear (sometimes even their lives) to protect Paris. The Roads of Enlightment (See The Virtues and Road chapter) found within are the Humanity and Path of Chivalry.
For them, the Traditions are something sacred. They know that the Camarilla in Paris (and in France) is strong because the Masques are there to protect it. Sometimes they must do something dirty to succeed in their mission. Most of the time it is dangerous, but they were chosen because of their dedication, and they will go very far out of their way to protect the Traditions.
Some see them as fanatics, and in a strict sense, they are fanatics. But they would answer this is the price to pay for the Masquerade, and for the unlives of all Kindred in France. They add, then, that the number of Kindred in Paris is higher than the accepted standards (1 Kindred per 100 000 Kine), and the order still reigns, and the Masquerade is still protected because of their presence...
Powers & Influence in the Mortal World:
The Status, Masques is the same as D.S.T. (Police), or R.G. (Police), or D.G.S.E (Army) Rank (See: Year of the Hunter: Operation Twilight):
(*) While the Rank remains the same, the power goes even beyong, the Grand Master having influence beyond the common imagination... |
The Backgrounds with an '(M)' are given by the Masque status, and are put separately from any other Background. So, a Masque can have a Resources *** and a Resources (M) equal to **. It does not make a global Resource *****!
Note about Army Forces: The elements are always at least trained (that means Army Forces **), but their numbers are fewer for those of lower levels (number or persons in parenthesis).
Note about Influence: The influences stretches in the police or army influence, as well as in justice.
As mentioned in the Protject Twilight sourcebook, the Masques can use whatever resources of the same or less level than their own Masques Status/Rank.
The Seigneurs (Lords) are given a domain in Paris (or a greater one in France) to control. This usually takes the form of a Nightclub (complete with additionnal resources, staff, etc.), or any other domain where the Herd is plentiful. The Maîtres are given another, greater Domain (or see their domain grow in size). They usually choose a fortress-like place, where they can build up a new Chantry for the Masques (or the Veilleurs, in the case of Alexis!).
The Masques will use whatever resources they have to take over some investigations that could uncover Kindred secrets, or even any supernatural secret. In a way, they work along the Technocracy, even if the Veilleurs are the one who deal with the Mages.
Powers & Influence in the Kindred Society:
In the Camarilla, the only one with the power of justice are the Justicar, and they have retainers called Archons. But the Princes also have the power over their domain, and few Princes have, like Villon, so much power over one country. so Villon decided we would need Justicar-like retainers, and so, he give Ivan the mission to create the Masques. At first, Villon thought to use it for his personnal ends, but eventually, the fanaticism of Ivan (some would say his dedication) for the Traditions, and, more important, the Masquerade, tranformed the Masques into the structure the french Kindred know, today.
The mission of the Masques is to protect the Masquerade, and, after, protect the other Traditions. They have developped contacts and influence within the french administration and army that would make the Technocracy pale with horror: The main difference with the USA is that France is a very centralised country who is under the control of the Kindred since the Christ Era. The USA were created at an age where the new Technocracy could take over the control over the isolated Kindred Princes fighting against Sabbat Archbishops. Some think the Technocracy will make profit of the European Union (and the possible internal Camarilla conflict coming from the Princes of Europe fighting to protect their resources from European control) to reverse the tendancy.
Anyway, in Paris, unless given a direct order from the Prince, a Kindred can receive orders from a Masque as if it was given by Villon himself if the Masque has equal or more Status Masque than the Kindred Paris' Status.
The Status, Masque is the trust Villon puts upon the individual, and if the reason is good enough, he will back up his follower and retaliate against the Kindred who dared disobey him. In the other hand, the Kindred can refuse (he should have a good reason), and/or can complain to the Prince, who can, if the Kindred is right, punish the Masque for abusing the trust he gave him.
There is some corruption in the system, through, as the Anarchs have no really significant status, and as the Elders hold a lot of the same status. Anarchs are treated with less respect (at least) than Elders. Also, Elders sometimes wait only for one reason to critisize Ivan and his sect, and will protect themselves from it (in a covert way, of course). The Anarchs have no such power, and sometimes fall into some intrigue designed to protect an Elder from Ivan's anger! So the Masques are seen as the ''cleaners'' of Villon (sometimes with a less polite word) at the very best, and as the fascist police of the prince by others... And the fact that Ivan sometimes recruit among the intelligence services adds to this prejudice.
Havens:
The only well-known haven of the Masques is the Louvre, where part of the secret levels were designed for their use, complete with loyal ghouls, high security prisons and interrogation chambers, etc..
Ivan is known to have one of his Haven in the higher level of the Montparnasse Tower. The Masques are known to gather there, too.
Notes:
The Masques come only from the Toreador Clan, and some of them are Ivan's own Childer. No matter their Status, they all have access to the following Disciplines, and will find a teacher to learn them:
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* Unless exception, one wanting to reach a level in Status, Masque will have to have at least the same level in Dominate (to control and erase the possible informations) and Auspex (to learn information and see through Obfuscate).
And they have, of course, easy access to any Parisian Elysium, no matter their Parisian, or Masque Status (At least 1), including the Louvre.
The new recruits are called Apprentices, and will have to act as expected by Ivan and Villon: With loyalty and talent. Kindred joining are simply ''cast out'' from the Sect if they don't succeed. The newly created Childer is simply destroyed, as they were embraced to become Masques.
Relations with the Veilleurs:
It's easy, for the one who had compared Ivan's Masques and Alexis's Veilleurs, to understand what happened. When Alexis asked Villon for influence for his Veilleurs, Villon simply decided to make Alexis one of Ivan's Masters, with the following official differences:
Alexis and Ivan resents this mixed status. Alexis because he feels Ivan tries to tutor him, and Ivan because he resents the (limited) power Alexis has over the D.S.T. and the R.G. intelligence services, because he would like to know more about their strange Thaumaturgy and rituals, and because any Seigneur Veilleur can counter his own orders should the topic be of supernatural nature!
Secret Notes:
Ivan creates Childer, too, but as he is Caitiff, these Childer are of the same blood. Unless the candidate has some artistic talent (in which case Ivan asks for a Toreador to embrace him), he will be embraced by Ivan, after the authorization of Villon, of course.
Normally, Ivan uses his Vicissitude to change the apppearance of the new recruit before the Embrace, to allow him to start a new life, free from the last one contingencies. In some way, doing so protects the Masquerade. And the Neonate can't use his Blood to revert to his original appearance.
Lately, Ivan embraced childer with skills in technology, to help him (as they are Caitiff, too) in the creation of the CyberDisciplines. He still has no real success.
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