The Harbingers
By Jamie
Edited Aug 11, 2003 by Dave
The Harbingers are an Order of Vampires which has both a secret and a public sept. Many vampires belong to this sept although they keep their membership secret. The Public sept - The Harbingers of Souls - is well known (much like the Freemasons or the Trilaterals) but the details of their rites and practice is not well known.
The Harbingers of Skulls are a secret organization shrouded in mystery, lies, and legend and constitute a sort of Vampire Illumanati which have been blamed for many sorts of vile deeds. No-one has proven the existence of the Harbingers of Souls and so their existence remains a myth.
Harbingers of Skulls
The Sect calling itself the Harbingers of Skulls claims a history of treachery for which it seeks to exact a hellish vengeance. Members of the bloodline are quite powerful without exception and many claim to have returned from their banishment to the realms of the dead. Long ago, they whisper, a rogue society of sorcerers hunted them for their blood in order to steal immortality and to further their own arcane lusts for power.
Few believe this fairy tale of ancient injustice in these modern times but the few who know of them afford a wide berth to the Harbingers given the immense potency of their magic and their discomforting eccentricity. The Harbingers of Skulls practice necromancy.
Surrounding themselves with miasmas of death, murder and mortification all aimed toward righting their ancient betrayal. It would seem, however, that for all their polemics something rots like the corpses below the surface of their society. Few of the members of the sect would ever suspect, much less prove that there are hidden masters yet there are rumors that there are demons and humans alike behind the leadership.
Just as there are puppetmasters behind the Harbingers of Skulls, they are puppeteers for the Harbingers of Souls. The Regent, and many of the cardinals are under the influence (and may even be members of) the Harbingers of Skulls. The Templars are trained in the means and ways of death by the Harbingers of Skulls and many Templars retire their asssassin duties to become members of this secretive and arcane order.
Harbingers of Souls
The Harbingers of Souls have been around for only around 400 years but they were anarchists who roamed the countryside; killing and feeding from whomever they wished. Reformed and organized by the Harbingers of Skulls they have become a public distraction from the atrocities of the secret organization that refined them.
There are an estimated 12,000 members all over the world more or less evenly distributed in seperate regions as packs. Each pack has an individual name ('Harbingers of Souls: West L.A.' or 'Harbingers of Souls: Bloodcrypts' for instance) and is usually made up of around 5 - 10 members. There is generally a bishop for every 5-6 packs with 2-3 preists under him. It is not unusual for a priest to be 'assigned' to a particularly powerful or deadly pack.
On a larger scale there is a hierarchy to the Harbingers of Souls:
Regent:
The highest leader bears the title Regent, for (according to Harbingers doctrine) he/she is merely overseeing the sons and daughters of Dukal until Dukal returns to lead his children himself.
The Regent is the president, so to speak, of this vampire sect. The Regent does not have absolute authority, but his/her directives are usually carried out. There have been four Regents in the sect's history. The other top leaders have overthrown each Regent. Three of the four Regents of the sect, including the current one, have been Human necromancers
Cardinals:
Assisting the Regent are the cardinals of the Harbingers. This lot has managed to gain control over large geographical regions. The cardinals seldom answer to the Regent or the prisci unless their activities have a detrimental effect on the Harbingers as a whole. The cardinals are responsible for all that happens within their regions, and for planning and delegating all Harbingers activities within their respective regions. There are currently 13 cardinals of the Harbingers. With the expansionist policy of the Harbingers, this number may soon increase.
Prisci:
The Harbingers is a very structured sect. There are many levels and positions of leadership; the positions are filled only by the most loyal and capable beings. While vampires are preferred, other beings have taken power within the sect.
Leaders are not rulers, however. The higher the level of leadership, the more Harbingers will listen to and obey the leader. The role of leader is more or less claimed and not awarded. Thus, those fit to lead find their places, pushing out those who are unfit.
Archbishops/Bishops:
Serving each cardinal of the Harbingers are archbishops. These vampires usually rise through the ranks, serving lengthy tenures as priests and bishops of the sect. Each cardinal has the power to appoint whomever he wishes to the position of archbishop.
Some accept bribes, but vampires who gain their positions in this manner often mysteriously disappear. Most archbishops simply proclaim themselves archbishop and the cardinal usually approves it. The archbishop is the Harbinger’s answer to the Camarilla prince (from White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade). The archbishop controls a city, referred to as an archdiocese.
Below the archbishops are the bishops. The bishops control the finances and security of the sect. The bishops can call upon individuals or entire packs to carry out activities in the best interest of the sect. Often the bishops control divisions of territory within a city; these divisions are referred to as dioceses. Harbingers members are within their rights to refuse a bishop's request, but they loose favour with that bishop and may be recognized as disloyal by many others.
Priest:
Harbingers priests are the lowest-ranked leaders within the leadership and assist in the administration of individual packs. Each priest is a skilled leader though he/she may not be the only leader within a pack. The priest acts as emissary to the bishops in the city. The priest is also trained in leading Harbingers rituals.
Templar
The Harbingers has its share of assassins these assassins, known as paladins or templars serve as personal guards to higher-level leaders. They are also sometimes used to eliminate threats to the security of the Harbingers or the welfare of their personal liege Some paladins appear to be more loyal to their personal liege than they to the Harbingers itself
Warlord
A Warlord is not an officially recognised position within the Harbinger of Skulls, but when Warlords appear their power can rival the Regent. A Warlord controls the influence of so many packs, priests, bishops, archbishops, and perhaps even cardinals, that they effectively run the show.
There have been 10 warlords in the past 400 years, none of whom reigned more than a decade before being assassinated or torn from their position by ambitious underlings.
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New sect of vampires and other big nasteys
I edited the above and re-arranged some of the information for readability and qualified some statements for game balance. I did have one question...Who or what is Dukal? The name is mentioned but there is no elaboration within this writeup.
I will see this gets into the groups writeups soon.
New sect of vampires and other big nasteys
thank you very much i forgot to mention the prince thing is like the leader of a city and its from vampire teh masqurade