September 18th, 2002 - Adaptation, Evolution

Arkady tried to hand over the domain of St Louis, tried to step away with this martyr-like insistence that I'd be better at the job. Warriors don't do well in peacetime, he said. Elena would have done it, he said. As if that would make a difference to me, I have never aspired to be Elena, and though most Ventrue would jump at the opportunity, I just can't find that level of ambition within myself. And make no mistake, it would be ambitious. You can't just turn over a Domain, I'd have to be able to stand on my own, with the support of the defunct clans, and the respect of the ones that are running fairly smoothly. Mission impossible, I say. Arkady suggests that I could even fix what is wrong. So far, I've only been able to identify what is wrong, and tentative steps to correct the wrongness, just result in failure. It is not necessarily Arkady's failure, or mine, it is simply the temperment of the masses, that for whatever reason St Louis attracts people that seem to have nothing better to do, no place better to go, and no desire to change anything...I can't exclude myself from this equation. Does that mean its broken, or is it just an evolution or change from Camarilla run societies in long established cities, where elders have a stranglehold on the city and its populace, influence and resources. Maybe St Louis is the Utopia we sought as anarchs, or as young Kindred with big dreams, and we just fail to recognize what we have here. So where did we go wrong.....

  • The primogen hold no establishment or real power over the masses, they do not lead, so much as they hold figurehead positions
  • The Prince rarely utilizes his full authority, in denying residency, domain, siring rights, or even laying down the proverbial smack, by in large, as long as the masquerade isn't broken, or the masses aren't bitching too loudly, Arkady is content to let us all be
  • Other establishments of the camarilla, the harpies, the Keeper, the Sheriff, are little more than shadows of what they are in firmly held cities. Status comes and goes (by the hands of harpies), crimes are investigated (by the sheriff) and the elysium keys are distributed (by the Keeper), but all in all such things are done in a very laid back way.
  • There is a loose agreement between the Ivory Tower Camarill and the Anarchs - this agreement is something like "live and let live". So far, no major problems have occurred between the two groups.
  • The primogen council members changes faster than the Prince can Call the Seasons, you never know who's going to be on top, or who's whims will result in a changing of the guard. Gotta stay on your toes

So, review the list, check it twice, and think long and hard about whether there's anything actually wrong at all, because it could just be that its exactly right, and we're only mired down by the principles and traditions of the elders who created the system. Adapatation. Evolution.