Source Lands Vampiric Society

The fictional Vampiric Society in the Source Lands Setting, refers specifically to the society that exists among the Nosgothica, being the most advanced type of Vampirism in the Source Lands.

History
Vampiric Society appeared first in the pre-Imperial Era, when roads made it possible for vampires to effectively travel and send word between regions. It was then, that the Invictus formed - a faint alliance between several powerful Vampires.

The Strain-War
It was not Vampires themselves that discovered that they could become Dhampyrs - it was mortal society that sought to cure their loved ones of Vampirism that found a way to prevent a vampire from becoming a monster.

During this era, Nosferatu were necessarily forced to live outside of cities, or in hiding, and they tended to become feral rather fast due to their lifestyles - and they hated their Dhampyr-cousins, who easily lived in human society.

This hatred lead to a Strain-War, and the Dhampyrs were forced to band together if they wanted to live, and protect their sleeping elders from Nosferatu assassins - and it was this that lead to an alliance between several powerful Dhampyrs scattered across the City-States.

Birth of the Invictus

The 13 Tribes
The 13 Tribes represent the original 13 Blood-Lines that all vampires can trace their lineage back to. When the Invictus first wrote their Book of the Dead, they recorded the Tribes by name of the Matron who birthed the tribe. Of the 13 original Tribes, 11 survive - Deularla and Ioelena were destroyed early on. However, it is said that the legacy of the 2 destroyed tribes survive.
 * The Tribe of Aurae (Northern Rahamra)
 * The Tribe of Chalsarda (Central Rahamra)
 * The Tribe of Elisven (Southern Rahamra)
 * The Tribe of Deularla (Northern Talanthia)
 * The Tribe of Haera (Southern Talanthia)
 * The Tribe of Ioelena (Eastern Talanthia)
 * The Tribe of Kali (Northern Sourcelands)
 * The Tribe of Lyra (Midsourcelands)
 * The Tribe of Maescia (Southern Sourcelands)
 * The Tribe of Sylmae (Acanasia)
 * The Tribe of Teharissa (Orient)
 * The Tribe of Yaereene (Far-East)
 * The Tribe of Vashti (Westerlands)

The Aurae
The Aurae is the only tribe that is an organized institution in its own right - they are the God-Princes of the Sarcharan Empire. Some few of them are Necromancers, others are Priests of the Lord of Shadow. Supposedly, the Black Sun started in Aurae lands, and was actually aimed to take down the local Aurae.

The Chalsarda
The Chalsarda were savage vampires among a savage people, and constantly at odds with the Elisven, who eventually subjugated them in the Post-Imperial Era. By the time the Colonial Era rolled around, the Elisven and the Chalsarda were too intertwined for them to go their separate ways, and joined forces against the Vashti - a foe they could not defeat.

The Elisven
The Elisven were at odds with their cousins, the Chalsarda, for quite some time - in fact, they never ceased to be at odds - they just eventually, during the Post-Imperial Era, finally win the battle and more or less subjugated their Cousins, but during the early Colonial Era, the Riverans colonized all the Elisven territories and with them came the Vashti and the flames of war. The Vashti would suffer early on, but eventually they won that conflict.

The Haera
The Haera are known to most as the Warlocks of Talanthia. During the end of the Imperial Era, when the Wizard Kings colonized Talanthia, they enslaved the Haera and used them to destroy the Deularla and the Ioelena. In the middle of the Post-Imperial Era, some Haera fled to the Westerlands to escape slavery, after one of the Haera was freed from control of the Primarch he served - his name was Mikael, and he is supposedly the creator of the only known Blood-Line of Haera to have made it to the Westerlands. The Haera are occultists and Wizards.

The Kali
The Kali are savage vampires in a savage land. Known largely as the "Corrupted Tribe", it is believed that the entire tribe has had their blood tainted by the Lord of Shadows. There are very few of them, but they lurk in the dark corners of the North Source Lands, always ready to kill and corrupt...

The Lyra
The Lyra are known as "The Lost Tribe". Not destroyed per say, the Lyra were scattered across the Skylands, and only the oldest of their Elders remember the Tribe's early days. The first Lyra encountered in the Midsourcelands were savages living among the Natives, but some of their Elders were eventually discovered and interrogated and this revealed that the Lyra were a prosperous Tribe before the Skylands rose up.

The Maescia
The Maescia were an important part of the indigenous Southern Sourceland Culture, affiliated with the "Cult of the Dead", and served a specific role in society - not all lived in such harmony, and the Maescia that were protected by society were largely kept separate from the savage Vampires of the Night. The situation hasn't changed much during any era...

The Sylmae
The Mysterious Sylmae are perhaps the only vampires that didn't transition from primarily targeting Elves as their primary source of food and hosts to using humans. The Sylmae targeted an entirely different species - The Acanasians. The Sylmae are largely, like their preferred host-species, nautical.

The Teharissa
The Teharissa, unlike the Vashti, are much more strictly organized, with only a few permitted Covenants existing. Fewer in number than the Vashti, the few that do exist have more power and influence in general.

The Yaereene
The Yaereene never left the Far-East, and as far as anyone knows, there has never been any interaction with the Yaereene and the rest of the Vampires, until the late Colonial Era, when they established connection. The Yaereene had established strong connections to the locals, but had a very strict society.

The Vashti
The Vashti are the dominant tribe in the Westerlands, but never did show much of a tribal identity. The Westerlands have been fairly chaotic when it comes to internal struggles among the vampires, and saw not issue in taking in large quantities of Vampires from other tribes, living alongside these rather peacefully.
 * The rite of Sun's Mercy and the Rite of Termpering both originate in Vashti lands and were first used by the Vashti.

Vampire Organizations
Vampires in the Source Lands organize themselves in small local courts, rather than large world spanning elaborate conspiracies, but some organizations, more akin to movements, have come to spread across distances larger than a mere cityscape.

Camarilla
Camarilla was the unofficial pre-imperial term used to refer to the secret groups of vampires that lived in cities. It was largely used as a code-word to describe the "lawful" vampires, that could be trusted somewhat - since, Vampires have organized themselves in "Camarillas", which now means the "government" of the local settlement, in vampiric terms.
 * The Empire made formal Camarilla Charters, and cities that continue using the Pax Nosgoth also issue formal charters, having some say in how the local Camarilla should be run.
 * The different Camarillas are not necessarily in contact, but quite a few of them are at least somewhat connected through the Invictus.

The Invicitus
The Invictus began in the Carnala Republics, before they were known as such, and is an organization that aims to provide its members with, as the name indicates, immortality. The Invictus follows a set of basic rules, created to keep vampires from killing each other, and causing outbreaks of corruption.
 * Diablerie is permitted, only if the Vampire in question has not sired childer, or if the childer are not members of the invictus. This applies, even if the victim of diablerie is not a member of the invictus - diablerie causes Malkavia, which often leads to corruption.
 * Murder of other invictus members is prohibited, only the Justiciars of the Invictus reserve the right to pass judgement.
 * Violence among invictus members is largely prohibited, but is only made an issue of, if it is to an extent where it becomes a larger issue - such as if the victim cannot fend for themselves anymore, or cannot show themselves in public for extended periods of time, etc..
 * Invicitus Members are subject to the rulings of the Justiciars and the Keepers. The Keepers, often called "Harpies" use the Echoes of the Void to keep track of who owes who favors, etc., and the Justiciars pass justice upon criminals.
 * The purpose of the Invictus is to protect the Elders. Elders are required to hibernate on schedules, and use special rituals to ensure that this transpires as intended, but younger vampires do not suffer any significant restrictions.
 * Every Covenant that is represented in the Invictus must represent itself through a Primogen, who is usually (if possible) an Elder.
 * In many places, the Invicitus and the Camarilla are synonymous, but this isn't true everywhere. Many places still feature a Camarilla that is entirely independent.
 * The Ranking System that is used to largely denominate a Vampire's social standing, based on age, is entirely a construct invented by the Invictus, who uses this system formally.
 * The Invicitus has rules about how many vampires are allowed to be in a city, pending population etc., and how territories should be divided.

Legio Mortis
The Legion of the Dead came about with the first Pax Nosgoth signed in the pre-imperial Era, and was a continued practice through out the Imperial Era, and some small elements survived well into the Modern Era, with Orlais attempted to make their own Legio Mortis in the Colonial Era.
 * The Legio Mortis originally was a single unit of armed vampires fighting for the city they lived in. They raided at night, and took spoils of blood from the enemies they slew.
 * In the Imperial Era, a full fighting force was established - a proper legion. It was only a Century, and not a proper legion, despite the name, but they were brutally successful when they attacked, capable of engaging many times their own number, and never had any casualties to speak of.
 * Very few members of the Legion survived past the Imperial Era - some swore alligience to the Carnala Republics, and others supposedly became the Eternal Generals of Estheim, and some yet fled to Rahamra, some rumored to have gone into the bad lands and become leaders of undead factions.
 * The new Legio Mortis that was made by orlais was a fairly small unit, composed of several Dhampyrs that acted as spies and assassins, and then a warband of Nosferatu that could infiltrate behind enemy lines and kill with ferocity.

The Vindictus
The Vindictus is a loose alliance between various religious cults of Vampires that all largely believe that their souls have already moved on, and that they now serve the Gods to punish the wicked. The different member-groups of the Vindictus spend more time fighting each other than they do fighting the actual wicked people of the planet, but a few select cults have come to function alongside local the local Camarilla and are less problematic than the more violent lot of their brethren.

Broods
Broods are groups of Vampires that the Camarillas exist to protect mankind against. Some Broods have formed larger groups and organizations, but generally speaking, Broods are just clusters of Vampires who do not wish to conform to the Pax Nosgoth, and live outside of civilized society, or within it, typically in violation of the Pax.
 * Broods are generally hunted by Camarillas, if within reach, relying on wandering Gangrels to report on them.

Covenant
A Covenant is a collection of closely allied bloodlines that share agendas and are very intertwined. Politically, Covenants are basically like clans or gangs.
 * Just as most regions have their own Bloodlines, most regions also have their own Covenants.
 * Covenants do break and fall apart on occasion, and new ones form, but they tend to last long enough that those that start them become forgotten, and those that join last enjoy an experience far removed from the original covenant.

Clan
Clans are mostly just a different way of referring to Bloodlines or Covenants, but in some contexts, a Clan refers to the original Bloodlines - the first, namely the ones stemming from the Blood Matrons and their offspring.
 * History cannot seem to agree on how many Blood Matrons there were, and whether or not all of the Children of the Blood Matrons actually survived long enough to sire Bloodlines of their own - it is highly likely that several killed each other, and that some were wiped out.
 * Some Vampires devote considerable resources into figuring out what their "Clan" is, though it seems like a pointless endeavor. as the Clans never had any kind of organization.
 * Many covenants exist on the basis that the member-bloodlines know that they share a common ancestor, dating back before the creation of the Bloodlines in question, making them defacto Clan-Brethren, what ever their clan may be - often this aspect of Clans is more important than anything else - shared ancestry.
 * In common speech, the First Clans, being the original Bloodlines, are always referred to as "The First Clans", and Clans tend to mean local "super" bloodlines, that extend past the known founders of the Bloodlines.

The Gangrel
In Vampiric terms, Gangrel is a word that means a "nomadic vampire", that, unlike other uncivilized vampires, do not live in violation of the established rules of civilized Vampire Society, but Gangrels are not an actual organization - rather, when a nomadic vampire is encountered by a Camarilla Cluster, if the Cluster finds that the nomad lives in compliance with Camarilla laws and customs in the local region, they are named Gangrels, and word spreads through the echoes of the void, to other Clusters, informing that this individual is considered lawful.
 * The real reason why Gangrels are permitted to live, is because Clusters tend to rely on them to inform them of Broods in the local area.
 * Many Gangrel make a living as traveling spies, scouts and outright hunters of their own kind.

The Black Sun
The Black Sun is the oldest known Vampire organization, referred to as they are, because of their symbol - a Black Sun. This secretive organization is believed to be small in number, but to likely have infiltrated many aspects of Vampiric society, as it is a group dedicated to blocking out the sun permanently, to increase the power of the Dark Lord.
 * This group is, ironically, perhaps directly responsible for the decision to form the Pax Nosgoth.
 * Contrary to what one might assume, most vampires have no interest in seeing the world change completely.

Vampire Ranks
Vampire Ranks originated in the Pre-Imperial Era, spread with the Empire and have remained in use in most of the known world since then.

Fledgling
The Fledgling Rank is confusing because it is also a stage of vampirism (a severity). It isn't actually a rank in vampire society, but when the vampire yet holds no rank, it is merely a Fledgling, and nothing else.

Neonate
A Neonate is a Vampire that has completed its transformation, but the title is not formally used unless the Vampire has grasped the basic concepts of Vampirism. Neonates are still under "guardianship", and will usually be either enslaved by a more powerful vampire, or assigned some sort of tutor or guardian (preferably the vampire who sired the Neonate).

Ancilla
An Ancilla is a vampire that has obtained independence - in some Vampire societies, the hallmark is to have lived a full mortal lifetime, usually counting both the Vampire's mortal years and their undead years. This is a relative term, but often in Vampiric Society, this means the Vampire is allowed (or has obtained) its own haven, as well as thralls and possibly even a Neonate of its own.

Elder
The status of "Elder" in Vampire society implies that the Vampire is is a grandsire or particularly old. It differs from region to region. Typically, an Elder will be at the top of a Bloodline, and reaching status of Elder is seen as a very significant step in society. Elders typically keep it a close secret where their own Sires lay in slumber - those often being Methuselah, and these secret connections often determine what Bloodlines also have secret alliances, being the ones that share a Methuselah.

Methuselah
Some vampires have avoided becoming Methuselah by being adaptable, but most Elder Vampires eventually hibernate for too long and wake up finding the world changed. Most Methuselah prefer the embrace of sleep, and subtly manipulate the world through the Echoes of the Void.