Prima Invicta

...as Scott Fitzerald noted, the nobles are not like those would serve them from the heights. They are tough eggs who like a good time whether it is playing polo or murdering enemies of the state. They take nothing seriously except their pleasures and themselves.

Nickname: The First Estate, Invictus, Parasites (derogatory)

History:

The history of the Prima Invicta is a long and ardous one. The seeds of what would eventually become an organization spanning much of the world began after the fall of Rome and the Camarilla. It wasn't until the late 6th Century that the Prima Invicta coalesced into a single entity, and it had gone through many fratricides and internal wars since then. The Commonwealth had done much to dent their prestige in particular. But the aristocracy of the night endures, like it has always done, be that in crumbling mansions or the glittering halls of corporations. Power is forever.

Ethos and Goals:

The Prima Invicta believes in the "Great Chain of Being", the idea that everyone, both Kindred and Kine, are tied together in a hierarchical manner of dependency and service. From their perspective, they have merely formalized this great truth, mimicking the Kine concept of aristocracy and feudalism.

As for what they want? They want it all. They want to be the rulers of the Danse Macabre. But why? They have all kinds of reasons they tout publicly: “It’ll make the Masquerade impenetrable,” or, “We are driven to be the top-most predators of the top-most predators,” or they spout off some bullshit about the Great Chain and how they deserve what they can take and so they take everything and blah blah blah. Really, though, it’s this: they’re vampires and they want to get away with whatever they want. They want to fuck, kill, and eat, and not always in that order. And having absolute control and possessing deep penetration into all strata of society (live and undead) guarantees them a rather profound safety net. If you own the lawmakers, if you control the money, if you become the authority, then you have ultimate permission. That’s really what they want. And earning that permission means taking over the world. Anybody who goes against them either learns to join the team real fast, or faces the brunt of an unending wave of conspiratorial turns (wife gets killed, money goes bye-bye because it was really just numbers on a computer screen, kids go missing, herd turns on you, cops come looking, property gets rezoned, you’re on the no-fly-list, you’re on the no-get-to-live list, and on and on).

It’s good being the king. It’s not even that bad being the lap-dog of the king. Of course, it’s being the lap-dog of the lap-dogs that starts to grate...

Weakness:

First:they’re too big. No, really. Look at any big government—say, for instance, the United States. Nobody “up top” really knows what the fuck is going on at the bottom tiers. Sure, every member of the Prima Invicta is supposed to have his own little network of tilts, twists and takeovers (and in this way the conspiracy is equal part neo-feudal organization and pyramid scheme as everybody kicks up tithed blood and power to those above them), but that also means it’s a richly disconnected network. . This is compounded by the special exemptions and liberties negotiated by many Princes of the covenant, which just makes coordinating efforts all the harder. The right hand doesn’t realize that the left hand is plotting to cut it off

And there’s your second problem: incest and treachery run rampant. Everybody is fucking everybody else, both in the good way and the bad way. It’s not a hive of like-minded bees. It’s a widespread organization of free-thinking monsters. Does that sound like a good idea? Does that seem like the paragon of efficiency? Everybody’s trying to claw their way to the top while kicking down hard to keep their “lessers” right where they are. Everybody’s a pawn. Nobody’s a knight.

Organization and structure:

The Great Chain binds the Prima Invicta. Each member of the covenant is beholden to another Kindred above them, all the way up to kings and the emperor. Beyond the basic city structure followed by the Invictus (though notably, the Invictus always call their leader in the city a Prince among themselves, even if they aren't the city's actual ruler), the following special titles and roles exist in the Covenant.

The Emperor

One world, one emperor. If the Prima Invicta one day conquer the moon, maybe they’ll manage a second emperor, but for now? It’s one and done. The role of Emperor—or Empress—is not a gift. It’s not a reward. It’s a punishment. Those who have committed the grandest crimes against the Prima Invicta run the risk of being placed in this most unenvious of positions: a cackling flock of Harpies and Princes and ancient socialites groom the new Emperor with an unending dose of mindtwisting Disciplines and threats. It’s a sentence. The Emperor does an amount of time based on the severity of his crimes. (It’s usually between 10 years and 100).

And how does it work, exactly? How does the Emperor serve if this is a prison sentence as much as a political position? Remember the flock of vampires fucking with the Emperor’s head? They’re the power behind the throne. They number nine, this flock, and they change with every Emperor. They are chosen by the mightiest kings and in return get to choose the new Emperor. And they fold, spindle and mutilate that poor bastard into doing what they want and issuing their proclamations.

The Kings

Every city has its Prince. And every nation has its King. Okay, it actually gets a little fuzzy—North America has one king, but South America has over 10 (with 13 nations), and the lines of a king’s domain don’t always correspond to actual national boundaries. Still, it’s a good guideline. What does a king do and how does he differ from a Prince? Obviously, the king watches over a far larger swath of territory, holding the fealty of many Invictus Princes. The king makes proclamations that ideally ripple throughout the entire territory (though kings given over to slothfulness may not actually enforce those laws). Every king, like every Prince, is his own creature. Some are monomaniacal control freaks and bring the hammer down on every indiscretion. Others are just figureheads—and happy to be figureheads. Some see being such a figurehead as a reward for centuries of work. All the blood, money and power that trickles upward to the king is a delicious dessert.

The Fixers

Hey, sometimes the system gets busted. Things get broken. It’s a complicated web, and once in a while, someone goes rogue, someone gets uppity, something goes awry. Enter the fixer. The fixer is a globe-trotting vampire (though, honestly, the role is often assigned to a whole coterie rather than a single vampire), and he goes wherever he needs to go to clean up the mess that a Prince or even a King can’t handle on their own. Different fixers have different skills, and again this is why a coterie of fixers is preferable to a lone individual—each can bring a toolbox of abilities (head-shrinking, claw-ripping, shadow-hiding) to the table. They negotiate. They mind-rape. They dispose of bodies. They appease.

And yes, they kill. Whenever a part of the mighty spider’s web gets torn asunder, one or several fixers show up to patch the silk. It’s for this reason that a fixer is sometimes known as a “spider,” though this is often considered derogatory slang.

Role in Princedoms:

The Prima Invicta prefers to take charge in all cases, but can occasionally make (temporary) accommodations to covenants more locally powerful than themselves. It fits their natural rulership style. Instead of just bulldozing other Covenants through sheer might, they prefer to weave them into a web of alliances and mutual interests. What their partners don't realize that all they do is just further perpetuating the Prima Invicta's power and hold over the city.