An Announcement from the Learned

::Around midnight, a robed figure is scene approaching the chapel. His robe is monastic, and almost no adornment can be found, though his belt has several charms and oddities dangling from it. Upon entry he waits for a lull in any conversation among the Cainites present before speaking in a voice like dry dust. Light, raspy, and pervading all possible locations near.::

"Good Cainites of York,"

::He starts.::

"I am Caiaphus, of clan Cappadocia. I have the esteemed pleasure of announcing to you this night that the elders of my clan seek to honor one among you. This individual, when faced with a growing wave of seeming unstoppable armies of the restless dead, stood in its way and offered her own self to stem the tide.
Her efforts were not in vain, and due to her truly notable actions you now all live without the fear of wraiths lighting you on fire in your sleep, or warping the fabric of reality so that you suddenly find yourself in a square in broad daylight.
As such, and because my clan has more intimate knowledge of the true threat, we have decided that we find her Brave, henceforth. Thank you, all, and good evening."

::If he is not stopped, he then leaves as silently as he came.::

((anyone with the ability to perceive Wraiths somehow, instant message me on FB if you like.))

Valance moves to stop the departing cainite.

"Erhem, you have neglected to tell us the name of this Brave valkyrie."

::He pauses, seeming confused.::

"I....hmmm yes you are correct. Apologies, I am not one for public affairs often. My books....

It was the Countessa Valencia Montalvo, of clan Lasombra. She, in our eyes is very Brave."

::He turns to the air.::

"Yes we're going back, your chattering nearly made me have to come back. Careful lest I send you to a Harrowing for your impudence."

::He turns back to the gathering.::

"If I haven't missed anything else?"

Mors sits in the chapel, observing events. His eyes flicker between those speaking, although not all may be visible.

Reynard is also present.

"Might I inquire more precisely as to what the Countessa did, and when she did it, so that my records of her deeds of renown can be adequate and complete?"

::He mutters to himself and makes a face.::

"I can have a full account sent to you in book form, parchment, or cuneiform depending on your taste.....I've already spent far too long...what's important is that she saved all of us from certain death and disruption of studies in multiple places....the exact when.....it took some time.....a period of it, not all at once. Yes will you shut up!!"

::That last is delivered to the air once more.::

"And you said before you are speaking on behalf of the elders of your clan. Is there a particular Cappadocian on whose behalf you are offering this praise?"

The slightly inquisitive expression on Valance's face turns into a puzzled expression.

"Caiaphus, you are of clan Cappadocia while the Countessa Valencia Montalvo is of clan Lasombra. Only members of her clan may grant her standing, and then only if they hold significantly more standing then she does. I believe that the Countessa hold 6 standing, so only a pinnacle of Lasombra society could grant her standing in this way. If I have not misunderstood some facet of the situation I have a suggestion. If she has done a favor for you, or your clan I would suggest offering her a boon. The Chamberlain stands before you, so recording it can be handled immediately."

"Valance I do hate to correct you, but, setting aside the disputed issue of Caiaphus's claim to recognize her bravery, the Countessa is currently known to be a Respected, Well-connected, and Influential Cainite, born of a prestigious sire and a noble before her embrace. This tally, of course, does not include the reputation she merits for her role in our court.

Obviously if Caiaphus is speaking on behalf of a court member for some nearby domain, perhaps a domain where the salutary effects of the Countessa's bravery have been felt (or a domain whose opinion we here in Yorkshire would obviously defer to on such matters), there is no need to quibble over Caiaphus being selected as the messenger to alert us to this welcome news."

Valance turns to Reynard

"You are quite correct Chamberlain that if Caiaphus" Valance gestures to him "is just the messenger of a Lasombra of great standing but I understood that he represented elders of his clan."

Valance turns back to Caiaphus.

"I am mistaken? Do you speak on your own behalf, in the place of an elder of your clan, or in the place of some other individual of worth and respect?"

((sorry on the delay folks, sillyness in RL))


::Ciaphus seems to be getting more irritated by the moment.::

"I certainly do not speak on my own behalf. My behalf is in my libraries with my studies. With my experiments which decay slowly every moment I am not able to refresh my....

I speak on behalf of an Elder of my clan. They have sent me because I am much better at dealing with Courts than most, and as part of my current contract he has made it imperative that his name is not mentioned so that he is not beset with hundreds of niggling questions about receiving reward for every shade mollified in the kingdom."

::He stops suddenly, realizing he has been speaking consistently.::

"I will have the required paperwork drawn up and sent to your Chamberlain, in the meantime you may consider my status of Feared loaned to her until such a time as he deems fit to record her bravery. Will that suffice? I have work..."

"Of course. I am sure everything will be in order. And I will note that the Countessa enjoys the strength of your commendation until I receive such communications as necessary to effect the full augmentation of her reputation. You may return to your studies, Caiaphus. But please make haste with conveying those documents."

Valance allows the flustered Cappadocia to depart before turning to Reynard, his inquisitive expression changing into a calculating one.

"Secret grants of standing. I have never heard of such a thing. Is there any precedent that you can recall of a gift like that? Of course his lending of feared makes perfect sense, although if that turns out to be the end of it our good Countessa is getting short shrift."

After a pause

"What an odd tool to use for a proclamation. Perhaps his elder is displeased with him, and this was a penance?"

::Caiaphus does indeed depart, prior to Valance's comments.::

"Valance, I don't want to paint with too broad a brush, but you know how careless Cappadocians can be about social niceties and the finer points of protocol. As you heard, this Caiaphus was sent forward because he was one of the more gregarious and convivial members of their clan. I am fully confident that when the documents are relayed to me, they will reveal a fairly pedestrian course of events, erroneously made to seem intriguing only by the various faux pas present in the means of announcing it. When it comes to clans without a talent for social niceties, I have found that a sort of clumsiness about the proper etiquette tends to be a far safer wager than any conspiracy or scheming. Of course, that makes a far less compelling story, and so, many tend to assume some ulterior motives."

(Pg 260 faith and fire for further reading. Further clarification on status and the few House rules associated with it are incoming)

Any Cainite of higher status may burn a permanent status to strip a lower status person of a status.  

A group of lower-status Cainites may strip a permanent status from one of their own clan or road that has higher status if they have enough permanent status combined to equal the victims’ total permanent status. Must all be the same clan or Road, these cannot be mixed, must be one or the other, cannot be a few clan members and a few road members in one group.

A Clan Elder may reward status to anyone of their clan if they hold at least double the status of the person they are rewarding.

The council of Elders may reward a single status to a Cainite per month. No more than one status may be granted to a Cainite in this way. It must be announced why the status is given and it must be given to a Cainite who has resided in the Domain for an appropriate amount of time. (As determined by the Council of Elders)

A Luminary Elder of a Clan or Road may reward anyone a permanent Status at the cost of one of their own permanent status. They must be on the same road or same clan as the member they are rewarding. (This granting of status is reserved for STs only for sake of story or plot.)

The Chamberlain may remove status due to the breaking of boons or traditions. When doing so they are considered speaking with the voice and authority of the Prince and all of the Elders, and therefore removing status costs nothing. If the person they are removing the status from is brought to negative status the person may be blood hunted at the discretion of the Prince or Seneschal, or Exiled by the Sheriff or vote of Elders, if no other officers are available.

The prince (or Baron) may award up to three statuses per game year at the cost of one temp status each. Any beyond that and he must expend a permanent Status each time he wishes to award a Permanent Status. If the person he has given permanent status to is killed or that status is removed by someone other than the prince it remains lost.* It is considered rude to kill or strip status from someone who has gained the favor and status of the Prince.

*Officers of the court are considered acting as the Prince in matters of death and stripping, Elders are not.

I'll post these on their own page as well.

[i]For example, Mike the Glass-making Toreador (three status) insults Bruce the Brutish Brujah (2 status) which causes him to frenzy in Mike's glass shop ruining his work. Mike decides to remove one of Bruce's statuses, Mike Burns his "Cherished" name to remove Bruce's "Loyal" name. This must be done in a salon or court where other members of the Cainite community can bear witness to the stripping, generally in the company of the Chamberlain but any officer of the court can be witness to the removal of status. They do not need to have been witness to the event that caused the stripping as Mike's word, and higher status, is more than enough.
A group of Brujah on road of Humanity are upset at Mike the Glass-Maker, who is also on road of Humanity, they want to get even for their clan mate Bruce, they decide to band together and remove Mike's "Cherished" name. They do so in court, as they aren't invited to Salons, they are neonates after-all.
The council of Elders decide that they like Mike's glass work, (Mike's greasing of the wheels with boons and crafts didn't hurt) they decide that they will return Mike's status, not only because of boons paid to do so but to show the upstart neonates that they control the flow of status in the court. After making an announcement about how Neonates must stay in their place they award Mike “Cherished” again.
Months Later - Bruce has been upset at his loss of status and he goes to the woods to murder something, he comes across a pack of hunters and kills them, in doing so he discovers a plot to kill all the Cainites in the city. After months of play and plot he stops them from killing everyone, and exposing Cainites to the church (stopping a major or minor plot and spending several months’ worth of downtimes and forum play the STs decide to award status) An NPC who has been watching Bruce comes to the court and tells the court of his deeds, he awards him the Status "Fearless"
The Prince gives a neonate the Status "Daring" for his organizing the plan and successful delivery of removing the status of the Toreador Mike, Mike is upset that the Neonate was given a reward for the insult so he decides the Neonate must pay, he's on humanity so he doesn't want to kill the Neonate, Mike decides to expend one of his permanent status to remove the Neonates new Daring status. This is a metaphorical slap in the face to the Prince as the status granted has been removed from play forever. He then tells the Prince what he really thinks of that Status, words were not chosen wisely.
The chamberlain is upset at Mike, he has insulted the Prince and was indebted to the Prince for two Major boons, the insult violates the rules of Cainite custom. During court in front of other Cainites of the realm the Chamberlain removes all of Mike's status, one for causing the Brujah to frenzy in the Prince's domain (even if it was Mike's personal domain it is considered owned by the Prince), and one for each boon owed to the Prince at the time he insulted him. Mike now has negative status, the Seneschal is the only other officer in the court at the time and declares a blood hunt against Mike. [i]