Domains of Northern Europe
Domain Key
Friesland (Top left, pinkish)
Saxony (Pale blue)
Thuringia (Middle-right, deep red)
March of Thuringia (Middle-right, purple)
East March of Thuringia (Right, yellow)
West Franconia (Middle, purple)
East Franconia (Middle-right, green)
Worms/Spires (Bottom, red)
Wurzburg (Bottom, yellow)
Friesland
Held by: Chieftain Ansa of Clan Nosferatu
Primary Court: Varies
Overview
The geography of this coastal region is almost as wild as the kindred courts which rule it. The Prince, Ansa of Clan Nosferatu, was a Nordic raider who arrived with Viking raiding parties at the start of the 9th Century. Only an ancilla at the time he struck quickly and seized praxis from a careless elder and despite the Viking forces being forced out by the mortal Frisian forces, Ansa has managed to hold onto power in the region.
Ansa is known to keep a travelling court, one that does not linger in any single place but is rumoured to move based on the visions of Ansa’s spirit guide. Visiting this court is something of a risky proposition for many, especially those who do not understand viking or nordic customs. Many have now learnt that these customs are used by Ansa and those loyal to him in order to keep any snooty visitors on the back foot should they find a need to visit or attempt to reside within this domain.
Saxony
Held by: The Dark Saint Alberik van Utrecht of Clan Lasombra. Prince Midian ofClan Malkavian
Primary Court:
Overview
Saxony is ruled by two mighty Kindred, who split the region in twain. In the north Prince Midian of the Clan of Malkav, leads his coven of the Faithful from the city of Hamburg. Midian is an old pagan, at risk of converting to Christianity by the works of his southern neighbour, the Dark Saint Alberik van Utrecht. The two have a cordial relationship and have spent many years discussing and arguing over points of faith.
Midian’s court is a court divided, mostly old Pagan’s, who see Midian’s changing attitude towards the Christian’s as both amusing and threatening. Already among some there is talk of unseating him and possibly going so far as to go to war with Alberik’s domain to the south. Each officer of the court is a Hierophant, normally expounding upon a religious view, though few are in any way modern.
Alberik’s court is a court of fervour and academia. Alberik encourages learning of the ways god works within the world and offers dark miracles, promising salvation to those who truly dedicate themselves to god. There are no officers amongst his court, as all are equal before God, but most of his followers defer to him anyway. There is talk of him banishing particularly unpious or corrupt Kindred from the domain with sheer displays of faith.
Thuringia
Held by: Prince Baderik of Clan Ventrue
Primary Court: Erfurt
Overview
Not as wild as the eastern marches, Thuringia proper is still a land of sharp mountains and dense forests with few settlements of significant size. Mortal Thuringia has long been a Christian province, subordinate to the Duchy of Saxony, a situation Baderik—and local vampiric society—appears content to allow to play out rather than exploit. While some young vampires mistake this as a sign of weakness, Baderik’s frequent dispatch of his younger sibling Hardestadt as a roving ambassador to other domains causes some vampires to see this inaction as a deliberate choice. Both theories have gained further evidence following the Synod of Erfurt reigniting a conflict with the Magyars that ravaged neighbouring domains.
Baderik holds court in Erfurt in the same way that the ancient pre-Roman tribal leaders held gatherings with wagering over contests of skill or strength, declarations of great deeds done or to be done, and an expectation of generosity by those in power.
However, as Baderik displays his sire’s direct temperament, many with more complex or discreet matters choose to call upon the Prince’s younger sibling Hardestadt at his home in Eisenach or during one of his frequent visits to the domains of other rulers in the hope the more civilised emissary will intervene with his brother. In response to this, Hardestadt’s home of Eisenach has expanded to the point it might soon come to rival Erfurt.
March of Thuringia
Held by: Markgraf Hruodi of Clan Ventrue
Primary Court:
Overview
In the 50 years since Hruodi seized the domain, the nascent city surrounding the Palace of Mersburg has become as civilised as provinces to the west. However, the mountains and forests that cover much of the domain contain many threats and little blood, making travel to the court or outside of it not something for the faint-blooded.
Whether or not Hruodi had a hand in Henry’s repudiation of the treaty with the Magyar, he takes his role as a marcher lord seriously. However, he also displays a marked interest in logic and the sciences. Thus, his court is a place of two halves, where the gift of a new philosophical treatise and that of the head of a threat to the domain can win equal favour.
East March of Thuringia
Held by: Lord Aymer of Clan Brujah
Primary Court: Not publicly known.
Overview
The dark forests and mountains that lie between Thuringia proper and Poland are a wild place. On all sides there are unforgiving borders, anarchy to the north in the March of the Billings, small territorial domains jealously guarded in Poland to the east and to the west and south the unyielding mountainous regions of the March of Thuringia and Bohemia. Few who travel to this domain return, but this is not just because of the hardships of the unforgiving geography and spare populations. Lord Aymer rules this domain with little regard for the lives of those who cannot protect them.
The East March is reputed to be one open hunting ground. Anyone who ranges in here is fair game; mortals, resident kindred or any other supernatural creature are all fair game, if reports of those who have survived travelling through are to go by. If you can find the court, it is said to be like entering some dark ritual that would strike disgust in the stomach of any truly god-fearing person. Lord Aymer oversees proceedings run by a High Priest, while the Huntmaster waits for the next inevitable blood hunt to be declared.
West Franconia
Held by: Princeps Senatus Julia Antasia of Clan Ventrue
Primary Court: Frankfurt
Overview
Seated at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire, and possessed of plentiful resources and rivers to transport them, West Franconia (as with its sister domains) attracts both those who seek civilisation and those who seek power. Seeking to maintain the best of the Roman Republic, the Prince officially sits as first-among-equals, advised by a small senate formed of selected members of the High Clans, with other officials appointed by the Senate as a whole; rumours differ on how close this is to the actual distribution of power but the truth is known only to the senators themselves. The echoes of the Republic continue in the patron–client relationship that grants rights of residence: unlike the common rule of prospective residents petitioning the Prince, vampires seeking to remain in the domain must enter into a patron–client relationship with a member of the senate, binding themselves to a set of reciprocal rights and responsibilities.
With non-senators only able to advance their interests through their patron, the court at Frankfurt is filled with vampires petitioning their senator or offering service to them. Although the court recognises dignitaries even from those courts that might not extend the same courtesy, vampires without official standing must swear to be temporary clients of the Prince if they wish to guarantee access to the protections of the Court during their stay.
East Franconia
Held by: Count Balthazar of Clan Lasombra
Primary Court: Bamberg
Overview
The so-called “Court of Coin”, an insulting term used by its neighbours. A court of merchants and the wealthy. Balthazar steadily promoted those with businesses and money-making potential. Mortal money was a way of keeping score, the more that could be earned the higher one’s prestige stood in Balthazar’s court. Balthazar took a tax, which always kept his coffers greater than his rivals. While Balthazar was interested in the nature of the court, this arrangement worked, as his gaze was steady on everyone’s ledgers.
However, a century ago Balthazar’s attention wavered from his court. Few if any of his courtiers know why. However it is known he began to focus on something more spiritual in nature and his court fell into a nightmare of bribery and dysfunction. Power is gathered in a few of Balthazar’s Burgomeisters, who rule in his name. Each of whom only allow petitions to be filled if heavily bribed and have publicly been embezzling wealth from Balthazar’s hoard. It is unknown how the count respond when this eventually comes to his deeply distracted attention.
Wurzburg
Held by: Archon Basileus Kadiel of Clan Salubri
Primary Court: Wurzburg
Overview
The domain of Wurzburg is a place of bustling trade and religion. Oft visited by long-distance merchants travelling along the Rhine, and less frequently by pilgrims seeking out the graves of the Frankish martyrs interred there, it boasts a surprisingly civilised people, influenced by cultures far beyond their borders. The court of the Archon, held just outside of Wurzburg itself, both mirrors and contrasts this.
The Archon's court is styled loosely after the democracy of ancient Athens; Kadiel sits as the first amongst Archons, a trio of magistrates who collectively represent the various citizens of the domain. Decrees and treaties may be voted on by any Cainite who has earned citizenship through loyal service to the Domain, while legal matters are judged via a tribunal made up of the same.
Standing apart from the civil structure, there is of course a religious aspect to the court as well. Ceremonies and sacrifices to Athena are conducted by Kadiel's Kanephoroi according to some obscure timetable, and include contests of strength and style as well as the ritual sacrifice of various animal stock.
Worms/Spires
Held by: Prince-Bishop Husina of Clan Cappadocian
Primary Court: Worms and Speier
Overview
In days past many visited the golden banks of the Rhine to purify or heal themselves, or seek the wisdom of the river-goddess. This domain has long been a place of old Celtic mystery under the careful caretaking of the Malkavians who have claimed this as a holy place for centuries. Whether or not there is truth to their claim, the court has mirrored the old Celtic traditions with the Prince of the court being titled Archdruid and a number of Rhinemaidens being selected to tend to the river’s spiritual needs. While the Archdruid sleeps, other Druids act as caretakers of the domain.
It has now been two decades since this history and court were shattered when Sister Husina of clan Cappadocian seized praxis, deposing the Druid who had been left in charge of the court during the festival of Samhain. The court has remained in a precarious balance for quite a time now, Husina declaring herself Bishop rather than Prince, and despite the Malkavian’s near fanatic devotion to the domain none have made a move to seize praxis yet and the Archdruid has not resurfaced to challenge Husina’s claim. All the time the traditions of this court are now changing. There are increasing restrictions on Celtic practices that are allowed, more Christian influence creeping into the province which is most visibly displayed with the project to build large cathedrals in both Worms and Speier, and court positions changing to reflect a range of religious positions.
The most hated of these by the Malkavians are the ‘confessors’ who have seemingly unilateral power to demand confession of the sins of any who might be suspected of breaking the Bishop’s decrees. Some locals have claimed that the confessors now claim the right to pull the sins from the very minds of those who may have committed them. Malkavian pilgrims should be considered warned of the risks of visiting.