Council of Sisters

The Council of Sisters was a major antagonistic faction introduced in Season 3 of the the Castlevania animated series. It was a sisterhood of four powerful vampiresses which ruled over Styria. The alliance was commanded by the calculative vampire queen, Carmilla, with its headquarters established precisely at her castle in Austria.
Even though Carmilla was generally perceived as their leader, all four members bear the title of "Queen of Styria"@kloysius at X (February 3, 2021). and they all equally ruled as a quadrumvirate. Each sister had a particular role in the Council. Carmilla was the dreamer who provided new ideas for the group, Morana was the organizer, Striga was the warrior who commanded the military, and Lenore was the diplomat.
==History==
One month after the battle of Braila, Carmilla and her vampire army finally return to their homeland, Styria, where she is greeted by Striga and Lenore, two members of Styria's ruling Council. They quickly notice that their queen has brought a new spoil of war: Hector, Dracula's former forgemaster, whom Carmilla orders to be immediately sent to the dungeons. Carmilla then enters her castle, declaring that she has a plan, and orders that a cartographer is sent to her chambers after her bath.
The three other members of the Council, Morana, Striga and Lenore, meet later that night with Carmilla to hear her new plan. Carmilla pulls out a map and begins to explain how Dracula's attack on mankind has rendered many of the nations surrounding Wallachia in complete disarray, giving a unique opportunity for Styria to expand to the east, in an area that she calls "the corridor", where the humans would be trapped and serve as cattle to the Styrian vampire army. While the other members of the Council initially express disbelief due to the lack of manpower to even sustain such borders, Carmilla quickly points out that Hector, as a Forgemaster, could be someone very useful in this regard. Morana is still skeptical; given Carmilla's inhuman treatment to Hector, she doesn't see how they would be able to convince him to cooperate with such an operation. Recognizing this issue, Lenore offers herself to be the one who convinces Hector to work for them.
Soon after, Lenore arrives at Hector's cell. The Forgemaster is initially very distrusting of her, but eventually, she manages to get through by giving him some measured human treatment and granting him access to some of the vampiric culture of Styria. After repeatedly visiting him and gaining his trust, Lenore seduces Hector and tricks him into swearing loyalty to her. She then puts a magical ring on his finger, which bounds him to her.
When the members of the Council meet again, Lenore brings the enslaved Hector to the room, revealing that he is now her slave, and as such, his night creatures are now loyal to her. To ensure that Hector (and, by extension, his night creatures) remain their loyal servants, Lenore hands over magic rings to all of her other sisters. With the night creatures now under their command, the Council is finally ready to put their plan to build their own empire in motion.
While Morana and Striga are away, fighting to expand Styria's domain, their resolve is shaken when they realize that managing such a large swath of land would demand constant surveillance, which would make them spend the rest of their lives maintaining it. However, they heed Carmilla's words to return to Styria since they now have access to night creatures. Lenore also starts harboring doubts, as she felt sidelined since Carmilla's plans were changing without consulting her, and her skills are not needed in the completion of Carmilla's ambitions.
When Isaac's night creatures assaulted the castle, Lenore's first thought was to try and take Hector to a safe location. However, she was taken prisoner, and Carmilla later committed suicide, trying to take as many of her enemies with her as she could. Morana and Striga were reaching the castle but felt her death. Instead of trying to take the castle back, they decided to leave with their remaining forces to join other nations as a mercenary company, accepting the fact that Carmilla's ambition was probably delusional, reflecting on why vampires usually overreach in their greed. They also take for granted that Lenore might even have died first, as she was no fighter, further convincing them to let things be.
After their desertion and Lenore's suicide by exposing herself to the light of dawn, the Council of Sisters is unofficially but completely disbanded.
==Members==
Carmilla (animated series) - 03.png|link=Carmilla (animated series)|CarmillaThe leader and the "dreamer" of the Council. She is the one proposing schemes and new ideas. Her castle is the base of operations of the Council.
Lenore - 01.png|link=Lenore|LenoreThe diplomat of the group, in charge of subduing Hector.
Striga - 01.jpg|link=Striga|StrigaThe military leader of the group.
Morana - 01.jpg|link=Morana|MoranaThe economist and strategist of the group.
==Quotes==
:– Carmilla: Oh bless your dead little hearts. You do still love me.
:– Morana: Mm. Welcome home, Carmilla. We're all so glad to have you back with us.
:– Lenore: The plan didn't matter a whit compared to your safety. Welcome back to your castle and your realm.
:– Striga: It's us against the world, Carmilla. Same as it always was.
:— ("Bless Your Dead Little Hearts")
:– Carmilla: I have it!
:– Morana: What do you have?
:– Carmilla: The future.
:– Striga: Oh, I can't wait for this. She's been home for five minutes and she's already carrying the future rolled up under her arm.
:– Lenore: The future does seem very portable.
:– Morana: Well it's the future, isn't it? You can't see it yet, so I suppose it can't weigh very much.
:– Carmilla: Your comedy act hasn't improved while I've been away.
:— ("The Reparation of My Heart")
:– Hector: Vampires. You like to play with your food.
:– Lenore: Oh, Carmilla does certainly. Striga just kills her food. Morana tortures hers for information on where the rest of the food is.
:– Hector: Who are they?
:– Lenore: The ruling council. Carmilla is queen of Styria but we rule as a quartet. Morana is the organizer. Striga is the warrior.
:– Hector: Hmm. And, you?
:– Lenore: The diplomat.
:— ("Investigators")
:– Lenore: "I'm a diplomat, Hector. I make peace. Carmilla thinks you're a useful idiot at best, Striga wants to kill you when she thinks about you at all, and Morana wants to torture you. Not to get information out of you... just because she finds it calming."
:— ("Investigators")
:– Lenore: He's going to live as well as we do, and he's going to have freedom of the castle.
:– Carmilla: Oh, I don't think so.
:– Lenore: I do. He gets something back from this. He gets a comfortable life. He gets to feel safe. Morana will make the arrangements. Striga will organize the forging. Carmilla will agree to all this and live with it.
:— ("Abandon All Hope")
:– Striga: I think that whatever we achieve, we achieve it together. You and me. Carmilla throws a crazy plan at us, and it's us who make it work.
:– Morana: Or, put another way, we make it work despite Carmilla. And Lenore's never any bloody help. She's off with the fairies most of the time. It's us. And the crazy plan make sense back because, I don't know, Carmilla had this magic reality distortion spell, and we pride ourselves on making things work.
:— ("Walk Away")
:– Lenore: As a quartet, my sisters and I had strength. The strength to enforce a stable environment. 
:— ("It's Been a Strange Ride")
==Gallery==
===Screenshots===
Carrm.png
The Council of Sisters in Bless Your Dead Little Hearts.jpg|The Council of Sisters in "Bless Your Dead Little Hearts".
The Council of Sister in S3E1.jpg|It's us against the world, Carmilla. Same as it always was.
The Council of Sisters looking at the map.jpg|The Council of Sisters looking at the map of Greater Styria in "The Reparation of My Heart".
File:The Council of Sisters sitting in the table.jpg|The Council of Sisters sitting at the table.
The Blood Cabinet.png|The blood cabinet.
Blood Goblet in S3E2.jpg|Carmilla holding the blood goblet.
===Concept art===
Council ring.jpg|Morana, Striga and Lenore wearing the Council ring.
Blood decanter color model.png|Blood decanter from the drawing room - color model for Season 3.
Blood goblet color model.png|Blood goblet from the drawing room - color model for Season 3.
Blood decanter model.png|Blood decanter from the drawing room - model for Season 3.
Blood goblet model.png|Blood goblet from the drawing room - model for Season 3.
File:Vampire unknown ally carmilla.jpg|vampire unknown ally of carmilla
===Other===
Council of sisters.jpg|Council of Sisters promo art by Lina Ngo and Jose Vega.
Council of sisters japanese voice actresses.jpg|The Council of Sisters' Japanese voice actresses.From left to right: Yukari Oribe (Morana), Ayaka Kurogi (Lenore), Hiroko Kiso (Striga) and Mie Sonozaki (Carmilla).
Council of sisters s4 promo art.jpg|The Council of Sisters, Hector and Isaac promotional art by Sam Deats, Suzanne Sharp (Carmilla and Hector), Katie Silva (Lenore and Morana), Mari Arakaki (Striga and Isaac), Sean Randolph and Jose Vega.
==See also==
*Dracula's Army
*Styria
==References==
Category:Antagonists
Category:Castlevania (Animated Series) Organizations