Circle of the Crone

Germanicus Julius Caesar lead the legions westwards to conquer the tribes of Germania. They were called the Suebi, Semnones, Tencteri, and others, inhabiting the mountains and rivers, and worshipping goddesses in sacred groves. Historians Tacitus and Suetonius described their ferocious clashes with the Roman Legions. They described feast days, where the barbarians sacrificed to their bloody goddesses, slaughtering pigs, horses, heifers, and humans. The Germans derived their religion from Celtic and Norse influences; they were said to have worshipped Odin (Wotan), Thor (Donar), Frigg, Tyr (Teiws, Tiw, Zio, etc.), and the Triple Goddess (Matres and Matronae). 
When Christianity spread, the old gods fell to the wayside, their influences laying dormant. But the old gods do not need to be worshipped. They just are. They sleep in the swampy lakes and roam the Grunewald as wild boars. They dance on the Brocken and lend their worshippers power in the Hunt—and curse those who have wronged them.
:"The terrible intensity of the malady was increased by the belief that he [Germanicus] had been poisoned by Piso. And certainly there were found hidden in the floor and in the walls disinterred remains of human bodies, incantations and spells, and the name of Germanicus inscribed on leaden tablets, half-burnt cinders smeared with blood, and other horrors by which in popular belief souls are devoted so the infernal deities.” — Tacitus
Despite his conquest of Germania, Germanicus fell out of favour in Rome, and was sent to Syria, where he mysteriously died. Back in Rome, his wife and six children perished due to a feud with the then Roman Emperor Tiberius, leaving his son Caligula as the sole survivor. Caligula was assassinated, and he was later succeeded by his uncle Claudius, who was succeeded by his grand-nephew and Germanicus' grandson Nero. Nero would fiddle while Rome burned, and thus ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
In the Holy Camarilla Empire, the Invictus and the Lancea et Sanctum dominated the Primogen court. But when the Empire fell, the Invictus Princes lost their faith. They turned to the Circle and the godless Ordo Dracul. They paid lip service to the Lancea Sanctum while populating their court with seers, oracles, and soothsayers.  And diablerists, as the rumour went. It was said that the Crones could not subsist on human blood due to their mastery of Cruac; they fed on the Kindred and became rampant Diablerists, protected by the Invictus court. 
The Carthians maintained that blood magic invited the plague of the Strix. In their brave new world there is no place for bloody sacrifices to Odin and naked dances of creation under the moonlight. The Circle lost numerous members to the Carthian witch hunts, and the Carthians moved to ban Cruac sometime in the 1950’s. The laws have loosened somewhat over the years; provided that they do not practice blood sorcery, membership in the covenant is tolerated. 
===Circle of the Crone Members===
*Agathe Kaufmann
*Gudrun
==Source books==
*Secrets of the Covenants
*Blood and Smoke: the Strix Chronicles
All stats and abilities from the above books are approved for use unless stated otherwise.
===Other references===
*Vampire: the Requiem (Fluff only.)
*Circle of the Crone (Fluff, Bloodlines, and some Merits.)
==Links==
*Circle of the Crone Events and Practices
*Circle of the Crone Titles
*Circle of the Crone Abilities
Category:Circle of the Crone