Fealty

**Fealty** among the Damned is a system wherein territory (and power, by extension) flows from top down, from the Prince to his Regents to the Vassals to Tennants and Serfs. But does it?

As one of our themes is Power, we want characters and players to be constantly questioning the nature of power. Fealty is purely an IC construct and as strong as the belief of those who uphold it. It is drawn from Damnation City, and adapted here based on the unique circumstances of our game.

Note that when we talk about granting or owning land, we're talking entirely about “Claim”. Claim is ownership of a territory by authority vested in you by other Kindred. Claim is usually worked out IC and involves no dice rolls. If the Prince says you have authority to parcel out your land, you have authority to parcel out your land.

## The Basic Hierarchy

* The **Prince** grants land to Regents or any lower status of Kindred.
	+ The **Regent** grants land to vassals or any lower status of Kindred and owes fealty to the Prince.
	+ A Regent may have one territory or multiple territories. They do not have anyone above them other than the Prince. It is not necessary for a Regent to have vassals, though many choose to do so.
		- The **Vassal** grants tenancy to any lower status of Kindred and owes fealty to a higher vassal (eg. A Regent) and the Prince.
		- A Vassal may have one territory or multiple territories, or even a subsection of a territory. They have one or more Kindred in between them and the Prince. It is not necessary for vassals to have tenants, though many choose to do so.
			* The **Tenant** can allow any vampire who she’s willing to be associated with to spend a few nights in her haven or immediate feeding ground. The tenant has to answer for any trouble caused by her guests should her lord demand it.
			* A Tenant may be granted a subsection of a territory, a block, a feeding ground, or a particular building. The tenant has no authority to grant territory and owes fealty to a liege vassal and the Prince.
				+ The **Serf** toils in the turf of higher-ups. Though he has a haven on land belonging to a lord, he has no authority over anything outside the walls of his haven.

## Rent

### **Taxed in Blood**

Rent is typically paid in two ways. The first way is in **Blood** – called “Red Rent”. Lords don't need to put themselves at risk when they can have lower-ranking Kindred do it for them. The liege lord may ask for a set amount of blood, or even vitae, for a set period of time.

#### **Variations**

* *The Annual Flesh*: Some lords demand payment in whole bodies on set dates – typically once per year or several times per year. The lord may have specific demands, such as a woman between the ages of fifty and sixty or a Kindred no more than seven nights old.
* *His Choice of the Crop*: The lord has a right to choose a vessel from their vassal's fields. The vassal is tasked to hunt to procure that chosen vessel for their lord.

### **Taxed in Service**

Traditionally called **corvée**, it is a period of service to the lord by the vassal, for which the vassal receives no pay except for an extension of his rights beneath the lord. Some lords call for clandestine or political business like messaging, surveillance, shadowing, collections or delivery, and duties at court like speaking, singing, or ushering. Other lords call upon their vassals to soldier for them, extorting from mortal Assets, hunting fugitive ghouls, or dissuading the vassals of rival lords from expanding their territory.

#### **Types of Corvee:**

* *travail pour le sang* (labor for the Blood) — Any service that calls for the vassal to collect vessels for the lord, es- pecially animals or to clean up after a lord’s feeding by scrubbing blood or getting rid of bodies.
* *travail pour la puissance* (labor for the power) — Any service that calls on the vassal to behave according to his lower position beneath the lord, such as acting as a messenger, porter or valet, or being loaned out to another lord in any capacity.
* *corvée sanglant* (bloody service, bloody drudgery) — Any service that is humiliating, gross, or nasty, whether or not it involves blood. Cleaning up after debauched drug-addicted blood dolls have soiled the sheets, for example.
* *loyer* (rent) — Also called “black rent” (*loyer noir*) or “blood rent” (*loyer sang*), a corvée of regular payment may require the vassal to pay his lord a monthly sum and be it of money, drugs, blood, or information suitable for espionage or blackmail against another lord.

## The Contract

Kindred enter into a contract of Fealty with the Kindred above them in the hierarchy. The Contract comes in a few forms, any of which may be used based on individual preference and culture of the Praxis.

* **Verbal** – The contract may be entirely verbal, with or without a witness present. This happens in Kindred societies where a lot of weight is placed on the word of an individual. Your lord may consider it an insult if you ask for a formal contract – it implies that you think he cannot be trusted.
* **Written** – Nothing more than a mundane contract. In the event of a dispute, both parties now have a record of the terms that was agreed upon when the contract was signed.
* **Prestation** – You pay the Kindred above you a unit of prestation; the terms of the boon serves as the Contract. Breaking the contract is just like breaking a boon, with all the social censure that follows.
* **Supernatural Contracts** – Invictus Oaths and Carthian Blood Oaths all fall under supernatural contracts. Blood and mystical forces will punish those who violate these agreements.