The Ventrue are one of the thirteen Great Clans of vampires in White Wolf Publishing’s World of Darkness setting. Cultivating an air of nobility and superiority, they are the most influential of the Camarilla Clans.
History[]
The Ventrue state that their Clan founder Ventru was the first of the Third Generation of vampires, and that when Caine left the First City, he entrusted its stewardship to their progenitor. As with most stories from this period, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, and whether this is what actually happened is anybody’s guess. This claim has, however, allowed the Ventrue to assert a certain dominance over the other Clans: as Caine entrusted the guardianship of the First City to Ventru, so must his offspring watch over all of Kindred society.
Ancient Greece[]
After the fall of the First and Second cities, several powerful Ventrue travelled to the Mediterranean, where they cultivated the growth of the city-state of Sparta alongside many of the other powers in the Pelopponesian League. Unfortunately, this brought them into conflict with the members of several other Clans who had established themselves throughout Athens and its allies. The Spartan invasion of Athens in particular began a long-standing rivalry between the Ventrue and Clan Brujah.
The Roman Empire[]
Many years later, and Sparta fell into decline, causing the migration of many Ventrue to Rome and its surrounding environs. There they helped to develop Rome into the mighty empire that it was to be for many years. This time however, the Ventrue worked from positions behind the scenes, rather than the more open rule that they had operated in previous ventures. This method, which afforded them a measure of security from the rising power of the mortal population, was to become the norm for most of Kindred society right through until the present day.
Their backing of the Roman Empire once again brought the Ventrue into conflict with other Clans though, and when Roman forces sacked and burned the Brujah stronghold of Carthage, the Brujah‘s already deep-seated grudge against the Ventrue became a bitter enmity.
The Dark Ages[]
All good things must come to an end, however, and as Rome slowly fell to the predations of its many enemies, most of the Ventrue’s upper echelons moved on to infiltrate the burgeoning Holy Roman Empire. Through this new power, the Ventrue once again found their fortunes on the rise, but with the Empire’s expansion into Germany and Italy, found themselves at odds with Clan Lasombra, who were by now firmly entrenched in both Rome and the Catholic Church. This caused the Ventrue to establish themselves more as mercantile princes and barons than had previously been the case, a move which allowed them to expand their influence even further throughout the Mediterranean.
It was during this period that seven of the Great Clans established the Camarilla, of which the Ventrue was to become the backbone (See main article: Camarilla).
Victorian Age[]
The Victorian Age was perhaps the greatest period in history to be a Ventrue: the establishing of the British Empire gave them the opportunity to establish colonies all across the globe, using both force of arms and propaganda to cow any indigent Kindred into submission, or simply to destroy them.
It was also during this time that the colonisation of the New World was in full swing, and the enormous “war-chests“ which the Ventrue had easy access to allowed them to fund many land-staking ventures, alongside the construction of new cities, mineral mines and other highly-profitable enterprises. Thus began the transition proper of many Ventrue from minor kings and nobility to land barons and leaders in the field of big business.
Modern Nights[]
The aftermath of the World Wars and the subsequent Cold War offered the Ventrue many opportunities to grow their financial interests, with many opting to play both sides of the Iron Curtain against each other in order to win lucrative weapons contracts and manipulate global commodity prices. In addition, the rise of many “secret police” forces on each side gave them the tools necessary to help keep their mortal populations under stricter control.
Whilst the dissolution of the Iron Curtain has undoubtedly dealt a blow to the Ventrue, in modern nights they remain one of the most powerful and cohesive Clans in the World of Darkness, particularly so if one takes into account their considerable influence in the firmly-established Camarilla.
Culture and Organisation[]
Ventrue are taught that to gain status within the Clan, one must demonstrate that they are a valued contributor to the Clan, and not simply out for personal gain. The measure of a Kindred’s standing amongst the Ventrue is known as dignitas, and is not only a mark of the Kindred’s own power, but also how well regarded he is by others of his kind. This also covers how well a Ventrue comports himself; dignity, grace and honour is almost as important as personal acumen, and failing to aid a Ventrue in need is considered to be the worst breach of social etiquette.
Notable Ranks[]
- Ephorate: the leaders of the Clan, those who are responsible for setting Clan policy and electing a representative to the Camarilla’s Inner Circle.
- Strategoi: The next step down, the Strategoi are Ventrue of great influence who are tasked with carrying out the wishes of the Ephorate. Each is assigned his own geographical region.
Embrace[]
(See main article: Vampire (World of Darkness))
Being a Clan which places the ultimate emphasis on prestige, the Ventrue Embrace only those mortals who show aptitude in a field relative to Clan interests (finance, political push, military influence, etc.). These Kindred are all instilled with the credo that gaining personal power is acceptable only if that power benefits the Clan as a whole.
Once a Kindred has created a new vampire, he is responsible for a administering a term of intense indoctrination covering everything from the Vampire’s lineage to social practices, and including everything the newly-created vampire will need to know to survive in the coming nights. Once this period has been completed, the Kindred must go out into the world and accomplish a task set by his sire without the aid of others of his Clan. Upon completion of this task, the vampire is then presented to the members of his Clan in the region, where he is again tested by a series of questions devised by those Kindred. Success in all three stages grants the new vampire full membership of Clan Ventrue, whilst failure at any point may result in expulsion from the Clan or worse, Final Death.
Clan Weakness[]
The Ventrue Clan weakness manifests in a restriction on the type of blood that the vampire may feed upon. For some it is a broad restriction (such as only being able to consume blood from caucasian females), whilst for others it may be a near-crippling one (for instance, requiring that the donor be a virginal man over the age of eighty). Whilst Ventrue are still capable of feeding from mortals outside of their “type,” they are able to draw no sustenance from it, and will slowly starve unless they are able to find a person that fits their predilection.