Traditional Flashcards
blood rent (n.)
Payment due to a lord in blood, traditionally in exchange for granted lands or titles. Blood rent may require a vassal to escort a lord on the hunt, to deliver a living vessel or to give up Vitae from the vassal’s own veins, depending on the contract of fealty between them. “I’ll give you everything between the expressway and Shadowgate Avenue, and in exchange you pay me a blood rent of one boy, no older than 19 and no younger than 14, for feeding, twice a month.”
blood tax (n.)
Blood rent (q.v.). (v., slang) To demand a payment of Vitae from a subordinate, especially outside the terms of a feudal contract; e.g., to order a vassal’s vassal to provide wheat (q.v.). Also, less commonly, to punish or fine a vassal with bloodletting, violence or a forced drink toward a Vinculum. “The Viscount’s driving down here tonight, and I just fucking know he’s coming down here to blood tax me.”
bond (n.)
The official relationship between a vassal and his lord. “My bond with Lawrence isn’t so stiff and formal, like yours and Benedict’s.”
chapter house (n.)
An Ordo Dracul meeting place, possibly (but not necessarily) a lodge (q.v.). Often abbreviated simply, “chapter.” “There’s a Dragon chapter upstairs of the card room behind the Broken Bottle, but I don’t think their landlord knows about it.”
court (n.)
Per the traditional definition of a sovereign and his retinue and councilors. Among the Damned, court may also be used to refer to the place where court is held (“the 6th Street court”), to a specific instance of audience (“last August’s court”), or all Kindred with direct formal bonds (q.v.) to the Prince. (n., slang) Derogatorily or in jest, any Kindred who routinely attends court. “You’re not the boss here, court, so keep your mouth shut.”
domain (n.)
The physical territory claimed by or granted to a vampire, especially when that territory is officially sanctioned by the Prince; also, a conceptual purview of authority or responsibility wherein the lord has control or unique rights, such as the “domain of medicine” or “domain of theater.” “I don’t care what your Prince says, asshole, this is my domain, and every monster around here knows it.”
dominion (n.)
Sovereignty, authority or control over an area, or category of areas and ideas. Among the Damned, dominion especially refers to a lord’s authority over unconnected territory, such as “dominion over hospitals” without any associated dominion over the grounds between hospitals. Kindred use this word in various ways that would typically be ungrammatical, such as “on [his] dominion” or “into dominion.” “Come out of there and let’s see if you feel so strongly under my dominion.”
fallow (adj.)
Overseen or claimed by Kindred, but exempt from interaction with mortals; especially, any domain where feeding is prohibited. Traditionally, only physical territory is said to be fallow, but in modern parlance, people and ideas may also said to be fallow. “Westbrook’s been full of fallow kine for a decade, and it don’t look likely to change.” (n., jargon) A domain where feeding from mortals is not allowed, but feeding from animals may be. “There’s a shitty fallow off the highway where I bet no one would know it was us.”
fields, the (n.)
A domain where vampires without dominion over the territory may feed on the local mortals. Also, an unaware (and typically unthreatening) population of kine that are legal for feeding. Note that not all domains are “the fields” for all Kindred — one vampire’s legal feeding ground is another’s fallow (q.v.). “Hounds are patrolling the fields tonight, which means somebody’s been poaching, I’ll bet.”
homage (n.)
A public display of a vassal’s subservience and dedication to his lord or the Prince. Also, the formal ceremony of homage in which a Kindred ritually gives himself to be his lord’s “man.” In the Byzantine dealings of the Danse Macabre, the public declaration of a vassal’s fealty is the essential element of homage. “If you are still loyal, then kneel now and pay me homage here where your Sanctified cousins can see.”
landlord (n.)
A lord whose authority includes land or some other physical territory, especially if that territory is granted to vassals or tenants through sub-infeudation. (See also lord.) “The landlord says we’re not supposed to hunt on this street anymore.”
liege (adj.)
Concerning the feudal relationship, such as the lord to a vassal, usually in regards to the superior of a pair, especially in relation to one’s immediate lord (the “liege lord”). “There’s some liege Haunt here requesting audience on behalf of his tenants, should I let him in?”
lodge (n.)
A place that serves as a dedicated meeting place, laboratory, chapter house (q.v.) or refuge for a chapter of the Ordo Dracul. Traditionally, only a whole structure controlled by the covenant qualifies, but in practice portions of larger buildings (such as cellars, attics or attached wings) are often called lodges as well. “The Dragons have kept a lodge on my ground since before it was mine, but I have no real control over the place.”
outlaw (n., adj.)
Among the Damned, the term outlaw retains its archaic connotations. Rather than broadly describing a subject as a criminal or fugitive, this term indicates a kine or Kindred to whom the laws of the land do not apply. Thus, he is outside the law. Taking an outlaw’s things is not stealing, because laws do not apply to him or his property. Killing an outlaw is not murder. Feeding from an outlaw does not violate hunting laws. Naming a subject as an outlaw is thus a profoundly dangerous act, not only for the outlaw but for the people around him. “I’m here to tell you, then, that the Prince has deemed all Bruja to be outlaws should they set foot in this city again.”
overlord (n.)
A vampire lord who oversees one or more vassals; especially a lord whose vassals are themselves lords. “Sometimes I think he granted me this land just so he could call himself an overlord.”
