Keepers of the Gate
Domains: University District, Mount Royal, Côte-Des-Neiges Cemetery
Color: Purple
Symbol:The Reversed Hierophant.
Spheres of Influence: University 5, Occult 5, Church 5, Health 5, High Society 3, Underworld 3.
Tenets: Never snitch on the Coven. - Be your own, never submit. - Never kill the innocent.
Sects: Anarch, Unbound.
Clans: Primarily Tremere, Hecata, Banu-Haqim & Lasombra. Also accept Tzimisce, Malkavians and Ministry with Occult or suitable Academic focus. They notably do not allow members of the Nephilim.
Structure: The Keepers of the Gate keep things simple, each represented Clan has a seat of the council of the Coven. Administrative decisions are always put to a vote. In the case of a tie, the decision is left to fate, either by a throw of a ritual dice or gold piece.
Purpose: The Keepers of the Gate exist to monitor occult and religious activity in the city, as well as to grow their own knowledge in the mystical arts, lore, and the supernatural world. Because of their ties to the religious communities in the city, they are usually the first to see the signs of religion-based hunters, and can alert the other packs as needed. Though they are a stronghold for the Tremere and Hecata communities, they've been known to take in academics, archeologists, linguists, mystics, shaman, fortune-tellers, preachers, oracles, and the like.
Pre-Requisites: Must have Blood Sorcery or Oblivion or have at least 3 dots in Occult, Science or Academics with suitable specialties. Examples of suitable specialties would be; Noddism, Archeology, Alchemy, Ancient History, etc. Malkavians with the Cob-Web Loresheet are also accepted as Oracles.
Montreal is definitely a city that believes in magic and superstition. The city's cultural tapestry is rich and diverse, allowing for plenty of history, lore, traditions, folk medicines, beliefs, and a hodge podge of rites to co-exist and blend. The strength of this history and this community has attracted many Kindred over the years, for better or worse. Blood Sorcery has always been deeply ingrained in the city; before the Anarchs came along, The Serpents of Light and Tremere Antitribu weaved their dark powers in service of the Sabbat, and traces of their lineage remain to this day. When the Severed Hand split into three packs, the Blood Sorcerers, Necromancers and Occultists formed the pack known as the Keepers of the Gate; a mish mash of kindred composed mostly of Tremere from House Ipsissimuss, former Serpents of Lights from the Ministry now loyal to the Anarchs and Haitian Voodoo adepts from Clan Hecata.
Instead of competing for occult dominance within the city, the Hecata, Banu-Haqim, Lasombra and Tremere share equally, to the point where lines would surely be crossed only a few decades before. There are rumors of crossover rituals and new paths being developed, or perhaps that's just a distant goal.
Initiation: The Ties That Bind
Each hopeful must demonstrate their magical prowess or special knowledge or ability to be considered for this pack. Once this is done, they take part in an initiation rite in which the recruit brings a piece of rope, string, yarn or cord to the leader of the group and together they tie it into a knot, symbolizing the bond they are forging. They will both press a bleeding finger to the knot, which is ceremoniously hung (along with everyone else's) on a small, decorative tree in their headquarters. This knot is not merely symbolic, but ties the initiate to the other rules of the coven, as well as to his pack mates. Each member of the Coven is considered to have a level 1 Blood Bond to all other members ( Including Tremere who could otherwise not bond others to them ). This bond allows members of the Coven to share disciplines and blood sorcery rituals among each other without having to drink their Vitae.
Loose Lips Sink Ships
As a result of the Initiation ritual, actions that would be detrimental to the Coven, such as sharing information on other members to outsiders, revealing the location of a ley line, or even all out betrayal can have dire consequences. Each time a member of the Coven attempts to betray his kin or share confidential information, the character must succeed a willpower roll of a difficulty of 2, +1 depending on the gravity of the offence; Sharing rumors, minor information or talking shit would be +1, sharing confidential information, weaknesses or secrets would be at +2, while sharing critical or damning information, or any form of flat out betrayal would be at +3. If the roll is successful, the character is able to go ahead with the action, but at a price; wracked with intense pain, both mental and physical, the character takes 1 aggravated health and 1 aggravated willpower damage, causing them to bleed internally and after a few moment, to violently vomit one rouse check's worth of blood. A Failure means the ritual stops them in their track, preventing from going ahead with the betrayal. In the case of a Beastial Failure or Messy Critical, ghostly whispers will advise the rest of the Coven that one of their own has betrayed their trust, though their identity remains unknown.
The Seat of the Coven
The Seat of the Covenant is a small, secluded estate in the Mount-Royal district, surrounded with stone and wrought iron gates, and heavily guarded by wards, ghouls, zombies and other spirits. It serves as not only a base of operation for the Keepers, but also as an occult library and laboratory, safe house and place of power. Members of the Keepers are free to use it as a communal haven, claiming one of the rooms as their own as long as they want. Among its most interesting features is an extensive occult library that provides characters with a +1 dice bonus on occult research rolls as well as a sizable and secluded garden that not only serves as a Ritualistic space, but also sits on a powerful Furcus where multiple ley lines cross, granting +2 dice bonus to any ritual conducted on the Garden grounds. The location of the seat is to be guarded and kept secret by all members of the Coven.
Angelique
Valois
Antonio
Reza
