Esprit
- Backgrounds -P- Paris
Esprit. This word alone carry waves of uneasiness among the Kindred who once went to Paris. Rumours among the Anarchs tell the Elders are involved in deadly games for nothing more than status or prestige in the balance. They are wrong. The Parisian Elders are in for Esprit.
Created centuries ago, enhanced by the Masquerade and its need for secrecy, the Esprit has so much effect among the Kindred french Cour that it permeated the mortal courts. Esprit took its true importance at the time of the Toreador Hegemony, and its influence grew even beyond the Kindred's limits. Soon, the mortal nobles started to inconsciously mimic the unseen Kindred among them. They started to wear the same luxuous clothes, developped rare and refined (and twisted) tastes, wore white powder to mimic the pale monsters among them...
And they copied Esprit.
But whatever intrigues they would create, whatever rumours they would hear and tell over and over, never the mortals would take the full measure of the Esprit, and its consequences among some of the most powerful creatures of Earth.
See Lexicon for complementary information
ESPRIT AS A BACKGROUND:
Esprit was introduced first in the Elysium: The Elder Wars as the Couture (See p37). While Couture is good enough to deal with U.S. or any other normal Kindred Elders, its definition is inaccurate when dealing with True Elders (i.e.: french Elders... Yes: The french Toreador has that kind of high --and contemptuous-- opinion about themselves...).
Esprit is a Background, like Prestige and Status. Thus it can't be raised by Experience Points. Only by Roleplaying. While Status is the measure of the Kindred's status in a said city (in France, Parisian Status extends somewhat in all the country); while Elder Status is the Kindred's status in the whole Kindred community (i.e.: Camarilla + Sabbat + Inconnu + etc.); while Prestige is the Kindred's status among his clanmates, Esprit is the status of the Kindred among the french Kindred Cour.
Used in Mot d'Esprit (Word of wits), or Trait d'Esprit, where the word Trait is used in an ancient meaning: A bolt (of crossbow) was called Trait in ancient french. Esprit replaces the Background Couture (See ELYSIUM: the Elder Wars) in all ways.
The Mot d'Esprit is an ironic answer made by someone and attacking someone else who, if he wants not to be ridiculous, must answer immediately by another Mot d'Esprit, who can attack ANYONE, but is generally used as counterattack against the attacker (if attacking someone, it's called Esquive, or dodge). And so on...
Depending on the quality of the verbal duel, the two interlocutors can even win Esprit (Couture), no matter who lost. But if the Mot d'Esprit was really stupid, and used against an experienced interlocutor, the attacker can actually lose Esprit...
Esprit and Humour must not be mistaken one for another: The Nobles have Esprit, and the Beggars have Humour. Villon is immune by most Mots d'Esprit, and the Ducs of the Grand Cour are rarely attacked by Mots d'Esprit, as they often have the wits to make killing answers, or even answer in a more physical, destructive way (Even if it make them loose Status).
To have Esprit is a fragile way to win Status in Paris: Even if some Elders will consider the newcommer with high spirit as a fraud, they will still respect him. Note: Esprit in the Kindred world is a lot more deadly than in the Royal Cour of Louis XIV: See ELYSIUM: The Elder Wars for more information. The Parisian Anarchs understood after the 1871 defeat (the Commune) that Esprit" could kill with more efficiency than stakes, as the offended party will go to tremendous lenght to recover back his Esprit/Status.
They are, by using it in such ways, becoming real thorns in the side of Elders.
Esprit is the Prestige within the Cour, and major variations of Esprit can lead to temporary (and sometimes permanent) variations in Status, or even in Prestige Toreador or Ventrue.
