The Masques 1900

Paris - La Belle Époque

Since the Camarilla came to power in France at the end of the Anarch Revolt, Francois Villon and Ivan had toyed with the idea of a secret police force to ensure the secrecy of the Blood. Everyone agreed that the Masquerade was a good idea, but for it to truly work, it would need more than seven Justicars and their Archons to enforce it. However, Villon's secret police, the Masques did not come into being until the Revolution of 1789 turned France in general and Paris particularly upside-down. Of course, Francois had no real right to create a secret police force that so obviously infringed upon the bailiwick of the Justicars and weakened the power of the Camarilla in France. But when Francois Villon was officially crowned the rightful prince of Paris in 1805, his first official, if secret decision was to breath life into the Masques to protect the Masquerade and to secure his power in Paris.

The Beginings of the Sect

The Masques already existed as a small secret police who acted on Villon's behalf since Louis XIV's era. They had no real power, be it political, or even physical. They were a small coterie, with three major Toreador: Ivan, Aimé and Alexis. With Villon at their head, they enforced the authority of the Prince, Beatrix, and worked to enforce the Toreador Hegemony. The fact that the Masques seem to be reborn from the ashes of Villon's dissolved Anarch Coterie is not lost to him, and to the Anarchs...

In 1805, they were officialized, with the power to protect the Masquerade, the other Traditions and, of course the Camarilla. The Princes of other french cities rebelled against the Hegemony, and most of all, against this sect. Villon argued with the less passionate that the 1789 Revolution would not have happened if every Prince of the France were working together and that the Sabbat successes in the Revolution found their source at the constant bickering each Prince had with each other. The Inner Circle of the Camarilla, or the Justicar could not be everywhere, and so, Paris would be an intermediate level of power between the Inner Circle and the Princes. To the others, who wanted to hear nothing at all, and who had forgotten the La Rochelle example, Villon sent the armies of Napoleon and, behind them, the Masques to finish the work.

Even without Alexis, who gave the Masques their occult knowledge, the sect was succesful at avoiding most Sabbat infiltration and Anarch problems in the following revolutions of the 19th century, and most of all, removed most french prince's ambitions or power to further it. If the french Toreador somewhat liked the idea of the Toreador Hegemony (Villon gave them, secretly, more power and rights), the other Marquis still wanted to recover their rights, and sometimes petitionned the Justicars of even the Camarilla's Inner Circle to give them their rightful powers. The problem is that the Prince's status isn't defined in the Traditions, as Madame Guil, Toreador Justicar, reminded the Camarilla Elders, and that if Villon had the power to make himself of Eldest mong the Elders in the whole French Country, then he had the right to enforce the Traditions as per the Camarilla decision of 1743.

The 1871 Commune was a great coup against the Masques, as the Brujah and the Anarchs, who resented the Masques' power and wrath more often than others, tried to take the power in Paris. At first, they thought they could keep the power, but soon, their anarchy proved to be their undoing, as even the population make profit of it to not follow the orders from their leaders without a vote! As the forces of the parisian Elders, and the Masques were slowly winning ground into Paris, someone decided to burn official and noble buildings to slow them down. The Tuileries were burnt to the ground, and with it some of Villon's artwork, and its personal Library.

Villon's wrath knew no bounds: He declared a Blood Hunt against all the Kindred behind the Commune, and used the Masques against them. The Marquis thought they could use this country-scale Blood Hunt to show Villon's power were not as great as he wanted it to be: After all, if no one but him Blood Hunted the whole Brujah Clan, he would loose a great amount of status. Their surprise was great indeed as all the Toreador Marquis agreed to the Hunt, and as even their own Primogen followed Villon's outrageous action! They had no choice but follow, of be removed!

Some time after, the Veilleurs were created, with the same hierarchy than the masques, and separated from them, even if under them, in a strict hierarchic and jurisdictional status. Ivan resented to have to give the Veilleurs some of the resources he considered were of his personnal province (the Police), but could say nothing against it: He had no real occult knowledge, and the Masques didn't, too.

The next time the Masques were used, 20 years after, was when the Kindred of Paris and the Tradition Mages started a full-scale war, called the Traditions War. The Masques fought the Mages with surprising successes, while the Veilleurs found a way to reach a tentative peace.

The number of Masques was raised, as the Kindred population was still growing, and as Villon needed to have ears and eyes in most French cities. In the two world wars, the Masques contributed to keep the order in Paris, and even were behind the preservation of the french capital where every other major european city had been bombed beyond recognition.

Background Information

The Masques are constituted by only the most loyal and reliable Kindred. This limits the selection to two cases, which are perceived by others as one case: The candidate must be Toreador, or must be of Ivan's Bloodline. Either way, she must be Blood Bound to François Villon, and succeed in the 1 to 7 years of evaluation. If the candidate is mortal, she is immediately Embraced by a Toreador (if he shows some artistic potential) or by Ivan, and then Bound to Villon. If the candidate is Kindred, then she must be Blood Bond to Villon, and the evaluation time is shorter, but tighter, as the Kindred always fear infiltration.

The mission of the Masques is protecting the Masquerade, and after, upholding the other Traditions and Edicts as well. They will have some power over other Kindred when it comes to their missions, and they will be backed by the resources Ivan gave them, as well as the other Masques, Ivan and eventually Villon himself.

Powers & Influence in the Kindred Society

In the Camarilla, the only one with the power of justice are the Justicar, and they have retainers called Archons. But the Princes also have the power over their domain, and few Princes have, like Villon, so much power over one country. so Villon decided we would need Justicar-like retainers, and so, he give Ivan the mission to create the Masques. At first, Villon thought to use it for his personnal ends, but eventually, the fanaticism of Ivan (some would say his dedication) for the Traditions, and, more important, the Masquerade, tranformed the Masques into the structure the french Kindred know, today.

The mission of the Masques is to protect the Masquerade, and, after, protect the other Traditions. They have developped contacts and influence within the French administration and army that would make the Technocracy pale with horror: The main difference with the USA is that France is a very centralized country who is under the control of the Kindred since the Christ Era. The USA were created at an age where the new Technocracy could take over the control over the isolated Kindred Princes fighting against Sabbat Archbishops. Some think the Technocracy will make profit of the European Union (and the possible internal Camarilla conflict coming from the Princes of Europe fighting to protect their resources from European control) to reverse the tendency.

Anyway, in Paris, unless given a direct order from the Prince, a Kindred can receive orders from a Masque as if it was given by Villon himself if the Masque has equal or more Status Masque than the Kindred Paris' Status.

The Status, Masque is the trust Villon puts upon the individual, and if the reason is good enough, he will back up his follower and retaliate against the Kindred who dared disobey him. In the other hand, the Kindred can refuse (he should have a good reason), and/or can complain to the Prince, who can, if the Kindred is right, punish the Masque for abusing the trust he gave him.

There is some corruption in the system, through, as the Anarchs have no really significant status, and as the Elders hold a lot of the same status. Anarchs are treated with less respect (at least) than Elders. Also, Elders sometimes wait only for one reason to criticize Ivan and his sect, and will protect themselves from it (in a covert way, of course). The Anarchs have no such power, and sometimes fall into some intrigue designed to protect an Elder from Ivan's anger! So the Masques are seen as the cleaners of Villon (sometimes with a less polite word) at the very best, and as the fascist police of the prince by others... And the fact that Ivan sometimes recruit among the intelligence services adds to this prejudice.

Relations with the Veilleurs

It's easy, for the one who had compared Ivan's Masques and Alexis's Veilleurs, to understand what happened. When Alexis asked Villon for influence for his Veilleurs, Villon simply decided to make Alexis one of Ivan's Masters, with the following official differences

In normal time, the Veilleurs are independant from the Masque's authority.

The only moment a Veilleur can command a Masque (with a Masque Status lower or equal to his Veilleur Status + 2) when the situation (or substancial amount of it) falls into the jurisdiction of the Veilleurs (Mages, Occultism, supernatural...).

Masque with the same or greater Masque Status than the Veilleur's Veilleur Status always has the upper hand in case of conflict of opinion (other than the Veilleur's Jurisdiction).

Both Alexis and Ivan resent this mixed status. Alexis because he feels Ivan tries to tutor him, and Ivan because he resents the (limited) power Alexis has over the D.S.T. and the R.G. intelligence services, because he would like to know more about their strange Thaumaturgy and rituals, and because any Senor Veilleur can counter his own orders should the topic be of a supernatural nature!

• -- Ivan St. Martin -- Head Masque
• -- Raphaela Lemaire -- Enemy of the Settites
• -- Nicolas Baudine
• -- Versancia