Renaissance and Reformation

Renaissance and Reformation

of Note

After establishing the Camarilla, Clan Ventrue experienced a powerful resurgence that began in the 16th century, and a whole new world of possibilities opened up before them. With most of the anarchs subsumed into the Camarilla, the Ventrue-led sect had the muscle to fight the Sabbat at every turn and reassert its firm presence in Western Europe, which was the place to be at the dawn of the Renaissance, as it turned out.

While humanity rediscovered things Kindred had never forgotten, the Ventrue tested their re-established might. Under the self-sacrificing guidance of individual Ventrue and notable Toreador, Malkavians, Tremere and Brujah, the Camarilla prospered, ensuring a peaceful (or at least safe) environment for the Ventrue to exploit their new potential. Wisely fearing humanity in the wake of the Inquisition, most Kindred still clung rigorously to the Masquerade (just as the Ventrue wished) and withdrew from direct interference in mortal affairs. The Ventrue, however, plunged ahead, although in much more subtle ways than they had used during the Long Night.

It was Robert Kross, a German-born childe of the Inquisition years, who first saw the potential return on investments in the back end of new industries and ventures. An aide to Hardestadt and one of the first archons of the Camarilla, Kross had traveled throughout Europe as part of Justicar Democritus’ retinue. He settled in Holland eventually, where he became a silent partner in a number of “exploratory” ventures. Within a few decades, Kross and his mortal partners were making vast sums from trade with the Far East. Meanwhile, Kross’ childe, Juan-Miguel Ramirez, repeated his sire’s successes in Spain, an investment that eventually paid off in literally tons of gold diverted from the Spanish Empire.

All across Europe, the Ventrue clan led the way in investing in and exploiting trade with the New World and Asia. Although mortals did most of the real work and the Ventrue themselves seldom traveled to their foreign holdings, the Kindred’s coffers swelled beyond imagining. It was at this time that the clan earned its much-deserved reputation as the wealthiest clan in the world. The proceeds from those original overseas investments still serve as the basis of many European elders’ wealth in the modern nights.

To the Ventrue’s chagrin, however, this newfound wealth served to reinforce the schism between the clan and their antitribu of the Sabbat. While the Ventrue anarchs had been only a minority of the Kindred involved in the revolt, they certainly did not lack in passion. Even before the formation of the Camarilla proper, many Ventrue dissidents resented the direction many clan members had taken. These young Ventrue thought that their elders had grown rich and complacent. Instead of their noble legacy of nights past, modern Ventrue had chosen creature comforts. In the eyes of the Ventrue anarchs, the elders were no longer an aristocracy but a merchant class.

Elders and more conservative Ventrue, of course, argued that money was simply a means to maintain their leadership. The nights of feudalism were waning, they opined. Divine Right was fallible, and the true path to power lay in the new economy.

The antitribu, though, refused to relax their position. In their opinion, the mainstream Ventrue had simply taken the path of less resistance rather than the one that had built their august reputation throughout history. From the first nights of the Camarilla to the Final Nights, the antitribu have turned their backs on their parent clan like no other. Theirs is not a difference based solely on the tenets of the Sabbat, but a true divorce of philosophy. Theirs is also a rivalry of fierceness matched in vehemence by few other Cainites.