There has not been any organization among the Kindred in centuries.   Kindred rule by the notion of one Prince, strong enough to control the hunting grounds and dole out favors, and perhaps, maybe, protect those who live in his city.  There is no formal law, no formal traditions, save that which the strongest decide to enforce.

In such chaotic times, it is only natural that some Kindred have banded together for mutual protection, interest, or faith.  These organizations, however, have little actual power – or, one should say, they have little power outside of what the strongest of them is able to take in any one place.  Because of this, these groups are lumped together here as cults or orders. 

Knightly Orders

The notion of a knightly code is beginning to reach its zenith with the notion of courtly behavior and chivalry taking hold.  The basic tenants of it began to take hold during the reign of Charlemagne, and has continued to flourish in Europe.  The knight was an elite mounted solider who was granted land in return for his services, and mounted knights allowed Charlemagne to expand his empire.  From there came the idea that a knight should, "Protect the weak, defenseless, helpless, and fight for the general welfare of all."  During the successive waves of Viking, Magyar, and Moor invasions, they got plenty of opportunities to put this to action.

From the days of the Carolingian empire, the knights have risen as an important political, as well as military, force.  It is only now, in the middle 13^th century, that knights have begun to organize themselves in specific bands, or orders.  For the most part, this has been the result of local influences: Germanic knights banding together with other Germanic knights that share similar goals.  But the Crusades brought forth the notion of banding together not by nationality but for a purpose or idea, with the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller.

Knights and knightly orders are not unknown among the Kindred.  Indeed, some say that the notions of organized fighting bands of Kindred dated back to Rome.  It is, however, difficult for Kindred to be actively involved in an Order like the Templar, as their services and functions are all held in the day, and many of the Templars have a faith that is difficult for the undead to deal with.  Some Kindred knights manage in the periphery, but most form their own Orders. 

Like their mortal counterparts, Kindred knights put a strong emphasis on honor and duty (although Kindred often interpret this differently then Kine would).  Many placed themselves in service of a Kindred lord while others served the Lancea + Sanctum or took up whatever cause their leaders championed.  The oldest of the knightly orders was the Legio Damnata of Constantinople, founded in the sixth century by then Patriarch Alexander.   The Order of Bitter Ashes had dedicated themselves to protecting the people and reliquaries of the Church, sometimes working with the Lancea, sometimes working against them.  The Knights of the Blood are a group of Ventrue Knights that serve the clan.  The Order of Sir Martin appeared on the First Crusade, and it is said that a few members escaped the Massacre at Jerusalem but, haunted by the experience,  now wander crusader camps and cities in a state of madness, spreading fear and disease alike.

Blood Cults

Since the time of man, there have been blood offerings made on alters to gods.   And where there have been offerings, and blood, there have been Kindred.  There have been stories of Kindred who have been able to harvest the old faith and blood sacrifices and make use of the power they give.

Those who still practice take many forms.  While the old pagan faiths have begun to fade, there are still Kindred who still practice those traditions.  And there are even those who have taken up offshoots of the Christian faith, who practice various forms of Gnosticism and other mystical beliefs.  They practice, however, in secret.   The ruin that was Rome, the pagans who rode into Europe with the Vikings and Magyars, these things have not made followers of blood faiths popular in Kindred society.  Indeed, the Lancea et Sanctum actively hunts anyone who practices the old ways.  Still, ritual sacrifice is still practiced openly in the northern part of the English Isle, in the lands of the Scots.  In the south, those who are part of blood cults have been largely driven underground.  The Prince of London has not persecured those who practice blood magic, but the powerful presence of the Lancea in the city makes things difficult.

Lancea et Sanctum (The Chapel and the Spear)

Originally found by a small band of Embraced Judiac slaves, the Lancea grew to eventually become one of the most powerful movements in Rome.  The Longinian doctrine was the first real religious tract unique to vampires, and it electrified many that heard it.  The Testament of Longinus gave the Kindred their own martyrs, their own saints and their own place in God’s divine plan.

However, when Rome fell, the very infrastructure that allowed the Lancea to grow and gather followers was destroyed.  Without anything to take its place, the Lancea found themselves scattered, at the same mercy of barbarian hordes as everyone else, and often at the whim of Princes who were too focused on their own survival to care about the religious teachings of others.  The Lancea themselves never had a knack for widespread rule and archbishops often found themselves stepping aside for more politically astute Kindred to rule in their stead.  Many a Kindred Lord has been anointed by the Sanctified, and many were considered nominally Sanctified.

The Lancea have had a strong presence in London for some time, having established themselves as the Saxons found Christanity and began building Churches.  Prince Aschur was annoited by the Archbishop when he won his praxis.    The First and Second estates, the Prince's Court and the Lancea, worked together to stablize the city and build on its prosperity.  But that relationship has splinted since the First Crusade, when so many Kindred from London took up the Lancea's call and none of them survived.  The Lancea still hold position, but the Prince no longer attends mass and the Archbishops influence has begun to wane.

Since then, they have tried to position themselves as a moderating force between Saxon and Norman.  They have empathized the support of monasteries, priories, and scholarly pursuits.  Many young Lancea priests make their way to London for their studies.  Some of those studies have branched out – a small, secretive group, calling themselves Osites, have devoted themselves to studying the one aspect of Creation denied to Kindred: death.  It is said that they have created their own rituals that allow them to dive deep into the secrets of the dead and even commune with the spirits of those departed.  The notion that some of the Lancea have developed such dread magic is a troublesome one.  For some, such things smack of heresy.  For others, it’s embarrassing liability at a time when it may be possible for the Lancea to regain some political standing in the city.

Invictus

Few Kindred awake these nights have heard of the Invictus, but those who have taken up the crusade have been impacted, informally, by its reach.   Hailing back to the power structure that made up Rome, the Invictus had been, for centuries, an organization almost exclusively made up of Ventrue intent on reestablishing a place in Kindred politics for the Clan.  It was not well known outside of the Ventrue clan, and was even not particularly well understood within it.  But for those Kindred who considered themselves members of this order, the Invictus was more then a legacy of Rome.  It taught the old ways of the Masquerade and the importance of Elysium, two traditions that have been lost to the rest.  It also provided important instruction in the temporal wielding of power and manipulation.  Members of the Invictus rarely do anything themselves, they work through others.  Another reason few know or understand them, few have actually crossed paths with one.

In these nights, however, the Invictus has begun to reform itself in the shadows of its former empire.  In the Rhine valley, one of the elder Princes brought together other lords of the Holy Roman Empire, and together they traveled to Rome to gather the blessing of the ancient cities archbishop.  Gathering for a conclave on the ruins of the Camarilla, these princes reaffirmed the rights of rule of the Invictus, and dedicated themselves to the building of a structured, feudal state.   The year was 1142, and since then the ideas of the Holy Night Empire (Heiligen Nacht Reich) has begun to spread to other parts of Europe.

The Prince himself does not claim membership in the Invictus, although a few of the Normans who ride with in him do.  However, his style of rule, his belief in the feudal system complete with Baronies, has obviously been somewhat influenced by what the Invictus have accomplished with the Holy Night Empire.