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Eumenides Teaser Text: The Vehmgericht And The Cammorae
Aug. 26th, 2007 | 09:50 am
The Vehmgericht
The Holy Vehm, also called the Sect of the Idiot, are the byproducts of the creation of the Martyrs of the Knife. They appear to be great black robes, in which can be seen only glittering eyes, and from which protrude hands with too many long, green and inhuman fingers. If exposed, their body is a terrifying combination of beautiful adolescent mortal human and mantis-like insect.
These beings are the monitors who enforce ignorance of the Executors among mortals on day-to-day matters. They retain the so-called camorrae of mortals to lead purges against witchcraft and spread false and dangerous sorcerous lore. They peruse the shelves of antique bookstores for too-rare finds. Where their prying eyes detect serious problems the Executors can search for an appropriate prayer to dispatch the eumenides or set down a haroun.
The Vehmgericht roam the byways of Tel Chesed as well as our world. In the mansions of the executors, they serve as the All-Lords’ witnesses to the honesty of various accounts and transactions where the presence of the eumenides or a tahsildar would bring more authority than necessary for a prosaic ordering of books. The vehm are most common in the bollwerk beneath the City of Mercy, where they have many secret facilities.
The Cammorae
The dark-robed Vehmgericht do not police the mortal world alone. They control many mortal servants, known as the cammorae. The precise nature of these dupes varies depending on the way the GM has chosen to depict the caryatids of his world. If the caryatids are mere cutouts, then the servants of the vehm will be terrible puppets -- caricatures of spies for the ultimate evil among the two dimensional puppets that fill their worlds. In the games of GMs who opt to populate the world with more realistic humans, the cammorae will be more realistic conspirators, humans enthralled to the vehm seeking to satisfy some lust, flatter their egos or meet some need.
Regardless of the specific nature of the cammorans, it is powerful organization. It provides the countless eyes by which the vehm spy out those who would meddle in the secrets of magic or pry at the door of the Lesser Abyss. Their agents are everywhere; they are the universal collaborator with the cosmic police state -- their presence s a constant, their influence all-pervasive.
They are also hopelessly corrupt. As the hand-picked servants of the Vehm, they are selected by habitually corrupt traitors. From their ranks spring many of the All-Lords’ enemies, for they are as treasonous and seeking of advantage as their dark controllers. This is apparently agreeable enough to the All-Lords that the vehm continue to perform their function in this fashion -- like many of the Executors’ other policies, it concentrates lust for power and ambition for station into a predictable framework that can be managed by regular prunings.
In most places and times, the cammorae are reasonably effective in policing the world for magic. In some places, they are too corrupt to be effective and in other places, they are totally victorious. Neither state persists for long, as the Executors prune out the too-effective and the terribly crooked alike to achieve a regular harvest of potential problems.
The Holy Vehm, also called the Sect of the Idiot, are the byproducts of the creation of the Martyrs of the Knife. They appear to be great black robes, in which can be seen only glittering eyes, and from which protrude hands with too many long, green and inhuman fingers. If exposed, their body is a terrifying combination of beautiful adolescent mortal human and mantis-like insect.
These beings are the monitors who enforce ignorance of the Executors among mortals on day-to-day matters. They retain the so-called camorrae of mortals to lead purges against witchcraft and spread false and dangerous sorcerous lore. They peruse the shelves of antique bookstores for too-rare finds. Where their prying eyes detect serious problems the Executors can search for an appropriate prayer to dispatch the eumenides or set down a haroun.
The Vehmgericht roam the byways of Tel Chesed as well as our world. In the mansions of the executors, they serve as the All-Lords’ witnesses to the honesty of various accounts and transactions where the presence of the eumenides or a tahsildar would bring more authority than necessary for a prosaic ordering of books. The vehm are most common in the bollwerk beneath the City of Mercy, where they have many secret facilities.
The Cammorae
Regardless of the specific nature of the cammorans, it is powerful organization. It provides the countless eyes by which the vehm spy out those who would meddle in the secrets of magic or pry at the door of the Lesser Abyss. Their agents are everywhere; they are the universal collaborator with the cosmic police state -- their presence s a constant, their influence all-pervasive.
They are also hopelessly corrupt. As the hand-picked servants of the Vehm, they are selected by habitually corrupt traitors. From their ranks spring many of the All-Lords’ enemies, for they are as treasonous and seeking of advantage as their dark controllers. This is apparently agreeable enough to the All-Lords that the vehm continue to perform their function in this fashion -- like many of the Executors’ other policies, it concentrates lust for power and ambition for station into a predictable framework that can be managed by regular prunings.
In most places and times, the cammorae are reasonably effective in policing the world for magic. In some places, they are too corrupt to be effective and in other places, they are totally victorious. Neither state persists for long, as the Executors prune out the too-effective and the terribly crooked alike to achieve a regular harvest of potential problems.