The Royal Fief of London

London is the major fief of Britain and the center of Ventrue power in the Islands. London is ruled by Lady Anne, a Ventrue, although her position is not strong and she has several rivals within and without the clan who would challenge her for the Princedom if they became strong enough.

The Primogen of London was kept weak and easily controlled by Mithras, the previous Prince. It largely consists of Ventrue and Toreador, whose support Anne has bought by extending the Elysium. Lady Anne has largely succeeded in keeping the Primogen weak, although they are becoming politically stronger as her hold on the fief weakens. In the past she has delt ruthlessly with rivals but it is doubtful if her authority would hold up to another purge of her enemies in the fief. Never the less, she has managed to keep power, largely by eliminating the pawns of her rivals and exploiting divisions between the factions.

The players will find themselves courted by several of the Ventrue factions who hope to get the support of the Fief of York. Traditionally, York has been independant of London, so some Ventrue might see it as a natural base for an attempt on the Princedom of London.

There are at least 200-250 Kindred in London and the immidiate surrounding area. All clans are represented but the strongest are the Ventrue and Toreador. For the first time in several centuries, the Tremere openly have a chantry in London, and several of the other fiefs of Britain. They have bought their more open position by supporting Lady Anne as the Queen of London. However, in deference to the Ventrues' memories of the long and bitter feud between the two clans, Lady Anne has kept the number of resident Tremere small and the Tremere have not requested an increase. Although their numbers are small, the Tremere have sent many of their best clan members to Britain, in the hope of gaining a permanent hold in the country.

There are few Brujah in London, except for a handful of elders and ancilla. The ruthless suppression of anarchs in the fief during 'the Thatcher years' has meant that most younger Brujah have been destroyed or fled north. Those that remain in the city are in small secretive groups.

Gangrel are more common than might be expected, although they are mostly found in the commuter belts around London and seldom venture into the center of the city.

The Malkavians are rare in the city. Many have become part-time members of the guerilla warfare initiated by Crowley against the Ventrue and Tremere. They have been targets of the recent Ventrue crackdowns.

The majority of the Nosferatu in London have gone underground to escape what they feel is inevitable civil war. Although they keep up their observations of the fief, they have largely stopped selling information, for fear of becoming entangled in the conflict. In the event of conflict, their elders are likely to back whoever will restore peace most quickly and combat the real threat of the York invasion.

Toreador have a large presence in London although they are almost exclusively concerned with the Elysium. The weight of the Clan is currently behind Lady Anne, although the Clan as a whole would prefer to avoid any direct conflict in the city, instead concentrating on preserving the Elysium. It might be a nice touch though if one of the main contenders for the Princedom were a Toreador - they could well gain support from a wide range of Kindred by presenting themselves as the 'neutral' candidate.

The Sabbat invasion of the northern fiefs will affect the power structure in London in several ways.

• Firstly, there will be the immediate affect of any assasinations carried out by the Sabbat. They have fairly accurate political information about the fief and the killings will have been designed to disorganize and weaken the Kindred there, without leaving any one faction able to sieze control and organize resistance. Therefore, Lady Anne will probably be able to hold onto power. She may even be able to strengthen her position if she can react quickly by the strategic elimination of a couple of her stronger rivals.
• Secondly, many of the Ventrue and most of the Toreador will, if only reluctantly, support Lady Anne in the face of the greater threat to Britain from the Sabbat. Some may take the opportunity to extract concessions in return for their support.
• Thirdly, some of Lady Anne's enemies will see this as a chance to sieze power, especially if Lady Anne shows herself unable to respond adequately to the situation. However, althought some Primogen members would back a candidate who could demonstrate their ability to end the crisis of the invasion it is unlikely that any candidate could win the backing of the whole Primogen. Thus, the most likely result of even a strong candidate declaring openly against Lady Anne is:
  • The Primogen would be divided over the best Prince for the fief. The rest of the Kindred in the fief would be forced to choose between the two camps, or back another candidate.
  • Lady Anne would almost certainly fight, unless the whole Primogen declared against her. Even then there is a good chance she would resist, unless prevented by, for example, direct intervention by a Justicar.
  • Other candidates would probably then declare their ambitions, in the hope of gaining from the chaos in the fief. The Kindred who started the challenge to Lady Anne would be at something of a disadvantage, as he is likely to unite a lot of opposition.
  • The Fief would degenerate into civil war. Other factions such as the Tremere would add to the chaos. Dee has the personal power to hold the Princedom of London but he would have to overcome the animosity of the Ventrue clan first. He would certainly do all he could to prolong the conflict in order to weaken the Ventrue. It is unlikely that a new Prince would elected quickly, even if a Justicar were sent to investigate. The one thing all factions could be guaranteed to resist would be outside intervention.
  • In the face of civil war in London, the Camarilla outside Britain would look to another fief to lead the resistance against the Sabbat. Perhaps even the traditionally strong and independant Fief of York, where the invasion was so successfully and mysteriously thwarted.....