Archived-Carthian Movement Tenants

Taken from "The Tenets of the Carthian Movement" on the old wiki

The Three Structures of the Carthian Movement

Being a Carthian is not the path of least resistance. Our age and ideals often bring us to odds with city and clan elders. To join our Movement, a vampire must be strong of will and mind. Strength of arms, surprisingly enough, is important, but not so much as the first two.

I am a strong believer in threes. It is a powerful number with a great deal of symbolism. For Carthians it represents a mighty and inspiring structure, built with excruciating detail upon a firm foundation. Balance is the key. Too much or too little of any one requirement and the structure falls.

These are the structures as I see them:

A Carthian is Brave To be part of the Carthian Movement is to stand defiant in the face of tradition. To challenge the way of things that are done, to put forth new ideas is frightening for many kindred. They fear change and will look upon those who introduce such things with suspicion or worse. Despite this, we stand at the vanguard of a new age. As the world transforms we are the ones who adapt and shape it, so that our kind remains safe.

We are builders, cautious and careful builders. Carthians take time to prove their ideas. Rushing forward, upsetting order with no plan is the heart of anarchy. Such acts are the opposite of our creed. We operate much in the same way science has advanced, and it has changed the face of our world. We plan, we hypothesize, we experiment, and we analyze the results. During this time we constantly re-evaluate the value of our work. If our goals change or the hypothesis proves false or unworkable, then true members of the Movement are bold enough to admit failure. We have learned that failure can teach us more than success. We accept this, despite the derision it evokes from outside our ranks.

A Carthian is Wise: All too often, the disruptive elements of a city are found to be within our ranks. This is not the way. Carthians do not exist to combat non-Carthians. That is foolish and is a large reason that other covenants have difficulties trusting us or taking the Movement seriously.

Oftentimes we are our own worst enemy. True members of the covenant must thoughtful in their actions. We are innovators, not destroyers. The changes we implement are to enhance our collective requiems and take advantage of new ideas and models of government. We work within the system to make it better. Others will see the value of our endeavors if we prove that we can improve the process without breaking what is already in place.

This is no easy task. It is a prickly path that many of our brethren have been scarred by. Disenfranchising our neighbors rarely allows us to accomplish our goals, and makes us an enemy in the eyes of those who 'have' that what we wish to change. Clever discussion, use of political capital, and honest debate are our best tools here. In the end, however, it is the wise Carthian who knows when to end the debate and initiate action.

A Carthian is Free Many believe this is the cornerstone of our creed. This is because there are too many young or selfish kindred currently within our ranks who believe being free means to have no responsibility. A Carthian's freedom is much more than that. It means we are free to take responsibility. An Invictus receives their orders from their liege, a Dragon follows their scholars, Sanctified follow their bishops and popes, and Crones follow their high priestesses. Our brothers do not have such a fealty chain. In an ordinary, lesser kindred, this leads to self-indulgence and pettiness.

What is it then that makes a Carthian? We are led by a combination of ideals, will, and conscience. A true Carthian follows the Movement not because he was ordered to from without, but because those driving forces within him DEMAND that he take action. Our path is pure because each day we make a choice to be Carthian. We serve the Movement because doing so allows us to feed a desire to grow within ourselves.

We have banded together because deep within our fellows, we see a mirror of our own convictions. Our ideologies may differ but our drives do not. A true Carthian stands up and takes responsibility for themselves, their brothers and sisters, and for the Movement at large. Some lead, others follow, but a Carthian never lets a night pass without saying 'what can I do to aid the cause?' There is power here. This level of commitment is where we can draw our collective strength.

On other matters Because our strength comes from a collective, we must take great pains to keep all matters about the covenant to ourselves. If we snipe and pick at one another before outsiders, then we belittle ourselves as a whole. Strife between Carthians should never be seen outside of our own gatherings. When outsiders attempt to harm or lessen a brother or sister, we should see it as an attack upon ourselves because in a small way that is exactly what it is. We protect our own, even if it is just to punish them in private later.

If a brother or sister performs a foolish deed or acts without wisdom, then they should learn from their seniors. Prefects, Myrmidons, and the like should to the growth of new members as they do to their other projects. If the new members refuse then they are poor Carthians and should be educated in other ways or removed from the Movement as a whole.

This also means that Carthians must be more choosy on who they induct into the covenant. Each new member is potentially dangerous to others and must come to know that their actions reflect upon us all. Then we set the expectation that the new member will act accordingly.

Nothing weakens us more than the appearing to be unable to muster our own members to action. Carthians are known for little more than internal strife and endless squabbles. This is insidious because much of this is hidden within the guise of debate and contemplation. However in the extreme we have allowed the constant debate to become the opposite of freedom. We have turned our strength against itself and crafted cages of inertia and calcification.

We have become so enamored with our belief that freedom is its own end, that we fear and scorn any whom seek to motivate us or demand action. Many find it all to easy to sit and bicker the nights away while nothing gets done. There is nothing brave or wise about talking about a subject for so long that the opportunity that required action has been lost.

Many believe that just because we are free to speak means that we are required to do so. So much banal chatter and ideological caterwauling is pressed through our lines of communication that many kernels of important information and innovation have been lost. Each attempt to bring order to the Movement has been shot down or ignored because many Carthians are afraid that they may have to listen to someone other than themselves.

It does not have to be this way. We hold the seeds of greatness within ourselves. Each and every Carthian has a part to play. If we can find a common ground and cause then we can change the world. We are free to follow or to lead, but we cannot sit still any longer.