The Circle of the Crone

Read Blood and Smoke for an exploration of the Circle of the Crone mindset and covenant aims. Our notes below give an idea of how they function socially and politically within Dark Metropolis.

Please bear in mind that these are still early notes and are not set in stone, especially as more setting information becomes available from White Wolf. However, we do not anticipate deviating from these notes drastically when we run Dark Met.

The Circle of the Crone
We see the truth, we hold the truth, we are the truth.

Mask: Confident mystical advisers touched by divinity
Dirge: Frightened relics of a bygone age

Who Are They?

United in their worship of the Crone, the Circle are nonetheless separated by a common religion. Schisms, opposing cults and internal squabbles make the Circle a disunified group from the outside … but few outsiders would dare mock them. Seeking freedom, creativity and a close connection with the Crone, it is said that they exult in the kind of chaos that could bring down a Fief.

No wonder the Prince is afraid of them.


Where Did They Come From?

Descendants of Boudicca's poisoned children vengefully Embraced; lares and manes travelling hidden but venerated with Roman invaders; a group sprung from a bloody ritual enacted with a ghostly black hound ... the Norwich Circle's origins have been lost over time, shrouded in mystery and mythology, and the cults like it that way. After all, every Acolyte forms their own relationship with the Crone - why should their origin stories be any different?

But in more recent history, stories become more similar. Ask an Acolyte when the Golden Age for Kindred was, and whatever the answer, it won't be now. Once, the Circle of the Crone were a glorious, diverse presence in Norwich, thriving in the spiritualist scene of superstitious nineteenth-century. But as the Age of Reason firmly got its claws into the kine and industrialism spread, the Circle found it harder and harder to adapt to the restrictions imposed upon them. Prince Cheverton was a rationalist, and had little time for what he considered superstitious nonsense - though like any hypocrite, he was happy enough to indulge in the lacryma and drugged concoctions some canny Acolytes provided for his parties.

When Prince Lockwood took control, some members of the Circle rejoiced. But they quickly realised that she too has an eye on the future - and, worse, on stability and stagnation. Now, the Prince undermines the Circle's beliefs and territories, and they are desperately trying to find a place in a Metropolis that does not always feel their own.


What Do They Want?

Stagnation is anathema to an Acolyte, and they need space to thrive and seek spiritual growth. If that brings chaos, so be it. They need the freedom to enact change the way they want it, and the way they choose it. Prince Lockwood's Invictus Metropolis run like clockwork makes this challenging at best, and spiritually barren at worst.

The Circle used to own vast swathes of the city, and had the freedom for different cults to control districts and flourish, but the Prince has slowly been eroding their influenc. One of the Circle Regents was recently removed from the position and the territory gifted to the Carthian Movement. The Prince’s Office cites Masquerade-threatening Kine cults, the public witnessing Circle rituals, and generally risky behaviour, but the Circle have been doing this for milennia. They know what they're doing and the confiscation of their territory was unfair and targeted against them. The Prince is simply afraid of their power and their knowledge that nothing lasts forever.

Some Circle cults are considering moving to a more sympathetic district, carving out territory on the dangerous outskirts of the city,  time will tell whether the Circle cults will move to a more sympathetic district, or try to work with the new Carthian in charge...


What Do They Do?
The Circle of the Crone might be able to wield more influence in the city if it was truly unified. But ultimately the Norwich Circle prizes being true to oneself to such a strong degree that this seems impossible. Religious differences, disagreements over esoteric aspects of the Crone, arguments over their standing within the City - all of these make the Circle a disparate collection of mystical cults.

However, they do all agree on using this diversity to keep other Covenants on their toes, and with their mystical and frightening insight and practices, can cultivate as much fear as they can get away with.

Acolytes need spaces to worship, and they need followers, so many find themselves seeking ways of inching more territory from the other Covenants, or finding ways of paying rent to sympathetic Kindred landlords. Other Acolytes disdain spending each night simply trying to survive and try to transcend such petty concerns, pursuing creative or occult interests whatever the consequences.

Within a cult, Acolytes are deeply loyal to one another, and they support each other in seeking or keeping territory, in gathering Kine worshippers, and in trying to wield Court influence. Though Kindred from different cults may be always looking for ways to outdo or undermine each other, physical altercations are rare. They recognise that ultimately they're all on the same losing side of history.

The Circle have a particular niche within Kindred society that they exploit to the fullest potential: they understand many of the nooks and crannies of the occult world and often sell themselves as advisers or consultants to those in need. They try to strike a delicate balance with the Ordo Dracul: too antagonistic and the more socially powerful Ordo will fight back, too cooperative and the Circle lose what edge they have. Still, its not unusual to see Circle and Ordo working together, especially in the Low Court where Covenant secrets are less valuable.


Development Notes

We wanted to explore what the Circle's approach of looking backward and inward whilst embracing chaos means in a bustling, modern Metropolis. We are looking to explore what happens when such a diverse group is put in a relatively weak and disrespected position - will characters seek to unite in solidarity or simply focus on getting their own needs met?

Questions to think about for a Circle of the Crone character

You are younger than the Circle who remember the glory nights. How do you deal with your Elders being so resistant to change?
What about the past appeals to you, and how does it affect your nightly Requiem?
What is your particular belief system? Do you work with a Circle cult, or are you even more of an outsider?
Does your belief system have a Temple or dedicated Kine followers? What are they like - or how are you trying to gain them?