The Low Court

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde, Lady Windemere's Fan

The disenfranchised and ignored are the denizens of the Low Court. They are usually newer Kindred, still close to their human lives, or those who once had status and lost it. Some even choose to stay on this side of the velvet rope: after all, you can get a lot done when no-one is watching, as long as you’re careful not to make too much of a fuss. Survival in a city where all the territory is taken or difficult to hold means making alliances, knowing your enemies and trying to plan for more than tomorrow’s meal. It’s a place where you can capitalise on your resources and connections: after all, everyone’s got to eat. People here are useful, and you can be useful to them...in exchange for a small consideration, of course. And you know what happens if you hole up and don’t come out except to feed. The Beast is just under the surface, scratching at the back of your mind. The other Kindred, for all their faults and all your rivalries, remind you that there’s more to being a vampire than that monster in your brain.

See, it’s rare that the boss comes down here. The High Courtiers don’t like to get mud on their shoes: if you’re very clever and very lucky, and make yourself useful, you might see those ivory towers some day. But honestly? This is where a lot of the action happens. This is where the battles for power are fought, on the streets. The Low Court are on the front lines of all the weird stuff out there, because the higher ups don’t do it themselves. They have people for that, and those people are in the Low Court. You can get a lot by bringing an Elder (or, more likely, their assistant) a neat report of an investigation, all tied up in a bow. Besides, this is the place where someone can get noticed. You’re all in the gutter down here, but even gutter rats need someone to tell them what to do.

The Low Court is shaped by the Kindred who inhabit it. They get to call the shots down here, to a limited degree. If you’re in an Elder’s pocket, well, good for you, but that doesn’t mean everyone down here will respect you. It’ll make it easier for you to feed, to survive, and gives you something to capitalise on, but it isn’t an instant ticket to leadership in the Low Court. You earn your respect, or take it, but you don’t just get given it for being such-and-such’s kid. The Low Courts always have a reason to happen, but that varies massively depending on who is in charge, who is hosting, who has the clout right now. It might be a rally or a party or a market. Sometimes it’s even a twisted version of what’s happening in the High Court. As above, so below. But that’s up to the person throwing the party.

Generally, the attitudes of the High Court are that the Low Court can continue doing whatever it wishes, as long as it doesn’t rouse the attention of the Sheriff. The population of the Low Court is inconsistent, but the regular meetings have proved a necessity: survival in these cruel nights requires alliances, even if they are uneasy.

Clans and Covenants

The clan and covenant groupings hold true down here. They don’t always get along, but they often find it useful to call on the bonds of blood or belief to survive.

The Daeva, whether they buy into the system or tear it apart, have to maintain a strong presence in the Low Court. It’s the main arena they have a say in. The Gangrel know the importance of territory, and the Low Court is where a lot of the negotiation happens. They can get in on the ground floor of redevelopments and opportunities. The Mekhet are all jonesing to get a Mask, and being useful down here makes you noticeable to the right people. The Nosferatu are a family, and the power runs both ways in the clan, so even those who are publicly ignored can find profits in private. The Ventrue see the Low Court as the best place to start. The streets are where you can do the most good and stabilise your situation, and it’s the best place to get your name around if you are involved in shady dealings. After all, the Ventrue are best when they’re busy.

The Carthians have most of their supporters in the Low Court. This is where they can beat the drum and recruit, playing on people’s fears and desires. They still have to be discreet...after all, the High Court still has eyes here...but they do their finest work in the underbelly. The Circle know that, despite their anger at being expelled so unceremoniously from the High Court, the Low Court is where they will find the most interesting occult mysteries, and a place where they can worship with minimal persecution. The Invictus is a meritocracy: you start from the ground floor and work your way up to the Penthouse. The Low Court is the perfect place to schmooze and network and get people in your debt so they’ll help boost you just that bit higher. The Lancea et Sanctum know that the Low Court is the place where people don’t feel the pressure that the High Court exerts to behave. If they’re going to keep things stable, they need people who can see trouble before it reaches the Elders. The Ordo functions in the High Court as well-mannered innovators, but down here they’re more often wild-haired visionaries. There are places for those who want to push themselves as far as they can go, and for those who are talented at cleaning up afterwards.

Development Notes

When we decided to set a game in a more affluent version of Norwich, we wanted to create a thriving vampiric society that reflected the size of the Metropolis, and we knew we wanted a street-level game where NPCs were the great and the good of the city. It is important for us to provide an arena for the PCs to make alliances and enemies, go from the demands of day to day survival to carving out a piece of territory for themselves, and undertake investigations and challenges of all kinds. To put PCs in the same Court as most of the high-influence NPCs would a) provide far too high a burden of NPCs for us to phys-rep and b) make the PCs feel marginalised. The Low Court is a place for the players to create the kinds of stories they want together on their terms (though obviously the network of NPCs does have a stake in what they do and will keep an eye on the Low Court). There will be some NPCs who dip in and out of the Low Court, assistant Harpies, lower ranking Hounds and those who have an interest in recruiting useful Low Court Kindred, but its organisation and day to day affairs are largely in the hands of the players. We’ll be encouraging PCs to host gatherings, because it’s a good way to get noticed and it brings game to the people hosting. The Low Court is going to be shaped around the players and by the players, and the NPCs will be responsive to how players do that.

City Status in Dark Metropolis is useful for many things, but it won’t put you in charge of the Low Court. What matters down there is what you do, so someone who’s willing to do the legwork of organisation or stand up and take the opportunities the Low Court presents is going to have a chance to impact the game far more than someone with powerful friends who stays passive. It comes down to what other PCs think of your character, which status can have an indirect effect on (after all, being able to lend your feeding grounds out or put a word in the right ear is a good way to get people on side!), but that can be changed in a massive variety of ways that don’t involve Experiences. You might even be able to work your way up into one of the Low Court roles available, like some of those below.

Frequent Faces

There are some NPCs who are known to interact with the Low Court regularly.

There is almost always a Harpy or their assistant around. We’ve talked about the Murder of Harpies in this post, but here’s a reminder of their names. Out of all of them, Samuel Asinelli is the least likely to be seen, as he’s the Head Harpy, but he has been known to slum it in the Low Court.

Samuel Asinelli (Nosferatu Invictus)
Avro Clark (Mekhet Lancea et Sanctum)
Rosa Flores (Gangrel Carthian)
Freddie Hallam (Daeva Ordo Dracul)
Aurelia Tarrant (Ventrue Circle of the Crone)

Renee Jakobson - Neonate Wrangler/Au Pair
The resident Neonate wrangler, Renee Jakobson spends all of her time keeping an eye out for new vampires, whether they’re new to the city or recently Embraced. She believes strongly in making sure they know what’s what and don’t make a mess in their infant struggles. You will have met her very early on: she seems to have an almost miraculous ability to know when a new vampire is around. Over the years, she’s missed very few. She gives new vampires an honest and brutal brief about the world they now inhabit and points them towards the Rack. Renee sticks around the Low Court a lot even though she could probably join the High Court if she wanted, walking the careful line between the two.

Melissa Pryor - Court Occultist
An occult expert who strives to remain neutral in covenant politics. She is respected for her knowledge but is most interested in gathering together those who are interested and skilled in investigating occult matters from any of the different factions. She is always on the look out for new talent and comes to the Low Court to recruit, because that’s where a lot of the juiciest mysteries are found. While she has contact with more High Court Kindred than most, her main interaction is to hand reports over to the Sheriff once her investigations are concluded.

Adrian Spooner - Daeva Priscus
Not many of the Prisci bother to come down to the Low Court personally, but Adrian was, until his unexpected promotion to the Priscus Council, barely scraping by in the Low Court. He is the Clan Daeva Priscus, brought in as a complete surprise, an Unaligned Neonate who is trying desperately to be a good Priscus without really understanding how High Court politics works. He’s always happy to talk to people, Daeva or not, and is a kind of bridging power between the two Courts, despite the fact that his clan has fallen so far out of favour.

The Keeper of the Low Court
Note: The Keeper of the Low Court position has been reassigned since the discovery of previous Keeper Anika Lyle's crimes against the city.
The Low Court doesn’t really have a hierarchy, per se, but it does have the Keeper of the Low Court, a much lower ranking version of the Master of Elysium. The Keeper is mainly there to organise gatherings and deal with any pressing matters that come up. They have no authority to do anything more than call the Hounds to enforce the Prince’s law, but it is suspected that they might be in place partly to feed information back to the High Court on what is going on with the Low Court Kindred (which, to be fair, the Harpies also do). It is notable that the Keeper is put in place not be the Prince but by the Priscus Council, which means that the voices of the clans are instrumental in choosing who has the role.

Notes on previous Keeper Anika Lyle from her glory days:
Anika Lyle has been in the role for a few years and has dealt with many things discreetly. She is known for dealing with Kindred in a fair way, letting them explain and sometimes giving them second chances rather than passing things up the chain automatically.

Steven Garrett - Hound
Steven Garrett is generally only around in case of trouble. He doesn’t interfere with Low Court politics and can sometimes be persuaded to turn a blind eye to small infractions if he believes people have learned from their mistakes. There are rumours that he has accepted bribes, but most people don’t want to risk finding out he doesn’t. He’s a capable fighter and good at reading body language, but personable enough once you get past the fact that he is one of the arbiters of the Prince’s law. He and Jules Mendel, the other Hound, often work together as partners.

Jules Mendel - Hound
Jules Mendel is a street-level Hound, an urban tracker who knows the city like the back of her hand. She has an unnerving intensity about her and people go out of their way to avoid incurring her wrath. She is extremely diligent and once hauled someone before the Sheriff for trying to bribe her. It’s well known that if you do something stupid, you shouldn’t run, because Jules was a stunt driver in life and can track anyone across a city.