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The Circle of the Crone is less covenant than it is a loose confederation of people who on occasion band together against a common threat. More than any other covenant, the Circle of the Crone as a covenant, exists solely on the level of a Hold. Within an individual city it is far more common that a single cult comprises the entire populace of the pagan Kindred, with perhaps one or two outliers. Even those Kindred of the Crone who choose not to subscribe to the dominate cult’s belief system, often find themselves forced into lip-service to it by way of group rituals or city-wide rites.

Philosophies

1. Tribulation Brings Enlightenment

The Circle of the Crone believes that difficulties exist for a reason and that reason is further understanding of the divine. It’s only through hardship that an Acolyte can truly progress, after all if every thing comes easily then what have you really accomplished? How do you grow as an Acolyte when you are not confronted the chance to test yourself. Tribulation is not just political difficulties, it is not just physical pain, it is not just emotional suffering, however it is all of these things any more. Any true difficulty that allows an Acolyte the opportunity to further explore her faith or her undead state is a tribulation.

2. Creation is Power

When a Kindred is embraced, he enters a static state. He becomes unchanging. The Acolytes turn to creation as a way to deal with this. They may not be able to change themselves, but they can change the world around them. More than that, they can create. Perhaps they create beautiful things, perhaps they create disturbing things. But in the end, the Acolytes realize that the ability to create is the ability to change their world, to sculpt it as they will. Creation for Acolytes is both a way to deal with their undead state and a way to give worship to the miracle of creation that rests at the foundation of all female-worshipping religions.

Crone Titles

(This has been modified from the book in order to suit our game)

The Hierophant

Despite the fact that Hierophant is often the title given to the leader or diplomat of a cult, when Acolytes in Tomesha Valley refer to The Hierophant they almost universally mean the Prince of Sacramento and leader of the main Sacramento Cult. While other cults by no means answer to The Hierophant, they still know of her and most would admit some measure of both awe and terror when her name is invoked. If there should ever be a cause to unite the various cults of Tomesha Valley, it’s accepted that they would unite under The Hierophant.

Rex Nemorensis

The King of the Grove lives in Sacramento and is said to be so old as to only feed on the blood of neonates. It’s rare that an Acolyte, even one in Sacramento, gets to speak to the King of the Grove but they all know of his existence. Kindred from all cults often vie for the opportunity to study under the Rex Nemorensis, however he only accepts one student every five years.

Acolytes in the Hold

Due to the fact that the Circle of the Crone exists mostly as disparate cults, there is little to unify them across the Hold. It’s generally accepted that no one city outside of Sacramento truly has enough Acolytes to successfully instate a city-wide religion although most cities have a state religion for the cults, or more often cult, that resides within it. This lack of unity across the Tomesha Valley makes the Acolytes both strong and weak at the same time. Weak because if a single cult finds themselves in trouble within a city, there is no greater covenant hierarchy to call upon for assistance. However, because the Acolytes within a city answer to no one outside of that city they often find they can do as they please.

Smart Acolytes realize that doing as they please only goes so far. After all, in order to exist in relative comfort an Acolyte must play by the rules of the city and despite their penchant for Tribulation most Acolytes do seek to better their position in Kindred society. While it can’t be said that the Acolytes necessarily play nice with the Lancea Sanctum, they are aware enough of politics to realize that picking a war with the other cult (as they think of them) would be foolish, especially with Joachim Diaz as Overlord. Instead, the Acolytes often find themselves in uneasy truce with the Longinians in order to allow both sides to progress their nightly business.

Dominant Sacramento Cult

The main cult in Sacramento worships a Minoan derived goddess known as Potnia Theia, or “Lady of the Divine”, which is typically represented as a woman holding a snake in each hand. Over the years the goddess worshipped has taken her own distinctly Acolyte form and is known now as the Mother of Monsters, with the Hierophant as her divine manifestation on earth. The Snake cult, as non-cultists call it, worships mainly through oral tradition storytelling making the position of Skald somewhat important in the city. Other popular rites include divination rites, which the cult holds in high esteem, and rites asking for Potnia Theia’s favor. The cult has a special rite for those wishing to move out of the Chorus and into the main body of the cult, this ritual involves having to find their way to the center of a garden maze - any one familiar with Acolyte gardens will realize this is not always so straight forward a task though.

San Antonio Cult

Culto de la Mariposa de Obsidiana Aleteo

The Cult of Itzapaplotl worships the Aztec goddess known as Itzapaplotl, also known as the Obsidian Butterfly. Culto is the ruling cult of San Antonio. There are distinct gender roles within the hierarchy; women take the role of leadership and priestess, run rites and make the major decisions. Men are warriors and defend the community. The Daeva-based cult tends to embrace often, believing there should be a balance in life and death. They practice human sacrifice, though death is always with it’s purpose and fulfills their central belief of the need for balance. The method which sacrifices occur doesn’t vary; they take the heart from the chest and then remove the head from the body. The cult believes that by making these sacrifices to Itzapaplotl she will not descend down and devour all Kindred. The cult protects, viciously, what they feel they own and have a claim to. On occasion there is tension between this cult and other members of the city when the cult decides it owns something another feels it actually has claim too. Typically these disagreements are solved by the Prince before they can go further.

Reno Cult

Reno’s Acolytes have only one dominating cult. It’s a small affair of 3-5 Kindred who are devoted to their small community of cultists with fierce loyalty. They have a reputation for being wild and sometimes even reckless, however this also is just an aspect of their worship of the warring sexuality goddess. They worship with some regard to the fact that a Sanctified Inquisitor resides in town, lest he some day turn his eyes away from the Sanctified. The cult has many common practices among them, one of which is a yearly rite that commences at the beginning of the year and is entirely devoted to appeasing the goddess by offering her sacrifices of blood, dancing, intoxication, orgies and playing music to soothe the wildness of her in an effort to keep the warrior goddess from descending to earth and slaughtering all of mankind. Smaller night-to-night rituals could consist of drinking from a hallucinating vessel in order go to on a spirit journey, sacrificing a cat over the altar and reading it’s entrails for signs, or engaging in mind-blowing sex to clear the mind. The cult holds lions, doves and cats to be the favored animals of Sekhmet, which means they are in turns slaughtered in sacrifice or cherished and adored. More than one cat has been all but worshipped itself, only to later that evening find it’s throat slit.

Important Acolytes

• Lycia
• Katherine Smith
• Sara Malloy