I tire of being quiet.

[Demetria Von Hausen]

Ever since I stepped down from my position of Baroness, I've (for the most part) been quiet about how things are being handled in this city. I must say, I'm very disappointed with how the city is turning out in these recent nights.

I've watched back-to-back Elder councils being held for good reason, when such meetings have not been needed in the past.

I've seen sweeping declarations made on how policies are changing, and watched the political backlash for such. With pressure, these policies are readily reversed. This shows a lack of strength on the part of the one making these policies. New court positions have been created, old ones that worked just fine erased, prestation being strained to its absolute maximum...

I stood by as former, long held alliances were shattered, and new alliances struck merely to oppose the rash decisions imposed upon the populace.

I'm about to sound like a codger here, so bear with me if you're still reading this and not just typing a flaming response with half-formed opinions and delusions of tranquility.

I came to this city because it was a last bastion of freedom for Kindred of a mind like mine. I wanted freedom. Freedom to teach my Thaumaturgy to others, if they'd like to learn. Freedom to metaphorically breathe, without having to worry so much about whether or not I could defend my Domain and kine. Freedom to expand my mortal influences, my arcane studies and occult workings, without bumping into barriers as petty as "There's a demon in town, eating up influences, let's talk to it and see if there can be a deal brokered." Freedom from suffocating rules. If I wanted to live in such a structured manner, I would have stayed in the Pyramid.

I applaud Marius. I really do. It takes a lot of courage to seize the reins of this city and try to steer it in the directions he's trying to go. But he's forgetting a few basic facts of what we truly are here in Sacramento.

We. Are. Vampires. I know, shocking revelation, but hear me out.

No matter how noble we can be - and we can be so noble - we are, at our most basic, predators. We live on the blood of others. We fight, squabble, plot and deceive. Some of us aren't even on the Path of Humanity. This doesn't make us instantly evil. It just makes us fallible.

No one's perfect. This fact has been exemplified time and again. But you know what? That's fine. We're not expecting anyone to be perfect. But! The expectations of perfection do rankle.

It's mentioned over and over that we are a war-like city. The newcomers don't see why, so I'll explain.

This city has had to defend itself from splinter-celled human religious hunters, disorganized human hunters, Giovanni attack, Black Spiral Dancers, repeated Camarilla incursions, Sabbat incursions and shovel-head parties, OSDS over-monitoring, and the Crimson Legion, to name a few that have arisen since I've been here. Time and again, we, as a group of independent Kindred, have risen to work together to take these threats down. How was it accomplished? By might. Those who are not as physically gifted lent their support via influence, cash, or gear for the fighters, including weaponry, armor and blood. Those who were gifted in the arts of war stepped up to shed blood beside their companions.

Instead, now, we have talks. Where has that gotten us? Granted, the Crimson Legion deal happened while Marius was in charge, but how many weeks passed before the issue was actually dealt with?

Moving onward.

Marius: A word to the wise. Allowing members of the court to speak to you in any manner they wish without fear of repercussion invites disrespect. I know you want people to say their minds and not hold secrets, but it's not working. Obviously, kindred still have their secrets. They always will. This is not something you can change. You only ask for what people are willing to say in public. Because of this, Frank is right. Why do we have status, if the person with the highest position in our court can be spoken to as if he were a willful childe? This lack of respect has bred not one, but TWO praxis attempts against you, the second coming right on the heels of, basically, a mutiny over how the supporters of the first praxis were treated.

And no Keeper? A ghoul at the door? Allowing weapons and Disciplines in Elysium? I don't see how these decisions are helping the matter. I've walked into Elysium carrying stakes and a sword on me. How long do you think a ghoul could stand against the might of some pissed off Kindred intent on your head?

You have lofty goals, I'll grant that. Huge brass huevos? I'll cede that point as well. But you must realize that something's got to give. Do you know what the definition of 'insanity' is? Repeating the same action over and over, and expecting a different result each time. You want to lift us from our war-like past and bring us to an enlightened future. It's commendable, but ultimately fruitless. A good leader leads what he has available to him, and molds their skills to the betterment of the city's goals, without trying to change the core of the beast into something it's not.

I shall now step down from my soap box and watch the proverbial fur fly.

[Demetria Von Hausen]

But wait! There's more!

One more thing, just to make a point. I don't think the demonic threat is truly petty. I think the arguments we're having over it, and lack of action when we're obviously having problems even dealing with our own influence because of it are petty.

Ok, flame on!

[Solomon Gargoyle]

All I have to say is I definitely agree on the ghoul part. One ghoul at the door wont really stop anyone. We have virtually NO security other than our own court members and no real precautions if anyone does find one of our Elysiums and wishes us harm.

[Vai Castillian]

Demetria, I wasn't aware that you qualified what you've been up until now as 'silent'. I seem to remember Marius specifically having to get you out of trouble with the harpy because you were making too much damn noise.

Look, if you wanted a puppet who did everything your way in power, you should have put one there before abdicating. What you did, suddenly stepping down, left everyone off balance. There was no clear heir, no successor, and Marius wound up being the person who everyone decided was the lesser evil. You can complain now, but you caused this. If you'd wanted Vincent or Richard or Francois or whoever to take your place, you should have made arrangements before stepping down.

So sleep in the bed. You made it.

[Demetria Von Hausen]

Trouble with the Harpy? If I spoke out of turn, and the Harpy strips my status, then it's my fault. I didn't ask to be saved any punishment, and may have willfully been a brat and not cared about the consequences. Not like anyone respects status anyways...

I don't want a puppet in office. Honestly. I want to see a strong leader, whoever it may be, that takes this city in hand and brings it back to its former glory. If Marius can do this, I'll be behind him with the full of my support.

But 'heirs'? There's no such thing in an independent city. Once a person steps down/dies/gets praxis'd (yes, I made up a word), whoever can take the position by strength of arm or strength of friends gets it. No matter who I 'arranged' to take it, it should always be so.

And yes, I'm bitching. Pot calling the kettle black?

[Vai Castillian]

I didn't say I had a problem with bitching. Just so long as you can own what you're bitching about and you don't weasel out of it when someone calls you on your words.

You say you don't want a puppet in office, but I'm not sure what other adjective fits someone who does everything the way you want it done. Crony?

Did you even think about what would happen when you abdicated the way that you did? Did you think about what would happen to your court? It didn't really take genius to foresee this. The 'strong' choices who were willing to take power were pretty clear -- two people who nobody wanted, and one guy who nobody knew. So they took the unknown, and he behaved about how I've come to expect him to behave, and now everyone has their panties in a bunch because he's not doing it their way. I call that demanding a puppet.

But like I said, it's your fault it turned out this way. You had a lot of people who probably could have held the position and who would have ruled exactly the way you wanted them to, but you needed to make sure they were ready to take power when you stepped down, and for some reason that I seriously don't get, you didn't do that. Generally, leaders consider their people more than to just resign mid-term on a whim.

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