Brujah Factions/Organizations

Iconoclast

To many outsiders, an Iconoclast is the stereotypical Brujah. She is the head banger, the barn-burner, the raver and ranter, the Brujah who spends the first thirty minutes of each night meticulously shaving her head down into a Mohawk so that there will be no question about how much contempt she has for social conventions. The term iconoclast literally means “one who destroys sacred relics,” and Iconoclast Brujah are eager to tear down everything the other Kindred venerate. Well, almost everything. Most Iconoclasts respect the Traditions, if only to the extent self-preservation demands. Even then, the Iconoclast saves her greatest respect for the Masquerade, without which we all court Final Death. The other Traditions are often objects of derision. Who is that Toreador to say the Brujah cannot enter his domain? Who is that fat Ventrue Prince to say the Brujah cannot Embrace whomever she wants? In Camarilla domains, being an Iconoclast is often a prelude to becoming an Anarch, usually when the Iconoclast goes too far and is banished from acceptable society. In many ways, the Iconoclast is synonymous with the Anarch, and cunning Iconoclasts are skilled at using the loopholes provided by the Treaty of Thorns to vandalize the Prince’s home and crank-call the harpy’s personal cellphone. Among the mortals, the Iconoclasts are likely to have herds among biker gangs, radical student groups, and the violent fringe of political activism, ranging from the ELF to the KKK. An Iconoclast is the Brujah most likely to stir a mob into burning down the same neighborhood where her haven sits. She is also the Brujah most likely to revel in her frenzies, treating the burning madness of her fury as an orgiastic release of pent-up frustrations. Not that she’s stupid, mind you — many Iconoclasts are quite intelligent and creative in their destruction. She just doesn’t see any real value in the status quo. Which, for an immortal predator with emotion-controlling powers, is as frightening a mindset as one can imagine.
Idealist An Idealist, on the other hand, considers himself the thinking man’s Brujah. He resists frenzy, at least until a rival provokes him during a debate by refusing to submit to his superior reasoning. The elders of our Clan insist that the Idealist was the original archetype of the Brujah, dating back to the salons and debate halls of Carthage, Athens, and Rome. Where Iconoclasts settle disputes by barroom brawls, Idealists really do debate, often in stultifying formats that risk provoking frenzy among Iconoclasts who show up to watch and are then bored into a violent tantrum. Sometimes, the Iconoclasts are right to be angry, as some Idealists become so hidebound and conservative they become obstacles to change rather than agents of it. The rational intellects of the Idealists have been invaluable to the Clan, however. It was the Idealists, after all, who negotiated the provisions of the Treaty of Thorns that allow the Iconoclasts to get away with their antisocial activities. Unlike the Iconoclast’s embrace of the Brujah frenzy, the Idealist rejects that part of his nature. Most Idealists strive with all their unbeating hearts to resist frenzy every step of the way. Supposedly, some of the eldest of them work towards a new philosophy that will supersede Humanities and grant greater control over frenzy. They call it the Path of Entelechy, though I know little of its precepts and less of how successful it is in its intended purpose. Idealists often develop herds among student groups, political activists, trade unions, and local government officials.

Individualist

Individualists fill in the gaps between Iconoclasts and Idealists. Well, that’s what the Iconoclasts and Idealists say. Most Individualists would say they’re just doing their own things and avoiding of the violence of the Iconoclasts and the pomposity of the Idealists. The Individualist charts his own course and pursues his own agenda, neither demanding that others follow him nor setting fire to the haven of anyone who disagrees with him. Alas, the price such a Brujah pays for individuality is, well, being an individual. Iconoclasts can always find someone else to help them form a mob. Idealists can count on the support of any peers they have persuaded through reasoned debate. An Individualist is on his own unless he cultivates allies who share his goals. Where frenzy is concerned, he neither delights in it nor suppresses it. Frenzy is simply part of what he is, one more thing to deal with in the night. Individualists can acquire herds and followers among nearly any social grouping consistent with their personal agendas.