The Crone
The covenant’s namesake is a rare and potent role, one regarded with proper fear and awe. The Mother and Father create and build, The Maiden purifies and The Fool agitates. The Hero defends, often unwillingly or unwittingly. The Scarlet Woman is independent and, in that, is perhaps the Circle’s most profound reason to exist.
The Crone ends.
At the end of all roads, the Crone awaits, her shears sharpened to sever the ties to life. When your time has come, the Crone takes your hand, closes your eyes and, if need be, slits your throat. The Crone is decay, the final transition, the keeper of the ultimate door, the guardian at the crossroads where life meets death.
The technical definition of “Crone” in many domains is any female Acolyte whose blood is so potent that she can no longer feed off mortals and must, instead, prey on the undead. In this, she is seen as having finally cut her own ties to breathing Humanity. She is now purely a creature of death.
This sounds grim, and it is, but death is not quite as feared by many pantheons, and vampires in particular regard it as something less than a permanent cessation. Gods enter the realm of death and are challenged, but they can emerge again, stronger. The Crone often serves as that challenge, determining who is worthy of further operating on the living, and who deserves to fall into final stillness.
The judgment and destruction often happens on an individual basis, but Crones also root out heresy (sometimes even religions approved by Fathers), Crones act against the enemies of the covenant and Crones strike against those they perceive as traitors to the Circle. Not all treachery is intentional: Crones prune the garden of the well-meaning but incompetent as well as the truly motivated backstabbers. Crones care little for intention: their view is the perspective of centuries.
The Crone ends.
At the end of all roads, the Crone awaits, her shears sharpened to sever the ties to life. When your time has come, the Crone takes your hand, closes your eyes and, if need be, slits your throat. The Crone is decay, the final transition, the keeper of the ultimate door, the guardian at the crossroads where life meets death.
The technical definition of “Crone” in many domains is any female Acolyte whose blood is so potent that she can no longer feed off mortals and must, instead, prey on the undead. In this, she is seen as having finally cut her own ties to breathing Humanity. She is now purely a creature of death.
This sounds grim, and it is, but death is not quite as feared by many pantheons, and vampires in particular regard it as something less than a permanent cessation. Gods enter the realm of death and are challenged, but they can emerge again, stronger. The Crone often serves as that challenge, determining who is worthy of further operating on the living, and who deserves to fall into final stillness.
The judgment and destruction often happens on an individual basis, but Crones also root out heresy (sometimes even religions approved by Fathers), Crones act against the enemies of the covenant and Crones strike against those they perceive as traitors to the Circle. Not all treachery is intentional: Crones prune the garden of the well-meaning but incompetent as well as the truly motivated backstabbers. Crones care little for intention: their view is the perspective of centuries.
Perception
Purpose
Expectations
People expect Crones to be scary as hell, which can be a good thing when one is keeping the other covenants in line. It’s less comforting when a given Crone has very particular ideas about which god is the One True and is murderously intolerant of divergence. That’s atypical of the Circle, but sometimes happens. When such a disagreement comes, these cult wars typically end with internal schism. On one side are Mothers and Fathers who seek ecumenical tolerance because it’s the core of the covenant. On the other side lie the arrogant Crone, any who follow her intolerant creed and any who obey her because she’s a terrifying elder. In between, there are typically an array of Whores and Heroes to tip the balance, along with Fools and Maidens to be trampled or despoiled.Crones who tear the covenant asunder through cult wars are fortunately rare. Most Crones isolate themselves (when they don’t need to feed), taking their tithe and confining any rampages, sprees and pogroms to targets outside the Circle.
Social Status
As with every role, Status plays a large part in determining a given Crone’s function in her domain.
Status 0 to • Crones are unheard-of. One simply does not get that old and powerful within the Circle without developing Status. Hypothetically, a Status 0 Crone would be one who had spent most of her Requiem in another covenant and who was a known diablerist. After conversion, she would have low Status simply because everyone would be terrified, suspicious and evasive.
Status •• to ••• Crones aren’t common either. Typically, they’re the ones who hold themselves Aloof from the Danse Macabre and don’t pay much attention to Circle politics, either. They’re on their own path, pursuing Golconda or union with Baphomet or some form of dark apotheosis. This leaves them little time to worry about petty strictures, either from their co-congregants or from some civil vampire authority. These Crones interact to feed, either seizing what they want by force, exacting tithes with the threat of reprisal or by offering something in exchange. Usually they trade in knowledge of Crúac, Disciplines, Devotions or other occult esoterica. Thenagain, they might be willing to murder out tough opponents in return for a blood payment.
Status •••• to ••••• Crones are not only feared, but respected. Their word of caution can balk even the most ardent Acolyte’s action, and a gesture of favor can mobilize all but the most slothful. Commands are hardly ever needed.
The most powerful Crones tend to exert influence subtly and over long spans of time. They prefer to pluck the sprout, rather than saw down the oak. If they’ve been in place a long time, their cities are gardens arranged for the Crone’s delight, a natural-seeming structure whose gently grown patterns are invisible to any who don’t take the long, long view. Of course, even the most carefully tended plot can suffer an unexpected illness or infestation of pests. That’s when the gardener must be a bit more active. But when a Crone becomes active to protect her crop, the crop fights alongside her.
Status 0 to • Crones are unheard-of. One simply does not get that old and powerful within the Circle without developing Status. Hypothetically, a Status 0 Crone would be one who had spent most of her Requiem in another covenant and who was a known diablerist. After conversion, she would have low Status simply because everyone would be terrified, suspicious and evasive.
Status •• to ••• Crones aren’t common either. Typically, they’re the ones who hold themselves Aloof from the Danse Macabre and don’t pay much attention to Circle politics, either. They’re on their own path, pursuing Golconda or union with Baphomet or some form of dark apotheosis. This leaves them little time to worry about petty strictures, either from their co-congregants or from some civil vampire authority. These Crones interact to feed, either seizing what they want by force, exacting tithes with the threat of reprisal or by offering something in exchange. Usually they trade in knowledge of Crúac, Disciplines, Devotions or other occult esoterica. Thenagain, they might be willing to murder out tough opponents in return for a blood payment.
Status •••• to ••••• Crones are not only feared, but respected. Their word of caution can balk even the most ardent Acolyte’s action, and a gesture of favor can mobilize all but the most slothful. Commands are hardly ever needed.
The most powerful Crones tend to exert influence subtly and over long spans of time. They prefer to pluck the sprout, rather than saw down the oak. If they’ve been in place a long time, their cities are gardens arranged for the Crone’s delight, a natural-seeming structure whose gently grown patterns are invisible to any who don’t take the long, long view. Of course, even the most carefully tended plot can suffer an unexpected illness or infestation of pests. That’s when the gardener must be a bit more active. But when a Crone becomes active to protect her crop, the crop fights alongside her.
History
Mythological Examples
Ammit, the Egyptian Devourer of the Dead, serves as a particularly bestial Crone figure. In the myth, the souls of the dead are weighed against a feather and those that are unworthy are sent to Ammit for utter consumption. The uncomfortable resemblance to Diablerie is left unstated in most Circle litanies and theological treatises, but very few who understand anything about Amaranth miss the connection that the eater of the dead performs the very action that pushes a Kindred beyond mortal provender.The eldest of the Greek Fates is a good fit as well. The Fates are lovely young Clotho (who spins the thread from which a human’s experience is made) older Lachesis (who determines how long each given thread should be) and ancient Atropos (who severs the thread when it’s done). Parallels for the younger Fates are a matter of some debate among Acolytes inclined to follow Greek mystery cults. Some Acolytes liken Clotho to The Maiden, because she’s young and because her purpose is to refine. Others link her to The Mother because The Mother is the great creator and originators. On the other hand, The Mother is a good fit for Lachesis, not just from the physical description but because the role of determiner of action fits a matriarchal role. Then again,a Scarlet Woman is typically older than a Maiden, and it’s not uncommon for a Scarlet Woman to seize control of a life, or pick a time for it to end. Atropos is definitely the Crone though, as she not only determines the end but executes it.
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