| Before the Council ruled the night with their farce of a system of justice their was Parliment. Most of the vampires of the modern world are too young to remember this system, where the true Bloodmasters, the original twelve who were made by the source of them all, ruled the night in blood and terror. Their word was law. It was undisputed. Their were few crimes amongst them, and the punishment was always the same, death. The sentence was carried out swiftly and mercilessly without opprotunity for repreive. You did not get away with killing your own kind simply beacause of your social status. Fledglings and masters alike could be put to death under Parliment. Most of the modern day vampires would not survive a week under the system. Mercifully, over time the laws changed. For thousands of years the old code replaced Parliment. Masters were held accountable for their actions and if they proved themselves unworthy of their mastery an Elder could demand their mastery be given to someone else. If that happened to a vampire he or she was bound to relinquish their power. They were free to ask for mercy, because in these situations the individual chosen to take the mastery from this individual had every right to kill them. But mercy was very rarely given. For a master vampire, to here these words spoken from an Elder: "I demand your mastery under the old code." was very terrifying indeed. The Elder was expected to repond in a ritualistic fashion, by falling to his or her knees before the Elder vampire and asking. "To whom shall I give it?" If he or she did not do this they would be killed instantly for it. Typically the Elder would name one of the Master's fledglings for him. But if he or she heard the words "You shall give it to me," then that person knew that they were about to die. In the late middle ages the Council was established. It was supposed to give justice to all. The system was supposed to be fair. But over the years the original twelve abandoned it and it became the farce it is today. |