Within the first few hours of Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong, players will encounter a plethora of mysterious vampire characters, most of which claim to be a part of this Camarilla organization, but for those who are completely new to the World of Darkness series, this might not mean all that much. Generally speaking, the Camarilla are a hidden sect of ancient vampires that try to keep their existence unknown to the human population and serve as the main faction the game revolves around, but there’s a lot more lore to dive into.
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The Camarilla are a Secret Vampire Organization
Compared to World of Darkness’ other vampire sects, The Camarilla are by far the most organized and secretive. Though they used to allow any vampiric citizen into their ranks, they have begun to restrict membership to just thick-blooded vampires, as tensions between the Camarilla and the Anarchs and Sabbat clans have reached new heights.
In general, Vampire: The Masquerade’s Camarilla aim to live in harmony alongside humans, albeit from the shadows. To try and maintain the peace between the two species, the Camarilla has a set of traditional rules that they require all members to stick to. One of these rules is the titular Masquerade, whereby members of the Camarilla are taught how to act like humans, and live amongst them, all in an attempt to keep the existence of their species unknown, and to keep the vampire species safe.
Camarilla vampires breaching these Masquerade rules by using their powers in front of a human, drinking blood openly, or through a variety of other revealing means. Once the Masquerade has been breached, a particular sub-sect of the Camarilla called the Ventrue hunt down the cause of the breach and take disciplinary action.
As much of the Camarilla’s rules are based around keeping their presence unknown to humanity in order to survive, their goals are often at odds with Vampire: The Masquerade’s other vampire sects, primarily the Anarchs and the Sabbat. These other sects desire to wipe out humanity, and establish themselves as the rulers of the world, believing that their enhanced powers and strength makes them inherent fit to rule over the world.
Much of the Western world, in particular North America and Europe, has joined the Camarilla organization. Each city under Camarilla rule is given a leader, often a Prince or Elder, who is placed in charge of all the vampires in that specific area. The rest of the Camarilla’s traditional rules reflect this, such as the Hospitality rule, which asks vampires to honor others’ domains, and present themselves to their rulers when visiting.
Similarly, according to the Destruction rule, the ruler of the domain is the only being allowed to kill a fellow Camarilla member, and is the only one capable of calling a Blood Hunt. Once a Blood Hunt has been called for, the rest of the clan in that domain are encouraged to hunt down the offender, and enact vengeance.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong sees players control three different characters, each one a part of the Camarilla organization in Boston. With the three Swansong characters hailing from different clans with differing roles in vampire society, they each have their own unique view on the Camarilla and how the organization is being led by the Inner Circle.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Nintendo Switch version in development.
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