About the Circle
From Circle Of The Crone
Covenent Basics
The Circle of the Crone is a secretive and mystic group of Kindred, holding its own belief about vampiric nature and even its own Discipline.
Known as Acolytes, members of the Circle believe that vampires make up a natural part of the world and can learn, grow, and find enlightenment instead of wallowing in the guilt-ridden angst of the Church of Longinus, which focuses on penance.
As a result, Acolytes often find themselves dismissed as political outcasts and heretics of vampiric existence, especially in more religious communities.
The Circle believes that creation is power. Vampires must face their static condition and overcome it by creating and cultivating whatever they can. Acolytes also cherish testing themselves, believing that only by overcoming their physical, mental and spiritual limitations can they become something more than creatures of the night. This belief can also lead to persecution, as their strange rituals of testing can seem barbaric and even unholy to some Kindred.
The Circle practices a unique form of ritual known as Cruác. Study of these rituals requires a degree of devotion to the Circle's pagan gods, which requires a degree of cruelty that erodes a vampire's connection to his or her past life.
There is very little "sanctioned" information about the Circle available at this time, as White Wolf has yet to release the Covenant Sourcebook covering the CotC. What there is generally describes the Circle as being largely locally controlled, with the Heirophant as the primary source of leadership. This gives the circle a very mishmash feel, with worship being uniformly diverse in it's practice between covens.
Common Traits
Core beliefs: The Circle as a whole believe that to survive the great onslaught of eternal life, they must find a balance between opposing halves: the destroyer that their blood pushes them to be, and the Creator that they can be.
Ranks: The Circle nominally (as of pre-CotC sourcebook info) has only three titles that a member can hold. A Heirophant is the spiritual leader of the Circle in an area. The Acolytes are those of the Circle that have passed the rituals of testing of a particular Coven, and are thus fully initiated into her mysteries. Lasty, the Chorus make up any Kindred or Mortals that are curious about the Circle, or hold strong beliefs similar to the local coven, but have not, or will not pass the initiation rituals.
Cruac: All full members of the Circle of the Crone (meaning CotC status 1+) can get access to the Mystic Ritual based Discipline called Cruac. To learn Cruac, or to continue learning Cruac levels or rituals, a character must be a *current* member of the Circle of the Crone with at least a True Covenant CotC status of 1 or more.
