Maps, Roads & Mountains

[Valerie]

Floating Lantern

Seattle's Anarch Free Press since 1986 • floatinglantern.bloodspot

Maps, Roads & Mountains
9.30.2014

Luckily for you all, I’ve been feeling unusually social lately and made a point of trotting down to the usual Saturday night gathering. The events of these sorts of nights don’t usually add up to much in the way of news... this week was different.

It’s likely to your benefit to note that the Prince of Seattle has recently decided to split up the responsibility of patrolling the Domain and now leaves it in the hands of the clans themselves. Clan heads were asked to select a portion of land and take charge of securing their parcel from “outside threats”. A point was made by many of stating that, yes, the entire Domain remains that of the Prince, of course, but that he has decided to allow each clan to take a sector of their choosing and be responsible for securing it on his behalf.

The fact that each somewhat-arbitrarily-chosen part of the Seattle domain will now be patrolled by a different group means changes for visitors. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, despite the fact that most Seattle Kindred hold tight to the Camarilla party line or simply remain quite pissed off about the ‘99 riots, this isn’t a bad place to be if you’re quick on your ideology and want to make a difference. However: It is more important than ever now that visiting members of the Movement ring ahead and wipe their feet. Patrols will be more prevalent, differently skilled, and likely better at doing their jobs due to more widely-distributed labor. Depending on where you show up and how you show up, you may have more to tangle with than can be chalked up to a simple cultural difference. (As always, if you do plan on making an appearance, I’m quite good at assisting with smooth landings.)

The safety of visiting Kindred isn’t the only reason that this change of responsibilities warrants mentioning. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the evening was the map itself: instead of simply being presented with a map of the Seattle Domain as held by the Prince, local leaders were instead presented with a much larger map and asked to make their marks within a smaller oblong representing the Domain.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that old Kindred of proven political acumen don't do things by accident, and it's a curious bit of mental teething to spend time thinking about the possible reasons for the map being presented as it was. Is it an unspoken desire for the local clan leaders to think 'outside the box' in these modern nights? Was it meant as a reminder to the most stodgy salon-bound locals that there’s a vast world beyond Elysium walls? Could it perhaps even be a quiet aspiration by Prince Orleans to see recognition of the borders of his Domain expanded by powers abroad?

... there is always, in the alternative, the possibility that one of the many assistants the Court here retains simply found the first suitable image returned from a search for "Seattle map" on Viewgle and had that printed up at the local copy shop. Who could say? I'm certainly not here to form your opinions for you, just to share my observations in the name of increasing our mutual knowledge.

Personally, I'll be dwelling on the merits of the first option. After all, what is a peaceful and quick division of labor among every citizen in a Camarilla city but thinking outside the box? I'm certain that choosing which clan was able to stake their claim first was a shadowy process mired in standing and favors, but the decisions themselves were made quickly and in the end, the result is the same. What strange and wonderful times we exist in, to see every single citizen in a rather traditional city be asked to take responsibility for themselves.

Much could be said, of course, about improving the way that clan representatives are chosen - but let’s leave tonight to celebrating success in common interests.

Valerie