Ghouls, whether they be Kine or animal, perform any number of services for us. Of course, some ghouls are more useful than others. In my experience, there are three general categories of ghouls, which have become more commonly known as Bishops, Knights, and Pawns. I shall examine each in more detail:
The Bishops provide us the dearest of services - providing for Havens, watching over us when we sleep, even advising the more radical-thinking Kindred. In short, they are our most trusted servants, closest bodyguards, and deepest confidantes, for those who are Bound to you and dependent on you for the Blood are more trustworthy than any Childe of Caine, even one's own Childe, though it pains me to say it, Annalyn. In time, you will rebel against me. If not soon, then later. I could prevent it by placing the Bond on you, but, like my own Sire and her Sire before her, I cherish my Childe's freedom.
But I am wandering into the desert, as Hassan would say, or indicate with his gentle cough as he stands behind me. He will be at my side always, or at least as long as he is of use. I expect that to be for awhile to come, for Bishops have many uses.
At their simplest, Bishops are butlers, handling basic duties such as maintaining the Haven and providing a contact with the mortal world. For Kindred of greater influence, Bishops are often seneschals, commanding other servants (ghouls or otherwise) and handling many day to day tasks - running the operation, as it were. A Bishop may serve in a professional capacity, as a lawyer or financial advisor, or a fellow researcher into dark secrets. Bishops often act as heralds and couriers, especially among older Kindred who harken back to earlier times. And you are sure to find in any large Blood Cult at least one Bishop who acts as a high priest for his Regnant.
Bishops may also have a more personal relationship with their masters. The Bishop and his Regnant may be lovers, or best friends. These rarely withstand the pressure of immortality, however, and the Bishops are cast aside in favor of ghouls who can provide more value. Some Bishops, such as my Hassan, simply become very close to their masters through years of working together, and learn much about our society. The insights of these Bishops can be most useful. And, finally, a select few Bishops are Childer-to-be, their masters only waiting for the correct time to Embrace their ghouls.
Perhaps the most important task that Bishops perform is arranging for and protecting our Havens, whether they be mansions occupied for a hundred years or cellars used for a single day. Many a Kindred would forget the coming dawn and panic if it weren't for the faithful ghoul, ensuring that the master has a place of rest prepared. I have had occasion to travel in the trunk of more than one carriage, horseless or otherwise, while Hassan safely moved my sleeping corpse to a new location.
The main difference between the Bishops and the Knights and Pawns is that the Bishops have a great deal more responsibility. Often, the Bishop will act in his master's name in regards to the lesser ghouls when the master is not present. Almost without exception, Bishops are aware of our unique nature, and the vast majority of them know of our Masquerade, while many are aware of quite a bit more. This is partially because we inform our Bishops of what they need to know to accomplish their tasks, but also because ghouls will speak to one another.
In short, Bishops can be the most useful of all ghouls; however, their closeness to you can also be a drawback, since if they do turn away from you they can do great harm to you... Thankfully, this is a very rare occurence.
Stepping outside the realm of Mssr. R's letter for a bit (otherwise known as "speaking metagame"), let's talk a bit about Bishops. The vast majority of the player character ghouls in the Elysium game are Bishops, who, despite not having the cachet of being a vampire, do have a number of interesting bits about them:
- Ghouls are very useful characters; they're everywhere, finding about everything.
- Ghoul characters have their own plots, plus those of their Regnant, plus those of their Regnant's associates that the ghoul gets dragged into. There won't be a lack of stuff to do if you're a ghoul!
- Ghouls get to do things that vampires can't do because they have to sleep during the day. Wimps.
- Ghouls provide a number of opportunities for people who can't play quite as often, or are interested in one-shot characters.
Here are some real-world examples of Bishops to provide you with starting material:
- Leon Panetta
- President Clinton's Chief of Staff, he's the guy other people have to go through to speak to the President.
- Chewbacca from Star Wars
- Now, here's a big hairy dude who basically did what others told him to do, but he was certainly capable of independent action.
- Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream
- This trickster makes an excellent example of a Bishop - even though Oberon called the shots, Puck had the fun.
- Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck and Little John (of Robin Hood fame)
- These three were all second bananas, but quite important to the overall story.
- The Apostles (of biblical fame)
- Speaking of second bananas, Christianity wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Twelve - they were the first leaders of the church, wrote the Bible, and spread the Word.
- Old friends and advisors in numerous Mob films
- These are excellent examples of Bishops - they're guys who often aren't directly involved in the action that the bosses are, but wield great influence over it.
- Lady MacBeth from MacBeth
- Yeah, the play is named after the guy, but who do audiences remember most?
- Stephen Fry as Jeeves in Jeeves and Wooster
Sir John Gielgud as Mr. Hobson in Arthur
Anthony Hopkins as Stevens in Remains of the Day- All manservants, these three are all quintessential examples of what it means to be indispensable to one's master. Jeeves's Ganymede Club became the basis for a number of ideas about ghoul organizations.
- Steven Furst as Vir and Bill Mumy as Lennier in Babylon 5
- Assistants to ambassadors, both are examples of Bishops who wield influence because of their masters, but are caught up in something much bigger than they are.
The Knights act as the more common servants and soldiers for us. They live up to their name in some Clans, who use these ghouls almost exclusively for their private armies. Knights are in many ways very similar to the Bishops, but in almost every way they are lesser than the Bishops. For example, they will typically know less about vampires and our Masquerade, and some Knights will no nothing, their masters having kept that information from them.
Unlike Bishops, the Knights tend to be more completely Bound, in order to ensure their total loyalty. They serve in places where we would not want to risk a Bishop - a spy in an enemy camp is is more likely to be a Knight than a Bishop. Unlike chess, the Knight is worth fewer points than the Bishop if he is lost. If you see the Bishops as the generals of ghouldom, the Knights are the colonels and majors who have to carry out the orders.
Here are some examples of Knights:
- Renfield in Dracula
- A wonderful example of someone who wanted to be more for his master, but couldn't.
- Colonel Oliver North (before retirement)
- The Ollie who testified before the Senate was willing to perform heinous acts for the sake of his country, and take the fall for his superiors.
- The Fedaykin from Dune
- With their fanaticism and incredible fighting ability, these soldiers show what a group of Blood Bound ghouls could be like.
- Mob bodyguards and hitmen from numerous films
- These guys formed the seed for our ideas of what a ghoul society could be like. The scenes in the films when the head honchos go into a closed room, the bodyguards are hanging around outside, chatting with one another, checking up on what the score is, etc. have a lot of similarity to what happens with ghouls and vampires.
- Some of the Branch Davidians
- Those members of the Branch Davidians who set fire to their compound and shot other members of their cult before committing suicide themselves represent what could easily happen among the Knights of a Blood Cult.
- Butlers and lawyers too numerous to count
- All the trusted servants down through the ages who have been remembered fondly, but not so fondly as the special few.
Lastly, we arrive at the Pawns. These are the lowest of ghouls, including hellhounds and Kine whom we have made into ghouls for very limited purposes, often just to have Bound the person to us.
An example may help. During the Great War, at the behest of my Sire I had to make a number of trips across a border, so I Bound to me one of the customs officials so I would have a minimum of difficulty at each crossing. All it took was a bottle of wine each trip, laced with my Vitae. A somewhat dangerous method of delivering the blood, to be sure, but a necessary risk at the time.
A Pawn hardly ever knows what is truly happening to him or her - all she knows is that she must do what she is told; such is the power of the Bond. Useful Pawns include members of the local law enforcement agencies (if the Prince hasn't seized control of them), people in the media, financiers, nightclub owners, and many others who have useful influence but not so much that you'd want to risk bringing them closer to you.
Most Pawns don't last very long. Either they outlive their usefulness, or, in rare cases, they become Knights and then, perhaps, Bishops. It is also very difficult to support many Pawns at once - the sheer amount of Vitae required endangers the Masquerade. Those Kindred who have Blood Cults have the most, along with those of the Rose; most others will only use Pawns when absolutely necessary.
A few examples of Pawns, just to show you how rough life can be at the bottom of the food chain:
- Lucy in Dracula
- Truly, she was just a tool for the Count to get closer to Mina.
- The rest of the Branch Davidians
- The Branch Davidians who stuck around to get shot by the Knights or otherwise toasted (literally) are an example of loyalty taken to an extreme.
- Submissives everywhere
- Think of the high and mighty Wall St. broker who gets on his knees and licks the dirty boots of an 18 year-old street punk, or the society wife who will do anything that the "young" debutante asks of her - the Bond can do that to you.
- Animals (hellhounds)
- Rottweiler's are nasty enough already; add a bit of Vitae every two weeks and you've got a killing machine that will obey your every whim. If it gets killed, oh well, just stop by the pound and pick up another one. Ouch.
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