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Carthian Movement

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The Carthian Movement

Don't give me any of that "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" bullshit, kid. I was there when the Movement actually had something to move against in Chicago. We fought the establishment, and we won. Bitch about the Regents all you want; if you think things would be better without us here, take a trip to Philly or New York or Boston. See what it's like when licks really are oppressed. You want to go play rebel out there, feel free. We'll fund you, train you, fucking arm you if you want. But until you're ready to fight the big fight, don't come around Chicago picking little ones.

—James Milligan

Visionaries, rebels, underdogs and malcontents...these descriptors are applied toward the Carthian Movement almost everywhere one travels. However, visitors to Chicago — especially if those visitors are Carthian themselves — are often confused and puzzled by what they find in the local Movement. Chicago's Carthians aren't the voice of the oppressed. They aren't the vampiric underclass yearning against the yoke of tyrants. They aren't unhappy with the status quo. The Chicago Carthians are the status quo, and they're not ashamed to admit it.

Back in the Bad Old Days

Carthian leaders such as James Milligan are quick to claim that Chicago already had its revolution, nearly a century ago, and that what exists tonight is the closest thing to an ideal Carthian society anywhere. This isn't strictly true; in fact, there was never a need for a Carthian revolution in Chicago. Rather, the destruction wrought by the Great Fire allowed the Movement (which at the time was quite young) to enter Chicago on equal (or better) footing with the other four covenants. There was struggle, to be certain; Invictus/Carthian political battles are reflected clearly in the class struggles that characterized Chicago's post-Fire rebuilding. Anywhere mortals can see labor protestors, anarchists and Socialists clashing with police, Pinkerton men and the capitalist elite, Kindred know who was pulling the strings. Despite the conflict, Chicago is unique in that there was never a need for Carthians to free Kindred from tyranny; their efforts have always been toward preventing the development of tyranny.

When battles on the class struggle front had died down, the Carthians having come out on top, the battle between these covenants moved to a new arena: the criminal underworld. Knowing the history of violence in Chicago's labor movement, it is hard to say which arena caused more bloodshed, but by the time the smoke cleared and bodies were buried, the result was clear. The Invictus, having invested heavily in the syndicate controlled by mobster Danny Torio, were relegated to secondary status in the city when his Carthian-backed lieutenant, Al Capone, took over the business. The respite offered between Capone's rise and his eventual decline allowed the Carthians to consolidate their power and establish themselves nigh-permanently as the eminient covenant of Chicago.

The Golden Years

Having brought the Invictus to heel, many Kindred thought the next logical step for the Movement was to overthrow Prince Farragut in favor of a more egalitarian government, be it a council, a Senate, or similar body. Instead, Milligan and his cohort, having established themselves as the "party elite," proposed to support the Prince, provided he make certain concessions. This raised a few eyebrows within the Movement, but its leaders assured members that a city without a Prince would merely be a target for some other upstart to seize power, and that Farragut, more than any other likely to take his place, was eager to compromise with the Movement. This last part, at least, was true. the Prince explicitly laid out laws that protected all Kindred in the city, regardless of age or reputation, bound himself and city leaders to the same laws they expected citizens to follow and by the end of the 1940s, had handed a fair deal of his own authority out to the leaders of the five covenants (reserving the North Shore, of course, for the Movement itself). And, as the Prince slowly receded from the city and turned more of the city over to his Regents, they began to resemble exactly the council government that some Carthians had clamored for in the beginning.

Stagnation?

As the Carthians became established as Chicago's "winning team," the covenant began to attract no small amount of hangers-on. Kindred were joining the Movement in droves (relatively), not out of any desire to see a perfect Kindred government or society, but simply because they were the biggest game in town. To the original hardliners of the Movement, these new "recruits" were seen as a dilution of the covenant's purpose, and their power games were nothing but a distraction. Gradually, the Movement's leadership, notably Jim Milligan himself,began to drift in this same direction, stating that a Carthian-led Chicago could serve as an engine for the Movement in other cities; agitators could be trained here using the city's ample resources and the revolution could be exported to places where it is needed the most. Intended to appease the hardliners, this statement succeeded mostly in convincing them that the establishment didn't want them around anymore.

Renaissance?

For the first time in recent memory, a challenger to Milligan's lock on the Prefectdom arose in the form of Ursos Arctos. After the votes were tallied, a dead draw was declared and machinations began to put their man into office. Rumors began flying due to Milligan's famous statement that he would relinquish control of the Regency if ever he were voted out of office.

As word of the results began to spread, certain parts of the city panicked, questioning whether a Regent could be replaced in such a manner and what effect this would have on the city's function according to Farragut's plans.

To the surprise of all involved, Milligan capitualted after only a few days' negotiation. The end result was Milligan was to maintain control of the Regency while Ursos was now leader of the Covenant.

Things seem to be working peacefully thus far, although Milligan has been suspiciously quiet since his "loss."

Now it seems a second shift of power has occurred. In light of Ursos' frequent absences of late, Ed X. Edison has stepped up to the plate and taken responsibility of the Northern Regency, and as such, has been recognized by Prince Farragut as the newly appointed Regent of the North.

Reformation

In recent nights, the Carthians have seen a great deal of change. Repeatedly, Ursos has been making power plays presumably for the Carthians as a whole, but many are of the opinion, especially a few, including Ed Edison, Dante Minelli and even 'Big Jim' Milligan, that for every step they take forward, Ursos forces them to take two steps backward. With his many antics, He caused the Carthians to lose face in front of the entire city of Chicago. Who would take the Movement seriously if their supposed Prefect was orchestrating events that would ultimately hinder their established agenda? Ultimately, it was seen as a failure when a blood hunt was proclaimed on Ursos' head by Farragut after the destruction of Jobe Webster, that would effectively make Ursos unable to enter the city of Chicago safely. How could the Movement progress when its Prefect couldn't even enter city limits without a threat towards his existence?

Of course, this meant that he could safely enter other domains, such as Aurora or Champaign-Urbana, and that's what he did. Ursos traveled to Champaign-Urbana to assist in their cause, but of course he had his own agenda unknown to the Carthians there. For reasons that are still not entirely clear, Ursos attacked a prominent Lancea Sanctum member, Father Tao. Tao then proceeded to beat Ursos into torpor. For his actions, the Council negotiated with Farragut and decided that his torpored body be returned to Chicago by their Archon, Eddie "Sway" Pryor. Of course, rumors travel faster than anyone else, and citizens of Chicago tried to bargain with Farragut for Ursos' corpse but ultimately, it was given to Angelique because ultimately it was treated as a clan issue.

Now that the serpent's head has been cut off, the Movement was without a Prefect, or were they? The most prominent Carthians met and decided that the best course of action was to temporarily reappoint 'Big Jim' Milligan as prefect until the next election in April. Now the Carthians are looking at starting at square one, but at the very least they won't be tied to a boulder to drag their progess.

Carthian Laws

The Carthians have proposed a number of laws (collectively The Carthian Laws that govern the rights and duties of all "citizens" residing or visiting Carthian Territory. Suspiciously, it was only recently in the city's history that such laws were forcefully applied, though considering the leeway of Regents in maintaining the safety of their Regencies (and the other Regent's lack of a written code of conduct while visiting their domains), it's unknown how the city at large would react to this additional set of laws.