The+Covenant+and+the+High+Council

//This is part of the Hangover city, Liverpool, uk setting// =Together We Stand, How the supernatural community 'hangs together'.=

The Covenant
The Covenant has, for the most part, held the supernatural groups living in Liverpool together and under the radar of the Mortals since the mid sixteenth century. Over that time it has been modified and added to reflect decisions of the Court, and on one occasion accidentally burnt and rewritten from the collective memories of the High Council. As a result it is a horrifically complex document; full of clauses and sub clauses and cross reference notes, often to pages that no longer exist or have long since been renumbered. Additionally it is writing in ‘latin’ - because it was considered the proper way to do it in 1560- but it is in a phonetic form of latin which only makes sense when read aloud in a Scouse accent.

As a result, calls to “refer to the book” invariably result in groans of protest from all present at the meeting or trial. It effectively means all decisions must come to a stop, often for hours, until the relevant passage or passages can be located. The last remaining Black Court vampire in the city, Stephen Allourd, is only tolerated because he is fully conversant with the text, can find the information required quicker than any one else, and can actually translate the scrawls. He also acts as the default defending lawyer for those being prosecuted under the rules of the Covenant as being the only remaining Black Court representative he is by definition a neutral.

Though the ‘letter of the law’ may be problematical, all the factions agree on the principles the Covenant stands for:

It says the factions will work together to keep their existence's secret and not do anything to jeopardise that. Each individual who is deemed to be ‘not Mortal’ under the Covenant must align with one of the factions, although they can technically choose any faction to align to and do not have to go with the ‘obvious one’. For example magic using women who object to being associate with the ‘Lyceum Gentleman’s Club’ often join the river witches, even though that group are predominately Were-seals; Allourd being part of the Royal Court under the fisher king; and Elijah has a number of Changelings in his employ who are considered part of his factions.

That each faction must swear loyalty to one of those who sit on the council and these people will resolve any problems with in their faction fairly and impartially, and bring any grievances or suspected breeches of the rules between the factions to the council for arbitration. A rule which forces the smaller groups to ‘sign up’ with the major groups, even if only on a meeting by meeting basis.

In greater detail the Covenant covers specific activities of the factions that are deemed ‘unacceptable behaviour’; Like dictating that when Vampire are feeding from sentient victims that they be willing and should never be drained to death. (It used to read Human but the werewolves objected after one of their number was taken by force and drained back in the Red Court days) There is a current dispute at the moment as to whether an addict to a drug is still a willing victim, but Elijah says it’s always their choice and funds a drugs rehabilitation program, including an outreach team who operate in his clubs, to show willing.

It covers the responsibility for the Faerie to ensuring the local NeverNever is patrolled and not used to effect dreaming (Or heavily drug inebriated) humans. It also stresses that faerie do not overly inspire their mortal subjects, or push the boundaries so far that the artist becomes to renowned and attracts too much attention. - Or as Ream puts it "can we not have a repeat for those four fecking warblers. It's hard to police a city which half the world are visiting."

It covers rules to insure any shape shifter who is 'half way' does not go wandering the city causing rumours of ‘wolf-men!’. That the ‘Loups’ in the city ensure they are bound during the full moon to prevent accidental attack.

It stresses that those using magic not use their abilities in an overly showy or undeniable way. It also firmly states that any wizard with the skill should use their abilities to assist others factions; particularly the Spirits who have a duty to protect a location but may not be able to do it so easily without being blatant about it. Most commonly this is used to help mortals to ‘forget’ or justify what they have seen.

That spirit don't do anything stupid and prove that they exist - however taunting 'Most haunted' is considered fair game because no one believes that any way - which is a genuine sub clause that Osbert Molyneux, 6th Earl of Sefton (Deceased) managed to get inserted into the Covenant after his spirit was caught on CCTV in 2009.

The High Council
The Covenant is enforced by a group known as the High Council. It is made up of representatives from the largest 'supernatural' factions, and most of the smaller factions align with one of the other larger ones to ensure they have a voice. Currently the High council consists of:
 * Elijah Zander, The Vampiric Prince of the city.
 * Gunnar, The leader of the biggest Werewolf pack in the covenant boundaries,
 * The Fisher King,, A some what unhinged Faerie who's seat is under the Royal Court, although often he sends one of his knights to attend on his behalf. Or at least that is how his loyal servants interpret his mumblings.
 * The Liver Bird. The city's longest serving chimeric guardian.
 * Mckenzie, The cities most vocal Ghost, (and leader of the cities 24hr poker ring).
 * Ream, The sheriff of the city and leader of Rare Breed
 * Callum Doyle, The some what reluctant representative of the magically active people of the city. A job he has equated to herding cats!

To enforce their rulings they have put together a group of humans (Minor talents etc) who have been taught the weakness of all the supernatural creatures involved in the covenant. This group is Rare Breed, the Hells angels biker gang in the city. They can also call upon the support of any of its members to assist in taking down the criminal. The court meets once a month on the full moon* at the Royal Court to deal with the ‘ongoing issues’. It can also be convened in 48 hrs to discuss ‘urgent matters arising’ by sending runners to the representatives. In Emergencies any three members (though most typically this means Ream, Callum Doyan and Elijah Zander as they are the easiest to find at short notice) can make a interim decision which will be formally accepted at the next meeting. There has never been a case when such interim decision has not been accepted by the Council; although some of the votes have been very close and were it ever to happen it would cause something of a constitutional crisis. No one knows what would happen then.
 * The fact the meeting as on the full moon has been labelled as discriminatory by the lycanthrope and Loup-Garou community in the city, as it prevents them from attending. This is an issue that has been on the agenda for almost 75 years, but is constantly delayed by the lack of a representative to put forward a case FOR moving the meetings to a different date, causing it to be adjourned to the next meeting. It is not anticipate to be resolved in the near future.

In Game
In theory all supernatural beings in liverpool (which would probably include the P.C.s) must sign the covenant and agree to up-keeping it or will be evicted from the city and face death if they return. Breaches of the covenant also results in exile/ death. Additionally any signatory to the covenant can (and in some case must) bring any dispute with another signatory to the court, for it to be resolved ‘legally and amicably’ in so far as is possible. This could add an interesting twist into any ‘social conflict’ the P.C.s become embroiled in.

However it should be remembered that it is a big city and there is a lot going on under the radar. Rare Breed’s resources are not as limitless as the High Council would like to think, and a bit of ‘back-room/ financial persuasion’ can go along way when a mortal is asked to face down a supernatural entity that could rip his head off. That said, if a supernatural is found using powers in the city in a way that can not be quietly ignored, they will be detained by Rare Breed and taken to the Caverns. Procedure states they will be held until the next council meeting and then ‘encouraged’ to sign the covenant and agree to live under its rules. Being detained in the Caverns is not as bad as it sounds. The accommodation is fairly comfortable, and the Breed are keen to sell the advantages of the Covenant to visitors. The food is pretty good and they will do their best to provide for any cultural or biological dietary requirements.

If the visitor refuses to sign chances are they will be escorted to the city boundaries and sent on their way. (The motorway services on the M62 and Runcorn Railway station being popular drop off points.) Of course, should they return, or if the council decide their release could be detrimental to the Covenant, then they will be killed. The supernatural peoples of liverpool are proud of what they have achieved there, and they will do what ever it takes to protect it.