Probably shoulda done this first, since the philosophical ramble was much, much more interesting than this will be (well, unless you're among the one or two fans of Red Hood Rider who really likes to learn more about the Rubyverse), but oh well. I wrote this second at work, so it's getting posted second.
Anyway, so I have a bit on vampires. Bear with me for a little bit, this will all seem a little unrelated at first, but it's all tied together. (Common theme in my posting.) Lord Vladimir Tepes has suffered a grand total of two defeats in his entire vampiric life. The first was at the hands of the Jagen coven, who were the power behind the Ottoman Empire. (He had initially been their ally, but was betrayed, leading to the war. He was victorious initially, then defeated, and regathered himself with the help of the Darkblood coven. He only had the one defeat, though, because his second "defeat" was a preplanned disappearance act. Hey, it might not be fully historically accurate, but give me some artistic liberties, here. He did get even with the Jagens later, but more on that below.)
The second was at the hands of Van Helsing, the Grandmaster of the Hunters at the time, who was also 1/8th vampire. (The specifics of this being: he had immunity to vampire illusions/hypnosis--an ability he later trained all hunters to have--and could himself use a very limited version of them himself, mostly just to prove a point that, yes, vampires can do that and you need to be careful around them. He was pretty spry for an old guy, capable of fighting even at 80 years old, and he had increased longevity, living to be 110. Other than that, he was a completely normal human. No enhanced intelligence, no enhanced strength, no extreme supernatural abilities, just a crafty, clever human who was good at his job.)
Dracula of course retired after the second defeat, but he did so content, in part because of having Leah in place and having basically half the world in his domain. How much of the world did he control? (Leah still controls it all, even.) Well...his coven, along with the Darkbloods and a couple of other covens, were major early investors in America. We're talking, shortly after his first "death", early, meaning basically at the 1500s.
One coven controls Florida and about half the southern states. (Namely, states like Texas. Think Spanish-then-Mexican-then-American states, and you've got that coven.) Another coven controls the New Orleans area and the heavier French sections of Canada. A third coven controls parts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (think: Vikings). The Zu clan controls Alaska and the Yukon, not to mention Hawaii.
The Darkblood Coven controls the west coast: California, Oregon, and the majority of Washington. (Mostly Western, though.) And in modern times, British Columbia along with northern Washington belong to the Jagen coven, post-WWI, circa 1930s to be a little bit more specific.
But literally the rest of the United States and Canada is their domain. Yeah, I realize I subtracted quite a bit of the continent with those other covens, but that's still the vast majority of North America as their domain. It's not all; they have control over other places in the world, too, such as the entirety of Australia. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too. So, when I say they're the second-most-powerful coven in the world...there's a darn good reason for it.
(And, of course, they're on very good terms with the Zu coven, the third-most-powerful coven in the world which controls the majority of Asia...meaning that if the Zu coven ever does get demoted to a clan, they'd probably have the resulting Dragul coven be the most powerful vampire coven in the world. The Darkblood coven is more influential, having more powerful members and deeper roots in communities and being very involved in the political world, but they don't have the same land mass the Dragul coven does.)
This power was most evident during World War I. The Jagens had a hand in both Germany and the Ottoman Empire (thus, the alliance). They lost, and by the end of the war were a mere fraction of their previous standing. This is where Vladimir Tepes gets his satisfaction from, knowing his coven (who, you know, is basically most of the United States) was a major factor in crushing his foes.
To the Jagen's credit, they did learn their lesson. They stayed completely out of World War II, and by that point had invested in their current holdings. You might note that, by the line I have given, three major covens' boarders converge in Washington: The Draguls (they control some of Eastern Washington), Jagens (power diminished, but still large), and Darkbloods all reside within, with the Zu coven and another major coven not too terribly far away, thus, why they hold their council in Earth Ridge during modern days: it's the location most convenient for the majority of power players among vampires.
Anyway, so I have a bit on vampires. Bear with me for a little bit, this will all seem a little unrelated at first, but it's all tied together. (Common theme in my posting.) Lord Vladimir Tepes has suffered a grand total of two defeats in his entire vampiric life. The first was at the hands of the Jagen coven, who were the power behind the Ottoman Empire. (He had initially been their ally, but was betrayed, leading to the war. He was victorious initially, then defeated, and regathered himself with the help of the Darkblood coven. He only had the one defeat, though, because his second "defeat" was a preplanned disappearance act. Hey, it might not be fully historically accurate, but give me some artistic liberties, here. He did get even with the Jagens later, but more on that below.)
The second was at the hands of Van Helsing, the Grandmaster of the Hunters at the time, who was also 1/8th vampire. (The specifics of this being: he had immunity to vampire illusions/hypnosis--an ability he later trained all hunters to have--and could himself use a very limited version of them himself, mostly just to prove a point that, yes, vampires can do that and you need to be careful around them. He was pretty spry for an old guy, capable of fighting even at 80 years old, and he had increased longevity, living to be 110. Other than that, he was a completely normal human. No enhanced intelligence, no enhanced strength, no extreme supernatural abilities, just a crafty, clever human who was good at his job.)
Dracula of course retired after the second defeat, but he did so content, in part because of having Leah in place and having basically half the world in his domain. How much of the world did he control? (Leah still controls it all, even.) Well...his coven, along with the Darkbloods and a couple of other covens, were major early investors in America. We're talking, shortly after his first "death", early, meaning basically at the 1500s.
One coven controls Florida and about half the southern states. (Namely, states like Texas. Think Spanish-then-Mexican-then-American states, and you've got that coven.) Another coven controls the New Orleans area and the heavier French sections of Canada. A third coven controls parts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (think: Vikings). The Zu clan controls Alaska and the Yukon, not to mention Hawaii.
The Darkblood Coven controls the west coast: California, Oregon, and the majority of Washington. (Mostly Western, though.) And in modern times, British Columbia along with northern Washington belong to the Jagen coven, post-WWI, circa 1930s to be a little bit more specific.
But literally the rest of the United States and Canada is their domain. Yeah, I realize I subtracted quite a bit of the continent with those other covens, but that's still the vast majority of North America as their domain. It's not all; they have control over other places in the world, too, such as the entirety of Australia. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too. So, when I say they're the second-most-powerful coven in the world...there's a darn good reason for it.
(And, of course, they're on very good terms with the Zu coven, the third-most-powerful coven in the world which controls the majority of Asia...meaning that if the Zu coven ever does get demoted to a clan, they'd probably have the resulting Dragul coven be the most powerful vampire coven in the world. The Darkblood coven is more influential, having more powerful members and deeper roots in communities and being very involved in the political world, but they don't have the same land mass the Dragul coven does.)
This power was most evident during World War I. The Jagens had a hand in both Germany and the Ottoman Empire (thus, the alliance). They lost, and by the end of the war were a mere fraction of their previous standing. This is where Vladimir Tepes gets his satisfaction from, knowing his coven (who, you know, is basically most of the United States) was a major factor in crushing his foes.
To the Jagen's credit, they did learn their lesson. They stayed completely out of World War II, and by that point had invested in their current holdings. You might note that, by the line I have given, three major covens' boarders converge in Washington: The Draguls (they control some of Eastern Washington), Jagens (power diminished, but still large), and Darkbloods all reside within, with the Zu coven and another major coven not too terribly far away, thus, why they hold their council in Earth Ridge during modern days: it's the location most convenient for the majority of power players among vampires.
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