About Neonates –
They are the most populous group in the Camarilla and the most expendable, the most human and the most needed to get a night's work done. From an Elder view, they are sought out, tested and kept and traded like collector cards. A valuable neonate is watched over for poaching by other Elders and older Ancillae as much as prized ghouls and his career as a Kindred often gets helped along in return for ongoing loyalty and successes for his Patron.

A healthy, upwardly mobile Neonate is a very busy bee. He must constantly work to keep himself valuable to his Patron and expand his network between both other Kindred and in the mortal world as well. He must likewise endeavor to keep his place in the heart of that Patron and not be maneuvered out of his place by another rising star or the minions of another Patron who is trying to lessen the Neonate's value. What I see played out very little by most Neonate is the fear of his superiors. The social equivalent if the Mafia where the high man can just kills you or makes you on a whim. Every elder is that Mafia Don and the Ancillae are the Capos. An Elder is not a boss, he is nobility. A boss can merely fire you; the monarch can lop off your head if he is displeased despite your best efforts. Americans are pretty cocky because we grew up in a world where we are created equal, but vampires are very much unequal and it is even more than death on the line. The Neonate who loses that perspective is not long for this world because of a sassy mouth.

So take into account the perspective of an average neonate: you were a man, much like you are now - breathing, eating, screwing, working and making car payments, gardening on weekends. Another guy much like you but pale and a little odd came along one night and made your life very difficult and by so doing trapped you in a strange secret society completely unlike your own. The leaders seem as much like you as a Martian pro-wrestler. Though you no longer breathe much or eat but are otherwise fairly human, these guys are positively inhuman altogether. Were they ever? They are cold, white, never breathe, feed voraciously and with no remorse (and so you hear they can every eat dopes like you!), their control of your environment is unfathomable (banks, bums, eyes everywhere!), they are above mortal law, unbelievably strong, foul tempered, fast and possess an intellect and psyche which defies comparison, even if you could hope to grasp their vast alien minds. They hold your fate in their indelicate grasp. How do you feel about that? Cocky? Sassy, chummy? Not wise.The harsh part is that treading daintily around them raises just as many alarm bells so neither sinking, swimming nor floating are particularly safe. So look busy, make yourself useful and try to learn how to live with these sharks in the water and one day you may become one too. Fish swim in schools for safety - it's a good strategy.

Playing Elders –
The Elders are the true inner circle of any Camarilla Court, not purely because of age or generation, but because their wholly different outlook has led to a completely separate set of survival behaviors than those practiced by Neonates and their older siblings. These factors are fear of Diablerie (in addition to final death - the stakes are much higher and there are many more enemies), fear of Usurpation and the fear of themselves as vampires.I don't wish to discuss the Beast and generational theory here, but suffice it to say, the more dangerously powerful a vampire is (i.e. - elder disciplines!) the worse the resulting frenzy can be. This means the worse the Masquerade breaches and the more enemies you make, etc. An Elder is also smarter and more difficult to calm down. Now, imagine that permanently.

Wassail is a very real issue for Elders, most of who have lived some long time and plan to for the millennia ahead. So, to keep that wolf of madness from psychological door, they must secure themselves in an insulating environment in which minimizes their involvement in violence - that's what Neonates are for! The one thing any Elder realizes: anything worth doing regularly is better done by someone else. You can direct from a safe distance, which will also free you to direct several other activities when you could've done only one if you gotten your own hands needlessly dirty.

This all leads to the need for personal underlings to do the dirty work. There are several strategies for getting/making/buying them, but the greatest worry is keeping them in line. Remember that the #2 worry is Usurpation. Assuring loyalty and their standard of performance is not simple. One might try to leave with a piece of your pie and start his own bakery or your serfs could get together and pull a hostile take over of yours Remember, Diablerie? So it is a firm but careful hand that keeps them in line. Despite their valued service to you, a little healthy competition among them and/or an occasional sacrifice as an example boosts the value of your favor to them and keeps ideas of treachery and insurrection out of their little heads. Do not think of them as children you beneficently govern, no, they are both your livelihood and most probably your future downfall. Despotism.

The odd thing about Elders is that these fears and issues are not purely subconscious. They are quite aware of the dangerous games they play and in Elder Salons discuss it like one chats about their factory workers or polo ponies at a country club. Sometimes they even swap pawns for fun and favors and even pit them against one another to gamble on. It ranges from the level of cockfights to the Methuselah's global Jyhad.Though this is mere blood sport - the losses are potentially ruinous and can mean your neck, but the reason they do it is far beyond pure necessity. They are also bored in many cases. Ennui is equally frightening to them as Torpor befalls the inactive. They often find it difficult to be interested or enthusiastic about much. Jaded Elders have seen it all, done it all and need companionship of a peer to keep unlife interesting - whether it is an adversary worthy of the effort or a paramour. A Neonate is a boring child, Ancillae are more entertaining, but are still not peers who would understand an Elder's perspective and needs. So, Elders seek out the company of their own.

The problem arises when Elders of a city have less than compatible agendas. From this feuds arise over subjects as paramount as global/clan politics to sexual jealousies and turf disputes. The latter two are the most dangerous as the principal interest of any vampire, especially one motivated toward an insulating entrenchment, is access to blood, i.e., feeding grounds/city domains is at the heart of it. This psychology of territoriality has a biological motivator forcefully propelling it as well, a powerful one even seen in the behavior of Wights (vampires in the mindless bestial state of Wassail). The sexual jealousies (however asexual) are no longer biologically motivated as vampires who no longer have those urges. However, the Beast inherent in each vampire has an equivalent drive: Domination. Some Wights exemplify this by reportedly showing a pack mentality as well.

Thus it can be argued that jealousies over possession/access to allies/paramours is a civilized extension of this basic psychological need for companionship, or as Humanistic Psychologist, Maslow, called it, belongingness. When allies help in the protection of feeding grounds, the stakes magnify exponentially as reliance on them is now reinforced by both biological as well as emotional needs. Threaten that and there will be hell to pay.

So what is the result when things go wrong? Warfare and all the centuries to wage a slow methodical campaign of vengeance against the transgressor. Sadly, cities fall and sects rise over such squabbles. Now how does this apply to you playing an Elder? Well, the agenda is clear: obtain allies to empower your acquisition of stability and sustenance, and eliminate the competition that may threaten that while keeping your peasants in line (a whole other dissertation). Yes, it's a team version of King of the Mountain, all while trying not to raise too many red flags to the potential opposition. Stranger, and yet more alien, it all takes place over immense stretches of time. Play the game of Eldership hastily and you will look desperate and the opposition will strike before you can get a shot at success or it will be seen as dangerous ambition bringing your hoped-for allies together to thwart you. Remember the tools of the trade are the dance of diplomacy, practice of etiquette, shrewd politics, Prestation give and take, careful administration of graciousness, and most of all, patience. There is a place for heavy-handed thuggery, but usually in private or with the unspoken consent of the other Elders who needed the dirtywork done as well. Without that support, you are on dangerous ground.