Ordo Dracul
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The Ordo Dracul is one of the five covenants in the World of Darkness role-playing game Vampire: The Requiem published by White Wolf.
The Ordo Dracul was founded by the legendary vampire Dracula, and its members practice an esoteric discipline known as the Coils of the Dragon in order to master their vampire weaknesses. The Ordo itself follows the tenets supposedly laid down by Dracula in his book Rites of the Dragon. By following Dracula's example and emulating both his transmutative journey and the work of his three brides (Mara, Anoushka, and Lisette), the members of the Ordo hope to overcome the weaknesses that plague the vampiric state. In this fashion they attempt to move forward in the Ordo's Great Work - the transformation from a vampire into some other, as-yet unknown but greater entity.
In order to promote study of the transformative Coils of the Dragon, the Ordo Dracul insists on a fairly rigid hierarchy. Members of the Ordo identify themselves by an array of titles that signify their capabilities and ranks to other members - a skillful student of several Coils might call himself a Renewed Adept of the Sanguine Terror, for example; other members of the Ordo familiar with the appropriate watchwords can then quickly determine the individual's relative rank and specialties. Combined with the three Great Oaths used to divide the covenant into its martial (Sworn of the Axe), studious (Sworn of the Dying Light), and political (Sworn of Mysteries) arms, this provides a straightforward means of determining relative authority, based both on one's mastery of Coils and whether one has sworn a Great Oath to support the covenant in its works.
In contrast to some of the other covenants, the Ordo Dracul is a relatively modern group. Dracula himself did not exist until the 15th century, and it was not until after his "death" that he and his three brides (Mara, Anoushka, and Lisette) codified the structure and aims of the Ordo. Due to strife with the other covenants, the Ordo remained a secret society even among vampires until three hundred years after its rudimentary foundations in the 1600s. Many of the other covenants also accuse the Ordo of stealing their secrets; it is widely believed that Dracula had interactions with members of the Invictus, the Lancea Sanctum, and the Circle of the Crone in his time.
