The Conclave

The Tip of the Lance

Overview

“And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”

Matthew 16:19

(Image Attribution: Philipp Elhaus CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Santa Eudocia in Trastevere is, on the surface, just another one of the dozens of minor basilicas in Rome. It is an unremarkable Baroque church with tombs below, a somewhat sizable library and a reliquary centered on what is claimed to be the tip of the sword St. Peter used to cut off Malchus’ ear in the garden of Gethsemane. Those who are aware of the secret war against the night people, though, know that Santa Eudocia is the heart of the Conclave, the Catholic Church's secret society of monster hunters.

The Conclave (which has had the name, based on the Biblical quote above, for far longer than it has been used for papal electors) is a fearsome institution, but the truth is that it has fallen far from its glory days. The Domini Clavium (Masters of the Keys) fear for the day this becomes known and the hunters become the hunted.

History

“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.”

Isaiah 46:9-10a

Although Catholics have been fighting monsters and magicians since the days of the Apostles, it took almost eight centuries for the first institution that encompassed all of Christendom to be established. The founding of the Conclave is now shrouded in mystery and mythology, but it is known that Pope St. Zachary gave his blessing to a band of hunters in 750 AD, and these three (the shieldmaiden Ælfwynn of Withywell, a reformed prostitute named Gisela of Rome and Berber priest Manad of Medjana) established ties with the previously disorganized hunters of the Latin West. By the end of the 8th century, the Conclave had been firmly established and officially recognized by Leo III.

For several centuries, the Conclave flourished and put countless monsters and demonolaters to the sword or the torch, but by the High Middle Ages, it was only a shadow of its former self, and the unity of the 8th century was fast fracturing, especially with the competition of crusading brotherhoods. Pope Alexander IV and an especially learned and pious cardinal, Tommaso di Salerno, working with a pair of hunters named Benedetto Beneventi Bocca and Elizabetta Zancani, turned the tide, and by 1280, the Conclave was on firm footing again. 

The ‘second age’ of the Conclave lasted until the storms of the Reformation broke Christendom and nearly the Conclave. It lost dozens of cells to the emerging Protestant churches and there was talk of abolishing the institution in the halls of Rome. Pope Sixtus V, in one of his last acts, definitively ended such talk in 1590, and established a triad of captains, the Domini Clavium, as the masters of the Conclave. The first three Domini Clavium were the German Jesuit Franz Abelshauser, Swedish exile Olov Torkilsson and Portuguese nun Ana of Coimbra. This ‘third age’ has continued to the present day, but today, the Conclave is but a shadow of its former self and the members whisper of the 'third rebirth' — many believe it will come just in time to do battle in the Apocalypse.

Structure

“But now God hath set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him.”

1 Corinthians 12:18

The Conclave has a much looser hierarchy than the Church itself. At the top are the three Domini Clavium (at present, they are Nigerian Bishop Augustine Ibekwe, American Sister Josephine Quinn, and the Italian Monsignor Pasquale Martaci). Large countries or groups of smaller countries have a single Elder; beneath them are cell leaders who coordinate the hunt on a local level. (Cells were traditionally called lancias, the Italian word for lance, but this only survives in Italy and parts of Switzerland today).

The Domini Clavium never and the Elders rarely take part in hunts, but instead serve as generals in the shadow war, directing their followers as needed against especially strong threats, but more often clashing with the Church hierarchy over funding and other vital support. More and more, the Domini Clavium has gone to outside sources for money and arms — sympathetic billionaires taking the place of sympathetic aristocrats these days. These gifts often come with strings attached.

Cell Leaders, on the other hand, often do take part in battles on a nightly basis. Others are more restrained, rarely out of cowardice (cowards don't join the Conclave as a rule, and the ones who do almost never rise through the ranks) but instead of the need to make sure there's a continuity, someone out of harm's way to make sure the battle continues if the worst happens.

Finally, Cells of street-level hunters are the vast majority of the Conclave's membership. There are few formal requirements for joining the Conclave — being a practicing Catholic, primarily. The willingness to fight back against those who prey upon humanity is taken for granted and many hunters join after finding out the night people exist even if they have never been hurt by them. There follows a long and arduous training on par with first-rate militaries (unsurprising since many hunters come from a military background).

Friends, Rivals and Foes

Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei

"My friend, the enemy of my enemy."

The Conclave does not hunt alone, nor is it without enemies all over the world, from the heart of the Vatican to the streets of São Paolo or Saigon.

(art by Romy Jones: https://linktr.ee/RomyJones)

Benedetto Beneventi Bocca

This cavalier is one of them. The Immortal Champion of Italy and the neighboring lands joined the night crusade almost a thousand years ago and has lived his unending life to the fullest ever since. He often works with the Conclave's cells in Italy, generally at their request instead of seeking them out for help, but is viewed with some suspicion, as his patrons, the angels of Limbo, are considered slightly tainted by many. More importantly, the man is a suave ladies man with a millennium worth of charm who either gets distracted by a pretty face or distracts said pretty face, often at the worst time.

Agenzia di Osservazione Interna

Like many large nations, Italy has a para-intelligence agency, the AOI. It was established in the 1870s as an awkward fusion of the Piedmontese Inquisition, the Oracula Latiuma (an allegedly ancient sisterhood of oracles) and the Flame of St. Gennaro (a Neapolitan society of natural philosophers) that was later given a Fascist veneer and then a Republican one. Today, it is a poorly funded and poorly organized agency that struggles to prove itself the equal of the far older and vastly savvier Conclave. It does have the blunt force advantage that many of its operatives come directly from the Italian military or national police forces.

Erichtho

Erichtho is the mother of witches and has been a plague upon the Mediterranean for at least 2800 years. It is not clear if she inspired the original myths of Erichtho, or took the name in homage to an existing figure, but she claims the former and has the power to make many believe it is true. If Erichtho was once an ordinary woman, she shows little sign of it now. Her skin is an ashen grey and her eyes are pure black, while her body is frightfully gaunt, almost skeletal. She desires nothing less than the ruination of humanity, and offers a fraction of her power to anybody willing to take oaths and do harm in her name.

Tools of the Trade

“Holy silver bullets, blessed by the Church.” “But I thought silver bullets were for werewolves,” Annabelle asked. “They are,” replied Adam calmly. Too calmly, thought Jack.

Vampire$, John Steakley

(Image Attribution: Sir Magnus Fluffbrains, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

While in the media-fueled public imagination, silver bullets are 'for werewolves', hunters know they inflict the wrath of God upon almost all of the night people. But there are drawbacks to them, as well. For one thing, silver is much more expensive than lead. Silver is also somewhat less effective and accurate. Most importantly, a silver bullet must be properly blessed to truly injure a monster. In the 21st century, only a handful of armorers remember the rites of blessing, and they have very few apprentices.

Ectoquantum Scope

A byproduct of research into quantum physics conducted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the University of Milan and the Collège de Sainte-Sophie in Avignon, the ectoquantum scope is barely understood even by the team that invented it, let alone the Conclave at large. It uses incredibly sophisticated techniques to pierce the 'ectomagnetic barriers' that obfuscate many preternatural and supernatural entities. In short, it's a 'boogeyman detector'. Ectoquantum scopes are extremely expensive and somewhat fragile, so they are only (temporarily!) doled out to cells by order of the local Elder.

Judas Rope

This frayed length of rope is one of the most potent tools in the Conclave's arsenal. This relic, preserved in the secure vaults of St. Eudocia, is said to be the very rope that Judas used to kill himself. Within the Conclave, there is often heated debate about this, but what cannot be denied is that any supernatural being tied with the Judas Rope cannot escape. The precious power of the Judas Rope means it is very rarely brought out, and even more rarely taken outside Italy. The last time it was used was in Genoa in 1977; the last time it was used outside Italy was in Brazil in 1908.

Patrons

“For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.”

Psalm 90:11-13

Although the hunters of the Conclave know they have the blessing of God and all His angels, there are three they particularly beseech to pray for them in the halls of Heaven.

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael is, naturally enough, their chief patron. The captain of the heavenly host and the vanquisher of Satan in the first war, Michael's name is on the lips of many a hunter as they go into battle with the armies of Hell. It was an old custom, now being revived after decades of disuse, to tattoo some or all of the Prayer to St. Michael on one's body as a sign of devotion to the warrior angel.

St. Uriel

Although not formally recognized as an angel by the Catholic Church, St. Uriel is a prominent figure in folk Catholicism and much beloved by hunters. He is the archangel of sun and fire — visible and unwavering signs of God's grace and protection against the night people, who often perish or wither in the face of them. In the Middle Ages, it was common practice to etch his name into blades, of which there are many legends of them blazing into fire in the presence of the unholy.

(Image Attribution: William Starkey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Ofaniel

Ofaniel the Cherub is not widely known outside of students of angelology, but the guardian angel of the moon has a devotion among hunters, one dating back to antiquity and forgotten origins. Hunters who revere Ofaniel as a patron are especially common in the United Kingdom, and prayers for her intercession are often answered there. There are old medieval legends of black-armored warriors coming forth from the shadows to the aid of those who cry out in need.