The Ravenblack Grimoire

There is a wide body of sociological literature on the concept of framing. In short, framing is how individuals understand their experiences and express it in a narrative. Of course, the veracity of these expressions is always questionable but that is not the important factor (at least for Erving Goffman). What matters is how individuals frame it. From this simple concept, a sociologist brought this concept to social movements. The basic argument is movement activists must frame experiences to resonate with a wider audience, to recruit and gain support. In many ways, this is rhetoric and persuasion. We all do it, especially governments when it comes to war.

Surprisingly, this is one aspect of warfare this city grasps. All sides frame war in a certain manner. What is not as clear is how leaders frame the outcome. Framing wins is simple enough; but, I have seen enough screwed up where the win seems to be the loss and the loss… at the very least seems to be a draw. Effectively leadership, some creative members, and a great propaganda machine is sometimes all you need if you can create the perception that you can take things by force.

However, when you are totally beaten and rather convincingly so… framing becomes complicated and statements of stupidity become the norm. Fallacious arguments also become commonplace by those intellectually incapable of mounting a real argument. If you lose and are completely crushed, sometimes the best frame should remain within your halls and not in the public. Try anything else and you could look foolish and weak. For example, when your side suffers a devastating defeat and you are unable to zero a single vampire, no amount of framing will work. You can argue you fought hard. However, you cannot argue you dropped a great deal of blood when you and your allies could not zero a single vampire. Second, you cannot argue you dropped a lot of blood but when most of the blood loss is concentrated to 4-5 members in a war involving 10 times that number on a single side. Your claims do not line up with the facts and you appear foolish… or delusional.

Sometimes propaganda means staying silent, plotting and planning. Other times, it means directly engaging. The war machine involves a certain degree of creativity, to justify your actions and potentially gain support. Alternatively, it could be psychological, to paint your enemies as a as incompetent and gutless. Of course, this requires leadership... and members willing to tell their leaders when they are wrong and going down the path of destruction. Of course, some clans and families prefer mindless drones, willing to soak up the vials of holy water at their whim. Propaganda requires creativity, creativity requires intelligent. Leaders require intelligence, from themselves and their members. Is it any wonder why some will always look like idiots while others stand regal?