History Main / DecadentCourt

You see this kind of setting in most stories about long-established royal courts. It is the go-to source for intrigue, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing]] (metaphorically and literally), gratutitous {{fanservice}} scenes off orgies or parties, and illicit affairs. And, face it, you'll need those things if there is going to be any fun in the story at all.

The court here is that not-so-noble group of [[BlueBlood aristocrats]] who hang around a monarch's luxurious halls. They are dissolute, dissipated, degenerate, depraved, privileged and back-stabbing-- let's just sum it up as "decadent" -- to such an extent that every thing they touch becomes corrupted. The country they are ruling is heading for doom while they drnk, flirt, gossip, and play their spiteful little games and jockey for status and position.

The court here is that not-so-noble group of aristocrats who hang around a monarch's corridors of power. They are dissolute, dissipated, degenerate, depraved -- let's just sum it up as "decadent" -- to such an extent that every thing they touch becomes corrupted. The country they are ruling is heading for doom while they play their spiteful little games and jockey for position.

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top (i.e. they caught it from the monarch). Conversely, the monarch may be ineffectual for any number of reasons, and the various factions end up outcompeting each other in hopes of gaining favor and securing various rewards.

You see this kind of court in most stories about courts. It is the go-to source for intrigue, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing]] (metaphorically and literally), and illicit affairs. And, face it, you'll need those things if there is going to be any fun in the story at all.

This is a SubTrope to StandardRoyalCourt and AristocratsAreEvil. When less than half of the court acts like this, something (or someone) else may be in play. The "court" may be a similar setting with an aristocratic leader and hangers-on, such as a [[BananaRepublic junta's self-styled emperor]], a Lord of a manor house, or vampire coven in a castle.

** When Stalin took full control, he created a sense of fear and paranoia in his own inner circle. He liberally used ThePurge as a means of reminding his cronies that no one was truly safe, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness any of them could be next if he decided they were no longer useful to him]]. This promoted a toxic political culture which left only the most sleazy, corrupt and amoral people in power by Stalin's end as they are the only ones ruthless enough to do so, willing to do anything to survive and advance in Stalin's 'court' even if it means scheming, selling out and [[NoHonorAmongThieves screwing over even their colleagues]].

** More generally, the somewhat "puritanical" version of this trope was in effect in Stalin's USSR. There was officially not supposed to be any decadence, luxuries or other stuff of the sort, but there were plenty of luxuries for UsefulNotes/JosefStalin and his close comrades, though how much they enjoyed them is a different matter. [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas Stalin gave his mother a palace]], for example, but she refused to make use of it, sleeping in the servants' quarters and cooking her own meals. In post-Stalinist times, the decadence finally came to town, though it was still discreet and subtle, never fully shown to outsiders. Though one of the causes of the fall of the USSR was exposure of this corruption and decadence, it survived the fall unscathed and continued in UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia, now stripped clean of any and all Communist puritanism and its practitioners reveling in their new status as the officially unequal upper class. Simon Sebag Montefiore called his excellent book on Stalin ''The Court of the Red Czar''.
* The Byzantine Empire was so infamous for this that another term for this trope is "Byzantine politics." Case in point, Byzantine Empress Irene [[BlackWidow and her gender swapped version of]] King UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's spouse killing spree, [[EyeScream cutting out the eyes of former Emperors and current Emperors]] (the Emperor was supposed to be an image of divine perfection, so mutilating somebody made him ineligible). Plus the court was subject to other influences, such as the Church and the Vikings hired for the [[CadreOfForeignBodyguards Varangian Guard]] (famously resulting in Harald Hadrada, Viking, Varangian Guardsman, soon to be King of Norway, and would-be conquerer of England, [[CripplingCastration castrating]] and ripping out the eyes of Byzantine emperor Michael V Kalaphates in 1042.) Irene specifically had her own son and successor blinded, in a way calculated to [[OffingTheOffspring cause his death]], in the chamber where she had given birth to him.

* The Ottoman Empire was likely the defining post-renaissance example; that it was ''intentionally'' set up so that every Sultan's death resulted in a frantic power-grab by every potential heir, with the winner having the legal right to have '''ALL''' surviving losers strangled to death was just the tip of the iceberg. No matter if your mother was your father's favorite, one of wives, concubines or slaves, all of his sons had equal claim to the throne and represented a threat to you so long as they lived. It didn't help the Janissaries, the Sultan's bodyguards who eventually became corrupt, also chose a [[KingmakerScenario new heir]] to fulfill their political agenda. The [[RoyalHarem Ottoman royal harem]] was no less of an viper's nest, with concubines competing among themselves for the Sultan's affections and to secure their children as the heir so they can become the newest ''Valide Sultan'' or [[MotherMakesYouKing Queen-Mother]]. To this end, they were not above conspiring with eunuchs to get rid of overly ambitious rivals, like stuffing their bodies into bags and throwing them into sea, or gelding them to prevent them from producing competitors of the throne. It's believed that the average life expectancy of every new concubine was 5 years.

** The system of Louis XIV's royal court itself also caused problems for his successors, for instance by increasingly isolating the king and his court as well as a large part of the aristocracy from the reality of life in Paris and the provinces, which contributed to the slowly building crisis that culminated in the Revolution. Also the decadence of the court, which to a large extent was exactly what Louis planned, gradually became a reason for intellectuals of UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment to criticise the court and the aristocracy and caused notable scandals. During Louis' own reign the "Affair of the Poisons" (1677-1682), during which many members of the court and even some of the king's inner circle were implicated and accused of poisoning and witchcraft put the "Deadly" in ''Deadly Decadent Court'' as, despite being partially hushed up, it resulted in 36 executions, two persons dying under torture, and several prominent courtiers falling from grace or being exiled.[[note]] Among the exiled was the Countess of Soissons; her son, Prince Eugene of Savoy stayed in France, but because his mother was disgraced Louis did not allow him to gain a military command. This led to him to leave the country and enter the service of Louis' [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austrian Habsburg]] enemies. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Where Eugene's leadership was instrumental in defeating France in the War of Spanish Succession]].[[/note]] A system where courtiers had to vie for the king's favour and conduct intrigues against each other was hit and miss in ensuring that the most competent men being assigned the important state positions. Sometimes it worked, such as when the grossly corrupt finance minister Nicolas Fouquet abruptly was stripped of his office and possessions and imprisoned for life through the machinations of his rival Colbert, who took his place and greatly improved taxation. On the other hand, many a French commanding general in the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheSpanishSuccession was better at currying Louis XIV's favour than leading an army. And the problems caused by royal favour and support by court cabals deciding who was put into command of France's armies would grow even worse during the UsefulNotes/SevenYearsWar...
** His rule also laid the seeds of the French Monarchy's total financial ruin and the revolution. A large part of his efforts to win over the nobility was built on essentially making the nobility and the church tax exempt. A loss in revenue that was ultimately never made up for, but which was compensated for by drastically increasing the number and rates which the peasantry had to pay to the crown. Which was simply added on top of the taxes the peasants already paid to their local church and nobility to begin with. His successors' incompetence is often blamed because things started falling apart under them, but the financial system of the French Monarchy was a ticking time bomb because of him which ultimately resulted in both the Revolution and in the bankruptcy of the state.
** On the other hand, the French court that ''preceded'' Louis' reforms was just as bad. The Frondeurs repeatedly struggled with Louis' mother Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin for power even during a long war with Spain, intriguing against the royal household and each other, with one of the best French generals even defecting to the Spanish. Louis didn't create a decadent French court so much as he reformed it to one that better benefited the state, particularly in cleaning up a lot of the aristocratic corruption.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Speer Albert Speer]], Hitler's chief architect, and later on super-minister of the Third Reich, describes this in great detail in his memoirs, showing that this deadly decadence was a crucial factor in the defeat of Germany. Even as the war grew larger and riskier, and as Germany's armies faced stronger resistance and suffered great defeats, Hitler's inner circle focused mostly on political rivalry and on backstabbing each other, not caring all that much about the war. And going further down the pyramid, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauleiter gauleiters]] (sort of a regional governor with almost-absolute authority) only cared about their wealth and luxury, protecting their share of Germany's income with absolute zeal, even on the brink of total defeat. Even though his main priority was overseeing the country's military economy, Speer had to distract himself with these political rivalries to keep himself in power. In other words, just like Louis XIV and (probably) Stalin, Hitler planted the seeds of his empire's downfall even before it began to rise.
** Part of this was because Hitler himself deliberately encouraged infighting and KlingonPromotion in the NSDAP and the government, as he thought [[TheSocialDarwinist it would lead to the most capable people rising to power]]. The constant infighting also served a practical purpose; competition kept any one subordinate from amassing enough power to threaten Hitler. It's telling that the only time Hitler had to take direct action against his underlings ([[ThePurge the Night of the Long Knives]], when he crushed [among others] the SA "Brownshirts") was early on, before he had his DecadentCourt fully set up.

* Office politics can be this sometimes, if you replace killing with firing.
* The Ptolemies - who ruled Egypt for 300 years following the death of Alexander the Great - are especially famous for three things; sibling marriage among rulers (a long-standing Egyptian custom which they appropriated), recurring civil wars among family members, and a lavish lifestyle that made the early Romans gape in shock and envy. During the so-called Hellensitic Age (roughly 323 - 30 B.C.E.), the Ptolemies were the wealthiest rulers in the Mediterranean, and they threw parties and spent money like nobody’s business.

* UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire had a lot of this, as numerous Legion generals attempted to usurp the throne, Senators attempted to humiliate or murder their rivals, the PraetorianGuard [[BodyguardBetrayal murdering Emperors who didn't pay them enough or upset them in some way]], and more. This is a major reason as to why the Western Roman Empire failed: due to Senators and merchants not wanting to pay to support the army, plus would-be usurpers and civil wars impacting the quality of the Legions, the Empire eventually collapsed under its own weight, with only the Byzantine Empire managing to endure despite this.

** When Stalin himself died, several of his cronies engaged in a deadly power struggle to succeed him. UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev won the fight, and had his main rival, the {{serial rapist}} Lavrenty Beria, [[KickTheSonOfABitch arrested and executed in cold blood]]. With his death, the power struggles became far less deadly. When Molotov tried and failed to depose Khrushchev, the latter had the former shuttled off to a diplomatic post in Mongolia.

* The royal family and their entourage in ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''. When a rampaging Giant destroys the kingdom's village and even the ''palace'', [[TheCasanova the princes]] are more concerned with [[YourCheatingHeart chasing after women that aren't their wives]]. The royal steward only lets the Baker announce that a giant is on the loose due to [[TokenGoodTeammate Cinderella's]] influence. When they get incontrovertible proof of the Giant's existence, they plan to simply hide out the problem in another kingdom, leaving their subjects for dead.

** When Stalin himself died, several of his cronies engaged in a deadly power struggle to succeed him. UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev won the fight, and had his main rival, the {{serial rapist}} Lavrenty Beria, [[KickTheSonOfABitch arrested and executed in cold blood]].

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/GaspardOfTheNight https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/court_7477.jpg]]Why waste effort running a country when you can drink and party all day and night?]]

%%* The Russian noble houses in ''ComicBook/NikolaiDante'', especially the ruling Makarovs and the Romanovs.
%%* Most, if not all incarnations of the Hellfire Club in the ''ComicBook/XMen'' comics. While they are not actually royalty, they try their best to invoke this.

%%* ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' runs on this trope.

* ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt:'' The court is a treacherous place where everyone is miserable until they head to {{Arcadia}}.
* Pretty much ALL of Shakespeare's histories, with ''Theatre/RichardIII'' being the most extreme example. Even in ''Theatre/HenryV'', Act II opens with three nobles being exposed as plotting the King's assassination; he tricks them into arguing against mercy for a minor offender, reveals that he knows what they've been up to, and has them all executed without trial, then carries on with his war plans as if nothing's happened.
* In Creator/JohnMilton's ''Theatre/{{Comus}}'', the Lady observes that SacredHospitality is found more often among the poor, even though its courtesy was named for courts.
* A very small, but sufficiently treacherous, instance in ''Theatre/TheLionInWinter'', where King Henry II of England, his queen Eleanor, their three surviving sons -- Richard, Geoffrey, and John -- and King Philip II of France are all plotting something. Lots of backstabbing and temporary alliances result.
* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': It's a little hard to parody ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' without having this trope show up. It's to the point that "Small Council", the play's counterpart to "Aaron Burr, Sir" from ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', changes the "talk less, smile more" line to "trust less, conspire more". The following song, "Plot Development" is about several members of the royal court having their own little conspiracy underway.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': CyberPunk example. While the series is filled with CorruptCorporateExecutive intrigue amongst OneNationUnderCopyright, the Lawrence family and their Lion Steel corp are a de facto noble family in charge of one MegaCorp. Them and their RecruitedFromTheGutter to be brainwashed servants all come across as arrogant, and in the Chloe arc of the web-novels, it's explored how cold and bloodthirsty politics within the company are, with whole branches of the family being dumped into the wasteland to survive as hunters for mistakes they had nothing to do with based on TheSocialDarwinist ideas. Internal warfare and backstabbing is encouraged by their A.I. puppetmaster Alice with her BlueAndOrangeMorality, under the excuse that it's to impress her [[PuppetKing puppet CEO]] Lawrence himself.

* ''LightNovel/SwordPrincessAltina'' is rife with this. Every royal court shown, regardless of country of origin, is filled with nobles or royalty constantly fighting, scheming, poisoning, or just plain sending armies after one another while vying for succession. Even Altina's own father, the Emperor of Belgaria, sent his 14-year-old daughter to the front lines just to be rid of her, and when she asked for a weapon, to defend herself, gave her a massive decorative sword, thinking she'd be unable to wield it.
* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'':

* ''Series/TheRiseOfPhoenixes'': The royal court of Tiansheng. The princes are plotting against each other, the emperor is manipulating his sons, and the only way for Ning Yi to stay alive long enough to get anything done [[ObfuscatingStupidity is to pretend to be an idiot.]]
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': King's Landing in the Crownlands. Deadly for many characters, including King Robert and Ned Stark. The TitleDrop moment refers to the nobility's high rate of turnover.
** As with Littlefinger, who is advising Ned Stark on the ways of the court.
-->''Littlefinger, seeking a messenger who can go between them '': "Do you have someone in your household you can trust?"
-->''Ned Stark, eagerly'': "Yes."
-->''Littlefinger'': "Wrong answer."
** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Things were just ''a little'' better in Westeros under 200 years prior with the reign of King Viserys. Though House Hightower [[WellIntentionedExtremist thought it was the right thing]] to usurp the Iron Throne and things went downhill from there (also, Alicent Hightower takes advices from Lord Larys Strong, a creepy clubfooted schemer similarly to Littlefinger).
* The court in ''Series/TheTudors'' might be even more corrupt than its real-life counterpart, and that's not easy to do...
* Queen Elizabeth's court in ''Series/BlackAdderII'' tends towards this trope. She beheads someone if she's bored. Or if they don't tell her that her nose looks pretty.
* ''Series/{{Kings}}'': The court of Gilboa is a polished, modern-day bureaucracy where the king wears suits and rules from a conference table. That doesn't make any difference to the murderous, treacherous and utterly corrupt proceedings that go on behind closed doors, though...
* Mark Antony's and Cleopatra's Court in ''Series/{{Rome}}'' is so decadent it turns former MagnificentBastard Mark Antony into a fat whiny crybaby.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': A few of the various alien races occasionally dip into this to varying degrees.
** While the Klingons are the TropeNamer for KlingonPromotion, their version of this trope is a bit more complicated. A standard Klingon state assembly can very easily result in more than a few deaths; at one point during a civil war, the Chancellor was challenged to a duel, and proceeded to kill his opponent before returning to the matters at hand. That all said, more underhanded actions such as poisoning or politicking are considered deeply dishonorable, and if exposed, are not all tolerated; in ''Deep Space Nine'', one Klingon attempted to ruin a rival house by financially assaulting it, and when this came to light he was stripped of his honor and exiled.
** Though the exact nature of their government is not entirely clear, the Romulans are a bit straighter an example, with the Romulan government indicated to be an intricate web of alliances between factions that only work together to the point their interests align. The moment those interests stop aligning, they can and will turn against each other.

* ''Series/IClaudius'', starring Creator/DerekJacobi and numerous other high-profile British actors. This series, based on a series of novels, recounts the life of Claudius, the awkward fool who would be emperor... and the drama, treachery, and intrigue that happened in the royal household. It's even more intense when you consider that it is based on historical events. But then, truth is stranger than fiction. (Historians, however, reject the idea of Livia as poisoner.)
* ''Series/TheCaesars'' was a Creator/{{Granada}} series covering the same time period as ''Series/IClaudius'', and likewise featured the tangled web of incest and murder that was the Julio-Claudian royal family and their social circle. Just to name a few examples, Livia happily admits to having arranged "a good many" deaths over the course of sixty years, Livilla and her lover Sejanus conspire to poison her husband Drusus so that they can rule Rome as regents for her son Gemellus when he succeeds Tiberius, and Caligula has sexual relations with all three of his sisters - until he accidentally strangles one and has the other two banished for allegedly conspiring against him.
* Another BBC Production, ''Series/TheCleopatras'', takes place in a court where, if you weren't [[BrotherSisterIncest marrying your sibling]] (or your parent, or uncle, or niece), you were [[OffingTheOffspring having them killed]] to keep them from becoming a threat to you. (Sometimes you married them, and THEN killed them when you fell in love with someone else.)
* The Hamptons in ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' serves as a good contemporary example.
* Though not monarchical, Washington DC resembles this in ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.
* Not technically a court but the upper decks of the starship ''Series/{{Ascension}}'' are this. Except for a dedicated few the main occupations seem to be jockeying for position, partying and sleeping with each others wives/husbands.
* King Arthur's court in ''[[Series/CarryOnLaughing Carry On Laughing!]]'' is the polar opposite of its usual portrayal - the knights do little else besides arguing, drinking and showing no loyalty whatsoever to their king (not that he deserves it - he doesn't exactly [[DirtyCoward set a good example]]).
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' has the Circle of Houses of the Centauri Republic (actually an empire), extremely decadent as a side effect of the Centauri considering sobriety a ''vice'' ([[ItMakesSenseInContext as all Centauri have many duties, and taking breaks and having pleasure is a duty that serves to keep them capable of fulfilling the others]]) and the House lords going overboard, and deadly due the competition among the nobles of a civilization heavy on {{Realpolitik}}. It's rather telling that when Londo had lord Refa killed Refa is surprised at the ''circumstances'' (as they were rather convoluted and [[spoiler:[[NotMeThisTime for once he was innocent of what Londo wanted him dead for]]]]) and ''means'', not that Londo is having him killed, and the latter is because Londo could have just have slipped him the second part of the poison he had administered him early for a blackmail.
** {{Subverted}} with the Royal Court: they're the ministers appointed by the emperor and the ones that actually run the Republic, and the Nobles know better than interfere with their jobs without ''really'' good reasons.

* The entire series ''Series/Kingdom2019'', both in the introductory episodes and trailers, established the courtly intrigue with the bottom of the palace's pond littered with those who were unfortunate enough to fall victim to it. This compounded the series' ZombieApocalypse as the court and ruling clan were vying for power rather than alleviate the crisis. Furthermore, one of the main character--Yi Chang--began to be targeted by the consort who would have him killed for her own son to ascend the throne.

** Things were just ''a little'' better 200 years prior under the reign of King Viserys. Though House Hightower [[WellIntentionedExtremist thought it was the right thing]] to usurp the Iron Throne and things went downhill from there (also, Alicent Hightower takes advices from Lord Larys Strong, a creepy clubfooted schemer similarly to Littlefinger).

You see this kind of court in most stories about courts. It is the go-to source for intrigue, backstabbing (metaphorically and literally), and illicit affairs. And, face it, you'll need those things if there is going to be any fun in the story at all.

This is a SubTrope to StandardRoyalCourt and AristocratsAreEvil. When less than half of the court acts like this, something (or someone) else may be in play. The "court" may be a similar setting with an aristocratic leader and hangers-on, such as a [[BabanaRepublic junta's self-styled emperor]] or vampire coven in a castle.

The court here is that not-so-noble group of Nobles who hang around a monarch's corridors of power. They are dissolute, dissipated, degenerate, depraved -- let's just sum it up as "decadent" -- to such an extent that every thing they touch becomes corrupted. The country they are ruling is heading for doom while they play their spiteful little games.

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top (i.e. they caught it from the monarch). Conversely, the monarch may be ineffectual for any number of reasons, and the various factions end up outcompeting each other in hopes gaining favor.

You see this kind of court in lots of stories, maybe even in a majority of stories about courts. It is the go-to source for intrigue, backstabbing, and illicit affairs. And, face it, you'll need those things if there is going to be any fun in the story at all.

This is a SubTrope to StandardRoyalCourt and AristocratsAreEvil. When less than half of the court acts like this, something (or someone) else may be in play. See EvilChancellor or EvilPrince for the possible cause. For a depraved court of ''law'', try KangarooCourt.

* The entire series Series/Kingdom2019, both in the introductory episodes and trailers, established the courtly intrigue with the bottom of the palace's pond littered with those who were unfortunate enough to fall victim to it. This compounded the series' ZombieApocalypse as the court and ruling clan were vying for power rather than alleviate the crisis. Furthermore, one of the main character--Yi Chang--began to be targeted by the consort who would have him killed for her own son to ascend the throne.
* Series/TrueBlood: Vampire society is largely modeled after feudalism in Medieval Europe. It consists of vampire monarchs who spend most of their time either indulging in their luxuries, accumulating treasure, feeding on humans, or are attempting to take control of territories owned by other monarchs (either through force or political marriages). Overseeing all of this is a shadow government known as The Authority. As shown in season 5, it consists of Vampire Chancellors who are perfectly okay backstabbing each other as long as they get to keep their power.

** The White Court. It helps that those involved are all [[HornyDevils White Court vampires]] that make {{plan}}s as way of life; at one point Lara says something to the effect that no one will respect her if she attempts to seize power by straightforward means. The Raiths are [[RoyallyScrewedUp a bit dysfunctional]], to say the least.

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/GaspardOfTheNight https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/court_7477.jpg]]]]

The court here is that group of not-so noble Nobles who hang around a king's corridors of power. They are dissolute, dissipated, degenerate, depraved -- let's just sum it up as "decadent" -- to such an extent that every thing they touch becomes corrupted. The country they are ruling is heading for doom while they play their spiteful little courtly games.

How the court got that way differs from story to story. More often than not, the source is at the top. They caught it from the monarch.

You see this court in a lot of stories, maybe even a majority of stories about courts. It is the go-to source for intrigue, backstabbing, and illicit affairs. And, face it, you'll need those things if there is going to be any fun at all.

** The Heian Court started out much more benign--see literature like the ''Man'youshuu'' for examples of [[MarySuetopia what Japan was (supposedly) like]] about two hundred years prior to ''Genji''. ''Genji'' is set in Heian Japan about a century before it fell apart and was replaced by the [[AWorldHalfFull Kamakura bakufu]], which in turn led to the [[FeudalJapan Muramachi]] [[CrapsackWorld period]].

* In ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon'', the Court was once a home to this, a vast collection of nobles and visiting dignitaries from surrounding lands who gradually debased themselves with drink and games until they slid into horrific debauchery involving illicit drugs and cruel, murderous sport. They were so excessively debased that when the Ancestor proposed they [[MainliningTheMonster drink a wine made of vampire blood]], they accepted it eagerly, and barely halted their horrific indulgences [[BodyHorror even while being transformed into monstrous insects]]. By the time of the game's events, the Court is now a collection of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent crazed, inhuman mosquito-vampires who clothe themselves in the trappings of nobility.]]