Lextalionis

Lextalionis: the ancient Kindred tradition of justice where those who violate the laws of the domain must die, and all Kindred within the domain can be called upon to carrying out the sentence.

This is the law that allows a Prince to call a blood hunt; the act of tracking down an alleged criminal for the purpose of justice. The Prince urges each and every member of his populace to participate in the hunt and they are given permission to either bring the quarry back to the Prince's court, or bring him final death where they find him.

If Kindred choose not to participate in the hunt, they won't necessarily be punished, but they certainly can lose status if they refuse the call. If they are caught aiding and abetting the subject of the blood hunt, however, this can result in banishment or final death by execution, at the Prince's pleasure.

Yesterday, at the Elysium, Prince Vidal called for a blood hunt on David Gravois, a neonate member of the Sanctified. While none of our coterie have ever heard of him, we were strongly encouraged to take a key role in the hunt due to Gravois' alleged crimes. He most likely has ties to the vampire-hunters that have taken and staked Edward, and Gravois contacted Savoi and threatened to execute Edward in Savoi's presence. So the general consensus, for what it's worth, is we'll have more info and better luck hunting and finding Mr. Gravois than others might.

Since this is the first hunt I've ever been privy to, and since I don't have a clue where to start, I decided do some research. I was fascinated to find some of the "alternative" methods. Who knows how successful they are, but I'm certainly willing to give these a shot!

• Have local law enforcement issue an APB
  
  
• Have local airports put him on a "no fly" list
  
  
• Freeze his financial accounts
  
  
• Use the Amber Alert system (utilizing radio and electronic roadside messages)
  
  
• Contract with church-sponsored vampire-hunters (apparently a very risky move)

I understand that most hunts end in a high percentage of the criminals being tracked and slain, or occasionally escaping the city (which is usually a death sentence in itself), but either way the hunt is almost always over in a few nights. So we should know the outcome one way or another very shortly.

The other fact I found fascinating is Princes usually only call for blood hunts when their own agents are unable to handle the capture and execution of the criminal on their own. Does this mean the Spaniard and his pleasure-loving whore of a Sheriff are becoming too weak to handle their own city? Nap time for the Prince might be just around the corner...