The Last Pillar: It's their world, not ours.

Regardless of what you might think, you have power. You are capable of things that no mortal man is capable of. Your nightly decisions change lives and destinies. There are vampires more powerful than you, but there are some that are less.

But there is one thing that you must never forget.  You are but one drop in a great big ocean. It doesn't matter how old or puissant you happen to be. In the end, everyone loses the numbers game to human beings. And just like humans, we all have to take our rest.

When you forget this basic thing, you endanger yourself. You endanger your community. and you endanger the humans.  If you forget the basic thing, honestly you won't care about the humans...But that way lies wassail...and you may not want to go that route.

Oh sure, you can get powerful and your influence can be deep and pervasive. and you can own multi-national corporations and you can have powerful humans tremble in fear....

But you will never not get hungry.
You will never know an existence that is free of fear.
It's unlikely you'll ever master your beast completely.
You will never get a good all-over tan.

There are limits. There are boundaries. You cross them at your peril. You flout them and you will pay the price.

Maybe the Sanctified have it right, maybe we are part of a plan. and maybe we ARE supposed to operate from the shadows. But one thing is for certain, unless we mean to mass embrace and TAKE this world from them, it's going to stay theirs.

And what will we drink then?

More than the humans, we need to maintain a balance with the world around us. More than the humans we need to protect the world and the environment. Both from our depredations and theirs. We have to protect the human race from our weakness, from our rage, even from the ignorance and docility, we'd have from them.

There may come a day when some of them become like us. And believe me, I tremble thinking of such people becoming vampires.  I am a Journalist, which is a kind synonym for "Asshole" or "Felon"  I am a drug abuser. Many people suspect that I have already cracked like a piñata and spilled my candy on the ground.

And yet, some night down the line, my felicity of expression and my ability to manage abstract thought might mark me as an aristocrat among the undead. I don't mind being the smartest guy in the room. But I would have a hard time with the being the smartest guy in EVERY room.

I don't have trouble with any plan which involves turning a particular city into a kindred utopia. But by definition, such a utopia must be one for the humans TOO.

In the short run, you can always fuck over the humans.
But in the long run. You will always pay a higher price than you expected.

Always.