The Circle of Serbia is a political, magical and religious organization of Uchronic Paris that “defines the Serbs and their homeland and their own throughout history”. It has existed “since the beginning of time”; there is only one. In 1914 it conspires to seize power from the king of Serbia and replace the monarchy with “a monarchy of the living dead”.
| Type | Faction |
| Seat | The Serbian royal court; consulates in Paris, Bucharest and Vienna |
| Spanish entry | Círculo de Serbia |
Origin
Its origin is traced to Lucifer, and it belongs to the religious history of Kronamon. It is also said to have been founded by the Lighthouses (los Faros), which are now under its control. It is “a simultaneous circle”, identical at every moment: present in 1389 near the Field of Blackbirds and in 1914, where it “is actively intervening”. It is “built around” the Serpent, whose head has been used as an offering and a message to the Circle.
Ground and signs
It occupies the Serbian court: an “eastern chamber” of blue tapestries and purple ornaments, with caviar and lightly spiced eastern wines. Its arms show fish, bees and bulls. Serbia’s own script was changed twenty years ago by “the same dynasts”; documents in the old lettering are no longer recognized at a glance.
Serbia has a king and queen, a parliament, an army chief and a liberal constitution of “a few months ago” that reformed the army and economy. It sees itself as “the last who resisted the Turks (los torcos) and the evil of the demons of Tartary”. It “was the beginning”, the foothold for the Circle’s plans, which “extended across all Europe”. Montenegro lies beside it; both are “so surrounded”.
Mechanism
- Diplomacy: Serbian consulates and vice-consulates in Paris, Bucharest and Vienna, with posts filled by murder. In Paris the government of France “pressed harder than the Serbian one”, and a consul was threatened by “a third party”. In Bucharest it acts on the consul and vice-consul, in allied Romania, which borders Serbia with no German frontier between. Members say they “are not a group of barbarians” but “a Vienna circle, we are intellectuals”.
- Calendar: the Serbian Orthodox Church keeps a non-Gregorian calendar. On 28 June, Saint Vitus’ Day, the kings of Serbia were sacrificed in 1389; on the same date the Serbian consul is murdered in Bucharest.
- Lineage: Lucifer, Kronamon, existence before time, the simultaneous circle.
History
- 1389: the kings of Serbia are sacrificed near the Field of Blackbirds. Five hundred kingless years follow, “the only way to keep a certain purity”.
- Restoration: Aleksandar I Obrenovich, only son of Milan I (who warred with the Turks), “recently returned” to the throne, named king early. He telegraphs his allies and is “very well accepted in Vienna”, where there is “a whole entente”, though the Empire deems Serbs inferior. His mother is Natalia of Florence, possibly related to the Medici. Draga, murdered, is mentioned. The Huelfa dynasty is also named as ruling.
- 1914: Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary invokes Germania; Serbia invokes Russia. Altering the outcome of the battle of Serbia costs some 60 million deaths.
Methods and opposition
It works by diplomatic infiltration and murder: an “invisible hand” that orders killings, and traps such as the one laid for the companions in the Tower of the Pole. Its sanction: «Aquellos que atenten contra el Círculo de Serbia serán sus víctimas» (“Those who move against the Circle of Serbia will be its victims”). It watches its pursuers (“it is watching us, because they had no way of knowing we were on this ship”). A military leader, “the captain”, is attributed to it, with links to the Black Hand and to hostile pro-dynastic activists.
The companions began “as detectives against the Circle of Serbia”, and also took on dismantling missions negotiated at court, where protocol asks visitors whether they have been “contacted by foreign people with intentions of conspiracy against the reigning dynasty”. An imprisoned vampire cannot be executed, only held under extreme security. The company has destroyed “an important part” of the Circle, but it still operates. If it takes hold in Serbia, all Europe changes regime.
Conflicting accounts
- Serbia had “no opening with the Russians, but did with the Austro-Hungarians”; or Serbia is allied with Russia (which backs the rival dynasty), not Austria-Hungary.
- Serbia “was an independent kingdom… was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire”.
- 15 June, “the day of the black fields”, versus 28 June, Saint Vitus’ Day.
- The Circle is called both a dynastic force and one that “wants to end the reigns”.
Open questions
- How its timelessness fits its Serbian character is unknown.
- The tie between the Huelfa dynasty and the Obrenovich is not stated.
- Who “the captain” is, and what the Tower of the Pole is, are unknown.
- What the Lighthouses are, and how the Circle came to control them, is unknown.
- No seat, insignia, membership or entry rite is recorded, nor what the script change consisted of.