The Diva & The Maestro: The dual sovereigns. The Diva is the public star, the face of the eternal performance. The Maestro is the unseen director, chief artificer, and master of ceremonies. Their will is absolute law.
The Principals (High Vampires): The lead performers—dukes, generals, and ministers. Each oversees a critical aspect of the Opera (e.g., the Prima Donna of Sustenance, the Lead Tenor of Law). They possess ancient power and refined, terrifying aesthetics.
The Supporting Cast (Lesser Vampires): The bulk of vampiric society.
Dusters: The enforcers and protagonists of violent drama. Gunslingers, duelists, and hunters. High status, embodying the High Noon Gothic ideal.
Artisans: Artist-vampires who craft the Opera’s realities—sculptors of flesh, composers of agony, architects of palaces. Respected for enhancing the spectacle.
Critics & Chroniclers: Bureaucrats and lore-keepers. They curate history, judge performances (including feedings), and manage the vast ledgers of human assets.
The Willing (The Adored): Willing Performers and courtiers. The "pets" of the Ascendancy. Granted diluted gifts (agelessness, beauty) and luxury in exchange for absolute loyalty and public feedings. They are the envy and disgust of other humans. Status: Prized Livestock.
The Skilled (The Useful): Artisans, engineers, virtuoso musicians, and master chefs whose talents amuse the vampires. They live comfortably but precariously; a single failed performance can spell ruin. Status: Valuable Tools.
The Functionary (The Unseen): Stagehands, clerks, steam-stokers, and servants. They keep the machinery of the Opera running. Mostly ignored, they form the core of the urban populace. Status: Infrastructure.
The Audience (The Herd): The general human populace. Kept docile with curated entertainments, narcotic gases in the water, and the grim lesson of public punishments. They provide the background crowd and the bulk of the "blood tax." Status: Renewable Resource.
The Broken (The Unwilling): Criminals, rebels, and "bad performers." Designated for public, dramatic executions or as fodder for infernal pits. Their suffering is a key art form. Status: Props & Consumables.
Infernal/Abyssal Interlopers: Demons and devils. Used as gladiators, exotic enforcers, or sources of twisted power by daring vampires. They exist in a state of contracted servitude or anarchic predation. Seen as: Special Effects / Hazardous Fauna.
Exists entirely outside and in opposition to this hierarchy. Its ranks are drawn from all human strata and even the rare rogue vampire. Their very existence is a denial of the Opera's central truth—that all have a designated, subservient role. To the Ascendancy, they are not a political movement; they are "actors who refuse their cues," the ultimate heresy against the Performance.
The Hierarchy's Rule: Your status dictates everything—the quality of your blood (for vampires), the richness of your food, the safety of your bed, and how dramatically you will be allowed to die. To rise is to become more fascinating to your masters. To fall is to become art.