Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the canon as set out by Stephenie Meyer.
Credits: dittstortsafan for being my beta and for being my inspiration for making a fic. (:
Summary and Introduction:
The Volturi, as demonstrated through the eyes of the protagonists of the series, is a simple organization. Aro, Marcus and Cauis are the face of the Volturi, ruling with a swift hand. But underneath the face is a complex organizational structure and important members that only the Volturi elite have met. Purportedly one of the largest covens with over thirty members, the Volturi's influence does not end there; they control many smaller covens of vampires to strengthen their position as head of the vampires.
Approximately thirty five centuries ago, Godric, an ancient and powerful vampire began an arduous task of seeking out and changing 'gifted' humans to create a group of vampire elites to overthrow the Romanian coven. Godric was vested with the ability to know what a person's gift would be, among others.
The Romanian coven had long since been deemed ineffective as rulers by most of the smaller covens, their taxations and requests tolerated by other covens as a battle for control would mean the deaths of many. The Romanian coven was large and charismatic in its ruling. It sook to coincide with humanity, willingly pronouncing its vampirism to mortals and offering to vampirify anyone who pledged allegiance to them. Many of the tales of vampirism emerge solely from this coven, indeed the burning in sunlight did as one of the members had the ability to "combust in the presence of light".
By thirty centuries ago Godric had grown tired of seeking, despite his strength and speed he came off more than a little creepy to people he turned. Often having no choice but to kill the newborns he'd turned because of their reluctance to act out his wishes. That was, until he met Aro. Aro was, and remains, a con-man. His primary, active gift is to read minds, but passively this allows him to understand and ultimately manipulate. Once Godric had secured the allegiance and had changed Aro, he let Aro take the reins of power. Godric still has considerable influence over Aro and therefore the Volturi, indeed, the "recruiting" of Jane and Alec was one that was ordered by him.
Godric is the oldest vampire in existence, without exception. During what would be called the First Vampire War, if it was ever recorded, Godric effectively lead both sides… to defeat. He gathered the strongest and oldest vampires and pit them against each other, effectively removing anyone who could challenge him. Through the ages, his training has elevated his strength and speed to beyond that of a newborn, but his technique and experience makes him the perfect fighter. If he so desired he could destroy whole covens, however, he has the Volturi do that for him.
The banning of Immortal Childs was set down by him. Aro showed specific interest in them as a weapon and Godric feared the result of what could happen should an army be raised. Apart from when being bitten, Godric has never touched Aro, so the out ruling of Immortal Children seemed a little strange to him but nonetheless he followed through with the order of outlawing them. This also sook to further the Volturi's position as leaders of the vampire world, removing one of the greatest untameable threats, even if Aro did not realize this at first, his active policy to destroy the Immortal Children protects both himself and Godric from that threat.
Aro has forever felt blockaded by Godric's rules and laws. His position as head of Volturi, and therefore head of the vampire world is one of the few things that keeps him from trying to remove Godric as his final obstacle. Should that position ever be threatened, his willingness to keep the existence of Godric a secret would diminish. Many vampires have hunted for a vampire older then Aro, to explain their creation and existence. The older a vampire gets the more time they've had to wonder about these things, immortality without any answers can lead to insanity, the basic state of mind of most vampires. If Godric was revealed almost all of the vampire world would attempt to seek him out.
As of late, Godric spends most of his time in uncontrolled territories, perfecting his fighting styles, training his body and absorbing information. He councils with Aro and other key Volturi members between once every few months to sometimes decades apart, he does not take any active role unless a situation arises. In this way, Aro can be called the leader of the Volturi.