Prologue
The 23rd of September, Autumn Equinox
Johnny gazed into the warehouse, his eyes wide with terror. The Nosferatu neonate could clearly see the flames blazing within and the silhouettes jumping among them with frenzied speed. A handful of the Kindred down there were terribly malformed, sporting elongated skulls or even hitinous carapace. He counted maybe twenty Sabbat in all, but that was small relief given their traditional combat tactics.
Just as he was busily considering how many shovelheads that twenty could produce, a gong ended the revelry below. A man wearing the full regalia of a Catholic Bishop appeared among the gathered crowd. Johnny stared in disbelief, for he knew the new arrival's face all too well. He had seen the man almost every time he guarded meetings of the city's Primogen, just as he had heard the voice which now spoke:
'Welcome to my beautiful land, honoured guests. Be assured that you are free to stay here and partake of our hospitality. Caine willing, the joy you bring will spread to the entire city. Now please, let us share a...'
The abrupt pause, and the fact the Bishop fixed his burning gaze squarely on his location, told Johnny that he's been found, his Obfuscate pierced. The Nosferatu quickly abandoned the skylight and fled accross the rooftop. Even as he did so, howls of bestial fury echoed behind him.
'Adam!' he cried the name of his backup. 'Adam! Where are you, damn it?!'
'Here' the other Nosferatu replied, appearing from behind a ventilation box.
'Well get that damn bat of yours flying and let's get out of here.' Johnny panted, running ever closer to Adam. 'The Prince must be made aware of...'
Words died on his lips as Adam pierced him with a stake in one fluid move.
'Yeah, the Bishop tells me you've seen too much. It's like you to leave all the explaining to poor little Adam.'
The vampire spat bloody plhegm on his immobilised companion and turned west, towards the city's skyline. It shone brightly, its skyscrapers still dominated by the soviet-built Palace of Culture and Science beneath which Prince Bierut would hold audiences. Adam bitterly hoped the coming long nights of autumn and winter would change that.
'Caine wills it' he whispered.
Welcome to my home. Enter freely and of your own accord. Welcome to Warsaw by Night.
Reduced to rubble by the Germans in 1944, the "phoenix city" again stands proudly as the capital of independent Poland. With the city's destruction, its old Kindred population mostly dispersed. Not many returned, as at the heels of the 'liberating' Red Army went the Supreme Brujah Soviet and its Russian Nosferatu allies.
Much like Poland itself, the country's Kindred received puppet Princes from Moscow. Warsaw's new ruler, Prince Boleslaw Bierut, arrived, or rather returned, in 1956, having been embraced by a Russian Nosferatu during a state visit to Moscow that year. Unlike Poland, Warsaw retains its Soviet-sponsored Prince and his Brujah enforcers well into the 21st century. The Nosferatu, in their typical fashion, keep to the sewers and tunnels beneath the city, maintaining visible presence only in the Prince's audience chambers beneath the Palace of Culture and Science. The Brujah, now fractured into two rival gangs, content themselves with the right bank of the Vistula - a collection of boroughs known under the common name of Prague, and remain loyal allies of the Nosferatu. Still, the Prince's position became precarious in 1989 when Russia was cut off from the rest of the world via a mystical barrier. Without the support of his Brujah and Nosferatu cohorts, Bierut was hard pressed to hold his throne against a Tzimisce counteroffensive.
The Transformaton War of 1990-1991 saw many Polish cities turned from Princedoms to Archbishoprics, and rumour has it the Fiends even awakened an ancient vozhd beneath Krakow, but Warsaw remained independent. Concessions, however, had to be made, allowing another, more insidious enemy to creep into the city: the Camarilla. This club of Elders and their cronies looks down upon a Prince who may well be of low generation but is scarcely half a century old. Still, Vienna was not about to allow an entire country north of the Carpathians fall to the Sabbat, and despatched a canny Ventrue warlord to help Bierut out. With him came his clanmates, as well as more and more Toreador and even the odd Tremere, bringing hope to those members of their Clans who suffered under the Nosferatu-Brujah rule since the last World War.
The Sabbat might have been more welcoming to Bierut if not for the fact that the Supreme Brujah Soviet and their allies usurped ancient Tzimisce lands, and the Fiends remain the movers and shakers of the sect in the region. They are unlike their western cousins, still following many of the Clan's old customs, and would put their ancient vendettas in front of the sect's best interests in a heartbeat, no matter what their Lsaombra councillors would say. Since their defeat in 1991 the Sabbat was slowly inserting agents into the city. Now, after twenty years of preparations, they are ready to strike, howling packs amassing in the city's industrial areas and abandoned train depots.
Apart from it all are the Gangrel. Instrumental in stopping the Sabbat during the Transformation War, now they are disinterested in the Jyhad to say the least. Some ended up in the Prince's service, most, however, are content with prowling the Masovian Landscape Park and the Kampinos National Park surrounding the city.
Now, in grotsnik's best tradition, comes the Clan vote. Please specify gender if you wish. Malks and Tremere, though present in the city, are so scarce that they won’t be available for now. All the characters are approximately Ancilla, that is trusted associates of the city’s Elders, with moderate power bases of their own. Also, if you wish, the Discipline in brackets may be swapped for any one from the following list: Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Potence, Presence, Protean
A) Your Grandsire should be Primogen, not that bloody foreigner. So he is older, so he claims the Supreme Soviet helped him to avenge Carthage on the local Ventrue fifty years ago. So what. That's the problem. He's not from here. But now the Ventrue are strong again, and want their own revenge. Maybe, just maybe, you could hand it to them? If you play your cards right, you'll free the city of all oppression for good. You are Brujah.
Celerity, Potence, Presence, (Protean)
B) Being a Scourge of a Nosferatu Sheriff of a Nosferatu Prince is not the most pleasant of jobs, but someone's got to do it. The regime might be foreign in origin, but now it stands on its own, and at least the Prince is local. Better him than the Camarilla with its treacheries, you reason, and so you seek out possible threats to his rule. Recently, the Clan noticed agitation among the Lupines of the surrounding forests. Something must have disturbed the beasts. You will find out what it is. You are Gangrel.
Animalism, Fortitude, Protean, (Potence)
C) You had feared this assignment would disturb your studies of the Abyss, yet nothing of the sort happened. In the past years you spent your nights pouring over tomes of ancient Abyss Mystics or mingling with this otherwise fine city's wretched Kindred. Your studies have been fruitful, pointing you to several items in the National Museum which may be of use to you. Now that the Bishop's call has come, the city will soon be engulfed in chaos. A perfect opportunity to increase your esoteric power. You are Lasombra.
Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence, (Protean)
D) You’ve been spying on the Malks for too long. Their loony pilgrimage from one mental hospital to another seems to serve no purpose. They don’t seem to mingle with the posh crowd well, whatever the Ventrue, Tremere and Toreador might wish, so they are not a threat to your Prince. And you’re sure he’s perfectly aware of that. Why, then, he insists on using you and your valuable skills instead of sending a neonate to spy on them? What is he hiding? Why is he afraid of the Malkavians? You will find out. You like to know things. You like to solve riddles. You are Nosferatu.
Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence, (Protean)
E) That offensive Nosferatu was stalking you again. You picked him out with your Auspex easily. Of course you went to your Primogen, but you’re sure she won’t be able to much about it, this city’s Prince being what he is. It’s time to take matters in your own hands. There’s this Ventrue who might just be willing to help you. Failing that, you’re sure you can suitably impress one of the city’s reclusive Tremere or even a Malk. The Camarilla must stick together, after all. You won’t stand for misshapen creatures to intrude on your privacy, and now you have means to stop them. You are Toreador.
Auspex, Celerity, Presence, (Fortitude)
F) Your lord the Bishop sent you to liaison with the nomad packs that had arrived for the Siege. Though you are certain the other Templars will be capable of protecting the Abbey, you are uneasy with the situation. But, truth be told, you simply fear the newly arrived packs will ruin everything. The Bishop’s schemes are complex and delicate, and those antitribu mongrels have no appreciation for such things. Is it their blind faith that is so limiting? No matter. You will make them obey. You are Tzimisce.
Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude, (Dominate)
G) You are amazed this city is capable of functioning at all. Sewer Rats and Rabble ruling together are a recipe for disaster. Especially with the former in charge. Rulers must be subtle, rulers must posses charisma. Rulers must be like you. But fortunately your Primogen has the backing of the city’s Camarilla. Recently the Tremere Regent approached you with a plan that will assure your sect’s dominance in a few decades, and your Primogen approved of it. You will do your part. You will not fail. Your duty is to the Camarilla. You are Ventrue.
Dominate, Fortitude, Presence, (Protean)
Contact List, Map and Chapter One
Part one of Chapter Two and part two.
Part one of Chapter Three and part two.
Chapter Four
Part one of Chapter Five
The 23rd of September, Autumn Equinox
Johnny gazed into the warehouse, his eyes wide with terror. The Nosferatu neonate could clearly see the flames blazing within and the silhouettes jumping among them with frenzied speed. A handful of the Kindred down there were terribly malformed, sporting elongated skulls or even hitinous carapace. He counted maybe twenty Sabbat in all, but that was small relief given their traditional combat tactics.
Just as he was busily considering how many shovelheads that twenty could produce, a gong ended the revelry below. A man wearing the full regalia of a Catholic Bishop appeared among the gathered crowd. Johnny stared in disbelief, for he knew the new arrival's face all too well. He had seen the man almost every time he guarded meetings of the city's Primogen, just as he had heard the voice which now spoke:
'Welcome to my beautiful land, honoured guests. Be assured that you are free to stay here and partake of our hospitality. Caine willing, the joy you bring will spread to the entire city. Now please, let us share a...'
The abrupt pause, and the fact the Bishop fixed his burning gaze squarely on his location, told Johnny that he's been found, his Obfuscate pierced. The Nosferatu quickly abandoned the skylight and fled accross the rooftop. Even as he did so, howls of bestial fury echoed behind him.
'Adam!' he cried the name of his backup. 'Adam! Where are you, damn it?!'
'Here' the other Nosferatu replied, appearing from behind a ventilation box.
'Well get that damn bat of yours flying and let's get out of here.' Johnny panted, running ever closer to Adam. 'The Prince must be made aware of...'
Words died on his lips as Adam pierced him with a stake in one fluid move.
'Yeah, the Bishop tells me you've seen too much. It's like you to leave all the explaining to poor little Adam.'
The vampire spat bloody plhegm on his immobilised companion and turned west, towards the city's skyline. It shone brightly, its skyscrapers still dominated by the soviet-built Palace of Culture and Science beneath which Prince Bierut would hold audiences. Adam bitterly hoped the coming long nights of autumn and winter would change that.
'Caine wills it' he whispered.
Welcome to my home. Enter freely and of your own accord. Welcome to Warsaw by Night.
Reduced to rubble by the Germans in 1944, the "phoenix city" again stands proudly as the capital of independent Poland. With the city's destruction, its old Kindred population mostly dispersed. Not many returned, as at the heels of the 'liberating' Red Army went the Supreme Brujah Soviet and its Russian Nosferatu allies.
Much like Poland itself, the country's Kindred received puppet Princes from Moscow. Warsaw's new ruler, Prince Boleslaw Bierut, arrived, or rather returned, in 1956, having been embraced by a Russian Nosferatu during a state visit to Moscow that year. Unlike Poland, Warsaw retains its Soviet-sponsored Prince and his Brujah enforcers well into the 21st century. The Nosferatu, in their typical fashion, keep to the sewers and tunnels beneath the city, maintaining visible presence only in the Prince's audience chambers beneath the Palace of Culture and Science. The Brujah, now fractured into two rival gangs, content themselves with the right bank of the Vistula - a collection of boroughs known under the common name of Prague, and remain loyal allies of the Nosferatu. Still, the Prince's position became precarious in 1989 when Russia was cut off from the rest of the world via a mystical barrier. Without the support of his Brujah and Nosferatu cohorts, Bierut was hard pressed to hold his throne against a Tzimisce counteroffensive.
The Transformaton War of 1990-1991 saw many Polish cities turned from Princedoms to Archbishoprics, and rumour has it the Fiends even awakened an ancient vozhd beneath Krakow, but Warsaw remained independent. Concessions, however, had to be made, allowing another, more insidious enemy to creep into the city: the Camarilla. This club of Elders and their cronies looks down upon a Prince who may well be of low generation but is scarcely half a century old. Still, Vienna was not about to allow an entire country north of the Carpathians fall to the Sabbat, and despatched a canny Ventrue warlord to help Bierut out. With him came his clanmates, as well as more and more Toreador and even the odd Tremere, bringing hope to those members of their Clans who suffered under the Nosferatu-Brujah rule since the last World War.
The Sabbat might have been more welcoming to Bierut if not for the fact that the Supreme Brujah Soviet and their allies usurped ancient Tzimisce lands, and the Fiends remain the movers and shakers of the sect in the region. They are unlike their western cousins, still following many of the Clan's old customs, and would put their ancient vendettas in front of the sect's best interests in a heartbeat, no matter what their Lsaombra councillors would say. Since their defeat in 1991 the Sabbat was slowly inserting agents into the city. Now, after twenty years of preparations, they are ready to strike, howling packs amassing in the city's industrial areas and abandoned train depots.
Apart from it all are the Gangrel. Instrumental in stopping the Sabbat during the Transformation War, now they are disinterested in the Jyhad to say the least. Some ended up in the Prince's service, most, however, are content with prowling the Masovian Landscape Park and the Kampinos National Park surrounding the city.
Now, in grotsnik's best tradition, comes the Clan vote. Please specify gender if you wish. Malks and Tremere, though present in the city, are so scarce that they won’t be available for now. All the characters are approximately Ancilla, that is trusted associates of the city’s Elders, with moderate power bases of their own. Also, if you wish, the Discipline in brackets may be swapped for any one from the following list: Animalism, Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Potence, Presence, Protean
A) Your Grandsire should be Primogen, not that bloody foreigner. So he is older, so he claims the Supreme Soviet helped him to avenge Carthage on the local Ventrue fifty years ago. So what. That's the problem. He's not from here. But now the Ventrue are strong again, and want their own revenge. Maybe, just maybe, you could hand it to them? If you play your cards right, you'll free the city of all oppression for good. You are Brujah.
Celerity, Potence, Presence, (Protean)
B) Being a Scourge of a Nosferatu Sheriff of a Nosferatu Prince is not the most pleasant of jobs, but someone's got to do it. The regime might be foreign in origin, but now it stands on its own, and at least the Prince is local. Better him than the Camarilla with its treacheries, you reason, and so you seek out possible threats to his rule. Recently, the Clan noticed agitation among the Lupines of the surrounding forests. Something must have disturbed the beasts. You will find out what it is. You are Gangrel.
Animalism, Fortitude, Protean, (Potence)
C) You had feared this assignment would disturb your studies of the Abyss, yet nothing of the sort happened. In the past years you spent your nights pouring over tomes of ancient Abyss Mystics or mingling with this otherwise fine city's wretched Kindred. Your studies have been fruitful, pointing you to several items in the National Museum which may be of use to you. Now that the Bishop's call has come, the city will soon be engulfed in chaos. A perfect opportunity to increase your esoteric power. You are Lasombra.
Dominate, Obtenebration, Potence, (Protean)
D) You’ve been spying on the Malks for too long. Their loony pilgrimage from one mental hospital to another seems to serve no purpose. They don’t seem to mingle with the posh crowd well, whatever the Ventrue, Tremere and Toreador might wish, so they are not a threat to your Prince. And you’re sure he’s perfectly aware of that. Why, then, he insists on using you and your valuable skills instead of sending a neonate to spy on them? What is he hiding? Why is he afraid of the Malkavians? You will find out. You like to know things. You like to solve riddles. You are Nosferatu.
Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence, (Protean)
E) That offensive Nosferatu was stalking you again. You picked him out with your Auspex easily. Of course you went to your Primogen, but you’re sure she won’t be able to much about it, this city’s Prince being what he is. It’s time to take matters in your own hands. There’s this Ventrue who might just be willing to help you. Failing that, you’re sure you can suitably impress one of the city’s reclusive Tremere or even a Malk. The Camarilla must stick together, after all. You won’t stand for misshapen creatures to intrude on your privacy, and now you have means to stop them. You are Toreador.
Auspex, Celerity, Presence, (Fortitude)
F) Your lord the Bishop sent you to liaison with the nomad packs that had arrived for the Siege. Though you are certain the other Templars will be capable of protecting the Abbey, you are uneasy with the situation. But, truth be told, you simply fear the newly arrived packs will ruin everything. The Bishop’s schemes are complex and delicate, and those antitribu mongrels have no appreciation for such things. Is it their blind faith that is so limiting? No matter. You will make them obey. You are Tzimisce.
Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude, (Dominate)
G) You are amazed this city is capable of functioning at all. Sewer Rats and Rabble ruling together are a recipe for disaster. Especially with the former in charge. Rulers must be subtle, rulers must posses charisma. Rulers must be like you. But fortunately your Primogen has the backing of the city’s Camarilla. Recently the Tremere Regent approached you with a plan that will assure your sect’s dominance in a few decades, and your Primogen approved of it. You will do your part. You will not fail. Your duty is to the Camarilla. You are Ventrue.
Dominate, Fortitude, Presence, (Protean)
Contact List, Map and Chapter One
Part one of Chapter Two and part two.
Part one of Chapter Three and part two.
Chapter Four
Part one of Chapter Five
for your effort, Storyfag.
to Storyfag - this is going to be cool.
