The New World by Night

To creatures that do not change, trapped in a form of stasis from the time their lives end and their undying life begins, change itself can be a terrifying ordeal.  To creatures that go through decades like months, and centuries like years, the rapid flow of time can quickly and easily slip past them without them realizing all that has changed in the blink of their immortal eye.

Some things however, cannot go unnoticed.  The Human Race, from which all Vampires are born into, and leave upon their death into Kindred society, was under attack.  Nature had finally risen up to smite the ones that were tearing the very world apart, and her wrath was horrible.  The Mega Flu swept through the Vampiric food stocks so quickly, that many Kindred scarcely knew how to compensate.  At first it was something that tightened around the Clans, thousands of people dying in a city in record numbers.  Then it was millions, and things were more than tight, things were desperate.

In those first long months after the mutating of the H5N2 virus, more than a few eyes turned upon the Clan most assumed to be responsible.  More than one voice rose up quickly in accusation, and the scape goat of many was sought out once again.  The Followers of Set were ready for the persecution this time however.  Not to say scores of Setites did not die in those first nights of the Witch Hunt called upon them, of course many were.  Many were in fact sacrificed by their Elders to do just that, die, so that those Elders may live.  This was another storm the Followers had to shelter through, and they did.

Both the Camarilla and the Sabbat felt the pain of decreased food suplies, devastated hunting grounds, and entire cities seemingly dry up.  The Masquerade was in danger on a constant basis as Prince's and Bishop's alike decreed that embracing new Childer was prohibited.  the Independent Clans were targeted next, being hounted out of Domains and Sabbat controlled territories as things grew further desperate.  It was only a matter of time, many knew, until something had to give.

Something finally did when coastal cities started to vanish from the earth, sinking to a watery grave.  The Sabbat pulled forth all its might, and started the final great war against the Camarilla.

The Camarilla, for so long the power of the Vampiric world, even into the late 20th century, was finally breathing its last breaths.  The Elders and Princes quickly found that ousting the Independents from their Domains was the first nail in their coffins, as alliances quickly dried up before the heat of the Sabbat incursions.  With food scarse, and the Sea levels rising, the Hand of Caine threw out all the stops, hitting the Camarilla with everything they had, and some things they didn't previously.  Survival of the fittest became the rule of the night, and many Elders, lost and unaccustomed to the early nights of the 21st century found themselves very wanting in that regard.  What was worse was the way in wich the Neonates and Ancillae sold out their Elders so easily, made desperate from their Beasts gnawing at them through hunger every night, just to see the Elders horde all the good herds and blood supplies for themselves.

The Camarilla teetered on the very brink after just one year, the Sabbat crashed against every Tower held city on earth, and smashed through its defenses like so much glass in a window pane.  Elders quickly fled, driving the sect underground, while much of its leadership was broken, or put to Torpor, both voluntarily and involuntarily alike, in order to survive the onslaught of roving packs of young Sabbat diabolists.

The Hand's momentum did not stop there however, with such disorganization across the board for the Camarilla, the higher leadership of the Sabbat struck at their ultimate goal since the nights of the Anarch Revolt, the Antideluvians.  At present in 2095, it is rumored that only three of the Clan originators exist, Tremere, Haqim, and Nosferatu.  Its hard to tell if this is so much Sabbat propoganda, ministered by the Lasombra, or if Caine's Sword was indeed successful, none can confirm nor deny it, but the rumors are wide spread, and there were many fearful in those early nights.

Two decades passed and the burning fires of the Sabbat started to cool and dwindle, without the blood of Camarilla Elders to keep it burning brightly.  The Independent Clans too feld the burn and rush of Sabbat Diabolists, though harder to corner and pin down as they were.  Eventually the machine that the Sabbat had become started to idle, grow listless, and then the eyes of the young Antitribu, looked up inside their own ranks.The ensuing violence echoed throughout the sectand changed it forever. Clans split as the devout became disillusioned with how quickly brothers in blood turned against each other. Outside magical influences, rumored to be Tremere, exposed the Vaulderie as a fraud and another tool of control from the elders.  The very ritual that tied the Sabbat so tightly together came crashing down as entire packs turned on their Elders and their blood was freed, unraveling that control that had kept the Bishops and Archbishops in power for centuries.  The following five years saw the worste violence any Sect of Kindred had ever seen, as the Sabbat started to tear itself apart from within through Civil War.

This gave the struggling Camarilla the one chance it needed to pull itself from annihilation. A brave few Elders dared to stick their heads out of their crypts and safe houses in order to reach out to former allies.  Calling to Independent Clans to unite and try to fight back against the Sabbat while it was sating its blood thirst on its own.

With the Sabbat weakened and the Camarilla still largely in hiding while it recovered, Independents became a driving force in the world. Not just the pure Independent Clans, but roaming individuals building alliances in the most unlikely of places.  The Magi and Lupine had been hit quite hard in their own rights, and where once there was hatred and mistrust, was not desperation and a will to survive, new alliances were formed. The world was growing smaller, and changing so rapidly that the Kindred had to adapt, or perish.  The wars fought among themselves over the past three decades had left them weak and vulnerable, so it was no time at all before Prince and Bishop alike were following the lead of the Independents, and the first Magi were seen within Elysium halls.  The first Lupine running through city streets, not on the hunt for the Kindred themselves.

Yet still obstacles arose before them.  The Church was rising like a tidal wave out of the Vatican, and though many through the Kindred world knew it was assisted, they also knew that it would be all too easy for another Inquisition to be formed.  A call across all Vampiric fronts came up to bolster the Masquerade.  Even the Sabbat, in its tatters, made demand for the move, as the penalty for breach became death, or worse.  Many a Cainite slipped back into shadow to watch the reckless youth fall to a new brand of Hunter, augmented, powerful, carrying technology never before seen.  The tables were evening, the prey was becoming predator of its own sort.

It was not just the ancient struggle between the Sabbat, the Camarilla and the Church. Other factions used the ever changing climate to suit their own agendas. The Gypsies, for once, began to flourish, the world much too busy to worry over old prejudices and cultural divides. The Rom found work within the Mega Cities as cheap labor, and thrived in the shadows of the great sea walls being erected. There was also an influx of Sorcerers, Hedge Magicians, and Psychics that began to trickle into the Cities once they were constructed.  Many banded together and formed potent Crafts and Cabals within the labrynthine streets and infrastructures of Mega Cities.

However, not all began a new, not all slipped away into the night to lick their wounds.  In some cases, bad blood stayed bad and old fueds still raged through the back alleys and the board rooms of the new cities. The centuries old conflict between the Tremere, and the Order of Hermes, was still burning brightly in the night.  In Vienna, the Council of Seven sent a request for assistance from the remaining Justicars of the Camarilla, to help them drive back the Hermetics that were finding new and better ways to root out Tremere Chantries and burn them to the ground.  Still desperately trying to regroup and rebuild, the request was denied.  Not only denied, but the Camarilla refused to involve itself in yet another war with another adversary, especially since channels had started to open between the Magi community and the Camarilla.

Clan Tremere, was outraged.  After being a central pillar to the Tower for centuries, to have such a firm negative answer in their time of need was far too much for the Warlocks to simply ignore.  In their disgust, and pure need for survival, the Tremere were forced to rely upon old, and outlawed methods in wich to survive.  The Clan began to mass embrace and create Gargoyle slaves by the hundreds, using the cast off peoples of society that dwelled in the most ruined of places.  The tactic worked, and the Tremere were able to fight back the Hermetics through sheer number and force, with both sides taking huge losses in the skirmishes.  The Order withdrew, having been fighting a two front war all along was too much for them, and the a formal Cease Fire was drafted for the War between Blood Mage and Mage sects.

However, just a short year after the Tremere war with the Hermetics came to a begrudging hold, the Camarilla finally did step in.  The Clan was reprimanded heavily for its use of tactics that had been disbarred, saying the the mass embrace of Gargoyle slaves was both unethical, and dangerously close to an act the Sabbat would use.  This insult was the last the Tremere would take and they removed themselves from the Camarilla, finally claiming independence with what was left of their Gargoyle Army. To date the Clan Tremere has flourished, returning to their secretive ways, using fear and paranoia through the rest of Kindred society to keep themselves safe.

After the main foundations of the Mega Cities where poured, Vampires of all factions started to stake their claims. A Ventrue Called Winston Pitrie was one for the first to spot the potential of New Babylon. Displaced from his home land of Brussels by the floods this Elder took his entourage to the Americas to help rebuild for a better future. To strike back at the Sabbat by undercutting their influences. Form the very beginning he saw the importance of New Babylon, for it stood just back form old New York. To retake such a city form under the nose of the Sabbat would crush the stigmata New York City has poised to the Camarilla after it was so violently taken form them all those years ago. The grand game of influence and cunning would start with the new Corporate sovereignty laws and the claiming of the Throne as Prince. The Ventrue thrived as did the Nosferatu.... until the Coupe. Over the years the Elders grew weary and complacent. Often hiding behind their resources and leaving the young to their own devices. They grew to set in their ways which gave enemies like snakes a chance they where waiting for... to walk in and set up roots. The Sabbats reach started to grow again. Unsatisfide with the Elders rule, neglect and hiding that Pitries reign created. The young backed a new Elder, one with all the connections, the fight, the ideals of a Camarilla not afraid to stand up against its enemies. After a brief but bloody conflict the former Prince of London Sabbath of Clan Lasombra took command and now sits as Prince of New Babylon. Her fierce reputation brought out fear and loyalty form those who turned to her side. Now the reformed Camarilla look to the future willing to fight to reclaim what they lost to the Setites and Sabbat.