General Synopsis: Ace and the Gang
Intro:
The year is 199X. Prince Lodin's war against the Lupines has ebbed for a time, but all is not well. When and where will the next attack be? How will this war end? How do the wolves find our meeting places? Does the Prince have a plan? Uncertainty reigns as these whispers swirl and billow in every shadowy crevice of the Windy City. Among the werewolves' kindred victims, was Sheriff Barnes, and as he met his final death, so too did Lodin's connections in the police. Dissent festers beneath the Primogen's brittle veneer as each clan seeks to secure its own survival. The Giovanni have once again begun attempts to expand their influence over mortal and kindred society. In response, the Prince has made the controversial decision to use his emergency powers to elect his own sheriff, Antonio Vincenzo, as a replacement. This new sheriff, a Ventrue like the Prince, has already made use of his connections in the cosa nostra to enforce the Masquerade, but many clans bemoan the lack of transparency in the new regime.
Others prepare for much older, unseen threats, their concerns becoming more and more valid with each silenced messenger. With each night, fewer and fewer coteries have been present in Elysium as their havens are left similarly vacant. These unusual times bring strange occurrences. Daniel Trexler, the recently-elected mayor, has begun to enact policies that imply a disturbing level of familiarity with Kindred society. The spirits that wander the city's ancient places grow restless. Hunter cells become more emboldened by the lack of interference. Chicago's homeless claim something they call "the Spider" drags them into the shadows. Strange broadcasts invade the airwaves while reports grow of something sinister lurking in Lake Michigan. Is there a connection with the Garou? As the new millennium draws near, more talks of Gehenna the prophesied end of days, become commonplace. One thing is certain, it is now more dangerous than ever to be a Cainite.
Outline:
A powerful Methuselah, Karnstein has awoken beneath Chicago and is dominating contacts and forming connections all over the city in efforts of deposing Prince Lodin. A pivotal tool in his arsenal is Pentex, who has begun capitalizing on Chicago’s squalor by incorporating more of their subsidiaries such as O’Tulley’s, King Breweries, and Magadon Pharmaceuticals, converting a large section of town housing into a new hospital after the previous one burned down under mysterious circumstances several years ago. In order to lower his confidence, Karnstein has threatened and killed a few of Lodin’s allies, knowing that he is too proud to share just how concerning these developments really are.
Lodin, knowing full well that a single Kindred is working to undermine his rule, attempts to hide this fact by blaming these attacks on common enemies like Hunters, Lupines, and the Sabbat in hopes of convincing those under his rule that they should unite in his support “We’re all in this together”. In the mean time, Lodin does what he does best by strengthening his connections in the public sector, such as the Press and local police as well as establishing new connections in the financial sector, which brought him into contact with young up-and-comer Dan Trexxler, a popular politician with ties to Pentex (unbeknownst to Lodin).
Karnstein decided to add some more chaos to the equation by validating the Kindred’s concerns by enticing the Sabbat to infiltrate Chicago from their hold in Gary, Indiana.
The Kindred Lupine war is going is going VERY poorly for the Kindred. Lodin has
Meta Plot
Dr. Caligari, a powerful Nephandus, is seeking to reconstitute his body from the void by possessing victims or hypnotizing them through dreams. He is dangerously close.
Stalking Horse — The Nephandi don’t care about being subtle with other humans; it’s just reality that they have to worry about offending (for the moment). As a result, a favorite tactic involves terrifying or bribing prominent Sleepers (politicians and entrepreneurs, especially) into working for the Dark Lords. These high-ranking pawns then follow orders from below, taking actions so inflammatory as to flush the local Tradition mages out. Major land purchases are always good for getting Dreamspeakers in a huff, while obscenity, lifestyle and drug statutes usually flush the Choristers, Cultists and Verbena into the public arena. While the Tradition mages attempt to deal with things subtly, they’re easy prey for shaytan hit teams. The more the Tradition mages try to keep things under wraps, the wilder the shaytans get, forcing the defenders to spend more and more of their energies bottling things up (and less and less counterattacking). Conversely, this sort of approach can also reveal the presence of Technocrats, who may well come out into the field to find out why their bought politician or businessman isn’t staying bought any more.
Turf Wars — There’s always good fun to be had in inciting the local supernatural population. Vampires and werewolves never need an excuse to be paranoid, so providing them with one simply increases the fun. In cases like this, a Nephandus kills a few innocent bystanders (if he’s really feeling vicious, he establishes a “pattern” to his victims) and alters the corpses somehow using magic. A favorite involves cracking the corpses’ bones and draining the marrow from inside; other approaches involve mutilations or the growth of hideous cancers. Once the Nephandus has his pawns scatter the bodies throughout his city (using Time magics to diffuse any reading one might get on time of death), it’s only a matter of time before the local supernaturals get wind of this new, unknown threat that’s doing horrible things they’ve never seen before. The vampires get jumpy, start blaming each other, and go for each others’ throats. As any vampire worth his salt has his fingers on a dozen or so mortals, these humans also get caught up in the conflict, leading to riots, murders and other civic disturbances. While all of this shakes down, the local Garou go on the warpath, decimating anything in their way as they go looking for whatever Wyrm-creature committed the foul deeds. Chaos, terror and blood inevitably ensue, all to the benefit of the Nephandis’ masters.
Session 2
Hunter group is meeting at an abandoned warehouse in the Chicago Barrens (Suburbs). Members are Samuel (Leader, not present, whereabouts unknown), Marissa (Second in command. Acting leader, but not present. Taking care of her sick son in her apartment near the housing projects. Husband Harry was thought to have been killed by a vampire in wolf form several months ago. Harry is the werewolf), Roy (gruff garbage man with a shotgun, current Acting leader), Tim (Youngest member. Conspiracy theorist blabbermouth. Armed with a pistol, but inexperienced.), Crystal (Lot-lizard who saw things she can’t explain).
During role call, mention that nobody knows what Samuel does, but Crystal thinks that Marissa has been sleeping with him ever since her husband died.
The team is planning an attack on the Fine Arts Building, a known haven of the Toreador Primogen, Clarissa. Though the believe her name is Carmilla the “first” vampire, the fact that a barely functional hunter cell managed to find out that a powerful vampire rests there is troubling. If asked, the source is anonymous.
Tim knows what Clarissa really is due to being a Garou. Knowing that she is too strong for the hunters to deal with, he tries to convince the group that O’Tully’s should be the true target. One year ago, Dan Trexxler announced his campaign for mayor, boasting a “Food Allocation” program to make food more accessible for the needy. 3 months later, construction of 150 new O’Tully’s restaurants across the Chicago area is completed, bringing the number to 225. “Violent crime” such as riots and vandalism (fomori possessions and werewolf attacks) erupt shortly after. Every incident occurs near an O’Tully’s location.
Have Crystal egg Tim on by mentioning that she saw a lizard man eating out of the dumpster. Roy dismisses Tim’s ramblings due to Crystal's absurd claim and introduce the topic at hand. “If you spent more time practicing with your gun than crafting that silly pinboard, you’d probably be more useful.”
Mention the destruction of the previous hospital and how the acquisition of the new hospital by Magadon pharmaceuticals is a good thing.
Have Tim be a Werewolf (Glass Walker). Have one of the mayor’s new specialized task forces interrupt the strike when Tim changes. Imply that the Mayor was tipped off. Vincenzo will be shocked (due to the alliance between Lodin and the mayor) but will not reveal why. The recently-awoken methusaleh sent an anonymous letter to the hunter group and tipped off the organization about a “terrorist threat” on the Fine Arts Building in order to sew dissent between the mayor and Lodin.
Undetermined
Introduce the coterie to the Giovanni by having a reliable informant die, necessitating their necromantic powers. Maybe have the victim be killed by Flynn? Have Flynn find out about it from the coterie. Flynn confronts Kaia about the murder, but she thinks he did it. She knew Flynn followed her to Chicago, but said nothing, since she didn't want to spoil Flynn’s surprise. Have the purpetrator be a Fomori from the Endron facility on the Michigan coast.
Have Tortoise Publishing (Wyrm-tainted company) try to buy out/franchise Gabriel’s business.
Sheriff Barnes isn't dead. He defected. Was it to the Sabbat or to Karnstein?
Cassius Trinci is a member of the Benevolent Society of Lost Souls, with a chapter house in Chicago.