The Years Before
Your first memory of Chicago is, more likely than not, of The Chicago Fire in 1871. Whether you lived in the city and experienced it yourself, moved to Chicago after its eruption, or were told the tale by your Sire, The Chicago Fire was the first event to reinvent Chicago’s landscape. Domains shifted. The parallels between the Fire and the War you just endured are hard to ignore. It established the landscape of the next one hundred years and the subsequent Praxis of Lodin.
Lodin’s Praxis came opportunistically; Maxwell, the previous Brujah Prince, fled the city after an assault by Lodin and his allies. You recall that none of Lodin’s Ventrue allies survived the battle… none that weren’t of his bloodline, anyways.
But his Praxis led to peace. Whether or not that was Lodin’s doing, or happenstance, is for you to consider. Was Lodin’s growing paranoia a bane or boon? Nonetheless, for fifty years, Lodin ruled over a seemingly quiet city. Time marched on. It couldn’t last.
In 1992, The Chicago Flood churned the memories of the Fire back onto the surface. 250,000,000 gallons of water spilled into Chicago, flooding much of the underground of Chicago. For the Nosferatu, this flood proved worse than the Fire, destroying much of their meticulously crafted Warrens. Rumors point to a variety of perpetrators. You might think the Tremere did it to uproot the Nosferatu’s hold over the ground beneath their feet. You might think that Lodin did it to destroy the Nosferatu’s power base… even if it backfired against Lodin’s financial investments. You might even consider it to be an inside job, a sabotage by Nosferatu Sabbat members just before the War. All rumors remain unsubstantiated. While you may not have been personally impacted by the Flood, its impact on Kindred relations within the Camarilla cannot be understated. Tensions threatened to reach a breaking point until a greater threat came to the surface. The War was that greater threat.
The War in Chicago
The Garou had lived in relative peace from the Kindred of Chicago. The Kindred claimed the city, whereas the Garou claimed the forests and suburbs beyond. You likely thought little of the Garou in your years in Chicago; they were mythical and you did not engage with them. Engaging with the Garou meant you had done something wrong. But one day, that changed. Rumors spread about Kindred being attacked on the South Side by other Kindred. Then, it was Kindred being attacked by Garou on the West Side. The enemies Lodin had begun to create within the Camarilla now had to look to him. Lodin stood up and declared it a war. A Blood Hunt was called against all Garou. The Camarilla rallied around the flag. And everything became Hell.
The Aftermath
Whether you carried your sword into battle with the rest of your Clan or sought to weather the storm - successfully or unsuccessfully in both regards - you were trapped in the War’s clutches. Sabbat, Garou, and even wayward Hunters, Anarchs, and members of your own Sect sought to undermine you, take your power, take what’s left of your life, or worse. You might’ve been blackmailed, stabbed, manipulated, Dominated, or Blood Bound. Supposedly, the Camarilla was winning.
But the war ended. Clan Gangrel were responsible for brokering a peace with the Garou after uncovering the Sabbat’s manipulation. Once the peace treaty was signed, the Sabbat dispersed to lick their wounds. The night went quiet once more.
The dust is still settling. The particulates are still in the air. You’re starting to pick through the haze. Whatever wounds you sustained - physically, mentally, in assets, allies, or your own body - have stopped bleeding. You’ll start healing soon. But first, you need to assess the damage.
On average, approximately one third of every Camarilla clan in Chicago was destroyed. The Sabbat sustained significantly more losses, as did the Gangrel and Brujah. Domains are in flux. The Far Southwest Side and Northwest Side were ceded to the Garou in the peace accords. Previous long-term tenants of critical areas, such as Lincoln Park, are now ashes in the gutter.
Lodin did not survive the war. No one knows exactly when the Prince died, but a number of those on the front line - perhaps even you - witnessed him take devastating wounds from Garou and Sabbat alike. Many of the significant players in Chicago perished along with him, including the Brujah Primogen.
Today
You’re left to pick up the pieces. With a shattered Court, and your Sect victorious, how will you seize this moment before someone else does? How will your Clan respond to the power vacuum that the Prince has left? Where will you find stability in a destabilized city?
In our game, this is where we begin. The Primogen Council has seized power over Chicago after brokering a peace with the Garou. The Sabbat are dead, have fled, or are in hiding.