VtR.Overview

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Venue Introduction

The Court of Seattle was at the height of its leisure. The Prince of Seattle, Maria of Córdoba, had a tight hold on the city. Several Elysiums were established and sanctioned, along with titled officers and well-held laws. The territory was claimed, and divided among the different covenants and those of high status. Things worked and functioned as expected clockwork until one day, there was nothing. It just vanished. Those left behind ghouls and blood dolls with no regnant had no one to rely on, the empty rooms of what were great Elysiums now empty and hollow. Worse, there was no longer anyone left to enforce the Masquerade or any city laws.

Cautiously, The Court of Vancouver (BC, Canada) and The Court of Portland (OR, USA) are sending representatives of their courts and the representatives of the covenants to survey and find out what happened to The Court of Seattle. Some former members of The Court of Seattle are also returning to see what they can find, and what new powers they may claim. With the influx of new and opposing kindred into the city there is sure to be competition for resources, territory, and power.

However, can the kindred truly afford to compete solely against each other when they still don’t know what fate took The Court of Seattle? For how long can someone truly ignore what lurks in the unknown darkness peering?

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” Edgar Allen Poe

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Venue Themes:

Theme 1: Hunger

“Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts.” Edgar Allen Poe

Hunger surpasses want on every level. Whether you’re hungry for power, flesh, or riches, for death, for blood, ultimately you always need more. That desire is never truly sated because once you get some power there’s always someone or something that has more. Kindred hunger for blood… and that’s just the start. Hunger is part of Kindred’s existence, they exist for Blood, and no other pleasure compares to it. Bloodlust drives kindred society in a very Machiavellian way where all needs lead back to it as a core desire that drives it. While it comes from this essential core beginning, it develops into a general need for more driven by hunger.

Hunger for power, especially one in such a vacuum caused by The Vanishing of Seattle’s Court. It could look like claiming territory or controlling the new makings of the Seattle Court. It almost demands that power fill the void left behind by such a traditional court. It can embody the opposite and fill a desire some younger kindred have for anarchy and rejection of authority. With no power structure, who is there to stop your hunger for blood and depravity? It’s almost like the city itself hungers in unison with the kindred for more.

“No ego can last for long without the need for more. Therefore, wanting keeps the ego alive much more than having. The ego wants to want more than it wants to have. And so the shallow satisfaction of having is always replaced by more wanting.” Eckhart Tolle

Theme 2: Remembrance

“Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.”- Chief Seattle.

Seattle is a city of memories, good and bad, bloody and hopeful. It’s a place rich in history and where people enshrine it as much as they bury it. What is a memory? They are the thousands of little grains that make someone; dreams that fade with the morning sun and are forgotten. In the Long Night of a Kindred existence, memories might be all they get to keep as everything else turns to ashes. Fleeting, ephemeral as a dream, the harder cloyed against the stronger the resentment when it is inevitably lost. None can keep hold of the intangible forever, not even immortals.The memories of the Kindred are their shield against their Beast. Any memory could keep them grounded and losing portions of one’s memories has worse consequences for Kindred than most. It might be losing that memory of their favorite meal or what it feels like to have been held by their parents that push someone ever closer to the Beast.

Memories keep those in the night connected to what they once were to prolong the inevitable descent into the red surrender forever. What would they do, to not lose the part of themselves that makes them who they are? The Court of Seattle’s fate is unknown and unrecorded. Kindred cannot be remembered if there are no memories imparted to those left behind. Desperate to hold onto their memories or else lose their connection to humanity, how will they face a city that can't remember?

“For some Kindred, Humanity is a downward spiral. It’s a great tragedy that ends in monstrosity and destruction. For some it’s a constant struggle to maintain ties and never lose sight.” (VtR 2e page 106).

Theme 3: Ruin

“Empires inevitably fall, and when they do, history judges them for the legacies they leave behind”- Noah Feldman

The carefully built structure that gives purpose to Kindred’s lives, without its fanged shepherds, was quick to crumble. Seattle’s ruins take several forms: former Elysiums left with no Keepers, Kindred businesses with no management, and territories left unchecked or monitored. Even blood dolls and ghouls were left masterless, clinging to dreams of immortality and pleasure that disappeared without warning; the picture of Seattle, formerly vibrant, was now a lifeless painting.

When the Court of Seattle vanished, it left no one behind to speak to what doom had fallen. The city went silent, and not even the ghouls of the kindred who vanished know what happened to their regnants, and the neighboring courts were stumped as to the reasons after all a snake unseen has the deadliest fangs. For some, it is a land of opportunity like no other, with no structure and no claims; for others, a black void and the promise of an end. Kindred now prepare to venture into the ruins of the fallen city and the scattered remains of the lives built there.

“My world, my Earth is a ruin. A planet spoiled by the human species. We multiplied and fought and gobbled until there was nothing left, and then we died.” - Ursula K Leguin

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Player’s Guide/What to Expect

Plot Points

• Solving the Mystery of what happened in Seattle.
• Forging the City Court into what you want is in your hands, there are NPCs who want to help and there are NPCs who want to take it into their hands.
• All PC types will be able to engage and interact with the plot. Mental, Social, Physical, and Combat oriented PCs are all welcome.
• As a general rule, all side plots lead back to the major main plot.

Gothic Horror Setting

Gothic fiction/horror is characterized by an environment of fear, the threat of supernatural events, and the intrusion of the past upon the present. Gothic fiction is distinguished from other forms of scary or supernatural stories, such as fairy tales, by the specific theme of the present being haunted by the past. The setting typically includes physical reminders of the past, especially through ruined buildings that stand as proof of a previously thriving world that is decaying in the present. Expect mystery, expect horror, expect violence and an exploration of the philosophical themes of Vampire the Requiem.

This is YOUR story

You (collectively) are the main characters here, we give you situations and your choices make the story, your actions are the driving force of the plot. While we do not forbid Player Versus Player (PvP), our plot will encourage Player Versus Environment (PvE) and players to work together to share the plot, actions, and story in order to accomplish cooperative goals and meta-plot progression. Our NPCs can be socially maneuvered, killed, and outwitted depending on player actions. Kindred life is dangerous though, and as much as you give, the world can give back to you. Always remember that your actions can have positive and negative consequences, and working together with your fellow players is more likely to have better results.

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How to Make a Monster

What kind of character to make to fit (or not fit) is, as always, up to you. However, this section of the Player’s Guide mimics the subsection of the Clan write-ups to help players get some general ideas on how varied characters can be to fit into a theme/game.

Setting Hooks

This section will offer random ideas, in no particular order, to connect to our setting through the presented hooks. You don’t need to use these hooks, but they may inspire you.

Neighboring Courts

1. You’re a resident of one of those neighboring courts and you’re here to help them take a foothold in the city.
2. You’re a former resident of one of those neighboring courts and you’re here to beat them to the punch and gain power yourself.
3. You’re an occultist who heard something weird happened in Seattle and you left your court to satiate your curiosities.
4. You're searching for a treasure left in the city by those who disappeared. Maybe it was a secret spell of the Circle, a relic of the Lance or experimental notes of a Dragon
5. A friend, broodmate, or other loved one has disappeared and you want to get to the bottom of things
6. Dreams about Seattle plagued your days - you don’t know why, or how, but something happened there and now you cannot ignore them any longer - you need to know.

Seattle Native

1. You’re recently embraced by a nomadic or visiting vampire who has left you alone to fend for yourself in Seattle.
2. You’re a former member of The Court of Seattle, who has recently returned to find your court gone.
3. You’re a newly turned Childer of one of the Visiting Court’s NPCs.
4. You’re a former ghoul of a missing kindred who needs a new regnant.
5. You’re a former herd or vitae-addicted blood doll of a missing kindred who is desperately searching for your missing addiction.
6. You’re a normal mortal who worked at the mortal front of one of the kindred businesses that are now essentially abandoned by the business owner mysteriously.

Other Connections

1. Your Sire or Childer was a member of The Court of Seattle and you’re here to find them.
2. Your relative went missing and you’re here in Seattle to take over the family business and investigate.
3. You’re an Anarchist, what better time and place to secure a Courtless city?
4. You’ve become something of a pariah, you are being hunted, or maybe you have dreams of your own Domain and Seattle will do.
5. You are on the run: your reputation precedes you, and a fresh new start where no one knows your face? Who would pass on that.

Articles/References

• Guide: Playing Vampire Politics
• Venue Introduction
• Setting Introduction
• Character Creation Guide & [https://eternalnoire.com/playerguide/vtr-character-creation/ Vampire Character Creation Rules
• House Rules & Vampire House Rules
• Vampire Experience Rules
• Vampire Cusom Content