The world of Vampire: the Masquerade is a deeply complicated one. Vampires are, by nature, secretive and manipulative creatures. Their world is filled with deadly social traps, schemes for power and wars (both overt and covert). One prime example is the 1999-2000 East Coast Campaign, where the Sabbat battles against the Camarilla in a number of cities (the tale of which is covered in the best selling Clan Novel Saga). This is a perfect example of Metaplot.
What is Metaplot? Metaplot is best described in Nights of Prophecy, a sourcebook for Vampire: the Masquerade. Page five of that book says that "Metaplot is the overarching story line of the great changes in the world. The Metaplot is the big picture - the major events that affect Kindred everywhere" Some people love Metaplot, others hate it with a passion. I am one of the former.
This section will provide you with a look into my own Vampire: the Masquerade storyline and how the Metaplot affects the Kindred of our world. It will also continue the theme of the Revised Edition's Metaplot as though Gehenna never happened. There is still a buildup to Gehenna, as that is one of the core themes of Vampire: the Masquerade Second Edition Revised, we're just not there yet. Pretend for a little bit that Gehenna didn't come out in 2004 and that the Old World of Darkness continues on to this night. Heck, just because the world ended for White Wolf, doesn't mean it has to end for us.
The Fate of Vlad Tepes
Some time ago, as the Camarilla began their Battle for New York City, the cowardly Tzimisce Methuselah Lambach Ruthven encountered what he believed to be "The Eldest" in the sewers and caverns underneath the city. To his everlasting sorrow few if any will believe him on the rare occasion he discusses it. In time, Lambach simply ceased speaking of it, resigning himself to feeding upon the drugged and drunken in a vain attempt to wash away the memory.
Halfway around the world in the mountains of Transylvania another relic of ages past sits, waiting for the end. We know him as The Impaler, the Son of the Dragon, Dracula. Vlad Tepes has cloistered himself away in his crumbling castle. Word reaches the Walachian Prince of his Sire's ravings. On a whim, Dracula sends summons to Lambach interested in hearing his story first hand.
To say the Methuselah was scared of the prospect of a visit with Dracula would be an understatement. Centuries before as a mere mortal Vlad had captured and forced Lambach to give him the Embrace, now, as a seasoned Elder with many magics and minions at his disposal The Impaler was stronger than Lambach by far. In the end, Lambach could not run.
He was brought before Dracula and forced to recount the tale. Of the caverns under the city, the Ghouled servant to the Eldest, the flesh-like mountain underground and the damage it wreaked upon Lambach's own body. And, of course, he described the call. The voice inside his mind, the voice of the Eldest that he had not heard in centuries, the voice which he could not get out of his head. Dracula, was intrigued...
In this moment, the seed of a dark plot that was planted in Dracula's mind many centuries before finally began to grow. Since his days as a mortal, Dracula had never wanted to be controlled. He had rejected the Fiend's offer the become one of them the first time, instead choosing on his own the time and circumstances of his Embrace. Learning of the Antediluvians, of the stories told about the genesis of Clans Tremere and Giovanni and of the act of amaranth Dracula decide long ago that to control his own fate he would have to join that exalted group. He had long believed, with the rest of his Clan, that the Eldest had long since perished. Knowing the truth now his dark plans set his eyes on the New World and the city in which the Eldest lay.
Taking a page from the book that made him famous, Dracula begins by purchasing a great deal of land in New York City. Apartments, business, houses, parks. Nothing is safe from his fortune. He learns from his contacts that the city has entered a period of unrest. With no one leader strong enough to claim the Domain as his own, no one to act as steward to the Kindred of the city, New York has fallen into chaos. This, of course, is nothing new for the Big Apple. During the reign of the Sabbat, the city was one of the deadliest places among First World cities. The slight decline in violence during the Camarilla period, while noticed, is nothing too spectacular. Dracula would change all of that.
As his assets in the city grew, so too did the number of his retainers. He sent a number ghouled servants to oversee his holdings and prepare for his arrival. Much more sophisticated (and sane) than his onetime slave Renfield these ghouls, led by New York lawyer Arthur Whilton, were savvy with all modern amenities. In addition to his legal consultant, Dracula's ghouls included a former Soviet soldier, a historian from Oxford and members of the more unsavory criminal elements of the city. Later, as the operation settled into a a semi-regular routine Dracula sent one more servant to oversee the final phase of the operation, his childe Andre Tariovich. His mission was to prepare the Kindred population of the city for the arrival of Lord Dracula. Together, they laid the groundwork for their master's eventual arrival.
Andre investigated the different factions of the city, making quiet inquiries, learning what he could about the Kindred. His goal was to find a faction worthy of his master and to imbed himself with that group. This task proved more difficult than either Andre or his master could have foreseen. The Camarilla, which had for so long detested Dracula, did not appear to be a likely candidate, thus Andre did not spend much time with the Sect. He instead set his sights on the Anarch movement in the city. Andre proceeded to involve himself with the Anarch population, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Boss Callihhan and the other Staten Island Anarchs. He also spends time (wearing another face) across the river with the Sabbat of New Jersey, plotting to retake the city. In the fall of 2006, Andre informed his master that soon the city would be ripe for the taking.
In December, 2006 Dracula made his move.
To be continued...