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Act One: The Season of Mist
Game #1, Game #2, Game #3
Act Two: Season of the Oracles
Game #4, Game #5, Game #6
Act Three: The Fall of Many Houses
Game #7, Game #8
Game Number: 8
Game Title: The Rise and Fall of Two Houses
Game Date: April 7th, 2007.
I.C. Location: Winchester House 525 S Winchester Blvd - San Jose
Masquerade Factor: 2
Prelude:A fog has settled over San Francisco once again lingering like a bad house guest. The nights are slightly warmer and spring promises to bring change. Uncertainty is something quite familiar to the Kindred on the Bay. It has been their bed partner for many months now.
“The Saints are dead!” a celebrated victory over the surviving members of the Coterie of Hounds has been confirmed. These vile servants of Francesca Juarez no longer haunt the nights of San Francisco but still the previous Prince of the City eludes the Kindred. The Brood activity has taken an unexpected turn as LeClure and his chief lieutenants have slaughtered their minions leaving him with only six other Vampires to enforce his claims over Oakland. To what purpose did the death of his minions serve? One can not be certain in anything other than it bodes poorly for San Francisco. Perhaps this mystery will begin to unfold at the gathering when those who have been spying on Oakland will be reporting in to the Prince. Then there is the strange occurrence of three days without sunlight due to the volcanic eruption of Mt. Shasta. Was this a freak unrelated event? Perhaps but coincidence rarely occurs in the Dance Macabre.
Tonight, the mysterious and reclusive Regent of San Jose, Sarah Winchester, has invited the Kindred of the Bay to her Home. It is indeed a rare event for Regent Winchester to play hostess to others and even more rare for her to do so to those outside the First Estate. To what purpose does this infamous recluse invite the Princes court to her sprawling mansion? Is she making an effort to be more social? Or does she have a hidden agenda that requires her to bring the Kindred of San Francisco into her web?
Summary:
Game Number: 7
Game Title: The Harbinger of Francesca Juarez
Game Date: March 3rd, 2007.
I.C. Location: Cliff House Terrace Room, 1090 Point Lobos Ave - Lands End
Masquerade Factor: 4
Prelude: A thick fog has settled over San Francisco and has lingered for many nights. The promise of spring brings with it an uncertainty of what the future has in store for the Kindred of San Francisco. The nights are getting shorter as though it were closing in on them, but success and revelation is still within their grasp. A Saint has been captured, perhaps Millicent will shed light upon the shroud of mystery surrounding the former Prince. Despite the capture of the Nosferatu hag one Saint remains on the loose to avenge his siblings.
Tonight the Hierophant, Mia has invited the Kindred of San Francisco to Cliff House, once the seat of power of Francesca Juarez. On this night Mia has a personal agenda and her intent is uncertain. The Prince, Renato Cortez, will bring forth the captured Saint for public interrogation to answer for her crimes both past and present. It is a night for settling accounts and many accounts shall be settled.
Summary:
If you would like to hear the sounds attached to the various "hanging items" they are linked below. (WARNING: The pages will probably take a while to load as they have largish mp3 files and there are ads on the page):
noose, hanged man, scythe, reaper
Game Number: 6
Game Title: The Devil's Waltz
Game Date: February 3rd, 2007.
I.C. Location: The Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street - The Financial District
Masquerade Factor: 4
Prelude: Without so much as a peep from the Brood in Oakland this month was a welcome quiet. But what storm awaits the Kindred of San Francisco. The nights were a bustle with research and discrete investigations. What secrets will the Dance Macabre reveal on this night? One might ask.
The Duchess, Arabelle Vizcaina on behalf of the First Estate has called a gathering of Kindred. A masked ball! Perhaps a return of beauty and elegance that once reigned the nights of the city, or perhaps a metaphor for the mysteries that still shroud the city in darkness.
As the Kindred of San Francisco perform the Dance Macabre hidden behind their masks, spirits stir and unknown entities lurk among them. What mask will they be wearing?
Summary:
Click HERE for Ed's collection of pictures.
Game Number: 5
Game Title: Secrets of the City
Game Date: January 6th, 2007.
I.C. Location: The City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place - The Civic Center
Masquerade Factor: 4
Prelude: The nights of the cities on the bay are indeed cold. The raid on Oakland was a success, however success came at a great price. Ever since the attack the Brood have been eerily quiet. Do they prepare for a counter offensive? What of the two remaining Saint’s do they still stalk the nights of San Francisco?
At the last gathering a great spirit of the earth was awakened. Now it slumbers under the city in a shallow sleep. The second concert at the Opera house has been cancelled. What was it’s purpose? Many have speculated however tenuous investigation is soon to pay off as mysteries are slowly unraveling.
Tonight the Seneschal Belle Calhoun has offered to host the Kindred of San Francisco at City Hall, to celebrate a major victory against the Brood of Oakland and to discuss plans to rid the Bay of the Satanic Kindred once and for all.
Summary:
Game Number: 4
Game Title: Devils and Witches
Game Date: December 2nd, 2006.
I.C. Location: The Palace of Fine Arts, 3310 Lyon St - The Presidio
Masquerade Factor: 5
Prelude: While Francesca Juarez still ruled the nights of San Francisco she planned a grand musical event at the Palace of Fine Arts, under the guise of a benefit concert for the local A.I.D.S. network. Tonight is the night when her handy work so many months ago comes to life. But there is something more to this, something mysterious. She has sponsored this very concert before, Vivialdi’s Gloira. In fact she has TO THE DATE sponsored this Vivaldi masterpiece every ten years since 1886. Coincidence? Unlikely and so the Prince has summoned the Kindred of San Francisco to bear witness to what events may transpire.
The Prince has declared this location Elysium, the first since his claim of praxis. On this night of mystery the Kindred gather, in hope that the Crones and the Dragons have found a way to counter the Brood Witches curse upon the city. Rumors are spreading that Talia Blade has fallen on the footsteps of Winchester House and the Brood of San Jose have retreated to Oakland. Is this rumor or the desire to hear good news in these dire nights?
There is a tangible anxiety building among the Kindred residents of San Francisco. The night is heavy with hope, fear and uncertainty. What significance this concert has is uncertain. What purpose does it serve can only be speculated upon. Some believe that Francesca Juarez herself may be present watching from afar.
Summary:
Game Number: 3
Game Title: The Edge of a Razor
Game Date: November 4th, 2006.
I.C. Location: The Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St - The Mission District
Masquerade Factor: 4
Prelude: The Bishop and the Lancea Sanctum are hosting a Grand Ballo, a great Covenant holiday. To be invited is a great honor, as the Lancea Sanctum rarely invites outsiders to their rites. This is a welcome sign of diplomacy from the Bishop and her Covenant.
The fog is rising around the city on the bay. Mysteries from the past continue to haunt the city and make the future uncertain. Pieces of the puzzle continue to be found but what picture they make is still uncertain.
Conflict abounds as old rivalries and grudges have swelled into confrontation. The Brood have seen their most active months since Renato’s occupation of San Francisco. It would appear that Talia Blade intends to make good on her threat. She claims to have cursed the city, what this meant at the time was uncertain but now people are beginning to wonder if the power behind her words might be real. Feeding in San Francisco has taken a turn for the worse. Perhaps this is the first manifestation of her curse.
Still the Sheriff Ezekiel Sutter and his deputy Jason McCallister are missing. There are still others who were expected but have not arrived.
Tonight threats surround the city and there are more questions than answers. The city stands on the verge of great crisis. Will the Kindred rise to face their challenge or will they collapse to internal strife?
Summary:
Arabelle's story
Game Number: 2
Game Title: The Shifting of Shadows
Game Date: October 7th, 2006.
I.C. Location: Coffee Here, 422 Haight Street - The Haight
Masquerade Factor: 4
Prelude: The Circle of the Crone has graciously offered to host a gathering of Kindred at a Coffee House in the Haight Ashbury District.
Since the last gathering a few new kindred have joined the city and some have turned up missing. The residents are beginning to settle in as they establish themselves in their new city. Strange events continue to surface, some are simply unsettling while others are outright disturbing. There are mysterious forces at work in San Francisco. What do they mean? Who or what is causing them?
To the south the Brood continues to wreck havoc and threaten the Silence of Blood while to the east in Oakland the Brood remain eerily silent.
Summary:
Coffee Here is hoppin'!
clockwise from left - Bernie Stone, Tom Flynn, Alexandria DuSaussay, Invictus Primogen Lady Arabelle Macias Vizcaina, Ash
Game Number: 1
Game Title: The Beast Within the Shadows
Game Date: September 2nd, 2006.
I.C. Location: The Officers House, Building 1092, the Presidio
Masquerade Factor: 3
Prelude: The night air turns crisp, the evenings lengthen and a chill fog seeps inland from the restless waters of the Bay: it is nearly autumn in San Francisco. And as word spreads that the city is once again a hospitable place for Kindred, the self-declared Prince Cortez calls the first gathering of his fledgling court, inviting newcomers to help rebuild this once-great domain. But this is an unseasy peace: despite the victory over Belial's Brood, unseen dangers and unanswered questions cast disquieting shadows over the event. The Dance Macabre resumes: can secrets be revealed, can lies be exposed, and does truth lie within the season of mist?
Summary:
The Carthian's meet with the Prince and Seneschal
clockwise from left - Vasili Hammer, Michaela Smith, Grigori Anvil, Isabella di Angelo, Deputy Cody Lee DuChamp, Marshal Peyton, Prince Renato Cortez, Seneschal Belle Calhoun, Carthian Primogen Alex Sutter
Game Prelude
A VAMPIRE: THE REQUIEM LIVE ACTION CHRONICLE
"Shut up, fang banger, and listen to me! You don’t know shit. That's why you came to me, remember? For answers. Now pay attention or I'll take that little pop-gun away from you and clean your teeth with it. Okay. Five vampires made it out of the city that night, and most of them will never go back. Renato thinks he can just walk into San Francisco and start over again, build something like we had, but he's out of his freaking mind. He was her Seneschal, you know? That's why he's so hell-bent to do this: he wants to prove that she's gone and that it's safe again. But he's a fool. If you want to follow him that's your problem, but you ought to know what you're getting into. Here's how it was…."
Prince Francesca Juarez was a haunting beauty who ruled the night of the equally beautiful city of San Francisco. She ascended gracefully to the Princedom in 1870, and ruled in that same manner for the next seven decades, fostering the growth and elegance that made San Francisco the “Paris of America.” Respected and feared as any worthy Prince should be, she was also revered and even adored by many of her subjects in a fashion most unusual for a Kindred sovereign. Some, it could be fairly said, probably even loved her. Her reign was not entirely free of difficulty, but she strove to create a city in which all Kindred could attempt to prosper.
Then it all went to hell. In the span of a few short years, Prince Francesca became a ravening monster, a cold and murderous despot who slew any who dared oppose her. Those who tried to escape were destroyed by her Hounds, a loyal cadre of blood-drunk killers, or given as playthings to her besotted, sycophantic Angels. Finally her own Seneschal led a desperate coup that ended badly, forcing the survivors to flee the city.
Tonight the former Seneschal—now the self-declared Prince—attempts to guide the Kindred restoration, calling on those brave or foolhardy enough to enter a city that some whisper may well be cursed. Francesca Juarez has vanished: perhaps she is dead, or fallen into torpor. Until her fate is known the Kindred of San Francisco must tread carefully. But they must also confront more immediate enemies, like the nest of Belial's Brood that the former Seneschal and his supporters have discovered, unravel dangerous mysteries, and cope with God alone knows what else that's crept into San Francisco since the disaster.
QUICK CHRONICLE FACTS
Storyteller: Philip Jones
Assistant Storytellers: Jason Carl, Stacy Hart, Jen Running Deer
Era: Modern (2006)
Location: San Francisco, California
Presumptions: The chronicle's opening situation intentionally divides characters into two broad categories: a few who entered the city with Prince Cortez a couple of months ago and have been helping deal with Belial's Brood, and those who have showed up just in the last couple of weeks, or even nights, to take advantage of the situation. San Francisco can support nearly a hundred vampires but there's only a few there now, so there's a lot of blood and turf to go around: that's enough enticement to persuade Kindred living in nearby cities like San Jose, Sacramento or even Los Angeles to risk the dangers of travel.
