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The Cock’s reign of terror in Chicago continued, until a climactic confrontation with a new vigilante in the city who sounds very similar, The Fister. Their confrontation led to a rooftop fight, in which The Cock got fisted, as it were.

Calamitous Intent missed the Sabbat convocation at Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, but they continued in their investigation of Lorraine the Prophet of Gehenna and the one she serves, Helena. Those who wished to meet Helena finally got their wish, as Duecallion and Felicity March both got the chance to see the Queen face to face. To say the least, it was quite an experience, and both have realized that she is the right choice for Queen of Chicago.

Belatedly meeting with Night of Thorns, the PCs took to heart the Wild Hunt called on Menele in response to his destruction of the previous Archbishop. Duke returned to the John Hancock Center and activated his ritual to track Menele’s steps that fateful night, and so far they have led the PCs back to Red Gate Woods. At the very least, they know that Menelaus carried Bill Caldwell back there to revive him.

Meanwhile, Felicity has accosted Lorraine and is carrying her to Red Gate Woods, hoping her beloved Queen Helena will take notice and arrive, and Ginny has flown off seeking Inyanga’s help.

Fresh off their defeat of elders Bill Caldwell and Vincent Thorne, which seemingly led to the literal and figurative decapitation of the Sabbat in Chicago, Calamitous Intent has decided that it is an opportune time to flee the country – for the most part. The better part of valor and all that.

Felicity March flies to Greece to undertake research on the life and times of Menelaus, King of Mycenean Sparta and leader of the Spartan troops during the legendary Trojan War. Specifically, she ends up investigating a 3 year old archaeological dig at Pellena. The dig has revealed what is supposedly the palace of King Menelaus and Queen Helen of Sparta. She notes that the artwork seems to feature Helen more prominently, including a staggering mosaic which shows a shining Helen and Menelaus to one side, gazing raptly at her. There is also a local legend she uncovers that the site was haunted long ago by ghosts who drink blood, but they were driven away by the Orthodox priests when Christianity came to Greece.

Donald X travels to Japan, Switchblade Armoire in tow, hoping to learn more about honor and possibly also find a genius Samurai sword-master to train him. Fortunately, Tanner is a huge Anime fan and speaks Japanese. He remains in contact with Constantine, and learns that the Salubri have some kind of connection to East Asia. Constantine has been to Japan, and there are a number of Salubri there, called Wu Zao. If Marc spends xp on Melee, then he finds a master swordsman to teach him secrets. If he spends xp on Etiquette, then he learns more about honor.

Ginny Bowling, newly less creepy, taller, and less shy, flies to Ethiopia, landing in Adis Ababa and then traveling in bird-form by night to a village near the Rift Valley. There she makes the acquaintance of a goddess of death, the Nagaraja Leyish. Leyish is willing to help her enter the Shadowlands and face her ‘curse’, as she has connections to the Black Hand and is a supporter of the Sabbat. How this confrontation goes has yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, Duecallion remains in Chicago. Rumors abound of activity from sinister elder forces, and there are a few sightings of known Camarilla spies sent down from Milwaukee. Word has spread of the death of the Archbishop, and Camarilla crows are circling. More Black Hand members begin arriving in the city, as well as nomadic packs, but there is not yet a new Archbishop. Constantine and Kamuzu are the two front-runners for the position, but it hasn’t come to a monomacy…yet. Constantine, a Templar, is now essentially a free agent, having no pack.

Among the new packs coming to the city is Blood Born, seemingly sent in by Sabbat authorities to help deal with the whole Gehenna problem. There are also Shady Hawkins, a nomadic infiltrator pack, and the K-Holes, a Black Hand Cell with a light-hearted take on their job.

Constantine is now part of a Templar pack, Night of Thorns. The new vampire in charge of Chicago is Jesus, called up from Mexico City by the Sabbat Regent so that he can lock the city down and prepare for the arrival of the Regent’s Childe and new Archbishop of Chicago, Vysia.

With the fall of Chicago to the Sabbat, the city begins a slow but inexorable socio-economic decline. Turns out, being secretly inhabited by monsters who believe people are little more than food and entertainment is bad for the economy. Over the course of the years between 1992 and 1998, there are multiple major incursions on the part of the Camarilla as well as the mortal Inquisition, which has set up a permanent base of operations at the Holy Name Cathedral downtown. The hunters who work in the city are some of the more dangerous kinds of mortals – imbued with some supernatural powers fueled by a fanatical faith and a hatred of monsters.

What the Archbishop, Phillippe Rigaud, lacks in interest in administration he makes up for in tenacity and willingness to take the fight to the Camarilla. He is an Archbishop of a city perpetually at war, and he revels in that fact.

Hell House has become, in essence, Hell Block. The Sabbat hangout has devoured an entire city block, and is a perpetual hangout for members of the Sabbat and mortals too stupid to go elsewhere. Even the Blood Dolls have begun avoiding the place, though they have grown in number and can now be seen at any given night-spot in the city.

The Short North, territory claimed by Reuben Sturman and his pack Hot House, has become an international center for the porn industry, as well as various kinds of human trafficking. The Cabrini-Green housing projects have become the most dangerous neighborhood in the nation for five years running, and have also expanded significantly, devouring a large portion of the north side of Chicago in low-income housing and slums. Hoodwink claims this as their territory, and it has been their long-term goal to make it a place where people can go missing and no one calls the police.

Two areas of influence have been largely taken out of Sabbat control entirely: Health and Underworld. In the Health category, Oliver Genet, M.D. and Jason Newberry are currently embroiled in an influence war, and Jason is losing. On the Underworld front, that category has been taken over and locked down by Umberto Grimassi and related crime families. Alarmingly, the category of Media influence has also been locked down, but no one knows who has done so.

Mark Decker, Garou-hunter and Prince of Milwaukee, is attempting to make in-roads into Chicago. Without the support of the few remaining elders, he is not likely to succeed. His Anubii, however, seem to be just as adept at hunting Sabbat as they are at hunting Werewolves.

As screaming figures plummet out of the upper floors of the John Hancock Center in a hail of broken glass, and gunfire shatters the quiet of the Highland Park night, the party at Succubus is just getting underway.

That’s when the gunfire starts. Screams, and the rave turns into a riot. Lights flicker and then go out, snuffed by crawling darkness. The fight that ensues is brutal. Penumbra attacks in force, striking without warning against the kindred gathered there. Gavriella and Trent are able to fend them off, surprisingly, and there is a flash of baleful fire. Without warning, Marguerite turns on her pack-mates, surprising Samson and taking him out of the fight long enough for Sophia Ayes to use Celerity and escape.

Tommy Hinds is in the center of the attack, and goes down beneath Butler and Lolita Houston, despite Jurgis’ best efforts, and he is forced to flee the scene and Obfuscate.

Cameron is focused on hunting Portia, wanting that prize for himself. When the remains of his back find him, he is beaten into torpor and has little recollection of what happened. He is revived by Violetta in the aftermath, but all he can recall is planning their attack earlier that night. Marguerite never returns to Penumbra after her betrayal, though she was forced to flee when she failed to take Samson down. She is officially anathema to the Sabbat, and a standing Wild Hunt is called on her. She never turns out in the coming years, however, and is presumed to have fled.

In the final analysis, the night is a stunning victory for the Sabbat. Including Marguerite’s surprising betrayal, their losses include Tyler, Marguerite and Wazir al’Massi.

Among the Camarilla members who met their Final Death are: Modius, Nicolai Antonescu, Lucien, Evelyn, Horatio Ballard, Tyrus, Doyle Fincher and others.

Some are missing, not confirmed dead, but either fled the city or keeping a very low profile: Portia, Lorraine, Gavriella, Trent Lufkin and others from the Succubus, and many elders like Critas (who is apparently still in the city somewhere) and Inyanga, who has not been seen since the Sabbat took the city.

There have also been a few recruits in light of the Sabbat’s success, some accomplished just before the attack and proven in the midst of it, and others after the fact. Alan Sovereign, Shejana (previously a regular at Hell House), and Reuben Sturman who has taken over control of the Short North red-light district.

The attack on Ballard’s Elysium went smashingly! …well, for the Sabbat at least.

It all started with Tyrus, Doyle, Alan Sovereign, and Ballard (well, a ghoul lookalike he was currently possessing) finishing up a long meeting. Before they could go their respective ways, however, the Sabbat infiltrated Elysium.

Long story short…

• Tyrus, Tyler, and Constantine got into a scuffle. It ended up with Tyrus taking a weakened Tyler and tossing her out the window and sending her plummeting to her death. Unfortunately the Archon slipped and was holding onto the building. He looked up at Constantine and told him, “HELP ME.” Obviously Constantine didn’t and instead cut off Tyrus’s hands and let him fall to his death.

• Doyle was unfortunately grappled by one of the Tzimisce and was quickly taken apart by them. However, as he passed from this (un)life to the next, he was welcomed by a chorus of singing bovines. He died happily.

• After his ghoul was taken hostage by a Tzimisce (and then killed by Tyrus, who proclaimed as he did, “That’s not the real Ballard,” with a smile on his face), Ballard tried fighting two Tzimisce with a halberd and a roasted duck. Unfortunately, the halberd could not hold back the Tzimisce threat, and neither could the roasted duck. He died the way he lived — fat and greasy.

… well, okay, he was actually tossed out the window and crashed into his limousine and popped like a big fat meat balloon.

• Alan Sovereign attempted to escape and enter into Ballard’s secret home. Too bad he forgot the code. He then tried to sic the ghouls on the Tzimisce, but that didn’t go over so well either. He eventually conceded to the Sabbat and told them, “I can be of use to you!” They staked him and took him away.

All in all, a good day.

So, after the whole fiasco with Priscilla Gibbs, we went back (without Felicity, who was feeling ill) to try and see who was gonna clean up the masquerade breach, so we could eat him/her of course.

The person who turned up was none other than Mikal, one of Modius’s, and he was doing some weird… mind-trick thing on the people. Looking back, he wasn’t really trying to clean up the masquerade breach, actually, but hindsight is 20/20.

Thanks to Duke’s splinter servant, he went down easily, and Ginny diablerized him, and… well… then we found out he was a Black Hand infiltrator of all things. We decided to keep it a secret and burned the body (well, Duke burned the body while I ran away, screaming).

After this, we decided that we wanted to get back at Deuces for what happened earlier that night (and also because he’s a fucking douchebag). Duke tracked him down to his pawnshop, and thanks to some fine tactics as well as a big ass, belt-fed machine gun (her name’s Betty), we were able to clear out his goons and take him out. Unfortunately Duke torched his ass with thaumaturgy, so we couldn’t eat him. Boo.

After kicking Giovanni ass, we headed home and began to plot our next night. I also rang up Wendy and told her about my success that night, as well as setting up an appointment the next night so she could teach me some things. We agree to meet at the Walk.

Well, the next night eventually comes around. Duke is… off somewhere, doing God knows what. Ginny and I head down to the Walk, and almost as soon as she sees me Wendy pulls me into the bathroom and makes me spill the beans about the Black Hand infiltrator. I agreed that I would punish not only my packmates but myself as well, so we headed down to the graveyard.

I ripped out Ginny’s fangs, crucified Duke on a poorly constructed cross, and then Wendy cut my arms off, and… that’s when I decided that maybe the Path of the Inner Voice wasn’t really my thing. I think she got kind of pissed when I told her that as she left in a huff, but you know what? Any path that makes me shit on my friends is no path for me. I’d much rather shit on other people WITH my friends.

The three of us went our separate ways for the night. I decided to head down to Hell House where I had a long talk with Tyler. Not only did I get my arms back, but she told me about a little thing called the Path of Cathari. It sounded good to me, so she told me to go and really corrupt a guy’s life and turn it to shit and report back to her.

In short, I met up with a dude at a strip club who was having his bachelor’s party and getting married the next day. I pretty much used Presence to encourage him to do a lot of drugs, go down to a brothel and have lots of dirty sex, and then to top it off I called down his fiancé to watch him crumble before her. It was FANTASTIC. Tyler couldn’t be more impressed.

The next night, I officially took on the Path of Cathari. Meanwhile, Duke had plans of embracing someone, so he told Ginny and I meet him down at the graveyard. We kidnapped a jogging couple and made our way down there. When we got there, I tied the poor bastard to a grave while I buried his wife alive with the embraced goth Duke brought along. Unfortunately, when she came up, she was still hungry and had to eat the guy. :(

Bah. Next time.

Donald switches to the Path of Power and the Inner Voice after frenzying on Ginny and being staked by same with a chair leg. Donald’s new Path inspires frantic narc-ing from Donald and Felicity, much to Wendy’s amusement. The Chantry is revealed to have been abandoned by Duke and Violetta. The PCs decide to start culling Modius’ supporters, starting with Priscilla Gibbs. She proves to be more resilient than expected and escapes them, though she violates the Masquerade twice in doing so, exsanguinating people in public view. They follow her back to the Highland Park Elysium, and reason that someone will have to be sent out to contain the Masquerade breaches – in which case they can try, try again.

Also, Deuces.

The PCs enter St. James Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, to steal a saints’ relic. They run afoul of some ugly, creepy children. In the chapel, they find an underground vault that is apparently a vampire haven. Nathaniel and his new childer Gregory Stephens and Daniella “Cazzadora” Novales, supported by the aforementioned ugly children, attack the PCs. With the help of Felicity March the tentacle-monster of darkness, they escape, destroying the three Nosferatu in the process, and netting themselves an occult library as well as what seems to be a true relic.

Felicity sets up a meeting for career counseling with Wendy Wade, and Donald decides that the Path of Honorable Accord is probably not for him. He sets up an appointment to meet with Wendy to talk about Power and the Inner Voice.

Ginny learns more about her Embrace from Inyanga, and thinks about whether to face down her dead-spirit-self that seems to have cursed her. The PCs track Doyle Fincher down to a cattle yard south of the city where he presumably goes to feed. His animal ghouls alert him to their presence, and he is able to drive them off with a stampede. Felicity writes a letter of admiration to Leeroy Martin, the Chief of the Chicago Police Department. A dustup is provoked between the Highland Park Camarilla members and the Sabbat gathered at Hell House. After a brief flurry of violence, the Camarilla retreat, and Tracy Graves is the only Final Death resulting from the fight. Duke finally has his meeting with Violetta, and she goes through the Creation Rites, seeming to revel in the loss of moral stricture on her behavior.