New York: The Modern Gomorrah

Recent History

A more complete history of New York can be found in Appendix Two of Geist: the Sin-Eaters and on Wikipedia. Players may also wish to consult this Interactive Timeline.

Two short decades ago, New York City was a very different place for both the mortal and supernatural populations. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, crime and unemployment were high and the Big Apple was ripe for those moving in the Shadows to pass unnoticed. The previously stagnant court of the Kindred was forcibly taken over by a powerful Invictus Ventrue named Michaela who used her vast financial powers in city to buy enough support to overturn the former Prince. Ruling as Prince herself, Michaela revolutionized the hold of the vampires of New York on the city's power structures even as the mortal government reformed the crime rate and built up the economy. At the turn of the millenium, the vampires of New York were successful and as free from strife as the Damned ever come.
Then came the attacks of September 11.
When the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed they tore down all the works of Michaela and her allies, as well as destroying many of the Damned in the city. Some were killed when their havens were compromised and sunlight found its searing way into their sleeping chambers or when fires and cinders from the explosions swept through downtown. Others met their Final Deaths while chaos ruled at the hands of opportunistic rivals, enemies, or just plain miscreants. A small amount may even have been driven into hiding where they succumbed to torpor, effectively killing them in the eyes of the panicking vampires. Contrary to popular belief, however, only a small fraction of the vampiric population of New York died on that fateful day or even in the days that followed. A great many more were destroyed by the Tatters.

The Spirit-Storm

Vampires in the world are woefully ignorant of the Underworld for creatures of undeath. It's there but it's not something most vampires like to think about if they can help it. What's the point of being immortal if one has to dwell on death all the time? This is no longer an option for the vampires of New York, however. The massive influx of ghosts into the Underworld shredded the barrier between the realms of living in dead and leaving open wounds throughout the city and leading to the term "the Tatters" to describe the damaged veil. Supernatural populations throughout the city were driven off by the dangerous flood of ghosts which raced through the streets, screaming with pain and rage and attacking any likely targets. Vampires were hit especially hard, facing a retributive flood of angry victims' spirits seeking revenged. Final Deaths throughout the city added more ash to the air and made the destructions during the actual attacks pale in comparison. No one is sure when Michaela and her court were destroyed, but by the following week they were gone without a trace and the power vacuum led to nearly as much trouble as the flood of ghosts.
The Bound in the city also suffered mightly, though on the face of it one would suppose that they had the strongest tools to combat the wave of ghosts. True, many of them were able to weather the spiritual storm through their knowledge and powers, but many also stood out like beacons to the rampaging ghosts and fell in the onslaught. As the disparate krewes of New York struggled to contain the flood of dead souls their already-tenuous connections frayed and snapped, though krewes fared better in this degradation since they hardly relied on each other anyways. As the New York vampires scattered like frightened rats, the Sin-Eaters soldiered on against the storm.

The Rise of Calebros

By the New Year, the flood had ebbed and both Sin-Eater krewes and vampire lords had regained some of their footing. Few of the Kindred dared to venture out of the areas in their immediate control, however, and risk being swept away by the ghosts. One of these few was a Nosferatu of the Lancea Sanctum named Calebros. Like many of this clan, this twisted creature excelled at watching and listening and Calebros had not been blind while the Sin-Eaters of New York City dealt with the Tatters. The ghostly presence in the city had diminished but was by no means gone and Calebros saw that anyone who wished to control the city now must have some tool to deal with the ghosts that preyed on the supernatural.
Calebros approached what he deemed one of the more tractable krewes in the city: the Midnight Warriors led by Lynne Craig, a Sin-Eater with an almost-vampirically ruthless ambition. The Midnight Warriors' aggressive approach to dealing with ghosts had worked well to help them survive the Tatters and Craig had built herself up as a sort of quasi-military leader who demanded absolute discipline from her followers. Seeing an fanatical ally, Calebros approached her and over the course of several months the two formed an alliance that would transform Kindred society and Sin-Eater culture in New York. Just as other vampires were coming to grips with the situation and krewes throughout the city were finding firm footing, Calebros made a bid for power and secured the Prince's throne for himself with the Midnight Warriors as his vanguard. Between the spiritual authority of the Lancea Sanctum and the necromantic knowledge of Lynne Craig, newly styled as the Queen of Tatters, the Kindred and the Sin-Eaters have become inextricably tangled. Over the last decade, areas and avenues of the city have been cleared of phantasms and made safe for the undead and the Bound to traverse. Two parallel power structures have developed with Calebros ruling the vampires and the Queen of Tatters ruling the Sin-Eaters, sharing power between them and ensuring that both populations benefit. Many are unhappy with the situation but enough gain from it that it remains a reality on these nights.

The Requiem in New York

The Lancea Sanctum

Calebros, Prince of New York

Qadir al-Asmai, Sheriff

The Invictus Plutocrats

Marlena, Childe of Michaela

The Invictus Old Guard

Carter Vanderweyden, Legend Reborn

Katherine Wiese, Foreign Beauty

The Ordo Dracul

Eugenio Estevez,

Ephraim Wainwright, The Imp

The Carthian Movement

Hellene Panhard, Capitalist Revolutionary

Boss Callihan, Carthain Reeve

The Serpent Circle

Stephen Clarke, The Dark Priest

Sun Yang, Wise Frog

The Bound in New York

The Sin-Eaters of New York have power from two sources. Firstly, they can navigate the paths of the Underworld and command ghosts meaning that they can walk much more freely through the streets of the city amidst the Tatters than many others can. Secondly, they have forged pacts with certain ghosts and gain great power and influence through this ressurection of the Old Laws in the realms of the living. Though the spirit-storm which followed the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers wreaked havoc on the Sin-Eater population and killed many of the Bound, in a sense they are stronger because of it. However, this situation is not universal and it comes with the price of freedom. Many of the pacts were forged with the Midnight Warriors, bolstered by the power of Calebros and his vampire allies, and other krewes only benefit if they go along with the strong-willed Queen of Tatters. The Warriors, meanwhile, are beholden to the vampire courts and while they are not exactly subordinate they are not entirely free to do as they wish as well. Still, the feudal society of the Bound serves the purposes of many and plenty of Sin-Eaters see it as a necessary evil to deal with the Tatters.

The Midnight Warriors

At the top of the ladder of power among the Bound are undeniably the Midnight Warriors. Raised up as champion order by Calebros after the destruction of the Tatters, the Warriors are often seen as a mere tool of the vampire Prince but the reality is more complicated. The Midnight Warriors act fairly autonomously for the most part and only act directly with the vampires when there is a joint problem. Likewise, they can call in favors from the Prince to gain vampiric muscle to tackle their own issues. Political power-balance aside, there is also the fact that the Midnight Warriors could destroy vampires while they sleep so the powers of the undead are checked at least twelve hours a day. The position of the Queen of Tatters is unusual among the Bound societies of the world to say the least, but it is even more unprecedented among vampiric societies.

Lynne Craig, Queen of Tatters

The self-styled Queen of Tatters considers herself the mistress of the Bound in New York. She has a keen intellect and fearsome ambition, leaving know doubt that she desires a formal kingdom of Sin-Eaters in the manner of the vampires' complex court. A fanatical chess player, Lynne Craig seems to see moves and counterstrikes in every situation with an intense habit that puts many ill-at-ease. There is also much to suggest that she may be one of the few people actually able to pull it off. Craig formed the Midnight Warriors after spending much time traversing the Autocthonous Depths of the city and speaking with the dead spirits there. She has allies throughout the Depths and the Lower Mysteries as well where she considers herself equal to the dead rulers of the distant Kingdoms. The Queen of Tatters may be full of bravado but most consider it well-earned for her political acumen and the powerful ceremonies at her disposal. Lynne Craig is well aware of the Bound and vampires plotting around and against her but radiates a sense of confidence and control that might be the strongest armor available against conniving vampires still unsure of the powers of the Sin-Eaters.

Gieger Horzascht, the Headman

Lynne Craig's second-in-command is also the man she would seem to have the least reason to trust. Gieger Horzascht is a dour and shifty man who gets results but keeps much to himself. He does not bother to hide his dislike of some of the Queen's decisions but Craig herself seems to consider this refreshing honesty instead of insubordination. In any autocratic ruler this would be a strange thing but for the Queen of Tatters it is shockingly out of character. The woman who brooks no insolence from others puts up with much from her closest lieutenant and many love to speculate about the reasons, from a fiery, secret affair to some blackmail that Horzascht holds over the woman. Some speculate that Horzascht would like to usurp power from the Queen of Tatters and that her tolerance stems from her usual confidence. If the Headman has plans to take over, the Queen is likely playing one of her chess games and is already thinking nine to ten moves ahead of the grim-faced Horzascht.

Isadora Lowe

The zealous Isadora Lowe is perhaps the most at home among Calebros's Lancea Sanctum court. A Methodist preacher before her death and rebirth, Isadora carried much of her faith into her existence as a Sin-Eater and took the religious implications of the epithet to heart. She is a strong believer and one of the most common Sin-Eater face to be seen in the Elysium of the Prince, especially when she can have a word with the religious preachers of the Sanctified. Their story of Longinus and the Damnation of the vampires is something that Isadora has reportedly been spending much time considering. She has conversations with others of the Bound frequently about the implications for their own existence and seems to be trying to start a cult of Longinus or similar figure among the Sin-Eaters. Lynne Craig, seeing the power that such a cult has among Calebros's vampires, gives her tacit approval of the venture but others murmur about the first step on the road to becoming one of the despised Sacrosanct who hunt other Sin-Eaters.

Martin "the Lion" Lamm

Gieger Horzascht may be the second-in-command of the Midnight Warriors, but it is Martin the Lion who is the strong right arm of Lynne Craig's regime. He considers himself a general and this alliance with the vampires a dangerous endeavor. Unlike the Headsman, Martin never voices his disapproval but he frequently advises caution to the Queen and takes measures to ensure that the Warriors have some insurance against vampiric treachery. The Lion is rarely unarmed and always seems on edge, partly from his aggressive geist and partly from his military training prior to dying. The Lion is said to have safe-houses throughout the city, protected against interference from ghosts and from vampires.

Abram "Harbinger" Vigner

Perhaps the oldest Sin-Eater still active in New York, Abram the Harbinger has a reputation for being a pessimist and a cynic. His straggly grey hair makes him look half-mad at times but there is nothing insane about the piercing, measuring look in his blue eyes. The Harbinger sometimes has visions but more often he sees possible doom in scenarios and can't help but let those around him know. While none of the Midnight Warriors are uncommon sights in Prince Calebros's courts, Abram is seen particularly often and seems to get on with Marlena and her Plutocrats. Those who know the Harbinger well say that the Invictus sect may be trying to win over the man with money but also that Abram is a pessimist to the core and it would take a lot of bribery for him to justify acting agaisnt Lynne Craig's wishes.

Hudson's Heroes[hudson's heroes]

Lea Hudson

Petrov Balveda

The Castaways

Teknival

Phasma Sodalitas

The Unaffiliated

Jacqueline "Glodie" Goldschmidt

Jacob "The Doorman" Doarmund

The New York Underworld

Lurkers in the Shadows

New York Forsaken

New York Awakened

The New York Vigil

New York Created

The New York Lost

The changeling population of New York possesses many sorts of hidden knowledge but on the Tatters they are childishly naieve. The many Courts of the city prefer to play their games and keep their stranglehold on the city's Hedge and leave the ghosts to someone else. They are not even wholly aware of what happened: most changelings are only aware that the city was in supernatural chaos after the Twin Towers fell as well as mortal chaos. If there is one thing that the Lost excel at, however, it is hiding and the changelings hid for several months in their freeholds and Hollows until the tide had ebbed somewhat. Today they have returned to business as usual and concern themselves in general with the True Fae and Arcadia and not at all with wayward ghosts in the streets.

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