When the mortals go to bed, the true rulers of the city come out to play…
(Back to Cities in Darkness)
The History of Newcastle:
With its roots in the Roman Empire, forged in the trials of the Middle Ages and empowered by the Industrial Revolution, Newcastle is a bastion of strength and dignity in the wild North. With ancient tradition Prince Wodenson rules the domain with an iron grip to ensure dark enemies are held at bay. Despite this the kindred have found the freedom to grow and develop, as long as they do not breech the tenets of Wodenson’s law.
With the dragon that terrorised the city kindred dead, Newcastle is looking safe enough for daring kindred to move in and stake a claim. But whom are the dark enemies lurking in the shadows? What secrets, undisturbed for centuries, lie waiting to be discovered? And would the city survive the lawlessness should anything happen to its Prince? Who would risk it all for the chance of power and make this domain their home?
The City's Origins:
Whilst the history of Newcastle begins with the Romans, the kindred history does not start till 1000 AD with the arrival of Wodenson as part of a Viking raiding party. After subduing the area, he set about rebuilding it to suit his own needs and continued to defend it from the Scots throughout the dark ages.
During the sixteenth century Newcastle enjoyed the wealth provided by coal and shipping and grew to be the dominant force in the North. During this time the Lancea Sanctum suffered a major setback as Henry VIII set about selling off the considerable religious institutions in the area. In compensation, Wodenson offered Brother Vincent the position of Seneschal and set the course of Newcastle’s history for, when in 1757 something happened that drove Wodenson to depression, the Lancea Bishop took control of the domain in the Prince’s "absence".
In 1872 a change is also seen in Brother Vincent and, after months of paranoid ranting, he attacked Wodenson and drove him into torpor. Shortly after these propitious events, the borders of Newcastle were closed to all kindred and previous tenants disappeared, never to be seen again. In 1915, a small army of Kindred emerged from city calling themselves the Black Friars. They launched an attack on the neighbouring domain of Durham but were driven off by the forces of Arch Bishop Odo, resulting in heavy losses on both sides.
Newcastle returned to its silence for over fifty years until a change in the air in 1974 heralded the return of Prince Wodenson from torpor. Furious at the state of his city, Wodenson systematically wiped out the Black Friars and once more opened the city to Kindred from far and wide. Back in charge of the city, Wodenson handsomely rewarded those who flocked to his banner amd together they cleared the city of this dark enemy.
By the turn of the millennium, the Black Friars were reduced to scattered pockets of resistance and Wodenson declared them effectively wiped out, turning the court from a hunting party to a political forum once more. But the start of the new era awoke something else in the city, something that had been slumbering: the Dragon. For the next decade, Wodenson and the Dragon fought each other to a standstill until, in a strange turn of events, some kindred appeared in the Elysium from some distant existence. Through their sacrifice the Dragon was killed and the city freed from immediate threat.
Now:
Despite being an old city, populations of kindred have rarely remained constant and the many events through the years mean that many of the kindred now in Newcastle are relatively new to the domain. Whilst some positions are already established, there are plenty of opportunities for those coming into the domain to seize power. With a little cunning, politics and luck, any kindred could carve out a chunk of this domain as theirs and who knows, they may even survive long enough to enjoy it for a while. Will you take the challenge of death or glory? Will you seize your own little bit of the city or content yourself with aligning yourself with the rising stars of the city? Will you bow in deference to Wodenson or see if it is time for a change?
Recent Events:
Since September of 2008, Newcastle has been hit by a series of potentially devastating changes. It has emerged that the dreaded Blackfriars have become active in some capacity once again, and that they may be linked to the work of a Doppelganger entity which has been impersonating various individuals including Prince Wodenson himself. A more disturbing threat to have been uncovered was that of the Unreal, which had steadily been corrupting the fabric of reality in the labyrinthine tunnels beneath Newcastle. The Unreal's leader, and entity named Corvus, has proven sufficiently powerful to possess the bodies of Kindred within the city. In December 2008 Corvus successfully managed to overtake the body of the Prince, causing him to attack members of his own court. This forced his own subjects to stake him, and his body was kept in storage until it could be placed on an ancient arcane throne which sits at the centre of the city's underground. Corvus' minions attempted to prevent Newcastle's Kindred from achieivng this objective, and during the battle which followed cosmic forces seemed to be at work. Wodenson has since been consigned to an eternity upon the throne, albeit at the cost of the unlife of Colonel John Killian. Since then, a new Prince has been appointed, and attentions are now once more upon the Blackfriars who seem to have engineered the barely-averted catastrophe.
Personalities
Officers of the Court:
(As these tend to change from time to time, if these are not accurate and someone notices, please feel free to edit these and any other details found on the site. Same applies to status dots awarded to characters…)
- Prince: Mark Winter
- Seneshal: Dr Marius
- Elysium Hostess: Mydnight
- Hound: Raptor
Other Residents of the City:
- M'Koll The Black
- Stefano Giovanni - Regent of Morpeth.
- Dr Honeysugar
Torpid, Missing or Dead
- Arkady Danilovich Whereabouts unknown.
- Willamina Lawson Died in battle.
- Dominic Believed slain by the feral Gangrel Queen of Durham.
- Balthazar Black Diablerised
- Colonel John Killian Ceased to be.
- Jimmy Believed slain in battle.
- Aidan Mckay Believed slain in battle.
- Prince Wodenson In Torpor on the throne
- Bishop Odo, Prince Bishop of Durham, currently in Torpor.
- Dr Albert Hardy, Prince and Hunter Green of Middlesbrough, abducted by Fae creatures in Middlesbrough.
- Alex Knight, Q.C - Apparently destroyed in act of self-sacrifice, during the battle between Alex/Paliurus and Cassa Dar/Andromelach.
- Granite - Dead - Joined the city after leaving Middlesborough, was exactly where certain people wanted him and he had an accident ;)
- Tarja Vygotsky Diablerised seven powerful vampires in quick succession.
- Alexander Gideon - Has left the North East under the guise of Andrei, who will take dark action if Gideon tries to take them back to Newcastle ever again.
- Eleanor Mock - killed herself in order to stop the Trickster demon from regaining his powers.
Noted Enemies of the City:
- The Black Friars - Although their rivalry with Wodenson once caused them to launch a genocidal crusade against the Kindred of the North East, some common ground with the Friars has since been established. In their case, the line between enemies and tentative allies is becoming ever more blurred.
- The Unreal - Minions from their realm of death to feast upon our world. These many shaped mockeries threaten the very Fabric of this world.
- Peter Jacobs - The infamous "Newcastle Dragon". It seems he just can't stay dead…
- The Taskforce - The Newcastle branch of a problem which originally began in Durham.
- Damhan-Allaidh - Also known as Davanalli, the Spider God. An ancient Kindred of the Gangrel lineage known as the Gruagachan. Slain millennia ago by his own Bloodline and their allies, he is once again returning to the land of the living.
Current Rumours:
- Newcastle sits upon a dimensional "fault-line" which has been contained for centuries by the presence of Prince Wodenson's brother upon an ancient arcano-tech throne attuned to the resonance of this Rift in reality. Now that Wodenson's brother has been destroyed, the Void between worlds is bleeding across into physical existence.
- Prince Wodenson was possessed by an Unreal entity known as Corvus, and attacked members of his own Court. As a result he had to be staked, and was turned over to the Ordo Dracul in order to keep his body secure until it could be placed upon the Throne.
- The Unreal general - Corvus - has been slain, and his forces banished from this world. For the time being, Newcastle is safe…
- Don't kid yourself! The city is doomed! Run! Run while you still have legs!
- Prince Luther plans to introduce Russian as the state language of the domain
- The Black friars are planning to overthrow the city again.
- There is a Fae Banshee wandering the city eating ghosts. Rumour has it she dwells in cemeteries, the creepy bitch.
- There seems to be a breakout of vampiric leprosy.
Announcements of the City:
- After much deliberation and side-picking, Luther has been granted Praxis of Newcastle by popular assent.
OOC Details:
- The Newcastle games run on the first Tuesday of the month.
- They are held at the Chillingham pub in Heaton, close to the Chillingham Road Metro station in Newcastle.
- Time-in starts at 7pm, but STs and GS officers are present from 6pm.
- To contact the Newcastle officers, visit the forum or email the officers at moc.liamg|ssenkradnieltsacwen#moc.liamg|ssenkradnieltsacwen
