The Danse Macabre

The grand doomed dance of the dead consumes the existance of all Kindred, but Atlanta is a crowded stage indeed. Those Damned that dwell within "the New York of the South" must, of necessity, deal with the stagnant and incestous nightly society of the city. All but the most solitary Kindred find themselves caught up in the great Danse Macabre in time.

The Major Players

the Prince...
The Society of the Night has its rulers, and for the past 40 years the Phoenix City has been the domain of a Southern Gentleman and failed idealist named Alexander J. Dallyn. The leader and lightning rod of a successful Carthian Revolution that destroyed the previous order, Alexander had once been a monster of proper bearing and firm ideals. He took over the Rule of Atlanta with promises to those who had followed him and a firm intent to rule with an open ear and gentle hand. Within 2 years, he had broken those promises and resorted to tactics no better than those of his predecessor. Now a master of the First Estate, the Prince has little sympathy for his former Carthian confederates and acts with as much brutality as necessary to assure the proper order of his domain.

The Prince has long since rebuilt the web of contacts and featly that make up the Invictus, beholding himself to many of the same allies and patrons of the old Prince in the process. In many ways the network of Elders and Coteries is even stronger than it once was, the ultimately failed Revolution having burned out many of the weak links in the chain of the Invictus. Yet for all that the First Estate is vital to the order of Atlanta's nightly society, the Princes' prime allies take the form of his extensive Brood of childer.

Alexander Dallyn is a Civil War era Vampire, of Clan Daeva.

...and his Mistress.
There was a time when Elizabeth Alicia Rove and Alexander Dallyn were friends, and even lovers, but that time has long since past. When the order that they had worked so hard to establish began to fail, there was none who took it harder than Elizabeth, and no one worked harder in their attempts to shore up the crumbling walls of the failed enterprise. While others chalked the effort up to experience or gave up on the Carthian Movement entirely, Elizabeth did everything she could to deny herself the truth. First, it was simply a passing difficulty that would be overcome. Then, it was the fault of the scheming Elders of the First Estate and their blindly groping childer, unable to accept a better order. Finally, it was the fault of betrayal from within and the weak ethics of a monster she had once respected.

Elizabeth is no longer truly a member of the Carthians, driven instead by something simpler and more primal than a desire for reform. She wishes vindication and vengeance, motivated by nothing but the desire to prove her ideals correct and to punish the man that ruined it all. It is a dance that has lasted for four decades now, move and countermove, stroke and counterstroke. The rivalry between the two slowly picks up momentum and grows more deadly, its influence touching the entire city.

Elizabeth Rove is a Reformation era Vampire, of Clan Ventrue.


The Lesser Players

The Allies of the Prince

  • Julia Harton (Mekhet), the closest ally and rival of the Prince, Julia Harton maintains a sizable brood of her own and commands a fair amount of influence over the cities Financial Sector. The two tend to dart back and forth between friendly rivalry and a flirtacious alliance. Neither truly likes the other, but each tends to view the other as alternatively intriguing and frustrating.
  • Franklin Thomas (Ventrue), the Eldest of the Elders on the Invictus' Inner Circle, Franklin has survived through the rise and fall of Three Princes so far and foresees his survival through many more. More than anything else, Franklin is stable, with a few loyal childer and the featly of two powerful Invictus Coteries. These days much of his power has passed on to his eldest childer, Kelly-Mae, and most of the city somewhat anxiously awaits his coming slip into Torpor.
  • Rachel Walton (Daeva), a powerful yet somewhat eccentric Elder, Rachel has followed the arts for over one hundred and fifty years and maintains significant connections to the cities high society. With her childe, Jonathan Howard, serving as the Keeper of Elysium and a small coterie of Harpies having pledged their featly to her, there are few in the domain who do not on some level fear Rachael's social influence.
  • Anthony (Ventrue), the youngest of the Elders on the Invictus' Inner Circle, Anthony holds perhaps more power than any of the other Kindred in the city and could likely take the city for himself. Only three factors hold him back. First, his 'Elders' just can't quite respect "the Negro Elder", no matter how much power he manages to acquire for himself. Second, he values the security that his Invictus ties bring him and prefers being a force behind the throne. Lastly, with only a single childer and a few scattered allies devoted sole to him, he has no assets to compare to the Princes' brood.
  • Miriam Spooner (Nosferatu), one of the cities Primogen and the main represenative of the powerful Lancea Sanctum faction in the city. Miriam tends to act as something of a "honorable rival" to the Prince, and attempts to bring something of a religious perspective to the city. In particularly, she objects to the repeated violations of the Second Tradition that the Prince has taken in the process of building his brood. Miriam's sole childer, Grace, serves as the cities Seneschal.

The Princes Brood
The largest brood in the city, the six Vampires who make up the Princes brood all ultimately serve as officiers of the City though only a few actually have named ranks. The Princes Eldest Childe, Jordan Mc Devitt?, is an ancillae in his own right and his embrace predates Alexander's rise to power. He acts as a patron and leader for the coterie, and maintains a loose hand on the cities Transportation network, holding a small Tenurial Domain over the Hartsford-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The prime movers and shakers of the brood were both embraced while the Prince was still a member of the Carthian Movement. Patrick Mattison serves as the cities Sherriff, working to keep the Masquerade and directing his brother-in-blood George D. Brooks in his activities as the cities Hound. Both are unfailingly loyal to their younger sister, Alexandra Westinton, who rumor holds has somehow blood bound the both of them. David, embraced in the 70s and something of a Pariah in the Brood due to his ties to the Lancea Sanctum, has begun to earn his way back into the graces of both Jordan and the Prince. The youngest of the Brood, still not formally presented, was embraced in 1999.

Elizabeth's Minions

Independent Factions