Paris is a conflicted city, its Prince is weak and the Toreador would love to add the domain to their Courts of Love. The Low Clans and foreign Upyri bloodlines have their own stakes in the city, complicating the struggle for power. The mortal world teeters between prosperity, chaos, enlightenment and death.
Two years ago, in 1348, the Plague struck its height. In a city of two hundred thousand, it was not uncommon for over eight hundred mortals to die in a single day as the Black Death ravaged Paris. While the death toll has dropped off somewhat, plague and sickness still claim many lives each night. Some whisper that there must be something behind the plague and its hideous strength. Eyes turn to the Cappadocians and their Lamia bodyguards, minds turn to the rumors of the dark plague-brewers of the Baali or the Assamite Sorcerers.
Despite the darkness of death that hangs over the city, Paris is still one of the wealthiest cities in France. Merchants flock to the city to sell, buy and trade. The University of Paris is one of the largest in Europe and draws scholars from as far as Outremer and Egypt. The Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral has just been finished a few years past and joins a stunning collection of Gothic churches and chapels.
The Hundred Years War drags on, draining the resources of the French economy and paving the way for revolts and rebellion by the lower classes. The English have won numerous victories recently, but Paris is no longer on the fronts of the war. Still, the rumbles of discontent echo in her streets.
The rule of Paris is divided among three authorities: the Grand Court of the Ventrue who have nominal control over the city through Prince Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Renard, the Courts of Love who are represented by the Toreador Countess Yvonne de Orleans and the Fiefdom of Fools, a gathering of the Low Clans under the leadership of an ancient Malkavian calling himself Papillon.
Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Renard is one of the few Ventrue Princes remaining in France, and he holds onto his position tenaciously. Despite all his efforts, however, his actual control of the city is slipping. Only the University really pays attention to his dictates and were they to disagree with him it’s likely he would be ignored there as well. This disrespect drives Prince Renard nearly mad, forcing him to take more and more extreme efforts to regain control. Recently, he has hired a travelling Assamite as his personal Scourge. At least, that’s what the rumors say.
An emissary from Mithras in distant London has taken up residence in the Grand Court. The Englishman goes by the name of Simon Burgess and seems content to observe the state of affairs in the city.
Yvonne de Orleans is the Seneschal of Paris, at least according to Prince Renard. According to the Toreador herself and most of the rest of France, she is a Countess in the Courts of Love and represents the interests of the Queens, with an eye toward becoming one herself once Renard is out of the way. Not that she would ever assassinate a Prince in good standing, of course.
A gentler, kinder authority than Prince Renard, the Courts of Love have tried to reach an agreement with the Chantry and the Fiefdom, though both are unresponsive. Papillon simply doesn't like Yvonne that much and would prefer she and Renard destroyed each other, leaving him to rule the city openly. Regent Zimmermann is very careful to be unfailingly polite to the Countess, but he won't make a move toward alliance with either Court until one demonstrates a clear advantage over the other.
Papillon, the King of Fools, “rules” this court as much as anyone can, but he has little interest in maintaining a hold on the riffraff of Paris. Instead he prefers to be seen as a dotty old uncle that the youngsters can come to in their hour of need. The number of boons and favors owed to the ancient Malkavian is beyond counting and that’s just the way he likes it.
Agnes la Parfumer is a Nosferatu of some renown and works with Papillon as his right-hand woman. Agnes “encourages” the Fiefdom to work against the Grand Court and the Courts of Love, but is not quite willing to risk open warfare in the dark streets of Paris. So far, Papillon has not done anything to stop Agnes’ efforts at destabilization.
Beyond the three courts, there are two other centers of vampiric power in the city: the University and the Chantry.
Within the University of Paris is a collection of scholarly vampires who generally acknowledge the Cappadocian Mathilde as their leader. She supports the Grand Court and Prince Renard in theory. In practice, the Primata and her fellow bookworms care little for who rules the city, so long as their studies are undisturbed. Aside from Mathilde and the other Cappadocians, there are Brujah, Lasombra and some ties with...
Though Paris is no longer the home of Goratrix, it remains an important stop in the expanding network of Chantries across Europe. Four Tremere call Paris their home, the oldest of whom is a childe of Goratrix by the name of Werner Zimmermann. Regent Zimmermann has cordial relations with both the Courts of Love and the Grand Court, acting as a neutral go-between for the two powers. He has made little effort to appeal to the Fiefdom of Fools, and for good reason. The Nosferatu and Gangrel make up a large portion of the Fiefdom, and neither Clan is known to care much for the Tremere.
Your characters have been undead anywhere between 200 to 300 years and alive for some reasonable time prior to that. How, when and why you arrived in Paris is up to you, but all characters have been in Paris for a few weeks to a couple of months, long enough to set up a haven and get settled.
Because Paris is a center of learning and commerce, there is a great diversity of languages. French, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Italian, German and more. All characters get French as free language, even without Linguistics 1. Note: Academics 2 is required for literacy in any language. A character with Academics 2 is considered literate in all the languages they speak. Not realistic, but simple.
History is an element of the story, but I don't expect anyone to have a degree in French history. Wikipedia and Google are sufficient resources, though if you want to go more in-depth, I welcome it.
If you say "thou", you better be quoting scripture. Speak normal and we'll just mentally know that your character is actually speaking in period-appropriate terms. Just avoid obviously modern slang and complete anachronisms.
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