Active Players:
Non-player Characters - 
VAMPIRE - When the burning kiss of sun has left the sand and sidewalks; when the dying day brings back the shroud of cold ocean fog to drench the shadows in misty darkness; then walk the undead who come to feed their hunger and dance to the unseen piper who plays the ancient tune of the Jyhad. Come dance the carnival dance of death with the mad Prince who holds court on the glittering carousel. Come meet the sad souless beings who struggle with their damnation against a tide of hunger, playing out their games of intruigue while the world grows old and decays around them. There is only the ecstasy of the 'Kiss' to abate the emptiness within. The play begins! You are now all invited to witness these players in this Masquerade. The price of admission? Why, only a little blood - perhaps just a bit more than you can spare. Don't be shy. Did I ever tell you what a lovely neck you have?
Though not large in population, Santa Cruz and vicinity supports a number of kindred, perhaps due to the abundance of homeless people and teen age runaways - extra people, whose disappearance no one seems to notice. The Prince of the city is a mad Malkavian, whose real support comes from a gang of Brujah bikers. Why they support him is a mystery as nearby Salinas and San Jose are both Anarch baronies, atagonistic to Camarilla rule. The local Ventrue primogen chafes at being lorded over by a loon, but is afraid of the Brujah. However, recent events have threatened to throw things into turmoil. The Toreador Prince of Monterey has been murdered and diablerized, whether by Anarchs or the Sabbat is unknown. Now that the werewolves in the mountains are distracted, the Anarchs from San Jose are finding it all the more easier to cross the mountains into Santa Cruz. And their brothers from Salinas are growing bolder, heartened that Monterey is in turmoil. They seek to rip both Monterey and Santa Cruz from the grasp of the Camarilla. The border city of Watsonville has become a battleground.
Santa Cruz is a Camarilla island in a sea of Anarchy. The power of the lycanthropes, usually a bane to the sons and daughters of Caine, had acted in this time of the Anarch uprising to keep the enemy at bay and out of the coastal communities. Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Juan Bauptista had all stayed with the Camarilla, thanks to the unwitting help of the shapechangers who populate the mountains. Recently, the Prince of Monterey, the Toreador Sandra Jackson, has been murdered and diablerized. No Anarch factions have claimed responsibility for this heinous act, but they are moving to take advantage of the situation. Some frightened voices claim the murder was actually the work of the Sabbat. As for San Juan Bauptista, the resident kindred there has disappeared and word comes from spies in the Anarch camps that San Juan is a place best left unto itself. Santa Cruz then remains as the only Camarilla stand south of San Francisco. For all of that though, the powerful clans of San Francisco, or "The City", as locals call it, don't seem to think or to care much about Santa Cruz. To them, Monterey was the loss. Santa Cruz is a forgotten embarrassment. The vampires of the city, stranded and cut off - left to fend for themselves, view all new kindred as enemies. Would it were that the Anarch Baronies of San Jose and Salinas could ignore Santa Cruz as well, but the small tourist city sticks out like a thorn in their pride. In Monterey, most kindred have gone underground. Others have fled to Santa Cruz, seeking refuge and shelter. Some Santa Cruz kindred fear that the refugees are Anarch or Sabbat spies; so tension grows between the newcomers and those that have always called Santa Cruz their home. Fears are sown, new tensions arise. Another dance in the Jyhad has begun.
The Prince of the City is Honore Henri Bouchard, but who prefers to be called Prince "Happy." He is, as one might suspect, a Malkavian, and is said to fall into bouts of personality change that leave the mind reeling, and the kindred community effectively leaderless. Though he was often mocked in Monterey, still Prince Sandra Jackson had kept relations cordial for the sake of the Camarilla. It is said that the real power behind Prince Happy's painted throne are the Brujah, led by their primogen, Purdy. Why Purdy doesn't give Santa Cruz over to the Anarchs, or even more, why he doesn't declare himself Prince instead is anyone and everyone's guess. Do the Brujah really follow Happy's orders or is their support some prop of subterfuge where Purdy rules behind the scenes, intent on some darker design?
Elysium - Prince Happy has declared the Boardwalk to be Elysium. Primogen Council meetings are often held after hours on the carousel, while it is spinning, lights going, music playing. The members of the council in Santa Cruz are: the Prince, the Nosferatu Jonathan Loparlo, the Brujah Purdy, the Gangrel Mish, the Toreador, Mudita, and the Ventrue Franklin Thomas Crown. Crown, of course, hates meeting on the carousel. He considers it painfully undignified and refuses to sit on a carousel horse like the others.
Laws: The basic Traditions of the Camarilla are in effect and are upheld by the Brujah with rigorous force. One law unique to Santa Cruz is that one of the city's kindred, chosen by random, must attend Prince Happy to tell him a bedtime story before dawn. Some kindred are known to stay up all day in their crypts trying to think of a good story. After several decades, it seems Prince Happy has heard them all and is considered a tough audience. Word tells that a few who have failed to please him have never been seen again.
The Clans:
Brujah - There are four known Brujah in Santa Cruz, all members of a biker gang called Los Diablos Muertos. They are the largest clan in the area. Their Primogen leader is a dark haired and bearded biker called Purdy, who likes to runaround draped, sometimes draped in a cape of - wolfskin? It is rumored his original name was Perdicas and that he is from ancient Macedonia, having fought in the wars of Alexander the Great and was embraced by some unknown sire in Babylon. His sidekicks are: Rebecca Cheroff, a raven haired long legged, heart pulling out (literally) bike moll who is also Purdy's chylde; Chewy (Chokuwetta), a large black man whose muscled arms are as thick as most athletes' legs; the Doc - Brandon Lawrence; and Caitlyn Jackson, lead singer in a rock band.
Brandon Lawrence is a newly embraced chylde whose sire is unknown. Brandon is a new vampire and seeks to preserve as much as he can of his human identity - that of a doctor helping people. Brandon currently works nights at Dominican Hospital.
Caitlyn Jackson is a locally famous celebrity, Caitlyn's arrival is not appreciated by Amber Bateman, for good reason. Caitlyn's band has played to sold out crowds in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. How ironic that the kine who flock to see her provide her ready meals as well as adulation.
Other Brujah who have died in recent times are: Tony Darc (aka Antoine d'Arcier), a broad shouldered sandy haired seeming man who was of moderate height and who died fighting the werewolves in the mountinas; and El Chino (Richard Lopez), a tough biker who fell prey to a Gangrel rogue. One other Brujah who used to ride with Los Diablos was an ex-Navy Seal named Jerry Jones, whose crypt was exposed to the sun back in the earthquake of 89. He was the group's weapons expert and has never been replaced. Having taken so many losses, the Brujah are perceived as weaker. Only time will tell if the Ventrue and other clans will one night make their move.
Caitiff (Ravnos) - Weasel (Serafin Hinjosa) is the leftover from a band of Ravnos that terrorized the Santa Cruz kindred in the late 60's, before being wiped out by Purdy and his gang. Weasel had only just been embraced and really knows nothing about being a Ravnos, which might be why Prince Happy ordered him spared over Purdy's objections. Still, Weasel has said he would like to meet other Ravnos, and has been considering leaving Santa Cruz to find them. Crown has said openly that a Blood Hunt should be called on Weasel, since the young snoop could probably point the way to nearly all the crypts in town should the Anarchs ever arrive.
Daughters of Cacophony - Only one member of this rare clan is known to reside in Santa Cruz. Her name is Amber Bateman, lead singer of Amber Chorus and she is a local celebrity, singing at many of the local nightclubs in both Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Jose and San Francisco. She has even done some gigs down in L.A. Though Amber is adored by the mortals, her reception among the kindred is mixed. Many like her, but just as many accuse her of being an Anarch spy. After all, why else would she be allowed free passage into Anarch baronies like San Jose, and even the heart of the Anarch Free States, Los Angeles? Amber can sing everything, from folk, Irish ballads, jazz fusion, but prefers hard belting rock and reggae tunes. She has long blond hair, blue eyes, and is an impressive six feet tall. She feeds often, trying to keep herself from appearing too gaunt.
Gangrel - There is only one known Gangrel in Santa Cruz, an enigmatic figure called Mish (Steven Mikcshio), a vampire who appears as a small curly haired young man with a mirthful grin, curly brown hair and smokey blue eyes. Mish is a loner, who keeps to himself, rarely interacting with other kindred, though it is said that he, alone of the kindred in the county, has contacts among the garou of the mountains.
The one other gangrel, Raphael, was banished recently for having disobeyed the edicts of the Prince. Raphael was a circus orphan. A bloodhunt had been called on Raphael for having embraced without the Prince's permission, in direct violation of the Prince's intent to reduce pressure on the local kine reserves given the population increase in vampires. Also, Raphael was blamed for killing a number of Brujah ghouls who were guarding Raphael's chylde, whom the Brujah had taken prisoner. He was also blamed for the diablerization of Richard Lopez, one of the Brujah gang that helped run the city.
Despite all this, Raphael was instrumental in revealing the existence of a Sabbat spy and he worked to save the Prince's life. For this, instead of being staked for dawn, as the Brujah had wanted, his unlife was spared and he was allowed to go into permanent exile. Rumors place him wandering the hills of Monterey, running with a pack of renegade garou.
Malkavian - The only known Malkavian is Prince Happy (Honore Bouchard), supposedly the cousin of the Argentine Pirate Bouchard who terrorized Monterey for a time back in the early 19th century. Prince Happy holds his court amongst the glittering lights of the Boardwalk Amusement Park.
Nosferatu - There is only one actively known Nosferatu in Santa Cruz and his name his Jonathan Loparlo. Loparlo is an incredibly wealthy refugee from Monterey and lives somewhere in a seaside mansion in the Rio Del Mar area. Affable and friendly, he keeps to himself mostly except for those times he must come to town by the Prince's command.
Though there is another even more mysterious member of this clan called Mock, no one has seen him for decades. Nobody really knows what Mock looked like, but some claim that he was terribly disfigured and seemed more of an animal mind, having lost much of his humanity. Nevertheless, Mock was old enough to be counted amongst the primogen and it was said that he more than any other supernatural, knew what truly went on in Santa Cruz and along the central coast. But the price for his information was high and few dared pay it. It is rumoured Mock kept to himself for fear of being diablerized, lending truth to the rumour that he was of ancient blood. Some say he was destroyed; some say he is in torper. Perhaps his absence is just as well. Who among the kindred knows not what sort of blood such an ancient appetite as was Mock's must have craved.
Toreador - There are three known Toreadors in Santa Cruz, Mudita, a spiritualistic Art Dealer who appears as a young Hindu woman with dusky skin and long black hair that nearly touches the ground, and who is often dressed in bright or white coloured saris. Her speaking voice is said to as lovely as an angel's and this voice so attractive that even Cainites are seduced and swayed by it. Mudita has recently been made primogen. Two others, both from Monterey, have made their way to the city.
Opium is a sad but lovely creature who haunts the caffes and late night coffeehouses, seeking to electrify her blood with the vitae of the young and talented minds who haunt such places. Opium is very seductive and exotic. She is also a good friend to Miryam. She and Miryam barely escaped Monterey, and Opium is showing a few of the mental scars of her ordeal.
The other, a Vienese musician called Miryam, keeps mostly to herself - haunted by the pathos of her art and knowing that she is cut off from the world of light. Miryam is a talented dancer and was a frequent member of the Toreador social circle. She was well liked and courted in Monterey, but the Santa Cruz Toreador had reacted to her with jealousy and scorn, treating her like a poor unwanted relation. Since the final death of Claudia, Mudita has opened up to Miryam and tries to show some support for all other Toreador, now that they are hers to command.
The other Toreador was Claudia Bertini, who was the daughter of an immigrant Italian fisherman and who was said to have grown up in Riva Italy. She was recently killed by werewolves who were prowling the city streets; though some claim her death was really the work of Thomas Franklin Crown, who wanted her destroyed for threating the Masquerade.
Claudia had maintained that she was embraced in 1823 when she was weeping upon her fiance's grave. He had died of influenza before they could be married. A distant admirer of hers, touched by her pathos, embraced her on the grave, she maintained.
Claudia had loved to paint landscapes, but because she had never varied her unique style over the years, had gotten into trouble. Word had had it that there was an article by a prominent art critic in New York who had claimed that paintings of Sicily from an Italian Artist named Christina Bertoli, dated in the 1850's and the contemporary seascapes of Santa Cruz artist Claudia Bertini were from one and the same hand. This art critic had been said to have suffered much loss of reputation from this article. But still, some, Crown among them, had been angered that Claudia had endangered the Masquerade by this carelessness. For the sake of peace in this crisis, Mudita has never called for an investigation into her friend's final death and has accepted that it was, after all, the werewolves who were responsible.
Claudia was a young appearing woman with straight brown hair, cut to shoulder length, and large blue eyes. She had never managed to loose her Italian accent.
Tremere - Alexandra Hammel, until recently of San Francisco, had been the only known Tremere of Santa Cruz. It is said that having angered her sire, the Tremere elder Honorius, Alex was been sent to Santa Cruz to "found a chantry." Word has it that Alex is a sacrificial lamb sent by Honorius to "prove that the Tremere stood by the Camarilla when Santa Cruz fell to the Anarchs, even loosing one of his own in the process." Well, Santa Cruz hasn't fallen yet, but pessimistic Alexandra feels it is only a matter of time. Because she has been caught supporting the machinations of Franklin Crown, Prince Happy has denied Alex her request to create a chylde. Her "Chantry" had consisted of only herself, until the arrival of Caesar. Alex is of slightly above average height with longish blond hair, blue eyes and has some freckles on her cheeks, which give her a little girl look, though she was nineteen when embraced.
Arriving recently to bolster the Tremere cause is one Caesar Jarga, a native of Haiti, who has come to help Alexandra. Caesar as a newcomer, is still largely unknown and it is rumoured that he and Alex don't always see eye to eye.
Ventrue - Until the downfall of Monterey, the only Ventrue in Santa Cruz was Franklin Thomas Crown, wealthy nephew of Theadore Crown. Theadore Crown had been a robber baron of the late 19th century, who made his money selling questionable shares to English and French aristocrats and nouveau riche, and then had invested the money in real estate, agriculture and railroads. Franklin inherited his uncle's money after his uncle was mysteriously found dead in his home, having drunk poison. A private inquest was held, but it was said the death was suicide. Still, Crown and his sister, Aglaia, were treated as outcasts by the city folk up until the day Franklin supposedly "died." As a recluse, no one had seen Franklin for years, so it didn't seem overly strange when, off of a steamship from San Francisco, stepped a young man onto the wharf who strongly resembled Franklin. This man claimed he was Franklin's son, Nathanial. And Nathanial had the papers to prove it. Nathanial, unlike his supposed "father," was a generous benefactor, building many public buildings and monuments for the city that are named after the family. His "descendents," kept up the tradition. The current Crown scion, named Franklin after his "great-grandfather", but often preferring his middle name of Thomas, dedicated several million dollars several years ago to build Crown College up at U.C.S.C. Crown College is where the heart of the Computer Science program lies at the University and Franklin is said to be very interested in computers. Also, like his "forbears," Franklin is a bit of a recluse, not often seen at public functions.
Among the kindred, rumour has it that Franklin has defied the Prince by secretly embracing a young woman to be his consort. But afraid of the wrath of the Prince's Brujah, Crown supposedly keeps the young vampire woman locked up in his Victorian Mansion on Beach Hill. Certainly, a young woman can sometimes be seen in the tower room facing Main Street. But whether she really is a vampire, or is just a ghoul or herd vessel is unknown.
It is also said that Crown has loathed Bouchard, or Happy as he is called, since the day Happy arrived from Monterey, back in 1888. There never were enough kindred in Santa Cruz for there to be a ruler at that time, but Crown considered himself the de facto Prince. But when Happy was declared Prince by Purdy in 1912, Crown was outraged, feeling the title had been his by right. As the kindred population of Santa Cruz swelled, Crown has been said to always work behind the scenes trying to depose Happy. It is known that Purdy has always pushed to eliminate Crown as a dangerous traitor, but Happy has always, it is said, forbidden this and tolerates nearly all of Crown's treasonous excesses. Crown appears as a middle ages man of slender build, five-foot four, greying sideburns, and hard hazel eyes. He is always dressed immaculately in the best Italian suits.
One of other Ventrue in Santa Cruz is a Monterey kindred named Diane Forester. She arrived without much to her name, having barely escaped the downfall and is said to be walking a tightrope between satisfying the demands of her primogen without getting into any hot water with the Brujah and the Prince. It is rumoured her ghoul was killed by the Brujah to punish her where others claim that she did the deed herself to punish him. Diane herself has kept quiet about this matter all along.
Diane Forester is a young English vampire. Diane was a key player in the Ventrue takeover of the Cannery Row area in Monterey. A Ventrue power play had ousted the Nosferatu presence in the abandoned canneries, and had seen the rejuvination of the area as heralded by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Needless to say, this act did not make things very easy between Ventrue and Nosferatu. Also, the fact that Prince Jackson gave her tacit approval to the takeover further worsened Nosferatu-Toreador relations as well. Diane eyes Jonathan Loparlo with some trepidation, wondering if the Nosferatu holds any grudges.
Another very recent arrival is Steven Allister, who is said to be an envoy from Vannevar Thomas, Prince of San Francisco. Encouraged by Santa Cruz's continued survival against all odds, Prince Thomas has sent Allister to Santa Cruz to assess matters and see what can be saved - if anything. Obviously, as a ambassador from a truly powerful Prince within the Camarilla, Steven is being courted by all sides.
Spiral was an enigmatic, reclusive vampire. He was rumoured to have been the ghoul of a powerful European primogen. He played little or no role in the Ventrue aspirations of the south bay and soon used his vast wealth to extract himself. He has been rumoured to have left for London, England.
Monterey Chronicle (sub-campaign for new players)
Return to World of Darkness Page
Return to Main Page
Links
Number of visitors to this page as of January 1st, 1998: [an error occurred while processing this directive]