Our version of the World of Darkness is a mix of the original World of Darkness at the beginning of White Wolf's Second Edition and it is also influenced by some of the events from the Third Edition and Gehenna plots. While the year is still 2008, there has been no Time of Judgment, no Final Nights, nor anything like that. For those not familiar with all that has changed since then, here's a list of the big differences between the final editions of WoD and our version of the World of Darkness, the End of Eternity.
 

Gehenna
Gehenna has not happened. Many believe it still to be in the Final Nights, but the coming of Caine is not on the horizon just yet. What did happen was the awakening of other vampiric ancients, the Inconnu. Something big happened a short while ago. Wild rumours of ancient creatures coming up from the Earth and devouring lesser kindred have run rampant, and to be sure some have gone missing or are presumed to have met their Final Death. But the sky did not turn red, the supernaturals did not cause an apocalypse, and more or less things are generally the same as they’ve always been. The stories and rumours from around the world are already fading into obscurity and superstition among the kindred. Anyone pursuing those stories will be scoffed at and viewed as a conspiracy theorist. Modern vampires have better things to do with their nights than indulge National Enquirer-grade fiction.
 

Inconnu (The Nights of the Awakened Ancients)
This was a coven of monstrous and fell vampires who monitored the teeming Kindred masses in their Cities as shepherds watch over their flocks. They waited and monitored over centuries, calculating the numbers of kindred and recording each generations’ potency until the time came to feast. These Ancients, not the Antediluvians, were the monsters that the Sabbat had warned the world’s Kindred of time and again. The Inconnu, as a sect amongst themselves, took time observing the Kindred. They recorded their growth as others slept, serving as Monitors in centennial cycles. Then the vampires, known only as the Antecedent, began their cannibalistic assaults on Kindred kind. The first was a Ravnos called Ravanna in the mountains of India on the Pakistan border. Others included Sueth’ss Khem–Nafra the Follower of Set in Somalia, Kaubauzia the Gangrel in Singapore, Duenos the Venture in Serbia (Montenegro), and in New York, a Tzimisce called only "the Flesh Column" were just some of the elders to have awakened. These Methuselahs and others openly demonstrated powers previously unseen by Kindred eyes. And that power threatened to finally undo the Masquerade as well as break the Sword of Caine.

The members of the Sabbat took these risings to be a sign of the Final Nights and a herald to the coming of Caine. They had spent the last five hundred years preparing for this fight and fight they did. They fought and they died. In wave after fury-filled wave they marched to sacrifice and slaughter. That was until they made a crucial change in tactics. They went after the Inconnu who had not yet risen and left the others to the Camarilla and the Independents to handle. By eliminating the still dormant Inconnu they could save numbers of packs and grow in power themselves. This tactic worked fully to the Sabbat’s advantage. They slew tens of Inconnu, as well as those accused or suspected of being so.

Many Sabbat martyred themselves for the cause. By the end of the conflict, however, they had won an even greater victory in their minds. Now the Sabbat had all the proof that they needed to fill their ranks with kindred, young or elder, convert or initiate, for the mission to destroy the Antediluvians and undo the Camarilla’s control over the Kindred. They preached that only those who fight, not hide, can hope to find and destroy all the ancients. They argue that the Camarilla’s system of traditions and hierarchical bureaucracies only gets in the way of true freedom and self rule. Camarilla elders may even be agents of the Antediluvians or be harbouring members of the Inconnu for their own ends. And so their hunt for the Ancients and the rulers of the Camarilla continues.

While these events were transpiring, the Camarilla barely held the Masquerade in place. Contention from within the Sect, arrogant Princes and inefficient Archons proved a detriment to the cohesive efforts of the Inner Council. The Camarilla’s spin-doctoring plan used massive media influences to pass off the supernatural upheavals as common problems such as natural disasters, war zones, civil unrest and uprisings, radical localized plagues and other believable lies. The Camarilla banned real media from the danger zones, offset transportation to target areas, and called out influence on the collective militaries of the world. In a surprising turn of events the sect sent aid, both financial and medical, to areas in which the Antecedent and the Sabbat had caused severe damage and loss of life.

The Camarilla also mobilized a war front with participation from all Clans except for the majority of the Nosferatu, who stated it was their position to fortify the cities as a refuge for Kindred or as a place for a possible last stand. Clans Venture, Brujah and Gangrel led charges as Clans Malkavian and Tremere sought weakness in these juggernauts. Marshalling of mortal resources, for the most part, fell upon the Ventrue, Toreador and Tremere. Urbanized Gangrel and Brujah looked out for the commoners.

In the nights following the quelling of the Inconnu, the Camarilla placed the Masquerade as primary focus for all vampires worldwide. They enforced it upon everyone and then began a campaign to counter the cries of the Sabbat. The Camarilla’s official account of the Nights of the Awakened Ancients is this;

“The menace know as Inconnu is forever defeated, broken by the collective actions of the Camarilla and its allies and servants. These elders, having been duly judged by their peers  and have been removed of their gifts of Caine being rent and burnt to ashes. This coven of rogues and diablerists are extinct. The Final Nights are not upon us. We may continue, as we have for these past centuries, in peace. Cleave not to the imaginations and skepticisms of jaded minds. The Camarilla is still the most unified, prosperous and dominant organization of Kindred in the world. This august sect is eternal.”
                                                                                              Ratherius – Venture Justicar

For the record, the Independent Clans have had little to say on the matters concerning the Nights of the Awakened Ancients or any matters to do with their own clans’ Inconnu members. Clan Giovanni denies even having an elder member of its “family” being active during those weeks.
 

The Antediluvians
The Camarilla still supports the notion that the Antediluvians do not exist, or if they did they must all be deceased. In no way could the Inconnu have awoken with such madness and thirst if their progenitors existed. With the Inconnu smashed, the Masquerade maintained, albeit by a hair’s breadth and the Sabbat’s numbers dwindled, the Camarilla continues its affairs, business as usual.

The Sabbat, on the other hand, took the Nights of the Awakened Ancients and their battles with the Inconnu as nothing more than a surge. They believe that not all of the Inconnu have been defeated. They believe the Inconnu and all other vampires of the 4th and 5th generation to be activated agents of the Antediluvians. The Lasombra and Tzimisce have both risen in their influence in the Sect as well as without. Both Clans have actively set aside their differences in order to harness the remaining numbers of the sect to regroup and convert as many Kindred as they can to their cause and philosophy. They feel the next time something old awakens, it may be too late.
 

The Week of Nightmares
The Week of Nightmares did occur. The Beast Ravanna was the first of the Inconnu ancients to awaken and feast on the blood of its kin. Ravanna is believed to have been destroyed by Asian vampires, powerful Ravnos and a group of mortal technocrats. These mortals have since not attempted to go after any other supernatural other than those of the Inconnu. The Ravnos are a decimated and broken Clan. They are estimated to have no more than several hundred members left. Broken into three camps, the Ravnos bicker amongst themselves on who they are, where they are to go and what it means to remain Independent. Not that the Camarilla wants the Gypsies (nor do the Sabbat, really). The Ravnos are still the Ravnos after all and since the Week of Nightmares their actions are more desperate, their words more deceptive and their goals more illusory then ever.
 

Clan Malkavian
The events of the late 1990s did take place. Non-Sabbat Malkavians went completely loony for a moon (one month) and gained Dementation as one of their in-clan disciplines. The “Infection” was resisted by some powerful Malkavian lines and by a few elders. Though still truly mad, these “Enigmas” represent the rational and logical face of the prophet Malkav and have maintained their use of the Dominate discipline. After the Infection, the Malkavian Madness Network also came “on line” and the hive mind of the Children of Malkav became even harder for outsiders to observe or comprehend. The Malkavian’s howling and rambling from the 1990s up to and including the Nights of the Awakened Ancients were a collective warning to all the Sects. And since those nights some Kindred listen to the voices of the Malkavians more attentively, so that they may try and glean wisdom from their madness, the insight from their insanity. Others still condemn the Kooks and state they are little more than corrupted oracles offering up dreams and conjecture to assuage their poisoned and broken minds. NOTE: In the End of Eternity chronicle there is no Malkavian Time.
 

Clan Gangrel
Clan Gangrel claims to have the highest Kindred population in Canada. The majority of them are still living in the depths of the hinterlands and boreal forests. In the End of Eternity chronicle the Gangrel never left the Camarilla, there was no fiasco surrounding their Inner Council member, nor did they know of anything to do with the Nights of the Awakened Ancients. In fact the Clan Gangrel denies any of the monster ancients were even Gangrel, though Inconnu with Protean powers were reported. Within Canada (since about the 1860s), a more socially adaptable and urbane Gangrel have been recognized. These Gangrel focus their efforts on Camarilla domains, cities and Clan Gangrel’s interpretations of the Six Traditions. They are a very small, if not distinct, minority amongst the Clans numbers. The majority of Gangrel, however, remain on the periphery of cities as outsiders.
 

Clan Assamite
The Assamites have broken their curse. For the present time, their reputation as honorable assassins remains untarnished, all though amongst themselves schisms have developed. They hate the Clan Tremere and will take any contract on them. Regular Assamites have no affection or sympathies for the Sabbat, seeing their philosophy as a blasphemy. They do not, however, openly war with the Angels of Caine (Assamite antitribu). Clan Assamite has not joined the Camarilla, preferring their status as Independents.
 

Clan Nosferatu
Clan Nosferatu continues to hide in the recesses of their sewers, many of them trembling over the fact that their elders never made themselves known during the Nights of Awakened Ancients. In fact only one Nosferatu Inconnu was ever found. Thus the Nosferatu now fret over the idea of their extermination coming, now possibly from two fronts. As such the sewers are now off-limits to all non-Nosferatu without invitation. The punishment for infractions is heavy and may even include Final Death. The Nosferatu, desperate for security, eventually sought out and found those members of Clan that even they found repugnant. These Nosferatu are descendants of Cabron the Afflicter, those known as the Haunts. These “Haunts” are legendarily the manifestation of undying nightmares and are thus brokers of fear and darkness. The Nosferatu now eagerly incorporate this fear into their survivalist’s arsenal.
 

Tremere antitribu
House Goratrix has not been destroyed. This small brood of Tremere antitribu still exists within the Sabbat. They are not, however, in any way affiliated to House and Clan Tremere. House Goratrix is a splinter cell, finding refuge from the Tremere and their Camarilla allies amongst the Sword of Caine. Little is known about them and the Clan Tremere is not open on any matter concerning them other than the issue of their destruction.
 

The Camarilla
The Camarilla controls the entirety of Canada except for four cities. Its hold on the United States is still quite solid. The continued hold of these cities and the security of the sect is a constant issue. The Archons have the right to go about as they please so long as they respect the Tradition of Domain. The Masquerade is strictly enforced and the sect presents itself as a bastion of culture, civility and prosperity.

The Anarch Free States still control the West Coast of the United States, and continue to try and spread their revolutionary message across the rest of the continent. The Cathayans have stayed in the East, where they belong.
 

The Sabbat
The Sabbat has retained its control of New York and Montreal, making the East Coast an occasional battleground for supremacy in the United States. Their hold on Mexico is as absolute as ever.
 
 

The State of the Great Jyhad

Camarilla:  The Camarilla in Canada is closely related to the mortals’ Confederation model. Regions are set up and the Princes of each region regularly meet for a symposium to discuss influence, the Masquerade and mutual security. As travelling in Canada is quite risky due to distance and outside threats, these meetings do not happen as often as they should. Due to Canada’s mortal population densities and resources, some Princes rule entire provinces, or in the case of Prince Robert William Buchannan, an entire region (Acadia). Canada’s Archons are similar to the old RCMP. They are dispatched by their Justicar and generally have a lot of autonomy. They are the justice of the Camarilla; they will go to any outlying domain to maintain order, and they always get their man.

Lupines are a constant threat in much of Canada and the Camarilla grants them a large berth. The Camarilla attempts to broker an end to hostilities by including promises to the lupines of parkland and controlled development of mortal cities and industry. Other than the domain of Edmonton, Canada’s north is a no-man’s land, its wilds a perpetual gauntlet for all but the most dauntless of Gangrel. Southern Ontario and the West Coast have become a hot spot in recent years and the elders of the nation are placing fresh numbers of kindred and greater influence networks into key domains as a means of stopping both Anarch and Sabbat incursions.

The Camarilla maintains its historic hold on most of the American Rustbelt and the South. While the Plain States are nominally under Camarilla control, the constant threat of the lupines and the sparse mortal population makes vast tracts of the western half of the nation a Kindred no-man's land, save for the largest cities. Much to the Anarch Movement's chagrin, the Camarilla keeps firm hold on two cities in northern California bordering the Free States, San Francisco and Sacramento, in addition to Seattle in Washington.
 

Sabbat: The Sabbat has driven out almost all Camarilla influence in Toronto and Hamilton in a march to take the Golden Horseshoe, cut off the Camarilla in Windsor and support the front "south of the border". The Sabbat has done well in taking the City of Barrie and its military base. This model of acquisition is slowly being played out all over Canada. The Sword of Caine feels that they must have control of any and all military forces/technologies for when the real enemy finally decides to rise. Montreal is the Sabbat’s impenetrable stronghold in Canada, driving its war machine to conquer all of Quebec and then the elders of Ottawa.

The great beachhead of the Jyhad in the United States is New York City, practically a fortress against Camarilla incursion from which the Sabbat launches a perpetual siege of the neighbouring states and Canada. South of the border, Sabbat strongholds flourish in New England, Michigan, Baja California, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas (El Paso) as well as Mexico. Mexico is overwhelmingly under Sabbat control, and is considered the new motherland of the Sword of Caine.

Sabbat contested areas: These are the frontlines of the continuing Jyhad. These areas either see a constant give and take between the two sects or are simply areas where the Sabbat move unchecked but have not been able to set up a firm power base. Within Canada the domains of Guelph, Niagara Region and Windsor in Ontario are marked for conquest. All Camarilla domains in Quebec are targeted for termination, but this is more a rallying war cry than a plan producing tangible results. As for Western Canada, the failed assault of 2001 in Calgary still gave the Sabbat a means of entering B.C. Leaving the smaller domains alone, they went for Vancouver in late 2006, but a combined force of Archons, Anarchs and Brujah defeated them. Packs still circle Vancouver and her sister domains looking for chinks in their collective armour. Meanwhile in the Northeast, San Diego, San Antonio, Miami and the Mexican border in the Southwest, nomadic packs wander freely across and through the small towns as they please.

Anarch:  Anarch-controlled areas are an anomaly found only in North America. In addition to the hopeful and young Anarch Free States in California and Washington State, the only other pocket of Anarch control is to the North, in Madison, Wisconsin, which fell to them (much to everyone's surprise) decades ago in a series of complicated events.

Anarch contested areas are far less violent than Sabbat contested areas. These are areas that the Anarchs may have laid formal claim to, or where Anarch gangs move without resistance or care. If there are Princes in these areas, they are either young and/or intimidated by the large Anarch population in their City or they simply allow free passage to the Movement. Contested areas in Canada include: Nanaimo and Vancouver, B.C., Brandon, Manitoba and St. John’s Newfoundland, which was lost due to elder influence and the conversion of the now Prince Bryce O’Rourke of Clan Brujah.
 
 

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