| Issue One: Rome and Carthage |
| Roman Era This has been documented by mortal historians as one of the greatest periods of time ever. To listen to them, mankind was under perfect rulership (comparative to now) and the figures in power were thoughtful, wise men. Any Cainite that has a brain left in his skull, however, knows differently. Mortals have always graced the past as "the good times" as opposed to the present, and they usually make their truly horrible periods of time seem wonderful in hindsight. This is exactly what occurs when they look at the Roman Era. Mortals glorify the Emperors as attempting to bring mankind to a higher state of being. What they shy away from mentioning is the horrible bloodfeasts that the leaders of the Empire indulged in. They avoid discussing Caesar's rape of young children. Never do the learned scholars write about the dangerous assassins that Rome utilised against her foes. Interesting, no? During this period of time, the Malkavian, Nosferatu, and Ventrue clans possessed an incredible amount of influence over Rome, and they used it mercilessly against each other, which generally meant that the Kine suffered. For decades this continued, until the three clans found that they were actually harming Rome itself. While some Ventrue might claim that this caused them to halt hostilities against the other Cainites, the truth is far different that what they espouse. While the Roman vampires were fighting amongst themselves, the Brujah, along with a host of infernal beings called the Baali, were establishing their own empire called Carthage. Along the way, they also managed to attract members of the Assamite clan and a smattering of Gangrel. This empire rose to power, and threatened the wealth and power of almighty Rome. This was enough to get the humans of Rome angry, but it was something else that raised the Cainite's ire. It is well known that some time in the past the Brujah and Ventrue began to act hostile to one another, and this has continued to this day. The Ventrue at the time, however, became infuriated that their hated enemies had managed to create an Empire rivalling their own. This led them to rally the other clans against the Brujah, and manipulated the mortals into entering into a full-scale war. The results were incredibly bloody. The campaign lasted for years. Massive war-elephants, hunting tigers, and ghoulish creations were used by the defenders of Carthage. Rome employed slightly different tactics, using their incredibly huge army to simply overwhelm their foes. Their superior numbers, technology, and training allowed them to gain entry into the city. At that point, the Kindred of the two sides began to directly battle each other. Brujah, Assamites, and the Baali devils fought viciously against their foes. It is even rumoured that Troile himself, along with a powerful devil he was charmed by entered onto the battlefield. The battle between Kindred lasted for several nights, and each side agrees that the conflict was horrible, rivalled only in some cases by World War Two. The end result of the conflict was the virtual extermination of the scriptures used to summon the Baali, and the destructive entity known as Troile had been imprisoned in the earth along with his devilish lover. There the two have stayed for the course of the centuries. While there have been attempts to rescue Troile, there has always been some force that prevents Cainites from escavating on a large scale. Many believe that the Ventrue methuselah Tchernok guards the area, preventing the removal of Troile from the ground. |