New Orleans (CofD)

New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana and one of the largest cities in the United States. Famous for its annual Mardi Gras celebrations and mix of French, Spanish and African-American culture, it is home to a number of supernatural beings in the World of Darkness.

Vampire: The Requiem
New Orleans has a large Kindred population, thanks to its mysterious reputation and strong tourism industry. Tourists make convenient vessels, and any slips of the Masquerade are more likely to be dismissed due to the observer's drunkenness or the general weirdness of the city. The exception are the city's voudouisant residents and a few of the more devout Catholics, who may not know much about the Kindred specifically, but are more willing than the average mortal to believe in the supernatural.

History
Prior to the arrival of French settlers in North America, the swamps around the mouth of the Mississippi river were haunted by a elder vampire of the Choctaw Kindred. This vampire was assumed destroyed in 1729, but in reality merely entered a long period of torpor from which he has recently awakened. Calling himself "Sam," he is known to most of New Orleans as an unremarkable homeless man.

The first European Kindred arrived in the 1720s, but had no significant self-organization until 1769, when Ventrue Augusto Vidal arrived in the city. Vidal rapidly established himself as Prince, aided by mortal pawns and severe fires in 1788 and 1794. Vidal and his allies took an interest in the slave trade, both as a source of labor for the sugar industry and as disposable vessels. This, and their adamant opposition to voudoun, formed the basis of Vidal's long rivalry with Baron Cimitiere. Vidal and Cimitiere fought on many fronts throughout the 19th century, as Vidal excluded non-whites, voudouisants, and most Gangrel and Nosferatu from his court, while Cimitiere built a powerful mortal following as a houngan.

Their rivalry was disturbed by Antoine Savoy, a Daeva who claimed control of the French Quarter when Vidal's close alley Maria Pascual was mysteriously murdered. Savoy slowly grew his influence in the city's organized crime networks, while Cimitiere continued to influence the black working class and Vidal the government and corporate interests, creating a three-way stalemate that persists until tonight.

Covenants
Vidal is technically both Prince and Bishop of New Orleans, and his heavily Catholicized Lancea et Sanctum holds most of the power in the city. Savoy also draws some support from among the Sanctified, in contrast to Cimitiere, who as a voudouisant is loosely affiliated with the Circle of the Crone. The Invictus hold only marginal power, and are split over whether to ally with Vidal or Savoy. The Carthian movement is similarly fragmented, although an undergound splinter group called Shattered Mirror have widespread (but quiet) support.