Los Angeles (cWOD)

Los Angeles is a major city in southern California.

History
Sometime in the 1930's, Lucifer, having escaped imprisonment in the Abyss, ended up settling in the city. He gained a major hold over the city's entertainment industry, seeing its potential to influence the whole world.

A large number of Kindred Anarchs had also moved to the city by that time, and the Camarilla installed Don Sebastian as Prince to try and wipe them out. His actions provoked the second Anarch Revolt in 1944, leading to his death and the formation of the Anarch Free State, with the Anarch kindred of Los Angeles as its nominal heads.

After the Sixth Great Maelstrom, many of the escaped fallen came to Los Angeles for the same reason as Lucifer, seeking to control the entertainment industry and gain worldwide influence. Gradually they became vaguely aware of Lucifer's presence and came in greater numbers; perhaps oddly, the presence of so many fallen had a temporary stablizing effect on the city, and eventually a fallen named Spentu Mainyu became the head of the city's largest infernal court.

Then the Earthbound came. Drawn to the city by the presence of so many fallen, the first of them, Enshagkushanna, a vassal of the greater Earthbound Baal, attempted to wrest control of the fallen away from the court. However, another Earthbound, Dagon, sent word to him that Lucifer had made a refuge for himself there, and Enshagkushanna changed tactics to track down the Prince of the Fallen. The second Earthbound, Manishtusu, the Lord of Murder, also came seeking Lucifer and attempted to do so by manipulating the street gangs of the city. The two began sporadic fighting with their followers, all the while searching for Lucifer.

The final Earthbound to arrive, the legendary "Great Beast" Belial himself, desperately wanted to be the one to strike down Lucifer and made deals with Enshagkushanna and Manishtusu. To signal the start of their deal, Belial caused the catastrophic Devil's Night earthquake, which effectively shut down Los Angeles and the surrounding neighborhoods. The other two Earthbound sent forth their servants to further the chaos, causing riots, looting, arson, and other crimes while reaping Faith from the population. The horror lasted for five days and the city was effectively crippled as the government centers, police, and fire departments were reduced to rubble.

On November 3, 2003 Lucifer himself appeared in Apocalyptic Form near the remains of City Hall. The vision lasted for an instant, but it was enough to quell the riots and inspired millions with renewed faith to go to the local churches, synagouges, and temples. While it inspired the three Earthbound to further efforts, many of the fallen from around the world, watching the revelation on broadcasts, travelled to Los Angeles, hoping to see their former leader again.

The following year the Anarchs were ousted by invading Kuei-jin. The Camarilla moved in swiftly, appointing Sebastian LaCroix Prince of the city. Despite the Camarilla's claim, violence escalated to open warfare between the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Anarchs and the Kuei-jin, both over the territory itself and the possession of the artifact known as the Anakaran Sarcophagus.

Downtown
Downtown Los Angeles is the second of the four main regions in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It is the home of the Ventrue Prince Sebastian LaCroix, your surrogate Sire as well as the Brujah Anarchs Smiling Jack and Nines Rodriguez.

Santa Monica
In VTM: Bloodlines, Santa Monica is as the previous region and the subsequent ones where there are core missions that have to be completed to move the story forward. However, it is the optional missions that not only help you earn the necessary experience to buff your character up enough to survive the later levels more comfortably, it is these optional missions that flesh the world out and make the game live and breath.