Chicago (WOD)

Chicago, Illinois is one of the more prominent cities in the World of Darkness.

Overview[]

First detailed in Chicago by Night, the city served as the signature city not only for Vampire: The Masquerade but for the rest of the World of Darkness to follow. Chicago was also the setting of the first crossover chronicle: Under a Blood Red Moon, a Werewolf/Vampire story that played off of Chicago by Night. Almost a decade later, Chicago served as the nexus for another major crossover in another medium when it was used as the setting of the Year of the Scarab Trilogy.

History[]

The first settlers came to the area during the American Revolution, when the land was still under British control. United States forces, under Revolutionary War hero Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne, acquired the land in 1795, and Fort Dearborn was built in 1803.

Needless to say, this did not sit well with the Native Americans who had called the area home for generations. Here they had their sacred lands, their burial grounds, and their hunting ranges. Newcomers who tried to displace the land's older residents found themselves the targets of raids and war parties.

The army abandoned the fort during the War of 1812 but returned in 1816 with more settlers and, eventually, engineers who hoped to establish a new city at this strategic river junction. The natives found a leader in Chief Black Hawk and prepared to defend their ancestral lands.

The United States Army had been enjoying considerable success against America's natives ever since the death of Tecumseh during the War of 1812. However, Black Hawk thought he had an advantage in the form of the Pale Wolf, a white man who had lived among the northern tribes since before Black Hawk's grandfather was born.

The Pale Wolf was actually an ancient vampire who had been born under the name Meneleus and now called himself Menele. Unfortunately, General Whistler, commander of Fort Dearborn, was under the Domination of Menele's archenemy, the vampiress Helena. She had hunted the Pale Wolf across the continent for centuries and was more than able to tip the balance toward the newcomers.

She also focused attention on the conflict, ensuring that fresh troops would be sent until victory was secured, no matter what the cost.

19th century[]

A Brujah named Maxwell took the knowledge and during the early nights of the French Revolution, sailed to the newly born United States. There he built a fur-trade business stretching from New York to Baltimore and from Baltimore to Indianapolis. He travelled westward until arriving in the city of Chicago. After its incorporation in 1837, Maxwell claimed the mantle of Prince.

Excluded from the upper echelons of mortal society because of his race, he found the Kindred to be somewhat less prejudiced. Indeed, Inyanga—now an ancient member of the city's primogen—first became interested in moving to Chicago when she heard that a Black prince ruled it.

The Civil War swelled Chicago's mortal population amazingly; however, few new vampires arrived, as most were enjoying the spoils of war. With the end of the war, though, came change. New Cainites began pouring into the city despite Maxwell's efforts to keep it a Brujah haven. Numbered among the newcomers was the Ventrue Lodin.

The Great Chicago Fire[]

See Fires and Floods and Devil's Night[]

The night of Sunday, October 8, went down in history as one of the greatest disasters in history. A fire started in the O’Leary barn swept through the city overnight, leaving Chicago in absolute ruin.

Most of the businesses in the area are nothing more than smoldering ruins, and many citizens are left without homes. The mayor has not been able to comment at this time, as he has been busy helping to organize groups of citizens to help contain the blaze, which is still slowly spreading today.

Nobody is certain how this blaze started.

Lodin Praxis[]

With the city's vampiric establishment in disarray, Lodin saw his chance. Opting for a night when Inyanga had left town, the Ventrue made his move. With a small band of Toreador and fellow Ventrue, he attacked Maxwell in the Brujah's East Side mansion.

Expecting a swift, one-sided struggle, the usurpers found Maxwell much stronger than they had anticipated. Many were decapitated by Maxwell's saber before one of the Toreador managed to tear his arm off. Maxwell escaped through a window and has not been seen in the city since.

Lodin wanted no rivals among his own kind and methodically destroyed those few Ventrue who had survived the battle. From this point on, all the Ventrue in Chicago were of his line.

While those Cainites who remember the great fire still call it Devil's Night, Chicago as a whole actually benefited from the destruction. Massive rebuilding rejuvenated the city: within a few years, it had surpassed its old glory and, under Lodin's leadership, became one of the industrial powerhouses of the Americas.

With such rapid growth came unexpected turmoil. Lodin's power among mortals radiated from the top down, and he gave those mortals he supported the power and freedom to increase their wealth at will. He used the twin powers of money and force (the latter through his police and special security guards) to keep the masses in line.

The Toreador Modius seemed to come out of nowhere. He quickly gained support among the mortal workers and disgruntled Kindred. Most importantly, he had the backing of the Gangrel Inyanga, the Nosferatu Khalid, and the Brujah Procet, three powerful elders who had not liked Lodin's high-handed and violent assumption of power.

The plan, while bold and ambitious, failed miserably. Lodin and his allies forced Modius out of Chicago, to fall back to his holdings in Gary. Modius refused to give up, continuing to harry Lodin and his claim on Chicago. Eventually, though, resources ran thin, and Lodin forced Modius to concede.

The next 50 years have become known as Cauchemar Praxis, a time of peace among the Kindred.

Lodin liked to take credit for this quiet era, but most Cainites think of the time as the years when Chicago muddled along. Still, even this relatively quiet period had its share of excitement.

War of Ages[]

See Night of Rage and Operation Incubator

The first indications of trouble came from other princes across the country. Reports of un-Presented neonates, gangs of anarchs, and marauding Sabbat packs began to reach Lodin. The decades of relative quiet had not been limited to Chicago, and Camarilla leaders across the country had grown complacent in their rule. When threats appeared, they either mishandled them or drastically overreacted.

The problems began in the South, where many Black vampires aided their mortal counterparts in the struggle for equality. The princes, almost without exception white products of the racist culture they ruled, responded with ferocious brutality. For once, the kine got the best of the Kindred, and civil rights became the byword of the day.

Anarchs flocked to the city, and the Camarilla sent a group of powerful archons to battle them. For the next years, both sides sniped at each other, maneuvering through the city in hopes of achieving some advantage. The anarchs made some halfhearted attempts to take control of mortal institutions, but for the most part, they co-opted the youth rebellion that was in full swing by that time. The old socialists mostly stayed out of the conflict, but they did advise and succor the younger anarchs.

Maldavis seemed to come out of nowhere, but supported by respected anarchs and displaying exclusive powers, she quickly rose to a position of authority among the battered rebels. She began to forge a new Anarch Movement.

Maldavis was sure victory was in sight, but two unforeseen events drove her into obscurity. Lodin discovered who backed Maldavis’ rebellion and begged forgiveness. Soon after, a “serendipitous” assault on Uriah’s reconnaissance party gave Lodin the opportunity to mentally subjugate him and reveal the location of Maldavis’ stronghold. He assaulted it days later.

Then, the War of Chicago broke out. The combined assault of the Sabbat and the Lupines wiped out most of the remainder of her support, including Uriah. The remaining Anarchs rallied under Juggler, an Anarch from nearby Gary.

Maldavis spent decades at her absolute lowest. Her guilt and self-doubt sabotaged her time and time again, ensuring that every attempt to draw the Anarchs to her cause failed. She came to believe that she was nothing more than a has-been.

Chicago War[]

On a moonlit night in 1993, a force of werewolves attacked buildings in the heart of Chicago. The focus of their rage appeared to be the Succubus Club, a well-known nightclub and secret haven for one of North America's most powerful Kindred. The attack galvanized the Kindred community, leading Prince Lodin to call a Blood Hunt against all the city's Lupines.

Few Kindred were aware of the extent of the werewolf population in the city, and none expected the sort of response the Blood Hunt drew. While at first the vampires succeeded in killing a number of Lupines, their enemy soon struck back in unbelievable numbers.

This time it was the Kindred who were killed on the streets, in their havens, or anywhere else. Werewolves struck every center of undead power, including train stations, O'Hare Airport, businesses, the Tremere chantry, and the Succubus Club yet again. Pitched battles caused great destruction on both sides, and few involved in the fighting were left unscathed.

Approximately one-third of the city's vampires died before the primogen could arrange a truce. While many werewolves were also killed, they still maintain a strong presence in the city. Most vampires believe there will be more trouble soon, and others whisper that the Sabbat was somehow behind all the carnage. The idea of a Sabbat/Lupine alliance makes everyone extremely uncomfortable.

Kindred in other cities have also been keeping close eyes on the events in Chicago, afraid that the Lupines might try the same thing in their own towns. Some have visited the Windy City, hoping to learn from its experiences, but have found the city's power structure in such disarray that they could learn little.

Shifting Crowns[]

After the destruction of Lodin, the Primogen Council took power to prevent the Anarchs or anyone else from claiming the city. They were able to rule the city for a good number of years before someone was supported enough to take the praxis.

Inyanga, the former Gangrel Primogen, brokered a new peace treaty with the Lupines, delineating vampire and werewolf territories.

Joseph Peterson claimed his Praxis, but his paranoia, coupled with constant missteps and the lost opportunity to host the Olympics—which resulted in significant losses—ultimately rendered his rule a failure and left him isolated.

Kevin Jackson Praxis[]

Soon after, Kevin Jackson took over, backed by the Primogen. His first act was to eradicate the gangs in Chicago. He delved into science and technology, determined not to become an anachronistic Prince ruling over a city stuck in a bygone era. His mantra is "STEM" — education for everyone and a chance at success, the American Dream — but applied with strict discipline.

Kevin is determined to make Chicago the crown jewel of the Camarilla in North America, where ignorance among Kindred is inexcusable. What began as a reign of hope and upward mobility has transformed into one where the Prince is eager to crush the Anarch Movement, hunt down the Clanless and the Duskborn, and silence dissent by sending Hounds to burn down the havens of troublesome vampires.

Geography[]

The city of Chicago is set within a grid system created in the early 1900s to combat growing confusion over the city layout.

The heart of the grid is the intersection of State and Madison Streets, located in the middle of the Hive. The addresses on all east-west streets begin with the words “east” or “west,” depending on whether they fall east or west of State Street. Similarly, the addresses on all north-south streets begin with the words “north” or “south,” depending on whether they fall north or south of Madison Street.

With this said, the block has become a staple of Chicago neighborhood culture.

North Side[]

Where the world often perceives Chicago as violent and brutal, it also often praises the northern portion. Beautiful and shining, diverse and healthy, scrappy fighters that never give up and take a loss with a laugh and quick anecdote, the North Side has an excellent marketing strategy.

Home to the city’s Toreador, this part of the city is often regarded as the most aesthetically pleasing. It holds the city zoo, theater, music and arts district, and has more artistically inclined areas. It also holds a great portion of the city’s Rack, providing a healthy party scene for both Kindred and kine.

This area also holds a significant amount of Malkavians around the Streeterville neighborhood near the North Side. Banu Haqim and Ravnos clan members have been known to make havens within this area as well, with most congregating around Argyle Avenue, Devon Avenue, or in the vicinity of O’Hare International Airport.

Notably, numbers of such itinerant vampires have reduced since FIRSTLIGHT launched a buzz of activity around O’Hare. Some claim a vampire in the region sold out the local Deceivers to the Second Inquisition.

Once considered “outlands” by most Chicago Kindred, the North Side still tends to be a sleepier area within the world of vampire politics. While it contains Elysia, it tends to not hold many gatherings, and the Rack’s inhabitants are belligerent at best.

The North Side holds a majority of elder Kindred havens, many of whom wish to be left alone and do not interact with the city court.

AIC building - Lester is concerned with the creatures lurking in the old building. The entities whisper about being part of the land, older than America’s Gangrel, and tradução to take back the lands around the lake.
Backtrack Club - Bret makes his haven in the basement of a gay club called Backtrack. The club is a popular venue in downtown Chicago, overlooking the lake.
Ballard Industries Head Office -Ballard's principal domain is the white-collar world of Chicago’s high-finance institutions — banks, brokerage firms — and industries such as real estate and construction, where he made his first fortunes.
Blue Velvet - The Blue Velvet opened its doors in 1972 and has been a hotspot for Kindred nightlife and politicking ever since.
Chicago Tribune Office - Sylvia made a temporary haven for herself in a storage closet deep in the basement of Tribune Tower until she could find a safer, more permanent daytime resting place.
Chinatown -Chinatown is technically under the control of the Tremere, who almost never visit but have made it clear nobody else should enter the area, either. That’s been the rule for a long time. And even though the Tremere are no longer represented in Chicago’s court, the Prince continues to uphold this rule.
Crooks’ Lounge - The Crooks’ Lounge While they have the appearances of dive bars with built-in liquor stores, they have subbasements that hold victims and provide havens for free-roaming vampires much like a Depression-era flophouse.
Dearborn Synagogue - Michalis resides in a modest apartment in the synagogue in Dearborn.
Diamond Yama Hotel - Sierra keeps her haven in one of her family’s five-star hotels in downtown Chicago, the Diamond Yama Hotel off Michigan Avenue.
Four Seasons Hotel - Khadija is currently staying in a massive suite in the Four Seasons Hotel.
Gold Coast Penthouse - Gengis keeps a fancy penthouse on the Gold Coast of Chicago, which overlooks the busiest part of the city.
Stanley-Greer House - Annabelle maintains the sprawling Stanley-Greer House in one of Chicago’s posh North Side neighborhoods, often using it as the venue for her lavish parties.
Succubus Club -The once-famed destination for the denizens of the Chicago nightclub scene, the Succubus Club closed its doors in the late 1990s. Declining sales, the aftermath of the Lupine assault, and changes of culture were often cited by local papers and magazines for the famous, edgy nightclub’s demise. In the last year, the Succubus Club reopened, at first exclusively to Kindred, but now to kine as well. The Succubus Club’s owner remains anonymous to the public at large, adding an air of mystery to the club that spawned dozens of imitators, a few successful franchises, and even a wandering “pop-up” clone, but none are quite as successful as the real thing.
The Neo-futurist Theater - An Elysium with the city’s longest-running late-night theater show, the Neo-Futurist Theater is a non-profit community theater pushing cutting-edge acting and theater work all within a small, black-box theater.
The Painted Lady - In historical properties on Ogden Avenue, Edith established The Painted Lady, a tattoo salon for exclusive mortal clients, and now a BDSM dungeon for the more adventurous.

East Side[]

Most Chicagoans don’t realize the city goes as far south as it does. The East Side of Chicago stretches across the lakefront beaches, the museum campus, and a handful of neighborhoods. In some places, it falls only a few blocks away from the state of Indiana.

A more industrial portion of the city, the East Side is a hard-knock, working-class area containing a large portion of old and new Anarch holdings. This area holds the majority of Brujah turf and assets, with direct access to the museums, University of Chicago, and tougher neighborhoods like Hegewisch and the neighborhood known as "East Side."

The Nosferatu enjoy the vacant or abandoned industrial areas provided here. This side also holds many of the city’s Caitiff and Thin-bloods, who are often left to their own devices or openly threatened by the more righteous members of the Camarilla.

In the late 1980s, the manufacturing heart of the city was in the East Side of Chicago. There were plentiful labor-intensive jobs that paid incredibly well and pushed America and Chicago forward. Then, after a series of trade deals and a massive economic shift caused in part by Ballard’s “interdiction,” all the steel mill and manufacturing jobs disappeared almost overnight. This economic vacuum caused extensive damage across the mortal populace of the area. Th is part of the city simply never recovered and, after almost being demolished for an airport by the Daley regime, seemed to freeze in time.

It also takes on the contemptuous nature of the lake, with bad weather causing monstrous waves to crash onto the shores of Lake Michigan.

West Side[]

The West Side of Chicago has dramatically transformed over the last few decades. A booming medical corridor was built along the I-290 highway out of the city, only a mile or so past where it crosses the Chicago River. This was mostly funded and created under the guidance of the Hecata clan based out of the Little Italy neighborhood.

This guidance disappeared in the last decade without a trace. The clan was known to be highly secretive, only having two public representatives that ever openly attended Elysium: one, a balding, middle-aged man known only as “Genet,” and a younger woman by the name of “Marley.” They both only spoke to the Primogen Council or the Prince privately, under the agreement that they were never to involve themselves in sectarian politics, including meeting with Anarchs or impressionable neonates.

The assumed agreement for the next century was that the clan would keep to itself yet help bring economic recovery and glory back to the West Side as it had done in the past. Genet was designated as the person taking any missives or contacts after a meeting, with the additional caveat that they would have absolutely no interaction with Alphonse Capone. They committed to keeping the “Promise,” and the West Side grew in wealth and bodies.

Then the Promise broke down. Contracts were canceled. Buildings were finished, but funding for advancement was pulled. Hospital budgets were tightened, and there was a citywide shortage of trauma centers, with hospitals refusing to take patients with gunshot wounds. All attempts to reach out to the clan or to the good doctor Genet, who promptly went on sabbatical to officially study the healthcare system of Italy (according to his offices), were met with cold, eerie silence.

Around this time, heroin began flooding the city markets. The drug became so cheap and prevalent that a citywide epidemic was declared. It was not uncommon for dealers to literally just stand on the off-ramps of I-290 and deal to passing cars or sit on the Blue Line train stops and hustle. The drug ravaged the area, and the glittering future of the West Side stalled out.

The only other clan that calls this area of town home, the Gangrel, have mostly kept to themselves during this time. With most of the clan leaving the Camarilla, there were agreements to keep their territory if they took care of it.

A lot of the West Side is lush and green, embodying the “City in a Garden” motto emblazoned on the city crest. While there is still much economic hardship in the area, it also holds many green spaces and “The Boulevards,” winding roads left over from before the Great Fire, with massive parks, green spaces, and field houses that support the people of Chicago.

Garfield Park Conservatory -An opulent lead-lined glass conservatory in the heart of a lower-income area, the Garfield Park Conservatory was declared Elysium by Lodin many years ago.
Pilsen - Mercy’s domain, such as it is, is the couple of square blocks that comprise the neighborhood she grew up in and still considers hers. She makes a point of not hunting there.
Red N°5 - This club exudes exclusivity, the line to enter often snaking around the block and leading into the coach station. Red Noº 5 hosts a range of live music, including classic disco, modern techno, hip-hop, R&B, and rap artists. Though Steadman is the night-to-night organizer and frequently indulges himself with the prettiest clubgoers, Adze is the power behind it all, hosting private meetings on balconies while overlooking his lucrative business. Adze’s lover Erzulie and her devoted disciple Mamuwalde plan to use Red Noº 5 for their annual Blood Disco.

South Side[]

The South Side is often named the “real” Chicago by people who live within its confines. It is the embodiment of the unofficial motto of the city, “I Will.”

This section of the city varies wildly in economic demographics, ranging from small housing projects to upper-middle-class dwellings and even gothic-style mansions in Hyde Park. A common architectural thread running through a majority of buildings is faux pillars that surround doorways of apartment complexes and older homes. This area has a quiet dignity, even though it has held some of the worst horrors of criminal violence within the past few decades.

The gang conflicts hit this portion of the city particularly hard. Entire blocks of buildings have been left abandoned by families fleeing neighborhoods considered too dangerous to live in. These buildings often burn down after being stripped by drug addicts or the homeless for materials they can trade for money. There are too many buildings for the city to demolish, so they are left to board them up and put large red “X” signs over the doors.

Religion holds a heavy sway within these areas, ranging from massive and vibrant African American AME churches, Muslim mosques, Catholic cathedrals, Jewish and Buddhist temples, and storefront places of worship. With the economic woes often plaguing neighborhoods in this area, citizens turn to faith and kindness to find solace.

The few Lasombra already in Chicago have been rumored to want to gentrify Pilsen, Archer Avenue, and Little Village—heavily Catholic areas made up of predominantly working-class and immigrant communities. Marcel of the Ministry once ran a blood cult out of the now-razed Robert Taylor Homes, but his clan scattered amidst the southland and developed a large presence in more evangelical communities.

The Tremere enjoy the religious aspects of the area, as with religion comes the esoteric. Superstition weighs heavily on the South Side, and there is a large number of occult, religious, and botanical shops in the area.

Kevin Jackson has declared the bottom quarter of the South Side as Lupine territory, but that doesn’t seem to stop desperate thin-bloods and outsider clans from attempting to stake a claim on isolated neighborhoods and industrial sites.

This part of the city holds the only other airport within the city, Midway Airport, which is used for interstate and some international travel. Though it is considered Elysium and neutral territory for the use of all clans, the Lupines have it securely under their claw, and for now, no vampires dare access the airport.

Club Escape & Jeffery Pub - Francois Mamuwalde is one of the most in-demand drag queens in Chicago. However, she spends little time in “Boystown,” as she calls the community in that neighborhood pretentious. She prefers bars that cater to the African-American LGBTQ+ community, frequenting the Jeffery Pub and performing at Club Escape in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood.
Church of Christ - Nathaniel keeps his haven in the basement of a freshly rehabbed Church of Christ on the South Side. The church custodial staff, the entire consistory, and certain select members of the congregation are his retainers.
Hyde Park, Tremere Chantry - The Tremere’s Domain is dominated by the Hyde Park Chantry house, which has been extensively renovated into a defensible complex that’s much larger than it appears from the outside. The Chantry provides little in the way of common feeding grounds for its members. Its business is the occult, and if blood magic requires vitae, there are specific procedures a Tremere follows to get it from the required source. Otherwise, the Chantry lays claim to places associated with the occult or unusual supernatural phenomena. This includes the quasi-Masonic Orthodox Temple of Akhenaton, but not the Fanum, which Prince Jackson has declared off-limits to Kindred (a fact that irritates DuSable).
Motel 46 - Talley stays in a motel near Midway Airport and has quickly gotten into the heads of staff and guests to ensure he is not disturbed unless in case of an emergency, in which case they are to serve as his human shields. He has no issues regarding his squalid accommodation.
Riverdale - Riverdale is one of the areas allotted to the Brujah as feeding ground, back when Ventrue Princes were trying to shaft the clan. Today it’s still an area where crime is too high and the average wage is too low. Anita has quietly claimed it for the Anarch cause, and no one has contested her because very few Kindred actually want it.
The Stewart-Freeman Academy - The Stewart-Freeman Academy is Naomi’s domain. The school is small but well-respected and well-funded. Students go from ninth grade to an undergrad degree.
Tia Maria’s - Galura has a shop on the South Side — Tia Maria’s: Palmistry, Tarot, and Fortunes Told — and employs a reasonably skilled old fraud named Ching-He Ni to scam the kine out of their money during daylight hours. After dark, he personally handles his clientele: mortals, Kindred, even other, stranger individuals about whom he doesn’t ask too many questions.
University of Chicago - Critias has controlled the University of Chicago for decades, to the point that some younger Brujah joke he is the Prince of Hyde Park, despite the other Kindred in residence there. Critias has never shown any interest in controlling other areas of the city but has recently (and aggressively) been expanding his control over the university. His command over faculty and students alike serves him both as a herd and as retainers who see him as just another member of staff.

Residents[]

Chicago’s Camarilla Kindred proudly proclaim the city as the sect’s American crown jewel. Kindred such as the Prince, Kevin Jackson, Sheriff Damien, and the city’s Primogen Council all feel pride for their membership in the elite sect. Chicago is, according to Prince Jackson, “the unassailable throne of the American Camarilla.”

Naturally, many Kindred dispute such a claim. Jackson’s progressive face, all smiles for the Justicars and the neonates, preaching “education on the Traditions for all fledglings and a step onto the ladder of our sect for all those who deserve it,” is an appealing line, but fails to mention the coldhearted persecution of Anarchs and other dissidents.

“Education” often comes in the form of threats, punishments, and the Blood Bond, if not schooling at the Brujah Critias’ “Eternal Academy,” which comes with its own dangers. “Those who deserve it” are often Ventrue and Toreador, with little ground given to what Jackson callously dismisses as the “lesser clans.”

The Kindred of Chicago don a peaceful veneer, happy to fake support for their Prince. They know his appearance as a liberal unionist who came up from nothing, with care for his fellow Kindred, is a complete sham. They know he has more in common with a Republican one-percenter who holds the power and lets little slip through his fingers.

He may not be the ideal ruler, Chicago may not be the Camarilla paragon domain the Kindred claim it to be, but for as long as peace holds, the Archons stay away, the Anarchs fear the city’s collective weight, and the city remains firmly in the Camarilla’s grasp.

Prince[]

Kevin Jackson
Lodin (Previously)
Joseph Peterson (Previously)
Maxwell (Previously)

Primogen Council[]

Previously[]

Banu-Haqim[]

Aicha Rana

Brujah[]

The Furores[]

Previously[]

Caitiff[]

Previously[]

Victoria Longwood

Gangrel[]

The Wolf Pack[]

Anthius

Previously[]

Lasombra[]

Malkavian[]

Previously[]

Bryan
Corbin

Ministry[]

Nosferatu[]

Previously[]

The Thin-Bloods[]

Toreador[]

Tremere[]

Ventrue[]

The Outsiders[]

Final Death[]

A number of the Kindred described in the editions of Chicago by Night no longer exist.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse[]

Vampires have haunted Chicago since before the city even existed: in the 17th century, the vampire "Pale Wolf" (actually the Brujah Methuselah Menele) took refuge in the region during his flight from his nemesis, the treacherous Toreador Helena. The two ancients fought, and both were forced into torpor; Menele was hidden by his Native American childe and ghouls with the assistance of the Uktena, and Helena was secreted away by her own ghoul, Prias. Each of the slumbering Methuselahs used their influence over their respective broods (via the blood bond and mental Disciplines) to manipulate the development of the settlement that became Chicago. Menele took the advantage initially, as he was able to instill his clanmate (and pawn) Maxwell as the city's first Prince. Despite that victory, the two sleeping ancients continued to battle via proxies, particularly the city's primogen. Helena won a major victory when the Great Chicago Fire broke out: her catspaw Lodin was able to force Maxwell out, take the office of prince for himself, and install his childer in positions of influence across the city. Lodin's domain eventually encompassed Gary, Indiana, and had tendrils in Milwaukee.

In 1991, Helena awoke from torpor in her crypt beneath the Succubus Club, and began actively searching for Menele's haven. In 1993, local packs of Sabbat and Black Spiral Dancers forged a temporarily alliance to turn their mutual enemies (the Camarilla and the Garou) against one another. The Spirals attacked the Succubus Club, killing several Kindred and forcing Lodin to declare a blood hunt against all Lupines; while the Garou were thus distracted, the Dancers conquered the Garou caern located inside the city. The Garou reacted by making several direct attacks against the city's Leeches while searching for a way to free their caern before the Spirals corrupted it. The Sabbat used the chaos that followed to raid the city, slaying many Kindred themselves. The "Chicago War" that ensued resulted in the deaths of more than a third of the city's Kindred, including Prince Lodin himself. In the political vacuum that followed, Helena took a more active hand in the city's affairs from her haven in the Succubus Club, and blood bound at least two members of the primogen to herself.

Around late 2010 Kevin Jackson became the new Prince of Chicago after he demanded the Primogen call for a new Prince. The Council did not oppose his ascent to praxis, toppling the unsteady Joseph Peterson from his paper reign.

Garou[]

Gray Raven - Past Resident Garou who received the Prophecy of the Blood Red Moon
Anna "Eyes-of-the-Sun" Pelfrey
Michael "Peers-at-Soul" Charneco
Torrance "Green Mage" Greene
Colleen "Shamisa" Fetner
Clifford "Son-of-Orion" Lee
Luther "Stepshadow" Lynch
Gentle Brook
Kimberly "Daytripper" Myers
Simon "Doctor" Vosk
Ethok Ten-Hearts
Billy Mabson
Kelly "Weaver-friend" Patterson
Chris "Dreamlaugher" Vann
Doris "Firefly" Sutton
Grace
Hekko, "Lucky"
Unis "Cowboy" Smith
Matt "Bottle-Nose" Barwick
Lamar "Needles" Graham
Gnuris One-Eye
Peter "Walks-with-Lions" Lawrence
Old Trucker, a Ghost Council ahroun and casualty of the 1993 War of Chicago.^[1]
South Chicago Pack, mostly consisting of Bone Gnawers and focusing on vengeance against Chicago's Leeches.^[1]

Mage: The Ascension[]

Several Chicago chantries are described in The Book of Chantries, including the Sepulcher (a hideout of the Hollow Ones) and the Household of the Jade Demon, lair of the Jade Demon, a renegade Nephandus. There's a Hermetic museum chantry on Erie Street in Chicago’s Gallery district. The Ghastly Gothic Grapevine is a rumor mill and divination tool of the Chicago Hollowers.

The Iteration X amalgam Department 37 is located within the front company, Curtis Electonics Corporation, which is located in Chicago.^[2]

Hunter: The Reckoning[]

A number of the imbued signature characters hail from Chicago or are still active hunters there. Several hunters, notable Guadalupe Droin, encountered the Risen wraith Dennis Maxwell, who had been a denizen of the Windy City in life. Debbie Winston lived in Chicago, and both she and Cop90 were killed by the same rot there.

Year of the Scarab[]

A cell of imbued encountered "Dennis Maxwell", who they learned was actually the Spectre Maxwell Carpenter. One hunter, Thea Ghandour, was drawn into an investigation to her family ties with the Orthodox Temple of Akhenaton, and in doing so came into contact with the mummy Ankhotep, now Reborn in the body of Nicholas Sforza. The hunters briefly allied with Carpenter against a mutual foe, but ultimately were forced to ally with Ankhotep (and, for a time, the Kindred archaeologist Beckett) against Carpenter.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Others[]

Minor characters[]

Basil, "burner" who accepted the Nosferatu Rowan into their tribe; Rowan's touchstone
Amadeo Carluccio, gangster responsible for killing two of Nickolas White's friends in a drive-by; strangled along with his girlfriend by Nickolas.
Jason, mortal and Krissie's friend; killed after causing trouble in the Red Noº 5 nightclub
Trevor, mortal and Jason's friend; killed after causing trouble in the Red Noº 5 nightclub
Go-Lo, DJ who plays in the Red Noº5