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Gehenna War

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“ I can't help but think of all the blood shed in Africa and the Middle East for this Gehenna Crusade, all the Cainite lives lost, of how we celebrated the one in twenty vampires who returned from conflict with a Methuselah, bloated like a tick on new power. We just forgot the nineteen fallen and where their vitae went. Who it fed. Who or what the ashes of Methuselahs summoned to the surface. ”
  — An unidentified Lasombra turncoat[1]

The Gehenna War, also known as the Gehenna Crusade, is an active Kindred sectarian conflict, primarily between the Camarilla-Ashirra alliance and the Sabbat.[2] It is primarily believed to be fought in the cradle of civilization (meaning the Middle East and north Africa)[3] but its true scope is in fact global.[4] It is considered the early stages of Gehenna as a whole.

History[]

In 2014, for reasons that were not entirely clear, elder Kindred around the world are subject to a supernatural "Beckoning,” which compels them to travel to the region to participate in the conflict.[3] The elder vampires were being drawn by the magical Beckoning to fight in the war, as they suffered from blood stirring and mental disturbances, although some elders traveled willingly to protect the interests of their sires. Some ancilla have been known to pretend to feel the effects of the Beckoning to disguise as powerful elders. Other elders were destroyed in their domains and their murderers hid their deaths by claiming they had succumbed to the Beckoning. More elders were in hiding to avoid the Beckoning or that their subjects see their weakness.

The Gehenna War was driven by Methuselahs, but secretly orchestrated by the Antediluvians. The major factions struggled to understand its origin, as the elders fell to the Beckoning. The Sabbat helped the conflict evolve by hunting and awakening several of the Methuselah.

The Camarilla and Ashirra allied with the Vermilion Wedding against the Sabbat, but were known to backstab each other often. At the same time, several Blood Cults emerged, worshipping the Methuselah as blood gods. Justicars started Embracing elite military units to serve as the Camarilla's shock forces. Some of the Camarilla elders abandoned their sect after heavy losses against the Sabbat and formed their own independent autarky.

Anarchs, still not feeling the effects of the conflict, have been known to take over weakened Camarilla territories, only to then be confronted by a Sabbat full offensive. The Inconnu suffered many losses as its membership are mostly elders, and many fell to the effects of the Beckoning.

The Sabbat, drawing a connection between the sudden concentration of ancient vampires in what the Book of Nod claimed to be the origin point of all Cainites and the multiple recent signs of Gehenna such as the Week of Nightmares and Red Star, determined that this was a true sign that the enemies of Caine were growing desperate and that Gehenna had begun. Declaring a sect-wide crusade, they all but entirely deserted their international holdings en masse and endeavored to travel to across the world in order to uncover and kill Antediluvians.[4] Conversely, the Camarilla seeks to contain them, protect the Masquerade, and to protect the graves of any torpored methuselah from being disturbed by Sabbat who might confuse them for Antediluvians.[2]

It quickly became clear to the Sword of Caine that not all Noddist texts could be trusted as a map to unearth the Antediluvians, and that servants of these secret masters had the resources and time to bury their secrets wherever they wished. Almost as soon as it had started, the Gehenna War spread to distant locations across the Earth as the Sabbat pursued the clues wrested from the consumed souls of countless elders. A substantial portion of the Sabbat's forces still remains in the Middle East and Maghreb in order to capitalize on the constant influx of elders and their servants, but theaters of the war have since cropped up all over the world.[4]

Fateful encounters with the presumed Lasombra Antediluvian during the conflict are thought to have been an immediate cause of the Amici Noctis deeming the Crusade a suicide mission primarily benefiting the Antediluvians and methuselah, and beginning a migration of Clan Lasombra to the Camarilla starting in 2019.[1] While around half the clan still remains in the Sabbat, by 2023 clan Lasombra is by and large considered a fully-integrated Camarilla clan.[5]

Forces[]

Major Theaters[]

Although the dispersal of the Gehenna War has resulted in virtually any domain in the world being at risk (even if it is unlikely) of becoming a new front, several regions are the focus point for particularly critical, drawn-out or noteworthy elements of the conflict:[4]

  • Brazil: Site of a civil war between the returning Sword of Caine and the descendants of dormant thin-blooded shovelheads left behind after they briefly "abandoned" the country.
  • The Middle East and Maghreb: Alamut has become a major stronghold for the Black Hand after its seizure from the Shepherds of Ur-Shulgi, and many nearby Ashirra domains are being slowly and subtly swayed into following Noddist ideology.
  • The Baltic States and Russia: The former was ravaged by an eastbound mass-migration of the Sabbat in mid-to-late 2020, the latter now plays host to a great hunt for some unknown ancient being deep in the Siberian wilderness.

Viewpoints[]

Sabbat[]

In the terms of eschatology and Sabbat faith, the Gehenna War is the Sword of Caine’s last chance to make sure the chains of Blood they broke so long ago are never reforged. Complacency and dull thinking had led them to the edge of ruin by wasting centuries in pointless territorial war against the straw-men of the Camarilla and in courtship of wayward Anarchs. Perhaps Gehenna is inevitable and the promise of creating a world based on Caine’s vision of open vampiric rule will never come to pass. But as Caine would take no compromise or half measures, neither will the Sabbat who proudly proclaim his name as Cainites.[4]

When it can, the Black Hand feasts on blood that flows back millennia, kindling dead memories in hopes of glimpsing a god’s weakness, no longer concerned with titles and petty differences in doctrine. In addition to fighting the catspaws of the Ancients, the Sword of Caine seeks to pierce the sublime threshold that separates them from the masters of Gehenna, and ultimately claim apotheosis. The Gehenna War is the Sabbat’s redemption and sacrifice in the face of the impossible. One way or another, they will be free.

The Cainites prosecuting the cold war are those Sabbat who operate away from the war front, which is almost always in domains claimed by Kindred of other sects. These Cainites focus on infiltrating and undermining the most powerful pawns of the Antediluvians: the Camarilla, the Ashirra, and the Anarchs. By weakening the domains of the rival sects, the Sword of Caine aims to deprive the Antediluvians of their most useful tools.

Camarilla[]

The existential pressures of the Gehenna War have caused some of the largest paradigm shifts in the Camarilla's history. Not that long ago, the Camarilla decried or actively suppressed Noddist apocrypha and information regarding the Antediluvians in order to curb the influence of the Sabbat and other Gehenna cults. Events like the appearance of Thin-blooded vampires, the Beckoning, and the Week of Nightmares have since made such blanket censorship near-impossible. All the prophesied symptoms of the eschaton are not not only here but actively occurring in domains all over the globe. Granted, most Camarilla Princes would no doubt love to go about ignoring the problem, and many do, but many others no longer have that luxury.

Thus the Ivory Tower is in it to preserve the Masquerade and defend their own hegemony, plain and simple. Newfound alliances brought about through events such as the Vermillion Wedding and the acceptance Clan Lasombra are a means to an end in that regard. Another are attempts to get out ahead of the sudden surge of blood cults brought about by the ancients' awakening, legitimizing such religions through the appointment of Principals of Faith to minister to "matters of the soul" in these troubling times. Meanwhile, out on the actual front lines of the Gehenna War, Camarilla agents work hand-in-hand with the Ashirra to cover up the worst of the Sabbat's rampages and protect significant Elders from diablerie at their fangs.

Of course, the existence of renegades such as the Dead Lions proves that not all within the Camarilla are satisfied with this defensive approach to the Gehenna War. Some even wonder if their newfound adoption of ancestor-worshiping cults into the sect is indicative of something more insidious. Perhaps, if the blood gods do rise en-masse, the Inner Circle hopes they will naturally favor the older and more elitist sect.

Ashirra[]

When the Gehenna War first began, it was the Sword of Caine flooding into their territories throughout the Middle East that brought the Ashirra to the negotiating table. Ultimately, for all their cultural and historical differences, the Ashirra and the Camarilla are united in mutual self-interest. Both want to survive the oncoming storm and both have resources and influence that if combined may yet continue to preserve that mutual interest. That doesn't mean everyone is suddenly friends. Kindred are still Kindred, and thus the backroom dealing and political backstabbing has arguably only intensified as East clashes against West. But, for now, the facade of the Odense Pact continues to cover up the worst of these internal conflicts.

Anarch[]

The Anarch Movement is simultaneously the least affected by the Gehenna War and the most devastated whenever they are caught it one of its upheavals. For many younger Anarchs, the oldest lick they know was Embraced in the 1960s. How's someone like that supposed to prepare them for the machinations of millennia-old creatures who were considered myths up until the last two decades? How are you supposed to survive an onslaught by a horde of ravening shovelheads when you have no frame of reference for what a "Sabbat" is? For the more seasoned among the Unbound, the Gehenna War is still dangerous and existentially terrifying, but brings opportunities as well. The losses sustained by other sects can be exploited, domains captured and rivals destroyed, because the authorities' attentions are directed elsewhere.

Others[]

One major consequence of the Gehenna War is that there are more independent Autarkies than ever before, as the War continues to erode or otherwise divert the larger sects. Some seek to claim sovereignty over now-vulnerable areas, while others are simply banding together for their own survival, but ultimately all are just as vulnerable to the conflict as any other group of Kindred. The key difference is that independents tend to be a lot quicker to adapt than the older, more hidebound sects.

The Inconnu are said to have been ravaged by the Beckoning, though other Kindred still regard this near-mythical sect as a source of valuable knowledge concerning the eldest of their kind. That is if they can be found in the first place.

The various forces of the Second Inquisition are also an unwitting piece on the Gehenna War's global chessboard. The "Reckoning" spoken of by hunters around the world could very well be a symptom of the War's collateral damage, as the Masquerade becomes virtually non-existent on some fronts and the internet makes it easier than ever to spread rumors and conspiracies. However, their role in the War is at best incidental as even the most knowledgeable organization has precious little idea what "Gehenna" or an "Antediluvian" is, much less the threat these actually represent.

Version Differences[]

The scope of the Gehenna war was originally limited to the Middle East, as shown by the Corebook, and early versions of Camarilla, which were changed to make it a more widespread event across Europe as well. In Sabbat: The Black Hand however, it is clarified that it is a global event.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 VTM: Chicago by Night 5th Edition, p. 45 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!Now in Print!Physical copy also available from Renegade!
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 VTM: Camarilla, p. 25, 57 Buy it from DriveThruRPG! Physical copy available from Renegade!
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 VTM: 5th Edition Corebook, p. 59, 61, 140, 215 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!Physical copy available from Renegade!
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 VTM: Sabbat: The Black Hand, p. 13, 95-103 Buy it from DriveThruRPG!Physical copy available from Renegade!
  5. ↑ VTM: 5th Edition Player's Guide
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