Savannah is a city in Georgia, USA.
Overview[]
On April 21, 1732, King George II granted the charter for Georgia to a group of Trustees. On February 12, 1733, a group of pioneers, led by one James Oglethorpe, landed in the New World, founding the city of Savannah and the colony of Georgia in the name of the king. The idea was to strengthen the colonies, increase trade and navigation, and protect Carolina from Spanish Florida.
Savannah was laid out according to plans that Oglethorpe had made back in England. Thanks to a friendship struck between he and Tomochichi, the King of the Yamacraws (the local Native Americans), Savannah flourished. New settlers came over surprisingly quickly, with a large number of Jews arriving in July 1733 and founding the Temple Mickve Israel. Evangelical Lutherans from Salzburg arrived in March of '34, while Scots and Moravians arrived in '35 and '36. Later, Dutch, Welsh and Irish immigrants came to the new colony.
Vampire: The Masquerade[]
Founding[]
With the influx of kine, Kindred in the Old World reacted[1]. Elder Ventrue sent Franklin Chase, a neonate with a celebrated lineage. Another group, composed mainly of a number of ancillae Ventrue with Brujah allies, sent a Gangrel called Chester. Both groups wanted to know more about Savannah before investing further.
In true Ventrue fashion, Franklin went about securing contacts and influence withe the leaders of the community, whereas Chester scouted out the city and surrounding lands. The two eventually crossed paths and, knowing about the enmity between their patrons back home, became enemies. Unfortunately for Franklin, the Gangrel preferred the direct approach. Franklin's ashes were scattered across the Savannah River from Yamacrow Bluff.
The loss of his childe angered the leader of the elder faction, a Ventrue named of Sabert. Eschewing the safety of his native country, Sabert traveled to Savannah to secure it and the entire colony as his domain. He quickly met Chester and although the Gangrel was a fierce warrior, he had no defense against Sabert's mental powers and was quickly disposed of. Sabert declared himself Prince of Savannah and all Georgia. He also established a level of animosity toward Clan Gangrel that persisted throughout his existence.
Wars[]
Georgia delayed longer than any other colony before joining the revolutionary movement. Sabert used his influence to withhold support until he could receive word from his allies back in England. Unfortunately, the elder fell to age-induced torpor and was unable to continue his stalling tactics. Thus, Georgia signed the Declaration, much to the delight of the Brujah of the colony who supported the movement.
During the War of Independence, royal troops supported by British Kindred attacked and took Savannah, but American forces were joined by French soldiers and fought to retake the city. The extremely bloody siege of Savannah awoke Sabert in 1799. He soon realized that independence was inevitable and lent his support to the rebels.
Sabert Embraced Nathaniel Summerton, a British officer, in 1786. Shortly afterward, Sabert sank into final torpor, and Summerton assumed the position of Prince. When cotton gin was invented in 1793, Summerton was quick to act, and his shrewd manipulations, coupled with slavery (in which Summerton had extensive interests), helped make Savannah's cotton industry the premier of the world. Summerton also took a childe in 1793, more or less impulsively Embracing Penelope Huxley.
In 1796, Savannah was ravaged by fire, which left half the city in ashes and one third of its Cainites dead. After the fire, Summerton allied with the city's Toreador and brought architect William Jay over from England. Jay introduced Regency style to Savannah.
In 1820, another fire swept the city, along with a yellow fever epidemic. This time, Sabert met Final Death when his resting place went up in flames. Several other prominent Kindred also perished. A few months later, Penelope Huxley shocked Savannah Kindred by producing evidence that the fire was actually set by Summerton, who allegedly feared that his sire was waking. The city's most prominent Kindred declared their support of Huxley, who declared a blood hunt on the prince. He was destroyed while protesting his innocence. After that a rumor spread that the yellow fever could be transmitted to the unded. While this proved untrue, it kept new vampires out of Savannah.
During the Civil War, Savannah was blockaded and the city suffered. The Kindred felt the impact of the war and the Sabbat used the chaos to launch a few raids, but they were primarily interested in Atlanta. When General Sherman burned Atlanta and cut a swath to the coast, Savannah was evacuated (by mortals and Kindred who followed the kine example), and thus avoided destruction.
After the war, large numbers of freed slaves sought work in Savannah. Most of the city's Kindred saw them as prime feeding stock and maintained the segregation.
Modern Times[]
After the World War II, Savannah's reputation as a preserved and beautiful city grew by leaps and bound. In 1955, several society ladies founded the Historic Savannah Foundation, further cementing the city's reputation for historical importance. Among Kindred, it became a running joke that Savannah had the largest amount of Elysium space of any Camarilla city.
On the Kindred side, Savannah was a stagnant domain. Being secondary to Atlanta in importance, there was little of the fierce, fast-moving political infighting that marked America's other Kindred.
In 1999, Atlanta fell to the Sabbat, and refugees arrived in Savannah, While most of them moved on, mainly to New York, some stayed.
Changeling: The Dreaming[]
Savannah is part of the Kingdom of Willows in Concordia, of the duchy known as Willow's Heart.[2]
Savannah's Historic Center draws Kithain drawn to its romantic view of the past, while the River Street Train Museum serves as the site for the Annual Nockers Rail Fest. The city's sluagh population frequents the Colonial Park Cemetery, the site of many colonial graves. The bustling Port of Savannah functions as the largest port between New Orleans and Baltimore; its revitalized wharf area provides shopping and dining for tourists, and is the defacto center for Kithain activity in the city.
Since the 1994 publication of John Berendt's nonfiction novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, residents of Savannah have wholeheartedly embraced the seamy, steamy, underside depicted in this socio-cultural true-crime story. Many of the sites mentioned in the book, such as the Mercer House, the Chatham County Courthouse, and the Bonaventure Cemetery, have become major tourist attractions, as well as unofficial gathering places for the city's Shadow Court.
Residents[]
Vampires[]
Camarilla residents include the following in the modern nights[3]:
- Penelope Huxley - a Ventrue prince of Savannah
- Jason Bishop - a Toreador Keeper of Elysium
- Daniel Parker - a Ventrue
- Miranda Jones - a Malkavian, one of Huxley's advisors
- Lillian - a Gangrel, leader of a coteries who patrols city's borders
- Robert Price - Lillian's childe
- Johan Wrede - Savannah's only Caitiff
- several unnamed Brujah
- 2 unnamed Nosferatu
- Ezra Hawthorne - a Tremere
- Rebecca Call - a Tremere
- Stephen Milliner - a Giovanni overseeing clan's interest in Georgia
After the siege of Atlanta in 1999 there were several new residents:
- Tarrence Moore - a Tremere survivor from Atlanta
- Roger Goldman - clan unknown, fought the Sabbat in Atlanta and then became part of Lillian's coterie
- Victoria Ash - a Toreador refugee from Atlanta
- Katla Thranddottir - Ventrue elder who hoped to use the situation to her advantage
References[]
- ↑ VTM: The Ventrue Chronicle, pp. 103-105
- ↑ CTD: Kingdom of Willows, p. 50-52
- ↑ VTM: The Ventrue Chronicle, pp. 101-103