Interregnum

Interregnum: the time between the death of the ruler, and the ascension of their proper successor.

Interregnum: a break in continuity.

Interregnum: an Old World Of Darkness Vampire LARP, starting in July.

In 1588, exhausted by his efforts against the Spanish Armada, Mithras, Prince of London, and greatest scion of the Ventrue, fell in to Torpor.

For over four hundred years, the Sabbat and Camarilla have waged secret, bloody war, for control of London. Neither side has successfully held power in London for longer than two years in four centuries.

Time marched on, and by the nineteenth century it had simply became accepted that warfare was the natural state of London. Kindred who were clever and quick might survive, even prosper there, for a time. It became viewed as a rite of passage for the Ancillae of Europe to spend six months to a year there, and a very small number of Elders managed to carve out small niches for themselves within the city, and hold them against the tides of war. Slowly, very, very slowly, stability returned to London. By the start of the twentieth century, it was generally accepted that the Camarilla held the North and West of London, and the Sabbat, the South and East. Clashes along the borders were normal, but something approaching equilibrium was reached.

And then, on the night of Wednesday the 6th of May, 1998, every single kindred in London vanished.

For ten years, London has stood more or less empty. Both the Camarilla and the Sabbat declared the city anathema - a cursed place. Some few anarchs, autarks, and malcontents moved in at various times to try and settle the city, and were swiftly been rooted out by the Archons and the Templars. If the Camarilla or Sabbat could not have London, then no-one would.

Then, in 2007, the unthinkable happened. An open and acknowledged meeting between the Justicars of the Camarilla, the Cardinals of the Sabbat, and representatives from the major indepedant Clans, a first in over eight hundred years, declared that London was to be reopened to any kindred brave enough to settle there. London is simply too important to be left ungoverned for long.

All sides agreed that for a time, at least, it was imperative that London not devolve back into open war. And so the city was given over, for a decade, into the hands of the Giovanni. In return, the Giovanni handed several of their most potent artifacts over to the Cardinals and the Justicars, as surety that they would step aside in ten years time.

This, then, is London. Interregnum has been declared.

The Camarilla will have their Prince, with authority over the Camarilla. The Sabbat will have their Archbishop, to lead their crusade. But for a decade, they may not make war on one another. If a member of one sect should be discovered to have slain a member of the other, then their life is forfeit, and there can be no appeal. On any other disputed matter, the Giovanni will hear representations from the Prince and the Bishop, and them only, and will arbitrate between the two.

This, then, is London. The normal order of things is gone.

But elders on both sides are naturally cautious creatures. They do not expose themselves to their mortal enemies lightly, and whatever secrets London holds have already claimed the lives of hundreds of kindred. So for the first time in the thousands of years of London’s history, it is the young, the quick and the brave who truly have a chance to shine.

This, then, is London. Ripe for the taking.