Bloodletting Angels
Wilting Rose
Since Europeans first settled the New Orleans delta, Kindred were among them. For centuries New Orleans fell under the fiefdoms of the Camarilla, and remains largely uncontested. This is not because the city is not a strategic point or a desired town. It is because the Camarilla rulers are quite tolerant and inviting of outsiders, who all partake in the dark glories of the Big Easy’s gothic allure. The Sabbat and Anarchs both are present in only small doses, finding little fuel for their fire. While the Prince of New Orleans rules over his court, he willingly shares power with independent clans like the Followers of Set and Giovanni.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Katrina’s devastation forced the Prince to demand a number of Kindred leave the city (mostly from his own court), to more fairly match the reduced herd of New Orleans. The storms brought another immediate threat: the Sabbat. Taking advantage of the chaos brought by the cyclones, they mounted a siege on New Orleans. They were repelled, however, much to their chagrin and surprise, by a unified front of Kindred. When it came to keeping the city free of conquerors, the independents and Camarilla vampires were on the same boat. Even the other supernatural beings worked with the local Kindred to boot the Sabbat. Once more, though in more limited numbers, the Kindred of New Orleans enjoy a languid unlife of decadence and visionary revelry.
Special Events
Special events are annual (or more frequent) holidays or special ritual days that the main group or groups observe as a whole community. Attendance and participation is often expected of all members, and sometimes required.
Shrovetide Jubilees
The Kindred of New Orleans celebrate Mardi Gras like everyone else does. And like the other supernatural factions, they have their own twist and take on the event. Calling it the Shrovetide Jubilees (the more archaic term for the pre-Lentian season), the Camarilla honor the many years that they have held the city against Sabbat, Anarch, and Setite incursions. Shrovetide falls six weeks before the Easter date, starting that Sunday and lasting through Mardi Gras (Tuesday). Celebrations range from masquerade balls to high-faluting salons held at plantation estates, as well as “low brow” activities similar to mortals’ Mardi Gras madness.
“Come in and welcome to the City that Care Forgot! I hope you, too, lost your cares ere you entered my home.”
-- Evette Victoire, 7th-Generation Toreador Prince of New Orleans
