The Sakin Jyhad
Shadow Wars
Kansas City and its metropolitan area are host to a few million human beings. Consequently, the area is host to a few hundred vampires! Smack-dab in the Midwest, Kansas City has long been a hotly contested site of sect control. Sometimes it swings fully into the hands of the Sabbat, and sometimes the Camarilla have an unquestionable grasp. But usually, the city seems to be in the latter’s control. Troubled with more important struggles to the east, the Sabbat places lesser emphasis on this region…for now. As a result, the Camarilla contents itself with expanding its human influences in government and finance, while Anarchs run wild in the area. The Sabbat plots in secret, infiltrating the area slowly and patiently. Above all, the Kindred of Kansas City remain wary of vampire hunters, who dwell in all stripes and races and eagerly claim undead scalps whenever possible. Thus, these Cainites pursue a Sakin Jyhad -- ancient Enochian for "Quiet War".
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.
Human Chess
The Camarilla of Kansas City are a stoic lot. Many of them are veterans of the Sabbat Wars in the past few decades. In late September over a 3-day period (usually the 28th to the 30th), the Prince calls for a quaint game of “Human Chess” to remind his subjects of their strategic victory and fortitude. The first night is usually “setting up the board”, with both Kindred and kine (ghouls normally, but Entranced and Dominated outsiders occasionally are brought in) serving in various roles. The Prince usually takes the position of the White King, but has occasionally sat out and allowed Primogen to dominate the “royal” positions. Regardless, everyone is welcome to play, though once started, there’s no leaving until removed from the board. As silly as the game may seem, it’s an opportune time for neonates to impress their elders and possibly even wrangle boons from each other.
Festivo Dello Estinto
A “Festival of the Dead” held through the entire second week of March, this auctoritas ritae is observed by the few Sabbat remaining in Kansas City. The Sabbat, holed up in the Latino barrio of town, throw this festival on as an overlap to the parades that prelude Saint Joseph’s Day, the favored saint of the community. During this time, Sabbat enjoy playing up their roles as natural predators, reveling with the hapless and ignorant mortals who often end up as victims of the “living dead”.
“The rise of the hunters, the thinning of the herd: this was all foretold. But the hammer falls in our city first. It is up to us to decide how not only to survive such curses, but thrive in spite of these eclipsing omens.”
-- Deimens Tor, 7th-Generation Nosferatu Primogen of Kansas City
