World of Darkness: The Metaplot
Hunter
Inquisition
The Inquisition, whether we mean the Society of Leopold or the many mirror sects (e.g., Sword of Luther), continues to stalk the supernatural spawn of Satan. The Inquisition is not on the rise; this metaplot from 20th Anniversary is rejected.
Religious witch-hunter organizations include the most infamous Society of Leopold (and all its attendant sects), the Akritai (East Orthodox Inquisitors), Society of Saint George (Anglicans), Sword of Luther (Lutherans), Judges (Jewish), Ikhwan al-Safa (Muslim), and the loosely organized Indingilizi Yeqiniso (Sanusi syncretionist mystics in South Africa).
The East Asian syncretionists base their exorcism and warding rituals on the Nuo beliefs. Nuo combines folk religion, Buddhism, and Taoist mysticism. These are loosely affiliated regional organizations who meet only for apprenticeship and training. They rarely engage in direct hunting of shen but instead focus on purging evil spirits (Banes and spectres, or simply misbehaving spirits of any sort) from mortals and their homes. In China, they are called the Nuoting, founded first by the Tujia mountain people of the central highlands of Wuling. They are known for their bearskin capes bearing four eyes of the cardinal directions and elements. Their practices were passed to classical Heian Japan, where capes were replaced by masks, and Chinese folk religion supplanted by Shinto practices. They are called the Hososhi-no-Saiki. The same beliefs passed into Korea during the Silla era, and elaborate dragon dances replaced capes and masks. Their loose group is called the Musokuitang.
True Faith
The True Faith quality is still incredibly rare (one in a million on average) though found world-wide among believers. That means, ironically, True Faith is more common in China (despite the PRC) and India per capita than in the United States, a nation especially founded and still dominated by evangelical religious fanatics. There must be a higher power involved; there is no “Secular Faith” nor True Faith in atheism (ew).
The Imbued & Orpheus
Hunter: The Reckoning is entirely rejected. Weak sauce-lame. Orpheus is mostly rejected though bear in mind that this work expands from the Orphic Circle, a ghost-hunting sect presented in Quick & the Dead, which is accepted. (So are the Benandanti.)
The Arcanum is also still in play, learning all they may.
Sorcerers
Some sorcerers are independent spell-slingers from various walks of life. But most learn, and are trained and even indoctrinated by, some particular sect or faction. Many of these groups work hand in hand with fully Awakened mages (or even Technocrats). Indeed, there is often little difference in status or consideration in many Crafts, sects, or at least chantries and constructs. Consequently, some of these groups are not all hedge mages but include Awakened. Here is a list of current sorcerer factions, along with any Mage Tradition, Craft, or Convention to which each faction may be tied: Balamob (Dreamspeakers), Uzoma (Dreamspeakers), Cult of Isis (Euthanatos and Hem-Ka Sobk), Cult of Sybaritae (Cult of Ecstasy), Fenians (Verbena), DNA (Progenitors), and Strike Force Zero (Iteration X). Others appear to stand alone but are entangled in one particular arcane conspiracy or another, like the Latovian nature-mystics. Many other sorcerer “societies” exist but wholly subsumed into a parent organization. For example, a Wendigo Kinfolk shaman would simply be considered part of the Wendigo Tribe.
This list does not include Inquisitors skilled at Theurgy. It also doesn’t include Infernalists, even Wyrm cultists (many of whom occupy high executive ranks in Pentex). And lastly, this list does not include the Shih. Yi himself was likely fully Awakened and spread his mystical and legendary martial arts training to his disciples in the form of their Chi-tapping Qiao paths. This list also doesn’t include Romani families (see below). Though no Shih are ever Awakened mages, it is not unheard of for fully Awakened mages to walk among the Roma and ignore the Traditions. Such mages identify their faction as their Roma family, naturally.
Romani
Despite its many cultural errors and even blatant racism towards a frequently persecuted minority, the book raises some interesting ideas. Firstly, hidden among the “we steal because God said we should!” racist kernels is the notion that there are pure-blooded Romani and not-so-pure Roma. The latter are the sorts who might take the most offense at World of Darkness: Gypsy (its title alone, ugh), particularly because the notion that there even is such a thing as pure-blooded Roma wandering the world still is probably false.
But if it isn’t, it brings into stark relief just how embarassingly polluted and assimilated modern Roma families are in the real world. Such that at best their culture is a historical footnote, maybe an old recipe tucked into grandma’s cookbook. At worst, they’re a ridiculous reality TV show that makes even Jersey Shore tolerable. (Alright, the Holocaust would be “at worst”, but admit it: Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is just skanky and nasty. It's certainly far, faaaaaaaaaaar worse than anything White Wolf published about Romani.)
There is also some historical fiction fodder in the form of the Romani family that the book discouraged the most but interests me: the Tsurara. The idea that Romani might band together and punish those who would hurt them is as outlandish as the Zionists forming a secretive and deadly counter-terrorism unit. Oh, wait, THEY DID. I’ve made the Tsurara central to the metaplot (see below).
Otherwise, setting aside the racist parts of the book, the notion of pure-blooded versus not-so-pure is accepted. The pure families are as follows: Phuri Dae, Children of Sarrath (Lupines), Urmen, Ravnos (well, more or less pure), Tsurara, Tinkers, Zingaresche, Anaela, Devlajak, and Banjira. The first five are discussed in the book while the Tinkers (craftsmen and talisman-makers) and Zingaresche (dancers of the raqs) are merely mentioned. The Anaela and Banjira were invented. The Anaela hail from the Levant and sheltered with the Jews after the Holocaust. They are among the most religious of Romani and actively seek to fulfill the prophecies. The Banjira are like the Children of Sarrath, except the Banjira are related to the Bagheera. They circulate around the ancient homeland of all Roma, the Indian Subcontinent. The Devlajak are a famous Russian family, which currently suffers in silence behind the Iron Curtain and the wrath of the Baba Yaga.
Seeds of Daenna
There exists a cabal of fully Awakened Romani mages calling itself the Circle of Nine. Their concern always has been the guardianship of the Seeds of Daenna, which traditionally the ten families of Romani scattered across the world held in trust (yes, there were actually ten seeds, not five). However, that trust has withered over the centuries, and “holding” became “hoarding”. The time approaches that the Seeds must be kept safe from the greatest of evils, and they pass around the world in only the flimsiest of obscurity, an obscurity that will shatter during the Apocalypse and expose the seeds to terrible demons. The Circle, with its Tsurara foreman (who manipulates Korasca and the family) has been collecting (seizing and stealing) those Seeds for many years now and keeping them safe in a Horizon Realm called Evergreen Heights. Only three Seeds remain loose: Kooseren (held by the Ravnos), Eiavelan (Phuri Dae), and Jalomasin (Urmen). Once gathered, their power could reshape the world for good, providing mankind itself a new Garden of Eden. It will probably need one after the Apocalypse…
Avatars of Fate
Far too complex to cover in detail here, suffice to say, the Avatars of Fate are an entirely unique element in my metaplot. They are mortals who, through a dark and terrible pact with a full-fledged Demon Prince (not Lucifer, the other guy: Kutula), are beyond ordinary Infernalists. They are in a stage of metamorphosis, apotheosis even, in which their hatred and fury for the corruption of the world transforms into superlatively murderous passion and skill that lays waste to anything, anything, in their path. They already claimed Los Angeles. The Purge of Los Angeles destroyed all supernatural organizations that dared to stand before the Avatars. A few dare to linger in the sprawling city, but are frequently caught and destroyed (at this point, it’s sport). Anarch vampires, Garou (Gaian and Black Spiral Dancer alike), Kuei-jin, Tradition mages, the Technocracy, even the fae—all driven out. Only remnants, bold and reckless individuals, remain in the City of Angels.
The Avatars are headed up by two men. While Daood Duman is an intrepid commander, the brains and schemes come from Ricky Smith. And Ricky, the first Mage of Fate, is so much more than even his brethren. For he is the Antichrist. His Avatar’s Essence is Infinite. The Infinite. (Some thought it might come from the machinations of Heylel Teomim. They were wrong, weren’t they? Heylel was wrong, the fool.) Ricky is the One. The Apocalypse turns on the crux of his whimsy. Even Kutula secretly fears what Ricky may do, and so (as demons do) plans to betray Ricky and the Avatars before they betray him.
In the meantime, the Avatars of Fate pit themselves against the only organization that seems capable of withstanding them: the Hordlings. They are Lucifer’s own, empowered much the way Kutula empowers the Avatars. A disparate bunch, despite their individual power, they rarely cooperate with another, and this weakness enables the Avatars to stay on top. They include personalities like Terry Slikk the Corrupter, a Go Kamisori Gama Archmage barabbi; Meutri the Liar, an Assamite/Nagah Abomination; and Donovan the Stalker, a doppelganger nightmare-master.
Aside from these spitting matches with the Hordlings, the Avatars of Fate do not actually concern most denizens of the World of Darkness. The Avatars seem to have no interest in conquering any territory beyond Los Angeles. (The Anarchs desperately tried to take it back but they were crushed. It was embarrassing, really.)
The Enemy
Demons
There are all kinds of demons in the World of Darkness. There are Banes (elemental demons), led by Maeljin Incarna and Urge Wyrm Celestines. There are also Malfeans, the ancient spectres of the Underworld’s Labyrinth. There exist the Fomorians, the terrible harbingers of winter that hearken from the nightmarish depths of Arcadia. There are also what one may call “Outsiders”, various entities of evil or at least alien intelligence that come from the farthest reaches of the Void/Deep Umbra (or even parallel dimensions). But there are also True Demons.
True Demons, following the format set up in Vampire 2nd edition (in the Storyteller Handbooks), once served the Creator and fell from grace. (This implies that there are also True Angels.) True Demons are covered by the webbook linked from here. Demon: The Fallen is entirely rejected.
Note that there are very few Demon Princes but they do tend to agree on what they want to do to humanity and the world. The only exception appears to be Lilith, who has her own plans that do not seem to involve the corruption and subversion of all mankind. Instead, her plan seems to be the facilitation the transition of the Wheel of Ages, which means she intends to foil the other Demon Princes and dark forces out there who wish to either outright destroy the world or gum it up with so much corrupt stagnation that it implodes. She has been working at this for a very, very long time and has several major key powers in play to that end. In short, Lilith is the antihero who may very well save the World of Darkness from itself. (Or rather, she already did save it by the machinations she put into motion eons ago.)
There are also Yama Kings/Queens and powerful spirits that resemble True Demons (and True Angels). They act like such entities and often even believe they are the real deal, and they are frequently powerful enough to making arguing over it a waste of time. Meanwhile, Yama Kings/Queens are generally Maeljin Incarna spirits with an abiding interest in the affairs of the Middle Kingdom. Yomi Wan tend to be realms like Hellholes and Blights over which Yama Kings/Queens rule and greedily entrap the souls (or at least parts of the souls, namely the P’o or Shadow) of mortals (and anyone else) to feed upon them for a dark and demonic form of chi.
Pentex, Inc.
As this is prior all Year of the Reckoning/Apocalypse metaplot, Pentex continues to largely thrive, feasting upon the corruption and decay it helps foster around the globe. However, its sticky paws are being forcibly removed from the cookie jar of the Technocracy by the intrepid investigation called Project: Invictus. Pentex secretaries are burning a lot of midnight oil, shredding documents… In short, regarding its (former) Technocractic allies, Pentex is on the corporate defensive. Legal’s involved, First Teams are on stand-by and told to watch out for Arnold Schwarzenegger-looking tough guys in big and baggy overcoats and sunglasses, it’s not pretty.
All the Board of Directors are still alive (or whatever) and kickin’. The major subsidiaries are as follow still: Alliance Industries (a large truck fleet), Ardus Enterprises (waste management), Avalon Inc. (toys), Circinus Brands (cigarettes), Consolidex Worldwide (investment firm), Endron International (fossil fuels), Atlas International (nuclear energy), Easton Exploratory Energies (alternative fuels), Falcon Motors (electric cars), Endron Mining (namely coal), Full Force Solutions (weapons), Gaia Research (PR), Good House International (paper), Hallahan Fishing (and whaling), Herculean Firearms Inc. (handguns), Herrick’s (grocery retail), Homogeneity Inc. (gay conversion therapy), Incognito (a hacker group claiming to be independent anarchists), King Breweries (beer and liquor), AquaClear Foundation (a supposedly anti-pollution group), Ruskaiya Distilleries (vodka), Dragon Valley Vineyards (Napa valley wine), Ten Tickles Ales (microbrewery), Thaw Beverages (seltzers, tonic water, etc.), Magadon, Inc. (pharmaceuticals), Aesop Research Co. (animal testing), Autumn Health Management (nation-wide hospital system), Campesi Gerontological Research, General Health and Nutrition (health store chain), PANACEA (pharmaceuticals), Nastrum Enterprises (missile/aircraft), Mars Electronics (military software), NikNak Computing (electronics), Omni Television (syndicated TV network), O’Tolley’s (fast food restaurant chain), Rainbow Inc. (plastic/rubber), RED Network (24/7 news), Shade, Inc. (private “intelligence”), Siren (cosmetics), Pangloss (cosmetics), Slaughterhouse Video (low-budget horror film maker), Tellus Enterprises (computer programs), Sunburst Computers (computer hardware), Vesuvius Inc. (magazines/books), Young and Smith, Inc. (major food/hygiene producers). All of these companies, in Pentex’s mode, produce tainted products. The taint is usually spiritual and therefore undetectable by normal methods. Some Pentex products carry more than a mere taint but can actively invite Bane possession into the consumer (turning them into fomori).
Additionally, secret projects are still underway. They include Project Odyssey (recruiting psychics), Project Iliad (Fomorach testing), and Project Aeneid (an attempt to make Fomorach psychics). Project Deepwater was suspended by Project Invictus investigation. Project Lycaon/Section 12 (and the Mockery Breeds) are rejected.
Evil Organizations
Besides Pentex, the vast majority of evil-doers in the World of Darkness do not try to form vast, all-encompassing conspiracies and organizations. A few Bane Mummies, crazed Skindancers, the Baali vampires (some of them), fomori-breeding Wyrm cults, the fae Shadow Court and their Thallain shock troops: it tends to be disparate and disconnected, with little coordination. If the “heroes” who opposed them could get over their own egos and self-destructive temperaments, these bad guys wouldn’t stand a chance.
Case in point, the Black Spiral Dancers. The Tribe spends most of its time ripping itself apart in their Hives, jockeying for alpha pack leader roles or just self-destructing from sheer madness. The only Dancer outfit that poses a world-wide threat is run by the terrifying elder called Geh’morq the Dreamkiller, who has formed an alliance with the Shadow Court to not only hasten the arrival of the Apocalypse but stmy all opposition to it by dulling the wits of humankind. This nefarious plot doesn’t involve some world-spanning conspiracy to twist the Consensus of humans, but rather the outfit (calling itself the Painkillers) plans a direct assault on key points in Dreaming. Geh’morq’s attack has already begun…
Infernalism
This just bears a note: most bonified Infernalists deal with Tempter-level True Demons. Occasionally, a Servitor can and will develop a relationship with a diabolist or cult, but it generally requires a Tempter to be effective. A few Demon Lords entertain diabolists but, thankfully, this is rare. The only organized Infernalist groups that are of any real substance are the Avatars of Fate and their rivals, the Hordlings, both “blessed” by Demon Princes.
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