Baltimore Harbor is choked with debris and a sickening pallid slime. The City of Baltimore has been violated. The warehouses along the waterfront have been burned to the ground. The Prince of Baltimore has been irrespectively snuffed, like an iridescent candle the day after a week long carnival has ended. The Camarilla Clans have fled to nearby New York City, leaving Baltimore to simmer in its own spattered blood and humidity. Every conveyance imaginable has been used to escape the onslaught, including the Metro-liner and the hordes of unlicensed taxi cabs that prey upon the unwary passengers arriving at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Evil now lurks along the streets of Baltimore in the stench and smell of Semsith as he walks the Lasombra through the narrow streets, lined with marble steps, and leading from the Inner Harbor. Gratiano and his minions are quite pleased with themselves. The acrid air smells good. It’s a pleasant, unpolluted fragrance; the relish of a purge.

Greed and distrust drove the in-fighting and splintering that threaten to destroy the Sabbat's fragile hold on Baltimore, but Semsith’s arrival in the New World signaled the unavoidable surge of power and the predictable dispersion and sacrifice of all opponents.

It took nearly twenty days for the mammoth conflagration to be extinguished. The city inhabitants dismissed the loss of the abandoned buildings, believing they were set by the drug-addicted and the insane. “Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish,” the Baltimore News-American headline proclaimed in 30-point type.

The Ravnos, who betrayed the location of Isaac Goldwin's haven, were sickened. They had naively believed the fire would not be set until after the Prince had left the building. Now they fear the might of the Sabbat and the anger of the Camarilla.

The remains of the Prince of Baltimore now coalesce with the green foam of the Patapsco River, flowing over the Harbor Tunnel, the Fort McHenry Tunnel, under the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and into the Chesapeake Bay. The Port of Baltimore is evermore changed.

The Camarilla and the Independent Clans who took flight, now are contemplating a return to Baltimore, the Monumental City…Charm City, as described in the local media, but more recently described by the Sabbat as Disarm City. Securing a safe heaven is the top priority and the soon to be returning clans have now begun individual communications, shrouded in mystery, and intent on securing new havens for the chosen of Cain.

The Port of Baltimore demands a ruler…and from the ashes a leader will rise.

The Bloody Aftermath

They came from Washington, D.C. and its suburbs. They came from the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. They came from Baltimore and Annapolis and everywhere in between. They all carried with them a hunger; a hunger for power; a hunger to take control of Baltimore; a hunger to steal the leadership.

Ten Methuselahs descended upon Glen Burnie, Maryland, a little town just south of Baltimore City, on August 14, 2004. All had delusions of sweeping Gratiano out of town and out of control of Baltimore. The Methuselahs each brought conspiratorial groups representing ten different clans with them, each sure that by night’s end, they would rule Baltimore.

The first to bow out was the Brujah. Count Germaine and his cache of assault rifles had clearly won the day…or at least put the Brujah into serious contention; but the Count and his Methuselah were called back to Washington, D.C. before the final battle.

Next in a long line of the beaten and battered were the once mighty Lasombra, followed by a bleeding collection of Malkavians with deer rifles. Running behind them was the Ahrimanes pack of voters. Last to leave before the final battle was the Venture ballot stuffing throng.

The final battle was a square-off amongst a nasty horde of ugly, ill mannered, gate tossing Nosferatu; a strong contingent of Ventrue antitribu politicians; a powerful block of Malkavian antitribu, adept at underhanded voting; a vicious gang of Baali impersonating Salubri antitribu; and a monstrous cabal of Samedi, lead by the horrifically handsome red-haired Baron.

It was not a pretty battle as The Baron and his faction ate their way through Baltimore. Neither a bone, nor hank of hair was left behind by the corpselike Samedi, save their own shreds of rotting flesh constantly falling from their bodies as they devoured the remaining four clans in order.

The battle began innocently enough as Judah, the Camarilla Primogen, shouted to Giotto Verducci, “I’m going to harass the man with the gun” and promptly threw a gate at Giotto. Unfortunately for Judah, Giotto responded with a conflagration. Both minions took a dirt nap, but Grotto’s was short lived as Selma the Repugnant ate Giotto with the approval of the Ventrue antitribu politicians. Selma subsequently decided to grab the Crown of Baltimore and proclaimed herself as the Leader of Baltimore. As it turned out, however, she was merely the first to seize the Crown that evening and did not even qualify as Queen for a Day.

In one of the few acts of compassion, Blackhorse Tanner rescued Judah, but only after being bled at the maximum safe-level by Mary the Black. A thankful Judah soon repaid the kindness by sending Mary to Torpor; however, Selma failed in an attempt to eat Mary. A “born again” Giotto blocked the attempt at Diablerie and a conflagration sent Selma down instead. Giotto immediately claimed the Crown of Baltimore. Giotto’s first act as newly crowned Leader of Baltimore was to rescue Mary.

Gustav Mallenhous, the Sabbat Priscus, did the unthinkable to save his master and traveled to a higher plane, committing Golconda, seeking Inner Peace. General Perfidio Díos, not content to leave things well enough alone, called a vote to take the crown from Giotto, despite Giotto’s protestations and warnings. Giotto had a plan…and it worked. The vote was delayed; however, by now the Nosferatu have been destroyed by The Baron and Company and the disguised Baali were next on The Baron’s agenda. Jorge De La Muerte, The Agent, bleeding with the Seal of Veddartha dispatched the powerful Baali.

Blackhorse called the next vote and gained the Crown of Baltimore, only to lose it shortly thereafter to The Baron. Having bled his way to the Crown of Baltimore, The Baron quickly dispatched the last of the Malkavian antitribu and secured his name in the annals of Baltimore lore as the undisputed Leader of Baltimore…The Baron of Baltimore.

This event will mark the limited distribution of two new promo-cards, drawn by locally unrenowned artist, Dan Coleman. The cards are: “Crown Me” and “Power Lunch, Baltimore.” The former is a Unique Equipment card with special rules and abilities much like the mechanisms of “Eye of Hazimel” and the latter is a Master: Unique Location with special capabilities. Both cards are explained in details in The Special House Rules.

If you are new to playing in Vampire: The Eternal Struggle tournaments, these storyline tournaments are the ideal time to try your first tournament. All you really need to play is a constructed deck per the guidelines below (or simply use one of the pre-constructed starter decks from the White Wolf Catalog or your local retailer) and to review the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network (the player community for the Vampire card game) standard tournament rules.

Attend a designated Storyline Tournament and bring a clan-based deck representing who you'd like to control Baltimore. All standard V:EKN Rules will apply. In addition, at least 75% of your deck's crypt is to be comprised of a single clan (for example, in a 12-card crypt, at least 9 vampires must be of the same clan). Complete the rest of your crypt in any manner you please. The tournament Historian will make a record of key battles and of the winning clan at your event and forward the results to White Wolf. Here's your chance to finish this chapter of Baltimore's history.

Crown Me [Promo]
Card Type: Action Modifier
Cost: No cost to play
This action modifier card represents a unique equipment.
This action modifier card represents unique equipment. Successful action means that this card is put into play on the gaining Vampire. The Vampire with this equipment is the Leader of Baltimore (two votes unless titled; if titled, gain one additional vote). It may be played by a ready--and not going to Torpor--Vampire immediately after successfully performing any one of the following actions: 1) Bleed for more than three; 2) Call and win any referendum by more than two votes; or 3) Burn or send to Torpor a Vampire controlled by another Methuselah. This equipment cannot be transferred as normal, but another Vampire may steal it by one of the following acts: A) Bleed the Methuselah controlling the Leader for more than three; B) Call and win a referendum to take control of "Crown Me." This political action starts at 0 stealth. Stealth may be added; or C) Burn or send the Leader to Torpor. If this equipment is stolen, the controller loses two pool and all counters on the card go to the blood bank. Each time the card is equipped the remaining players put a pool on the card. During your influence phase, if the Vampire with this card is ready, you may move one pool from the card to your pool or to one of your uncontrolled Vampires. The card is placed in the center of the table and is uncontrolled if the controlling player is ousted by means other than the three methods described or if the "stealing" Vampire is burned or torporized in the successful act.

For this special Storyline event, this card is placed in the center of the table before game play and may be equipped by the first ready--and not going to Torpor--Vampire to successfully perform any one of the three enabling actions.

Power Lunch, Baltimore [Promo]
Card Type: Master
Cost: No cost
Master: Unique Location
Put this card into play. You may burn this card to cancel the effects of any of the three methods of stealing “Crown Me” from one of the Vampires that you control. The action is canceled. No cost is paid by the acting minion; however, the acting minion remains tapped and may not perform the same action during this turn.

For this special Storyline event, this card is added to every deck. Players may still bring a constructed deck of up to 90 cards, if desired. The addition of this card to each will permit decks to contain up to 91 cards.

Because of the fun nature of this event, this would be an ideal time for new players to attend their first tournament. The event will not count toward player ratings, but the event is recognized by White Wolf as a "create your own storyline" and has been placed on the White Wolf calendar.

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PARTING COMMENTS:
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Looking back on everything, I think I’d do away with the Power Lunch Baltimore promo (although played a lot, it was never used to counter an attempt to take away the crown) and use a, somehow, abbreviated Crown Me promo. I also think I’d call the card “The Mace of Baltimore,” but then I would have had to call the event “Mace Me.”

Dan Coleman
VEKN: Prince of Baltimore