In the shadow of twin spires




This story is meant as a short chronicle to introduce characters to Uppsala and find them a niche within it's kindred community, all the while picking up pieces of a puzzle, the final stages of which will give a horrific revelation as to the nature of the city's curse. Here's a brief overview of the story arc that unfolds over the first five episodes :


The Basic Plot

Uppsala's kindred know there is some great corruption lurking over
half of their city. They lack the knowledge to appreciate the full 
enormity of what they harbour.

The taint to the city is a demon. As the city had grown in it's 
religious part, so an undercurrent has grown to become a malevolent 
and evil force accross the river. The opposites balancing each other.
The demon is held at bay and away from the city's kindred by the other
watcher of the city - Henrik, who lies in a catacomb beneath the 
cathedral in torpor, safe in his Golconda. Henrik is also slowly 
guiding his old friend Ragnar to golconda through the prince's 
devoted study in the large library he has built in V-Dala nation.

These two dormant forces struggle to their own ends using the city's 
kindred and the influence they hold over the city. The demon has Sven
as a quite willing pawn. The historian was corrupted many years ago,
and it is not really his formidable willpower that allows him to travel,
into the tainted area - it is here where he has his shrine, in
a forgotten basement below Gottlands nation. It is here where Fredrik
is being held prisoner, a toy for the demon's pleasure.

Characters will discover these facts over the course of five seemingly
unrelated stories, involving the plots of the other kindred of the city.   


Secrets of the Kindred of Uppsala


All the kindred of Uppsala have come to reside in the city because it is out of the way of most of the rest of the kindred world. Here the politics are much more restrained, and there is little clan rivalry as only two of the clans have more than one member present, and the Brujah are not speaking, while one of the Tremere is missing. This means that most have come to escape some shady part of their past or other. Some of these secrets are:








In the Shadow of twin spires

A chronicle set in Uppsala for Vampire
A tragedy in five parts.


Synopsis:

The city of Uppsala bears a terrible taint. Part of the city is lost to the kindred, inaccessible due to a pervading feeling of hatred and fear which drives all awakened entities away, with a terrible feeling of absolute dread. The section of the city covered by this is a circular area of a diameter of approximately 500 meters, centered on Vaksalatorget. The source of this taint was being investigated by the Tremere Fredrik before his disappearance, mostly due to his interest in gaining access to Stadshuset, and the city's historical records housed therein, which lie just within the borders of the taint. Sven was aiding in the work to regain access to the easiest access to a large part of his hunting ground in the Fålhagen district, also within the boundaries of the taint. However, with Fredrik's disappearance, the investigation has stalled, with Sven refusing to suffer whatever fate has befallen his colleague. The characters will be drawn into events that, while seemingly unrelated to this, will reveal the truth behind Fredrik's disappearance and the cause of the corruption, culminating on the night of Valborg. The truth is that the taint is the work of a Demon that has taken residence beneath the city, and is maintained by Sven's infernal worship in his shrine below Vaksalatorg, reached via a tunnel that runs from a cellar inGottlands nation. Fredrik's kidnap was Sven's work and Fredrik lives, as the plaything of the demon - a spirit of Pain and Terror.



Summary of Episodes:


1) "Arrivals" - 
The new PCs arrive in the city. They will meet with the other kindred 
of the city. They will be approached by Christina concerning her fears
about her sire and the work that Seth is pursuing. This episode will 
allow the characters to find out what has happened up to now, and to 
gain initial clues as to how an investigation into the phenomenon 
should be conducted.

2) "Anarch-E"
Per gains possession of an artefact he claims makes him the rightful 
prince - in reality it is altering his perceptions of reality, because 
what he has is a Wyrm tainted Garou fetish. The Get of Fenris pack 
will enter the city and attempt to destroy the fetish, while Per and 
Ragnar's disagreements become more and more heated and hostile. 
Investigation reveals that Per got the fetish from some Anarchs in 
Gothenburg, and it went into overdrive when it came close to the 
taint below the city - after all, it is in the presence of something 
that goes beyond Wyrm taint. Meanwhile, the taint seems begin to creep
into Per...   

3) "New Blood"
Two new kindred enter the city - one a True Brujah, though he claims 
to be Caitiff, and a Malkavian. These two kindred are welcomed into 
the city to varying degrees, though generally welcomed. It is clear 
that the True Brujah, Simon, is on the run from something or someone, 
of which he will not speak - until the assassination attempts start. 
The PCs should witness at least one of these. Investigations, chases 
or whatever will reveal the assassin is the "Evil Twin" personality 
of the Malkavian, who had otherwise remained innocuous, living at 
Akademiska Sjukhus. However, before the characters can discover who 
it is that hired the killer personality, he is killed himself. Who is 
the multiple murderer? The answer of course is Sven. He heard from 
his foul deity who Simon really was and considered him too much of a 
threat to remain alive. Sven induced the latent derangement in the 
Malkavian (who's only other derangement was a tendency to talk to the 
dozen or so little demons who live about his person.) and killed him 
to prevent discovery, by turning into a mist and entering the man's 
ear, before turning into a bat and eating his way out. Pleasant. The 
characters will not find out much from this episode, though they 
should realise that there is some ruthless supernatural entity living 
in the city, in all probability one of their fellow kindred.

4) "Betrayals"
Events in Stockholm lead to new information on Fredrik. They have 
worked out through congress with the chapter house in Vienna that 
Fredrik is alive and most probably still in Uppsala. They want to 
know where he is, and start to exert pressure on the city to find 
him. In particular, the PCs and Christina come under scrutiny from 
the investigator who is sent - one Marcus Hoglund, known to be the 
number two in the Stockholm Tremere, a vicious and unrelenting 
individual, loyal only to his clan and caring naught for anything 
else…meaning he is quite ready to kill to get at the truth. 
This penultimate episode will end with the exposure of the taint as 
demonic in origin and that one of the Kindred of Uppsala is the 
Infernalist. He will reveal this before the assembled Kindred, before 
being destroyed in Inferno's flames by Sven. He has shown his true 
colours, but flees in mist form before anyone can react, and vanishes.

5) "Awakening"
Valborg. The students of the city flood into the streets and raucous 
parties run through the day. The kindred awake to streets paved with 
glass, and the general drunken revelry that the day entails. Though 
this they must discover who the whereabouts of Sven, expose his shrine 
and destroy him while rescuing Fredrik from the grasp of the demon. 
How they do this is utterly up to them, but on this night of parties 
and flooded streets it won't be easy.




Aftermath:


The arc of this first story results in the lifting of the curse on the city. Fredrik is returned to his position, Sven is destroyed. Possible follow-ups are: