What is Ashford by Night?
Ashford by Night is the semi-official name to the long-running World of Darkness campaign setting run by Fenton, sometimes nicknamed Ashfordverse, as it contains elements of all the major World of Darkness games (Vampires predominantly, Werewolves heavily featured, Mages notably considered, Demons a minor but respectable influence and, occasionally, other types such as Wraiths, Mummies, Hunters and other sorts). Because the affairs of the Kindred is the predominant theme of the game, Fenton has always considered it a Vampire: the Masquerade "By Night" game first and foremost, although it is more appropriately akin to Vancouver: Dark Alliance thematically, and when he runs a (Werewolf: the Apocalypse troupe, it is very similar to "Rage Across New York" in style. He has only ever run one dedicated Mage: the Ascension game in Ashford, but prefers to use Mages (mostly Tradition mages, but occasionally the Technocracy, or Nephandi) as wild cards, antagonists or other concerns for the kindred players to have to interact and deal with.
Fenton admits he enjoys the socio-political aspects of roleplay more than combat-heavy dungeon crawling, which is why he enjoys VtM more than WtA or MtA (although MtA he admits can be very political, but can be harder to prep and he enjoys the themes of VtA more; and whilst WtA certainly has political elements, it involves much adherence to using the spirit world and fighting the forces of the Wyrm, which tend to be more combat-related than he likes for a long-running game).
Setting Location
Ashford is set in the fictional city of the same name, originally beginning as a completely fictional city somewhere in the San Francisco Bay area, but since the VtM: 20th Anniversary reboot (both of the system and roleplay-necromancy of VtM since Vampire: the Requiem and the other Chronicles of Darkness games switched his group's focus) he has adopted the real-life city of Bakersfield, California and fictionally altered it, having Bakersfield originally be a Sabbat domain which was conquered by Prince Kratus for the Camarilla, and reincorporated as the city of Ashford. He did this because he found it difficult to make the world "feel real" as regards size, scope, industries, etc... other than a few key areas introduced in the games. By using Bakersfield as a model (though increasing its population and population density considerably), it allowed him to use resources online to use (renamed) real-world maps, locations, events, local issues and the likes to make the setting feel more realistic and accurate. He admits this was a lesson he learnt to good effect whilst running his Chronicles of Darkness game, which originally began using the Chicago setting during his Vampire: the Requiem game (originally home-brewed, then quickly retconning and basing it on the novels when he realised how drastically different kindred sect politics were from the books) and later Werewolf: the Forsaken's Hunting Grounds: the Rockies setting in Denver; but ended up with him doing a Flagstaff and putting the players in LaSalle, Colorado. Whilst he learnt (from his earlier Flagstaff setting) that for a big group of players, a small location was problematic - he only had a small bunch of players and this allowed the game to focus on "protecting our territory" (the Werewolves in a literal sense, keeping other packs out; and the vampires making it their own personal domain and taking advantage of an alliance with the werewolves to keep rival kindred at a distance). That game eventually ended when Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary came out, bringing Fenton and his players back to a setting that they overall preferred.
Ashford is a sandbox setting. Fenton likes to be aware of who the power-players are, what they are up to, their motivations, and how this affects the players. He then allows the players to do as they will, and has the setting react accordingly. By knowing the other power-players, he knows when/if the players' actions affect them - and how they would respond. This includes both antagonists, as well as possible allies (by knowing how the power-players interact, including which are enemies or rivals; and thus who may aid or hamper the players). If players pursue mortal-world aims such as setting up their own business, he will have the setting react to that (such as any Werewolves who consider the business location to be in "their territory" and how they would react; or any kindred who may consider the business a threat to their interests, or in their domain). If they pursue kindred-society aims, he will have the society react accordingly, depending on the clans, sires and contacts of the players (Darth Peachy's character is a Primogen, so he was quickly thrust - maybe too quickly - into kindred politics as a whip; whilst his kindred romantic interest struggles to even be able to get her clan elders to allow her to have a voice or opinion, much the less any actual responsibility).
Campaign: From the Ashes
Background: The Triumverate
Although the setting has undergone many changes, revisions and retcons since it came into being in the 90s, it was given its most serious shake-up recently for the 20th Anniversary reboot. In its entire history, the city was ruled by the Ventrue Prince Kratus with an iron fist. Personally incredibly powerful and of low-generation blood, he was a despotic titan with strong backers - the kindred of his clan supported him almost universally without question (as the clan had prospered under his rule, as had the city economically and culturally, and his own blood-bound childe was the Ventrue Primogen). The second pillar came in the form of the Toreador clan, the vast majority of who were equally loyal to Prince Kratus as their Primogen, Genevieve Montclair, was an old and loyal ally to Kratus (it was Genevieve and Kratus together who conquered Ashford from the Sabbat) and, as the city's entertainment, culture and art sectors had prospered under Kratus' rule (guided by Genevieve's influence as the city's Seneschal), and having the lions-share of beneficial domains after Kratus' own, the Toreador had equally flourished in Ashford.
The final pillar was the Tremere clan. Although the Tremere and the Ventrue were traditional rivals, the one thing they had in common was their support for the Camarilla. Although Kratus was careful to ensure that the Tremere would never achieve the influence of the Ventrue and Tremere clans, a "negotiated business arrangement" between the Ventrue, Toreadors and Tremere benefitted both sides, with the terms of the agreement allowing the Tremere to conduct its business with little intervention from Kratus, whilst the Tremere would support the Camarilla's institutions and provide assistance against potential threats to Kratus' rule and actively avoid Ventrue and Toreador domain influences. To most of the other clans the true purpose of the arrangement was clear: keep the high clans of the Ventrue, Toreador and Tremere in undisputed power, and ensure that the rabble clans of the Malkavians, Gangrels, Brujah and Nosferatu (with a few notable exceptions, such as the Brujah Primogen Thomas Wingfield and Malkavian Primogen |Damien Hobbs, who were considered respectable and loyal enough to be allowed greater levels of power) never achieved any true levels of influence in city politics (and what they achieved was often controlled further up the ladder by the high clans).
The Malkavians and Nosferatu were 3rd-class citizens, barely given the time of day by the "high clans" who held all the key mortal institutions and domains and ensured they could not get a foothold. To make matters worse, the Malkavian clan had Damien Hobbs as Primogen, a psychopathic businessman who looked up to the Ventrue as ideal business partners - and struck deals with Kratus to mutual aims, often at the expense of his own clan's interests, or forcing his clanmates to be effectively frightened children forced into slave labour by an abusive parent. His mysterious disappearance several years ago was a sigh of relief to many (even Kratus showed little concern, having begun to tire of needing to expend time and Camarilla resources to cover up Hobbs' latest atrocities). His childe Helen Quinzel was popular with and supported by her clanmates, and improve the clan's effective power by forming a formal alliance with the Nosferatu clan (and rumour had it: Clan Senya) to effectively turn the clans into a giant, information super-network. But still, they had to operate in the shadows, and those in power had been so for a long time and still held all the best cards.
The Brujah were split - many supported the Anarchs (but even being suspected of being an Anarch sympathiser could get a kindred executed in Ashford), but the idealist Brujah Primogen Thomas Wingfield was reputed to be a snivelling brown-nosed coward who supported the current establishment - having supported Kratus since aiding in his conquest of Ashford. The idealist action of the clan supported the establishment and were allowed positions of influence, especially in the Education and journalism sectors, whilst the iconoclasts factions were generally stepped on hard as they were considered problematic and, like the Gangrel, the prime source of Ashford's anarchs.
The Gangrels, likewise, were also considered rabble but, unlike the Brujah, seemed to know their place and not seek positions of high influence. They were treated much like loyal lap-dogs by the Ventrue - appreciated and employed with respect, but ensured it knew it's place and masters. At least, that was until the Gangrel as a clan left the Camarilla, after which they were universally treated as disloyal mongrels at best, and traitorous anarchs at worst. With the absence of the Gangrel clan, who were the strongest clan fearless and powerful enough to stand up to the High Clans' dominance, the situation for the oppressed was bleak.
Clan Senya had been a secret, sect-independent clan for much of its history, with its members masquerading as members of other clans (typically as Ventrue, Toreadors or Brujah) to influence things from within ever since the Dark Ages, when they supported Clan Salubri against the Tremere and rejected the Camarilla because of it turning a blind eye to the Tremere genocide of the Salubri clan. Careful in their embrace methods and with strict rules over embrace permissions, and the required tutelage of sires over childe into clan traditions, the Senya fed the belief that they had died out as a clan during the Dark Ages much as the Cappadocians had, whilst working secretly from within both the Camarilla and Sabbat. Although they shared the Sabbat's belief in the threat of the Antediluvians and prophesized Gehenna, they found their otherwise ideology more closely matched that of the modern-day Camarilla. After the Gangrels abdicated from the Camarilla, they chose to reveal their existence and claim membership of the Camarilla. Although this was a shock to the Camarilla, and many Princes now distrusted them, the loss of the Gangrel and increasing threat of the Assamites (who had somehow broken the Tremere curse that prevented them committing diablerie, and were getting more aggressive against the Camarilla, and less honourable) was too great a factor, and the Camarilla grudgingly agreed it needed the Senya (and its spies in the Sabbat) as an ally rather than risk them aiding the Sabbat. Most Princes and Primogen, however, held a deep mistrust for the clan as a whole; with the notable exception of the Nosferatu and Malkavian clans, who had been historic allies of many Senya (if typically unknowing of their true clan) and shared similar domains of influence and information-gathering. Indeed, it appeared that most elder Nosferatu were in on the Senya conspiracy and active supporters, and the Malkavian elders at worst seemed unsurprised by the revelation - as if always knowing or suspecting there was something else beneath the surface, which now made perfect sense. Despite this, Senya Primogen Braxton Donahoe managed to elevate the clan in status and influence (having pretended to be a Ventrue for his existence, it was more accurate to describe it as the Ventrue suddenly realising they did not control all the influence they believed they had when he outed as Senya, and his power bases were too well held to dislodge without risking the masquerade) by working alongside the establishment. Some claim that they could have become a fourth pillar, were it not for their good relations with the rabble clans, and the black mark of their secretiveness, which held them from their potential.
The Triumverate Burns
Then, on Christmas eve 2016, the Sabbat came. They had spent years infiltrating and spying on the Camarilla's institutions; using Tzimisce-fleshcrafted doppelgangers and influencing (or coercing) those disaffected with Kratus' rules. Beginning with the now-infamous Opera House Massacre - a sudden attack at the opera house, considered Elysium, during a special performance by the Keeper of Elysium's protege for Kratus and other high-society, high-influence kindred and mortals, which was kept secret for security reasons and known only to those going and a select few others - the Sabbat Crusade's opening night resulted in the assassination of the Prince, the Ventrue Primogen, Keeper of Elysium, Senya Whip, and the Sheriff; although the Toreador Primogen, Senya Primogen and Malkavian Whip (the neonate AJ) managed to escape; the latter allegedly due to the assistance of the notorious Toreador autarkis Tatjana, who actually is considered blood-hunted in Ashford.
Almost immediately after, in a horrific attack on their chantry during a training session, over half of the Tremere clan were eliminated (including virtually all their neonates, ghouls and neophytes, as Clan rules required them to live and study in the chantry).
The Camarilla's structure crumbled almost immediately as the key power players and established institutions crumbled. Those left immediately retreated into their safe houses, and what little Camarilla structure was left strained to maintain the masquerade, which the Sabbat were flagrantly breaking as part of their attack plan. To make things worse, it appeared that large elements of the Gangrel clan had made agreements with the Sabbat - some actively joining the Sabbat, and others just profiteering - but this meant that the Gangrels in Ashford could not be trusted, as many former-Ashfordian Gangrels were now actively hunting their former sectmates.
The Senya Primogen appeared to withdraw into his home-fortress, lost in grief over the death of the Senya whip, who was also his wife, leaving the clan's youngest wondering what to do - especially since many of the clan's ancilla were unreachable.
The Meek Shall Inherit
But all was not lost. Some clans galvanised quickly. It was revealed that the Brujah Primogen, reputedly a Kratus loyalist who had spent decades hunting the unidentified leader of the Anarchs, had in fact all the time been the actual leader of the anarchs working as a double-agent. This united the clan in a way not commonly seen as both those who wanted to keep the institutions that "Wingfield" had fought to maintain for the good of the Brujah and Camarilla in place, and those who had been allies of the "Anarch leader" for years proved their loyalty to him. But they were a relatively small clan - many of their numbers had been lost over the years as Kratus executed anyone that he could get any kind of evidence of being an Anarch supporter - but they formed a first line of defence against the Sabbat horde, and their sacrifices and bravery bought time for the Camarilla to reorganise.
The Malkavians and Nosferatu had suffered least from the attacks - often dismissed as irrelevant by those in power, having few positions of influence, and sometimes unwittingly even used by Sabbat spies, they were lower-priority targets. Although the Sabbat attacked the nosferatu warrens, they found only well-prepared defences, ghoul guardians and absent havens. It was almost as though they had anticipated the attack and prepared accordingly. Already working together, the Malkavian and Nosferatu primogens came up with a plan - to reform a new Primogen council and reunite the Camarilla clans. The two clans secreted out those they considered most important and moved them to safe houses (which again, they had coincidentally had ready for such an event) and the nosferatu clan's influence with the criminal underworld was put to use fighting those sabbat forces that would not be considered masquerade breaches. The Malkavian whip, aided by his clan and younger elements of Clan Senya not content to simply hide as demanded by their elders, managed to organise a series of secret meetings with key elders of various clans. In these meetings the Nosferatu/Malkavian elders the remaining primogen that a candidate for Prince was needed that all the remaining Primogen could rally behind - as well as convince prominent others to step up and replace the dead Primogen. Although various had believed Clan Senya's primogen would have been the ideal person, as he was generally respected by most of the clans, he was still literally locked into his saferoom in a permanent grief-frenzy and the only primogen to not attend the meeting and, lacking a whip, only [Lady Jane (WoD)|Lady Jane Grey]], a Senya elder and former Prince (of Oxnard, before it fell to the Cathayan vampires) was present to represent her clan, in no official capacity other than being a respected elder. The elders agreed to support Wingfield as Prince (to Genevieve's chagrin, as she assumed everyone would rally behind her natural rule) with conditions thrown across the table by both sides over this new alliance, especially regarding the Nosferatu and Malkavians for when the dust settled. In a surprise move, the ancilla of clan Senya declared unilateral support for Wingfield, apparently agreed in a clan conclave called by Lady Jane, acting as temporary clan primogen. As a former Prince, many (both in her clan, and amongst the other Primogen) had believed Lady Jane intended on usurping Primogen Donahoe to take leadership of her clan, and many believed this to be her move to do so. The aftermath would reveal this would be far from the truth.
Under Winfield's direction, and the Malkavian and Nosferatu Primogen's suggestions, secret meetings were held with Mira Panikkar, the leader of the Assamite clan in Ashford - a branch of Assamites who had claimed to be Camarilla supporters and want membership; and issue in which the greater Camarilla wrestled over. Although no formal alliance was held, the departure of the Gangrel clan left a void that the Assamites offered to fill. Kratus had mistrusted the Assamites (as they had taken assassination contracts on his life in the past and he disliked their clan), and only given them enough to pacify them, but Wingfield was willing to grant them an official seat on the Primogen council and membership of the Camarilla (at least as much as he could within Ashford, there was no guarantee the greater Camarilla would respect it) in return for their loyalty (and, as members of the Ashford Primogen council, the clan's members and resources to fight the Sabbat).
Although the Gangrels had officially left the Camarilla, and many were fighting against their former sect-mates, there were still some Gangrels that believed in the Camarilla as an institution. With Kratus out of the picture, Cindy Walker a young ancilla Gangrel, gathered those Gangrels who were loyal to the Camarilla and united them. Together with the Brujah, Assamites and Senya (predominantly the younger members of the clan), they tracked down all the rogue Gangrel, eliminating those who had defected to the Sabbat and giving those who were being opportunistic as independents the choice to either leave town or die. In return for their loyalty, the Gangrels would be acknowledged as Camarilla members and, although too small in number to merit a seat on the Primogen council, would be accorded status as a group akin to that of a bloodline, with Cindy Walker to be acknowledged as their leader, Camarilla representative and to be given a title of office to be determined later.
The Wolves Howl
The relationship between the Kindred and the Lupines in Ashford had always been a complicated one. For much of its history, Ashford had been close enough to the Sept of Black Wisdom (a sept dominated by the Black Furies, Fianna, Red Talons and Silver Fangstribes) to be affected by its activities and occasional predations; but far enough to generally not be of major interest to the sept leaders. The Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers tribes, however, were treated as inferior by the sept, used almost as a military force within Ashford to do the Sept's will - expected to carry out orders for the good of the sept, typically with little support and even less recognition of Renown.
Through connections between some Kindred, predominantly of clans Gangrel, Senya and Nosferatu, relations between the Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers had improved to a form of unofficial truce. Although the Kindred and Garou were mortal enemies, it was understood that the Kindred did not want trouble with the werewolves, and the Werewolves, in turn, preferred to not have to fight an enemy that did not wish to wage war, when there were already so many Wyrm threats to fight. This was hampered by Prince Kratus' intolerance towards the Lupine vermin - made worse when the Glass Walkers, Bone Gnawers, Get of Fenris and various elements of the Children of Gaia and Shadow Lords tribes combined and created a small urban caern in a nightclub in central Ashford, close to the train central, and formed the Sept of Sacrificial Friendship. This condensed the urban lupines into a highly defensive, more motivated and caern-supported sept in the city, which increased conflicts with the Kindred who did not respect their territory (as this was territory considered a part of Prince Kratus' personal Domain, this was a source of conflict). Overall, however, the Kindred and Garou operated with an understanding to generally stay out of each other's way; with the Bone Gnawers and Glass Walkers, in particular, developing almost-amicable relations with the Malkavian and Nosferatu clans.
The new sept's lupines realised the Sabbat invasion was a bad thing for them. Although they understood ony that the Camarilla and Sabbat were rival factions (what would prove to be an important distinction that the Sept of Black Wisdom was never able or willing to make, as the sept considered all vampires to be Wyrm creatures to be destroyed), they realised that this new faction carried stronger Wyrm-taint, their actions directly aiding the Wyrm (often working alongside the Wyrm's factions such as the corrupted Black Spiral Dancers tribe), and causin more problems for the in general. The old anxiom the enemy of my enemy is my friend was taken seriously. Instead of simply attacking all kindred on sight and trying to contain the chaos and destrucion, which aided the Wyrm's aims, they focused their assaults on the invaders (although they weren't exactly careful about collateral damage to the Camarilla's forces). Led by a delegation from the Senya, Nosferatu and Malkavians which had contacts with lupines within the Sept of Sacrificial Friendship, the Sept and the Camarilla made a formal agreement and alliance. Boundaries and territories were drawn up, agreements made to enforce no-go areas for the Kindred (with an understanding that any Kindred breaking this would be hunted by the Garou without official Camarilla repercussion), and agreement that the Garou would not otherwise actively hunt Camarilla members. Most importantly, it was agreed that the Garou would aid the Camarilla in defending Ashford from the Sabbat (and other threats such as the Cathayans), whilst the Camarilla would aid the Garou against the Sept of Black Wisdom and assist in their fight against the Wyrm (something the Kindred did not truly understand but agreed to in-principle as long as it did not directly negatively affect Camarilla interests). The addition of Lupines actively hunting for Sabbat troops, most of which were recently mass-embraced and drafted neonates and/or fleschrafted monstrosities, quickly turned the tide.
No longer having the numeric superiority for open warfare on the streets, the Sabbat switched to using more strategic strikes, but found the Camarilla well-hidden and entrenched, and hard to dislodge. The Sabbat Crusade became a guerilla war of attrition, with the Camarilla getting the upper hand, but unable to deal the decisive blow against the Sabbat as they were unable to determine who the leaders of the Crusade where, or their location - and as long as they remained alive and determined, the Sabbat would keep embracing and fleshcrafting disposable troops to send at the Camarilla.
Secrets & Amnesties
The final chapter of the Crusade came from unexpected corners and revelations, much due to the machinations of the Clan most had considered to have been largely sidelined - Clan Senya. In an attempt to convince their Primogen to action the neonate Willa Jade (childe and mortal-relative of the murdered Senya whip) convinced the Primogen's estranged chile Valerie Leigh to return from her exile - believing that she would be the only person to be able to get through Braxton's grief and make him see sense. Valerie heeded the call and returned to Ashford but, when she confronted her sire, was unable to calm his frenzy and, to everyone's horror, was forced to kill him in self-defence. An act that was unthinkable - not (just) because he was her sire and Primogen, but because Braxton was notoriously a master of the Fortitude and Apparitionem disciplines and virtually invulnerable to non-mystical weapons, as well as a master of various forms of combat. It was a victory that, even in frenzy, should have been impossible. It was quickly ascertained that this was not actually Braxton - it was a Sabbat that Braxton had captured during the Opera House Massacre (the Sabbat that had killed his wife and whip) and (using the Apparitionem discipline) turned into an exact likeness of him. Only experienced members of his clan could have seen through the transformation, which was why he was locked away, kept (by Braxton's loyal ghoul, through selective and limited feeding and other provocations) in a permanent state of frenzy, and access prohibited. A decoy meant to distract those looking at Braxton. Although grieving, Braxton was not struck incapable of action, but in fact more motivated into action by his rage.
It was revealed that through his alliance with the Nosferatu and Malkavians, and their mutual spies and informants in the Sabbat, that they knew the Crusade was coming and the three clans had been preparing for the day - although they did not know when it would begin and the Opera House Massacre was an unexpected surprise caused by a security leak that, ultimately, was proven to have been inadvertedly caused by loose tongue from the Malkavian whip AJ (and by extension Willa) who had accidentally revealed the event and its location to a fellow Malkavian, who was revealed to be a Sabbat defector.
The reason for the silence from many of the clan's ancilla was revealed. Centuries of being hidden within both sects had given the clan a better internal understanding of how the Sabbat conducted Crusades than most Camarilla and, under their Primogen's direction and leadership, had charged its Paladins to actively defend against the upcoming Crusade, but the Clan's Phantoms and Wraiths (with the assistance of the Nosferatu clan), had been busy building up a network of contacts in, and infiltrating, the Sabbat just prior to the Crusade. These agents managed to uncover the names and locations of several of the key Sabbat leaders, as well as perform strategic strikes against the Sabbat members that provided backing (financial, political and otherwsise) to the Crusade's leaders, functionally leaving the Sabbat Crusaders now isolated and alone from their sect - in effect, they had flanked the Crusaders. They also had identified an important point - the identification of the Black Hand leader of the Crusader forces, Grace Williams, and that she was the former protege of the autarkis Tatjana, who had been seen fighting Sabbat forces, seemingly with the aim of protecting specific Kindred and even Lupines, fighting alongside young lupine pack leader Stephanie Wolfthorn.
Under a banner of truce, a meeting was arranged through mutual contacts with Tajana and held in Elysium, whereby official recognition of her independence and amnesty for crimes against the Camarilla was offered to Tatjana (at least within Ashford's domain borders) in exchange for her assisting the Camarilla locate and eliminate her former Black Hand partner and protege. With this information and her assistance, it was only a matter of tiem before the Camarilla/Garou forces eliminated the Crusade leaders, with a strike team led by Tatjana consisting of kindred from various clans, notably the Malkavian Whip AJ and Senya Valerie Leigh dealing the killing blow against Grace Williams.
From the Ashes
In the aftermath of the Crusade the Camarilla has been busy rebuilding. Many of the power structures in place for centuries had been demolished as both Camarilla kindred that controlled mortal institutions, as well as the mortals being controlled, had taken heavy losses. This left various domains now open for kindred with the ability to claim them. The rabble clans so long underdogs were now the most populous and influential clans, no longer being restricted by a triumvirate of clans determined (and able) to keep them subservient. The Assamites have an equal seat on the council, and the Gangrels have a voice. New Primogens were made during the war, but some of them barely hold their positions of powers, and contenders now covet those seats and make plans. Although still one of the most individually-influential Kindred left in the city, the death of the Toreador Primogen's long-time ally and partner, Prince Kratus, and her removal as Seneschal of Ashford by the new Prince, have left her politically weaker than she has been in centuries, and various disenfranchised younger Toreadors are looking towards other Toreador Elders to take her place. Known and suspected anarchs who had supported the Camarilla against the Sabbat were granted amnesties, and an official ruling made to allow Anarchs to live openly without fear of persecution, as long as they followed the domain's laws. This came as no surprise considering the new Prince's long-standing history as the secret leader of the Anarchs but, whilst many expected the Prince to declare himself Baron and Ashford an Anarch Free State domain, he has stated that he believes in the Camarilla as an institution and believes in the Anarchs as a distinguished opposition - certainly, the anarchs are in a greater position of power than they ever have been in Ashford and it would be more accurate to describe Ashford as now being a shared Camarilla/Anarch domain, with the Camarilla nominally in charge.
Alongside the anarchs, disenchanted neonates who felt used, abused and/or abandoned by their clan elders prior to or during the Crusade have formed power coteries, such as the The 1337 5kw4d (the Leet Squad) and exerting a combined influence that threatens some of the remaining, now-weakened elders. Clan Senya has earned its membership and respect as a Camarilla clan, no longer suspect and free of the stains of its long history of secrecy and deceptive membership. Relations with the Lupines are at an all-time high, with both Kindred and Garou learning and being forced to cooperate with each other, presenting new opportunities but also new difficulties and threats.
It is a time of upheaval, yet stability. It is a time of opportunity for those with the willingness to reach for it.
Setting History
Roleplay Origins
Although Fenton began roleplaying when he was 14 years old, his early days involved mostly playing in other's games, and then when he became a Games Master ran mostly the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game (WHFRPG), Battletech (as a strategy boardgame, then as an RPG when the Mechwarrior RPG rules came out), the Aliens RPG (official RPG adaptation of the movie) and Star Wars: the Roleplaying Game by West End Games. He stuck mostly to published materials, but with Mechwarrior began exerting his creative ideas by creating his own worlds/settings - typically by using ones he had seen or read about in books or computer games such as Battletech: The Crescent Hawks Inception and later Battletech: Mechcommander.
Things changed when he went to the UK for his university interviews, he went to the Virgin Megastore (looking to see if there were any new Battletech/Mechwarrior books) and encountered the Vampire: the Masquerade book for the first time - a new RPG by White Wolf, a small and unknown new entry into the RPG market at the time, with only two books available (the main VtM book, and the Storyteller's Handbook). He had used Vampires as antagonists and allies in his WHFRPG games before, and was intrigued by this game and bought both books.
It would become the defining game of his GM history. His players all took to it with zeal, and as each major release and core book in this new World of Darkness came out (Werewolf: the Apocalypse and Mage: the Ascension in proceeding years, they both ran games of those types, as well as began mixing the three systems together.
Playing with Settings
Originally Fenton began by running the Chicago by Night (2nd Edition) campaign setting by White Wolf. This was a good starting point, and the players enjoyed it and they experimented with combining all three. Eventually, the player troup combined vampires, werewolves and mages (and somehow made it work) and as he became more confident in his GM planning and improvisation, the players used the excuse of a (mage) player's marriage (to an NPC vampire) to leave Chicago and follow their friends on their honeymoon. This led to a brief experimental short campaign in their home-town of Gibraltar, in which the players freed an ancient Elder from a Sabbat prison, kept in torpor, and aided the Camarilla (and the Elder) in taking Gibraltar from the Sabbat and into Camarilla control. It was fun being able to use places familiar to them (and having NPC versions their real-life selves as supporting NPCs in the game), but their home-town is too small for a viable campaign of the large, mixed-race troupe of players.
The Golden Age
So Fenton decided to try his hand at creating his own "By Night" setting - deciding to locate it in the US-city of Flagstaff, Arizona (still a small enough city to be "manageable" to his growing setting-planning skills, but double the population and far greater physical size and variety than his own hometown). This was a popular move, with the style of games and the players roles in domain politics growing. Although eventually they would move on proverbially, and Fenton would even eventually retcon (or silently allow to fade into obscurity if they couldn't be easily retconned) characters, plots and events (that over time and maturity he realised were corny, cringeworthy or simply I must have been drunk to think that was a good idea), certain events, themes, home-brewed setting changes (such as the creation of a full vampire clan, Clan Senya), NPCs and PCs made during this era would survive to become major players (or legends) in the games that would come, especially the PC Toreador kindred Max Dermont, the mage Kwang as well as several Werewolf PCs. Fenton eventually went bigger-scale and created a wholly-fictional setting, naming the city "Ashford" and locating it in an undetermined location in the San Francisco bay area. A far bigger city, metropolitan area, with more complex politics - especially with the published information about the conflicts between the Sabbat (who's main seat of power were in nearby Mexico) and the Camarilla (who controlled most US states) as well as being the seat of Anarch control, it allowed him to really use more politics and increase the activity and realism levels of all the factions. Elodan also began running his own Werewolf game around this time, in which Fenton played the legendary Laughs-at-Rage which he would eventually import into his own game, as well as other characters he played in his and his friends' games, or even importing some of their NPCs when their own campaigns ended. Ashford began to grow and mature... but then Fenton went off to university. This was in 1994.
The Silver Age
Although Fenton and his friends would continue playing WoD (in the new Ashford setting, as well as various others depending on the GM) when they were home for holiday, this was limited to mostly summer holidays. Whilst in University, however, Fenton made some good friends and got them into roleplaying games... of which World of Darkness was, by far, the one they enjoyed the most. For the first two years of uni, Fenton enjoyed using his Ashford setting with a new bunch of players, who had neonate-level characters (and inexperienced enough that he could recycle ideas and storylines that he could no longer use with his other players), whilst still being able to employ the characters that existed - some as NPCs, and others as guest appearances by PCs; Dermont and Fenton would visit each other in university often, and Dermont ran his own WoD Werewolf game, which he peripherally coordinated with Fenton to keep their respective settings linked. Dermont would regularly visit, and when he did his character Max Dermont would guest-appear in the WoD game, typically as a cryptic, often-antagonistic elder who would drive the players crazy (but in the end would prove to have actually helped the players and the "greater good"). Fenton likewise used several characters and plots to run a guest-GM game when he went up to visit Dermont. Both GMs supplied each other with NPC character sheets to be able to use in each others games.. with a general agreement not to allow each other's NPCs/PCs to be killed off without the other's consent, of course - though maiming horribly, or putting into torpor were acceptable (as they could be recovered). Between the very active roleplaying in the Ashford setting with both groups, both of which were considered canonical to the "Ashford-verse", the setting grew quickly as did the major events, characters and political landscape.
Even after graduating from university, this setting continued for a while, with a few improvements and revisions to the setting over the years. Although for obvious reasons the UK team ceased playing, the Gibraltar team was still active. But there were other, newer games, and over time many of the group members disappeared into the void. Of the original Golden Age-era players, the only two to still be actively a part of the group were Dermont and Elodan.
The Bronze Age
Fenton himself is unsure at what point the Bronze Age began, but believes it was when he began a Roleplaying group at the Gibraltar College in an attempt to introduce the hobby to a younger generation. Some of the players in this group (and some of the friends they themselves brought in from the outside, notably Divineshadow and Darth Peachy) would end up over time becoming good friends with Fenton (in fact, both Darth Peachy and Divineshadow would become best friends with Fenton, and he was the best man at both their respective weddings) and would be the group Fenton always said he enjoyed roleplaying with the most. They did play WoD: Ashford by Night, but predominantly focused more on Star Wars, Aberrant, Dungeons & Dragons (3rd Edition), Ravenloft, Battletech/Mechwarrior, Call of Cthulhu: Modern, d20 Modern, Star Trek, and the new Chronicles of Darkness (back then known as "the New World of Darkness" ( nWoD) which to a great degree caused WoD:Ashford to get pushed into the background as nWoD was considered a better system - and some of the troupe's GMs preferred to run games.
In the Ashford setting, during this period, a lot of the Golden Age events (especially involving Antediluvians and other ancients) were either partially retconned or played down - generally, a bit of a "don't talk about it" kind of approach to what Fenton now felt was youthful over-creativity. But they were still there, in the shadow of Ashford's past.
The Declining Years
In the later years, real-life issues caused the group to effectively disband due to infighting, people going away to university or the army, or other natural causes. Some stayed together, and Chronicles of Darkness, DC Adventures, Ravenloft, Shadowrun and Pathfinder (abandoning D&D after D&D4 came out) became the main games.
All in all, the Bronze Age, in what was essentially two sub-ages, lasted from about 1999 to 2011, the longest of any of the ages. By the end, the remaining troupe's main players and GMs were just Fenton, Darth Peachy, Divineshadow and Elodan.
The Modern Age
Group-wise, the modern age has been problematic for Fenton and his group, and plagues with problems with members. Real-life commitments would force Divineshadow to effectively leave the group (occasionally guest-starring). Dermont effectively left the group for many years, but recently had rejoined it somewhere between the end of the Bronze age and beginning of the Modern age. Darth Peachy also had several breaks due to personal reasons and Fenton was often too busy or tired because of his real-life work to be able to properly GM. Group cohesion was problematic, and games changed often and randomly depending on the GMs' real-life commitments and moods.
WoD:Ashford's modern Age, and the end of its de-facto retirement, came about in 2011 when Black Onyx Publishing brought out Vampire: the Masquerade, 20th Anniversary Edition. It reignited something in Fenton who has always felt the nWoD system was better rules-wise, but loved the overall WoD setting more, but the rules could be clunky for some things. He loved the subtle changes in "V20", however, and immediately began preparing for a new game and changing things. This would take its time, however, updating his NPCs to the V20 system in 2013 and the werewolf NPCs in 2014 when W20 came out (he would update mages when M20 came out, but as he'd always used them more sparingly, that was less dramatic an update). He began passively working on updating the setting for a new version, but wanted to seriously shake things up in the process.
A lot of the Golden Age events (especially those involving Antediluvians and other ancients) were now officially retconned. There was a marked shift, especially within Clan Sena, which Fenton wanted to make more credible and less "the GM's personal/favourite clan" - or "less Mary Sue" and actually had it that not only had none of the ancients been seen in many years now (and this includes the "younger" ancients, essentially almost any kindred over the age of 1000), but that the younger kindred of the clan didn't even believe in their existence. Just as the Camarilla denies the existence of the Antediluvians and members believe they're bogeyman tales to frighten them, so did Clan Senya's young believe they were just myths and legends greatly exaggerated and did not believe in Gehenna or Golconda, and have an active defiant streak against the stifling clan-traditions which they see as oppressive and keeping the out-of-date elders in power and the neonates subservient.
In an attempt to make Ashford more realistic and increase potential resource availability, the real-life location of Bakersfield was adopted as Ashford. Whilst it'd always been said that Prince Kratus and Genevieve had conquered Ashford from the Sabbat over 100 years ago, it was established exactly when and how this occurred. Looking at Bakersfield's true history, Fenton looked for events that he felt could be mortal understanding of events caused by Kindred which included the Great Fire of bakersfield (a perfect way to flush out Sabbat and burn them in their havens), and the discorporation of Bakersfield (and subsequent reincorporation of Ashford) being perfect as indicators of Kratus's takeover.
The amended historical timeline of Ashford is thus:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1860 | A settlement is formed |
| 1862 | Floods sweep away the 1860 settlement. |
| 1863 | Thomas Baker, lawyer and former colonel in Ohio militia moves to the area attracted by California gold rush; rebuilds the settlement a stopover for travellers, which became known as Baker's Field |
| 1870 | Settlement now known as Bakersfield reaches a population of 600; becomes a principal town in Kern County. The Sabbat grow in number as the population grows. |
| 1873 | Bakersfield officially incorporated as a town (population 801) |
| 1874 | Bakersfield replaces the dying town of Havilah as the county seat. |
| 1876 | As part of the plot to rid Bakersfield of unpopular city Marshal Alexander Mills, Bakersfield is disincorporated; a city council manages the community; Secretly, this was caused by Genevieve and Kratus taking advantage to start seeding and replacing control elements. Nosferatu scouts for Kratus also scope for weaknesses and opportunities. |
| 1889 | Genevieve and Kratus's minions sabotage Bakersfield's water lines and cause what becomes the Great Bakersfield Fire of 1889. The fire is unexpected and spreads fast in the mostly-wooden town, destroying most of the town buildings, burning many Sabbat in their havens, or uprooting them in the daytime. At nightfall kindred and ghouls, predominantly Brujah and Gangrel, move in to finish off the remaining Sabbat, led by the Brujah Thomas Wingfield. |
| 1890 | Kratus and Genevieve (and their childer and clanmates) complete the takeover of all key Bakersfield institutions and set up a Primogen council. More Camarilla kindred begin to arrive in the newly-conquered Camarilla domain and county seat. Bakersfield's mortal population reaches 2,626. |
| 1898 | Bakersfield is reincorporated as the city of Ashford; Kratus establishes the Ashford police department and begins to exert influence on nearby US Military bases; Period of economic boom and steady growth follows. |
Subsequently, real-life resources are now used. It was known that the Gangrel Cindy Walker, for example, was a big baseball fan supporting the local minor league - originally as a news anchor and eventually as business owner (partnered with Braxton Donahoe who provided most of the key financing but leaves management to her). Her story was now retconned slightly and locations and names changed. The real-life Sam Lynn Ballpark in Ashford was kept, but the local team, the Bakersfield Blaze, were renamed/replaced as the Asford Armadillos (the name they'd always had in the game). The fact they ceased to exist in 2016, and in turn the Sam Lynn Ballpark was now home to the Bakersfield Train Robbers was instead altered to reflect that that was the time when Cindy/Braxton bought the Armadillos and entered business together. Rosters and current status for the Train Robbers are used for any relevant events needed for the Ashford Armadillos in the game world setting, with thematic names changed as appropriate.
However, a big change was that Fenton wanted to completely shake up the structure in Ashford so long established. He therefore ran his game as a prelude-campaign, with a few sessions before suddenly introducing a Sabbat Crusade to kill various of the main power-holders, some beloved NPCs for dramatic effect (such as the Senya Whip, who had always been a popular character and mentor to players), and allow the players to establish footholds for their characters in the new setting that would rise from the ashes of the Crusade. Unfortunately, events in real life and commitments prevented the final events to be played out - although they have been written in as a canonical ending to the prelude.
So Ashford is rebuilt anew. New power players at the top levels - some very firm in their positions, others not-so; but many of the lower-tier positions once firmly occupied are now vacant, and domains once tightly controlled by the Ventrue, Tremere and (to a lesser degree) Toreador clans are now open season for anyone with the ability to grab it - giving opportunities for ambitious members of any clan and a greater likelihood of support from their Primogens, keen to re-establish, consolidate, keep or increase their Clan's influence in the new Ashford.