Based off of a chronicle that myself and several friends ran a few years back. The game is set to the rules lined out in White Wolf's Vampire: The Dark Ages, which I do not own. However, the characters and the storyline are all our own, with the exception of the Camarilla and the Anarch movement.

Prelude

Luca bowed in thanks to the priest as she left the church for the day from her studies. She turned and stepped into the streets, squinting as she looked to see some movement on the edge of her town. From a distance, all she could distinguish was that it was a caravan of wagons, each wagon with a symbol painted on it. Even though she did not recognize the specific symbol, she knew what it was--the protective emblem for this particular band of gypsies that had just settled into her village for the next week.

While Luca found the people in the caravans to be interesting, enchanting even, she knew to be wary of the gypsies. A wild and beautiful people, perhaps, but thieves and liars made up the lot of them. Besides, she'd been told on more than one occasion that they were heathens, agents of the Devil himself. That was why they had been born with dark eyes and dark hair and that was why their dark and wild nature was always so tempting for good people to be intrigued and tricked by. But still, they did sometimes have exquisite foreign goods!

As she continued down the dirt road to the village's gates, she ran right into someone who stepped out of a side alley. They both fell to the ground, and after she was no longer dazed, Luca's eyes narrowed on who it was--Samuel, the orphan boy. Of course, he was no longer a boy, but after he'd suddenly appeared in the village 10 years prior, the name stuck on him. Luca's father had explained to her that being there for him as a friend would be the greatest help she could provide to the child. Even so, being a friend for this klutz was trying at times.

After a hasty apology and an explanation that he was in a hurry to help the blacksmith across town, Samuel jumped up and hurried off. It had never ceased to amaze Luca that her friend could manage every odd job that was available in the village, yet he always managed to trip himself or say the wrong thing to her. She reflected that he could perhaps like her, but he hadn't nearly the nerve to try courting her. While Luca was headstrong herself, and didn't always adhere to 'womanly behavior,' she also had other ideas in her head as to whom she'd rather court.

Unfortunately, the object of her heart's desire was the local lord's second son, Simon, who hadn't written back from the wars in over two years.

As she made her way out of the gates, she saw that she hadn't been the only one interested in what goods the gypsies had brought with them. The young girl Ana, the doctor's sister, had come along as well. Many of the rest of the villagers seemed to think that Ana was more than a little odd, some even spoke whispers that she could be a witch. Luca knew better than the latter rumor, however, as no witch would spend so much time in the church, praying for the well-being of her brother.

If anyone in the town was to be regarded as an odd bird, Wilhelm was definitely it. Ever since his wife had passed away three years prior, the doctor's mind had snapped. He was still brilliantly intelligent with medicine and tending to the sick, however he had never recovered from the loss of his wife. He would gladly take patients, but never spoke, never went out to visit with the rest of the village, and no longer showed himself in the church. Ana attended on his behalf and always apologized to the priest for her brother's absence.

Ana greeted Luca, and silently they agreed that they would walk together through the gypsy caravan. As they passed through, they saw a young man setting out leather goods, and beside him a red-headed man beside him, apparently telling a joke of some sort. Though most gypsies were dark haired and had tan skin, the red-headed man was pale, appeared to be Irish, though by the look of his clothes, was obviously with the gypsies. Bothe men looked up at Luca and Ana and smiled. The gypsy man held up a fine looking belt and began trying to convince the two to buy it when Ana pulled Luca forward.

Luca looked ahead to where Ana was leading her, seeing an older gypsy woman sitting outside of a wagon. As they got closer, Luca could notice that the woman's eyes were clouded with blindness. Confused, she looked to Ana and asked, "Why are we going to her?"

Ana smiled and spoke quietly, "She seems to be looking for us, she has something to say."

Knowing that her friend's cryptic answer had truth to it, Luca nodded and walked forward until she was within speaking distance of the woman. Before she was able to greet her, the woman stepped forward and placed her hands on Luca's face. "My child, you will be swept away into the night by demons! Don't lose your light girl, you shall need it! Protect the seer beside you, and don't lose your light!"

Before Luca could step away from the babbling gypsy, she felt Ana's hand squeeze her arm. Ana seemed to be pleading her to stay.

The old woman calmed herself somewhat and removed her hands from Luca's face. She muttered what seemed to be a prayer and turned to her wagon. She reached in and retrieved a small item and pressed it into Luca's hand. "Please, child, take this. It shall protect you, and the spirits shall watch over you so long as you wear it. Simply promise me that you'll do your best."

Dumbfounded, Luca nodded, then realizing that she was nodding to a blind woman, quietly agreed. As Ana pulled her away and back to the town, Luca looked at the item in her hand, revealing a small necklace with a rectangular pendant hardly larger than her thumb hanging from it. The pendant was divided by three types of stone that had been cut into strips and set into the pewter pendant, one strip of jade, one of amber, and one of onyx.

"Sorry about that Luca. I know that it was a bit disturbing. But please, don't forget the words of that woman, and do wear that pendant," Ana said quietly as she walked with Luca.

Knowing from previous experience that the younger girl's words often carried some weight, Luca pulled the necklace over her head and tucked it into her shirt. As soon as she had tucked it in, Ana turned to her, tears in her eyes and drew the older, red-headed girl into an embrace. As she cried onto Luca's shoulder, Ana repeated several times over, "Luca, I'm scared. I don't want things to change. I don't want to go…"

Though even more disturbed from Ana's words than she had been by the old gypsy's babbling, Luca hugged Ana back, stroking her blonde hair to comfort her. Something bad, very bad was indeed going to happen. Slowly Luca coaxed the other girl to go home, where Luca stayed with her until it was nearly dark.

When she finally left, she went to the pub, to see what her father was up to. He was sitting at a table in the corner speaking with Samuel. Perhaps he is offering Samuel a post with the town guards, it should be about time for him to get a steady line of work, thought Luca. As she approached the table, she noticed her father give Samuel a stern look, and the young man stood and walked away just before Luca was able to hear what they'd been discussing. As she sat next to her father, he spoke, "Luca, you do realize that you're beginning to get older on me, right?"

She nodded, wondering what he was getting to.

"And while I did have a proper husband in mind for you, perhaps it is time to move on. Have you considered any of the other young men in the village, yet, my daughter?"

Luca shook her head. She knew whom he had been referring to, and she knew that she did not agree to arranged marriage. The lord's three sons had all been sent to battle years before, and although she wished to deny it, she knew that it was thought that they had been killed in battle. Just as she was about to explain to her father her feelings on the topic, one of the village's watch towers bell began clanging wildly.

Her father, captain of the guard and village headman, leapt from his seat and hurried out to the watch tower to see what the disturbance was. Just as she was heading out, Luca caught the gaze of a man, perhaps a traveler, in the other corner of the room. She wasn't sure why, but she felt suddenly drawn to him. She began walking to his table when another guard tower sounded an alarm. She turned from him, as though a connection had suddenly been broken, and began walking out of the pub. As she stepped out, she felt a hand on her shoulder and he whispered to her, "Righteous are those who trust that they shall be vindicated by the Lord God, child. The Lord will show wonder unto the dead, and they shall rise up and praise Him."

Before Luca was able to respond, he walked around her and seemed to vanish around a corner. She broke from her thoughts and continued to see what the commotion was, the reason for the alarm. Her first reaction was to look in the direction of the village gates, thinking perhaps the gypsies had been the cause for commotion, but she noticed a fire out of the corner of her eye from the opposite direction.

Realizing that the fire was in the same direction as Ana and her brother's home, Luca rushed towards it, praying that they were alright. As she was running, she heard a third guard tower sound the alarm, and then the resounding BOOM of an explosion shortly thereafter. So much was happening so fast. From another corner of the town she could hear someone's pained screams, more explosion, more fire. Why were all of these horrible things happening?

She hesitated for a moment as she reached the doctor's home, seeing his stable in flames beside it. Then there was the sound of a door from inside the house, glass shattering, the hoarse voice of the doctor cried out.

Just as Luca was about to go into the house, in hopes of helping the siblings, the doctor came running out with his sister in his arms, unconscious. "Wilhelm, is she injured?"

He shook his head as he kept running out, though he didn't seem to have a given destination to go. Luca began following him, then had the sudden urge to go outside the city gates, something was drawing her there. She could see the shack outside of town in her mind's eye, something about that place, she needed to be there in that moment. "Wilhelm, the shack outside of town, it should be safe!"

They ran as quickly as their feet could carry them, and just as the shack was in sight, they heard something behind them. A cloaked figure on a horse, dark and shadowy, seemingly unnatural. The village behind it was engulfed in flames, and the cries of dying villagers could be heard from the distance. Just as the dark figure was about to reach them, someone appeared from in front of them, leapt over them, and knocked him from his horse. After a few moments, the figure that had come from in front of them seemed to achieve victory over the cloaked figure that had been on the horse. He stood, turned to them, and Luca immediately recognized him as the man from the village, in the pub. In the blink of an eye, he was on her, pinning her arms to her side. The next thing Luca knew was a feeling of warmth, and then everything went black around her.

When Luca woke, all of the days' events seemed to have been a dream. She felt cold. She placed her hands on her chest as she often did after a particularly bad dream, to calm her heart. But… it wasn't beating. That could not be right. Her eyes snapped open and she took in a deep breath. Something stank. The stench of rotten flesh invaded her senses as she looked around the room.
In the corner of the room was Samuel, although by the looks of him, it was his corpse. She scanned around to see who else was lying in the floor with her. Against a wall was Wilhelm, then the red-haired man from the gypsy caravan. There was also the gypsy man who he had been with, but rather than lying unconscious on the floor, he was standing with his arms crossed, watching Luca intently. He glanced from her to the door on the opposite side of the room and sighed.
Moments later, the rest of the group slowly awoke. Even what Luca had thought to be Samuel's corpse--he was still alive, although definitely worse for the wear. Something was missing though--but what?
Luca nearly choked when she realized who was missing-Ana! She scrambled to her feet then burst through the door, stepping over Samuel and Wilhelm as she went.
The next room seemed to be furnished, at least, although with what appeared to be five coffins. Six people sat in the room, an apparent conversation was interrupted by Luca. She looked around, noting Ana, the man from the pub, a woman in rags, who seemed to be a leper, a gypsy man, a gentleman in a fine suit, and a rather hairy looking man with long dirty blonde hair. The man she'd met from the pub smiled as he watched the others pile out from behind Luca, announcing to the others in the room, "And so it begins, my friends."

A.N. Well, folks, let me know what you think. It's been a while since the story has been run (two years) but I keep coming back to the plot line, feeling that it needs to be put down somewhere.