A World of Darkness: Abyssal Locations

Hey Peter and welcome onboard!

I think it's awesome that you wanna contribute! Since it's basicly me, Gattison and anarch who's active at the moment, we surely can need all the help we can get! I'm also very happy that you wanna take on the Dark Monastery!

I don't know if I remember correctly what anarch said, since I haven't read Giovanni Chronicles myself (currently playing it though), but I think he thought it was suiting cuz if the players for some reason would revisit the place later on in the story they would find that only Lord Alxander was still there, and that the place was roaming with moving shadows... something like that. Maybe you can find it in the books... I think it leaves open cool possibilities.

I also like your research on the closter, cool if you can tie it to something real.
I'm sure Gattison (the boss) can supply you with our latest sample on the book where you can read what we have done with the locations so far, and maybe it can work as inspiration.

I am currently working on another update for the PDF, and when I send it out, I can also add urbanfractal/peter/petros to the list of recipients.

I will need your email, if you are interested. Mine should be on this website somewhere, but to make it easy for you it's Gattison@gmail.com. Send me an email there and I can save your email address.

Also, of course, Mr. Fractal, you can feel free to offer any feedback you have on the PDF/book once you see it. We're even pretty good at taking constructive criticism, so be honest. =) Also, feel free to comment on any other topic, too.

Is the location of the Dark Monstery not exactly known? If it isn't, then you may want to consider placing anything that gives it an exact location in a side-bar, rather than the text itself. We have a thousand side-bars in our book, so feel free to play around with that option as well.

Finally, if you have any "contacts" or "allies" or "retainers" who would want to help, go ahead and let them know we're always recruiting. Especially if you know an artist that works with colors (since Anda and I--who are the current resident artists--only work in black and white it seems. All the rest of the art in the book is so far "Used without permission."

Okay, I saw there was still a place that had not been covered, the Maasai tribe where Montano was Embraced, so I decided to give it a try. Let me know if you like it.

Spoiler:

Glad to have you back Valis, as always: really good work! For us ebony kingdom fanatics, this is a real treat! I also like to think that you have written this text with a touch of african storytelling, that is awesome!

Thanks!

Do you think it needs more abyssal connections? Perhaps an element that would attract Mystics to the place / creature?

I wasn't sure what exactly that could be...

Not so much that, as I could use a bit more of a physical description, actually. I see why you proposed this idea though, originally, and I like it, but if I read that, it would sound more like something from "Abyss Mysticism in Your Stories."

For instance, according to Wikipedia, the Maasai people claim to have originated in Egypt and then began migrating south to present day Kenya and Tanzania. Mystics could end up up on wild goose chases just by walking around near Laibon in modern Maasai territory, and would all be fruitless in the end, a death trap even. ..anti-vampire shifters, too.

I mean, there's so much potential just in that, that I could go on. Players could track down a Maasai Laibon, find out their oral history and track down the birthplace of Montano... but I take deep breath and stay on-task, here, and digress.

Perhaps location isn't the best spot for this. What about the newly formed Antagonists section at the end of the bestiary? They could go go in the mortals section. That also brings to mind Laibon--shouldn't we at least have the quick-stats for Laibon in there too?

Good grief.

Idk, I love the idea, but, placement could be up for discussion. Why did you originally suggest this as a Location? Any particular reason, because I do like the idea of it being a Location, don't get me wrong.

hmmm, I can put some frosting in that cake... wait to hear from me tomorrow!

Wow, how long are days in your country? lol, j/k

LOL! Yeah, I know. I should bite my own tongue for believing (and saying out loud) I could do something in such a short time. I'll try to finish this this week.


AND I managed to finish it today! YAY!

I actually just wrote a new introductory paragraph and two in the end.

Spoiler:

And it's official, ladies and gentlemen! valismedsen is back! he's back ladies and gentlemen! [and the crowd goes wild]

Also: I approve.

Also also: I still think it could use a bit more physical description of Kilimanjaro itself, which I bet I could squeeze in there if you'd rather move on to something else... or go back on vacation, lol. j/k

I have NO IDEA how to describe the Kilimanjaro... Even Wikipedia did not help me much. Is it possible to climb it like people do the Himalayas? Is it steep, made of pure rock? All I know is that the snow caps supposedly never melt.

Perhaps add, to make perfectly clear, that there is a phantom hut where all things belonging to the Eldest preserved by the King of Night and Day are, sitting atop the mountain.

What do you mean "phantom hut?" Like, does it only appear in the Astral Plane or something? Also, is there a canon reference for the story you wrote, so we could quote a page number?

I'll see if I can't dig up a physical description of Kilimanjaro, for you too.

well, montano's write up in children of the inquisition tells the story of the maasai falcon tribe, the experiment of Lasombra to find a perfect child that was to be raised with every need attended by the tribe, and montano, a shaman that ended up becoming his playmate/torture victim.

CotI says the man grew so spoiled that Lasombra destroyed him, and would try again if montano did not offer himself to become his perfect loyal child.

the idea that the spoiled brat might have survived as a ghost or a creature of darkness is mine. I also added the treasure trove (why in a hut? I guess that Lasombra had to stay someplace during the day while among the Maasai. I visualized a hut, very big, where he conducted his Abyss rituals). This place, and everything inside it, would be an appetizing price for any mystic, since it is the equivalent of entering your mightiest mentor's office. I added the idea of Montano also delivering the things that belonged to the Eldest in Castled'Ombro to put more sparkle in the prize.

But I think these ideas are enough to inspire a ST...

Do you know the book Diablerie Awakening: Britain? The one dungeoncrawl (LOL) for Vampire which has the tomb of the Ventrue Tiamat?

Perhaps we could quote that sourcebook as inspiration for a raiders of the lost ark theme story to use with this.

My bad for not responding until now valis. Thanks for the reference. =)

I ended up not citing Diablerie Awakening Britain as an inspiration for theme because I figured it would have to be in a teeny-tiny side-bar with just that in it. Didn't seem worth it to me, but if anybody else really thinks that I should add that to the book, then I will. I've just never read Diablerie Britain before so didn't think it would be missed if it wasn't in the book.

That's okay. Thanks for coming back to this, anyways!

Not a problem.

I just hope you're able to stick around and keep offering help, so just because I don't respond doesn't mean I don't appreciate your input. =)

Screw IRL! Write something else, valis!

Any progress on the Black Monastery Peter?

Apparently not, =)

So, Mr. Smedsen, I noticed we have no page references for the Dark Magister. This is something you could probably find easier, so I hope you don't mind providing the page numbers for it. Thanks.

Clanbook Baali p 30

Road of Sin p 37

Ta-da!

tyvm

=)

Edit: Changed the Hardestadt Elder-Younger spoiler. Let's not reveal too much! Also, words from the author (wow!!)

The Black Monastery

It was in the 15th century, at the end of the Anarch Revolt and specifically at the Convection of Thorns that Sabbat was formulated as an answer to the oppressing and never forgiving Camarilla, the brainchild of Hardestadt the Elder. The nascent Sabbat was all about violence and payback, but soon its spiritual leaders understood evolution was imperative in order for it to survive. They had fallen too deep in the clutches of the Beast by shedding their Humanity, now left vulnerable to losing everything, forever. Eventually, around the middle of the 17th century, more than a handful of Sabbat’s most bright thinkers decided to shun themselves from the outside world and begun developing Paths to satisfy both the sect’s mentality and the Beast’s urges [1].

Their place of choice was an almost abandoned Augustinian monastery built in the 13th century. It was established where the borders of Switzerland, France and Germany met, in the outskirts of the city of Basel. Perched on the side of the Alpine mountainside, heavy forest and jagged crags surrounded the fortress-like monastery. No horse or carriage moved past a certain point, providing the safety and isolation that the group needed at the time. [2] The chilling winds, the torrents of rain and the ghouled monks were the only companions of those Cainites, during the seemingly endless nights of introspection and struggle (perhaps apart from random packs of vampires seeking refuge or enlightenment on their way to tamer lands). But even they dared not to travel further than the Monastery’s immediate surroundings, since a quite large pack of aggressive Garou patrolled the surrounding forest, waiting for a chance to strike upon the Wyrm-tainted Leeches.[3]

Among the Sabbat ancillae was a manipulative and tempered Lasombra named Lord Alexandre.[4] He was the child of the infamous Lord Marcus, the original creator of the Path of Power and Inner Voice.[5] The Corsair Lord, falling far from the bloody average of his clanmates, spent his nights in the Monastery defining the finer points of the Path, as well as cultivating a rather unusual garden. What begun as a hobby of Lady Meridie de Chancie, a Brujah antitribu[6], Lord Alexandre managed to take under his personal care. It was one of the least alarming ways to experiment with his Abyssal powers, while not raising any suspicions from the other residents. Although not so successful at first, through trial and error, he managed to produce some results.

But in his subterranean chambers, even darker experiments took place. Shadows waned and waxed although no draft of air disturbed the candlesticks. Behind the closed doors he summoned, killed and dissected denizens of the Abyss, furthering his understanding and reporting his findings to his sire, Lord Marcus. There were times when his control over them would deteriorate and they would escape, but he would hunt them down and obliterate them, perhaps carelessly using the dark art. Fortunate for Lord Alexandre, the infernal pursuits of the Setite Intisar on the Path of Evil Revelations took the spotlight[7] and allowed him to work through the rest of the Sabbat ancillae, pitting one against the other and finally claiming the Black Monastery for his own base of operations[8].

If one was to travel to that almost forgotten place now, she would be greeted by unnatural shadows that would brush through her clothes, always caressing, not unlike a blind man trying to realize the shape of an unfamiliar face. Some would also find part of their thoughts momentarily forgotten, their train of thoughts derailed, just wandering around aimlessly, pondering. And if one was to reach the Monastery itself, she would have to hack through a dense grove of wild rose bushes, emerging covered in thick, black sap, finding herself lacking in Vitae. Past the thicket one would find the once sturdy wooden doors slightly unhinged, one resting on the other, pitch blackness oozing from the crevice between them.

A brave soul could explore the interior and find it empty, abandoned as if in a hurry, with shadows everywhere trying to smother all light sources. And if that person dared to enter the largest one of the cellars, she would encounter a sole survivor, struggling at the mercy of his creations. Only a husk remains now of what used to be Lord Alexandre[8], suspended in the air like a puppet on strings made of shadows, always muttering to himself. Black holes instead of eyes, his flesh wrapped around his bones and cranium, a weathered old cape hanging over tattered, once regal, clothes. Scattered beneath him, mummified bodies, laid one on top of another, all with a terrible expression of pain and suffering on their faces.

No one has escaped the Cellar of Murmurs, but those who had the willpower to resist the Monastery’s dark allure still suffer from harrowing nightmares of shadows trying to pull them apart, pull them towards nothingness, towards Oblivion.

"Facts" are in italics
Personal Fiction is in Yellow

References:
[1] Giovanni Chronicles 2, page 8
[2] GC 2, pg 41
[3] GC 2 pg 38
[4] GC 2, pg 42
[5] GC 2, pg 66
[6] GC 2, pg 43
[7] GC 2, pg 52-54
[8] GC 3, pg 16-17

I would like to apologize for being non-existent all this time, but as the weather gets better here in Greece my hobby store sees more action and I try to manage everything by myself. Unfortunately my personal time took one for the team. This is the gist of a 1200 word essay that I had to edit several times, while sacrificing willpower. I could write a whole travel guide for the area (given enough time).

Aaaaaaaaanyway, here it is.

References will be provided later tonight :-)

That's awesome, I loved every single bit of it! Nice work!

bump for references and small changes

Hmm. I really, really like how you footnoted your references like that, and it gives me an idea.

How would you feel about a side-bar to accompany your text, that quickly explains that the Black Monastery text does have some non-canon stuff in it, but the facts are pointed out directly. It'd be a shame to waste the work you've done explaining yourself, and it'd be a shame to change the text at all. I also think we should always clarify what is canon and what isn't, for those like me, who have never read or played the Giovanni Chrons.

Thanks again Pete. =)

Peter:

urbanfractal wrote:

He was the child of the infamous Lord Marcus, the original creator of the Path of Power and Inner Voice.[5]

So I'm editing for grammar and punctuation and stuff, and as I go I'm looking up all the references so I can familiarize myself a bit, and I must say, this fact looks like it may be off. The reference states that Lord Marcus originally created the Path of Power/Inner Voice, but does not state that he is Alexandre's sire. I Googled it, too, and didn't find anything. Is there some other source that made you say this?

EDIT: Also, I noticed you didn't mention the pack of black-furred lupines that he seems associated with. This can also tie into other things we have in the book... is there a way we could sneak that into the text somewhere?

(The NPC I made, Cardinal Reyes, was associated with a Shadow Lord werewolf who wanted to help her extinguish the sun, both of which are based upon canonical motivations.)