World of Darkness
Location: Cacibajagua, Florida (map available)
The coastal city of Cacibajagua has a long, strange, and somewhat unpleasant history, filled with mysterious deaths, disappearances, and other bizarre occurances. Among the oddities are the network of unusual caves, sightings of large wildlife in the northwest quadrant of the city limits, abandoned locations, local legends, and a secretive scrap-yard.
On the surface Cacibajagua seems like a wonderful middle-sized city. It's diversified businesses have helped the city weather the turbulence of economics well, and even shown growth in some areas, in part thanks to diversified businesses and a casino. The crime is kept fairly well contained in the south-west part of the city, which is also home to the cities handful of strip clubs, adult entertainment locations, and the best part of town for most illegal transactions.
OOC note: Unless otherwise noted, All the information on the site is designed with the "general public" in mind (especially about locations and the character pages). It is from the aspect that if Joe Average were to walk into a city and ask around about things or read the papers, this is the information he'd find out. The word Cacibajagua roughly translates to 'Black Cave' from a Native American dialect.
OOC Info on the setting and mood
Conspiracy
As in real life, the World of Darkness has an abundance of groups with a variety of interests and agendas. These groups form shadow alliances and accords regularly and break them just as quickly. It's a tangled web that is ever present and almost impossible to unravel. The question should never be "Are you paranoid?" rather it should be "Are you paranoid enough?"
From the Orwellian conspiracy to the classic who-dun-it to the spooky ghost story and everything in between, the World of Darkness thrives on mystery of all kinds. What lurks in the shadows and what connections exist behind the lies and frontmen is anyones guess. Sometimes people will be given a glimpse into the shadows, given opportunities to delve deeper or turn away. Other times, the character will need to seek them out.
Intrigue
With the stakes high for everyone, it's no wonder that the movers and shakers involved play for keeps. It's not simply Kindred that have a license on intrigue and politics. Werewolf and Mage both have their pit vipers that are the definition of unethical and ambitious. And let’s not forget the Kine…
Corruption
We're not only talking about corruption and descent of the soul, but society as well. Real life is full of corruption. The game is rigged against all but the top one-percent who rigged it long ago. Our characters live in a world of abundance that they are faced with every day, contrasted with the scarcity as the mighty hoard wealth, influence, and power. This doesn’t mean a neonate can’t shake the earth or reshape the city. David and Goliath stories can happen. It's part luck, skill, and planning.
Duality
There is duality at play. Kindred have Beasts to contend with, struggling with their human and monstrous sides. Mages struggle with the tug of their avatars as they attempt to attain Ascension against the weight of Paradigm and mortals are constantly at odds with their morality and desires. Lastly, there is the universal contention - the stories that everyone tell themselves, and other people, to help them justify their behavior. It’s not always intentional or malicious, it’s all about perception against the nagging facts.
Perversion
Perversions come in all shapes and sizes. Kinks and fetishes are everywhere in the World of Darkness, but it's not always so mundane. For example, the well-meaning vampire can find himself perverted by his Beast as he commits horrible acts while his Beast revels in the life blood of a victim. Werewolves can fall into Thrall and destroy loved ones in a flash of fang and claw, then do unspeakable things to the remains. Minds can be perverted and warped as the horrors of reality take hold and descend a mage into Quiet. All (including mortals) can lose hope, make mistakes that causes their humanity to fade, and go from trying to make a difference, to being selfish and indifferent.
Life is full of shitty choices and compromises. In having to make them, souls are corrupted little by little each night. The World of Darkness has built in conflicts and contradictions in every venue. Beasts and personal issues wreak havoc. Characters are constantly in conflict with them and faced with hard choices when managing their deepest and darkest drives. Often times, to do the right thing one must do something terrible. Mages play with the fabric of reality and have the power to raise humanity to a higher existence, but at what cost? What does a mortal have to do to get their share of the pie? And what dark deals have the glamorous and easy-living made?
OOC AND IC info about the Kindred
What does that mean, you ask? It means each item is labeled with who should know it. Please treat it all appropriately! As the Kindred world had considerable events happening in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and some clan-specific items, we're going to touch on the big ones here. The great thing about how the books are written, is there is a lot of misinformation out there (that's why the Knowledge is called "Lore" and not "Fact"), so this leaves room for characters that have Lore (or not) to debate events and history.
The Week of Nightmares
Nearly all Kindred more than 20-or-so years as a Kindred have at least heard of this event. It happened exactly as it's told in the books. If you need a quick refresher, this wiki is well written. As stated, Ravnos are still around, but are limited in Generation.
As part of the Week of Nightmares, many low generation Kindred were drawn to the Middle East. When it was over, some of those who survived came back (maybe all of them... no one is entirely sure).
The Umbra (scrying and umbra traveling creatures)
The sourcebook hints that the Spirit Nukes that went off during this event might have literally evaporated chunks of the Umbra. While there are now much larger destroyed portions, the Umbra is (mostly) intact, but far more dangerous. The Storm Ward/Maelstrom still makes it very difficult to move there and back safely. Most shard realms are practically inaccessible. This has left the Traditions and Technocracy without most of their leadership and powerful members. It has also hampered many activities for Garou.
There are many rumors among the most connected and knowledgable Kindred of what might have happened to the Second City, rumored to be in the Umbra with ancient Kindred ((high Lore background requirements needed for this tidbit)).
Because the Umbra is a quasi-perception-driven construct, that merges abstract and phyiscal concepts such as spirit realms, Deep-Space, and even the Internet, there were other effects. When the two nuclear weapons went off in the Umbra, random computers and servers all over the world had issues.
Some were infected by terrible viruses that resisted destruction by format, some seemed to act normal... or even better than normal. Some merely lost internet connectivity for a time (oh, the humanity!)... and many other strange events. Glyphs and strange languages overwriting them; even rumors of the infamous "singularity" - computers becoming self-aware were out there. These rumors mostly died over the years, and are just creepy-pasta or diminished to old tech jokes, right next to the "cup holder" story.