World of Darkness vs Real Life
The world of darkness is a world of extremes, where corruption, cruelty, greed and crime rule supreme. Stockholm is very much like our own capital, but at the same time, vastly different. There are many more people crammed within the so called “Tullar” and even more spread out in the suburbs and ghettos.
The police is an oppressive force that rears it’s ugly and violent head at every opportunity and private security is more established – not only are they protecting the corporate interests of, for example, SL, but they patrol industrial parks, the streets of the wealthy and any place of perceived importance. The corruption is widespread, but not often spoken about. Anyone who dares to step out of line is swiftly punished.
Journalists are eager to serve what gets them the most money or favors, the media is focused on perpetuating its fearmongering, and peddles to the rich and influential. Politicians might start out as a force of good, or at least with the want and hope to bring forth change. But that spirit, that soul, is quickly stomped out and replaced with another sycophant.
But as dark and bleak as this might sound, there is an increased will to resist. The hatred or dislike for the one percent is as deeply manifested in the educated poor as we know it today, but with a fervor that is bordering fanaticism. The revolts that originated in Husby in 2013 is something of a regular happening. The poor, disillusioned and unprivileged are easier to whip into small scale revolutions or riots, but who is actually behind all this? Why would someone want the poor to fight and disobey? Why are the police not present, as the rioters take to the streets and pour violence into the hearts and minds of others?
This is where we come in. Vampiric influences in Stockholm is a big part of why it’s such a sprawling, metropolitan stronghold; there are interests from high up in the food chain that pour vitae, money and favors into the city, bending mortals to their will, making sure the status quo is enforced, not only within kindred society, but in the mortal order as well, with the goal of ever expanding the herd of unknowing sustenance that is so very indispensable to a kindreds prolonged existence.
Blood is what fuels kindred society, and the way Stockholm is split up is: Viktoria, Ancillae of clan Brujah controls Norr- and Västermalm, Mario Jovian Giovanni Di Borgia, Toreador and Her Grace Di Borgias prodigal childe, controls Södermalm and lastly Naledi LeRoux, the brutish, Brujah-like Toreador control Östermalm. It is to these Ancillae Stockholms neonates flock in order to secure their nutrition, by joining the coteries of these masters. They are the foot soldiers and dispensable pawns that is synonymous with being a neonate. Should one feel the wish to hunt their own food and not be indebted to the powers that be, The Ring is up for grabs. Whomever can hold down their own territory in the outskirts of the city, are free to feed and live out the nights in relative peace. The Ring include the suburbs that surround Stockholm, for example, everything south of Gullmarsplan. The only downside is that one night you might be greeted by other Camarilla kindred who’d very much enjoy what you’ve built, or even worse: Anarchs.
Her Majesty Di Borgia has ruled Stockholm for fifteen years, and during that time Stockholm has prospered and despaired, as the Södertälje Sabbath have tried their best to wrest control of the central, blood filled hub from the Camarilla. A few years ago, the Sabbath was driven out from the areas around Stockholm, only to be replaced by the independents, and then by clan Giovanni. Why they have branched out from their sanctuary of Italy, to establish themself in backwaters as Södertälje and Norrtälje is a mystery.