Cologne By Night

This is a setting for the gamelines, &

General information and mundane historyabout the city: Cologne Wikipedia Cologne is a city rich with a history of unsolved msyteries and corruption.

Mentality
The city has reputation as beeing carefree, liberal and cosmopolation throughout it´s history - but also a bit superficial.

Corruption & Crime
Corruption or "Klüngel" as many colognians euphemistically say to the daily exchange of favors is widespread and the oil that keeps the city going - or so many citizen say to themselves. Be it the oversized incineration plant or the colapse of the city archive, which caused the death of two youth. Corruption is not only something that happens to you, but also something you do.

City hall and higher echelons of society are considered corrupt and Cologne is almost every years leading the statistics,

= History of Cologne and what it meant for the supernaturals =

Roman times
ca. 55-50 BCE: legions exterminate the celtic , who settled in the area, during several revenge campaigns.

ca. 38 or 19 BCE: The roman warlord resettled the loyal germanic tribe of the and founded the Oppidum Ubiorum at the location what would eventually become the city of Cologne.

15/16 AD:  the Younger is born. Future wife of emperor and mother of.

50 AD: Due to fact that Agrippinas is wife to the emperor the Oppidum Ubiorum is renamed into. By this CCAA becomes promoted to a roman colony - a city under roman law. In the next 200 years, Colonia Agrippina will become the biggest roman city north of the alps. Some vampire scholars claim that also broods of roman vampires started to settle in the city. Some mages claim that many magical secrets are buried in the roman ruins beneath cologne. During the middle ages several patrician families like the Overstolz claim that they actually are decended from the first 15 roman families that came. 70 AD: City walls are errected. 80 AD: The eifel aqueduct is created. 89 AD': CCAA becomes capital of the province germania inferior 260-271 AD: Colonia Agrippina is capital of the short lived (260-274 AD) „gallic empire“. First regionial tension between different vampiric domains are reported. 310 AD: Emperor  constructs the first bridge across the river rhine. 321 AD: Jews are allowed to reside in the city as roman citizen. Many cults are also known to exist. Cologne is wellknown for the. (Thyrsus) Mages claim this to be an indicator of mage activity. CoC Vampires claim also this to be a sign of the presence of their covenant. Some Mekhet point out that the presence of an Isis-Cult might be an indicator of Mekhet presence, as many Mekhet scholars claim that the Mekhet clan originally came from egypt. The mithraic cult has many followers in Colonia Agrippina. Mage historians argue which order had the most influence on the cult. Adamantine arrow, Guardians and Silver Ladder mages claim that the cult is part of their heritage. Nosferatu are reported. Some mages claim that this was actually a magical dark age, where practices of the left hand were quite common. after 274 AD: Cologne gets attacked and raided by the germanic Franks several times in the next decades and centuries. 436-445 AD: The roman general saves cologne of the invasion of the huns under Attila. Old textfragment claiming that a member of „gens gangrae“(old latin for the gangrel clan) took residence in the city, Also the oldest document that actually refers to vampiric presence. The legend of is born. The sanctified vampire start to rise to power. 459 AD: Cologne falls finally to the Franks.

Frank, Merovingian, and Carolingian periods
500-600 AD: The Chaos of the downfall of the roman empire and under rule of the franks, romans will still speak latin until the end of the 6th century. Nonchristian religions will still be practiced openly until the end of the 6th century. Mages claim that a "hermetic order" forms in these times. Both mysterium and silver ladder mage claim this heritage. . Also the many mircale working saints makes it easy for mages to hide magic in plain sight. But mages can´t get hold onto the higher levels of the catholic church and the bishops of cologne. Sancta Lancea vampires are said to be deeply involved in the church.

1164 AD: Rainald von Dassel retrieves the Bones of the 3 Magi and relocates them to Cologne. Cologne becomes one of the most important destinations for pilgrims next to Santiago and Rome. 1248 AD: starts teaching in Cologne. Some mages claim that he was also one of them. The is founded. 1288 AD: Cologne becomes a free city after the Battle of Worringen, The Archbishop has to leave the city. „Year of the broken Lance“ - Carthians and Invictus have festivities while the sanctified remember the loss of the sanctum and renew their grudges. They create a Council, where all Covenants have access except for the LS. The Invictus rule as "patricians" over the council. 1322 AD: The cologne cathedral is consecrated and the relics of the Three Kings are transported here. First reportings of "Nullzones". The Kindred council bans any vampiric activity in the cathedral. The ban is brutally enforced by invictus and carthians alike. The crusades make Cologne a rich city. Flooded with pilgrims, feeding is simple for one of the most dense vampire domains in all of Europe. As a leading member of the Hanse, Cologne makes a fortune by trading with England and selling weapons to the crusaders. 1349 AD: The black plague kills almost 100 Citizen a day. Allmost all jews get killed during "Plagueprogrom" which were common in many cities. An elder Mekhet and her brood are slain. The reasons are unknown today. Especially the LS and the CoC Mekhet remember this night. 1388 AD: Foundation of the University of Cologne. The fourth university of the Holy Roman Empire. Intellectual Kindred gather. A cabal of freewilled mages broke of the silver ladder and the mysterium and form a "Free Cabal". They are revered by todays Free Council as a founding cabal of the order. 1396 AD: Inspired by the mortals ending the rule of the patricians. Invictus domination is ended 1424 AD: Expulsion of the Jews "for ever". 1474 AD: Treaty of Utrecht. The hanseatic League wins the war against England. Silver Ladder Mages get more influential. 1475 AD: Cologne gets official „Reichsfreiheit“ / Imperial immediacy. Carthians gain upper hand in the Council 1484 AD: "The unspeakable, silent sin." A dying man reports acts of sodomy/homosexual practices in Cologne. A huge investigation discovers that over 200 famous and influental citizen are part of this. So, the incident get´s covered up. This huge breach of the masquerade is coverered up by all the kindred fevereshly. The covenants get indepted heavily to the LS. A cabal of Guardians of the Veil take lead and kill several mages who were also involved with vampires. 1583-1588 AD: Cologne War. Puppet war of the Carthians and Invictus. Many Invictus are killed. Carthians gain upper hand in the Council.

French Occupation
1796 AD: Annexed by France. Kindred calling themselves of "Toreador blood" first mentioned. 1798 AD: Univerity of Cologne get´s closed by France, like all the french universities. The ordo dracul manifest itself in Cologne as a covenant of surprisningly many members of LS and CoC convert to the order - bringing their secrets into the order. The LS and CoC still resent this. Prussian Occupation 1815 AD: Cologne and the Rhineland become awarded to Prussia. The city will keep the french coins until 1848. 1823 AD: The prussians force the founding of an festival organisation for the cologne carnival. The carnival was always a wild and almost anarchistical event of the lower classes and better citizen wanted to participate similiar as in italian customs. 1842 AD: Construction of the Cologne Cathedral is continued after the constrution was halted in 1530 AD. In the same yearbecame chief editor of a radical newspaper. 1880 AD: Cologne cathedral gets finished after 632 years of construction. 1913 AD: 1914-1918 AD:. During the War in 1917 becomes mayor of cologne until 1933.

Weimar Republic
1919 AD: Womens are allowed to vote for the first time in the national assemby. Refounding of the University of Cologne. The Carthian manage to stabilize their power by the "freedom of spirit act". The invictus grudgingly accepts it. Carthians and invictus allow their members to observe relgious rituals by the LS and CoC. 1920-1930´s AD: Cologne becomes an important city for music and varietés. The international Varieté "Kaiserhof" is founded in 1931.

1930-1933 AD: Radicalization of politics. Nazi and communist fight each other more often. 19 people get killed in those 3 years. Shism of the Carthians. The collectivst wing which was dominant in the movement split´s into "purists" and "radicals". The infighting lets the invictus get more influence.

Third Reich
1933 AD: In march the Nazi win the elections. Mayor Adenauer is forced to leave office. In summer the terror of the begins. 1936 AD: Wehrmacht ends the occupation of the rhineland. 1938 AD:. Synagogues, houses and shops of the jews get demolished. 1939 AD: Beginning of. 1940-1941 AD: Deportation of about 2000 1941 AD: Deportation of jews started. By the end of the War over 7000 jews of cologne were deported and killed. 1942 AD:. 1000 Bombers of the allies attack Cologne. Vampires call it the Nights of screaming fire, many kindred get killed in their tombs in the fires after the attack, blood sympathy alert many kindred around the globe to the destruction. The Population drops drastically during the war, as the people flee to avoid the bombings. Many strange things happen. Mad magicians ally with SS-troops or are influenced by vampires who thrife on the fact that people are deported or just never seen again and no mortal dares to ask. Atrocity is everywhere. 1945 AD End of the War. Hunters clean up the mess. Task Force Valkyrie get´s surprisingly help by former nazi occult scholars who claim to be "loyal to thule".

Post War 1946 AD
The destruction in all over europe destroyed also the infrastructure of the kindred, especially the invictus and carthians. Many vampires go soul seeking in the more spiritual covenants. While Invictus and Carthians start to work together - sometimes just so to preserve the masquerade. The LC starts to preach against the unholy union of those covenants. The "Cologne Coterie" will rule with the submersive power of both covenants. Carthian and invictus ideals become so widespread that many lower ranking kindred are recognised in two or even three covenants.

1970s AD
A new generation of liberal minded mages experiments heavily with paradox and vulgar magic in front of sleepers. Somehow the secret is kept. Occultism and Esoteric practises become again more accepted by many sleepers. Many strange things happen. Just as society is affected by cold war, "summer of love", social and technological progress, also the communities of the supernatural were shaken up. 1980s AD The "Cologne Coterie" almosts breaks apart, as younger and more idealistic carthians and invictus stop supporting it. Also the carthian will become a united movement again and will see no more need to work with the invictus anymore. 1990s AD The fall of the berlin wall and the end of the cold war is a huge oportunity for the invictus and they are able to usurp a lot of financial influence of the carhians, Also a Ventrue elder of the invictus awakes from torpor. The times are over that the invictus needs the carthians to uphold order and the masquerade and they can follow their true quest: Power. But as both the carthians and the invictus forces now more than a lip service for their covenants – many leave C and I and go to the other ones which already where open to new followers. 2000 AD The Covenants – went to a small skirmish against each other as each of them wants the power, but neither side can win. So a prominent member of the OD succesfully takes the throne by presenting herself as an peace giver.

Vampires of Cologne
Vampires of Cologne

Mages of Cologne
Mages of Cologne