The general setting is the city of Minneapolis and St. Paul during the fall of the Vienna Chantry in 2008. This is the opening move of the Second Inquisition. Minneapolis is ruled by a Tremere Prince and St. Paul is a collection of loosely allied Baronies.
The Twin Cities are ruled by Prince Osmont Lamirand. Minneapolis is strictly a Camarilla city and holds the Six traditions sacred.
The seventh tradition practiced in Minneapolis is Benefaction. Any trespassers who are not invited to the city by the Prince are allowed to be captured and drained of blood. The number of nights over which the Benefaction can take place is equal to the number of nights the trespasser was present in Minneapolis doubled each time. So one night trespassed is equal to one night of Benefaction. Four nights trespassed is equal to eight nights of Benefaction. If someone completes a Benefaction and trespasses again, their count doesn’t reset.
The Kindred carrying out the Benefaction is responsible to ensure that the trespasser won’t starve or be released in a state that would threaten the masquerade. The Benefaction must be reported at the next Elysium along with a sample of the Benefactor’s blood so that records can be kept.
Camarilla members have one night of amnesty to pass through or present themself to the Prince’s court.
Minneapolis is a walled garden of the white tower. St. Paul is the American melting pot where any Kindred who isn’t a sworn enemy may come and visit. Sabbat members are killed on sight, but there’s a number of Anarchs, Setities, Unaffiliated and Wanderers.
There are modified traditions that hold the city in check and it is policed by the Camarilla.
The First, Second and Fourth traditions are strictly enforced. Maintain the Masquerade, respect the domains as outlined by the Prince, and sires answer for any crimes of unreleased childer.
The Prince grants domains to certain Kindred or groups of Kindred and within those domains the owning Kindred may act as they chose. The continued possession of those domains depend on maintaining order and the Prince’s respect.
Now it may seem contrary to common sense to allow Kindred that aren’t members of the Camarilla to be acknowledged and empowered, but the political power of the different groups are carefully balanced. No one group is allowed to keep too much power for too long. Further, more knowledge and magic from different traditions are available to the Tremere of the Twin Cities.
There’s a large vault of Tremere items that have been kept safe away from the unsettled politics of the East Coast and the Anarchic East Coast. Those in good standing with the Prince may be allowed to store important items in the vaults.
The failure of the Chantry isn’t enough to immediately expose the vault, but it is enough to expose weaknesses. The treasures in the vault are many and terrible.
The fragile peace between the Camarilla of Minneapolis and Mottles of St. Paul is now weakening without the presence of the Sabbat. The dwindling presence of the Sabbat is both a relief and a concern.
Many eyes from many factions of many creatures are watching the vault as the Tremere Prince buckles under the pressure and the stability of the city topples.
Magic ripples under the skin of the world. The sudden disruption of the wards and the blood magic that the Tremere stretched across the world has caused a strange vibration. The many vulgar shadows of the world become both closer and farther from each other. There are those that take advantage of this alignment for their own purposes.
Four people are embraced days before the attack on the Vienna chantry to replace Kindred lost in conflicts with the Sabbat over the past four years. In Earth Gimel those four people are different from those chosen in Earth Samek.
A conspiracy of kindred complete an untested ritual that drag the quadrumvirate from Gimel to Samek and from Samek to Gimel. The ritual settles over each subject and as far as magic and the world at large is concerned, they are what they replaced. This shroud can be pierced, but should it be removed, the subject will experience a violent rejection from existence. The balance must be maintained across worlds. Should a subject meet the true death, a new ritual must be performed to draw someone new across. They step into the same life as the dead kindred.
The conspiracy is run by a Tzimisce that feels he owns a particular line of descent of Tremere. The Prince of Minneapolis belongs to this bloodline. The Tzimisce doesn’t have a perfect vision of what is to come, but he will use all of his power to capture the Prince and draw his childe to this city. The Tzimisce was informed of the ripple by an ally only a short time before the opportunity arose. The Tzimisce’s part of the bargain was to perform the ritual, maintain his respective quadrumvirate, and pass along orders. The Tzimisce is also allowed to utilize the quadrumvirate, but not in any manner that would threaten their existence.
The quadrumvirate isn’t aware of this layered conspiracy. Indeed, they are freshly embraced and still have the scent of the newly dead about them.