Wolfsheim

World of Darkness -- Pax Romana

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Quote

“Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither.” — Benjamin Franklin

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Introduction

“Run,” Liupold said, “run home! I’ll… I’ll… just run!” It was the last thing he had said to Inga. Despite how much she loved him, she ran. She ran as hard as she could, stray branches tearing at her clothes and whipping her face, galloping over roots and rocks and through dips and hollows, not once pausing to look behind her or slow her pace for any reason. She heard what came after Liupold’s final words – the growling that overcome the horrid, wet sound of flesh being torn over and over, the strangled scream that didn’t quite make it out of Liupold’s throat and the disturbing “shlurp” that accompanied a spray of warmth on her back. Her vision had narrowed to the point where she barely recognized her surroundings – all she knew is that she was running away from the hairy thing that had ripped apart her boyfriend. As if through a tunnel, a new noise started to break through to Inga. Though she couldn’t quite make it out, she instinctively followed it, ducking under low-hanging limbs as she pushed through the brush. Slowly, her focus seemed to expand as she realized she was only a few dozen meters from town – the bright lanterns signaling her home. She rushed forward, a mix of cheers and plaintive cries assailing her, growing stronger as she approached. She felt rather than saw her father and threw herself forward, not daring to slow her pace even when she was within his arms, nearly bowling him over. He collapsed around her, crying, whispering her name over and over and praising the Gods that she had come home safe. She had made it. She had survived. But even though the shock of realization had not fully set in, Inga knew that she would never, ever feel safe again.

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History

Decades ago the aggressive military campaigns of the Roman general Julius Caesar caused the survivors of his wars to flee into little explored regions in search of safety and prosperity. A coalition of Germanic survivors settled in the Wolfsheim Valley unaware that it lay in the domain of Der Koenig Puck, The Goblin King. Der Koenig Puck was a shrewd sort and saw a great deal of potential to having his own “herd” of humans. In a show of force, Der Koenig Puck appeared with hundreds of goblins but instead of a massacre, he offered a bargain. In exchange for providing security and seclusion, the people would establish their homes in goblin territory and pay a yearly tribute to their goblin “protectors” – a tradition that became known as the Kindernacht.

The Kindernacht originally began much like Samhain, where the children of Wolfsheim would go from door to door, gathering tribute to present to Der Koenig Puck in the form of sweets and small trinkets. Throughout the evening, goblins would approach the children. If the child had a sufficient amount of tribute, the goblins would escort the child home. Those who did not gather enough tribute simply disappeared and the goblins acquired another recruit for their ranks. For a while, the village was so thankful for the protection offered by the goblins that the loss of one or two children was seen almost as a fair trade by a silent majority.

Time went on and the goblins held to their end of the bargain, creating rituals that kept the village of Wolfsheim out of the sight of ordinary people, even preventing it from appearing on maps and causing those few who were actually able to leave Wolfsheim for a long duration to have their knowledge of the town and its location fade from memory. Most would eventually regard tales of a village in the Teutoburg Forest to be little more than ignorant folklore, although every now and then someone would stumble upon the village.

This relative idyll was shattered a couple decades ago with the arrival of Ulrich Schwarzenegger and his band of Werwölfe mercenaries. Ulrich a descendant of the infamous Kved-Ulf, the mythological progenitor of the Werwölfe, had discovered some significant deposits of iron in the area and decided to exploit its people as his own resource. Setting up shop and establishing both mines and a smelter outside of the city, Ulrich Schwarzenegger subverted the real power away from the humans of the village and changed the Kindernacht from the tradition the goblins made to one even more barbaric – it was now a hunt, with the lucky ones being bitten to become werewolves and the unfortunate ones being mauled and slain.

The goblins did not take this lying down. After threats and negotiations failed, the goblins resorted to outright war and have been waging battle with the werewolves loyal to Ulrich Schwarzenegger for over half a century. Neither side has been able to eradicate the other as both sides reinforce their ranks from the beleaguered population of the city. This war of attrition has had a heavy cost on all sides and the rival forces are looking for any advantage to shatter the balance and claim victory.

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Kindernacht

At first glance, the Kindernacht seems heinous – the villagers of Wolfsheim allow some of their own to be slaughtered by werewolves in a trade for the relative security of the town. This barbaric rite does have some guidelines that are followed, however. (Naturally, the “game” is rigged in favor of the werewolves, and they will sometimes ignore any or all of the guidelines below in the throes of blood lust). Two days prior to the Kindernacht, seven children between the ages of 13 and 17 are chosen at random, their left forearms are scarred with a red-hot knife to prevent repeat selections.

The families are notified that their child has been chosen for the Kindernacht and are warned that any attempt to leave the town will result in devastation for the entire family. Just before dusk on the evening of the Kindernacht, Helmut son of Wilhelm the Bürgermeister, leads a group of werewolves to the town square. As the chosen are gathered, the remains of any who attempted escape are publicly displayed and Helmut calls out to see if any wish to invoke the Right of Exemption.

The Right of Exemption allows one person over the age of 13 to replace one of the chosen, so long as the person invoking the Right of Exemption is in no way related to the person they are replacing. The werewolves allow this as a way of gauging those who might be brave enough to be selected for “the Bite” during the Kindernacht itself. Then the hunt begins, lasting from dusk until dawn.

Shortly after nightfall, the chosen are released into the woods miles from Wolfsheim. If one of the children is able to make it to Wolfsheim, he is safe and becomes immune to future Kindernachts. Likewise, if one of the chosen is somehow able to elude the werewolves until the break of dawn, she is also considered safe. The werewolves have hidden some of their number in the woods earlier in the evening, so accomplishing either of the above is extraordinarily difficult. The werewolves hound the chosen mercilessly, toying with them as much as possible before swooping in for the kill. Those few who prove themselves either smart enough or brave enough to hold their own against a werewolf for a dozen or more heartbeats of direct combat get singled out as potential recipients of “the Bite,” receiving the bite either from Helmut or (in rare cases) from Ulrich Schwarzenegger himself.

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Population

• -- Town (3000+) - Dated census

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Townsfolk

~ Wilhelm -- The Bürgermeister

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Außenweltler

~ Þórormr -- Warrior of Storms

~ Sigimar -- Thorimir's fighting agent

~ Helmold -- Wolf Familiar

~ Hrund -- Spear-maiden & Valkyrie

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Nachtmenschen

Werwölfe

~ Ulrich Schwarzenegger -- Undisputed leader of the local Werewolves

~ Helmut -- Second in command of the Werewolves

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