Setting/Timeline

This is a basic timeline of how Miami's history and how our game treats it, from the 1800s up through player actions in the present day.

2010 - Present

• December 2011: Archbishop Vyshad says, "Let's try this again, folks." Cardinal Francisco Polonia coordinates some of the Eastern Seaboard's advance towards Miami while packs that catch a whiff of the action decide to swing down their on their own. The siege for Miami begins again.
• March 2013: BROB Game launched.
• January 2013: The Archbishop's Final Death is reported, but not explained.
• March 2013: Cardinal Francisco Polonia, the former Archbishop of New York, arrives in Miami.
• June 2013: Sabbat neutralize Malik Al-Ashwal, the Setite Archbishop, after having been looking for him since December.
• August 20th, 2013: Caezar Agustin is named Bishop and given his blood bath upon his return to Miami after returning from a stint in New York with the Praetorians pack.
• August 2013: A bishopric forms in Miami with Lasombra Serena DuLeoncre and Caezar Agustin, and Tzimisce Dominic Rodriguez. Miami is chosen as the new site for Palla Grande 2013 to celebrate the victory.
• September 2013: Dominic Rodriguez falls off of the grid, leaving Miami to two Bishops. The Archon Jason Payne defects from the Camarilla when his leader Madam Guil hops the fence; his experience in the Sabbat is a short and painful road to wighthood.
• October 2013: Priscus Sascha Vykos creates a stir against Polonia as a secret infernalist out of absolutely nowhere, partnering up with Bishop DuLeoncre, who is met with resistance when she attempts to recruit normal Sabbat against Polonia. Polonia disappears in the back-and-forth. Vykos calls the matter "taken care of" while claiming a position as Cardinal of the East Coast. Palla Grande takes place at Club Scandaleux.
• November 2013: A scandal about Serena fires up the Sabbat who call for her blood and a Tribunal over the blood bonding of Yesenia, attempting to control her like a Camarilla pawn and hardly covering it up. The call for Tribunal is rescinded as if by a crooked, unseen hand from above and Yesenia faces the Bishop in a spontaneous, unlikely monomacy...
• December 2013: Prince Victoria Rennes holds Court amongst her Camarilla which has secretly organized itself outside of the city. Later, she names Grigory Usov as her Seneschal.
• December 2013: Mere nights after Vykos departs from Miami, Miami's 'favorite' Bishop is officially reported as "missing," but as Seers are recruited for investigation, missing is better read as "very, very dead." This knowledge is bittersweet: to say that du Leoncre was disliked was an understatement, but the security breach causes serious concerns in the Sword.
• Winter 2014: Baali and their infernal powers launch a campaign against the Sword of Caine in earnest. Evidence shows Bishop du Leoncre monitored fellow Cainites and sold the information to Sascha Vykos. Inquisitors lead a deep investigation that culminates in surgical strikes against Baali nests by Miami's packs. Inquisitor Elena de Fraxinet calls a wild hunt against Vykos for consorting with infernal powers. He is slain by the Horsemen, Cardinals Polonia and Polanco of Mexico, and the Inquisitor.
• Spring 2014: Antanas of Samizdat is declared bishop of Allapattah. His obscurity is cause for concern.
• April 2014: An Assamite assassinates Eduardo, priest of the Brotherhood of Amaranth. The short and bloody trial ends in the assassin's death.
• May 2014: With significant support, Jacques of the Brotherhood of Amaranth declares himself the third Bishop of Miami. Assamites attempt to kill Prince Victoria and succeed in destroying the Miami Beach Elysium, causing a state of emergency.
• July 2014: Defection by a Nosferatu to the Sabbat shatters the remnants of Prince Victoria's court in Miami Beach. Remaining Camarilla vampires convert to the Sword or flee.
• September 2014: A shower of handwritten messages and anonymous emails and texts harass various Sabbat, demanding that the next Priscus be anything but Tzimisec, and promising violence otherwise.

2000 - 2010

• 2000: Elian Gonzalez affair spurns riots in downtown.
• 2005: A band of Nosferatu in Miami gives themselves a collective high-five when Arthur Teele commits suicide the day that Miami New Times publishes salacious details about his personal life. Whether or not the explanation is true, the orchestration was a rite-of-passage-esque 'practice run' for their fledglings.
• Late 2005: A new county commissioner is appointed and the Miami "Manhattanization" wave moves on without its Camarilla pawn. With influence in Dodge Island, a communal haven in the warehouses of Allapattah, and Revenant control of the Miami Airport, the Sabbat are prepared to take hold. Setite presence starts to dwindle as the sneaky bastard can tell what the hell is coming, but they dont leave.
• December 2005: Archbishop Vyshad calls for the extermination of the Setites. The Sabbat focus and rally on Miami, importing a bishopric from Georgia and a number of packs. They arrive to violent opposition from the Anarchs and their personal pet gang, Zoe Pound. The Sabbats original intent against the Setites turns into a street-war with the Anarchs and further complicates when they run into Camarilla havens and ghouls which have been hiding under the radar and biding their time since the 80s. Sabbat attempts at hideouts in Homestead are stomped by a Lupine presence. Ryan Davis, a Malkavian survivor of the Lupine attacks, draws two werewolves into downtown Miami, destroying an anarch flophouse in the wake of his new pets frenzy. The Grimaldi and Giovanni pour funds into Miami Dade Countys police departments to try to shut down Zoe Pound.
• April 2006: The Anarchs retreat to Miami Beach, leaving the greater metropolitan area of Miami and Dodge Island to the Sabbat, who turn their attention to exterminating the Camarilla and the Setites, both of which are perhaps too adept at playing cloak-and-dagger. They finally establish a bishopric and get to work, using brute-force techniques as well as pulling favors out of the Giovanni and their Revenant families for finesse. A Tremere Chantry is found in Overtowns Lyric Theatre. Workers find a few charred skeletons nailed to the roof of Lyric Theatre a month later.
• May 2006: A few Nosferatu decide to take action when sect politics and fighting proves too much of a nuisance for their clan. They let the Sabbat tear itself apart with a rumor-bomb of Infernalism in the Miami bishopric. The evidence against the three bishops in the area is enough to not only condemn them, but incense their betrayed brothers and sisters into destroying themselves and their packmates to root out the corruption.
• June 2006: Setite activity starts up again when the local Sabbat is too busy cutting its own head off to keep up with opposition from any party.

1970s - 1990s

• 1979: The Liberty City Riot breaks out after the acquittal of the officers who murdered Arthur McDuffie. The ordeal escalates over 3 days: 18 dead, 850 arrested, $100 million in property damage. The Sabbat burn down a few hispanic neighborhoods and target old graveyards and churches to snuff out Setites in the midst of the violence. Again, unorganized: these are 4-5 Sabbat packs without a consistent bishopric.
• 1979: The Cutler Fossil Site, a sinkhole near Biscayne Bay, is found. The site has yielded bones of Pleistocene animals and bones and artifacts of Paleo-Indians and people of the Archaic period. Some of the human bones had been burnt, raising the possibility of cremation or cannibalism. What are believed to be Paleo-Indian hearths were found at the same level as the Paleo-Indian artifacts. Radiocarbon dating of two samples of charcoal from those hearths yielded a mean calibrated age of 10,875 Before Present (9320 BCE).
• 1980s: The Followers of Set flourish in Miami from the immigration waves and the drug trade, furthering old ties and networks from their presence here during Prohibition, establishing herds and blood cults and making use of the bomb shelters created during the Cold War as well-fortified havens. Miami becomes the U.S.'s largest transshipment point for cocaine from Bolivia, Columbia, and Peru. Luxury car dealerships, five-star hotels, condominium developments, swanky nightclubs, major commercial developments and other signs of prosperity began rising all over the city as business fronts for seedier operations. Enter the Camarilla in Miami, unable to resist the frantic prosperity and the sea and air ports.
• 1980: The Mariel Boatlift brings 150,000 Cubans to Miami. Haitian immigration starts to rise.
• 1981: Arthur Teele is appointed Assistant Secretary of Transportation by Ronald Reagan. The Camarilla sets their eyes on using him as a pawn when he becomes Miami Dade County Commissioner, in control of the county budget and overall infrastructure, as a way to get their foot in the door to gentrify parts of Miami and drive out their personal list of undesirables.
• 1982: The Grimaldi and Obertus Families show interest in developing Miami for the disorganized Sabbat presence, giving it the day-face and the mortal network that it needs to grow. Up until this point, the Sabbat has been using Miami specifically for its port to reinforce operations elsewhere.
• 1983: The Anarchs rise up again in Chicago, with Maldavis. The Council Wars begin.
• 1985: The Society of Leopold loses an operative in Haiti.
• 1986: Jean-Claude "baby-doc" Duvalier is driven from power in Haiti.
• 1987: Lodin defeats the Anarch uprising in Chicago. The Council Wars end with the Thanksgiving Massacre. Up to this point, Anarch influence in Miami is minimal at best thanks to their distractions north and east of here.
• 1990s: A struggling Camarilla presence resides in Miami-Dade County area, preparing for a move to the greater metropolitan area as Sabbat presence in Miami totals to about 40 vampires. A census on the Setites would be hard to complete, but they're like ants. Meanwhile, in Miami Beach, the Anarchs find a foothold. They cultivate the Haitian street gang Zoe Pound.
• 1998: The Miami Circle is discovered. Examination of the earth revealed numerous archaeological artifacts, ranging from shell-tools and stone axe-heads to human teeth and charcoal from fires. The Giovanni spearhead the protest to keep the Miami Circle exactly where it was found.
• 1999: The Giovanni cut a $25,000 check to the Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation to fund research of the Miami Circle.

1800s - 1960s

• 1896: Miami is incorporated into a city.

• 1913: Miami Beach is developed and canals are laid to remove water from the Florida Everglades.

• 1920s: Thousands of people migrate to Miami due to its lax if not entirely lacking laws on gambling and prohibition. The Followers of Set find their first foothold in Miami during the sprawling growth and establish themselves in a network of gambling dens and flophouses; the Sabbat is largely concentrated further north on the seaboard.

• 1926: Prinz Valdemar, an old Danish warship on its way to becoming a floating hotel, runs aground and blocks Miami Harbor for nearly a month. Already overloaded, the three major railway companies soon declare an embargo on all incoming goods except food.

• 1926: Great Miami Hurricane sweeps through and damages much of the city, ending a population boom.

• 1930s: The Great Depression hits, compliments of the Sabbat. Surrounding areas go into financial ruin but Miami stays afloat.

• 1933: Failed assassination attempt by Guiseppe Zangara on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Bayfront Park. The revised Code of Milan is signed, ending the Sabbat civil war.

• 1940s: World War II. Military bases crop up in Miami. Many military schools, supply stations, and communications facilities were established in the area. Existing buildings (hotels, theatres, golf courses) were repurposed. The Sabbat finally turn their eyes toward Miami with true interest; 23 vampires in 4 packs move in to operate in Dodge Island to use it as a transshipment point. A small Giovanni presence in Miami compliments their arrival and settles in the Morningside area: humans, and a small handful (3) of vampires. Los Angeles falls to the Anarchs. To defend against German U-boats, Miami was placed in two military districts, the Eastern Defense Command and the Seventh Naval District.
• 1950s: Many servicemen and women return to Miami after the war. Cuban Revolution brings Fidel Castro to power; most Cubans living in Miami return to Cuba...and then return en masse. Tension between the African American and Cuban communities rises. The Cold War inspires many residents to either leave Miami or build bomb shelters. More Setites arrive with this wave.
• 1956: The start of the Cuban Civil War.
• 1960s: First Cuban Wave: By the end of the 1960s, more than four hundred thousand Cuban refugees were living in Miami-Dade County. Tensions between the Cubans and native residents, particularly in the African American community, rise over job security; the Sabbat snipes on the opportunity to take out a handful or two of Setites as if it's civil unrest. Their efforts are not organized.