It was the year 1337 and Hamilcar the Bloody’s fury was immense. Thirty years of constant humiliation, overpowering and outmanoeuvring in every stage and battlefield. Back then he’d placed his trust in Ecaterina the Wise’s advice and character. And what he tasted were the bitter ashes of defeat in his mouth.

But now it was the mortal’s turn to taste the same, from the rotten food in their plate to the decaying crops on their fields. Their livestock were dying and the major threat of the Plague reared its ugly head. In the city of London though, many elders began succumbing to an unfathomable sickness, due to the consumption of the sickly mortals. Despair and desolation lingered in the air as the Methuselah Mithras emerged from the shadows, eager to put an end to this all…

With their eyes set on the troubled city of London, the Methuselahs made their first move.
On the year 1337, King Philip of France issued a call to arms, as trouble brewed on both sides of the English Channel. The House of Plantagenet burned from an internal crisis…

That’s when Hamilcar made his first move by choosing the young Talley –an aspiring English warrior with various connections and an immense fortune. He was the scion of the Lasombra, the progeny of shadows themselves. And Hamilcar chose right, as Talley’s childer jumped right into the hot-headed conflict. The Kindred society fractured as the mortal armies clashed and moved across two countries. On this time, an exemplary Lasombra, a Simonist Priest of Lincolnshire joined the English armies, and with his ghoulish retainers he crushed the French forces, one after the other. Blood soaked the Earth and Hamilcar was appeased, yet the priest wanted more. Talley ordered the man to contain his wrath, yet the priest went against him. He was an antitribu and Hamilcar respected that. That’s why, in a cold November night, the Methuselah came in as a scarlet wind and abducted the young vampire. He had more to learn…

Four years later, on 1341, the famous artist Andrea Pisano vanished from his work on the Florence Cathedral. The Italian Lasombra moved within the church and merchant circles and soon discovered that a Toreador had managed to embrace the artist. From Talley’s bloodline, it was the Wallachian Duchess who negotiated with the Toreador and forced the man’s release. Soon, her influence had spread quite far, ensuring the well-being of the people of Florence, involuntarily putting the city under Hamilcar’s influence.

Three years later, as the Byzantine rule begun to crumble in Anatolia, a prominent nation rose to power. The Ottomans stepped into the spotlight, aided by the Followers of Set. As his influence across Middle East spread far and wide, Belisarius manipulated Anna Comnena, the Prince of Nikea to spur into action. Pulling favours for the notorious Egyptian Executioner, she ordered her childe to aid him in dealing with the Settites with blade and poison. Justice was swift and Anna’s sly plan worked in Belisarius’ favour. The Ottoman sultan was free from the corrupting nature of the Settites but owed their well-being to the Ventrue. Anna was pleased and rewarded the executioner with the ultimate gift of Dominate.

It was on the year 1348, when Genovese galleys brought the deathly Plague to Sicily. People were swiftly falling victims to it, and the land was in dire danger. That’s when Zelios first visited the island, his travel sponsored by Grandmaster Solomon of the Hospitalers. Atra-Hasis influenced the Nosferatu into dealing with the crisis who were aided and sponsored by Abu the Powerful, the Malkavian Mammeluk Vizier. Soon they found a Tremere outcast who was behind the spread, yet he asked of solace as he was hunted down by his peers. Abu took on his offer and was tutored in blood magic, raising the potency of his blood. The crisis had been averted, and the Nosferatu had managed to contain it all. Yet their part in that was never uncovered. That’s what Atra-Hasis wanted, as various plague carriers became Nosferatu ghouls and informants of the Akkadian Methuselah’s network.

Two years later, Ibn Battuta, a mortal from the ports of Morocco was revealed to have travelled the entire world. And once more, Zelios’ bloodline tracked him soon enough into one of the Mediterranean cities. The north African Ventrue, sought to gain knowledge and wanted to embrace the man to their Clan. The Nosferatu suggested that the famous vizier Abu conversed with them. The scales were tipping towards the Nosferatu-backed Malkavian’s favour. That’s when the Methuselah, Julia Anastasia emerged from the shadows intervening in their plans. She safeguarded the interest of Clan Ventrue, thus indebting herself to the Nosferatu for the next decades to come…

But none of these Methuselahs’ actions mattered at all, for in the Courts of Love, Aimeric de Cabaret’s Toreador spread Heinrich’s dominion in both French and Castillian courts. In the forest of Gevaudan, Heinrich appeared under the guise of a white stag, under the bright moon. Many illustrious Toreador poets, knights and minstrels praised the mysterious stags healing properties, offering false salves and concoctions to the hapless populace. Many were cured from their self-isolation, others got embraced by the Toreador and the rest perished in the mysterious forest. That’s when the people gave the mysterious stag the sobriquet “Plague Keeper”. Thus, from the Toreador’s involvement, the crisis was averted. Elated from manipulating the foolish, Heinrich travelled to London. The Methuselah who had sided with the French nation, challenged Mithras in his own domain. Mithras lost and his rage couldn’t be contained. That’s when he destroyed the London chantry of the Tremere, putting it to flames, eradicating them all. Yet Heinrich’s scribes and lorekeepers carried the chantry records back to the safety of France. With another Methuselah beaten, Heinrich amassed wealth, influence and power, soon succumbing to the sinful avarice of the magnate!

The Methuselahs game carried on, for it was way too early for one to emerge victorious. Time moved on and the next decades brought more problems to the fore….and this time in Netherlands…