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Approved 01/04/10 - Approval number: #IND-GIR-LR-0911-117530

Part 1 : Basic Information

Domain	GIRC
Venue	Vampire the Requiem
Venue Storyteller	Manuel Warum
Storyteller Contact	girc.requiem@gmail.com
Assisting Venue Storyteller	Dawn Lloyd
Game Times	These are announced over the GIRC email list and the Camarilla Online email list. #girc-ooc for OOC Interaction.

Part 2 : Styles of Play

Rate each of these categories 1-5, using the scale below:

Rating	Description
1	Never present
2	Sometimes present
3	Often present
4	Usually present
5	Always present

Style of Play	Description	Rating
Action	Combat and Challenges	2
Character Development	Personal dilemmas and choices	4
Darkness	PC death or corruption	3
Drama	Ceremony and grand story	4
Intrigue	Politics and negotiation	4
Manners	Social etiquette and peer pressure	4
Mystery	Enigmas and investigation	4
Pace	How fast do stories emerge, develop, and resolve?	3

Part 3: Description of Venue

Theme

The theme of the game is the Never Ending Danse Macabre, the struggle to stave off the madness, while dealing with the horror of being a Kindred.

Athens is a City of History. Born out of knowledge it now stands proudly, with tourists coming to see the Monuments and temples. But in the darkness the Kindred play their games. Fighting for power, using the Mortals as play things, conducting their nightly Rituals to the Goddesses of Old.

These are the Kindred of Athens. They strive to be more than the inhumane beasts that they are, but can they hold back the madness that lives inside of them? Can they uphold their ideals, their beliefs, and the Masquerade?

And what of the new Kindred who come forth into Athens? Will they bring forth knowledge? Power? Or will they work to undermine all that the Established Kindred have worked so hard to keep?

(Fear Factory – Bite the hand that Bleeds)

I watch you tap the blood in my vein
My heart you feed on to keep you sustained
A parasite that leaves me cold and drained

I'm in shock and you leave me paralyzed
And the saddest part I realize
The absence of truth behind your eyes

I feel you tapping my soul from my vein
I feel you tapping again on my vein
I feel my life slipping away

One more drop of blood I spill
One more drop you take
One more drop and I will spite
And bite the hand that bleeds...

I see you have two faces turning
Changing face to keep me guessing
You have mastered the art of deceiving

Now I know no one trusts you
Now I know not even you do
And I think, your salt in my wounds

Now I know no one trusts you
Now I know no one trust you
Now I know your salt in my wounds

One more drop of blood I spill
One more drop you take
One more drop and I will spite
And bite the hand that bleeds

Bite the hand that bleeds you

One more drop of blood I spill
One more drop you take
One more drop and I will spite
And bite the hand that bleeds

Bite the hand that bleeds you
You...

History of Athens

The first prince of Athens was a Ventrue of the Invictus known as Konstatin. Claiming right of rule given to him by Zeus himself, Konstatin ruled by fist and sword. Under the mantle of Supreme Ruler, Konstatin held the city for the Unconquored in a tight grip. He ruled by fear as much as power – as at his side was a dark sorceress of the Crone known as Kasandara. People feared Kasandara, as she claimed her magics were given to her by the Fates themselves. Wherever she went, it seemed as if darkness followed her – for indeed, it seemed as if she was truly a mystic and prophetess.

On March 10th, 1148, Kasandara approached Konstatin and bade him to beware the ides of March – that his downfall was at hand. Konstatin however, chose to ignore the warning, as he believed that as Ventrue, he was unstoppable and untouchable. Kasandara and the other Mekhet Crones, rumored to be Alucinors received permission to not attend the next gathering, and instead took refuge in the Island of Delphi. In their absence, Konstatin dismissed the premonitions of the Alucinor and prepared for his gala to occur in a few night’s time.

History tells two stories of March 15th, 1148. In one story, dark assassins entered the court, destroying Konstatin and half of his court. Another tale defines the dark assassins as Inquisitors of the Lancea Sanctum, come to remove the plague of heresy from Athens. Regardless, the end of the night saw the removal of Konstatin and the rise of the Lancea Sanctum to power. In place of Konstatin rose a Daeva who claimed an ancient bloodline known to cause suicides and despair to their victims. Under the rule of Cardinal Viktor Poulkalpkis, the Sanctified would hold power for nearly three hundred years. On March 14th, 1273, Cardinal Poulkalpkis ceded his throne to his Seneschal Archbishop Miria Decimus. Archbishop Decimus was the first woman to acend the throen, and in a surprising move, she named an Acolyte by the name of Orion Vittorio as her Seneschal. The Sanctified, believing this to be an act of heresy, sent Inquisitors to investigate and arrest Archbishop Decimus. When they arrived, they discovered Miria and Orion in each other’s arms. Orion was dragged away as Miria was questioned and found guilty of consorting with pagan Acolytes, and heretical acts against the Sanctified. In an almost Romeo and Juliet ending, Miria and Orion were both executed by being burned at the stake – March 15th, 1278.

The Inquisitor responsible for the deaths of the two seized Praxis in a military coup, banishing all Crones for two hundred years. This time was to be known as the Burning Times among the Damned, as no less than 100 Crones and allies of the Crones were destroyed, including suspect members of the Lancea Sanctum. The Inquisition kept a tight reign on Athens and surrounding areas for nearly 300 years, their rule finally ending when the Ordo Dracul, allied with the Invictus struck at the Inquisitors during the daytime. In place of the Inquisition, the Ordo Dracul placed Martel Vasquez in power – a rather unassuming Mekhet of the Sword of the Mysteries. Vasquez would rule until 1890 as a fair and peaceful ruler. Under the Ordo Dracul, the colleges and Universities received a great deal of secret funding to help to build their libraries and other various academic pursuits. Athens become a center of education and learning – something that the Invictus envied for all their failed attempts at controlling the city.

In 1886, the Invictus attempted a political coup against Vasquez by attacking the supporters of Vasquez among the other Covenants. An uprising led primarily by the Circle of Crone pushed back the Invictus. It is believed that the Circle of Crone had inside information which allowed them to defeat a dispatch of Thorned Wreath knights who were ordered to Athens to quell the "uprising". Whatever they had, it allowed the Circle of Crone to halt the enemies at the borders of Athens (they also never made it home, or in Athens). It was during this time that an Ancillae Acolyte proved to be quite useful that Vasquez named her as his Seneschal as a reward for her assistance in the matters of protecting the city. In 1889, Athena Dubois took the mantle of Prince as Vasquez fell into torpor – ending what was known as the “Kingmaker’s War”. By 1906, Dubois left the Circle of Crones and joined the Carthian Movement, citing differences of opinions as her reason for the change. However, despite the differences that had caused the split, Dubois still participated and encouraged attendance in the various Crone festivities such as Beltaine, Midsummer’s celebrations, etc. It is believed that Dubois worshipped the goddess Demeter before becoming Carthian – however, such remains uncertain as Dubois is known to also attend Mass during Easter and Christmas for the Sanctified.

Dubois ruled Athens today, carrying on the tradition of Vasquez. Like most Carthians, she is extremely idealistic, and very close to humanity. Like Vasquez, she contributes to humanity, providing funding for education initiatives, debates, concerts, better technology and communications, and better standards of living overall. Modern day Athens is a bastion of attempted Democracy, religion, debate and education.

Modern Day

On August 27th, 2006, the Seneschal of Athens, Anatolius Theocritus was found guilty of the crime of Diablerie by Malcolm Scott and summarily executed. In a surprise move, Prince Dubois named Malcolm Scott as Theocritus's successor.
On the 12th of November, 2006, Prince Athena was murdered and Malcolm Scott claimed praxis - disappearing within two weeks after ascension.
On March 14th, 2007, Atlas, Carthian Senechal took the mantle of praxis.
On May 25th, 2007, Kyle challenged Atlas for Praxis, successfully placing the domain into contention.
On May 26th, 2007, Atlas ceeded Praxis to his Ordo Dracul Seneschal Augustina, and Kyle gave his backing to her to hold the Praxis.
At the end of June, 2007, Augustina made an important announcement.
July 2007 marks the birth of the Triumvirate, an equal balanced system of three rulers, determined to bring stability to the city.
Nov 2007 Sir Alexander Hollingsworth IV takes Praxis peacefully.
July 2008 Sheriff of Athens, Andrew Mantis steps down to focus on his Mystical Arts

24th March 2009 something is freed inside the Church of Athens during a Gathering hosted by Maxim.
13th March 2009, a murderer strikes in Athens, killing publically and almost getting the investigators arrested
May 2009 Apollo, Elder Daeva of Athens is killed, but later somehow comes back from the Dead.
May 2009 A Serial Killer manages to release beings, which eventually suck the power out of the Kindred of Athens, weakening them all.
August 16th 2009 Prince's Harpy Mireille Bellamont-Vitelion steps down to attempt to force the court out of stagnation by putting attention and pressure on Sir Hollingsworth's neglect of the cities ancient traditions. Kassandra re-emerges to find a place in the court once again.
September 21st 2009, Sir Hollingsworth steps down as Prince to embrace torpor and announces EJ as his successor.
October 13th 2009, Andrew Mantis announces his return to Kindred society.

Part 4: Storytelling Mechanics - VST Requirements and Rules

XP Spenditures

All XP Spenditures must be sent in 24 hours PRIOR to a game. On the day spenditures is not permitted, however during game expenditures may be permitted should the situation allow it and subject to VST approval.

Willpower

Willpower is to be logged and stored with the VST. All spenditures, regains, and losses during game and downtime must be logged with the VST.

Willpower Regain

Willpower can be regained through 1 WP per downtime week without usage of a downtime action.

Any additional regains must be done using a Downtime Action as per MET rules on Willpower regain, however this downtime action may be combined with another if appropriate.

Actions involving fulfillment of Vice/Virtue during game/downtime still counts as per MET rules.

Blood Points

As per the Addendum, the Storyteller of the Domain you are visiting determines your starting blood. As such Athens operates on the following rules.

Regarding Coils and Feeding, please inform the VST if you have coils that helps with feeding

Game Starting Blood

Characters with Blood Potency 1-6 start with half blood rounded up + Merits - Waking Blood and blood spent for rituals/devotions/disciplines.

Coils of the Blood 1: Kindred with this Coil roll a d2. With a roll of 1 they start with their Vitae pool half full (rounded up), with a roll of 2 he enters play with a full Vitae pool minus one for waking that night.

Kindred with Blood Potency 7 upwards MUST include an email from their VST with their feeding details. Any BP7 upwards kindred who fail to include said email will be starting on half blood - Waking Blood and blood spent for rituals/devotions/disciplines.

Exception to this rule is Kindred with Coils of the Blood 2. They can feed in the same way as BP1-6 Kindred.

Mortal Feeding

Should this be insufficiant for Kindred, or they wish to make a feeding roll afterwards, they then roll a hunting roll.

Pcs with Athens Havens

Haven Location + Skill/Discipline involved in hunting + Other Merits + modifiers for descriptions of HOW they are hunting for Blood.

Example: PC X wants to seduce some club goers. The PC has a Haven location of 3 for their haven in Athens, and a socialise of 4, coupled with a good description of feeding gives them a pool of 10 to feed with.

Humanity

As per MET rules, Humanity puts a cap on PCs pool for Social interaction with mortals so in the above case if the Pc was only humanity 5, they would only have a pool of 8.

Exception to this is PCs with Coil of the Soul 1 and PCs using Disciplines

Discipline Usage

PCs can use disciplines to help them hunt. However not ALL disciplines are applicable (EG Protean 3 will help with a Brawl based hunting, but only to Level 3, Levels 4 & 5 would not count towards feeding)

Example: Gangrely the Gangrel wants to slash attack his prey and drink the blood as it spills down. They have a Haven Location of 1, Brawl of 2 but Protean 3 and the description warrants a bonus 4. The player can chose to use Brawl 2 (pool of 7) or Protean 3 (Pool of 8)

All Others

Intelligence + Investigation with modifiers for descriptions of HOW they are hunting for Blood.

Coils of the Blood 3 is calculated AFTER successful feeding.

Examples of Hunting Descriptions

I go into town, find a drunk person, feed off them using disciplines if I have to, and then head back to the gathering
This isnt a very good description of how your character is hunting. So it would only get a +1 bonus to hunting. It has an example of what you're looking for, and how you intend to do it, so it's helpful, but just clearly not that great.

My PC is spending time recently looking up city records and such. This means that he is staying until closing of the appropriate offices, and I'm sure that he would have been irritated by one or two of the workers there over the course of his research. Modern folks are so irreverent, after all. As such, he's going to use his stealth ability (as opposed to obfuscate) to take such a person from behind in the deserted car park after closing, feed a little, then move away into the shadows once he's done, hopefully without being seen.

I can't say how beautiful this is to read, its informative, detailed, and twisted to fit in with the characters thoughts and ways. This would gave a +4 to feeding rolls.

Animal Hunting

Athens is a large City, as a result animals are NOT easy to find on the whole without leaving a trail of animals.

The only way Animal feeding in Athens is possible is if characters go to an area outside of the City (Goto http://maps.google.com/ and input 38.079176,23.373756 into the search bar for an example of the possible area where your PC could be feeding)

Anyone who wishes to feed off animals makes a Wits+Survival or a Wits+Animal Ken
Kindred with Animalism 3 roll their Presence+Animal Ken+Animalism instead of the above roll, should they chose to use this power

This ICly will be happening in the wilderness of Athens, and as such any PC that feeds off animals is expected to wait out of game for 15 minutes from Time in.

Those who successfully roll with Animalism 3 are only expected to wait out of game for 5 minutes.

Random Outcome

All characters with Kindred BP1-6 who roll for Mortal hunting, once successful then roll a [D52] to determine a random outcoming to their feeding. This includes Drugs in blood, alcohol in blood, and a botch. This is to bring some element of darkness back into the game.

Kindred who have Auspex, high Medicine, Empathy, Investigation, Large Herds should their [D52] roll result in a dosed blood event, get the chance to reroll. A botch roll is not rerollable. This is to bring back the element of darkness in feeding. Things can and DO go wrong despite best efforts.

See Random Outcome for list of outcomes.

VSS Players

Players with their characters attached to the VSS that have Ghouls subtract 1 Blood Point (minimum), and 1 Willpower point for Every Ghoul at the first game of the month they attend.

The blood points given to the ghouls will then be placed on the ghouls NPC sheets (Or Pc if applicable) and tracked)

Downtime Feeding

Downtime feeding is not done using a downtime action, however the VST reserves the right to make rolls for this, and have actions/consequences happen as a result of these rolls.

Surmounting the Daysleep

At a cost of 1 WP per Downtime week, the PC may gain one Extra downtime action to be used for something that can be done within the confines of their own Haven. Final decision on what can be done during downtime remains with the VST

IRC Nicknames

If your character is playing in GIRC Requiem, the following things must be included in your nick if active/or applicable

Obfuscate 2 - [Obf2]
Blood Potency equal to or higher than 6 (if showing) - [HighBP] or [BPX] or similiar
Blush of Health - [BoH] (Please inform me HOW this is active)
Humanity equal to or lower than 3 - [Hum3] or [H3]
Humanity equal to or higher than 8 - [Hum8] or [H8]

We do not use Protean 1 [Pro1] or Visitor/Local indicators [V]/[L]

If you have anything that makes you appear strange or weird, or has some visual affect on other characters, please contact either the VST or an aVST

Elysium and the Fourth Tradition

In Athens, Elysiums are permitted to be owned by either PCs or NPCs. However if Elysium is declared at a PC owned building, it CANNOT be used as a personal Haven at any time.

The Benaki Museum also has the 4th Tradition in effect.

4th Tradition Laws in effect at the Benaki

Elysium Law 1. No weapons are permitted on Elysium grounds except for the Officers of the Court. The only exception to this is when Elysium itself is being attacked and only the Prince or Keeper or Elysium can grant permission to bare arms. In the absense of the Prince or Keeper the Seneschal or Sheriff can make this decision.

Elysium Law 2. Powers of the Blood, Rituals and Sorcery will not be used on Elysium grounds unless the Prince or Keeper of Elysium grants permission. If the Prince or Keeper is not present then the the Seneschal or Sheriff can grant permission. The only exceptions to this law is the power to shield your beast, rituals that are defensive in nature, or those used to keep permitted weapons from sight are permitted on Elysium grounds.

Elysium Law 3. Acts of Violence or Treason will not be commited on Elysium grounds, this includes the damaging of the building and property on Elysium grounds. The only exception is in self defense.

Elysium Law 4. Stealing of property belonging to Elysium or stored on Elysium grounds is not permitted. The use of Private Property stored on Elysium grounds is not permitted unless permission is granted beforehand either by the Prince or the owner of said property.

Elysium Law 5. Any violation of the above Elysium Laws will result in the Sheriff, Keeper of Elysium, or designated parties as set by the Prince, being able to freely render any violator staked or torpored to prevent any further breaches of Elysium, once permitted by the Prince. In the Absence of the Prince, the Seneschal may make this decision.

Downtime Reports

Downtimes are periods between games, as such players get a SEPERATE downtime action between each game.

All downtime reports for the GIRC Requiem Venue must be done using the Downtimes Template following format for uniformity

Blood Bonds

Applicable only for GIRC Requiem VSS Players:

All blood bonds must be logged on the database at Low Notification for tracking purposes. This includes bonds your character is under, and characters bonded to your own PC.

This can be logged under a single notification approval, but if more bonds are added the players should email the VST account.

If a player believes OOCly a bond has been taken, but the opposing player has used a power to prevent the blood bond, or has the ability to prevent the bond due to higher blood potency then the VST wil add an ST viewable only note to clarify the issue.

Failure to log the bond does not mean there isnt a bond, but failure to log the bond on the database correctly could result in disciplinary action

Part 5: Storytelling Mechanics - DST Requirements

Character Record

Because the GIRC is an online domain, who's members will likely never meet, we do not have paper rercords of characters. Hence, the Camarilla International Approvals Database http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/approvals/ forms our official history of characters and their approvals. VST email is considered sufficient for low approval and character downtimes. Included should be full character sheet, Creation and XP logs (with running XP total), and character background. It is advised that this information should be updated regularly (ie after major XP spends, quarterly for XP earning, etc).

All PCs, once given tentative approval by the VST, must be entered onto the database and accepted onto the appropriate VSS before they are considered officially approved. All approvals above low will be applied for and recorded within the database, and all low approvals will be logged in ST email (player shares responsibility of keeping track of their own approvals). Low Approval is still an approval, and players are reminded that all XP expenditure must be logged with, and approved by, the VST (or their assistant) before being official.

Proxy Rules

As of November 1st 2009, our proxy rules have been unified; requirements and procedures can be found here.

Attending Online Games

As of November 1st 2009, our Game Attendence rules have been unified; requirements and procedures can be found here.

Travel risks

On the one hand, the massive flow of tourists into and out of Athens offers a great deal of cover for visitors who aren't just in town for the gambling. On the other, tourism is the city's lifeblood, and as a result travellers receive a greater share of attention than they would in a typical town. Discretion is a must, especially for supernaturals, and the easiest way to get caught is to stand out in the crowd.

It should be remembered that Athens is a *minimum* 3 hours from LHR (Heathrow), 10 hours from IAD (Dulles International), 13 from LAX (Los Angeles) - by direct non-stop jet. If you don't own or have access to a private jet, remember commerical airline schedules rarely leave right when you want, and for some supernatural types (ie vampires) are a dangerous impossibility to begin with. Keep travel times realistic, and make sure to carefully specify requirement/habits catered for. For commercial flights, also remember international customs and immigration delays at both ends, which can add 4-5 hours to an international journey in peak travel times.

Travel is best accomplished by careful preparation, the use of competent Allies and Retainers, and the application of a great degree of common sense. Specific threats will fluctuate depending upon a variety of factors, and while the VST will have final say on the degree of danger during any particular trip, it can nearly always be assumed that the risk will be significant.

A notable exception to the travel rules will be made for GIRC members who are physically traveling to Regional or National events. Under such circumstances, these members' characters will have reduced chances of hazards to reflect the fact that they can typically attend only one or two games per year in person. The GIRC Storyteller Staff does not want to impose a high risk of character death for an event that they may have spent a great deal of money to attend.

Experience Award Guidelines

As standard, attending Requiem Games within the GIRC Domain grants an award of 3 experience points, or 4 if there were only two games. For visiting players, this may be modified by your own National Addendum. This award may be changed by the VST dependant on the length of game and standard of interaction involved. XP awards will be announced at the end of each game.

Up to 5xp may be earned in a month for actions taken in Downtime. Based on the following awards as a guideline:

Written report after local game - 1xp will be awarded for timely submission of a write-up of what a particular character did in game, and how the character was affected by this. This may be awarded multiple times, for post game write-ups of multiple local games.
Downtime Actions - 1-2xp for submitting actions that your PC takes in downtime. This is for major downtime actions, such as would be covered by the rule "A Matter of Resolve" in the Minds Eye Theatre core book. 2xp will generally only be awarded for actions which advance plot or provide character development (which should obviously include an explanation of the reasons why this advances a character, for example "I'm trying to develop Allies amongst the homeless, as a way of setting up a new facet of the Labyrinth and will go about it as follows..." is more likely to earn 2xp than "I would like to spend 2xp on Allies: Homeless.")
Submission of IRC Logs - 1xp (flat award) for submission of logs detailing scenes undertaken in downtime.
Character Growth - 1-2xp award per month. As well as submitting logs or summarising email threads of RP during downtime, an additional award may be made if the player can justify how events in downtime (or at games attended) progressed their character's story, goals, or improved the game for other PCs. These write-ups should usually be of around 2-3 paragraphs.
Chapter Games - 1-2xp award for pre-arranged downtime scenes ran with a member of the GIRC Requiem ST team. To be eligible for XP awards, these scenes must be overseen by a storyteller, and should generally include some form of advancement of plot or major character goals. These will generally be awarded as "non game" XP for the purposes of limits, but may in exceptional cases be awarded as "game" XP.

Shadows of Olympus VSS