From SuspireWiki

???? – An Elder of the Circle of the Crone and his two childer live amongst the native Creek and Cherokee tribes, feeding on them and representing themselves as agents of the divine. These are the first Kindred to reside in what would later become Atlanta, and would be the only Kindred in the area until the white settlers finally came.

1823 – The land that would eventually become part of the East Metropolitan Area is opened to White settlement. Previously, the Creek (a tribe of Native Americans) had held this land.

1827 – The first outsider Kindred arrives in the settlements that would later become Atlanta. A member of the Lancea Sanctum, he begins to entrench himself and looks for signs of other supernaturals in the area.

1831 – A clash between the Lancea Sanctum (which has swelled to two members) and one of the Elder Crone’s childer results in the death of the childe. This helps to cement the position of the Lancea Sanctum in the settlement.

1835 – The Cherokee (a tribe of Native Americans) are forced to give up their land and leave for Oklahoma. They travel across the Trail of Tears after the US government ignores their protests, and 4,000 Cherokee die. White settlers begin to inhabit the land that will someday become Atlanta. The Elder Crone’s other childe leaves with these Native Americans, feeling a duty to “his people,” leaving only the Elder Crone to contest the arrival of outsider Kindred.

1836 – The Georgia General Assembly votes to have the Western and Atlantic Railroad build a trade route to the Midwest. This route ends in Terminus, the name of the small town that is built to support the railroad (that will someday come to be called Atlanta). Several suburbs of Atlanta come into existence.

1839 – The first Invictus Kindred arrives in the rapidly-growing settlement, seeking to exert more direct influence over his railroad investments. This Kindred meets with the Kindred of the Lancea Sanctum, and they hammer out mutually agreeable terms, helping to cement the traditional friendship between the two estates. The Lancea holds the lion’s share of the power in the arrangement, however.

1843 – “Terminus” is renamed Marthasville, after the Governor of Georgia’s daughter.

1845 – “Marthasville” is again renamed. This time, it is called Atlanta.

1846 – More members of the Invictus arrive, though many live outside the settlement itself, preying on the abundant food that can be found in the plantations. The Elder Crone remains active, and sires a new childe. Both she and the Elder Crone continue to give the Lancea / Invictus alliance the slip, and their constant feeding to fuel their blood rituals makes feeding difficult for other Kindred, causing them to squabble amongst themselves about domain since they can’t seem to pin down the Crones in order to take them to task.

1847 – Atlanta is incorporated officially as a city.

1848 – Atlanta holds its first mayoral elections.

1853 – The Elder Crone, along with his childe, is rumored to have made some sort of arrangement with a group of werewolves. Supposedly, they collaborate to cast some sort of dread ritual. The local Kindred dream of fire, of Atlanta burning, and are afraid… but nothing comes of it. Nonetheless, fearful of the Elder Crone’s possible alliance with the werewolves, the Invictus and Lancea Sanctum grow closer as allies.

1857 – The Elder Crone embraces another childe and leads an attack on the Lancea Sanctum, ambushing a Kindred and torporing him. The Kindred is left nailed to do the door of the church the Lancea most often frequent, with a trail of bloody tears carved from head to toe on his badly-beaten body. Afterwards, the Elder is observed feeding on his childer, which makes the Invictus and Lancea suspect that he can only feed on Kindred. A plan to deprive him of sustenance eventually results in the Elder Crone sinking into the earth, and into the sleep of ages. His childer remain outsiders, and the Lancea / Invictus continue to have trouble tracking them down.

1864 – After a four-month siege, Atlanta falls to the Union. The day after Confederate troops under General Hood evacuated the city, Union forces under General Sherman entered and occupied the city. Hood had already destroyed much of the city, but Sherman (after a two month occupation) burns almost the entire city to the ground, saving only the hospitals and churches, during his “March to the Sea.” Atlanta is reduced to a burned-out shell. Several Lancea and Invictus Kindred die when the city is burned to the ground, though a few manage to take shelter in the churches. All told, approximately 50% of the vampire population of Atlanta is wiped out by Sherman’s fire, establishing a lasting hatred of the Union in those Kindred that survive. Some whisper that this is the result of the Elder Crone’s curse, but they are ignored by most of the population.

1865 – Atlanta University is founded.

1867 – US Army soldiers occupy Fort McPherson in southwest Atlanta to ensure that Reconstruction era reforms take place.

1868 – Atlanta becomes the state capital of Georgia. It is promoted as one of the emerging cities of the “New South” that will focus less on agriculture and will attempt to bury its past of slavery and rebellion. The first members of the Carthian Movement, a coterie of three Kindred, arrive in the city. Quickly integrating themselves into the rebuilding Atlanta, they become a force to be reckoned with, and manage to keep their heads above water in their dealings with the Lancea / Invictus.

1869 – Clark College is founded. It would later merge with Atlanta University to create Clark Atlanta University, one of several “historically black” colleges in Atlanta.

1874 – The Carthians have swelled in numbers, and are dismissively called “carpet baggers” by the Lancea / Invictus residents of Atlanta. They work to entrench themselves in the universities, and continue to gain a solid hold in other sectors. Naturally, this drives the Invictus and the Lancea Sanctum into closer cooperation with one another. The Circle of the Crone makes contact with the Carthians – the Elder’s two childer have sired another three, and a nomad has settled in the city, bringing their numbers to six. The tentative contact results in a non-aggression agreement between the Carthians and the Crones.

1880 – Atlanta Hospital is opened. It will later become Saint Joseph’s Hospital.

1882 – The first member of the Ordo Dracul arrives in Atlanta. Taking an interest in the Universities and the Hospital, she settles into the city and maintains a neutral stance.

1885 – The Georgia School of Technology (which would later become the Georgia Institute of Technology) is founded.

1888 – US Army soldiers finally leave Fort McPherson.

1889 – With the reconstruction ending and the Victorian age picking up steam, the Invictus and the Lancea Sanctum both gain some numbers. They mount an attack on Carthian influence in the city, and successfully reduce it thanks to the element of surprise. The Carthians eventually manage to solidify their position and keep their remaining assets from being attacked – meanwhile, a Crone curses a member of the Invictus, plaguing her with incredible bad luck and eventually driving her into both madness and torpor. The Ordo Dracul, now three members large, remains out of the conflict. The Carthians plot revenge.

1894 – The murder of a prominent member of the Lancea Sanctum leads to a “VII Scare,” though the Crones or Carthians are held to be the likeliest suspects. The Invictus capitalizes on the scare, and attempts to use it as a justification for finally unifying the city under a Prince and a proper Court. The debate rages for some time, and the political landscape fills with possible candidates and interested factions.

1897 – The first Prince of Atlanta, a member of the Lancea Sanctum, is selected. Archbishop Tanner Brooke’s first act as Prince is to make things more difficult for the Unaligned. The traditions are adhered to rigidly, which causes some minor annoyance among the Carthians and Crones, and siring is extremely rare.

1906 – The Atlanta Race Riot kills 27 people and injures at least 70 more. The riot begins following allegations that black men were attacking white women, which caused the white populace to kill black men, women, and children. The riot is swept under the rug as much as possible by the city government.

1908 – The Carthians, who suffered during the race riot, strike back with an audacious place to incite more racial animosity between white and Jews in an effort to divert trouble away from their allies in the black community. Things are tense between all the covenants, and the lack of siring causes old hatreds to simmer.

1911 – A hunter attack, caused by careless feeding, leads to the death of two Kindred. The Prince orders a crackdown, citing the hunter attack as proof of what dangers exist when the Masquerade is violated. Domain becomes more strictly regulated, and the few new Kindred that trickle into the city have to bargain hard for feeding rights. The Crone generally ignore these rules, but the other covenants comply, and Kindred domains in Atlanta become more and more important.

1913 – Leo Frank, a Jewish individual, is put on trial for raping and murdering a twelve-year-old employee at his pencil factory.

1915 – Frank’s sentence is commuted by the governor based on new evidence, but he is kidnapped from the jail he had been incarcerated in and lynched. Another riot breaks out.

1916 – Archbishop Brooke steps down as Prince, having been convinced that his polices just aren’t right for the city. The second estate decides to take a backseat to the Invictus, insofar as politics are concerned, citing the riots as God’s way of telling them to focus less on temporal power and politics. A brief wave of siring takes place under the reign of the new Invictus Prince, Clarence Whitaker.

1921 – Prince Whitaker continues to work to solidify domain claims and feeding right claims, and opens the first rack, judging Atlanta to be large enough to support one (and doing so to be in the interest of accumulating goodwill). Prohibition lines many Kindred pockets, and most Kindred concentrate on accumulating influence and status.

1924 – A mighty elder of the Invictus is diablerized by an Unaligned Ventrue that leaves behind a maddening trail of clues and dominated pawns that ultimately leads nowhere. In response, Prince Whitaker gives his Sheriff some more leeway, and nominates his first Archon – Edward Goodson.

1930s – The Great Depression hits Atlanta. Coca Cola bailouts prove to be not enough to immunize the city from the wave of poverty sweeping the nation.

1933 – Many Kindred lose a significant amount of money due to the depression, and some become disenfranchised with temporal wealth. The Circle of the Crone and Lancea Sanctum experience a “golden age of recruitment,” and even the Ordo Dracul recruits a member or two.

1935 – The federal government builds some of the first federal housing projects in Atlanta.

1938 – A domain conflict between the Carthian Movement and the Lancea Sanctum heats up, and the Court is forced to intervene after the influence war begins to disrupt Atlanta (which is just barely trying to rebuild itself at this time). The Court doesn’t intervene soon enough, and a Sanctified ghoul is murdered. In response, Archon Goodson systematically murders all the allies, contacts, herd, and ghouls of a member of the Carthian Movement before burning his haven down. This earns Goodson the nickname “The Butcher of Atlanta.”

1941 – 1945 – The Second World War revitalizes the Atlanta economy. Fort McPherson is used to house soldiers again. The Bell Aircraft Plant especially contributes to helping to bring Atlanta out of the depression.

1946 – The Center for Communicable Disease Research (which would later become the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is established in Atlanta.

1948 – The Crone surprises everyone by subtly taking over a slice of Ordo Dracul domain and, when the Dragons finally respond, by politicking heavily to keep it. Just what was in that slice of domain remains a mystery, as do the political concessions between both covenants. The most disturbing rumors hint that it wasn’t just the Crones, but also werewolves that owed a blood-debt to their torpid elder.

1951 – The city receives the “All-America City Award” for its rapid growth and high standard of living, both the result of the Second World War.

1954 – The famous Brown v. Board of Education case increases racial tensions in Atlanta.

1956 – As racial tension increases, the Carthians struggle to gain more and more influence, ready to pay the Invictus back for what they did in 1889. The Masquerade is strained slightly, but not nearly as much as the Prince claims. The Prince uses the attacks as a pretext to loose “The Butcher” on the Carthians, and a prominent Carthian agitator is found, horribly mutilated but still alive, inside his haven shortly thereafter, pinned to the wall by the bones of his ghouls. The Carthians ramp up the pressure, and the Crones join in, sensing the perfect opportunity for enlightenment via tribulation.

1958 – As racial tension continue to mount, the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple is bombed. “The Confederate Underground” claims responsibility, and declares an anti-black and anti-Jewish agenda.

1960 – The Civil Rights Movement increases racial tensions in Atlanta. Martin Luther King, Jr., is arrested during a sit-in at a department store – this draws national attention. Despite this, Atlanta is dubbed the city “too busy to hate.”

1961 – Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. comes out in opposition to segregation in Atlanta’s public schools.

1962 – The last of the Kindred skirmishes wind down, and little has changed. The Dragons remain largely untouched, the Lancea Sanctum’s numbers have dropped as their faith became less relevant, the Circle of the Crone has remained small, and the Invictus and the Carthians have resorted to entrenching themselves in their chosen fields of influence and launching small “probing” attacks against one-another.

1965 – A small race riot occurs.

1966 – The Atlanta Braves, the oldest continually operating North American sports franchise, moves to Atlanta.

1968 – A small race riot occurs.

1970 – As racial tensions begin to diffuse, things begin to return to normal in Atlanta. Prince Whitaker, angered by the stalemate, works to aggressively recruit for the Invictus. They draw a few new Kindred, but not many. In response, the other covenants ask for siring rights (excepting the Lancea Sanctum) and are promptly rebuked. After a tense war of words in Elysium, the Prince relents and allows some more siring. Gossip circulates about the “crack in Whitaker’s power” which only angers the Prince even more. An Unaligned nomad found to be spreading the rumor is cut down in an alley by “The Butcher” in front of several Kindred witnesses.

1973 – A black mayor is elected. He will be the first of an unbroken line of black mayors of Atlanta that has continued to the present day.

1979 – The Atlanta Opera is founded by two struggling local companies. It will eventually become one of the most important operas in the United States.

1981 – The Crones and the Lancea Sanctum, in a rare display of cooperation, work together to dig into The Atlanta Opera and promote it. Some rumors circulate that it will serve as “neutral ground” between the two covenants. The Invictus, meanwhile, skillfully shuts down a Carthian attempt to grab some power in the financial sector, giving several Carthians a huge setback and making several Invictus up-and-comers look good.

1983 – Prince Whitaker is deposed by Elijah DuQuette in the following manner: The Butcher is set upon by a pack of DuQuette's Carthian supporters and allegedly murdered two nights prior to Elijah challenging Prince Whitaker to defend his Praxis in Elysium. Come the night of the challenge, Prince Whitaker does not show up to Elysium to defend his throne. Speculation runs rampant that he was killed prior to the evening by Invictus dissatisfied with his reign and bribed by DuQuette into "getting rid" of his rival but none were able to prove mischief happened. Thus it's officially stated that Elijah DuQuette took Praxis in a bloodless coup although none believe that a such thing as a bloodless coup exists. Rumors circulate about The Butcher, however, creating doubt about the "bloodless" coup... and, of course, causing the Kindred of Atlanta to wonder if The Butcher has actually been put to rest.

1985 – Prince DuQuette’s new Court is set up, and includes an Ordo Dracul Sheriff and an Invictus Seneschal. DuQuette works to heal some of the wounds of the past through skillful diplomacy, mostly by appealing to moderate factions of each covenant. The Carthian Movement enters its “golden age,” but several members of the Movement are dissatisfied with Duquette’s rule and the “police state” that they think Atlanta could turn into.

1996 – Atlanta hosts the Olympic Games (specifically, the Summer games). The event is marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, which results in 1 death and several injuries.

1999 – Two Invictus elders and a Lancea Sanctum elder decide to slip into torpor before new millennium, partly out of fear and partly because they have simply given in to ennui. Conflict between moderates and conservatives in both factions intensifies slightly, and both begin to see the emergence of a “new guard.”

2001 – Shirley Franklin is elected the first female mayor of Atlanta.

2003 – Prince DuQuette calls a bloodhunt on a member of the Circle of the Crone shown to have diablerized a member of the Carthian Movement. Outsiders wonder if the longstanding alliance between the Carthians the Crone might be fraying, or if this is just an isolated incident, but a lot of “preventive diplomacy” seems to drive them back into each other’s corners again. The Invictus begin to work on “gentrifying” the city, and start to gain more influence in Atlanta.

2005 – Violent crime finally begins to decline in Atlanta after years of Atlanta being named “one of the most violent cities in America.” The Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world, is constructed.

2006 – Our chronicle begins…