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the RIDERS on the STORM

LINKS
White Wolf Games
Steve Jackson Games

Characters:
Alejandro
Shandara
Garbo
Sebastian
Jennifer-Lynn
Alex
Jacob
Eric

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"Uri, uinciri, uerberari, ferroque necari. Bella premunt hostilia. Da robur, fer auxilium. Dies irae, dies illa solvet saeclum in favilla. Confutatis maledictis flammis acribus addictis nil inultum remanebit. Gloria, gloria semper."

Translated from Latin, the Pack Creed of the Riders on the Storm

The Riders on the Storm were originally formed in the late 1800’s in Mexico City. The pack has only changed leadership twice, once because of the death of the Priest during Holy Crusade, and again because of the Priest’s desire to retire to a more scholarly unlife. The pack has always consisted primarily of those who follow the ways of Cathari. These Catharists are usually more involved in the free and violent aspects of Catharism. Only within the past decade or so has the pack gained any aspect of conservativeness.

The pack has been primarily active in Los Angeles and Miami, and is currently settling in Montreal as its Priest and leader has attained the title of Bishop, the highest title a pack member has ever held. The pack has always been supportive of the Sabbat Inquisition, but has not always trusted the Black Hand until Alejandro joined the mysterious sub-sect.

The Riders on the Storm was formed in 1891 in Mexico City by Ramirez DeLeon. DeLeon had been awarded the status of Templar to one of the two Archbishops of Mexico City, and the Archbishop, Alicia Barrows, allowed Ramirez to form the pack in order to serve as a nomadic pack based on the edges of the borders of Mexican-controlled land. Ramirez and his childe Maria led the pack for many years throughout Mexico and the American Southwest. Eventually, Ramirez took the pack to Los Angeles in the 1930’s in order to establish a base of operations there.

Ramirez had been planning on infiltrating L.A.’s Spanish community, and Maria had selected Alejandro to be a member of the pack because of his influence in various aspects of the Spanish college and underworld community. The pack remained in the city, and they assisted in the anarch revolt in 1944 and 1945, successfully posing as a group of anarchs on the run from the Mexican Sabbat. They managed to establish a presence in Los Angeles, but they left soon after doing so and enjoyed a nomadic existance for the next two decades, making names for themselves in many cities, most notably L.A., Miami, New York City, and Mexico City.

The pack found itself coming back to Los Angeles in 1962. A Holy Crusade had been called against Los Angeles, and the Riders on the Storm were the only pack that had managed to infiltrate the anarchs. The anarchs had managed to bring down one of the strongest cities of the Camarilla, so it would obviously be child’s play to bring in the War Parties and lead the City of Angels to the ways of the Glorious Sabbat.

At first, it looked like the Sabbat would succede. Gang wars and rivalries ravaged the anarchs of Los Angeles, and the "Revolutionary Council" seemed unable to stop them. Finally, in 1965, the Sabbat decided that waiting would no longer serve a purpose. Alejandro and his packmates were able to use their guise as "fellow anarchs" to tell that there was no internal structure in place to defend itself, and the gangs hated each other too much to combine forces to resist a takeover. Thus, the War Parties were readied, and Ramirez prepared to lead his forces to the victory in which he would be declared Archbishop of Los Angeles.

They city was deeply divided among racial and socio-ecomnomic lines. As in many cities, a vast number of the minorities, especially African-Americans, had been forced into a relatively small area by the overt racism of housing restrictions and the covert racism of economic deprivation. The L.A. police singled out the residents of these areas for exceptional brutality, and tensions were running extremely high. It took very little Sabbat effort to fan the flames to the point of explosion.

And explode it did. On the night of August 11, 1965, a particularly hot night in a particularly hot summer, the California Highway Patrol stopped two men just outside Watts. A small crowd gathered, a fight broke out. The CHP arrested the two men and a few others. That was all the Sabbat needed. Thus, the famous "Watts Riots" ensued. Chaos ensued, and Ramirez led the Sabbat as they ambushed the anarchs of the city. The first few nights went just as planned, and Alejandro prepared to take his place alongside Maria as the Paladins of Ramirez, the newly-crowned Archbishop of Los Angeles.

The anarchs had other ideas, however, and they managed to rally together and they eventually drove the Sabbat out of the city nights later. The anarchs fought more bravely than they did during the revolt of 1945. Ramirez was killed, and the Riders were forced to flee along with the rest of the Sabbat. Maria regretfully took her sire’s place as Priest and leader of the pack. Thus, the Riders became nomadic once again.

The Riders travelled across the continent, trying to forget the failure of L.A. These times were the wildest for Alejandro, as he delved deeply into the ways of Cathari. The Riders seemed to have no real purpose during the next decade or so, simply wandering and killing as they pleased.

In 1976, Maria began doubting her beliefs as a Catharist and her abilities as a Priest. She took her leave from the pack, thus Alejandro became Priest and leader. Maria journeyed to Montreal, where, in 1985, she eventually opened Sarnath, the Church of Starry Wisdom. She also abandoned the ways of Cathar and became a devout Noddist and managed to build a rather impressive occult library.

Alejandro continued to keep in touch with Maria over the next few years, and the Riders eventually settled in Miami where they battled both the Camarilla and Setites. Alejandro started to examine his personal Catharist ways and noticed the entropical effects it had on his unlife. Maria would occasionally visit the pack, and thus Alejandro was introduced to the ways of the Noddists. In 1981, he took leave from the pack, and journeyed back to Los Angeles on a "spiritual quest" as he embraced the Path of Caine. There, he assisted the Sabbat in their attempt to place agents in the city again. He made the acquaintance of Carolina Valez and the Lost Angels. In 1983, he met the Sabbat neonate Gharston Roland, and the two became close friends. Alejandro eventually found himself being called back to Miami to lead his pack once again in 1985. It was during the late ‘80s that Shandara and Tool were embraced.

The Riders remained in Miami until July 3, 1992. The first major reason for the Rider’s relocation to Montreal was Alejandro’s learning of Maria’s suicide. A letter from Maria was delivered to him by a personal servant of Maria’s, and writing the letter was one of the last things she did before she arranged for her own final death. She had been residing in Montreal for several years as something of a reclusive scholar, and began investigating infernal activities with the assistance of Santiago DeSoto. She eventually was one of the first Sabbat to link Mount Royal to an infernalist presence in Montreal. She gathered the courage to journey to "the Mountain" alone, and actually survived the experience. She returned, wrote the letter to Alejandro, sired a childe, and killed herself, forcing the childe to diablerize her. This "childe" has never been seen since. Not long after Maria died, the Setites managed to gain an extreme amount of influence in Miami, and the Sabbat took great alarm at such a turn of events. When several prominent Setite elders who were previously uninvolved in the struggle arrived in the city, the Regent and her Prisci decided to have all non-Black Hand packs withdraw from Miami. When the Riders learned of the decision to have a limited withdrawal from the city, they agreed to move on. Alejandro suggested Montreal.

Alejendro and the Riders arrived in Montreal on the July 4th. They quickly became involved in the Sabbat politics of the city, as ex-Archbishop Sangris, in his guise as DeSoto, started his apparent scheme to both exact revenge on the city and destroy his former master Metathiax of the Decani. He now knows that Maria was helping "DeSoto", and learned the truth of the demonic power in Montreal. "DeSoto" managed to travel to the Umbra where he planned on confronting Metathiax. The Riders had also managed to find out that Maria’s soul had somehow survived diablerie. Maria was in the realm of the dead, somehow creating a maelstrom, a maelstrom which "DeSoto" planned to use against Metathiax.

The Riders had managed to acquire many of "DeSoto"’s jounrals. They learned more of Sangris’s history through these journals, and eventually, they turned these journals over to Cardinal Strathcona. Unbeknownst to anyone, Cardinal Strathcona was being impersonated by the Setite Kemintiri. The Riders found this out and attacked her in Strathcona’s penthouse suite to no avail. Kementiri escaped to Cairo with the journals.

After realizing that the Giovanni currently in the city were there under the "orders" of "Cardinal Kemintiri", the Riders attacked the Giovanni headquarters, the Endron Oil building. The assault was a failure, but the Riders did manage to detonate enough explosives in the basement before they retreated to completely demolish the building. However, Alejandro was infected with some sort of multi-symptom disease, which appears to be demonic in origin. The exact details of the horrid disease was unknown to anyone except for Alejandro and Shandara, but he was recently cured during his initial service to the Black Hand.

There are currently no obvious signs of infernal activity in Montreal. "DeSoto" has never shown up again, and "Sangris", who is believed to have actually been DeSoto’s soul trapped in Sangri’s body, is believed to have been killed by "DeSoto".

The Riders on the Storm have fought alongside their Sabbat brethren during the past few months of 1994 and 1995, attempting to cleanse Montreal of both Camarilla and demonic influences. They are currently involved in an assault against the Camarilla of Chicago.

This will be updated as time allows.

Welcome to the City of Black Miracles......

• Lasombra

Ramirez DeLeon (7th generation, deceased) : Ramirez was the original Priest of the pack who was killed during the crusade against the Anarchs of Los Angeles.

Maria Guiterrez (8th generation, deceased, childe of Ramirez) : Maria was the Priest of the pack after Ramirez was killed. She was also the original owner of Sarnath, and killed herself in 1992.

Alejandro Medina Vasquez (7th generation, childe of Maria) : Alejandro is the current Priest of the pack and is also a Bishop of Montreal. Alejandro was formerly a devout Catharist, but he turned to the ways of the Noddists in the early 1990's. His experiences fighting Infernalists eventually led him to join the Black Hand and thus he adopted the Path of Power and Inner Voice.

Roderigo Francisa (8th generation, deceased, childe of Ramirez)

Sebastian (8th generation, childe of Alejandro): Sebastian was embraced by Alejandro during a recent trip to Los Angeles. Very familiar with the streets and club-scenes, he has proven himself worthy of praise on many occasions. Currently on leave.

• Tzimisce

Shandara de’LaCroix (7th generation) : Formerly a surgeon as a mortal, Shandara is well-learned in the art of flesh-crafting. Shandara’s varied knowledges complement Alejandro’s scholarly ways rather well. She is the second-in-command of the Riders. Formerly a practioner of the ways of Death and the Soul, Shandara has recently been the center of controversy among the Sabbat for becoming a devoted Bahari, a follower of the ways of Lilith.

Malcolm Wilden (8th generation, childe of Jesse Conrad) : Malcolm is definitely the pack member with the greatest Loyalist tendencies, but has proven his worth to the pack many times. He is currently on leave.

(Malcolm’s many childer, too many to list)

• Gangrel antitribu

Erinyi (11th generation) - NPC: Erinyi is one of the few Gargoyles who serve the Sabbat. She has a vile temper and is quick to anger. While a member of the Navigators, she has close ties to 25:17 due to her love of Ezekiel, and she has allied herself with the Riders on the Storm due to her budding friendship with Shandara.

Jennifer-Lynn (10th generation): Jennifer-Lynn is the only surviving member of a nomadic pack from Detroit called The Carnivores. Despite being thought of sometimes as a liability to the pack at times, her insights have been valuable to the pack.

Gharston Roland (10th generation) - NPC: Alejandro’s old friend Gharston still rides with the Lost Angels. His devotion to both the Lost Angels and the Sabbat are still pure. He accompanies the Riders on the Storm on occasion. Gharston was a hitman from Los Angeles before he was inducted into the Sabbat.

Garbo (9th generation): Garbo is a devoted follower of the ways of Cathari. Formerly a WWII double agent devoted to the British, Garbo infiltrates both the Camarilla and the Setites. He is famous for flaunting his snakeskin boots.

Alex (10th generation): Alex is something of a young anarchist from New York City. She is adept at computer sciences, but is skilled in various physical sciences, most notably chemisty. Always looking for a way to screw the system, she is also a devout Noddist. She recently had her sex changed from male by Shandara.

• Tremere antitribu

Jacob Edison (8th generation): Jacob is the newest addition to the Riders on the Storm. Originally a Camarilla Tremere, Jacob became something of an anarchist among the Chicago Camarilla, falling in with various Brujah in the city. Unable to reconcile his differences with the Camarilla, he fled the sect and joined the Sabbat, adopting the Path of Nocturnal Redemption.

The above graphic is "The Horsemen of the Apocalypse" by Carlo Carra. Feel free to visit http://btr0xw.rz.uni-bayreuth.de/cgfa/index.html for your artistic enjoyment.