The chronicle begins in Prague, in 1196. Prague is on the Eastern edge of the Holy Roman Empire, which is currently in a state of poilitcal turmoil. The Holy Roman Emporer has dies, and his son is yet too young to reign. A regent must be chosen. a position of inscrutible power, the Regent to the Holy Roman Emporer yeilds temporal power in Europe without mathc. Only the papcy has the capacity to challenge this authority, and the Holy See is wracked by its own inner torubles. The pope too has died, under somewhat suspicious circumstances, and the Seat of Peter, Voice of the Almighty on Earth, lies vacant while the college of carinals squabbles and bickers like school children choosing teams for soccor. For centuries, the papacy has been a political pearl, tossed to weak men to placate them while puppet-masters within the church and without decide the destiny of Europe form behind the scenes. There is a cardinal who wishes to see this change. Lit with the furious outrage of the Holy scorned, Lotario d'Conti is one of the candidates for the high throne of Holy Mother Church. This holy rage frightens many of the cardinals, and his election is far from certain.
Undead politics are no less in upheaval. The Tremere/Tzimisce feud is tearing apart Eastern Europe. Nightly, lighting cracks across the sky and the very earth itself heaves up in riotous internecine warfare. As the century grows to a close, eschatological cults take hold in the hearts of peasant and Lord alike--the end is near, and the signs of a coming reckoning echo across the land as they sweep thru long unbeating hearts. Even to those wh