Narrator: To set the scene

Duke: An unnamed nobleman

Doctor: A physician from the Middle Ages

Narrator: Centuries ago, in Middle Ages Europe, the Black Death took many lives. Plague doctors – young and desperate medicine men – were hired during this time to try to heal those who contracted the plague, and to give the last rites to those who could not survive it. Their uniform was distinctive, from their long black robes to the beaked masks worn at all times to prevent infection. In one darkened nobleman's bedchamber, a gravely ill Duke sits by the fireplace and speaks candidly to one such doctor as the rest of his family – already dead – grows cold in the bed across the room.

Duke: I fear I am slipping away. I feel so cold!

Doctor: It always is. I stand ready to take your last will and testament.

Duke: [clearing throat] To my loyal subjects, I bequeath my fallen family's worldly belongings paying special attention to care for the orphans of this dreaded disease.

Narrator: A rat scurries across the room in the darkness

Duke: Miserable beasts! Why should they live and prosper while my family lies dead?

Doctor: Is that all, my lord?

Duke: Yes. I fear that I am short for this world.

Doctor: Allow me to administer the last rites.

Narrator: The doctor recites the words of the bible in Latin, promising paradise in the afterlife in exchange for contrition in this world. As the psalm nears its end, the Duke contemplates his dark companion.

Duke: [coughing] I wish that I could see your face, good doctor. Please, show your face so that I may share my last moments with another human being. Can you do that?

Doctor: As you wish, my lord.

Narrator: The doctor pulls back his cowl, and reaches for the straps holding the heavy, beaked mask to his face. He recites the Lord's Prayer – the final mantra in the last rites ceremony.

Doctor: Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Narrator: As he undoes the buckle behind his head, the Duke begins to fade. He lets out a great cough and spits a gout of blood that trickles down his blackened face.

Doctor: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Narrator: The mask falls away from the doctor's face – or what passes as such. His visage is a nightmare. Necrotic, wet layers of skin and gore hang from the bare skull of the vampiric plague doctor. One entire eyeball is plainly visible held only by a few threads of meat and gristle in its socket. The nobleman gurgles in abject horror as he succumbs to the dread black plague.

Doctor: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory – forever and ever. Narrator: The doctor's nightmarish face pulls itself into the mockery of a smile. The riches of the Duke's house would soon be his own to plunder.

Doctor: Amen.

Narrator: The doctor stands. He pulls a giant rat with patchy clumps of fur from beneath his cloak and holds the miserable beast up to his ruined face. The rat picks at the unfeeling flesh hanging from the doctor's skull.

Doctor: Yes, my pet. The master will be quite pleased with the dread harvest of sickened vessels and worldly wealth. We have done well. Tonight we feast!

Narrator: The rats, no longer fearful of the living converge in a brown mass of teeth and claws to feast on the bodies of the fallen family.

• A bizarre malady has taken hold of the city of York. No virus of bacterium can be detected using modern medicine. The infection is able to spread from mortal vessel to kindred. At least one Ventrue has fallen into torpor from the malady. A few Elders have fled the city in fear for their safety. Symptoms include blackened and bloated skin, lesions, swollen glands, chills, fever and delirium. Death is common for mortals, and kindred will eventually fall into a death-like torpor if they contract the disease.

• The mortal populations affected by the plague are growing. In addition to the children and homeless who were originally infected, the city’s first responders (fire/police/medical) and some groups of elderly have fallen ill.

• The city government is on full alert to deal with this medical emergency. There are Federal plans already in motion to quarantine the entire city of York if this infection is not brought under control. A quarantine would be very bad for kindred lifestyles – as well as for the Masquerade.

• The nightclub “The Gene Pool” has been re-opened after a full health inspection has found it disease free. In addition, the famous Seven Deadly Sins club of Harrisburg is now under new kindred management. Finally, the Bacchus club is set to have a grand re-opening next week.

• The weather tonight is expected to include periods of light drizzle and heavy rain. Depending on the weather, ties to win firearms checks outdoors will be counted as two traits lower because of the rain.

• A gathering is held at Seven Deadly Sins.
• Prince Whitehorse is late to the gathering.
• Phillip is introduced to the city.
• Aaron Thompson arrives with an armored box he found with a note on it. He and Jack Strayer open it in an abandoned field to find it filled with plague-ridden rats.
• Phillip and Mikhail determine that there are a pack of rats watching the gathering from the crawlspaces in the building.
• Charles meets with Emile to discuss a cure to the plague.
• Molly convinces her sire Charles to leave the gathering.
• Constance uses The Dread Lens to locate the source of the rat infestation.
• Constance and Molly drive to the abandoned prison. They see a vampire who looks like Papa Patrice but calls himself Boris. They are are chased off by the vampire's many ghouls.
• Constance and Molly continue to Lucky's in Maryland where they meet with Frank and lift a supply of dreamstone.
• Prince Whitehorse, Emile, and Phillip travel astrally to the abandoned prison to confront the plague master Boris. They attempt to attack him mentally, but Boris fights them off and threatens to make York “Sicker and sicker”. Phillip points out that “sicker” is not a word.
• The forces of York rally to attack the abandoned prison. Mikhail leads the forces of the White Rose to engage and slay the well-armed group of ghouls. Constance uses her twinned katanas alongside Aaron's quick knives. Jack Strayer does some sniping, and Molly holds her own with her oversized pistol.
• Prince Whitehorse engages Boris in combat physically and mentally while Emile uses his magic to bind and weaken the plague master. Boris falls and is staked through the heart by Emile. The body of the plague master is left to ash out in the morning sun.
• Emile and Constance work together to provide cures for the infected Ventrue.
• Charles takes a leave of absence, putting Jack Strayer into the Ventrue Primogen seat.
• Prince Whitehorse makes another public proclamation.

• Prince Whitehorse
• Aaron Thompson
• Emile
• Mikhail
• Constance Jones
• Molly
• Q
• Phillip
• Jack Strayer