The World of Darkness:

The World of Darkness is not our own, though it is close enough for fearsome discomfort. Rather, the world inhabited by vampires and the other supernatural creatures that stalk the night is like ours, but through a dark and twisted looking glass. Evil is palpable and ubiquitous in this world; the Final Nights are upon us, and the whole planet teeters on a razor’s edge of tension. It is a World of Darkness.

Superficially, the World of Darkness is like the “real” world we all inhabit. The same bands are popular, violence still plagues the inner cities, graft and corruption invest the same governments, and society still looks to the same cities for its culture. The World of Darkness has a Statue of Liberty, an Eiffel Tower and a Tower of London. More present than in our world, though, is the undercurrent of horror - our world’s ills are all the more pronounced in the World of Darkness. Our fears are more real. Our governments are more degenerate. Our ecosystem dies a bit more each night. And supernatural creatures exist.

Many of the differences between our world and the World of Darkness stem from these beings.. Ancient and inscrutable, the kindred toy with humanity as a cat does with a trapped mouse. The immortal kindred manipulate society to stave off the ennui and malaise that threaten them nightly, or to guard against the machinations of centuries-old rivals. Immortality is a curse to vampires, for they are locked in stagnant existences and dead bodies.

Half human. Half beast. Werewolves stalk the deepest woods and the darkest urban alleyways. Monsters that creep up on their prey like ghosts, then explode into a fury of fangs and claws. Beasts that howl under the full moon and kill those that cross the boundaries of their terrotory. The Garou are also denziens of this shadowy world.

These creatures, along with the secretive fae and the powerful mages, walk the streets of mortal cities within the World of Darkness and pull the strings of humanity. Violence and despair are more common here, because they need to be in order for these monsters to continue their existences. The world is bleak, but escape is an ever-present commodity - perhaps too present.

“Gothic-Punk” is perhaps the best way to describe the physical nature of the World of Darkness. The environment is a clashing mixture of styles and influences, and the tension caused by the juxtaposition of ethnicities, social classes and subcultures makes the world a vibrant, albeit it dangerous, place.

The Gothic aspect describes the ambiance of the World of Darkness. Buttressed buildings loom overhead, bedecked with classical columns and grimacing gargoyles. Residents are dwarfed by the sheers scale of architecture, lost amid the spires that seem to stretch toward heaven in an effort to escape the physical world. The ranks of the church swell, as mortals flock to any banner that offers them a hope of something better in the hereafter. Likewise, cults flourish in the underground, promising power and redemption. The institutions that control society are even more staid and conservative than they are in our world, for many in power prefer the evil of the world they know to the chaos engendered by change. It is a divisive world of have and have not, rich and poor, excess and squalor.

The Punk aspect is the lifestyle that many denizens of the World of Darkness have adopted. In order to give their lives meaning, they rebel, crashing themselves against the crags of power. Gangs prowl the streets and organised crime breeds in the underworld, reactions to the pointlessness of living “by the book”. Music is louder, faster, more violent or hypnotically monotonous, and supported by masses who find salvation in its escape. Speech is coarser, fashion is bolder, art is more shocking, and technology brings it all to everyone at the click of a button. The world is more corrupt, the people are spiritually bankrupt, and escapism often replaces hope.