The 18th Century
From London Requiem
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For probably the first time, London could truly be called a city greater than the Square Mile. Expansion was rapid, and the greater development of Southwark, south of the river, meant that there was another centre of power, indeed a separate domain, acknowledged by those of authority to the North as an equal.
St Paul's was rebuilt by 1711, in the form that we know it today. To celebrate the first New Year following it's completion, Lancea Sanctum from north of the river invited their fellow covenant members from Southwark to a celebration. This celebration was held the following year and, as time has passed, the New Year gathering of both north and south of the river has developed into a traditional and well attended gathering. Its Lancea Sanctum roots are less obvious now, and it has in modern times simply become an opportunity for kindred to meet as the new year begins.
And as the city developed the rich moved West and the poor crowding around the belt outside the City of London and to the East. Kindred were generally happy to allow this expansion, the numbers of mortals supported an increasingly greater population growing following the Great Fire. It became acknowledged that the disparity of London made formal rule near impossible outside of the traditional areas. Development was too swift, changes too rapid, and the mortal population too active to make it practical. Areas of overall influence were informally acknowledged - the Lancea Sanctum maintained a small enclave in Holborn and, increasingly gathered around the churches of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory and St Patrick's in Soho. The slowly growing numbers of Ordo Dracul had no competition for the slums of East London, while the unaligned and proto-Carthians were spread more widely.
In the City of London House Occido remained in control, but the former Mayor Lucius, and a number of his family either sired following the fire or travelling to London, began to reassert some influence. The appointment of the first non-Occidan court member in 1751, Charles Alexander James, is seen as an attempt by Mayor van der Boer to placate some criticism of the dominance of his House - the very fact of the criticism being aired perhaps a sign of his weakening power. In 1760 Lucius moved publically to depose van der Boer, and succeeded in doing so and regaining the position he had previously lost. But it appears he acted too soon, for though he could take control he could not yet keep it, and another member of House Occido, Harold Trebens, was able to take the position of Mayor once more in 1777. But it was the last stand for House Occido. Unable to do more than depose Lucius, and not destroy him, they left him free to continue to increase his influence - his wealth and increasing dominance over trade gave him increasing amounts of support among kindred both inside and outside of the Square Mile.
1782 saw one of the largest gatherings of travelling kindred in London's history to this point. The gathering of Ordo Dracul to the Grand Dragon Council at Smithfield's Market, just outside the city walls, occurred over three summer nights, with both Lisette and Anouska apparently attending for some or all of the time. From 1783, a few months after the gathering, Anouska - never a very public face in the city - appears to have disappeared or left London.
In 1798 Lucius once more took power in the City of London, and this time permanently. At the very last, Occido nearly succeeded in preventing his ascension. A Gangrel by the name of Andrew Carr was engaged to kill Lucius, and the Lord Mayor was lucky to escape the attack. Carr succeeded in infiltrating Lucius' haven, killing three retainers and decapitating the famed Mekhet bodyguard Erik Nailen. Lucius managed to hold him at bay for a time and was ultimately saved by the arrival of three kindred who had come to discuss the overthrow of House Occido.
It was the last throw of the dice for Van der Boer and Trebens. They were executed - van der Boer was chained in an open courtyard to await the sun, Trebens was decapitated. All other members of House Occido were exiled from London on pain of death, save for one member who remained as hostage to their continued cooperation. Andrew Carr, having escaped from his attack on Lucius by diving through a third story window, was pronounced blood hunted in the City, a sentence which still stands though the Gangrel has not been seen since.
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