After having closed down your previous unlife, collected your assets, and dealt with the Gangrel Elder in charge of the Gary docks, you set off on the journey. Traveling by ship in this day and age is rather easy, especially in the summer. It is August 1st, 2014. It will be pleasantly fall and then winter soon enough, but a journey by sea is best made when the waters are calmest, even with modern technology canceling the old problems. 

 

There is very little chance of anything bad happening to your boat while at sea. The Coast Guard and navy don't give your people any hassles, all of Lucian's arrangements are careful. He has been ferrying Kindred to Gary, Indiana for five decades now, and he's quite good at it. You arrive in the port at 10 PM, exactly as arranged. This enables you to walk off the boat under your own power, where Lucian himself is there to greet you. He is a tall, broad man with large shoulders. He wears a grey overcoat and matching hat. 

 

"Welcome to Gary, Indiana. My understanding you'll be staying at The Hotel until you are officially introduced to Prince Modius. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you. We need reinforcements in the area. He'll likely try and suck you into supporting him for Prince of Chicago." He snorts, a bit derisively. "Politics. Just leave me out of it. Anyway, I have a car for you over there. The driver will take you to The Hotel. Remember our agreement. You want to do anything on the docks, including smuggling of any kind, or making a haven on a boat docked near here, you need to clear it with me. The docks are my domain and you owe me for a safe journey. I respect you. I expect the same in kind. Oh, by the way, Mr. Confetti told me not to move your stuff into The Hotel. Instead, its all being moved into a nearby storage facility that Confetti controls himself. Don't know which one, he said he'd let you know." 

 

With that Lucian heads off, apparently not in the mood to field any questions from you. The driver, obviously a ghoul in the know, nods at you and opens the door to the limousine. The ride is uneventful and you are there in fifteen minutes. You can't help but note how pathetic Gary, Indiana really is. You had heard the rumors but seeing it with your own eyes...the entire town has been crushed and humiliated, and there is no spark of imagination here whatsoever to pull it out of its doldrums. Gary, Indiana, the place where Prince Modius rose up with the power of the socialist workers to challenge Prince Lodin's authority in Chicago, was conquered and now lies dormant as a clearly vanquished foe. 

 

You arrive at The Hotel. There you are greeted with your first surprise. 

 

You had anticipated that the "starting point" for the Contest of Will would be a secure location designed for comfort and safety to you and your fellow Elders. You can see at first glance that it is a rotting, dilapidated building that is run-down and in just as bad a shape as everything else here. Perhaps this disgusts or angers you. Perhaps it makes you laugh. Irregardless of your feelings, there is no turning back now. You are here. The car parks and you step out when the driver opens the door for you. He also brings your suitcase in behind you.

 

At the front counter, a tall thin man with deep bags in his eyes stares awkwardly at you. "Uh, yes. I am Jeeps, caretaker of The Hotel. We are expecting you. Welcome." He bows awkwardly, and then searches through a book. "Your room has already been assigned to you." He hands you your key, not the new passcard kind you find in about 90 percent of the hotels in the world now. No, it is in fact a small flimsy key. "Everything you need is already in your room. If you find you need anything else, please let me know. I doubt I will be able to get it for you though, but I will certainly try my best."

 

There is not much more to gain from talking to the little worm called Jeeps. The driver hands off your suitcase to a young, lithe teenage girl in a bellboy costume. She is shy and never meets your gaze as she carries your bag. She never struggles with it, and seems much physically stronger than she should be. Interesting.

 

You quickly find the elevator out of order. "Sorry." is all Jeeps can say to it. You take the stairs.

 

You put the key in the lock to your room, and ever ready for a trap or an ambush, you enter but there is no such excitement to be found. Instead, you appear to have a three room suite, not bad. One room is the bedroom. Inside is a queen-sized bed, a night table, and a dresser. The window in the room has been completely sealed, so while there is no view out, there is also no way to get singed by the sun while you sleep, if indeed, you are going to sleep here. That's a decision you'll have to make soon.

 

Examining the other rooms finds them devoid of furnishings, giving you two full rooms to do whatever you want with. There is also a bathroom. The water works but appears stale and cold.

 

Also, the windows are unsecured and sunlight can pour right in. Lovely. All someone has to do is break into your room and drag you from your bed into the next room, and its all over.

 

So you have plenty of space to start a campaign, but a clear total lack of security.  

 

You find a folder pinned to the wall in the last room you investigate. Inside are documents, apparently, from Mr. Confetti himself! Here we go!

 

WELCOME!

 

So you did it. You took the big plunge and are now here at The Hotel. Yes, the accommodations suck but that is all part of the game. Did you think it would be easy? I personally own The Hotel and the staff are my retainers. Do not harm them in any way or interrogate them about me. You will learn nothing. I am a master of the mind, and when I want nothing learned, you get nothing.

 

So don't bother. You are here to compete in the Contest of Will! Shhhh! Don't tell anybody. The Contest of Will is a big secret. We don't want anyone else muscling in on our fun, now do we?

 

Okay, to compete in the game you must know the rules. And here they are:

 

(That ends the top page of the document. The rest is typed out on a normal printer paper.)

 

RULES OF THE CONTEST OF WILL

 

You are a participant in a competition against other Kindred in the area, whether they are aware of it or not. There are Competitors in the game, those that have been invited to play and then there are the rest of the fuddy-duddies who were already here or who may arrive here under their own power for their own motivations. Do not assume every Kindred who arrives now will know about this. Most will not. Chicago is obviously ripe for any Kindred to come in and get a foothold. We will hardly be the only ones who think of it. So Shhhhh!

 

All participants in the competition should be safe from Final Death from one another. Indeed, at times you will have to cooperate with one another, and may need to do so against real enemies in the region that include Camarilla Kindred who you anger and their allies, the Anarch Movement, the Sabbat, Lupines and other scary were-things, mages, and groups of mortal hunters. Since there was a lot of death in the area, that always brings everybody in to investigate. So don't be obvious or you will get staked and sunburned to ashes. Now, you may sabotage the efforts of your fellow participants without worry of penalty in the game. Now all you have to worry about is their righteous anger and eventual retaliation! Fun!

 

Your primary goal will be to fulfill the Required Tasks on the Task List of your current round. All participants start on Round One and must fulfill every task on the Required Task List before advancing to Level 2. The Task List is clearly posted in the Central Room. Ask Jeeps about it.

 

You can also participate in "Fun Time" activities. These will garner you additional points and rewards, though you can advance to the next round without doing any of them, unless stated otherwise in the Required section. This will vary from round to round.

 

All Fun-Time Tasks that are still open can be done by anyone, no matter what round you are in. So even if you advance to round 2, you can still do Fun-Time Activities from round 1, but now you also have access to Round 2's Fun-Time Activities list.

 

And that is the basics of the game! Easy Peezy, am I right? Have fun, don't get Final Deaded!

 

Not Truly Yours,

 

Mr. Confetti, Founder of the Gargantuan Clan

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

With nothing else on your agenda and a burning curiosity, you head back down to the lobby to query Jeeps about the Central Room. He quickly leads you up to the third floor, and into the center room on the floor. It has a sign on it that reads The Central Room in the middle of a big yellow smiley face icon. You enter.

 

There are couches set up here, and a large table with a map of Gary, Indiana on it. There is another map, that of Chicago, pinned all across the far wall.

 

Attached to the near wall is a placard with all of the tasks on them, both the Required ones and the Fun-Time ones. You grin appreciatively. So this is Mr. Confetti's game, is it? All right then.

 

You study the map and begin to consider your many options.

 

 

OOC: You may consult the page with the actual Task List on it for Round 1, and begin planning your opening move.