by Mithrandir (27 Apr 93)
That's my view of Gehenna as well. It's a natural slimming of a species, but it has more myth attached to it than that, as is always the case. Evolution, pure and simple.
Speaking of what actually happened, this is my bid on what happened / will happen during the Gehenna.
May 23rd, 2011. The Council of Seven of the Tremere Clan finally suceed in perfecting a process for raising Generations without Diablerie along the Lines of the Assamite Rituals. They each collect two hundred Points of each other's Blood, all of the same Generation, and concentrate it to potent elixirs which they drink.
July 15th.
In almighty uproar, Tremere himself descends upon his own
Council, coming out of his home in the Carpathians. The Council have all
risen to his level of Generation, yet have not gained his magical skill.
In a fury of rage and hunger, he injures them all greviously, but they
live.
Immediately, he takes the Ritual they developed to try and synthesise
his own Generation to a higher level.
October 19th. Word reaches other Clans of the Tremere's doings through the Nosferatu. The instantaneous reaction world-wide is to attack and kill the Tremere before the Power-Mad wizards. A Thermo Nuclear device is detonated by supposedly unknown terrorists in Vienna. The real perpetrators are the Tremere Antitribu and the Sabbat in general. The Seven Elders are slain in the blast, but Tremere, along with his near-completed Ritual, escapes through his magical arts back to the Carpathians.
October 24th. The World-wide reaction among Kindred Kine and others to the Vienna explosion is one of horror. The Lupines see it as the last great days of the Apocalypse being upon their heads, and a world-wide Moot is called by the StarGazer named SwordChild. The Order of Hermes who were based in Europe find their Powers beginning to fail at a drastic rate. There is no vis to be found anywhere. House Tytalus approach the Tzimisces, asking that they be converted to Vampires in exchange for all the secrets of Magic that they know. The Tzimisces agree readily. Within a seven day period, Clan Tytalus is being formed. Many Magi perish as their longevity potiions inexplicably fail. All remaining gates to Arcadia have closed.
October 31st. Tremere completes his Ritual to drink the potion. He is vvery badly burned from his near meeting with Death in Vienna. He decides to wait and heal up, lest the potion send him into Torpor should he be medically unsound. The Garou, in their world-wide moot in North America, begin to plan. They plan to Call down great spirits from the Umbra to slay many humans at once. The Impergium is to be reinstituted. There is much argument about this from many wiser Garou, but desperate times lead to desperate measures. The Order of Hermes lose the last of their Powers. Their magic appears to have literally dried up totally.
November 12th.
Tremere drinks of his potion, and immediately, it's
Power courses through his veins, but the energies involved null his
mind. He sinks into a trance-like state. Not a torpor, but diffrent. His
Clan, in complete disarray, are hunted to the four corners of the Earth.
Many have been put to the flame in the last few weeks. The Camarilla
is very unstable indeed, as the Anarchs take city after city in such a
short time. The Elders of the Camarilla know not what is going on. The
Inconnu have retreated even more than usual, and hold conclave in
Hunedora. The Tremere have vanished , especially their leader, and they
want to know what to do. They fear the worst.
The Sabbat are growwing in number. A Sect-Wide order is given to
Sire many soldiers for the coming battle. Soon, they number as many as
the Camarilla.
The Kine are growing dangerously restless, and many minor wars have
broken out already. The Vienna bombing has left the world's Diplomacy
Centers are faltering unable to do anything in the face of supposed
terrorists with bombs. Food shortages are becoming common in many
places.
December 23rd. The Garou strike a US Nuclear Compound, and take it over. They select targets and fire at Moscow and other Russian areas. In a fit of complete fury that Mother Russia has been so brutally raped, Baba Yaga Orders a counter-strike in all major North American cities and bases. In a word: Theromnuclear War. 4 Billion Mortals die that night. 4000 Kindred die that night also.
December 24th, 2011.
As an Ancient Mayan Prophecy declared, a New
World would begin on December 24th, 2011. This night, fully one Night
after the Nuclear war, The Antediluvians arise from Torpor to a world
of ashes and dust. The Eternal Night begins, as clouds from the nuclear
war cover the globe, blotting out the sun for ever. In a short burst,
the Antediluvians proceed to feed upon what's left of the Kindred world.
Tremere awakens from his daze, hungry as hell for any Kindred Blood
he can find.
Through all of this, three figures emerge and summon all of the
Vampires Worldwide to one spot. Antartica. The South Pole. The radiation
levels has altered vampiric body chemistry. They do not lose Blood eacgh
night any more.
There, in the South Pole, the three of the Second Generation, Weaver,
Wyrm and Wyld, as they have called themselves meet and summon the
Antediluvians. Only one does not come. Tremere. He is of the same power
as the Triad. There, soundlessly and without need for thought, the Triad
slay all the Antediluvians one-by-one without getting any resistance.
They wait.
Caine comes, slays the Second Generation without their resisting.
He travels on that night, meeting the crazed Tremere, who hungers
for Power still. Caine bears his neck to Tremere and dies finally and
forever. Tremere is now the only Vampire alive, and the only thing alive
on the planet. He has been cast out, alone, doomed by his actions to
wander the face of the Earth eternally.
He takes the name Caine, and believes he has slain his brother. He is
out of Eden.
And the cycle begins again ....
He founds a City, and calls it the first City, Enoch.