Timeline: Difference between revisions
(Created page with "๐ '''Chronological Timeline Index''' ''A master list of all major events in Madtown by Night history, from the beginning of Creation to the present day.'' Events according to the Fallen & Madtown by Night Lore: === ๐ฎ Prehistoric & Mythic Eras === 10โ20 Billion BCE โ The Big Bang and the Triat Begins 3.5โ4 Billion BCE โ Emergence of Life and Spirits on Earth 400 Million BCE โ Ananasa Diversifies Insects 360 Million BCE โ The Spider Sp...") ย |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
= Chronological Timeline Index = | |||
''A player-friendly history of Madtown by Night, from the beginning of Creation to the supernatural crises of 2025.'' | |||
Madison looks like an ordinary Midwestern city. Beneath its streets, however, ancient powers have fought over sacred places, hidden realms, and the shape of reality itself. | |||
This timeline introduces the events most characters might know through rumor, research, supernatural lore, or personal experience. Some accounts remain incomplete or contradictory. | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | |||
|- | |||
! Current Setting | |||
| 2025 | |||
|- | |||
! Major Turning Point | |||
| 1985 | |||
|- | |||
! Current Chronicles | |||
| ''Awakened of Madtown'' and ''Kindred of Madtown'' | |||
|- | |||
! Player Knowledge | |||
| Major Storyteller secrets are intentionally omitted | |||
|} | |||
== Using This Timeline == | |||
The history of the World of Darkness is not perfectly recorded. | |||
Mages alter memories. Kindred destroy evidence. Spirits remember promises differently from mortals. The Digital Web sometimes preserves events that never happened. | |||
This page presents the broad history of Madison. Follow the links for deeper accounts of individual eras. | |||
== Prehistoric and Mythic Eras == | |||
Long before Madison existed, supernatural powers fought over Creation, humanity, and the spirit world. | |||
* [[10โ20 Billion BCE โ The Big Bang and the Triat Begins]] | |||
* [[3.5โ4 Billion BCE โ Emergence of Life and Spirits on Earth]] | |||
* [[400 Million BCE โ Ananasa Diversifies Insects]] | |||
* [[360 Million BCE โ The Spider Spirit is Born]] | |||
* [[150 Million BCE โ Age of Kings and Mokole Civilization]] | |||
* [[65 Million BCE โ Fall of the Drachid Form and Age of Kings]] | |||
* [[2.5โ1.75 Million BCE โ Humanity Adopted by Weaver, Creation of Garou]] | |||
* [[100,000โ10,000 BCE โ Diaspora, Banestorm, War of Shame]] | |||
== Ancient History == | |||
Around 6000 BCE, a supernatural alliance imprisoned an entity remembered as the Nameless. The prison weakened several times over the following millennia, forcing later generations to defend or renew it. | |||
[[4000 BCE โ Rise of Babylon, Druidic Magick, First Shadow Tensions]] | * [[6000 BCE โ Sealing of the Nameless (First Binding)]] | ||
* [[5000 BCE โ Fracture of the First Seal]] | |||
* [[4000 BCE โ Rise of Babylon, Druidic Magick, First Shadow Tensions]] | |||
* [[3000 BCE โ First Breach Attempt, Wounded Anchors]] | |||
* [[2000 BCE โ Nephandi Almost Free the Nameless]] | |||
* [[1000 BCE โ Third Fire Renewal by Croatan]] | |||
== Classical to Early Modern History == | |||
The land surrounding the Four Lakes remained spiritually important through the rise and fall of nations, religions, and supernatural societies. | |||
[[1000 | * [[1 CE โ Dream of the Hollow Mask, Sentinel Appears]] | ||
* [[1000 CE โ Silent Confluence and Renewal of the Third Seal]] | |||
* [[1634โ1836 CE โ Indigenous Stewardship, Colonial Spiritual War]] | |||
== | == Madison Is Founded == | ||
Madison was built upon land already inhabited, protected, and contested by Indigenous peoples, spirits, and supernatural factions. | |||
As the city grew, construction disturbed ancient spiritual paths beneath the Four Lakes. Mortal government rose beside the Capitol Node, one of the most powerful and dangerous places in the region. | |||
During this period, the hidden sanctuary called New Avalon also began taking shape. | |||
* [[1836 โ Madison Founded atop the Third Anchor]] | |||
* [[1860s โ Civil War, Camp Randall Necromantic Spillover]] | |||
* [[1883 โ Baali Capitol Collapse]] | |||
* [[1890s โ Technocratic Assaults, Gahara Pact Forms]] | |||
== The Twentieth Century == | |||
=== 1900 to 1919: Fire and Accord === | |||
The 1904 Capitol fire concealed a major supernatural confrontation. In its aftermath, Madison's supernatural factions established the Gahara Pact, an agreement intended to prevent open war. | |||
New Avalon grew into a true Horizon Realm and sanctuary for the Awakened. | |||
* [[1900โ1915 โ Capitol Fire, Fall of the Lords of Madison]] | |||
* [[1914โ1920 โ WWI, New Avalon Echo, Sabbat Probes]] | |||
=== 1920 to 1949: Hidden Empires === | |||
Prohibition, organized crime, war, occult smuggling, and Technocratic operations changed Madison. Truax Field and other wartime projects left supernatural scars beneath the modern city. | |||
[[1920โ1939 โ Prohibition, Syndicate Rise, Madtown Mage Cabal Forms]] | * [[1920โ1939 โ Prohibition, Syndicate Rise, Madtown Mage Cabal Forms]] | ||
* [[1940โ1949 โ WWII, Truax Field Founded, Nephandi Rituals]] | |||
=== 1950 to 1969: War and Awakening === | |||
Conflict between Madison's Kindred and Garou turned sacred places into battlegrounds. | |||
Later, civil rights activism, student protest, new religious movements, and cultural rebellion changed the city's supernatural balance. | |||
[[ | * [[1950โ1959 โ KindredโGarou War, Cold War Occult Espionage]] | ||
* [[1960โ1969 โ Civil Rights Awakening, Hollow One Expansion, Malkavian Prophecy]] | |||
=== 1970 to 1979: Anarch Madison === | |||
A new alliance between Madison's Kindred and Garou brought an unstable peace. | |||
Madison became an Anarch-controlled city. Its Kindred rejected direct Camarilla rule while continuing to use traditional offices such as Prince, Sheriff, and Primogen. | |||
* [[1970โ1979 โ Olbrich Alliance, Sabbat Incursion, Eclipse Ritual]] | |||
=== 1980 to 1985: The Old Order Breaks === | |||
Conflict spread through the Digital Web. Madison's alliances weakened, and ancient supernatural protections began to fail. | |||
[[Capitol | * [[1980โ1985 โ Digital Web War, Capitol Murders, Nameless Awakens]] | ||
== 1985: The First Collapse == | |||
The year 1985 changed Madison's supernatural world forever. | |||
[[Gahara Pact โ Founding Accord]] | Prince Tori Redford and Garou Elder William Burke were found murdered. Their deaths threatened the alliance between the Kindred and Garou, weakened the Gahara Pact, and pushed several factions toward war. | ||
ย | |||
At the same time, Madison, New Avalon, and New Eden became entangled in a final confrontation with the Nameless. | |||
ย | |||
The city survived, but the old order did not. Leaders died or disappeared. Alliances fractured. New Avalon became inaccessible, and many truths about the crisis were buried. | |||
ย | |||
* [[1985]] | |||
ย | |||
== 1986 to 1996: Reconstruction == | |||
ย | |||
Jessica Woodfield became Prince and held Madison's Anarch domain together. | |||
ย | |||
The city's Awakened were less fortunate. Their council weakened, the chantries became isolated, and irreplaceable knowledge disappeared with each death. | |||
ย | |||
Madison remained peaceful on the surface, but that peace depended increasingly upon a few exhausted survivors. | |||
ย | |||
== 1997 to 1998: The Web Breaks == | |||
ย | |||
On November 10, 1997, a supernatural catastrophe struck the Digital Web. | |||
ย | |||
New Eden survived, but entire sectors disappeared. Records contradicted one another, and some digital inhabitants remembered places that apparently never existed. | |||
ย | |||
In the aftermath, New Eden's purpose began to change. It was no longer merely a refuge. Some believed it could become the foundation of an entirely new civilization. | |||
ย | |||
== 1999: The Avatar Storm == | |||
ย | |||
During the Week of Nightmares, supernatural catastrophes erupted across the world. | |||
ย | |||
The Avatar Storm made travel between the physical and spiritual worlds extraordinarily dangerous. Madison lost many of its remaining Awakened teachers, guardians, and leaders. | |||
ย | |||
Several chantries were cut off from their allies. Others were left in the hands of students who had never expected to inherit them. | |||
ย | |||
The city survived its second supernatural collapse, but the Age of Masters was over. | |||
ย | |||
== 2000 to 2005: The Failed Rescues == | |||
ย | |||
Madison's surviving mages attempted to rescue those trapped beyond the Avatar Storm. | |||
ย | |||
Some expeditions vanished. Others returned with missing memories, spiritual wounds, or years of their lives unaccounted for. | |||
ย | |||
By 2005, organized rescue efforts had ended. Too few experienced mages remained to risk another expedition. | |||
ย | |||
== 2006 to 2014: The Closed Doors == | |||
ย | |||
The surviving chantries stopped functioning as a unified magical society. | |||
ย | |||
Some became isolated households. Others stood empty behind wards their inhabitants no longer understood. Libraries remained locked, and old spirits continued waiting for promises nobody remembered making. | |||
ย | |||
Meanwhile, Jessica Woodfield preserved Madison's fragile political peace. | |||
ย | |||
== 2015 to 2019: The Untrained Generation == | |||
ย | |||
New mages continued to Awaken, but few teachers remained to guide them. | |||
ย | |||
Many interpreted their experiences as psychic powers, religious visions, strange technology, witchcraft, artistic inspiration, extraordinary luck, or mental illness. | |||
ย | |||
The Traditions still existed in Madison, but often as empty buildings, broken lineages, and stories inherited without explanation. | |||
ย | |||
== 2020 to 2024: The Returning Paths == | |||
ย | |||
The Avatar Storm weakened and eventually ended. | |||
ย | |||
Travel into the spirit world became possible again, but the old paths had changed. Some remained broken. Others led somewhere new. | |||
ย | |||
Messages began arriving through channels that had been silent since 1999. New Awakenings increased, but Madison's remaining supernatural institutions were not prepared. | |||
ย | |||
The city appeared peaceful. Underneath, old agreements were beginning to fail. | |||
ย | |||
== 2025: The Present Chronicle == | |||
ย | |||
=== The Death of Jessica Woodfield === | |||
ย | |||
Prince Jessica Woodfield is dead. | |||
ย | |||
Her death ends forty years of relative political stability. Madison's Anarch establishment is vulnerable, and the Camarilla sees an opportunity to claim the city. | |||
ย | |||
The Primogen must decide who will rule, what Madison will become, and how much blood will be spilled before the question is answered. | |||
ย | |||
=== Awakened of Madtown === | |||
ย | |||
Newly Awakened mages enter a city whose magical institutions have already failed. | |||
ย | |||
The old masters are dead, missing, damaged, or pursuing private agendas. The chantries hold more secrets than living members. | |||
ย | |||
The characters must discover what they have become while old protections begin failing around them. | |||
ย | |||
=== Kindred of Madtown === | |||
ย | |||
Madison's Prince is dead, and every faction has its own version of what should happen next. | |||
ย | |||
The city's Kindred must investigate the crisis, contain political violence, protect the Masquerade, and decide who has the right to rule an Anarch city that still calls its leader Prince. | |||
ย | |||
=== Gen Con 2026 === | |||
ย | |||
The 2025 crisis provides the shared setting for two Gen Con 2026 chronicles: | |||
ย | |||
* '''''Awakened of Madtown''''', using ''Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition'' | |||
* '''''Kindred of Madtown''''', using ''Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition'' | |||
ย | |||
No previous experience with ''Madtown by Night'' or the World of Darkness is required. | |||
ย | |||
== Timeline at a Glance == | |||
ย | |||
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;" | |||
! Period | |||
! What Changed | |||
|- | |||
| Before 1836 | |||
| Ancient supernatural powers struggled over the land surrounding the Four Lakes. | |||
|- | |||
| 1836 to 1903 | |||
| Madison was founded, and New Avalon grew as a hidden sanctuary. | |||
|- | |||
| 1904 to 1974 | |||
| The Gahara Pact created an unstable peace between supernatural factions. | |||
|- | |||
| 1975 to 1984 | |||
| Madison became an Anarch-controlled city. | |||
|- | |||
| 1985 | |||
| The Capitol murders and Nameless crisis destroyed the old supernatural order. | |||
|- | |||
| 1986 to 1998 | |||
| Madison rebuilt while its Awakened institutions slowly collapsed. | |||
|- | |||
| 1999 | |||
| The Avatar Storm killed or stranded most of Madison's remaining masters. | |||
|- | |||
| 2000 to 2019 | |||
| Isolated survivors failed to rebuild the city's magical society. | |||
|- | |||
| 2020 to 2024 | |||
| The Avatar Storm ended, but the old order did not return. | |||
|- | |||
| 2025 | |||
| Jessica Woodfield's death placed Madison's future in the hands of the player characters. | |||
|} | |||
ย | |||
== See Also == | |||
ย | |||
* [[Major Characters]] | |||
* [[Supernatural Factions of Madison]] | |||
* [[Capitol Node History]] | |||
* [[New Avalon (Horizon Realm)]] | |||
* [[Nameless โ Entity File]] | |||
* [[Gahara Pact โ Founding Accord]] | |||
ย | |||
== Editorial Note == | |||
ย | |||
This page presents the current player-facing continuity for the 2025 setting. | |||
ย | |||
Some linked articles contain older material that is still being reviewed. Information known only to the Storyteller has been deliberately omitted. | |||
ย | |||
[[Category:Madtown by Night]] | |||
[[Category:Timeline]] | |||
[[Category:History]] | |||
Revision as of 21:39, 27 July 2026
Chronological Timeline Index
A player-friendly history of Madtown by Night, from the beginning of Creation to the supernatural crises of 2025.
Madison looks like an ordinary Midwestern city. Beneath its streets, however, ancient powers have fought over sacred places, hidden realms, and the shape of reality itself.
This timeline introduces the events most characters might know through rumor, research, supernatural lore, or personal experience. Some accounts remain incomplete or contradictory.
| Current Setting | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Major Turning Point | 1985 |
| Current Chronicles | Awakened of Madtown and Kindred of Madtown |
| Player Knowledge | Major Storyteller secrets are intentionally omitted |
Using This Timeline
The history of the World of Darkness is not perfectly recorded.
Mages alter memories. Kindred destroy evidence. Spirits remember promises differently from mortals. The Digital Web sometimes preserves events that never happened.
This page presents the broad history of Madison. Follow the links for deeper accounts of individual eras.
Prehistoric and Mythic Eras
Long before Madison existed, supernatural powers fought over Creation, humanity, and the spirit world.
- 10โ20 Billion BCE โ The Big Bang and the Triat Begins
- 3.5โ4 Billion BCE โ Emergence of Life and Spirits on Earth
- 400 Million BCE โ Ananasa Diversifies Insects
- 360 Million BCE โ The Spider Spirit is Born
- 150 Million BCE โ Age of Kings and Mokole Civilization
- 65 Million BCE โ Fall of the Drachid Form and Age of Kings
- 2.5โ1.75 Million BCE โ Humanity Adopted by Weaver, Creation of Garou
- 100,000โ10,000 BCE โ Diaspora, Banestorm, War of Shame
Ancient History
Around 6000 BCE, a supernatural alliance imprisoned an entity remembered as the Nameless. The prison weakened several times over the following millennia, forcing later generations to defend or renew it.
- 6000 BCE โ Sealing of the Nameless (First Binding)
- 5000 BCE โ Fracture of the First Seal
- 4000 BCE โ Rise of Babylon, Druidic Magick, First Shadow Tensions
- 3000 BCE โ First Breach Attempt, Wounded Anchors
- 2000 BCE โ Nephandi Almost Free the Nameless
- 1000 BCE โ Third Fire Renewal by Croatan
Classical to Early Modern History
The land surrounding the Four Lakes remained spiritually important through the rise and fall of nations, religions, and supernatural societies.
- 1 CE โ Dream of the Hollow Mask, Sentinel Appears
- 1000 CE โ Silent Confluence and Renewal of the Third Seal
- 1634โ1836 CE โ Indigenous Stewardship, Colonial Spiritual War
Madison Is Founded
Madison was built upon land already inhabited, protected, and contested by Indigenous peoples, spirits, and supernatural factions.
As the city grew, construction disturbed ancient spiritual paths beneath the Four Lakes. Mortal government rose beside the Capitol Node, one of the most powerful and dangerous places in the region.
During this period, the hidden sanctuary called New Avalon also began taking shape.
- 1836 โ Madison Founded atop the Third Anchor
- 1860s โ Civil War, Camp Randall Necromantic Spillover
- 1883 โ Baali Capitol Collapse
- 1890s โ Technocratic Assaults, Gahara Pact Forms
The Twentieth Century
1900 to 1919: Fire and Accord
The 1904 Capitol fire concealed a major supernatural confrontation. In its aftermath, Madison's supernatural factions established the Gahara Pact, an agreement intended to prevent open war.
New Avalon grew into a true Horizon Realm and sanctuary for the Awakened.
- 1900โ1915 โ Capitol Fire, Fall of the Lords of Madison
- 1914โ1920 โ WWI, New Avalon Echo, Sabbat Probes
1920 to 1949: Hidden Empires
Prohibition, organized crime, war, occult smuggling, and Technocratic operations changed Madison. Truax Field and other wartime projects left supernatural scars beneath the modern city.
- 1920โ1939 โ Prohibition, Syndicate Rise, Madtown Mage Cabal Forms
- 1940โ1949 โ WWII, Truax Field Founded, Nephandi Rituals
1950 to 1969: War and Awakening
Conflict between Madison's Kindred and Garou turned sacred places into battlegrounds.
Later, civil rights activism, student protest, new religious movements, and cultural rebellion changed the city's supernatural balance.
- 1950โ1959 โ KindredโGarou War, Cold War Occult Espionage
- 1960โ1969 โ Civil Rights Awakening, Hollow One Expansion, Malkavian Prophecy
1970 to 1979: Anarch Madison
A new alliance between Madison's Kindred and Garou brought an unstable peace.
Madison became an Anarch-controlled city. Its Kindred rejected direct Camarilla rule while continuing to use traditional offices such as Prince, Sheriff, and Primogen.
1980 to 1985: The Old Order Breaks
Conflict spread through the Digital Web. Madison's alliances weakened, and ancient supernatural protections began to fail.
1985: The First Collapse
The year 1985 changed Madison's supernatural world forever.
Prince Tori Redford and Garou Elder William Burke were found murdered. Their deaths threatened the alliance between the Kindred and Garou, weakened the Gahara Pact, and pushed several factions toward war.
At the same time, Madison, New Avalon, and New Eden became entangled in a final confrontation with the Nameless.
The city survived, but the old order did not. Leaders died or disappeared. Alliances fractured. New Avalon became inaccessible, and many truths about the crisis were buried.
1986 to 1996: Reconstruction
Jessica Woodfield became Prince and held Madison's Anarch domain together.
The city's Awakened were less fortunate. Their council weakened, the chantries became isolated, and irreplaceable knowledge disappeared with each death.
Madison remained peaceful on the surface, but that peace depended increasingly upon a few exhausted survivors.
1997 to 1998: The Web Breaks
On November 10, 1997, a supernatural catastrophe struck the Digital Web.
New Eden survived, but entire sectors disappeared. Records contradicted one another, and some digital inhabitants remembered places that apparently never existed.
In the aftermath, New Eden's purpose began to change. It was no longer merely a refuge. Some believed it could become the foundation of an entirely new civilization.
1999: The Avatar Storm
During the Week of Nightmares, supernatural catastrophes erupted across the world.
The Avatar Storm made travel between the physical and spiritual worlds extraordinarily dangerous. Madison lost many of its remaining Awakened teachers, guardians, and leaders.
Several chantries were cut off from their allies. Others were left in the hands of students who had never expected to inherit them.
The city survived its second supernatural collapse, but the Age of Masters was over.
2000 to 2005: The Failed Rescues
Madison's surviving mages attempted to rescue those trapped beyond the Avatar Storm.
Some expeditions vanished. Others returned with missing memories, spiritual wounds, or years of their lives unaccounted for.
By 2005, organized rescue efforts had ended. Too few experienced mages remained to risk another expedition.
2006 to 2014: The Closed Doors
The surviving chantries stopped functioning as a unified magical society.
Some became isolated households. Others stood empty behind wards their inhabitants no longer understood. Libraries remained locked, and old spirits continued waiting for promises nobody remembered making.
Meanwhile, Jessica Woodfield preserved Madison's fragile political peace.
2015 to 2019: The Untrained Generation
New mages continued to Awaken, but few teachers remained to guide them.
Many interpreted their experiences as psychic powers, religious visions, strange technology, witchcraft, artistic inspiration, extraordinary luck, or mental illness.
The Traditions still existed in Madison, but often as empty buildings, broken lineages, and stories inherited without explanation.
2020 to 2024: The Returning Paths
The Avatar Storm weakened and eventually ended.
Travel into the spirit world became possible again, but the old paths had changed. Some remained broken. Others led somewhere new.
Messages began arriving through channels that had been silent since 1999. New Awakenings increased, but Madison's remaining supernatural institutions were not prepared.
The city appeared peaceful. Underneath, old agreements were beginning to fail.
2025: The Present Chronicle
The Death of Jessica Woodfield
Prince Jessica Woodfield is dead.
Her death ends forty years of relative political stability. Madison's Anarch establishment is vulnerable, and the Camarilla sees an opportunity to claim the city.
The Primogen must decide who will rule, what Madison will become, and how much blood will be spilled before the question is answered.
Awakened of Madtown
Newly Awakened mages enter a city whose magical institutions have already failed.
The old masters are dead, missing, damaged, or pursuing private agendas. The chantries hold more secrets than living members.
The characters must discover what they have become while old protections begin failing around them.
Kindred of Madtown
Madison's Prince is dead, and every faction has its own version of what should happen next.
The city's Kindred must investigate the crisis, contain political violence, protect the Masquerade, and decide who has the right to rule an Anarch city that still calls its leader Prince.
Gen Con 2026
The 2025 crisis provides the shared setting for two Gen Con 2026 chronicles:
- Awakened of Madtown, using Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
- Kindred of Madtown, using Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition
No previous experience with Madtown by Night or the World of Darkness is required.
Timeline at a Glance
| Period | What Changed |
|---|---|
| Before 1836 | Ancient supernatural powers struggled over the land surrounding the Four Lakes. |
| 1836 to 1903 | Madison was founded, and New Avalon grew as a hidden sanctuary. |
| 1904 to 1974 | The Gahara Pact created an unstable peace between supernatural factions. |
| 1975 to 1984 | Madison became an Anarch-controlled city. |
| 1985 | The Capitol murders and Nameless crisis destroyed the old supernatural order. |
| 1986 to 1998 | Madison rebuilt while its Awakened institutions slowly collapsed. |
| 1999 | The Avatar Storm killed or stranded most of Madison's remaining masters. |
| 2000 to 2019 | Isolated survivors failed to rebuild the city's magical society. |
| 2020 to 2024 | The Avatar Storm ended, but the old order did not return. |
| 2025 | Jessica Woodfield's death placed Madison's future in the hands of the player characters. |
See Also
- Major Characters
- Supernatural Factions of Madison
- Capitol Node History
- New Avalon (Horizon Realm)
- Nameless โ Entity File
- Gahara Pact โ Founding Accord
Editorial Note
This page presents the current player-facing continuity for the 2025 setting.
Some linked articles contain older material that is still being reviewed. Information known only to the Storyteller has been deliberately omitted.