| abstract | - While there are rumors of Native American Cainites in the New York area prior to the 16th century, the first European vampires to arrive came with the Dutch colonists in 1625. Kindred involvement in the area probably started earlier with the expedition of Henry Hudson in 1609. By 1664, when the British assumed control of the city after naval engagements and then business negotiations with the Dutch, there were a number of Kindred in the city eager to make a name for themselves. A number of Sabbat also inhabited the city, led by the Bishop Ecaterina the Wise and waiting for their chance to assume power. By the end of the 17th century an estimated 20 Cainites hunted the 10,000 or so mortal kine of the city. While the Camarilla nominally controlled New York City for several centuries afterwards, it was always against the backdrop of constant battle with the Sabbat. In fact, the Sabbat membership on the island of Manhattan likely equal or exceeded that of the Camarilla. This lasted until 1929 when the enterprising Ventrue Michaela took advantage of the Sabbat's lack of interest in the financial dealings of Wall Street. She bought up stocks in the wake of the massive stock market crash and eventually made back her investment into a billion-dollar fortune. She used this fortune to attempt to stabilize the city and declared herself Prince in 1980 but this only served to instigate Sabbat reprisals. Michaela desperately tried to fend off the Sabbat, even recurring to the tactic of mass embraces, using her childer as cannon fodder against the Black Hand. The Sabbat had unchallenged dominance over the city until the Battle of New York of 1999, when a combined force of the Camarilla from inside and outside of the city successfully swept the Sabbat hierarchy from New York. Prince Michaela faced Final Death at the hands of the Archbishop Polonia during a fake attempt of parley with the Sabbat in the late 1990s. With Michaela decapitated, a council of Justicars established Calebros of the Nosferatu clan as Prince Pro-Tempore of the domain. Contrary to reports of its demise, some Kindred believe that the Tzimisce Antediluvian ([Tzimisce]) is alive and now exists as an immense amorphous blob underneath New York. At least one Gehenna scenario involves Tzimisce awakening and destroying much of the city.
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