TIMELINE
•1348: The Bubonic Plague, better known as “The Black Death”, reaches Europe. The Vatican establishes the Ordo Equitum Cruce Argentum, or the Order of the Knights of the Silver Cross. This militant order of knights is tasked to investigate rumors of the plague’s supernatural origins.
•1350: The plague in Europe ends. The Knights of the Silver Cross submit their final report on the plague. Through their investigations, the knights learn that the plague was created and spread by vampires in an attempt to covertly conquer Europe. Pope Clement VI charges the order with a new task: safeguarding Christendom from the supernatural.
•1446: Johan Krauss, an Inquisitor and member of the Knights of the Silver Cross, authors the Mysteriis de Inmortuum, or “Mysteries of the Undead”. This book, using almost a century of investigations, compiled a fairly-accurate representation of the hunting patterns, physiology, and tell-tale signs of vampires, though it was woefully lacking on the subjects of vampiric psychology or society. The Mysteriis became the official handbook of the order’s vampire hunters, and was continually updated whenever new information was learned. Krauss later authored several other guides, such as the Mysteriis de Lupinotuum (Mysteries of the Werewolves) and Mysteriis de Maleficarum (Mysteries of the Witches). The Knights of the Silver Cross begin training their own mages, in addition to their priests.
•1665: The Great Plague of London begins. The Knights of the Silver Cross, recognizing the signs of another vampiric plot, mobilize their English branch. The Tenth Crusade begins.
•1666: The Tenth Crusade ends. As the Knights of the Silver Cross take heavy losses in their covert war, they enact a mad, last-ditch plan: start a massive fire, intending to use the arson to rid London of the deeply-rooted vampiric infestation. The plan works, the surviving vampires are easily dispatched, and the blaze is immortalized as “the Great Fire of London”.
•1940: The Knights of the Silver Cross begin the Eleventh Crusade to purge Europe of vampiric influence, taking advantage World War II as a cover for their acts. Despite popular rumors within the order, the Knights find no evidence that anyone overly-important in the Nazi-German government has any connection to the undead whatsoever.
•2025:
o May 6th: Knights in Asia note a dramatic increase in vampiric activity, including active militarization. The Knights of the Silver Cross begin to make preparations for the possibility of an open attack on humanity.
o May 24th: A combined force of vampire soldiers and human thralls lands on the western coast of the United States. National Guard divisions in the area are mobilized, but are unable to effectively kill the undead. A stalemate develops: the National Guardsmen easily kill the near-mindless thralls during the day, but take heavy losses at night from the vampires.
o June 5th: Vampiric reinforcements arrive in the form of several powerful mages. The entire western coast of the United States is eclipsed for 48 hours. By the time the sun shines again, California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada have fallen. Other reports of open vampire attacks arise in other countries. In addition, many smaller nations such as Japan, the UK, and Cuba have fallen, due to both invasion and double-agents within their governments. The Grandmaster of the Knights of the Silver Cross, Jacque Bonfils, decides that the situation is dire enough for the Knights to reveal themselves as well.
o June 6th: The Twelfth Crusade begins.
o June 18th: The undead have taken the US west of the Mississippi River. Thankfully, their weakness to fire has become known at this point, and all of the U.S. military’s stored flamethrowers and incendiary weapons are used to hold the line. Meanwhile, detachments of Knights reinforce the militaries of nations across the world.
o August 12th: Despite the assistance of the Knights of the Silver Cross, the Mississippi Line falls after almost three months of resistance. The surviving Knights and National Guard members fall back. Meanwhile, all of Asia except for Russia, most of Europe, and Africa have been conquered by the vampires.
o September 2nd: The United States of America falls, followed swiftly by Canada, Mexico, and all of South America. Evacuated Knights and military personnel from the conquered nations are transferred elsewhere.
o October 8th: Almost all of the Italian Peninsula lays in undead possession. Every available Knight is recalled to Rome, an act that enrages many of the surviving nations. Roughly 150,000 Knights of the Silver Cross are stationed within Rome and the Vatican City. Outside are over 2,000,000 vampires and enthralled humans. The Siege of Rome begins.
•2026:
o March 15th: The undead army, despite being held at bay for months by a combined force of Knights, Swiss Guard, and displaced military personnel, finally invades Rome and the Vatican. Fortunately, Pope Alexander IX, most of the higher-ranking officials within the church, and most of the defenders manage to escape successfully to the Knight’s headquarters in Bavaria. The Siege of Rome ends in a Pyrrhic victory: the undead take the city, completing their conquest of Italy. However, the vampiric victory is short-lived, as the Knights detonate three nuclear weapons within the city, destroying it utterly.
o March 17th: The only nations left unconquered are Germany and Russia, with the latter still heavily-contested. The Knights of the Silver Cross, realizing that humanity will soon be completely subjected to the undead, create a plan to establish a foothold in the heavily-infested Unites States.
o April 2nd: A small team of Knights, led by Archmagus Adamo de Luca, land on Manhattan Island. The island is almost-entirely populated by the undead, and is also the current location of the vampiric Royal Family and most of the high-ranking nobility. The Knights detonate another nuclear weapon within New York City. At the cost of his own life, the Archmagus converts the heat and radiation from the blast into light, resulting in the island being sterilized of the undead without any collateral damage. In addition, the sheer volume of ash permanently stains everything on Manhattan black.
o April 3rd: The Knights of the Silver Cross take control of “The Black City”.
o July 11th: After months of rebuilding and clearing out New York City of the remaining undead, the Knights begin the American Reconquista, intent on purging North America of vampires. The remaining vampire nobles, without the Royal Family to keep them unified, degenerate into in-fighting. This allows the Knights of the Silver Cross to conquer territory much more easily. They are assisted by the numerous resistance groups that exist in undead-held areas, which usually join the Reconquista after liberation.
•2035:
o August 12th: The American Reconquista ends. The entire continent of North America is controlled by humanity. The Knights of the Silver Cross, exhausted both in manpower and resources, declares the end of the Twelfth Crusade.
•2050:
o November 8th: In the 15 years since the end of the Twelfth Crusade, society has rebuilt in North America. America, Canada, and Mexico are now a continent-spanning theocracy, ruled by a “reformed” Catholic Church. Among these reforms is the Edict of Buffalo, issued by Pope John XXIV on November 8th, which allows clergy to marry and have families.
•2248:
o June 25th: After over a century of planning and preparation, the Knights of the Silver Cross initiate the Thirteenth Crusade. Pope Urban XV swears that “this will be the last crusade”.
•2512: Current year. The Thirteenth Crusade is still going on. Thankfully, in addition to North America, most of Europe, South America, and parts of Asia are now under the control of mankind.
