The war lasted from 1933-1950 and spanned almost the entirety of Europe, with the exception of the British Isles. The war was started by the now Clan Ghul and ended in a peace agreement and the integration of Clan Ghul into the Undying Society. The war began in Germany and had 6 Fronts: the Italian Front, the French Front, the Spanish Front, the Scandinavian Front, the East Front and the Balkan Front.
1933-1947: The Occupation of Germany
The war began in June 1933 in Germany and Switzerland, when the sun was permeating most of the day. Order of the Crossroad was using their human minions to capture vampires landlocked in their own havens. This activity was kept low at first and became increasingly more frequent with each passing year.
In this period the Order kept everything strictly in Germany and Switzerland. The human world disrupting in chaos was the diversion that kept the war secret from the Undying Society in these first years.
When the Russians and the Americans started invading and bombing Nazi Germany the Order of the Crossroads pulled out most of their efforts in the country taking with them several hundreds captured vampires. This was merely the beginning of the true war between The Undying Society and the Order.
Germany finally fell to the Dracul Empire in 1947.
1936-1950: The Italian Front
Italy was strategically important to the Order. Not only was it right next to their seat of power in Switzerland but it also contained a very dangerous foe if left unchecked, the Hunter Organization called the Inquisition located in the Vatican.
Unfortunately for the hunters they became quickly and heavily assaulted, and were subsequently forced to stay out of the conflict. No one knows to this day how the Order of the Crossroads managed such a feat.
The rest of the war in Italy was rather tame, even when the Americans liberated the peninsula the Undying Society had trouble getting a foothold.
1940-1950: The French Front
France was to become one of the deadliest battlefields in the war. At first the Undying Society collapsed locally to the invading Ghuls, so when the Society finally reached France in 1944 they discovered that they were at war. France was to be one of the largest and deadliest fronts, spilling over and creating the Spanish Front.
The order were not afraid to deploy undead monstrosities and other horrific creatures of mad science catching the Vampires by surprise, even few enemy mages were shown to be physically stronger than anything the Society expected. The French Front was catastrophic for the Undying Society, fighting a well equipped and prepared army of monsters and mages.
The skirmishes in the night could easily last until morning, where vampires had to seek refuge and the mages just followed them home and burned whatever place they slept down.
Paris became the epicentre of the French Front and after six years of back and forth the city remained contested. In the meantime Belgium and Netherlands were regained in 1945.
1940-1947: The Spanish Front
The Spanish regime became one of the many puppets of the Order of the Crossroads, and the Vampires who fled the Second World War soon found themselves captured in Spain.
Spain remained fairly stable until 1945-46 when the Undying Society pooled many resources into liberating Spain. Because of the harshness of the French Front the Order couldn’t afford to fight in Spain and after 15 months the Spanish Front collapsed.
1940-1949: The Scandinavian Front
The quiet front. Small population and cold climate has led Scandinavia to have a small population of vampires and therefore little interest from the Undying Society. Not until 1945 when it was proposed that new fronts might aid the war effort, they sent out scouts to acquire information.
The Undying Society learned that the Scandinavian Front was small and largely unprotected, but very little political interest was in liberating the north, even Dracul went uninterested in Scandinavia. It was not until Swedish Vampire refugees, determined to gain control of their homeland, that the fight for the north started in late 1947.
The struggle was rather small compared to the other fronts but by 1949 the Undying Society finally regained full control of Scandinavia.
1943-1947: The East Front
The war against Dracul was bloody, brutal and quick (by vampiric standards). The Order was on the frontlines taking city by city, capturing vampire after vampire. The Dracul didn’t care much for human conflict and it wasn’t until the death of Alexander Romanov in ‘43, the heir to the Dracul Throne, that the Dracul finally reared its head towards war with the Order. After that all hell broke loose: Poland, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany were invaded by the Dracul Empire. No one was safe from the vengeance of Dracul, not even their supposed allies.
When Dracul reached Austria and Germany they simply halted all their operations and started consolidating their positions.
By the end of the war, the Dracul only relinquished Austria and Germany satisfied with their new territorial claims.
1941-1950: The Balkan Front
The Nephilim Front some called it, due to the extremely large force concentration from Clan Nephilim. The choice of going through the Balkans to reach Switzerland and finishing off the Order of the Crossroad was, to Nephilims dismay, anticipated.
Targeting the Nephilim logistics, such as their food supply and havens became a huge factor in halting their advance. The Nephilim expected this to be akin the Bastion Crusades, but they had no local allies to help them survive, all of their contacts were eradicated in the early stages of the war.
Fighting in the blind, with little supplies against an enemy using Illusion magic turned out to be the downfall of the Nephilim war in the Balkans. And the leadership of the Nephilim were too stubborn to change their paths. The cost in Nephilim lives was not akin to the Bastion Crusades, but they almost never managed to gain any permanent footing or enemy lives.
And then came the Dracul, sowing even more chaos, killing whomever stood in their way, even other clans from the Undying Society. Some Nephilim to this day claim that the loss in the Balkans was because of Draculs reckless interference. The Dracul Throne has still not recognized their involvement with any dead Nephilims.
The Order of the Crossroad
Using not just human minions to inform, spy and capture their enemies, the order of the crossroads had prepared several ways to wage war.
Abominations: The Order of the Crossroads fused humans with alchemical potions and grafted additional limbs unto what would become true horrors of war. These subservient monsters were collectively known as Abominations. After the war their use was limited to Switzerland.
The Undead: Ghosts were often used as spies, but banshees and poltergeists could do assassinations on enemy Blood Servants. Traps filled with zombies were also common, though often not very effective as compared to Abominations.
Traps: One of the worst experiences fighting against the Order was the fact that their usage of cruel traps both magical and mundane was extensive. From pumping enemy blood supplies with vile alchemical poison to using traps that would squeeze the blood out of you slowly while keeping you immobile. Often masking these devices with magic itself.
The Undying Society
The Undying Society relied heavily on what each Clan brought to the table on each front, though there were commonalities on all fronts.
Blood Servants: There is no denying that fighting the Undying Society means fighting their untold numbers of human minions. Many of them are enhanced by supernatural powers and abilities.
Nephilim Hunters: Nephilim packs on the prowl proved efficient fighting the Order and good liaisons of knowledge in the war. Unfortunately for them their enemies knew a lot about them and their tactics.
U.C.S Undying Combat Squads: Undying Society made combat squads of voluntary Socialites and put people together to solve issues depending on the teams specialisations. This tactic proved highly effective and saw many Socialites bonding during the war.
The Treaty of Zurich
At the start of 1950 the situation came to a halt, both sides battered from war and conflict took a break in the freezing winter. Up until that point very little communication had been from the Order and now they finally showed their true colours. They told the Society that they possessed not only vast amounts of resources but also safety and security in their alpine fortresses, and that the many Vampires believed killed during the first half of the war were secretly being held captive by the Order. All they wanted was to end the war and become part of the Undying Society.
The conflict at this point had dragged on for quite too long and the idea of laying siege to Switzerland was not enticing to the average Socialite. Many Elders had lost their children during the war and the idea of their offspring returning home also gave way to peace.
But peace relied on a ⅔ majority in the Undying Society. Everyone wanted the release of the captured Vampires, so an agreement of 50 years release was agreed upon, to make sure that the Society wouldn’t break their deal. Every Clan also had their own demand, Dracul wanted an eradication of all former ties to the national socialism that killed their heir, and so the Order purged their own ranks. The Agamemnon leading the attendance wanted a personal favour that remains to be used, and so the Order granted a personal favour. Chupacabra wanted support for their brand of christianity, and so the Order made a public statement that god exists and Chupacabra interpreted god’s word correctly. Revenant wanted a total adherence to the Undying Society, and so the Order indoctrinated their mages.
Clan Nephilim wanted nothing and voted against, and so the Order gave nothing. And then the Order of the Crossroad entered the Undying Society and became known as Clan Ghul.
Vampire: The Ambitious 