Type: Plot Hook
Most Suitable For: Mage, Vampire, Werewolf
The backwoods of rural societies leave space for all kinds of strange things to develop. The Fellowship of the New Dawn is one of those strange things, but it represents a cancerous growth that, if left unchecked, could eventually lead to untold destruction and tragedy. At face value, its a church, built in a small town but with access to a much larger community pool, and with large amounts of financial backing and zealous support.
The Fellowship of the New Dawn is a church and relief support organization; they do outreach and volunteer work for homeless, needy families, veterans, at-risk youth, etc. They offer extra services (daycare, housing support, coffee bar, playground, bookstore, etc) at their church for any members above "first level," something that is easy enough to achieve. They serve the town and surrounding communities, and also have satellite locations throughout the greater metropolitan area, ever reaching out for more worshipers to join their congregation. They do a lot of good, and the vast majority of their members are happy to provide this help for their fellow humans. But there's something hidden underneath that they don't know.
The Fellowship was founded by a man who suffered a devastating loss of his family during a horrific supernatural event that included the intrusion into our world from a being of spirit and darkness. Maybe it came from the Abyss, the Low Umbra, or even the Astral Reaches; wherever its point of origin, when it came into the Material Realm, it brought chaos, darkness, and destruction with it. Humans don't often understand the bigger picture; they have no idea about the various things that exist in the darkness, and when they come face to face with such things (and when those things destroy their home and devour their loved ones), they will often seek to explain it in a way (any way) that makes sense. This broken man was momentarily exposed to something otherworldly, and the only way that he could make sense was to perceive it as divine. His family was destroyed by a god, or by a devil, but it was better for them either way.
From there, it was a matter of planning and purpose, fueled by religious zealotry and Awakened Will. Far from the reaches of the Traditions and the Technocracy, the man built his church. He understood from beforehand how to write his liturgy, establish his doctrine, and build his traditions. He knew instinctively how to develop his ritual practices to achieve his desired effect. He knew what he was doing, even if the majority of his congregation wouldn't be able to see it. The world was a dark place, and when people committed evil acts, they became representative of that darkness. The world could only be saved by the coming of dawn, the brilliant light scourging the darkness; but there was no way for it to come with all of these servants of darkness roaming free. If they were wiped from the face of the earth, the world could be reborn in a beautiful New Dawn. To bring about this Dawn, the very beings that threatened him before would have to be called again; and they would have to be empowered, so as to help them destroy the world. To that end, every ritual, every prayer, and every piece of doctrine is aimed at calling out into the abyss, a flickering candle light in the darkness that will hopefully draw the attention of bigger and bigger moths. And at that point, there will be that untold destruction that was mentioned earlier.
The Fellowship of the New Dawn works best when set on the outer edges of greater metropolitan areas, providing great contrast and tension between the "city folk" and the "country folk." This group would be best represented not as evil cultists, but as real, religious people fighting hard for what they believe in. Interactions between the church and the player characters should create moral quandaries. Is it okay to act against this group when doing so would mean taking away support structures for homeless people, after school programs, food pantries, etc? Is the Fellowship capable of being redeemed or does it need to be destroyed? These are not questions with easy answers, and this chronicle is not meant to be something for starting players to jump into; but if done correctly, this is the kind of game that can be very rewarding for both storytellers and players.