...The Entire Garden State Chronicle, Condensed...

Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was the Camarilla's closest stronghold to Sabbat-controlled Philadelphia. After New York fell to the Camarilla, Philadelphia became the headquarters for the Sabbat in the Eastern Seaboard. As the Camarilla was planning an invasion of Philadelphia, trying to drive the Sabbat out, Gabriel Murchandson, a well respected member of Clan Brujah, was brought in to be both the Prince of Cherry Hill and to lead the strikes.

However, Prince Murchandson mysteriously vanished as the Camarilla forces were arriving in Cherry Hill. In his absence, two Kindred attempted to become the Prince of Cherry Hill: Kyle Jones, the Childe of Gabriel Murchandson, and a Tremere named Justin. The two of them made an arrangement: Justin would help Kyle Jones hold down Cherry Hill, and Kyle would help Justin lead the assault on Philadelphia.

In late October of 1998, the Camarilla invaded Philadelphia and successfully wrested it out of Sabbat hands. Justin was made Prince in Philadelphia, and all was well. Plans were made to begin assaulting other Sabbat-held cities. There was peace in the Cherry Hill area, until early March of 1999. In March of 1999, Justin revealed the truth: he was actually Sabbat. Justin led the Sabbat forces which had been hiding in Philadelphia against the Camarilla, killing a number of people (including the Toreador Justicar) and driving the Camarilla back to Cherry Hill. Prince Jones left Cherry Hill shortly afterwards, abdicating before the locals could turn against him. Justin also mysteriously left Philadelphia around the same time.

Chaos and confusion reigned in Cherry Hill and Philadelphia for the next few months. Nicolas Moscato of the Brujah, came to power in Cherry Hill, and a new Archbishop, Miguel de Rojas of the Lasombra, arose in Philadelphia. A rough peace settled, and an end to the constant fighting of the previous months occurred. Peace reigned again in the individual cities, although Philadelphia was still in the hands of the Sabbat. Then, in early September, Victor Anderson, Childe and Archon of the deceased Toreador Justicar, came to Cherry Hill, seeking vengeance against the Sabbat for killing his Sire.

Shortly after Anderson came to Cherry Hill, the area erupted. Cherry Hill fell to the Sabbat in a bacchanal of violence and mayhem, leaving over one thousand people dead, a Native American tribe slaughtered, and several businesses in the area destroyed. Government troops came in and settled the peace, driving out the bulk of the supernatural beings, and left behind a powerful presence.

The Sabbat retreated to Philadelphia, while the Camarilla attempted a few strikes against them. Due to the presence of the government agents (and possible hunters), those strikes failed miserably. However, one strike succeeded wildly, ending up with Archbishop Miguel de Rojas dying horribly. A new Archbishop quickly came to power in Philadelphia, and the Camarilla eventually retreated to Atlantic City, it's last major holding in New Jersey.

The Prince of Atlantic City, Quentin Stone, of Clan Tremere, began shoring up the city's defenses, preparing for an assault from the Sabbat. In the meantime, Bishop Vincent Mastrodemios, who led the Sabbat assault on Cherry Hill, was named Archbishop of Atlantic City in Exile, and commanded to take the city.

On March 31st, 2000, the Sabbat struck at Atlantic City. A number of the Camarilla, including the Primogen and Seneschal of Atlantic City and a number of survivors from Cherry Hill, were either converted by the Sabbat or killed. A group of Garou and other Werebeings aligned themselves with the Camarilla and assisted them in trying to hold the city. The Sabbat were prevented from completely taking the city, but they did make significant inroads into removing the Camarilla from power.

Shortly after the attacks of March 31st, Atlantic City fell into a state of détente, as the Sabbat was unable to overcome the combined forces of the Camarilla and the Garou, while the Camarilla and Garou were unable to overcome the Sabbat. The city eventually became a pair of armed camps, with a virtual no-man's land between them. Both sides brought reinforcements in, and towards the end of August, rumors began surfacing that Gabriel Murchandson had re-appeared after his long absence, and was bringing an army with him to Atlantic City.

On September 28th, the Sabbat made their move. Worried by the rumors of Murchandson, they drove down upon Atlantic City in such force that not even the reinforced Camarilla could hold them off, especially since the Camarilla's Garou allies were almost nowhere to be found, since they were suffering from a crisis of leadership. The Sabbat quickly managed to decimate most of the Camarilla's leadership in one night, ultimately converting the bulk of the Primogen Council to their side and diablerizing Prince Stone. The Sabbat's actions, however, caused such a large breach of the Masquerade that martial law was imposed in the area.

On September 29th, as the Sabbat finally began to consolidate their reign on the locked-down Atlantic City, trouble began brewing in Philadelphia, the stronghold of the Sabbat in North America. It seemed that Gabriel Murchandson did indeed have an army with him, but instead of heading to Atlantic City, he had headed to Philadelphia. With the Sabbat forces stretched out and divided between Atlantic City and Philadelphia, Philadelphia fell to Gabriel Murchandson.

So, as October 2000 began, Atlantic City had fallen to the Sabbat, and Philadelphia had fallen to the Camarilla. The curtain fell on two years of violence and destruction, without much change....

(Eric's Note: Kinda sad, isn't it? Two years of death and destruction, and only the names change.... There could be a moral here, but I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to discover it....)