Blood Night

In Ravenhurst, Blood Night is something most residents of the city dread. Nobody is quite sure how the annual "holiday" started. Some say the Mexican street gangs started it in the late 1960s. Some say the Red Devils or the Jokers motorcycle gangs started it. But it matters little because almost every criminal in town participates in some way, from the independents to the street gangs. Blood Night is "celebrated" on October 13 and is considered "the criminals' New Year". For about a week to a week and a half before Blood Night, crime starts to spike as the criminals prepare. Then when the 13th rolls around, the crooks in the poorer neighborhoods go hog wild with all sorts of robbery, rampant drug use, violent assault, attempted murder, destruction of property, or whatever else. The idea is to keep moving and keep the cops so busy as to be overwhelmed. Usually, the best the Ravenhurst PD can hope for is to corral and contain the crime spree to the less gentrified districts but some of it does spill over into some of the middle class neighborhoods and even Midtown. The reaction of the local vampiric population varies. Prince Lothaire and his supporters hate Blood Night because it is something they can't control or prosper from, for the most part. Other Kindred love it and head down to mean streets for easy blood and a chance to raise some serious Hell. The Anarch vampires often plan subversive activities around this time because they know that the Prince and his goon squad will have trouble noticing them among all the other chaos. It can also be a dangerous time as the Masquerade has cracked around the edges on previous Blood Nights, causing the mortals to know that something strange is afoot. One night, this may attract vampire hunters to the city of Ravenhurst.