Season Summaries

White City Warlords is an ongoing roleplay with narrative arcs divided into seasons. So far, there has been one completed season of roleplay in addition to some minor between-seasons story arcs. You may find their summaries here.

## Season 1 - Flash Fire

It's May of 192X. The weather is warming up and Lincoln Park is in full bloom. Dewdrops bead on the grass and the fragrant summer breeze carries flower petals through the winding corridors of the Windy City. It's shaping up to be a gorgeous summer... and Mayor John Michael Hadewich lies dead in his study of his stately countryside manor. Killed by strangulation with a garrote wire.

John Hadewich's term as mayor brought staggering changes to Chicago. Hadewich was a former steel tycoon who, during his campaign, promised to clean up crime. And he did just that by implementing the highly controversial Streetsweeper program. The Streetsweepers were a privately-funded paramilitary group sanctioned to do whatever it took to end organized crime in Chicago. Their primary target was La Famiglia Nostra, an Italian-American crime syndicate headed by the infamous Calabrese Family. The Sweepers appeared seemingly from nowhere, nearly dismantled La Famiglia with their sophisticated strike tactics, and disappeared just as suddenly with Hadewich's assassination. Their identities were kept completely secret - despite La Famiglia offering massive bounties to anyone who could reveal the names of those working in the Sweeper program.

With Hadewich suddenly dead, his reign of terror over Chicago had finally come to an end. But La Famiglia Nostra lay in shambles and, in their place, new gangs were starting to take hold of Chicago's underworld. The Steel Chip Gang, lead by Benedict "Benny" House, moves into the lucrative West Side. Smelling blood in the water, the Irish New York City gang known as the Dead Rabbits began to migrate west.

La Famiglia Nostra is reeling from the Streetsweepers, but they're not ready to give up quite yet. Their Don and founder - Vincentio Calabrese - is presumed dead, having disappeared after a fatal Streetsweeper sting operation that also killed his right-hand man Diano Bianchi. His widow, Claudia Calabrese, has been waffling over whether or not to take the helm of the organization. But with Hadewich suddenly dead and the Streetsweepers gone, she sees an opportunity to regain lost ground. But she needs soldiers after the devastating losses from the war with the Streetsweepers. So she decides to seek help from the Steel Chip Gang.

Benny is glad to offer Claudia an alliance -- but it comes at a price she cannot support. He demands she pull all of her operations out of the West Side, which would constitute a terrible loss in profits for La Famiglia. Benny's insolence and lack of respect make Claudia lose her temper. She insults him, causing the meeting to spiral into disaster. Benny retaliates against Claudia's insult by having his men burn down the Lake Side office of the Calabrese Waste Collection Agency. With that, warfare kicks off between the Steel Chips and the struggling remnants of La Famiglia Nostra. Hadewich isn't even the ground and already the gangs have begun to riot.

Claudia can't face Benny in a head-to-head martial conflict, however. Her numbers are too few and she cannot suffer any more loss. So, she turns to sabotage.

James Chapel, a former police investigator turned Private Eye, has just returned to Chicago after a stint abroad in the Far East. Unfortunately for James, he's the primary suspect in the infamous Triple Cross Killings. James finds himself arrested immediately upon his arrival. Claudia strikes a deal with Chapel. He'll spy on Benny for her and, in exchange, she'll bail him out of jail and pay the legal fees for his defense. James takes the job and approaches it in his usual unconventional way -- by pretending to double-cross Claudia and then triple-crossing Benny.

At the same time, Claudia begins an unexpected romance with William Bascher, a city councilman who boldly opposed Hadewich's wildly unpopular Streetsweeper program. Claudia encourages Bascher to consider running for mayor with her funding - telling him he can bring positive change to Chicago.

Claudia's collaboration with James has negative consequences for the Family, however. The Endrizzi family - a violent group making up the core of Claudia's martial forces - has a long-standing grudge against Chapel. Giovanna Endrizzi was one of the victims of the Triple Cross Killer and the Endrizzis believe James to be the man behind her murder. With their dislike of Claudia due to an old snub and La Famiglia's weakened, flagging status, the Endrizzis decide to break their sacred omerta and take their closest allies, the De Lucas, with them. Eduardo Endrizzi, the patriarch of the Endrizzi family, attacks Claudia with an empty bottle while she's out on a date with William Bascher, giving her a concussion and solidifying himself as an enemy of La Famiglia.

The Endrizzis know they are no longer welcome in Chicago, but they decide to punish Claudia once more for her actions before they go. They hire Osmond Mona, a notorious hitman, to kidnap Claudia's two children Mattheo and Giulietta and hold them for ransom. If Claudia hands Chapel over to the Endrizzis, they'll release her children safe and sound. Claudia is not willing to give up her one possible advantage over Benny House, though, but unfortunately seems to have no other recourse.

Until the Dead Rabbits show up.

The Dead Rabbits are trying to establish themselves as the new source of booze in Chicago, but they need connections and a distribution network. La Famiglia Nostra has been in the game for a long time -- and they can provide just that. The Dead Rabbits offer their men to help Claudia get her children back.

Together with the Rabbits, La Famiglia stages a manhunt across Chicago. They have no luck. It seems the Endrizzis and the De Lucas have pulled up everything and fled -- until they get a call from the Endrizzis. Eduardo Endrizzi, the boss of the Endrizzi family, is offering a hostage exchange at the city port - Chapel for the children. And Claudia must come alone. Claudia agrees, but decides to swap the real James Chapel for a decoy and to bring her new friends, the Dead Rabbits, as backup.

Arriving at the port, La Famiglia and the Rabbits have a tense stand-off with Eduardo Endrizzi, Bartolomeo De Luca, and their men. Bloodshed breaks out when the Endrizzis realize that Claudia hasn't come alone as promised. At first, it looks as though the Endrizzis might triumph over La Famiglia. But there's a decisive turn in the battle when Henry Scaglione, Claudia's bodyguard, arrives and strikes a killing blow against Eduardo and Bartolomeo.  Claudia and her men are able to recover the children safely.

That Friday, after the children recover from their ordeal, Claudia finally holds a funeral for her departed husband. Benny arrives at the funeral hoping to broker peace between their two factions. But at the last minute, Benny inexplicably decides to rescind his offer of alliance. Claudia would later learn it was because Benny's beloved niece, Miralia "Mira" Ciprani, had become romantically linked with the leader of the Dead Rabbits, Cynnabue "Cyn" Sycamore. Benny feared for Mira's safety and didn't want her involved in Chicago's criminal underworld. So when Benny saw the Rabbits present at the funeral reception and realized they were allied with La Famiglia, he immediately reversed his decision to try for peace.

With that, La Famiglia and the Dead Rabbits decide to begin preparing for war.