The Nights of Damian Cross.
Act II summary and index. Start here if you are new.
Welcome to Santa Maria.
In Project Elegy: Shadows of Santa Maria, you step into the dark, intricate world of vampires navigating the hauntingly beautiful yet treacherous city of Santa Maria, a ficticious port city, in the southern coast of England. A gothic-noir reflection of modern urban life, Santa Maria is divided into distinct districts, each teeming with secrets, power struggles, and supernatural intrigue. In this city, vampires uphold a fragile balance, bound by ancient laws to conceal their existence from mortals while contending with internal politics, rival factions, and their own predatory natures. I’ll take on the role of a vampire striving to reconcile his humanity with the monstrous instincts that drive him, unravel conspiracies, forge tenuous alliances, and survive the perilous nights. It’s a tale of moral ambiguity, eternal grief, and the relentless hunger for control, set against a backdrop of decadence and decay.
The story started in Act I, and we are currently playing Act II. We mainly utilized the Elegy 3.5 system for our character sheets and rolls, along with Mythic GM Emulator. However, starting at “Act II. Part 6”, we’ll migrate to Vampire: The Masquerade, 5th Edition. This will, of course, require some retroactive continuity, the famous retcon. We’ll be utilizing V:tM with the Tourniquet engine for solo roleplay and a few oracles from MGME.
Almost all images you see are AI generated. Starting at Act II, the text is mine.
Our protagonist.
Damian Cross was a man who lived by the truth—until the truth got him killed. A relentless homicide detective with a reputation for digging too deep, he had no patience for corruption and no fear of making enemies. His obsession with a series of ritualistic disappearances in Santa Maria led him straight into a trap, set not by criminals, but by his own corrupted allies from the force. Shot multiple times and left for dead in the gutters of Suburbia, he should have died that night—but someone, or something, decided otherwise. He woke up changed, thrown into a world of predators he had spent his life hunting, with no memory of who had turned him. The Queen of Santa Maria spared him, not out of mercy, but because she wanted answers—answers he was forced to find if he wanted to survive. Taken in by Primogen Lisette Renaud of the Gangrel, he was taught to navigate his new nature, but he never fully accepted it. His old life may be gone, but the detective in him refuses to rest. Now, Damian hunts the truth from the other side of the line, walking the razor’s edge between the monster he has become and the man he refuses to let go of, determined to solve the case that cost him his life—even if it destroys him again.
The Nights of Damian Cross.
Prologue - serves as a small introduction to the undeath of Damian Cross.
Part 1:Blood loves company - Damian, armed with a whole week of experience, tries to investigate his own death. Things ends badly.
Part 2: The plot thickens - After his disastrous first night, Damian decides to start thinking like a detective again - and suddenly notices that he probably is the undead scapegoat in a vampiric conspiracy.
Part 3: Make Sofia Bennet fall in line - Damian tries to get Sofia Bennet, his ally, friend and touchstone, to stop investigating the death of Luke Morales, the dirty cop he killed in a frenzy.
Part 4: If ravens could speak - Lisette Renaud takes Damian to the woods where he was embraced and they try to find out more about what happened. They discover the identity of Damian’s sire, and confirm his hyphotesis of conspiracy.
Part 5: Velvet Veins - Lisette, although disaproving of Damian’s unwillingness to hunt, sends him to the Velvet Veins, a discreet place for discreet kindred with discreet feeding habits. This is the last play report utilizing Elegy 3.5.
Part 6: The Abyss - First part using the V5 system instead of Elegy. Damian meets with Evelyn March, Lasombra Primogen, hoping to find some social support.
Part 7: The case of the missing Blood Doll - Camille asks Damian for help: one of the blood dolls she employs at the Velvet Veins has gone missing for a few days.