History of the Hellmouth
Chumash Myth
Long before the white man came but long after the people were no longer animals, there lived a powerful magician named Skumashtsh. He was a kipo’mo, or weather prophet, who was a member of the powerful ‘antap council. Skumashtsh had the most powerful medicine in all of Alpinche. He could make the thunder obey his commands and speak with great spirits, but this was not enough for him. He was willing to do anything to gain more power, even sacrifice his own people. He decided to open the Gateway to Shimilak’sha, the Lower World.
There was no one else in Alpinche who could deny the kipo’mo. His fellow chiefs and shamans on the ‘antap were beholden to him. Others tried to dissuade him, but were destroyed by the lightning he called from the sky. Skumashtsh made preparations for a great ritual that would bring Shimilak’sha to the Middle World.
The only shaman left in Alpinche who had not been killed or corrupted by Skumashtsh was an aluctecanwa, an old medicine woman. She knew she was too old and weak to fight the weather prophet. She fled Alpinche and crossed the mountains into the lands to the east. That night the old woman had a dream where she was visited by Slo’w, the Eagle who supports the Upper World above the Earth on his wings. The Eagle asked the old woman why she was running, and she replied that it was because she was weak and afraid.
The Eagle spread his great wings and told the aluctecanwa that there was a girl who fought like the Hero Twins. When she died another would take her place, just as she took the place of the one who came before her. She could stand against Skumashtsh. But she was not there.
The Eagle also said that in lands far from Alpinche there were warriors who rode beasts and wore metal armor. A few of these warriors had been granted powerful medicine in the name of Sun and Moon and all the Powers That Be. Any one of those warriors could fight Skumashtsh. But they too were not there.
Then the Eagle said that there were beasts who no longer wished to serve Shimilak’sha. They protected the people in the name of the Sun and the Moon and the Powers That Be. Though they might appear as monsters, they were brave warriors who would gladly give their own lives to stop Skumashtsh. But none of them were there.
There was only the old woman to perform this great deed. There was only the old woman to protect the people. She must return and fight.
Skumashtsh did manage to open the Gateway to Shimilak’sha, but only for a brief moment. As the kipo’mo marveled at the great medicine he had created, the old aluctecanwa pushed the evil man into the gateway and then fell in behind him. This negated Skumashtsh’s ritual and the Gateway to Shimilak’sha was closed. The people were saved by a brave old woman whose name is no longer even remembered, but her brave deed shall never be forgotten.
Such is the tale told by the Chumash of Sunnydale to remind the children that what must be done can be done, by the brave of heart.
History of the Chumash:
For thousands of years, the only people living near the Sunnydale Hellmouth were the Chumash Indians, whose nation covered much of southern California. The Chumash thrived on the California coast, sending their tomols (canoes built from split wood planks and reaching twenty feet in length) out into the Pacific to catch ocean fish. This gave them an advantage over other California tribal nations, because they were the only people in the area with an ocean-going capability.
The Chumash were led by their chiefs and shamans. The shamans of the Chumash people were considered very powerful, especially in the area known as Alpinche (which means “acorns” in the Chumash language). The shamans in the Alpinche region were powerful sorcerers as well as healers. The Chumash considered such shamans both blessed and cursed. That is because the power of the shamans was enhanced by their proximity to a place where the barriers between dimensions was weak. Alpinche contained a Hellmouth.
Just as in modern times, the area around the Hellmouth was prone to supernatural events. Sometimes these events were relatively minor-single demons would be attracted to the area and plague the Chumash for a short period. Sometimes these events were cataclysmic.
At two periods in their long history, the Chumash people felt the true power of the Hellmouth. This happened about eleven thousand years ago and then again seven hundred years ago. The demonic entity or entities responsible remain unknown, but during both times the Chumash nation suffered a devastating drought that caused a famine. The Chumash fought each other, driven to anger and violence from the Hellmouth’s influence. If not for the skills of a few shamans and the bravery of a few warriors, the Hellmouth would have wiped out the Chumash civilization. The people of Alpinche were able to survive the monsters of the Hellmouth, but their greatest threat would come about two hundred and fifty years later.
It should be noted that along with a Hellmouth, an Egyptian-looking temple was located in Alpinche before the Chumash settled in the area. The temple was overseen by members of the Guardians, females who secretly watched over the Slayer line. A mystical Scythe would eventually be buried in solid rock in the area as well, only to be discovered at the time when the Slayer line would need it most. Not only was all of this unknown to the Chumash, it was also unknown to the Watchers. Since there are no overt Egyptian influences in Chumash culture, and since the only mention of the temple was in the obscure and relatively modern writings of some area monks, it can be assumed that for most of its history the temple was mystically hidden from the outside world.
Spanish Conquerors:
In 1542 an event occurred that would forever change the Chumash way of life. A fleet of three Spanish sailing ships commanded by Juan Rodreguez Cabrilla were met at sea by the ocean-going tomol of the Chumash people. The Chumash welcomed and honored the strange newcomers to their lands by throwing them a feast. Cabrilla returned the favor by giving the Chumash some glass beads and claiming their land in the name of King Charles I of Spain. Despite this claim, the Chumash lands remained unexplored by the Europeans until sixty years later when Sebastan Vizcano followed Cabrilla’s route to the southern coast of California.
Vizcano named the area after Saint Barbara. Unlike Cabrilla, he spent a significant amount of time with the Chumash. They showed the Spanish explorers the resources of their beautiful country. They also told him about the Portal To The Lower World. Vizcano named this cursed area Boca Del Infierno, the Mouth of Hell. This is the origin of the term Hellmouth.
Acathla:
It was around this time that a virtuous knight who served the Powers That Be prevented the Apocalypse (or at least prevented an apocalypse) from happening in the Aztec lands that would one day become Mexico. As the Aztec Empire was being conquered by Spain, a group of sorcerers used dark magic to summon the demon Acathla to earth. As conventional fighting had proven hopeless, it was hoped that the black arts would defeat the Spanish. It is unknown whether the Aztecs sorcerers knew that their actions would destroy the world. It is possible that they were desperate enough not to care . . . or evil enough not to mind.
Once the demon Acathla was summoned, it would draw a deep breath and slowly create a vortex between Earth and one of the demon dimensions. The vortex would grow increasingly larger until the entire planet was sucked through and humanity would find itself in the middle of hell faced with legions of demons who would like nothing more than to torture and kill them in nasty and interesting ways. The knight, whose name has been lost, crashed the ceremony, stabbed the demon’s heart with a blessed sword, and proceeded to kill the black magicians.
The demon was incapacitated but not destroyed. It turned to stone, the sword still embedded in its chest. The knight didn’t want anyone attempting to revive the abomination, so he took the stone demon far to the north, in what he considered an uncivilized wilderness. When he found a spot that he deemed remote enough, he buried Acathla deep into the earth where it would never be disturbed again. It was pure dumb luck that the place he chose was so close to the Hellmouth, but that kind of dumb luck happens a lot in Sunny D (or the area that would become Sunny D).
Missionaries:
One of the historical goals of Spain was to convert the native people of America to the Church of Rome. In 1697, the Jesuits arrived in Baja California with a royal charter. By 1767, their mission was assumed by the Franciscans. Father-President Junpero Serra led the Franciscan effort to expand missionary work north into Alta California. Three years later, a troop of soldiers commanded by Captain Gaspar de Portola were sent to explore the California Central Coast in preparation for the coming missions. The Spanish troop encountered the types of dangers that can be expected while exploring an unknown wilderness, though the Captain was unfazed by these troubles. This changed when his men were attacked by supernatural forces near Boca Del Infierno. The Captain knew that something demonic and evil was responsible for what happened to his troops, but the various deaths at this point of their journey were officially explained away as attacks by wild animals or Indians.
The true nature of Boca Del Infierno and its surrounding area may have been covered up, but it was still considered a dangerous place. In 1786, Governor of New Spain Felipe de Neve ordered a presidio (fort) to be built in the area before any missions were started. Four years later, the Mission Santa Barbara Virgen y Martir was founded. The Santa Barbara Mission was the largest settlement near Boca Del Infierno. In the following decade, the Franciscans founded a mission in the valley itself. They optimistically named the place Valle Del Sol (which more or less translates as “Sunnydale”) and the area developed a reputation for having a healthy climate. Invalids flocked to the valley for healing.
Some of the visitors to the Sunnydale Mission were quite wealthy, and it was around this time that the Gem of Amara first arrived in Sunnydale. Vampires had been looking for the mystic artifact since the tenth century-understandable since the gem would make a vampire invulnerable. Wooden stakes would only tear a hole in a vampire’s shirt and the sun would just be a bright object in the sky that shined warm light on a vampire’s face. The fact that nobody was able to find it for a thousand years eventually relegated the Gem of Amara to the realm of fairy tales.
The Chumash Wars:
At first the religious efforts went well, at least from the Spanish perspective. The Chumash lined up to be baptized in exchange for metal goods like knives and needles. They were then expected to behave like good Spanish Catholics. The problem was that the Chumash didn’t speak Spanish, so they had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. When the Chumash continued practicing their old ways, the Spanish grew angry and tried to repress them.
Then, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, European diseases began to take their toll on the Chumash, who had not developed natural defenses against the invaders germs. What started as minor outbreaks soon spread throughout the Chumash nation. A powerful shaman of the Chumash people said that they were cursed and that any Chumash who had been baptized would die a painful death. The only way to prevent this was by undertaking a ritual specifically designed to cancel out the baptism. The Spanish considered such counter-baptism rituals to be works of evil, and suppressed them as well.
The situation worsened when a massive earthquake struck along a hundred mile area of the Central Coast. The Spanish suffered as the nearby Mission La Pœrisma was reduced to rubble. Mission Santa Barbara and the presidio sustained severe damage. A tsunami was even reported in the area by the smuggling ship Charon. In what would be Sunnydale by the end of the century, Mission Valle Del Sol sank beneath the ground and the nearby crypt containing the Gem of Amara was buried and lost. The Spanish colony was not doing well.
By 1812, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. Things changed in Alta California after that. All missions were secularized, the Franciscans were removed, and non-monastic priests took over the duty of converting the Chumash. All church lands were turned over to private owners. This didn’t help the relations between the Californios (the name by which the Spanish settlers in the area were known) and the Chumash. Within three years, the Chumash started to rebel throughout the Central Coast. The Chumash fought bravely, but were largely unsuccessful in their efforts. Defeated warriors were either executed or imprisoned. During the next few decades, diseases like malaria and smallpox virtually wiped out the natives. As a final act, the Chumash placed a curse on their conquerors. A Vengeance Spirit called Hus was attached to the Mission nearest to the Hellmouth, which was the sunken Sunnydale Mission, where he was called upon to make the conquerors suffer as the Chumash had suffered. When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, Alta California became part of the United States. Two years later California became the 31st state and any land belonging to the Californios or the Chumash (as well as any other Native American) was taken away and given to American settlers.
Wild West:
Something darker was happening while earthquakes were ravaging the Central Coast and the Spanish were doing their best to wipe out the Chumash. A vampiric dueling cult known as El Eliminati left their home in Europe under the leadership of a demon named Balthazar and headed for the New World. Once the Franciscans were removed from the missions and church lands became secularized, the vampires started to move in. El Eliminati were the main inhabitants of Sunnydale at that point, since the mission and surrounding settlement had been destroyed during the 1812 earthquake and the following Chumash War. Once California became part of America, gold was discovered in the new possession. The territory became a state and the population surged as hopeful Americans arrived with dreams of becoming ridiculously wealthy.
Towns quickly sprung up wherever gold was discovered. They were promptly abandoned when the gold ran out. One such ghost town was good old Boca del Infierno. The gold ran out quickly, but its proximity to the Hellmouth made it irresistible to El Eliminati. They were the first vampires to set up a home for themselves, but they were certainly not the last. The place soon became a haven for vampires. Travelers would be killed and eaten, or sometimes turned as the vampire population slowly increased. There was even a Willy’s Place. It was called Whiskey Willy’s back then, but it was the same kind of bar-a dark place where demons could drink cheap booze and eat bad food in a dismal environment.
The vampire town didn’t last long. The Slayer at the time, a young woman of the Navajo, tracked a vampire across the Southwest to the California Central Coast. The Slayer set fire to Whiskey Willy’s in an effort to call out her vampire enemy. As she fought and eventually slew the vampire, the entire town burned to the ground. Fortunately for the Slayer, Balthazar and his minions were not in Boca Del Infierno at the time. They returned to find a burning ruin and piles of dust where there used to be a thriving vampire sanctuary. Things only got worse when an ambitious magician named Richard Wilkins arrived at the Hellmouth shortly thereafter.
The Mayor:
Richard Wilkins was a cheerful, optimistic man who came to California during the final days of the nineteenth century. Sure he was overly fussy about cleanliness and some people might have considered him nothing but a duded-up tenderfoot, but he was hard as steel at the core. What wasn’t readily apparent about Richard Wilkins was that he was a dark magician in league with demonic forces who had all granted him power in exchange for the services he offered his dark masters. Even back then, it wasn’t a good idea to underestimate Mr. Wilkins.
The demon Balthazar had increased his potency by investing an amulet with much of his power. This allowed him to easily bully and control El Eliminati. It also gave him a major vulnerability. Wilkins stole the amulet and ultimately defeated the demon Balthazar. By defeat, we mean leave weak and crippled so severely that most occult scholars who knew about the fight assumed Balthazar had died. The demon dragged his mangled body underground and hid with what remained of El Eliminati.
These were the early stages in Wilkins’ quest for Ascension. He was asked to build a town from which the demons could feed, and he was promised prosperity and a long life. He complied and thus did not age for the next hundred years. At the end of that hundred year period, if Wilkins continued appeasing his demon masters and performed the appropriate rituals, he would ascend and become a great and powerful demon. Not one of the humanoid creatures that are routinely seen on earth and dispatched (if you happen to be a Slayer or Initiative agent or something like that), but a gargantuan monster able to massacre an entire population.
First Wilkins needed to build his town. Sunnydale grew and prospered, doing surprisingly well for a small California town with an appalling death rate. People died here, but businesses and people kept moving here as well. As the town thrived, the demonic population of the place increased as well. Vampires roamed the streets at night and demons did monstrous things. Other mystic types, magicians and witches, also tended to end up in Sunnydale. As long as you played by the Mayor’s rules, everything was fine.
True, Mayor Richard Wilkins was an evil man who planned on destroying his town to appease his demon masters. Yes, he was allied with monsters and performed all sorts of horrible rituals and sacrifices. But he also loved his town and didn’t want anything bad to happen there. Part of this is because he didn’t want anything coming between him and his Ascension, but part of this is because there are certain things that should be a given in a place like Sunnydale. Just because you are a demon is no reason to disrupt the entire town. You can feed on the innocents, but do it discreetly, don’t be rude, and remember that some people have to work in the morning. Granted this is a strange attitude in a person who planned on eating the entire population on his way to demonhood, but nobody ever said evil crazy people needed to be logical.
The Master:
The early days of the town of Sunnydale were plagued with strange occurrences-ghosts, monsters, druidic rituals in Breaker’s Woods. A scholar of the occult named Josephus du Lac was one of the town’s first residents. The sect he founded was excommunicated by the Vatican, but they continued their practices without the Pope’s approval. With so many demons and vampires to study, du Lac’s metaphysical research progressed nicely. He even managed to create a ritual that would restore a severely injured vampire back to full health. When Josephus du Lac realized that this might not actually be a good idea, he had the ritual encoded and buried with him. This is an example of the type of resident the Mayor liked. He was quiet, kept to himself, and his research into the black arts never got in the way of the Mayor’s own plans.
The Master was a different sort of visitor. This ancient vampire led a vampire sect known as the Order of Aurelius. The Master and his Order were a powerful force feared and respected by other vampires. The Master was disdainful of mankind and rejected human society-he had evolved beyond humanity. He always appeared as a vampiric monster and had no human form, he choose to live in sewers and tunnels as a demon instead of above ground as a man. He was also one of those vampires who talked a lot about destroying the world because he actually wanted to destroy the world. His chosen method of doing this was to open the Hellmouth and allow all the demons who had been driven from our world to return. He wanted to create a Hell on Earth.
The 1930s were a time when all sorts of dark cults planned to unleash one thing or another. The Order of Aurelius relocated to Sunnydale and started a reign of terror. The cult of Proserpexa was mainly human in composition but they weren’t keeping quiet either. They constructed a huge church overlooking the town on Kingman’s Bluff, whose main feature was a naked figure of their patron displayed on the steeple. What the Mayor could not let go was the attempt to open the Hellmouth.
If Sunnydale was destroyed, that would definitely get in the way of the Ascension. In 1932 and 1937, intense but severely localized earthquakes struck Sunnydale. Neighboring cities like Santa Barbara or Ventura did not feel the slightest tremor. Surprisingly few buildings in Sunnydale itself were damaged. But in 1932 the church of Proserpexa was swallowed by a yawning chasm. The cult never successfully re-established itself, and it may be surmised most of their powerful members died in the incident. The Order of Aurelius had taken control of a church that just happened to be built directly above the Hellmouth. In 1937, it too vanished. The Master found himself confined to a small area where the altar once was. A mystical barrier prevented the Master from leaving that limited area. The Mayor’s route to Ascension was once again clear.
The OSI:
The OSI had been aware of the growing problem in Sunnydale for quite some time. However, it remained a small background problem in the face of other larger troubles. Lately, however, research has indicated that demonic activity has increased at an alarming rate. With the death of Slayer India Cohen, the OSI knew a new slayer had been activated. The most likely place of this activation would be the place where there suddenly seems to be the most pressing need - Sunnydale, California. The OSI set up a base of operations in Sunnydale that includes outposts in such locations at the army base, the high school, and UCSD. They are monitored the progress of the Hellmouth, as well as tried to actively eliminate some of the HST threat while searching for the next slayer.
Anna The Vampire Slayer:
Anna Caruso, a 17 year old junior was called as the next Slayer. She did not like the OSI, but she took being a Slayer very seriously. She pushed her friends and classmates to fight back, and to acknowledge the HST problem. She also is a cheerleader, and she tries to sneak a few self defense moves in, when suggesting cheers to the cheerleaders. She hasn't been quite the same since The Master and his goons kidnapped her, but she's still fighting evil every day. The OSI frowns upon Anna's insistence that her friends fight beside her, but it might come in handy, now that India Cohen is back.
What will two slayers do the the slayer line?
Long before the white man came but long after the people were no longer animals, there lived a powerful magician named Skumashtsh. He was a kipo’mo, or weather prophet, who was a member of the powerful ‘antap council. Skumashtsh had the most powerful medicine in all of Alpinche. He could make the thunder obey his commands and speak with great spirits, but this was not enough for him. He was willing to do anything to gain more power, even sacrifice his own people. He decided to open the Gateway to Shimilak’sha, the Lower World.
There was no one else in Alpinche who could deny the kipo’mo. His fellow chiefs and shamans on the ‘antap were beholden to him. Others tried to dissuade him, but were destroyed by the lightning he called from the sky. Skumashtsh made preparations for a great ritual that would bring Shimilak’sha to the Middle World.
The only shaman left in Alpinche who had not been killed or corrupted by Skumashtsh was an aluctecanwa, an old medicine woman. She knew she was too old and weak to fight the weather prophet. She fled Alpinche and crossed the mountains into the lands to the east. That night the old woman had a dream where she was visited by Slo’w, the Eagle who supports the Upper World above the Earth on his wings. The Eagle asked the old woman why she was running, and she replied that it was because she was weak and afraid.
The Eagle spread his great wings and told the aluctecanwa that there was a girl who fought like the Hero Twins. When she died another would take her place, just as she took the place of the one who came before her. She could stand against Skumashtsh. But she was not there.
The Eagle also said that in lands far from Alpinche there were warriors who rode beasts and wore metal armor. A few of these warriors had been granted powerful medicine in the name of Sun and Moon and all the Powers That Be. Any one of those warriors could fight Skumashtsh. But they too were not there.
Then the Eagle said that there were beasts who no longer wished to serve Shimilak’sha. They protected the people in the name of the Sun and the Moon and the Powers That Be. Though they might appear as monsters, they were brave warriors who would gladly give their own lives to stop Skumashtsh. But none of them were there.
There was only the old woman to perform this great deed. There was only the old woman to protect the people. She must return and fight.
Skumashtsh did manage to open the Gateway to Shimilak’sha, but only for a brief moment. As the kipo’mo marveled at the great medicine he had created, the old aluctecanwa pushed the evil man into the gateway and then fell in behind him. This negated Skumashtsh’s ritual and the Gateway to Shimilak’sha was closed. The people were saved by a brave old woman whose name is no longer even remembered, but her brave deed shall never be forgotten.
Such is the tale told by the Chumash of Sunnydale to remind the children that what must be done can be done, by the brave of heart.
History of the Chumash:
For thousands of years, the only people living near the Sunnydale Hellmouth were the Chumash Indians, whose nation covered much of southern California. The Chumash thrived on the California coast, sending their tomols (canoes built from split wood planks and reaching twenty feet in length) out into the Pacific to catch ocean fish. This gave them an advantage over other California tribal nations, because they were the only people in the area with an ocean-going capability.
The Chumash were led by their chiefs and shamans. The shamans of the Chumash people were considered very powerful, especially in the area known as Alpinche (which means “acorns” in the Chumash language). The shamans in the Alpinche region were powerful sorcerers as well as healers. The Chumash considered such shamans both blessed and cursed. That is because the power of the shamans was enhanced by their proximity to a place where the barriers between dimensions was weak. Alpinche contained a Hellmouth.
Just as in modern times, the area around the Hellmouth was prone to supernatural events. Sometimes these events were relatively minor-single demons would be attracted to the area and plague the Chumash for a short period. Sometimes these events were cataclysmic.
At two periods in their long history, the Chumash people felt the true power of the Hellmouth. This happened about eleven thousand years ago and then again seven hundred years ago. The demonic entity or entities responsible remain unknown, but during both times the Chumash nation suffered a devastating drought that caused a famine. The Chumash fought each other, driven to anger and violence from the Hellmouth’s influence. If not for the skills of a few shamans and the bravery of a few warriors, the Hellmouth would have wiped out the Chumash civilization. The people of Alpinche were able to survive the monsters of the Hellmouth, but their greatest threat would come about two hundred and fifty years later.
It should be noted that along with a Hellmouth, an Egyptian-looking temple was located in Alpinche before the Chumash settled in the area. The temple was overseen by members of the Guardians, females who secretly watched over the Slayer line. A mystical Scythe would eventually be buried in solid rock in the area as well, only to be discovered at the time when the Slayer line would need it most. Not only was all of this unknown to the Chumash, it was also unknown to the Watchers. Since there are no overt Egyptian influences in Chumash culture, and since the only mention of the temple was in the obscure and relatively modern writings of some area monks, it can be assumed that for most of its history the temple was mystically hidden from the outside world.
Spanish Conquerors:
In 1542 an event occurred that would forever change the Chumash way of life. A fleet of three Spanish sailing ships commanded by Juan Rodreguez Cabrilla were met at sea by the ocean-going tomol of the Chumash people. The Chumash welcomed and honored the strange newcomers to their lands by throwing them a feast. Cabrilla returned the favor by giving the Chumash some glass beads and claiming their land in the name of King Charles I of Spain. Despite this claim, the Chumash lands remained unexplored by the Europeans until sixty years later when Sebastan Vizcano followed Cabrilla’s route to the southern coast of California.
Vizcano named the area after Saint Barbara. Unlike Cabrilla, he spent a significant amount of time with the Chumash. They showed the Spanish explorers the resources of their beautiful country. They also told him about the Portal To The Lower World. Vizcano named this cursed area Boca Del Infierno, the Mouth of Hell. This is the origin of the term Hellmouth.
Acathla:
It was around this time that a virtuous knight who served the Powers That Be prevented the Apocalypse (or at least prevented an apocalypse) from happening in the Aztec lands that would one day become Mexico. As the Aztec Empire was being conquered by Spain, a group of sorcerers used dark magic to summon the demon Acathla to earth. As conventional fighting had proven hopeless, it was hoped that the black arts would defeat the Spanish. It is unknown whether the Aztecs sorcerers knew that their actions would destroy the world. It is possible that they were desperate enough not to care . . . or evil enough not to mind.
Once the demon Acathla was summoned, it would draw a deep breath and slowly create a vortex between Earth and one of the demon dimensions. The vortex would grow increasingly larger until the entire planet was sucked through and humanity would find itself in the middle of hell faced with legions of demons who would like nothing more than to torture and kill them in nasty and interesting ways. The knight, whose name has been lost, crashed the ceremony, stabbed the demon’s heart with a blessed sword, and proceeded to kill the black magicians.
The demon was incapacitated but not destroyed. It turned to stone, the sword still embedded in its chest. The knight didn’t want anyone attempting to revive the abomination, so he took the stone demon far to the north, in what he considered an uncivilized wilderness. When he found a spot that he deemed remote enough, he buried Acathla deep into the earth where it would never be disturbed again. It was pure dumb luck that the place he chose was so close to the Hellmouth, but that kind of dumb luck happens a lot in Sunny D (or the area that would become Sunny D).
Missionaries:
One of the historical goals of Spain was to convert the native people of America to the Church of Rome. In 1697, the Jesuits arrived in Baja California with a royal charter. By 1767, their mission was assumed by the Franciscans. Father-President Junpero Serra led the Franciscan effort to expand missionary work north into Alta California. Three years later, a troop of soldiers commanded by Captain Gaspar de Portola were sent to explore the California Central Coast in preparation for the coming missions. The Spanish troop encountered the types of dangers that can be expected while exploring an unknown wilderness, though the Captain was unfazed by these troubles. This changed when his men were attacked by supernatural forces near Boca Del Infierno. The Captain knew that something demonic and evil was responsible for what happened to his troops, but the various deaths at this point of their journey were officially explained away as attacks by wild animals or Indians.
The true nature of Boca Del Infierno and its surrounding area may have been covered up, but it was still considered a dangerous place. In 1786, Governor of New Spain Felipe de Neve ordered a presidio (fort) to be built in the area before any missions were started. Four years later, the Mission Santa Barbara Virgen y Martir was founded. The Santa Barbara Mission was the largest settlement near Boca Del Infierno. In the following decade, the Franciscans founded a mission in the valley itself. They optimistically named the place Valle Del Sol (which more or less translates as “Sunnydale”) and the area developed a reputation for having a healthy climate. Invalids flocked to the valley for healing.
Some of the visitors to the Sunnydale Mission were quite wealthy, and it was around this time that the Gem of Amara first arrived in Sunnydale. Vampires had been looking for the mystic artifact since the tenth century-understandable since the gem would make a vampire invulnerable. Wooden stakes would only tear a hole in a vampire’s shirt and the sun would just be a bright object in the sky that shined warm light on a vampire’s face. The fact that nobody was able to find it for a thousand years eventually relegated the Gem of Amara to the realm of fairy tales.
The Chumash Wars:
At first the religious efforts went well, at least from the Spanish perspective. The Chumash lined up to be baptized in exchange for metal goods like knives and needles. They were then expected to behave like good Spanish Catholics. The problem was that the Chumash didn’t speak Spanish, so they had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. When the Chumash continued practicing their old ways, the Spanish grew angry and tried to repress them.
Then, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, European diseases began to take their toll on the Chumash, who had not developed natural defenses against the invaders germs. What started as minor outbreaks soon spread throughout the Chumash nation. A powerful shaman of the Chumash people said that they were cursed and that any Chumash who had been baptized would die a painful death. The only way to prevent this was by undertaking a ritual specifically designed to cancel out the baptism. The Spanish considered such counter-baptism rituals to be works of evil, and suppressed them as well.
The situation worsened when a massive earthquake struck along a hundred mile area of the Central Coast. The Spanish suffered as the nearby Mission La Pœrisma was reduced to rubble. Mission Santa Barbara and the presidio sustained severe damage. A tsunami was even reported in the area by the smuggling ship Charon. In what would be Sunnydale by the end of the century, Mission Valle Del Sol sank beneath the ground and the nearby crypt containing the Gem of Amara was buried and lost. The Spanish colony was not doing well.
By 1812, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. Things changed in Alta California after that. All missions were secularized, the Franciscans were removed, and non-monastic priests took over the duty of converting the Chumash. All church lands were turned over to private owners. This didn’t help the relations between the Californios (the name by which the Spanish settlers in the area were known) and the Chumash. Within three years, the Chumash started to rebel throughout the Central Coast. The Chumash fought bravely, but were largely unsuccessful in their efforts. Defeated warriors were either executed or imprisoned. During the next few decades, diseases like malaria and smallpox virtually wiped out the natives. As a final act, the Chumash placed a curse on their conquerors. A Vengeance Spirit called Hus was attached to the Mission nearest to the Hellmouth, which was the sunken Sunnydale Mission, where he was called upon to make the conquerors suffer as the Chumash had suffered. When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, Alta California became part of the United States. Two years later California became the 31st state and any land belonging to the Californios or the Chumash (as well as any other Native American) was taken away and given to American settlers.
Wild West:
Something darker was happening while earthquakes were ravaging the Central Coast and the Spanish were doing their best to wipe out the Chumash. A vampiric dueling cult known as El Eliminati left their home in Europe under the leadership of a demon named Balthazar and headed for the New World. Once the Franciscans were removed from the missions and church lands became secularized, the vampires started to move in. El Eliminati were the main inhabitants of Sunnydale at that point, since the mission and surrounding settlement had been destroyed during the 1812 earthquake and the following Chumash War. Once California became part of America, gold was discovered in the new possession. The territory became a state and the population surged as hopeful Americans arrived with dreams of becoming ridiculously wealthy.
Towns quickly sprung up wherever gold was discovered. They were promptly abandoned when the gold ran out. One such ghost town was good old Boca del Infierno. The gold ran out quickly, but its proximity to the Hellmouth made it irresistible to El Eliminati. They were the first vampires to set up a home for themselves, but they were certainly not the last. The place soon became a haven for vampires. Travelers would be killed and eaten, or sometimes turned as the vampire population slowly increased. There was even a Willy’s Place. It was called Whiskey Willy’s back then, but it was the same kind of bar-a dark place where demons could drink cheap booze and eat bad food in a dismal environment.
The vampire town didn’t last long. The Slayer at the time, a young woman of the Navajo, tracked a vampire across the Southwest to the California Central Coast. The Slayer set fire to Whiskey Willy’s in an effort to call out her vampire enemy. As she fought and eventually slew the vampire, the entire town burned to the ground. Fortunately for the Slayer, Balthazar and his minions were not in Boca Del Infierno at the time. They returned to find a burning ruin and piles of dust where there used to be a thriving vampire sanctuary. Things only got worse when an ambitious magician named Richard Wilkins arrived at the Hellmouth shortly thereafter.
The Mayor:
Richard Wilkins was a cheerful, optimistic man who came to California during the final days of the nineteenth century. Sure he was overly fussy about cleanliness and some people might have considered him nothing but a duded-up tenderfoot, but he was hard as steel at the core. What wasn’t readily apparent about Richard Wilkins was that he was a dark magician in league with demonic forces who had all granted him power in exchange for the services he offered his dark masters. Even back then, it wasn’t a good idea to underestimate Mr. Wilkins.
The demon Balthazar had increased his potency by investing an amulet with much of his power. This allowed him to easily bully and control El Eliminati. It also gave him a major vulnerability. Wilkins stole the amulet and ultimately defeated the demon Balthazar. By defeat, we mean leave weak and crippled so severely that most occult scholars who knew about the fight assumed Balthazar had died. The demon dragged his mangled body underground and hid with what remained of El Eliminati.
These were the early stages in Wilkins’ quest for Ascension. He was asked to build a town from which the demons could feed, and he was promised prosperity and a long life. He complied and thus did not age for the next hundred years. At the end of that hundred year period, if Wilkins continued appeasing his demon masters and performed the appropriate rituals, he would ascend and become a great and powerful demon. Not one of the humanoid creatures that are routinely seen on earth and dispatched (if you happen to be a Slayer or Initiative agent or something like that), but a gargantuan monster able to massacre an entire population.
First Wilkins needed to build his town. Sunnydale grew and prospered, doing surprisingly well for a small California town with an appalling death rate. People died here, but businesses and people kept moving here as well. As the town thrived, the demonic population of the place increased as well. Vampires roamed the streets at night and demons did monstrous things. Other mystic types, magicians and witches, also tended to end up in Sunnydale. As long as you played by the Mayor’s rules, everything was fine.
True, Mayor Richard Wilkins was an evil man who planned on destroying his town to appease his demon masters. Yes, he was allied with monsters and performed all sorts of horrible rituals and sacrifices. But he also loved his town and didn’t want anything bad to happen there. Part of this is because he didn’t want anything coming between him and his Ascension, but part of this is because there are certain things that should be a given in a place like Sunnydale. Just because you are a demon is no reason to disrupt the entire town. You can feed on the innocents, but do it discreetly, don’t be rude, and remember that some people have to work in the morning. Granted this is a strange attitude in a person who planned on eating the entire population on his way to demonhood, but nobody ever said evil crazy people needed to be logical.
The Master:
The early days of the town of Sunnydale were plagued with strange occurrences-ghosts, monsters, druidic rituals in Breaker’s Woods. A scholar of the occult named Josephus du Lac was one of the town’s first residents. The sect he founded was excommunicated by the Vatican, but they continued their practices without the Pope’s approval. With so many demons and vampires to study, du Lac’s metaphysical research progressed nicely. He even managed to create a ritual that would restore a severely injured vampire back to full health. When Josephus du Lac realized that this might not actually be a good idea, he had the ritual encoded and buried with him. This is an example of the type of resident the Mayor liked. He was quiet, kept to himself, and his research into the black arts never got in the way of the Mayor’s own plans.
The Master was a different sort of visitor. This ancient vampire led a vampire sect known as the Order of Aurelius. The Master and his Order were a powerful force feared and respected by other vampires. The Master was disdainful of mankind and rejected human society-he had evolved beyond humanity. He always appeared as a vampiric monster and had no human form, he choose to live in sewers and tunnels as a demon instead of above ground as a man. He was also one of those vampires who talked a lot about destroying the world because he actually wanted to destroy the world. His chosen method of doing this was to open the Hellmouth and allow all the demons who had been driven from our world to return. He wanted to create a Hell on Earth.
The 1930s were a time when all sorts of dark cults planned to unleash one thing or another. The Order of Aurelius relocated to Sunnydale and started a reign of terror. The cult of Proserpexa was mainly human in composition but they weren’t keeping quiet either. They constructed a huge church overlooking the town on Kingman’s Bluff, whose main feature was a naked figure of their patron displayed on the steeple. What the Mayor could not let go was the attempt to open the Hellmouth.
If Sunnydale was destroyed, that would definitely get in the way of the Ascension. In 1932 and 1937, intense but severely localized earthquakes struck Sunnydale. Neighboring cities like Santa Barbara or Ventura did not feel the slightest tremor. Surprisingly few buildings in Sunnydale itself were damaged. But in 1932 the church of Proserpexa was swallowed by a yawning chasm. The cult never successfully re-established itself, and it may be surmised most of their powerful members died in the incident. The Order of Aurelius had taken control of a church that just happened to be built directly above the Hellmouth. In 1937, it too vanished. The Master found himself confined to a small area where the altar once was. A mystical barrier prevented the Master from leaving that limited area. The Mayor’s route to Ascension was once again clear.
The OSI:
The OSI had been aware of the growing problem in Sunnydale for quite some time. However, it remained a small background problem in the face of other larger troubles. Lately, however, research has indicated that demonic activity has increased at an alarming rate. With the death of Slayer India Cohen, the OSI knew a new slayer had been activated. The most likely place of this activation would be the place where there suddenly seems to be the most pressing need - Sunnydale, California. The OSI set up a base of operations in Sunnydale that includes outposts in such locations at the army base, the high school, and UCSD. They are monitored the progress of the Hellmouth, as well as tried to actively eliminate some of the HST threat while searching for the next slayer.
Anna The Vampire Slayer:
Anna Caruso, a 17 year old junior was called as the next Slayer. She did not like the OSI, but she took being a Slayer very seriously. She pushed her friends and classmates to fight back, and to acknowledge the HST problem. She also is a cheerleader, and she tries to sneak a few self defense moves in, when suggesting cheers to the cheerleaders. She hasn't been quite the same since The Master and his goons kidnapped her, but she's still fighting evil every day. The OSI frowns upon Anna's insistence that her friends fight beside her, but it might come in handy, now that India Cohen is back.
What will two slayers do the the slayer line?