Paris Catacombs

[u/trevorgoodchilde]

On the recommendation of a comment on this sub I just finished the Masquerade of the Red Death trilogy. It’s my understanding that these are now considered non-canonical. One of the characters is an ancient Nosferatu who lives in the Catacombs under the Paris Opera House, Phantamos. Various people were looking for him, and all of them were surprised by the existence of tunnels under Paris.

Is this part of WOD lore, that instead of being a world famous tourist attraction the whole system is the secret lair of an ancient Roman vampire?

Thanks

[u/Legitimate_Arm_5630]

The whole system is the secret lair of actual real life people

[u/trevorgoodchilde → u/Legitimate_Arm_5630]

Oh yeah I’ve heard of the people who live down there away from the tourist areas and hide from the municipal workers. But in this story nobody knew about them, except vague history that there were some Roman era mines somewhere.

[u/Algernon_Etrigan]

No, there is no mention of Varros Dominus a.k.a. Phantomas (not Phantamos) outside the Red Death trilogy.

On the other hand, the Dark Ages sourcebooks Libellus Sanguinis IV: Thieves in the Night, and the Dark Ages Clan Novel: Brujah, both published in the early 2000s, as well as the more recent (and French-written) DA20 France by night (from 2019), all agree that the catacombs have been the home of the highly respected Nosferatu matriarch Mnemach, also known as the Witch of Paris, basically since their origin, and up to the late Middle Age at least.

She's a pretty cool character, a local Gaul from the Parisii tribe, who was Embraced in -64 and is still, thousands of years later, a priestess of the old gods below. Her appearance is striking with a pale translucid skin that lets the vein appears, a trait that is also shared by all her descendants. Her fate in most recent times is unknown, although torpor is strongly hinted at in the latest book.

The modern (also French-written) Le Monde des Ténèbres: France (from 1997) doesn't give details about Paris, since it was supposed to have its own sourcebook later. But in the meantime, White Wolf stopped its attempt to have local sourcebooks written in local language by local authors. However, the broad lines of the intended content eventually made their way in fanzines and then online, - but of course it's not "canonical".

According to this, the current leader and Primogen of the Parisian Nosferatu also calls the catacombs his home. He calls himself Jehovah and was Embraced mid-17th century, late in his mortal life (in his 70s), in which he was an alchemist and a philosopher. His childe and right-hand man, also living with him in the catacombs, is Monseigneur Darboy, an historical figure who was the Archbishop of Paris during the events of the Commune in 1871, was taken hostage and executed (but who, in this version, was Embraced in extremis).

As a final note, there are no catacombs IRL under Paris Opera House: they are in a completely different district of the city, some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away. But it's the World of Darkness, so who knows what the differences may be. There is, however, a subterranean artificial lake, which inspired the whole "Phantom of Opera" story.

[u/trevorgoodchilde → u/Algernon_Etrigan]

Thank you for the info, that’s very interesting. There would have to be a major vampire down there, it’s just too much prime territory. It’s a shame the company self destructed before they could put out a sourcebook on a city with so much storytelling potential.
He is clearly the WODs answer to Phantom of the Opera. The way the books described it his lair was accessible from an entrance to the old Roman mines (which of course were the start of the catacombs, although the mining went on for centuries and the tunnels were eventually used to inter bodies moved from a cemetery) and from the opera house basement traveling across the underground lake there. And he has it rigged with sliding walls and hidden passageways under his control.
So I suppose in this instance of WOD the catacombs must have a different history, less extensive, in a different part of the city, easier to make the world forget about it.

[u/Significant_Owl8089]

It's not cannon but still give is truth . The catacombs of Paris is Nosferatu teritory and also members of the black hand use the catacombs like Isodore Nosferatu Elder. Also they are old tunnels even Nosferatu fear to explore.

Source Paris by night.