Beyond the Sunset

Beyond the Sunset

Location

Australia

Genre

Urban dark fantasy

Established

1996

Chapters

8

Website

Website (discontinued)

Previously known as the Camarilla Australia, Beyond the Sunset was a Theatre-style LARP group dedicated to the World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness settings for an 18+ audience, particularly well known for their Vampire: the Requiem campaigns, especially in their later years.

Aside from ongoing monthly campaigns held in most major cities across Australia, they also held regular bi-annual major plot and social events that took place over a full weekend, rotating host cities for each event. These events were known as "Noctis Personae" and "Conclave".

Mission statement

Beyond the Sunset is an Australian social organisation based on the shared passion of a modern gothic-horror setting published by White Wolf. Established in 1996, we have groups in 8 cities across the continent, sharing members, stories, fun and philanthropy together.

History

Established 1996.

In 2006, the first Noctis Personae event was held in Melbourne, then opened to bid status, allowing other cities to host.

In 2007, a splinter group from the Melbourne chapter formed Caligo Mundi.

The national group parted ways with the global Camarilla Fan Club when they changed names around 2015.

The last Noctis Personae event ceased in 2017 due to attendance and cost challenges, whilst the last Conclave took place in 2019 in Perth.

In 2020, Conclave was rescheduled due to the covid-19 pandemic, kicking off the beginning impacts of lockdowns on BtS. Most activities for the following two years shifted to Southern Cross Online, the online-only chapter.

The position holders of the national organisation as of 2020 included:

• National Coordinator --- Kyle Brooks
• Deputy National Coordinator --- Mary Tyler
• National Membership Coordinator --- Caleb Prince Brotherton
• National Rewards Coordinator --- Kristine Hertel
• National Communications Coordinator --- Lauren Webb
• National Finance Coordinator --- Marie Gilders
• National Promotions Coordinator --- Ali Lawrie
• National Storyteller --- Brad Hardwicke
• Deputy National Storyteller --- Claire Atwell

In 2021 they launched a new chronicle, Riot in the Blood, and made efforts to resume regular activity as lockdown restrictions lifted.

As of 2022, BtS is no longer publicly active, with the main website domain discontinued in January 2025. Many chapters folded one by one due to inactivity or other running difficulties; such as lingering backlash against V5 and the impacts of covid-19 lockdowns on recruitment and member retention.

However, the final nail in the coffin for the organisation as a whole was a civil court case in Western Australia, 2021 Rovere v White Wolf Fan Club Australia Incorporated, regarding a dispute over a Code of Conduct ruling made during 2021. Ultimately, although the club was only required to pay $1 to the complainant, the remaining volunteers made the decision to disperse as a national organisation.

Since then, many past BtS members and volunteers have continued to be active contributors to other groups in the local roleplaying scene.

Chapters

• Adelaide
• Armidale - folded around 2018.
• Brisbane - ceased operations in 2020.
• Canberra - Carpe Civitas
• Melbourne - revival led by Roman in 2019 after a long break, folded in 2021.
• Perth - after closure in 2021, local members were absorbed by LarpWest in Western Australia, which now runs a Vampire campaign titled "Perth by Night".
• Southern Cross Online
• Sydney
• Toowoomba

Canberra domain: Carpe Civitas

Known to be active as early as September 2001, the Carpe Civitas domain had multiple chapters or games within it.

It is called the city with no soul

It is said that no one lives here

But they do live here

And each day their number grows

The hawks and the doves,

the landed and the landless,

the believers and the unbelievers,

the conservatives and the liberals,

the traditionalists and the anarchs

All find their way here ...

to find the soul or feed the soulless

Imagine Canberra as a city of half a million souls: a place where decay and growth strive for dominance in the shadow of a decadent bureaucracy; a place that sucks hungrily at the Sydney metropolis from its isolation; a place where the thin veneer of order conceals sheer anarchy; a place where the privileged squander precious resources while the rest fight over scraps; and a place where hunger and thirst are never far from mind. Now imagine the sound of night terrors and the silence of anticipation, and what strange bedfellows they make. Imagine the supernatural denizens of such a place -- vampires, werewolves, mages, ghosts and faeries -- listening and watching for the unknown that stirs in the night -- the thirsty night -- to stalk illusions with the truth. Then picture yourself among them -- in Canberra -- in Aranea.

Canberra is known to vampires in the World of Darkness as a troubled city, rife with Anarch and more unsavoury activity. Its history is clouded in violence and darkness. Some say that it was the private estate of a Ventrue elder -- perhaps the well-known ex-prince of Sydney, Timarius. Some say that the city has been home to several courts, all decimated by misdeed or misfortune -- perhaps a victim of Anarchs, perhaps a victim of the whispered Culling or perhaps a victim of something worse. The city has attracted mystics and opportunists of all persuasions. Strict rules of Domain apply throughout the city and harsh penalties are dealt out to those fail to show respect while the city's air/fastrail link with Sydney offers hourly access defended against rural threats and tempting access to greener pastures. These are lean dark times in which the city's supernatural denizens stalk the night settling old scores in the shadows of dead treaties.

Fae-Mused

The Canberra Changeling campaign, using Mind’s-Eye Theatre’s The Shining Host rules (mostly). Took place on the Fourth Sunday of every month at Australian National University, Copeland.

• Storyteller: Marissa Harris
• Narrators: Mark Bruckard, Xole, Mike Walker (Occasional Special Guest Narrator)
• Assistants: David James (website) Andrew Smith (website and art), Pixie (photography, art, makeup and costuming, props), Michael Cornell (downtimes and other paperwork, news articles), Mark Bruckard (props).

Shadows in the Dark

• Genre: Sabbat Vampire
• Meetings: 7.00pm, 2nd Saturday of each month

As a Sabbat genre, the themes are most certainly 18+ and emphasise tense horror. This is created by the characters themselves and by the antagonists in the game. The roleplaying emphasis is on being creatures who stalk the night, not mindless killing machines. Players are encouraged to be as cinematic as possible in the creation of scenes. The themes of the game revolve around monsters who rule the night, the horror of the beast and vampire nature, and the nature of fanatic sects and the lengths they will go to in achieving their goals.

Et Siccus Nox

Aranea is predominantly a Camarilla game, dealing with the activities of various ancilla, the secret machinations of the Ventrue Elder referred to as the Founder (most swear he exists but none claim with any conviction to have met him) and his bloodline (which is rumoured to include the notorious Carnarvon of Sydney), their allies and their enemies. Basic themes are the Hunger of the Beast, the loss of Humanity and the search for all things lost, both physical and metaphysical.

Also split into an Anarch game by the title of Motley Krewes.

Devil's Peak Sept

• Genre: Werewolf
• Meetings: 2.00pm, 1st Saturday of each month
• Chapter: Monkey's Paw

There are two main threads running through the Garou's World of Darkness in Canberra. One is the struggle to find the joy in the darkness, the thing that makes the fight worth fighting. Knowing joy, even for a moment, makes the darkness more bearable. But when that joy is taken away, often violently, the darkness is darker, and it's not just around you but in your heart as well. The other thread is the thread of duplicity and confusion. Not everything is as it seems. The Wyrm in Canberra has more of an affiliation with the Defiler than the Eater of Souls or the Beast of War. Our enemies are cunning, and they could be anywhere. But then, is our real enemy the Wyrm or the insane Weaver, and how do we defend the Wyld when the native spirits attack us? Is the pitiful child beggar on the street corner a victim of our world or a violent killer looking for his next meal? And what do we do if we have to work with our enemies or die?

External links

• BtS Facebook page
• BtS Instagram
• Beyond the Sunset club listing on the Of Science & Swords blog.