Incorporated as Vermilionville in 1836, the community prospered until it was nearly destroyed by yellow fever and Civil War, but recovered when the railroad extended from New Orleans to Houston in 1881. Shortly after, in 1884, the city was renamed Lafayette, after the parish, and the boom in oil on the gulf helped to continue the trend of growth throughout the twentieth century. Many oil companies established offices in the city due to its central location and the petrochemical industries are the core of its economy to this day.
Quietly existing on a ruined plantation in the bayou beyond the city proper is a group of Acadian Sabbat, supported by a large family of revenants, French offshoots of the Bratovich and Zantosa families. While not particularly politically active, the family has been something of a mixed blessing for the New Orleans Lasombra. Primarily Tzimisce, the pack has already turned against them twice, during both the first two Sabbat Civil Wars, but it has also provided an invaluable service as intelligence and scouts for Baton Rouge and Lake Charles, and even Houston to a lesser extent.
For the most part, however, the pack is more concerned about its family affairs and pursuits than spending all of its time and energy on sect politics and war against the Camarilla. Only twice has it roused itself to directly attack its enemies, first during the War of 1812, and then during the Civil War. Both times, it suffered heavy losses, both in numbers and financial resources, and so has sought to lay low during the war between Baton Rouge and New Orleans which has spanned much of this last century. Some of its younger members are beginning to grow weary of the static and unchanging family hierarchy and are looking outside of Lafayette for some opportunity to break free.
Many of them already have a taste of the world outside. All were former revenants of either the Brasseaux (Bratovich) or Prejean (Zantosa) lines. The latter have settled mostly in the cities of the coast, in particular New Orleans, Biloxi, Lake Charles, and Galveston, while the former have stayed in the bayou near Lafayette or Houma. Those of the Prejean branch have seen much of the world and are discontent with the family's plantation in the swamps, making any excuse to return to their former homes and aid in the vast intelligence and influence network that the family commands.