Vampiric interest in Louisiana can be traced back to the foundation of New Orleans in 1718, when a Brujah Idealist by the name of Orlando decided to pursue dreams of a New Carthage in the New World and used his influence to lend credibility to the economic schemes of a Scottish gambler in the French court. The resulting flood of money and interest in the region lay the foundation for what the elder hoped would be a slow, but satisfying, effort to build a city from the ground up. Falling back on habits developed during previous involvement with the Prometheans, the city was populated with smugglers, gamblers, prostitutes, and pirates, the sort of fringe elements which the elder Brujah had gotten used to dealing with.
The project, however, put him in conflict with many other elders in Paris as Law's scheme severly damaged the economy. Once Law was forced out of France, all assistance to the fledgeling colony was stifled and Orlando was forced to look for other ways to pursue his goals. The Seven Years War gave him just such an opportunity and it was with the blessing of many of his enemies that he returned to his native Spain when the colony was transferred into its possession in 1763. This was not to be a victory, though, for other forces watching took advantage of the situation. During the 1760s, the Sabbat moved into the city, arriving with Acadian immigrants, and encouraged the city to ignore its new masters, which it did until Spanish troops arrived to force the issue in 1769. By then, the Sabbat was already dug in.
A Lasombra by the name of Ambròs Vicario was tasked with coordinating the Sabbat presence within the city and arrived shortly after the Spanish occupation. Concentrating on the Creole aristocracy, he began to establish a net of influence among those in power and use this to encourage the development of the city's barely tapped economic potential. Meanwhile, Orlando arrived in the New World and settled into Baton Rouge, which had fallen into British hands. Calling upon Camarilla allies and pleading his case, he was forced to wait while they considered whether or not to get involved. While he did, he attempted several times to send spies into New Orleans, only to have them routed by the Acadian Pack or trapped in Vicario's intrigues before they could make any report.
A third player entered the scene not long afterwards, when events in Santo Domingo led to an influx of former slaves and practitioners of voodoo. With them came an ambitious Serpent of Light calling himself Legba, after the loa of the crossroads. Vicario, reacting quickly to the threat, attempted to stem the tide of immigrants, forcing legislation banning the import of any slave not African in origin. However, Legba was quick to establish himself among the slaves and free blacks already in the city and the loyal continued to trickle in, despite the best efforts of the Lasombra. It was not long before Legba's ghoul, a Doctor John Bayou, began to establish a web of blackmail and fraud utilizing the underclass which Vicario had hitherto ignored.
Tension between these two factions persisted, despite the headway Vicario was making in establishing the city as a major economic player. The invention of the cotton gin and advanced sugar refining techniques during the 1790s allowed the city to finally blossom. Money allowed for the addition of proper drainage and development, elevating the city out of the swamp, and established its economic codependance with the fledgeling United States, its primary trading partner. However, during this growth lay the onset of the first Sabbat Civil War, which manifested in Louisiana as a growing rift between the Acadians and Vicario. The bayou Sabbat were beginning to ignore Vicario's instructions on whom to harry and had begun preying on his own trade interests. Finding himself without allies, he was receptive to a suggestion by the Baron Samedi, another refugee from Santo Domingo, that he settle his differences with the Serpents and invite them into the sect. Desperate not to lose control of the city, he did just that.