[Phoenix42]

Demonic Activity
One thing to remember is that in June 1945, the French military authorities have taken over control of this part of Germany. And they are not being subtle about it, either. Whereas the British and the Americans are generally attempting to rebuild western Germany as a republican system and set it up as a defense in their fight against Communism, the French, while definitely in favour of a Democratic Germany, have other plans with regard to its strength. Having suffered severe defeat in the war, and economic damage to boot, they are basically dismantling every single factory or industrial piece of equipment and taking it to France. POWs and many men returning home from the war are herded out to perform labour for the French authorities, some shipped to France for rebuilding, others put on building railroad tracks and the like in the French zone. At the same time, the average rations given out to the civilian population are at around 800 calories per day. In short, the French are going "eye for an eye" in this respect; and needless to say, German policy during the occupation of northern France was far less lenient. Nevertheless, this bringing about of deprivation, hunger and general squalour in the region benefits many demonic agendas, since it drives otherwise good people to do evil things. One of the demons who thinks this is bread and butter is Dutras, a servitor of Fate, who is using his role as a Jaques Mercier, a Lieutenant Colonel in the French military authorities (and in charge of restitutional policy) to its maximum potential- in my campaign, he was a Habbalah, but in retrospect he would have probably been more fitting as a Balseraph. But then, who's to say that he isn't a Djinn (it's all mine, but I don't really care about it...)?
In any case he is quite powerful (I made him a Baron, though Captain would probably be good too), and very devious, having recruited and posted several soldiers to aid him in his work, and cheerfully pressuring or ignoring the civilian authorities' complaints. At the same time, he has almost squashed the voices in the French military who are saying that maybe aid and friendship in rebuilding would be more useful than prolonged hatred between the peoples - Dutras is a smug demon, one with the knowledge of a job well done.

Where there is squalor, there is thieving. More to the point, there is Theft. A thriving black market exists throughout Germany in the 1940s, dealing in anything from medicine to food to salvaged weapons. One guy who has a big hand in this (though not as big as he would like) is Alrishar, a Calabite of Theft. Using two vessels, one of which with a role as a low-ranking US logistics officer stationed in Wiesbaden, he has quite a smuggling ring going on, shipping masses of goods in between the two zones, selling to the highest bidder in any case. In his vessel, he poses as the Racketeer Alexander Reißer, selling off goods in Mainz and the other cities, but for a high price, knowing that the desperate people have nowhere else to go. For a Calabite, he is quite subtle, but not subtle enough: One of his preferred methods of getting at merchandise is staging hold-ups on convoys and trains due from France. Indeed, such robberies have become regular occurrences, and though the human authorities are still baffled, angels may see a pattern. Alrishar has an MO: he builds up a smuggling ring in one place and when it is self-sufficient, he moves on, leaving his human cronies in charge. He specialises in border-hopping, and has been everywhere from the Congo in the 1870s to the US and Canada in the 1920s. Wherever there is a crisis, and a border, he knows there is an opportunity. He is hoping that if he can build up the organisation well enough, that one day he can apply for the powerful word of Smuggling. The sad fact is that as things stand, his approach is not nearly subtle enough, and relies more on brute force than on maneuvering and bribery. Alrishar can be a foe for angelic PCs who will need to destroy his operation since he is causing hurt and anguish to the populace due to his high prices, and his heists are constantly causing retributional operations by the French authorities. His backup henchmen and his base of operations (a warehouse on an island in the Rhine, near the Mainz industrial district) poses a nice enemy for a shoot-out, as well as a lot of loot that can be redistributed to the truly needy. However, he can also be an opening for demonic characters who wish to do the job properly... Or he can be an employer. Also, he has begun dealing in artefacts as well - humans will keep selling him their old family heirlooms and memorabilia in return for food and supplies, and sometimes, an old silver crucifix turns out to REALLY be a blessing.

Less demonic, but no less infernal, a group of vampires has set up camp in the sewers of Mainz. They are leftovers from a joyride of a few Saminga servitors some years back, who thought it would be great fun to leave something more permanent to be remembered by. The choice of food for the vampires was unsubtle, typical of their word: the blood of Virgins. As the leader of the pack, Mainz after the war is a wonderful hunting ground for vampires who would otherwise face prompt discovery and extermination by angels. In the post-war aftermath, they can easily make someone disappear. Many registry offices and council offices have been destroyed, and the retreating Nazi troops (and often the officials themselves, wanting to purge the evidence of their activities over the last years) often destroyed all records, just to be on the safe side. So in the end, who will notice if a young man or woman goes missing? Or who will miss a child that went playing in the rubble? If it even reaches the authorities, the authorities will class them as "missing", along with all the others who cross the border to the American Zone of Occupation. In the rare events that it stirs up more of a fuss, the classic assumption is "Werewolves" (a common myth of underground Nazi rebels, typically SS, carrying on the war - nothing true to it, but it does serve to disguise some supernatural activity) or criminal violence, which of course leads the searchers in the completely wrong direction.
Much to the chagrin of the servitors of Christopher, the gang has begun preying more and more on children. The situation is perfect: There are no places for the children to go during the day, their fathers are either dead or not yet returned, and their mothers spend the day keeping food on the table, so the children gather in bunches and literally maraud around town. The resulting packs are seldom up to any good, and the older ones who still remember the days of the Hitlerjugend, raised to absolute obedience and discipline and now dropped into near-anarchy, quite often turn to violence to solve their problems. Similarly, the authorities don't complain when yet another one of these "insolent brats" vanishes off the streets.