By The Geek in the Hat (alex@rudnickdev.com)
The sun stands just on the horizon, and thick clouds of soot hang in the air. Stretching out for as far as can be seen is the cityscape, the crowded tops of buildings and houses forming a new sort of ground unlike anything ever seen before. Chimneys and smokestacks stick up in various places, and from the tops of them, in near unison, brushes and brooms are thrown out the top. Just behind the tools come the soot-covered and ash-encrusted figures, leaping to the roof. . . wonderful melodies can be heard as they musically leap and dance across the urban playground that they have all to themselves.
The Chimney Sweeps are an ecclectic group of London residents who employ themselves in a way similar to what their name would imply: they sweep chimneys. One might think that this would be hard, tedious, dirty work, but they seem to enjoy it for reasons that no one can really fathom. What they spend a good deal of their time doing, though, is playing around on people's roofs, singing and dancing. The Sweeps share a telepathic musical link which is used when a member spontaneously composes a song so that all of the others can appropriately sing along, play any "instruments" that might be found (trash can lids, old pots and pans, laundry lines, tin roofs, etc.) and dance.
The Sweeps are actually an Awakened group. Many of their members (such as the legendary "Bert" and "Mary Poppins") are powerful magicians of some sort. They don't make much of a distinction between true Magi and static mages, but all of them know at least a little bit about magic and the different supernatural groups in the world. (Treat this as having Occult and various Lores of at least 1.) They've all got at least one numina (many have more than one), which is the Good Luck power. Basically, they've got really good luck and in a way-statistically-improbable number of situations "random" events go their way. (This, of course, should be handled with storytelling and storyteller discretion.) In addition, their luck extends for about 24 hours to anyone who shakes hands with a sweep (or blow one a kiss, that's lucky too.)
There are many assosciates, consorts, and even members of this group who are not exactly human. They've got strong ties with the Bone Gnawers (most of them are kinfolk) and Fianna (they are Brits, after all), and often work alongside the Glass Walkers. In addition, the sluagh and pooka faeries often can be found among the Sweeps. Sluagh just like the dark confines of chimneys, but are no help with the singing; pooka, especially urban-type pooka (raccoon, crow, dog, cat, etc.) tend to enjoy the merriment end of the Chimney Sweep lifestyle more. I suspect that "Andrew" wasn't really a dog at all, but a pooka. Chimney Sweeps have ridiculously low banality (approximately 3 or 4) and generally see into the Dreaming. They also don't suffer from the Delerium, as werewolves just seem to be another wonder of the city to them.
On the flip side, the Sweeps aren't without their enemies. They're opposed to the Technocracy (and vampires, too), whom they know to be working against their ideals of wonder, creativity, and general youthful fun. Every once in a while they encounter Technocratic agents, but the Mirrorshades don't have much information about these people. On rare occasions, the Sweeps will actually get together and attack a Technocratic board meeting or laboratory, though this is often done with the help of some local Garou. Their first priority in these raids is liberating "neat stuff" (Devices) which can be given to more deserving hands, such as fun mys-tech mages (Sons of Ether and, more rarely, Virtual Adepts) or Glass Walkers. Any vampires found by the Sweeps has more than a little bit of trouble, as Sweeps know that the vampires are what corrupt a city. In defense of the city, a group of Chimney Sweeps will often attack vampires (which they can often pick out) on sight.
As far as organization is concerned, the roof-walkers are rather individualistic and laid back. Most Sweeps do whatever they feel like (sometimes switching professions daily as they see fit) and if any problems arise, which they rarely do, since most are kind, considerate fellows, they mostly work it out like "civilized people" and on their own. Chimney Sweeps have concern for others high on their list of things to think about, and are remarkably nice chaps. Under dire circumstances, the older (sometimes settled down) Sweeps are consulted. These people often appear as old eccentric (or seemingly psychopathic) people who sometimes continually laugh for days on end and float into the air of their houses. Younger Sweeps sometimes have to make house calls to bring down the elders who get stuck in a hilarious fit of buoyancy. Oddly enough, this phenomenon seems to have something to do with Faerie magic, although it could very well be the talents of the laugher himself.
Sweeps are much better combatants than one would imagine. They have developed a unique (and effective) fighting style that involves acrobatic kicks, quick maneuvering, and impressive use of broom handles as polearms. Many of the Sweeps also carry around concealed blades (Klaives, sometimes) of various descriptions. In addition, don't forget the supernatural nature of these people. This style also involves a bit of Kailindo-ish shapeshifting for the Garou involved. Forces blasts, weird Correspondence effects, numerous numina, and about anything else you could imagine come into play when Chimney Sweeps rumble.