I'm currently running a Vampire the Masquerade chronicle using the 5th Edition rule-set for a small group of fellow role-players. These are the chronicles of their adventures.
Our campaign is set in Los Angeles and features a small group of Camarilla agents sent into the 'Free States' to search for ways to once again bring the Ivory Tower to dominance under the pretence of being disillusioned neonates looking for the freedom of the Anarch way of life. Having made a few allies unsuspecting of their greater goal they have decided that in order to gain influence they need to acquire a barony of their own.
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The now obligatory warning bit - Unlike my other RPG write-ups this one will contain swearing, sexual references and other references that might offend. If you can't tell the difference between real peoples opinions and grown-ups role-playing predators who crave blood then this probably won't be for you. I've also used actual photographs to represent some characters which I'll give acknowledgements to at the end if I've any idea who they are.
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The introduction to this campaign, the first story and all the other parts can be found at the following links and are in chronological order...
'Infiltrate LA' Chronicle
Welcome to L.A. - Introductory Session
Story One - 'Three Murders' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Interlude Session - One
Story Two - 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part One, Two, Three, Four
Solo Session - 'The Neillson Library'
Story Two Continued- 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part Five, Six, Seven and Eight
Story Three - 'Becoming Baron' - Part One, Two, Three and Four
The now obligatory warning bit - Unlike my other RPG write-ups this one will contain swearing, sexual references and other references that might offend. If you can't tell the difference between real peoples opinions and grown-ups role-playing predators who crave blood then this probably won't be for you. I've also used actual photographs to represent some characters which I'll give acknowledgements to at the end if I've any idea who they are.
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The introduction to this campaign, the first story and all the other parts can be found at the following links and are in chronological order...
'Infiltrate LA' Chronicle
Welcome to L.A. - Introductory Session
Story One - 'Three Murders' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Interlude Session - One
Story Two - 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part One, Two, Three, Four
Solo Session - 'The Neillson Library'
Story Two Continued- 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part Five, Six, Seven and Eight
Story Three - 'Becoming Baron' - Part One, Two, Three and Four
The PC's
Phil as Michael Tomassio - Toreador
and Hope Romero - Gangrel
Tom as Johnny 'Roach' West - Malkavian
and Marie - Clan Carna
Matt as Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim
Dave as Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah
The player characters stats and backgrounds can be found HERE should any-one be interested.
As I have written out introductions and dialogue for certain NPC's and some location descriptions I'll post these more or less as I wrote them so they'll be in a 'reading to the group' style and they'll also be in blue so you can tell them apart from the more traditional write-up sections and occasionally an obscure Malkavian premonition will turn up in purple. If I think something needs a bit of out of character explanation then those will get a storytellers note that will helpfully be in red...
Storytellers Note - This session was about eight hours in duration so this write-up is fairly long. I also gave them two sessions worth of XP.
Storytellers Note - This session was about eight hours in duration so this write-up is fairly long. I also gave them two sessions worth of XP.
Introduction
The discovery that the the coteries neighbours the Blount sisters were diablerists and possibly serial killers was going to have to be a problem for another night as they had a more immediate issue to resolve.
The money they required for their legitimate expansion came from the recreational substances distributed by coterie member Roach and their expansion in this area had bought them into conflict with a mortal gang with considerable resources.
The Malkavian decided the best way to resolve this was to acquire a gang of his own and had ghouled the leader of the Line 20's a gang in downtown that were being pushed out of existence by kindred sponsored rivals. Now a little more reconnaissance would seem to be in order to decide upon the best way of making his new enemy go away...permanently...
Scene Seventeen - Know Your Enemy
Realising that if their plan succeeded they'd have more than enough resources and if it failed then they'd have more pressing concerns Roach contacted Fat Larry and used some of his remaining capitol to acquire twenty bullet-proof vests and an equivalent number of firearms so as to equip enough of the gang to stand a better chance against 'Reaper's own forces once he'd decided exactly where best to hit them.
Reuben Hart the leader of the Line 20's had told Roach that persuading the rest of his people that the move was in their best interests might take a little time and as the equipment he'd ordered would take a few days he decided to spend the time with a little surveillance.
Recruiting two of the bums from the herd of Vin who most looked like a pair of junkies and changing his outfit to match theirs he decided to play the role of customer and see if their were any weak links in Reaper's distribution network. The Malkavian then made a circuit of the campus and surrounding area making small purchases as he went and attempted to engage any of the dealers who might have loose lips into conversation.
It was a long shot and as expected the more serious dealers had no intention of passing the time with a junkie and the weaker ones were apparently too afraid of their boss to make small talk. He did however discover that his sources estimates were somewhat off as a lot more of the corner dealers were professionals than he'd been led to believe with the weaker, unwilling ones being a definite minority.
With no obvious weaknesses discovered he decided to implement the second part of his expansion and see about creating a drug route for his increasing requirements of narcotics.
As the airports were under the control of kindred of significant influence that Roach had no desire to get involved in at this stage he decided he'd need to use one of two major ports he was aware of that were under kindred control. The first belonged to the Ventrue baron of Torrance, David Geduld who controlled the port of Los Angeles and the other to Steve Booth, the Baron of Long Beach whose territory included Long Beach harbour. Long Beach harbour was managed for Steve Booth by a Ventrue called Harvey who kept things running smoothly for the laid back Steve in exchange for a small percentage and feeding rights.
Scene Eighteen - The Baron of Long Beach
Had their drug operation been under the control of the Toreador Michael it's possible they would have gone to David but as it was under the overview of the Malkavian he decided the more relaxed Steve might be easier for him to deal with. Not wanting to go off without at least some background information Roach decided to pay a visit to Jenna Cross and her thin-bloods to see what they knew about Steve and also ensure that the chat she'd had with his ally Michael when he had been forced to lure her from her office as they dealt with a Sabbat bomber (whose target selection had been somewhat their fault) hadn't caused any ripples in his long term plans.
Jenna confirmed that Steve Booth had a condo on the beach, just east of the harbour which may or may not be his haven but was definitely the place to find him of an evening as the nearby beach apparently had the best surfing conditions. As far as she knew he was content with his domain though defended it's borders against intruders like most barons. It was however common knowledge that his neighbours in Torrance had their eyes on Long Beach harbour as possessing both would give him a lot of economic potential and power. Deciding that if surfing was Steve's thing it might be a good way to curry some favour he found himself a surf shop on the permanently open pier and bought himself a surfboard and some shorts. Roach who had many repressed memories due to mental trauma suffered in the Vietnam war was never quite sure whether the thoughts in his head were real recollections or delusions so he thought it might be a good idea to see if he could actually surf...as it turned out not only could he surf, but he was actually quite good at it.
Storytellers Note - So the Malkavian put on some shorts, went surfing and got a success on every dice he rolled so we decided he could surf. I gave the player a free specialisation in surfing, I mean it's not like it'll come up that often, but I felt the moment needed commemorating lol.
After purchasing a bike rack for his surfboard from the same shop he decided to take a ride down to Long Beach to see if he could negotiate a deal to smooth the way for his drug shipments. Other than an unfortunate tendency to wobble when taking corners his motorbike skills weren't bad either and he was soon at the border of Steve's domain. Almost immediately after crossing the border a pair of kindred on dirt bikes began to flank him as he made his way to Steve's beach condo though the going became a bit tricky as he reached the actual beach due to his particular bike not being a great choice for riding over sand.
Intercepted on the way in by the two dismounted bikers he was escorted to the front of a building with heavy-duty shutters over the windows though they were currently open. A fairly relaxed beach party was going on and Roach's mystical sight could detect a mixture of kindred, ghouls and mortals. Sprawled out on a bench on the front deck of the beach-house was a tall handsome, well built man with short, blonde hair who was undoubtedly the Long Beach baron Steve Booth chilling with two ghouls. The two kindred who had followed him to the house were nearby but seemed content to let the newcomer get on with his business. Roach pulled up a chair, lit up joints for himself, Steve and the two nearby ghouls before getting straight to the point. "I'd like to bring a shit-load of drugs through your harbour..."
After what was possibly the most relaxed negotiation in kindred history Roach and Steve came to terms about the use of the docks and permission to cross his turf. "Harvey runs the docks for me. If I tell him it's cool he'll sort your shit in and out no drama. Any 5.0 aggro you chill yourself, If I have to get my dudes involved the deals off and you and the rest of your grommets get rag-dolled, yes?" Steve seemed confident that the kindred running the harbour on his behalf could be trusted with the financial side of the operation because as he said "Harvey gets his cut, He'll make sure I get mine".
The Malkavian also broached the subject of the barony of Torrance and on this subject the surfing Brujah was marginally less relaxed. "Yeah, Got some neighbour issues at the moment, Davey Boy in Torrance is pushing his luck. Might have to call up the bros in Huntington Beach and straighten his shit out if he does anything stupid." The conversation then ended abruptly as Steve noticed one of his Bro's heading towards the surf and grabbed his board. Still confident after his first attempt Roach grabbed his from the bike and joined in.
Storytellers Note - I have a feeling this might become a thing. I suppose I better watch 'The Lost Boys' again as reference material.
All eyes were on their leader who was undoubtedly an expert surfer so the Malkavian's much poorer performance this time went unnoticed. He then spent a quite enjoyable evening relaxing with Steve and his Bro's before checking back in on Reuben's progress on his way back to the haven, using his 'appearing from nowhere' trick in order to reinforce any doubts that the gang leader might have had about the reality of the previous night. While there Roach got a status report before feeding Reuben his blood a second time. With things going rather well he returned to the gallery to wait for the various threads of his scheme to weave together.
Scene Nineteen - A Gift From Sophia
Sophia Bartholomew arrives at the gallery accompanied by a short, muscular woman who you presume is a bodyguard of some description based on her manner. "I'd like to speak to Mr Tomassio or one of his associates if he's unavailable?"
Lisa rang through to Michael's office to inform him he had a guest and upon hearing it was Sophia briefly checked to make sure he was suitably attired and headed down to meet her. Roach who had decided to give himself this night off was relaxing in his usual spot above the rear fire escape though he was quite capable of using his enhanced senses to hear any conversations going on downstairs so stayed where he was. Michael made the usual introductions and expressed his pleasure at seeing her once again.
"I understand that the task you recently performed was primarily a matter between you and Mariel but as you indirectly provided a service for myself also, I'd like to show my gratitude in a more tangible manner." "If you can allow my delivery people entry to you loading bay I have a few items for you." Three men in overalls began to unload two large shipping crates of the kind used for transporting paintings, several other boxes of varying sizes and a single narrow case that they seemed to be taking particular care of. "There are some paintings of mine that you may exhibit or sell as you wish and some work of several of my 'brothers'. They indulge their creative desires but have no desire to exhibit their work. I thought perhaps you might make some use of them?"
Roach's curiosity got the better of him and he decided to have a look at what exactly the artist of the Bartholomew family had bought with her. Her own works consisted of a total of nine paintings, six of which were landscapes, two were more abstract pieces and there was also a single cityscape and were all extremely high quality work. However it was the work of her brothers that interested the Malkavian.
Amongst the works were three elaborate carvings of mythical creatures, a dozen statues of different coloured glass which were mostly naked male and female figures and a pair of stone sculptures depicting a man and woman. Both were separate works but intertwined when placed together. Though all were impressive technical pieces to Roach's unusual senses the glass statues all seemed very slightly wrong as if the sculptor saw proportions very slightly differently to normal and he began to see none-humanoid features appear upon them the longer he stared though to Michael they looked perfectly normal. It was however the stone statues that were to trigger the Malkavians abilities as a seer.
You see the woman in the stone sculpture gasping for breath as a thin cord is tightened around her neck, the man screams as needles pierce his flesh and in both visions the killers face is the same. Though you've never met him you are sure that this is the face of Archibald Bartholomew's childe George and the figures immortalised in stone are carved images of two of his victims.
Oblivious to the Malkavian, Sophia continued talking to Michael and reached for the single portrait case "This is however a personal gift" The parcel contained an impressive portrait of Michael and was in his opinion one of the best of her works he'd ever seen. Thanking her profusely they chatted for a few minutes longer and then she departed with her bodyguard. While they had been talking Roach had taken the glass and stone statues to one of the side rooms of the exhibition hall and made a display of them with the stone statues at the centre and the nine glass creations in a rough circle around them. Seemingly pleased with his creation the Malkavian returned to his usual spot while Michael worked out where in his office would be the best place to put up the painting of himself.
Scene Twenty - Marie
As Sophia leaves another woman arrives who can only be described as stunning. Tall and elegant with dark hair who wanders in as if she owns the building.
The woman walked through the gallery straight to the security door barring entrance to the private offices upstairs and seemed somewhat irritated that there was no-one waiting to grant her entry. As Michael asked what the stranger wandering around his gallery wanted she informed him she was here to see a "Mr West." This threw Michael for a moment as he had never actually heard Roach referred to by his real name and had quite frankly never bothered to ask what it was. "I am here to enhance the protection of your home on a more...metaphysical level. Marius sent me on Mr West's request" The Toreador then made the connection between the conversation he'd had with Roach about needing wards to protect the galleries private areas in light of the kindred they'd released from imprisonment at the Vignes hands and the name. "I'll show you the areas we need protecting and then leave you to it if that's acceptable?" "Oui" was the only answer he received.
After giving her the promised tour and then leaving her to her own devices Michael asked Roach to come to his office to discuss what they were going to do about the map of the suspected havens of the kindred of Los Angeles. Michael's initial plan was to make a copy of the map and transfer only some of the information on it so it appeared that only the obviously known kindred meeting places and locations had been discovered by the Sabbat. This would give them a tactical advantage should they move against another barony.
Roach suggested however that as they now knew that only the coterie and the now very dead Sabbat were aware of the maps existence that they should keep it completely a secret. Enough information existed to prove what the kindred had been without needing further collaboration and the map would be a much more valuable tool if as few people as possible were aware that they had any knowledge of their rivals havens. It might even work as a tool to unite the remaining baronies together at some point in the future which would put them one step closer to restoring the Camarilla to power. The one problem with Roach's plan was however that Michael had already let Marius know about a map with his own bases on it but he hadn't mentioned any other details. Roach wasn't overly concerned about this as in his opinion if asked they could just say that those were the only locations indicated and they needn't mention the notebook of names at all.
Michael was somewhat concerned about the idea of deceiving the notoriously dangerous Gangrel 'Fixer' but conceded that Roach's plan would give them the best chance of accomplishing their long term goals. As the Malkavian opened the door to leave he almost walked into Marie who was standing just outside. "I couldn't help but overhear your interesting conversation...perhaps we should talk?.."
It soon became apparent that Marie had heard every word of their plotting and knew that they were Camarilla agents, had a map of the havens of LA's kindred and were keeping important information from their Mawla who was also broadly speaking her employer and protector. It soon became clear that her price for keeping this information to herself was the large quantities of blood she required to perform her rituals and also some protection. Though she already had one such protector given what she had in her possession more would be even better. Michael agreed in principle to an 'arrangement' but wanted more details about what exactly she possessed that was so important.
Marie explained that after the collapse of the Clan Tremere structure more commonly known as 'The Pyramid' the clan had split into three main houses and she was affiliated to one known as House Carna. The item she possessed was a copy of a tome said to be used by her house founder to sever her blood bond and that it was sought after by other houses of the Tremere who wished to destroy it.
In short in return for their pledge to help her keep this item safe she would keep their secrets to herself and assist them with magical wards far more powerful than those she normally crafted for 'clients'. Realising that their agreement was effectively based on blackmail she decided to show her commitment by starting on the more powerful magical protections immediately. The only slight stumbling block was that any wards or protective magics that intersected with the coteries library were immediately undone by the spirits they'd inherited that were bound to the volumes within so the sorceress placed those nearby more carefully.
Storytellers Note - Their occult library is haunted....for reasons unlikely to be explained any time soon...
Unsure whether they'd gained a new ally or a new problem Roach decided to return to an issue that he at least could do something about namely the removal of the rival to his drug empire.
Scene Twenty One - Don't Fear the Reaper
Twenty bullet-proof vests and the equivalent number of firearms and ammunition for the same had been delivered as promised by 'Fat' Larry and Roach delivered them to the gang he now controlled. He instructed their leader Reuben to ready an appropriate number of his men and to ensure at least one of them was a lieutenant he could trust. They were to make themselves ready so when he called they could assist him to remove his enemy and take-over his organisation for themselves. He also took the opportunity to give his ghoul a third drink of his own blood thus bonding the gang leader to himself.
Deciding that the time for subtlety was over he obtained the number of the Gangrel Hope who was employed patrolling the borders of their territory and had been so helpful in dealing with the recently encountered Sabbat. Hope was of course more than happy to assist once she learned that their target was a rapist who dealt drugs to teenage girls. Vin was of course up for anything that involved mindless violence but unfortunately Daniel was unavailable having found it necessary to do some work in his identity as a surgeon so as to stock up on the supplies of bagged blood which were his primary source of sustenance. Roach informed them all that he'd arranged a meeting with this 'Reaper' at a remote location in the Pasadena wilderness that was mainly used by Vin to practice shooting things somewhere out of the way. It was there he hoped his gang would be able to eliminate the opposing one with the kindred there to assist. "I presume you're planning an ambush then?" asked Hope. There was a slight pause, "I am now..." was the Malkavian's reply.
Roach had prepared the large abandoned warehouse unit at the specified location with graffiti that indicated that this was the Line 20's actual base and had parked his old van that they had used for transportation within it as temporary cover. Several of the gang were concealed in a forested area nearby in order to cover any retreat and also to secure a weak point in the fence surrounding the compound. The rest were waiting within to ambush the hopefully surprised enemy gang who Roach imagined would be coming in force despite any agreements they'd made about the meet-up. Vin and Hope were also concealed by the tree-line but were positioned to assault the Reapers gang from the rear as they approached the ambush site.
As he was expecting treachery Roach wasn't surprised when more or less the entire of the Reapers gang turned up in a dozen vehicles, nor when Reuben's lieutenant Jevonte informed him that half a dozen men were approaching the building from the rear in a flanking manoeuvre predicted already by Hope. What was of more concern was that the force outnumbered them by at least ten and were better armed. Of course what they didn't have was a Brujah or a Gangrel.
Bullets from over a dozen weapons from within shredded the first of Reapers men and as his flanking force ran forward alerted by the sound of gunfire the majority of those were cut down by Jevonte's force concealed in the woods. The survivors of the gang lieutenants ambush made an attempt to return fire but had no cover to speak of and found themselves pinned down, losing another three of their number.
Those survivors of the opening salvo retreated from the warehouse as others gave them covering fire losing several more as rounds struck them in the back. Though the initial onslaught had been one-sided the enemy had overcome their initial shock and were taking up firing positions with better cover. Some were firing sporadically from behind the warehouse doors which were of little threat but others using their vehicles as cover had better lines of sight to the gang within. Jevonte had finished off the initial flankers but more of the gang were circling the building and were approaching the weak point at the rear. It was time for the Malkavian to play his two trump cards.
The van had been positioned to shield a prepared escape route so it was impossible to see from the main entrance and Roach commanded his own gang to pull back while he gave covering fire, unloading his assault rifle over the barrier without even looking. Once his mortal allies had disappeared from sight he himself vanished from view as he signalled for Vin and Hope to make their presence felt. The circling group of the rapist and murderers gang found themselves caught in a crossfire from those Line 20's in the woods and those withdrawing from the building and were shredded from two directions. The first those using their own cars as cover knew that they weren't alone was the wet splat as Hope's shotgun removed ones head soon followed by a fully automatic shotgun wielded by Vin emptying it's twenty round drum into those who turned to investigate.
As the amount of firepower heading in his direction reduced considerably due to the noisy assault from the two kindred, Roach emerged under the cover of his cloaking disciplines and circled around the interior wall. As a result of his abilities the one foolish scumbag who had moved into the building to investigate had only a second to register his surprise as a man in a purple t-shirt appeared from nowhere and shot him neatly through the forehead before stepping back into the shadows and fading from sight. As their weapons emptied both shotgun wielding vampires dropped their firearms and closed to melee range. Potence enhanced fists from the Brujah killed three as Hope hacked a pair to death with a fire axe she somewhat worryingly kept handy for just such a situation.
Panic fire caught the pair and inflicted several superficial wounds as Vin flipped a car over which stood between him and his next victim while the Gangrel extended vicious claws from her fingertips slicing out two throats and inflicting a horrendous eviscerating wound on a third target. Point blank range, fully automatic weapon fire struck Vin centre mass but wasn't enough to significantly damage the unfeeling, undead flesh of the brawler whose counter-attack hit with such force that the shooter's upper body disintegrated in a shower of blood and viscera. Amongst the remnants of his decimated gang the tattooed and heavily muscled form of the self styled 'Reaper' tried to bring some order to his now terrified men without success. As Vin ripped off a car door to get at a fleeing victim, Hope instead had set her self the task of dealing with their leader.
Hope casually sliced through the reapers groin and up through his stomach with protean crafted claws before finishing him off almost dismissively and turning her attention to the rest. Now caught up in the thrill of the chase she bought down one of the three survivors, tore out his throat and then dragged another to the ground, losing control for a moment she ripped him apart not even bothering to feed until there was little left but fragments of flesh and splinters of bone. Correctly assuming that the sole survivor of the massacre was the last thing on her mind currently the Brujah pursued him as he attempted to out-distance his relentless pursuer.
Roach had given the gang the location of one of the many properties the coterie had acquired from the Vignes estate and informed Reuben and Jevonte to head there in anticipation of moving the rest of the gang to Pasadena. He also wanted to ensure there were no mortal witnesses to the blood bath his fellow kindred had carried out. Acquiring what car keys he could from the carnage the Malkavian began to move first vehicles and then bodies into the bullet ridden building before setting the whole thing alight. When Vin returned to the gallery an hour later where a simple nod indicated that the last of Reapers men had failed in his getaway attempt. Roach of course had no desire to know the details, merely that all loose ends were now cleaned up.
Reuben Hart, the new leader of the Line 20's had already started to relocate his gang to the properties provided by Michael and had sent men to salvage what they could of their vanquished rivals operation and round up any of his victims in case they could be utilised by his own gang. Material assets were also taken including stockpiles of weapons and drugs as well as retrieving the few remaining useful assets of his own operation but the task was still in it's early stages.
For only the second time Marius visited Galerie Sanguine and for once was accompanied by neither Victoria or Yukio. It was no surprise to Roach that he strolled through the wards created by Marie as he had suspected she would have created them so he could pass through as she was still significantly reliant on him for protection though the reason for his visit was of more interest. After extracting himself from his ghoul Heather who expressed her pleasure at seeing him both vocally and physically he made his way to their upstairs meeting room. As usual he dispensed with any pleasantries. "Another busy night I hear?" Of course it wasn't really a question.
Roach confirmed that they'd been forced to deal with a rival to their operations but had cleaned up after themselves as usual. Marius continued. "It seems that Baron Fortier is as prone to flights of fancy as the mortals of Downtown and has managed to get caught up in the legend of the seemingly unkillable Santiago Francisco." Roach had a fair idea of where this was going but kept silent in case he was mistaken. "He has therefore hired me to find him and kill him as he believes he is the only thing stopping the gangs under his control from dominating West Los Angeles and the rest of Downtown." He paused briefly and the Malkavian got to see the rare sight of an amused Marius "This is especially ironic as both you and I know he doesn't exist...so how exactly should we go about resolving this situation?"
Roach assured Marius that Santiago Francisco would never be heard of again even as a rumour as the Line 20's were now under new management. "Actually..." interrupted Marius "...perhaps it would also be beneficial if the Line 20's also ceased to exist. Perhaps a re-branding might be an idea?". Roach had already been considering renaming the gang and also had some ideas about who to use them to bring even greater profits than simple drug dealing. While he was musing the future the Gangrel 'Fixer' tossed a pouch onto the table in front of the pondering seer. "That is your percentage of the contract on the now deceased Mr Francisco." He slid his hand over it as Roach leaned forward "If we are agreed on the terms I specified of course?". Already planning how to spend the substantial pile of cash in front of him the deal was agreed and the Line 20's under Santiago Francisco ceased to exist. The Apostles under Reuben Hart however had just become a major player in the criminal activities of Pasadena appearing almost as if from nowhere.
There will be a Solo Session 'The Gather' Before this story is Continued in 'Becoming Baron' - Part Six
In Conclusion
I like to do a round-up of how the session went in these features but if you couldn't give a shit what I think then feel free to skip this bit...
This was a long session starting at 4ish in the afternoon and at about 11.00 in the evening I offered to finish it another time but as no-one apparently needed to get up in the morning we finished up, continuing to about 1.00am next morning. I gave them two sessions worth of experience points as we'd used up two sessions worth of my prepared material, lol.
The next session will be a solo outing for Phil's secondary character Hope. As events in a previous session had made the Gangrel decide to have one of their clan meetings known as a 'gather' or 'thing' and she is one of that clan it made no sense for it to happen completely in the background without her being involved. I therefore expanded it into a full stories worth of material. Don't worry though, the further adventures of the coterie will appear on the blog soon after that.
A few people have asked about the Relationship maps I use. Here they are.
Acknowledgements
I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Michael Tomassio is represented by the actor Matt Bomer, Johnny 'Roach' West is quite obviously Kurt Cobain, 'Vin' is the actor Scott Adkins, Dr Matthews is Mads Mikkelsen, Hope is Deborah Ann Woll, Marie is Eva Greene, Sophia Bartholomew is Sophia Myles, Jenna Cross is Rhona Mitra and the Blount sisters, Steve Booth and Carna artwork is taken from the VtES trading card game. Everything else is from vampire related folders and searches and is as far as I know is all of the 'fair use' variety. If there's something that you feel should be attributed to some-one then feel free to let me know and I'll happily add an acknowledgement...
Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.
The money they required for their legitimate expansion came from the recreational substances distributed by coterie member Roach and their expansion in this area had bought them into conflict with a mortal gang with considerable resources.
The Malkavian decided the best way to resolve this was to acquire a gang of his own and had ghouled the leader of the Line 20's a gang in downtown that were being pushed out of existence by kindred sponsored rivals. Now a little more reconnaissance would seem to be in order to decide upon the best way of making his new enemy go away...permanently...
Scene Seventeen - Know Your Enemy
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| Reuben Hart - Ghoul Line 20's Leader |
Reuben Hart the leader of the Line 20's had told Roach that persuading the rest of his people that the move was in their best interests might take a little time and as the equipment he'd ordered would take a few days he decided to spend the time with a little surveillance.
Recruiting two of the bums from the herd of Vin who most looked like a pair of junkies and changing his outfit to match theirs he decided to play the role of customer and see if their were any weak links in Reaper's distribution network. The Malkavian then made a circuit of the campus and surrounding area making small purchases as he went and attempted to engage any of the dealers who might have loose lips into conversation.
It was a long shot and as expected the more serious dealers had no intention of passing the time with a junkie and the weaker ones were apparently too afraid of their boss to make small talk. He did however discover that his sources estimates were somewhat off as a lot more of the corner dealers were professionals than he'd been led to believe with the weaker, unwilling ones being a definite minority.
As the airports were under the control of kindred of significant influence that Roach had no desire to get involved in at this stage he decided he'd need to use one of two major ports he was aware of that were under kindred control. The first belonged to the Ventrue baron of Torrance, David Geduld who controlled the port of Los Angeles and the other to Steve Booth, the Baron of Long Beach whose territory included Long Beach harbour. Long Beach harbour was managed for Steve Booth by a Ventrue called Harvey who kept things running smoothly for the laid back Steve in exchange for a small percentage and feeding rights.
Scene Eighteen - The Baron of Long Beach
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| Jenna Cross - Caitiff Thin-Blood Baron |
Jenna confirmed that Steve Booth had a condo on the beach, just east of the harbour which may or may not be his haven but was definitely the place to find him of an evening as the nearby beach apparently had the best surfing conditions. As far as she knew he was content with his domain though defended it's borders against intruders like most barons. It was however common knowledge that his neighbours in Torrance had their eyes on Long Beach harbour as possessing both would give him a lot of economic potential and power. Deciding that if surfing was Steve's thing it might be a good way to curry some favour he found himself a surf shop on the permanently open pier and bought himself a surfboard and some shorts. Roach who had many repressed memories due to mental trauma suffered in the Vietnam war was never quite sure whether the thoughts in his head were real recollections or delusions so he thought it might be a good idea to see if he could actually surf...as it turned out not only could he surf, but he was actually quite good at it.
After purchasing a bike rack for his surfboard from the same shop he decided to take a ride down to Long Beach to see if he could negotiate a deal to smooth the way for his drug shipments. Other than an unfortunate tendency to wobble when taking corners his motorbike skills weren't bad either and he was soon at the border of Steve's domain. Almost immediately after crossing the border a pair of kindred on dirt bikes began to flank him as he made his way to Steve's beach condo though the going became a bit tricky as he reached the actual beach due to his particular bike not being a great choice for riding over sand.
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| Steve Booth - Brujah Baron of Long Beach |
After what was possibly the most relaxed negotiation in kindred history Roach and Steve came to terms about the use of the docks and permission to cross his turf. "Harvey runs the docks for me. If I tell him it's cool he'll sort your shit in and out no drama. Any 5.0 aggro you chill yourself, If I have to get my dudes involved the deals off and you and the rest of your grommets get rag-dolled, yes?" Steve seemed confident that the kindred running the harbour on his behalf could be trusted with the financial side of the operation because as he said "Harvey gets his cut, He'll make sure I get mine".
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| David Geduld - Ventrue Baron of Torrance |
Storytellers Note - I have a feeling this might become a thing. I suppose I better watch 'The Lost Boys' again as reference material.
All eyes were on their leader who was undoubtedly an expert surfer so the Malkavian's much poorer performance this time went unnoticed. He then spent a quite enjoyable evening relaxing with Steve and his Bro's before checking back in on Reuben's progress on his way back to the haven, using his 'appearing from nowhere' trick in order to reinforce any doubts that the gang leader might have had about the reality of the previous night. While there Roach got a status report before feeding Reuben his blood a second time. With things going rather well he returned to the gallery to wait for the various threads of his scheme to weave together.
Scene Nineteen - A Gift From Sophia
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| Sophia Bartholomew - Toreador Artist |
Lisa rang through to Michael's office to inform him he had a guest and upon hearing it was Sophia briefly checked to make sure he was suitably attired and headed down to meet her. Roach who had decided to give himself this night off was relaxing in his usual spot above the rear fire escape though he was quite capable of using his enhanced senses to hear any conversations going on downstairs so stayed where he was. Michael made the usual introductions and expressed his pleasure at seeing her once again.
"I understand that the task you recently performed was primarily a matter between you and Mariel but as you indirectly provided a service for myself also, I'd like to show my gratitude in a more tangible manner." "If you can allow my delivery people entry to you loading bay I have a few items for you." Three men in overalls began to unload two large shipping crates of the kind used for transporting paintings, several other boxes of varying sizes and a single narrow case that they seemed to be taking particular care of. "There are some paintings of mine that you may exhibit or sell as you wish and some work of several of my 'brothers'. They indulge their creative desires but have no desire to exhibit their work. I thought perhaps you might make some use of them?"
Amongst the works were three elaborate carvings of mythical creatures, a dozen statues of different coloured glass which were mostly naked male and female figures and a pair of stone sculptures depicting a man and woman. Both were separate works but intertwined when placed together. Though all were impressive technical pieces to Roach's unusual senses the glass statues all seemed very slightly wrong as if the sculptor saw proportions very slightly differently to normal and he began to see none-humanoid features appear upon them the longer he stared though to Michael they looked perfectly normal. It was however the stone statues that were to trigger the Malkavians abilities as a seer.
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| Portrait of Michael |
Oblivious to the Malkavian, Sophia continued talking to Michael and reached for the single portrait case "This is however a personal gift" The parcel contained an impressive portrait of Michael and was in his opinion one of the best of her works he'd ever seen. Thanking her profusely they chatted for a few minutes longer and then she departed with her bodyguard. While they had been talking Roach had taken the glass and stone statues to one of the side rooms of the exhibition hall and made a display of them with the stone statues at the centre and the nine glass creations in a rough circle around them. Seemingly pleased with his creation the Malkavian returned to his usual spot while Michael worked out where in his office would be the best place to put up the painting of himself.
Scene Twenty - Marie
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| Marie - Clan Tremere House Carna |
The woman walked through the gallery straight to the security door barring entrance to the private offices upstairs and seemed somewhat irritated that there was no-one waiting to grant her entry. As Michael asked what the stranger wandering around his gallery wanted she informed him she was here to see a "Mr West." This threw Michael for a moment as he had never actually heard Roach referred to by his real name and had quite frankly never bothered to ask what it was. "I am here to enhance the protection of your home on a more...metaphysical level. Marius sent me on Mr West's request" The Toreador then made the connection between the conversation he'd had with Roach about needing wards to protect the galleries private areas in light of the kindred they'd released from imprisonment at the Vignes hands and the name. "I'll show you the areas we need protecting and then leave you to it if that's acceptable?" "Oui" was the only answer he received.
Roach suggested however that as they now knew that only the coterie and the now very dead Sabbat were aware of the maps existence that they should keep it completely a secret. Enough information existed to prove what the kindred had been without needing further collaboration and the map would be a much more valuable tool if as few people as possible were aware that they had any knowledge of their rivals havens. It might even work as a tool to unite the remaining baronies together at some point in the future which would put them one step closer to restoring the Camarilla to power. The one problem with Roach's plan was however that Michael had already let Marius know about a map with his own bases on it but he hadn't mentioned any other details. Roach wasn't overly concerned about this as in his opinion if asked they could just say that those were the only locations indicated and they needn't mention the notebook of names at all.
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| Marius Walker - Autarkis Gangrel Occasionally Prone to Overreaction... |
It soon became apparent that Marie had heard every word of their plotting and knew that they were Camarilla agents, had a map of the havens of LA's kindred and were keeping important information from their Mawla who was also broadly speaking her employer and protector. It soon became clear that her price for keeping this information to herself was the large quantities of blood she required to perform her rituals and also some protection. Though she already had one such protector given what she had in her possession more would be even better. Michael agreed in principle to an 'arrangement' but wanted more details about what exactly she possessed that was so important.
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| Carna - 'The Princess Witch' House Carna |
In short in return for their pledge to help her keep this item safe she would keep their secrets to herself and assist them with magical wards far more powerful than those she normally crafted for 'clients'. Realising that their agreement was effectively based on blackmail she decided to show her commitment by starting on the more powerful magical protections immediately. The only slight stumbling block was that any wards or protective magics that intersected with the coteries library were immediately undone by the spirits they'd inherited that were bound to the volumes within so the sorceress placed those nearby more carefully.
Storytellers Note - Their occult library is haunted....for reasons unlikely to be explained any time soon...
Unsure whether they'd gained a new ally or a new problem Roach decided to return to an issue that he at least could do something about namely the removal of the rival to his drug empire.
Scene Twenty One - Don't Fear the Reaper
Twenty bullet-proof vests and the equivalent number of firearms and ammunition for the same had been delivered as promised by 'Fat' Larry and Roach delivered them to the gang he now controlled. He instructed their leader Reuben to ready an appropriate number of his men and to ensure at least one of them was a lieutenant he could trust. They were to make themselves ready so when he called they could assist him to remove his enemy and take-over his organisation for themselves. He also took the opportunity to give his ghoul a third drink of his own blood thus bonding the gang leader to himself.
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| Hope Romero - Autarkis Gangrel |
As he was expecting treachery Roach wasn't surprised when more or less the entire of the Reapers gang turned up in a dozen vehicles, nor when Reuben's lieutenant Jevonte informed him that half a dozen men were approaching the building from the rear in a flanking manoeuvre predicted already by Hope. What was of more concern was that the force outnumbered them by at least ten and were better armed. Of course what they didn't have was a Brujah or a Gangrel.
Those survivors of the opening salvo retreated from the warehouse as others gave them covering fire losing several more as rounds struck them in the back. Though the initial onslaught had been one-sided the enemy had overcome their initial shock and were taking up firing positions with better cover. Some were firing sporadically from behind the warehouse doors which were of little threat but others using their vehicles as cover had better lines of sight to the gang within. Jevonte had finished off the initial flankers but more of the gang were circling the building and were approaching the weak point at the rear. It was time for the Malkavian to play his two trump cards.
Reuben Hart, the new leader of the Line 20's had already started to relocate his gang to the properties provided by Michael and had sent men to salvage what they could of their vanquished rivals operation and round up any of his victims in case they could be utilised by his own gang. Material assets were also taken including stockpiles of weapons and drugs as well as retrieving the few remaining useful assets of his own operation but the task was still in it's early stages.
For only the second time Marius visited Galerie Sanguine and for once was accompanied by neither Victoria or Yukio. It was no surprise to Roach that he strolled through the wards created by Marie as he had suspected she would have created them so he could pass through as she was still significantly reliant on him for protection though the reason for his visit was of more interest. After extracting himself from his ghoul Heather who expressed her pleasure at seeing him both vocally and physically he made his way to their upstairs meeting room. As usual he dispensed with any pleasantries. "Another busy night I hear?" Of course it wasn't really a question.
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| Louis Fortier - Ventrue Baron of West LA |
Roach assured Marius that Santiago Francisco would never be heard of again even as a rumour as the Line 20's were now under new management. "Actually..." interrupted Marius "...perhaps it would also be beneficial if the Line 20's also ceased to exist. Perhaps a re-branding might be an idea?". Roach had already been considering renaming the gang and also had some ideas about who to use them to bring even greater profits than simple drug dealing. While he was musing the future the Gangrel 'Fixer' tossed a pouch onto the table in front of the pondering seer. "That is your percentage of the contract on the now deceased Mr Francisco." He slid his hand over it as Roach leaned forward "If we are agreed on the terms I specified of course?". Already planning how to spend the substantial pile of cash in front of him the deal was agreed and the Line 20's under Santiago Francisco ceased to exist. The Apostles under Reuben Hart however had just become a major player in the criminal activities of Pasadena appearing almost as if from nowhere.
There will be a Solo Session 'The Gather' Before this story is Continued in 'Becoming Baron' - Part Six
In Conclusion
This was a long session starting at 4ish in the afternoon and at about 11.00 in the evening I offered to finish it another time but as no-one apparently needed to get up in the morning we finished up, continuing to about 1.00am next morning. I gave them two sessions worth of experience points as we'd used up two sessions worth of my prepared material, lol.
The next session will be a solo outing for Phil's secondary character Hope. As events in a previous session had made the Gangrel decide to have one of their clan meetings known as a 'gather' or 'thing' and she is one of that clan it made no sense for it to happen completely in the background without her being involved. I therefore expanded it into a full stories worth of material. Don't worry though, the further adventures of the coterie will appear on the blog soon after that.
A few people have asked about the Relationship maps I use. Here they are.
Acknowledgements
I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Michael Tomassio is represented by the actor Matt Bomer, Johnny 'Roach' West is quite obviously Kurt Cobain, 'Vin' is the actor Scott Adkins, Dr Matthews is Mads Mikkelsen, Hope is Deborah Ann Woll, Marie is Eva Greene, Sophia Bartholomew is Sophia Myles, Jenna Cross is Rhona Mitra and the Blount sisters, Steve Booth and Carna artwork is taken from the VtES trading card game. Everything else is from vampire related folders and searches and is as far as I know is all of the 'fair use' variety. If there's something that you feel should be attributed to some-one then feel free to let me know and I'll happily add an acknowledgement...
Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.
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