Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Session Fifty - The Messiah Complex (Part Two)

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. Now with a barony of their own it's time to consolidate their position and then plan their next move.

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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. If you'd prefer a summary of each session rather than read everything then there's a more detailed link page HERE as well as links to the first episode of each story in the blog sidebar.
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Chronicle One - 'Infiltrate LA' 

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, and 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, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Gather'
Story Three Continued - 'Becoming Baron' - Part Six, Seven and Eight
Chronicle Two - 'Foothold LA' 

Solo Session - 'Hostile Takeover'
Story Four - 'Countdown' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Five - 'The Missing Chantry' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Anaheim Assassination'
Story Six - 'A Meeting of Barons' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seven - 'The Carmelita Situation' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Eight - 'The Blount Sisters' - Part One and Two
Story Nine - 'Blood Money' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six
Story Ten - 'Anathema' - Part One and Two
Story Eleven - 'Predators and Prey' aka 'The Blount Sisters' - Part Three
Story Twelve - 'Aftermath' - Part One and Two
Story Thirteen - 'The Messiah Complex' - Part One

The PC's
Player controlled characters
Michael Tomassio - Toreador, Baron of Pasadena
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, Sheriff
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Fixer'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, Scourge
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, Mob Accountant
The SPC's
Storyteller controlled player allies
Priya Haynes - Gangrel, Hound

The player characters stats and backgrounds can be found HERE should any-one be interested. There's also some minor 'house-rules' HERE that have occurred as we went along.

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 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. Anything covered via player handouts will also be in blue as they're written in the same style as introductions and the like. Where particular NPC's have a mention in a faction profile you will be able to reach it by clicking on their name beneath their picture.

Introduction

Captain Franklin Atkins - Ghoul of Michael

A series of robberies targeting gun stores and suppliers has been bought to the coteries attention by their police contact due to a potential kindred connection. They have also discovered that two groups of kindred appear to be mapping the sewer networks below Los Angeles and that yet another is helping themselves to the herds and blood-dolls of other kindred. With so many of the LA baronies on the verge of war, The coterie is now trying to discover if these are separate incidents or whether a single group is stockpiling weapons and blood-dolls while seeking optimum routes to assault the other barons from below.

Storytellers Note - This was such a long session that I actually needed a break half-way through which more or less means it was actually two sessions in duration. You therefore might want to make yourself a cup of tea, coffee or pour yourself a glass of something, before you begin reading.

Pre-Session Handouts
At the start of certain sessions I distribute local news reports and information relevant to certain individuals. Some relate to previous sessions, others are things going on that the players may or may not wish to investigate or involve themselves in. Others of course are complete bollocks red herrings...

The Pasadena Rifle Association
Daniel - Alonzo was correct about there being some form of hunting lodge or gun club on this location for many years. The earliest records Andrew can find are property records from 1901 when the land was bought by a Gregory Ward.

The current proprietor is Zakaria Burch, a self-made millionaire, stock market trader. Mr Hertz has noticed several inconsistencies in the accounts, including some odd payments both in and out. Certain of the members seem to be paying exorbitant fees and every few months a large cash payment in the region of ten to twenty-five thousand dollars goes out and then is promptly paid back into their accounts a day or so later. Reassuringly, neither Hertz or Andrew can find even the most tenuous connection from the club to your other problems. Hertz's financial opinion is either money laundering on a small scale or that the club provides some other service to it's clients that they wish to keep a secret. Given it's wealthy clientele, this 'service' could be pretty much anything.

Michael - The current proprietor of the Pasadena Rifle Association is Zakaria Burch a self-made millionaire, stock market trader. He has no desire to sell the business or take on a partner as the insurance policy on the business has more than paid for any losses. He did however say that you are more than welcome to join as a member when the club re-opens in a few weeks time if you wish as you are what he referred to as, 'a person of significance'. Lisa's opinion of him was that he was an arrogant, self-entitled, lech. This opinion was more or less confirmed, though in less direct terms, by the few other influential mortals of your acquaintance to whom you spoke.

Carla - Gangrel of Huntington Beach
Currently Missing

Huntington Beach
Hope - The interactions between the Gangrel census-takers and scourges had revealed nothing over and above the usual sharing of information on movements between domains and the odd piece of inconsequential gossip. However over the last few days it has become apparent that something dire has occurred in Huntington Beach as no-one has heard from the kindred inhabitants or their kine contacts in days.

Carla and Orla are yet to be counted among the final dead and there is still some hope that they may have gone to ground before the attackers struck.

Storytellers Note - These handouts tie into the news reports also which I gave them to read before their personal hand-outs. It was important for the story that the players felt that there was a lot going on around them and that they couldn't investigate it all. I very much wanted them to have to pick their battles and accept that some stuff was just going to be out of their control.

Scene Six - Road Trip

With so many significant events occurring within the kindred community, Michael had decided to arrange several meetings with his allies and information sources. He hoped that this would give him a better picture of what was going on and who exactly was involved. Despite Mr Hertz's obvious expertise in many areas, it was decided to leave him undisturbed to continue his reorganisation of their criminal enterprises.

Storytellers Note - Also, his player wasn't available for this session, lol.

Vin's 'Go' Bag...

Vin had insisted on accompanying Michael, Hope and Daniel on their diplomatic mission as it might well directly involve the search for his missing girls. Michael did however make it clear to him that this was going to involve some delicate negotiations and that he needed to stay calm. Vin agreed and put his bag down on the table which clunked heavily as he did so. He then removed several weapons from around his person and added them to it's contents. He had however kept his large two-handed kukri in it's scabbard at his back, barely concealed by his leather jacket.

Before they left, Vin also spoke to Mr Hertz. He informed him that he had his people out calling in favours and making enquiries about their current problems. The Brujah informed the Nosferatu that he would have them report to him while he was with Michael so as to minimise interruptions. This also meant that anything significant could be acted on by Mr Hertz as soon as possible rather than having to wait for Vin's return.

Dion - Ghoul of Fiorenza
Assigned to Michael Tomassio

Dion was asked to act as driver and was made aware of some of the issues currently occurring. Dion sensibly put on his body armour and loaded his high calibre revolver with rounds more suitable for dealing with kindred enemies. Michael also warned his own watchmen and security people to use their 'alternate' ammunition supplies which were more appropriate for the threats the coterie and their allies might be likely to have to deal with.

With Dion driving, this left Daniel free to keep his eye on what was going on around them and look out for any tails or suspicious activity. Daniel had his usual complement of pistols and blades concealed around his person as well as a custom Browning High-Power he'd recently had converted to fire on full auto.

Several other useful but less easily hidden weapons were placed in the trunk of Michael's armoured Cadillac. He noted as he did that Vin's leather bag that contained his shotgun and other guns and blades was already in there.

Hope followed along in her own jeep containing it's usual complement of handguns, shotguns and the obligatory fire-axe. Though Hope's vehicle had no armour, the rest of the coterie often joked that she was more resilient than the groups armoured cars anyway.

While their preparations were bring made, Michael had managed to contact one of Steve's followers, a Gangrel called Hector who had given them a time for a meeting. Unusually for the normally laid back Steve, they had been given a very specific time and entry point into his territory. They were also told not to be late.

Scene Seven - The Southern Baronies

Steve Booth - Brujah
The Baron of Long Beach

As they entered the Barony of Long Beach they were met by a pair of bikes and a jeep as an escort and taken by a direct route to the beach-house that Steve usually used for meetings. His usual seat outside was unoccupied and it seemed that they were to meet within for a change.

Daniel looked around for security measures and could see nothing electronic in place. No camera's, alarm systems or any of the usual devices even mortals kept around to ensure their safety. There were however, a relatively large number of people around, presumably ghouls or blood dolls as well as kindred, and therefore approaching unnoticed would be difficult but not impossible.

Hector beckoned them in where an unusually serious Baron Booth was seated in a room with several kindred guards standing nearby. As Hector turned to leave, Hope asked if she could have a word with him herself while the others were talking.

Michael gave his condolences to Steve for the loss of his allies in Huntington Beach as the Brujah confirmed that he'd "Lost some good people...". His enquiries about who Steve believed was responsible revealed that he was in no doubt that it was David Geduld, the Baron of Torrance. In his opinion it was a preemptive strike designed to remove Steve's potential allies from the equation.

David Geduld - Ventrue
Baron of Torrance

The Toreador raised the subject of the other issues that were going on around Los Angeles but Steve doubted that Geduld was involved in the weapon thefts. Steve more or less confirmed the coteries opinions that the Ventrue had more than enough resources and opportunity to acquire guns through his port contacts. He could also do so quietly and without notice.

Michael offered his assistance with the security of Huntington Beach to Steve. He had already discussed with the others that their long term plans would be negatively impacted by Baron Geduld controlling the whole of the Southern baronies of Los Angeles. Steve turned down the offer stating quite clearly that he would deal with the matter himself and then "Go and sort out that bastard Geduld, personally..."

Steve also informed them that Michael and his coterie would be the last kindred visitors he would be receiving as once they left he was going to secure his borders. Once this was done he stated quite clearly that he was on a war footing and that any kindred entering his domain would be treated as poachers or invaders and granted final death on sight. He did however also make it clear that as a man of his word he would still honour his agreements in regard to Michael's 'shipments' via the port. He was quite clear though that only mortals were to accompany the vehicles.

"I have another request to make of you, though based on what you have just said I understand if the answer is no." began Michael. Steve gestured for him to continue. "My own census-taker, Hope was acquaintances with the two Gangrel of Huntington Beach and has expressed her desire to look for them. Of course this would necessitate her entering that domain..."

Orla - Gangrel of Huntington Beach - Missing

Steve had no objections to her making the attempt as he currently couldn't spare the manpower to do so himself. He did however say that she did so at her own risk and that he was to be informed of any discoveries she made immediately.

Michael then offered to inform Steve's Crypt Sons neighbours of the current state of affairs but was told that he had already met with Hank to let him know what he was doing. It was obvious that Steve had no desire for a misunderstanding with the Baron of the Crypts Sons that might make him another powerful enemy.

With his own concerns dealt with, Michael asked permission for Vin and Daniel to ask some questions. As it seemed that Steve had none of the problems with missing girls that some of the other baronies had experienced, Vin deferred to Daniel. The Banu Haqim's questions were mainly on the subject of how the attacks on Huntington Beach were implemented. He hoped that the methodology might give him some clues to the culprit as he had considerable personal doubts about arbitrarily deciding that Geduld was responsible.

It seemed that the Huntington Beach kindred's mortal contacts, allies and ghouls had been systematically attacked which had caused them to group together for mutual protection. This it seemed was exactly what the attacker had desired as the subsequent arson attack took out five of the seven kindred in one go. Steve was obviously almost as angry with himself as he was with whoever was responsible as in his own words "He should have seen it coming...". Several times during their discussion he had admonished himself for focusing completely in the direction of Torrance for which the kindred at Huntington had paid the price. On the subject of the death of the various mortals, Daniel discovered that all had been killed outside of their homes, in unobserved areas with precise and brutal efficiency. The attacks in Daniel's opinion had all the hallmarks of professional assassinations and the overall plan was uncomfortably close to how he himself would have done it.

Hector O'Neill - Gangrel
Long Beach 'Sweeper'

Steve's final comment on the subject was that despite the losses he still out-manned Geduld, but unfortunately didn't yet outgun him. As soon as that balance was equalised he would be in a position to teach the Ventrue a lesson in consequences for his actions.

Hope meanwhile had learned from Hector that the two missing Gangrel always slept in the ground which explained why they weren't with the others when the beach-side warehouse had been torched. He also revealed that they kept stocks of equipment and weapons around the Huntington beach area. He understood that these were mainly concealed in lockers in various storage facilities though he had no specific locations. He believed that both Carla and Orla had come from military backgrounds when mortal and that if any-one could have survived it would be them.

One final snippet of information that might be of use was that despite them almost never sleeping in the same place twice, they had at least once slept in the earth near the destroyed warehouse where their friends had met their final deaths. This at least gave Hope a location where her wolf form may be able to pick up a scent from which to attempt to track them down. If they had survived that is.

As they left Steve's meeting place, Michael informed Hope that permission had been given for her to investigate Huntington Beach. Transforming into Raven form she headed there immediately to see what she could discover, while the others prepared to head to their next meeting with the Baron of the Crypts Sons, Hank. Noticing that Hope had left her jeep behind, Vin transferred her weapons from it, to the trunk of Michael's car. He then asked if Hector would keep an eye on it, until the next shipment when one of their gang could pick it up.

Scene Eight - The Central Baronies

Hank Boyd's Commerce Ranch

Hank was happy enough to meet up with Michael and his people but specified his ranch, rather than his place in central Los Angeles. Michael got the impression that he wished to show off his recent art and sculpture purchases in situ. The location for the meeting was largely irrelevant to him so he agreed.

Daniel meanwhile was curious about how the security precautions there compared to the Crypts Sons barons other meeting place. Vin left a message for Hope telling her where they were going but presumed that as she was unlikely to be in humanoid form so wouldn't receive it for some time.

They were met at the gate by a guard who opened it for them and then closed it behind as they were expected. Daniel observed that this place had more electronic security than his other place, having an actual alarm system and well placed camera's that seemed to have no blind-spots that he could discern with such a limited examination. It was however obvious that he bought a lot of guards with him when he did business here as Daniel could count at least twelve.

Henrique 'Hank' Boyd - Brujah
Baron of the Crypts Sons

Some effort had been made to tidy them up a little as they had shed their gang-banger colours and were instead in suits. Weapons were however ubiquitous but none-standard, seemingly based purely on the particular Crypts Sons personal preference. All had at the very least a handgun though there were also shotguns, sub-machine guns and assault rifles spread between those present.

As they were escorted inside, Michael could see the pieces that Hank had purchased in various locations around the place. In all honesty the positioning needed a bit of work but he decided that pointing it out might be impolite. Hank was seated in a large chair near a roaring fire in a luxurious sitting room. A guard stood in each corner of the room and these were all particularly well armed.

Each of the kindred present were taken aback by the presence of the fireplace but had the force of will to approach as instructed. Michael sat though Vin and Daniel remained standing. Daniel tried to memorise the faces of all the guards in case he saw them somewhere else as he was now quite conscious of the possibility of being followed yet again. Vin meanwhile panned across each guard in turn, holding their gaze for slightly longer than was strictly necessary. Michael had asked him to avoid causing trouble but he saw no reason why he shouldn't make himself known to those he encountered.

Vincent Ghast - Brujah
'After a quiet discussion about domain'

The reactions from the Crypts Sons present told Vin that they knew exactly who he was and how his reputation had been earned. Satisfied that the chance of anyone trying anything stupid had been reduced he returned his attention to the barons discussion.

Michael mentioned that he'd met Steve Booth earlier and that he had mentioned a meeting they'd had. Hank confirmed that he had been informed about the closing of Long Beach's borders and that Steve had let him know the reasons behind it. The Toreador picked up on the fact that Hank obviously appreciated the show of respect.

"What did you think of my decoration?" asked Hank in a somewhat leading manner. Michael diplomatically replied that they weren't exactly where he personally would have put them. "You'll have to give me the benefit of your experience then..." replied Hank. "...as the whole point of this place is so those people who wouldn't deal with 'Hank the gang-banger' can deal with 'Hank the respected business man', feel free to make any re-arrangements you like. I doubt you only came here to talk about my decor though? Am I right?"

Michael laid out what he knew so far, some of which was news to Hank. "I figured the gun robberies were just the usual gang shit. Never occurred it was one of our lot planning for a war.". As for the missing women he hadn't heard of any hookers going missing in his turf though Michael got the distinct impression that it wasn't something he gave a shit about anyway. He was however interested in the suspected connection to the Barony of the Angels as the gangs there were currently the biggest thorn in his side.

Hank's List of 'The Barony of the Angels' Gangs

He then clicked his fingers to get the attention of one of his guards. "Fetch me the list of the gangs in the Barony that...our friend, acquired for us...make sure it's the copy with the notes on..."

Storytellers Note - The list was given to the players as a handout. I've posted it as a picture but you may have to zoom in to see any of the detail. Anything on there that becomes relevant will be mentioned in the write-ups so don't worry if you can't read it. You won't miss anything.

The list was definitely of interest though in Daniel's opinion the notes could do with being a bit more thorough. It did however give them a broad list of potential suspects. Hank then changed the subject slightly. "Have you given any more thought to my idea about the Barony of the Angels?" Michael had indeed given some thought to the idea that the neutral status of the so-called Barony of the Angels was problematic. He did however think Hank's plan of just rolling into it and declaring it their's would paint a fucking great target on all of their backs. "I have an idea, yes. feel free to shoot it down if you wish..." A few of the guards began to chuckle at this. "...metaphorically of course...".

Central Los Angeles at Night
The Barony of the Angels

Michael then laid out his plan that if the territory was divided between all it's neighbours then at the very least none of those gaining domain would object. It also meant that any-one who wanted a piece would have to in some way contribute to the effort to tame it. "You mean cut it up like a cake?..that's not a bad plan..." he paused briefly as if considering something. "...but if they want an equal slice they put in an equal effort. Otherwise they get a shitty thin slice with no fucking icing."

The Toreador thought that he might be taking the cake metaphor a little too seriously but at least the overall plan had his approval. Michael then stated his intention to arrange a meeting with all those it would effect at some point in the future after he'd felt them out about it a little first. Both he and Hank agreed that it was going to be a long term plan that wouldn't benefit from them rushing into it. "I don't mean to hurry you gentlemen..." concluded Hank. "...but I have a meeting with a mortal businessman here in about an hour."

On his way out, Michael rearranged some of the ornaments and moved a picture or two before making a mental note to have his ghoul Lisa send Mr Boyd a few suggestions about how to best display the rest.

Scene Nine - Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach - Burnt-Out Warehouse

Hope circled the burnt out warehouse several times before landing in a quiet spot and assuming humanoid form. A brief observation of the area gave up no clues so instead she shifted into wolf form and searched for a familiar scent.

Having encountered both Carla and Orla at the Gangrel 'Gather' and having fought one of them in the manner of the clan when establishing rank, Hope had a vague recollection of their scents. Unfortunately the strong smell of burning and the foot traffic of investigating officers made detecting any trail near to the area impossible so she moved further out before continuing. After circling the area many times, and expanding the area each time she concluded that finding the missing Gangrel in this manner was futile and so took to the air once more.

Hope noted that from the air the terrain looked far different. Beach areas, vacant strips of land and the few parks seemed to almost form a line through the area. Figuring that this was as good a place as any to begin a search, she dipped low and skimmed across this new potential set of hiding places looking for any sign of her missing acquaintances.

As she reached a small forested area she could see signs of commotion, two figures were fighting a half dozen armed men. The corpses already surrounding them clearly showing that Orla and Carla had managed to ambush their pursers, the placement of the dead indicated to Hope that the pair had emerged from the ground in the midst of their enemies. Hope saw that one of the men had retreated slightly and was aiming a rifle at Orla's head.

Changing into humanoid form as she dived towards them she landed with considerable force on the rifle-wielding hunter and ripped out their throat, letting the frenzy take her as she did so. As her hunger was sated and the beast within silenced, she looked up to see how the other Gangrel were faring.

Orla had driven her claws up, under her opponents rib-cage and tore out their still beating heart, before squeezing the blood into her open mouth. Carla meanwhile had sliced an enemy almost in two with a double handed slash of her claws, a second victim already breathing their last as arterial blood spurted from a horrific neck wound. Knowing that they were now the hunted rather than the hunters the remaining three turned to flee. It was a sensible move but one they took too late as Hope ran them down and killed them before they had even vacated the clearing.

Gangrel - Protean - Earth Meld

Carla had begun to search the bodies for identification but could find none. The weapons and equipment also didn't seem to match those of any of the mortal military forces employed by the kindred that Hope was aware of. Orla confirmed that she and Carla had hidden beneath the earth and emerged in the midst of those after them. Though they were reasonably sure of victory they nonetheless thanked Hope for her intervention and in an uncharacteristic moment of humanity she gave them both a hug. "So how do you normally dispose of 'accidents' such as this?" enquired Hope.

As it turned out, one of the Huntington kindred who had met final death was usually the one responsible for tidying up messes and therefore their removal of one problem had created them another. Fortunately Hope's coterie had their own methods and so she rang Mr Hertz. "I have a dozen or so minor inconveniences that need to be transferred to the funeral home..." Fortunately the Nosferatu new exactly what she meant. "...but they happen to be in Huntington Beach at the moment. can you perhaps facilitate their transfer?" "Give me the address, Miss Romero and I'll send some appropriate transport..." replied Mr Hertz.

Search and Destroy Teams

"These look to me like they were meant to find us and then send for help..." observed Orla. "...a couple have incendiary rounds but the rest are ill-equipped to hunt kindred. I reckon we have bigger problems coming if we stay here..." Hope relayed Daniel's theory that this was a well planned attack upon the kindred of Huntington and that it had been implemented professionally. Though they had dealt with these pair of five-man search teams fairly handily, whoever was behind the attack would be unlikely to be effected overly by this set-back as these were obviously the 'search' part, not the 'destroy' one. Though leaving without avenging their comrades bothered them, the practical nature of their clan came to the fore and they accepted Hope's offer of temporary sanctuary in Pasadena until they came to a decision about their futures.

Moments later a selection of vehicles arrived, driven by those of the Apostles who were aware of their masters true natures. "Mr Hertz sent us..." said their leader Reuben. Then the clean-up began.

Scene Ten - Hollywood

Abrams Golden Age Jewelry 

On their way to meet Isaac in Hollywood, Michael received a call from Hope informing him that she had located the two missing individuals from Huntington and they were going to be 'having a short stay in Pasadena' until their current troubles were resolved. He passed the information onto a grateful Steve Booth before their arrival at Isaac Abrams jewellery shop, where he normally held meetings.

They were met outside by one of Isaac's operatives and escorted down the side-alley to the back entrance to the store where the Baron of Hollywood received visitors. Those who had been there before recognised the escort as he seemed to be ever present at any location where Isaac held meetings or did business. Presumably he was a bodyguard of some kind though it was possible he had another role, perhaps as Seneschal or Scourge. Daniel and Vin also noted that many of those milling around in the general area were quite clearly spies and look-outs. It seemed that Isaac was taking his safety seriously.

Isaac Abrams - Toreador
Baron of Hollywood

"I'm quite busy at the moment, Michael, so if you could get to the point quickly I would be most grateful." Began Isaac as the coterie entered. Michael first asked about Velvet as he had heard about the loss of one of her girls and was aware that she thought of them more as more than mere employees. As Michael had expected, Isaac's attitude softened at the mention of Velvet's name. "She's understandably upset, as you'd expect. As you're aware she treats her dancers as people rather than a mere herd and has subsequently taken the loss to heart..." Michael then mentioned that she wasn't the only one who had lost girls. Himself, Catherine Du Bois and Marius had also experienced problems.

"Yes, Marius..." Isaac almost spat out the name as though it was common knowledge that he occasionally used the 'fixers' services he didn't really like him. Michael suspected that the idea of a boardroom Gangrel offended the Toreadors idea of the roles the various clans should 'play'. "...I find myself in the strange position of getting earache from Mr Walker about my inability to adequately protect the interests of those operating within my domain." Isaac's irritation was almost palpable. "The irritating thing is that broadly speaking he has every right to complain as he does indeed operate within Hollywood with my permission and tradition requires me to take certain responsibilities for what goes on within." Michael nodded sympathetically. Vin and Daniel on the other hand exchanged knowing looks, well aware that Marius would have taken great pleasure in giving Isaac a hard time.

Santa Monica Pier - Thin-Blood Central

Michael then discovered that Issac was well aware of the weapons thefts happening around Los Angeles and placed the blame firmly on the thin-bloods and Caitiff 'vermin' that were, in his words "Infesting LA like a plague of locusts...". It was obvious that he placed the blame for the majority of the problems in the city on them and he explicitly stated that in his opinion the best solution would be to wipe them all out.

Michael favoured a less violent solution but deemed this to be the wrong occasion to get into a debate on the subject. He instead turned the conversation to how his barony and Hollywood could help each other, suggesting that an agreement between the two to respect one another's borders would enable them to protect each other. He also suggested that such an agreement would also enable them to protect Velvet from any potential danger which seemed to sway him a little.

Velvet Velour - Toreador
Owner of Club Vesuvius

"On the subject of Velvet..." interrupted Isaac. "...perhaps you could do me a small favour and check on her for me? I'm far too busy with matters of domain to do so myself...and she does seem to value your company..." There was a vague hint of a threat in the tone during the latter part of the supposedly innocent request. More than likely the implication was that if Michael was to hurt her in someway, then Abrams would be extremely annoyed. Michael agreed to perform the task as he had intended to visit her anyway.

The Yakuza guarding the premises were much twitchier than usual as if looking for trouble and the atmosphere in Vesuvius was somewhat more subdued than normal, as if Velvet's melancholy had somehow spread to her dancers and their customers.

Both Vin and Daniel were offered 'refreshments' while Michael talked to Velvet. Daniel accepted as he was beginning to feel a level of hunger that he was concerned may effect his abilities. To his surprise Vin also took Miss Velour up on her offer. He was also slightly amused to see that the girl provided for Vin was positively amazonian in physique.

Michael's empathetic talents immediately picked up on the sadness felt by 'VV' at the loss of one of her girls. He expressed his pleasure at seeing her despite the circumstances and apologised on Isaac's behalf that he was unable to comfort her personally. He also assured her that he and his people were diligently looking for all the missing ladies and that he would not rest until they were discovered and the culprits appropriately punished.

'Trixi' - Blood Doll
Dancer at Club Vesuvius

Curious about why this particular dancer had been targeted, Michael probed further for any information that might be of use. 'VV' informed him that she was a particular favourite of several of the kindred who used her establishment. Many had commented favourably upon the sweetness of both her personality and of her blood.

Michael made a mental note to get Daniel to see if the girls missing from the Sin Bin had been popular for similar reasons. He also asked where the girls had been taken from as Daniel had deemed the information necessary. Like the others she had been taken while travelling between her home and her place of work. The only recent picture that VV had available of 'Trixi' was from one of the calendars of girls that Vesuvius sold as merchandise, she was apparently 'Ms September'.

Before leaving, Michael apologised in case it would be some time before he saw her again as many kindred were closing their borders. Velvet assured him that if such a thing occurred that he himself would be exempt as Isaac would do nothing that would make her unhappy and she herself wouldn't allow him to keep them apart. Though Michael was reassured, he hoped that such an ultimatum wouldn't be necessary as it would almost certainly bring him into conflict with Isaac Abrams.

Interlude - A New Rival

Reuben Hart - Ghoul
Leader of 'The Apostles'

Vin had used the time while waiting for Michael to check in with Mr Hertz and his own contacts who were in turn liaising with the Nosferatu and his own gang, 'The Apostles'. The information they had gathered was of concern and he informed Michael that he needed to return to Pasadena to investigate the matter personally.

Vin's eyes and ears on the streets have informed him that a number of the surviving members of the various groups now run by the Apostles have joined together and are attempting to carve out a new territory of their own. It's also rumoured that they have a powerful financier behind them though this is yet to be confirmed. These rumours of a new gang have however been confirmed by Mr Hertz's Apostles though they are unable to find a base of operations for them and they appear to have made no effort to reclaim any of their lost enterprises.

The appearance of a new competitor to their criminal enterprises in Pasadena who had no interest in the traditional organised crime activities was odd to say the least. The fact that this had occurred almost exactly at the time that prostitutes and blood-dolls had started to disappear was very suspicious. Though Vin's own security people were very skilled, they lacked the Brujah's unique talents in the area of intimidation and he deemed his own presence necessary. Besides which, he trusted Daniel to be able to protect Michael in his absence as he had done so successfully on a number of previous occasions.

After arranging for Sarah to pick him up together with some spare hardware he returned to the coteries own barony to bang some heads together. Literally, most likely.

Scene Ten (Continued) - Hollywood

Victoria Anne - Ghoul of Marius
Vindictive Personal Assistant

While Michael contacted the Nosferatu Gary from the comfort of Velvet's office, Daniel was dispatched to the Sin Bin to speak with its disreputable proprietor, Flynn Boyle. Deciding that he wished to maintain his hard earned, positive relationship with Marius's ghoul Victoria, Daniel phoned to ask permission first. The Sin Bin was one of Marius's business ventures and Flynn answered to Victoria so it made sense to not rock the boat if it could be avoided. Victoria was as usual, straight to the point. "What do you want, Dr?"

Daniel explained that he needed to speak to Flynn Boyle at the Sin-Bin in relation to the missing girls issue. He already had information from their own operations and those of Velvet Velour and as he was in Hollywood wished to see if Flynn had anything useful to add. Victoria was far less interested in the well being of Mr Boyle on this occasion. Presumably because of his failure in keeping her and her masters resources safe.

"I'll inform him that his chance to redeem himself is directly in proportion to his usefulness in this matter." Stated Victoria. "If he seems to be of less use than you deem appropriate then feel free to encourage him in any way you see fit..." Equipped with more or less a blank cheque, the Banu Haqim had high hopes for this particular visit.

Flynn Boyle - Sin-Bin Manager

As he entered the Sin-Bin, the heavily armed security guard within got up and left, leaving Daniel quite alone with Flynn. "I guess that means..." began Flynn as the guard walked past. "...that I'm less protected by Victoria than is normally the case?" Daniel confirmed that it would be in his best interests to be very cooperative indeed.

Flynn was indeed the height of cooperation. The two girls whose names were 'Tiffany' and 'Lola' had, like the others been taken somewhere between their homes and place of work. Of the two only Tiffany had been a particular kindred favourite, the other being what Flynn described as "Just another hooker". He also provided their home addresses and a copy of all the Sin-Bin's security tapes in case the place had been being observed.

Daniel tasked his ghoul Andrew with mapping the travel routes between the girls and their clubs, looking for obvious kidnap points. He was then to check those areas for any evidence of attack or assault. Daniel then put a call in to Alonzo to see if the Nosferatu Elder could persuade Gary to meet him and Michael in the basement of 'The Asp Hole' club rather than travel all the way to the warrens. He was surprised to find that Gary agreed to the meeting with considerable haste.

'Gorgeous' Gary Golden - Nosferatu
Former Primogen, Nosferatu Leader

The basement of the Asp Hole club in Hollywood had access to the sewer network and from there the warrens off the Nosferatu below. A meeting room constructed there on Marius's instructions had created a convenient place for the Nosferatu to have discussions with kindred who were unwilling to make the trip into the sewers. It also allowed the Nosferatu to meet with those they had no desire to show the location of their home to.

Unusually, Gary had two Nosferatu with him as guards and his usual half smiling, half mocking expression was absent. Noting the serious expression, Michael got straight down to business. Gary was of course well aware of the sewers being mapped but revealed that he had another problem. Namely that his childe Caleb was missing.

"...and we're only hearing about this now?" stated Daniel, somewhat incredulously. Michael tactfully interrupted in case Gary took offence. "I'm sure Mr Golden would have informed the other barons once he was sure his absence was a problem? A baron has many responsibilities..."

"So now it definitely is a problem..." asked Daniel in a slightly more diplomatic tone. "...what do we know?" Gary revealed that Caleb had made a trip to the sewers beneath the Barony of the Angels which wasn't unusual as mapping the network was one of his responsibilities. His knowledge of the underground was such that he sometimes was gone for several nights, knowing as he did, many safe places to hide during the hours of daylight.

'The Mistress of the Swarm'
Autarkis Gangrel

Only when he had been gone for five nights had a search been undertaken and his disappearance deemed of significance. Daniel wanted to know what connection he thought this might have to the two groups mapping the sewers. The answer didn't exactly inspire confidence.

The group that had made it's home under Downtown LA were the Gangrel horde known most commonly as 'The Swarm'. They were the army of an insane mistress who surrounded herself with many childer, ghouls, cultists and blood dolls. All were bound by blood, fear or a combination of the two. Alonzo had informed Gary that he believed that they been bought to LA by a kindred of significant influence and power to remove all trace of the second Inquisition from a secret base in the Hollywood Hills. It seemed that once their task had been completed that they had been effectively forgotten about and left to their own devices.

"I've been unfortunate enough to see the Mistress of the Swarm and her horde in action." Admitted Daniel. "It's not an experience I'd be keen on repeating." Something then occurred to him. "Aren't there a group of Lupines in the sewers under Downtown already?" Gary's opinion was that this was most likely the reason why Nicodemus of the Wilds Pack's presence had been requested by Marius. The monstrous arachnoid Gangrel had dealt with the various changing breeds many times over the centuries and was both feared and respected by them. If any-one could have negotiated an acceptable arrangement between the Swarm and the Bone Gnawers, it would have been him.

Caleb - Nosferatu
Childe of Gary Golden

In return for this information, Daniel let Gary know of his and Hope's encounter with the group mapping the sewers. Including the fact that one was fanatical enough to choose final death over cooperation. In his opinion that if any-one had taken Caleb then it was this latter group. If the Swarm mistress had indeed made a home under Downtown then she would have no need of extensive mapping. Indeed it would be quite out of character for them.

However with an expert navigator and archivist like Caleb in their possession, this second group of explorers would hold a significant advantage. Caleb knew every nook and cranny in the entire network including places long lost to the rest of the population both mortal and kindred.

"In an ideal world I would wish to see my childe returned unharmed." said Gary with genuine concern. "However I have the entire population of the warrens to think of as well. Though it would pain me greatly, If it was necessary to protect the rest of my clan I would sacrifice him in an instant." Michael could detect the resolve in Gary's voice. Neither he nor Daniel doubted that he would indeed let his childe experience final death if it was required to protect the other Nosferatu. "Was all of Caleb's knowledge within his head or did he have actual maps and files?" asked Daniel, to change the subject. Gary said he would see what information he could discover and that if he thought it would help both the coterie and his own people to resolve the problem then he would share it with them.

It began to seem that each new piece of information they gained showed the problem to have escalated rather than offer a way to minimise the threat. With both groups having shared all the information they were willing to, they parted company. With dawn now rapidly approaching the coterie returned to the galley. Enquiries about the problem that Vin was investigating would have to wait till the next evening.

Scene Eleven - The Blood Trade

Catherine Du Bois - Ventrue
Mistress and Childe of Baron Louis Fortier

Vin had discovered that the leader of this newly formed gang was called Denzel Weber and is or was a ghoul of the Fortiers who it seems has attempted to carve out a career on his own.

According to Vin's sources he was initially a spy in one of the Pasadena gangs for Catherine Du Bois but was presumed dead when the coterie took over crime in that area of LA. It seemed plausible to the Brujah that Denzel knew of the importance of certain blood dolls from Catherine Du Bois's 'parties' at the Fortier mansion. He also had obtained footage from a number of security cameras that seems to show the same dark coloured van at some of the suspected kidnap locations. Both Daniel and his ghoul Andrew had identified a number of places from which the girls could have been taken. Cross referencing these with the locations that they suspected were being mapped out underground gave them no correlation.

It also seemed to both of them that dragging a women out of a car or off the street into a van was easier than trying to drag her through a tiny sewer access and then along the sewer network. If indeed the two activities were connected then the common denominator wasn't the sewers. At least not when it came to the actual kidnaps.

Vin suggested that they use one of the more popular of his girls as bait in a trap to capture the kidnappers in the act. Once they had captured one of them, Vin was positive that they would tell him all about their operation. Michael of course had some concerns about the safety of the woman used as bait and asked that the Brujah hold off on acting until they had considered other options. Daniel could see that the plan might have some merit and asked Vin to use the delay requested by Michael to fine-tune the scheme a little.

Marius Walker - Autarkis Gangrel
'Fixer'

Then the subject of whether to involve Marius in discussion of the events in LA was broached. Vin was positive that he already would know what was going on anyway and the others agreed that it was almost certain that he did. Michael however was concerned that not involving him in their conjectures might look like they were avoiding involving him deliberately. As kindred politics was the Toreador's area of responsibility they bowed to his assessment. Besides which, both Michael and Daniel wished to speak with Marius anyway.

Michael was informed by Victoria that Marius was unavailable and would be so for at least a week. She did however allow Michael to speak to Leanna and offered to spare Daniel a few minutes to discuss whatever was on his mind.

Mr Hertz meanwhile had found Orla and Carla a couple of empty properties in close proximity to one another for their stay in Pasadena. Vin had generously allowed them to feed from his own herd though this was only a temporary measure until Michael made a decision about what to do with them, long term. It was also generally considered that a hungry Gangrel wasn't something you wanted hanging around your domain.

Downtown Los Angeles at Night

While the others travelled to Downtown to see Marius's people, Vin continued his enquiries into Weber's gang. He was now sure that Denzel was freelance and it was possible that his targeting of Pasadena was a bit of petty vengeance due to their part in his spy mission failing. The revenge theory also explained his striking out at Catherine Du Bois but the others were probably merely targets of opportunity.

As Daniel and Michael arrived at Hallowbrook, the baron was taken to see Leanna while Daniel got to have his 'few minutes' with Victoria.

"Let me guess..." Began Victoria. "...trouble in the sewers?" Deciding that concealing things gained him nothing, Daniel spelt out the issue with unknown forces mapping of the sewers and the kidnapping of a number of blood dolls. He didn't mention the gun thefts as that might be something he'd be able to take advantage of himself.

The Swarm - Allies, Herd and Retainers

"The group now nestled under Downtown had no part in any mapping of the sewers." Revealed Victoria, confirming Daniel's own suspicions and those of Alonzo. "They don't really work that way. They're less an invasion force and more of an infestation." She then continued. "They were bought here by...a kindred of some influence...he then seemingly got distracted and left them wandering about and we were asked to resolve the issue." "Containing them below Downtown where we can keep an eye on them was the best solution we could come up with on such short notice..."

"As some-one who has seen the 'Swarm' at work...." Stated Daniel. "...I'd have to say that it's not a great solution." Though Victoria agreed with his assessment of them, Daniel couldn't help but get the impression that she didn't seem as afraid of them as she should be. It felt like he was missing something. Victoria then changed the subject. "As for your blood-doll problem, I presume you've identified the gangs leader?" Daniel confirmed that they had, but didn't name them, testing to see if she also knew.

"I imagine that Mr Weber has cut a deal with some-one to obtain the vitae he needs to maintain his status as a ghoul." Though the words used by Victoria were 'I Imagine', Daniel could detect no doubt in her statement. "I have no idea of his true age but even if he survived the ageing that a lack of blood induces, the withdrawals and the return to mortal limits is something few ghouls can cope with."

"You have proven to be on occasion of use so I give you this warning in order to ensure your continued existence..." Daniel paid attention as this was the closest to a compliment one got from the psychotic PA. "...don't let your usual desire for thoroughness encourage you to venture beneath Downtown to observe or speak to the swarm or their mistress. Such a plan would certainly result in your final death." Daniel confirmed that he would most definitely be avoiding that part of the sewer network.

"We're done now." Said Victoria. It wasn't a question so Daniel left to await the results of Michael's meeting.

Leanna was her usual gracious self, offering Micheal refreshments before indicating that he should take a seat and begin. "I need to talk to you about a subject that you may find difficult." Intrigued, Leanna leaned forward. "I think that our missing girls may be connected to your former employers, The Circulatory System."

Leanna explained that the exploration of blood and its resonances had spawned rings of Kindred eager for the knowledge, power, and profit that such explorations unlocked. The international human trafficking network known as the Circulatory System were formed to smuggle important vessels between domains and chronicle the powers of the blood vintages they moved.

Leanna - Duskborn and Day Drinker
Mistress of Marius's Herd

Of course 'The Circulatory System' cared little for the long-term well-being of their vessels, beyond the brief dips in profits they suffered when such kine died prematurely. Many Kindred were obviously quite happy to look past such minor issues to the pioneering studies the System makes possible by unlocking new and valuable features of the Blood.

Leanna told Michael that she had started as a vessel, then on becoming kindred had worked with them as trafficker and salesperson. She excused this amoral career choice as being because her embrace hadn't gone according to plan and she had entered unlife with some limitations that the System were her only chance of ever overcoming.

Michael knew the rest of Leanna's history from other sources. Unfortunately the loss of a valuable shipment to a powerful kindred in Los Angeles from Chicago had threatened her status until an offer was made to her by a local 'Fixer', one Marius Walker. He compensated the organisation and the aforementioned kindred for the loss and in return she was offered the chance to pledge herself to him in the form of a Life Boon. Her choices being final death or an unlife of service to another she picked the latter.

Leanna was obviously curious about why Michael required this knowledge. He then told her of the depredations of the gang that were taking both popular blood-dolls and more common street girls and that they had traced the thefts to a former ghoul of Catherine Du Bois called Denzel Weber. "We presumed that Mr Weber was killed during your peoples take-over of the criminal enterprises of Pasadena. Catherine herself certainly believed that he was."

'The Circulatory System'

Michael voiced his suspicion that Denzel might be angling to be made kindred and that this was his price for helping the System. "They wouldn't turn a nobody like Weber." Said Leanna, with confidence. "They might give him enough vitae to maintain his status as a ghoul but that's the closest he'll ever get. It's more likely that they're simply using a kindred aware gang-banger to give them plausible deniability should any-one come looking for the girls." She took a sip of wine before continuing. "By taking girls from Catherine, Velvet and the Sin-Bin he knows he'll get a higher percentage of desirable vessels especially if they're already popular blood-dolls. The chance of him finding a resonance they'd be interested in from some random street girls are very low indeed so he must have a different purpose for them."

Michael was unsure how to phrase his next question but fortunately he was preempted by Leanna herself. "You want to know if there's a Circulatory System 'farm' in Los Angeles, I imagine?" Michael nodded. "They have a facility to the North of Covina in a valley in the mountains. I'd advise most strongly against a violent solution however if that's what you're planning." Leanna become deadly serious.

"Their main customers are important kindred, mainly Ventrue and Toreador so they have vast financial resources and contacts everywhere. They're also very well prepared to repel other kindred who try to take from them. Marius uses virtually the same vehicles based primarily on my recommendations and you know he doesn't do anything by halves."

Though Michael didn't want to abandon the girls, especially now he was reasonably sure about their fate if he did nothing, a direct assault was apparently a bad option. His only other option was diplomacy and negotiation. "You don't happen to know who runs that facility do you?" he asked.

"I'll need to spend some time renewing old contacts." replied Leanna. "But I should be able to get you an appointment to see Marcelina Black, the head of the LA 'Farm'. For my own protection I will however have to inform her of the actual reason for your visit. If I send you in as a customer and your real purpose then became apparent there would be significant repercussions. I'm sure you understand?" Michael had no desire to put anyone else at risk so agreed to her terms. After a little more small-talk he left to inform the others that they were going on a little trip.

Scene Twelve - The Circulatory System

Marcelina Black - Ventrue
The Circulatory System - LA

Leanna has gotten you all an appointment at nine this evening and has reiterated her warnings about the need to tread carefully when dealing with Marcelina.

Given Hope's idiosyncrasies when it came to the harming of women, it was decided that she might be a liability during the meeting with the System's representative. Instead she was tasked with explaining to their two Gangrel guests about the rules that Michael required his Hounds to enforce. Both Carla and Orla had opted to stay in Pasadena to assist Priya and Hope in patrolling the borders of the barony. They had been offered accommodation and feeding opportunities in exchange for their service and had accepted the terms.

Mr Hertz had moved a considerable quantity of their spare funds into several easily accessible accounts in case, as he and Michael suspected, they'd have to effectively buy back their own missing people. The Nosferatu was also aware that given Michael's sensibilities that they may have to acquire the other missing blood-dolls as well as their own.

Daniel was well armed with all the weapons he had that were concealable and the rest of his gear was in the cars trunk. Vin's bag was already there and had the heft that indicated that his shotgun and ammo drums were inside. He was obviously about as hopeful as Daniel was of a none violent outcome. Mr Hertz appeared to be unarmed though Daniel was aware that he did have a personal armoury so perhaps he was not.

The Circulatory System - Transportation

The farm looks like exactly that. That is, if it wasn't for the armed guards on patrol and a distinct lack of animals. There's a main house with several modern and well maintained looking custom vans parked outside and what looks like one of those vehicles they use to transport prisoners alongside them by a stable block with pairs of guards at every entrance. There are also guards patrolling the roof space, all are equipped with sniper versions of assault rifles and are (judging from the bulges under their jackets) wearing body armour. Such open carrying of illegal firearms signifies that they must have placed bribes at extremely high levels as they show no sign of nervousness, exactly the opposite in fact as if they are sure they will be undisturbed.

Several very expensive vehicles are parked in an area near the stable and as you observe the area two gentleman are escorted from the area to what is presumably their car by four armed guards in level four military body armour and a woman in an expensive suit. Those of you who were involved in the incident involving the retrieval of a missing car containing a box and a naked girl, recognise one of them as Archibald Bartholomew, the other is a stocky looking man you have never met.

Archibald Bartholomew - Toreador
Patron of the Arts

The woman escorting him treats Archibald with some deference so he's obviously not a prisoner.

The security precautions were the very definition of overkill. Every corner had a wide-angle security camera on it, all in armoured domes and their placement indicated overlapping fields of vision. All the guards were in pairs and though the exterior guards lacked the heavy armour of those that emerged from within, they were still sporting body armour and military grade weapons.

The rooftop gunmen were equipped with M110A1 Sniper rifles and the more heavily armed of the security people were armed with M4's with M26 under-slung shotgun attachments and side-arms. Unusually their side-arms appear to be revolvers not automatics but all were high calibre models. One of the four was carrying an M249 SAW with a brass and link catcher. All this firepower didn't even take into account the equipment on board the vans and escort cars which Leanna had indicated to Michael had concealed heavy weapons within. It seemed that the Circulatory System took the security of it's visitors and the retention of it's assets, very seriously indeed.

As Archibald drove away, Miss Black and her four bodyguards accompanied her over to the coteries vehicle where they were waiting. "Mr Tomassio, I presume? Please follow me, your entourage may accompany us if you wish." Her security people formed a cordon around the party but as Marcelina entered the building they followed her within but stayed outside of the office area. As no-one had told them anything to the contrary, the four of them followed her inside.

Arla Hartley - Ventrue
Marcelina's Assistant

You find yourself in a luxurious office with only one other exit, a heavily sealed door with a frosted circular window which is in one wall. There appears to be no way of opening it from this side. Another well dressed woman is standing in one corner of the room and other than a slight turn of the head as you enter, is as still as a statue. Marcelina sits behind a heavy, wooden desk and indicates the one seat opposite. "I'm a busy person so say your piece and I'll decide if I care." It doesn't take a talent for empathy to detect her arrogance, as every word and gesture is framed in a manner that indicates that she fully believes that she is the most important person in the room, by an order of magnitude in fact.

Daniel could see that Vin was having to put considerable effort into controlling his anger but for the moment had it in check. Mr Hertz had as usual made his usual polite greeting and had been looked at in much the same way that one might observe a cockroach and then promptly ignored. Daniel had already mentally added Marcelina to his list of LA kindred who needed to meet their final deaths in the most brutal manner possible.

Michael explained that the girls acquired for her by Mr Weber weren't in fact his to sell. Marcelina seemed utterly unimpressed. "Do you really think I ask where suppliers find our vessels? My clients don't care, why would I?" Deciding that any moral arguments would fall on deaf ears he instead changed his focus to the potential problems that her supplier Denzel Weber's activities might bring to her door. Her response made this at first seem like another dead end. "Our contacts ensure that we receive no mortal interference and our defences are more than capable of seeing off any mediocre assault that the Anarch Barons can muster. let them come if they wish."

Baron Fortier - Ventrue
Baron of West Los Angeles

The coterie were at the point now where it was difficult to tell if she really had the capabilities to do what she said or was just too arrogant to admit wrongdoing and offer a compromise. Michael then changed tack once more.

"I'm sure as you say that you're more than capable of defending yourself from attack. I'm sure you could withstand the assault of Fortier's army of ghouls, Marius's assassins and so on." Satisfyingly he detected a very slight reaction to these two names as he had expected he would. "But such a battle would be loud and draw attention. Perhaps enough attention so your contacts might have difficulty diverting the authorities. There's even the possibility that one of the kindred might get lucky and make their way through your defences to you yourself." Michael had dealt with sociopaths before and knew that one of the downsides to their belief in their own superiority was that many considered themselves to be too important to be put at risk. "Of course if you allowed me to compensate you financially for your inconvenience and then let me know where I could locate Mr Weber I could ensure he caused you no more problems of this kind. I'm sure someone of your intelligence could then locate a less troublesome supplier."

Marcelina clicked her fingers in the direction of her almost motionless aide. "Arla. Go find me the details of that warehouse of Mr Weber's that he thinks we don't know about while I discuss finances with Mr Tomassio here." Marcelina claimed that she had invested three quarters of a million dollars in the vessels supplied by Denzel and that she would need that sum to allow those same vessels to go free.

A Vessel of 'The Circulatory System'

Michael looked sideways at Mr Hertz who nodded his agreement that they had such a sum available. Mr Hertz reasoned that he could possibly recoup at least some of the money from the barons whose girls they were originally but he didn't hold out a great deal of hope as he knew Michael would more than likely just set them free if their barons didn't want them back.

Arla returned promptly with a small card which had an address written on it in tiny, precise handwriting. Marcelina gestured towards Michael and the assistant handed it to him. Daniel indicated that he wished to ask a question and Miss Black deigned to turn her attention towards him if only for a moment. "Do you know anything about his vehicle? We couldn't trace it."

"It was an obsolete version of one of our own transport vehicles, we provided it to help facilitate his acquisitions." Stated Marcelina, before reaching into a drawer and tossing a small numerical keypad to Daniel. "Type one, two, three, four into the pad and then tap the big button at the bottom. Make sure your not too close to the van when you do. There's a considerable amount of explosives concealed within." It was obvious that she had already made plans to eliminate Weber as soon as he became a liability.

"I'll have the girls delivered to a location of your choice. Your gallery perhaps? and of course feel free to visit us as a customer any time you wish." She then handed Michael a black card with a bronze pattern around the edge. The logo was a stylised set of lips and a number, also in bronze was on the other side. Anxious to leave before his highly agitated coterie did something reckless, Michael and his people left. They were escorted to their vehicle and the guards waited conspicuously until they had driven away. "What a fucking bitch." was Vin's considered assessment.

Storytellers Note - We don't currently have a lot of information on The Circulatory System so I had to draw my own conclusions. I wanted to flesh them out and place a 'farm' in LA as I intend to use them again at some point.

Scene Thirteen - Weber's Warehouse
Michael arrange for Hope to meet the rest of the team while he and Hertz returned to their respective havens. The diplomatic part of the problem had been resolved, as had the financial aspect, the martial portion would be handled by Daniel, Hope and Vin.

The location given to you is a warehouse, in a derelict industrial estate, deep in one of the most run-down areas of the Barony of the Angels. The usual detritus of the slum is scattered around including burnt out wrecks, piles of rubbish and discarded drug paraphernalia.

This time no-one objected as Daniel parked some distance away, though Hope first shifted into Raven form and hopped up onto Daniel's shoulder. From their angle of approach they could see four people on one corner of the target structure, though they seemed to be simply relaxing and smoking rather than acting as lookouts.

Realising that he couldn't avail himself of his supernatural abilities of obfuscation with Hope as a passenger he picked her up and placed her on Vin's shoulder instead. As he did so, she dug her claws in just enough to ruin another of Daniel's jackets. With a sigh he rounded the corner and faded from view while Hope and Vin waited to see what he discovered.

A dark van that matched the description of the one they were looking for was parked across the warehouse's main entrance effectively blocking access. Not yet wanting to draw attention by detonating the explosives within, the Banu Hagim moved parallel to the vehicle, looking for exterior security precautions. As he stood opposite the former vehicle of the Circulatory System, there was a click as it's side door slid open. A heavy machine-gun swung out on a pintle mount with a strange sighting system on the top. Presumably this was how his cloak of invisibility had been breached.

As the .50 calibre heavy machine gun opened fire at somewhere in the region of eight hundred rounds per minute, Daniel used his supernatural speed to cover the forty or so metres to the adjacent building in a fraction of a second. As he hit the ground, shells began to slice through his cover like a hot knife through butter.

Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah
'Constable' of the North East

Vin also used his ability to move at great speed to cover the distance from their observation point to the group at the buildings cover, alerted as they were by the weapons fire from around the corner.

Before the group of four could investigate the commotion, Vin was in their midst along with a slightly disorientated Hope who had still been upon his shoulder when he moved. As the Gangrel shifted into human form, the Brujah sliced the closest of the gang with his heavy blade, cutting him from shoulder to hip, then changed direction and eviscerated another. Daniel meanwhile, drew upon his vitae and moved parallel along the building as his previous location disintegrated under relentless weapons fire. He then changed direction, moving at an angle towards the van that was currently cutting the building opposite in half with armour piercing rounds.

His original plan had been to take the vehicle intact and have Hope use her knowledge of IED's to remove the explosives. With that no longer viable, he tapped the code into the remote control he'd received from Marcelina and hit the button.

Hope grabbed one of the two remaining mortals and began to feed. Vin did the same though he drained his victim with much greater speed and brutality. Leaving Hope to deal with her meal, he moved to see what trouble Daniel had gotten them into. As he rounded the corner, the vans explosives detonated along with the remainder of the two thousand rounds it held for it's offensive weaponry. The van promptly disintegrated, taking most of the side of the warehouse unit with it. He then saw Daniel fire three rounds through the flames into the buildings interior, presumably targeting the rest of the gang. Seeing the others beginning to move, Hope hurled her nearly dead victim into the wall with sickening force, shattering bone and pulverising flesh, then moved to follow her comrades.

Overcoming the innate fear of fire that all kindred suffered, they entered through the gaping hole created in the wall and prepared to finish the job they'd started. One person within seemed to be taking charge of the shocked gang members and urged them forward to engage their foe. He was himself, however moving towards a flight of stairs in one corner that led downwards. His progress was stopped abruptly as Daniel put a bullet through his kneecap.

Vin engaged the surprised and confused survivors, swinging this way and that, and four fell dead or fatally wounded. Not to be outdone, the Gangrel Hope leapt into combat and wounded three with her claws, though uncharacteristically failed to kill any. Observing the kneecapped, apparent leader crawling towards the stairway, Daniel finished off the three victims of Hope with precise head-shots and with supernatural speed, blocked his escape route. The assassin flipped Denzel Weber onto his back with one foot. "I have someone here who would like a chat with you..."

Storytellers Note - Vin currently rolls fifteen dice to intimidate a mortal, a mere thirteen if they're kindred.

Denzel was only to keen to tell them all they needed to know though most of the information they already had from other sources.

Denzel Weber admitted that he was once a ghoul of the Fortiers who after they had effectively abandoned him had attempted to carve out a career alone. He was initially a spy in one of the Pasadena gangs for Catherine and was presumed dead when the coterie of Michael Tomassio took over crime in Pasadena after eliminating all rivals of note. He knew of The Circulatory System through Catherine Du Bois's 'parties' as she had several contacts within that organisation as they had some similar interests and about the same morality levels. 

He had arranged to acquire vessels for the System in exchange for the blood he required to maintain his ghoul status. The other three surviving gang lieutenants he had bought in with him had also been provided with kindred blood.

Daniel was curious about these other leaders but Weber claimed that two of them had been in the van and another had been with three other gang members outside. Daniel could see no sign that he was lying so indicated to Vin that he could continue with the interrogation.

He effectively had been given a 'shopping list' of appearance, race, age, etc provided by Marcelina which coincidentally matched several existing girls in the blood-doll stables of other LA kindred. Weber was initially stealing girls from Pasadena as 'revenge' for them ruining his mission and was avoiding poaching from West LA or Downtown in case his former mistress become aware of him again. With the support of the System he had become braver and had then taken girls from Catherine, Velvet and the Sin-Bin's herds.

He claimed that he had been offered a permanent job by Marcelina if he performed well but had no idea that his vehicle was full of explosives. It was however quite obvious to the coterie that by using Weber the ruthless Ventrue had a go-between she could eliminate to stop a connection being made to them. It was also highly likely that she knew exactly which girls she was going to end up with. Bored of the ease with which the kidnapper had been broken, Hope decided to see what was so important to him in the basement that he'd been crawling towards.

An improvised but functional blood transfusion set-up has been created in the corner of the basement. There are also fridges and portable refrigerated containers to store and transport blood near to a large sewer access hatch which was open. Two dead girls are in the corner, evidently thrown aside like garbage once they were no longer of any use. A supply of empty blood bags were in a container on a table next to a girl who moans slightly as you approach. 

Kidnap Victim and Unwilling Blood Doll

As she ran upstairs to fetch Daniel the beast was screaming at her to tear Denzel Weber to pieces, as she reached the top step she decided that this was actually a damn good idea.

Daniel and Vin still had information they required from Denzel so when the Banu Haqim saw the expression on Hope's face he gestured to Vin to intercept the Gangrel as she hovered at the edge of frenzy. "There's a girl still alive down there..." she almost screamed the statement then with tremendous force of will, dragged her attention from the kidnappers leader, ran to the nearest wall and began to drive her knuckles into it until bone began to be visible through her undead flesh. Daniel asked Vin to see if Denzel knew anything else while he checked on the survivor in the basement. Both were well aware that should Hope decide to butcher their captive, then Vin had a much better chance of stopping her than Daniel did. The assassin was a match for both his martially inclined colleagues with distance and planning. Up close, not so much.

Upon examining the girl it was obvious that without an immediate infusion of blood, she'd certainly die. Taking an educated guess that the most recently filled blood bags were from this girl he used their own equipment to give her a transfusion. His hunch was indeed correct and the girl stabilised slightly. With her temporarily out of danger, he made her comfortable and then returned to the warehouse floor. Vin had broken several of the mans fingers, while Hope paced back and forth nearby. Realising that he only had one bargaining chip remaining to him, Denzel attempted to play it. "You'll never find the rest without me. Not all were drained, there's a lot still alive..."

"What do you want in return for this information then?" asked Daniel. "Because it will have to be a very good deal in order to stop my friends here from torturing you to death..."

The desperate man offered to give them the location of the girls and identify his customer for them in return for the sparing of his life. Both Hope and Vin were now paying attention to the exchange intently because it was well known to them both that Daniel prided himself on being a man of his word.

"Fine..." said Daniel, with his best poker-face. "...If you tell us who you worked for and where they are keeping the missing women, then I will let you go..."

"The thin-bloods have them." Daniel knew of at least two significant groups of thin-bloods and caitiff so wanted some clarification. "The thin-bloods from Santa Monica Pier or the ones from the Barony of the Angels?" He asked. Despite his situation the question seemed to amuse their captive. "Both..." was the worrying reply. Further questioning then became impossible as a sniper blew Mr Weber's brains out. Switching to bodyguard mode, Daniel pushed Vin away from the gap in the wall that he believed the shot had came from before tackling Hope to the ground.

It looked like things had gotten even more complicated...

To be Continued in 'The Messiah Complex' - Part Three

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...

Everyone loves a cliffhanger ending...though the players seemed keen to continue, I however needed sleep. To be honest they also needed sleep so I take it as a compliment that they wanted to carry on. It was however, three thirty in the morning and we started at six thirty the previous day. I had also used two and a half sessions worth of plot. I therefore politely told them to fuck off back to their own homes...

All in all the story is going how I had envisioned though they have taken a slightly more meandering path than I expected so some of the political visits I had to improvise. Ironically the one person I had fully fleshed out an encounter with, they ended up not speaking to.

Though at least they suspect virtually every kindred in LA of somehow conspiring against them, so I've accomplished that at least, lol.

Acknowledgements

“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.”

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 Matt Bomer, 'Vin' is Scott Adkins, Dr Matthews is Mads Mikkelsen, Hope is Deborah Ann Woll, Mr Hertz is Charles Dance, Frank Atkins is Michael Chiklis, Dion is Clark Gregg, David Geduld is Zachary Quinto, Henrique 'Hank' Boyd is Michael Clarke Duncan, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Reuben Hart is Ray Liotta, Victoria Anne is Lilith May, Flynn Boyle is Steve Buscemi, The Mistress of the Swarm is Anna Paquin, Catherine Du Bois is Margot Robbie, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Leanna is Leeanna Vamp, Marcelina Black is Carrie Anne Moss and Arla Hartley is Claudia Black. 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...