Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Session Sixty Nine - The MacNeil Protocols (Part Four)

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 chronicle is set in Los Angeles and features a small group of Camarilla agents sent into the 'Free States' to bring them back under Camarilla control. After a year of plotting, the coterie now controls the three North-Eastern Baronies and has successfully weakened several others. Unfortunately other Barons have used the chaos they have created to consolidate their own positions.

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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 L.A.' 

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

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Chronicle Two - 'Foothold L.A.' 

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, Two, Three and Four

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Chronicle Three - 'Incursion L.A.'

Story Fourteen - 'The Rant'
Story Fifteen - 'Ties of Blood' - Part One and Two

Solo Session - 'A Gathering of Roses'

Story Sixteen - 'The Southern Solution' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seventeen - 'The Baker Disappearance' - Part One, Two and Three

Story Eighteen - 'Inevitable Betrayals' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five

Story Nineteen - 'The Marius Contracts' - Part One and Two

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part One, Two and Three

The PC's
Player controlled characters
Michael Tomassio - Toreador, 'Baron of the North East'
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, 'Constable'
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Spymaster'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, 'Census Taker'
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, 'Seneschal'

The SPC's
Storyteller controlled player allies
Priya Haynes - Gangrel, 'Sweeper'
Carla Doyle - Gangrel, 'Sweeper'
Orla Riviera - Gangrel, 'Sweeper'
Rosalind Perkins -  Thin-blood, Alchemist

Sofia Rivera - Toreador, Michael's contact with Sire

The player characters stats and backgrounds can be found HERE should any-one be interested, but be warned that the page is usually several stories ahead of the most recent write-up and may contain some spoilers. 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 or faction beneath their picture.

Introduction

The coterie is still in pursuit of clues to the location of the system with which Jeremy MacNeil maintained the masquerade within the city. It also enabled Jeremy to compile vast swathes of information to benefit his allies and hound his enemies. With it at his disposal he maintained his position as defacto Baron of all Los Angeles until his apparent destruction.

With two of the potential locations investigated it is now time to move onto the next.

Scene Fifteen - The MacNeils

Jeremy MacNeils San Fernando Retreat

Their third target was, like the second, in San Fernando though this was more in the nature of a mountain retreat than a mansion like the other. Given their suspicions that others were also in the process of searching for the same resource, Michael elected to take Vin and Hope as well as Daniel, to the location. Vin would travel with them while Hope was to act as a reserve force in the case of unforeseen dangers while the Baron and his Banu Haqim fixer investigated.

This is more a hillside retreat than a mansion like MacNeils other homes, though isn't particularly far from the the civilised areas of the city, a sensible precaution given the prevalence of lupines in the mountains when MacNeil ruled L.A. A path leads from the carpark, up a winding path to the building which is built onto a flattened section of the cliff-side. Unusually for a kindred haven the home isn't particularly solidly constructed and has a lot of windows.

There are two dark grey vehicles in the spacious parking area. A black Chevrolet Express Van and a slightly newer Mercedes-Benz. A heavy set man is leaning against the van, smoking a cigarette, he doesn't appear to be paying a great deal of attention to his surroundings.

At Michael's request, Daniel slipped quietly from the car and scouted ahead. The lookout was, in Daniel's opinion, mortal rather than a kindred though the same could not be said for the two others he observed just outside the front door. Both were wearing body armour and were equipped with both handguns and automatic shotguns and as neither was breathing Daniel came to the obvious conclusion that these were very obviously not mortal. The door behind them was splintered as if it had been opened by a powerful kick. The only other entrance he could see was a locked side door though it seemed to be unguarded, on this side at least. 

Fostech Origin 12 - Shotgun
Vin's Current Weapon of Choice

Vin had moved to Daniel's vacated seat and slid his trusty full-auto shotgun from it's canvas bag and loaded a drum magazine into it. From experience Michael knew that Vin favoured solid slugs in any situation that might involve ranged combat with other kindred. "I understand your need to take precautions..." said Michael. "...but lets not presume violence is our first option." Vin nodded in acknowledgement but continued to check all his weapons nonetheless. Michael then sent Hope a text message telling her to be on full alert as they might have some unwelcome company. He presumed that the thumbs up and the smiley face were her indication that she understood. Daniel returned and appraised the others of the situation. "I'd at least like to attempt diplomacy." stated Michael. "We'll drive up slowly and see how they react. But first I'd like to make a quick call as we are technically in the territory of another Baron."

Velvet was pleased to hear from Michael but seemed slightly thrown by the question about the armed group. "They're not Isaac's..." she said with complete confidence. "...Isaac doesn't use mercenaries so be careful." Michael thanked her and then informed the others that whoever they were, they weren't there in any official capacity.

As they drove closer, the mortal on watch reached into his pocket and seemed to be sending a message to someone. As he did so the two more heavily armed kindred moved forward. "Do you want me to do the talking?" asked Vin. Michael politely declined and got out of the vehicle. Another pair of kindred emerged from the buildings main entrance. One was armed with an AR-15 with a gigantic drum magazine on it that both Vin and Daniel recognised as an Armatac Industries SAW-MAG one hundred and fifty round drum. Considered by many to be too unwieldy and heavy to be practical, the weight was of no consequence to it's current wielder. The other had an MP5 submachine gun and seemed to be carrying enough spare ammunition to take on a small army. Both moved forward.

Both Daniel and Vin had entered ranged engagements against other kindred and were well aware that there were two differing ideas about what worked best. Some relied on weight of fire and others favoured high calibre weapons. In both cases the goal was to eventually overwhelm a kindred's natural resistance to impact damage either a little at a time or all at once.

Fortunately such weapons also killed mortals and ghouls perfectly well. They also noticed that the two kindred guarding the entrance had now moved into covering fire positions at supernatural speed, covering the distance in a moment. Both suspected military training and were concerned about how effortlessly this group worked as a unit.

The kindred with the AR-15 seemed to recognise Michael, though the Toreador himself couldn't recall ever seeing him before. "Aren't you the Baron of Pasadena?" Michael confirmed that he was seeing no need to lie about the fact. The SMG armed kindred turned to his team-mate and shrugged as if to say "So what?" The first to speak continued talking but to his ally, not to Michael.

"He got between Nines and Marius at one of the rants and basically called them a pair of bickering fucking kids." This seemed to amuse the other one considerably. "He also led the attack on that uppity bitch Jenna Cross when her weaklings tried to take L.A. for himself." Michael could clearly see that neither of these distortions of the facts seemed to being held against him. Quite the opposite in fact. He decided to take the opportunity and run with it.

Jenna Cross - The Cross Rebellion

"I just called I as I saw it..." interrupted Michael. "...they both see themselves as kindred of importance yet couldn't have a conversation for two minutes without acting like fools. So I told them so. As for Jenna, well, no-one wanted to see Los Angeles ruled by a load of thin-bloods." While he had their attention and some measure of respect he decided to take a chance. "You have me at a disadvantage. You clearly know me, yet we have never met before as far as I can recollect. How should I address yourselves?"

The Last Round - Downtown
Nines Crew - Base of Operations

"Most call us the MacNeils. That will do for now..." was the reply. "...however before we continue talking, could you ask your two companions to step out of the vehicle where I can see them. I'd hate for some misunderstanding to occur that you all might regret." With a wave of his hand Michael indicated to Daniel and Vin that they should comply with the request. If there was trouble he knew he still had Hope in reserve and these MacNeils seemed to be currently unaware of her presence.

The coterie had heard of a group calling themselves the MacNeils that had been responsible for an attack on Nines Rodrigues's base of operations 'The Last Round' and had burnt it to the ground. He had apparently been rescued by the Gangrel 'Fixer' Marius Walker, a surprising turn of events as the pair didn't seem to get on at all. A number of the MacNeils gang had been destroyed that night though whether at Nines hands, Marius's claws or a combination of both was uncertain.

Jeremy MacNeil - Brujah
Former Baron of Los Angeles

Michael decided to play upon the groups reverence for MacNeil and claimed to be on a pilgrimage of sorts to various locations connected to Jeremy MacNeil. He further indicated that he was attempting to teach his coterie about him and his importance to the Anarch revolt and the forming of the Free States. Fortunately he had gauged his audience correctly and they seemed to be lapping it up and had relaxed slightly. At the very least these MacNeils were no longer pointing weapons at them, though they weren't exactly pointing away from them either.

Michael's speech was interrupted by a grunt from the most heavily armed of the two kindred to which he was speaking. He then gestured towards Vin who had moved closer to Michael's car and who had slid his shotgun across the passenger seat to a more convenient position for him to grab if necessary. The groups apparent leader that Michael was speaking to gestured towards the car with the barrel of his gun. "I'd appreciate your muscle there moving a bit further away from that drum-fed shotgun he has conveniently relocated."

Vin took a step sideways, returning almost to his original position but their host seemed unconcerned. Michael got the impression that he was simply making the point that he had noticed, not that he saw the hulking Brujah as a threat. Behind him several more kindred emerged from the building holding a number of file boxes and folders. Though keen to see what the MacNeils had discovered, Daniel and Vin could see that Michael had probably been right to take the diplomatic approach.  

The MacNeils - Kindred Military Unit

They had fought against military and security trained enemies before, as well as groups of kindred but these enemies were something different entirely. They utilised squad tactics, enhanced by their supernatural abilities, and moved from cover to cover in moments at speeds far beyond that a mortal would be capable of while their compatriots covered them. They were also armed and armoured with weapons clearly selected with kindred enemies in mind. At full strength the coterie could probably take them but it would have to be on their own terms. In a straight firefight such as this they would almost certainly come out worse. If they survived at all.

'Nines' Rodriguez - Brujah

Michael disliked forcing premonitions in such circumstances but decided that he needed more information. Focusing on the kindred before him he attempted to slip into the necessary state of mind despite the tenseness of the current situation.

He saw through the eyes of another as smoke and flames poured from the windows of the Downtown bar known as 'The Last Round'. A figure he recognised as Marius was carrying the much larger form of Nines Rodriguez. The Brujah's arm was over the Gangrels shoulder, though the larger mans weight seemed to be causing him no problems. Both had singed clothing though only Nines actually appeared to be burnt. As they emerged gunfire exploded around them. Nines drew a large calibre semi-automatic from his waistband as Marius leapt forward, claws extended...

Michael's vision faded as he saw a face that seemed to be a familiar one from his vision. Perhaps they had been present at the event though such visions were rarely precise. "The building is yours should you wish to continue your tour..." said the MacNeils leader. "...we are finished here." as his group began to load up the nearby van. "I have found this conversation most enlightening..." said Michael. It was the truth in it's own way, but not for the reasons he was implying. "...is it possible I could contact you for a slightly less...tense...meeting?"

"I'll be in touch." was the somewhat noncommittal reply. As they left Daniel made a mental note of the vehicle registration, though he was reasonably sure the plates would turn out to be false or stolen. "I'll see if they missed anything." said Daniel as he carefully moved towards the still open front door. As Michael followed, Vin returned to the car and retrieved his weapon and found a position from which to cover the road. Just in case the MacNeils returned with less hospitable intentions.

Interlude - A New Player Enters

The previous searchers had discovered a secret hatch beneath the hallway floor that led to a storage room below. The space was far too small to have contained anything like the system they were searching for and the MacNeils had evidently cleared out the files that it contained. A fragment of paper is all that remains of it's former contents. It has what appears to be part of a map reference on it, though it is incomplete. Daniel added it to their increasing pile of inconclusive and possibly misleading clues and continued his search. Seeing the layers of dust on almost every surface, Michael decided to leave the searching to Daniel and returned to the car.

The layer of dust covering the rest of the house indicates that it hasn't been used for some time and also that the gang calling themselves 'The MacNeils' had made no attempt to investigate the other rooms.

Rose, Childe of Amethyst and Zipper, Childe of Rose - The Prime Suspects

In an upstairs office you can see a trail of footprints leading from a broken window to a computer desk. From the gap in the dust it appears that a computer tower has been removed from beneath. An old monitor is still there complete with cables. Books from a nearby shelf are scattered around the floor as if someone was searching for something on the shelves.

Discovering nothing more of use the Banu Haqim rejoined Michael and after picking up Hope from her lookout point they returned to the gallery. There was now insufficient time left in the evening to properly undertake an investigation into Jeremy's former base below City Hall so instead they went back to their sources to make a few more enquiries.

Handouts

Daniel Matthews

Daniel decided to make some enquiries with his Nosferatu friend Alonzo and then task his other sources to undertake some investigations during the day while he slept.

Alonzo

Alonzo - Nosferatu Elder
Ally and Friend of Daniel

Alonzo is aware of the MacNeils and has some insights into them.

"The MacNeils are a group of Anarchs who revere Jeremy MacNeil, they hate Nines Rodriguez as they believe he wishes to usurp MacNeils position, they also hate pretty much anyone they think might have ambitions to take over L.A. as they deem themselves as the caretakers of the city until MacNeil returns." 

"They have a particular grudge against Marius as he rescued Nines when they burnt down the Last Round and about half a dozen of their number were destroyed during the incident."

"They seem to have become more active of late as they see the consolidation of the baronies into larger and more powerful domains as proof of some-one manoeuvring to take over the city. The division of the Barony of the Angels and San Fernando is seen by them as further evidence of this conspiracy." 

"If they were to discover an actual kindred behind this theory of theirs they would almost certainly put all their efforts into destroying them."

"Their leader is rumoured to be a childe of MacNeils though in Alonzo's opinion this may be a story concocted to legitimise their campaign as the only childe of MacNeils of which he is aware is currently a resident of New Orleans."

Alonzo also has some knowledge of El Hermandad's relationship with the Blood.

"Salvador Garcia has been making anonymous donations to the church behind the Bloods vampire hunters for decades as they only really disrupt The Crypts Sons. He doesn't involve El Hermandad though as far as I know. It's more a personal scheme of Garcia's."

Andrew and Keith

Andrew Francis - Investigator, Keith Chang - Mercenary

Ghouls of Dr Daniel Matthews

The mansion seems to be maintained by legitimate cleaning firms and contracted gardeners. However for some reason neither of them can remember the names of any of the firms that provided the service despite being positive that it occurred. They're also a bit vague about how they go home after last nights observations.

Police Records

Your contact can find no further information. She also has to be a little more careful with what she access's as there's been a recent security breach and a lot of information was downloaded then the originals deleted.

The I.T. department is blaming a notorious hacker known as Zipper who has a history of attacking government and law enforcement systems.

Surveillance and Investigators

Your teams have been monitoring the three substations supplying city hall as you had no way of informing them which one was the one of importance to you. There conclusions thus far is that there is no unusual activity that they can detect.

Michael Tomassio

Michael Made a few phone-calls but as he was attempting to avoid any references to Jeremy MacNeils actual system, some of his conversations became sidetracked by the other participant.

Carmelita

Carmelita Neillson - Toreador
Camarilla Archivist

"Nines saved Marius's life during the 2004 Sabbat invasion, Marius saved his when the MacNeils torched The Last Round. They were together when Nines had his much vaunted lupine kill though I hear that it was barely more than a pup. Still a worthy achievement though."

"The MacNeils think Nines will be Baron of L.A. eventually and have their doubts that he'd stand down if Jeremy turns out to have survived. It's not personal, in fact they'd want to off anyone they thought had their eye on Jeremy's throne..."

Damsel

"Nines is still pissed generally, but seems more hopeful that Marius is giving actual thought to his Barony of the Angels request. I still have my doubts but Nines seems to think he's come up with a compromise that Marius is seriously considering..."

Priss

"Hank had his chance to show me some respect and instead gave me his cast off gear and no support during The Blood attack...he wanted me destroyed, of that I'm fucking sure. Marius has offered me military weapons, access to a secure haven and political support..."

Victor

"MacNeil's legacy? No-one leaps to mind but it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did. L.A. has always been better with a single guiding hand don't you think?"

Damsel - Brujah, Priss - Brujah, Victor Girard - Toreador: Contacts of Michael Tomassio

Scene Sixteen - Plausibly Deniable

As the coterie gathered to plan their next move, Michael shared what he had learned from Carmelita with the others. Daniel confirmed that his own sources also believed that the MacNeils would act against any who they thought might wish to rule Los Angeles as Jeremy MacNeil had once done.

Brujah Anarchs of Los Angeles

"What happens if the MacNeil we spoke to does get in touch with us?" asked Daniel. "Neither Nines nor Marius are particularly happy with you at the moment, I doubt meeting a group that wants them both destroyed will help matters." Michael had already given this possibility some consideration. "Maybe I'll also invite Nines. It may well result in a diplomatic solution to the problem and at the very least we can inform Nines of the location of the meeting in advance, in case he has any preparations of his own to do beforehand..."

Daniel was reasonably sure that Nines solution would be to gather up every Brujah loyal to him to go and obliterate the lot of them. The Banu Haqim was also unsure about whether his Baron was being genuinely naive about the potential result of giving The MacNeils location to Nines or knew full well what would happen and was preparing himself a plausible excuse for afterwards. This did however seem a good time to mention some other information he'd learned that may involve Nines.

Daniel explained that one of the four names they'd discovered in MacNeils diary had not in fact been the victim of a hit and run, but had been beaten to death. He also told the rest of the coterie that he suspected that it had been done by Skelter. "I'll spare you the gory details." said Daniel."You'll just have to take my word for it..."

Mr Hertz's Assistants

Michael sighed. "It looks like we're all going to be visiting The Last Round then..." He sounded exactly as pleased as you'd expect. "Vin, I need you to check that our interests here are secure. Hope, get your sweepers to be extra vigilant and then get ready to join me and Daniel on a little road-trip."

Mr Hertz looked up, conscious that he hadn't been given any specific orders. "I'll continue to see if I can find any relevance to the information and numbers we've already discovered then." said the Nosferatu. Michael simply nodded. Mr Hertz had proven invaluable over recent months but his horde of verminous helpers and tendency to snack on blood from an old flask were habits that Michael would rather not experience more often than necessary.

Scene Seventeen - Friendships Rekindled

The journey to the Last Round was surprisingly quiet as Hope refrained from baiting Daniel as she normally did. Though Michael appreciated the peace and quiet, it did somewhat confirm his suspicions that something was not quite right with the normally reliable Banu Haqim.

Skelter - Gangrel
'Nines' Crew

Hope herself a seat near the door from where she could see both the entrance to the bar and the stairway entrance that led to the upstairs. They still weren't sure what kind of reception that Michael would receive from Nines so she was taking some precautions. She watched Daniel move near to a pair of Brujah playing a card game of some description, he appeared to know one of them quite well. At the same time, Michael was talking to Damsel. Presumably he was asking for a private meeting with Nines. This was confirmed when a moment later she yelled for Skelter at the top of her voice and announced quite loudly to him that "Michael needs to talk to Nines, Privately..." emphasising the word privately so no-one in the entire bar was in any doubt about it.

Daniel's friend Leo was cheating like crazy. Daniel's senses were exceptional and he estimated that Leo had cards up both sleeves, two hidden in his pocket and possibly another tucked into his boot. Eventually his opponent cut his losses and left Leo to scoop up his winnings. "What do you know about some idiot getting hit by a car around the corner from here, about nine ten years ago now?" asked Daniel of his gambling addicted friend. "I imagine you already know the answer or you wouldn't be asking." guessed Leo, quite correctly. But he continued regardless. "What he actually got hit by was a pissed off Skelter..." "Any idea why?" was Daniel's next question. A voice from nearby spoke before Leo could. "You could try asking me yourself." said Skelter from next to the bar. Daniel then did exactly that.

Skelter explained that the ghoul, they had later discovered was called Kieron, had been seen hanging around various kindred establishments but mostly the The Last Round. He seemed desperate but always left quickly when approached. One night he had leapt out from behind some garbage cans and attempted to drive a crude stake through Skelters back.

The Gangrel had known he was there so was prepared for the attack and instead of the vitae he craved was instead beaten to a pulp by an understandably annoyed Skelter. They theorised that he had been abandoned by his regnant and had tried to find an alternate source of the blood he required to maintain his ghoul status. Unfortunately he chose his victim poorly.

Leo Frost - Brujah
Last Round and Fight Club Regular

They had then hit him with a car fender a few times, then dumped him by a car park beneath a broken street lamp. As they had hoped, the police had written it up as a hit and run. Skelter was understandably curious about why they were asking. Daniel claimed that they were just looking into a few missing person cases relating to Pasadena and that the name of this mortal had come up. Daniel thanked Skelter for his help and then in a secretive tone informed him to never play cards with Leo. "I never do..." replied the Gangrel with a smile on his face. "...especially with that ace tucked into his sock..."

Baron Tomassio had been directed upstairs to the room where Nines Rodriguez could usually be found. Michael was currently very unpopular with Nines due to the Toreadors part in dismantling several Free State institutions that the Brujah believed were fundamental parts of Anarch Los Angeles. He hoped this meeting might help mend their relationship a little. it didn't start particularly well however. "Spit it out then..." began Nines.

Ignoring the confrontational tone, Michael explained about his unexpected meeting with the MacNeils at one of Jeremy Mac Neils's former havens. It was obvious from Nines reaction exactly what he thought of them. Michael continued by talking about how their leader had implied that a meeting of some sort could be arranged between them and further that if one occurred that he'd like Nines to attend. Hopefully between them a diplomatic resolution could be worked out despite their obvious resentment towards both Nines Rodriguez and Marius Walker.

While he had Nines attention he launched into a convincing speech about his desire to strengthen the Anarch Free States not weaken them. He claimed that those changes he had had some small part in were in his opinion necessary and that the Anarchs needed to evolve rather than become stagnant like the Camarilla. "Together we can stand against anything the Camarilla or Sabbat can throw at us, but we need to be both strong and flexible..." continued Michael getting into a flow.

He could also see that he was beginning to convince Nines of his sincerity. Beginning to trust Michael once more, Nines began to tell him about some progress he had made with Marius over reopening the domain once called 'The Barony of the Angels' as an area for kindred to utilise who had no desire to join a gang.

Michael still had a lot of doubts about whether Marius would ever actually do such a thing but he had seemingly indicated to Nines that he was close to a decision. The Toreador was interested in exactly what those terms were.

Marius 'The Fixer' Walker - Gangrel
Baron of Downtown

It seemed that Marius had, broadly speaking, agreed that as long as newly arrived kindred announced themselves to him, were happy to stay within an allocated feeding ground and caused no trouble that required cleaning up, that he would allow a reasonable number of newcomers to stay within his domain. He would however make no demands of any kindred who utilised the day-room within the Last Round itself, those being Nines responsibility to keep in order.

As far as Michael was concerned, Marius almost certainly had an ulterior motive but as Nines seemed happy with the potential deal he decided not to push his luck by disagreeing. He made some further small talk with both Nines and Damsel before gathering his people and returning to Pasadena.

It seemed now that their last hope for finding information on MacNeil's elusive system was within the basement of City Hall. the last known haven of Jeremy MacNeil and the only one they were yet to investigate.

To Be Continued in 'The MacNeil Protocols' (Part Five)

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 session I introduced a few other interested parties that are competing with them for MacNeil's system to add a sense of urgency. I also wanted these particular adversaries to be able to compete with the coterie in a number of their areas of expertise so as to force them to think a little bit out of the box.

This seemed to work as they invested a lot more time in investigating loose ends and side clues than they would normally bother to. Of course, the fact that they are looking into every little bit of information they acquire means that they have almost as many red herrings as actual clues. I'm sure with the help of their various contacts and experts though, that they can sort out some way to make more progress towards their goal.

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, Jenna Cross is Rhona Mitra, Rose is Thylane Blondeau and 'Zipper' is Johnny Galecki, Andrew Francis is Ray Stephenson, Keith Chang is Daniel Dae Kim, Carmelita Neillson is Salma Hayek, Damsel is Cradleofdoll, Victor Girard is Bob Hoskins, Skelter is Vin Diesel, Leo Frost is Danny John-Jules and Marius Walker is Tony Curran

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.