Vampire the Masquerade - V5 - Session Ninety Six - 'Personal Agenda's' (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 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. Over a year of plotting allowed the coterie to gain control of two North-Eastern Baronies and a large part of a third. Now they are moving on to the final stage of their campaign and have their eyes on taking over the entire city, either directly or by proxy.

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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. There are however a list of potential triggers listed before the introduction. 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, Three, Four, Five, 

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten

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Interlude Session One - After Griffith Park

Interlude Session Two - Divide and Conquer

Interlude Session Three - On the Brink of War

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Chronicle Four - 'Conquest L.A.'

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part Six, and Epilogue

Story Twenty Two - 'The Unbound' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

Story Twenty Three - 'The War Council' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

Interlude Session - Recon

Story Twenty Four - 'Resistance' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five

Interlude Session - Damage Limitation

Interlude Session - The Killing Spree

Story Twenty Five - 'Personal Agendas' - Part One

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The PC's

Michael Tomassio - Toreador, 'Baron of the North East'
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, 'Constable'
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Fixer'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, 'Census Taker'
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, 'Seneschal'

The Storyteller

Garreth - Everyone else...

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.

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. 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.

Trigger Warnings for This Session: Blood (Obviously).

Introduction

The representatives of the Camarilla are all now within the city and along with them are their most trusted bodyguards. Should this meeting devolve into aggression, the following violence will be a bloodbath of biblical proportions that may well drown in vitae the entire kindred populations of Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco alike. The Sabbat or The Second Inquisition, perhaps both, will surely be drawn into the conflict ready to strike the finishing blow to the weakened survivors. To say that the fate of three cities may well rest upon this meeting would not be considered an overstatement.

With only one night left before the summit, the coterie has much to do to prepare.

Scene Six - The Primogen

Therese Voerman - Malkavian
Baron of Santa Monica

Vannevar Thomas and his Seneschal Suzanne Rochelle are on board a luxurious yacht anchored just outside Santa Monica and Therese Voerman has given her word that they will be under her protection both now and when they come ashore and head to the Succubus Club in armoured convoy, protected by her own so-called commando coterie. Several smaller boats surround the main vessel, these contain Vannevar's own defenders and are also there with Therese's approval.

Kelvin Wee is still in Chinatown, protected by his loyal guards and enough mortal Triad gang-members to take on an army. Rumours abound that several Justicars have placed their most trusted Archon's at his disposal in the event of Anarch betrayal. Rumours are also circulating that the famed Lasombra mercenary 'Talley' has been hired as Kelvin's personal protector but this is unconfirmed. Of course, the fact that no-one has seen him doesn't actually mean that he isn't in the city.

For the Justicars to have placed such valuable resources in Kelvin's hands has led many to believe that Vannevar no longer has their full trust and that it is Kelvin who will truly decide the meetings outcome. This lack of trust does not yet extend to Vannevar's Seneschal Suzanne however as she is considered to be responsible for the, admittedly few, sensible decisions to have come from the Prince in recent times. Though naming no names, your Camarilla contacts have hinted that there has been considerable thought put into how the talents of a valuable Seneschal might be retained, should the associated Prince become...undesirable...

Luna Demian - House Tremere
Tremere Primogen of San Francisco

Luna Demian is a guest of the Houses of the United Chantry of Los Angeles. Transport to the meeting has been arranged via Marius's liaison to the Chantry, one Eleanor Braun and is presumed to involve Marius's own fleet of vehicles, though how Luna has been travelling to the chantry itself undetected is still a mystery so perhaps she has made her own arrangements.

The Nosferatu Primogen Kokopell Mana has made a temporary haven in the ancient warrens below Hollywood after a brief meeting with Gary Golden. Her and the ancient Nosferatu Alonzo seem to have been acquainted at some point in the past and have renewed that relationship. The ancient part of the network below the city has been effectively sealed off until the meeting itself and Alonzo's monstrous 'pet' has been seen patrolling the area with murderous intent. Several members of 'The Swarm' were too slow in their evacuation and have fell victim to the maw of this vicious predator, their mistress has taken no actions in this regard, it's possible that she either doesn't care or hasn't even noticed...

Kokopell is notorious for appearing wherever she wishes, bypassing security precautions like the spirit she believes herself to be. Her mastery of Obfuscate being far beyond the limits usually attributed to the discipline in modern nights. With this in mind, no transport has been arranged for her. It is simply presumed that she will be at the meeting place exactly when she so desires.

Sara Anne Winder has taken the top three floors of the Empire Arms Hotel in Downtown with her bodyguard Miriam Caravaggio, a Toreador assassin with a terrifying reputation for taking down enemies of Sara that thought themselves unassailable.

Miriam Caravaggio, Toreador - Bodyguard to Sara Anne Winder

Sara has taken the Penthouse while the other two floors currently house her other protectors. As Downtown is indisputably Marius's domain, the fact that the Ventrue Primogen's party is under his protection is presumed, though hasn't been publicly stated. He did however meet with her the night of her arrival, though possibly this was merely a courtesy with no ulterior motive behind it.

Storytellers Note - The players reaction when I read out that last line indicated their doubts about the 'no ulterior motive' bit.

Mirko Mirkonen, Gangrel - Defacto Primogen of San Francisco

Mirko Mirkonen, Gangrel Primogen in all but name has, to the surprise of many, taken up temporary residence between Santa Clarita and Simi Valley which places him very near to Hollywood. It is no coincidence that three packs of Los Angeles Gangrel have formed a perimeter around his camp in order to ensure that he and Gustavo Morales stay exactly where they are.

Given the feeling of many of the more militant Anarchs within Los Angeles, a number of other precautions have been taken. Firstly, Damsel has been tasked with keeping 'Nines' focused upon the positive aspects of the upcoming meeting in order to prevent him doing something disruptive and impulsive.

Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez and 'Damsel' - Brujah Anarchs

Secondly, Barons Louis Fortier and Marius Walker have each provided a number of teams to help with security. These have been placed at the disposal of Daniel, who has been given responsibility for coordinating security precautions at the Succubus Club and for the delegates safety on the way to and from it. Daniel has yet to allocate these units to specific tasks as Michael has several meetings before the summit and these may provide information that necessitates a change in priorities.

Scene Seven - Carmelita

Carmelita Neillson - Toreador
Archivist and Archaeologist

Carmelita has informed you that she will be in Los Angeles for the next few nights. Apparently Vannevar has requested her presence in order to ensure that some of the elder members of the Primogen are made comfortable during their brief stay in the city of Los Angeles. Specifically the Nosferatu Primogen Kokopell Mana whose age and origins are unknown to Vannevar, and possibly even to the Nosferatu herself.

As is usual, Carmelita has arrived via private plane and has arranged to meet you at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.

She will meet you on the plane itself and you are assured that you will have no issues getting runway access. The airport is one of many of Hollywood's significant locations that is once more completely under Isaac's control.

Carmelita's modified Pilatus PC-24 Jet is hangered at the airport. As previously you are met by Abasi Khalil, Carmelita's Ghoul, bodyguard, driver and pilot. He has a Mark 19 Desert Eagle in a shoulder holster under his left arm and a lower calibre but higher capacity Baby Eagle III on his opposite hip.

Once more, Daniel's curiosity about Abasi was piqued. For an individual as important as Carmelita to have only a single bodyguard, albeit a ghoul, was unusual. He must be an individual of considerable skill to have such a responsible position.

Carmelita greeted the coterie warmly, though only Michael got a kiss on the cheek. Michael noticed that she was dressed less practically than normal. Presumably in deference to the rank and expectations of these kindred she was here to pander to.

She then got straight to business.

"

Kelvin Wee - Ventrue
Camarilla Negotiator for the Justicars

So I hear you're in the hot seat for this one. I can help you with some biographical information and some theories but the politics of it aren't really my thing, you understand of course?"

"Let's start with Kelvin Wee." stated Michael. He knew that information upon the Camarilla negotiator was of significant value as he would surely be the guiding force behind any decisions made, despite his insistence that he was there in a simply advisory role. 

Carmelita's answer did nothing to change that opinion.

"Though in theory the negotiation is with the Prince, it's the others you'll need to convince. Kelvin thinks he's weak and impulsive, a bad combination for a Prince, he'd much rather see Sara Wilder in that chair but unfortunately Vannevar still has a lot of political clout and influential allies and so it's not as simple as just telling him to vacate the post. He's also aware that Suzanne has a steadying influence on Vannevar which makes provoking him to making rash decisions more difficult." 

"Kelvin needs him to fuck up this invasion but also doesn't want to weaken the Camarilla as that impacts on his own reputation as a negotiator. I'm not sure if any of that helps, but those are the facts..."

This information tied in to what they had already suspected and went some way to confirming what Marius had told them when they met him at Club Glaze. It was nice to get confirmation though as Marius wasn't above twisting the facts to suit his own plotting and get others to do the dirty work. Michael had been on the wrong side of this on a number of occasions and had grown wiser each time.

Suzanne Rochelle - Toreador
Seneschal to San Francisco's Prince

"I suppose that brings us to Miss Rochelle?" prompted Michael

"Suzanne is Toreador, almost an archetype of one, no offense meant." she gave Michael a wink. "She has been part of the Camarilla since at least the French Revolution. Suzanne was a close friend of Marie-Antoinette and a member of the court of Prince Francois Villon of Paris. She also had a relationship with Mithras, a former prince of London I'm sure you've heard of, so she adds a political legitimacy to Vannevar that he wouldn't possess without her."

This information was new to the coterie. Such a heritage would have given Suzanne a considerable political reputation. Michael began to think that she would be as important an individual to sway as Kelvin. Mr Hertz shared this opinion.

"Her abilities are more in the area of observation than manipulation, or should I say she observes, then manipulates. She's beautiful of course, though I'm sure you expected that. She's definitely more patient than Vannevar, I imagine the long-term infiltration aspects of the invasion were hers, the somewhat impulsive assassinations, probably not."

Both Vin and Daniel made note of this. Both had lost friends to these assassinations and having confirmation of who to blame, focussed them.

"Her and Vannevar are very close, lovers in fact, so driving a wedge between them would be difficult. It's been tried, unsuccessfully, in the past. They share everything, but I think even she realises that he's slipping..."

Michael made careful note of this. Others may have tried, but he doubted that they had his skills. He could also draw upon their shared heritage as Toreador. Even if he couldn't cause dissent between them, he at least might annoy Vannevar into acting impulsively.

Kokopell Mana - Nosferatu
Nosferatu Primogen of San Francisco

Mr Hertz interjected. "Do you have any information on the mysterious Primogen representing the Nosferatu?"

"Kokopell Mana, the Kachina, which is a Hopi spirit of sorts." began Carmelita.  "She's an interesting one..." 

"She first came to the Camarilla's attention in the early 1900's but she's vastly more ancient than that. I've interviewed more than enough elder creatures to know one when I meet one, though like many of the ancients what's real and what's legend seems to have blended into one in her mind. I wouldn't go as far as to call her irrational, but I'd be careful before questioning her beliefs too deeply. She's loyal to the Camarilla, though she's seems to believe kindred to be these Kachina spirits in human form which would make the Camarilla a pantheon of sorts."

"So she's probably insane..." thought Daniel. But kept the opinion to himself.

"I met with her as requested, early this evening, or should I say she met with me, but she needed nothing from me, she spoke of 'meeting with the 'Ant people' which is what she refers to Clan Nosferatu as, seemingly, she connects them with some ancient tribe, possibly, it's difficult to tell. I'm versed in a myriad of ancient languages and cultures and even I can't understand half of what she says."

Daniel revised his opinion from 'probably insane' to 'definitely insane'.

Sara Anne Winder - Ventrue
Ventrue Primogen of San Francisco

"Sara Wilder and Luna Demian helped her defeat an attempt by the Kuei-jin to force the Nosferatu from their Warrens beneath San Francisco so she's loyal to them over the other Primogen and certainly the Prince. From what I can piece together from the bits of her conversation I understood she sees Wilder as some sort of  'Warrior Mother' and the Tremere as powáqa, or sorcerers. Either way she accepts their council."

Sara Anne Winder's name kept being pushed to the fore with anyone to which they spoke. Her status as 'prince in waiting' seemed to be the consensus now. "On the subject of Sara..." prompted Michael.

"Fiorenza believes she'd be a much better Prince than Vannevar. She's a battle-hardened general in the guise of a sweet and flirtatious young lady. In public settings, she comports herself in such a way that others cannot even imagine her behaving in a cruel or aggressive fashion."

Vin disliked the kindred tendency to wear a different face in private to public, but he was pragmatic enough to accept that this was just the way things were. It was also why he didn't trust anyone. Even his own coterie was guilty of this, himself too if he was to be honest.

"She's a smiling and gracious Primogen, and deals pleasantly even with those individuals she probably secretly despises. Likewise, she's been known to enthral a target and engage them in witty banter even while an assassin moves into place behind them, and I mean that both figuratively and literally." 

"She's not malicious, nor above even the most extreme and perfidious tactics if it will win her a battle, she's an old school Ventrue hiding behind a 'cute as a button' act."

Fiorenza Savona - Ventrue
Camarilla Power Broker

Michael pointed out that Kelvin seemed to be a supporter of Sara far beyond merely considering the interests of San Francisco. Carmelita hesitated a moment before speaking. 

"Fiorenza Savona has heard rumours that when Winder fails to make any headway thanks to other kindreds machinations, she relies on Wee as an alternative route. Wee, in turn, presents her ideas as his own to avoid any stigmas associated with her name. Thus the success of one, increases the prestige of the other, and vice versa."

"So she has Kelvin Wee, Luna Demian and Kokopell Mana firmly in her camp?" surmised Michael. Carmelita confirmed that this was so.

In fact Sara Winder had all the support she needed from within San Francisco to take over as Prince. It was the external influences that still favoured Vannevar that were the real issue. That and the support he gained through his seneschal Suzanne Rochelle.

More and more the indications pointed to Suzanne as the key factor in Vannevar's successes, This also made her the one, along with Kelvin, who would need convincing that any plan to end the war suited the Camarilla.

"I'm afraid I have some other tedious acts to perform while in the city so that will have to do for now." stated Carmelita, before adding. "Good luck..."

"I didn't want to mention it at the time..." said Daniel after they left the plane. "...but there was someone else on board during that meeting. I could hear the occasional movement but no breathing so they must have been kindred. Her bodyguard Abasi looked towards the rear cabin a couple of times too when he thought we weren't paying attention so he knew they were there."

Though it was biologically unnecessary, Michael sighed. He'd worry about it another time. He had too many other concerns right now.

Scene Eight - The Chantry

The Consolidated Chantry of L.A.

Daniel had been making subtle enquiries into the Tremere Primogen. These had apparently drawn the attention of the Los Angeles Consolidated Chantry. 

The coterie found themselves invited to Downtown to discuss this with them directly, the night before the summit was to take place. The various houses that now made up the Tremere clan almost certainly had ulterior motives but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. 

Of the four houses of which they were aware of, only Houses Carna, Tremere and Goratrix were represented at the chantry. House Ipsissimus had no members within. In fact they only knew of one member of this house within the city and Alessandro Kaye's loyalty was to his Baron Gloria Martinez.

Luna had already implied to them that she would support some of the Anarchs requirements in return for her own demands being met. This would hopefully make for a fairly straightforward meeting.

Hope and Vin had encountered Luna when they had undertaken the assassination of Peter Kwan, childe of the Camarilla invasions leader within the city. Her powers were beyond any blood magic the pair had witnessed previously and they had no doubt that they had seen only the bare minimum of what she was capable of. She had despatched Peter in brutal fashion, for the crime of withholding knowledge of a gargoyle to which she once claimed ownership.

Vanessa 'Ruby' Rubeus - House Carna
Regent of the Consolidated Chantry

The feeling of being watched occurs the moment you enter the building though fades quite quickly. It's almost as if the building itself was looking you over, before deciding whether to evict you or not...

You are met by Vanessa 'Ruby' Rubeus, regent of the chantry and whose loyalty was to House Carna.

"Luna is a guest of this chantry in general, and House Tremere specifically. I'll lead you to the Tremere wing and leave you in the hand of Alanis 'Alannah' Ward. Though we could share with you what you need to know of Miss Demian it seems rude to do so while she is our guest. Therefore you may ask of her what you wish directly. You are in no danger, she has agreed to respect our neutrality...I'd still air on the side of politeness though..."

As you approach what is apparently the wing allocated to House Tremere you notice the décor subtly changing, becoming less contemporary and more luxurious. The occult symbology surrounding you also becomes more what you'd associate with older occult rituals. 

Vanessa stops just outside a meeting room dominated by a large portrait of Lord Tremere on the far wall. Awaiting you inside are Alanis 'Alannah' Ward, Elizabeth 'Etain' Brooker and Luna Demain herself. Several bottles of wine have been placed in the centre of a elaborate coffee table along with sufficient goblets for each of you to drink. Ruby seems keen to vacate the area as if she feels uncomfortable in this part of the Chantry.

"Please take a seat..." says Alannah, that slight look of manic intensity still visible behind the eyes. Etain looks you up and down with all the emotional detachment you remember from previous encounters. You imagine that she and Luna get on rather well.

Alanis 'Alannah' Ward and Elizabeth 'Etain' Booker - House Tremere

Somewhat unexpectedly, Luna went immediately on the offensive.

"I'm well aware that you are not what you pretend to be. Camarilla agents pretending to be Anarch's isn't new but you seem to be making it work, though I'm less clear about why you have a Banu Haqim Scourge pretending to be Brujah..."

Edward Kaya - Banu Haqim
Sire of Daniel Matthews

Despite his surprise, Michael kept his cool and showed no signs that he was in any way rattled. Verbal ambushes such as these might once have put him off his game but three years into his infiltration of the city, he was now hardened to such things. He turned to Daniel. "Perhaps you'd like to explain?"

Daniel decided that honesty would be the best policy. He knew a little of blood magic but was reasonably sure that there were rituals to detect when one spoke a lie. He was also sure that Luna would not have made the statement unless she was one hundred percent sure.

"My sire is hunting me..." he began.

He explained that his sire was a follower of Ur-Shulgi and rather than being a judge of the guilty as he had claimed his sire had been giving Daniel targets to eliminate that had committed no crime other than opposing the so-called Herald of Haqim. Luna interjected.

"It is known to us that a war-mage of unusual potency had recently awakened. He is apparently moving the clan towards a darker, and bloodier (if that is conceivable) role, reinstating the Path of Blood as the clan's religion and terminating any dissenters with extreme prejudice."

Ur-Shulgi - Banu Haqim Methuselah
The Black Shepherd, Herald of Haqim

Daniel confirmed Luna's assessment and added that he himself saw himself in a different light. He believed that the guilty must be punished, but that individual freedom to believe what a kindred wished was not his concern, unless those beliefs caused them to act in a way that required them to be judged.

Ur-Shulgi on the other hand wished to purge all those who would refuse to convert back to the old ways of the Clan and the Path of Blood. Additionally, he interpreted the Law of Judgement from the Laws of Haqim to mean that all other vampires had failed to live up to the standards of honour and integrity put forth by Haqim in the nights of the First City and were thus to be destroyed before their taint spread.

This was an interpretation members of his loyalist faction shared to one degree or another. In short, it was the Heralds way, or Final Death.

"Your honesty is appreciated..." she replied. "...though there would have been no point denying it. Traces of your vitae were easy to find due to some of your previous activities. Much can be discovered from even the tiniest of samples and I know rituals that can extract more than most would wish known."

Blood Sorcery

"Will this be a problem?" asked Michael

Luna shook her head before replying. "I was merely curious about whether you yourself were aware of the subterfuge. If this one has proved himself of use to you then his past is your concern. As long as it doesn't threaten any arrangements we make that is..."

"I appreciate your understanding." stated Daniel, feeling a weight fall from his shoulders. He was now sure that he had been under some spell to detect falsehoods and was glad that he had opted for the truth.

Luna then turned her attention once more to Michael. Daniel was reasonably sure that with the matter resolved to her satisfaction he was once more considered to be beneath her notice. This suited him just fine. Attention was exactly what he was trying to avoid, despite fate continually finding new ways of getting in the way.

"With that resolved perhaps we can get back to the reason for why you requested our presence?"

Vannevar Thomas - Ventrue
Prince of San Francisco

Without preamble, Luna Demian began.

"Vannevar lacks the skills necessary to be an effective Prince, even with miss Rochelle at his side. It would be preferable to keep the one and remove the other but unfortunately they come as a pair..."

Michael decided that as Luna seemed to be getting straight to the point, that he too would refrain from sugar-coating his statements. "You have an alternate candidate in mind. One Sara Winder perhaps?"

"Yes, we would prefer to see Sara Anne Winder within the role." 

Michael was curious about why and so decided to just come straight out and ask.

"She is more open to some of the more resource heavy experiments of my clan that the populace of San Jose will assist us with. Such experimentation is necessary to restore much of which we have lost due to mortal interference in Venice and Vannevar is...an inconvenience, currently. Unfortunately the internal politics that we are bound by makes simply removing him to be problematic. Which is where you come in..."

San Jose at Night - Camarilla or Anarch?

"I require free movement of our clan between the chantries of San Francisco and Los Angeles which would have to be assured. We would also require the retention of San Jose as Camarilla territory. We as a clan require the extra resources that the expansion would give us access to..."

Michael was once more forced to conceal his reaction to a statement of Luna's. He had already decided that San Jose was to be the sacrifice that would be made in order to ensure the Camarilla's agreement to the Anarchs other demands. This was now too intertwined with their plan for a change to be made. He would have to find a way to reduce collateral damage to the cities populace after the deal was made.

Daniel risked a sideways glance at his Baron to gauge his reaction. Michael was a kindred unusually in touch with his humanity and surely must have realised that 'resource heavy' translated as 'requires lots of test subjects'. Given what both knew of the clan, the survival of such test subjects was very low in their priorities, if it was considered at all.

With a heavy heart, Michael agreed to her terms.

Storytellers Note - This was a significant roleplaying moment. The player really carried the feeling of resignation about making a concession that might indirectly cost many mortals their lives.

Scene Nine - Assets and Liabilities

Isaac Abrams - Toreador
Baron of Hollywood and San Fernando

As the summit was to take place at the Succubus Club within Hollywood, Baron Isaac Abrams had insisted that those kindred with plentiful security assets allocate some to the domains protection. In practical terms this meant putting them at the disposal of Daniel. This was for two reasons. 

Firstly, Daniel handled most of Michaels security and the club was his and secondly because Kelvin Wee had been informed by Michael that Daniel would be his contact for security concerns. The Camarilla Negotiator had took this information on board and promptly forwarded his concerns directly to Daniel and so he already had a head-start when it came to available information. The Anarch Council had given Daniel such responsibilities before so had no real issue in doing so again. 

Daniel's only concern was that both Marius Walker and Louis Fortier would be reticent to send him any assets of worth if they were not directly under their control. Fortunately it seemed that such a summit was too important to jeopardise and they actually gave him more than he had hoped for.

Louis Fortier, Baron of West L.A. had provided a total of four teams, each consisting of five ghouls drawn from Catherine DuBois's security forces. They were armed with effective but concealable heavy calibre handguns, submachine guns and wore custom fitted body armour. Each team also had their own lightly armoured vehicle. Daniel briefly met the leaders of each team and ensured that they were all linked by communications that he had access to. These would be excellent as quick response forces.

Baron Louis Fortier, Ventrue - Baron Marius Walker, Gangrel

Marius Walker, Baron of Downtown had provided three teams of six, one of which was led by his own personal ghoul bodyguard and assassin, Yukio. These teams were more heavily armed than those provided by Louis as their more casual dress gave them far more places to conceal larger weaponry. Each team travelled in a heavily armoured Land Rover. 

Yukio Hayashi - Ancient Ghoul
Personal Bodyguard and Assassin

These were less mobile than the other assets provided but were capable of throwing out a ridiculous volume of fire from the cover of a highly resistant vehicle.

With these teams he merely ensured that he could keep in contact with their leader Yukio as she was more than capable of managing her own people. He had worked with Yukio before and she was a consummate professional during operations, though surprisingly cheerful at other times, considering her profession.

Marius had also provided an unexpected extra.

His own grandechilde Rebecca, herself the childe of the legendary kindred assassin known as 'The Pale Lady' had arrived in an AddArmor Audi RS7, lent to her by her sire.

The vehicle was allegedly resistant to small-arms fire and guaranteed she could get where she was needed with undue haste, it allegedly being the worlds fastest armoured car.

She was armed with not one, but two sniper rifles. One was an AS50, a semi-automatic .50 BMG anti-materiel precision rifle. The second was a Heckler & Koch HK417, which was both a battle rifle and a designated marksman rifle. He noted that the boxes of ammo, haphazardly piled up on the passenger seat, included both armour-piercing and incendiary rounds. It seemed that she was more than prepared for any situation.

Rebecca - Gangrel
Grandechilde of Marius, Assassin

"I'm not really the 'up close and personal' type." she announced. This was unusual for a Gangrel, but what the hell, with the monumental task at hand he'd take all the help he could get though if he was honest he'd rather have had access to her sire. Of course, he diplomatically kept that fact to himself.

In addition to the external assets, he also had access to the personnel of his own Baron. This meant that he had the use of Hope and her Sweepers, Vin and his veritable army of street level informants and Mr Hertz's gang, the Apostles. Despite all of these resources, it would be impossible to cover every eventuality and it was this that bothered Daniel. He didn't like loose ends and this operation had dozens of them.

Before he began to plan their deployment he decided to get in touch with 'Chick' who would certainly be part of Therese Voerman's security in Santa Monica. At the very least he could coordinate with her and avoid allocating any of his teams unnecessarily.

As expected, Charlie 'Chick' Abbott did not disappoint.

She informed Daniel that she had three routes planned for escorting Vannevar and his Seneschal to the summit. The first emphasised privacy, the back-ups were more security minded. Though Chick revealed that she much preferred options two and three, that the Prince had insisted upon the route which minimised his contact with the populace of the city. 

Charlie 'Chick' Abbott - Banu Haqim
Santa Monica 'Scourge'

She also shared that his Seneschal, Suzanne Rochelle, had also wanted to use one of the alternate offered routes.

The Prince and his advisors personal security seemed to be professional but it was Chicks opinion that many had been recently added to his entourage. If she had to guess, she would surmise that they had been recently added by someone else to enhance his security.

"What did you actually think of Vannevar and Rochelle?" asked Daniel

"Suzanne, was a pleasure to work with. Composed, professional, asked pertinent questions, but didn't micromanage. Once she'd assessed what was planned, and confirmed the important details, she left us to do our jobs. If I had to guess who was keeping things running smoothly in San Francisco, it'd be her."

"...and Vannevar?" prompted Daniel.

"He's a  fucking asshole..." was her considered assessment.

Reasonably sure that Vannevar and Suzanne were in good hands, he turned his attention to the Primogen.

Alonzo Guillen - Autarkis Nosferatu
Ancient Hollywood Warrens

He despatched one of Hopes sweepers, Hogg, to liaise with the Gangrel packs tasked with the escort of Mirko Mirkonnen. Of all of the baronies available sweepers, Daniel deemed that Hogg would be the one with the most in common with Mirko. He then sent messages to his Nosferatu friend Alonzo offering any help that he might help with his guest Kokopell Mana. He doubted that Alonzo would need him for anything but extended the courtesy regardless. That just left Sara Winder and Luna Demian.

Both Sara and Luna were in downtown but in very different locations. Luna was staying at the Los Angeles Chantry, while Sara had taken the top three floors of a Downtown hotel.

Unusually, Daniel managed to get through to Marius himself rather than his psychotic ghoul personal assistant, Victoria.

"Security concerns?" began Marius. Daniel confirmed that this was so.

"The Ventrue Primogen, Sara Winder, has two layers of her own security to navigate before you get anywhere near her penthouse. The building she's currently residing in is one of mine and is being carefully monitored. She has her own vehicles but there will be an additional escort of my people to ensure she isn't interfered with on the way. They have orders to destroy any threats on sight or pre-emptively remove them if the situation warrants it."

Eleanor 'The Sorceress' Braun - Gangrel
Childe of Marius, Blood Sorcerer

"Luna will be accompanied by my own childe Eleanor, who looks after the Chantry's needs on my behalf. I think we both realise that Luna doesn't really need protection. She's a walking weapon of mass destruction. Fire, lightning, shadow, the fucking weather if she so desires. I'm only offering her an escort at all as a courtesy based on her position. Anyone who threatens her is going to get turned into a bloody smear and Eleanor has considerable proficiency in the same area..."

This confirmed what Hope and Vin had told him of the destruction Luna had wrought at Peter Kwan's base. He knew that Marius, like many Gangrel, wasn't a fan of the Tremere considering the experiments they'd undertaken on Gangrel, Tzimisce and Nosferatu clan members in order to create their Gargoyle guardians.

Daniel also knew little about Eleanor so took the opportunity to ask about her under the guise of his duties keeping the Primogen safe. Marius shared a few details.

"She was an impulse embrace, but adapted admirably. Took to blood magic on an instinctive level, which is odd, but then many of my childer exhibit uncharacteristic traits."

Daniel refrained from offering his own theory about Marius's tendency for diablerie being responsible. He had also heard that Marius's sire, Xaviar, was also quite uncharacteristic of the Gangrel Clan. His musing was interrupted as Marius continued.

"She's an obsessive collector of occult artefacts and by 'collector' I mean thief. She can do a passable impression of a Tremere, passable enough to get through a Chantry door anyway but she's never stolen anything from San Francisco's Chantry so her and Luna are getting along as well as can be expected."

"I'm currently negotiating with the Consolidated Chantry's Regent, 'Ruby', about giving her some additional tutelage, though I may be better off talking to their Savant 'Alannah' as her skills are a little more on the offensive side. Currently their price is bordering on the ridiculous, but I may have to indulge them. It's nearly the anniversary of Eleanor's embrace and I owe her a 'present'."

Daniel had heard a rumour, via Alonzo, that since the reconnection of sire and childe, Eleanor contacted Marius on the anniversary of her embrace and demanded either a gift or an end to her unlife. Given her continued survival, apparently she must have a way of persuading her sire that she was worth the price.

"What are your thoughts on this summit?" enquired Daniel, reasonably sure he wouldn't get a straight answer but figuring it would be worth a punt.

"Michael will do his thing, if they cause any trouble, me and Louis will wipe them all out."

Daniel decided he'd best pay attention.

"Only Luna has the strength of will to resist Isaac should mental techniques be required and I've known Isaac tell a kindred to kill his best friend then himself and the poor bastard didn't even flinch. He can purge most of that room without even getting out of his chair, besides which, I can kill the rest even if he can't neutralise them all, even that fucker Mirko is only a speedbump to me at worse."

The statement was uttered with such certainty, that Daniel began to become concerned.

"Louis has already put forward a plan for a multi-pronged assault that, when combined with forces of mine I've put at his disposal, will purge the Camarilla from the city with minimal collateral damage."

Daniel couldn't help but get the feeling that Marius seemed a little to enthusiastic about the possibility of war, though at least if their back-up plan was one of Louis's that it would be based on actual tactics rather than overkill. Louis, unlike Marius, was a kindred with a sense of honour.

Hopefully the other barons involved were more interested in a peaceful outcome.

Tomorrow night was going to be very interesting indeed...

To Be Continued in 'Personal Agendas' (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...

The player characters have been doing a lot of work to ensure that they enter the meeting with detailed knowledge of all the power players and their personal agenda's. They've done a pretty good job and seem to have a reasonably sound plan for how to approach the negotiations.

Let's hope no other kindred's own agenda's fucks it up for them...

Acknowledgements
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved.”

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, Therese Voerman is Whitney Moore, Luna Demian is Andie MacDowell, Miriam Caravaggio is Caity Lotz, Mirko Mirkonnen is Nathan Jones, Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez is Luis Carazo, Damsel is Irina Delnova, Carmelita Neillson is Salma Hayek, Kelvin Wee is Rich Ting, Suzanne Rochelle is Amelia Rose Blaire, Sara Anne Winder is Saoirse Ronan, Fiorenza Savona is Jamie Lee Curtis, Vanessa 'Ruby' Rubeus is Leila Lunatic, Alanis 'Alannah' Ward is either La Esmeralda or Threnody in Velvet (They're both a bit mixed up in the same folder, sorry...), Elizabeth 'Etain' Booker is Darya Goncharova, Edward Kaya is Laurence Fishburne, Vannevar Thomas is Bryan DeChart, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Louis Fortier is Eduardo Verastegui, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Yukio Hayashi is Jamie Chung, Rebecca is Amy Acker, Charlie 'Chick' Abbott is Lena Headey and Eleanor Braun is P.J. Harvey.

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.

Vampire the Masquerade - V5 - Session Ninety Five - 'Personal Agendas' (Part One)

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. Over a year of plotting allowed the coterie to gain control of two North-Eastern Baronies and a large part of a third. Now they are moving on to the final stage of their campaign and have their eyes on taking over the entire city, either directly or by proxy.

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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. There are however a list of potential triggers listed before the introduction. 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, Three, Four, Five, 

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten

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Interlude Session One - After Griffith Park

Interlude Session Two - Divide and Conquer

Interlude Session Three - On the Brink of War

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Chronicle Four - 'Conquest L.A.'

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part Six, and Epilogue

Story Twenty Two - 'The Unbound' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

Story Twenty Three - 'The War Council' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

Interlude Session - Recon

Story Twenty Four - 'Resistance' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five

Interlude Session - Damage Limitation

Interlude Session - The Killing Spree

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The PC's

Michael Tomassio - Toreador, 'Baron of the North East'
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, 'Constable'
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Fixer'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, 'Census Taker'
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, 'Seneschal'

The Storyteller

Garreth - Everyone else...

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.

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. 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.

Trigger Warnings for This Session: Blood (Obviously).

Introduction

The full extent of the Camarilla's infiltration of Los Angeles has been uncovered by the Anarchs and they have removed two of it's most significant power players in a most brutal manner. With open warfare now a very real possibility, Kelvin Wee, a highly regarded Camarilla negotiator has agreed to meet with Baron Michael Tomassio. This is to be a preliminary discussion in order to debate the possibility of a diplomatic meeting between representatives of the Anarchs and the Camarilla.

If such an agreement cannot be reached then both factions will go to war...

Scene One - The Succubus Club, Hollywood

Dillan Fitzgerald - Malkavian
Architect and Designer

In repayment of a debt between them, Marius has given Michael access to both his kindred designer, Dillan Fitzgerald and Aegis Construction in order to complete his Succubus Club. Michael has been keen to ensure that the club is completed promptly as he intends it to be the location of the meeting between the Anarchs and Camarilla representative's, if he can get Kelvin Wee to consent to such that is.

You're not sure exactly how much of Marius's money that Dillan spent on your club but it was definitely considerable.

The club has three levels above ground and two below with a set of offices above the highest floor containing offices and meeting rooms for the clubs owners. There is also a secret sub basement containing a number of day-rooms and a secure entrance into the Nosferatu warrens below Hollywood. The club itself has a mixture of open spaces containing dance floors and bars as well as a myriad of side rooms, alcoves and nooks where guests and patrons can have private assignations. Each floor is also shielded acoustically from the others so that each can have it's own musical theme.

Externally there are three carparks, though one of these is a private one for management and special guests. The entrances are monitored by advanced detection systems that automatically log vehicles license plates so that important guests can have parking spaces reserved for them in advance. There's even a helipad on the roof though this is unlikely to get much use, even in Hollywood.

Security is provided by a state of the art camera system that records both externally and internally. There are a number of quite intentional blind-spots where those in the know can engage in whatever illicit activities they desire without being observed, spread around the five floors.

The entire club somehow manages to feel both spacious and intimate at the same time. The only slight disadvantage is that due to it's size and number of both hidden and obvious bars that it does require a considerable amount of staff.

Given the 'buzz' around the grand opening you are reasonably sure that the kindred VIP's hopefully arriving for your diplomatic meeting will be barely noticed and will certainly have no shortage of feeding vessels.

A brief conversation with Baron Abrams has resulted in a promise that he'll ensure the presence of some minor celebrities at the clubs opening. He seemed to find Michael's idea of hiding the meeting in the chaos of such a public event to be inspired, though he has also pointed out to Michael that he may need to bring in extra security for his domain to compensate.

Daniel had some additional ideas about security for the club. Specifically, he didn't like the idea of there being areas free from surveillance. Though he understood the necessity of keeping the mortal and unaware members of their security staff from observing kindred activities, he wanted to be able to ensure that he was left with no unexpected problems to 'fix' in those areas.

Michael gave him permission to have installed a separate system to monitor these locations. The plan was to have a self contained surveillance room with no connection to the standard security from where these areas could be monitored. By keeping the two systems isolated from one another he could both observe the activities of any kindred using the dark corners for feeding and make sure no accidents occurred while also ensuring that the 'normal' security personnel saw nothing that might require them to be eliminated.

Though Michael still had some moral qualms about the covert surveillance he understood the necessity of doing so.

With the club as prepared as was possible, it was now time to meet with the Camarilla representative, Kelvin Wee.

Scene Two - Awaiting an Escort

Lyko Wu - Ventrue
Chinatown, Downtown

Though within Marius's Downtown Barony, Chinatown was controlled by Lyko Wu and his two childer Han and Yuan Ling. Marius had granted him the domain as his feeding ground on the condition that Marius's own business interests within the area were protected. This suited Lyko just fine, especially as he also received a small percentage of these businesses profits in return.

Chinatown was also the residence of Mr Hertz, a Nosferatu accountant and ally of the coterie, who managed the legitimate and criminal accounts of the Blood Dragons Triad gang who implemented the will of Lyko Wu.

Hertz had met with Lyko very soon after he had been granted the feeding ground by Baron Walker. The Nosferatu knew how to show the proper deference to those in power having dealt with dangerous criminals as both mortal and kindred. 

In return for his financial expertise, Mr Hertz also had the protection of the Triad gangs and Lyko himself. Mr Hertz's driver, Zhi Baxter, who also lived in Chinatown was also under their protection. Hertz was paid his standard two percent cut of the profits made from his laundering activities, a pittance compared to the kind of money that he was making for them, but more than enough for his humble needs.

Fortunately for the coterie, this meant that one of their number had inside knowledge of the area that were entering as well as the respect of it's more dangerous residents.

Dion, Michael's driver and agent of the Ventrue power-broker Fiorenza Savona, was at the wheel of Michael's subtly armoured car. Michael was accompanied by Vin as bodyguard while Mr Hertz and Daniel were in a second vehicle driven by the more stable of Daniel's two ghouls, Andrew.

Weapons of Different Era's - Mr Hert's Luger and  Vin's Smith & Wesson Model 460

Daniel had his full compliment of concealed weapons, while Mr Hertz was armed with an old but well maintained Luger in a shoulder holster. Vin had his trusty two-handed machete within it's scabbard beneath his jacket and a Smith & Wesson Model 460 in a shoulder holster. His shotgun was in a bag at his side along with several drums of solid slug ammunition. Michael had instructed Vin to leave the weapon in their vehicle. The meeting would be tense enough without adding any additional provocations.

Vin's Personal Weapon - Two-Handed Kukri

Vin's machete had a strange gem in it's pommel that he had acquired after assisting the Tremere with relocating their Chantry within Downtown. Since installing the 'Heart of Eliza' to his weapon the blade had never needed sharpening, keeping it's edge no matter what it sliced through. It also felt lighter and more balanced in his hand than any such weapon had the right to.

Vin was more than confident in his ability to protect Michael from any immediate dangers. In most circumstances, Daniel acted as Michael's bodyguard due to his wider range of subtle offensive and defensive skills. However in these circumstances Vin had elected to protect Michael personally. If anything went wrong during this meeting then the violence would certainly be explosive and bloody. In this area Vin and Hope were the preferred option. Hope's short-fuse ruled her out in these circumstances and she had instead been tasked with keeping their own barony secure in the absence of the rest of the coterie.

Marius Walker - Gangrel
'Fixer' and Baron of Downtown

Before leaving Pasadena, their convoy was to gain two extra vehicles as Marius had offered to escort them through his domain to Chinatown. Michael had correctly ascertained that it wasn't an offer that he could really refuse, but had phrased his acceptance in such a way as to make it seem like a choice he had made without external pressure.

Michael knew that Marius wasn't a kindred that you wished to appear weak when dealing with. It was a game of status that all kindred played and Michael was very good at it. He had dealt with Marius since their first night in the city and probably knew how to gauge his moods and whims better than any kindred outside of the Gangrel's own inner circle. He had, in fact, negotiated his way out of situations that would have almost certainly have proven fatal to a less politically savvy kindred. Michael had correctly ascertained that Marius enjoyed their 'games' far too much to put an end to them on a whim. Michael used this knowledge sparingly, but effectively.

Marius's escort, as expected, consisted of two vehicles. Marius was being driven by Eleanor 'Ellie' Moreno, another agent of Fiorenza Savona who had replaced Michael's driver Dion in the role.

Dennis 'Dion' Hart and Eleanor 'Ellie' Moreno - Agents of Fiorenza Savona

Dion had been compromised by Marius's psychotic ghoul Victoria and so had been 'given' to Michael instead. Dion had proven himself to be useful and his occasional reports to Fiorenza on the coteries activities was  a small price to pay for his skills as a driver. 

The second vehicle was driven by Yukio, Marius's second most trusted ghoul, a surprisingly cheerful individual considering her primary role was killing Marius's enemies. Her three passengers were Kesara, Nessa and Ria Perez, collectively known as 'The Circle'. 

Kesara, Nessa and Ria Perez, AKA 'The Circle' - Gangrel Sweepers

These kindred acted as Sweepers for Downtown. Their status as Marius's own grandechilder was only slightly sullied by the fact that their sire, and Marius's own childe 'Talon', was significantly out of favour with him. Somehow this particular childe of Marius had so far avoided the usual fate of disappointing their sire, namely diablerie.

On arrival, one of the Circle, Ria, left the car and handed Michael a wooden box. "Leanna said that you ordered this for tonight. She's currently working on your second request. All being well it should be available before any meetings negotiated this evening." Ria was the oldest of the three sisters and generally considered to be their leader, if they could be said to have one.

Leanna - Duskborn
Blood Sommelier

Vin moved in closer. He was well aware that Michael often had Leanna make mixtures of rare wines and vitae as gifts but still wasn't happy about people handing things to his Baron without him looking inside first. He was also well aware that all three of these sweepers were capable killers of kindred. Seemingly noticing his agitation, Ria made a play of opening the box, in as ostentatious a manner as possible.

Vin inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement of the gesture and got a subtle smile in return. "I thought we were all friends here?" said Ria to Vin. "The one thing has nothing to do with the other." He replied. Michael chose to ignore the exchange. Vin knew what he was doing and in the area of preventing trouble via intimidation he had few rivals.

Michael, to whom appearance was very important, noted that Ria wasn't sporting her usual short, blonde hair and had it long and dark, presumably it's natural colour and length. She was also out of her usual combat style clothing, instead wearing a stylish jacket. "The hairstyle suits you, as does the outfit." Said Michael. Ria seemed pleased with the compliment. "Neither are very practical for my usual duties..." she replied. "...but Marius didn't want me turning up to something this important looking like I was ready to start a war..."

Detecting weaknesses via empathy and observation were specialities of Michael. He was surprised to find that vanity was one of Ria's as he would have guessed that to be a flaw of Kesara's. He filed the information away in case it might come in useful later.

The base beverage of the wine was a Kweichow Moutai 50 Year Old Baijiu to which Leanna had added blood of a complimentary flavour and resonance. She was undoubtedly the best Blood Sommelier in the city and though her prices were exorbitant, the result was invariably well worth the price. These were Michael's preferred gifts when meeting other kindred of importance.

Scene Three - Chinatown

Chinatown at Night
Downtown L.A.

The meeting was to take place in the Red Dragon restaurant and hotel, a place known by the kindred to be the current base of both Lyko Wu and the Blood Dragon Triads. The business was bought by Marius some twenty years ago after its previous owner, one Wong Ho, mysteriously disappeared, leaving the restaurant to his daughter Kiki, who subsequently sold it to Marius. Lyko Wu gained the location as part of the transition negotiations when Marius granted Chinatown to him as his own domain.

What was less well known was that Kiki's father was assassinated by the so-called 'Kindred of the East' and that she had signed over the restaurant to Marius in payment for protecting her from the same fate. She remains as a blood doll in Marius's herd to this day where she is indeed 'protected', though perhaps not in the manner that the spoilt heiress would have liked.

Michael's vehicles rode in front until the border between Pasadena and Downtown, where Marius's vehicles took over.

Upon entering Chinatown, all those whose job was security noticed that there was a a considerable Triad presence on the streets. The Blood Dragons were accompanied by Triads from a different gang, presumably these were from the gang that gave their loyalty to Kelvin Wee. A carpark near Club Glaze, a Chinatown establishment still owned by Marius, had an area cordoned off for the groups vehicles to park in. 

Logo of The Red Dragon
Chinatown Restaurant

The Red Dragon itself had only minimal parking space and this was currently being utilised by Kelvin Wee and his guards.

The group drew considerable attention as they made their way towards the meeting place and the number of gang members increased as they drew closer. Marius had chosen to remain at Glaze as he wasn't invited to the meeting anyway, but The Circle continued their escort duties until they reached the Red Dragon. From there the three sisters blended into the crowd, they would only interfere if called upon.

Vin and Daniel noticed that several groups of Triads had followed Marius's sweepers into the crowd. Vin nudged Daniel and nodded in that direction. Daniel indicated that he too had noticed. He hoped that no treachery was planned as Daniel had witnessed Kesara, Nessa and Ria taking out an heavily armed, armoured, and military trained gang without taking as much as a scratch.

An attractive Chinese woman that the coterie hadn't previously encountered, met them in front of the location. She introduced herself as Zhou Meirong, hostess of the Red Dragon restaurant then escorted them to a private entrance. 

Daniel and Vin dropped into place behind Michael and Mr Hertz as their guide gestured to a pair of guards to allow the party access. The woman carried herself with confidence and a natural air of authority that indicated one used to wielding power. Daniel was sure that she wasn't kindred, though he surmised she could easily be a ghoul.

Zhou Meirong - Ghoul of Lyko Wu

Vin was surprised that they hadn't been asked about weapons or even searched to see if they were armed. He knew Daniel was armed, though his weapons were concealed. On the other hand, only a blind fool could fail to notice Vin's armament and the Brujah doubted that any of these people were idiots.

Vin felt somewhat reassured by this. If their hosts planned treachery then surely they would have tried to minimise the groups ability to defend themselves? They hadn't even checked the wooden box that Michael carried.

As they made their way up the staircase within the private entrance, Daniel kept careful note of any security precautions they passed. There were security cameras monitoring the stairs but he could see no other defences. As they passed the first floor, Daniel noted several triad gang members just inside the doorway from the two different gangs. He detected a slight tension. The Blood Dragons seemed less than happy about having to share their turf with these rivals, even if it was only short term.

The second floor was obviously residential in nature. Their destination was the third floor, the entrance to which was guarded by Han and Yuan Ling, Lyko Wu's childer and bodyguards.

"Kelvin Wee is waiting for you inside." said Han as he opened the door for them. His brother Yuan said nothing.

Scene Four - Kelvin Wee

Kelvin Wee - Ventrue
Camarilla Negotiator

Kelvin was sat behind a desk in a luxurious meeting room decorated with Chinese tapestries and paintings of considerable quality and age. He rose as they entered.

He stood just over six feet tall and was well built, but muscular not overweight. He was dressed in a tailored suit and seemed to place great emphasis on his physical appearance and public face.

Behind him stood a pair of guards with swords at their back, though appeared to be carrying no other weapons. Daniel noted that both were mortal, though like their escort, could have been ghouls. They stood like statues, the only movement came from their eyes which locked upon the coterie the moment they entered.

Those with supernatural senses scanned the room for any occult defences that might be in place. Though Vin lacked the ability to detect the occult supernaturally, he was experienced enough in it's practice to be able to detect the paraphernalia required for it's use. Neither he, nor Daniel, saw any indication of such. The only thing of interest noted by Daniel was that the room once had security camera's within but these had been removed. Quite recently in fact.

"A gift..." began Michael, placing the wooden container with the blood wine within upon the table and opened it reverently. Kelvin examined the bottle carefully. "One of Leanna's creations?" he asked, though Michael was sure he already knew the answer. Michael confirmed that he was correct.

"I don't believe in celebrating prematurely..." said Kelvin. "...but hopefully we can share a drink should this meeting conclude to both our satisfactions."

Vin and Daniel had mirrored the positions of Kelvin's guards. Mr Hertz stood to one side.

Kelvin indicated a seat opposite him at the table. "So what is it that you have come here to propose?" asked Kelvin.

Michael thanked the Camarilla representative for consenting to meet and then began.

"The current situation isn't ideal for either your side or mine. Los Angeles is in disarray and despite being an Anarch I much prefer order to chaos. If we cannot come to some form of accord then the situation will only get worse. Already there have been skirmishes between both of our forces. Masquerade breaches are becoming a daily occurrence and there is only so much I can do to cover these up. At this point it is more a matter of when the Second Inquisition return, not if, and if you think that their presence in Los Angeles would not spread to San Jose and then San Francisco then I fear you are being spectacularly optimistic."

The Young Bloods - Unbound Ghoul Gang

Michael detected a surprised reaction from Kelvin when Michael had indicated that it was he who had covered up the breaches of the Masquerade. As Kelvin said nothing, Michael took this as a sign that he should continue.

"The Second Inquisition are not the only vampire hunters we need to concern ourselves with. The Unbound ghouls who call themselves the Young Bloods have been operating in both my city and yours and I have evidence that they have done so at Vannevar's encouragement. I'm sure we are both aware that mortal hunters of kindred are a weapon that invariably turns upon the wielder..."

Kelvin paused for a moment before replying.

"If what you say is true then Vannevar's attack seems to contain several examples of extremely poor judgement. Though some might say that given historical failures in that area that any attack upon L.A. is an idea that might be best left as theoretical. Unfortunately that is a failure of Vannevar's that cannot be undone and we must deal with what is, not what retrospectively we would wish undone."

Vannevar Thomas - Ventrue
Camarilla Prince of San Francisco

All present could detect the scorn that entered Kelvin's voice whenever he mentioned the name Vannevar. That this negotiators personal agenda was not in line with that of the Prince of San Francisco was evident. Now Michael just needed to find out exactly what he did want. For now he decided to add another piece of information to the mix that could be used to further cast doubt on Vannevar's position.

"As a courtesy, I should also inform you that I have intelligence regarding a Sabbat incursion into this general area. An incursion that we would have dealt with had our resources not been diverted to prevent Prince Vannevar's vanity driven attempt upon the city. In short, while we fight amongst ourselves, the Sabbat wait and watch for the moment that we weaken ourselves sufficiently for them to take out both us and you."

Michael noticed that Kelvin showed no surprise at the mention of the Sabbat. Apparently he was aware of their designs upon this region of America. He did however seem to become more focussed whenever any mention of Vannevar was tied to a mistake or wider potential danger to the Camarilla.

Daniel noticed that the two guards behind Kelvin weren't as motionless as he first thought.

Their postures subtly changed in conjunction with Kelvin's moods. Tensing and relaxing as their master did. It was as if they had no personality of their own and were merely extensions of his will. Vin seemed to have also observed this as Daniel noted that his hand had slid to the handle of his weapon at one particular moment of tension.

Mr Hertz was a veteran of such negotiations and was observing the exchange with interest. In his opinion, Kelvin Wee's concerns were with his own political future. He had met such individuals in the Camarilla before. Their role was simply a stepping stone to the next, and they would happily step on anyone that got in their way. It seemed that Vannevar was, in Kelvin's eyes, just such an obstacle.

Sara Anne Winder - Ventrue
Ventrue Primogen of San Francisco

Hertz was also sure that Kelvin wasn't someone who led from the front. He saw himself as a power broker who would be repaid in favours by those he elevated. That meant that he had a replacement for Vannevar in mind. In his opinion the most likely candidate was Sara Winder, the current Ventrue Primogen of San Francisco.

Having decided that enough blame had been put upon Vannevar for now, he decided to change tack slightly. It was one thing for Kelvin to agree with him in order to undermine the Prince, but he still needed to see the strength of the Free States lest he support another with exactly the same goals. Broadly speaking, Michael would support a Camarilla takeover of Los Angeles, but with him at the top, not some upstart Ventrue with poor impulse control.

"I can understand why the Camarilla might desire the takeover of a city they once held, but surely they can see that historically this is no longer a viable option. Don Sebastian ruled by force and was destroyed. LaCroix attempted to impose his will on the city and was also destroyed. Understand that I am not making threats, I am simply pointing out that history has a habit of repeating itself. Even if you succeeded in the short term, this city would become a rallying point for every Anarch in America. Even a single surviving Anarch would draw others. Every night would be a battle to maintain your dominion, so much effort would be spent on keeping control that any resources you gained would be expended almost immediately. You would gain, nothing..."

Michael could tell that his argument mirrored Kelvin's own thoughts on the matter.

'The Camarilla'

"I merely negotiate on behalf of the Camarilla in order to facilitate the best outcome for my masters within the Inner Circle..." began Kelvin. "...my role is an advisory one. I can make recommendations but such a matter needs to be agreed by the significant powers within your own city and the Prince of San Francisco and his Primogen Council. If I arrange for these representatives to journey here for such a summit, can you guarantee both the presence of the necessary members of the Anarch Council and the safety of the Camarilla members whose presence is necessary to make such a summit's conclusions become implemented?"

Michael was reasonably sure that he could keep his side of the bargain as he had already been authorised by the council to do exactly that. He was also sure that Kelvin was vastly understating his level of influence. Michael concluded that Kelvin wished for Vannevar to be embarrassed in front of both his own Primogen council and the Anarchs.

"Who exactly would need to be present from San Francisco?" asked Michael, already sure he knew the answer.

As he had expected, Kelvin's list included himself, Vannevar Thomas and his Seneschal Suzanne Rochelle and the members of the Primogen Council. This meant that Luna Demian, Mirko Mirkonen, Kokopell Mana, and of course Sara Anne Winder would also be present. These last four were the Primogen representing the Tremere, Gangrel, Nosferatu and Ventrue respectively. Such important kindred would also have significant entourages for both protection and their personal needs.

"It would seem fitting that the Anarch representatives also number seven then." replied Michael. "I suggest myself, Isaac Abrams, Louis Fortier, Marius Walker, Gary Golden, Harvey Caplan and Gloria Martinez. Between them they represent the majority of the Anarchs opinions. Are we agreed?"

Kelvin agreed as Michael had presumed he would. The next question was where.

"I have a perfect location that should suit both sides." said Michael, with a smile. "I presume you are aware of the succubus Club?"

The latter part of the meeting dealt with some finer points and a guarantee of a cessation of hostilities on both sides. Now it just remained for Michael to convince the Anarchs of the benefits of such a summit.

"Shall we have that drink now?" suggested Kelvin.

Scene Five - Glaze

San Francisco at Night - Camarilla Domain

As Marius was already in Chinatown, he seemed like a convenient first kindred to meet to discuss the viability of what Michael had already agreed. Michael also wished to see what he knew of the Primogen that were now heading to the city. On the way, the coterie discussed what they had learned.

It was certain that Kelvin Wee's agenda for the future of San Francisco didn't include Vannevar. This meant that he had another candidate in mind. They would need to get more information from their allies and information sources, but by far the most likely option was the Ventrue Primogen, Sara Anne Winder.

Michael didn't really like dealing with Marius as he had unapologetically used and manipulated the coterie several times in the past. He was also aware that they had been initially sent to L.A. by the Camarilla which gave him some leverage over them, though he had never yet used the information against them, Michael still disliked the fact that the option was available to him.

Michael skimmed through the messages on his phone to find the door code to Club Glaze which changed periodically.

No sign or logo indicated that the double doors lead anywhere of importance. You either knew about the club or you didn't. Were someone, or weren't.

After entering the six digit code, the heavy-duty double-doors opened with a mechanical sound of bolts retracting. The long entrance corridor contained two security guards but they made no attempt to search the guests. Club Glaze was fairly exclusive and knowledge of the door code was considered sufficient to indicate that you were welcome.

The club itself had a large square bar in it's centre and four triangle shaped ones in the corners with the gaps between being dance-floor. There were some seats around the outside but Michael knew that the real areas of comfort were on the upper floor balcony accessed by a stairway flanked by security guards.

"I'm here to see Marius." stated Michael. "I presume he's expecting us..." The guards stepped aside without saying a word. "I thought so..." said Michael as he climbed the stairs, followed by Vin, Daniel and Mr Hertz.

Yukio - Bodyguard, Ghoul of Marius

Local celebrities mingled with the criminal elite of Chinatown on the upper balcony. One of the areas was cordoned off though Yukio's presence as security indicated that Marius was within. With a smile, Yukio opened the heavy curtain and the coterie entered.

Marius was sat in one corner, his arm around a pale looking young lady. Several other women, all young and beautiful were also spread around the various seats and tables within. Most had the languid look that indicated that they had been fed upon recently.

"Go have a dance, get yourselves a drink, I'll send for you when I need you again..." said Marius as he dismissed the herd of blood dolls.

Vin had stayed outside with Yukio. She had been the first of Marius's ghouls that he had met upon his arrival within the city and they still spoke occasionally. Their main topic of conversation was usually centred upon interesting ways to kill people, but they also shared information on security threats to their respective baronies. "Know anything worth sharing?" asked Vin. "You first..." replied Yukio

"You convinced Kelvin, then?" asked Marius though it was more statement then question. "The summit is on." replied Michael. "What do you know about Vannevar?" Marius's opinion of Vannevar was as low as the coterie expected.

Suzanne Rochelle - Toreador
Seneschal to Prince Vannevar Thomas

"Vannevar is an idiot, protected by political favours and friends in high places. If he had to handle a problem on his own he'd fuck it up ninety nine times out of a hundred. Most of those political friends are only his through Seneschal Suzanne Rochelle. What a kindred as beautiful, intelligent and resourceful as her is doing fucking that fool is a mystery to me..."

Michael got the impression that he liked Suzanne Rochelle, but considered her association with Vannevar as a weakness of character. He had noticed that Marius was susceptible to the charms of powerful, attractive or just interesting female kindred and tended to give them far more leeway in his dealings than he would normally be willing to do. His relationships with Vera Vignes, Therese and Jeanette Voerman and Velvet Velour to name but a few, led some credence to this theory. He was not sure yet how to use this information to his advantage but would give it some thought.

Mr Hertz then interjected. "One presumes that you are also familiar with the Gangrel Primogen, Mr Mirkonen?"

"Mirko's there in case anything goes to shit. He's only nominally a Camarilla supporter so many of our clan were surprised when he stayed after Xaviar declared the Gangrel to no longer be Camarilla. I think he was enjoying hunting the Kindred of the East too much too leave. The Parks of San Francisco are considered his. A few ill advised attempts by ambitious kindred were made to take them when he no longer had Clan support within the city, he destroyed them all of course. He's not flashy or fast, but can both deliver and withstand enormous damage. In modern parlance he's a tank."

San Gabriel Mountains - Night View

"Gustavo Morales will certainly be around somewhere if Mirko is. Both Morales and Mirkonen are just the kind of infantry you need when the situation degenerates into open warfare. I almost had them in the mountains but they'd riddled the area with traps. Slowed me down just enough for them to get away. Tricky bastards those pair..."

That Marius has a begrudging admiration for them was obvious as he seemed more amused than angry that they managed to get the drop on him with their boobytraps. Though all present doubted that his amusement would stop him destroying them if necessary.

"I have a lot to organise." said Michael. "So I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening..."

Having already been authorized by the Anarch Council to begin the negotiations, convincing them to cooperate with the suggested summit was a mere formality.

Interlude - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Isaac Abrams - Toreador
Baron of Hollywood and San Fernando

There will probably be more kindred in Hollywood tomorrow evening than have ever been in one place in the history of the Free States and that includes the Rants. It has been made clear to all the invited guests that refreshments will be provided at the meeting but that any 'snacks' required previous to that will need to be bought along by the kindred themselves. Fortunately kindred of such experience have no shortage of blood dolls and herds of their own and given the potential for breaches of the masquerade, all attendees have agreed.

Isaac has 'requested' that Marius and Louis provide sufficient security personnel to protect his domain from any external interference. Given the circumstances it was difficult for them to refuse, despite the potential to weaken their own baronies. In an unusual alliance between the usually antagonistic pair they have made it known that any attempt to take advantage of either of their domains will result in an 'equivalent response' from both of them.

The ceasefire has generally held though Vannevar's forces have lost two small bases in an attack which is being attributed to the Sabbat. Near to the second incident, a mass grave was discovered that matches the Sabbat's methodology of mass embraces. A number of individuals who failed to dig themselves out have been quietly put to Final Death, driven far too insane from their experience to be any use as information sources. A team of Marius's has handled the disposal, Louis Fortier footed the bill.

This mass site was just North of Baron Tomassio's domain which has caused Vin, Hope and Daniel some concerns.

To Be Continued in 'Personal Agendas' (Part Two)

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 is going to get interesting, very quickly...

Acknowledgements
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved.”

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, Dillan Fitzgerald is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lyko Wu is David E Collier, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, 'Dion' is Clark Gregg, Kesara Perez is Eiza Gonzalez, Nessa Perez is Summer Glau, Ria Perez is Amanda Tapping, Leanna is Leeanna Vamp, Zhou Meirong is Wing Mi, Kelvin Wee is Rich Ting, Vannevar Thomas is Bryan DeChart, Sara Anne Winder is Saoirse Ronan, Yukio is Jamie Chung, Suzanne Rochelle is Amelia Rose Blaire and Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman.

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.