Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Interlude Session Two - Divide and Conquer

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 the three North-Eastern Baronies and a large part of a fourth. 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 indirectly.

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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, Three, Four, Five, 

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

Interlude Session One - After Griffith Park

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 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.

Storytellers Note - Due to a Covid related local lockdown in the area in which I live, our group is currently unable to meet up. I have therefore decided to try something a bit different.

I'm getting the players to give me a brief overview of a conversation with one of their contacts, or a job allocated to a retainer (mainly via messenger at the moment) and then giving them a reply and so on. This will be slightly uneven as some players really enjoy this and others are happy to wait for an actually session. The players also get an initial situation overview of goings on in the city to give them a bit of inspiration.

In game terms, a week went by as every sensible kindred kept their heads down during the werewolf civil war during session seventy five, and then after that I've divided up their interactions into 'weeks' which correspond to a session (ish) worth of stuff. Dividing it up into scenes wasn't practical using this format so I've instead divided it by PC. There's also a lot more here than the first time so you might want to make a cup of tea before you wade into it all.

Week two was the first interlude session entitled 'After Griffith Park'. This is week three, where they have become somewhat more proactive...

Week 3 - Divide and Conquer

Introduction

With kindred now certain that the werewolf civil war is unlikely to re-erupt, the Baronies are each attempting to ensure that no others can take advantage of their brief period of inactivity.

The increased law enforcement and federal agencies presence around many subsidiaries of Pentex throughout Los Angeles has however been a blessing in disguise as it has forced many of the grudges between baronies to be put on hold as they deal with their own internal security. The only exceptions to this has been the continued push by many packs from The Wilds into the San Gabriel mountains. That they are looking for something seems obvious. What that is, is less certain.

Isaac Abrams and Louis Fortier have had a face to face meeting to resolve their current tensions and clarify what exactly Ralph Harwood's intentions and aims are. Ralph was apparently incensed that he wasn't invited to a meeting during which he was the primary source of conversation and it now seems increasingly likely that he will attempt to carve out a domain of his own. With tensions between The Crypts Sons and El Hermandad, threatening to bring The Border, Downtown and Anaheim into their conflict, the last thing the kindred of the city needs is open warfare along the West Coast too.

Newspaper Clippings

Michael Tomassio

Hallowbrook

With Michael once again on good terms with Marius and their political differences if not resolved, at least defined, He finds himself with his access to 'The Fixers' eclectic collection of advisors and employees restored. 

Sylvia, Clara and Diedrie Drake - Ghouled Verbena Mages, Bahari

His first port of call is to Marius's ghouled Verbena Mages to enquire about the vampiric artefact mentioned by Velvet Velour as being desired by Isaac Abrams. While there he also encounters another of Marius's occult advisors, his childe Eleanor Braun. Though it was The Drake sisters who searched for the reference material, it was Eleanor who explained about the item itself.

Eleanor Braun - Gangrel
Childe of Marius

"El Anillo del Pensamiento Claro, or The Ring of Clear Thinking, sometimes mistranslated as 'Thought' though that's not really important. The gold ring was the property of a Malkavian elder destroyed during the Anarch Revolt. Apparently a magically inclined ghoul created it for her as a gift."

"Wearing the ring allegedly removes all fears, phobias, derangements, and any mental flaws the individual wearing the ring might have. However there is a side effect. Removing the ring brings back any removed psychological disorders at a significantly increased severity, and the wearer becomes obsessed with recovering it. Perhaps because being used to a mind free of insanity becomes psychologically addictive."

"Not much use to a kindred such as yourself of course, but to an elder, or one of the clans more prone to mental instability. It's value increases exponentially."

Michael was of course curious about it's current whereabouts.

"It's not one of the items in Xaviars, Marius's or my collections. I'm also reasonably sure that the Chantry doesn't possess it either. It may have been buried with the ghoul themselves, or perhaps they found a new regnant? The ghouls name? No idea, the Malkavian was called Ezra. You could try Pisha, her memory is like a catalogue when it comes to such things. You can check out her new haven while you're there..."

Victoria - Ghoul of Marius
Psychotic P.A.

While there he also made some casual enquiries about Marius's company Aegis's recent purchase of Skid Row with Marius's psychotic but efficient personal assistant. Victoria was happy to explain, the reasoning apparently being fairly mundane.

"There's three main reasons. Firstly it was cheap, especially with some of the concessions the mayors office made and gives Aegis, and therefore us, some leverage with City Hall. Secondly it'll go a long way to keeping the Bone Gnawers and Uktena tribes happy as they're all about helping the underprivileged. Thirdly, and this bit you'll need to keep to yourself, Marius plans to build a significant number of kindred friendly havens within the area that Nines can use as a sort of 'neutral ground' for new recruits to the Free States. Nines of course knows, but very few others do."

"While I have you here, and on a similar subject, a number of unaffiliated Anarchs have heard about your offer of an allocated feeding ground within your domain and have began to make enquiries. Many new Anarchs to the city have no real desire to join an 'army' on day one so your relatively catch free offer of "Report in, stay in the bit I give you and don't kill anyone or break the Masquerade", is definitely preferable to them. We've pointed a few towards your bar as I imagined you wouldn't want them turning up at the gallery?"

Leanna also happily supplied Michael with a particularly expensive bottle of 'Blood Wine' for him to use as a gift for Isaac.

Carmelita Neillson - Toreador
Archaeologist and Archivist

Carmelita Neillson

The increased presence of federal forces operating in the city has forced Carmelita to postpone her inspection of the security surrounding the Toreador ancestor of Michael Tomassio, given into his care. The situation will be re-examined in two weeks time to see if a visit is going to be viable.

Michael has some questions for her in the meantime.

"I have a thorn in my side called Ralph Harwood, a Venture who is riling everyone up. He used to run one of the small gangs in what was the Barony of the Angels. Do you have anything on him, or his blood line? He got lucky and ended up in Louis territory so Louis won’t rescind his offer of shelter as he sticks to his word. The traditions, not the Camarilla ones but those respected by all non-Sabbat Kindred, are there any stipulations where offers of shelter and protection have to be withdrawn, not just may, but have to be?"

Carmelita is surprisingly helpful.

"Harwood? I know the name, his sire was a rival to Vannevar. They mysteriously disappeared and the next night Ralph made a tactical withdrawal through San Jose. Bought his way through with information on a potential incursion by Vannevar's agents, then hid himself in the Anarch Free states. Formed himself a gang through force of personality."

Ralph Harwood - Ventrue
'Would-be' Baron

"Some believe that it was he, not his sire that was pushing for power but that may be pure conjecture. As for your other problem. Are you aware of the Ventrue concept 'dignitas'?"

"Ventrue culture places a heavy emphasis on dignitas, the Latin word for "dignity." In modern days, it is often described as "Face". Ventrue are completely aware of the unsavoury aspects of power, and while a Ventrue leader is just as likely to lead organized crime as he is a Fortune five hundred company (the Ventrue really do not object to theft, so much as petty theft), he must always comport himself with dignity, with grace and with honour. At least publicly."

"Ventrue take assaults on their stature very seriously. Spreading rumours, taking credit for another's work and insulting a Ventrue without just cause (publicly or privately) are just a few of the ways one can diminish dignitas. Doing so is a sure way to make an enemy for all unlife, and it can indeed be cause for severe punishment or discipline."

"Should Harwood do any of those things to Louis then he would be obliged to 'punish' him. Regardless of earlier promises..."

Velme

Michael had a few questions for Velme in El Hermandad, also. "Could you answer a question regarding Gloria? Do you think that she’s going or likely to, make a move on Hank’s border? After all I’m prepping for a war that may not happen."

Velme - Toreador?
Suspected Daughter of Cacophony

Velme believed that it was unlikely that Gloria would make a direct and unprovoked assault on Hank unless it was to pre-empt a similar plan of the Crypts Sons. They also revealed that Victor had reiterated his assertion that he had a plan to deal with Hank and had advised against Gloria doing anything hasty.

"Were Allison and Gloria always close, if not why not? It seems odd with their shared sire that it would take Victor Girard to unite them – I suppose fostering alliances between those related by blood comes naturally to him, back in his Camarilla days he likely had to do it often to prevent bickering."

Velme decided to give Michael some background information on the two childer of Salvador Garcia.

Gloria Martinez had been a smart gang girl who had discovered the existence of vampires in her community after being fed upon. One week later Gloria tracked Salvador to his sequestered hideaway, there she confronted the vampire, and told him that she had figured out what was going on. Gloria offered him a choice, he could either make her a vampire or kill her then and there. Impressed by her bravado, Salvador agreed to initiate her into the unlife. 

Salvador Garcia - Brujah

She rapidly became accustomed to her new powers, and Salvador showed her how to use them to protect and defend her community rather than escape from it. With his help, she managed to gain control of the Kindred gang that had ruled Whittier for several years.

Allison Maller was originally just one of the thousands of runaways who throng the streets of Hollywood every night. She had fled her home in Northern California at the age of fourteen to escape an abusive father and alcoholic mother. By the time she was fifteen she was a professional hooker, working along Sunset and Western. One night, straying far afield, she dropped into A Taste of L.A. and unfortunately the Brujah she met there was running close to the edge and frenzied. Salvador had arrived too late to stop the attack, but he didn't believe Allison should die because some pinhead had forgotten the rules and lost control. 

He offered her the chance to live forever, and she grabbed at it. At first Salvador kept Allison close and tried to instil his revolutionary fervour in her, but she was a practical girl with ambitions of her own. She used her position at the Taste to recruit a small gang of newcomers, and then looked around for an area to move in on.

Gloria Martinez - El Hermandad Baron, Allison Maller - Baron of Anaheim

Velme explained that though the two had ended up as Barons, their attitude to their sire was very different. Also, until recently there had always been other baronies between them so their interaction had been minimal. They do however confirm Michaels hypothesis that it had been Victor who has been the driving force in uniting the pair. Michael then made the point to Velme that with The Wilds at their back the last thing they should be doing is antagonising Hank, even a weaker Hank.

Marius Walker - Unpredictable Gangrel Baron of Downtown

"I made the same point," replied Velme "...but Victor says that the Wilds Pack are too busy with some business of their own to get involved in ours. He is concerned about Marius though, he thinks he's too unpredictable and that bothers Victor a lot. He likes to know peoples motivations and none can tell how Marius is going to react until it's too late. Well, except you apparently..."

Victor Girard - Toreador
Advisor to Baron Martinez

Victor Girard

Realising that Victor was keeping his long-term plans to himself and not informing even those he was supposedly advising, Michael decided on a more direct approach.

"My association with Marius may cause a conflict of interest, well that has piqued my interest rather than dissuaded me. I would hope that you are not thinking of getting Baron Walker involved in any scheme that could cause him irritation. The entirety of L.A. stands on a knife edge with other conflicts brewing elsewhere. Don’t light the fuse on another one."

"Hank Boyd may not be on my doorstep, but El Hermandad is. I believe that after what we have done for you in the past, when your people couldn’t, I deserve to know ahead of time if you are going to start a war that could drag me and mine into it. I understand being a politician but please? It’s me asking."

Victor thought on the request for a moment and then replied.

"A war is my last resort. I intend to, and have been, using my media empire and political influence to create an atmosphere where the authorities have no choice but to begin cracking down on the mortal assets of the Crypts Sons. The focus is now firmly upon them and off The Blood and I'm keeping it that way."

Henrique 'Hank' Boyd - Brujah
The Crypts Sons Baron

"In short, I intend to starve Hank of resources, focus so much attention on the area that he dare not replenish his forces through the recruitment of, or mass embracing of more kindred and then once he's desperate, offer him a deal that's entirely in my...I mean, El Hermandads favour."

"Once Allison joins us officially, El Hermandad will be the largest, most powerful Barony in the city and with Hank and his Crypts Sons crippled, we will have no effective rivals that we can't roll over if necessary. Of course we will make no moves against those who have supported us, only those who have opposed us. Priss will, of course, need to go. We presume that Marius will be pragmatic enough to accept the new balance. Not even he is that unpredictable..."

Priss

In their previous meeting Priss had agreed to accept Michael's offer of political assistance but questioned the need to get Hank Boyd's permission first, her barony being hers.

Michael decided that a reasoned laying out of the facts was the best way to go. He was however, slightly thrown by her appearance. Gone were most of the piercings, the colours in her hair and some other trappings that had clearly been there to create a certain idea of her in the minds of other kindred.

'Priss' - Lasombra
Baron of 'The Border'

He wasn't sure whether this was for his benefit or not but suspected that with her true clan and origin was now becoming common knowledge she was dropping some of the pretence. He also realised that she had never actually said she was Brujah, everyone had just presumed. 

"I agree, but I need permission to establish ties with politicians in his domain, which may then effect yours. Human politicians are rarely polite enough to draw their political boundaries in line with ours. I need the flexibility to intervene quickly and effectively, besides, me having some pull in Hank's domain won't harm your prospects will it?"

"On the subject of politics, provoking things with El Hermandad is making it harder to get this ironed out, I keep having to divert my attention to stopping a war breaking out. If it does kick off Marius may even get involved and it takes time and effort to stand him down from a war footing. I'd prefer to get my negotiations resolved before that occurs. Is it possible for your people to stop their provocations, at least for a while?"

Michael was expecting an argument, but surprisingly got her agreement instead.

"You are, of course, correct. I'll do as you suggest and use the time to consolidate a little just in case it all goes wrong. Now control of this border barony is mine I have considerably more resources to play with so have contacted Marius about some modifications to the building I use as my base. A secure day-room, some security measures, you know the sort of thing. I also need somewhere to hide the new weapons shipment I'm expecting in the next few days..."

Isaac Abrams - Toreador
Baron of Hollywood

Baron Isaac Abrams

As Isaac had offered himself as a mentor, Michael began with a conversation to feel out his opinion of the current state of the Anarchs. 

"It sounds like you'd support someone like Nines to be a leader, only with his naïve approach that's probably not viable yet, however if the right person came along and could be held accountable? From all accounts Jeremy was such a leader, why now do most Anarchs associate the Anarch cause with being leaderless and have such a static interpretation? Why, in your opinion is a movement built on being progressive in such a static state currently?"

Isaac seemed to consider the question for a while before replying.

"Jeremy MacNeil refused any titles, claiming that without artificial laws and hierarchies, a natural resemblance of this would eventually form. He was nonetheless, the new Anarch Baron of L.A. and apparently unironically considered as such. The flaw in his plan for a self evolving and natural system was, of course, that we are not in any way natural. Our drives change the moment we are embraced and no natural creature has a voice at the back of their head constantly pushing them towards acts of depravity."

Brujah of the Anarch Free States

"The other problem is that the average Anarch is young and idealistic and has absolutely no idea how either the kindred, or indeed the mortal world actually works. They go along with the latest mortal political trend or alternatively find themselves perpetually trying to make an ideology from their own time work when it's been proven a failure and abandoned by the mortal world."

"The real issue, however, has always been to find a leader powerful enough to control such a disparate mass of kindred, who also cares about their fate. Unfortunately in kindred, the two concepts are almost always mutually exclusive."

Michael used this line of conversation to turn the conversation to Victor Girard.

"Victor Girard has said similar things about Kindred needing a leader, though I get the feeling he may be less concerned about their overall considerations of the needs of their people. He is my neighbour so I must pay attention to what he is doing, by all accounts being the power behind the baronies of El Hermandad and Anaheim."

Christopher Houghton - Toreador
Ancestor of Victor and Isaac

"He is a man who delights in disassembling any semblance of truth from what he says and is quite gifted at it. Other than that I have not been able to form much of an opinion on him even though he is of our clan…"

Isaac's opinion on Victor was less than complimentary.

"He wants power but none of the culpability. He wishes to dispense advice and then should there be a problem blame the way his idea was implemented or the skill of the leader who did so. On the other hand, should the plan succeed, it is suddenly his success. Pathetic really."

"I would normally interfere but unfortunately we share a bloodline and our mutual ancestor might not be very happy about it should it turn out that Victor was acting in a manner of which he approved. If, however someone he currently favoured was to interfere, that kindred might be given far more leeway with his actions..." 

Next on the agenda was Ralph Harwood. Michael decided to be diplomatic during this exchange as he didn't wish to appear critical of the Barons involved, only of Ralphs actions.

Louis Fortier - Ventrue
Baron of West Los Angeles

"It won’t surprise you that I’ve heard of Ralph Harwood and that he might be causing issues, if he’s establishing himself in San Fernando, and that wasn’t part of the deal. I guarantee the Brujah Idealists but the rest of San Fernando was meant to be held as is in MacNeil’s name."

"I don’t question the esteemed Barons at all, but is there something we can do to reign in Harwood. He’s antagonising factions I don’t think anyone wants antagonising."

Isaac seemed to agree but was also being diplomatic. Presumably due to Louis Fortier, Baron of West Los Angeles's, involvement in the situation.

"Again, my hands are tied. Fortier would have to agree to allow me to make the problem go away. Unfortunately he gave his word and will never break it, except under incredibly exceptional circumstances. Should, Louis change his mind then I would of course be able to end Mr Harwoods career as an antagonist, permanently."

Mariel St. John

As Mariel was considered to be Baron Fortier's ambassador, Michael decided to probe her for information on Harwood and the relationship she had implied existed between Ralph and one of Fortier's other childer and mistresses, Elena.

Elena Gutierrez and Mariel St. John - Mistresses and Childer of Baron Fortier

"Which business ventures is Harwood in? I hear he is expanding into San Fernando, wouldn’t that take him out of your domain and make him someone else’s problem? You suspect that Elena merely has to tell him to stop causing issues, she is acting as some form of sponsor then."

Catherine Du Bois - Ventrue
Most favoured Childe and Mistress of Baron Fortier 

Mariel believed that Harwood was mainly investing in criminal enterprises, using his abilities of his clan to quickly establish control. As San Fernando had been kept free of kindred due to it being perceived to be Jeremy MacNeils, there was no kindred competition for him to deal with, giving him a free hand. This gave Michael the beginning of an idea.

"What if someone else was to become his sponsor and could tell him to stop, or we could prove that Elena was positioning people against Louis simply to win her position back. A sponsor with no power is useless, she can make all the deals she wants.  If we, and by extension you, can prove that she has been disloyal to Louis for her own petty gain, I imagine that could prevent her climbing up the pecking order for quite some time?"

Mariel agreed that it might work, but she'd need to do some further investigation to ensure that such a plan didn't backfire. Michael needed to do the same. Mariel was also concerned that if an internecine dispute between her and Elena caused too much trouble for their sire that Louis's most favoured childe Catherine would end up with even more power.

Damsel - Brujah
'Den Mother' of Nines Crew

Damsel

With Nines increasingly stubborn about the Anarch Free States needing a completely neutral area like the Barony of the Angels had once been, Michael took the potentially dangerous step of seeing if he could get Damsel to help, without the input of Nines.

"I understand Nines’ point, I also respect his ideals and idealism. However in the current climate I worry that taking no action unless it is the perfect actions leaves many of our kind in danger of starvation or worse breaking the masquerade and bringing a whole world of problems down on us when we can scarcely afford it." Damsel clearly agreed with him and so he continued.

"I appreciate you working on Nines for me, if I could ask one further favour. Tell those who need it that they should enquire with me, those that need shelter. You know my terms and you know my character. Nines may struggle to agree, but I cannot stand by the wayside or sit in my haven and do nothing. I am not the ivory tower. I will act before I see our kind suffer."

Damsel was easily swayed by both Michael's fervour and his disparaging comments about the Ivory Tower of the Camarilla. She agreed that as long as Michael was offering shelter and feeding grounds without the recruitment to a gang that Barons normally demanded, that she would help in any way she could.

Captain Atkins - Ghoul of Michael

Franklin Atkins

With all that he could do about the Free States troubles now implemented, he contacted his ghoul Frank to discuss other matters.

"Federal forces in the city are on the rise. Can you, or do you know anyone at that level who might be open to a similar arrangement as we have? I may not be able to grow their career as much but anyone you can point me towards."

"I realise that sooner or later I may end up needing early warning, if nothing else."

Frank agreed to be on the lookout for such an individual but made no promises.

Heather Taylor
Ghoul of Marius

Heather Taylor

Michael also realised that he'd been neglecting his social status so made a few subtle enquiries about Jeanette Voerman, who Heather had indicated had considerable sway over many powerful kindred. Marius included.

"I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Jeanette, I can understand that Velvet can change Marius's mind but is there anything I need to know about Jeanette, in case our paths cross? I also operate in Hollywood with the new club, it seems prudent to be at least on good terms with my fellow club owner and kindred"

Heathers reply was about as subtle as he was expecting.

"She'll probably want to fuck you. She fucks everyone. If they're pretty, interesting, if it'll annoy Therese, in fact, especially if it'll annoy Therese. On that subject, you need to be careful. Jeanette's little 'favours' are sometimes calculated to piss of Therese."

Jeanette and Therese Voerman - Malkavians

"Therese is hardly likely to destroy her own sister, but she might take her frustrations out on the kindred she got to do it. Of course by then Jeanette will be onto her next bit of entertainment so don't expect her to help out. Bertram ended up hiding in an abandoned oil tank for a year, see what I mean?"

Vin

Shawna Jones - Blood Doll

Vin has been using Shawna and a selection of his more sophisticated and intelligent prostitutes to trawl for any politicians he can get 'onside' by whatever means necessary.

This has, in part, been to help Priss of the Border Barony between the Barony of Downtown and The Crypts Sons Barony gain some political contacts. This was an arrangement between Michael and Priss, though it was Vin that had to do the dirty work. Not that he minded particularly.

The problem he had come up against was that much of the power in individual areas of the city was still under the influence or outright control of the centrally located political centres.

To rectify this issue, Vin has contacted the three Toreador known as 'The Blossoms' who control the sex trade of Downtown and the surrounding areas. He has offered them an arrangement whereby they share information on potential threats to their trade, 'swap' information on useful individuals that might assist each others baronies and also exchange vessels that may match the preferences of individual customers.

After a meeting at Club Confession, their leader Tayla has accepted the offer and the two baronies have began to cooperate. Vin and their enforcer Karla were already on particularly good terms and have also now began to exchange information on troublesome customers, both mortal and kindred.

Daniel Matthews

Leo Frost - Brujah
El Hermandad

Leo Frost

As Leo is from El Hermandad, Daniel is curious about the rumours of border probing on both sides.

"Oh that? Yeah. Hanks guys have been patrolling their Eastern border pretty aggressively right up to Priss's bit, you know, the corner by Marius's turf. So Gloria's moved our guys and gals from the Anaheim side to keep an eye on them."

"Apparently she doesn't think we'll have any problems from Anaheim and that's freed up half a dozen hitters. Our lot reckon Priss's 'Survivors', that's what they call themselves, just kicked off after a bit of banter from some of our more vocal Brujah. Just fists but they're talking about going tooled up next time." 

"Victors told them to calm down as he's working on something. Gloria backed him up so that's that. For now at least..."

Mohammed al-Muthlim
Crypts Sons Founder

Daniel emphasised the rumours that its Priss' people not Hank's that are provoking things. he also bought up the efforts Michael made to end hostilities between the two rival factions and expressed his disappointment that it seemed to last barely a few weeks.

"Victor reckons Priss is the problem too, says her sire was the original Crypts Sons leader and she wants the job for herself. She'd have to do it sneaky though."

"Hank's a bad motherfucker when he's riled, like madman strong, no-one with any sense is going toe to toe with that bastard without a very good reason."

Daniel asked if Leo was expected to fight too and how he feels about it.

"If it comes to an all out war I'll fight, like any of us would to defend what we've got. I have a feeling that Victor wouldn't risk that without more of an edge than just numbers though. A war that close to Downtown might draw Marius in, and with a big chunk of our domain sandwiched between The Wilds and him that could end badly."

Maikki - Brujah
Barony of Anaheim

Maikki

Maikki is from Anaheim so Daniel catches up with her at Ike's Brujah Fight Club to see what sort of influence Victor has over Allison.

"Victor? Yeah he's been all over Allison like a rash. He's advised her a lot on what to do with Amethyst's remaining assets so he's made her a lot of money. Himself some too, but Allison's coffers have never been so full."

Daniel was sure that Allison would definitely support Gloria in a fight with the Crypt Sons, He decided to ask Maikki what Allison thinks about it. Allison is more level headed than Gloria so he is interested to see what sort of stance she is taking on the issue.

"Between us and El Hermandad we outnumber the Crypts Sons kindred more than three to one. Allison's used to being the underdog so having some weight to throw around is a nice change for her, and us. If it happens we'll fight with Gloria but only as back-up. It's still their fight, not ours, know what I mean? Allison isn't going to risk making new enemies after only just getting rid of the last lot."

Charlie 'Chick' Abbot - Banu Haqim
Santa Monica Scourge

Chick

As one of Santa Monica's enforcers for Therese Voerman, Chick can give Daniel more information on Ralph Harwood, especially as he's been less than complimentary about Santa Monica and they have no reason to placate him.

 

"Ralph is a pretty good tactician for a Ventrue from what I've heard. He has eight kindred at his disposal. Five Brujah, three Caitiff and another Ventrue that might be his childe. He had a Gangrel too but they fucked off after a scrap with the other Ventrue who by all accounts is a proper arrogant prick. We've been on the look out for that rogue Gangrel as he's bound to have some useful tactical information. They called him 'Hogg'. his real name is Robson Hogarth but he's gone completely off the grid."

He was also curious about what Therese thinks of the situation. In particular whether Chick been asked to 'pay him a visit'.

"Therese is irritated by the rumoured insults of course, but going after Harwood involves a journey through both Fortier and Abrams domains and so we've been told by Jane Lane that it's not something Therese will consider...yet..."

"Weirdly Jeanette turned up in Santa Monica last week. She'd come to see Therese but she wasn't about. They fight like cat and dog but when one is threatened they pull together, you know? We told her that Therese said that it wasn't anything to worry about and she headed back to her Hollywood Club. Good job really."

The Voermans
"Most Dangerous When United"

"Why? because if Jeanette thought there was a real threat to her sister she'd pull in a lot of boons to make the problem go away. Considering how...generous, she can be with her 'favours', she could conceivably drag half of the kindred population into the situation and as Jeanette is about a subtle as an explosion in a firework factory that could have repercussions across the whole bloody city..."

Before returning to his own barony, Daniel asked about the status of his professional relationship with Chick, as she knew both his true clan and his troubles with his sire. He was also concerned about whether he had made an enemy of Chick's fellow coterie member Lex who he had recently defeated in a knife duel at the Brujah Fight Club.

"I'm a woman of my word. I received the payment for my silence and that's the matter closed as far as I'm concerned. But should you ever want to be in my debt again I can tell you exactly who revealed your location in the first place..."

"Lex? As far as I know he holds you no ill will. Admittedly, he has the look of a villain from an 80's action film but he is actually quite honourable in his own way. He'll probably want a rematch at some point but it'll be in the ring not down some back alley. He's a fast learner though, so be careful of using the same tricks twice."

Investigation and Surveillance Teams

In an effort to discover some way of disrupting Victor Girard's media empire, Daniel had his firm of private investigators and their surveillance counterpart look into some of the senior directors and managers of his three major news publications that you know he controls, to see if they could find any 'dirt'. They have had some success...

Cash 'Bonus'

Henry Vaughn, Editor in Chief of the L.A. Click, celebrity gossip magazine pays a retainer to employees at most major hotels in the city to give him advance notice of any celebrity relationships, or even better, affairs. Some of these discoveries he holds back in return for later exclusives, others he blackmails.

Lilly Hodgson, Publisher of the L.A. Horizon, financial newspaper seems to have an odd relationship with someone called 'Victor' for whom she withholds the release of certain stories. Presumably so he can benefit from the news financially or politically.

The L.A. Vanguard, a newspaper known for it's hard-hitting factual stories and exposés has been the recipient of a record number of lawsuits. Somehow it always beats these claims. Witnesses inexplicably change stories (several have then passed lie detector test that verify their new stories), records disappear and sometimes people too. 

As with the L.A. Horizon, someone called Victor seems to be their 'fixer' when these issues come up. Shane Hooper is their legal advisor, Anwen Derrick is their editor in chief.

Their parent company, Woodland Media, has gained a broadcast license but it's enterprises have suffered a number of setbacks and so it's launch has been delayed until later in the year. These setbacks have included three unexplained accidents that required safety investigations, several technical problems and the death by overdose of Tayah Witt, project director. Edmund Metcalfe is her ambitious and apparently quite ruthless replacement.

Though nothing was proven it's possible that some of these delays were due to industrial espionage. The current major rivals to Woodland Media are Thorne Multi-Media, Aegis Media and Golden Age Productions.

Alonzo - Nosferatu Elder
Ancient Hollywood Warrens

Alonzo, Daniel's Ghouls and Some Rumours

With a combination of Alonzo's knowledge, rumours from the Fight Club, The Last Round and his own ghouls research, a helpful but incomplete profile of the Ghoul gang known as the Young Bloods has been compiled.

The motorcycle club known as the Young Bloods started out as a gang of thieves and brutes in the slums of Los Angeles. They were ghouled around about 1992 presumably by a reckless Brujah, based on their disciplines. It's likely the gang overcame their erstwhile domitor and drank him dry. This incident no doubt gave them a taste for both the vitae and the destruction of vampires, and since then, they’ve been riding through the southwestern American states, hunting down other vampires to serve the same fate.

 

For many years, the Young Bloods were extraordinarily successful, partly due to the instability in vampiric society in that area of the country. The Anarchs were fighting to keep their holdings, while the Sabbat and Camarilla were struggling to make inroads, and all three overlooked and underestimated a mortal gang. In time, the Young Bloods have been blood hunted in three cities, and their name was well known among Kindred of the area. It's believed that’s when the gang’s leader, Bob Zalkovsky (also known as Bobby Z or Big Z) came up with the plan that's now become their preferred mode of operation.

The Young Bloods - Unbound Ghouls

Rather than constantly hunt down vampires to get blood, they should take one prisoner and use it to ensure they always had a supply. Faced with the problem of the blood bond, Bob decided the best way to go about this was to have their vampire captive continually Embrace individuals. Everyone in the motorcycle club would drink from that sucker once, and then kill it.

A month later, they’d have their stooge vampire Embrace another one, and they’d drink and kill that unfortunate soul, and so on, and so on. Nobody got blood bound, and the motorcycle club would have a constant source without a lot of effort. Periodically they destroy their primary victim anyway and find another though those who tried to hunt them are unsure why they'd destroy a viable kindred. Theories range from a fear that the captive vampire would become stronger over time, to them simply enjoying doing it.

Judging from their attacks they're based somewhere along I-15 on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains. Meanwhile, the vampires of the southwest are faced with an increasingly powerful, and ever-growing, army of ghouled, unbound hunters riding the streets of Los Angeles.

Mr Hertz

Vera Vignes - Ventrue
Former Baroness of Pasadena

Hertz has delved further into the records of the Vignes family that he was given by Michael, and which had originally come from Vera Vignes herself in one of her more lucid moments.

He has managed to close off the administrate loopholes that had allowed Vera to siphon off much of the assets held originally by her and her husband. This makes them now entirely under the influence of the coterie though they the businesses themselves are somewhat lacking in extra capital.

At Michaels request he has checked into the money withdrawals and is now sure that whoever did so must be based in San Francisco as several of the transactions were done personally. Mr Hertz is reluctant to delve to deeply into the information dealers of that domain in case his activities are traced by the Camarilla there. It is his fear that Vera is tied into the Camarilla and may have more leverage than he could gain access to himself. He is, after all, meant to be an undercover agent of Fiorenza's, which requires a measure of subtlety.

Having arrived in the city long after the coterie overtook Pasadena, Mr Hertz has only minimal information on what went on. he has however, been informed that Vera was very dangerous indeed.

Mr Hertz has also been spending his time looking into potential areas for expansion, based on their profitability and the level of competition.

Drugs

Expanding on the groundwork laid by the now missing coterie member Roach, Mr Hertz has used the mortal gang known as 'The Apostles' to control the majority of the drugs trade within Pasadena and Glendale.

Burbank he has largely stayed away from due to the presence of the Gangrel Anathema Karen Anatos and the fact that she has some minor inroads into the drugs trade herself. Some of the major cocaine dealers who supply the movie industry elite are under her influence, though this mainly seems to be a matter of convenience rather than a power-play.

Harvey who now controls the docks has been fairly reasonably with his prices for allowing smooth transit of 'shipments' and runs the area far more efficiently than was done, under the split rule of David Geduld and Steve Booth. Deliveries are now far more consistent and therefore overheads from lost shipments are significantly reduced.

Harvey Caplan - Ventrue
Defacto Baron of The Docks

Harvey using 'The Hunters' to wipe out all his mortal competitors has also helped considerably. Though he now has a virtual monopoly, Harvey seems to be more interested in long-term success than a short-term profit followed by an inevitable war. Hertz also gets on well with him as they are both 'old-school' gangsters with broadly similar ideas on how things should be done.

Storytellers Note - Mr Hertz has Harvey Caplan as a 2-dot Mawla to reflect this relationship.

Further expansion in this area is tricky as all the coteries neighbours also have their own interests in this lucrative trade and he knows that Michael would not authorise a gang war. Besides which, The Apostles aren't as strong as the mortal elements of The Crypts Sons, The Blood or the nameless power-players that control the trade in Downtown. Not in numbers, or firepower.

Sex Trade

Though this is Vin's area, Mr Hertz nonetheless keeps his eye on it. Hertz has noticed with interest the mutually beneficial arrangements made with The Blossoms in Downtown and sees this as a good move. It also potentially gives them an inroad into other illegal trades where cooperation might be more useful than competition.

'The Blossoms' - Toreador - Downtown Sex Trade

Michael's resistance to human trafficking has significantly reduced their potential profits in this area, though Vin shares that particular moral code so they're unlikely to move into that trade anytime soon. He's also reasonably sure that both Louis Fortiers childe Catherine Du Bois and Marius Walker, possibly jointly, are involved in people trafficking and so the coterie avoiding it is probably a wise move. Though it also removes any potential for profiteering in the illegal organ trade which is a shame.

Mercurio - Ghoul
Arms Dealer

Weapons

The LA market leader, Mercury Security Solutions was one of the top twenty legal, and illegal, arms dealing companies in the world and is well on it's way to making it into the top ten. Hertz had issues with entering this trade as despite it's profitability, outright competition with established players by definition put you into conflict with enemies who were richer, better connected and most importantly, better armed. Keeping a low-key operation active to ensure his own gang were sufficiently armed seemed to him to be acceptable for now.

Despite extensive digging, Mr Hertz is unable to discover the identity of the three Barons who allegedly control Mercurio. He is beginning to suspect that at least one of them was Amethyst, which means that if he's correct, Mercurio now only has two masters not three. That's if the whole 'three barons' rumour isn't complete bullshit of course.

Media

Arriving late to the game in this area has severely weakened the coteries chances of making any serious inroads. Karen Anatos's Thorne group of companies is currently the fastest expanding kindred ran operation in this area though the established player, Golden Age Productions is still the largest. 

Karen Anatos - Gangrel Anathema
Media Magnate and Movie Star

Aegis Media's deal with Thorne Productions has bought them an increased percentage of the market though they are still a long way behind the other two. This being Los Angeles, however, there are many other production companies sharing the industry so involvement is still a possibility.

Mr Hertz is unconvinced about the profitability or necessity of moving into this industry, though Michael appears to be a fan of the move. Hertz thinks it's much better to undermine Victor Girard who he believes is stretched a little thin currently and then short sell shares in his companies during the inevitable collapse and make money that way to invest elsewhere. If they also buy shares in Golden Age, Thorne and Aegis's media companies at the same time they'll also benefit from those companies inevitable share increase as they lose a major rival.

If successful, this move would give them enough money to revitalise the companies inherited from Vignes and strike the deal with Don Maximillion Alonzo, that Michael favours. They'd also still have shares in the surviving media companies which might be enough to placate Michael's ambitions in that area.

Art

Looking for potential revenue streams without kindred competitors eliminated many of the other possibilities. Mr Hertz then had an idea. Rather than simply using the gallery to launder cash, they could also use it to break into the illegal art trade.

This complex black market included the trade in stolen goods, the illegal import and export of art, and the market for fakes and forgeries. It also, as far as Mr Hertz could tell was something that no kindred in the city was currently interested in. With only mortal competition to eliminate this could be relatively easy to break into and potentially be very profitable.

He just hoped that Michael had no moral quandaries in this area...

To Be Continued in 'On the Brink of War' (Interlude Session 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...

This second pseudo-session covered a lot more ground as the players got more used to jumping between their contacts and retainers and trying to achieve their goals via multiple sources. It has also given me the opportunity to show that situations are evolving around them and that prioritisation is the key. Not to mention throwing a load of new plotlines into the mix to see which pique the players interests.

I'm going to look into the practicality of us talking via video chat so we can try and get a more traditional style session done. But no promises, lol.

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, Sylvia Drake is Elisanth, Clara Drake is Absentia and Diedrie Drake is Daedra, Eleanor Braun is P J Harvey, Victoria is Lilith May, Carmelita Neillson is Salma Hayek, Ralph Harwood is D.B. Woodside, Velme is Ruby Rose, Gloria Martinez is Ariadne Artiles, Allison Maller is Chloe Grace Moretz, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Victor Girard is Bob Hoskins, Henrique 'Hank' Boyd is Michael Clarke Duncan, 'Priss' is Sofia Boutella, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Louis Fortier is Eduardo Verastegui, Elena Gutierrez is Emmanuelle Vaugier, Mariel St. John is Kate Moss, Catherine Du Bois is Margot Robbie, Damsel is Irina Delnova, Captain Frank Atkins is Michael Chiklis, Heather is Liz Vicious, Jeanette and Therese Voerman are Whitney Moore, Shawna is Ashley Callingbull, Leo Frost is Danny John-Jules, Maikki is Sofia Helin, Charlie 'Chick; Abbot is Lena Headey, Vera Vignes is Helen Mirren,  Harvey Caplan is Harvey Keitel, 'The Blossoms' are the cast of Charmed, and Karen Anatos is Christina Hendricks. .

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.