V5 - Faction Profiles - The Barony of Downtown (Aegis)

 During the course of the various stories of this chronicle the coterie has and will meet many characters so I'm therefore creating several profile pages for different groups within my version of kindred Los Angeles to help them keep track. I'll also amend these profiles as new information comes to light and old 'facts' turn out to be less factual than originally thought...

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Marius 'The Fixer' Walker

'Fixer' and Baron of Downtown

Aliases and Nicknames

Malaki Walker, Marcus Walker, Martin Walker.

'Father', 'The Fixer', 'The Wolf Spider'.

Clan

6th Generation Gangrel (Claims to be 8th or sometimes 9th)

Haven

Hallowbrook Apartments (Haven 5: Cell 3, Hidden Armoury 5+, Occult Library 5+, Laboratory 1, Luxury 1, Postern 4, Resources 5, Security System 5+, Surgery 1, Watchmen 5+)
Backgrounds 
Allies 1-5 (Multiple), Ally 2 (Jan, Death-From-Below, Bone Gnawer), Contacts 1-5 (Multiple), Domain: Downtown (Chasse 5, Lien 5, Portillon 5), Fame 3 (Kindred Only), Influence 5, Herd 2 (Kindred), Herd 5 (Kine), Infamy 3 (Unpredictable), Mawla 4 (Jeanette Voerman: Anarch, Malkavian), Mawla 3 (Therese Voerman), Mawla 3 (Karen Anatos), Mawla 3 (Catherine DuBois), Retainers (Alice 5, Clara 4, Daedra 4, Heather 2, Leanna 5, Melissa 3, Mercurio, Roxanne 3, Sylvia 4, Venus 3, Victoria 5, Yukio 5), Status 4 (5 with Gangrel)
Merits

Bloodhound, Iron Gullet, Linguist 4, Unbondable
Flaws

Black Vein Permanency (The evidence of diablerie never leaves Marius's aura)
Lore

Carmelita Neillson (3: Neillson Library), Descendent of Xavier (1: Martyred Ancestor, 2 Where the Bodies Are Buried, 4: Monstrous Bat, 5: Experienced the Antediluvian), Fiorenza Savona (1: On Fiorenza's List, 2: Breakfast with Fiorenza, 3: Friendly Benefits), FIRSTLIGHT (1: Evasion Tactics, 2: Branch Office, 3: What Do They Know, 4: No Records Found, 5: Friends On The Inside), Jeanette/Therese Voerman (1: Asylum Membership, 2: Performing Monkey, 3: Jeanette’s Favorite, 4: Therese’s Favorite), Kindred Duelling (1: Honourable Combatant, 2: Stake Fighter, 4: Fire Eater, 5: Trials of Death), Lupine Expert (1: Huntsman, 2: Tactician, 3: Soldier, 4: Trophy, 5: Ambassador), Sect War Veteran (1: Survivor, 2: Active Participant, 3: Trophy Kill, 4: No Vampire’s Land), The Anubi (1: Argent Fury, 2: What Big Eyes You Have, 3: Strange Bedfellows), The Bahari (1: Dangerous Reputation, 2: Ritual Scarification, 3: Sacrifice the Children, 4: The Womb’s Blood, 5: First-Cursed), The Book of Nod (3: Scholar).

Derangement's 

Diablerie Addiction (Suspected), Megalomania (Suspected), Paranoia (Mild)

A resident of LA for around five decades the Autarkis Gangrel Marius has quickly gained a reputation as a Kindred willing to solve problems with few questions asked, an adequate amount of discretion and a guarantee of results. Though open to accusations of occasionally lacking subtlety, vampire culture is fairly flexible in the areas of 'the ends justifying the means' and the ends he provides usually broadly match the results required of him.

Events rumoured to be his responsibility have ranged from acquisition of occult artefacts that may or may not have already had homes in the collections of other kindred or certain poorly guarded museums, warehouse explosions that coincidentally were also Sabbat staging points, information retrieval and an almost countless number of mysterious and less than mysterious disappearances. In recent years he has foiled the attempt by Jenna Cross to take over the city with her thin-blood army and arranged a truce with the cities werewolves, both of which have elevated his status considerably.

Of course it's unlikely that every event attributed to him were actually ones in which he was involved but a number of Anarch Barons have found that having a convenient scapegoat on which to cast suspicion is always useful and as they add to his reputation anyway, he rarely, if ever issues denials. 

Having amassed a considerable amount of allies, contacts, havens and resources by profiting from having advanced notice of business interests that are about to collapse, important people who may be suddenly disappearing and large buildings inexplicably about to explode his interests are widespread though somewhat unfocused due to the random nature of their acquisition.

It's a running joke amongst the Nosferatu that Marius always seems to get paid twice and his ghoul Victoria's financial expertise always makes the most of both payments.

He has further spread his influence by being in a position to offer a variety of havens to caitiff and neonate kindred in need as well as provide jobs for the resource poor in suitable night-time work areas such as warehouses, retail and the increasing number of clubs and bars with which he has influence in return for future boons. 

This latter endeavour has provided him with a significant network of kindred willing to perform minor tasks in order to continue receiving the aid he provides and some of the more ambitious of these have moved up in power and position still owing him those boons. It is suspected that with many kindred the method of payment is to keep him informed of the goings on with their respective faction and clan, a fact somewhat confirmed by his ability to be one step ahead of his competition. Jenna Cross fell foul of this as she was almost certainly betrayed by at least four of her own followers who had fell under Marius's influence

Marius has a significant network of ghouls mainly based at his large apartment building headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles as well as a number of kindred operatives in his direct employ. The fact that the majority of Marius's ghouls are attractive young women has led some to believe that they are selected on appearance first and merit second. An opinion soon changed should an overconfident kindred treat them as mere blood dolls...well...with perhaps the exception of Heather...

Marius is actually nearly seven centuries old, and is a childe, possibly the first, of the former Gangrel Justicar Xaviar. He has spent most of his unlife infiltrating various kindred cults and organisations for his sire and accumulating knowledge and power with ruthless efficiency.

The Baron of the North-East has recently obtained the Camarilla's own file on Marius via his contact Carmelita Neillson and it makes terrifying reading. Yet still contains only theories of his intentions in the city...

Storytellers Note - the aforementioned Camarilla file can be found HERE.

Aegis Acquisitions

Roxanne Weaver - Ghoul of Marius
CEO Aegis Acquisitions

Marius has used this company and it's sister construction firm as a front for his activities in Los Angeles and other nearby cities for at least the last century as well as a way of laundering money for his criminal enterprises. It's also rumoured that several hoards of ill-gotten gains from over the years have also been legitimised in this manner. Over time several subsidiaries have been created including Aegis Media, Aegis Reclamation and Aegis Logistics. Though all these companies are broadly speaking legitimate, each also has departments within that tailor to Marius's more underground activities.

However, as far as the mortal managers employees and investors are concerned the company is an entirely legitimate business venture that has been in the hands of the Walker family for several generations though they leave the day to day running to a board of directors while holding the majority shareholding themselves.

The current CEO is Roxanne Weaver whose financial acumen has enabled the company to reach new heights though this expansion has been also driven by a considerable new investment of money from the Walker families own considerable personal wealth. As these constant infusions of new capital enable the company to continue it's aggressive expansion, Miss Weaver is more than willing to expedite the occasional unusual investment or purchase required by the somewhat eccentric Walker family via their personal accountant Victoria Ann.

In recent times the rapid expansion of the company and Marius's increasing involvement in the activities of the kindred of Los Angeles has required Miss Weaver to be made aware of the darker and more hidden aspects of the world in which she exists. The presence of Marius's blood in her veins has, if anything enhanced the aspects of her character that enabled her to reach the top of the corporate ladder.

With Roxanne now being part of the family, Marius's own foreknowledge of deaths, disasters and misfortunes caused by his own activities and monitoring of the schemes of others can be passed on to her directly. This enables properties to be bought when their values are at their lowest, those who can be blamed for illegal activities are blackmailed, construction contracts are ready the moment a mysterious explosion occurs and so on. 

Aegis Construction

Though involved in a number of projects in Los Angeles and indeed around the world, Marius main interest in Aegis Construction is it's usefulness in kindred affairs. 

Custom built havens, reinforced panic rooms, escape tunnels and other options can be made available to those kindred with the means to pay his exorbitant prices in money, favours or boons.

He also purchases any properties that might easily be converted into cheap havens for younger or poorer kindred that he makes available at remarkably reasonable prices. Sometimes obtaining a boon, even a trivial or minor one, is even more important than making a profit.

This particular business is too sensitive to leave in the hands of mortals so these activities are managed by a kindred in Marius's employ named Dillan Fitzgerald. Like many of The Fixers employees he is given considerable leeway to engage in his own activities as long as they don't interfere with those of Marius.

Aegis Logistics

This division was created after the acquisition of a medium sized cargo vessel called the Elizabeth Dane enabled Aegis to begin the transportation of it's own goods to Los Angeles. After absorbing and expanding several transportation firms, Aegis Logistics began to become quite profitable.

With the apparent destruction of the former baron David Geduld, transportation of kindred in and out of the city ceased to be available via the ports and docks. Marius's business has taken over this operation though pays a commission to Harvey Caplan, a Ventrue who runs the entire area on behalf of the Baron of the South Coast, Steve Booth. Aegis Logistics is also a useful cover to other smuggling operations including narcotics, illegal immigration and modern slavery. Harvey receives a percentage of all such operations in return for ensuring that all official checks of Aegis's goods are of the most cursory nature. Harvey's wealth and power has increased dramatically and this looks certain to continue. As Marius's power increases, so in turn does Harvey's.

Aegis Media

The newest of Marius's projects and the one with the most potential, and also the greatest competition is Aegis Media. There are already three kindred of power and influence involved in this industry and so expansion is almost certain to involve butting heads with other Kindred. Traditional newspapers and magazines are primarily under the influence of Victor Girard's Woodland Media, Cinema production is under the control of Baron Isaac Abrams Golden Age Productions and Multi-media is mainly the purview of Thorne Multi-Media, ran by the Gangrel anathema Karen Anatos via her ghoul Karl Williams.

Victor Girard, Isaac Abrams and Karen Anatos - Marius's Competitors

Control over the media has long been a goal of the kindred as it makes covering up breaches of the Masquerade considerably simpler. Aegis has recently made a number of extremely favourable deals with Thorne Productions and Thorne Multi-Media, Karen Anatos's media empire so Marius has seemingly taken a characteristically pragmatic "If you can't beat them, join them." approach.

Aegis Reclamations

This Aegis subsidiary specialises in waste management and recycling on an industrial level though has recently been granted a number of domestic contracts across Los Angeles and San Diego. It is currently the first choice for companies who need large scale projects undertaken but still wish to be able to placate environmental groups by employing a company with a proven track record in that area. In truth, Aegis Reclamations wouldn't care less about such considerations if it wasn't for the considerable tax breaks currently being offered by the city for those who reach high standards in such areas.

Hidden within this organisation is a disposal sub-division with far less reputable goals. Body disposal, sanitisation of crime scenes and removal of any trace of supernatural involvement are their specialities. Though kindred are their primary concern, the cross over in skill sets has also attracted a number of criminal gangs to their services. They also have considerable experience in removing electronic trails and even the occasional witness if so required.

Aegis Security

This is the one subsidiary of Aegis that it's parent company likes to keep as low profile as possible as it's major source of revenue is the licensed manufacture and distribution of military weaponry of all kinds. It's recent acquisition of Mercury Security Solutions has expanded the scope of this venture so it's unlikely to stay below the radar for much longer.

With the recent collapse of much of Pentex's businesses within Los Angeles, Aegis Security is looking to acquire these assets too for a bargain price. The fact that Marius had advance knowledge of these collapses has helped with this expansion project considerably.

Though he has minor interests in virtually every district of LA his main influences are in Downtown, Santa Monica, Hollywood and Chinatown.

Downtown

Hallowbrook Apartments

Amongst his interests in Downtown LA are the Hallowbrook Apartments a former hotel and high-rise complex that was the site of a horrendous massacre and whose top floors are used as his own haven, The office building, Venture Tower acquired after requiring extensive re-building due to an explosion in the penthouse attributed to incorrectly stored gas bottles, Club Confession whose Russian criminal owners were murdered freeing it for take-over, and an abandoned hospital plagued by bad luck currently being renovated by Aegis Construction as a centre for haematology research. Other interests include the Nocturne Theatre, Skyeline Apartments and Empire Arms Hotel bought due to bankruptcy after the collapse of the LaCroix foundation who were the previous owners of Venture Tower.

The most important of these locations are all within close proximity of one another and therefore it is considered extremely dangerous for any kindred to venture there without good reason. As the centre of his power, it is also the place where he can most easily allocate resources to eliminate any perceived threats or competitors. After the division of the Barony of the Angels amongst it's neighbours, Marius quickly established control over these areas and bought them under the umbrella of the Barony of Downtown. Only a small portion under the control of Isaac Abrams, Baron of Hollywood remained separate.

'Mistress of the Swarm' - Gangrel

Some other kindred have their domains within the Barony of Downtown with varying levels of Baron Walkers approval. 

The area below the city is the domain of Marius's childe Tilly Kelly, also known as the Mistress of the Swarm who leads a pack of kindred, ghouls and blood bound cannibals who patrol it extensively.

The only exception is a significant area that is the domain of a large pack of werewolves of the Bone Gnawer Tribe and a smaller tribe of Uktena, who are under the Bone Gnawers protection. These have an uneasy but lasting truce with the kindred of Downtown and both groups of supernatural creatures tend to stay out of each others way.

'The Nameless' - Clan Unknown

Koreatown is under the control of a kindred of unknown clan, called 'The Nameless' by locals, who has defended the area fiercely for the decades it was within the Barony of the Angels and showed no signs of relinquishing it afterwards. 

Marius has made it known that he considers the area both above and below Koreatown to be the feeding ground of The Nameless One, to do with as he pleases. There is however some debate whether this was simply because removing him would expend far more resources than Marius would gain from it, or that he believes removing The Nameless to be to all practical purposes impossible. Both 'The Swarm' and the Bone Gnawers avoid this area as do Marius's Sweepers.

The Last Round - Downtown

The Last Round bar within the slums of Downtown is the base of operations of Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez, and his loyal followers Damsel and Skelter. It is a common informal meeting place for the cities Brujah. Marius and Nines have a contentious relationship going back many decades, pulling together against threats to the city as a whole and disagreeing on almost everything else. 

Nonetheless Marius's Sweepers and Census-takers make no patrols within several blocks of The Last Round and it is considered neutral ground, more or less. Aegis has recently purchased the entire 'Skid Row' area for a city approved revitalisation program and in theory has owned Nines bar since it was burned down several years ago. How Nines figures into this plan for the area is open to debate, but the project is unlikely to run smoothly without Nines cooperation.

Chinatown has been granted to a Ventrue named Lyko Wu and his two childer though this is under the understanding that Marius's own operations are unaffected.

Chinatown

Marius's business interests in Chinatown are to the casual observer minimal, encompassing only the Glaze nightclub, a fish market, several slaughterhouses and the import/export warehouse Zhao's. When the Eastern vampires known as the Kuei-jin left Los Angeles, several other businesses became available for take-over and though it's unknown how many of these he managed to take control of, it is thought to have been a considerable amount. 

For those kindred capable of surviving on animal blood, Marius's slaughterhouses are a popular destination for those vampires not too proud to except a 'free meal' as the Gangrel is surprisingly generous with it's distribution asking only the most trivial of boons in return. Lyko Wu still honours this arrangement as long as any visitors head straight there and straight out of his domain afterwards. Lyko Wu is also leader of the Blood Dragons, a Triad gang who has a significant presence in Chinatown and who have absolute control over the criminal enterprises of the area.

The former mob accountant Mr Hertz has his haven over one of Marius's slaughterhouses and has a very profitable side-line managing the finances of the local triad gangs. The Blood Dragons allow Hertz considerable leeway in accessing their services in return and protect his haven on Lyko Wu's orders.

 Hollywood

His most notable current enterprise in Hollywood is the Asp Hole, the club of the former actor Ash Rivers bought from Isaac Abrams the Baron of Hollywood after the disappearance of the aforementioned actor. Due to the considerable number of Nosferatu that make their havens beneath Hollywood, the Asp Hole has a sub basement meeting room with access to the sewers.

This enables meetings between the Nosferatu and surface dwelling kindred unwilling to make a trip into the cities extensive sewerage network. Isaac Abrams has given his permission for the Nosferatu to use this, technically 'above ground' meeting place, as long as they venture no further into his domain.

Marius also owns the Cavoletti Café, the Luckee Star Motel and a sex shop and strip club collectively called the Sin Bin. Many of the Sin Bin's entertainers also make a living as prostitutes and Marius occasionally uses them as blood dolls for those kindred in need of an easy feeding. He also is the major shareholder in the Ground Zero internet café franchise as part of his expansion into the media industry. Most of these are take-overs resulting from murders or other unfortunate events on the premises resulting in their values plummeting. Though he pays no commission to Baron Abrams it is understood that he is allowed to do business in Hollywood on the condition that any 'Fixes' needing doing for the Hollywood Baron are given priority and guaranteed by Marius personally.

Santa Monica

Amongst his holdings in Santa Monica are a pawn shop and the flats above it, Kilpatrick's Bail Bonds franchise head office, bought cheaply after the manager lost several staff and clients to a serial killer, several beach apartments built on the site of a abandoned beach house whose drug dealer occupants were killed in a deal gone bad and Brothers Salvage allegedly the hideout of the Southland Slasher before his killing spree ended abruptly in 2004. 

He also has interests in several late night diners, SunCo gasoline which is rumoured to have once been the haven of the Nosferatu Bertrum Tung and at least one tattoo parlour acquired for unknown reasons, possibly it was simply going cheap or it was necessary as part of a cover up of some kind. A significant percentage of the profits from these businesses is paid as tribute to the Baron of Santa Monica, Therese Voerman though he often pays these in the form of favours rather than financially. Marius has avoided the night-club business in Santa Monica as he has no wish to go into direct competition with the Voerman sisters main 'Asylum' club as they are much more valuable to him as clients and allies than as competitors. Also, competitors to Therese Voerman have a tendency to have unlives that end rather abruptly.

The South Coast

The Gangrel Pack known as 'The Hunters' took over a Distribution and Logistics hub when their leader Vinicius destroyed his former kindred employers based there. The Hunters now use this as their base of operations while still keeping the legitimate business enterprise as cover for their movements.

Several observers have noted that the enterprise is now listed as part of the Aegis group of companies, effectively giving Marius a foothold in the domain of yet another Baron. A foothold which, in fact, contains five Gangrel mercenaries, the leader of which is loyal to Marius's childe despite working for Baron Steve Booth. Many believe that a conflict of interests is inevitable at some point because as it stands The Hunters priorities are 'Mary' first, Marius second and Steve Booth third.

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Should you be interested in the chronicles and stories associated with these pages then links to them all can be found HERE.

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Acknowledgements
I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Roxanne Weaver is Gina Torres, Victor Girard is Bob Hoskins, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Karen Anatos is Christina Hendricks, the Mistress of the Swarm is Anna Paquin and the Nameless One is Gary J. Tunnicliffe.
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