Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Session Eighty One - Veni, Vidi, Victor (Epilogue)

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 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. 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

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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 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 in person. We have therefore done this session via messengers video 'room' app.

Introduction

Victor Girard - Toreador
Destroyed

Los Angeles Anarch's are still recovering from yet another upheaval within the Free States.

A civil war within El Hermandad was crushed by an unprecedented alliance of old friends, older enemies and many others who had become convinced that Victor Girard was about to become dangerously close to a Prince in all but name. An El Hermandad under Baron Martinez was perceived to be a far better option than a Los Angeles under a puppet of Victor.

Rightly blaming the coterie of Baron Tomassio for the failure of his plan, Victor sent agents to attack Michael's presumed haven and base of operations, The Galerie Sanguine. Though this assault cost Baron Tomassio many of his mortal agents and resulted in the grievous wounding of one of his most trusted ghouls, it was ultimately repulsed by defences put in place against just such an eventuality.

It seems that the coterie's retaliation was more effective than Girard's provocation and on this occasion he was unable to do his usual trick of disappearing into the background and waiting for another opportunity. Victor it seems has paid the ultimate price for his failure, namely Final Death.

The coterie were being somewhat vague about how exactly they accomplished this destruction as to be specific would require them to reveal the assistance given to them by the Toreador Elder, Christopher Houghton and his bloodthirsty childe and bodyguard, Joaquin Murietta, who was possibly the most prolific mass murderer in California's history.

Toreador Elder Christopher Houghton and his Childe Joaquin Murietta

It seems that the notoriously fickle Christopher has become fascinated with Michael Tomassio, though the coterie is currently unsure about whether the benefits of this obsession will outweigh the potential disadvantages that his interferences might create.

Heather - Ghoul of Marius

As far as the Anarch's of L.A. are concerned, the coterie took revenge for an assault on their barony and in doing so eliminated a threat to the Free States. However matters have been further complicated by some collateral damage. Heather, a favoured blood doll and ghoul of Marius was also nearly killed during Victors attack. 

Apparently the destruction of Victor was not enough to satisfy the Gangrel's desire for vengeance and he has struck against what remained of the Toreador media magnates remaining followers.

Half a dozen of Victors kindred who thought they had escaped the alliance of kindred set against him were proven wrong as Marius and his childer located each one and put them to Final Death in a variety of unpleasant ways. Some claim that he diablerised each and every one, though this seems unlikely it is not impossible. 

Two who attempted to escape via Harvey Caplan's docks were destroyed by Harvey's own enforcers after they violently objected to being refused passage. It seems that the good will of Baron's Martinez, Maller, Walker, Boyd and Tomassio was more important than the profit, on this occasion at least. Their fangs were sent to Marius by Harvey, a gesture that was, apparently, well received. For a gangster, Harvey has a surprising talent for diplomacy.

Harvey Caplan - Ventrue
De facto Baron of the Docks

In fact it was Mr Hertz who informed Harvey to expect some refugees from Victor's forces. He also warned him of the political situation and the number of potential enemies that granting them passage was likely to gain him. Harvey understood perfectly that allowing Victor's kindred to escape the wrath of the cities kindred population could easily be construed as him picking a side. As that side had already lost, Harvey wisely demonstrated that he wasn't, nor had ever been, one of Victor's stooges. Mr Hertz himself suggested that sending their fangs to Marius would add extra weight to that fact. Harvey appreciated the updating of the old 'fish in a bulletproof vest' trope and did as suggested.

Eboni, Dante and the thin-bloods who supported Victor's ally Ralph Harwood have been hunted down and destroyed. Only Bartosz has been spared after his intention to leave Harwoods organisation had been confirmed by several independent sources. These included Isaac 'Ike' Griffith of the Brujah Fight Club, The enforcer Vin from the North-East Baronies of Baron Tomassio and 'The Blossoms, from Marius's own Barony.

Bartosz has now gained employment with 'Ike', who has made it clear that he now considers the matter of Bartosz's former connection to Victor to be closed. Vin had discovered that the majority of the Brujah 'Fight Clubs' in both Anarch and Camarilla cities were effectively franchises under the influence of 'Ike' himself.

Brujah Fight Club

This effectively meant that the Fight Club founder was more than likely owed favours by a considerable number of combat hardened Brujah and therefore more than capable of enforcing his decisions. Those few kindred who had seen him fight had also confirmed that he quite able to enforce his point of view on a personal level, should he so desire.

Isaac Abrams and Karen Anatos - Marius's Competitors

Aegis Acquisitions has acquired the remainder of the legitimate mortal enterprises under Victors influence, stripped them of assets and then closed them for good. They are not the only kindred ran organisation to take advantage however and several others such as Thorne Multi-Media, ran by the Gangrel anathema Karen Anatos and Baron Isaac Abrams Golden Age Productions have also picked at the corpse of Woodland Media. These latter two organisations have been somewhat less destructive with their purchases, their primary motivation being profit, not vengeance.

Steve Booth - Brujah
Baron of the South Coast

Somewhat more controversial are other violent events surrounding Victor's supporters in other Baronies. Two of Steve Booth's Brujah who had been vocal supporters of Victor were found in their havens, staked and dismembered, with their fangs removed.

Retaliation seems unlikely as Baron Booth was no fonder of Victor than any of the other Barons and the removal of those attempting to recruit his people to the cause of another was possibly a blessing in disguise. It is however a trespass into the domain of another Baron, made without permission, and Baron Booth has every right to seek reparations.

As well as purging the city of any trace of Victor, Marius has also had meetings with three of the cities Barons. After meeting with Gloria Martinez and Allison Maller, Aegis clean-up teams sanitised their baronies of any trace of the kindred battles that had occurred across them. Then after a meeting with Hank Boyd, The Crypts Sons Baron promptly personally executed one of his own gang, his most trusted advisor Twain Martinez. His reasons are unknown though the prevailing theory is that they were revealed to be a traitor in Victors employ.

One of the main talking points of the kindred across the city is why exactly Marius is yet to meet with Baron Tomassio. Surely this would have been one of his first priorities?

Scene Thirty Seven - Upgrades

Dillan Fitzgerald - Malkavian
Aegis Construction

Michael's phone rings, it's the number given to him by Aegis's architect Dillan.

"Evening Baron. Marius told me that you've agreed payment for the upgrades to your bunker, night-club and some security upgrades to your gallery so I'm sending over the final plans with a messenger in an hour or so. They shouldn't need any alterations or additions, they're quite comprehensive but if there's anything I overlooked then let me know. You can let Marius know when he visits you later..."

Michael knew that he had had no such conversation with Marius about payment despite Dillon seemingly being convinced that the go-ahead had been given. Michael kept this to himself, though mention of a visit was something he needed to clarify. "I wasn't aware that I was expecting a visit from Marius..." queried Michael.

"Oh?" replied Dillan, seemingly surprised. "Rosa mentioned it so I presumed it had been arranged. "Anyway, I need to go now, Miss Pisha needs an extension to her laboratory for some reason..." he then hangs up.

Michael quickly messaged the rest of the coterie to inform them that they were receiving a visitor. As he hadn't spoken to Marius since the incident with Heather he decided that he'd want as much back-up available as possible should things go badly. Firstly though he arranged for Daniel and Vin to be there to look over the practical features of these new designs he was apparently about to receive.

Ewan Blake - Mortal
Partial Blood Bond to Dillan

A well dressed young-man with the air of a student of the arts delivers several plans and designs to you. He seems to be very interested in the design and works of the gallery though does comment that the art section seems a little sparse before leaving.

Subsequent research identified them as Ewen Blake, a partially blood-bound mortal who works for Dillan. He is apparently one of many but is Dillan's current 'favourite'. It also seems that Dillan believes that a full blood bond stifles creativity so only ever partially bonds his proteges.

Successful candidates find themselves with lucrative jobs within the Aegis group whereas unsatisfactory 'employees' end up testing Dillan's less pleasant creations and are never seen again. 

For the protection of MacNeils recently rediscovered computer system Dillan had gone with a variation of the last set of drawings he had shown them. The maze was a counterintuitive mass of dead ends, blind corners and bottlenecks where a defender could hold off a force five times their size. 

Several cleverly hidden passages would also allow someone in the know to bypass a dug-in enemy should it become necessary. Areas could be sealed off, effectively becoming prisons or tombs depending on the whims of whether the one who activated the trap ever decided to release them. Daniel approved of the strategic properties and even Vin seemed impressed.

Kindred Nightclub

Of more interest to Michael was the designs for his own succubus Club. Dillan had combined many of Michael's ideas with his own unique sense of design and created an establishment with myriad nooks and crannies, separate yet connected, across multiple levels.

This was mirrored below ground by a kindred equivalent with day-rooms and a separate meeting room connected into the sewer system below Hollywood. It also had several escape routes should an enemy come calling or one simply wished to avoid unwanted attention. Michael noted that the sewer access was similar in design to the one below Marius's Hollywood club 'The Asp Hole' but more elaborate and with a bigger focus upon the aesthetics. The sewer access within the Asp Hole had been added much later of course, whereas in the case of Michael's club Dillan had the benefit of working with a blank slate.

Though only mentioned to him in passing, Dillan had drawn up plans to upgrade the security of galerie sanguine to an incredible degree. Each section could be separated with armoured doors, three panic rooms had been cleverly designed into the existing structure and monitoring systems that were beyond state of the art had been created to eliminate any blind spots either approaching or inside the building.

It also seemed from the upgraded security room, that Dillan expected two, seven man security teams from Mercury security to be based within the building. There were also several areas with runes marked upon them, presumably supernatural defences to replace those triggered by the gallery's recent uninvited guests. Michael presumed that Marius already had someone in mind to create such wards as they were surely a requirement in the havens of other kindred.

Both Vin and Daniel began to look more closely at the security measures that had been put in place and neither could detect any exploitable weaknesses. It seemed that Dillan was very, very good at his job.

Scene Thirty Eight - An Unlife for a Life

Marius Walker - Gangrel
Baron of Downtown and 'Fixer'

Marius is dressed much as he was when you first met him, expensive clothes and accessories though with little care taken of them. He seems to be favouring his left side as if he has suffered an injury too severe to heal from quickly. There is also something about the look in his eyes that is dangerously predatory even by his usual standards. Whatever he has been up to has evidently changed him in more ways than a mere physical injury.

"Do you mind if I take a seat? I still have a large hole where my floating ribs were and I'm not entirely sure that all my other bones are where they're meant to be..."

Daniel could tell that Marius's skeletal structure seemed to have been misaligned and twisted. The Banu Haqim had once had to regenerate a mere severed finger and it had taken considerable levels of concentration and quantities of vitae to do so. He could only imagine the effort required to repair an entire body. 

On closer inspection it looked to Daniel by virtue of his medical expertise that Marius's ribcage had been collapsed inwards towards his heart as if some enemy had attempted to skewer his heart with his own bones. Noticing Daniel observing him, Marius began to explain.

The Blount Sisters - Toreador
Destroyed

"The surviving Blount Sister has been destroyed, Call it a gift. I owed you a life, though I imagined an unlife would be preferable, especially this one. She was quite intent on your destruction and had quite a shrine dedicated to even the most vague piece of information connected to you. She planned to eliminate your ghouls, then touchstones and finally yourselves. I could taste the hate when I drained her soul. Stupid bitch."

Marius then tosses a couple of polaroid pictures of the aforementioned shrine onto the table along with a bloody knitting needle. "A souvenir." he says.

Storytellers Note - This will make more sense if you read this story HERE.

The pictures indicated that the surviving Blount sister had been gathering information on the coterie for quite some time and had clearly established the identities and locations of those individuals who were most precious to them. All the coterie had experienced the death-trap and slaughterhouse that the Blounts had called home and could easily imagine the fate of those they cared for if they had fell into the clutches of the surviving sister.

"We had a visit from Dillan earlier." said Michael, changing the subject. "He seemed to be under the impression that we had arranged terms for his services..." Marius, as before, had an explanation.

"To be frank, the security upgrades to the gallery are to protect Heather who inexplicably wished to return to working for you. Protecting the system is as useful to me as to you and Dillan's ideas for your bar were intriguing but somewhat out of your price range, I wanted to see what he could achieve given free reign so I made up the difference myself."

The bit about the gallery security rang true, the rest was quite obviously bollocks. It was clear that Marius was grateful for Heather being saved but wouldn't come out and say so. Most suspected that she was a rare chink in his armour, but admitting it openly was something that 'The Fixer' was unlikely to do. "On the subject of Heather..." interrupted Vin. "...I hear you've been busy yourself..."

Marius smiled grimly and the look in his eyes became dangerous once more.

Bartosz Harrison - Brujah
Employee of 'Ike'

"All of Victor's allies, both obvious and concealed, are now destroyed. Only one associated kindred has been spared, namely Bartosz, who had a number of kindred of influence ready to vouch for him. He now has found employment with Ike which puts him out of my reach even if I felt like destroying him. Though I suppose the occasional show of mercy is necessary..." It was clear that he had considered Bartosz's destruction and that the show of mercy had been forced upon him. 

The mention of Ike's name had intrigued both Vin and Daniel. Vin was a regular attendee of the Brujah Fight Club and Daniel had fought there himself on occasion. In fact it was at that club that Daniel had killed the Baron of San Diego's emissary and made it look like an accident. Something in Marius's tone seemed to indicate that he had a less than positive opinion of 'Ike'. Vin asked him as much. "Ike? We had a disagreement three, no, four hundred years or so ago."

"And he's still around?" asked Daniel, somewhat incredulously. Marius's enemies usually had extremely short unlives. Marius's smile was slightly more genuine this time.

"Yes, and I've no wish to fight him again." continued Marius "Of course my blood was far less potent so that gave him the advantage despite the fact that, in my opinion at least, we were equal in skill."

Isaac 'Ike' Griffith - Brujah
'Brujah Fight Club' Founder

This caught the attention of them all. Marius's defeats were few and far between and he almost never discussed them with anyone.

"He had the edge in experience as well of course. Now I have the edge in raw power, but I doubt he's got worse at combat, quite the opposite in fact, so it's possible that his improved skills could counter that. It's a battle the result of which gains me nothing, so it's pure conjecture." His expression cast some doubt on this final statement and it was obvious to the more martial members of the coterie that Marius would quite like a chance to prove himself Ike's better. "He moves around a lot anyway, he has operations all over the world you see so he's not in the city enough for him to become a threat to the status quo." concluded Marius, apparently deciding to end this topic of conversation.

"How did your visit with Garcia's childer go?" asked Michael. His tone was casual but the question was serious. He wished to make himself the advisor to Gloria Martinez and Allison Maller in Victor's place and was suspicious that Marius had had the same idea.

"Baron's Maller and Martinez? They had considerable clean-up requirements after their campaigns against Victor and his followers. To be honest It's possible I undercharged them, but as they were acting against Victor I may have taken that into account. The other barons who helped out weren't exactly careful about leaving a mess either so there was a lot to do. They were quite talkative in fact, particularly on the subject of their reticent to allow a second opinion to influence their activities in future, especially after they mistakenly let Victor into their camp..."

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

Michael was curious about what advice, if any, that Marius had given them.

"I told them that seeking a second opinion wasn't a bad idea. I myself have many individuals against which I bounce ideas. I don't always take their advice, but I do listen to it. I gave them my opinion that the seneschal or advisor role was a good idea, they had just picked a piss-poor one in that self-centred, two-faced prick, Victor..." The coterie's attention was then piqued as Marius mentioned that he had given them three names of kindred that would make good advisors or Mawla's. Michael was particularly interested in who his three rivals were about to be. It was therefore a big surprise that one of the names given was his own.

Baron Abrams of Hollywood, Toreador - Baron Fortier of West L.A., Ventrue

"I told them to pick someone with experience at leadership, with their own established and stable power bases whose advice could be relied on to be impartial as they were already secure. I gave them a short-list of names consisting of Isaac Abram's, Louis Fortier and yourself." he concluded, addressing Michael directly.

Karen Anatos - Gangrel Anathema
'Having a Tantrum'

"I'm honoured that you considered me..." relied Michael. "...it's certainly puts me in illustrious company." Michael was also reasonably sure that neither Isaac or Louis would be particularly interested in the role which left the path open for him to continue with his own plan. He was surprised that Marius had no desire to influence them himself but kept that opinion to himself. "Have you been in touch with Karen Anatos?" asked Michael, changing the subject once more. "She has closed her borders and has been reluctant to speak to any of her neighbours." It was Marius's opinion that she was having a bit of a tantrum after losing a valued ghoul and that it would be a good idea to stay out of her way until she calmed down.

"I spoke to my sire..." interjected Vin. "...she mentioned that a lot of your childer are heading to the city." Both Michael and Daniel noted that Marius had tensed slightly as Vin had began to spoke and then relaxed when the subject raised was his childer. Evidently he had been expecting something different.

"It become necessary to ensure I had adequate cannon fodder. Vannevar is sure to make a move on San Jose whether he has Camarilla support or not. It may seem somewhat impetuous given that they've repelled him before, but this time he's prepared. He has the area thoroughly mapped and has been training forces specifically for the task. When he makes his move he'll roll over them without even feeling the bumps. I'll attempt to extract a couple of their more useful kindred if I can but I'm not risking any of my own assets to do it."

Vannevar Thomas - Prince of San Francisco

The explanation was plausible, though his assessment of Vannevar's aims and capabilities was somewhat alarming. Michael stated that he would not allow the Prince of San Francisco to also become the Prince of Los Angeles. The rest of the coterie confirmed that they too would be opposed to such a change within the city. Only Vin paused before replying. Possibly as their stated mission in the Free States was to take it for the Camarilla.

Mr Hertz's considerations usually boiled down to numbers in some form or another so it was he who asked just how much 'cannon-fodder' the city was likely to see. If anything, Marius's reply was less reassuring than his assessment of Vannevar.

"I'm not sure how many have survived the journey. Talon almost certainly will make it, Rebecca too. Maybe Vein if he makes it through Mexico without The Butchers Pack eating him. They never got on. The pack I had in the Sabbat, the Hunters of Ennoia...they'll need a name change now I think about it...should arrive within the week, they'd retrieved all the intelligence that they were going to. A few of the other packs under my influence have been given more specific tasks. If they succeed they'll be rewarded, if not then fuck 'em."

Desdemona Moore - Brujah
Camarilla Praetor, Sire of Vin

It seemed that Marius's somewhat haphazard method of parenting hadn't changed.

Vin made a mental note to see if his sire had any other information on these potential disruptive childer of Marius's. Daniel also made note of the names though he intended to ask his sources within the city instead.

The coterie was also concerned about what would happen to the populace of San Jose in the event of an invasion by the Camarilla. Michael then offered his own barony as a fall-back position should any of them wish to withdraw from a potential conflict. "To live to fight another day." so to speak. It was the opinion of Marius that the Brujah of San Jose would fight until their destruction though a couple of the more pragmatic Gangrel might withdraw if given the opportunity. "Their de-facto leader, Elspeth might be persuaded to abandon the area if she believed that she was withdrawing to a staging point from which she could counter-attack." theorised Marius.

Tara Kearney - Brujah
Baron of San Diego

The more combat orientated coterie members were somewhat surprised to find that this was exactly what Michael was offering. It seemed that he was beginning to accept that sometimes an aggressive response was the only option available.

"If there's nothing else..." said Marius, as he began to rise. "..I have other business to take care of before the end of the night." Daniel offered to escort the Baron of Downtown to his vehicle. Michael could tell that he wanted to have a private discussion so allowed Daniel to do as he had suggested.

Daniel laid out his idea that if San Jose was a lost cause anyway then perhaps they could use Vannevar's incursion to their advantage. If they left evidence at the incursion locations that made Vannevar believe that the recent assassination of one of his scouting forces was by another of the coteries enemies then perhaps both his and their forces could be weakened.

Specifically, Daniel wished to point him towards Baron Tara of San Diego who he was sure still had designs on Los Angeles. Marius said that he'd give the plan some consideration.

His new chauffeur was waiting outside and opened the back door for Marius who paused briefly to let his large Famulus pet enter first. The large wolf-like dog had been waiting patiently outside the gallery during the meeting

Scene Thirty Nine - Back to Business

The Last Round

Daniel headed to the Last Round to see what rumours he could pick up from the regulars there. The construction work to renovate Skid Row was well underway. Unfortunately this increase in mortal activity in the area and the amount of official looking personnel in the area had put off a lot of the kindred who normally visited the Last Round. This meant that Daniel picked up very little information of consequence. 

He learned that the two kindred who had left the Crypts Sons were now acting as sweepers for the Gangrel pseudo baronies of Santa Clarita and Simi Valley, that the Brujah Fight Club allowed Caitiff to fight as long as they had a Brujah sire and that the main topic of conversation currently was which of their coterie had destroyed Victor and how. None of this was particularly useful but Daniel filed it away, just in case.

The Blossoms - Toreador

Vin checked to make sure that his ghoul Sarah had no issues and then went to visit Karla of the Blossoms. The three Toreador who ran Downtown's sex trade for Marius had been surprisingly willing to pass on their knowledge to him and his own business was thriving like never before. 

In return he had performed a few minor enforcement tasks for them that had enabled them to minimise the amount of times they needed to bother Marius. This had, in turn, increased their own status within Downtown as Marius now left them alone as long as his percentage arrived promptly. 

Sarah's increased competence as an assistant had also freed up more of Vin's own nights. This was useful as his Sire had tasked him with locating his sister of the blood, Georgiana Landry who hadn't reported in for some time. Her last movements were towards the city undertaking some tasks to further her cover as an agent of the Sabbat. as this was a personal matter he was yet to bother the coterie with it.

Reuben Hart - Ghoul
'Boss' of 'The Apostles'

Mr Hertz's working relationship with Harvey Caplan, the gangster who ran the South Coastal ports and docks of Los Angeles, had turned his gang 'The Apostles' operations into one of the smoothest running criminal operations in the city. With his criminal operations more or less running themselves, Hertz had sought out new challenges to occupy himself. The investigations, both real and imagined, of his predecessor Roach, had been put into storage in one of the coteries secure areas in case the Malkavian seer ever returned. Mr Hertz had discovered them and was attempting to decode what he could. There was a surprising amount of useful information within. It was just like breaking a code and that was a challenge that the Nosferatu enjoyed.

Michael reached for his substantial list of contacts and arranged meetings and calls with them all, one by one. The political landscape of the city had changed once more and it was up to him to see what he and the coterie could gain from the chaos.

Hope returned to her patrols. With an effective force of five sweepers now at her disposal and with a smaller area to patrol, she was free to pursue her own quest to perfect her skills as a warrior. Of course this required seeking out more and more dangerous prey... 

To Be Continued in 'The Unbound' (Part One)

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 players characters are beginning to have their own agendas and goals that could potentially split the coterie. 

Only one of them is still following the mission for which they were sent to the city with any degree of accuracy. The rest are creatively interpreting their instructions or have effectively 'gone native'. It will be interesting to see whether they reach a balance or implode. Well...interesting for me at least.

For now I need to go and make a shitload of handouts as the players hit up every single one of their contacts...see you next week I hope.

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, Victor Girard is Bob Hoskins, Joaquín Murietta is Danny Trejo, Heather is Liz Vicious, Harvey Caplan is Harvey Keitel, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Karen Anatos is Christina Hendricks, Dillan Fitzgerald is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ewan Blake is Tom Sturridge, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Bartosz Harrison is Quinton Jackson, Isaac 'Ike' Griffith is Jason Statham, Gloria Martinez is Ariadne Artiles, Allison Maller is Chloe Grace Moretz, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Louis Fortier is Eduardo Verástegui, Prince Vannevar Thomas is Bryan Dechart, Desdemona Moore is Amanda Donohoe, Tara Kearney is Melissa Rauch, The Blossoms are (Tayla Quintana is Alyssa Milano, Karla Bray is Rose McGowan and Lottie Noble is Holly Marie Combs) and Reuben Hart is ray Liotta.

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.