Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Session Eighty Two - 'The Unbound' (Part One)

I'm currently running a Vampire the Masquerade chronicle using the 5th Edition rule-set for a small group of fellow role-players. These are the chronicles of their adventures.

Our chronicle is set in Los Angeles and features a small group of Camarilla agents sent into the 'Free States' to bring them back under Camarilla control. Over a year of plotting allowed the coterie to gain control of two North-Eastern Baronies and a large part of a third. Now they are moving on to the final stage of their campaign and have their eyes on taking over the entire city, either directly or by proxy.

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The now obligatory warning bit - Unlike my other RPG write-ups this one will contain swearing, sexual references and other references that might offend. If you can't tell the difference between real             peoples opinions and grown-ups role-playing predators who crave blood then this probably won't be for you. I've also used actual photographs to represent some characters which I'll give acknowledgements to at the end if I've any idea who they are.
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The introduction to this campaign, the first story and all the other parts can be found at the following links and are in chronological order. If you'd prefer a summary of each session rather than read everything then there's a more detailed link page HERE as well as links to the first episode of each story in the blog sidebar.
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Chronicle One - 'Infiltrate L.A.' 

Welcome to L.A. - Introductory Session
Story One - 'Three Murders' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Interlude Session - One
Story Two - 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part One, Two, Three, and Four
Solo Session - 'The Neillson Library'
Story Two Continued- 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part Five, Six, Seven and Eight
Story Three - 'Becoming Baron' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Gather'
Story Three Continued - 'Becoming Baron' - Part Six, Seven and Eight

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Chronicle Two - 'Foothold L.A.' 

Solo Session - 'Hostile Takeover'
Story Four - 'Countdown' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Five - 'The Missing Chantry' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Anaheim Assassination'
Story Six - 'A Meeting of Barons' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seven - 'The Carmelita Situation' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Eight - 'The Blount Sisters' - Part One and Two
Story Nine - 'Blood Money' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six
Story Ten - 'Anathema' - Part One and Two
Story Eleven - 'Predators and Prey' aka 'The Blount Sisters' - Part Three
Story Twelve - 'Aftermath' - Part One and Two
Story Thirteen - 'The Messiah Complex' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

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Chronicle Three - 'Incursion L.A.'

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

Solo Session - 'A Gathering of Roses'

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

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

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

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

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

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Interlude Session One - After Griffith Park

Interlude Session Two - Divide and Conquer

Interlude Session Three - On the Brink of War

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Chronicle Four - 'Conquest L.A.'

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

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

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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.

Introduction

Michael is now looking for ways to further his scheme to unite the Barons of Los Angeles into a single council, with him being the power behind it. Meanwhile the rest of the coterie are ensuring that there are no new emerging threats to get in the way.

Storytellers Note - As this was a new story and the coterie had caused considerable chaos in the city during the previous one, I gave the players time to get in touch with all their various allies, contacts, retainers, and ghouls. This would allow them to pursue schemes that interested them, allow me to feed some new plots into the chronicle and generally let them enjoy their victory...for a little while at least...

The format for the session and this write-up is therefore slightly different. I have summarised the characters aims when meeting with their contacts and then detailed the information they gained. As I'm sure you can imagine, the information sharing between PC's took a while as they waded through their respective handouts.

The Coterie - General Information

Vera Vignes - Ventrue
Former Baroness of Pasadena

Marius has been looking into Vera Vignes for the coterie

One of the coteries first adversaries in Los Angeles was Vera Vignes, though they at first believed her husband Edward to be the problem. When her own personality is dominant she is, by kindred standards at least, a pleasant and kind individual. When the personality of the diablerised kindred possessing her is at the fore she is far more manipulative and totally lacking in empathy. This unusually makes her both an ally and enemy of the coterie. Unfortunately both share the same body...

"She's settled into San Francisco along with a lot of her personal wealth that she presumably drew from Pasadena. Had a nice Edwardian style mansion built there and has become somewhat of a patron of the arts and contributor to humanitarian charities. Of course with money comes power and her activities have given her considerable political influence in the mortal world."

"In kindred circles she's friendly with Sara Anne Winder, the cities Ventrue Primogen. Sara is Vannevars main rival and if anything happened to him she would certainly be the next Prince. Of course if that happened then Vera would almost certainly gain position on the back of that. Mistress of Elysium maybe, possibly even the vacated Primogen role. Her proximity to Sara means that going against her might well put you up against Sara's bodyguard, one Miriam Caravaggio, a Toreador individual of significant skill. She'd get on with Michael's acquaintance Sofia. They both have that 'Combat as a martial dance' vibe about them, though Miriam is far less sociable."

"On a stranger note, my informant swears blind that Vera is being accompanied by a Henry Waters who you assured me had been destroyed. I obtained a photograph of them both via one of the society papers and I'm sure you agree that it looks like Henry, and also does not..."

Though facially and in overall build Vera's companion looks like Henry he is almost an idealised, romanticised version of him. Slightly taller, more muscular and slightly more mature in appearance.

"I'll look into the matter further for you but I presumed you would find a preliminary report of some use..."

Baron Michael Tomassio

Michael had a wide variety of personal and political goals to pursue and so spoke to each of his contacts about matters appropriate to their expertise.

Don Maximillian Alonzo
Glass Walker Tribe

Don Alonzo, Pack Leader of the Glass Walker tribe

Checking in on the coteries business deal, negotiated after the werewolf civil war.

"Your Mr Hertz has arranged everything perfectly. With our new technological enterprises being facilitated by your own logistics and warehousing facilities I see a bright future ahead. Your kind may not be held in high regard by mine but you have proven yourself to be a trustworthy ally and as long as you deal with us honourably...we will return the favour..."

As expected by Mr Hertz the deal was weighed in the Glass Walkers favour but you have the advantage of being able to think long-term. very long-term in fact. Mr Hertz is also using the new logistics businesses to facilitate other coterie interests though is somewhat vague on the specifics.

Sheridan Aldred, Club Zombie Doorman

Michael requires a doorman experienced with dealing with kindred and has approached his contact at 'Club Zombie' to see if he'd be interested in a change of employer.

"I'd appreciate the challenge and it would be nice to have a change...however you'd need to ensure that Mr Fortier was okay with the arrangement or there might be unpleasant consequences for both of us..."

Damsel - Brujah
'Den Mother' of Nines Crew

Damsel, 'Nines' Crew

Michael wishes to catch-up with Damsel and through her gain some information on 'Nines' current feelings about him and what he's been up to. He also wants to subtly sound her out in reference to his plans for a more democratic system of leadership for the Free States.

"Nines? His doubts about you came back when you and Victor got friendly, but he was somewhat reassured when your lot destroyed the fucker. Nines hated Victor. To him he embodied everything that was wrong with kindred and he was always suspicious that his loyalties still lay with the Camarilla."

 

"Nines is focussed mainly now on the renovations to Skid Row that Marius's pet corporation are doing. That slightly odd, pretty boy Dillon has been running the kindred bits past us and he seems to know his shit. Nines is looking for a balance between security and accessibility...Dillon suggested an underground labyrinth...it's a bit 'out of the box' but it might work I suppose..."

"Democracy? Seriously? I'm all for it in principle but in practice there's always some Baron with power who will force everyone to dance to their tune. A council? That's been tried, not the way you're describing though...Yeah...I could go with that...Nines too with a bit of persuading..."

Mariel St. John - Ventrue
Mistress of Louis Fortier

Mariel St. John, Adopted Childe and Mistress of Baron Fortier

With Harwood out of the picture, Michael was trying to discover how this had changed things within Fortier's barony.

"Elena's gone quiet so I guess my supposition that she was planning on using Harwood against me was correct. She's gone back to using her artistic eye to decorate the homes of some of the most famous people in Los Angeles, who apparently don't find it strange that she only visits at night."

"She's wormed her way back into Louis affections of course, but I've been too successful as his voice in the outside world to replace, so my position is still more than secure. Catherine is still top of the heap though. I can't see that changing anytime soon."

Franklin Atkins, Police Captain, Ghoul of Michael

Michael had tasked Frank with seeking out any law enforcement officers and political figures that might be amicable to receiving the coterie's 'assistance' in return for a favour or two.

"Looking at expanding your influence a little? Sure, I'll keep my eyes open for any suitable candidates..." 

Priss - Lasombra, Baron of The Border

Priss, Baron of 'The Border'

Michael is making enquiries into how the changes in her Eastern border have affected her barony now that Marius is effectively her neighbour, not El Hermandad.

"It's certainly given me one less thing to worry about, and now my Haven has been upgraded I feel much more secure. Everyone's still convinced that I have expansion plans but to be honest I'm quite enjoying being a big fish in my own little pond for now. Here in 'The Border' my control is absolute and that's a nice position to be in."

"I still consider you to be an ally and an advisor on which I can trust. You have given me political inroads that I would have been unable to create myself and for that you have my thanks. As long as your advice doesn't become interference then we should get along swimmingly..."

Priss was brimming with confidence and seemed to be merely reiterating the parameters of their relationship. Michael could tell that the statement was 'a matter of fact' rather than a threat.

She was still dangerous of course but as long as he played this correctly, not to him. Though Michael lacks the expert eye of Vin or Daniel, it was clear that Priss's apartment building is now a fortress. Cameras, security doors, guard posts, the works in fact.

Velvet Velour, Owner of Club Vesuvius in Hollywood

Michael wished to discover if his gift of the vampiric artefact known as Martinelli's Ring had been having a positive effect upon Isaac. He also wished her input into the aesthetics of his new club and hopefully she could also provide some glamour when he eventually opened the club.

Velvet Velour - Toreador, Dancer, Club Owner

"Isaac has been much less moody lately, though he's definitely thinking more clearly too. All those little projects he'd abandoned are on the go again...now you know I can't talk about things like that...you'll have to ask him yourself..."

"I'd love to help you with your design. You should ask Heather too when she's recovered, she has a knack for that kind of thing."

"I'd love to provide you with some lovelies to brighten up the place on your opening night, I'll be there myself too of course, I presume I'm invited?...."

Isaac Abrams - Toreador
Baron of Hollywood and San Fernando

Isaac Abrams, Baron of Hollywood

Michael was curious about which of the Barons might be amicable to his idea for a more democratic Anarch Free States and who might support the concept of a new Anarch council.

"Both I and Louis can see the benefits to such an arrangement but as we rule over baronies with a relatively low kindred population we would be certain to be their representative. Allison and Gloria are popular leaders and so would also be supportive of such a council as they too would certainly have no challengers to their rule under such a system. I could go on but of course you realise that you would more than likely end up with a council consisting of all the current barons, which number eleven or thereabouts. Eleven is an unwieldy number when it comes to decision making."

"The other problem is that such a system would certainly give Marius a vote and that might concern the other barons. He has more than enough boons owed to allow him significant influence over the decisions made and that might be an issue to your plan to make the council a force for change. Unless that change suited him." "Conversely your plan would leave Nines without input and that might be an issue to some of the cities Brujah. Have you also considered centralising other roles? A census taker for the city, perhaps a war leader for dealing with united attacks by the Sabbat, Camarilla, and others? You will need such individuals if this council is to have any power to wield..."

Heather Taylor - Ghoul of Marius
Galerie Sanguine Employee

Heather, Ghoul of Marius, Galerie Sanguine Employee

Lisa Irving, Ghoul of Michael

Visiting Heather required navigating the extensive security precautions protecting the private medical facility of Aegis Medical. She was, as expected, cheerful and seemingly unaffected by her traumatic experience.

"Hello Michael, yes I'm much better. Marius gave me lots of blood so I healed inside really quick and Victoria got rid of the scars using her creepy flesh power stuff. She's made some other changes too but she says I won't notice them unless someone tries to hurt me again. Marius told her not to in the past but I think she's done it anyway."

"She fixed your ghoul Lisa too, Leanna spoke to her as well. I think she used her brain powers to stop her being all traumatised and stuff, I think she did the same to me but I'm not supposed to know as, like I said, Marius doesn't like the others messing about with me..."

Lisa has indeed made a full recovery and despite remembering the events seems to be somewhat detached from them. You have visited her in the private ward of a local hospital where her extensive bills have been taken care of by Aegis. You have also realised that Aegis medical is a far larger organisation than you previously suspected.

Shawna, Ghoul of Michael

Michael is using a visit to Shawna to gauge Karen Anatos's reaction to him and his coterie after she closed her borders. His calculation that she would treat this not as an intrusion but merely a social visit to a loyal follower has apparently paid off.

Karen Anatos - Gangrel Anathema, Multi-Media Mogul

"Karen has been very nice. The acting school is a bit intense but I'm learning a lot. Karen? Yes I saw her a few nights ago. She seemed a bit distracted but seemed to cheer up after she visited some of the workshops here. Yes, she did mention you, but only in passing. Why? Were you expecting something more?"

Carmelita Neillson - Toreador
Archaeologist and Archivist

Carmelita Neillson, Camarilla Archivist

Michael is looking for any information to help him bring Vin around to the rest of the coteries plan for Los Angeles. He and some other coterie members are concerned that Vin might believe that this is not what his Camarilla sire intended and need to be persuaded of their methods or dealt with. They have concluded that perhaps a good starting point is to gain information on his sire, Desdemona Moore.

"Desdemona? She's old school Camarilla. She believes that the Anarchs are misguided but as long as they continue to follow the masquerade that their territories should be honoured...except in cases of open war of course."

"The Sabbat she hunts mercilessly though of late she's become a bit more politically minded so is more inclined to use spies and infiltrators. Like she's using Vin to infiltrate the Anarchs. It probably means that her other childe who supposedly defected to the Sabbat is a spy too."

"Georgiana Landry was her name. Resilient as a gangrel that one, fast too...though saying that all Desdemona's childer are hard as nails, as I'm sure you know."

Desdemona 'Demonmaw' Moore
Brujah, Camarilla Praetor

"She's quite suspicious of the Banu Haqim, or the Assamites as they were known. She thought that the Tremere's ritual to prevent them committing diablerie was a necessary precaution. Now they are no longer bound by it she's extremely slow to give any of that clan the benefit of the doubt. One tried to take her out a decade or so ago which didn't help. Ironically she diablerised them, she had permission of course...but the hypocrisy wasn't lost on anyone."

"The majority of the Brujah leaving the Camarilla has weakened her influence a lot and I've heard...just between us you understand...that she's getting frustrated with the Camarilla's current stagnation which is why she's now definitely in Fiorenza's camp. She's ancient compared to Fiorenza but still see's her as a mentor of sorts. Desdemona always saw the Camarilla as the future, now I'm not so sure, possibly she now sees Fiorenza as someone with vision, I might be wrong of course. It's an odd relationship but Miss Savona's enemies have had a lot of bad luck since the 'Demonmaw' came to her side..."

"Vin's her favourite childe, closely followed by Georgiana. She likes their 'no nonsense' approaches to problem solving and the respect is mutual. If anything happened to either of them she'd hunt the culprit to the ends of the earth and make them suffer before she eventually destroyed them..."

Dr Daniel Matthews

The Young Bloods - Unbound Ghoul Gang

Daniel's primary interest at the moment is the gang of unbound ghouls known as 'The Young Bloods' who have been terrorizing the local kindred populations for some time. His investigations have, however, revealed them to be a far greater threat than he had expected.

Police Contact

"The Young Bloods gang first appeared around 1992 with half a dozen members. They gained the odd citation for minor offenses but nothing major. Since then they've expanded considerably and number about fifty or sixty members now. They've been connected with the usual offenses. You know, drugs, extortion, robbery, etc. Nothing seems to stick though."

"They seem to be operating from somewhere near Barstow, California but their exact base has been difficult to pin down."

"Bob Zalkovsky (also known as Bobby Z or Big Z) is their leader along with his girlfriend Vera. There are no criminal records for either of them." 

'The Bunker' - Young Bloods Base of Operations

Investigation Teams

Your investigation teams have managed to narrow the location of the Young Bloods to Calico Ghost Town, where the military had apparently dug a bunker during the sixties and abandoned it in the eighties. Information on the facility is vague as you'd expect but it was apparently quite extensive.

The Young Bloods have seemingly moved in, and now the motorcycle club apparently calls the Bunker home. Members of the gang sometimes go off for weeks but always return in less than a month. 

Surveillance Teams

The gang are indeed based at the Bunker and range outwards from it as a central location. Local cops are certainly on their payroll as they never seem to have any trouble with local law enforcement. Their weapons appear to be legally owned which is unusual for such a gang which means they may have political help too.

They have no regular schedule for their forays out but there's never less than twenty left at the bunker and it's too well guarded to get close enough to map the layout. It is, however, more or less a fortress.

The Last Round - Nines Crew Hangout

The Last Round

The Kindred bar known as The Last Round was an excellent place to pick up rumours. As a respected regular, Daniel could make enquiries and be reasonably sure of getting some fairly accurate information.

"There was a Toreador, Kingsley Barker, who was looking into a childe of theirs that had disappeared some years ago. Romulus, actually Eugene Bargen, but in the Los Angeles club scene, he preferred the name Romulus. He suspected that the Young Bloods had taken him and was looking for information but none of the kindred really new anything other than that the gang was dangerous to kindred and were to be avoided. You can sometimes find him at Club Zombie or more often at Club Confession if you want to talk to him. I think he's still looking, he's well connected so would certainly pay for the right information or assistance."

Alonzo Guillen - Autarkis Nosferatu Elder
The Ancient Hollywood Warrens

Alonzo

The Nosferatu Alonzo was a good friend of Daniel's and had detailed knowledge of the comings and goings within Los Angeles Kindred populace via his vast army of verminous informants.

"Kingsley? He's been a sculptor, artist and patron of the arts on and off under different identities for about one hundred and fifty years. He had the typical Toreador habit of embracing childer and then getting bored of them but apparently he's regretting ditching Eugene because something happened to him."

"The Young Bloods? Yes it was probably them who took him. It's difficult to keep track of such a fluid population as that of an Anarch city but I imagine that gang have others in their clutches. Also, self destruction is depressingly common amongst Anarch kindred so working out which ones were taken, which self destructed and which just left is more or less impossible. If you work on them having a stable of at least five vampire 'donors' then you'd be erring on the cautious side."

"They currently number over sixty members, most of which are ghouls. They've stopped expanding so one can presume that they've reached the limit of their supply so I'd expect a major incursion sometime soon."

Vincent 'Vin' Ghast

The Sabbat - 'The Sword of Caine'

Vin has been tasked by his sire with undertaking a search for another of her childer named Georgiana Landry. Whereas he was tasked with infiltrating the Anarchs, she had been sent to perform the same task within the Sabbat. She last checked in before apparently heading towards Los Angeles on some mission for the Sabbat that she was to turn to her sires advantage. That was a significant time ago and nothing has been heard of her since.

She is also the only other of Desdemona's childer that Vin actually liked so he is more than happy to help. If by some chance her cover was blown and her Sabbat pack destroyed her then Vin will certainly seek to avenge her if the culprits could be found.

Contacts 1 (Fight-Club Promoter), Contacts 1 (Pawnshop Employee), Contacts 1 (Street-level Fence)

Vin's low level information sources were well aware that he had contacts throughout the criminals that ran Pasadena and that keeping him happy was by far the most sensible way of staying in business.

"Yeah...we've been keeping an eye out for a woman matching the description you gave us but there's nothing so far. Yeah...we'll let you know immediately if anything comes up..."

Allies: Street People (Effectiveness 3, Reliability 3)

Vin had also circulated his 'sisters' description amongst the street people that act as his eyes and ears. Only one useful piece of information has come to light.

Hollywood Cemetery - Location of Georgiana Landry sighting

"A few of our people saw someone matching that description near the Hollywood Cemetery. They're a bit vague on the details as they had consumed quite a lot of wine but it was a year or so ago now. They remembered her as she looked like she'd been in one hell of a scrap."

The source was hardly reliable but the timeline matched her last contact with Desdemona so it could possibly have been her. The report of her condition at the time is however, more of a concern. It's also worrying that whatever occurred may well have been too long ago for Vin to be able to locate her current whereabouts.

The Blossoms - Toreador, Downtowns Sex Trade

The Blossoms

The three Toreador known collectively as 'The Blossoms' had an arrangement of cooperation with Vin as both ran the sex-trade within their respective baronies. They shared information and other resources. They had also been giving Vin some help with the expansion of his own business interests. In this case however it was information he required. He was pleased to discover that they'd made some efforts on his behalf and also sure that he now owed them a favour in return. That was however a problem for another night. For now he just needed to know what Karla had uncovered.

"We had to cover-up an attack on a couple of our girls back before the Barony of the Angels was split up. It happened around the time your street people mentioned this wounded woman of yours so it could have been her. Did they survive? Yes actually. One of the victims still works for us though we had to have Leanna do the questioning for us as she'd blanked out a lot of the rather traumatic event and it was some time ago. Based on the description Leanna extracted from her mind I drew this for you. It's  a little stylised as the poor girl describing her was quite terrified at the time...Is this her?"

The drawing he'd been handed could easily have been a rendition of his 'sister' Georgiana. Though the trail would be very cold, he at least had a starting location from where to begin his search. He'd need to ask Marius for permission to look around that area as it was now part of his barony but he was sure that once he explained his reasons that permission would be granted. He'd get Sarah to make some copies of the picture he'd been given to distribute around amongst some of his more competent street spies so they had a better reference, too.

Mr Hertz

Roach - Malkavian
Seer, Presumed Destroyed

Roach's Files

Mr Hertz had been wading his way through the vast amount of information compiled by his predecessor Roach, a Malkavian seer who despite being quite insane was also surprisingly inciteful.

Hertz eliminated several conspiracy theory boards as though they had accurately predicted a number of events, these were in the past and could no longer be impacted upon. He also discarded those made irrelevant by recent events. This still left him with a lot to wade through.

Of particular interest to him currently was Roach's plan to build a shopping mall with added kindred friendly facilities. He'd looked into it before but with the coteries current increased financial security and Marius's Aegis Construction offering him quite competitive rates he believed that Roach's plan could be implemented. With some of the more outlandish ideas tidied up a little, that is.

This also could be tied into Michael's plan to become the guiding force behind the Barons of the Free States as it would provide an excellent meeting place. If he added office areas to the structure then he might be able to encourage a number of Pasadena businesses to move their offices there. Having them all in one location would make them far easier to influence and control.

Information Brokers

Mr Hertz has ingratiated himself with the three most significant Nosferatu information brokers within Los Angeles. He is also acquaintances with Harvey Caplan, a Ventrue former gangster who runs the South Coast docks for the Baron of that domain, Steve Booth.

Alonzo, Bertrum and Gary - Nosferatu Information Brokers

Alonzo Guillen - Nosferatu, Ancient Hollywood Warrens

"Isaac? you're the second kindred to ask me to search my files for information on his past. The first was Gary Golden but as I've already started an investigation for him then I'm sure I can copy you in on any of my findings. After all, Gary never said it was a secret."

Marius Walker - Gangrel
Baron of Downtown

"Marius? That's a dangerous individual to go snooping into the affairs of so in all honesty I haven't looked through Dexter's journals at all for references to him and my verminous spies avoid his bases of operations. Just between us? Oh, go one then...I'll see what I can find out...but I'm going nowhere near that mad bitch who lives under his barony..."

Bertrum Tung, Nosferatu, Downtown

"You're concerned about Marius's goals in the city? Isn't everyone? Of late he's had me searching for references to his sire Xaviar and his activities while acting as Justicar. Why? I didn't ask as I'd quite like my soul to remain within my body..."

Gary Golden, Nosferatu, Hollywood Warrens

"Issac has suddenly become a lot more proactive with the running of his barony. It's put the frighteners into a lot of his contacts who had gotten used to running their own affairs and skimming extra's off the top and hoping he wouldn't notice. That dangerous intellect is back and all those with whom he has influence are now getting a feel for what a proactive Isaac Abrams is capable of. He's taken back control of pretty much everything and did it in less than three weeks..."

"Affect us? Not particularly. I had a rare meeting with him at The Asp Hole where he reiterated his terms for our continued presence beneath his Barony. He also had an unusual number of investigative tasks for us. Mind? not really. Performing routine tasks such as these had always been the price for us dwelling below Hollywood. I'd just got used to him not asking anything of us so it came as somewhat of a surprise, that's all..."

Harvey Caplan - Ventrue

Harvey Caplan, Ventrue, Los Angeles Port and Dockyard

"Your advice about whacking those followers of Victors was spot on, as was sending Marius their fangs. The timing was fortunate as I've recently incurred some additional responsibilities now I'm running the entire docks and needed some problems 'Fixing'. His terms were surprisingly reasonable which I attribute to the goodwill I've gained based on your recommendations. So I owe you one."

Storytellers Note - In mechanical terms, Mr Hertz now has a Major Boon to cash in with Harvey should he ever require it.

"Now you know I can't give you info on what shipments come and go for the other barons...well okay...here's a snippet or two. Vinicius 'Hunters' pack have taken their drug boats out of dry dock and started going out quite regularly. Isaac's also had his own boat serviced and sailed here from it's own docks in Europe. No idea why but he paid handsomely for the service and staff I provided. Cargo? No...Isaac's got a yacht, a very large and expensive custom made one too. Perhaps he's expecting guests?"

Hope Romero

Hope had become increasingly obsessed with improving her capabilities via hunting more and more dangerous opponents. She had recently heard of a group of werewolf hunting kindred known as 'The Anubi'. She is also seeking to learn more about the Bahari as currently she has barely scratched the surface of their beliefs. 

The Anubi

Marius was happy to share what information he had on The Anubi but seemed somewhat reticent to point her at a specific organisation. "Give me a bit of time to make some introductions. This isn't something you want to blunder into unprepared..."

The Lupine attack on Chicago was a stark reminder of how vulnerable Kindred are to werewolf assault.

"The Princes of the Camarilla looked to Milwaukee, and its guardians the Anubi, for a solution. Led by Milwaukee’s Prince, Mark Decker, the Anubi are the Camarilla’s premier force of Lupine hunters. They are well organized, well equipped, and determined to repulse every Lupine incursion into the city.

Other cities began emulating Milwaukee’s model with mixed results. Many coteries failed due to inexperience or left their posts when Clan Gangrel abandoned the Camarilla. Others overthrew their Princes or became the kingmakers of their domain. A few even sided with the Anarchs, defending the Baronies of the Free States and newly acquired Anarch cities.

More successful Princes recruited Gangrel with greater loyalty to their city than to their clan, or built mixed-membership coteries by offering money, special privileges, hunting rights, or boons. Even the legendary Anubi had to offer grants of hunting grounds to young Kindred after many of their members abandoned Milwaukee in the face of Sabbat invasion. These newly formed coteries are as deadly as the Lupines they hunt. Some, like the Sun Devils of Phoenix or the all-Ventrue 'Hunt Club' of Quebec, maintain the Anubi’s militant structure and battle Lupines nightly. Others, like 'The Pack' of Vancouver or the mixed Lasombra/ Toreador 'Order of Saint Sabastian' in Rio de Janeiro, wield diplomacy as effectively as silver to forge tentative (although not lasting) treaties with their local Lupines."

The Bahari

Mary, 'Mother' of the Bahari within the Anarch free States was more than happy to speak about Lilith to an initiate who sought to advance herself within their faith. Mary was also intrigued that unlike Marius who had apparently initially trained her, Hope's focus was upon Lilith herself, rather than merely venerating her as the mother of Ennoia, the Gangrel Antediluvian.

"Vampire adherents of the Path of Lilith, otherwise known as the Lilin, Lilitu, or Bahari, revere the progenitor vampire as primal femininity. They believe Lilith is the first, usurped vampire, the mother who births the vitae, and that all Kindred are her children. Stagnant, patriarchal vampire society perpetuates the lie of Caine as progenitor.

The Bahari seek enlightenment through pain and conflict, turning this masochistic urge into the strength to endure and overcome. As Lilith rebelled against God’s commands and fought against her curse, her followers defeat the weaknesses and curses upon them to become something else. Some Bahari lead other Kindred to enlightenment, others become perfected predators. Bahari deprecate compassion in favour of fleshly pleasure, transient love, and strict parenthood over lesser Kindred.

As a Bahari, you must fulfil the role of torturer, student, teacher, or lover to other Kindred. All evidence points to Lilith as the first, usurped vampire."

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

In Conclusion

I like to do a round-up of how the session went in these features but if you couldn't give a shit what I think then feel free to skip this bit...

This was actually harder work than writing an actual chronicle session, lol. Back to normal next session. Lets see what the players do with all these new plotlines to choose from...

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, Vera Vignes is Helen Mirren, Don Maximillian Alonzo is Stacy Keach, 

Damsel is Irina Delnova, Mariel St. John is Kate Moss, Priss is Sofia Boutella, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Heather Taylor is Liz Vicious, Karen Anatos is Christina Hendricks, Carmelita Neillson is Salma Hayek, Desdemona Moore is Amanda Donohoe, The Blossoms (Tayla Quintana is Alyssa Milano, Karla Bray is Rose McGowan and Lottie Noble is Holly Marie Combs), 'Roach' is Kurt Cobain, Marius Walker is Tony Curran and Harvey Caplan is Harvey Keitel

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.