Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Session Sixty Six - The MacNeil Protocols (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. After a year of plotting, the coterie now controls the three North-Eastern Baronies and has successfully weakened several others. Unfortunately other Barons have used the chaos they have created to consolidate their own positions.

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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

Solo Session - 'The Marius Contracts' - Part One and Two

The PC's
Player controlled characters
Michael Tomassio - Toreador, 'Baron of the North East'
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, 'Constable'
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Spymaster'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, 'Census Taker'
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, 'Seneschal'

The SPC's
Storyteller controlled player allies
Priya Haynes - Gangrel, 'Sweeper'
Carla Doyle - Gangrel, 'Sweeper'
Orla Riviera - Gangrel, 'Sweeper'
Rosalind Perkins -  Thin-blood, Alchemist

Sofia Rivera - Toreador, Michael's contact with Sire

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 - There has been quite a long gap between this session and the last time we met as a group so I started with a rather long introduction to refresh the players memories about recent occurrences.

Introduction

Given the tumultuous events across Los Angeles over the last two years, the relative lull of the last month has been seen by many as the calm before yet another storm.

Victor Girard - Toreador
Seneschal of El Hermandad

El Hermandad is now under the undisputed control of Gloria Martinez and covers both it's original area and that of Gloria's own barony of Whittier. With Victor Girard at her side as adviser the pair have shown an efficiency bordering on ruthlessness that has united all of the disparate factions within both El Hermandad, Whittier and those kindred inherited from the disbanding of the Barony of the Angels.

With several of their neighbours weakened by war, Gloria is now one of the most powerful barons in the city. Relations with the Gangrel of the Wilds on her Eastern border have also improved, in the main because all the members of El Hermandad who had antagonised them are no longer present to do so.

Victor Girard has also recently negotiated a none-aggression pact between Anaheim and El Hermandad, and Gloria and Allison have seemingly been having frequent informal meetings apparently at Victor's prompting. The politically minded Anarchs believe that Victor is trying to unite the childer of Salvador Garcia under one banner in order to neutralise any attempt by Ramirez to regain power within El Hermandad, banking on Garcia siding with his childer rather than his deposed friend and ally.

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

Childer of Salvador Garcia

Meanwhile in Central L.A. The Crypt's Sons war with their rival gang 'The Blood' has been a costly one. Despite the elimination of many of the gangs vampire hunters by Priss's preemptive surprise assault, Hank lost many experienced fighters in the inevitable counter attack. His mortal gangs assets have also suffered major setbacks, especially as the authorities within the city have used the gang war as justification for calling in federal aid which has suspiciously targeted far more of the Crypts Sons operations than those of The Blood. Outside influence is suspected, but by whom is unknown.

Hank Boyd - Baron of The Crypts Sons, 'Priss' - Baron of 'The Border'

Priss has been granted a large strip of territory carved from the Northern border of the Crypts Sons domain as payment for her success and has wasted no time in recruiting replacements for her depleted forces. Hank's weakened position has been further undermined by persistent speculation that it's only a matter of time before Priss shifts her allegiance to Marius.

Marius 'The Fixer' Walker - Gangrel
Baron of Downtown

The Downtown barony of Marius Walker now covers almost the entire area that was once referred to as the Barony of the Angels. The only exception is an area still claimed by Isaac Abrams that Marius has inexplicably made no moves upon despite clearly having the resources to do so. Instead he has been given permission to operate certain businesses within Baron Abrams domain in return for some minor considerations and seems content with this compromise. Downtown is currently one of the most secure baronies within the city, being patrolled extensively both above and below the surface and with the majority of the authorities and criminal organisations within now being under the influence of 'The Fixer' in some manner.

Chinatown is still the feeding ground and domain of the Ventrue Lyko Wu and his two childer, though he still allows the younger and more desperate of the cities kindred access to animal blood from the Slaughterhouse district as Marius did when he managed the domain himself. Visitors are expected to announce themselves on arrival and leave as soon as they have fed or acquired blood, but as long as these conditions are met, they are allowed free passage.

Harvey Caplan - Ventrue
Defacto Baron of the South Coast Docks

Harvey's control over the two main dockyards and ports of the cities South Coast has been consolidated by the recruitment of a gang of refugees from the Barony of the Angels known as 'The Rats' and strategic removal of rival mortal gangs by the forces of Vinicius Santos, freelance Scourges currently affiliated to Harvey's Baron, Steve Booth.

Harvey has made no secret of these actions though whether this can actually be considered the same as asking permission is debatable. Kindred who utilise Harvey's services have noted that he is far more efficient than Steve ever was and considerably more reasonable and less condescending than David Geduld. Though some have commented that neither of those kindred were particularly hard acts to follow in those regards, and a close eye is being kept on the ambitions of this particular Ventrue given the importance of his granted domain.

Steve Booth - Baron of the South Coast, David Geduld - Former Baron (Destroyed)

The Western alliance between Barons Fortier and Abrams is still holding strong despite some alleged tension over the exact division of San Fernando. The domain of the so-called Brujah Idealists is now a part of Baron Tomassio's North Eastern group of baronies and so is no longer a thorn in the side of the alliance which has eased the transition considerably. Los Angeles airport which Fortier inherited from David Geduld has had several strategic employees replaced with The Fortiers own people and is now undeniably under his control.

Louis Fortier - Baron of West L.A., Isaac Abrams - Baron of Hollywood

Player Handouts

Michael Tomassio

Storytellers Note - Michael's player handouts take the form of conversation snippets from his social activities with contacts. I also add a more matter of fact analysis of what his character picks up via his empathetic abilities after each piece.

Damsel - Brujah
Nines Crew

Damsel

"Nines has met Marius twice in the last month, once at Hallowbrook and once in some abandoned shop near The Last Round. Nines wants Marius to open up what was once the Barony of the Angels to newcomers to the city again. Can't see it happening myself, I think he's just dragging out the discussion for as long as possible before he tells Nines 'no'..."

Damsel seems concerned about what might happen when this refusal occurs.

Heather

"Marius's creepy naked childe was at the penthouse with a bunch of her wannabe cenobites, last week. She wants his help to remove some other bunch of cultist weirdos apparently. Don't know why she needs him to get involved, it's not like she's never killed anyone herself. She's a bit too clingy for my liking as well...he's basically her vampire dad, you know...it's just icky..."

Heather is definitely jealous of the relationship between Marius and 'Mary' which is apparently more 'intimate' than is commonly known.

Mariel St John - Ventrue
Mistress of Baron Fortier

Mariel St. John

"Thank-you for your help with the Brujah Idealists. Now I just have to make sure Dawn doesn't use her influence to cream all the choice areas from San Fernando for herself...well, for Isaac, in theory. I suggested having her destroyed but Fortier will have none of it. I wish I knew how Issac controls that territory with just himself, one scourge and a stripper to call on, but every enemy that's ever moved on him ends up as dust..."

Mariel's curiosity is genuine, though there's also a certain level of fear too. It's possible she has suspicions about just how Issac keeps order and whatever it is, concerns her greatly.

Marius

Marius has been busy every time you've tried to meet with him, though you have spoken to Leanna who was incredibly evasive about what Marius was 'busy' doing. You sense an undercurrent of fear amongst his followers and agents and they seem unusually keen to keep Marius happy. This is unusual as he normally allows his agents a great deal of independence and freedom.

Priss

"Well, I have my own domain now. Lost a lot of my people but then sacrifices have to be made, though I would have had far fewer casualties if Hank had armed me better. Though it's quite obvious that he would have been much happier if I hadn't returned at all. Having seen how Marius arms his security people and the resources he allows those loyal to him I think he'd make a much better benefactor than the one I currently have.

Her vague dissatisfaction with Hank that you detected previously is now far more acute and she seems to feel far safer vocalising it. You also wander just how she knows so much about what Marius has to offer his allies....

At least I can recruit without asking for permission now so I'll soon build up a new army of followers."

Priss definitely sees her followers as ultimately expendable if she gets what she wants. Her lust for power reminds you more of a Ventrue than a Brujah and your doubts about her clan are becoming more acute. Of course Ventrue aren't the only natural 'leaders' amongst the kindred. You are also one hundred percent sure that she is at the very least a pathological egotist and a Sociopath, though perhaps not quite as psychopathic as you first thought.

Velme - Toreador?
Suspected Daughter of Cacophony

Velme

"Gloria's power is absolute over El Hermandad now. Victor seems to have an knack for working out whose plotting against who and his advice is allowing Gloria to preempt any problems with an uncanny rate of success. I expected him to be undermining her position at every opportunity, not strengthening it."

Velme's tone is very 'matter of fact' and they seem to have no strong feelings about Victor one way or another other except for a vague sense of amusement at their own surprise about his actions.

Velvet Velour

"I told Isaac I was worried about Dawn leading him astray but he's assured me that she's 'under control', whatever that means. I don't know what I'd do without him, even the thought of him being gone makes me feel so sad and lonely..."

Velvet seems very needy at the moment, you do your best to distract her...

Victor Girard

"I'm enjoying my new role greatly, thank you for asking. Gloria is quite open to guidance from myself on a number of matters. Together we can accomplish great things, I'm sure. I hear that Ramirez has gone running off to Salvador Garcia so I'm ensuring that if he does grace us with his presence that he finds a united Brotherhood. Not the fractured mess that Ramirez had turned it into."

Victor is unnecessarily pleased with himself and brimming with confidence.

Dr Daniel Matthews

Private Investigators and Surveillance Team

Your Teams have been tasked with counter surveillance duties due to your concern about reprisals from Baron Tara of San Diego and Prince Vannevar Thomas of San Francisco. Though Tara has promised no retaliation for the untimely destruction of her emissary due to his own pure judgement, It's only common sense to take some precautions. You believe however, that Prince Vannevar is certain to retaliate should he learn of your part in the destruction of his scouting party though you are reasonably sure you covered your tracks.

Tara Kearney - Baron of San Diego, Vannevar Thomas - Prince of San Francisco

So far your agents have discovered nothing, so either your concerns are unfounded...or your enemies are very, very good indeed...

Police Records

Your contact has informed you that more progress has been made against the gang known as the Crypts Sons in the last two months than in the previous decade. Multiple tip offs and new intelligence, much gathered by the new FBI task force, has enabled them to seize vast amounts of product, shut down manufacturing and distribution networks and arrest dozens of their leaders.

'The Blood' - Vampire Hunters concealed within a mortal gangs activities

They have been less successful against the other major LA gang 'The Blood' as they seem to have been one step ahead of the investigators, their operations seemingly moved mere hours before police arrived.

Scene One - A Messenger

Edward Kaya - Banu Haqim
Sire of Daniel Matthews

Daniel had once again resumed his normal job as a locum surgeon for local hospitals using the fake documentation obtained for him when he first arrived in the city. Though a legitimate surgeon by training and an experienced battlefield doctor, using his actual identity would certainly create some awkward questions. He was also still attempting to avoid the attention of his sire who is certainly still seeking his destruction.

One of Alonzo's rat messengers is sitting patiently waiting for you. There is a cylinder in a small pack upon it's back containing a note. The vermin he uses for such purposes are slightly larger and sleeker than a normal creature and there is a hint of intelligence behind the eyes in it's slightly oversized cranium that is slightly disturbing.

Daniel retrieved the note as the creature sat patiently on the desk. As he did he noticed that the creature had apparently made it's way into the consulting room by chewing a hole in the skirting board in one corner.

Alonzo's Note

Daniel,

"While sorting through the information compiled in Dexters vault by and some researches of the Tzimisce who previously inhabited this area I have discovered something that may be of interest to you, your baron and your other allies. Perhaps You and your baron could pop by when you have a moment and I can enlighten you both? My messenger can bring me a reply if you wish, just ask it to wait and it will do so. The matter is somewhat delicate so I'm afraid an alternate location would be somewhat undesirable. It's possible that if I am correct that the balance of power within the city could be significantly altered by my discovery."

Your friend,

Alonzo.

Michael Tomassio - Toreador
"Too busy to traipse around a sewer"

Daniel contacted his baron to see if he had any interest in joining him in visiting Alonzo. The reply of "I'm sure you can assess the situation and brief me on your return..." he took as actually meaning "I'm not going anywhere near a bloody sewer..." Deciding against contacting any of Michael's other agents, he made the journey alone.

Storytellers Note - Michael's player was busy making notes comparing his handout information to that in my introduction and his own jottings.

Having already completed his current consultation, Daniel made his excuses to the hospital claiming he had to deal with "...an emergency at another location..." and left without further explanation. As usual he drove to Hollywood and parked within walking distance of the entrance to the warrens below where Alonzo made his home. This closer entrance meant that Daniel had no need to travel through the domain of Gary Golden who ruled over most of the cities Nosferatu population.

Scene Two - Alonzo's Discovery

The ancient warrens are much as you remember them though significant tidying up has occurred. Sections blocked with rubble have been cleared, the remaining detritus has been piled up fairly neatly as if ready for removal and some of the areas with security gates and doors have been reinforced.

Some effort has been put into exposing the unusually decorative features that appear here and there in this most ancient section of the Warrens below Hollywood. Apparently at least one of the Nosferatu responsible for creating this area had architectural inclinations or experience.

Daniel made a mental note of the appearance of the structure as it may be something that would both interest his baron and give him some greater insight into the origin of this most ancient section of the cities underground warrens. When researching later he ascertained that the features were seemingly inspired by Spanish styles of building from the 1700's, perhaps earlier.

The haphazardly acquired and fitted security cameras installed previously have been replaced by standard models that match those official versions used to monitor the public areas of the underground. Presumably to allay the suspicions of any casual observer who may mistakenly have wandered into Alonzo's domain. As you have come to expect on previous visits, the gates are unlocked and open as you approach, courtesy of his innumerable pets and helpers. These vermin are ever present and become larger and more unusually proportioned the closer you get to Alonzo's actual haven. As well as these cosmetic changes, several of the previously empty lower areas are now flooded along with some of the previously dried out waterways you were once able to navigate.

Daniel also observed that there were now only one or two practical approaches into Alonzo's territory and that neither of these necessitated crossing into Gary's domain. The ancient warrens were now more or less self contained.

'Eula' - Alonzo's Pet and Famulus
Nosferatu Breeding Pool Creation

The ancient network of traps that previously guarded the approach to Alonzo's inner sanctum has at some point in the recent past been removed and the area has been dug out. The room is now a large tank-like reservoir with a narrow walkway across the centre. The double doors on the opposite side have been replaced with those that you remember, once graced the vault of the long destroyed Nosferatu known as Dexter whose archive of knowledge you helped Alonzo discover over a year ago. Despite the lack of airflow this far down, the water still occasionally ripples as if something is moving beneath.

Fully expecting Alonzo's monstrous, tentacled pet 'Eula' to emerge any moment, Daniel somewhat gingerly crossed the narrow walkway. Though the creature knew Daniel and seemed to accept him as an authorised guest, the Banu Haqim was till wary of taking for granted the instincts of what was effectively a giant fang filled maw, surrounded by tentacles that could crush steel.

As usual Alonzo's home looks somewhere between a mad scientists laboratory, a library and a zoo, though is still organised in an orderly if somewhat unorthodox fashion. The cages containing his small army of rats have been moved into a large opened out side room and as before contains a wide variety of creatures ranging from normal looking yet oversized rats, to those with extra limbs, parts of other creatures and several that are closer in scale to wolves.

Their cages are all open and the rats come and go as they please through various sized pipes and tubes surrounding their lairs, though only those which you presume are messengers, venture into the central area of Alonzo's home.

Opposite them are a bewildering array of interconnected pipes and glassware containing bubbling concoctions of a variety of colours, though blood red is most common. The three large tanks observed by Daniel on his last visit, have been drained and there is no sign of the vaguely humanoid shapes that they previously contained. Where the cages once were are many rows of shelves containing files, books and paperwork, no doubt extracted from Dexter's vaults, but now neatly organised.

The centre of the room contains a water filled pit that regular visitors know as the home of Alonzo's tentacled pet Eula, it is currently empty. Eula is undoubtedly out enjoying the newly flooded areas provided by her master. As usual, Alonzo is lurking near the desk on which the computer system cobbled together by Gary Golden's childe Mitnick sits and is reading. He looks up as you enter.

"Greetings, Daniel."

Alonzo Guillen - Nosferatu
Ancient Hollywood Warrens

Daniel greeted his friend Alonzo in return. The Nosferatu lamented that Daniel had come alone as he had "Tidied up specially..." expecting the presence of Michael also. Daniel excused his baron, claiming that his newly expanded barony and several other projects were taking up his time. With the pleasantries out of the way, Alonzo laid out his discovery.

"I'll get straight to the point. I was somewhat curious about the police forces recent successes in getting to the businesses of our kind, and borderline masquerade breaches becoming noticeable at levels not seen before. It took little research to connect a timeline between these new success and failures and the disappearance of Jeremy MacNeil that fail to tie into Inquisition activities, which led me to look for another variable. As Jeremy's political contacts wouldn't have given him that level of control, It was logical to assume that he had another method of guiding the police of the city that ended along with his disappearance. I believe I have discovered it." 

Alonzo then shows you some formal plans of a spacious mansion, followed by some far less official looking drawings of an attached basement. He also has the layouts of a number of principle police stations from around the city. He then adds to this pile a number of plans of the cities electrical systems and phone lines though these have had the geographical information removed, they do seem to tie up with the details of the previous plans. The final piece of the puzzle is a large technical drawing "You see what this means of course?"

Jeremy MacNeil - Brujah
Baron of L.A., Presumed Destroyed

Daniel could see that the drawing seemed to relate to a computer network of some kind and that some of the drawings looked like their features potentially overlapped. Deciding to be honest he laid out his vague conclusions and allowed Alonzo to explain.

"Jeremy MacNeil, through the use of some very high-priced (and now presumably deceased) computer talent had somehow created a system that was, and hopefully still is, jacked into every police station in the Free States. Unfortunately a rather clever and motivated person has removed a great deal of identifiable references from these documents, presumably MacNeil himself or his agents. I can work out the purpose but not the specific location. You see the possible implications of course?"

Daniel could indeed see the possibilities. In the right hands such a system could be a benefit to all kindred of the city in concealing the kind of carelessness that could draw the Second Inquisition to the city once more. Under less benevolent control the possibilities for blackmail and manipulation were almost limitless. Based on what he knew of him, Daniel presumed that MacNeil had taken somewhat of a middle path between those two extremes. After some discussion with Alonzo, Daniel picked up some additional information culled from the Nosferatu's various theories.

 

Bertram Tung - Nosferatu
Marius's Information Broker

"I believe that the volume of information would have required 24/7 monitoring by at least 4 individuals, presumably blood bound or ghouled as any less would have been impractical..."

"Given the sensitivity of the project, the basement would almost certainly be in one of MacNeils havens. Unfortunately he had at least three and I have only vague information on them as staying out of Jeremy's' notice seemed wise to me at the time. There's one in Hollywood, and two in San Fernando, and almost certainly others. Rumours say he had one under some political organisation too, maybe in Downtown..."

"Kindred who moved in similar social circles might know some locations though the Nosferatu information dealers such as Gary Golden or Bertrum Tung will know them all, and likely some of their secrets too. Of course, informing Bertrum is effectively informing Marius which under the circumstances you may wish to avoid given that he's aggressively accumulating influence at the moment and those in the know seem to be either cultivating his favour or strengthening their borders. Of course, the politics I leave to you, though I would expect reasonable access to MacNeils system should my theory be correct."

It also crossed Daniels mind that should he just sell the information straight to Marius it would solve his problem of needing kindred blood, possibly indefinitely. Putting that idea to one side for the moment he arranged to meet up with Michael to discuss Alonzo's theory.

Storytellers Note - 'Daniel' is now Humanity 4 due to a diablerie that resulted from a frenzy caused by his clans inclination towards desiring kindred vitae. The players character has pulled in a number of boons to obtain an occasional 'fix' of kindred vitae to allow him limited control of this addiction but the effect of being Humanity 4 is beginning to effect his interactions with others. The player is roleplaying this change at the moment.

Scene Three - Scientia Potentia Est

Galerie Sanguine

Daniel had arranged to meet his baron at the gallery that served as the coteries original haven and was still the most secure of their properties. Using the value of the paintings within as justification, the gallery boasted one of the most sophisticated security systems that money could buy. It also benefited from a number of supernatural wards and defences.

Michael's ghoul Lisa was showing a customer around the gallery while Heather, another ghouled employee, sat behind the counter. Heather was a ghoul of the Baron of Downtown, Marius Walker, whom Michael had employed as a favour to another of 'The Fixers' ghouls, Victoria.

Victoria who acted as Marius's personal assistant considered Heather to be a useless inconvenience, and had foisted her on Michael to keep her from under her own feet. Fortunately she had proven to have a considerable knowledge of trends which had proven useful in keeping the gallery fashionable and was a surprisingly talented salesperson.

Lisa Irving - Ghoul of Michael, Heather Taylor - Ghoul of Marius

The downside was that she was almost certainly spying on them for Marius, Victoria, or more than likely, both. Michael had turned this to his advantage by using the notoriously loquacious, but amusingly naive Heather to acquire information about the goings on in Marius's organisation through supposedly casual conversation. He was reasonably sure that he was getting the better of the deal at this point as he discussed nothing of importance in her presence.

Once safe and secure in Michael's office, Daniel laid out what he had learned so far.

"So what you're telling me in effect is that Los Angeles worked better with a single strong leader overseeing the activities of all the barons? That's gratifying to know given our long-term plan for the city." stated Michael with a grin. Daniel agreed that it was somewhat ironic given Anarch ideals, but apparently a fact nonetheless.

Michael could immediately see the usefulness of such a tool, both in maintaining the masquerade and therefore keeping the Second Inquisition at bay and additionally as a tool that would enable him to match the influence of the other powerful barons. Daniel's thoughts however turned to the amount of boons that could be accumulated by the controller of such a system, effectively feeding his addiction for as long as was necessary.

Jesus Ramirez - Ventrue
Lieutenant of Salvador Garcia

Daniel also put forward his suspicion that perhaps someone already had partial access to this system. This was based on the information he had received that the gang known as 'The Blood' seemed to have emerged from their recent gang war with The Crypts Sons with far more resources intact than expected. Someone feeding them police information in advance would explain how so many of the mortal vampire hunters had escaped justice while at the same time so many of the kindred controlled Crypts Sons gang leaders had not. Michael also pointed out that very few elder kindred were computer literate so whoever created the system would certainly not have been MacNeil himself.

Daniel knew that The Blood had been at least partially funded by Salvador Garcia as a way of disrupting the Crypts Sons who were El Hermandads main rival amongst the kindred baronies. If they did have partial access to this system then one of Garcia's kindred within the city, possibly Jesus Ramirez, would be the most likely to be trusted. With Ramirez apparently destroyed, this link to the system, if it existed at all, might now be broken. "I hate to disappoint you, Daniel..." interrupted Michael. "...but I have it from a very reliable source that Ramirez escaped the Swarm's assault and fled the city to Salvador Garcia's side."

Having seen The Swarm in action on more than one occasion, Daniel had a newfound respect for Jesus Ramirez's abilities if he had managed to survive their attack and escape the city with them undoubtedly in pursuit.

Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez - Brujah

As he was listing potential problems, Michael relayed to Daniel some other pieces of information that he had acquired from his kindred contacts and allies. Firstly that Nines had been attempting to persuade Marius to re-open the Barony of the Angels, now the Barony of Downtown, to any kindred who wished to join the Anarch Free States but had no desire to align themselves to a baron. Daniel agreed with Damsel's assessment that given all the effort that Marius had taken to acquire the domain, he was highly unlikely to give it up just because Nines asked him too.

Nines didn't like the fact that the barons had split up the previously neutral ground between them and was attempting to undo that change. In fact it was Michael's part in facilitating the split that had soured his own relationship with Nines.

"There's definitely something going on with Marius at the moment..." continued Michael. "...his people are being very secretive about his movements and actions and a few I've managed to speak to seem to be going out of their way to stay on his good side. There's an undercurrent of fear that I've never seen before and they have far less independence than normal." Daniel decided to keep quiet. Especially as he'd undertaken two assassination jobs for Marius within the last month that he'd rather Michael never found out about. 

Mary - Gangrel, Bahari
'Mother' of the Children of the Wolf

"His childe 'Mary' is also trying to convince him to help her destroy some other cult, which is inevitably going to end badly for someone whether he helps her or not." "I've also spoken with Priss..."

This caught Daniel's attention as he had given serious consideration to destroying Priss on several occasions as he considered her to be both unpredictable and probably insane. Admittedly, Mary was probably insane too but she wasn't an immediate problem. He was also conscious that Priss was using her position bordering the territory between Hank of the Crypts Sons and Marius of Downtown to play the two off against each other for her allegiance. This gave her considerably more power and influence than the size of her barony would indicate. He relayed this suspicion to Michael.

"After being poorly equipped, her words not mine, by Hank for her attack on The Bloods, she is convinced that it was his plan that she be destroyed in the attack and is therefore now taking Marius's counter-offer quite seriously." Stated Michael, confirming Daniel's suspicions.  "However, I am working on a plan to keep Priss neutral and therefore continue her role as a balancing factor, but it's in it's infancy at the moment so I'll share it you when I've fine-tuned it somewhat."

Storytellers Note - He did however share it with me...and now I have more writing to do...

Gary Golden - Nosferatu
The Hollywood Warrens

Daniel then returned the conversation to the original subject. Namely which of the cities brokers of information would be the best source to help them locate the havens of Jeremy MacNeil. Given their previous discussion they decided that Marius would need to be kept in the dark for as long as possible, hopefully indefinitely. This also meant that Bertram Tung was out of the question as he was one Marius's sources and also excluded Daniel's hacker contact as he was an employee of Bertrams.

"Well that leaves Dawn Cavanagh or Gary Golden..." concluded Michael. "...which effectively means Gary is our only option. Firstly because involving Dawn means involving Isaac who we also don't want to have control of such a system and secondly because..." "...because Dawn is a two faced, lying, manipulative, blackmailer with all the morals of a rattle-snake?" interrupted Daniel. "Well, yes." agreed Michael.

Having already covered some of this with Alonzo, Daniel shared the Nosferatu's opinion that Gary Golden prided himself on his 'ask no questions' policy. As long as the price was paid, the service would be provided and it was as simple as that.

"Fine." said Michael, coming to the same conclusion as both Alonzo and Daniel. "I'll arrange a meeting with Gary at the meeting place underneath the Asp Hole club in Hollywood that the Nosferatu use, via the normal channels of course." Daniel smiled to himself as the meeting place was specifically designed so kindred like Michael could avoid venturing into the sewers. In fact it was supposedly originally built by Isaac when Isaac's childe, Ash Rivers owned the club before his disappearance in 2004.

All that remained was to see what Gary's price would be...

To Be Continued in 'The MacNeil Protocols' (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...

As this was an intro session to a brand new story a lot of time was spent discussing the handouts. A considerable introduction was also needed due to the amount of time that had elapsed since the last time the players were together.

As expected, the session was a little 'stop-start' as players asked questions to jog their memories about old plot-lines, as well as the current status of their relations with various characters.

Fortunately the players are still very invested in their characters so got back into the swing of things fairly quickly. For this first part I eased them back into things with some basic meetings, information retrieval and planning. Next time, we'll liven things up a bit.

Acknowledgements
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.”

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, Gloria Martinez is Ariadne Artiles, Allison Maller is Chloë Grace Moretz, Henrique 'Hank' Boyd is Michael Clarke Duncan, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Harvey Caplan is Harvey Keitel, David Geduld is Zachary Quinto, Louis Fortier is Eduardo Verastegui, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman, Damsel is Irina Delnova, Mariel St. John is Kate Moss, Tara Kearney is Melissa Rauch, Vannevar Thomas is Bryan Dechart, Edward Kaya is Laurence Fishburne, Lisa Irving is Amanda Righetti, Heather Taylor is Liz Vicious, Jesus Ramirez is Javier Bardem and Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez is Luis Carazo.

Everything else is from vampire related folders and searches and is as far as I know is all of the 'fair use' variety. If there's something that you feel should be attributed to some-one then feel free to let me know and I'll happily add an acknowledgement.

Vampire the Masquerade V5 - Solo Session - The Marius Contracts (Part Two)

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

Our chronicle is set in Los Angeles and features a small group of Camarilla agents sent into the 'Free States' to bring them back under Camarilla control. After a year of plotting, the coterie now controls the three North-Eastern Baronies and has successfully weakened several others. Unfortunately other Barons have used the chaos they have created to consolidate their own positions.

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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

Solo Session - 'The Marius Contracts' - Part One

The Storyteller

As Everyone Else...

The PC

Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim - Spymaster and 'Fixer'

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 beneath their picture.

Storytellers Note - Daniel's player enjoys the investigative aspect of role-playing so expect a lot of that as I usually indulge that aspect when I run solo sessions for him. His background as an assassin is also difficult to explore in a group setting.

Introduction

Garrick - Brujah
Destroyed

The current talking point across the kindred of L.A. is that an Emissary for Tara, Baron of San Diego has met his final death during a duel at the fight club of Issac 'Ike' Griffith. Apparently Garrick had been neglecting his assigned tasks to fight at the Brujah only fight club where he had gained a reputation as an effective but ill-disciplined fighter.

It seems that he inexplicably challenged one of the clubs newer members to a battle to destruction and despite warnings of the consequences by club organiser Ike, and attempts to dissuade him by the challenged party, refused to withdraw the challenge. 

His opponent, a well known and respected Brujah philosopher, and 'The Last Round' regular, named Daniel, from the group of domains collectively known as the North-East baronies, seemingly destroyed the impetuous emissary with a single decapitating blow. The Brujah present have been joking that it was a toss-up between who looked the most surprised at the success of the attack, Daniel or Garrick...

Messages to the Barons of the Anarch Free States from Tara have indicated her disappointment at the final death of Garrick, though have also contained her assurances that there will be no retaliatory measures as she is satisfied that his own foolishness was responsible. The identity of Garrick's replacement has apparently yet to be decided upon though there is certainly no shortage of ambitious San Diego kindred who would like the job.

Scene Eight - Vannevar

Marius 'The Fixer' Walker - Gangrel
Baron of Downtown

Having reported his success in the assassination, concealed within a justifiable destruction, to Marius, Daniel has been offered a second, and possibly more dangerous task.

"Excellent. Has that scratched your itch or would you be up for another job?" Daniel indicated that he'd be more than happy to take on another assignment.

"Three kindred have taken over a mountain retreat in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Santa Clarita. They are held up there with half a dozen guards, most of which are going to be ghouls or blood bound mortals. It is my belief that they are a recon party for Vannevar Thomas, Prince of San Francisco who have managed to sneak past the Anarchs of San Jose who are meant to be on the look out for such things, but that is another matter."

Daniel nodded and indicated that Marius should continue.

Vannevar Thomas - Ventrue
Prince of San Francisco

"Understand, I have no personal objections to Vannevar and his ambitions, but a wholesale move by him towards the Free States would be inconvenient for me at this time. The efficient removal of such a team would almost certainly make him reconsider any hasty moves for a while at least. 

The problem is that Vannevar and myself are...familiar...to one another and it's possible that he might discern my methods in conjunction with any assault." 

"I do however understand if this is possibly a political avenue you'd rather avoid or that the odds may seem unfavourable and would hold you in no less regard if you wished to back out now. If I am forced to eliminate them personally then I shall do so and deal with the consequences..." "They'll be there for another four days, five at the most so you at least have some preparation time if you'd like to do some recon before making a decision."

"They'll no doubt be well equipped and given their mission will be on the look out for other kindred. As before you may name a reasonable price should you succeed."

"It's going to take a fair bit of planning and you are asking me to take on odds of fifteen to one, so I'd therefore require a major boon in return..." Marius agreed, then offered any assistance he could give as long as it couldn't be traced to himself. "Plans to the building would be a useful start." stated Daniel and was unsurprised when Marius slid a set over to him.

Daniel was, of course, instantly suspicious of Marius's motives and his excuse for involving a third party seemed spurious at best. The Gangrel 'Fixer' had access to some of the most experienced killers in Los Angeles, not to mention a private army and one of the most feared shock and awe weapons in the city in the form of his childe's blood crazed force known as 'The Swarm'. Still, the chance to gain a major boon from Marius was too good an opportunity to pass up, in spite of his misgivings.

Scene Nine - Insider Knowledge

Gangrel Baronies - Under Marius's 'Protection'

Daniel was sure that the initial reconnaissance on which Marius was basing his information would have been done by the Gangrel of either Simi or Santa Clarita. Both these Baron-less domains were under Marius's protection and geographically close to the location of Vannevar's spies. The problem with soliciting their aid was that Marius had hired Daniel for expressly the reason of minimising any connection to himself. 

The other likely candidates for the recon were the three Gangrel sweepers known collectively as 'the Circle' and Daniel had no desire to deal with them at all. The one he had met had been condescending and arrogant with a superiority complex that was almost tangible. He doubted her sisters would be any more amiable.

After rejecting those ideas he decided instead to speak to one of the baronies sweepers Priya and her ghoul Abbigail. Both had worked for the Camarilla before in both recon and assault teams and had even spent time in the service of an Archon, so it was possible that they might be familiar with other teams methods. Fortunately both were quite forthcoming.

Priya - Gangrel and Abbigail - Ghoul of Priya

Priya began. "Patrols will be in pairs at the very least, to minimise the chances of mental abilities being used to effect their minds or cloud their memories." Abbigail then interrupted. "They'll be trained to resist psychic assault anyway if they're valuable ghouls, though a powerful enough kindred will still be able to punch straight through those." As Daniel had no such abilities this wasn't particularly relevant to him, but was worth remembering for future reference.

"What about weaponry?" Was Daniel's next question.

"Depends on the mission. If they expect to have to worry about other kindred they'll go with high calibre, or high cyclic rate, both if they can. If they're operating in public, then handguns, probably suppressed. If however they're out of the way like you say then expect Assault Rifles, SMG's, the works basically." "Body armour for the ghouls, too." added Abbigail. "Close combat weapons will be heavy bladed. No point trying to stop a kindred with a pen knife." 

San Francisco by Night

This was pretty much what Daniel was expecting. As he liked to kill with either precise head shots from a distance or quick and deadly blade strikes up close this shouldn't be a problem, unless something went wrong of course. "Did Marius give you any idea of clan?" asked Priya. Daniel had to admit that he hadn't.

"The leader will be Ventrue, for sure." Stated Priya. "Vannevar's a fucking snob, he doesn't think any other clan is capable of taking control of anything." "The other two will be Brujah, more than likely. San Francisco is light on Gangrel and Vannevar doesn't trust them after Xaviar dragged so many of them away from the Camarilla, even less now they're turning to the Anarchs in such high numbers. He's not keen on Nosferatu either. Like I said, a snob..."

Daniel then enquired about who amongst the notable kindred of San Francisco might be likely to assist Prince Vannevar. As Priya spoke, Daniel became more and more surprised at just how few of them seemed to be willing allies of the Prince of San Francisco.

Golden Gate Park - Gangrel Domain

"Mirko Mirkonen is about the most potent Gangrel in San Francisco. He was even offered the position of Archon and turned it down, but he's a berserker, not a scout. He's also one of the main reasons that the Kuei-jin couldn't hold San Francisco when they tried to take it from the Camarilla, so he's not really one to be ordered about."

"He's now the de-facto Primogen of the Gangrel in the city but doesn't use the title as you'd expect. He's been reinforcing his domains with any Gangrel he can smuggle into the city so Vannevar wouldn't want to owe him a favour anyway." She paused briefly and Daniel got the impression that Priya had a certain amount of respect for Mirko and possibly knew him better than she was making out.

She then continued. "Kokopell 'The Kachin' Mana is the Nosferatu Primogen and she's closer to Vannevar's rival Sara Anne Winder so it's unlikely she'd be helpful anyway if she could avoid it. Sara would, as you'd expect, use any request for help as an excuse to undermine the Prince and strengthen her own position. This more or less would limit him to using his own loyal followers."

Mirko Mirkonen, Kokopell 'The Kachin' Mana and Sara Anne Winder

Daniel didn't like to make presumptions, despite the logic behind what he had been told. Vannevar might be a typical Ventrue, but you didn't stay Prince by failing to use what assets you had available. Gangrel made good scouts and if this Ventrue had access to any, he'd certainly use them if he could. Though he did have a feeling that if there were members of Clan Gangrel in the recon team that Marius would have known and mentioned it. Priya interrupted his musing.

"This lot must have come through San Jose and that's tricky, San Jose has experienced trackers and seasoned fighters. Brujah, a few Gangrel and some Nosferatu I think. Means this team has decent skills or a lot of resources. There's also a heavy Tremere presence in San Francisco so you can't rule out sorcerous assistance either. The Tremere Regent, Luna Demian is more interested in research than politics." 

"Maybe they skirted the area completely." suggested Abbigail. "Or used the Pony Express? Vannevar certainly has the resources to pay for their services."

Interlude - The Pony Express

The Pony Express was founded by an enterprising group of Ventrue ancillae in response to the Camarilla's abandonment of electronic communications in the aftermath of the Second Inquisition. Recognising the need for a method of coordinating intercity communication across the sect, the group's founder, Elliot Praxton, assembled a group of like-minded Ventrue to found what Praxton deemed, 'The Pony Express.' 

The Express is a system of physical couriers that crisscross the nation using various modes of transportation ranging from muscle cars and unremarkable sedans, to boats, planes, and helicopters. Agents of the express in each city include Kindred and their ghouls who may be permanent fixtures of that domain, or move from city-to-city in a circuit. They operate a dizzying array of blind-letter drops, secret meets, and other anonymous forms of communication that they use to "collect the mail" in each domain. This mail ranges from heavily-encrypted flash drives to old-fashioned physical correspondence.

The Cabbie - Kindred Transporter

Express drivers are culled from the ranks of Gangrel still loyal to the Camarilla and an ever-increasing pool of young Ventrue and other ambitious Kindred. Drivers brave the perils of the open road, handing off their packages to other drivers at pre-arranged drops or occasionally making long-hauls with particularly sensitive information. Anarchs, Lupines, and the Inquisition stand in their way, but they get the mail through, never taking the same route twice, and always covering their tracks. Working 

for the Express is dangerous on the best of nights, but it is vital to the Camarilla’s survival and Praxton pays extremely well. Always the innovator, Praxton also operates a clandestine passenger service for "special" clients. 

Though an independent operator, the kindred known as 'The Cabbie' does deliveries for the Pony Express throughout Los Angeles. It's status as an Anarch domain deprives the organisation of the influence it would normally have in a Camarilla held city, so the cabbie is utilised as he has his own protection in the form of his employer, Marius 'The Fixer' Walker. Marius has also been known to loan out Gangrel under his influence to the pony express on a job by job basis and a number have become permanent employees of the organisation.

Scene Nine - Insider Knowledge (Continued)

"I wont ask why you're so interested." Said Priya. "But be careful. Vannevar has had his eye on L.A. for a while now and the main thing getting in his way was the twelve strong kindred coterie in San Jose. If he's found a reliable way of bypassing that defence then it's only a matter of time before he considers rolling in and declaring Praxis."

Daniel had heard the name of Vannevar but knew very little about him, he also had no information on the kindred of the Baronless domain of San Jose. He decided that he needed to rectify these holes in his knowledge as soon as this job was done as it seemed that both could potentially cause problems for the coterie in the future.

After thanking the pair for their help Daniel returned to his own haven and took stock of his weapon options ready for some recon of his own the following night. Obviously suppressed weapons were a priority and he carefully stripped down, maintained and then reassembled his custom pistols. Then he did the same to both his 50.cal bull-pup sniper rifle and his M4, before sharpening all his knives to a razor edge. Though his plan for the next night was merely observation he was also prepared in case things went wrong.

Scene Ten - The San Gabriel Mountains

On the slim chance that Vannevar's forces were slipping into the city to feed, Daniel allocated his two ghouls the task of looking into any patterns of missing persons cases that might indicate a feeding pattern.

Keith Chang and Andrew Francis - Ghouls of Daniel Matthews

He loaded up his car with a number of back-up weapons in case he needed a fallback position and then drove as near to his target location as was practical. As his baron had recently obtained a significant chunk of San Fernando as part of his domain, this made a convenient starting point. Daniel recalled enough of his military training to make moving through the wilderness fairly simple and his heightened senses were turned to their maximum on constant alert for danger.

Basic Perimeter Security

As Daniel reached what he believed to be the effect patrol perimeter for the forces he was aware of, he noticed something on the ground. Concealed alongside one of what passed for pathways in the heavily forested area was a trip-wire. It led to a mechanism designed to fire a shotgun shell, presumably to alert whoever set it to potential trespassers, as it was pointed into the air rather than towards the wire. On the lookout for similar devices, the Banu Haqim continued.

A few minutes later he heard activity from ahead. It was difficult to estimate distance but in his opinion they were about a mile away. He altered course to intercept but intended only to observe their path and attempt to ascertain how regular their patrols were. As Priya and her ghoul Abbigail had theorised, they were indeed patrolling in pairs. They were quite openly armed with M4 Carbines, equipped with a variety of military accessories, including night vision and were wearing body armour of a high standard. Daniel also noted that they were armed with heavy bladed combat knives. 

They moved like professionals and were presumably ex-military or former security personnel. Concealed as he was by his own supernatural gifts of Obfuscation the pair were completely unaware that they were being watched as they moved. Interested to see if their route was consistent, Daniel made himself comfortable and waited to see if they returned by the same route. About an hour later they returned the way they had came. 

Making a mental note of both their timing and probable patrol route, the assassin slipped past them and moved closer to the target location.

As he moved he noticed another device designed to indicate intruders. This one was far more sophisticated however. It consisted of an infra-red beam and receiver connected to some form of radio transmitter. This had been far better concealed than the previous item he'd discovered. As he checked for other such devices he heard the approach of a second security patrol. This focus on the second group was unfortunate as he missed a detail that might have been significant.

Storytellers Note - Unfortunately the player utterly failed several rolls that will have consequences in the future. Just so you don't think everything went his way...the previous picture might, perhaps be a clue...

Repeating his earlier observations of the first team, he discovered that this pair were similarity equipped, though had a shorter patrol route. Presumably as they were closer to the mountain retreat that served as their base. Daniel calculated that he would have enough time to circle the retreat itself before he'd need to head back to his vehicle and still have enough time to return to his haven before dawn. 

The Mountain Retreat

The mountain retreat had a single guard by the front door, which seemed to be somewhat lax given the previous precautions taken by the pairs of mercenaries making the patrols. A moment later Daniel observed a sniper on the balcony above the door. He was armed like the others though his weapon seemed to have a different sight. The Bana Haqim's hope for a method of sniping the homes occupants was foiled by the fact that all the windows were shuttered. 

He concluded that he'd need to get as many of the houses occupants outside as possible so he could eliminate as many as possible, hopefully leaving the house lightly defended and relatively unoccupied by targets. As he was musing the possibilities, he noted that someone from inside had opened the front door and was conversing with the guard. Though he couldn't be one hundred percent sure, he suspected that they were kindred. Deciding he'd need another night of reconnaissance to confirm patrol routes, Daniel quietly withdrew, skilfully avoiding both patrols as he did so. 

Scene Eleven - Responses

Daniel was pleased to discover that both patrol routes seemed to be consistent and so he could at least rely on the exterior teams acting in a consistent manner. His concerns now moved to their response times and how vigorously they reacted to a detected threat. With this in mind he concocted a simple but efficient test.

Daniel selected an IR sensor that was positioned between the two patrols and some distance from the house. He also ensured that there was adequate hiding places in clear view of it's location to which he could fall back. He then broke the beam, moved into his previously located lookout position and awaited the response.

Three teams approached the location from different directions, the two patrols and a third group of three, presumably dispatched from the main building. They converged on the target area carefully and at full alert and then instigated a thorough and professional search. Daniel listened intently to see if he could pick up any more information but the conversation was specific to the particular situation with one minor exception. One of the patrol team members was complaining about the sensors being placed too low and therefore were being triggered by none humanoid movement. A moment later he was admonished by one of the three members of the team from the house, presumably the leader.

This tall man who was armed with an SMG and had what looked like a cleaver sheathed at his waist, spoke abruptly. "You know full well that it's not just mortals wandering through the woods that we're on the alert for so the sensors stay where they fucking are. You have a problem with that then speak to Mrs Charles about it..." The hasty apology indicated that this 'Mrs Charles' was evidently not someone to be trifled with.

Fairly satisfied that luring teams to specific locations was simple enough, Daniel followed one of the patrols as it returned to it's normal duties. He learned little new other than that the patrols seemed to report in to their base about every thirty minutes.

With a plan beginning to form in his mind, the Banu Haqim returned to his car to prepare for an assault on these scouts of Vannevar the next night.

Scene Twelve - No Plan Survives...

Creating a device on a timer to trigger one of the infiltrators surveillance devices was relatively simple as his sire had used such things for a variety of purposes and had passed on some of those skills to his childe.

Daniel made a detour to the secret armoury in the sewers beneath Michael's gallery where their more dangerous and illegal weapons and military ordnance were kept. Both Vin and himself were habitual collectors of any useful weaponry that they could salvage from engagements with enemies and had amassed a deadly but admittedly eclectic selection of equipment. Vin had moved some of his own gear to his secure haven beneath the brothel that he ran for the coterie but the explosives and heavier weapons remained. By this point they had racks of shotguns, handguns and cheap copies of assault weaponry acquired from various enemies but anything of note was stored separately and taken particular care of.

The Coteries Secret Armoury
'The Good Stuff'

The Banu Haqim retrieved both the bull-pup 50. cal sniper rifle he'd acquired from Marius's ghoul Yukio and one of the M4's they'd purchased from the arms dealer Mercurio. All his ranged weapons were, of course, suppressed.

He also loaded a bag with a number of claymore mines and grenades that he and the Gangrel Sweeper Hope had retrieved from the Second Inquisition base they had assaulted earlier in the year. 

Storytellers Note - Always bear in mind that any weapon you give to an NPC could easily end up in your players hands, so plan ahead, lol. If they get too cocky just throw an enemy with high level Fortitude at them or an obfuscated one that they don't see coming. The third dot Fortitude power 'Defy Bane' is particularly annoying to any player who loaded up on dragons-breath rounds...

As prepared as possible, Daniel entered the forested and rugged terrain and moved to intercept the first of the two patrols. First blending into the shadows and then cloaking any sound of his passing, the assassin stealthily followed the first team to what he had calculated was the furthest point along their route from their base of operations.

Emerging from the woodland, he drew a suppressed pistol in each hand and neatly put a bullet through the back of each of the men's skulls. After taking a moment to remove both corpses from the path, he quickly concealed the bodies and moved towards the second team, though he took a small amount of blood from each of the dead to replenish the vitae he was using to fuel his supernatural abilities. The second team shared the fate of the first.

With the chance of him being disturbed now greatly reduced, he located one of the sensors that he'd intentionally activated on the previous night and set up his timer. He then booby-trapped the area with claymores and grenades and headed directly to the house to see how many of the guards would be lured away by his deception.

As the timer hit the thirty minute mark, Daniel's improvised device broke the IR beam. Within mere minutes three men emerged from the building and headed into the woods. A loud explosion seemed to indicate that the next stage of his plan had also succeeded.

The guard on the door reached for his radio. Presumably this communication was from someone within the house or, more irritatingly, it could be from a survivor of the explosion. He also noticed that the sniper on the first floor balcony of the house had dropped into a firing position and was scanning the forest.

With the enemy strength now cut almost in half, Daniel waited for a moment before continuing his attack, hoping that more of the team would emerge from the property to investigate.

Scene Thirteen - ...Contact With the Enemy

A kindred in tattered and burnt clothing emerged from the forest at considerable speed, his flesh was undamaged though his mouth and chest were smeared in blood. Daniel could only presume that he had fed on the mangled remains of his mortal guards in order to heal himself.

Anxious to avoid allowing them the protection of the house the Banu Haqim took aim and used his high calibre rifle to shoot the supernaturally fast kindred in the head. At this relatively close range the shell removed their head in a spectacular shower of blood, brains and skull fragments. As Daniel switched his aim towards the sniper on the balcony, he was forced to duck back into cover as the area in which  he was hidden was riddled with automatic weapon fire.

Switching to his M4, Daniel returned fire. Though his accuracy was superb, the snipers cover blunted much of the onslaught and as far as the assassin could see, he had only wounded them superficially. Realising that his current position was now becoming dangerous, he took the risky move of heading towards the main building itself. The branches and leaves between him and his attackers was next to useless against the incoming rifle rounds and Daniel was struck multiple times.

Using precious vitae to heal his wounds, Daniel fired as he moved and was satisfied to see the sniper dive into the cover of the house. Hearing several shuttered windows open and the sound of breaking glass he braced himself for more gunfire a she reached the corner of the building. Deciding that picking the lock on the side door was unnecessary under the circumstances, Daniel ripped it open with a burst of vitae enhanced strength. Unfortunately the buildings defenders had anticipated this move.

The force from several shotgun blast knocked him backwards. Reacting quickly he rolled to one side and threw a grenade into the corridor via the open door. After the detonation, he moved to enter the house. However it seemed that the Banu Haqim weren't the only kindred capable of moving with speed and stealth. A discovery he made as a heavy blade was driven into his back with supernatural strength. Evidently another of the recon teams kindred had decided to enter the fray.

With his reserves of vitae almost exhausted and his hold on his humanity already eroded by his actions over the previous year, Daniel lost his cool for the first time since his sire had betrayed him. Drawing his own sword he grabbed the arm of his attacker and severed it at the elbow before grappling them to the ground in an uncharacteristic display of brute force, over skill. Unable to resist the voice of the beast and falling to the inherent desire to taste the blood of other kindred, Daniel tore out the Brujah's throat and began to drink. Now surrendering completely to the beast, he drained them dry, and then continued to drink until even their soul had been consumed.

Storytellers Note - ...and now I have to read the section on the dice penalties for being Humanity 4...

The realisation of what he had just done was pushed to the back of his mind as he saw an expensive but practically dressed woman emerge from the front door of the house and make a break towards the forest. Presumably this was 'Miss Charles'. the Ventrue leader of the group.

Daniel covered the fifty metres between himself and his prey in a second and drove his sword through their neck, though failed to sever head from body. Using the last of their strength the Ventrue turned around and attempted to make eye-contact with their attacker. Having been neutralised in this way by a previous Ventrue quarry, Daniel was ready for the attempt to dominate his mind though the force of will necessary to resist them was almost beyond him. Now aware that her enemy was able to resist her mind control, she defaulted to more mundane means and drew a gun from within her jacket and shot her assailant in the stomach. 

As the rounds thundered into his body he drew back his arm and began to hack off her head. she ran out of bullets before Daniel ran out of strength and the third blow messily, but successfully decapitated her.

With his primary targets neutralised, the assassin entered the house to hunt down their remaining mortal followers. They didn't last long.

It took Daniel another couple of hours to drag his various victims back to the house and once all were within, started a fire that should destroy as much of the evidence as possible. He then headed back to his car and then to Downtown to report his success and claim his reward.

Epilogue

Victoria - Ghoul of Marius
Psychotic P.A

Victoria stood by Marius's collection of swords, absentmindedly cataloguing which would be the best for skinning some-one alive, when Marius himself entered his office. "You wish to discuss Daniel, I Imagine?" asked Marius. "The assault on Vannevar's people, was incredibly sloppy by his usual standards." observed Victoria, getting straight to the point. "Rushed, one might say, which is unlike him..."

"He's committed the act of Amaranth three times in less than a year. That and his clans natural inclinations are allowing the beast to exert it's influences. The beast is not subtle, it knows only that it wants..." the 'Fixer' paused as Victoria seemed like she had something to add. "It would be unfortunate to lose such an asset to a preventable problem." She stated, knowing that she was taking the conversation in what for another might be considered a dangerous direction.

"My secrets are mine and mine alone." Marius's tone had an edge to it, something that his most loyal assistant was rarely on the receiving end of. "You think I should share them with every kindred who is unable to control their impulses?" Marius exuded an intense predatory aura that he usually concealed through arcane means. The fact that he had allowed it to slip, indicated to Victoria that this was not the time to push this particular conversation.

Yukio - Ghoul of Marius
Enforcer and Assassin

"I was merely suggesting that you might consider it an option in order to preserve a useful and plausibly deniable asset..." said Victoria, sensibly backtracking."...even you yourself have admitted his usefulness." "I'll give it some thought." replied the Gangrel. The ghoul wisely decided it was time to leave.

As Victoria left the room, she found Yukio lurking nearby. She had quite obviously been eavesdropping "You raised the one thing we're not meant to discuss?" Victoria nodded, before replying. "It's one of three things, actually, but yes...I don't like wasting useful tools, especially if  it's preventable with a minimum of effort." She then continued. "But in fact I only hinted, I didn't say the name."

"Why?" asked Yukio, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Because..." Stated Victoria, as if talking to a particularly stupid child. "...If I'd have mentioned the Children of Osiris, he'd have killed me on the spot..."

To be Continued in 'The MacNeil Protocols' (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...

Well, the player made a complete hash of this one but he survived so I guess that's something. Unusually I'm going to include a player opinion in this bit, just for clarity and to show it's not just me who thought the plan was a bit rubbish, lol.

"I can blame bad dice rolling for my lack of resources at the end but in essence it was an undeveloped strategy. What I should have done, was trap the bodies of the outer patrols and allowed the radio call in to pass. That would have drawn a larger number of reinforcements to the traps. I could have then considered triggering one of the alarms and ambushed survivors  before moving on the house. I should also have taken one of the radios to monitor their communications."

After some discussion with the player we've decided to tie the mess he made of it into a development of his character. A realisation that his humanity is slipping and that he needs to do something about it. So now I have another set of sub-plots to write and integrate... sigh...

Still. I'm all for character development and redemption arcs so we'll see what happens.

Acknowledgements
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.”

I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Dr Matthews is Mads Mikkelsen, Garrick was Bob Sapp, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Vannevar Thomas is Bryan Dechart, 'Priya' is Gabrielle Union and Abbigail is Jessica Alba, Keith Chang is Daniel Dae Kim, Andrew Francis is Ray Stephenson, Victoria is Lilith May and Yukio is Jamie Chung.

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.