Vampire: The Masquerade - Who Wants To Live Forever?

[Tale_Weaver]

Welcome to the Game! We will be playing Mon-Fri. Check the board at least once every 24 hours so that you can keep up with what's going on. I will be making posts between 4pm and 7pm (and later if need be). If you are visiting this thread I ask that you please not make any posts if you are not part of the game.

 

[ladymermaid]

*Meredith twiddles her thumbs while waiting for the live-game summary*

 

[Strider_Koln]

OOC: Finally found it after a bit of Google-Fu... fortunately it seems I didn't miss much yet.

 

[izillama]

OOC: Yeah, I just stumbled in to this again myself. Let the games begin!

 

[Tale_Weaver]

The City of Angels

Passionate and fiery, Los Angeles burns with an excitement found in no other city. It has become the center of fashion, art -- and the Anarch Movement. Fifty years ago, the streets ran red with Elder blood, and the anarchs claimed the city for themselves. They stood poised to make it a land unparalleled in Kindred history.

Now it is unparalleled in violence. The anarchs who swore eternal brotherhood when they drove out the Camarilla have formed gangs and now battle each other nightly for control of the city's neighborhoods. The leaders of the Revolt can only shake their heads in sadness, for their speeches fall on deaf ears. On all sides enemies gather, drooling at the opportunity Los Angeles presents.

Now in recent months the Camarilla have made large steps towards taking back the city. With the invasion of the Kue'jin, the anarchs were spread too thin and the Camarilla were able to overcome the obstacles that have kept them at bay for so long. An ambitious Ventrue named Victoria St. John has set herself up as Prince with the backing of some powerful elders. Kindred from all over the country have been called to step into the long empty ranks of primogen, justicars, sheriffs and the like. It appears that the Camarilla weren't the only ones who took advantage of the anarchs dropping their defense, the Sabbat have been much more active in the city as of late and rumor has it that a vampire from outside the city is now leading them in their own campaign for control of LA.

Locations

The City of Los Angeles itself is divided into several areas, as far as the vampires are concerned. There is south central Los Angeles, which is controlled by Mohammed al-Muthlim and his Crypt’s Sons, while El Hermandad controls East L. A. Louis Fortier oversees West Los Angeles from his estate in Beverly Hills. Very few vampires live in the eastern San Fernando Valley, but many travel there at night to feed. But Downtown, Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills are what most Kindred think of when they think of Los Angeles. With almost 60 vampires living in 55 square miles, this area has one of the greatest concentrations in the United States.

The Downtown area is heavily controlled by the Camarilla. Victoria's estate and corporate tower is located here. There was an agreement between all kindred of the city under anarch rule that this area is a free feeding ground. That agreement still stands under the Camarilla and neonates who are new to the city can come here to feed without worry that they will anger one of the barons or the many gangs. This is also the location of the infamous Succubus Club, the largest Kindred-owned club in the country. Kindred and kine from all walks of life come here to dance, feed, deal drugs and find sex. The “Barony of the Angels,” as they jokingly refer to it, tends to be for those who find gang life unattractive or who are too weak to qualify for, or survive long in, a gang. The intellectuals, fashionplates and politicos are to be found here, as well as the rejects and the crazies.

The other type of Kindred found here is the newcomer. "A Taste of L.A.", the one landmark in Los Angeles known to Kindred the world over, sits on the eastern edge of the barony. Anarchs new to L.A. head there as soon as they hit town, knowing that they will get a friendly welcome and a chance to orient themselves.

The most important Kindred in the barony live in the Hollywood Hills, overlooking either the chaotic streets of Hollywood the quiet, orderly streets of the San Fernando Valley on the other side. Full of small pockets of humanity, the Hills make a perfect haven for Kindred. Most kine here would not find it odd that their neighbors only go out at night; they are themselves engaged in activities far stranger than a little bloodsucking. Toreador elders hunted here before the Revolt, and some of their huge, gloomy mansions still stand. Many of the Toreadors have returned with the coming of the Camarilla.

On the flats below the Hills lies Hollywood, where the bulk of the L.A. vampires make their havens. Harvey Wilcox, a prohibitionist from Kansas who came to L.A. in 1883 and started buying land in the Cahuenga Valley, actually developed Hollywood as a religious community. Mrs. Wilcox christened the place in 1887 after hearing the name from a woman on the
East Coast. At night, Hollywood presents a picture that would totally bewilder the Wilcoxes, and the Gabrielino Indians who used to wander through these same flatlands. East-west streets such as Hollywood Boulevard, the Sunset Strip, Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue slash through the darkness. Their garishly lit sidewalks are crowded with punks, junkies, dealers, muggers, pimps, hookers, as well as tourists and honest citizens out for a night on the town. Along the boulevards lie restaurants, nightclubs, tourist traps, leather stores and endless rows of boutiques. Between the streets lie huge pools of darkness, where the muggers prey, the deals go down and the Kindred feed.

One of the most famous sites in Hollywood is The Barn, where The Squaw Man, one of the first films made in Hollywood, was filmed in 1913. Probably the most visible landmark is the Hollywood sign (which originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND, the name of a development being built below the sign) with 50-foot-high letters set on the side of Mt. Lee. Well-known movie and television companies located here include the Nestor Film .Company (Hollywood’s first studio), Paramount, Raleigh, Charlie Chaplin Studios, and
A X (built on the old Vitagraph site). The world-famous Brown Derby restaurant was originally located on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Vine Street. Both the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Max Factor Museum are located here.

 

[Strider_Koln]

OOC: Thanks for that, TW. So where are we? Are we picking right up where we left off at the Succubus Club?

 

[Tale_Weaver]

Live Game 10/08/12

OOC: Thanks for that, TW. So where are we? Are we picking right up where we left off at the Succubus Club?

OOC: Yes, we're picking up right where we left off. Btw, the OOC board is going to stay the same. You can get to it at this link.

9 months have past since the events in Denver. Lacey got Clover and Koln to Los Angeles safely and soon after Clover and Koln were settled, Lacey disappeared. Clover and Koln managed to get a comfortable apartment in Santa Monica. The apartment is above a French restaurant and costs about $1,800 a month without utilities. There are 2 bedrooms and it's small but enough space for the two of them considering that neither one of them has much in the way of furniture.

One particular night on October 28th, 2010, just days before Halloween, Clover is on the computer doing schoolwork for the University of Phoenix and Koln is staring at the wall waiting for it to tell him the meaning of life when there is a knock on the door. Clover opens it to find Lacey. Lacey says "Hi!" and Clover slams the door in her face. Koln opens the door and let's Lacey in. She acts rather oblivious to the fact that they haven't seen her in 9 months! She says that she has received a letter from a vampire named Alex who she knew when she lived in New Orleans, claiming that he was "the love of her life". The letter is requesting that she meet him in a fancy Italian restaurant called Osteria La Buca in Hollywood. The letter encourages her to bring "friends". Clover threatens Lacey that if she leads them on another crazy adventure that makes them have to travel halfway across the country again that she will shove Lacey's pigtails down her throat! They both agree to go and Lacey drives them to the restaurant.

When they get there they find Alex waiting for them in the back of the restaurant with his two ghouls...and an owl. After Lacey glomps him they sit down and he tells them that the reason he sent Lacey the letter is because he fears for his life. In 1995 he created a vampire from a corpse that he found using some of Lacey's Malkavian blood and some Nosferatu blood from a vampire named Phil. He then bound them together using his own Tremere blood. The experiment resulted in a vampire-like creature who was completely insane! Alex tied the monster down and staked him through the heart, leaving him for the sun. But the next night Alex found the stake at his doorstep and the monster had escaped. Going under the name Paracelsus, he has tormented Alex for some time seeking revenge. Alex asks the group if they will destroy Paracelsus as because of his political status in the Tremere clan, he cannot make such a bold move at the moment as he is next in line to become Regent of his chantry. He believes that this might be a plot set by one of his brethren to usurp his position and become Regent themselves. Hew even offers the group $50,000 as a reward for completing this task!

Clover takes some convincing but eventually the group decides to help Alex. Alex tells them that his third ghoul, Meg, is on a reconnaissance mission for him to find a Nosferatu named Gillian who has information regarding Paracelsus and his whereabouts.

During the course of the conversation, Clover and Koln notice the waiter coming to their table with some flaming glasses on his tray. They stop him and he snaps out of some kind of trance he was in. He says he doesn't know why but he thought that Alex had ordered to have glasses of flaming Everclear poured on his head. Koln noticed that the owl didn't do anything when the waiter was approaching either.

The group leaves the restaurant and for some reason they start checking inside the truck for something (I think it was Lacey's dress?). Lacey finds an invitation for a gathering held by the new "Prince of LA" that night at the Succubus Club, the largest night club in California as well as the country. Lacey asks if Clover and Koln would like to come along and get a chance to meet the other vampires in the city. They agree and after finding Lacey's dress, they head back to their haven to change. They do that, and then head for the Succubus Club. On their way there the DJ comes on the radio and announces the trivia question for that night. The prize is $100 cash but for the players it would have given them a shiny new achievement, worth 10xp. The question was "Who was the director of the FBI who authorized the illegal surveillance of Martin Luther King?” The answer was J. Edgar Hoover and nobody got it.

The group arrives at the Succubus Club and they find Alex at the bar with a vampire they have never seen before. She is a Gangrel named Meredith. Lacey gets jealous and demands to know what is going on between Meredith and Alex, Alex says that Meredith has no sire and that he and the Tremere of LA have been offering her a temporary home until she is able to either get accepted into one of the wandering Gangrel packs that roam outside the city or find her own way in vampire society while following the traditions and upholding the masquerade.

Koln wanders off and finds a group of Brujah who are slam-dancing on the main dance floor. The leader of the group introduces himself as Smiling Jack and gives Koln a flyer for a meeting that is taking place after the gathering. He says that it would be in Koln's best interest to attend as they are going to talk about recent events in the city.

Clover and Meredith leave Alex and Lacey at the bar and sit down in a booth with a vampire named "Sir". Sir is dressed like the 6th Doctor with bright mismatching colors, he stands out horribly in the crowd of black-clad goth/punk attire that most of the clubgoers are wearing. Sir is feeding on some drunk humans in the booth. Clover and Meredith ask Sir if he knows a vampire named Gillian and if so, where they could find her. Sir says that nobody has seen Gillian or any of the Nosferatu recently. He does however suggest a place to look though, a bar called The Cave located in Santa Monica. He said to tell the owner/bartender Horace that they know Sir and he will let them into the VIP lounge.

The group gets back together again and it is time for the ceremony to start. Any vampires in the club start to make their way to the upstairs balconies, a popular place for only kindred and maybe a few ghouls and blood dolls. Most humans at the club feel an uneasiness when approaching that area when kindred are up there and tend to stay away, giving them privacy. Clover, Koln, Meredith, Alex, and Lacey all go up to the balcony, they get their first glimpses at the elders and other powerful vampires in the city who can easily wipe a neonate from existence with little effort. They get to meet the Tremere Regent Nicolai "Hi crazy!" and the Malkavian primogen Dr. Alistair Grout.

The ceremony proceeds and the Prince Victoria St. John introduces herself to everyone and announces the Camarilla's presence in the city and what it means for all kindred. She is met with many boos and jeers from certain members of the audience but there seems to be overwhelming support for her and the Camarilla. It is apparent that they have been absent in the city for a long time. Victoria says she hopes to work alongside the Anarchs rather than fight with them. It is safe to say the Anarchs probably feel otherwise.

So after the speech, all of the kindred, especially the elders, go downstairs to rock out to The Cure. This is where we left off, the group is still in the club, the main band has taken stage. Most of the vampires have either started to leave or are listening/dancing to the music. Alex will probably take his leave and Meredith can decide if she wants to stay or not. If she does decide to stay she can follow the other players to wherever they decide to go.

 

[izillama]

Clover eyed her companions with a volatile mixture of impatience, boredom, and contempt. Without thinking, her arms came up to cross in front of her chest and she began tapping a black patent kitten heel repeatedly to pass time: One of her unwilling habits.

What was taking so long!? These people had been doing nothing but staring at each other for what felt like hours doing and saying nothing! Were there any thoughts batting around in those undead heads of theirs? Well, they may have an entire afterlife to squander on precious seconds, but time was money to Clover and she was done wasting it.

Breaking the reverie of her companions, she finally managed to grind out with clipped courtesy, "Well, while this little get-together has been most entertaining, I'm afraid that the good Father and I must take our leave of you, and Lacey here is, unfortunately, our ride. Koln? If you haven't any other plans for this evening, perhaps we could return to the apartment? I'm sure these," she swept over Alex and Meredith with an air of imperious disdain, "people have other things do to than entertain us, yes? Shall we?"

Clover was well aware of how mocking polite her speech had been, but she felt it was all the better to get her hint across. She wanted nothing to do with these strangers. The sooner they were away from them, the better!

OOC: Though, out of character, I know that Clover is probably about to be dragged to this meeting that Koln was invited to. But hey, I figured I'd give it a try.

 

[Strider_Koln]

"Ah, but four-leafed one, you are of ze political animal, no? You should be all about shaking babies, kissing hands, wheeling and dealing. We have been invited by a nice pirate aboard his ship tonight. I would like to make him a prophet by so appearing there, and inquiring into their Christendom, while making nicey-nice with the lawlessly lawful ones."

In other words, Koln suggests meeting with the Anarchs, if you didn't quite catch that.

Koln places Socrates on his shoulder, "This will be my polly."

 

[izillama]

Clover tilted her head in understanding, but she was still uneasy about the prospect. She began to speak to Koln as though Alex and Meredith weren't there, "True, Koln, although remember that I didjust offer to declare ourselves to Prince Victoria tomorrow evening. We don't really know much about these Anarchs; and certainly not any more than we know about the Camarilla. She made it sound as though she doesn't want aggression between the two parties. But in truth, in bending a knee to one while lending an ear to the other, could that not be taken as something treasonous? I think it would be better to tread lightly, especially when we have no footholds here in this city to save us, should we falter."

"Anyway, I know you won't be swayed to avoid this meeting. I wouldn't suggest us staying neutral, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to declare adamantly for the one side while, as said, making sure to play nicely with the other. Only, Koln? Might I suggest, if we must attend, that we do so quietly? We can go and find out more about this city and her vampires, but I think it would be best if we steered clear of drowning with them and stick to our own lifeboat. Yes?"

OOC: In short: Let's go, but Koln had better mind his own business and remember his Camarilla roots.