Alastair “Al” Ardent – Daeva (Zelani), Firebrands

Zachary “Zach” Kovalenko – Ventrue (Rötgrafen), Dragons

Alistair Grout – Ventrue (Malkavian), Dragons (nominally)

Damsel – Gangrel (Bruja), Firebrands
The Gargoyle – Gargoyle
The Lasombra – Ventrue (Khaibit), Unbound
Maximillian Strauss – Mekhet (Tismanu), Dragons
Mercurio – Independent Ghoul
Ming Xiao – Anakim, Hunger for Power
Nines Rodriguez – Daeva (Bruja), Firebrands

David Bowie – Heroes

The Decemberists – The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
Heart – Barracuda

Al and Zach “dealt” with the Circle of the Crone and made their deal with Zygaena. Ming Xiao appeared
at a convenient moment to reveal she and LaCroix framed Nines for Grout’s murder. However, now able
to lie to the prince, they began to amass forces against the despot LaCroix. However, the Invictus Lord
seemed to be one step ahead, and offered amnesty to Nines, disrupting Al and Zach’s attempt at building
a coalition. The boys then tried to meet with Nines, but a frame job forest fire set off a whole gang of
werewolves, who didn’t take kindly to the three vampires’ presence. Al and Zach narrowly escape, only
to be rescued by Smilin’ Jack, who reveals LaCroix’s put a bounty out on them. However, the old Kindred
introduces them to a new ally: the very much not-dead Alistair Grout…
Al and Zach drive through the night with the not-Final Dead Alistair Grout. The boys interrogate him as to
why he’s been sending emails, and why he faked his death. He simply states that he wished to “help”, and
that he saw potential in them. He says he faked his demise because Prince LaCroix was about to betray
him (as he did indeed do with Ming Xiao), and because Grünfeld Bach was conveniently closing in.

Al and Zach contemplate fleeing the city, and Grout even offers to drive them to an airport. However, Al
is insistent on getting revenge; Zach is all in as well. Grout offers advice and surreptitious wheels to get
around town. They ask him if he has any particular plan, though they’re suspicious of the “Malkavian”, as
the horrors of his mansion/lab are still fresh in their minds. Grout claims to not have any plans relevant
to the boys — he and Jack have their own plans. Al wonders about that association, and whether Jack
knew about Grout’s false death before or after Nines was framed. Al hadn’t considered that Jack might
have a bigger agenda than just screwing with the powers that be.

Grout suggests that their first major priority would be to deal with Ming Xiao, as she likely has the key to
the Ankaran Sarcophagus. He also says the Carthians are likely to help, now that they’ve been well and
truly burned by LaCroix. He tells them the Firebrands are holding up in Hollywood, and asks if he should
take them there.

At the Lucky Star Hotel, the boys find most of the leadership of the Carthians stuffed in a small room.
There’s also a severed human head sitting in a cooler; Damsel tells them Nines brought it. With that, an
almost impossibly scarred and wounded Nines Rodriguez makes his presence known. Apparently he got
the better of the werewolf the other night, though only just barely. He’s disappointed that the head
turned back into a human.

The boys explain the Ming Xiao situation, and what really happened to Grout (Damsel is suitably outraged
that Grout remains living). He agrees that the Carthians will help take down the Chinatown leader, though
Nines himself says he won’t be of much use. Al asks if either he or Damsel have seen Jack lately, but
Damsel merely shrugs and notes that the old man comes and goes as he pleases. That settled, Al suggests
they pay a visit to the Ordo Dracul, who might have some information on “beasts” or whatever it is Ming
is.
NINES
I’m beyond caring at this point why you drag a Dragon with you everywhere.
AL
He is my best friend.
ZACH
That is a complete and utter lie.
The guys head into downtown to meet with Strauss. Downtown is crawling with vampires and ghouls,
most of them Invictus and armed, and brand new to the Requiem, from the looks of it. Al grouses. “Hey,
remember how our childer were slaughtered because we have to keep the population down? I don’t think
that’s a thing anymore.”
Grout knows the way to Strauss. His former affiliation with the Dragons apparently gave him the privilege
of knowing where the Kogaion lairs.

Zach tells Strauss they need to know how to kill Ming Xiao, but Strauss (who doesn’t seem to care that
both of them are under a blood hunt) is resistant. He’s not sure getting the Ordo involved suits his
interests. Al argues that disposing of Ming prevents more chaos from spreading throughout the city, and
he knows Strauss is surprisingly dedicated to maintaining the Traditions, as far as Dragons go. Strauss
agrees that this is a good argument, but he wants something first: The Carthians are going to have to make
a concession.

AL
Uh, I don’t know that I can really promise anything. I’m pretty low on the totem
pole.
STRAUSS
You are the most active Firebrand in the city at the moment. Nines Rodriguez barely
holds on by the skin of his fangs. That Damsel woman is a bomb waiting to go off.
And Smiling Jack is no leader. You are the man of the moment. Your Kindred among
the Carthians won’t follow you forever, but they will right now.
Strauss’s conditions are as follows: The Carthians will honor the previous agreement they made about
Therese Voerman being the next prince, but she will be allowed to be openly Invictus. The Carthians will
retain control of their territories, but Santa Monica will become a First Estate holding. Al reluctantly
agrees.
AL
You’re aware of Therese’s little…problem?
STRAUSS
Yes. For a long time.
With that, Strauss offers them a trump card, if they can get it to agree to help them. There is a powerful
gargoyle hiding in Hollywood, a creature that would be more than a match for Ming Xiao if used properly.
Strauss warns that it detests Kindred, however, so the boys had best be careful. If it won’t acquiesce, he
has no doubt that their mutual gifts for controlling others will come in handy. With that, he dismisses
them from his sanctum.

The mention of the gargoyle clicks something together in Al’s mind, something that he’s been obsessed
with since he first met Therese and Janette. He realizes this outcome is what Strauss has been working
toward all along — usurping LaCroix’s Invictus with one run by Therese, and sidelining the “disorderly”
Carthians. He was likely the one who gave her the gargoyle to protect the art gallery.

***

Over the next few nights, the boys (and Grout) move around the city trying to find allies. Al suggests that
the revenants on the Santa Monica Pier might be willing to help. Some of the revenants are resistant,
especially considering that they never saw Copper again after the last time the boys were here, but one
of them gets the others to agree if they’re all given the true Embrace. The boys agree, and as a show of
good faith, Zach Embraces their leader. For the rest of them, the boys say that’ll have to wait until after
they come through against Ming and LaCroix.

***

Al suggests Zach’s strange sire, the Lasombra, might also be useful, though Zach is extremely reluctant to
have anything to do with him. They tell him he’s free to move around now that the Circle of the Crone
are gone, and they try to convince him that defeating Ming Xiao will help him deal with his “bloodline
problem”. Al even suggests this has something to do with the red star in the sky, but he is skeptical. “The
star is a portent. It is a sign of things, not the cause of things.” He also notes that the red star only appeared
recently, and Ming has been in town since the last conflict between the Invictus and Carthians.

The boys argue Ming appeared when things started going strange with the blood of vampires in the city,
and she even brought a very strange clan of vampires with her. He’s somewhat unconvinced. Al decides
to make a more concrete offer: Ming Xiao’s body. That does intrigue him, and he tells them when they
decide to assault Chinatown, he’ll be there.

***

The guys decide they’re going to need some firepower, but they don’t think Mercurio will be willing to
help. However, Grout suggests (or rather, hints), that Mercurio isn’t as loyal to the prince as it would
seem, and that “For a drop of blood, he can be very compliant.” The boys do note that Mercurio has never
seemed terribly loyal to LaCroix — ghouls in L.A. are usually weirder when it comes to their masters, as
Heather and Therese’s ghoul Vandal have shown. He wonders if Mercurio hasn’t been getting blood from
multiple sources, rather than only using LaCroix as a source. Or maybe the notoriously bitchy LaCroix
managed to mistreat him enough that it broke the blood bond. They decide to risk it. At Mercurio’s
apartment, they find him in high spirits. He’s actually happy to see them for once: Because so many people
are preparing for war, and so many of those people want them in particular dead, he’s almost been
cleaned out of his inventory. Al and Zach don’t know how to take that, but Mercurio is happy to supply
them. “Won’t LaCroix mind?” asks Al. “Who the fuck cares?! It’s a goddamn fire sale!”

Mercurio hooks them up with some grenades, body armor, and a machete for Al. He sends them on their
way with a song in his heart.

***
Speaking of ghouls, the boys make time to deal with theirs.

Al decides to Embrace Heather. He figures she’s practically got a parasitic personality at this point, and
this way they have another Kindred for their revolution. Heather is all too eager for the Embrace, and Al
has a pang of fear as she dies in his arms.

Meeting her at the Hollywood graveyard, as usual, Zach decides to let Chastity go. She’s pretty
miserable/conflicted, having betrayed the hunters, but the Vinculum assures she won’t retaliate. Zach
apologizes for using her, tells her to get out of town. She thanks him, and tells him he should do that
himself. She offers a kiss on the cheek and bids him farewell. Nearby, Romero is digging a grave….

***

On Grout’s advice, they then move on to the “hero” Yukie. The boys reason that she was here to kill Ming
Xiao; Ming merely put off the inevitable. Zach figures she has a death wish anyway. Yukie is willing to
meet, but seems close to despondent, totally aimless without quarry. She does remark Al looks quite pale,
though; he takes slight offense.
AL
Do I look bad?
ZACH
You look like you’re dying of consumption in a way that makes you look very
beautiful.
AL
Thank…you?
The guys feel guilty using Yukie as a pawn in the game, but at this point they need all the help they can
get. They convince her this is the only way she’ll make the pain go away, and she agrees.

***

Finally, they break into the long abandoned Oriental Theater in Hollywood to try to meet with the
gargoyle. The boys manage to get into the main theater before the creature gets the literal drop on them.
It’s an 8 foot tall, 6 foot wide, hulking stone monster, equipped with an enormous club that seems to be
a part of its hand. It doesn’t take kindly to the boys’ presence. It demands to know who they are and what
they’re doing in its domain. It rants about Kindred being slavers, and that worst of all Kindred, the Dragons.

Al does most of the talking, as Zach knows he’ll just set the thing off. The creature is more or less hostile
to every suggestion or comment Al makes, but slowly (slowly), he manages to whittle him down. He
suggests that Ming Xiao is the worse slaver of all, much worse than the Dragons, and even worse
than…Strauss?

The creature reacts violently to Strauss’s name, as Al correctly deduces that its former master is the
Dragon leader. It asks how anyone could be worse than Strauss. Al tells it that Ming Xiao spreads fear and
exploits humans more than any other Kindred.
Eventually the gargoyle agrees on two conditions. It will attack Ming Xiao in her lair, but it wants
recognition under the new regime, and to be treated as an equal. And it wants to “speak” with Strauss. It
makes not promises on killing the Dragon, if he won’t listen to it.

***

Zach decides to pay a visit to the Sworn of the Axe. They’ve been looking for him to join up for a while,
but Zach has always viewed them as extremists and sadomasochists. However, they know some tricks of
the trade, and Zach figures if he finally gets on board, they might come along for the assault. It also might
please Strauss.

The Axe refuse to come along, but they do make Zach an offer in exchange for joining up. They have a
little procedure they call Surgical Heart Removal…

***

Throughout all of this, Al keeps wanting to talk to Jack. Grout claims he’s working…

“This city’s been kicking us around for a while now. Let’s kick back.”
—Al

The guys coordinate with Yukie and develop a plan. The boys and their team will assault the Golden Lotus
where Ming hides out in the flesh world. Yukie can create a simple entry into Ming’s lair for just the boys,
but she’ll need time to create a portal big enough to let the gargoyle and herself into the “heart.” To do
that, she’s going to need to boys to get in there so she can pinpoint the location, and then for them to
hold off Ming Xiao in her true form for at least a few moments.

The fight is fast and brutal. The Jiang Shi fight scrappy, almost suicidal in their devotion, just like the fight
the boys had with the spy back in Santa Monica. The Carthians are winning, keeping things at the front
and away from Al and Zach. Fortunately, they have intelligence on the back door: The ghoul informant,
Chin Ma, who spoke with Strauss a while back was more than happy to get his regnant out and sell out
Ming. With the help of the Lasombra, they find their way to the main court yard at the centre of the
temple.

As the fight rages, Yukie opens the portal, and the boys rush on in. They find themselves in a strange
landscape that looks like an ancient Chinese temple, like a real version of what the Golden Lotus is
pretending to be. They see a whole gang of soldiers in the distance, who immediately swarm them. The
boys quickly realize these men aren’t real people, but are actually a pair of dream beings that are a part
of the landscape. Al lobs a grenade at them, and Zach starts to tear through them with his claws, though
they do a fair bit of damage to the boys.
Eventually, the boys manage to fight their way through. Al is reminded of his Dream Visions from the night
before, and realizes much of the landscape is an illusion, much smaller than it actually appears. Knowing
that, he leads Zach through a gate, and the boys find themselves in another chamber of the lair.

Now “inside” the temple, the guys find themselves avoiding enormous tentacles, slick green that smash
through the walls and try to crush them. Al barely escapes being smooshed, his body armor melting away
from the slime of the limbs. The boys also find themselves avoiding pitfalls and other traps. Fortunately,
the brute force of the tentacles is no match for Al and Zach’s ability to run away from things.

Eventually, the guys find their way to the heart, where they find a throne, occupied by ghostly apparition
of Ming Xiao.

ZACH
Is that really you?
MING XIAO
Part of me…part of me is dealing with the others you left behind. What are you
doing here?
AL
We’re going to stop you. I guess?
MING XIAO
Do you even know what I was trying to do?
AL
Open the sarcophagus and achieve ultimate power.
MING XIAO
You do blather on so much. Oh well…I’ll be here soon.
Al lobs a grenade at the apparition just as the back wall and the throne explode forth with Ming Xiao’s
Horror, the Architeuthis, an enormous half-human, half-squid abomination.

Al and Zach only just manage to hold the creature off. They use one last grenade to deprive it of tentacles,
and just as the enraged creature prepares to end the two Kindred, Yukie tears through reality with a
crossbow shot. She and the gargoyle rush Kool-Aid Man through the verge, and descend on Ming Xiao,
just as Al and Zach jump back through into the real world.

The rest of the fight doesn’t take long, but it’s costly. The gargoyle returns through the verge with the
broken body of Ming Xiao…and of Yukie. “This one fought valiantly,” it says. It then hands off the dead
Ming Xiao to Lasombra, who disappears into the night. It also hands the boys the weighty key of the
Ankaran Sarcophagus.

The remaining Jiang Shi are happy to surrender. Whatever magic Ming Xiao had over them seems to be
broken.

As the night ends, and the boys try to determine their next move, they receive an email
from Beckett. He tells them he’s leaving L.A. in a few nights, and that he wishes them the
best of luck in their endeavors.
 BECKETT
To make a long story short, it’s been such a pleasure working with you both, and if
you manage to survive, I have a proposition I’d love to discuss with you. I have a
private jet waiting at LAX; come on by before I leave on the 5th of July, and we can
talk it out. Oh, and one more thing before I sign off! Some advice…

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