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

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

Chastity – Ghoul
Chunk – Chunk
Damsel – Gangrel (Bruja), Firebrands
Gorgeous Gary Golden – Nosferatu (Lygos), First Estate
Isaac Abrams – Daeva (Toreador), Firebrands
Maximillian Strauss – Mekhet (Tismanu), Dragons
Ming Xiao – Jiang-Shi, Unbound
Mitnick – Nosferatu (Lygos), First Estate
Mr. Ox – ???
Romero – Ghoul
Wong Ho – Mortal

Henry Hall & the BBC Dance Orchestra – The Teddy Bear’s Picnic
The Ink Spots – Do I Worry?

Zach bonds Chastity the hunter further into being a proper ghoul, and commands her to spy on her
confederates. Al follows the trail of the mysterious snuff film Isaac Abrams is after, and he and Zach get a
lead from the gross proprietor of a local porno store. They end up on the backlot of an exploitation movie
studio, and fight off a horrible thing Al dubs a “Fester”. The missing tape finally recovered, they head into
the Hollywood Hills to track down its creator. The meet a gregarious, shapeshifting Tzimisce, a Kindred of
the Circle of the Crone (who they previously heard on the radio). As he warns of a “red star”, they manage
to burn him to ash, but not before his horde of monsters begin their pursuit…
Zach realizes too late that he’s lost Al. Shortly after they escape into the sewers below the mansion,
pursued by the Festers, Zach hears a loud thud, and then nothing at all. Al is gone, and the monsters are
still at his heels. He doesn’t have time to go back to look. After crawling through the drainage pipes, he
finds headroom, and runs as fast as he’s ever run in his life.

He escapes the creatures, but he finds himself alone, wounded, and covered in sewage. He contemplates
that the creature they fought was likely a Tzimisce, the bloodline that created the Odious Chalice, and
whom Pisha mentioned once. Putting that aside, he finds that his phone has miraculously survived the
journey; he uses the compass app on it to try to navigate back toward downtown Hollywood, and perhaps
toward the Nosferatu’s warrens.

Eventually, he finds a door, looking to lead into an old maintenance room used by city workers. He finds
it’s locked; he knocks. A voice responds, asking for help. Zach asks what he can do, but the voice asks what
year it is, claiming he “came down to fix the walls” in 1978. Zach is skeptical, and the voice responds by
becoming more sinister.
I’m dead, you know. And you’re going to die here, too…

The voice starts to scream and wail, and bangs on the door, demanding to be let out. Zach checks the door
again, and finds it’s now unlocked…but no one is inside. The air is stale, and the room seems to just be an
old storage closet. Inside he finds some old maintenance reports. Dated around 15 years ago, it mentions
flooding and repair work, but it also notes that “reports of people living [t]here are false.” Zach assumes
this is referring to the Haunts, but he can’t be sure.

Zach steals an old wrench, and heads out. After about an hour, he finds his way to an old pump station
and a cistern. He hears footsteps in the distance; he calls out, and he realizes it’s the Festers, and curses
himself for assuming they gave up. He sees shapes flowing down the way he came in, and realizes the
small horde from before has been joined by larger creatures. With nowhere else to go, he dives into the
cistern. He climbs up some piping up to another maintenance door, and with a couple good kicks, knocks
down the rusted old door.

He finds himself on a catwalk over a larger, deeper cistern. A humanoid figure is standing at the end of it.
It looks like a skeleton with flesh stapled to it, and screams “YOU LET ME OUT!” The creature smashes its
fists down on the walk, and Zach’s half collapses. Zach manages to jump on to the other end, but the
creature is gone. The Festers are starting to catch up, even climbing over the walls, so he makes another
run for it.

Ahead, he finds another walkway, and another door. He goes through and locks the Festers out. He finds
an empty cistern, but one that seems to have been modified…and not by the city. There’s an old, operating
computer nearby; it looks like it was kitbashed into the interface of the some pump controls. It uses a
command prompt interface. It looks like it’s meant to open a seal on top of the cistern. He tries to access
the computer, but as he does, the interface seems to fall apart into nonsense, and he sees a horrifying
face looking back at him. It speaks.

Thanks for letting me out, boss…

Blood starts to leak out of the computer — Zach tries to touch the monitor, but it turns to water, and
collapses onto everything. Zach has a moment of freaking out…but then the illusion fades. The computer
comes into focus again; it doesn’t look like it ever operated. He hears the grate on the cistern open.

Nowhere else to go, Zach dives into the cistern. He falls into a massive cavern, smashing into an
underground lake. He bobs up to the surface, and swims to shore; there’s a dock fashioned out of garbage.
There are tunnels leading from it, seemingly purpose built and lit by old Christmas lights and lanterns.

Zach realizes he’s found the Nosferatu.

He starts to explore; he realizes they’re using garbage to produce biomass to power the place. The Haunts
have gone green. He wanders the tunnels for a while, finding various bits and pieces of architecture
apparently stolen from the surface and integrated into rooms. He comes to a set of double doors, leading
into a larger chamber.

There’s a long table, with plates and cutlery set out for a feast. Dead rats adorn the plates, and three
skeletons are set out as if they’re dinner guests. A record player in the corner comes to life, and a rasping
voice whispers in Zach’s ear.

I hate to tell you this, boss, but this is an invite only affair.
This is the 75th anniversary reunion of the “Rat” Pack,
and you’re crashing the party without an invitation.

Zach recognizes the voice of the face in the computer screen illusion. Zach can’t see anyone, but the voice
seems to be pacing all around the room. He introduces himself as Gary Golden, master of the Nosferatu
warrens. Gary toys with Zach for a while, mocking him for being the Prince’s lapdog, and Zach’s poor
record with the NHL. He admits he was screwing with Zach for most of his journey through the sewer,
albeit in a way that directed him where he needed to go. Zach asks if there really was a maintenance
worker trapped here, and Gary tells him someone once met a similar fate…

Zach asks about the Ankaran Sarcophagus. He says LaCroix believes that Gary has it, or knows where it
is. Gary says Zach will have to find him first before he answers the question. He futilely searches around
the room, and asks about the corpses. Gary claims they’re his “co-stars”, freshly dug up from the
Hollywood graveyard for his “reunion”.

Zach makes some random guesses about where Gary might be hiding. He suddenly feels a tap on his
shoulder; he turns, and comes face to face with the ugliest Nosferatu he’s ever seen, dressed to the nines
in a tuxedo.
 ZACH
What’s with the tux?
GARY
I always like to look my best. It’s all about appearances, boss, not substance.

Gary claims to know where the sarcophagus is, but he won’t provide that information without payment.
A minion of his by the name of Barabus was investigating the Chinatown domain, and never came back.
If Zach will bring him back (or at least find out what happened to him), Gary will play ball. Zach grudgingly
agrees, and asks if Gary knows where Al is. Gary claims the Daeva is fine, and that they’ve already spoken.
With that, Gary offers a bit of vitae for the wounded Zach.

Al has a much more pleasant journey. After falling through a rusty pipe, he finds a relatively direct path
to the warrens. He finds graffiti strewn through the tunnels, which his Cacophony Savvy tells him is meant
to lead Nosferatu in the know down a particular path. He ends up making a slightly drier entrance than
Zach did.

Al remembers that Bertrum Tung asked for them to look for an old CD he lost in the trash down here.
After a bit of scrounging, he finds it relatively (and suspiciously) easily. Al is annoyed that Bertrum didn’t
tell them how to get to the warrens were in the first place, though he wonders if there wasn’t more to
the request than met the eye (and, for that matter, why a Mekhet like Tung would’ve been living here, his
Haunt-like looks aside).

Al explores, and notices that there’s construction that’s only partway done. He wonders if the Nosferatu
aren’t expanding. He comes across a door made of various detritus, and hears someone working inside.
He knocks on the door, but gets no reply. He opens it and sees a vampire working over a computer. The
Nosferatu is dressed in almost punk-style, and covered in the dirt of the warrens. He mutters some
technical jargon, and snickers about the incompetence of the security on the website he’s apparently
hacking. Eventually he acknowledges Al, but doesn’t look up from the keyboard.

Al asks if he’s seen Zach. The vampire turns around; his face looks like his acne warmed over and festered.
Al visibly recoils and apologizes, but asks after Zach again. The vampire laughs and says he’s been
monitoring a couple of vampires on the hidden cameras he’s got hooked up throughout the sewers; he
takes it that Al is one of them, and that Zach’s the other. The Nosferatu introduces himself as Mitnick. He
shows Al a recording of Zach (or at least a Lost Visaged form that’s probably Zach; a weird glare keeps
obscuring his face) contending with an old computer, and having a bit of a freakout. He tells Al that Zach
has been through already, and that he’s no longer in danger, though he doesn’t know where he is.

Mitnick explains that the cameras were placed so he could spy on the szlachta. Al pleads ignorance, and
Mitnick says that’s what “the angry hemorrhoids” chasing them through the sewers are called. Al tells him
he calls them Festers, which Mitnick argues is not an appropriate appellation, as they look nothing like
Uncle Fester. Al argues about this (“They’re bald and ugly!”), but then says they also managed to kill
“Gomez”, as if to prove the point about his metaphor. Mitnick is impressed that they managed to ice the
Tzimisce. He mentions he might have a job for him later, but says Al should go talk to Gary first.

MITNICK
I hear he’s been fucking with your friend. We gotta put you pretty people through your
paces.

He directs Al to Gary’s office and his dinner guests. Gary tries to screw with Al, toom but the Daeva
manages to pierce the Nosferatu’s Obfuscate with his own Auspex. Gary is both amused and annoyed that
Al saw through his tricks.
GARY
You’re not playing by the rules. Down here, unannounced? Real bad form, boss.
AL
I took a wrong turn at that Tzimisce. Lost my friend.
GARY
Are you looking to make new friends, boss?
As the conversation goes on, the record player in the corner seems to skip and sputter and change songs
despite Gary remaining stationary. Al also feels as though Gary is talking right into his ear despite standing
several feet away. Al analyzes him with Auspex; he thinks Gary isn’t a diablerist, and realizes his nostalgia
is his weakness: in his mind’s eye, Al sees Gary basking in an audience’s applause, looking slightly more
human.
AL
You like putting on a show. Not that you couldn’t back it up, but…hiding in the dark doesn’t
seem to be your style.
GARY
I am the show.
AL
You know why I’m here. Let’s not beat around the bush.
GARY
You do all this psychoanalysis stuff, and now you’re trying to crack me and make your way
over the eggshells! Lemme give you some advice, boss: You come in with a pitch. Make it
a good pitch, not a hostile pitch. You worship, and then you get blessed. Hopefully not all
over your face.
Al tries to manipulate Gary into telling him about the sarcophagus without revealing that the Prince sent
them. He knows LaCroix and Gary aren’t on the best terms, and he doesn’t want to offend him, or poison
the negotiation. Gary sneers and says Zach already spilled the beans about the Prince. Al asks where
exactly the big lug is, and Gary calls him in, fresh from feeding on a ghoul-dog herd.

ZACH
Oh thank Christ you’re alive.
AL
Yaaaaay what have I said about talking?
 ZACH
You weren’t here! What was I supposed to do?
AL
Find me; not talk.
Gary tells them it’s getting late, and allows them to sleep in the warrens for the day.

The next night, Mitnick shows the boys out. They find that the Nosferatu have tunnel leading into
Romero’s graveyard. The guys figure this was where the szlachta were getting in as “zombies”. They check
in with Romero, and ask him if he’s seen any walking dead around; he tells them it’s been surprisingly
quiet, and that the zombies usually are out and about by this time. Al and Zach figure the Final Death of
the Tzimisce means his minions have died off as well.

After a quick feeding, the guys tend to business.

Al reports to Isaac Abrams about the previous night, and asks about Chinatown and the Jiang-Shi who
rule there. The Regent tells him that they took power from the Carthians who held Chinatown right around
the time the Invictus took over. The Jiang-Shi have nominal relations with the Prince’s Inner Circle, but
the Carthians and most other Kindred consider Chinatown a no-man’s land. Isaac says if Al’s going there,
even as the Prince’s agent, he’ll need to make sure to pay the appropriate respects to Ming Xiao, their
leader. Al thinks back to his and Zach’s fight with the Asian vampire in Santa Monica, and the signs of the
invasion that seemed to be impending. He and Zach never told anyone about that particular detail, and
he chooses not to press the issue with Isaac. It may be a card he can play later.

Meanwhile, Zach meets with Chastity, his stripper-hunter-ghoul; she couldn’t find where the Malleus
Maleficarum compound is, but she did confirm that Zach and Al are being targeted. Zach thanks her, and
Dominates her into completing the blood bond. He then orders her to spy more, and sends her away. It
occurs to him that he has less compunction about using her as a tool than Al does his ghoul.

They guys come together and reluctantly decide to report to LaCroix. On the way back, Zach checks their
email on Al’s phone, and finds a new message from “a friend”:

From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xx

Subject: The queen

Beware the black queen.

—A friend
The guys head to Venture Tower, and for once Chunk doesn’t let them through. He tells them LaCroix
isn’t taking visitors, but calls up to check. He gets a glassy look as he talks on the phone, and says
something about “Nines”, and asks if that’s a code or something. Al and Zach beat a hasty retreat. Al
decides to check in at The Last Round, and Zach goes to deliver his “sample” of the Tzimisce’s work to the
Dragons.

Al figures he’s gonna take some flak over the incident with Nines at Grout’s mansion. You could hear a pin
drop in the silence that greets Al at The Last Round, though Smilin’ Jack seems happy to see him, and
chastises the crowd for giving a cold shoulder to their comrade. However, Damsel comes raging in,
hooking Al’s collar with her trusty crowbar, dragging him upstairs.

Damsel thinks Al sold Nines out, telling the Prince that the Prefect was at the mansion and that he
assassinated Grout. Al explains that LaCroix had footage of him leaving, which Damsel calls bullshit on. He
tells her that he, in fact, told Bertrum to warn Nines that a blood hunt might be coming down. He also
tells her that the Prince put him and Zach under a Blood Oath, so that they can no longer lie to him. Damsel
asks why she shouldn’t just stake him and leave him for the sun, if he’s now the Prince’s perfect little
agent.

Al loses his cool, and rants about how the Carthians would’ve never found the plague cult without him,
and that he’s supplied plenty of information about the Prince’s plans. Damsel cools off, and drops the
crowbar.

Al asks if Nines had an alibi; Damsel tells him that Nines was at the bar all night. This surprises Al, as he
figured Nines had been Dominated or something, as he behaved strangely that night. Al suggests that
even under the Oath, he can still act as a double agent, though he tries not to put it too literally, in case
LaCroix asks. Finally, he decides to take a page from Gary, and makes a show of it.
AL
Look, I’m still in this movement…but right now I literally need you to throw me out of the
bar.
DAMSEL
With pleasure.

Zach meets with Strauss. He tells him about the Tzimisce and his minions, and offers the chunk of flesh
he ripped off the wall of the mansion. Strauss expresses concern that Zach touched the flesh directly, but
Zach says he used a knife. Strauss finds a pair of tongs and places it in a sample bottle. He tells Zach that
some Kindred believe that the Tzimisce are infectious, and that they can twist the flesh of others by
feeding them their blood.

Zach tells him that the Tzimisce’s lair is a Masquerade breach waiting to happen, but also suggests it might
be worthy of the Ordo’s attention as a case study. Strauss is horrified (or, as much as he’s capable of
feeling horror) over the idea that the whole building was covered in flesh. He says that he’ll send in a team
to deal with it. Strauss also asks what became of Copper, and Zach tells him he ran off. Strauss is not
impressed; he says they’ll look for him, but that he couldn’t promise anything regarding his future in the
Order.

Zach mentions that he and Al are headed to Chinatown in search of the sarcophagus. Strauss warns that
Chinatown is home to creatures who are neither Kindred nor kine, and that he should step lightly. Zach
notes that a brief smirk crosses the Kogaion’s face. Zach thanks him, and heads out.

Al waits for Zach to meet up with him, and laments his loss of status. However, before Zach shows up,
Heather springs from the shadows, leaps on Al for an uncomfortably intimate hug. She has a gift for Al: a
meal. She locked a man in Al’s bathroom, and awaited her favorite vampire’s return. Unfortunately, Al
took longer than expected, and the man is starting to get hungry in a mortal way. Al says Zach can help
smooth things over with his Lordly Words; Heather makes veiled, petty remarks about Al’s friendship with
Zach. Al asks Heather how exactly sure lured the guy in, and is alarmed at just how powerful her Majesty
is becoming…even when she’s not using it.
HEATHER
I wanna be with you more.
AL
I live a dangerous and smelly life at the moment. You wouldn’t enjoy it.
Zach shows up, and after a chilly ride in his car, they go back to Al’s place. In short order, they find the
man tied up and gagged in the bathroom; Al and Zach tag-team him with their clans’ respective signature
disciplines. The guys tangle his brain and his emotions within an inch of his life, and send him on his way.
His newfound adoration of Al will mean he’ll probably come back, and Al plans to find a new apartment.

ZACH
Your ghoul is, like, excessively devoted to you. I can barely get mine to do anything.
AL
Wanna trade?
ZACH
If she can find that hunter compound, absolutely.
AL
Oh, that’s what you’re up to.

Al instruct Heather to bring Bertrum Tung his disc, and they head out. They bid her adieu, Al contemplating
what a monster he’s created, and head to Chinatown.

Parking Zach’s car just outside the bounds of the neighborhood, the guys hoof it to the Golden Temple, a
brand new community center / shrine / vampire cult headquarters. Al has it on good authority this is
where Ming Xiao holds court. Al instructs Zach to keep his mouth shut, and to let him do the talking. At
the entrance, a couple of men usher the boys inside, saying that Ming has been expecting them.
The men lead them into a tea room, where a petite, pale Chinese woman awaits them. She seems to be
in her late twenties, but has a surprisingly old-fashion British accent. The guys detect the telltale signs of
the Kindred Beast off her, though it feels a little odd. She greets them and introduces herself as Ming Xiao,
and asks why they’ve come to her domain. Al tells her that they’re under the Prince’s orders, investigating
the disappearance of the Ankaran Sarcophagus. She expresses surprise that the Prince didn’t inform her
— but Al says he’s caught up in important matters. Ming claims she’s heard of the sarcophagus, but says
she would have heard if it were in Chinatown. Al assures her their investigation is merely a formality;
otherwise, LaCroix “gets cranky”. Ming suggests LaCroix is growing crass, which Al does not verbally agree
with, but thinks real hard.

Ming tells them that a local operator by the name of Wong Ho might be able to help them; he’s well
connected in Chinatown, and she would be surprised if anyone tried to move that kind of thing through
the area without him knowing about it. She tells them to visit him at his restaurant, the Red Dragon, one
of the most popular in the area.

Al walks into the restaurant, and approvingly admires the décor. He turns to Zach to say something about
it being nice that they’re hanging out in a swanky place instead of a sewer…and then sees that he’s lost
Zach.

Zach falls into an almost daydream state. He remembers turning a corner with Al, but as his faculties come
back to him, he realizes he’s not in a restaurant. He finds himself in a strange curio shop, filled with arcane
knickknacks from both the East and the West. Despite himself, he feels compelled to check it out. The old
man behind the counter asks how he can help him, saying that there’s “something for everyone” in his
shop. He has two different colored eyes, and has a pale complexion. He doesn’t feel any Predatory Aura
off the man, so Zach feels slightly less spooked. The man introduces himself as Mr. Ox, and seems to stare
into Zach’s dead soul.
MR. OX
Let me tell you a story. Once there was a man called Lin, who was a famous thief. He
travelled the land with nothing he could not take…until one day, he stole a great jade
stone from an ancient and powerful man. So powerful was this old man, that when he
found Lin, who had travelled very far and very fast to escape, he could speak but a word
and take Lin’s eyes, robbing him of his sight. I would like you to be my own eye thief.
ZACH
…Why?
MR. OX
You’re here, aren’t you? You can say no, but I will always have my offer open to you. But
you have a red star above your head…

Zach asks what he’ll get out of it, and the man says he’ll give him something he needs. Zach says he’ll think
about it, and walks as fast as he can out of the store without running.

Meanwhile, Al wanders around looking for Zach. He finds him as he flees Mr. Ox’s store, and asks why the
Ventrue was shopping for souvenirs. Zach sputters out the story in a way that doesn’t make much sense
to Al, but the Daeva does remember that “red star”, and tries to get Zach to explain more clearly.
 AL
Red star…like the one that Tzimisce was speechifying about?
ZACH
Maybe there’s a common image bank all these creepy guys draw on. I don’t fucking know.
AL
Wait, wait, steal someone’s eyes? Uh…maybe we should come back to that?

And indeed, they decide to file it away for later. Back at the restaurant, the guys drop Ming Xiao’s name
to the hostess, who nervously sends them up to Wong Ho’s office.

Wong Ho is an older man, but a bit of a silver fox. Al can see the signs of mob connections, even if he’s
not familiar with the specific cultural ties. Wong Ho tells them that any friend of Ming Xiao is a friend of
his, but that he cannot help them at the moment: His daughter was kidnapped by the Tong, the local
Chinese gangsters. This is, obviously, his highest priority. Al and Zach know the score at this point, and
offer to help, claiming to be experts in “extraction”. Wong shows them the ransom note, which demands
he give up his property or face dire consequences.

With that, the boys plot to do a good deed for once…

#helloboss