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By Night

A CITY SOURCEBOOK FOR VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE

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Bordeaux by Night - V5
A FOREWORD

This setting for Vampire: the Masquerade is labeled NO FASCISTS, it was written as an engaged work, a work
that plays on the intents of Vampire always have been: punching up, criticize and fight the horrors of established
organizations ran by undead blood-suckers that thrive on leeching off anything they can get their fangs in, driven
by their Bestial desires for control, despite their best attempts at diplomatic and seemliness court plays.

It is also a setting to consider how and why societies form and behave like they do, how practices are carried
through an extreme type of Bourdieu's social reproduction from sire to childe.

How players choose to navigate the questions you, as a Storyteller, present them, is worth the journey. Do good,
explore horrors, discuss how Hell is paved with Good Intentions, compromise and convince, take sides and betray
the SPCs, take over the city by swaying or burn it all down. The PCs are the one with agency, and the SPCs should
need them.

As such, Bordeaux by Night endorses the Olivia Hill rule, which goes as follows:
If you’re a fascist, you’re not welcome to play this game. It’s against the rules. If you’re reading
this and thinking, “You just call everyone you disagree with a fascist,” then you’re probably
a fascist, or incapable of drawing inferences from context and acknowledging a dangerous political
climate that causes the oppressed to be hyperbolic. Don’t play this game. Heal yourself. Grow.
Learn. Watch some Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood or something.

he text for The Olivia Hill Rule is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike
4.0 license. Find out more here: https://machineage.tokyo/olivia-hill-rule/

World of Darkness, Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, Victorian Age: Vampire, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Werewolf: The Wild West, Mage: The Ascension, Mage: The
Sorcerers Crusade, Wraith: The Oblivion, Wraith: The Great War, Changeling: The Dreaming, Hunter: The Reckoning, Demon: The Fallen, Mummy: The Resurrection, Orpheus, Exalted,
Chronicles of Darkness, Vampire:The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Geist: The Sin Eaters, Demon: The Descent, Mummy:
The Curse, Beast: The Primordial, Promethean: The Created, Storyteller System™, Storytelling System™, and Storytellers Vault™ and their respective logos, icons and symbols are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB. All rights reserved.

This work contains material that is copyright of Paradox Interactive AB. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for the Storytellers Vault.
PROPERTY® Copyright© 2021 Paradox Interactive AB (publ). All rights reserved.
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III
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IV
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Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction.

While the landmarks are real, and some names reference people who currently exist or have
existed, they are used to help people understand the city, and to give trivia concerning certain
events included. The Individuals, mostly public figures, are not meant to be integrated into the
game nor encountered in any way.
The city's complex and nuanced history has been simplified for accessibility purposes, and it has
been darkened to fit into the World of Darkness mood and ambiance. Some events have been
exaggerated for a more gruesome ambiance.
Be kind and caution when handling adult themes such as World War II, the German
Occupation and deportations, but also the Slave Trade and colonialism by France, which the city
undoubtedly benefited from.
The non-player characters are presented with their facts as neutrally as possible. While some
present traits that are considered positive or terrible depending on one's personal values, they're
all monsters and none are meant to be admired. They are nuanced and all believe they are, generally
speaking, "good people", at least according to their own ethics and own moral compass. The cast is
built with a lack of diversity in mind, on purpose, which is why certain communities were overall
ignored, overlooked, or targeted. Players are meant to recognize it as a problem.
Every single of these characters have done awful things, and yet some remain likable and
charismatic. Players will have to choose between lesser perceived evils when it comes to their
decisions, and take the time to investigate. Or burn it all down.
Play Monsters, but remember to not be jaded when it comes to the real horrors of our world.

V
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Table of Contents
Cover Chapter III - Population
A foreword Brujah
Opening comic Gangrel
Disclaimer Malkavian
Table of Contents Nosferatu
Toreador
Tremere
Introduction Ventrue
Other Clans
Chapter I - History Ghouls
The Early Days Supernaturals
Gallia Aquitania
Aliénor d’Aquitaine
Français, Anglais? Aquitain! Chapter IV - Relations and Plot
The Dark Ages Hooks
Ancien Régime Common Interest groups
The Rebirth Coterie Charts
Après la Terreur Story Seeds
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la Mort
Parisian Rule
Turn of the 20th century Appendix
La Belle Epoque Loresheets
Bordeaux, post-war era Technomancy
Tarcisus’ Putsch SPCs as publicly known
Post War Praxis Influences
Giovanni arrival and departure Timelines
21st century shifts Extra Art Pieces
Living in France 101
Chapter II - Customs and Credits
Character Sheet
Geography
Physical Geography
Social Geography Back Cover
City Landmarks
Kindred Landmarks
Moving Around
Being Bordelais
Yearly Events

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Chapter 0 -

INTRODUCTION

How bad is it, really?

A player, probably

This book contains all of the information needed to understand and master
the setting of Bordeaux for short one-shot games, or long, year-long chronicles.
But first, some definitions...
In the following few pages, you’ll find all the tools needed to understand
the theme, stakes and horrors behind the scenes of wine capital of the world.
And of course, every single one of its dirty secrets, the hidden agendas of
its inhabitants, and potential plot hooks that will make or break the praxis.
If you are a player, please stop reading now, as all of the secrets will
be spoiled, and hand this book to your storyteller, who will give you the
appropriate information to learn more about the night life of Bordeaux.
If you are a storyteller, any paragraph in this introduction that has been
written in italics is for your eyes only as it reveals key secrets or unbearable
truths that would ruin the player experience should they know about it before-
hand. Feel free to read them the regular paragraphs as they’re meant to be
public knowledge.

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While the players guide indicates the ambiance
and theme of Bordeaux by Night is a huis-clos, a
behind closed door under siege political horror story,
you may take the setting in plenty of directions. While
there are hints at other supernaturals and hidden
artifacts, and even a copy of the Book of Nod and
some lost Artifact, their presence is mostly an excuse
to explain SPC behaviors rather than be real objects.
But you do you, boo!
The setting is designed for beginner characters
and players, young neonates to integrate and fill in
the power vacuum. It is however possible to play
with pre-made characters, by giving players one of
the SPC. Each SPC contains the background of the
character written in third person, but from their own
point of view and how they lived the events.
CURRENT STATUS
The enemy sect, the Sabbat has recently launched
a direct attack, which was masqueraded to the
populace under the cover of Daech (ISIS)
terrorism by the surviving Camarilla. The Sabbat
most certainly wished to test and weaken the
city’s power and seize control for their own needs, but
the locals resisted despite their heavy losses. The
Camarilla as a whole has expressed concern about the
Prince’s ability to keep the city under control, and
Paris, has offered to send muscular help… In exchange
for the sovereignty of the city.
It seems like all of the attackers were killed, but
a second wave is surely coming. Tensions have risen,
with these factors as the main source of conflict:
• Villon and his supporters were trying to claim
back control and avenge the honor of his Childe,
former Marquise who was disposed of during the
1915 coup. Villon suddenly disappeared, though…
• The neighboring Sabbat is certainly just about
to launch a new full blown, successful attack, for
good this time. Where were the rural Gangrels?
One thing is sure, the status quo is over. The Brujah
Primogen has called to look out for strong and skilled
new childer to be taken in, regardless of Embrace
rights, to compensate for the losses and to avoid
interference from outsiders.
How long will it take this millennia-old
society to realize it and to reform itself fast enough
before they lose everything? Will the newcomers help
bring a new era for the local Camarilla, launch a
new independent or Anarch movement, or reinforce
the old ways? What new information would turn the
tables on the power struggles between these powerful
masters of the city? Will Théodore’s call against his
own Prince and friend be the end of their alliance?
The involvement of the players’ characters,
their Becoming, their arrival or even their Embrace is a
direct consequence of this unique power vacuum. They are
the key and they will be the ones deciding the fate of
the city.
The players have more power than they imagine, despite
being in a Camarilla city (or passing-for-Camarilla) young
kindred. They have strengths the SPCs do not have, and
they have privileges their Elders dream of having. It will
be up for your players to realize their power and decide
whether to use it, hoping to avoid a butterfly effect of
unintended consequences.

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OVERVIEW
While the Domain overall extends to a big chunk
of the Hexagon, the largest geographical region of the
country, most Kindred live and socialize in the city of
Bordeaux itself.
The sheriff, Prévôt, enforces the borders of the
domain with his ghouls, and either gets rid of the
unwanted before they show up to court, or brings
them over. Hospitality is a matter of personal taste
and personal standards, and Bordeaux is no exception,
despite its facade of fairness and the importance of
the Word of Law.
In the following pages you’ll find the current
status of each clan, both in their presentation, and
their true agendas (or at least the Primogen’s). You’ll
find the details, character by character, in their
respective back-grounds in Chapter III.
Again, in italics, elements of actual truth that are
not to be given to the players.
THE VENTRUE
Prince Boyer, of the Ventrue clan, has refused
to abdicate in favor of a Toreador clan member and
is dealing with the threat himself. His clan supports
himinthatendeavorwiththeirlargeinfluencenetworks.
The Prince needs to make sure there won’t be local
uprising, and so with the insistence of the Primogen,
he has to accept newcomers and newly embraced
Kindred in his precious domain. They may be traitors,
double agents, or the new foundations on which he’ll
be able to further secure their power.
harder to power. His other clan mates are not particularly
loyal, but they do consider he has done a good job, handing
them the right amount of favors, so far. Thankfully, he
has strong allies who would rather have him in power
than anyone else. Neve Rosetti, who is not an actual Ventrue,
is scared to death of the Sabbat and her fear may get
the best of her power and sharp mind. She refuses to draw
any attention to herself, as the truth may come out, and
her adoptive sire’s Childe Boyer is a perfect praxis holder
so far. On the other hand, the two former rulers, the Princess
and the Marquise are... somewhere. And there’s also within
the clan a Lasombra who has been hiding her clan for
centuries, and is still cautious about her true clan suddenly
joining the Camarilla…
THE BRUJAH
The Brujah especially are very wary of the situation,
but Théodore Jacob, the Brujah Primogen and a very
close friend of the Prince, is willing to give specific
individuals a chance as things cannot remain like this
forever if he wants his clan and his city to prosper
and live in relative peace. He is willing to act against
Boyer’s wishes if it’s for what he believes is the best
of the city, despite their friendship.
Théodore has made a public call to new embraces and
newcomers in the city, hoping to defuse the general
dissatisfaction in court. Boyer is good Prince, he just needs
to be reminded of his original ideals, and stand strong,
but not authoritarian. Théodore hopes it’s not too late
for his friend to be reasonable. Other Brujah are especially
interested in settling older grudges, such as the horrors
that happened during the Second World War, through
all means necessary and without distinguishing who truly
was the master-mind behind it all, and regardless of long
term consequences, if the opportunity presents itself.

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The Toreador clan as a whole are nostalgic of
their time in power, but no local individual has the
will and resources to hold office. Alicia Vandenstree,
the Toreador Harpy, is certainly the one with most
ambition, and Laure Nolveaux, the Elysium Keeper,
isn’t without merit, but none is powerful nor old
enough to be broadly accepted as a potential candidate.
Grégory Darvault, their Primogen, isn’t keen on having
responsibilities beyond his availability to his peers
and involvement in urban works, architecture and
his muse. Outsider Toreadors, especially Parisians,
have shown interest, but Grégory isn’t answering those
calls.
Grégory, shamed by his inaction during the recent
Sabbat raid, very much needed that violent wake up call,
even if it cost him his grandchilde and “daughter in law”,
Annabelle, and the sorrow of his Childe. The shame and
guilt kicked him hard enough and now he is working to
regain his clan’s prestige. He can influence the administration
and urbanization of the city and he is going to use it
to improve his image and stop being the laughing stock
of these youngsters. Alicia, his former muse, certainly has
ambition, and she has a personal grudge against one specific
member of the Sabbat, whom she had an affair with and
did not warn her of the upcoming raid. Laure lost other
dear ones, and her despair and blind rage against the
Sabbat has taken the best of her. And yet, Annabelle is
still alive, and Thomas has become a Wraith…
The Tremere clan show more willingness to defend
the city than many, working their way to compromise
and share their skills with the rest of the sect, as they
are a strong pillar of the Camarilla, yet nobody has
forgotten their despotic way of ruling when the
previous Regent, Tarcisus, took Princedom during
WWII. When he couldn’t secure his Praxis, Tarcisus
was promoted to Lord elsewhere and his childe, Lyle
Kersten, took both his title of Regent and of Primogen.
This new Regent has managed to be more accepted
and to save his clan from full reprisals in the form of
a blood hunt against his clan. Prince Boyer seems to
rely on Lyle to control his apprentices and make them
easier to work with, especially when in crisis.
Lyle wants Boyer dead, but the sunuvabitch is good
at being Prince.. for now. He tried to dispose of him once
in the 1920s, and failed, so he had to get rid of his accomplices
manu military. Until he finds a proper replacement candidate,
he will have to support the Ventrue which caused his clan
great losses in his 1915 coup. Due to the calculus, Lyle
put aside his vendetta and saved Boyer from Tarcisus’
coup, knowing very well his sire had gone mad, and Boyer
trusts him because of this. If only he knew... On the other
hand, the rest of the clan is torn; some believe it’s time
to get involved in mortal politics again, despite the explicit
rule against them doing so, and some have actually betrayed
the clan during those terrible years. Some just don’t care
as much and the clan unity is only a facade. For now
at least they mostly get along.
The fracture within the clan and disappearing of the
blood bond has caused quite an uproar in the grand scheme
of things, but locally there was only a minor change; Lyle
never used the blood to control his apprentices. The
disappearance of his Lord has given more freedom, but
the impact on his apprentices is barely noticeable; they
were already fairly free.

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The Gangrel clan which had quit the Camarilla The Nosferatu clan tends to serve its own interest,
organization as a whole, has kept some local power but the Sabbat attack has shaken them enough so
and Henri Bowens has kept his job as a Primogen, they’re willing to take action, under their young and
just so there is an odd number of people holding skilled Primogen, Docteur. Their network and local
the title (a tie-breaker in short). Despite some remai- call-in system, SOS Friendship, had proven itself quite
ning, more than half of them left the city in 1999. the source of boons… This service however has had
Those who remained have begun to work harder to to disconnect with the fear of communications under
make up for their lower numbers. Especially as The surveillance.
Venerable disappeared, a victim to the Beckoning. Docteur is pressured by his sire and older members
The Gangrel clan is diminished since their departure of his clan, the Hidden Ones, to find out why one of theirs
from the Camarilla, and their only true strength is Chriss’ has gone missing. There are rumors of an ancient sleeping
feat to have managed a non-aggression treaty with the evil under deeper layers of the cellars and catacombs, and
werewolves. The Venerable, who woke during WWII, has no Nosferatu want anyone going down there; plenty have
plenty of memories of the Dark Ages’ political situations disappeared, after all, especially with the Beckoning. Perhaps
and will do everything in his power to keep himself safe, the call to Embrace will allow some of the Hidden Nosferatu
all while realizing the secrets he knows could break quite to gain official status and act openly on the surface. The
a few myths... The Venerable heard the Beckoning, but SOS Friendship hotline remains active, M’sieur Pierre has
it wasn’t strong enough. He however faked hearing it, begun to change the system so it relies on local, non
and has since gone back under the radars to ensure his technological communications instead, but truth is, he
safety. There are talks about fully joining the Anarchs
and others were tech-savvy enough to make their commu-
as the rest of the clans has in other cities, but the Venerable
nications pass for something else already. The Camarilla
seems to believe there are strengths in the Camarilla
structure… as long as the Prince is competent. ban on technology uses are an annoyance to work around,
not a deal-breaker.
THE MALKAVIAN
The Malkavian clan, led by the very Ventrue
Primogen Victor de Sainte-Croix, obviously childe of
the Prince, without a single doubt, follow the latter’s
wishes without question, and the members of the clan
keep quite a strong personal influence.
Victor believes hard core he is the Prince’s childe, and
as such, will support his “sire” no matter what, but he has
grown jealous of the actual childe of the Prince. Victor is
stronger, that is why he did not need protection, nor
babying. Prévôt himself has plenty of literal skeletons (or
staked bodies) in his closet, while Xavier has been working
for centuries to diminish the Toreador, these filthy poseurs,
by manipulating other kindred into tackling their
influences.

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The lone Hecata, Caterina Giovanni, is being

hunted down by the two younger Ministers, Emilio TITLES AND KINDRED STRUCTURE
and Rémi, as the two clans are rivals in the traffic- The structure of Bordeaux’ court is quite close
king and the prostitution markets. Prince Boyer tended to a classical Camarilla City, with a few differences
to favor the Ministers in their actions, without openly in titles.
cautioning their “hunt” as long as the Camarilla rules
Prince: the person holding domain and enforcing
were (more or less) respected, but if the Hecata ever
the laws. In Bordeaux, Prince Boyer has held the office
used the wrong word, the Ventrue would jump on
since 1915, with a parenthesis during World War II.
the opportunity to call for her destruction. The Sabbat
Former Princes do not tend to survive their title
attack broke Caterina’s support system, and the
loss. Female Kindred who held domain in the city
Ministers are profiting from the instability to dig
in the past feminized the title, and as such are referred
their claws further into the lands and assets. The
to as Princess. The titles of Marquis and Marquise
Camarilla has no time for their petty fights.
represent Princes, except they were vassals to the
While the necromancer’s abilities are kept secret, the Prince of Paris, François Villon, which appointed
Giovanni has an infiltrate in polite Camarilla society to them, and could be considered (and rightfully so)
help her out. They have found out a kindred who perished his personal puppets.
during the Sabbat raid actually, for some unknown reason,
Prévôt: (prevost) is the equivalent of the Sheriff.
became a Wraith, and now hold this kindred hostage for
Prévôt, the Malkavian sheriff of Bordeaux, is rarely
leverage. The Minister’s patriarch has lost his heart during
referred to by name and few Kindred over fifty actually
WWII, and has been prying into Tremere insiders to try
know it. For all intents and purposes, he also acts
and see if they have it, while one of the childer is thirsty
as Scourge. Prince Boyer, in concert with the precedent
for diablerie.
Prevost, nominated him with the approval of the
Primogen council.
THE BECKONING AND THE STATUS QUO
Primogen: representatives of their clan to the court.
The city has few kindred old enough to have
The Prince also holds the position of Primogen of
responded to the Beckoning. However, Villon’s
his own clan, making the court a seven-man group.
disappearance has given Boyer all of the excuses to
Bordeaux has kept a Gangrel Primogen and the
sever all diplomatic ties with Paris as the city turned
Independent Kindred living in the domain have no
into a massive dumpster fire. The Sabbat attack, the
representation.
loss of confidence, more Kindred turning Anarch has
made it so that Boyer has become more and more Harpies: self-made or nominated by their peers,
despotic. Especially if they find out the Sabbat is harpies keep the records of boons, reputations, gossips
gone, the despotic ways have no more justification. and living history of Elysium. Lineages, acknow-
Or perhaps the Lost Noddist Artifact is the reason ledgments and reputation are kept in their logs, and
why the Beckoning didn’t affect the region? a swift tongue reminds Kindred of their position.
Harpies enforce peer pressure and they can
Hélène de Chantraine is the only kindred old and
make or break a Kindred’s prestige, credibility, and
powerful enough to have heard the Beckoning in the city,
even life should they misbehave. A Ventrue Elder,
but she’s kind of.. stuck. The Vénérable is the second oldest
Neve Rosetti, a taciturn Tremere, Jean-Pierre Griffin,
and may or may have not heard it, due to his long time
and a fierce Toreador actress, Alicia Vandenstree,
in torpor and his higher generation. All others haven’t
are the current Harpies.
spent enough time as Vampires to be affected. However
the Beckoning has caused a huge power vacuum in Paris,
which in turn has turned the tables on the Hegemony.
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WEREWOLF (GAROU) TERMINOLOGIES
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• Caern: a place where werewolves gather to meet

k e r- s o ft w a

the rules: no Kindred and no work of art must be
harmed, no disciplines must be used. In France, all
Elysium Keepers must be Toreador, per Villon’s rule,
and Prince Boyer has indeed nominated a Toreador
Elysium Keeper: Laure Nolveaux.
Seneschal: in the case of Bordeaux, Céline, the
personal ghoul of the Prince, holds the
title; she holds his agenda, organizes meetings, and
keeps tabs on domain, domain boundaries, and edicts.
A perfect loyal secretary
and talk with spirits, and a source of Gnosis, the
fuel of a werewolf’s powers. Like Nodes,
Haunted and Enchanted places, the Gauntlet is
weaker near Caerns, where the veil between spirit
worlds (umbra worlds), allowing for travels bet-
ween those worlds.
• Tribes: clans-like organizations of werewolves.
• Wyrm: the corruption that werewolves are fighting
against. For them, vampires are the Wyrm’s agents.

WRAITH (GHOSTS) TERMINOLOGIES

OTHER SUPERNATURALS
Because of the presence of certain other
supernaturals in town, even if this book doesn’t go
into detail, here are some basic definitions needed
to understand elements further in the book. They
are more of a narrative tool rather than (accurate)
mechanical tools. If you really want to, you can open
older editions of those games for the purposes of
accuracy, but you ought to know gamelines don’t
mix well, and honestly, just wet-fingering the dice
pools works perfectly fine, if you must enter in direct
confrontation with these creatures (I wouldn’t
recommend it though).
CHANGELING (FAE) TERMINOLOGIES
• Seelie and Unseelie: opposing factions of fae.
• Glamour: dreams and hopes create glamour, which
sustains and fuels fae.
MAGE TERMINOLOGIES
• Quintessence: the raw material of magick.
• Node: a natural wellspring of Quintessence.
• Spheres: a Mage’s Disciplines. They represent
different aspects of reality the Mage can manipu-
late.
• Anacreon: the “Prince” of wraiths, only recognized
by the Hierarchy. In Bordeaux, the Anacreon is
a proud wraith that goes by the name of The Drac.
• Heretics: a faction of wraiths, with no formal leader
or organization.
• Hierarchy: a faction of wraiths, the most important
one. In Bordeaux, they forbid their wraiths from
resolving their fetters and transcend (whatever
that means). The Hierarchy has a tendency of en-
slaving new wraiths.
• Renegades: a faction of wraiths, most of which
just want to be left alone or actively fight the
hierarchy.
• Fetters: places, people or objects which anchor
a wraith to the living world.
• Passions: the emotions that sustain the
existence of wraiths.
• Shadow: the dark side of a wraith. Akin to their
Beast, but with a personality and much more sneaky
ways to get the weakness of the wraith.
• Specter: a wraith taken over by their shadow
becomes a specter, working for the destruction
of any and all, and bring everything to oblivion.

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Chapter I -

HISTORY

“What is history? An echo of the past in the future; a reflex

from the future on the past.”
Victor Hugo

This section is an overview of the general history of the city of Bordeaux, or

at least those events which are relevant to kindred. This chapter is omniscient, with
black titles for mortal history and RED TITLES for kindred history.
One upon a time, kindred tended to be more hands on when it came to influencing
and manipulating the mortals of their domain, but those times changed with the
Anarch Revolts, the Inquisition and other changes in mortal society. Kindred have
since hidden in the shadows of mortals and switched to a safer, more marginal
influence. In this general chronological timeline, specific events known to only a
few are not explained. Please read them alongside the individual backgrounds of
given characters to find out further secrets.. or worse.
The historical characters used for this setting do not reflect their actual history.
You’ll find, in between brackets, their actual dates of birth and death as known
today, but as you may know, with well-placed pawns and influences, such dates
can be changed, for Masquerade reasons. With more accurate transcripts of such
things nowadays, vampires have to be much more careful about their pawns and
how to place them, as anomalies will be found out. Any administrative error before
the French Revolution can be explained away by a lack of proper record-keeping,
or by a new regime carefully editing history for its own propaganda. 11
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As Emporium (commercial center), Burdigala
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controlled the roads of tin and lead, from other ports k e r- s o ft w a

A small village of blacksmiths before the Roman
invasion, the town had little importance but traded
well among other Celts. Gaulle as a whole is a construct
by Romans conquering the territory, and this Atlantic-
facing port, linked to the inside lands by the great
rivers of the Garonne and Dordogne, was a great
outpost: Burdigala.
Burdigala quickly became one of the most impor-
tant ports of oceanic trade for the Romans. Julius
Caesar's lieutenant, Pluvius Crassus, visited in 56 BCE
andtheRomanurbanizationofthecitybegan.Vineyards
were planted all around the Garonne river and the
main roads, which are today Sainte-Catherine Street
(north-south) and Porte Dijeaux/Saint Rémi (east-
west), formed respectively the cardinal points around
which the rest of the city grew.
Temples, amphitheaters, aqueducts and catacombs
came along with the Romans. Most have been buried
or lost ever since, its stones reused for other construc-
tions over time.
further up north to mainland Rome. Administered
by magistrates through citizens, and grew enough to
be the administrative capital of the Aquitania region
as a whole in 70 CE.
The city was Christianized fairly early on, with
traces dating back to 260 CE with the first known
Christian epitaph written of the city.Constantine, in
314 CE, called the first Gallic council, the bishop
Orientalis was to represent the diocese of Bordeaux,
and the first pilgrimage to Jerusalem left Bordeaux
in 333 CE.
The city was one of the first victims of the Visigoths,
Vandals, and others Huns invading the Aquitaine
region. The city was pillaged, raided, looted and burnt
in 276 CE which led to the building of fortifications
to offer some shelter and a prosperous, 4th century
from commerce of tallow, pitch, wax, papyrus and,
most important of them all, wine.

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GALLIA AQUITANIA
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A couple of local Gangrel were chased away by

new Toreador and Ventrue settlers with the arrival
of the Roman Empire and the creation of the
administrative region. From a city who had to pay
taxes (civitas stipendaria), Burdigala grew to the status
of municipality (with Roman citizenship rights), and
its importance and prestige peaked. Until the 2nd
century, the capital of the region was not Burdigala,
but Mediolanum Santonum (Saintes). It took until
the 3rd century for Burdigala to become the definitive
capital. The population reached up to 20,000 inhabi-
tants at the time, enough for a few Kindred to sustain
their existence.
Burdigala saw the arrival in the 2nd century of
a young Christian in exile, Childéric who was embraced
somewhere near Tolosa (Toulouse) by a Methuselah
who was known as Clavicius. Childéric, having a blood
oath to his sire despite being in a domain further
off, started to long for independence and managed
to obtain it at the fall of Rome and during the barbaric
invasions.
Without his Methuselah sire’s support, and due
to the different invasions and pillages, Childéric’s
city was quite unsafe and its population did not thrive
much, despite attempts at fortifications and alliances.
Childéric welcomed the Christianization of the
city and sent his envoy, the Bishop Orientalis, to
represent the interests of his region at the fist Gallic
Council in 314 CE.
Visigoths, Vandals and other tribes raided the
city, bringing wild lupines hoping to control the city’s
population, keeping it under a certain threshold, and
the end of the Roman era isolated the city in relative
Dark Ages.
The Umayyad army invaded the Duchy of Aqui-
taine, resulting in one of the most important battles
against the Islamic expansion, in 734. This battle, the
Battle of River Garonne, among others, and local
kindred met for the first and only time the Assamites.
Ventrue and Toreadors organized their troops and
to keep their pawns in place.

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New fortifications were needed to integrate the e
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new neighborhoods over the course of the 13th and k e r- s o ft w a

The city is left in the relative Dark Ages and 14th centuries. The Black Prince, vice-King from 1362
under-performing, until Eleanor of Aquitaine to 1372, gave up on the idea of a fully sovereign nation
(Aliénor d’Aquitaine), duchess, married the King of out of the region. The city enjoyed quite a level of
Franks, Louis VII. This caused the whole Duchy to freedom and autonomy under English rule.
join the Kingdom of the Franks, in 1137. Louis VII, The Hundred Year War ended with Bordeaux
the Pious, would later rename the Kingdom “France”. coming back to be part of France’s territory under
A politically and financially strong woman, Queen Charles VII in 1453, for good this time. King Charles
of France, and participant of the Second Crusade, distrusted this very anglophile region which just
Aliénor had a massive role in the 12th century politics. wasn’t going to accept the strong centralized power
Back from the Crusade, she had her marriage dissolved of the French Kingdom (mostly due to being forbidden
for consanguinity, and a few months later, she married to continue trading profitably with England). He
Henri Plentagenêt in 1152. installed a heavy military presence, building more
With the death of Henri’s father and being the than a couple of forts and claiming the city under
oldest son alive, he became King Henri II of England, his personal possessions so it wouldn’t be an ever
and as such, Aliénor became Queen of England. This ending revolting vassal.
situation gave the Kingdom of England almost all That did not stop the revolts and quarrels. The
of the Atlantic façade of the continent, and was one city’s prosperity came to a halt until Louis XI in 1462
of the sources of many of the subsequent wars between gave back some freedom to the city with a parliament
the two kingdoms. Aliénor and Henri II’s arrangement and chose it as the commerce hub for English traders.
made the old Roman routes of commerce and the
port of Bordeaux unavoidable to transfer goods from
the land to the ocean and vice-versa.
Aliénor also happened to be Richard the
Lionheart’s mother, just to complicate things further
between the two countries, sprinkling in some
Crusades over the explosive situation.
River commerce was all important in extremely
irrigated France. Bordeaux, and the rest of Aquitaine
in general, remained English for three centuries, and
its economy boomed due to wine commerce with
England. Why change a recipe that works?
In a twist of complicated royal history, however,
the King of England remained Vassal to the King
of France, each of the two trying to gain as many
local lords, dukes and counts to their cause. Feudalism
and its complex politics at its finest.
Bordeaux was an important port for the Crusades
and other pilgrimages, including the Compostela (or
Way of Saint James). Some landmarks still present
in the city today allow the faithful to know the way
and pay homage to their religious history.

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AQUITAIN!
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Already a powerful Duchy with plenty of resources

to trade and grow, Bordeaux’ praxis strengthened
with the wedding of Aliénor and Louis VII in the
city. Prestige and riches flooded the region and the
local Kindred benefited more than a little. Aliénor’s
new marriage and status as Queen of England only
reinforced Ventrue’s influences. A few settlers from
the British Isles even moved in, not without some
protests, but the protection and trade offered by this
new alliance was worth the presence of outsiders.
The Parisian Toreadors, very displeased with the
situation, seeing their influences plummet and not
being able to do much about it, started to think long
term. The Ventrue had just outsmarted them and
switched allegiances at the right time. A long-lasting
grudge between the two clans started, but overall
the city itself, its inhabitants and its rulers, superna-
tural or not, didn’t care much whether it belonged
to the English or French Crown.
Eventually, three centuries after Aliénor’s wedding
to Henri, the Parisian Toreador managed to pull back
the Duchy out of the English Crown into the French
one, and the Ventrue once again switched allegiances
at the right time; the relations between England and
the region had deteriorated beyond what they were
worth.
This period was ruled by Altrec, childe of Chil-
déric, who became Prince after his sire in 1152 until
the early 14th century. His reign was mostly marked
by a booming population of Kine and Kindred alike,
and stronger defenses needed to be built to resist
further revolts and neighboring vassals trying to take
over the Port’s strategic location. Altrec was disposed
of and replaced by a co-ruling political system with
two Ventrues, Richard d’Ambroy and Clotilde, a
master of intrigues of unspeakable beauty.
Both reigned until disposed of by “the Lasombra
Lord”, whose name was never known, and who had
been a local political rival for decades. He reigned
with an iron fist until he lost his influences and was
ousted in 1453, under the Anarch Revolts. Clotilde's
childe, Hélène de Chantraine, seized Praxis. 15
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Childéric’s court somewhat prospered and he

embraced quite a few talented kine to his service,
between the 8th and the 11th century. A militia man
by the name of Altrec is to be noted here... The city’s
regular raids by “Normans” (such as Hasting in the
9th century) and other “barbaric tribes” dented his
personal power over the city, Childéric needed to
find allies, and fast. First, he found a Gangrel in the
outskirts, a man who was known as “the Beast”, to
serve as a buffer/vassal, in exchange for the recognition
of his domain and the Ventrue’s social protection.
That allowed him to embrace Alterec, a military leader
that would help him strengthen the city. The Beast,
not very pleased with the city expansion due to the
many merchants and the whole trading hub with
the English was starting to become a problem. Eomont,
a former church artist embraced Brujah, began revol-
ting against the nobility and status quo.
In 1071, Childéric put his hands on what he thought
was as a Noddist Artifact, and became obsessed with
studying its proprieties and its history. Eomont, losing
the influence battle, moves further away and offers
the Beast, a local Gangrel, his aid in order to diminish
the Ventrue influence. The Beast accepted and
helped the Brujah, but isn’t an idiot and knew Eomont
was also using him. Over the next hundred years
of warfare, the Beast and Eomont got rid of Childéric
pawns and ghouls and Eomont’s spies eventually found
out Childéric’s havens. While he moved back to
Bordeaux, The Beast got rid of all of Eomont’s back-
line and influence, camouflaging them as Childéric
reprisals (and destroying Childéric’s ghouls, to stop
Bordeaux from influencing his domain).
Eomont finally had the chance to destroy
Childéric after staring a fire and cutting off his escape
routes. Alterec, who was called through Summon,
did not arrive in time, and seeing the ruins, took
his deceased sire’s throne, having secured enough to
hold the Praxis. Childéric’s pawns and ghouls were
either saved or destroyed by a powerful Nosferatu,
whose name was never mentioned and whose existence
was barely even known.

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Master”. The Nosferatu Master also chose to embrace k e r- s o ft w a

amongst Childéric’s pawns and finally, Eomont him-

self was destroyed in 1281.
In the 12th century and up to the 13th century,
the growth and expansion of the Duchy of Aquitaine
gave Prince Alterec some issues, as he was not his
sire. He decided to embrace and ghoul key individuals
to help him in those regards. Henri de Cusances (12??-
1268) became an important marshal (maréchal) and
later mayor of Bordeaux, but without being able to
beinfluencedbykindred(toostubborn),Alterecdecided
to use a courtesan, a beautiful woman by the name
of Clotilde to influence the mortal. He ghouled her
andshebecameHenri’sconfidentandfavorite.Clotilde’s
ghoul status wasn’t common knowledge, but her
influence in the city was, which is why another kindred’s
pawns contacted her to force her to betray Henri.
She gave them the name of one of Henri’s rival, Bertrand
de Got (1264-1314), who later became Pope Clement
V (Bertrand had been actually a ghoul for a few decades,
his real date of birth had been masqueraded), to
destitute Henri. Clotilde contacted Henri hoping to
get revenge against the Lasombra behind it all, and
seek forgiveness from her Domitor Alterec. She later
paid mercenaries to kill Henri, but Henri had just
been embraced by Eomont, as he was sympathetic
by all the former mayor had gone through and how
he kept fighting no matter what.
Henri let Clotilde believe her assassination had
worked, by hiding. Clotilde found Eomont’s haven
through the Lasombra pawns, and gave that
information to the Beast who raided and destroyed
the Brujah. Alterec rewarded the Beast with a domain
of his own, free from his city’s influence, and Clotilde,
with the Embrace. Henri de Cusances, an isolated
neonate without much power, was contacted by a
powerful old Nosferatu who wanted to help him.

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the independence of the Duchy in favor of the French k e r- s o ft w a

Kingdom, and little by little the Duchy diminished

in size and influence. The Hundred Year War only
made the situation worse, and Henri managed, with
the help of the Nosferatu, to cause enough revolts
to force Alterec out of hiding, find his haven, and
diablerize him. It forced Clotilde to ally with Richard
d’Ambroy, her other blood brother, in order to defend
their position against the Brujah uprisings.
The two Ventrue were financed by the Lasombra
without their knowledge, who was bidding for power
of his own. Which he obtained in 1408, but having
had so many enemies, didn’t last long. The losses
among the Ventrue were consequent during the open
feud.
In 1453, as Bordeaux officially became part of the
French Kingdom, and out of the English Crown, all
of the Lasombra Lord’s pawns were wiped off. The
Lasombra Lord was killed and the few of his surviving
childer fled the domain. After having bound Clotilde
and Henri to his service the Nosferatu Master put
the former on the throne (under the name of Hélène
de Chantraine) and the latter as a Brujah Primogen,
to take proper praxis over the domain. The Nosferatu
Master ran things from behind the throne.
The young Neve Rosetti approached and found
Henri, who brought her to the Nosferatu Master (who
presented himself under Hélène’s traits). Neve told
“Hélène” everything about her clan, her blood brothers,
the diablerie of their sire, the revolt, and asked for
protection.
The Nosferatu, as Hélène, blood bound Neve,
offered her protection and to keep her secret, and
ordered Hélène to present her as her childe and educate
her as a Ventrue. Hélène sent the inquisition and
the Prévôt after the Sabbat, and destroyed the
remaining Lasombra that participated in the amaranth.

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By 1743, Bordeaux was the fifth French portt and e
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was very much part of triangular trade. At the same
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The return of the city under French rule, timed
with the start of the Renaissance, caused more than
a few issues: violent revolts due to heavy taxes, the
murder of the King’s governor, heavy handed repression
in the city and across the countryside and religious
wars followed. La Boetie and Michel de Montaigne
wrote around this period, drawing the outlines of
political science, willing servitude and Essays, inspiring
the Enlightenment authors that would come a couple
of centuries later. These troubled times lasted two
centuries, between the middle of the 15th and the
middle of the 17th. It took two hundred years for
the Kingdom to fully subdue the city, and Louis XIV,
the Sun King, entered the city in 1653 with all the
decorum to make it bend to his will.
With 40,000 inhabitants in 1700, Bordeaux became
one of the most important and one of the largest
cities of the Kingdom, and ever since it was fully
subdued by Louis XIV’s army, a golden age of trading
began. It was not stopped by the common issues
that come with a growing metropolis: epidemics and
public order. Trade of wine flourished (because of
course it did), sugar and slave trade brought the city
many riches and immigrants seeking to profit from
them. Many rich owners of plantations of Santo
Domingo, among others, moved there in order to
be closest to their trade control.
time, the whole city’s buildings and layout was rebuilt,
giving this 18th century architecture the inhabitants
still enjoy today. The master hand of Tourny, architect
of Louis XV (great-great-grandson of Louis XIV who
had outlived two full generations of heirs), is the one
to thank for the plazas, parks and general urban layout.
One of the European capitals of the Enlightenment,
with Montesquieu as one of its founding fathers,
Bordeaux opened its doors to thinkers of all sorts.
Freemasons opened their first lodge in 1732 and their
members reached at least two thousand by the end
of the century.
With its English past, its resisting population and
desires of freedom, Bordeaux as a whole joined the
French Revolution, and formed their own political
group: la Gironde. The city became the de facto capital
of the subdivision of the region, bearing the same
name. However the Terror beheaded most if not all
of the Girondins in Paris, on June 2nd 1793, which
forced Bordeaux to revolt once more.
The retaliation with a new military rule over the
city was brutal and in October 1793, over three hundred
local men and women, out of about eight hundred
defendants, were executed publicly.

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The Nosferatu Master later ordered Hélène tto do e
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the necessary steps to have the city join the Camarilla
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In the early nights of the 16th century, Toreadors
from Paris were sent, as a way to ally the two cities
in an equal footing, in exchange for the city to reopen
its port to trade with the English. A Tremere magus
by the name of Tarcisus found out about the Nosferatu
Master running things from behind at the beginning
of the 16th century as well, and after securing a Chantry,
he obtained the Embrace from his hierarchy, and
once kindred, blackmailed the Nosferatu in exchange
for local favors. Hélène knew the Tremere knew, but
they never talked.
Xavier, willing to cleanse any city he traveled
through of Toreadors, arrived in Bordeaux. The two
Toreadors weren’t very liked, and they
were foreign, so he manipulated mortals into a terrible
riot, in 1637, and then created evidence to blame
it all on a plot to submit the city to Paris, presented
that evidence through Roland Dax, a young childe
of Henri, and made sure to get the Princess mad
enough to execute the Toreador herself. Richarde
Vaillet was executed but Louis de la Forcade escaped.
Xavier also found out about the Nosferatu Master,
without the Nosferatu or Hélène knowing he knew
(he only mentioned it in 1793 to save his own life).
20
and allow other Toreadors to come (affiliation in 1684).
As the early days of the 17th century had Bordeaux
up in arms against Paris, the Kindred tried to calm
down things, and eventually, Louis XIV managed to
subdue the city in August 1653. Aude de Volange,
the Toreador handpicked by Paris, arrived prior to
the official submission of the city (in 1651) to become
Primogen and started to embrace her way into local
socialite circles.
The 17th century saw the birth of local enforcers
and a certain decentralization, when it came to public
denouncers. The 1600s were also the era of Slave
Trade. Bordeaux took part of it, and benefited from
it, even if Bordeaux did not put all its eggs in the
same basket.
Over time the Tremere managed to make them-
selves indispensable, but they never openly took sides
when it came to supporting one faction or the other.
All throughout the 18th century, many of them
disappeared during strange circumstances, either from
bad political moves, or an actual heart attack, or stroke.
The Tremere expansion was halted by the Nosferatu
placing important resources in the religious sectors,
replacing some Jesuit influences by their own poor
orders. With 40,000 inhabitants in 1700, Bordeaux
became one of the most important and one of the
largest cities of the Kingdom, but it was not without
unrest. The city during the 1750s was full of beggars,
a fourth of the population unable to sustain itself,
which fed into Anarch ideologies (and happy
Nosferatus). The city was boiling.
Henri, lacking control and influence over his clan
as the revolts were, was ordered by the Nosferatu
Master to leave the city, which he did in 1774, leaving
his Primogen seat to Roland Dax. The Nosferatu Master
only relied on Hélène. Xavier, Prévôt since 1637, made
sure to keep Anarchs at bay for as long as possible,
executing all mortals and harming enough their
vampire masters, but without killing them. The couple
of decades leading to the French Revolution only hard-
boiled the tensions, despite Hélène’s good will to
negotiate, and despite Ventrue infiltrating the
Freemasons and the ideas of Enlightenment.
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Acknowledging this past is still a current dividing
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THE SLAVE TRADE
In 1571, Bordeaux’s Parliament refused slavery.
The humanist tradition, birthed by La Boetie and
Montaigne who were also magistrates, thrived. La
Boetie’s work, the discourse of voluntary servitude,
was one of the first anti-slavery publications.
While slavery only accounted to about five percent
of the port’s activity, the five hundred ships deported
about 150,000 Africans to the Antilles, and plenty
of those involved in the Triangular Trade still have
streets named after them to this day.
In 1902, on the Quinconces Plaza, was built a
column to give homage to the martyrs of the political
party Gironde, who through their political actions
and their Societé des amis des Noirs (Society of the
Friends of the Blacks), worked to end the Slave Trade.
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topic among many French people in general, locals
in particular. This included the mayor who had refused
monuments or museums specifically to acknowledge
this part of the city’s past. A statue is in the talks...
A bust of Toussaint Louverture, placed on the
East Bank by the Botanical Garden, far from the most
touristic parts of the city, was gifted by Haiti as a
celebration of their independence in 2005.
The Taubira Law of 2001 recognized Slave Trade
as having been a crime against humanity. Mrs Taubira
was at the time the elected representative of her birth
territory, French Guyana. She later became the Justice
Minister under François Hollande's presidency. The
Law and its commemoration day (May 10th) do not
make consensus to this day, only highlighting the
racist systems of the former colonial empire.

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By 1840, Colonial trade and industry gave t back e
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Tired of the global mess since Robespierre was
decapitated, most of Bordeaux's population applauded
Napoleon Bonaparte's Coup d'Etat and the creation
of the first Empire. The urbanization of the city
continued big time, drying up swamps and extending
land beyond the city's original murals. The city still
remained focused on maritime commerce, but with
hard competition as other cities such as Marseille
and Le Havre had gained more and more power.
The population of Bordeaux applauded far less
when Napoleon engaged the Spanish War, and made
his soldiers sleep in local houses, when going to Spain,
and when bringing back the wounded and sick. In
1814, the mayor of the city took the Bourbon and
Royalist side, against Emperor Napoleon I, and then
against the King Charles X.
The Napoleonic Wars cost the city immensely,
in resources but also in people, and it took the
Restauration (1815-1830, a period in which the Monar-
chy was reinstated with Louis XVIII and Charles X,
the younger brothers of Louis XVI, reigned one after
the other) to allow the city to grow once more, tearing
down and building anew certain famous landmarks
of the city and finally extending past the river. The
east bank of the city became unavoidable once con-
nected to the west bank with the Stone Bridge.
the following years, the city got equipped with train
rails and train stations, to the shore and then to Paris
in 1855.
The 1848 Revolution also brought full blown
industrialization to the city, from metallurgy, industrial
food and chemistry. The port was rebuilt anew, to
allow better trade of rum, sugar, the wood from the
Landes Forest, for other products originated from
the newly independent Latin American countries. Oh,
and wine, too.
ThepopulationofFranceandofthecountrydoubled
between the 1840s and the 1890s, and the end of the
19th century, heritage and the memory of the Republic
and the Revolutionaries was celebrated with the
creation of many monuments. The Girondists and
Jacobines martyrs became a symbol.
Quickly enough, modern water and irrigation
systems to the many fountains of the city were built
and the whole hospital of Saint André, inaugurated
in 1390, was completely remade in 1829, giving more
tools to the urban planners and doctors to fully tackle
the many epidemics that had been plaguing the country
for centuries. The turn of the century gave Bordeaux
one of the first electric tramway, replacing the 1880
horse-driven tramways.

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LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, FRA-
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Hélène was staked as she was defending her t land, e
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TERNITÉ OU LA MORT
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him and his clan enough time to clear and go into

1789 is the French Revolution date, with the Bastille
prison being invaded in Paris, and freeing a grand
total of seven prisoners (amongst which the now famous
Marquis de Sade, imprisoned for plenty of terrible
crimes).
Bordeaux’s delegation and demands were at odds
at the time, the Jacobin movement was popular, a
special political group, the Girondins, was formed
in 1790. Jean-Baptiste Boyer-Fonfrède (1760-1793), one
of them, was noticed by Hélène, and was embraced
in hopes of bridging the gap before it was too late.
Her hopes and Boyer’s work with Théodore “Jacob”,
childe of Roland (who had to leave due to his Anarch
implications), weren’t fully successful. By the time
the Terror struck in 1793, the uprising was unstop-
pable.
Boyer, officially elected representative at the
National Assembly (a ghoul that belonged to the
Nosferatu Master acted as his day-double), was unable
to protect his sire and calm down the situation. The
Girondins were executed in June 1793 and in October,
Bordeaux revolted against Paris’ Commune, and a
military commission was sent by the Anarchs in
reprisals. In October 1793, that same commission
executed 304 local mortals (including 46 women) and
that same night, the people marched.
hiding), and were about to dispose of her, the Prévôt
Xavier and his childe Lambert, when Xavier convinced
them to spare them, that the Tremere knew who was
the real master of the city, the Nosferatu Master who
had been ruling for ages from the shadows. Demen-
tation helped convince the Anarchs, who ordered
ghouls to put Hélène on the roof and see she enjoys
the sunrise and went after the warlocks. Xavier fled
while the Anarchs ran to the Chantry and executed
the Tremere who tried to intervene, and Tarcisus
told them what he knew about the Nosferatu Master,
who was successfully found, trailed and killed by those
Anarchs.
Boyer’s bid for Primogen once he returned to
Bordeaux, after he had been officially guillotined in
Paris was a hard fight. Joseph Gilon, the oldest Ventrue
in town, disapproved of a Neonate who had not finished
his Ventrue trials getting all ambitious, especially when
he was absent when Hélène “died” (she was actually
abducted by Lambert).
Boyer won the title, however, thanks to well-placed
pawns, the right contacts in the right circles, his
friendship with the moderated Brujah Primogen, his
popularity among mortals, and, most importantly,
his oratory skills. Boyer applied his “oligarchy of
Primogen” agreement with the Brujah, while the
Primogen council ruled the city without a Prince.

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The city was ruined by the Napoleonic Wars,

enough so that tired of the results of the experiment
of democracy, the unrest grew again.
The Restauration (1814-1830) was a perfect
opportunity for a national reorganization and
centralization efforts. This is what François Villon,
Prince of Paris, used to consolidate his Hegemony,
and sent a childe of his, Madeleine d’Aurigny, to
become a thrall-Prince (Marquis and Marquise) to
Bordeaux.
The city was too weak and the influences and
schemes by the all-powerful Prince of Paris won. The
Primogen of Bordeaux weren’t able to fight off the
Marquise and her strengthened and influential hold
over newly appointed local mortal pawns.
The local court didn’t believe she would last long,
but she was damn good and properly backed up by
Paris’ resources, so her Praxis over the domain was
hard to contest.
Marquise Madeleine seized Praxis in 1814 and
ruled by trading in favors with the Primogen, and
investing heavily in culture and arts. The local
Toreador prospered, but the Ventrue resistance was
not kind: the destruction of the Château Trompette
was one of those events, sponsored by Xavier who
took great pleasure in the Toreador’s pain. It’s said
Aude de Volange was absolutely livid when she saw
the end result of one of her favorite buildings
dismantled to the ground.
Madeleine grew attached to the city and its
inhabitants, ruling it with a more or less open laissez-
faire attitude, and paying tribute to her sire in Paris
as necessary, until she was ousted by Boyer in 1915.

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World War II caused yet again a government exile

Turn of the 20th century
The First World War gave Bordeaux a certain
boom in prestige and economy, as the government,
threatened by the German army, decided to use the
city as its capital. The city’s industries got busy with
arms manufacturing and the port was the landing
point for US soldiers starting 1917. It also saw the
growth of importance and terrorist actions of Action
Française, an extremist political movement on the
pro nationalist and monarchy spectrum.
In order to fight the 1929 Recession, the Mayor,
Adrien Marquet, engaged as many public works as
he could to mitigate the effects of unemployment,
and develop the city with a general plan which he
named after himself.
Plan Marquet gave birth to plenty of public buil-
dings and services with Art Déco styles, including
the public pool on Judaique Street, the postal sorting
facility and many others.
to Bordeaux in June 1940, but a mere few days after,
the Germans invaded and took Bordeaux in Occupied
Zone. During those few days, the Portuguese Consul
managed to deliver over 30,000 visas for the persecuted
to run away. The mayor Marquet, good friends with
a man with whom he founded the neo-socialists, a
fascist political party, stayed and collaborated with
the Germans. Plenty of administrative officials in
Occupied Bordeaux very much participated, or even
anticipated the Nazi demands.
Occupied Bordeaux became an important port
for the Third Reich, which they protected with hidden
bunkers, and it was key to enforce their blockage
on the British Isles. The Nazis left on August 28th,
1944, after having sank plenty of ships in the river
Garonne, to slow down the Allied forces’ progression.
Decades were necessary to clean up the river so ships
could sail once more, but up to this day, during low
tides, some shipwrecks can be spotted. 25
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THE MACGUFFIN - THE NODDIST ARTEFACT
The 1830 July Revolution had the Brujah up in
arms, including Théodore himself. Plenty of Kindred
revolutionaries and ideologues, including some
Gangrel, went to Paris, incited and manipulated by
Xavier and others who wished to see them out of the
picture in order to get a better control over their
influences. Clearing the domain benefited many of
those in the know of the city’s biggest treasure hunt.
Elisabeth Vrancken, a powerful Tremere, started
to snoop into Théodore’s domain and circles of
influence, trying to find the Noddist Artifact, the
same one that Childéric was obsessed with. She had
found out about it when she researched the university
libraries’ old papers. She too, had become obsessed
with it, and had come to the conclusion that it was
somewhere on Théodore’s domain, which led to her
death as Théodore wasn’t exactly happy about seeing
her over and over again without permission. Lyle
found out about the artifact when clearing Elisabeth’s
haven and inhering some of her contacts and holds
(with Joseph Gilon, through his ghoul, Boyer de
Fonscolombe).
It was also sought after by Hugues Jason ever since
the 16th century. Hugues was a historian who had
taught Hélène how to read and write Latin (and had
been embraced as a sign of gratitude, and for his
influences in different parishes). Hugues spoke about
it with Daniel Lombard, and both had hoped to find
it in order to study further the history of Cainites
and whether the myths were real or not.
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Antedulivian Gehenna prophecies were fairy tales
to scare the childer, of course, but was Caine actually
the first vampire was a question worth exploring.
Hugues, having been one of the victims of the Terror,
left behind his ghoul, Boyer de Fonscolombe, and he
found 16th century-old papers about this artifact when
clearing his study. De Fonscolombe also began to try
and obtain the artifact for himself, but did not inform
his new master, Joseph Gilon, of the item.
Daniel, one of Hugues’ friends, also kept looking
for the artifact until his childe Yves Degras diablerized
him. Yves was then diablerized by Emilio, and with
some flashes of memories of Yves and Daniel, found
out about the item’s supposed existence, and now he
too is actively looking for it, hoping Caterina Giovanni
has a clue (it’s why the Hecata are in town, right?).
Finally, Vigo knows about the artifact because it
was him who planted the information all over those
old papers in the different archives of the city.
Childéric’s obsession with an artifact of some sort
around the year 1000 had become quite of a gossip
topic among Nosferatu pranksters, who happily sold
to the different Princes on divine objects of power
dating back from Roman invasions, and that with their
help, they could find the items and claim that power
of their own… in exchange for a few favors to the sewer
rats, of course. Vigo believes it’s fake, and has been
keeping a close eye on anyone searching for it (it was
through a similar trick of clues in books that he had
lured Docteur in for an Embrace). You decide which
papers are real and which are Vigo’s. And perhaps the
item also caused the absence of Beckoning in the city…
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The July Monarchy lasted until the 1848 Revo-
lutions, which led to further turmoil in the country,
but Bordeaux itself was stable. Noticeable events
mostly consist in the death of Aude de Volange,at
Giovanni hands for having embraced one of their
potential candidates for servitude, Adriano Lippo-
mano (who calls himself Guicciardini since his arrival
in 1892, to hide his Venetian origins). Boyer spent
a large amount of time to consolidate his influence,
hoping to oust Madeleine as soon as possible. The
Tremere lost a sizable portion of their remaining
control and prestige, as industrialization hit their
traditional ways and their structures the most.
The Third Republic (1870-1940), proclaimed by
Léon Gambetta (whose name was given to one of
the central plazas of the city), was the longest type
of government of the country has had since 1789 (after
three constitutional monarchies, two empires, and
two ephemeral republics). It began with the abdication
of Napoleon III in 1870 and his exile, and the
consequences of the war with Bismarck’s united
Germany. The north-east side of the country was the
most concerned with these events, but Bordeaux was
put to contribution, and Boyer managed to make
his family and his heirs’ business and influence
prosper. His weapon manufacturing were consolidated
and modernized enough to become a conglomerate
reaching far beyond the Praxis’ border.
The period prior to the first World War,
but after the Franco-Prussian war (when France lost
Alsace to Bismarck), is known as La Belle Époque,
a period future generations would look back at with
fond nostalgia for those good old days.
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The first World War, with Eric Artevelt’s support
through his contacts and allies, allowed Boyer to finally
seize the domain for himself, but despite his (and
Xavier’s) best efforts, Madeleine was not made to meet
her maker. Tarcisus and her decided to flee the city
before the hostilities started.
Boyer allowed the German troops to bombard
different private havens as a price to pay for consoli-
dating his power, regardless of who won the war.
The unrest in the Chantry due to the loss of influence
and the lack of adaptation to modern times made
certain young vampires unhappy, and three of them
were found out to be Anarchs. To the surprise of
absolutely no one, the Regent ordered their destruction,
and Lyle Kersten executed them. Boyer, recently
holder of the title of Prince, couldn’t involve himself
in private Tremere affairs, as the court was told the
Tremere cleaned their own ranks and no one had
oversight.
The 1929 crisis allowed the Ventrue to gain more
independence from the international connections. The
city’s economy was not badly harmed by the crisis
itself, and the Ventrue decided to make their own
exposition, to show the Toreadors they were as good.
The exposition was a failure, the Toreador laughed,
and organized their own (to show who’s boss). The
Ventrue learned their lesson and retired, not to be
caught again investing in art.
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Jacques Chaban-Delmas, a general of the Resis-
tance, was elected mayor in 1947. He remained in
office until 1995, and led further industrialization
of the city as trading drops during the first half of
his time in office. The population grew exponentially
during that time due to the Baby Boom, and plenty
of new neighborhoods needed to be either renovated
or plain built. The universities moved to brand new
campuses in the suburbs in the 70s.
Three new bridges connected the two banks, in
1965, 1967 and 1993 and a peripheral road connected
to the highways and allowed to avoid the city as a
whole, the Rocade, finalized what would be the modern
landscape. The Rocade took from 1967 to 1993 to
build, as the whole thing all at once would have de
facto isolated the city from the suburbs and rendered
driving through impossible. Chaban-Delmas, aged 80,
retired in 1995 and Alain Juppé took the succession
and launched an urban project to rebuild the docks
anew, reorganize car circulation and create the modern
tramway system.
In 2004, Juppé had to leave office after a Parisian-
Government scandal of fake jobs and fraud. He took
the blame for then president Jacques Chirac and was
sentenced to one year of ineligibility, and left to teach
in Canada in the meantime. When he came back
in 2006, the council of the city resigned to trigger
new elections, and Juppé won on the first turn with
over 56% of the votes (this victory was stained by
a low turnout).
The new train line, a TGV extension, connecting
Bordeaux to Paris in under 2h30, launched a new
urbanization plan: Bordeaux 2030. New physical
transformations, incentives for renewable energies,
more pedestrian friendly places and open malls, the
inauguration of different transport modes (monthly
subscription to rent bikes and electric cars for punctual
use, a boat line part of the tram and bus system,
tramway extensions and other lines planned, among
others) and the rehabilitation of public housing were
part of this project.
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in 2012 despite the growing gentrification of downtown
and the price of housing booming due to the Parisian
invasion.
Alain Juppé resigned in February 2019 to join the
Constitutional Council, the body overseeing national
elections and party funding rules. With his second
in command also resigning, the city was run by the
rest of the municipal council until the 2020 elections
which were won by the Green party; one of the few
big cities that turned green during the SARS-COV2
pandemic. The first turn had a historically low turnout
as it happened after the lock-down was announced,
but before it took place in the middle of March, and
the second turn of the election was pushed to June.
Slowly the city started new and greener urbanization
and renovation projects.
With the new proximity of Paris, through the
train line, gentrification and higher housing prices
have pushed the poorer population out. The universities
and schooling demands have been greatly affected
in many ways, with more funding for research and
projects and higher expectations of the richer
population. As such, and also due to its nicer weather,
the region is the top choice for public servants to
be assigned to.
The expansion of the northern neighborhoods and
grand public works, including the expansion of the
tramway lines and new Metropolis plans, allows new
shifts of power and new domains to claim.
The end of the industrialization era and local growth
through a unique identity allow the city to have more
and more prestige, gaining a special importance
through their tribunal which hosts high profile cases
that cannot be judged in Paris, as well as top universities
which rival Parisian ones.
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COLLABORATOR TRIALS

The 1980s and 1990s saw a massive check on the

French public administration actions during the War,
and Bordeaux’s servants collaborated with zeal. It is
the case of Maurice Papon, former administrative
official of the prefecture, who later rose in the ranks
under Charles de Gaulle’s Fifth Republic, becoming
the prefect of Paris and repressing many strikes and
marches during the sixties. His trial lasted from 1981
to 1998, when he was sentenced to ten years in jail
for complicity in crimes against humanity, and died
in jail in 2007 at age 96.
It took until 1995 for then president Jacques
Chirac to recognize the responsibility of the French
State when it came to deportations. "France, the
homeland of the Enlightenment and of the rights of
man, a land of welcome and asylum, on that day
committed the irreparable," he stated, on the 53th
anniversary of the Vel d'Hiv deportation.
Many political parties, on the extreme right and
on the nationalist (or even royalist) side of the
spectrum, still claim to this day that as Vichy's Regime
was not France, there is no need to display guilt or
regret when it comes to those acts. They do so often
because their own family members and close friends
were either guilty of the crimes or benefited from
them.

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TARCISUS’ PUTSCH
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It also hit Laure’s haven, killing her husbandt and e
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destroying all of her jewelry, which sent her in rage
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In 1939, Tarcisus, the despotic, cornered, frustrated
and isolated Tremere Regent decided he wanted to
become Prince, and with Vienna’s support, rode WWII
to place pawns of his own and claim his own Praxis.
The loss of prestige of the clan, due to industriali-
zation and political changes, as well as Boyer’s coup
which had cost them valuable members, ended up
getting to the Regent’s head. The Tremere met with
their clan-mates on the other sides during an expo-
sition, which was shut down early due to the war
(the Toreador who organized it resented the Tremere,
which led to some tensions between the Flowers
Coterie members, with Jérôme Lehin, his childe
Annabelle, Laure Nolveaux and Thomas Durieux on
one side, and Claudia Vonïgner on the other), and
the local Tremere were to create the right conditions
for the city’s full Collaboration.
Lyle, knowing his sire’s Coup was going to be
a disaster, warned Boyer to flee, and the Ventrue
went into hiding to finance the Resistance while the
Tremere tried to track him (and his other sup-porters
such as Théodore) down. Bordeaux quickly became
Occupiedterritory,aspartoftheAtlanticfront,despite
other clans trying to avoid the situation. Tarcisus
ruled for as long as the Army stayed in place. The
Resistance was the source of many
illegal embraces, mostly Brujah, some of which were
punished for violating the Third Tradition.
Tarcisus did not manage to obtain pawns
on both sides of the war, as he had put all his eggs
in the same basket so to speak. He never managed
to consolidate his power and control over the city.
The Germans left as the war was lost, bombarding
certain key zones and sinking ships for the Allies
to be delayed. This in particular shook Kindred balance
further, as it ended up killing Joseph Gilon, Boyer’s
biggest rival in the Ventrue clan.
to find and destroy Tremere as reprisal (she found
and killed two neonates, but Claudia covered for the
murder;thetwoTremerediedinthebombing,officially).
At the end of the war, Tarcisus was promoted
to Lord and promptly left the city, and Boyer and
the other clans decided to put in place a post war
rule: the Tremere cannot have any mortal political
influence. This consortium was also applied in many
ex-occupied cities.
POST WAR PRAXIS
Lyle Kersten became Regent and Primogen and
decided to modernize the clan. That involved switching
from Latin to French as vernacular, getting electricity
and moving the Chantry right across the street from
the Grand Théâtre, the most popular Elysium of the
Court. And because Lyle is one of the few Tremere
capable of smiling in court and with quite a sense
of humor, the Hotel he picked as new Chantry goes
by the name of The Regent.
Bordeaux is rebuilt by a combined Toreador and
Ventrue effort, financed by the Marshall plan, and
Boyer took back his throne. Those who collaborated
with the Tremere are forgiven, but cannot claim any
favors to the Prince. Those who helped Boyer and
the resistance are rewarded, and the illegal embraces
under Tarcisus are legitimized.
The feminist movement and the 1960s
student revolts caused quite a few changes in mortal
societies, and kindred society as well. Tania created
a club for Immortal Women, it was mildly successful
as most powerful older female vampires did not want
to be ostracized by the rest of kindred society and
they wouldn’t renounce the comfort of manipulating
men without exposing themselves. Suzanne Gourand
was embraced as a way to parody the movement,
and Franz Derijk, her sire, was considered to have
wasted an embrace right in a tasteless way

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the city. The raid was unsuccessful, but many Camarilla
DEPARTURE
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kindred died defending their territory.

The Giovanni entered the city in the 1970s, by
offering to sell to Boyer shares of the Beretta Company.
It was a Trojan horse. The Giovanni bought the
prostitution sector that Adriano Guicciardini had
built (under their orders), and started implementing
themselves and fighting off the Setites.
The Giovanni then made an aggressive takeover
of the Prince’s assets (as well as buying back their
former Beretta shares), and due to the financial pressure
of the Ventrue, they had to sell. Adriano Guicciardini
made a better offer and he, and the Giovanni, rose
at the very top of the Prince’s personal blacklist.
Boyer willingly looked the other way when the
Setites fought the Giovanni for influences, easily
forgiving missteps, but any Giovanni misbehaving
would earned themselves a rightful Blood Hunt.
Without any more assets in town, Venice called back
their own, leaving behind a recently embraced ghoul,
Caterina, to save appearances. The new Hecata alliance
might be able to give Caterina some much needed
reinforcements.
The Brujah suffered the most losses in kindred
lives as they were, with the Gangrel, on the front
lines. They held on until the heavy Tremere artillery
burnt those who had survived the initial defenses.
All assailants perished, and those who ran away were
chased and destroyed by Prévôt, the enraged Brujah
who had lost many of their friends and childer, and
the Tremere to lend their senses.
For Masquerade reasons, Boyer and Théodore found
scapegoats to blame and trial for terrorism. The two
extremist Daesh affiliated men were jailed and are
awaiting trial, despite their innocence, they confessed
to the crime (Dominate is brutal). While many officially
died during the attack, but one of them was actually
staked and abducted by one of their own: Annabelle
is now Prévôt’s prisoner. The Nosferatu also declared
some of their members dead, to let them return to
being Hidden.
Because of this attack and its subsequent losses,
the Court is whispering about their safety, their politics,
and those who met their Final Death have left a power

21ST CENTURY SHIFTS
The Gangrel as a whole left the Camarilla, but
some of the kindred of Bordeaux decided to keep
their affiliation. Henri Bowens, recently named
Primogen for the clan, managed to keep his title
and position.
In 2000, a Sabbat nest is discovered and eliminated
by Prévôt. Robert Degrelle, a Malkavian, had been
hiding them, but they were found when one of the
Lasombra found and diablerized the childe of Laure
Nolveaux. Robert was tried and executed for treason.
The buildings where they were hiding was leveled
and long public works were ordered, to make sure
nothing was left in there.
vacuum behind. Paris may try to impose its laws
again, in exchange for its protection, the Sabbat may
strike again, or from within, a revolt may spark. Perhaps
even a Revolution.
The Beckoning has just started, and the Sabbat
has all but disappeared. Boyer, now without enemies
to force him to negotiate for a more or less acceptable
balance of power, has begun his descent into despotism.
He doesn’t need to keep up appearances and the threat
of the Sabbat isn’t as viable as it once were, as more
kindred start hearing the news. The Second Inquisition,
however, hasn’t noticed Bordeaux yet, but it’s only
a matter of time before all technology use is banned.

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k e r- s o ft w a k e r- s o ft w a

Chapter II -

CUSTOMS AND
GEOGRAPHY

“So, as I studied nothing, I learnt a lot.”

Anatole France

This section will contain all elements that will give further depth on the
city, its inhabitants, and some folklore elements that are related to
other denizens of the World of Darkness. Vampires aren’t the only ones walking
the lands, and many kindred know werewolves exist, even if their influence
has decreased with urbanization.
Bordeaux has a vast secret supernatural history, which has avoided kindred
history to the best of its ability, but some events are still relevant to kindred
existence. Other elements can be added, especially when it comes to more rural
areas of the region, but this book being a By Night, it focuses on the vampiric
influence.
This is why the werewolf, changeling and mage populations are not detailed,
and only those in relation to vampires will be mentioned in the relevant places.
Wraiths are only a little more detailed as their presence has brought more stories
among mortals.
Misunderstanding and misinformation on such topics create plots in and
out of themselves.

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Physical Geography
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Bordeaux is the capital city of the

region Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and of the
department of Gironde, one of the 12
departments that make up the region.
The city is located at the end of the Gironde
inlet, which is very recognizable on bigger
maps of France.
Two rivers become this inlet. These
two rivers are the Garonne, which comes
from the Pyrenees (border with Spain),
and the Dordogne from the Massif Central
(center of the country). Bordeaux’ river
is the Garonne, and the city’s proximity
to the inlet makes it a mix of sea and
river waters.
The tides often invert the flow of the
river, bringing a salty oceanic wind and
matching weather.
In terms of latitude, Bordeaux is on
the same level as Belgrade and Montreal,
and yet enjoys a far milder, nicer climate.
This is caused by the Gulf Stream. On
the coast, Bordeaux fully benefits from
an Atlantic warm climate: thecoldest
month, January, has an average 24h
temperature of 5°C, while the warmest,
July, hoovers at about 22°C. While it
sometimes freezes over during the night
and black ice isn’t unheard of, this mostly
affects the rural areas. Freezing
temperatures are rare, even during the
night, but heatwaves are quite common
in the city, as the stone buildings release
their stored heat at night, causing the
night temperature to remain high. With
summer days going up to 40°C, and their
nights not dropping under 25°C, heatwave
alarms ring often.

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Bordeaux can have rain all year long with the The East Bank quickly becomes a limestone plateau
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notable exception of the summer months, and the
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rain is usually evenly distributed, even if January tends
to be wetter. Summer days can get a windy oceanic
storm. Winters are windy and humid, with occasional
hail, black ice or a bit of freeze. Snow happens once
every few years and its thin layer on the pavement
does not live past noon. Summers, often cloudless,
can be very hot, with peaks at about 40°C on a few
days, with heatstroke dangers, but the humid oceanic
winds usually keep the temperature more tolerable
than further in land. Most people do not have AC
in their houses, but stationary fans are common (unlike
ceiling fans). Morning fog is also common outside
of summer.
THE LAND OF WINE
The city itself, extending on the Garonne river
banks, overall occupies large flat plains with some
swamp-like lands further north. The West Bank, which
is where most of the historical city is located, are
Gascogne’s lands, meaning thin soils, permeable to
water and stores heat easily: great vineyard conditions.
where the most famous and expensive wines (like Saint-
Emilion) are produced. Amphorae are making a
comeback in vineyards. See below for further details
on the vineyards and chateaux.
DAYLIGHT (SAVINGS) TIME
Despite its comfortable weather, Bordeaux is quite
north, more so than many can imagine when staying
over. As such, like Montreal and Belgrade, winter
time has long nights, and summer time enjoys DST
and very short nights. The longest day falls either
on June 20th or 21st, for a daytime of over fifteen
hours and thirty minutes. The shortest day is usually
a 20th or 21st of December, lasting only eight hours
and forty-seven minutes. Bordeaux is no French Riviera
and does not have as much actual sunshine as other
regions, but daytime length variations may be worth
noting. Bordeaux, like the rest of the Hexagon, is
on the UCT+1 time zone. It’s also known as Central
European Time.

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The region however is known for a few famous
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Bordeaux itself does not have natural landmarks, spots: first, and obviously, the vineyards themselves, k e r- s o ft w a

but man-made ones are listed further. The Atlantic
coast as a whole has plenty of other natural resources
to enjoy, both for locals and tourists: oysters and
the sea are everywhere. Further south, near the Spanish
borders, resorts are open to all types of clienteles,
including world-renowned surfers, and many people
come for thermal care. Back in land, plenty of lakes
and swamps allow people to enjoy a warmer and
less turbulent water, and the large woody areas give
shadow and slow down the natural erosion.
with many plants being in the hundreds of years old.
Second, the highest sand dune in Europe, La Dune
du Pilat located near the Arcachon Bay on the Atlantic
coast can be visited and climbed. It is over a hundred
meters high, however, and the sand isn’t exactly helpful.
It faces the ocean and once at the bottom one can
swim in the Atlantic.
A few other natural specific sites can be visited:
caves, big and small, underwater or not. Speleology
is a common activity, and it was how the Lascau cave
was discovered. One of many copies of this cave and
its famous prehistoric paintings remains open to the
public.

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Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the largest sub-

national administrative division of the
French territory, is bigger than Austria,
and welcomes about six million inha-
bitants. Bordeaux’s metropolis, the biggest
and only metropolis of the region, has
about 900,000 inhabitants.
Bordeaux itself has begun losing
inhabitantsduetogentrificationandhigher
costs of housing, but the wider region
as a whole has been steadily gaining new
inhabitants.
Two types of new people arrive: young
retirees (60-65 years-old) and families
(older millennials with their children,
most of the time). Students move in and
out of the metropolis as they graduate.
The city of Bordeaux has several
neighborhoods, which can be divided in
three groups: the old city, the outskirts
and the outside neighborhoods. Let’s work
from the outside in.

OUTSIDE NEIGHBOURHOODS
The outside neighborhoods are recent
Then, on the east bank, with a freer, more anarchic, more organic
neighborhoods that are within the border
growth, the Bastille and Benauge expanded as if they were further
of the city of Bordeaux. They are in three
away than they actually were. Its industrial past, with immigration
distinct locations: North (on the west
to fuel the factories, away from the precious downtown, has not
bank), West and East (on the east bank).
been able to recover from the 1970s economic crash and as such,
First, the north part of the west bank these neighborhoods have a higher unemployment rate than the rest
(Bordeaux-Lac and Bacalan), with modern of the metropolis. The university has taken advantage of the low
ecofriendly housings, malls, and high-tech land prices to build one of its poles, the tramway arrived and helped
start-up like companies. This Bordeaux reconnect the two banks even if, psychologically, many people find
Maritime is the result of Chaban-Delmas the river quite a hard border to consider crossing.
urbanization projects, which drained the
Finally, Caudéran, used to be its own city until it was integrated
swamps to create a new artificial lake
in Bordeaux’ borders in 1965. Caudéran would be considered the
(known as Le Lac), as well as the exposition
richsuburbofthecity,it’smostlyahousingdistrictwithnewconstructions.
center. These neighborhoods were seen
It is mostly known for having the main State buildings of the region
as not attractive as far away and isolated
(Cité Administrative, mostly deals with taxes, notary work, driver’s
until the transports and stadium linked
licenses…) which is the only true sky scrapper of the city and a welcoming
it properly to the rest of the city.
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OUTSKIRTS
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To the west, Mériadeck, named after archbishop
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The Outskirts, or anciens faubourgs are neighbor- of Bordeaux, Ferdinand Maximilien Meriadec, who k e r- s o ft w a

hoodsthatwerebuiltoutsideoftheoriginalfortifications ordered the construction of the Palais Rohan (which

of the city, which have now mostly been replaced
with the main downtown streets (cours), but have
not extended past the boulevards which circle the
general shape of the city.
Three neighborhoods are north: between down-
town and Bordeaux Maritime, there’s the Chartons,
which were the wine trading center of the city until
the 1980s, when the main commercial port changed
and vine dealing needed more modern and larger
surfaces. Since the 1990s, the Chartons neighborhood
became the center for the arts, be it professional
artisans such as woodworkers or jewelry makers, or
art dealers and museums and other artist workshops.
It also houses some Consulates, as well as the neigh-
boring Saint-Seurin, built around the Palais Galien,
is a rich neighborhood, mostly centered on housing.
Finally, Grand Parc, built and renovated in the 60s
and 70s, was part of large urban projects typical of
that era, and gave its name to the neighborhood.
is now the Town Hall of the city), is a commercial
and administrative neighborhood with a supermarket,
the largest post office of the city, sports facilities (rinks,
bowling places) and plenty of other services and HQs.
Unlike other neighborhoods, this one clearly separate
pedestrians from vehicles, with esplanades. Mériadeck
used to be plague infested swamps until the city decided
to drain it in the 17th century. Before being fully
renovated by Chaban-Delmas with these very 1950s
and 1960s concrete buildings, Mériadeck was, during
the 19th century, a cosmopolitan place of poor workers,
prostitutes, stalls and shops, brothels, cafés and dance
parties (known as balls). This is also where the national
school for the judiciary can be found, right next to
the tribunal and just at the entrance of the Old City.
The southern parts of the city are mostly poorer
neighborhoods, with the exception of Saint-Genès
for higher revenues. These are mostly around the train
station, Saint-Jean Station, and the wholesale markets
or slaughterhouses of the Capucins (which is half in
the outskirts, half downtown). The southern
neighborhoods are connected to the suburbs through
boulevards which meet at the Victoire Plaza.

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Closer to the docks on the East part of downtown,
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Downtown, the Old City, is anything that was there’s Saint Pierre and Saint Eloi neighborhoods, k e r- s o ft w a

in the old fortifications of the city, which are now
the main cours streets, and the Garonne River is the
natural border. There are still “gates” to enter the
old city, some of which date back to the Middle Ages,
and these separate the old city from the outskirts.
New entrance doors were built in the 18th century
by Tourny, as well as renovating the façade of the
docks, to welcome visitors through the river, and
created lots of plazas that still stand today. These
renovations would inspire Haussmann’s future work
in Paris.
Currently, the downtown neighborhoods are, on
the northern parts of Quinconces and Golden Triangle,
all about banking, luxury products and services, private
hotels and former minister houses.
with many small restaurants and cafés, beaux-arts shops
and small alleys of all sorts. Slightly more south, around
la Victoire plaza and its University, is a part of town
more active at night due to the higher amount of
students and young middle class families. Plenty of
takeaway shops and bars, as well as large terraces
for popular cafés are common.
Finally, further east and closer to the train station,
Saint-Jean, are the Saint-Michel, Sainte-Croix and
Capucins (at least its northern part) neighborhoods
which house poorer families as well as second and
third generation immigrants, with quite the nightly
and warm welcoming ambiance.

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There are a few places of cultural importance that
matter to all French people in their daily lives. These
places have connotations and a role that cannot be
matched in other countries. They’re everywhere.
LA POSTE
France loves and hates its post offices (La Poste).
The big yellow signs, with matching uniforms for
mailmen on their bicycles or small vans have evolved
with the privatization of certain activities. The post
office is also a savings account bank, offers mobile
plans, offers western union cash transfers and has
a reputation of having quite the narrow “public service”
hours. Packages are mishandled and workers are often
abused to go faster and do more and more activities
which they had no training for. They just implemented
a “the mailman will check on your elderly family
members” monthly paid plan so you don’t have to
go visit your parents. The post office has delegated
plenty of post-related work to interim and private
workers, mostly when it comes to parcels.
Stamps are still being collected by many and are
worth quite the money to specialized collectors.
When it’s a bank holiday, or a Sunday, or one
does not have access to bigger mainstream shops, many
people buy some groceries or a forgotten item at the
“Arab shop at the corner (of the street)”. These are
small local stores which open longer hours, and sell
at a higher price a little bit of everything, mostly
fruits, veggies, liquor, candy, and whatever one may
need to buy last minute in the evening.
Despite the expression, dated back from WWI,
many of these shops aren’t held by actual Arabs, but
first or second generation immigrants owners from
the Maghreb countries are very common. Sometimes
they double as halal butchers.
BAR-TABAC-CAFÉ
The tabac, on its own can be recognized by a
special red long and narrow diamond, and this is
where people go buy their newspapers, magazines,
lottery and scratch tickets, horse race bets, sugary
snacks, and their precious, precious smokes. While
over the last couple of decades, smoking has been
on the decline and perceived as a negative, with heavy
regulations on advertising and steep price increases,
many French people still smoke and enjoy a cigarette
and coffee break on terraces. Some kiosk stands also
serve the same purposes, but mostly around public
transport spots for the commuting clientele and as
such open extremely early (at 5 or 6 am).
Cafés are common and all over the place to stop
and have a coffee, a beer, a tea, or a digestive. Plenty
of people have changed the world with a cup of espresso,
and many revolts and revolutions, in all sectors, started
with such gatherings. French people like their coffee
dark and strong.
Both bars and Cafés can stay open quite late into
the night.
And lastly, the bar-tabac is a bar/café which has
the license to sell tobacco. In many smaller places,
the place is also where one can buy stamps and send
mail and packages.

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What’s a French person without their daily people to go out, buy their bread, come back home, k e r- s o ft w a

baguette? Bakeries are all over the place, and with
the post office and the bar-tabac, it is the third
commerce that keeps a village alive. Not all stores
that sell bread are considered bakeries, as the bread
mustbemadeandbakedinsideitswallstobeconsidered
able to call itself a boulangerie. This is strictly regulated,
enforced, controlled, and considered quite a serious
offense to sell bread with a false label, if it isn't "real
bread". Le Terroir, after all.
have breakfast, and then go to work. Bakeries often
sell pastries (and cannot call themselves a patisserie
if they do not do their pastries inside its walls...) which
are also commonly bought and eaten on the go by
plenty of people. Many bakers have regular clients
and know quite a lot about them, and the smell of
freshly baked goods is prone to invade the streets
at the wee hours of the night. So much so that a
vampire may have grown with resentment because
of what they cannot taste anymore but smell just
before dawn.

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BRIDGES
There are four bridges linking the west bank to
the east bank of Bordeaux. Other bridges can be found
upstream and downstream from the Garonne.
The first and oldest one is the Pont de Pierre,
the Stone Bridge, was built between 1810 and 1822
under Napoleon. Before this bridge, the Garonne was
mostly impassable, the tides and width of the river
were quite dangerous and people would use ferries.
The bridge was costly and the participation of a private
company meant a toll price for a few decades until
the city bought the rights off from the owners. The
Stone Bridge has been made wider in the 1950s and
now allows cars, pedestrians, and the tramway to
circulate, bringing the two banks closer.
The second bridge, Saint-Jean, brings together
the southern parts of the city. It matches the Passerelle
Eiffel (by same guy who did the Eiffel Tower), built
in the middle of the 19th century, which only allows
train and pedestrian circulation. Saint-Jean Bridge
connects the east bank to the train station for other
vehicles, and was only inaugurated in 1965.
The third bridge, more recent, but one which
was needed ever since the construction of the Stone
Bridge, and went through abandoned project after
abandoned project, was inaugurated in 1967. It is
a suspension bridge and is part of La Rocade, the
bypass ring road surrounding the city, and is a vehicles-
only bridge due to the higher speed limitations. This
bridge bears the name of Pont d’Aquitaine.
The last, most recent bridge is the Chaban-Delmas
Bridge, named after the former mayor of the city.
Built from 2009 to 2012, it was constructed under
the name of “Bacalan-Bastide”, as it links those two
neighborhoods together, but at inauguration, the
current mayor Alain Juppé and his municipal council
renamed it after Chaban-Delmas. This vertical-lift
bridge of steel and concrete, with a modern refined
architecture, lessens the traffic on the Stone Bridge
and allows tourists and locals to view large cruises
sail on the river when it lifts in under fifteen minutes.
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the dark, whimsy waters of the Garonne. The tides, k e r- s o ft w a
floods and other water movements, alongside the large
cruise ships docking at the heart of the city make
for perfect Masquerade fixes.
DOCKS
The docks used to be dangerous, known for
prostitution, muggings and drug dealings, until the
west bank was renovated and rehabilitated to the
currentview.TheDocksarenowan80mwidepedestrian
and cyclist way closest to the Garonne, then some
green spaces, then large streets for vehicle circulation,
then a sidewalk and the plazas that border the mid-
18th century façades of the buildings. Before their
renovation that was encouraged by Prince Boyer (to
shut down the Giovanni influence as part of his personal
vendetta), the docks, traditionally on the west bank,
weredangerous.Peoplewouldcommitsuicidebyjumping
into the Garonne, but murders and other accidents
would happen often, especially with the ever growing
car traffic and the lack of pedestrian zones. With
the new looks, there’s more foot traffic, but there’s
also accidents, despite the rail-guards.
Many wraiths have a history with the docks, and
often, a White Lady shows up to the drunk students
on Thursday nights. Many have fallen accidentally
in the Garonne, and drowned.
The White Lady is trying to warn them, to save
them from danger, as they’ve always had over the
centuries, but instead, rumors of “death comes if you
see a White Lady” have slowly circulated over time,
among believing mortals and folklore knowledgeable
people. There are many White Ladies... and Black Ladies,
specters that lure people to their deaths and remind
the white ladies the uselessness of their tasks.
The east bank docks are more industrial in nature,
but there are always people zoning around, out of
concerts and walking back to their cars or the bus
stops. They’re great hunting grounds for vampires,
but also abductions and other despicable crimes.
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The Garonne itself claimed many lives, from she didn’t want to abandon her goddaughter, but now k e r- s o ft w a

suicides to accidents to murders. Bodies and ships
were sunk. The Garonne River used to have a fairy,
who blessed children and the land with growth and
feasts every year. The Lady of the Garonne.
The Lady had a friend, a young woman, a little
witchy, hermit who lived in the outskirts of the city
inthemedievalages.Herfriendhadadaughter,Clotilde,
and the fairy blessed her with longevity, beauty and
wits. Clotilde became a woman able to use her gifts
to manipulate men to her advantage, and the fairy
did not know that it would be a vampire who would
offer Clotilde the longevity blessing. The Lady watched
over her protégée, helpless as this Alterec monster
of a vampire corrupted Clotilde’s beautiful innocence,
how she became then Princess Hélène de Chantraine,
but she was killed in their leech wars. Industrialization
took over the city, and Glamour left, forever.
it was time. She died on her way to Arcadia, but
her echo remains, in Esther, a Boggan who is more
or less her reincarnation. Esther remembers, and has
found two beautiful Sidhe ready to blossom, of the
de Ségur family, and saw that their fate was to bring
to bring back the Glamour to the cold city. One of
them has turned Unseelie, taking by force and never
giving back, and the second has refused her heritage,
her fate. Esther will manage to have Alyssa de Ségur
accept her fate and lead all Changelings to bring back
hope and life to the cold stone walls, and convince
Tamara to return to her true role, working with her
Seelie sister.

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Locals and tourists alike enjoy the beautiful vision
of the newly renovated docks: the water mirror is
a two-centimeter of water surface which reflects the
Bourse plaza, corner stone of the 18th century façades.
Le Miroir d’Eau in French is the largest creation of
its kind, with a surface of 3450 square meters. When
it isn’t a still untouched surface, the fog effect can
be up to two meters tall. It was inaugurated in 2006.
Close to Elysium, the Water Mirror is an early
to mid-evening hangout place for many, including
for discreet hunting. The Docks renovations were part
of an urbanization plan aiming to harm Giovanni
influences.
SAINTE-CATHERINE STREET
The longest pedestrian street in Europe, Sainte-
Catherine is a north-south 1.25km long pedestrian
axis, linking the Comédie plaza (with the Grand
Théâtre) to the Victoire Plaza (with El Bodegon).
From the richer, brand stores of the Golden Triangle
and the Apple Store on its northern part, all the
waydowntosmalltake-awayrestaurants,cheapclothes,
second hand CDs, and repair shops further south,
Sainte-CatherineisthemainshoppingstreetofBordeaux
and is only ever empty when they are closed. The
street is connected to many small restaurants and
takeaway shops, which use self-employed bikers to
deliver their meals to those who ordered them through
mobile apps.
ARCHES
Some remnants of the medieval era of the city,
some newer constructions, Bordeaux has six arches
(or gates, Portes in French) which overall draw the
border from old city to newer constructions. The
originalmedievalonesareLaGrosseCloche,mentioned
later, Porte Cailhau built at the end of the 15th century
for defensive purposes. The other four ones were built
in the middle of the 18th century and serve as triumphal
arches.
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Bordeaux is a large hospital center for the region,
and plenty of people come to the city for treatment
that can’t be done in the rest of the region. The university
also conducts medical trials, as well as all sorts of
different studies over several types of afflictions.
One case has been especially strange in the
supernatural world: a Wraith’s whose body is
still alive. Sophie Bailly had married the love of her
life, who turned manipulative and awful once they
moved in together. She left to Bordeaux to meet former
school friends, get some respite, and partied one night.
Next thing she knew, however, she fell into the river
and drowned. But she was caught early, transported
to the hospital, and her body was kept alive, in an
artificial coma. Sophie left her body, but her body,
still alive, but also dead, is keeping her as part of
this world, half in, half out. Her parents can’t mourn,
can’t unplug her. She wants to go back into her body
and wake up… or be set free.
MUSEUMS
The city has different museums, specialized in
different fields, with temporary exhibitions of all sorts.
The Customs Museum, by the Water Mirror, as well
as the Aquitaine Museum, between the Victoire plaza
and the Saint André Cathedral, contain many valuable
treasures, such as the statue and heart of Jean-Baptiste
Barrière, a cellist and composer who died in Paris
at the age of 40 in 1747. He was at the height of
his popularity and creativity, but his attachment to
Bordeaux, his native city and where he was buried,
brought him back as a Wraith there.
The statue was removed by the Germans during
WWII, and his heart, put in a vase inside the statue,
was stored in a bank’s safe alongside other valuables.
Thankfully it wasn’t stolen when the troops left the
city, and when the Allies finished the inventory, they
put the heart back in the statue. Since his death,
Barrière has been watching over musicians.
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La Cité du Vin, in the new neighborhoods of
the north of the city, is dedicated to the universal,
livingheritageofwineandeverythingaroundit.History
and patrimony in this brand new, architect-artistic
creation, are key to welcome visitors in a modern
journey. Whoever has a direct stake in this construction
is far away from downtown wine caves and traditional
tourism enough to be rival-like.
QUINCONCES PLAZA
The largest public plazas in France with 12 hectares,
the Quinconces plaza replaced the Trompette (or
Trompeyte) Castle in 1818. This castle is marked by
a star on older maps. The large flat plaza, surrounded
by trees in a quincunx shape (hence the name) and
important men’s busts or statues (including Montaigne
and Montesquieu), hosts various events throughout
the civil year. Ferias, but also once a year large flea
market as well as special event concerts or soccer
finale parties (holding up to 62,000 people). Two large
visible columns are on the Garonne side of the plaza.
ThelargestmonumentontheplazaistheMonument
aux Girondins, a large fountain with bronze figures
and horses, a 43m tall column with a statue of Liberty
breakingherchainsontop.Thismonumentwasdecided
early on in the 19th century but was only built between
1894 and 1902 once its definitive placement had been
decided. As its name implies, the monument is a
homage to the representatives of the Girondins party
which fell victim to the Terror in 1793.
CHÂTEAU TROMPETTE
Chateau Trompette used to be a fort facing the
Garonne River. The fort was built, alongside many
others, just after the Castillon battle, which took
Bordeaux out of the English Crown and into the full
sovereignty of France in 1453. Due to their loyalty
to the English Crown, despite having surrendered
in 1451, Bordeaux had to finance the cost of the
construction of this and other forts as proof of the
Royal authority of Charles VII.
One of the oldest and largest cemeteries of the
city, Saint Augustin is located further west of the
city. The oldest White Lady haunts it often, as it
is where she perished, buried alive by mistake in the
middle ages.
Other cemeteries, religious or not, are all across
the city, but there are other places where the deceased
are remembered. Memorials to those deported during
WWII are common and executed Resistants also haunt
those places, as well as the buildings that were used
by the Gestapo during the occupation. WWI victims,
be them soldiers who died on the front or executed
for desertion also have specific memorials.
LA VICTOIRE
On Sainte-Catherine’s southern end, there is a
large plaza on half a roundabout, signaling the end
of Downtown and the start of the Outskirts, and
as such, vehicle circulation. From the plaza, streets
lead towards the docks, the Capucins markers, or
the train station. La Victoire is a known hangout
spot for the youth and student night-life, with people
choosing to meet at different locations: the arch, the
turtle, the obelisk, or any of the numerous cafés and
bars. The bronze turtles in particular have become
the local mascot.
CATACOMBS
Bordeaux’s sewer system isn’t big enough for
human-sized creatures. The Nosferatu and other
creatures in need of deep shelter tend to walk in the
ancient Roman ruins and catacombs, as well as the
immense deep cellars under downtown. Cellars are
cold, humid, and perfect for wine conservation.
Hidden Nosferatu have gone to great lengths to
make sure nobody would dig deeper than what had
already been explored as they believe a sleeping
ancient lies deep down in the forsaken deepest parts
of the city.

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The amphitheater of Bordeaux was a roman arena
dating back to the 2nd century, and only ruins remain
nowadays,surroundedbytraditionalhousingbuildings.
It is wrongfully named after the legendary wife of
Charlemagne, Galiène, and/or a Roman Emperor due
to some coins of Gallien found on the site. Neither
is true and it was confirmed by archaeologists, but
the name has remained. The site was sold off and
deconstructed during the Revolution and under
Napoleon, and finally classified as historical monument
in 1840. Supernaturals of the city tend to avoid the
old roman construction and there have been plenty
of rumors about hidden cults using the old site.
CATHÉDRALE SAINT-ANDRÉ
On the Pey-Berland plaza, with the Town Hall,
and with the Pey-Berland Tower, the Cathedral of
Bordeaux is always being cleaned up as car circulation
has left more than a few traces. With the tramway
and the narrower roads, fewer cars drive by and the
Cathedral is not as dirty as it used to be. Baptized
in 1096 by Urban II, this Cathedral has seen it all.
Plenty of supernaturals have a personal history
with the cathedral of Bordeaux, but many kindred
prefer their smaller, more confidential, local churches.
TEMPLE DU HÂ
The Protestant Temple, built in the middle of
the 17th century used to be a nunnery to educate
into Catholicism the young ladies taken away from
Protestant families. After the Revolution, which
dissolved all congregations Napoleon gave the building
to the Reformed community, and it became the Temple
du Hâ in 1805. The current diaconate also operates
from there. Reformed history in Bordeaux turned
500 years old in 2017. Other Protestant movements,
including Anglicans due to the presence of British
expatriates, or certain new Evangelical movements,
often form their own associations. The diaconate has
a certain influence as providers of social services and
some kindred either benefit from their action, or
influence these actions for it to fit their needs.
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One of the most active communities of the city,
which grew with the Alhambra Decree (or Edict of
Expulsion of 1492), the Jewish community gathers in
the Great Synagogue of Bordeaux, morning and evening
alike. It had burned down in 1873, and was rebuilt
anew from 1877 to 1882 to its current form. This building
was also pillaged and used as a temporary prison by
Nazis and their collaborators for the 1600 families
thatweredeportedtotheirdeath.Ithasn’tbeenforgotten
by those who survived, or those who could flee.
Antisemitism is on the rise across the world, and
Franceisnoexception.Chants,felonies,marches,graffiti,
cemetery intrusion, and outright murders are all ways
the far right and extremists express their hatred. This
climate is one of the source of the increasing number
of Jewish people moving to Israel.
SomelocalJewishindividuals,throughtheirpositions
or contacts, are under the spheres of influence of
certain Kindred, but the community as a whole seems
free from general supernatural intervention.
EL HOUDA MOSQUE
Near the Capucins market, the biggest Mosque
of Bordeaux is too small for local Muslims, many
of whom need to travel long distances to find a place
where they can practice. Mosques are too recent to
be considered “part of the patrimony” so they receive
little funds from the city or the state. El Houda, or
Al Houda, often holds exhibitions and memorials and
both the Jewish and Muslim communities work hand
in hand to tackle islamophobia and antisemitism. The
associations and charities are very active and reach
out often to different agents of public policies and
often work in intersectional agendas.
In the middle of Théodore Jacob’s domain, the
Mosque and the Muslim population of Bordeaux enjoys
a relative peace from supernatural interventionism.
They do however suffer from administrative discri-
mination in a country which defaults to Christian
holidays and schedules. Many students end up passing
their nationwide exams, from middle school to univer-
sity, during Ramadan.
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For mortals, the Theater is an elite attraction, where k e r- s o ft w a

PERSONAL DOMAINS select families and tourists come to view a play, or

With the notable exception of Théodore’s domain,
and the Tremere Chantry which bears quite a telling
title, other domains remain private hidden havens.
ELYSIA
While the domain is large, larger than the city
itself, there are only three officially declared Elysia,
and two of them are in the Old City, and stand at
both ends of the longest pedestrian street of Europe:
Sainte Catherine Street. In both cases, kindred are
expected to show up properly fed and on their best
behaviors. No piece of art and no kindred may be
harmed in these places and the use of disciplines
is forbidden unless for a specific performance under
the watch of the Keeper and host..
The main official Elysium is Le Grand Théâtre,
the opera house of the city, is north, on the richer
visit the historical building during the Heritage Days.
The Seneschal and personal ghoul of the Prince filters
the entrance to the Kindred specific rooms for Elysium
nights, which always takes place when there is a late
play downstairs.
The whole theater is considered Elysium but only
one room is dedicated to kindred only business: le
Déambulatoire. A wide, golden ball room with tables
and some of the retainers of the Prince come to serve
quality blood to taste. Its large glass doors open to
face the plaza in front of the Theater: Place de la
Comédie. This room is connected to a corridor and
wide stone stairs leading back to the hall of the Theater,
and to a smaller room which has a large desk and
large windows facing south to the Cours du Chapeau
Rouge, a large mostly pedestrian boulevard leading
to the docks; this room is where Prince Boyer meets
with individual kindred and listens to their grudges.

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The second Elysium is El Bodegon, a decently Quite often, fire dancers and other performers
sized bar/café with a large terrace on the street sides are invited to turn the ambiance on. It is run by
of the Victoire plaza. It also marks the start of the CharlesNassau’sghoul,andduetoitsimmensepopularity
personal domain of the Brujah Primogen, Théodore with the kindred population as one of the most prized
Jacob, which covers a good chunk of the Capucins hunting grounds, it has been declared Elysium for
neighborhoods, all the way to the train station and everyone’s comfort. There are many other clubs in
the bar serves as an entry point to it. the area and all along the docks to enjoy, but this
It was declared Elysium for practical purposes one is the one that is relevant for kindred.
and anyone wishing to operate on Théodore’s domain
announces themselves there first. The bar itself is CHANTRIES
popular with the student population, and is run by
Right across the Grand Théâtre and part of the
a few ghouls belonging to individual members of the
Golden Triangle can be found the oldest 5 star hotel
clan. The place used to be an old union building,
of the city: The Regent Grand Hôtel. Its façade,
whichexplainstheupperrooms;privatizedbyThéodore,
matching perfectly the Theater one as they were built
they were where union members would meet during
by the same architect, the same year, hid many different
the past couple of centuries, and now serve as his
buildings behind it until they were bought off and
HQ, chilling space, and else. Théodore serves as the
renovated all together in 1945 and then became an
Keeper of his own “private” Elysium, even if he
actual hotel in 1999.
welcomes anyone in without any issues.
With an actual spa at its fifth floor, The Regent
Finally, the Elysium that isn’t in the Old City
isfamousworldwide,withitsrichforeignanddiplomatic
is a nightclub, The Fabrik, which is on the docks
clientele, and has attracted more than a few celebrities
right under the train’s railroads. Slightly underground,
as clients and as investors. Its restaurant belongs to
with quite a narrow entrance and old typical stone
Gordon Ramsay. Lyle Kersten settled his chantry
walls that make it mostly soundproof, it’s a NYC
behind the façade, both to be closer to the main Elysium
imagery inspired club with some industrial and hip
but also because the former chantry was too outdated
hop flavors for the private rooms for more wild parties
for his needs. As such parts of the Hotel, hidden
upstairs. The Fabrik is a pure product of the 1990s
behind mazes of corridors and stairs, are simply not
which has kept up with the current clubbing trends;
accessible to non Tremere.
DJs, including famous ones, organize their themed
nights, including a once a month deal with an actual
bull rodeo machine, and free entry for students on
48 Thursday nights.
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affairs serves as meeting place between Tremere and
non Tremere. The staff has clearly been dominated
to lead visitors to this room when announcing their
wish to meet with the Regent.
The old Chantry, Saint Eloi, is both the church
and the old medieval entrance door to the city of
the same name. The door is also known as la Grosse
Cloche, the Big Bell, because it has a bell that’s arguably
quite big, which was built during the 13th century
and rebuilt, adapted, burned down, fixed all over
until the 17th century. The bell itself is extremely
dear to the population of Bordeaux, which is why
when any monarch was unhappy with the revolts,
they just needed to take the bell away, or even break
it, so the population would behave. La Grosse Cloche
is so important to the city’s history that it is part
of the city’s crest.
which serves one of the most conservative and
traditionalist branches of Catholicism, has quite a
few grudges against Vatican II rules and hangs on
to the traditional Latin mass instead of the vernacular
one. It was built right against the fortifications of
the city, on the outside parts, in the 13th century.
Limited parts of the Big Bell itself can be visited
during Heritage Days, as it served as municipal
archives, jail, and quite a lot of other fun stories,
but the building itself remains dear to the Tremere
clan who still holds domain over it and its church.
Those old stones may still hold many secrets of
the bloody warlocks, and there are rumors of “quo
vades?” growls coming out of the church walls if people
get too close at night.

49
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LA ROCADE - THE BYPASS
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For all sorts of vehicles to avoid the city, or move

ROADS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Downtown Bordeaux is hard to navigate with
vehicles, due to its history of pedestrianism. Some
buses and tram stations allow access to the bigger
routes and plazas, but very few enter the old pedestrian
streets themselves.
Few Bordelais living downtown have a driver’s
license and fewer even own a vehicle. Most people
use public transport for their everyday needs: buses,
tramways, or even the boat to cross the river. Other-
wise, they walk, and everything is within walking
distance.
As for other options, taxis, private drivers and
other carpooling systems are common, as well as car
or bike renting services.
There are still roads, including the Boulevards,
which allow people to avoid downtown and get to
places. During the early hours of the morning,
however, people with vehicles can go through the
pedestrian zones, take the trash, pick up or deliver
packages.
On many roads that aren’t highways (freeways),
where accidents took many lives, individual memorials
are often built by the families, with flowers brought
every now and then. Planted by the side of the roads,
they remind some drivers of the dangers of speed
and alcohol.
White Ladies and other apparitions may be seen
in those places, some days, on anniversaries, on heavy
drinking nights. They’re often misunderstood as bad
omen when they are actually trying to avoid such
deaths, warning the living of what caused their own
deaths.
around it to reach their destinations, the bypass, known
as La Rocade is a more recent construction, which
is in constant rework and causes quite a lot of traffic
during peak hours.
THE MÉRIGNAC AIRPORT
The city’s airport is in Mérignac, and accessible
by bus and through the bypass. The airport has low-
cost companies and regular companies, long inter-
national flights and short domestic flights alike.
There are direct flights to 18 other cities of France,
22 other European countries (from neighboring
countries to the Fennoscandia countries), the three
French-speaking Maghreb countries, Israel, Turkey
and Canada.
GARE SAINT-JEAN - TRAIN STATION
Accessible by tramway and bus, the train station
is well placed and has an ease of access. There’s a
direct liaison between it and the airport.
The French TGV now links Bordeaux to Paris
in under 2h30, and many regional trains go to the
beach, further in land, towards the Pyrenees and
towards the French Riviera.
CRUISES
With its access to the sea and a wide river, plenty
of cruises stop by. Maritime travel isn't as important
as it used to, but it remains vital to the tourism eco-
nomy, as well as business-to-business transactions and
delivery of products.

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LE LAC

LA ROCADE

BOULEVARDS

← AIRPORT

SAINT-JEAN
TRAIN STATION
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THE EXTENDED DOMAIN
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Until the mid-2010s, there were a total oft four e
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The domain of Bordeaux goes beyond the borders
of the actual city, and as such some other elements
need to be addressed as the city lives through its
surroundings.Therearemorethanonetouristpamphlet
linked in the Appendix for your pleasure, as such
this section will only mention the places that are
worth investigating in the World of Darkness.
Starting north, and going counter clock wise,
Bordeaux borders the cities of Blanquefort (north),
Bruges, le Bouscat and Eysines (north west), Mérignac
(west), Pessac and Talence (south-east), Bègles (south-
west), and on the east bank, Floirac and Cenon (south-
east) and Lormont and Bassens (north-east). These
surrounding cities all have direct contact with the
Rocade, the bypass road that grossly define the
metropolis’ limits (see map above).
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distinct institutions, named Bordeaux I, II, III and
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IV. Bordeaux I, II and IV merged into a larger entity,
Université de Bordeaux, and kept their specialties
as “colleges” (so students of Bordeaux I are now
technically students of the University of Bordeaux,
part of the Sciences and Technology college/
subdivision). Bordeaux III stayed independent, and
rebranded itself Université Bordeaux Montaigne.
Many teachers and former students still use the
numbers to refer to their studies due to the confusing
similar names.
Bordeaux I: Sciences and Technology. Talence
campus. This university specializes in mathematics,
applied sciences, physics, chemistry, engineering and
technology, and environmental sciences. It is also the
only one without a special name, because scientists
are bad at naming things.
Bordeaux II: Health, also called Bordeaux-Segalen.
Bordeaux Victoire campus. The only university which
overall remained on Bordeaux itself, with the excep-
tion of medicine students who are attached to the
hospital campuses. This university specializes in
sociology, pharmacy, medicine, thermal-related care,
paramedical studies and public health.
Bordeaux III: Humanities, also called Bordeaux
Montaigne. Pessac campus (east side). This university
mostly focuses on linguistics, languages and civiliza-
tion, arts, art history, geography, history, philosophy,
musicology, communication, archaeology and
literature.
Bordeaux IV: Law, Economy and Management,
also called Bordeaux Montesquieu. Pessac campus
(west side). This university goes for law and law related
topics, such as accounting, administrative and
entrepreneur studies.

53
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Pessac and Talence are the two main cities when
it comes to post-high school student life, as these
where were the new campuses were created. From
downtown, going south and south-west, following
the tramway line, a student will first encounter Bor-
deaux II (in La Victoire, in Bordeaux), then Bordeaux
I right at the start of the city of Talence, then Bordeaux
III and IV in Pessac, facing each other.
Other specific institutes have popped up around
the main campuses, including KEDGE Business School
by Bordeaux I or the agronomy school by Bordeaux
III. Subsections of each university are scattered all
across the metropolis, such as the medical branch
of Bordeaux II in the Pellegrin and Charles Perrins
hospitals.
54
Two other distinct institutions are extremely
important: the National School for the Judiciary, where
judges and prosecutors are trained, which is right
next to the Tribunal of Bordeaux, where many trials
which cannot be judged in Paris are held (mostly
political ones), and Sciences Po, an elite political science
and sociology institution which trains the future high
administrative officials. The former is downtown, close
to the Town Hall, while the latter is near Bordeaux
IV, in Pessac. Their placement and interest was only
reinforced when the tramway finally arrived in the
2000s, clearing out some of the overcrowded bus lines
and allowing a better flow of the ever-growing student
and academic population.
Many kindred have academic influences, depending
on their specialties and individual professors and deans
they work with.
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VINEYARDS AND CHÂTEAUX
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The views and visits (and drinks!) create a tsmall e
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The extent of the Praxis takes many different mortal
domains, belonging to influential and reclusive stock
holders and families. Animal control and tourism
have shaped the land to suit human needs, but not
allcastlesareopenforvisit.Certainnobleandbourgeois
families enjoy their small family exploitation.
Bordeaux wine has seven grands ensembles. Three
are on the west bank of the Garonne River, three
on the east bank of the Dordogne River, and one,
Entre-deux-mers (in between two seas) is in between
the two rivers. Saint-Emilion, the most famous and
expensive wine of the Bordelais is part of the
“Libournais” ensemble.
These vineyards and their respective chateaux are
in competition for tours and sales, but they also help
each other by collaborating in lobbies and monopolies.
Kindred have quite a stake in the tourism and economic
motor of their domain, after all. Grape harvest season
is September, which allows temporary workers to
gain some extra money, and a few people will do
it out of passion for the Terroir, the territory and
gastronomy.
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products, but everything else is fair game and serve
as socialization and influence games.
The largest domains and castles and the most
prestigious vineyards may be of interest to kindred,
but they require going to less populated areas that
are dangerous for kindred who survive best when
hidden in densely populated areas. The southern
territory, bordering the Landes forest and department,
is mostly left alone due to the probable presence of
werewolves, the ones which a treaty of non-aggression
was signed in the 1990s with the help of the freshly
embraced and freshly nominated Gangrel mediator,
Chriss.
While most kindred are unable to taste wine, and
there are no known winemakers that have been
embraced and kept their activities, the massive weight
of wine for Bordeaux cannot go without supernatural
influence.

55
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FOOD AND WINE - LE TERROIR
As if you'd be able to read a book about France,
and Bordeaux specifically, and avoid the elephant
in the room.
If they follow a regular schedule, French people
tend to eat between three and four times a day. First,
a small breakfast to start the day (usually coffee with
some bread or pastries, but warm milk, chocolate
milk or cereal aren’t uncommon). They have lunch
at around noon, and while the lunch break has short-
ened over the last few decades, it wasn’t uncommon
to have one hour to one hour thirty to have a proper
lunch. Many school students come back home for
lunch time. Lunch is a heavier meal which can be
accompanied with a digestive, a glass of wine or a
beer. Most teenagers and children have a small snack
at 16:00. Finally, dinner is usually between 19:00 and
21:00 while watching or listening to the evening news.
Gastronomy is all important to many people and
plenty of labels are there to warrant the quality and
origin of the products. The origin of the products
allow consumers to know that when they are buying
Roquefort, they’re actually buying real Roquefort,
and not counterfeit suspicious cheese which stole the
name. This is also why plenty of “chocolate” bars
(Milka, Lindt…) aren’t called “chocolate” as they do
not match the definition of actual chocolate. The
"It's not champagne unless it comes from the Cham-
pagne region, it's sparkling wine" meme comes from
these strict rules and people tend to pay attention
to those elements.
Pride in one’s region and specialties through food
makes for a great marketing trick, as well as
protectionism in terms of commercialization.
Bordeaux wine must be from Bordeaux, after all. Due
to a better distribution system and world trade, plenty
of foreign products as well as products from other
regions can be found in supermarkets and not every-
thing in the markets is produced locally, but “eat
local” is still important and preferred. There are a
few trusted labels to ensure origin, quality, and
production techniques.
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farmers tend to keep their farms very small. Agriculture
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has its own saloon, every year in Paris, where the
best products and animals are awarded prestigious
prizes, alongside with a visit from the President (some
are better than others at pretending to get along with
the rural world and complimenting cows). The sector
survives mostly through European handouts and cer-
tain tax cuts, but many farmers and producers live
below the poverty line. Going to the Sunday market
or meeting producers at their farms is common in
less urban parts of the country, sustaining consumer-
producer relationships from pre-industrialization eras.
Markets are still something important for many
older urban citizens as they go to their local butcher,
fish shop, greengrocer or weekly markets for their
fresh produce. Many young people have ditched these
by lack of time, money, and an unreliable schedule,
in favor of supermarket shopping.
There are region-specific meals that can be enjoyed
everywhere during the right seasons, such as raclette,
foie gras, fondue (cheese fondue, beef fondue or choco-
late fondue for dessert) for winter, or barbecues, salads
or charcuterie-based meals (smoked and raw hams,
sausages and pâtés) for warmer days. Oysters as well
as duck-related products are very common in Bordeaux
and its region, as the Arcachon Bay produces a lot
of the former and the region produces the best quality
products of the latter (“du Sud Ouest” is a protected
label). Despite their love for the terroir, the national
favorite dish is an import one: Couscous.
And because multinationals like to blend in locally
(and advertise as such), it is not uncommon for large
fast food restaurants to come up with a regional or
national dish (such as a McDonald burger with raclette
or Roquefort cheese).
Organic food (with a specific label), veganism and
vegetarianism have boomed over the past few decades
as well, and many retired people have their own garden
to grow some fruits and vegetables for their own
consumption. Note that all the meals containing pork
can have halal and kosher replacements or alternative
packaging with turkey ham or chicken ham instead.
And kindred can’t taste any of it. The tragedy!
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WINE!
Specialized shops and bars allow urban people
Wine is one of the most important products of
to get their taste, while rural (or motorized) people
the region, alongside oysters, duck (foie gras, magret),
go directly to the chateaux that produce the wines
and pastries such as macarons and cannelés. Wine
they are interested in and buy full boxes (six to twelve
is the be all and end all of the region, the main attraction,
bottles) to last them a few months to a few years.
and what attracts all the boys to the vineyards. Each
Wine can be aged and speculated upon, it can be
Chateau has its reputation, its high or low prices,
collected, traded, shared, valued, and counterfeited.
and their seasonal workers. Open visits and touristic
tours can be done just around wine, its history, its The true bane of French vampires is not being
dégustation, and its study. Oenology studies as well able to taste the gastronomy of their former mortal
as plenty of other formal facilities have opened in heritage.
the region to form the next sommeliers, noses, tasters,
58
marketers and vineyard managers.
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Bordeaux and its region is part of the “deux-bises”
territory; French people kiss to say hello, but each
region has a different number of kisses and they do
not always start from the same side. In Bordeaux,
the rule is two kisses, girls to girls, girls to boys,
and boys to boys is common enough. If the two people
greeting both have glasses, one person must remove
them. A true ritual, which is taught in many serious
manners and etiquette schools, alongside how to use
silverware or how to sit like a proper gentleman or
lady. Yes I'm serious, la bise is part of manners
curriculums in high society.
In terms or regionalisms and accents, there are
certain words that quickly tell where one is from,
and it has heated as much debate as “coke” “soda”
or “pop”. Due to many regionalisms being linked to
the historical uses of the language, and the importance
of their unique identities, all while plenty of these
are food-related, there are true rivalries and “spotting”
of those who aren’t from the region. The most famous
one when it comes to Bordeaux and its region is
the name of the pastry chocolatine, which everyone
else in France wrongfully calls pain au chocolat (as
the pastry contains no bread, it cannot be a pain).
Both groups have come together to conclude that
those calling it croissant au chocolat have been forsaken.
Players and storytellers are encouraged to use these
little quirks to let each other know if they are a pure
wholesome local or a filthy import, just by the words
they use in casual conversations. There is also a local
distinct Sud-Ouest accent of French to consider, with
plenty of matching insults. A full atlas was even
published to list as many of these as possible, but
this book isn’t a French regionalisms book.
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present in the southern, more rural areas of Aquitaine
than in Bordeaux itself.
The regional language, Occitan, is still studied
and taught in certain curriculums (including Catalonia
in Spain), but it isn’t as commonly spoken anymore,
with the notable exception of special TV segments,
which are without much surprise about the terroir
(with subtitles). Other regional languages are Oïl
(northern part of the country), Breton (Britanny),
Corsican (Corsica), French-Provençal (neat the Italian
border) and some German and Dutch/Flemish dialects
(by the Belgian and German borders). Most are more
or less partially intelligible to non-speakers in France
due to their common roots, with the notable exception
of Basque, spoken in the southern part of the region
at the Spanish border, Atlantic-side. Basque (also
known as Euskara) is not an Indo-European language
and is unintelligible to those who do not speak it.
And finally, some people who originated from ex or
current colonial France may have brought their own
linguistic differences, including French Créole.
Vampiresmayverymuchspeakorknowtheregional
language as some may have lived before the big
centralization, “everyone learns French” homogeneous
wishes of the Monarchy. In the case of Bordeaux and
its general region, Occitan and Basque are the two
most common to be found and spoken, but a vampire
may still speak old versions of those two.
Written French tends to be quite different, as
oral French lives and evolves faster. The true age of
someone might be found through their writing, due
to the occasional spelling reform, even if they only
happen twice a century. See the appendix for more!
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EDUCATION-RELATED EVENTS
The civil year goes from January 1st to
December 31st. Scholar or Academic year goes from
September to June. University students have exams
at the end of each semester (usually January and May,
with re-takes in June). From the end of August to
the first half of September is usually the “go back
to school” period, which also involves all of the
initiations and welcoming of new students.
Universities and other higher education providers
will organize parties of all sorts to welcome their
new students. That means new faces, and good fresh
new prey. May and June are end of exams, galas and
other parties to celebrate the end of crunch; good
networking opportunities.
The Baccalauréat, high-school diploma obtained
through a series of national exams at the end of June
for all high school students, is a national event.
Philosophy is always the first exam, and the exam
preparations and revision tips make the national news.
Bordeaux has a unique tradition, the Père Cent (father
hundred). One hundred days before the Baccalauréat
(tends to be early February), high-schoolers will
swarm the streets with flour and eggs and attack
each other. Some years it is less popular than others,
and sometimes there is a police ban on the event,
but “kids will be kids” is the general take on the
situation. Students can find their results online, or
taped at the gates of their school, to know whether
they got their diplomas or not, early July. Primary
and Secondary education students (and teachers)
will have two weeks of holidays about every six
weeks of class (with regional differences, so the whole
country does not have the same holidays, to space
out the season over several weeks). These breaks
often mean travel, family visits, and extracurricular
activities. Vampires and ghouls can partake, with
seminars and other retreats to scout potential useful
mortals (not actual children, of course!).
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We can divide these holidays in Civil (Jan 1st,
May 1st and July 14th), Catholic (Easter, Ascension,
Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints and Christmas)
and War commemorations (May 8th and Nov 11th).
When it comes to peculiar customs related to these
days, the War commemorations mostly consist in
remembering the WWI and WWII horrors and doing
joint commemorations with Germany, the UK and
the US every year.
Bank holidays, in general, are a huge issue for
vampires, who already have very limited access to
the different aspects of mundane mortal life. The
bureaucracy around many sectors, as well as strict
labor laws, barely takes into account people’s regular
working hours already to access those services, so
taking into account someone who is sleeping during
half of the 24 hours available to them in a day (more
during the summer, less during the winter, but it
evens out)… This pushes kindred further into a life
at the margin of society, not being able to fully keep
an identity, a bank account, insurance on their cars,
up to date social security (and its health-care data-
base), voter registry and so on.
The religious holidays offer specific mass to the
faithful, but with the notable exception of Easter (for
food), many French people don’t even know why these
dates are bank holidays beyond “Catholic celebration”.
All Saints Day is often considered a secular holiday,
allowing people to clean the graves of their loved
ones, and buy special flowers.
And finally, the three civil holidays are celebrated
by trying to survive food coma (January 1st), striking
and selling thrush (May 1st) and enjoy fireworks and
a military parade playing Daft Punk (July 14th, see
https://youtu.be/iH2Ijg-WEL4).
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At school, Wednesday afternoons tend to have
no classes, as to let children have breathing room
and club activities. Schools tend to have a certain
degree of freedom in terms of class organization, as
long as the 24 hours of classes per week for 36 weeks
are respected; this way, some schools have chosen
to get rid of all Wednesday classes and only have
four days of classes, and a limited few have chosen
to reopen the Saturday morning classes (a common
older practice).
School usually starts at 8 am, and children are
encouraged to take a good breakfast. Many parents
will go to the bakery before the morning meal. Lunch
breaks is from 12:00 to 14:00, allowing enough time
for children to go back home and eat with their family,
or have a proper meal at the school cafeteria. Eating
at school is considered part of education for many,
including socialization, table manners, cleaning after
oneself, and tasting and enjoying different types of
food. Children who usually eat at the cafeteria, but
who observe the Ramadan are exempt from cafeteria
and use their lunch-break time as they see fit (usually
home with a leave-school permission, or at the library).
School ends at about 4 pm or slightly later for older
children, and they tend to have a snack as soon as
they’re home.
Many children go back home on their own or
with a bigger sibling. Those who do not have them
would stay at day care and other after class activities.
Dinner is usually at 19:00 or 20:00, at the same time
as national news are aired. Children tend to go to
bed before prime time shows start, at around 21:00.
Kindred life is far from being compatible with
these regular hours. There are of course people with
odd hours, and special circumstances, but they’re far
from being common. Use this for further alienation
to “normal society”. Graveyard workers (for the few
sectors that require them; airports, deliveries, markets,
hotels, international relations) feel this at their core.
Unless they’re cafés, tobacco shop or bakeries (the
French Trio of indispensable services), everything tends
to be closed on Sundays. The exceptions, outside of
the French Trio, are highly touristic areas, some
restaurants, and larger stores which will have morning-
only opening hours. Smaller service stores such as
hairdressers tend to be open on Saturdays, but closed
on Mondays. This of course is a hindrance for kindred,
especially when it comes to being able to keep a
semblance of income or a professional life.
EUROVISION
In the middle of May, the Eurovision Song Contest
gathers all of Europe in a contest that is about
everything, except music. Despite its no-politics, no-
disrepute rule, every year there are scandals and
political stabs at the neighbors.
Supernaturals are no stranger to these games,
either as spectators or perhaps as people with a stake
in it (sponsoring participants, investing in the financial
aspect, making the costumes…).
SUMMER ACTIVITIES
July and August allow for unique events. Their
longerdaysallowformoreoutsideactivities,andmatching
TV programs. Corridas (currently in decline), but
also summer camp-style games such as Fort Boyard
and Intervilles, and reality TV vacations are incredibly
popular. Plenty of those are filmed locally, to fulfill
the public’s needs for voyeurism. There are also
thousands of music festivals, conventions of all sorts
and other leisure activities.
Kindred can’t really enjoy most of them as the
days tend to be way too long for them to partake,
but they may be involved in the upstream organization
or enjoy the late night events.

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Non-officially recognized holidays, such as Rama-

dan (variable), Hanukah (variable) are acknowledged
publicly, and for Ramadan, some Muslim-owned food
services will be closed during the day, and open during
the night. Many people used to their kebab or being
the customer of a Muslim butcher will plan accordingly
(or say “oh, right, it’s Ramadan” when they see the
closed store). Should you want to integrate religious
practices, please approach faithful people in the
community of players, in order to have an accurate
idea of those practices.
Most Kindred of this setting default to Christian
world view, and more or less practiced Catholicism.
Only a few have kept the practice beyond their
Embrace, as an anchor to who they once were or
as a way to hold influence in the circles of their
parish. Vampires may or may not celebrate on their
own. No Prince was public enough about their own
religion and the necessity of their subjects to follow
any given ritual for a sense of togetherness, but feel
free to change that if you feel it gives more decorum
to your vision of the Court.

OTHER CIVIL FESTIVITIES

Saint Valentin, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day,
Grandmother’s day and others days invented by post-
card companies are celebrated with more or less zeal.
Black Friday (despite our lack of Thanksgiving) is
also an excuse for special sales.
The one event that one should take notice of is
the Music Festival Day, on June 21st. This day has
open concerts all across France, locking cities to
pedestrian-only festivities, with bands playing all sorts
of music everywhere at the same time, well into the
night (which is the relevant part!). Bordeaux’ student
population and the surroundings large welcoming
fields fuel all sorts of summer festivals.

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SECTS AND CULTS IN FRANCE

France in general has a strict definition of what

isconsideredtobeareligion,andwhatisnot.Mouvement
sectaire is the wording used to legally define groups
of people practicing a branch of any given religion
in a way that is harmful to society, by abusing weaker
individuals that joined their movement. Secte then
encompasses vastly different groups, from Jehovah’s
Witnesses (the French government considers that
children raised in this faith suffer psychological and
health-related abuse) to Scientologists, the Rael
Movement, heavy-handed Evangelical groups, or some
other smaller obscure groups that exist within the
fringes of society, all trying to answer vastly philoso-
phical and metaphysical questions in a simple and
easy way. These, filling mostly sensationalist news
with horrible stories, mostly when it comes to sexual
abuse of weakened and more fragile minds and
indoctrinated children, may be far more present,
widespread and dangerous in the World of Darkness,
and it is not uncommon for a kindred to leech off
any more obscure cult as a way to maintain a discreet
herd.
Extremism and radicalization of any given religion
can be considered sectarian, but the border remains
fuzzy and opens the doors to targeting people
practicing a more visible religion; mostly affecting
the Muslim population, France has outlawed wearing
the burqa in public spaces (alongside any other clothing
item that would cover the entire face, such has helmets
when not riding a bike). Religious children are forbid-
den from wearing any distinctive visible religious
symbols in public schools, which mostly includes the
Muslim veil and large crosses, but small pendants
are allowed if worn under the clothes. This is, as
you can certainly imagine, not enforced blindly and
equally. Bordeaux’s sects are all of the above, plus
the local magnetizers or folk healers with guru-like
tendencies, and self-improvement coaches which
target the old money families of Bordeaux, such as
the Monflanquin trial.

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Chapter III -

POPULATION

“When I like people immensely I never tell their names to

anyone. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown
to love secrecy”
Oscar Wilde

Proceed with care, as here you will find the dirty secrets of each SPC. They’re
biased, and their actions during certain historical events may seem downplayed,
due to their perceptions of such events. That does not mean that the events themselves
are downplayed. It means that those given characters are monsters who justify their
thoughts and actions, despite being arguably likable in other aspects.
Deep down, none of the characters are good people, after all some lived long
enough to be completely jaded and took part in horrific events. It does not however
make them plotting comic book villains waiting for a megalomaniac moment to
unveil the truth about their plan all along, and how they tricked the PCs. Most
of them will remain civil and benevolent to the PCs as long as they do not actively
question their comfort and privileges.
From their shrugs and “this is what we do” attitude, to “certain topics are inappro-
priate to discuss”, these SPCs can be also ignorant of how inhumane their world
view, their actions, or their demeanor can be. If the PCs engage and attract the
SPC’s attention to it, said SPC might reconsider and think about it and how much
the Beast controls them. Or ruin the PCs for attacking their fragile egos!
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keepingappearancesiseverything,thecontrastbetween
their behavior amongst their peers and what they
have done or are still doing is a storytelling tool in
itself. SPCs should put in serious efforts to convince
the PCs to work with/for them, without showing
weakness, and without letting the PCs know how
crucial they truly are.
The genealogies include the dates of the kindred’s
Embrace dates (at least when known and verified)
and their departure (departed) or death (†). Mortal
years aren’t included in the genealogies (ghouls and
mages may have had long lives before their embrace).
WHERE’S THE DIVERSITY?
These characters display little diversity traits, as
kindred tend to embrace in their circles of influence.
Embracing a similar childe is perceived as safer, as
much as hiring someone from the same fraternity
or the same school. This is the cornerstone of social
reproduction. And yet, little by little, marginal in-
fluences did integrate what would be considered
diversity, or even scandalous embraces at the time
of the events. First, the embrace of non-nobles and
of women amongst Ventrue, then the embrace of
non-Catholics, or of people of the working class, or
even mortals with a sexual identity or gender expression
that can be labeled as “non-conventional”. Some em-
braces were considered tasteless at the time (Prince
Boyer’s embrace, for instance).
And yet, there’s little diversity. It is meant to
be an issue, a problem, this aging structure, with
their leaders stuck in their perceived values that barely
match the social structure of Bordeaux today. Plenty
of vampires fight over the same fields of influence,
while others are left untouched. The distribution is
far from being homogeneous, and that’s meant to
be a flaw, a problem, a point of contention.
Many of these kindred have little influence in
diverse communities. The people of color living in
Bordeaux, originating from the French Overseas
Territories, or the naturalized foreigners or ex-
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the current Kindred population. Erasmus or exchange
students and temporary detached workers may be
under the university and public works influences, but
their existence usually don’t show on the radar of
the kindred holding such influences, due to their
internalized biases and ignorance. That is meant and
built to be a problem, and the PCs can benefit from
such ignorance for their own gain, as they would be
the ones paying attention to important parts of the
population.
Social reproduction creates inbreeding and echo-
chambers, which dooms any society, as it directly
gets in the way of innovation and growth.
Players should be encouraged to be diverse in their
characters’ religious practices (or lack-thereof), their
sexual preferences (or lack-thereof), gender identity,
gender expression, ethnicity... And the storyteller
should find a way to get these characters be noticed
by their future sire and be embraced. Even the most
bigoted characters of the setting may find a use to
embrace a diverse character (be it out of pure sadism,
but also because they might reconsider some of their
initial beliefs), but others will recognize merit or use
in all types of childer. Do not hesitate to read SotM’s
Guide to Siring to find a way to manage the sire-
childe relationship.
GENDER, SEXUALITY AND MUCH MORE
Most kindred of this setting default to the gender
expression of their biological sex, but only a handful
actively identify as of being of that gender. Kindred
are agender by design, but a few of them actively
treat each other differently based on the gender of
their mortal shell. The default gender identification,
expression and pronouns of their mortal envelop hap-
pens more out of comfort than a conscious decision
and statement about themselves.
For Masquerade purposes, many kindred, both
formerly male or female, have had to learn how to
use basic foundation and blush.
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their former sexual preferences, but they have had
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to “settle” with blood from prey that would have
not been their initial preference when confronted
to the Beast in need of precious vitae. Most kindred
have a “meh” approach to their source of blood, as
long as said source is healthy and safe. That however
tends to discriminate certain groups of people, as
their higher (perceived or real) risks of blood diseases
make them poor candidates for thirsty kindred.
So far, no epidemic has been dangerous
enough for kindred to stop their affairs, but no kindred
of the city has actively studied the chances of infection
when feeding of infected prey.
Note: this whole book was written before the world
was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted
everything (and obviously it doesn’t take it into account
for the current state of Bordeaux). While any illness, in
and out of itself may not affect Kindred, the societal
consequences, curfews and kine habits certainly have had
effects on hunting and gathering habits. I strongly advise
against using supernaturals as the source of such things,
first because it trivializes the pain many of us went through,
but also because supernaturals just don’t have that much
control over the world. Conspiracy theories are already
rampant, let’s not fuel it with tasteless “actually…” stories.
or just in other kinship, feel free to do so. You are
also free, and encouraged to make them as queer as
you wish them to be, be it in their gender expression,
their gender identity, their sexual orientation, or their
romantic preferences. Only a few of them actually
need to be cis as part of their character (for biological
reasons, mostly), but as vampires they could almost
all fall on the demi or agender spectrum.
One word though. Be mindful of doing so respect-
fully to the identity. Putting someone like Lambert
on any facet of the queer spectrum would only reinforce
the harmful “deviant bisexual” trope, which I do not
recommend. But Gay Boyer? Trans Dominique? Aro
Alicia? Pan Théodore? Ace Mikaël? Bi Lyle? Intersex
Laure? Lesbian Neve? You have my blessing! Whatever
works for you! Have fun.
SOME SYMBOLS FOR THIS CHAPTER
In the different genealogies, you’ll encounter some
symbols. Kindred with those symbols usually kept
their title until their deaths, but there are instances
where it’s not the case. Please refer to the timelines.

This crown symbol represents those who

were Princes or Marquis.
THEIR PAST RELATIONS? This mask represents harpies.
I tried to keep things relevant to modern day
This sword represents sheriffs.
games in each individual write-up, but also malleable
enough for other Storytellers to play around with And this ankh represents Primogens (or
the SPCs and adapt them to their liking and to their Clan Leaders, as they called themselves
needs. before the city joined the Camarilla)
This is the main reason why very few Kindred
have had romantic or sexual interests explicitly spelled
out in their background. This is a deliberate choice
as the original write ups were be up to a solid ten
pages long of raw text (catch me crying about all
of Clotilde’s political manipulations during Aliénor
d’Aquitaine’s duchy I had to cut off).

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The Brujah Clan is never handled the same way BRUJAH MEMORIAL
from city to city, and its politics are created by and
Three Brujah died during the recent Sabbat Raid:
for its members, not through a global system. In
• Walter, a British resistant who was illegally
Bordeaux, under the guidance of Théodore Jacob,
embraced during Tarcisus’ reign.
the Brujah are neither particularly violent, nor
• Tania, a local resistant who was illegally embraced
particularly into big long debates and discussions.
during Tarcisus’ reign, feminist and founder of the
They change their ways depending on their desires
Immortal Women’s Club.
and their mood. Théodore understood this well when
• Léon, a thin-blood vampire embraced by Mike in
he became Primogen during the Terror, and tends
the 1970s, part of Fred’s coterie
to let everyone conduct their own business, keeping
a door open for anyone who may need him. Every
now and then, the Brujah have reunions to discuss
current affairs, and it even so happens that the reunion
can be planned beforehand. Places of reunion can
vary from parking lots, to clubs, to private bars, to
some barrens.
Most Brujah consider their clan more of a Union
or a Syndicate than a family or a group of friends,
considering how diverse their beliefs can be, and
how vastly different their political opinions are.
The Brujah presence in town is one of the oldest.
It’s still one of the most influential and powerful
clans in town, which gives Théodore everyone’s ears
when he has something to mention.

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Roland Dax (alive): Théodore’s sire, former r e
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While many Brujah came, left, embraced and
died in the city, here are the relevant names
for a campaign.
Eomont (dead): one of the strongest
opponents to Clotilde and the other Ventrue
for power, he arrived around 1000 CE, and was
killed in 1281 when the Ventrue found his haven
and had it be raided by The Beast.
Henri de Cusances (or Courances) (Beckoned):
Théodore’s grandsire, former Mayor of Bordeaux
(around 1263-1264), who had to leave his office
and become part of the military opposition of
the city. Embraced soon after attacking the militia
of the city successfully, and rose to become Primogen.
He managed to kill Altrec, the second Prince
of the city, and became more or less Prince
himself from 1312 to 1408, when Clotilde and
Richard d’Ambroy replaced him on the throne
in a somewhat peaceful manner (Henri stayed
Primogen, he just had lost control of the Praxis
and the influence). He left the city in 1774 as
the other Brujah had judged he was too Ventrue-
like to defend their interests, and his Nosferatu
Master had no use of him anymore.
de facto Brujah Primogen, Roland fought the Ventrue
Hélène de Chantraine, up until the French Revolution
when she was disposed of. Roland left the city
during the Terror as it was clear he was too
much of an extremist to appease the situation.
Roland was, with Xavier, one whom found out
about Toreador plots to take over the independent
domain in the 17th century.
Simon Defranc (dead): Last known childe of
Henri de Cusances, he agreed with Boyer and
Théodore’s attempts to appease the Ventrue and
Brujah tensions. He lost his mind in 1791, during
the Terror, seeing the repression against his clan,
and basically became a night vigilante, trying to
make things right by himself. He embraced Franz
due to the unfair accident he suffered, but also
Tania and Sylvain during WWII, which caused
his death when Sylvain was caught during Tarcisus’
reign.
Sylvain (dead): A local communist Resistant
embraced by Simon, one of his attempts at sabotage
failed, he got caught, and through Thaumaturgy,
the Tremere found out who was his sire. Both
he and Simon were executed for breaching the
Third Tradition.

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BRUJAH GENEALOGY om

Henri de Cusances had many childer between

Eomont (7th gen)
1285 and 1685, who had their own childer and
~1000-1281 (†)
so on. As Anarchs, however, their existence wasn’t
recorded, and most if not all died fairly young,
mostly in the first half of the 15th century. Others Henri de Cusances (7th gen)
participated in the Terror and died while fighting 1280-1774 (departed)
in Paris, Holland, Germany...

Roland Dax (8th gen) Simon Defranc (8th gen)

1637-1791 (departed) 1716-1943 (†)

Théodore Jacob (9th gen) Franz Derijk (9th gen)

Sylvain (9th gen)
1765-(…) 1921-(…)
1940-1943 (†)

Charles Nassau (10th gen) Suzanne Gourand (10th gen) Tania (9th gen)
1893-(…) 1966-(…) 1940-20XX (†)
th
Georges Poncelet (12 gen)
1808-1945 (†)

Walter (13th gen) Marc Gillard (13th gen) Mike (13th gen)
1941-20XX (†) 1939-(…) 1939-(…)

Léon (14th gen)

1977-20XX (†)

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Théodore Jacob
Primogen
BACKGROUND
Théodore is quite the honest man, there are few secrets
that would compromise his reputation. Jacob is not his
true last name, as he claimed it in support of the Jacobin
movement and their political ideals. His true last name,
Biolley, would let true local historians know about the
tragic destiny of his family: a family known for its textile
manufactures in the middle of the 18th century.
DuetheincessantLouisXIVwareffortswiththeneighbors,
the Biolleys had to give out large amounts of textiles for
the uniforms and more, which caused important debts
and losses. Théodore’s father jumped off into the Garonne,
unable to face the impending doom of his family. His
mother sold everything she could and worked as much
as she could to have her son finish his education. She
eventually had to borrow money from an usurer, but the
monthly payments became too much. Théodore began work-
ing for the usurer as a bodyguard and collector agent,
to pay off the debt. This is where he met Antigone, the
usurer’s daughter, a couple of years younger than him.
She started flirting, discreetly then more openly, and they
became a secret item. Eventually he fell in love, and she
refused his feelings and openly mocked his weakness. He
said he’d tell her father about her debauchery, but she
instead told her father Théodore had raped her. Mr de
Fonscolombe often dealt with problems himself, captured
and was about to kill Théodore, when he managed to
escape, killing his boss in the process.
Theodore fled, became a bandit in the outskirts of
the city, a gang leader even, wanted for murder. This is
where Roland Dax found him and embraced him in 1765,
valuing his ideals and righteousness. Roland, his sire, knew
everything about his past and bourgeois origins and wanted
to give him a chance. The Embrace would also take care
of the search warrant.
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couldn’t cross the Garonne when trying to go to a clan
meeting. He tried everything, but his feet always refused.
Théodore can’t cross running water, which has caused quite
a few issues in case of floods. He thinks it’s because the
Garonne killed his father.
The usurer’s brother, Boyer de Fonscolombe, surfaced
in 1806, having managed to become a ghoul at the service
of a Ventrue. Théodore knows that the ghoul knows he’s
the one who killed his brother, but neither has been hostile
towards each other.. yet. Boyer de Fonscolombe changed
his name to Laurent de Fonscolombe during WWII, and
despite Théodore’s protests, Charles Nassau became the
new Domitor when the Ventrue died.
His relationship with Jean-Baptiste Boyer and
Lambert (Prévôt) is overall cordial and professional. Boyer
and Théodore have similar values and views of Kindred
society: an oligarchy of Primogens representing their clans’
interests with a Prince referee with the final word. Vampires
are few enough to be able to decide together how to run
the city. After the recent Sabbat Raid, however, doubt
and insecurity has caused Boyer to become more and more
despotic. Théodore made a call to find suitable new blood,
much to Boyer’s disapproval, but he hopes the warning
shot will remind the Ventrue of his responsibilities.
Théodore killed a Tremere, Elisabeth Vrancken in 1836.
The Tremere had been lurking in his domain for years
and started to implement herself during his absence, searching
for something. Théodore had forbade her for coming
back, but she insisted and eventually met her final death.
Officially, the Tremere clan couldn’t hold it against him,
as she was in the wrong, trespassing. Théodore explored
where she was searching, found a cellar that led somewhere
deep underground, and was met by a Nosferatu who told
him to leave. He did not insist and left. There’s some-thing
in his domain and other Tremere might try again, so he’s
keeping an eye on that, too.
Théodore had embraced Charles Nassau hoping he would
bring his unionizing and political activism to Kindred,
but it was a disappointment as Charles quickly turned
to the comfort and luxury of unlife.
During WWII, Théodore told Tarcisus he was a short-
lived “Queen of Hearts” despot, for which he got a Blood
Hunt called against him. He fought the regime alongside
other Brujah, some of which were executed for violating
the Third Tradition.
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Tania, one of the illegally embraced Brujah of the RELATIONS TO OTHERS
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close friends, and when Tania perished during the recent
Sabbat Raid, he went to her haven to take something
to remember her: a Che Guevara poster she had above
her bed. He still mourns her to this day.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Théodore fought off
the Sabbat in the front lines. He saw Grégory
Darvault hide under a table, under Rötschreck, and very
much resents him for his cowardice.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
He might embrace any kind of character possessing
a will to change the world, to make it better. With passion.
The Brujah Primogen fears to be jaded, even if he has
a hard time embracing modern technologies and its codes.
While he might not understand the power of social media
stars, he knows it is worth looking into. Diversity has
always been a part of his life and unlife, in his domain,
all marginal and oppressed were welcome and treated as
equals.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re willing to compromise, if the other party acts
in good faith. Your values are held above anything else,
and those values are about preserving life (and unlife)
until all other options are exhausted. The status quo is
becoming more problem than the benefit, and while you
believed in an oligarchy of Primogen working for the best
interest of their clan and negotiating in good faith, with
the Prince as a referee (and a voice of his own), you’re
not an idiot. Your good will is running low. You’re bright
and you’re down to earth, you’ve kept up to date with
social changes and welcome them. You’re not too
handy with new technologies, but at least you know they
exist and more or less how they work. You have
influence in the newspapers and criminal worlds.
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spoken.
To Boyer: together, they came a long way and Boyer
believes in good faith.
To Lambert and Xavier: they were harsh, but fair,
and Théodore doesn’t resent Xavier for his role under
Hélène.
To the Tremere: at least Lyle can smile, and his childe
is a cutie, but the traditionalists are rotten to the core.
They should keep in their libraries.
To other Brujah: they don’t want to organize and some
of them just scream nonsense. No wonder Roland’s
Primogen position was useless.
ToToreadors:onlyLaureNolveauxisworthconsideration,
she fights, and fights good. The rest? Bunch of worthless
cowards, who are only good at talking. Grégory should
be ashamed of himself.
To the Setites: they’re close to his domain and influences,
and Théodore isn’t a fan of their tactics. They’re blacklisted
in terms of business for him.
Harpies: Griffin is amazing and reliable.
ToupcomingPCs:Théodoreistheoneactivelyresponsible
for their embrace or for their invitation to come to the
city. He hopes their presence will have the right effect
on Boyer, and he’s always keen on meeting new people.
He might allow them to operate in his domain if needed.

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Boyer de Fonscolombe, who changed his name to Laurent
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Charles Nassau
Unionist
BACKGROUND
Charles wanted to change the world, be part of the
unionizing forces of the 1890s, a politician that will advance
the social condition, not out of unrealistic ideals, but because
it was right, it was the thing to do, and it was what
his blue collar family taught him. A certain Mr Dhrèze
approached him, he was a philanthropist who wanted to
help the good cause, and a good politician always needs
more money. Mr Dhrèze was Théodore under a fake name,
he eventually told him the truth, and then offered him
the Embrace. A shot at immortality was not to be looked
down upon, and Charles accepted without a hint of hesitation.
Théodore had a dream, change kindred society as much
as Charles was trying to change mortal society, but that
was his dream, not Charles’. Regardless, kindred only really
listened to their own peers, which is why he decided he’d
first need to become a full member and participant of
that elite hidden society, before acting, if anything. And
Charles loved power and the comfort it provided ; his
ideals didn’t survive more than a few decades.
Charles invested heavily in the new media, as
Théodore had a good control of the written press, and
as information is power, radio and then television were
his tools, and the journalists his friends.
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de Fonscolombe as “Boyer” was such an old school first
name, was the ghoul of Joseph Gilon, a Ventrue who met
his final death during the German bombings of WWII.
He approached Charles a few nights after to become his
ghoul and share with him some of his old Domitor’s
possessions, including shared University influences with
the Tremere. Théodore clearly disapproved, perhaps out
of jealousy, but Charles accepted. Laurent is zealous and
serves him well, handling all affairs, providing him chalices
too, and now Charles only gets to be the socialite he always
wanted to be.
WWII wasn’t too hard on Charles, who had secured
himself quite the comfortable power base, but he
quicklyrealizedTarcisuswasnotgoingtobeabletoconsolidate
his power. Because of this, Charles aided the Resistance.
Charles joined Jean-Pierre Griffin’s Dead Hand club,
to play poker and bet some precious and tasteful vitae
of the best chalices, in 1947, when a precedent member,
the Toreador Aurélien Gustave who didn’t feel safe in
the city anymore due to Marc Gillard’s beating him to
torpor, left the city. Charles appreciates this exclusivity
and even sees Jean-Pierre as almost likable during their
game nights.
TheFabrik,theclubmanagedbyLaurentdeFonscolombe,
obtained when Charles got interested in the club scene
in the 1990s, also serves a hunting ground for foreign vampires
just passing by. The club is so prestigious it has been
granted the Elysium status, and Charles loves prestige.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Charles was with Laurent,
Catherina Giovanni, and her ghoul Damien Yernaux, and
were discussing how perhaps the political tides were changing,
Boyer might not stay Prince much longer.

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Charles wants to enjoy unlife, consolidate his own Through his ghoul Laurent de Fonscolombe, political
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personal power, and get further advancement in
Kindred society. Anything that will help him rise up the
ranks will do. Laurent de Fonscolombe has never hinted
at the idea of becoming a Kindred, even voicing against
it as he is far more useful in broad daylight.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You enjoy the power and prestige that comes with
being a kindred, and while many see it as a little on the
lazy side, why would you keep yourself in a worker class’
condition when you can transcend it? You’re part of the
elite, and these youngsters might be a threat to your
establishment if they show themselves out of their line.
Think about your words carefully, but you’re a busy man,
in most cases, you’ll send your ghoul deal with the bother-
some tasks.
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involvement and union involvements, Charles has had a
large influence in Bordeaux’ night life, but also in radio
and TV broadcasts, for Masquerade-control reasons.
Charles does not have particular thoughts on
anyone else, he just wants to unlive the good unlife and
isn’t interested in being involved in more complicated
things. Being part of the elite is what drives him. Upcoming
PCs might add to his prestige if they owe him favors
for using his assets and influences.

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Franz Derijk
Christian Philosopher
BACKGROUND
Franz was a happy Christian Philosophy teacher with
a lovely wife who knew her place, an older son who was
going to be a good military, a daughter whose marriage
would be brilliant, and a young lovely boy. The 1920s were
hard, with all these new feminist movements, the new
positions of female scientists such as Marie Curie, who
certainly only claimed the discoveries of her husband to
herself. A Polish immigrant using her husband for her
own gain, even.
Franz was the victim of a hit a run, and the Brujah
Simon Defranc, witness to the accident considered the
accident to be unfair. The driver of the coach didn’t stop,
so Simon stopped him, and gave assistance to Franz, but
alas the only thing that would save him would be the
Embrace. Simon did it, to make things rights, and the
driver became his first victim. There was no further reason
behind his embrace, and after some basic education, his
sire freed him. The Prince accepted the embrace right
as he was still consolidating his rule, and as he had also
recently embraced someone, Armand, he incited him, Franz,
Natacha and Docteur to form a coterie. The coterie would
be very useful during the Tremere coup.
Simon was killed by the Tremere for violating the
Third Tradition during Tarcisus Coup. He had embraced
a few Brujah, including Tania, whose existence was legiti-
mized by Boyer after the Tremere left. Franz never really
understood what was wrong in the mind of his sire, nor
why he invested himself so much in vigilante actions.
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a neonate, offering him his help to advance in Kindred
society. Franz accepted Christophe’s “patronage”, but Franz
doesn’t trust the Ventrue.
Franz overall agreed with the return to tradition Tarcisus
was going for, as a new Prince, as he had the will to
exercise authority, and was ready to betray Armand and
Boyer who were hiding, as soon as he had found where
they actually were.
Franz’s eldest son was killed by the German forces
and his youngest son lost his legs on a landmine,
which made Franz changed his mind and decided to get
revenge,aidingBoyerasmuchashecould,andthencontinuing
the fight for his sons, and his daughter who had to marry
underneath her worth. Lyle took over, and he was too
old and powerful, but Claudia Vonïgner is more isolated,
younger and weaker… and German. She’d be the first.
Ever since, Franz has tried to kill Claudia. She is the
perfect starting point, but it’s been over 60 years and
he has not made any progress. The attempts
had cost him a fortune, in hitmen, spies and more, but
no information was ever useful: Claudia always changed
herplanslastminute,worealargehatmakingherunrecognizable
to snipers, or just plain turned left instead of turning
right, sleeping in the Chantry instead of leaving downtown.
Does she know? HOW?
Franz decided to use his embrace right, obtained through
his help during WWII, to mock Tania’s
movement, and took the true “woman equal to man” to
put her and Natacha, back to their places. Suzanne Gourand,
nicknamed Calamity Jane by the harpy Thomas Durieux,
was the lucky one. Everyone had a good laugh about it,
until Natacha slapped Franz right across the face. She
was not openly reprimanded for it, despite Franz’s complaints
about displaying violence in Elysium. Natacha embraced
two men, one of which she gave her Primogen job (a
man’s job after all!), and promptly left the city with the
rest of the Gangrel who left the Camarilla.
Victor de Sainte-Croix found the satire to be
delicious and Franz appreciates a Malkavian who seems
lucid and educated. Victor congratulated Franz for the
event, and they have more or less been hanging out
occasionally ever since.
Franz was with Victor in a neighboring city, at a Casino,
during the recent Sabbat Raid. They only found out about
the attack another day, and Franz was delighted to see
Claudia hurt by the loss of her close friend, the Harpy
Thomas Durieux.

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might not turn to his advantage (she -is- a warlock after
all, and Franz has heard about the fight Théodore, something
about fire hands, not good), which is why he always tried
to do so alone or with non-vampire related means. But
she keeps changing her plans, not staying in the vernissage
long enough, wearing a wig which made her unrecognizable
to the hired help… He thinks she or the Tremere may
know about his attempts, but none has acted any differently…
Perhaps a new Embrace might be worth it to fulfill his
revenge against the warlocks.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
The loss of your two sons traumatized you and your
daughter had to marry into a lesser situation because the
situation was dire. You blame the Tremere, and rightfully
so. You’re a tense angry man pissed at the societal changes,
the place of women, the absence of religious values. You’re
a conservative with family, hard work and merit values,
but you’re not a fascist.
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as well as influences in religious studies. Publicly, Franz
despises women and wishes them to retain their “right
place in society”.
To Suzanne: the real woman equal to man. What a
joke!
To Claudia: the only isolated, the young Tremere, but
she has been avoiding the multiple traps he had set for
her to kill her. HOW?! Bloody witch! And she doesn’t
even act any different in Elysium, as if she didn’t know..
Franz is getting paranoid.
To Christophe: Christophe offered to help him advance
in kindred society, and Franz knows he wanted something
else but he has no idea. Franz does not trust Christophe,
two-faced Ventrue ass.
To Natacha, Docteur and Armand: Franz thinks his
former coterie was completely useless, and their opinions
on each other is public (see Players Guide).
To upcoming PCs: if they’re traditionalists, Franz might
try to approach them to follow Claudia, find her haven
(which he has always failed), and try to gather anything
she could to kill her for good. And then the others.

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Marc Gillard
Skinhead
BACKGROUND
Marc is a straightforward man, who believes in authority
in the inherent value of his city and its inhabitants. He
had a small convenience store in the 1930s, which had
belonged to his father, but business wasn’t good, mostly
due to “atheist Freemason scums and their Jewish masters”
(sic) who had opened larger, money-backed stores, and
those immigrants coming to steal all the resources of the
country.
Marc hated how the world had changed, how no political
party had the balls to do something about it, even if they
all thought exactly as he did. The Third Republic was
a disgrace, and Marc strongly believed in the Action Française
movement, very much approving of Franco’s and Mussolini’s
raise to power. That would solve the country’s issues, and
take care of everything that fundamentally scarred him.
In a 1939’s late evening, he went to drink with some
buddies, loudly agreeing with the dictatorial patriotic coups,
including Hitler making things right after the humiliation
of WWI, but some random ass told him off, with arguments
about equality and all that nonsense. It ended in a fight,
and things became fuzzy. Marc woke outside, draining
dry one of his drinking buddies, and was promptly subdued
by the man who turned him into a Vampire.
He explained Marc was now his servant, that he wasn’t
human anymore, but he’d die if he didn’t obey rigorously.
Marc listened, and obeyed, and for his transformation to
be complete, he’d have to drink the vampire’s blood again
over the following nights. Marc disagreed with all of the
political ideas of his sire, but he desired to please him,
to help him. A few months later, Marc’s sire embraced
the man whom he fought the night of his embrace, some
“Michel” humanist sentimental draft dodger useless piece
of.. But he had to obey, be nice to the little bastard.
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point of view of the warlocks who wanted to rule with
strength, but could never really show it; he had to obey.
Unless explicitly told to do some-thing by his sire, Marc
did as much as he could to not harm the Tremere and
his own ideals.
Marc’s sire embraced forced Marc to infiltrate back
Action Française to sabotage it from within, much to his
dismay.
Marc was released just after the war to Prince Boyer,
alongside Walter, an English resistant embraced during
the coup and Michel (nicknamed Mike by Walter).
Marc’s sire died during German bombings just
after their release as neonates, and a few years later, found
out about the blood bond and how it worked. He would
have gotten revenge if the scum hadn’t died already.
Xavier, the Malkavian elder, took Marc under his wing
and taught him more about kindred society,
especially about the Toreador who caused the loss of auto-
nomy of the city against Paris, that city of debauchery
and sodomites.
Marc hates the Toreador with passion, they are everything
he hates in Mike, and they are also foreign, they’ve even
got a god damn pasta eater amongst them! He found one’s
haven thanks to Xavier, and beat him to torpor, but he
was found out, and Prince Boyer sentence was a blood
bond.
Aurélien Gustave, the Toreador scum who Marc beat
to torpor, happily played him with the blood bond, even
his ghoul had it better, but he left to Greece a year later.
It broke Marc’s enslaved heart, but eventually the blood
bond faded. If Aurélien comes back, this time, he’ll get
it.
Marc has seen wave after wave of immigration, including
people of color, and has decided to “crusade” against it
as much as he could, as he calls it. He hunts in the periphery
of the Praxis, causing as much damage as he could, and
well, Xavier and Prévôt cover him up anyway. Italians,
Spaniards, Arabs, Blacks, Marc does not discriminate in
his bigotry and hunts, plays and kills.
Marc is known to agree with Sabbat ideals, as
they’re not hypocrites when it comes to kine and to the
place of power of predators such as himself, but he is
not Sabbat and has no intentions of joining
them. The blood bonds he suffered twice sicken him,
however.
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Marc’s desires are simple and obvious to all: get anything
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He was disappointed to have missed the fight, and because
he didn’t have an “alibi” that could be verified, he is worried
the attack might be blamed on him.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
His agenda hasn’t changed: harm the Toreador and
everything they represent. Be more than just a man. Marc
does not want to be framed for the Sabbat Raid despite
his sympathy for the Sabbat’s ideas, so he has decided
to be slightly more present in Elysium. It’s his city, damn
it, and Sabbat kindred are dirty foreigners anyway.
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that doesn’t look like him out of his sight, and back- s to
whatever backwards country they come from. Marc has
no reason to approach the PCs unless they might seem
to agree with his ideals, and may turn hostile if they showcase
any aspect of being part of any group that is not cis,
hetero, French-White. But because of his known ideas,
he will play nice else he might be accused of being a
Sabbat infiltrate. Should there be any blood bonds known,
however, Marc will be vocal about the horror they create
in people, as he had been a subjected to it twice already.

ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re anti-everything, and you’re not afraid of “saying
it like it is”. Homophobic, anti-Semite, xenophobic, trans-
phobic, you hate everything inclusivity stands for. You’re
not too bright, but that doesn’t mean your opinion is
worth any less, you’re a kindred damn it! But you’re not
Sabbat. Yet. Enslaving blood bonds are, however, proof
of these scumbag hypocrites who all claim “humane” behaviors
but also openly do more horrific things.
As a storyteller, make sure that you and your
players are comfortable with the vile and toxic slurs that
Marc uses. By default, use paraphrases or indirect language
when necessary.

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Mike
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BACKGROUND
Michel was a true utopist, a naïve dreamer even, who
wanted freedom and happiness for all, regardless of the
political system they were in. In America, all dreams were
possible,everyonehadachance,alandofwelcomingimmigrants,
and in the USSR, all men were equal, and both were
in their rights to express and apply whichever system they
wanted.
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other kindred in court, including Aurélien Gustave,- s a
Toreador who had used Presence to solve all of his money
problems (quite tasteless but Aurélien didn’t care). Mike
and him became friends, quite more interested in living
a good life, but Marc found his haven and beat Aurélien
to torpor. Darvault, Prévôt and Mike investigated, found
out through Auspex that Marc was the culprit, and Mike
beat the shit out of him for attacking his friend. Prévôt
managed to stop it all before Marc was killed, staked him
and brought him to court. Aurélien woke a week later
and played Marc as a servant for a year before leaving
to Greece.
Mike started to feel old in the 1960s, he was just not
cool anymore, and he hated it. In the 1970s, it was worse,
he was completely outdated, he was not in the know anymore
despite going to parties and looking still as young. He
just didn’t get the young people nowadays. With a boon
due by Prince Boyer, Mike decided to embrace a rad kid,
Léon, he was so psyche, and be able to ask him questions
he couldn’t ask a mortal.

Michel was a bank clerk with no history. He
fought Marc off a 1939 late night evening of drinking,
some fascist asshole who attacked with no reason
some poor people who had not done anything wrong. The
fight was interrupted before it got too ugly by their would-
be sire, who took Marc away. Michel met again this man
over a few months, and eventually embraced him as theyhad
similar ideals and understandings of the world around
them. Kindred tensions were even worse, and if Mike could
do something to ease suffering and protect those in need,
he would. Marc, who was embraced to be a (very
efficient) body guard, inexplicably didn’t try to kill neither
of them. Michel was embraced because his sire needed
some company and a reliable ally; Marc wasn’t exactly
capable of deeper philosophy discussions. Michel, Marc
and their sire lived together during the occupation, as
they were still fledglings, and were promptly joined by
Walter, a spy whose cover had been blown, Michel saved
him and convinced his sire to embrace him as well, as
he was wounded and was about to die. Walter used to
call Michel “Mike”, and he grew attached to the name.
Mike and Walter’s resistant efforts were joined by
a few others, and Mike always managed to find a way
to drive through the German forces and lose them when
their operations were busted.
Léon was a thin-blood, so he wasn’t accepted by others
easily, and Mike was his friend, he bore the responsibility.
Léon eventually distanced himself from his sire and founded
a coterie in the 1990s; Mike was happy, his childe was
accepted by the group of neonate and he found his place.
Mike was present with his childe, Léon, and Walter
during the recent Sabbat Raid, they fought together.
During the Sabbat Raid, Mike felt a deep unease, as
if he had lost something in his heart; it was Léon’s passing
in Elysium. Only Fred, out of the entire coterie, had survived.
Mike and Walter came to Elysium to talk to
Théodore about something Walter had found out: the military
weapons storage of the city were about to be raided, and
Walter was sure it was a vampire behind it all. They knew
too much about the security and layout and nobody could
tell who the sponsor of the operation was. Walter thought
it might have been the Giovanni, as she had had big funds
in the ordeal before (the whole thing, along many other
assets, belonged to Prince Boyer, the Giovanni had a hostile
takeover which the Prince couldn’t fight, and when the
Ventrue retaliated, the Toreador Adriano
Guicciardini “made a better offer” and now owns such
assets). They wanted to talk to Théodore about it, but
they were interrupted by the Raid.

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idea to go to Elysium that night, and now wants to take
over the investigation. Mike does not have the influences
that Walter had in the right places, but he will investigate
what this raid was all about, for his childe, for his friend
who died that terrible night, for all others. Mike noticed
Marc wasn’t there, had he turned Sabbat now? It wouldn’t
surprise him.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
A little bit on the white-knight side of things, you
became kindred because you stood against injustice and
bullying. You’re a humanist at the core, wishing to preserve
individual liberties, but also knowing those liberties end
when those of others begin. You use the privilege you
have to stand for what’s right, even if you don’t realize
that by doing so, you deprive them of agency and speak
over them. At least your heart is in the right place.
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and take on people who are just trying to live their lives.
To Boyer: better than Tarcisus, and Théodore
trusts him. Mike liked post-WWII Boyer better than
current Boyer.
To Théodore: Mike respects Théodore, he’s smart and
strong and stands for the right values.
To Caterina and the Setites: their business are terrible,
and they’re harmful to mortals. Caterina in particular might
have been the sponsor of the raid on the weapons Walter
had found out about.
To upcoming PCs: perhaps they could help with his
investigation. Boyer might be happy if he finds anything
that would allow him to call an official
blood hunt on Caterina, too.

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Suzanne also realized that despite all of her good will, r e
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her mere existence harmed Tania and her fight. Tania
distanced herself from her and chastised Franz for having
“such a poor opinion of men, if [Suzanne] was the true
equal to them”. Suzanne hates being a caricature, and hates
conforming to gender standards.
Thomas Durieux, that precious poor excuse of a man
harpy, nicknamed Suzanne “Calamity Jane”, when she spoke
for the first time trying to defend herself and her ideals,
the night of her presentation.
Suzanne Gourand Suzanne decided to not try to fit in: she wants to
Calamity Jane have the right to be who she is, not to conform to anyone’s
expectations of gender roles.
BACKGROUND
Suzanne doesn’t like the delicate social maneuvers of
Born in the 1940s in a blue collar family, Suzanne Elysium, she avoids it as much as she can.
had seven older brothers and her mother died soon after
her birth. More or less raised by one of her The Immortal Women’s Club, founded in 1965 by Tania,
brothers, she grew without a feminine model to look up wasn’t very successful with female kindred, who either
to, and the men around her wanted her to get on with used machismo to their advantage, or were sheltered and
her role as a girl. privileged enough to not care.

As a reaction, Suzanne became even more so of a
tomboy, quit school and went to work for the
booming industries of the 1950s. A female worker
strikes was organized in 1966, and Suzanne walked out
along many others, under the impulse of Tania, a charismatic
feminist leader. The women didn’t even wait for the approval
of their unions (and male leaders), they acted on their
own. Sadly for Suzanne, she was used as a ploy by Franz
to mock Tania’s efforts. Franz seduced her out of a bar,
brought her to his haven, and plain embraced her without
a single word of explanation. She was later presented to
Court as the woman equal to man, with lack of elegance,
no charm, a blue collar language and a boy’s gait.
The satire was quite successful, even if perhaps a waste
of an Embrace right, but what hurt most
Suzanne is that she knew she was harming her own cause
because of who she was.
Suzanne joined the Immortal Women’s Club as soon
as she could, but she stayed marginal as she
lacked the tactical and manipulative skills needed to make
it thrive.
Suzanne has five ghouls: Ben, Steph, Ray, Sergio and
Mouloud. They regularly go around all the bars around
la Victoire Plaza, all the way to the docks, and get some
protection money out of the patrons. The police is more
or less actively on their case and Prévôt hasn’t been very
happy about it, and has punished her before. Ray often
works in El Bodegon, the Brujah Elysium.
SuzannelikesPrévôt,he’sstrong,hassomeweirdmannerisms,
and forgives her missteps.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Suzanne and her ghouls
came to help and fought on the front lines. Steph had
serious wounds but the vitae helped him recover; he should
be back up in no time. That wuss Thomas Durieux died
during the raid, good riddance.
The death of Tania during the Sabbat Raid truly saddened
Suzanne, she decided to take over the Club and carry
Tania’s message, even if she knows she’s not competent
enough to do Tania justice.
Caterina Giovanni is the only other member of the
Club, which she joined to have some support in escaping
the Setites’ relentless harassment. Prince Boyer gives them
more lenience when it comes to violations of the Traditions,
that phallic bastard supporting other men get their way
against female workers is sickening.

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Taking over the Immortal Women’s Club and give Suzanne knows where her strengths were, and r e
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it the importance and value it deserves but never really
managed to have in kindred society is a top priority for
Suzanne. For that, she’ll need serious competent help, and
looking for potential embraces is very much up her alley.
She will also actively recruit other women to the club.
Some had joined a few years out of curiosity (Claudia
Vonïgner, Laure Nolveaux and her deceased Childe, who
had stayed until her death in 2000), perhaps they could
come back. Recruiting the newly embraced female neonates
and being more present in Elysium will help the cause.
Tides are changing... or she’ll force them to change.
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building good relations isn’t one of them.
To the Ventrue and Toreadors: they’re all a bunch
of worthless cowards. Except Laure, she’s redeemable.
To Prévôt: Suzanne thinks he’s kind of cute with his
mannerisms and weird behaviors. She respects him because
he fights and he fights good. Even if Suzanne has been
noticed a little too much with his ghouls when racketing
bars for protection, he’s just given her and her boys a
warning, so Suzanne has kind of developed a crush on
him.
To patriarchy: fuck that.

ROLE-PLAYING HINTS To female kindred: they prefer living in a world of

men and using that as their tool, instead of
You’re part of the “dudes”, but you just want to be changing things. It’s unfair and toxic for all women.
yourself, and can’t do so freely, because you’re a woman.
You weren’t embraced for who you were, you were judged To upcoming PCs: women should be invited to the
by your looks. You know you don’t have Tania’s grace Club.
and eloquence, but who the fuck cares? Why do you have
to be that way for your ideas to be heard? It pisses you
off just thinking about it.

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The Gangrel clan has a very long history in the GANGREL MEMORIAL
city, there are rumors that one very old one was
Paul Gravier, a 1990s street artist embraced by
present even before the Ventrue came to settle the
a young marginal Gangrel, died during the recent
city. However, once he was destroyed, and his childe,
Sabbat raid. He was part of Fred’s coterie.
the Venerable, was sent to torpor, centuries passed
without any true lasting Gangrel presence in town.
They only showed up again during the Terror, passing
through the city to dethrone the Ventrue Princess
Hélène de Chantraine. Some left, a couple stayed,
had childer, and left or were killed when the Ventrue
seized power once more. Nomads by nature, the
Gangrel always stayed in the outskirts and
never settled in town. Here they exchange stories,
pass on messages, and sometimes hold some sort of
reunions. Solstice reunions are open to everyone, but
equinoxes aren’t. When the clan as a whole left the
Camarilla in 1999, a few Gangrel remained, and the
Primogen, Henri, is now the tiebreaker in court.
His right arm, Chriss, is the mediator between
this Ventrue-looking Primogen, and the rest of the
clan, even if “the rest of the clan” has clearly
diminished since 1999.
The one remaining strength of the Gangrel clan,
through Chriss, is that they were able to bridge
Kindred and werewolves in order to sign a non-
aggression treaty in the late 1980s still valid to this
day.
Due to their nomadic nature, dates and log
keeping remains fairly incomplete when it comes to
the court. When Gangrel tell their own stories, the
oral tradition tends to only care about the relevant
details. As such, there’s lots of uncertainty about
certain embrace dates, and many were not embraced
locally.

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Many Gangrel over time came and left the
city, as they were mostly nomad by nature. The
important historical names would be The Beast,
who was active in the 13th and 14th century
and who is The Venerable’s sire.
The Gangrel’s official existence in the Court
only began when Eric obtained a Primogen seat
in 1806 with the arrival of the Marquise Madeleine.
He left in 1948 and as he never came back,
he was presumed dead, Natacha took the job
until she quit in 1988.
among others. She was very active to defend the
clan’s interests, but she made many enemies. She
left the Camarilla in 1999, but had already retired
from the Court in 1988.
Pierrot (alive) snitched Chriss’ contacts with
werewolves to the Prince, but the plan backfired.
He was given a blood hunt, but was allowed
to leave the city before it went into effect.

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GANGREL GENEALOGY om

The Beast(9th gen) Gévaudan (8th gen)

Ernest (6th gen)
~980-1345 (†) ?1760s-1793 (departed)
~1750-1830 (†)

The Venerable (10th gen) Eric (9th gen)

Gérard Douanet (7th gen) Raoul (7th gen)
~1310-(…) 1792-1948 (departed?)
1792-1793 (departed) 1827-1942 (†)

Natacha (8th gen)

1923-1999 (departed)

Geoffrey (9th gen) Henri Bowens(9th gen) Chriss (9th gen)

?1780s-1830 (departed) 1982- (…) 1984- (…)

Picard (10th gen)

1792-1830 (†)
Gérard (11th gen)
Jamin Bayou (11th gen) André (11th gen) ~1860-1914 (departed)
1797-1938 (departed) 1813-1999 (departed)

Milène (12th gen)

Pierrot (12th gen) Paul Gravier (12th gen) 1909-1999 (departed)
1967-1992 (departed) 1993-20XX (†)

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In the mid-1990s, while hunting, Henri met a potential
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prey that he ended up actually liking, dating, and plain
fell in love with. Clarissa, a beautiful woman from Martinique,
now knows that Henri is a vampire and while they do
not live together, they adore each other and have been
in a trusting relationship ever since.
When half the clan decided to leave the Camarilla
in 1999, Henri was thankful that Chriss stayed. It
took Henri all of his might to keep his Primogen title,
and has made sure to never anger anyone, side with the
Henri Bowens majority when voting, and play nice with harpies.

Primogen Six months ago, Clarissa started investigating

BACKGROUND
Henri was a good Law student with a promising future,
who came from a communist family but he didn’t agree
with their political ideas. Henri wasn’t a full blown tycoon
in the making, he was an utopist believing in freedom
and good private management, and relied on the good
will of people for everyone’s comfort.
Natacha seduced him and embraced him after he was
given the choice of death or undeath. Natacha took six
years to teach him all about the politics of Cainites, their
mythological origins, their goals and needs. Natacha had
become persona non grata and he was to replace her in
court. Another man, Chriss, was embraced at about the
same time, he was a biology student, slightly anti-social,
and it took Henri and him quite some time to somewhat
get along. Natacha used up all of the boons she had left
and retired from social unlife, letting Henri take over.
Henri soon realized nobody wanted the job, which
is why no one opposed his sudden promotion. The rest
of the clan considered him as much as a janitor, doing
a necessary job nobody wants to do, and Henri didn’t
understand why the others enjoyed rolling
around in the dirt so much: Chriss role as middleman
was vital to make sure everything ran smoothly.
To defend the Clan’s interests in court, the
Gangrel clan needed a Gangrel that wouldn’t think like
a Gangrel, but like a Ventrue, and Henri was perfect for
the job, and he realized Natacha’s bright move by choosing
to plan this all with foresight. Chriss’ role was to explain
to the other Gangrel the utility of the decisions made
by Henri in court, and to advise Henri about the general
needs of the rest of the clan. Even if they complain about
Henri being slow, politics are all about building the right
bases to obtain what one needs.
around the east bank of the Garonne about some
missing women of color, and got herself hired under cover,
in a bar that Henri knows is mostly under the influence
of the Setites. Henri tried to dissuade her, but she’s a
stubborn woman. Henri eventually asked Chriss to send
one of his ghoul, David, to watch over her, even against
her will.
Henri was enjoying a nice evening with Clarissa when
the Sabbat Raid occurred. He was informed only when
Chris managed to find some time to give him a call.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Henri wishes to strengthen his position and
capitalize on the clan’s accomplishments, despite not being
formally Camarilla anymore, and keep his job. He wants
Clarissa to be safe, as he can’t convince her to not do
what she wants, but he is curious about what she might
find out under Setite territory.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You believe in good faith and good practice in social
relations, but your position as a Primogen is very weak,
so you’re keeping a low profile. You have a good education,
you’re knowledgeable, but you know you are too young
to be able to be ambitious. You wouldn’t want to attract
attention like Alicia did, and you sure know you’re no
match for that kind of bickering. You’re approachable
and friendly, but you’re part of a certain elite, so you
do have to keep up some appearances, for your position’s
sake.

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either way, he just joins the majority in the Primogen
council votes.
To the Setites: Henri loathes them, but privately. He
doesn’t like their businesses.
To upcoming PCs: if they could help with his
girlfriend situation, he might consider getting their help,
but otherwise, unless one of them is his childe, Henri
has little to no reason to approach them.

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Prince Boyer wasn’t happy about sneaky contacts
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intervened, explaining that Kindred would

benefit from such an arrangement, and Prince
Boyer agreed, turning the blood hunt against the snitch
whopromptlylefttown.TheVenerablehasbeenmentoring
Chriss ever since.

KEY SETTING ELEMENTS

Chriss
Mediator
BACKGROUND
Christopher Champ hated humanity, his parents, and
other people. He was only interested in his biology studies,
and was a true loner. Going out alone, drinking alone,
and breaking records for the fewest words spoken in a
week. He met Natacha went he decided to hike in the
woods drunk instead of going home, she appeared as a
chanting Valkyrie, singing his name… or something, with
her flowy dress and brown curls. She had him sober up
and embraced him after telling him of her plans. It was
either that or death, and fascinated, Chriss told Natacha
everything she wanted to hear.
He then met Henri, who was to become the voice
of the clan in court, he was arrogant and presumptuous,
and knowing of the clan stereotypes, Chriss thought he
was more of a Ventrue than a Gangrel. Chriss made serious
efforts to connect with his blood brother, understanding
that his strength was to think like a Ventrue, and then
he was presented to the rest of the clan, where he felt
right at home. They were seven other clan members back
then.
The Venerable, oldest Gangrel in town, and most certainly
oldest vampire, gave Chriss a mission in 1991: approach
the werewolves, as he found out one of their meetingspots,
and offer a non-aggression treaty. Chriss, always up for
a fascinating challenge, used his wolf form to observe from
afar and chose to approach Vigneron, an old man, half
homeless who wasn’t an extremist. A few months later
after along hesitation between tearing the Gangrel’s head
off or listening to what this undead wolf had to say, the
Bone Gnawers thankfully decided to accept the Gangrel
offer.
When he came back to give the good news to
the clan, where he was sure he’d be covered in praises
and prestige, Chriss was instead arrested by Prévôt
who brought him up to court.
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When half the Gangrel left the Camarilla in 1999,
only the Venerable and some freshly embraced childe, Paul
Gravier, chose to stay, choosing his coterie over his sire.
The Venerable has been more withdrawn ever since.
Chriss ghouled a woodworker from the Landes, David
Gourmet. He has been helping him keeping control over
southern territory management and keeping proper hunting
grounds.
Henri asked Chriss to send David keep an eye on
Clarissa, some journalist friends of his, who got herself
involved in Setite territories. The three men worked together
to make sure that if David got dis-covered, Clarissa wouldn’t
be incriminated. However, Clarissa knows what’s going
on and she’s not happy.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Chriss fought in the
front lines, with Paul Gravier, Tania and.. Laure Nolveaux
for some reason, and damn it all if that was unexpected,
the woman was tough. Chriss was badly wounded, but
he’s healed now.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Chriss wants to keep his clan prestige, even if there’s
only three Gangrel left now. Perhaps it’s time to
embrace, or convince other Gangrel to come back to the
Camarilla. What role did those who left in 1999 in the
Sabbat Raid, why didn’t they warn him?
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You like the ego boost given by recognition and admira-
tion for your work with the werewolves, but you’re also
thankful that it was because of the Venerable. You’re no
diplomat, you’re straightforward and direct and don’t bother
with measured and tactful communication. That’s Henri’s
job.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Chriss has no strong opinions on anyone, he doesn’t
really care about others, but he admires and is thankful
to the Venerable.
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The Venerable
Ancient
BACKGROUND
Carl, born at the end of the 13th century, was a hunter,
who learnt from his father and lived by the woods in
halfisolation.TheBeastcametohishouse,mumbledsomething
about hunter-irony, embraced him, ordered him to go to
Bordeaux to spy and try to obtain his domain’s independence
from Altrec. Carl was just a peasant but he wasn’t an
idiot, and knew very much how neither of them were
politicians. The Beast was huge, covered in hair, with large
fangs deforming his jaw, causing the monster to have a
strange speech. Carl thought perhaps he had been some
sort of Viking, judging by his braids. After being taught
about Ennoia, their ancestor, and how to use Protean and
Animalism, Carl went on his spying mission. A priest
welcomed Carl, taught him to read and a little about
church hierarchy (as a basis to under-stand politics). Spying
with cats and rats, Carl gathered some intel about Altrec’s
court, and a few months later, as he was hunting, Carl
saw a vampire he recognized as the Brujah Henri de Cusances.
The Brujah had set fire to one of the Ventrue assets, and
he was following Altrec out of Elysium. The rat refused
to enter the Ventrue’s haven, and soon Henri came out.
Carl later found out Altrec was dead. Henri later embraced
plenty of vampire bandits, ruling de facto over the city,
while the childer of Alterec, Richard and Clotilde allied
against him. The Beast was happy, as while the Brujah
and Ventrue fought, he was at peace, and Carl observed
from afar. In 1345 however, Henri left the city, which
was uncommon as he had not completely taken over the
city yet. He later found out Henri had killed the Beast.
Carl didn’t really care that much for his sire but he decided
to be more careful. Two years later, as he was hunting,
he was attacked by Henri’s men, who may have mistook
him for prey.
Carl fought for his life, and fled after turning into
a bat. He was wounded, thirsty, and managed to hide
in his haven before dawn. He wouldn’t wake up for centuries.
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He fed off burnt wounded soldiers, and Carl realized how
everything had changed. November 1944, it was. It took
him months of spying to make up his missing six centuries.
After spying on other Gangrel, he met Natacha and they
traded stories. Natacha looked like she had found a valuable
treasure, and presented Carl as Venerable Carl to the rest
of the clan. They ended up just calling him The Venerable.
Carl adapted his language to the modern ages, and
took time to understand the new world he was now part
of, but all these new technologies were just too much
to handle.
Natacha became Primogen in 1949, and a curious
Nosferatu, Igor, interrogated Carl about kindred life in
the 14th century. It was the first time Carl saw a Nosferatu.
Respected for his age and experience, Carl decided
to find a way to ensure his safety and protect himself
from these changes he had no power over. He wanted
power, but not the responsibilities or the danger
associated with them, and needed a pawn. Natacha left
the city, and formed two perfect pawns: Henri and Chriss.
Both would fit in his plan.
The Venerable spied and found the werewolves, offered
Chriss the honor of getting a non-aggression treaty with
them, and got Pierrot, another Gangrel that wasn’t exactly
bright, to snitch to the Prince about it. When Chriss was
broughttotrialforfraternizingwiththeenemy,TheVenerable
defended him, and Chriss now owes him. It almost worked
perfectly, the only detail is that Pierrot survived, he just
ran off with a blood hunt, knowing the truth. Prince
Boyer might have not been a fan of Were-friendship after
all, which is why he allowed Pierrot to go.
Carl started being more recluse with the departure
of the clan from the Camarilla, because his pawns had
begun to lose valuable influence, and he didn’t feel very
safe. Bordeaux remained a trading stories hub, a halt for
nomads of all sorts, but nomads are less and less numerous.
Carl has a domain near the Grand Parc, but he very
much likes others to think he lives further away, outside
of the city.
Carl isn’t fond of all that new technology, but his
extensive animal spying network is extremely efficient.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Carl was in the lands
enjoying alone time in the woods. He only found out about
the attack a few nights afterwards. The Sabbat is a monster
Carl did not know of prior to his Torpor, and he dislikes
all of the dangers and unrest they cause.
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has triggered his need for security and his respectability but himself, his safety, and Chriss and Henri (good pawns
and prestige in the clan. The death of the fourth member to keep him safe).
of the clan, Paul, didn’t help at all, and as such Carl might
need to take a risk, as being a passive intel-gatherer simply
won’t be enough.

ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You come from another time, and that gives you a
certain standing and weight in Cainite society. You use
old words and sentences and use the image of the old
wise hermit Cainite, unchanged by all this time, to your
favor. Be cryptic, talk to neonates as children coming to
you for stories, and use that as a way to get them to
do things for you.

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The Malkavian clan made a spectacular entry MALKAVIAN MEMORIAL

when in the middle of the 17th century, Xavier arrived
and unveiled a Toreador plot and project to fully Marie Jourdan, part of Fred’s coterie, was
annex the city to Paris’ rulings, which sent Princess killed during the recent Sabbat raid. She had murdered
Hélène de Chantraine into a rage that drew them a Setite ghoul in Elysium, in public. It was actually her
out of the city and diminished their influences for brother, whom Robert Degrelle had asked the Setites
more than a few decades. to ghoul to get under Marie’s skin, and that regardless
of her reaction, no kindred should be harmed. The
Xavier was immediately given the title of Prevost Setites kept their word, interceded in her favor saying
and once the city joined the Camarilla, he also that a mere mortal wasn’t worth the hassle to destroy
became Primogen of his own clan (even if he was because she was violent in Elysium.
alone), and eventually embraced and welcomed new
arrivals of the clan. Despite quitting in the first
half of the 20th century, giving his title of Prevost
to his Childe, and of Primogen to Victor de Sainte-
Croix, a very well-mannered Ventrue, Xavier still
remains the patriarch, the overseer of his clan, which
he treats like his children. Many Malkavian still
go to him instead of going to Victor.

They now hold quite an important influence

in the medical fields in town, mostly around the
old Saint-André hospital, but also the Pellegrin
Hospital and Charles Perrens mental institutes, but
each individual has disparate and unrelated strengths.

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Robert Degrelle was destroyed in 2000 for having
facilitated and hidden a Sabbat nest, one member
of which had diablerized Laure Nolveaux’s childe.
He was Fred and Marie Jourdan’s sire, and should
have been Claudia Vonïgner’s sire if Lyle Kersten
had not acted. He also harassed the Tremere and
her coterie by manipulating a Nosferatu by the
name of Heudebert to stalk their hunting ground,
but he wasn’t very successful in destabilizing the
coterie.
Hospitality, and plain disappeared, leaving his fledgling
of a childe without any mentoring. Victor de Sainte-
Croix was bright enough and educated enough to
make it on his own and in hopes of gaining some
Malkavian support just after his coup, Prince Boyer
welcomed him as a proper member of society. Victor
began thinking Boyer was his real sire, actually.

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Xavier (8th gen)

1482-(…)

Prévôt (9th gen) Robert Degrelle (9th gen)

1769-(…) 1893-2000 (†)

Marie Jourdan (10th gen) Fred (10th gen)

1991-20XX (†) 1991-(…)

Jules Claes (10th gen)

~1910-1918 (departed)

Victor de Sainte-Croix (11th gen)

1914- (…)

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Xavier
Patriarch
BACKGROUND
Born and raised as the third son of a wealthy (his
father was mayor) in the 1450s in Lyon, Xavier was to
become a priest. He did not experience the opulence of
banquets and the arts, and sent to study in Rome, Xavier
became an inquisitor. Xavier resented his fellow men of
faith, who didn’t care about God, the Afterlife or their
salvation, they were hypocrites. And as an Inquisitor, nobody
was really happy to see him, and he was disgusted to
see that he wasn’t paid if he did not find any culprits.
Congratulating the good peasants who did their duties
in the Grace of God was bad for his resume, he wasn’t
“productive enough”, so Xavier, as others, started to find
anything that would explain the bad harvests, the milk
being spoiled, and else. He started inciting men and women
to admit to their faults, and condemned them for witchcraft.
He was talented, and he didn’t even need to submit
them to the Question to obtain their confessions.
Xavier enjoyed the power he had even over high nobility,
even if they were shielded against his authority, the hypo-
crites, they were the guiltiest of them all. Xavier realized
he was an artist, creating emotion as no painter could
ever do, and even turning those emotions against their
victims. At some point, burned down a witch, an isolated
woman who read tarot and tea leaves in Marseille, who
was “already an old lady” for several generations. The witch
cursed him as she burnt in 1480.
The witch was ghoul, and Irène, her domitor, a Malkavian,
got herself a new toy: Xavier. Presented to the local Prince,
Xavier understood the cause of everything he hated and
despised as a mortal: the Toreador. Vain, narcissists, fake
artists, hypocrites and shallow, wouldn’t recognize his art
in creating the truest of emotion in people.
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there was no way to destabilize the Toreadors in Marseille.
He kept contacts with other inquisitors (some of which
he blood bound), and eventually arrived in the mid-1500s
in Aquitaine. When told the region belonged to a Ventrue
Prince, Hélène de Chantraine, he moved to Bordeaux in
1635 and after spending some time gauging the city’s politics,
in Obfuscate, he noticed the two local Parisian Toreadors
weren’t really liked. It was perfect. He plotted and rose
hell in the city by ordering the murder of key figures,
incited further Brujah rebellion, and arrived with all of
the proof necessary to the Princess to show her it was
all the Toreadors’ fault, as they were doing it all to take
over the city for Paris. He used Roland Dax, a young
Brujah, to tell the whole story and benefit from it to
rebuild the Brujah influences. Xavier used Demen-tation
on the Princess to enhance her passions, and she went
herself to kill the Toreadors. One ran away, sadly, the
chef-d’oeuvre wasn’t perfect. Xavier was named Prévôt (and
Primogen) for his efforts. Sadly, Hélène de Chantraine
had to accept a Toreador Primogen as the city joined
the Camarilla officially, and Beatrix, in Paris, sent
Aude de Volange, a whore who even dared to pop out
spawns all over the city. Xavier had to suffer in silence,
as getting rid of her through a Brujah would only mean
she’d be replaced by more and more and more.. Cockroaches.
Xavier decided to stay to make sure to contain the Toreador
influences as much as he could.
After Hélène’s death, sadly, Paris politically took over
the city and sent a Marquise, Madeleine. Thank-fully it
was only a matter of time since, Xavier saw how Boyer,
the childe of Hélène and Ventrue Primogen was moving
to take her place.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Unlike the Toreador, Xavier waited to find a true
artist and not some empty dolls. In 1769, he saw a man
confess his feelings to his whore of a cousin, who went
full Toreador on him and refused him, snob and full of
disdain. Lambert didn’t accept it, killed her and did un-
speakable things to her body. Such poetry couldn’t go
without a reward, Xavier was moved by the true artistry,
and Lambert was embraced. It was so wonderful, a true
work of art.
Friendly to Roland Dax and to Théodore Jacob, his
childe, Xavier’s punishments of the 1770s revolts up to
the Terror were kinder. He did execute all mortals involved,
but the vampires were harmed enough to be able to recover
on their pawns’ bodies. Théodore always fought front lines
and would “keep the Prévôt busy” while his men escaped.
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Elysium was raided, they staked her by pure luck (the
crossbow bolt shot as Majesty froze the Anarchs went
straight to her heart). Xavier managed to had he and his
childe be spared, and told the revolutionaries all about
the true master behind the throne, that the Tremere knew
all about. Dementation got the best of the Anarch’ decision
making skills and they only left a couple of ghouls to
put Hélène to meet the sun. Xavier quickly disappeared
during the commotion.
With the Toreador’s absence during the Terror, Xavier
made it a point to destroy everything Aude liked, including
the Chateau Trompette. She was petrified when she saw
the results. Lovely.
In 1892, Xavier met a psychoanalyst, a new very interesting
subject. Robert was an artist, like Xavier, and Xavier gave
him all of his support for his research. In 1893, Xavier
confessed he was a vampire and embraced Robert Degrelle.
During the WWI coup, Xavier hunted Madeleine down
relentlessly,buthedidn’tfindher,muchtohisdisappointment.
He would have loved to offer her severed head to Prince
Boyer.
To fulfill his duties as the patriarch of his clan, Xavier
gave his Primogen seat to Victor, who was very Ventrue-
like. The Malkavian are his admirers, his creations, and
he must give them his all. If the Toreador weren’t stupid,
they’d realize the true artist among them.
After WWII, Xavier met Marc Gillard, a perfect heinous
patriot who would put blame on everything a charismatic
mentor would point at. Xavier became that mentor, and
pointed at the Toreador to redirect his hatred towards
worthy targets. Such a good boy.
Robert Degrelle experimented with a woman whose
life he had destroyed, and wanted to embrace her, as well
as another with a fucked up life, and see if they would
grow differently as kindred subjected to different treatment.
Xavier was ecstatic for the experience, and obtained the
two embrace rights necessary. Fred and Marie were true
works of art.
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soul when his baby, his latest son, perished. He’d get revenge
on Laure, eventually, but first, he will destroy everything
she cherished. Death would be too much of a sweet release.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Xavier was at
home, admiring the pictures of his childer and grand-childer.
He was extremely moved by the death of Marie when
he found out a few nights later.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
The Toreador are cowards, Grégory didn’t even fight
to save his own, but he loved seeing the Toreador’s pain
at the loss of some of their members during the Raid.
He hopes however they won’t reproduce yet again. Hopefully
new arrivals and new blood might be turned against the
roses. Xavier is very eager to find another artist to embrace.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re eloquent, elegant, distinguished, well-mannered
and educated. Others know nothing about your true arts,
and you take your role of patriarch (or rather, an artist
protecting his creations) very seriously. You’ve retired from
your role as Primogen and Prévôt, but you are still the
most important figure of your clan, and the flock comes
to you.
Madness: Xavier has delusions of grandeur, he is the
best Toreador that ever existed but that clan of degenerates
is too shallow to realize it.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Xavier’s public demeanor towards anyone are
nothing but positive and likable.
To Marc Gillard: Xavier acts like a mentor to the
violent Brujah. Privately, Xavier redirects his anger towards
the Toreadors. It’s not hard, the man is full of hatred,
he just needed the right targets.
To Toreadors: they’re the plague of this world, the
cause of depravity and corruption. Especially
Laure, who caused the death of his precious, lovely Robert!
She’ll pay first, slowly and painfully.
To his lineage: Lambert is his only living creation and
a great Prévôt. Fred is the only surviving creation of Robert,
such an innocent baby, too pure...
To Victor: not his creation, but he is a good
politician regardless, his role as Primogen fits him.
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Victor de Sainte-Croix
Primogen
BACKGROUND
Son of a rich landowner in Amiens, Victor was blamed
by his father for the death of his mother, which meant
getting spanked quite often. He got married to Sidonie
as soon as he turned 18. Sidonie was the daughter of the
local notary, and his opinion wasn’t really sought for the
arrangement. Sidonie wasn’t pretty, she wasn’t nice, she
wasn’t smart, she screamed a lot and had a strong character.
Victor tried to reason with her and make it work, but
she only wailed more, and Victor couldn’t do anything,
not even consume the marriage. He was too scared to
find some “relief” elsewhere though.
WWI would be his salvation, somehow, he could leave
home and not be around her anymore, and at the first
trenches battles, with the massacres, he was stolen into
the night and embraced by a young-looking man, Jules
Claes, who was in need of a place to stay, which is why
he was embraced. Jules clearly explained that Victor was
at his mercy for as long as he had decided, and when
Victor tried to resist, Jules Dominated him. So Victor
brought him back home after fleeing the battles. Sidonie
tried to kick them out, but Jules said “silence, woman”,
and Sidonie went silent. Jules blood bound her and ordered
her to bring home family, friends or other neighbors to
the house. For two years, the two Malkavian hid in the
home and Sidonie brought prey, giving herself a less than
respectable reputation, which she had a hard time accepting
over time, conflicting her blood bond with her own will.
One night of 1916, she set herself and the house on
fire and the Malkavian sire and childe ran off in Rotschrek.
Jules decided it was time to move south, to Bordeaux,
and obtained Hospitality from the new Prince. He also
stated that Victor was still just a fledgling.
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Boyer welcomed them, and in 1917, Victor found himself
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went to tell the Prince that he was gone. Prince Boyer
in his infinite wisdom freed Victor and welcomed the
neonate. Now Victor knew that Boyer had acted to get
rid of his sire, because he mistreated Victor. Boyer had
noticed Victor, he had ordered Jules to embrace him, but
with Boyer’s blood, obviously. Victor was the true childe
of the Prince, everything was clear now. One day he will
be as impressive, as elegant, as strong, but for now, the
Prince watches over him, benevolent. No need to brag
about it, however, as others could be jealous.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Armand’s embrace hurt Victor’s feelings, but
Victor realizes that Armand needs help, Victor is
stronger and Boyer trusts him to make it out on his own.
Boyer didn’t hide Victor during the WWII coup, because
Tarcisus was too stupid to realize Victor was the childe
of Boyer.
When his father died in 1938, Victor had to play hard
to be able to cash the inheritance. He brunt every-thing
his father ever owned and cherished, except for the belt
he had so often used against him (which he still wears
to this day), and sold off the lands. Victor settled in the
Bordeaux pied-à-terre of his family, a large house near
the town hall, and invested everything else in stock.
Boyer noticed Victor’s good efforts, and he was given
the Malkavian Primogen seat. Obviously he
couldn’t be the Ventrue Primogen, because Boyer
himself had the title, but the poor Malkavian devils really
needed some guidance. Xavier agreed.
VictorclearlydisapprovedofTania’sfeministmovements,
such a fantasy couldn’t be possible, and the whole court
mocked her. Franz even embraced a delicious parody, to
show her and other women the true woman equal to man.
The gesture truly made Victor laugh and he appreciates
Franz ever since. Prince Boyer didn’t like Tania and the
other feminists as they had made women go on strike
and hurt his interests.
In 1977, the Giovanni launched an aggressive take
over over the Prince’s precious possessions, those
traitors! And what’s worse, they sold it all off to the Toreador
Adriano Guicciardini, when Boyer tried to get it all back.
They all got on the Prince’s bad side, so much so that
in the 1990s the Giovanni had to leave town as they were
dealt with. They only left an embraced ghoul, some Madam,
to keep up appearances. Victor will gladly help Boyer should
he need it, to claim back what is rightfully his, from that
arrogant snake Guicciardini.
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During the recent Sabbat Raid, Victor was with Franz ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
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your sire, the most perfect Prince the whole country -has
WHAT HE WANTS NOW ever seen. Don’t be too ridiculous about it, you are the
Victor wants to help “his sire” as much as he can Prince’s childe, but repeating it every other night is classless,
to remain in power, to shine to the gods. He also enjoys like flip-flops. Take initiatives with the PCs to help Boyer,
the power and freedom of being a vampire and lives his to reinforce his power, and be elegant about it. You’re
unlife to its fullest. of good company, you’re lucid and posed.

Madness: The image of the victim sticks to Victor,

and he projects on Prince Boyer, who is everything Victor
aspires to be: admired, respected, in control, powerful.
As long as Boyer is here to be his lighthouse, Victor fears
nothing. Victor refuses to be a victim any longer, he wants
to be strong, and that means he is strong already, deep
down. Victor believes hard core that Prince Boyer is his
true sire, and others don’t know because knowledge is
power, and they don’t deserve that power.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
To Boyer: obviously he is Victor’s true sire, but better
not say it too loudly, the truth shines enough already.
To the Malkavians: they need guidance, and only the
most capable childe of the Prince would provide it.
To the rest: they should be thankful for Boyer’s benevolent
reign.
To the Tremere: they should have been all blood hunt
for treason! But Boyer knows best.
To upcoming PCs: Behold the Prince, the best the
city has ever had, and let his wisdom enlighten you!

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Prévôt
Sheriff
BACKGROUND
Lambert was the oldest of his family, but he wasn’t
the son of his father; her mother had slept with a monk,
and turned it against the young boy, the living proof,
the embodiment of her sins. That’s why he was named
Lambert, after the saint.
When his mother’s sister and her daughter came to
visit, Lambert was struck, he fell in love with the latter,
the beautiful Rosaline, his cousin. He got shy, invited her
to meet him by the fortifications, where he confessed his
love to her. She refused, and Lambert lost it, killing the
poor girl and doing horrible things to her corpse, as she
had threatened to tell her mother and aunt about it.
Xavier embraced him that night as he witnessed the
scene, and they fed off the cadaver. When Lambert was
presented to the Princess Hélène, he realized, she was
his true love, his one and only princess, his bride. Lambert
wasn’t stupid, however, he knew he wasn’t about to impose
his love on such a powerful being. So in the meantime,
he of course had other brides, mortals he would kidnap
in his house, who would see him and only him, but when
they started to scream, cry, revolt, he would kill them
to make them quiet again. As soon as the bodies decomposed
a little too much, he’d throw them away.
In 1789, Hélène asked Lambert to protect her
childe, Boyer. Lambert hoped to get closer to the lady,
but it didn’t work. However, Boyer and Théodore’s efforts
to keep the Anarch scourge at bay was quite interesting.
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by mere chance, and when Xavier demented them to ignore
them and interrogate the Tremere about the true master
of the city, Lambert saw his chance. Xavier disappeared,
the ghouls who were tasked to have Hélène catch her
sunrise were easy to dominate. Lambert stole Hélène into
the night and brought her home.
It’s been over two hundred years since Hélène’s quarrel
was cut right so it would be hidden, and every night,
he feeds her his blood, sometimes a little more than necessary
so he can feed off her too. He dresses her, does her hair
and make-up, bathes her, tells her stories and listens to
her answers… Sometimes Lambert brings in other brides,
immortal or mortal, but Hélène is the only one that counts.
Xavier gave him his Prévôt position in the early 19th
century, it was a perfect way for Lambert to hide his
crimes; if a beautiful kindred whom Lambert liked didn’t
get a chance to present herself to Marquise Madeleine
(who was never a candidate to become his bride, else Hélène
would be jealous), she’d find herself never reaching her
destination. And to get rid of the bodies, the crematorium
of the hospital came in extremely handy.
In 2000, Laure asked Lambert to let her join him when
hunting for the Sabbat who had diablerized her childe
Sandrine. Lambert accepted, and they found that his own
blood brother had hidden the Sabbat. Prince Boyer asked
Lambert to destroy him, and so he did. He also found
incriminating evidence about Xavier’s implications but he
didn’t tell the Prince, he gave the documents back to Xavier.
Lambert isn’t stupid, and taking a local vampire as
a bride would be noticed, however Annabelle, the singer
and musician, was stunning. During the recent Sabbat
Raid, as they were fighting the Sabbat off further back,
Lambert staked the beautiful woman, destroyed one of
his ghouls, undressed her so her clothes would remain
in the ghouls’ ashes, and hid her in his car. It was risky,
but oh so worth it.
A few nights after the Sabbat Raid, Lambert caught
some Nosferatu had snooped in his haven. Lambert quickly
found and destroyed the rat.
One of his former brides, Louisa, became a ghost and
is now haunting him. Lambert doesn’t really care, she leaves
when there’s other vampires around.
Over the centuries, his body count has reached over
four hundred mortals and about 30 immortal women.

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the only true love of his unlife is Hélène, his
precious, defiant, magnificent princess. However he needs
to be more careful. The Nosferatu whom he killed might
have alerted the others...
Madness: Lambert hides his obsessions and perversion
by faking physical quirks, lifting an arm sometimes, tying
and untying his shoes.
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His relations to Boyer and Théodore are cordial, and profes-
sional, but there’s nothing much there. However, beautiful
women will catch his attention. And he already slipped
into dangerous territory, daring to take one of them, an
officially acknowledged one, a local one, in the open, right
under their nose!

ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
Have strange body movements every now and
then. Smell women’s hair, get too close in their
personal spaces sometimes, but then leave and focus on
your current investigations, such as the occasional
masquerade breach, suspicious kindred activities or maybe
domain trespassing by future victims. Talk as little as possible,
people only go to you when there’s Masquerade breaches,
and you don’t socialize. You work, then you go home,
where your Princess awaits patiently for your return. Isn’t
she lovely?

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Marie had a similar newspapers article, about the “suicide”
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and Fred fought that night, but eventually they became

Fred
Street Guy
BACKGROUND
Fred does not remember his mortal life, only a large
fire which had made him scream and cry like a madman,
but he doesn’t remember why Robert Degrelle embraced
him. He remembers the date of the fire, as Robert had
taken the newspaper article to put in his room, January
16th 1991, where three had perished: Frédéric Lassard, his
wife Julie and daughter Sylvie.
Robert was a loving sire, feeding him every night from
his wrist, but Fred had misbehaved, Robert had said, and
that is why he was punished, locked up in the soundproof
room of the Charles Perrens cellars. Fred was forbidden
to leave the room, and every time Robert would leave,
he’d stake Fred. Fred was naked all the time, and Robert
was right to treat him like this, most certainly, he didn’t
deserve the love Robert gave him. Two years later, Robert
brought in a naked young lady, Marie her name was, she
was fierce, heinous of Robert, and as much as Fred feared
and loved his sire, Marie hated and fought him off. Robert
told Fred Marie was his sister.
Eventually they managed to talk, and of course the
stakes didn’t help communication, but they had some sort
of free reign after a little while: Marie often vomited the
blood Robert fed her, but then she’d lick it off the carpet,
cry herself to sleep and else. She also spoke to imaginary
friends, and Fred felt for her. Marie told Fred how Robert
had destroyed her life for years before embracing her,
making her be hated by her friends, having her fail all
of her exams, and so on. Fred knew Marie was lying, Robert
would never do such a thing, but it was easier for Marie
to blame someone for her failures than facing them. Marie
asked about the newspapers article, but Fred denied it
was him or anything like that: he was there, the house
was empty!
close again. One night, Marie asked Fred to bite her, and
he accepted; they became intimate, lovers of some sort.
Robert would be angry if he found out. After finding
papers about clans, the Prince, the Camarilla and else
in Robert’s desk, Marie decided to escape Fred helped
her to protect her, they found their way to Elysium after
stealing some clothes. Fred wanted to run, Robert was
there, he’d kill them for sure, but Marie held his hand
firmly, and walked forward. Before Marie talked, Robert
freed them officially. They were presented to Prince Boyer
in 1993, and when meeting other young marginal
kindred: Léon, a thin-blood Brujah, whatever that
meant and Térence, a rumor-gathering homeless Nosferatu,
they ended up becoming a coterie. Fred was very sad to
see that Robert more or less ignored him ever since their
escape, he wanted to be punished, to redeem himself, but
Robert just didn’t even look at him.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Térence thought the Tremere were kidnapping his herd
of homeless people for some horrible thing, so the whole
coterie went to spy on Lyle Kersten and his clan; the
chantry was right across the street from Elysium so it
was easy to justify their presence. Léon patrolled while
the Nosferatu trailed the Tremere, and Marie and Fred
observed in court.
The sixth night, however, the Setites showed up to
Elysium, with a brand new ghoul. The druggie
happened to be Marie’s brother, whom (according to Marie)
Robert had pushed to prostitution and drugs. Marie saw
him, and the next instant, she had broken her brother’s
neck. Everything went silent, until she started speaking
to the corpse of her brother, how now he was free and
could go to haven. Prince Boyer was about to sentence
her to death, but Emilio intervened: the boy was neither
kindred nor art, it was not necessary to punish her for
such a disposable little thing. She got a warning. In the
end the whole Tremere issue was just a rumor, but they
couldn’t investigate much further as they had seriously
been noticed.
In 1999, most Gangrel left the Camarilla except for
Paul Gravier, who joined the coterie. Paul was such a
talented storyteller, he was great at it and always entertained
everyone, which is why he was embraced. He stayed because
he was more urban.

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When Robert was executed for hiding Sabbat WHAT HE WANTS NOW
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nests, Marie was in the front rows for the judgment, but
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more respectful childer, maybe he wouldn’t have turned
out like that.
Startingin2002LaurentdeFonscolombe,averyinfluential
and very old ghoul working for Charles Nassau, hired the
coterie to spy on his behalf and protect him in certain
high stakes meetings. The Nosferatu and two Malkavian
would follow and trail vampires, while Léon and Paul
would be the business-man’s bodyguards. Laurent paid them
well. Marie and Térance were tasked to enter into certain
kindred havens and copy documents during their
absence, and over several months, they spied on
Suzanne Gourand, Urbain Delacour, Emilio, Eric Artevelt,
and many more.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Luc, another
Nosferatu, called Térence, they needed the cavalry. The
coterie’s squat was very closeby, so they arrived quickly,
and they fought against the enemy. It was chaos. Marie
put heavy things in her bag and went full melee, but her
anorexia made her reckless and she was beheaded when
she was trying to bite a Sabbat vampire. Léon and Paul
joined the Brujah and Laure Nolveaux on the front lines.
Fred saw Annabelle fight alongside Prévôt’s ghouls further
back. But Fred couldn’t act, he was frozen by fear, and
he ran away. Because of him, all of his friends, his support
system died.
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members. Marie died because of him, and the psychological
shock might have been enough to get him to act. Marie
certainly watches him from haven and she will guide him,
her, and everyone else.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re sorry, you feel guilty, you are guilty, it’s all
your fault, and nothing you can do will bring them all
back. You’re actually quite a strong able-bodied man, but
your demeanor conveys a harmless mouse. Look down,
be inferior.
Madness: Fred feels guilty for everything. He cannot
stand for himself and has a profound desire to be loved
and cherished. He cannot face problems, but he will blame
himself for them and only see the good in others. Fred
is a perfect victim.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Fred is likely to inherit the contacts and allies of his
deceased coterie members, and despite his
inability to realize it, he is likely to be one of the best
informed kindred in town. Fred has nothing but
positive and fearsome respect of other kindred.. or anyone,
actually.
Upcoming PCs could be his new family, somehow!

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The Nosferatu clan is probably the most mys-
terious of all clans in the city. Nobody knows when
they arrived, there are records of their presence during
the Middle Ages but nothing really official has been
put in official records and statements. Their presence
has been a big question mark for everyone. Details
about their number, their names, or their strengths
are even less known. Rumors have it that they were
the personal spies and guards of the late Princess
Hélène de Chantraine. They either disappeared or
were killed during the Terror, when the Anarchs
dethroned Hélène. In 1830 two new “founders”
appeared: Vigo and Jean-Claude. Jean-Claude was
killed during the WWI take-over by Boyer, but he
left behind him two childer, two twin former
prostitutes, Mariette and Disette. Docteur, presented
in the 1920s, took the job of Primogen when Vigo
disappeared in the 1950s.
As in many other cities, Nosferatu members live
underground, control information and have a strong
sense of clan solidarity. The sewers not being human-
sized in the city, Nosferatu Kindred tend to live
in cellars, catacombs and old Roman ruins over
which the city has been built. As such, many Nosferatu
tend to smell of wine or vinegar.
Nosferatu relations to other clans changed in
the 1980s, when a bright entrepreneur by the name
of M'sieur Pierre opened a phone hot line, SOS
Friends in Trouble (reference to a famous French
theater play and movie: Santa Claus is a Stinker).
Kindred or Ghouls call for help, and M’sieur Pierre,
Operator, dispatches the right Nosferatu for the
task, in exchange for an ulterior favor.
Nosferatus are hard to distinguish one from
another by other Kindred who more often than
not do not wish to look at them, which is why
their appearance has little importance. Most Nosferatu
have accepted this as a matter of fact and some
have begun to wear signs for others to recognize
them; a mask, peculiar colors, a preferred clothing
item... Now whether it’s the same Nosferatu or
not, most members of the court can’t or don’t
want to distinguish them, and don’t really care.
Quite often Nosferatu individuals play along and
turn this to their advantage. The ignorance of
others is a Nosferatu’s strength.
NOSFERATU MEMORIAL
Térence, part of Fred’s coterie, Térence was
declared dead during the recent Sabbat raid. He
was close to the homeless punks of the city and
often traded rumors with them. He was embraced
in the 1980s. He became a Hidden Nosferatu.
Luc, an infiltrator extraordinaire and great actor
embraced in the 1950s, was also declared dead
during the recent Sabbat raid. He was often seen
with Dominique Lejeune. Luc, or Lucien when in
the company of members of the higher society,
could fit with any group of people, from the simplest
rural people, to the most prestigious posh secret
societies. He used the Sabbat Raid to return to
being a Hidden Nosferatu.

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OTHER NOSFERATU NAMES THE FAKES
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Niklaus (alive), the first known Prévôt of the
city, he was fired by Hélène for failing to see
the Toreador plot to take over the city in 1637,
and promptly left the city. Xavier took the title.
Vigo (alive) was the former Primogen of
the clan. He was reptilian looking with a creaky
voice, he disappeared in 1954 and Docteur, his
childe, became Primogen.
Scoop, Charogne and Carcass never existed,
they’re personalities created by M’sieur Pierre to
check out and in whenever a Hidden Nosferatu
needs to be on the surface. Their “stories” and
their “backgrounds” are known to other kindred
as they were “presented” to the Prince to be
“acknowledged”. You’ll find those fake stories in
the Players Guide.

The Nosferatu Master (dead): Nosferatu who

had blood bound Hélène de Chantraine and ruled
behind the throne for the better part of her
reign. The Tremere, who knew about him (and
used that to blackmail Hélène), sold him off
to the Anarchs during the Terror.

Momo (dead), a hidden Nosferatu often using

the Scoop identity, was killed by Lambert. He
took pictures of the “dolls” he had at home,
Annabelle, and a beautiful, striking woman with
a stern and defiant expression he didn’t recognize.

Heudebert (alive), embraced in 1902, promptly

fled the city in 2000 when Robert Degrelle’s
hiding of the Sabbat was found. Robert Degrelle
used him to harass Claudia Vonïgner and her
coterie, as revenge since she let herself be stolen
by the Tremere.

Disette and Mariette (alive), embraced in 1872,

became Hidden in 1979 and 1994 respectively;
it seems they left the city. They knew Christophe
de Bri-Leveque from their living days, as well
as “Henriette”, a Setite ghoul.

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The Nosferatu genealogy is a mess because
many of them do not really inform their childer
of their own blood lineage. Isolated from each
other, nobody even among their ranks has a clear
vision what links tie them to each other.
Igor was not embraced by Vigo, but by someone
else. Vigo raised him and presented him as his
own, which is why the generation does not match.
Not like Nosferatu care about their lineage anyway.
Momo is.. somewhere? Or maybe it was Heudebert
with another name?

Niklaus (7th gen) The Nosferatu Master (?)

~1450-1637 (departed) ~1300-1793 (†)

Vigo (7th gen)

Childéric’s right hand (?)
(Hidden until) 1830-1954 (Hidden)
~1185-~1400s (†)

Igor (9th gen) Docteur (8th gen)

1843-(…) 1920-(…)

The Basque country one (?)

~1500s-1600s? (departed)

Jean-Claude (9th gen)

(Hidden until) 1830-1914 (†)

Disette (10th gen) Mariette (10th gen)

1872-1979 (departed) 1872-1994 (departed)

Térence (11th gen) Heudebert (11th gen) Luc (11th gen) M’sieur Pierre (11th gen)
1989-20XX (Hidden) 1903-2000 (departed) 1951-20XX (Hidden) 1982-(…)

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comparingoldmaps,oldbuildings,referencestotheTrompette.
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His research led him to the cellars and catacombs
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of the city, and when he opened a tomb, he found a passage
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instead of a coffin. What kind of lost

Docteur
Primogen
BACKGROUND
Bernard Dauvay, born in 1894 was born to teen love
in the manufactures of Bordeaux. He could have ended
up blue collar as well, but his brilliant primary studies
earned him a sponsor which paid for his further studies.
He was in bad health, and the asthma he was diagnosed
atthetimecouldhavebeenlife-threatening.Bernardpersevered
through middle school, even high school. The sponsorship
was more profitable to his family than sending him to
work, as he wouldn’t be productive anyway.
His parents wanted him to become a teacher, but Bernard
decided to push further his studies in university, in History,
in 1912. He avoided being enrolled for WWI due to (or
thanks to) his asthma, but followed every troop movement
through the newspapers and the radio. In 1920, when he
was finishing his doctorate thesis about the history of
the city, Bernard found an enigma in the data he was
consulting, something related to the Peregrinatio
Compostellana, the three moons, the symbol of the city.
The code was so intriguing that he spent months trying
to figure it out, going from clue to clue, looking after
cemetery tombs to obscure books and so on,
treasures would he find? A Nosferatu, congratulating him
forhisfindings,whoembracedhim.Thepainofthetransformation
was terrible. Vigo stayed by his side all of the time it
took Bernard to lose all of his hair, his skin and bones
crushed by the Nosferatu Embrace. He fed him, and Bernard
found comfort in his hideous presence.
Vigothenexplainedeverythingaboutvampires,Nosferatu
and the rest, including how it had been decades since
he had hid the little clues. Bernard regretted having been
that intelligent, for once, and after being let alone to explore
the catacombs and cope with what he had become, he
did not have the courage to face the sun. He came back
to the clan, presented himself as Docteur (as he would
never finish his thesis), studied the local history of vampires
beyond the mortal one he knew already, and was
presented to Prince Boyer in 1923 once his education was
complete. Docteur finally met some of the vampires he
had spied for the clan, as he was now an official Nosferatu.
He would have preferred keeping hidden, but Vigo didn’t
give him a choice, so Docteur created a coterie with Natacha,
Franz and Armand. As a liaison between the clan and
the rest of kindred society, Docteur’s role is far more
important that what many could even imagine, and Vigo
gave him his Primogen seat in 1954 when he decided to
go back to being a fully Hidden one.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Docteur’s coterie didn’t really work out, and as Armand
considered everyone as his minions, Docteur started to
consider Armand as a tool to access the high spheres of
society (else he would have punched him himself).
Franz also happened to be one of his students from
his mortal days, in his initiation to philosophy class. Of
course Franz never realized who Docteur was, but Docteur
remember.
During WWII, Docteur considered selling off
Armand and his sire to the Tremere, as they were just
unbearable people, but his clan sided with Prince Boyer.
Tarcisus was far worse. At the end of the war, Docteur
finished his thesis, wrote a chapter about vampire history,
and while it was never going to be published, it’s now
safely secured near his other books, in his haven. He felt
accomplished then.

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intrigue to stop the current public works and archaeo-logical
to

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mortals would wake an ancient sleeping evil. The mortal
influences between Docteur (who acted through
Armand and his sire) and the Toreador was restless, and
mortals saw the whole ordeal as a huge waste of money
asthingskeptbeingrebuilt,planchanged,cancelled,contractors
fired and else, but in the end, the situation’s status quo
and lack of funds stopped the public works. Good enough.
Other underground parking spaces were created, much
to the Nosferatu disapproval, but this time it was caused
by Ventrue kindred. Thankfully, whatever is asleep didn’t
wake up, and the Garonne didn’t allow many contractors
to dig too deep.
In the 1980s, the Hidden Nosfertu decided to
embrace M’sieur Pierre to serve as the unique link between
Surface and Hidden Nosferatu. Even Docteur needs to
call him to find Vigo, if needed.
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a lot going on. You speak very little, you’re more of a
loner, but you have missions. You’re willing to work with
the PCs if they’re willing to help him under the table.
You take many precautions for every single thing you do.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Docteur tends to keep neutral about everyone in public,
he’s a cautious man with other worries than court games.
To Ventrue: they’ve considered him as a resource because
of his clan, so Docteur has turned the tables to consider
them resources to have access to their spheres instead.
To non-Nosferatu: if you have a problem, call
M’sieur Pierre.
To Hidden Nosferatu: what the hell is going on down
there...

In the 1990s and the rise of IT sciences, Docteur was To Surface Nosferatu: they’re all doing their own thing.
tasked to be the local representative on the Igor is of good company, Docteur often quietly compares
SchreckNET. He found great interest in these new techno- him to a Bilbo.
logies and implemented them beyond simple user-level. To upcoming PCs: Docteur will be cautious if approached
Protecting the local network was just another responsibility, by the PCs, but if they need something of him, he’ll ask
a quite taxing one, but the most talented hackers of the them to find clues about Momo’s disappearance (without
clan, world wide, were on it. The network was taken down saying that is what they’re doing he will more likely speak
recently due to a mortal breach, but local Nosferatus aren’t about a ghoul, a lost phone, or something like that).
worried about this Second Inquisition. A provincial city
without major issues and without any real importance
in the grand scheme of things isn’t a priority. M’sieur
Pierre doubled down on the cautiousness of the SOS service.
During the Sabbat attack, Docteur hid, and
attacked from behind. He was wounded by a Lasombra
running away, which Lyle Kersten chased after. The two
young Nosferatu Térence and Luc decided to use the attack
to pass as dead and go Hidden.
A few nights later, however, M’sieur Pierre informed
that Momo, a blue-cap-wearing Hidden Nosferatu, had
gone missing. The sleeping Nictuku rumors, maybe?

WHAT HE WANTS NOW

Momo’s disappearance, under Scoop’s identity, worries
Docteur a lot, and he might have to investigate it... Or
use the player characters for such a task.

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Vigo, a horrific monster that has a voice that haunts Ignace

to this day. Vigo taught him over the following weeks,
helped him feed, and Ignace was ecstatic, there was so
much truth to it all, and now he could finally know. He
changed his name to Igor and began his quest for more
knowledge of everything strange.

KEY SETTING ELEMENTS

Igor
Curious Occultist
BACKGROUND
Ignace was in love with God, but also Angels, Devils,
folklore and more. He became a monk in the early 1800s,
hoping to read more, know more about the occult, the
true facets of the world and its strange inhabitants. One
night, Ignace was reading and a cat’s meow distracted
him. He looked over, and saw a strange creature speaking
to the cat, that suddenly disappeared. So Ignace went and
chased it, excited. Was it a fairy? A White Lady, perhaps?
No, it was a large demon, who threw him against a wall
and lifted him as if he was a pound light. He asked what
this little mortal was looking for, and despite being
terrified, Ignace said he dreamed of such an encounter,
he had so many questions, he just wanted to know what
this creature was. The creature was about to eat him as
those answers weren’t for mortals, but Ignace begged, he
just wanted to know more, to know what he was.
Because his devotion to the orders wasn’t for faith,
Ignace didn’t mind having a lover, Marie-Sophie, who would
have probably ended celibate anyway. Marie-Sophie and
Igor exchanged many letters and endless discussions before
becoming lovers. He told her about his new nature once
he got embraced and while she was scared, she ended
up accepting him.
In 1857, Igor saw a man appear out of nowhere with
a mirror, and knowing it wasn’t a human nor a vampire,
Igor followed him. The creature was a werewolf, and after
turning in an alley, waited for the curious Nosferatu to
show up. Igor only survived because he managed to flee
thanks to all of the pigeons he called to help him. Deeply
wounded, he hid in Marie-Sophie’s basement, but the next
night, he frenzied and killed her in his thirst. Heartbroken,
he decided to embrace her, despite everything that
meant, but the embrace failed, and the weird thing she
had become, boneless, dropped herself in the Garonne.
Igor swore to never ever embrace again.
Igor remained a Surface Nosferatu as it was the only
wayforhimtomeetothers,knowaboutthem,theirparticularities,
and satiate his curiosity. He interrogated The Venerable
when Natacha found him, and the folklore of the 14th
centurywasjustfascinating.Factualhistoryisn’tthatinteresting
to him, but gosh all those myths?
Lately, Igor failed to buy a unique hermetic book,
the Black Book of the Garonne Mysteries, only four exist
and he lost the bidding to Adriano Guicciardini. Perhaps
he’s not just a pompous shallow Toreador?
Igor morbidly would love to know what’s sleeping deep
under the city, but Vigo and other Hidden Nosferatu have
always forbade him to go further. He somehow regrets
all of the public works of the 70s and 90s that basically
closed off all options, but even if Igor knows it’s dangerous,
he’d like to know.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, and the whole night
actually, Igor was at home, reading.

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of knowledge. He’d give an arm and a leg to be able to
just look at the inside of the Tremere Chantry’s library,
but Tarcisus always refused. Perhaps Lyle would be more
open, if Igor dared, the two men of knowledge and wisdom
should find a suitable deal.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re curious, nosy, enthusiastic and harmless. You
want to know, just to be able to know, and that innocence
glows to the gods. But you’re not a child, you’re not an
idiot either, you won’t endanger the whole city just because
you’d like to know what’s down there.. but what is down
there?!
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find more of anything and everything. Anyone
showing interest in the occult, mysticism and beyond will
eventually catch the eye of the curious and very enthusiastic
Nosferatu.
To the Tremere: pleeeeeeeeeaaase? Igor wants to see
the famous Library, even just once, so, so badly. Back
in Tarcisus’ days, he tried to approach, but the big monster
that lives inside the walls went full “QUO VADIS?!” on
him. If only he could talk to this creature... Without “it”
acting on the threats.
To Adriano: Adriano bought a very rare Hermetic
tome lately, perhaps he’s into “interesting” subjects beyond
money and annoying the Prince? This strange Toreador
just might have something going on outside of his looks,
hopefully he’s not using the book as a nightstand or something.
To upcoming PCs: if there’s anything weird or odd
with them, or if he can get them to break into Adriano’s
haven to scan the tome he bought... Igor is very likely
to be the Nosferatu the PCs will first meet.

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M’sieur Pierre
Phone operator
BACKGROUND
Philippe Brun was a loving dad and husband in the
1980s, he worked as a phone operator, repairman, and
network specialist. This was why he was taken and embraced
by the clan. He only got to keep his old job, and bitter
and sarcastic, but not angry about his new nature, he
changed his name to M’sieur Pierre.
He has become ever since the link between all Nosferatu,
andbetweennon-Nosferatuand“therightratforthesituation”.
Is it about SchrekNET? Docteur. Is it about something
supernatural? Igor. Car needs a mechanic? Térence. Need
an alibi? Lucien will make believe you’re somewhere else.
Need blackmail material? Momo. But Momo has disappeared,
and M’sieur Pierre is very worried.
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Momo. He may have left some clues behind him, but M’sieur
Pierredoesn’tbelievehedisappearedbecauseofthemythological
Nictuku. Unless the Nictuku in question, if it exists, is
now on the Surface, then the whole city is screwed.
M’sieur Pierre doesn’t really go out, only does so to
hunt, and he is pretty sure nobody has ever seen him
except from his sire, an old prostitute who was such a
bright and interesting ugly excuse of a woman. M’sieur
Pierre likes his job, being online and answering the phone.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
M’sieurPierreisworriedaboutMomo,heneverdisappears
like that, and he never not-answers his phone. The Hidden
Nosferatu are at unease, and perhaps all those favors gathered
by the clan would be necessary now, to save the whole
clan from the sleeping ancient.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re snarky, fun and sarcastic. You’re playful on
the phone, but you’re a professional. Think Customer Service
Operator, jaded but extremely efficient, and people can’t
complain about your perfect services.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
M’sieur Pierre, like Docteur and all Hidden Nosfe-ratu,
is worried because Momo has gone missing, quite a few
nights after the Sabbat Raid. M’sieur Pierre
himself just likes to have fun on the phone.
To upcoming PCs: M’sieur Pierre will make sure his
phone number finds itself in their hands, but also is happy
to assist them should they be able to find something about
Momo if they’re involved with it. M’sieur Pierre is likely
to trade more favors in this new situation.

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Everyone else
Hidden Nosferatu
Go wild about other Nosferatu, have fun! Every-
thing and anything is possible, and most don’t even
know each other. Pictured here on the right is Vigo,
who is the most “known” of the Hidden Nosferatu
as his existence as a Surface Nosferatu was very public,
mostly due to his position as Primogen.
The Nosferatu system has worked so far because
“polite surface society” isn’t able to admit they do
not recognize the different individuals: nobody wants
to look like an ignorant by showing that kind of
weakness, so they “play it” like “oh, well, you’re all
alike”, like wealthy people would use random names
for their servants. The Nosferatu know this is a thing,
and instead of trying to educate the rest of Society,
decided to use it to their advantage.
PriortoM’sieurPierre’sschemeandthe“personalities”
to check in and out, Nosferatus would use each other
names and shrug off inconsistencies, but people started
to have doubts. So Carcass, Scoop and Charogne are
safest options, centralized and organized options for
Nosferatu to operate on the Surface.
Momo was killed by Lambert after he discovered
his “dolls”. He was one of the Hidden Nosferatu who
often took the identity of Scoop.

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The Toreador clan has always been powerful, TOREADOR MEMORIAL

but they’ve also been stigmatized as sellouts to Annabelle Vicomte, childe and lover of Jérôme
Paris, with or without reason. They are, as such, Lehin, was a blessed musician with a beautiful voice
considered as illegitimate to hold any sort of for classical pieces. She was declared dead during the
power in town by the Ventrue. The Toreador arrived recent Sabbat raid, but was actually staked and stolen
in early nights of the 17th century, and despite by Prévôt.
Princess Hélène de Chantraine’s rage because their
plot to submit the city to Paris, the clan started
to prosper, have childer and hold the Primogen
seat. Grégory took the job of Primogen after his
sire disappeared in Italy, in 1830, and is considered
as honest, sincerely caring about his clan members
and always willing to be of good company.
The structure of the clan, the Guild, accepts
both poseurs and artists, and may invite non-Toreadors
to their exhibitions, as the Mandataire, organizing
these events, tends to value such a prestige. Toreadors
have the most contacts and influence in culture
and mortal society. They’re also powerful because
of their numbers, which rose quickly during
Madeleine’s reign.

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Honoré Wallou, embraced by Aude de Volange
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Madeleine d’Aurigny (alive) is François Villon’s
childe and was the Marquise of the city until
Boyer’s coup in 1915. She managed to escape and
is now hiding in Marseille, passing for a neonate
and plotting to return to the city she learnt
to love and care for.
Aude de Volange (dead), the former Primogen,
was killed by the Giovanni in 1830 for overstaying
her welcome and for embracing one of their
potential candidates. Adriano, the childe, was more
or less “adopted” by the Giovanni and turned
into a secret agent of theirs.
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as a promising urbanist architect, became a harpy
in 1762, died during the German bombings as
they left the city.
Aurélien Gustave, also childe of Aude, was
beaten to torpor by Marc Gillard. Marc was punished
by being fully blood bound to him, but eventually,
his feeling of insecurity got the best of him:
he left to Greece.
Sandrine Leroy, Laure Nolveaux’s childe, was
diablerized in 2000 by a Sabbat Lasombra.

Louis de la Forcade (alive) and Richarde Vaillet

(dead), the two Toreadors who were in Hélène’s
court in the 17th century. Richard was destroyed
by Hélène when Xavier and Roland told her
about the Parisian plot, but Louis managed to
run away.

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TOREADOR GENEALOGY om

Richarde Vaillet (9th gen) Louis De la Forcade (9th gen)

1505-1637 (†) 1505-1637 (departed)

Aude de Volange (6th gen)

1630-1830 (†)

Grégory Darvault (7th gen) Honoré Wallou (7th gen) Aurélien Gustave (7th gen) Adriano Guicciardini (7th gen)
1699-(…) 1713-1945 (†) 1782-1947 (departed) 1830-(…)

Jérôme Lehin (8th gen)

1903-(…) Madeleine d’Aurigny (6th gen)
1793-1914 (departed)
Annabelle Vicomte (9th gen)
1938-20XX (declared dead) Aurélie d’Anjou (7th gen)
1900-1920 (departed) Urbain Delacour (8th gen)
1919-(…)

Laure Nolveaux (8th gen)

1905-(…) Alicia Vandenstree (9th gen)
1947-(…)

Sandrine Leroy (9th gen)

1955-2000 (†)

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Grégory Darvault
Primogen
BACKGROUND
Grégory was a talented novelist, who always researched
his subjects personally before writing, to enhance his
understanding of the subject, to live the life, to represent
the characters closest to their essence. He had a solid
network of fellow artists, he was a known patron of the
arts in the city, and this is why Aude de Volange stole
him into the night in 1699. She needed a foot in the local
scene, and he was going to be her door, whether he liked
it or not.
He was a charitable man, but as a kindred, Grégory
lost all will, the world was just too cynical, too cruel.
He couldn’t find inspiration, and he hated Aude for it,
she was overbearing, demanding, and the blood thirst replaced
all of his thoughts. He was a shell of his former self for
ages, until one day, Aude went on a trip to Italy and
never came back. He started creating again, and while
he couldn’t publish under his own name, he used mortals
to give them a future, income and fame, and he rejoiced
in seeing people reading and talking about his work.
Aude having disappeared for so long, due to him being
the oldest Toreador, he became Primogen ad interim, and
then got the title for good. He had
finally begun to (un)live again in the middle of the 19th
century.
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Sire would free him, but he was found out (Frank sold
his plan to Aude, most certainly), and Aude blood bound
Grégory to her. The blood bond vanished with Aude’s
death, of course, but he knows what it felt like.
WhenAdrianoGuicciardini(hisrealnamewasLippomano,
Grégory found out when doing his own research) came
to Bordeaux at the end of the 19th century, Grégory was
pleased to find out Aude had perished. A thaumaturgical
test later, and Adriano was proved to be truthful: he was
her childe, and he did not diablerize her. Grégory doesn’t
care, Adriano freed him from Aude somehow, and he
admires him for that. Because of this, Grégory helped get
Adriano accepted, even if he was just a poseur.
While working on a novel at the beginning of the
20th century, Grégory met Jérôme Lehin, a glass-blower
who would mix Occitan and low French,
drinking with his buddies. Jérôme actually had a bright
spirit, and Grégory interviewed him for his novel.
They ended up becoming friends, but one night
Jérôme found him feeding, ran away, and broke his neck
slipping on black ice. Grégory, remorseful, figured it was
all his fault, decided to do something about it. He called
the Marquise to ask for an emergency embrace right in
exchange for a future boon, which she agreed to. He embraced
Jérôme in 1903. Marquise Madeleine never asked for the
favor back. Grégory and Jérôme had a long talk, apologetic
to each other, one for damning the other, the other for
having judged too hastily the situation he had witnessed.
It took Grégory years to get Jérôme to speak proper, Court-
acceptable French, and be Elysium-ready for his presentation.
During the wars, Grégory disappeared, he left the cities
hostilities, and traded in favors when coming back to keep
his prestigious position. He always left to go to a Greek
island, Yiaros, a paradise where willing humans and vampires
live in harmony (or so the rumors say). It’s also where
Aurélien Gustave, after a terrible encounter with Marc
Gillard, ended up going in 1947.
In 1947, Grégory went to a fashion show with one
of his chalices. He saw a sublime creature that inspired
him so much, that he had to leave, excusing himself from
his date, and that very night, Red Velvet was redlined.
Grégory then met the model, Alicia Vanden-stree, who
became his muse and lover. Alicia was then later embraced
by an isolated Toreador who had thought she had actually
written the book Grégory published in her name. That’s
why she had gone missing for three weeks, she hadn’t
left for better sponsors in Paris after all.

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laughing their butts off, and Grégory felt bad for the woman.
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managed to redirect all of the harpy mockery towards
her sire, Urbain Delacour. She even became a Harpy herself.
Thomas Durieux took his sweet time to inform Urbain
about how he had “mistakenly bought a book for its cover”
and embraced the cover, not the talent. Both Alicia and
Grégory made an enemy out of him that night.
Grégory has managed to keep the influence of the
Toreador clan quite high, by having valuable individuals,
but also by investing in key locations. He has the sole
access to administrative city paper-work, and every kindred
trying to work on the cadaster or with public works must
go through him. The archaeological sites were a huge issue
for the Nosferatu, who didn’t like mortals digging under
the surface, but eventually a deal was reached, closing
certain old Roman ruins off and canceling some projects.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Grégory’s Beast took
over. He hid under a table, unable to do anything. Annabelle’s
death and Jérôme’s sorrow really moved him, he blames
himself a lot for not having been able to do anything
to help his childe.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Grégory hopes to get Jérôme to forgive him, even if
Jérôme doesn’t seem to blame him for anything, he still
feels guilty. However, Grégory is not exactly courageous,
he will do everything in his power to keep out of dangerous
situations, be them physical, social or political. Sadly, the
Prince knows this and as such, despite intriguing for the
clan’s interests and for his own interest, Grégory isn’t
much of a political danger for the Ventrue. He will only
really do something to help Jérôme and Adriano.
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about most people.
To Alicia: Grégory feels sorry she was embraced indirectly
because of him, but he wasn’t in love with her, she just
inspired him a novel. She seems to be doing perfectly
well in this new unlife. Their former “lovers” status was
mutually beneficial, they both knew they were using one
another and there were no further expectations from either
party.
To Urbain: Urbain now hates Grégory, but Grégory
doesn’t hate him. Grégory likes his paintings even if he’s
not very vocal about it (mostly because he’s no connaisseur
when it comes to fauvist styles).
To Jérôme: Jérôme lost the love of his unlife, all because
Grégory couldn’t act, and was stuck in Rötschrek. Grégory
hopes to make it up to him, somehow.
To Adriano: Grégory believes Adriano is the one that
freed him from Aude de Volange, but he never talked
to him about it and doesn’t intend to do so.
To other Toreadors: culture and refinement.
To the Ventrue: they failed their exposition in the
1930s, that’s why they should stick to soulless
activities.
To upcoming PCs: should they ask with proper manners,
Grégory will gladly provide some transpor-tation cards
and the occasional administrative paper. Grégory won’t
meet them himself unless related (through Jérôme or to
be their Primogen if they’re Toreadors).

ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re a humanist, you’re a man of culture and socializa-
tion. You know good taste, you’re an artist who enjoys
the spheres of the best humanity has to offer. You’re not
snobbish, you’re even quite approachable, but you are still
an Elder and you demand to be respected as such.

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Adriano Guicciardini
Philanthropist
BACKGROUND
Adriano Lippomano was the heir to a big Venetian
family, born in 1810, and he was engaged to Maria Giovanni,
the daughter of Arturo Giovanni, was arranged when he
was 16. The Giovanni were also incredibly influential, but
Adriano didn’t survive to see the wedding. In 1830, during
one of the largest parties organized for people such as
himself (to give the best image of his father as possible),
he met a fascinating woman, Aude de Volange, from Bordeaux.
The carnival, the food, everything was exquisite, but Adriano
only saw this woman and they spoke all night. Adriano
was poisoned by his father’s enemies that night, and Aude,
after forcing his parents to leave the room where his warm
body was resting, embraced him. She told her he was now
a Toreador, a vampire, but they needed to run, far, as
she had clearly stepped into Giovanni territory. Sadly Aude
and Adriano couldn’t escape, Aude was staked and met
the sun, and Diego proclaimed that she had stolen him
from the Giovanni. They eventually accepted Adriano’s
vampiric state, married him off to Maria, and then later
they embraced her as well. Adriano understood from the
clan that was now his adoptive clan, that at best, he would
have been a potential candidate. He studied hard to survive,
to meet Diego Giovanni’s expectations, but Adriano was
still a bastardo in the eyes of many. He became passionate
about Necromancy, traveled to the Underworlds often,
and was struck by its beauty every single time, leaving
part of his soul past the Sudario. Even among the living,
Adriano feels the wraiths and their world.
He was later sent to Bordeaux, might as well use his
lineage to their advantage, to prepare the Giovanni’s arrival,
and while the Marquise had a hard time accepting him,
the Toreador Primogen was just welcoming and kind
(perhaps preparing a vengeance for having killed his sire?).
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amusing, but Adriano had high demands, and sadly he
couldn’t spend as much time as he wanted in Elysium,
getting interested in the arts and all of those fascinating
aspects of undeath. That led him to steal the sex market
from the Setites, which Adriano hated, but orders were
orders.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Adriano presented himself to the local Necropolis and
offered Wraiths to solve their Fetters, but unlike what
the Giovanni taught him, Adriano wanted to make fair
deals with them, to save their souls. He helps them whenever
he can to this day.
The fifth Maelstorm was unbearable, Adriano felt all
of the horrors that the Wraiths were living, despite him
not being in the Underworld. He helped those he found
and protected them the best he could, bringing over half
a dozen ones to a shelter of his making. Renegades, Hierarchy,
Heretics, Adriano did not discriminate.
Once Adriano had a monopoly on the docks prostitution,
the Giovanni “bought” those assets from him when they
arrived and settled with a nice pied-a-terre. The Giovanni
managed then to use this as their base of operation to
basically gain control over plenty of what the Prince owned;
stocks, companies, warehouses.. all were his baby, what
he owned as a mortal and managed to maintain control
of through different financial tricks and dummy corporations.
Boyer counter-attacked with other aggressive
take-overs, but the Giovanni ended up selling it all to
Adriano, who had “made a better offer”. Ever since, Prince
Boyer refers to Adriano as “dirty rat” and very much made
an enemy of the Prince. The Prince then had the docks
be completely renovated, killing the Giovanni source of
profits, and having the Prince and the Setites to fight,
they deserted the city, leaving Caterina Giovanni, recently
embraced ghoul, to try and salvage what she could.
The sixth Maelstrom, in 1999, is an enigma even for
the Giovanni: Adriano decided to try and find what caused
it, and having less oversight from his adoptive clan, also
decidedtohelptheWraithsrebuildtheirworldandstrengthen
their defenses. To do this, it meant financing reconstruction
of important memorials for the Wraiths, reminders of
the history of the city and its inhabitants, as well as preserving
old monuments and making them larger touristic attractions;
they’d create shelters of the ghosts in case of another tempest.
This also earned him the sympathy of the Toreadors.
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Drac, the local Anacreon, had no means to get rid of
this intruder due to the favors he had done for most wraiths
in town. The Drac finally asked Adriano to protect the
place.
Many wraiths have come to Adriano to retrieve their
fetters, safely move them out of dangerous places, or fund
remembrance actions to reinforce their existence. Adriano
has become very influential in the Necropolis, perceived
as helpful and fair in his favors. Some wraiths still distrust
and avoid him, as he is a vampire, and some demands
were not met, as Adriano refuses to harm their killer
and surviving abusers.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Adriano was on his
way to Elysium when he was ambushed. He fought off
and managed to destroy the shovelheads who were very
much clumsy and even unlucky in their attacks against
him.
A few nights after, Mélissa, a ghost who was
executed in 1943 by the Gestapo for spying activities, told
Adriano about Thomas Durieux, the Ventrue Harpy, who
had become a wraith. He was under the care of the Drac
himself, who had freed the new ghost from his Caul. The
Drac certainly isn’t going to give up his new slave easily,
but Adriano knows The Drac, he’ll find a way.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Thomas Durieux being a Wraith now is worth a
lot to Adriano and Caterina. Claudia Vonïgner was very
close to him, and Adriano thinks Caterina could use
Thomas’ “gone but not really gone, needs protection
in the Afterlife” situation as a leverage to get Claudia
to ask her sire, the Tremere Regent, to help her against
theSetites.WhetherClaudiahelpsCaterinaornot,Adriano
is already negotiating with The Drac to free Thomas,
but the Tremere will only know about her friend if
she is helpful to Caterina.
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the same world as them. You share few interests in common
with other kindred, and you’re more or less stuck in your
roles. You’d love to mingle and socialize, but you just
don’t have the time. You wish you could be more helpful
to ghosts, but you know there’s only so much you can
do for them, and you still need to preserve yourself.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Adriano claims he’s from Florence, but he is in truth
from Venice. He hides his city origin as he doesn’t want
people to come to think he is more or less a Giovanni
agent, and Aude de Volange, his sire, was traveling across
Italy. The fact that she died in Florence or Venice doesn’t
change much to the people of Bordeaux.
To the Giovanni: privately, Adriano doesn’t like how
they killed his sire, a fascinating woman whom he only
could share one conversation. He also doesn’t like their
abusing and enslaving wraiths. Publicly he is a good “adopted
son”, but to the rest of the court, there’s no link, except
maybe some business ties as they bought and sold to each
other.
To Boyer: Adriano has no hard feelings toward the
Prince,even if he bought him out of his own estates. Adriano
is good with finances, and the Giovanni back up is certainly
an asset. Adriano appreciates the Prince not being a complete
despot about it and calling a blood hunt on him.
To Caterina: Adriano knows she’s working for her
family and keeping an eye on him, but he hopes she’ll
catch his “treat ghosts with kindness” ideology.
To Claudia: Thomas has become a wraith, Adriano
is going to free him from the Drac, but he hopes she’ll
cooperate to help Caterina’s situation. She probably isn’t
as naïve and shallow as she looks.
To Grégory: Adriano appreciated his welcoming in
the city, he thought he was being falsely friendly to get
some revenge about Aude’s death, but in the end Adriano
realized Grégory wasn’t planning any-thing against him.
Adriano wishes he could create like him. He’d love to
have time to talk to him about Aude, get to know who
she was.
To wraiths: regardless of faction, Adriano wishes to
help all types of wraiths and help them resolve their issues.
He tries to be benevolent to them, even if some of them
just try to use him and they aren’t all innocent lost souls.
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Laure Nolveaux
Elysium Keeper
BACKGROUND
Laure was a blessing to her parents who, despite multiple
attempts, didn’t expect to finally have a child. After the
initial disappointment of Laure being a girl and not a
boy, her father ended up deciding to train her to become
his heir as a goldsmith. She showed interest after all, and
well, “the role of women” didn’t matter in his craft, really.
As soon as her primary school was over, Laure became
an apprentice and she specialized in jewelry-making and
was extremely talented.
She wed Michel Dumouriez, her neighbor and a cute
boy she really liked. The wedding was beautiful, her dress
was simple but extremely embellished by her silver creations,
the rings were exquisite, but Michel wanted her to stay
at home, and she refused as she got many letters of friends
and other notaries to design jewelry for them. After denying
him her “marital duties”, and convinced by the many
commission opportunities, Michel finally caved and let
Laure open business.
By 1904, Laure found a novel way to show her creations:
she would lend them to designers for their fashion walks,
and it attracted quite some attention. Madame d’Anjou
met her, bought half her stock one night, commissioned
a special set for the Universal Exposition of Bordeaux that
would happen a couple of years later in 1907. Laure got
in contact with the tailor of Madame d’Anjou, so she
could match her creations with the dress she was going
to wear. Aurélie d’Anjou offered her immortality before
the Exposition, in 1905, as the result blew her away on
the first try.
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life as “immortal” as she told him, her first artist creation
for the Toreador was a huge success and she and her
coterie rose in prestige, but in 1911 Michel died from a
stupid hunting accident. Laure found comfort in her
coterie. She would find comfort in her coterie for every
single tragedy that hit her later. She remarried in 1926
to a beautiful young man she was the sponsor of, and
paid a woman to carry a baby to term, which she named
Sandrine and raised.
When Madeleine, her grand-sire and Marquise of the
city, was ousted by Prince Boyer, Aurélie d’Anjou left
to London, as she was not feeling safe in the city anymore.
Boyer did not act upon Heudebert’s stalking of her
coterie’s hunting ground. The hunting ground was granted
by the Marquise so Boyer didn’t care. They had to defend
themselves against the intrusion, which was feasible, but
they lost the de facto rights to the neighborhood as it
wasn’t recognized anymore.
In1930,theVentruetriedtoorganizetheirownexposition,
and failed spectacularly. Laure and other Toreadors were
quite amused at the pitiful spectacle.
In 1939, Laure, Jérôme and his new childe Annabelle
worked hard to organize an event, but it was promptly
shut down due to the war. When they realized the Tremere
were involved in the war, and seeing Claudia had remained
silent, the coterie fought, pretty violently even. Thomas,
Laure and Jérôme argued with Claudia, she denied knowing
about the details. When Tarcisus seized power, Claudia
decided to help her coterie instead of her grandsire. Sandrine
found a lover, Tania, an illegally embraced Brujah (Laure
would find out later), in the Resistance. Laure knows Claudia
covered for them.
Whenshewashuntingin1944,Laure’shavenwasbombarded
and it killed her husband and destroyed all of her jewelry.
In rage, she found two young Tremere and massacred
them. Claudia found her, and covered her crime by letting
her clan think that the two Tremere were killed by the
bomb, and housed both her and her daughter. The risks
Claudia took for them were unbelievable and for that,
Laure is grateful. After the war, Laure was allowed to
embrace Sandrine.
She became Elysium Keeper in 1955, a position that
Alicia Vandenstree wanted. Alicia has since began to consider
Laure her personal rival and has been an annoyance.
Involved in mortal and immortal life alike, Laure resumed
her education and she refined her passion for art history
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In 2000, Laure felt the terrible soul-tearing unease RELATIONS TO OTHERS
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Laure called, she heard the phone in the bushes, with
her clothes, ashes and bones. After hours of wandering
in pain and confusion, Laure eventually managed to touch
her daughter remains and see what happened. She saw
the Sabbat kindred, the shadows, and went to meet Prévôt
to tell him about the death of her daughter and the presence
of the Sabbat in town. She did not let him investigate
without her, and after two nights, they found the nest,
and destroyed it, Laure fueled by rage as she focused on
the one that had deprived her of her baby.
Despite her sorrow, Laure kept her position as Elysium
Keeper, knowing that any sign of weakness and Kindred
society would eat her alive. She bit her tongue and kept
strong. Her friends stayed by her side, as always.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Laure was in the front
lines, fueled by rancor and hatred, all her sorrow taking
over at the memory of her lost daughter. The loss of Annabelle,
and seeing Jérôme completely inconsolable, and Thomas,
who was Claudia’s rock, brought back the original coterie
together to mourn their loved ones.
WHAT SHE WANTS NOW
Laure will face all of the challenges unlife throws at
her, and she will face it all with her head held up high.
Jérôme needs someone to rely on, and Claudia is devastated
by Thomas’ passing. The two were always there for her,
when she lost her two husbands, her jewelry, her daughter...
Now they need her, and she will be there.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re friendly, but strict and take no shit. You used
to be an artist, but you’ve been unable to create due to
your losses and pain. You’re strong, you’ll endure, and
you stand strong as an Elysium Keeper. You’ll need to
remind the PCs about some Elysium rules, and if they
are proven to be reliable, you’ll ask them some favors.
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who lived through the harshest, both as a mortal and
as a kindred. Her relations to her coterie members aren’t
secret,
To Claudia: Laure is thankful to Claudia, she risked
a lot by covering her crime when her house was
bombarded during WWII. They’re close, even lived together
for a while. In public, Laure and Claudia kiss hello without
hiding their friendship. Laure is worried about Claudia
because Thomas and her were very close.
To Jérôme: he’s the kindest, harmless soul of the bunch.
Laure regrets he’s a mere artisan and not a true artist,
but he makes up for it humanely. Their friendship and
kissing hello isn’t a secret either.
To Alicia Vandenstree: the harpy is a ruthless
bickering.. well, harpy. Laure looks down on Alicia, both
publicly and privately. She doesn’t really judge her embrace
situation and doesn’t care to lower herself to Alicia’s level.
To Prévôt: he helped Laure avenge her childe, and
she is thankful for that.
To Boyer: Laure is Marquise Madeleine’s grand-childe,
but she doesn’t really care about the feud
between Paris and Bordeaux. Her and her coterie had
a hunting ground, which was stalked by a To her, as long
as the Prince is competent, all is good. Even if as a whole,
the Ventrue tried to organize their own exhibition, their
failure taught them a lesson: stay in your lane.
ToupcomingPCs:Laurewelcomesthemwithbenevolence
as Elysium Keeper. She is likely to be their contact to
the rest of the coterie and ask them for their help when
her own role forbids her to act.

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Jérôme Lehin
Mandataire
BACKGROUND
Jérôme was the eldest child (who survived infancy)
of a poor worker family, he quickly had to give up his
education, unable to finish primary school, even if he was
very good, to bring money to the household, as he had
five younger siblings who survived infancy.
He became an industrial glassblower apprentice, and
rose up the ranks through hard work, becoming the sole
breadwinner in 1895 when both parents and youngest sister
died of the flu. Barely out of teen years, Jérôme met Grégory,
in the bar he was drinking at with colleagues. Grégory
was well dressed, a little like bosses. Eventually he approached
Jérôme and asked to talk to him, as he was writing a
story, and he even paid for the drinks. Jérôme realized
Grégory was not being snobbish or superior like any other
bourgeois, and they eventually became kind of friends.
Grégory lent him books to read, which Jérôme loved even
if he missed plenty of things because he just didn’t have
the vocabulary: Grégory decided to teach him more, and
even helped him with some money when the family was
short on food. Grégory was not patronizing about it.
In 1903 however, Jérôme saw Grégory leave with a
lady, and when he walked towards them to say hello, he
saw Grégory deep in the woman’s décolleté. Jérôme was
about to leave the two to their affairs, but when he turned,
he saw Grégory’s bloody mouth and fangs and the large
wound on the woman’s breast. Jérôme ran away in fear,
and fell on black ice. He woke, the hungriest he had ever
been, burning with thirst, even if he had been used to
starve himself so his brothers and sisters would eat. Gregory
fed him, they were at Grégory’s place, he explained he
had died in his fall, and had made him into a damned
creature of the night.
Grégory apologized, and Jérôme apologized back, he
should not have ran away like that, and thanked him for
bringing him back from the Purgatory.
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and he explained how vampiric society wouldn’t forgive
ignorance, the court was composed of fine elite members
of society. Jérôme was officially freed in 1906, and he formed
a coterie with Laure and Claudia. Thomas joined them
in 1908.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
As a neonate, Jérôme often followed Grégory in Toreador
events, to learn and open his mind to new experiences.
He made sure, as per Grégory’s instructions, to keep his
mouth shut if he was not completely sure of what he
was about to say.. or how to say such things.
WWI was very harsh for the coterie as the Ventrue
takeover striped the coterie of some privileges. Jérôme
lost his two brothers to Mustard Gas, and he was pained
to not be able to go to the funeral (like Laure, when
she lost her husband a few years prior). Some stinky Nosferatu
named Heudebert kept trying to stalk the Coterie’s hunting
ground and Prince Boyer wasn’t helping them for something
the former Marquise had granted them.
Jérôme helped as much as he could his two sisters,
but he became more distant to preserve them, and to
make sure the Masquerade was not broken.
Jérôme’s exposition of crystal creations was not successful
like Laure’s jewelry was; his pieces were refined and well
crafted, but Jérôme was not an artist, just an artisan. He
did not take it well, but he came around to accept this
as a matter of fact. Grégory gave him the Mandataire
title instead, so he would organize some of the clan events,
which he was good at.
In 1936, Jérôme met Annabelle Vicomte, who was
just out of the Conservatory. She was talented, strikingly
beautiful, and they fell in love. Jérôme was head over heels,
and his unlife would only revolve around her, he knew
it. In 1938, after she buried her grandmother who had
raised her, Jérôme managed to obtain enough boons to
offer her the immortality, which she accepted.
The lovers and Laure, as well as other Toreadors focused
their efforts to organize an exposition which was shut
down because of the war. When they realized the Tremere
were involved in the war, and seeing Claudia had remained
silent, the coterie fought, pretty violently even. Thomas,
Laure and Jérôme argued with Claudia, she denied knowing
about the details. When Tarcisus seized power, Claudia
decided to help her coterie instead of her grandsire. Jérôme
and Annabelle avoided cultural places during the war and
the occupation, as they were infested by Nazis.
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Ventrue Joseph Gilon (a powerful Elder), and one of Jérôme’s
sister, Lucienne. The coterie officially disbanded as they
had enough personal power for their individual survival,
but they remained close friends.
Jérôme’s last sister, and the last living family he had,
died in 1964. With no ties left, he went on a journey
with Annabelle to discover the world, all the way to China.
They did not approach the local vampires as the rumors
were they did not descent from Caine. When they came
back in 1966, Jérôme went back to his title of Mandataire
and Annabelle focused on learning a new instrument: the
harp.
Laure’s childe was diablerized in 2000, it was hard
but Jérôme, Annabelle, Thomas and Claudia banded to
help her and support her.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Jérôme was at the
movies: Annabelle was not interested in block-buster special
effects, so she had gone to Elysium, and they would have
met later that night. When he arrived, unaware of anything,
he found out about her (and Thomas’) passing. The universe
was torn, he wanted to scream, but he more or less managed
to keep composed, as blood tears stained his face. He
asked to see her remains, but only saw ashes and her dress.
He didn’t care for Prévôt’s patriotic tirade about how
she and Thomas, and the others fought for the Camarilla.
Grégory, Laure and Claudia tried to comfort him, but
the pain was just too much to handle.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
If Jérôme did not commit suicide, it is because he
wishes to carry the memory of her loved one to eternity,
and he does not want to mourn her and her love. Existence
is now bland. He blames himself for not having kept by
her side at all times. He keeps his position as Mandataire
because weakness is unforgivable and he must save face
no matter what. He won’t let his pain be a spectacle for
harpies.
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sure about a word, or didn’t understand something, you
have a reputation of being a quiet and reserved. You’re
a great listener. Reaching higher spheres of society through
your Embrace has not changed who you were, fundamen-
tally. You would be approachable if you weren’t in a deep
depressionandmissingAnnabelleeverysingleinstant,keeping
your Mandataire obligations up to date just to carry on.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
The most reserved of the original trio, Jérôme is mostly
focused on his position of Mandataire, organizing Toreador
events.
To Grégory: Jérôme and Grégory are apologetic and
thankful to each other, and appreciate each other despite
knowing their mutual flaws. Jérôme still loathes those years
of tutoring, about how his Occitan accent and words weren’t
appropriate, but he understood why Grégory was so tough.
Elysium is higher spheres of society which grills those who
show ignorance and lack of manners, and he was an industry
blue-collar who never finished primary school. He’s not
an idiot, but he’s certainly not comfortable in the part.
To Laure: Laure is the rock of the coterie, Jérôme
wishes she could relax and be happy, for once. God keeps
throwing her obstacle after obstacle. In public they are
friendly and warm to each other.
To Claudia: Jérôme can understand her pain for losing
Thomas, even if their relation wasn’t the same as his own
to Annabelle. Jérôme wishes Claudia would be freer from
her clan, so that she could be happier, but she and him
are the quiet kind so there’s some mutual understanding
and appreciation.
To upcoming PCs: Jérôme doesn’t care about them,
unless one of them is his own childe.

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Alicia Vandenstree
Harpy
BACKGROUND
A teen at the end of WWII, Alicia wanted a gloss
and glitter life. She wanted to be an actress, a cabaret
artist, anything that would bring her fame and resources.
She needed money to go to Paris, so she worked as a
local model by befriending (or seducing) local
designers.
One night, Grégory Darvault, a gentleman, asked her
to come with him at a vernissage, and as he was well-
mannered, influential and rich, she accepted.
They became lovers, she was his muse, and she benefited
from his resources. She also networked else-where when
she did not see Grégory. Three months after the encounter,
he offered to publish his book under her name. She knew
it was a masterpiece, she had read it as he was writing
it, but she had to keep appearances: refuse, then accept.
She gloated inside, the fame this would bring her would
catapult her career. She was interviewed by all the national
newspapers, even at the radio, and let the newspapers
inform her lover she would be heading to Paris.
A few weeks after the publication of the best seller
Red Velvet, a man, Urbain Delacour, rang at her door
with an offer she wouldn’t refuse. Eternal youth and power.
She thought he was a movie director, and asked where
to sign, but she quickly realized “eternal youth” wasn’t
a metaphor. Urbain trained her for three weeks for basic
kindred knowledge and customs, how to hunt and how
to act with other vampires, but he was unable to wait
and brought her to Elysium to show off his talented novelist.
Alicia first thought she could keep the lie, but when she
saw Grégory in Elysium, she realized they’d be ridiculed
in this society of predators. Urbain presented her to the
court, the beautiful and talented novelist… and everyone
laughed. They were all laughing their asses off.
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presented herself, as a better actress than a writer, that
she tricked the press and her sire, and such skills were
probablyvaluableforsuchafinesocietyofeliteandprestigious
members. She asked for a chance to prove herself, and
Prince Boyer, impressed (and recove-ring from the giggles),
accepted and welcomed her.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Urbain resents how Alicia tricked him, even if Alicia
never had the time to tell him the truth, he had been
too hasty, and it was his own fault for not going to Elysium
and know about his own Primogen’s plans. Her calm and
nerve got her some respect and the harpies only descended
on him, not on her.
Without a sire to train her further, Alicia learned
on her own. She gave all of her savings to Adriano Guicciardini
for him to turn a profit in her name (he keeps 10%, and
he speculates well enough to give her all of the necessary
funds to live as a star). It doesn’t really matter to her
what Adriano does with the money. She also learnt more
about art on her own, or by seducing university professors
and art critics.
When in 1950 Urbain who had isolated himself for
two years, had an exposition of his works, Alicia was taken,
entranced by the raw brutality and beauty of his style.
Urbain however tried to use the exposition to tell Alicia
about how much of a mistake she was, and Alicia went
on a flare to criticize every single piece, his lack of natural
talent as he would have not embraced himself, she said.
He couldn’t answer, angry, and almost frenzying as she
had turned an evening made for him into an evening for
her. He was controlled and shown the exit to his own
exhibition. Neve Rosetti, with Jean-Pierre Griffin’s lack
of opposition, offered Alicia a title of Harpy, which she
took gladly.
Alicia wanted more prestige and power, but Prince
Boyer gave the title of Elysium Keeper to Laure
Nolveaux, that cold charmless woman. Despite living the
great unlife, having a herd of the most beautiful kine she
could play with and then abandon as they bored her, Alicia
never forgot her ambitions. Primogen, even Princess one
night.
In 1964, Alicia met Frederico, a very handsome foreign
Ventrue who had come in for some affairs. They flirted
and became lovers, eventually biting each other, willingly
entering a mutual blood bond.
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Spain, sent in by the Sabbat to spy on the city, but Alicia
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lost forever. Frederico stayed three years in Bordeaux and
their passion grew. He left to go back to his sect, and
every time he would swing by, passion was back.
Alicia loves blood, the subtleties of it, its flavor when
the chalice is slightly tipsy on champagne, and she knows
the best places to bite. She retained the ability to taste
and enjoy mortal food as well, but she doesn’t do it often
as while she appreciates good gourmet cuisine, she does
not appreciate as often the following vomiting ash step.
When Laure’s childe (and daughter?) was
diablerized, she kept her title as Elysium Keeper. How
heartless could she be? But Alicia has manners and respects
her rival’s pain, she won’t bring the subject even in their
oral jousts. It would be too low. She does not know if
Frederico was involved.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Alicia was in
Elysium, defended by her two ghouls, Robert and Jules.
She didn’t count on her ex-lover, Grégory was too busy
hiding under a table, what a disappointing coward. Alicia
used Dominate as well as Presence to influence the fights,
while her ghouls, Prévôt and his ghouls Mike and Thomas
(who sadly died) did the physical parts in the main entrance
of the Theater. Alicia had spent the night before with
Frederico, and she is quite angry that he didn’t warn her
of the raid: she didn’t see him, but she believes he was
involved. Perhaps it was all an act and he never cared
about her well-being.
WHAT SHE WANTS NOW
Alicia still wants fame, power and prestige, and climbing
up the kindred ladder remains appropriate. Betrayed by
her lover of fifty years, she is also torn, between the genuine
passion and blood bond she has with him, and her own
safety and ambitions.
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from you, to put on a show, and you’re going to serve.
You spend a lot of time and resources to make sure you
look perfect, because you are perfect, and you’ll clap back
without mercy at anyone trying to stain you. You are
your only ally.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Alicia’s first steps in kindred society forbade her from
fully finishing her initiation, so she raised herself and learnt
alone. She also did not form a coterie, as she had enough
wits and resources to keep herself safe and protected.
To Urbain: a passionate, raw painter who can only
create in pain and anger. Alicia genuinely loved the artist,
but hates the man who kept trying to belittle and get
her harmed. So publicly, she has to fight back her sire
and compliment everything in his vernissage, but his art.
To Grégory: her former lover and sponsor. Gré-gory
was a good sponsor, but Alicia aspired to find better,
in the capital. She had hoped to dupe the
kindred world as she had duped journalists and more,
but she realized she couldn’t when she saw Grégory in
the assembly. Grégory never acted against her, she knew
he was more or less of a coward anyway. She doesn’t care
for him, but does not hate him, and treats him with some
respect and he is her Primogen.
To Laure: she’s heartless, going back to work right
after losing her childe, not even mourning for one second.
Who does that?
To other Harpies: they’re too passive.
To Frederico Vonzel: she loves him but feels
betrayed by his sect’s attack.
To upcoming PCs: unless she embraces one
herself, she has no reason to actively care about them
beyond finding in them potential victims for her
harpy games.

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Urbain Delacour
Laughingstock
BACKGROUND
Atthebeginningofthe20thcentury,Urbainhadeverything
to be happy, a lovely wife and a notary job in his father’s
cabinet in Paris which earned enough. In 1909 however,
his wife disappeared, and nobody saw anything, rumors
circulated that perhaps he had killed her and buried her
in the house. The police found no leads and after fourteen
months, she knocked at their door, beaming more than
she ever did. Out all of the questions he had thought
of asking, that perhaps she had ditched her lover, any
possible explanation just did not match the truth: Evelyne
was embraced after a vampire had seen a painting she
had done for a friend. Those fourteen months were a test,
and when Urbain was convinced about the truth of this
completely insane story, he became her ghoul, waiting for
an opportunity to embrace him, which she could in 1914.
She tried to teach him, but painting was painful, he had
a hard time finding a way to get inspiration, and when
he did, it would never translate into his hand moving.
When he was ready to show a painting to Elysium, Evelyne,
who was one of the Elysium Keepers, told him he wasn’t
ready. He did it anyway, and the best compliment he
got was “not bad for an amateur”. Humiliated, Urbain
left to Bordeaux in 1918 where he wouldn’t just be seen
as “the artist’s husband, embraced out of pity”.
He first presented his works in the 1930s to the local
Toreador, but it wasn’t very successful, his style did not
impress them. After the war, isolated to work harder, he
read the newspapers and found an article about a novel
and its beautiful and talented author, Alicia Vandenstree.
He bought the book, read it in one go, and completely
moved by the careful choices of words, delicate but breath-
taking pacing, the characterization of every single persona
that was so fluid that he could almost feel them..
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had to act quickly as according to the newspapers, she
was planning on going to Paris. He burned with anticipation,
but when three weeks later, he showed up to Elysium,
telling everyone about the wonders of her writing talents,
everyone was silent.. Then they laughed. They all laughed.
Thomas Durieux, the Ventrue harpy, took it upon himself
to explain to a very lost Urbain how the text was Grégory
Darvault’s, how he had just embraced the Masquerade cover
he had used to publish, he had “bought the book for its
cover”, and worst of all, failed to recognize the writer’s
talent of his own Primogen. Urbain has ever since been
the laughing stock of harpies.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Urbain tried to take Alicia back to his haven the night
of the presentation, to kill her, as she was still his fledgling,
but when he saw Prince Boyer’s eyes, he knew he was
done for. Boyer welcomed Alicia as a proper neonate that
very night.
Urbain considers Alicia to be a untalented whore who
tricked him, and Grégory for being complicit in his downfall,
just because he was Parisian.
In 1950, after a couple of weeks to calm down from
the humiliation, and months of hard work, he was ready
to present a painting collection. They’d regret what had
happened, but it didn’t go as expected. Critics were good,
the rest of the clan enjoyed it all and nobody spoke of
Alicia, until Alicia showed up and when Urbain showed
her what true talent looked like. Alicia then mocked him,
and how hard he had to work and suffer for any simple
“good enough” creation. Urbain almost frenzied and was
shown the exit to calm down. Excused from his own party!
His 1957 exhibition was successful, and he invited some
Ventrue as well as the rest of his clan (except for Alicia,
who showed up anyway, and he couldn’t protest her presence,
as she was a harpy). Both more or less politely ignored
eachother,andwhenasked,Aliciaansweredthatthereception
was lovely and complimented everything but the art.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Urbain was
painting at home. Some people rumored he was aware
of the attack which explained his absence. Of course he
knew nothing about it.
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will take his time to do so. Creating is a terrible sacrifice,
like birthing, it’s a painful and long process, only made
it worth by a satisfying result, but eventually, they will
realize his talent and hard work.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re tense, stressed, and can only create when pissed
off, and creating out of spite isn’t exactly healthy. You
are an unapproachable hedgehog, but you seek validation.
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Urbain isn’t a poseur. He does still often open his workshop
to arts students, teach the occasional talented one, and
socializes when he isn’t locked up for years to create his
next collection. Because of his tortured nature, Urbain
does not socialize a lot with others, and apart from a
profound hate for Grégory and Alicia for tricking him,
blaming them for the mistake, Urbain doesn’t have any
strong opinions on any other individual.
To upcoming PCs: his next collection might be ready
soon, hopefully new blood will wash off the 60+ year old
mockeries that have stigmatized him. The PCs might be
of good support, and embracing could help with that goal.

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Annabelle Vicomte
Musician
BACKGROUND
Annabelle was born in 1912 of a brief liaison between
her mother, Amandine Vicomte, and Léopold Bray, a rich
banker. Amandine used her charm to go from lover to
lover and travel around the world. A baby had no place
in her frivolity and her grandmother had to take her in.
Marie-Eleonore Vicomte disapproved of the life her
daughter had, but she cared and raised Annabelle as a
good Catholic, far from sin. Kids would call her little
bastard, she didn’t have many friends, only her grandmother’s
piano, which was her escape, her way to express her pain
and joy, and Marie-Eleonore had to admit she was a talented
child. She hired a tutor for her, and as her talent and
voice grew, she entered the Conservatory of Lyon. She
then toured with the orchestra, and in Bordeaux in 1936,
during a private event on the last day of her shows, where
she was asked to show her voice so pure that she could
break a crystal glass (which she did), she met Jérôme Lehin,
whom she fell in love with. In between her tours, she
would come back to Bordeaux to meet her lover. She soon
learned he was a vampire, and he was so kind and loving.
Every night she would get flowers from him, after each
show in any other city. They wrote to each other. After
her grandmother died, and facing her own mortality, she
accepted Jérôme’s offer to become a Kindred as well. She
and her lover had the most perfect couple, always having
kind words for one another, sincere and genuine. They
did not blood bound to each other to preserve the strength
and purity of their own feelings.
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sabotaged the exposition her sire and his peers worked
hard on. Jérôme resented Claudia for it for a long time.
Jérôme and Annabelle avoided Elysium as well as all cultural
places, infested by Nazis.
Jérôme’s last sister, and the last living family he had,
died in 1964. With no ties left, and very much aware how
Jérôme actually never traveled out of the city, Annabelle
took him on a world tour, a journey to find themselves
and discover the wonders of the world, all the way to
China. They did not approach the local vampires as the
rumors were they did not descent from Caine. When they
came back in 1966, Jérôme went back to his title of Mandataire
and Annabelle learnt to perfect a new instrument: the
harp.
The night of the recent Sabbat Raid, Jérôme had gone
to see some action movie with excellent special effects,
but a scenario and characters as bad as any other blockbuster.
She decided to go to Elysium instead. During the attack
itself Annabelle stayed back with Prévôt and his ghouls.
She helped him with her celerity, presence, and the blood
that fueled her strength, but during the confusion as they
chased further to the alley behind the Theater, she froze,
immobile, as a stake hit her from behind. Prévôt had just
staked her, he also destroyed his last surviving ghoul (and
witness of the crime), and acted quickly; first, he
undressed her and dropped her dress, bag, shoes and jacket
in his ghoul’s ashes, and then he carried her to the trunk
of his car in the alley just behind. She stayed there for
hours, until Prévôt’s car started and he brought her home.
Prévôt brought her to his flat, carrying her on his
shoulder like a mere potato bag, got into his flat, and
presented her to a broken doll-like defiant woman in a
ridiculous Marie-Antoinette-like dress in a poor excuse
of a sofa, in front of an old TV. He told her, “his princess”,
that this was her new friend, Annabelle. The place was
disgusting, there were magazine eyes pasted all over the
humidity stained walls. Prévôt took out the last of Annabelle’s
clothes, cut down the stake so it would be fully inside
her body, and took her to his room to kiss and bite and
taste her blood and touch her body. It was not the worst
Prévôt would do to her, but it was the first time she
felt like a mere piece of meat. The “princess” was always
placed properly every evening when Prévôt left, and Prévôt
always spent his days with her in his (their?) bed, and
he also washed her and brushed her hair every day, while
Annabelle was not “cared for” in such a “delicate” way.
She was left there and only used for the sick Malkavian
pervert games, together in the bathtub with this poor
woman, how long had she been there…
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all of the terrible, terrible things she would do to Prévôt
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to break that door and save her, but every night, -she
and her humanity, but her imagination is going wild on
is disappointed and that monster keeps using her… He
the horror she would be able to inflict on the man. Her
has however begun to lose interest. Annabelle is afraid
Beast is getting scary.
her time is running, that eventually he will tire of her
A Nosferatu with a blue cap came into the haven and will actually destroy her, for good. She wants out,
once, and he took his sweet time to examine the both and she wants out by yesterday. And get revenge on Prévôt,
of them, before leaving. Of course the Nosferatu and on the Nosferatu.
knew! And yet they did nothing, those Judas!
Monsters! Prévôt likes beautiful women, and the
Nosferatu must be having a blast at her fate. Prévôt, is ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
he doing the Nosferatu a favor, by destroying beautiful Non-applicable.
women like this? Especially their known rivals, the Toreador?
A young mortal, Sabine, was brought in a few nighs
ago, but Prévôt killed her when she defied him and claimed
she was nobody’s toy. Her decomposing body is still laying
there, the poor girl.

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The Tremere came to town in the late 16th
century, building their chantry right at the doors of
the city, in La Grosse Cloche and quickly extending
their power. Three of them arrived, Tarcisus, Frank
Hötsger and Zelda Ritter. Tarcisus became Regent
and Primogen, brought his recently embraced childe
Lyle Kersten from Vienna, and stayed in position
until the end WWII, when he was promoted to Lord
by the Clan after a failed putsch to seize praxis.
Tarcisus was tyrannical and couldn’t secure his
power. Lyle took his job and his first words as Regent
and Primogen was “We should dust off all of this”.
Lyle has been trying to bring some fresh
ideas and techniques to the clan ever since, and favors
the young and talented to the old and prestigious,
which has earned him a certain reputation. Everyone’s
heard of the “fun Regent”. The Clan’s structure is
rigid and the clan cohesion is supposed to be upheld
by weekly gatherings, but it is clear most Tremere
want to do something else with their time, get over
the chore and go back to their affairs. Lyle has been
trying to ease up the protocols as much as he can
without earning himself the ire of the Clan, with
some mild success.
TREMERE MEMORIAL
No Tremere died during the recent Sabbat Raid.
MAGES AND NODES
The Tremere history is not only the history of
its members, but the history of its structure. Some
notable elements to notice are that Tarcisus was a
Mage of the House Tremere prior to his embrace,
and his Chantry was actually a Mage Chantry before
being a kindred one.
The clan struggled against Mages for control over
Quintessence and Nodes, including a few key events
related to the individuals’ history. Their installation
came at the cost of other local Houses, and the open
war had its issues. After the Terror, and all through
during the early 19th century, the Clan managed to
siphon the Quintessence of their covenants, mostly
present in small but antique churches of the north
of the city, and redirect it to the Tremere Chantry.
The Choristers left the city after such loss. During
WWI, the Chantry’s Node was shut down by Mages
taking back their Quintessence, and the Choristers
probably got some revenge by helping the German
targeted attacks on individual Tremere havens. The
Big Bell Chantry retains some of the original Magick
rituals, which can be used should the players ever
visit it (and meet the Gargoyle Rufus), but the loss
of Quintessence was one of the reasons why Lyle decided
to move to the Regent Grand Hotel.
This is mostly for background and secret old school
Thaumaturgical studies, and have no incidence on a
modern day game. There is no system in place to use
Quintessence as a Tremere, just a way to give a mystical
flavor to the Chantry as its first Regent used to be
a Mage. That, and the Tremere are hoarders of anything
that could be used at some point in the future (or
at least so it doesn’t get used against them).

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Tarcisus (alive): He was promoted Lord and
left the praxis to some country further north,
after his putsch during WWII. Tarcisus was a
Mage during his living days, and very much a
traditionalist. He was known for his great intelligence
and amongst Tremere, a very competent researcher.
Marcel Goux, Jean-Baptiste Digneffe and Alain
Levoz (dead) were the three Anarch Tremere
killed by Lyle Kersten for having formed an Anarch
cell to destabilize the clan. Dominique was suspected
of being part of the ordeal, but without actual
evidence, he was spared.
Zelda Ritter, Stéphanie Neyrinck, Gilbert Paquot
and Alfred Horfelin (dead) died during the WWI
bombing that were ordered by the Ventrue for
Prince Boyer’s coup.
Elisabeth Vrancken (dead) died at the hands
of Théodore Jacob in 1839 for having operated
once too many times in his domain without permission
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died in 1944, officially because they were hunting
in a zone that got bombarded. Laure Nolveaux
actually killed them.
Frank Hötsger (dead) was killed by Anarch
Brujah after they killed Princess Hélène de Chantraine
during the Terror. He tried to intervene when
they stormed the Chantry to interrogate Tarcisus
about a Nosferatu. Lyle and him were rivals when
it came to clan decisions and influence.
Arthur Jacquet, (dead) was embraced by Tarcisus.
He died in the chantry, and after analyzing the
remains with Auspex, the Tremere saw his death
with all of the symptoms of a heart attack. Such
things obviously can’t usually happen to kindred,
the Tremere suspected a Thaumaturgical poison,
or a Mage warning, but no proof was ever found
beyond suspicions. Lyle Kersten announced Arthur’s
death to Princess Hélène de Chantraine as a “heart
attack” and shrugged when asked if he was taking
the Court for a ride. Because that was the only
explanation they could give, Arthur’s death by
a heart attack is written as such in the official
records. It is what it is.

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TREMERE GENEALOGY om

Tarcisus (5th gen)

1592-1945 (departed)

Lyle Kersten (6th gen) Rufus (6th gen) Arthur Jacquet (6th gen) Christian Dalmans (6th gen) Gilbert Paquot (6th gen)
1597- (…) 1648- (…) (Gargoyle) 1665-1771 (†) 1792-1793 (†) 1794-1914 (†)

Claudia Vonïgner (7th gen) Alfred Horfelin (7th gen)

1904- (…) 1794-1914 (†)

Frank Höstger (7th gen) Paul Bovi (6th gen)

1516-1793 (†) 1940-1944 (†)

Elisabeth Vrancken (8th gen) Zelda Ritter (7th gen)

Felix Ernest (8th gen)
1692-1839 (†) 1504-1914 (†)
1628-1774 (†)

Cyprien Cambron (8th gen) Mikaël Hörsman (8th gen)

Jean-Pierre Griffin (9th gen) Stéphanie Neyrinck (9th gen)
1633-1767 (†) 1793- (…)
1727- (…) 1793-1914 (†)

Jean-Baptiste Digneffe (10th gen) Dominique Lejeune (10th gen) Marcel Goux (9th gen) Antoine Folcque (9th gen)
1830-1925 (†) 1815-(…) 1916-1925 (†) 1927-1944 (†)

Alain Levoz (10th gen)

1920-1925 (†)
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Lyle Kersten
Primogen and Regent
BACKGROUND
Probably one of the oldest beings in town (and the
one who has the least fucks left to give), Lyle was a soldier
of the Third Crusade, joining as he was to inherit absolutely
nothing, he had to find riches and power elsewhere. He
was ghouled by a Banu Haqim vampire, who used him
as a mercenary to kill European Vampires in the Holy
Land, and after Lyle freed himself and ran back to Venice
and then the Balkans, he traded in his services in exchange
for blood and knowledge. Eventually he got caught by
the Tremere after decimating the Prague Warlock population,
and instead of being executed right there and then, he
was taken to Vienna for a trial, where after much deliberation
between two Regents disagreeing with what to do with
him, he was embraced. Tarcisus brought him back to his
brand new Chantry and educated him, curious about his
four hundred years of existence and the creatures he
encountered.
Over time, Tarcisus got power hungry, failed
embrace after embrace, lost important influences of the
clan due to industrialization, and eventually plain lost his
mind and claimed Praxis during WWII. Lyle saved Boyer
from his sire during the coup, letting him know of what
was coming, and so despite hating for his WWI coup
which caused the death of his lover, and having tried to
kill him through a ritual, ended up getting rid of his
accomplices. Lyle became Regent and Primogen after his
sire’s promotion and decided to modernize the clan:
vernacular language is now French, easing as much as possible
the Vienna micromanaging of Apprentices, and using science
whenever possible in lieu of Blood Sorcery.
Lyle has managed to please the clan enough so the
Lord wouldn’t give him a hard time, but also send them
every now and then an outrageous essay so they wouldn’t
involve him or his Chantry in any national or international
plot. This made for a solid B- Chantry.
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in training and a regime to grow strong and fit. He may
have not been the best fighter, but when you’re a head
taller than most, your sword reach is just that much more
efficient.
Ahmed Ibn Anwar, the vampire who ghouled him,
noticed Lyle because he was tall, impressive, and not nearly
as fanatic as the other Crusaders. After a solid hundred
years at his service, Lyle decapitated Ahmed during his
sleep when he found out that any vitae would keep him
alive. Got to be careful keeping a vampire killer in your
haven…
His life in the Middle East opened his eyes to his
own ignorance, and he remains thankful to the Muslim
efforts to preserve knowledge. He still speaks Arabic to
this day, and it was Ahmed who taught him to read and
write it, alongside Latin and Greek.
During the Terror, after having killed the Princess
Hélène de Chantraine, the Anarch Parisian Brujah stormed
the Chantry and moved to get Tarcisus to talk about a
Nosferatu. Tarcisus gave them the information they wanted
(after killing Frank for stepping in, and somehow Lyle
was accused of it being his fault?), and they left.
Elisabeth Vrancken, an old and stubborn idiot, got
herself killed by the hand of Théodore Jacob, as she had
tried to get into his domain, and despite being told multiple
times to get out, she refused. Théodore eliminated her
for breaking in yet again, and he was not punished (as
he was within his right). Lyle found out while clearing
her haven that she was looking for some old Noddist item,
an object of immense power of some sort, which she had
read about in some of the university’s archives.
Before her death, Elisabeth Vrancken embraced a pro-
mising young woman: Stéphanie Neyrinck. Stéphanie would
look at everyone straight in the eyes, she was brilliant.
Lyle helped her research as it was tangential to his own,
and over the years, fell for her. They kept their relation
secret, as going public was tasteless. Stéphanie died during
the WWI bombings, helped by soldiers resilient to Dominate
(Choristers getting some revenge as well, perhaps), saving
Lyle who was in her haven that day.
Claudia Vonïgner’s embrace was considered extremely
rude, but offending a Malkavian neonate wasn’t too bad
of a hit on Lyle’s reputation. Tarcisus had wasted so many
embracesthathelostMadeleine’sfavor.WhenRobertDegrelle
came, asking for an Embrace right, to get a young woman
of his asylum who had visions of all sorts, Tarcisus completely
lost it as he realized it was true and she was also able
to notice ghosts. Lyle couldn’t bear it, and embraced
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to educate her, as he was getting a little too interested
in politics and obviously needed a hobby. Claudia would
keep her grandsire busy for a few decades,
hopefully. The Court wasn’t too pleased with Lyle’s rudeness
and the young Malkavian swore to get revenge.
During WWII, Lyle did quite a few despicable things
under Vienna direct orders, from fueling antisemitism to
openly propagating Hitlerian propaganda. While he was
not capable of regret, seeing his childe disapprove and
try to talk her grand-sire out of the coup had Lyle question
his humanity and what he was becoming. Madness ran
in his vitae. Tarcisus had been embraced using Goratrix’
blood, and seeing how Tarcisus ended up turning, he started
to believe there may be a curse. Tarcisus having lost so
many childer over time, and each loss being extremely
painful on his soul, Lyle started to keep a very close eye
on his own childe, Claudia. He does not want to end
up like that. He has been Dominating her to forget about
the days he had spent with her in her haven ever since
her coterie disbanded.
Lyle loved seeing Boyer lose control over his assets
with the Giovanni aggressive takeover, and he was ecstatic
when Adriano Guicciardini “made a better offer” when
the Giovanni had to sell and leave. Adriano, who uses
VenetianphrasingsandafakeFlorentinelastname,confirmed
childe of the deceased Aude de Volange, is such a torn
in the Prince’s side that Lyle can’t help but like him.
In the mid-2000s, Lyle, who inherited with Joseph Gilon
Elisabeth Vrancken’s influences in Law universities, especially
in the School for the Judiciary, noticed someone or something
was tampering with the data. He investigated and was
trapped by a Virtual Adept, Léopold Dehive. The Mage
stopped hostilities as Lyle was not a Technocrat, and they
talked; Léopold had not met anyone who could project
themselves on the Web, and Lyle was not about to anger
a Mage whom he could not possibly compete against. It
took them a few years but eventually they became close
friends. Léopold might be a shallow dreamer who gets
distracted by any random idea, but he can bend reality
to his will. Even if it’s just to create a portal to his fridge
to grab an energy drink. They play online video games
together quite often, and their group is only composed
of supernaturals; there’s even a local Garou.
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Léopold thought of Lyle one night in 2008, when he
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months of experimenting later and some inconclusive tests,
Léopold had Lyle try his invention: mix the tablet with
half a liter of water and drink away. They are leagues
away from mass production, but Lyle has stopped drinking
human blood ever since. The taste is terrible, so Lyle often
mixes them with alcohol instead of water, and he’s trying
to create a Thaumaturgical ritual that would emulate the
real magick behind these tablets.
Lyle travels to tech events. As no one else but the
Nosferatuhadkeptaninterestincommunicationtechnologies,
Lyle has a good control of mobile phone usage and the
local internet infrastructure.
When forced to socialize against his will, Lyle goes
to great lengths to make sure the offending party that
caused the situation suffer second hand embarrassment.
Hawaiian shirt and outrageous alibis with semi-veiled truths
are not uncommon.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Lyle quickly got back
to the Hotel to order a Thaumaturgical response. It took
them some time to start the engine, but once it was, Lyle
went through the fight and marked every Camarilla Kindred
on his path, so that they would be protected against the
massive Lure of Flames that would come their way. He
went after a Lasombra but lost his track.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Lyle’s resentment towards Boyer is still burning, and
he wants the Ventrue to pay, but he’s just too good of
a Prince to dispose of. His failed ritual had him rethink
things through, and he is considering several options. One
would be properly mourning Stéphanie and retire, after
making sure his childe, Claudia, becomes Primogen (she
is the only likable Tremere) and Mikaël Regent, if he
doesn’t get high on power. Théodore has shown a certain
unrest with the current way the city is ruled, and Lyle
believes he could be a great Prince (or Baron). If a change
of tides confirms, Lyle would have his enemy’s head and
he would make sure he saw his hand holding the sword.
Lyle also wants to get close to his childe, who remained
true to herself, and to whom he was a terrible parent.
Perhaps he could learn how to feel again from her. Due
to the perceived curse, Lyle isn’t much of a sire candidate,
and it is very likely he’d make sure Claudia doesn’t embrace.
Vienna having been wiped off the map is making Lyle
seriously consider switching sides, especially as the Camarilla
is falling apart. Truth be told, he was already running
his Chantry as an Anarch one, so for now, staying officially
Camarilla is best to serve as checks and balances.
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ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
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To Adriano Guicciardini: his presence tmakes
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You’re way too smart, jaded and sober for any of

Toreador acts as mundane as possible despite his fields
this shit, and you know you’re powerful enough to be
of influence.
above certain.. rules. So you’re allowed to have fun. Be
playful and tell completely outrageous lies just to see TootherPrimogens:DocteurandThéodorearefascinating
people’s reactions. When in Elysium, you’ll be offered individuals. The rest is disposable.
blood, say “no thank you, I’m trying to quit”, then when To Léopold Dehive: Lyle’s Mage friend, who
speaking to the PCs, lament the whole “drinking problem” supplies him with blood tablets. Léopold is a dreamer
Kindred are subjected to, how it’s a scourge among “us who gets distracted from anything way too easily, but
all”. Your peers know you’re a little bit of an eccentric, he can bend reality to his will. It’s impressive and Lyle
and telling the Tremere Regent he’s inappropriate isn’t stays on his good side. Lyle knows Léopold is dating another
a smart thing to do. You value talent, regardless of age Mage off and on.
or lineage, and the PCs will certainly shake things up;
To his “online” team: Lyle plays with Leopold and
you’re happy to approach them and get to meet them.
a few other supernaturals; they are casual acquaintances,
Make them like you and go the extra mile to help them
keeping their boundaries in check. There’s a werewolf
without requesting anything in return (either you help
named Nicole, and some sort of Umbra spirit that Léopold
because you’re bored, or because you’re rooting for these
created through programming for companionship, named
newcomers; the consequences of their actions could be
Lisa. Lyle knows Nicole hunts creatures from the umbra
fun). When you’ll need them, you’ll use other means to
and doesn’t care that much about vampires, and he also
obtain their cooperation.
knows Lisa refused being “more than friends” with Léopold,
but other than that…
RELATIONS TO OTHERS To upcoming PCs: Neonates fascinate Lyle,
Lyle is easy to approach, and approaches others easily… especially if they’ve got new ideas and interesting skills.
if he is not busy raiding or playing. He is likely to approach them for a conversa-tion, since
he was already forced to show up to Elysium for their
To Tarcisus: Lyle respects his sire’s bright mind, his
presentation/arrival...
findings, his lab work, his writings and his thaumaturgical
skill. But he should have stayed in his lab, where his To upcoming Tremere PCs: Lyle wishes to keep the
skill was best. Tarcisus was never meant to have any use of thaumaturgy as rare as possible. Techno-mancy
sort of power, it ruined a perfectly good scientist. isn’t widespread yet, but he isn’t going to spread it himself
as he wishes to maintain monopoly. Mundane skills are
To Boyer: Lyle wants Boyer dead for depriving him
preferred for plausible deniability. Lyle will give Tremere
of his only love. But he’s a capable Prince, and Tarcisus
PCs a proper room in The Regent, test the flexibility
was a danger to everyone. In public, Lyle supports reasonable
of their mind, and let them settle and find allies on their
moves, and advises Boyer to keep his trust, until the
own as long as they don’t show blatant betrayal. Rule
right time comes.
0 has always been “don’t get caught”.
To Claudia Vonïgner: Lyle uses her to try and understand
how to be humane again, how to not be consumed by
rage and not end up jaded. To her, and publicly, she’s
just an apprentice like any other.
To other Tremere: they’re no danger to him, except
Mikaël who is perhaps too “by the book” traditionalist
for them to get along. Mikaël has complained to Vienna
often about Lyle, without consequences, yet. In public,
if asked, Lyle only compliments his apprentices, and values
whatever they’re doing on their own (Griffin is a reliable
Harpy, etc.). Forcing them into a mold that doesn’t value
their skills won’t do any good to the Chantry.

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Jean-Pierre Griffin
Harpy
BACKGROUND
Ian-Peter Griffin was a loving husband and father near
Oxford, were he worked as an assistant librarian. He had
a passion for fantasy books and had a pretty big collection,
as nobility were selling off assets due to the rocky political
stability. He was sometimes commissioned to find unique
tomes, and built himself a reputation of being a talented
book-finder, which attracted unwanted attention. Elisabeth
Vrancken, a foreign old woman who came from Bordeaux,
heard about him and hired him to find some tomes she
heard were in the city, books that were about fantasy,
supernatural creatures, so they came to talk about
their respective interests. He mentioned a few of the books
of his personal collection, such as Johann Weyer’s witch-
craft works, or Occult Philosophy by Henri-Corneille
d’Agrippa, and even an authorless book named Book of
Nod. Elisabeth was looking for Maleus Nefandorum, among
others, and she was interested by Griffin’s personal collection,
asked if she could see The Book of Nod. Griffin accepted
to show it to her when he would have her books. For
a few months, Griffin went on and found all of the books
the woman wanted, and when she asked to see the Book
of Nod, she tried to buy it. Griffin refused, it was his
personal collection, and books were worth more than money.
Elisabeth decided to reward his righteousness by killing
him and giving him the Embrace. Griffin tried to scream,
but she ordered silence, and so he went silent. She ordered
for him to follow, and his feet followed. On their way
to the port, Elisabeth, with the Maleus and the Book of
Nod secured under her arm, explained what he had become,
that he was one of those creatures now, and that he was
now a Tremere. He would be to serve. He tried to run,
but one hand gesture and one word later, and he was
forced to follow and to survive, despite his hatred and
disgust.
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Brought back to Bordeaux, he was welcomed by Tarcisus,
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of the clan, a cold, inhumane structure in which the top
oppresses and abuses the bottom and the bottom tries
to take over the top by being more talented, or outright
murdering them, and kindred society, a bunch of bitter
megalomaniac sociopaths ready to destroy anyone showing
an ounce of weakness and abuse each other as a pass-time
for their eternal unlife, and the Camarilla laws. He was
officially bound to the clan before his presentation to
Princess Hélène de Chantraine, and decided against going
back home, as the vampires there would abuse his family
and friends. They would be better off without him. He
changed his name to Jean-Pierre (easier to blend in) and
was a broken soul, a monster walking among humans,
leeching off their vitality. To protect them, Jean-Pierre
became a cold wall to everyone, only talking to other
vampires when absolutely necessary, and busied himself
with literature, music, arts, pool and card games.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Griffin hates the Tremere with passion, but he is loyal
due to the blood bond. He only ever appreciated Stéphanie
Neyrinck, who treated everyone as her equal, and Claudia
Vonïgner, who more or less left the clan to be happy
with her friends.
In 1788, a Ventrue harpy, Louis Barbier de la Serre
decided to target him, Jean-Pierre the taciturn, who looked
at everyone with the evil eye, who never talked. But Jean-
Pierre was far from a victim, so he stood up for himself
and put the Ventrue right where he belonged. He was
later offered a Harpy position by Aude de Volange, the
Toreador Primogen, and he accepted. Elisabeth disapproved,
he was meant to be working in the library and gain power,
but Jean-Pierre saw an opportunity for revenge; his place
was where he wanted to be and it was not because she
couldn’t converse and could only find company with books
that she should feel the right to bother the rest of them.
He enjoyed very much being able to neglect his Tremere
duties in favor of his Harpy ones, and the Regent was
too busy with his own schemes to enforce and bother
him with petty things.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Jean-Pierre decided
to form the Dead Hand Club, where he and three other
kindred would play cards. The members were hand chosen
by Jean-Pierre with no particular criteria, except for liking
to play cards and bet some vitae. The Club does not have
ulterior motives, but he enjoys seeing the others almost
be sincere in their laughs and rumor sharing.
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It’s far less hypocrite and tense than Elysium. When the WHAT HE WANTS NOW
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vampires were the ones ill at ease.
Unlike other Harpies, Jean-Pierre never appears friendly
to the people he then intends to back-stab. He is direct
and straight to the point, stares at his victim right in
the eye, and they’d better look down and take the scold
with no buts.
WWII was extremely hard for Jean-Pierre,
Tarcisus was incompetent, despotic, and the clan as a whole
most certainly caused the death of many
innocents, destroying so many families and happiness. The
camps horrified him, the executions by Tarcisus were terrible,
and yet, the blood bond had him loyal and complicit by
inaction.
The Tremere being forbidden to touch mortal
politics wasn’t enough of a punishment according to Griffin.
To this day, he believes a blood hunt on the whole clan
would have been more appropriate. He even found out
that Claudia’s own family in Alsace was deported.
Jean-Pierre enjoys listening to mortals talk at a café.
He even made has a haven above one literary café, Les
Mots Bleus (the Blue Words, a reference to a French song),
and often gets down with a book and a cup of tea he
likes the aroma of, to listen and live by proxy. Their lives
are so innocent and easy. He doesn’t make friends, as
he is afraid they might be harmed to get to him, even
if sometimes he longs for a friend.
Jean-Pierre keeps the logs of all boons owned, as he
has a reputation of hating everyone alike, he won’t be
biased and will make sure the favor exchange is a fair
trade. He takes this role very seriously.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Jean-Pierre went with
Lyle to prepare the Thaumaturgical counter. He may not
be the best Thaumaturge, but he is quick-minded and
could direct Mikaël’s fire manipulation to the right places.
Jean-Pierre is saddened by the loss of so many kindred,
especially Tania as she was part of his Card Club.
The sudden explosion of Vienna and the subsequent
break of the Blood Bond linking the Tremere together
in submission has had Griffin realize that he was free,
finally. And yet, nothing really changed. No doubt Lyle
had been ostracized by Vienna before this big change,
hence the little decorum ever since he took over the Regency.
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in the Dead Hand, and overall he wishes to keep his role
as Harpy, to keep the cruelest kindred at bay and on
their best behavior in Elysium, and out. He is unlikely
to embrace as condemning another, but there may be
circumstances due to his loneliness.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
Stare at people and deploy your aura of “don’t bother
me”. Watch over everyone not overstepping boundaries,
and keep notes. Don’t be outrageously hostile, you do like
good conversation, but don’t show false amicable face.
If the PCs aren’t despicable pricks, Jean-Pierre might consider
getting one of them to replace Tania as he is missing
one player for his Club.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Griffin publicly hates everyone. Griffin privately hates
everyone. But there’s a few nuances.
To Lyle Kersten: Modern, and better than his sire,
not as oppressive, but maybe a little too modern.
To Claudia Vonïgner and Stéphanie Neyrinck: the only
two Tremere that earned what would be
“sympathy” from Griffin. That meant he never
publicly bashed them, so that’s as far as his sympathy
extended.
To the Dead-Hand Club: Griffin does not actively
loathe the members of his club, he appreciates how they
relax and gossip almost sincerely around some cards. That
doesn’t mean he likes them or supports them outside of
their monthly games.
To mortals: pure and innocent, Griffin can’t be friends
with them, but he enjoys their presence.
To upcoming PCs: trademark Griffin stare of
death and disdain unless proven some humane worth..

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Mikaël Hörsman
Librarian
BACKGROUND
Mikaël does not remember his mortal family, as he
was a stolen child brought in to serve the Tremere clan.
Zelda Ritter took him, and gave him to Aleister Spencer,
one of the clan’s ghoul, to be raised to love and fear the
Tremere clan. He did plenty of mundane things, cleaned
and carried duties for the masters, and even sometimes
left the Chantry to the outside world for some errands.
Because he had potential, Zelda eventually ghouled him
in the middle of the 18th century and after the Terror,
due to the many losses of Tremere during that era, he
had the honor to be embraced alongside others.
Mikaël kept studying and helping his sire in her research,
and the Regent himself took notice of his hard work.
Tarcisus was, for Mikaël, a genius and a visionary who
valued tradition, and when the 19th century rolled around
and he could form a coterie, he actually preferred staying
inside the walls of the chantry. With the industrialization
desecrating the mortal values which were the base of the
clan’s power, Lyle Kersten, the oldest childe of the Regent,
became more involved in the politics of the clan, Mikaël
disapproved as he knew nothing of traditions, or the values
of the clan, and had absolutely no respect for the clan’s
ceremonies.
WWI was hard for the clan, as they were attacked
during the day; thankfully the Tremere protections of the
Chantry saved those living in it, including Mikaël who
was in the front lines to save his home. That very night,
Mikaël found out every single Tremere who had a private
haven was killed, including Zelda Ritter. Everyone, except
Claudia who had decided to sleep in the Chantry that
day.
Tarcisus, in his infinite wisdom, had left the city prior
to the German invasion, and had taken Rufus with him.
Lyle had to negotiate with the new Ventrue Prince, Boyer,
and despite the massacre, the clan rebuilt itself through
hard work and their traditional values.
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time to consolidate his power and to save the rest of
the clan, Vienna promoted him so he could leave the city.
Muchtohisdispleasure,LylewasnamedRegentandPrimogen,
and Mikaël saw as this poor excuse of a Tremere was
throwing away every single thing that made the clan great.
Technology doing better than Thaumaturgy, moving the
Chantry to some mundane Hotel, not enforcing the weekly
bonding rituals, and speaking French. French!
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Lyle’s embrace of Claudia was incredibly rude, and
he was even ruder when he dropped her to Mikaël to
raise. But Tarcisus insisted he was the best to raise her
and they would do many experiments on the young gifted
girl.
Mikaël raised Claudia, her spirit was easy to mold
and she had a true talent for Thaumaturgy and Auspex.
She needed warmth and reassurance, and Mikaël gave those
to her. She rose through the ranks faster than anyone,
reaching 5th circle, but then gave up to take care of her
coterie. Mikaël was disappointed but she is the only remaining
salvageable piece of Tarcisus’ legacy.
When Zelda Ritter died during WWI, Mikaël took
over her position as the Tremere librarian. Aleister begged
him to take him as his ghoul, as he was masterless, and
Mikaël accepted.
Mikaël embraced two childer in the 1920s, Marcel Goux,
a priest who had passion for traditions and the occult,
but who didn’t cope well with his new nature, and later,
Antoine Folcque, who sadly perished alongside another
Tremere while they were hunting in an area that was
bombarded during WWII.
Marcel Goux was destroyed by Lyle Kersten, under
Tarcisus’orders,withtwootherTremere,forAnarchactivities.
Mikaël regrets not having paid enough attention to his
childe, not having guided him better. Antoine could have
been such a wonderful asset, if not for this stupid accident.
During WWII, Mikaël advised Prince Tarcisus; curfew
harmed rebels, Tarcisus’ authority was often defied, and
those who were caught met their final deaths, and they
actively tried to find and dispose of the former Prince,
as well as the Brujah Primogen who insulted Tarcisus’
legitimacy, without success.
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Mikaël enjoys going to Elysium and watch the ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
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spectacle of the harpies tearing other kindred apart. He
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You like traditions, old ways, old rules, good old fashioned
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presentation night and her rise to Harpy, as well as the
Ventrue duo Thomas-Neve were a source of endless
entertainment.
Mikaël loathes how Lyle is running the clan. Dropping
all the traditions, the ceremonial, Latin, running the clan
like a vulgar LLC, Lyle is a poison that wants to destroy
the mere essence of Thaumaturgy, of the clan. Mikaël often
wrote to Vienna, who said they were keeping an eye on
him, but nothing was done. All those technological gadgets
irk him, and the clan is crumbling. Mere mortals, they’ll
become.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Mikaël was in
Elysium. He promptly went back to the Chantry with
Lyle and Jean-Pierre and prepared the thaumaturgical
riposte. His mastery of fire proved extremely useful and
was the main reason why the Sabbat failed that faithful
night. Despite Lyle Kersten being their Regent, the clan
remains powerful through its traditions. The death of Thomas
Durieux is a great loss, and Mikaël hopes Neve will soon
find a new Harpy companion.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Mikaël wants to restore the traditionalism of the clan,
but he has no allies. Dominique is a low-life who only
plays with the Setites, Claudia and Jean-Pierre are more
or less uninterested, and Lyle is cancer. Perhaps embracing
or petitioning for new proper traditional apprentices to
come would force the clan to go back on track. Claudia
is also appreciated in court, perhaps she would help him
against her sire.
Vienna’s disappearance was a shock to Mikaël, who
hasn’t been able to contact the hierarchy, and fears the
worst. So far, however, the Regent has kept running
the Chantry as normal (well, way too lax for his taste…).
Mikaël fears the worst is to come.
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authority, and efficiency in rule. Speak in complicated
sentences and use jargon. You’re better than others, others
aren’t Tremere after all. But you are smart enough to
know you’re not socially skilled enough to compete with
the rest of them. Be pedagogic and act like a potential
tutor, if the PCs know their place and respect you.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Mikaël and the rest of the Tremere Clan have
influences in most fields of university and higher
education, which they share with Charles Nassau (through
his ghoul, who used to be the ghoul of Joseph Gilon, who
had obtained such influences after Elisabeth Vrancken’s
passing),
To Lyle: the scourge of the clan, he wants their mighty
house and clan to be mere mortals! Only the hierarchy
knows, but the hierarchy isn’t acting… Mikaël obeys his
Regent, however.
To Claudia: not his childe, but he raised her, and
she would have become a very powerful and influential
Tremere, if she hadn’t stopped her studies to go
socialize. She remains talented, and she owes him so much.
To the Harpies: Mikaël enjoys Elysium shows and the
harpies tearing apart a poor soul, but he is very careful
to never be on their radar.
To upcoming PCs: unless they show an interest in
traditions or the occult, or anything to add to his library,
Mikaël has little reason to approach neonates.
To upcoming Tremere PCs: Lyle is an absentee, if
he can he will make sure to teach the traditions and their
importance to the new Apprentices. He needs more support.

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Once realizing what happened, she was given a proper
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education in the clan’s structure, where she could reclaim
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she appreciated Mikaël’s warmth and patience. Her sire,

Claudia Vonïgner
Medium
BACKGROUND
As a home-schooled baby child of a wealthy banking
family in Alsace, Claudia saw ghosts, and had visions every
now and then, visions about the future, symbolical most
of the time. They only made sense as the events happened
over time. Her older brother was over ten years older,
and her sister was already married off when Claudia was
born. Her father died in an accident, which Claudia saw
a few days earlier, when she was 6 but couldn’t explain
what happened. Her father stayed with her, however.
Claudia kept telling her mother and baby-minder and tutors
in charge of education, about her father’s
issues in the afterlife, but they just believed she had a
hard time mourning. At 8, however, she was too old to
have imaginary friends, and she was sent to consult. The
psychiatrist convinced her mother that Claudia was a danger
to herself and society, and they interned her. For thirteen
long years of chemical straitjackets and other experiments,
Claudia suffered, starting to give up and believe that perhaps
she was indeed crazy and dangerous. Some Mrs Odel, who
nobody could see, kept screaming in Claudia’s bed-room,
and the staff was just despicable, electroshock sessions
and a lot of opium veiled her senses. Her mother moved
to Bordeaux for her retirement, and took Claudia along,
interning her locally instead. To make things much worse,
she attracted unwanted attention, a Malkavian was going
to embrace her.. Except the Tremere acted against it. Lyle
Kersten stole her into the night without a word, killing
any one in his way and making it look like an escape
of deranged individuals. Soon after, her mother’s house
burnt down, with her inside, so nobody would try to find
her. Claudia was broken, but she was finally free from
the medication, and her first thirst at the arm of her
sire got her as lucid as she could ever be. She was not
crazy.
however, was a cold man, and Claudia never really manage
to like him for some reason. His massacre of the Anarch
cell only confirmed her intuition. Her fear had her obey
efficiently, and she decided to rise up the ranks so she
wouldn’t be bothered with petty Tremere missions. Her
grandsire, the Regent, adored her, which is why she managed
to get through by pleasing him. She formed a coterie with
Laure and Jérôme, later joined by Thomas Durieux, who
was Claudia’s true closest friend. Claudia blossomed with
her friends, despite some hard times just after Prince Boyer’s
coup, as some horrible Nosferatu was bothering the
coterie’s hunting ground. Boyer did nothing for them, as
the hunting ground had been granted by the Marquise,
Laure’s grandsire.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
After WWI, Claudia was invited by Vienna to learn
Spirit Manipulation, as she was a gifted Thauma-turge,
but she quickly realized that the ghosts of Bordeaux talked
about an Italian, Adriano Guicciardini: he had far stronger
powers than hers, so she decided against making her presence
known to the local wraiths. He could touch them and
cross the veil, from what she heard from the White Lady.
The roaring twenties were blessed for the coterie, up
until WWII. Laure remarried and adopted, Jérôme embraced
his true love, and Thomas was telling her everything, but
Claudia couldn’t be as open as her friends, especially when
it came to clan matters; she heard rumors, but she knew
her grandsire was up to something, and seized power and
helped the Nazi occupation to place his own pawns. Jérôme
and Laure resented her, until Claudia proved her loyalty
to them by helping them play the German army.
Laure’s child, Sandrine, was the lover of the resis-tant
Tania, whom ended up being embraced Brujah during
the Occupation, and Claudia covered for them discreetly.
During WWII, Laure’s house was bombed, killing her
husband and destroying all of her jewelry. She hunted
down the first Tremere she found and
massacred them as retaliation. Claudia, who had a slaughter
vision about Laure, went to find her, calmed her down,
and helped cover up the crime, as if the two Tremere
were hunting under bombs. She also housed Laure and
Sandrine in the meantime.

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and their world all across the city, all across the world
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in 1918, but this was far worse, far more terrible than
anything imaginable. 1999 had a similar event, but 1945
was the worst.
At Prince Boyer’s return, Laure became Elysium Keeper,
Thomas became harpy, and Jérôme became Mandataire
for his clan. Thomas became friends with a bitter old
Ventrue, Neve, that was jealous of their true friendship,
she tried to attack Claudia often enough to get Thomas
all for herself, and her megalomania promptly annoyed
Claudia as well. Thomas was too kind to ask Neve to
give him some breathing room, but he kept her at bay,
so Claudia and Neve never went beyond some sarcasms
in Elysium.
Claudia went to some meetings by the Immortal Women’s
Club in the sixties, but she didn’t really identify with
the struggles, so she left.
In 2000, Laure’s daughter, whom she had embraced
after WWII, was diablerized by a rogue Lasombra. Laure
could only find comfort after tracking and
killing the nest of Sabbat, and Robert Degrelle, the Malkavian
that had wanted to embrace Claudia, who had covered
them up. Good riddance. The coterie helped Laure through
her mourning.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Claudia was at home.
Lyle called her, and she arrived right as the battle ended:
Jérôme had lost his childe and lover, and was inconsolable,
and Thomas also perished. The coterie once again reunited
to support each other through their tragic losses. Why
didn’t these stupid visions warn her, or be useful for once?
WHAT SHE WANTS NOW
Claudia kept her medium abilities secret, and her visions
often arrived too late, or were too hard to decipher for
her to be able to act on them. Tarcisus and Lyle are the
only two who knew about her skills. She wanted to find
out more about Adriano’s ability, but didn’t want to attract
the clan’s attention, especially now Lyle is the Regent,
and he is still a monster whom her gut feeling tells her
to avoid at all cost. Despite her and her friends’ pain,
Claudia is happy that there’s people she can count on,
and that her friends can count on her as well. She’s worried
about the old hag Neve, whom Thomas won’t be able
to control anymore. While not power hungry, Claudia
would appreciate it if Adriano disappeared, as he’s not
just some Toreador. The PCs could be helpful to act on
her behalf, without exposing her or her skills.
Claudia has been completely unphased by the destruction
of Vienna, but she’s wary of Lyle’s newfound freedom.
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of the middle-to-high society of kindred: you’re close friends
and liked by many Ancillae. You’re mourning Thomas,
your best friend, your soulmate, and you could never open
up to him. You have a strong intuition that you trust,
to judge people, but your visions keep being too late,
too vague, and ultimately useless. You’re more of a quiet
observant kind, and you’ll contact the PCs for tasks in
an indirect way.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Claudia tends to keep polite and blandly boring in
public.
To Laure: Claudia values friendship over clan and sect.
Laure is her friend, and they are loyal to each other. Claudia
never doubted that, and Laure and her have been close
friends for a century.
To Jérôme: Claudia can’t find the words for his loss,
she respects his mourning and desire to be alone, but
she’ll be there, as he and Laure are there for her to cope
with Thomas’ passing.
To Adriano Guicciardini: Claudia would love to find
out more about him and the extent of his powers, but
not at the price of exposing herself and her own skills.
Lyle might find out. Her friends never knew, and she
can’t tell them.
To Lyle Kersten: the Regent is a cold monster. Claudia
liked Tarcisus better (because she was his precious grand-
childe), but she is smart enough to realize she is better
off with Lyle as a Regent who more or less lets everyone
do their thing, and that politically, he is a better Regent
and Primogen. She fears her sire, but publicly she is respectful
and polite when talking about him.
To Mikaël: far warmer than her sire, Mikaël was Claudia’s
tutor, and Claudia appreciates him for that. Mikaël is
more of a library Tremere, and she was more outgoing
and social in court. Tremere schemes don’t interest her.
Claudia knows Mikaël is kind of disappointed in the
direction she’s taken in unlife.
To Neve Rosetti: boring old hag who tried to steal
her closest friend. Claudia is no harpy, but she’s
always replied to Neve’s piques and attacks with nerve.
She’s rather just coldly ignore her.
To upcoming PCs: Claudia is likely to be very interested
in them, as they could be a key to solve her problem
without exposing herself and her skills. She might use
an intermediary instead.
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DominiqueandJean-Baptistealwaysconsideredthemselves
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after the WWI coup of Prince Boyer, Tarcisus had become

Dominique Lejeune
Bon Vivant
BACKGROUND
Dominique was born during the Terror, and it affected
his father a lot. He had to be the best student, on his
best behavior, at all times, and if not, he got the whip.
So Dominique started to try to find ways to express his
rage and hatred, at night, in bars. At school and all the
way through his law studies, he was always the very first,
the pride of the teachers, a true model child. He met
a man a few years older than him who introduced him
to the occult and the mysticism, which were a way for
Dominique to escape the social pressure he was subjected
to, and it was a world his father had no hold on. Dominique
wrote letters, exchanged knowledge, and so on until he
met one of the important local figures: Stéphanie
Neyrinck, a cold unblinking woman who had neither the
allure of a wife nor of one of the girls Dominique would
court at night. She probed him for years, to test how
he approached the knowledge he was thirsty of, how he
understood the different pseudo-hermetic witch-craft, until
she unveiled the truth: this whole masquerade was just
a way to keep the curious busy and far from the truth.
Dominique became her childe and apprentice in 1815, as
he was bright and his approach to things would work
out just fine.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Laterin1830,StéphanieembracedJean-BaptisteDegneffe.
They became friends, shared pool games and bar fights,
and more or less formed a coterie with the two younger
Setites. Every other Tremere disapproved but Tarcisus and
Stéphanie said nothing. They were joined in 1840 by a
young Ventrue, Yves Degras who later committed diablerie
on his sire, and was then diablerized by Emilio. Yves was
blood hunted so Emilio was not bothered by his action.
140
more and more oppressive and Jean-Baptiste, and his recently
embraced childe, Alain Levoz, formed a small group with
Marcel Goux as their leader. Dominique did not join as
it was too childish for him. Sadly the group was found
out, and Tarcisus ordered Lyle to execute them, probably
to prove his loyalty.
WWII showed Tarcisus’ true face, a despot who was
stuck in his laboratory for far too long and who expected
everyone to serve him without question. Dominique, as
others, couldn’t do anything about it as he had Vienna’s
authorization and a hint of rebellion would mean a one
way trip to Austria. Once promoted (even if Dominique
would have preferred execution), Tarcisus left his positions
to Lyle, who promptly modernized the clan, give more
room to neonates, to merit, to talent, and not to boring
old ways, and Dominique thinks Jean-Baptiste would have
loved it.
According to Jean-Baptiste, Lyle had a certain
sympathy for the Anarch cell and sometimes covered them.
Dominique believes Lyle likes him, which is why Lyle didn’t
do anything against him when he had to destroy the Anarch
cell, as he could have been guilty by association.
Dominique is more or less a social pariah due to the
people he surrounds himself with. He tends to find himself
in the company of problem-vampires, and they tend to
end quite badly.
Jean-Baptiste and Dominique met Christophe de Bri-
Leveque in the 1850s. Christophe, before being a mine
engineer, was a bon-vivant like them, and they played
pool and cards often. Dominique still sees Christophe out-
side of Elysium.
WWI’s deaths among the clan cost Dominique his sire,
as well as plenty of isolated elders. Lyle had to negotiate
with the new Prince to stop hostilities, while Tarcisus
was gone in hiding with the Gargoyle. The former Princess,
Marquise Madeleine, who had also run away, didn’t come
back, which is why Prince Boyer kept the throne.
Dominique became friends with Luc, or Lucien, a Nosfe-
ratu actor, in the 1950s. He had a certain talent to imitate
whoever needed, and unlike others, Luc didn’t judge
Dominique. Dominique tried to find out more about the
Nosferatu, but Luc only revealed he got to decorate his
brood’s haven. Sadly he died during the recent Sabbat
Raid.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Rémi and Domi-nique
were hunting in the Fabrik. They didn’t find out about
the attack until much later.
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always polite and well mannered, but out of Elysium he
can be himself, enjoying unlife, enjoying gratuitous
violence (the kind that later ends up with everyone drinking
together at the bar, not the kind that feeds a vampire’s
desire for prey’s fear and terror). He appreciates very much
how Lyle is running the clan nowadays, and he comes
around often to fulfill his duties. He’s not trusted enough
to be tasked with important things however, but his
relations might come in handy one night. Dominique could
embrace to prove his worth and live up to Stéphanie’s
standards.
Dominique is thrilled by the destruction of the Pyramid,
and while he might shun the Chantry altogether, he still
values the importance of his sire’s teachings and values.
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and well-educated in the right situations. Others treat
you a little like a pariah because of who you are with.
Be polite, shake hands, smile, discuss mundane topics, and
offer people to join you in a relaxed pool game.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Dominique’s influences are dual, related to his sire’s
influences in certain occult circles, and what he has built
as part of the “coterie” with the Setites.
Dominique does not have any strong opinions
about anyone, but most people look down on him as he
has a reputation of being associated by the wrong people.
He’s likely to be friendly with PCs hoping to show them
unlife can be fun, too.

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he is aware of his own limits. He wants to help his masters,
but they don’t need him. Rufus feels useless, and that
is an annoying feeling.
Rufus doesn’t know what happened to Vienna’s Tremere
and to the pyramid.

ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You use French because Master Lyle ordered you to,
but you’re not very comfortable with it. The world is changing
too fast, and you don’t like it, you feel trapped, but the
Chantry, with the soul and work of Master Tarcisus, won’t
change. It’ll protect you, and you will protect it.

Rufus
Gargoyle
BACKGROUND and KEY STORIES
Rufus is the gargoyle of the clan, created in 1648 by
Tarcisus. Rufus lives in the old Chantry, and isn’t fond
of the modern age.
During WWI’s coup, Tarcisus (and Madeleine) left the
city for their own safety. Rufus wanted to fight, punish
those mortals who stole the secret of flight that only the
most powerful Tremere masters (and their most faithful
servants) could master. But Tarcisus refused, he even ordered
him to flee with him. He tried to resist, but when it’s
an order, it’s an order. When they came back, the Master
told him he couldn’t fly over the city anymore, because
of how often the mortals with the stolen flight could be
up there. They also stole the Tremere’s explosions!
When Master Tarcisus abandoned him and left for
good, Master Lyle asked Rufus to use French. Rufus doesn’t
like it, but he obeys and appreciates how Lyle does not
punish him as often as Master Tarcisus did.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Rufus’ existence isn’t exactly public or recognized, as
he does not have the status of kindred. Few even know
he is even an actual vampire.
To local Tremere: Rufus sees them as good masters,
they treat him right. Punishment was always measured,
and they were never sadistic with him.
To Vienna Tremere: his masters’ masters, who
don’t understand the true importance of the most
beautiful city of the world.
To free Gargoyles: Rufus talked to other gargoyles
when traveling with Tarcisus. He understands their demands
and why they fought. He willingly chose to stay with Tarcisus
and Lyle, as he does not consider their situations to be
comparable. Bordeaux’ Chantry never forced him to do
anything, except when Tarcisus ordered him to not harm
mortals who had stolen the Tremere secrets to flight and
fire, and to flee during WWI. Rufus doesn’t relate to them.
To Lyle: except for Masquerade restrictions
concerning flying over the city, Lyle does not burden Rufus
with tasks, and he overall has the whole old chantry for
himself. He cares for it and cleans it by his own choice,
and hunts discreetly. Lyle’s modern take on the new chantry
makes Rufus uncomfortable, but he knows it’s because
that’s the modern world, and the modern world makes
him grumpy. All those lights ruined the beauty of the
sky, too.

Rufus was forbidden to tackle down the Sabbat monsters
during the Raid, from his precious Bell Tower. Master
Lyle told him there were mortals present, and his help
would cause more trouble. Rufus obeyed, frustrated he
couldn’t defend the most beautiful city of the world, whose
secrets are only his to enjoy.
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To the new Chantry: its walls do not have the soul
and magic the old chantry, and the technology scare him,
but he is welcome to come if he wants to. Rufus prefers
the old Chantry, he’s intimately familiar with it.
To Igor: the nosy Nosferatu often tried to get in, but
he ran away when Rufus scolded him.
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The Ventrue clan in town is the clan of power and VENTRUE MEMORIAL
of control, even considering the almost annexation of
the city to Paris over the years. The first official Thomas Durieux, embraced in the early 1900s,
Prince was a Ventrue man by the name of Childéric, became a harpy in the 1950s. He died during the
before the year 1000. With such a lineage to uphold, recent Sabbat Raid, but did not fully leave this
and with a rich past, from fights against the Brujah, world. Instead he became a Wraith.
the Anarchs, the Sabbat and grooming the best of the
best in town, the Ventrue are proud and remind
everyone of their prestige. Yet, they cannot protect
their city from the influence of the French Nation,
and while not numerous, they are still one of the three
most important clans (with the Toreador and
Brujah). Manners and clan etiquette are followed by
all members of the clan, with or without zeal, and
they are a clan of decorum.
The structure of the clan, with the Board
(Gérontissime), concentrates most of the power in
Prince Boyer’s own hands. He is also the Primogen of
the clan. Yet despite this monopoly, Boyer has a
reputation of a charismatic leader who doesn’t rule
with tyranny, who listens and who isn’t afraid to take
action. His only flaw is that his personality may be a
little overwhelming to the other members of the clan
who are pale in comparison.

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OTHER VENTRUE NAMES
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Charles-Emmanuel de Corte (deceased),
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Elysium Keeper embraced by Joseph Gilon, met
Childéric, followed by Altrec, and then his
his maker when he crossed unfortunate paths with
two childer Clotilde and Richard d’Ambroy (as
a werewolf in 1955. The werewolf lost everything
co-rulers) were the medieval princes and princess
in life over the following years until her apartment
of the city from before 1000 CE up to the 15th
blew up with her in it because of a “city gas
century. They died under circumstances lost to
leak” issue. Christophe de Bri-Leveque witnessed
history (see Hélène’s background below).
his death.
Joseph Gilon (deceased), embraced by Hélène
Yves Degras (deceased), denounced by his blood
de Chantraine, he became harpy in 1830 and
brother Olivier de Ségur (who left the city as
died when his haven was bombed during WWII.
soon as allowed) for diablerizing their sire, was
There was no proof that it was anything but
friends with the would-be Anarch Tremere and
a simple collateral damage. He had a ghoul, Boyer
the Setites. Blood hunted, the Setite Emilio diablerized
de Fonscolombe, who changed his name to Laurent
him.
de Fonscolombe and who now works for Charles
Nassau. Louis Barbier de la Serre (deceased), embraced
by Isabeau before she left, became Harpy when
Nicolas Pirson and Isabeau de Waroux (alive),
Aude de Volange arrived, importing the job’s concept.
both childer of Hélène de Chantraine (as herself);
Louis was killed in during the Terror, alongside
they were sent away in 1579 because they were
many others (who will stay unnamed).
a threat to her throne.

144
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VENTRUE GENEALORY om

By declaring she was the childe of herself, Clotilde

had to remove someone from the tree, so that
their generation would remain true. Clavicius, Childéric’s Childéric (5th gen) (4th)
sire, was the one that was removed. As such, Every
~4th c-1152 (†)
Ventrue knows (and recites) their fake genealogy:
Hélène, Childe of Clotilde, Childe of Alterec, Childe Alterec (6th gen) (5th)
of Childéric, Childe of Ventrue. In red, the fake ~1000-1312 (†)
generations
Clotilde (7th gen) (6th)
Richard d’Ambroy (7th gen)
1281-1408 (…)
1213-1408 (†)

Hélène de Chantraine (7th gen)

1429-1793 (declared †)

Nicolas Pirson (8th gen) Isabeau de Waroux (8th gen) Neve Rosetti (8th gen)
1506-1579 (departed) 1511-1579 (departed) 1564- (…) Joseph Gilon (8th gen) Boyer (8th gen)
1712-1944 (†) 1789- (…)

Eric Artevelt (9th gen) Louis Barbier de la Serre (9th gen)

1802- (…) 1538-1794 (departed) Charles-E. de Corte (9th gen) Armand Colin (9th gen)
1782-1955 (†) 1922- (…)

Hugues Janson (8th gen) Justin de Gascogne (8th gen)

C. de Bri-Leveque (10th gen)
1525-1793 (†) 1525-1793 (†)
1837- (…)

Daniel Lombart (9th gen)

Thomas Durieux (11th gen)
1726-1845 (†)
1908-20XX (†)
th th
Olivier de Ségur (10 gen) Yves Degras (9 gen (diablerie)) w
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youth. Clotilde looked at the man’s feet, to see if they

Hélène de Chantraine were not forked, but he was not a devil, he said he was
Former Princess an immortal lord, a vampire.

LIVING DAYS ClotildebecameAlterec’sghoul.Vampiresneverconsidered

Clotilde, born in the 1220s, was blessed by the fairy
of the Garonne to have beauty, intelligence and longevity.
She was born to a more or less hermit town sage, and
when she was a young girl, her mother died. She left to
become the servant/maid of a local family. She later became
her boss’ toy, then her boss’ son toy, so she turned tables
and started using her charm to obtain what she wanted
from them. The wife eventually kicked her out, as “the
maid being the local woman of pleasure” wasn’t good for
her and her family’s reputation. With all the gifts she
had received from her boss, his son, and their friends,
she managed to obtain enough money to gain independence,
buy beautiful dresses and toiletries, and the woman behind
power as she networked her way through the highest spheres
of Bordeaux. She schemed to be the favorite and the confident
of many, and a powerful pale lord, Lord Altrec, took notice.
He called her one night, and instead of doing what men
usually do, they just sat and talked. Altrec told her how
he had observed her for some years now, how good she
was at wrapping the men around her little finger, and
how nobody could command her, she was in charge. He
respected that, he needed a woman of her caliber by his
146 side, and told her if she served him, she would keep eternal
her to be worth of anything (as a ghoul, and as a woman),
she worked as asked, gaining the trust of Henri de Cusances,
a marshal and future mayor of the city, to influence him
and advise him in Altrec’s favor. She had already stepped
in his bedroom before, so the task was feasible, and she
made herself indis-pensable very quickly for a dozen years
or more. In the 12th century, a powerful man whom she
recognized as a ghoul, paid her to betray Henri. She accepted,
knowing in reality she had little choice considering the
man’s demeanor. She told the man to contact a specific
rival of Henri’s, Bertrand de Got. Clotilde’s mysterious
sponsor must have had incredible influence as Bertrand
de Got became Pape Clement V, and Henri was forced
to remove himself from politics due to this promotion.
Clotilde, wishing revenge for her domitor and for herself
as she loathed being underestimated, found Henri who
had gone under illegal existence, explained she was forced
into it, and joined his efforts to take revenge. She then
made sure Henri would be assassinated, so he had nothing
to claim, and used her sponsor’s ghoul to find one of
her domitor’s enemy, Eomont, a powerful Brujah, and made
sure to leak his haven to The Beast, who had a score
to settle in vampiric politics. Altrec, moved by all of the
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UNDEAD NIGHTS
Her two blood brothers, Richard d’Ambroy and Betis
de Formont weren’t very happy about Clotilde’s embrace
among the Ventrue, as she was just some mere woman,
not even noble, but Alterec hushed them as she had been
far more loyal and useful than they had ever been. Clotilde’s
blood preference was the blood of men of power who
succumbed to her charms. Henri’s assassination had failed,
as he became kindred, embraced by Eomont before his
passing. Clotilde later found out as Altrec’s haven was
on fire, and he was ambushed and diablerized by Henri
on his way to a secondary haven. Henri swore revenge
for Clotilde’s betrayal and lies, and they fought for the
best of the following centuries, until a mortal revolt deprived
her and other Ventrue of all support and allies. Henri
had had to retreat, and a man and two childer with Italian
accents, probably former Romans expatriated in Avignon,
whom Clotilde recognized as the sponsor who had placed
Clement V as Pope, showed up. This man, whose name
Clotilde never found out, would be known as “the Lasombra
Lord”, for those who knew about his existence.
Clotilde, Richard d’Ambroy and the other three surviving
Ventrue were forced into a thrall relation to this Lasombra.
The Lasombra Lord did not manage to hold power for
long, mostly due to the clan alliances in other parts of
the country as well as the childer revolts, but his influence
marked the city without contest, and as he reigned, the
invasions and different political struggles between the duchies
claimed most Ventrue lives. As Clotilde was to frenzy
and fight to her death, a clawed hand dragged her into
oblivion and saved her from the purge.
The Nosferatu kept her hidden for months, and even
if feeding was hard (Bourgignon blood was disgusting),
Clotilde decided to keep her unlife longer.
Once the foreigners left, the Nosferatu told
Clotilde to meet him at the Palais Galien, and there she
met Henri, who had not fought the foreigners, who was
nowhere to be seen during the troubled times. Their fight
was stopped before it started when dozens of Nosferatu
surrounded them, and their leader, whom Clotilde never
saw, offered them an alliance to make the city prosper.
Without options, and through a Blood Oath to make sure
the two wouldn’t fight, the Nosferatu offered Clotilde the
title of Princess of the city in 1453. Clotilde took the name
of Hélène de Chantraine, and changed her lineage (she
would become Hélène, childe of Clotilde, childe of Altrec,
childe of Ventrue, childe of Enoch, childe of Caine).
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grow the city at her image, and she decided to learn- s to
read to be able to formalize her situation. Two
Toreadors moved to the city as the Renaissance
brought riches and prestige, Toreadors whom Hélène liked
quite a lot for their refinement and culture. The Nosferatu
Master told Hélène how a lost Lasombra, Neve Rosetti,
just arrived, and he had shown himself to her impersonating
Hélène. It seems that one of the Lasombra Lord’s childer
had survived the massacre, moved to Bayonne, and embraced
there in the mid-15th century, but as the Sabbat formed,
his childer rebelled and diablerized him. Neve did not
participate and instead ran off to find refuge in Bordeaux.
Hélène raised Neve as her own, as the Nosferatu had ordered
she was to be her “childe” now, and Henri de Cusances
and Niklaus, the Nosferatu Prévôt, went to execute the
diablerists, and then Hélène made sure the Inquisition
would pay the city a visit, just in case.
Neve was a good childe, and Hélène had only embraced
one woman before, Isabeau, whom she had to send away
as she was perhaps too smart and too skilled… too dangerous
for her monopoly. Neve was docile, interested in how Hélène
manipulated men, but she made sure to never be a threat
to her adoptive sire, after all, as the City was to join
the Camarilla, being a Lasombra, even antitribu, was not
exactly good for the curriculum. In 1592, the Nosferatu
master told Hélène the Tremere had found out about his
existence, and that in exchange for their silence, they were
to be welcomed in the city, right at the Big Bell, one
of the most important doors of the city. Hélène was furious,
butobeyed,andTarcisus,theirleader,wasaterribleunfriendly
man whom she just could not manipulate: he was only
able to love his witchcraft.
A terrible incident in 1637, related to the Court of
Aids which was held in Bordeaux that year, blamed the
Brujah, but the Brujah Roland Dax, just embraced by Henri
de Cusances, and a newly arrived Malkavian, Xavier, showed
proof that it was the two Toreador of the court who
had made the coup in hopes to destabilize the city and
sell it to Paris. Hélène was furious, and moved to execute
the two traitors herself. She got one, but not the other,
and Neve’s trying to calm Hélène down by telling her
the proof was quite thin, was quickly shut. Hélène would
never admit a fault, she was a Princess, and weakness
and doubt would dent her credibility. A peace treaty with
Paris was struck and in exchange, there needed to be a
Toreador Primogen, Aude de Volange.
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The city joined the Camarilla as part of the peace A few weeks ago, he showed up with a certain Annabelle,
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treaty with Paris. Later, the 1710s marked the end of the whom had been staked from behind. The poor girl went
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lost control over his own lineage. Anarchs were everywhere with a blue cap showed up a few nights after Annabelle
and in the 1770s, the unrest became a full blown war. was brought in. He promptly left after taking a few pictures,
The Nosferatu Master ordered Henri to leave due to his but did not free them, which enraged Hélène. But she
uselessness, which he did after telling Hélène they still isn’t stupid, Lambert most certainly got rid of him and
had plenty of business left unattended. If he had picked there’s little chance that the Nosferatu have been aware
better childer, they wouldn’t be in this situation, she told of their situation and not acted on it.
him. Without specific orders, Hélène tried to find a solution, Despite it all, Hélène is hopeful, one night, she’ll be
and Boyer, an orator and politician became that solution. free, the blood bond won’t stop her, it’s been
She embraced Boyer, trained, and then gave him overtaken by the hatred she had for him, and his sire
Renard, one of the Nosferatu Master’s ghoul, to serve as who betrayed her. She will get revenge, for herself, and
his day-double for political needs. She had her own ghouls, for all of the others.
mostly women whispering in the right man’s ear, too, but
Renard had the ability to use Obfuscate and was able
to make a convincing double of Boyer for day events. WHAT SHE WANTS NOW
The Terror struck, however, and despite her best efforts She wants out, and she wants out, like, “right
to kill the revolt before it started, despite infiltrating the fucking now”, and has been wanting out for the past two
Girondins with Boyer, everything failed. The Nosferatu hundred years. Hélène has managed to more or less keep
Master ordered Hélène to defend the Elysium (while he up to date with the language, customs and social changes,
and the other Nosferatu went into hiding), and she obeyed, mostly through the TV and radio, but fighting the Beast
as the blood oath ordered. She waited for the Brujah, and Stockholm syndrome has taken most if not all of
in her gown, defiant and staring them down. She started her willpower. She will endure as long as needed.
to use her Majesty to submit them, but one managed to
use his crossbow, and it found her heart. Staked, frozen,
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
her power dissipated, and exulted at their success, the
Brujah were to continue with Xavier, but Xavier told them The thought of going to the outside world and regaining
about the Nosferatu Master, and they went on to interrogate control over yourself is what keeps you sane, but once/if
the Tremere about it, leaving Hélène to meet the sun that happens, you’re unsure about the results.
with some ghouls. Hélène was shocked that Xavier knew
about the Nosferatu, and even more so when he left her RELATIONS TO OTHERS
there instead of freeing her. Thankfully, Lambert came
Non-applicable.
and subdued the ghouls, and there was a glimpse of hope,
until she realized he was not going to remove her stake.
She thought he would diablerize her, but no, it was worse,
he brought her home instead, and she has been stuck there,
being his doll, plaything, for over two hundred years, for
him to fulfill his perverted fantasies.
Lambert moved places many times, but he always made
sure she was conscious, comfortable, and well fed. When
leaving for the night, he would put her in a way she would
see or hear something interesting, and then it was warm
baths, the radio, and then the television. Hélène’s beast
screams and blinds her every time, but the routines have
settled: she’s always “his princess”, he never tires of her,
healwayspresentsherothertemporarypartners.It’sdisgusting,
and Hélène, trapped in her own body, can only but
sympathize with the hundreds of mortal and dozens of
immortal women who entered this terrible place. Lambert
routines are sickening, and Hélène, over her hundreds of
years manipulating men, becoming their favorite, their
confident, has never felt more like a literal piece of meat.
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Jean-Baptiste Boyer
Prince and Primogen
BACKGROUND
Bourgeois, and as such, not Noble, the Boyer-
Fonfrèdes had only financial and the capitalist manufactures
power on their side. Jean-Baptiste was raised to take over
his father’s role, join the Freemasons and the plantation
trade business. To fulfill his education, Jean-Baptiste lived
a few months in the Netherlands, where he extended the
family’s network. Unlike his family, however, he strongly
opposed slavery and joined many thinker groups to lobby
against it, and in favor of the Human Rights that were
just published. Boyer knew from a young age that it was
faster and more efficient to gain power through force and
being feared, but lasting power can only be obtained through
respect. He was noticed as an orator at the early hours
of the Revolution, and in 1790, his ability to move crowds
attracted the attention of Hélène de Chantraine, who said
that while she admired his skills, she could not let him
continue hurting her interests as much.
He was to become her childe, and serve to calm down
the most extremists of them all, in hopes of avoiding uprisings.
Boyer, not being one to turn away from the better offer,
went along. He did not really have a choice. Hélène fed
him enough for him to not kill his wife when she came
to see if everything was okay. It took him all of his skill
to manage to go through Ventrue training, accept his entire
family and servants be dominated (so they wouldn’t have
questions and would take his word as gospel), fix his schedule,
manage his affairs, and adjust to being undead. Hélène
offered the services of Renard, a ghoul who had the particular
skill of being able to use Obfuscate. He would become
his “day” persona, and making sure Renard would act,
act, breathe, stand, and talk like him was added to the
monster that became the schedule of the fledgling Ventrue.
Renard adjusted and took on the role marvelously.
Hélène took heart at teaching Boyer everything needed
to be a proper Ventrue, including his lineage, and to find
which blood would suit him best (Bordelais Nobility, he
who was not one of them, ironic).
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her childe to Court. Once presented to the rest of the
Ventrue Clan, and with Lambert, the childe of the Malkavian
Prévôt as a body guard (weird guy, but a true brute in
combat), Boyer met the Brujah, and only Théodore and
the most moderate of them would listen. As a “mortal”,
Boyer got elected to the new National Assembly in 1792,
and both moved to Paris to try and reason the situation.
However the Terror was already up and running, and
HélènewasmurdereddefendingherElysium.Despitedenouncing
Marat (who later defended him), Boyer and the rest of
the Girondins were executed. Renard’s utility came to
an end as guillotine separated his head from his body
on the 31st of October, 1793. Boyer came back to Bordeaux
two nights after Hélène’s passing, where other Ventrue
mentioned he wasn’t there to defend her, and her memory
was desecrated by rumors, as she was “only a Nosferatu
marionette”.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Boyer quickly realized that People didn’t know (nor
want) what was best for them, but they could be made
docile if someone defended their interests in good faith
(that’s how he convinced Théodore). Willing Submissiveness,
as La Boetie put it.
As the Anarch Terror strike through the 1790s over
several waves, killing Justin de Gascogne (Ventrue Primogen
who had survived the initial wave), Joseph Gilon and Boyer
fought for the Primogen title. Gilon and his ghoul, Boyer
de Fonscolombe kept attacking his financial and political
influences. Boyer still won.
Between 1793 and 1814, there was no official Prince,
every decision was made by the Primogen council as a
group. No Nosferatu was Primogen at that time, so it
was up for Boyer to convince others to switch to his side
when the votes were tied.
In 1814, Madeleine d’Aurigny, childe of the Parisian
Prince, showed up and claimed the throne through her
sire’s influences. Boyer strongly disapproved but she had
talent and resources. Boyer knows his lineage is the lineage
of rulers of Bordeaux, with no less than four Ventrue
Princes. He would be the fifth, and the opportunist shallow
snob would get her due at some point.
With his official death, Boyer took great care of his
family and their business, making sure his eldest son would
inherit everything needed to prosper. Henri Fonfrède (1788-
1841) became a liberal under the Restauration, and the
rest of his family prospered through the ages.
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in order to take over the domain when the time was right.
He was the main stock holder of many companies, including
the incorporated corporations that thrived and brought
all of the riches to the city. Until 1977.
FIRST REIGN
The premises of WWI gave Boyer the perfect opportunity
to make his move on the praxis, with the help of de Corte
(Joseph Gilon’s childe, as Gilon himself disapproved of
the coup) and Eric Artevelt (and his German contacts),
who is his blood cousin, they arranged for the city to
obtain the French exiled government, and regardless of
who would win the war, the Ventrue had enough pawns
on both sides to be victorious. In exchange for the German
help, Boyer gave some Tremere havens and some of his
ownpoliticalenemiestobombard.WhileMarquiseMadeleine
and Tarcisus ran to safety, Boyer negotiated with Lyle
Kersten to help his clan be rebuilt and keep its favors
within the city. Kersten accepted and became a reliable
ally.
In his consolidation of power, Boyer accepted a new
Malkavianandhischildeintown,andwhenthesiredisappeared,
Boyer decided to take the responsi-bility and free the childe,
Victor de Sainte-Croix, as he seemed to know the Traditions
and behaved perfectly fine. Ever since Victor seems to
think Boyer is his true sire. Boyer decided to simply keep
the Malkavian happy.
As a new Prince, Boyer had the charisma and the
means to keep his praxis running, and while Madeleine
never came back, Tarcisus did, and he agreed to the deal
his childe had made in his absence.
To properly ground his power, Boyer had to em-brace,
so he took a few years to observe potential candidates,
and eventually found Armand Colin, a self-made “came
fromnothing”attorney.Armandwasproudandquitedespising
of others, but he was brilliant and talented; Boyer taught
him everything needed in about a year, but did not force
him into the Ventrue trials, as he had not finished them
himself (Hélène died during said trials, as he was in Paris
as an elected official, so he never completed them). Boyer
had Armand join a coterie, as a way for him to probe
into the younger vampires’ opinions and needs, as well
as getting on their sires’ good graces.
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graciously. The following Toreador exhibition was a complete
success, but it had to close early due to WWII.
TARCISUS’ COUP
The moment he was to walk into Elysium an
evening of 1939, Boyer received a telepathic message by
Claudia Vonïgner, the childe of Lyle Kersten, who was
using her and her advanced Auspex abilities to tell him
to “leave now, or face Final Death”. Boyer was in rage,
and was about to tell them both that they were the ones
going to see the sunlight, but he realized fast enough it
was a true advice, and not some provocation. Boyer went
into hiding as Tarcisus claimed the throne, and with Armand,
they financed all Resistance they could. After all, Boyer
himself had used a similar tactic to claim the throne, so
there was no reasons for others to not do the same.
In 1944, Gilon died under German bombings, and his
ghoul, the one who had been such a pain during the bid
for Primogen, who renamed himself Laurent de Fonscolombe
(“Boyer” is an antique first name, after all), went to work
for Charles Nassau and now owns a pretty penny in night
clubs and hotels. Joseph Gilon had been a strong adversary
in Boyer’s plans and control over the Gérontissime, so,
good riddance.
Tarcisus was not able to find himself enough allies
to consolidate power, and left the city with a clan promotion.
All kindred embraced “illegally” during Tarcisus’ reign
were officially recognized, and those who actively aided
were rewarded. Boyer agreed to have “the unquestionable
Ventrue” Victor de Sainte-Croix be the Malkavian Primogen,
as Xavier, who was Prévôt before Lambert, just wasn’t
an Elysium kindred.
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RETURN TO POWER Guicciardini seemed quite attached to the archaeological
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findings of the city, so Boyer and the rest of the Ventrue
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on the whole clan, and with the other clans decided, across
neighborhood” constructions, but the Toreador fought back
all occupied France, to forbid the Tremere to have any
and the project ate in the millions in late fees until it
influence on mortal politics. Lyle took the Primogen and
finally proceeded. The tramway helped. Heritage City, pfft.
Regent title of his sire, and his privileges were restored.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Boyer and Théodore
Urbain Delacour asked for an embrace right in 1946,
got their weapons ready to fight off two Tzimisce and
which Boyer granted, and the presentation of Alicia
a Lasombra with explosive ammo. They later ran towards
Vandenstree, the masquerade cover used by Grégory
the rest of the hall to keep the Sabbat busy until the
Darvault, had Boyer laugh like he had never laughed. Alicia
Tremere artillery stroke. It took the warlocks a damn long
had nerve, when she presented herself as “a better comedian
time but the result was, without a doubt, efficient. Boyer
than a writer” or something like that, so he welcomed
saw Lyle and Théodore run to hunt down the remaining
her as a neonate, as he knew Urbain would kill her if
survivors. Plenty of his subjects died that night, and now
she left without being free. The woman had ambition,
everyone is tense.
wits, and quickly became harpy. To stop her from having
any further ideas, and to keep her busy, Boyer gave the
Elysium Keeper job to Laure Nolveaux. As planned, Alicia WHAT HE WANTS NOW
took rivalry. Charles-Emmanuel de Corte, who was the Harming Adriano and take back what is rightfully
previous Elysium Keeper, had just recently passed after his is Boyer’s priority, but if he wishes to maintain the
having met a werewolf (or so had explained Christophe respect and support of the clique, he can’t act recklessly.
de Bri-Leveque, his childe; said werewolf was disposed He is also afraid that due to the many deaths during the
of after months of slowly cutting her support system, first Sabbat Raid, he might be blamed for it, and keeping in
getting her fired, then her social life with mortals, then power after that blow to his prestige and his domain will
she died in an unfortunate gas leak accident in her flat). require all his wits and skills. Théodore has more or less
In 1972, the Giovanni sold some Beretta stock to Boyer’s forced his hand into accepting new embraces and new
companies, as a price paid to the Ventrue to allow them arrivals, perhaps he could make sure these new kindred
to operate in the city. In 1977, however, it turned out become new supports for his power.
to be a true Trojan horse, as the Giovanni not only bought
back their stocks, but also dismantled Boyer’s babies from ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
the inside and in a blink, the Giovanni now had over
Your power relies on people trusting you to
50% of the Prince’s stock. Boyer was furious, moved every
handle things by being de facto more competent than
penny he had for an aggressive takeover, but while the
others. By ensuring your subject’s support, you ensure your
Giovanni were forced to sell, they actually sold to that
own respectability and influence. You ask, you don’t demand,
dirty rat, that golden boy, Toreador Adriano Guicciardini.
and you negotiate and find a compromise, but you’re getting
Adriano still has those stocks up to this day, and
tired of not having concrete results. You’ll need to be
Boyer will make the little rat pay. Neve Rosetti has been
a little more authoritarian after this Sabbat Raid. You’re
an ally in their hatred (something about her
a workaholic.
believing he was the cause of Aude de Volange’s death,
despite the Tremere confirming her death, confirming that
Adriano is her childe and he did not diablerize her).
Armand advised Boyer to renovate the docks, to cut
off the Giovanni’s revenues, forcing them to leave the city
in 1998, as the whole section was completely broken for
the future new “family friendly” docks, pushing all of the
prostitution sector right into Setite hands on the other
side of the river. Caterina Giovanni, a ghoul embraced
through boon trading, was left behind, and is more or
less actively hunted by the Setites. Boyer decided to let
them be, after all, “self-defense” or “domain invasion” were
good excuses for her to eventually disappear.

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RELATIONS TO OTHERS To Eric Artevelt, Charles-Emmanuel de Corte and his
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truthful, and the reasons behind them also tend to be
public, with a few exceptions.
To Théodore and Lambert (Prévôt): Théodore and Boyer
come a long way, Boyer publicly considers the Brujah his
friend, and Lambert has always been of valuable support
despite being odd.
To Lyle Kersten: Boyer thinks Lyle is a strong reliable
ally who betrayed his sire for him by warning him of
the upcoming coup. In public, Boyer listens to the Tremere
Regent’s advice, but Lyle isn’t stupid enough to openly
claim the hidden boon he holds over the Prince. Boyer
doesn’t know why Lyle acted the way he did, and he doesn’t
believe he owes anything to the Tremere.
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during his own coup became void and they have lost all
favor. Christophe’s childe, Thomas Durieux, didn’t even
support his claim to power in WWI, he was friends with
the Toreadors and stayed neutral. Charles-Emmanuel died
in the 50s at the hand of a werewolf, and Thomas died
in the recent Sabbat Raid.
To the Setites: they have a common enemy, but that
doesn’t make Boyer actually like them.
To the Giovanni and Adriano Guicciardini: rats. RATS,
all of them.
To upcoming PCs: Boyer needs them on his side to
strengthen his power, else unrest will grow. His plan is
toappearreasonable,permissible,benevolent,butalsorespected
and in control over his domain.

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Eric quickly became very good at playing the
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Once in Bordeaux, Eric quickly saw how Boyer wanted

Eric Artevelt
Broker
BACKGROUND
Prior to his embrace, Eric was a broken workaholic.
Son of a wealthy family, whose wealth he made prosper
by riding the stock exchanges hype of Amsterdam, Eric
was a happy and accomplished man. He had married in
1794, in 1797 his son Paul was born, and it brought him
closer to his wife whom was a talented nurse. They were
happy, loving, and his son was growing well. But in 1801,
Paul died of the scarlet fever, his wife fell into deep
depression, and Eric never recovered, as the only person
who would have been able to understand and team up
to mourn had given up to alcohol and opium.
to get rid of Marquise Madeleine and claim the Prince
title for himself. With the exception of Joseph Gilon, a
Ventrue Elder who clearly preferred Madeleine to Boyer,
and the young Thomas Durieux who remained neutral,
all Ventrue agreed to help Boyer’s coup, especially his
right hand, Charles-Emmanuel de Corte. Eric helped along,
lending his contacts and placing pawns on both sides of
the brewing war, proved successful. The clan obtained a
stable influence regardless of the result of the war. Some
Tremere havens were bombarded in exchange for German
collaboration.
Eric had hoped to become Ventrue Primogen, but Boyer
just became Prince and Primogen. Eric focused instead
on the prestige the Gérontissime gave him as an Edil.
Joseph Gilon, whom Boyer had fought against for the
Primogen seat after the Terror, was more than offended
at the fusion of both Prince and Primogen positions.
WWII was hard for Eric, as he had lost many of his
German allies; they had all disappeared and Tarcisus’ coup
meant Eric and Charles-Emmanuel had to kiss up to the
Tremere; after all, they had killed many of their clan members
during WWI. Boyer went into hiding until the liberation.

One night, Nicolas Pirson met him, and talked to
him about the flavorless life, and he would give him a
taste of happiness. Nicolas Pirson was one of Hélène de
Chantraine childer, sent away to not be a local political
threat. Having no reason to cling on to life, Eric accepted,
and left his life behind him.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Nicolas needed someone to help him prosper in the
turn of the (19th) century financial changes. He was a
land owner, and stock was just too novel for him, so Eric
was embraced to help his sire, which he did gladly. Eric’s
blood preference was redheads.
EricdidhistrialsinmanydifferentcitiesoftheNetherlands
and Germany, where he created many contacts. He only
moved to Bordeaux in 1902.
Nicolas introduced Eric to the Olympian games in
Paris, where two Ventrue would pick mortals to fight
as their heroes, a little like in Greek Mythology. Eric enjoys
participating as they help him keep his skills sharp, and
be able to play every single aspect of a local or national
administration, law, police and everything else.
After WWII, Boyer made sure to let Eric and
Charles-Emmanuel know that he would forgive them for
their passivity during the Tremere coup, but that they’d
lose his IOUs for helping him raise to power in WWI.
During one of the scandalous Alicia/Urbain vernissages
of the 1950s, Eric had the chance to talk to Armand Colin,
Boyer’schilde,andgettoknowhimoutsideoftheGérontissime,
discussing all the ways financial and judicial games could
ruin someone. Eric invited Armand to join the Olympians,
and he fit right in. Eric found Armand to be extremely
skilled at using all the tools at his disposal in original
and twisted ways. That is why he had been such a great
law-man after all.
In 1984, Eric and Armand switched their man vs man
usual games to a man vs world. Eric would help a champion,
and Armand would try to destroy him through all possible
means. They picked a name at random in the phonebook,
checked that the person had enough to lose or to gain,
and the lucky winner was a teacher by the name of Frédéric
Lassard.

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For six long years, Armand planted seeds to destroy WHAT HE WANTS NOW
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the man; tax audits, children accusing him of inappropriate
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(who may or may have not been paid by Frédéric), losing
unemployment benefits for working illegally, schools not
renewingcontracts,tribunals..Armandreleasedthebureaucracy
misery on the man. By 1991, Frédéric was living as a leech
on his wife’s income, they took a mortgage on their house
(very rare in France) to pay for their legal fees and even
took into the savings for their daughter’s education, he
was going to end in jail. Armand was finally winning,
but Eric’s resilience for so long was more than honorable.
The conclusion wasn’t the expected one.
Eric and Armand’s game got one last, master twist:
Robert Degrelle, a Malkavian, stole Frédéric into the night
and embraced him. Eric and Armand couldn’t really complain
of this rude interruption, as their games weren’t exactly
public (the Olympians don’t have the best reputation),
and Degrelle had a proper embrace right.
Acoupleofyearslater,Frédéric,nowjust“Fred”,alongside
Marie Jourdan, were freed in Elysium.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Eric and Armand were
in one of Armand’s havens with a nice chalice, discussing
a way to resume their game: Frédéric was now kindred,
but the challenge was only getting so much more interesting.
They doubled the bet.
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reputation, he remains a curious cat pouncing on unexpected
prey. Not sadistic by nature, Eric always found a way
to try and care for his “champions” despite discarding
them, even if his Olympian games are cruel. Fred’s new
situation will help him see if he could benefit from neonate
support, even if Fred lost all of his coterie during the
Raid.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re a well-educated bourgeois of intellectual elite.
You are of good company, you don’t openly despite others,
but you’re still part of higher rank than many. Treat them
with respect, as they may come in useful later. Willing
servitude and else.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Eric does not have any particular opinions outside
of what his background states; his relations are mostly
with other Ventrue, and he still travels quite a lot.
Concerning the Olympian game, Eric was the one in
charge of defending and protecting Frédéric Lassard (now
Fred). Eric doesn’t have any particular attachment for the
Malkavian, he was a means to test how much he could
influence laws and finances, place the right evidence in
the accountant’s office, and tip off the police... But he
will defend Fred and use everything in his power for Fred
to make it big in kindred society, just to beat Armand.

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Armand Colin
Jurist
BACKGROUND
Born in 1886, Armand never knew his family, he was
raised by the social services, which he hated with a passion.
Education and hard work would be his key to pull himself
out of misery. University was only for the rich and wealthy,
but he worked hard, got a little scholarship, worked three
jobs, deprived himself of comfort, relations, sleep, and
any pleasure in life, and finished first of Law School.
By finishing first, he gave the finger to the other students
who were snobs and confident in their all-mighty-selves
just because of where they were born barely managed to
get their diplomas. However, despite all of his force of
will, obtaining the internship to obtain his admission to
the bar was hard without being the son of, or the in-law
of some big name. He worked for the State for a while,
saving up to open his own cabinet, and that was when
Boyer approached him.
Boyer had a large office in the Tribunal, and “I am
the Prince of this city’s vampires” was the surprising response
given to Armand’s question about the man’s job. Boyer
explained everything to Armand, who played along until
proven the truth behind those words through Boyer’s use
of his vampiric features. Boyer assured Armand that if
he did not accept becoming his childe, he would just forget
the whole conversation and resume his mortal life. After
a few glasses of cognac and thinking over the price of
his humanity (as Boyer said he wouldn’t lose his soul),
and how in the end, “kill or be killed” is the world’s true
law, Armand accepted, and his first victim was his wife
of ten years, Delphine. Her death by his own hands showed
Armand the true horrors that a vampire could do when
in frenzy, and it was a valuable lesson. Boyer had him
taste plenty of different preys until they found his blood
preference: Freemasons. Boyer helped him get a foot in
so he would have easy access to his preference.
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a coterie. Natacha, Docteur and Franz had various different
interests, but Armand would find a use to the three of
them.
Armand participated in the Ventrue-organized exhi-
bition, a complete failure, but he mostly appreciated the
venture for a chance to use his skills amongst his peers.
In 1933, Armand met the Tremere Harpy Jean-Pierre
Griffin, a cold, distant and unblinking man. As a
Harpy, he was direct and not falsely friendly. He was
looking for a fourth player for his card club, and
Armand joined. In the Dead-Hand, Jean-Pierre isn’t exactly
friendlier, but he is not unbearable, and the gossip and
discussions at the table are worth his time.
During Tarcisus’ coup in WWII, Armand and his coterie
weren’t there, as Docteur had been warned by his clan;
Boyer contacted Armand to hide him out while the rest
of the coterie would be their spies and enforcers. Armand
and Boyer financed the Resistance.
Armand often considered ratting out Boyer to
Tarcisus, but his power wasn’t stable enough; if he had
done so, he would have lost his head when Tarcisus would
be ousted, no doubt.
When Boyer claimed his Praxis back, he did not blood
hunt the Tremere, oddly. Armand thinks he should have
had done so.
When in 1949 Natacha became Primogen after
Eric, her predecessor (not Artevelt, just Eric), left
without coming back, she and Franz fought about the
“position of women” in society, and that’s basically when
the coterie dissolved. Docteur became Primogen as well.
Armand didn’t really care but Natacha wasn’t exactly gifted
at politics.
Armand met Eric (the Ventrue, not the Gangrel ex-
Primogen) after one of the very entertaining Urbain Delacour
vernissages, which gave yet another chance to Alicia to
shine as a harpy. They talked about how the right pawns
in finances and law could make or break someone, and
it was the goal of the Olympians to play those. Armand
joined the group.
Among the Olympians, Armand enjoys test his originality
and the ways one could use all of the tools at one’s disposals.
The fate of the mortal-toys involved doesn’t really matter.
He and Eric mostly play in Paris, but sometimes they
do so in Bordeaux as well, and boy does the game get
interesting, Eric is such a powerful and skilled rival!
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The Giovanni buying out Boyer’s assets was a WHAT HE WANTS NOW
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move Boyer tried to recover from; but the Giovanni sold
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through by his own force of will, and others can’t expect
Docteur asked Armand to help him fund some project
anything. Powered by spite, he is now at the very top
to get rid of some archaeological findings and build a
and will make sure others don’t get any chances, as he
parking or something, to mess with the Toreadors. Armand
did not have any himself. Fred’s new situation will certainly
accepted, as both problems would find one solution, so
help Armand use his sharpened political, legal tools as
Armand pitched the idea to Boyer. The financial and public
well as his vast influences to grow more.
relations war between the Ventrue and Toreador over decades
cost millions to the taxpayer, but eventually the Ventrue
more or less won out. Adriano seemed to enjoy walking ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
in the sector very often, which was strange, perhaps that You made it through, you built yourself a future on
was his Toreador preference? your own, and others can do it if they accepted to stop
In 1984, Eric and Armand switched their man vs man being lazy and actually worked hard. If they can’t make
usual games to a man vs world. Eric would help a champion, it, they’re not trying enough. You’re not exactly approachable,
and Armand would try to destroy him through all possible your coterie didn’t work out, and you see everyone as
means. They picked a name at random in the phonebook, potential pawns.
checked that the person had enough to lose or to gain,
and the lucky winner was a teacher by the name of Frédéric
Lassard.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
With a foot in the high spheres of the judicial, the
For six long years, Armand planted seeds to
Freemasons and other socialite groups, Armand rubs elbows
destroy the man; tax audits, children accusing him of
as equal to many of the richest and most influential mortals.
inappropriate behavior, money laundering in his wife’s
commerce’ accountant (who may or may have not been Concerning the Olympian game, Armand was the one
paid by Frédéric), losing unemployment benefits for working in charge of destroying Frédéric Lassard (now Fred).
illegally, schools not renewing contracts, tribunals.. Armand Armand doesn’t have any particular hatred for the Malkavian,
released the bureau-cracy misery on the man. By 1991, but for him to win the continued game, Fred must go
Frédéric was living as a leech on his wife’s income, they down.
took a mortgage on their house to pay for their legal Armand considers others as assets or entertainment.
fees and even took into the savings for their daughter’s He doesn’t treat or act any differently in public and in
education, he was going to end in jail. Armand was winning, private. Upcoming PCs might be of interest to him, but
but Eric’s resilience for so long was more than honorable. there’s nothing he could actually actively want from them.
Eric and Armand’s game got one last, master twist: Robert Beyond, perhaps, involving them to take Fred down in
Degrelle stole Frédéric into the night and embraced him. order to win against Eric…
Eric and Armand couldn’t really complain of this rude
interruption, as their games weren’t exactly publicized (the
Olympians don’t have the best reputation), and Degrelle
had a proper embrace right.
A couple of years later, Frédéric, now just “Fred”, along-
side Marie Jourdan, were freed in Elysium.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Eric and Armand were
in one of Armand’s havens with a nice chalice, discussing
a way to resume their game: Frédéric was now kindred,
but the challenge was only getting so much more interesting.
The bet was doubled.

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In one of those evenings, with Henriette, the hottest
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escort of the moment, and Paulette and Josianne, the depraved
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all night about economic prosperity and other things. It

Christophe de Bri-
Leveque
Hedonist
BACKGROUND
Christophe came to Bordeaux to finish his studies,
so he could take over the family business and employees
in the mines, in the first half of the 19th century. He
needed to be a proper mining engineer to be able to take
the lead. He settled in a nice large house downtown owned
by his parents, and met Guillaume de Chestret, Ludovic
de Waroux and Jacques de Ségur. The four of them partied
hard during their first year of studies, drank a lot, went
to the brothels, shared heated discussions in philosophy
cafés, listened to poet performances and disserted. The
four failed their exams miserably, and their parents cut
down their allowance and gave them a second chance,
except for Jacques who had to go back home. Christophe
and Ludovic moved out of their houses, which they rented
to get extra funds, and they all lived with Guillaume, who
had the biggest one. They decided that while they wouldn’t
neglect their studies again, they would still party and enjoy
life. They organized some fist-fight bets with the
employees, and got some income from a girl Ludovic had
put on the streets in exchange for hiring all of her brothers
into a safer job. They managed to get acceptable grades
and on the following years, earned a lot of money with
their little illegal activities (except they stopped the fist-
fights, as there was an unfortunate accident).
After their diplomas, they decided to spend one last
holiday together, in the castle of Ludovic’s parents (who
were away on a cruise). Those two months of 1832 were
memorable, every night was an orgy, with dozens of guests
and entertainers of all sorts, the servants barely had the
time to clean before the next party started.
was common among literary circles to have a sponsor among
older and richer men, and homosexuality was accepted
as an “up yours” activity to shock polite society. While
Christophe wasn’t into men in general, Jean had just such
a charm, and was troubled when he heard himself said
yes to Jean’s offer to find some place more private. Jean
was tender and kind, and nothing could ever match that
sensation.
After marrying an aristocrat and moving fully to the
city, Christophe kept feeling like something was lacking,
he had a void that no lover or drugs could fill. One night,
a Spanish man with quite luxuriant manners came to meet
him at work, and told him he was a vampire, and without
giving him much of a choice, embraced him. Charles-
Emmanuel wished to have someone able to walk and navigate
in the mines and other underground facilities, to document
all mismatches with official plans. Christophe was
also properly trained as a Ventrue, and he was then presented
to Marquise Madeleine… and that’s when he realized Jean
Boyer, or just Boyer, was the Ventrue Primogen. Worst,
he didn’t seem to recognize him, he was just polite and
distant with him.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Christophe found out during his training that his blood
preference were innocent and virgin young people.
Christophe’s work in the undergrounds gave no results,
if there were secret entrances they were more than hidden.
He kept searching despite knowing there was nothing,
but Charles-Emmanuel had not freed him officially yet.
Even if there was plenty of instances of feeling watched,
even touched, until he turned and a flash of light unveiled
a Nosferatu holding a torch. The warning was clear: the
Nosferatu knew what Christophe was up to, and he could
have disappeared at any moment. Charles-Emmanuel was
pleased with the news, and allowed Christophe to stop
searching. He was then officially freed.
In Elysium, Christophe met Jean-Baptiste Digneffe and
Dominique Lejeune, two young Tremere who were perfectly
behaved, but quite the party-goers like himself outside
of polite society. They played pool and cards as well, and
Christophe joined them sometimes on their outings.

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recognized the two prostitutes, Paulette and Josianne
(Josianne had a small beauty mark), from that night almost
forty years ago. They became his Nosferatu contacts until
they left the city.
Christophe wasn’t an adept of the Gérontissime, but
he still attended regularly, hoping to be in Boyer’s company,
be noticed by him. He understood how Boyer wanted
to claim Praxis, so Christophe did his best to convince
Charles-Emmanuel to support him, instead of his own
sire, Joseph Gilon who preferred a foreign Toreador to
a local Ventrue, even if he was a rival.
In 1908, Christophe embraced Thomas Durieux, one
ofthemostbrilliantlawstudentswithaspecialtyininternational
diplomacy. His skill would have been perfect to help Boyer
get the Praxis, but he decided to not take any sides during
the coup, which meant Christophe couldn’t capitalize on
Thomas’ help to get closer to Boyer. Christophe considered
his embrace was a failure, and Thomas became a
Harpy, but there was no resentment.
In 1922, Boyer embraced Armand Colin, and Christophe,
wanting to get closer to Boyer (who was more or less
inaccessible now that he was Prince), tried to get closer
to the childe.. through one of his coterie members, Franz.
ChristophesharedFranz’sinterestforphilosophyandreligion,
at least in a scholastic way. First Christophe was Franz’s
mentor, but then they became more like friends.
Jean-Baptiste execution for Anarch sympathy by the
Tremere was a reminder that kindred life is far from being
riskfree. Christophe is fairly happy Dominique was not
executed too.
Christophe enjoys collecting art pieces of all sorts,
including the heart of Jean-Baptiste Barrière, a
composer of the 18th century. His heart had been put
into a jar and safe-kept in the statue representing him
in the Aquitaine Museum. Pillaged by the Nazis,
Christophe bought it from a soldier in 1944 when the
troops were retiring. The museum never reported on the
missing object, probably to cover the reputation of Barrière.
Other black market pieces decorate his haven.
In 1955, Charles-Emmanuel called Christophe to meet
and talk about business. His sire explained that he wanted
Christophe to check on Laurent de Fonscolombe (who
was “Boyer” de Fonscolombe, he changed his first name
as Boyer wasn’t exactly easy), who had belonged to Joseph
Gilon (who died during the war), and was now working
for Charles Nassau.
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was perfectly matching his taste, and excused himself. After
a quick chat, the woman turned into a large, terrible werewolf,
and hearing “oh shit” from Charles-Emmanuel, Christophe
witnessed the garou bite him off. The garou did not notice
Christophe (the wind was in his favor, he guessed), and
Christophe waited until the woman, turning back into
her human form (with her blue dress reappearing), took
the bus. He then ran over to Boyer to inform him of
Charles-Emmanuel passing.
The change from industry to services economy hit Chris-
tophe’s resources quite badly, but he had enough assets
to still live in comfort.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Christophe was enjoying
a night out with a tasteful 14-yo chalice, whom he was
taking his time with. He suddenly felt terribly ill, so he
erased his chalice’s memory and went back home, frightened
by the horrible feeling of missing something. Claudia
Vonïgner, a Tremere companion of his childe, called him
a little before dawn to inform him of the attack and of
Thomas’ death. He had felt his childe’s passing in his flesh
and soul.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Christophe still wants, to this day, to feel Boyer’s sweet
Kiss. He wishes to get close to the Prince and gain his
favor, even if he knows a romantic relation is probably
not going to happen. The PCs might catch the Prince’s
interest, so Christophe could either use them with that
goal in mind, or grow jealous.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re a bon vivant, you enjoy the pleasures of unlife,
and you don’t stick your nose in any dange-rous business.
The PCs might be a way to try again to approach the
Prince. Approach them to introduce them to the city life.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Christophe’s sole goal is to approach Prince Boyer.
If the upcoming PCs can help him approach him, he will
approach them and offer them his genuine help and guidance,
like he did for Franz. Franz wasn’t as useful, as his relation
to Armand wasn’t positive enough for Christophe to profit
from it in the way he wanted.
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OTHER CLANS
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The Ministry came to town during the first half of
the 19th century and as long as they respected the
Camarilla laws, their presence was tolerated by the
Marquise Madeleine, who had just seized power and
was willing to gain supporters. They quickly got their
hands dirty in business, prostitution and organized
crime; their monopoly on the prostitution sector was
challenged by Adriano Guicciardini and later by the
Hecata (who bought the Toreador’s networks when
they arrived), but they’ve since taken back most of it.
However, most Camarilla members refuse to have any
business with them, ganging up to limit the snakes’
influence and power in town. No one wants to owe
them anything after all. Neither three used “Followers
of Set”, only Setites, so “Ministy” fits them, but their
lack of contact with the rest of the clan means they
didn’t get the memo about joining the Anarchs. It
wouldn’t really change their behavior in town anyway.
The Hecata on the other hand had a very short
presence in town, arriving in 1972 to leave in 1998.
They were three Giovanni, Sandro, Flora and Angelo
Giovanni. They bought and controlled everything
regarding weapon factory, which was Boyer’s personal
power who couldn’t resist the aggressive takeover by
the richest family of the world, until the Prince managed
to force them to sell. The Prince personally finished
off the Giovanni’s influence and drove them out of
town. The victory wasn’t perfect as through an exchange
of favors and boons, and because he made a better
offer, all shares that were taken by the Giovanni were
sold to Adriano Guicciardini and not back to Boyer
himself, who was out of funds after that feat. Even
more so, the Giovanni had managed to Embrace, legally,
one of their ghouls, Caterina Giovanni, a few years
before leaving. Caterina is now alone, trying to hold
on to a few brothel houses and regain some influence
to please her family. The Setites are hunting them
down, and Boyer turns a blind eye on their Masquerade
breaches, while any faux-pas by the Giovanni will
be her death sentence.
The Lasombra past presence in town is kept under
silence, as a good Camarilla city. Even the Lasombra
Prince’s name was lost to time and silent treatment,
even prior to the city joining the Camarilla. Each
individual Lasombra preferred to have their own
small domain and take care of it in house, instead
of being the vassal to someone else. Big fish in a
small tank kind of thoughts. The only true known
facts about them is that there was a Sabbat revolt
and a local domain-holder had been diablerized,
and Princess Hélène de Chantraine had schemed
to send the Inquisition (and the prévôt) to destroy
the nest before it settled too close to her city. Only
Hélène knew that one of the childer fled the attack
andaskedforhospitality,andthatchilde,NeveRosetti,
has been posing as a Ventrue ever since. The clan
recently joining the Camarilla as a whole hasn’t erased
past fears, grudges and worries, but Boyer, looking
for more support, might accept them in town.
OTHER OUTSIDER NAMES
The four Giovanni that came in 1977 and left in
1999 were Sandro, Pietro, Angelo and Flora Giovanni.
Frederic (Frederico) Vonzel was Alicia’s lover, and
a Sabbat infiltrate of clan Lasombra (he posed as a
Ventrue). He is in mutual blood bond with Alicia.
The Lasombra Lord ruled the city at the end of
the Middle Ages.
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Mentophis (10th gen)

1764- (…)

Mentophis (10th gen)

Emilio (10th gen (diablerie)) th Rémi (11th gen)
Mentophis
1764- (10
(…) gen)
1796- (…) 1812- (…)
1764- (…)
Emilio (10th gen (diablerie)) Rémi (11th gen)
th
Emilio (101796-
gen(…)
(diablerie)) Rémi th
(11(…)gen)
1812-
1796- (…) 1812- (…)

Pietro Giovanni (8th gen) Angelo Giovanni (11th gen)

1906-1998 (departed) 1939-1998 (departed)

Pietro Giovanni (8th gen) Angelo Giovanni (11th gen)

Sandro Giovanni (9th gen) Flora Giovanni (9th gen) Caterina (12ththgen)
Giovanni(11 gen)
Pietro Giovanni
1906-1998 (8th gen)
(departed) Angelo Giovanni
1939-1998 (departed)
1951-1998 (departed)
1906-1998 (departed) 1970-1998 (departed) 1982-(departed)
1939-1998 (…)
Sandro Giovanni (9th gen) Flora Giovanni (9th gen) Caterina Giovanni (12th gen)
Sandro Giovanni
1951-1998 (9th gen)
(departed) Flora Giovanni (9th gen) Caterina Giovanni th
1970-1998 (departed) 1982- (…) (12 gen)
1951-1998 (departed) 1970-1998 (departed) 1982- (…)

The Lasombra Lord (6th gen)

Pre-1000-1453 (†)
th
The Lasombra Lord (6 gen)
Pierro Bargadino (7th thgen)
The Lasombra Lord(†)
Pre-1000-1453 (6 gen)
1386-1564 (†)
Pre-1000-1453 (†)
Pierro Bargadino (7th gen)
Neve Rosetti (8thPierro Bodyguards (8th gen)
gen) Bargadino (7th gen)
1386-1564 (†)
1504- (…) 1386-1564 (†) 1505-1532 to 1564 (†)

Neve Rosetti (8th gen) Bodyguards (8th gen)

Neve Rosetti (8th gen)
1504- (…) Bodyguards
1505-1532 (8th (†)
to 1564 gen)
1504- (…) 1505-1532 to 1564 (†)
Frederic Vonzel (12th gen)
1950s-1967 (departed)

Frederic Vonzel (12th gen)

Frederic Vonzel
1950s-1967 (12th gen)
(departed)
1950s-1967 (departed)

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could find refuge: Bordeaux. Wandering in the streets trying
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her nature, and asked her who she was. Neve told him
she had important information and needed to meet the
Princess to tell her valuable information in exchange for
the city’s protection. She told Hélène everything, about
her brothers, the Sabbat, the diablerie, and Hélène accepted
to protect her, and made sure the diablerists were destroyed.
And her secret kept. Hélène presented Neve as her own
childe.

Neve Rosetti KEY SETTING ELEMENTS

Harpy
BACKGROUND
At sixteen, Neve was married to Vittore Rosetti, who
was about to leave to the indies. He hoped to create a
heir before his leaving, but Neve did not
become pregnant before his departure, and when he came
back to Florence, he was quickly tasked to go to Bayonne.
During the six years during which Vittore was absent,
Neve paid someone to teach her to read the letters he
wrote to her every two months, and while she was not
particularly fond of him, she did not hate him, and he
cared and provided well for her, even if she was expected
to take care of children and listen to her god-awful mother
in law (who was a widow and lived at their house). Vittore
decided to take Neve along for the trip to Bayonne as
he had barely had enough time to enjoy his wife.
Pierre Bragadino welcomed them at his house at their
arrival in 1504. He had been embraced in 1386 by a man
who was never named. Pierre would only say “my sire”
when talking about him. Vittore was one of the richest
merchants with Mediterranean access, and Pierre wanted
what was best for his house. And he dominated Vittore
to tell him his wife had fallen off the boat on their way
back, as he had found her fascinating. She was embraced
the night of Vittore’s departure, for companionship. Others
were embraced by Pierre, but they were for protection.
In 1532, the Inquisition was on its way, and Pierre became
oppressive to his childer, to keep them put so they wouldn’t
be hunted like dogs, but he destroyed two of them for
being too visible, too open about their powers. The others
became insecure, and Pierre became more authoritarian.
And then the brood joined the Sabbat and diablerized
Pierre in 1563.
Neve is a Lasombra, but “adopted” by Hélène de
Chantraine, she acts like a Ventrue and recites her lineage
just as well as anyone else. She feared the Sabbat as she
would become prime target if found out, and she believes
the clan joining the Camarilla is a ploy.
Neve admired Hélène, how she manipulated men, and
how her own sire Clotilde had taught her that. Of course
she kept a low profile, challenging the Princess’ influences
whom she owed her unlife to was not wise.
Neve really liked Richarde Vaillet and Louis de la
Forcade, the Parisian Toreadors. She was close friends
with them, so when Xavier and Roland Dax claimed they
were plotting against Hélène, and Hélène raging and going
to try and kill them both herself without due process
was fishy, at best.
Neve welcomed Aude de Volange, but she wasn’t openly
friends with her despite their common interests in culture
and art. Hélène would not have approved.
Hélène’s embrace of Boyer did not work as
intended, he was less useful than planned and the Terror
struck. Aude had left to Greece until things calmed down,
and Neve considered following, but she just hid in a secret
haven instead. Neve resents Boyer for his absence, as well
as Lambert and Xavier for not having defended their Princess.
Once all Sabbat and Anarchs and things calmed down,
after Hélène’s death, Neve only resurfaced in 1815. Aude
helped her claim back some privileges to the new Marquise,
Madeleine, and Neve became a Harpy thanks to Aude.
Aude left in 1830 to Italy, and never came back. Neve
sent blood bound mortals look for her, but nothing was
found, and when in 1892, young Adriano
Guicciardini showed up from Florence, he claimed to be
Aude’s childe, and Neve demanded he’d be executed for
Aude’s death. Sadly, a thaumaturgical test proved the lineage
was true and he had not diablerized. Neve decided to
just observe the man and not openly be hostile towards
him.
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Observing traditions, Neve asked Marquise Madeleine During the recent Sabbat Raid, Neve was discussing
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for authorization to have a ghoul, Stéphane Régis, a strong with Thomas. She quickly went into hiding through what
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She didn’t really obtain it as Boyer seized praxis, so she launched a surprise attack… but instead, she hid in the
went ahead and ghouled him anywy. Neve, like Madeleine Theater toilets, making sure nobody would see her feet
and Tarcisus, went into hiding until the war was over. under the stall. Stéphane, her ghoul, but most importantly,
Prior to WWII, she met Thomas Durieux, a fasci-nating Thomas, were among the victims.
young Ventrue, whom she shared key sarcastic remarks
and other mundanities. During WWII, Neve kept hidden, WHAT SHE WANTS NOW
but after the war, she found Thomas. The Toreador exhibit The situation is alarming, Neve feels unsafe, and she
was over, but there were many other subjects. The war deeply mourns Thomas’ passing. Nobody would replace
had cost the unlives of two harpies, Joseph Gilon, one him, as the both of them just finished each other sentences
of Hélène’s childer, and Honoré Wallou, childe of Aude in such a harmonious way. How will the situation evolve
de Volange. Neve and Jean-Pierre Griffin were the last with Claudia now that Thomas isn’t here anymore? She
remaining ones, and Jean-Pierre “accepted” (or rather, he remains very paranoid that someone would find out she
did not object) Thomas Durieux becoming a harpy. is indeed a Lasombra, and not a Ventrue.
Neve and Thomas had such a harmony in their harpy
roles, they would attack the same victim one at the time,
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
hitting the poor person’s reputation one after the other
in such a dancing and rhythmed pace. You like to throw shade and spill tea, but you pick
your victims carefully among those of less status than you.
Thomas’ coterie friend Claudia Vonïgner was a pain,
You’re well-mannered, and while you have adapted to modern
she kept reminding him of the good old times, and Thomas
ways, you’re still a proper woman knowing your place
only spoke to her out of politeness. They still spent a
in society, and benefiting from it by not exposing yourself.
lot of time together, something Neve
You dearly miss Thomas, but perhaps one of the old or
never really understood, perhaps because old habits die
new faces could display the same critiques as you.
hard. Neve always found her pathetic, clingy, but Thomas
was always there to use his diplomacy talent to keep both
of them calm.
Alicia’s embrace was a delightful event, and
because of her nerve, she basically claimed the Harpy title
for herself when she later humiliated her sire at his own
exhibition. Neve is quite sad Alicia and Adriano get along,
else she would find a way to attack the man who deprived
her of Aude de Volange.
Tania’s Immortal Women’s Club wanted Neve, the
prestigious childe of Hélène de Chantraine, to join, but
she quickly refused. Neve knew that if such a club was
successful, all men would promptly boycott their efforts,
and it is easier for Neve to navigate the misogyny of the
world and use its weakness for her own gain. Behind each
important man is a woman, after all. She still respected
Tania’s efforts and her female strikes harmed Boyer enough
to entertain Neve.
Neve and Boyer found themselves to be allies when
the Giovanni and then Adriano became the stock
holders of Boyer’s companies he had groomed ever since
his living days. Neve advised Boyer to tackle the Giovanni
influences to destroy the Toreador politically, and renovating
the docks would eventually drive them out of the city.
Soon, Adriano would pay for what he did to Aude.

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RELATIONS TO OTHERS To Claudia Vonïgner: Claudia was Neve’s rival for
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Aude de Volange, but it is more about status than the
Thomas died), but she won’t try to talk to her alone,
actual job itself. Neve mostly uses her position to gossip
after all, she is a Tremere who might find out her secret…
and have social fun.
And she is jealous of the relation she had with Thomas.
To Jean-Pierre Griffin: he earned his position fair and
To Adriano: Neve thinks Adriano is behind the disappea-
square by humiliating Louis Barbier de la Serre, and then
rance of Aude de Volange, even if it was proved he was
his own sire. Neve publicly avoids him (she might become
her childe and did not diablerize her. Publicly she remains
his target!), and privately admires his nerve and courage.
polite and sort of friendly, but privately she’s trying to
To Alicia Vandenstree: fierce and ambitious young find dirt on him.
shark, Neve won’t underestimate her. Thank-fully her ambi-
To Boyer: Neve resents how he didn’t stay to
tion was redirected to Laure Nolveaux, the Elysium Keeper.
defend his sire Hélène when she was in danger, but she
Neve publicly throws a comment at Alicia every now and
is keeping it quiet, as she wasn’t exactly there either.
then, depending on the situation, but never about her,
mostly during Urbain’s vernissages, and privately avoids To upcoming PCs: Neve has little reason to care about
her. newcomers, she’s unlikely to approach them, and if she
does, she’ll be extremely careful.
To Thomas Durieux: Neve misses Thomas dearly, they
thought alike, they shared the same mind leaps, it was
the perfect relationship. They never met outside of Elysium,
however.

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Mentophis
Patriach
BACKGROUND
Nigel Edward Widow was born in the poorest district
of London, and grew up in a family of seven (plus another
family) in a small flat just under the roof. His grand-mother
raised him and taught him how to read and write, something
quite rare in the middle of the 18th century. Quickly,
to survive, he started to steal and get some extra pennies
from Willy, the reseller. When Willy passed away in 1744,
Nigel took over the little business, and managed to bring
his entire family out of misery into regular poverty. His
official business was clock-maker and locksmith, but while
he stopped plain pick-pocketing (too dangerous), everything
else was fair business.
He married a housekeeper, whom he had helped because
she had lost a key and did not want her bosses to find
out, and life was great, until his friends at the police retired
and the new inspector was incorruptible. He told his wife
he was out for tobacco, and with all the savings he could
gather, jumped on the first ship to the colonies, landing
in Egypt.
Seeing all of the wonders and artifacts, Nigel saw an
opportunity, and financed a small expedition to Luxor,
where he was told he’d be able to pillage some tombs
for good gold. The party was taken down,
locked up, and told that only one would make it out
alive. Nigel told his companions to look for an exit, grabbed
a knife and hid under the curtains, until the mercenaries
started killing each other.
When only one remained, Nigel, who wasn’t exactly
a fighter, used surprise to his advantage. Heka, the man
who had told him Luxor was the place to be, was looking
for a childe with this little trial, and Nigel had shown
cunning and quick-thinking abilities. He earned his embrace,
after all!
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placed it in a jar, and told him that if something happened
to it, it would happen to him too. Nigel became the guardian
of Heka’s temple, and listened for six whole years all about
the return of Set, the divine times, unimaginable powers
and so on. It was pathetic, Nigel was much more realistic.
It took him that long to find the right vase containing
his heart, and when he did so, he poured oil and lit up
the place as he left Luxor. Heka’s screams of agony were
music to his ears.
Nigel spent a few years wandering in different
boats before settling somewhere on the Mediterranean,
among traveling show people, with their caravans and routes.
He ghouled one of the handymen, Vim, found himself
a small sun-proof trailer, and used his disciplines to impress
the public, in a subtle but meaningful way. He quickly
became “professor Mentophis”, a stage name reminding
him of Heka’s over the top sermons, and Vim made sure
he wasn’t bothered during the day. For about thirty years,
he traveled with the group, bonding entire families, seeing
them be born, grow and even die.
He met Emilio, whose mother was a Gitana who had
joined the caravan as a pregnant teen. Emilio was a quick-
minded kid who had made himself right at home by protecting
the dancer with patrons, helping other showmen with their
tricks, and finding solutions with authorities. Mentophis
embraced him in 1796.
Vim got jealous, staking Emilio during the day, and
told Mentophis that Emilio was a phony. Vim was going
to decapitate Emilio with the hatchet, but Mentophis made
it out of the day’s torpor enough to convince Vim that
he would punish Emilio himself, that he was right. Vim
gave his weapon to his master, who promptly decapitated
the ghoul, and he fell back asleep. At night, Mentophis
woke up, freed Emilio, and tasked him to get rid of the
body. A strange thing, how time suddenly accelerated and
affected the remains of his ghoul of almost 40 years.
In 1802, tired of the nomad life, Emilio and Mento-
phis settled near Bordeaux, where they found Rémi and
his boss, Herman, in opium saloons. Mentophis blood bound
the two of them, and seeing Rémi as a talented show-
runner, embraced him in 1812. The life in the suburbs
was boring, but the brothels and opium saloons were very
lucrative; mortals could see action, but light was dim enough
for it to be nothing supernatural. Vampires would often
use those facilities to hunt.

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their networks of criminal influences on the east bank.
Mentophis also plotted to convince certain Brujah and
Gangrel kindred to leave for an ideological crusade against
the Restauration, which was followed by the Spring of
Nations as it would be known later. The Setites stole their
turf and got more business, and many didn’t make it back.
Emilio got himself the services of an independent ghoul,
a cunning fierce and very skilled woman that went by
the name of Henriette. She is to this day one of the best
bread-winners of the bunch, and has been proved very
loyal.
Surprisingly, the Tremere Regent Tarcisus came to
meet Mentophis and offer them an alliance in the 1820s,
as the political tides were changing, supporting each other
would be beneficial. Truth was that Tarcisus was more
interested in Mentophis as a person and asked a lot of
questions about his unlife and his clan, more than working
on the actual political alliance. Mentophis decided to milk
this so-called alliance for everything it was worth.
In1901,AdrianoGuicciardini,arecentlyarrivedToreador
embraced in Italy by the former Toreador Primogen, started
getting into the prostitution business. The Setites weren’t
exactly allowed to politically fight it, as they weren’t
Camarilla, but they infiltrated the Toreador’s ranks and
destroyed it from within. Henriette’s work was laudable.
During WWII, Tarcisus became Prince, and held the
city with an iron fist until his political base
crumbled because he didn’t have enough allies both among
his Camarilla peers, and among mortals. All eggs in the
same basket type of error. Mentophis had kept his heart
in a safe-deposit box in a bank, and after the war, the
object was gone. Stolen. The vase with his heart, disappeared!
After a small “talk”, the bank director told Mentophis
that it had been pillaged by the German army.
After Tarcisus left, Lyle Kersten took over, and told
Mentophis that the alliance was off and the Setites wouldn’t
get anything from them. Mentophis is now more or less
certain that it’s the Tremere who have his heart, and are
keeping it somewhere in the Chantry or god-knows-where
to use when needed.
Adriano sold off his prostitution networks (as
brothels became illegal in France after the war) to the
Giovanni in the 1970s. The Giovanni not being Camarilla
either meant open war, but this Pietro Giovanni was hard-
boiled and good at his job. They had also attacked the
Prince’s influences, buying off many of his assets, and as
such, the Setites had Boyer as an ally in their rivalry.
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In the late 1990s, Boyer obtained vengeance against
theGiovanni,withalargedockreconstructionandrehabilitation
project: it harmed the Giovanni’s business so badly that
they had to leave town, only leaving behind a recently
embraced ghoul, Caterina, who’s now hunting game for
the three of them.
Mentophis has been keeping an eye out on all private
collectors, auctions, exhibitions, museums… He even tried
to get into the Chantry, the old one, but there’s a god
damn monster in its walls. Or rather, inside the actual
stones of the walls. The new one is far too secure. He
also tried getting information from Dominique Lejeune,
who’s friends with his childer, but he doesn’t seem to
know anything.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Mentophis was enjoying
himself in one of the largest castles north of the Domain,
where he had more or less infiltrated one of those new
sects born in the 1980s, and used it to accumulate wealth
and a nice herd of willing sheep. He would have liked
to get into the Chantry (the new one, the Hotel) during
the attack to look for his heart.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Mentophis wants his heart, he wants Caterina dead,
and he wants to carry on his schemes and network. He
would also like to get back at the Tremere for abandoning
their treaty without any compensation whatsoever, and
hopes to find proper leverage on Dominique Lejeune to
actively ask him to look for his heart.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re an extravagant showman. It’s clear to most you
don’t believe a word of the act, but it’s all about playing
the part. You’re a crook and a guru, they can admire
you or leave. Don’t demand attention, they’ll give it to
you on their own, and if they don’t, they’re not worth
your time.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Nothing in particular beyond what you’ve just read.
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Emilio
Pimp
BACKGROUND
Carmen Sanchez ran away from home because she
was pregnant and was not married. She met a group of
travelers and joined them, hoping to find a new life with
baby Emilio. She was good at reading cards and people,
to trick them and know what they wanted to hear, and
life on the caravan was good.
The hypnotist and professor who was one of the big
shows of the troupe asked, through Vim, to meet Emilio,
and Emilio learnt a lot from the old man. He looked
in his thirties, but Carmen said he was at least fifty, which
was weird. Mentophis was great at scamming and ripping
naïve clients, and Emilio became his apprentice. After a
few years, Mentophis told him he had met someone in
Egypt (where he had learnt all those hypnosis tricks) and
he had become a vampire. Emilio was thankful for the
trust, and a few years later, he was embraced. Carmen
found it weird that her son would now live with a man,
but that question was quickly… solved.
Vim got jealous a little after his embrace, staking Emilio
during the day, and told Mentophis that Emilio was a
phony, that he had been loyal all these years, why didn’t
he get the same gift? Vim was going to decapitate Emilio
with the hatchet, but Mentophis made it out of the day’s
torpor enough to convince Vim that he would punish
Emilio himself, that he was right. Vim gave his weapon
to his master, who promptly decapitated the ghoul. At
night, Mentophis woke up, freed Emilio, and tasked him
to get rid of the body. Vim’s body looked
much older than he had looked before. He dropped the
ballasted body in the river; the caravan would be long
gone before it would be found.
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phis settled near Bordeaux, where they found Rémi and
his boss, Herman, in opium saloons. Mentophis blood bound
the two of them. Emilio became close friends with Rémi,
who was bright and could get any drug at any time, for
a price. Sometimes Emilio and Rémi would share a woman
(for different needs). Bored, however, and about to move
to Bordeaux itself, Emilio asked Mentophis to embrace
Rémi, which he did in 1812.
In 1814, the trio moved to actual Bordeaux itself and
officially asked for Hospitality to the recently appointed
Marquise Madeleine. They obtained it, and started creating
their networks of criminal influences on the east bank.
Emilio invested heavily in the sex sector, making sure pimps
would follow his word to the letter, and doing what was
necessary for the girls to know who the boss was now.
Emilio got himself the services of an independent ghoul,
a cunning fierce and very skilled woman that went by
the name of Henriette. She is to this day one of the best
bread-winners of the bunch, and has been proved very
loyal. Taking a ghoul with many blood bonds was dangerous,
but she was looking for a sole master, to settle. Emilio
prostituted her for twenty years as a test of loyalty, which
she passed, as the most expensive escort of the city, the
most perverse too, and she was rewarded with her own
saloon under the nickname of Madam Emma. She was
sometimes tasked to find prey or other “meat”.
Emilio met Dominique Lejeune in a bar fight,
where he saw how his arm got broken, and healed. Dominique
was a perfect first-of-the-class Tremere among his peers,
but he loved gratuitous violence and “good fun”. He’d
often pay up for the bar’s losses and there was no permanent
harm, most of the time. They began hanging out together,
with Rémi, more or less forming what would be a coterie.
Hunting’s more fun than having a herd anyway. A few
years later, Jean-Baptiste Degniffe, a Tremere neonate and
Dominique’s blood brother, joined them to the lifestyle.
Yves Degras joined the group for a little while until
he came to Emilio one night, explaining his sire had been
weak, and he had diablerized him. His blood brother walked
on them, and he would have gotten him too, but he was
too quick to reach Elysium, and now the whole city was
after him. Every-thing had a price, Yves was willing to
pay Emilio to be taken to safety, but Emilio decided that
the possibility of lowering his generation was more worthy
than any sum of money. Emilio then went to Elysium,
saying Yves had come to ask him for help, but as he was
blood hunted, Emilio refused, to which Yves attacked him,
and Emilio was forced to do to him as he had done to
his sire. Marquise Madeleine wasn’t convinced, but there
was nothing she could do.
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weren’t his, but from Yves and Daniel (Yves’ sire). Plenty he wasn’t here to judge, but Robert was such a sadistic
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more or less used to it. Daniel and another Ventrue, Hugues
Jason, an erudite from older times, wanted to find some
powerful Noddist artifact in the city. Emilio went to Daniel’s
haven to get his notes before Prévôt cleaned it, but he
found nothing.
Adriano was delicate and wouldn’t get his hand dirty,
and yet he was very talented and managed to take over
a good chunk of the prostitution market. Henriette offered
Emilio to take care of him, and after thinking she would
not be useful as she was just some woman, he allowed
her to do so, as at worst, she’d be a ghoul with too much
zeal. Henriette became a simple prostitute once again,
got herself into the Toreador network, and started creating
chaos. Henriette even managed to find herself a pimp that
was not in any network, but when he entered the Toreador’s
network, she killed him as a lover’s quarrel. Henriette
was sent to prison in 1907. During WWI, Emilio managed
to get her out, and offered her the embrace for her devotion,
but she refused as she would be more useful in broad
daylight than at night.
In 1999, Emilio found one of Caterina’s havens, and
reading through her notes and diagrams, found something
about an “artifact of power”. Emilio now knows she knows
something about the Noddist object, and he must get her
before his brother and sire do. So he’s been distracting
them hoping to be able to grab her and interrogate her
before she meets her maker. He started following Calamity
Jane, who was protecting Caterina through their Club,
but the two chicks were mindful. Impossible to hound
them and their meeting places.
In 2002, Charles Nassau’s ghoul, Laurent de Fonscolombe,
asked Emilio to send him women, like a subscription box.
Emilio doesn’t understand how one can be so lazy, but
business is business, and now he knows where the Brujah
lives.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Henriette and
Emilio were busy disposing of the body of a poor sob.
Snuff movie victims aren’t exactly pretty, or in one piece,
the task was tedious.

Jean-Baptiste’s death in 1925 for Anarch activities (big

no-no for the Tremere) almost involved Domini-que. Emilio WHAT HE WANTS NOW
feared for his friend, but he got through. Emilio wants to find this artifact of power, and knows
TheGiovanniboughtoffAdriano’snetworks,andHenriette the Ventrue and Giovanni are after it. There’s bound to
fought their ghoul, Caterina Giovanni, more than a few be more clues, but those spheres are inaccessi-ble to him
times, sending each other poisoned or infected patrons, at the moment.
stealing each other’s girls and boys. Pietro Giovanni just
had more funds, which kept Emilio from being able to ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
truly get back what was his. However, they had also attacked
You’re a thug, and you’ve accepted that long ago. You
the Prince’s influences, buying off many of his assets, and
don’t care for anything but profit, comfort and fun. Kine
as such, the Setites had the Prince as an ally in their
is cattle and replaceable tools. You know of the darkest
rivalry. Any missteps by the Giovanni would be met with
sides of humanity. It’s not your fault there’s crazy fuckers
the full force of the Camarilla, and the Setites could be
out there, might as well be you providing those paid services
in the grey area without much worry.
than another sob who’d do it halfway.
In the 1990s, Boyer got revenge against the Giovanni,
with a large dock reconstruction and rehabilitation project:
it harmed Giovanni’s business so badly that they had to
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
leave town, only leaving behind a freshly embraced Caterina. Nothing in particular beyond what you’ve just read.
In 1995, Robert Degrelle, a Malkavian, asked Emilio
to show up to Elysium the following night with Julien
Jourdan, a heroin addict who sold his body for drugs.
Emilio agreed as Julien’s pimps and dealers were from
his network. Robert demanded there were no consequences,
regardless of things turned. Marie Jourdan, Robert’s childe,
approached Julien, who was her brother (as Emilio later
found out), and killed him right there in Elysium. Boyer
was about to senten-ce Marie to death, while she was
busy talking to her dead brother, but Emilio spoke up,
as per Robert’s instructions. It was just a mere ghoul,
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Emilio and Rémi took a habit of hunting together,
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Rémi
Merchant
BACKGROUND
Hoping for a better life than the one with his sister,
who had married a boring and disgusting man who had
a grocery store, Rémi wanted to travel without having
to face the dangers of the sea.
His brother, also a sailor, introduced him to other
sailors who had brought opium from faraway lands, and
gave him a contact near Bordeaux, and Rémi
decided to become an opium trader with Herman.
Herman was lazy, enjoyed his own brothel, but didn’t
want to deal, so he offered Rémi to become his
associate.Rémieffectivelyranthebusiness,untiltwovampires
showed up, tied them down, and blood bond them. Mentophis
was scary at first, and Rémi knew his love for him wasn’t
natural, but he didn’t care.
Emilio, however, became his friend, and it was not
forced. Emilio was quick-minded, independent, exactly like
his adored brother who had perished on sea a few years
prior. Emilio would never leave Rémi, one of the benefits
of immortality. After ten years in the brothel, Rémi was
embraced and Herman became his first victim, and then
they moved to Bordeaux itself.
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and they were later joined by Dominique, a first-of-the-
class Tremere who had a different demeanor
outside of Elysium. They were later joined by Jean-Baptiste,
his blood brother, and the four of them became some
sort of a gang. They had a few issues with Prévôt, but
nothing too bad.
The caravan’s contacts helped Rémi have a large network
both of producers and distributors. Over the years and
careful planning, he has managed to put together enough
resources to find everything and anything needed. His
participation in the French Connection was more than
lucrative.
When Emilio diablerized Yves Degras, in 1845, who
was blood hunted for diablerizing his own sire, he confided
in Rémi, about how it was the most intense experience
he had ever felt. Emilio promised Rémi he’d allow him
to feel it too, if they had an opportunity to do so, and
Rémi is very much expecting that opportunity. That’s why
he is now so diligent to hunt down Caterina Giovanni,
she’ll be his prey.
In1901,AdrianoGuicciardini,arecentlyarrivedToreador
embraced in Italy by the former Toreador Primogen, got
into prostitution. The Setites weren’t exactly allowed to
politically fight it, as they weren’t Camarilla, but they
infiltrated the Toreador’s ranks and slowly destroyed it
from within.
Jean-Baptiste’s death in 1925 for Anarch activities had
Dominique keep a low profile. Rémi thought Jean-Baptiste
wanted to be too much like Dominique, or challenged
him. It bit him and the others back. Dominique decided
to be more careful, but he has not abandoned his friends,
even when Lyle Kersten officialy cut the Tremere and
Setite alliance.
The Giovanni bought off Adriano’s sex networks, which
took a toll on the Setites’ profits. However, they had also
attacked the Prince’s influences, buying off many of his
assets, and as such, the Setites had Boyer as an ally in
their rivalry. Any missteps by the Giovanni would be met
with the full force of the Camarilla, and the Setites could
be in the grey area without much worry.
In the late 1990s, Boyer got revenge against the Giovanni,
with a large dock reconstruction and rehabilitation project:
it harmed the Giovanni’s business so badly that they had
to leave town, only leaving behind the ghoul, whom they
had embraced: Caterina Giovanni. Caterina would be Rémi’s
promised meal, and Emilio is working hard to help Rémi
have her.

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were hunting in the Fabrik. Rémi managed to get himself
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money.
WHAT HE WANTS NOW
Rémi admires Emilio as much as he used to admire
his big brother. He also trusts Dominique, who despite
having a bad reputation, kept hanging out with him. Rémi
is thankful for Emilio and Dominique’s friendship, and
would do anything for them. Rémi also wishes to extend
past drugs and other smuggling, and into weapons, but
that’s Brujah territory he’s not prepared to tackle, yet.
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and when to get it. You’re good at it, too. Only Emilio
is really important to you, everything else doesn’t really
matter, and oh boy you’re excited to get that thirst of
Diablerie too. You’re happy to meet the new PCs, perhaps
they’ll be better contacts into the Camarilla locals than
Dominique?
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Nothing in particular beyond what you’ve just read.

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the cover of their illegal activities, Flora explainedtr ato
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some basic tenets of Necromancy and the lexicon of the

Caterina Giovanni
Madam
BACKGROUND
Caterina Giovanni was born in 1954 in Venice. She
soon learned how her father served the immortal branch
of the family, such as her great-great-grand-mother Ernestina
Giovanni, who looked so much younger than her mother.
She was loved and cared for, and her family would always
be there for her. As other children barely understood the
concept of Death, Caterina had met immortals, knew about
ghosts, and much more. At 16, Diego Giovanni sat her
down for a talk, she was to be sent to Bordeaux with
a small group of her extended family. She needed to finish
school there and learn from undead relatives.
Caterina was nervous, she knew of some of the clans’
secrets, and had met other vampires, but this time, she’d
work for them. So they arrived in Bordeaux in 1972, with
a welcome invitation as the local Prince had an offer in
theBerettacompany(Caterinadidn’tgetthedetails,corporate
finances and aggressive take-overs were complicated
material), and bought off Adriano Guicciardini his
prostitution networks to get a proper pied-à-terre. As
brothels were just deemed illegal, he had trouble maintaining
the network in the criminal world, so Giovanni expertise
was on point for such a task.
Adriano was actually a Lippomano, a Venetian like
her, and had been adopted by the clan sometime in the
1800s. However, Caterina, who had been raised by private
tutors and had seen more wealth in one room than anyone
would see in their entire life, had a hard time adapting
at “regular normal school”. He even heard comments from
the other teens, calling her a macaroni, telling her to go
back home. If only they had known, they would have thrown
themselves at her feet! So she took care of her undead
tutors, the household, and else, but did not intervene in
their kindred affairs.
world of the dead, Sandro took her to the field so she’d
reassure some of the women working for him when he
and the pimps had been too rough on them, and Angelo
was the most interesting of them all. He was ghouled
very young, as no leukemia would deprive the family such
a promising relative, he had a gift to study and
understand the occult. Caterina even managed to not notice
anymore how his eyes were uncannily too
close to each other, and he explained how in the past,
some artifact hidden within the city’s walls had
seriously troubled the underworld.
In 1980, she was awarded the status of ghoul, and
given more complex tasks. She was to protect the girls
from the Setite attacks, as she found out her clan was
not the only one on the sector. She met Henriette Samdin,
or Riki, one of the Setite ghouls, and they fought hard,
sending each other infested mortals, poisoned flowers, inti-
midate the competition and more. The fight wasn’t on
equal footing, as the Prince clearly favored the Setites
after the Giovanni used their Trojan horse to buy back
every stock of Beretta, and then most if not all of the
Prince’s assets in 1977. And yet, Henriette sent some of
their toughest pimps to teach Caterina a lesson (which
was fine, as Caterina, as a ghoul, she was resilient), in
exchange of which Caterina sent belladonna to Henriette,
to let her know she had received her “gift”. In 1982, Adriano
sold some weapons to Tania in exchange for a boon she
had with the Prince, which he then “exchanged” to Pietro,
who then gave it to Angelo for an embrace right.
Boyer wasn’t happy about it, but he had to accept,
and Caterina was embraced by Angelo (with Diego’s previous
authorization), and was freed to the court. As if one could
be free from their own family.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Because locals can’t (or don’t want to) pronounce any
Italian name correctly, Caterina lets others call her Catherine
(Adriano asks to be called Adrien).
After her embrace, Caterina could finally put faces
on the names she’d been hearing about: the Setites, the
Prince, Adriano, and plenty others... He was nick-named
the Bastard, but also the Walker, but he felt in his core
what was happening on the other side of the Sudario.
That proved to Caterina and many others that even if
he had been embraced by a Toreador, Adriano was part
of the family.

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In the late 1990s, Boyer got his precious revenge, and WHAT HE WANTS NOW
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the dock renovations cost them all of official Giovanni
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was a Toreador and as such, kept his credibility and his
own assets), and Caterina, who was tasked to rebuild some
base of power, and keep an eye on Adriano.
Before leaving, Angelo asked Caterina to keep an eye
out for that artifact of power, who had disturbed the
underworld during the 12th but also the 17th century.
Tracked down despite Adriano’s help, Caterina decided
to ask for Tania’s help, as well as Calamity Jane and Sandrine
(who later died, diablerized in 2000 by a Lasombra). The
Immortal Women’s Club’s resources are there to protect
her. Tania tried to get Boyer to stop being so biased,
but her own actions against the Prince made her plea
worthless. She did provide plenty of havens and protected
Caterina when confronted by Rémi.
Because her Kiss is painful, Caterina used to hunt
with Dominate. She since changed her ways, building for
herself a herd that would serve both for food, and for
protection against the snakes: she blood bound as many
thugs and pimps of her former network as she could, and
they welcome her painful kiss as evidence that she loves
and cares for them. She also ghouled Damien Yernaux,
her lover back when she was still a mere mortal, a dreaming
young man, student in Law but who lived in Arcachon
(he couldn’t afford a local studio so he took the train)
who loved to draw.
Knowing Boyer would call a blood hunt on her if
she gave him any opportunity to do so, Caterina is very
careful to never attack the Setites, nor their influences,
but she has kept some sort of local resources through
high end escorts (Calamity Jane and Tania liked it better
than women forced into sex work, and Caterina agreed,
willing workers are just so much more profitable), and
of course, her family’s bank account.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Caterina was with
Charles Nassau, and both his ghoul Laurent de Fonsco-
lombe and hers, Damien Yernaux, talking about how certain
political ideas had a hard time fighting off their inertia.
She later found out Tania died as a warrior during said
raid (as she would have wanted to, Caterina guessed).
Calamity Jane took over the Club, she’s not as bright
nor as wordy, but she compensates by having stronger
fists.
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has been helpful, even if her clan doesn’t really trust him,
and it seems he has a plan to obtain unexpected help.
She does need any help she can find, and
appreciates it, as she is bound to have to face the Setites,
and perhaps at some point the Prince himself. Her current
agenda is to be likable and helpful to anyone who would
provide her support.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You’re high society, you’re from the most famous, the
richest, the most influential family, and they
adore you. You may be young, but your heritage
speaks for itself. You may not demand it, but they should
respect and appreciate your company. You can provide
many unique services, and you’ll exchange those for safety
and some boons that will get the Prince off your back,
without a doubt. The PCs will certainly have lots to gain
in helping you, and you know it.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
Caterina is on the run, so she hasn’t really had the
time to socialize.
To Riki (Henriette): their rivalry came to an end when
Caterina was embraced, but Caterina hasn’t forgotten her.
To the Setites: Caterina hates them and their tactics.
To Adriano: Caterina thinks he’s talented, and she
does think he is part of the family, due to his unique
connection to the Underworld. Caterina hopes to learn
from him.
To the Women’s Club: Caterina doesn’t really actively
share their ideals, but Tania, Suzanne and Sandrine (before
she passed) are interesting. The Club is a means of survival,
and she is thankful.

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Some ghouls are worth noticing and give a special

section to explore their individual stories. These are
far from being the only ghouls recognized as part
of Court in some way or another, so if you need
other ghouls, feel free to add them as you go.
Other ghouls mentioned are:
• Céline, the personal ghoul of the Prince who
serves as Seneschal;
• David Gourmet, Chriss’ ghoul;
• Ben, Steph, Ray, Sergio and Mouloud, the five
ghouls who help Suzanne Gourand with her
“protection” racketing;
• Damien Yernaux, Caterina Giovanni’s ghoul.
• Aleister Spencer, Mikaël Hörsman’s ghoul (or
rather, the Chantry Library’s de facto caretaker).

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by Théodore when he tried to avenge his daughter’s honor.

Antigone de
Fonscolombe
Setite ghoul
BACKGROUND
Daughter of Jean-Baptiste de Fonscolombe and the
love of his life, Marie-Jeanne Deloyer, an adventurous woman
on her way to see the world, Antigone grew up with her
father, her mother having left to explore the rest of the
world. Separated, her parents actually kept good relations
and wrote to each other often, and it was clear that baby-
girl Antigone would be better off raised by her dad than
by her mom.
Jean-Baptiste had run away with Marie-Jeanne at 18,
taking as many riches of his noble family as he could,
and settled in Bordeaux, where he used
criminals to make his little capital grow. Jean-
Baptiste wasn’t exactly a man of virtue, but he loved his
daughter and did everything he could to give her the best
education he could, which is why she was in full pension
(coming home only during week-ends and summer). To
make money, Jean-Baptiste lent money to the Biolleys,
a wealthy industrial family who wasn’t making ends meet
due to the war requisitions. Aged 15, in 1750, Antigone
met Théodore Biolley, who was two years older and began
working for her dad as his father had died leaving him
with all the family debt to pay off. Théodore was young,
fit, and charming, and Antigone’s experiments at the pension
weren’t exactly fulfilling. She kept the saint attitude with
her father, but decided to get Théodore to be her first.
It took her a few weeks of heavy flirts for him to get
the message and succumb to temptation.
Théodore was passionate and they would see each other
as often as possible, until two years into their liaison,
the muscle decided to confess he was in love with her.
Antigone was disgusted. How dare he put them on equal
footing? How dare he think he even has a chance?
Antigone, now an orphan, was given a tutor to manage
her and her inheritance until she found a husband, as
her family wanted nothing with her father. Antigone
manipulated her tutor and other men to try and find
Théodore, and get revenge. Théodore had become a bandit,
and she used her father’s criminal contacts, as well as
girly persuasion as she puts it, to try and get him out
of his cover.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Hélène de Chantraine noticed Antigone, and
offered her eternal youth in exchange for her servitude;
after all, Antigone was gifted, beautiful, and used men
and sex to her advantage and pleasure. Eventually she gave
up on revenge, he had become a lowlife bandit, always
hiding from the police and living in filth, it was satisfying
enough.
Boyer de Fonscolombe moved to Bordeaux after being
appointed to a local “Vatican Embassy” like office, wrote
to his brother saying he would come, but when he arrived,
Antigone told him that Jean-Baptiste had been killed by
one of his henchmen, Théodore Biolley. Boyer swore revenge
for his brother. Seeing all of the potential of her uncle,
Antigone told him the truth about vampires and how
she had become a ghoul. The two of them decided to
take over the city, as ghouls tended to be overlooked,
they would never see it coming. Antigone got her uncle
to “casually meet” Hugues Jason, a childe of her Domitor,
and after many months of efforts, he obtained the prized
status of a ghoul.
When Hélène died during the Terror, Boyer
helped his niece by sharing with her Hugues’ blood (who
used bottles and didn’t see the difference). Much to her
displeasure, she found out Théodore didn’t die in the mud,
but he was in fact embraced by a Brujah; revenge was
back on her priority list. Antigone had to remain more
or less hidden, as she did not want to let Théodore know
she had a foot in the world of Kindred, which is why
important kindred couldn’t become her Domitor. She had
to pick a marginal one, whose blood wouldn’t have terrible
consequences on her (excluding Gangrel, Nosferatu and
Malkavian candidates). She stayed without an official
domitor for decades.

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(the nickname her mother had when she seduced Casanova),
found herself a Domitor in Emilio, one of the young Setites
who had just arrived. As a test, Emilio put her on the
streets, even if Boyer disapproved, she was very good at
turning any situation to her advantage, and that helped
her keep a close eye on the Setites and their businesses.
Being in Setite ranks helped Antigone fight his influences
and infiltrate his networks, as the Snakes competed with
the Brujah for those fields of influence.
Antigone became one of the most perverse and expensive
prostitutes of the city, making sure her prices were too
high for people to become regulars (and notice her not
aging). She shared the podium with a pair of twins, Paulette
and Josianne.
to each other and other nice gestures (poisoned flowers,
a client loaded with as many STIs as possible…) but Caterina
was eventually embraced in 1982. Antigone misses her play-
partner.
To test waters and understand why Adriano Guicciardini
had such a strange variety of interests, Antigone decided
to get herself offered a “tour of the facilities” of the different
weapons and industry factories which are now under his
control (used to belong to the Prince, then to the Giovanni,
then to Adriano who had “made a better offer”). She then
made sure rumors of a raid on the facilities would circulate
and whispered it might be kindred-sponsored. The soup
is brewing, and Antigone is now waiting to see who sits
at the table.

By 1836, Antigone was given her own brothel to manage
as she had to “retire”. She could get a more hands on
experience working for the clan and finding out more
details about other kindred, clans and other details for
her and Boyer’s plan.
In 1837, Boyer and Antigone realized they had too
little information about the Nosferatu. Antigone
decided to get to know more about Jean-Claude, a Nosferatu
who loved gossip and anything he could use to blackmail
the rich and powerful of the city. Especially when prostitutes
were involved. Boyer and Antigone plotted to make sure
Jean-Claude would hear about the twins Paulette and
Josianne, who had become old and had many stories to
share. The plan worked as a few years later, both were
presented to the Marquise Madeleine as Mariette and Disette.
Antigone talked to them about “the good old days”.
Antigone worked for the Setites to tackle Adriano
Guicciardini’s influences in the prostitution sector, at the
beginning of the 20th century. She became a prostitute
again and worked her way into the Guicciardini network
to sabotage it from within, through favoring one pimp
over another, and helped by Boyer’s falsifying talents, create
discord. Adriano being a good Camarilla Toreador, however,
the Setites weren’t able to really destabilize him as much
as they had hoped. Antigone even found herself an indepen-
dent pimp who joined Adriano’s network, then she murdered
him, and got jailed for the “crime of passion”, as it was
a purely mortal affair. Emilio offered to embrace her for
her efforts but she refused, and he freed her from prison
in 1916. Adriano eventually had to sell his assets to the
Giovanni.
During the recent Sabbat Raids, Henriette and
Laurent were with their respective Domitors.
Both ghouls communicate often and regularly
about their respective findings.
WHAT SHE WANTS NOW
Antigone wants revenge on Théodore, but she also
wants to have fun. She loves men, their uses and obedience.
She also loves playing the games of kindred and tackling
them “from underneath”, when they don’t expect them.
She’s cautious about not being noticed by Théodore’s men,
so they wouldn’t describe her to him (he could recognize
her!), but so far, all good.
ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
You are impish, relaxed, and you know your worth.
You play good servant to Emilio, but the master isn’t
the vampire. You can be well-mannered, educated and
the perfect escort and companion, but you can also be
as vulgar and crude as needed. You were one over two
different periods known as the most expensive and most
pervert prostitute of the city, and you knew all of high
society’s dirty secrets and special kinks. You’re not judging,
you enjoy the power, and sex is always a great added
bonus.
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
They’re all toys and disposable assets. Upcoming PCs
in particular could get her intel about Théodore, but she
must be careful so he doesn’t find out.

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was killed, Boyer found another Ventrue, Joseph Gilon,

Laurent de
Fonscolombe
Plotter
BACKGROUND
Antigone’s uncle, Joseph Boyer de Fonscolombe, was
the only member of her extended family who had kept
contact with Jean-Baptiste de Fonscolombe. They were
brothers, but Jean-Baptiste was disowned when he stole
all he could and left the city with his lover, some adventurous
woman incapable of fidelity (but who made Jean-Baptiste
happy, and they seemed to be head over heels with each
other).
Boyer became politically and administratively involved
in the family’s lands, serving the clergy without becoming
a direct member, and his diplomatic roles that had him
travelalloverWesternEurope.BoyerwasappointedApostolic
Internuncio by the Vatican, due to his family’s importance.
Boyer tried to find his brother and finally located him
in 1750, in Bordeaux, and visited him and his niece. Boyer
disapproved of his brother’s activities, but they were family,
and Boyer profoundly loved his brother. Even if he was
a crook.
KEY SETTING ELEMENTS
Boyer moved to Bordeaux after being appointed to
a local “Vatican Embassy” like office, wrote to his brother
saying he would come, but when he arrived, Antigone
told him that Jean-Baptiste had been killed by one of
his henchmen, Théodore Biolley. Boyer swore revenge as
well. Seeing all of the potential of her uncle, Antigone
told him the truth about vampires and how she had become
a ghoul. The two of them decided to take over the city,
as ghouls tended to be overlooked, they would never see
it coming. Antigone got her uncle to “casually meet” Hugues
Jason, a childe of her Domitor, and after many months
of efforts, he obtained the prized status of a ghoul.
to work for, under the same conditions and after a couple
of long decades, Antigone, under the nickname of Henriette,
finally found herself another Domitor in Emilio, one of
the young Setites who had just arrived. As a test, Emilio
put “Henriette” on the streets, even if Boyer disapproved,
she was not a child and she was very good at turning
any situation to her advantage, and that helped her keep
a close eye on the Setites. Boyer screeches every time he
sees Antigone become as vulgar and disrespected, but she
uses it to her advantage and Boyer admits her skill when
it came to make sure all favored her. To this day, he
still has a hard time accepting what Antigone is doing.
Boyer found papers about the Noddist artifact in Hugues’
haven as he cleared it during the Terror. He became obsessed
with finding it. Such item of power would be incredibly
useful for his and Antigone’s desire to take over the city.
BoyerwasofficiallypresentedtoThéodoreatthebeginning
of the 19th century, and they both faked not knowing
about each other. Théodore is suspicious of Boyer and
Boyer knows it, but they’ve kept civil.
Boyer had an influences rival, Elisabeth Vrancken. He
decided to solve two problems at once, took the old artifact
papers, erased the old ink and wrote new text with the
similar handwriting, indicating locations that would be
just in the middle of Théodore’s domain. He then planted
the document in the university archives, and waited. It
worked wonderfully, even more so than expected, as
Théodore killed her, and he had to justify himself to court.
Boyer and his Domitor inherited Elisabeth’s assets and
pawns with the rest of the Tremere.
In 1837, Boyer and Antigone realized they had too
little information about the Nosferatu. Boyer contacted
Charles-Emmanuel de Corte, the childe of Joseph Gilon,
and influenced him to find out more about Jean-Claude
and Vigo, two Nosferatu who had recently reappeared.
Charles-Emmanuel embraced a mines engineer, Christophe
de Bri-Leveque, and Boyer heard from Joseph that Christophe
had attracted Nosferatu attention when exploring. For
Boyer, there’s no doubt Vigo knew about the artifact, as
he had been following Vrancken’s movements up until
her death, and that the Nosferatu were far more numerous
than they let everyone know. Christophe’s encounter only
confirmed the suspicions.

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In 1887, Boyer found a clue about the artifact, the WHAT HE WANTS NOW
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old Roman ruins, but he couldn’t go further due to the
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closed sections. He has been searching for another way
changes of political structure, its utility is more pressing.
ever since, through the Palais Galien or something like
Laurent remains alert in his steps, and covers his tracks
that, but so far no results. He’s been trying to invest in
carefully.
archaeology and renovations to find out something, but
he’s had not been able to influence the right key decision-
makers. ROLE-PLAYING HINTS
Joseph Gilon died in a bombardment in WWII. Boyer You’re a knowledgeable man of many assets, you’re
thought it might have been retaliation by the Tremere, able to keep humble and just a mere servant to your master,
during the end of their coup, or by Prince Boyer (since but let’s be honest, you couldn’t care any less about Charles.
Joseph Gilon was at odds with his blood brother, who You’re a businessman and treat others as potential partners,
had snooped the Primogen seat, despite Boyer’s best efforts customers or providers. You let others think you know
to help his Domitor’s influences). Out of a Domitor, Boyer you place, and play that role, because you’ll be the one
decided to approach Charles Nassau, the childe of Théodore. laughing at the end.
Charles was ambitious but too lazy to act on such ambitious,
and liked being served, and a powerful and old influential
ghoul wasn’t something to refuse. Antigone is gleeful, and
RELATIONS TO OTHERS
has been thinking of a way to turn this situation against Upcoming PCs could make themselves helpful to find
Charles’ sire. “Boyer de Fonscolom-be” sounding far too the artifact, but it has to be without them know about
old, Boyer decided to take a new first name: Laurent. it at all, else they’ll be more trouble than they’re worth.
For Charles, Laurent built a large network of clubs, including
the Fabrik, who was recently declared Elysium.
Laurent believes the Setites hunting Caterina Giovanni
is about something else entirely. It’s not about just getting
rid of a rival, perhaps they know something, so he kept
an eye out for that, until he found out something new
in the 2000s.
In 2002, Laurent suspected others to know about the
Artifact, so he hired a coterie of Neonates (Fred’s coterie),
more or less invisible to older kindred, to spy on them
for him. Antigone had told Laurent that Emilio was looking
atSuzanneGourand,LaurentwascuriousaboutEricArtevelt’s
influences, and other individuals. He found out Emilio
had found out about the Artifact through Daniel, one
of Hugues Jason’s friends. Daniel’s childe Yves Degras had
diablerized him and fled, and Emilio in turn diablerized
Yves. Emilio knew even less than Laurent, so sadly the
information wasn’t useful. If only Laurent knew who had
written the original scrolls in Hugues Jason’ haven…
During the recent Sabbat Raids, Henriette
(Antigone) and Laurent were with their respective Domitors.
Both ghouls communicate often and regularly
about their respective findings.

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A few other creatures are mentioned and deserve NICOLE LEMOINE

a little more details. Obviously these are not the only
Werewolves, Changelings, Mages and Wraiths of the
city, but they are noticeable enough or in contact
with vampires.
WEREWOLVES
VIGNERON
A homeless reclusive Bone-Gnawer, Félix Vigneron
is old, but he is far from being out of the battle.
He was born in 1933. He transformed for the first
time during the German bombard-ments of 1944; his
house fell on him and his family, and buried alive,the
instincts took over. His father found him and taught
him all about the Werewolves.
His father died in the sixties when he went to
fight a creature of the wyrm, and never came back.
Vigneron took over his father duties ever since and
is currently finding the sources of corruption. When
Chriss approached him for an alliance, it took a few
months for Vigneron to consider the offer, and see
if Chriss was genuine. As long as the undead keep
their part of the deal, Vigneron, as the dean and fatherly
figure of the few urban werewolves, will make sure
his peers will keep their part too. If the undead fail,
however, Chriss will be Vigneron’s first victim.
Known as a depressive Glasswalker who spends
her days on MMORPGs, Nicole never wanted the
gift, she transformed late (at 24 in 1995). Some rich
kids almost ran her over with their fancy car, and
Nicole reacted, transformed, grabbed their car and
threw it against another, killing all involved.
A man who had placed a guardian spirit on her
saved her from the police and explained everything
she needed to know. Nicole was remorseful, she didn’t
want any of it, but she couldn’t go back to her normal
life. She has since lost all social ties, as humans tend
to distrust her. Her secretary job in industries was
going to be a dead-end, there’s no way she’d get
any sort of promotion. Her savior was later killed
in the umbra as she traveled with him to fight the
horrors that would take over should there were no
guardians. Since the Rage kept her from having proper
social relations, as people tended to be frightened
even if she got a little angry, internet became her
social life. She became a true technology expert and
has been helping whichever Garou needed help to
track and kill some critter. Nicole often plays online
with other supernaturals, including Léopold Dehive,
Lyle Kersten, and the umbra spirit Lisa.

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ThetwotwinSidheChangelingswhobeartheprestige
of the de Ségur family (like the Countess de Ségur,
who wrote many famous moral novels).
Tamara became Unseelie, studying communi-cation
and marketing and enjoying the power she has over
these sleepy animals who are only here to glorify her,
while Alyssa, who has been studying the mystical history
of the city, became Seelie, trying to protect the little
Glamour and Enchanted places left in the city.
They were guided by Esther, a Boggan who bears
the echo of the Lady of the Garonne, the medieval
faerie of the river. Now in their early teens, the twins
are facing their future as soon-to-be adults. Tamara
has a reputation amongst students and initiation parties,
while Alyssa has met other people interested in the
folklore histories of the city.
ESTHER
Esther is the memory, the echo of the Lady of the
Garonne, a fae that blessed the city and the region
with its riches. Esther mostly remember herself blessing
a baby. She can’t remember the name of the mother
(“a dear friend”, a herbalist, wise-girl, barely a teen
herself), but the baby, Clotilde, she watched over the
little girl, even after her mother died.
She remembers how the vampires corrupted the
innocence of the young girl, and Esther still regrets
her blessing of “beauty, intelligence and longevity”.
Longevity turned her into a vampire, but she was killed
during the Terror, where all Glamour truly left the
land. The Lady of the Garonne slumbered with the
death of her goddaughter, until Esther received her
memories.
Acting on her former role, Esther was guided to
take care of the two Sidhe, two sleeping queens, that
would bring back Glamour to Bordeaux. But Tamara
became Unseelie, and she’s not listening.
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Virtual Adept who woke in the early 1990s, and
has not changed clothes ever since, Léopold was the
last child of his very ambitious and high middle-class
family. Both his parents had important positions, so
Léopold was raised by the TV. Because there’s so few
Mages left in Bordeaux (something about the Chorus
having abandoned the place because of a lost fight
with the Tremere house, or something), Léopold enjoys
relative peace: there’s not much to do and the local
Node and Quintessence basically handle themselves.
He was contacted by Sarah Madège, the young
and super sexy leader of the local Mages to help her
with the upkeep, and they kind of more or less started
dating. Sarah, Euthanatos, is far too serious, but Léopold
loves her. He may talk big about his independence
and stating he’ll do whatever he wants whenever he
wants to, but he knows better than to betray the potential
force of nature an angry scorned magus can be.
Léopold despite being almost in his forties, has
kept a teenager view of life. Video games are his inspira-
tion to solve whatever small problem he can, such
as Thinking with Portals and more. He even created
himself a super smart and sexy AI to be his companion,
but “Lisa”, inspired by the Weird Science Lisa, always
refused being anything more than friends (way too
close to the original, boo!). Too bad, but the conversa-
tions and her help online have been worth the “sacrifice”.
Léopold met Lyle online one night (he trapped
the poor Tremere who somehow was physically present
on the Web, he was obviously no match for a true
Mage), and they’ve become friends ever since, Léopold
even supplies him with fake blood pills (so they could
game longer). Lyle might be a little cold and distant,
but he doesn’t treat Léopold like a child, he is also
a never-ending source of trivia and knowledge, and
Léopold loves hanging out with him.
Léopold works as an independent contractor, as
one of the best data analysts of the country.
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A medical student who wished to join Médecins
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Sans Frontières, Sarah awoke when, chased by men
who had the worst intentions, she got a strike of
unbelievable luck and her enemies incredible bad luck.
She ran away and was later contacted about her new
status. She studied in Paris before going back to Bordeaux
and become the de facto leader of the city’s Awoken
population. Now in her mid-thirties, she’s been dating
that geeky but attaching Léopold on and off for years,
but Léopold is a kid who is afraid of commitment.
She should really dump him, but she can’t bring herself
to do so, he’s just too adorable and fun, harmless and
the kindest soul. Sarah won the lottery (by chance,
of course), but she still practices medicine to help the
local charities such as the Red Cross. She can often
be found patrolling with charities to help the homeless
population of the city.
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of others are described in the City Landmarks they
haunt.
THE WHITE LADIES
The White Ladies are a group of wraiths who were
women who often appear to warn people of impending
danger. They tried to save women from abusive husbands,
drunk drivers from their own stupidity, students from
the dangers of the river, and more so.
Louisa had almost escaped from Lambert’s terrible
haven, but he woke and killed her while she was looking
for the key. She could become a White Lady, if she
was able to move on and help future victims. Sadly
everything she has started to do to terrorize him has
instead terrorized his other victims instead…

THE DARK LADIES

The Dark Ladies are Specters who do the exact
opposite of White Ladies. Because they also appear
as women wearing white, they taunt and annoy the
White Ladies in their missions, confusing humans even
further.

THE DRAC
Anachreon of the city since the 1400s, The Drac
is proud and owns his Necropolis with an Iron Fist.
Nobody know who he was and what drives him, except
power and control over the Hierarchy.

THOMAS DURIEUX
Thomas, Ventrue Harpy, met his Final Death, but
it was not really final (and the third one is the definite
one, from what he understood). He was taken as a
slave by the Drac, but Thomas has realized how attached
he was to Claudia, the sister he could confide in, to
the Elysium, where everything happened, and to Neve,
his partner in “crime”. They’ve become his Fetters.
Thomas knows he’s an oddity, and he has noticed
Adriano Guicciardini’s true skills.

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Chapter IV -

RELATIONS AND
PLOT HOOKS

“True friendship comes when the silence between two people

is comfortable”
David Tyson

Remember that you can find each characters’ real opinion on other kindred
in their own respective backgrounds in the previous Chapter.
Note that this book only contains the coterie charts for publicly known relations,
due to the asymmetry involved in their actual private opinions (listed in their personal
backgrounds). Plenty of characters have one-way-only thoughts on specific individuals
and may not really care that much about others, after all, especially in a setting
of mystery, secrets and plots which relies on SPCs having misunderstood or misinter-
preted something about another.
You’ll find that some individuals are part of several common interest groups
or in different coterie charts, as they’re nuanced characters with several interests.

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MARGINALS
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the street and criminal life, but also those most in

This section groups up different SPCs depending touch with the field.
on their common interests, and highlights the recent • Brujah: Théodore Jacob, Marc Gillard, Suzanne
losses and the potential power vacuum. Gourand,
• Gangrel: Chriss, the Venerable,
• Giovanni: Caterina Giovanni,
FOREIGNERS • Malkavian: Prévôt, Fred,
There are many immigrants and foreigners in • Nosferatu: M’sieur Pierre, Vigo,
Bordeaux, from different regions and countries. While • Setites: Emilio, Rémi,
some were embraced by kindred locally relevant, others • Tremere: Dominique Lejeune, Rufus (restric-
weren’t. tions apply).
In the Foreigners category, you can find:
• Giovanni: Caterina Giovanni (Venetian). Recent Losses (†):
• Malkavian: Xavier (French Riviera). • Brujah: Tania, Léon, Walter,
• Setites: Mentophis (English), Emilio (Spanish). • Gangrel: Paul Gravier,
• Toreador: Adriano Guicciardini (Venetian, but • Malkavian: Marie Jourdan,
he says he’s Florentine), Urbain Delacour and Madeleine • Nosferatu: Térance (in hiding).
d’Aurigny (both are Parisian).
• Tremere: Lyle Kersten, Jean-Pierre Griffin, both
being English (even if the two have very different Please note that there are a lot of losses in this
conceptions of their respective land of origin). sector, which means there’s a power vacuum.
• Ventrue: Eric Artevelt (Dutch).

This “group” is the least binding in terms of common SOCIALITES

interests, but they have had consequences for their
Some of these lovely characters are involved in
acceptance in the city. These foreigners also indicate
social events of all sorts, more so than their regular
who has had travel experience, either as a supernatural
hunting and obligatory events would imply. They party,
or not.
mingle with high spheres and so on.
These characters are:
INTELLECTUALS • Brujah: Charles Nassau,
• Malkavian: Victor de Sainte-Croix, Xavier,
You’ll find here the “smart ones”, but more precisely,
• Nosferatu: M’sieur Pierre (restrictions apply),
those who have fingers in the university pies, influencing
academics of all sorts, and knowledgeable in their own • Setites: Mentophis,
efforts. • Toreador: Grégory Darvault, Alicia Vanden-
stree, Jérôme Lehin, Laure Nolveaux,
• Brujah: Franz Derijk, Mike
• Tremere: Lyle Kersten, Claudia Vonïgner,
• Gangrel: Henri Bowens,
• Ventrue: Boyer, Christophe de Bri-Leveque, Eric
• Malkavian: Xavier, Artevelt,
• Nosferatu: Igor, Docteur, • Others: Neve Rosetti, Antigone de Fonscolombe.
• Toreador: Grégory Darvault,
• Tremere: Lyle Kersten, Mikaël Hörsman,
Recent Losses (†):
• Ventrue: Armand Colin,
• Nosferatu: Luc (in hiding),
• Others: Laurent de Fonscolombe.
• Toreador: Annabelle Vicomte (abducted),
182 • Ventrue: Thomas Durieux (wraith).
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NODDIST HUNTERS
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and since he was stopped by the Nosferatu when he
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first looked into it, so he let it be… until now, perhaps.
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MacGuffin of this city: the Noddist Artifact. Some
have perished in their quest to obtain it, and it remains
a very strange folklore story of the city, a story that
very few have heard of. They don’t exactly advertise
this, after all!
This is who know or knew about it :
• Brujah: Théodore Jacob (restrictions apply),
• Giovanni: Caterina Giovanni,
• Nosferatu: Vigo (Hidden),
• Setites: Emilio
• Tremere: Lyle Kersten, Elisabeth Vrancken (†),
• Ventrue: Daniel Lombard (†), Hugues Jason (†),
• Other: Laurent de Fonscolombe.
Lyle is the only one who knows about the object
and he isn’t searching for it. Laurent and Emilio want
it for their personal power. Vigo thinks it’s fake, so
he has been planting evidence here and there to make
sure to distract other hunters (the Palais Galien clue
was his), while he keeps an eye out, just in case it’s
real. Caterina has other priorities now, but she heard
about it from Wraith history about “great disturbances”.
Emilio knows Caterina knows.
Laurent knows Caterina and Emilio know.
Vigo knows Caterina, Emilio and Laurent know
and he guesses there’s some of his forged papers in
the Chantry.

Daniel and Hugues wanted this item to study it,
as they were historians of sorts. Elisabeth wanted it
to give it to the Tremere clan for further prestige
and her own personal gain. Théodore knew Elisabeth
was after something, but he doesn’t know the details,
Is the artifact real? That’s up to you to decide.
The repercussions and thoughts of the SPCs about
the item and how they go around about it is far more
interesting than the actual object itself, but if you
need it to be real, have fun!

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THE PRIMOGEN
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Coterie Charts
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All of these are more or less obvious to anyone
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present All of these are more or less obvious to anyone
present enough in Elysium, and these are overall public
positions.
Their true feelings and plots are, of course, another
layer of knowledge that you will need to discover on
your own, or by reading each individual background
as per your needs.
These seven kindred are the local Court’s
government, which is led by the Ventrue Primogen,
who is also the Prince of the city, Jean-Baptiste Boyer.
As it sometimes happens, Boyer is not the oldest of
the crew.
From oldest to youngest, we have:
• Tremere: Lyle Kersten, who only became
Primogen after WWII and the promotion of his
Sire Tarcisus;
• Toreador: Grégory Darvault, who became
Primogen in the first half of the 19th century when
the death of his Sire Aude de Volange was confirmed;
• Brujah: Théodore Jacob, who became a young
Primogen during the Terror when his Sire skipped
town;
• Ventrue:Boyerhimselfwasaneonateandbecame
Primogen at the same time as Théodore;
• Malkavian: Victor de Sainte-Croix was judged
quite the pleasant company in 1945 and when Xavier
retired from the Primogen and Prévôt positions,
Victor was offered the Primogen seat;
• Nosferatu: Docteur took over the role from Vigo
in 1954.
• Gangrel: Henri Bowens, embraced specifically
for the role, took the job in 1988 and managed
to keep it despite the departure of his clan from
the Camarilla organization as a whole.

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BOYER’S SUPPORTERS
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Boyer, Prévôt and Théodore formed a coterie during

the Terror, and the unlikely trio has managed to be
quite the successful kind despite their differences.
Politically, they rely quite a lot on each other and
their good faith to do what must be done, and also
balance each other’s excesses up to a certain point.
The three still work together, and at least publicly
overallremainingreattermswiththeoccasionalpolitical
disagreement between the Brujah and the Ventrue.
Due to their age and massive personal power, they
are not a coterie anymore.

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THE HARPIES
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Neve, the oldest and arguably their leader, has the
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Technically not a coterie, these Kindred share the
same title and while distinct individuals, share also
some responsibilities.
The Harpies have just lost one of their members,
Thomas Durieux, Ventrue, during the recent Sabbat
raid. Thomas was also part of the Belle Époque coterie
(see below), and was Neve’s Elysium partner, always
finishing each other's sentences when it came to
humiliating their victims.
Thomas had risen to Harpy in the 1950s and was
the first to point out to poor Urbain Delacour the
mistake he had made by Embracing Alicia Vandenstree,
thinking she was the author. Jean-Pierre Griffin did
not object to this young Ventrue’s promotion when
Neve asked his permission.
keeps contact with the rest of French-speaking Harpies.
Jean-Pierre, the coldest of them who does not play
friends to backstab his victims, but rather buries them
six feet under directly, is the one who has taken the
habit of keeping the logs of boons owed and most
Kindred consider him reliable for such a role.
Alicia, the youngest Harpy who claimed the title
for herself has not been the target of her peers as
she managed to redirect their ire towards her Sire
and present herself as useful to Kindred society. Her
technicalandartisticknowledge,despitebeingaposeuse,
is quite valued when it comes to fashion, trends, elegance
and other arts.

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THE FLOWERS
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The coterie has gone through tragedy after tragedy.
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Recently more so. First, the death of Laure’s childe
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and daughter to a Sabbat infiltrate in the early 2000s,
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The Flowers, or La Belle Époque’s Flowers are the
model childer for neonates: a perfectly well-mannered
groupofyoungvampireswhorosetoprestigiouspositions
on their own. They were all embraced between 1903
and 1906 and officially disbanded in the 1950s as they
had each gained enough personal power to survive on
their own. They have remained good friends.
and then both their fourth coterie member, Thomas
Durieux, and Jérôme’s childe and lover, Annabelle
Vicomte, perished in the recent Sabbat raid. They are
now back to the original three, supporting each other
through their pain.

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THE DEAD HAND CLUB
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The Dead Hand just lost a member, the Brujah
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Tania, during the recent Sabbat raid. She had been
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embraced illegally during WWII and her existence was
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Not exactly a coterie, but at the turn of the 20th amnestied by Prince Boyer when he took back the
century, Jean-Pierre Griffin founded a poker club for throne.
kindred, a very exclusive club that can only have four
members to play cards and place bets. They meet in The group’s activities beyond their regular gaming
a small literary café, Les Mots Bleus, in its private nights, whose dates are kept secret, is unknown.
room.
The Tremere harpy isn’t exactly forthcoming about
who is allowed to join, as the criteria does not seem
to include clan, age or position, and a lack of suitable
candidate had the group play with a ghoul for a few
years.

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THE BAD BOYS
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Emilio, Rémi and Dominique are generally avoided,
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but they have fun together and apart from a few minor
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A mocking name for the two younger Setites, from Prévôt, nothing can really be held against them.
brothers in blood, Emilio and Rémi when they were They hang out together, but otherwise don’t really
joined by Dominique Lejeune. The trio is used to hold any power or prestige. They’re just a group of
hunting together and they have quite a bad reputation, pals raising Sunday-hell together for fun.
a reputation of those who always hang out with the
wrongcrowd.Dominique’sbrotherinbloodwasexecuted
for raising an Anarch coterie in the Tremere Chantry,
a Ventrue they hung out with diablerized his sire and
was blood hunted, and one of their acquaintances turned
out to be Sabbat.

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Docteur was horrible to see and had quite the
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enigmatic personality, Natacha was a rude peasant
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unfeminine woman, Armand was lofty and thought
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The Failed One is the name Franz Derijk gave to
his ownCoterie,whichjustdidn’tworkout.Allembraced
in the 1920s, these four kindred banded together by
the Prince’s will, and became useful in the 1940s during
Tarcisus’ putsch. Composed of himself, the childe of
the Prince Armand Colin, Docteur and Natacha, they
became the eyes and ears of the Prince when he went
into hiding when the Tremere seized power and the
Germans occupied the city.
Natacha and Docteur earned themselves the titles
of Primogen of their respective clans after the war,
when the previous ones died or left, and the coterie
disbanded as they just didn’t get along.
of them as his personal servants, and Franz wasn’t
the most progressive, diplomatic and patient Brujah
either.
Natacha is known to have slapped Franz in Elysium,
in public, when he presented his parody-childe, Suzanne
Gourand.Shedidn’tstaymuchlongerintown,embracing
two childer (Chriss and Henri) to become the next
generation of Gangrel and take over her Primogen
duties.

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THE IMMORTAL WOMEN’S CLUB THE MISFITS
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A 1965 initiative by the Brujah Tania, illegally
embraced during Tarcisus’ reign (and amnestied by
Boyer), the Immortal Women’s Club was a way for
her to bring her feminist ideals into undeath. The Club’s
goal is to push forward female kindred and kine alike,
and fight against the active and passive misogyny that
prevails in such a conservative feudal society. After
all, French women only obtained voting rights in 1945
and it took until 1965 for them to be able to open
a bank account and work without the authorization
of their husband or father. The legalization of abortion
was voted in 1975.
The club had very few active members; older female
kindred stayed away, and younger kindred showed up
to some reunions and did not invest themselves.
The only real active members were:
• Tania herself, until her death during the recent
Sabbat raid,
• Sandrine Leroy, the adoptive daughter and childe
of the Elysium Keeper Laure Nolveaux, until her
death in 2000,
• Disette and Mariette, Nosferatu twins who had
a hand in street prostitution and who left the city
in the late 1970s and 1990s respectively,
• Suzanne Gourand, embraced in 1966 by Franz
Derijk to mock the club,
• And Caterina Giovanni, who joined in the 1990s
when her clan left the city.
During the 1990s, two Malkavians, Fred and Marie
Jourdan, made it out of Robert Degrelle’s education
and were acknowledged in a planned presentation night.
They were encouraged to form a coterie for their debut
in society, and they joined forces with all of the other
weirdoes and misfits, the neonates embraced between
the 1970s and the 1990s. The coterie was composed
of Fred, Marie Jourdan, Térence, Léon and Paul Gravier.
They did odd jobs for whoever needed their services
and became close friends. Plenty of kindred saw use
of them as errand boys and girls, barely noticeable
young lowlives. Nobody really paid attention to what
they were doing, and they were very good at not bringing
attention to themselves, except when Marie killed a
Setite ghoul in public, in Elysium. She got away with
it as Emilio, the domitor of the ghoul, said it was
no big loss.
They all perished during the recent Sabbat raid,
with the exception of Fred. Fred having been left alone,
the Coterie sheet hasn't survived.

Tania has been killed, as such Suzanne is taking

over the Club, even if she lacks the eloquence and
grace of her late clan mate. Caterina mostly uses the
Club to have a sense of security and protection against
the Setites’ harassments, whether she is a feminist herself
or not is up for debate. Neither are very talkative which
is why this Club does not have a Coterie chart.

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KINDRED LEADS
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ANNABELLE’S DOUBTFUL DEATH
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Now that you have read all of the dirty secrets
of everyone involved, all of the events that unfolded,
and the wishes of all those characters… It’s time to
have fun. However I realize all of these details scattered
across so many backgrounds need a little clearing. You
may have seen many plot hooks already hidden every-
where across the different backgrounds, history, and
other events, but it’s time to put them to good use.
The PCs are at the center of the story, and they
are in the unique position of not being stuck in their
situation as many SPCs are. Many of them have good
reasons to ask them for favors, and a boon by a powerful
ancilla or elder is worth its metaphorical weight in
gold.
Please note that individual goals aren’t listed as
plothooks(elseI’dbejustcopyingeveryone’sbackgrounds
here), so feel free to check the “Relations to Others”
section of each NPC background for certain interactions
(Griffin needing a forth player for his club is one such
example).
These leads can happen all at once, creating a
multifaceted story. Link them together if you wish,
or allow the players to create nonexistent links between
these events. Explore and have fun. Put some tiny seeds
in a PC’s background, too, for ultimate involvement.
During the recent Sabbat Raid, Annabelle was staked
and abducted by Prévôt, who then killed one of his
ghouls, and left some of her clothes and her bag on
the remains of said ghoul.
However, Laure has seen the remains of her daughter
when she was diablerized, and Annabelle and Sandrine
were more or less the same age at the time of their
respective deaths. Laure thinks the remains of Annabelle
mighthavenotbeenhers,asthebonesanddecomposition
matched someone that she would guess be older, there
was no underwear, and no jewelry. However Laure
cannot openly doubt Prévôt, who claims how Annabelle
defendedElysiumandwassuchagreatCamarillakindred
and so on. This is why Laure needs the PCs, and confirm
with Claudia; perhaps the Tremere library will confirm
kindred remains being different depending on the age
of kindred. PCs will also find out, through interrogating
different individuals, a key detail: Kindred feel deep
in their soul and body, the loss of their childer.
Jérôme did not feel any of this, confirming Annabelle
is alive, somewhere. Do not hesitate to throw “has
she turned Sabbat, was she blood bound and enslaved
by her sire” false leads.
How they’ll deal with Prévôt, a Camarilla pillar,
a friend of the Prince’s, and a reliable force… is up
to debate, and the consequences will be delicious.

FOR ME, IT WAS TUESDAY MOURNING FRIENDS

Remember that the SPC backgrounds don’t go after
ever single event they lived through.
What was Mikaël up to, precisely, during WWII?
Who are the family members of Lambert’s victims?
Or their sires or ghouls?
Prince Boyer had an impact on Christophe, as he
was once his prey, but what about all prey whom
encountered other vampires, what about their lives,
their memories of the night?
For vampires and others, all those little things
happening were just Tuesday to them. There’s plenty
of room to insert PC-impact worth elements in anyone’s
background so have fun!
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Mike and Fred both lost loved friends to the Sabbat
Raid, and they may find each other in their mourning.
They can find the PCs, bond with them, and with
them, try and track down what happened and punish
those responsible for their suffering. There are a few
Sabbat escapees left, perhaps one the PCs is one of
them and is trying to get the blanket welcome in the
city and sell their former shovelheads?
NOT ENOUGH WOMEN IN THE CLUB
Suzanne is taking over the club, and the PCs might
be great recruits. The loss of so many kindred and
tides changing are a sad opportunity, but an opportunity
nonetheless.
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for that, investigating whether there were insiders or
perhaps survivors. There are also other loose ends, such
as whether they had a base of operations, where they
picked and embraced their shovelheads… Frederic
Vonzel might need to get through and contact Alicia
to tell her how he had nothing to do with the attack,
too, or perhaps his loyalty will be tested when he’ll
be asked to lead a second one. Or perhaps the attack
was with Sabbat tactics, but not by the Sabbat itself…
THOMAS’ STILL AROUND
Adriano is freeing Thomas Durieux from The Drac,
and hopes for this to be used as a boon that Caterina
can use with Claudia, so she would get her sire, the
Tremere Regent and Primogen, to get the Prince to
stop favoring the Setites. Lyle has multiple reasons
to press on Boyer against the Setites, and de facto,
in favor of the Giovanni, and if that helps him be
less of a monster in Claudia’s eyes, good. But Claudia
knows Adriano’s powers..
Neither Adriano nor Caterina know that Claudia
is actually perfectly able to see and talk to Thomas
on her own. Her policy of not getting involved with
wraiths, fearing Adriano may find out that she knows
his secret, and not wanting to be noticed by Lyle,
might change. Will Claudia come clean to Thomas?
Will he forgive her for not telling him, despite their
close friendship?
The PCs are perfect intermediaries by either party.
Finding his fetters for Claudia to sneakily get Thomas
out of Caterina and Adriano’s influence, so they wouldn’t
be able to retaliate against him once their services
will be dismissed by the young Tremere, is a mission
that she’s probably going to give to the PCs.
LAMBERT’S THIRST
Lambert always hunted his immortal Brides outside
of the domain, but he had an opportunity and grabbed
a local one. He took that first step, and now might
want to take another, and hunt locally. If Annabelle
bores him, a new one among the PCs or NPCs may
replace her. And Jérôme might finally feel the final
death of his childe.
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Annabelle and Hélène, in Prévôt’s haven. His phone
and SD card can still be found near his haven, as he
hid them before Prévôt found and destroyed him. The
GPS location will be found by Docteur at some point,
andgettingthembackanditscontentswillbeabombshell.
This is another way to find out Annabelle is indeed
alive (or rather, still undead). The PCs will have to
investigate the Nosferatu whereabouts, and use all of
their wits to decode the contents of his phone’s card.
Whether they spread the information or not will have
consequences among kindred, and if Prévôt finds out…
Prévôt’s neighbors were all dominated and never heard
or saw anything.
FREEDOM’S CONSEQUENCES
If Hélène is freed, and her identity is recogni-zed,
Boyer will charge the PCs of finding her, as she’s a
danger to his Praxis. Hélène has also had a taste of
modern life only through radio and TV, and the sudden
freedom of this powerful elder must have consequences,
especially after hundreds of years drinking Malkavian
blood. She might run away, feel claustrophobic, and
react violently to being in control of her own body
(especially if she’s wearing some variant of a slutty
nursecostume,yikes!).TheBeckoningisalsolingerging….
Annabelle, on the other hand, will pressure and
accuse the Nosferatu of knowing all along, being traitors,
horrible people. Her hatred and the trauma of her
captivity won’t be easy to deal with. The Nosferatu
saw her and the others, they took picture and just
left, what the fuck?!
NOTICE ME, SENPAI!
Both Victor de Sainte-Croix and Christophe de
Bri-Leveque, for different reasons, hope to gain the
approbation and attention of the Prince. Any way for
them to claim for themselves the successes of the PCs
will be worth exploring, and their reactions if/when
things won’t result as expected, can lead to dramatic
consequences.
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Franz sank all of his means ever since

the late 40s to get revenge on the Tremere
for what the Germans did to his sons. He
has been planting bombs, hiring snipers,
waiting for Claudia, the youngest, weakest
of the Warlocks, and isolated too, but nothing
ever worked. Franz might finally risk it,
and get other kindred working for him, trying
to follow her or obtain any information
of use. Conversely, Claudia might one night
choose not to use her car, and instead go
to another place, and the PCs might discover
the C4, or witness the explosion.

THE ARTIFACT
Of course, the reason why the Sabbat
is attacking is up to scrutiny. Vonzel may
come back, unveiling his true faction (or
perhaps just unveiling the reasons why the
Sabbat is coming in, since he could also
try to renounce his sect). Should the PCs
or anyone else catch him, the cat will be
out of the bag: the Sabbat found out about
the Noddist Artifact and that is what they
camefor.ThatmeansitisEggHuntingSeason,
and nobody in their right mind wants that.
Théodore and Lyle are the two more likely
to react first, Théodore by making sure
nobody snoops in his Domain like Elisabeth
Vrancken had before, and he will be firm
on it, and Lyle, by coming up with a random
Thaumaturgical item to plant, so the PCs
discover it, say “that’s the thing’, and then
search for it while the Court is busy with
the new toy, whose sole purpose is to “be
magical”. He may or may not let Théodore
know about the fake one, and the PCs might
be the ones charged with retrieving the real
thing by either Primogen. Hopefully Emilio
and Laurent de Fonscolombe don’t hear
about this…

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andthat’snottohisliking.Thatheart,hebelieves,
was probably stolen by the Tremere when the
Nazis pillaged the banks before leaving. The
truth is a sick game of mistaken exchanges (if
you know the baby mix-up in Good Omens,
you’ll enjoy this). What Mentophis doesn’t know
is that there were two “hearts in canopies” in
the bank; his, and Jean-Baptiste Barrière’s (a
cellist who became a Wraith). Christophe de
Bri-Leveque, enjoying collecting art, bribed the
departing Germans to buy some pieces they
had seized during the war, and Barrière’s heart
was one of such ill-acquired pieces… or so he
thinks. Christophe believes the Liberation put
an empty canopy there, as they couldn’t admit
to having “lost the true one”, and that he has
the true Heart of Barrière. Truth is he actually
obtainedMentophis’heart,whileBarrière’sheart
was returned to its statue (and Barrière’s wraith
is happy about it).

PARIS’ HEGEMONY IS COMING

BACK
François Villon’s supporters, former Prince
of Paris, might not have appreciated this little
Sabbat incursion in his sovereign domain (even
if Bordeaux is technically independent, Villon
and his loyalists may have “forgotten” this detail).
Sending in a couple of agents, or perhaps calling
the Archons to investigate and destabilize the
VentruePrincemightbeworththeeffort,despite
the massive dumpster fire the Beckoning caused.
It could be enough to allow his Childe, Made-
leine, to return as Marquise, or parachute in
another candidate. Madeleine had run away
during the Coup, but she’s not left far away,
she’s attached to the city, and she is thirsty
for revenge. Madeleine might still have agents
working for her (one of Neve’s ghoul, whom
she might have blood bond before Neve took
them, is a good example).

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Kindred court is far from being representative of

the population of Bordeaux, and many have completely
ignored their growth and importance. Such groups
include the French-African population (former
colonies inhabitants and their descendants, naturalized
immigrants and their French national children…),
overseas territories population (people originating
from Martinique and Guadeloupe mainly, but also
Guyane, Mayotte or La Réunion, who are just as French
as the Metropolitan ones), the incredible strength of
the Erasmus student population, post-doctorate people
coming from all around the world, and, as news have
shown, the foreign land-grab pressure, meaning they
now own plenty of vineyards and Chateaux through
well-placed investments. Kindred of the court have
failed to pay attention, their influences are weaker,
and your players may exploit that weakness to their
advantage.

MEDIUMS
There are a few real mediums in the mortal commu-
nity, and some may know about kindred existence
through their exchanges with ghosts, at least tangentially.
Some actually sell their services, even if some people
only want to know if Uncle Robert left any hidden
treasures, but the real clients, who really want to help
their beloved deceased family members? Those are worth
helping and informing.

CLARISSA AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING

As much as Henri Bowens isn’t happy with his
girlfriend going undercover in Setite territory, the
journalist is stubborn, and the Gangrel can’t refuse
her. Chriss’ ghoul is still protecting her more or less
discreetly, but the PCs might be willing to lend him
a hand in the subject. The several disappearances Clarissa
has been investigating have many sources: the Setites,
indeed, but also Prévôt, the occasional oopsie by a
rogue kindred and/or Marc’s “crusades”…

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paths with the PCs, if they’ve been friendly to the

Regent. Léopold is bored, curious and powerful, and
if Lyle suddenly becomes more active in his leech
community, that means less gaming time with Léopold.
And Léopold is very attached to his friend. Lyle and
Léopold are part of a guild composed of locals who
play games online through supernatural means. Either
member may break their rule of not involving their
factions into their gaming sessions, should one disappear
or something go wrong in the umbra… Lyle is one
that has shared the least about himself to the group
(only Léopold knows he’s “old” and that he’s in charge
of his Chantry).

THE WEREWOLF PEACE TREATY

The werewolf approached by Chriss for the non-
aggression treaty might show up to Elysium and demand
to the Court that their little Leech Wars end there
and then, else the deal would be off. If you wish to,
have the Vigneron be the one dropping a staked Frederic
Vonzel as a prisoner and a warning to the court. The
PCs and Chriss might want to explore further out
of the city to investigate: through where did they arrive,
what happened to the Gangrel who left the Camarilla
but more or less stayed in the larger Domain…

THE WHITE LADIES’ WARNINGS

The White Ladies may be tired of all the violence
on women, and have decided to be slightly more active
around the places and people in relations to these abuses.
This coordinated effort is bound to be a Masquerade
issue, or at least an “attract unwanted attention” issue.
The Setites and Caterina, as well as Lambert or Marc
Gillard and a certain amount of mortal men might
see more often these ghost apparitions. The PCs might
be involved.

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Appendix

You’ll find in this section several added details.

First, some Loresheets to fully insert your PCs in the setting.
Then you’ll find some extra Blood Sorcery powers and rituals for Technomancy.
It’s followed by a “public” version of the SPCs, including their appearance and
public agendas. They’re in order of their clan: Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu,
Toreador, Tremere, Ventrue (+ Neve who poses as Ventrue), Ministry and Hecata.
Then, you’ll find a descriptive of the different influences and what they represent
in the city of Bordeaux.
You’ll also find the different timelines concerning the different titles and some
important events of vampiric history.
As a bonus, you’ll get extra art pieces for the characters, some key scenes, as
well as the full version of many of the portraits.
Further down, you’ll find some more information to immerse yourself in French
culture, in case you don’t know anything about the country or the language, as
well as region-specific elements.
Then you’ll find all of the credits and websites to find out about my artists,
my sources, and myself.
And last but not least, some character sheets! Originally based on Mr Gone’s
Bordeaux character sheet for 20th anniversary, updated for your 5th edition needs.

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B ADDIES
The Bad Boys are your pals, you’ve been in their
circles, their hens, their circuits, you’ve smuggled, you’ve
consumed, and now you’re a regular, a peer even. That
comes with certain advantages, and while “polite society”
frown down on your activities, it’s their loss!
Rémi and Emilio, the two Ministry brothers (who
still use “Setites” to talk about themselves) are the core
of the group, but others gravitate towards them and
their services, and the little network has surprising assets
all things considered. Essential services which even snobs
get to use (and they pay the asshole tax on top of it,
because why not!).

I know a guy: Some people to know
and places to be don’t appear on Yelp,
and reviews aren’t exactly accurate or
relevant. But you know the right places,
the right people, and find confidence.
Once per story, gain two dice in a social
roll in which your street knowledge is
relevant.
Emilio’s women: Ruthless and
very involved, Emilio has a tight control
over his pimps and their girls (and boys).
The “merchandise” serves all sorts of
tastes, and can be easily delivered, with
little risk someone’s going to move
heaven and earth to find them should
they disappear. Once per story, you may
LORE
enjoy the benefits of a two-dot herd, but
you’ll gain the flaw Obvious Predator for
the rest of the night.
Password: Your regular pres‐
ence in the criminal circles of the East
Bank has given you quite a knowledge to
enter password-protected exclusive
areas. Spotters have a good idea of your
acceptable presence as well. Once per
story, you may gain authorised access to
a private area (such as private parties or
dealer hideouts or other fishy places) for
you and a friend and enjoying the VIP
treatment.
Partying hard: You’ve seen
your share of wild parties, and organized
more than one. Once per chronicle, you
may put together the event of a lifetime
and enjoy its associated clout. During this
night-long, arguably not Masquerade-
friendly party, you gain the benefits from
Fame and the party itself grants a tem‐
porary Domain with Portillon 2 and
Chasse 3 for you and your guests. The
sheriff might not like it, however…
Chillax: The Bad Boys co‐
terie tends to take things as they come
without an ounce of worry. Once per
chronicle, remove all of your willpower
damage, shrugging it all off as unlife is
something to enjoy, they’re all way too
serious about all of this!

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F AKES!
(Clan Nosferatu Only)

All Nosferatu look exactly the same,

everyone knows that, right? And Nosferatus
play along, because it benefits them. As
such, they’re more or less interchangeable
for “polite society”.
The brood uses a whole bunch of Fake
identities to travel around, collect boons
and cash them in for those in need in a
“Commons” effort. Hopefully it won’t
become a Tragedy of the Commons, but
so far, everyone has everyone else’s back…
at least within the Nosferatu Clan.

I can fix it: You were tasked to fix
something last minute before, and you
remember how to do it, be it proofing a
car against Sunlight, dispose of a body,
quickly repair a car in the middle of a
vineyard. Get two extra dice on one
Physical Skill (Talents) once per story.
I’ve been here before: SOS
Friends in Need used your unique talents
here already. Once per story, state
you’ve been here before to know es‐
capes, passages, camera placements, or
any other information you could have
obtained with prior preparation.
LORE
Hey, about that favor…: SOS
Friends in Need has helped this peculiar
vampire before, and now they owe the
clan. Cash in this Trivial Boon at anytime
during the Story as part of this debt.
Wasn’t me: Your recurrent
use of multiple (and legally existing) iden‐
tities has allowed you to commit some
crimes and blame it on some other Fake,
or actually be accused of something and
your Alibi exists as someone else was at
Elysium that night. Once per Story, use
this to clear your record or get out of a
difficult situation with the Sheriff or the
Court.
Dispatcher’s gossip:
M’sieur Pierre relies on you and you’ve
chatted quite a bit. You know a lot about
the Court’s mess-ups and how they
were fixed. M’sieur Pierre likes gossip as
well. Once per Chronicle, you may ask
the Storyteller for any given SPC’s secret
(it could be a particular Touchstone issue,
a past or a crime they are dealing with, a
blood bond, a blood preference…). You
may either know the full story behind
this Secret and use it to your advantage
without the SPC knowing you know, or
blackmail the SPC and use it as a Major
Boon with them.

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I MMORTAL (Women only)

WO M A N

DespitethedeathofitsBrujahleader,andthenotorious
absence of other members in the Immortal Women’s
Club, the group remains active and resourceful to advance
the feminist cause, be it for mortal or immortal women
alike.
Former members who left the city have created their
own “chapters” and their solidarity and diversity has
allowed them to gather all sorts of support. But the
stigma of said activism, was often perceived as an burden
too heavy to carry for the benefits the Membership could
provide. This is why many women haven’t joined as they
benefit from their knowledge of how to pull men’s strings
for their own benefit (and safety).

All hands on deck: Understanding
all ways women can help each other is
key to their survival, and there’s a sharp
awareness of it to members of said
gender. Once per session, you gain one
extra die to persuade another woman
(mortal or not) to assist you in a way
that doesn’t go against her convictions.
Birds of a flock: The night has al‐
ways been dangerous, especially now
with so many girls going missing and au‐
thorities not giving a fuck. You’ve given
some of your time to help them go
home safely, more than once and they’ve
been thankful in other aspects. Once per
story, you may gain the benefit of a two-
dot ally Background. Beware, however,
LORE
that they do not see you as the predator
you truly are, else they’ll inform others of
your existence. Suzanne will break you.
Bathroom pals: In confidence,
in public bathrooms, sisters and mean
girls alike plot their night; bring down a
rival, boost their peers’ confidence, or
something more sinister. Once per story,
you may create or join one of these
spontaneous gangs and redirect them to‐
wards your own goal for a short-lived,
fairly safe (in theory) but effective distrac‐
tion, up to and including starting a fight.
Calamity Jane: Suzanne
might not be as smart or eloquent as her
predecessor, but she makes up for it with
her fists… and the assets she inherited.
Once per story, she will come to your
aid in an hour or less, be it for a fight, to
find a safe haven, to get on the move or
to stand by your side to defend your ac‐
tions to the Court.
STFU Speech: Like Tania
before you, you’ve mastered the art of
defending your ideals in public, rallying to
your cause and nailing men’s mouth.
Once per chronicle, speak up (regardless
of being “allowed” to do so) and no man
may speak over you or contradict you.
They might act against it later, but they
just lost face and should just sit down
and listen to the baddest bitch in town.

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O LY M P I A N S
A former Ventrue practice to occupy their time,
the Olympians opened up their games to other clans
recently, as all may enjoy greater entertain-ment.
Olympians often play in pairs, picking mortal
champions whose fate and life is now at their mercy,
without their knowledge.
Rivals agree on rules and winning conditions.
Two games exist: Man versus Man, and Man versus
World. In the former, a vampire does their best
to insure their champion get the best life (to
predetermined criteria) and/or hinder their rival’s
champion growth. In the latter, a vampire does their
best to ensure the success of their champion against
the rival who uses everything in “the World” to bring
the champion down. The game must be Masquerade
compliant and often uses all sorts of influences and
schemes.
LORE
Amateur: You’ve tried a game and who controls any given aspect of a field Jack of all Trades: Your
lost big, but at least you learnt a lot. of influence (such as “who influences the vast experience in using all sorts of tools
Once per story, gain two dice in any medicine departments at university?” or to benefit your champion (or harm your
Mental Skill (knowledge) roll. “who has access to the urbanization pro‐ rival’s) allows you to be quick-minded and
Known rivals: You’ve observed jects in the city?”). Through this know‐ flexible, especially when it comes to
tense games and have seen some of the ledge, they may be willing to lend some clearing potential misunderstandings.
ways these monsters use the tools at of their entrance options. Once per story, you may pull strings to
their disposal to ruin someone. Automat‐ An unlikely Ally: Your usual protect a promising mortal or deplat‐
ically succeed an Investigation roll when it rival wants to take you down, but they form and discretid a harmful one. This
comes to notice Supernatural influence want to do it themselves and wouldn’t al‐ could sway a local election, cover a Mas‐
on the Mortal world, and perhaps recog‐ low anyone else to interfere. Once per querade Breach, or deal with a thorn in
nize someone’s Modus Operandi. story, you may decide your rival pulls your side in a permanent but Masquer‐
some strings to avoid any loss of (yours ade-friendly way.
Who’s got a ticket?: Olympi‐
ans know everyone’s specialties after a or your Domain’s) Background points or
while. Once per story, ask the Storyteller harm coming to your Touchstone(s).

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T RANSITIONALISTS (Clan Tremere Only)

The Tremere clan crumbling down as well as the

increasing dangers technology being used by what is
rumored to be a Second Inquisition has forced many
Warlocks to change. The Transitionalists (in opposition
to Traditionalists) have seen their work grow more
valuable, more suspicious.. And more underground.
Karl Schrekt is strongly suspicious of these potential
Masquerade Breaches who are rumored to use Blood
Sorcery on high tech devices, but not all Transitionalists
are young and easy to crush. Lyle Kersten has stepped
up to properly use and secure technological tools, opened
his Chantry, and offer tools for other like-minded
Tremere. And keep it all off the Camarilla records…

A good firewall: Your understand‐
ing of proper IT protocols allow you,
once per session, to find out whether a
phone or computer is being tracked or
compromised without needing to roll the
appropriate dice. Finding the source,
however, requires further investigation…
Archives: Archives are a nerd’s
best friend. And those compiled by su‐
pernaturals about other supernaturals
are even friendlier. Once per story, you
may state “I read about this!” when faced
with a supernatural event and obtain two
extra dice to be able to know a little
more about it.
LORE
Networking: The advantages of
knowledge sharing in the clan has not
completely stopped. Nor did any of the
shenanigans related to the complex
games related to the favors exchanged.
Once per story, you may call a fellow
Transitionalist and cash a boon to ask for
a specific piece of information or tech
within one to ten hours.
Security: Lyle Kersten looks
after promising Apprentices who share
his ideals (or act like they do). Once per
story, you may call for his help to fully
technologically secure a haven, destroy
unwanted footage (or prevent it from
being recorded) or crack data from a
given device.
Raiding friends: You’ve
joined the supernatural Guild at some
point and have befriended these avatars
who you know are supernaturals of
some sort. LANs are occasional, and
while no personal matters of everyone’s
respective factions are accepted, those
LAN places are secure (a Haven with a
Security System and Warding) and can
be used in case of absolute necessity…
by other Guildmates as well.

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Every three years, protocols change, standards are up- ANALYZE

dated, trends come and go. The IT world has grown fascina-
Have you tried giving your older, disconnected
ting and more indispensable over the past decades, and
relatives a cutting edge smartphone (or game console)?
Lyle loved to hate every instant of it. Keeping up took
User friendliness only works with some prerequisites
was a time sink, and doing so with due diligence and
and vampires have far too much on their plate to
patience was absolutely necessary for security reasons.
keep up. This power allows a temporary “intuitive”
Equipment riddled by programmed obsolescence and more
understanding of a technological device or program,
demanding software was to be renewed at a faster pace,
until the knowledge fades away from the Techno-
with no sign to stop. This is why the Second Inquisition
mancer’s working memory.
caught unprepared Elders who fell to the Nigerian Prince
type of scam. 2FA, damn it. And yet the time and energy
investment was a true problem for even the youngest. ■ Cost: Free
■ Dice Pool: Intelligence + Technomancy
Thankfully, Lyle had a trick up his sleeve to impose
■ System: The Technomancer needs to
his will over technology in general and computing devices
manipulate the device (or be using the program). The
in particular without having to “manually update” his
more the successes, the more information about the
knowledge at every turn. “Tradition is nothing more than
device can be obtained. From how to turn it on/off,
a successful progress”, and computers and phones and all
to how to make dynamic Excel tables and asso-
of that have become tradition for mortals. And his centuries
ciated shortcuts or even accessing stored
of adapting won’t be trumped by worthless backwards
passwords.
incompetents. “Nor will this stupid OS update resist me,”
■ Duration: Resolve x 3 minutes,
he squinted his eyes at the latest smartphone in hand
starting for the moment the device (or
to impose his will on its system.
program) comes into the Technomancer’s
possession.
A branch of Blood Sorcery, Technomancy is the
art of imposing one’s will on high tech devices. From
phones to regular laptops, all the way to large servers SENSE TRACKING DEVICES
and AIs. If it computes or processes, Technomancers ■ Amalgam: Auspex 1
canaffectit.ItisalsoveryfrowneduponbytheCamarilla.. The ability to detect objects emitting a signal (such
Or would be if they knew. as recording devices) has proven absolutely necessary
Technomancy is not a separate Discipline, they for Kindred survival. This power allows a Techno-
are alternative powers for Blood Sorcery. mancer to sense and trail signals to their origin.

CHARACTERISTICS ■ Cost: Rouse check to focus one’s attention

■ Type: Sorcery
■ Masquerade Threat: Low to Medium. Fairly
discreet and indirect, but the results might raise a lot
of red flags.
■ Blood Resonance: Melancholy or Phlegmatic.
Control over self and others are key to the
meticulousness and necessity to keep track of
everything for successful uses of these powers.
■ Dice Pool: Wits + Technomancy
■ System: This power allows the Technomancer
to localize all electronic connected devices (including
those containing RFID types of communicating
systems) within either the room or a 5m radius.
■ Duration: One scene.
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NO WI-FI FOR YOU!
Some places have absolutely no signal whatsoever.
Technomancers have found a way to become those
places, black holes for all sorts of signals. Nothing
can leave, nothing can come in.
■ Cost: One rouse check
■ Dice Pool: Stamina + Technomancy
■ System: The Technomancer “absorbs” all non-
analogue signals on a 15m radius, including his own
device. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, satellite, and any other
electromagnetic waves are dysfunctional.
■ Duration: Manipulation x 5 minutes. The
radius remains centered on the Technomancer, if they
move.
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Sometimes, it’s best to break something beyond
repair instead of risking a Masquerade Breach or trying
to steal it. Once the smoke is out...
■ Cost: One rouse check
■ Dice Pool: Dexterity + Technomancy
■ System: The Technomancer does not need to
touch the object, but difficulty raises depending on
distance, visibility and complexity of the targeted
device. In case of failure nothing happens. With a
simple success, the device might just need a solid
reboot, or files could be recovered by a skilled tech. A
messy critical or a critical success might cause the
device to go up in flames (those exploding batteries?)
and the device may never work the same again if it can
even be salvaged. If there are twice the success needed,
nothing can be recovered.
■ Duration: This attack takes a round, and the
device’s recovery, if any, depends on the type of device
and the number of successes obtained.

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MASTER KEY I’M IN

■ Amalgam: Dominate 1
Security systems of all sorts, from phones to
surveillance systems have an admin backdoor.
Technomancers know how to make the system believe
they’re the admin.
■ Cost: One rouse check
■ Dice Pool: Intelligence + Technology +
Technomancy
■ System: The Technomancer needs to touch the
device they wish to gain access to (or be on the right
login page with the proper IP-related precautions).
The system will obey the commands so long as they’re
within its scopes and could be made by the real
admin. Open doors, unlock password protected files,
deactivate alarm systems…
■ Duration: Number of successes x 5 minutes.
OPERATE
An upgraded version of Level 1’s Analyze, this
ability allows its user to fully operate the piece of
tech it gained understanding of, removing the time
limitation as long as the Technomancer is using said
program or device.
■ Cost: Free
■ Dice Pool: Intelligence + Technomancy
■ System: The Technomancer has three extra
dice to use the system they are using this ability on.
This could include surprising devices such as a car’s
on-board computer or running a CT-scan.
■ Duration: One scene.
Sometimes interfaces can be a hindrance and tools
to communicate with the systems can be too slow
or too unreliable. Strong Technomancers have found
a way to project themselves into said system to access
it as if it were an extension of their body. And use
all of their abilities directly “in the Matrix”.. Or some-
thing like that.
■ Cost: One rouse check to enter.
■ Dice Pool: Composure + Technomancy
■ System: The Technomancer needs to be in
physical contact with the system it wishes to enter.
Once “in”, the Technomancer can “move” inside the
system as if it were a signal, and access all devices
connected to said network and use their “senses”
(see through webcams or security systems,
hear through Alexa…) as well as operate
them (starting a microwave…) if they
have authorized entry (such as Level 3’s
Master Key). If the device the Techno-
mancer is in gets disconnected from the
system or if their body is pulled away, they
take up to five aggravated willpower damage as
they scramble to get back to their bodies (damage
depends on the size and complexity of the network). A
Technomancer cannot use a hub or device connected
to several networks to go from one network to
another, they’ll need to return to their body and re-
enter this new network.
■ Duration: Stamina x 5 minutes, each additional
minute costs a superficial willpower damage. Some
individuals might know someone was physically
present in their systems.

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Toreador:
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• Adriano Guicciardini k e r- s o ft w a

You can print out or hand out these to the players • Laure Nolveaux
as they encounter each SPC and recall what they heard • Jérôme Lehin
about them from their sire. This is all public knowledge • Alicia Vandenstree
information about these characters. In order: • Urbain Delacour
Brujah:
• Théodore Jacob Tremere:
• Charles Nassau • Lyle Kersten
• Franz Derijk • Jean-Pierre Griffin
• Marc Gillard • Mikaël Hörsman
• Mike • Claudia Vönigner
• Suzanne Gourand • Dominique Lejeune

Gangrel; Ventrue:
• Henri Bowens • Boyer
• Chriss • Neve Rosetti
• The Venerable • Eric Artevelt
• Armand Colin
Malkavian: • Christophe de Bri-Leveque
• Xavier
• Victor de Sainte-Croix Ministry (Setites):
• Fred • Mentophis
• Emilio
Nosferatu: • Rémi
• Docteur
• Igor Hecata:
• M’sieur Pierre
• Caterina Giovanni
• Scoop
• Charogne
• Carcass

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THEODORE JACOB CHARLES NASSAU

Primogen
BACKGROUND
Primogen and oldest Brujah in town, Théodore is
confident, friendly and always in for a good chat,
even with Neonates. He is quite a smart man who
defends and represents his clan’s needs in
apparent good faith. He negotiates and hears his
clan mates even if they all have such a childish
behavior sometimes. Théodore has influence over
most newspapers as his participation to keep the
Masquerade without any breaches. He’s also a
very expressive and outspoken Brujah who can
put his fist where his mouth is.
APPEARANCE
Théodore is a strong-looking man in his 30s, and
is about 175cm tall. He has long thin black hair,
deep and expressive brown eyes, thick eyebrows
and a groomed goatee. He usually wears street,
biker clothing (leather jacket, metal-band shirt,
black jeans and rangers) which fits the image of
where he is usually found; in bars and popular
places. Théodore doesn’t accessorize.
KNOWN AGENDA
While Théodore is generally perceived as a lucid
down-to-earth vampire, his support of Prince
Boyer is often accused of being led by his (alleged
unconditional) friendship to him. Théodore is
also known to be very defensive of his domain,
which is one of the biggest personal domains in
town, and has killed a Tremere intruder during
the revolutionary movements of 1848.
Unionist
BACKGROUND
Charles was a politician in the worker’s party and
a union activist by the end of the 19th century. He
wanted to make the world a better and fairer place
for the proletariat, which is why Théodore
embraced him. Charles now owns, through his
ghouls, a few of the biggest clubs in the city and
the city’s suburbs which give him a certain
prestige, as well as control over local TV and
radios.
APPEARANCE
Charles is known for his long, trimmed
moustache which is a vestige of his living days. He
has short black hair, always cared for, and tends to
wear a hat and a three pieces suit. He relies on his
good looks, but often wears more trendy clothes
when among mortals, despite looking in his late
twenties to mid-thirties. His body is slightly apple
shaped. He appears to be in his early 40s.
KNOWN AGENDA
Charles, being a laid back person, tends to be
believed only to mind his business. One of his
ghouls manages one of the most popular clubs in
town, which has gained the status of Elysium.
That club is The Fabrik.
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FRANZ DERIJK MARC GILLARD

Christian Philosopher
BACKGROUND
Franz was a University teacher when he was
embraced in the 1920s. He taught theology,
Christian philosophy and history. He believes
firmly in a woman’s place in society being in the
kitchen but is otherwise of good company as a
well-educated man. His influences remained in
the academic circles. Franz’ embrace story is
unknown, he was embraced by one of the Brujah
the Tremere clan destroyed for illegal embraces
during WWII, but they were not exactly friends
from what people have said.
APPEARANCE
Franz is a short man in his late 20s to early 30s with
very short blonde hair and blue eyes. He wears a
suit most of the time, and gives a very classic
image of a humanities college professor. He’s a
tense man, often on the edge as the times have
gone very much against his personal beliefs.
KNOWN AGENDA
Franz tends to keeps to himself, but his hate and
resentment for the Tremere coup during WWII is
not a secret. His conservatism and his attitude
towards women, wanting them back to the role
that God intended them to have, has created
many issues with his peers, including a public slap
in the face, and Kindred should still abide even if
their condition is a little different. At least, Franz
speaks his mind and there are certainly many
others who share similar views.
Skinhead
BACKGROUND
Marc was embraced in the 1930s as a bodyguard to
his sire because of his strength and his thick head.
Violent and known to be problematic as he tends
to agree with Sabbat ideals, he mostly tries to keep
quiet and away from others. He does show up
every now and then in Elysium and shares his
views, very much approving of authoritarianism
and might makes right rules, but he overall
respects the Traditions.
APPEARANCE
Marc is a strong aggressive man, but he’s not a
body builder and has quite a small frame in
comparison to the aura of violence he can give.
With sandy blonde hair, printed t-shirts, rough
jeans and heavy rangers, Marc doesn’t care much
about what he wears as long as it’s practical. At
about 180cm and 90kg, Marc looks fit and ready.
He may even give Théodore a run for his money
in terms of brute strength if supernatural strength
wasn’t involved.
KNOWN AGENDA
Marc doesn’t seem to have a complex approach to
life, but his dislike of anything foreign, anything
non cis-straight-white isn’t much of a secret.
Maybe he’d like to join the Sabbat to rampage
more freely, but so far he has been good at
respecting Camarilla laws, and even enforcing
them himself.
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MIKE SUZANNE GOURAND

Bon Vivant
BACKGROUND
Marc’s brother in blood, Mike was embraced at
about the same time but not to be a bodyguard.
Friendly, willing to give a hand and help out
anyone who needs it, Mike is far more
approachable and is willing to talk just about
anything to anyone. Open-minded and educated
many wonder why he was embraced to begin with,
but his sire had a reputation of enjoying long
nightly talks.
APPEARANCE
Mike is an openly amicable, fit young man in his
early twenties. At 165cm and about 85kg, he is a
very expressive Southern European man with
green eyes and black hair. His complexion is
slightly darker than “locals” (in a sense of typical
Western European white people), a sign of
probable Mediterranean ancestry, but he doesn’t
stand out in modern multicultural Bordeaux.
Calamity Jane
BACKGROUND
Suzanne is the childe of Franz, chosen to be a
living parody of the feminist movement of the
1960s, which was popularized by Tania. He chose
Suzanne as she was, in truth, “equal to men”; a
factory worker who drinks beer, burps her
alphabet, and kicks ass. When she tried to defend
feminism, the cause she believed in, it backfired as
she clearly lacked Tania’s eloquence and elegance,
exactly as expected by Franz. Her presentation
and her vulgarity in the Grand Théâtre got the
harpies to nickname her Calamity Jane.
APPEARANCE
Suzanne is the image of “the woman equal to
man”; she’s one of the dudes. Short brush
chestnut hair, square-shaped face, direct stare,
masculine gait, blue collar bad mouth language
and vulgar manners. She's fit, after a hard life of
manual labor, and looks in her mid twenties.

KNOWN AGENDA KNOWN AGENDA

Mike suffered the loss of his childe and of some of
his friends during the recent Sabbat raid, and it
upset him as he fought alongside them that night.
What he wants to do about it is unclear, but he
believes there’s more to it and that the situation
hasn’t settled yet.
Suzanne took over the Immortal Women’s Club
when Tania was killed during the recent Sabbat
Raid. Aware of her lack of charisma, eloquence
and education, Suzanne compensates with her
passion and take-no-shit attitude. Even if the club
is only composed of her and Caterina Giovanni,
eventually, Suzanne would like the Club to grow
and be the legacy of Tania’s beliefs.
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HENRI BOWENS CHRISS

Primogen
BACKGROUND
Henri Bowens, embraced because he was not
going to be a typical Gangrel Embrace, is
considered to be Ventrue-like in his role. He is the
“Court” Primogen for his clan, behaves with
manners, talks and thinks thoroughly about his
decisions and is generally well respected by the
Courts, despite being the youngest Primogen.
Natacha, former Primogen who had fallen out of
grace and wishing to go back to the wild and give
up her responsibilities, embraced Henri and
Chriss in the mid-1980s to replace her. She and
many others then left the Camarilla in 1999.
APPEARANCE
Henri looks in his mid-twenties, is a pale Venetian
blonde man, with short hair and a neatly kept
collar-beard. He has green eyes, he looks like he
has lived off coffee and some beer, he didn't go
hungry. He has an average body frame, a rounder
face, and looks like he fits right among the elite,
without overdoing it. He wears clean cut clothes,
mostly formal, and with an acceptable effortless
sense of style. He hangs out with the Toreador
and Malkavian Primogens often.
KNOWN AGENDA
Henri wants to keep his role as a Primogen of the
Gangrel clan, either for his own prestige and
power, or for the greater good. A fine and skilled
politician, he keeps his motives as secret as he can,
but his young age seem to keep his ambitions
down to a realistic and small scale.
Mediator
BACKGROUND
While Henri represents the Gangrel in Court,
Chriss’ job is to be the mediator between him and
the rest of the clan. As such, most Gangrel had
asked him several times to take over Henri’s role.
However both Henri and Chriss are smart enough
to know that Henri’s strengths as a Primogen is
that he indeed does not think like a Gangrel, and
that anyone else on the job would be eaten alive
(undead?) by the Court. Natacha embraced Chriss
at around the same time as Henri, in the mid 80s,
for that exact reason. Chriss is also known to have
approached the werewolves in the late 80s in
hopes to strike a non-aggression treaty. It was
successful, and since then, the werewolves and
vampires haven’t killed each other openly.
APPEARANCE
Chriss is a 1m75 and fairly fit, average-looking
man. He’s been into a few brawls, his shoulder
length dark blond dreads give him a grunge-like
look. His dark brown eyes are sharp, betraying
how attentive he is despite looking stoned.
KNOWN AGENDA
Chriss takes his role quite seriously, both
explaining Henri’s choices to the rest of the clan,
and telling Henri not to forget the clan’s needs as
he often deviates from them in favor of his own
desires. As a person, however, Chriss tends to
make bold decisions and acts quire fearlessly. His
personal interests remain unknown, however.
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shoulders, who breathes wilderness, with long red

locks and matching facial hair. He’s a true ginger,
and his cat-like eyes and raw bestial voice quickly
scare people away. He dresses with what he finds
useful but he mostly hides as a homeless vagrant.
He looks in his early 30s, but under all that hair
and his bestial traits, who knows exactly how old
he was when he was embraced. Up close, it’s clear
THE VENERABLE he isn’t human-looking.
Ancient
KNOWN AGENDA
BACKGROUND
The Venerable wants his privacy to remain
Arguably the oldest Kindred in town, the
private and his territory to remain his. His own
Venerable keeps to himself and has little contact
specific interests are anyone’s guess, but his words
with non-Gangrel. He doesn’t drive visitors away
of old wisdom are often sought out.
if they find him but he doesn’t openly seek out
their presence. Embraced during the Dark Ages,
the Venerable was in torpor for a long while until
he woke to World War II’s bombings. The
Venerable does have a name, but due to his age,
when he woke, Natacha, who had found him,
presented him as Venerable and it stuck.
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XAVIER VICTOR DE SAINTE-CROIX

Patriach
BACKGROUND
Patriarch of the clan, Xavier is a social being who
was both a very good Sheriff and a very good
Primogen until he somewhat retired from his
responsibilities. He has stayed active and involved
both in vampire politics and vampire mundane
unlife. Xavier arrived in town in the early 17th
century or so, so he is at least older than that.
Xavier is an educated man, certainly with a
religious background, and is generally speaking
considered good company by the Kindred high
society, and he is fairly often sought out to talk
about art and religion. Whatever he’s got going
when it comes to the Malkavian curse, it has not
been a problem to anyone.
APPEARANCE
Xavier is a 175cm tall southern French man of
about 85 to 90kg. Fit, Xavier always stands straight
and dresses in a semi-formal way, giving him a
commanding stand. His natural charisma serves
him enough that he wouldn’t look out of place in
any mundane event. His fairly long hair is black
and his eyes are brown. His features make him
quite a handsome man.
KNOWN AGENDA
As far as the Court understands, Xavier is the
protector of other Malkavians, which are his dear
and unique children. He retired from his job as
Primogen and Prevost, yet most still come to him
instead of Victor to solve certain delicate issues.
Primogen
BACKGROUND
Clearly “Ventrue”, undoubtedly embraced by the
Prince himself, the Malkavian Primogen has class,
elegance, and manners. Victor was embraced
during WWI. Well-spoken and witty, Victor
usually blends in well in Elysium even if he has his
moments of unrestrained passionate discourses.
Victor (still fledgling) and his sire arrived in town
as Boyer had just seized power. His sire left town
without officially freeing Victor, and Boyer
welcomed Victor as a full fledged Neonate.
APPEARANCE
Victor is about 170cm for 70kg or so, he’s a light,
nervous, pale man with short blond hair and
brown eyes. He only looks in his late teens,
making him one of the youngest looking vampires
of the city. His eyes are slightly sunken, his
features are soft and thin, and he is often quite
expressive in gestures and facial expressions. His
eyebrows are thick and bushy and he doesn’t have
facial hair. He dresses with a slightly older style
than his looks in order to appear more mature.
KNOWN AGENDA
Victor supports Boyer almost at all costs and will
do anything to protect the Prince that allowed
him to live. Entrusted with the role of being the
Primogen to those poor lost Malkavian childer,
Victor takes pride in his rank and position, even if
only to prove that he is worthy enough to, one
night, represent the Ventrue.
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PRÉVÔT
Sheriff
BACKGROUND
Embraced in the mid-18th century or so by Xavier,
Prévôt is quite a silent man with OCD-like
tendencies, sometimes lifting his arms, sometimes
doing his shoelaces in the worst possible
moments. He remains a respected and skilled
prevost who can get into hand-to-hand combat
with a Brujah and have a good chance of making it
through. He is the kind of man one deals with
only when one must.
APPEARANCE
At about 170cm for about 80kg, the Sheriff is a
fairly short man, but he isn’t a very muscular man.
His hair is short and chestnut, balding slightly to
the sides of his forehead. His eyes are light brown
as well. He has a three-day unshaven beard and
mustache. He breathes potential aggressiveness
and often looks tense. In his mid-twenties, Prévôt
wears street and practical clothes; hoodies, jeans,
scarf, winter or raincoat... Anything that serves its
purpose (dressing and passing for human) will
work for him as long as it’s neither complicated
nor too much of a hassle to obtain.
KNOWN AGENDA
Prévôt is patriotic and only cares about the
Camarilla ideologies. His rage against the Sabbat
made him destroy his own brother in blood,
Robert Degrelle, as he had covered a Sabbat nest
which led to the death of Laure Nolveaux’ childe.
He is also a fair supporter of Prince Boyer, due to
their past as a coterie.
FRED
Street guy
BACKGROUND
Acknowledged in the 1990s, Fred is the youngest
addition to the Malkavian clan. He was embraced
alongside Marie Jourdan by Robert Degrelle,
Xavier’s second childe (executed by Prevost for
hiding a Sabbat nest). Marie was killed in the
recent Sabbat raid, with all other members of their
coterie, leaving Fred alone. Fred is a visibly fit man
who acts like a worried and scared mouse. He has
good street-knowledge and can easily move
around without being noticed much. He bikes to
most places and is always willing to lend a hand to
whomever will accept it.
APPEARANCE
At about 180cm for about 85kg, Fred spent a fair
amount of time on the streets. Fit and visibly
capable, he oddly acts like he is a fragile mouse.
His clothing “choices” match his squat, bum
lifestyle, wearing beanies, gloves, scarfs, ugly
sweaters and coats. He remains practical and
doesn’t carry much with him. His dark brown eyes
look around nervously often, and his dirty semi
long hair betrays some long lost 80s fashion.
Looking up close, Fred looks in his mid-30s.
KNOWN AGENDA
Fred loved his friends, his coterie, and with the
death of his sire for sympathizing with the Sabbat,
he seems to have lost purpose and suffers remorse
and guilt for not having died with them. Maybe he
will regain some conviction to carry on their
memory and take action eventually.
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DOCTEUR
Primogen
BACKGROUND
Docteur, or Doctor in English, is the Primogen of
the Nosferatu clan. An endless pit of knowledge
and of many talents, Docteur is also mysterious
and no one out of the Nosferatu clan knows his
name. He was in a coterie with Natacha, Franz
Derijk, and Armand Colin, and as such, was
certainly embraced around WWI or so. In
Elysium, he chooses to wear clothes of the
Theater as to “Masquerade” as an actor in
costume, wearing a white mask to hide his
Masquerade-unfriendly features.
APPEARANCE
Docteur is generally a slim and discrete man, he
has a small frame but can stand out. He’s reserved
but when talked to, he can be heard and talked to
as the skilled, educated and posed Primogen he is.
KNOWN AGENDA
Docteur’s influences and interests tend to be
around the undergrounds of the city, be it the
wine cellars or the sewages, or even some of the
roman ruins. His knowledge in (factual) History
makes him also prone to wish to maintain some of
the older buildings and passing on the knowledge.
IGOR
Curious Occultist
BACKGROUND
A really curious and optimistic Nosferatu, this
small happy ball that goes by “Igor”. Most people
smile when they speak of him, he is just that
joyful. He’s a very happy Nosferatu who is driven
by curiosity, the occult, and anything he finds odd
and interesting. He followed what ended up being
a werewolf once because “it was just an odd
looking person”. Also a pit of knowledge, Igor was
embraced sometime between the 17th and the 19th
century, but with the Nosferatu, nobody is sure.
Cheery and knowledgeable when it comes down
to “the weird of the world”, Igor is the light in
every room.
APPEARANCE
Igor always dresses with a cowl, uses bandages to
cover up the rest of his skin, one of his legs is
slightly shorter, and he has way too many teeth
(he says he has a “big smile” when it's mentioned).
KNOWN AGENDA
Igor can't seem to want anything more than hoard
knowledge and extend his personal network of
contacts to find out more about anything
supernatural.
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M'SIEUR PIERRE SCOOP

Phone Operator
BACKGROUND
Mr Pierre’s voice is known to all Kindred, as he
holds the Nosferatu hotline phone service. Need
to secure a haven? Out of gas one hour before
dawn? Got a body you need to dispose of? M’sieur
Pierre will send you the Nosferatu-of-the-
situation in record time. There are many posters
placed in strategic places of the city with the
Nosferatu hotline phone number. Most mortals
think it is a reference to the movie, but Kindred,
even those unaware of the service, recognize the
Nosferatu clan symbol and guess it’s how the
Nosferatu advertise their services. He was
presented to the Prince and acknowledged in the
1980s when he opened the service.
APPEARANCE
M’sieur Pierre’s appearance is unknown as
nobody has even seen him. Or at least, nobody has
seen him and been able to identify him as him.
Prince Boyer and Docteur are the only public
figures who have seen him, during his
Acknowledgement.
KNOWN AGENDA
Nobody has dealt with him outside of a phone
call, so his known agenda seems to be to gather as
many boons as possible on his clan's behalf.
Yellow Journalist
BACKGROUND
Bad taste, rumors and yellow journalism in the
Kindred Courts have a name: Scoop. Raw in his
articles, he never made it longer than a month in
one given newspapers and that’s why the clan
took him in. If one can stand his dirty humor and
his foul language, some good and not untrue
rumors could be traded, and the most outrageous
scoops he gives about other Kindred aren’t always
the fake ones. Scoop was embraced in the early
70s and is always ready to give the most
outrageous gossip tabloid news for a laugh and
payment.
APPEARANCE
Scoop tends to carry around notebooks and often
wears a cap or beanie in case his obfuscate fails
him and gets way too close in terms of personal
space. He’s quite short but has a wide frame, at
least most of the time.
KNOWN AGENDA
True to his reputation, it seems Scoop wants to
get the most outrageous details, and then repeat,
transform and amplify them for his enjoyment.
Scoop enjoys his tabloid-like job quite a lot. The
crazier stories aren't always the made up ones
though.
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CHAROGNE
Fixer
BACKGROUND
A bit blunt and introverted, Charogne (Carrion in
English) was embraced because they were
polyvalent, they had many skills in all fields of
anything manual. Moving furniture, moving
bodies, changing a murder scene into a suicide,
fixing a car an hour before dawn, they can do it all
and keep somewhat cordial relations with
whomever needed the service. They’re well-
mannered but, akin to the cable man, nobody
remembers their details.
APPEARANCE
In most missions, Charogne wears the electrician,
gas-worker, tow truck service or food delivery
uniform that suits their needs the best. They
usually masquerade as a genderqueer or
genderless individual and answer to any pronoun.
KNOWN AGENDA
No one has asked them, and they haven’t stated
anything for themselves.
CARCASS
Street guy
BACKGROUND
Carcass was a librarian with a unique hobby to
tame certain animals and train them. They always
spoke in a low, monotone and are known to be the
one keeping the logs on the weird history of the
city. Carcass is the one to see for a specific
historical event, the past of the supernatural and
the weird of other Kindred. Being rarely seen and
hard to find, the only way to get in contact would
be through M’sieur Pierre’s hotline, when it comes
to mundane information dealings, and M’sieur
Pierre would arrange the meeting between
Carcass and the Kindred or ghoul asking for such
talents.
APPEARANCE
Usually with dirty coats and rarely without a
pigeon, Carcass is a tall and slender individual
with long nails that may have not been cleaned in
years and could give someone tetanus.
KNOWN AGENDA
Carcass, like M’sieur Pierre, collects information,
but mostly focuses on mundane, non-
supernatural events. Not an idiot, however,
Carcass has a window to know who influences
who when it comes to mortal circles.
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GRÉGORY DARVAULT ADRIANO GUICCIARDINI

Primogen
BACKGROUND
The Toreador Primogen is a nice, approachable
and elegant novelist. Most Kindred don’t think
much of Grégory, but they all agree he has talent
when it comes to wording himself and create
compelling, deep characters. He doesn’t involve
himself in anything beyond his influences and his
personal power, and as such is generally not seen
as a danger, politically speaking. Yet, his company
is sought and appreciated for the mundane regular
unlife of Elysium, despite being the oldest
Toreador in town (embraced when the Toreador
first came in the city, in the late 17th century).
Philanthropist
BACKGROUND
The Italian Guicciardini dislikes how non Italian
speakers mispronounce his name, so when he
presents himself, he always adds “but please, call
me Adrien”. A man of taste and a certain mystery,
Adriano is a poseur, he is known to be involved in
financial deals. He arrived in town at the end of
the 19th century, to inform the city that his sire,
the Toreador Primogen Aude de Volange, had
met her Final Death in Italy. A blood test proved
both that he was her childe and that he had not
diablerized her. Taking that into account, Grégory
Darvault fought to welcome Adriano.

APPEARANCE
Grégory looks in his early 20s, has brown hair and
eyes, is about 175cm tall for a fairly average-to-thin
frame. Not truly a looker, he has charm and has a
great eye to pick clothing and accessories that will
suit him without being tacky and still look
timelessly elegant and expensive. Darvault likes
lighter colors in general and he enjoys life as it
comes, until the next thrill that gets him to write.
His eyes are kind and full of good will.
KNOWN AGENDA
The Sabbat raid cost him his grandchilde,
Annabelle, and his childe's pain is something he
has a hard time dealing with. Ashamed of his own
inactions during the raid, as the Beast's fear got
the best of him, Grégory is seeing the bliss is over.
APPEARANCE
Adriano is a 1m80 tall man in his early 20s for
about 70kg, and his skintone show his
Mediterranean and Italian origin. Generally
speaking, his clothing choices are formal and
tasteful. He is also very human looking and
doesn’t hesitate to fake his breathing and to be
just as expressive as Kine. His eyes are dark brown
and so is his hair, which he keeps to mid-length
for a dandy look.
KNOWN AGENDA
Adriano made himself an enemy of Prince Boyer
when he bought off the stakes of a company of
importance to him, from the Giovanni hands, but
all is fair in finances and Boyer just couldn’t
match the massive amount of riches needed.
Adriano might just be a trade shark, relaxed and
without a worry in the world.
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LAURE NOLVEAUX JÉRÔME LEHIN

Elysium Keeper
BACKGROUND
Goldsmith and jewelry maker of talent, Laure was
embraced in the early years of the 20th century. A
talent with some genius marketing tricks, with a
strong spirit and a strong mind, Laure is a prodigy.
She has managed to keep herself and her coterie
in everyone’s good side, despite the violent
change of Prince (from Marquise Madeleine
d’Aurigny, Laure’s grandsire, to the Ventrue
Boyer). She even obtained the prestigious title of
Elysium Keeper from Prince Boyer in the 1950s.
Laure’s strength of personality has also kept her
going; she lost her childe to a Lasombra diablerist
(whom she hunted down with Prévôt, which led
to the execution of Robert Degrelle), she still
stands strong.
APPEARANCE
Laure is a 1m70-ish Norman-looking confident
woman in her early 20s. She has long blonde wavy
hair and green eyes. She dresses in elegant but
plain suits, but with pants rather than a skirt,
which she finds more practical, and it enhances
the quality, beauty and delicacy of her jewelry.
Laure isn’t a beautiful woman for most, she’s even
average, but she has style and charisma to make up
for raw beauty, knowing exactly how to underline
her strengths and hide her flaws.
KNOWN AGENDA
Laure loathes the Sabbat and the recent attack
killed yet another close friend. Her priorities are
vengeance and helping her friend Jérôme mourn.
Mandataire
BACKGROUND
Quiet and kind Jérôme is Grégory’s childe,
embraced in the early years of the 20th century as
well. He naturally formed a coterie with the very
talented and fierce Laure and the Tremere
Claudia. Jérôme was a glass-blower and caught the
interest of his Sire for a new book of his. Very few
but his coterie friends know much about him as a
person, apart from the fact that he couldn’t help
but cry blood when he found out, in the recent
Sabbat raid, that his childe and lover Annabelle
had been killed. He is managing to hold on to be
the Mandataire of the Toreador clan, showing the
same strength as Laure when she went through a
similar situation in 2000.
APPEARANCE
Jérôme is a quite tall (1m82) thin man with very
light short hair and grey eyes. Considered
generally handsome, he tends to be very casual
and simple in his clothing choices, plain even. He
also tends to pick fairly pale colors, aiming for
lighter tones, greys, beiges… He looks in his early-
to-mid 20s, and he is certainly a fit, physically
active man (despite not being a match for a
Brujah, glassblowing is quite a physical activity).
KNOWN AGENDA
Annabelle’s death has turned him into a recluse,
but before that Jérôme’s agenda mostly consisted
in creating the best events for his Clan for any
vernissage or social events. He tries to resume his
duties to show his strength.
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ALICIA VANDENSTREE URBAIN DELACOUR

Harpy
BACKGROUND
Actress extraordinaire in the late 1940s, once muse
of Grégory, she was embraced by mistake because
her sire thought she was, indeed, the author of
Red Velvet, a stunning novel in the world of
theater drama, of unbelievable dialogue and
expression. Sadly for her sire, everyone but him
knew Alicia was Grégory’s cover to publish his
novel. At her Becoming, with nerve and a swift
mind, she displayed her utility in Kindred life,
“with my many talents, and I am not talking about
my talents as a novelist”. She was acknowledged
and the backlash was redirected to her sire whom
is still mocked to this day. She survived and rose
to become one of the sharpest harpies in town,
making a name for herself and by herself.
APPEARANCE
Alicia is a fairly short but curvy woman in her
mid-twenties. Her Venitian curly hair is always
perfect as well as her make-up chosen to enhance
her green eyes. As an actress, she is extremely
expressive, but controls it perfectly. High heels,
sexy legs, beautiful cleavage and perfectly fit
clothes are her motto. Her cocktail dresses tend to
be long enough to be considered conservative
(just below the knee, as per Coco’s rules).
KNOWN AGENDA
Keep her position and rise higher. Alicia may not
be a born politician, but all of her talents can very
much make her a powerful and influential
Kindred… Once she gets a little older.
Laughing stock
BACKGROUND
Urbain was always a withdrawn man, ever since
he came from Paris in the 1910s. He has secluded
himself even more when he was humiliated for
embracing a “book cover”, and as such, very few
know him beyond being “Alicia’s Sire” and a
failed artist (a painter, as far as one could
remember from a few gallery shows he had
presented between the 1950s and the 1960s, he had
a fauvist style). Urbain is mostly a loner, he works
on his own and since the 1960s he hasn’t shown
any of it to anyone. Kindred still gossip about his
embrace of Alicia, how he hadn’t had the wits to
find out more about her before choosing her,
finding out that her “novel” wasn’t hers but
Grégory’s.. But also Urbain was kicked out, on the
edge of frenzy, from his own exposition, after
Alicia criticized his lack of talent in public.
APPEARANCE
Part of the art-bourgeoisie of Paris, Urban's style
is classical, on the outdated side even. It’s clear the
man is far more at ease in his work clothes. He is
still able to play the part. Urbain is about 168cm
tall for about 75kg, sometimes he shaves his facial
hair for public appearances but otherwise he just
grooms it the old-fashioned way.
KNOWN AGENDA
Many guess he has locked himself to find the rage
and spite to paint more, to show them all how
wrong they were and how great of an artist he
actually is. The truth is a total mystery.
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LYLE KERSTEN JEAN-PIERRE GRIFFIN

Primogen and Regent
BACKGROUND
Known for being witty and quite cheerful, Lyle is
nonetheless a knowledgeable and dangerous
Tremere that has been around ever since the
Chantry was founded in the 16th century. He just
chooses to be “fun to be around”. With English
blood and origins, despite his age, Lyle has
managed to keep in the loop of technology and
social progress. Since the 1990s he has been rarely
seen in Elysium or even in any part of town,
which has led to the craziest rumors in Court.
APPEARANCE
Lyle is a 192cm, about 90kg man, betraying some
Norman or Viking heritage, with long chestnut
curly hair he loosely ties back, brown-green eyes
and sharp features. He looks bright, cunning,
witty, but also looks very capable of being physical
whenever needed. He isn’t handsome, but he has
a charismatic and confident personality. Usually
he wears a relaxed, tie-less light shirt and dark suit
which gets from a tailor every couple of decades.
KNOWN AGENDA
Modernize his Clan as a whole is the most
common guess. Lyle also tends to come up with
the most outrageous actions he can every few
years, to remind the court he is around. One of
the most recent feats consisted of coming to
Elysium in full tourist-back-from-Hawaii gear,
exclaiming that Vienna was awesome that time of
the year. Since then he has rarely been seen.
Harpy
BACKGROUND
Griffin is the Tremere harpy, but unlike most
harpies, he goes straight to the point, has no nice
side, and buries six feet under the social
reputation of anyone, regardless of status and
position, for improper Elysium behavior. He is
just as nice as a prison guard. The taciturn harpy
by excellence. Griffin was embraced in the mid-
18th century, in Britain it seems, and was brought
back in his traveling Sire’s luggage. As a Harpy, he
tracks down and lists everyone’s boons and
favors, making sure they’re repaid properly. He
doesn’t mind much rumors, but reputations and
manners are important to him. Griffin has also
mastered a form of deadpan humor as well, which
eases his aura of hostility.
APPEARANCE
At about 180cm tall and 80kg, Griffin wears all of
his Britishness both in his traits (as a pale aquiline
man) and in his attitude. Formal at all times, he
blends in society because “it looks natural” that
he’d wear such formal and even antique fashion of
dark colors. He fully shaves, with the exception of
his light eyebrows, which only enhances his
trademarked ice-blue stare of disapproval, which
he gives to those stepping out of their position.
KNOWN AGENDA
Griffin doesn’t let anyone step on anyone’s toes
and he wants Kindred to play fair in Elysium,
when it comes to boons. He despises blood bonds
as payment, but will document everything.
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MIKAËL HÖRSMAN CLAUDIA VONÏGNER

Librarian
BACKGROUND
The highest ranking Apprentice in town, Mikaël
Hörsman works hard and everyone knows it. He is
a very intelligent, Pyramid-groomed Tremere and
enjoys seeing the spectacle that is the Elysium
Court, but never gets involved himself. Mikaël’s
influences are mostly shared in universities,
research groups, certain churches and occult
groups. He is open to discuss just about anything
and has more than once been able to show his
brightness through dissertations, oral debates and
explaining and contextualizing quotes from
classical authors. Mikaël was embraced just after
the Terror.
APPEARANCE
Mikaël is a 175cm tall, 80kg man with black; very
short hair, and dark eyes. As his name implies, he
isn't a local. He has a mysterious but genuine
smile, and tends to be fairly discreet both in his
clothing choices and in his body language. Due to
the proximity of the Chantry to Elysium, he often
lurks around and spectates Court games, while
not being involved himself.
KNOWN AGENDA
Keep the clan traditional, the society traditional,
and go back to a better, nostalgic past. Mikaël has
seen what the future held, and he hates everything
about it. But the House and Clan know best, and
Lyle Kersten has surely been named Regent for a
reason.
Flower
BACKGROUND
Highest ranked Apprentice after Mikaël, Claudia
is a bit aloof and quite an outsider to the Chantry.
She’s a bright discreet girl who plays on being
ignored. She only really opens up when she is
with her Coterie friends, Laure and Jérôme.
Claudia was embraced in the early 20th century by
Lyle Kersten after Tremere heard of her existence.
Tarcisus, Regent at the time, very much
disapproved of her potential Embrace by anyone
else, and Lyle did the deed despite the Right
having been given to her would-be sire Robert
Degrelle. While the court considered the theft
outrageously rude, he got away with it as nobody
really cared about offending a Malkavian neonate.
APPEARANCE
Claudia is an extremely thin woman looking
between her late teens to mid-twenties (she tricks
through makeup and clothing choices). She is
about 168cm tall and weighs less than 50kg. She
has shoulder length dark auburn hair with bangs,
light brown to green eyes, and dresses in girly
fashion. She covers most of her body with scarfs,
sleeves, stockings, and other accessories, while
remaining feminine. She often looks more human
than her peers.
KNOWN AGENDA
The only one of her coterie who had not risen in
status in Court, Claudia’s agenda remains a
mystery beyond just sailing by without attracting
unwanted attention.
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Dominique is a fairly average-looking man in

DOMINIQUE LEJEUNE
Bon Vivant
BACKGROUND
Despite his bad reputation, Dominique is a well-
mannered, first-of-the-class Tremere. Delightful
in Elysium, he is approachable and friendly to the
youngest, who can relate to him more than others.
He sadly has a reputation of always hanging out
with the wrong crowd, all of his past
acquaintances either ending up dead or with a
blood hunt, and his friendship with the Setites
isn’t a secret. Dominique was embraced in the
early 19th century.
frame, weight and height, at about 175cm and a
good 85kg, in his early to mid-twenties, who has
kept the moustache he had in the 1800s. He has a
very round shaped face, mid long light chestnut
hair, light eyes, and has enjoyed life enough to
have some weight to him. Expressive, vibrant and
alive, Dominique is friendly and open to anyone
approaching him, but he is far from being stupid
or naive.
KNOWN AGENDA
Dominique has little ambitions, but he is very
respectful of the privacy required with being a
Tremere. He formed a coterie with the two
youngest Setites, much to the disapproval of
many, and is considered untrustworthy by
association.
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BOYER NEVE ROSETTI

Prince
BACKGROUND
Prince of the city, (Jean-Baptiste) Boyer seized
power during WWI after a coup against the
Toreador Marquise. Known as a bourgeois trade
owner, in the ships and arms field, Boyer was an
orator and a politician during the French
Revolution. He was embraced and founded a
coterie with Théodore and the man who would
later become Prévôt. Princess Hélène had found in
him one of the best orators of the city, a
influential man with even more influential
friends, and saved him from the guillotine by
offering him the Embrace. Boyer is a calm and
composed man who believes in ruling by having
“willing subordinates” instead of imposing
himself by force, following La Boetie’s writings.
APPEARANCE
Boyer is a tall, slightly chubby man in his mid-30s
with impeccable manners. He has keen fair eyes,
ash-blonde hair and usually wears a simple suit
that fits his build. Reserved and attentive, Boyer
values the opinions he hears and doesn’t dismiss
the young ones (or at least not to their faces). He
doesn’t stick to protocol when it is not necessary.
KNOWN AGENDA
Staying Prince is an obvious desire of his, but
Boyer also wishes to do something about the low-
key rebellion many members of his Court have
done by calling for new Embraces and fresh blood
to make up for all the recent Deaths. Perhaps he
will turn these Neonates into his supporters.
Harpy
BACKGROUND
One of the oldest Kindred in town, Neve is the
oldest Ventrue by far, childe, just like Boyer of the
late princess Hélène. Neve doesn’t involve herself
directly in politics, but she advises Boyer and
spends most of her time using her wits and her
sarcastic remarks to amuse herself in Court. She is
the one who gave Thomas his Harpy title.
APPEARANCE
As her last name implies Italian origins, Neve has
a darker complexion, for a vampire her age at
least, but she surely isn’t an Assamite. Her hair is
straight, black and long, with matching eyes. She
is about 160cm tall for about 60kg, showing she
has had a good life, a life without hunger or
illness. She would fit Renaissance beauty
standards perfectly well. Neve looks young, late
teens to early twenties at most, but her makeup
and mature clothing, mostly long dark dresses,
revealing very little of her skin, tend to make her
look older.
KNOWN AGENDA
Neve’s motivations are quite nebulous, but as an
Elder Harpy she finds herself in a comfortable
situation: prestige, respect, and no responsibilities
that may be dangerous. She remains sharp and
vicious when her social prey outsteps herself. She
used to torment her victims in tandem with
another harpy, Thomas Durieux, Ventrue, but he
was killed during the recent Sabbat raid and she is
now without a play-mate.
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ERIC ARTEVELT ARMAND COLIN

Stock Broker
BACKGROUND
Distant and discreet, many tend to forget Eric’s
presence and actual powerful influence in town,
ever since his arrival in the early 1900s. Eric
doesn’t really stand out unless one talks to him or
one notices his knowledge and sharp mind. He
enjoys mundane activities as any other Kindred,
but his fields of interest, seemingly around
finances and politics, are mostly kept to himself.
He has managed, as a Ventrue, to keep good ties
to many other cities, and as such he often travels
abroad, with Boyer’s blessings to defend the local
Ventrue’s interests. He’s also known to master
many different languages, among which are
English, Dutch and German.
APPEARANCE
Eric doesn’t stand out for his looks or charisma,
but he is a bright man of good company. At about
177cm tall and a regular build, Eric chooses simple
suits that fit him, probably entrusting a tailor to
find him what suits him best, usually in light
colors. He has short dark hair and gray/green eyes.
His face is oval-shaped and he has had a healthy
life, having a little portliness. He probably never
jogged in his life, but he didn’t abuse the good
things either. Eric looks in his mid-20s.
KNOWN AGENDA
Eric keeps his affairs private and secret, and his
investments are varied and healthy enough to not
put all of his eggs in the same basket. His
involvement in the local Court seems minimal.
Jurist
BACKGROUND
Embraced by Boyer right after he took Princedom,
Armand was a gifted, talented lawman and jurist.
He was embraced just after WWI and has grown
as a powerful member of the Ventrue clan.
Armand is savvy, quick-minded and interesting to
be around for most Kindred, and his hand on the
influence circles of law and bureaucracy aren’t a
secret. While Eric is cautious by nature, Armand
isn’t afraid to take risks, as far as business and
boldness is concerned, and this is certainly
something Boyer found to be a quality. Armand
and Eric are known to be good business partners,
if not friends, ever since World War II. As a
neonate, Armand formed a coterie with Docteur,
Natacha and Franz, but the coterie disbanded as
soon as everyone was able to work on their own.
APPEARANCE
At about 175cm or so, Armand has a stronger build
than average. He’s probably one of the most
physically apt-looking Ventrue. He isn’t a
handsome man, but like his sire, he is a
charismatic orator. Armand, in his 40s, has black
short hair, dark brown eyes. He clearly and
undoubtedly has all the traits of a workaholic.
KNOWN AGENDA
Armand wants to diversify and expand on new
fields for his own needs, and the recent Sabbat
raid has given him new laws and decrees to try and
play around with. The mortal victims of such laws
are of no concern to him.
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At about 170cm or so, Christophe has a strong

CHRISTOPHE DE BRI-LEVEQUE
Dilettante
BACKGROUND
Mostly known to have witnessed the death of his
Sire, eaten by a werewolf in the 1950s, Christophe
is certainly one of the most enigmatic Ventrues to
have been embraced. Christophe is a socialite, he
can talk and enjoy just about everything, and is
often invited to parties for his delightful
company. He was embraced during the mid-19th
century. His skills and the reasons behind his
embrace are unclear for many outside of his Sire
and probably older Ventrue Kindred. He has a
good knowledge of art and artists, and often goes
to museums.
build, the kind that matches his nobility and the
status he had as a mortal. He’s fine to be around,
but he has lived the good life and has enjoyed it
without that much moderation. With his ash-
chestnut hair, which he styles in brush form, and
his light brown eyes, he watches over the world
and its people with no fear. His face is very square,
and he often wears old-fashioned glasses, as
accessories rather than as a need to fix his
eyesight. He smiles and enjoys his unlife as much
as he enjoyed his life, but also brings to the
Ventrue clan and to the Prince strong support
through his different resources.
KNOWN AGENDA
Christophe seems like the kind to find joy in
existence and does not want to rock the boat. He
remains a strong supporter of Boyer and hopes to
reinforce his reign.
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MENTOPHIS
Patriarch
BACKGROUND
Mentophis is the Sire of the two other Setites in
town and controls his network through them and
through his own strengths. He has a reputation of
being ruthless in business, but of nice company if
you’re on good terms with him. Sometimes his
childer will refer to him as “professor”. Mentophis
is cunning and holds his turf with an iron hand,
moving pawns and controlling mortals and ghouls
as one would control furniture; they’re assets and
they’re disposable. If it’s criminal, if it requires
smuggling, if it needs reselling, Mentophis is likely
behind (Théodore is the other choice, due to his
history in crime). Kindred have been aware that
ever since their arrival in town and until his
promotion, Mentophis and Tarcisus were close.
APPEARANCE
Mentophis is a fairly frail looking man who
doesn’t seem physically apt of beating people up.
At about 165cm and about 75kg, his pale traits,
light eyes and short wavy dark blonde hair betray
that he isn’t Middle Eastern, Arab, anywhere near
Egyptian or anything else than the Britishest of
British men in existence. Mentophis is smart and
very charismatic, people are drawn easily to him.
KNOWN AGENDA
Mentophis wants to keep his monopoly on his
sector. He’s quite happy in the East Bank, known
as La Rive Droite, but he is displeased not to have
a proper voice in Kindred society. Well, as long as
they still owe him favors…
EMILIO
Pimp
BACKGROUND
Emilio, the oldest childe of Mentophis, controls
anything relating to prostitution and living-beings
trafficking. More social than his brother, Emilio
shows up sometimes in Elysium with his Sire to
try and gain some influence and gossip, but so far
no one has really accepted to support the Setite so
openly and to use their services (or at least said
they did so). Nosferatus are cheaper and they are
Camarilla. Yet, Emilio is the go-to person to make
a body disappear if one doesn’t want to deal with
Nosferatu favors, and rumors say that there are
some common grounds between him and the
Nosferatu to work on body-recycling businesses.
APPEARANCE
Emilio is a 173cm, 85kg, charming and handsome
man, who even looks a little more human
naturally than his peers. His darker complexion
and his black hair and eyes betray his Iberic
origins. He’s also fit and can get physical when
needed, especially when it comes to making sure
his pimps and prostitutes obey him and give him a
good percentage of their business.
KNOWN AGENDA
Emilio keeps his cards to himself most of the time,
but he has quite a good hold on his trafficking
deals and he mostly focuses on those. There's no
reason for him not to want to branch out or
expand.
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RÉMI CATERINA GIOVANNI

Dealer
BACKGROUND
Rémi is in charge of anything related to what can
be sniffed, injected, or smoked. He handles the
import and export business and was quite
involved in the French Connections. Rémi was
embraced locally by Mentophis once he had
proven his usefulness as a smart leader with great
contacts abroad and a strong local network to
work with, in the mid-19th century. The city’s
drug addicts have never faced any kind of lack of
any sort of drugs despite the government efforts
to fight the scourge, thanks to Rémi’s hard work.
APPEARANCE
Rémi is a 170cm, 80kg, very good- looking young
man in his early-to-mid-20s. Rémi doesn’t show
up often in social occasions, too busy elsewhere
and uncaring of proper social Kindred behavior.
He’s often seen hunting with his blood brother
Emilio and with Dominique Lejeune. He has short
black hair and light green eyes. Quite handsome,
Rémi likes to seduce and have fun.
KNOWN AGENDA
Like his brother Emilio, Rémi prefers keeping
things to himself and has little relations with
other Kindred. He’s always ready for a good time
and he won’t let anyone deprive him of such.
Jurist
BACKGROUND
Caterina Giovanni was a ghoul embraced by her
master before they had to leave the city. She’s
hunted down by the Setites, more or less openly,
but she has managed to gain the support of the
Immortal Women’s Club to survive. Now that its
leader Tania has died, she only has Suzanne
“Calamity Jane” Gourand, barely older than
herself, to support her survival. Caterina and her
clan used to have great control over sex workers,
until Boyer’s influence and hatred towards the
Giovanni caused the docks to be fully cleaned and
rebuilt as a touristic family-friendly attraction.
Caterina managed to keep a solid network, even if
it’s far smaller, it’s more profitable with more
regular, higher paying clients.
APPEARANCE
Caterina is the image of “the curvy, sexy
confident Italian woman”, the lady with endless
legs with Dolce Gabanna or Prada clothes, long
black straight hair and dark deep eyes. She’s not
really a beautiful woman, but she uses make-up
and revealing clothes to attract all types of
attention, to her great pleasure.
KNOWN AGENDA
Caterina is trying her best to survive, as the
Setites will be ruthless if they find her outside of
Elysium without protection. She also holds on to
her ghouls and prostitution business as it’s her
source of income (or at least the only one known,
but who knows if her family is still helping her...).
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Industry has been declining in Bordeaux, but there

This little section will give you details about what
are still some important manufactures. Industry
different influences might affect, precisely in the context
influences mostly concern public works and
of Bordeaux. Number 7 will surprise you!
construction, as well as housing and all of the small
details concerning the different permits and
ADMINISTRATION AND BUREAUCRACY
certifications needed by companies and workers.

When influencing Administration and Bureau-

cracy, in Bordeaux, results may vary from all sorts of
paperwork, including renting public housing,
obtaining public servant positions, forms and other
status for birth certificates, marriage certificates, and
other notary issues. Did someone say construction
permits?
HEALTH
When influencing Health in Bordeaux, results may
give details about patient paperwork, but also their
health insurance (private supplementary insurance and
the public information and social security
reimbursements). Hospitals and private clinics, as well
as liberal professions such as nurses and doctors and
their relation with the health organizations. The Red
Cross and other blood bank and ambulance private
services may fall under this sector.
HIGH SOCIETY
High society and socialites of Bordeaux are both
new and old money, philosophers and thinkers,
mundane evenings, large castles and domains, and their
needs for art, private clubs, and special mutual
recognition items and behaviors. We aren’t like them.
232
LAW
The judicial reach of Bordeaux, as the local tribunal
of commerce and the go-to criminal tribunal when a
case is too sensitive for Paris, has lots of details.
Lawyers, public attorneys, judges, and all of the
administrative hassle of different laws and litigation
can be found through influencing Law. A few local
prefecture-level decisions (authorize a protest or a
concert, check public demonstrations) are also decided
locally.
MEDIA
Media influences are mostly local: radio,
newspapers, and local television (which is only watched
by a certain fringe of the population; national channels
have local news sections). Media influences also allow
public awareness control, which is a key for a good for
all sorts of Masquerade issues. Media influences will
bring the public’s attention to a given project, or
distract them from whatever a kindred might be up to.
OCCULT
Occult influences in Bordeaux tend to be all sorts
of marginal practices, some of which have bled into the
mainstream. From small personality cults, to mediums
and believers of all sorts of pseudo-sciences (including
homeopathy, which is widely accepted in France),
someone with influence in the occult can find out
about Tarot readers, mediums, marabouts and other
holistic medicines. When influencing the occult, one
also reaches certain spheres of hard core believers, and
folklore grandmother stories and rumors.
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Influencing organized crime is having a hand
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Street influence is all type of criminal influence
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at all sorts of illegal activities, from smugglers
to dealers to human trafficking and other
horrors. Prostitution itself is legal in France, but not
pimps and not brothels anymore, and soliciting
remains also illegal. Go-Fast smuggling is common.
POLICE
that isn’t part of organized crime. From homeless
shelters and squats, to different volunteers who come
and meet the people of the streets, to immigrant and
semi-legal status people, someone with street influence
will have access to a broad network that knows the city
like no other. There’s lots of resources in the streets for
anyone willing to adhere to their codes.

The Police (and Gendarmerie) has a reach to UNIVERSITY

all sorts of ways to enforce the laws: from allowing a
driver’s license, to having data on a car’s infractions and
checking insurances, to presenting criminals to the
State for trials. Most policemen and policewomen
spend more time handling small criminal issues and
paperwork, as well as issuing fines and just walking in
the city to allow people to feel more secure, more
protected.
POLITICS
Influencing politics means influencing locally-
handled issues from the mayor’s office. Local jobs, as
well as grants and promoting certain events have huge
impacts, especially in such a touristic area.
University (and school-related activities) influences
means understanding and using the codes of academia
to one’s gain. Grants, access to archives and meeting
with professors, their assistants, and their workers.
Universities tend to have forgotten buildings and with
the right name dropping, one can have access to many
secrets, as well as influence research direction.
International applications as well as access to
their networks is worth the hassle, even if just paying
for it legally (registering as a student costing under
€500 per year) is also possible.

RELIGION

While many are just nominally catholic, religious

groups exist in Bordeaux, and influencing the leaders of
opinion and their activities means influencing all of
their followers.

233
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Timelines

KEY EVENTS UNDER EACH PRINCE

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PRIMOGEN AND CLAN LEADER POSITIONS

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First, the black and white rough sketches, which
e r-s of k tw

Extra art pieces are the majority of the portraits, were made by
Heathwind. Most of her artworks have her signature.

You’ll find in the following pages some full
versions of some of the artwork used for portraits
(except the Nossies by Dolores Draws, you got
the full versions in the Nosferatu section because
I couldn’t bring myself to crop them into the
portrait shape I used) and the occasional extra.
Then, colored scenes were made by Jimmy
Illustra. They are originally gifs about some of
the key scenes of the setting. Like Heath, her
signature isn’t in all her work, but after you’ve
seen two, I’m sure you can recognize her style.
You can find the gifs here:

These artworks are being used with the authori- https://secretsofthemasquerade.tumblr.com/tagged/

zation of their artists, and you can use them
for your Bordeaux stories, but you cannot reuse
them in other commercial work or elsewhere.
I only put in here artworks specifically
commissioned or created for these books, and
not Artpack artworks (Luis Miguez’s artworks,
whose art I used for the Fake Nossies as well
as for Annabelle, Antigone and Laurent, are such
examples).
jimmy-ilustra.
Next up are colored horrors by Owlvirus who
was kind enough to lend her unique style. You’ve
seen some of these pieces as covers for other
SotM publications.
Next up are some portraits drawn by Kii.
You’ll notice the change of name for the Prince,
as his original iteration was Jean Gosuin (a historical
arms manufacturer of the city of Liège, the original
city for which the setting was written). Kii lately
drew unique portraits for a recent book, Ladies
of Darkness - Vampires and Ghouls. Check it
out!

You’ll then find two lovely pieces I deeply

love: an old portrait of Lyle Kersten by Carmen
Cornet.

And finally, some of the pieces drawn by

Flavien, who created the original Liège setting.

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Prévôt, Théodore and Boyer (coterie)

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Victor de Sainte-Croix, Grégory Darvault, Docteur (Primogen)

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Neve Rosetti, Jean-Pierre Griffin and Alicia Vandenstree (Harpies)
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Lyle Kersten and Claudia Vonïgner (Tremere)

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Igor, Caterina Giovanni and Adriano Guicciardini (Occult fans)

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Thomas Durieux, Claudia Vonïgner, Laure Nolveaux and Jérôme

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Lehin (coterie)
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Henri Bowens, The Venerable and Chriss (Court Gangrel)

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Suzanne Gourand, Corinna Ansons* and Natacha (the feminists)

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k e r- s o ft w a k e r- s o ft w a

*Corinna Ansons was another Tremere Librarian, created for my friend Lisa to play in lieu of Mikäel Hörsman (who
is Corinna’s sire and moved with Tarcisus in that particular game). Corinna isn’t part of the setting as I do not
consider she is my character, and I trust you’ll respect this as well, and just enjoy the beautiful art.

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Tarcisus watching over Claudia’s studies (1905)

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Hélène de Chantraine in Lambert’s appartment

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Alicia presenting ‘her’ book to the press (1947)

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Laure discovering the remains of her daughter (2000)

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Lyle trying to get Mikaël to use new technologies (2010s)

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Claudia seeing Thomas’ ghost in Elysium (20XX)

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Théodore in Frenzy, killing Elisabeth Vrancken (1839)

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Lyle, lighting up the candles of the old Chantry

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Igor being bae

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Prince Boyer being Princey

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Gore Dominate

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Neve’s chains over a Nosferatu who defied her

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Yours truly, creating more Secrets… of the Masquerade.

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Kii’s arts

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Lyle Kersten artwork by Carmen Cornet

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Flavien’s pieces

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Lyle, Claudia and Rufus

Laure Alicia
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Flavien’s pieces

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Neve

Hélène de Chantraine

Mentophis

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Living in France 101
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This section explains French oddities, enjoy!
EUROPE, FRANCE AND A WHOLE LOT
MORE
France is a strange country full of paradoxes, with
plenty of traditions and customs, administrative
layers of all sorts, a love-hate relationship with its
public service and world renowned strikes, a desire to
reform all the time but not change a single thing if it
affects their precious routines. It is now a country of
services, mostly tourism, but also one of the biggest
exporters of goods of the world. Famous for its food
and gastronomy, its fashion, cosmetics and designers,
its politicians and philosophers, its architecture and
arts, the country also exports weapons, has a strong
military presence worldwide, and keeps a substantial
industrial presence through car and boat
manufacturing, aerospace hubs and pharmaceutical
products.
Part of the European Economic Area, the
Eurozone, the Schengen zone, and a founding member
of the European Union, post WWII, the country has
also recently joined the NATO after having refused
for decades in hopes of maintaining its independence.
The country is also a former colonial power, which
exploited lands and peoples all across the world, often
bringing those populations in for human zoos.
Some of these, known as overseas territories, still
belong to the Republic, making France the only
nation with borders and sovereign land on all five
continents (or six, if you separate North and South
America). With only about sixty-five million
inhabitants, all territories combined, its influence
remains with one of the highest GDP of the world, as
well as being the sixth largest economies.
The magnitude of administrative layers and
complexities can be understood through the parts of
France that are not in Europe. All overseas territories
under the department status are, legally speaking, part
of France, part of the EEA, part of the EU, part of the
Schengen area and use the euro. Sending a letter to
any of these territories costs one stamp, to ensure
territorial continuity between departments.
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These territories are, from closest to furthest,
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Guadeloupe and Martinique (Caribbean islands), k e r- s o ft w a
Guyane (near the other Guyanas and Brazil), and
Mayotte and La Réunion (near Madagascar). The other
dependencies, called overseas collectivities, have
individual statuses, such as Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
(Newfoundland, Canada) or Saint Martin (on the
island of Saint Martin, bordering the Dutch Sint
Marteen, allowing both countries share a border that
they do not have in Europe), which use the Euro, or
New-Caledonia or French Polynesia, which do not.
By default, as a misnomer, the term France refers
to the landmass between Spain, Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland and Italy (and Andorra, Monaco and
Luxembourg), excluding overseas territories but not
Corsica. It is also common to say “the Hexagon” to
refer to the landmass in Europe, excluding Corsica,
due to the shape of the territory, which is used as
a way to represent symbolically the country, on coins
or public services such as TV channels or radio stations.
Bordeaux is the ninth most populous city on its
own, but the full urban area, with over 1.2 million
inhabitants, is the fifth urban center of the country.
It’s also one of the richest regions of the country,
where international and national trade and tourism
are key to the city’s prosperity and prestige. For most,
Bordeauxgivesanimageofwine,vineyardsandchateaux
of all sorts since the 18th century. The city has long
extended past its historical borders and fortresses,
but its original buildings remain.
Bordeaux’ sister cities are all over the world. Los
Angeles, USA, is probably the one you may be the
most familiar with, and they have been sister cities
since 1964, but here are the others, in alphabetical
order: Ashdod, Israel (1984), Baku, Azerbaijan (1979),
Bamako, Mali (1999), Bilbao, Spain (2000), Bristol,
The United-Kingdom (1947), Casablanca, Morocco
(1988), Fukuoka, Japan (1982), Kraków, Poland (1993),
Lima, Peru (1956), Madrid, Spain (1984), Munich,
Germany (1964), Oran, Algeria (2003), Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso (2005), Porto, Portugal (1978), Québec,
Canada (1962), Ramallah, Palestine (2007), Riga, Latvia
(1993), Saint Petersburg, Russia (1992), Wuhan, China
(1998).
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POLICE, MILITARY AND THE LAW
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Generally speaking, the laws in France (and in
Bordeaux) are very similar to most laws of the rest of
the Western World. The Death Penalty was outlawed
in 1981. The last execution in France of someone
sentenced to death was in 1977, and it was also the last
European execution by guillotine.
The police force is divided in two distinct bodies.
The Police (municipal or national) is in charge of
cities and city management, giving fines, investigating
crimes, reassuring the population by their presence,
fight organized crime (with their task force RAID),
and frisking non-white youths in “sensitive
neighborhoods”. Policemen and women are public
servants (with some interim or temp workers) with
special training and having passed competitive exams
(as for most other public servant positions in the
country). The Gendarmerie is in charge of the
country-side and suburbs, as well as the inter-city
roads and sections, and are part of the military.
Special Forces such as the ones belonging to the GIGN
are part of the Gendarmerie. Neither can strike, but
members of the police can unionize. Both bodies are
expected to fulfill their duties in accord to the same
code of deontology, respecting the Human Rights.
Search warrants do not exist in French law, but
certain protections for freedom of the press and
medical secrets exist. Consent of the party or of a
judge is not necessary in case of flagrant crimes and
felonies investigations.
Military armed forces tend to patrol the streets,
especially sensitive public places such as heavily
touristic areas, neighborhoods with many banks or
high profile shops (jewelry stores, coin traders, high-
end hotels...) , and public buildings such as town halls,
stadiums, prefectures and political party
headquarters. Synagogues and other places where
Jewish people gather, as well as certain mosques and
churches are also part of the patrols of these military
men and women, during their respective holidays, to
prevent and deter potential terrorists to target these
places. These military men, in full gear and assault
rifles, but without hiding their faces, can be usually
found doing their jobs at all times of day and night,
in small groups of four to six individuals.
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Hunting seasons and firearms access are heavily
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regulated, but a hunting permit, the black market and k e r- s o ft w a
the remains of the French Connection will allow
people who want a gun to obtain one. After all, the
country is one of the biggest weapons manufacturer
and sells quite a lot of military equipment...
Underage drinking is forbidden but not really
enforced. Drinking and driving age in France are both
at 18. Age of consent for sexual relations is 15 for both
genders regardless of the gender of their partner(s),
but statutory rape may apply if the other party is an
authority figure of the minor. Prostitution and other
types of sex work are legal, granting its workers the
unenviable status of "independent contractors". It is
however important to note that soliciting and
pimping are both illegal, making it complicated for sex
workers to defend their rights and protect themselves
against certain clients. Brothels became illegal and
were closed in 1946, during the post-war
modernization of the country.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Until 2002, legislative elections (for represen-
tatives) and presidential elections followed a different
calendar. Representatives were elected every five years
but presidents were elected every seven years. If a
president’s party lost the legislative vote, a new
majority nominated the new Prime Minister. Having
a President of one party and a Prime Minister of
another is known as the Cohabitation. A common
practice was to dissolve parliament and call to urns to
obtain a better or a different majority. Chirac decided,
as President, to put an end to this system by making
the President’s term last five years and not seven,
which is why his second term was 2002-2007.
Chirac himself was a Prime Minister under an
opposing party president, François Mitterrand, and
Juppé was a minister under his cohabitation
government. Despite his position of Prime Minister
and other further roles in his political party, Juppé was
still the Mayor of Bordeaux, but he has had to delegate
his responsibilities to the municipal council.
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ELECTORAL SYSTEM HEALTHCARE
to

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Grossly simplified, French elections are two-turn
systems. During the first turn, electors choose the
candidate they like best, and second turn (usually one
to two weeks later) opposes the two candidates who
had the most votes. If a candidate reaches over 50% of
the valid votes, then they are elected, and if they do
so on the first turn, there is no second turn. This
applies to the President, the mayor and their
municipal council, the representatives (except
senators, which have a grand elector system), and the
region and department councils.
Voting is always on a Sunday and the polling
places open from 8am to 7pm or 8pm. Voters are
welcome (and encouraged) to come to count the
ballots, giving final results that same evening. You
don’t need the electoral card, but if you have it, you
can collect stamps!
This layers upon layers of different adminis-
trations involves different responsibilities delegated
by the State. The municipalities and cities are in
charge of building and managing their own primary
schools for instance, but the department is in charge
of middle schools and the region is in charge of high
schools.
France’s healthcare is one of the most robust but
also one of the most bureaucratic of all healthcare
systems in the world. Prices of drugs and consultations
are low when it comes to general medicine. In most
cases, people have their national healthcare card
which contains their social security number for
reimbursements, and an extra private insurance to
cover the costs that the social security does not cover
(about one third). Most people pay upfront and get
reimbursed in a few days to a few weeks. There is no
medical questionnaire for private insurance, but the
monthly premium depends on the age of the person.
There is no deductible, but there is a copay: 50 cents
per prescribed drug and one euro per doctor visit,
often waived for the poorest.
People with pre-existing conditions or long term
illnesses are more protected than others, as long as
their paperwork is in order. It costs less to just give a
diabetic their insulin and everything they need to treat
their illness than to deal with monthly ER visits. Flu
shots are given for free for people at risk.

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WORK, SOCIAL SAFETY NETS AND
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The French national sport is going on striket and e
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marching against reforms that may be used to remove
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France has an unemployment rate of about 10%
(including overseas territories, where it rises up to 25%
and where "a large amount of population benefits from
public servant contracts to “do nothing” in exchange for
social peace", according to a certain political agenda),
excluding students who cannot qualify for the
unemployed status. Labor laws are extremely strict,
meaning that when hired under a permanent
contract, it is incredibly hard to be fired. However
many employers, both in the public or in the private
sector, abuse temporary contracts, special aid
contracts interim and other turnover tricks.
The social safety net to protect the poorest is also
sometimes considered a ceiling that keeps people
from lifting themselves out of poverty, as once they
start earning a little more above the threshold, plenty
of benefits are taken away. Because of this, plenty of
people do their best to earn just enough to be just
under the threshold and not lose it all.
their hard earned privileges. Strikers are paranoid
about their working conditions and how they’ll be
abused with any new given law, reform, or even
presidential announcement, even if that isn’t the
intent. As such, people are very suspicious of any
changes that can (and will?) be used to attack their
customs and daily lives. It is not rare for high school
students (aged 15 to 18) to participate or even organize
some of these marches as they are either indoctrinated
by certain unions, teachers or political parties, or,
more often, it concerns their direct future and they
are able to do their own research.
This is La Grève. It’s one of the French words many
tourists quickly learn upon arriving in the country,
when things don’t go exactly as expected, from pilot
to taxis to public transports to museum or monument
staff, but also students, teachers, miners and families,
all can find reasons to march.
A full time contract in France is 35h/week of work,
five weeks of paid leave and all bank holidays. Some
workers cannot choose their paid leave days, and some
workers must work on bank holidays or Sundays, with
extra pay depending on the sector (and geographical
location). Maternity (paid) leave lasts 16 weeks (six
weeks before giving birth and ten weeks after), or
more if it’s the third child, twins, or more. Parental
leave can be taken by either parent afterwards.
Excluding the first day (public) or the first three days
(private), which remain unpaid leave, sick leaves are
paid by the national healthcare system.
Each paycheck, regardless of status, contains all
details exactly what is deducted for taxes, what the
employer pays, and for what they are used. People also
pay a housing tax, a public TV tax if they own a TV,
and a property tax if they own any land or habitats.
Vampires tend to enjoy the longest nights of the
winter to do most activities they cannot do during the
summer, such as enjoying open shops and other
non-24h open facilities. Feel free to disregard strict
laws about when stores can and cannot be open, or use
them to restrict, marginalize and isolate the
characters, just another little thing to remind them
they are not human anymore. 267
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National ID cards are the most common pieces of
ID, and they are mandatory. Other forms of valid ID
are the driver’s license (credit card sized modern
version, or old paper) or the passport.
Obtaining a loan is a complicated endeavor which
usually requires double or triple checking one’s
records, but there is no credit score and there are
plenty of predatory “consummation” loan companies
out there. There are also many 0% interest
arrangements available, providing one meets the
bureaucratic requirements and has all the paper-
work...
Most cards are debit cards. French people do not
carry as much cash as German people, but it’s not
uncommon for a working adult to carry a hundred
euros in cash. They do still use checks as a regular
payment method, if presented with one (or sometimes
two) forms of ID. Foreigners can use their passport or
their resident permit (UE citizens can use their own
IDs). Other commonly "has picture and name" objects
are the national healthcare card, student card or the
public transport card.
Mobile plans are cheap and give a lot of data,
especially in urban areas where 4G is more common
than not, but coverage drops in many old buildings.
Throwaway phones can be bought just about
anywhere with a sim card and some credit. Internet
plans have a true competitive market as the country
is quite well covered when it comes to its urban
landscape, and they remain fairly cheap. Plenty of
open Wi-Fi hubs can be found. Public and pay phones
have almost completely disappeared in the early 2010s.
No-internet zones exist in more rural areas.
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RELIGIONS IN FRANCE
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To the surprise of absolutely no one, a major part
of Bordeaux' history is shaped by Catholicism, and its
literal dozen of churches are part of the patrimony of
the city. Meals and customs are tailored around the
Christian calendar (it's custom for many to eat lamb
on Easter Sunday). It's the most visible, but not the
only one.
From the 11th century onward, plenty of religious
buildings have been built to last and the love of
patrimony has preserved them, or rebuilt them as they
were prior to damaging.
While it is forbidden to keep official data on
people’s religions in France since 1872, there are still
some reliable statistics that can outline the French
practices. They are mostly baptized Catholic and
overall consider themselves of Catholic culture (up to
60%), but less than 5% actually practice the religion on
a regular basis. A recent poll (September 2021) found
that over half of French people do not believe in the
existence of God (regardless of religion), and a solid
third would call themselves atheists or agnostics.
The second religion in France is Islam, at about 6%
of the total population, but only a quarter of them
“usually go to the mosque on Fridays”. Non-Catholic
Christians (mostly historical Lutheran Protestants but
also some of the new Evangelical movements)
represent about 2% of the population, and 1% are
Jewish. Finally, other religions such as Buddhism are
rare but not unheard of, and finally some others such
as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientologists or Raelists are
considered sects or cults.
The secularization of the country has been
increasing ever since the Enlightenment, and the
decreasing number of religious practitioners in favor
of higher number of atheists was only slowed down
with immigration; immigrants tend to be more
religious than the native population.
And yet, despite this secularization, many of the
customs are based on former religious practices
(advent calendars, Easter eggs…).
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Language is culture, and culture is language, and
the French love their culture. This section is meant to
expand on the regionalisms section. People find their
identity not only in food or vocabulary, but also in
pronunciation.
French is a romance language, like Spanish,
Italian, Portuguese and Romanian. The language is
mostly composed of simple grammatical rules with
three hundred exceptions, plenty of conjugations that
are learnt but never used, and a wide gap between
formal written French and spoken French, which
makes it especially hard to learn.
This small section is in no way a crash course in
French, just a glimpse at the complexity of the
language in its most superficial forms, and how that
complexity may affect characters of different
backgrounds, and this is only one of the tools that
divides, classifying even, the population between
native and immigrants. The love for the terroir and
patrimony is also conveyed through the language and
the nostalgia that some may have about how “kids
these days aren’t good at dictation and show no
respect for our beloved language”. All with preser-
vation laws, mandatory French language music,
movies and TV programs by quotas, all of which
separate furthermore the youth with informal spoken
modern French and their elders with a formal
language.
Pronunciation is the worst offender for non-
native French speakers due to the amount of mute
letters, how letters merge into distinct sounds, and
how there’s just exception after exception, and that is
despite having less sounds than English. As such,
nasalized vocals (the “hon hon hon” sound you are
imagining) depends on the vocal. Teinte, Tonte and
Tante all have these distinct nasal sounds but mean
different things (respectively "dye", "buzz-haircut" and
"aunt").
Vocals, which are usually read the Latin way
(Atari “a” /a/and “i" /i/ sounds, operation “o” /o/
sound, ethical “e” /e/ sound, and the French “u” /y/
sound) merge with each other as well: “au”, “eau” both
pronounce /o/.
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acute é, grave è, ù and à, umlauts ë ï ö ü and circumflex k e r- s o ft w a
â ê î ô û. Umlauts are just to separate the vocals from
each other and tell the reader all sounds need
pronouncing (inouï has three syllables because of the
ï, else it would be i-noui and not i-nou-i). Circumflex
often indicates that there used to be an s after this
vocal, which may show in other forms of the word, but
does not change the pronunciation and is being
phased out (such as fête, a party, have isle as an ancient
form, and festif, festival as festive and festival
derivatives).
Acute é accent is to indicate to the reader that the
e is not mute, mostly at the end of the word. Terre
meaning earth, in one syllable, does not pronounce the
same as terré, in two syllables, meaning past participle
buried. This accent only exists on the letter e.
Grave à and ù accents are mostly used out of
custom or to differentiate two identical words (où, the
only word using the ù, means “where”, while ou means
“or”), but they do not modify the pronunciation. The
è, however, it indicates a different pronunciation to a
deeper /ɛ/ like in the words bet or bed in English.
Combinations of “ai” letters (like in lait, milk) also
give this sound. As such, élève (pupil) is a two syllable
word while élevé (to raise in past participle) and elevait
(to raise in 3rd person singular of the imperfect past
tense) will have a slightly different sound due to the
/e/ becoming an /ɛ/ sound at the end of the word.
The last strange letter you may encounter is the ç
(the cédille), which you find in words such as garçon
(boy or waiter in a café). This letter always makes the
/s/ sound (while the letter c can make /s/ or /k/
depending on the following vocal).
There are many cases in which the last consonant
of a word is mute: the x in Bordeaux being one of them,
as well as the s in Paris. This is why we pronounce them
both "Bordo" and "Pari". There are regionalisms and
regional pronunciations which give Bordelais people
and their southern neighbors some distinct quirks.
Like the use of chocolatine instead of pain au chocolat,
or how many kisses to give to say hi, there are many
maps dividing up the country with these differences
such as whether brun and brin are pronounced the
same or different. 269
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the country is also extremely present on the language's
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ruling body: the prestigious and pompous Académie

Française which validates whatever is considered
correct French or not. It’s quite a strange situation as
the French organism about the French language has
no authority over the millions of native French
speakers who are not French and do not live in France.
The Académie, funded by Richelieu, is also composed
of a lot of interesting people, none of which are
linguists.
People’s attachment to "proper" French and loving
its vocabulary to keep alive certain words and
expressions, through having kids write dictations,
people participating in vocabulary trivia on national
TV. It's another facet of the country’s undying love
for their patrimony, and to the general conservative
nature of such instances. The Académie only releases
a dictionnary every hundred years or so…
Despite this undying love, we don't have spelling
bees contests and find the practice completely foreign.

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OTHER FRENCH CULTURAL SOURCES

_I helped with some local information for Geography Now’s France episode, please consider checking it
out to have a wider approach to the country as a whole. Note that the regions are not accurate anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0QrBphsioM

Paul Taylor, an English comedian and YouTuber, created a viral video explaining the madness about how
French people say hello by kissing (la bise : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-VWbV6TJxU), which
earned him a couple of small TV series on a private channel among countless other projects. All videos are
in English (with the French parts subbed in English) and explain plenty of stereotypes and fixations of
French people. The first series, What the Fuck France, and second series, What’s Up France? are available
on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9pVaOtZ8vdLBrlHu5xaaOA/playlists

Langfocus’ video about French:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfxf4pV-zJg

French stereotypes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXZCJyTe1qs

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PATRIMONY AND TOURISM

Bordeaux has many religious buildings and churches: you can see them all on this religious patrimony
website (it includes which religion is practiced: Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or Jewish):
http://www.patrimoinereligieux.fr/eglises_edifices/33-Gironde/33063-Bordeaux
You will find all touristic activities in English on the tourism’ website:
https://www.bordeaux-tourism.co.uk/
Des Raciness et des Ailes, a French TV programme about patrimony, has made a documentary on the
Water Mirror:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s8RIkpMf8Q
A small promotional video about the city:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaZA-qD22X0
Paul Taylor’s piece on Bordeaux vs Paris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA444q8ueeo
Ten things to do in Bordeaux:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg5mF8VD12U
More about the six doors/arches of the city (in French):
https://www.33-bordeaux.com/portes-debordeaux.htm
More about the metropolis’ bridges (in French):
https://www.33-bordeaux.com/ponts-debordeaux.htm
More about fountains and the Water Mirror (in French):
https://www.33-bordeaux.com/fontaines-debordeaux.htm
A YouTube history channel with episodes on the Crusades (and other interesting videos, all in French,
with English subtitles). This one is the one relevant to Aliénor d’Aquitaine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNCkYrI4CP4
And this one, about the third Crusade, is relevant to the situation of the Duchy with the rest of France:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij40yESX1qM
The Monflanquin trial of Thierry Tilly is a fascinating and disturbing case of guru among old money
families:
https://www.danielpicotinavocat.com/index.php/tag/thierry-tilly/page/2/

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Credits
Thank you for having grabbed this book, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave it a comment, rating or review, I live off
validation (or hate, you can send me hate too)
Find Secrets of the Masquerade (art direction, research, writing, editing, layout, ritual sacrifices…):
https://secretsmasquerade.wixsite.com/portfolio

My artists (yes they’re mine, no touchy!) Special thanks

Andrea Payne: artstation.com/andrealeora
Bella Bergolts: artstation.com/bergolts
DoloresDraws: instagram.com/doloresdraws
Carmen Cornet: www.artstation.com/ccornet
(Carmen’s artworks I used here belong to Black
Chantry Productions for VTES publications, and is
used with their kind permission, under license)
Edsilberius (Edouard Noisette): edouard-noisette.com
Erion Makuo: www.erionmakuo.com
Heathwind (Evgeniya Seminenko): heathwind.com
Jimmy Ilustra: instagram.com/jimmymmtz
Owlvirus: www.deviantart.com/owlvirus
Luis Miguez: luismiguezilustrador.blogspot.com
Kii: kiikiibee.tumblr.com
Santiago: www.deviantart.com/carajuelo
Art cover was by Edouard Noisette:
Edouard-noisette.com
Opening coming by Miles Rahman:
theeldestsun.tumblr.com
Bordeaux logo by Alexander Meza:
https://ko-fi.com/sei_smk
Flavien lo Presti, for having planted the seed to this
setting in his Liège, Belgium LARP, and allowing me to
adapt it to Bordeaux and helping with discussing the
hot takes.
Husband and friends for their support and
encouragements.
Black Chantry Productions (Ginés and Hugh in
particular) for other art pieces they’ve licensed my way
for this publication.
Followers and fans for their excitement, I hope this
book meets your expectations!
The staff, teachers and student population of the
universities for letting me ask a bunch of historical
questions about the city for a nonacademic project.
The local men and women of different faiths who
were kind enough to talk about their religious practices
and their places of worship.
The National Institute of Geographic and Forest
Information (IGN), for their valuable maps and data. I
cannot be thankful enough for the French public
service related to the preservation and understanding
of our patrimony and heritage.
All of the wonderful artists who always inspire me,
god damn it, if I could cover you with gold I would.
Our PDF character sheets savior of us all!
Find Mr Gone: patreon.com/mrgone

If they’ve all got an alibi, the Tremere are guilty af.

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Name Concept Predator

Chronicle Ambition Clan

Sire Desire Generation

ATTRIBUTES
Physical Social Mental
Strength ����� Charisma ����� Intelligence �����

Dexterity ���� � Manipulation ����� Wits �����

Stamina ���� � Composure ����� Resolve ���� �

Health Willpower
� �� � � � � � �� � � � �� � � �� �
SKILLS

Athletics ����� Animal Ken ����� Academics �� ���

Brawl ����� Etiquette ����� Awareness �� ���

Craft ����� Insight ����� Finance �� ���

Drive ����� Intimidation ����� Investigation �� ���

Firearms ����� Leadership ����� Medicine �� ���

Larceny ����� Performance ����� Occult �� ���

Melee ����� Persuasion ����� Politics �� ���

Stealth ����� Streetwise ����� Science �� ���

Survival ����� Subterfuge ����� Technology �� ���

DISC IPLINES
����� ����� �����

����� ����� �����

Resonance Hunger ����� Humanity ����� �����

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Chronicle Tenets Touchstones & Convictions Clan Bane

Advantages & Flaws BloodPotency ����� �����

����� Blood Surge Mend Amount

�����
Power Bonus Rouse Re-Roll
�����

�����
Feeding Penalty Bane Severity
�����

�����
Total Experience
�����

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Spent Experience

����� True age

Apparent age
�����
Date of birth
�����
Date of death
Notes
Appearance

Distinguishing features

History
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By Night
Wine and blood come in many flavors
Known for its wine and architecture, Bordeaux hides many facets in its cellars. Open this
book and find out all of the terrible horrors behind the Kindred court for a political and
personal horror story.
Bordeaux by Night includes:
• A detailed history and geography of the city, for kine and kindred alike;
• Folklore and other stories of the city, that can be used for deep dive campaigns;
• Individual backgrounds for each SPCs with their perception and knowledge of the
historical events, both their common knowledge versions and their true versions;
• SPC genealogies, agendas and how to play them;
• Non-Kindred supernatural characters and their involvements in the ordeal and how
they would approach the PCs and why;
• Charts of the different positions of kindred, and their relations to those important to
them;
• Story starters and leads to follow for newly embraced or newly arrived vampires in
town;
• Loresheets related to the city and its inhabitants;
• Technomancy, a branch of Blood Sorcery;
• And more new exclusive art!