Let's Play VtM: Night Empire

[ironyuri]

As for our ghoul squad, if we remember correctly, Trentbridge is our kine liaison with them and (this is to show what Storyfag was asking about) they are at the airfield, but they're sitting tight under their CO:

Spoiler

You recognise each of them from their photographs.

Charles Kaleni, weathered and tall, his hair shaved back to a faint grey fuzz, leaning against the open door of the makeshift operations room, is smoking a small cigar. Sasha Wojcik and Billy Budd are dancing, giggling, hand-in-beer-in-hand, to the tinny noise emanating from a small CD player set on one of the chairs.

“I don’t want, anybody else, when I think about you, I touch myself-”

As Kaleni, dropping his cigar at the sight of you, barks at them to fall in, Budd dashes for the CD player, turning it off, while Wojcik’s the first to stand in line; and that’s Steven Cutter beside her, short and bulldog-brutish, and Nikhil Paudal, missing an ear and rising, last, from his game of patience upon the floor.

“Easy, lads, easy,” Trentbridge says from beside you. “It’s not a bloody parade. We’re just here for a chat. Captain, I do hope you’re not being too hard on them.”

“Worthless wretches and insubordinate maggots, sir,” Kaleni growls, straight-faced. “Got to keep ‘em on their toes. Give ‘em an inch, sir, they’ll take a mile. Got to push these spineless single-celled little pondscum, push ‘em up the evolutionary ladder till they’re close enough to pass for actual fucking Englishmen.”

A few of the soldiers grin; Trentbridge chuckles, leniently, and you take that as your cue to smile as well.

“Take your seats,” he says, flapping a hand, “take your seats. I want to introduce you to an essential part of our little project. This is Mr Sommers; he wants to have a word with you.”

You step forward. Time to make your presence felt.

“I suppose I should begin by saying that we’re all immensely proud of your accomplishments in training,” you say, scanning the faces of the team, “but let’s be honest - the training isn’t why you’re here. You’re already highly-trained, you’re already extraordinarily capable; you want to get out there and do some damage.”

“Ready and waiting, sir!” Budd calls out, before Kaleni snarls back,

“Quiet-”

“Damned glad to hear it,” you tell him, smiling. “But we’re not going to send you in half-cocked. Which is why I’m going to be taking Mr Fellowes off your hands for a few weeks - to scope out a potential target. I’m sure you’ll all miss him.”

“Won’t be the same without old Downton Abbey around to cheer us up, sir,” Wojcik says, to a chorus of chuckles.

You assume you’re meant to know what that’s referring to.

“You’ll have him back soon,” you say, “I promise you that. And before long, we’ll see the bastards fleeing our country in terror and we can all celebrate together. In the meantime, if there’s anything you need, anything at all, call me directly and I’ll provide it.”

“There was one thing, sir,” Cutter ventures, raising a hand. “The scopes on the rifles, sir, standard-issue, and they’re not up to much. Said to the others, they’d be better off taping a bog roll to the barrels, sir...”

You listen patiently, make him write down the make of the scope he’d prefer, and once you’re back in the car, you arrange for a boxful of them to be shipped out to the facility - along with a new, more expensive sound system.

The bond of blood is one thing, you tell yourself; but Kine need to be able to justify their feelings to themselves; pretend they’re rational creatures and not driven by the mindless chemicals sloshing around inside them.

Griddle and Turcov are out of the question. While this is the ideal time for the Camarilla to stick together, it will be every vampire for himself. Glory and princedom await the intrepid and Tony will make his own bid for them, with our help.

In that case, Gondbro, Mr. Cripps, might be our best bet. With his ties to the Nosferatu, he might be able to find intelligence, otherwise, he can remain in London OR come to the airfield (obfuscated if need be to survive) , to provide direct assistance to Tony. He's the closest thing we have to reliable eyes and ears inside the city, and the closest ally we've got who can take action inside the city limits.

 

[CappenVarra]

B, we need those guys right now.

Our "mansion" is out of the question, what are the odds of Sabbat hitting every Ventrue of importance in the city but not going for Anthony? And they know where we live, so going home is not an option. Or at least without a ghoul squad checking it out during the day.

Phone Horn, the amount of Masquerade violation risks is going to go through the roof with Sabbat on the war path - and considering the interest from top brass we've attracted with our Hunter bust, that won't turn out well on its own...

 

[Gondolin]

I hope that Cripps is still our ally. I doubt that the Nosferatu will come to our aid or volunteer much information. Right now, to them we're a small-time baron, dead or on the run, without any power whatsoever. We need to show that we can seize the initiative and make some things happen, although I'm not sure how we could help the Nossies.

 

[ironyuri]

B, we need those guys right now.

Our "mansion" is out of the question, what are the odds of Sabbat hitting every Ventrue of importance in the city but not going for Anthony? And they know where we live, so going home is not an option. Or at least without a ghoul squad checking it out during the day.

Phone Horn, the amount of Masquerade violation risks is going to go through the roof with Sabbat on the war path - and considering the interest from top brass we've attracted with our Hunter bust, that won't turn out well on its own...

I don't see how containing a few Masquerade violations is going to help, if we're at war with the Sabbat. What happens when they release some warghouls into the Olympic stadium during the gymnastics?

I still think we're better focusing our phone call on our kindred allies, before we lose those. Cripps has been left in London, presumably at Witanhurst. He can survive by himself, but if we don't contact him, he may well think Sommers is dead, or has left him to the wolves... in which case he may well go down to the Warrens.

I've got a feeling, that Cripps was given to Sommers with special instructions from Weep-Not-Sorley after Sommers' performance in the sewers. While he didn't do a wonderful job, he did assist the Nosferatu at Jack's Warren, and perhaps they did him a favour in return... that being Cripps. Though they'd never make that clear to Sommers, or anyone else. This is of course, just my wild speculation.

I hope that Cripps is still our ally. I doubt that the Nosferatu will come to our aid or volunteer much information. Right now, to them we're a small-time baron, dead or on the run, without any power whatsoever. We need to show that we can seize the initiative and make some things happen, although I'm not sure how we could help the Nossies.

Cripps was seconded to Sommers as a bodyguard, so I'd presume he will remain our ally unless he believes we are dead or on the run. If we contact him, I doubt he'll turn against us so quickly. The only downside is that it's entirely possible that he may have gone after Vogler in the sewers, if he was keeping an eye on him.

 

[Gondolin]

I still think we're better focusing our phone call on our kindred allies, before we lose those. Cripps has been left in London, presumably at Witanhurst. He can survive by himself, but if we don't contact him, he may well think Sommers is dead, or has left him to the wolves... in which case he may well go down to the Warrens.

This is a good idea. Kindred need to know Tony is still alive.

 

[ironyuri]

Of course, I don't disagree that we should alert Horn, but what's important at the moment is gathering all of the resources we have to hand that might:

A. Ensure our survival for a few more nights.
B. Be useful in a war against the Sabbat (they said this was the opening Salvo, but it seems more like a coup de grace - if the Sabbat have been successful in assassinating 4/5 of London's Ventrue barons [Godrick, Sly, Turcov, Dee) 1/3 of its reigning Council in one evening, then it leaves London in total disarray. Not to mention the claim that they have taken Iacomo into custody, which is likely a spurious, propagandist claim, however, I wouldn't underestimate the Sabbat in this case. They may have sent some of their most powerful kindred after him.)

Horn can assist us, but only if Trentbridge throws his clout around and gets the investigation of the Bishop of Oxford incident whitewashed. Chances are it will be anyway, but there may be slips. A call to Horn requires additional calls, or we might risk losing contact with our only other kindred ally (Cripps), in which case, we'd need to sit tight and let the ghoul squad stew for another evening.

Edit-

We should also remember that we cannot think for one minute that Sommers will be safe inside, or outside of London. As the slayer of Angelos, he'll be number one with a bullet on the local Sabbat hitlist. Sommers is to the Sabbat what 'Chemical' Ali was to the USA in Iraq.

 

[Absalom]

B)

This is what we trained and saved them for. Though without intelligence on where to use them this option would be worthless. Will consider what others have to say. Also,



Edit:

We should also remember that we cannot think for one minute that Sommers will be safe inside, or outside of London. As the slayer of Angelos, he'll be number one with a bullet on the local Sabbat hitlist. Sommers is to the Sabbat what 'Chemical' Ali was to the USA in Iraq.

This. Not only that, but we still don't know if any of the attacks succeeded (We didn't see a body.) We need intelligence. Considering Flip-Floppin

 

[ironyuri]

We could always call Bishop Dubrik... If we still have a means to contact him. High risk, possibly high reward?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Hmm. Looks like it may have been a good thing we didn't go to London - we'd be in the middle of this mess.

Well, I'm torn between B and E - if we made a phone call to the squad to meet us at the club, we'd look like a hero to the other Ventrue. (Or it might get us killed if they don't get there in time...)

edit:
For now my choice is B with (P)hone Cripps.

 

[Esquilax]

You know guys, this is a pretty good opportunity to go to Turcov's penthouse and diablerise him while the city is in chaos and he's hanging on by a thread.

The biggest issue with B in my mind is while having the ghoul squad is great and will be key to the Camarilla's counter-offensive, we still have no idea who we're going to attack. We have kept the ghoul squad hidden from everyone in order to not incur the jealousy of our fellow Barons, but I think Turcov has a few surprises of his own. Turcov is the most powerful Baron in London, certainly the most powerful Camarilla vamp in the city, and the closest thing that this city has to a Prince at the moment - even after all of this, the man still has a ton of resources/information that he can call upon to fight the Sabbat. It seems that Turcov himself was on the verge of receiving crucial information pertaining to a Sabbat den. Much like our own Vogler, Turcov's childe Wyther has also disappeared into the sewers:

Turcov tries to call Gordon Wyther again.
'Must be underground still,' he mutters, and tosses the phone down onto the desk. 'Damn the man!'

Julian Fox says, examining his nails,
'You did, er, you did say Wyther would have something for us by tonight. I mean, Rodyon, we can hardly see Iacomo at the Taurien Club without something to show for it.'
'The night is still young,' Turcov growls. 'We don't need to have found the den by the time we arrive, we just have to ensure that the news gets to us by the end of the evening so Iacomo can hear. Wyther will deliver.

So, I'm tentatively suggesting this to see what you guys think:

This war has just begun, and the Sabbat seek to end things swiftly by cutting off the heads of the Camarilla leadership. Leading our ghoul squad to battle right now seems exciting, but in the long-term we are fucked if our strategy amounts to the Clevian doctrine of waiting in our bunker airfield, while periodically making ineffectual raids because we don't have a clear idea of who/where/what to strike at. Bottom line is, we can't do this shit on our own, we need to collaborate with other people to drive back the Sabbat threat.

With this in mind, I believe that it would be prudent to rescue Turcov from his penthouse and take him to our safehouse in the airfield. From there, we can establish a hidden base of power from which Turcov can receive information on Sabbat strongholds and coordinate his own (considerable) resources, while we can strike at them with our ghoul squad in the daytime.

As far as the Sabbat are concerned, Sommers is at large and Turcov is dead. Nobody knows about the airfield. We can work this to our advantage.

ironyuri: Regarding calling Griddle, I think it would be wise to wait until tomorrow to give the little guy a call. Calling him right now to ask for info/support would basically be equivalent to begging, and I'm pretty certain he'll be happy to let us suffer for a little while longer before he decides that he has to intervene to save his own skin.

Well, I'm torn between B and E - if we made a phone call to the squad to meet us at the club, we'd look like a hero to the other Ventrue. (Or it might get us killed if they don't get there in time...)

Yeah, it seems really dangerous. The Sabbat have come out in full force to destroy the Camarilla leadership, and I'm not sure that we'll make the difference here. Regarding our ghouls, they're designed for lightning raids during the daytime, so I don't like the idea of throwing them to the wolves against powerful vampires while they're at their strongest. It seems that there are better uses of our resources. Let them fend for themselves, if they die, they die.

 

[CappenVarra]

Dehydrated Caine, of course we won't be using the ghoul squad to fight Sabbat head on - they'll a) protect us from any nasty surprises (on his own, Tony won't fare well if he gets into a fight, and it doesn't get much safer than being surrounded by armed spec ops ghouls) and b) we'll use them for daytime strikes against Sabbat higher ups when we figure out where they are, or to rescue Iacomo or other Cammie prisoners we find out about. What did you think, that we'll send them to fight shovelheads on the streets at midnight?

 

[Esquilax]

Not at all, I never meant to imply that we would be using them to attack head-on. My point is that we've got no information on any Sabbat locations at all, so we don't have any means of finding out where they're hiding at so we can hit them. Calling Cripps aside, we don't have any kind of in here. A rendezvous with the ghoul squad is fine and dandy, but what do we do after that if we have nothing to go on?

I am hesitant about calling Cripps, but I don't know what the alternative is. The reason I am reluctant about calling him is that I think the Sabbat are monitoring our communications. This isn't some idle "Vogler is a Sabbat spy" paranoia. It seems very curious that the Sabbat would happen to coordinate an attack that managed to hit almost every single Ventrue Baron on the same night, just as Vogler leaves a cryptic text message on our phone. At the same time, it turns out that Digby Deeds has been a Sabbat turncoat for quite some time as well. All of this is very suspicious.

Edit: Actually, it could also just be possible that the Sabbat knew everything because Digby Deeds leaked them a shitload of secret Camarilla info, even if Vogler's cryptic message is a cause for concern. Nevertheless, getting Turcov from his penthouse seems like the first step from which we can launch a counter-attack. The ghouls are a great weapon, but we don't have anybody point them at right now.

B + (P) Cripps seems good, and I am still voting for it at the moment, I am just wondering if we have any better alternatives.

 

[Gondolin]

This war has just begun, and the Sabbat seek to end things swiftly by cutting off the heads of the Camarilla leadership. Leading our ghoul squad to battle right now seems exciting, but in the long-term we are fucked if our strategy amounts to the Clevian doctrine of waiting in our bunker airfield, while periodically making ineffectual raids because we don't have a clear idea of who/where/what to strike at. Bottom line is, we can't do this shit on our own, we need to collaborate with other people to drive back the Sabbat threat.

Exactly. Precision strikes at critical points is what we can do with our squad. However, we need information in order to fit these strikes into a bigger strategy. Well, we also need a fucking strategy. Calling Turcov is not a bad idea. It remains to be seen if he needs to be rescued or not.

 

[Gondolin]

I am hesitant about calling Cripps, but I don't know what the alternative is. The reason I am reluctant about calling him is that I think the Sabbat are monitoring our communications.

So... we call Turcov and get Dubrik instead.

Dubrik: Hello, young Baron. Remember me?
Tony: ... shit.

 

[Random Word]

B + P(Crips) as per ironyuri below.
G + ~B + P(Horn)

I think we should have Wistman meet us en route to London to check out Turcov's penthouse, and P(Horn) to inform him that the explosion at Turcov's was a terrorist attack and we want to handle the crime scene, and that we suspect the terrorists are planning to make a move in the tunnels under London and we want a thorough search of all sewers, subways, and waterways as soon as possible, maximum priority.

Even if they don't find anything, they're going to reduce the ability of the Sabbat to move around the city and slow down their operations - from what I understand even the Sabbat doesn't want to pick a fight with the Royal Army, so they'll avoid drawing the attention of the patrols. If too many of the patrols die then the Army would likely be called in. If they stumble upon someone we're interested in, so much the better.

After we've secured Turcov's penthouse we can coordinate the search effort in the sewers.

I recognise that the rules say one phone call, but is there any real reason we can't get in touch with Cripps and have him scout out the penthouse before we arrive?

 

[ironyuri]

G + ~B + P(Horn)

I think we should have Wistman meet us en route to London to check out Turcov's penthouse, and P(Horn) to inform him that the explosion at Turcov's was a terrorist attack and we want to handle the crime scene, and that we suspect the terrorists are planning to make a move in the tunnels under London and we want a thorough search of all sewers, subways, and waterways as soon as possible, maximum priority.

Even if they don't find anything, they're going to reduce the ability of the Sabbat to move around the city and slow down their operations - from what I understand even the Sabbat doesn't want to pick a fight with the Royal Army, so they'll avoid drawing the attention of the patrols. If too many of the patrols die then the Army would likely be called in. If they stumble upon someone we're interested in, so much the better.

After we've secured Turcov's penthouse we can coordinate the search effort in the sewers.

I recognise that the rules say one phone call, but is there any real reason we can't get in touch with Cripps and have him scout out the penthouse before we arrive?

If we do anything other than A, we should only get one phonecall. We can't have Whistman meet us at Turcov's penthouse *and* phone Horn.

 

[Random Word]

If we do anything other than A, we should only get one phonecall. We can't have Whistman meet us at Turcov's penthouse *and* phone Horn.

Bleh, okay. Stupid single use disposable cell phones Or maybe our telco just has really brutal overage rates when you exceed your minutes.

 

[Esquilax]

I think we should have Wistman meet us en route to London to check out Turcov's penthouse, and P(Horn) to inform him that the explosion at Turcov's was a terrorist attack and we want to handle the crime scene, and that we suspect the terrorists are planning to make a move in the tunnels under London and we want a thorough search of all sewers, subways, and waterways as soon as possible, maximum priority.

Even if they don't find anything, they're going to reduce the ability of the Sabbat to move around the city and slow down their operations - from what I understand even the Sabbat doesn't want to pick a fight with the Royal Army, so they'll avoid drawing the attention of the patrols. If too many of the patrols die then the Army would likely be called in. If they stumble upon someone we're interested in, so much the better.

Honestly bro, this is nuts.

Shit just hit the fan, Horn is not in any position to really help us with what is a Kindred problem. This is not the sort of problem that needs a Masquerade patch-up, either. A bomb going off in Turcov's penthouse will draw attention, but it's completely mundane and no threat to the Masquerade. Getting the army involved hinges entirely on assuming the Sabbat won't have at least a few crazy motherfuckers in there that will cause a complete Masquerade shitstorm to rain down our heads.

It's basically saying "C'mon, break the Masquerade! I fucking dare you!"

 

[ironyuri]

If we do anything other than A, we should only get one phonecall. We can't have Whistman meet us at Turcov's penthouse *and* phone Horn.

Bleh, okay. Stupid single use disposable cell phones Or maybe our telco just has really brutal overage rates when you exceed your minutes.

Well, this is Britain we're talking about. Sommers' is probably stuck on a contract with Orange or one of the other horrendous providers. Maybe we need to dominate a Telco CEO when this is all over...

Anyway, I think the other problem is, Whistman currently has no proper CO. Fellowes - their trainer/commander - is currently with us. We can't have them operationally prepared without their commanding officer on hand to actually prepare them for the mission and explain what they might face, and doing all that over the phone could take too long. The other problem is that, if say, the Sabbat set the Taurien club alight or have attracted the attention of local law enforcement, it won't look good if Sommers and Fellowes turn up with 4 armed-to-the-teeth ghouls. Sommers and Fellowes might be able to make a getaway using their powers (celerity, dominate, etc.), but if we take the ghouls in and find nothing (it's more than likely the Sabbat will kill or stake Godrick and any other ventrue they find, they're going to want to make them suffer) then we've wasted the night.

I think the point of going to the ghoul squad is to take up a position of strategic value from where we can strike, as well as prepare them for the coming nights. They're going to need to know that this is the night before the big game.

Not at all, I never meant to imply that we would be using them to attack head-on. My point is that we've got no information on any Sabbat locations at all, so we don't have any means of finding out where they're hiding at so we can hit them. Calling Cripps aside, we don't have any kind of in here. A rendezvous with the ghoul squad is fine and dandy, but what do we do after that if we have nothing to go on?

I am hesitant about calling Cripps, but I don't know what the alternative is. The reason I am reluctant about calling him is that I think the Sabbat are monitoring our communications. This isn't some idle "Vogler is a Sabbat spy" paranoia. It seems very curious that the Sabbat would happen to coordinate an attack that managed to hit almost every single Ventrue Baron on the same night, just as Vogler leaves a cryptic text message on our phone. At the same time, it turns out that Digby Deeds has been a Sabbat turncoat for quite some time as well. All of this is very suspicious.

Edit: Actually, it could also just be possible that the Sabbat knew everything because Digby Deeds leaked them a shitload of secret Camarilla info, even if Vogler's cryptic message is a cause for concern. Nevertheless, getting Turcov from his penthouse seems like the first step from which we can launch a counter-attack. The ghouls are a great weapon, but we don't have anybody point them at right now.

B + (P) Cripps seems good, and I am still voting for it at the moment, I am just wondering if we have any better alternatives.

I don't think I've voted yet, but I'm leaning toward this strongly.

Sommers won't know about Deeds yet, so we must presume Turcov is dead. We can't know how they got to him. Part of the reason I think we should P - Cripps is that we might be able to ask him to get over to Turcov's penthouse and scout it while obfuscated... which is precisely his strength as a Nos with obfuscate, potence to defend himself and animalism to have an extra edge. If he has any out-of-clan disciplines, like celerity, even better. For any of the tasks listed apart from A and B, we can ask Cripps on the phone (if we can get to him) to reconnoitre the situation.

Cripps could probably find out if Turcov is alive, track down Vogler (alive or dead) in the sewers (Cripps' bread and butter), reconnoitre the Taurien club for survivors and/or evidence, etc.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Edit:
I fully support SCO's arguments and vote in their favour, with the slight alteration of sending Cripps to Turcov's place.

 

[laclongquan]

My read on Vogler is that he went hunting Underground with the Sheriff, bonding experience of action heroes or some shits. Possibly lured in by some Sabbat baits, then hit by an ambush. Sheriff is also trying to find Sabbat lairs for Turcov, so it's easy.

I can also possibly agree with calling (P) Cripps now. It's time to get intel from the legendary Nos network. He can contac Nos to get intel, he's the man on the ground so he can give us firsthand, and in worst case he can leave the defense of Wittanhurst to recon Turcov's place. And no, the squad stay secret a little while longer.

Best place, in a True Camarrilla sense, right now is possibly rescue the Club. Turcov can fend for himself. We must preserve the controlling element of the Kindred.

 

[Storyfag]

Cripps could probably find out if Turcov is alive, track down Vogler (alive or dead) in the sewers (Cripps' bread and butter), reconnoitre the Taurien club for survivors and/or evidence, etc.

Arright, you convinced me. Flopping the original post to (P)hone Cripps. *However* for all Anthony knows, Turcov was at the Taurien club with Godrick and the others. We should send him to investigate there to remain in character and refrain from using meta-knowledge.

 

[Kalin]

A) - Better to stay in Oxford, get a proper take on the situation, rally our troops and ultimately side with Grocyn to organise a counter-attack. With some clever maneuvering, it might be possible to make Brother David appear the saviour of London.

(P)hone Cripps, Horn and Humphrey

 

[Esquilax]

Arright, you convinced me. Flopping the original post to (P)hone Cripps. *However* for all Anthony knows, Turcov was at the Taurien club with Godrick and the others. We should send him to investigate there to remain in character and refrain from using meta-knowledge.

That's a great idea, and it would give us an actual lead on finding a target. Call Cripps up to recon the Taurien Club to search for clues as to where they are heading after the attack and whether they've captured anyone of note. Maybe tail them wherever they're hiding. A hidden blessing here is that Cripps is probably the best operative we could ask for - stealthy, knows his way around the sewers and very tough to kill. His Animalism skill would give some insight on the mosquito threat and how that would affect any potential ghoul squad operations we plan in there.

Come to think of it, I believe that we're in Prince Grocyn's place at this moment, right? If so, right before we leave Oxford, I want to tell Grocyn to get in touch with Shaul Artzi immediately and/or tell him to contact us immediately. I know we've had bad experiences with the mages before, but this is one situation where I wouldn't mind having a dozen or so bros who can set fire to things with their minds helping us out. The Sabbat are busy taking out the Ventrue leadership of the city, so right now, the Tremere remain unscathed. If we can get in touch with Artzi, between our secret ghoul squad operating during the day and his own Chantry operating at night, we'll have the ingredients for an effective counterattack.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Arright, you convinced me. Flopping the original post to (P)hone Cripps. *However* for all Anthony knows, Turcov was at the Taurien club with Godrick and the others. We should send him to investigate there to remain in character and refrain from using meta-knowledge.

That's a great idea, and it would give us an actual lead on finding a target. Call Cripps up to recon the Taurien Club to search for clues as to where they are heading after the attack and whether they've captured anyone of note. Maybe tail them wherever they're hiding. A hidden blessing here is that Cripps is probably the best operative we could ask for - stealthy, knows his way around the sewers and very tough to kill. His Animalism skill would give some insight on the mosquito threat and how that would affect any potential ghoul squad operations we plan in there.

Good ideas here.

Come to think of it, I believe that we're in Prince Grocyn's place at this moment, right? If so, right before we leave Oxford, I want to tell Grocyn to get in touch with Shaul Artzi immediately and/or tell him to contact us immediately. I know we've had bad experiences with the mages before, but this is one situation where I wouldn't mind having a dozen or so bros who can set fire to things with their minds helping us out. The Sabbat are busy taking out the Ventrue leadership of the city, so right now, the Tremere remain unscathed. If we can get in touch with Artzi, between our secret ghoul squad operating during the day and his own Chantry operating at night, we'll have the ingredients for an effective counterattack.

This may be good, but one thing about the Prince - isn't it a little odd what he said to us?

‘I would certainly never spoil this extremely pleasant conversation,’ Grocyn says, ‘by making such a crass suggestion. However, perhaps a little open-mindedness might be order - tonight we’re saying that a Tremere Prince of London is unthinkable, tomorrow night it’s a slight possibility, the night after it’s a certainty. And you must consider, too, that Vienna has not yet brought its weight to bear on the matter. The Archon will not be swayed by you or I, but Vienna...’
He smiles.

Nothing concrete here, but it is odd. One might almost suspect that he knew something was going down tonight...

(don't know if this has been discussed as I haven't had time to go through everyone's posts yet)