Let me just run a few things down for all of you:
1. Mandrake:
grotsnik said:
Her Majesty’s Grey Eminence
The corridors of power are shady places. Underhand deals, secret rivalries, even hidden love trysts…even with the help of trusty snoops like Mandrake, we will simply never know every deception that happens or has happened in Whitehall. Take Mr X. A young man – apparently in his late twenties or early thirties – who dines and meets with some of the most powerful men in the country in expensive London restaurants and hotels during the dead of night. He is wined, dined, and clearly listened to, by dignitaries such as Sir Humphrey Trentbridge, former Home Secretary, William Horn, Permanent Secretary of Her Majesty’s Treasury, and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff Thomas Fielding – Mandrake’s sources inform him that Trentbridge in particular was ‘utterly dependent’ upon this man during his government’s final days in power, frequently placing phone calls to him at 2am or later. An ‘advisor’ from Goldman Sachs, perhaps, or a friend from the unions? Whitehall claims Mr X is nothing more than a junior spin-doctor, but cannot provide us with his name – surely they know better, dear reader, than to tell such very poor lies! Mandrake will report back as soon as he has further details about this sinister man of mystery.
'Mandrake' intimately knows our conections with Trentbridge, Horn and Fielding. Intimately. He also knows that Trentbridge was 'highly dependent', ie. blood-bonded, to Sommers during his last days in office. Further, 'Mandrake' states he will continue digging and exposing evidence.
This is a threat to Sommers. This is a threat to the Masquerade. This is a threat to the overall stability of the Camarilla.
2. Fortifying, or renovating, the Mithraeum:
grotsnik said:
My funds are not limitless, and the house itself was costly; I’d rather leave it as is for now.
We took option C, because, as indicated, Sommers was already running low on funds. Establishing our relationship with a bank was done in order that we can expand our power base as well as deepen our coffers. If we want to upgrade the Mithraeum now, we should be able to cover the expense, however, we then lose the element of surprise where our bolt-hole is concerned.
If we move Operation Wistman to Witanhurst to act as guards for Sommers (a cover for their nature), then we kill two birds with one stone. If the Sabbat make an attack, we have our ghouls to take care of them (and no need to worry about the sunrise stopping their pursuit), and we don't reveal our bolt-hole for the whole. fucking. world.
3. The Archon, Iacomo:
grotsnik said:
“She’ll want to make an entrance, I suppose,” Iacomo says. “Well, no doubt more will make themselves known over the coming weeks, but we’ll make do for now. Good evening to you all. No doubt you are all aware of my general purpose here and upon whose authority I speak, but perhaps you remain uncertain as to my specific duties. I have been instructed, over the next six months or so, firstly, to observe the state of London, and carry out changes to its ordinance if I see fit, secondly, to make certain for the benefit of my superiors that there will be no more...internal troubles of the kind that have plagued you in recent months, and thirdly, to advise Venice to the best of my ability the right candidate to take the place once held by Mithras, Lady Anne Bowesley, and, ah, Roger Kirkbeck.”
Iacomo wants stability. That means we don't start a fucking war with the Sabbat. We don't start a war with the Society of Leopold.
We react, unless we can act definitively.
So stop talking like fucking retards about "oh Sommers is just reacting". We don't know where the hunters are. We don't know where the Sabbat hold court. We don't even know who is currently in control of the London Sabbat. Where the fuck are we supposed to strike? And furthermore, how will a pack of shovelheads spray painting Sommers house know where the Archbishop is? What do you want to do? Hit a fucking pack leader? I'm sure the Archon will shower us with riches for that stellar performance: "Congratulations, Sommers, you've just sparked a new Sabbat-Camarilla War in London because they spray-painted your wall. Would you kindly step this way. Yes, right this way, into the Sunrise."
grotsnik said:
“Some of you are very old. Others,” and you try to meet his gaze with confidence, “less so, but in any case I take no pleasure in delivering a dressing-down to the barons of London, Kindred experienced and wise enough to have known better, as if they were schoolchildren. You failed to stamp out madness and rebellion in our midst, and now we are here, and there is no turning back. What I desire to see, more than apologies or recriminations, is evidence that you are once again in control, that you will obey your Prince, no matter who they might be, and that once again one of our most loyal cities can be trusted to keep itself in good order.”
The Archon wants demonstrations of of stability and loyalty. We don't demonstrate loyalty by running after some Sabbat shovelheads, we demonstrate the same kind of upstart flair that led us to kill Angelos. Start a war, Sommers loses everything.
grotsnik said:
"Cosy up to your choice of Prince as much as you desire, but look to yourselves first. The next time we gather at Knightsbridge, the barons of London will explain to me what they have done and what they continue to do to build Camarilla stability and strength in the city - why, if you like, they deserve to survive. One of you will have to be made an example of, to ensure the rest of you scheming fools get it into your heads that things have to change...and I daresay it’s no secret, young man, that many of your peers will cross their fingers and hope that it’s you.”
Iacomo has indicated that someone's head will be on the chopping block- that does NOT mean it will be Sommers'. Right now, Godric is the most likely of the candidates for allowing his barony to slip into a state of utter disrepair, in the face of Sabbat incursions. All Sommers has to do to survive, is prove that he is a team player. Playing for the Camarilla team means two things: preserving the Masquerade and scheming within our bounds.
grotsnik said:
“Yes, yes,” says Iacomo, “you’re all absolutely overjoyed that I’ve come along to babysit you, and you say prayers for my eternal soul every dawn before you go to bed. I don’t give a fig for this lip-service, Turcov. If you want to help, find out where these fanatics are hiding for me.”
The Archon doesn't care about the Sabbat right now. As long as the threat of the Sabbat is
contained, they will remain a low priority. The primary threat at the moment to the Camarilla at large, and the Archon in particular are the
hunters. He wants them tracked down. We have begun working toward that.
Why do all of you voting for 1. A, want to run around like attention deficit fucking children and now chase Sabbat instead? Is it impossible to stick with a strategy for longer than one update at a time? The Archon wants the Hunters found. Chasing Sabbat at dawn-rise is not the way to find hunters.
Edit- As an aside, do any of you remember what happened the last time a Camarilla Baron in London launched a strike against a den of Sabbat shovelheads? The war that raged and that ended when we killed Angelos? It was costly for both sides. Do you want to play as du Marchais, or as Anthony Sommers? If you want to play du Marchais and try to make yourself look good by being totally incompetent and going against the direct wishes of the Camarilla (du Marchais was supposed to find Rannigan, not start a Sabbat war), then go right a-fucking-head. What happened to Esteban du Marchais, by the way? Was he staked out for a sunrise and lost his barony? I wonder...
4. The Sabbat attack:
grotsnik said:
“Looks like you’ve been marked,” Vogler says, cheerfully. “Wonder how they got this far north.”
His face and beard is spattered with blood and droplets of gore, respectively; he doesn’t seem to care.
grotsnik said:
Vogler glances sideways at you.
“They’re just shovelheads,” he says. “Puffed-up on blood and a newfound sense of power. A nuisance, not a threat. We could take one alive, maybe find out who embraced them, if they were taken to a den we might find out where it is-”
“They’ll have a van nearby,” you warn. “They’ll have to - only way to get away before dawn.”
What the fuck do you want? Vogler to go full retard, turn into his wolf form and chase their fucking van like a dog chasing a car?
That'll sure look great on his curriculum vitae when it comes to choosing a Prince. He's already thrown himself in harm's way for no particular reason, other than blood sport. We need him to cut this shit out if he wants to be Prince. He's a gangrel, everyone already knows he's a badass beast. But fuck that. He wants to be Prince, he has to act like one.
Don't any of you remember the resent Kirkbeck got when he went in and started whacking shovelheads at du Marchais' little show of force?
Fuck off.
Not to mention it's almost dawn. Storyfag just used this trope in his own LP. Read between the fucking lines. They have a van nearby. It might be a trap. What happens if Vogler goes full retard and gets staked and dragged off to a Sabbat den in the van? What happens if Tony gets kidnapped? What then? Remember what happened to the double-agent working for Dubrik? You think Tony can pull any strings with only a torso? Fuck. Off.
As for the second vote:
The Assamite:
grotsnik said:
“My Swansea friends may not be of much use, but I can contact Venice for help if need be. Have you considered the use of an Assamite-”
From the wall above, you hear Cripps growling.
You think Cripps is going to keep his mouth shut if we secretly bring in an Assamite to tackle a Sabbat den? Why do we need a vampire assassin (an Assamite) when we have Operation Wistman? Heard of overlap much?
The Pell-Mell Queen:
She has made her entrance, but what makes you think she's going to close up shop tomorrow night and move on? She's in town for the publicity and the zeitgeist. She's here to make trouble, and to be honest, fuck knows what kind of trouble Sommers could be in around a Malk. Griddle's Seer already predicted the Centurion and Hob for Sommers [the candles in the darkness], and Don Jameson died at Sommers' hand-yes, it was his choice, but Sommers pushed the button-and no one else in the Camarilla, except Earnes, knows for sure how Angelos was taken down. You think we want it becoming public knowledge we sacrificed a high ranking hunter killer from New York for a petty London powerplay? No. fucking. thank. you.
I voted 1.
C, 2.
A because:
1. Dawn is coming. They're shovelheads. Vogler needs to calm the fuck down. They're shovelheads. We have a bolt hole. Dawn is coming. You're all full fucking retard.
2. Mandrake has been a lead since the first post. Mandrake knows far too much about Tony's kine relationships and even hinted that he knows what a blood-bond is. If it's another vamp, we shut it down and give the evidence to Iacomo so that he can ash the stupid, Masquerade-violating motherfucker. If it's a red herring set to draw us out or threaten the Masquerade, we shut it down. If it's a plot devised by hunters to draw out a Vampire with strong kine-connections, we shut it down and give up the hunters to Iacomo.
I've been planning since Update 1- if none of you can remember what the fuck we've been doing from one update to the next, that's not my problem.
gentleman.
