Shattered Masquerade

Serious Business is yet one more new Gang in New Orleans, forming from the remains of Baron Dupuis' old Gang after his unfortunate demise. Without a leader, Sheldon and Eric turned to Corinne Brown with an idea for a Gang devoted entirely to the Movement. While they'd maintain their own holdings in New Orleans to supplement their efforts, the goal of this new Gang would primarily be to assist Anarchs wherever there was a need for veteran warriors and operatives. Corinne agreed, leaving her Fourth Way Gang to join the cheekily-named "Serious Business."

Serious Business is most notable for working alongside the Vanguard Gang in the war for Florida, the Anarch offensives into Atlanta, and other operations from before the Masquerade collapsed and the Blood Hunts began. In this internecine, Serious Business retreated to New Orleans to build up and protect themselves. But their mission was never far from their mind. While based, Eric and Sheldon both enhanced their natural skills as Corinne Brown built a terror cell - the Black Hand - that would be able to provide munitions, expertise, and distractions for the Kindred they unwittingly served. With the war against the Camarilla beginning to heat up, it seems likely the Third Way will become involved in its next phase.

Name: Eric Schmidt
Apparent Age: Early 20's
Years Undead: ~75
Clan: Gangrel

Unlike many Gangrel, Eric actually knew his sire. Eric was a native of Houston, one more nerdy kid who spent his young adulthood in the 80's playing Dungeons & Dragons in basements instead of snorting cocaine and getting into the stock market. He and his sire, the well-regarded Anarch Tommy Clark, have never told the same Embrace story twice. In one iteration, Eric was beset and killed by muggers only to be granted undeath by Tommy. In another, Eric was hunting with his father - a forced "manly" retreat - and was liberated when his father received a well-timed mauling from the older Gangrel. And a third story saw Eric and Tommy meeting at a party, where they stared deeply into each others' eyes until Tommy knew he had found the one. These stories say a lot about Eric and his easygoing...for a Vampire...nature. Eric spent his early years with his Sire being brought into the realities of Anarch life. But that education was cut tragically short in the 90's, when Tommy was one of the first casualties in the Sabbat's siege on Houston. With Tommy's death, Eric hurled himself into the enemy with uncharacteristic vigor. But where his sire fell, Eric survived the siege and continued on with the Movement. With time - and with dead Sabbat in his wake - Eric was eventually able to find some peace and became more of his old self. But Tommy's demise left an impact. He was more serious now, more prepared, and much more serious about the Movement. Serious enough to be welcomed into the Baron's Gang.

Eric surprised many with his skepticism of the invasion of New Orleans. The Anarchs thought he, of all people, would be easy to battle the Sabbat. But Eric would ultimately follow the Baron and the Movement, and has been a vital part of the war effort. His strength is certainly an asset to the Movement, but his age has been even more of one. Eric is more suited to blending in with modern humans than some of his fellow Anarchs, and can hold his own with a computer. Eric has been able to establish cover as a DJ, and has used that cover to get access to raves and other illicit gatherings where the sprawl of New Orleans meets the seclusion of the bayou. And in his own Gang, Eric is a level head and a respected Anarch who can bring the Free State together. He didn't come to New Orleans for revenge, but he made it his goal after he was caught in the ambush that would see Baron Richard meet his Final Death. Eric joined the rest of the Anarchs, and even his archenemy Bonaparte Desrosiers, in slaughtering the Camarilla at Elysium and liberating the city. With New Orleans free, he turned his glowing eyes and fierce claws to Florida.

Eric proved himself the most capable scout between Serious Business and Vanguard, using his animal form and his animal friends both to spy on the Camarilla where the enemy Kindred could not see. He would have been first in battle, were he not in the company of Alexis Delacroix and Corinne Brown. The end of the liberation of Florida and the Blood Hunts forced Eric back to New Orleans, where he continued his work as a scout and infiltrator for the Movement. The Anarchs spent most of the 2030's on the defensive, but what few successful attacks they launched against organized mortal Hunters were facilitated by the Gangrel. These nights, Eric spends much of his time with the factory workers in the Eastside where he fits in with the rough and tumble aesthetic. He also serves as his Gang's unofficial leader, speaking for Corinne and Sheldon when they're busy and representing them to the Movement as a whole.

Notable Traits (Talents, Assets, Merits, etc.):

• Generally sticks to New Orleans' outskirts, prowling chanty towns and illicit parties for prey and information
• Has acquired a few contacts in the Beaumont Prison complex - hardened criminal with a long history of violence
• Continues to act as a scout and a courier between cities, allowing Anarchs to communicate without being monitored
• Retains a housecat he's named DJ as his famulus, which he brings with him most places

Soundtrack/Tropes/etc.:
Animal Control (Main Theme)
Beast Mode (Fight Theme)

Name: Corinne Brown
Apparent Age: Late 20's
Years Undead: ~110
Clan: Brujah

All Kindred struggle in death, but many among the Anarchs also struggled in life. Such is the case of Corinne Brown, Houston's second-most influential Anarch. Corinne was born in the segregated South, the daughter of sharecroppers. She spent her youth clashing with racist authorities in the south before deciding to move to a real nexus of early radicalism. She headed west, to Los Angeles, helping found the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton and Fred Hampton. Even among radicals, Corinne stood out for her passion and her willingness to engage in violence beyond "self-defense." Corinne was arrested in the 1969 murder of a Los Angeles police officer, and it seemed likely that her life would end through lethal injection after an all-but certain conviction. But her fortunes turned when the famous Anarch Horace Badgley and his Haymarket Gang broke her out. The wily Brujah Embraced her, and brought her into a new fight for freedom. While many Anarchs abandon their human causes once Embrace, Corinne continued to fight against injustice among the living even as she found a new enemy in the Camarilla. Her desire to continue direct action led her back to the Deep South and to the struggling Anarchs of Houston. She arrived just in time to see action in the Sabbat's offensive against the city - not the war she expected, but one she relished - and formed the Fourth Way Gang with the Gangrel Tommy Clark and some others. The Gang's martial nature has led to shifting membership, and she now shares it with her childe, the Caitiff Austin Austin Spencer, the young Andre La Voix, and Alain Jeannet.

Corinne joined the rest of the Anarchs of Houston to seize New Orleans from the crumbling Sabbat. While she expected the Camarilla's eventual betrayal, she was disgusted at the slaying of the Baron Richard DuPuis under the banner of parlay. Motivated by his death, the passionate Brujah was willing to do anything to see him avenged and to have the Camarilla join him in the grave. She accepted the assistance of the Sabbat she had just been fightnig, and even made peace with her long-time enemy Arthur Beauregard in exchange for his help in slaughtering the city's Camarilla. But they were only the first of the Camarilla who would meet Final Death at her potent hands.

On the road with her Gang and Vanguard, Corinne was a capable warrior and the Gangs' liaison to the mortal world. Corinne worked through local Antifa, terrorist groups, and other radicals to ferment the civil unrest that the Anarchs thrived on in the cities of Florida. While the Blood Hunts forced Corinne home for the 2030's, she brought the lessons she had learned in Florida with her. She even learned more from the Blood Hunts themselves, and took part in the dangerous work of misleading them towards enemies of the Movement rather than at Anarchs themselves. The anger that came with the 2040's and 2050's gave Corinne a chance to put those lessons into action. Over those decades, Corinne quietly built a retinue of capable radicals and talented mortals to come together to struggle against both mortal and undead oppression. She put the group through its paces to assist Austin and Bailey Spencer in hunting post-Sabbat cultists in the city, and then in monkeywrenching corporate megaprojects in the 2050's after Hurricane Cassidy. Tonight, Corinne's group is known as the Black Hand. The Black Hand largely stays out of the headlines, but is one of the most dangerous groups in New Orleans. And with them at her back, Corinne remains one of its most avid, committed, and dangerous Anarchs in the city.

Notable Traits (Talents, Assets, Merits, etc.):

• Leads the Black Hand, a domestic terror cell that participates in low-level hacking, corporate sabotage, and vigilante hits
• Cultivates influence and new members for the Black Hand out of Sheldon's bookstore, where some of her own writings have been sold
• Involves herself in more mainstream local resistance groups, like Antifa, and influences them to fight the city's Hunters

Soundtrack/Tropes/etc.:
Same Thing (Main Theme)
Dove and Grenade (Black Hand Theme)

Name: Sheldon Carter
Apparent Age: Early 40's
Years Undead: ~150
Clan: Temere

Sheldon isn't what one thinks of when they imagine an Anarch, nor is his background what they would expect. Sheldon was born before the turn of the 20th century, and spent his youth living and working in the growing city of New York. Through some means he drew the attention of Clan Tremere and was brought into their ranks in the nights of the 1920's. Sheldon was not well known to the Domain of New York, spending most of his time in seclusion as the Tremere of the time often did. Lost in the shuffle, he found a way to escape the Clan, the Domain, and the Camarilla in the 1940's during World War 2. Sheldon took the perilous route of riding roads and rails across North America, but speaks fondly of the experience despite the dangers it presents to the damned. After some wandering Sheldon reached California and discovered the Anarch Free State. While Tremere in Anarch ranks always aroused suspicions at the time, Sheldon seemed to thrive in Los Angeles. He saw the Anarchs as kindred spirits and the Movement as an organization that could provide him protection to pursue his academic and magical interests. While the Tremere could offer him power, he would never have the freedom he desired as a stone in the Pyramid. And freedom meant far more to him than potent Blood Magicks.

Sheldon knew that his Clan would hunt him down eventually, and that staying in one place presented a risk to himself and to his friends. Sheldon began to make his way back east through the 60's and 70's, traveling with humans crossing the country in new automobiles and enjoying the feeding and other benefits of the summers of Free Love. He would settle again in the late 80's, expecting Houston to be a pit stop. When the Sabbat offensives of the 1990's began, it became more dangerous to leave than it was to stay. So Sheldon remained, aiding the Anarchs in the background and proving to be their secret weapon in combating the Sword of Caine. These battles kept him busy through the 90's and 2000's. When Prince Alderidge approached the Anarchs to launch an offensive against the Sabbat in new Orleans, Sheldon volunteered eagerly. He saw the New Orleans as a place he might finally be able to settle down. Despite the loss of his friend Richard Dupuis, he was ultimately proven right.

While Sheldon helped win New Orleans, he didn't stay for long. He helped bring together a new Gang - Serious Business - with Corinne Brown and Eric Schmidt. Serious Business worked with the Vanguard Gang to help plan the Anarchs' liberation of Florida. Sheldon used his mastery of the Blood to provide support for the War Gangs, giving them a counter to Camarilla Tremere and other occultists who might have otherwise posed a threat that couldn't be answered. While Sheldon and his compatriots succeeded in liberating Florida, the Blood Hunts of the 2030's forced them to lay low in New Orleans. Sheldon took refuge with his childe Catherine Chevalier's cult - the Circle of Truthseekers - through the decade, and lent her his aid in building it. When the dust settled and the riots quieted, Sheldon didn't return to the offensive front. Instead, he settled down in the city and began to cultivate a new Herd and a new unlife of his own. Tonight Sheldon is his Gang's quartermaster, in a way. His shop - The Apprentice's Respite - provides Eric and Corinne with a space to sleep during the day. The clientele provide Sheldon with Blood, and the store itself has allowed Corinne a platform to push her radical writings. It's a more humble existence than he likely ever expected, but one he seems content with.

Notable Traits (Talents, Assets, Merits, etc.):

• Owns The Apprentice's Respite - a book store in the French Quarter that sells occult books and radical literature
• Keeps a small Herd among his bookstore's regular patrons, and hosts regular events in the shop and out of doors
• Is perhaps the Eldest Anarch Tremere in the country, and has a large collection of rituals at his disposal

Soundtrack/Tropes/etc.:
Wizard (Main theme)