Shattered Masquerade

Name: Captain Axel Powers
Apparent Age: Early 30's
Years Undead: 400
Clan: Gangrel
Location: Tampa, Florida

Description: Axel Powers has been a model Anarch almost since his mortal birth. He was the son of a prostitute in Port Royal, left in the streets until he was old enough to take to the seas on a pirate vessel. Axel's journey to the Caribbean also began his journey into the night, as he caught the attention of his nocturnal captain Leslie Ross. While Leslie's name was never well-known to mortals outside of Caribbean archaeologists and historians, he was already well-known to the Anarchs as one of the first of their number to cross into the New World on his pirate vessel - the Heartsblood. And after years of watching and assessing the young mortal who had caught his eye, Leslie Embraced Axel and brought him into the night. Axel would stay with Captain Ross for a few more years, until the crew managed to capture a combat-worthy British trade vessel intact. Axel took it as his own, redubbing the ship the Night's Bane and continuing to plunder the Caribbean through the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. Though piracy ended, though, Axel was not ready to give up his sea legs yet. The Gangrel didn't join his fellow Anarchs as they began to move west to settle new cities, instead keeping to the waters as a trader and then as a mercenary during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. It was the invention of the Ironclad and other new technology that would finally force Axel ashore, where he chose to settle in Los Angeles. His decision to move to the west was a fateful one, both allowing him to meet his future partner Katrina "Kitty" Hoye and take part in the Second Anarch Revolt with MacNeil and Garcia. Axel and Kitty both stayed in the new California Free State for a time, fighting to maintain its borders through most of the 20th and early 21st century. As the Free State regained its ground, though, Axel and Kitty decided to take up a new fight and move to the front lines against the Sabbat in Florida. Axel's ferocity in combat and history - let's face it, pirates are cool - positioned him well to lead the Anarchs after victory was won. His contacts from Los Angeles positioned him well to win assistance from newly-free New Orleans to unite the city's Anarchs and former Sabbat against the Camarilla and free the city from its Prince.

Since the overthrow of the Camarilla, Axel and Kitty both have declined to take any titles beyond their mortal ones. Axel himself is known to be fairly disengaged from the night-to-night events in Tampa, preferring to tend to his crafts and his combat skills while Kitty tends to the needs of the Free City. When Axel does become involved in disputes, though, his word is the final one. And between his reputation and his martial prowess, Axel's word is the final word when the Anarchs of Tampa are close to blows. That word is a tool Axel wields rarely, recognizing the danger of any one Kindred wielding too much power. And that restraint has reinforced the respect in which the Anarchs of Tampa hold him. Axel may not be a Baron, but the Vampires of Tampa loudly and proudly call him their Captain.

Soundtrack/Tropes/etc.:
Wolves of the Sea (Main Theme)

Name: Captainette Katrina "Kitty" Powers
Apparent Age: Late 20's
Years Undead: ~180
Clan: Toreador antitribu
Location: Tampa, Florida

Description: Of all the jokes told about what brought Axel and Kitty Powers together, the one that gets the most laughs is that Kitty reminds him of his mother in a Freudian way. Born Katrina Hoye, Kitty was born and spent her early in Philadelphia in the 1800's, and had little choice but to join her family when they took advantage of the Homestead Act and headed west. Many Americans who went West for land would never reach their destination, and Kitty's family were among these unlucky contingent. Her family's caravan was raided by bandits and lost their food and animals while taking the southern route towards Los Angeles, and her mother and father both were killed. Kitty managed to shepherd her siblings to a frontier town in Arizona and provide some sort of living as a desirable, young Madam in one of the local saloons. Her misfortune wasn't at an end, though, and Kitty would find herself hit on the head with a shovel and buried in the sandy dessert by a Sabbat Pack making its way towards Los Angeles to attempt to claim the city. Kitty's first meal was her fellow Madam's, strung up and left out for her and the other Embraces before they were spirited off west. But before they could reach Los Angeles, the Licks revolted and slayed the Pack who had killed them and came to Los Angeles as refugees. Kitty and her refugees were among the first Anarchs in Los Angeles, predating MacNeil but not Salvador Garcia and helping to build the Anarchs' presence there. Kitty's unlife would change forever, though, when Axel Powers walked off a boat. The scruffy pirate stole the Toreador's unbeating heart The two eloped together, and Kitty declared herself "Captainette" in the seriousness that an Anarch wedding should properly receive. After its success, Kitty and Axel turned their marriage into a partnership and worked together to help protect the borders of the Free State. While Axel possessed far more brute strength than his partner, Kitty was skilled in incitement, manipulation, and ambushes - though she easily matches her man with a sword or a revolver. Kitty joined Axel when he heard the call to war in Tampa, and the Anarchs of the city whisper that she more than anyone pushed for an open and bloody revolt. She got her wish, and led the combined Anarchs and former Sabbat of the city against the Tower to free the Kindred of Tampa from tyranny.

While Kitty was never willingly a member of the Sabbat, the Brand is still on her stomach and still marks her Blood. Compared to Toreador Embraced Camarilla or Anarch, Kitty has a fascination with the macabre and violent. Where proper Sabbat Toreador might delight in torture, though, Kitty revels in the screams and fire of explosions. Her exuberance and outgoing nature make her a good partner for her more reclusive husband. She is much more involved than him in the nightly business of Tampa, coordinating its defense and other Anarch activities and trying to mediate disputes before they have to be taken to Axel. When not involved in the Movement, Kitty embraces her Blood. She's a skilled violinist and fiddler, and works as a street performer gathering money and information both for the Movement she believes in.

Soundtrack/Tropes/etc.:
Roundtable Rival (Main Theme)

Name: Ace Cullen
Apparent Age: Early 20's
Years Undead: 50
Clan: Caitiff
Location: Orlando, Florida

Description: Perhaps nobody represents the slate gray City Beautiful's character than Ace Cullen - both by day and by night. Ace lived an ordinary, unremarkable life as a mortal growing up in Winter Park suburb of Orlando. He was a B-student, a good football player, and was engaged enough in college to have a safe, comfortable life ahead of him once he graduated. But much like Orlando, Ace soon got caught up in a war beyond his understanding and control. While Tampa and Jacksonville both had established Anarch communities, Orlando was firmly in the hands of the Camarilla. The city's sprawling nature and low density, however, made it an unpopular destination for the Camarilla Kindred - a backwater for the damned. That backwater status changed in 2022, though, when Anarchs from New Orleans, Tampa, and Miami laid siege to the city and were answered by Camarilla Kindred from Atlanta and Jacksonville. Ace was one of a tranche of locals drafted into the war by the Anarch Movement, and it was in death that he found something to be more than "above average" about. Cullen was a believer in the cause and was one of the few initial recruits to survive his first nights amid the fierce battle for the city. When the Anarchs finally claimed the city in 2027 - just months before Jacksonville would fall - it was expected that the more powerful Anarchs from other cities would take up residence and assume leadership. But after some politicking by Bonaparte Desrosiers, Eric Schmidt, and Corinne Brown, most of the Kindred and Cainites from elsewhere departed and left Ace as the oldest, wisest, and most respected Anarch in the City Beautiful.

All of the Anarch Free Cities of the Caribbean have their own claim to fame, and Ace has leaned into his Clanless Blood and has pushed to make Orlando a haven for the traditionally-maligned Caitiff. While Caitiff experience little discrimination among the Anarchs, a promised land where Caitiff wield power and influence carries great weight among the Clanless and the Thin-Blooded of Camarilla Domains. Orlando is a haven for these Kindred and a symbol of what the Anarch Movement can bring them, and Ace has dedicated himself towards keeping it that way. While he has taken no title, Ace is called the leader of the largely Clanless Kindred of Orlando and one of the most promising new Anarchs in the Movement.

Soundtrack/Tropes/Etc.
High Hopes (Main Theme)

Name: Mateo Dominguez
Apparent Age: Mid-30's
Years Undead: ~110
Clan: Malkavian antitribu
Titles: Archbaron of Miami, Sufete
Location: Miami, Florida

Description: Much has changed since the end of the Sect War and the beginning of the Third Anarch Revolt, but one thing hasn't - Mateo Dominguez's name is still feared by his allies and enemies alike. Like many of the former Sabbat, Dominguez's mortal life and early nights as a Cainite are shrouded in mystery. Even his age can't be verified, though few actively doubt it. Dominguez exploded into the minds of the Anarchs and Camarilla in the early 1990's, when he led the Sabbat who seized Miami and famously murdered the city's new Bishops to claim the title of Archbishop for himself.

From then on, Dominguez's Miami led the Sect to sweep across Florida and meet the wave of Sabbat victories in the north to converge on the fall of Atlanta. While the Camarilla came back from the brink of collapse, both Dominguez and the Archbishop Lord Dalton were instrumental in preventing further losses in the south until the 2010's and the Second Inquisition. Despite attacks from mortals and a resurgent Camarilla, though, Dominguez's brilliance and brutality both kept Miami firmly under the control of the Sword of Caine. Dominguez held Florida long past the fall of the Sabbat in other regions, forcing the Camarilla and Anarchs to pay for every inch in Blood. And when the Archbishops of Toronto and Montreal defected to the Tower, they left Mateo as the last Sabbat Archbishop - perhaps the last leader in the entire Sect. For a few years after the end of fighting in the Sect Wars, Miami remained an oddity - a Sabbat city without a Sabbat to report to. But that changed in 2022, when Dominguez shocked the night by joining with the Anarchs - renouncing his title of Archbishop for the tongue-in-cheek Archbaron - and committing his Cainites to the War for Florida. While neither Mateo or the Anarchs of New Orleans alone could have seized Florida, both working together were able to drive the Camarilla from the state by 2028 with the fall of Jacksonville. While many Anarchs distrusted the mad, brutal Malkavian who called himself Archbaron, they could not contest that he had helped them win the night.

Since the Anarchs' victory in Florida, Mateo has cemented his status and power in Miami. While different Anarch cities govern themselves in different ways, no other single Anarch has as much power over theirs as Mateo Dominguez. Mateo's work in the Miami government have driven its government, more than most, to turn a blind eye to the Vampires in their midst. And where Dominguez once preached the word of Caine, his new rhetoric promising Miami as a New Carthage - a paradise where Vampires may indulge themselves as they please with no more than token discretion - has won him supporters and sympathizers among a mix of young Anarchs, former Sabbat, and some of the more simply violent and debauched Anarchs. Mateo is easily the most powerful single Vampire in the Caribbean Free State. While he has confined himself to Miami so far, that may soon change. With the Camarilla beginning to march back to war, Anarchs have begun to talk of uniting their Free States and working together. And any agreement to coordinate the Caribbean Free State will have to involve the feared Archbaron Mateo Dominguez.

Soundtrack/Tropes/Etc.
City (Main Theme)
On the Floor (Anarch Theme)

Name: Raeni Williams
Apparent Age: Late 30's
Years Undead: ~100
Clan: Brujah antitribu
Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Description: Raeni Williams difficult existence began well before she was claimed by the Sabbat of Miami. Raeni was born in the impoverished interior of Haiti, and spent her childhood and young adult years scrounging out a living despite her surroundings. Things went from bad to worse in 1991, when Haitian military forces couped the island nation's President and persecuted its people. Raeni was one of 50,000 refugees who fled the soldiers and were housed at the refugee camp in Guantanamo Bay. Raeni and her children were among those able to attain asylum in the United States. She was placed in Miami among many others, and continued her struggle to support her family there. That struggle was abruptly ended a twist of fate, as the Sabbat streaming into the city broke into her apartment to feed. They were impressed by the young woman's attempts to defend her family, and after killing her loved ones drained her and Embraced her. Now cursed with the rage that comes with loss and the Rage that all Brujah are cursed with, Raeni continued to do what was necessary to survive. With her strength and speed, she was a terrible force to contend with and became one of the city's most renowned Sabbat warriors. And while the Archbishop Mateo Dominguez knew that she might well harbor dreams of revenge, he knew her rage was too valuable to let go to waste.

In 2010, with the Camarilla on the offensive, Mateo appointed Raeni one of Miami's Bishops and charged her with the nightly defense of the city. It was a task that she excelled in, and one that gave her new targets for her anger. This decision would prove unexpectedly canny, or perhaps the Malkavian Archbishop expected it entirely, when the Sabbat began to become undone. Raeni had never placed great faith in Caine or the Ritae, so their absence impacted her less than most. She kept a clear head in the worst of the Second Inquisition, and helped hold the Sabbat of Miami together through it. The Archbishop - now Archbaron - would call on Raeni once again in 2023. With the battle for Florida underway, Dominguez tasked her with leading a war party to Jacksonville to cut off its support for Orlando. Raeni exceeded expectations in her task, and her careful, methodical tactical work and talents as a warrior left Jacksonville's Camarilla soft targets by the time the city fell in 2028. When the Camarilla fell, Raenie was the clear leader of the Anarchs who would stay to hold the city.

Despite her tragic past and the way she died, Raeni's lost Humanity has left her uninterested in revisiting her mortal life. She's given herself entirely to survival and war, and treats Jacksonville in an almost military fashion. While Raeni is no petty dictator, she recognizes that Jacksonville is the front line of the Caribbean Free State and the Camarilla of the Atlantic. She expects Anarchs residing in the city to be able to fight if called on at any time, and considers the peddling of influence and various forms of Kindred revelry to be distant secondary priorities. Raeni is ready to make war, and as the Camarilla begins to take the offensive she is more than prepared to strike back.

Soundtrack/Tropes/etc.:
Ragga Bomb (Main Theme)