A Team of Rivals

[Alex]

Late July, 2070

Roger Scott's immaculately polished Italian shoes clicked as the soles of each made contact with the tile floor of the Astorian's ballroom, announcing his entry as loudly as the doors he let slam behind him. The beautiful Toreador put away his phone as he entered, his expression unamused as he looked out over the sorry lot of inhumanity before him. He would never dream of actually using such words to describe Court Officers, but they passed through his mind with frequency. His eyes immediately fell on the urchin Nosferatu, Victor the Rat. The Sheriff was redeemable only by the faith Roger's beloved mother placed in him. He didn't understand what Lady Courtenay saw in the little beast, but he knew better than to question his adoptive mother. She had never steered him wrong since his father...he pushed that thought aside. The thought of his beloved sire's kind face was enough to reduce him to tears, even now. And he would not show weakness in this company.

With the wretched Nosferatu were two creatures somehow of lower dignity than the monstrous Victor. The Usurper Conrad Chesterfield, the Domain's Scourge, standing against a wall in his long coat. And the Keeper, the sniveling madman Oliver Klein all dressed in tacky tweed. Roger could understand why the Scourge was here - he owed Roger an apology. But Klein wasn't even involved in the war effort. The only thing he contributed to the Domain was a mediocre Elysium. Whatever the case, Roger had already planned his entry. He had already put his phone away. He looked to the Sheriff and Scourge, raising to his full height and carrying himself as a Primogen should. "I hope this meeting was called without the knowledge of the Seneschal so that apologies could be offered in private," Roger said. He looked in the direction of Chesterfield. "You had guaranteed the safety of my assets. Do you have any idea what it will cost to mitigate the losses from the convoy?"

"Can it, Junior," Victor shot back. Roger now looked at his alleged ally with disgust. Not only was the Rat hideous to behold, he refused to treat Roger with the dignity he had earned in his office. And his complaints to the Seneschal fell on deaf ears. "This is war. You knew the dangers when you agreed to participate. And as for the Seneschal, she's my closest ally and friend." Victor leaned forward in his chair. "But some things are more important than politics."

"I am in full agreement, Sheriff," Conrad said, parting from the wall. "And while the loss of your kine and your assets was regrettable, what we did learn was far more valuable."

"Quite a determination to make," Roger shot back. "And Calvin has informed me that the Big Cats are no longer taking his calls. Our carelessness has cost us two prongs of our attack."

"Let me worry about Mr. Breaux," Conrad replied, shaking his head. "I believe we can keep him on-sides. It actually concerns our meeting."

"So you'll be explaining why you roused me from tending to Elysium for this dull little room?" Klein said. Despite his bad attitude, everyone knew why he was there. Of the Prince's allies, Klein was the least senior. While he may have been older than the Tremere, Chesterfield's Standing and respect in the Domain far outstripped the Malkavian's.

Conrad didn't reply now. He walked towards the conference table that Victor was sitting at and produced a picture. It was of several bodies - the dead from the ambush on Roger's convoy - lined up following their acquisition. Most of them were heavily decomposed after several days in the hot, humid weather of a Louisiana summer. But even untrained eyes like Roger's and Klein's, one body looked in far better shape than the others. "It was quite obvious from the scene itself that the Anarchs were involved. Exsanguinated bodies, wounds from claws, and so on. But we already knew the Anarchs were capable in inflicting violence. This one, though, got my attention." Conrad pointed to the non-decomposed body, and then reached for a small dropped of red fluid. The Kindred could smell the Blood in it...but something was off about it. "I was able to acquire a blood sample," Conrad explained. He looked to Klein and Conrad. "Open your mouths," he commanded. The two looked hesitantly at him. "It's mortal Blood, I assure you. But you'll be more interested with a demonstration." Another moment passed before both Kindred obeyed the Warlock. Using the dropper, he placed a drop of Blood on each of their tongues. The reaction was instant. Klein and Roger each took a step back, clutching their mouths.

"What was the meaning of that?" Roger shouted. The Blood had burned like acid. The damage had been temporary, but the pain had been intense - unlike anything Roger had experienced.

"We call it Baal's Caress," Conrad said, putting the dropper away. "It is a thaumaturgical toxin which can be transmuted from Vitae. It tends to find more common use among the Banu Haqim, but it is not unknown among the Tremere. But more importantly, based on the files I acquired from my Clanmates before the fall of New York...it's an art of Thaumaturgical practice which the ex-Tremere Sheldon Carter never specialized in."

"So?" Klein asked. "We knew that Sheldon had sired."

"We suspected that Carter had sired," Conrad retorted. "Essence of Air doesn't require full mastery of Blood Magic. It is a parlor trick, in relative terms. This...this is much more dangerous. It is good that we know there is another active Tremere in the city, and that the Tremere in question is talented and dangerous. Not some gutter hack gutter childe."

"Be that as it may," Roger said. "I fail to see what value this has to our operations. The invasion of New Orleans is falling apart almost as soon as it's begun."

"You're impatient, Junior," Victor said, standing. "Kindred wars take a long time when the Sabbat isn't involved. Your upbringing spoiled you. We knew that they're dug into New Orleans. We knew this wouldn't be easy. That's why the city needs more resources from the both of you to push ahead on our new leads."

"And why on Earth would I involve myself?" Klein asked. "It has been made very clear to me that my priorities are not those of the Prince and the Seneschal. While I respect their decisions, I see no part for me to play."

"That's why they're not here, Klein," Victor said with a roll of his oversized eyes. "This is a plot, you idiot. The whole point of a plot is that the people in charge don't know." Klein smarted as Roger cast a dangerous look to Victor, who returned it in kind. "Your mother will thank me when she has that French fucker's ashes in her clutches, Junior. And you will, too." Victor walked back to the table. "Our best clue so far as to who the Usurper is comes from that Brujah clown they have on the radio. The shit he spews. A few decades back more than now, he walked about a mage named Bloody Catherine. A Bloody Catherine who runs with Black Vivian...and Ella the Ripper." Victor looked up to see both the Toreador's and Malkavian's eyes go wide. "I thought that would get your attention," he said. "And they could be another thread to pull for an offensive against them. To keep the pressure up."

"What are you proposing, then?" Roger asked, cutting Klein off before he could speak. The Toreador would not hear Klein's hateful slander about his lost love. His misunderstood paramore. That vision of beauty he hadn't seen in decades.

"I can patch things up with Leon," Conrad said. "The weaponry was really a secondary consideration in my plans for him. But our operations have allowed us an opening deeper into their territory. But neither I nor the Sheriff have the soft power needed to exploit it. That requires money..." Conrad said. "And connections." He looked to Klein. "And if you will both contribute those efforts, we will broaden our search for Bloody Catherine to include Gabriella. And we will turn her over to the two of you to decide what to do with her." Conrad watched as the two exchanged poisonous looks at each other, but he already knew what they would say.

Victor waited for a full minute before speaking. "If we're agreed, then," he said. "Let's get down to business."