[WIR] Let the Streets Run Red (COMPLETE!)

[CTPhipps]

Children of the Blood release

Hey folks,

This just came out today and even with my immediately tearing into the book, I haven't been able to read the entirety of it in one single sitting. However, I have been able to get some interesting updates for it.

1. I clearly didn't pay enough attention to Freddie Montgomery as I believed they were a male Kindred when they are very much a blonde bookish female Kindred. Freddie is also notably someone raised in a survivalist cult. I find the character to be a lot more interesting than I did before.

2. Akawa gets an update that reveals that he's actually playing the long game and his whole purpose is to get an opening to kill Mark Decker. Given how tightly the domain is wound, making it an Anarch one should be easy (or impossible since Mark has wiped out the old guard).

3. Anastasia gets her own update as well that fills in a little bit more of Parovich's fall to wassaildom.

So obviously this would make a very good book to keep beside you when running Innocence in Blood.

[CTPhipps]

Innocence in Blood part 3 [NPC] Mark Decker] part 1



Type: NPC

Synopsis: A Revolutionary War soldier from the American South who became a hunter of Lupines then Prince of Milwaukee.

Analysis: I've always found Mark Decker to one of the better Vampire: The Masquerade characters but I've mentioned repeatedly across the forums that I'm a 1st Edition fanboy. As much as I love Lucita, Jan Pieterszoon, and Victoria Ash--I think the Chicago by Night and Milwaukee characters are still the bets that the setting has to offer. In a very weird way, I would also say what makes Mark Decker so entertaining is that he's an utter asshole but in a very believable way, at least for a 200 year old vampire. I also think he's very much a "Dracula" archetype in a way that was rare in the original V:TM game but also not overtly obvious in that way.

The Gangrel were originally designed to fulfill the Werewolf myth but before the Tzimisce existed, they were also the "shapechanging savage furry handed warriors" that were the most likely clan for Dracula. Dracula of the books was a nobleman, yes, but he was also one who emphasized his closeness with the Beasts as well as control over them. With his feudal overlordship of Milwaukee, Embrace of Honor for her "innocence", and more--he very much has a Bram Stoker's Dracula vibe.

Mark was Embraced by Lucian and set up as the overlord of a plantation by his sire (described here as just a way to get rid of him). There's something very clever about the idea that Mark was "uncomfortable" with slavery but didn't have any desire to emancipate his slaves. HOWEVER, he didn't feed on them! Which is just the sort of thing that would cause other vampires to look at him sideways the same way some people do about a guy who is a vegan yet runs a slaughterhouse. I also wonder if that's even possible as who would he feed on regularly in the American South?

Much has already been said about the tyrannical way that he rules his domain and his NPC write-up implies that he actually thinks he's too soft. Decker would prefer to seal off Milwaukee completely from the Camarilla and enable an even more terrible oppression. In a very real way, he's more like the Princes of the Dark Ages who actively resented the "free travel" rules of the Camarilla and would prefer to keep their domains consisting solely of their childer as well as immediate coteries.

But yes, he's a very well-written character and I think that he's an interesting one to use in games.

Why did he Embrace Honor?

The character sheet doesn't quite say but I'm inclined to think that Mark Decker Embraced Honor because he was attempting to make her his vampire bride. The idea of an Elder Cainite feeling the dwindling loss of his humanity (Decker has 3 and no Touchstones or Convictions) says to me that he also felt stirrings he might not have felt in a long time with the "innocent" Honor. The thing is that I've mentioned I believe Honor is a lesbian and think that Mark would back away at that point. Perhaps try to "adjust" their relationship to a more fatherly one but unconsciously frustrated at that.

I admit this is because I really like twisted subversions of romance in my V:TM game. It's the Toreador in me. It would also underscore Decker's hypocrisy with Julia Calvin who is in love with him due to the Blood Bond but probably only generates disgust or shame to Decker. After all, he knows it's fake. Ironically, if Decker hadn't Embraced Honor, he might have kept her as a Touchstone and kept some of his dwindling humanity. He probably won't become a Wight any time soon but in the next twenty years? Maybe. If nothing changes, he'll snap. Drinking werewolf blood is probably not helping either.

Possible Fate

If the player characters return to Mark with the ashes of Honor Mercer or Dawn Nakada admits to killing him, I think you might actually want to have this as the final stand of Milwaukee's Prince. He might attempt to murder them or kill the Camarilla Archon before abandoning himself to wassail or suicide. There's a bit of symetry to the murder-suicide of Merrik and you could see himself try to kill himself ala Denethor by covering himself in gasoline in the Brewer's Locker Room before setting himself alight. It's a sad ending to such a great NPC but an interesting way to go out with a bang, IMHO.

Another one is leading the Anubi to Indianiapolis on a War Party to try to kill every vampire in the city. It would be interesting and probably end with the death of both domains, though Mark's rampage would come to ab abrupt halt the moment he attacked Eletria.

A third is that someone DOES return Honor (whether them or not) and she then kills the Prince in the middle of a meeting, is killed by Julia Calvin, and the PCs are left with the Hamletian fallout of the Prince's sudden assassination.

[CTPhipps]

Innocence in Blood part 3 [NPC] Honor Mercer part 2

Honor Mercer



Type: NPC

Synopsis: An environmentally active Granola Girl embraced by Decker who is the start of this whole mess.

Analysis: Honor Mercer reminds me very strongly of Allicia and Evelyn Stephens in the original Forged in Steel Chronicle. This isn't just because I'm utterly obsessed with 1st Edition, though I am, but because I see a lot of parallels between the characters as well as some interesting ideas on how the concept of the "Mad Scientists Beautiful Daughter" has evolved over the past three decades.

Basically, Honor like Allicia and Evelyn were the childer of the PCs' probable enemies in both Modius as well as Juggler. Their sires have abused them and controlled them while also ripping them from their mortal lives. Allicia is even offered up as a potential love interest for PCs (of either gender) with the assumption that they would possibly rescue her from her evil sire. It's a tale as old as Dracula with it even hinted at in some versions of Ravenloft, though Sergei's ghost tends to take precedence.

Honor could theoretically play the exact same role with the player characters tracking her down, meeting her, falling in love [especially if one of them is a bisexual or lesbian woman], and saving her from her nasty daddy-vamp. However, it's also interesting to use her as a Deconstruction of the concept of the "innocent fair maiden turned against her will." After all, Honor Mercer is someone who potentially killed someone in a bathroom stall after panicking (its unclear if the Kine died in the text) and then promptly fled to Indianapolis to join a cult of corruption-worshipers. Presumably, if we're following the way the Ministry normally works, they may be getting her to try to cast off her humanity by feeding nastily on more humans. Its a much more unsympathetic take and Honor's naivity shows her as unworthy of the amount of effort being spent on her.

In a very real way, Honor is a Maguffin who drives the majority of the plot but someone who isn't aware of just how much her actions have affected everyone around her. I mentioned I would probably have her die tragedically at the end but other ends like rebelling against Mark Decker overty are possible as well.

Roleplaying Suggestions

* I would roleplay up Honor's normality when finally encountered. Basically, aside from her fangs, that she's an otherwise unexceptional 20 something Embraced during her college years. Not some sort of saint or bastion of goodness like Mark Decker has turned her into.

* I might also make Honor shockingly ignorant of things most vampires know because she's got a very slanted view of the world due to Mark Decker educating her solely but her rejecting things. Maybe something like, "The Sabbat and Ministry are both groups that sought alternative Kindred morality but were persecuted by the intolerant Judeao-Christian Camarilla!"

* An interesting angle might be that Honor and Freddie's relationship is sexual with the latter blackmailing her only to seduce her to the side of the Ministry. It makes Honor discovering that Freddie arranged her situation to be all the more powerful.

* If you do want to portray Honor as a good person then the victim she fed on should still be alive and she is seeking some way to control the Beast in Indianiapolis. If you want to portray her as something less sympathetic then her victim should be dead and she's trying to seek a higher morality by learning to think of people as food. Maybe introduce THE ONE TRUE WAY as something she's studying.

* Dawn Nakada or her agents might threaten Honor's family to get her to comply. It's an easy one but an overt, "If you don't come with us [to be killed], we'll murder your parents" is a pretty easy way of showing how an Archon operates with Neonates.

[CTPhipps]

Innocence in Blood part 3 [NPC] Eletria part 3

Eletria



Type: NPC

Synopsis: A millennium-old vampire currently running a bar.

Analysis: There's an interesting story about Helena in my games. Which is to say that my player characters routinely sided with her during my days of 1st Edition gaming. Part of this was due to the fact we were a bunch of teenage boys and Helena seemed cooler than goodie-goodie Menele. Being the "hottest woman ever" probably helped. Even then, though, I kind of felt there was an unconscious bias against Helena that didn't really work very well.

After all, Helena's story consists of her being trafficked by her mortal father (probably under mind-control admittedly) to a horrifying vampire who kept her as a sex slave. If you decide to go all in with the Trojan War parallels then she was also the Daughter of Zeus that was being treated that way and that's doubly offensive. Yes, she betrayed Carthage but Menele proceeded to annihilate Pompey as a response and that's arguably worse since Helena didn't start the conflict. Really, Menele being the "good guy" doesn't really hold water and I always liked the idea that he was on a Path rather than Humanity.

Subsequent depictions of Helena have pretty much highlighted that she's a terrible awful Methuselah and only getting worse. I mean, the fact she's murdered hundreds of innocent boys and girls over the years with the help of Brett Stryker. Honestly, I don't think there's a way that Brett can come back from that Moral Event Horizon even if you probably can state he was mind-controlled into it as well. It's an interesting probable fate that Helena might hit wassail soon and WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO TO A 4TH GENERATION WIGHT? I mean, that's a drone strike situation there.



Well, Eletria is basically the Helena that was more sympathetic than her sire ever was. She's a 2000 year old Methuselah who just longs for her boy toy Lodin as well as lesbian lover Datura (which was a pretty interesting thing to openly express in 1994--even if we already had hints of it in the 1st Edition with Annabelle and Maria). A much more sympathetic character that has been enslaved by a terrifying self-absorbed vampire for millennia. She's useful for a love interest, perspective of a woman 2000 years old, and someone locked in an eternal conflict with a much older vampire. In many ways, she makes a much better Menele than Menele does.

HOWEVER.

Eletria definitely feels like she's underachieving here and I wonder how much of that is deliberate. One of the things I liked about Critias' update is that when we meet the "real" Critias, it turns out he's a pathetic toady who kisses up to Kevin Jackson despite being like 50x (yes, FIFTY TIMES) older than him. His breaking of the Blood Bond reveals a craven politician and hypocrite who doesn't have an ounce of leadership in his body.

Here, Eletria is serving as the bartender and hostess of a nightclub that is in-universe just a copy of the Succubus Club. In Indianapolis. I mean, Eletria could and probably should be ruler of Paris instead of Francois Villion. Hell, undead Queen of France. Certainly, as we find out with Helena, that she's probably able to fight her hand in hand since the difference of a few hundred years doesn't mean as much when you're both over 2000 years old. How much does the Jyhad shape you that you are reduced to someone who is just enjoying a "normal" life once your bonds to an ancient are snapped?

It's an interesting conundrum and something I'd maybe explore. On the other hand, I was a big fan of Janette, who was a 1000 year old vampire and a bartender on FOREVER KNIGHT without feeling like she was slumming it either.

I also suggest Eletria is one of the few vampires I'd use Angelina Jolie for as an actress:

[Nicolas Milioni]

i find an honor an perfect example of someone competely unsuited to vampirism becoming a vamp.

[Nicolas Milioni]

Innocence in Blood part 3 [NPC] Mark Decker] part 1



Type: NPC

Synopsis: A Revolutionary War soldier from the American South who became a hunter of Lupines then Prince of Milwaukee.

Analysis: I've always found Mark Decker to one of the better Vampire: The Masquerade characters but I've mentioned repeatedly across the forums that I'm a 1st Edition fanboy. As much as I love Lucita, Jan Pieterszoon, and Victoria Ash--I think the Chicago by Night and Milwaukee characters are still the bets that the setting has to offer. In a very weird way, I would also say what makes Mark Decker so entertaining is that he's an utter asshole but in a very believable way, at least for a 200 year old vampire. I also think he's very much a "Dracula" archetype in a way that was rare in the original V:TM game but also not overtly obvious in that way.

The Gangrel were originally designed to fulfill the Werewolf myth but before the Tzimisce existed, they were also the "shapechanging savage furry handed warriors" that were the most likely clan for Dracula. Dracula of the books was a nobleman, yes, but he was also one who emphasized his closeness with the Beasts as well as control over them. With his feudal overlordship of Milwaukee, Embrace of Honor for her "innocence", and more--he very much has a Bram Stoker's Dracula vibe.

Mark was Embraced by Lucian and set up as the overlord of a plantation by his sire (described here as just a way to get rid of him). There's something very clever about the idea that Mark was "uncomfortable" with slavery but didn't have any desire to emancipate his slaves. HOWEVER, he didn't feed on them! Which is just the sort of thing that would cause other vampires to look at him sideways the same way some people do about a guy who is a vegan yet runs a slaughterhouse. I also wonder if that's even possible as who would he feed on regularly in the American South?

Much has already been said about the tyrannical way that he rules his domain and his NPC write-up implies that he actually thinks he's too soft. Decker would prefer to seal off Milwaukee completely from the Camarilla and enable an even more terrible oppression. In a very real way, he's more like the Princes of the Dark Ages who actively resented the "free travel" rules of the Camarilla and would prefer to keep their domains consisting solely of their childer as well as immediate coteries.

But yes, he's a very well-written character and I think that he's an interesting one to use in games.

Why did he Embrace Honor?

The character sheet doesn't quite say but I'm inclined to think that Mark Decker Embraced Honor because he was attempting to make her his vampire bride. The idea of an Elder Cainite feeling the dwindling loss of his humanity (Decker has 3 and no Touchstones or Convictions) says to me that he also felt stirrings he might not have felt in a long time with the "innocent" Honor. The thing is that I've mentioned I believe Honor is a lesbian and think that Mark would back away at that point. Perhaps try to "adjust" their relationship to a more fatherly one but unconsciously frustrated at that.

I admit this is because I really like twisted subversions of romance in my V:TM game. It's the Toreador in me. It would also underscore Decker's hypocrisy with Julia Calvin who is in love with him due to the Blood Bond but probably only generates disgust or shame to Decker. After all, he knows it's fake. Ironically, if Decker hadn't Embraced Honor, he might have kept her as a Touchstone and kept some of his dwindling humanity. He probably won't become a Wight any time soon but in the next twenty years? Maybe. If nothing changes, he'll snap. Drinking werewolf blood is probably not helping either.

Possible Fate

If the player characters return to Mark with the ashes of Honor Mercer or Dawn Nakada admits to killing him, I think you might actually want to have this as the final stand of Milwaukee's Prince. He might attempt to murder them or kill the Camarilla Archon before abandoning himself to wassail or suicide. There's a bit of symetry to the murder-suicide of Merrik and you could see himself try to kill himself ala Denethor by covering himself in gasoline in the Brewer's Locker Room before setting himself alight. It's a sad ending to such a great NPC but an interesting way to go out with a bang, IMHO.

Another one is leading the Anubi to Indianiapolis on a War Party to try to kill every vampire in the city. It would be interesting and probably end with the death of both domains, though Mark's rampage would come to ab abrupt halt the moment he attacked Eletria.

A third is that someone DOES return Honor (whether them or not) and she then kills the Prince in the middle of a meeting, is killed by Julia Calvin, and the PCs are left with the Hamletian fallout of the Prince's sudden assassination.

I confess i don't quite understand this guy. why exactly is he so tyrannical and obssesed with control? is it fear?

[CTPhipps]

I confess i don't quite understand this guy. why exactly is he so tyrannical and obssesed with control? is it fear?

I get the impression it is actually just a writ large version of, "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Mark Decker has spent the past hundred years doing nothing but killing Lupines and there's implications that when he was a plantation owner he was killing things for food then too (since he didn't feed on his slaves he had to feed on either travelers or animals or both). He's not a vampire who has cultivated anything resembling social graces but brute force solutions to intractable problems.

"If you fuck up, you die."
"If you're not Camarilla, you die."
"If you complain, you get scratched the fuck up."

It's actually an interesting style of leadership because I don't think Mark actually CARES about power the way a Ventrue or Toreador or Tremere prince would. He's attempting to "solve" the problems of Milwaukee by making everything clear and draconian with no subterfuge or intrigue possible. He's oddly running it closer to a Ahroun werewolf sept leader than a vampire Prince.

Oddly, in GAME OF THRONES terms, Mark Decker is the Stannis Baratheon. He's Lawful Neutral verging on Lawful Evil but his problem is he's rigidly devoted to the law rather than be a hypocrite. Laws that were created by corrupt and awful rulers that he's enforcing for their own sake.

Funny thing?

Karsh would LOVE this guy. "Finally, someone gets it!"

[Nicolas Milioni]

I get the impression it is actually just a writ large version of, "When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

Mark Decker has spent the past hundred years doing nothing but killing Lupines and there's implications that when he was a plantation owner he was killing things for food then too (since he didn't feed on his slaves he had to feed on either travelers or animals or both). He's not a vampire who has cultivated anything resembling social graces but brute force solutions to intractable problems.

"If you fuck up, you die."
"If you're not Camarilla, you die."
"If you complain, you get scratched the fuck up."

It's actually an interesting style of leadership because I don't think Mark actually CARES about power the way a Ventrue or Toreador or Tremere prince would. He's attempting to "solve" the problems of Milwaukee by making everything clear and draconian with no subterfuge or intrigue possible.

Oddly, in GAME OF THRONES terms, Mark Decker is the Stannis Baratheon. He's Lawful Neutral verging on Lawful Evil but his problem is he's rigidly devoted to the law rather than be a hypocrite. Laws that were created by corrupt and awful rulers that he's enforcing for their own sake.

Funny thing?

Karsh would LOVE this guy. "Finally, someone gets it!"

i confess that i only watched the first six episodes of GOT,they were cool but not what i was looking for that year. I find it interesting that Lucian did not abandon him,like almost all gangrel do with their childer,and now Mark also wants honor back. He truly is the gangrel who goes against what the clan as whole does everytime,isnt he?
do you think this is intentional?

[Guest]

Innocence in Blood part 3 [NPC] Eletria part 3

Eletria



Type: NPC

Synopsis: A millennium-old vampire currently running a bar.

Analysis: There's an interesting story about Helena in my games. Which is to say that my player characters routinely sided with her during my days of 1st Edition gaming. Part of this was due to the fact we were a bunch of teenage boys and Helena seemed cooler than goodie-goodie Menele. Being the "hottest woman ever" probably helped. Even then, though, I kind of felt there was an unconscious bias against Helena that didn't really work very well.

After all, Helena's story consists of her being trafficked by her mortal father (probably under mind-control admittedly) to a horrifying vampire who kept her as a sex slave. If you decide to go all in with the Trojan War parallels then she was also the Daughter of Zeus that was being treated that way and that's doubly offensive. Yes, she betrayed Carthage but Menele proceeded to annihilate Pompey as a response and that's arguably worse since Helena didn't start the conflict. Really, Menele being the "good guy" doesn't really hold water and I always liked the idea that he was on a Path rather than Humanity.

Subsequent depictions of Helena have pretty much highlighted that she's a terrible awful Methuselah and only getting worse. I mean, the fact she's murdered hundreds of innocent boys and girls over the years with the help of Brett Stryker. Honestly, I don't think there's a way that Brett can come back from that Moral Event Horizon even if you probably can state he was mind-controlled into it as well. It's an interesting probable fate that Helena might hit wassail soon and WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO TO A 4TH GENERATION WIGHT? I mean, that's a drone strike situation there.



Well, Eletria is basically the Helena that was more sympathetic than her sire ever was. She's a 2000 year old Methuselah who just longs for her boy toy Lodin as well as lesbian lover Datura (which was a pretty interesting thing to openly express in 1994--even if we already had hints of it in the 1st Edition with Annabelle and Maria). A much more sympathetic character that has been enslaved by a terrifying self-absorbed vampire for millennia. She's useful for a love interest, perspective of a woman 2000 years old, and someone locked in an eternal conflict with a much older vampire. In many ways, she makes a much better Menele than Menele does.

HOWEVER.

Eletria definitely feels like she's underachieving here and I wonder how much of that is deliberate. One of the things I liked about Critias' update is that when we meet the "real" Critias, it turns out he's a pathetic toady who kisses up to Kevin Jackson despite being like 50x (yes, three TIMES) older than him. His breaking of the Blood Bond reveals a craven politician and hypocrite who doesn't have an ounce of leadership in his body.

Here, Eletria is serving as the bartender and hostess of a nightclub that is in-universe just a copy of the Succubus Club. In Indianapolis. I mean, Eletria could and probably should be ruler of Paris instead of Francois Villion. Hell, undead Queen of France. Certainly, as we find out with Helena, that she's probably able to fight her hand in hand since the difference of a few hundred years doesn't mean as much when you're both over 2000 years old. How much does the Jyhad shape you that you are reduced to someone who is just enjoying a "normal" life once your bonds to an ancient are snapped?

It's an interesting conundrum and something I'd maybe explore. On the other hand, I was a big fan of Janette, who was a 1000 year old vampire and a bartender on FOREVER KNIGHT without feeling like she was slumming it either.

I also suggest Eletria is one of the few vampires I'd use Angelina Jolie for as an actress:

I love your analysis of Eletria. Gives me some great ideas on how to use her in a campaign. Also I totally get the idea of being in love with two people of different genders at once.

[CTPhipps]

i confess that i only watched the first six episodes of GOT,they were cool but not what i was looking for that year. I find it interesting that Lucian did not abandon him,like almost all gangrel do with their childer,and now Mark also wants honor back. He truly is the gangrel who goes against what the clan as whole does everytime,isnt he?
do you think this is intentional?

1. I think Lucian didn't stick around with Mark actually. The implications are that Lucian embraced him out of guilt, which is pretty strange given he's 2000 years old so accidentally killing during feeding should be old hat for him by now. Then again, I'm 90% sure that is the reason Critias Embraced Damien so maybe it's something we can chalk up to, "I thought I was past this point in my life of losing control." I think that Lucian Embraced Mark and then bought him a plantation to basically rid himself of Mark so they didn't have to have any sort of relationship. The fact Mark apparently lived on it for a century is a sign that Mark isn't a very nomadic Gangrel, though. No real wanderlust.

2. I think the implications were Mark really wanted to make sure that Honor kept her "innocence" and could avoid killing people since apparently he supervised her every feeding. This is also something that he's been doing for five years, which is ridiculously long beyond the usual accounting period. At least in America. It's why I do think she was embraced as either a Vampire BrideTM or as a touchstone for Mark to live vicariously, though.

3. I don't think Mark is actually that far from the Gangrel norm aside from his possessiveness toward Honor. He's fanatically loyal to the Camarilla but we know plenty of Gangrel who are like that such as the Wolf Pack, Karsh, and others. I'd argue that his brutal dictatorship and straightforward style is probably how most Gangrel Princes would operate. It's just that he's MORE SO like this than the usual members of their kind.

Perhaps because he's a Low Humanity vampire even among Elders.

i find an honor an perfect example of someone competely unsuited to vampirism becoming a vamp.

Agreed. Either she's going to change, become a monster, or get destroyed.

The Ministry might actually be able to lower her Humanity enough to survive but, really, that's not "enlightenment."

It's just something that can be passed off as it.

I love your analysis of Eletria. Gives me some great ideas on how to use her in a campaign. Also I totally get the idea of being in love with two people of different genders at once.

Thanks.

I'm inclined to think Eletria's blood might be among the few things that could heal Lodin's injuries. I've also stated that I think that, otherwise, poor Olaf's only way to recover would probably be diablerie. My current theory is that Lodin fell into the hands of the Sabbat and got himself twisted the same way that Victoria Ash did but for years rather than weeks. Even then, she had to kill like 20 Kine in order to undo all the shit done to her body.

My prevailing theory is Lodin was horribly tortured and mutilated by the Sabbat before escaping and entering torpor only to wake recently, still Body-Sculpted to a horrible wreck and crazy as a Malk.

Blood Bond aside, I'm also inclined to think that Olaf/Lodin hasn't been thinking about her the same way she's been thinking about him given Lodin's Ventrue weakness apparently was "Young Beautiful Women" and Lorraine.

But who knows, maybe Lodin did truly love his almost-sire.

[Guest]

CTPhipps no, I agree with you. I don’t think Lodin loved Eletria the way she loves him. I think it’s a tragic statement on gender relations that the other girl in Eletria’s life is the one who truly loves her. Or maybe it’s just a cool plot point for a V5 campaign xD.

[CTPhipps]

CTPhipps no, I agree with you. I don’t think Lodin loved Eletria the way she loves him. I think it’s a tragic statement on gender relations that the other girl in Eletria’s life is the one who truly loves her. Or maybe it’s just a cool plot point for a V5 campaign xD.

It's a shame that we don't have any write-ups of Datura.

[CTPhipps]

Innocence in Blood part 3 [NPC] The Ministry part 4

I'm inclined to handle all of the Ministry members in one post since they're kind of a trinity of evil. Also, I'm itching to get to RUSTED JUNGLE.

Surprise, surprise, I know.

Keisha Phelps

Synopsis: Sensual Gospel singer and temptress who seduces the righteous then punishes them.

Keisha Phelps is an interesting character that I think can best be summarized as, "halfway to becoming a proper Follower of Set but halfway to becoming a revival of the Road of Heaven" too. Melvyn Ramsay took upon Aluc's bastard childe and began her proper education with the idea of replacing God with Set. Except, Melvyn hasn't really sold Keisha on the idea of God being Set (or Satan) so she's become like a proper Setite tempting mortals to sin so she can justify feeding on them instead. Which is really the exact OPPOSITE of the Followers of Set's goals even its similar in methodology.

Keisha looks like a Setite being beautiful, seductive, sinful, and dangerous. Probably carries a python around her neck at times too. However, she's really got a very strong and screwed up faith that is incompatible with proper Church of Set dogma. I'm inclined to think that she could EASILY be recruited into the Church of Caine at this point and maybe even the Church of Mithras before becoming a proper orthodox Setite. As is, she's going to probably VERY slowly journey to wightdom as is. I really love this character, she's got oodles of atmosphere and seems like she'd be incredibly fun to play. A little Aaliyah's Akasha in tude and that's not a bad thing at all.

Tyrone "Coach" Soros

Synopsis: Ex-football player turned life coach that believes God is Set as well as vice versa.

I have an interesting take on Tyrone Soros and that's that he's what happens when you embrace someone perfectly normal and try to shove them into something as counter-intuitive, if not outright batshit, as the Ministry. He's a guy struggling to make sense of an impossible situation and the mumbo-jumbo he spouts is basically because he doesn't really have any answers but is parroting what he's heard. I find the fact that he has Humanity 7 to be very interesting and having survived 20 years as a vampire, I'm inclined to think that he's largely gone out of his way to hurt anyone as well as keeps to a mostly Judeao-Christian worldview.

Basically, my theory is that Tyrone pretty much is the rare case of a "Iip service" Ministry member. He accepts the view of Set being God, the Aeons are all evil, and so on but has pretty much changed absolutely none of his behavior. Someone who pretty much went with the flow and doesn't really even understand the implications of Setite orthodoxy. It's not that he's stupid, it's just the fact that his mindset remains distressingly human. It's probably what allows him to actually fall in love with Marion Davies in a non-horrifying, non-possessive, non-evil manner.
Melvyn apparently didn't have ANY time to really indoctrinate him. It's an interesting take for a Setite that he's all for the group but probably is teaching things like, "Don't kill" and "Set is good!" versus "Set is evil and evil is good!"

He's really like, THE WORST, for the Ministry and would be very much better off getting the hell away with his girlfriend.

Kudos also for making his haven the local YMCA.

Freddie Montgomery

Synopsis: A survivalist cult member who has since killed her master.

Freddie is a character that doesn't actually make an appearance in LET THE STREETS RUN RED and you have to consult the newly-released CHILDREN OF THE BLOOD to get her write-up. Which is a shame because she's kind of central to this story. It might have been a better idea to have a ghoul of Keisha's to do the blackmailing while she's the mastermind of it all because, as is, Freddie is kind of a character we know nothing about. It might make Keisha a bit more Machiavellian and corrupt but it makes the adventure complete versus missing a few pieces. As such, Freddie is a minor character with no personality other than they REALLY want to recruit Honor.

Freddie WITH Children of Blood is an interesting third member to this triumvirate as she's also not into the Followers of Set's traditional dogma but a fanatical apocalypse prepper. The End of the World is coming and she's determined to survive it with her closest nearest and dearest. If she has to blackmail, murder, and bribe to do it then that is what she's going to do. Given Gehenna almost happened 20 years earlier and may be happening now, it's easy to understand this mindset.

Interestingly, her attitude may actually mean that she thinks she's doing a favor blackmailing Honor as a way to scare her into coming to Indianapolis. It's certainly "tough love" to burn all her bridges in Milwaukee but it's understandable if she thinks that she needed to be the one to push her out of Mark's smothering "care." I do think having these two have a romantic relationship adds an interesting layer to things. I would suggest to put Freddie in Tessa's place at the lesbian bar and have her be the ones to inform the player characters of her location. Not because she's betraying Honor but because she wants to get the PCs to have a chance of surviving the apocalypse too.

Which will only happen in Indianapolis, City of Faith.

[Nicolas Milioni]

Charles,have you noticed the little hints in Children of the Blood and vampire fifth edition as a whole,that the Clan of Faith maybe did not start of as the Followers of Set. i might be wrong,but Freddie's Montgomery seems to indicate that Freddie heard that in the very beggining of her Clan,they weren't actually only about Set,but all kinds of religion.
Keep in mind that it's outright stated in CotBG that the "Cappadocian" was not the original name of the Clan of Death. One could assume Cappadocious changed the clan's name and the clan culture to be all about him. Set could have done the same.
Could it be there were was once a Clan of Faith,a cl as a whole and that Set took them over to have a cult?

[CTPhipps]

Charles,have you noticed the little hints in Children of the Blood and vampire fifth edition as a whole,that the Clan of Faith maybe did not start of as the Followers of Set. i might be wrong,but Freddie's Montgomery seems to indicate that Freddie heard that in the very beggining of her Clan,they weren't actually only about Set,but all kinds of religion.
Keep in mind that it's outright stated in CotBG that the "Cappadocian" was not the original name of the Clan of Death. One could assume Cappadocious changed the clan's name and the clan culture to be all about him. Set could have done the same.
Could it be there were was once a Clan of Faith,a cl as a whole and that Set took them over to have a cult?

Possibly.

I admit I have my own theories about the Ministry/Church of Set. Specifically, I had my view that the Church of Set utterly misunderstands Set as well as his goals. Basically, the God of Chaos is utterly anti-dogma and is much more a warrior than theologian. His doctrine could be read to be instead of being about corruption and devotion to be about simply waging war against God/The God who Cursed Caine/Ra versus anything metaphorical.

The original Anarch.

Freedom.

Breaking one's chains.

Which means that he probably doesn't a give a shit about the religious elements of the faith or cult versus the literal, "What are you doing to fight the Heavens?" angle.

No wonder he massacres the Followers of Set in the main Gehenna campaign.