Session 32

The meeting with the king does not go that well. The nobles are irked by Wat's poor manners, and the situation escalates in a fight. Wat is wounded, and brought to an hospital.

The PCs take advantage of this opportunity to embrace Wat, and declare him dead. As instructed by the Tremere, they travel to Sunderland, where they put Wat on a boat leaving England.

Having completed their task for the Tremere, the PCs go their separate ways, as the century turns to an end.

Session 31

The PCs continue their search for Wat Tyler, interviewing more commoners fitting the needed profile. In the meanwhile, they acquire weapons to arm the burgeoning rebellion.

 

When they're satisfied with one of the several Wat Tylers, they manipulate events in order to ignite the spark of insurrection, also helped by a radical priest by the name of John Ball.

 

During the local festival at the town of Blackheath, the PCs push things just enough to cause a riot: the rebellion begins in earnest.

 

In the next few weeks, armed commoners attack nobles in the countryside, eventuall reaching London. The 14-years old king Richard II agrees to meet the leaders of the rebellion to discuss terms. The meeting is set to take place in an open space and under daylight.

 

Eager to participate at the meeting, Matheus finds the king's hiding place, and sneaks into his chambers, dominating him into moving the meeting to the evening.

Session 30

The PCs leave Aramas' corpse in his rooms, and flee the castle before any alarm is raised.

 

The night after, Halfdan is summoned by the Lady of Kent on official matters. The whole coterie follows the Icelander to the castle, but only Halfdan is allowed to proceed past the main courtyard and into the keep.

 

He's met by the local bishop, a man of True Faith wielding miracolous powers. When he realises that the bishop and his knights have discovered his true nature, Halfdan transforms into a monstrous beast and begins slaughtering anyone barring his escape.

 

In the meanwhile, Bernard and Corso have guessed that something is out of place, when a servant comes to escort Bernard to the keep, accompanied by two armed guards. The two kindred kill the guards, and subdue the servant, using their powers to enslave his mind. With his help they also escape the castle.

 

The party regroups later in the night, avoiding their usual hideout. They plan to lay low for some time, to better gauge the strength of their adversaries.

Session 29

The PCs are approached by a few desperate ghouls; it seems that their masters have been disappearing suddenly, without leaving any word of their whereabouts. The party investigates the rooms of one of the missing kindred; their supernatural senses detect the presence of necromantic magic.

Corso decides to leave for a couple of nights to check on the sorcerer Aramas, who had showed a keen interest in kindred society. When he returns, he has unsettling news for the others. He tells them that Aramas has taken at least one of the missing vampires to use in his "studies". Corso has persuaded him to let him go, with the promise to bring him more kindred.

Obviously unwilling to sacrifice themselves, the party decides to take care of Aramas once and for all. They infiltrate the castle during a party, and manage to assault Aramas in front of his own chambers. Bernard hits the old man with a couple of powerful blows, and Corso stabs him repeatedly. Blood begins to spread in a pool under the corpse of the sorcerer.

Session 28

A.D. 1381

The PCs are in Kent, England, to perform a service for clanTremere. They need to find a man called Wat Tyler, a mortal who will play an important role in a commoners' rebellion soon to begin. They need to ensure that the man fulfills his role, then they need to Embrace him, and finally send him to a safe place chosen by the Tremere.

Investigation leads Corso to a man called Aramas, the keepers of the tax ledgers at the local castle. The man is more than meets the eye, a mortal sorcerer of considerable power. Aramas turns Corso's powers against the kindred, and forces him to disclose several details regarding kindred's society. Eventually Corso leaves the clutches of the sorcerer, plotting revenge.

The PCs' look for Wat in the nearby villages, where they experience the malcontent of the population as new taxes are levied against the common people. During the next few weeks, Halfdan creates a new ghoul, a man called Walter, whose former profession was as a roof-tiler. Inspired by this coincidence, Corso begins working on forming a rebel group around Walter. He goes so far as to attack a constable while using his vampiric powers to ignite the spark of rebellion. 

In the meanwhile, Berenguer has heard of a priest preaching against the iniquity of far-away Rome, and against the heavy taxes. Clearly, he could be an interesting pawn to use in their future plans.

Session 27

The Tremere uphold their part of the deal, and make sure Prince Alfonzo is assassinated. During one of his blood feasts, he angers a visiting Bulgarian sorceress, resulting in his discorporation. With no more ties to Constaninople, the PCs say their goodbyes and part ways once more.

During the next 50 years, the three kindred pursue their own plots, while performing different services for House Tremere, as promised.

Bernard travels back to Europe to meets with his sire, while Halfdan travels north to consolidate the power of his fledging cult.

Corso, afflicted by ennui, joins the Amber Rose, a militant group affiliated with the House of Valois during the Hundred Years' War against the House of Plantagenet.

Session 26

The PCs renew their efforts to bring down Prince Alonzo. They visit one more influencial member of the Prince' Court, Sarah the Chaste, and one of the leaders of the Mortal Court, Anna Komnene, securing their support in exchange for favours.

Their next step is to secure the support of Abetorius of clan Tremere; when they visit the sorcerers, they're surprised by their boldness. Abetorius proposes that the Tremere will assassinate the prince in three months time, in exchange for 50 years of support from each of the PCs. They will also put in power whomever the PCs choose. Even though the price is high, the opportunity is too good to pass on, and the PCs accept. With the support of the Tremere, the PCs plan to have Anna Komnena become the new Prince of Constantinople.

As a precaution they also visit Galisin, the Toreador enabler of the prince and his most trusted "ally". Galisin quickly admits of being the cause of the prince's deteriorating mental sanity, something he has planned for a couple of centuries "just for fun". He wants the prince to become consumed by his beast, and die a terrible death. Seeing a chance to obtain what they want without any payment, the PCs warn him that he needs to speed up his plans to ruin the prince, since "other forces" are at work to depose the prince.

Galisin does not seem worried about their warnings. The PCs leave his presence, and retire to a safe place as the events unfold.

Session 25

The PCs remain in Constantinople to despose prince Alfonzo, and put an end to the Bloodhunt currently on their heads. With the help and protection of Gabriella of Genoa, they obtain a list of kindred with influence in court of the prince, but possibly useful to depose him.

Halfdan meets with Basil of Thessalonika, a former Ventrue general of great repute, now fallen to a deep abyss of self-pity. 

Bernard investigates the past of Sarah de Chaste, a Lasombra confined to the court by her shady past.

Corso gets nearer to Nerea of Spain, a Brujah with still-living family members in the city, seeking protection for herself and her relatives.

Session 24

After the assault at the Giovanni's mansion, the PCs lay low for a few days, until the day of the ritual comes. They reach Blacharnae Palace where a big crowd is gathered, while Maria makes preparations for the rituals.

The PCs investigate the area, eventually going to the catacombs beneath the palace. There they find one more temple of Artemis, where they surprise Alfonso (kindred prince of the city) and Ambrogino Giovanni plotting their next move.

Corso manages to send the prince running with his Dread Gaze, and everyone piles up on Ambrogino, killing him for good. Ambrogino's ghostly guardians are gathering for revenge, so the PCs decide to go back upstairs where the ritual is about to take place.

Maria begins the ritual, calling for the gathered crowd to unleash their fury in a frenzy of murder. While the gathered mortals and kindred slaughter each other, the PCs make a move to attack Maria, but they soon understand they don't stand a chance in a fight with an Elder vampire.

Bernard uses his powers to envelop the altar in a zone of silence, while Halfdan steals the ritual book Maria was using. Corso creates an illusion of an angel to manipulate the crowd into leaving the palace. All together, their actions manage to disrupt the ritual, frustrating Maria's attempt to complete her summoning.

The PCs leave the palace, and run to their hideout. In the days to follow, they find out that the prince has called for a Bloodhunt against them. At the same time, with the death of the Giovanni's, his power is much diminished. The PCs turn to the princes' enemies to find some measure of protection.

Session 23

The PCs contact the Martyrs, a vampire faction belonging to Mikael's cult. They believe tha tspreading the plague will cleanse the world of infidels, and please Mikael, favouring his return.

Through them, they come in contact with Lady Maria at the House of Lamps. She is the one that will perform the ritual to bring Mikael back. The ritual will be performed at Blachernae Palace, where Mikael died.

The PCs go to the Palace, where Halfdan tries to contact Mikael, to make sure of his intentions. He's answered by Israfel, herald of Armageddon, who informs them that the time is not yet right.

Fearing that the Giovanni's will try to somehow use the ritual to their advantage, the PCs persuade the Martyrs to assault the Giovanni's residence. Marcus Giovanni dies in the attack, but the necromancer Ambrogino is nowhere to be found.

Session 22

Black ships bearing diseased sailors arrive in Constantinople. The PCs do what they can to stop the sailors from leaving the ship and spreading their plague, eventually resorting to burning the ship. Alas, it seems several sailors have already left the vessel before their intervention.

The PCs recover some journals from the vessel; a man by the name of Luca Grimaldi has been gathering reports of an "angel" going by the name of Mikael. The individual has been spotted in Cafa and in Constantinople, and a cult has risen around his myth as a saviour of sorts.

Among the papers are also writings n Accadian, a long-lost language, apparently some sort of ritual summoning. The PCs deliver the papers to their Tremere contacts for translation.

In the next few days, disease spreads in the city, and several quarters are quarantined. The PCs take measures to keep safe those they care about.

Session 21

The PCs meet with an ancient kindred, the Mistress of Death, hoping to get some answers about their dreams of an incoming doom. They're directed to the Academia, where they find kindred with more experience in the interpretation of dreams.

At the Academia they meet with a few erudite vampires. They begin to believe their dreams may be  a warning about a plague about to spread in Europe. At the same time, they learn of a hidden shrine to Artemis in the catacombs of the city.

Not sure if the shrine is just a red herring, they decide to explore the catacombs. They do find the shrine, and receive a vision of the vampire Prince of Constantinople praying to the goddess. Before they can find out more, they're attacked by a creature of shadows, and decide to leave.

Still angered by the way the Giovanni cursed him more than a century back, Corso has Marcus Giovanni followed by a mercenary. He plots to assassinate the Giovanni family member when he's more vulnerable.

Session 20

The PCs spend the next six months in Constantinople, where they settle down and mingle with kindred society.

They pay a visit to the local Giovanni enclave, hoping to receive some insight regarding the dreams that brought them to the city. They meet with Amborgino Giovanni, an expert necromancer, but his answers only bring forth more questions. He directs them to seek Teresa, the Priestess of Dreams; when they visit her, they receive more cryptic foretellings.

Corso doesn't trust the Giovanni, and he turns to clan Tremere to obtain protection for whatever magical event is about to pass. He performs a few services for the clan, and is rewarded with an amulet of protection.

Session 19

In an attempt to look for the local Prince, a notorious party-goer, the PCs visit several dens of ill-repute. In the process Corso gets entwined in the local hashish scene.

 

Eventually the PCs find the Prince in an underground feast-hall, where the kindred can find whatever decadent pleasure their black hearts desire. The PCs make their introductions, and they're educated by the Prince on his (very loose) set of rules.

Session 18

Year 1347 A.D.

A century has gone by since the PCs met each other. Recently they've all been plagued by strange dreams, pushing them to travel to Costantinople. One by one, they all reach the ancient capital of the Roman Empire. Upon arrival to the Latin quarter, they seek audience with the local kindred Prince to announce their arrival.