Story 4: Seed
It had been around two weeks since the mass destruction of Kindred of the Lancea Sanctum and the Circle of the Crone. Emergeny meetings had been called by the Chairman, and the Constable and his bailiffs had been working over time to quell disputes over territory. This had left the resources of the Constable stretched, and considering that Galen owed him, he had drafted in the Mekhet vampire to do some spying on certain more volatile anarch vampires in the city.
Galen of course had been conducting is own research into Persian Jinn, and the demon he was certain was now haunting him. Galen was going through a change of heart, a moment of self realization, that his pursuit of nothingness, of being empty of emotion and care, to be free of his mortality, was the very thing that had brought him to this moment and opened him up to the corruption of this demon. But he now had a name for the monster - Hyaninai. Or was it Hilyaish. He was not sure but the demon names fitted what he had experienced so far.
Galen was now looking for a way to reconnect with his humanity and the world, and so had recently ghouled a university student, a biology student who would be of some use. As for the Mithraeum, Galen never returned, instead choosing to block it up once more.
Tristan was of course more preoccupied with the club. There was a need to have the club up and running again soon as it would once more provide a distraction for the younger kindred of the city, and in turn diffuse the tension between the Carthians and the Invictus. Of course the club was almost finished in the renovations, thanks to the funding provided by the Invictus Judex, Lord Peter Hawkins, Viscount of the North of Manchester.
Tristan's ghoul, Carl, was of course fully recovered, and so together the two were involved in the running of Elysium as the Constable and his men were preccupied with more violent problems.
Given the current problems with the unrest in the city the Constable met with Galen and Tristan. He needed their aid to deal with a potential masquerade breach in the south of the city, in Longsight. A group of anarchs seem to be the same group that are behind a mounting number of disappearances in the area. Worse still is that their territory bordered that of Natalia Kerkoft, the Invictus Viscountess of the south of Manchester.
Galen and Tristan made their way to the haven of these anarchs, and it was a place Galen already knew of, and had noted that in the recent nights had only seen the one vampires coming and going. It was a strange moment to do so, but Galen confessed to Tristan that months earlier he had stolen some money from the club. Tristan brushed it off, that it did not matter, especially now.
Together Galen and Tristan headed to the abandoned office block, a building only 4 stories high, and on the street side hosted boarded up shops at the ground level. The two made their way to the read of the building and made their way in. The place was clearly a place for junkies to hangout, and there was litter, decaying food, the smell of rat piss and the vague hint of old blood. The pair of vampires headed down into the basement, and found the boiler room. Within were over a dozen bodies, all in a range of states of decomposition. They were all brutally mauled and covered in bites. Vampire bites. There were also three vampires among their number, their skin stretch and crumbling over their bones. They had also been drained.
Tristan felt something slick under his foot, and lifted it. The bloody membrane stretched up of the floor. It was partly translucent and smelt of bile. A streak of yellow-brown mucus led to the plumbing room, and within they found a uncovered manhole and the body of a further vampire. His mouth had been wrenched open, and his neck had a huge bite upon it, made up of concentric circles of teeth marks.
Rather go into the tunnels without support or some sort of information on the area, Galen called the Constable to arrange a cleanup, and together with Tristan they headed to the canals and to take their normal route through undercity to the meeting chamber, and to the Nosferatu mayor of the undercity, Nails.
Within the chamber, illuminated by drums filled with burning wood, numerous outcast vampire were gambling, bartering and chatting. Some were feeding on some homeless person they had dragged into the darkness. While waiting for Nails to finish his business, Tristan had a tap on the shoulder. He turned to find before him, the ragged goth, and ex-coterie member, Thessaly. She was not alone. With her was her grand-sire and master, the almost goblinoid looking Nosferatu, the master of the Cult of Cernnunos, Magus Gregor. The vile ancient being conversed with Tristan and Galen, listening to their issues, and explaining that he was worried that there those among the Carthians seeking to see the Chairman ousted. While he has no love for the Chairman, he would like to see the Carthians remain in power as any collapse would see the Lancea make a run for power. Tristan and Galen were happy to hear this support from one of the oldest vampires in the city.
Speaking with Nails revealed that similar vampires had been spotted in the sewers, and that one area they had made their haven stank of death and decay. He had so far asked others to keep away from those vampires until he had figured out what they were doing. But Nails had noticed their auras were different, something Galen had spotted some few nights back with the other coterie. It was that they were confused, and desperately hungry.
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