Not Enough Time in the Knight- Imelda

Imelda rose from her bed, rubbing her eyes. It had been a long time since she died and she still had that same reflex. She showered and dressed quickly, not wasting any time. There was too much afoot in the city. They needed to start making sense of it all. As she dressed her mind wandered over all of the issues currently affecting the city.

The question was not what should be done, but where to start. The Invictus versus Carthian movement had the potential to destroy all Kindred presence in the city. It needed to take priority, but which of the matters to investigate first? The arms and Vitae shipment showed that the Carthians might be close to making a move, but the subsequent Masquerade breach might have slown things down for long enough for intervention to work.

She dressed formally in a navy blue business suit, but with shoes more appropriate for the kind of heavy walking they were going to do. Her pockets and bag were filled with the tools she needed to do the job. As she left her room, she nodded to the others, lifting a briefcase from just inside the entrance to her room.

"I need to see everything we have on the assassination of Terrell Frost and on the incident in the Train yard. We're going there now." she looked at the cellphone she'd been given already preprogrammed with all of the numbers she'd need. She flicked through the phonebook until she found the number she was looking for. The phone call went into voicemail. "This is a formal request from Imelda Maria Massimiliano for the presence of a member of the Lancea knowing of the ritual to preserve vitae to be at the train site in around an hour. If you could be so kind as to call me back at this number."

She turned to face the others. "I'll read on the way. Sheriff, if you could fill me in on the small details as we work. I do not know many of the major players in this envrionment. How did the police get the tip off?"

Invictus Knights typically work in Cells of three, but in recent nights, there was enough work to keep several cells busy. First was the issue at the train station and that Ghouling Vitae, and the biggest masquerade breach in years when the police raid ensued. As one of your members, Ta'Ziyah Tau, also serves the Regent as Sheriff, you three often find yourselves aiding him when there's no more urgent call from a coven-mate. The only way for Kindred blood to stay Vitae for more than a few seconds outside the body was through a ritual known only to the Lancea Sanctum. However they have yet to offer any theories on where it came from. The only thing that's known for sure is that the police were there tracking a large weapons import, later found to be in connection with the Carthians, not expecting the ‘drug’ known as ‘Red Steel’, and speculated to be some combination of steroids and PCP. They also know that the train came from the islands of the Lancea Sanctum Prince's immediate domain. The local Regent has been in contact with her frequently lately. The Sheriff was quick to cover things up, making use if his influence in the medical field to call a temporary quarantine until he could program most of the witnesses to forget certain details. But a breach of this scale is impossible to completely contain.

Another matter that’s common knowledge that the Knights have filled you in on was the coming war between the Invictus and Carthians. For some time now, the Prince has employed a Carthian Primogen, Alec Welder. Welder took the stance that, rather than watch his coven-mates get hunted by the Hound for sport, he would personally vouch for many of the ones who would rather go to him than bend a knee to the Invictus Regent and introduce themselves the official way. Welder was then responsible for keeping them in line.

However there was another Carthian who rose in status among them by beginning to unite the conflicting factions, Terrell Frost. It was well known that Frost and Welder never saw eye to eye. Frost saw himself as upholding the Carthian ideal, while Welder saw himself as protecting the actual Carthians. And both played tug of war for enough power to use to those ends. When Frost died, the Carthians falsely assumed it was an Invictus assassination, and he was elevated to the status of martyr. Regent Kilpatrick's plan to use Welder to keep the Covenant in line is now obsolete, as they're banning together faster than would have been possible of Frost were still alive, and writing Welder off as an Invictus lapdog. There's a bomb waiting to go off under this city.

In other news, one of the Knights recently encountered a member of the VII at club SINless, who became aware of her own brainwashing and therefore self-destructive. Due to her good service to the Invicus in the past, immediate termination has been put aside for the possibility of deprogramming her. She is currently at a BRI facility under the care of Technologist Hannibal Schreiber. However, Garth Fairbook in particular, the VII expert among you, recommends frequent checkups. He doesn't trust the corporation, even if it does employ several Kindred.

Then there's the matter of the 'Dragon', calling herself Shiataan. The reason why you're joining this cell tonight was because one of the other members met his end to a powerful demon that they've been tracking for years. The best theory they have is that it's actually a member of the Brood who hops from one Mortal host to another by mere touch, making her extremely difficult to keep up with. They assume female, because that’s been the majority of her hosts. The story in the news now about a ten year old girl, who bears a striking resemblance to a girl who's face was on milk cartons about ten years ago, committing suicide at a local hotel, is exactly what it looks like. She was captured briefly by the late-Knight in that hotel. But a noble and misguided staff member got wind of what was going on and caused enough of a disruption for both to lose their lives as the girl escaped. She needed a new face to elude capture. So someone in that gathering crowd is now host to a demon soul.

Another issue that's been causing a stir is the existence of five queue ball-sized red orbs that were created by a powerful and insane Mage some years ago, when there was a great battle over this city and it's unusual number of Mana Sources. It's theorized that these orbs are a weapon of some kind. A Tremere Lich, who goes by the name Father Virgil Vesuvius, in fact came to the aid of the local Kindred when they began getting dragged into a war that wasn't theirs, and is a personal friend of the Regent. He encased the orbs in boxes impenetrable to magic, and scattered them across the globe, until a way to destroy them could be found. So it's rather disturbing that at least three of them have managed to find their way back to this city.

The nights were full, and as you wake up for the first time in Sky Valley, there's no time to get acquainted and settle in. It's straight to work, and you had your pick.