NickNameless

OOC Continued from . Seeing the night watchman not reacting to the pebble thrown by Alba, Kambei walks straight to him, making his way through the science fiction movie set without giving a care for being discreet. The man still doesn't move. He seems utterly paralyzed, frozen on his seat. Not dead, not sleeping (or else his posture would probably be different). But even with his his eyes open, it is hard to ascertain if he is conscious, or not at all, or only to an undertermined extent.

Kine Lee Alden An eccentric aging lady, who owns the estate on Laurel Canyon Boulevard colloquially known as the "Houdini Mansion", and has turned it into some sort of deluxe boarding house for young talents. Talks like this. Sebastian Byers Ginger Swan's personal assistant. Has a small house in Hamlin Street, Van Nuys. Talks like this. Conner A technician in another movie studio than the RKO, acquaintance of Laura Miles and friend of Russell and Toby, with whom Mason played cards at the Harlequin bar. Christian Conway Filmmaker. Future director of Emperor of the Waves, in which Ginger Swan was considered for a role. Barney Cunningham Screenwriter, author of the script of Emperor of the Waves. Eddie Dupree A press photographer also freelancing as a pornographer and a blackmailer, according to Saul Read, with an habit to prey on young women dreaming to become movie stars. Now deceased. Greg Edwards FBI Special Agent. Works in tandem with Special Agent Carl Miller. Both are present in Los Angeles to investigate communist-related activities, and, for some reason, seem particularly interested in the fate of Eddie Dupree. Selma Giroir Alba's lover and housemate in their apartment of Central Avenue. Talks like this. Josue "Josh" Hickman Ginger Swan's agent. Lives in a house at Melrose and Cherokee. Talks like this. Howard Hughes Eccentric billionaire. Acquired control of RKO Pictures in 1948, and, by all accounts, seems to have made a very bad job at running the studio since then. Ikari Keiko A tenant in the same boarding house as Kambei, with dreams of becoming a movie star. Kokuten Gisaku Kambei's landlord, renting him a small room in his boarding house in Little Tokyo. Talks like this. Henry Holloway An aspiring screenwriter and a protégé of Eliza Chase, who met him when he was residing in the Villa Elaine Apartments, near the Hollywood Ranch Market. Followed her at the Houdini Mansion where he covers for her peculiar (un)lifetstyle. Talks like this. Katie A prostitute with a beef against Eddie Dupree. Talks like this. Lance Livingston A young man working as a focus puller at the RKO studio, on the set of Susan Slept Here. Friend of Laura Miles. Talks like this. Cole Lawson Police Lieutenant in the LAPD. Works for Jeremy MacNeil to cover the Masquerade. Toby Marshall A location sound engineer working at the RKO studio, acquaintance of Laura Miles and friend of Conner and Russell, with whom Mason played cards at the Harlequin bar. Quite vocal, perhaps recklessly so, about his dissatisfaction with the present state of the studio. Talks like this. Laura Miles A young woman working as a script supervisor at the RKO studio, on the set of Susan Slept Here. Talks like this. Carl Miller FBI Special Agent. Works in tandem with Special Agent Gregory Edwards. Both are present in Los Angeles to investigate communist-related activities, and, for some reason, seem particularly interested in the fate of Eddie Dupree. Saul Read Private investigator. Has an office downtown near Pershing Square, and a house in Edenhurst Avenue, Altwater. Ginger Swan hired him prior to her death. Is being turned into a ghoul by Kambei. Talks like this. Evan Reynolds Disgraced filmmaker, who hoped, according to Hickman, to relaunch his "burned down" career with a movie starring Ginger Swan. There was an altercation between them in a restaurant prior to her death, in which he mangled her breast with a fork. Has not been seen since them, as far as Saul Read knows. Logan Ross "Fixer" for the RKO. Answers only to Howard Hughes. Keeps tabs on the dirty secrets of the studio's employees. Appears to be generally feared and/or despised by most people who know of him. Is currently moving heaven and hell to discover who broke into his office and stole some files. Russell A technician working at the television company Desilu Productions, acquaintance of Laura Miles and friend of Conner and Toby, with whom Mason played cards at the Harlequin bar. Talks like this. Dr. Jared Sanders Jungian analyst who had Ginger Swan as a patient. Has his medical office in the building of the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (LAPSI) on San Vicente Blvd in Beverly Hills. Has his personal house on the decidedly upmarket 300 block of Lorraine Blvd, in Windsor Square. Both places were left partially emptied when he disappeared after an altercation with the investigators. Has apparently some supernatural power(s?) of his own and some sort of occult-looking scheme going on with people from the movie industry, in collusion or under the supervision of a mysterious "CN". Talks like this. Theodor Thanne Filmmaker. Directed the noir drama Gilded Hummingbirds, which turned Ginger Swan into a star, after Isaac Abrams introduced her to him. Clinton Whitfield Detective in the LAPD. Works under Lt. Cole Lawson for Jeremy MacNeil. Provided information to the Kindred investigators on several occasions already, despite showing a generally defiant attitude. Talks like this. A bartender in West Hollywood Talks like this.

Kindred outside of Los Angeles Amethyst Caitiff. Born Clarice Washington. Former favorite in disgrace of Don Sebastian turned Anarch and a figurehead of the Revolt. Has settled since then in Santa Ana. Tara Kearney Brujah. Former member of the Revolutionary Council. Led the conquest of San Diego, which she now rules over. Theresa (Clan?). A member of the Sabbat and past toxic relationship of Alba. Location currently unknown.

Kindred of L.A. Isaac Abrams Toreador. Baron of Hollywood. Former member of the now disbanded Revolutionary Council. Calm. Sophisticated. Deadly Serious. Hired the investigators. Has his office near Hollywood and Highland. Talks like this. Luther Wayne Allen Gangrel from the Griffith Park pack. His facial scars from a fight with some lupines were healed by Alba. Talks like this. Crispus Attucks Brujah. Allegedly killed in the 1770 Boston Massacre. A long-time brother in arms of Jeremy MacNeil. Former member of the Revolutionary Council. Spent most of his time since the Revolt working to consolidate the Anarch Free States. Catherine du Bois Ventrue. Childe and lover of Louis Fortier. Runs a rather peculiar prostitution ring and is known to play an instrumental role in the ruling of her Sire's Barony. Eliza Chase Ravnos. Styles herself a Beat poet and a "Bohemian". Rents a room at Lee Alden's boarding house/mansion on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Is also known to have the Hollywood Ranch Market, on Vine Street, as well as the bars of West Hollywood as favorite hunting grounds. Past fling of Mason; stole his wallet — twice. Talks like this. Clarity Gangrel from the Griffith Park pack. Possibly a seer? Talks like this. Cy Gangrel from the Griffith Park pack. Talks like this. Ruby Dalton Brujah. Formerly a professional poker player and con artist in the Old West. Sire and lover of Mason. Former lover and close friend still of Louis Fortier. Close friend of Isaac Abrams. Keeps an eye for him on the indecencies of the movie celebrities among the clientele of the Château Marmont (8221 Sunset Boulevard), where she resides in a suite seemingly rented in perpetuity. Tom Ferrell Brujah. A regular at Sloan's "vampire speakeasy". Talks like this. Louis Fortier Ventrue. Former Primogen turned Anarch leader and member of the Revolutionary Council. Baron of West Los Angeles, ruling it from his magnificent villa of Beverly Hills, which he rarely leaves, leaving most of the interaction with the outside world to Catherine du Bois and a small army of ghouls. Salvador Garcia Brujah. Main theorist of the Revolt and author of the Status Perfectus. Former member of the Revolutionary Council. Is known to travel regularly from the Free States to Mexico to aid the Anarchs there against both the Sabbat and the Camarilla. Victor Girard Toreador. Childe of the former Prince. Resurfaced in 1952 after spending some years in hiding, and established himself as the liaison between the Anarchs and the media in order to protect the Masquerade in L.A. Gregory Habersohn Brujah. Formerly a Professor at Lund University in Sweden. Shares a haven in Laurel Canyon with his sire, Sir Ralph Hamilton, and his sire's wife, Countess Andrea Visconti. Talks like this. Sir Ralph Hamilton Brujah. Shares a haven in Laurel Canyon with his wife, Countess Andrea Visconti, and his childe, Professor Gregory Habersohn. "Reptile" Vearl Hulet Nosferatu. Nicknamed by some "Baron of the Underground". Criminal kingpin and ruler of the Downtown Nosferatu population since the Prohibition era. Has his HQ under the Higgins Building, in a forsaken subterranean speakasy which underwent some luxury renovation since the kine left. Cletus Lambton Gangrel from the Griffith Park pack. Talks like this. Lautaro Ravnos. Lieutenant / enforcer / bodyguard (?) of Irena Sattler. Can be found in East L.A., where the local kine seem to both respect and fear him. Talks like this. Jeremy MacNeil Brujah. Principal leader of the Revolt, former member of the Revolutionary Council, and main architect of the Anarch Free States. Has men in his service in the police forces of Los Angeles and monitors police reports in order to protect the Masquerade in L.A. Father Blake Mills Nosferatu. Stern-looking but kind-hearted. Can usually be found in the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church on Sunset Boulevard, where he acts as some kind of spiritual advisor for the vampires who seek him. Talks like this. Jethro "Jet" Montgomery Gangrel, leader of the Griffith Park pack. Talks like this. Tessa Montreal Gangrel of the Griffith Park pack. Talks like this. Ramon Ravnos. A young, hot-headed individual who attacked Samuel on sight when the Nosferatu trespassed on East L.A. Talks like this. Armando Rodriguez Brujah. Charismatic and egalitarian, a figure quickly rising in popularity among the L.A. Anarchs despite his young age. Irena Sattler Ravnos. The main figurehead of her Clan in the city (to the point of being dubbed "Baron of the Ravnos" by some), due to the role she played during the Revolt. Is likely to be found in places frequented by the Romani kine. Talks like this. Sloan Tremere. Owner of a "vampire speakeasy" in West Hollywood, where kine gather to be fed upon. Koby Stevens Gangrel from the Griffith Park pack. Talks like this. Lurell Thalman Nosferatu. Has established himself in the Los Angeles Central Library during the Revolt, and has made his mission statement since then to document the history of the Revolt and of the Anarch Free States of California, making him likely one of the most knowledgeable Kindred about the secrets of the city. Andrea Visconti Brujah. Italian Countess. Shares a haven in Laurel Canyon with her husband, Sir Ralph Hamilton, and his childe, Professor Gregory Habersohn. Called Jeremy MacNeil to warn him about the police presence in the canyon following the death of Ginger Swan. Talks like this. Elling White Ventrue. Past, unhappy rival of Abrams for the control of the Hollywood movie industry. Has a haven in Bel Air. Unknown Kindred at the vigil before the Hollywood Cemetery's gates Looking in his mid-20s. Two unknown Ravnos in East L.A. One of them talks like this.

The old site apparently turned in read-only mode a few hours ahead of the announced deadline... and I was running late anyway. So the transition is not as smooth as I would have dreamed. But updates should be made over the week-end (essentially: recreating the Who's Who and resuming IC posting). Stay tuned!

Where every drink is colored red.

[This is a continuation of a Chronicle started on the OGMW site. The archives of the Chronicle can be found . The game is not currently looking for new players.] Los Angeles, May 1954. For the local Kindred, nine years have passed since the birth of the Anarch Free States of California. Now, one's vampire freedom here only ends where another's begins, theoretically. In practice, it is more a question of being perceived as able to hold your claim over anything, if you don't want that claim to be challenged. Isaac Abrams has styled himself the Baron of Hollywood — not so much as a place than as: anything related to the movie industry —, and most Kindred would indeed know better than to be seen without his approval in a movie studio lot, or anywhere near the house of one of his protégés. For those who were already in L.A. before the war, this comes in stark contrast with the laissez-faire attitude of the former Prince, Don Sebastian, which back before the war resulted in the Masquerade being endangered on a regular basis. However, the current anticommunist frenzy among the kine has forced Abrams to take a step back, for fear that his own schemes may be uncovered. When an anonymous call to the police in the middle of the night leads to the sultry movie star known as Ginger Swan being found dead in her mansion of Laurel Canyon, drained of her blood, Abrams sees his worst nightmares come true. Thanks to friends in high places swaying the police and the media, Swan's death is quickly officially labelled as natural if tragically untimely, but this isn't enough to satisfy the Baron. Promising a major boon as a reward, he asks a group of Kindreds with no known association to him to discreetly investigate the real cause of Swan's death and find the true culprit. Over the course of the ensuing week, the investigators scratch under the surface of the glamourous life of Ginger Swan. They discover the poor state of affairs of the RKO Studio, that employed her, under Howard Hughes' mix of calamitous management and reign of terror — enforced by his "fixer", Logan Ross, keeping anyone and everyone under close scrutiny. Moreover, all testimonies converge to portray Swan as displaying an increasingly erratic behavior over the last weeks of her life, prone to paranoid bouts, mood swings, and strange crisis where her very own sense of identity was seemingly shattered at times. Last but not least, the investigators also discover that Swan recently started receiving pornographic photographs picturing someone she claimed to be a look-alike of her. Warry of giving Hughes leverage against her, Swan didn't call for the help of Logan Ross, but instead secretly hired Saul Read, a private investigator, who proved able to find who took some of the pictures in the first place: a shady individual named Eddie Dupree, often preying on young women with dreams of stardom. The man, however, vanished without a trace in the days following Swan's death. Incidentally, the investigators stumble upon some indications that Swan's psychoanalyst, Jared Sanders, may be a ghoul using his work to recruit people from the movie industry into some kind of cult. Upon discovery, Sanders disappears, and both his office and his house are hurriedly emptied with the help of some unknown associates. While it seems that Ginger Swan wasn't actually a target for this, as the operation was focusing on lesser-known names, the list uncovered by the investigators only deepens their patron's concern that he has been losing his grip on vampire activities in Hollywood. A string of clues and revelations eventually allow the investigators to come to the conclusion that it was the look-alike, not the real Ginger Swan, who was found dead in Swan's mansion — and that the phone call to the police may have been timed to make sure that the forces of the Masquerade would be put in effect, resulting in the official investigation being botched, preventing the body to be correctly identified. The main suspect of the whole thing is a mysterious figure who seemed to have stalked both Swan and Dupree before their respective disappearances, dubbed "the Tall Dark Stranger" by Ravnos resident of Laurel Canyon Eliza Chase. Dupree is found dead, having suffered some gruesome torture and mutilations, which potentially spells bad news again for the Masquerade, since it turned out the pornographer was also a person of some interest for the FBI, beyond the reach of the L.A. Anarchs to control. The next night, the investigators converge toward the entrance of a network of caves in Griffith Park that they suspect to be the haven of the "Stranger".

Linda For a second, Linda pictured herself holding a gun, firing, and splattering the brain of the neocorvid against the wall. She was somehow grateful that they hadn't actually retrieved their weapons yet, or else her cover would be as blown as Dr. Branwen's cerebrum. A cold rage was washing through her veins. The way they used this man as a guinea pig, — so casually talked about this, — and had already wrote him off... This felt exactly like what happened to her in that Cognite lab, forcing her life to take a turn from a respected career in the medical field to finding means to endure in the criminal underworld. She clenched her jaw a little, hoping to keep enough of her dispassionate façade. "Let's do this," she just said, and she turned over to the man in a coma. For now, she would focus on the quarantine operation. Retrieving part of the swarm would be for later, either if she saw an opportunity or, well... she had a feeling this wouldn't be the only infected patient she would see if the upcoming days if she continued playing her role. Psychosurgery TN 70

Thyra of Uppsala Clan: Lasombra — Road of the Einherjarn — Willpower : 5/5 — Blood Pool: 11/11 — Health: Perfect. Thyra blinked, taken aback. "I'm sorry, — what?" she spluttered in utter disbelief. She took a quick look at her newfound companions to see if they shared her sentiment. "Do we look like masons, carpenters or foremen to you?" The Einherjarn's glance dwelled on her Sire particularly. "What the hel is this about??" There had to be more to it... surely?!...

Linda Tacnet Guys, I have my eyes on something here... Those cases of troubles among the workers? They're definitely related to experiments with nanoswarms... being deliberately injected into them, it would seem. Linda decided she might as well kick the hornet's nest directly, and turned toward Dr. Branwen. "Well, if your goal was to show me right away how unique the problems one might encounter here are, color me impressed. I certainly didn't expect my first patient to be an aggressive case of distributed nano-consciousness," she delivered with a calm, neutral tone. "So, my diagnostic here is that the mind of this man has been invaded by a nanoswarm, or rather several distinct yet connected nanoswarm at this point, that are — somehow — breaking it into several components, putting the main ego into some sort of coma while hijacking the functional control of the body. Which, I am well aware, sounds A/ totally bonkers, and B/ a recipe for a disaster if this spreads. As for recommending a course of action, several come to mind. My preference would be trying to quarantine the parts where the virus has already taken over, before trying to wake up the patient. But the tricky part would be to calibrate said quarantine correctly, and make sure the situation has not progressed to the point where the brain cannot assure anymore on his own the regulation of vital functions."

Thyra of Uppsala Clan: Lasombra — Road of the Einherjarn — Willpower : 5/5 — Blood Pool: 11/11 — Health: Perfect. "Hey old timer," Thyra said, giving Grimwald a generous slap on his shoulder more appropriate for an older brother in arms than to some father figure or suzerain. "I was really starting to wonder if we'd meet tonight." After all the exasperation of the beginning of the night, she was indeed feeling an actual sense of relief. "And by the way, if this is a trap and I have to prepare for helping you killing everyone, now would be a good time to let me know," she whispered, before adding louder again: "I didn't peg you for the 'castle' type, is this were you've spend all your time lately??"

"Right or wrong, Citadel or not — perhaps," Count Vertigo chimed in, "ours plans would have more weight if we made them once we're arrived and can gauge the situation directly, rather than speculating from the inside of our... cozy home. Unless you have yet to share other informations already in your possession, Mrs Waller?" he asked, turning toward their boss.

Linda Linda kept her irritation from the manners of the neo-corvid for herself, beside clenching her jaw slightly. In fact, she completely remained silent as she started to look over her new patient, focusing on him and the task at hand. While she obviously had no real experience in work-related accidents in mining environment, a job in the Martian mob exposed her to a variety of wounds, lesions and injuries as well as to a broad range of risk behaviours. She started by examining the bruises on the man, then checked the rest of the body quickly for good measure. After that, she put the set of electrods on her own head and started diving. There was only so much one could obtain from, and do to, an unconscious mind, surely Dr. Branwen knew that, but this would have to do for a first approach. So let's start with the basics. Neuroimaging. Map of synaptic connections. Neurochemical model, Linda listed to herself methodically. Pharmacology TN 60 Psychosurgery TN70

"I have no love lost for this kind of people," Count Vertigo commented dryly. "I'm sure we can sort out his case with some... appropriate sense of style," he added, looking in the direction of Killer Frost. Yet he just couldn't shake the sense that this was too straightforward, coming from Wailer. The arguments she used made sense, though. Maybe it was just a bit of paranoia on his part... But he had enough experience of the Squad to know two things, one: that the Wall wasn't in the habit of sharing information much outside of what she considered absolute need-to-know basis (especially with a bunch of criminal psychopaths); and two: that wherever they went, things did have a habit of proving to be more complicated than expected.

Linda "Dr. Branwen, I assume. Thanks for having me." Linda noted all the little details that sounded or looked like signs of a cultivated power inbalance. She elicited not to show any emotion about it and sat on the couch, although taking care of keeping a dignified professional posture in doing so — she would not be mistaken for a patient here. "I don't see psychosurgery and psychotherapy as necessarily opposed," she answered the corvid's question. "Yes psychosurgery is more hands-on, that's right; it's also uniquely suited for some of the challenges of our day and age. But it's not as if it made psychology obsolete. Trying to do psychosurgery without an understanding of how the human mind works would be like doing physical surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel." While the opposite would be like bringing a patient to the operation table, only for talking to them for long enough that you hope the injuries will have healed themselves by the end, she thought, but didn't add out loud. "I see them as complementary approaches, really."